The steady beat of her heart rang in his ear, in her sleep, she always held his head against her chest. He would have slithered out of her grasp if her fingers weren't deep in the mane that he called hair. It was getting pretty long and he had continued to forget to get it cut. Even if he had gotten it cut, he still enjoyed the feeling of being held close against her chest. He hadn't had this closeness with a girl since his childhood when his Mother held him to sooth his cries. Her grip loosened on him and she rolled onto her back, her chest now exposed to the sun's rays peeking into the room, as if trying to get a look at her. Pushing himself up, he rolled his stiff neck, his silky hair moving along his back and shoulders. Moving off the bed, his bare feet quietly slapped against the hardwood floor as he left the room and walked into his bathroom. He was glad that today was a day where his Uncle and sister weren't going to be home until the afternoon, there was no worry about either of them walking in on them. He shut the door behind him and stared at himself in the mirror. His fingers traced the scar below his golden eye, the only flaw on his otherwise perfect skin. Staring at the long hair that came down past his shoulders, he felt the need to cut it now. The hair that took him hours to keep clean and nice, the only reminder of his Father was now getting bothersome. His hand dug through his drawers and found a pair of scissors while his other hand gathered his hair as if to put it in a ponytail. One side of him told him not to go with such a drastic haircut while the other side cheered him on. He gave into the latter and cut his hair, tossing the remains into the garbage can. Looking through his drawers again, he found his head clippers and cleaned up his hair. Once he was done, he looked at his short hair, running his hand over it. "Woah," He turned to see her standing in the doorway, the door slightly ajar. Her nutmeg colored hair going down her back and his pillow covering her exposed areas, her stormy orbs looking at him with amazement, "You cut it all off…"

He set down the clippers and looked back into the mirror, "Yeah…"

She approached him and looked at him in the mirror, "You look even more handsome, you can really pull off this look."

"Thanks," He smiled. She crossed the bathroom to the shower, pulling the knob for the water to come out. Looking over her left shoulder at him, she gave him a wink. "Now?" He asked, she bit her bottom lip and nodded. Leaving the hair in the sink, he followed her into the shower and shut the curtain behind him. She let the water wet her hair down as his arms went around the small of her back, he placed a soft kiss on her neck, "How did you sleep?"

"I slept with you, so it was wonderful," She gasped when he pulled her closer to his body. He tucked an offending strand of hair from her face behind her ear and kissed her on the lips. "So what made you want to get rid of your hair?"

They switched positions and he let the water wash away any small bits of hair left, "I don't know, it was kind of a spur of the moment type thing and I thought it would be better if it was only my girlfriend who had long hair." She smiled at his joke and gave him another kiss.

"Can I be honest with you?" He nodded, "I didn't really like your long hair, though I could give you a yank if you were being mean." She ran her hand over his head, "You look a lot better with shorter hair and you don't look like an evil villain from a Kung-Fu movie anymore." A yelp escaped her when he picked up and pressed her against the tiled wall, his hands cupping her well-toned butt.

He pressed her forehead against hers, "You think you're so funny don't you?" He was surprised her wide smile didn't crack her perfect face.

"I do," She flirtatiously answered, pressing her lips against his. There was a brief silence as they stared into each other's eyes, "I love you Zuko…" Her heart felt air born as she spoke those words to him. Though their relationship had passed many levels of intimacy and feelings, neither of them had seriously uttered those words to each other. They remained still in each other's grasp as the words processed through Zuko's mind, she could see the usual 'deer in the headlights' look he got when surprised. He was always prepared for everything, like his Uncle's usual confusing advice, his sister's negative attitude and the attacks of his opponents in Martial Arts, but when it came to her, he was never prepared.

His eyes blinked a couple times as it seemed that he came back to reality. He kissed her one more time, "I love you too Ty, I truly mean it." Ty Lee smiled and kissed him back, deepening the kiss. A moan erupted from her throat as he pressed himself into her, a stirring from both of their loins were brought to their attention. He looked down between them and back at her, "Do you…"

"I would love to, but I have to hang out with your sister this afternoon," She pouted, but her usual smile quickly returned, "But you can wash my hair for me!"

