Okay so this chapter isn't as long as the other one, for those of you who like longer chapters I am sorry, and for those of you who prefer shorter chapters your welcome. = ]
A few weeks later...
It was starting to get darker earlier outside since winter was starting. Haru looked through the window of the kitchen out into the fields of the farm to see that they were completely bare as far as snow went. Haru had never seen snow in his life except for on television and in movies. Most of the kids who lived in Element hadn't, there were a few kids from the Districts though who had cabins far away where it did snow and they could ski and sled there. Sokka and Katara had been talking excitedly today in combat class about how they might be going up to one their grandparents owned for Christmas this year and he was a bit jealous. When he was little his family went camping in the mountains. It was warm there and you could do lots of rock climbing whick Haru loved to do especially in the canyons.
Haru's mother Teah saw him looking out the window again so she guessed at what he could be thinking about and said, "You know since we're importing more products we'll have more money that we can put forward to vacations. Maybe next year we can go up to the mountains again and rent a cabin there for a few weeks."
Haru's face brightened when she said that, "Really? Wouldn't you and dad rather go to the seaside or something though?"
His mother leaned over to grab the chicken she had been cooking out of the oven, "Not really, I prefer the canyons and your father doesn't really enjoy swimming. Besides, he and I have always talked about wanting to go back to the mountains. I'll talk to him and see what he thinks about it." She smiled as she began to chop up some carrots to go with their dinner.
Haru walked over to his mom and gave her a hug, "Thank you,"
She giggled, "I'm not promising anything but your welcome, now would you set the table for me?" She asked as she scraped the chopped carrots into a bowl with some other cooked vegetables. Haru walked over to the cabinet and took out three plates and went to place them in their spots on the table. As he did so a gust of cold air entered the house followed by the sound of loud footsteps. Haru's father Tyro had come in from working outside.
"Something smells delicious," the older man said grabbing a couple dishes from the counter and placing them on the table. Teah following behind him with the chicken. They all sat down in their seats and were about to dig in when they heard a noise. It sounded like some of the livestock were in distress.
Tyro groaned and got up from his spot, now what is wrong with them?" He looked out the window and gasped at what he saw.
Teah and Haru also got up from their chairs to see what was the matter. Teah put a hand on her husband's shoulder, "Tyro what's wr- oh no!" The barn was going up in flames.
Tyro basically ran back out the door with Haru following behind him. The older man shouted behind him, "Teah! Call the fire department quick!" She was already dialing. Haru went to a closet they had in the front of the house and pulled out a fire extinguisher. His father was already out the door and Haru was running after him. The fire had spread to the fields but Haru kept running. His father had already reached the barn and was working on getting the animals out. Haru jumped in after him and was met by a blast of heat, the roof of the barn was almost completely burned and animals were running everywhere. Haru started to spray the extinguisher's fluid on nearby flames while Tyro tried to usher out two reluctant cows, some of the smaller livestock had run out when the doors had opened leaving the few horses and many cows behind.
Haru looked outside for a minute to see his mom's weak attempt at trying to put out the fire near the fields, she was using a garden hose to douse the flames. Far off he could faintly hear the sound of sirens and a couple of their few neighbors rushing with their own extinguishers and buckets of water.
His focus was broken by the loud sound of something snapping, he looked up and saw that one of the rafters had broken and was falling directly toward him. Quickly he rolled to the side, the sound of the impact had scared the horses and made them whinny loudly. Haru decided that he wasn't getting very far with putting out the fire so it would be better to try and rescue the animals. He ran over to two of the horses, opened their stalls and grabbed their reigns. He pulled on the leather straps hard to get the large animals to move, they got the message and began to canter out of the barn. Fire fighters ran past him as he exited the burning barn. He saw that Jet and Toph were helping with the fields and Suki was helping his mother gather the animals.
Behind him his father and a few other men came out of the barn with the rest of the animals and led them over to Teah and Suki. By this point it seemed the fire department had things under control with the barn so Haru went to help out Toph and Jet. He grabbed a bucket that had been filled and even though he knew deep down that the crops couldn't be saved, he threw the water on the fire.
