When the gAang had finally made it into Ba Sing Se, they met a creepy woman named Joo Dee who would be escorting them throughout the gigantic city. She was probably the most annoying person any of them had ever met, for each time that Sokka tried to bring up that they needed to talk to the king, she'd ignore it. As Joo Dee was taking them on a bothersome tour that started at the lower ring of the city, Sokka had a funny feeling that Zuko was nearby, for he suddenly was extremely excited. However, he did not bring this up to the rest of the Avatar Gang because he figured they'd suddenly start beating up everyone in fear that Zuko was disguised (though it was kind of hard for Zuko to be disguised with his manly scar and all).
As Zuko was strolling down the street beside his uncle, he, too, had a feeling that Sokka was nearby. Before he could even think up any way of finding the watertribe warrior, his uncle held up a pot of flowers and implied that he wanted Zuko to find a girlfriend. This was not at all pleasing to the Fire Nation prince, nor was the fact that they'd be working later that day. Zuko also felt there was danger afoot. Little did he know that Jet was just a few yards behind him, staring at his butt. He was discussing with his friends, Longshot and Smellerbee, about how he was going to prove Zuko and Iroh were firebenders and turn them into the police, regardless of his feelings for the young prince.
Later on that day, Jet was standing suspiciously outside the window of the tea shop that Zuko and Iroh had secured jobs at. When he felt that no one was watching him, he leaned over to peer in through the window and once again had to refrain from having a nosebleed after catching a glimpse of Zuko's butt.
That night, after sneaking into Zuko and Iroh's apartment and stealing their spark rocks, Jet spied on them from the roof of a building across from theirs. Zuko was sprawled out sexily on top of his bed while complaining to his uncle about the fact that he didn't want any more tea. Even though Jet was content with just staring at Zuko, he brought his attention to Iroh, hoping to catch him firebending. Unfortunately for Jet, Iroh was smart enough to borrow some spark rocks from a neighbor, and therefore didn't have to firebend. Jet was highly disappointed.
The next night, Jet was again creeping outside the tea shop, still trying to find proof that Zuko and Iroh were firebenders. Longshot and Smellerbee tried to talk him out of it, but his love for Zuko was too strong. He wanted Zuko and Iroh to be punished now that Zuko had hurt his feelings. If Jet couldn't have Zuko, then no one could.
Jet burst into the tea shop and yelled out, "I'm tired of waiting! Zuko, I love you!"
He then produced a flower from behind his back and thrust it out in front of him while Zuko just stared at him in bewilderment. When Zuko refused to love him back, Jet decided to go back to his original plan of getting them arrested and pulled out his hook swords threateningly. Everyone else in the shop wasn't at all convinced that they were firebenders, so Jet was on his own with this.
Zuko stepped forward and accepted the challenge, which led to a huge duel breaking out between the two. When their battle led them outside, Jet was pleased at one point to be back-to-back with the man he loved, for it was the closest he had been to Zuko yet. However, his happiness faded instantly when members of the Dai Li came and took him away, despite his explanation that Zuko was from the Fire Nation. Then he was brainwashed and no longer had any clue who Zuko was, which was probably for the better.
Oh, and by the way, while all this was happening, the gAang saw the Earth King, but were unable to talk to him. Instead, they were threatened by the head of the Dai Li, Long Feng, and were forced to give up their attempts for that night.
A few days later, since the gAang had a ton of free time thanks to the fact that they believed the threats made by Long Feng would be carried out should they disobey his orders, they decided to explore the city separately. Katara and Toph went to get makeovers, Aang helped save the local zoo, Iroh completed a bunch of good deeds around town, and Momo had an adventure looking for Appa.
Sokka, on the other hand, used his free time to wander aimlessly around the city, looking about wherever he went for Zuko's familiar face. He still had that eerie feeling that the Fire Nation prince was somewhere nearby. Though he never did manage to find Zuko, Sokka did have quite a fun time reciting haikus in a poetry club with a lot of nice young ladies. He did regret very much that he was unable to find Zuko, but he kept his hopes up that he would come across the firebender sometime soon.
Zuko, meanwhile, was worried about a suspicious customer who was constantly in the tea shop. Fearing that this customer was onto the fact that he and his uncle were from the Fire Nation, he confided his worries to his uncle, only to get the unsatisfactory response that Iroh thought the girl had a crush on him. Zuko was not very happy to hear about this, since it meant that Iroh would probably force him to go out on a date with the girl, which felt to him like he was betraying Sokka.
He was right in his suspicions that Iroh would make him go on a date with the girl, named Jin, and he was shoved out in front of the shop promptly at sundown to wait for her. At the restaurant they ate at, the waiter referred to Jin as Zuko's girlfriend. Zuko really didn't like this insinuation, and yelled rudely at the waiter. He felt like somehow, Sokka would find out about someone calling Jin Zuko's girlfriend and feel hurt and sad, even though Zuko didn't even know that Sokka liked him.
As the date went on, Jin brought Zuko to the Firelight Fountain, but the lamps surrounding the pool weren't lit. Zuko felt sort of bad for the poor girl. She had been trying so hard to help him have a good time, but Zuko just hadn't been a very good sport about it; he couldn't seem to stop thinking about Sokka no matter what he did. So, he decided to use his firebending skills to light all the lamps around the fountain.
After this task was complete, Jin was so surprised and touched that she kissed Zuko. Zuko responded to the kiss at first, imagining that it was Sokka's lips he was kissing rather than Jin's, but it didn't take him long to realize that doing that was hurting Jin unnecessarily. He broke away from the girl, apologizing for his mistake.
"What's wrong?" Jin asked, shocked at Zuko's rudeness.
"It's complicated," Zuko responded lowly, mind stuck on Sokka. He ran away from Jin and back to his and Iroh's apartment. Zuko couldn't seem to stop thinking about Sokka for the rest of the night, imagining that he had been on the date with Sokka instead of with Jin.