Because you guys completely surprised me with the response from the last chapter, I decided to give you guys a bonus update this week which means you'll get one chapter today and another on the usual Friday's. The title for this chapter comes from the song Feeling of Falling by Cheat Codes and Kim Petras. This chapter takes place during the Tales of Ba Sing Se and to be more specific, the Tale of Zuko.
Feeling of Falling
Following Jet's attack, life for Akane, Iroh and Zuko seemed to fall into a routine of normality. They continued their work at the tea shop while going about what they had come to establish as their daily lives. Luckily for them, Jet's accusations hadn't done much to diminish their credibility and they hadn't encountered any problems since then. That was actually able to help Akane ease into their new lives a lot easier than she had before without the worry of Jet's presence around.
Because of Jet's attack, Akane had been left with a small scar on her face as a result of the pressure from his swords. Despite going to get it checked out, the healer that they had went to hadn't been able to do much for the injury. Although the healer had said that it would eventually heal in time, Akane just considered it another one of the many scars that she already had and was forced to deal with.
With each day that passed, Iroh was gaining more fame in the Lower Ring because of his tea making abilities. It was obvious to Akane that Iroh was enjoying the peace that came from living in Ba Sing Se. As for Zuko, he was finally beginning to keep his mouth shut and adjust to their new lives. Even though it was fairly obvious to anyone that Zuko had no intentions of making friends around here, that didn't stop him from gaining the attention of one of their frequent visitors, Jin.
In the many times that Jin had come to visit the tea shop, Akane noticed that her gaze always lingered on Zuko. With Zuko being as oblivious as he was, he hadn't seemed to notice the attention that Jin gave him, which Akane was somewhat glad for. Even though she hadn't spoken properly to Jin and assumed that she was just a nice girl, there was something about the not-so-subtle looks that she gave Zuko that annoyed Akane. When Zuko did seem to notice the looks she was giving him, it wasn't because of what Akane assumed was the truth.
"Uncle, we have a problem," Zuko hissed as Iroh descended from the ladder. "One of the customers is on to us. Don't look now but there is a girl sitting at the corner table. She knows we're Fire Nation. Any moment now she's going to attack us."
Akane rolled her eyes, "Oh yeah, I'm sure she's going to attack us. You can tell by that evil look in her eyes."
"Didn't I say don't look!?" Zuko hissed as Iroh gave the girl a glance.
"You're right, Zuko. I've seen that girl in here quite a lot," Iroh agreed. "Seems to me she has quite a little crush on you."
"What?" Zuko spluttered, bewildered.
"Thank you for the tea," Jin said as she handed Zuko some coins, which he put on a table. "What's your name?"
"My name's Lee," Zuko replied as he turned around while Iroh smiled at the question. "My uncle, cousin and I just moved here."
"Hi Lee, my name's Jin. Thank you and… well, I was wondering if you would like to go out sometime," Jin offered.
Having never really been asked out on a date before, Zuko was stunned. Next to him, Akane's eyes widened in surprise and she felt the tray she was holding slip through her fingers and land on the ground with a loud thud.
"He'd love to!" Iroh replied before Akane or Zuko could respond.
"Great," Jin smiled. "I'll meet you in front of the shop at sundown."
As Jin walked away, Iroh threw his arms on a bewildered Zuko's shoulders with a large smile before Zuko turned to glare at him. They then turned to Akane who was busy cleaning up the mess she had made.
"Butter fingers…" Akane trailed off awkwardly.
Zuko turned to face Iroh, "Uncle, why would you just let some Earth Kingdom girl ask me out on a date?"
"Because that's what Earth Kingdom boys do, they go out on dates with Earth Kingdom girls," Iroh replied. "You'll thank me when you have a good time, nephew."
"Was it really fair to just accept Jin's offer on his behalf when he might not have even wanted to go but now he has to go because otherwise he'll look like a jerk if he doesn't?" Akane asked, glancing between them.
