Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last airbender.


Chapter 28

"Miss Jiangnu, Mister Li, and Mister…Mushi, is it?" A ticket lady questioned monotonously.

The entire time they were trying to get their tickets, Akemi couldn't help but stare at the abnormally large mole on her face.

Seeing as the woman had pronounced Iroh's name 'Mashi' he corrected her, "It's pronounced 'Moo-shi'."

"You telling me how to do my job?" The lady suddenly questioned, starting to look irritated with Iroh.

"No, no, but," Iroh, seeing as he was making the situation worse, knew he would have to seem more appealing to get themselves through without running into trouble; they were fugitives, after all, "may I just say that you are like a flower in bloom! Your beauty is intoxicating!" Iroh admitted with a cheesy grin.

Akemi almost wanted to hide her face in her hands from the secondhand embarrassment that she was getting from the conversation Iroh was having. She just wanted to get in the city and move on, mostly because she was impatient and desperately wanted to see what Ba Sing Se was like. It excited her.

The lady suddenly smiled and giggled. "You're pretty easy on the eyes yourself, handsome!" When she made a cat sound teasingly, Akemi slapped a hand on her forehead and Zuko looked like he was ready to barf.

"Welcome to Ba Sing Se." The lady greeted and stamped their train tickets, and the two teenagers let out breaths of relief knowing they were basically in. Iroh took the tickets and turned to both the teens with a cheesy grin.

Zuko had not recovered from what he had seen just moments ago, seeing as he muttered, "I'm going to forget I saw that." He swiped his ticket from his uncle's hand and started to make his way to find somewhere to sit while they wait for other people to get their tickets through. "How long are we supposed to wait?" He asked Iroh.

"Well, there's quite a number of people in the line, so it might be a while. Let's take this time to sit down and be patient and enjoy this time together," Iroh answered in a positive light.

Akemi glanced at Iroh. "After what you did back there I'm not sure if I can look at you the same way."

Iroh let out a hearty chuckle and gestured for her to sit on a stone bench that they had conveniently found. Akemi limped over and slowly sat down, placing her crutch next to her leg just as Iroh took a seat next to her. She bent over and started rubbing her crippled leg with a hiss. "You'd figure at this point I'd be used to this, but I suppose not," Akemi mentioned with an annoyed hiss as she felt her leg pulse from being jostled too much when trying to hobble around without her crutch to get used to it. The price she paid for this, however, was worth it she reminded herself as she saw Zuko standing up next to the bench to observe the surroundings in a rather impatient manner.

"Zuko." Akemi said, getting his attention. Zuko glanced down and saw his friend patting a seat next to her on the bench. "Don't you want a seat?"

"I'm fine as it is," Zuko replied, but then felt a tug on his sleeve from his friend who didn't seem to believe him.

"C'monnn, even you need to take a break from standing all the time!"

Zuko considered for a moment before he decided to take her up on the offer and made his way to sit down next to her. Akemi scooted over and made more space for him just as he slumped in the chair, though hands starting drumming his thighs fervently.

Taking this opportunity now that he was within earshot, she leaned over and whispered in his ear, "How are you doing?" Even though she knew that Zuko was fine, she still asked just to make sure in case anything was bothering him. He was hard to read, for once.

He seemed to be searching for something around them in the small tavern area. "I don't know. Considering our luck, pretty soon we might be having some bounty hunters or earth nation guards after us."

At his answer, Akemi leaned back and looked up at the ceiling nonchalantly. "You worry too much. I can say with full confidence that I don't think anyone's going to want to come after us, given the social convention around this area. Might draw too much attention towards themselves." She brought a hand up and patted Zuko's shoulder in brief reassurance.

Zuko nodded. "I hope you're right about this."

Akemi let out a long sigh of exhaustion, but though was unable to sit still about the fact they were about to be in Ba Sing Se soon, if not now. She kicked her legs up and down and grinned enthusiastically to herself. "I can't wait to get in! I'm really looking forward to seeing what the city is like!" she breathed to the two sitting on both her sides and folded her hands beneath her head.

"I'm glad to see that I am not the only one who thinks so similarly," Iroh jested and looked at the line for the ticket booth getting shorter gradually. "I'll finally get to see how different this city has changed since the last time I brought chaos upon it!" Akemi chuckled at his humorous comment.

