Author's Note: I have recently looked at a map and found that Gaoling is horribly far from the North Pole...but for the sake of the story I am going to pretend that it isn't ' Sorry bout that guys.
It took another two weeks of travel to reach the city they planned to make their new home. Gaoling was a fairly busy, bustling city, for all it was relatively small. Zuko, who had taken to going by Lee, and Iroh, who had taken to going by Mushi, were easily able to blend into the crowds. They received some slightly uneasy looks, but there were enough mixed-race people in the Earth Kingdom that no one really questioned their appearances.
Once they had arrived they set about trying to find the best way to get settled. They managed to make a deal with the owner of a vacant building in the city that allowed them to start using it for the tea shop that Iroh so wanted to have. They would sleep on the upper floor and use the bottom floor as the shop. If the shop went well they would be able to pay the man in installments until they owned the building themselves. Between the first payment on that building and buying the supplies to start the shop, they were completely out of money. So they were short on food for the first day or so as they got the shop up and running, but not for long after that.
The shop quickly took off. Iroh truly was a master tea maker and the building was nice enough. Paired with Iroh's friendly and cheerful attitude it didn't take long for them to make a name for themselves. It was easy to say that the Jasmine Dragon was a roaring success in a relatively short time. Even Zuko's awkward attempts to socialize with the customers didn't harm business, if anything the patrons found him somewhat endearing as he fumbled through any conversations that they tried to bring up. Thankfully, business was heavy enough that he didn't have much time to stand around and talk. He had to keep moving to keep serving the many customers. After a couple of weeks, Iroh began hiring others to help out around the shop. He was picky when it came to who he hired to help make tea, but less so on who could help serve. Soon there were six others helping Zuko bustle the tea around the shop. They were able to take breaks and have days off. Not that Zuko tended to take advantage of either of those.
It didn't take long for them to fully settle into their roles, though Zuko had to admit, if only to himself, that he wasn't fully satisfied with his new life. He knew his adopted father adored the new life they were building. Serving tea, and occasionally playing a game of pai show with a traveling guest, suited him well. Zuko didn't know why he couldn't fully enjoy the life they were building, but he constantly felt like something was missing. Perhaps it was the lack of bending, they couldn't risk bending in the Earth Kingdom after all, or perhaps it was the mundane nature of it, he wasn't sure. Not that it mattered, he had no other life available to him. And it wasn't awful. They were safe, they were well-fed, and his father was there.
So Zuko did his best to enjoy what they had and find ways to do away with the disquiet in him. During slower days Zuko took to attempting to cook various things that could be served along with the tea. There were several disastrous results, but with time and several scrolls, his attempts slowly improved. After about a month of stubborn efforts, he and his father deemed his results good enough to serve to their customers. It had taken longer for Zuko to be comfortable with the idea than Iroh. Zuko was well aware that he tended to be a perfectionist, but he didn't want to serve anything that might hamper his father's dreams. This new change led to Iroh hiring a couple more servers so Zuko could spend more of his time in the kitchen, making the various cakes and treats that their customers offered. Zuko found this slightly more fulfilling, but he still wasn't completely content.
It was around that time, a month after they'd opened The Jasmine Dragon, when a messenger came to their shop with an invitation. It seemed that word of their success had reached the Lord and Lady Beifong. They were being invited to serve tea at their manor. Zuko was slightly uncomfortable with the idea, but he knew his father was happy at the indication of their success. So they went.
They were allowed into the estate with very little fanfare, though Zuko had to leave his dual dao blades with the guards. He never left home without them, but they weren't allowed into the building. Zuko could understand that, there had been similar rules at the Palace after all, but it still made him uncomfortable to be without them. Even at the shop they were always somewhere he could reach easily if needed. Iroh never questioned Zuko's dependence on the blades. Zuko got the impression that the older man understood.
Their time serving tea was uneventful. The Lord and Lady were polite and full of compliments for the tea and cakes being served. Their daughter had been a slight surprise, Zuko couldn't remember anyone ever mentioning the Beifong's having any children. And the family was well enough known that he had heard of the name even back in the Fire Nation. The girl was only a couple of years younger than himself and held herself with a regal air. She barely talked unless prompted by her parents, and even then said only the bare minimum to be polite. And she was blind. Completely blind. Even so, Zuko couldn't quite believe how they treated her. There was a maid that cut up her food for her and blew on her tea and led her to and from the room. It made very little sense to him, sure she was blind, but how did that keep her from being able to do the most basic of tasks? Did her parents think that being blind meant she wouldn't be able to tell when a bite of food was too large? She was fourteen! It baffled him, but she was clearly used to it and he wasn't in the place to question anything. So he stayed silent and did his best not to stare.
They stayed with the Beifongs until evening came and then began making their way back as the sun set in the sky. Zuko was very grateful to have his blades back on his back. Two blocks from the estate Zuko found himself even more grateful that he had his blades on him. Their attackers weren't terribly skilled, just common thieves, but they had numbers on their side and neither Iroh nor Zuko wanted to risk using fire to help deal with the situation. So they were left with Zuko's blades and Iroh's knowledge of hand to hand combat. That wouldn't normally be something to scoff at, Iroh was far from a novice at hand to hand combat and Zuko was near mastery level with his blades, but numbers sometimes trumped skill.
