Chap. 4

Dinner

"How's it coming?" Iroh asked, as he set the utensils down on the table.

"I think we have about another fifteen minutes." Katara answered, as she and Fuego continued to work on dinner. The two of them had been busy in the marketplace, but after hearing about Zuko's guest, they had stayed a bit longer to compile an even better meal. Katara had gathered some flour, eggs, and fish, putting them together in a dumpling mix she was currently cooking in the firepit. As for Fuego, he had collected some beef, flour, eggs, cornmeal, lettuce, tomato, cheese, beans, and several other vegetables. He'd gotten started on the rest of the meal as soon as he'd gotten home; the meat was still shimmering over the second pit he'd made, as was the cornmeal and flour, which he'd shaped into pancake-like pastries. While Katara was still curious about what the red man was making, she had to admit it smelled amazing.

"You guys sure everything is clean?" Oscuridad asked, as he set down some plates on the table.

"Aang and I went through the whole inn when we got home." Agua said from his place by the window. "Believe me, if there's anything left that isn't clean, it's because high powered water and air aren't enough to clean it."

"Don't worry about it bro, I'm sure they did a good job." Trueno said agreed, as he handed Hierro the glasses. The spider turned to the table, and thanks to his multiple arms, placed them quite quickly, despite having sixteen places.

"Isn't this a little much? I mean it's just one girl." Sokka said.

"Hey, this is Li's first girl. The least we can do is help him out." Fuego said.

"Besides Sokka, wouldn't you do the same thing if you ever brought a girl home?" Katara said.

"Hey what's with the 'if'? I've been with lots of girls." Sokka snapped.

"By our count, it's been two, plus that crazy acrobat who has a crush on you." Aang said.

"Can't blame her." Sokka said, puffing up his chest a bit. "After all, I survived Azula's interrogation; probably knocked me up to god-status in her eyes."

"Is that why she's still part of a group that's trying to kill us?" Toph asked, effectively puncturing Sokka's balloon. Before he could come up with a retort though, Luz said, "You'd better be careful tonight Sokka. I don't want to see you humiliating Li. He's under a lot of pressure to impress this girl."

"And you know he's got a lot to work on in that area." Toph added as she leaned back in her chair.

"You know, Sokka's not the only one I'm worried about." Luz said, looking over at Toph. "It couldn't hurt you to be a little polite either."

"I'm always polite." Toph muttered, as she stuck her finger in her ear, twisted it, and then wiped it on her shirt.

"Right." Luz said sarcastically. "Look, all I'm asking is that you try to remember at least some of the things you learned about behavior and maybe not be so blunt about everything everyone says?"

"Hey, if this girl can't take a little criticism, it's not my fault." Toph answered.

"True, but if you make tonight hard on everybody and I have to ask Tierra to take away your earthbending, that will be your fault." Luz said smugly.

"You can't do that! How will I see?" Toph cried out, almost flying out of the chair.

"Like every other blind person in the world- with a cane." Luz answered.

"…." Toph tried to say something, but having no real retort, she slumped back into the char and muttered, "Fine."

Suddenly Trueno said, "I can see them coming." Hearing that, the group quickly finished their tasks and stood up, as the doorknob turned and Zuko and Jin entered.

"Evening Lee." Aang asked politely. "How was work?"

"Fine." Zuko answered in his usual brief manner. "Um, this is Jin." He said almost absent-mindedly.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Aang." The young Avatar said, as he moved over to shake the girl's hand, while Zuko prayed that everything would go smoothly.

"I know." Jin replied nervously, as Aang took her hand. "Oh, I mean everybody knows who you are, Avatar. It's an honor for you to meet me…. Wait, that's not it, I mean…"

"It's ok. I think I understand." Aang said with a laugh. "And please, call me Aang."

"Right." Jin said as someone else came up to say hello.

"My name's Sokka, I'm Li's brother. I'm sure he's told you all about me." The young boy said. But Jin looked over at Li and said, "You have a brother?"

"Half-brother, actually." Sokka grumbled as he glared at Zuko. "That's our sister Katara over there by the firepit."

"Nice to meet you." Katara said from the pit. "I'll be right there, I just need to finish dinner."

"No, take your time." Jin said, as she noticed the familiar face of Iroh (a frequent customer at the tea shop). She quickly moved over to say hello.

"How have you been Mushi?" Jin asked, as the old man greeted her warmly.

"Fine, my dear. I've been helping the Knights adapt to the lifestyle of Ba Sing Se. It's quite different from the circus though (Iroh already knew about Zuko's cover story, and he'd made sure the others did as well).

"Yeah, now he spends the whole day on the couch drinking tea." Oscuridad said as he moved over to them. Smiling at Jin, he stuck out his hand and said, "Hi, I'm Oscuridad, leader of the Elemental Knights."

