In this chapter, Zuko gets really out of character, but I did it on purpose. I did it to demonstrate how Jin is able to unlock the part of Zuko's personality that he represses most of the time. So basically he acts like he does when he joins the avatar later. Just thought I'd give you a heads up before you started reading and thinking that I'm loosing my mind. Enjoy chapter 4!
As soon as Zuko's formerly determined legs took him to his destination, he suddenly felt weak in the knees. All he could do was stand there stupidly, stare at the floor, and twiddle his thumbs while he was painfully aware of her eyes boring into him. It was silent for what seemed like forever before Jin decided to break the ice.
"Well...as far as awkward moments go this is definitely memorable." Zuko looked up to meet her gaze and was surprised to see her face was bright red, but not angry. Relief washed over him as he pulled out the chair opposite her and sat down.
"So…" he began fishing for something to say, "how are you?" Not exactly original, but it was a start.
"Oh," she began, and then paused. She tilted her head slightly to the side and looked away for a second as if trying to piece together the rest of her sentence. She opened her mouth and took a short breath as if she was about to say it, but then stopped herself and instead let the breath out in a brief sigh. "Good," she said as she shifted her gaze to her hands before glancing up at his face and down again.
Zuko knew he should be the one addressing the subject weighing the air down, but instead said the first thing that came to his mind in order to avoid it. "The weather is beautiful today." He couldn't believe he just said that. If there was a list of the dumbest things that ever came out of his mouth, that would definitely be in the top five. He resisted the urge to slap his forehead and hide under the table and instead looked away as the color rushed to his cheeks.
Despite how stupid he sounded, Jin gave him a small smile as if she were amused at his social awkwardness. "Yes, we are very fortunate for the sun to be out today." They both sat there looking down at the table, neither one wanting to bring up the subject first. Then at the same time they both took a breath to say something and both paused to let the other proceed. Zuko decided to be the one to bring it up. However, he did not want to discuss it here.
"Do you want to," he began, "go for a walk?" He forced himself to look her in the eye and was relieved to see her give him a shy smile and a small nod. "Great," he said, "let me just tell my uncle that I'll be taking my break." He stood up and made his way back to the counter. Uncle seemed to have been watching them the whole time.
"Go already, Lee," Uncle said before Zuko could get out one word, "I'll cover for you. Take all the time you need." Zuko nodded and turned to leave. "Oh and Lee," Zuko turned around. Uncle held up a finger sternly and his expression was very grave. "Choose your words carefully." Zuko nodded and turned to leave once again.
Iroh watched as his nephew returned to Jin and uttered a few quiet words before disappearing with her into the sunshine. What a lovely young lady, he thought to himself. It was a shame Zuko had no intention of courting her. Since the day they were banished from the fire nation, all Iroh wished for was Zuko's happiness. However, it seemed no matter how much Iroh prodded and pushed him, Zuko refused to see a blessing even if it was shoved under his nose. Oh well, he thought, I could always paste a 'lady friend wanted' sign to the back of his robes. He chucked to himself as he went into the back to fetch a fresh pot of tea.
***
Since the walk started, Jin found it difficult to look Lee in the eye and found herself staring at her feet most of the time. Every once in a while she'd steal a glance at him and discovered he was having the same problem.
"So…" he started. He reached an arm up and scratched the back of his head as he looked at the sky. "…about last night."
"Stop," Jin interrupted. Lee looked at her face and raised his good eyebrow. She made eye contact for a brief moment before looking at the ground again. "I just want to say that it wasn't your fault." She crossed her arms. "I've thought it over and I realized that I was way out of line." She let out a humorless chuckle. "I mean, I don't even know you. Sure, we went on a date and all, but that's no reason for me to get all mushy like that." She suddenly found herself waving her arms around to emphasize while she spoke. "Dinner was acceptable for a first date, but then I got all carried away and had to take you to the fountain and then you were all sweet because I was embarrassed and then, I don't know I just got carried away and—"
She was interrupted when he caught one of her waving hands in his own before it smacked him in the face. "Oops," she uttered before snatching her hand back and tightly crossing it around her midsection. "There I go getting carried away again," she looked away, "I'll shut up now."
"No no!" he said frantically, "It's ok, really." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "Besides, it's me who should be apologizing." He shrugged his shoulders. "I shouldn't have run off like that."
"It's ok," Jin replied, "I…I understand." Jin looked up at his face which was looking at the ground as they walked. "But…just out of curiosity," she shrugged, "why did you?" She immediately regretted asking that question and bit her lip out of fear of an honest answer. Was it me that he didn't like after all?
