Thankfully after the Jet situation had been dealt with, we didn't hear from him again and things returned to being peaceful. Since word had got out that I was a water bender, a lot of people came up to talk to me about it and I'd have to repeat the same story I'd made up over and over again. It was basically the same as the truth, except I left out the part where my mother was Fire Nation. It really became a well known fact, and then when word also got out that I was the mysterious dancer who danced in the street at night with her tambourine, that made things a little more complicated too.
Kids would run up and ask me to dance whilst I was in the market, and some would ask me to do tricks from my performing troupe like juggling. It became really exhausting, but when I saw the happiness on their faces whenever I performed for them, it somehow really uplifted me. They all looked so sad and hopeless before, seeing them filled with joy and delight was a wonderful change, so I just rolled with it. I started to perform on my days off and everybody would come to watch my tricks, where I'd juggle and do acrobatics, dance with water and entertain everybody watching.
With that as well as the tea shop and cooking meals, helping with chores and everything else, usually I didn't even make it to my bedroom before my body crashed. Once or twice I'd fallen asleep where I'd sat down only to be shaken awake by Zuko telling me to go to bed and stop drooling on the floor. Ugh, great. That's just perfect. I think a couple of times Iroh stopped him from waking me up and had him carry me back to bed instead, as I'd wake up in my room with no memory of how I got there.
Basically I became really popular, and once word of my water dancing got out, managers of all shapes and sizes came back with even more job offers within the lower district, forcing me to refuse them all. Today I decided to take some time for myself so I disappeared from sight and climbed up somewhere to sunbathe on a roof in private, though as I climbed I noticed Iroh in the market looking at baskets at one of the stalls. I wonder what he's up to, where was he going for a picnic? I watched him for a while before leaving him be, deciding that taking a nap was far more important than being nosy.
He'd be back later to work at the tea shop in the afternoon, I can just ask him then, or perhaps Zuko knows. Relaxing under the sun, I had a wonderful nap and woke up feeling refreshed and well rested, allowing me to get up, stretch then head back down into the streets. It was getting dark so I headed home and started making preparations for dinner, taking care of everything whilst Zuko and Iroh were in the teashop, but I was surprised when only Iroh came back. "Where's Zuko?" Iroh beamed.
"You won't believe this, but my nephew is on a date with a girl!" I dropped the knife as my jaw hit the floor out of shock.
"What?! No way! That pouty guy actually got a date with a girl? Tell me everything! What happened? What's her name? Do we know her? What's going on?" Full of questions, Iroh answered them one by one. Her name was Jin, she was a regular customer at the teashop who had showed interest in Zuko and asked him to join her that evening for some food, and Iroh had accepted before Zuko could refuse.
"After all, it is important to learn good social skills and communication, and as we know, my nephew…does not exactly get along with people. This will be good experience for him, and it is nice to spend time with a lovely girl every now and then." Iroh said whilst stroking his beard, looking rather pleased with himself as I lay on my stomach with my chin on my hands, kicking my feet as I'd listened to everything. "Now I should find you a handsome and reliable man, little Kayo. You won't want to keep an old man like me company forever."
"I don't know, drinking excellent tea, playing Pai Sho everyday, listening to music you play whilst I dance…that sounds like the perfect life to me. I can look after you when it becomes too difficult to do things on your own, and since you taught me how to make tea just like you, you can be sure to never taste a bitter cup for the rest of your life." I reasoned, pursing my lips before smiling. "Plus, I always cook amazing tasting food, so you wouldn't have to worry about that either."
