Author Notes: While the progression of the story roughly follows that of the show, many events are changed, arranged in a different order or omitted. This is fan fiction, after all.
"My own tea shop," Iroh jumped about like a man six times younger. "I can't believe it! He left me the whole thing!"
"Well uncle, he does own the franchise…" Zuko looked at the framed certificate on the wall.
"Can I be the first customer?" Mitsu poked his head through the bead curtain that served as a doorway. No one stole in Ba Sing Se, so doors were really only for the wealthy and prestigious to show off rather than security.
"Well, I'm a bit out of tea leaves for my special blend," Iroh rubbed his chin. "I guess I have to go looking for them, that can't be too hard. Zuko, close up shop and take a walk, you need a clear mind to work for me, son!"
"Yes uncle," the former prince sighed heavily and lifted a chair onto a table. He tried lifting a chair that was wedged underneath Mitsu's staff, and as with others couldn't even budge it. "Could you move this thing please?" he nearly snarled.
"Sorry, it's becoming a reoccurring gag with people these days," Mitsu lifted the titanium rod from the chair.
"So what's your story, really?" Zuko turned the scarred side of his face to the stranger.
Mitsu sat on a table and looked ruefully at a bracelet that was on his right wrist. "I met your uncle five years ago, when a unit of his troops detached to try and find the Spirit Library. They failed and ended up at my library instead, at the Great Rock in the middle of the Song Yi desert. Your uncle put your cousin in command of that detachment."
"Why would Lu Tien lead something like that?" Zuko's ears perked up as he finished the last of the chairs.
"Your uncle wanted to save the world's knowledge before your grandfather obliterated it all. He therefore sent his own son and trusted men to find the Rock. Unfortunately some other troops followed them and tried to melt me and the other townsfolk into the ground. You know those two- Zhao and Chan."
"The two Admirals of the Fire Nation; Zhao is dead, I saw it myself."
"That's right. However, the Dai Li also found out and, against our wishes fought them to the death in an ambush. Only Lu Tien himself also survived the battle, but the town was ruined for sure. We held a meeting of all the hundred people left."
"Only a hundred?"
"We lived in the middle of a desert, what do you think the population should be?"
The two young men pulled down the "closed" tag on the shop and began strolling down Ba Sing Se's cobbled streets.
"What happened at the meeting?" Zuko was chirping up.
"We were discussing what to do next. The Dai Li had wrecked the town by literally Earthbending our houses onto the Fire Nation, who burnt everything else down. The people decided to join the Sand Tribes or come here to Ba Sing Se to fight. I was the only one to stay."
"And Lu Tien?"
"He was injured in the fight, he couldn't leave. I offered him the library as shelter and he took it," Mitsu sighed, looking at the bracelet. "He was everything I hadn't heard about the Fire Nation, noble, humble and eager to learn from other people."
"I didn't really know him that well, being as old as you," Zuko shook his head. "Uncle said that he was everything good from his father and mother. He should have been Crown Prince, if my grandfather hadn't chosen my father."
Mitsu put his hand round Zuko's shoulder. "We can't change the past, but your cousin was one for learning about it in great detail."
"Wait, the people left you and my cousin alone in the library?" Zuko shook off Mitsu's arm. "Why would they let you be alone in there?"
"Because of this," Mitsu opened his eyes a little wider, revealing their bright golden hue that made Zuko's amber pale by comparison. The prince stepped back, having not noticed them before.
"I know those eyes, the Fire Sages told me about them. Your kind is supposed to be dead!" Zuko was halfway between creating a fire burst or alternatively, running away to find Iroh. He couldn't move, as indecision gripped his mind.
"Lu Tien said the same thing to me. I showed him the library from top to bottom and he gobbled it up like a Badger Mole in a mountain. In return he gave me his mother's bracelet," Mitsu held up the green, jade encrusted gauntlet on his right arm. "Freely, I might add. It seemed like I had a best friend after all…until he died."
"My uncle said he died at Ba Sing Se," Zuko hardened his stance.
"He did die at Ba Sing Se. I personally sent him there…only to see him die. I tried returning the bracelet but your uncle would have none of it. All he asked me to do was to accompany him and your cousin's remains back to the Fire Nation ports. My presence seemed to be as a hostage so that Earth soldiers didn't come and attack his retreat."
"Why would they not attack you?"
"They're as afraid of these as you are," Mitsu looked Zuko straight in the eye. "But I mourned a friend there, someone who showed me that people can be good even if they are ruled by evil, and vice versa. For a long time, he was the only person that didn't look at me and tremble. That is real courage, something I don't see these days." He hung his head, a tear forming in his left eye as he looked away. "I really miss him, almost as much as your uncle. He was a brother to me in the short time we spent together, for me that was more than enough."
Zuko stood up straight, putting palm to hand and bowing. "I'm sorry I doubted you and my uncle's judgment. I don't know you that well, but my uncle seems happy seeing you, and for me, that is enough."
"He wanted to take me back to your country and adopt me, but I stepped off the boat," Mitsu stopped at a crossroads of four paved walkways. "My place was here, in the Earth Kingdom and the Great Rock. Today we're all here," he silently thought of Aang and the others.
"This isn't our place," Zuko went on one knee and sifted some of the loose dust from the island in the middle of the walkway junction.
"Ba Sing Se is a place for no one," a passerby stepped in from a nearby pathway, "and yet everyone lives here," the man and his large companion stopped in front of the two younger boys. His companion was tall and silent, wearing a veil over his or her face and looking a bit ungainly.
"We'll all find our place in life Lee," Mitsu switched to Zuko's pseudonym. "A wise man once said that our feet do not always follow our hearts but the opposite can be true. Your heart is with your uncle here, even if you think your feet are alone."
