It had been a few days since Jin had first stayed overnight with him and with each passing day, he felt closer to her. His life had fallen into a comfortable routine. Every day he helped his uncle in the tea shop, which had grown to be known as one of the wonders of Ba Sing Se; at the end of every workday, he met Jin at the door and the two of them would spend the evenings together exploring the lower city. When he first arrived in the city, he thought of the lower city as a slum, the dwelling of the poor and forgotten, but now it truly felt like home and the nights spent with Jin in his arms were some of the happiest of his life.
Today was no different and even while he was busy clearing the tables so his uncle could close the shop for the night, he was anxiously looking for Jin's arrival. However, she hadn't arrived yet and Zuko's mind started to wander onto the possible reasons for the delay. "Zuko, you don't need to be nervous," his uncle's voice snapped him out of his reverie.
"How could you tell I was nervous?"
"You've been cleaning the same cup for a couple minutes now, while staring directly at the door the entire time," his uncle said and took the cup from his nephew. "You don't need to worry Zuko. I don't think I've ever seen a girl as crazy for a guy as that Jin of yours, she'll be here."
"I wasn't really worried about her not wanting to be here. I'm worried that something else is keeping her from being here."
His uncle's expression turned serious and he said, "Don't worry Zuko. If she isn't here by the time we close up, I'll help you go look for her. Does that sound good?"
"Alright Uncle," Zuko said and went to another table to continue working, but kept an eye on the doorway.
Not long afterwards, his fears were dispelled when Jin walked through the door and gave him a smile. She turned to Iroh and bowed to him and he bowed in return saying, "It's good to see you Jin, I was worried something was keeping you."
"You were worried?" she said with a pointed look at Zuko, who was making a point of cleaning a cup very carefully and not appearing relieved. "I had to help my family at the market. Our neighbours have a little baby and we wanted to give them something to help them get by, so they brought me along to carry a basket."
Iroh smiled and said, "What a kind young lady you are, you could teach my nephew a few things."
Her cheeks reddened slightly and she said, "Oh, I think he's a very kind person."
Iroh chuckled and picked up the kettle from the back. "I didn't mean to imply that he wasn't. There are some leftovers. Would you like me to make you a cup of tea while you wait for my nephew to finish his work?"
"I'd love that. Your tea is the best I've ever had," she said.
"Oh flattery will get you everywhere," Iroh said and proceeded to prepare a cup of tea from the leftover water and leaves. "Now Jin, let me tell you a secret. The ingredient that makes all the difference…"
"Is love," she finished with him. "You've mentioned that nearly every time you've made me a cup of tea."
"Well, it's the truth," Iroh said as he gave Jin the cup. He looked over to Zuko and said, "You'd better hurry up, I wouldn't want to keep this young lady waiting."
Several minutes later, Zuko and Iroh had finished cleaning the shop and had closed it for the night and since Jin had also finished her cup of tea, she and Zuko were leaving together. Iroh called after them, "Take care you two."
"We will Uncle," Zuko said and then put an arm around Jin to walk with her down the street.
"You know what I feel like doing tonight?" Jin said, stopping to pull Zuko in the opposite direction that they were walking. "I want to go back to the fountain we visited on our first date. It'll be so romantic, especially without you running away this time." Zuko agreed with a bit of a sheepish grin and they started walking together to the fountain.
As they walked, they talked about all sorts of things, but what amazed and delighted Zuko was how perfectly ordinary the conversation was. Compared to the endless talk of war that had occupied his life in the Fire Nation and the single-minded focus on the Avatar since his banishment; talking about something as simple as an upcoming parade seemed strange. Despite that, he couldn't have been happier. He had a wonderful girl and perhaps even more importantly, he was at peace. The fires that used to rage in his heart had quieted to the warmth of life.
They arrived at the fountain and fortunately for Zuko's secrecy, the lanterns were all already lit. Jin led him over to the edge of the fountain, sat down and motioned for him to do the same. "When we came here the first time," she said, taking his hand, "none of the lanterns were lit. But then, you told me to cover my eyes and when I opened them, they were all lit."
Zuko looked away and didn't say anything.
She leaned in so that she could speak softly into his ear. "You're a firebender, aren't you?" Zuko could feel an initial panic at the thought that his secret was out and that he and his uncle were going to be forced to flee once again. But then, the panic gave way to a deeper pain. Knowing that he was a firebender almost certainly would mean that Jin wouldn't want anything to do with him anymore. As much as it surprised him, the thought of being separated from her was worse than even the threat of turning the entire lower city against him.
