A/N: The Following is rated N; for noodles.

It corresponds, chronologically, with S2E15; "Tales of Ba Sing Se."

Reader discretion is advised.


Chapter 13 "Tales of Ba Sing Se: Part Two"


Late Spring, year 11 in the reign of Fire-Lord Ozai

Zuko had always considered noodles to be rather simple things. Not overly expensive, or particularly special in any way. They were a basic foodstuff, something you put other things on to make a dish; a sauce, a seasoning, hopefully, some meat. There were simple and unimpressive in every way. This fact seemed to have been lost on the denizens of the middle ring, and they had an entire restaurant designed around them. Noodles with sauce, noodles with soup, noodles in a bowl and greenish noodles made from vegetables of all things. Katara was intrigued by the concept and so dragged him inside, to experience the wonder that was a variety of noodles.

A rather expensive variety of noodles.

Gritting his teeth Zuko ordered the cheapest large bowl noodles he could after he and Katara had sat down.

"What kind of a name is 'Ping?'" Katara said, smiling wryly at Zuko from across the restaurant table.

"It's an Earth-Kingdom name," Zuko said with a small growl. He refused to begin this conversation by talking about the real Ping; there was no need to burden her with that little bundle of fury and sadness. Not now anyway.

"Well, I've never seen someone who looked less like a Ping."

"My uncle picked it out."

"Hmmm, and you're sure he's alright?" she said, her smile instantly being replaced by sincere concern. "I'm serious, I should go check on him to make sure…"

One of the first things out of her mouth as they had sat down at the noodle shop was to ask if his uncle was alright. He loved her for that.

"He is just fine. No one that irritating can be too seriously hurt. But thank you for asking. He is named 'Mushi' by the way."

The fact that his uncle would somehow manage to become even more insufferable if he brought Katara to see him was only a minor concern.

Very minor.

After a waitress had appeared and taken their orders the silence grew long as they waited for their noodles.

"So… how are you liking the city so far?" Katara asked, searching for a topic.

"It's… ok," Zuko said lamely.

It is NOT ok. This place is a cesspool and a PRISON! What is WRONG with you? MORON!

Zuko was having trouble even looking at Katara. Every time he lifted his eye towards her, he could practically hear the internal battle resume. So instead he simply glowered at the table as though it had offended him.

"What are you doing for fun?" she said, gamely trying to start the conversation again.

"I don't have fun, you know that," he grunted.

She exhaled sharply. "Moon's name ZU- Ping. I'm trying to have a conversation here! The least you could do is-"

"This is a date isn't it?" Zuko said abruptly, eye still embedded on the table.

Katara cut off.

"You told the Bandit we went out on a date, at the Earth Rumble. Are we… dating?"

"I… We're… I was trying to build up to that," she said with a small pout. "Why are you making this awkward?"

"I'm not trying to. It's just… we don't talk, Katara. We just argue and fight and… do… other things. I'm not good at idle conversation."

Not to mention the fact that they were currently out in public, at an open-air reasonably crowded restaurant, and the rules of courtesy, hammered into him in his youth, called for stoicism and calm courtesy in such a setting. Something he found enormously difficult to achieve with the girl in front of him.

"Well, you're never going to get any better if you don't practice! So…" her eyes flashed as she narrowed them dangerously, "how precisely did you wind up working at a… house of ill-repute?"

Zuko's eye, and the corner of his mouth, darted upwards in the ghost of a smile.

"How is this not fighting?" he said, meeting her eyes at last.

"Baby-steps," she said flatly, eyes locked on him.

"I got into a fight," Zuko began.

"Unsurprising," she said with a sniff.

"I won. A lot of people saw it. And then Lady Xian offered me a job."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. She says I'm… mysterious… or something. And that's supposed to help with business… I guess."

"I suppose you get an employee discount?" she said with a snarl.

"I wouldn't know."

"So, it's free for you then?"

