A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews. I like getting reviews it makes me feel good that you guys like my story so far. Here is the next chapter. As always, keep the reviews coming.

An Unexpected Gift

Zuko and I walked around the marketplace hand in hand. We were searching for food to eat that night.

"What would you like?" he asked me.

I thought for a moment. There wasn't really anything I was craving. That was until a sweet perfume that resembled boiled Ice Fish and stewed sea prunes filled my nose.

"Sea prunes," I said dreamily.

"Sea prunes?" Zuko asked.

"Huh? Oh right. Sea prunes are one of the many things we eat in the South Pole. Sokka and I could never get enough of them. Gran Gran makes them the best in the entire tribe."

Zuko wrinkled his nose. "Okay then. If sea prunes make you happy then its sea prunes you're going to get. I just don't know if they have them here in the city."

"There is no harm in looking," I told Zuko.

"No there isn't," he agreed. "Is there anything else we should get?"

"We should get a bag of rice and tea leaves for your uncle."

"Is there a tea pot in the apartment?" Zuko asked.

"No," I said.

"We should get a real nice one for Uncle."

I shook my head. "No. If we are going to get one it should be a plain clay pot."

"Why?" Zuko asked me.

"We live in the Lower Ring. We don't want anything of great value. We need to keep our belongings simple."

"Okay," he said disappointed.

We went through the marketplace looking for the best deals on rice and tea pots. We found some at a reasonable price. Even though we had five gold pieces we wanted to keep some of that so we had money in the future. After we bought the rice and tea pot it was time for us to search for sea prunes.

We asked all around the marketplace on the streets. We even went knocked on people's doors and asked them if they knew where we could find sea prunes. No one we asked had seen sea prunes in Ba Seing Se. We asked and asked, until one woman knew where to find some.

She was a plump woman with grey hair and few wrinkles. By her haggard looking face it was obvious that she was a mother to several children.

"Do you know where, in the Lower Ring, we can find sea prunes?" Zuko asked her.

"If you keep walking down this road there will be a tea shop. Next to the tea shop is a small restaurant. It's kind of a hole-in-the- wall sort of place so keep your eye out for it. They happen to have sea prunes. If they give you any trouble, just tell them that Kleo sent you." The woman named Kleo offered her hand to Zuko. Zuko took her hand and held it.

"Thank you Kleo," Zuko told her. "We hope to see you around in the future."

"As do I," she said. "See you two around." Kleo gave us one last look and walked away.

We watched her take heavy steps as she faded in with the crowd of people. Zuko looked at me; his fiery eyes staring into my soul. He broke his stare and started to walk down the dusty, dirt road.

"So what kind of restaurant do you think this will be?" Zuko asked me.

"International cuisine?" I suggested.

"It'll probably be some kind of crazy place run by ex- cons or circus clowns or something."

I laughed. "That would be awesome. Do you have any idea what kind of job your uncle will get us?"

"Hopefully anywhere other than a tea shop," he groaned. "If we have to work in a tea shop I'm going to kill Uncle then I'm going to kill myself."

"Don't do that, I'll miss you too much," I said.

"Well I'll kill myself come back to life then kill uncle."

"Sounds good," I said plainly.

"So working in a tea shop isn't your cup of tea is it?" I teased.

Zuko's face turned a deep shade of red and his ears steamed with anger. "Do you mind?" he said angrily.

"I'm sorry," I giggled. "You just make it too east babe. Plus, you are really sexy when you get mad."

Zuko stopped walking and smiled at me. "You really think so?"

"I know so." I cupped Zuko's face in my hands; my thumb brushing against his scar. Zuko gave me a quick kiss and we resumed walking.

All of a sudden Zuko's serene expression fell.

"What's wrong love?" I asked.

"Do you think Cali is here?"

"No. He's in the Fire Nation."

"He always talked about coming to Ba Seing Se," Zuko said.

"Why?"

"To open a bakery or a restaurant," he explained.

"He has one in the Fire Nation," I pointed out.

"He was never happy there. I think that's why we became friends so quickly. We both had a deep hatred for the Fire Nation. He hated the people there too. All of the people that came into his bakery criticized the taste of the food and how the bakery was decorated. He said they did that just to make fun of him. He always talked about coming here and doing things his way. He wanted to have a fresh start."

