Author's Note: Hi there, I hope you enjoy the story so far, and please review. It is greatly appreciated.
Earth Kingdom, near Ba Sing Se, 100 AC
Mori stood on deck of the ferry that was carrying her and her companions over Full Moon Bay. Disgusted she looked down on what these people called food. Zuko was standing next to her, a similar bowl in his hand and a similar expression on his face. The only one enjoying himself was the former general, "Who would have thought, after all these years, I'd return to the scene of my greatest military disgrace as a tourist!"
His uncle could be really annoying, especially now with his good mood, he even had a flower hat on. So, Zuko had to intervene, "Look around. We're not tourists, we're refugees.", he took a sip from his bowl, spit it out and threw it away, "Ugh! I'm sick of eating rotten food, sleeping in the dirt. I'm tired of living like this!"
A brown-haired boy approached them, a smirk on his face, "Aren't we all? My name's Jet and these are my Freedom fighters. Smellerbee and Longshot.", a younger girl with war paint on her face greeted them, while a silent boy with a conical hat just nodded. A thought shot through Mori's brain, Freedom Fighters? Freedom from what?
"Here's the deal,", Jet continued, "I hear the captain's eating like a king while the refugees have to feed off his scraps. Doesn't seem fair, does it?", Mori thought, there you have it, scrap the freedom thing, he's just a robber.
Her Sifu asked, "What sort of king is he eating like?"
Jet answered, "The fat, happy kind. You want to help us 'liberate' some food?"
To Mori's surprise, Zuko quickly responded, "I'm in.", as Jet smirked, Mori looked after them with a worried expression. If something failed, they would be in serious trouble. Couldn't Zuko have dealt with the situation just a little longer? She sat down next to Iroh, waiting for the banished prince's return.
After a while they really came back with a good amount of decent looking food. They sat down together and ate. Iroh decided to make some small talk, "So, Smellerbee. That's an unusual name for a young man."
The girl reacted like she had been hit, "Maybe it's because I'm not a man… I'm a girl!" and started to walk away. Mori let her head fall into her hands. She didn't know if she should laugh or cry.
Iroh at least had the decency to call out to the girl, "Oh, now I see. It's a beautiful name for a lovely girl!"
Mori looked sideways at Zuko and whispered, "Please kill me.", earning her just a chuckle from the prince. The boy named Longshot went after Smellerbee.
Jet came closer to Mori and Zuko, "from what I've heard, people eat like this every night in Ba Sing Se. I can't wait to set my eyes on that giant wall."
Iroh smiled at him, "It is a magnificent sight.", Mori was afraid, the old man could blow their cover now, but reminded herself that trusting in her Sifu had always been the right decision.
"So, you've been there before?", Jet asked curiously.
Iroh nodded, "Once. When I was a different man."
"I've done some things in my past that I'm not proud of, but that's why I'm going to Ba Sing Se: for a new beginning. A second chance. Who knows, maybe with a beautiful maiden at my side?", he ended in winking at Mori, just a little too obviously. She stopped in her tracks, the spoon halfway between her plate and her mouth, staring at the other teen in shock.
Zuko was just as surprised. Did this guy just…? "Yeah, and maybe not so much.", he snapped angrily, putting an arm around Mori in a protective move.
The smirk on Jet's face vanished, "Come on, man. What relationship do you have with her anyway? I didn't see that you're romantically involved, are you? I mean, no kissing, no hugging, no holding hands, you two don't even seek privacy, so you can't really just claim her."
Mori wanted to protest, her mouth already opened, but was interrupted by an angry Fire Nation prince. "She's… my fiancé. And as you know we're refugees, we have different problems than seeking privacy.", Mori had to control herself not to spit out the tea she just sipped. His fiancé? What on earth was he thinking? She felt her heart racing and her cheeks burning. She was sure her head was red like chili peppers.
A little while later, they got rid of the dirty dishes by then, Zuko suddenly grabbed Mori's arm and pulled her with him. He stopped at the railing and leaned against it. "What is it?", the blue-eyed girl asked out of breath.
Zuko pulled her in a hug and buried his face in her neck. Mori froze for a moment, before she hugged back. She heard him whisper, "Just play along, okay?", as she noticed Jet standing in some distance. Zuko suddenly pulled away from the hug and cupped her face, smiling at her. Mori smiled back at the rare sight but let out a surprised yelp as he kissed her. After a brief moment she closed her eyes and kissed him back. Remembering to "play along" she ran her hand through his short hair and grabbed some of it, pulling him closer. He put his arms around her waist. Mori sighed happily as his tongue demanded entrance at her lips, this couldn't be all just show, could it?
Zuko felt like a firework was exploding in his head. He couldn't believe that he did bring the courage to kiss her, even more, that she kissed him back. Sadly, he thought, for her it was most likely all theater. He was pretty sure that she just did it to not blow their covers. But here he was with her in his arms, determined to enjoy this theater as long as possible.