"Hmm…your cooking is the best I have ever tasted. You are a very talented young lady, little Kayo. Any man who had the good fortune to attract your attention will be the luckiest man in the world." Iroh said as he reached out and rubbed my hair affectionately before he seemed to think of something. "You know…my nephew is a handsome young man, and although he has a bit of a temper, you seem to soften him a great deal and he has many fine qualities…"
"Uncle Iroh, you literally just sent Zuko out on a date with another girl, and now you're trying to set him up with me?" I laughed lightly. "You'll kill him from the shock. Besides, what do I need with a man when I have you and Zuko with me? You guys are all the family I need right now, and when I find my mother and my troupe and introduce you all, everything will be perfect." I closed my eyes to imagine it all before grinning. "Maybe we can persuade Zuko to participate in the show. Do you think he'd be willing to learn how to juggle?" Iroh looked at me before we both fell about laughing at the thought of Zuko trying to juggle.
It cracked me up, but once I'd had a good laugh I wiped my eyes dry then carried on with dinner, putting some aside for Zuko and eating with Iroh. I took another nap after dinner, lounging in the middle room whilst Iroh took care of his plants on the window ledge but out of the corner of my eye, I could see him looking to see if Zuko was coming. "Stop worrying, he'll be fine."
"I cannot help it. My nephew can be so difficult sometimes."
"I know, I've met the guy." I drawled before yawning, arm slung across my eyes to block out the light. "He's not that bad, he tries." Suddenly we both heard footsteps approaching, strong and firm, meaning Zuko was back. Sure enough he swung open the door with a little more force than necessary before heading directly to his room, closing the door behind him as Iroh asked how his night went. At first Zuko didn't answer, causing Iroh to become disappointed, but when the door inched open again, we heard his voice speak softly from within.
"It was nice." Iroh was satisfied with that, smiling warmly as he continued to care for his plants and after a few minutes, I could no longer resist the temptation. Rocking to my feet I picked up a light and brought it into Zuko's room, entering to find him lying flat on his bed.
"So, how was your date?" I teased him as I put the candle lamp down between us, sitting on Iroh's floor mat where he slept. "Did you have fun? Did you think she was pretty?"
"Why are you here?" He groaned in exasperation with his face still buried into his pillow.
"To make fun of you of course. Come on, tell me everything. Where did you go? What did you talk about?" Again I heard another groan so I leaned in to listen, frowning slightly before drawing back. "That sounds like it didn't exactly go well. You choked didn't you? You might as well tell me everything now Zuko, what happened?" Turning onto his back with a huff, Zuko stared at the ceiling with his hands resting over his stomach.
"I don't know, she asked me about where I was from and I couldn't think of anything so I told her my uncle and I were travellers." After a few seconds, I began to see where this was going.
"You didn't." He looked away from me so I slapped a hand to my face. "You told her we were travelling performers, didn't you? Zuko that's my backstory, because that's actually the truth! You could have just said that you guys were…I don't know…foragers! Nomads! Why circus performers? You are so predictable, you know that? I knew you choked." Laughing slightly I poked his cheek. "So what else?"
"She asked if I could juggle." Now I laughed properly.
"And let me guess, you said that in a panic because you couldn't think of something else then she asked you to show her some of your skills." I literally fell about in a fit of giggles, hair pooling around my head as I lay flat on the floor. "You crack me up sometimes Zuko. You could have literally said anything else in the world and you went with juggling?"
"Shut up, you were right I panicked. Juggling is a lot harder than it looks." I smirked at him.
"Not really, I learned to juggle when I was five. I can juggle up to eight objects, maybe more depending." Now Zuko was scowling at me, grabbing his pillow in order to throw it at my face where it made a rather firm impact.
"Well then, maybe next time you can juggle for her!"
"I'll have to, otherwise you'll be known as the worst juggler to ever exist and we can't have that, can we? So after you made a complete fool of yourself, what else did you do?" Rolling his eyes, Zuko described how Jin had taken him to the firelight fountain to show him all the lights on the water but it hadn't been lit, so he lit everything with a little fire bending after asking her to close her eyes. "Stupid move Zuko, someone could have seen you, and do you really think Jin wouldn't be able to figure something out if she really thought about it?"