But when he looked into her eyes, he knew that he couldn't continue to lie to her. The trust and love that showed in her eyes was just too much for him. He took a deep breath and said, "Yes, I am. My uncle and I came here to run away from the Fire Nation's army. That much is true, but we weren't running because we were refugees, we ran because we deserted from the army."
He braced himself for her response, but when it came it was not angry or afraid like he expected. "I figured you were. Don't worry; your secret is safe with me. I know how many people around here are here because the army chased them from their homes and they probably wouldn't stop to notice how nice of a person you are and just blame you for your nation's wrongs."
"Our wrongs are all of ours to bear. They would be right to blame for things the army has done," he said and his head added, 'because I was probably the one who ordered the army to burn their homes to the ground when I wanted to find the Avatar.'
"Don't say that. You've shown me nothing but kindness; I know you're a good person, so it doesn't matter where you came from. I told you that I'd keep your secret to myself and I will, I promise," she said and then leaned in to kiss him.
He didn't even know what to think, but he pressed back against her and put his arms around her to hold her as tightly as he could. 'I don't know what I've done to deserve someone like her, but I'm not going to let her go,' he thought. They pulled apart and he reached up to brush a stray hair behind her ear.
She looked over at the fountain and said, "I love how the light reflects off of the water; it's so beautiful." She let her head rest on his shoulder. "But not as much as I love you. I'd give up ever seeing the fountain again if it meant that I could spend more time with you."
Zuko was taken aback. He knew that she liked him and he knew how much he cared for her, but this was the first time that either of them had actually used the word love. She wasn't looking at him, but he could feel the slight tensing in her body that gave away that she was waiting for a response. "I love you too Jin," he said after the long hesitation and he could feel her body relax into his once again.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. Jin sat up straight and broke the silence, "I have an idea, come on." She stood up and pulled Zuko along with her. They half ran and half stumbled over around a corner and out into a small street. Jin pulled him over to the back of a building until her back was up against the wall with Zuko pressed tightly up against her. "Nobody ever comes down this street, we have complete privacy," she said and then pulled Zuko in for a deep, passionate kiss.
Zuko felt her tongue pressing against his lips and opened up to allow her entry. Her tongue was warm and he felt himself returning the sensation by running his own along the edge of hers. It was pleasant to say the least and his mind became more and more occupied by enjoying it as much as he could. Without even consciously thinking about it, one hand started to run up and down her side, while the other moved up to cup her face and back of her neck.
He could hear a soft groan vibrating through her mouth to his. His hand ran down her body and his touch brought a smile to her mouth as they continued to kiss. She broke away from the kiss and turned them around so his back was against the wall and she stepped forward to press him against it. Her hands ran up under his shirt and over his chest, which brought an involuntary shiver out of Zuko. She took one of his hands and pulled it towards her own chest, while the other continued to caress him.
He let her pull his hand and cupped her breast gently. Her hand remained on top of his and made his gently massage her breast, while she groaned in pleasure. After a couple of seconds, he started to move his hand of his own volition and opened his eyes to see the reaction that matched her now constant, soft moans.
Something at the corner of his vision caught his eye and he glanced over to see what it was. It was fire, rising up above the line of building and it was coming from the exact direction of his home and the teahouse. In shock, he pulled away from her to stare at the flames. "What are you do–" she said, until she turned to see the flames. Then she voiced what was on both of their minds, "We have to go see if the teahouse is safe. Come on!"
Zuko took off at a run, leaving Jin behind as he sprinted towards the source of the flames. First, he passed his home and, seeing that it was safe, pounded on the door to make sure that his uncle knew about the fire. When a few seconds passed without a response, he assumed that his uncle already knew and was there. He ran off towards the teahouse with his heart pounding in his chest. As he got closer, he could see that his fears were realized and it was indeed the teahouse that was the origin of the fire.
His uncle was standing outside and he called out to him. "Uncle, what happened? How did it start?"
He stopped in front of Iroh, who said, "I don't know. One moment I was enjoying a nice cup of tea and then the next our neighbours were knocking at the door telling me that my teahouse was on fire. I came as soon as I could but we haven't been able to get the fire under control yet, so I haven't been able to take a look inside."
Out of the corner of his eye, Zuko saw a figure sneaking away down an alley. "Uncle, stay here and keep an eye on Jin. I saw someone suspicious. I'll be back soon," he said and took off after the figure.
