A week passed, and neither of them dared to bring up what had almost happened between them. Zuko was flat out too mortified, and he thought that maybe Katara was just embarrassed. Maybe she'd just got caught up in the moment and she didn't actually want to kiss him? Zuko wasn't sure, but he definitely wasn't going to make a fool of himself by asking.

Instead, he avoided her. Well, he avoided being alone with her. He took to sleeping in the living room, wanting to avoid another awkward situation with his uncle, but he didn't give her much of an explanation (he was not gonna tell her what his uncle had said), but thankfully, she didn't push him about it.

Avoiding being alone with Katara also meant spending more time with his uncle, which he was what he was doing now. Katara had hung around the apartment that day, so he'd gone out early under the pretense of looking for work (although he really just walked up and down the streets of the Lower Ring, definitely not sulking). He'd met up with Iroh to do some shopping, which was, of course, a mistake, as his uncle was an insufferable bargain shopper.

Zuko had left him behind at a shop somewhere along their way home, but Iroh came bustling up behind him, now carrying a potted plant with brilliant orange flowers. Zuko narrowed his eyes at it.

Iroh shrugged. "I just want our apartment to look nice. We're two bachelors living with a lady. Girls like flowers."

"Hmph," Zuko grunted.

"How are things between you and Katara anyway, nephew?" Iroh asked.

"Fine."

"Any word about her friends yet?" Iroh inquired.

"No."

"Have you been enjoying the city? You've been going on many walks lately," Iroh remarked.

Zuko huffed out an irritated breath. "No. This city is a prison."

"Nephew, you must always look on the bright side of life," Iroh told him. "Now come on. I got us some new jobs, and we start this afternoon."

Zuko sighed again, but he followed Iroh back to their apartment.

Clinging to the shadows beneath a shop's awning, Jet watched Lee and Mushi disappear down the crowded street, his eyes narrowed in disgust. Beside him, Smellerbee and Longshot watched him.

Jet looked at his friends, his lip curling. "Look at them. Firebenders, living right under everyone's nose. Makes me sick."

"Jet, you saw a man with a hot cup of tea," Smellerbee said exasperatedly. "It doesn't prove he's a firebender. And so what if he is? Are we supposed to attack them?"

"Well—"

"I thought we were starting over here," Smellerbee cut him off. "Changing our ways."

"We are," Jet insisted. "When I get the evidence I need, I'll report them to the police and let them handle it. But we have to think about Katara too, okay? They might be holding her prisoner."

"I don't know, Jet," Smellerbee said doubtfully. "She looked pretty friendly with Lee to me."

His expression darkened as his eyes cut towards the direction the firebender and his uncle had disappeared down. Smellerbee was right. And Lee had deferred to her when it came to trusting him. He knew she wasn't their captive.

"Then she doesn't know they're firebenders," Jet said resolutely. "Katara would never willingly be with firebenders, not after what they did to her mom."

He started down the street towards their own apartment. Smellerbee and Longshot followed after him, ever dutiful to their leader.

Jet had been keeping an eye on Lee and Mushi for a week now. He had yet to see any evidence of them using their firebending, but he knew it would happen. He would just have to bide his time.

"Well, you certainly look like official tea servers," their new boss, Pao, said to them later that afternoon.

Zuko barely contained his scowl. He looked ridiculous in this stupid apron, but it was part of the uniform, and was mandatory. He was also humiliated by the fact that he, Zuko, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, had been reduced to a bloody tea server.

Beside him, Iroh struggled to tie the strings of his apron together. Ridiculous, Zuko thought irately.

"Does this possibly come in a larger size?" Iroh grunted as he struggled in vain.

Pao offered a smile. "I have extra string in the back. Have some tea while you wait."

The man poured them each a cup before he ducked through the kitchen door. Iroh passed Zuko a cup, but he just looked at it distastefully. This might be a dream come true for his uncle, but Zuko would rather be anywhere else but here.

Iroh took a sip of his tea before he spluttered indignantly. "This tea is nothing more than hot leaf juice!"

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Uncle, that's what all tea is."

"How could a member of my own family say something so horrible?" Iroh said accusingly. He turned away and grabbed the tea pot. "We'll have to make some changes around here."

