Sokka paces back and forth in front of a stubby round cactus growing in a ravine just outside of the Shi Wong Desert. Behind him, the rest of team avatar mill about their regular morning routines with Katara and Aang preparing breakfast over a large pot, Zuko and Yue are taking this morning to train in the nearby river. Sokka's curiosity was drawn to the cactus when he noticed a bird pecking at the cactus and finding a fruit that it flies off with. Deciding to investigate further, he draws his sword and begins cutting off the thorns determined to find the secrets of the spiny plant. "What the hell is your husband doing?" Zuko asks as he surfaces from the water after Yue had dunked him with her bending. "Is he fighting the cactus?" Zuko asks as he turns his attention to the water tribe warrior. Yue turns and stares as he slices the top half of the cactus off and grabs it from the ground. "Oh no, don't tell me he's going to eat it." Yue says before they hear Sokka call out to them.

"Hey, the cacti have water in them, and little fruits." He says as he pulls off one of the prickly pear pods. "Hey Aang, come try this." Sokka says, causing the airbender to immediately lose interest in Katara's cooking and bolt over to him.

"Think we should stop them?" Yue asks, turning to look at Zuko who merely shrugs at the question. She quickly turns her attention back to Sokka and Aang before speaking up. "Sokka, honey, I don't think it's a good idea to drink the water in the cactus. It's probably gonna make you sick, you too Aang." However her warning meets them a bit too late as Aang had already bitten into the bright red cactus pear and Sokka has just downed the entire makeshift bowl worth of cactus juice.

"Woah! Yuyu! Zuko! You gotta try this! It's really thirst quenching!" Sokka yells as he bolts over to them. He stands in front of the two with a wide grin on his face and offers the cactus cup for them to drink out of.

"I don't think so." Zuko says as he bends the water out of the cactus and dumps it into the stream. Sokka stares at him in disbelief for a moment before the cactus juice and his face goes blank.Suddenly his eyes dilate and he begins twitching and shaking his head. As if casting a magic spell, Sokka suddenly raises the half of the cactus above his head and begins wiggling his fingers in front of it and repeating a mantra. "Drink Cactus Juice, It'll quench ya." He says before dropping the cactus, getting onto his belly and doing the worm for a few paces continuing to repeat himself. "Nothing's quenchier." He continues before suddenly appearing in front of the two offering them the empty cactus bowl and exclaiming "It's the quenchiest!" He grins with a wide smile on his face as the two stare in bewilderment. Behind him, Aang is sprinting around in circles before slamming full speed into a rock and falling flat on his back. "Yeah... those two are tripping balls." Zuko says before walking out of the stream. "Who lit Toph on fire?" Sokka exclaims in bewilderment while looking at Zuko.

"Hello! Are you all refugees?" A male voice echoes through the canyon almost startling Katara and Iroh who were still in the middle of cooking breakfast. Zuko turns his head and is met with the sight of a small family of earth kingdom natives, dressed in green robes with gold accents wearing backpacks that look filled to the point the seams are threatening to burst. "I apologize if we startled you, we've been looking for another group to caravan with." the man continues and Zuko notices that the woman beside him is heavily pregnant.

"We're heading to Ba Sing Sei too, and you're more than welcome to join us." Katara says before noticing Aang stumbling around and Sokka making sand angels in the dirt. "Oh and don't mind those two, they thought it was a good idea to drink the water inside one of the cactuses over there and eat the fruit from one." Katara is slightly embarrassed to be explaining this.

"Alright then, We were just going to stop to rest for a while but we ran into you all. We're trying to make it to the walled city before my wife has our baby." The man explains, Zuko continues to study the young man's face and thin beard. He can tell by the way he speaks the man is nervous to just be around them. "Oh, where are my manners? My name is Than and this is my wife Ying, and my sister Goma." Than introduces his small group.

"My name is Lee." Zuko says before stomping his foot on the ground raising a few stone pedestals. "Do you all have anything against them joining us to Ba Sing Sei?" Zuko asks, prompting those of sober mind in his team to nod. He motions for the small family to sit on the stone chairs he created for them; however, Ying walks past the stone chairs and up to Zuko staring at him in awe.

"Y-you're th-the avatar?!" Ying exclaims, her eyes wide with awe and almost reverence seeing the scarred prince "Y-you're... The Good Firebender!" She says with much relief in her voice, though her husband visibly tensed up when the word 'Firebender' was spoken. Their attention is quickly brought away from Zuko when Iroh clears his throat and speaks.

"How are you planning on getting to the great city? There is only one land passage near here and it is treacherous and often deadly." Iroh warns, him speaking up brings Than's attention away from Zuko for a moment. He holds up a map of the desert and surrounding canyons showing the small sliver of land between them and Ba Sing Sei. "Surely you're not taking the Serpent's Pass?"

"Oh, spirits no. We are heading to Full Moon Bay, it's a hidden cove that ferries refugees to Ba Sing Sei." Than quickly says. "We've heard the stories, Avatar Lee. An entire fleet of firenation ships, you becoming a dragon, I can hardly believe it." Zuko nods, acknowledging the mans words before he offers them some breakfast.