While doing so he asked, "How did you guys get here so fast? How did you know?"
"You can see the smoke from my place and me being curious decided to check out the damage. What happened anyway, did your cow tip over a lantern or something?" Toph said as she grabbed another bucket.
"No idea," he said simply taking a bucket from Longshot who had appeared out of the shadows. Haru took a quick look for Smellerbee, she was over with Suki trying to herd a few ducks into a pen. He turned to Jet, "What about you?"
Jet groaned as he picked up four buckets and tossed the water, "Heard the sirens while I was on my way home from work."
Haru nodded, "Thanks guys."
"Don't mention it," They all three said at once. The flames from the barn were almost completely out so a few of the firemen had come to help out with the fields. One of the firefighters had said to the teens to back up, they weren't needed right now. Doing as they were told they dispersed. Haru looked around for his parents; eventually he found them, his father had an arm around his mother who's eyes were threatening to spill tears. He went to stand beside them and watch the last of the flames go out.
How could this have happened? Things were just getting good for his family, and as the last flame went out so did the dream Haru had of the mountains.
Zuko slammed the morning paper down on the kitchen table where Azula and Ozai sat. For once his father was home for the weekend and Zuko had a feeling he knew why.
"Careful ZuZu you might strain yourself," Azula said as she took a sip from her black coffee and grinned evilly.
Zuko ignored her comment and turned to his father who was already dressed for work in his usual black suit and red tie. Zuko pointed angrily at the picture on the front page of the Haru Dow's farm burning down. He only said one word as he stared fiercely at his father, "Why?"
Ozai didn't look up from his planner and acted as if he hadn't heard his son. Zuko infuriated, slammed a fist down on the cherry wood of the table. Ozai slowly picked his head up and looked at his son whit an annoyed expression on his face. "Fine Zuko, what has upset you so greatly that you decided it necessary to interrupt my buisness planning?"
Zuko shoved the paper in front of his father and said, "Why did you send the Raiders on the Dow farm? You own hospitals and businesses and you create steel, what possibly compelled you to set their farm on fire?"
Ozai pushed the paper out of his way and drained the last of his coffee. He got up from his seat and picked up his briefcase, "You forget Zuko that I also own a bit of stock in some farms that could have been threatened by the Dow family. What do you care anyway? The Dows are from Terra not Ember."
His father brushed past him and began to walk out of the house, not really caring about his son's response. Zuko followed his father out to the garage, he stopped in front of Ozai before he could get into his new Mercedes. "I care because it's wrong to do that. The Dows don't have a lot of money and they work hard. We have a lot and own barely any stock in agriculture, there was no point to it," Zuko said.
Ozai sighed, "Zuko this topic really is boring me. I have a conference in a half hour that I have to prep for and can't be troubled with your ridiculous concerns over people who don't matter." He pushed Zuko out of the way and put his things in the car and sat down in the driver's seat.
Zuko leaned over and spoke through the window as his father started the ignition, "Mom would have cared about this. Does she matter?"
Ozai froze for a second then turned his head sharply to look at his son. He thrust a finger in the boy's face and his eyes were filled with anger, "I told you never to mention her. Unless you want another scar, I'd remember to not to bring her up again."
"Why? Because you don't want to remember that someone actually saw the real you and wasn't impressed? That someone saw that beneath all the cruelty and nice suits and realized that you're actually a pathetic narcissist?" Zuko snapped.
Ozai grabbed the collar of Zuko's shirt and pulled his upper half into the car. "I don't want you here by the time I get back tonight. I don't care where you go, just get out!" He snarled and released Zuko. He then peeled out of the driveway and sped off down the road.
'Gladly,' Zuko thought and turned around to walk back into the house but saw Azula standing in the doorway with a very smug look on her face. "I was wondering how long it would take him to finally get fed up with you," she said while examining her perfectly rounded nails.
"Shut it Azula," Zuko said walking past her and started to make his way up to his room.
