I do not own Avatar the last airbender, I only own my Ocs
The Pao family tea house in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se has been bustling with customers since Pao hired the two refugees, the older one had a great talent for making exquisite tea. Mushi and Lee ( in reality Iroh, the dragon of the west and the banished Prince Zuko of the fire nation ) were the talk of the town. "Did you hear about the tea at Pao's? It's become amazing since those two arrived!" "That Mushi's really something." "His nephew's not bad looking either, except for that scar. Poor dear, he must have been hurt by the Fire Nation." " Do you think the Fire Nation raided their home?" "I bet my bottom that they did! That poor kid must have tried to defend his family from those murderers." "I wonder if he lost his parents..." And so rumors spreader around about Mushi and Lee, all to their advantage as they hid from the Prince's power-crazy sister Princess Azula. The group of gossipers were suddenly interrupted by a fist on their table. A large hat hid the face of the stranger cladded in green. "You spoke of tea at Pao's. Is it really good?" The group eyed each other, "um...Yes...but..." That was enough for the stranger who left them speechless and slightly shaken. The person in green brushed past the crowd and walked through the familiar path leading to Pao family tea house. Taking the large hat off, the young girl let her black long hair cascade down her shoulders as she entered the old building. She ignored the looks of the people around her and went to the front counter where the bearded earth kingdom civilian greeted her with a happy smile. "Welcome, miss! My name is Pao, owner of Pao family tea house. The best tea house in Ba Sing Se. What can I get for you?" The girl didn't speak to him with the same enthusiasm, " Hello, Pao. I would like to have a cup of your finest jasmine tea." The man merely ignored her coldness, a customer is a customer, more gold for me , was what he thought. "Mushi! A cup of your finest jasmine tea." The girl watched as the older man, Mushi, smiled and went off to the kitchen. He came back within minutes with an empty cup and a teapot. He placed the cup in front of her and poured the hot fragrant jasmine tea. He bowed, "May this tea bring warmth to the beautiful heart that matches such a lovely young miss." The sixteen year old blushed and bowed back. She took the cup with both her hands and brought it to her lips. Slowly and lovingly, she sniffed the fine aroma before taking a sip. Her eyes widened as she savoured it's taste. It was very good indeed, almost perfect, why, it reminded her of him. Her father who used to own this shop. Her father who made tea filled with love, him who was betrayed by his own assistant. She smiled, not wanting the two men to see her in her weakness, "thank you, sir. This tea did more than bring warmth to my heart, it brought back great memories of my father." "I'm sure he must be a great man. 5 copper coins please." Pao hurried her. She smirked, "actually Pao, I want to try something of yours. Make me a jasmine tea please." Pao was taken back, "B-but, Mushi made you the tea ! I can ask him to get you another if you want." "Make me the tea Pao." She said , narrowing her eyes. The crowd behind her had gone silent as they watched the two at the counter. Lee and Mushi were also watching. "Alright..." He gave a weak smile and went off to the kitchen. He came back in a few seconds with a cup in his hand. The girl swiped it off his hands and began drinking it. Before she could swallow, she spit it back out again. "You call this tea? It's nothing but HOT LEAF JUICE!" Mushi snickered at this, he remembered the day he drank Pao's tea. It really was just hot leaf juice. Pao yelled back,"if you don't like it, don't come back! I've no need for rude customers. Leave." The girl placed the cup back on the counter , " No you leave. This tea house belongs to me, not you, Pao." The crowd began to whisper at this. Pao's face reddened with rage, "what are you talking about? I've owned this shop for years!" "And before you owned it, this place belonged to the tea-loving Leong. He made tea with his heart, not with his hands. His tea-making skills gave him the life he deserved until YOU took it away from him!" The crowd gasped, Pao's eyes darted back and forth, he had to find a way to settle this without making him look bad. "Yes Leong owned this shop before, but he left this shop to me. It's mine now and forever." "No, he left this shop to you until I became old enough to run it by myself." Pao watched the girl as she scavenged for something in her bag. Out came an old piece of paper, the will of Leong the tea-maker. "How