He rolled his eyes, "Same old Ty Lee." Setting her down, he grabbed some shampoo as she went under the water. Lathering the creamy tan substance between his hands, he ran his fingers through her wet hair, making sure to massage the scalp, she moaned softly. "What are you and my sister up to today?" Zuko made small talk.

She shrugged, "I think she wants to go shopping for the beach trip on Thursday."

"You girls are going to be there for four days and you all have enough clothes for a full year," Zuko sighed, he went down her long hair, the end going down to her lower back. "Why do you need to get more clothes?"

"For the cute boys of course," She answered in her usual bubbly voice, his hands stopped and she realized what she said, "I meant for your sister and Mai, you know I would never cheat on you."

He finished with her hair and stuck his hands under the water to wash them off, "Yeah, it's just always so great to see guys always trying to impress you…" He grumbled.

Ty Lee smiled as she rinsed her hair, "You are so jealous Zuko, you need to relax sometimes, let loose. Maybe you can come with us to the beach, I can try to talk Azula into it and we can share a room," She sang the last couple words. "It will be great to fall asleep in your arms every night and actually wake up in them."

Zuko grabbed his own shampoo and put a little in his hand, massaging it into his scalp, "As much as I would love to, no. I'm not a beach type of guy." They switched positions again and he washed the soap out, "Just…promise me that you won't get drunk and do something stupid, okay?"

"Of course Zuko," She smiled, "I don't drink that much anyways."

"I know, but when you're with my sister, she always seems to have some control over you," He said as she soaped herself up, his eyes raking over her beautiful lithe form. "She has a way of talking you into things you usually wouldn't ever do."

Ty Lee handed him the soap, "Like when she talked me into dating you?" She smiled as they moved again.

Zuko ran the bar of soap over his arm, "That's different. You don't regret being with me. Playing volleyball in the small bikini with all those guys around, now that's a different story."

She frowned, "But you were right there and covered me up."

"And now I won't be," Zuko finished and washed himself off. He shut off the shower and reached out and grabbed a towel off one of the hooks, wrapping it around Ty Lee's body, "I just want to make sure nothing stupid happens."

She gave him a kiss, "I promise nothing will happen." Ty Lee nearly skipped back into his room while he grabbed his own towel and dried himself off. Tying the towel tightly around his waist, he followed her, but stopped when he saw himself in the mirror. It was strange to see himself so differently now from just a small change, but he looked like a completely different person. He shrugged it off and went into his room to get dressed.

He bounced the ball twice before jumping up and letting the ball roll off his fingers, it went perfectly into the hoop, the satisfying sound of the connection of rubber and net met his ears. It bounced perfectly back to him and he bounced the ball again. The door opened and his sister led the small group of girls out of the door, it was like watching an army of heiresses going to war, their bags swayed at the same time, their heels clicked at the same time and smug look on their faces were the same. The only two that stood out were Ty Lee and Mai, neither of them owned a designer label piece of clothing nor did they have giant purses. Ty Lee had her hair up in her usual braid, making him miss how cute she looked when she wore it down. "Hello dumb-dumb," His sister smiled. "Is it laundry day already?" He looked down at his black tank top and red shorts.

"I'm playing basketball?" Zuko said with an upward inflection, "Why would I wear nice clothing?"

Azula pulled at the fabric of the tank top, "At least you could have bought something a little more expensive than this." The girls behind her snickered, except for Mai and Ty Lee.

"I got these for like 10 bucks, it was a great deal and last time I checked, they don't make Prada basketball shorts," Zuko said. Bouncing the ball twice again, he shot the ball and it went in again. "Plus, I don't feel like draining Mom and Dad's inheritance money."

Her face dropped, "That's not funny."

