Chapter 4: The Jasmine Dragon

There were two well dressed men in the tea shop. That was strange in and of itself, but the way they were eying Mushi made Jin wary.

The two men nodded to one another and approached the old tea server. "So you're the genius behind this incredible brew. The whole city is buzzing about you. I hope Pao pays you well."

"Good tea is its own reward." Jin relaxed. Whatever these men were up to, Mushi wouldn't be taken in by it.

"But it doesn't have to be the only reward. How would you like to have your own tea shop?"

Mushi gaped. So did Jin. "My own tea shop? This is a dream come true."

A really convenient dream come true. There had to be some sort of catch.

At this point Pao ran over to interrupt their conversation. He looked slightly panicked. "What's going on here? Are you trying to poach my tea maker?"

"Sorry Pao, that's business for you, am I right?"

"Mushi, if you stay, I will make you Assistant Manager. Wait, Senior Assistant Manager."

Oh, poor, clueless Pao.

The well dressed man countered with, "I'll provide you with a new apartment in the upper ring. The tea shop is yours to do whatever you want. Complete creative freedom."

"I even get to name the shop?"

"Of course!"

Jin exchanged a glance with Lee. He didn't look pleased with this windfall either.

Pao tried one final plea, "Uh, Senior Executive Assistant Manager!"

Jin grimaced as Mushi pushed the teapot in his hands into Pao's chest.

He then turned to Lee. "Did you hear, nephew? This man wants to give us our own tea shop in the upper ring of the city."

"That's right young man. Your life is about to change for the better."

Lee muttered in an extremely Lee-like manner, "I'll try to contain my joy," and stepped outside.

Jin popped up to follow him. Outside the tea shop they stood next to each other, both leaning against the wall, both staring at the ground.

"That was weird."

"Yeah."

"What do you think that man wants from Mushi?"

"I don't know. Tea?"

That made her smile. Surely if that guy was up to something, Lee could handle it if Mushi was too moon-eyed to notice. "This is a great blessing for you and your uncle. It's everyone's dream to live in the upper ring."

"It's not my dream."

They became lost in their own thoughts again.

"I guess I won't see you as often anymore," she said. "I can't come after school and you won't walk me home at night anymore."

"You'll find another place to study."

"Maybe your uncle can teach Pao how to make the tea really well before he goes. That way I won't have to find a new place."

"I can teach him."

"Do you think Pao will be alright? He looked a little ill."

"He'll get over it."

"I don't want to come here if he's going to be all moody. But then maybe he'll just take your place as the grumpy person I see every day." She meant it as a joke. But he wasn't smiling.

"Sure."

There were many things that she wanted to say. She wanted to beg him to stay. She wanted to talk more with him about how sketchy that man looked. She wanted to tell him that she didn't work on Fridays and Saturdays and she would graduate in a week and not have school any more, and maybe they could meet up then and do an activity or something. She wanted her books back before he left. She wanted him to say that he would still see her. She wanted to know if he was thinking about these things too.

She remained quiet, and leaned her head back against the wall to stare up at the sky. That's when she saw the flutter of paper. He reached out and grabbed one of the falling pages, and she leaned over his shoulder to read along with him.

"The Avatar is missing his bison."

"Oh, poor thing." There was something strange passing across Lee's face. "I've heard stories about his bison." She had the need to keep talking to him. Then she could keep him close for just another moment. "It's his spirit animal so their souls are connected or something. It's furry and flies and has an arrow on its head just like the Avatar. I bet they're devastated without each other. Do you think he was captured? Who would do such a thing?"

"This means … the Avatar is in the city." His voice sounded distant. He hadn't listened to any of the nonsense she had said. He looked to the sky and then ran off to scale the wall of the building next to the tea shop. He climbed to the roof and looked around as if he would be able to see the bison from there.

He did not come down.

It wasn't exactly the goodbye Jin wanted.

Zuko and Iroh spent the next several days preparing the new shop. Iroh was ecstatic, and as they toured the building the first time he bounded around and described all the ways he would decorate and all the things that they needed to buy. Zuko was beyond irritated. This move was not only pushing his future in a direction he didn't like, but it also included many things he already hated doing (shopping, decorating, tea). The only thought pushing him on was that the Avatar was within his reach. Just a few more days and he could leave his uncle, satisfied that he was taken care of and happy. Once he caught the Avatar he could go home and get away from this terrible city.

His uncle dictated a shopping list – a preliminary shopping list. Quon, their benefactor, watched over the two from a small distance with an odd smile on his face. It was disconcerting. Jin was right, that guy was weird.