Azula followed behind him and once they were on the stairs Azula spoke up, "You know father really didn't care that they were expanding their little farm at first. But when I explained that Haru Dow has been hanging out with people he shouldn't and that his family business was starting to grow in and out of the city, he agreed with me that our little group of rebels needed to be punished, and he saw the Dows as a perfect way to get rid of two problems. They are a warning to the group of misfits at school and to other businesses."
Zuko froze in his tracks, "You told dad to do this?!" Azula shrugged as a smirk formed on her face. Zuko just stared and said, "You're insane. Dad is too, I'm getting out of here before it spreads to me." He continued up the stairs and into his room.
Zuko's room had red walls just like Azula's. Unlike Azula's Zuko had taped a few posters up on the walls, it was also messy where hers was always pristine. Zuko grabbed a large duffel bag out of his closet and started to throw his things into it. He grabbed a couple books off of his bookshelf and stopped at a picture on the top shelf. He was about six in the picture and was sitting in his mother's lap under one of the shade trees in her gardens. She was squinting and Zuko couldn't tell whether it was from the sun or her smile. Zuko took the picture out of the frame, folded it in half and placed it in his back pocket.
Now having everything he neede he walked out of his room and down the grand staircase. Azula was sprawled out on the couch flipping through a book, she didn't bother to look up and Zuko didn't bother to say goodbye as he put his black coat on and walked out the door. When he got outside, Mai was making her way up to the door clad in a black peacoat with a matching wool hat and gray fingerless gloves. She wore a rare smile and said, "Hey Zuko." The smile quickly faded when she saw that he was carrying luggage. In her raspy voice she asked, "What's going on?"
Zuko didn't answer her question but said, "How can you be friends with her? How can anyone stand to be in the same room with her?" He walked past her and opened the door to the back seat of his jaguar and threw his bag in the back.
Mai followed behind him and turned him to face her when she sternly asked, "What happened? Why do you have luggage?" Mai knew Zuko liked to spend the night at his uncle's often but he never brought anything more than an overnight bag.
Zuko leaned against the frame of the car. "I said some stuff to my dad which he deserved and he got upset. I've been evicted, Azula can fill you in on the details if her highness feels it necessary," He said the last part sarcastically.
Mai nodded apparently understanding and didn't press anything more. Between Azula's two friends he didn't mind Mai as much as Ty Lee, Mai didn't press things iif she felt that you didn't feel like talking where Ty Lee would pester you until you spilled or found a way to escape her.
He calmed down a bit and said, "I'll see you later Mai." He got in the car, started it and backed out of the drive way. Mai watched him go until she couldn't see his car anymore before she she walked back into the house.
She stood in the doorway with the door open and looked back for a minute. Azula barked out from her spot on the couch, "Mai don't just stand there, you're late and you're letting the cold in." Mai closed the door but as she did so she thought back to Zuko's question, 'Why are you friends with her?' and now that she thought about it Mai couldn't think of a reason why at all.
Zuko pulled in behind the Jasmine Dragon building as Iroh had told him when he explained his situation on the phone. His uncle had understood and told him Jun would let him in through the back so Zuko could quickly walk up the stairs without drawing too much attention from the customers. Jun was in fact standing out in the cold with a large jacket wrapped around her.
"Hey emo boy, move your ass and get up here; mine's almost frozen," she said gruffly. Zuko knew by now that that was just Jun's way of either showing affection or saying hello.
"Coming Jun and hello to you too," he said as he climbed the four concrete steps up to the stoop where she stood.
"Yeah yeah lovely weather we're having and all that polite shit just get in the building," she said as they walked into the back room. Jun slid off her coat and hung it on the rack.
Though it was freezing outside the raven haired woman decided it was still necessary to wear a tank top. Zuko noted the Nicorette patch she wore underneath her tattoo and gave a small smile. A few weeks ago she had caught a bad case of pnemonia, it was so bad that she had to stay in the hospital for a few days. While there the doctor said that the reason why it was so bad for her was because of the smoking and if she continued the habit and got pneumonia again, the situation may be just as uncomfortable or even more.
