THE SECRET OF PAO'S TEASHOP

Summary:

"We'll help, but we're only doing this so you can get over whatever obsession you have."

Jet wanted to argue that he was not 'obsessed' but wisely kept his mouth shut as he watched his friends walk towards the small shop just across the street.

or

Jet tries to prove Li and Moshi are Fire Nation. Smellerbee and Longshot agree to help. (Set during Chapter 11 of Flames of Destiny)

"Look at them," the boy with bushy hair spat, yet somehow the straw remained miraculously in his mouth. Black eyes followed the two figures that walked down the streets of the Lower Ring in Ba Sing Se, pretending to be Earth Kingdom citizens as. But Jet knew the truth.

"Firebenders living under everyone's nose."

There was an audible sigh behind him in the alley he was hiding in, and Jet didn't need to turn to know that it came from his longtime fellow Freedom Fighter and closest friend Smellerbee. "Jet, you saw a guy drink a hot cup of tea. It doesn't prove anything."

She may have a point, if Jet didn't see the proof with his own eyes. He remembered the incident as clear as day. Granted, he witnessed it yesterday but still he could recall every detail that led up to the moment.

Approaching Li at the monorail station. Hearing Moshi buying a cup of jasmine tea only to loudly complain that it was cold the moment the old man took a sip from the cup and spat it out the next. Trying – and failing – to persuade Li to stick with the rest of the Freedom Fighters to look out for each other.

Seeing Moshi holding onto the same cup of tea with steam coming out of it.

"It doesn't prove he's a firebender," Smellerbee pressed on, having heard her friend repeat the explanation time and time again. "And what if he is, are we supposed to attack them? I thought we were starting over here, changing our ways."

"We are," Jet agreed immediately, his eyes still on the two Fire Nations waltzing along the streets nonchalantly. After the Freedom Fighter's encounter with the Avatar, everyone came to a consensus that maybe, just maybe their methods were wrong and had split up. That was why he, Smellerbee and Longshot found themselves in Ba Sing Se, the capital of the Earth Kingdom. To start over. But with the enemy hiding in plain sight, Jet couldn't just sit by idly.

"When I get the evidence I need, I'll report them to the police and let them handle it." He turned around to look at his friends. "Okay?"

Longshot and Smellerbee shared a look before nodding rather hesitantly. They'd learn that when Jet had set his heart on something, it was rather pointless to talk him out of it.

Satisfied with the response, Jet stepped out of the alley, ready to continue following Li and Moshi – or whatever their real names are.

Only for black eyes to meet unnatural green that stared straight at where he stood.

Panic seized the former leader of the Freedom Fighters, but he did his best to keep cool. The owner of the green eyes peeled his gaze away from Jet to look at Li, his mouth moving as he was saying something to the scar-faced teen.

Apparently whatever was being told to Li did not include Jet since the teen didn't whirl his head around to scan his environment, too engrossed in glaring at the newcomer.

Whoever this newcomer was, he was onto Jet. The teen knew that if he was going to collect any evidence to prove Li and Moshi were Fire Nation, he needed to do it carefully and not get caught.

(-)

Jet got caught.

Well, getting 'called out' would be the more accurate term. His first day following the trio had resulted in nothing, apart from them getting jobs at a small shop called 'Pao's Teashop' as tea servers. It was at night when he learnt a few things.

The tall stranger had confronted Jet at the latter's hiding spot outside Li and Moshi's apartment, appearing out of the darkness while making strange remarks about 'monsters blending in' and 'travelling and hiding in the shadows' – whatever those were supposed to mean. The man laughed off all accusations that he was a Fire Nation, but did not do the same when Jet directed the same accusations at Li and Moshi. Instead, he said something about his grandmother being a 'titan' – again, a term that flew over Jet's head – yet his father and uncle were still fighting for her attention.

However, it was the stranger's parting words that really irked Jet.

"Stay away from them." 'Them' obviously being Li and Moshi. Some measly four words, but it carried the unspoken threat just as seriously especially with the wolf-like glare that the stranger had worn as he uttered his warning.

