Here is another chapter for all my lovely readers, I want to thank you for the reviews and I'm glad you liked the last chapter and hope you enjoy this one as well.
Five weeks since Sakura got sent into another dimension and she's been adjusting quite nicely if she did say so herself. She found herself new friends-well they found her; a new home-temporary and under constant surveillance yes but at least it was free; a job at a medical centre-in the poorest part of the city but the staff were really good people and to top it off she had a boyfriend! Yes; he was a bit of a crab at times but he wasn't completely unbearable when he didn't speak at least. Now she's also been helping Aang find Appa but there was nothing to report. Every night she sent a clone out to go and get information and every night her clone came back with nothing; she was also being watched by the Dai Li so she couldn't do it herself.
She was currently at work right now but she'd be taking tomorrow off because she and her friends were going to start putting up posters to find Appa.
"And that should do it." Sakura says as she finished wrapping up a little girls arm "Now no more playing in your dad's tools okay?"
The girl nodded "Okay"
Smiling brightly Sakura gently stroked the girl's head; before stepping back and allowing her mother to take her.
"You've been doing an excellent job Sakura." Said Hina
"Thank you; and also thank you for allowing me to work here."
"Well I'm glad I did. You've really turned this place around."
Sakura rubbed the back of her head and laughed nervously "Not really; I mean all I did was-
"I'm not only talking about the clinic; I'm talking about the state of the lower ring." Hina said "You've managed to make it a bit better with your skills. Now there are less sick folk around here and it's all thanks to you."
Sakura blushed then she heard Yuki's voice as well "It's true."
"Thank you but I don't really deserve all the credit." Sakura told them; she smiled at Yuki.
Over the last month she's been teaching Yuki some advance medical techniques; since the girl already had some basic medical training on her side. They were of course the conventional kind of training without the chakra abilities.
Sakura and Yuki were cleaning up after a long days work again; it was late afternoon and the sun was beginning to set. The two girls laughed together as they discussed today's events.
Then the door opened and Zuko came walking in. Yuki gave Sakura a knowing smile making her blush before she walked over to Zuko; wrapping her arms around him neck she gave him a small kiss before pulling away.
"Hey; I thought I told you not to come to my work anymore?" Sakura said in a teasing manner; she couldn't exactly concentrate when someone was looking over her shoulder the whole time waiting for her to get finished with patients so she could go on her lunch break.
"I know." Zuko said "But I'm actually a patient today."
Sakura gasped and her face changed to concerned "Where? What's wrong? What happened?"
"Slow down; it's just a minor pain in my chest and back!" Zuko said trying to reassure her but it was not working because she dragged him into the check up room and sat him down. She told him to remove the top half of his robe. Sakura saw that there was a bruise at Zuko's colour bone.
"Where did this come from?" Sakura asked lightly touching the purple tinted flesh.
"I just slipped and hit my shoulder." Zuko said; though what he didn't mention was that when he slipped he hit the end of the sharp point of a table.
Sakura just stared at it; the exact place of the bruise...
"You said you were getting chest pains right?" Sakura asked seriously
Zuko nodded.
"It couldn't be..." Sakura trailed before she filled her hands with chakra and started to trail her finger along Zuko's chest; from his heart until the bruise. "You had to hit that exact spot didn't you?"
"Why what's wrong?" he asked
Now; this was something that Sakura had learned on the side from studying medical jutsu; she had been looking at pressure points of the human body. While it was only possible for people who held the Byakugan to be able to see the chakra network to control the flow of chakra; Sakura had discovered that there were two points in the body; that when hit simultaneously it would temporarily stop the flow of chakra because there were two main gates connected just above the colour bone and right above the heart. They were the easiest places to hit if you wanted to stop the flow of chakra.
'While this is just a theory; I think Lee managed to somehow block an energy gate for his chi But because it was only the one gate pressure is starting to build in his chest.' Sakura thought-he may not have been a bender (as far as Sakura knew) but everyone had a chi network in them.
"I'm gonna try something." Sakura stopped at the bruise and then trailed her other hand down to the top of his chest and without warning gave him a quick jab making him groan.
