Spirits' Creed Chapter 6: The Tale of Jin, an avatar: last airbender fanfic

Spirit of Fire

Chapter 6: The Tale of Jin

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar: the Last Airbender

Jin calmly walked down the streets of the Lower Ring, towards her house, after a busy day of hemming clothes for Ms. Xao. She was debating wither or not to follow her friend's suggestion and have a relaxing cup of tea at Pao's Family Tea House.

Flashback

"Hey Jin, what wrong?" asked a soft voice behind her.

Jin turned to see her fellow co-worker and friend, Maki, standing behind her. "Oh, hey Maki," replied Jin. "Nothing's really wrong. I've just been really stressed out."

"You know what you should do then? Have some tea at Pao's Family Tea House." Said Maki.

"That dump?" Jin replied with a slight tone of disgust in her voice. "I think I'd rather be stressed."

"Hey it's not that bad." Maki countered, before immediately relenting. "Okay fine, so it still looks like a dump. Fortunately, the tea and service has really changed. I went there the other day, when I was helping my mom with her shopping and tried it. The tea is now great, Pao hired a new tea maker and he is superb. But the best part is the guy Pao hired to be the new waiter." Maki finished in a squeal.

"What's so great about him?" Jin asked, now curious. It wasn't often Maki got so excited about waiters.

"Well he's young, about our age, average height and has a strong presence about him. He's the perfect bad boy to bring home to meet your folks. Plus, he is so fucking hot!" replied Maki.

"I might have to check it out this afternoon, after my shift," commented Jin.

Before Maki could say anything in response, their boss came in and ordered them both back to work.

End Flashback

Jin was now in the midst of her debate as she arrived at the front of Pao's Family Tea House. 'It would be nice to relax for a short moment, before returning to the madness that I call home.' Jin thought to herself. 'Besides, it's been ages since I've gotten any type of eye-candy. Not since my birthday last year, when Maki's sister snuck us into that ladies strip club.'

'Oh what the hell,' Jin finally decided as she reached for the door handle. 'What's the worst that could happen?'

Opening the door, Jin walked into the tea house and glanced around. Seeing a couple of people sitting at the tables closest to the counter, Jin decided to sit at the table to the left of the door as she walked in. She sat with her back to the wall, to watch the on goings of the shop around her. 'Well, the place still looks the same,' Jin thought to herself as she slid the small pamphlet menu on the table over to read it, while she waited for the waiter to arrive and take her order.

Zuko mentally sighed to himself as he walked to the back of the tea house with a tray of used tea cups to be cleaned. Things hadn't gone exactly well that morning for him. When he had been getting ready for the day, Iroh took notice of both the bruise on his arm and the tattoo. Iroh first asked about the bruise and Zuko replied, saying that he had tripped and landed on his arm. Iroh knew that it was highly unlikely that Zuko had tripped, due to years worth of training that gave him a great sense of balance. Even if he did trip, Iroh also knew that Zuko was naturally agile and would have corrected himself in the fall to not land on his arm. Now when Iroh saw the tattoo, things really went downhill. First, there was the fact that it was the Fire Nation symbol. Closely, following that was the fact that Zuko got the tattoo. Zuko argued back that it was a small tattoo; not even close to being bigger than three gold pieces connected together. He had explained that he saw some of the others he was out with last night have them and was offered to get one, so he accepted it. While clearly not happy, Iroh was relieved when Zuko informed him that he had gotten a good deal on the tattoo and that he wasn't joining a gang.

Zuko snapped out of his reminiscing as he heard the door to the tea house open. Quickly putting the dirty tea cups into the water basin, Zuko went to wait on the new customer. He walked back into the main area of the tea house and saw that the customer was a young woman with dark brown hair sitting on the right side of the tea house by the door. As Zuko made his way towards the woman, he took notice of her viewable features. She had, what seemed to be, a natural tanned complexion, a small delicate nose centered in her face. Her slender fingers gently held the small menu pamphlet that she was reading.

Zuko's eyes then looked past the woman's hands at what lay behind them and was stunned. 'Are those her breasts?' he thought to himself. He knew it was rude to stare, but he was unable to help himself. Despite what his crew might have thought, he did like girls; he just didn't really have much practice with them. 'I know the crew said that Earth Kingdom woman can be well endowed, but I never thought they got so… big. I wonder what it would be like to feel them?' Zuko mentally commented to himself as he fought down a blush.

Jin was busily looking over the teas on the small pamphlet, when she was brought out of thinking by a masculine, but soft, voice speaking to her and saying, "Welcome to Pao's Family Tea House. Are you ready to order?" Jin looked up to see a young man, roughly her own age, standing in front of her waiting to take her order.

"Y-yes," replied Jin as she took in the man's appearance. He wasn't overly tall, a few inches taller than she was. His hair was shorter then that of most guys and was black. His face was well defined and handsome; even though, he had a sever burn on the left side of it. But this did not repulse Jin; for she thought it gave him character. The most captivating feature about the young man was his eyes. His right was a beautiful gold, whilst his left was, oddly, red like blood. Jin found herself unable to look away as she spoke giving her order, "I'll have a cup of Jasmine, please."

"Your tea will be right out." He replied as he walked away to fill her order.

'Was that a blush on his cheek?' Jin asked herself as he turned away from her. 'I wonder if I made him nervous?' she thought with a grin as she leaned over the table to watch him walk away. 'He's got a nice ass too.'

A couple of minutes later the man returned and placed her cup of Jasmine tea in front of her. Jin thanked him as she picked up the cup and brought it to her mouth for a small sip. 'This tastes really good,' she thought as the drink went down her throat. 'Well, with the tea and the waiter, I'll be coming by here a lot more often.'

"Has anyone checked to see if the paper has arrived?" Sokka asked aloud as his sister walked into the main room.

Katara looked to see Aang lounging on the handrail and her brother and Toph lounging on the seat cushions on the floor. Now normally, she would have told them to not be so lazy, but she had been doing the same thing in her room. However, it was rather boring to lounge by one's self, so she had gotten up and was walking towards the main room to join her friends in lounging together. It wasn't like there was much else they could do in the city. Everyday, for the past four days they had wondered around the city talking to people about where Appa might be. The problem was their tour guide, Joo Dee. The people they spoke with seemed to get very nervous around her; so they had decided to not bother to go out today. "I'll go check," Katara replied as she continued walking and went to the door.

Katara opened the front door and saw that their mailbox had the day's paper sticking out of it. Grabbing the paper, she quickly glanced at the headline before heading back inside. As she read the title, her eyes began to light up. "I've got it! I know how will see the Earth King." Katara said excitedly as she ran across the living room and up the steps to where the others were lounging in the upper part of the living room.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Toph asked before mimicking Joo Dee and saying, "'One doesn't just pop in on the Earth King.'"

"The King is having a party tonight for his pet bear," replied Katara.

"You mean Platypus-Bear?" Aang questioned from the handrail.

Duly Katara replied to him, "No, it just says 'Bear'."

"Certainly, mean his pet Skunk-Bear." Sokka said, offering his own suggestion.

"Or his Armadillo-Bear?" Chimed in Toph with her own suggestion.

"Gopher-Bear?" Aang added as a final suggestion.

"Just… 'Bear'." Replied Katara to her friends with a small sigh.

"This place is weird." Toph commented allowed. The three others paused slightly, agreeing with the statement.

"The palace will be packed; we can sneak in with the crowd." Katara said, bringing their discussion back on how to get into the Earth King's palace.

"Won't work." Toph said as she laid back on the floor.

"Why not?" Katara asked shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, no offence to you country folk, but a real society crowd would spot you from a mile away. You've got no manners." Toph reasoned as she grabbed a pastry and began to eat it.

"Excuse me? I've got no manners. You're not exactly Lady Fancy Fingers." Katara replied with a slight huff and being told she had no manners by the group's least mannered member.

With a burp Toph replied, "I learned proper society behavior and chose to leave it." She then threw the half eaten pastry away and continued. "You haven't learned anything. And frankly, it's a little too late."

Sokka and Aang tried to reason with Toph saying that she could teach them. They then proceeded to act as though they were being very sophisticated and bowing to each other, until they wound up hitting their heads together.

"Katara might be able to pull it off, but you two would be lucky to pass as busboys." Toph said as she and Katara looked at the boys down on the floor.

Toph then turned to Katara and said, "If we're going to do this we'll need the rest of the day to prepare. We got a lot of shopping to do."

"Shopping?" Katara asked as the two girls made they way towards Toph's room.

"Yeah, shopping. We need to get our nails done, our hair styled, and new dresses. Also, I'll need to teach you about proper society behavior." Toph informed her as she grabbed her money bag.

After letting the boys know that they were leaving, Katara and Toph stepped out of the house. "Time to let the bloodless torture begin," Toph said as they made their way to a salon. It wasn't going to be a fun afternoon for the young earthbender.