Zuko sighed as Iroh tossed the tea out the window. This was going to be a very long afternoon.

"How was work?" Katara asked when Zuko and Iroh walked into the apartment later that evening.

"It sucked," Zuko said bluntly as he flung his apron over the coat rack Iroh had salvaged a few days ago.

"It was wonderful!" Iroh said at the same time with a bright smile.

Katara chuckled. "Wonderful! I made dinner. I hope you guys are hungry."

"Starving, actually," Iroh said as he hung his apron up properly and made his way over towards the well-worn tea table Katara had found yesterday.

Zuko folded himself onto the floor at the table. The food looked good, and he was hungry. Katara offered him a warm smile, and his stomach fluttered.

"Thanks," he said gruffly.

Iroh filled the evening meal with chatter, filling Katara in on everything that had happened at the tea shop that afternoon. Katara listened like she always did, asking questions and laughing at his uncle's terrible jokes.

"How's your job search going, Master Katara?" Iroh asked.

She grimaced. "Not too good so far, unfortunately. I've done some healing, but it's definitely not a reliable income. And I sort of feel bad charging people. Everyone down here is already struggling."

"I told you," Zuko muttered as he pushed a wonton around on his plate, and she shot him a glare.

"I just wish I could get into one of the upper rings," she remarked. "I'm sure those people would be able to pay decent money for some quality waterbending healing."

Iroh patted her hand reassuringly. "You'll find something, I'm sure."

"Thanks, Iroh," Katara said with a smile.

After dinner, Iroh retired for the night, leaving Zuko and Katara alone. He felt panic try to edge its way in, and he struggled to swallow it down. She got up and started to work on the dishes, using her bending to clean them.

"I can clean up!" Zuko volunteered hastily as he shot to his feet. Maybe if he did the dishes, she would go to bed too.

Katara gave him a quizzical look. "It's faster with my bending. You can dry them and put them away though."

Zuko groaned internally. Drying the dishes put him standing right next to her, and the last time they'd done that, she almost kissed him. But he couldn't exactly tell her no now. Shit.

He stood beside her at the washbasin. Katara handed him a plate, and he dried it with a towel before he set it aside. Neither of them said anything for a while, but then suddenly, Katara spoke.

"I've been asking around about my friends," she said quietly. "But no one has heard anything about the Avatar's whereabouts."

"I'm sorry," Zuko mumbled.

He peeked sideways at her and saw that her brow was furrowed. He wished that he could ease her worry, but that would mean telling her he'd known that the Avatar and her brother had passed through the desert just before they did, and that he'd known it for weeks.

Katara let out a sad sigh. "I'm just glad we made it to the city. We're safe here. Hopefully I can find them, but I'd rather be here than wandering around the desert."

"Yeah, I guess," Zuko said as he dried another plate.

"Are you okay?" Katara asked him as she peered over at him. "You've been awfully quiet…well, for days."

"I'm fine."

"Really? You've been acting weird ever since—"

"Ever since what?" Zuko snapped.

Katara flinched. Her cheek had turned a bright shade of red. "Well…ever since we almost…kissed."

"Yeah, well, we didn't," Zuko said roughly. "And that has nothing to do with anything."

"Zuko—" Katara began.

"Look, it's fine, it's whatever," Zuko said harshly. "It didn't happen and it's not a big deal. I'm not even worrying about it."

"Oh," she said in a small voice.

Zuko felt like maybe he should stop talking, but he found himself unable to stop.

"So we just, don't have to talk about it. Or try it again. We just got caught up in—whatever—and it's fine," he rambled on. "We're just two teenagers living under one roof and it's—you know, it can be a lot. But uh, you don't owe me anything and you don't need to feel—I don't know—obligated? Pressured? Or—or whatever and I just want you to know that like, I respect you as a person and I don't want anything from you even though I think you're pretty and it's just—"

Zuko bit his tongue. Oh Agni, did he really just say all of that? Was the room hot, or had he accidentally set himself on fire? He was suddenly sweating.

Katara was staring at him with wide eyes. "Um, Zuko?"

"I have to go," he said suddenly.

Then he practically sprinted out of the apartment and into the night. He was such an idiot!