"How do you feel now?" Sakura asked
Zuko took a breath; placing his hand on his chest "It feels normal...like lighter."
Sakura nodded "That's good; it's because your chi gate was blocked."
She pointed to his chest and above his collar bone "Hit these two areas at the same time at the right point and you'll block your chi temporarily; but if you only hit one gate pressure will build in that area like it did with you and you'll start feeling pains like that."
"I see..." Zuko trailed before a smirk touched his lips as he grabbed Sakura's wrist and pulled her down for a kiss making the pinkette blushed and pull away.
"I'm at work right now; no PDA" she told him
"I thought you were off duty?"
"How can I be off duty when I literally just seen to a patient aka you?" Sakura countered with her hands on her hips.
"You're finished so you're off duty now. Isn't that indication to drop the doctor patient act; unless you want to keep going?"
Sakura's face became the same shade as her hair; over the past month she had been spending a lot of time with Zuko (who she thought was named Lee) and they've been getting close to each other but not too close as to reveal their pasts-that was something that neither one of them ever brought up; like they each had their own secrets. Sakura couldn't help but get the sense that he was hiding something but she didn't push the issue because she herself had her secrets and only Aang; Katara; Sokka and Toph knew them.
Another thing she has never ever brought up with Zuko is his scar-it looked like a wound that was inflicted on purpose and not earned accidentally and from the way she saw fire bending with Azula she was certain that it was possible that a fire bender had done that to him but she wouldn't bring herself to mention it; if he wanted to talk about it he would on his own time.
Sakura had her own scars that she was hiding as well. They just weren't visible.
Zuko looked at the pinkette blushing in front of him; over the few weeks he had been living in this city as a refugee he had despised and cursed his fate. A prince of the Fire Nation being deduced to a waiter in a tea shop; living in the enemy's territory. He had lost everything. He saw Sakura as the only good thing that had come of being in this place. To think a girl with pink hair would be the one to help him cope with living in this city? It was laughable. Yet; for some reason he didn't mind it. He didn't mind forgetting his misfortunes for a little while and being with her. A month now they've been together; a month that his life seemed to have given him something good; he never wondered yet how long it would last. He felt like they were both connected on a level where they were able to truly understand each other. When he was upset or in one of his moods due to his situation she managed to find the right words to console him-his uncle always gave him advice yes but she gave him a comfort. It was as if without even telling her about his past; his cursed destiny; she still knew in a way that she would have the right words. Telling him not to surrender yet edging him to take the time to appreciate what has been given.
"So you're not going to be here tomorrow?" Zuko asked as he and Sakura walked hands intertwined.
"No; my friends need my help with something; it's the reason we came to this city actually." Sakura told him discreetly.
"Where do you want to go now?" Zuko asked
There weren't many places to go-least not places that Sakura or Zuko enjoyed.
"I'm not sure; to be honestly I prefer wide open spaces but here..."
"It's a prison." Zuko finished for her
Sakura shrugged "If that's how you see then it will be. Other's see this as a sanctuary for protection. Doesn't really matter though"
Zuko gave her an odd look "And by that you mean?"
"It's a matter of your own mentality." Sakura said "You can decide what you want to make of a situation."
His hand tightened on hers.
"You think that's possible in every situation?"
Sakura nodded without hesitation "Of course; I know sometimes...it seems like it's impossible to make the best of things but it's really not."
Zuko frowned slightly; there were also something about Sakura that Zuko found difficult to handle. When she talked like this for instance.
"That's chimera."
"It's not a fantasy Lee." Sakura said; there were times when he got like this. Like he had lost all hope and belief in anything good; he may be a man of few words but Sakura had one of those before and by now she was aware of how to read between the lines.
Zuko stopped walking; he turned to the side to look in silence contemplating. "What's wrong?" she asked
"You're always so sure about everything you say. Sometimes I wonder..."
"What?" Sakura asked
"No it's nothing." He said
Sakura rolled her eyes and moved to stand in front of him; her eyes burning with a fire of determination "You're always saying that and I know you might not want to talk about it but for once could you just finish this sentence!"
