19-Iroh's Help
Zuko watched the waves roll lazily. He was grateful that this was such a calm journey to the earth kingdom, but being here on this ship, without Katara, it was making him restless. Though, on the outside he did not show this. To his guards, he looked still as stone, gazing out at the sea, appearing lost in thought.
In a way, he was. At some moments, he wondered how things would be if there was no illness. How he and Katara would be. Would she and Aang still have broken up? Would they be together now? But then, he realized if there was no illness, Mai would still be alive. And he would not be a widow.
He hated to admit it, but it was this illness that brought the two of them together. And even though he missed Mai every day, and there would always be a place in his heart reserved for her, he was falling in love with Katara. Or maybe he already had. He thought of her nearly every moment, of her beauty, her power, her love. Even being away from her now, was making his heart ache.
Was it possible that if he were to remarry…it would be to her? He knew Katara wanted marriage, a family. She had told him that her and Aang disagreed on that concept many times. That, and he was constantly leaving, abandoning her. Would that eventually happen with them? What was going to happen with them? It all happened so fast...he didn't know what to expect.
But there was one thing that was for certain. He had to stop this illness, and Katara was going to stay until it was over. The thought comforted him. It amazed him how much he didn't want to lose her.
He retreated to inside the ship. Just staring at the ocean thinking of her was not doing him any good. He needed to keep himself busy, be productive. But how? There were no duties on the ship. Even his guards seemed to be bored. He considered training for a moment, then a thought occurred to him.
He remembered the dark days when Mai was bedridden, and he filled out her sleeping hours with painting. He kept some supplies on a couple ships, just in case he had to travel anywhere, he had something else to occupy his mind. He only hoped that this was one of the ships that he stored it on.
He was in luck. In a small chest in one of the rooms was his small supply of paint, and a small easel. Last time he had pulled it out, it was to keep from thinking about the pain in his heart. But now, it was for an entirely opposite reason. He dipped a brush into some paint, and began. He never had an image formed completely in his mind when he started painting. It usually just came to him; as if his creativity just flowed through the paintbrush.
For a while, it worked. Zuko was completely immersed in his work, he lost track of time, of where he was. It had seemed like only moments later when there was a knocking at the door.
"Sir? We are approaching Ba Sing Se."
"Okay, thank you."
The guard left, leaving Zuko to put away his paints. He took one last look at his painting before putting it away. It was flowers, dozens of them, surrounded by bright blue eyes.
Zuko felt grateful to be on solid ground again, away from the endless sea. He walked through the large earth kingdom city of Ba Sing Se, observing the people, the shops. It had been a while since he had been here, and Uncle knew that. Zuko knew that he was going to give him a hard time over it. But he didn't mind. Zuko knew that through anything, his uncle would care for him.
He did, even through his darkest times. He had always helped, always led him in the right direction with his wisdom. And Zuko was hoping that the former general would be able to do it once more. To hopefully help him save many lives.
It had been so long since Zuko had been in this city, he found himself to be a little turned around. Normally, there would be guards by his side, but he requested that they go into the city and enjoy themselves. Their presence was not necessary for where he was going. And he knew that if anything happened, he could take care of himself.
He strolled through the busy streets, keeping his eye on the shops that he passed, looking for any familiarity. It wasn't until he was on the ground that he realized he should have been looking where he was going.
He stood up immediately and held out a hand to help up the woman he had knocked down.
"I'm so sorry," he said, brushing himself off with his free hand.
"It's ok," she responded, accepting his offer.
Zuko got a good look at the woman as she stood. She was a tiny thing, plain looking, with black hair and brown eyes, but still somehow pretty. She looked almost familiar. She bent down to pick up the flowers and basket that she dropped from their collision.
"Here, let me help you," Zuko said at once.
"Thanks," she said pleasantly.
"These flowers are very nice, you have great taste. These must have come from Chang's shop." He had been there before; he once came home after an extended journey with a beautiful bouquet for Mai.
"Actually, I grew these."
Zuko placed the remaining flowers, gently in her basket. "Well, they are very beautiful."
She smiled at him, and stood, holding the basket on her hip. And then Zuko recognized her. This was the woman that he saw greeting Aang in the Fire Nation. This must be the woman that he left Katara for. Seeing her, instantly made him feel bad for Katara, and all the pain that Aang put her through. He noticed, the longer he looked at her that there was a scar on her neck. It was not a fresh scar, but he could tell that this was going to be with her for the rest of her life. Still he felt no sympathy for her.
"Well, thank you for your help," she said nicely.
"My pleasure," Zuko responded, continuing along down the road. While trying to find the right road to Uncle's tea shop, he decided to keep that meeting to himself. Katara didn't need to know about this woman. And he wanted to be the last one to cause her anymore pain.
Uncle's tea shop was brimming with customers when Zuko entered. He was not surprised by this; not only was it around dinner time, but also his uncle made delicious tea. Iroh was so busy; he didn't even seem to notice his nephew enter his shop. But he worked happily; he hummed to himself as he brewed. The workers moved quickly, serving tea to the waiting customers. Zuko moved fluidly through the shop, trying not to get in their way, but it was so crowded, it was nearly impossible. He was almost to the back, when a person calling his name stopped him.
"Zuko!"