Jet was livid. Who was this man to think he could protect two Fire Nations threatening the peace that is Ba Sing Se?! Who gave him the right?!

No matter, the warning was for Jet to stay away from Li and Moshi. He could still collect his evidence from a distance.

So he camped at the alley just across the entrance of Pao's Tea Shop, silently watching the pair's movement while trying to stay out of sight of the bustling little building. He even took extra precautions to hide when the strange tall man – who Jet came to learn was called Zhang – appeared in the periphery of his view.

"Jet!" Hearing his name called, black eyes turned around to see Smellerbee glaring at him while Longshot stood silently beside her. Immediately Jet got on both his feet.

"Oh, great it's you guys," he breathed out with relief. "Where have you been? I could use the help with surveillance the past two days."

"It's four, Jet."

"What?"

"You've been at this for four days!" If Smellerbee was any louder, Jet was certain that everyone in Pao's Tea Shop would know there are three teenagers hiding creepily in an alley just outside.

Jet narrowed his eyes at the response. "All the more reason I need your help then."

Smellerbee threw her hands in the air. "Jet, please –"

"Maybe you've forgotten why we need to start over," the oldest teen snapped accusingly and he didn't miss the way his two friends suddenly found the ground to be very interesting. "Maybe you've forgotten about how the Fire Nation left us all homeless. How they wiped out all the people we loved. It was the same reason the Freedom Fighters were formed."

Jet slammed his eyes shut, trying to suppress the images of his burning village that tried to overwhelm him. When he opened his eyes again, he saw Longshot and Smellerbee exchanging a glance.

"Look, guys," Jet opened his mouth, ready to apologize for losing his temper. "I'm sorry about –"

"It's okay," Smellerbee waved him off, trying for a smile. It was too thin and didn't reach her eyes. "We'll help, but we're only doing this so you can get over whatever obsession you have."

Jet wanted to argue that he was not 'obsessed' but wisely kept his mouth shut as he watched his friends walk towards the small shop just across the street.

Hopefully, they could find something he couldn't.

(-)

Brown eyes scanned the customers' area. To say Pao's Tea Shop was packed would be an understatement. Maybe because it was tea time. Or maybe everyone here was just eager to taste the tea from the rumoured best teamaker in the city.

Smellerbee was a bit sceptical about that. Moshi wasn't even here for a week and he had made a name for himself. Either the teamaking standards were really low in Ba Sing Se, or the old man was just that good.

The girl didn't really want to judge.

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to Longshot, the archer silently pointing at something near the counter. Her gaze followed the direction, landing on a table where the occupants were getting off their seats, ready to leave. Immediately she grabbed her friend by the hand and marched towards the only table of the eight in the shop that will be empty until someone else sits there.

"Smellerbee! Longshot!" Moshi greeted them with a warm and bright smile as they took their seats. "It's been a while."

Smellerbee resisted the urge to say 'it's only four days'. Instead she settled on what she hoped was a friendly and polite smile of her own. "Yeah, it's been a while. We've heard that you got a job at the shop here and decided to show our support to our friends."

"Is that so?" Li asked, his tone dubious and his eyes – which Smellerbee realized were the colour of amber – narrowed at them.

Maybe Jet did have a point.

The girl was so in her thoughts that she didn't notice Moshi sending a look at his nephew for the question. The old man turned his attention back to his two customers, the warm smile still on his face. "So, what can we get for you two?"

Longshot, who remained quiet throughout the exchange as usual, just looked at Smellerbee. She got the message and made the order. "Green tea sounds fine."

Moshi's smile didn't falter. In fact, it seemed that he smiled even more as he nodded and turned around. "Zhang, get ready green tea for two!"

"Green tea's the one in green packaging right?" an employee asked as he looked like he was searching for tea bags in the cupboard. Li muttered something under his breath and marched behind the counter, a tray of used tea set in his hands.

"Green tea is in the red packets, you imbecile!"

