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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."

Chapter Text

I had changed a bit since the Fire Nation invaded Ba Sing Se.  I had to. Because before then, I hadn't even known there was a war going on.  Then it all changed so quickly.  Overnight, Fire Nation soldiers roamed the streets, putting people "in their place" and making sure they followed any rules they proposed.  They kept people afraid.

And I was the one who went out to the market stalls every morning because father was meeting with the resistance, and grandfather was too old to evade the soldiers.  Mother stayed inside to look after him.

I couldn't tell you that nothing ever happened to me, that I stayed in line and the soldiers left me alone, because I was just a girl.  But that would be a lie. Because I was caught doing something wrong multiple times.  

I talked badly about the soldiers in plain daylight, I gave them side-eyes and death stares when they weren't looking. Only sometimes, they were looking, and I was threatened for it.  They were things I regret doing because I'll always remember what they did.

The ax forgets, but the tree remembers.

 "That's Lee?"

"Well, that's Zuko.  There wasn't ever a Lee."

"You went on a date with the Fire Lord!  Well, I'm sure he wasn't the Fire Lord then, but... still!"

"I know."

"That's crazy! Jin, you have to see him again."

"What?  You're crazy, Kyra!  How am I supposed to do that, just walk into the Fire Nation and ask to see him?"

"Well, I guess not.  But you should do something."

"What can I do?"

Kyra opened her mouth to say something, but had nothing to say, and closed it.

"Come on," I said.  "Should we just go back to your house?  I haven't even eaten breakfast."

Kyra smiled.  "Sure."

--

Kyra and my family got together just after dusk for dinner. Her father made his stew, and we ate and talked and laughed the whole night through.  Then we played Pai Sho, and like always, grandfather won.  He used to play in tournaments when he was younger.  

They were setting up for repairs on the street we usually went home by, so we took a different route.  The route I used to take to Pao's Family Tea Shop.  

It was open like it always had been.  But like it was for a while, the boy was not there.  Neither was his uncle, who really changed the tea shop for the better.  At least the tea was still alright, not as bad as it had been.  

I just watched it pass by as we walked, another landmark in the map of the lower ring.  Just like any other.  I was fond of the place, but I hadn't gone back for a while.  Not since the Fire Nation took over.  

Finally, we got home after walking under the clear, starry sky for longer than usual.  There used to be a curfew, which we would have been past by now.  No one was allowed to be out after sunset.  But we were finally free.  And I was happy about it.  Genuinely happy.  I looked up at the sky and smiled.  The stars reminded me of the lanterns.  

Maybe I did wish I could see him again.  I probably wished that for a very long time.  I just didn't know it.  I wanted to see him again.  I wanted to find a way.  But I had no idea how I'd do it, or what I'd say when I did.

The next morning, I went to Kyra's again.  We talked and talked until the subject finally dawned on the Fire Lord.  

"I want to see him again," I told Kyra solemnly. 

"Well, good," she replied.  "But how?"

"That's what I was hoping you could figure out.  You're the smart one, aren't you?"

"Yes, but you're the one with common sense.  I would've suggested I use some fancy earthbending to take down part of a wall, beat some guards up, you know.  But being that the war is over..." She waited for me to complete her idea.

"... We could probably walk through the front door.  See, that might be hard, or it might be easy.  I'm sure there are still people who liked the old Fire Lord.  And it's only been two days since the war ended.  We still can't just walk in, I'm sure."

"So maybe I could do some earthbending?"

I stifled a laugh. "Maybe."

We decided to take a walk around town, pick up some things from the market.  Mother needed tea leaves, and Kyra's father had asked her to pick up some duck for their dinner that night.

"Hey, Han. You remember Pao's tea shop?" a man said to his friend on the street. Their conversation caught my attention, and I tuned the others in the area out. 

"Sure I do.  It's still around, you know," replied Han, looking through the fruit in a market stall.

"Yeah, but not as good as it was just before the war came around.  That guy that worked there, what was his name?"

"Um, Pao?"

The man rolled his eyes. "No, Han, not him.  The one guy that made really good tea.  He was an employee."

"Oh, Mushi?  Yeah, I remember him.  I heard he got his own tea shop in the upper ring."

Mushi.  Well, I'm sure that wasn't his real name.  But that was Lee's uncle.  And if the tea shop is still there, I'm wondering if his Uncle is still there.  Then maybe I could find a way to talk to the Fire Lord. I continued to listen.

"I've never been, but it sounds like it's really good.  I've got some cousins that have gone."

"What's it called?"

"The Jasmine Dragon."

That was it, then.  I was going to go to the Upper Ring and find the Jasmine Dragon. Much easier than trying to get into the Fire Nation, because all I needed was a train ticket.  I could just say I'm going on a day trip.  My parents wouldn't mind that.  

"Hey, Kyra, did you hear that?" I asked, turned around toward the two men who had been talking.  She was talking with the meat vendor.

"I didn't hear anything but high prices.  What is it?"

"We have to go to the Upper Ring."

"Hold on, Jin." She turned back toward the vendor.  "12 silver pieces, that's all you're getting.  All I want is one and a half pounds of duck."

The vendor sighed. "15, and you have a deal."

"14."

"Fine."  The vendor wrapped the meat and she handed him the silver pieces.  She bowed slightly to the vendor in thanks, then continued walking with me.  

"Now, what's that you were saying about the Upper Ring?"  

"I was saying we have to go there.  Just a day trip. I have to go to a tea shop there."

"Why?" she asked.  "What's so special about it?"

"Well, when Lee and his Uncle worked at Pao's, someone heard they had the best tea in town and gave his uncle his own tea shop."

"You mean Zuko."

"What?"

"His name isn't Lee, remember,  it's Zuko."

"Right.  Anyway, that tea shop was the Jasmine Dragon.  And if we go there, maybe we can find his uncle."

Chapter Text

I'd only ever seen him twice.  A second time, when I caught up with him and a friend in the market, who was supposedly a knife thrower from the circus.  Actually, that was the night before the Fire Nation soldiers started marching through the towns. 

It made me wonder if he knew anything about it.  Maybe he did.  Did he change, too?  Did he regret it?  How did it even happen?  Everyone thought Ba Sing Se was an impenetrable city.  But as we figured from that night on, it most certainly wasn't.

"So if you see his uncle, maybe you could get to him somehow?"

I nodded. "He seemed to be close with his uncle.  Maybe he could send him a letter?"

"I suppose so.  Maybe we should go to the Upper Ring.  I've heard they've got the most amazing spas."

"We're not going to have a spa day, Kyra."

"I know, I know.  But if we get some extra time?"

"Then we'll go to the spa."

Kyra beamed.

I begged and I pleaded later that night, as father and mother thought it over.  Mother thought it a wonderful idea, but father wasn't so convinced.  The war had only just ended, after all. But I assured him Kyra and I would be fine, after all, she is a rather good earthbender.  

"So?  Can I?  Just as a day trip, we'll be back around dark.  Please, father?"

He continued to think.  

"Well, alright."

"Ah!  Thank you, father!"  I ran up and hugged him tightly.  He smiled and hugged back. 

"What are you going to do in the Upper Ring?" asked mother eagerly. 

"Well, we might go to a spa, maybe a tea shop, get some lunch somewhere.  Just have a day off, you know?  We've only been to the Upper Ring once together, so we thought it might be a nice idea for just the two of us to go together, to celebrate the end of the war."

"That's a perfect idea," she smiled.  "Now, why don't we have some dinner?"

--

So, Kyra and I, in our best day clothes, paid for train tickets to the Upper Ring.  We got maps at the station, but the Jasmine Dragon was not marked on any of them.

"Did the guy from the market say where it was?" asked Kyra, her eyes hovering over a map as we sat on the train, going through the wall that separated the Upper Ring from the Lower Ring.  

"No," I said.  "He just said Upper Ring.  I stopped listening.  But I'm sure if we ask someone at the Upper Ring Station, they'll know."

"I hope so," she said, picking up another map.  

The train ride gave me time to think.  Good thing, because I hadn't even thought of what I was going to say.  Would he even remember me?  I mean, I did sit in the shop every day.  And Zuko's Uncle was the one who accepted my offer for him when I asked if he'd like to go out sometime. Maybe he would, maybe he wouldn't.  But I would probably have to find the tea shop, first.

When Kyra and I finally got there, we went toward the information desk.  It was the place where we would most likely find the answer to our question.  And, they had some more maps and brochures.  

While Kyra stopped at a stand holding spa advertisements, I looked at the man behind the desk.

"Welcome to the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se.  Can I help you?" he asked.

I smiled.  "Thank you.  I was wondering where I could find the Jasmine Dragon?"

"Ah," said the man.  "Best tea in Ba Sing Se.  It's just east of Turtleduck street.  You can't miss it."

"Thank you, sir," I said, bowing. He did the same.  "Are you coming, Kyra?"

"Yes, I'm coming.  She collected three brochures from different spas and stuffed them in her pocket.  I rolled my eyes.

"What?" she said.  "For later."

I snickered.

"Alright, the man said that the Jasmine Dragon was just east off of Turtleduck Street.  Do you have the maps?"

Kyra nodded.  "Here, this one had the most street names." She handed me a map, and I looked around for the street name, around the station.  I hoped we weren't too far. 

"There," I said, finally finding it.  "It's a little way away from here.  We can walk."

"Perfect."

We took off, walking through the city.  It was organized, and not clustered at all, unlike the Lower Ring.  People walked through, chatting politely and walking into and out of shops with newly bought goods.  It was like the Fire Nation had never even come here.  Maybe they only patrolled the Lower Ring.  Rich people were much faster to comply, as long as they could keep their money.  

Merchants sold delicious-smelling street food in communal areas, and there were multiple fountains that reminded me of the one with the lanterns.  Only none were quite the same.  

It was only ten minutes before we walked past a group of three giggling girls with makeup on, wearing silk dresses.  They eyed us, whispered, and giggled as we walked past across a small bridge over a river that ran through the Upper Ring.  I ignored them, but Kyra found it a problem.

"Is there something wrong, ladies?" she blurted, falsely sweet.  

One smiled.  "Oh, nothing."

"Then what's that you were laughing at?  I'd love to hear it."

"Kyra, just keep walking," I mumbled.  

"No, no, we'll tell you," giggled one of the girls.  "We could tell you two weren't from around here. Even the way you walk is uncivilized.  You're from the Lower Ring, aren't you?"

Kyra stepped forward.  "And what about it?"

The girls giggled again. "Oh, nothing.  You wouldn't get it."

"Well," said Kyra.  "Maybe you'll get this!"

Kyra stomped her foot, and the stones the girls were standing on popped up, and launched them down into the river, then went back into their places.  The girls shrieked and panicked, their makeup being ruined and their silk dresses all wet.

"Who's funny now?" asked Kyra, over the edge of the bridge.   The girls gave her death stares and she and I walked away.

Kyra laughed as we walked.  "Put them in their place," she said.  "We deserve to be here much more than they do."

"Oh, I'm sure of it," I said.  "Hey, Turtleduck Street!"

I pointed to a wood sign reading the street's name. We walked onto it, then onto a patio leading up to a building of green and gold.  There was a small fountain in its courtyard, one I threw a bronze piece into before walking in, just for good luck.  

"The Jasmine Dragon," said Kyra.  "Cmon."

Chapter Text

"Are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready," I told Kyra, still taking in all the sights.  It was summertime, and there were tables outside the tea shop where some people were sitting.  They looked rather important; the type of people you'd usually see in the upper ring.  

We walked inside, immediately met by a warmth that made me feel very calm.  The scents of tea leaves and flowers overwhelmed me.  Kyra and I took a seat at a table near a girl whose bangs covered her eyes.  She seemed to be looking into the distance, only I couldn't see what at.  

A waiter came to the table, dressed in robes of emerald green and gold.  He bowed and then handed us each a menu, then walked away.

"Hey, Jin, look, this one's named for an earthbender!" said Kyra.  I looked over at her menu, then back at my own where she was pointing at the Metal Brew.

"It says she could bend metal! That can't be true," I said.  Probably louder than I should have.  

"Actually, it is true," butted in the girl with bangs at the next table.  

Kyra looked at her eagerly.  "How do you know? Do you know this girl?"

"Yeah, I know her.  She's me."

Kyra's jaw dropped.  "You can bend metal? "

"Sure can."

"Can we see?" I asked.  

"Do you have any metal?"

Kyra fiddled with a bracelet her cousin had gotten her for her birthday last year.  It was a steel bracelet, that looked as if it were multiple silver bangles.  Only it was actually just one.  

"Here," she said, putting it in Toph's hand.  She held it, then it hovered over her palm.  She balled her hand into a fist and the bracelet morphed into a sphere.  She did it again, and it was a cube, once more and a pyramid.  Then Toph hovered it between her two palms and morphed it back into Kyra's bracelet.

Kyra and I watched in awe.  "That's amazing," Kyra commented, taking back her bracelet and examining it, then putting it back on.  "How did you learn to do that?"

"I invented it."

"You invented metalbending?"

"Yep.   Hey, what's your name, anyway?"

"I'm Jin," I said.  "This is Kyra.  And you're Toph, right? I read it on the menu."

"My name's on the menu?" she asked. 

"Uh, yes? You didn't read it?"

"I'm blind," she replied.

Kyra's face became even more surprised.  "You're probably the greatest earthbender in the world! You're blind?"

Toph nodded.  A waiter came to the table and asked what we wanted.

"I'll have the Metal Blend," said Kyra.

I glanced at the menu again.  "The Bender Tea, please."

"Good choices," he said, and with a nod, left.

"Hey, hold on," I said to the waiter.  He turned around.  "The owner of this place; is he here?"

"He is," said the waiter.  "He supervises the making of all tea, sometimes he makes it personally."

"Thanks," I said.  He nodded again and walked away.

"You know, if you need to talk to the owner, I know him."

"You're amazing!" said Kyra.  

Toph held her head higher.  "I know," she said.  

"What's the owner's name?" I asked. 

"Iroh," she replied. "What do you need with the owner, anyway?"

Kyra and I gave each other glances. "I'm just a fan of tea," I lied.  "Just wanted to know."

Toph scoffed.  

"What?" I asked. 

"I can tell you're lying."

