A busy, public restaurant; definitely not your cup of tea. You prefer the shadowy realm of the city rooftops and alleys. Luckily for you, that's exactly how you're tailing Lee and his date.
Jin and Lee are strolling down a not-so-often traversed brick path through the city. Their path grows darker and darker as they gradually travel further away from the hub of the commercial district. The darker it gets, the more comfortable you are following from the shadows. You can't have any slip up now; if Lee knew you were spying on his date, he would be absolutely livid.
From up here, you can just barely make out what they are saying.
"I'm so excited for you to see the Firelight Fountain. The lamps make the water sparkle, and reflect in the pool in the most beautiful way!" You hear Jin say to her date excitedly.
Firelight Fountain, she said? You wrack your brain, thinking about the possible fountains in this area, especially something with such a flashy name like 'Firelight Fountain'. There is a fountain nearby, but, in your opinion, nothing worthy of the title 'favourite place in the city'. You could show Lee landmarks much more memorable than some boring, old fountain.
Jin leads Lee a little further before stopping. You hide behind a ridge and do your best to stay hidden. Jin speaks up.
"I can't believe it! They aren't lit!" She says in distress.
Lit? You notice the ring of unlit street lanterns surrounding the fountain in the center. Your attention is back on Jin and Lee. Although dark, Jin's sadness is visible; her shoulders are slumped and her head is hanging low.
Lee is standing just behind her, hesitantly, before slowly approaching her side.
His low voice barely travels through the air. "Close your eyes. And don't peek."
She pauses for only a moment, but obediently lifts her hands to her face. She stands silently.
What now? Lee looks around the area and you have half a mind to duck out of sight. Rather, you remain as still as possible. Humans register motion a lot easier than a still object. As long as you are semi-ducked behind the building ridge, and completely still, Lee probably won't see you.
And that's exactly what happens. As he surveys his surroundings, his gaze hits your general direction. You keep as still as a rock and he doesn't seem to notice a thing out of place. Without knowing where to focus his attention, he sees you as some black shadowy shape; one with the building.
Although he's stopped observing the area, you don't dare to move a muscle. Only your eyes move to watch his every movement. He seems to be confident that no one is watching him, not even Jin.
Lee approaches the fountain, then brings his palms together in front of him, almost as if in prayer? No, you are suddenly surprised to see him make an abrupt movement. His right hand forcefully extended in a sharp motion, followed by his left, then his right as he alternates movement between his arms. What is he-
Small, yet bright flashes of light snap around the whole area. It takes you a second to realize, but the whole space is slowly getting brighter and brighter. You do a double-take, as you can't believe your eyes. The lanterns are being lit?!
One by one, the lanterns in and around the fountain light up. Your cover of darkness diminishes in the new, soft lighting, and you are forced further into hiding. It's more difficult to spy on them now. Your eyes snap back to Lee, who is finishing his mysterious array of motions.
That's when you see it.
The flames licking his palms.
The sparks that flicker from his fingertips.
Lee is...
firebending.
Your jaw drops. Jet was right… Jet was right this whole time! Lee IS a Firebender! He-
Your thoughts are interrupted as Lee turns to Jin and talks once more. You tell your heart to stop pounding so loudly, as it's making it difficult to eavesdrop.
"Okay… now you can look."
In the warm light, you clearly see Jin's face as she lowers her hands. She's in awe as she takes in the fountain.
You, yourself, have never seen this fountain fully lit before…and though you don't want to admit it, the sight before you is breathtakingly beautiful. Street lamps circle the area, giving the whole scene a warm glow. The fountain itself is twinkling profusely with different floating lanterns that gently drift about. As for the water, it's dark pools glimmer with reflections, only to be disrupted by ripples where the water cascades from one tier to the next.
'Oh, wow…' you think to yourself.
"Oh wow!" Jin exclaims. She's lowered her hands from her face and she begins to slowly approach the fountain and Lee. You are unsure from this distance, but- is that a smirk on his usually-sour face?
"What happened?" Jin questions. "How did they light? What did you..."
She stops mid-sentence and exchanges a glance with her date, who is now by her side. In silence, they stare at each other for a moment, before both turning to admire the fountain.
You find your gaze drawn to the fountain as well. You're so mesmerized, that you almost miss Jin's hand as it reaches for Lee's.
The couple is now holding hands. You almost feel bad for invading their privacy like this. Almost.
It feels like you're watching a performance. A romantic play, much like those Fire Nations plays you've been researching lately. You're on the edge of your non-existent seat.
Jin makes the first move, she leans in for… a kiss!
"I BROUGHT YOU SOMETHING!" Lee sputters. He effectively blocks her smooch by raising an item in between their faces. You audibly sigh in relief as their kiss was obstructed, and you're shaken by Lee's change of character. Where's the grouchy, short-tempered teen you know all too well? His awkward, soft-side is almost… off-putting to see.
"It's a coupon... for a free cup of tea." Lee awkwardly continues.
Jin seems annoyed but speaks up sweetly. "Lee… this is so sweet."
She accepts the gift and gently removes the coupon from his grip, effectively eliminating the barrier between them. Lee jumps back a little bit, increasing the distance between him and his date.
"Don't thank me! It was my Uncles idea…!" Lee admits. "He thinks you're our most valuable customer,"
'Most valuable customer'? What's THAT supposed to mean? Surely even YOU'VE given them more business than this new girl.
That's when 'New Girl' starts to close the distance between them.
"Your Uncle is a good teacher." She gently reaches for his face with one hand.
"I have something for you too," she says caressing his cheek, turning him to face her. "Now it's your turn to close your eyes."
Lee stands stiffly but does as he is told, scrunching his eyes shut, looking like a goof. Jin leans in once more for the kill. It takes a lot of strength to stop yourself from rolling your eyes. This was getting cheesy, even by romance-play standards.
Nonetheless, you continue to watch this date unfold. Their lips meet, and Lee remains awkwardly frozen in his stance.
However, within the blink of an eye, the awkwardness melts away as he presses into the kiss. This takes you by surprise. So much so, that you stumble backward and lose your footing. What's gotten into you lately?
Your little stumble makes a small thud as you catch yourself on the roof with your hands.
Lee pulls away from the kiss and his eyes dart in your direction.
Crap crap crap.
"What's wrong?" You hear Jin's voice say.
You're so focused on staying still, not moving a muscle... that you don't feel the weight shifting in your pocket.
In fact, you don't realize before it's too late: your hefty coin purse slips out of your pocket!
It doesn't make much noise as it gently clinks together when it hits the roof, but that's when it starts slipping down the incline!
It slides further and further out of your reach, and you dive further and further down the slope of the roof in a desperate attempt to stop it before it reaches the edge.
You find yourself leaning off the roof-top, reaching for the coin purse as it just tips over the edge! You've almost got it! But the draw-strings, that hold the coin-purse shut, just slip through your fingers.
It's over.
You wince as you hear the coins meet the stone street below, each coin seeming to spill out and roll in a different direction, letting out a choir of metallic ringing. Your coin purse was particularly full tonight since you were prepared for a night on the town.
You need to make the split-second decision: Fight or Flight. Well, more like: admit to Lee that you were spying on their date all night OR escape embarrassment but lose all your coins.
"It's complicated. I have to go." You hear Lee say. That's it, you needed to get out of there. You can make that much coin back in a night of good thieving.
Careful not to fall off this roof, you scramble to your feet and make a break for it. Only looking back once to see all your precious coins sprawled on some empty street, sparkling one last good-bye in the candlelight.