Finally, they broke the kiss, both breathing heavily. They smiled at each other, as Mori put her forehead against his. She whispered in his ear, "That came a little bit unexpected, Zuko."
He smiled at her, pulling her into a hug again, he began stroking her head, "I hope it was not too unpleasant.", Zuko ended his sentence with a kiss on her forehead.
Mori blushed. Looking up to him she noticed that he was blushing too. Leaning into his hug she said, "No, it was not unpleasant at all."
They stood there for a few moments longer, refusing to let go of each other. Mori enjoyed the warmth of his hug as a wave of happiness washed over her and she forgot the whole war and everything else. In this moment, nothing was important to her, except for being held by him. Then the ferry came to a sudden halt, causing both to stumble a few steps backwards and finally falling to the ground. Zuko was just quick enough to put his arms around her head and neck, so she wouldn't fall as hard, and both gasped for air. Out of breath he asked, "Mori, are you okay?"
Mori blinked a few times before answering, "I guess, but could you lift yourself from me? I can't get any air.", suddenly the banished prince got aware that he was indeed laying on top of her and blushed wildly, standing up nearly as fast as he fell. Mori raised a bit slower, brushing the dirt off her robe. "I think, we just arrived. We should look for your uncle."
The old man looked at them questioningly once they found him, "Where were you two?", causing both teenagers to blush and look to the ground, away from each other, "We could have lost each other. Anyway, I packed everything, and here are out passports, nephew. We'll need to get through the ticket control, then we're going to take a train that will bring us to the lower ring.", thus, they departed from the ferry and walked over to a train station. The place was buzzing with other refugees.
Iroh took out his and Zuko's passports once they reached the ticket stall. In it waited an elderly lady with a mole on her cheek, she seemed in a rather bad mood, "So, Mr. Lee and Mr. ummm… Mushy, is it?"
The former general smiled at her, "It's pronounced Mushi.", which annoyed the Ticket Lady.
"You telling me how to do my job?", she snared at him.
Iroh's attitude visibly changed as he cooed, "Uh, no, no. But may I just say you're like a flower in bloom. Your beauty is intoxicating."
The Ticket Lady's mood instantly changed to flirty, "You're pretty easy on the eyes yourself, handsome. Raorr! Welcome to Ba Sing Se.", she purred as she stamped the tickets.
Mori had to suppress her laugh, while Zuko reacted disgusted, "I'm going to forget I saw that.", he snapped on his uncle, taking his ticket.
Then it was Mori's turn. She fished her passport out of her backpack and laid it on the counter. The Ticket Lady was still in a good mood, thanks to her Sifu. "Ooh,", she said, "How exotic! So, Ms. Kemori, yes?", Mori nodded, "What drives someone from that far away to Ba Sing Se? Let me guess, eyes on the prize, huh?", the woman motioned with her head in Zuko's direction as Mori smiled at her nervously. The Ticket Lady stamped her ticket and just as the girl walked away, she heard the woman calling out behind her, "Go, get him, girl!", causing her to blush wildly.
They all sat down on a bench, waiting for their train, Mori in between the two men. Suddenly they were approached by Jet. The Freedom Fighter sat down next to Zuko, "Hey, I just wanted to say, I'm sorry for what I said on that ferry. I didn't mean to steal your girl or something.", Zuko unintentionally grabbed Mori's hand, her surprised gaze shooting towards him. The brown-haired boy continued, "Anyway, so, you guys got plans once you're inside the city?"
A tea seller was walking through the station, "Get your hot tea here! Finest tea in Ba Sing Se!", immediately Mori knew what would happen. Just as expected, her Sifu's hand shot up, "Ooh! Jasmine please. Mori, would you like one too?", she just shook her head, but smiled at the old man.
As soon as her Sifu tasted the tea he grimaced and spit out, "Coldest tea in Ba Sing Se is more like it! What a disgrace!", causing Mori to giggle. Her attention then shifted back to the two boys.
She heard Jet say, "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?", and saw Zuko walk off a few meters with him. Curiously she tried to make out what they were talking about but couldn't hear a thing. Slightly worried what this guy was up to she kept a close eye on them though. Apparently, Zuko was rejecting something, he turned back rather rapidly.
Suddenly his eyes widened. But his gaze was not on her, but slightly to the side. Mori turned around to see her Sifu enjoying a hot cup of tea. Tea that was a moment before cold. He must've firebended it warm, she realized. That her Sifu would slip at something like that shocked her for a long moment. Meanwhile, Zuko walked up to him and slapped the cup out of his uncle's hand. The old man wanted to protest, but the prince cut him off, "What are you doing, firebending your tea? For a wise, old man, that was a pretty stupid move!", Mori agreed, although she would've chosen friendlier words. She looked at them with great worry in her eyes.
In a tear-filled voice her Sifu said, "I know you're not supposed to cry over spilled tea, but it's just so sad!", to Mori's relief a voice echoed through the station, "Last call for Ba Sing Se!".
