"I can't wait for you to try this tea, Uncle Ping," Lu Ten's niece, Jin, said as she dragged him down the street. "The new server makes the best tea! And his nephew is pretty cute!"
"Well, that hardly benefits me, Jin," he returned with a chuckle.
She giggled. "Anyway, the tea really is to your standard."
They entered the shop, and took a seat. Jin looked around for the waiter, who approached them. Lu Ten's eyes widened. It was the face of his cousin, Zuko, and yet, it wasn't Zuko. There was an awful scar on his left eye. Lu Ten's mind began racing. How could this have happened? What was Zuko doing here in the city, serving tea? And if he was the other server's nephew, then that had to be…Iroh.
"What can I get for you?" Zuko asked, looking at Jin.
"I'll have my usual, jasmine," she told him sweetly with a smile.
Zuko turned to Lu Ten, who was avoiding his cousin's gaze.
"Uncle Ping, are you going to order?" she asked.
Lu Ten began to sweat. If Zuko were to reveal him, he would lose everything. He had to hope that Zuko would not remember him.
"Sir?" questioned Zuko.
Zuko was beginning to get frustrated. He had other tables, and he had to get a tray out. When the man looked up, he noticed something. The man had amber eyes. He had the same eyes as Uncle Iroh. He took in the man's face and gasped. Though he was aged, it was unmistakably the face of his deceased cousin, Lu Ten.
Lu Ten jumped up from his seat, knowing Zuko was about to say his name, and covered the boy's mouth. Holding Zuko, Lu Ten took them to the bathroom, despite a questioning shout from Jin. After making sure no one was around, he removed his hand from Zuko's mouth.
"Lu Ten?!" cried Zuko.
"Quiet!" urged Lu Ten. "My father cannot know I'm here."
"Why not?" demanded Zuko. "He of all people deserves to know!"
"I know. But that's a hard thing to face."
"Still, explain yourself. How are you alive?"
"I never died. I went undercover and never came back. I wrote the letter saying I had been killed, and stayed here in Ba Sing Se."
Zuko looked outraged. "How could you abandon your family?! Uncle Iroh has suffered like you wouldn't believe, and all this time…you've been hiding like a coward."
"You wouldn't understand," Lu Ten said. "You don't know what happened."
"So tell me," Zuko said.
"I fell in love."
"You what?!"
"I fell in love, Zuko. I met a woman here while I was on my undercover mission and I fell hard for her. I wanted a life with her. The Fire Nation murdered her mother; I couldn't ask her to go there with me. I didn't even really want to go back. I couldn't marry Cho if I did. I just wanted a humble life. I got everything I wanted, too. I have a family now; a functional family."
Zuko punched his cousin in the face. Lu Ten was forced back a few steps.
"You idiot!" Zuko shouted. "Do you know what you've done?! After Uncle Iroh lost you, he retreated. This allowed my father to claim that Uncle was too weak to be Fire Lord, and asked to take his place as heir, and Grandfather allowed it! You could have ended the war! Then none of this would have happened!"
"What do you mean, 'none of this'?" questioned Lu Ten. "What's happened?"
Zuko was quiet. Lu Ten reached out to touch his face, and Zuko surprisingly let him. He put his hand on the scar.
"Who did this to you?" he asked.
Zuko swatted his hand away, and still did not answer.
"Ozai," Lu Ten whispered. "But why? Your mother was always so protective, how could she-"
"She's gone," Zuko interrupted.
"I'm sorry," Lu Ten said. "I didn't realize my absence would have such an affect. But still, I don't understand why he burned you. What could you possibly have done?"
"I spoke out of turn when I was thirteen," Zuko answered. "He taught me so that I would never forget."
"That's cruel," Lu Ten replied. "You were a child."
"I learned, didn't I?" Zuko said bitterly.
"That wasn't teaching, that was abuse."
Zuko didn't respond to that. "Anyway, he banished me. I had to find the Avatar to restore my honor. But now I don't even have that hope. Azula is his heir now, and I'm a refugee."
"My father too?" asked Lu Ten.
Zuko nodded. "He came with me to search for the Avatar. He stood by me when Azula tried to capture us, so he was a traitor too."
"I see," Lu Ten trailed off.
"You've got to see him."
"I can't. What I've done is unforgiveable."
"You'd be surprised what he will forgive."
"I couldn't do that to him."
"You can't let him continue to grieve for you."
"You've really grown up, Zuko."
"Don't change the subject."
"I can't do it, Zuko. It's ultimately my fault that the two of you are in this position. You're right, none of this would have happened, if I had just returned."
"I'm not going to defend what you did," Zuko said. "I'm saying that the only way to make up for it now is to be honest and apologize. If I know Uncle at all, he'll forgive you. He probably won't even be mad. But you owe him this."
"Do you forgive me?"
"No," Zuko said. "Without your so-called death, my father never would be in the position he had, and my mother would still be around. I might come around, but you've got to see Uncle. I can't say it enough, but you do owe him."
"Some other time, Zuko," Lu Ten argued. "This is too much right now. Will you keep my secret for me? Please?"
"You have a week to get your courage," Zuko agreed. "If you don't tell him, I will."
"Okay," said Lu Ten. "You have my word. I'll tell him within a week."
After that, they left the bathroom, and Lu Ten made an excuse he could not recall to Jin about his odd behavior with their server. He also told her he had to return home, but that she should stay and enjoy her tea and he would join her another time. That night, Lu Ten told Cho that his father was serving tea. He also told her about his confrontation with Zuko. She seemed thoughtful as they crawled into bed.
"Your cousin is right, though," she said as she snuggled up to him. "You do owe your father the truth now. I mean, he has a grandchild he doesn't know about!"
"But don't you realize the trouble this causes?!" he returned. "To Ozai, my daughter is a threat to his place on the throne. If it gets out that I am alive and have an heir, he will hunt her down. I'm sure of it."
"But your father wouldn't tell anyone," she assured him. "And your cousin wouldn't tell either, even if he were to return. It would threaten his place on the throne as well."
"You don't know what these people are like, Cho," he said. "They're ruthless and powerful. I can't endanger my daughter."
"I don't think that she's in any danger," she argued. "If these people are so ruthless, how could your cousin and father even get back into the Fire Nation? You definitely need to talk to your father. How would you feel if our little girl had done what you did?"
He thought about that. His daughter, Malina, who they had named for Cho's mother, was only three, and was only just discovering that she was a fire bender. This concerned him, but he already knew where he could give her private lessons if he wished. Lu Ten considered his wife's words. If she had done what he did…he would forgive her.
"I'd forgive her," he told her. "I love her too much not to."
"Well, there you have it," she said. "I suggest you go back there as soon as possible, and show yourself."
"I'll wait until after my birthday," he said. "That could get awkward."
"Alright," she said. "After your birthday, then."
With that, she closed her eyes and went to sleep. He held her close and eventually drifted to sleep himself.