Zuko emitted a sigh of exasperation at their enthusiasm and leaned his head back, crossing his arms tightly. "Maybe we would if we weren't waiting for so long."

Akemi rolled her eyes and let out a huff of air. "Zuko, we're not exactly short on time here, so just go along with it."

Unbeknownst to the three, a familiar person was standing quite a distance away observing them.

Jet seemed to be thinking over something as he watched the three strangers he had met back on the refugee ship converse. He watched as Zuko angled his head and converse with his friend, who appeared to be teasing him as she poked his cheek playfully, and in which he responded by leaning away and turning his head away as she visibly laughed from the distance he watched.

Not only did their banter amused him, but the fact that they had various battle scars also interested him. "I'll bet he'll make a good freedom fighter...he's just trying to find his way in the world, like us, and the girl seems to be quite resilient, too," Jet remarked to Smellerbee and Longshot, picking at his brain to figure out how to approach them again.

Smellerbee didn't seem to be on board with his suggestion and crossed her arms.

"We don't know anything about them, Jet." She regarded with discern of what he was suggesting and followed his observing stare towards the group he was referring to. 'Has he forgotten why we've come here?' she thought to herself incredulously.

"Well, the way I see it, I know he didn't get that scar from a waterbender. The girl who seems to be tagging along with him, she looks like she's been through the wringer, too." Jet reckoned as he continued to keep an eye on the trio so they wouldn't leave his sight without him realizing it. It was nearly time for people to depart the train, and there were many people around so it'd be easy to lose them in this crowd of people.

Smellerbee frowned. "I know, but like I said, we don't know anything about any of them. Besides, in case you haven't noticed, she's on a crutch..." She eyed the girl who was now inspecting her crutch in the distance they sat in. "Do you really expect her to be able to fight, even if you do manage to convince them?" Smellerbee asked, but not in a rude way; she was genuinely curious as to what Jet had in mind.

"Who knows, but…" Jet conceded, and his eyes suddenly focused on the girl who seemed to be enjoying the scenery around her with a gentle smile, some stray hair falling in front of her face which she pushed away with a finger. A mischievous glint flashed through his eyes as he saw her interacting with Zuko once more. "Either way, she seems like quite a fighter, and that's something we need in our group."

Smellerbee rolled her eyes. 'So that's it.'

"Besides all of this, I thought we're going clean, now," Smellerbee interjected, "This is our whole reason for coming here to begin with, isn't it?" Seems that Jet wouldn't relent in trying to get the other two to join their group, and she was very much against this. She truly just didn't want to do anything with the fire nation, anymore, and she thought Jet wanted to seek out the same thing.

Jet shrugged her off. "We are, and the new freedom fighters could use a guy like Li and Jiangnu," Jet concluded and at Longshot and asked, "What do you think, Longshot?" He was looking for peer approval from at least once person, despite being the one in charge of the group.

Longshot just stared at him impassively in response.

"I can expect that..." Jet commented with a chuckle and started making his way over to the trio, still unaware of the key fact they were firebenders.


"Do you think there's anything we can find to eat around here?" Akemi questioned and glanced around the crowded tavern, hand over her eyes to shield some of the light that was starting to irritate her vision.

"A very good question, though I am pretty sure we won't find anything until we reach into the city," Iroh speculated but peered around just in case there was something they were missing.

Leaning forward in her seat, Akemi sighed and placed her chin on top of her hand boredly. "Humor me." Her eyes trailed to the corner of her eye back to Iroh. "So...have any idea what exactly we're going to do once we're in?" Akemi asked Iroh, fully aware that none of them knew next to nothing about the city or even the district they were probably going to end up in. The fact they were going in blindly concerned her.

"Well, actually-"

"So, you guys got plans once you're inside the city?"

Akemi tightened her lips in a line at the familiar sound coming up from behind them. 'I was hoping this guy had left, but…' She turned in her seat and watched as Jet started strolling up from behind with Smellerbee and Longshot in tow. Seeing them again didn't make her upset, but at the same time, she was wondering why she was worried over them, especially Jet.

