Chapter 6

It was well past midnight when Jet finally slipped into their tiny apartment. Smellerbee had fallen into a restless sleep, partly because she simply was too exhausted from her day of job hunting to stay awake, and partly because Longshot had urged her to get some rest. She had to be up at dawn, after all, for her new job, and no way was she going to be late on her first day. But Smellerbee still heard the soft click of the door closing, and the shuffling of Jet coming in. And then a light; Longshot lit the candle, catching Jet red-handed trying to slip silently into bed. Smellerbee groggily got up and came to sit beside her silent friend, joining him in his glare.

"Look, I know they're firebenders!" Jet exclaimed before Smellerbee could say anything.

"Oh shut up!" she snapped. She was tired, so very tired, and she had spent the entire day looking for a job, and she had to be up at dawn, and she hated this city, and really, this was the last thing she wanted to deal with. "You don't get it!" she growled, marching up to Jet and sticking her finger into his chest. "Every day, it's the same thing: oh, they're firebenders, I swear they're Fire Nation! And all the proof you have is hot tea! And you go out, and follow them around, and meanwhile, Longshot his working all day trying to make sure we don't end out on the streets. And I just got a job too, so that we can pay rent, and what do I find? You, way out late, and we have no idea where you are, or if you're okay...What is the Dai Li caught you? By the spirits, use your head Jet! If you keep going on about firebenders they're going to take you away, and there's nothing that Longshot and I will be able to do." Smellerbee let out an exhausted breath and stepped back, pressing her palms to her temple. "Just...stop."

Jet looked taken aback. Smellerbee hadn't snapped at him like that since...well, she couldn't even remember since. In the forest, everything had been great. When she got mad at Jet, she could just stalk away and deal with it on her own, but now there was nowhere to go, and the candle was flickering dangerously, and there was that rage building up within her. Like the fire in her belly, begging to reach up and make itself known. But she couldn't. Not here. Certainly not in front of Jet.

Speaking of, he had just recovered himself. He settled his gaze into a determined glare, and said smoothly, "Look, I've been watching them. I'm positive that old man heats his tea on his own. There's just no way he could brew so much otherwise!"

"What do you know about brewing tea?" Smellerbee shot right back. It sounded a little weak, though maybe it was just her. It didn't help that what Jet said was probably true. Mushi was quite successful, after all, and coal was expensive.

Jet didn't stumbled. "I know that it takes longer than a minute for water to boil!"

Smellerbee groaned and turned away, finding that just looking at Jet was making her upset. Why couldn't he just leave well enough alone? Why was he so determined to make enemies wherever he went?

Longshot placed a hand on her shoulder, and she looked up. You should get some rest, his eyes told her. I'll deal with Jet. Smellerbee sighed but nodded, and returned to her pallet. She sent Jet one last glare before curling on and covering herself with her blanket, shutting her eyes tight against the world. Longshot and Jet went into the kitchen area to talk, taking the candle with them. She could hear Jet's soft whispers, could almost imagine Longshot's replies. And the candle. She couldn't see it's light. The two had been kind enough to block it from her, so that she could sleep. But she could feel it, sense its flicker. It was...calming.

Smellerbee found she couldn't really sleep, so she focused on the candle instead. Longshot rustled, and the flame flickered with his movement. Jet picked it up, ready to blow it out, before he was stopped because the conversation wasn't over yet. Then it was set back down, and Jet's voice died away, until all Smellerbee knew was the candle. She tried to grab onto it, the way Lee had hardly a week ago. Take it and breath.

She smiled when she felt the little flame breath with her. She hoped Jet didn't see.

-0-

Smellerbee had no trouble waking with the sun. She had woken with the sun every day of her life. It was like the moment the first rays shone over the earth, she was filled with its warmth, and sleep was no longer an option. Before, it had always been something of a nuisance, not being able to sleep in, unless she was really sick. But now, Smellerbee was glad. She wasn't sure if she could've woken up otherwise, so exhausted as she was. She really wished she had some tea to wake her up, but tea was a luxury they couldn't afford. So she simply had to make due with splashing a little water on her face before heading out, making her way as quickly as possible to Lex's shop.