The man – who was probably Zhang – didn't bat an eye at the insult much to both Smellerbee and Longshot's surprise. Rather, he turned his head around, a cheeky grin on his face. "That's a big word, Mr Grumpy Pants. You sure you know what that means?" He paused and looked at Moshi. "It means 'idiot', right? I remember it means 'idiot'."

Smellerbee watched as Moshi took a breath, probably to calm himself before smiling at the two teens he was serving. "You have to excuse my nephew and Zhang. Zhang's still new at" he gestured at the whole shop "all of this, and Li's… well, you've met him before."

The two former Freedom Fighters bobbed their heads slowly in acknowledgement. Though still confused by the event that panned out in front of them, they agreed with Moshi in regards to Li. During their two day travel to Ba Sing Se by ferry together, the scarred teen was cold towards anyone who approached him. Including his uncle. The only instance he was more amicable to others was when they had 'liberated' food from the ship's food storage room and distributed the food to the other passengers.

The exchange between 'Grumpy Pants' Li and the eccentric man continued for a few moments as the latter questioned the 'sanity of someone to not put green tea in green packets'. By the time Moshi returned to their table with their order, Smellerbee's thoughts about Li having amber eyes were long forgotten as she caught the aromatic scent of well-brewed green tea.

(-)

Black eyes met brown, and Smellerbee nodded at her friend. Together, they got out of their seats and thanked Moshi, complimenting him on the nice tea before heading over towards the counter to make payment to Li. Having made their payment, the teens left the shop after observing both uncle and nephew for the past two hours.

There wasn't anything new or incriminating about the pair. Nothing that could tie them to being Fire Nation at all. Moshi was all smiles and warmth, while Li was just a grouchy teenager probably undergoing whatever phase an older teenage boy would normally experience.

The former Freedom Fighters had just stepped out of the shop when they heard a 'hey' and a hand landed on their respective shoulders. Turning around, they met the eyes of the new employee, Zhang.

Seeing their questioning looks, the man stretched out a hand. "You forgot these." Two pairs of eyes darted down towards his palm to see coins amounting to the cost of their order. "It's on the house." He quickly explained upon seeing the quizzical looks on their faces. "Moshi mentioned that, but Grumpy Pants didn't know about it."

Longshot extended his hand to take the coins. But as his fingers brushed against them, Zhang's long fingers wrapped around the boy's wrist. Stunned by the tight grip, the sharpshooter tried to jerk his arm free but to no avail as Smellerbee wanted to jump in to help her long-time friend.

They both froze when their eyes landed on Zhang's face.

There was a lopsided smile on the man's foreign features. His green eyes were glowing unnaturally. The look was alarming and the instincts at the back of both teens' minds were screaming at them to just 'RUN!' and 'STAY ALIVE!' yet they found their usually agile legs just rooted on the spot.

The man leaned forward. "Tell your friend, Jet," both teens stiffened at the mention of their friend, but Zhang paid no heed, "that if he wants information, or just tea, he could always just ask nicely." His whisper was so low it sounded almost like a growl.

When he leant back, the smile was still plastered on his face and he clapped his hands together. "Alright, help me pass the message, yeah?" With that, the air of intimidation was gone and Zhang spun around to reenter the shop.

Longshot and Smellerbee shared an apprehensive look with each other. Maybe Jet wasn't right about the Fire Nation in Ba Sing Se.

Maybe there was something about Pao's Tea Shop, but it definitely had nothing to do with Li or Moshi.

No.

Whatever it was, it's connected to Zhang, the eccentric and tall tea server.

Greetings everyone and welcome to The Recovered Adventures, a tie-in to Flames of Destiny.

So, the first one-shot is done. Hope you liked it. Mostly this fic will just consist of one-shots which would relate to FoD's story and will be told from mainly the POV of those who aren't the main cast. That doesn't mean the mains won't be making an appearance though, bcs they definitely would.

there'll probably also be some 'deleted scenes' on occasion (idk what to call them)and 'alternate' and 'what if' scenarios, but no promises on those.