A/N: Ah, you can probably tell how little I want to deal with angsty stuff rn in this fic hAHAHA. Love you all!

Also, yes, I wrote Jae-Ha's perspective and dANG IT IS HARD.

"A place to stay?" the door creaked open a fraction, allowing for light to shine on the travelers' faces as the sound of rain drizzling surrounded them. Jae-Ha's expression remained placid as the group fell silent, all eyes turning to their self-proclaimed pretty boy genius to speak.

"The cheapest room you have for seven people to stay overnight," Yoon requested immediately. The strawberry blonde glanced mindfully at the bag of coins secured to his side.

"...hm. I'm vacant. That will be one for 600 rin."

Jae-Ha stirred, about to protest at the amount, when he felt Yoon send a sharp glare at him. "Thank you," the strawberry blonde said, bobbing his head in acknowledgment of the deal. The man at the door let out a noncommittal grunt before ushering them inside. Within a few moments, each of them were handed towels by an elderly lady at the counter.

Her looks reminded Jae-Ha of Gi-Gan, and he idly wondered how the woman was doing. After the fall of Yang Kum Ji, he doubted that the woman would've been content weaving cotton or cleaning households, like many women in Awa did. Maybe she'd deal with the port. Or maybe she'd finally settle down and use her knowledge of herbs to her advantage. (Awa's apothecary, Jae-Ha recalled, had passed away several years ago.)

As he dried off his hair and quickly redid his ponytail, Jae-Ha caught Yona murmuring to herself. "The lush, green land of the Water Tribe...it's too bad. I was looking forward to seeing it, but all I see is rain…"

Jae-Ha raised an eyebrow at that statement for a moment. If it had been another noble, he might have expected for her expectations of "lush, green land" to come from textbooks. But then again, considering the stories he had heard of the Princess before her change of attitude, he doubted that she paid any serious attention to her royal tutors. Perhaps she heard something from someone: Hak or Li, maybe. "The land of water drenched in rain is rather elegant and beautiful, too," he pointed out, watching with amusement as Shin-Ah attempted to dry Ao off with a towel.

"Shisen. It's a prominent port town in the Water Tribe, too, right?" Hak asked over his shoulder, leaning over Yona to observe the rain outside.

"Yeah," Yoon confirmed. "After we went to the market, I heard a few rumors. It seems there's been some unrest on the coasts of the Water Tribe."

Yona looked away from the rain, turning to glance at Yoon. Questioningly, she commented, "I heard the people of the Water Tribe were temperate. I can't imagine there being unrest."

"There are a lot of outsiders who go in and out of port towns. It's only common for there to be a few disputes," Jae-Ha pointed out logically. He was familiar enough with such incidents: every now and then, such things occurred in Awa. After Yang Kum Ji's rise, however, most of the incidents occurred between his soldiers and the townspeople.

"Anyway, it's this rain!" Yoon waved off the subject. Behind him, Shin-Ah and Zeno casually stripped off their shirts, Kija blinking innocently beside them. "We probably won't be able to move any further, so let's get some unrest."

Yona coughed, drawing attention to her. "By the way, I also want to take off my drenched clothes, so get out for just a bit."

Jae-Ha couldn't help the grin that snuck on his face as he felt Hak yank on his ponytail, the rest of the boys already exiting the room. The green haired man couldn't help but smirk when he noticed light pink dusting both Yoon and Kija's cheeks.

How cute, he reflected, resisting the urge to ruffle the youngsters' heads. Ah, now I feel old. To distract himself, he casually asked, "Hak, why don't you go help her change?"

"Her fists would send me flying even if I did it out of jest," Hak deadpanned.

Jae-Ha snickered. "I'm envious," he said mournfully. "Yona wouldn't do something like that to me…"

"What's wrong?"

Jae-Ha twitched. Am I a child? "Nothing." Suddenly, an idea struck him. Quickly, a mischievous glint appeared in his eyes as he started casually, "Oh yeah, Hak…"

"Yeah?"

"Since we can't leave this place anyway, why don't we go outside for a bit?"

Hak was obviously sensing something fishy about the situation. "Where to?" He asked suspiciously.

"The red-light district," Jae-Ha murmured into the black haired warrior's ears, taking delight in seeing Hak's expression shift into shock and traumatized horror for a miniscule second before reverting back to his deadpan face. Jae-Ha cleared his throat, an idiotic smile spread on his lips. "Speaking of the Water Tribe, it's famous for having graceful, elegant ladies! Since we're here, we adults ought to indulge in—"

"I'm not going."