Iroh went down from a blow to the head with what looked like a pipe and Zuko saw red. He leaped to his father's defense and was more than ready to bring flames to bear against their attackers. Their cover wasn't worth Iroh's life. But before he could draw out a flame someone else stepped in. The ground shifted and moved, sending several of their attackers flying as it rose up under them in sharp pillars. Several more sank into the ground up to their necks. When a series of large rocks shot out from behind Zuko to slam into four of the others, knocking them flying, the remaining fighters decided to cut their losses and flee the scene. Zuko was wary as he turned to face the person who had driven off the thieves, still crouched defensively over the dazed man on the ground. After all, just because this person had driven away their attackers didn't mean that they didn't want something themselves. His stance faltered in surprise when he saw who it was.
The Beifong girl, Toph, was standing not far from them in the alleyway. She was dressed in the same fancy gown that she'd worn for the tea ceremony, but she almost seemed like a different person. Gone was the meek, helpless little girl who had eaten in near silence. This young woman oozed confidence and skill from her powerful stance to the proud smirk on her face. She was still clearly blind, her eyes didn't focus on him, but she still seemed to know where he was as she straightened out of her bending stance and placed her hands on her hips.
"You two are pretty good," she told him in a voice completely different from the mild-mannered one she'd used before "I've never known a couple of non-benders to keep that many thugs at bay for so long. But I figured you could use some help." Her smile slipped slightly "Is he ok?" Zuko slowly lowered his blades and straightened out of his own stance as she spoke. He was silent for a moment after her question before he decided to trust her for the time being. If she meant to harm them she could have taken them out before they had known she was there after all. So he stowed his blades and knelt next to his father, helping him sit up.
"I am fine, thank you, young lady," Iroh replied for them both, blinking several times as if to clear his vision "My son and I appreciate your assistance." The smirk was back in full force then.
"No problem. It wasn't like it was hard. I am the greatest earthbender in the world after all." She was bragging, but a quick glance around told Zuko that she might not be too far off the mark. She was a master at least. None of the people on, or in, the ground were dead. Nor did they appear to be dying. At least not from anything she had done. A couple of the injuries he had inflicted could be deadly if not treated soon enough.
"So we see," Iroh's slightly amused, yet grateful tone pulled Zuko's gaze back to the older man. He was clearly still rather dazed, but he was recovering thanks to Toph. So he turned his attention back to her and nodded, though he knew she couldn't see it.
"Yes," he said after a moment, uncertain what to say exactly "I don't think either of us are going to be doubting your skill any time soon." He couldn't understand how this girl was the same one who let her parents cut up all her food before she ate it, but it wasn't his place to ask.
"You'd better not," she laughed, bright and loud before making her way closer. She moved with far more ease than she should without sight, strides never faltering as she moved around the unconscious men "You two going to make it back to your shop alright? Grandpa here doesn't feel too steady." Zuko couldn't help but blink at the term and the implied offer, but he was saved from having to respond by Iroh's easy laughter.
"A little assistance would be appreciated," Iroh told her as he moved to stand. Zuko quickly gripped his father's arm, helping support him. Iroh was clearly still unsteady on his feet. "I fear I won't be much use if those men decide to come back for a second round."
"Well, then I'll just have to come with you to make sure they don't," she grinned at them again "Lead the way."
Iroh wasn't entirely certain how their night had turned out the way it had, with him leaning slightly on his son for support as they made their way back to their shop and a loud and confident earthbending girl walking beside them with ease that belayed her sightless eyes. He didn't understand it, but he was never one to question the gifts that the spirits sent his way. From watching young Toph back with her parents and here outside the estate walls he was getting a fairly clear picture on her. Here was a young woman living in a gilded cage of her parents' making. She was clearly uncomfortable being herself in front of her family for some reason or another and she was lonely. He could see that from the way she was so quick to offer to walk them home. An offer of assistance and protection, yes, but also an offer of companionship.
She reminded him fiercely of another young nobleman's child. One that he knew still ached for company the same way this young woman did. He couldn't be sure that they would get along, but he had a good feeling settling in his gut as they reached the shop and he invited her in for a second cup of tea. This one without her parents or servants watching over her shoulders, not that he said that part. The slight flash of surprise on her expression, quickly hidden behind a confident grin, was all the confirmation he needed as he ushered her into the closed shop and had her sit at one of the tables closest to the kitchen. Soon they were sitting around it with a fresh pot of tea and a set of cakes from earlier in the day.
"You're not going to cut it up for me?" she asked, raising an eyebrow as she touched the whole slice sitting on her plate with a fork.
"Do you want us to?" his son's voice was dry and skeptical and raised another loud laugh from the girl before she flashed him a wide smile.
"Nah, I was just teasing you." Yes, Iroh had the feeling that this would work out quite well.
Note: I hope Toph isn't too OOC. I haven't written her much. Yes, as I mentioned in some earlier Author's Notes, Toph is a little older in this story than she is in canon, she's 14 here instead of 12. That is intentional.