A/N: Wow. I never thought I'd ever update this thing... Well, from now on, it won't take a month to put up one chapter, I swear.

Gah. On with the story:

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It took a while to let it all sink in for Zuko. He was there, she was there, they crashed… and now they're on top of each other.

Slowly, they both got up. They stared at each other, filling the air with what everyone thought was awkward silence, but was actually steamy tension.

Finally, Zuko spoke. "Leave," he hissed, his voice barely audible, but loud enough to let Katara hear, and know it was dripping in venom.

And despite Zuko's dangerous glare, Katara stood her ground. "No," she responded, her lower lip sticking out in a stubborn pout.

She had her reasons. She was curious about why Zuko was, of all places, in a small tea shop in the middle of Ba Sing Se. She was curious about why Zuko was working, apparently, in a small tea shop of Ba Sing Se. And most of all, she was curious about why Zuko was wearing an apron, working in a small tea shop in the middle of Ba Sing Se!

"Leeeeave," Zuko repeated, his murderous gaze getting more and more intense. "I said leave, you barbaric piece of trash!"

Katara remained somewhat un-offended by his remark. "And I said no." She lowered her voice even more, so no one but Zuko could hear her. "'Barbaric piece of trash'?! How dare you… you… uncivil, snooty prick!"

"What do you want, peasant?" He asked, clearly more stressed than angry now.

Katara narrowed her eyes. "If you must know, I've been overhearing now and then around the city about a 'skilled middle-aged tea-maker and his dashing, scarred nephew working in a tea shop located in the Lower Ring." She looked at Zuko, who was still glaring at her. "Obviously, they were only half right with the second description."

Zuko suddenly felt powerless. "So now you're going off to alert the officials; you know our identities."

Katara grinned mischievously. "No, that's not why I'm here." Her smile grew wider. "I came here for your services. Wouldn't that make a story for the others: 'The great Prince of the Fire Nation served me tea, poor and helpless, stripped of his dignity.' Ha!"

Zuko couldn't believe it. "If you think I'd do such a thing—get down on my knees and cater to your every whim—you're much more delusional than I thought. There is no way I'm going to serve a pathetic little peasant like you."

"I figured you'd decline. But," she casually looked at her nails as she said this, "there will be a consequence. Don't serve me, and you'll find yourself in a nice little cell in the Earth Kingdom dungeon, ready to be sent away to the Fire Nation to be locked away forever."

"I said no."

"Fine, then." Suddenly, she started shouting: "Yoo hoo, everybody! This guy's from the Fi—"

Alarmed, Zuko took both of her wrists and burned her a little.

Katara winced, but she didn't back down. "Help! This man's a fi—OW!" She yelled as the heat in her wrists grew.

By this time, they had caught everyone, including Iroh, in the tea shop's attention. To stop the girl from saying anything else, Zuko dragged her to the back room.

This left all the customers puzzled. They watched as he slammed the door behind him

Once they were both out of earshot, one gambler said, "Four coppers that he'll take her," counting his change.

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A/N: Gah. Short, I know. But at least this story is going somewhere, right? I'll be updating at random... I have one strange schedule. sweatdrop

Please, R&R!