Three weeks passed since the day Kozue started working at the Jasmine Dragon, yet he had not familiarized with the employers there except for the girls who wished to continuedly engage in conversations with him.

Kozue had finished his sweeping and was getting ready to go home. He leaned the broom against the doorway, bowed to Iroh and started out. Iroh noticed how dark it was, and nudged Zuko towards the boy. "Go make acquaintances with him, nephew. He doesn't have too much male-friends, it seems." Zuko sighed but followed Kozue.

"Hey you," Zuko called and walked over to the boy. "I'll walk you home." Kozue stiffened and gave a wary chuckle.

"Umm, that's okay. I can walk fine to my own house." Kozue backed away slowly. "It's a bit far from here, so it's really inconvenient for you too." Zuko furrowed his brow.

"Far? How far can far be? It's inside Ba Sing Se, right?"

"Yyyesss…. But it's still pretty far. It's sort of the other side of the town." Zuko's eyes widened a bit. He had been to the other side of the town before when he and his uncle just arrived at Ba Sing Se. Unlike the rich, peaceful and civilized atmosphere of the wealthier part of the town, the poorer part of the town was desolate, diseased, and moreover, very dangerous.

Seeing Zuko's hesitation at the mention of the other side of town, Kozue gave him a cold smile, inclined his head slightly, and turned to walk away.

Zuko stared at the retreating back, and then turned to return to the tea house.

Suddenly Kozue felt a hand on his shoulder, and looking around, saw the hard face of Zuko. His eyes widened. "Wha-?"

"Didn't I tell you I'd walk you home? And now that I know you live on the other side of town, it's more of a reason to walk with you." Kozue's eyes softened, and together they walked silently.

Trying the break the awkward atmosphere, Zuko glanced sideways at the boy. "So… who do you live with?"

"My mother. She rarely comes out of home, though. The farthest she's ever gone out is her garden, I think." Kozue looked up at Zuko and smiled a bit. "So I have to work hard to support my mother and myself."

"What was your previous job?" Zuko asked cautiously, remembering how his uncle's face had turned sober when mentioning Kozue's previous occupation. A muscle in Kozue's jaw twitched. There was a moment of silence, and Zuko started thinking about asking a different question when Kozue spoke up. His voice was so small and timid, that Zuko had to strain his ears to hear.

"I…" Kozue's voice broke and he had to clear his voice. "I was…" He suddenly turned and stared up at Zuko's golden eyes. "It wasn't a very honest job. But please don't judge me by it, I only had to do it because it was the only thing that could get me a steady income." His voice was pleading, and Zuko thought he saw a film of tears covering the boy's eyes.

"I understand… How bad can a job be?" Zuko tried to sound lighthearted, but knew he wasn't doing a good job. Kozue turned his head to looks straight on again. He opened his mouth, and the timid voice was back.

"I was…" Then he whispered his secret.

Zuko stepped back, not in horror, just in realization. This explained everything. But now that the news sank in, Zuko realized the revulsion of his career.

They had nearly reached the poorer part of Ba Sing Se. The buildings were no longer beautifully colored, but earth colored and cracking. People were sleeping on the streets, and they could hear giggling of men flirting with prostitutes.

"But it wasn't that bad! It's not as bad as you think!" Kozue's voice rose in panic as he scrambled to explain himself.

But Zuko didn't want to hear more. He turned back and ran.


The next day, Kozue didn't come to work. Iroh glanced sideways at Zuko for an explanation, but he turned and didn't answer.


Zuko saw Kozue in a tea shop similar to the Jamine Dragon, but different. The background seemed to be obscured in some strong mist and Zuko couldn't see the rest of the customers except for Kozue and his female companions who were all sitting around him.

Kozue whispered in their ear, and they giggled and gave him fond looks and brushed kisses on his cheek. One of them tried to give him a deep kiss by securing his face with her hands, but he pulled back casually, laughing as he did so. Zuko couldn't hear him, but he saw that he mouthed "you need to give me something first." The girl rolled her eyes, sighed, and slid a few coins towards him.

When Kozue confirmed the amount of money, he ignored the rest of the girls, and grabbed the girl who paid him and gave her a deep kiss on the spot. Zuko turned away, revulsion rising in his stomach, but found that wherever he turned, he could somehow still see what Kozue was doing.

Kozue was now proceeding even farther, by slipping off the girl's robe and leaving trails of butterfly kisses on her neck and shoulders. The girl breathed hard, and slid her hands through Kozue's hair.

Kozue stopped suddenly, and looked up directly at Zuko and smiled.

"Aah!"

Zuko bolted upright suddenly from his bed, still feeling the revulsion in his stomach.

"Dream." He snarled, and walked unsteadily towards the kitchen to drink a glass of water.

He drank slowly, replaying the dream over and over in his head.

Then he remembered the walk he and Kozue had.

"I was..." He had whispered. "I was paid by women to be their lover."

Prostitution.

It sickened him.


"Lee, may I speak to you for a moment?" Iroh called out to him from the kitchen. Zuko shrugged and went to his uncle.

"What is it, uncle?" Iroh looked solemnly into Zuko's face.

