It was Jet.

And he knew.

"I am tired of waiting!" he shouted as he pointed an accusing finger at Iroh, Zuko and Elyrie, "Those three are firebenders!" He unsheathed his hook swords, with one sword in the direction of Uncle and Zuko while aiming the second one at Elyrie. She was standing closest to him, so she immediately backed away until she felt the table behind her. In her shock, she held her tray so tightly she was sure she would break it.

Jet took his fighting stance, swinging his swords and waited for the reaction of the crowd.

The whole tea shop fell silent as Jet shouted his accusations. For a moment, nobody moved. Nobody even seemed to breathe, that was how surprised they all were.

"I know they are firebenders!" Jet continued, his face twisted in anger, "I saw the old man heating his tea!"

"But he works in a tea shop?" Elyrie responded quickly, trying to salvage the situation as she put down her tray and stepped between Jet and Uncle, so she shielded Iroh from his view.

She could slap herself when she heard that a small wave of laughter went over the costumers. This wasn't good; this would only enrage Jet more.

"He is a firebender, I am telling you!" Jet cried out while pointing at Uncle. "They all are!" he added as he pointed his second sword to Elyrie again.

Elyrie swallowed when she saw the rage and hate in his eyes. She had never seen someone look at her like this. Her heart started pounding was she carefully tried to step back but with his weapon aimed at her, there was only so much she could do.

"Drop your swords, boy, nice and easy." It was one of the guards Uncle had attended to.

Elyrie looked over her shoulder and noticed that the two guards had stood up, with their hands resting on the swords on their hips; their looks were annoyed and impatient. Apparently, they had enough of Jet's little show. She saw that most costumers started shifting uneasily in their seats and she could imagine what they were thinking: What was this all about? Nobody understood why a young man had barged in like that with his weapons drawn. For all they knew, Uncle, Zuko and she were simply refugees who found their place in a tea shop.

She held back a sigh of relief now that she saw their reactions: Jet looked like a madman – nobody would believe him.

Elyrie crossed looks with Uncle, who shot her a clear message: don't say anything. She was relieved that the guards were present and that it wouldn't escalate. She turned over her shoulder to look back at Uncle before she heard the swing of the sword near her.

Instead of lowering his swords, Jet had stepped in her direction so his blade was mere inches from her body.

"You have to defend yourself, then everyone will know." He said in a cruel tone, while she looked defiantly at him. She steadied herself and lifted her hands, to signal she did not want to fight him. "Go ahead, show them what you can do." He continued as he raised his swords again, holding them just a few centimetres away from Elyrie's throat.

Elyrie clenched her jaw in frustration; she hated this. She couldn't fight him because he had weapons, but she couldn't use her bending because that would prove him right. So she was unable to do anything if he indeed decided to attack her.

"Get away from the girl." the guard said, his voice now threatening as a low, concerned murmur went through the tea shop.

However, Jet didn't seem to realise that he was sounding like a violent lunatic. Instead, he took it a step further to convince the people that they were firebenders. He didn't comply to the request of the guard, but as a response placed the curved part of his blade around Elyrie's slender neck, so he could slash her neck if someone made a wrong move.

Elyrie inhaled sharply when she felt the coldness of the blade on her neck. She couldn't move and she didn't even dare to breathe.

Something inside Zuko snapped.

He saw her hands and shoulders tense and he heard her gasp when the blade touched her skin. She had pinned up her hair in a low bun, so every inch of her ivory neck was visible. Her hands were balled into fists, but Zuko saw them tremble.

He couldn't see her face, only the curve of the blade around her neck.

"He wanted to slit my throat."

Zuko remembered her saying it, the anguish in her voice when she recounted what Zhao tried to do to her. The fear in her eyes was impossible to forget. And now that lowlife was pushing her through the same thing.

The audible gasp she let out – filled with fear – was enough to make him lose all inhibition.

Without saying a word Zuko took a few steps forward, grabbed the swords from the guard with one hand and moved towards Jet and Elyrie.

Jet's smirk widened as he prepared his second sword for an attack, but he was surprised when Zuko didn't even aim for his sword. Instead, Zuko grabbed the blade around Elyrie's neck with his free hand and yanked it back. When Elyrie felt that her neck was free, she immediately ducked and spun around the blade.