"You think I would…" Zuko studied her for a minute. "Are you… jealous?" he asked in confusion.

"JEALOUS? I'm not jealous! Why would I be jealous? Just because my boyfr-" she cut herself off, eyes going wide and mildly horrified.

"I… I'm your boyfriend?" Zuko said, his jaw nearly hitting the table.

"NO! I did NOT say that."

Zuko looked around wildly as if to see if the rest of the world was seeing what he was seeing. "You DID! Ask and burning bone, I'm your boyfriend. Your cute boyfriend." He scratched at his beard and smiled, remembering a similar conversation only a few months ago. "Huh. I've never been anyone's boyfriend before."

"What… never?"

"No. I mean, I was betrothed at one point, but-"

"You were WHAT?!" she shrieked, jumping to her feet. The water their server had brought them froze solid in a split second and shattered their glasses.

Oh shit. Why did I say that?

"Errr… it was a long time ago. It was broken off!"

"Who was it? I swear, by Moon and Sea, if it was that pink girl…"

"What? Ty Lee? No! Absolutely not."

Something in his face, normally so inscrutable, must have tipped her off.

"It was the other one," she hissed. "The dowdy depressing one with all the knives."

"Hey now, Mai isn't-"

Don't DEFEND her, idiot!

"WHAT!? Mai isn't what?" Katara said, her voice rising in volume. "Go on, don't be shy, tell me all about what a great girl that miserable witch, who was a hairs-breath from sacrificing her own brother to catch Aang I might add, was."

"Mai is NOT a witch. She's one of my oldest friends!" Zuko said, now on his feet as well, roaring back at her. "Ancestors preserve me, woman, I was thirteen! It was an arranged betrothal and I didn't even know it existed until it was already broken off!"

"…tried to kill…"

"…insolent barbarian…"

They began shouting at each other, heedless of the other's words or the stares of the other patrons; all courtesy and decorum forgotten.

"Ummmmmmm."

"WHAT!?" they both shouted, turning as one.

"Y-your dinners!" their waitress squeaked, holding their noodles in her trembling hands.

They turned and, at the same time, sank back into their seats, their eyes shooting daggers at one another. Their waitress carefully put the noodles in front of them… and then ran away as though worried that the bowls, or their new owners, might explode at any moment.

"We're really bad at this," Zuko said quietly, eye once again locked on the table.

"Yeah. We are." Katara sighed. "We just need practice." She gritted her teeth as she picked up her chopsticks. "Tell me why you liked her."

"I… never said that…"

Katara narrowed her eyes at him over a mouthful of noodles.

"She was… funny," Zuko said as he began poking at his food. "She was smart and sarcastic, and never seemed to care that I was a prince, or that I wasn't as smart as her and Azula. She was equally disdainful of everyone. She always seemed to know what to say, in any situation."

"Why did you split up then?"

"I was banished," Zuko said, idly examining the noodles now hanging from his chopsticks.

"If you really cared about her then that wouldn't have stopped you," Katara said with a cocked eyebrow; as if to say, "and I know that from experience."

"She… she was in love with someone else," Zuko admitted.

"Oh! Oh, Zu- Ping. I'm sorry."

"It's alright. It was a long time ago. It was just a little… crush anyway."

"Did you fight him?"

"…him who?" Zuko said, after gulping down a mouthful.

"The other guy?"

"What other… OH! Uh… no. No I did not."

"That kind of surprising, for you, I mean," she said as she picked through the noodle bowl.

"Uh… I was friends with the both of them, so…"

"I thought you only had two friends," Katara pointed out, smirking.

"Well… uh… that's-"

"...NO!" Katara gasped.

Zuko shrugged and continued working on his bowl of noodles. They were actually quite good.

"They never seemed that close," Katara said seeming puzzled.

"I think they broke up," Zuko said around a mouthful. "Ty ran off to join the circus just before I arrived at the South Pole." His eye darted back up to hers. "You CANNOT tell anyone."

