CHAPTER ONE: REBIRTH
Ba Sing Se is probably in its most beautiful during springtime. The air is warm and crisp, and the fragrance of freshly bloomed flowers enveloped the city. It was usually a lazy season for many, for it was the chance to relax; to stop and smell the flowers. But today, the whole city is abuzz doing the usual business, the usual chores in a very happy pace – it's as if everyone was rushing towards something. Perhaps it was because of the news that the Avatar was in their presence. Within the walls of Ba Sing Se, there was no talk of war. Such an event could only mean a celebration.
Amongst the heavy crowd is a girl, brown-haired and fair-skinned, with a basket of chrysanthemums in her hand. Unlike everyone else, she spent her time looking at the sky – arguing with herself whether one cloud was shaped like a dog or a bunny. Without taking her eyes off the said cloud, she walked around the streets. Hardly anyone noticed her… They were all too busy minding their own business.
"I think it looks like a…" she muttered.
Just before she could say another word, the girl fell to the ground, and so did her basket. The girl furrowed her eyebrows and rolled up her sleeves.
"Look where you're…!" Her sentence was once again interrupted upon seeing who had bumped into her. His eyes were fixated on her; he had no expression, no emotions. She would have poked his eyes and punched him to death - but for some reason, those eyes stopped her from doing so. It wasn't the obvious scar, but those eyes… Compared to his face, those eyes were deep: they were an endless cyclone of pain and anger. His eyes were mad enough to rob her off from her own emotions. Instead, she felt weak and silenced.
"Lee! Help her up, quickly!" A plump, old man exclaimed from afar while running towards their direction. The man called Lee offered a hand to the girl without even a single glance at her. Irritated by his arrogance, the girl pushed his hand away and got up by herself.
"Ow!" She twitched at the pain as she stood up. But seeing that she caught Lee's attention once again, the girl raised her chin up and hmphed at him.
"Young lady, are you alright?" the plump old man finally arrived.
"I'm alright, sir" the girl softened and flashed a weak smile, despite the pain from her ankle. She must have twisted something from the fall.
"What did you do this time?" The old man questioned Lee.
"It was an accident, uncle. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going" he answered. With this, the young girl narrowed her eyes at Lee again. If only he were a real gentleman, he would have apologized and helped her up anyway - regardless of the fact that it was her fault.
Seeing the girl's reaction, the old man quickly turned to her and apologized. "Forgive my nephew. We just arrived here a few days ago. It's been a challenge for the both of us adjusting to this new place."
Hearing this, the girl forgot about the fall, about Lee's arrogance.
"It's okay; I know how hard it is. My first few days in Ba Sing Se weren't so smooth sailing either." she replied, recalling those days when she would get lost around the winding streets of the city. The life of a refugee is almost like living in a shell. One could get lost within himself, even if he is armored. The greatest enemy one could ever have is himself anyway.
"Uncle, I know you'd love to chat but we still have other things to attend to." Lee impatiently reminded the old man. The old man bowed to her, bidding her goodbye. The girl did the same in return. And the three of them separated paths. For a brief moment back there, the world had stopped.
The girl looked at her feet surrounded by the chrysanthemums she had in her basket earlier. Limping, she found her way to pick them up again. It seems that she will not be able to catch up with the city's pace today.
The two sat by the streets with an empty can before them, waiting for kind souls to drop a penny or two in to it. It has been days since the both of them arrived the city. And just like any refugee, the both of them needed a place to be safe from war – especially now that they are officially in the most wanted list of the Fire Nation. And what better place is there to be than within the great walls of Ba Sing Se?
"Uncle, I can no longer stand this treatment!" the younger one exclaimed. "These people should be the ones begging for our mercy!"
"Zuko, be calm. These people are very kind" the old man said calmly, waving at one passerby to another.