"It wasn't supposed to be," Zuko replied. The girls continued past him, he gave Ty Lee a kiss as she went by and got into Azula's car. It quickly peeled out as he took another shot, the ball hit the side of the metal rim and rolled down his driveway. Zuko sighed and jogged down the driveway to get the ball as it made its way into the road, he stopped it with his foot before the moving van in front of him hit it. The man in the van gave him a glance before pulling into the driveway to Zuko's left. A smaller car followed behind, an older woman was in the driver's seat with a young girl, around his age, sat in the back, a bored look on her face. She noticed him as they drove by, her eyes lighting up when she made eye contact with him. They parked beside the van as he picked up his ball and went back to his hoop. After a couple more shots, he couldn't help but turn around and look at the new family. The Father brought in the heavy loads while the Mother emptied the car, the girl with the olive green eyes leaned against the car door, playing with her plaits, her eyes glanced over to him, but quickly went back to the ground. He shrugged it off and went back to playing basketball, he couldn't help himself but look back a couple times at the girl. She occasionally helped her parents bring a couple things inside, but most of the time she stayed outside and watched him. It was only a couple minutes later that his Uncle's beat up car pulled up into the driveway, the graying man somehow maneuvered his big gut out of the car and straightened his shirt.

"Hello Nephew," The older man smiled, "How are you this fine afternoon?"

He bounced the ball a couple times, "Uh, good I guess. Why are you so happy Uncle?"

"Because it's a great day Zuko," He replied, Iroh deeply inhaled, "Summer time is upon us and it rarely comes by Zuko, make sure you stop to smell the Fire Lilies." The older man noticed his eyes somewhere else and looked behind him to see the family moving their things into the house, "Nephew, have you welcomed our new neighbors to the neighborhood yet?"

Zuko shook his head, "No, why would I?"

Iroh sighed in disappointment, "Nephew, you have to welcome our neighbors and be kind and courteous. Remember, 'Anyone can buy a good house, but good neighbors are priceless'."

He cocked an eyebrow, "You are seriously just a book of those aren't you?"

"Come on Zuko, let's go introduce ourselves." Iroh led the way, Zuko stuck the ball in the small space between the back board and rim and followed him. As they arrived the Father came out with the girl with the olive green eyes followed. "Hello neighbors, welcome to the neighborhood." Iroh smiled, "I'm Iroh Agni."

The man extended his hand to meet Iroh's, "Thank you, I'm Bo Cheng and this is my daughter, Jin." She looked at Zuko briefly before looking away again. "Jin say 'hello' to our neighbors."

"Hello," She nodded to them and grabbed her things from the car then went back into the house.

Mr. Cheng sighed deeply, "I'm sorry for my daughter, she wasn't very happy about moving here. She left her good-for-nothing boyfriend two states over." Zuko raised an eyebrow at the man, he apparently was very open to people he had just met. "I'm sorry, where are my manors, is this your son?"

Iroh let out a laugh, his large stomach jiggling with his laughter, "No, I am much too old to have a son this young." He put his hand on Zuko's shoulder, he eyed his Uncle's hand. "Zuko here is my nephew and his sister Azula is currently away at the moment, but I'm sure you'll see her in due time."

"Well it's nice to meet you Zuko," He stuck his hand out to the teen, Zuko eyed it for a second before shaking it.

"Would you like some help with your things Mr. Cheng?" Iroh asked, Zuko nearly growled as he saw what was coming, "I'm sure my Nephew would love to help."

Much to Zuko's relief, he shook his head, "Thank you for offering, but my son is on his way here and will be here to help. My worry is currently on my daughter though, she has trouble putting herself out there to meet new people, you know?" Zuko did his best to not roll his eyes, this man would give away his deepest secrets if you asked nicely enough.

"Zuko, how about you and Jin spend some time together?" Iroh asked him, he went ridged, no matter what it seemed that Iroh could get him into things he didn't want to do. "Whenever she is free, send her over and of course when you're all settled, you can all come for dinner and my famous tea."

"As famous as the Jasmine Dragon's tea?"

Iroh smiled, "I actually own the Jasmine Dragon. It's good to hear news about my shop has gotten around."

"I was told your shop was one of the first places I would have to stop by, I guess having you as my neighbor is my first sign of good luck in Ba Sing Se," Mr. Cheng smiled.

