A/N: I googled "how to play Pai Sho" for this chapter. I got a very nice comprehensive set of rules from a site called Skud Pai Sho (and its url is exactly that, just without the capitalization and spaces). I don't want to force people to do research just to understand a story, so to sum it up: there are 3 kinds of tiles: basic flower tiles, accent tiles, and special flower tiles. The White Lotus and the Orchid are the two kinds of special flower tiles, and they have unique abilities and powers. Neither kind can be captured by an ordinary tile: only by each other. That's why they are special. For the purposes of this story, I am replacing the Orchid with the Red Lotus. All abilities and uses are preserved; I just want to have it be a different flower. No you don't get to know why.

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Zuko saw what Uncle was talking about in the morning. The crew looked at the portside town with the eyes of starving people presented with a banquet. There was every chance they wouldn't come back. If the entire crew deserted, he wouldn't be able to pilot the ship back to the Fire Nation by himself. This was a real problem.

Thankfully, the waves had completely subsided overnight. Aside from the hard knock at 3 in the morning, nothing had happened. There were hardly any waves now. The ship made port easily, as if nothing had ever happened. Maybe this would calm the men and keep them from deserting.

"I see what you mean, Uncle," he whispered as the first of the crew descended faster than their legs could take them. "This is a problem."

Iroh peered over the side, letting out a relieved breath when the fallen crew resurfaced above the water and swam to shore. "Yes, it is."

Zuko leaned against the railing. "Maybe I should talk to them more. All I ever do is give orders. You're the one who knows what the crew thinks and feels. What do they think, Uncle?"

Iroh's face brightened. "If a powerful spirit was trying to free the Avatar, why would it turn peaceful just because we made port? The calm waters should reassure them greatly."

Zuko's mouth fell open. That was true. Why would it? He wasn't going to give up the Avatar while he was here, so why was it letting him rest?

In a flash, Zuko answered his own question. The flash in question was a fiery one. You don't want me to go home! As long as he was stopped here, not moving towards the Fire Nation, the water spirit couldn't care less whether or not he had the Avatar. The Avatar had nothing to do with it.

"It's not trying to free the Avatar," he said. It doesn't like the Avatar, it just hates me! His hands tightened into fists. His inner fire grew, warming him above a comfortable temperature. He should probably go to shore himself before the boilers inside the ship exploded.

Iroh nodded. "That's the natural thing to think," he said. "But what is it trying to do…?"

Zuko said nothing. The water spirit was nobody's problem but his. "We should join them, Uncle. Take a break." Iroh raised an eyebrow at this. Usually Zuko did not go ashore with the crew. But he said nothing, and accompanied his nephew off the boat, whistling.

"What first, Nephew?" he asked. "There are some rare teas I would like to look for. Nobody in the crew can ever seem to understand what I mean when I tell them what to find."

Zuko just wanted to get away from spirits for a while. Somewhere dry, with no fires. "Sure, Uncle. Shopping sounds fine."

"Are you feeling alright, Nephew?"

"No." Zuko gestured back towards the boat. "Would you be?"

Iroh's eyes widened. "Oh… Excuse me, Nephew. It's near breakfast time. I'm afraid I have to go back and feed the children. Keep an eye out for tea!" He paused and looked back with a light, friendly glare. "And a White Lotus tile to replace the one you threw away." He smiled before departing.

Zuko backed up against a tree and thumped the back of his head against its trunk three times. Gah! On shore, without Uncle, while his way home was being held hostage. Great. Wonderful. He stood up, restored his dignified manner, and went in search of tea.

The port town was uncommonly large, being not located on an island and having plenty of wood to build with. Zuko could see new buildings rising up into the hills. The port side of it was only a small part; the rest of the town probably made its money on other business.

But Zuko had no wish to check out the rest of the town. They weren't staying. They had to avoid Zhao. He looked around himself at the part of the town geared toward servicing sailors either stocking up or low on stock from sailing the straits.

The road wasn't paved, but it was packed down enough that it might as well have been. The trees that grew on the side of the road were tough and sturdy, their bark wrinkled with age and very thick-looking. Between the trees, low wooden buildings with signs outside stood in the bare sun. The signs here, not far from the docks, hung above baskets of packaged food and other supplies for a long voyage. The businesses where sailors could enjoy themselves were probably further inland, explaining the lack of visible or audible crew members.