"Yes, fine but… you're sure? I mean I'm pretty sure I saw… Ty flirting with my brother a couple of times."

"Unsurprising. But yes, I'm sure. Very sure."

"How?"

"I… I accidentally caught them…" he waved his noodle-laden chopstick looking for the right word, "…being intimate."

"NO!"

"Yes. It's… a bit of an embarrassing story actually," he said, scratching the back of his neck with his off hand. "You CANNOT tell ANYONE."

"I won't," Katara said grinning widely. "Promise. But now you have to tell me."

"Why?"

"For practice!"

She was smiling at him. The amazing half-wicked, half-mirthful, smirk she wore when she thought she had him good and defeated and was just waiting to see what sort of counter-attack he would muster. It was entirely too lovely.

Well… why not. I've got nothing but time.

"When I was a child," he began, "the four of us, Azula, Mai, Ty Lee and myself used to play this game…"

/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\

They ended up talking for hours.

Zuko told her about life in the army, living out of tents and marching for days, and what it was like being in command of a ship.

"What happened to your ship anyway?" Katara asked curiously.

"You will remember the pirates from Tohin Wo."

She nodded, narrowing her eyes in remembered fury.

"Zhao let them out of prison and then hired them to assassinate me. They did something to the engine and blew up my ship."

"Oh no! Is Bo alright?"

"Yes. The ship was empty at the time except for- Wait, how do YOU know lieutenant Bo?"

"We talked a bit, when you tied me to a TREE. She was actually really nice. Then she made sure I got loose once the fighting started."

"She did WHAT?"

Katara told him about her grandmother and about some of her adventures that he had not been privy to.

"Wait… so you did cross the Great Divide on foot?"

"Yeah, Appa was carrying the sick and wounded villagers across."

"…I owe my intelligence officer an apology. I just thought he was incompetent."

Katara sighed wearily. "Spirits, I miss Appa."

"Wait, what happened to Appa?"

She proceeded to tell him all about losing Appa in the Burning Sands, kidnapped by sandbenders and sold off to the spirits knew where.

"That's why we came here in the first place," she grumbled, "but the stupid Dai Li-"

"Sir? Ma'am?" Their still nervous waitress was back again. "We're going to close soon so…"

They looked around and discovered, much to their chagrin, that the restaurant was now entirely empty except for them. They each paid for their meals, Zuko restraining a wince at the cost, and walked out into the street.

"I'll walk you to the gate," Zuko offered, beginning to eye the now darkened streets suspiciously.

"Don't be ridiculous," Katara said eyeing him out of the corner of her eye. "I'll be perfectly fine."

"Maybe if you were carrying your tessen. Like you promised me you would," Zuko growled.

He had noted the lack much earlier as she had sashayed away from him with Toph, but most of his brain was panicking at that particular moment.

"Don't be such a grump." She grinned at him. "Grumpy-bear."

"Katara, I want to walk you to the gate."

"Too bad! I am NOT some little village girl who needs a big strong man to hold her by the hand," she said glaring up at him. "As a matter of fact, I'm going to walk YOU home."

"Impossible. The gates are sealed after sundown."

"What do you mean the gates… You live in the lower ring?!"

"Unfortunately, I did not get special treatment," Zuko said dryly.

"Why didn't you say that?! We could have done this at a different time!" Katara said, her voice ringing with the unusual mixture of anger and concern that Zuko was certain no other creature in the world could imitate.

"You were rather insistent," he said smiling down at her. "Quietly insistent, but insistent nonetheless."

"Where are you going to sleep?" She looked absolutely devastated.

"Well… I…" his eye darted back the way they had come, towards the Lady Xian's.

"NO!" she said, cottoning on immediately and stamping her foot in negation. "Absolutely NOT. I forbid it!"

"You… forbid it?"

"Yes! New Rule! No sleeping in… in… dens of iniquity!"

"…you know, sometimes you sound like a ninety-year-old woman."

"You'll just have to stay at an inn," she said ignoring him.