"Well, since you're going to join us, you might want to know our mode of travel is a bit intense for the first time fliers." Zuko says, causing Appa to let out a "Maaaaahhhh." behind him "Do you have anyone waiting for you at Full Moon Bay? We could just take you straight to the city." He asks after being interrupted by Appa.

"My brother and my mother are there, we got separated because of a firenation patrol a few days ago. They said to meet them at full moon bay but if we don't find them to just go into the city." Ying says, causing Katara to nod before she offers her some water.

"Think you could show me where it is on your maps? Itd make this a fair bit easier to locate from the air." Iroh asks, seeing as he is now stuck as the group's cartographer since Sokka is tripping on Cactus Juice.

"Of course," Than says as he accepts a bowl of rice porridge from Zuko before walking over to Iroh.

"My name is Mushi, I'm Lee's father. The woman with the white hair is Yue, her husband is Sokka who is lying flat on his back." Iroh introduces his alias then the others, pointing at Sokka on the ground then up at Aang and Momo who are flying around each other. "The airbender is Aang, beside me is Toph Beifong, and this is Katara, Sokka's sister."

As everyone is getting prepared to leave, Zuko hears something rustling in the bushes and investigates. Standing on one of the branches is a messenger hawk with a tube on its back with a black string. He slowly approaches the bird, hoping it won't make any noise when he opens its pack. Thankfully he manages to get the scroll open, pulling the rolled parchment from within it, he grabs a piece of dried meat with his other hand and feeds the bird. With his heart beating at an incredible rate, he unravels the tube to read its contents.

"Zuko.

Writing to each other isn't going to work, I want to see you again, but we'll have to be discreet about this. There's an abandoned firenation camp 20 miles east south east from Ba Sing Sei that used to be a forward operating post. It's covered by a crescent shaped rock face that has the symbol of Ba Sing Sei standing over it. I want you to meet me there when the moon is new again.

Love Mai."

"...Azula." Zuko thinks before he quickly folds the note into his robes before shooing away the messenger hawk watching as it flies off before screeching into the air. He cringes hearing the bird screech, though when he turns to look at the others he doesn't see that any of them had noticed the hawk's call. Hastily, he returns to the group before jumping up onto the head of Appa and grabbing the reins. "Make sure Ying and Goma are tied down, Than I suggest you hold onto something and do not stand up." Zuko instructs, prompting Katara and Yue to help Goma and Ying tie themselves to Appa's saddle to keep from falling out. With Sokka and Aang still recovering from the cactus juice, those two are just left laying on the middle of the saddle as Zuko flicks the reins and says, "Yip yip." Appa's ears perk up at the command as he trots forwards then raises his tail. With a slam on the ground, Appa takes flight taking them to Full Moon Bay.

Walking through the small cave into the hidden bay, Zuko witnesses the true horror of what the firenation has done. He barely hears Katara and Yue comment about how many refugees are here. There's so many people on the cove banks that it's hard to even see the ground beneath their feet. Zuko sees the looks on Than and Ying's faces and makes an executive decision. "Katara, where's the bison whistle?" He asks, causing her to reach into her bag and pull out the whistle. "I'm going to make sure Ying and her family get to Ba Sing Sei. Katara, I want you to take the others to the otherside of the lake and meet me there." He explains as he takes the whistle from her. "Also, before you go. I need to tell you something." Zuko says, causing her to lift an eyebrow. "Come over here." He says before walking a short distance away from the others to a more private spot.

"What do you want to talk about?" She asks as Zuko pulls out the letter he got from Mai, Katara raises her eyebrows.

"I wasn't exactly honest a couple weeks ago when you caught me writing up late at night. I've been writing to... Mai, the girl with the knives in Azula's group. We're sort of in a relationship, it's complicated but we've been writing letters to each other for the past few weeks since New Ozai. She wants to meet me tomorrow night, but her writing on this is different from her previous letters. I'm worried she might have been found out by Azula." Zuko explains in a hushed tone as he hands her the letter.

"So you're planning on going off alone to meet with her? Zuko, that's crazy!" She says but Zuko shushes her when she slips up and says his name. "What if you get captured?!"

"What if Azula hurts Mai, or her family? If she just wants to meet up with me then don't worry about it but if I'm not back by sunrise after the new moon then I'm going to need you to come find me." He says and all Katara can do is stare at him in disbelief. "Look, I'm sorry I lied but Mai is one of my only friends back home. When we met up again for the first time she even asked to join us, how do you think the others would have reacted about me sending her letters? I just gained Sokka's trust in all this an-" He's cut off by Ying crying out to them.

"Lee!" she exclaims, causing the two to snap to her, "Please help, someone stole our belongings, our passports, everything is missing!"

"Fuck." Zuko curses "I'll be there in a second Ying, I need to handle something first." He says before turning his attention back to Katara. "Just trust me on this alright? This is something I need to handle, best case scenario I get to spend time with Mai then come back and we talk to the earth king. Worst case, you come to rescue me again but remember what I said." Zuko pleads, while Katara wants to argue against it; she knows how persistent and stubborn that Zuko can be when he's made up his mind.

