Hey guys! I said last chapter that I had wanted to get this one up sooner, but sadly that didn't happen. Sorry! You know how life is: Always interfering with good plans. Anyway, hope you enjoy!
Zuko stepped into the shop. Uncle sat to his left, setting up the Pi Sho board while humming to himself. When he noticed Zuko, he nodded toward the kitchen with a wink. Zuko rolled his eyes as he headed that way.
Jade was pouring tea into three cups when he entered. He stood in the doorway, trying to gather his words.
She interrupted his thoughts. "Were you eavesdropping on us?"
It took him a second. "What? No. I was, uh, just waiting for you on the roof. You two happened to have a conversation within earshot."
With her back still turned to him, she laughed under her breath as she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure."
"It's true!"
She grabbed the tray and approached him, grinning. "Calm down, Lee. I believe you."
He relaxed some. "Oh. Here, I'll get that." He took the tray from her.
She began to walk past him but stopped when he grabbed her arm with his free hand. "Jade."
She looked up at him with a hint of irritation. "Lee."
"I think you should stay here tonight."
She pulled her arm free from his grasp. "Why? You don't think I can take care of myself?"
He lifted a hand. "No. I mean, yes, I think you can. . .if it was a fair fight." She didn't say anything, so he quickly continued. "I don't think Sosan is one to play fair."
She glanced down. After a moment, she looked back to him. "Am I supposed to take that as a compliment that you want me to be safe, or as an insult that you think I can't handle myself?"
Zuko looked around, suddenly uncomfortable. "Uh, well, I was hoping you would take it as a compliment, but I never know with you."
She laughed her usual melodic laugh that always made Zuko smile. With bright eyes but without a word, she left to join Uncle. Zuko stood there a moment, stunned again, but this time it was in a bit of a better way than before.
After gathering himself, he took the competitors their tea. He watched their game for a while, but quickly lost interest because both Jade and Iroh were so focused on the game. He got up and headed back to the roof.
Jade glanced over her shoulder to make sure Zuko had gone before inquiring Iroh. "Uncle, what do you think about Lee? What will happen to him?"
Uncle closed his eyes and sighed. "My nephew has great conflict within himself. He will have many difficult decisions ahead of him. Whatever he decides will change the fate of the world."
Jade nodded solemnly and moved her game piece.
"But," Iroh continued, causing Jade to met his eyes. "Whatever Lee does, I know it will never be to intentionally hurt you."
Jade smiled, nodding. She took another drink of her tea.
Iroh looked back to the board. "Whatever I decide, however, might hurt you," he joked, although his voice was serious. He moved his piece to a position of great advantage.
Jade stared at the board as she pursed her lips. I am definitely going to lose.
The night breeze made it cool, but the earthen tiles on the roof gave off heat that they had absorbed during the day. Zuko stretched out. The events of the day played back in his mind; Jade and Sosan's argument, his scuffle with Sosan, and Jade's mysterious responses. Was she happy or mad that he had intervened? He and Jade both knew well that she could have taught Sosan a lesson. Still, he wanted Sosan to know Jade had found somebody else. Wait, has she found somebody else, meaning me? Does that mean I like her? Do I like her? Of course, I like her, but do I like her like that?
Sounds on the rooftop interrupted his mental debate. He tilted his head back to find an upside-down Jade scooting down the roof toward him. She grinned when she saw he was looking. "Hey."
"Hey."
Jade was now beside him. "Whoa, don't sound too happy to see me or anything. Did I interrupt something? Like one of those inner debates you often have?"
Zuko turned his head to look at her with a raised brow.
She shrugged. "No one stares at nothing at all for as long as you do if they're not thinking hard about something." She reclined next to him. "What were you thinking about?"
With his arms crossed behind his head, Zuko said nothing for a long while. He wasn't good at conversing to begin with, especially about a serious topic with Jade. Finally, he couldn't contain it. "Jade, what do you think about our relationship?"
She quickly rolled to her side to face him. She looked at him quizzically for a moment, then realized he was serious. "Well, I think you over-complicate every aspect of it in that twisted mind of yours." She said, poking his forehead with a finger.
He scoffed as he playfully swatted her hand away. He looked at her again, letting his expression grow serious. "Really, Jade."
She rested her head on her fist. "You're serious?"
"Don't I look serious?"
She giggled. "That's how you always look. But what do you mean by what do I think about it?"
He shrugged and looked back to the dark sky littered with white dots. "I don't know. I mean, are we friends or. . ." Even he wanted to, he couldn't manage to finish with "more than friends".
From the corner of his eye, he saw a sly grin break across Jade's playful face. "Okay. Since I know nothing is simple with you, how about this: Our relationship adapts to whatever the situation calls for."
Zuko turned his head, his face showing his confusion. Jade just laughed. "You'll figure it out."
Zuko figured it was better than nothing. "Alright."
After a moment of enjoyable silence and star gazing, Jade sighed. "Hey, Lee?"
He looked at her.
"Right now the situation calls for you to move your arm so I can lay my head on your shoulder to prevent my neck from breaking."
He hesitated, wondering if she was serious, then awkwardly lifted his arm. She scooted closer and rested her head on his shoulder. His arm lay out under her neck and around her shoulders.