"I can't afford middle ring inns. I've got… maybe fifteen zeni on me at the moment. I don't get paid until the end of the week."

"Then… then… what are you going to do?" she said, her face scrunched adorably in worry.

"I guess I will just sleep on the street. It won't be the first ti-"

"Absolutely NOT. I-"

"Forbid it?"

"Yes," she said with a sniff. "I'll just buy you a room myself. That solves the problem."

"No."

"You'd rather sleep on the streets?" she said drawing herself up haughtily.

"Yes."

"What?" she squawked. "Why?"

"I do not accept charity," Zuko said severely.

"Don't… don't be stupid!"

Zuko shrugged. "I do not have much left Katara, but I still have my pride. I do not accept charity and I do not beg."

Katara glared at him for a moment, then started smiling her dangerous smile. "What," she asked sweetly, "is the most dangerous part of the middle ring?"

"…What?"

"You work for… unsavory types. You must know."

"The south side," Zuko said, after a moment of consideration. "It is the main thoroughfare from the ferry docks. I hear that the lower ring almost spills through there a bit. Why?"

"Any inns there?"

"…Katara? NO," Zuko growled, eye widening in dismay.

She ignored him and began marching south, her shoulders set in determination.

"Katara? STOP!" Zuko shouted, following after her.

"Oh NO!" she shouted dramatically, continuing to stride forward. "A poor defenseless Unicorn girl, without her tessen, all alone on the mean streets of Ba Sing Se."

"Katara you're being ridiculous. I can sleep on the stree-"

"NO!" she snarled, not slowing down in the slightest. "It's my fault you're in this situation. I will fix it!"

Zuko's face worked in frustration and, cursing quietly, he followed.

/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\^/\

Much to Zuko's mortification the "inn" Katara chose was a semi-famous establishment named Ai'luguan.

Ai'luguan was a love hotel.

Katara had no idea what that was, and Zuko found neither the right time, or the nerve, to tell her.

"It's fifteen zeni an hour sweetheart," the innkeeper said from the other side of an iron grate which separated him from his potential customers.

"An hour?" Katara said, confusion plain in her voice. "Why would I need an hour? I need a room for the whole night."

"Whoa!" The innkeeper said wonderingly, looking past her to Zuko. "I hope you been eating clams, Ping! This lady's got expectations!"

If it were physically possible, Zuko was certain he'd have melted into a puddle from sheer embarrassment at Katara's confused look, as the man obviously knew him from work.

"It's weird that they would have an hourly rate, right? Who would need just an hour in a hotel room?" Katara asked as they climbed the stairs to the room she had purchased.

Zuko, his mouth dry and his palms beginning to sweat, still didn't have the heart to tell her.

They arrived at the room and Katara looked around proudly, as though she was surveying the site of a great battle victory.

"Very nice. Very nice indeed. Silk sheets, plenty of candles and-" she turned her head upwards in genuine confusion- "is that a mirror on the ceiling?"

"Katara," Zuko said warningly.

She ignored him and sat on the bed bouncing slightly. "Mmmmm, nice soft bed, much better than cobblestones. Only the best for my grumpy-bear."

Zuko glared at her.

"Oh, what's the matter?" she said sweetly. "You don't like it when somebody treats you like a possession?"

"Is that what this is about? Some sort of asinine moral lesson?" Zuko growled.

"I am NOT a frostbitten porcelain doll Zuko!" she shouted, springing to her feet and invading his personal space. "I do not need your protection, and I do NOT need to carry a weapon around everywhere I go!"

"You promised me you would."

"I have my wakizashi, I have my waterskin. I AM armed!"

Zuko shook his head, unable to believe her.

"What do you want me to say Katara? You promised. This world is dangerous and it's better to be prepared for it. I only want-"

"What I want, is for you to respect me."

"You… you think I don't respect you?" Zuko said, gaping. "Do you think I would care for someone if I didn't respect them?"