The first day they surveyed the building then hired a carpenter to make the tables and chairs, and an artist to make a floor mosaic, then they put up advertisements for new tea servers, and then they wondered through the lower ring buying lots and lots of useless crap. By the end of the day, Zuko was sure that the decorations in the Jasmine Dragon would be hideous. They dropped off all Iroh's purchases then traveled to their new apartment and had a meager dinner. Iroh began unpacking while Zuko announced that he was going out.

He complained about his uncle's shopping habits the entire way from Jin's work to her house. Jin was so excited to see him that she didn't care what he talked about.

The next day Iroh interviewed several girls for tea server positions. Zuko groaned when he saw that they were all young and attractive. He really should have read the advertisement that his uncle put up. "Sketchy elderly gentleman seeks pretty girl to drink tea and sing songs." He groaned again as he listened in on some of the interviews. With one girl, they just talked about shoes. It seemed Mushi wanted new shoes and the girl knew where he could find some. The next girl had experience as a waitress, so they talked about flower arrangements for the front window of the shop. Of course. What else would they talk about? The next girl said very little as she and his uncle played pai sho. They were "testing out the new board".

Zuko spent the day painting the walls and then arranging some of the "essential elements" of the tea shop: two tacky golden dragons that stood outside on either side of the door. They were heavy and it was a pain in the ass to move them.

That night Jin wanted to hear all about the new girls. Zuko didn't have much to tell her except that he was sure that they were dimwitted and that his uncle was a dirty old man. Jin didn't believe him.

The next day they were joined by the new girls: Mimi, Yun, and Suri, who surprisingly turned out to all be from the lower ring. Of course this meant that they all needed nice clothing if they were going to pass off looking like they were from the upper ring. And this meant that they had to go dress shopping. Zuko managed to get out of it by volunteering to go get the girls' paperwork in order so they could travel easily between rings. Upon his return, he found that his uncle had also bought new clothes for him and demanded that he try them on.

The girls turned out to not be so bad. They were used to doing strenuous activities and working with their hands so they were eager to help when the carpenter arrived with all the furniture they had ordered.

"Are those new clothes?" Jin asked.

"Yes."

"They need to be tailored. Do you want me to do it for you?"

"What? Now?"

"No. Not now. Can't have you taking off your clothes in the middle of the road."

"I'm not taking off my clothes."

"It would be hard to fix them while you're wearing them, but we could give it a try. Are you busy tomorrow?"

"Probably."

"Good. I'll stop by then."

The next day Zuko dealt with all sorts of distributors, setting prices and quantities on all the goods they needed. Iroh demanded that there be several exotic teas available so Zuko ended up dealing with four different vendors for tea leaf, another for pastries, and another for fruit and sugar and honey. His uncle made him do this, saying that he "needed to practice his negotiating skills." Zuko speculated that his uncle was trying to keep him busy or wear him out or drive him crazy, but when he saw how he could be spending his day back at the shop he didn't complain so much. Iroh was teaching the girls all about tea: about the history of tea, where each came from, the different medicinal benefits of each, what each tasted like, how to brew each one, how to serve in the proper manner, and how to sing a song that was really not about tea at all. They seemed to have a great time.

"Lee?" Jin asked.

"What?"

"You seem … different lately."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. More … determined. Is there something going on with the new shop that's concerning you?"

"It's a lot of work. And I'm putting a lot of effort into this, when I really don't want to be there."

"So you're just pushing yourself through fixing up the shop?"

"Yes."

"Where would you rather be?"

He didn't answer.

"You know, everybody comes to Ba Sing Se looking for a second chance. It gives you a clean slate to start your life over. Most people don't make anything of that chance, but you … you and your uncle have almost done it. All you need to do is accept it. Appreciate it. I know it's hard, but if you do that, I really think that you'll be happy here. And what more could you want out of life than happiness?"

"You're too easy going."

"And you try too hard. For the hundredth time, relax. Enjoy it."

The next day the vendors showed up and Zuko stocked the back room. The girls helped him and in the process he started to get to know them (even though he didn't want to). They each had their own personalities, which for some reason surprised him.

Mimi laughed easily, which would reveal a dimple. It kind of looked like she was biting her cheek. She was full of mocking remarks and quickly took to poking fun at Zuko just to test his limits. They would bicker to the point where Mushi would have to break it up.

Yun was tall and proud without being conceited. She regarded everyone with a cool indifference even as she gossiped with Mimi or discussed which club she would visit that evening. Zuko had a suspicion that her eyebrows were drawn on with a pencil.

Suri was much younger than the rest of them. Zuko guessed thirteen, but what did he know? She was quiet and down to earth. She was a diligent worker and a ready listener. She had a mischievous twinkle in her eye, which led him to think that she was silently plotting something. He learned that she was an earth bender after an incident involving the new mosaic tile. Mushi quickly restricted her from using her skills inside the Jasmine Dragon. Zuko also learned that mosaic tiles were not easy to fix and that artisans took it very personally when they found out that their work has been destroyed.

