Heyaz! Anyway, I know you guys were all upset that the last one was sooo short but this one is slightly longer anyway, everyone said the same thing-yay!-too short!-yay!-Not enough stuff-
The last chapter was actually like a 4 parter kind of thing. Four short chapters that go together. Be happy, the next one just needs to be edited.
Zuko leaned against the wall outside of the Jasmine Dragon. He smirked at the huge line that made it all the way outside.
A young man stopped a few yards in front of Zuko. The man stared at the huge line while running his hand through his hair. He turned as if to leave and saw Zuko.
"Is it always that bad?" the man gestured to the line as he walked up to Zuko.
"They come for his reputation and stay for the tea." Zuko shrugged. "The man makes the best tea in the city."
"Really? I just wanted to meet him." The man turned toward the tea shop. "I heard that he's a fantastic general."
"Soldier?" Zuko nodded toward him.
"Is it that obvious?" The man leaned against the wall with Zuko.
"To a normal person? No. but I can usually tell." Zuko shrugged.
"You are one too." The man stated. "You can tell even the way you lean." Zuko frowned and slumped lower on the wall. The young man laughed.
"My name's Sen Tzu." The man smiled at Zuko.
"Name's Lee." Zuko lied. They remained in silence for a few minutes.
"Have you ever met General Iroh?" Sen Tzu asked.
"Yes."
"I heard that even though he's a fearsome man that he is also one of the nicest men you would ever meet." Sen Tzu watched the line get longer.
"He is a great man." Zuko smiled. "He's had a hard life and has come out better for it."
"Yeah. I was here when he took back Ba Sing Se." Sen Tzu grinned. "It was amazing. He blew the enitre wall out."
"I heard about that." Zuko smiled. "That they were able to take Ba Sing Se back easily."
"It's a good thing too. I heard that the Fire Lord was extremely ruthless." Sen Tzu's face fell.
"Funny." Zuko turned to him. "Most people usually comment on the Fire Nation as a whole, not just Fire Lord Ozai."
"I was there." Sen Tzu frowned. "I saw the looks on those soldier's face when they saw that wall of fire. The Fire Lord planned on destroying everyone in this city, including their own men."
"He was a horrible man." Zuko grimaced. "Still is."
"I never saw such fear…and for their own leader." Sen Tzu shook his head. He paused for a moment. "You're Fire Nation aren't you?" Zuko tilted his head in question.
"Just the way you spoke about the difference. Most Earth Soldiers don't care at all." Sen Tzu shrugged.
"You plan on kicking my ass?" Zuko smirked.
"Nah. I don't blame you." Sen Tzu sighed. "It was all Ozai. The soldiers only did what you were told." Zuko looked at him surprised.
"Most soldiers still hate the Fire Nation." Zuko stated.
"I was captured." Sen Tzu frowned. "I saw a lot of things first hand."
"Surprised you made it out alive. Fire Nation was ruthless to its captives."
"They were." Sen Tzu said quietly.
Several moments passed as they watched the people walk by.
"You wanted to Meet General Iroh?" Zuko asked.
"Yeah." Sen Tzu nodded.
"I can make that happen." Zuko looked at him. "Sometime later tonight. I'm sure he'd love to meet you. He likes to talk to veterans of the war."
"Really? Any chance we can bring my brother along then?" Sen Tzu grinned.
"Sure not a problem." Zuko smiled back at him.
"You hungry?" Zuko's stomach made a loud gurgle in response.
The small inn was located in the middle ring of the Ba Sing Se. As soon as they entered they both headed straight for the kitchen.
"Yeah, we've only been here a few days. We're just here because the Earth King was giving some medals out to people who served in the war." Sen Tzu opened several empty cabinets.
"You getting one?" Zuko started to boil some water. "You may want to finish this. I've been known to ruin tea."
"How do you ruin tea?" Sen Tzu pulled down some dried meat. "And I get a medal for serving and being a P.O.W."
"They're just now handing those out?" Zuko asked.
"It took them a while to see if any were coming back home and they wanted to celebrate those lost beforehand." He shut the cabinet. "Mom's out shopping. My little brother can eat a lot."
"How old is he?" Zuko moved so Sen Tzu could make the tea.
"He's 10." Sen Tzu handed some of the dried meat over.
"Fun age." Zuko commented.
"Yeah. He's kind of freaking out being here though." Sen Tzu shrugged. "He's not the biggest fan of Fire Nation."
"Most people aren't." Zuko shrugged. "You get used to it."
"The funny thing is that he even met a soldier in the war." Sen Tzu looked at Zuko. "And the guy was really nice to him but he hated him just because he could firebend."
"I've had something similar happen." Zuko sighed.
"The craziest thing is that it was-"
"We're home!" came a woman's voice from the main room. Both men turned toward the voice.
"We're in here!" Sen Tzu called.
"We?" A man's voice came.
"Me and a friend." Sen Tzu hollered while shaking his head.
"Hey!" the young boy ran into the kitchen carrying groceries. Zuko turned to smile at the young boy but stopped midstep.
"No…" the boy took a step backward.
"Lee?" Sen Tzu turned to look at his younger brother.