"I am Zuko, crown prince of the Fire Nation – I'm going to find us a better place to stay" Zuko stood up from his seat on the ground. "I'll be back before sun down" he said and walked off. His uncle, still sitting with his can, waited patiently for his penny.
A few minutes passed since Zuko left, a thin, scrawny looking man passed by and dropped in a few pennies into the can. In his other hand was a beautiful painting of a chrysanthemum. It was very detailed and in a joyful tint of yellow. It looked very expensive, even from afar.
"That's a very fine painting you have there" the old man said after thanking him for the small donation.
"Indeed, and I got it for free at the local tea shop too! The painter is there almost every day!" the scrawny looking man said with a huge smile on his face. He was lucky enough to possess such a painting for free; even the Earth King would envy him. At the bottom right of the painting says "Ju Hua", it must be the name of the artist.
Tea and paintings seemed to pique the interest of the old man. In fact, they are two of his favorite things. "Where is this tea shop, you say?" he asked.
"It's quite near from here. Just turn right at the corner and you'll find it. It's really hard to miss" the thin man replied and left. Without any question, the old man went his way to visit this tea shop. If this person gives free expensive paintings, maybe he'd be lucky to have a free cup of tea.
The tea shop looked quaint. The structure looked plain on the outside, square and nothing special – except that it is adorned by very lovely potted flowers. There were pots of carnation and roses, a bunch of lilacs and many other kinds. Upon entering, the old man was welcomed by the fragrant scent of jasmine tea. He sniffed the air with utmost satisfaction.
"Sir!" a familiar voice called out to him. He looked around to spot a familiar face and found the girl his nephew bumped into earlier.
"Oh hello, I never thought I'd meet you again very, very soon" the old man told her, followed by a hearty chuckle. The girl smiled.
"Would you like to have a cup of tea?" she offered.
"No, no, I should be the one offering you"
"Please, sir. My tea shop is always welcome for friends – have a seat"
"Your – your tea shop?" the old man was both shocked and impressed as he sat on the chair opposite her. He expected someone much, much older to be the owner of such an exquisite tea shop. But instead, a girl almost the age of his nephew was managing the shop single handedly.
"Yes sir, I started 2 years after moving in to Ba Sing Se" the girl said humbly. From her table, she took a clean cup and poured some freshly brewed jasmine tea. The cup and its partnered tea pot both looked intricately designed.
"That's quite impressive of you to be working so hard at a very young age". The girl blushed at the compliment. On her table was a set of paints in different colors and used brushes that came in different sizes. Slowly, the girl stamped her insignia on a painting of a lovely purple wisteria. It read: "Ju Hua".
"You – you are that artist too?" the old man was flabbergasted.
"I'm sorry?" the girl said, puzzled.
"I bumped into someone a while ago who said he got his painting here for free. I was curious to see who it was because the painting looked breath taking…" the old man rambled on.
"Oh, that guy! I gave him the painting because it was his wife's birthday. He came here devastated because he could not afford an expensive gift for his wife."
"Where's your nephew?" she asked, noticing that he was missing.
"He went searching today for a place for us to live in. With the money we have, it seems that we cannot afford to live luxuriously while in Ba Sing Se" the old man answered in all honesty. He wondered if he should say such things – after all, it was about very personal matters. Carefully, he raised his cup of tea and breathed on it.
"I'd be delighted if you and your nephew would stay here. This tea shop is too big for me and I'd like to have some company too" the girl offered. At this point, it didn't matter if she was inviting his cruel and arrogant nephew into the house. She had already said that the tea house welcomes friends.
It seems as if sun down came too early. The sky was dark and brooding and the rain fell hard onto the earth. It looks like it is going to rain the whole night.
"Uncle, where are you?" Zuko muttered to himself, striving to get himself sheltered from the rain.
"Nephew!" the old man called out running to him with an umbrella.
"Where were you?" Zuko exclaimed.
"Come, I got us a place to stay" and the two hurried off to the tea shop.
