2

When Jin enters the greenhouse, she hears yelling and a string of curses. She smirks when she sees that it is her grandfather arguing with a customer. She hangs by a patch of blooming peonies and waits until her grandfather and the customer finish squabbling before making her way towards him.

"You know, fighting with your customers isn't really a good way to keep them," Jin lightly says as she tries to stop herself from giggling.

Her grandfather hates the business aspect of his Gardening and Landscaping Shop; he hates dealing with customers and going through lengthy and boring business transactions. He much prefers raising and growing the plants and flowers and vegetables, taking great pleasure in the beauty he has created with his own hands. Selling the plants and produce, handling business transactions and keeping the books, records and accounts are jobs that are generally delegated to Jin.

When Jin is in school and is too busy to work in the shop, her grandfather watches over it by himself. It falls into a terrible state under his care since he always ends up arguing with the customers and losing all the paperwork.

Her grandfather scowls and snaps, "Pah! That woman was complaining to me about how we landscaped her garden wrong! Which is ridiculous since we landscaped her garden exactly as she had designed it in this paper!"

He waves the paper with the design in front of her face before continuing, "And she wants a refund! Can you believe her!? A refund!"

Jin raises a brow at him. "Did you give her a refund?"

"What!? Of course not! She was trying to rob me of my money! I sent her away and called her a cheat!"

She gives her grandfather a look of horror. "Gramps, she is one of our best customers! She wanted us to do the flower arrangements for her son's wedding! You shouldn't have been so rude to her! She might cancel—''

"And so what?" her grandfather retorts. He stamps his foot and declares, "We have plenty of other customers! I don't need that old cow's money."

"But—''

He suddenly narrows his eyes against hers and demands, "And what are you doing here? You're back early from the teashop."

Jin sighs and fingers the leaf of a bamboo shoot. She grumbles, "I left because sitting there is boring and a waste of time."

He frowns at her. "What's that supposed to mean?"

She shrugs. "They're just two people serving tea. That's it. They're regular people. They don't even seem to be in danger."

She's been in the shop for days and she still doesn't understand why her grandfather sent her there. The two tea servers don't really seem as important as her grandfather says they are and she doesn't see the point in going back there every day.

"You didn't notice anything unusual?" her grandfather questions.

"Well, there is this one boy…" She pauses and hesitates.

"What? What about him?!" her grandfather says, his eyes wide with alarm.

Jin looks at him, worried at the tense way her grandfather clenches his hands. "He's around my age. I always see him hanging around near the teashop every day—''

Her grandfather gives an annoyed huff. "So a regular customer of theirs constitutes as unusual activity?"

Jin scowls at him and patiently explains through gritted teeth, "No. I said he always hangs out near the teashop, not in the teashop. I don't know. He's always lurking in the alleyways across the teashop or hanging around the clotheslines of the building across it."

Her grandfather looks away and strokes his beard, his green-grey eyes deep in concentration. He doesn't say anything for a long time and a tense silence fills the greenhouse. Finally, he glances at her sideways and says, "Has he done anything aside from watching them? Has he spoken to them? Has he approached them in any way?"

Jin shakes her head. "No. Not really. He just watches them."

When he doesn't say anything, Jin says, "So…do you want me to talk to him or something?"

"No. Just keep an eye on him. If something happens I know that you are more than capable of handling yourself. Keep on going to that tea shop and watch over them. And remember, if anything suspicious happens—''

"Report it to you right away. I know," Jin wearily finishes for him. She loudly sighs and says, "Do I really have to do this? I mean, nothing interesting ever happens. The two of them are regular refugees, normal people. I don't get what they need protecting from—''

"Silly girl, stop complaining so much! Just go on and do as you're told!" her grandfather irately interrupts her. He glares at her reprovingly.

Jin frowns at him, before sighing, relenting. Her grandfather is a stubborn old man and if he wants her to do something, chances are, he won't stop pestering or scolding her until she does it. It will probably be easier for everyone if she just does as he says.

"Fine."

He gives her a satisfied smile before drawing a thick stack of papers from his sleeves. He shoves it all into Jin's hands and gruffly says, "Sort through all this paperwork and bills while you're closing up. You know how I can't stare at sloppily written characters for too long! They're bad for my eyes!"

He stalks off to examine the vegetable patches outside.

Jin shakes her head and hurries to her grandfather's desk, buried somewhere at the back with all the plants. Her mind races as she sorts through all papers, bills and hates the way her grandfather never tells her anything, hates that way he keeps telling her to do stuff while keeping her in the dark. He's keeping things from her and she wants answers.

She wonders if the day will ever come when her grandfather tells her everything.

Jin looks out of the window and watches the boy as he leans back against the wall, the shadows of the alleyway of obscuring his face. She has seen the boy every day, almost always in the same position, his arms folded and his mouth perpetually chewing a stringy piece of straw. It's almost as if he's waiting for something. But what could it be?

