AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes, I do realize how damn long it's taken me to return. But my former story lost its muse and I don't have the guts to go to Misty Island. This however... I still know where this story's muse is. Right here beside me. All credit goes to the wonderful Caffeine. This is going to change "fic" for every "dimension" it goes through, so be on the lookout, this is mostly because I'm too lazy to have a crossover instead and considering how I've planned this out this makes more sense to me.
A Prologue of Sorts
Zuko cursed under his breath. His uncle had chosen this particular day as his day off, which meant Zuko was in charge of making tea, serving tea and getting payed for it. Not exactly what he wanted to do. Luckily it had been calm today with only a few customers, though Zuko suspected those that had come were not coming back. Ever.
It was about midday when she entered. Zuko was just about to try a cup of his own tea and found himself spitting it out for different reasons than the taste. He stepped behind a corner. Of all people in Ba Sing Se it had to be her. She couldn't see him, she would report him immediately.
Katara wondered why the tea shop was empty. Not even the cashier stood behind the counter.
"H-hello?", she shouted out to the air.
"Ah, welcome to the Jade Dragon.", said a rough, undoubtedly fake voice as a man suddenly came out from behind a corner. His face was concealed behind a blue spirit mask, the kind you saw at festivals. She wasn't about to question his fashion style or his sense of privacy however, she wanted tea.
"Um... One cup of ginseng, please?", it came out more of a question than she hoped it would. The hidden meaning seemed to be "Why in the name of Tui and La are you wearing that ridiculous mask?" and that seemed rude.
Zuko cursed again.
"Of course.", he bowed. Of all the teas in the world it had to be ginseng. Of course. He made his way to the tea pot. It sat where it had always sat, but now it seemed to be glaring at him, judging, knowing. One false move would spell his doom. Was he being melodramatic? Probably. He reached for the ginseng leaves and cooked some water. He then put in a whole leaf. Wait, was he supposed to do that? The water started over-cooking. He had left the heat on for too long. The leaf somehow tried to escape through the top of the tea pot. He realized he had done something wrong. Was tea supposed to turn rainbow-coloured? His eyes widened.
"What's taking so lo...", the peasant stopped staring at the rainbow-coloured fountain.
"What the...", she was right, of course. It was about then that the walls started rising, the floor turned wavy, the roof opened to an empty, black sky. Zuko's last thought was him wondering whether his tea-making skills really were so bad as to destroy time and space. Meanwhile, Katara wondered if the mask wasn't familiar from something Aang had told her.