He ran into the alleyway and saw the figure taking a turn up ahead. "Stop! Come back!" he shouted after them, but they neither stopped nor turned around to face him. He ran after them through the alleys. They turned and he turned; they sprinted and he sprinted, but his time in the city had weakened Zuko and he felt himself falling behind with each successive turn. Before long, he knew that he had to find another way to catch them because he wouldn't be able to run them down through sheer speed and endurance. As he followed them through the twisting streets, he suddenly realized that the very chance he needed was just up ahead. On one particular trek with Jin through the city, they had happened upon an abandoned drainage system that wound underneath the lower city. One entrance to it was just up ahead and it opened out on the other side of a row of houses into another small side street. This by itself wasn't significant, but that side street was the only way the figure could run from here and without taking the drainage pipes, they would have to run quite a way and double back on the other side of the houses, so he could cut them off if he took the shortcut.
As the figure sprinted further ahead of him down the surface path, he ducked down into the pipe and started to run through. Fortunately for him, the earthbending that these pipes had made them quite large, so he could run fully upright and quickly got across to the other side. He peered out to see how far away the figure was, so he could jump out close enough that they couldn't just turn around and flee the other way. Tightly packed houses lined either side of the street, so the approaching figure could only run directly towards him or turn around entirely. As they approached, Zuko realized that it was a Dai Li agent that he'd been pursuing.
He was unarmed, so he knew that surprising them was his only chance. He waited until they got as close as he could let them get and ran out into the street. The agent stopped running and said, "What do you want? If you know what's best for you, you'll move out of the way."
"What did you do to my uncle's teahouse?" Zuko said.
"What the Dai Li does or doesn't do is none of your business civilian, now move along," the agent said and took a fighting stance.
"You will tell me what you did," Zuko said prepared to defend himself. "I saw you running away and I've heard all about how you try and suppress rumours of the war. Do you really think burning down our tea shop is going to scare us away?"
"Fine then, I'll just have to take you into custody and deal with the problem a little more directly. A few days at Lake Laogai will deal you," he said and his hand reached into his tunic and then he threw a metal claw at Zuko.
Zuko saw the claw flying through the air and sidestepped. As the claw flew past, he grabbed the chain attached and used it to pull the Dai Li agent towards him. While they tried to recover their balance, he charged forward, hoping to finish the battle without needing to firebend.
The Dai Li agent stumbled forward as his trusty chain was turned against him. He had never seen such speed out of one of these lower city types. They must have been ex-military or at least a skilled warrior in whatever unimportant village they hailed from.
Not that he didn't enjoy the occasional challenge. He stepped forward and struck forward and felt the earth obey his commands as a wall of rock rumbled forward at the target.
The agent sent a wall of rocks at him, but Zuko barely slowed as he ran. 'I've fought the Avatar, do you think you really have a chance?' Zuko thought. Just as the wall was about to hit him, he leapt into the air and used the very top of the wall to launch himself forward.
This one was pretty good, but they can't control where they go in the air. The agent threw two quick punches and two fists of rock shot outward to restrain the figure.
Zuko didn't want to be forced to reveal his firebending, but he was caught in the air with two fists flying at him. His palm shot forward and he felt the near-forgotten rage explode to life within him as the air around his hand burst into flames. The strength of the fire punched straight through the fists of rock and he landed on the ground just in front of the agent, his hands wreathed in flame. "Now, you will tell me what you did," Zuko said.
The agent let his head fall in defeat, but then dashed forward and tried to tackle the mysterious firebender to the ground. As he got close, he brought his palms crashing together in front of his chest and knew that the earth would make a shield to carry him safely through.
Zuko wasn't surprised that the agent tried to continue to fight, but he had no idea why he charged forward instead of trying some more earthbending trickery. The sudden armour of earth that covered the agent as he hurtled towards Zuko took him by surprise. The agent crashed into him and they flew towards the nearby wall. Zuko reached out behind him and pushed the heat out through his muscles in the form of a pair of fire jets. He let the jet slow them down as they approached the building, pushed off the ground and felt himself being forced backwards until his feet pressed against the wall behind him. The combined pressure of the agent pushing forward and the wall, unyielding behind him, held him off the ground.
All he had to do was keep pushing forward and he could crush this firebender into paste. He planted his feet against the ground and starting pulling the earth behind him forward. He could feel it sliding forward and helping to close the gap between the building and his rock armour.