"Fortune favors the bold Mr. Cheng, I hope you came to Ba Sing Se like many of us have," Iroh cryptically replied, he smiled, "I hope to meet the rest of your family later Mr. Cheng, until tonight." They walked back over to the house and Zuko glanced towards him.

"You were talking to me about being nice to the neighbors and you're talking to him like a wizard giving quests," Zuko said, "Normal people don't like that Uncle."

The old man just laughed in a reply, "You'll learn one day Nephew, by the way, I like your new haircut." Zuko remembered what he did earlier and ran a hand over his short hair. "Any reason why you decided to cut your hair off?"

"I was beginning to look like my Father," Zuko replied, grabbing his ball from its previous spot. "I don't need any more reminders of him." Iroh's mood darkened along with Zuko's, "So I decided to take care of it instead of waiting."

He put a concerned hand on Zuko's shoulder, "It's not bad if you look like your Father Zuko, you won't be the same man as he is, don't forget-"

Zuko raised his hand, "Uncle, I know what you're trying to do…but please, no proverbs. I'm just thinking of this as a new part of my life." The older man nodded and patted his shoulder before walking into the house. Zuko bounced the ball twice and aligned his shot, letting it roll off his fingers, but it was off by just a little bit and came back at him. He caught it easily and sighed, knowing his mistake was too common.

"You let it roll off the wrong finger," He turned around to see Jin, she was holding her hands behind her back, not noticing that she was pushing out her ample breasts. She wore white cotton shirt underneath a dark green cardigan, both seemed a size too small for her as well as her blue jeans. Zuko tore his eyes away from her body.

"I know, I keep over thinking it," Zuko said. "You play?"

Jin nodded, "I played at my old school," Zuko spun the ball in his hands and bounce passed it to her. She eyed the ball and bounced it a few times and took a quick shot, the ball didn't even come close to going in. Zuko did his best to stop himself from laughing while her head slumped down. "It's been awhile okay?"

He grabbed the ball and walked it back over to her, "You shot with both of your hands, which hand are you dominant with?" She raised her right hand, "Okay," He walked behind her and put the ball in her right hand. "Don't use your left hand, put all your power into your right." Zuko backed off a little bit, "Now try." She attempted another shot, it bounced off the backboard and into the hoop. Jin jumped up excitedly and clapped her hands.

"Thank you Zuko," She smiled, he gave her a nod in response as he retrieved the ball again. "So, how long have you lived here?" Jin asked as he bounced the ball as he walked back over.

Zuko shrugged, "Like 10 years. My sister and I moved in with my Uncle after our parents died."

She frowned, "I'm sorry to hear that Zuko."

"It's fine, not your fault," Zuko took a shot and made it in perfectly. "Your Dad was talking about you leaving your boyfriend back where you moved."

Jin smiled, "Sad that you can't hook up with the new girl?"

He surprised himself when he laughed, he didn't know why it was funny to him, "No, I have a girlfriend, we've been together for 10 months now. I was just making small talk." Zuko didn't see the smile fade from her face, "Your Dad really likes to give away your life story doesn't he?"

"My Father is an ass," She said, "Whenever we would stop somewhere, all he did was bad mouth my boyfriend, saying that he's 'such a bad influence'," Jin mocked her Father's voice poorly.

Zuko grabbed the ball and spun the ball on his finger, "What's with your Father's hatred of him?"

"It's because he thinks Lee took my virginity," She answered, "Oh, my boyfriend's name is Lee by the way." Zuko furrowed his brow at the name, but let it go as he bounced the ball twice before readying his shot, "Apparently over the pants action now means you lose your virginity." He gave Jin a weird look, "Too much info?"

"A little," He answered truthfully as he shot the ball again, making it perfect again. "I know where you got it from though. You guys put your trust easily into people."

"I've learned to pick and choose the people," Jin said as he passed her the ball, she shot the ball, but it bounced off the rim, "You haven't given me a reason to not trust you so far." He grabbed the ball and turned back to her, "Nothing about your actions seem to be unwelcoming."

"Really?"

