Author's Note: Tada! I did it! I managed to figure out my second installment of the Tales from Ba Sing Se Series. Just kidding! This is just a companion story to Blue Spirit Awakens following the shenanigans of Koko Mori and her Ghost Boy Ang. Ang is back from the dead and my, oh my, do I have a story for you! I think. We shall see romance, we shall see intrigue, we shall definitely encounter misunderstandings and ships! Lots and lots of ships! So many ships you'll think we've headed out on the high seas. Ok, not really. There will only be two new ships but I'm not telling, yet... As always, tell me what you think of this story in the comments section and follow or favorite if you are so inclined. Happy Reading!

Disclaimer: Fanfiction is for sequels and second chances...

Koko Gets A Wake-Up Call

"Nooooo! I don't want to go to work today! Couldn't we just sleep in and stay warm?" the tired girl begged with a groggy moan.

She looked over at her shadowy ghost boyfriend using what used to be his signature puppy dog eyes. He frowned in displeasure and annoyance. She doesn't get to use those on him.

"No way, Koko! You made me a promise that you would get a job and work to keep yourself busy. Iroh did you a huge favor with this job and it wouldn't look right if you didn't show up all of the sudden." He said his voice adding puffs of ghost vapor to the frigid winter air in her bedroom.

Koko sighed creating her own condensation in the room. She didn't want to get out of her warm bed to step onto the freezing hardwood below. Koko discovered that to see Ang more clearly her room was better off cold. The weather didn't bother Ang one bit being dead and all, but Koko was becoming a popsicle slowly.

Winter was coming on in the city of Ba Sing Se and refrigerators are not even necessary with the deep cold and occasional snow. Koko was sure if she didn't help Ang solve his problem soon, she would still be joining him in the Spirit world whether she wanted to or not.

Her parents asked her constantly why she wouldn't turn on the heat and keep her room at a comfortable temperature, but her answer was the same every time.

"I like it this way. It reminds me I'm alive," She would say sheepishly.

Ao and Eri Mori eventually stopped questioning their daughter after a while because they were grateful she was still alive too. When they discovered their daughter passed out on her bed and the empty bottle of Mrs. Mori's pain pills next to her they were frantic. They rushed Koko to the hospital fearful that their unconscious daughter may have already accomplished her dark goal.

Fortunately, the doctors at the hospital soon realized that she hadn't taken the pills and perhaps she was overwhelmed by her decision and fainted. In a moment alone with Koko her parents needed answers.

"Why!? Why did you want to do it, Koko? Please, tell us..." Ao Mori said nearly shouting while holding and shaking his only daughter afraid that she would vanish if he let her go.

Koko's bottom lip trembled as she saw the fear and desperation in her parents' faces and broke. First one tear then another fell in rapid succession soaking her hospital gown and making oddly elongated splashes on the dull cotton material.

Koko told them everything. How she didn't want Ang to be alone. How her heart ached so much and how she was afraid of living without him. How she didn't see any other way until she realized how much she would be breaking their hearts. She knew enough not to mention anything about Ang and his sudden reappearance.

The Moris saw how much their daughter truly loved Ang and knew that her recovery would take more than a few days of quiet time and watching over her. Ang was a major part of Koko's life and she would need time to heal and move on.

As her mother was cleaning KoKo's room the next day, she noticed the fine powder on the wall and floor. Eri Mori reached over to the wall and swiped her finger. She smelled the powder tentatively and recognized it vaguely. Mrs. Mori then took a small taste of the powder to the tip of her tongue from her fingertips and understanding dawned. Koko didn't take the pills, but she was sure that her daughter wrestled with taking them and ending her life, and eventually, Koko destroyed them.

Eri Mori shook with terror. How close had her daughter truly gotten to joining Ang in the Spirit world?

"Koko, let's gooooo!" Ang poked and prodded Koko with his airbending until she couldn't stand the irritation anymore.