When she noticed the hesitance on Zuko's face, Akane began to panic. Is that what Zuko had wanted in the first place? Did he want to go on a date with that girl? Akane shuddered at the thought.
"She's right. I don't want to go on a date with some girl I only just met!" Zuko exclaimed, which sent a wave of relief through Akane. So Zuko didn't want to go on a date with a random girl. Maybe that meant that he'd want to go on a date with a girl he knew, not that Zuko knew any other girls besides Akane.
"Oh, come on, it's just one date. Go out and enjoy yourself for once, nephew. I'm sure it won't kill you if you go on one date with her. It should help that Jin is pretty easy on the eyes," Iroh nudged Zuko encouragingly.
Why was Iroh encouraging this? Why would he want to risk putting them in a position that could possibly see them exposed? Most importantly, why did he think that Jin was even attractive? Sure, Akane could admit that she wasn't hideous but she wouldn't go as far to say that Jin was attractive. Her hair was very messy and her clothes were hardly appealing. That wasn't what Akane would consider attractive.
"I guess if it's just one date," Zuko mumbled. What? Why was Zuko now agreeing to this? He didn't want to go on a date with Jin, so he shouldn't have to.
"You shouldn't go on a date with her just because you have to. It's not fair to lead her on if you're not interested," Akane spoke up.
"It doesn't mean that he has to keep seeing Jin. I'm sure that she'll move on to some other attractive looking Earth Kingdom boy like young teenage girls do," Iroh reasoned.
"I've never even been on a date before! What am I supposed to do?" Zuko exclaimed and Akane couldn't help but chuckle at the hopeless look on his face.
"Just be yourself," Akane found herself saying before she could stop herself. "If Jin really likes you then it shouldn't be a problem how you act."
"She is right. I'll even teach you the ways of romance since after all, I have been around long enough to know a thing or two about the ladies," Iroh grinned and Akane recoiled at the thought of Iroh helping Zuko impress another girl. Why go through all of this trouble just for one date?
"Fine, I'll go. But if this turns out to be a disaster, I'm blaming you, uncle," Zuko reluctantly conceded.
It was hard to deny the pang that Akane felt in her chest once Zuko had agreed to his date. Just thought of Zuko going out with another girl and doing things that weren't with her made Akane feel sick. Shock worked its way into Akane's system at the implications of her thoughts.
Holy spirits, did she like Zuko?
Sure, Akane liked him. He was her friend. They'd known each other since they were babies, for Agni's sake. But did she like him that way? If she had to answer right now, Akane wasn't so sure. She didn't know how she felt towards Zuko now since her feelings towards him had definitely changed in the past few months. She just didn't like the idea of Zuko going on a date with some random girl and it had nothing to do with the fact that the girl wasn't her. That definitely wasn't it.
~*•°•*~
The whole time that Zuko was getting ready for his date with Jin, Akane stayed as far away from it as possible. She didn't feel comfortable helping Zuko get ready for a date that she didn't want him to go on so she wasn't going to help him. Deciding to make use of her time, Akane took it as an opportunity to really think and evaluate her relationship with Zuko so that she could decide if these feelings of pettiness came from jealousy or something else.
In the last few years Akane's feelings towards Zuko had certainly changed and not in a romantic way. They had to change after Zuko changed himself because he wasn't the same person who Akane liked to think he was. She missed that person. Sure, it was fun seeing Zuko get all angsty but she missed him being the carefree kid that he used to be, back when they didn't have anything to worry about.
Their relationship had certainly taken an unsuspecting turn in the past few months with The Kiss and how it had left Akane feeling. She'd been worried about it ruining her friendship with Zuko, but for the most part they seemed to have gotten over the consequences of it. Thinking about The Kiss reminded Akane that it had been Zuko who initiated it. That prompted a very confusing question: did Zuko like her that way?
It was hard to say what Zuko felt, since sometimes he wore his emotions on his sleave but then other times Akane had no idea how he was feeling. Perhaps if she knew how he felt towards her it would help her deal with what she was feeling.