Taking a breath Zuko spoke "It's just that-sometimes it's almost as if you've got no worries in the world. Like everything's perfect."
'Well no worries in this world.' Sakura thought
"I actually do have one worry in this world." She said softly; her eyes downcast "And trust me; nothing is perfect. But there's no point in looking at a problem and never trying to find a solution."
Turning to the pinkette Zuko lifted up her head; that look in her eyes. It reminded him of his own eyes; the one he had when he felt like there was no hope.
He kissed her swiftly before drawing back "Let's go get some dinner."
Sakura looked up at him and smiled "Okay."
The next day Sokka; Sakura and Toph were waiting patiently for Aang and Katara to get back. They went to find a printer to make posters but Sokka clearly didn't get the memo judging from all the scattered papers around him; with drawings of what's supposed to be Appa.
"Sokka..."Sakura started wearily as she stared at his pictures
"Yes Sakura?"
"Is this supposed to be Appa?" she asked looking at the strange figure on the drawing.
"Yes" Sokka said nodding enthusiastically while Sakura continued to give him a nervous smile.
Just then Aang and Katara entered.
"We found a printer to make our posters!" said Katara holding up a picture; Sakura went to go and see.
"So this is Appa?" Sakura said looking at the poster
"Yup; though he's way bigger in real life." Aang added in a matter of fact tone.
Sokka gave them a confused look "I thought finding the lost Appa posters was my job? I've been working all day on my Appa"
He showed them the flyers and Katara started to giggle while Aang gave correction.
"Sokka the arrows supposed to be on Appa's head."
"This is his head!"
"Why are there feet coming out of it?" asked Katara
"Those are his horns! I haven't seen him in a while okay." Slumped Sokka
"It looks just like him to me." Toph said in a sarcastic tone
"Thank you I worked really-why do you feel the need to do that?"
Sakura laughed and patted Sokka's shoulder "Don't worry Sokka if she didn't say it I would've."
"That's right!" Sokka said happily "And you can see so it's not-Dang it SAKURA!"
It finally occurred that the pinkette had never seen Appa before.
Aang held up the posters "Come on let's get busy!"
The group began spreading the posters around; Aang and Momo went together to send them via airway while the rest set up posters on the ground on walls. They had started from the upper ring much to Sakura's dismay; she was hoping to be able to use that as an excuse to pop in and see Lee AKA Zuko. After yesterday's discussion; Sakura felt like something was off. A kind of disturbing feeling she couldn't shake.
'Oh well' she thought as she fiddled with her shuriken 'There's tomorrow.'
"Hey will you quit pouting over your boyfriend and get those flyers up!" said Sokka
Zuko clicked his tongue in annoyance; he was feeling particularly on edge today after what happened with Sakura yesterday. That conversation they had almost went somewhere it shouldn't and he had barely avoided it.
They never touched on each other's past unless the other consented to sharing. They'd ask a question and then depending on how vague an answer is they would know whether or not to tread on that ground yet yesterday he felt like divulging everything to her. He was begging to trust her-basically still a stranger.
'Why' he wondered; why was it that he suddenly wanted to reveal his troubles to the girl? He barely knew her; they've only been going out for a few weeks and their first date was supposed to be a fake one! And now he was in a sour mood without Sakura to bring him out of it.
He angrily slammed a cup of tea on the customers table and walked away with the tray heading towards the door.
Right now some rich man from the upper ring was talking to his uncle about allowing him to have his own tea shop and giving him a house in the upper ring. Since when did they stoop so low as to answer the beck and call of others?
It was humiliating and infuriating.
"Did you hear nephew? This man is going to give us our own tea shop in the upper ring." Iroh said excitedly
"That's right young man; your life is about to change for the better."
"I'll try to contain my joy." Zuko replied sarcastically before he stormed out.
He leaned against the tea shop outside. Sakura told him any time he feels like he's going to blow a fuse it's best to get out of any crowded spaces.
He took a deep breath.
Was this really all there was for him? He wasn't satisfied living like this. He was the prince of the Fire Nation; that was his birth right! Not this! He's only been enduring it because he had no other choice. He had failed and wasted his chances to capture the avatar and this is why he was here now. He was reduced to nothing.