"Then how can a place be too dangerous for me to walk around alone, but safe enough for you to fall asleep in?"

"That's not-"

"How, Zuko!?"

"I'm…"

"You're what? You're so much stronger than I am? So much more combat-ready?"

"…expendable," Zuko finished. "I am a half blind, honorless ronin who guards a whorehouse. Your life is worth more than mine."

"That has got to be the dumbest thing I have ever-"

"It is to me anyway," Zuko said, eye on the ground.

Katara stared at him for a long moment. "Rule three."

"…Rule three?" Zuko paused for a moment, frowning. "…What does me being 'cute' have to do with anything?"

"That wasn't rule three!" Katara shouted, pinking slightly. "Rule three was no more self-deprecating crap!"

"Oh! …Sorry."

She sighed. "If it makes you feel better, I'll… try to remember to carry my tessen more."

"Thank you."

"But you have to stop thinking I'm helpless."

"How could I think you're helpless? The first time we really fought you impaled me."

"Then why do I need to be ESCORTED everywhere?!"

"Because then I get to spend more time with you!" Zuko snapped.

Not to mention the fact that the LAST time I let you walk away from me alone I nearly killed you and then didn't see you again from almost three months.

"Oh." She paused for a moment. "So this whole fight was kind of stupid then."

"Yes."

"…Right. So, you will be sleeping here, I will be going back to the upper ring. Problem solved."

"Uh… no."

"DAMNIT ZUKO! I thought we had settled this!" she shouted. "I am perfectly alright to-"

"That's not what I meant!" Zuko interjected quickly.

They stared at each other for a moment.

"…Well?" Katara said somewhat irritably.

"It's just…" Zuko felt his face flush.

Katara blinked and her face grew more concerned "What is it?"

Ancestors be with me, Zuko thought trying to muster his courage.

"This… this is a love hotel, Katara."

She eyed him and the room askance. "Yes, it is perfectly lovely. What does that have to do with-"

"No! It's a love hotel! As in, a place where people come specifically to have sex!" Zuko shouted, attempting to conceal his mortification with sheer volume.

"That's- What? I… Ridiculous!" Katara sputtered, her eyes wide as she backed away. "I didn't bring you here to… to…" she flushed darkly, her words trailing away.

"I know. It's just…" Zuko's face, which was normally rather impassive, had become extraordinarily abashed, "If you leave right now… After the fuss you made about needing the whole night…" he shrugged helplessly. "People will talk."

"…You can't be serious."

"All I've got left is pride."

"That has got to be the dumbest thing I have ever heard."

"Yes, probably," Zuko admitted.

"So…"

"We have to wait. Just… just an hour or so? That… uh… should be long enough," he said, looking down at his feet.

"Are you really that insecure?" Katara said, grinning widely.

"NO. I've got a reputation," Zuko said quickly. "I've got a job because of that reputation. Without my job I can't eat or even come up to the middle ring."

There, he thought. That seems believable.

"That… is complete whale-shit," Katara said, her eyes narrowed.

Or not.

They both looked anywhere but at each other for a long moment.

"So, now what are supposed to do?" Katara said, idly flopping down on the bed.

Zuko, who hadn't moved from the doorway after he'd locked and bolted it, went stock still. His eye fell on her as the less helpful part of his brain started providing him with a variety of ways to pass the time.

Blood of the Sun she is beautiful.

Katara, who had somehow become far more perceptive than he recalled, turned a particularly vibrant shade of puce and grabbed her knees to her chest.

"That wasn't- I didn't mean- You're unbelievable!" she said.

"Sorry! I'm sorry… I…" Zuko quickly sat down where he was, legs crossed in a meditation pose. "I'll just stay over here," he nodded to himself, "just stay here and meditate."

Calm thoughts. NOT naughty thoughts. CALM. THOUGHTS.

Katara rolled her eyes at him. "You're being stupid. You're not a child, come over here and sit down," she said indicating the spot next to her on the bed.

