Chapter Text
I woke up like I did every other day. And I got dressed, washed up, and tied up my hair like I did every other day. I said good morning to my mother, father, and grandfather, then set off, carefully, onto the street, just like I had made a habit of doing.
This routine had always been the same. That is until the Fire Nation took over Ba Sing Se. Or, what used to be the impenetrable city. But today was different. Usually, Fire Nation soldiers roamed the streets in organized formations, all marching as one until some trouble got out, or something. But I saw no spots of red when I opened the door to make my way to Kyra's apartment. And there was no rumbling of the ground signaling that the soldiers were someplace else, and no fire or heat coming from anywhere except the sun above.
And the air was different. No one seemed afraid, or extremely conscious to make sure they weren't doing anything wrong. Kids were laughing. People setting up their stands to sell their products for the day to come. Kids my age practicing earthbending in the middle of the street. It was then I knew something was wrong. Or actually, something was very right.
The only color of red that popped out at me was from a poster on a bulletin board on the side of a building. There was an announcement written on it, but I couldn't read it because there were people gathered all around it.
"Excuse me," I muttered, inching through the crowd to get a look at the poster. It read:
THE HUNDRED YEAR WAR IS OVER
FIRE LORD OZAI REPLACED BY HIS SON, ZUKO, HERE TO PROMOTE PEACE, KINDNESS, AND EQUALITY FOR THE FOUR NATIONS ON THE SIDE OF AVATAR AANG
And then there was a picture. A picture that startled me so much I shrieked.
"What is it, dear?" a woman asked.
"Just... excitement. The war is over!"
"It most certainly is. Thank the spirits," she said, looking up fondly at the clear sky.
But it was not excitement that made me shriek. It was surprise. Surprise because the person in the picture was all too familiar to me.
It was that boy from the tea shop. The boy from before the city was taken over. The boy that somehow lit the lanterns in my favorite place in the whole city. The boy that kissed me back then pulled away. The boy I watched in the tea shop every day.
Lee.
I was so ignorant then. But I was happy. And today, I aimed to be happier than I had been in weeks. because the war was over.
And Lee -- or should I say, Zuko, is the new Fire Lord.
I started making my way again to Kyra's apartment, a little way's more into the city. Kyra and my grandparents were friends. My mother and her father were friends since they were little, and I can't remember a time when she and I didn't know each other.
I told her all about the cute boy who worked in the tea shop, the one I went to admire every day. Then I told her about Lee, who made the lanterns glow and kissed me in the light of them. And now, I was about to tell her that I didn't kiss the boy from the tea shop. I kissed the Fire Lord.
I knocked on the door like I did every day. Her father answered, which was unusual. He was usually at work in the factory by now. He was an earthbender, and he worked for a factory that made all sorts of different things, mainly glass products. He was a rather good glass bender, and their house had the occasional glass vase on some tables.
"Jin! Have you heard the news!" he greeted, grinning wide. "The war is over! Ba Sing Se is under the rule of the Earth King!"
I smiled. "I did hear. Is Kyra here?"
"She is," he smiled. "At the table, having breakfast."
Kyra was there, sitting on a cushion at the table while her mother hovered over a pot of tea. She smiled gleefully at me. It was then I realized I had been so distraught about the photo of the Fire Lord, I hadn't even had room in my head to celebrate the end of the war. I decided I'd forget about what I came here to tell her, and decided I'd just be happy for now. Happy for the end.
"Jin!"
I walked over to the table and gave her a big hug as she stood up. Her mother came over and gave me the same gleeful smile that her father did, and handed me a cup of tea. I bowed my head slightly in thanks and turned to Kyra.
"Kyra! I saw the poster in the market today of the new Fire Lord, did you see it?"
"No, father did! He rushed back on his way to work to come and tell us!"
"We should celebrate. Have dinner. A celebration. Something."
"Of course! Mother was actually just saying we should invite your parents and grandfather over for dinner. Father could cook his best stew, he was just going out to get the ingredients when you came along."
In all the excitement, I had forgotten to run back home and tell my family about the news.
"My family! I didn't run back and tell them!"
"You --"
But before Kyra could say anything, I had pulled her away from the table and past he mother, to who she shouted something before running out the door along with me.
I burst through the door, scaring my mother.
"Jin? I thought you were -- Oh, hello, Kyra."
Kyra slightly bowed to my mother.
"Is everyone here?" I asked. "We have news."
"Yes, everyone's here. Why --" She stared at me and Kyra, practically jumping with excitement."
"I'll just call them over. Hishen, father! Jin and Kyra are here, they have news."
"What's it?" asked Grandfather, coming out of the sitting room. My father followed. then they stood, waiting.
"The war is over," I quickly said. "The Fire Nation has left Ba Sing Se."
Mother put her hand over her mouth. "You're kidding," she said.
"She's not," said Kyra. "There's a poster in town, and not a single Fire Nation soldier on the streets."
They smiled and talked, hugged me and Kyra, and celebrated.
"Well, are we going to do something?"
"Yes," replied Kyra. "My family's having a celebratory dinner, we'd love it if you came."
"Of course," said father.
"Perfect," said Kyra. "Hey, Jin, are you coming back?"
"Yes, sure. I'll see you later," I said, turning to my family and bowing slightly. They did the same, then went back to what they had been doing as Kyra and I walked out the door.
"Hold on."
"What?" asked Kyra.
"That boy that I went on a date with. The boy from the tea shop, Lee. Do you remember when I told you about him?"
"Yes..."
"You remember I told you he had a burn scar on his eye?"
Kyra nodded.
"His name wasn't Lee," I said. "I didn't kiss the boy from the tea shop." Kyra looked confused. the crowd had lessened around the poster, so I pushed through easily.
I pointed to the picture of Fire Lord Zuko.
"That's Lee."