Usual disclaimer: Bryke & Nick owns the characters. I just tell stories. =P

Ginger Ale

I'm bored. Oh well, might as well do something useful. I'm sure he's going to drink it anyway.

There hasn't been much to do lately, or at least till she hears someone screaming along the hallway. By then she would need all her strength to keep the old geezers from lunging at each other, or at the very least keep herself from throwing her knives at them to shut their mouths up. For now, she only needs to sing to herself to make the perfect honeyed ginger ale for him.

Each day, flowers bloom and wilt,

Each day, the sun rises and falls,

Each day, mem'ries come and fade,

But for each day that it does,

My love will build no walls.

Eww, cheesy. Better think of another one. She almost spat her tongue out. Corny lines were not really her style. More on the lines of witty and sharp.

If you can't feed me some good grub,

I'd rather eat a badgerfrog.

Blah, that even went out wrong. Oh well, at least I had 86 heartbeats already. 100 more to go. Maybe I'll just count.

After letting the boiled the ginger root steep for a good half-hour, she took out a large earthen kettle and poured half of the mixture in, then added some previously-boiling water, allowing the steam to reach her nose well.

Perfect. Now for some honey.

She kept the rest of the boiled ginger root in a mossy earthen pot and stored it away from the kiln. After pouring some honey into the kettle, she placed everything in a tray, along with some thin wafers that pretty much summed up the personalities of the people she would be serving: old, flaky, and dry.

Flashback:

"Uncle Iroh likes tea a lot. But isn't it just boiled leaf juice?" The little girl kept squinting at the clear crystal that holds a small amount of concentrated ginger ale.

"We-ll, sometimes it's not leaf juice at all. It can be seeds, bark, fruits, or in this case, root. By itself, this ginger ale would taste too strong, even for an old man like me. But!" The old man places the ale into a porcelain pot with boiling water, then adds some honey to the mix. "Sometimes when you just want to savor the taste, watering it down then adding something to balance the flavor will certainly surprise you. And best of all, this actually helps make your voice sound better when you sing."

The little girl smiled at the thought. She likes singing but her voice sounds rather rough and raspy, even though she hits the notes rather well. "I think I'd like to drink some of that now Uncle Iroh, Sir!"

Old man Iroh couldn't stifle a giggle. That girl's got spunk, not even hesitating to drink something I actually just invented a few weeks ago. But then again, if she was a soldier she's going to be quite loyal, as she trusts my judgment so far. "Alright, Chibi Mai-Mai, have a taste of this special honeyed ginger tea then." It tastes rather spicy, but the nice kind that soothes the body during a cold night. "It's pretty good, I like it. Not that it's supposed to make my voice all better and stuff," she blushed profusely after saying stuff. She thought of how Lu Ten Onii-chan told her she had a knack at singing. "Well, it's pretty good, is it not? Pretty good for a new recipe." The little girl almost choked and snorted her drink up her nose while the old man patted her back, not hesitating to laugh really hard.

Back to the present:

Oh geez, I was supposed to put it IN the boiling water. Blah, how would this even taste now?

Her obsessive-compulsion to do the details right got the best of her. Again. Oh well, too late now, the oldies are already drinking the tea and the wafers without much problem other than jostling around and laughing, while he just held her hand and smiled. "I see Uncle taught you well with what snack to mix with every kind of tea." She just smirked and fed him some wafer before saying "No kidding".

Maybe I should write everything instead of reliving everything bit by bit.

A/N: I'm not sure how this went or what. I hope it's pretty much realistic, and near the characters' actual selves. Hope you hear what you think so far. ^-^ I had to put the disclaimers before the stories so some stuff might have changed. It slipped my mind. _