"THAT is not at good ide-" he cut off at her glare. He rose with a sigh and slipped his katana out of his belt to place it into the stand at the head of the bed.

Then he tensed abruptly at the sound of steel being drawn.

"This," Katara said, indicating the middle of the bed, "is the great Kaiu wall." She traced a path along the middle of the bed with the back of her wakizashi. "You cross the wall without my permission…" she locked eyes with Zuko "…I'm going to make you regret it."

The corner of Zuko's mouth rose in a smile. "There's my snuggle-bunny," he said softly.

"Sit down, grumpy-bear," Katara said, smiling back fiercely.

Zuko turned and sat on the very edge of the bed, facing away from her.

I am calm. Totally calm. I am absolutely totally-

Until this moment Zuko had never considered a sound to be sexy before. Certainly Katara's voice, a growl, a murmur, a shout, could send pleasant shivers up his spine, but he assumed that that was because of the girl it was attached to. However, the sound that silk made as the woman behind stretched out on it struck him as downright obscene. Like a caress along the back of his neck and a breathless whisper in his ear. Against his better judgment, he glanced over his shoulder and saw Katara lying down, back arched in a stretch, her purple linen kimono complementing the deep green silk of the bed. She smirked at him as she continued to stretch.

"Now you're doing it on purpose," Zuko said, voice hoarse.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said throatily.

Zuko exhaled in a snort and, with a force of will, turned his head away.

"Tell me about the Fire-Nation," Katara said after a long moment of tense silence.

"Katara, I don't know how many times I have to tell you, I am NOT-"

"I didn't mean the military stuff. I just want to hear about what it was like living there. It was your home; do you miss it?"

"Yes," he said quietly, voice just above a whisper. "Yes, I miss it. Don't you miss the South Pole?"

"Of course I do. I miss Gran-gran and all my people and the southern lights… I just…" she trailed off. "…I just want you to talk to me," she said quietly.

"For practice?" Zuko said, smiling slightly as he turned to look at her again.

"Yes," she said primly drawing herself up into a kneeling position. "Now lay down, relax, and practice your 'not-being-a-total-stuttery-dork-jutsu' grumpy-bear."

Zuko glanced down at the now crinkled line that denoted Katara's version of the Kaiu Wall. "…You're trying to get me stabbed, aren't you?"

"No. I'm just setting the battlefield. You control the terrain you control the battle." She smirked. "Pretty sure somebody important said that."

Oh good spirits, she's quoting Akodo now? I am so screwed.

"Besides," she continued, "it's kind of fun bossing you around. Certainly beats being tied to a TREE."

"You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"

"Maybe if you behave and do as I say for once…"

Zuko, deciding to humor her despite the danger, lay down, stiff as a board and attempting to ensure he went nowhere near the "wall." He considered it a mixed blessing that he couldn't see her, she was on his left, in his blind spot, but then it came as a complete surprise when her hand gently touched the mangled half of his face. Her fingers traced pattern he could only barely feel through the rough skin.

"If I tell you about the South Pole, what it was really like, will you tell me about the Fire-Nation? Not the military stuff, just what it's like?"

You keep touching my face like that I'll probably tell you every password, secret tunnel, and weapons cache I know.

Unable to trust his voice NOT to say exactly that, Zuko just nodded.

"It's… cold at the South Pole," she began. "I know that sounds silly, of course it's cold at the South Pole, but… it's more than just the temperature. The land is harsh, unforgiving; and we were always taught that that was what made the tribe so important. It's warmth. It's the warmth of the hearth fire, the warmth of family and the warmth of friendship and love that protect you from the cold. It helps you fight it, makes you strong, gives you the courage to walk out of your yurt every day and face the merciless ice. Even when… even when you've lost everything that you thought made your home a home, the warmth of family gives you the strength to carry on. To keep going. Even if… even if everyone leaves you… you remember that love, and carry it with you… in… in… the darkest times."

