Disclaimer: I don't own anything here except OC!

Rekindling

Chapter 4

You've got it all
You lost your mind in the sound
There's so much more
You can reclaim your crown
You're in control
Rid of the monsters inside your head
Put all your faults to bed
You can be king again

(King, Lauren Aquilina)

Hong Zuko might not have been his father's favored offspring, but he was Ozai's son, nonetheless.

And because of his heritage and the expectations balanced atop his head, he stood as his father's representative in a number of meetings more than his hands could count, and although his sister had greater share in participation albeit with considerably praiseworthy results, he was never one to shy away from going head to head with the big shot executives of China. Even at a very young age, he had stood proudly, wearing his family's name like a badge on his chest, negotiating his terms and expertly swinging the tables around to their favour.

By the standards of ordinary men, he could've been dubbed as successful and far more fulfilled than other people his age, but compared to his sister, his performance was nothing but lackluster and insignificant.

Zuko caught himself right there, shaking his head and pressing the thoughts about Azula in the deepest recesses of his mind. He didn't need anything that would shrink his self-esteem. Especially not now when he was about to do the unthinkable.

"Uhh... What did you say was that woman's order again?"

He stiffened for a second and liquified just as fast, whipping around with a scowl already sewn on his face. "Weren't you listening when I was listing them down, Korra?"

The dark-skinned part-timer raised the wooden tray in front of her face like a shield. "Sorry! I was cleaning some spilled coffee when you were telling me."

"And whose mess was it you were cleaning?"

To her credit, Korra had the decency to look embarrassed, looking anywhere else but his face. Amongst his three part-timers, Korra was the most experienced, having started earlier than the two brothers Mako and Bolin. She was most of the time efficient in how she did her job, except now. He didn't know whether it had something to do with the argument he accidentally overheard between the brothers just the other day.

Zuko eyed the seemingly sulking teen and shrugged, deciding to just mercifully drop it for once. "Oolong and Chrysanthemum. Brown sugar at the side."

Korra nodded eagerly. "I'll get it. Thanks, Lee."

He waved at her to get on with it before removing the black apron and hanging it by his locker. Zuko waited for Korra's footsteps to fade away for a few seconds. Satisfied that no one would be disturbing him anymore, he adjusted the cuff that hugged his wrist, ran his hand twice through his jet black hair and let out a sigh.

He steeled his willpower forward and whispered to himself, "Uncle, I'm about to do it."

Before he could back down and chicken out again, Zuko forced his legs to move and made his way to the pantry where the woman who's been occupying his mind was. Her back was turned to him as she counted the rows of paper cups stacked in the cabinet, unsuspecting of the presence behind her. He took the precious few seconds rethinking his words, all the while reminding himself that he was—had been the heir to Agni Enterprises. He had faced off with men and women far more daunting and intimidating than her. As a matter of fact, she was like a meek rabbit compared to ferocious beasts whom he had no problem conversing with before.

No, he wasn't nervous.

There was no need to be nervous. He could and would do this.

"Uh..."

Yane jumped slightly like she was struck with a mild ground. Turning around, she looked surprised to see him standing through the doorway and the sight of her full profile successfully singed his brain circuits. He barely registered her walking towards him while she looked behind him.

"Yeah?" she asked, still checking behind his back. "What's up, Zuko?"

"What are you doing?" he blurted out randomly, disoriented either from the sudden hijacking of his brain or because she had called him by his name again. It was a treat to him, since she had always been forced to call him 'Lee' with all the people around them. If he knew better, it was almost like she was well-aware of the effect it had on him and was advertently using it to her advantage.

She raised her eyebrows when he kept his quiet, and only then did he notice that he had been staring. Creepily, if he might describe it. Zuko barely resisted the urge to smack his palm square on his forehead as he looked away. He ignored the heat in his ears and cheeks and silently begged that she wouldn't notice it.

"Checking our inventory like I usually do at the end of the shift?" she said with a voice that hinted at how utterly confused she was with his question. "You okay?"

