Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

A/N: Okay, so I made a list of 100 words, and I'm going to use those words as titles and inspiration for drabbles and short stories! So here we are, with number 25: Door. Hope you like, and please review!

25. Door

His eyes shut and he sighed heavily. How he had let his uncle talk him into this, he had no clue. She was just a stupid peasant girl! Why did she even matter?

He was a prince. She was a peasant. And Earth Kingdom peasant no less. A Fire Prince didn't even glance at people like her, let alone agree to go on a date with one.

"You said yourself the date was nice!" his uncle had argued, lifting his hands in his typical please-understand gesture.

"I only said that so you wouldn't bother me!" he'd protested angrily, slamming the tray on the table, the teapot clanging against itself and the other cups. "If you knew, you would've asked questions, and done exactly what you're doing now!"

"Pardon me for trying to make my nephew happy!" Iroh said, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

Hours passed, filled with customers, and not once did Zuko see Jin. His eyebrows furrowed and he walked back into the kitchen, dropping a teapot and some cups into the sink.

His uncle sighed and turned to him, folding his arms into his sleeves. "I can see you're unhappy, Prince Zuko. But it seems like I'm the only one trying to fix it."

"I don't need your help," Zuko snapped, taking a wet cloth to one of the cups. "This city is terrible. I won't be happy until we leave."

His uncle was silent after that, at least for a while. He didn't speak again until his nephew was nearly done cleaning the dishes. "She didn't come today, did she?" he asked, his voice quiet and monotonic.

Zuko's hands stilled, but only for a moment. He continued scrubbing, his muscles tensing and his frown deepening.

Iroh took a few steps toward him and rested his hand on Zuko's shoulder. "Why do you say you don't care when you look for her every day?"

Zuko spun around and stepped back, the cup and washcloth still in his hands. "I don't look for her!" he exclaimed, his fingers burning through the washcloth, making the water evaporate. "I'm glad she stopped coming! This way I don't have to look at her, or even think about her! I want her out of my life!" He threw the cup to the ground and the washcloth covered it.

Iroh was left with a smoking cloth and a new knowledge.

Zuko still wanted Jin.

And then there he stood, in front of her door, a mind warring with emotions and a coupon for tea in his hand. He raised his hand to knock on the door, but paused. He sighed again and let it fall back to his side, turning and beginning to pace on her porch.

What was he supposed to say? That he was sorry? Because he wasn't! He was only doing this so his uncle would get off his back.

He did what he had to at the firelight fountain. What he wanted to do. He had a girl waiting for him back in the Fire Nation. But strangely, as her face came into his thoughts, his heart sank. Her frown, her cold, squinting eyes, her too-perfect hair...

Then she smiled. Her hair grew lighter, her bangs became uneven, her straight pigtails became long braids, her eyes the color of olives...

He stopped walking abrubtly and blinked, shaking his head to clear away the image of her face. Jin and Mai were complete opposites. Mai was perfect for him. She was just as stubborn as he was, she calmed him down when he was angry, shared his opinion on everything.

But Jin... she smiled when he yelled at her, accepted his odd comments with an amused look, and showed him beautiful things that he never would have stopped to look at before. She was his opposite as well. His perfect opposite...

He swallowed and narrowed his eyes. No, she was just like everyone else. She only smiled at him because she didn't want to show how hurt she was. All he did was hurt her.

His fingers tightened around the coupon, filled with anger. But his anger confused him. He wasn't angry at her, not even at his uncle, but at himself. He'd hurt her, and he cursed himself for it.

His hands balled into fists and he slammed them into his forehead, clenching his teeth and shutting his eyes tightly. What was wrong with him? He didn't like this. She confused him, made him furious, and he hated it.

He hated her.

Stupid girl. He threw the coupon down on the ground, in front of her door, and stomped off her porch into the streets. He'd just tell his uncle he apologized, and she accepted it, and he gave her the coupon. So that way if she didn't come back, Iroh couldn't blame him. That would work.

---

She could swear she heard footsteps outside. She grabbed her cup of tea in her hand, in case it was someone dangerous so she could throw the hot liquid in their eyes. She wasn't quite sure what to do after that, probably run away and call for help. She didn't know too much about self-defense.

She opened the door a crack at first, then pulled it open all the way.

No one was there.

Her eyes narrowed. There was someone out here, she thought, looking around. I'm sure of it. She stepped outside, then jumped when she heard something crinkle.

She stepped back and lifted her foot. Sure enough, she'd only stepped on a small piece of paper. Who left this here? she asked herself mentally, and bent down to pick it up. I straightened my back and held it out in front of me, trying to take out all the wrinkles so I could read it.

Wait... It looked familiar. Where had she seen this before?

She gasped, her eyes tearing away from the coupon and out to the streets. "Li?" she asked, her voice carrying on the wind.

But no one was there to hear her.