Zuko turned to look at her as her words began to slow down and the look of absolute sorrow on her face cut his heart to ribbons. He turned over on to his shoulder so that he could see her better and took her hand in between his.

"We don't have to talk about this. If it makes you sad you don't have to-"

"It's ok. It's a good kind of hurt. Grief is the best kind of hurt."

"Grief?"

"Yes. Grief is remembering the things you miss. Refreshing the memory and keeping it alive in your heart."

"But… why would you deliberately do that to yourself? You can't change what's happened, you just have to… it's… it's better to just not think about it."

"Are we still talking about me?" Katara said with an odd, sad, smile. Her hand cupped his scar. "Tell me about the Fire-Nation. Tell me about your home."

Zuko sighed, unconsciously leaning into her hand, and purposely thought about his home for the first time in a long time.

"People… people always assume that the Fire-Nation is hot. Because of fire, I guess. Fire is hot and so obviously the Fire-Nation must be hot too. But I was born in Otosan Uchi, at the top of one of the tallest mountains in the nation, the caldera of a dead volcano. We get snow in the winter sometimes and the wind is constant, howling through the streets, smelling of the sea and sulfur. The mountains… the mountains aren't like the ones here in the Earth-Kingdom, all smooth and gently sloped. My mountains are jagged things that reach up into the sky like pieces of broken glass. No matter where you are in the Fire-Nation there's always a mountain somewhere off in the distance, stark and severe, sort of looming over you. At night sometimes when the Fire Islands are awake, the eastern sky glows in a red fury. That's why we call it the Sea of Flames. And you can feel them, every firebender can, and everyone wakes up and watches the east waiting for the Sun to rise. When I was young, Azula and I would wake up at night when the volcanoes were awake and sneak out on to the eastern balcony to watch. Mother and… father would be there too most times and we would just… watch, quietly, as a family until the Sun rose and…" Zuko shook his head. "That was really the only time we were ever all together. Even when we went on vacation my father always had something to do, and Azula would go off alone to train. Even mom was happy to sit alone in the library and read or go and practice her kensai forms alone in the woods. Then she just…" Zuko trailed off.

"She what?"

"She disappeared. I… I think she's dead," Zuko exhaled a shuddering breath. "She disappeared the same day that Fire-Lord Azulon died. I don't know… I don't know what I did, but I think she killed him. I think she killed him to protect me. She died for me, and I don't…"

"That's… something we have in common."

Zuko's eye shot down to hers and found them full of tears.

"Wha- Why are you crying?" he said beginning to panic.

"I'm NOT," she sniffled, very obviously lying.

Zuko slid his arms around her and pulled her close. "You are though."

"My mother…" she hiccupped into his chest, "my mother died protecting me too."

Oh no. He squeezed her tighter.

"I just… I don't…" she was trying to get ahold of herself, but couldn't seem to form sentences.

"You don't what?"

"I… don't want you to think I'm weak."

Zuko was taken aback for a moment. He had been taught that this sort of sentiment, even in front of a trusted ally, was a weakness. That opening yourself like this, to anyone, was the height of foolishness. He really should have been disgusted by her and himself and the whole sappy melodramatic situation.

But he wasn't.

"Never," he growled. "Never ever." He kissed the top of her head and squeezed her tight.

She sighed and snuggled closer to him, her tears slowing to nothing and her hitching breath growing steady.

Then she began to snore faintly.

She's asleep?! He thought incredulously. Who just falls asleep like that?

Even if he had wanted to leave, he couldn't. His arm was trapped under her and at that moment he'd have sooner cut it off than wake her up. She was asleep, in his arms. In that moment he considered himself one of the luckiest men alive.

It's fine. I've got nowhere to be. I'll just… I'll just close my eye for a minute. Just… for… a minute.


A/N: Hello hello hello! Welcome gentlepersons to these most wonderful author notes! I hope you enjoyed part two of the Tales of Ba Sing Se. If you didn't (or if you did) please comment and review as such. Your feedback is a crucial part of my email inbox, far more important than those pesky bills or those emails from my university about my grades!