"I just wanted to do something nice. You know, people skills." Oh sure, now he works on his people skills like I told him, just at the worst time in the worst way possible. "After that, I gave her this coupon for the teashop uncle gave me, and then she…" Seeing Zuko blush, I eagerly pressured him to tell me, attacking him with pokes and prods, wrestling with him until he finally caught my wrists and flipped me over. "Enough! She kissed me alright? That's all." I blinked, a little stunned.
"Wait, she kissed you?" He looked away. "Did you kiss her back?" Zuko continued to look away, confirming my answer momentarily. This is such tasty gossip!
"I…I did for a second, but I couldn't face it." Now my spirits plummeted, a little disappointed that Zuko had backed out like that.
"Why? Didn't you like her?"
"She was nice, but I just couldn't bring myself to…I don't know, I just didn't want to give her the wrong impression or for her to get her hopes up. I'm not going to stay here forever. Anyway, it felt kind of wrong being with her. She didn't annoy me or anything, in fact it was a little enjoyable, but it still didn't feel right." Zuko was saying whilst still pinning my wrists down and trapping me underneath him whilst he was thinking deeply. "Why is that?"
"Before we go into the complexities that are circling around in that head of yours, would you mind letting me up? You're kind of squashing me." Hurriedly letting go, apologising quickly as he sat back and I pulled myself up with a sigh. "It's not a big deal, you know, sometimes people just don't click the right way. Like, I tried dating this boy once last year just before my family decided to move to the colonies, and I just couldn't stick with it. He was nice I guess, but I think too nice. He'd never argue with me over anything and just agree with everything I said, it was annoying as hell."
"That figures, you're not happy unless you're arguing with someone over something stupid." Zuko said to me but rather than it sounding harsh, he said it like it were a joke, so I smiled.
"You know me too well, but yes, something along those lines. Anyway, it's good that you at least tried to go out with a girl, you're probably not used to being around them other than me and your sister, right?" Clenching his jaw slightly, Zuko nodded.
"Azula had these two friends growing up, so I knew them too, but that's it."
"Wait, Azula has friends? Now that's a shocker. What are they like? Are they normal or…more like her?" At my blunt question, Zuko actually smiled a bit, relaxing in my company as the candle flickered between us, painting the room in a gentle and warm glow.
"Somewhat normal. There's Ty Lee who was always doing these tricks and flips all over the place, way too cheerful and happy, it was nauseating sometimes. Actually, she's a little like you. If the two of you ever meet I think you guys would get along and all, since you pretty much do the same stuff." I protested that I was not an acrobat but a dancer, which were two completely different things but Zuko shrugged it off and continued. "The other one is Mai. She's a little weird, to be honest. She doesn't talk much…or show any expressions…or anything really."
"Wow, to think Azula doesn't terrify everyone she's around. I mean, I'm older than her but she gave me the chills when I first saw her." Giving a shiver I shook it off before looking back at Zuko who'd fallen quiet, deep in his thoughts. "Hey." Prodding him gently I asked what was bothering him, thinking that maybe he was upset he couldn't bring himself to like Jin properly or something.
"It's nothing, I was just thinking."
"About?"
"Just…everything." Pausing for a moment, I decided to leave it, knowing where to draw the line so instead I got up, picking up the pillow Zuko had thrown at me in order to toss it back at him, hitting him in the face. "Hey!"
"There's food out here if you want it, we kept some aside for you in case you were hungry when you came back. If not, then I'll say goodnight now." Stepping through the door I began to close it, the light from the main room bringing my face into focus in comparison to that dimly lit room. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself Zuko. You deserve to have some fun." With a final smile I closed the door then turned away, seeing Iroh was still tending his flowers so I placed my hand on my hips. "Iroh, you've been watering that plant for the past thirty minutes. I think you might kill it." I noted to him and he jumped, bashfully making his excuses before hurriedly finishing up as I shook my head. I should have known Iroh would listen in, but at least he now knows how the date really went and I think he looks even happier than when we first stepped into that teashop to work. All in all, tonight was a very good night.