Two other figures, both boys she supposes, approach him. One is short with a small, shaggy mane of brown hair that doesn't quite exactly fall to his shoulder. A khukri knife hangs at his sides. The other is tall with a straw hat and a bow and a quiver of arrows are fastened on his back. They are all armed, she realizes. Even the boy who always hides in the shadows, has a pair of swords that are hooked at the ends strapped to his back.

It is definitely something that she needs to tell her grandfather this evening.

"Here's your tea."

She jumps, startled. Jin tears her attention away from the window to the boy standing in front of her. He stands there, hands outstretched with the cup of tea, his brows furrowed and a tight line set into his mouth.

It's the nephew. She doesn't know much about him except that he is surly and ill-tempered and a perpetual frown rests on his face. He is certainly nothing like his uncle, Mushi, who always smiles at her pleasantly whenever he sees her. Although it could be that Mushi is simply being polite because he recognizes her from that night he went to visit her grandfather. Now that she thinks about it, he has never actually spoken to her or shown any indication that he is aware her grandfather sent her here to "watch over them". He merely regards her like every other customer—with a genial smile and a polite bow of his head.

"Thank you," Jin quickly says as he slams the teacup on her table. She frowns, a little put off by his rude behavior. It's almost as if he's angry at her for something, although she doesn't understand what it could possibly be. She hasn't done anything to him.

He gives a stiff nod before turning around to walk away.

She glares at him, her eyes narrowing against his profile. He has a handsome face that is dusted by a short, spiky crop of dark hair. A large, angry red scar marks his left face. She feels a spasm of sadness when she realizes that a Firebender must have done that to him. No wonder he looks so frustrated or angry all the time.

The door suddenly bursts open. Jin's eyes widen when she realizes that it is the boy with the hook swords.

"I'm tired of waiting!" he yells. He points an accusing finger at Mushi and his nephew. "These two men are firebenders!"

Firebenders? Ridiculous. Her grandfather would not send her to protect firebenders. The boy is clearly confused. Or crazy.

He suddenly unsheathes his hook swords. Jin tenses. He's going to attack them. Is this the danger her grandfather wants her to protect them from? Spirits, what should she do? Should she jump in front of them and use her earthbending? But that will attract attention to herself. Her grandfather told her to be discreet.

"I know they're firebenders, I saw the old man heating his tea!" the boy insistently says when he realizes that everyone is looking at him in disbelief.

"He works in a tea shop," a customer pipes up.

The boy scowls and says, "He's a firebender! I'm telling you!"

Jin gets up in panic, her feet automatically widening into an earthbending stance. The customer stands up with another man and blocks her way, saying in a patronizing voice, "Drop your swords boy. Nice and easy…"

He cuts him off. "You'll have to defend yourself. Then everyone will know. Go ahead. Show them what you can do."

A sound slices through the air as the nephew steps forward and unsheathes the pair of swords from the customer's side and holds them up in a defensive stance. He scowls, "You want a show? I'll give you a show!"

Before Jin can move, they go at each other swords swinging. Jin stays rooted in her place, transfixed like everyone else as she watches the two of them forcing each other back and forth in a battle of dominance. His uncle stands in his place with a shocked and upset expression on his face. A loud clang rings across the tea shop whenever their swords make contact.

Jin is finally reminded of her task when the nephew hurtles backwards and bursts out of the door. Everyone, including her, empties out of the teashop and into the street to watch the fight. It is already evening and Jin realizes, for the first time, that she stayed in the teashop later than usual today.

She nibbles on her bottom lip when the boy hooks the ends of his swords together and begins to swing at them in the nephew's direction. The nephew retreats backwards, his swords crossed in front of him protectively.

The boy is gaining the upper hand. She needs to do something—anything—to help him. Her grandfather explicitly told her to protect them. And as much as the man annoys her, she cares about him. This is clearly something important to him and she doesn't want to disappoint him by messing up.

But she can't just go over there and stop them. It will look strange and raise too many questions. Her fingers drum against her thighs incessantly, a habit she does whenever she's nervous or trying to think.

A flash of billowing robes catches her eye. She whips her head to the side and her mouth breaks into a wide smile when she sees a pair of Dai Li agents. She weaves through the crowd of people and hurtles towards them, the clanging sounds of the swords locking ringing in her ears.

She manages to catch up to them before they turn left into the corner.

"Excuse me! Sir!"

The two agents pause in mid-step. They tilt their heads a fraction of an inch upwards, acknowledging her presence. Jin points to the direction of the teashop and says, "There's a fight going on over there. A boy just attacked someone else for no reason."

The Dai Li agents share a look and murmur to each other in quick conversation before turning back to look at Jin. One of them nods and says, "Take us there."

She leads them to the area where the two boys are fighting and after managing to pull them apart, the Dai Li agents grab the boy dragging him away as he stubbornly yells and asserts that Mushi and his nephew are firebenders.