The day at the tea house had gone smoothly enough for Zuko, who was now enjoying his break and staring up at the night sky from the roof.

"Zuko," spoke a voice that was slowly becoming very familiar you him. The exiled prince turned to his left and saw Aoihi floating next to him.

"Yes?" He asked the elder spirit of fire.

"It is time to test you. We are going to see how well you do when you confront your former enemies. Back in your room, you will find a set of clothes to change into. The clothes will help you to be unrecognizable to the Avatar and his companions."

"The Avatar is here? In the city?" Zuko asked

"Yes. And remember, you can't attack the Avatar unless he interferes with your mission," Aoihi replied, reminding the prince of his restrictions. "Now go." The spirit then vanished leaving Zuko alone on the roof.

Zuko quickly jumped off the roof and ran into the back of the tea house. "Uncle, I need to leave now. I have some things to do." Zuko said as he took off his apron.

"Are you going out with the same people you did last night?" Iroh asked as he tended to the boiling pots.

"No, it's spiritual things tonight," replied Zuko.

"Ah, I see. Good luck then nephew." Iroh called as Zuko ran out the door.

As he ran down the streets Zuko had a thought to himself. 'How will I know where to go?'

'I'll tell you,' replied Aoihi's voice from within his head.

'Aoihi? How are you speaking to me?'

'I'm an Elder Spirit, child. I can do much that is impossible for humans to understand. Now move it.' The spirit replied.

Seeing a stack of crates, Zuko jumped on them and made his way onto the roof. Now that he was on the roof of the building, he was free to run at full speed towards his apartment. With nothing inhibiting his way, Zuko made what would normally be a ten minute walk from the tea house to his apartment; in three minutes. Zuko ran into his room and saw that the cloths were indeed there. As quickly as he could, Zuko took off his clothes and put the black and dark red outfit on. (A/N: It's like Ezio's assassin outfit from Assassin's Creed II, but it's red and black instead of red and white.) Putting the black cloth mask over his nose and mouth, Zuko placed the hood over his head. Stopping to look in the mirror, Zuko was surprised at his reflection; because it was hard for him to recognize himself. Impressed with his concealment, Zuko jumped out the window and climbed onto the roof.

Zuko ran as fast as he could to the tram station, with Aoihi guiding him. He arrived just as the tram was starting to leave. Acting quickly, Zuko jumped from the roof of the tram station down onto the roof of the stone train. Zuko lay down on his stomach on the roof of the first compartment and waited for the stone train to enter the Upper Ring.

Twenty minutes later the stone train was past the final wall and entering the Upper Ring. Seeing that it was slowing down for the tram station, Zuko jumped off the roof of the stone train and onto the roof of a nearby house. He then followed Aoihi's directions, while running as fast as he could. After nearly half an hour of hard running Zuko found himself standing in front of a large house. "What is this place?" He asked aloud.

'This is the Avatar's house, while he is in the city,' replied Aoihi from within his head. 'Quickly, go inside before someone sees you.'

Zuko opened the front door and walked inside. 'So, what am I here for?' he questioned.

'The Avatar and his friends were able to sneak into the Earth King's palace tonight to try and speak with him. However, they were met with resistance.' Aoihi explained as she showed Zuko scenes from that night. Zuko watched as the Avatar and his companions tried to inform the man they were talking to, who ever he was, about the information they had that could defeat the Fire Nation. The man refused to listen and informed them that it was forbidding to mention the war within the walls of Ba Sing Se. The vision ended as the man turned around. 'What we want you to do, Zuko, is convince the Avatar not to do anything stupid.' Aoihi told him.

'That's going to be difficult; the child hasn't had to listen to anyone in over a hundred years.' Zuko thought to himself.

'Well, you'll have a little bit of time to get your argument ready. They'll be here in forty-five minutes.' Aoihi replied one final time.

As he had some time, Zuko looked around their living room and mostly found nothing of interest. However, there was an interesting looking green bag with books and rolled up pieces of paper in it. Zuko began looking through the contents of the bag, until he got to one particular piece of paper with the words 'The Darkest Day in Fire Nation History'. After looking at the date, Zuko realized what the Avatar and his friends were planning to do. 'If they try to invade on that day, they will be slaughtered. Agni's defenses are highest on that day, due to the loss of firebending.' Zuko thought to himself. Normally, the prince would have let them walked right into their demise, but he was trying not to be like the rest of his people. 'I have to try and stop them. But, if they decided to go through with it, that's their problem.'

Zuko continued to read for the next thirty minutes as he waited for the group to show up. Minutes before they were due to arrive; Zuko extinguished the candles in the house and around the house, bathing the room in darkness.

Sokka, Aang, Toph, and Katara stepped out of the Ostrich-Horse drawn carriage as it stopped in front of their temporary house in Ba Sing Se.

"Have a pleasant night Aang and Sokka and Toph and Katara. Please enjoy your stay in our wonderful city." The different Joo Dee said before closing the carriage door.

As the carriage rolled out of sight, Sokka spoke, "Can you believe that Long Feng guy?"

"I know Sokka. Long Feng has to be doing something that's keeping everyone from knowing about the war. We've got to tell people." Katara said as they walked up the steps of the house.

The four friends walked into the house and closed the door behind them. The four of them were so wrapped in their own thoughts that they never noticed anything was amiss, until Sokka spoke up. "Hey why is it so dark in here? I thought we left the lights on?"

Being the only ones that could see Katara and Aang snapped out of their own thinking and looked around; realizing that candles in the living room lanterns were out.

"How did that happen?" Aang asked aloud.

"Because I put them out," replied a rough voice.

The group gave a yelp of surprise and looked towards the voice. "W-who are you?" Aang asked in a slightly shaky voice. Sure, he may have been to bridge between two worlds, but ghosts scared his arrows right off.

"Well, you already know a partner of mine. You met when you were helped across Serpent's Pass," replied the voice.

"You're one of the three champions." Aang realized. "Which one are you, water or fire?"

A giant ball of dark green fire blazed into existence, lighting the room in an eerie green light. In front of the flame was a hooded figure, who was sitting in front of them, behind the living room table with the books and papers that Sokka had taken from Wan Shi Tong's Library. "I'm going to say… I'm the water champion." The champion replied sarcastically.

"You… You're a firebender." Sokka declared with in a tone of disgust at being so close to a firebender.

"How could you have gotten into the city?" Katara questioned. "We stopped the drill."

"I got in the same way everyone else does, I walked in." He replied.

"Tell me why I shouldn't tell people you're here" Said Aang.

The hooded figure stood slowly and stared right at Aang with sightless eyes. "If you want to tell people I'm here go ahead. I won't stop you. After all, who would believe you? Are you going to tell them the same why you're going to tell them about the war? By proclaiming it and hoping people believe you? They would see you as nothing more than an attention seeking brat. Also, you'd have to deal with the champions of water and earth. Do you really want them on your case? And finally, who's going to care that there's one more firebender in Ba Sing Se? It's not like I'm the only one."

"What do you mean 'one more firebender'?" Katara asked. "There can't be other firebenders here; this is the Earth Kingdom capital."

"This is Ba Sing Se; you will find all walks of life here. Male, female, bender, non-bender, earthbenders, firebenders, and waterbenders are all in this city." The figure explained.

"So, is this the Fire Nation's newest plot; to sneak soldiers in and then attack, when they have enough?" Sokka asked.

"They're here because they were born here. Just like the waterbenders and earthbenders in Agni."

"What's Agni?" Aang asked in a confused voice.

"Agni was the first human firebender. The Fire Nation capital is named Agni in his honor," he replied to the Avatar.

"Are you keeping them prisoner their?" Katara asked angrily.

"No, they're living there like everyone else. They wake up in the mornings and go to work, send their children to school, clean their houses, have parties, play games, go to parent/teacher meetings; they have and live their lives."

"But… but, why aren't they fighting back?" Katara asked with anguish in her voice.

"Some of them do fight in the war. After all, the Fire Nation is their home and the Fire Lord is their ruler," The figure told her.

"What exactly are you doing here?" Toph asked, who had been strangely silent.

"What I'm doing here is reading these books and papers. Especially, this very interesting piece called, 'The Darkest Day in Fire Nation History'. You know, I seem to recall another such day coming up real soon; it should be in about four months. Would any of you care to guess what happens for eight minutes that day?" When no one spoke he continued, "Firebenders lose their ability to firebend. Of course this happens once a year, every year, so it's not like its uncommon knowledge. In fact, the next twenty solar eclipses are already known; due to the astrological calendars of the Fire Sages. I hope you enjoyed learning about this interesting bit of information. I will also tell you this, if someone was planning to invade Agni, they would find it easy to get in, but impossible to get out once they had been trapped by the waterbenders and earthbenders. They would be greeted by earth, water, and sharpened steel, if not fire. Anyone dumb enough would be slaughtered. Luckily, none of you are that stupid; because I would hate to have to bail your asses out."