"Fine, we'll meet you in Ba Sing Sei, but take Aang's staff as well, just in case." Katara says as they rejoin the group. Before they leave, Aang gives Zuko the glider staff and Zuko ties his swords to his back.

"Avatar Lee?" Than says as Zuko walks up to them. "Ying said you'd be willing to help us get to the city, but we need our passports to get to the ferry." Zuko sighs deeply, of course someone just had to go and rob an expectant couple of their belongings.

"The line takes forever to go up to the front, I'm going to try to think of something to say since I still have my passport... I might have to make it up though so whatever I say just play along." Zuko says as he shifts his attention between Goma, Than and Lee.

"If it helps, we could pretend that Ying is your wife and that our things got destroyed in a skirmish with a firenation patrol." Goma says, causing her brother to raise an eyebrow. "We were trying to find Ying's family when we got here but we couldn't find them."

"That might work, and we just claim that you and Than are Ying's brother and sister. Hopefully they buy it. Katara and the others are taking Appa to the other side of the lake so we'll meet them there."

Zuko breathes in deeply, trying to calm himself before pulling off this plan. He isn't a fan of lying to others, it's dishonorable and his entire goal for the past three years was to regain his honor. The line to the ticket stations felt as if it was miles long, people from all over the western earth kingdom traveling with everything they own. The waiting however is oddly calming, and Zuko finds himself able to meditate while they're waiting for the line to progress. His meditation causes the calm air in the room to slowly orbit him picking up dust and scattered papers causing them to gently float by. The cool air he's controlling is a welcome contrast to the heat of the hidden cove with its dense temporary population. Zuko's mind drifts back to his childhood once again, playing with Mai, Azula and Ty Lee around the palace. He didn't have any male friends, mainly because their fathers feared Ozai too much but while he acted aloof and reluctant to hang out with his sister and her friends he did enjoy it. Though that may have been because of his boyhood crush on Mai since Azula would constantly scheme about ways to get him to embarrass himself in front of them. Before long, his small group makes it to the front of the line and Zuko is suddenly snapped out of his meditation by the voice of a middle aged woman shouting.

"I told you! For the last time, no vegetables on the ferry to the city! One parasite could wreck our city's ecosystem! Security!" She shouts and Zuko notices a fairly familiar man ahead of them with his leafy themed hat and simple merchant robes. To his left, a large but tamed platypus bear growls before leaning up and shredding the cart the man owns.

"MY CABBAGES!!!" The Cabbage merchant exclaims, pulling at his hair and collapsing to his knees as two security members approach him and escort him out of the bay.

"Next!" The middle aged woman barks prompting Zuko to walk up to the stand before producing his passport.

"Four tickets to Ba Sing Sei." He says before grabbing his coin purse.

"I'm going to need more than one passport, you have four people traveling in your group so I need their's as well." She says, gesturing to Goma Than and Ying behind him.

"Our passports and belongings were destroyed in a skirmish with the firenation we had a few days ago. Please, we're traveling with the avatar and his wife who is due any day now." Goma says, trying to assist Zuko in hatching the plan.

"Bah." The woman scoffs before eyeing up Zuko. "I see 100 avatars a day, besides that's not even a very convincing costume." The attendant says pointing to a group across from him. Zuko's jaw almost hits the floor when he sees a dozen or so young men or boys dressed in firenation attire with poor make up on their faces trying to make it look like a scar. Some of them have it across both eyes, others the wrong side of the face, one even has the make up scar on his neck rather than his face. Most of them have their hair done up like Zuko's was when he originally joined the group. Bald except for a long ponytail tied with different shades of red silk between the lot of them.

"Want me to prove it then?" Zuko asks, causing the woman to arch an eyebrow up at this statement. "What will your superiors do when they find out that you turned away the actual Avatar and his wife from the walled city?"

"If you are the avatar, that is." The attendant says as she continues to study him for a moment. "Since you're so sure of yourself then prove it." She commands, sitting back in her chair and folding her arms.

Zuko smirks when she says this before lifting his hand and snapping his fingers creating a small cyclone of air that blows the woman's hat off her head and then snuffs out her candle. Then with the same hand he extends two fingers and twists his wrist in a sharp half circle firing a small flame at the wick of the extinguished candle. The use of firebending causes onlookers to gasp and a few of the security officers to level their weapons at him but that doesn't stop Zuko. Instead he flicks his other hand upwards pulling all of the ink and water from the inkwell on the attendants desk before he stomps his foot on the ground and erects a podium underneath himself so he's now at eye level with her. In his right hand, he bends a small bubble of ink and in the other he ignites a small flame that dances gently in his palm. "Proof enough for you?" He asks, causing the attendant to nod before picking up her stamp. "Also, make sure my wife has a decent bed on the ferry, she's due any minute now." He plops the coin purse on the counter as the attendant stamps the tickets and hands them to him.

"Welcome. To Ba Sing Sei." The attendant says as she motions for one of the security officers to usher them to the waiting area.