"Oh, great. Just fine."

She crossed her arms. "Zuko..."

"You're free tomorrow, right?" he interrupted. "It's your day off, and you didn't mention about going anywhere since you told me you wanted to take a rest."

"Yes?" Yane replied with a questioning tone, no doubt unsure where this was going.

"You, uh, want to do an activity together?" Sokka's old anecdote about asking a girl out spoke through him, much to his horror.

There was an abrupt and deafening silence that followed the aftermath of his sorry attempt to ask her out, the atmosphere plummeting as though someone had been struck by lightning. He failed. And that wasn't even the worst part yet.

Yane stood there like a frozen statue, and Zuko worried that she had malfunctioned with the way her eyes seemed to flicker like the on and off lights he watched in horror movies. He didn't even know what it meant. She just stood there. Looking at him. Mouth slightly agape.

He groaned loudly before he could even keep himself from embarrassing himself further, wishing he could just beat his head against the nearest wall. He was about to turn and end his misery when her hand shot out to his arm.

He dared to look back at her and instantly regretted it when he found her dark pools of obsidian stare through his whole being.

Slowly, as if he was a child, she asked, "Did you just ask me out on a date?"

Zuko narrowed his good eye to match his permanently squinted one, towering over her in a pathetic attempt to look intimidating. He guessed he only succeeded in completing his whole idiot get-up because a ghost of grin was now taking a more solid form on her face.

"What if I did?" he muttered in a challenging tone.

Her breath hitched, and he wouldn't have noticed it if he had blinked for a second. Yane's hand fell limply by her side, her eyes now fixated on her shoes like they were more interesting than him right now. It hadn't occurred to him that she might take it negatively. Zuko had been so preoccupied in coming up with the best way to ask, to avoid looking like a total loser in front of her, but her feelings had never once crossed his mind.

Yane knew his past like the surface of a deep lake, but he knew next to nothing about her.

He screwed up. Again.

Scratching the back of his neck, he said softly, "You don't have to if you don't want to."

She lifted her chin up with an unreadable glimmer in her eyes, her lips still slightly parted. Yane scratched her arm uneasily, a habit she was fond of whenever she was put on a tight spot. The internal struggle was clearly visible in the way she fidgeted under his gaze, and the silence set him into an uncomfortable position. Suddenly, he was made aware that they were alone in the most secluded room in the tea shop, with nothing but a few inches of space between them.

Yane broke through his distressed reverie when she chuckled under her breath. She shook her head as if in disbelief and, "Are you sure about this?"

"Of course, I am," he said, almost too gruff than he intended.

He expected her to ask more questions, like why, why now, and why her. He wasn't exactly a good guy towards her, and knowing the type of personality she had—bubbly but timid dissolved together in a complementary mixture—he could only guess that she'd be more open to dating someone gentle, sweet and light-hearted.

Everything he wasn't.

So when she let out another skittish laughter, this time more audible and carefree, he felt a knot in chest loosen by a hundredfold. He never thought that the sound of someone's laughter could be this therapeutic.

"Okay, then," she replied with a huge smile. She wiggled her eyebrows and then lifted a finger in front of him, "Just make sure to not fall in love with me too fast, okay?"

"Don't dream about it," he grumbled jokingly as she went back to work, a dirty finger now raised by her side.

He felt his own lips quirk up a fraction of an inch.

She had insisted that they meet in the restaurant.

He didn't know what to think of that since he was used to picking Mai up from her home whenever they went out on a date. He had insisted, but she, too, was stubborn with her idea of them just meeting up in a said place. Zuko had wanted to probe more but decided to just let it be.

For now.

He just couldn't place the note of suspicion in his head, telling him that she was hiding something. Zuko pushed the glass door open, and the sight of her beaming face automatically erased all the questions that'd been keeping him up all night. The soft hum in his chest was unmistakable, and he traced back in time to figure out when it was exactly that he started feeling this way towards his colleague.

