Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or its characters.

Chapter 1

Walking through the streets of Ba Sing Se was perfectly safe. (If you live in the rich part, it is daytime, and you have either great security, or are a bender.) I do not live in the rich part. It is nighttime. I am neither a bender, rich enough to have security guards, or able to defend myself from a butterfly. I was also running from some douchebag trying to steal my only bag of items that I had on me and I didn't even know I was in Ba Sing Se.

I took a swift left and looked over my shoulder to see if my chaser was getting closer. When I didn't see him take the left down the alley I decided to hide knowing that I couldn't keep running with my burning lungs. I jumped into a deep crate that had a few rotten vegetables at the bottom of it. The smell made me gag for a moment before I was able to hold my breath to avoid him coming after me. I heard the footsteps running past the crate I was in. I kept still for an additional five minutes holding my shaky breath as steadily as I could. I cautiously peeked my head out from the crate and noted that there was no sign of the man. I took a relieved breath and pulled myself out of the crate.

My heart had slowed down for the first time in the past hour. I fumbled around through my bag and propped it up against the edge of the crate to pull out my iPhone. I checked for service again and found nothing. I shut off my phone hoping that restarting it would help me find some service or figure out the time. No beans. I shut it off again this time for good to save the battery. I pulled out my water bottle and drank some of it and saved the rest for later.

Frustrated tears were ready to come out but I just held them back, knowing that they served no purpose. I had no idea where I was, what time it actually was, or how I even ended up in wherever I was. The area definitely did not look like the east coast of the USA. Instead of freaking out and crying I took a moment to relax and decided it would be best to sleep until the morning and then figure out my way back home. I broke the crate into long pieces exerting my frustration into the action and propped it up against the side of the alley wall to create a mini-shelter. I pulled out my hoodie from my backpack and used it as a pillow to cushion myself from the hard dirt ground.

I woke in the early hours of the morning to the sound of a wakening city. I could hear people talking in the distance. I could hear the movement of crates and barrels being moved and transported. I stiffly retreated from my hiding place. My entire body was covered in filth. I shook out my hoodie and threw it back into my bag then brushed off my jeans and maroon sweater. I ran my fingers through my hair a few times to loosen the knots and rake out some of the dirt. I threw my brown backpack on and took off towards the cities streets hoping to find some direction back home.

The wooden structures threw me off when I took in the scenery this time with a calm and open mind instead of being overtaken by my adrenaline and fear. There were wooden carts that were being pulled by god knows what type of animal. They looked a little like emus. There were people that looked like they were of an Asian origin dressed in clothes that looked like they were from an ancient time period in an Asian country. I stuck out like a sore thumb and received many disapproving looks. Okay, just ask someone how to get back to Trenton and everything will be back to normal in no time. I'm probably in some weird part of Chinatown in Philly or something. I noticed that all of the words on signs were written in another language that I didn't know so I only kept an eye out for maybe a subway or some other sign that would let me know where I was. I saw a young man opening up a shop that seemed unapproachable so I moved on to a plump elderly man next to him who seemed friendly.

"Excuse me sir" I called out to him. Both the old man and the young turned their attention to me. The tall young man squinted his nearly gold eyes at me almost confused but held an aggression in them that made me want to move onto the next shop. The old man however changed my mind by his warm smiled and friendly eyes.

"Hello! How can we help you on this beautiful morning? Could I recommend our fresh batch of chamomile tea, it may take a few minutes seeing as we just opened but its well worth the wait" he started to walk inside. I knew I needed to save the money I had with me to get home so I politely declined despite my urge to accept.

"I'm sorry, not today. I was actually curious if you could give me directions back to Trenton, or if you had a phone I could borrow for a minute. You see I got lost somehow and my phone isn't able to pick up a signal here." I knew halfway through asking him the question that I had lost him.

"I'm sorry to disappoint but I've never heard of a place called Trenton and I don't believe we have any phones around here" the old man gave me a very apologetic look. I stared at him in disbelief.

"Could you tell me then where here actually is" I blushed knowing that I sounded either like a drunkard or a lunatic.

"You are currently in the fine city of Ba Sing Se." I almost fell to the ground when he said that. I suddenly recognized everything. The large amount of green accented clothing, the large walls surrounding the city, the odd hybred animals, and obviously the fact that I was talking to Iroh and Zuko. I was not in Chinatown, I was not in Eastern USA, I wasn't even on planet Earth. I was somehow in the world of Avatar: the Last Airbender.

I don't even think I said goodbye to them I just started walking. Nothing made sense. The world I was in wasn't cartooned yet it seemed exactly as the cartoon had portrayed it. I didn't understand exactly how I ended up in some alternate universe or how this universe could even exist seeing as how some television network made it up for children. I didn't even stop to think about the fact that I had run into probably my favorite characters from the series I just walked around the better part of the day trying to calm my frantic brain.

By the time I was finally able to sit down for a few moments the sun had almost set and I was sitting in a lush green field just outside of the bustle of the city but still inside the walls of the city limits. I removed my shoes to find that my feet were swollen from all the walking and chugged the remaining water that I had. I threw the bottle back into my bag and threw my hair up into a ponytail. I heard a rustling of the grass beside me and took no notice of it until I saw Iroh sit down next to me. His eyes were red as if he had been crying and I noticed that he was carrying a picnic basket with him, which resembled the one he had carried the day that he celebrated his sons birthday. I knew today must have been that day.

He did not look at me. He only stared ahead with a slight smile on his face. We watched the sun set together. I didn't know what to do at first. I wanted to throw my arms around him and shriek like a small girl that I was meeting such an awesome person in real life, however I lacked the motivation to do it and knew that we both needed this moment to comfort each other. When the sun had fully set I took a deep breath in and let it out.

"I am far from home, and I don't know how to get back" I said softly still not looking at him. He had always given such great advice to people on the show I hoped that he would do the same for me.

"There is a story of another world that we connect to through the spirit world. It is said that a long time ago humans traveled to that world from here by first traveling through the spirit world. Home is what they created here. Home is wherever you can find your destiny" he turned and smiled at me with wise old eyes. I smiled back and sighed. He somehow knew I wasn't from this world. The clothes were probably a give away but there is no way that he would recognize the clothes and associate them with the world I was from since he had most likely never seen an example. I was glad that I didn't have to further explain myself since I didn't know how to. I wanted to mourn for the loss of my friends back at Earth and for the loss of my normal life but knew that I could be happy here if I could wait out the war scandal and find a decent job. The world of Avatar: the Last Airbender had always seemed so mystical.

"My name is Lily" I smiled on one half of my face staring up at the new star constellations.

"It is a pleasure to meet you in the physical world Lily" he said as if we had met before. I glanced over to him for a moment confused but wasn't given time to question his odd remark and instead was helped up quickly as he pulled my upper arm to stand me up.

"It would also be my pleasure if you would take up the extra cot we have laying around in our humble apartment" he smiled "in exchange that you help out in the tea shop everyday from dusk until dawn." I thought about the offer for a moment. I wanted to refuse, feeling bad for imposing on him and Zuko but knew that for the time being I had nowhere else to sleep besides under the broken crates. I bit my lip for a moment.

"I would be honored" I picked up my backpack from the ground and began another long walk back to his apartment.

Author's Note: Thank you for reading; I hope you enjoyed. Criticism is always welcome; it is how I learn. The next two chapters are already finished and will be up soon.