I never knew that Cali hated the Fire Nation as much as I did. The way he made his pastries, with traditional Fire Nation flavors, made it seem like he loved his country. Zuko never really talked about Cali that much to me. He was a complete mystery.

I tried to think of things that were at his shop the day Zuko and I went there for breakfast. The food was standard and didn't have any foreign flavors. Cali never said anything about the Earth Kingdom either. Then it hit me.

"His shop is decorated with Earth Kingdom relics," I said all of sudden.

"Yeah," he replied with his head hung down.

"Why does he love the Earth Kingdom so much?" I asked.

"His father was Uncle's right hand man during the Siege of Ba Seing Se. While the Fire Nation was attempting to take it down, Cali's father fell in love with a girl."

"She was from Ba Seing Se wasn't she?" I said.

"Yeah, she was one of the prisoners."

"Prisoners?" I asked confused.

"Some of the soldiers captured women that they found alone for…entertainment."

"Do you mean…?" I raised my eyebrows. Zuko nodded. "What did your uncle do about it?"

"He didn't know until Cali's father told him. Cali found this girl getting thrown around by the other men. He saved her from them. He took care of her and eventually they fell in love and had a baby."

"Did he tell your uncle?" I asked eagerly.

"Yeah, they were best friends. How could he not?" Zuko told me.

"What happened?"

"After my grandfather Azulan died, Uncle came back for his funeral. Cali's father stayed in the Earth Kingdom and married Cali's mother. When my father was crowned Fire Lord on the day of my grandfather's funeral he noticed that Cali's father wasn't there." Zuko had a grim look on his face. I knew something went wrong.

"Your father found out that he was still there and did something incredibly evil to him, didn't he?" I said.

"Yeah, he felt that he was a traitor the Fire Nation. He found him and killed him. Cali and his mother got away from my father. They lived in a little village in the Earth Kingdom. The Fire Nation invaded that village and captured his mom. She was killed right before Cali's eyes. He was only ten at the time."

I found cheeks wet with tears. I didn't realize that I was crying. "How did he get to be in the Fire Nation?" I asked Zuko with tears still streaming down my face.

"He was captured by the soldiers and taken there. He's been my best friend ever since the day we met each other at school."

"You miss him don't you?"

"Yes," he replied. "I do."

"You'll see him again," I reassured Zuko.

"I hope so," he replied.

"Here's the restaurant," I pointed out.

We stopped and looked at the front of the building. There was sign that read, "The Red Boar". It was on a large, plain wooden board painted in red.

"Looks promising," Zuko said sarcastically.

I hit him on the arm and said, "Zuko, you can be a real ass sometimes."

"Thank you," he replied. "It makes a guy feel great that he knows that his girlfriend loves him and appreciates him."

"Zuko," I started. "I'm your girlfriend, not you puppy."

"Your bite is pretty bad too," he mumbled.

"What was that?" I asked knowing full well what he said.

"Nothing," he replied quickly.

All of a sudden I heard someone yell inside of the restaurant. The front doors flew open and a man fell out right in front of our feet.

Zuko and I stared at the man in shock for a moment. The man was clutching his knee and panting hard. I kneeled down; bended some water out of the pouch I kept concealed under my shirt, and healed his knee.

"Are you okay?" I asked. The man just nodded. He was in too much shock to speak.

"Katara," Zuko said as he tugged on my sleeve.

"What?" I stood up. Standing right in front of us was Cali.

"Dude, what are you doing here?" Cali asked with a smile that went ear-to-ear.

"I could ask you the same thing," Zuko replied with an equally broad smile.

The two friends reunited with a hug and several pats on the back.

"So is Iroh he too?" Cali asked.

Zuko shushed him. "His name is Mushi. We had to change it because of certain events in the past."

"Ah," Cali replied with a quizzical look on his face. "Wasn't that the name of your pet turtle duck?"

"He wasn't mine, but yes." Zuko turned a deep shade of red. I laughed at him.

"So all of those years of you telling everyone about your pet turtle duck were lies?"