"What?"

"I can feel it.  When people lie, their heart beats faster.  I can feel it.  Through my feet.  That's how I know where my enemies are and what they're throwing at me when I'm fighting; I feel it.  through the ground."

"You've been in actual fights before?" said Kyra, still amazed with the girl.  "The closest thing I've done to fighting was bent a rock at a Fire Nation soldier, then run away!" 

Toph smiled.  "That's a good start. But yeah, I've fought."

Kyra was in awe.

"So why were you lying, anyway?" she asked me.  If she could tell I was lying, I might as well tell the truth.

"I knew him.  When he was posing as a refugee in Ba Sing Se, I went to the tea shop he worked at every day to... see a person I liked."

"Ah," said Toph.  "Well, I could bring you back there."

"You could?" I said.

"Well, yeah, I know him really well.  If you want to see him, I could go and get him."

Kyra and I gave each other communicative glances once more.  

"Yes, please," answered Kyra, before I could even say anything.

Toph stood up.  "I'll be back in a sec."

While she was gone, the waiter came to the table and handed us our teas, steaming hot.  Toph came back, alone.

"He'll come in a second.  He's busy."

"That's fine," I said, taking a sip of the tea and almost burning my tongue.   A man came out of the door the waiters had been coming from and walked across the middle aisle toward our table.  He had gray hair and a beard and was wearing shades of green and gold on his robes.  He stopped at our table with a smile.

"Are you Iroh?" I asked, bowing slightly.

"I am," he replied, doing the same.  He looked up at my face, looking a bit confused. "I know you from somewhere," he said.

"Yes, you do," I replied.  "I'm Jin, remember?"

He thought for a second. "Yes, I do remember.  You came into the teashop every day.  You went out with my nephew."

I nodded.  "Your nephew the Fire Lord."

Iroh nodded with a smile.  "My nephew the Fire Lord."

"You went out with Zuko?" Toph interrupted.

"Yes, I did," I replied. 

"So you were like, a secret admirer!"

I smiled.  "I guess so."

"You want to see him again, don't you?" asked Iroh curiously.

"How did you know?"

"A feeling.  I was quite sure you didn't come here to see me."

"Well, you're right.  And I understand why you lied about your names, and who you were.  But I'm glad the war is over."

Iroh smiled.  "And I'm glad I'm on the good side.  I'll see what I can do for you."

"Thank you, Iroh."

"It's nothing."

Chapter Text

"That was good tea," commented Kyra, as the waiter took our empty cups away.  "So, what do we do now?  We got what we wanted, Iroh's going to send a letter to Zuko."

"We could go to a spa, like you wanted," I offered.

"To heck with the spa," interrupted Toph, who had been listening.  "There are more exciting things you could do.  This city is ginormous!"

"Yeah, it is," said Kyra.  "But like what?"

"Anything, really.  Besides, I've been to the spas.  They're not as fun."

"Not as fun as what?" I asked. 

"Anything," said Toph.

"You're being extremely vague," said Kyra.  

"Why don't you just come and see?  You trust me, don't you?"

"Yes!"

"Kyra, we just met her!"

"Yeah, but I'm famous, so it's okay.  I'm not a stranger.  Plus, I'm twelve.  What could I possibly do?"

"Come on, Jin!"

"Coming!" 

I left the money out on the table for the waiter to collect, and we followed Toph through the city.  Ba Sing Se was always beautiful, especially the Upper Ring, and I'd only been there once when I was ten.  I barely remembered that trip, and even if a street seemed familiar to me, I was still in awe of it.  The three of us walked for five minutes, Toph navigating through the streets, and Kyra and I sometimes getting distracted by the sights and trinkets in store windows.

"Oooh!"

"Are you coming?"

"But that jewelry box is so pretty!"

"Eh, you've seen nothing once, you've seen it a thousand times."

"Right.  Sorry.  Coming."

We walked for a little longer until she stopped at a hotel near the middle of the city.  It wasn't the biggest I'd seen so far today, but it was big.

"Come on," she said, opening the door inside.  A person standing by the entrance bowed to her, and she smiled in return.  Emblems of an Elephant Koi decorated lamps and the desk in the lobby.  The hotel was in fact called the Elephant Koi Escape.

"Are you staying here?" asked Kyra. 

"Yeah, me and a few friends," said Toph.  I could see her smirking from the side.

Kyra turned toward me, still following Toph down a hallway. "I wonder who her friends are!" she said excitedly.  I was rather curious, too.  Maybe they were some of the others she was on the menu with.  I saw Zuko had a tea named after him, as well as the Avatar, and a girl named Katara.  Even a flying bison.  

Toph stopped in front of a room numbered 16.  She knocked on the door twice, and someone answered.  He had a ponytail and was wearing clothes colored blue.  There was a shiny silver sword in his hand, and a cloth in the other.  It seemed like he had been polishing it.

"Hi, Toph, who's --" he started, but Toph had already walked past him.

"Kyra, Jin," she said, pointing to us respectively.  We waved.  "This is Sokka, Katara's over there, or it's Suki, I can't tell.  Someone's sitting on the bed." She pointed toward a girl with dark brown hair, wearing the same blue color as Sokka was.  

"It's Katara," said the girl. "Nice to meet you both, but, um, Toph, what are they doing here?"

"Hold on," interjected Kyra, walking into the room.  "You're Katara?  We saw you on the menu too!"

"The menu at the Jasmine Dragon, right?" she asked. 

"Yes, that's the one.  You're a bender?" 

"A waterbender, yes." She turned to Toph.  "Not to be rude, but, why exactly is it they're here, Toph?"

"Well, Jin knows Zuko."

"How do you know Zuko?" asked Sokka, having sat back down on a chair.  He continued to polish the silver sword.

"Well, I met him when --"

"She went out with him," blurted Kyra with a smile.  I kicked her shin lightly, and she rolled her eyes.

Sokka scoffed.  "When was this?"

"When he was in Ba Sing Se, as a refugee," I told him.  

"I was thinking... we could help Jin out," said Toph, now leaning up against a wall.  

Katara didn't look like she liked Toph's idea's very much. "What is it she needs?"

"Well, she wants to see Zuko."

"That's easy," said Sokka.   "We could all just get on Appa and --"

"But Iroh's already going to send a letter to Zuko," I told them, taking a seat next to Kyra on the couch she had helped herself to.  

"That could take ages," said Toph.  "Besides, we can surprise him. "

"I don't know, Toph."

"We're welcome in the Fire Nation now! Cmon Katara, please?  It'll be a really nice surprise."

"I don't think --"

"Yeah, Katara, please?" butted in Kyra.  I smiled in pleading when she looked at me.

"Fine.  But we still don't know if Aang will even let us use Appa, don't get your hopes up too --"

"You know the Avatar!?"  asked Kyra, a hundred percent amused.

"Uh, yes?"

Kyra could've screamed in exitement.  "That's amazing! Where is he?"

"At a luncheon, with the Earth King."

"You guys are so cool!" 

"How do you know the Avatar?" I asked, interested.  

Katara and Sokka looked at each other.

"We found him in an iceberg," said Sokka.

"What?"

"Yeah, Katara got all angry at me, her waterbending got out of control, and she broke the iceberg."

"That's crazy," said Kyra, her eyes wide in attent.

"Try being there," said Sokka.  Katara rolled her eyes.

"Then how'd you meet Toph?" I asked.

"While I was beating up a bunch of pro-earthbenders in a ring.  They came to watch."

"You were a pro-earthbender too?" said Kyra.  She stood up with an idea.  "You have to teach me something.  Come on, I'm an earthbender, too!  You have to teach me something."

Toph thought for a moment. "We'll see.  I did teach the Avatar, how hard could you be?"

"You guys just keep getting more amazing!" said Kyra.  I had to admit, I was rather amazed as well.  

"What else did you guys do?" I asked.

Katara opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, Sokka started listing stuff and couting on his fingers.

"Okay, so, found the Avatar, saved the Avatar, got saved by the Avatar, saved a town from being flooded, saved a town from a volcano, fought the Fire Nation in the North Pole... you know what?  There's a lot of stuff.  But mainly, we kinda just saved the world."

Kyra looked at him in amazement. "Hey, that's good enough for me."

"Okay, then, when Aang gets back, we're going to the Fire Nation," said Toph.  "Cmon, Kyra, let's kill some time."

Kyra squealed.

Chapter Text

"There is one thing though," I said. 

"What's that?" asked Katara.

"We have to be back around dusk.  The Fire Nation is far.  It would be a couple of day's journey, wouldn't it?"

Katara thought for a second.  "You couldn't be allowed to come with us for any longer?  Maybe even if we take you tomorrow?"

I looked at Kyra, who shrugged. 

"We could try."

"Okay, well, why don't we go get something to eat?"

"Good," said Sokka.  "I'm starved."

Kyra and I followed the three out of the hotel and onto the streets, where they eyed a few market stalls and decided they would take food back to the hotel.  We stopped at a few stands so people could choose what they wanted. 

"Suki!" said Sokka excitedly, as he ran up to a girl with a short bob, wearing green Earth Kingdom clothing.  He kissed her on the cheek, and she smiled.

"Hi, everyone -- hold on, we have two extra."

"Hi," I said.  "I'm Jin, and this is Kyra."

"Nice to meet you," said Suki, bowing.  Kyra and I did the same. "So," Suki began again, "what are we getting to eat?"

"Anything," said Katara.  "We're going to take it back to the hotel."

"Perfect.  Because I saw a roast duck at a stall a little way away that was absolutely mouth-watering."  She started walking, followed by the rest of us.  We spent the rest of that afternoon with them and sat in the hotel afterward.

"You know," said Sokka, an hour after we had set off to get food, "It's kinda boring when you're not on a mission."

Katara nodded.  "It is, isn't it?  Well, I'm sure we'll have more stuff to do soon enough.  I mean, we have to get Jin to the Fire Nation, don't we?"

"Get who to the Fire Nation?" said a young voice from the door.  It was a boy, bald, who had blue arrow tattoos on his arms and forehead, and was wearing simple robes.

Kyra gasped, but only audibly to me, who was sitting next to her. "That's the Avatar," she whispered. 

"Get Jin and Kyra to the Fire Nation," said Toph.  

"Who?" asked Aang, then finally spotting us on the cushions against the opposite wall. "Oh, hi, I'm Aang."

Kyra stood up.  "It's really an honor to meet you," she said, bowing.  I followed.  "I'm Kyra, and she's Jin." 

Aang bowed back.

"You're the Avatar?" I asked.

Aang nodded.  "Why do you need to go to the Fire Nation?" he asked.

"Jin dated Zuko," said Toph.  "She wants to see him again."

Aang smiled.  "Oh."

"We were thinking we could take her," said Katara. "To the Fire Nation," she completed.

"Sure!" said Aang. "We can go, Appa won't mind."

"Oh, not today," I said.  "We have to be back by dusk.  I'm going to ask my parents."

Aang shrugged. "Okay," he smiled.

"Well, I'm going whether my parents like it or not," said Kyra carelessly.  "You guys are amazing, and Toph's a legend!"

"You didn't know me before today," argued Toph.

"You're still a legend, aren't you?  Either way, you guys are the coolest."

"I am a legend, aren't I?" said Toph.  Katara rolled her eyes.

"Well, anytime you want to go is fine with me," said Aang, taking a seat.  "I don't have anything else to do.  Meeting with people is boring," he said, flopping backward and laying down.  

"Well, you've pretty much finished with the meetings, Aang," said Katara, crossing off something on a piece of paper.  "Earth King Kuei was your last meeting for the whole month."

"Good," said Aang, perking up again.  "Then we can have some fun."  He thought for a second. "Hey, Jin, you have to be home by dusk, right?"

"Yes," I replied.

"Well, we may not be able to go anywhere on Appa, but we can take a ride over the city."

"Really?" said Kyra.  "You'll take us on a flying bison?  I've never even seen a flying bison!"

"Well, you're about to," said Aang. "Cmon!"

He ran out of the hotel room, and everyone followed.  We were going to take a ride on an actual flying bison!  I've never even seen a picture of a flying bison, let alone ridden one.  And I'm sure Ba Sing Se looks so amazing from above, especially since it's just as amazing from the inside.  

Flying Bison are really big.

"Whoa," muttered Kyra, as we came out into the courtyard of the Elephant Koi Escape, where Appa was standing, chewing on hay that the Hotel had provided.  I was wordless at his size, yet even with that, he was very sweet with Aang, who patted his nose.

"Appa, this is Jin and Kyra.  Jin and Kyra, Appa."

I smiled wide. "He's beautiful," I said.  "Can I pet him?" 

Aang nodded.  I reached my hand out, and Kyra did the same.  Appa bent his head down and allowed us to stroke his soft, white fur. 

"Are you ready?"

"Of course!"  I said.

"Yes!" agreed Kyra excitedly.  

We got on to the saddle, accompanied by Katara and Aang, who took the reins.

"Ready, Appa?" he asked.

Appa grunted.

"Yip, yip!" he said, and the bison took off into the air.  Kyra and my smiles only got bigger as the bison soared above the hotel.  People in the courtyard looked up as we went into the sky.  As we went higher, we could see the entirety of the Inner Wall.  The Middle and Upper Rings were within this wall.  The yellow and green tones of the buildings were beautiful against the light of the sun.  The streets would through every empty path in an organized fashion, and the roofs of the buildings glinted against the sunlight.  

The wind blew my hair in every direction as I turned and moved to take in every sight.  Now we could see the Lower Ring, just outside the inner wall.  Smoke came from some chimneys as people cooked, and the colorful fruits of the market stalls dotted the whole ring.  I could see people who looked like tiny ants walking the streets.   It was amazingly beautiful, watching the city from above.  And when I looked hard enough, I saw the Firelight Fountain, just like when I had last gone there.  

"Kyra, it's amazing!" I turned to her and said, taking some hair out of my face.  

Kyra continued to peer over the edge of the saddle.  "I know!"

The ride lasted ten minutes more, soaring over the city to see every sight from above.  We landed, and everyone else was there to meet us.

"You did that every day?" I asked Katara as she hopped off the saddle, with the help of Aang.

"Every day," she said.  

"It was amazing!"

