It was already morning when Iroh was finished with his meeting. I was surprised I stayed up through the night. I was a bit tired, but it was manageable.

When the door to the back room opened, Zuko jumped up and instinctively got into a fighting stance. "What's going on? Is the club meeting over?"

I stifled a laugh before joining them. "Everything is taken care of." Iroh said. Friend and Iroh bowed to each other before he looked at the two of us. "We're heading to Ba Sing Se."

"Ba Sing Se? Why would we go to the Earth Kingdom Capital?" Zuko asked. "The City is filled with refugees." Friend answered for Iroh. "No one will notice three more."

"We can hide in plain sight there. And it's the safest place in the world from the Fire Nation." Iroh smiled. "Even I couldn't break through the city."

The door to the shop opened and in came a boy about my age. "I have the passports for our guests. But there are two men out on the street looking for them."

We walked over and peeked out the little window. One of the men was showing the people passing by our wanted posters. "Well there goes that idea." I pouted. "How are we going to get passed them?"

Friend placed his hand on his chin and thought for a moment. When he seemed to have an idea, he pointed his finger, "I think I have an idea."

He told the boy with our passports to bring out their largest flower pots. As he did so, I grabbed onto Zuko's arm. "I don't really like where this is going."

He looked down at me, but didn't say anything. The boy rolled out three large pots on a small wagon and I furrowed my eyebrows.

"You three can easily fit into these pots. We can sneak you out of here, no problem." The boy smiled. Iroh grinned and walked over to the pots. I hesitantly followed, still at Zuko's side.

I looked down at the pot - pitch black. I gulped and looked up at Zuko, my eyes were glossy. He looked down at me with his lips in a thin line before looking at Friend. "Ruka and I will share a pot."

"Are you sure?" Friend asked. "You'll be more comfor-"

"I'm sure." Zuko said. "Very well." Friend replied.

Friend and the boy helped Iroh into his while I helped Zuko get into ours. Once he was inside, he helped me.

Surprisingly, Zuko and I weren't as squished as I thought we'd be. They placed something over us and it was even darker in the pot. I found Zuko's hand and gave it a squeeze.

"Afraid of the dark?" He asked me in a whisper. "Something like that." I responded. "Thank you."

I felt Zuko shrug. "It's not that big of a deal."

I slightly jumped when I felt us move. It was a little wiggly, but it wasn't bad.

I sighed. "I'm afraid of being alone."

"Like... literally?"

I nodded even though he couldn't see me. "I'll tell you my life story some other time."

It's odd but I swear I saw Zuko smile.