Aang, Katara, and Sokka exchanged glances between each other. "I heard that the champions have a mission. Is your mission to kill me?" Aang asked.

To everyone surprise, the figure laughed before replying, "No, our mission isn't to kill you. However, you could get killed by us. The elder spirits believe that when the time comes you won't be able to fulfill your duty. So, they have chosen us to end the war, by killing the Fire Lord. A side part of that order is to kill anyone who gets in our way. So, here's a piece of advice, don't get in our way."

Everyone stared at the hooded man in shock. At that moment, the dark green flame disappeared and the lanterns were light once more. "Well, my work here is done," the figure said as they turned and walked up the stairs to the upper section of the living room. He then opened the window, before turning back around and saying, "Remember, Avatar we're watching you."

The figure then jumped out the window and ran off into the night. Sokka and Aang snapped to their scenes and ran towards the window.

"I don't see him anywhere." Aang said as he looked around.

"It's like he vanished. Almost like a ghost." Sokka added agreeing with his friend.

Katara turned from the window to Toph and noticed that the blind earthbender was shaking slightly. "Toph, what's wrong?"

"Katara, I couldn't scene him." She replied.

"What do you mean?"

"You know how my sight works right?" Toph asked. Sensing her friend's nod, Toph continued. "According to my scenes, there was no one there."

Katara's eyes widened at this. Someone was able to get past Toph's earthbending scene? Who ever that firebender was, he was powerful; very powerful. 'I guess we should be glad it isn't Zuko, though. Still, I don't trust him.' Katara thought to herself.

Zuko ran, he ran as fast as he could over roofs, through yards. He didn't slow his pace until he was perched atop the roof of the tram station. Once the stone train began to move, he quickly leapt down and flattened himself on the roof of the first compartment. 'So, did I pass your test?' He mentally asked, hoping to get Aoihi's attention.

'Yes, though you could have done better; you accomplished what I set you out to do. Thank you, Prince Zuko.' Aoihi replied before leaving his mind.

Nearly two hours later, as Zuko was falling asleep in his futon, a final thought crossed his mind. 'I wonder why I didn't see the Avatar's bison? Oh well, it's probably out gazing in the fields.' And with that thought, Zuko rolled over and fell into a deep comfortable sleep.

Jin sighed contently as she sipped on her tea. The past week for her had been a great one. On the day she had first re-visited Pao's Family Tea House, she had been called back to work as soon as she got home. Apparently, two customers came into the shop needing two new formal dresses that had to be tailor fitted and had to be ready for that night. Madame Xoa told the customers the price, which was enough to buy a rather nice house in the Middle Ring, and it was waved off as nothing. Madame Xoa, called in Jin to do the work, as she was the best seamstress. Jin's commission for the work was huge. It wasn't enough for a house, but she could get her own three bedroom, fully furnished apartment in the Lower Ring. However, she didn't use the money to get an apartment for herself. Instead, she went to Pao's Family Tea House every day for the delicious tea and to make eyes at the waiter.

But today was different, for today she was going to learn the waiter's name and ask him out. 'Come on Jin this isn't Avatar Kyoshi's time anymore. Women are asking men on dates and marriages just as much as men asking the women.' Jin thought to herself as she prepared herself. 'And remember what mom always says, 'If you find something you want in life, no one's going to give it to you; you have to take it.' Well, I've found something I want, so I'm taking it.' Gulping down the last of her tea, Jin stood up and walked to the counter to pay.

Arriving at the counter, Jin saw that the waiter seemed to be talking to the tea brewer, whom she guessed might have been a family member. So, she decided to make her presence known to them. "Thank you for the tea." She said offering her payment for the drink. The waiter turned around and gently took the coins from her, placing them on the counter behind him as he turned back around. "What's your name?" She asked, hoping to finally get his name.

He turned back around to face her with a small surprised look on his face. "My name's Lee. My uncle, Mushi, and I just moved here."

"Hi Lee, my name's Jin," Jin replied as she introduced herself to him. She then continued, by asking, "Thank you and, well, I was wondering if you'd like to go out sometime?"

Before Lee could reply to her, his uncle stepped in and said, "He'd love to."

Not bothering to care that it was Lee's uncle who replied for him, Jin replied, "Great! I'll meet you in front of the shop at sun down." She then turned and walked out of the tea house.

Xain was busily chopping some vegetables to add to the stir fry that she was about to start cooking for the family's dinner, when she heard her daughter come in. "Mom, guess what?" She heard her eldest daughter shout from the front door.

"Jin, I'm in the kitchen; don't shout. Now what?" Xain replied, wanting to hear what had gotten her daughter so excited.

Jin entered the kitchen and stood next to her mother at the counter. "I've got a date, tonight," replied Jin in a sing-song voice.

"Really?" Xain asked as she stopped chopping the vegetables and turned to face her daughter; her gold eyes twinkling mischievously. "Your date wouldn't happen to be with that handsome waiter from Pao's Family Tea House, would it?"

Jin blushed a deep red at what her mother had just said, "WHAT? How did you know? Who told you?"

Xain laughed lightly at her daughter's antics. "No one told me Jin, but several times this past week you've been talking about a handsome waiter at Pao's in your sleep."

Jin blushed red once again and asked nervously, "You didn't hear anything else, did you?"

"No, I didn't hear anything else." Xain replied. "That is of course, if you don't include that one particular thing you spoke about the waiter serving you in a giant cup of Jasmine tea."

Jin froze in horror at what her mother had just said. She remembered that dream. That was the dream that pushed hr the final step to asking Lee out.

Seeing her daughter fidget nervously, Xain decided to cut her some slack. The last thing she wanted was for her daughter to be as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs on her date. "Relax, Jin and go get ready for your date." Xain said as she hugged her daughter.

"Okay, mom," Jin replied as the hug was broken. She then headed up to her room to grab her toiletries; before coming back down to take a quick shower.

Xain turned back to her chopping board and begin chopping the vegetables once more, but this time there was a bit more force behind her chopping then normal. 'This date had better not go like a previous dates,' Xain thought bitterly to herself. 'This will be Jin's thirteenth date and the last twelve of them she's been stood up. If my baby has to go through another heartache because she was stood up; I'm going to hurt someone. A mother can only see her child go through so much pain.'

Jin scrubbed, soaped, and washed every part of her body she could reach; she wanted to look her best for tonight. In the midst of showering, Jin grabbed her razor and bent the metal to be even sharper. She then began to careful task of shaving her legs. Once she was finished with her legs, Jin careful shaved her armpits. Looking herself over, Jin thought to herself, 'I know it's just the first date, but it might go that far.' Jin than began the final shaving task of carefully shaving off her dark brown pubic hair. 'Hmm…, I wonder if I should leave a strip or remove it all? I'll leave a small strip, maybe Lee likes carpet.' Jin thought as she left a thin strip of her pubic hair.

With her shaving done, Jin quickly washed her hair. Making sure to get as much dirt, grime, and lose hairs out as she could. She then stepped out of the tub and began to dry herself off. Jin spent several minutes rubbing her hair vigorously to dry it. Once her hair was as dry as she could get it, Jin began to brush the tangles out of her hair. With her hair finished, Jin wrapped a towel around her body and stepped out of the bathroom, walking to her room.

Once in her room, Jin took off the towel and put on a plain white pair of underwear. "Now what should I wear?" Jin asked herself as she opened her small wardrobe. Jin searched through her clothes and settled on a green tunic robe. It was similar to what she had been wearing at the tea house, but had some noticeable differences. For one, it was a darker shade of green and the robe was silted on both sides. It could be worn with or without pants. "I should wear the pants; after all, it's only the first date and I don't want to give others the impression that I'm easy," Jin decided aloud. She then opened the drawers at the bottom and looked at the pants she had available.

In the end, she went for a long baggy cream color skirt instead of pants. She then set the skirt and robe on her bed and looked at herself in her mirror. "Now to decide on what to do with these," Jin said as she grabbed her breasts. "Should I wear a bra or maybe chest wraps? If I do the chest wraps like Maki's sister showed us, I can make them look even bigger."

"Your breasts are already big enough, Jin." Came a voice from behind her.

Jin glanced behind herself, from her mirror and saw her younger sister, Shi, walking up behind her. Shi was a year younger than Jin and while the sisters shared many similarities, they were also different. Shi's eyes were a lighter shade of green then Jin's. Jin had gotten their father's dark brown hair, while Shi had their mother's black hair. Even though Jin was older, if only by a year, Shi was the taller of the two siblings.

"What do you want, Shi?" Jin asked.

