(Flash Backward!!) (FYE: the story jumps back and forth) :)

Sai smiled to herself the entire way back to camp. That stupid son of a bitch did fancy her after all, and he almost kissed her to!! Her face turned bright red and she couldn't suppress the girlish giggle anymore. Her entire body felt all fluttery and she felt like dancing in the middle of the street.

She didn't understand why she was having these feelings. It wasn't like it was her first kiss or anything. She had kissed plenty of boys before. She remembered her first kiss way back when she was only 10. She was playing a game with her friends at the orphanage where you would play tag and if you tagged a boy you had to kiss them or something like that. It was silly and juvinille but since then she had laid her lips on many lucky men, all of them enjoying it much more than they had when they were stupid boys.

She had even seen boys naked. She hadn't gone all the way of course, she would never do that, but occasionally her and her nomad friends would get a little hott and bothered and go a little farther than just innocent kissing. They were constantly traveling so they were always meeting new boys in the earth kingdom and with each new city the boys just seemed to get cuter.

But there was something about Lee that was different. She didn't know what it was but he made her chest burn and her stomach do flips. She was crushing on him badly and there was no use in denying it.

By the time she had made it to her camp she was almost completely dry from the rain but her thick hair still had its damp texture and the hem or her skirt was caked with dirt.

Luckily only very few people were still awake to see her slap dash appearance, unluckily, her superior, Mother Gili, was still awake waiting for her return.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Gili tried to sound angry but her voice was still laced with maternal worry. "You were supposed to be back here several hours ago"

Sai knew she should have left the teashop a long while ago but she got 'held up'. Mother Gili paced In front of her damning her with every step about how she made her worried sick and all this other stuff that could have happened to her and blah blah blah.

Mother Gili wasn't really Sai's mother. She wasn't even related to her at all. But she was the closest thing Sai had to mother figure since her real mom had died giving birth to her. When Sai had joined up with the nomads when she was 12 she was assigned Gili as a guardian or a superior. Gili was the superior of a ton of other kids but her and Sai had a special bond and even after Sai had come respected age of 16 she still treated her like one of her own children.

"im sorry" Sai tried to come up with the best excuse she could "I was walking and got lost and I lost track of time and I-"

"don't give me that nonsense young lady" Gili waved a plump finger in front of Sai's nose "you had me worried to death! I almost had to send a search party out for you"

That was exaggerating it just a bit. She wasn't out for that long, Jeeze. She made it sound like she was kidnapped.

Sai apologized and bowed her head, begging for forgiveness.

Gili fell for it and quickly swept Sai into a hug. "I just worry about you child, you know you have a heavy burden to bear"

Uh-oh here it comes. Sai rolled her eyes and tried to escape yet another loooooooooooong speech about her silly fucking 'problem'.

"Gili, can we do this later"

Gili ignored the tempermental young woman. "You know it's not safe for you to be out and about with that…that THING inside of you"

Sai rolled her eyes again.

"Do you know what would happen if that thing got out! What would happen if 'god forbid' you were caught and its power fell into the wrong hands!!'

Sai grabbed onto Gili's arms refusing to hear another word "look, ill be fine, we've kept it secret this long I'm sure we can manage a couple more years" she said as she kissed the top of the elder woman's head "You worry about me to much"

Gili smiled at her little hott head "if I don't no one else will sweetie" and left it at that allowing Sai to go to her tent and get some rest.

Since her last visit Sai had come by the teashop a lot more often. She stopped by almost every day to see Lee and his uncle just to say hi. She would arrive usually at the end of the day right as they were about to start closing or if it were a slow day she would come by and keep them company until it picked up.

Zuko looked forward to her visits, but he didn't admit to it. If his uncle found out about his secret passions for her then he would never hear the end of it. His uncle had been trying to get him to adjust to peasant life so much lately, get him to go out with people, make some friends, stupid teenager stuff. There was no way that he would give his uncle the satisfaction of knowing that there was something in this stupid city he enjoyed. So he kept his little affections for Sai his little secret.

One thing Zuko did notice about her visits was that she always seemed to show up when there weren't any people around. Not that it bothered him. It gave him more time to 'interact' with her without any 'interruptions'.

Since their little confrontation in the back of the kitchen, he had tried desperatly to get her alone so they could pick up where they had left off, but every time he got her cornered she would find a way to weasel her way out of it. Yesterday was the farthest he had gotten. Sai had come by just as they were about to close up the shop and being the kind hearted individual that she was she had offered to help clean up.

She had taken a stack full of dishes back into the kitchen to be washed, completely oblivious of Zuko following close behind. As soon as they had rounded the corner of the kitchen and were out of sight from his uncle, he made his move. When she bent down low to place the dishes in the sink Zuko lightly traced the line of her hip with his fingers. The faint touch had startled her and she quickly spun around wide-eyed. He had gotten closer and placed his hands on the edge of the sink so she was pretty much trapped in his arms. When he moved his head forward to kiss her she turned hers to the side so his lips met with her cheek. She had giggled at his failed attempt, which only made him that much more determined. He had grabbed her chin to keep her still and just as their lips were about to make contact his uncle called him from the front of the shop, yelling that there were still more dishes to be taken.

