IX: Tales of Ba Sing Se
Ω £ Ω Girls' Day Out Ω £ Ω
Everyone took a bath that morning and freshened themselves up for the day. Sokka shaved his puberty moustache, Aang shaved the top of his head, and Zuko took off a couple of patches on his jaw. After Katara had fixed her hair she went to the bedroom to wake up Toph, she rose, but her hair was a chaotic mess, and she had a little dirt on her… everywhere.
"You call it dirt, I call it a healthy, protective layer of earth!" Toph told her.
"You know what you need, a girls' day out!" Katara told her.
"Do I have to?" She asked in a sullen voice.
"Come on, Toph, we'll go out right after breakfast." Katara stated. They sat around the table, while Aang and Zuko helped to set it.
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After breakfast, Katara took a few coins and dragged Toph to…
"The Fancy Ladies Day Spa? Sounds awfully girly."
"Are you ready for some serious pampering?" Katara asked her.
"Suuure, so long as they don't touch my feet." She replied.
There was a bit of an issue with a foot file. Toph thrashed about until a few other ladies had her pinned down as they filed away at her calluses. It came to the point where she couldn't take it anymore and she threw the filer across the room with Easthbending!
"Sorry." The girls said weakly.
Mud baths went a lot better, They were relaxed and wearing face masks with cucumber slices on their eyes. Toph bent the clay mask to make a funny face and scared the towel lady there! Both she and Katara had a good laugh out of that.
They fished off with a trip to a relaxing sauna, and a makeover.
"Well that was fun, normally I'm not into that kind of stuff, but I actually feel pretty."
"I'm glad you had a good time. It's nice to just be girls for a while." Katara replied. As they walked down the street a trio of other girls walked past them and said: "Wow, great makeup."
"Thanks." Toph told them, she was happy. They crossed a bridge, and one of the girls added: "For a clown!" and her friends laughed.
"Don't listen to them." Katara told Toph.
"She reminds me of that time you dressed up your pet poodle-monkey." Another girl stated, again her friends laughed.
"Come on." Katara told Toph.
"No, no, that was funny! You know what else is funny?" Toph said. She then put a hole in the bridge, under the girls' feet, and they fell into the stream. Katara looked at them with a smile on her face that said: instant karma right there for you, you brats, and she bent the water to wash them away!
"Those girls had no idea what they were talking about." Katara said.
"I'm not bothered, one of the perks about being blind is that I don't care what I look like, or what other people think." Toph replied, but she did begin to look upset.
"Hey, I know it's not important, but you're really pretty."
"Thanks… I'd return the compliment, but I have no idea what you look like." Toph stated. Katara giggled, and they went off to have a little ladies lunch.
Ω £ Ω Iroh's Day Ω £ Ω
The next morning, Zuko told his friends: "Listen, guys, today would've been the day of my late cousin's birthday, I'm sure that I don't need to ask you guys this, but would you keep a little extra nice to my uncle?"
The others nodded and they prepared breakfast, mostly eggs with rice and hot sauce, and a side of oranges.
Iroh joined them for a while and then went out about his day, to do a little shopping. He bought a lunch basket from a vendor, and taught him how to tend to his moon flower by sliding it back into the shade where it bloomed.
A little ways later on, as he was looking at a stand selling musical instruments, he heard the sound of a child crying, and he set to soothe him with a little song of a brave soldier boy while playing one of the instruments. Once the boy had calmed down, he wished him and his mother a good day and continued on his way.
Iroh stopped again when he saw some young Earthbenders playing a ball game, they were doing well, until the ball came flying at his head! He ducked, and the ball broke the window. He told the boys that it's more honorable to admit mistakes and to seek forgiveness, but when the massive homeowner threatened to break them Iroh told them: "But not this time, RUN!" and everyone ran like the wind out of the scene! Iroh ducked into an alleyway where a man held a knife to him; however, Iroh wasn't intimidated, for the man trying to rob him stood with a weak stance. In fact, Iroh showed him how to give a more intimidating stance, but realized that the man was just a confused soul desperate to just make ends meet. They sat together for a pot of tea, and Iroh told him some things that he needed to hear, for once this stranger had someone who believed in him!
