Despite the fatigue, between the jet lag and my usual sleep schedule, I couldn't wake up too late. It was still less than 8 in the morning, and I had already been awake for a good 40 minutes without getting out of bed.
Well, it was time to get ready. I took a shower in the bathroom lined with luxurious blue mosaics; where I found new soap and shampoo prepared, as well as some soft towels. Upon leaving the shower, I used one of those to wrap around my body and search for dry clothes.
Standing in front of the open suitcase, the lingerie bag I packed in Chin City caught my eye like a neon sign. I had no need to use it. I still had a set of "normal" underwear that I could put on.
Unless I had other kinds of activities in perspective. Activities that required a partner. A partner that, I was sure, Zuko would agree to be.
I took out the two delicate lace garments. The material was fluid between my fingers, almost like water.
Act according to the attraction and whatever it was that I felt, or not.
"In any case, I could use the confidence Suki mentioned," I muttered to myself as I slipped into the amber lace lingerie (pale compared to Zuko's eye color) with black accents. It still had the tag on it and I pulled it off with a swift motion. And I ignored as best I could the imaginary scene in which Zuko did the same with my dress and left the lace exposed, on the bed in his room, which I didn't know, but imagined similar to the one we had shared that night at the Dragon of the West yacht.
On top of that, I wore a much less risky light blue dress, the last clean one I had. When Zuko said he would buy everything I needed, I thought he was joking. Now that I knew he was serious, I was thinking of asking him to use his washing machine.
As for the makeup… I looked at the ones I had available. Breathing heavily, I finally gave in to myself and put on the lipstick I brought from the Dragon of the West.
I opened the door cautiously. The house was very quiet, which would never happen if there were an animal present. I went downstairs to the living room, where I found Zuko flipping through a book. Instead of a shirt and suit, he was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt under an unbuttoned shirt, and the air of someone who has been awake for a long time. He looked like a completely different person.
He put the book aside as soon as he saw me and I greeted him.
"You're early," I pointed out, thinking about what he said the day before about the time zones.
"I can't sleep anymore after the sun comes up," he explained almost as an apology. "Ready to go?"
The car was already waiting outside the door. It seemed that this house wasn't designed to leave by foot, judging by the distance to the fence and the lack of a non-car door.
The first Jasmine Dragon to be opened was near the center of Ba Sing Se, and although Zuko's house was also in the same area, the grounds were so large that the trip took a while. Fortunately, there were no more awkward silences between us and some of her anecdotes made me double over with laughter (unlike his jokes).
Finally, we descended. The first Jasmine Dragon ever lived up to its fame: the building was old and well cared for, from the painting on the walls to the wooden sign with a dragon and a flower announcing the business. Through the windows, you could see the tables inside, with white tablecloths and a small flower ornament in the center.
Zuko opened the door for me. I was beginning to fear that I would forget how to open doors if he kept doing that.
"Mr. Zuko!" The young waiter seemed delighted to see him. "Come in please. Here's your table."
"Thanks, Shoji," Zuko greeted him familiarly, and led us to one of the tables by the window. We sat down and the waiter left us two menus.
"This is always the first place where new products are adopted," Zuko told me, pointing to a section of the menu titled 'Bubble Tea'. It didn't sound familiar to me. "I tried to stop him from implementing these..."
"Well, I'll give it a try." I ordered a fruit mix to go with my plate.
"It was because i gave it a try that I said no," Zuko grumbled as the waiter left with our order note.
The service was very fast even by the standards of the Jasmine Dragon of Chin City, or perhaps it was a special treatment for Zuko. My tea arrived and I tasted it. It was good, once you got over the impression of the little chewy pearls that gave it its name.
"Where does your uncle live?" I asked over my glass. "If it's here, it would seem like a good reason to settle in Ba Sing Se. I mean, if the comfort of living on a mansion isn't enough."
He snorted in response.
"Yeah, he runs everything from his offices in this city." He sipped his perfectly traditional cup of tea. "We are both always busy and it is difficult to see each other very often. Also, Ty Lee works most of the time in Caldera and in Gaolin I can visit another friend, Toph. She was at Omashu's party, I don't know if you met her."
