ZW 2015 Day 6: Integrity
.
.
.
A Rose by any Other Name
A comet that comes every 100 years is remarkable. A comet that comes every 104 years is perhaps more likely, and sometimes four years makes all the difference.
When they met, one year before the comet, six years since his mark, Ba Sing Se was steady. Solid as the rock that formed the walls. There was no war within the city, only a sort of eerie quiet that deepened as the green men hardened their hold on the Earth King.
"I'm Katara," she said, smiling prettily at him. "My brother and I are from the Southern Water Tribe."
Lee, a waiter in a tea shop in the upper ring, offered her a blank look. "Do you want an extra pot for fifty percent off?"
Her mouth had dropped open for a moment, but an older man came to his nephew's rescue a little too quickly. "My nephew," he began, "is nervous around pretty girls. I hope you'll forgive him. If it would help, the tea is on the house!"
Katara giggled. "Thank you." She returned her gaze to Lee, standing rather grumpily off to the side, teapot still in his hand. "I don't think Momo and I can handle a second pot."
"Perhaps Lee could share with you," the old man said, mischief glinting in his eyes. "He has not had a break in some time."
"I don't need a break, Uncle."
"A man needs his breaks, Nephew. And there's nothing wrong with the company of a lovely customer."
Lee plopped down in the seat across from her with a huff after setting the teapot on the table.
"I'm sorry. My nephew does not mean to be rude." The older man shrugged apologetically before scooting back into the kitchen, presumably after his teapot.
"So," she starts, glancing up into eyes that are surprisingly gold for an earthbender. "You live here with your uncle?"
"Yes."
"Do you like tea?"
"No."
Katara crossed her arms. "Why don't you just go back to serving tea? Jerk."
Lee bolted to his feet. "Have a nice day."
She watched him go without a hint of regret.
.
.
.
Her first visit to the Jasmine Dragon is not her last, even if she doesn't ever, ever want to see Lee again. Uncle Mushi makes the best tea in the city, and she can't stay away (not even when he starts putting tapioca in the bottom). Sokka and Aang and Toph come along occasionally, but it's generally just her and Momo. And Lee. She hates Lee.
"Why do you work in a tea shop if you hate tea?"
"I just do."
"What happened to your parents?"
"None of your business."
"Do you like lychee nuts?"
"Yes."
"Are you always this grouchy?"
"Go away."
"When are you getting a haircut?"
"I don't need a haircut."
"Are you a refugee?"
"Refugee from what?"
She sighs heavily. Everybody asks that, as if there's no war in Ba Sing Se, as if Phoenix King Ozai hadn't been burning his way across the Earth Kingdom for years, getting ever closer to the Impenetrable City.
Except there's a furrow on Lee's forehead that wasn't there before, and he's clenching his fists in his apron. Normally, she'd assume he's annoyed-she's been interrogating him for weeks-but this is different. He looks like she feels whenever she tries to pretend there is no war. Katara smiles and reaches for his hand. Jerking away, Lee looks at her strangely.
"Me too."
He smiles, just a little.
.
.
.
The next time she comes in, he does sit with her, just for a little while, and she doesn't have to pepper him with questions. He asks her things, quiet, hushed things that they can't speak of, and she answers just as quietly, hiding her lips in her tea.
"I'm traveling with my brother and the Avatar. We found him in the South Pole and we're trying to convince the Earth King to raise troops to take down the Fire Lord and the Phoenix King."
Lee has gone stiff as a board.
"We're going to end the war," she says, hoping to reassure him. Lee nods stiffly, but after a few moments relaxes, and Katara allows herself a glance at the scar as he sips his tea. What did the Fire Nation take from him?
.
.
.
As the spring flowers fall from the trees and bright green leaves come in, the weather turns hot and dry. Katara finds refuge in the teashop as Aang pleads with Long Feng and Toph in turns to be reasonable. Sokka locks himself in their little house most days, poring over maps and atlases, and so she's left to her own devices.
"Do you want to get some noodles after your shift?"