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Zuko spent his afternoon at the tea shop to scrape up some spare change because he wanted to get a little something nice for his uncle, and to his luck, Jet came in just as he was serving the young lady from a couple days before.
"Ah, afternoon, Jet, anything interesting going on in the flower shop?" Zuko asked.
"Old Lady Kai Li has a new marketing scheme. Lately we've gotten some rarer and more exotic plants, and she's hoping that they would help her to attract a wealthier crowd." Jet replied.
"Yeah, anything particularly interesting?"
"Well there's vases of panda lilies, and we've got a lovely specimen of a white dragon bush."
"A white dragon bush? How much is it?" Zuko asked.
"No offense, but it's not something that a simple tea shop clerk can afford." Jet replied.
"I don't really want the whole plant, but some leaves. Uncle says that it brews a delicious tea, and he's been like a father figure to me these past few years, and I figure that this would be a nice gift for him. Come on, Jet, you owe me!" Zuko told him. Jet nodded and replied: "Alright, I'll get you some leaves."
Jet went off without ordering, but it wasn't too long before he returned with a pouch of leaves, enough to brew a couple pots of tea.
"I've also collected some seeds, believe it or not. Go on and plant them." Jet told him
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At the end of his trip, Iroh set up a memorial for Lu Ten, wishing him a happy birthday, and sang the song of the brave soldier boy as he wept for him. When he collected himself, he enjoyed a quiet meal from his basket under a blossoming tree. It was relaxing and peaceful, but as the sun sank low into the sky it was time to return to the house.
Upon his return, he found a few little surprises, first off, Aang offered to play a round of Pai Sho with him, which Iroh joyfully accepted, and while they played their game, Katara fixed up some dinner. After Iroh had kicked Aang's butt in their game, Zuko passed over the pouch Jet gave him.
"Uh, Zuko, what's with the leaves?" Iroh asked.
"Jet came into the tea shop today and told me that the flower shop was getting some rare plants, he gave me a pouch of those leaves and some seeds from the same plant. Those leaves are from the white dragon bush!" He declared. The look on Iroh's face was priceless! His eyes went wide with shock and awe, while his mouth gave an utterly joyous smile! He snatched up Zuko by the shirt and hugged him tightly before making a mad dash for his teapot!
The tea brewed from the leaves was indeed something remarkable, there was a honey-like sweetness, a fruity tartness, and cool freshness like mint (but without the mint flavor), and Iroh was happy to share it with everyone! All in all it was a fine day today.
Ω £ Ω Playing with Fire Ω £ Ω
Later in the night, Toph approached Zuko and told him: "I'm ready to take up on that duel you offered. Are you?"
Zuko followed Toph to the chamber, and Sokka, Katara, and Aang went down to watch things go down. Toph and Zuko were already known to be strong fighters, but how would they match against each other?
"Perhaps we should lay down some ground rules first. If my feet get burned, it would be like you going blind." Toph stated.
"Agreed, and you could easily crush me." Zuko stated. He motioned punches and kicks he could use for bending, and Toph noted that she could feel his movements, and so when Zuko threw a punch, she was able to sense it and move out of the way of a projectile. However, as an extra precaution, Toph covered herself in light earth armor so she could be protected but free to move.
They took their stances and Toph kicked up three large rocks and threw them towards Zuko, one at a time, and he dodged them all, returning Toph a short chain of shots with half a dozen punches, Toph dodged most of them, but took one to the chest.
"Whoa! I'm okay!" Toph called out. She stomped the ground and a pillar shot out under Zuko's feet, launching him into the air!
Before Zuko landed, Toph heard this 'FWOOSH' sound that she associated with Firebending. Although Zuko had disappeared from her for a moment, she knew that Zuko had sent something her way. So she pulled up a wall of earth around her, and sensed that the fire had struck it. A short moment later, she felt a series of vibrations when Zuko landed, and heard his feet hit the ground. So Toph split off a chunk of her wall and sent it hurtling his way!