did you get that?" Pao asked furiously. "Leong is my father. I'm surprised you don't remember me, Pao . After all these years, didn't you ever think about my family or what you've done to us?" Pao didn't meet her eyes, he was about to retaliate but was cut by the girl. "You told the authorities that my family were spies for the fire nation. They took us before the King and were said to be guilty without a trial .My parents were excuted! I was sent to the fire nation, a 10 year old, I became the slave of a fire nation elite family!" Pao yelled, " your father was a fire bender and so are you!" Silence followed after him. The girl's fists began to glow and burn as her body shook with anger. Pao shrunk back behind the counter. The guards who were having tea immediately took out their swords and surround the girl. To their surprise and Pao's relief, she calmed down and the fire that burned at her fists disappeared. "Yes I am a fire bender. And so was my father. My father left the fire nation when the war started, he took refuge here in Ba Sing Se. My father pleaded with the Earth King then, he gave them permission to live and stay but under the condition that my father would give up fire bending or risk execution. He promised with his life, married an earth kingdom woman and had people trusted them and so did they. All you had to do to break the trust was to accuse them of being spies. All ... for gold." Tears began to stream down her face, "you greedy monster. how could you! My father took you in when you had no job and no home! He taught you everything he knew and treated you as family!" "He wanted to pass this shop to a stupid brainless girl! I deserved this shop! It's mine." "No, not anymore." She held out the will and took out another piece of paper, this time it had the Earth King seal on it. "King Bumi has listened to me, he personally knew my father and was the one who let m father stay and to execute them. He knew my father to be someone good, my father may have been brought up by the fire nation, but there was no fire in his heart. He has allowed me to take over this tea shop. And you, sir, are to be trialled in front of the king for false accusations!" The earth soldiers now went behind the counter and got hold of Pao. He struggled as he was led out of the building, before he left, he yelled back at the girl, "you have no idea how to run this shop! You'll be destroying your father's legacy!" She smiled, "True I don't know how to run this shop. But I do know someone who does." She turned to Mushi," my good sir, will you honor my late father and mother by helping me run this tea house with your excellent skills. I can see you have a passion for tea like my father did." Mushi grinned," Me? Thank you, miss. I would be happy to run this shop with a lady who knows her tea." "Thank you. Please take this shop as your own. I don't need gold or anything. I just want to help out with the shop and continue my father's legacy of making great tea." "I presume my nephew will be allowed to stay ?" "Of course, your nephew...?" "Lee." Zuko bowed. "It's nice to meet another youth here, Lee. My name is Yao Niang." Beautiful maiden indeed, Zuko thought to himself.
3 years from then.
"Yao Niang, the milk tea and tapioca balls are selling well! Youngsters really like it." Yao Niang smiled, "That's great Mu-I mean uncle Iroh! I can't wait to try your next creation." Iroh smiled cheekily, "By the way, we have a special guest today, Yao Niang. Why don't you go serve him? I'm sure he would prefer a beautiful maiden compared to a grizzly old man." Yao Niang laughed, "oh uncle. I'd prefer you over any boy!" The dragon of the west blushed bright red, "I think you might change your mind over our guest." The female fire bender merely chuckled and went out of the kitchen to serve the special guest as uncle iroh had said. True enough, this guest was special. "No wonder, Uncle Iroh wanted me to come out here. We don't always get Fire Lord Zuko visiting our humble tea shop very often do we?" Zuko smiled at the young woman. He gestured her to take a seat in front of him as he passed her a bouquet of fire lilies. "Thank you, Zuko." She breathed in their scent," they're lovely." "Speaking of lovely, the palace at the fire nation would really benefit from yourself." Yao Niang tilted her head in confusion, "if you need good tea, I think your uncle's a better choice than me." Zuko grumbled slightly, his eyes turned away from her as his cheeks began to grow pink. "I don't think uncle can fill in the position we need at the palace." "And what position is that?" "The Fire Lady, my wife."
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"WHAT?"
And they lived happily ever after!