'There is no hope'
Just then something fell from the sky and into Zuko's line of sight; he caught the piece of paper and started at the inks inscriptions on it.
The avatar's Bison starring back at him-missing it said?
"Even if it seems like stopping will make you fall short of your goals; you may just be reaching the half way point."
Zuko felt something stir in him-the familiar fire that fuelled him was begging to burn once again; the avatar was here-in Ba Sing Se. He was searching for his Bison and unaware that Zuko was in the city as well.
If this wasn't considered a sign he didn't know what was.
"Wow we must've covered half of the upper ring in Appa posters." Sakura said stretching like a cat and looking over at the rest of her friends. Toph was throwing a ball against the wall and catching it; Sakura found that Toph could sense the vibrations which told her where an object was. Katara and Sokka were playing a type of card game.
"Good thing we've got you to reach high places." Toph said
Just then Aang came in "I've finished dropping off the leaflets has anyone come in with news about Appa?"
'Boy he really is impatient' Sakura thought
"It's only been a day just be patient." Katara said dismissively
Sakura nodded "Yeah it's not like we should expect for someone to come in-
There was a knock at the door.
Sakura slumped back "Eh what do I know?"
"Wow you're right patience really does pay off!" Aang said rushing to the door but when he opened he knew that it was not someone to talk to him about Appa.
"Joo Dee!?"
"Hello Aang and Katara and Sakura and Sokka and Toph" she said with that same straight smile
"What happened to you?" Sokka asked as they all began to gather in front of her "Did the Dai Li throw you in jail?"
"What Jail? Of course not; the Dai Li are the protectors of our cultural heritage." Joo Dee said
"Oh yea; they're like this cities one state police force." Sakura muttered with folded arms
"But you disappeared at the earth king's party." Toph said
"Oh I simply took a short vacation to Lake Laogai out in the country; it was quite relaxing." She answered
"But then they replaced you with some other women who also said her name was Joo Dee" Katara said
Joo Dee gestured to herself "I'm Joo Dee."
Sakura raised an eyebrow; there was more going on than she thought...
"Why are you here?" Aang asked
"Dropping flyers and putting up posters isn't permitted in the city; not without proper clearance." Joo Dee explained
"We can't wait around to get permission for everything." Sokka said
Joo Dee spoke with a wide smile "You are absolutely forbidden by the rules of the city to continue putting up posters."
And then the group saw something they barely see-Aang losing his temper.
"WE DON'T CARE ABOUT THE RULES AND WE'RE NOT ASKING PERMISSION; WE'RE FINDING APPA ON OUR OWN AND YOU CAN JUST STAY OUT OF OUR WAY" he screamed before slamming the door in Joo Dee's face.
Sakura stared in amazement and then grinned "HELL YEAH"
"That's probably gonna come back to bite us in the blubber" Sokka said; his arms crossed over his chest
"I don't care; from now on we do whatever it takes to find Aapa." Aang said as his face turned back to the normal pale colour.
"Yeah let's break some rules!" Toph exclaimed before earth bending a giant hole into the side of their house.
"Break rules Toph not the house!" Sakura said
"Sorry...it's this city it's driving me crazy!"
They walked out of the house but Sakura's eye caught sight of the Dai Li agents watching them. Long Feng clearly wasn't kidding when he said that they would be watching the group.
Zuko walked into the apartment where he saw his uncle already begging to pack what little they had. He had accepted the offer for a tea shop in the upper ring.
However Zuko was about to surprise him with news of his own
"So I was thinking about names for my new tea shop; how about the Jasmine Dragon? It's dramatic; poetic; has a nice ring to it."
Zuko took out the flyer he had stashed in his robe and showed it to his uncle "The avatar's here in Ba Sing Se and he's lost his Bison."
Iroh took the flyer "We have a chance for a new life here; if you go stirring up trouble we could lose all the good things that are happening for us."
"Good things that are happening for you" Zuko countered "Have you ever thought that I want more for life than a nice apartment and a job serving tea?"