"I'm not quite sure," I tried to remember, but didn't talk with a lot of people that night.
"She's blind and is always accompanied by a guide dog, his name is Badgermole." My gesture soured immediately. The girl with the sarcastic comments from the casino. "Yeah, I think you met her."
He laughed and I glared at him.
"I understand, she's not someone who's very easy to get along with at first." He shrugged.
I wasn't sure I could get along with her at all, but I had met her on a night when I was under a lot of pressure. It could be an error in judgment on my part.
"I also have a couple of friends from college who work at Kyoshi. I visit them less often than I would like." He interrupted my gloomy musings and I pushed the night we had lost everything at the casino from my mind.
"My brother and sister-in-law live there, but let me guess. In Kyoshi City you have a horrible beach house that you don't like to be in either." I rolled my eyes.
"When I visit, I actually sleep in the Dragon of the West." He smiled with a sparkle in his eyes that rose color to my cheeks. The memory of the night I spent there was much more pleasant than that of Omashu.
"Ah," I answered creatively and took a sip of my drink. I almost choked on one of the tapioca pearls and got a couple of pats on the back.
"I'll tell my uncle to remove those things from the menu," he complained, and he didn't remove his hand from my back even when I stopped coughing. "They are dangerous."
"No, it's a good drink, I just got distracted," I said sheepishly, my voice a little raspy. Zuko offered me a sip of her tea and I hesitated a second before accepting it. "Thank you."
The waiter rushed over, carrying a glass of water. He was reassured to see that everything was fine and it did not take too long to arrive with our dishes.
The presentation of my roast duck sandwich was different from Chin City. The bread was different too, sprinkled with sesame and seeds, and decorated with a small purple flower on top. Without waiting any longer, I picked up one of the halves and took a bite.
And another and another. I hadn't noticed how hungry I was and it was delicious.
"You didn't like it?" Zuko commented with a smile as he attacked his own breakfast with the fork.
"It's even better than the one in Chin City!" I said as soon as I finished my bite. "I could move here and eat sandwiches like this one every day."
"If you want to." There was a particular gleam in his gaze and my eyes widened as I understood what I said and what he replied. But he kept talking. "That roast duck recipe was developed by my uncle, it is also one of his favorite dishes."
Between bites, he told me a little more about the recipes and the story of the Jasmine Dragon, which saved me from getting involved a lot. I finished the last rim of bread with the pleasant satisfaction that only an excellent meal left behind.
"We are very close to downtown. If that's okay with you, we can go today to see the Palace and tour the surrounding buildings." Zuko held his cup with both hands.
That reminded me of the rest of the plans for the day and I pushed aside my braid that kept falling on my plate.
"And the University?" I couldn't help asking hopefully. It was the other destination that excited me the most within Ba Sing Se.
"It's closed today, because it's Sunday," he apologized, and a slight discouragement overshadowed my joy for an instant. "I thought we could go tomorrow, if you want. This whole week is still student vacation and there won't be too many people."
"I'd love to," I smiled from ear to ear. If I could find the Faculty where they taught International Relations, I would take a brochure to get a more precise idea of the procedures and prices. I didn't have much hope, after all it was the most prestigious university in the world and there were many filters to enter, not only the economic one... but I could dream.
Zuko raised a hand and the waiter walked over to set down the check. Before he could tell me anything, I advanced a small pile of coins.
"It's the tip," I explained, crossing my arms. "Since you won't let me cooperate, I'll at least leave that."
For a moment he seemed about to rebut it, but he ended up smiling.
"Okay, then." He put another bill on the table. The waiter, who was serving some newly arrived customers, approached.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Zuko," he said goodbye. "Enjoy your visit."
"See you later." Zuko waved a hand and we left the tea shop to begin walking up the street. "It's close, I promise."
"I don't mind walking." I grabbed onto his arm almost automatically. I was comfortable like this and he wasn't protesting. "As long as you know where we are going."
"I haven't gotten you lost yet, have I?" He pretended to be offended as we waited for the light to change at the traffic light to cross to the next street. "These blocks I know well. It is the area that I moved in the most when I lived here."
