Chapter Eleven

They didn't get to sleep for long, but when they did wake up, Sokka had his arms wrapped around Zuko and his legs were over the Firelord's lap. Zuko had his head on Sokka's and an arm wrapped around him as well. Zuko woke up first, groggily. He noticed the position he was in and quickly glanced at the other three passengers to see if any of them had noticed. It didn't look like it, so he snuggled back into Sokka, purposely putting his lips on the water tribe boy's neck.

    When Sokka woke up, he didn't move. Instead he very slowly moved his hand up to run his fingers through Zuko's hair. He sighed lightly, if only he could do this when Zuko was awake...

    Which he was. But Sokka didn't know that.

    "We're here!" Aang exclaimed as Appa landed on the ground.

    Sokka pulled away from Zuko, Katara shooting him a look. He smiled at her awkwardly and looked away when Zuko pretended to wake up.

    They slid off Appa, Zuko bringing a bag down with him. He handed out some fire Nation coloured cloaks and then put one on himself.

    "Why are we wearing disguises?" Sokka asked, his voice still groggy with sleep.

    "It'd be best if they didn't know we were the Avatar and the Firelord," Zuko replied, glancing at Sokka. "We'll get mobbed."

    The water tribe boy pulled on the disguise over his under wraps, leading Zuko to realize how good he looked in red. But then again, he seemed to look good in everything. (He also silently admired the shape of Sokka's body in the wraps, but thankfully the shade that the hood cast over his face hid his flushed cheeks).

    "Don't worry, after all those months of hiding from you we're masters of disguise!" Aang chirped, flaunting his fire Nation disguise.

    "Aang, sweetie, the headband is cute and all but it really only worked when you had hair." Katara mentioned.

    "See? A fake beard made of sky bison fur, a classic!" Sokka grinned, rubbing his fake mustache.

    "Get away from me! You smell like wet possum chicken!" Azula frowned, leaning away from him.

    They walked into the town, Sokka sneezing off the beard before anyone saw. The group stopped at the end of a path going down to the foot of a stage where a crowd of people were standing.

    "Why is everyone all crowded over there?" Katara mumbled, arching a brow.

    "Looks like they're performing some sort of play?" Aang looked from Zuko to the stage.

    "Oh! It's a scene from Love amongst the dragons!" Zuko whisper shouted.

    The two actors on the stage stood opposed to one another, one of them donned in red with a dragon mask on their face while the other was donned in blue with a mask on their face.

    "Wretched water spirit!" The red dragon cursed. "Now that I've escaped your curse and regained my true nature, you shall pay for your trickery!"

    "Have you learned nothing from your time amongst the mortals?" The blue dragon queried, pretending to prepare a ball of water in the space between it's hands. "By threatening me, you invite your own doom!"

    They shot strings of coloured fabric at one another. The blue dragon lunged at the red, shooting more "water" whilst the red jumped over them and shot red and orange "fire" at them.

    "NOOOO! Curse you, foul Dragon!" The water dragon yelled, putting their hands up.

    "The dragon Emperor is very good this year." An old man in front of the gang said softly to his wife.

    "Oh yes, much better than last year's." She agreed.

    "Remember when mother used to take us to see the Ember Island players reenact this? And then we'd go down to the beach and act out that scene?" Zuko asked Azula, smiling at the old memory. "I don't get why I always had to be the water spirit though..."

    "Because I obviously made a better Dragon Emperor." Azula shrugged smugly.

    "Shhh!" The old man hushed.

    "How dare you shush me! Do you know who I am?!" Azula hissed, her soft expression turning angry in an instant.

    "Azula, please." Zuko sighed, touching her shoulder.

    Meanwhile up on stage the dragon Empire was getting married to a young woman who was also wearing a mask. They kissed, signifying the end of the play and the audience erupted into cheers and claps.

    "So what do we do now?" Aang asked, looking to Zuko.

    "I guess we'll just have to ask around." The Firelord replied with a shrug.

    He turned to the old man who'd shushed Azula earlier.

    "Excuse me," He tapped the man on the shoulder. "We're looking for information on a woman named Ursa, I believe she used to live here?"

    "Ursa?.... Ursa....," The old man pondered. "Wasn't she the magistrate's daughter?"

    "Oh yes!" His wife nodded. "Rumor has it she-"

    A person in a blue mask pushed past Sokka and Katara lightly, interrupting the conversation.

    "Excuse me." He pardoned softly.

    Sokka and Katara both yelped out of surprise. The man took off the mask and gave them a small apologetic smile.

    "Sorry I didn't mean to startle you," He nodded to the water tribe siblings. "My name's Noren," He shook Zuko's hand. "I'm the director of the acting troupe here in Hira'a. Ursa was a member at one point."

    "Really?" Zuko asked, a little shocked at the fact.

    "Yes, but we should talk in somewhere a little more private," Noren nodded to the crowd. "You're welcome to come to my house."

    "We'd be honored." Zuko smiled, following the man.

    The rest of the group tagged along behind him. All a little wary of the situation, though nonetheless, they followed.

    They soon arrived at a little house on the street. It didn't stand out but when they got inside, Katara took a liking to it. Noren introduced the group to his wife; Noriko and their daughter watched shyly from the porch as the strangers settled in.