"There's nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity. I thought you were begging to see that-what with you and Sakura...I suggest you think about what it is that you want from your life and why."
Zuko turned to look out the window "I want my destiny."
"What that means is up to you."
Zuko clenched his fists; was his uncle right?
"Is this alright Aang?" Sakura called from above a building she was standing on; vertically!
"Perfect!" Aang shouted
The group had gone back to putting up posters now and were covering the middle ring; Sakura getting the hard to reach places with Aang while the others covered the buildings and walls down below.
"We should split up to cover more ground." Sokka said before looking at Toph "Toph; I guess you should just come with me."
The blind earthbender frowned "Why because you think I can't put up posters on my own!?"
In a fit she grabbed one of the posters; stroked the brush of glue across the wall and slammed it down however there was one problem...
"It's upside down isn't it?" Toph asked
"Not exactly..." Sakura said looking at the back of the power that was showing instead o the front with the information on "Though close enough..."
"I'll just go with Sokka." She said before following after the water tribe boy.
Sakura and Katara decided to team up to cover the area; they put up posters all around the centre of the middle ring town.
"So how are things going with you and your boyfriend?" Katara asked
Sakura blushed "Things are going alright...although-
"What is it?"
"Well-yesterday we were talking and he seemed different." Sakura said
Katara turned to her friend in concern "What do you mean? Did he do something?"
Holding up her hands she shook her head "No; no! He was just...I don't know. I got this weird feeling from him."
"What were you guys talking about?" Katara asked
"Just about dealing with situations." Sakura said "I've always noticed this but it still bothers me; it's like sometimes he doesn't seem to have much hope for the world."
Katara smiled "Well that's kind of understandable; I mean look we're in a war right now. Some people will struggle to hold on to hope."
Sakura nodded "I guess you're right; it's just I feel like it's something more than that. I don't really know that much about him and he doesn't really know that much about me either."
"Well fitting in a story about how you're from another world might be hard for him to swallow over dinner."
Sakura giggled "Yeah that's true."
"And besides you've been dating this guy for a month now; I don't think it's that rushed." Katara said
"I've had a crush on a boy from when I was six all the way up to my teenage years." Sakura said blankly "So a month seems pretty rushed to me. Especially considering the way we got together was through a forced fake date."
"So why are you doing it?" Katara asked
Sakura shrugged "I don't know...there's just something about him I guess."
"Well in my opinion boys are over rated" Katara said as she started to paste on one of the posters.
"How did you handle situations like this with your boyfriend?" Sakura asked suddenly
The water bender almost fell over and started to get a little nervous "I...um I never had a boyfriend."
"Oh..." Sakura trailed with a curious look "Sorry; I just figured you would for some reason-you're so beautiful and kind."
Katara blushed; flattered "Thank you."
"So you've literally never had any form of romance with anyone?" Sakura couldn't help but ask
"Nope" Katara answered with a broad smile before returning to the poster. "In my village my brother and I were the only ones our age; all the men had gone to fight and when I left home all that we've done is travel from place to place never staying too long."
Sakura nodded "So not even like a fling or something?"
Katara shook her head in denial "No way."
Just then they heard a voice.
"Katara"
The two girls spun around and Sakura saw a boy round about their age with hair and eyes that were both dark brown; he was wearing baggy dark pants; a red shirt robe. He looked at Katara with familiarity.
"I think I can help you," he said with a slight smirk
Sakura saw her water bending friend looking at the boy in shock and with a blush on her face.
"What was that you said about never having a boyfriend?" Sakura asked curiously
Katara didn't answer and instead began to water bend sending it right at the boy. Sakura gaped at her-Katara didn't come off as the aggressive kind and here she literally just water bended a guy into a corner alley.
"Katara I've changed!" he cried as she sent him flying
Sakura and Katara rushed over to where he landed.
"Tell it to some other girl Jet!" Katara hissed while sending shards of ice at him.
Sakura winced as she watched the boy avoid getting hit.
"Damn." She said "Did he dump over mail or something?"
"He's not my boyfriend!"
"Me thinks the defensive tone says otherwise." Sakura responded
Jet held up his weapons "I'm not here to fight you; I'm here to help" he said before throwing down his weapons.
