Hello everyone! So when I was writing this I realized that the following chapter is much shorter than this. So, I decided to be nice and posted Ch. 19 as well.
Chapter Eighteen
-Katara-
Around noon our ferry finally arrived to the outer wall of Ba Sing Se. The wall alone was breath taking, but intimidating as well. We didn't see Jet and his friends after we got off the ferry. After we ate some lunch we went to purchase our tickets for the train that would take us into the city. Iroh tried to flirt with the lady selling the tickets after he corrected her on how to pronounce his fake name. Before I could see anything more Zuko clasped his hand around my eyes. I had to giggle at Zuko's reaction; I could feel him becoming warmer so I could only assume he is blushing out of embarrassment.
"You better hope I forget I ever saw that" Zuko threatened once he uncovered my eyes to see Iroh grinning from ear to ear. This time Iroh and I both chuckled at him as Zuko screwed his eyes shut to keep from going red in the face again.
An hour long wait later we were on our train. As soon as we were out of the tunnel I looked out the window. I watched the grass sway in the breeze and all of the animals running around. I felt myself smiling like a small child who can be excited at just about anything. A few minutes later Zuko stuck his head out the window to watch too. The wind blew his hair around his face making him much more handsome than I thought before. I had to turn away from him as I tried to hide my blush that was slowly creeping along my cheekbones. It felt like it would take forever just to reach the city until finally Zuko touched my shoulder and inclined with his head in the direction ahead of us to see the inner wall. We went through the tunnel and then—no words could describe what I felt.
The city is huge to say the least. There were houses spread out everywhere and so many other buildings that I didn't even know what they all were. Iroh, who had decided to sit across from us, spoke up. "Welcome young ones to Ba Sing Se."
I turned back around to face him stunned at how much there was to take in just by looking at it. Zuko seemed to feel the same as me. He had turned around the same time I did to gawk at his Uncle. "You told me Ba Sing Se was huge, but I didn't think it would be this enormous" he growled.
"Everything will be fine my nephew" Iroh promised. We sat in silence until I noticed one of the buildings to be the biggest in the entire city. I got up and walked over to Iroh since his window gave a better view.
"Mushi," I started carefully. "What is that huge building behind you?"
Iroh turned to see where I was pointing. He smiled. "That, Miss Katara, is the Earth Kingdom Palace. Such a grand view isn't it?"
"It's beautiful" I breathed.
"Maybe someday you will get to see it up close."
"Uncle" Zuko warned. I think that's his way of warning him not to get my hopes up.
I smiled at Iroh before I turned back to Zuko. "Even if I did get that chance, I am just as happy to have been able to see it from afar."
Zuko seemed very interested in his feet at that point, but not until I noticed that his grimace turned into a small grin on the corner of his mouth. Maybe he was thinking of his home and how much he wished he could just see it again, even if it was only once.
Once the train stopped we got off and Iroh led us to a clothing shop saying that we all needed some new clothes. I couldn't argue with that. The dress Han had given me was becoming worse for wears as were Zuko's and Iroh's clothing. Iroh bought a new dark green robe with gold around the edges. Zuko, grumbling the whole time to himself, grabbed the first thing that fit him. His new outfit was close to what he had now only this time his pants and shirt were brown and his outer robe was a dark brown with what looked like black and gold mixed together on the sleeves. It was proving to become difficult for me to find something. I mean, plenty of the dresses were in my size but I was having trouble finding something I could feel comfortable in. Eventually I settled for a long sleeve dress that was just dark green; no colors were added to it. I kept the boots I have been wearing ever since Zuko found me. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Zuko eying my choice with disapproval. Strange.
After we finished paying Iroh began leading us in a different direction. "I got us some new jobs" he stated as we were walking. "We start today."
"Start where?" I asked warily. I didn't know if this would be some kind of job that would be impossible for me.
"Serving tea!" Iroh exclaimed gleefully.
"You would" Zuko growled. I slapped him on the arm. "Hey!"
"Don't be so mean to your Uncle and don't even try to argue with me!" Zuko opened his mouth but then scowled and clamped his mouth shut. "Good boy." Zuko's scowl only deepened. I had to laugh. As much as him scowling can be intimidating, given certain situations, it can also be quite funny to see.