"Well said, young man," the stranger nodded in acknowledgement. "Come on, we have to get to our place as well," the man nudged his companion, who seemed to growl instead of groan. "See you around, I suppose." The man opened a parasol and disappeared down the road Mitsu and Zuko had taken.
"I hope your tea shop continues to be successful," Mitsu clasped Zuko's forearm. "It might seem crazy, but I hope you find a training ground soon, your hands are cold."
"I haven't Fire…" Zuko looked around, "I haven't used fire since we got on the ferry here. It's been weeks!"
"You are a Firebender, and you have one of the best teachers in the world in your uncle. I suggest you start there, if you want to find your own place."
Zuko thought to himself as he sat on a bench beside the four-way, Mitsu walking down the path taken by the strange man earlier.
"I know what I have to do…but at what cost? My father? My sister? My kingdom? Do I keep trying to catch the Avatar to please them both? Will anything change?" he spoke out loud to himself. The wind picked up his voice as well as his hair, making his musings sail through the morning air. The wind however brought him something else.
"Appa, stop the crazy flying! I'm going crazy here too, but calm down!"
Zuko sprang upwards, his eyes blasted wide open. It was the Avatar, here in Ba Sing Se! His heart beat faster and his mind raced through the possibilities. Would he run for Iroh and try to convince him to resume the Avatar catching mission? Would he try to hunt Aang for himself to redeem his honor? Might he convince Mitsu to join him? A small spark exploded out of his hand as he struggled to contain his excitement.
After some more thought, he turned back to the tea shop.
Meanwhile, Mitsu continued his walk down the cobbled street, running his hand through carefully trimmed hedges and listening to the sweet sound of birds in the air. Ba Sing Se was the greatest city in the world indeed, and one could find peace there if they forgot what was outside and focused on what was on the inside. It was easy enough with the Dai Li watching as well as the network of bureaucrats that supported them. Mitsu let his mind wander to more quiet times, to memories not his own, to departed friends and new acquaintances. The sweet air of the city combined with the beautiful architecture and the local finery was a comfort enjoyed by virtually no one outside the Fire Nation, which to other countries seemed harsh and garish, dominated by red hues and domineering citizens.
Mitsu knew, however that the city contained many people with sad memories, tragic events from the invasion etched in their eyes. There were some others who had seen even more, though they hid it behind faces of stone and cheer drawn from the better parts of their life. The Force Bender sat on the ground beside a large oak tree, where a scroll hung with someone's life story written on it. He took the second cup of tea on a mat sprawled on the ground and raised it to the old man sitting on the mat.
"You did all you could that day, old uncle."
"I can help many people, but I could not help my own son," Iroh's voice rumbled softly. He had previously stopped a would-be robber and given him advice with his life.
"Today would have been his birthday," Mitsu looked at the certificate, "you are celebrating it like he was alive."
"He is alive in my heart," Iroh sipped his tea. "Zuko has made that fire warm in me again."
"He is not Lu Tien. I haven't seen your nephew smile at all."
"He did not have me for a father. He had my brother, who never smiled either. Yet he is learning from us both. I consider him my own son no matter what he wants to do."
"Does he know about his great grandfather?" Mitsu held a red book from his belt.
"Not yet. I do not feel that it is the time for that revelation." Iroh finished his tea.
"Has he learned lightning, old uncle? I'm told he's quite the Fire Bender."
"I've tried to train him, but he refuses to even let me use it. He had better learn quickly, especially since his father can summon it at will, even faster than me."
Mitsu got up and bowed to the certificate honoring Lu Tien. It was Fire Nation custom to honor the fallen royalty; although Iroh's frugal style owed more to his innate humility rather than his deprived state of affairs.
"Show me one day, tired old uncle," Mitsu bowed to him. "I've had some interesting ideas these last few months."
Iroh opened his eyes and looked up, but his gaze was averted to the sight of Zuko streaking up the hill, as if the entire Fire Nation was after him.
"Uncle, the Avatar! He's here!" Zuko pointed to the horizon. "I saw him and his Sky Bison! We can catch him here and take him home!"
Iroh did not stir, pouring another cup of hot tea.
"Uncle…?" Zuko saw Mitsu turn his back and Iroh turn to his tea.
"I am not doing that nonsense again," Iroh rumbled between careful sips.
"But…"
"We're building a new life here in Ba Sing Se. We aren't going to waste our life chasing someone who won't hurt us," the old man got up to his full height, casting a shadow over his nephew that nearly equaled the tree beside him.
"I'm tired, Zuko. I've lost my entire family doing things to please others with no reward for myself. I'm staying with the tea shop." Iroh sounded unusually vulnerable. "Sit down, have some tea and bow to your deceased cousin."
Zuko bowed and tried to banish the sight of Aang and Appa from his mind. Whatever Aang was going to do now, Zuko couldn't do anything about it. Iroh was never really a stern man, but when he was even the most powerful generals cowed in fear of him. He resolved not to approach the matter any further and took his tea.
"So, when do we open up the shop?"
"Mitsu has left me a book on herbology he found wandering in the western Earth Kingdom. I'd better brush up on it, before I poison people other than myself!" Iroh was back to his cheerful self.
"Hey, where'd he go?" Zuko looked around and Mitsu was nowhere to be seen.
"Heretics are best left alone. Which reminds me, you are still carrying something I don't like," Iroh pointed to a small bulge in Zuko's tunic.
"I'll get rid of it, uncle. You're right; I have to get rid of this." Out came the Blue Spirit mask, its blue rimmed eyes and expressionless gaze looking deep into Zuko.
"Maybe you'll get a girlfriend here, too!"
"Hey, let's not get ahead of ourselves here!"