Chapter Text

I had to wake up Kyra when we got to our stop at the station.  It had been an extremely long day. But the good type of long.  One of the best days I've ever had.  Mainly because I met the Avatar and the rest of his world-saving companions.  Without them, the Fire Nation would rule all four nations.  And according to them, there wouldn't have been the Earth Kingdom at all.  

There was only one real challenge left.  The fact that I would have to convince my parents to let me go to the Fire Nation, of all places, for who knows how long.  I mean, I'm sure I could, but it'll take a lot.  I might have to throw the Avatar in the discussion somewhere.  

Kyra and I decided we'd ask tomorrow.  I was much too tired to answer our parents' multiple questions about the day, so I told them it was fun, but tiring, and went to bed.  

--

"What did you do after the teashop?" asked mother that morning, over breakfast.  She was very interested, and father seemed keen as well.

"Well, we met some friends.  We got lunch with them."

"Who?" asked mother.  "New friends?"

I took a sip of tea.  "Yes, new," I nodded. "Um, they were from all over the world, actually.  There was a waterbender, Katara, and an earthbender, too, her name was Toph.  A Kyoshi warrior, too, and a water tribe warrior."

"Really?  Were they traveling?"

"Yes," I said.  "With the Avatar."

"What?"

"I met the Avatar."

"Really?" asked Father.  "What was he like?"

"Well, his name's Aang, and he's twelve."

"He's twelve?" 

"Uh, yes.  And he's got this sky bison, his name's Appa.  Kyra and I went for a ride, actually.  It was really amazing.  The city's really beautiful from above."

"You went to the Upper Ring, and you met the Avatar!" said mother.  "That's wonderful, Jin!"

"It was.  He was really nice to us, too.  His earthbending friend might even teach Kyra some things."

"That's good," she said.  Just then, the door burst open and Kyra came through it.  She quickly bowed to my parents and grandfather.

"I'm going to the Fire Nation!" she said, out loud.  My family looked at her confusedly, and I facepalmed.

"Oh," Kyra said.  "You didn't ask yet."

"Ask what?" said mother.  "Ask to go to the Fire Nation?"

"Um, yes?" I answered.

"Why?" she said.

"Well, remember that guy I told you about? Lee?"

"Yes..." said mother and father simultaneously. 

"Well, his name wasn't Lee."

Father looked confused.  "Who was he, then?"

"His name's Zuko."

"Zuko, as in the new Fire Lord?" he asked.

"Um, yes."

"Why do you want to go to the Fire Nation?" asked mother.

"Well --"

"She wants to see Zuko again," interrupted Kyra.  I turned to her, giving her a look.  "What?" she shrugged.  "It would've taken you too long to get to the point."

"Jin, you can't just walk into the Fire Nation," said mother.  "Remember, the war only just ended.  I'm sure there's still some Fire Nation citizens who want the old Fire Lord back."

"Yes, but we'll be traveling with the Avatar, and his friends, mother.  I'm sure they're all more than capable of protecting us from any firebender.  They've offered to take us.  Zuko is their friend."

"Well, still, you can't just run off because you want to see a person you only went on a date with once."

"But I felt something, mother.  Come on, aren't you usually the compliant one?"

Father rolled his eyes.

"Ah, let her go," said grandfather.  Usually, he was the one to wait and listen for the right time to get into an argument.  Usually, that was never.

Mother and father turned toward him.

"What?  Father, she wants to --" started mother.

"I know what she said, Fera.  Jin's seventeen, isn't she?  Old enough to do what she pleases, I think.  Why don't you let her go?  She's given you no reason to think she can't handle the situation.  She's traveling with the Avatar, for spirit's sake."

Mother and Father gave each other looks and communicated through them.  then they nodded at each other.  Kyra looked hopeful.

"Alright," said mother.  "You should thank your grandfather.  We trust you, Jin."

I smiled wide. "Thank you, mother," I said, giving her a hug, then I turned to father, to do the same.  "Thank you, father."  I stood and bowed to grandfather.

"Thank you, grandfather," I said.

"Oh, come here," he replied, opening his arms in welcome.  I hugged him as well. "Charm him good," he said, making me smile.

"How long will you be gone for?" asked mother, as I got up.  

"I'm not sure," I said.  "It takes a couple of days to get to the capital city from Ba Sing Se.  And I don't know how long I'll be there."

Mother nodded. "Well, why don't you go pack some things."

Kyra squealed in excitement, following me to my room.

"You know, I was so excited when my mother and father said yes, I finished packing straight away.  Mother's asked me to send her lots of letters."

"I'll miss my parents," I said.  "But it'll be great to go somewhere other than Ba Sing Se.  I've never been outside the walls other than yesterday, on Appa."

Kyra looked up dreamily.  "That was amazing. You know, it's too bad Sokka's taken, he's kinda cute."

I rolled my eyes.  "Maybe you'll find someone in the Fire Nation capital, who knows."

"Maybe," Kyra smiled.  "But I'm happy that you get to go.  I mean, I guess we wouldn't even be going at all if it weren't for you, huh?"

"Yeah, and you'd be stuck here alone," I laughed. 

"Hey, I have friends!"

"Who, your cousin?  I don't think he counts."

Kyra rolled her eyes playfully.  "But anyways.  What are you bringing?" 

"Well, we don't know how long we're going to be gone.  But we can always get clothes there, so I'm not bringing much to wear."

"When in the Fire Nation, wear Fire Nation clothes."

"Exactly."

"Anything else?"

"I'll pack some other things too, I don't know what yet.  Aang said we could come to the hotel when we wanted to go, right?"

"Yes, he did," nodded Kyra.

"This is going to be fun," I said.

"It is."

Chapter Text

"You came!" said Katara, as she spotted Kyra and me in the hotel hallway, making our way to room 16.

"Hi, Katara.  It took a bit of convincing, but we came."

It was a day later.  We barely knew any details about the trip, but we were going.  We were actually making our way to the Fire Nation.  I imagined the red that adorned every person and building there.  The last time there was that much red, I was burned at the wrist.  I wondered what it would be like, seeing people in Fire Nation garb again.  At least now, the war was over.  We were under no one's control but our own.

"We were going to send a letter if you took another day, just to know if you were coming or not."

"Well, we're here," said Kyra.  "Is everyone here?"

"Yeah," replied Kyra.  "Everyone's here and ready.  It'll be fun to travel again, I think, even if it's just for two nights."

"Who paid for the hotel room?" asked Kyra. 

"The Earth King," replied Katara.  

"Ah.  Well, we're ready when you are," she said, holding up her small bag.

"Appa's ready, Aang and Toph are out there with him," continued Katara.  "I'll go get Sokka and Suki."

"Okay," we said in unison and started back out the door and around the side of the hotel to the back gardens.

Appa was being brushed by Aang.  A lemur was sitting on a bale of hay nearby, nibbling on fruit from a stall Kyra and I had passed earlier.  Toph was bending a bracelet of hers into random shapes boredly.

"Finally, some action," said Toph, making Aang turn around.  He smiled.  

"Hi, Jin, hi, Kyra," he said.  "Are you ready?"

"We're ready," I said.  "Katara's inside getting Sokka and Suki."

"Okay," Aang said.  He turned toward the lemur on the hay bale.  "Cmon, Momo," he said, and the lemur hopped onto his shoulder.  He airbent himself onto Appa, and Toph bent the ground under her to reach atop.  Kyra did the same for herself and me. 

Once everyone was finally on, we took off into the skies, but instead of hovering over Ba Sing Se, this time, we flew up and out of the walls, southwest toward the Fire Nation islands.  We stopped in Omashu that night, where we found a place to stay easily, as Aang had been childhood friends with the king.  

"Please, Toph?"

"Fine.  Let's go."

Kyra had been begging Toph to teach her that sense thing she does with he feet, so she could be a better earthbender.  Toph had finally given in, and the two had gone off to find some clear land.  She gave me an excited look as she followed Toph away, and I smiled back.  

"So," I said.  "What do we do now?"

"Well, we could teach you something," offered Suki, referring to her and Sokka.

"Teach me what?" I asked.  

"Some form of fighting," said Suki.  "I'm a Kyoshi Warrior, I'm sure I could show you something.  Sokka learned quickly.  Non-benders can be just as good at fighting as benders are."

"Well, alright."

"Great!"

Sokka, Suki, and I spent the next hour practicing stances and balancing.  Sokka let me borrow a sword.  Swords are heavier than they look.

There are hundreds of different ways to stand and move around when you're fighting.  It's amazing that I got to learn any.  Sokka said he learned from Master Piandao, a swordfighter in the Fire Nation.  Suki's fighting style takes after Avatar Kyoshi herself, as she and her group are called the Kyoshi warriors.  She taught me how to balance myself, and how to use an enemy's strength against them, knocking them down, and giving you the advantage.  Sokka showed me you had to be creative when fighting, and a quick thinker.  He showed me the things Master Piandao taught him and told me about his space sword, made from a meteorite. 

Maybe we spent more than an hour.  

We had landed in Omashu at sunset, and it was dark by the time Sokka, Suki, and I went back to where we were staying.  Kyra and I shared a room, and we told each other the whole night about what we had done with our new teachers.  Toph was harsh, and mean with her teaching, but Kyra didn't mind at all.  She had learned a bunch of new things, like that rock was stubborn, so she had to be stubborn toward it, as well.  Toph told her she was well on her way to learn metalbending.

We took off again in the morning after breakfast, stopping just before sunset in Fire Fountain City.  It was once named for a large statue of Fire Lord Ozai in it's center, and the last time Aang and his friends had been here, the war was still going on, and the statue was still there.

"I wonder what they've put in the center now?" said Sokka, navigating himself and the rest of us down a street.

"I'm sure Zuko's had the statue taken down," said Suki.

"Maybe there's an actual fountain," offered Kyra.  "It seems like the most reasonable decision."

"Well, let's see!" said Sokka, now walking faster toward the center of the city. I looked around in awe at the red and gold adorned buildings.  I'd never seen so many warm colors in one place.  Kyra and I were probably stared at, as we were some of the only ones who weren't wearing Fire Nation clothes.  Even if the war was over, Katara, Toph, Sokka, and Suki had opted for a red-colored look, while Aang continued wearing his Air Nation robes.  But those were still orange, and Kyra and I only had shades of green, which weren't usually worn in the Fire Nation. 

"It's amazing," whispered Katara, as she looked at the new center of the city.  Aang smiled, and Kyra gasped.

My mouth hung open at the sight.  It was a  two-tiered fountain, the second level a bowl pouring into the first.  The carving at the top was simple and looked like just a circle with the Fire Nation's symbol carved simply into it.  The bottom level held multiple lanterns, all with a small flame on the inside.  Four lanterns sat on each end of the fountain, and street lanterns surrounded the place in a circle, concentric with the fountain, all with a flame inside as well.

It looked exactly like my favorite place in Ba Sing Se.  

Chapter Text

"What?" asked Katara.  "What is it?" She had turned to me.  My mouth was still wide in shock and  Kyra was giving me a wide-eyed look.

"What's wrong?" repeated Katara. 

"This place," I said, looking around at it still, "looks exactly like the place I took Zuko to when we went on our date in Ba Sing Se."

"He remembered?" asked Suki.

"He remembered," I assured.  "I can't believe it.  He modeled this place after it."

"He did," agreed Kyra.  "It looks exactly like the Firelight Fountain."

"Do you think..." started Aang touchily.  "Do you think he did it on purpose?"

I didn't even think about that. "Maybe he did," I said.

"Hey, Jin," started Kyra, interrupting my admiring of the fountain. "There are some stores here, want to go shopping?"

"Please," I said, standing up after taking a seat on the brim of the fountain.  Sokka and Katara went to pick up food, Suki came with Kyra and me, and Toph and Aang went to find a place to stay.  

"Here," said Suki, pointing to a store whose sign read Kadichi's Clothing Palace.  "It's a good place to start."

She opened the door to the ringing of a bell tied to the hinges.  A young woman sat at a desk, looking at her nails.  She half-smiled at us when we walked in, then left us to browse.  It wasn't a very big shop, but wasn't so small, either.

We ended up buying a couple of outfits.  Kyra was obsessed with this one specific scarf.  It was extremely silky, but simple, and a really nice scarlet orange color. I found some clothes that were perfect for me, with long, but tight, sleeves, that would keep me cool in the warm Fire Nation, as well as a couple of skirts that were styled a lot like Suki's, with gold designs at the bottom.  We had no Fire Nation money, so Suki paid.  

There was no place in Fire Fountain City that had grounds big enough for Appa, so we decided we'd camp on the outskirts.  There was more room to practice Kyra's earthbending there, anyway, and they had all camped there before.

"They look great," complimented Katara toward our new Fire Nation garb.  

"Thanks," said Kyra, and I smiled, sharing her statement.

"Hey, we got dinner," said Sokka, as Katara waterbent soup into different bowls.

--

In the morning, we set off again.  We made it to the Capital City by afternoon, as it wasn't such a long journey to make in the first place.  

"So, what do we do now?" asked Kyra.  "Are you just dropping us off, or..."

"No, we're here to help," said Katara. 

"Besides, there's still more to teach you, isn't there?" smiled Suki.  Sokka nodded in agreement.  

"Well, why don't we take a break, and go to the palace later.  It'll be a surprise for Zuko," said Aang.  

There was a murmur of consent. 

"Where are we staying, though?" asked Kyra.  "Shouldn't we look for a place to sleep?"

"I'm sure there's room enough in the palace," said Aang.

"We're staying in the palace?" said Kyra excitedly.

"Well, when the Fire Lord was your Firebending teacher, it tends to come with some perks," smirked Aang.

Kyra squealed.

"Hey, Jin, do you want to go into town?" she asked me an hour later, after practicing earth bending with Toph for a while.  She had interrupted my tree stance, and I opened an eye to see her, letting go of a breath I wasn't aware I was holding. 

"Yes, sure," I said, still staying in the stance.  "Can I go, Suki?  Sokka?"

"That's Master Sokka, to you," he said.  Suki rolled her eyes and elbowed him.

"You can go.  The palace gardens are a much better place to practice, anyway."