When he saw that she was out of range, Zuko pushed the blade back with all the strength he had. He gritted his teeth as he felt the blade cut his palm, but he was far too angry to care.

Jet was surprised by his action and staggered back when Zuko pushed his sword away with impressive force.

Zuko immediately moved himself between Jet and Elyrie and pushed her behind him, putting her out of harm's way.

"You want a show?" Zuko said hatefully as he separated the swords, "I'll give you a show!"

He lifted his leg and hooked his foot around the table and pulled it towards him. Then he gave it a swift kick in Jet's direction.

Jet had recovered from his surprise and was prepared for Zuko's attack. He sliced the table with his swords and jumped over it. He landed hard on the floor and ran in Zuko's direction. The sounds of the swords colliding made everyone in the tea shop back away from the fight.

Iroh quickly came into motion and grabbed Elyrie's arm, pulling her away from the fight. Elyrie clung to his arm as he pulled her backwards.

"Are you hurt?" Iroh asked as he looked at her neck. But aside from a few loose locks that had come out of her bun, she looked relatively okay. Albeit a bit pale, but not seriously injured.

"I'm fine!" Elyrie whispered, but she dug her nails in her palm as she followed the movements of the two men fighting in the shop.

Zuko's face was contorted in anger and frustration. Zuko had been aching to fight something, she thought as she saw him swing the swords with a fury.

The last time she had seen him fighting, it had been the thugs in the Earth Kingdom. He had been in complete control then, not even breaking a sweat. He had beaten them without effort, but Jet wasn't some bullying thug; he was a trained fighter and, more importantly, he was fuelled by hate.

As if to prove her point, Jet jumped off a table and kicked Zuko across the chest, sending him flying through the door.

Zuko groaned as he felt the hard surface of the stones beneath him, but he quickly spun himself back up again. Jet attacked him again, but Zuko was faster and blocked his attack.

"You must be tired of using those swords," Jet said with a sinister grin, his faces inches away from Zuko's, "Why don't you go ahead and firebend at me?"

The truth was that it was very tempting to do just that. Zuko clenched his jaw tighter and hoped he was not breathing smoke, because it took all of his self control not to spit fire in that arrogant face.

Behind Jet, Zuko saw that all the customers poured out of the shop and formed a circle around them on the street. No!" he heard Elyrie's voice cry out amidst the chaos.

"Or maybe she can help you out with a little fireblast?" Jet taunted while unhooking his swords from his as he turned around, back to Elyrie standing in the crowd. If he thought that would provoke Zuko, he was right. But not in the way he intended, because Zuko swiftly spun around and kicked Jet's legs from underneath him.

Jet quickly caught himself, but gritted his teeth as his hands landed on the hard stones of the street. Zuko lowered in swords when he saw Jet fall, but that was a miscalculation: if he thought Jet would fight with honour, he was mistaken.

Jet jumped up and swung his sword in Zuko's direction. A small cry escaped Elyrie's lips when she saw Zuko get struck, but at the same time Zuko landed a blow on Jet's upperleg.

"You're the one that needs help!" Zuko growled when he swung his sword in Jet's direction. The adrenaline raced throughout his body when he dodged another swing from Jet's longswords.

Jet might be fuelled by hate, but Zuko was motivated by something entirely else. Hate is a powerful motivator, but now Zuko was fighting for the opposite. He felt his inner fire blaze as a fierce protectiveness drove him to make sure Jet couldn't come anywhere near Elyrie again.

"Please son, you're confused!" Iroh yelled from the entrance of the shop, "You don't know what you're doing!" His voice was high and filled with concern, which Elyrie knew was meant for Zuko. But to the bystanders, he sounded like a meek refugee who's afraid of what was happening to his innocent nephew.

Which isn't technically untrue, Elyrie thought as she saw Jet swing his swords again. Whatever it was that was driving this man, it was something more than a simple hatred for the Fire Nation. This was a deep seated fury, an anger she had never seen in anyone.

Zuko and Jet continued their fight and were clearly evenly matched. Every attempt to strike the opponent was blocked or dodged, so neither could get past the other's defence. Elyrie had been so caught up in watching the two men fight that she hadn't noticed the arrival of two stern looking man in dark robes.

"Drop your weapons." One of them said, not even raising his voice as they walked through the bystanders to the fight.