"Have you been waiting long?" he asked as he slid over his seat across her.

Yane wore a beige cardigan over her mint top. The combination of the colors of her get-up and her hair painted a picture of autumn in his mind. This wasn't the first time he saw her out of her usual monochrome uniform, or her occasional female hanfu costume. She's worn casual clothing several times already, but this felt more special. He wasn't sure if it was all just in his head, but the thought that she was dressing up for him made his face a degree warmer.

"Nah," she waved dismissively. "I arrived only a few minutes earlier than you."

"Do you have an order already?" Zuko eyed the menu resting under his elbow.

"Oh no, I'm actually having a hard time choosing. There's so much stuff here. So figured I'll just wait for you so we could, maybe, buy something for sharing?"

He skimmed through the list of American dishes which were already familiar to him. He's been here once before, when Sokka had invited the gang to the place because 'they serve legit, genuine meat'. Until now, he had no idea what 'legit, genuine meat' entailed, but he had agreed with his old pal back then. The restaurant's steak did not disappoint.

"Do you eat anything?" Zuko asked for precaution as he raised an arm to call the waiter's attention.

"Anything except internal organs," she replied with a funny face.

"But you're a doctor," he pointed out.

"But they taste disgusting," she argued and stuck her tongue out. "Oh, and if you ordering steak, please make it well-done. I don't like bloody stuff."

He shook his head and scoffed, "Weakling."

She quietly waited for him to make his orders to the waiter, occasionally checking her phone or looking out. Yane jerked a little when he returned his attention towards her, tiny action making him frown. It wasn't as if he hadn't noticed her being stiffer than usual, a reminiscence of her older self when she had started working in the tea shop. The thought of returning back to square one irritated him, much as it had whenever she had timidly regarded him back before they had started to form a bond.

Zuko wondered for a split second then whether he was behaving normally, or oddly like her.

"Why are you like that?" he couldn't help but ask, and just as the words had come out, he immediately regretted them.

"Like what?" she asked.

No turning back now. "Like this," he gestured. "You used to be like this to me. I get that you were scared of me before. But now, you act like... like I don't know—nervous?"

An indecipherable look passed her expression, something that made him ease a bit because it was definitely a spark of her real self. Yane scratched her cheek and admitted, "Because I am. I don't go out on dates often."

He furrowed his brow. "This is your first?"

"No, of course not," she shot back, slightly offended. "But I've only ever gone out with one guy."

One guy? Now that was intriguing. Not to be judgmental, but in Yane's age, most women had usually dated more than one man at least. He shook off the thought a few seconds after. Yane wasn't the usual woman. He knew she was different from the moment she had first entered the tea shop in her dress shirt and black apron. Still, Zuko couldn't help himself from wondering if there was more to her answer than it was.

As he was quietly contemplating asking her, she tucked a hand under her chin and asked, "Well, since we're already talking about it. What about you? Do you often go out on dates?"

From the corner of his eye, he watched her other hand reach for the handle of her cup—an apprehensive gesture, still. He chose to ignore it this time. "Before Mai, I met with a couple of ladies for work. I arranged dinners with them to get to know how they think in the lines of business and work. Gather information about their firms, at the same time, I try to get on their good sides. It works most of the time—"

He faded midway his sentence as realization washed upon him like a cold shower. What was he thinking? Telling her all these things that painted him as a manipulative bastard. She wasn't part of the business world. Someone like her wouldn't understand it the way people like him did.

"I—" he started as he rubbed the back of his head unconsciously.

"I don't think those count as dates, though," she laughed it off. "I'm talking about real dates. Like going out because you want to get to know each other, or enjoy each other's company."

Oh.

"A girl invited me once," Zuko shrugged after giving it a thought. "Jin frequented Jasmine Dragon twice a week and always ordered nai cha. I also had lunch with a Korean girl. Song owns a small inn a few blocks from our shop. They serve the most delicious curry I've ever tasted."

