Author's Note: I had this idea a while ago, and now I'm finally bringing it to paper. I think, it is mainly self-explanatory as the story progresses, if any questions pop up though, please ask. For now, we start somewhere in Book 2 as Iroh and Zuko are already in Ba Sing Se. Enjoy!
Pao's Tea Shop, 100 AC
The tea shop was buzzing with hordes of happy customers today. Annoyed, Zuko rolled his eyes as he went into the back of the shop where his uncle prepared another tray full of different brews for him. Their whole being in this prison of a city annoyed him, let alone the persistent happy mood that his uncle seemed to share with everyone outside. Said uncle looked at him knowingly, smiling as he handed him the tray, before gesturing towards the customer area, "You should smile more, Zuko. With such a weather as today, people need something to light up their mood.", he said as he followed his nephew out into the shop.
Zuko sighed, the weather was indeed terrible today. It was raining since the day began, and not just lightly, but heavily. He had only caught a small glimpse of the sun through the dark clouds. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks and his uncle almost bumped into him. The tea shop that was filled with people and all talking loudly a moment ago was now completely silent. The people were still there, but they were all silently staring at something.
Perplexedly Zuko stared in the same direction. It seemed like an apparition, a goddess suddenly appeared between all the slightly mud-tinged people of the lower ring. She sat on a small table at the one end of the room, a servant standing next to her. The girl was maybe his age, she had one of the palest skin colors he had ever seen, almost porcelain-like, with only her lips a deep red. Her hair was black and straight, hanging down loosely to her shoulders. It was parted in the middle and two shorter bangs hung into her face, partly covering her pale green eyes. She wore a teal-green dress with a slight pattern on it that waved in and out of sight when her dress moved, as it was seemingly made of some kind of fabric that reflected a little bit more light than usual, maybe it was silk.
Calmly she sat there, not moving an inch, her hands folded on the table in front of her over a pale green handkerchief. He noticed that she wore two rings on each hand, he had seen some of these on Earth Kingdom women of higher status. Starting from the middle of the finger, they covered the rest, forming a long, golden, sharp fingernail sometimes adorned with smaller jewels and complicated patterns. She didn't look around, seemingly undisturbed by the sudden attention or her own unfitness to the place, she just smiled at no one in particular, looked at no one in particular.
Her servant on the other hand seemed to be a little older. Her frown was a visible sign of her contempt of even being where she was as she stood next to her mistress.
Suddenly, Zuko jumped as his uncle took the tray from him and nudged him with his elbow. He whispered, "What are you doing standing around? Go and take her order, nephew. I'll take care of these."
The banished prince shot his uncle a glare as his cheeks turned red, but Iroh just went in between the tables with a knowing grin, winking at him. Defeated he sighed and walked over to the small table as slowly the buzzing noise returned. "Uhm, Hi, I'm Lee. What can I get you?"
The girl's smile widened, but she didn't turn to him. The servant did, her frown deepening, "People like you should know their place better! How dare you approach her Highness informal like that?", she scolded him, then she turned to her mistress, "Highness, I told you, it was a bad idea to come. We should get back to the upper ring."
She was silenced by a sudden hand with two golden, artificial fingernails on her sleeve, "Zhenzhu", the girl said calmly, her voice soft as a feather, but with a level of determination, "It's okay if you don't want to stay. Go back home then and do whatever work you have left. I'll be fine. Lee will take good care of me, right, Lee?"
Surprised, Zuko just stuttered, "Uh, uhm, sure."
The servant looked at him doubtfully and untrusting. Then she knelt before her mistress, "Highness, please consider your situation. If I leave you here, how will you find your way back home? How will you …"
She was interrupted by the green clothed girl, "No, Zhenzhu. I appreciate your concern, but my decision still stands. I will spend the rest of the day here. Lee can accompany me home when his shift is over."
"Uh, I have to work until the shop closes. That will be fairly late…", Zuko muttered. How had he ended up in this situation so suddenly?