As Jet greeted them with a genuine smile, she felt her muscles relax and started to wonder why she was being so defensive over him. He had welcomed them and even managed to help get them some decent food the first night they met him back on the refugee ship, and at this point she felt as though he actually was a good person and she was just being paranoid over nothing. A part of her wanted to trust him fully, but at the same time, seeing as they had already given him their names, there was absolutely no point in telling him that her name was fabricated, because maybe she'll really draw suspicion towards herself.

Even if he was someone to be trusted, a part of her knew that even a good person like Jet would probably be turned away by the fact they were of fire nation descent. The entire world hated them, after all.

She decided to give Jet a chance and ignore her gut instinct that was starting to eat her away and she just assumed she was being unreasonably overly suspicious about Jet. Akemi held a hand up and waved at him and chimed, "Hey, Jet, it's nice to see you again!"

Zuko seemed to be eyeing her from the corner of his eye but remained silent, furrowing his brow as Jet approached them.

"Get your hot tea, here! Finest tea in Ba Sing Se!" A man with a cart full of tea called out from the side out of nowhere and approached them all, which immediately garnered Iroh's interest.

"Well, I suppose that's for me to see to," Iroh surmised delightedly and stood from his seat. Afterwards, before he left he looked back at the other two and asked, "Do any of you want some tea?"

"No." Zuko responded.

Akemi faked an offended scoff and jested, "Do you have to ask that?"

"Of course." Iroh joked and waved a hand to flag the person down and called, "Two Jasmine, please!" The man came over with two cups for tea and handed it to them. After he had poured the tea into their cups, Iroh gave him two coins and a nod of thanks before the man left with the cart.

Akemi held the cup up to her mouth, but hesitated to drink when noting the murky appearance of the tea and inspected it. "Hm, something seems off…" She murmured to herself, but unable to finish the thought aloud just as Iroh took a sip of his tea and then spat it out. She blinked and asked worriedly, "What is it? Was it poison?"

"Worse!" Iroh replied, and in a quite disappointed tone. "It's cold tea!"

Akemi puckered her lips. "Oh, you're so overdramatic," She commented and sipped her tea, noting that despite being cold it didn't have a bad flavor to it. "It's not that bad," She quipped and took another sip.

Iroh looked at his cup disgusted. "Coldest tea in Ba Sing Se is more like it...what a disgrace." He complained and observed the tea that was barely touched on as Akemi nearly finished hers, wondering how she was able to drink this tea.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" Jet suddenly asked Zuko amongst Iroh's disappointed comments that he uttered. Zuko eyed Jet for a moment before shrugging and standing. "I'll be back..." he mentioned to the other two sitting down, but not before Jet suddenly added,

"You, too."

Zuko halted in his steps and heard the familiar sound of a crutch being jostled and it could only mean that Jet wanted Akemi to come as well. He was starting to grow suspicious of Jet as it was.

Akemi slowly stood up and followed them along, wondering what Jet would want to talk to her and Zuko about. She was giving Jet the benefit of the doubt that he was a good person despite a part of per believing otherwise; deep down, she knew she should take chances with new people so she wasn't missing out on possible friendships. Toph was one of those people she took a risk in believing, and she ended up being a good person, so she was confident that maybe Jet would be the same way at this point.

Once Jet got them to a safe distance away from any other oncoming people passing by, Jet looked between them, though his eyes lingered on Akemi who was supporting herself on the crutch. "We'll all have a better chance of getting into the city if we stick together. Want to join the freedom fighters?" Jet asked them.

Jet noted the concerned looks the two shot at each other, as if they were having a silent conversation.

"Well, I'm not sure if you'd want me in your group. I mean," Akemi informed Jet and jostled her crutch slightly in emphasis of her disability, "I'm not exactly the most apt at fighting, if you 'freedom fighters' really do happen to fight." She joked, a part of her disagreeing with the statement but another half of her knowing that she hasn't been as good as fighting as she used to be when moving around and fighting since the explosion incident.

Jet shook his head with a smile at the girl's response; he found her quite charming the more he started to have small conversations with the girl since first meeting her. 'She's quite cute, actually.'