Lee, who by now has warmed up to her a little, pretends to be upset that she asked. "No."
"Oh come on, Lee. My brother is going to nap all day and Aang is training. You wouldn't let a young girl like me wander around Ba Sing Se alone, would you?"
"You're a big girl. You can take care of yourself." He wipes down a table near her with unusual vigor.
"Nephew!" Mushi exclaims, aghast. "Where are your manners?"
Katara titters. Lee rolls his eyes. "Fine. Be back here an hour after closing. Or stay, if Uncle doesn't mind."
Mushi sighs. "All these years, to have taught you so little."
"See you tonight, Lee," Katara manages, trying to keep from laughing. Waving in a way she hopes is at least a little flirtatious (it worked on Jet), she carries Momo out the door. He'll only get in the way of the noodles and will need to be dropped off at home first.
When she returns home, a wave of giddiness wells up inside her. Running into her room, she throws herself into her pillows and hugs one to her chest, grinning so hard her cheeks hurt.
.
.
.
"I thought your uncle would have made you pick me up," she teases when he steps out of the shop.
Lee grumbles incoherently. Something about hair and uncle and expectations and never again. "Where are we going?"
"There's a Water Tribe place in the Middle Ring."
Lee wrinkles his nose. "Fine."
"Why are you like this? I'm trying to do something nice and-"
"Oh, so this is a pity date?"
"Nice for us," she snaps. "I like you, okay? Can we just have a nice night?"
Lee huffs. "Fine. Uncle is buying."
They make it through dinner without further upset, even if things are a little awkward (not least when Lee makes a terrible face the first time he ventures to try a sea prune).
.
.
.
"Hey," he says, a small smile on his lips as she comes in. It's just after close in mid-summer, and the setting sun glows golden on her dusky skin. She's beautiful, and he's more than a little confused that she's still going out for noodles with him-him and his scar, him and his awkward bumbling, him and his meddling uncle. She won't much longer, though. Not if he tells her who he really is.
"You must tell her, my nephew, if you want your relationship to have a future."
"A future as what? She's traveling with the Avatar. Sozin's Comet is next summer; they'll be moving on soon."
"So you're just going to let her go?"
"What else am I supposed to do?!"
"Go with them!"
A range of emotions pass over Lee's face. "What about you?"
"Prince Zuko." The young man flinches at the long-retired name. "I am happy with my tea shop. I am an old man. You are young, and your destiny is still ahead of you."
Zuko, banished prince, failure of the Fire Nation, eyes his uncle skeptically. "My destiny is to capture the Avatar? I thought you said-"
"Zuko," Uncle begins sternly. "You must do the right thing. Your destiny awaits you at the end of that road."
Not for the first time, Zuko wishes his uncle would just tell him what he's supposed to do.
"I was thinking we could go to the festival tonight," she says, swinging into the chair he's left next to the counter for her. "Sokka said they had spring rolls on a stick."
Well, Zuko supposes everything is better on a stick. Why not?
.
.
.
Lee has been on edge lately, but Katara can't tell if it's because he knows she's leaving soon or if it's some personal reason. She hopes it's the former, just as she hopes his little side glances and red cheeks have something to do with how she did her hair or the dress she picked.
The festival was fun, as it turned out, although Lee seemed a bit put out by how easily spring rolls on a stick fall apart. His annoyance was almost a princely indignance, which Katara teased him about for at least twenty minutes after they'd left the crumbled remains behind. He's walked her home, as he's been doing more often lately.
"Good night," she says, smiling at him, like always. Turning toward her door almost painfully slowly, she gives him a moment (an opportunity). Will he kiss her this time? But then she's facing the door, hand on the knob, and he hasn't, like always.
Suddenly, strong hands grab her by the shoulders and spin her back around. Facing Lee, she sees his eyes are wide and maybe just a little panicked, as if he's about to make some kind of life-changing decision that he's agonized over. Maybe she's being dramatic. He bends down and presses his lips against hers firmly, quickly, though decidedly not unpleasantly. Her eyes flutter closed, and then he is gone.