Katara looked at him and Sakura thought that the worst was over-until Katara aimed a bunch of shards at him pinning him to the wall.
"Oooh..." Sakura winced again; she actually felt sorry for the guy.
Then Aang; Sokka and Toph came running up to them "Katara what is it?" asked Sokka
"Jet's back" she said glaring at the boy
"Anyone care to explain what happened?" asked Aang
"Well this guy showed up-talked to Katara-she attacked him after he spoke seven words-then she pinned him to a wall with ice." Sakura said "Although I think she was aiming mostly for his head."
"Oh that sums it up" Sokka said
"We can't trust anything Jet says!" Katara said
"We don't even know why he's here" said Sokka
"Whatever the reason is it can't be good!"
"I'm here to help you find Appa!" Jet said showing them the flyer in his hand
Everyone looked back at Katara.
"We have to give him a chance." Aang said gently
"I swear I've changed." Jet swore "I was a troubled person and I let my anger get out of control but I don't even have the gang anymore. I've put all that behind me"
"You're lying!" Katara hissed
Toph wordlessly walked towards Jet and put her hand on the wall Jet was currently attached to. "He's not lying"
"How can you tell?" Sakura asked
"I can feel his heart beat and breathing; when people lie there's a physical reaction." Toph explained
Everyone turned back to Katara
"Katara we don't have any leads; if Jet says he can take us to Appa we have to check it out." Aang said
Katara sighed in defeat "Alright" then she turned to Jet and gave him a hard glare "But we're not letting you out of our sight!"
Sakura discovered that the guys name was Jet and he was once part of a group called the Freedom Fighters who fought against the Fire Nation and saved Sokka; Aang and Katara in their earlier journey. She was told though that Jet had such a great hatred for the Fire Nation that he was willing to wipe out an entire colonised village to get rid of them but the group had stopped them and then they left. Sokka also quietly added to Sakura alone that Katara and Jet sort of had a thing going before.
'That explains...well that reaction'
Jet took them to a huge store house where he heard some people talking about a giant furry creature but when the group got there; all they found was nothing.
"If this is a trap" Katara warned
"I told you I work nearby; two guys were talking about this giant furry creature they had a figured it must be Aapa."
"He was here" Toph said picking up a white batch of fur.
Everyone ran over to Toph to take a look; Aang took the fur and rubbed it longingly "We missed him."
"They took that big thing yesterday" the janitor said coming in with a broom "Shipped him out to some island; about time. I've been cleaning up fur and...Various leavings all day."
Aang leapt in hoped "What island?"
"Forman said some rich royal type on Whale Tail Island bought him up."
"We've gotta get to Whale Tail Island" said Aang before realisation struck him "Where is that?"
Sokka had already gotten the map out to look but his face fell when he found it "Far; very far; it's near the South Pole almost all the way back home."
"Aang it'll take us weeks to get to the tip o f the earth kingdom and then we have to find a boat to get to the island." Katara said
"I don't care; we have a chance to find Appa we have to try."
Sakura nodded "You're right Aang; it's one of the reasons we came to the city...and since the other reason didn't work out."
They knew she was referring to having a meeting with the earth king.
"Let's get moving." Sokka said
"I'll come with you" Jet chimed
"We don't need you" Katara snapped
"Why won't you trust me?" Jet asked before leaving with the boys leaving Sakura; Toph and Katara behind
"Gee I wonder!"
"Was this guy your boyfriend or something?" asked Toph
Katara became flustered "What-no; of course not!"
Sakura smirked "Is she lying Toph?"
"Big time" The blind girl responded with a smile as they watched Katara storm off. The two girl's high fived one another behind Katara's back before following after her.
Realisation only dawned on Sakura at that moment that she would be leaving Ba Sing Se with everyone to go search for Appa; she hadn't even put into consideration until now that she'd also be leaving Li...but it's not like she was planning on staying in Ba Sing Se forever right? Yet why was she feeling so reluctant now?
'I have to tell him' she thought
There we go; things are going to get intense now. Hope you all liked it.
Don't forget to review!