Smellerbee was actually excited. She's never had a job before, and usually the thought left her with a frown. Who wanted to go back to the same boring thing every day? But this time, she relished the work. She had been nearly dying of boredom in this city, and the feeling of helplessness nearly overwhelming. Plus, being a messenger didn't sound half bad. She'd get to go all over, and maybe hear some good gossip to keep her entertained. And Lex seemed nice enough, friendly even, which was such a relief after the first few harsh days of coming here.

Si was behind the counter when Smellerbee arrived, already smiling brightly. "Oh, hello again!" she exclaimed when she came in. "Miss Lex said you were coming!" She hopped from her seat, much like she did the day before, and said, "Come with me, over here!" She led Smellerbee to the back of the shop again, except this time she was taken to a door on the left. "This is the...well, we call the lounge, but I think the official term is the Messenger Headquarters or something like that," Si explained. "All the messengers come here to get their, um, messages. And then they go out! And when you're done you just come back here, and if there's nothing to message then you can just relax and catch your breath!" Si nodded, her bun bobbing with her. She opened the door, revealing a wide room with couches and files and cabinets, as well as a pot of tea brewing over a stove. There were four people hanging about, all different ages.

"Hello everyone!" Si exclaimed brightly. "This is..." She frowned. "Oh, I swear Miss Lex told me your name," she mumbled, mostly to herself. Then she brightened once more and said, "Smellerbee! Yes, that's it. Um, yeah, she's your new messenger! Well, she's not yours...I mean-"

"We get it, Si," the oldest, a woman who looked to be around twenty or so, said. Her hair was black, and Smellerbee was surprised by the paleness of her skin and...well, Fire Nation features. Especially since she had blue eyes. "Go back to your desk, we'll deal with the newbie."

"Yep!" Si agreed, whirling around to do just that.

"Don't mind Si," the woman said. "She's always like that." Smellerbee recalled Lex telling her the exact same thing just yesterday. "Anyway," the woman said, "I'm Naoki, and I'm in charge of the messengers. For this district, at least." She gestured to the young man next to her and said, "This is Lao. And-"

"Yin," the girl next to her greeted before Naoki could. The woman rolled her eyes but continued.

"Lastly, we have Rin." The last guy gave her a small wave. He was around Si's age, maybe 15 at the most, and had light brown hair with bright green eyes. Smellerbee couldn't help but notice that they were the same green eyes she had once seen on someone else. "Rin will show you the ropes around here. I hope you're not slow, we always have lots to do." With that, Naoki pulled some papers off a table and began sorting through them, handing them out and giving a few instructions. Smellerbee waited as Rin got his share, and then everyone save them left.

"So, Smellerbee huh?" Rin said casually, looking over his letters. "Interesting name. How'd you come about it?"

"What makes you think I did?" Smellerbee growled, not liking where this was going.

"Well, you had to come about it somehow," Rin replied with a shrug. "Whether you chose it or your parents named you it or something. Just saying it's an interesting name, so there's probably an interesting story behind it. Say, if your parents named you Smellerbee, it was probably for a reason. Like, your grandmother's name was Smellerbee, or it has some significance in some way." Rin frowned and turned to her. "I think I've been speaking a bit too long. Let's get going, or we won't get all these done."

Smellerbee blinked. "Um, okay." She followed him out through a backdoor, connected directly to the lounge. Or Messenger Headquarters. Or...whatever. Rin had put all his letters in a specific order, and was now walking down the street at a semi-fast pace.

"Alright, so here's how we start," Rin said. "First, you get your letters from Naoki. You gotta make sure you look at them all first, so that you can make a path of sorts, y'know? Now, Lex told me you can't read, which will make things a bit more difficult for you. You'll just have to remember which letter goes where, and the addresses."

"I can do that," Smellerbee told him defiantly, feeling a little embarrassed at him knowing she can't read.

"I'm sure you can," Rin replied with a smile. "Yin did that, before she learned to read. But before that, you need to know the streets. As you probably know, the Lower Ring is divided into several districts. We're in the 14th district, and that's were we usually keep. And you have the different sections of each district, with the streets and then individual addresses." He paused for a moment before saying, "I know that seems like a lot, but Ba Sing Se was built in a pattern. Once you know the patterns, it's easy to find your way around. But before I get into that, there's also letters that need to go other places. Whether different districts, or even a different ring. All messengers have permanent passports to the Middle Ring -which you will get shortly- and for the occasional letter we need to deliver to the Upper Ring, we get special, one-use passes. But, don't worry, you won't get any letters like that until you've got this district down.