To avoid being crushed, Zuko used his bending to propel himself to the side, providing some pretty interesting vibrations for Toph to pick up on. She felt him try to circle around her, and so she put up a wall in his path, to which Zuko crashed into and hit the floor!
However, Zuko was quick to throw a band of fire at Toph to dodge or block, to give himself time to get back on his feet, and he launched himself into the air with his bending to fly over to another part of the chamber. Toph sent rocks flying his way, but Zuko glided across the floor in zigzags to dodge them. What he didn't realize though was that he was heating up the floor. In fact it didn't really occur to the others that the heat from Zuko's bending was still lingering. So at some point, when Toph jumped back to avoid one of Zuko's projectiles, but she landed on a hot spot on the floor and cried out as she felt her feet get burned!
Zuko ran to her apologizing profusely, and then he carried her over to Katara where she could start treating her.
"I'm sorry I hit you." Zuko told her.
"Actually, you didn't, I burned my feet on a spot of floor that you'd heated up when you were gliding around. I'll forgive you eventually." Toph replied.
"Luckily for you, Toph, I got to this right away, but you'll still need another treatment. We should get her back in the house and get a tub of water for her to soak her feet." Katara told them.
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As they fell asleep that night, Momo was sleeping in Sokka's bag, when he found a tuft of white fur inside it. With a little sniff, he recognized Appa's scent, and he flew off on a little adventure on his own trying to find his ten ton friend. He ran into things that tricked his eyes, and some stray cats that tried to eat him. However, when he and the cats got captured at one point, he freed everyone from their cages and the cats led him to a massive paw print of Appa's in the city.
Ω £ Ω Zuko Gets a Date Ω £ Ω
While Katara, Aang, and Toph were out getting posters printed for Appa's search, Sokka was with Zuko and Iroh at the tea shop.
A regular came in again, it was the young lady, seen several times before. They even picked up that her name was Jin, and as she sat down, she locked eyes with Zuko. Suspicious of her, Zuko went over to his uncle and told him that he suspected that she might be on to the fact that they were of the Fire Nation.
"Ah, yes, I've seen that girl around, but I believe that she has something else on her mind." Iroh told Zuko.
Sokka went over to Jin to take her order, but she asked him: "Would it be alright if the other waiter takes my order?"
Sokka shrugged his shoulders, and tagged Zuko in.
After Jin had received her tea and had finished it, she went up to make her payment, just as Sokka was bringing in some dishes.
"Thank you for the tea." Jin stated.
"You're welcome." Zuko stated. Jin then tucked a tuft of hair behind her ear, and then she spoke: "So, I was wondering if, perhaps, you'd like to go out some time."
The proposal took Sokka by such a surprise that he dropped his tray and broke a cup and saucer! He looked between Zuko and Jin with his eyes wide and his jaw dropped!
"He'd love to!" Iroh answered for Zuko.
"Great, I can meet you here tonight!" Jin told them.
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"ZUKO'S GOT A DATE!" Sokka called out as they returned home, the others had already put up the posters.
"Hey, Sokka, come on, did you really have to announce that!?" Zuko exclaimed.
"A date, Zuko, is that true?" Katara asked. He rolled his eyes back and gave an exasperated sigh, but he nodded: "Yes, and the date's tonight."
While the other kids were sniggering a bit, Katara was actually a bit concerned for him.
"Zuko, when was the last time you went out with a girl?" Katara asked.
"I-I've actually never been on a real date before. I was banished when I was thirteen, and before that I was a bit young for dating." He replied.
"What?!" Aang exclaimed.
"Really, you'd do that?" Zuko questioned. Katara nodded, and she told Zuko to set up the table while she prepared a pot of soup and some white rice for them to munch on. In the meantime the others watched them.
Katara and Zuko sat across each other and Katara asked: "So Lee, where are you from?"
"Umm… we've been traveling around a lot, until recently."
"Oh, well, where were you from originally?" Katara asked. It became clear now to Zuko that she was telling him to come up with a background story for himself.
"Well, I was born in one of the older Fire Nation colonies."
"The colonies, huh? That must've been an interesting childhood." Katara remarked.