The girls had gotten to know each other pretty well over the last few days and as a result conversation was comfortable. Well, it was comfortable amongst them and Zuko tried to stay out of it.

He and Mimi were polishing table tops when the door opened and an elegant young woman stepped in. "We're closed," he said without looking up.

"I know. I have business with Mushi."

His head snapped up and his mouth fell open. "Jin?"

She laughed and walked in. He gaped at her deep green dress (that she probably made herself), and her made up face, and her tamed hair. She spun around slowly so he could get the full effect.

"What do you think?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I was wondering if these coupons were good here." She reached into her sleeve and pulled out a thick stack of papers tied together with brown string.

Zuko found this amazingly annoying. "This is the Jasmine Dragon. Not Pao's."

"Then another stack of coupons is necessary as I assume you're raising your prices."

He took the coupons from her and stuffed them into the front of his tunic, glaring at her.

"I came to ask Mushi about it, not you."

"Why do you look like that?"

"So I can come to the upper ring without the gate guards badgering me."

"What is that in your hair?"

"Hair sticks. I borrowed them from a neighbor."

"They look like chopsticks."

Jin ignored him and turned to Mimi. "Hi, I'm Jin."

"Mimi." The girls smiled and bowed to each other.

"Can you take them out and eat with them?" Zuko asked.

"Of course she can't," Mimi scoffed. "Her hairdo would all fall apart."

"It'd look better that way," he grumbled.

Mimi decided to ignore him too. "You from the middle ring?"

"Lower."

"Me too!"

"Really?"

"Yeah. Mushi's great for hiring us."

"I know. He's such a dear."

"Why do you have paint on your face?" Zuko interrupted.

"It's called make up."

"It's terrible."

"Sorry you feel that way."

"It distracts from your eyes."

Both girls gave him blank stares.

"What? … Ugh. I'm going to get my uncle."

After an hour of fawning over every possible decorative decision, trying three kinds of tea, telling Mushi what a genius he was, and comparing notes with Mimi on how best to annoy Zuko (the obsessive way he stocked the storage room, his hair, coupons), Jin dragged him off to see his new house. He found this really odd. She had never seen his old apartment and they weren't exactly moved in yet.

As soon as they were inside she pulled out a box of pins and started sticking them in his sleeve.

"What the hell?"

"Your clothes don't fit and it's driving me crazy. Hold still." She grabbed his head and turned it away from her and then moved his arms out to the side.

She mumbled several times about shoddy work and people having no pride. Zuko stood absolutely still.

"Could you please stop it? I've got to go get something."

"It can wait."

"My clothes don't need tailoring."

"Yes they do. How can you say that?"

"You don't need to waste your time." He shoved her away and pulled open a box that was stacked in the living room. He dug through it, swore, then opened another, then another.

"Here." He held a bag out for her. "It's your books."

"Oh. Thanks."

"I also got you this." He reached in the bag and pulled out a knife. It was nice without being ornate and it was heavier than she expected. "I can show you a few moves and how to use it."

She stared up at him. "Lee, I…"

"I taught Pao how to make green tea. It's the only one he knows how to do well, but I don't think that really matters."

"What are you doing?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been planning something the last few days. And now you're giving me my stuff back and giving me this so you don't have to walk me home any more… You've tied up all the loose ends so that you think I'll be taken care of… And you've taken care of your uncle too. You got his tea shop set up." The expression on his face told her that she was right. "You don't need your shirt tailored because you don't think you'll need it. What are you planning?"

"Nothing. I got the shop set up because that's my job and I gave you your stuff back because I'm not going to see you again."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm moving to the upper ring."

"You've already moved to the upper ring and I still see you every day."

"Well, that's not going to happen anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because you don't need me and we're not friends."

"We are friends."

"We shouldn't be."

That was the first honest thing he said since they came in the house, and it took her by surprise.

"Lee, I have a bad feeling about this."

"I told you, I'm not planning anything."

"Idiot."

They stood and glared at each other.

Why was she putting in so much effort when he was so stupid and rude?

Because she liked him, she answered herself.

Why did she like him?

She had no idea.

She sighed and gave up. "Is there anything I can say to change your mind?"

"No."

"Please be careful."

"I'm always careful."

"You're full of it." She quickly pulled the pins out of his shirt and shook her head in disgust. "You look awful." She grabbed the bag with her books and knife and wondered if he had read them.

"Goodbye, Lee."

As soon as she left Zuko went after the Avatar's bison.