"That's perfect!", the girl clapped her hands together, obviously enjoying herself, "I don't have any appointment left for today anyway, so why not spend the rest of the day here? It will be way more interesting this way. Now, Zhenzhu, give me the money and go. Hush, hush.", she waved with her hand in a playfully dismissive gesture.
The servant eyed Zuko with even more contempt than before, then she took a small purse out of her vest and laid it on the table, so close to her mistress' hands that it must've touched them, all without her stern gaze wandering away from Zuko's nervous form. The older woman sighed and turned to leave, but suddenly grabbed his sleeve tightly, "You better really take good care of her. If I hear anything about you taking advantage of her, in which form whatsoever, if you harm her in any way, I will find you and see to your punishment. If she's not back by tomorrow morning, I'll come here first to look for her.", then she let go and left the tea shop.
The girl smiled, her expression rather apologetic, but she didn't turn her head towards him, "I'm sorry about Zhenzhu. She has a good heart, and I don't know what I'd do without her, but she sure can get strict and overprotective sometimes."
"Well, if it was my task to protect you, I'd be nervous in this part of the city too.", Zuko chuckled, before asking himself what he was thinking in his mind.
To his relieve, the girl laughed, "It sort of is your task now, Lee. By the way, I'm still waiting to place my order. So, what can you recommend? I heard so much about this place and how good the tea is, I just had to come. But no one told me what tea I should try."
Zuko blinked twice, trying to think of what she could like. Then he said, "Uhm, my uncle makes a really good jasmine tea, so maybe you'd like that?"
The girl's head tilted slightly, "So, your uncle is the famous Mushi? If it's possible, I'd like to have a word with him before we go tonight."
The banished prince gulped, ah, yes, he kind of promised to walk her home. Great. Just great. Remembering that he had to say something he stammered, "I'm sure he'll speak to you.", earning himself a melodic laughter as he went into the back of the shop to get her some tea.
In there he found his uncle waiting for him with a wide grin, already preparing a pot of jasmine tea. "And? How did it go?", the old man asked.
"What do you mean? As you obviously already know, she gets a pot of jasmine.", Zuko crossed his arms, embarrassed by his uncle's implications. After a moment of silence, he sighed, "Okay, she's beautiful, but somewhat odd. Fascinatingly odd, but still."
Iroh smiled as he put the teapot on a tray and two cups next to it, "Then why don't you take the rest of the day off and accompany her? I can manage the shop on my own."
Zuko raised an eyebrow, a few days ago he had already set him up with another girl, now this? What was his uncle's goal here? Nevertheless, he took the tray and went back into the shop. "By the way, she wants to talk to you before she leaves.", he remembered, standing in the doorway. Without waiting for an answer, he continued on his way.
The girl still sat where he left her, as if she was actually a statue, chiseled out of fine stone, looking like a human, but still unalive. A smile spread on her red lips as he came closer, but she didn't turn her head towards him. Zuko set down the tray on the table and began to speak awkwardly, "Uhm, my uncle suggested that I'd take the rest of the day off and join you, since you're now all alone sitting here, and…", he trailed off.
He heard her chuckle shortly, then a soft, "You don't need to if it makes you uncomfortable."
Zuko felt his cheeks burning, he stuttered, "No, no, it's not…", he stopped himself, sighed and hastily sat down across the table. Her smile widened, but she still confused him, since she seemed to stare in front of her still and not look at him. He struggled to find a way to start some kind of conversation, so he filled their cups first. "So, uhm, earlier your servant lectured me about not addressing you correctly, would you tell me how I should?"
The girl chuckled again, her expression seemed rather curious as she put a hand under her chin for a moment, "Well, Zhenzu addresses me as 'Your Highness', which is not wrong, but I guess I'm fine with whatever I'm called, as long as I know that I'm meant. I went by many names and titles in my life. By the way, my name is Lin. Lin Beifong."