    "You have a lovely home." Katara mentioned as she looked around the room.

    "How long have you two been married?" Aang asked.

    "Almost five years now..." Noriko replied, giving him a little smile.

    "Must be nice..." Katara mused, glancing at her boyfriend.

    "It is," Noriko agreed. "But you two are a little young to be considering marriage, no?"

    Both of them blushed and looked away, Katara uttering out a few incoherent words before Aang interrupted.

    "Well... Uh..."

    "You know what? I take that back, love leads wherever no matter the age," Noriko chuckled. ,"Noren and I found each other late in life, young lovers like you are lucky."

    The daughter finally made her entrance, walking in between Zuko and Azula, she smiled at them.

    "Want to meet my doll?" She asked softly.

    "No." Azula mumbled.

    "Of course!" Zuko grinned.

    "This is Kiyi!" She smiled, holding out her doll.

    "I thought your name was Kiyi?" Zuko chuckled.

    "It's such a good name, I used it twice!"

    "Well," Zuko looked down at the doll's head. "Kiyi has a very... Interesting haircut."

    "I wanted to make her prettier..." Kiyi mumbled, trailing off.

    "You know, my sister used to do stuff like that too." Zuko mentioned, changing the subject.

    "Yes, but I gave them head cuts instead, would you like me to show you?" Azula grinned.

    "Azula!"

    Noren walked in with Sokka behind him, holding a tray of tea. He glanced down at his daughter, giving her a little smile.

    "Kiyi, are you being hospitable to our guests?"

    "I'm trying..." Kiyi protested.

    Noren walked over and gave his wife a little peck on the cheek. He handed her a cup of tea.

    "Mind if I join the conversation?" He asked.

    "Of course, I was just giving them some love advice." Noriko nodded.

    "You are the best at that."

    "Says you." Noriko giggled.

    "I must admit I was a little suspicious when you asked about Ursa at first," Noren said, looking to the rest of the group. "But Sokka tells me that you're drama historians."

    "How wonderful! It's about time Hira'a got some recognition!" Noriko exclaimed.

    "Drama historians?" Katara glanced at Sokka, raising her eyebrows.

    "Great cover huh? It just suddenly came to mind." Sokka grinned.

    "Ursa, was a member of the troupe until she was taken to the capital city on some sort of official business," Noren explained, sipping his tea. "We're not supposed to talk about her anymore but people can't help speculating."

    "Supposedly she married into the royal family. This all happened before I arrived, but even I've heard the rumors." Noriko added.

    "What about Ikem?" Zuko asked, remembering the name from the letter.

    "Ikem...? You've really done your research," Noren commented. "He was a part of the acting troupe as well, I believe he was Ursa's boyfriend. But he disappeared shortly after she left."

    "Folks say that he ran off to forgotten valley." Noriko nodded, looking to Aang who seemed to perk up at the subject.

    "Forgotten valley?"

    "It's a forest at the bottom of a Canyon just outside of town. People say that the heartbroken go there to forget their lives," Noriko explained. "You know, I vaguely remember something about Ursa coming back to Hira'a years ago... Looking for Ikem."

    "That can't be true, no one's seen nor heard from her since she went to the capital." Noren reasoned.

    "Well, if it is, it's awfully romantic." Noriko noted.

    "Romantic or tragic? Forgotten valley is a dangerous place. No one has even gone in and come out." Noren arched a brow.

    The sun was starting to set, so the group drank their tea and left the house. Saying their goodbyes, they made their way back through the forest towards Appa.

    "Ugh, more than once I was tempted to burn that whole place to ashes." Azula scoffed.

    "How could you even consider doing that to such a lovely family?" Katara protested.

    "Oh please, their charade disgusted me, no one's that happy." Azula replied, waving the water tribe girl off.

    "Aang and I are that happy." Katara retorted.

    "Because you two are idiots."

    "Hey, Zuko?" Aang piped up, interrupting the girls' bickering. "I'm sorry about this morning, I didn't mean to blow up at you. It's hard for me to wrap my head around this, so I have no idea what it's like for you."

    "It's alright Aang." Zuko muttered, his thoughts distracted.

    "It might sound harsh, but maybe we shouldn't look for Ikem... He can be lost to history and you can burn the letter." Aang continued, looking at the floor.

    "I don't have the letter anymore, I gave it back to Azula." Zuko sighed.

    "What?" Aang exclaimed, his head shooting up.

    "We need to focus on the task at hand; finding my mother." Zuko reminded him, keeping his gaze ahead. "We'll find out everything later; who I am and who I'm supposed to be."

    "What do you mean who you're supposed to be?!" Aang asked, stopping in his tracks. "Zuko! Listen, you need to be the Firelord. You represent an era of love and peace," Aang reasoned desperately, watching Zuko's expression, hoping to see it change. "You're not the Firelord for you, Zuko. You're the Firelord for all of us."

    "Zuko!" Sokka interrupted, immediately capturing the boy's attention, he turned to look at him. "How long are you planning on keeping all of us together exactly? Cuz I think it'll only be about two minutes before everything is either on fire or encased in ice."

    The water tribe boy pointed back towards the two girls who had started bickering again. While Aang and Zuko's conversation got more heated, their's had escalated into a full on argument.

    "One more place and then we're done," Zuko sighed. "We're going to forgotten valley."