The days began to bleed together. Lu Ten spent his days working in the noodle shop, which was quickly morphing into a noodle/tea shop. By day he pretended to be Lee, a refugee whom Ayeshi's family had taken in. Word had spread about the new tea being sold in the shop and people were flocking to try it. Miyo was even a little kinder to him now that he was key to her economic success. Ayeshi had told him privately that if they became popular enough, one day they might be able to move to the upper ring. Lu Ten still didn't understand how the rings in Ba Sing Se worked, nor how their endless government bureaucracy functioned. At home in the Fire Nation, if the fire lord wanted something done it would be carried out immediately.
By nights he was Lu Ten the Fire Nation prince again, sitting on the cot in the basement trying to make sense of his situation. He missed home, even more than he had during the war. At least in the army he'd been around Fire Nation people, had had familiar food and games and stories told around campfires. Here in the noodle shop the stories set an uncomfortable itch between his shoulders, for they were always about aggression by the Fire Nation, aggression that destroyed villages and families. He didn't know what to believe, since these people inside the city had seen very little of the real war. The war was kept hush-hush here, as if they were always afraid of someone overhearing.
The people of the Earth Kingdom were strange, that was for sure. There was a roughness to those in the city, and a beaten-down quality about many. Still, they smiled as they gathered to drink tea and play Pai Sho. Lu Ten would sometimes listen to their conversations while they played, glad that Pai Sho seemed to be a universally enjoyed game. Sometimes it was petty gossip, sometimes it was about happenings within the city, and sometimes it was about the war. And one day it was bad news.
"We've beaten them back!" A large man crowed. "The Fire Nation's leaving the city. They're leaving us alone!"
"What's happened?" Someone else asked.
"General Iroh's given up!" The man said. "He just up and left after the last assault on his army! They don't turn out strong soldiers in the Fire Nation, do they?" They all laughed and Lu Ten clutched the handle of a tea pot to hide that his hands shook with rage. His father wasn't weak. "What happened?" Lu Ten asked, fighting to keep his voice light and casual.
"General Iroh's gone soft." another man said. "Rumor has it his son was killed in battle. He couldn't take it anymore."
Lu Ten nodded and went back to the tea pots, trying not to show how angry he was. His father's life's work, gone just like that? Because of him? "Can I step out for a moment?" He whispered to Ayeshi.
"Why? Are you sad, fire bender?"
"This siege was our life's mission. I had friends who died for this."
Ayeshi snorted. "You can go out back and cry if you want. I'll tell Mom you're using the water closet."
Lu Ten grabbed his makeshift crutch and limped out to the alley behind the noodle shop, breathing hard. His father had abandoned the siege of Ba Sing Se for him. The Fire Nation's military campaign up in smoke over just one supposed death. He felt a wave of frustration at his father abandoning their siege. Still, a powerful wave of love washed over him too. His father had abandoned the campaign for him. "I have to go home." Lu Ten whispered. "Dad needs me. The Fire Nation needs me." It would only be a few more weeks until his leg was healed and he could walk and run again. It would be a simple matter of sneaking out of Ba Sing Se, then trekking back across the Earth Kingdom until he found an army unit. Most of the Fire Nation army knew who he was.
A small sound echoed behind him. Lu Ten turned and saw Ayeshi's middle brother Wei empty a pot of waste water into the alleyway. "Ayeshi told me you were out here crying."
"The siege of Ba Sing Se was our most important work."
Wei shrugged dismissively. "It doesn't change things. We're still here, it's just now we won't have to clean up bodies anymore. I'm still gonna have to join the army in two years."
"Two years? How old are you now?"
"Fourteen. They make people join up at sixteen."
Lu Ten nodded. "I had to join last year, when I was seventeen. I guess that's something we have in common."
Wei shook his head. "I'll join the army to protect my country, like my father before me. You joined the army to destroy someone else's country. Probably like your family did before you."
"I fight for my country too. We fight to bring honor and glory to the Fire Nation, and to benefit the whole world." Lu Ten knew those words sounded empty as he said them. Honor and glory for the Fire Nation didn't matter here.
"You haven't benefitted anyone." Wei snapped. "Keep crying, fire bender." He turned and walked back into the shop.
No sooner had Wei gone back inside then Ayeshi came out. "Lee, if you're finished crying about the siege can you come back inside? Customers want tea."
Lu Ten took his crutch and followed Ayeshi inside.
"And try to look happy. This is a happy day for us."
"Don't worry, Lu Ten muttered. "I'll be out of your hair soon enough. Once my leg heals."
Ayeshi's face very briefly slid into a sad expression, but she rearranged her features to neutral. "Of course."
Did she actually mind that he was leaving? Lu Ten frowned as he went back to the tea. He knew he would mind when he had to leave her. Everything about having to hide in Ba Sing Se was awful except for, well, her. She was the only person who didn't hate him because he was a fire bender.
That night, Lu Ten took stock of his meager possessions. He had his army uniform, his sword, a Pai Sho tile his father had given him before battle, and the green and beige outfit Ayeshi's family had given him to blend in in the city. He flipped the Pai Sho tile, a white lotus, between his fingers. It would be simple enough to pack and leave, to get out of this city and get back to own his own countrymen. The only thing he would lose would be her. Lu Ten sighed, and for the first time since coming to Ba Sing Se opened his hands and let fire dance across his palms.