Zuko started to sweat with anger and even more embarrassment. I knew Zuko would lash out at Cali at any moment. To my surprise, he took a deep breath and laughed it out.

"It's good to see you man," Zuko said cheerfully.

"You too," Cali replied with a smile.

I finally had enough of being ignored. I knew seeing Cali for the first time in months was a big deal for Zuko; there was just only so much flirting I could take. I nudged Zuko gently with my elbow to let him know I wanted to be included. Zuko, being a blockhead, didn't notice me. I decided to elbow him in the stomach hard.

"Ow," he yelled. "What was that for?"

I just stood there looking at him with an innocent look about my face.

"Oh," he said, the message finally going through his thick head. "Cali, you remember Katara?"

"How could I forget such a beautiful woman?" Cali grabbed my hand and kissed it gently. I could feel the heat rising in my face with embarrassment to his flattery.

"Easy there buddy," Zuko said in a grim voice. "Keep the hands off my girl."

"Your girl?" I scoffed. "I'm not a sword Zuko. You can't own me."

"Th…that's not what I meant," he stammered.

"Oh, I know full well what you meant."

"Katara," he pleaded.

"I was just kidding," I said. "Don't get your pants in knot."

"She has you whipped man," Cali chuckled.

"Shut up," Zuko bit back.

"Sorry," Cali laughed. "So why did you guys come here?"

"We're looking for sea prunes," I told him.

"Good choice. One of my favorite foods," he said. "If you guys just come into the back with me, I can get you some sea prunes.

We followed Cali through the restaurant and kitchen. He took us to a room that served as a pantry. He reached into a crate and pulled out a sea prune.

"How many do you want?" he asked.

"Ten please," I said. "How much will that be?"

"Don't worry about it," he told us. "It's on me. It's not every day when I get reunited with my best friend and his girl. Consider it a gift."

"Dude if you're going to do that for us than come to dinner tonight," Zuko said to him.

"You're cooking?" Cali asked with a worried look on his face.

"No funny guy, Katara is."

"Well in that case," he said. "Yeah I'll come."

"Great!" I said pleased. "We will pick you up around sun down."

"Sounds good,"

"We should let you get back to work. See you tonight Cali," Zuko said to his best friend.

"Yeah, see you later," he replied with a smile.

Zuko and I left the restaurant excited to see Cali later that night.

"So which tea shop do you think Uncle meant?" Zuko asked as we stood in front of the restaurant.

"I would think this one right here," I pointed to the tea shop right next to the restaurant.

"Ugh," he growled.

"What?"

"I bet you two copper pieces that we are going to be working here." Zuko looked exasperated.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I actually feel sick," he said clutching his stomach. "I don't think I can go in there. It might kill me."

"Zuko," I scoffed. "Shut up and come on." I stomped in front of him and grabbed his shirt so he would follow me.

"Katara," he whined loudly.

"Zuko we need money," I said annoyed. "It's either this or sleeping on the roofs of Ba Seing Se."

"I kinda like the roof idea," he said too cheerfully for my liking.

I could feel the anger boil inside of me. I decided that getting pissed at him was no going to help matters. I swallowed my anger and pulled him into the tea shop.

"Welcome Lee! Sapphire!" boomed Iroh. "This is where we will be working. Isn't it great?"

"Uncle," Zuko growled. "Why a tea shop?"

"Oh, cheer up nephew," Iroh laughed. "You'll have fun."

"When do we start?" I piped up.

"Tomorrow morning. I was just getting our positions set, so we can head home soon."

"Uncle," Zuko started. "We saw Cali today."

"Cali!"

"Yeah," I said. "We invited him to dinner. I'm making sea prune stew if that's okay?"

"Why dear girl," Iroh said sweetly. "Of course it is okay. You will probably be cooking meals for many days to come."

I smiled.

"So when is he coming?" Iroh asked.

"We were going to pick him up," I told him.

"Katara," Zuko started. "Let's do this: you and Uncle go home and start on dinner and I will pick up Cali. We can hang out before we come home."

"Sounds good," I replied.

"See you when you get home," Iroh said to him and gave him a bone crushing hug.

"Uncle let go!"

A/N: Sorry it took me forever to update. I have been writing though so that's good. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. As always R&R!