You could see the care that the city took in that sector: the wide sidewalks shaded with trees made the walk a walk, and the roofs around it sparkled in the sunlight with their golden tiles.
"This palace does have a royal family inside it," he told me when, two blocks later, the huge wall that separated the palace from the rest of the city appeared. "One part is inhabited by them, another is a kind of museum."
"They do like walls in this city." I bend my neck to catch a glimpse of the top of the high walls, also crowned with golden tiles.
"They're a local specialty," he told me as we lined up at the box office (a series of windows adjacent to the wall) to buy tickets. It seemed that the shortcuts he could get were also limited. But the truth was that it made me feel more comfortable. Unlike what Col had said (my feelings about the man were still ambiguous) about Zuko getting everything he wanted, this made him seem… more like me.
Fortunately, the line advanced quickly and once with our tickets in hand, we formed again in a section delimited with velvet cords. When some people gathered, a smiling girl dressed in green approached us, holding a small sign with a number 4 in her hand.
"Welcome, dear visitors! My name is Joo Dee and I will be your guide today during your visit to the Ba Sing Se Royal Palace." Her enthusiasm stifled me a bit. "We are group 4, try not to get separated, in most areas of the palace it is strictly forbidden for visitors to walk alone!"
Yeah, not disturbing at all. I tightened my grip on Zuko's arm a little more.
"Follow me please!" The guide addressed our small group with a huge smile and started walking. We followed her through the gates of the wall and she began her explanation in a cheerful voice. "The royal palace sits on top of the oldest part of Ba Sing Se, on a series of crystal catacombs that were once the reason the city settled here…"
Inside the walls, it seemed to be another world. A profusion of planters and fountains dotted the perfectly flat cobblestones so polished it reflected sunlight. We stopped to admire the sculptures of badgermoles (the animals, not Zuko's friend's guide dog) that were the emblem of the royal family, a tree apparently planted by the first king when construction began on the palace and one of the sources.
I retained barely a third of everything the guide said, she spoke giving too much data, too fast. She continued her explanations and we entered the building, as splendid as only a palace could be. It made even Zuko's mansion look like a broom closet.
We arrived at a gallery of portraits of the more than 40 kings who had ruled from that palace and everything was so full of dates and names that I better blocked Joo Dee's voice, although I continued to observe her. She had the porcelain skin and straight, ink-black hair that were so favored on television and in the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation magazines.
Zuko was looking at her too, which wasn't strange in itself. She was the tour guide and was giving an explanation. In addition, he would turn to see me from time to time, as if to imply that he was aware of me more than the tour. So it wasn't jealousy… and yet a feeling of anguish settled for an instant in my stomach.
Why was he making all this effort with me?
"Are you okay?" He leaned toward me. Apparently I stared at him for too long.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied a little late. "All that data is making me a bit dizzy."
"Me too, I'm afraid." The breath from his whisper sent a chill down my spine. "Sorry, it's the only way to visit the palace."
"It's no problem. The place is beautiful." His apologetic gesture was enough to push the unpleasant thoughts out of my mind. We followed the guide through two other rooms of historical artifacts and sculptures dating back to the founding of the city, but eventually emerged into one of the palace's many internal courtyards, one of the few open to the public. And the not so fun part of the tour was well worth the tranquility that was breathed in that garden.
"This is where the guided tour ends. You may stay in the garden as long as you wish and then tour the adjacent museum at your leisure." Joo Dee smiled at us again. "The Earth Kingdom thanks you for your visit and wishes you a pleasant stay."
At last she and her number 4 sign were gone and I couldn't help a sigh of relief.
"Can we sit down for a moment?" I asked Zuko when I saw a nearby unoccupied bench. "Oof. That was exhausting."
"On the bright side, we're free now," he answered with a smile.
Yes, it was a good side. When I felt ready, we continued to the museum, which without the suffocating explanations of the guide was much more enjoyable, and finally arrived at the museum store, where I rejected Zuko's bumbling offer to buy me a reproduction of one of the jewels displayed in the room above, a pair of jade earrings.
"Normally, it's the gentleman who refuses to buy the jewel, not the other way around." The clerk at the counter looked at us with amusement. The blush for that lasted at least until we were back outside the wall.