The second time in a row that his uncle had interrupted them!! This was getting seriously annoying!!

Did she like him or didn't she! It drove him absolutely mad not knowing her feelings towards him. Then again he didn't even know his own feelings.

To Iroh, observing the young couple try to sort out and discover their love for each other was incredibly amusing. The chemistry was there and they didn't even know it. However they did seem like an odd pair. They always had to be around each other and yet they rarely agreed on anything. They were always bickering. For some reason this girl knew exactly what buttons to push to make his nephew throw a tantrum. But Iroh saw passed their little games. She was playing hard to get and Zuko was completely ensnared in her little trap.

"Do you like to dance, Lee?",

It was early in the afternoon and Sai had come by the shop at unusually early. She was doing errands for one of her nomad friends and decided to stop by for a bit. Her little visit soon turned into a longer one as she got caught up in a conversation with Zuko about a little festival that was to be held soon in Ba Sing Se. There was supposed to be food and games and music and dancing and she just HAD to go. Sai loved fairs and festivals and absolutely adored dancing.

Zuko on the other hand, well, he had never been to a festival before. He had heard about the ones held in the fire nation but being a fire nation prince in his youth, never had the experience of attending one. The only things that he had attended were balls and high class parties where the music was muted and the dancing, conservative.

"Well, do you or don't you?"

Sai began to taunt Zuko around the teashop as he was cleaning up after one of the customers.

"I don't dance"

Sai leaned against the table as he piled up the used teacups and plates onto a tray.

"How come? U Scared?"

Zuko looked at her sharply "No!"

"O, I think you are, you look like it too…I think you're so scared you're blushing"

Zuko's eyes widened and he turned away quickly. Damnit! He hated it when she did that. It drove him nuts!!

Sai giggled, it was so much fun to embarrass him and so easy too!

Zuko sulked off into the kitchen with his tray leaving Sai and her giggles at the table.

He had just started to rinse and dry his first teacup when there was sudden shouting in the front of the shop, making Zuko stop what he was doing and rush to the front to see what was the commotion.

"I want her out! NOW!"

The owner of the tea shop, Pao had just payed an unexpected visit to see Mushi and Lee, to make sure they were running a tight ship, and what did he find! A filthy little beggar girl in his shop! AND she was leaning on the table! SHE WAS TOUCHING IT FOR HEAVENS SAKES!

Iroh was trying to calm the owner and his boss but Pao wasn't paying any attention to him.

"OUT NOW!!" he screamed at Sai

Sai did not move. You could tell by looking at her body language that she was angry and trying to keep her mouth shut. What you couldn't notice were the tears that she was fighting to keep back. You couldn't see how much this insignificant old mans words hurt her.

It wasn't the first time this had happened to her, but it still hurt. Having people judge you just on your looks or your status. It was one of the main reasons she came at night or when no one was around, to avoid silly confrontations like these.

"LEAVE MY SHOP OR IM CALLING THE GUARDS!" Poa screamed.

By this time, all the customers in the tiny shop had stopped drinking their tea and had their attention on Sai. They stared at her, waiting for her to snap or to have an emotional break down.

They were going to be disappointed.

Poa now got inches away from Sai's face and began screaming any insult he could at her. He called her a whore and a thieving criminal. He told her she was worthless and a bunch of other 'fun' stuff. Never once did Sai say anything. She just let him have his fun.

"NOW GET OUT!!"

Zuko couldn't believe what he was hearing. How dare he! Who the hell did he think he was, she wasn't a criminal she was a human being, she had every right to be her just like all the other customers.

Rage began to boil inside him and he began to feel like the old Zuko. The ruthless, cold hearted Zuko that would kill anyone and destroy anything to get what he wanted.

Zuko took a step foreward, towards his boss. His fists were clutched and ready to beat Pao until he was an unrecognizable heap on the floor, but when Sai turned to look at Zuko, he stopped in his tracks. Her eyes were filled with so much sadness and embaressment. silently begging him to stay out of it. She didn't want him to interfere.

He didn't say anything. Zuko looked back from Pao, back to Sai. He wanted to fucking kick this guy's ass but as soon as he got that look, he was reminded of his situation. What could he do. If he spoke out against his boss, like he wanted to, he and his uncle would get fired. He no longer had the title of Prince. He couldnt do whatever he wanted and it wasn't until at that moment that he had fully realized it, he was just a banished prince, and now just a peasant.

Instead of lashing out he, for once, kept his mouth shut and suppressed all the rage inside of him. When it became apparent to Sai that Lee wasn't going to do anything stupid, she let out a sigh of relief. She then, after so much torment and mental anguish, felt safe to turn around and leave.

Only when she was safely out of hearing distance did she finally break down and cry.