Author's Note: Though I am aware this might be a little different from the actual show plot, please forgive me. It needs to be so I can write this. In Avatar, we only see a few small parts of Ba Sing Se. I hope to make the city seem as grand as it truly is through this story- how easy it really is to get lost in the cracks. Thank you so much for the reviews this has already received. I will try to make updates regular. I'm thinking every Friday night, if possible. I have a lot of other fiction in the works, for other sites, and for my own personal collections. I aspire to be a famous author, after all! On to the story!

Three Weeks Prior

Inside the Jasmine Dragon, Zuko couldn't stop his lungs from fluctuating. "Zuko, you do not sound very well."

"Uncle, I am fine," Zuko insisted as another cough forced itself from his chest. "It's just a cold."

"Some tea will do you good then, Zuko. Here, have a cup. Take your break. I will deal with the customers."

"I am fine, Uncle," Zuko shot back, his hands shakily grabbing at two steaming cups of green tea.

Iroh shook his head. "It is not wise to ignore me." And so, he reached up and grabbed Zuko's shoulders, forcing him down gently. He removed one cup from Zuko and nodded at the other. "Drink it. It is good for the soul!" And he left the boy in the back corner of the store to sip his tea alone.

At some point, Zuko wasn't quite sure when, he'd stumbled outside for another coughing fit. Iroh found him and sighed. "Zuko, I believe it is time for you to go home and rest. Find sleep, and I will find you later tonight. I will bring us home some steaming dumplings."

Zuko sighed and his eyes met Iroh's. "Thank you Uncle." He removed his apron and set it in Iroh's outstretched hand.

Iroh nodded and smiled. "A man needs his rest, Zuko."

...

"I'm back!" Sokka announced as he pulled off his boots.

Katara immediately appeared in the doorway. "Sokka! We were worried about you. Why'd you leave without telling anyone?"

"I didn't think I'd be gone for so long. Anyway, I brought food."

"Not really necessary," Toph announced, her mouth visibly full, "Twinkletoes went out to get some a while ago. I'm the last one eating!"

Sokka's eyebrows furrowed. "Well, I guess all this food is mine, then! Mind if I join you, Toph?"

"No," she responded, and then heartily began shoving her face again. Sokka ate beside her for a few quiet moments, but he wasn't very hungry anyway. He'd eaten while out and then thought randomly he should bring food home to placate Katara.

"I'm going for a walk," he stated then, rising from his half-eaten food.

"You just got back! You can't just go out again!" Katara demanded, crossing her arms over her chest. "I won't allow it."

"Oh Katara, put a cork in it! I'll be home soon." Sokka ducked out of the building quickly before Katara decided to freeze him or something.

After wandering around for a bit he recognized a face, though for a moment he wasn't entirely sure. And then the scar was turned in his direction and he was certain he was staring at Zuko. Immediately his hand twitched in anticipation of the feel of his boomerang, but he hesitated. "Not in Ba Sing Se, Sokka, not here. Now's not the time, anyway. Tomorrow, definitely." Sokka reasoned with himself as he watched Zuko hand over his apron to an old man. Just as he turned in Sokka's direction, Sokka turned on his heel and ran, as far away from the fire bender as possible.

...

"Here, you eat the last dumpling."

Zuko refused, pushing the dumpling back at Iroh with his chopsticks. "Uncle, you should eat this."

"Nonsense. You are ill! Of course you should have the last bit of the meal!" Iroh would not take the refusal, and when Zuko opened his mouth to say no again, Iroh shoved the dumpling right in.

Zuko chewed it, but only after he shot a glare at Iroh. "I will be fine. It's just a cold." But as he swallowed the dumpling, his head seemed to ache more.

...

Sokka shook off his boots harshly and stripped out of his top layer of clothing. "Well, someone's hot!" Aang remarked. He was leaning against the wall opposite of Sokka, spinning rocks in between his fingers.

"Just a little flustered," Sokka answered, looking up at the boy. He gathered his clothes and began walking to his room.

"Katara's looking for you, Sokka!" Aang called, suddenly remembering. Sokka heard the rocks that had been spinning between the boy's fingers clang on the floor and he knew Aang had gotten up to follow him.