Zuko guided me through the streets to the different squares in the center, all of them with impeccable landscaping. We went into several other souvenir shops and I bought some little things for my family. At one of the stores, where I found a fan-shaped keychain, perfect for Suki, and Zuko bought something too.
"I'm sorry, you just can't do without one of these," and he spread out one of the iconic I-heart-Ba Sing Se T-shirts that were not missing in a single store.
It was past lunchtime when tiredness began to appear.
"Do you want to go back to rest a little?" he asked, solicitous. I nodded with a yawn. It was still an effect from the jet lag. We took a taxi back to his mansion and I discovered that it was indeed possible to enter on foot, through a small door hidden among some vineyards on one side of the car gate.
"I'd like to use your washing machine, if it's not a hassle," I made an effort to stay awake. If I didn't wash my clothes that afternoon, I'd be out of clean ones for the next day. Even though I had the new shirt and my pants… maybe I could wait one more day.
"We can go shopping tomorrow." The lopsided smile betrayed the mockery and I gave him a light push.
"I think it's okay to do the laundry." I stifled a yawn as he pulled out his keys and unlocked the door.
"Put everything you need to wash in the basket next to the bed in the room and leave it in the hall," he let me pass. "Get some sleep, you look exhausted."
I briefly thought about resisting and trying to do the laundry myself, but he was right, I was exhausted and it might not kill me to accept help from his employees for once.
"Thanks." I went up the stairs to my room and he stayed downstairs. After throwing carelessly almost all the contents from my suitcase into the basket and leaving it outside my door, I took off my shoes and lay on the bed, closing my eyes.
I woke up from my nap without even noticing when I had fallen asleep. Judging by the window, it was already dusk. It wasn't too late yet, maybe I could try to fall asleep again.
I sighed and settled back, but my eyes fell on the bag that contained the shirt Zuko had just gifted me... The thoughts that had arisen when I noticed Joo Dee returned, and adhered to my mind to make way for everything I was trying to ignore. Everything, every doubt that circled in my head like a caged lion-elk and began to eat away at my tranquility and decision.
Either I was a fleeting conquest, only interesting because of my "exotic" brown skin and blue eyes, or he was genuinely interested in me.
An icy cold came over me at the thought. Being with him and then being discarded… I didn't want to expose myself to that, no matter how much attraction I felt towards Zuko.
But… I bit my lip. But. If his interest in me was sincere, if he was willing to try something else, despite everything, how we had met and what had already happened between us... I already knew what I wanted: to be with him, way more seriously than a game, although I had no idea what might happen. Instead, to know what he wanted, I needed to ask him. And that's what I would do. I couldn't bear any more of those doubts.
I left the room to a very quiet house, like that same morning. Unlike in the morning, Zuko was not in the living room reading. I went into the dining room, which was also empty. I stopped before leaving when I heard movement in the kitchen.
"...fold the lady's clean clothes," I heard a female voice, followed by a pause. "I don't know if it's just me, but I'm happy to have work to do, I feel like I'm finally earning my salary."
"There's always work to do," pointed out the other voice, also female but a little older.
"Sure, sweep and clean rooms that no one ever stands in," the first person complained. "I'm glad they're here."
The door to the kitchen was open and I looked out, not going inside.
"Hi…" I greeted, a little unsure. The speakers were a young girl I hadn't seen before, sitting in a chair, and the woman who served dinner the night before, who was arranging plates in the cupboard. They both greeted me with a slight bow that was strange to me.
"Miss!" The girl had risen to her feet. "We already have your clothes clean, we haven't folded them yet. We were going to put it away when you came down for dinner."
She ended with an apologetic tone.
"Thanks for the help," I smiled at her. "But there is no rush, rather I came to ask if you knew where is Z…"
I stopped myself not knowing how to refer to Zuko with the people who worked at her house. Fortunately, the girl saved me the work.
"The sir?" She replied cheerfully. "It think that he is in the study. I can show you where it is."
"Yes, please," I sighed gratefully, and followed her back into the living room and up the stairs to one of the doors. Seeing that he had been so close to my room the whole time, I wanted to slap myself on the forehead. "What's your name?"