"It wasn't too bad, but after being harassed by soldiers, I took a stand against them…"
"Is that how you got your scar?"
"Y-Yes…" Zuko replied. He twiddled his thumbs for a moment and then told Katara, as she ate up some rice: "You look nice tonight."
"Well thank you. So Lee, I don't leave the city much, but what's it like to travel the world?"
"Actually, I've been on the run for most of my travels… It's hard to just stop and enjoy what's around you when you're so concerned for your safety or when your next meal is. When I did have the chance to just rest for a while, it was nice." Zuko replied.
"So, how did you end up working at a tea shop?"
"It was my uncle's idea, he loves tea, whether if it's drinking it or sharing it with others."
"How would he like his own tea shop?" Katara asked.
"I think that he might just faint if an opportunity came up to him." Zuko replied.
"Well, Zuko, I think that you're going to do just fine with your date. Lee's got a decent backstory now, and it's always a safe compliment to tell a girl she looks nice." Katara stated.
"It was honest." He replied.
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After Zuko had gotten dressed for his date, Iroh called him back to do his hair for him.
"Actually, Iroh, Zuko's hair looks fine." Katara stated.
"Fine, then go, Prince Zuko, and here's some money for the date.
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Zuko met Jin right outside the tea shop, and as they walked over to a restaurant she picked out, they were just about to pass Kai Li's flower shop. Zuko took a brief glance into the window, and saw Jet watering some of the plants. They stepped inside to say 'hello' and Zuko bought Jin a lovely flower she could wear in her hair.
During their dinner, it turned out that practicing with Katara really paid off. The backstory he came up with her came in handy as she did ask about where he came from, and in return for his answers, she told him stories of her childhood.
After dinner, she took him to see these lanterns, and was utterly dumbfounded when she saw that they weren't lit. Zuko told her to close her eyes, and he quickly lit them with his Firebending. He was glad to see her happy, and for the fact that she didn't question how they were lit so quickly.
They didn't kiss at the end, instead Zuko gave her a coupon for her next visit at the tea shop, and they parted ways.
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Zuko stormed into the house and retreated to a bedroom.
"How was your date?" Iroh asked.
"It was nice." Zuko replied, peeking through the door.
Later on, when Zuko and Iroh were sitting together, playing Pai Sho, Aang spoke up: "So there's something on my mind."
"What is it, young Avatar?" Iroh asked in his gentle voice.
"When Ozai is removed from the throne, you two stand to succeed him, and just tonight, you mentioned the Fire Nation colonies. Do you think that after the war, and we win, you'd be able to retract them?" Aang asked. Iroh and Zuko exchanged looks, and Zuko told him: "I might be done without much fuss for the newer colonies, but there are some that are older than you, Aang. The Fire Nation citizens there may've been there for, easily, four or five generations."
"But, to leave those colonies there, when the four nations are supposed to be separate, we may just have another war on top of this one!" Aang exclaimed.
Before answering, Zuko took a deep breath to clear his mind, and then collect his thoughts. Finally he spoke: "Aang, you say that the four nations are supposed to be separate."
"Yes."
"You are also the last Air Nomad, Airbender, right?"
"Well yeah."
"Then Aang, how're you supposed to find love when your morale won't allow you to find someone outside of your nationality?" Zuko asked. Aang sat back and thought about it, and then Iroh put in: "The colony of Yu Dao is one of the most successful cities in the world as far as business is concerned. Perhaps you should visit it sometime, and see how the people of the Earth Kingdom are getting along with the Fire Nation there. Or better yet, young Avatar, you should look about this house, in this house alone you have: Air Nomad, Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and Water Tribe… Don't you think that we're all getting along just fine?"
"Yeah, I suppose we've been getting along nicely, a few mishaps, but that's to be expected with a large group." Aang stated.
"Rest now, young Avatar, and remember that the colonies are a problem for another time." Iroh told him.
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Okay, I hope you enjoyed that. Also, thanks so much for all the responses on the previous chapter; I didn't realize that it would be such a hit with you guys!
So here's an AUTHOR'S QUESTION: What's been your favorite part of the story so far? Why?