Lee looked her in the eyes while he took a deep breath. His expression changed from thoughtful to almost desperate while his lips struggled to form words that didn't want to be said. He eventually let out his breath in a deep sigh and looked forward. "Well…it's ah…." He bit his lower lip before he looked her in the eyes again. "It's complicated."
As frustration got the better of her, Jin stepped a couple paces ahead of him, turned around, and stopped, forcing him to face her. "Uncomplicate for me."
Lee looked to the side and bit his lip as she looked at him expectantly. "Well…It's a long story."
Jin smiled. "I've got all the time in the world." She turned around and continued to walk. She paused for a moment in order to allow him to catch up to her and then proceeded to walk while she looked expectantly up at his face once again.
Uneasiness seemed to be overwhelming Lee as he shook his head searching for the words to say. "W-well when I uh…" he looked at her, "when I was a…" he shook his head and looked down.
Jin felt sympathy for him and suddenly felt bad for trying to force this out of him. "It's ok, you don't have to tell me if you don't want to." His head snapped up to return her eye contact as they both stopped walking. Jin was overwhelmed by the amount of grief and pain his eyes exposed for a brief moment before vanishing behind an emotionless wall. "Uh," she started, trying to remember what she was going to say. "The important part is that we got passed the whole botched date issue right?"
Lee looked to the side, then back again. "Yeah, I guess so."
"I accept your apology for running away and you accept mine for kissing you right?"
The corners of his mouth tilted up slightly as he nodded.
"Great! Glad that's over," she rubbed imaginary sweat from her forehead and started walking again. "Now let's talk about something else. Tell me about your uncle. Is he always so nosy when it comes to matchmaking?"
Lee chuckled lightly. "Yeah, he is."
They talked for hours about various subjects. Lee was a bit uncooperative in the conversation at first, but slowly opened up and was soon laughing and making jokes along with her. As the sun slowly sank below the horizon, Jin, started by how much time had gone by, mentioned that she should be getting home and Lee offered to walk her there. Their walk came to an end on her door step.
Jin stood there in awkward silence while Lee stared at the ground. "Well Lee," she began needing to break the silence, "thanks for the walk." She smiled.
He smiled back. "You're welcome." She continued to smile as she put a hand on the door knob. Lee turned to walk away when a thought just occurred to her.
"You know what Lee?" He spun around on his heel and she looked him over for a moment. He seemed less rigid and more relaxed than she had ever remembered seeing him. All that time she would go to the tea shop to watch him, he always seemed tense and ready to fight at a moment's notice. Now his shoulders were slumped, his hands leisurely resting in his pockets, and his face wasn't frowning. That poor nervous boy she went on a date with what seem like ages ago had completely vanished and was replaced with the laid back charming guy standing in front of her now. Jin found it impossible not to smile as she cocked her head to the side. "You're a pretty good friend."
Zuko stopped breathing for a moment while he processed what Jin had just said. Friend? He had almost forgotten what the word meant. Growing up, he had no one to turn to other than his mother and Iroh. Is this what friendship felt like? Perhaps this is what he'd been craving all along. He returned Jin's gaze and smiled. "So are you." She beamed at him as she turned the knob and disappeared inside the house. "So are you," he said to himself, "more than you'll ever know."
***
The walk back to the small apartment he and Uncle shared seemed to take hardly any time at all while Zuko pondered his afternoon. He couldn't remember the last time he'd laughed so much or had that much fun with any one person. Normally he felt awkward around girls, but after a while, he felt completely comfortable with Jin. They had carefully avoided the touchy subject of his past, but Jin had no problem telling him about hers. Apparently she was 16 years old and lived with her grandmother. Jin had moved in with her to help her grandmother in her frail old age while her parents and 5 younger siblings lived on the opposite end of Ba Sing Se. Zuko found it puzzling that someone would give up their loving family to take care of a crazy elderly person. He wouldn't have given up a nice family for anything in the world. But Jin was just that good of a person. He respected her for that.
When Zuko pushed open the door to the apartment, he found uncle watering his flowers on the window sill. "How was your evening, Prince Zuko," Iroh asked as he turned around to face him, watering can in hand. He cocked an eyebrow, "And tell the truth this time."
Zuko smiled as he lightly reflected on the day's events. "It was nice." Then he did something very un-Zuko-like. He poured himself a cup of tea, sat down, and told Iroh all about it. Uncle listened, laughed, and added his two cents worth every now and then, but let Zuko talk the rest of the time.
After Zuko exhausted every last part of his evening in his anecdote, he headed for his room. "Good night, Uncle," he said curtly before disappearing behind the door.
"Good night, Zuko," Iroh replied. He smiled to himself. "It brings me joy to know you have finally found happiness."
I hope you liked it. Please comment! I need motivation to start the next chapter...
