Cadence made her way back to where she and her Father were supposed to meet up after foraging for supplies. "I think I've hit on a problem with following Zuko so close," she commented as she spotted Iroh. "He, Jong, and Zhin have already foraged everything edible from the path."
"But they didn't take this," Iroh whispered as he stared at a brightly colored flower, a brillinat mix of red, white, and yellow. "You're looking at the rare white dragon bush. It's leaves make a tea so delicious, it's heartbreaking!"
Cadence stared at the flower, thinking back to what she'd read. "It might also be the white jade bush, which is deadly poisonous," she countered. "There's no real way to tell."
"Except by brewing it," Iroh indicated.
Cadence turned to stare at him flat eyed. "No."
"But-"
"Did you forget we're trying to keep track of Zuko? Even if it is what you think, we don't have time to brew tea."
Iroh sighed. "You are right. How was the fishing?"
"Not too well," Cadence replied. "We should probably step up our journey to the next village and hope we can get food there."
Zuko groaned as the young lady healer worked to apply the medicine. "You must not be from around here," she said, her voice gently chiding. "Most of us know not to touch the white jade."
"I just had to try and make tea like Uncle..." he groaned, the rash across his body unpleasant. He managed to glare over at Jong and Zhin, who were snickering at him.
"So where are you three from?" she asked softly.
"It's been so long, I don't remember the name," Jong supplied.
"The three of us are wanderers," Zhin added.
"Oh?" the healer spoke up excitedly. "What are your names?"
"I am Jong," Jong spoke up. "This is my brother Zhin. Your patient is Zuzu, our slow witted cousin."
"Hate you so much," Zuko growled under his breath, much to Jong and Zhin's amusement. When the healer reached for his scar, he stopped her. "That's...not from the tea..."
"Oh, sorry," she added softly. "My name is San. You three look hungry. Perhaps you could stay for dinner?"
"We'd be delighted," Jong replied quickly, wanting to conserve supplies.
"If it wouldn't be too much of an imposition," Zhin added.
"Quite alright," San replied. "My Mom always makes too much roast duck."
It was as she said this that Zuko realized that she was actually younger than he was, though not by much. He decided that it would be best if they didn't stick around too long...and he was going to keep his mouth shut. He could always blame his silence on discomfort, and Jong and Zhin seemed to have the situation under control.
As the trio left later that night once Zuko was fully recovered, Zuko himself was lost in thought. Hearing San's story about what happened to them, of how the Fire Nation had destroyed their town and lives, seeing the scars on her leg...
"You alright, Zuko?" Jong asked.
"Yeah," Zuko replied. "Just...thinking."
"Good on you," Zhin complimented. "You're the brains of this outfit."
"You two seemed to have things under control back there," he countered.
"Just because you weren't up to speaking," Jong replied. "Do you still hate me?"
"Of course not," Zuko replied, walking ahead of them both. "I'm sure the herbs in your canteen are there by coincidence and have nothing to do with you calling me your slow witted cousin."
Jong paused, staring at his canteen. "...herbs?"
"They're harmless...mostly," Zuko replied. In truth, the herbs were harmless, doing nothing but adding a bit of flavor, but Jong's face right at that moment was more than enough petty revenge as far as Zuko was concerned. Besides, it made the point that, even if they weren't going to listen about letting him go alone, he was still in charge.
Zhin, at least, seemed to appreciate that, if his laughter was anything to judge by.
Mai sat at her desk, quill in hand, as she looked down at her scroll. It had been a while since she'd heard from Zuko, though she was pretty certain she knew why. However, she felt she needed to write to him now, and a bit more than she normally did. Dipping the quill in the ink, she began to write.
Zuko,
You haven't sent me anything in a long time. I'm pretty sure it's because you've been declared traitor, and it probably has something to do with Azula. I know you would never actually betray the Fire Nation. You're too dedicated to your duty. So you probably didn't write to me because you were afraid Azula would get me branded a collaborator.
You needn't bother at any rate. I haven't been back in the Fire Nation since Omashu was captured. Father was made governor of Omashu, which means I'm stuck here now. It's boring.
Admittedly, last night was pretty interesting. The Earthbending rebels tried to kill me, but someone else saved me. Based on how you've described them, I think it might have been the Avatar and his friends. I'm not going to say anything, though. I don't have any interest there, beyond it being less boring here.
However, I've received word that the Royal Procession is approaching. That means Azula's going to be here soon. Don't write me back, the less she knows about this the better. Even my parents don't know we can communicate like this. Ty Lee's the only one who knows, and I've sworn her to secrecy on pain of what Azula would classify as mercy.
