Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or the song "Another Hundred People" from Company, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.

Author's Note: Honestly, I've never been too crazy about this show as a whole (Sondheim was going through an anti-marriage phase when he wrote it), but it does have some good songs. I had this idea a long time ago about Jin's perspective on the refugees pouring into Ba Sing Se.

Another Hundred People

Another hundred people just got off of the train
And came up from the ground,
While another hundred people
Just got off of the bus
And are looking around

Jin looked up as the train pulled into the station and another group of confused-looking refugees poured onto the platform. Several boatloads arrived every day to the outer part of the city, taking the train from there to the security of the inner wall. Sometimes, she wondered when the city would run out of room for them. Large as Ba Sing Se was, it had to happen eventually.

The continuous arrivals should have become commonplace to her by now, but for some reason, they weren't. Jin liked to look at the different people arriving, trying to guess their stories. She knew that most of them were refugees from the war, even though she wasn't supposed to know about the war. She did manage not to think about it most of the time, and she never talked about it. Doing so could make you quietly disappear for a few days and return very happy but not quite yourself. Jin had seen this happen and was anxious to avoid it.

At another hundred people
Who got off of the plane
And are looking at us,
Who got off of the train
And the plane and the bus maybe yesterday.

Jin knew about the war because she had been a refugee herself two years ago. Her family had come to live here after her village had been razed by the Fire Nation. Therefore, she sympathized with the dazed looks these people gave their surroundings. Ba Sing Se was very impressive. She still remembered her own train ride in, gazing raptly out the windows first at the farmlands, then the walls and buildings. So many walls! It felt secure, yet frightening sometimes.

Now she was the experienced resident that some of the newcomers might seek assistance from. She tried to help any way she could, although her resources were slight. She could direct them to the most likely places to find a job and a place to live and offer a friendly smile. That was often all they needed.

It's a city of strangers.
Some come to work, some to play.
A city of strangers,
Some come to stare, some to stay.

Of course, not everyone came to Ba Sing Se because they had nowhere else to go. Although not as many as it used to be (according to those who'd been born in the city), some did come for vacation, just to see the sights, to find work, or to visit family. Jin could only imagine how awkward it must be for someone to visit relatives within the city walls. There would be so many things, important to the visitor, that he or she couldn't talk about. Their city relations might even be completely unaware of what was going on elsewhere in the world. Maybe that was one of the reasons there were fewer tourists these days.

Regardless of the various reasons people had for being there, the Earth Kingdom capital was a city of strangers. So many individuals with so little connection between them. Jin had been trying to fight that ever since she had first arrived, working to forge friendships with newcomers and lifetime residents alike.

And every day, the ones who stay
Can find each other in the crowded streets
And the guarded parks,
By the rusty fountains
And the dusty trees with the battered barks,

One of these immigrants caught Jin's eye on a sunny day in late spring. She could tell that he was new to the city because of his hair. The men of Ba Sing Se typically wore their hair in a long plait down their backs, but this young man had short hair that stuck up in all directions. It was kind of cute.

Aside from that, he suddenly turned up working at a tea shop near the apartment where Jin lived, and she knew she could never have missed that scar. She could only assume that he had been burned in whatever calamity had forced him from his home and led him here. She would never ask, naturally; that would be rude.

Instead, she came to the tea shop as often as she had enough coin to buy a cup. She nursed the drink as long as she could, sneaking glances as he waited tables and trying to work up the courage to speak to him.

And they walk together
Past the postered walls
With the crude remarks.

Finally, Jin decided she couldn't put it off any longer. She went up to where the boy was speaking to his uncle, the older man who made the tea. Without giving herself time to be nervous, she introduced herself and asked him to dinner. She was only slightly disappointed that his uncle answered for him. Maybe he was just shy, and she could handle that.

At any rate, Lee was there at the appointed time, looking very nice. He wasn't very communicative, but Jin did her best to draw him out. She was a little upset when he vehemently told the waitress that Jin was not his girlfriend, but after all, it was only their first date. Strictly speaking, there was no established relationship between them, although that was a circumstance Jin was hoping to change.

And they meet at parties,
Through the friends of friends
Who they never know.

Determined to continue the date after dinner, Jin practically dragged Lee to her favorite spot, only to find that the lanterns had not been lit. She was beginning to feel that this was not her night to find a great romance.

However, Lee surprised her by asking her to close her eyes. She complied, hearing a series of faint noises before he told her she could open them again. She gasped in wonder to see the light reflecting off the pond, glad to be sharing it with him and wondering how he had managed such an amazing feat. Perhaps he had not been a juggler in the circus but a magician! Of course, she knew there was no such thing as magic, but if this was an illusion, it was an incredibly good one.

Finally, she kissed him, completely disregarding the knowledge that her father would definitely not approve.

Will you pick me up,
Or do I meet you there,
Or shall we let it go?

Lee kissed her back, briefly, but immediately afterwards, he apologized and ran off. Jin was afraid that her boldness had driven him away. She only saw him once more, when she went to the tea shop to use the coupon Lee had given her. He served her the tea that day but wouldn't look at her. Fearing the worst, Jin decided to say something before he could leave her table.

"I'm sorry; did I offend you the other night?" she asked anxiously.

"No, it's fine," he replied, finally meeting her eyes. "I liked being with you, but I'm just…not myself right now. I can't see you again. I'm sorry."

Jin did not return to the shop for some time, and when she did, both Lee and his uncle were gone. When she shyly asked the store's owner about Lee, he angrily answered that his prized tea-maker was starting his own shop in the Inner Ring and had taken his nephew with him.

Did you get my message,
'Cause I looked in vain?
Can we see each other Tuesday
If it doesn't rain?

Jin could hardly believe her ears. She had known that the tea here was good, but she'd never imagined it was good enough for the Inner Ring of the city. That was no place for her, and it seemed that Lee was truly out of her reach now. Perhaps she should just leave well enough alone.

After considering the situation for about a week, however, she decided to risk the venture to see Lee, if only from a distance. But when she got there, the shop was closed, and the windows were dark. With that discovery, a door seemed to close inside her.

A little while after this, the Dai Li brought down the walls that had been secure, if confining, and the Fire Nation took over. Jin occasionally thought about Lee and wondered what had happened to him, but she recognized the signs that she should seek companionship elsewhere.

Look, I'll call you in the morning
Or my service will explain.
And another hundred people just got off of the train.

--

Author's Note: So much of the show focused on the epic journeys of the main characters, but every now and then, I think it's interesting to look at the life of an ordinary individual and his/her perception of the greater events going on around him/her.

Review responses:

samtana: I like to surprise people now and then.:) I think that it would have been good to use that seen not only to develop Mai and Zuko's relationship, but also to allude to Suki, since Sokka was going to run into her again.

Wishing Only Wounds The Heart: I hope you also checked out the reprise, which is even funnier, if more cynical. Yeah, Sokka and Zuko both seem to have a tendency to stumble their way into relationships.

Shinobi Bender: I haven't looked for it, but I haven't noticed anyone expanding on Zuko and Sokka's conversation, either. I suppose most authors aren't interested in writing "guy talk," especially if it doesn't involve their pet ships, whatever those might be.

nutshak: I think that's circular reasoning, but I'll take it. Glad you enjoyed it!

Jennifer: I miss Song, too, but she didn't show up again, so what can we do? I guess we could write a whole life story for her.