The street was very silent. Zuko could see people in the shops paying attention to him if he looked, but there were no raucous calls. No vendors doing their best to shout over each other for business. No children playing in the street. Even animals, feral or pet, were gone. Just a light sea breeze rustling in the old trees. The Fire Nation was in town; time to hold your breath and stop having fun.

Zuko looked away and resumed walking, scanning the signs for a tea shop. The Avatar's just used to all the attention he gets, that's all. But the silence didn't sit well with Zuko either. It's just because my crew are mostly soldiers.

He found a shop selling dried tea leaves. Uncle preferred fresh, but he'd gotten used to dried tea since fresh leaves weren't easy to get on a ship. Zuko stepped up to the stall.

The market woman quickly hid her unease and put on her customer face. "Hello! Madam Hotbrew's Freshest Tea, guaranteed to warm your bones on the coldest night!"

"What teas in your shop are hardest to find?" Zuko asked.

The woman was not nearly as successful at hiding the slump of her shoulders, or the sudden steady breaths she was taking to reassure herself. Zuko wanted to yell, What kind of a monster do you think I am? I wouldn't burn a random shopkeep just for fun! But that would probably convince her of the opposite. She turned away, promising to locate some examples, but he could still see the tension in her, just from looking at him. As if he was a monster. As if his existence alone was bad news.

If the spirits had been anywhere nearby, perhaps she would have been right.

Zuko crossed his arms and tried to think of the positive side, as his uncle advised him to do, but he couldn't find one. His ship was being held hostage. The fire spirit was not happy, either when they were going home or when they weren't (Spirits! They never make any sense!). Zhao was going to catch up any minute. With two days wasted, and another spent in port, Zuko would need several miracles to make it home without trouble, when before he had enjoyed a nice lead.

About the only good thing Zuko could think of was that the Avatar and his friends had been bound completely, so no trouble was coming from them. But that was more like the lack of a bad thing than a genuinely good thing.

He had heard his uncle talk about teas he missed the taste of, so he knew that none of the selections she brought were anything like what his uncle wanted. "Not quite. Thank you for looking." He tried not to snap at her for looking so surprised after he thanked her. Gah! Really? Do I look like a jerk? Have I acted like one? No! The people here could really use some lessons on manners.

He went in search of a White Lotus tile for Uncle's Pai Sho game next. Surprisingly, he found a place that sold some Pai Sho tiles. The proprietor was an old man who stood slumping forward over a cane. He adjusted his conical hat to get a better look at Zuko's face. Zuko took a better look at his in return. Either the old man was less paranoid, or he was better at faking ease. He didn't look at all troubled by a firebender walking up to his store. A knot inside eased. Finally, someone normal.

"I'm looking for a replacement White Lotus tile," he said to the old man.

The old man grinned and hobbled off to the side. "I've got a fine selection of tiles," he said when he came back. He placed two tiles on the counter between them. "I've got the White Lotus and the Red Lotus. All the accent tiles. Most of the basic flowers, too." The old man scratched his chin with an embarrassed chuckle. "I need to work on my basics."

"White Lotus, please."

"Huh. Never would've pegged ya as the type," the old man said. He then requested money.

Zuko paid and took the tile. "Thank you." What's going to happen now? Is he going to react like that woman did?

The old man made a face of mild puzzlement, but only for a second or two before laughing. "You're welcome!" He then hobbled off into the back, presumably to get a replacement White Lotus tile out for selling. He didn't even look at Zuko after turning away.

Zuko stuffed the tile into a pocket. Finally. A nice, normal exchange, where he didn't expect me to kill him the whole time and he wasn't very surprised by basic manners. Zuko felt physically less tense after that exchange. It was pleasant. And what did he mean when he said I don't look the type? I didn't know there was a "White Lotus type." With nothing else to do, he went back to the main road and sat under one of the old trees, waiting for Iroh to come back from serving breakfast.

It felt like eons were passing. What is taking him so long? Zuko looked up more and more often. Maybe he should go back. Uncle could take his sweet time about some things, but it couldn't really take this long to serve food to 3 captives. Could it? Had any of the crew stayed behind to actually prepare anything? With morale as low as it was, there was a real chance they hadn't. Zuko slumped. His uncle could prepare food quite easily, but it would take some time and he'd probably insist on making tea while he did so.