"I should go." Zuko made to leave.
"It's him!" Lee pointed at Zuko. "It's the man that came to the village."
"What?" Sen Tzu looked between the two. "This is Lee, a soldier. Mom said that the man who came to the village was-"
"Fire Lord Zuko." Sela walked into the room. Her eyes were wide as she stared at Zuko.
"I should really go." Zuko frowned. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to bother you." Zuko bowed slightly to Sela.
"So you're the Fire Lord?" Gansu walked in.
"No this is my friend Lee." Sen Tzu tried to explain. "He's just a soldier."
"Please, stay." Sela said as Zukko tried to walk past her. "We want to thank you, for saving Lee." She smiled gently at him. "I realize we weren't exactly hospitable last time."
"But he's the Fire Lord!" Lee exclaimed.
"Are you?" Sen Tzu turned to Zuko.
"I'm not supposed to be here in Ba Sing Se. No one's supposed to know that I'm here." He said quietly.
"Supposed to be running the show at home." Gansu slapped a hand on Zuko's shoulder.
"So, you are the Fire Lord." Sen Tzu said.
"Yeah." Zuko looked around the room. "Glad to see your family didn't get torn apart from the war."
"NO thanks to you!" Lee growled.
"Lee!" Sela scolded.
"We actually owe this man your brother's life. He stopped this war." Gansu smiled warmly at Zuko.
"You owe Sokka of the water tribe. He stopped the war balloons…actually I think he's known as Sokka of Kyoshi Island now." Zuko frowned in thought.
"We owe you a lot." Sela smiled. "You have helped both our boys in so many ways."
Zuko turned to Sen Tzu who was frowning at him. "You helped fall Ba Sing Se."
"I did." Zuko said quietly.
"But you brought peace back to the world." Sen Tzu held out his hand to shake Zuko's.
"I'm trying." Zuko shook it. "Hopefully I succeed."
"You're still letting me meet General Iroh aren't you?"
Iroh, Zuko and Sen Tzu's family sat at a large table in the Jasmine Dragon. Lee sat between his mother and Father, still wary of the firebenders. Across from him, Sen Tzu sat between Zuko and Iroh.
"It's all in the breath," Iroh grinned. "And when you master that completely you will be a true master of the Sunghi horn. Like my nephew." Zuko grimaced at him.
"Have you ever thought about going back to the Fire Nation?" Gansu asked.
"I only go back to visit family. Or if my nephew plans on being gone for overly long." Iroh sipped his tea.
"Well I would have left last night but someone got it in their head that I needed a vacation." Zuko frowned.
"And you made a friend, that's more than you've made in two years!" Iroh grinned as Zuko rolled his eyes.
"I heard rumors about you dating some Earth Kingdom heiress." Sela smiled. "Is it true?"
"The only heiress I know from the Earth Kingdom is 15 and I see her as a little sister." Zuko grinned.
"Miss Toph Bei Fong is also dating the Avatar." Iroh mentioned.
"What about the Ice Princess?" Gansu asked.
"The who?" Zuko blinked.
"Uh, Lee? Zuko tells me you've met before." Iroh quickly addressed the young boy.
"Yeah." Lee pushed a dumpling across his plate.
"Who's the-" Zuko began.
"Well how did you meet?" Iroh smiled.
"He was buying feed for his ostrich horse." Lee muttered.
"Which was stolen by those thugs." Gansu snarled.
"What happened to those guys?" Zuko asked.
"When we came back," Sen Tzu frowned. "We made sure to punish them for their crimes."
"They're in jail at the moment." Sela explained.
"Those guys deserve it." Lee crossed his arms.
"Zuko here took on all those thugs by himself." Sela smiled. "Though that's nothing compared to taking on lightning."
"More work to it." Zuko shrugged. "Lightning just needs an outlet."
"I heard you almost died though." Sela frowned.
"Uh…." Zuko's eyes widened.
"I thought you said that you just ended up being twitchy for a few days." Iroh frowned at Zuko.
"Uh…."Zuko looked down at his tea.
"No I heard that you jumped in front of a lightning bolt to save someone and almost died!" Sen Tzu turned to look at Zuko.
"Really?" Iroh turned to look at Zuko.
"This is good tea." Zuko said quietly.
"It is good tea isn't it," Gansu grinned. "Best in the city I heard."
"Oh, thank you very much." Iroh blushed.
"Is the Avatar really trying to find the airbenders?" Sen Tzu asked Zuko.
"He's been trying; I've been giving him everything I have on them." Zuko answered. "Hopefully he finds them sometime soon."
Aang flew toward Omashu as quickly as his glider would allow him. He continued to bend as much air as possible to the glider making the world go by quickly. I have to get to Omashu! I can't wait to tell Toph. I know she'll want to come with me, especially when I tell her about the rebuilding of the temple. Maybe she can make it an even better place. He smiled as he imagined him standing on the edge of the temple, his arm looped around Toph's waist. Her smug grin as she leaned into him. It will be a better place, especially for me.