Upon hearing that Iroh decided it was time for both her and Lu Ten to quit. Surprisingly Jun didn't put up much of a fight, Zuko remembered that she absolutely hated being sick, so maybe that was why she decided to kick the habit, but ever since she quit she had been a little bit more irritable than usual. Lu Ten didn't need the patch or the gum to help him quit, he just quit it cold turkey and for that Jun hated him...only a little though.
Jun hollered into the other room, "Hey boss the next stray you're adopting is here."
"I thought I told Ms. Wu that I wasn't taking any of her cats," Iroh walked in with an empty pot of tea and upon seeing Zuko he understood Jun's comment but decided to ignore it and embraced his nephew who stood stiffly. "You are always welcome here nephew, why don't you go put your things up in Lu Ten's room now and set up the spare bed. Then you can come down and bus tables," Iroh said warmly. Zuko nodded and quickly walked out of the room and disappeared up the stairs lugging his bag behind him. Iroh turned to Jun then and said, "Now you on the other hand can get back to working the register."
She gave him a mock salute and said, "Yes sir." The old man smiled and Jun exited and went to stand behind the counter. She took orders for a few people and brought some others their coffee or tea. She kept this up for about fifteen minutes before things finally slowed down and Lu Ten came to sit at one of the empty bar stools with his usual smile on his face.
"So how's the working girl doing?" he asked.
"Eh it's boring right now. I haven't had to yell at any gross old guys for staring down my shirt yet but the day is still early," she said leaning over the counter on her elbows.
"Well I would gladly do that for you if it would make you feel better," he said in a sly whisper.
She playfully punched him in the arm and laughed. At the same time Zuko came down the stairs and disappeared into the kitchen only to reappear seconds later with an empty dish bin. Jun couldn't help but stare at the scar that took up half the boy's face. Today her curiosity got the better of her and she just had to ask. She leaned closer to Lu Ten and asked, "Hey Lu? What happened to Zuko's face?"
Lu Ten's face fell a little and his voice dropped to barely above a whisper, "Well I guess you were going to find out sooner or later." His voice dropped down a little and said, "You know my uncle isn't the best guy in the world. After he and my aunt Ursa got divorced, Zuko got a bit depressed and a little more outspoken. He didn't really like the settlement of it either, you see Ozai somehow had gotten custody of my cousins and a restraining order against Ursa, I don't know if Azula cared too much but Zuko took it pretty rough.
That night Zuko said he wanted to stay with his mom instead of Ozai and that he hated living with him. My uncle has always had a bit of a temper and I guess some other stuff was said but my uncle grabbed Zuko and slammed his face into one of the burners that was lit on the stove. Zuko was in the burn unit of the hospital for almost two months, when the hospital asked what happened Ozai simply told them that Zuko had merely had an accident in the kitchen. Since he owned the hospital and probably threatened a few of it's doctors and lawyers, no questions were asked."
Jun looked at the boy who was clearing the dishes at table four now and felt that she could relate. Zuko she had decided wasn't half bad, almost okay in fact. Over the past couple months she had heard him complain about his dad and how twisted he was. To tell the truth, he reminded her a bit of Jet, both were rebellious and outspoken and had some authority issues. Though Jet seemed to have those issues with every one but herself and his teacher Piandao, Zuko seemed to only have those problems with his father. Thinking about Jet made her feel guilty though, she had been ignoring his calls and texts that asked where she was. She didn't want to but she still didn't know how to break the news to him about her new home.
She was soon distracted from her thoughts of Jet when a slew of customers walked in from the cold and up to the counter. The four of them worked hard taking short breaks until closing time later that night. After closing time she Lu Ten and Zuko all sat at one of the small tables drinking the rest of the last pot of tea. Iroh soon joined them after he had finished putting away the rest of the dishes.
Iroh pulled up another chair and sat down across from Zuko. The old man took a sip from his cup of tea and then asked, "Alright Zuko now why exactly have you been exiled from my brother's home?"