"Believe me when I say you don't have to actually fight to be a freedom fighter," Jet stated and put a hand on his hip, "we are strong by our very will to fight as one, and that unity is what makes us fighters. And you seem like someone who has a lot of spirit when it comes to that."

Akemi became aware of her face starting to heat up. Then, she bowed her head and placed a hand against her cheek bashfully at the compliment. "W-Well, uh, thank you for that. Jet was really as suave as he looked, and the more that she observed Jet, the more she realized how handsome he looked, and then wondered how many admirers he possibly had.

Zuko seemed to have an unreadable expression, unbeknownst to her knowledge.

"Thanks, but I'll have to pass." Akemi conceded and lowered the hand in front of her face to wave it in front of herself in indication of her decline for the offer.

Jet raised a brow.

"You sure? You would be a really good addition."

"I'm sure."

He looked at Zuko, who still remained impassive, and asked, "What about you? Up for it?"

Zuko tightened his lip. "Thanks, but I don't think you'd want me in your gang." Zuko mentioned to Jet lowly.

Jet crinkled his nose at the dismissiveness of the boy. "Come on! We were a good team back at the captain's coop. Think about all the good we can do for these refugees!" Jet tried persuading Zuko, but to no avail…it seemed that Zuko's decision was final.

"I said 'no'." Zuko once again reiterated, starting to get irritated by Jet's persistence. Jet was already making him suspicious for reasons he couldn't place his hand on since the time he teamed up with him back on the refugee ship. The fact that he was trying to get he and his friend to join his little gang was already questionable.

Akemi, at Zuko's response, rolled her eyes. "Yeah, trust me when I say…he's not the brightest of the bunch," She commented coyly, successfully garnering a reaction from her friend next to her.

Jet blinked in amusement at the girl's comment, but his attention surely was captured when Zuko started to look full-on irritated.

Zuko glared at her half-heartedly, noting the impish grin Akemi wore as she watched his reaction change. "And what is that supposed to mean?" He questioned, crossing his arms under his chest slowly as he waited for her response indignantly.

Akemi glanced at the ceiling innocently, though Zuko wasn't buying it. "All I said was that you're not the brightest guy. Was I wrong?" She questioned in a teasing manner, satisfied at the exasperated look Zuko was shooting at her. At least he wasn't brooding, she thought to herself.

Meanwhile, Jet watched as they bickered like little kids, in all respects entertained by them. Eventually, he realized that he was running out of time as he noted the line for the booth for the train starting to shrink, so he decided he needed to wrap up their interaction.

However, he was still curious about them, so he asked through the argument,

"So, not to be nosy, but…are you two a couple?"

Zuko and Akemi were somehow able to hear his comment over their prattle and stopped simultaneously to whip their heads at him in surprise. Interestingly, both their faces started becoming brighter than a tomato and they looked flustered. They regained their composure to point at each other and exclaimed at the same time,

"He/She's not my boyfriend/girlfriend!"

Jet raised a brow. "Really?" He asked, rather surprised considering that they happened to be so close to each other the way they interacted. 'So that means…' His eyes trailed over to the girl who was rubbing the back of her hair sheepishly and trying to recover from her embarrassment over his assumption.

'So she's available.'

Jet suddenly felt himself confident and placed a hand on the back of his neck, rubbing it as his eyes lingered on the girl who finally started to recover and look at him curiously at his change of pace. "Anyways, no worries if you don't want to join our group. But if you want, since we're both going to the same city and I'll be getting acquainted with the area, I'll be glad to show you around if you want after you and the other two settle in somewhere," He offered, tilting his head and grinning charmingly at the girl, who seemed taken aback by his offer. "Just in case you want to get to know each other better and might be unfamiliar with some places, I'll be glad to help."

Akemi was rather flattered by his offer, failing to realize he completely ignored Zuko when giving her his offer of friendship. His eyes looked at her in a rather gentle manner with a welcome of companionship and she felt herself fidget in place. He seemed so genuine with his offer, she almost wanted to take it up right now.

Zuko suddenly interjected, "Thanks, but no thanks. She'll be just fine." He then grabbed her hand that wasn't gripping the crutch and started to lead her away, surprising the girl in tow.