Just when he started wondering if he'd shared too much, she hummed, "They invited you out? Well, no question there."

"What's that supposed to mean?" he demanded jokingly as the waiter placed their plates on the table.

"Thank you," Yane smiled politely at the waiter before shifting back to him. "I mean, you are good-looking and all, even when you're as grumpy as a menopausal woman."

Torn between feeling flattered and insulted, he kept his mouth shut for her to continue as he began slicing the slab of beef in front of him. Focusing on the steaming gravy made it somewhat easy to keep his face from reddening. Yane looking away also helped him with that.

"How did it go?"

Zuko transferred a slice of the beef on her plate. "Good. I mostly went because of Wu's constant nagging of me to get a life outside the tea shop. But I had a good time."

"You didn't pursue any of them?"

"I wasn't over Mai at that time," he replied honestly. "I felt like it was unfair to them if I tried to keep up with a relationship I know I can't give my whole self to."

She dropped her eyes just as he lifted his to gauge her reaction. She opened her mouth, but instead of responding, she shoved two pieces of fries in it and chewed slowly, obviously trying to stall.

"Then, this—" she twirled her finger in imaginary circles encompassing them both. "This, uhm, this dating—wait, this is a date, right?"

He raised his brow. "It is," he confirmed, then sighed. "Look, I know what you're thinking. You're different. No one forced me to ask you. I wanted to. And I know it doesn't seem like it, but I'm getting over Mai. I think I might be already."

It was her turn to arch her brows in a show of doubt as he silently wondered whether those words that just came out of his mouth had spoken the truth or not.

He placed his knife down and urged himself to say, "I wouldn't have asked you out if I'm still in love with her."

"Whoah, there, cowboy," Yane raised her hands up. "I'm not asking you to get over her, or anything like that. I just want to make sure that this date isn't forced, like you've said. The last thing I want to be is to become a rebound case that you put on your wound like a bandaid, because that will definitely suck... and hurt."

He narrowed his good eye to match his burnt one. "Where'd you get that idea?"

"Just a thought."

"Get it out of your pretty head," he favored her an irate scowl and stabbed the meat with more than adequate force as if it had offended him. "I'm sure of this. I'm willing to try again, and this time, I don't want to mess up."

He took the beef in his mouth and chewed with a frustration of which he didn't know the source of. The savory taste quelled his rising temper, and he kept on eating until he noticed that Yane had not responded to him at all.

Swallowing, he flickered his gaze to the girl in question, who, to his surprise, was staring back at him with something akin to awe—yet another thing he wasn't used to seeing people wear in front of him. She smiled widely at him when she finally caught his glance, a reddish blush brightening up her cheeks and ears.

"Didn't I tell you not to fall in love with me on the first date?" Yane teased cheekily despite looking quite embarrassed herself.

Zuko cocked his chin smugly. "Shouldn't I be the one telling you that?"

Yane made a show of dramatically rolling her eyes and heaved an equally dramatic sigh. Resorting instead to keep her quiet and what was left of her reputation, she busied herself with cutting the steak. But to his utter childish glee, the blush in her face never left up until they finished their food and decided to leave.

"And I think if you meet him, there's totally going to be war because you're both impatient and hot-headed, and no offense, because you do have pretty good muscles—"

How shameless could this girl get?

"—but I think he'll take you down with one move."

Instead of getting rightly offended with her words, Zuko chuckled under his breath as he placed a hand on her shoulder to steer her away from the hurried woman twice her size bulldozing past them. He could see the tint of sunset bathing her face and hair, accentuating her scarlet locks as they made their way to the staircase.

He couldn't believe that the day was already ending. Zuko never knew that time could fly that fast to a point that she had to remind him that she needed to go home by sundown. He had teased her about strict parents but Yane had shrugged the joke off and said she had some chores to do.