A pause followed. Zuko was unsure if the name should tell him something. Was that some kind of famous family? He didn't have a clue. Trying to play over his confusion, he said, "You went by many names and titles? That sounds interesting. But Lin is your true name?"
"The one my father gave to me when I was born, yes.", she said simply.
"Are you from Ba Sing Se?", he attempted some more small talk.
"No. My hometown is Gaoling. It is rather in the south of this Kingdom. I used to live in Omashu for some time and came here about a year ago. What about you? You don't seem to be a local as well.", Gaoling didn't resonate with him, but he had heard of Omashu, although he had never been there. Wasn't there a crazy king until it was captured and renamed?
Her question though made him somewhat nervous. "Ah, my uncle and I were refugees since our village got destroyed. We searched for a new life in this city.", she nodded thoughtfully, her smile had vanished, her expression became unreadable. "I guess, you live in the upper ring?", he added.
Lin raised her eyebrows, amused, "Hm, having a servant accompany you really gives that away, doesn't it?", both laughed, "People often think the closer you live to the palace, the easier your life gets. And a part of that is true, it is a really nice place. But it also has its downsides, it's awfully boring on most days, no one's chatting on the streets and even if they are, they're just scheming. It is a lonely place."
"So, you decided to spend your day in a lower ring tea shop and escape that boringness? I mean, your servant was right, this is not necessarily a safe place.", Zuko said, again scolding himself in his mind to think first and talk then.
She didn't seem to be offended though, "I guess, you could say so. But I assure you, even if I maybe don't look like it, I can protect myself."
"But your servant still wants somebody to walk you home?", he said with a grin, doubting that this noble girl could do any martial arts whatsoever.
"Oh, that's just because of my disability. She's afraid I'd walk in the wrong direction.", Lin said, nonchalantly playing over his smug comment as if it was nothing.
Zuko was surprised. He hadn't noticed that she had a disability. What was it? Was her dress hiding a missing foot or something? "I'm sorry, I didn't notice you have a disability."
She laughed, "Many people don't notice it quickly. Over the years, I've become good at overplaying it, seem like I have nothing. But at times, it painfully reminds you of your inabilities. For example, didn't you notice that I didn't even attempt to look at the menu, but instead asked you for recommendation earlier?", surprised, Zuko blinked. He had taken that for some rich people thing and not thought about it. She continued, "That's because I couldn't read it anyway, since I'm blind."
That stunned Zuko for a few moments. Suddenly he understood the servant's worries. How naïve was she to send her servant away in this environment? Noticing the awkward silence, he stuttered, "I'm sorry, I didn't think…"
Lin chuckled lightly, noticing how uncomfortable he was. Adding to that feeling, she laid one of her hands on top of his. Zuko almost jumped when she did that. He wanted to pull back, but then didn't. Her fingers were cool and light, but they had a certain firmness towards them. "You don't need to be sorry. It's not your fault. I guess you could say it runs in the family. We've always had a higher percentage of blind people in our family tree. My little sister also shares this… condition."
"Your parents will surely be very worried about you when Zhenzu comes home without you.", Zuko assumed.
This prompted a loud laugh from Lin. Then she shook her head, "No, no they won't. You see, I'm living in Ba Sing Se on my own. Only Zhenzu lives with me. My parents, they don't know that I'm here."
Surprised, Zuko raised his eyebrows, "You're not telling me that your father is content with his blind daughter living in the biggest city of the world on her own, are you?"
"He's probably not content with me, not at all. But that's a longer story and I do not care anyway. Look, I live here on my own, with my own money and I couldn't care less what Mom or Dad are thinking. I'm fine on my own.", she said, with a stern, almost angry expression.
"You're living on your own money? You mean, you're working?", it sounded disbelieving, and Zuko could slap himself for just blurting it out like he had. It was again, terribly impolite.