We took a walk into town, just the two of us.  It hadn't been just the two of us in a few days, now. I was hoping to find someplace to send a letter to my family.  After stopping for a while to get a portrait done by a street artist (which cost us a whole gold piece), we finally went off to the post office, where I wrote a letter to my family, and Kyra did the same, also sending the portrait of the two of us along with it.

On our way around, hoping to find somewhere to get good tea, Kyra stopped in passing of a messy-haired boy.  He had tan skin and was wearing Fire Nation clothes, and his hair was black.

"You were right, Jin," she said.

"Right about what?" I asked.

"I did find someone in the Fire Nation.  Look at him."

"Yes, I saw."

She looked at me as if asking a question, raising her eyebrows as if it was obvious.

"Go get him, Kyra."

"Okay, okay," she said.  "Go around that building so it's not creepy, and watch this."

She strode over to the boy sweetly, confronting him as he walked.  He stopped in his tracks.

"Hi," said Kyra.

"Um, hi?" said the boy.

"I'm Kyra."

The boy looked confused. As was I.  "I'm Hakan?"

"Hakan, you are extremely good-looking.  Are you a firebender?  I bet you're a firebender."

Hakan scratched the back of his neck. "Thanks, I guess.  And, um, yes?"

"That's great.  I'm an earthbender."

"You are?"

"Mhm.  Would you like to go for tea with me?  It looks like you aren't doing anything interesting."

"Well, I --" Hakan thought for a second. "Ah," he said, shrugging it off.  "Sure, I'll go for tea with you.  Kyra, you said you were, right?"

"Mhm," she said, as she linked elbows with him.  Hakan looked confused, but content, and went along with it as they walked around the building I was standing at.  "And that's how it's done," Kyra said to me as she passed.  

I walked back to where we were resting, in an earthy area just outside the city.  Aang and Sokka were resting on Appa, Toph was practicing fighting with Katara, and Suki was still doing stances.

Sokka opened one eye, then the other when he saw Kyra was not with me.

"Where's Kyra?" he asked.

"She found a boy," I said.  "Went to get tea with him."

"Well, when she comes back, we can go to the palace, alright?" said Aang.

I took a deep breath.  "Alright."

Chapter Text

"Ah!  He's amazing.   You know, his favorite color is green.  I asked why, he said because of my eyes!  Oh, he is so romantic," bragged Kyra, speaking of her newfound "love" as we walked through the city toward the royal palace.

"I'm glad you like him," I said.  "Did he kiss you?"

"Not on a tea date Hakan wouldn't.  He's a senator's son, extremely fancy.  He took me to the greatest tea place.  You should go with Zuko."

"I haven't even seen Zuko."

"Well, he's been on a date with you before.  You kissed.  I'm sure that's acquainted enough, don't you think?"

She was right.

"That's a big palace," I muttered after a couple minutes more of walking.  The upper part palace had come into view, and we were walking up the path toward the gate that surrounded it.  There were two guards on each side of the door.  They bowed to Aang, then turned around on their heels and walked toward the gates, blew a fire blast into four dragon's mouths, and turned and walked a step back to their posts as the doors opened.  They stared forward, and we walked through the gates and up the path to the palace.  

It was a long, stone path, that led to the platform where the palace was.  Kyra's and my jaws dropped as the whole castle came into view.

"If you marry him, you'll live here," muttered Kyra.  

"I know," I replied, still in awe of the place.  It had three main towers, and the one in the center was the tallest, and topped with the same shape that the Fire Lord's crown was. There was a red door on the first level of it, and three steps led up to the platform where the palace sat.  It was adorned with gold carvings and decorations, and the main build was of stone and metal.  

Two guards were posted at either side of the entrance door.  Like the ones at the gates, they bowed to Aang, who was leading us, and opened the doors to let us inside.  They nodded back when anyone nodded a thanks. 

"I've seen the outside, but I've never seen the inside," said Suki, in awe at the place.

"I haven't seen either," remarked Toph with a smile.  Kyra snickered.

Everyone seemed to be amazed with the place.  We were lucky we had someone to follow, or we'd just be bumping into each other the whole time looking at stuff.

We were in an echoey room, but it had windows, and was bright.  Red curtains acted as doors to the hallways off this main room, and in the back of it, was a grand door surrounded by gold carvings, that I assumed was the throne room.  Sokka picked up a small statue of a gold dragon that sat on a stone pedestal, and Suki admired the shapes on the ceiling.

"Don't touch that, Sokka," said a voice, coming out from one of the side doors.  Sokka put the gold dragon down hastily and bowed very low.

"Sorry, Fire Lord," he said, suppressing a laugh.

It was indeed the boy from Ba Sing Se.  Though his hair was up in a bun, his face was exactly the same.  Same scar, too.

"Is it him?" Kyra whispered.

"It's him."

I wasn't sure whether to be nervous, excited, or in awe of how extremely good he looked.  

"Hi, Zuko," said Aang with a smile.  Zuko greeted everyone else, as well, but Kyra and I stood toward the back of the group.

"Nice surprise?" asked Katara.

"A great surprise," said Zuko.

"Well, we've got even more," muttered Toph, but no one else heard.

"So what is it you're all here for?" asked Zuko.

"Well, we've got someone to see you, actually," said Katara.  

"Okay," said Zuko.  Suki lightly kicked me and I shortly stumbled forward.  

"Hi, Lee," I said with a smile, and Zuko's eyes widened at the sight.

"It's you!  You're the girl from Ba Sing Se! You're Jin!"

"It's nice to see you," I said reassuringly, letting him know that there were no harsh feelings.

"It's -- wow." His surprised expression turned sorry.  "Listen, Ba Sing Se --"

"It wasn't your fault," I stopped him.  This I was sure of, even if I didn't know.

"But I left you, then my sister --"

"Hey, it's okay," I said, putting my hand on his wrist.  It was only supposed to be reassuring, but it felt... well, I wasn't sure how to describe it.  But it was a good feeling.  "It's over.  They're gone now, and I'm sure that's somewhat thanks to you."

Even in the little light there was, I saw his cheeks go slightly pink.

"Well, why don't I take you all to the courtyard, and we can sit and talk," he said.  He took us through a hallway and out a door, which led to a courtyard surrounded by warm colored flowers and a fountain in the middle, topped with a carving of the Fire Nation emblem encrusted in gold.  There were stone benches as well, but Toph went ahead and made herself comfortable, stepping on the ground once and a chair with a back popped out of the ground.

"Toph," muttered Zuko, rolling his eyes.

"What?" she shrugged.  "You get a throne."

"As long as you put it back the way it was," he said.  "Anyway," he continued, turning back to everyone else, who had sat down already.  "Where have you been?"

"Well, we've been staying in the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se, for my meeting with the Earth King," said Aang.

"And that was..."

"Boring," said Aang.  "But Bosco liked my tricks."

Zuko smiled.  "And, Jin, how did you meet them?"

"Well, actually, it's a long story," I said.

"I've got time," he said, his face becoming more intent.

"Well, I saw a poster of you in town," I began.  "I knew it was you, and I wanted to see you again.  I remembered your uncle, and I heard some people talking about his tea shop in the markets.  Kyra and I went to the Upper Ring, and met your uncle and Toph, who took us back to meet the rest of them."

"I'm Kyra, by the way," she interrupted, leaning forward and waving.  

"Nice to meet you," said Zuko, smiling at her.

We caught up, he asked me questions about Ba Sing Se, and when I asked, he told me, reluctantly, the story of the coup with the help of the rest of the group.  It was his sister, and it had always been.  He said he made the wrong choice.  And he shouldn't have.  

Chapter Text

I hadn't seen guards in Fire Nation uniforms for a week.  I was glad to not see them, because they had made me afraid.  Afraid the war was never going to end, and that Ba Sing Se would be under the Fire Nation's control forever.  There was barely anything that gave me hope.  

And I was afraid still, sometimes flinching when one walked past.  Kyra was the only one who repeatedly noticed it.  I knew she was watching out for me.  Because she remembered what one did to me.

I had been walking to the market one morning, and of course, the soldiers marched in their organized formations, making sure nothing was out of order.  But this particular morning, something seemed to be too expensive, or something was stolen, I can't remember.  But a fight broke out between a young merchant and a customer.  They were wrestling on the ground, and everyone was gasping, and worrying, because this would surely bring the attention of the soldiers.

Five came running over, and one immediately blasted fire into the air with his fist, threatening others.

"What's this about?" he said, in a deep voice.

No one answered.

"I asked you a question!" he said to the few people in the market, including me, who was standing just by the stand where the fight broke out. 

"You!" he said, pointing to me.  "Girl.  What's this about."

"I'm not sure, sir, I wasn't really --"

"Alright then," he said.  He faced the men on the ground.  "Get up!" he yelled.  The two young men stumbled forward, afraid.

"I am trying to keep order in this filthy city, and you go ahead and break out a fight?"

The two men looked down.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you!  We're in charge now.  You have no right to go and fight over some petty price of a mango.  I could care less!"

"Sir, we --" said one man.

"I DID NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO SPEAK!" said the soldier, scaring everyone a step back, and making the young man who had interrupted stumble over.

"That's right!" he yelled.  "Be afraid!"  He faced the man who had stumbled over.  "You're coming with me," he said to him.  The man winced as he forced him up, and two other soldiers started to drag him away.  But I stepped forward, and done something I definitely regret doing today.

"Sir, I-- it was only a small fight, why do you have to take him away?" I asked.  Reluctantly.

"You dare question me, girl?" said the man forcefully, grabbing my wrist.

"I --"

"Your rights to speak freely in this city have been revoked! How dare you speak against me?"

As he spoke, getting angrier, the hand on my wrist became warmer, and warmer, until it was too hot to bare.  I wasn't listening to the words he said to the crowds and me anymore, all I felt was searing pain.  It was still getting hotter.  It was burning.  I knew it.  It would leave a mark all around my wrist.  I think I had been crying.  

Then he finally dropped it, and I laid on the ground, my senses back in order and my eyes not squinting in pain anymore.  My skin was burnt, I could feel it now.

"Let that be a warning!" said the guard, and he and his soldiers marched off with the man I had tried to stand up for.

I could feel that my breathing was shaky.  People were scared to come and help me, but they did look worried, from what I could see.  But it was as if I couldn't get up -- the burn had left my whole left side full of pain, even if it was only my wrist he had burned.  His whole hand had felt like a hot iron.  My head finally processed the event, and I was left feeling numb, tears flowing, trying to sit up.

"Jin! Jin!  Dear spirits, Jin!" said a voice, as it rushed into the market from a side street.

I made a noise to let the familiar voice know I was okay.

"Jin, oh Jin, what happened?"

I couldn't speak.  I didn't want to.

"I'll take you home, Jin, let's go.  Come on, Kyra, help me carry her home."

Kyra had been standing by a building, in shock of my condition.  I had been sitting on the ground, one arm burnt, tears flowing down my face.  It had only been a minute or two since the guards left.

"Yes, mother," said Kyra quietly, carefully taking my right side and hoisting me up on her shoulders.  They took me the way I had came from my house, avoiding any people's questions and stares.

Kyra's mother opened the door, to an aghast look of my mother.

"What's -- Jin!" Mother's voice became quavering as Kyra and her mother laid me on the couch.  Grandfather came out of the kitchen.

"They're monsters," he muttered, as all the others fussed over getting me bandaged.  I only heard him, tuned everything else out.  "We have to win this war, Jin," he said.  He knew I heard him.  "We have to."

I winced again as mother started to wound the bandages.

"Sorry, darling, too tight?" I didn't respond, but she went looser anyway.

Kyra's mother went to get my father from Pao's Tea Shop, which was where the resistance met.  He came to comfort me, and had a little medical training, as his father was a doctor.  He looked at my wrist and told me I would be alright, but it would leave a permanent burn.  He asked me to tell him the story.  I took my time with it.  It was hard to remember at the moment.  So much had happened in only a couple minutes.

They all stayed with me.  For hours and hours.  I didn't even ask for anything, they just brought me stuff.  Tea, food, blankets, bandages.  It got dark, and they still hadn't left yet.  Because I was still afraid.  Kyra's dad came along as well, and brought a new glass vase with him. 

 I'd always liked his creations.  They cheered me up when I was sad, always.  But I couldn't be cheered up that day.  

"You're going to be okay, Jin," whispered Kyra, as she sat next to me on the couch.  It was pitch black outside, and everyone else looked to be sleeping.  "Everyone's here.  We'll keep you safe.  No one's ever going to to that to you again."

"No," I said to her, extremely shakily.  "They won't."

Chapter Text

"Should I arrange for rooms?" asked Zuko to Aang.  We were now inside, in a sitting room.  There were couches and cushions and tables all adorned with gold, and the two doors of this place were covered with red curtains to let us through.  A back window looked out into a grassy yard, with bridges and a pond and simple stone benches.  There were weeping willows, providing shade, though it was dark now, and nocturnal animals scurried about.  

"Yes, please," said Aang.  "Everyone their own?" he turned to the group, who shrugged.

"Kyra and I could share," I offered.  I wanted to, anyway.  

"Two beds in Jin's room, got it," he said.  "That's all?"

Everyone looked around at each other and nodded.

He went out to look for a servant instead of calling one there and came back within a minute.  Kyra's and my room was the last to be ready, as a second bed had to be carried in.  The two of us were left in the sitting room.

"Hey, it's just us," said Kyra.

"And?" 

"Well, if I leave, when Zuko comes back, it'll be just you and him," she said, making me smile.  

"I'll take that as I'm going to the bathroom," she said, and went out the door to the right, leaving me to look out the window.  Indeed, a minute after, Zuko came into the room, and I felt the butterflies rising in my stomach.

"This is my favorite room inside the castle," he said, joining me on the couch.

"Why's that?" I asked, turning from the window to him.  The moon reflected on his face quite wonderfully.

"Well, because you can see the outside," he said, looking out the window.  "This is my favorite place in the castle, but that's my favorite place, well, maybe anywhere."

"It's pretty," I said.  

"I've watched you," he said.  "Not creepily, just -- saw you.  You flinch when the guards pass if you don't see them coming.  Is that why?" He looked at my left wrist.  I held it up, and he took it, carefully, so as not to hurt me.