It was several more hours before he reached Omashu. He glided over the city, swooping down to the Earth and into Toph's window. As he landed he quickly twirled the glider back into a staff. He looked around the room. The bed was made, the hot tub was cold, and everything looked perfect. She hasn't been in here for a while; a servant must have cleaned this up for her. He walked around the room for a moment looking for a clue. After a while he gave up and raced toward King Bumi's throne.
He entered the throne room and saw that Bumi was talking with a few officials. He nodded toward Aang and the Avatar approached.
"Aang good to see you." Bumi smiled wryly. "You find what you were looking for?"
"Yes I have." Aang grinned. "Where's Toph?"
"Miss Bei Fong and Miss Katara have left quite unexpectedly." King Bumi looked around Aang. "Where's Momo."
"In my room." Aang frowned. "You don't know where they went?"
"No one does. My, it has made this town a gossip." Bumi cackled. "One person says Omashu, the next North Pole. One person says Home the next says to a lover."
"oh no." Aang backed away. "I have to go." He rushed back to Toph's room grabbing his staff. He jumped out the window as he undid the glider and began his trek.
Katara must have taken Toph with her! Does she know? Would she ever forgive me? Is she going after Zuko? I can't let that happen...If she sees him then she'll know what I did! She'll never forgive me. He looked down to see a group of blue soldiers on the ground. He swooped down toward them.
"It's the Avatar." The first one gaped.
"You're waterbenders." Aang looked around them. "Do any of you know where Katara has gone?"
"Hakoda is heading to Ba Sing Se to look for her with her Suitors" the man bit out the last word.
"They seem pretty sure that's where she went." Another one sighed.
"Then that's where I'm going." Aang declared.
"Why do you hate Fire benders so much?" Iroh dared to ask Lee. Both Lee's parents shook their head trying to steer him away from the topic.
"They're mean and dangerous." Lee grimaced.
"Dangerous?" Zuko laughed. "I know dangerous." He leaned on his forearms against the table. "My sister is a prodigy of firebending and can control lightning on a whim."
"See I told you." Lee decalared.
"But I know an Earthbender that can bend through metal and encase you in rock. She can even tell when you're lying." Zuko grinned.
"Nuh-uh." Lee frowned.
"On the other hand I know an Airbender that can create tornados and suck the air out of your lungs if he wanted to." Zuko smirked as Lee began to gape.
"They can do that?" Gansu asked.
"They believe life is sacred so they don't." Zuko shrugged. "But I know of something even scarier."
"What?" Lee whispered in half fear, half amazement.
"There's water in everything. This tea, ponds, plants and even animals." Zuko said.
"Yeah."
"I know of someone who can bend them all. She can even bend the water in you." He pointed at Lee's chest. "She can move your bodies like you are nothing but a puppet."
"That's impossible." Lee frowned.
"She can only do it on a full moon, but she can." Zuko smirked.
"You're talking about the Ice Princess aren't you?" Sela asked.
"Uh, on a side note the tea is made from a special blend of-" Zuko stuffed a biscuit in Iroh's mouth.
"Who's the Ice Princess?" Zuko asked glaring at his Uncle.
"You haven't heard?" Sela blinked in surprise. "It's the biggest piece of gossip. It started whenever the princess of the southern water tribe broke up with the Avatar. Men became infatuated with her, wishing that they even stood a chance with her."
"A lot of guys want her." Sen Tzu shrugged. "It's all because she's a war hero, a master bender and one of the most beautiful women."
"So, the Ice Princess is Katara of the Southern Water Tribe?" Zuko asked. "What's so bad about that?"
"Well that's not the latest bit of gossip." SenTzu said. "She ran away from home. Rumor was that it was either to a lover or because her heart had become ice itself."
"Okay." Zuko nodded.
"But there have been rumors that she was headed to Omashu, where the Avatar lives." Sela gossiped. Zuko closed his eyes as the words sank in. She went back to him. Katara how could you go back to him?
"I need to..." Zuko looked around him as he felt the anger boiling inside of him. He stood calmly and walked toward the kitchen.
"I'm sorry sometimes my nephew needs a moment." Iroh smiled sheepishly. "Anyway I hear that the Earth King is letting Fire Nation in more easily these days."
"He is." Sen Tzu said as he watched Zuko go through thte kitchen doors. "Though they have more scrutiny of course."
"Of course." A humongous explosion came from the kitchen causing everyone to jump and scream except for Iroh. "Would you excuse me for a moment?" Iroh smiled and quickly dashed toward the kitchen.
Inside the kitchen he saw his employees staring at the door that led to storage, smoke was pouring out underneath it. He sighed and opened the door, revealing Zuko who stared at the broken wall in front of him.
"Feel any better." Iroh asked.
"No." Zuko stared at the smoldering hole.
"I think it may be time for you to return home, before everyone figures out you are here." Iroh sighed. "I'm sure they have their suspicions now."
"Yeah." Zuko sighed as he stared at the wall. "How could she Uncle?"
"A woman's heart is one of the greatest mysteries."
"Then a man's heart has to be one of the dumbest things ever." Zuko frowned at the ache in his chest.
"that too."
So I totally have the other chapter typed, it just has to be edited and published. I hope you guys enjoyed.