A rock landed near his foot. Zuko glared in the direction it had come from. "Ah!" squeaked the dark shape hiding behind a building. Was it a kid?

Zuko blinked and relaxed. "Hey, don't throw rocks at people. As long as you don't do that, it's fine. I won't -" But the kid had scampered away. What was wrong with the people around here?

He reached forward and picked up the rock. It was hard, and sharp, with lots of edges and corners. The kind of rock that could really hurt someone. The kind of rock that you would pick up if you really meant to hurt someone, only to lose your nerve at the last second.

Zuko stared at the rock, turning it over, unwilling to think about what that meant for a long time.

"Ah, Nephew," Iroh said as he walked up. "I thought you'd be further into town by now."

Zuko looked up. "I found a tea shop. She didn't have any of the teas I've heard you talk about so often. I found a replacement tile easily. I've been waiting for you since."

Iroh sat beside him gently. "And what have you been doing for all that time, Nephew?"

Zuko gave him the rock. "A kid tried to throw that at me, but it fell short. He ran away when I glared."

"A rock like this can do real damage," Iroh murmured.

"That's what I thought, too." Zuko looked around. "What is their problem? The tea lady looked like she thought I was going to burn her for fun. I don't look like the sort of person who would burn an innocent shopkeeper, do I?"

"You do not," Iroh reassured him. "It is probably because you're Fire Nation."

"Why does everyone here hate me for no good reason? I haven't done anything!" You'd think they would be able to recognize that not all Fire Nation people are the same. They're not seeing me at all, just some children's story version of a villain.

"Firebenders can be unpredictable," Iroh said carefully. "Meet the wrong one… A person can be scarred for life."

Zuko twitched. "Whatever!" He stood up. "Any other ideas, Uncle?"

Iroh suggested heading further into town to see what kind of fun was available, so off they went. Zuko doubted he would enjoy any of it, but it was somewhere to go.

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They met quite a lot of the crew, and had a great deal of fun, surprisingly enough. The zoo was nice, if only because the animals there didn't flee from Zuko as he approached. A number of babies actually waddled up to him. He had no idea how long he spent there, feeding eggs to snakebird chicks and scratching the ears of kangaroohares.

Iroh insisted they at least enter the tavern. Zuko relented when he was reminded that drunk people talk a lot, so he would get a better idea of what the crew was thinking there. They found much of the crew sitting in circles with Earth Kingdom sailors, swapping stories about the worst seas they had ever faced. Some of the other ones came loaded with tales of being able to see the ocean directly beneath them as the boat tilted, inches away from capsizing. Zuko's crew could hardly compare; the sturdy Fire Nation ship was much better at handling rough seas. They had never come as close to certain death as the others. Zuko found a reason to smile. Iroh grinned.

Iroh timed their visit to the zoo to coincide with lunchtime, so as to spare his nephew the torturous waiting from before. Zuko appreciated that. It helped him almost forget the morning. As they returned to the boat late that afternoon, Zuko admitted, "This was nice."

"I hoped so!" Iroh laughed, a full belly laugh. "Ah, it's good to have a restful day!"

Zuko smirked. "Too bad there weren't any springs. I know how much you insist on visiting hot springs."

"Even so, this day was no less for that," Iroh said. "The lack of hot springs is not a bad thing. Lack of good things is not, itself, a bad thing. That's the secret to happiness, Nephew."

Zuko paused to look up at the boat. His smile dropped. "What about the lack of a bad thing, Uncle? Is the lack of a bad thing enough to be good?"

They were halfway up the ramp before Iroh answered. "Sadly, no. Lack of sadness is not happiness. There is no substitute for a good laugh, I'm afraid."

Zuko pulled him off the deck and into the ship's tower before replying. "If that's true, then the fun we had in town is the only good thing about this. I was trying to count 'not having trouble from the Avatar and his friends' as another good thing, but it didn't feel right."

"The men feel better, spirits are higher, and the water is calm." Iroh took a deep breath, letting it out in a deep and happy sigh. "That's three!"

"How long will they last…" Zuko muttered.

Iroh put a hand on his shoulder. "That's not the point, Nephew. Enjoy them while they are here. What comes next can be worried about when it comes."