"It's a burn," he assured.  "Can I ask --"

"I spoke out when I wasn't supposed to," I said.  "A soldier took my wrist and used me as a warning. That's the simple story, anyway.  I don't think I could tell the whole thing."

"Simple's all I need," he assured.  "I wasn't sure if it was maybe a bad cooking incident or a firebender.  Though I assumed the latter."

"Good instincts," I said.  

It was quiet for another moment until I remembered the fountain in Fire Fountain City.  I wanted to ask him about it, though I wasn't sure if this was the time.  Yet the question came out of my mouth anyway.

"Do you remember the fountain I took you to in Ba Sing Se?"

Zuko smiled fondly.  "Yeah."

"Did you model the center of Fire Fountain City after it?"

It seemed the memories came rushing to him.  But he smiled anyway.  "Did you... like it?"

"It reminded me of that night," I said.  "I loved it."

"I didn't think I would ever see you again, Jin," he began.  "I thought about you sometimes.  I wondered what you were up to.  I wondered if you were okay."

"I thought of you, too," I said.  "Well, I thought of Lee.  I wondered if you'd maybe escaped the city, but I figured you were I firebender in the end.  But when I saw the poster -- it took me a bit to actually process that not only were you Fire Nation, but the Fire Lord."

Zuko chuckled.  "It's a lot to take in."

I turned to look up at him again.  It was just like that night.  Only that was the past.  This is the now.  He's not Lee, he's Zuko.  He's not a refugee, he's the Fire Lord.  Whose face looks so incredible in the moonlight.

I took out the metal piece holding up the bun in his hair.  It fell in wisps, and his bangs fell to his face.  Reminiscent of that night.

"Look at you," I said sweetly, messing up his hair.  "You look so cute."

I knew he was blushing because my hand had found itself on his cheek.  His gold eyes were extremely easy to get lost in, and I felt myself getting closer, and I didn't want to stop...

And he was doing the same until we couldn't get any closer and our lips touched.  He pushed forward, and unlike that night, ran his hands through my hair slowly.  The kiss lasted a couple of seconds more before we both pulled away.

"I missed that the most, I think," I said.  But Zuko just sort of smiled, and stood up, taking the hairpiece off the table.  

"I'll, uh, see you in the morning," he said and walked out a little awkwardly.

I asked someone where my bedroom was, and they led me to it.  It was upstairs, on the east end of the castle, where most of the bedrooms were.  Kyra was already there, playing with the lotions that had been in the bathroom.

"You know, if you mix lavender and jasmine, it smells really good," she said.  "Anyway, how'd it go?"

"It..." I wasn't sure if the way he left was good or bad.  Why was he so awkward?  I mean, I guess he'd always been awkward.  "It... went," I finished.  Kyra looked skeptical.

"And is that good or bad?" she asked.

"I don't know," I said.  "We kissed, and it was amazing, but when he left, he was weird."

"Well, you told me he was awkward last time."

"But last time he ended the kiss, he didn't go along with it."

"Right," remembered Kyra.  

"But it was amazing," I said.

"I'm sure," replied Kyra.  "Hey, have you seen the closet?  It's amazing?"

"It's just a closet, isn't it?  I -- oh, wow."  I had walked over and opened it.  It was a lot bigger than my closet at home and had twice the amount of clothes.  

"And, there's a second one," said Kyra, pointing to the opposite wall.  There was a second wardrobe, and it had different clothes than the one I had opened.  Kyra looked around in the other closet.

"I like this one," she said.  "You get that one."

"I haven't even seen that one yet!"

"Too late, it's mine.  Besides, look, those colors perfectly suit you, the servants took note of your skin tone."

I smiled.  Then found something to sleep in.  I put my stuff in a drawer by the bedside.  There were two large beds, one for Kyra, and one for me.  We had shared a room many times over the years, whether it being at sleepovers or just family things, or maybe one wandering over to the other's house in the middle of the night.  Either way, this was the most comfortable.  It's the way we'd always had it.

But sometimes, things change.

Chapter Text

I was drawn to the garden that morning.  Of course, I knew why.  I immediately got dressed when I woke up and went outside, where small animals scurried and flower petals fell from blossoming trees.  There was a small pond in the middle of it, where turtle ducks swam.  I smiled at the sight of them and hurried a servant to get me a roll of bread.  He came back with two.

A baby turtle duck waddled onto the grass where I was sitting.  I tore off a piece of bread and let it lay in my hand.  It tickled when the baby picked it up, but they seemed content with it and took it back into the lake.

"I see you found the turtle ducks," said a voice from the bridge.  It was Zuko.

"I did," I said.  "They're the sweetest."

Zuko smiled, then came and sat next to me.  I handed him one of the rolls, and he and I both broke off a piece and threw it into the water, where the mother turtleduck and the baby turtleducks swam to fetch it. 

"So," I said, turning to face him.

"So..." he continued, waiting for me.  I think he knew what this was about, though.

"Well -- why were you awkward last night?  I mean, it was weird, the way you left."

"It wasn't weird," he said, looking down.  "It was just... awkward."  He threw another piece of bread to the ducks.

"Well, I guess."

"Okay then."

It was awkwardly quiet for a while longer until one of the servants called for breakfast.

"Coming," called Zuko, standing up.  He politely took my hands and helped me off the grass, as well.

We ate that morning, then Kyra went into town to see Hakan, and Suki and Sokka decided they'd continue training me.

"Well, see, Ty Lee hasn't been with us for long, so I really only know the basics.  I can do arms, that's it," Suki said when I asked her about chi-blocking.  "And we can't block bending yet.  She's still in Kyoshi training with the other warriors."

"Why aren't you there, too?" I asked.

"I'm going soon," she said.  "It's only one day's trip from here.  But I still don't know when, that's all."

"Oh."

"Anyways," she continued, handing me a fan.  But as she and I took her stance, a fourth person came into the yard, someone I hadn't met yet.  Sokka and Suki seemed to know her, though.  She had dark hair, tied in two small buns, and bangs that hung over her forehead, and she was wearing a red dress.

"What are we doing?" she asked Suki.

"Well, we're training."

"Well, it's not Sokka that's becoming a Kyoshi Warrior."

"No one's becoming a Kyoshi Warrior, we're just filling some time.  This is Jin." She stepped aside so the girl could see me.  "Jin, this is Mai," said Suki.  

"Nice to meet you," said Mai.  She had a bored tone to her voice.  "But you're doing it wrong."

"You too," I said.  "And, um, what?"

"You're doing it wrong.  That sword can be easily blocked.  I could wear a metal sleeve and easily beat you.  You'll need something smaller, like these," she explained, revealing a small, red, double-bladed knife in between her fingers.  "Demonstration, Suki?" she said, and pulled a long stance, while Suki took both fans and readied herself.

Sokka counted to three, and on the number, Mai threw three of the double-ended knives.  Two were blocked by Suki's fan, while she ducked under the other.  But when Mai threw again, this time, four small, fast-moving stilettos, Suki's left sleeve was pinned to a tree behind her.

"There," said Mai, as she turned to see my surprised face.

"That was amazing," I said, still in awe.  Suki pulled out the stilettos from the tree and her sleeve with her right hand, releasing herself.

Mai looked proud of herself. "I know," she said.

"Can you teach me that?"

"What've you got, like, a bazillion different styles of fighting in your resume now?" asked Sokka.  I'm teaching you, Suki's teaching you, you want Mai to teach you, you want to learn chi-blocking... are you sure you can handle all that?"

"I'm trying to find something I'm good at.  Kyra's an earthbender, and I never felt able to defend myself. "

"I'm sure you'll find that something," said Mai.  "Cmon, there's targets that the Yuyan Archers used in a closet somewhere, I'm sure I can find them."

"Okay, then, we'll hold off our training for a while!" called Sokka, as I followed Mai into the castle.

"So who are you, anyway?" she asked.  "Like, you're Jin, but, who's Jin?"

"I'm from Ba Sing Se, actually," I said.

"Ba Sing Se?" she asked, peering inside a door that just led to another hallway.  She continued walking.  "Why'd you come all the way here?"

"To see Zuko," I said.  "I knew him, actually.  A long time ago, and I wanted to see him again."

A long time ago.  At least, that's what it felt like.  Everything was different now.  

"I see," she said, opening a door.   It led to a closet, full of brooms and the targets Mai was looking for.  She pulled out two of them and handed one to me to bring back to the yard.  There was only one dent in the both of them -- one at dead center, in the red bullseye.

"Yuyan archers must be good," I said, walking back down the hall to the yard. 

"They're extremely good," she said.  We set up the targets in the yard by unfolding the wooden legs.  She pulled out two double-sided blades and gave them to me.

"Now watch.  This is extremely precise."  I watched closely as Mai closed one eye and took the same long stance as before.  She threw the two knives, one after the other, and they both landed one ring out of the bullseye.  

She looked back at it.  I was particularly amazed by her precision, and I was sure I wouldn't get it anywhere near where she did.  "I'm not a Yuyan," she said, "but that's not so bad.  You try."

"I'm not sure," I said.

"Oh, please," she said.  "Just copy what I did.  Come on, surely you've played darts before."

"Well, yeah, but that's different."

"Just a different pointy thing," she came back.

I focused on the bullseye, still unsure.  But I continued, and took the stance, best I could, as Mai did, mixed with one I was more comfortable with.  I closed one eye, and the bullseye came easily into view, and the tip of the knife lined with the center.  I threw, and it shot through the air, hitting only three rings outside of the bullseye.

"Not bad for a first try," said Mai.

"I've had target practice before," I said.  "How'd you say you knew Zuko?" I wondered out loud.

"I've known him since we were little," said Mai.  "But I'm his girlfriend."

Chapter Text

"Sorry?" I said.  I wanted to make sure I heard right.  Though I'm quite sure I did.

Mai wasn't paying a lot of attention, she closed one eye and aimed another knife at the target.

"I said I knew him since we were little, and I'm his girlfriend."

That's why Zuko went away so awkwardly.  He's got a girlfriend.  And a knife-throwing one, at that.  I remembered now.  She was the girl from the night before the coup.  The one that put a fish on top of Zuko's head and threw an icicle at it like a dart, piercing the fish.  

I didn't want to make it weird, so I stayed in the garden.  While Mai hit the bullseye a couple of times, the closest I got was one ring away.

"Hey, at least you're hitting the target," she said.  "It's not fun to teach if they can't aim."

"I would think so," I said.  

A few more minutes went by, and finally the both of us went inside and our separate ways.  But I found myself not knowing where to go, and I wandered around the castle.  I knew the way to the east wing, and toward my bedroom, but I didn't want to go there.  I wanted to go someplace to think.

Four hallways, two dining rooms, and a long staircase later, I had found myself in front of a curtained door like the ones that led to the hallways, only this one was different.  The curtain had patterns on it, and the door was bigger.  It looked like the one that led to that small living room that looked out into the yard, only a little bigger.  Maybe this was just a bigger version.

It seemed like a perfect place to just let my head fight with itself, and listen to my thoughts.

And I did, and nothing came out of it except a hot towel and a cup of tea.  Servants stumbled upon me and offered stuff.  And it seemed everyone else liked to wander around the palace too, because eventually Toph stumbled upon me, and started ordering servants around.  I mean, I didn't know you could ask a servant to go buy you a rabbaroo.  And just as Toph had asked, Katara came in and told the servant they did not need to buy her a rabbaroo, and that she was perfectly fine without one.  Toph got annoyed.

Kyra came back later, with news of a first kiss with Hakan at what was supposedly the most amazing restaurant in the Fire Nation.  At least, according to Hakan.  

"He's absolutely amazing," she told me in that very same room, where now Aang and Suki had gathered.  "He says he wants to come to my house sometime.  I didn't know what to tell him.  I mean, what was I supposed to say, that I'm staying in the palace with the Avatar and friends?"

"You could've said that," said Aang.  "It is the truth."

"He wouldn't have believed me, not in a hundred years."

"A lot can happen in a hundred years," shrugged Aang.  Katara snickered.

"Hey, where's Sokka?" asked Kyra, finally noticing the missing member.

"He's down in the yard, fighting Mai," said Suki, rolling her eyes playfully.  "He's trying to at least win once before he comes up here, and by the look of it, he hasn't won yet."

"Well, you can't fight tiny knives with a sword," I shrugged.

By the time we had all gone up to bed, it had been dark for hours.  We spent a lot of the time after dinner playing Pai Sho over and over again, continuously saying "okay, one more game". or "hold on, I want to go again".   I wanted to talk to Kyra about Mai, but I wasn't going to do it in front of everyone, so I decided that when we went upstairs I'd talk with her.  

"So... what's the gossip?" asked Kyra as she unmade her bed.

"I was waiting for you to ask," I said.  "You know how I came here to see Zuko, right?"

"Yes..."

"Well, see the thing is, I think I still have feelings for him."

"That's old news, Jin, I knew that when you first laid eyes on the guy."

"Well, yeah, but there's another thing."

"..."

"He's got a girlfriend."

Kyra dropped a decorative pillow. "He's got a what?"

"A girlfriend."

"You come all this way for him, and he goes and gets a girlfriend?"

"He had the girlfriend before I came," I said.  "But that's not --"

"Still!  Shouldn't he have remembered you?  Shouldn't he thought of the possibility you'd come back?"

"He didn't think he'd ever see me again, Kyra!  Besides, they've known each other forever.  Longer than I've known him, that's for sure."

"What's her name, anyway?"

"Mai."

"That bored, knife-throwing girl?  You're much better than her."

"Much better than her at what?"

"Well, at least you show feeling."

"Kyra, listen.  Maybe we should just go.  It was nice to see him and all, but --"

"Absolutely not!  I thought you were the one with common sense!  You'll win.  You have to."

"Kyra, I just don't think --"

"Shh.  Let it play out.  I've just got a feeling, that's all.  We are not leaving the Fire Nation until you get the Fire Lord.  I have spoken, good night."

I rolled my eyes. "Right.  Good night."

--

The next morning, Aang, Suki, and Sokka left to take her back to Kyoshi Island.  Aang and Sokka would be back by nightfall.  

While Kyra decided she'd have a day of training with Toph, I stayed in the castle, bored out of my mind.  Both the people who would usually train me while Kyra did earthbending, were gone.  Of course, there was one other person.