They had spent their time walking around the nearby bazaar she had wanted to go to and had bought a couple of dresses and tops on sale. He had wanted to see her try some of them on, but to his disappointment, places like these had few dressing rooms and most of the time, according to her, they were packed. Zuko would've started to get bored by the time they had reached the fourth stall but she had kept up with her lively anecdotes about her home, her friends and her career.

At one point, she had stopped midway her blabbering and had glanced his way to ask about his friends and family. The unease in her face told him everything, because even if he had already opened up a bit to her about his background, the topic of his past was still a taboo to him. As usual, Zuko had playfully nudged at her side and had told her to drop it. Talking about his failures in the past was just going to kill the mood, after all.

"How'd you know I have good muscles?" he asked, curious.

"I mean I can see your arms when you wear the short-sleeve uniform, right?" she stated like it was obvious.

"But I can't take on your favorite coffee and tea shop owner."

"That's 'cause he was an ex-criminal turned police operative, then retired to manage a cafe. So, I think he's quite well-versed with all sorts of martial arts. Like the moves you see in action movies."

He walked her to the ticket machine. "Isn't that dangerous?"

"Beats me," she grinned as she tapped on the touch screen to choose her destination and refill her card.

Turning sharply to her, Zuko was about to berate her nonchalance over hanging out in a coffee shop owned by thug when a thought occurred to him.

"You said you went to Teiko Middle School?"

Yane procured her now loaded card before meeting his gaze. "Yes."

"Do you know someone by the name of Akashi?"

She blinked, then nodded. "Yeah. He was our student council president. Also our batch valedictorian. Why?"

"You weren't friends with him?"

"Friends, yeah." she said. "But we weren't that close. Wait, why do you know Akashi-kun?"

Said redhead's face flashed through his memories, and the most vivid of the images he had of Akashi Seijuro was the way his magenta irises had reflected the same sentiments he had kept on his own. Zuko had only talked with him briefly for a business contract, but he could remember it as clear as the day.

The banished heir wasn't sure if he had just imagined it back then, but somehow, he knew that the younger Akashi was like him in some aspects. He wasn't certain whether he was right or wrong.

"I met him and his father in one of our meetings. Usually, it was just his dad, but I saw him once when I came to Japan for a deal."

"Oh? You've been to Japan?" Yane piped up excitedly, walking towards the toll gates.

"Once," he shrugged.

They stopped a few meters from the gates. Yane lifted her head to look at him, the traces of her smile now only visible in her eyes.

"See you at work?" she chirped.

"I guess," he replied, his voice a little scratchy, he noted.

"Thanks for today, Zuko," her eye-smile reached her lips this time. "I had so much fun."

He rewarded her with a half-smirk as she waved at him and started to move. His gaze lingered on her back when suddenly he remembered.

"Yane, wait," he called out. She swivelled around and caught sight of the paper bag he lifted in front of her. "You forgot your stuffed toy."

It could've been just a trick of the eye, or another of his imagination, but he saw it—her eyes brimming abruptly with a multitude of emotions that came fast in a blur. The train behind her zoomed past, blowing her hair to her face and obscuring her eyes from his view. He swore he saw her posture go rigid as she shifted her gaze from the package to his face. Her expressions stilled, and before he knew it, she was making her way back to him.

"What's the matter—"

"Zuko," Yane intoned. Something in her voice told him she wasn't just going to thank him for reminding her of her stuff. She took in some air and released it in a melancholic sigh, her eyes now shut tightly.

"What's the matter?" he repeated, more urgently this time.

"There's something I haven't told you," she said and dropped her eyes. "You've been honest with me about your life and your real identity. You... asked me out on a date." She smiled, pained but still sweet. "And I don't know if it's just me, but I'd want to go out again—"

"We will," he interrupted her. "I'm going to ask you out again, and—"

"No, listen," Yane was the one who cut him off this time. There was steel in her voice which knocked him off guard. "That's why I want you to know something about me. Something I've also kept from all of you."