METAAAA-BIIIITTTS (/in the style of "lost in space")

Jin deleted: Now to start off I have to say that I like Jin. She seems a nice, genuine, girl and I think she could have done Zuko (both Canon and Akodo) a lot of good. She's a stable, if somewhat perky, girl who likes Zuko and that is never a bad thing. That being said, she is not appearing in this work, her date with Zuko has been re-appropriated for an entirely Zutara purpose. Again, I like Jin but, again, I regret nothing.

Why Mai and Ty Lee were Azula's friends: What of the great things that I love about writing is discovering new things, new elements, new facets about a story I have already written. One of the things that came out of this chapter somehow was a better understanding of why Azula is friends with Mai and Ty Lee. Putting aside the, "royal fire academy for girls," or whatever it was that they attended in canon, Azula is a princess. Mai is obviously some form of aristocrat and Ty Lee is… well Ty Lee's life is never touched on over much except that she has 6 identical sisters. SO here's MY take on these relationships. Mai, like Azula, is a genius. Certified, grade A, IQ of 150, genius. Azula, a girl who would demand only the best from those she associates with probably figured that out relatively quickly and essentially demanded that she was allowed to be friends with someone "on her level." Her father, most likely a low-level bureaucrat made the most of it and ended up getting several governorships out of the deal. Thus why it became crucial for Mai to "behave" and "not make to much noise," and to marry Zuko.

Ty Lee is NOT a genius, not that she's an idiot but just not a genius, she IS, however, a martial prodigy. Nobody else is chi blocking, are they? These are JUST the kind of exemplary people that Azula wants to have around. Which is the foundation of their relationship. The growth, and twisting, of those relationships will be discussed in later chapters, but just wanted to touch on that little bit here.

Tropes used and abused: Good lord I am a hack! Look at all these clichés! Forced to sleep on the same bed for non-sensical reasons, overly jealous (possibly tsundere) girl freaks about past relationships, the list goes on. I CONTINUE to regret NOTHING!

The education of a Shinjo: And once again I play the "off camera, author's headcanon" game. Katara has become far more perceptive of how Zuko thinks and there is a reason for that. She has, reasonably recently, been in Wan Shi Tong's library. And while Zhao obviously destroyed all the tactical and geographic information about the Fire-Nation I doubt he would have paid much attention to the fiction section. You can learn a LOT about a culture from their fiction and I have this hilarious mental image of Katara wandering through the aisles and finding the Fire-Nation equivalent of Harlequin bodice-rippers. I think Katara's the kind of woman who very secretly likes those sort of sappy romances. I also think that she's the kind of lady to be bullied into reading them to Toph, attempting to skip over the racy bits and being made to go back over them because Toph is super perceptive about that kind of thing. Regrets? I have none.

"The mountains are awake:" The idea of the volcanoes waking people up and being all majestic and such is NOT my original idea. It was inspired, made my own headcanon, what-have-you, by a variety of fics around the net. Most prominently "Sparrowkeet" by audreyii_fic. If, by chance, you have not read that, do not pass GO do not collect 200 dollars go directly there and (keeping the rating in mind) enjoy yourself.

Next week's rating: THIS is an announcement of your early warning system! Next week's chapter is the MAIN reason this work is rated M. If you are below the age of majority in your nation of origin please have an adult with you while you read (yeah who am I kidding). You will be warned again, but THIS is your early warning. Thank you and good night.

But seriously, thanks for reading. I am still consistently baffled by the amount of traffic my work receives and while my self-esteem is as rock-solid as they come MORE validation is never a bad thing. You guys are the best.

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NEXT WEEK on a very special "Avatar: The Last Dragon"...

There are citrus fruits, and things get… steamy.

TUNE IN. Same Zuko time, Same Zuko channel!

Original post date: 4 November 2018