"I heard you talking and decided to see what you were up to," Shi replied. Then, before Jin could react, Shi grabbed a hold of Jin's chest; lifting up her sister's breasts she asked, "Have these things gotten bigger again? You really need to stop eating so much; because all the weight is just going to your breasts and soon you'll be top heavy."

There are any ways Jin could have responded to her sister, everything from ignoring her to breaking her hands. However, Jin decided to respond in the sisterly way; by elbowing her younger sister in the head.

Shi immediately dropped her hands and dropped to the floor. Her older sister may be shorter than her and big breasted, but damn did she ever pack a punch. "Damn, you hit me in the ear."

"Yeah? Well, don't go grabbing my breasts all the time." Jin replied.

Shi pulled back her right arm and balled her hand into a fist, slightly extending her middle knuckle. Shi then rammed her fist forward striking the back of Jin's left knee.

Once the blow was struck, Jin fell down onto her sister and then the fight was on.

Xain had just closed the oven door, when she heard a yell from upstairs, "STOP PULLING MY HAIR YOU BITCH!"

Sighing to herself, Xain wiped her hands and headed upstairs. As she walked up the stairs she thought to herself, '"Let's have children," I said. "They'll enrich our lives," I said. Why is it, that the two oldest always have to act the most immature?'

Arriving at the top floor of the house, Xain went to where she heard the fighting; Jin's room. Seeing her two oldest fighting on the floor like a couple of six year olds was enough to get her blood boiling. "JIN! SHI! YOU WILL BOTH STOP THIS INSTANT!" She roared.

The girls stopped fighting and snapped their heads to the door, both getting the same 'oh, crap' look in there eyes.

"Separate now!" Xain barked. The girls released each other and moved away from each other. "I don't care who started this fight. Shi, go to your room. Jin, finish getting ready for your date," ordered Xain as she stood, waiting for Shi to leave Jin's room. When Shi exited the room, Xain closed Jin's door behind her as she headed back to the kitchen.

Jin stood up and looked herself over, making sure that Shi hadn't injured her to much. Seeing nothing broken or bleeding, she went back to getting ready. 'What the heck, I feel like being adventurous and going commando.' Jin decided to herself as she began to put her skirt on. Once the skirt was on, Jin put on a comfortable pair of slippers and began to style her hair as best she could. She wanted something different then her normal braids. She grabbed a single rubber cord and put her hair into a high pony tail, letting the hair poof out a little for more volume.

With the hair finished, Jin put on her robe and tied it tightly round her waist with a sash to match to lining of her sleeves. Though she wasn't vain, Jin couldn't help but think that she looked great as she checked herself in the mirror. Jin grabbed her money pouch and tucked it in the robe's pocket, before heading down stairs.

"Well, how do I look?" Jin asked her mother.

Xain looked at her daughter and replied, "You look very beautiful, Jin. Are you heading out now?"

"Yeah, the sun has already dipped behind the wall." Jin replied.

Wiping her hands, Xain faced her daughter and said, "Now, remember what I always say."

"That thing about if you find something you want, you have to take it?"

"No not that. The other thing, I always say."

"Oh! 'Don't let a guy force you to do anything you don't want to do. If he tries to force you, kick his balls into his throat.' Is that the one you're talking about?"

"That's the one."

"Don't worry mom; I will. Besides, Lee doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would do that."

"Ah… So, his name is 'Lee', is it?"

Blushing again, Jin replied, "Yes, his name is Lee. Now, I have to get going or else I'll be late."

Jin walked across the living room and opened the door, just as her father was approaching the door.

"Hi dad," she greeted him.

"Hi Jin," Koto replied, slightly confused as to why his daughter was so dressed up.

"Bye dad," Jin said as she walked down the walkway and onto the street.

"Bye… Jin," he replied more confused then ever. Koto walked into his house and closed the door. Walking into the kitchen, he found his beautiful wife of seventeen years busy scrubbing the pots and pans. "Sweetie, where's Jin going off to?" He asked her.

"She is going out on a date and will be back later tonight," Xain replied softly.

Now even though Koto didn't understand women, for what man could ever hope to, but he knew his wife will enough to know that everything was alright. They were slowly coming to terms that their eldest daughter wasn't a child anymore. "So what are we having tonight?" He asked, changing the subject.

"We've having spicy chicken stir fry with a side of greens and banana pudding. Go tell the children to wash up."

As his wife was several inches taller than he was, Koto exposed her ivory white shoulder and kissed it. "Will do, love," he replied as he slid her tunic back up and left the kitchen, leaving his wife blushing.

'Good thing I never said the pudding was dessert,' Xain thought to herself with a wait trace of what one could call a perverted smile.

After several minutes of walking, Jin found herself waiting on the side of Pao's Family Tea House. 'Okay, Jin this is it. Just act natural and everything will be fine.' Jin thought as she mentally readied herself. She looked around the corner as she heard the door to the shop open and saw Lee standing in the middle of the street.

"Hey." Jin said as she walked up to him. Taking in his appearance, she had to admit that he looked good in green. However, when her eyes fell on his hair, she nearly lost it. "Well, look at you. You look s cute," Jin said as she ruffled his back to normal. 'There, that's much better. Now, I don't feel like I'm about to burst out with laughter,' she thought to herself.

Lee, gently pushed her hand away and said, "It took my uncle ten minutes to do my hair." Oddly though, he didn't seem to upset about the lost hair style.

Jin gently grabbed his arm and interlocked it with her's as she led him down the street. "So, where are we going for dinner?" Jin asked after a few minutes of walking.

"I thought you would have had a place in mind," replied Lee.

"Why me? You're the guy."

"True, but I'm the one who was asked to go out," Lee replied with small grin.

Jin laughed softly and said, "Luckily, for us, I do have a place in mind."

After several minutes of walking, Lee found himself boarding the stone train with Jin and heading to the Middle Ring. "So, where are you taking me?"

"Well, the place is in the Middle Ring and it's called, Tsuru," answered Jin.

"It sounds nice." Lee responded as Jin nodded in agreement.

It wasn't long until the two teens found themselves sitting in an awkward silence. Though they were silent, their minds were racing.

'Now, what do I do?' Jin was thinking desperately to herself. 'Maki said that when she goes out with her boyfriend they talk about their day or week. The problem with that suggestion is that Lee isn't my boyfriend. Damn it I'm so nervous.'

'What I'm I suppose to do now?' Lee thought to himself. 'I really wish that Uncle had giving me a little less advice on how to treat a girl and more advice on how to talk to one. I have been banished, forced to live on the sea while I hunted for the Avatar, ordered men around, read over reports, broke into the Northern Water Tribe, I've wandered around the Earth Kingdom starving, and I've become the champion for the Elder Spirit of Fire. And none of them have been as difficult as I am finding this date to be.'

The young couple was broken from their thoughts as the stone train stopped at the Middle Ring tram station. "Hey this is our stop," Jin said as she stood to exit the stone train.

"Thank the spirits." Lee muttered softly under his breath.

As they walked to the restaurant, Lee held Jin's hand and asked, "So, umm… what do you do?"

"Pardon?"

"I mean, what do you do during the day? Do you have a job or something?"

"Oh! I work at Madame Xao's Formal Dresses for All Occasions. It's located here in the Middle Ring."

"Do you like it?"

"It's alright. Madame Xao can be a bit of a pain from time to time, but over all its good."

The conversation of Jin's employment lasted until they arrived at Tsuru. Tsuru, was an open air restaurant with only one wall, that led to the kitchen. The restaurant itself was located in one of the many market squares that were found all throughout the Middle Ring. Jin and Lee were shown to a table and each was given menus to decide what they wanted to eat.

Yue walked slowly back to her apartment, as it had been a rough day at work. 'Three fights in one hour,' she grumbled to herself. 'People really need to stop drinking so much.'

Wanting to get home quicker; Yue cut through an alley that led to the tram station. She was so caught up, in her own thoughts that she never a large figure emerge from the shadows of the alley's walls. Yue was midway between the two streets that the alley connected to; when her mouth was covered by a large hand and she was slammed into the alley wall.

"If you struggle, this will only get worse." A harsh voice whispered in her ear.

'Fucking, hell no!' Yue's mind screamed as she felt her pants being pulled down. Remembering, that she was wearing her gauntlets; Yue aimed her left hand down and released the hidden blade. Less than a split second later, she was rewarded with an agonizing scream from her attacker. Hoping to cause him more pain, Yue dug the blade around. Doing everything from moving it up and down to moving it from side to side.

Within seconds, her attacker released her. Knowing she had to end this, Yue spun around as fast as she could and slammed the hidden blade of her right gauntlet as had as she was able into the man's chest, where his heart was located. Yue, closed her eyes for a moment as the red blood spurted forth from the puncture. When she no longer heard him breathing, Yue pushed him off the blade and opened her eyes.