Jin took the bat's hand firmly, although she stared at his face for a minute longer then she should have. Realizing her mistake, Jin quickly averted her eyes, but Oscuridad just laughed and said, "Don't worry about it. I've had people stare at me for years. As long as you don't plan to start a rampaging mob armed with torches, it's fine."

"Sorry, it's just…. Well I don't usually get to meet people like you." Jin said. Of course, she then gasped and clasped her hands over her mouth. The Knights however, just laughed.

"Don't worry about it kid. We've been dealing with this for centuries." Hierro said. "It really doesn't bother us, unless you get a mob together. Actually, how good are you at organizing people?"

"Not very." Jin said with a laugh. "I can't even get my little brother to listen to me."

"We know the feeling." The spider replied, with a gesture at Aire. The falcon responded with a curt, "Screw you."

"See what I mean?" Hierro asked. Jin nodded her agreement. "I'm Hierro by the way." The spider said. Jin quickly put out her hand, to which Hierro held out all three of his right arms. Jin stared in uncertainty for a moment, then the spider said, "Sorry, reflex. Just pick one." Jin quickly grabbed the middle arm and shook firmly.

"Maybe we should just move through the rest of the introductions quickly." Agua suggested. "I'm Agua, Knight of Water. This is Toph Bei Fong, the Avatar's Earthbending teacher, Tierra, Knight of Earth, Fuego, Knight of Fire, Aire, Knight of Air, Bosque, Knight of the Forest, Luz, Knight of Light, and Desierto, Knight of the Desert." Pausing for breath, the cat asked, "Is that everybody?" The second those words were out of his mouth, there was a squeak in the air, as something brown and white flew out of the shadows and crawled onto the cat's shoulders.

"Almost forgot. This is Momo, Aang's pet lemur and the bane of our existence." Agua said. Momo then leapt off of Agua and onto Jin, crawling around her body as he likely looked for food. But Jin moved quickly and pulled him off, then held him out in amused curiosity.

"Cute little devil, isn't he?" she said with a smile as she looked at Momo. Jin then lowered him to the ground, where he scampered off in the direction of the firepit where dinner was cooking. Of course, the second he got close to it, Katara's water-whip came down and scared him off.

"You'll get some soon enough Momo." Katara said, as she moved to pull the dumplings off of the cooking tray. Moving quickly, Katara maneuvered the tray onto the table. Dusting off her hands, she said, "OK guys, dinner's ready."

"Well it's about time." Trueno said jokingly as everyone moved to sit down. Jin began to pull out a chair, but after a motion from Oscuridad, Zuko quickly grabbed the chair and pulled it out for her. Jin smiled and sat down, as Zuko quickly down sat in the next chair.

"So what kind of food is this, Katara?" Jin asked, as she began to load her plate from the tray.

"It's a recipe from back home in the Water-Tribe." Katara answered. "It's a kind of fish dumpling. My Gran-Gran used to make them all the time."

"They sound delicious." Jin said, as she put another few dumplings on her plate.

"I'd guess so." Agua replied, as he looked at the large pile of dumplings Jin had put on her plate. "I see what he meant about her appetite." He whispered to himself, as he added a few dumplings to his plate. The group quickly began to eat, complimenting Katara's skill with each first bite. Except for Jin, who started to eat, only to pause and place her dumping back down.

"Shouldn't we wait for your brother over there?" she asked aloud, gesturing to Fuego, who was still working over by his firepit.

"Don't worry about it." The red man answered. "I don't like fish, and besides, I'm not finished with my half of dinner yet."

"Well, if you sure." Jin said, as she slowly moved back to her own dumplings.

"It's fine, just make sure you leave for my food."

"Oh don't worry about that." Jin said, as she dug into her dumplings. Fuego raised an eyebrow at the girl's appetite, but quickly turned back to his cooking. Seeing that the meat was a golden brown, Fuego quickly began to wrap the meat, vegetables and cheese into the flour and cornmeal 'pancakes.' He placed each one on a large serving plate they had found in Jouku's old quarters, then picked it up and said, "OK guys, time to be amazed."

"Hey check it out. Fue managed to go South of the border." Tierra said happily, as the red man placed the large plate next to Katara's dumplings. The Knights eagerly began to take the food, but the others merely stared in confusion.

"Uh guys, I think it's my turn to ask what these… wrap-things are." Sokka said.

"Oh it's something from our world, or at least as close to it as I could get in this world." Fuego said as he sat down. "They're called 'tacos.' Give 'em a try, they're loaded with meat."

That seemed to break at least some of Sokka's hesitation, as he gingerly reached over and took one of the softer, flour wraps. Holding it carefully, he brought it up to his lips, with everyone else watching in wonder. Slowly, Sokka took a bite, chewed once, twice, then his face opened in a wide grin and he began to eat with extreme relish.