We arrived at the tea shop. Inside it was very…quaint. The owner in charge got us all aprons, though Iroh had some trouble with his, and explained what each of us would be in charge of doing; Iroh would brew the tea while Zuko and I served. We started right away. I walked around so much that afternoon that I'm pretty sure I have blisters on my feet. Zuko tried his hardest to keep the grimace off his face while we worked; sometimes he would accidently slip up. Every so often though, he would cast his eyes my way as if to make sure I was still here. Something in his eyes seemed to hold a protective glint.
Briefly I had another one of those flashbacks. Only all I could see was the ground under me as I didn't seem to be able to move. Then I felt warmth on my back that I now recognized to be from Zuko; it felt like his hand, like he was trying to keep me from falling off of something. Then it ended and I was left so confused. If Zuko and I had met before…then has he always been protective? I shrugged it off for now so I could focus on the customers.
It seemed like the day would never end, but finally the afternoon turned into evening and we were done for the day. Leaving our aprons on the hook we left to find our apartment that we would be calling home. It wasn't that far away from the tea shop, luckily, but Iroh made a pit stop to one of the venders and returned with a vase full of flowers. "I just want to add some color to our new place" he reasoned when Zuko gave him one of his famous scowls. Finally we reached our apartment on the third floor.
It was small, with the usual Earth Kingdom colors located everywhere, but it was comfortable for three people. "Now unfortunately I do have some bad news" Iroh started after a full minute of silence. "There are only two bedrooms so, Zuko and Miss Katara, the two of you are going to have to share a room."
Zuko and I looked at each other at exactly the same time with the exact same reaction plastered on our face; jaws hung open, wide—eyed, and blushing like crazy. "What?!" we exclaimed.
"Well I figure you two would be better off so one of you doesn't have to deal with my snoring."
We looked at each other again uncertainly. "Okay" we both gave in.
"Very good. Now why don't you both get some sleep? We have all had a long day and could use the rest."
We nodded our heads and mumbled our 'good night' as we walked through the sliding double doors to our room. There was a closet and desk in different corners of the room. On the far left there was a door that leads to the bathroom and close to the right, near the window was only one bed.
"I'll just sleep on the floor" I stated looking down at my feet; still uncomfortable about the situation we were in.
"No. I'll sleep on the floor. You take the bed."
"Zuko-"
"Katara you're taking the bed. End of discussion."
My eyes started to droop at that moment. "Ok, fine." I was too tired to argue with him. I sat down on the bed about to take my boots off when I noticed Zuko, eyes drooping as well, start to undo the buttons of his outer robe. I was wide awake at that moment. "ZUKO!"
"What?" he mumbled groggily.
"Could you—um-"
"What?!"
"Could you change-" I pointed towards the bathroom hoping he would get the idea.
Zuko blinked slowly. "Oh-OH! Sorry Katara! Yeah I'll-" he cut himself off flustered and rushed into the bathroom. While he was in there I grabbed the mat that was rolled up in the corner with a spare blanket and laid it out for him in the middle of the floor.
By the time he came out I was already in bed with a blanket over me with my face turned towards the wall. I heard him walk toward the mat, but I didn't dare turn towards him. "Um Katara could you toss me a pillow?" Trying my best not to look at him I grabbed the spare pillow and threw it at him; but not before I caught a glimpse of him wearing a light brown night shirt and night pants. I heard the thud and an "oof!" as it made contact with Zuko. "I asked if you could toss me a pillow, not throw it and smash me in the face with it." I turned back around to see him rubbing his forehead.
"Sorry." I brought my knees up to my chest.
Zuko grinned at me. "It's ok. I will say though you have a pretty good throwing arm." I grinned and yawned shortly after. "Get some sleep Katara."
"You too." With that I laid back down facing Zuko as he made himself comfortable on the mat and we were both out by the time our heads hit our pillows.