Lin chuckled, "I don't work, no. I made all my money back at home in Gaoling. We have a big earthbending tournament every year. So, I betted on Earth Rumble One, Two and Three. I always took all my money to the booker, and since I was always right about the winner, well, I guess, you could say I made a quick buck.", she grinned at him. Of course, she didn't add that there was also the money from winning that tournament added on top. "So, when my father wanted to decide on my marriage, I packed my things and left.", Zuko just stared at her for a long moment. She continued to surprise him.
As if to save him from thinking of what to answer, his uncle appeared besides their table carrying a tray with some small moon cakes. "Excuse me, I don't want to interrupt your conversation, but we just got these delivered from a local bakery and I thought, maybe you children want some."
Before Zuko could say anything, Lin turned towards the former general, "You must be the famous Mushi. I heard a lot about your tea brewing abilities. Now that I tasted some of it myself, it exceeded even my highest expectations by far. You really are a master of your art, sir.", Zuko thought, it was a shame she couldn't see his uncle blush at the compliment. "However, I wanted to talk to you anyway.", she continued, grabbing his uncle's hand when he put the tray on their table, "A mutual friend asked me to deliver you greetings. He cannot come in person these days, but he hopes you two can meet again to play a round of Pai Sho, maybe in the summer."
Iroh smiled widely at the girl, "I'm sure we will get some time to chat this year. Thank you, Miss…"
"Beifong.", she said, "Lin Beifong. If you need any kind of help, it'd be my honor and my pleasure to do what I can."
Iroh bowed shortly before her, "You are too kind, Miss Beifong.", before he returned to other customers. On his way into the back of the shop, the former general opened his hand and smiled at the Pai Sho tile the girl had given him.
Zuko continued to try to make some small talk with Lin, trying to leave out everything that could give away him being Fire Nation. She seemed to enjoy his awkwardness around her, chuckling whenever he had a hard time finishing a sentence, or even beginning one. He thought, he should be angry because of that, maybe if this was another person he would've been, but she was different. Lin wasn't laughing at him in a bullying way like his sister did when they were younger, she seemed to really think him funny.
As the sun was slowly setting, and Iroh began to light up the lanterns in the shop, Lin carefully stood up, "It's getting late, isn't it? After all this talk, I'm very hungry. Do you know any decent restaurants around here, Lee?"
Surprised, Zuko hastily got up and said, "Uhm, not very much, but I know one not too far from here. It's not bad.", thinking of the place he went to with Jin. Half of his mind wished that she would decline.
"Since I only have one mouth, one restaurant is more than enough. Care to join me? I'll take the bill.", she grinned at him. He raised his eyebrows, but he could hardly say no to this, since he had previously agreed to walk her home safely. So, he nodded, before thinking that she couldn't have seen that. Thus, he quickly added, "Sure."
"Great! I'll pay for the tea, and we can leave.", she started to walk into the direction of the counter, but Zuko quickly caught her hand. Who knew if she would walk a straight line, and even then, would she know when to stop, or bump into the counter?
"Here, let me lead you.", he tried to sound more self-assured than he felt. He had no experience whatsoever with guiding a blind person. She seemed to want to refuse and take her hand out of his, but then her expression softened and the tenseness that had been there a moment before was gone. Without a word she let him guide her to the shop's counter where his uncle smiled widely at both of them.
Lin smiled back at the old man, with an amused undertone she took out here purse and raised a finger to her lips, "Hmm, we had two pots of your glorious jasmine tea and a plate of moon cakes. Also appreciating the great service that is offered, I think, this should be enough.", Zuko's eyes went wide as she handed his uncle a gold coin.
Iroh bowed again, "It is much appreciated, but not as much as your company.", with a wide smile the former general watched as the blind girl took his surprised nephew's arm and they went out of the shop together.