"Akane, would you be a dear and teach Zuko the art of dating? My teachings don't seem to be leaving any effect…" Iroh trailed off as he entered the room.
"I told you that I didn't want to help," Akane snapped.
"Why are you so against the idea of Zuko going on a date? Don't you think that it would be good for Zuko to go out and enjoy himself?" Iroh asked, even though he had his own suspicions. He had had his own reasons for accepting the offer for Zuko to go on a date with the girl and he was interested to see how it would pay off.
"I don't want to think about Zuko going out with some girl he doesn't even know," Akane said. Not some girl who isn't me. Where had that afterthought come from?
"If you're just going to sit around and mope all day, I have something else that you could do," Iroh offered.
"What?" Akane leaned forward curiously.
"You've been putting this off for quite some time, but its about time that you sought help for yourself and I know where you can get it from. You were even told that you'd find the answers you want in Ba Sing Se, but you haven't done anything about it," Iroh replied.
"I've just kind of accepted my fate," Akane muttered.
"There is a different alternative. You can seek actions and find ways to help yourself and make your life much easier," Iroh stated.
"How?" Akane wondered. Her situation had seemed pretty bleak. She tried not to think about it, but Akane knew that her time would be cut short.
"You should take the time to visit a professional healer in the Upper Ring. I used to know this woman named Mizu who lives there and she owes me a favour," Iroh answered.
"But, we're not allowed to go to the Upper Ring," Akane pointed out.
"There is a secret passageway beneath the city that you can use. I can give you a map that will lead you there," Iroh said as he held out a scrunched up piece of paper.
Akane sighed, "I guess I have nothing more to lose."
"So while Prince Zuko gets ready for his date, you can go and see Mizu. Perhaps the time away will give you some time to think about more pressing matters," Iroh suggested.
"Yeah, maybe," Akane muttered, deciding not to wonder about the implications of Iroh's words.
With nothing more to lose, Akane left the apartment without even giving Zuko good luck since she didn't want to encourage this date with Jin. All she wanted was to hopefully find some answers that could shine some light on her life. Whatever the answers were, Akane just hoped to at least get some.
~*•°•*~
Using the secret passageway that Iroh had told her about, Akane was able to travel safely to the Upper Ring without any trouble. When she first saw the Upper Ring, Akane suddenly remembered what she had been told about the Avatar staying up there, so she hoped that she wouldn't cross their paths since the last thing that Akane wanted was to get into trouble with them. That little information was something that Akane had kept to herself, since she didn't want Iroh worrying about it and she didn't want Zuko to go back to his Avatar hunting ways.
Finding the healer that Iroh had told her to see was pretty easy, since the directions that he had given her were pretty straightforward. Considering her appearance, Akane had tried her hardest to remain recluse so that nobody would think that she was just a girl from the Lower Ring who was somewhere she shouldn't be. But Akane didn't need to worry as she managed to get into the place unbothered.
"What do you want?" a woman at the front desk asked Akane.
"I'm here to see a Healer Mizu. Someone that I know sent me to see her," Akane replied, hoping that it would be enough to get her past.
The woman glanced at Akane sceptically before getting up and returning with another woman wearing Water Tribe robes. Assuming that this was the healer that Iroh had told her to see, Akane stepped forward.
"And who might you be, young miss?" Mizu asked.
"I can't say here," Akane murmured.
"Very well," Mizu nodded. "I shall take you to my room."
As Mizu lead Akane to her room, Akane couldn't help but wonder exactly how Iroh knew this woman and why she owed him a favour. Since Iroh knew someone from just about every nation, Akane wouldn't be surprised if it was because of something completely random.
"You may speak freely in here now," Mizu stated as they entered her room.
"I am a friend of General Iroh's. He sent me to see you and said that you owed him a favour," Akane replied, not sure what name she should give.
"Ah, General Iroh. What a great man he was to me. I certainly do owe him a favour for what he did," Mizu said. "You must be Akane."