Jae-Ha snickered again. He really was too easy.

"I'm well aware you whole-heartedly pour all your love on Yona, but it's unhealthy to restrain yourself so badly~"

"Shut up or I'll make those eyes of yours droop even more."

"Uwaaaaaah! Don't come here! EEEEEEEK!"

Li-Hua shivered for a moment, casting a glance at the screaming man at the right side of the road. After several days of weary travel, she had managed to make it into the Water Tribe. She had been unsure about her course of action at first: although she agreed to reunite with the group in the Water Tribe, she wasn't sure where they'd be. The black haired woman inwardly cursed herself for that oversight.

She had finally decided to travel all the way to the coastal side of the Water Tribe, figuring that Yona would eventually travel to the coast for some reason or another. As she traveled through the Water Tribe, it was easy enough to discern that something was off about several of the towns she visited. In particular, the towns closer to the coast were littered with drug addicts.

Li-Hua had gotten used to seeing dead bodies after serving as a soldier for so long, but it was a completely different story to see a dead body floating in a canal with townspeople casually walking past it. She pursed her lips. There was just something so wrong about these towns.

"Don't touch me!" A woman shrieked, and immediately Li-Hua's attention turned towards the sound of the commotion to ensure that there wasn't any harassing going on. Instead, with a single cursory scan, Li-Hua could deduce that her initial hypothesis had been wrong. Red eyes, coughing, discolored nails and teeth...the woman, dressed haphazardly in ragged clothing, was definitely a drug addict. An older man who must have been her father pleaded with her to come outside, but the woman was still latched firmly to the doorway of the house, refusing to budge.

"Excuse me?" She stopped a young woman who was passing by with a basket of groceries. The woman, although slightly annoyed, paused and turned to her. Lowering her voice, Li-Hua asked quietly, "I'm a traveler. I've noticed that there seems to be a...drug problem going on around parts like these. What can you tell me about this drug?"

The woman's eyebrows narrowed at the subject, but glancing into Li-Hua's eyes, she probably saw that the black haired woman wouldn't give up. "It's called nadai," she revealed. "It's smuggled through coastal towns from Southern Kai. Right after taking it, you feel immense pleasure and your pain is dulled...or at least, that's what I heard. But little by little, you start seeing hallucinations, feeling pain wrecking your entire body...eventually, you just go crazy. If you fall to nadai even once, you'll keep wanting to get it. No matter what."

The woman snorted. "Listen, girl. You don't look dumb, I'll tell you that much. Hightail it out of here while you still can."

"Then why don't you?" Li-Hua couldn't help but ask curiously, and the woman gave her a dubious look.

"Despite everything, this place," the woman jabbed a thumb behind her and continued, "is still my home. I can't abandon it. Besides, as long as you know who and where to stay away from, it ain't that bad."

"I see. Thank you for your time," Li-Hua dipped her head in gratitude, the woman rolling her eyes slightly and nodding before picking up her basket of groceries and hurrying off.

Nadai, huh? Li-Hua had no doubt that Yona's group would probably run into some kind of trouble dealing with the drug. Being the self sacrificial people they were, she also had no doubt that the group would try to stay and help.

Well, shit.

She had to get moving before one of the idiots accidentally downed some of the drug.

(Unfortunately, somewhere else in the Water Tribe at the exact same moment, Jae-Ha had already been offered a drink by a trembling young girl.)

"Shisen Port, huh?" Li-Hua commented idly. Glancing at the falcon on her shoulder, she gave it a small smile. "Thanks for sending me the note, but I think Soo-Won probably needs my reply by now. Can't have all the Generals kicking up a fuss about me being a traitor, or the like."

But still, for Soo-Won to request for her to look into trivial manners like a rebellious girl...well, she supposed he had his reasons. She glanced down at the parchment again, rereading the last few sentences again. 'I get the feeling you two would get along, from what I've heard of Lady Lily's personality. General Joon-Gi is getting a little anxious, since he's still over here sorting out matters at the Fire Tribe. He says his daughter might try something reckless. If you don't mind...please watch over her.'

