"Our Most Valuable Customer"
It had been almost a month since the end of the war and Ba Sing Se's liberation. Things were finally getting back to normal. The citizens were falling back into their daily routines, businesses were beginning to re-open, and there was even word that the Earth King had returned to the palace.
The only thing that felt a bit out of place were the crowds in the streets. Or, more to the point, the progressive thinning of those crowds. Jin wasn't exactly sure how she felt about it. Growing up in the city, the constant influx of refugees was just something she'd grown used to. It was just another aspect of everyday of life in the Earth Kingdoms greatest stronghold. Now that the war was over, all those people, their businesses, and even some who had become her friends, were finally heading back to their hometowns.
She was mulling over all this as she passed by her district's news board. It was the beginning of the week, so it was covered in new posters and announcements. She looked it over, seeing if anything caught her eye. A celebration to announce the return of the Earth King was going on all week long. As part of the celebration, they were even allowing passage inside the cities innermost walls, or "inner ring" as most in the outskirts called it. No passes required, on order of the Earth King himself, for the duration of the celebration.
She could hardly believe it. She'd spent her entire life in the city and had never even imagined that she'd be able to visit the inner ring. This wasn't an opportunity she was going to pass up.
Something else caught her eye: an announcement just to the left of that one. It read, "Come enjoy the Grand Re-opening of the Jasmine Dragon, Ba Sing Se's finest tea house!" The name of the tea house didn't mean much to her, but the name of the proprietor did. The line just below that read, "Home of the finest teas in the entire city, prepared and steeped by proprietor and owner, Mushi himself!"
The name stuck with her a second before she realized why it seemed so familiar.
Mushi? Wasn't that... Lee's uncle? So that's where they disappeared to. Well, maybe I'll stop by. Besides, I have that coupon Lee gave me...
"So, that's what the new Fire Lord looks like," said a voice far to her right, although she paid it little attention.
"I heard a rumor that he was actually hiding in Ba Sing Se for a while," said another voice from the small crowd building around a poster in Jin's peripheral vision. Whatever. She didn't really care much for politics, and she wasn't about to fight her way through a crowd just to get a look at some gloomy old fire...
"Pretty young lookin', don't ya think?" another voice murmured.
"...and check out that scar!"
Something clicked in her mind, and a voice in the back of her head told her to turn around. Turn around and look at that poster.
She did just that... and couldn't believe her eyes.
Jin fought her way past the two men and ripped the poster from the wall, completely ignoring the protests of the worker that had just put it up. She held it, staring at it in disbelief.
When her date with Lee came to an abrupt end, the last thing he'd said to her was, "...It's complicated."
...and here she thought he was just brushing her off.
She switched her gaze between the poster in her hands and back to the Jasmine Dragon's flyer.
Alright, now I'm definitely visiting that tea shop.
- # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # -
Two days later she found herself wading through a sea of people in the inner ring. The streets were packed. The residential sectors were sectioned off and heavily guarded, but everywhere else was a shoulder to shoulder mass of humanity. The streets were lined with performers and food sellers of all types. Despite it still being before noon, this long celebration was already in full swing.
Before heading to the Jasmine Dragon, she fought her way through the crowds and started making her way toward the academic district. She needed to confirm a hunch and hoped the libraries in the inner ring had more information on the war than what she was able to find out in her local ones.
The crowds thinned out significantly around Ba Sing Se University. It seemed centers of education and enlightenment weren't exactly considered "hot spots" during a celebration, luckily for her.
She made it to the library, but was disappointed to find the staff less than helpful to her requests. The first two people she asked about information regarding the war, simply gave her worried looks and scurried away. The third person she asked began to respond in a similar manner as the others, then stopped himself and chuckled nervously. Under his breath, she heard him mumble something about it being ok to talk about that now. She had no idea what that was supposed to mean, but didn't press further. He went on to explain that the university didn't actually have any books detailing the war.
She couldn't believe it! How was that even possible?
She left disappointed. Her search for information pertaining to a certain Fire Nation General thwarted.
She'd just have to trust her gut.
She neared the market district and dove back into the crowd. Although it was only a few blocks, it took her nearly an hour to reach the Jasmine Dragon. Then, once there, it was another hour and a half wait to get in. That, and "Mushi" was apparently only letting in a certain amount of customers at a time. Though the place was obviously popular enough that the extra wait time didn't seem to diminish any interest.
The longer she waited in line, the more a creeping sense of doubt ate away at her. This whole idea was beginning to seem a little absurd. Why would the current Fire Lord have been working in a tea shop, especially one in Ba Sing Se? And what evidence did she really have anyway, other than a crudely drawn poster and some gossip? Sure, the scar matched, but how many people in the Fire Nation, firebenders especially, had burn scars? Probably quite a few.
Almost to the door. Only a few people stood in front of her. The closer she got, the more foolish she felt. Of course Lee wasn't the Fire Lord; how stupid could she be? She had half a mind to leave, just step out of line and head back to the rest of the festival. In fact, she decided to do just that, and at the very moment she turned to exit the line...
"Excuse me, Miss, how many?" the girl working at the front of the line asked her.
"Oh, me... " Jin pointed at herself, "Uh, just one."