"Me?" She was surprised and looked at me. "My name is Min, miss."
"I am Katara. Thanks, Min," I told her, and she said goodbye before running downstairs.
I took a deep breath and knocked on the door twice.
"Come in," Zuko's voice came from within. Sitting at the desk, he smiled when he saw me. "I was thinking of waking you up soon, are you hungry?"
"Not too much," I admitted. Breakfast had been a bit heavy for my stomach. The idea of eating at the Jasmine Dragon every day had become a little less appealing. But only a little.
"Then I'll just order some fruit." He went to an intercom like the one we had in Mr. Tong's office and gave a couple of instructions. Meanwhile, I sat in one of the chairs and caressed the charm on my necklace.
Min soon arrived carrying a tray of fruit salad. Sitting in two adjacent armchairs, we ate in silence.
"Is everything in order?" He asked, scrutinizing my face again. Was my humor really that transparent to him?
"Yes... I want to talk to you." There was no point in thinking about it, although for a moment, jumping into a pool of frozen water seemed a more appealing prospect than enduring the uncertainty of this conversation.
"I'm listening." He leaned toward me, resting his arms on his knees, and pushed his empty plate away. Fortunately there hadn't been any papaya among the fruits… I struggled to concentrate under his watchful eye.
It took me a while to speak, but he waited.
"Why?" I whispered, looking into his eyes. He looked at me without understanding what I meant. "Why are you doing all this? All this effort?"
I gestured around the study, the huge mansion, even the city in its entirety. To myself.
"You didn't know me. You only saw me once."
He looked at me puzzled.
"But I got to know you later. Why wouldn't I make an effort?"
I was about to grunt in frustration.
"Why do you keep doing it? Sure you can choose any woman, an actress or a model or something like that. Then why?" I pressed again, without taking my gaze from him.
A silent minute passed and he finished by taking a deep breath.
"I don't know," he continued speaking before I could protest. "I don't know, I wanted to meet you. As soon as I saw you in that store, something called me. Very few times I have had things clear, so when I felt that I wanted, that I needed to meet you, I did everything in my power to make it happen."
I pondered his words for a moment. Although he answered one thing, he did not speak of what he wanted in the future.
"Is it just that? Because of my appearance?" My worst fear wormed its way into my voice without my being able to help it. "Do you want me to sleep with you again but without paying a million yuan?"
He froze for a moment, then he jerked back so hard his head slammed against the wall.
"No!" he screamed. "Yes. No. Yes, but… ugh, wait. How can I say this?"
He stood up and walked in small circles, pressing the bridge of his nose between his fingers. I got up too, my stomach knotting with nerves and anticipation. I needed to know. And I was about to.
"I want..." he seemed to struggle with the words. "...I want to keep you in my life, in whatever form you want to stay."
I forgot how to breathe. That was a much sweeter response than I expected.
"I know it's only been a few days, but it's enough to confirm my first impression. You're a woman like I've never known." There was color in his cheeks and he ran a hand through his perpetually messy hair before continuing to speak. "I guess you know I'm interested in you, in being a… couple. I don't know how it's... what the status of your marriage is. I don't want to force you into anything."
"I'm interested in you too," I blurted out, unable to contain myself. My hands burned to reach out and touch him. I took a step forward and stopped holding back what I was thinking. "But... I'm not sure it's possible."
I looked away, despite how difficult it was to separate my gaze from his eyes.
"We didn't start well, we can't go on. If we continue, it will end badly…" I gave voice to the concerns that still held me back.
"How do you know?" He covered the last step between us, close enough for me to feel again the warm aura of that night on the yacht. Like that night, all his indecision was swept in an instant. "How do you know it will end badly? I've never started like this."
"Me neither." I found it difficult to spin thoughts under his insistent scrutiny. "But…"
Slowly, he raised a hand and caressed my cheek. Any other objection melted under the warmth of that touch, and the one that conveyed his gaze.
"We don't have to rush. I understand that it is too soon... I can wait as long as you need."
