---
"Uncle, we have another problem!"
"Another problem, eh? Well, hurry up with your 'Jin-Knows-We're-Fire Nation' Speech, nephew, so I can give you my 'Jin-Is-Clueless-But-Still-Madly-In-Love-With-You' Speech. I am feeling rather tired today, especially after serving that charming Dai Li Squadron…"
Iroh sighed wearily as he set his frenzied nephew's bowl of steamed rice in front of him, then rubbed his eyes sleepily as Zuko raged on with what he predicted to be the same speech he has heard at least four different occasions today. Zuko had become so accustomed to Iroh's teasing him about the pretty girl in the teashop he completely ignored the jibe.
"She may be clueless now, but not for long!" Zuko paused dramatically, deciding to let his uncle suffer until he let out what he was sure to be a bombshell. "Jin's father is the Dai Li's leader." Rather proud of himself for dragging out the information so flawlessly, an infuriating trick he had inherited from his uncle, he smirked at his uncle, superiority positively radiating from his haughty smile.
After those few moments of Zuko basking in his arrogance, he noticed his uncle had hardly reacted to the news. Iroh stared at him with that supposed mind reading, all-knowing stare that made Zuko want to gouge out his eyes.
"Zuko, we have no wanted pictures of us posted on the city walls. They know nothing about our pasts," he spoke sagely, annoying Zuko already. He hated being wrong. "They saw me as nothing more than a humble old man who happens to brew the finest tea in Ba Sing Se, and they saw you as nothing more than a brooding teenager who is sick of living on the fringes of society."
Zuko was still less than comforted. "So you're still adamant about staying where we are? Can't we at least work at a teashop where Jin can't find us?"
Iroh nodded. "Yes, I am, and no, we can't. I am perfectly content with where we are. Besides," and Iroh sported yet another expression that Zuko regarded with extreme distaste: the dreaded Sly Grin. "How could I possibly rip you from the arms of your loving girlfriend?"
Zuko shook his head as he poked at his rice feebly. "I've told you a million times already –"
"Speaking of which," and Iroh had completely disregarded Zuko's defense," I believe you told me last night, when I asked you how your date went, you said – and I quote – 'later'." Zuko cradled his head in his palms, already knowing his uncle's request. "Well, now is later, so fess up nephew!"
There was no escape. He had to say something. Zuko considered lying, but sadly he was at the shallow end of the gene pool when it came to the art of deceit. But he could always leave out a few certain things, and that was merely known as the absence of truth. So Zuko plunged on, recalling the previous night's events; all, that is, except for a few minor details. He figured he wouldn't hear the end of his uncle's taunting if he admitted to saying she "had a big appetite for a girl," the horrible juggling incident (Zuko still cringed every time the disastrous incident chose to plague his mind) or worse, kissing her (which he sometimes had to search the dark recesses of his mind to make sure it had actually transpired in reality, for it was so surreal yet brief, Zuko often wondered if it had taken place in a dream).
When he had finished, Iroh wore an odd, befuddled expression. The corner of his lips was twitching.
"First off: a traveling circus?"
Zuko tried and failed not to blush, shrugging his shoulders helplessly. "Well, what would you have said, on the spot?" He would like to see his uncle come up with half as good of a lie. At least he got by with his.
Iroh gawked at him. "You need to get out more, nephew."
Zuko considered that statement. He supposed it was true. Then again, improvisation is a tricky art to master.
"So Lothario," Iroh continued jokingly, laughter evident in his voice. His nephew's completely two-dimensional perspective of talking to girls amused him to no end. "What circus act were we a part of?"
Zuko, clearly flustered and finally realizing how utterly stupid he had acted on his date, stood up and filled his empty rice bowl with noodles for seconds, and somewhere between filling his bowl and trudging back Iroh detected a muttered word he understood as "juggling."
"I wasn't even being serious," Iroh said to himself in wonder. "Were you really that dense?"
"Can we change the subject, please?" Zuko pleaded, because yes, he really was that dense. He occupied himself with inhaling his noodles, praying that maybe if he ate fast enough, good fortunate might grace him for once and allow his airway to become constricted long enough so he would pass out, which would mean a free ride out of this train wreck of a conversation.