"Speaking of which: District 14. You know where it starts and ends, right?" Smellerbee nodded. The zones were clearly marked, with small walls in between. Why they were even there, she had no idea. Maybe it was just to keep some order in the otherwise massive Lower Ring. "Good. So, some basic patterns to remember when delivering messages." Rin pointed up at the roofs and said, "See the tiles? Green means residential. Brown are services. And the rusty looking ones are shops. In the Middle and Upper Ring it's different, but you'll learn that later."

Rin paused in his explaining to walk up to a building with green tiles as the roof. It was an apartment complex, true to his word, and he pulled the first letter from his stack as they went inside. There was an old man sitting behind a desk, going over his numbers, and didn't look up until Rin had cleared his throat. "Eh? Can I help you?" he groaned, looking at the two through squinted eyes.

"Letter for apartment 16," Rin said, setting it down on the counter.

"Hm, alright." The old man took it and set it somewhere beneath his desk. Then he went back to his books without a second glance.

Back outside, Rin explained, "In apartment buildings, you don't have to deliver the letter straight to the person's door. Just give it to the clerk and they'll take care of it."

"They don't have to pay?" Smellerbee asks.

"Not to get a letter. The sender pays when they give the letter to the office."

Smellerbee frowned. "I don't get it. Why would somebody walk all the way to office to deliver a letter? And have to pay for it too? District 14 isn't tiny, but it's small enough that it's not that worth it."

"Well, people don't generally deliver letters within their own district," Rin explained. "Most of our mail comes from other districts. Which is what I was saying earlier. Once you get the hang of things, you'll have to deliver letters to the offices in a district over."

"Does that take long?"

"Not usually. Most offices are located in the center of the district, to keep it easy accessible no matter where you are. Also, you'll never have to deliver a letter more than one district over," Rin told her. "It's usually a little less then a day to get there and back, depending on how fast your go." He checked his next address and added, "Speaking of which, you would usually run these messages, so that we can get more in each day. Just today we're taking it slow, so that I can explain things to you."

"It seems a lot more complicated than I thought," Smellerbee sighed.

"A little bit," Rin admitted. "But once you get the hang of things, it's really not that bad."

"Even if I can't read the addresses?"

"Again, so long as you know the patterns, it's really not that hard," he repeated. "See, the lower ring of Ba Sing Se has a lot of refugees and all the lowest of the lows. So, not a lot of people can read. That's why the districts are broken up into colors rather than names or numbers." Rin pointed at a street post which had a stone circle at the top, its center painted a dark blue. "If you divide up your letters by colors, then you won't get them mixed up." They walked up to their next place, this time a flower shop owned by a stout, kindly looking woman who smiled and game Smellerbee a yellow daffodil after delivering the letter.

"But about streets and individual houses and stuff?" Smellerbee asked as they left, staring down at the flower she was given. The center was orange, and it kind of looked like a blooming candle.

"I was getting to that." Rin smiled encouragingly at her, and glanced down at his next letter. "C'mon, next we're heading to Pao Family Tea House." They rounded the corner and Smellerbee felt her heart drop.

Hello. My name is Procrastination. You might recognize me from Tzoulia's other story that just updated. Yeah, this chapter was sitting in her Docs, like, 90% done for at least a week. Meanwhile, I've had her in a choke-hold, keeping her from doing this or anything else (she was particularly upset at me when she didn't study for the multiple tests she had the other day). Anyway, I was feeling a little sympathetic today, and let Tzoulia go long enough for her to come up with some ending for this chapter (my only compromise was that it had to end in a cliffhanger...again). So enjoy this while you can folks! Who knows when we'll see Tzoulia again.

Just a little note on the patterns of Ba Sing Se: the roof thing I came up with because the three rings are actually divided in that the lower ring has dark green roofs, the middle ring has light green, and the upper ring has pale yellow or gold-ish. The rest of the patterns I came up with myself, but it does kind of make sense. Ba Sing Se is a city of organized chaos, everything has its place, and the Dai Li keep order. I wouldn't be surprised if there really was a pattern to everything, and in the lower ring it would make sense if it was less street names and numbers and more things anyone could recognize. I'll bet a lot of people in the lower ring can't read.