He withdrew his hand and I immediately missed his touch. Something that came from very deep was showing in his eyes. If he could see into me the way he'd shown before, I knew what he would find. At least up to a certain degree. There would be desire, yes. But also something else, several more things, that I had discovered during these days of living with him. I wanted to wake up in his arms, joke around in the mornings, spend evenings snuggled next to him, and take him to the snowy landscapes of my childhood. Walking on his arm, both dressed in the voluminous coats that the weather demanded. I didn't want to name those feelings yet, but I knew it all was there.
The top of my head barely reached his chin. I kept my face up and leaned into him, leaving just enough room for a sheet of paper to pass between us. The slightest movement would have me in his arms.
I breathed carefully, afraid to break the moment. One last rope was holding me back: maybe it was too early, unfair to him while I still hadn't spoken to Aang again about my decision. But it was impossible to locate him, it could take forever to see him again, and I, in my selfishness, knew that I did not want to wait that long.
Zuko's eyes were a vast golden abyss and I was about to fall; once inside, there was the possibility that everything I had imagined with him were only illusions. But that's how relationships always began: with a leap of faith. There was no way I'd pass up this one.
Gently, I kissed his lips, barely a touch. He froze, breathing heavily. I threw caution into the air and hugged him, finally allowing myself to enjoy the sensation without limitation. Like the time in Caldera, he was surprised and as soon as he got over it, he tightened his arms around me.
"I'll take your word. I want to sleep in your room," I sighed in his ear, finally at ease with my decision.
"Are you sure?" He asked in a gentle voice, without loosening his embrace one iota.
"Yes," sure as I have rarely been in my life. I laughed. "And don't go cheating, you have to be there too."
He laughed too and rested his cheek on my temple. His breath rocked my spine with a tremor of excitement that flooded my mind with the image of the lingerie and the bed. But to my great irritation, he made no other move.
"Suddenly I feel very tired." I pressed my body against him, in a way that could no longer be interpreted as platonic. "And you?"
"E... exhausted," he swallowed. Reluctantly, I pulled away from him.
"Let's go." I didn't allow him to distance himself again and took his hand. With joined hands, we got to his room; my imagination had been correct, it was very similar to the room inside the Dragon of the West, although without flowers.
I felt my heart beating in my throat and I released his hand to sit on the bed. I pushed my shoes aside, put my feet up, and hugged my knees.
"I don't understand how you sleep in an office if you have such a bed available," I smiled. His gaze darkened with desire and the spark fueled the fire in my belly. Only him to consume me like that without even having touched me.
Slowly, he sat down next to me without looking my way. I leaned against his shoulder and put a hand on his chin; gently, I turned his face until he was looking at me, with a gaze full of meaning.
"If you're here, I wouldn't think about sleeping in the office again," he confessed, and my pulse raced even more. I couldn't wait anymore.
He must have noticed, because he kissed me, a light and soft touch. He seemed to be waiting for my confirmation, but underneath I could feel the tension of how much he was holding back. In response, I put a hand behind his neck and pulled him towards me. He wrapped his arms around me again and I melted, dragging him until we were both lying down in the bed.
His tongue passed over my lips and I granted access, kissing and exploring with the sweet calm of a candle fire; the slow burning did not mean that it had any less strength.
This time, there was no rush. There were many more nights ahead.
N / A: I've seen images from the comics where Iroh serves bubble tea, and while I still regard the content of the comics as apocryphal, that detail I found amusing. I read on Wikipedia that the drink was in fact invented in Taiwan in the late 80's and began to spread around the world around that time... so yay for the historical accuracy xD
Also, we receive Min, my first OC for this universe and I have no idea why she even has a name. It must be something like the embodiment of self-will in this story. Maybe she'll be more important later, who knows? Because definitely not me.
In other news: Chapter 15 officially marks 50,000 words for this fanfic and I couldn't be happier with the response it got :'D thank you so much everyone who comments! They keep my enthusiasm alive to continue writing :3 I also thank those who read more silently and those who have followed / bookmarked the story, I hope you continue to enjoy reading!
A special thanks to rahidas04, who is helping me bring the story into English (my soul fills with joy when I see her modifications, the chapters read so much better... ).
Oh, and a final note! This fanfic most definitely ends with Zutara!