Akemi suddenly placed her weight on her good leg, effectively halting them and yanking her hand away from Zuko. "Don't I get to speak for myself?" She mused to Zuko, who seemed to narrow his eyes in response. She let out a long breath and rolled her eyes, thinking, 'There he goes, trying to brood and be antisocial again.' She looked at Jet, whose eyes also had a shadow cast over them and his brows furrowed. She smiled in his direction and responded kindly, "No thanks, but…" She went up to Jet slowly until she was able to look up at him to meet his gaze, his eyes engaged in hers intently.

"I'll certainly keep the offer in mind, Jet. I wouldn't mind trying to meet new people, especially since we're both going to be in the same mysterious city of Ba Sing Se," she joked.

Jet felt himself relax and once again smiled at her. "I'm glad to hear that. In any case, however, did you by any chance want to tag along with me and my group once we reach the inside of the city after the train lets us all off? We might take our time in sightseeing some of the notable places before we find a place to reside in."

Akemi opened her mouth to answer, but once again felt Zuko's firm grip on her wrist. "No. She's sure." Zuko insisted for her before dragging her away once more, making her pout and look at Jet with a defeated look before mouthing a 'goodbye' before staring straight ahead.

"Have it your way..." Jet muttered. He looked over at Akemi and then watched Zuko, hunched over as he walked, dragged her along beside him in a rather protective fashion. Whatever they had denied earlier about being a couple seemed to make him doubt about their relationship status, now, but couldn't help but guess what the deal was.

'Maybe they aren't a couple, but...it's pretty obvious he cares about her.' Jet ascertained mentally to himself, scratching his chin with a finger as he observed them meeting up with the older man who was waiting for them in the last place he saw him. 'I wouldn't be surprised if he actually liked her. I mean, she really is cute.'

Something started to stand out from the corner of his eye as he stared at the spot the trio was in. Jet found himself locking his gaze on the older man, who seemed to be quite elated by his cup of tea. Specifically, the boy found himself looking at Iroh's cup, which looked odd, considering it was now…

Steaming.

He seemed to recall that the older man was complaining about the tea being cold…and now it was hot.

And just like that, everything was starting to click and the gears rotated in his mind. His eyes widened in realization as he started to put the pieces together from this small observation, feeling some sort of emotional trigger from a distant past rise up after so long.

His eyes narrowing, he found himself glancing at Zuko, then to Akemi once more, who seemed to notice the train whistle going off and were starting to get up off their seats. 'Maybe not cute enough,' Jet thought to himself and his eyes focused on the three intensely. Eventually, Zuko caught his gaze, and he broke contact with glaring at them and walked away, barely missing the fact that Zuko's face had twisted in recognition at the look he was sending their way.

Zuko, who had noticed the look Jet gave him from a distance away, fumed and smacked the cup of steaming tea out of Iroh's hand to the floor urgently. He hissed through his teeth at Iroh, "What are you doing firebending your tea? For a wise old man, that was a pretty stupid move!"

Akemi, who hadn't even noticed Zuko glancing at Jet previously, at hearing his angry speculation gasped in alarm and quickly looked around in case anyone had noticed. She sighed in relief when the spot Jet was in before was vacant. 'Oh, good…at least he hadn't seen Iroh do that. But Iroh, what were you thinking?!'

"I know you're not supposed to cry over spilled tea, but..." Iroh sniffed, ready to cry at the sight of the discarded cup and spilled tea on the ground. "It's just so sad."

"Iroh, don't give us that!" Akemi chided, hissing at him while jabbing a finger into his shoulder accusingly. "You could've seriously put us at risk had anyone else known this!"

"Train for Ba Sing Se!" Someone shouted from the trains, whose doors slid open and immediately people started pouring into.

"FINALLY!" Akemi exclaimed and quickly hopped towards the train in hopes of catching a seat before everyone else would occupy them.

Undeterred by Iroh's mishap, she eagerly looked forward to the new life ahead of them, and possibly seeing Jet again with the potential of becoming friends with the guy. Things were starting to turn around for their lives, especially hers, and she was going to enjoy every moment of it.

"Last call for Ba Sing Se!" The train conductor called out once more.

A mass crowd of people continued to pour into the train; it seemed endless.