I don't know why Azula's coming here, but there's a chance she might want my help hunting you down. She'll probably phrase it as 'proving my loyalty'. If that's the case, I'll get Ty Lee's help feeding you whatever information I can this way. Don't worry, I won't put myself at risk.
If you get yourself killed, I won't forgive you.
Mai.
Giving the scroll a spritz of her favorite perfume - the only kind she wore, since it was a gift from Zuko and selected by Cadence - she rolled it up and slipped it into the Heartfire pouch, as she called the message delivery system. As she closed it and hid it back under her clothes, she heard the alarm bells. Stepping outside, she heard from a soldier that the city was apparently infested with 'the pentapox'. She hid her own amusement.
Perhaps life would be interesting soon after all.
Oh, Mai, our favorite deadpan snarker. I'd love to see more scenes with her.
Also, Zuko got the poisoning rather than Iroh? Nice touch.
I really love this Zuko. He's just so awesome, mellow, and more like someone his age should be. Cadance being the voice of reason had me in chuckles too.
The letter from Mai? That was just heartwarming.
6685216 they tried to replace her with Eska, but it was never quite the same...
That was fun, may I have another? Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
Is it wrong that I want Azula to catch this pentapox? The only problem is that I don't think she's human enough to catch it.
Let's see where this goes...
6685285
Pentapox is a faked illness. Simply apply one pentapus to the face.
6685285 It wouldn't do much, I just looked it up, its a fake disease made up by Aang and co.
6685285 She'd just burn the plague, killing innocents in the name of the Fire Nation
Another enjoyable chapter. Good work.
Hahahahaha xD this is great, so great I adore it!
Awesomeness on this.
MOAR!!!!
i this more then mai loves zuko this is my fave story on this site you get all of the all of them
6685285 whoa whoa whoa when was azula ever classified as human?
Trusting Ty Lee could be very dangerous, Mai. Be careful.
6685773
Ty Lee's one of the good guys.
6685822 I'm still hoping for an AzuLee ship.
6685822 Well, this canon is different from the show canon, in which she only rebelled against Azula towards the end. So, I guess we'll have to wait and see if her loyalty still lies ultimately with Mai in this canon.
6685726 Uhh, Never?
6685383 I would like to apply a blue-ringed pentapus to azula's face...
6685216 Pony retelling, she'd be Maud I bet
6685822 YAY!
She's like Pinkie! Except more martial artsy!
Mai is simply the best with her deadpan attitude.
You know, I never understood why they took a common Asian name like Thai Li and decided to go with the Western spelling of Ty Lee.
And the start of this chapter has Zuko Tea-ing off. It wasn't a good start.
Looking for dinner Zuko? Duck under the radar.
Right, I think I'm running dry on puns though I know Zuko won't ever be parched from that.
thx alot wink wink (Why is there no winky wink pony emote)
now u got me rewatching avatar the last airbender
But only Zuko and Iroh (Input Winky Wink Pony Emote Here)
Im just skipping through it besides Zuko stuff
Ps Damit Zuko trying to be like the cool kids again and trying out random flowers
i mean really he wouldnt know it would be a great tea flower or a poison flower so why even try to make tea of anything at all
6686457 Consider the following: Maude Pie and Mai having a conversation.
6686814 "Hello."
"Hello." "It's a good day." "Yes."
... and that's it. After that they just stare at the surroundings for awhile in silence. And then say goodbye.
Mai and Zuko need to start wedding planning. Seriously, they are so obviously in love with each other it's almost painful to watch them dance around it. Even if Zuko is currently in exile and declared a traitor, they really should be deciding who they want to come.
Indeed.
Thank you.
Heh.
Heh.
They remind me of Flim and Flam.
Heh.
You magnificent person.
I find this even mroe amusing since she and Maud have the same voice.
Indeed.
6686866 There are in an arranged engagement. Other people are planning it for them
I like this Zuko!
6686814 Oh God. It might end up going nowhere really fast.
6687316 Except Zuko is now a traitor. So for the sake of time they should both plan it and then compromise when Zuko isn't a traitor any more.
6686747 like this?
6688137 dam it
dosent look like a wink to me too much to the side grumble grumble
6688139 Knghty's fault.
That's right, Zuko. Think about the damage the Fire Nation is doing to others.
Zuko getting back at his men with a prank is awesome! Poor Iroh, he might have been able to make the ultimate tea. But why didn't he bring the flower along to have a local identify it???
6697195 I've seen the show it wasn't the tea.
Mai u rule
A traitor, you mean?
Hahaha!
7128808
No, that still works.
7128808 I read that as "decorated tailor". I mean, Zuko does have style...
Can imagine his fist clenching out of sight with this on it:
i.ebayimg.com/images/i/111416574020-0-1/s-l1000.jpg