"Hey, Mai?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I was wondering... do you think you could teach me more?  I mean, Sokka and Suki are gone, so I thought maybe.."

"Sure.  I'm bored, anyway.  Palaces are like that."

We went to the yard, where I told one of the servants to get the targets.

"It's alright to practice other's styles of fighting, but remember, you have to find yourself, too," said Mai, pulling out a knife in between her fingers.  

I had known I'd have to find a style I was comfortable with.  A style that suited me.  But I'd decided to learn other people's styles first, so as to find my own way inspired by them.  Honestly, my favorite so far was Suki's style.  It was quick, yet strong.  Like a combination of both Mai's and Sokka's.  Of course, I would still have to find my own.  The only thing was, I wasn't sure how.  

Chapter Text

"He wanted to meet you.  You'll love him, he's so perfect," said Kyra the next afternoon, pulling me through the streets of the Fire Nation Capital.  She wanted me to meet Hakan, arguing that he had asked to meet me.  Of course, I went, yet she was still pulling me by my arm every 

"I'm coming, Kyra, you don't have to drag me."

"You're going slowly! I --"

"Shh," I said, pulling her back.  "Look."  I had stopped in the middle of a street, where someone was looking us up and down.  

"That's 'em," he said in a deep voice.  He was very muscular, and was surrounded by two guys who weren't too much smaller than he was.  They were all smiling.

"Um, sorry, who are we?  Who are you?" questioned Kyra coolly.  She was scared, but you could only tell if you knew her.  And I knew her all too well.  She was going to start something.

"I'm Dezao.  And you're Earth Kingdom peasants," he said, smirking.  "Lowlifes who live in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se."

"You should watch your mouth, Dezao, because I could crunch you into a million pieces with a single blow, and I won't even think twice about it."

Dezao scoffed.  "You couldn't take a pebble from the ground."  He nodded, and the two cronies stepped forward, one toward each of us. 

"Watch me!" Kyra yelled, and she kicked up a rock from the square just as the cronies started attacking.  Dezao stepped back just in time. 

Seeing as I was unarmed, the crony nearing me smirked in success, as he thought I would be easy to knock out.  But I was good at evasion, and I ducked under a fruit stand and went into a small alleyway.  Two things sat there -- an empty table, and a long, wood staff.  It was a little dingy, but seemed adequate if I had nothing else to defend myself with.  Kyra was fighting all on her own, fending off the two cronies by pushing them away over and over again, still not knocking them out.  

I formed a plan.  Standing up on the table, I took the staff and held it sturdy on the ground.  I jumped from the table, still holding the staff, and as the staff tilted the other way, I fell with it, right in the middle of the scene.

One of the men sent a punch my way -- I blocked his arm with the wood staff and he took his other arm under it, and I turned the staff vertical, blocking both arms.  He backed away to come around behind me, but I turned and backed up, to jab him in the stomach with it.  He came back around toward me, and I tripped him, and as he stumbled I had a chance to chi-block one of his arms.  So with one lazy arm, he continued to try and hit me in the stomach, and it wasn't working for him.  His arms were his main strength. 

So I took my chances to take out the other one.  He seemed to know this was my goal, and he tried to trip me with his foot, but he wasn't as light on his feet as I was.  I used the wood staff to do the same move that I had done from the alleyway, only I jumped from the ground this time.  He tried to get around, but I just jumped again and chi-blocked his second arm as quick as I could.  He tried to come toward me with his foot, and he was an inch from my leg before a rock came up diagonal from the ground and pelted him in the stomach, knocking him backward and unconscious.

I smiled at Kyra, who had taken out the other crony just before.  "Thanks," I said, out of breath.

"They might've been easy," said Dezao, stepping forward from his spot in the corner of the square. "But I won't be, Earth kingdom peasants."

Then he spat.

"You're asking for it, then," I said slyly, evading the first attack.  He was a firebender.  He punched his fist, spewing a shot of fire, which I ducked under.  And just as he went toward Kyra and me, who had come closer together, Kyra made a chopping movement with her hand that propelled him backward, just before he made his move.  And as he fell to the ground, she trapped his hands in rock right as he touched it.  But he broke away with a blast of fire.  

I hadn't noticed before, but there was a crowd of people watching.  And now, in the back, it looked like it was splitting, letting someone through.  But I had no more time to watch.  Kyra had created a shield for herself out of rock, which she used to block any incoming attacks.  It was as if she could sense Dezao before he came toward us because just as he assumed a stance to send another fire punch at us, she kicked up from the ground and a rock sent his arm all out of whack.

"ARGH!" he said.  Kyra's attack made him angrier than he already was.  It seemed his arm was broken, because now he was only using his legs and the other arm.  Kyra surrounded us with a dome of rock.  

"Can you chi block him?" asked Kyra, out of breath.  "If I hold him for long enough?"

"I can only do arms, that's all I was taught," I replied. 

Kyra sighed.  The dome was then crushed by Dezao's foot.  Kyra pulled us out of the way just in time.

The cut in the crowds was more visible now, and I was barely watching as I dodged Dezao's attacks.  I was small, and he was getting frustrated with how easily I evaded him.  

Someone came out of the gap in the small crowd.  Most of the people were bowing.  Dezao stopped attacking, realizing who it was.

"What happened!" Zuko yelled.  He turned to Dezao.  "What do you think you're doing?"

Dezao didn't look like he liked Zuko. "Putting the Earth Kingdom peasants you let in here in their place," he said stubbornly.  Kyra and I stood offensive Dezao still, while Zuko stood in front of one of the four streets filled with a few people.  Two guards stood a meter behind him.

Zuko looked extremely angry with Dezao.  But he came toward us.

"Are you alright?" he asked calmly, putting his hand on my shoulder. 

"We're fine," I said.  

He nodded and turned back to Dezao.  

"What are you doing attacking innocent people?" 

Dezao didn't answer.

"Your Fire Lord asked you a question!  It's in your best interests to answer!"

"You will never be my Fire Lord," said Dezao, and he went into an attacking position.  Zuko readied as well, but a slight nod of his head sent the two guards behind Dezao, tying up his hands and taking him where he would be taken to prison.

Chapter Text

Dezao resisted as he was dragged away, but he was bound in metal, and his firebending was no use for him, as the guards were stronger and smarter than he was.  

Kyra was rubbing a bruise on her arm, where I assumed one of the cronies had punched her.  After the two guards dragging Dezao away were out of sight, four more came and took the unconscious cronies with them as well.  They nodded to Zuko.

"Nothing more to see here," said Zuko, to the crowd.  "Go back to your homes."

Where we were now wasn't so far from the castle.  Zuko had walked, and so had we, until we ran into trouble.  We started making our way back to the palace.

"Are you sure you're both alright?" asked Zuko.

"We're fine," said Kyra.  "Couple of scratches here and there, nothing we can't handle."

Zuko smiled slightly.  "Good," he said.

We held off visiting Hakan.  Kyra went and told him we couldn't come, but that was all.  She just told him she had planned a day with me, and she completely forgot.  She didn't want to alarm him, because he'd make a big deal out of it all.  He surely would want to stay with Kyra to make sure she wouldn't get hurt again.

All because we had come from the Earth Kingdom.

"How did he know we were from the Earth Kingdom?" I asked Zuko, as we walked up the path and through the gate.

"I'm not so sure.  Word gets around fast here, but I don't know who in town would have known.  Maybe it's the way you look."

"Excuse me?" asked Kyra, offended.

"Not bad-looking," he reassured.  "But you've both got green eyes, and lighter hair than most Fire Nation Citizens."

Katara ran out of the castle door before we even got there.  She must have heard already.  News does travel fast.

"Are you okay?" she asked us.  "What happened?"

"We got into a fight," shrugged Kyra as if it were nothing.  

"Well, are you okay?"

"We're fine, Katara," I said.  "They're just scratches."

"Either way," she continued, "come on."  She pulled us inside the castle and to the nearest room with chairs.  A maid brought in a large bowl of water, and Katara took Kyra's bruised arm and brought some of the water with her.  She touched Kyra's arm, and the water began moving around it.  When Katara lifted her hand, her arm was no longer bruised.

"That's amazing," said Kyra, examining the spot where the bruise had been.  "You can heal, too?"

Katara nodded, turning toward me.  there was a scratch on my back where I had slid on the rock pavement to evade one of the men.  She continued healing, and afterward, asked questions.  Sokka came in as well.

"So you fended him off with a stick?"

"It wasn't a stick, Sokka, it was a staff.  And it was easier than I thought."

"Well, like you were saying the other day, maybe you've found your fighting style.  Maybe you should train more with a staff."

I hadn't even been thinking about that.  But Sokka was right.  I had found my fighting style.  It was something I had adopted easily, and quickly.  And got used to immediately.  It was as if I just knew how to use it.  

"You're right," I replied.  

一

Three weapon shops later, I still hadn't found anything right for me. It seemed the wooden pole in the square had been perfect, even with a splinter or two.  

So we went to get that one back, and workers sanded it and made it stronger.  Zuko had surprised me with an earth kingdom symbol carved on one of the ends.   

I wanted to thank him, and I found him sitting alone in the garden, watching the water in the pond from a bench nearby.  It was dark out, and the moon glittered brilliantly against the water.  

"Thank you," I said, gesturing to the staff.  I propped it up against a tree and sat next to him, watching the pond as he did.

"You're welcome," he said.  

"Zuko?"

"Yes?" he replied, turning to me. 

"What did Dezao mean when he said 一 when he said you'd never be his Fire Lord?"

Zuko turned back to face the pond.  

"There are still some people who don't want me as the Fire Lord.  They're in favor of my father, and what he was going to do."

"Wow.  I just thought 一 well, I thought that being Fire Lord would be easy, now that the war's over."

"So did I," he said.  "But there's so many people who were attacked by the Fire Nation."  He turned back to face me.  "My father was going to burn the whole Earth Kindom to ashes."

"He was going to..."  It took me a moment to process.  "Earthbenders would be... extinct?"

Zuko nodded.  "On the day of Sozin's Comet.  That's what he was on his way to do when he ran into Aang."

I was no longer looking at Zuko, but at the pond.  I would've been dead.  The whole earth kingdom.  Gone.  It wasn't an easy thing to process.  And I think Zuko realized, because he started rubbing my back.

"But he didn't get the chance.  Aang took away his bending.  He's powerless."

"But some people... they still don't like you?"

"No," he replied.  "And I don't know if they ever will.  The world might never be completely at peace, but, we can at least try."

We were staring at each other.  Probably having zoned out.  We were getting closer, and closer, just like that night...

But when we both realized what we were doing, we immediately turned away.  I would be a horrible person if I kissed him again.  He's got a girlfriend, and there's nothing I can do about it.

"I - I'm gonna go inside," he said.  "See you tomorrow."

And he bowed, awkwardly.  

"Right," I said.  "Um, good night."

He turned around and went inside.  I turned down one hallway, while he turned down the other.  It was extremely silent, except for the sound of our steps, Zuko's fading.  

"Hi," said Kyra, when I opened the bedroom door.  She was lying on the bed, looking at the ceiling.  "So.... what did he say?"

"Why do you assume he said something?"

"Hmm, well, you were out there for a while for a quick 'thank you, Zuko' 'oh, no problem'"

"Right.  Well, we were just talking.  About... today."

"Ah.  Well, anyway, I was looking at some maps, and there's some nice beaches around here."

I was glad she'd changed the subject.

"Do you think you'd want to go tomorrow?" Kyra continued.  "Maybe everyone else would want to come too?"

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea."

Chapter Text

Kyra and I both woke up late the next morning.  Everyone was already done with breakfast, so she and I had to just quickly eat something if we wanted to go into town.  We were going to send letters to our families back in Ba Sing Se.

I wrote to them about the fun I was having, and what I'd been doing.  but Kyra and I both agreed not to tell our families about the fight.  They would become too worried, and order us home.  And according to Kyra, we couldn't go home.  

So after we read our letters from our families, and we sent replies, I finally got to meet Hakan.  He was extremely polite.  And he had a big house.  But he really liked Kyra, and that was all that really mattered.  He didn't care that she was an earthbender, or from Ba Sing Se.  He liked her.

So in the afternoon, when everyone was outside in the gardens, Kyra and I finally got around to proposing our beach day.  

"There are a lot of nice beaches in the Fire Nation," said Katara.  "And we've barely been to one, really."

"There's Ember Island, where we went before the comet, remember?  We could go there," said Aang.

"No way.  Absolutely not.  The last time I went to Ember Island, nothing good happened," said Zuko.

"Was Azula there?" asked Sokka.

"Yes..."

"That explains it," he said.  

"It'll be good to get out of here," said Mai.  

"You always want to get out of here," said Zuko.

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun," I said.  "And it won't be like the last times you went."

Zuko still looked unsure.

"Please?"

"Fine," he said.  "My family has a house on Ember Island, we could stay there."

"Didn't we destroy that when you started attacking me?" asked Aang.

"We don't need all the rooms," shrugged Zuko.  Mai snickered.  

一

We got ready, then made our way to Ember Island.  Zuko had one of the royal boats take us, and we docked in the beach house's port.  We all changed into beach clothes, then finally went down to the beach.  

"Hey, hey, Jin!" called Kyra, as I followed the sound of her voice further down the beach.  It was crowded with vacationers, and I had to navigate my way through.

"Yeah?" I said, finally arriving where everyone was setting up.  It was only a little walk away from the beach house.  

"Watch this," she said, and with a stomp of her foot, some sand built up and created a castle.

"How'd you do that?" I asked, examining it. 

"Toph taught me," she said.  "Look."

Aang and Sokka were marveling at a sand model of Ba Sing Se, walls and everything.  it seemed as if every building was in place. 

"You've done this trick before," said Sokka, crossing his arms unimpressed.

"Yeah, but it's still cool," said Aang, looking at one of the sand people.

Katara was already on the water, riding the waves as if they were her surfboard.  I could swim, we always went to the lake for vacation when I was a kid, but otherwise, I'd never really been around water.  

"Hey, look," said Mai, from a beach chair that she had just set up. She was looking in another direction. "Volleyball."

Zuko looked over toward a volleyball net.  The court was empty, and a ball was lying on the sand near it.