Quickly she stood up and motioned for both of them to follow her into the train. As to prevent him from doing something stupid again, Zuko and Mori sat each on one side of Iroh. Another group, three adults with a seemingly newborn baby sat down next to her. Iroh had noticed it too. As the train began moving, he leaned over Mori towards the infant and stroke it a little, "What a handsome baby, isn't it, Mori?"
She smiled at him and then at mother and child, "It certainly is, Sifu. May I ask, what is its name?"
The mother smiled at both of them, "Thank you. Her name is Hope."
"That is a very beautiful name. Congratulations.", Mori spent a good deal of their train ride talking to the woman, whose name was Ying.
After a while a conductor appeared. Ying turned to Mori, who already had her ticket readied, "Would you hold her for a moment? I need to find my ticket."
Mori smiled, "Sure, no problem.", and took the infant in her arms. It looked at her with big eyes. She cuddled it and rocked it slightly, until it cracked a tiny smile.
Iroh elbowed Zuko in the side, "Look, nephew."
Zuko hadn't paid attention to the whole infant situation. Children of strangers didn't interest him. But as his uncle told him, he now looked to the side, instantly loosing himself in the picture before him. Mori sat there, the smiling infant securely in her arms, with the widest smile he had ever seen on her, her black hair, tanned skin and green robe bathed in the golden-orange light of the sunset.
He remembered a talk they had back when they were children, maybe about ten or eleven years old. He had just escaped one of his sister's "pranks", which had left him covered in slime. He fled over to his uncle's house. The old man was not at home, but Mori was. She had helped him clean himself and now they sat in the garden with some watermelon juice. "Bah! I never want to have kids.", the boy said angrily.
Mori had raised an eyebrow at that, "You know, if you're parents would have thought like that, you wouldn't be here either. Besides, as crown prince, having kids is like part of your job. You know, line of succession and stuff.".
He looked over to her, "But what if they're like Azula? Shouldn't I spare the world of more people like her?"
The girl laughed at him, "who said that your kids would be like her? They're more likely to be like you or whoever poor woman you marry."
Zuko looked at her questioningly, "Don't tell me you want kids. Isn't that so much of an inconvenience for a woman, I mean, it's almost a year where you can't bend that much and also, there's a risk of dying in childbirth and such."
Mori smiled at his worries as she rolled up to her feet, "Nah, you can hardly unlearn firebending. It's like when you know how to play Pai Sho and don't do it for a long time, you'd probably need a bit of a refreshing, but then it works as usual. And concerning the risk of dying, well, yes, it is there, but there are also healers, midwives and so on. You can minimize it. Also, there's the risk of drowning in the garden pond.", the girl shrugged her shoulders, "So, in conclusion, yes, I do want children someday. Plenty of them. I think, it would be fun. With the right man, of course.", he only snuffed at that.
His vision cleared when she turned her head and looked into his eyes. Their eyes locked and he smiled back at her, thinking to himself how beautiful she was. Then she looked away, chuckling to herself, before she gave the infant back to her mother.
A while later they finally arrived in the lower ring. Iroh managed to get himself and Zuko a job, while Mori had searched for a fitting apartment. Afterwards, she searched for a job as well, quickly finding some merchants in need of someone running all kinds of errands for them.
When she caught up with her companions, she saw that Iroh was carrying a vase with flowers. Zuko seemed pretty angry about it, the old man said in defense of himself, "I just want our place to look nice, in case someone brings home a lady friend!", nudging his nephew's side with his elbow. They went on talking, Zuko getting more and more annoyed, while Mori walked a few steps behind them, thinking, and I am not considered a "lady friend"? She was somehow saddened, that apparently neither one of them seemed to put her in that category. Sighing, she followed them to their new apartment. From the corner of her eye, she saw Jet, he seemed up to something, she would need to be careful around him.
Mori loved the flexibility that her new job granted her, it gave her the opportunity to explore the city and also to spend her lunch and any other breaks at Pao's tea shop, where Iroh and Zuko worked. Some days she saw Jet hanging around the tea shop. She eyed him carefully, but since he didn't do anything, she wouldn't also.
When she came home one day, she was greeted by her Sifu as usual, "Hello Mori, would you like to share a pot of tea with me, as my nephew has already declined?"
She laughed and nodded. She saw Zuko laying on a bed, mumbling to himself, "We've been working in a tea shop all day! I'm sick of it."
Iroh went over that comment nonchalantly, "Say, have you seen the spark rocks? I can't seem to find them.", Zuko shook his head.
Mori was slightly uncomfortable suddenly, she felt the urge to do something, so she stood up again, "Don't bother searching, I'll go and ask the neighbors.", she went outside and looked up to a window. She saw nothing but had the feeling that there was someone. Someone who maybe had their spark rocks. Distracting herself from her suspicions she went over to the neighbors, and they lent them their spark rocks generously.
"Ah, such kind people.", her Sifu said as she returned.