"Well…" Iroh raised his chopsticks to his chin as he tried to think of the most obviously embarrassing questions or observations about events that may or may not have occurred during his date. "You told me about Firebending at the fountain earlier today. So foolish, and yet so charming. Surely the work of my nephew."
Zuko closed his eyes in shame – definitely not two of his brightest ideas: possibly blowing their cover as refugees so he could please a girl, and then telling his uncle about it. He contented himself by continuing to slurp his noodles to save himself from providing any sort of reaction or retaliation. If he couldn't choke and die, well, an inability to speak was also very good. He also found the stain near the edge of his bowl suddenly interesting.
There was another long silence, in which Zuko was sure his uncle was thinking of any last questions.
"Did you kiss her?"
Zuko coughed up a noodle.
Deciding maybe if he simply ignored the question long enough, his uncle might forget he ever asked it; he casually cleaned up his dishes as if Iroh had never spoken. Zuko prided himself with his acting abilities – after all, that's what the Blue Spirit was all about, wasn't it?
Although completely dumbfounded by his nephew's perplexing mannerisms, Iroh knew, at least, there was more to what happened that night than what Zuko was letting on. For the sake of teasing his nephew, he pressed on, noticing that Zuko was strolling over to the door to his room with a tad more elegance than usual. "So, did you or didn't you –"
"Goodnight, Uncle." He reached for the sliding door's handle, still smoothly ignoring his uncle.
"But what about my –"
SLAM.
Iroh grinned, unable to help himself. He inched over to his nephew's door as quietly as possible about a minute later.
"So I say you two should go out again – maybe you could teach Jin how to juggle?"
The door opened, revealing a glaring Prince Zuko, arms crossed. Iroh struggled with keeping a straight face, and despite his outward anger, his nephew's lips were giving the smallest hint of a smile. After that moment, Zuko slid his door shut once more with the same forcefulness. Iroh headed to own room, plopped down on his own bed, and laughed.
---
The next day, as Zuko and Iroh cleaned up from a day's busy work, Daichi sauntered into the teashop, brushing his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes.
"Good evening world! I'll be taking over for the night shift early today."
The world greeted the sunny teenager with both an equally sunny "Hello!" and something that resembled a wave accompanied with an indifferent "hm."
"So you must be Lee's uncle, Mushi, right?" Daichi asked as he gestured for Iroh to hand him the broom. "I'm Daichi, one of Jin's friends."
"Yes I am, and nice to meet you. Where's the rest of your group?" Iroh asked, handing the broom over and then sitting down next to his nephew on the countertop.
"In town somewhere. I wanted to stop by to ask you guys a question. The guy who runs the teashop, he raises me you know, and tomorrow we're going to be closed for a fishing trip. He's rather fond of you guys, and since I got to get to know Lee a bit better now that he's getting all acquainted with Jin," Zuko glared at Daichi as his uncle and him laughed, "we were wondering if you want to come?"
Before Zuko had a chance to protest, Iroh answered for him once again. "We'd love to come! What time and where?"
Daichi grinned. "Great! Meet an hour before regular opening time, and then we'll walk over to the lake. I invited the others too, but Kenji changed his mind, so then everyone else fell out too. Followers," Daichi spat, not agreeing with the philosophy of the word one iota. "Now you guys get out of here, I have work to do and you guys have a home to get to!"
Mushi smiled appreciatively as his nephew and he headed towards the door. "You're a very kind young man, taking over early for us."
"Don't sweat it. Rest up for tomorrow!" Daichi waved goodbye cheerfully, and Iroh did the same. Zuko acknowledged him with a nod and another small wave, and together the two left the teashop, one of them already excited for tomorrow.
---
Zuko's arms swung limply by his side as he shambled over to the teashop, yawning hugely. There were dark circles around his right eye and his shoulders were slumped. He hated fishing and anything that required him to wake up at such an ungodly hour. He scratched his arm disinterestedly and sighed once his uncle and he reached Daichi and Pao. It further tired him simply watching the two beaming at him, undoubtedly itching to set out for the park. Zuko was not a morning person.
"Ready to go?" Pao asked, handing both Zuko and Iroh their fishing gear.
"Ready as you are!" Iroh responded, walking next to him, which left Daichi and Zuko trailing behind. "I can't remember the last time we've gone fishing, can you nephew?"