By the time the two of them reached the tea house, the girl had already opened the door for them to enter. "Hurry or you'll get sick" she told them. As both uncle and nephew entered the tea shop, the girl handed them towels to dry up from the rain. There was no one inside; they all probably went back to their homes because of the bad weather.
"It's you" Zuko said.
"Yes, it's me. Welcome to your new home" she replied without enthusiasm.
"Uncle?" the young man looked at his uncle with full of question.
"That's right, Lee – this young lady is offering us a place to stay. We should be thankful. If it weren't for her, we would be swimming in the rain by now."
"But we don't even know anything about her!" Zuko said factually, thinking that all this might be some sort of plan to have them arrested by the Fire Nation.
"Oh that's right – we never introduced each other formally!" the old man laughed. "I know that your artist name is Ju Hua, but I'd like to know your real name?"
"My name is Ji Su" she replied shyly.
"Ji Su, this is my nephew Lee. My name is Mushi… But maybe it's best you call me Uncle" he said, with embarrassment because of his fake name.
Ji Su raised his eyebrow at Zuko. Calling Zuko's uncle, uncle would be really awkward – that would either mean that they are siblings or that they are married. "Now that all that is settled, please excuse me, I'd like to have a nice warm bath" Zuko's uncle proclaimed, giving the two some space for them to know each other.
As Ji Su was tending to the wet umbrellas, Zuko noticed that she was limping.
"Ow!" Ji Su exclaimed. Right before she could fall to the ground once again, Zuko caught her. Her eyes were drawn into his again for the second time in one day. Only this time, the cyclone's gone. Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink for a bit as she pushed Zuko away from her. "That was the second time today" she said.
"What do you mean? The first time you fell to the ground" replied Zuko.
"That's not what I meant – I mean... Ah, forget about it" Ji Su rambled. She couldn't have possibly said that it was the second time she looked into his eyes like that. It would come off weird. Quietly, she sat on a chair and started pouring tea into two cups. It was awfully silent between them, like two warring countries suddenly noticing how attractive the other party was.
"You're so weird" Zuko broke the ice.
"What's that supposed to mean" Ji Su closed her eyes, breathing onto her tea.
"I thought it was a dog. It had a long tail"
"You were stalking me, weren't you?" she hissed at him, remembering the incident this morning.
"You were the one who invited uncle and me to live here."
Ji Su hmphed at him again. It was true, she was guilty. But she didn't invite his uncle to live at the tea shop just because of him. She really wanted to help.
"I came to Ba Sing Se because it wasn't safe outside. But even with that, I know I can't live here forever. I still have something to finish… I'm not here to stay." The young man narrated, feeling the scar on his face. Ji Su softened upon hearing this. Everyone who comes to Ba Sing Se wishes to be safe. Most people in the city would never dare to go beyond those walls until the war is over… But he was different.
"I know. I look at the skies sometimes because it's the only thing I could reach beyond the city walls" she said.
"What tea is this?" Zuko asked, raising his cup.
"Chrysanthemum tea" she replied, taking a sip from her own cup. "It's a common ingredient in most ancient medicines. Many say that it has healing powers… It could heal even spiritual pain"
"Spiritual pain" Zuko muttered to himself. Maybe he was hurting, and maybe he needed some anesthesia to ease everything. It's been such a long time since he was home, since he was crown prince - and all that was gone because of his failure to capture the Avatar. Maybe his hatred was consuming him.
"Take it as a rebirth, now that you're in Ba Sing Se" Ji Su said.
Another moment of silence passed between them.
"I'm sorry about your ankle" he said; he's a gentleman after all.
Author's Note: Hello, reader. As you may have noticed, I based this fic on the original series' timeline… That part when Iroh and Zuko went to Ba Sing Se, I intend to squeeze these scenes in to the original but do expect the twists to come in later. I hoped you guys liked this! I'd appreciate some reviews. Thank you!