As she opens her eyes again, a smile bursts across her face and her fingers ghost over her lips.
.
.
.
When she comes to the tea shop the next day, Lee stutters a greeting and drops the tea he's carrying on his foot.
"Hi." Her cheeks warm when he looks back at her.
His face burns scarlet. "Er, hi, Katara. Can I get you anything?"
"Do you have any lychee green tea?"
"Uh, yeah, probably. Anything else?" He doesn't seem to notice that he's nicked his finger on a jagged piece of teapot as he's been collecting the shards.
"Are you free after work?"
The red fades to pink, and he allows a rare smile. "Sure."
The next few days are experimental for both of them. Not unpleasantly so. Katara learns not to purse her lips quite so much, which is a little frustrating at first since Jet told her she was supposed to do that, but she supposes there's no accounting for taste. Too soon after he's finally kissed her (and now doesn't stop), Aang announces he's giving up on the Earth King's armies. We'll do without, Sokka says, resigned. You should have been more rock-like, Toph adds.
"Lee," she interrupts, pushing him back a few inches.
"Hm," he grumbles, already leaning back and shifting his attentions to her neck instead.
"We're leaving the city soon. In two days."
He stills but does not look at her, hiding his face in her hair. She can feel his lips move against her skin when he speaks. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"We decided this morning. Lee, I'm so sorry. If I had known earlier, I would have-"
Feeling him tense, like he's going to push her away, Katara grabs at his arms, trying to pull him back to her. "I understand." The words are quiet. Hollow.
"You could come with us."
"You don't want me traveling with the Avatar."
"Why not?" She combs her fingers through his smooth, black hair.
He looks up, into her eyes, assessing. A moment passes, then two, then three, and she's about to shake him when he finally speaks. "I wasn't born in the Earth Kingdom."
The implication sits heavily between them, and Katara sucks in her breath sharply. "No."
"I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner."
"You told me you were a refugee!"
He winces, the volume ringing off the wooden walls and echoing on the tile floor of the tea shop. "I am."
Katara takes a full step back, away from him. "You lied to me."
"No, I didn't." His long hair falls over his face as he bows his head. "I told you I was a refugee. I can't go around telling people where I'm from. That's a great way to get myself killed."
"What's your real name," she spits, crossing her arms over her chest, almost protectively.
He sighs heavily. "Look, Katara, if you're just going to walk out anyway, I'd rather keep it to myself."
"If you ever want me to forgive you, you need to tell me your name."
"I'm sorry."
She turns on her heel and walks out of his life.
.
.
.
"You were wrong, Uncle," he moans, tracing the rim of a teacup with his fingertip. "She wants nothing to do with me now."
"The important thing, Nephew, is that you are left with your integrity."
"I don't want integrity," Zuko grumbles. "I want her."
"Ah, love," Uncle intones. "What makes fools of the wisest men."
Zuko doesn't really think he's in love, at least not yet, but he knows better than to protest. "I'm going after them."
Uncle raises a bushy eyebrow. "You are?"
"The Avatar needs a firebending teacher. It's been six years since I was banished. Zhao was right. If my father wanted me home, he would have brought me back by now. I have to make my own way."
Uncle smiles. "And perhaps you'll find love along the way?"
Zuko rolls his eyes. "And maybe Katara will tolerate me again if I help the Avatar." Or maybe not, once he comes out with who he really is. No nondescript Fire Nation deserter, he. Just the same, the hope and pride in his uncle's eyes tells him it's worth a shot.
There is that, if nothing else.
.
.
.
A/N: Originally, I was going to tie this up in a neat little bow, but I've given it a more ambiguous ending for personal reasons. Namely that I think this would be better served as a multichapter now that I've written what is fundamentally a giant summary. Impromptu contest for the best title idea?
I'm also working on a video trailer for a new story, but I've hit a wall. Turns out I am neither good at nor finding enjoyable the art of video editing. Total pain in the butt, and new respect for anyone who makes AMVs.