-Zuko-
About a week and a half had gone by since the three of us came to Ba Sing Se. Seems like we have a normal routine these days; wake up, go to work in the tea shop, find time in between to eat, go back to the apartment, and go to bed. Honestly this was starting to get on my nerves. There's only so much I can take of working in a tea shop every day. Uncle was having a wonderful time; I mean he is surrounded by tea…yeesh. Katara and I work just fine together. We help each other out and Katara is more than used to my—as she puts it—mood swings so she will usually elbow me near the ribs when I'm starting to become 'too much of a grouch.' Amazing how I never get mad at her for doing so compared to how I used to act. Although this didn't fully stop my behavior from acting up.
When men around my age—give or take at least two years—come into the tea shop I have to stop myself from even doing the slightest bit of fire bending. I can't help myself! I see these men staring at Katara and every time she notices she gets that same fearful look she had in her eyes when that other fire bender came after her! So instead of fire bending I send them a few glares and that seems to get the message across to leave her alone. Sometimes it does the trick, other times—not so much. Meaning they just come back and continue to stare.
"Maybe I should ask Uncle if you can work in the back of the tea shop" I stated randomly as Katara and I walked together. The owner of the tea shop had given us both the afternoon off so Uncle asked us to go to the market to buy food since we were running low. We had just noticed another man—he was leaning casually against the wall of a small house across from the apartment building—staring at her, giving Katara that look again that I have begun to truly despise seeing on her gentle face. This time, with a scowl set firmly on my face, I wrapped my left arm around Katara's shoulders protectively.
"Don't worry Lee," she only said my fake name when we were in public, "you don't have to trouble your Uncle about that. Besides," she started even quieter, "I need to be able to learn to not be afraid of every man I see. I have to remind myself that he's not here."
"I'm so sorry Katara. I wish there was something I could do to help you. So you don't have to feel so afraid anymore."
Katara looked up at me kindly and smiled warmly. "You've already done so much for me; especially by being my friend through all of this. Thank you."
I smiled back and we left the conversation at that. We went to different parts of the market in the Lower Ring—Ba Sing Se is divided into three sections; lower, middle, and upper—until we had found enough for us to survive on and still have some money left over, though not a lot. Katara carried the basket as we took our time going back. My eyes came across a blacksmith's shop. I really do need my duo swords sharpened, I thought to myself. "Hey Katara do you mind if—Katara?"
Katara wasn't paying attention. Her eyes were fixated on something hanging from a different stall. I looked up to see what had captured Katara's attention. It looked like a water tribe outfit. It had the right color blue and white that reminded me of Katara's old dress. It was a short sleeved dress that came to about the knees, I think, and with it came navy blue pants. The outfit even came with a pair of dark brown boots. Katara eyes briefly went to her own outfit that she was wearing now and to the boots she had been wearing since I found her. Her boots were so worn out that they looked like they would fall apart at any minute. She really likes this outfit, it was written all over her face. "Do you want it?"
Katara brought her attention back to me. "I—I couldn't."
Ignoring that I asked the lady, a woman who looked to be in about her sixties with her gray hair up in a loose bun, "Excuse me? How much is that outfit?"
"Well, normally it would run for about fifteen silver pieces, but you seem like a nice young man so I am willing to lower the price to about thirty copper pieces" she smiled.
I looked back at Katara. She was shaking her head no. "I can't ask you to get that for me Lee. Not to mention, I don't know if-" her only response was to start playing with her wrists where the marks from the rope burns were still ingrained, though no longer quite as pronounced, on her skin. I knew what she's trying to say. She doesn't know if she's comfortable in her own skin. Just like me most of the time. "Thank you Miss, but no thank you. We should get going Lee. Your Uncle will be worried." With that she started to walk away to stand over to the side to wait for me.
I apologized quietly and was about to leave when the woman whispered. "I know you want to get her something nice just by the way you look at her. You are a very considerate young man. So, if you would like, I can hold it until tomorrow at three in the afternoon."
I was about to decline when something caught my eye. Something that might help Katara be more comfortable with herself if I were to get her the outfit. So instead I smiled and nodded my head. Then pointing to the other object I asked, "Could you hold on to these as well?" The lady smiled warmly and nodded her head. After bowing to her quickly I went back to Katara as we headed back to the apartment. Ok, Uncle I hope you can do a favor for me, I thought to myself nervously as Katara and I walked in silence the rest of the way.