When she looked down at her attacker, she gasped at what she saw. There, dead at her feet, in white pants and green robes was a Dai Li agent. "Son of a bitch," Yue whispered lowly into the night. Acting quickly, she bent the agent's blood off of her blades and clothes and ran for the tram station.

It wasn't until she was on the stone train, heading back to the Lower Ring that Yue finally let out a breath that she had been holding.

"So how do you like the city, so far?" Jin asked as picked up her cup of tea. She and Lee's dinner had been served to them and the meal was being finished, so now she was making conversation with her date.

"It's Okay." Lee replied as he picked at his food. "It's a little too crowded for my tastes."

'Yeah it is, crowded,' Jin thought to herself as she sipped on her tea. After finishing her sip, she asked, "What do you like to do for fun?"

"Nothing much really," Lee replied. "I do enjoy swimming, playing the pipa, and singing."

"Excuse me, sir, would you and your girlfriend like some dessert?" Interrupted the waiter.

Before Lee could tell the waiter off, Jin replied, "No thanks." The waiter bowed and left.

Jin turned her gaze back to Lee and said, "You sing? You don't really look like the kind of guy who would sing."

"Truthfully, I'm not. My mother made me practice. At first it was to help with my sister to sleep, when she was a baby. Afterwards, it was to get her interested in singing too. However, she had no talent for it and grew to dislike it. I haven't actually sung in five years."

"What happened to your mom and sister?"

"I woke up one morning and my mother was gone. As for my sister, we split up."

"Oh? Do you think you'll be seeing her in the city?" Jin asked as she grabbed a bowl of noodles and began slurping them down.

"I doubt it." Lee replied, before focusing his attention back on Jin and taking note of how she was just inhaling the noodles. "You have… quite an appetite, for a girl."

"Um…, thanks?" Jin replied uncertainly. "So, Lee, where were you and your Uncle living before you came here?"

"Well, we've been traveling around for a long time."

"Oh! Why were you traveling so much?"

"We were, uh, part of this traveling circus."

"Really? What did you do? Wait let me guess." Jin tapped her chin thoughtfully for a moment before guessing. "You juggled."

"No, I didn't." Lee replied. "I tried to but couldn't keep track of more than three balls. What I did was be an acrobat."

"Wow! You did all that flipping and stuff high in the air?"

"Yeah. I was okay at it. There were plenty of people better at it then me."

"It still sounds like an interesting time in you life."

The couple was silent of a moment before Jin reached across the table and grabbed his hand saying, "Hey, I want to show you one of my favorite places in the city."

When Yue arrived back at her apartment, she locked her front door and locked all the windows in the apartment. She then began getting ready for bed and blew out all the candles in the apartment; casting it in darkness.

As Yue laid down in her futon, she was unsure if the Dai Li would come for her or not. So, she put out several bowls of water through out the apartment; just in case.

She then blew out the final candle and slowly fell into a fitful sleep.

"Any idea as to who did this, Min?" A tall green robed man asked his fellow Dai Li agent as they gazed upon the dead body of another Dai Li agent.

"No idea," replied Min. "But I'll tell you who it's not. It's not that monster that's been going around slaughtering people."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because that monster, rips the bodies apart. Chen here just has some stab wounds. Plus, we've all suspected Chen of certain unsavory actions when it comes to dealings with women. I guess one of them didn't like the deal he was offering."

"True. So, how do you want to file this?"

"Let's add it to the monster's killings. Who'll notice one more death?"

With the conversation over, the two Dai Li agents bent the dead body of agent Chen into a ball of earth and headed away into the night.

The street was dark as Jin and Lee ran through it. "I'm so excited for you to see the Firelight Fountain," Jin said as she led Lee along the street by the hand. "The lamps make the water sparkle and reflect I the pool in the most beautiful way."

A moment later they arrived at the town square that held the fountain. Jin turned to look at the fountain, but felt heart drop as she saw that the fountain was unlit. "I can't believe it. They aren't lit," She said in a sad voice as she had really been wanting to share this place with Lee.

"Close your eyes and don't peek," Lee said next to her. Unsure of what he was going to do, but deciding to trust him; Jin closed her eyes and placed her hands over her eyes. After a couple of moments, she heard Lee speak again, saying, "Okay, now you can open them."

Jin opened her eyes and gasped at what she saw, the candles were now lit. "Oh, wow…," she gasped as she walked forward. "What happened? How did they light? What did you…," She asked, but stopped as she saw Lee smiling at her. Jin decided to quite herself and enjoy the moment.

As they stood next to each other, Jin slid her hand into Lee's causing him to turn to her. Slowly, she began to lean closer to him; when a piece of paper was suddenly put in her face. "I brought you something. It' a coupon for a free cup of tea," Lee said explaining the piece of paper.

"Lee, that is so sweet." Jin spoke as she took the coupon from him.

Lee took a couple of steps back as her nervously replied, "Don't thank me. It was my Uncle's idea. He thinks you're our most valuable customer."

"Your Uncle is a good teacher," Jin said as she put the coupon away. "I have something for you too," She continued as she walked up to him and placed her and on his left cheek. "Now it's your turn to close your eyes."

Lee seemed to want to resist her, but he did as she asked and closed his eyes. Jin stepped forward and closed her own eyes as her lips met his in a soft sweet kiss. She kissed him for only a second before she began to pull away and to her great surprise, he leaned forward and continued the kiss. Suddenly, he broke the kiss and backed away from her. "What's wrong?" Jin asked him.

"It's complicated. I don't want to see you get hurt," Lee replied as he turned away from Jin. "I have to go." Lee then ran; he ran as hard as his legs could go.

Jin stared after him watching him go feeling sad, lonely, and worst of all hurt.

Iroh patiently trimmed the small bonsai tree in the window sill as he waited for his nephew to return. Unable to help himself, he stuck his head out of the window and glanced around in slight worry as Zuko wasn't the best at dealing with people, much less girls, his own age. He then heard the door to the apartment open and leaned back, not wanting Zuko to see that he had been concerned as he knew his nephew hated that.

"So, how was your night Zuko?" Iroh asked him. Instead of receiving an answer, Iroh watched as Zuko walked across the living room to his bedroom and slammed the door. 'That's not a good sign,' the aged firebender thought to himself.

Iroh was about to turn back around, when the door opened ever so slightly, just enough to show Zuko's face, and Zuko said, "It was nice." Before closing the door, softly. Iroh smiled as turned around and went back to trimming the bonsai tree.

She should have been home an hour ago, but she wasn't. She knew her mother would be pissed, but she didn't care. Those were the thoughts running through Jin's mind as she approached the front door of her house. Not wanting to open the door and run the risk of waking her parents with the creaking of the hinges; Jin earthbent herself into the ground and moved under the door, before emerging from the ground on the other side of the door.

Slowly, Jin made her way to the stairs to head up to her room. Just as she reached the stairs a creak was heard. Thinking that she had somehow made noise, Jin froze. The creak was heard again and then again and again. Until, it became creak after creak. Jin glanced around the room trying to find where noise was coming from. Her blood froze in her arteries when she found the source of the creaking noise. The noise was coming from her parent's bedroom.

'Oh damn,' Jin thought to herself in revulsion. 'I know my parents are still young, so it would be expected of them to still be having sex. But just the thought of them doing it sickens me.' Moving as quickly as she could, Jin raced up to her room; all the while doing her best not to wake anyone up. The last thing she wanted was to be lectured by her mother, just after her mother finished having sex.

Once inside her room, with the door closed, Jin took out a bottle of Ignis Crepito and took and large sip of the fiery liquor. She continued to drink until the bottle was empty. Once the bottle was empty, Jin began to slowly remove her clothes and throw them haphazardly onto the floor. Leaving herself in only her underwear, Jin grabbed a second bottle of Ignis Crepito and got into her bed. She could feel the alcohol already dulling her scenes and wanted to at least pass out in her bed.

'Who the hell does Lee think he is?' Jin thought to herself as she drank the second bottle of Ignis Crepito. 'I may not have been born in Ba Sing Se, but damn it I grew up on these streets; I know what happens. People disappear and reappear a week later different than they were before, The slave trade, women being put into prostration, and the ones in charge all turning a blind eye to it. Lee says he doesn't want me to get hurt as if I'm some sort of pitiful flower.' Jin downed the last of her drink and fell back on her bed. 'Tomorrow I'm going back to Pao's and giving Lee a piece of my mind,' Jin thought as she slowly succumbed to sleep.

Nice. It was nice.

No, it wasn't really nice. It was great, terrifying, and made him more nervous than he had ever been and he wanted to do it again. It was late, or early depending on how you looked at the time, as Zuko stared up at the ceiling as he lay in his futon and thought about his date with Jin. Going out with her had the most nerve wrecking thing he had ever done. All through out the date he had been expecting something to go wrong. 'And to finish everything off, you just had to firebend,' Zuko thought bitterly to himself. Why? Why, firebend for her? Zuko knew what would happen if he was caught firebending in the middle of the Earth Kingdom capital. But he didn't care and wanted to firebend for her again.