"Tell her I'm going to bed!" Sokka shouted over his shoulder as he stepped up his pace. He quickly shut the screen door behind him as he stepped over the entryway to his room and flopped down onto the blankets he'd bunched up on the floor earlier that morning. He was surprised Katara hadn't straightened them up, but it fled his mind quickly. Mostly he was just concerned with what Zuko was doing in Ba Sing Se. Didn't anyone notice him bending fire without a care in the world? Or maybe that was just it- he wasn't bending.

He had seemed a little weak when I saw him, Sokka reasoned, and then quickly sobered his thoughts. "Zuko? Why would I care how weak Zuko is?" he snapped aloud to no one but himself. Though, a twinge of pity settled in his stomach for a few moments. It was not until he was asleep that it finally fell away.

...

Zuko was clearing tables, feeling feverish. The cough had faded, but it was not completely gone. Still, he was well enough to work. As he finished wiping down his least favorite corner table, it tended to house the town drunks and they liked to leave "presents," a new customer ventured in. Zuko turned to greet the customer and offer the standard, "I'll be right with you," when he caught sight of the man clad in blue and his spine stiffened.

Sokka settled into a small table, looking anything but amused. He rested his chin on his hand, careful to lock his eyes on Zuko's. A smirk graced his lips. I've found you out, Zuko.

Zuko hastily made his way back behind the counter and grabbed a slip of paper that served as a menu. He casually walked back over to where Sokka was seated and set the paper in front of him. "What can I get for you today?" Teeth clenched, he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Eh, just some green tea will do, I suppose," Sokka responded, pushing the menu back across the small table. The smirk still present, he uttered, "Prince Zuko."

"My name is Lee," Zuko hissed, careful to keep his composure.

"Is that so?" Sokka quipped, "Strange. You look just like someone I know."

"You don't know me." Zuko spun on his heel and pushed his way through the shop to his uncle. Iroh stood calmly, tea brewing under his expert eye. "Green tea to the table over there, Uncle. I'm going back to bed."

Iroh looked up to see which table his nephew was motioning at, but the shop was empty. Iroh shrugged. "Hallucinations. Hm. He must really need his rest!" Cheerfully, he settled back into watching his tea brew.

Zuko threw his apron off in the back room and exited to the alleyway where he could find his way back home. He ran his fingers through his hair. It was still at an awkward length but he didn't mind it so much anymore. But Sokka; he was an annoyance that would have to be eliminated immediately for his Uncle's happiness. For his happiness. Oddly, he hadn't thought of how happy he'd been in the city for a while. Routine does come with a regular amount of comfort, and this life had become his routine.

"Where do you think you're running off to, fire bender?" a familiar voice spat at him. Zuko turned just in time to duck from the flash of metal he could only assume was Sokka's boomerang. He remained crouched low and long enough for it to return to its owner.

"I'm not a fire bender!" His eyes darted around dangerously as he rose from the crouch.

Sokka met him head on. "And I'm not a lemur!"

Zuko narrowed his eyes. "You aren't a lemur. Is that supposed to make sense?"

Sokka scoffed. "Just tell me what you're up to, Zuko!" Of course it was like the water tribe boy to want to know all the details of the elaborate plan that Zuko did not actually have.

"Nothing!" Zuko responded, almost too quickly.

"I won't tell you where Aang is!" Sokka retorted, though Zuko had not even mentioned the avatar.

"I didn't ask you where he is. Right now I don't even care." Zuko coughed and looked down at his feet. "I'm tired."

This halted Sokka. His arms fell; they had been raised for an attack. "Tired?"

Zuko looked up from the ground and for a brief moment his exhaustion rested in his eyes. Sokka nearly took a step back, his eyes were that intense, that emotional. Zuko blinked and the emotions were gone. He had always been good at wearing a mask. "Tired." He sidestepped Sokka and walked past him. "I could have killed you by now if I wasn't." He glanced back at Sokka, who was stunned with the realization. "It was dumb of you to assume I wouldn't attack. You only had a boomerang. What would you have done if I would have been a fire bender?" After a few more quiet steps toward his home, he thought about his near rage in the tea shop, how hard it had been to control himself. "Don't come back to the tea shop," he uttered just loud enough to know Sokka had heard him.

He did not wait for a response.