Amai and Karei ran to the guesthouse, and told Chijin the good news. Chijin was already folding Amai and Karei's clothes neatly and storing them in the armoire.
"What are you doing, Chijin?" Karei asked indignantly before sitting on her bed.
"We might as well make ourselves comfortable for our stay…"
Before Chijin could even think of finishing, Karei had already started babbling on about the shop, so fast that Chijin could barely catch a word she was saying.
"Karei, take a deep breath. Amai, tell me what she's going on about." Chijin asked, setting the clothes down to carry on later.
"We found a shop, Chijin. Not far from the innermost wall of the city. It won't cost much, and I'm sure we can twist the owners arm to let us pay after we're up and running."
Chijin sat silently for a while, not sure what to make of them finding a shop so fast. She tapped her chin, looking out the window absent-mindedly.
"Did the owner happen to mention any other details?" Chijin asked, still decisive.
"There is a house on the top floor…" Amai said cautiously.
Chijin sat silent again, thinking. She spoke sooner than the previous time, more optimism in her voice.
"So when can we go look at this shop?"
Karei jumped up so fast she was a blur. She hugged Chijin tightly, all the while squealing as loud as her voice would allow.
"Anytime! The owner is there till tomorrow, and he will want to see our guardian before signing a contract."
Chijin smiled, and told them to go buy ingredients for dinner. As they were walking down the alleys of Ba-Sing-Sei, they noticed the people were happy, and many of them were refugees from other towns hiding out from the Fire Nation raids. They bought a few vegetables for Chijin's stew before finding another way back to the guesthouse. On their new route they found a tea house, a block away from where their shop would be.
"Oh, smell that jasmine tea! It's the best I've smelt in years." Karei sniffed the air and grabbed Amai's hand to pull her into the shop.
"Karei, we don't have enough money…we only have enough left for one cup of tea."
"Well, that's enough. And if it's good we can get more money tomorrow and bring Chijin for a nice cup of tea."
Amai sighed deeply and surrendered to letting Karei pull her into the shop. There were only two occupied tables at the moment, and they took the third. There was a commotion in the back of the shop, it sounded like they were training new staff.
"Here, like this, Lee."
A short, old man with a pointy beard appeared out the back and immediately and spotted the two girls. He was instantly at their side, looking inquisitive and curious.
"May I take the two loveliest ladies in the house's order?" The old man smiled.
"One cup of jasmine tea, please." Karei smiled at the old man, and then looked at Amai.
"Oh no thank you, I don't like tea very much." Amai smiled.
The old man looked offended and hurt at the same time, and then smiled at Amai.
"Wait until you've tried my honeysuckle tea. It's a sure winner."
Amai smiled at him, and then let him down easy.
"Sorry sir, but we only have enough money for one cup of tea."
The old smiled at them again, and then bent down and whispered to Amai.
"I'll make you two cups for the price of one. Because after my honeysuckle tea, you'll be sure to come back."
Amai and Karei both smiled, and then the old man went into the back and was speaking to someone else again.
"Those nice girls that were on the boat with us are here."
Amai and Karei looked up suddenly, they thought that the old man looked familiar, and now they knew where he had come from. A head poked around the corner, and Amai saw the scarred face of Lee looking at them. Before she could wave, he had pulled his head back out of sight.
"And they're so polite." The old man finished off.
"Oh my word, it's Lee. From the boat." Amai gasped.
"All the more reason to come back." Karei smiled and winked at Amai.