Zuko took a deep breath and began to explain, "The Dow family farm was set on fire last night because my dad sent the Raiders on them." Zuko had been filled in long ago that Jun knew all about the mechanics of his family's business methods so he didn't worry about explaining in front of her. "But there are two reasons for why this time: one the Dows were expanding their imports and two, my sister seems to think that their son Haru has been hanging out with the "wrong people" and decided to let my father know about it."
"I could definitely see where she was going with that though. For the past couple months there's been a group of kids from different territories hanging out with eachother at school which is neutral ground so Azula really has no right to complain. She's upset 'cause now other students are starting to do the same," Zuko continued.
"Do you know which kids?" Jun asked quickly.
Zuko looked at her questioningly for a second, why would she want to know? "Yeah, Haru of course, the Kuruk kids, Suki Kyoshi, three freshmen; two kids from Terra and one from Central, and Jet Durden."
Jun groaned and leaned back in her chair. She mumbled, "Of course he would."
The three men look confused, Lu Ten spoke up first. "Uh Jun? Who are you talkin' about?"
The long haired woman sighed again, "Jet is kind of like my younger brother, he showed up at Long Feng's a couple years after I had been there. Unfortunately I rubbed off on him, Jet likes to do things that will get him into trouble. Normally I'm okay with this but right now I'm not there to tell him to quit while he's ahead. It's just like him to decide to break the rules and hang around people not from Terra."
"Says the girl from Terra who has been living in Ember for the past two months," Lu Ten said earning him another punch on the arm.
Jun did smile but then said, "I just wish I could make sure he's not doing anything stupid dangerous. Dangerous is fine but if he's blatantly asking for the Raiders to come get him we have a problem."
They sat in silence until Zuko spoke, "Jet's a junior like me, I don't have him in any classes this year but he's in a morning combat class that's pretty open. I could enroll if you want and try to figure out if he's up to anything. I've been wanting to figure out those guys anyway, they're all in that class."
"He won't talk to you since you're from Ember, at least not about anything important for that reason. But you can try to eavesdrop on him, Jet gets sloppy and brags about it if he's up to anything big," Jun said.
"No problem," Zuko said while nodding.
"Piandao is a friend of mine from my Pai Sho games on Tuesdays. He teaches that class and he owes me a favor, I'll give him a call and get you enrolled in class on Monday," Iroh said standing up and walking to the back room.
Jun looked at Zuko and gave him a half smile. "Thanks emo boy. You're not gonna like go and and tell your dad about any of this right?" she said a bit sarcastically at the end.
"Your welcome Jun," Zuko said getting up from his spot, ignoring her other comment. "I'm going to head upstairs and get some sleep. Later guys."
"Night," Lu Ten and Jun said in unison as Zuko ran up the stairs once again.
Jun was thankful for Zuko trying to watch out for Jet but that didn't stop her from worrying. Had it been anyone else she wouldn't have cared but Jet really was her family along with all of the other kids still at Long Feng's and she would always watch their backs. Lu Ten was good at reading emotions and even though Jun's face still maintained her normal devious look, he saw the twinge of worry in her face.
He covered on of her hands with his and when she looked at him in bewilderment he just smirked and said, "I'm sure he's fine Jun. And even if he is in trouble, if he's anything like you he'll be able to get out of it just fine okay?"
Jun nodded, Lu Ten was right; Jet could handle himself. He wasn't the little eight year old who showed up in the room next to hers after his parents died. He didn't just kick rocks at the kids from Ember anymore, he could take care of himself. Jet knew how to fight now and he was good at it too. More than good, fighting was natural to him and maybe that's what worried her the most.
Okay I know the plot isn't all too interesting yet but please to my few readers, stay interested!
Yeah I took some artistic license with Haru's mom's name, I don't think she had a name but if she did let me know and I'll change it to make it right. Oh and for Jet's last name I couldn't think of anything relating to the show so I drew from other sources. In the book/movie 'Fight Club' there's a character named Tyler Durden who I think is a lot like Jet so I borrowed the last name.
So please review, it boosts my self-esteem lol.