Jin nodded, "I've studied body language. You have an open posture, you've kept eye contact with me for most of the conversation and you have an upright stance. That shows that you're approachable and trustworthy, that's why it seems so easy to just pour out my thoughts to you." He bounced the ball a couple times, "Or maybe I'm wrong and you're not trusting and don't want to make friends with the girl next door."

Her big green eyes stared at him almost like a puppy dogs and a pout that would make a little girl jealous. "I guess I could use more friends." She smiled as he shot his last basket and made it. Zuko smelt the wafting scent of his Uncle's tea, "Do you like tea?" Jin nodded with a smile. He grabbed his basketball, "Then you'll love Uncle's tea."

Jin sat at the bar that was attached to the rest of the kitchen counters, a sliding glass door to Zuko's backyard was behind her and between her and the door was a dining table. Zuko sat on the counter on the other side as his Uncle grabbed 3 small black cups. He set them down on the counter and grabbed the kettle from the stove, "This is the best quality tea I have. It brings people from across the country just to have a sip." He carefully poured the tea into the cups and slid one over to Jin, "Tell me what you think." She lifted the cup up to her lips and took a slow sip, letting her taste buds soak up the overloading flavors.

She swallowed the tea, "That's the best tea I've ever tasted Mr. Iroh. What is in it?"

He laughed, "It's my own secret blend that I won't even tell Zuko."

"Because I really want to know," He mumbled before drinking his tea, Jin softly giggled as Iroh was just left confused.

"I can understand why you are the best tea brewer in Ba Sing Se Mr. Iroh, I think I'll have to stop by your shop," Jin drank the rest of her cup, licking the small amount of tea that were left on her lips. "May I have some more?"

Iroh smiled, "Of course Jin." He leaned over to Zuko, "I like her," Iroh whispered, Zuko rolled his eyes as Jin just gave him a smile. "So Jin, if you don't mind me asking, what brings your family to Ba Sing Se?"

"My Father's job," Jin told him, trying to be as respectful as possible while talking about her Father to the older man. "Even though we could have lived a great life where we were, more money and less responsibility will always catch my Father's eye."

Iroh brought the kettle back over and poured her another cup, "Well, hopefully he will enjoy the job, that's the most important part. Though the money might help with these houses, this house alone cost a pretty penny on a tea brewer's salary," He laughed, putting the kettle back on the stove.

"Well I'm just glad that there are nice people around here," Jin said, "I've never really had to make new friends since I was younger."

"Don't worry Jin, my nephew will get you accustomed quick," Iroh patted Zuko on the shoulder. "You can meet his little group."

Jin snickered lightly, "You have a 'little group' Zuko?"

"It's just some friends from school," Zuko said, crossing his arms across his chest.

"How about you invite Jin to that party you're going to tonight Zuko? She can meet everyone," Zuko squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose, his Uncle always wanted him to be sociable. While he thought Jin was a nice girl, he barely knew anything about her. What if she turned out to be some crazy stalker or something? The last thing he needed was any of the group members mad at him again. "That girl Katara is really nice with new people."

"That's perfectly fine Mr. Iroh," Jin told him, "I wouldn't want to intrude on Zuko's friend's party. It would be rude of me to invite myself."

"You can come," Zuko finally spoke up, "It might be a little awkward at first, but it shouldn't be a problem."

"Thank you Zuko," She smiled, but her face dropped when she felt her phone vibrate and she pulled it out of her pocket. Jin growled lightly, "My Father wants me back to help, my brother finally arrived. Thank you for the tea Mr. Iroh." She quickly gulped down the tea in front of her.

He nodded, "Of course Jin and I hope to see you all tonight for dinner, would 6 be a good time for your family?"

"I think so, I'll be sure to come over and tell you if it can't work Mr. Iroh. See ya later," Jin gave Zuko a small wave before leaving.

Iroh breathed deeply and exhaled with a smile on his face, "She really is a sweet girl. You be nice to her Zuko, I would like to see someone around here that enjoys tea."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Zuko mumbled as he went to his room.

-SDB