He turned in the direction of the voice, and saw a woman smiling broadly and waving. She was thin; her black hair pulled up in a messy ponytail, and her smile was very friendly. She looked very familiar…like someone he had known years ago. But he couldn't place the name. Regardless, he waved back and continued towards his uncle.
Fortunately, the woman alerted Iroh of Zuko's presence. He was giving him a warm smile when Zuko focused on him.
"Nephew," he said simply when Zuko approached, and gave him a tight hug. "It's so good to see you."
"You too, Uncle."
"Come; join me for a cup of tea. Jasmine?"
Zuko nodded, and followed the older man to a surprisingly empty table.
"Don't you have to work? I can wait."
Iroh waved his hand dismissively. "I have plenty of employees for that. How often do I get a chance to speak with my only nephew?"
They sat down, and the woman who called out to Zuko approached their table.
"Two Jasmine teas, Jin."
"Jin?" Zuko questioned. Now that he had a better look at her face, he remembered her. It was a few years back, but he would never forget that interesting date that he had with her. "I remember you now, how are you?"
"I'm great, thanks to Iroh for giving me this job. I'll bring out your teas right away." She bounced away, leaving the two men alone again.
"She's a sweet girl. Needs the money to support her little boy. Fascinating kid, a firebender too," Iroh explained.
Zuko said nothing in response to this. He couldn't; Jin returned then with two steaming cups of Jasmine tea.
"Thank you," he said, and she left to attend to other customers.
"So, what brings you by Zuko? Surely, it's not just to visit me?" Iroh chuckled.
Zuko smiled. "I always plan to visit more often. But, I need your help."
Iroh's face grew concerned in an instant. "What is wrong?"
"I don't know if you have heard, but there is this terrible illness going around in the Fire Nation. Already, many people have died, and there are plenty more heading that way. Katara did some investigating and she thinks it may be linked to this plant." He pulled out the plant from his robes and carefully unwrapped it. He was grateful that it was still intact.
Iroh examined the plant, clearly running through the different species in his mind. Then his eyes widened, making Zuko frown.
"What?"
"This is not a common plant…in fact, it was banished many years ago."
"Why?"
"It's deadly. Not by touch; that's why many wished to keep it. After all, it is beautiful. But when ingested, it poisons the person, shuts down the organs. What's unique about this plant is it infects everyone differently. For some, it takes years to die, others, its quick. But eventually, they waste away." His face was grim.
"Katara must have been right then. She said, they have been brewing this plant into tea, and serving it in their shops."
Iroh's frown deepened. "That must be it then. I heard it brews a delicious tea, and the drinker does not even taste the poison. It's very sneaky. But why has it come back?"
Zuko shrugged. All of these thoughts were on Mai. He racked his brain, trying to think back a year, to what she was doing before she fell ill. It was hard to say…but it was very possible that she had contracted this illness from a simple cup of tea…
"Is there an antidote?" Zuko asked suddenly.
Iroh nodded slowly, keeping his eyes on the plant. "There is…and I might know where to find it. But first, we need to prevent the other shops from selling this tea. Hopefully it hasn't moved out this way yet."
"Are the other shops open? It is getting late."
"Yes, I know of a couple." Iroh wrapped up the plant again, and stood. "Wait for me outside, I'm going to tell one of my employees to cover for me."
He returned a moment later and the two were off. To Zuko, it felt like old times, walking along the streets of Ba Sing Se. The distance to the nearest tea shop was short, just the next road over. And within minutes, the two of them were walking in. This shop was not nearly as popular as Uncle's. But there were still a few people casually sipping their tea when they entered.
"Iroh!" A man called from the back, emerging suddenly.
"Hello, old friend," Iroh returned, giving him the known bow of respect. The man did the same, and then bowed to Zuko.
"Good to see you again FireLord Zuko. Why this surprise?"
"We won't be here long, we just had a question for you." Iroh answered for him.
"Of course."
Iroh unwrapped the plant and held it up to the man. "Are you selling this plant?"
The man looked at it carefully. "No."
Zuko tried to hide his disappointment. After all, there were other shops to investigate.
"But," the man continued. "I know someone who is. He lives on the other side of town, in fact he told me about it a few days ago, I was thinking of selling it myself. I hear it makes a delicious tea."
"Oh it does," Uncle agreed. "But it's also dangerous; deadly," he finished, when he saw the confused look on the man's face. "Please, do you know where he bought this plant?"
The man thought for a moment. "I know it's from a woman, but I'm at a loss for her name….my friend described her though, pretty little thing, with long dark hair, but some kind of scar on her neck." He gave the plant back to Iroh. "Hope that helps."
"Thank you so much," Iroh said warmly, before giving him another bow.
"Anytime," he retreated to the back, probably to get ready to close the shop, Zuko didn't know. His mind was racing with thoughts. He didn't know too many people that fit that description, save for the woman that he ran into today. But it couldn't possibly be her…why would she be killing people? What would be her motive? He almost didn't hear uncle talking to him.
"The next shop is a couple blocks down. Hopefully he is still open as well, but it can't hurt to check."
It couldn't hurt. It was always good to hear another voice; because if his thoughts were correct, then the girl who was growing a deadly plant, was seeing Aang. It was quite possible that Aang was in trouble. But Zuko hoped he was wrong.