Chapter 21: Accused

…

"Doubt thou the stars are fire;

doubt that the sun doth move;

doubt truth to be a liar;

but never doubt I love."

-'Hamlet' by William Shakespeare, Act II, scene ii

…

"This is the best tea in the city," a middle-aged man complimented as Nami poured him a cup. She smiled at him, but then pointed at Iroh behind the counter.

"Thank you very much, but it's all Mushi," she said. "I just serve."

Iroh heard her and smiled proudly. "The secret ingredient," he said, "is love." He wafted the steam from the pot he had to his nostrils and closed his eyes theatrically. Zuko, clearing the dishes off a table, gave him a dry look.

Pao, standing beside Iroh, surveyed the full tables in the room with approval. "I think you're due for a raise."

Suddenly the door was slammed open and Jet stomped in.

"I'm tired of waiting," he growled. He pointed imperiously at Iroh, Zuko, and Nami. "Those people are firebenders!" He took out hooked metal weapons from a sheath across his back and held them ready to fight. Nami stared at him with wide eyes, and Zuko and Iroh exchanged a startled glance.

"I know they're firebenders!" Jet continued. He had dark shadows under his eyes from lack of sleep and his mouth was an angry slash. "I saw the old man drinking his tea!"

"He works in a tea shop," one of the customers interjected.

"He's a firebender, I'm telling you!"

"Drop your swords, boy," the man said, standing. "Nice and easy." Others stood as well. Jet ignored them and continued advancing toward the three people he was incriminating.

"You'll have to defend yourself," he growled. "Then everyone will know. Go ahead. Show them what you can do."

The man was about to draw a weapon, when Zuko moved forward and put his hand on his arm.

"I can handle this."

Zuko, no, Nami thought fearfully. Iroh stopped her from going toward him with an arm in front of her.

Zuko pulled out a wooden table and kicked it toward Jet as he drew his dual swords. Jet leapt over it and came at Zuko with his weapons as Zuko jumped onto another table for the high ground advantage. The metal weapons met with a sharp striking sound and Jet slashed the table the prince stood on in half. Zuko impressively kept him balance, and leapt into the air as Jet slashed again, flinging the table out from under him.

She hated doing nothing as Zuko fought, but she knew he didn't want her to get involved, and that this was his fight. Plus…he didn't need the help. She watched him swing and leap skillfully, and understood again what an excellent fighter he was. He could hold his own.

The prince came down swiping with his swords at Jet's feet; Jet flipped backward to avoid it, landing on his feet in time to run toward the prince. Their weapons met again with a metallic clang. Jet pushed Zuko toward the door, and with an impressive move, caught him under the arm with a swing of his hooked weapon to send Zuko flying through the open door and out into the twilit street.

Nami ran after them and she and Iroh hesitated in the doorway. Zuko had recovered from the blow with a tumble that got him back on his feet in time to block Jet's weapons with his own. The two boys glared at each other as they struggled, their weapons pressed against each other.

"You must be getting pretty tired of using those swords," Jet antagonized. "Why don't you go ahead and firebend at me?"

Please don't give him what he wants, Nami pled silently. The prince's temper she knew was a volatile thing, and their new life could be destroyed in one angry burst of flame.

"Please, son, you're confused!" Iroh exclaimed as the boys continued to battle. "You don't know what you're doing!"

"Bet you wish you could use a little fireblast right now," Jet growled as he kept the offensive. Zuko then stopped his attack, catching Jet's weapons against the ground with the point of one of his swords.

"You're the one who needs help," he replied in his characteristic ice-hard "Prince Zuko" voice. He swung a sword at Jet, and the boy had to lean way back so that the sword sailed over him, but the sharp edge sliced off the end of his wheat straw.

Jet scrambled back and then climbed up onto a well in the square. "The Fire Nation is trying to silence me!" he yelled. "It'll never happen!" He swung from the well toward the prince with a kick. Their fight raged on until two men in black and green robes appeared. They looked to be the law enforcement of the area.

"Drop your weapons," one commanded.

"Arrest them!" Jet exclaimed, pointing. "They're firebenders!"

"This poor boy's confused," Iroh said. "We're just simple refugees."