He could, but satisfied himself with a slight shake of the head. The last time he even attempted fishing had been when his uncle and him were on the run. Being generous, he supposed, his catch might have been the length of his thumb. This was going to be a miserable trip – stuck with three easily excitable people who were equally excited about fishing.
Zuko crossed his arms stubbornly as Iroh answered one of Daichi's questions about their time as traveling circus members. "Well, yes we did a bit of juggling, but we were only the back-up act. We were actually swordfighters, could you imagine?" Daichi grinned when Iroh agreed to show him part of their old routine one day.
Zuko's scowl deepened when his uncle turned to face him, smirking at him good-naturedly. Zuko was already mad at the old man for agreeing to this stupid trip in the first place, miserable that he would be trapped at a stupid fishing lake for the entire day, and now for making him feel even more stupid than he already did for his actions on his date with Jin.
Just a little ray of sunshine, that's what Zuko was. A little ray of sunshine.
---
Trying to take the optimist's perspective, Zuko was relatively confident in that there wasn't much else that could further ruin his day. To say the least, his worst fears were confirmed. As it turned out, Pao, Iroh, and Daichi excelled at fishing and, if any good could come out of today, it was that he would be heading home with a full stomach.
However, he positively reeked of fish, and made sure to drown himself in the shower when he arrived home. When he mentioned the abhorrent smell, Daichi responded by pushing him into the lake, claiming that it would help him grow accustomed to the stench, laughing all the while. Zuko retaliated by saying if he enjoyed the smell so much, then maybe he should jump in too. Before Daichi could react, Zuko grabbed him by the ankles and soon there were two drenched boys, both reeking of fish, arguing in the lake. The ensuing water fight lasted at least fifteen minutes.
Zuko's hitherto fishing abilities were still as meager as ever. He had endured colossal amounts of teasing from the other three, until he grew so sick of it he was determined to catch at least one fish. Daichi made a bet with Zuko: if he managed to catch a fish by the end of the day, then Daichi had bathroom cleaning duties at the teashop for the rest of the week. If Zuko lost the bet, the punishment would be granted to him. Zuko did end up catching a fish, so he left to call for Daichi. When they returned, Zuko's fishing pole along with his fish had somehow disappeared. Before Daichi had a chance to call Zuko out for pulling a fast one on him, and before Zuko had a chance to search for a remotely sharp object to plow through his chest (bathroom duties really weren't all that pleasant), they both looked down to the lake and watched in awe as a decent-sized fish carried away Zuko's fishing pole. But since that meant Zuko had no means of obtaining fish, Daichi won the bet by default and wouldn't hear any more of it. Lee had bathroom duties for a week. Case closed.
Zuko stared into the growing fire that Daichi had started a few minutes earlier, waiting for his uncle and Pao to finish preparing their meals. Then a sudden thought came to him.
"I didn't know the teashop owner was your father. You don't look much like him," Zuko noted, fishing for something to say. He hoped it might speed up the time passing for his uncle and Pao to return with their dinner.
The young man looked up to Lee from the other side of the fire.
"That's because he's not my father. Well, not my legitimate one, anyways." Daichi fiddled with a twig on the ground, twirling it between his fingers. He hardly sounded bitter - more nonchalant than anything. "But he's as good as, you know? Kind of like your uncle, I guess."
Zuko could relate, and responded with a sincere "yeah." It was about as sincere as Zuko could get with a guy he didn't know too well who and considering he wasn't a pro with this empathy business. He decided not to pursue the subject, knowing too well that the conversation would delve into terrain that both of them would find difficult to discuss. There was a short silence, until Daichi's familiar, good-spirited voice spoke once more.
"So about Jin," and Daichi wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing Zuko to roll his eyes. He had just spent all last night discussing his somewhat disastrous, somewhat pleasant date with Jin already, and he had no intentions of reliving it a third time.
"She's like a sister to me, you know," Daichi continued, ignoring Zuko's reluctance. "She told me how you ran off that night. How come? And don't say 'it was complicated,' 'cause Jin told me about that. I want as concrete of an answer that you can give," and he poked Zuko in the chest for affect.
Zuko didn't know how to respond. How could he give a concrete answer without revealing his past?