He gulped and realized that his throat had gone uncomfortably dry.

"Can you come home with me?" she said as she pried off the paper bag from his hand. "I need to show you something."

~ O ~

Yane had been quiet all throughout their trip, her eyes always averted to anywhere else but his own, questioning ones. Zuko was impressed, least to say. Ignoring his searching stare when they had been standing face to face for almost half an hour wasn't an easy farce.

The bullet they were on wasn't full, but there were no free seats. Yane had taken her position, leaning next to the door with Zuko securing their spot. People jostled their way into the train whenever the doors slid open and he had to make sure that her small frame would be spared from being accidentally squished into a mass of bodies way taller than her.

He had been a bit uncomfortable with their close proximity, but Yane did not seem to mind. That or she did a good job keeping a straight face as she continued to stare, unseeingly, at anything behind him.

A few more minutes and they finally arrived at their station. The walk from the station to her home only took about five minutes, and he had been half-expecting her to start talking to at least disturb the stale air that was hanging dead around them. But it was only when she stopped walking, in front of what he assumed to be her house, did she turn to him and finally made eye contact.

The mere gesture made his heart skip a beat, his mind reeling with anxiety and anticipation. To say that he wasn't at all worried was a lie even he could not come up with. What was it that she was hiding? Was she actually a serial killer, plotting to befriend him from the start before trapping him after one date in her basement for a long, gruelling torture session? It would make sense then. Her friendship with the underground "ex-"criminal and man-slaughter expert now turned peaceful tea shop owner would support that hunch.

Zuko has seen those types of suspense-thriller films in his spare time. The morbid images of bloodied, grotesque, disfigured faces of the victim of a psychopathic killer flooded his thoughts.

He shuddered, and much to his chagrin, she noticed.

"Cold?" Yane looked at him strangely.

"No, I—"

"Zuko, you look like you've seen a ghost," she simpered, her laughter snapping him out of his incredulous ideas.

"Don't be silly," he bit back angrily, face flushing. "What did you want to tell me?"

His question sucked out the cheerful demeanour she had. She tore her eyes away from him and looked onto the door of her home. "Before that, I have one request," she said in a somber voice.

"What?" he voiced out impatiently.

"Please refrain from asking any questions until I tell you it's okay. I just want you to act like your normal self, or better yet, do your best to be polite. Just wait for a bit, and I'll explain everything. I'll tell you everything you want to know. I promise."

Zuko furrowed his brow and gave her a hard stare. "I'm not liking any of this, Yane. You're not making any sense, but fine. Whatever it is, just show me."

She flinched at the tone he used but nodded curtly before ambling towards the entrance. He saw her shoulders rise and fall in a deep sigh. She squared her shoulders then and inserted the key into the knob to push the door open. He had to wait for his eyes to adjust from the sudden, blinding light that illuminated their figures. His ears picked up a voice of a child before catching sight of a blond kid scampering towards them, colliding with Yane with the sound of laughter filling the atmosphere.

"'Ka-chan!" he squealed in delight as she knelt down in front of the child.

Zuko couldn't see her face with her back towards him, but the inexplicable adoration and joy practically emanated from her like a heat from a flame. He felt his heart gallop again in what felt like an unsteady rhythm, the truth slowly dawning upon him as he continued to watch the scene unfold before him.

"How's my little man?" she cooed, planting a couple of kisses on the child's face. "I have something for you."

Yane presented the paper bag containing the carrot stuffed toy she had spent 30 minutes choosing. The boy's face glowed at the gift.

"Did you have fun at school today?" she inquired as he took the bag and thanked her.

"Yah! I played ball with Chris and Tanner," he exclaimed proudly, the carrot already trapped between his arms.

"Tell me about it later okay?" Yane turned her head to regard Zuko, a silent message exchanging between them. "Ko-chan, this is my friend, Lee. What are you going to say?"

'Ko-chan' craned his neck to give him a wide-eyed stare. An equally wide smile stretched his lips from one ear to another as he waved. "Hi, Uncle Lee."