Zuko immediately stepped away, while Jet stepped towards the men. Zuko had lowered his swords, but Jet used his to point at Zuko, Iroh and Elyrie.

"Arrest them!" Jet yelled, "They're firebenders!"

Elyrie didn't pay attention to the accusation as she ran towards Zuko, clinging onto him to make sure he was all right. She saw that the white cotton of his sleeve had turned red with blood, but Zuko did not seem to notice that Jet had managed to land a strike on his upper arm.

Zuko instinctively put his arm around Elyrie's shoulders and pulled her closer, as if to protect her. She placed her hand on his chest, answering his protectiveness with her own.

"This poor boy is confused," Uncle said in an innocent tone as he motioned to Jet, "We're just simple refugees."

Now that Elyrie allowed herself to take a better look at the two men, she saw that they wore the symbol of the Earth Kingdom on their chest. Of course, she thought as she looked at the stoic figures, they are Dai Li agents. The elite police force of Ba Sing Se were famous for their stealth and precision, as well as for their Earthbending skills.

"This young man wrecked my tea shop and assaulted my employees!" Pao yelled indignantly.

"It's true sir, we saw the whole thing!" the guard chimed in, "This crazy kid tried to attack the girl and the finest teamaker in the city."

"Oh, that's very sweet." Iroh blushed.

Apparently, the two Dai Li agents had heard enough as they walked up to Jet. "Come with us, son." one said as he lifted his hand to grab his arm.

But Jet wasn't prepared to give up that easily: he swung his sword at the agent, but he had miscalculated the situation again. The Dai Li agent caught the sword with ease. For a moment, Elyrie wondered why he didn't seem to be hurt, but then she saw that he was using some sort of rock glove.

The two men disarmed Jet and put his arms behind his back, binding his wrists together using the rock gloves as stone cuffs.

"You don't understand, they're Fire Nation!" Jet cried out as they pulled him away, "You have to believe me!"

He sounded desperate and confused, as if he had fallen prey to his delusion. If Elyrie had been a better person, she would have felt sorry for him; but all she could feel now was indifference and relief.

"Are you all right?" Zuko asked as he pulled his eyes from Jet, his voice laced with concern as his fingers went to her neck to see if Jet managed to cut her skin.

For a moment, Elyrie was speechless. He worried about her? "I'm fine!" she stammered again as she felt his soft touch on the delicate skin of her throat, "But you..? Your hand, your arm..?" She placed her hand over his and turned it over so he could see the cut in his palm.

While it wasn't extremely deep, Zuko still frowned when he saw how much blood there was. He looked back in her blue eyes, but she wasn't looking at his face. He followed her gaze to his upper arm and saw that the white fabric was stained with blood. His blood.

"When did this happen?" he asked as he saw Elyrie tear a piece of fabric from her apron. It made him angry that Jet managed to land a blow, but he didn't even feel it. Elyrie didn't answer as she tied the improvised bandage around his bicep to stop the blood flow.

After she was done, Elyrie gently grabbed his good hand and urged him towards the apartment. "Do you mind?" she asked Uncle, who shook his head. "Not at all, take care of him while I close off."

Elyrie gave him a grateful smile before pulling Zuko with her. "Let us through." She said in an authoritative voice as she walked with determined steps towards the crowd.

For a moment, Zuko saw again the person she actually was: not a tea server, but a girl from privilege born amidst servants. It was that air that was enough to make the bystanders part and let them go through.

Zuko followed silently, still trying to relax after his encounter with Jet. How dare he threaten her? Putting a blade around her neck, threating to hurt her if she didn't fight him?

He looked down again at his wounded hand. Had he really pulled the blade away with his bare hands? It sounded pretty stupid now he thought about it. Hadn't Master Piandao taught him to always fight on equal terms?

He looked to his side to Elyrie. She held his good hand as they walked back to their apartment, which luckily was nearby. She took determined steps and was oblivious to his stares, but Zuko couldn't help but look at her.

The fact that she wasn't hurt was enough to justify his action. After all, they had done it for each other before? He had rescued her from Roku's Temple, she had saved him on the North Pole. They had always protected each other, all their lives.

So why was he feeling so confused now? He hadn't thought about it when he had carried her out of the burning Temple, just like he hadn't thought twice about placing himself between her and Jet. It shouldn't feel different, right? So how come it did?