"It's always the female nobles," Li-Hua said quietly, chuckling. If Lady Lily was anything like Yona, though, Li-Hua figured that she would be alright to talk to. Knowing the red haired princess's luck, Li-Hua guessed that she'd probably stumble upon them by chance soon enough. Her feet finally stopped as she reached her destination, sighing and staring up at a house. "This was where Lady Lily's bodyguards said they'd be staying…"

She knocked twice, expecting for someone to open the door. After several moments of silence, Li-Hua mumbled a quiet apology before slipping a hairpin out of her hair and easily unlocking the door. "Hello?" She called, but the black haired woman didn't hear any response. A...kidnapping, perhaps? Li-Hua's senses were fully alert, now.

She stalked through the house warily, and finally came across a dimly lit room. Walking towards the candle in the center of the room, she spotted a note and quickly read it.

'Lady Lily, if you return, please stay here. We have gone to search for you. -Tetora'

"She's missing?" Li-Hua cursed, immediately kicking off to her feet. It was dark by now, and the streets were hardly safe. She had to find the noblewoman quickly, before something happened to her. The black haired warrior exited the house, glancing from side to side for a moment to decide her best course of action.

Finally, her eyes slid upwards towards the rooftops. She considered the notion for a second before discarding it. Li-Hua didn't have enough time to pull off a Jae-Ha, she had to check to make sure Lady Lily wasn't in any grave danger as of yet.

Well, the first place to check was obviously the more seedy areas of the port town. Li-Hua made a beeline to the beach, where she knew most of the drug addicts hung around. There were plenty of late house bars around that area, and as long as Lady Lily wasn't there, she'd probably be somewhat safe.

Nothing, except for two tents and several shady looking people with colorful hair—

...wait.

"Li-Hua!" She had barely a moment to register her name being called when she nearly was thrown to the ground due to the force of a small body slamming into her. She groaned, feeling hands wrap around her waist, staggering and managing to stay on her feet.

Groggily, she identified the perpetrator. "...Zeno?"

"Zeno's so glad to see that this young miss is unharmed!" The blonde beamed.

At the commotion, several other people poked their heads out from the tent.

"Li-Hua?" "Ah, the hag?" "Li-Hua!" "Ah, Li~"

"Personal space," Li-Hua snarled, managing to avoid a hug from Jae-Ha despite Zeno still clinging onto her. Most of the tension in her body had released at the sight of the group in front of her. "This wasn't exactly how I planned for our reunion to go, but…"

'Please watch over her.'

"Ah, shoot. I forgot completely," Li-Hua cursed, mentally slapping herself. With great effort (Zeno was strong, despite how he looked), she managed to worm free of the Yellow Dragon's embrace. She apologized, "Sorry, but I've been entrusted with the task of watching over someone. I don't suppose you guys have seen an aristocratic looking girl?"

"Nope."

"I don't think so?"

"Nu-uh."

Each of the group members shook their heads before freezing and turning to Yona. "...wait a minute…"

"Ah, well, we did meet a young girl with long black hair," Yona said helpfully. "She had two bodyguards who were worried about her."

"She went home, right?" Li-Hua demanded, grabbing Yona by the shoulders.

"Oi, hag, watch it," Hak warned, and Li-Hua blinked for a moment. Then, regaining her composure, her arms dropped to her sides.

"Sorry, I just have a lot on my mind at the moment," Li-Hua apologized.

"It's fine," Yona smiled, her amethyst eyes softening. "I'm glad to see that you're not hurt. We have to catch up, I'm sure there's a lot you can tell us about the Fire Tribe. We've heard the rumors, but they're not always the most informative. Some...some even said you died."

"Well, lucky~ it seems as if Li hasn't died!" Jae-Ha pointed out wisely.

"Never would've noticed," Hak remarked dryly.

"I'll talk more with you tomorrow if you're still here, I promise," Li-Hua confided. "I just need to ensure Lady Lily's safety first. I owe it to Soo-Won."

The atmosphere seemed to have dropped several degrees for a moment before Li-Hua coughed awkwardly, adding, "Annnnnd General Joon-Gi. He voted in my favor. Um, yeah. Sorry. Love you all...except Jae-Ha. Later."

And, as she turned tails and literally hightailed it out of there as fast as she possibly could, Li-Hua was struck by a revelation:

You, Li-Hua, are both a dork and a coward.

A/N: You can really tell how I wanted to create a more humorous/random/cheerful atmosphere.

(I'm trash. This chapter is trash. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm sorry LMAO.)

CHEERS TO A NON-ANGSTY REUNION. I NEVER THOUGHT I WOULD WRITE SUCH A THING.

Still love you all. Dying and drowning in Summer classes now rip. xoxoxo

Until next time!