Zuko shifted, more uneasy than uncomfortable. He propped his other arm under his head. "What about my neck? Is it not as important as yours?"
Jade laughed and looked up at him. "Nope. I need my neck so I can save your neck."
Zuko grinned down at her. "You've already saved my neck once. You think you'll save it again?"
Her eyes sparkled. "You bet, mister."
He looked into her beautifully strange eyes. They were so colorful and full of life, like her. The energy of her personality was obviously transmitted through her eyes. When he realized she was staring straight back into his, he looked away, afraid she would see right through him to his darkest secrets.
She nestled beside him and she scanned the vast heavens that stretched out above them. Suddenly, she sucked in a breath and pointed to the sky. "Look! There's the Great Two Dragons!"
Zuko eyes shot open as he snapped his head up. "Dragons?" I thought they were extinct!
Jade began laughing, making him wonder if she had just tried to scare him. Then she said, "Calm down, Hothead, I don't think the constellations are going to fly down here and burn us to a crisp."
Zuko chuckled half-heartily. "Oh. Right, I knew that." He leaned back. "Where are they?"
Jade pointed to the sky directly above them. "See the really bright star right there? Now look four stars to the right. There's two clusters of about eight or so stars: That's their heads. Follow the line of stars behind that. They make up the bodies."
Zuko squinted to where Jade was pointing. All the stars looked the same to him. "I don't see them."
Jade moved her arm directly in front of him to point. "How can you not see them? I'm pointing right at them."
Zuko tried harder, but to no avail. "Yeah, I can't see them."
Jade sighed and reclined. "Come on. They're so cool. It's said that they were the first two dragons that Chao created. Once they died, because they were so faithful, Chao arranged their image in the stars in their honor."
Although Zuko still couldn't see it, he imagined it was a sight to behold. "That's neat."
"Yeah. It would be neater if you could see it."
Zuko used the hand on the arm across Jade's shoulders to hit her lightly on the side of the head. The thump followed by her "Ow!" was quite satisfying to him.
Zuko expected her to say something or hit him back. A moment passed, and she had still done neither. He relaxed, thinking she might have let it go.
"Hey, Lee? How's your burn doing?"
He lifted his arm, the one Jade wasn't on top of, and began rotating it. Even in the dim lighting, he could see the faint red remnants of his recently scalded skin. "Better. I took the cloth off of it the-"
Jade suddenly grabbed his arm with one hand and used the other to flick his tender skin, hard.
"Ow! What was that?" He jerked his arm away, giving her an incredulous look.
She smiled smugly. "Payback."
He eyed her before easing his head back down. "And here I was thinking you were nice."
"This is me being nice. You don't want to be around me when I'm being not nice."
Zuko laughed. "Uh huh. What would you do? Flick me to death?"
She looked at him, attempting a serious expression. "Don't tempt me."
They laughed before the pleasant silence descended once again. Jade closed her eyes and breathed deeply, taking it all in. She sent up a quick "thank you" to Chao for the moment of bliss that she hoped would never end. The more she wished it would linger, the more something inside her said that it wouldn't. Something was bound to happen. She sensed Zuko's destiny was greater than a job at a tea shop in Ba Sing Se. She knew the end of the Hundred-Year War was coming soon. And now she knew Zuko was going to play a big part in the victory of one of the sides. Which side that would be, she couldn't say for sure. But she knew the more time she had to influence him, the greater the chance it would be on the good side.
"Lee, I brought honey dumplings. If you want one, you had better get it now before Uncle eats them all."
Zuko shot up so quickly he gave Jade whiplash before her head landed on the hard roof tiles. She sat up, wincing. She scanned the rooftop, but Zuko was nowhere to be seen. Chuckling, she lifted a hand to her head. "Well, at least I know what their weakness is."
Jade rolled over, trying to get comfortable. Zuko's cot squeaked in disapproval. She cringed at the sound. She didn't want to intrude on Iroh and Zuko anymore than she already had. Then again, it wasn't really her choice. Zuko had insisted, or demanded, rather. There was little difference between the two for him.
She opened her eyes to peer through the crack of the barely open sliding door. Zuko lay on a mat in the floor of the other room. She grinned at the irony of the situation. After they had first met-or, really, she had found his unconscious body-she had taken care of him and had slept on the floor and he on her bed. Now, Zuko was trying to take care of her and he was on the floor and she on his bed. Yet neither had wanted it that way to begin with.
She had to admit to herself-certainly not to anyone else-that it felt good to have someone looking out for her. She hadn't had anyone to really care about her well-being in years. At one time, she had believed that someone did, but he turned out to be pretending. Zuko, among other things, was sincere. She knew how much he cared about her, even of he didn't fully know how much yet.
Something else Zuko didn't realize that she did, was how important his future was. She didn't know what was going on in that mysterious mind of his, but she could tell he had conflict with every decision he made. She couldn't count the times she'd prayed that she would help him find his way.
Jade slowly drifted to sleep to the rare view of Zuko's peaceful face and the sounds of Uncle's incredibly loud yet peaceful snoring.
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Beckons and pleads to leave a nice review of this story and chapter.
Beckons. . .