Guilt sweeps over Jin as she watches the boy writhe against the Dai Li's grasp. She knows how the Dai Li operates. Her grandfather has told her about Long Feng and Lake Laogai and what really goes on in there. She can only hope that nothing too serious happens to him. A nasty feeling surges from the pit of her stomach.

Mushi catches her eye and sends her a grateful look. She manages a small smile. She looks at the direction where they took the boy for one last time before making her way to the monorail station.

This is something her grandfather would definitely want to know.

They are already eating dinner when she gets home. Her little brother is busily scarfing down all of his stew, chunks of beef and sauce peppered all over his face. Her grandfather frowns at her, his brows drawn in disapproval as he passes the bowl of rice towards her.

"You're late," he says reprovingly as Jin starts heaping rice into her bowl.

"Sorry. Ran into some trouble today," she says and she watches him carefully as his face folds into a look of worry and alarm.

She opens her mouth to speak again, ready to tell him the whole story when he holds his hand up and snaps, "I don't want to hear about it right now. I want to eat my dinner in peace. We'll talk some more in the garden."

"But—''

"Silly girl, stop talking so much! Just go on and do as I say!" he irately barks. Her little brother giggles at her, his dimples showing as he tries to hide his laughter.

Jin glares at her grandfather and scowls before grabbing her chopsticks and slurping some of her noodles. Their dinner continues on in the same manner that it usually does every night—lively conversation that is mostly punctuated with her grandfather complaining about his back, his gums, his eyesight, the customers, the workers, everything.

When they finish eating, her grandfather grabs her by the elbow and steers her into the garden. Her little brother yells in protest and hurries after them. The three of them walk through the flower beds and plants in silence, with Jin's brother bounding ahead of them, talking animatedly. When her little brother is at a good distance away, her grandfather pauses and grabs her shoulder before she can walk any further.

"Well!?" He stamps his foot impatiently. "Go on! You said you ran into some trouble! Tell me about it!"

Jin frowns at him and folds her arms. "Oh. So now I can talk?"

Her grandfather pinches the bridge of his nose and impatiently explains, "We obviously can't talk in there, where the servants and anyone else who wants to listen can hear us!"

Jin pauses, wondering why no one, aside from her and her grandfather, are allowed to know or hear what she is about to say. She is about to ask another question but her grandfather interrupts her and snaps, "Now, go on and tell me what happened! We haven't got all night!"

"Someone attacked them," Jin says in a rush.

"What?" Her grandfather's eyes widen. He grabs her by the shoulders and nearly shakes her as he says, "What are you talking about?! Who attacked them? The Dai Li!?"

Jin shakes her head and carefully removes herself from her grandfather's grip. "No. Not them. The boy I was telling you about. The one who is always hanging around near their teashop. He came in and started accusing them of being firebenders."

His eyes suddenly widen and they are masked with an emotion she can't recognize. He looks at the patch of tomatoes at the right and doesn't say anything for a long time. Jin watches him, trying to figure out what he is feeling, what he is thinking. The silence scares her a little bit and she wants him to say something, even if it is another heated reprimand.

He starts muttering under his breath and all she can catch is, "Great. After all that trouble getting them in here... Smuggling them out will be twice as hard…Forging new passports won't be easy…"

Jin stares at him in bewilderment. "Um…what?"

He ignores her and continues muttering. He finally looks at her and hesitantly says, "Did anyone…did anyone believe him? The boy who accused them of being firebenders?"

"No, of course not. That's just stupid. Firebenders can't possibly be in the city, right?"

He doesn't answer her. Instead, he responds with another question, "So what happened? Did you help them out?"

"No. His nephew grabbed a pair of swords and started fighting the other guy." Jin snorts. "He doesn't really need protecting. He could defend himself just fine. Which is why I think going to the shop is useless—''

"Did he get hurt? How about Mushi? Did you at least do anything useful?" he interrupts.

"I called the Dai Li," Jin says, her chest sinking in guilt at the memory.

"Pah! This is a disaster!" her grandfather cries. He glares at her and accusingly says, "I told you to make sure nothing happens to them! I ask you to do one thing and you make a mess of it!"

Jin's cheeks grow hot, the sting of failure washing over her. She can't bear to meet his eyes. She looks down and mumbles, "I'm sorry, Gramps."

"Humph."

A finger suddenly tips her chin upwards, forcing her to look at her grandfather. His expression has softened and traces of a smile can be seen from beneath his bushy beard. He says, "You still did your job in the end. You did it sloppily but you still did it."

Jin's mouth curves into a smile when she realizes that he isn't as mad as he seems. He pats her on the shoulder and says, "Now, go on and catch up with your little brother. I think he wants to play with you. Continue going to the teashop."

"Yes, Gramps," Jin says as she moves forward to find her little brother.

Jin cringes when he calls after her, "And make sure that you don't mess up this time!"