Akane's eyes widened, "How do you know who I am?"
"He has written to me numerous times before and has mentioned you on several occasions. You had come up quite frequently in recent letters before he told me about your condition, so he asked me to do some research to see if there was anything that I could do to help you," Mizu explained.
Akane nodded, "Is there anything you can do to help me?"
"I pride myself on being able to help any of my patients who come to see me so when General Iroh said that he would send you when the time was right, I immediately got to work and did more research than I have ever done to see if I could do anything for you," Mizu proclaimed. "You'll be happy to know that there is hope yet for you, child."
"Really?" Akane's eyes widened.
Mizu smiled, "Certainly. But you must act fast, my dear. Your time is slowly ticking away and it will only be a matter of time before your kidney gives out. But there is a way to save yourself at the expense of someone else."
"What do you mean?" Akane's face fell.
"In order save yourself from your failing kidney, you can get a new one. But it must be a match to yours otherwise your body will not be able to function like it should. You can receive a new kidney by finding someone who has an exact match to your blood," Mizu answered.
"But won't that be hard for them?" Akane asked.
"I'm afraid I can't give a definite answer on how it would influence your donor, since this type of procedure isn't something that has been done before as far as I am aware. Although I would know how to perform it because of my research, very little is known about the side effects that could happen to both people," Mizu replied.
"What if I don't take the procedure?" Akane inquired, unsure of how she felt about potentially putting someone else's life at risk for her own gain.
"Then it will only be a matter of time before your kidneys finally give out and you depart this world. You can try and use your remedies as much as you can, but it is only delaying the inevitable. Death is something that you cannot escape, especially in your condition," Mizu said.
"I understand," Akane sighed. "How am I supposed to know if I am a match with someone?"
"You give a sample of your blood and test it against the donors. If it is, the next step would be to do further tests to see if you will react with their kidney. We can do this using our waterbending, because blood is almost entirely made up of water. Then once the appropriate measures have been taken, you will be allowed to receive their kidney," Mizu explained.
"That all sounds really complicated. I'm just not sure if I have the time to sit around and wait for something that may or may not come to me," Akane murmured.
"You don't have to," Mizu smiled. "If you don't mind, you can give me a sample of your blood now and I can see if it is a match with any of the other types that we have. Then I can send out the call to see if anyone would be willing to help you."
"I guess I have nothing to lose," Akane said as she rolled her sleeve up.
Giving up her blood had been easy for Akane, since all she had to do was sit there while Mizu stuck the needle in her arm and took the blood that she needed. Once that was done, Akane was sent off with the promise that Mizu would contact her if she found any success. Even though it hadn't been that much to go on, Akane had still been given a small bit of hope by making this visit. Seeing Mizu had given her a small ounce of hope that maybe, just maybe, she wasn't destined to die like she thought after all.
~*•°•*~
After doing what she needed to do in the Upper Ring, Akane made her return to the Lower Ring with the intentions of sharing the possible good news that could save her life. It had made her happy for a short amount of time, until she remembered that Zuko would be on his date with Jin right now. The thought of Zuko going out on a date with another girl was still unsettling to Akane and she just wanted this feeling to pass.
Just admit that you like Zuko and move on.
There was that irritating voice inside her head again acting like it knew how she felt when it was herhead and not her heart. It was her heart that would know how she felt about Zuko, not her head. As much as the signs pointed to yes, Akane refused to admit that she liked Zuko. She just couldn't bring it in herself to admit something like that.
Why is it so hard for you to just admit the truth? Don't you think you'd feel a whole lot better with everything else that you have going on inside of you?
This whole thing with Zuko was completely rattling Akane's brain. Why did Iroh have to accept Jin's offer on Zuko's behalf? Why did Zuko have to go on the date anyways? Why did Zuko have to kiss her and leave her feeling all confused? Why did Akane's life always have to be so complicated? Her thoughts subsided when Akane noticed a sudden light going off in the distance.