Zuko felt himself being crushed backwards by the earthbender's strength. He concentrated all his strength, waiting for the chance for one focused strike. The agent drew back to gather his strength and Zuko let the heat explode outwards. The explosion threw the agent to the ground and punched a hole in the wall behind him. He ran forward, grabbed the agent, who was lying injured on the ground and pinned him down.
The sudden explosion vaporized the rocks that he had armoured himself with. Before he had a chance to get to his feet, he was being held down with a fireball hovering uncomfortably close to his face.
"Now you'll tell me what I want or I'll burn it out of you. What did you do to my uncle's teahouse?" Zuko said.
"Alright, I was the one who set the fire, I'll admit it. But I was only doing it on orders from my superiors."
"Who ordered you to do this? I'll hunt him down for what he did!"
The agent opened his mouth to answer, but his eyes widened as they looked past Zuko to a nearby rooftop. Zuko wouldn't have turned to look, assuming that it was a trick, but he instinctively felt the attack coming.
He leapt aside as a wave of blue fire arched down to the ground, where he and the agent, who had rolled away, had been just a moment before. Blue fire could only mean one thing and he spun around, but no one was there. He turned back and the agent had fled out into the street and quickly disappeared into the crowd.
Although he didn't learn who had ordered the burning of his uncle's teahouse, he had something even more important to tell Iroh. He ran back to the teahouse where he had left his uncle to chase the Dai Li agent.
When he returned to the tea shop, he found his uncle sitting outside with a grim look on his face. "Uncle, I managed to catch up to–" he started.
"Zuko, I need to tell you," his uncle said.
"Uncle, when I caught up to him, I had him and then," he started trying to talk over his uncle.
"Zuko, listen to me," his uncle kept trying to get his attention.
"Someone sent fire at me Uncle and it was blue, you know there's only one firebender that."
"Zuko, they took Jin!" his uncle took him by the shoulders and shook him once.
"What?" Any thoughts of firebending had left Zuko's mind.
"The Dai Li came by after you left and took her. There was nothing I could do to stop them. I think it was a trap Zuko, the fire I mean. They just wanted to lure you away so that they could take her."
"Stay here Uncle, I'll be back soon." Zuko said. He turned to walk to their house as thoughts whirled through his head. How could he possibly believe that he could escape his destiny? He was the prince of the Fire Nation and pretending otherwise just brought destruction to those who didn't deserve it. He had tried to deny who he was and had dragged Jin into his world of pain and war. The rage burned inside of him and he barely held the fires back from erupting outward and annihilating everything around him. He realized what a fool he had been, but now he was going to set it right. He would rescue Jin from the Dai Li and then he would remove himself from her life, so that he could never hurt her again.
When he arrived at their house, he went straight to his room and opened a chest that sat untouched in the corner. Inside were a blue oni mask and a pair of gleaming swords. It was time that he embraced his true destiny. No matter what he wanted, he couldn't escape the truth. He strapped the swords onto his back and hid the oni mask in his tunic. He turned and left his room as the fires in his heart threatened to envelop him.
When he left the room, he found his uncle waiting in the room for him. "Zuko, a message came from the palace. We've been invited to serve them tea." His face showed little emotion, even when he noticed the pair of swords that Zuko was now wearing.
"Good. I have some unfinished business with the Dai Li. What I wanted to tell you earlier was I was stopped by a firebender who used blue fire. She must be behind this, only Azula could be capable of ordering this wanton cruelty."
His uncle's expression turned harder still. "Then we'd best be prepared for anything. I doubt we will have a chance to return here. Gather anything you need. I'll give what I can to the neighbours to help them out and I'm going to burn the rest." He stopped at the door and looked back at Zuko. "I'm sorry Zuko. Do not let this convince you that happiness is the wrong path."
"I know my path Uncle." He turned away from his uncle and let the fires burn through the room until no evidence remained of Zuko's brief life of happiness.
A/N: And there you have it. This concludes Zuko's story in Ba Sing Se (although I'm debating on adding an epilogue, but I wouldn't hold your breath). Sorry about the delay between this chapter and the previous one, I've had a busy week and it slipped my mind that I needed to put this chapter up.
As always, I encourage you to leave a review. As much as I just enjoy seeing the page views counter rise, I also enjoy reading reviews and I almost always take the time to respond, even if it is just a word or two.