"This young man wrecked my tea shop and assaulted my employees!" exclaimed Pao from the crowd that had gathered. Nami pushed through the people and out to Zuko who stood tall, his swords in a hand. She put an arm through one of his and laced their fingers together. Zuko moved his head toward her and squeezed her hand in acknowledgement, though he kept his eyes on the robed men. Nami was proud of him; he had never lost his cool through the fight, and she reflected briefly on how he had matured over the relatively short time she'd known him.

"It's true, sir, I saw the whole thing," one of the men from the shop added. "This crazy kid attacked the finest tea maker in the city."

"Oh," Iroh said, blushing, "that's very sweet."

"Come with us, son," one of the robed men said, and they came up on either side of Jet. Jet tried to resist arrest, swinging a weapon at them, but one of the men caught it in a gloved hand and twisted it, bringing Jet's arm back. The other man wrenched Jet's other hand behind his back and they put handcuffs on him.

"You don't understand!" Jet yelled as they began to drag him off. "They're Fire Nation! You have to believe me!" They put him in the back of a barred cart, and the crowd slowly dispersed as they wheeled him away. Nami, Zuko, and Iroh stood watching after him with somber expressions.

…

"Day off! Day off, day off, day off!" Nami trilled, jumping on Zuko's bed and bouncing a little to wake him up.

"Most people would use it to sleep in," Zuko grumbled into his pillow.

"You already have! I finished a long bath and Iroh's already gone. We're going to do something fun today, hotshot! And I have some tips to spend."

"Nami. I'm sleeping."

"Not anymore." She lay on top of his form bundled in covers, her cheek against his. "Get up, Princey."

"No," he mumbled, muffled by the pillow in his face.

"Yes. Up, up, up. You've slept in all morning. C'mon, c'mon."

"The things I do for you…" Zuko groaned, turning to sit up as Nami hopped off his bed.

"Yes, you poor baby," she replied sarcastically. "Having to get up at a reasonable hour. I put you through such horrible torture."

Zuko shot her a look as he shoved off his covers and stood, rubbing his eyes. Nami ogled him for a minute, heat pooling low in her belly. He had no shirt on, and was only wearing pants. His hair was sticking out in all directions and he reached up a hand to scratch the back of his head as he looked at her.

"What?" he mumbled.

"You better run for your life—I just might jump you," she said, her eyes still running over his pale, chiseled body and endearingly sleepy expression.

Zuko rolled his eyes, searching around for a shirt. She came up close to him and pulled him toward with her hands at either side of his waist.

"Now, wait. Who said we were in a hurry?" she said, grinning as she looked up at him.

"You did," he replied. "'Get up, get up, get up…'"

"Hmm," she murmured, wrapping her arms around his waist. Zuko smiled and cupped her face with a hand, tilting her head back so he could kiss her.

"I think you should just go without a shirt all day," she mumbled into his mouth. Zuko chuckled.

"I will if you will," he replied, cheeky. He kissed her again, pulling her close against him. She ran her hands down his warm bare back, up around his shoulders, and into his mussed hair. He made an interesting noise as one of her hands dropped past his waist in the back. She squeezed and pressed with her fingers, grinning. Then she pushed his chest with her other hand so that he fell onto his back on the bed. She straddled him, lowering her body atop his as their mouths met again.

But in that position, the hardness of his cock pressed against a place she found difficult to ignore. After a moment of biting temptation, groaning, she got up off of him and pulled him up by a hand. She tossed him a shirt and watched as he pulled it on and belted on one of his swords, his erection fading. The prince's face colored slightly under her gaze. He wasn't accustomed to having his body gazed at that way.

"So what are we doing today that you got me up for?" he asked her.

"Lots and lots of nothing," she answered brightly. "And it's probably only going to get half done."

"You know you don't make any sense."

"I know. I want to spend the day with you. And shop and walk and kiss you."

Zuko smirked. "Sounds good to me."

"Doesn't it?" She took his hand and led him out into the hall, down the stairs, and out into the sunny street. Zuko looked at her in the warm sunlight and smiled.

"You look nice," he said.

"Thank you. Baths are nice. And my clothes are clean. Finally. So, where do you want to go?"

"This is your excursion," he replied. "You have to come up with what we're going to do."

She pursed her lips. "Well, let's browse shops first. I have some money."

"Yeah, 'cause you get tipped twice as much as Iroh and I," he griped.

