ZUTARA WEEK 2018, Day 3: TEA
Unexpected Exper-tea-se
DISCLAIMER: Avatar: the Last Airbender belong to Bryke, but Zutara Week belongs to all Zutarians. Maiko and Kataang do not exist in my stories.
NOTE:
I love this prompt but it was tricky to write for it because I've basically been writing for it for years now. I dug up five stories from previous Zutara weeks that all feature tea and so I had to come up with something new.
Writing this gave me an excuse to do some research on tea, which is my favorite hot drink anyway, and now I can say that writing fanfiction has also given me some useful information.
This is set sometime after the series where these two are just having a casual stroll around Ba Sing Se before Zuko's coronation. Nothing much happens other than a lighthearted bonding activity but this was still fun to write.
And Iroh had to appear because no story about tea can ever be complete without good old Uncle Iroh.
Enjoy!
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"Elderflowers contain many immune-boosting compounds that can effectively treat winter colds, coughs, fevers, and the flu," Zuko declared knowledgeably, "Elderflower tea can help remove toxins from the body."
Katara stared at him, unable to hide her astonishment. Impressed was an understatement for what she felt at that moment.
"When you've lived with Uncle Iroh for years," Zuko said sheepishly, "You'll learn a thing or two about tea, whether you like it or not."
She had decided to do some extensive studies on the healing properties of certain herbs. And since they were in the grand bazaar of Ba Sing Se, the world's largest open air market, with spices and herbs from all over the Four Nations, Katara was determined to make the most of the opportunity.
Katara never imagined that she would be getting healing advice from a firebender, and certainly not from the prince of the Fire Nation. But she had to admit that Zuko knew his medicinal herbs. While she had some basic knowledge of the common cures, she was not too well-versed in the different varieties of medicinal teas. But she was glad that she would have someone to consult about these now.
"That explains your expertise then," Katara said with amusement, "I'm sure your uncle would be glad to know you're putting his training to good use."
"And don't forget," Zuko added proudly, "I used to work in the most popular tea house in Ba Sing Se. I had to know the menu by heart or else Uncle would have disowned me. And I couldn't afford to be banished again."
Katara was surprised that he could make light of such a thing but she was slowly learning to appreciate his strange sense of humor since it was not unlike hers.
The more they explored the herb and tea market, the more impressed she became. Zuko recognized practically every tea leaf or flower that they came across and knew their healing properties immediately.
"Peppermint tea helps when you're bloated," Zuko said, "Green tea helps with slow metabolism, ginger tea helps with nausea, chamomile helps with insomnia, and lemon balm helps with stress."
"Let me guess which one you had to drink the most," Katara teased.
"I hated it at first but it was an acquired taste," Zuko admitted shyly.
They moved to a section that sold particularly aromatic teas and many of which where taken from flowers. Katara grew even more fascinated by the fact that some of the flowers she had admired for their beauty and fragrance could also be made into healing teas.
Zuko pointed to some white flowers called cardamom. "When you dry the flowers and seeds of the cardamom plant, you can brew a tea that helps with stomach pain, indigestion, and nausea."
They went to another stall and he pointed at a spring of lavender. "You can use lavender for treating anxiety, coughs, colds, stress , and insomnia," he explained, "Uncle tried it on me, of course, but I had been too stubborn to admit that it worked at the time. But id does."
He went on to describe the hibiscus flower tea as one that could lower high blood pressure, reduce cholesterol, and strengthen the immune system.
All in all, it was a very enlightening afternoon, and Katara found she had another reason to enjoy Zuko's company. No one in the group was more supportive of her healing abilities and no one so far had been able to share such extensive knowledge to her. She knew that he was more than grateful for her healing his injuries but she had not expected him to want to spend the day walking around a market with her.
They ended up buying several bags of herbs and teas, while laughing and talking about their adventures. It had been a long time since either of them had the chance to take a break from all their responsibilities and they were both glad that they were doing it together.
Eventually, they had to drop by the Jasmine Dragon, where Iroh welcome them warmly. There was a twinkle in the old man's eyes when he saw all they had bought at the bazaar.
"Your nephew has become quite the expert in teas," Katara told Iroh, "You should be very proud of him."
"Well, I'm glad all my years of training did not go to waste," Iroh replied with a grin. Zuko rolled his eyes at this.
They showed him all that they had bought and he nodded with approval. He also noted all the significant looks exchanged between the two and how easily his nephew smiled when in the company of the waterbender. Iroh hoped for a happy outcome of all this.
He also felt quite mischievous at the moment. So he decided to tease his nephew.
"Zuko, I see you missed out on some of the essentials," he said in mock disappointment.
Zuko looked at him in confusion. "What are you talking about, Uncle?"
"Didn't you tell Katara about the virtues of catuaba, marapuama, and damiana?" the old man said slyly.
"Uncle!" Zuko protested, blushing furiously, causing the older firebender to burst into laughter.
Katara looked at them in confusion, proving that she had no knowledge of aphrodisiac teas.