Curious to see what it was, Akane made her way towards the source of light except when she saw what was there, she wished that she hadn't made any movements. Because standing there amongst an array of shining lights in a rather romantic setting was Zuko and Jin. And they were kissing. Kissing as in mouth to mouth. Kissing as in what she and Zuko had done on top of that mountain not too long ago. As Akane watched Zuko kiss her again and felt something shatter inside of her, there was only one thought that was going inside of Akane's mind.
That should be me.
Only once Akane had that thought did she finally admit what she had been trying to deny for so long. She liked Zuko. Liked him as in wanted to be with him like Jin had just been. Feeling tears start to fall down her face, Akane knew that she needed to get away. She couldn't watch Zuko like that. Not when she felt so betrayed inside.
Running away seemed to be the logical choice, which was exactly what Akane had done. So many emotions were welling up inside of her. Anger. Sadness. Frustration. Betrayal. Heartbreak. All because of stupid Zuko kissing stupid Jin after he stupidly kissed her. What gave Zuko the right to do that? What made him think that he can just go around and kiss random girls after the way he had kissed her? Had their kiss meant nothing to him?
At the same time, there was that one part of Akane that felt as though Zuko had no obligation to her. It wasn't like Akane had voiced these feelings that she'd been pushing away for so long. So in some way, Zuko had every right to kiss Jin. But Akane still felt as though she'd been betrayed. Betrayed by someone who was supposed to be her best friend, not Jin's.
A million thoughts and possibilities started swarming through Akane's mind. What if Zuko decided that he liked Jin more than he liked Akane? What if he and Jin started their own happy little relationship which made him realise that he didn't want her? He had already betrayed her enough by going out with Jin in the first place. Betrayal had been something that Akane had experienced so much of in her life already. Betrayal from her family, from Ozai, Ursa, Kyou and now Zuko, who was the last person that Akane expected to betray her.
Even though the rational part of Akane's mind tried to reason with her and say that she was just overacting because of her feelings, Akane didn't know how she was supposed to think. All of these conflicting thoughts and feelings were so new to Akane and she didn't know what to do with them. But Akane knew one thing that she had to do.
She needed to figure things out.
Poor Akane, nothing is more confusing and conflicting than falling for your best friend. That's something that I wouldn't know anything about, but I could imagine that it'd be difficult to deal with. If Akane and Zuko weren't going to be endgame, then I could definitely see Zuko with Jin but there's only going to be one girl for Zuko once he realises who that girl is. This chapter was a major turning point for this story and not just because of Akane acknowledging her feelings but because of what she's learned as well. To put it simply, Akane needs a kidney transplant to survive. It's given her hope for now, but as you can see she's got other things to worry about.
SPECIAL MENTIONS
Znkp: It's been a while since I've seen you in my reviews, good to see you're back and still reading the story. You've picked the right time to return since things are only going to get more interesting from here.
GumptiousGriffin: I'd consider that chapter the calm before the storm, since it was probably the last fluffy Zukane moment that's going to happen for a while. I'm just realising that now and it wasn't even my intention, lol.
Fallingoverstars: Before I even got around to the Jet chapters, I knew that Akane was going to see the similarities between the two because Jet and Zuko are very similar characters. That was just something that was never explored because they were both on opposite sides.
Mogor: You've said some interesting things, some things that I am not going to confirm or deny happening. Akane's certainly got a lot of battle scars, but each one tells a different story and they make her who she is. It's a character building experience for her.
Pyro-grizzly-bear: If there's one thing I hate it's reading a fanfic and then getting caught up to date but then the author has a bipolar updating schedule. You don't have to worry about that with me, since I have a schedule for all of my stories. Speaking of which, I have another 30+ and 60+ chapter stories that you can read if you want. It seems as though I've added more fuel to your thoughts with this chapter since it's been a huge development for Akane and Zuko as well as her disease. As for her origins, those are going to be explored more later in the story.