She frowned at him. "Iroh gets tipped just as much as I do. You don't because you always look so grumpy."

"You get tipped more because you're pretty, and there can be no argument about that."

"Yes there can."

"You're ridiculous."

"You'd just rather assume I have an advantage than you have a deficiency."

The prince smirked despite himself. "You are a formidable verbal adversary, you know that?"

"I shall take that as a compliment, Mr. Lee."

"You do that, Miss Nayu."

"That name's beginning to bug me," Nami said, swinging his arm, her hand in his as they walked. "I always want to correct the person and say 'No, it's Nami'. I've almost corrected Pao a couple of times before barely catching myself."

"Our weakest link, that's what you are."

"Oh, nice," she replied, rolling her eyes. "Rated below the silly old uncle, am I? That's nice."

Zuko laughed.

"I don't really know what I want," she said, looking around them expectantly as they walked the smooth, beige streets. The air smelled of food from the many stands. "That's why we're perusing—I'll know it when I see it.

"Zuko," she said suddenly, turning to him with a troubled expression, "I've been meaning to ask you. Where d'you think they took Jet that other night?"

Zuko shrugged, his effort at nonchalance failing. "I don't know. I doubt he's in jail, though, Nami. People don't get stuck in jail for brawling in the street and not hurting anyone. Don't worry about him. He wanted to put us in jail, remember? We've got to fend for ourselves sometimes."

Nami nodded. I know that well enough.

They ambled through the sunny streets, talking, laughing, and teasing each other. They bought street food for lunch, and afterwards Nami bought some almond cookies for them to share. As they shopped, she also purchased some more soap and a small scented candle with an intricately crafted stand.

She smelled it happily as they walked away from the stand.

"What's it smell like?" Zuko asked.

"Cherry blossoms. That scent rather reminds me of you now."

He looked at her, his eyes soft, and smiled.

"I like candles," she continued musingly. "My brother used to say that I was going to burn our house down because of all of them."

"Where is your home?" he asked, intrigued by the mention of her house and reminded again of how much he didn't really know about her.

Nami went silent. That was so stupid. I should not have mentioned my family. "It's this old, grand house in the Capital City," she replied tightly.

"Really, the Capital City?"

"My father comes from money."

"Then why are you living off scraps over here in the Earth Kingdom? Is your father still around? What's he do?"

She was grimacing. "Why the interrogation?"

"I'm just trying to get to know you better," he replied. "I feel like I should know about your family, where you come from, what your hobbies are, that you like candles and live in the Fire Nation Capital."

"Well, now you know all those things."

"And you think you can get away with avoiding the questions about your dad."

Nami scowled toward the shops ahead of them. "I don't get along with my father. So I don't want to talk about him. I should think you'd understand that."

Zuko frowned. "What about your brother?"

"What about him?"

"Well—how old is he?"

"He's twenty."

"What's he do? Or is he still in school?"

"He's a soldier in your army."

"It's not my army."

"The national army that serves the royal family and all their whims."

Zuko glanced at her, searching her look with slightly narrowed eyes. He'd heard the edge of bitterness that had crept into her voice.

"Aren't you proud of what he's doing?"

I am, but not for the reasons you think. Usually lies came easily to her and slid out through her teeth like water, but recently it had been growing harder to lie to him. Still, they came after a pause. "Of course I am—we should all be proud of our army. They've won us so many victories."

Zuko nodded, but he still glanced at her face often as they continued walking, unfinished doubt in his eyes.

"I've noticed a lot of change in you recently," she said after a few minutes, changing the topic back to him. "When Jet provoked you, I was sure you were going to lose your temper. But you didn't. You've seemed a bit more centered recently. Bit softer. A bit happier."

Zuko was quiet for a moment, contemplating the road ahead of them as he considered her words. "Anger has always been…automatic for me."

"It's a defense you put up."

His mouth tightened. "I… Yeah, I guess. But recently I… Well, I've felt less alone, I guess. And…maybe older somehow. I've had a lot of lessons in humility recently, with living like a beggar, losing to both you and my sister, going out on my own…

"And with you…" He looked at a shop without seeing it, pensive. "You make me…sort of…softer." He grimaced, shrugging.

His words made her heart tender. She squeezed his hand quietly as they continued walking.