At the restaurant, Lin's appearance had nearly the same effect as back in the tea shop. Everyone stared at them for a few moments. Zuko tried to ignore the other guests' whispering things like, "How did he, with that scar, get someone like her?", "Maybe because she's blind he was able to fool her.", or "Well, he must be good at something…". While these talks were riling him up, Lin seemed not to care at all, or maybe she didn't hear it. With her ever present smile, she again asked the waiter for recommendations, and then chose turkey-chicken on various vegetables with dark soy sauce. Staring at her, he missed the waiter asking for his order and suddenly everyone looked at him, except for Lin, of course. She seemed to get what was happening though, as she giggled into the silence. Hastily he ordered the same as she did. With a grim expression, he eyed the other guests as their talking began anew. "So, you're relatively new in town. How did you know this place?", Lin asked casually, winning back his attention.
"I, uhm,", he stuttered, "a few days ago, I went on a date, and the girl took me here, so…"
Her expression shifted somewhat, she suddenly seemed displeased, not angry, but very clearly unhappy, "So, you have a girlfriend? I'm sorry. I didn't want to cause any misunderstandings, keeping you by my side for the whole day."
Defensively, Zuko raised his hands, "No, no. It's not like that. It was just a first date, and it didn't lead to anything.", he didn't know why he was panicking so much.
"Oh, that's good then. I wouldn't like to be the cause of any problems.", he wondered if she had other intentions. Quickly he shooed that thought away. Dream on, he told himself, a girl from the upper ring, interested in you of all people? In this city, you're just a simple guy working in a tea shop, there's nothing she could be interested in. Nevertheless, he saw a small amount of red coloring her pale cheeks.
As to interrupt his wishful thinking, their meals were brought. Zuko was unsure what he should do. Should he just start eating? Did she need help? So, he started, "Uhm, do you want me to …"
He was stopped by her raising an eyebrow as she took her chopsticks, and decisively grabbed a piece of meat and ate it with more grace than he had ever seen a human do. "Thank you, Lee. But I'm by no means helpless. I can eat on my own.", it sounded cold.
Zuko had the feeling he just went from 'likeable' to 'dirt under her shoes' in mere seconds. Hastily he apologized, "I'm sorry. I don't have any experience with blind people, so I was unsure if…"
He was interrupted by her bursting out in laughter. After she calmed herself down, she took another bite sized peace with her chopsticks, and gestured at him with it, "Then you'll better pay attention and collect some of that experience once you have the chance. Don't forget, I'm blind, but I'm also a Beifong. I am not to be underestimated."
"Hah, I see. Again, I'm sorry, I misjudged you.", he smiled apologetically, but then remembered that she couldn't see it. So, he carefully reached out and softly touched her left hand that was resting on the table. She seemed surprised, but then smiled at him.
Later they walked through the lower ring towards the train station. Lanterns illuminated the darkness and the feeling of Lin's hands on his arm became more and more familiar. He smiled down at her, thinking to himself that they looked like a couple to an unknowing observer. An unlikely couple though, a girl from the upper ring and a boy from the lower ring.
Lin chuckled to herself, so Zuko asked, "What are you laughing about?"
She turned slightly towards him and said, "I just thought of those other guests at the restaurant. What nonsense they were all thinking."
"You mean that they all thought us a couple?", he interrupted, ashamed looking to the ground. Of course, she would laugh about that idea. What was he thinking?
"No, not that.", as she said that, he stopped and stared at her, giggling, she continued, "Why should I care how you look or what status you have? And why should my blindness make me an easy victim?"
Zuko was silent for a moment, before he answered, "I think… well, I know what they were talking about. I… I happen to have a big burn scar on my face, it covers nearly the half of it, so of course, they wondered how I would get the chance to go out with you, because I'm hideous."
Her smile had vanished for a short moment, she turned, so she stood right in front of him. The smile reappeared, more compassionate than he had seen it before. "I told you; I don't care what you look like.", afterwards she seemed to hesitate before asking, "Can I touch it?"
