The Jasmine Dragon had as successful second day as it had had on its opening day. People practically flooded the place and both Iroh and Zuko had their hands full running back and forth between customers. Zuko held out hope secretly that Jin would pop in at some point. Seeing her last night had made him happy, and he was glad that he hadn't totally ruined things between them. He hadn't had any real friends in so long; it was nice to have her around. He hadn't let his uncle know about this yet, knowing he'd get teased beyond his patience level.
"Lee," called his uncle (they had made the nickname official last night. "Could you please get your head out of the clouds and clean off the far left table? There's a customer waiting to be seated."
"Sorry, uncle!" Zuko called and hurried over, quickly to the table and picked up the tea cups and plates, hurrying them back into the kitchen to be washed. "You may want to consider hiring a second hand, Uncle," he commented as he passed his uncle. "Things are really getting busy around here."
"Why hire someone when I have you to work for free?" asked Iroh with a grin. Zuko smirked and rolled his eyes.
"I gotta seat this next customer," he muttered and hurried out. "Sorry about the wait," he stammered. "I'll take you to a-" He stopped and smiled. Jin stood there, tucking a strand of her thick brown hair behind her ear. "Hi," he said softly.
"Hi," she replied, laughing at him. "You said to drop by sometime." She looked around at all the people. "And you weren't kidding when you said it was busy around here."
"Not too busy," Zuko said quickly. "I'll take you to a table." He led her to the empty table he had just cleaned and sat her down.
"Hey boy!" shouted a customer from the other end. "Can I get a refill over here!"
"Coming," called Zuko, and he placed a menu in front of Jin. "I'll be back." He ran off to take care of the customer and Jin smiled, looking around to see if she could spot his uncle anywhere. He must be in the back with his hands full, she thought, and looked down at the menu, deciding what she wanted.
"Decided on anything?" he asked, and she looked up.
"Jasmine," she answered, handing him the menu.
He took it and went into the back, to give the order to his uncle. "I need a jasmine tea," he called, and Iroh looked up.
"All right... well, look who's here." His eyes were focused at the table Jin was sitting at and Zuko felt himself wince inside. He knew what was coming.
"Looks like she finally tracked you down. She still have that crush on you?"
"I don't know," said Zuko, trying not to turn red. "She ordered a jasmine-"
"You talked to her then? So what did she have to say? Did she miss you?
Are you two going out again soon?"
"Uncle please!" snapped Zuko, a hint of his old side showing. "She's just here for tea."
"Oh I wouldn't be so sure of that," said Iroh with a knowing grin.
"Why not?" asked Zuko with a sigh.
"Because she hasn't stopped watching you since you came back here."
"Because she's probably wondering where her order is, Uncle!" Iroh chuckled to himself and poured out a small cup and set it on a saucer.
"Who knew you'd still be quite the ladies man," he teased and handed the tea to Zuko who took it without even looking at him as he left. Iroh chuckled again and went back to brewing, occasionally stealing glances at his nephew... taking note that he had seated himself across from the young lady now.
----
"Sorry about the wait," said Zuko. "My uncle saw you back there and..." he didn't even need to finish because Jin was already giggling.
"I see," she laughed, taking a quick sip of her tea, which was still very hot. "Likes to give you a hard time?"
Zuko sighed and nodded, looking back on the years he'd spent with his loving uncle. "Yeah... he kinda does."
"My older brother's the same way. He always tells me that he'll be ready to scare off any boy who dares to date his baby sister." She laughed and shook her head (somewhere inside him a part of Zuko gulped and took note of that). "Where would we be without the teasing?"
"Probably in a more normal state of mind," Zuko muttered, glancing back at his uncle, catching him spying on them. "I'd better get back to work."
"I'll see you tonight?" she asked.
"Sure. Where do you want to meet?"
"I'll meet you here at nightfall and we can wander around. I'll show you some places you probably haven't seen yet."
"Sounds fun," he muttered and stood up. "See you then." She nodded and smiled, watching him walk away as she sipped her tea. She glanced over again and met eyes with Iroh, who winked at her knowingly. She blushed a bright red and looked at the floor.
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(A/N: I'm going to bed now, but I hope you liked the chapter.)