"No way," he said.  "Absolutely not."

"Ooh, it looks fun, though," said Kyra.  "Who'll we play?"

"We can split into two teams," said Sokka.  

"Last time I played volleyball 一" started Zuko.

"Azula was there," interrupted Katara.  "It can't go horribly when it's just us, Zuko.  It'll be fun."

Zuko gave in, again.  He was smiling, though.  He stood up.  

"Okay," he said.  "Let's go."

We split into two teams 一 Sokka, Zuko, Toph, and I against Kyra, Katara, Aang, and Mai.  Even if Toph couldn't "see" the ball in the air, she was still helpful at seeing which player was where for herself, and she could tell who was holding the ball.  We played three games, and our team won two of them.  Of course, Kyra got all salty about it.

"Well, you've got Zuko, and that's cheating because he's the Fire Lord."

"You have the Avatar!"

"Well, I -"

"Oh, please," interrupted Toph.  "You all are just losers."

Katara and Mai both rolled their eyes.

We spent the whole day at the beach, actually.  There was playing in the water, even a couple of bending fights.  No attention was drawn to our sparring, though, because people were doing it all across the beach.  Since there was so much space there, it was the best place to practice.  The beach started to empty when the sun started to set, and we made our way back toward the beach house.  We stayed on the sand, though, as there was a small, fenced-off beach just for that house, and sat around a fire on beach blankets.  

Everyone got bored of telling stories around the campfire eventually, and we went inside to do our own things.

Zuko's point of view

It had been an extremely nice night.  The best I'd had in a while.  I was extremely glad when the volleyball game didn't end with the net in flames, and that the night didn't end with a breakup and me erupting in anger. Trips to Ember Island used to change things.

I was the first to go inside from sitting around the fire.  I told everyone goodnight and went upstairs.

But the moment I got inside my room, Mai followed.   And I don't think it was a good look that was on her face. 

"We need to talk," she said.

That's never good.

"Sure," I said, taking a seat on a bench in front of the bed.  "What is it?"

"I saw you in the garden that night."  

Wow.  She just came straight out and said it.

"Um, you did?"

"I saw the way you looked at her, Zuko.  And I heard the way you talked to her.  You almost kissed her, didn't you?"

"Mai, I 一"

"You like her, don't you?"

"If it was a choice between you or Jin 一"

"Choose her," she said.  "Because if you really wanted me, there wouldn't be a choice, would there?"

She turned around and started down the hallway, but I ran to the door.

"Mai!"

"I don't want to hear it, Zuko." She didn't face me, but she stopped walking.

"But I thought you told me never to break up with you again," I said hopefully.  

Mai turned around.  "That's why I'm breaking up with you."

And then she turned around and left again.

Chapter Text

jin's point of view

"Have any of you seen Mai?"

"I thought I saw her walking past my room last night," replied Katara.  "Why?"

"Well, I was just, um, wondering."

"You're lying," said Toph.  "What happened?"

"Nothing," Zuko said.  "I'm just looking for her."

But I knew something was up.  Everyone probably did.

"I think I saw Mai go outside last night," said Kyra.  "Since my room's window looks out that way. But I'm not sure it was her."

"Who are we looking for?" asked Aang, who had just walked into the room.  Everyone was standing, even if there was breakfast and a table to sit at.

"Mai," said Sokka.

"Oh, I saw her last night," said Aang.  "I was the last one in, and I saw her pass."

"Did she say anything?" asked Zuko, rushing up to Aang.

"She said she was leaving," said Aang.  "She said she was going home."

Zuko sighed and sat down.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing," he said.  "Let's just have breakfast, and then we can go back to the palace."

"Did something happen?" asked Aang.

"Nothing happened!  Leave me alone!" said Zuko, angrily.  He stomped out of the room.  Everyone exchanged glances and sat to eat, quietly.  No one talked other than asking the others to pass a plate or something else.

But once I finished, I thought I should go check on him.  I was the first to stand up, and Kyra held my arm.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I'll be back," I said.  She let go and I started walking.  I saw Zuko on a balcony outside, sitting on a bench with his head in his hand.  When I stepped out onto it, he turned to look at me, then looked back out onto the water.

"Um, hi," I said.

"Hi," he replied. 

"Are you... are you alright?"

Zuko just sighed annoyedly.

"Zuko, please."

"I'm fine," he said.

"No, you're not." I sat down next to him.  "Tell me what's wrong, Zuko."

He was still reluctant. 

"What happened with Mai?  Did something happen last night?" 

"We broke up," he said bluntly.

"You... what?"

"She broke up with me.  She saw us the other night, in the garden.  She saw how we almost kissed.  So she broke up with me."

"I'm sorry, Zuko," I said.  And I did feel bad.  "It's my fault, I shouldn't have 一"

"It's my fault too," he said.  "I would've kissed you back."

"I 一"

"I had already been apart from her, too.  But she's right," he finished.  And he seemed to have mixed feelings about being right.

"Are you going to be alright?" I asked.  

"I'll be fine," he said.  I smiled and started to get up, to leave him time to himself.

"And Jin?" he said. I turned around.

"Thank you."

I smiled.  "No problem."

一 

We finally went back to the palace, and as soon as I got a moment alone with Kyra, I told her what Zuko had said.  And I knew she'd be all happy about it, which shouldn't have been the case.  I did feel bad for Zuko.  I knew he liked Mai.  it felt like it was all my fault.

Maybe I never should've come here.

"They broke up?" 

"Yeah."

"That's great!"

"Kyra!"

"Sorry.  That's horrible.  But good for you?"

"I feel guilty.  It was my fault."

"It probably wasn't all your fault, Jin.  You don't know exactly what happened."

"But I bet it was mostly my fault."

"Not mostly," said Kyra, taking a seat next to me on the couch.  "Maybe half."

"Very comforting," I smiled.  "I'm gonna go downstairs."

"Okay," she said, getting back up to continue her browsing of the closet.

I walked through a couple of hallways, making my way to the yard.  In the few days I've been here, I've learned how to navigate the palace a lot better.  

And on my way, I bumped, quite literally, into Zuko, who just looked disoriented.

"Sorry," I said.  We said, actually.  At the same time.

He went around me to walk away, but I stopped him by taking his sleeve just in time.

"Zuko," I said calmly.  "Please talk to me."

"I don't think I want to talk to anyone."

"You might not want to, but you should.  Please, Zuko.  I came here for you."

He let a breath from his nose and turned around.

"What?"

"You miss Mai, don't you?"

"She hates me. She won't come back."

"That doesn't mean she hates you."

"But she's right.  She knew I liked you from just the way I look at you."

I took a deep breath and looked down.

"I'm sorry, Zuko.  It's my fault.  I shouldn't have come."

"No, it's not your fault.  It's mine. It was just getting so confusing.  But Mai said that if I really wanted her, there wouldn't be a choice."

"Now I'm confused."

"I... I don't know if I'm ready for another relationship right away, Jin.  Just give me time."

I nodded, then left him to himself and continued my path to the yard.  

Was he saying what I thought he was saying?  The whole breakup was because Mai knew he liked me.  Mai was nice.  I liked her.  And I really, really did feel bad about the breakup. But I also couldn't help but feel a little bit happy, too, because I actually had a chance now to be with Zuko.  

Originally, I had only come here to see him once again.  I knew I had feelings for him still, though.  They were probably there for a long time.

Toph left that day to go back to Gaoling and see her parents.  Aang took her with him. The numbers of us were slowly decreasing, and everyone was going back to what their lives had been before.  But not mine.  Because even if some people chose to pay no attention to it, everything was different now.  And I had a memory of that, one I couldn't forget.

Sometimes I was still afraid.  And there were very few things that made me feel safe.  Kyra was one of them.  She's like a sister to me.  But I knew I had feelings for Zuko when he became one of the things that made me feel okay.  One of the people that made me feel protected, and safe.

Chapter Text

A week more passed. I spent my time training and fighting. Sokka proved a good match, and he was also training me, which helped me know him moves a lot better. Sometimes I won, and sometimes I lost. But every time I learned something.

Things with Zuko were at a stalemate. For the moment, at least, we were friends. We talked, we laughed, and had fun along with everyone else. But I felt a little bit like he was warming up to the idea of a relationship again. His last one had ended only because he felt interested in a new one.

I was going to give Zuko time. As much time as he needed. Because I wanted this, and I wanted Zuko to be sure he wanted it too. I'd wait for him to make the next move, and that was the only task at hand. Just waiting.

There had been a couple of meetings concerning the Harmony Restoration Movement, and some rebuilding villages that had been destroyed. Of course, only Aang and Zuko went inside. And only one of them found meetings worthy of listening to.

"So, what did the Mayor of Yu Dao say?" asked Katara, after the meeting was over.

"I don't know," said Aang. "All I heard was blah, blah, blah, and then something about peace."

"So you weren't listening," assumed Kyra. "Hey, I wouldn't have either."

"Kyra!" said Katara.

"What? Meetings sound boring. No offense, Aang, but I'm glad I'm not the Avatar."

"That's okay, they're good to fall asleep to," he said.

一 ꩜ 🌊 🌏 🔥 一

Nothing happened much at all that week, really. Kyra continuously begged me to try and make the first move, but I like told her, he needed time.

"You know, you could always just wink at him from across the dining table."

"That's just weird."

"No, it isn't. It's flirty."

"Well, I don't want to be flirty."

"Suit yourself. You're losing your chances."

"I'm being patient."

"Mhm."

We did go into town a couple of times, and though we got stares from some questionable-looking people, no one dared to try and take us on. We kept sending letters to our families. We did miss them a lot, but we had asked to come here for a reason, and it was very close to being fulfilled.

I was alone in the bedroom one afternoon when there was a knock on the doorframe. The door was open, so I didn't know why the person would knock.

"Can I talk to you?" said Zuko's voice. "Outside, maybe?"

"Sure."

I followed him, silently, to the yard.

"What is it?" I asked, taking a seat on the grass beside the pond, where the turtleducks swam happily.

"Well, I wanted to first say thank you. For being there for me, I mean. I'm glad you're here."

"I'm glad I'm here, too," I smiled. Zuko sat down beside me on the grass.

"And thank you for giving me time to think."

"I didn't want to rush you. Breakups are hard."

Zuko smiled.

"And I think... I think I'm ready. If you are, I mean."

I put my hand on his. "I was just waiting for you," I said. "And thank you, too."

"For what?"

"For remembering me."

"I don't think I could ever forget you," he said with a smile, turning his hand around so that it joined with mine.

I knew I was leaning closer this time.  And he was, too.  He put his hand on my cheek as our lips touched, and this kiss lasted longer than any of the others had.  It was nice.  It was what I had been waiting for.

"You're not gonna run away this time, are you?" I asked with a smile.  We were still close enough to touch.

"Not this time," he said quietly.  

And then he kissed me again, allowing me to put my hand on his cheek and lean into the kiss further.

"Lunch is 一 oh, sorry," said a voice from the bridge.  The moment was immediately over when she started talking.

"I'll just, um, come back," Katara said, turning around to go back inside.

"No, it's okay, Katara," I said, finding it kind of funny.  I don't think Zuko thought the same, because he was blushing embarrassedly. "What is it?" 

"Well, lunch is ready, um, whenever you decide to come in."

"Yeah, we're coming," I said.  "In the east dining room?"

Katara nodded, smiled, and walked back inside. 

Zuko and I looked at each other awkwardly, but in conversation, before walking back inside and to lunch.   The same looks were thrown all throughout the meal, we would look at each other just because and we would catch the other's eye, because they had decided to look over too.

It was a little awkward.  But then again, we were both only seventeen.  And I know I waited a long time for this.  Zuko probably had, too, only he didn't know it.

一

"You know, Jin," he said, as we sat on the balcony of his bedroom that night, "I thought about you a lot.  But no one knew, really except my uncle.  When I left the kiss the first night, it was because I didn't want to get attached.  But that ended up happening anyway."

"Well, good," I replied, looking out at the dark navy sky and the clouds with silver linings illuminated by the moon.  "If you hadn't gotten attached, maybe I wouldn't even be here.  And I thought about you a lot, too."

"I'm glad you gave me time," he said, looking back at my face.  I did the same, watching his features reflect in the moonlight.

"I'd give you as much time as you need."

It was quiet as we turned back the view over the balcony.  There was so much I didn't know about him, and yet all the feelings were still there.  Even if he was partially a mystery to me.  I knew someday I'd figure those things out, whenever he felt like sharing.  But the only thing I found myself wondering about tonight was his scar.  The scar I knew him by from the poster.

And I found myself looking at him, because the scarred side of his face was toward me, but he still looked out into the dark sky.

"You're wondering how I got it, aren't you?"

Chapter Text

"You don't have to tell me.  Whenever you feel like it," I reassured.

He looked down and took a breath.

"My father did it.  When I was thirteen, I went into a war meeting, was told to say nothing, but I spoke out anyway.  So my father took this as an offense to the Fire Nation, and I was told I had to fight in an Agni Kai.  A duel between firebenders.  But on that day, I saw that it was my father I had to fight, I begged for mercy.  And I didn't get any."

"He... your father did this?" I asked as we turned to face each other.

"Yes."

I looked at his face.  I've never seen Zuko without the scar.  I don't think I could imagine him without his scar, because I always saw it as a part of him.  But to Zuko, it was a memory.  

I looked into his eyes and put my hand on the scarred side of his face.  He put his hand on top of mine, but he didn't take my hand off like I thought he would.  He just held it there, and his other hand took my wrist 一 the one that had my scar on it 一 and held it.  I leaned forward to kiss him and got lost in his lips just as he did mine.  

"I waited for this," I said quietly.  "Thank you, Zuko."

He smiled. "Goodnight, Jin."

I nodded and walked out of the balcony and his room, and down the hall to mine.  It was late, Kyra was already in bed, half-asleep.  

I quietly got into clothes for sleeping, crawled into bed, and proceeded to look up at the ceiling, trying to fall asleep.  But so many thoughts ran through my mind.  Good thoughts, but still energetic.  It was probably hours until I fell asleep.

一

one week later

"I don't want you to go."

"I don't want to go."

"Then don't."

"Well, I do want to go.  I meant I don't want to leave you.  But I have to go back sometime."