Zuko's cheeks heated up as she asked that. He wanted to say no, but then said, "Okay.", almost without any voice. He closed his eyes as her hand came closer. Her fingers felt even cooler than they had before, maybe from the cold night air. Carefully her hand explored every detail of the scar on his face, trailed along every fold, over his eye, followed the edges to his hairline and came to a rest on his ear. He opened his eyes again as she was not moving anymore. The banished prince tried to read her expression, her smile had again vanished, she looked rather shocked. "Lin?", he asked.
Suddenly she let go of his ear. Her hand slumped down and rested on his shoulder, "Lee… That scar, it seems almost like a handprint. Somebody did that on purpose, didn't they?"
Zuko gulped, that conversation with her had taken this serious turn out of nothing. It wasn't like he was talking about his scar with every person he met. Hesitant he almost whispered, "Yes."
He had thought about her reaction, disgust, fear, something along those lines, maybe a little bit of pity, like you would pity a hurt stray, but then still call someone to take it away. He hadn't thought that she would hug him all of sudden. He gasped, too shocked to do anything. Only when she didn't let go after several moments, he hesitantly hugged her back. She responded by burying her face even deeper in his neck. Confused, he stuttered, "Lin, what should the people think when they see us?"
Suddenly she pulled away, still holding him in place with her hands on his shoulders. With a stern expression she said, "I don't care. I hug whoever I want."
"It was my fault anyway.", Zuko answered, not daring to look into her pale, blind eyes.
Lin laid a finger under his chin and turned him towards her again, "Whatever you did, you did not deserve this, I'm pretty sure of that. No one deserves that. If you say that, you're just deceiving yourself.", then her tone took a sudden, compassionate turn, "Does it hurt? Can you still see with that eye? What about that ear?"
Blushing, Zuko took a step back, "It… it doesn't hurt anymore, thank you. My sight and hearing are fine. I just can't open the eye like I used to, but that's all."
She seemed relieved, "Then that's good. Sounds like you're lucky after all. Who did this to you, Lee?"
His eyes widened, "I really can't tell you that, I'm sorry."
"Huh? So close to home? It wasn't your uncle, was it?", Zuko almost laughed at how she was standing in front of him, hands on her hips, as if she wanted to walk up to whoever scarred him right now.
"No, no, my uncle… I was lucky to have him after everything that happened at home.", he admitted with a small smile.
The smile was returned, "Then I'm glad. I couldn't imagine living with someone who did such a horrible thing to me.", Zuko closed his eyes for a moment, she was right of course, but on the other hand, for three years, his only goal had been to return home. Her voice ripped him out of his thoughts, "Come on, Lee. We'll miss the last train to the Upper Ring!", her tone had visibly changed into a happier direction as she pulled on his arm.
He held Lin back for a moment, "Wait! I don't have a ticket. They won't let me in."
Lin laughed, "You don't want to walk, do you? I'll get you in the train for free. Just wait and see.", Zuko wondered what she was up to, but decided to trust her and continued to lead her to the train station.
At the station, Lin asked him where the ticket stall was. An elderly lady, seemingly in a bad mood, sat behind it, eyeing them suspiciously. To be fair, there weren't that many people aside from them. As they approached her, Lin smiled at the lady as innocently and friendly as she could. Zuko thought, maybe her act was a bit much, but then again, why not?
"Greetings, Madam. I need a ticket for the Upper Ring.", her voice sounded sweet and had this Earth Kingdom-Upper Class undertone to it.
Clearly not impressed, the lady in the ticket stall snared at her, "And what's your name, Sweetie? What right do you have to go there? Does your friend here already have a ticket? He sure doesn't look like he'd belong in the Upper Ring."
Lin's tone got a visibly colder note to it as she pulled out a piece of paper. It was dark green, with golden trimming and writing, on top it showed a golden hog with wings. "Lin Beifong. I'm sure, you just made a mistake, didn't you? My valet here doesn't need a ticket. As you can see, I'm blind. I need him to guide me, obviously."