Sensing Zuko's discomfort, Daichi rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hm. Does it have to do with that circus business? I bet it was really hard to have time for friends or a girlfriend, traveling around and all, huh?"
Zuko nodded weakly. It was ironic that, although it was in a different context, the majority of what Daichi said was true. For the past three years of his life, all his attention, all his desire, all his purpose was sacrificed for finding the Avatar. In fact, his life might as well be considered a circus, when he thought about it. Zuko had given friends and, later on, girls, thought during his years of desperate searching. He convinced himself that as soon as he found the legendary bender, he would be able to return to the life he once lived and could focus on such things.
"But - and now I'm being completely honest here – despite my dashing good looks and charming, attractive personality, experience-wise I'm not much more different than you," Daichi admitted in an almost sulky tone.
"I have a hard time believing that." His skepticism was well founded; the day he first met Daichi, Maiko's group of chatty girlfriends came over. Kenji called them "Daichi's Fanclub." They would sit at their table and simply admire him, maybe ask him some questions about his dating exploits, which resulted in some fantastic, hilarious tale about a former date. Combined with his "natural charm" and, indeed, good looks, Daichi was definitely the Ladies' Man.
To Zuko's astonishment, Daichi shook his head. "Now, you don't say a word about this. I haven't even told Jin or anyone else this before, all right? Not a word. Or else you won't be liking where I'll be sticking this fishing rod," and he brandished the nearby fishing pole threateningly.
Under normal circumstances, Zuko would have scoffed and said, "I'd like to see you try." However, he was curious as to this new bit of information, so he settled for crossing his arms and nodding, cynical as ever.
Accepting Zuko's lukewarm assurance, he looked around warily, as if some woodland creature might be eavesdropping on their conversation. Then, he murmured: "I've only been kissed three times before."
After another protracted silence, Zuko absorbed the absolute mortification present in Daichi's features and the hushed whisper in which he spoke. Unwillingly, Zuko let out a shout of laughter, and Daichi threw a clump of grass at Zuko. He couldn't help himself - it was simply odd how Daichi was so tormented by something that was utterly insignificant in Zuko's eyes, and arguably everyone else's. It was even odder that the young man who everyone considered to be the "modern day Casanova," turned out to be playing up his reputation the entire time. And it was still odder that Daichi was glaring at him for laughing, under the delusion that Zuko thought three kisses were some sort of embarrassment.
Daichi spoke again, clearly wanting to change the subject. "Anyways, just so you know, Jin still wants to be friends, but hasn't given up on you." Daichi grinned. "What she sees in you, I don't know, but…" He laughed, as it was Zuko's turn to throw a clump of grass at the man across him.
"I guess what I'm trying to say is, just give this place a chance, huh? It's probably different for you, to stay settled in one place, but you might like it here."
---
"So it looked like you had somewhat of a good time today, right Zuko?" Iroh asked, partly opening the sliding door to Zuko's room, where his nephew lounged on his bed, hands folded behind his head.
Zuko shrugged, remembering the question he wanted to ask his uncle earlier at the lake. He straightened up, his sleep-deprived self fighting the gradual droopiness gathering in his eyelids. "Did you know about the teashop owner?"
Iroh stared back confusedly for a few seconds, before a look of comprehension graced his features. "Oh, you mean how he adopted Daichi?"
Zuko blinked. "How long have you known?"
"Since today." Iroh sat down at the corner of Zuko's bed. "Pao told me he adopted Daichi four years back. Poor boy," Iroh shook his head sadly, "but he is lucky to have found such a great replacement father figure. Who knows how he might have turned out, all things considered?"
Those last few words perked Zuko's interest. "What happened?"
Iroh considered his nephew for a moment before continuing. "I think Daichi should tell you when he's ready." Noticing his nephew's disgruntled glare, he continued warily, choosing his words carefully. "Let's just say… he is yet another product of two desperate people under desperate circumstances. Of a woman who cared too much and a man who could care less."
Zuko folded his arms tightly, narrowing his eyes. "You're being proverbial again," he noted harshly.
Iroh chuckled bitterly, standing up and heading towards the door. "Try figuring that one out, nephew. Goodnight," and he left the room without another word, leaving an undoubtedly aggravated Prince Zuko to his confused thoughts, knowing too well he wouldn't even attempt to decipher his maxim.