Oblivious to Zuko's internal conflict, Elyrie opened the door to their apartment.

"Sit down." she said, using the same tone as before. Zuko obeyed and saw her going to the closet to search for bandages and other things she could use. When she found what she was looking for, she filled a bowl with water and put a small towel in there.

"You need to-, uhm..." she said as he motioned to his bloody shirt. Zuko arched an amused eyebrow, but took off his apron and shirt without saying anything.

It was impossible to ignore his muscled arms and chest as he took off his shirt. Elyrie's eyes lingered for a moment before she reprimanded herself. Pull yourself together, she said to herself, nothing that you haven't seen before.

Her cheeks turned slightly pink, but she sat down beside him and started cleaning the blood away with a damp towel. She began with the cut on his arm, which needed to be treated first. Zuko hissed in pain when she wiped the towel across his wound. Now that the adrenaline had left his body, he felt the sting of the wounds."That hurts." he grumbled.

She chuckled, and playfully smirked at him. "For such a great fighter, you can be such a baby."

Zuko didn't reply, but took another look at her. Her bun had become partially undone, so a few strands flowed around her face. She moved her head, trying to flip a lock out of the way. With both hands on his bicep to clean the wound, she could not use her hands. Instinctively, he raised his good hand and pushed the strand behind her ear. She smiled gratefully at him, before her cheeks turned even pinker.

With the wound clean, she pressed a wet cloth against his arm and heated it with her firebending. Zuko felt his skin warm up, which helped the clotting of the blood and effectively stopped the bleeding.

"I thought you said we couldn't use our bending?" Zuko asked as he felt her warmth on his skin.

"I also said that it wasn't wise to attract too much attention," she answered pragmatically, "but I guess that went out of the window tonight too."

She pulled away the warm cloth and studied the cut. Now that it had stopped bleeding, she saw that the wound was not as deep as she had feared.

"I don't think you are going to need stitches." Elyrie carefully said as she applied some ointment on her fingers. She started to gently cover his wound as best as she could to prevent infections. She was glad he didn't need stitching, because for some reason she didn't trust her fingers enough to do it right now. For some reason, her hands didn't obey her as good as they did normally - even applying some ointment seemed to be an issue.

"Good." Zuko mumbled. He remembered the needlework she had butchered as a child, so he was glad she wouldn't go anywhere near him with a needle. He watched her face as she began applying the desinfecting ointment to his wound and he almost chuckled when he saw the look on her face: a small wrinkle between her eyebrows, her eyes focused on the task and the tip of her tongue sticking out just a bit in her concentration.

She looked so sweet, so young. How often had he seen her make that face? Every time he showed her a new firebending form; every time she had hunched over a mathematical problem; every time she had begun something she had never done before.

The longer he looked at her face, the more he felt the feeling in his chest grow stronger. The uneasy feeling he had felt whenever she was near was still there, but it seemed to grow stronger every time she did something. It couldn't be that he didn't want to be near her: all he wanted was to be near her.

"All done!" she said, making him snap out of his thoughts. The unusual trembling was getting very irritating, but at least she managed to properly care for his wounds.

With a radiant smile – obviously proud of her work as an improvised nurse – she looked up at him."That wasn't so bad now, was it?" She quipped as she took his palm to take care of the cut on his hand.

Zuko let out a half smile, but didn't really listen to what she was saying. Just hearing the sound of her voice was enough to calm him after the whole ordeal. He had seen her nurse Uncle, but he had never noticed how gentle her touch was. She extended her hand to take his as she carefully cleaned the cut and wrapped the bandage around his palm.

"Remember I did this on Ember Island one time?" she said without looking up, "You had cut your hand on the sharp rocks."

Zuko only nodded; he knew what she was referring to. "It was kind of your fault I got hurt, remember?" he answered as he smiled at the memory, "You dared me to go further in the ocean."

"Oh no, I don't remember that part at all." She answered innocently as she tied the bandage. "Done!"

She stood up and placed the bowl on the kitchen counter. As she gave Zuko a clean shirt, she tried to ignore the fact that she felt some sort of regret that his upper body was covered up again.