"You found out, didn't you." It wasn't a question; it was a statement.

"About..."

"About Kozue's previous job. I can imagine what had happened during that walk. You decided to be friendly, asked a few questions, gained a bit of the boy's trust, then asked him about his previous job. When you found out, you were too revolted to listen to his explanation and ran away." His uncle's grave voice made what Zuko did sound... wrong.

"I didn't- I wasn't-" Zuko held back his anger.

"-But you did. You may not have thought you were that way, but you did." Iroh sighed. "Your reaction is reasonable. Even I was taken aback by the news. But nephew," Iroh's gaze made Zuko feel like as if his uncle was reading his mind. "If you had listened farther, you may have agreed that it was the only thing for the boy to do."

"It was prostitution, uncle. There's no valid excuse for that."

Iroh sighed and shook his head. Zuko realized the conversation was over.

"Run on an errand for me, nephew. It's a delivery service. Here's the address. Make sure you give this to the person, it is very, very, important." Iroh motioned to the picnic basket set on the table. Zuko nodded.

Zuko felt uneasy as he grasped the handle of the picnic basket. He was starting to get out of the wealthier part of town and into the desolate areas. An apprehensive doubt formed in the back of his mind, but Zuko decided to ignore and found the location.

"You useless woman!" A sharp cry caught Zuko's attention. A shopkeeper was yelling at a person whose face could not be seen . "How dare you- You dare- to give food away to the beggars? You leave me to waste my money?" Zuko stopped in his tracks to watch. The shopkeeper raised a hand to strike the woman. She flinched, anticipating the blow.

Zuko moved fast. He blocked the blow from the shopkeeper, pushed him back, and put an arm around the woman. Her dark brown hair was disheveled and flecked with silver and her face grimy. Her eyes widened at the sight of Zuko as the shopkeeper staggered back. "Here's the money for the food." Zuko spat and threw down some coins in the dirt. He led the woman away carefully, noting that she was shaking.

"Are you... okay?" Zuko released the woman after they were a considerable distance away from the shop, and looked at the woman. The woman's hair was tangled and disheveled, and was wrapped in a tattered shawl. She had dull, lifeless eyes that passed over Zuko face and refused to meet his eyes. Her skin was dirty, and rough and burnt from the sun. The woman kept looking around, as if she was confused. She didn't answer to Zuko's question.

A shadow cast over the two of them.

"Mother?" A voice asked, and Zuko turned, somehow alarmed... as if he already knew the owner of the voice...

It was Kozue. He stopped as he saw Zuko, and Zuko froze too.

They stood in silence, staring at each other as if conversing telepathically.

"...hello." Kozue whispered, not daring to speak any louder.

"Hi." Zuko responded coldly. Then he looked down at the woman. "Is this your mother?" Kozue nodded. "Take her. I thought she didn't work."

"She... doesn't. Her job just started a few days ago." When you stopped showing up to the Jasmine Dragon. Zuko thought.

"Thank you... for helping my mother. She seemed to be in trouble." Kozue held an arm towards his mother who obediantly hooked a bony arm around it. "I'll be on my way now..."

"Wait." Zuko didn't know why he called him, but now that he did, he held out the piece of paper with the address written on it. "Do you know where this is?"

Kozue took the piece of paper and read. When he looked up, he looked tired and confused. "It's my house."

"Please, come in." Zuko stood in front of a house-if you could call that a house. It was halfway collapsed, with mud walls and a straw roof. The windows had spiderwebs and cobwebs hanging from it. "It's not much, I know."

Zuko pushed back the sympathetic feeling in his chest. "I should be going. My uncle probably wants me."

"Actually..." Kozue reached into the picnic basket and pulled out a piece of paper. "He wants you to take your time."

Zuko cursed and thought of venomous thoughts about his uncle.


At the Jasmine Dragon, Iroh sneezed twice.

One of the waitresses looked up. "Someone's thinking bad things about you, Mister Mu Shi."

Iroh rubbed his nose. "Is that so?"

She smiled. "It's a little belief... my mother used to tell it to me when I was a little kid."

Iroh smiled back. "I can't imagine anyone thinking bad things about me."


Author's Note:

Hi guys, I had some time over the weekend so I took this chance to write some more. Thanks, Lucrezia6565 and irezel and 86thetomato, you guys either subscribed or liked my story, please keep on loving it! really, when people compliment and say that like my story, it just makes me feel so happy and motivates me to write more. :P

I hope you like this chapter. I realize there's a little make-out scene here, but that's why it's rated M and... i think we're all old enough for that, right? I'm sure there'll be more in the future. :P

I'm still waiting for the suggestions for pairings. I can't decide, and I'm not sure I can start writing about the Aang Gang (haha that rhymes) until I'm solid sure about the couples. So gimme suggestions if you want to hear about the Aang and his friends! But I'm not asking for JUST the main couple, I'm asking like, all-around couples here. There can't possibly be just ONE couple in my story, i can't make it interesting that way. :P Even absurd suggestions like, say... Ozai and Katara's mom (me: oO but hey, who knows?) is appreciated.

thanks!