The view from the monorail car out into the Agrarian Zone is quite beautiful. You can see each separate plot of land, one for each different crop. They are separated by irrigation canals and small roads. The browns and greens of the land match the general aesthetic of the Earth Kingdom.
My eyes are glued to the window the majority of the ride, even though it is getting brighter and harder to look east with the sun rising. The baby next to us in the car eventually falls asleep, though regularly wakes up to be fed or soothed. Iroh passes me the last of the jerky, to hold us over until we can find food and a place to stay.
I eat quietly, thinking that if Appa is in Ba Sing Se, is Aang here too? However, if Aang were here, he wouldn't be in the Lower Ring. I don't need to find him to avoid him, because his status will keep him away from the depths of the city. I don't want Zuko to see Aang, or any of them, because that will take us right back to square one.
The best practice for us is going to be to avoid any outstanding acts that will put us above the Lower Ring. It will keep the Earth Kingdom from looking too hard at us, and from getting unwanted attention from people like Jet.
I can feel Zuko's eyes on me as I lean against the glass, looking at the last of the Agrarian Zone as we enter the Inner Wall. I desperately want to know what he's thinking, or what he's planning to do with Jet, or how he will fit in here.
Finally, sometime after the sun fully rises, we arrive in the Lower Ring. The majority of us get off at the first station, and I keep my eyes open for Jet and the other Freedom Fighters. I don't see them in the thick of the crowd. I wonder if they can see us, sticking out like a sore thumb because of Zuko's scar. I grip my bo tighter, and I can see Zuko looking around for any sign of them as well.
Off the monorail car, we are on our own. In an overcrowded city that not one of us has been in before, save a siege laid against the outer wall. We follow the majority of the crowd to a small market, where it seems like the majority of the city's inhabitants are gathered.
There is heckling for goods, and the smell of fish boiling in the warming sun, and people talking and yelling. At some point, Zuko has attached his dao to his belt, complete with the orange ribbon I gave him.
Whenever the monks and I went to villages, we were revered. Nobody thought about stealing from us, and we never carried a weapon. Granted, a monk was a weapon in their own right. Now, in this overcrowded and overwhelming city, things are different. I am just a refugee, and I carry a weapon, and Zuko and Iroh are their own weapons in personality alone.
I stick close to Zuko, mostly since there is so much to see. I feel like a tourist. When Iroh disappears in a stall, Zuko says as much. "You look like you don't belong."
"Well, that's because I feel like I don't belong. I haven't been in an Earth Kingdom city like this in ages, and Omashu is built much differently than Ba Sing Se is. There's a lot to take in."
"It makes you a target."
"I have nothing to steal. You're carrying the pack." I lean into an alchemist shop, smelling the scents that they have to offer. Herbs for healing. Flowers for poisoning. Potions and salves and powders for anything you can think of. Zuko grabs my arm and leads me away.
"We don't have the money for this."
"That's because you haven't looked at our funds," I say. But Iroh took the coin pouch with him when he wandered off. "You should talk to your uncle about his secret society more. He is in pretty good standing, considering. But, you can keep the accounting to Iroh and I." I pause, seeing Iroh jog up to us with a flower vase in his hand. "Well, you can keep the accounting to me, at least."
Zuko scowls when he sees Iroh holding up the orange flowers. Iroh sees Zuko's scowl and says, "I just want our place to look nice. In case someone brings home a lady friend!" He nudges Zuko with an elbow, and I blush.
"This city is a prison. I don't want to make a life here," Zuko says, looking away from Iroh and I.
"Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not. Now, come on, I found us some new jobs, and we start this afternoon!"
"Oh? Did you also find us a place to stay?" I ask, curious since he mentioned why he bought the flowers.
"Oh, yes! There is an apartment building not too far from our job that I found. It is already furnished! It was quite a steal. We're heading there now to get the keys and familiarize ourselves with our new home."
I wonder how furnished is furnished in the Lower Ring. When we arrive at the apartment building, Iroh talks to the landlord. Iroh hands over a few coins, likely a deposit for us. The landlord gives Iroh keys, and Iroh makes him laugh.
Zuko and I are standing off to the side. I am watching the tenets as they go through their daily routines. Some people have already placed wet clothes out to dry, and I hear the familiar chatter of home life. I close my eyes, breathing in the smells. I miss the Eastern Air Temple, and cooking, and my friends.
Being here, in one place, shakes everything into perspective. The home that I no longer have. The friends I no longer know. Zuko places a hand on my back, likely sensing my nostalgia. He doesn't say anything, but his presence is made known by the hand on my back. The warmth that spreads from it.
I don't think I've shared with Zuko about my life before. I've told Iroh, sparingly, about things that I once did. About life as a nomad and living in the temples. But, does Zuko know? The giant statue of Yangchen, the meditating stones, the sky bison? How much has he researched into my life without connecting that it was mine? Does he know that the Eastern Temple was the most spiritual of the four, and now I am connected by loose threads to something that I can no longer call my own?
I open my mouth to say something, but I'm choked up. Ba Sing Se is no comparison to any of the temples, but it is the first place I've been that hasn't rocked with the ocean or crawled with bugs. It is the first place in over a hundred years that I can refer to as home, though it is a far stretch from it.