Meanwhile, Jet, Smellerbee, and Longshot were making their way towards the train to Ba Sing Se, though Jet seemed rather cautious and heavy in his footsteps. Longshot eyed how Jet's hands were clenched tightly as he stormed towards the train. Immediately after they had met up with Jet minutes ago, he had told what happened with whatever happened with Iroh and the tea, and it definitely had shocked he and Smellerbee. Considering how nicely they had gotten along with Iroh and the other two, it also disappointed him.

Smellerbee, concurrently to whatever thoughts were going through Longshot's head, knew Jet was starting to fall back onto his old ways. Him informing them about the old man discerned her that Jet was starting to obsess and go back to his old mindset, and she wanted to do everything in her power to avoid that, considering they did come to Ba Sing Se for a fresh start and to make up for their past actions.

"Jet, relax! So the old guy had some hot tea...big deal!" She protested, still trying convincing Jet to back down and forget about them, even if she already seemed to understand that the people they had talked to were from the enemy nation.

But, despite Smellerbee's best attempts, Jet didn't listen.

"He heated it himself! Those guys are firebenders!" Jet retorted angrily and glared daggers at the three 'refugees' entering the train, narrowing his eyes when their forms started to get lost among the crowd of people. He nodded his head for his companions too follow as they entered a separate compartment on the train to avoid being caught by the firebenders and have suspicion drawn to them.


Piling in was the hard part of this trip, but eventually Iroh, Zuko, and Akemi managed to get in just before the compartment would get overwhelmingly crowded and quickly searched for any seats open for them to take. Taking a while, eventually they found some spots conveniently big enough to seat all of them and made their way offer, Zuko pausing and Iroh gesturing to Akemi sit first before they took their seats on both sides of the girl.

Akemi let out a breath, leaning back against her seat with her crutch leaning against her and enjoying the fact she was finally able to relax after hours of worrying they wouldn't be able to make it this far. "Feels nice to finally be here and going!" She beamed and shut her eyes contently. "I can hardly wait to finally be in there!"

"As am I!" Iroh added, looking quite content himself as he watched more people pile into the train and take their spots.

Zuko seemed to be glaring in no fixed place in particular and seemed caught up on something, given how tightly he was crossing his arms and constricted his facial expression looked.

Iroh looked over at the lady who sat next to him, smiling softly when noticing the small, swaddled baby in her arms that she was cooing and rocking back and forth in adoration. "Such a handsome baby!" Iroh complimented, gaining an appreciative look from the mother.

"Why, thank you! He was just born not that long ago on our way here!" The mother responded with a kind smile, leaning over slightly to give Iroh a closer look of her baby proudly. Iroh reached a finger out and chuckled as the baby grabbed the finger with their tiny hands.

Akemi pressed her hands against her cheeks and grinned widely at the sight. "He's adorable." Akemi marveled as she continued to observe the baby.

The train jostled, turning Iroh and Akemi's attention to the moving background outside the window behind them. A tunnel came in sight and darkened the train momentarily as the train passed through it. Minutes passed, and the train seemed to be moving too slow for Akemi's pleasure. She could hardly keep still as she spent most of the time watching the scenery. Placing her arms on the windowsill, she rested her chin and continued to admire the trees that passed over the windows as they moved along the tracks.

After what seemed like hours for her, Akemi found herself staring at a spectacular view. She gasped in wonder and felt herself shifting so she was now stretching herself from her spot and now was kneeling on the seat to get a better view. Knowing that Iroh already was spotting the view before them, she slapped her hand on Zuko's shoulder to get his attention and pointed out the window, "Zuko, look!"

Zuko, snapping out of his trance from staring into nothingness, turned his eyes in the direction his friend was pointing at. And it was then, even he couldn't help but look in reverence at the sight before them.

They finally made it to Ba Sing Se, the view stretching for miles and miles full of buildings, railways, and among other scenery whose vastness and elegance could not be matched by any other sight he's seen while traveling around the world for years. Something about the city really drew his eyes in and found himself inspecting every detail of the buildings as the train rolled over them and to the station up ahead on leveled ground.

It was then Zuko thought that maybe living here wouldn't be so bad, after all.