Zuko was early, the time on his watch reading 5:40. He'd done everything he could to stall himself so he didn't look like a lovestruck turtleduck, but despite his best efforts here he was, town car idling in front of the reserve.
His uncle had immediately commented on his upbeat mood when he'd returned to pick him up that afternoon.
"You seem particularly cheerful compared to this morning, nephew," Iroh had told him, a sly look in his eyes as they drove back to Iroh's apartment.
"Well, Uncle, it's a new day, the sun is out and the air is fresh! What's not to be cheerful about?" Zuko had responded, smiling to himself.
"It is indeed," Iroh chuckled. "I don't suppose your new friend from the water tribes has anything to do with this improvement from this morning?"
Zuko blushed and did his best to keep his eyes on the road. "What? Why would you think Katara has anything to do with it? Who told you something? Was it Song's mom?"
Iroh threw his head back and broke into a roaring laugh. "You just told me, Zuko."
"Oh," he muttered, pulling the car into Iroh's parking space. "Is it really that noticeable?" he asked, sheepishly scratching at the back of his head.
Iroh smiled. "All that I have noticed is that you seem much happier to be here now than you were just a few days ago." Silence, for a moment, then, "So, her name is Katara. What a pretty name for a pretty girl."
"Yeah," Zuko breathed, smiling to himself. "She is a pretty girl. I asked her out for dinner tonight and told her we could go to the Jasmine Dragon. I hope that's okay, uncle. I know you guys have a pretty full schedule usually."
Iroh's eyes widened and his mouth fell open. "Zuko! Why did you not tell me this sooner?"
Zuko turned to his uncle and his face fell. "Uncle, I'm sorry, I didn't think it would be a big deal. If you're all booked out I can find somewhere else to-"
"Somewhere else?!" Iroh cried. "Nonsense, Zuko!" Iroh had pulled out his phone and was pressing buttons furiously, yanking it to his ear.
Zuko had no choice but to sit there in his confusion while the phone rang, a muffled voice answering on the 5th ring.
"Thank you for calling the Jasmine Dragon, home of the finest tea in Ba Sing Se. How can I help you this afternoon?"
"Jin, it is Iroh! I have a bit of a large request to ask of you. If it is too much or the staff is uncomfortable, let me know and I will make the calls myself," Iroh spoke into the flip phone speaker.
The muffled voice responded, "Oh! Iroh, of course. What do you need us to do?"
Iroh glanced briefly over at Zuko and held his hand over the speaker. "Zuko, why don't you go inside and get yourself cleaned up for your date. And speaking of, when did you plan on bringing Miss Katara?"
Zuko was still confused as he answered, "I told her I'd pick her up at 6, but uncle, really, I don't want to cause you any inconvenie-"
"Bah!" Iroh cut him off, "It is never an inconvenience to help the budding seeds of young love grow. Go, go inside now. I'll be in shortly."
Frowning, Zuko climbed out of the car and up the stairs to his uncle's apartment, removing his tie before sitting to wait for his uncle. After 10 minutes had passed, he gave up on waiting and decided to boil water for tea. As the kettle started to whistle, his uncle came bustling into the apartment, a whirlwind of energy.
"Zuko!" he said at once, looking up at the clock on his wall. "Why are you not getting yourself ready? It is almost 4 o'clock already."
Zuko pulled the kettle from the stove and raised an eyebrow at his uncle.
I think he's more excited for my date than I am.
"Uncle, I still have plenty of time. What was that call about anyway?" Zuko asked, pouring water into a mug and dropping a tea bag into the steaming water. He didn't miss Iroh's quick look of disgust at his usage of pre-prepared tea, but Zuko was nowhere near the connoisseur his uncle was at the fine art of hot leaf juice.
"Nevermind what my call was about, it's my business," Iroh stated with a harumph. "Your business should be getting yourself presentable for such a lovely, smart young lady. You still reek of alcohol," he said, pinching his nose for emphasis.
Zuko laughed at this. His uncle was nothing if not an interesting character. "Okay, uncle. I'll go get ready. But you still need to tell me what all that was about. I don't want you going to a bunch of trouble just for me to impress a girl."
"Nonsense," Iroh waved him off. "It is no trouble for me to help my nephew make a good second impression. You're lucky enough that your antics last night did not scare her off. Now go!"
"Okay, uncle, I'm going!" Zuko conceded, chuckling to himself as he strolled into the bathroom.
He'd taken an extra long shower, spent more time than he ever had on skimming through his black and red wardrobe. He'd even tried to comb and gel his hair before giving up and resigning himself to a shaggy head.
Yet still, he was early. His uncle had disappeared somewhere between his shower and his hair styling, leaving a note that only said he'd called a taxi and would see Zuko later.
He spent the remaining 20 minutes fingering the details on the blue stone necklace - Katara's necklace. He barely remembered how it had looked on her the night before, and he was excited to be the one to put it on her tonight.
With a sigh of relief as his phone alarm went off, announcing that it was time to pick up his date, he exited the car and made his way over to the apartment door he'd seen her in front of earlier.
Taking a deep breath, he gave three knocks on the door. His heart leapt when he heard the latch click, but fell when the door opened to reveal Song's face. The zookeeper's eyes widened when she saw him and she turned her head to look back into the room quickly before sliding outside and closing the door behind her.
"She's not ready yet, almost though," Song informed him, awkwardly looking everywhere but at his face.
"Oh, okay," Zuko replied, also trying to find things to look at. He cleared his throat before speaking again. "Listen, Song, about last night -"
"Don't even worry about it," Song interjected, sighing and bringing herself to look him in the eyes. "Katara already told me you apologized. No hard feelings."
That's a relief. But she spoke again, startling him for a moment.
"But you better believe me when I say, if you hurt her I have a whole exhibit of Saber Tooth Moose Lions that can clean an entire carcass in 10 minutes flat," she threatened, poking a finger into his chest.
His golden eyes widened for a moment before he broke into a smile. "I believe you, and I get the message loud and clear. I really like Katara, though, and I hope I never have to end up on a Missing Persons newsletter. If she feels the same way, I'd like to keep her in my life for awhile."
Song's face broke into a longing expression. "Oh that is just so disgustingly romantic. Okay, I'll let her know you're waiting." Without another word, she turned and slid back into the apartment, leaving Zuko to wait outside. He turned his back to the apartment, whistling a tune to himself and taking in the evening view. He noticed a man standing aways off, across the street from the reserve. He'd been there since Zuko arrived, but he tried not to make anything out of it.
If he had to, Zuko was a skilled bender and martial artist, and evidently his date was quite the prodigy fighter as well.
His daydream of Katara freezing Jet to a wall was interrupted when he heard the latch on the door click again, and this time he did let his jaw drop at the sight of the blue eyed beauty.
The night before she'd worn a casual but cute sweater and jeans. Tonight, she wore a form fitting long sleeve dress that hugged her body, the hem ending just above her knees. It was a dark, sparkling navy blue, with a deep scooping chest. Her hair was brushed to one side and pinned, tumbling in loose waves over her shoulder.
"Wow," he breathed.
She blushed and shyly peeked up at him through thick lashes.
Well, Zuko. I think you just fell in love.