"Then follow me right this way."
Well, too late now. As she entered, she completely expected to see Lee in his apron, taking orders, serving tea, and most distinctly not ruling the Fire Nation. Fine then, She'd say hi, feel like an idiot, have her tea, then leave.
Except... he wasn't there. She saw a few other servers. Two young serving girls, one middle aged man cleaning tables, along with the hostess that had seated her, but no Lee.
She did see his Uncle, however. She watched Mushi periodically emerge from the back room, make small talk with his customers, head back into the kitchen, then emerge again a few minutes later to repeat the process. The old man exuded the same warmth and kindness she'd remembered. He walked around his tea shop with a wide beaming smile that seemed to infect everyone he talked too. She wasn't sure, but she thought he even looked a bit... thinner than she remembered.
When he finally made his way to her table, she was a bit taken off guard that he actually remembered her, even her name.
"Jin!" Mushi said enthusiastically. "It always makes me happy to see my old customers returning. I was afraid that maybe my nephew had scared you away."
"No, but you did move your shop. And to a part of the city I'm not really allowed to enter, so, you know..."
"Ah, yes. That was very rude of me. I do apologize."
"So, is Lee around?" She asked.
"No, I'm sorry, but my nephew had to return home."
"Really, that's too bad. I hope everything's alright?"
"Oh yes. In fact, Lee's running his own shop now. He had to take over for his father who was, I'm sorry to say, mismanaging the family business."
"Hmm, sounds like Lee's pretty busy."
"Yes, yes. He's been keeping himself very occupied. Now, I hate to be rude, but it would be bad manners if I simply ignored my other customers and only paid attention to the pretty ones. So, if you'll kindly excuse me."
He bowed and began to back away from Jin.
"Far be it from me to hold up the Dragon of the West," she said just loud enough for only Mushi to hear.
Mushi straightened and raised an eyebrow. Jin just smiled coyly.
Mushi took a deep breath. "I won't insult you by pretending you're mistaken, but perhaps it would be best to continue this in back."
Mushi led her back through the kitchen and to his office. He closed the door behind as Jin seated herself on a spare stool in front of his desk.
Before he was able to ask anything, Jin chimed in.
"So, tea server to Fire Lord. That's a heck of a promotion."
Iroh laughed and smiled at her. "Well, if ever anyone earned a promotion, it is my nephew. Now, if you could tolerate a bit of abruptness from an old man, I need to know why you came here if you already knew who Lee and I already were? I trust my instincts that you are not here to blackmail me. So I have to ask, why exactly, did you confront me?"
"To be honest... I'm not really sure. Once I figured out who Lee really was, I just felt like I had to come here... to make sure. Don't worry, though. I'm not going to tell anyone who you are."
Iroh nodded. Then, after a moment of thought, he gave Jin a proposition. "My current hostess is moving away within the week and I've been looking for someone to replace her. I don't know if you would be interested, but if you had a job here, that would also earn you a pass to access the inner ring whenever you like."
Jin perked up. She hadn't expected this, but it was an opportunity she couldn't pass up. Sure, working in a tea shop wasn't exactly glamorous, but to be able to come and go to the inner ring!
"There is one more thing I wanted to ask you," she added, "When the city was recaptured, the official story was something about a counterattack by the Earth Kingdom military... but I keep hearing these rumors about a group of old men in white robes. Masters from the four nations taking on the Fire Nation occupation single handedly, and winning back the city... you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
"Jin, how would a simple tea loving old man like myself possibly know anything about that. I wouldn't put too much stock in silly rumors. Now, if you don't mind, I really should be getting back to my customers."
Iroh stood and bowed. Jin did the same. She opened the door and took a step, then turned back to him.
"Mushi... Iroh. Thank you, for everything."
He knew the job wasn't what she was thanking him for. Iroh just nodded. "Don't mention it..." Then added with a smile. "I mean it! Don't mention it, to anyone."
"Mention what? That I got a job from a harmless tea loving old man... See you tomorrow Mr. Mushi."
- # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - # - #
- # - # - # - # - # - # - #
Nothing horribly exciting here, but I just wanted to give an actual reasonable explanation as to why Jin is working in Iroh's tea shop in the latest chapter of my other (much longer) fic, Consequences of Power.
This started because I liked the idea of Iroh having someone else in his shop who knows who he is. Of course that leads to the who and why. Then I thought of Jin and she seemed to fit the bill. Problem was, I didn't want this to come across as a "Anakin built C-3PO" moment where it just seemed like I was throwing canon characters in the story just for the sake of it. I was initially going to abandon the idea, but then my mind started working on the what's and how's of getting Jin in Iroh's tea shop in a manner that made sense. Might I also add that my mind started doing this without my permission.
Next thing I knew, my disobedient brain had actually worked out a scenario in which Jin working for Iroh not just seemed plausible, but probable... but then there was the problem of just how to link this into my main fic. It doesn't really fit into the narrative very well, so Instead of killing the flow of my main fic, I just said the hell with it and decided to throw it up as a side story.
(And for those who just stumbled across this story. Here's a link to the chapter in the main fic that this little story relates to:
.net/s/4819090/31/Consequences_of_Power