"...Hey, kid," was all that got out of his mouth. He wanted to say something more friendly. He knew he could, but for this moment, there wasn't anything he could think of. Yane had left with him too many things to process. Zuko found that he couldn't get his brain to be functional again even if he forced himself.

Yane chuckled lowly in her breath, an appreciative smile adorning her lips as he struggled for things to blurt out.

"Oi, osoi desu. Doko ni itteta ka? (Oi, you're late. Where have you been?)"

Startled by the new, baritone voice, Zuko tilted his head to meet the crimson gaze of the towering giant approaching them. That was saying a lot since Zuko himself knew he wasn't in any way short. Maybe shorter than many Americans living in the States, but definitely above average in his hometown.

The man, looking nearly baffled as he, gawked at him for a while before looking pointedly at Yane, demanding for answers with the glare now assembling itself on his face.

Sensing the tension, Yane got to her feet and continued to speak in English. "Taiga, this is Lee. The coworker I was talking about. Lee, this is Taiga, my best friend."

Taiga had a raging, two-toned dark red hair that matched his garnet irises. His muscular build completed his whole delinquent look, and if Zuko would have to take a guess, he'd think Taiga was one of those gang leaders who had terrorized the student body and had wreaked havoc in high school. And what was up with those split brows?

Looking already formidable to begin with, Taiga further straightened his posture and looked down on him as if trying to prove a point.

"Hey," Taiga called out coldly, bordering towards hostility.

Any normal guy in his right mind would've cowered back slightly at the hidden threat embedded in just that one word, but Zuko's dealt with people with greater antagonistic air around them. So he held his gaze easily, chin now cocked up with the well-polished pride displayed without restraint.

"Hey," he greeted back.

The silence was left among them for he didn't know how long. It was Yane who broke the stare-off as she gently nudged Ko-chan to the direction of what Zuko guessed to be the dining room.

"Baby, go eat dinner with your Oji-chan," she said. Then, "Taiga, I need to have a word with Lee here for a moment, okay? Can you please watch Ko-chan?"

Taiga gave her a look that literally translated his disbelief over her words. Even though he's just met him, Taiga was almost completely readable. His concern over Yane's well-being written all over his frown, Taiga begrudgingly complied when she glowered at him and went on to usher the tiny kid who now latched on his leg. Once they were out of sight, Yane tucked her bangs behind her ear and released yet another weary sigh.

"Come on," she said without looking at him and strode deeper into the house.

Zuko followed her until they reached the backdoor. She shoved the door and got out. The patio came to his view, and though it was dark outside, the vintage-looking lamp that sat on the marble table in the middle shed light to the flowers and greenery around them. Yane tugged on the sleeve of his hoodie and pulled him towards the garden bench where they sat down in each of its ends.

"You can start asking now."

Yane's hands were folded on top of her lap and like earlier, she avoided his gaze religiously.

"Ko-chan," he started with hesitation. "Is he yours?"

She made a noise that sounded like an in-between of a chuckle and a huff. "Kosuke. That's his name. Looks nothing like me, huh?"

"He looks nothing like Taiga, too," he remarked dryly.

She blinked and peered at him inquisitively. "Because they're not related. Wait, you think Taiga's the father?"

"No," he replied through his teeth. It was getting harder and harder to reign his temper. "That's why I said they don't look alike. Why—how come you never told me about this? I thought you lived alone."

"I never said that," she crossed her arms. "I only said I left Japan and decided to stay here."

He wasn't to blame for assuming that. Anyone who heard the way she had told him about it before would've thought she went alone, too. Zuko quietly fumed at his ignorance, and Yane took his silence as a sign to continue.

"I'm sorry," she lamented, eyes downcast and ashamed. "For keeping it from you. I never thought you'd ask me out. I always thought that we'd be just normal friends, so I never thought of telling you about my son. I didn't want to talk about him with anyone, because doing so would also call me to explain my past with Kosuke's father."