'Like that will ever happen,' Zuko thought as he rolled onto his side. 'After leaving her at the fountain, I doubt she'll ever show up at the tea house again.'

You may get lucky; Zuko's conscience spoke back to him.

'I am never lucky when it comes to girls.'

Are you sure it's because you're unlucky or could it be that you don't want to be happy?

'I want to be happy. I just don't want to have my happiness ripped away from me later.'

Then let yourself be happy with this girl and if something comes along that threatens to destroy your happiness with her fight it.

'Alright, fine. If Jin comes to the shop all try to mend things with her!' Zuko shouted mentally. 'Spirits above, do I ever hate having a conscience.'

Well, that's your problem. You're the one who grew me.

With a sigh, Zuko closed his eyes and let sleep claim him.

Xain stood in front of the stove as she slowly stirred the pot that held the family's breakfast, when she heard the heavy footfalls of her daughter. "So, how was your date?" She asked her daughter as the door opened. Upon hearing Jin's exasperated sigh, Xain turned around to see her eldest child slumped over the table and looking pissed at the world.

"The date was going great, until he left me at the end of it," Jin replied grumbling.

"What happened?"

"I don't know!" Jin cried out. "I thought everything was going great. We had a nice walk, a pleasant dinner, and what seemed to be a good time at the fountain."

"The Firelight Fountain?"

"Is there any other fountain, for me?"

"You really most have liked this boy a lot to take him to your favorite spot."

"Yeah, I even kissed him," commented Jin with a small smile on his face.

"Is that what caused to date to go bad?"

"No, in fact he kissed me back. But after he kissed me, he broke away and said he had to leave; that it was complicated and he didn't want me to get hurt."

"Well, maybe it's for the best, sweetie?"

"What do you mean?" Jin asked slightly arching an eyebrow.

"Remember, that conversation you had with your father and I when we questioned the change in your eye color?"

Jin repressed a shutter at the memory. She and her mother had nearly argued for three hours straight. Luckily, her father had gotten her mother to calm down, so things blew over very quickly. "Yes, I do," replied Jin.

"Well, if you're going to bring balance to the world; now isn't the time to start a relationship." Xain said as she placed a bowl of Jook in front of her daughter.

Jin looked up as her mother stood next to her. Her mother was a tall woman with a height of six feet and seven inches. It was such a contrast to her father's height of five feet five inches. "Alright," replied Jin as she began eating her breakfast.

"However, if you have a chance at having some happiness, you should take it."

Jin nodded her head as she scarfed her breakfast down; not wanting to be late for work.

Yue snapped her eyes open and stared at the ceiling of her apartment for a moment as her mind slowly became aware as to where she was. 'Well, I guess no one saw me kill that Dai Li agent,' Yue thought to herself.

Yue got out of her futon and had a quick breakfast of just a couple of apples, before then sitting on the floor and starting to meditate. Within seconds she was in her mindscape. Yue's mindscape was a vast barren snow covered wasteland. Surrounding her, in all directions, were snow covered mountains.

"Please recommend the best evasion and/or stealth technique available," Yue asked allowed.

"The best stealth evasion technique would be the Invisibility Technique," replied the disembodied voice that Yue trained from.

'Invisibility Technique? Sounds interesting,' Yue thought to herself before speaking again saying, "Give me all the information available on the Invisibility Technique."

"The Invisibility Technique was developed six thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine years ago by a waterbender named Mukluk. Mukluk used the principle behind the Telescope Sphere Technique of reflecting light and images. It took eight years to develop and master the technique, but he did Mukluk was able to become invisible."

"What is the difficulty level of the technique?"

"The difficulty level is fifteen. Since the technique's creation only thirteen waterbenders have been able to use it. Of those thirteen only seven have been able to use it, while moving. This has earned the Invisibility Technique the highest difficulty level ever."

Yue's eyes widened in surprise at the difficulty level of the technique. Currently, the highest level of difficulty she had reached so far was ten.

"Well, let's try it." Yue said to herself as she summoned her water. Over the course of the next few hours, Yue worked on trying to make her left hand invisible. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to make her hand invisible. She could make parts of it invisible, but never the entire hand. So, after sixty hours of training, Yue decided to go ahead and stop trying.

'I guess that's one technique I won't be able to master,' Yue thought to herself as she stopped meditating. Even though only an hour had passed, Yue had things to do and couldn't waste time on trying to master a nearly impossible technique.

The day slowly wore on slowly for Zuko as he waited on the many customers of the tea house. Currently, he stood in the back of the small kitchenette of the tea house, cleaning the tea cups when his uncle came in.

"Your date has returned, Lee." Iroh said as he walked up to the stove.

"Huh?" Zuko asked as he stopped his work on the current cup and turned his head to his uncle.

"Your date from last night is here and sitting in her usual spot," clarified Iroh.

Zuko peeked around the entryway to the kitchen and indeed saw that Jin was sitting at her usual table next to the door. "What's she doing here?" Zuko asked aloud.

"Maybe she's here because she also thought last night was… nice." Iroh suggested from the stove.

Zuko rolled his eyes at his Uncle's antics. He dried his hands and gave his shirt a quick brush-off, before walking out of the small kitchenette; to take Jin's order.

Jin stared at the pamphlet in front of her, but she wasn't reading it. Instead, she was thinking about what she would say to Lee. She was startled out of her thinking when she heard, "Are you ready to order?" Looking up, she looked into the gold and red eyes of her date from last night.

'He looks nervous,' Jin thought to herself as she took notice of the way Lee to slightly fidgeting. 'Well, he should be.'

"I am ready to order, but what I want isn't completely on the menu," replied Jin.

"What is it that you would like?" Lee asked her.

"I would like a cup of Jasmine and I want to talk to you."

"Okay. I'll get you your cup of tea and take my break," replied Lee as he turned to get Jin her cup of tea.

Lee returned a minute later with a cup of tea in his hand and his apron off. He placed the cup of tea in front her, before then sitting across from her. Jin picked up the cup and took a sip; letting the tasteful liquid wash over her tongue and slide down her throat. Placing the cup back on the table, Jin stared at Lee for a moment before asking, "Do you not like me, Lee?"

Without thinking, Lee replied, "No. I like you a lot."

That statement sent a blush onto both of their cheeks. "Then why did you leave the way you did, last night?" Jin asked.

The back of Zuko's neck began to break out in a small sweat. He hadn't thought of a reason to use as to why he would leave her. "Um…"

"You said you didn't want to hurt me. I hate to tell you Lee, but I've grown up in Ba Sing Se. I've seen how people are made to disappear, the slave trade, forced prostration, and how those in power turn a blind eye to all of it. It's a little too late for me not to be hurt. I'm not some delicate little flower that's just going to crumble over at the first sign of trouble or something bad happening. I can take a hit, Lee."

"You're right," Lee replied with a sigh as he looked down at the table. "I shouldn't have thought of you so poorly. For that, I'm sorry."

"Thanks, Lee."

"You're welcome."

"Will you tell me why it's complicated?"

"I want to, but I can't; not right now. Hopefully someday I will be able to."

"If you don't want to that's okay, Lee. I trust you."

"I do have a question to ask you though."

"What do you want to ask me, Lee?"

"The day after tomorrow I've got off. I was wondering if you'd like to go our on an all-day-date with me?"

Jin's eyes widened in surprise. 'Did Lee just ask me out on a date? I wasn't expecting this. At worst, I thought he's say he never wanted to see me again. And at best, I thought we'd be able to be good friends. This is much better than what I was originally expecting.' Jin thought to herself. 'Stop thinking and say yes, you idiot.'

"YES!" Jin shouted, sending Lee jumping back slightly. Catching the volume of her voice, Jin looked down at the table as her cheeks filled crimson with a blush. "I mean, sure that'd be nice. I've got nothing better to do."

"Okay," replied Lee once he had gotten over Jin's shout. He then stood up and picked up Jin's empty cup. Before walking back to the kitchenette, he bent down and kissed Jin's cheek. Whispering into her ear, he said, "Don't worry about the tea; it's on the house. See you in a couple of days."

It wasn't until she was walking home, that Jin let a big satisfied smirk fall onto her face.

As Zuko entered the kitchen, Iroh turned to him and asked, "So, how did it go?"

"It went fine." Zuko replied. "I asked if she wanted to spend the day together on my up coming day off and she said, yes. My only problem now is figuring out how we're going to spend the day."

"If I might offer some advice, nephew?"

'I'm going to regret this, aren't I?' Zuko mentally asked himself, before saying, "Sure Uncle."

"A woman is like a great cup of tea…," Iroh began; before Zuko started tuning him out.

