Chapter 11: What Separates Us

Any Ba Sing Se citizen is required to quarter a member of the Earth King's Military or Dai Li agent if asked to do so. Failure to do so will result in the immediate seizure of that individual's property.

-Earth King Edict #20

Day 21 of the Siege of Ba Sing Se…

Lee landed on top of his bed with a dull thud, not even bothering to remove his muddy shoes and newly torn pants. It was just after midnight when he arrived back home, eternally grateful that his father had not stayed up waiting for him. Jin must have covered for me, he thought with a grateful smile.

Since that day they had seen the Fire Nation, his deliveries had become a near daily occurrence. The smoking man (Lee kept promising to learn his name next time) passed along that his boss, Diahu was very impressed with him and as such was giving him more and more difficult assignments.

Tonight's assignment saw him going to the inner wall separating the Lower and Middle Ring, a task that was made much harder with the increased Dai Li patrols. He had been a block away from home when he nearly stumbled into one of those patrols. A quick dive into a nearby ostrich horse stable saved him, although it was also the cause of his pants tearing.

Finally, safely back home, Lee reached a hand under his mattress where the money he had made was safely tucked away. The fact that his father hadn't yet confronted him about his lack of time spent at home was a miracle, but Lee knew with just a bit more money and any sort of hurt feelings would be forgotten very quickly.

After all, how many other kids can help pay their parent's rent?

The thought stayed with him as he drifted to sleep.

Day 22 of the Siege of Ba Sing Se…

"You stink."

Lee frowned as Jin wrinkled her nose just as he stepped outside to greet her for their walk to school. "Gee… thanks." He grumbled in reply before brushing past her. After a few steps, he noticed she hadn't fallen in and stopped to look at her. "Where is your book bag? Did you forget it at home?"

Jin shook her head once. "Didn't you see the announcement yesterday?" After a momentary look of confusion on his face, Jin just rolled her eyes. "Of course not, you were off doing Spirits know what for that gang of yours."

"Jin…" He warned in a low tone, his involvement with the gang was becomingly an increasingly volatile topic for them to discuss. "It isn't that bad; I haven't even gotten hurt doing it."

Her eyes travelled up and down, taking in his disheveled state as she silently implied just how little she believed his words. "Forget all that for now, school is cancelled. Now come on."

She spun quickly on her heels, forcing Lee into a slight jog to catch up. "Why was it cancelled?"

"New Earth King Edict, apparently the army is experiencing such a boom of new recruits that they are temporarily using public buildings such as schools as barracks. What a load of huo-shi." Jin dodged out of the way as a group of soldiers came rushing around the street corner. "Everyone knows that the Fire Nation is here, they should just come out and say it."

"Be careful with that talk." Lee half whispered as they pushed their way through the busy marketplace.

As if summoned by fate, the two turned the corner to find the local fire flakes vendor being harassed by a couple of earthbender soldiers. The vendor was as Earth Kingdom as they came, his appreciation for the spicy snack was developed from a year spent travelling through the colonies. He played cards with Jin's father every week and always brought her a slightly less spicy version of his treats.

This harassment was practically legal now, with a new Earth King Edict that came in last week that encouraged citizens to "ensure the safety of the city and its occupants by alerting authorities of any suspicious individuals." The vagueness of the message had brought the racists out of the woodwork, emboldened that they were now doing their "civic duty."

Jin had marched halfway to the stall when Lee's firm grip on her wrist tugged her backwards. "What?" She practically yelled as he dragged her into an alley.

"We shouldn't be getting involved in that." He pleaded with her as she continued to wrestle her wrist free. "They'll stop bugging him once they find nothing; we'd just be making more trouble for him and us."

Jin stomped her foot down and glared at him. Lee had sensed she'd been itching for a fight all morning, and he gulped as he realized he'd just become her target. "Oh, so now you care about staying out of trouble? What happened to big, bad Mr. Ends Justify the Means?"