"Let's go take a look at our new apartment!" Iroh yells, breaking my reverie. Zuko's hand snaps away from my back. I nod, but my mind is adrift as he takes us through the three room apartment.
The kitchen and living area are connected. The furnishings that Iroh boosted about earlier are a sofa, a few threadbare futons, and a table. There is a bathroom, with a small basin. A third room is closed off by a door, and it is a dusty bedroom. It is green, and small, but it is comfortingly ours. Iroh says as such as he locks the door behind us.
Neither Zuko nor I leave our weapons behind, and Iroh does not insist that we shouldn't bring them. Does he also sense Jet behind us, following us in the shadows and watching our movements? Likely, he sees the thieves in the dark alleys, the weapons that every refugee carries for their own protection.
The only protection given in the Lower Ring is the one you give yourself.
We arrive at a small tea shop not a ten minute walk away from our apartment. The sign above the door reads "Pao Family Tea House". Green lanterns hang next to the door, lit to signify the status of the business being open. Of course Iroh found us a job at a tea house. I told him as such at the monorail station, that he should open his own tea cart. This seems like the next best thing.
Zuko isn't thrilled, but he hasn't been this whole time we've spent on the run.
The inside of the building is just as quaint as the entrance. It is dimly lit, though cozy in general. There are eight tables with benches on either side, four tables on either side of a middle walk-through. There are paintings on the walls that look like they're local, and my heart tightens at the thought of finally settling down. Can I paint again?
The owner, Pao, is thin but welcoming. He seems nice enough. He hands us each aprons to wear over our clothes, to prevent staining and to signify us as workers. He steps back and beams at us. "Well, you certainly look like official tea servers. How do you feel?"
Zuko looks unhappy, and Iroh is struggling to tie his apron still. Zuko says, "Ridiculous."
"Uh, does this possibly come in a larger size?"
"I have extra string in the back," Pao says, pouring us some tea. "Have some tea while you wait!" Pao hands us cups of warm tea and disappears into the back.
Iroh loudly sips his tea, but is just as disgusted as he was at the cold tea. He holds the cup out and says, "This tea is nothing more than hot leaf juice!" Can Pao hear us?
"Uncle, that's what all tea is," Zuko says. I laugh, because Zuko isn't wrong, though there is more to tea than just what it's made of.
"How could a member of my own family say something so horrible?! We'll have to make some major changes around here," Iroh says angrily. He takes the tea pot and throws the rest of the tea out the window.
"Well, Lee isn't wrong," I say, just to stir the fire. I don't mind the tea, though it is just a drink to me. "Tea is just hot leaf juice, but the leaves change."
"No, no, Amrita, tea is an art!" Iroh says, moving behind the counter where all the tea is kept. He pulls out a drawer that says "jasmine" and takes out the leaves, which are rolled. I watch him work, going up to the counter as he sets a pot of water to boil. "It is a delicate art, but it isn't much different from these paintings. Each leaf requires different attention. If the water is too hot, it will make the tea bitter. The first batch of tea is never the best, because the leaves have not had time to open up."
Iroh talks as he works, and Zuko stands to the side, taking only a glancing interest in what Iroh is doing. I am enraptured by Iroh's movements. As he sets out a lidded tea cup and strainer, the water starts to boil, and he pours the hot water into the teapot he dumped earlier, as well as the lidded cup. He puts the lid on top, and pours more water on it.
Iroh lets the water sit for a moment or two in the teapot, then dumps it out in a small sink set into the counter. Then, he transfers the tea rolls into the teapot, letting the leaves heat up with the warmed teapot. While he waits for the leaves to warm, he then pours more of the hot water over the teacups he intends to use for drinking.
In the lidded cup, he pours another round of hot water into it. He dumps the water in the teacups again, like before. Iroh takes the leaves out of the teapot and moves them to the lidded cup, filling it with hot water. Placing the lid on top of the cup, he carefully dumps this tea.
"There are different methods to brewing tea," Iroh says. "This is Gong Fu. As I said earlier, the first batch is to clean and open up the leaves. It is not used, as it doesn't taste very good. However, besides the first steep, you can use this for up to ten more steepings, steeping the water longer to draw out more of the flavor." He adds more hot water to the lidded cup and lets it steep. He takes the lid off the teapot, then strains the tea into it, making sure that none of the leaves have fallen into the pot. "Here," he says, passing the cups around. There are four, one for Zuko, Iroh, Pao, and me.
I eagerly take it, sipping in the hotness of the tea. It is very fragrant and much different than the one Pao served us earlier. Pao returns with the extra string for Iroh's apron, and Iroh hands him the newly brewed tea. "Here. I hope you don't mind, but I decided to brew a fresh batch of jasmine tea for you to sample. Amrita, can you help me with the string?" Iroh smiles, holding up the string and gesturing to the ties on the apron that don't quite reach around him.
The knots come easily, and I tie the string around him. "That tea was quite good," I say quietly, watching Pao enjoy his cup. "Do you think we could pair it with some sort of pastry?"
He pauses, thinking, and Pao is looking at him expectantly. After a long silence, Iroh says, "A lemon cookie, I think!"