'Yep, I'm regretting it. It's another Tea Proverb,' Zuko thought to himself with a sigh as he went back to cleaning the dishes.

Aang and Sokka were sitting at the table in the living room, as they ate lunch and discussed their mysterious visitor from nearly a week ago. It was just the two of them; as Katara and Toph had decided to go out and have a 'Girl's Day Out'. Well, it was more Katara decided and dragged Toph against her will.

"So, what do you think about what the fire guy said?" Sokka asked Aang.

"About which part," Aang asked back.

"All of it really, I guess. But mostly, what he said about the Fire Nation's strength. I looked through the stuff I took from Wan Shi Tong's Library and found no mention of any Waterbenders or Earthbenders being part of the Fire Nation."

"But Sokka, those books and papers are anywhere from hundreds to thousands of years old. The last time I was in the Fire Nation was over a hundred years ago. A lot has probably changed. Also, I've never even been to the capital island; I've only heard about it from my friend Kuzon."

"Well, what did Kuzon have to say about it?" Sokka asked with a slight roll of his eyes.

"Kuzon said that the city was large, but not nearly as large as Ba Sing Se. The main section of the city, with the Imperial Palace, resides in a dormant volcano. The harbor section of the city is nearly as big as the main section and even goes halfway up the side of the volcano. There's also the industrial section on the north side of the island, but Kuzon never went there. That's all I know about the capital island," explain Aang.

"That's not really much to go on. Besides, I've been thinking and I think that guy was lying to us."

"Why would you say that?"

"Well, you heard him, 'Don't get in our way'. I think the guy was part of a ploy by Long Feng to hinder us from finding Appa and telling the Earth King about the war."

"So, what do you suggest we do?"

"Well, we've been in Ba Sing Se for twelve days now; let's stay low for another eight days and then we'll start really looking for Appa."

"Why eight days, of doing nothing?" Aang asked, wanting to know why he should continue to up off his search for his lost bison.

"I figure that eight days is good for luring those Dai Li guys into a false sense of security. Also, I don't think the people of the Lower Ring are going to be overly happy to see you for a while after that animal moving stunt you pulled."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Aang replied with a sheepish grin.

Xain looked up from the book she was reading when she heard the door being opened. Seeing her daughter Jin walk in with a smile on her face, she asked, "Did something good happen at work today, Jin?"

Jin walked across the small room and sat on the opposite side of the table before answering her mother. "Work was alright, but it's what happened after work that's good."

"What happened?"

"Well, after work I stopped by Pao's Family Tea House to talk with Lee about last night and guess what?"

"What?"

"He admitted that he was wrong and I was right! He even asked me out on an all day date two days from now," Jin replied, the excitement filling her voice.

"What about what I said this morning?" Xain asked with an arched eyebrow.

"What about what you said abut taking a chance at having happiness?" Jin countered logically.

"Fair enough," replied Xain with a shrug. "So where will you go on the date?"

"I'm not really sure. I guess I'll just meet him at the tea house and we'll see where the day takes us."

"Well, if you need an idea on a place to visit, I have a suggestion. Try the Lower Ring Ba Sing Se Zoo. It just opened in a new area right outside the Outer Wall. It's become quite the popular spot from what your sister, Tida, said when she got home yesterday; from her first day back at work."

"Tida, was able to get her job back with the zoo?" Jin asked.

"Well, now that the zoo is making money, they can afford to pay her."

"Alright, well I'll think about going there. My big problem though, is I have no idea what to wear."

"With the money everyone's bringing in, I think we can afford to splurge a little an go out shopping for a new dress," Xain commented with a soft grin.

"Can we really?" Jin asked with excitement in her voice.

"We can't do it for every date, but for this one; sure."

Jin reached across the table and hugged her mother gratefully.

"Come on now; help me get supper started."

Deep within the higher plains of Spirit World Kiirojimen, Aoihi, and Akaimizu were sitting around a large table speaking on the involvement that their champions would soon face.

"You've both felt the flux in power in Ba Sing Se, haven't you?" Kiirojimen asked his fellow elders.

"Yes," Akaimizu curtly replied.

"Our champions will meet in four day's time. Once they meet, we will explain the situation to them." Aoihi spoke with a shrug.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to wait the extra four days?" Kiirojimen asked.

"Yes." Was the short and simple reply given back to him.

"Do we at least know what is causing this power flux?" Akaimizu asked

"We believe it may be the Varsealm," replied Kiirojimen with a grim filled voice.

"The Varsealm? But the Varsealm hasn't actively made a move in over four thousand years. Not since…" said Aoihi.

"Not since they corrupted the Avatar and made her insane," Akaimizu finished.

"These actions are too noticeable; to be the work of Koh," Kiirojimen continued. "We've felt several spaces through out the Physical World were reality is weakened. Whatever happens, it's going to be big."

"You can't be serious," Jin said in a deadpanned voice, as she looked at the dress her mother was holding.

"Why not?" Xain questioned. "This is a perfectly respectable dress."

"Yeah, back when Grandmother was dating," Jin relied. She then took a dress off the clothing rack and asked, "Why not this one?" The dress in question was dark green with a gold trim. It was obvious by the length of the dress that Jin would be showing plenty of her legs. To top it all off, there was a peep window on the chest to give any and all on-lookers a perfect view of the wearer's cleavage.

"Jin, you're going out on a date. Not dressing up like some gold piece whore."

"Oh, come on mom. Maki's sister wears several dresses like this and she's married."

"Yes, and what do Menthe and her husband do for a living?"

"They own a brothel," Jin answered in a defeated voice.

After a couple more hours of shopping, Jin and her mother finally settled on a mutual dress. The dress was dark green with gold trimming and was set in a nice qipao style. The length would reach to just above Jin's ankles. On the right side a slit ran up the skirt that would end at Jin's thigh. While on the left, a golden dragon was sewn into the fabric; climbing on the length of the skirt.

"Do you think Lee will think I look good in the dress?" Jin asked her mother as they walked to their house.

"Sweetie, that poor boy want be able to keep his hands off of you," Xain replied with a smile. "At which point you will need to…"

"Tell him to move his hands or he'll be pulling back bloody nubs," Jin finished.

"That's my girl."

"So, you've got everything under control here?" Zuko asked as he pulled at the white collar of his suit. He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and pants under a dark green shirt and had a green sash tied around his waist.

"Everything is fine, Lee. Now go and enjoy your date," Iroh replied as he ushered Zuko out of the shop.

Zuko stepped out of the tea house and waited for only a moment before hearing, "Hey Lee." Zuko turned around to see Jin walking up to him in a casual, but still form fitting, qipao dress.

"Hey Jin, you look great," Lee said with a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Thanks Lee, you look great too," replied Jin. She then took his hand and the young couple made their way slowly down the street.

"So, where would you like to go?" Lee asked after a few minutes of walking.

"Well, I was thinking that we could visit the Lower Ring Ba Sing Se Zoo."

"There's a zoo in the Lower Ring?" Lee questioned with surprise.

"I'm not surprised that you haven't heard of it. For a while the zoo as relatively closed as no one ever went to it. However, it just got a new facility just outside the Inner Wall. It's picked up so much business that my sister Tida was able to get her old job back with the zoo."

"Oh, your sister works there? What does she do?"

"She does a little bit of everything. Tida helps clean up, feed the animals, give tours, and help with the birthing of baby animals."

"Sounds like a lot."

"It is, but she enjoys it."

After half an hour of walking, the young couple arrived at the zoo. They spent several hours at the zoo; looking at every thing from the Turtle-Seals to the Armadillo-Tiger. However, when Jin saw the mother Rabbaroo with her babies, it was almost impossible to get her to leave them.

"I don't see what the big deal was about the baby Rabbaroos," Lee said with a sigh as he was finally able to pry Jin away from the Rabbaroos and head for the exit.

Glomping his arm and hugging it to her chest Jin replied, "But they were just so cute and cuddly."

"I guess," replied Lee with a blush.

"So where would you like to go for our late lunch?" Jin asked as the exited the zoo.

"There's this place I heard about from my uncle. He says it's rather plain, but the food is great."

The young couple walked for another hour to get to the restaurant, as it was nearly on the side of the Lower Ring. As they entered the restaurant, they saw that it was as Mushi described to Lee. The walls were old and wooden. The lighting was low, but it held a friendly atmosphere. Jin and Lee choose a table in the center and waited for their server to arrive. Their wait wasn't long, as soon a short black haired man was wheeling up what looked like a movable kitchen stove to their table.

"Welcome to Kayoto. I will be your server, Hahn." The man said, introducing himself. "May I interest you in an appetizer?"

"Could we get an order of grilled mushrooms?" Jin inquired.

"Certainly," Hahn replied. He left, going into the restaurant's kitchen and walked out a moment later with a small bowl of fresh mushrooms.