She was trying to goad him, and he knew it, but Lee was never exactly known for keeping his cool. "That's completely different and you know it!"

"Real flawless logic there, Lee." She bit back, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Why are you even covering for me if this is how you really feel about my job?"

"It isn't a job, Lee, you're one step away from being a full-blown criminal. And I do it because your dad doesn't deserve to go through all that worry while you're out there risking your life." Jin sniffled slightly and she turned her head away from him as she rubbed at her eye. "He would probably stay up all night worried sick about you, not knowing whether you were ok or not and having to wait until the next morning to find out."

Lee felt a tremendous weight grow in his stomach, suddenly very aware that his father may not be the only one worried about his well-being. It was a thought that hadn't even occurred to him until this very moment. He sat there stunned for a few moments, struggling to formulate any sort of response, his mouth agape like some drooling hog monkey.

Just as his mind managed to grasp at the beginnings of a thought, the commotion of the soldiers and the vendor died down and they both peeked around the corner to have a look. The vendor was still there, unharmed but forced to pick up the spilled bags of fire flakes on the ground.

"Come on, let's go." Jin grumbled out before stepping back into the street.

Lee rubbed at the back of his neck. "Uh… where exactly are we going?"

"I already told you: you stink. You're taking a bath at my place before we do anything else."

Jin leaned against the wooden door of the bathroom, trying her best not to giggle after Lee shrieked over the cold water of the bath. She was still mad at him after all and wasn't going to show weakness that easily.

The second they had gotten into her house, Jin had shoved him into the bathroom with a change of her brother's old clothes. They hadn't said more than a few words to each other since their argument at the marketplace.

"Hey, Jin." Lee spoke after a few minutes of soaking in the tub. "Are you there?"

She allowed herself a small smile before responding. "Yeah, I'm here."

"I- thanks for letting me clean up here." He said rather lamely.

"Uh-huh."

"And, um- Jin, I'm sorry if I worried you- I mean my father with what I've been doing." Lee did his best to spare her, but it was having the opposite effect as Jin bit her lip to keep herself from crying. "It's just that, I didn't want to scare him, but I guess that just had the opposite effect."

Jin rubbed her eyes with the back of her sleeve and swallowed a heavy breath. "Thanks Lee, I'm sorry I was kinda all over you today." Her voice vibrated against the door separating them, further threatening to push her over the edge.

"That's okay. How about I check in with you before any delivery? And after? That way if any job seems too scary, you won't- you can keep my dad from worrying."

Her cheeks grew warm with a blush, she was thrilled he was still keeping up the charade. "That sounds like a great idea."

The only thing heard for the next few minutes was the sloshing of the bath water, they both fell into the comfort of companionship and just let their minds wander.

"It isn't just you that I'm upset about." Jin broke the spell as she twirled a lock of hair around her finger. "My brother has been on base for over a month now and I haven't gotten a chance to speak to him."

"Why don't you write him?" Lee asked over the noise of the bath being drained.

Jin held in a groan as she remembered the last time she had a conversation with her brother that lasted more than a few words, and just how disastrously that had ended. "Letters take forever to get to the base." She lied easily, not prepared to dive into the pitfall that was her own brother's apparent racism.

"Oh." Lee replied awkwardly.

"Yeah, well the only reason it matters is because my birthday is next month, and he promised to take me to the Middle Ring. They have a huge festival then celebrating the Lady of the Crystals."

"My birthday is next week." Lee responded in a distant tone as if he had just remembered that very fact.

Jin's eyes widened and she knocked on the wooden door with annoyance. "Lee! Why didn't you say something?"

She could practically hear the lazy shrug of his shoulders before he spoke. "I never really liked celebrating my birthday much, plus I didn't want to put pressure on my father to get me a gift this year."

"Oh."

Lee coughed and attempted to steer the conversation back to her own birthday, but Jin was on another world as she thought up how to give Lee the perfect birthday that he deserved.

AN: For Jin's curse word early in the chapter:

Huo-shi = Adapted from Chinese words for fire and shit