"I'm guessing they're good." Zuko said, as he reached over and grabbed one of the cornmeal ones. As with Sokka, he ate carefully at first, but then with more enthusiasm. Seeing that, the others began to eat as well, except for Aang who asked, "Are there any that aren't loaded with meat?"

"Oh jeez, I almost forgot." Fuego said, as he quickly got back up and walked over to the firepit. Bending down, he grabbed a second plate and brought it over to the young Avatar.

"I made these with beans since you don't eat meat." The red man said, as he set the second plate down in front of Aang.

"Thanks, they smell great." Aang said as he took one and began to eat. Fuego nodded, and then moved back to his own plate.

"So anyway, the lion's roaring for the crowd, they're all going nuts, and poor Li is just standing there, enjoying it, when all of a sudden, the lion gets spooked and starts to freak out." Trueno said, as he continued with his meal. "It takes a swipe at him, Li stumbles back, trips over the barricade, and lands in a huge pile of elephant crap."

"You're kidding me!" Jin said with a laugh as she looked over at Zuko. "Li that didn't really happen?"

"No, it did." Zuko said from behind clenched teeth. This was the third 'circus story' that the group had shared in the last hour. Even though the others had tried to steer the conversation away from Zuko by answering Jin's questions about themselves, she always asked about 'Li's' time in the circus as well. For the most part, the stories the group had made up weren't too far-fetched, but they always involved Zuko getting humiliated in some way. Thus far, he'd been squashed by the fat lady, forgotten his lines as ringmaster, and now covered in elephant dung. At least Sokka hasn't said anything yet. He thought. If he does, I'll probably end up leaping over the table to kill him.

"Anyway, the lion started to panic, but some of the other performers came out and tried to restrain it. Thankfully, Li pulled himself up, grabbed his whip and managed to force it back into its cage." Trueno said.

"You sure it wasn't the smell of elephant that did it?" Jin asked jokingly, with a look over at Zuko. The boy just sank further into his chair.

"Sounds like the circus was really exciting. These stories are pretty amazing." Jin said, turning back to the table.

"Yeah, I think so too." Sokka said slyly. This was followed by a smack on the back of the head from Luz.

"You know Jin." Sokka said, as he rubbed the back of his head. "I actually know this one really good story about Li's time in the circus…"

"Oh, I think we've humiliated the boy enough for one night." Iroh said, to Zuko's audible relief. "And I think it's a bit rude for us to continually talk about ourselves when there is a guest. Why you tell us a little about yourself Jin?"

"Well, there's not really much to tell." Jin said, as she put down her food. "I've lived in the city for most of my life. My parents work in the financial district, helping to keep the expenses of the city in order."

"Sounds like a fun job." Toph said.

"They enjoy it, but I could never do it. I'm hoping that maybe when I'm older, I can go back home and be a farmer like my uncle."

"Go home?" Zuko asked.

"When I was about six years old, my parents got worried about the advances from the Fire Nation. They decided that they wanted to move to Ba Sing Se from the village, so we did. I think they like it here because no one ever talks about the war. Hell, no one even mentions the Fire Nation here; my father probably likes that best."

"He hates the Fire Nation I take it?" Aang asked.

"He thinks they're just angry savages who are out to burn the whole world. He hates anything about them, and he refuses to even look at their symbol without slashing it."

"Well, I can't blame him for hating them, but it sounds like he's taking it too far." Sokka said, which caused everyone at the table to stare at him.

"Sokka, did I hit you too hard?" Luz asked.

"What? I never said I hated the whole Fire Nation." Sokka said.

"You've certainly hinted at it." Zuko said.

"Look, I just hate the soldiers and the people who follow the Fire Lord. Besides, after traveling with you guys, I can't believe that a whole nation of people is evil." Sokka explained.

"Well, it's good to hear we had at least some effect on you." Oscuridad said. "What about you Jin? What do you think about the Fire Nation?"

Jin was quiet for a moment, as she reflected on the question. Zuko watched her intently, waiting for a response. Finally, she said, "I do hate the people who have carried on the war for so long and forced me from my home. But… I agree with Sokka. I can't believe that a whole nation of people is evil and corrupt. It just isn't possible. But I am kinda surprised you all feel the same way."

"Why's that?" Trueno asked.

"You're all fighting so hard to stop the Fire Nation; I thought all that would make you hate them more then anything."

"It definitely makes us hate some people." Oscuridad said. "But the Knights have always believed in the concept of balance; of the elements, of good and evil, of everything. For all the greedy, power mad freaks in the Fire Nation, there are likely as many good-hearted people there. No one fits just one mold."

"That's been the philosophy for the Avatar too." Katara added. "It's just the imbalance that's caused this war and everything else."

"Wow. This is definitely different from what my parents, and most of the city thinks. I didn't think they were this out of tune with the ways of the world." Jin said.

"Oh you'd be surprised." Tierra muttered grimly.