Koko couldn't afford to be late if she wanted her parents to trust her with more freedom. Anything out of Koko's new normal raised her parent's radar faster than lightning.

"Uuuuuugh! I'm up, I'm up!" she growled and then whined, "Whyeeee?"

Was Ang always this persistent when he was alive? Koko wondered.

She shook her head at the crazy reality that she was being harassed by her dead boyfriend. At the very next thought, she realized that if Ang cared enough to come back from the dead to make sure she was OK, then she should at least honor him and get to work on time.

Koko swung her legs over the bed and stood carefully. Her room was still cold, but her parents were extra attentive to her needs and bought Koko a new pair of house booties lined with fur and a thick fleece robe to keep her warmer. Koko was grateful.

She looked over at her clock. Oh no! She only had 15 minutes to dress and run to the tea house. Luckily the Jasmine Dragon 2.0 was only a five-minute walk from her home and she wore the same kind of uniform to work every day. Koko dressed hurriedly and threw on her coat before shouting into the kitchen,

"Mom, I'm going to work now…" Koko smiled as her mother called back,

"Ok my dear, Call me when you're ready to be picked up…I love you!"

Eri Mori made it her point to not let her daughter leave without telling her that she loved her. Koko was a little sad that it took a near-death experience for this to happen, but she also realized that her mother also really did love her and didn't want to miss the chance to make sure she let her know.

Perhaps she understood the precarious tightrope life can be and didn't want to regret not saying what she wanted to Koko.

"Love you, Mom," Koko called not as loudly. Eri Mori still heard and grinned at her daughter's shyness as the front door closed softly.

The stones and gravel crunched on the ground as Koko and Ang walked together towards the Jasmine Dragon Tea house. Koko remembered how the original establishment had been destroyed by the same men responsible for Ang's death.

The entire city thought that the friendly owner and now the new manager of the beloved tea house had been killed in a fiery inferno that also almost killed his nephew Zuko and drove him to near madness, or…so every thought. That entire situation was one big ball of mystery, danger, and intrigue.

Koko's face grew drawn at the thought of those who were casualties in the pursuit of justice and the battle against greed and control. Ang looked at Koko curiously picking up on her changed mood.

"Ko, what's wrong? Is everything Ok?" he asked with concern. Koko shook her head. She didn't want to talk while there were people walking along the road to their own shops and businesses. To everyone walking by it would look like she was talking to herself. The last thing Koko needed was to be accused of losing her mind. She whispered,

"Nothing, I just had a thought is all. Let's talk later." She tried to look as inconspicuous as possible knowing some people still watched her sadly as the girlfriend of "that boy who got shot last year." Ang frowned. It was moments like these that he wanted to be able to talk freely with her, hold her hand, and share a cup of tea. He hated not having his physical body anymore if for no other reason than to hold her close to himself again.

As the girl and ghost approached the tea house, a tall sturdy figure walked by Koko in a hurry passing through Ang and speeding on his way. Koko turned sharply as if to yell but noticed the person who walked by and appeared to be near her age stopped and shivered as if he got a deep chill.

He stared back at Koko with an unreadable look, turned quickly, and walked briskly towards his destination. Koko stared after him only briefly and turned to walk briskly to her own destination realizing she only had a minute or two before she was late for work.

Ang wondered what all that staring was about but smiled before preparing to leave. Koko whispered so as not to seem like she was talking to herself,

"Thanks for walking me to work Ang. See you this afternoon?" she said with a smile. Ang grinned with his goofiest smile and said loudly for a ghost,

"Of course!" Then his look shifted into a strange grimace. "Uh, I will probably see you at the house. I have something I need to do today." He said solemnly. Koko looked at Ang curiously and smiled.

"No worries. I know you're here on a mission. I'll see you at home, OK?" she whispered again. At that, Ang nodded with a slight smile and faded from view and Koko knew he gone. At the door of the Jasmine Dragon, Koko looked back once more in the direction the young man went earlier and shivered slightly. That was weird, she thought.