He gave her a sidelong glance, his expression softening.

"He and I had been in a relationship for six years. We started out as friends, to best friends, then to lovers. Quite a typical relationship. And I loved him so much."

He looked away from her face and busied himself with fixing the sleeve of his hoodie.

"I loved him too much," she went on, oblivious to his sudden discomfort. "I didn't know when or how, but I started hating him for the change I saw in myself. I was starting to conform to a version of me that I thought he and the world would've wanted better. I hated looking at the mirror and seeing an imperfect woman. I hated myself as much as I hated him. I was starting to lose myself.

"So, I thought that maybe I could do something to save this relationship. I made love with him even though I promised never to have sex outside marriage. It was a foolish decision, because not only did it fail to restore us both, it made me so disgusted with myself. I cheated on him, so that I could have an excuse to break up with him."

Yane wrapped her arms around herself. He wanted to reach out to touch her, just for some form of reassurance, but his limbs were locked frozen in place and he couldn't bear to take his eyes off the tragedy in front of him even when it hurt to watch her.

"Things got worse after that. He broke, and so did I. I decided to keep Kosuke from him and left for the US. Shintaro-kun helped me. He was the one who handled everything for me. Taiga, on the other hand," she paused as a tiniests of smiles broke through her earlier agonized face. "Was the one who took care of us. Ko-chan doesn't know anything about his father, and I plan to keep it that way."

Leaning back with her head thrown backwards, she finally took on a relaxed posture, having poured it all out to him already. Zuko knew he was supposed to say something—anything, about her story, but for the umpteenth time that day, he couldn't articulate any words that could describe what he was feeling, or what he was thinking. It was as if everything she had just shared paralyzed his thoughts, and now he was just left there with so much things to comprehend.

"Do you have anything else you want to know?" Yane murmured.

Zuko closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Why did things have to be this complicated for him all the time? He exhaled loudly and bit back a groan of petulance.

No. It was actually quite simple this time.

He grunted as he got up. Yane whipped her head alarmingly at his direction.

"Is that all?" He stretched his arms.

A pang of hurt passed her features. "When you say it like that..."

"I'm going home," he announced and headed towards the door, fully expecting her to tail behind him.

The kid and Taiga were nowhere to be found. They must still be in the dining room eating dinner. Zuko spared a glance to where the two had gone earlier before shrugging. He'd just have to ask the woman beside him to give his regards. He walked towards the main exit wordlessly.

Yane pushed the door open for both of them, the wind that kissed his cheeks a little too chilly for his taste.

"Zuko—"

"Are you free again? Next Saturday?"

He couldn't see her, with his focus trailed in front to the small street, but felt the shock that overcame her as she snapped her head sideways.

"Yes, but…" she faltered.

"But?"

"Are you okay with all this? I wouldn't get mad if you wanted to stop seeing me. We could go back to normal... if you're okay with being friends again, that is."

"It doesn't matter," he groused and shook his head. "None of what you've said does." Zuko stepped around to come in front of her. Gold mirrored jade as he stared at her with such intensity she began to shrink under his gaze.

"I like you," he admitted, her eyes widening in response. "You having a kid doesn't change that. And since he's important to you," it was his turn to rub the back of his neck shyly. "Then I'm willing to accept him, too."

It felt like Earth just stopped moving around them, like the hand of the clock halted its ticking and stayed like at, freezing everything else like a statue. The only signs of this reality were the grateful glow welling in her eyes, her uneven breathing and her flushed face.

When she smiled, the world came back to life.

"For a moody guy, you sure are smooth. Thanks, Zuko."

A/N: Hi! Korra here! Hope you liked her cameo. And I hope you're okay with the cameos of the 2 characters I included. They're from Kuroko no Basuke. Don't worry. They won't appear much! Just some mentions here and there for the plot.

Hope you're doing okay! Reviews will be appreciated! ^^