She hid her blush as she picked up his ruined shirt. The crimson colour of his blood on the sleeves made her insides squirm again. "Zuko?" she asked as she placed the shirt in a bowl of water, along with the bloodstained towel, "Promise me that you're not going to make it a habit to get hurt because of me." Her tone was seemingly breezy, but she felt her chest constrict when she looked at the pink water in the bowl.

Zuko gazed at her lovely features. His stomach turned when he thought of the possibility that Jet had indeed hurt her. What would he have done without her? Suddenly, he was consumed by a strong desire to take her in his arms.

"Lily, you know as well as I that I'd never make that promise." he said as his good hand took hers.

Elyrie opened her mouth to protest, but she couldn't find her voice as his fingers entangled hers. Her sapphire eyes looked into his golden ones and she suddenly felt a bit faint.

During their friendship, he had looked at her in all sorts of ways: happy, cheerful, annoyed, sarcastic, angry, but never like this. The smouldering intensity in his eyes was something she had never seen before in him. It was filled with passion, filled with determination, filled with admiration, filled with… love.

Her breath hitched when she completed her thought and she pulled away her hand in a reflex.

Zuko raised his eyebrows at her sudden reaction. "Are you all right?" he asked tentatively.

"I'm fine." She said quickly as she turned around, her gaze fixed on the counter, "Just a bit shaken up from tonight."

"I see." Zuko answered impassively. It was obvious he didn't believe her, she could hear it in his tone. But the thing was: she didn't believe it herself either.

"Lily?" Zuko asked behind her, his baritone making a shiver. His tone was almost pleading, so she turned around again, not knowing what to expect as she felt her heart pounding against her ribcage. She tried to avoid his smouldering gaze as she chewed nervously on her lower lip.

Zuko tried to meet her eyes when she turned around again, but she purposefully avoided his look. As she lowered her gaze, the loose strands of hair fell over her round cheeks and the shadows of her eyelashes made them even look longer. After a moment of silence, she lifted her incredibly blue eyes up to meet his eyes.

The soft light of the candles lit up her face in an unnatural, almost otherworldly beauty. Zuko knew she didn't try to look beautiful in the way she stood there, leaning against the kitchen counter in her work attire. She was still wearing her torn apron and her hair had become undone. With no kohl or any form of lipstick, she looked like any other tea server in the city. But she was so incredibly beautiful - so good, so feisty, so sweet - unlike anyone in the entire City, he was sure of that.

He took a step forward as he touched her hand again. He waited for her reaction, but she didn't pull her hand away. Encouraged, he let his hand gently trail to her elbow, up her arm. His hand found her neck and he caressed the soft edge of her cheek with his thumb.

His eyes went to her lips, her beautiful lips. She was so beautiful to him, so precious. The feeling of desire grew: he wanted to take her in his arms, feel her soft skin, run his fingers through her hair and press his lips against hers.

Zuko didn't linger on his thoughts as he followed his body's reaction. Not for the first time did he realise how perfectly she fitted in his arms. But it was more than that: holding her in his arms felt more natural than his own heartbeat. He brought her face closer to his until her lips were mere inches from his own.

"Lily, I-" he said as he saw her close her eyes. He closed his own, lowered his face and then-,

"Are you both alright?" Uncle's voice broke the tension as he opened the door of the small apartment.

Elyrie practically jumped back when she heard the knob turn. "Yes, fine." She squeaked, her voice higher than normal as she felt the edge of the counter bruise her back. She didn't look at Uncle as she felt the heat on her cheeks burning, thinking about what almost had happened.

Iroh looked at Elyrie, who was standing with her back against the counter, her hands clutching the edges until her knuckles turned white.

But she wasn't the one he was worrying about, so he shifted his gaze to his nephew. Zuko had just fought someone, which usually didn't bring out the best in him. Iroh had expected to see him angry, agitated, frustrated: all the things he had been on their journey here. All the things he had seen during his years of banishment, for that matter.

But what he saw in that small apartment was something he didn't think he would ever see; what he never dreamed he would see. Zuko's face was serene, almost blushing. His body was turned in Elyrie's direction, almost shielding her from his view when he came in. When he had announced his arrival, they had jumped back as if they had been stung by bee-hornets, but it wasn't difficult to see he had interrupted something.

Iroh looked surprised and let his gaze go from one to the other. For a moment, he said nothing as he looked at the pair, but then his face split into a broad smile as he said: "Wonderful!"

Can you feel the heat growing? ;)