As soon as she had heard Lin's family name, the lady became politeness impersonated, "Ah, yes, I'm sorry, your Highness. It might be due to the late hour that I didn't recognize you. Please forgive this servant.", to which Lin just nodded, "Here are your tickets.", the lady stamped and handed them two tickets of different colors.
Lin smiled at her and pulled a silver piece out of her purse, handing it to the ticket lady in return, "Thank you.", she said again in that sweet, innocent voice.
Bewildered, Zuko took both tickets and led Lin to the already waiting train. He handed her one, then he studied his more closely. It read, "According to my position, I have special permission to cross the borders between the rings of Ba Sing Se by any means of transportation. I am not to be questioned, not about my tasks nor the goods I carry.", he raised his eyebrows and looked at Lin, who sat calmly next to him. "What is that?"
She chuckled, "That's a servant's pass. This way, no one will control where you go, nor will you have to pay for a train ride."
"And you get that so easily?", he was still perplexed by what just happened.
"Sure. I'm from a noble and wealthy family and have a residence in the Upper Ring. Of course, I can get my valet a ticket.", she grinned and leaned her head against his shoulder.
"But I'm not your valet.", he heard her chuckle under his chin.
"No, actually not. Alas, for tonight, you may be, since you're walking me home. Besides, that lady doesn't have to know.", Lin seemed very pleased with herself at this. "This way, you can also come and visit me if you like.", she added.
"Can it get me to the Earth King?", he asked, half-jokingly.
She seemed to think about it for a moment, "Probably not. But why would you want that anyway? Trust me, I've been to some banquets at the palace since I moved here, and he's a, well, he's not a very strong person. I think that poor guy has never in his life left the palace."
"You were invited to the palace?", Zuko stared at her.
Lin shrugged her shoulders, "Sure. I get invited to almost every banquet. But I decline most invitations. Honestly, his advisor, Secretary Long Feng wants me to marry King Kuei so bad.", she erupted in laughter.
Zuko just blinked for a moment, then he asked, "And you have no desire to be queen?"
Still giggling, Lin raised a finger to her lips, thinking about it for a moment, "No, I guess, being queen would be fine, but I don't want to be King Kuei's wife for one minute. Look, I'd rather marry his pet bear Bosco.". As they continued their train ride in comfortable silence, she again leaned her head on his shoulder, cuddling into him, that made Zuko blush wildly, and he was glad that she couldn't see it.
After they arrived in the Upper Ring, Lin told him which direction her house was and, in the end, they stood before a rather small, but neat looking house that reminded Zuko of a jewelry box. As if on call, Zhenzu opened the door with a tight-lipped smile on her lips, "Greetings, your Highness.", she said with a small bow. Then she turned to Zuko, "Good Evening, young master."
Zuko stopped in his tracks at this address, only Lin's giggling pulled him out of it, "Don't worry, she's not up to anything. In this part of the city, the eldest son of every family is called their young master.", then she turned to face him and took his hands in hers, "Thank you for today, Lee."
The banished prince could feel his cheeks heating up again, unsure of himself, he stuttered, "It… it was my pleasure entirely."
Suddenly, Lin raised to the tips of her toes and put a little kiss on his scarred cheek. Stunned, he didn't react in any way, until she said, "Then, do you mind if I come again tomorrow?"
"No, of course not. I mean, that would be great. I might have to actually work though.", his answer came out way more hastily than he had hoped.
Chuckling lightly, she turned towards her servant, "Alright, then I'll see you soon. Take care on your way home, Lee."
After the door had closed behind her, Zuko stood there for a little while, wondering what had just happened to him. Absentmindedly he rubbed his cheek where she kissed him, before he went back to the Lower Ring and his waiting uncle.
The next day, Lin really came to the tea shop again, smiling at him, drinking pot after pot of jasmine tea, chatting with him and his uncle from time to time and otherwise waiting patiently for his shift to end. It should become a pattern he would get used to in the following weeks.