Hahn set the mushrooms on the stove top and lit the furnace under it. Quickly, he chopped up the mushrooms to begin grilling them. Within minutes the sweet smell of grilled mushrooms filled the air. With lightning fast reflexes, Hahn scooped up the mushrooms and tossed them high into the air. As the mushrooms rose to the peak of the throw, Hahn slathered a slightly sweet sauté sauce. When the mushrooms landed, he began to twist them, turn them, and flip them; making sure every inch of the mushrooms were covered in the sauce.

Jin sat in awe of the cooking show; while Lee sat in less awe, but was still impressed. Such movements he had only seen when welding his Dao Blades. Lee never thought that such skills could also be used in the cooking of food.

A moment later, Hahn pulled a large plate and in one swipe scooped all of the mushrooms onto the plate. "Your grilled mushrooms sir and lady."

After being thanked for the food, Hahn asked, "Are you ready to order?"

Jin and Lee both gave their order having decided to split a large order of Chicken-Quail fajitas. The young couple sat and pleasantly ate the grilled mushrooms as Hahn amazingly prepared the fajitas. All to soon the meat was cook, along with peppers and onions and was being placed on the table between Jin and Lee.

"That was an impressive show, Hahn." Zuko said as the cook doused the fire in the furnace.

"Thank you very much sir, but this was nothing. I've cooked this way for nearly twenty years now," replied Hahn. "Now if you want to see a real show, I suggest 'Forbidden Love' playing at the Lan-Cho Theater. It was the most romantic play my wife and I have been to n a long time."

Thinking fast, Lee asked, "Do they have an evening showing?"

"Well, it's more of a night showing." Hahn replied. "The next showing will be in three and a half hours."

After getting directions to the theater for Hahn, Lee turned to Jin and asked, "How would you like to see Forbidden Love, after dinner?"

'With how long those plays last, I'll be extremely late getting home,' Jin thought to herself. As she looked into Lee's eyes she decided, 'What the heck.' "Sure Lee, I'd love to go," replied Jin.

After finishing their pleasant mean and Lee paying for the bill, the young couple walked hand in hand to the tram station to take the stone train to the Middle Ring were the Lan-Cho Theater was located. As they arrived at the theater, the sun had already dipped behind the walls. Seeing no line they walked right up to the ticket booth and Lee asked the young woman in the ticket booth to two audience tickets for Forbidden Love.

"I'm sorry, but we've sold all of our audience tickets for Forbidden Love," replied the young woman. "However, we do have a balcony tickets still available. I can sell then to you at half price."

"Fine," replied Lee as he pulled out his money.

Soon Jin and Lee were sitting in the balcony all alone. They had decided to forgo snacks as they had just recently eaten. Soon the candles in the auditorium were snuffed out as one lone light shined on the stage. A lone man in a black formal robed stepped out onto the stage and spoke.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I am the playwright Liu," he said introducing himself. "Tonight's play is a tale of two young lovers from opposing warring towns, who meet and fell in love. But because they were from opposing towns their love was forbidden. This is their tale, the tale of Forbidden Love." Liu bowed deeply at the audience's applause and walked off the stage as the curtain rose.

The play was about a young woman named Oma and her love Shu. Their villages had been at war with each for several decades when they first meet on top of a mountain. Instead of attacking when they first spotted each other, they talked; slowly getting to know each other over the course of their conversation.

As the play wore on, Lee felt a weight pressing up against the right side of his body. Looking down he saw that Jin had begun to lean against him.

'What I'm I suppose to do?' Lee thought to himself in a small panic. 'What would Uncle say? "Lee, I woman is like a beautiful flower. You must hold it firm, but gently by the bud." Great, even when I'm trying to sound like Uncle I still don't get what he's saying. Well, here goes nothing.'

Lee slowly moved his arm from between himself and Jin and gently wrapped his arm around Jin's shoulders.

Jin's eyes widened slightly as she felt Lee's arm around her. As she turned to look at him, she caught him quickly turning his head back to the stage. However, he wasn't able to stop her from noticing the faint blush on his cheek. 'Aww, that's so cute,' Jin thought to herself. She slowly leaned closer towards him; intending to kiss his cheek.

As he felt Jin pressing more and more into him, Lee turned his head to see what Jin was doing and was surprised by having her lips press into his own.

Their eyes widened greatly as they froze in the kiss, but neither would pull away. Lee slowly began to kiss back, lowering his hand from Jin's shoulder to her back. Unable to stop herself, Jin moaned softly into the kiss.

Hearing Jin moan was a pleasant sound to Lee's ears. Wanting to hear her moan more, Lee deepened the kiss.

Jin tightly grabbed a fist full of Lee's short dark hair and held on as a feeling of ecstasy washed over her. Jin unbuttoned the top button on her dress, exposing her next to the cool air.

By some unknown force and/or reason to him, Lee began to lean forward. He didn't stop until he was on top of Jin; both of them lying vertically on the balcony bench. Slowly, Lee began to kiss away from Jin's lips. Planting soft hungry passionate kisses all along her cheek, jaw, neck, and ending at her exposed shoulder, revealing in the taste of her skin.

Jin bit her bottom lip hard as she tried to keep from moaning. Unfortunately, she was unable to do so and her lips parted, freeing her voice.

The noise was deafening. Jin and Lee's eyes snapped open and their bodies sprang apart. The play had just ended and the applause of the audience had drowned out the loud noise of Jin's moan.

"That was certainly a great play." Jin said as she hastily buttoned the top button back. "Best I've ever seen."

"Indeed, it was something unique." Lee added, straightening his shirt. "I've never seen a play like that, before."

"Well, maybe you'll get your chance to see one again." Jin said seductively as they made their way quickly from the balcony.

As he was too busy wondering what she had planned with that statement, Lee never replied.

Only once they were on the stone train did Lee speak. "I know I screwed this up last time, but would yu like for me to walk you home?"

"That very sweet of you Lee," replied Jin. "I'd love for you to walk me home.

Once the arrived back in the Lower Ring, Jin began to give Lee directions to her house. The moon hung high and bright in the dark sky as you young couple slowly walked hand in hand down the street. Half an hour later, they were standing outside Jin's house.

"I had a great time with you today, Lee." Jin said as she turned to face him.

"I had a great time too," replied Lee as he gazed deeply into Jin's eyes. "I hope you'd like to have more great times with me?"

"YES!" Jin shouted, without thinking.

Suddenly a window on the third floor of the house opened and a young, short brown haired girl stuck her head out the window and shouted. "HEY SOME OF US ARE TRYING TO SLEEP! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT TIME IT IS? GET YOUR ASS IN THE HOUSE!"

"LIN, YOU SHUT THE HELL UP AND GO BACK TO SLEEP!" Jin yelled back before facing Lee again. "Sorry about that," she said. "Little sisters can be pain in the ass."

"Don't worry about it," replied Lee.

"Well, I should get inside." Jin said. She then leaned forward and gave a quick kiss. "Good night Lee," she said as she dashed into her house.

Lee slowly began his trek home with a content smile on his face. 'Things just could be more perfect in my life right now,' he thought to himself as he looked up at the moon. 'So, what's going to happen now to fuck it up?'

Its pale yellow eyes glowed against the inky blackness of its flesh. Loudly it snorted as it inhaled the crisp night air and the stench of decay filled its nostrils. Slowly, it opened its jagged maw and roared; the sound that could only be described as nails raking across a sheet of slate stone filled the night. It slowly slunk towards the five fallen creatures in metal. The smell of their wonderful bloody flesh hung heavily in the air. With its razor sharp claws it tore the metal open on the nearest body and began to feast; starting with the heart. Interesting, it was as if some one had packaged food for it, in a metal container. Such fascinating creatures these humans; and tasty too!

Next Chapter: We Are the Champions

The good times are over folks. The shit about to hit the fan.

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading the sixth chapter of 'Spirit of Fire'. Please be sure to leave a review and let me know what you think. I want to thank FireChildSlytherrin5, SpyralHax, and Densharr for all their help in letting me bounce story ideas off of them.

A couple of things to note in the story. First, Zuko's been on a ship for three years and before that his only female interactions was with his mother and Azula and her friends. He doesn't have a lot of experience with women, so he's going to be a little awkward on the dates and Jin will be taking charge of their romantic life. Also, since he's been stuck on a ship since he was thirteen, he's going to notice a woman's more private areas. Which is why, I wrote how he was looking at Jin's chest. Before anyone asks, Zuko doesn't know that Appa is missing. That part of the conversation between Long Feng and Aang wasn't revealed to him. Also, the Elder Spirits will be able to do many strange and unexplainable things so don't look for an explanation. I put the scene of Yue failing to learn a technique to show that the Champions aren't all powerful. Even they will have their limits. If you have any questions, please ask. Also, be sure to check out my new poll in my profile.

Now, please leave a review and grab your fanny pack, cause we're going to Vegas.