"You're giving me the oogies over here!  Let's go!"

Kyra and I knew we had to go back to Ba Sing Se to see our families, of course.  We couldn't be without them for so long, and it had already been a little more than two weeks.  They missed us, and we missed them, too.  But we'd be back.  Surely.

"We're coming, Sokka," I called.  We were in front of the palace.  But while Zuko and I still stood at the door, Sokka, Katara, Kyra, and Aang were ready to take off.  

"I'll see you soon, Zuko."  I gave him one last kiss before I walked off, backward, as we held hands until I got too far, and he let go.  I climbed on top of Appa, and before I knew it, we had taken off and I was watching Zuko get smaller and smaller.  He disappeared as we went above the clouds.  

"You guys are cute," said Kyra.  "Too cute. Bleh." She fake gagged.

"Oh, please.  I'm sure you and Hakan are exactly the same."

"We are not."

"Mhm."

In two days' time, we finally arrived in the gardens of the Elephant Koi Escape.  We said goodbye to our new friends and decided to stop in the Jasmine Dragon, being that we had time to spare.

"I hear you found my nephew."

"Iroh!  Yeah, I did, actually.  We forgot to tell you, didn't we?"

Iroh nodded. "I sent the letter and it came back with a reply that you were already there."

"Well, we're quick."

"Very.  I heard what you did in the capital town.  That was extremely brave of you both, standing up to three men.  Not only were you outnumbered, but you were out-strengthened."

"Yes," said Kyra.  "But they were outwitted."

Iroh smiled.  "I'll get you girls some tea.  It's nice to see you back in Ba Sing Se."

"It's nice to see you too, Iroh."

After half an hour at the tea shop, we took a train ride home, just in time for lunch.  I nearly fell asleep on the ride.

"Jin!  Oh, Jin, I'm so glad to see you."  Mother welcomed me inside with a tight hug.  Father did the same.

"We've missed you, Jin," he said.

"I've missed you all so much," I said.  "I have so much to tell you."

"And we've got so much to ask."

"Firstly," interrupted Grandfather.  "Did you get the boy?"

I smiled. "Yes, grandfather, I did."

Mother squealed. "We are the parents of the Fire Lord's girlfriend!  Oh, Jin, I'm so excited for you."

"What's that?" asked father, pointing to my staff, which I had left propped up against the wall by the door.

"It's mine," I said, picking it up and handing it to him. "It's a staff."

"For fighting?" he asked,

"Well, yeah, I mean, I... uh.. never really needed to use it, but, um..."

"Well, it's good that you found your way.  You know, your mother actually used to fight with a staff somewhat like this."

"She did?" I turned to mother.  "You did?"

"Well, yes, actually, and I was rather good.  Won a few matches, I did it competitively when I was your age."

"Why did you stop?"

"I didn't," she said.  "I had you."

"I told her not to," said Grandfather, sarcastically.  

"Now come on," said mother, leading me to the table, where food was set.  "Let's hear all about the trip.

I told them nearly everything.   Of course, I wanted to be allowed back, so I left out the part about the fight with Dezao in the streets.  I told them I found the staff while practicing, that I just decided to pick it up, and everything just flowed.  I told them stories of every day that I was there, and about the journey there, as well.  They asked multiple questions about the Avatar and his friends, too.   Another thing I didn't tell them about was Mai.  I don't know why, I guess telling the story would just make me feel bad.  I told them about Hakan, and they asked questions about him, as well.  of course, I didn't know everything, so I told them they'd have to question Kyra on that.  

Kyra's family had us over for a special home arrival dinner.  We talked even more, and Kyra's parents asked me many of the same questions that my own did.  I was extremely happy to be back in Ba Sing Se.  The palace was so lavish compared to our houses here in the lower ring.  but I liked this place.  It's home.  

Chapter Text

one year later

I had gone back three times to the Fire Nation, each for a week.  Kyra came with me every time, and even though not everyone was there at once, we did occasionally see Aang, Katara, Sokka, or someone else.  They had set off their own separate ways, now that the war was over.  They still saw each other, of course.  

Kyra had gone on more trips than I had 一 she was still mastering earthbending with Toph.  Though a lot of the time, they met in the area outside the inner wall, where it was all barren, rocky land.  In that time, Kyra had started metalbending, too, and became very good at it.  She showed me all the time and kept a metal band around her arm just in case she needed it.  She had taken the idea from Toph, who keeps a band of meteorite in the same place around her own arm.  

Tonight I had been brought alone to the Fire Nation Palace and was to be there for two weeks.  Kyra was here, though she was staying with Hakan and his family.   They really liked her.

Zuko had requested that I sleep in the room right next to his, especially since Kyra wasn't going to be here this time.  But I had been alone before, so I wasn't sure what he was so paranoid about.  He said he just wanted me to feel safe.  The Fire Lord's room was in the most secure tower in the palace.

It was the middle of the night when I heard loud talking coming from Zuko's room.  It was panicked-sounding.  I got up and out of bed to see what was happening.  

Zuko was yelling.  "Do not mock me!   There have already been five attempts on my life since I took the throne!"

"And that's why we moved you here! " exclaimed a guard.  "Please, you have to trust --"

But immediately, both guards standing in front of Zuko were knocked out with something that flew threw the air.  Zuko saw me in my doorway. 

"That wasn't you, was it?" he asked.  I shook my head.  "Show yourself!" he yelled, punching a fire blast down the seemingly empty hall, making the curtains fly as if a draft were let in.  

"Stay back," he said, walking forward.  It was eerie, but not so quiet.

"Down with the traitor! Down with the Fire Lord who betrays his own people!" yelled a voice, jumping down from the ceiling with a ball on a chain.  She was wearing all black, all I could see was her eyes.  I dove out of the way, and so did Zuko, just before the person would have smashed his foot with the ball.  

He sent a fire blast her way again, but she was quick, and nimble, and dodged it with a backflip over it.  She spun the ball around his leg and pulled knocking him to the ground.  I started over to help, but he was already kicking a wind of fire toward her, to which she jumped backward, and when he punched again, bent back under, nearly missing her, but made her stumble to the ground.

He then pushed down the mask that covered the lower part of her face and stood over her as she stared angrily at him.

"Convince me not to take your life!" yelled Zuko, stance ready.  

"Zuko, please," I muttered.

"No, go ahead!" yelled the girl, who looked our age.  "My family has been loyal to your for generations!  By getting rid of me, you would simply complete your betrayal!"

"Your family?" said Zuko in a normal tone, standing straight.

"My father is the mayor of Yu Dao!"

"Yu Dao... the first of the Fire Nation Colonies."

"Yes, my home!" said the girl, staying angry while Zuko calmed down.  "And now you and the Avatar are going to destroy it with you precious Harmony Restoration Movement!"

Zuko did not speak.  He stared her down, and guards finally rushed to the scene.

"I'm going to Yu Dao tomorrow, and she's coming with," he said to them bluntly.  "Take her away."

A guard clasped her and chains and proceeded to walk back down the hall.  She didn't fight back, but wasn't happy about it, either. The other two took the unconscious guards downstairs to the infirmary.

"She's from the Earth Kingdom colonies," I said, once they left.

"Yes," said Zuko.

"What are you going to do with her?" I asked.  "Why are we going to Yu Dao?"

"We're going to Yu Dao?" questioned Zuko, turning around to me.  "No, Jin, I'm going to Yu Dao."

"Absolutely not.  I'm coming with you."

"I'm going to confront the mayor there, her father.  If he had anything to do with this..."

"Zuko, I'm coming with you."

"She tried to take my life, Jin. I don't want you coming to where she lives.  I want you to be safe."

"I'll be fine," I assured.  "I want to be with you.  We have to protect each other."

"I just --"

"Let's go to bed, Zuko.  You look tired."

Zuko sighed, but smiled slightly.

"Good night, Jin," he said, kissing me sweetly.  

"I'll see you in the morning, Zuko."

一

We took to Yu Dao in the morning. Zuko gave me royal robes to wear, when we went, as out in public he would dress in full Fire Lord garb, and if I came with him, I'd have to look just as regal.

We stopped in the town's square to the sound of a man yelling "Stop, Stop!" from a palanquin.  To people in green clothes put it down, and the man rushed toward us.  The girl from last night, who was called Kori, was pushed forward by the guards.

"Kori!" yelled the man, running to hug her.  "Where have you been! Your mother and I were worried sick!"  He then took notice of the fact that she was in wrist chains and the soldiers behind her.  Zuko stood ground looking at the man, and I did the same.  His daughter had tried to assassinate my boyfriend.  Why wouldn't I be mad?

"Wait -- who are these men?  What are these chains?" said the mayor.

"I went to go see someone about our problem,  father," said Kori, quietly.

"Who?" 

"Him," said Kori, side eying Zuko.  Her father's eyes widened as Zuko and I stepped forward. "F-Fire Lord Zuko!" he said. 

"You must be Mayor Morishita," said Zuko.  "Your daughter snuck into my home and tried to kill me!" he yelled.  I crossed my arms in the background, lingering just next to him. 

Chapter Text

"Kori?!" said the mayor to his daughter.

"Someone had to do something!" she said stubbornly.

The mayor bowed to the ground, begging at Zuko's feet.  It seemed a little harsh. But then again, Zuko did almost get killed.

"My sincerest apologies for my daughter's rash behavior, Fire Lord! Have mercy!"

"I should have this whole place burned down!" yelled Zuko, still furious.  I put my hand on his shoulder for just a second, implicitly telling him to calm down.  

"Why bother?" interrupted Kori loudly.  "The Harmony Restoration movement will accomplish the same thing!"

"Hey!" I interrupted, pointing a finger at her.  "Why can't you understand the Harmony Restoration Movement is a movement to peace!"

"Peace?!" wondered Mayor Morishita.  Both Zuko and I turned to him. "Peace for whom?!   With all due respect, your majesties, my family has lived on this land for generations!  This city was built on our blood and sweat!  We have as much a right to be here as anyone else!"

"You're Fire Nation citizens!" said Zuko.  "You should live in the Fire Nation!"

"You're right, Fire Lord!  We are Fire Nation citizens!" continued the Mayor. "And I'll tell you this -- your father would never have let the Avatar and the Earth King bully him into something so obviously bad for his own nation's citizens!"

"My father...?" whispered Zuko, through clenched teeth.

"Zuko," I said, seeing his fist clenched at his side.  I reached for his hand, but he pulled away and sent a large fire blast toward Mayor Morishita, then took to a small point of fire sharp as a blade and held the mayor to a wall.

"I'M NOT MY FATHER!" he erupted.

"No, young man.  You're not.  Fire Lord Ozai had many faults, but he was never a coward.  He was never a traitor."

Zuko's breathing got heavy.  He stood ground, blad of fire ready to strike the Mayor.  But he stepped back, though still angry.  

"You'll regret saying that, old man! Guards, seize him!" he pointed.  The guards stepped forward, but immediately a wall of rock came between them and the mayor, making me jump of surprise and them take a step back.

"Where -- ?!" I said. Both Zuko and I turned around to find a woman wearing Earth Kindom robes.

"Fire Lord, please! Forgive my husband's foolishness, I've told him time and time again to control his tongue, but he never does!" said the earthbender woman.  

Zuko looked surprised.  As was I.  "You're Mayor Morishita's wife?!  An earthbender...?"

"Yes, I'm an earthbender," she said, taking a stance.  "As is our daughter." A spike came up from the ground and broke Kori's chains with a loud noise.  She then attracted her ball and chain to her with her earthbending, as the ball was made of rock.

"I may be an earthbender, but through my father's bloodline I and a Fire Nation citizen!  My father taught me to always be loyal to the Fire Nation, to my people," Kori said.  "Something you obviously never learned from your father."

I stared her down menacingly, and she stared back.

"Would your majesties be willing to say in Yu Dao for a few days?" asked the Mayor's wife, bowing.  "It would be an honor for us to show the Fire Lord our way of life."

I was going to correct her on her plural "majesties." 

"Well, actually, I'm not --"

"We'll stay," said Zuko.  "But only a few days."

Yu Dao was more than it came out to be.  There, both Earth Kingdom people and Fire Nation people lived in harmony with each other.  There were no fights in the streets between Earth people and Fire Nation People.  A hundred years ago, the Fire Nation Citizens that arrived, with the help of the Earth Kingdom people, built one of the greatest cities this world has.  Yu Dao makes the finest metalwork produced in the world using both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom expertise. Though it isn't perfect, the people in this city are much better off now than they were a hundred years ago.  

These people had created harmony for themselves in the colonies.  A peace that was already there, and that the Harmony Restoration Movement would destroy.  If we got rid of these colonies, we would be taking away the harmony that was already here.

That's why Zuko revoked his support of the Harmony Restoration Movement the next day.

We were lying on the king bed in a suite in Yu Dao's finest hotel late that same day, looking up at the ceiling.  

"I like this place," said Zuko fondly.

"I like it too.  I've never seen so many Earth Kingdom people and Fire Nation people interacting."

"It almost reminds me of us," he said.  "Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation."

"It does, doesn't it?" I said with a smile.  

"I'm sorry about this afternoon," he said.  "I was angry.  He said something about my father, and I just --"

"You don't have to be sorry, Zuko.  The Mayor shouldn't have said that."

We laid on the bed looking at the ceiling for a little more.  I didn't know what he was thinking about.  I wasn't really thinking about anything.  I sort of just zoned out until I turned to look out the window.  It was dark outside.

"I'm going to go to bed," I said, getting up to go to the other bedroom in the suite.

"You could sleep here," suggested Zuko, sitting up.

"Why?"

"Well... I mean... the people in this town don't seem to like me too much.  I'd just feel safer if you were with me, that's all."

I smiled at his awkwardness in asking. "Okay."

We were finally dressed and in bed, and the candles out.  I'd never slept in the same bed as Zuko before. It might seem crazy since we had been together for a year.  But no, the closest I had gotten was the room next to his. 

I liked it.  It did make me feel safe.  He had a warmth to him, and it was calming. I know I fell asleep quickly because he was there.  I liked being close to him, even if I was barely aware because I was sleeping.  I would definitely do this more often.

Chapter Text

We had spent a week in Yu Dao.  It really was amazing, the way the people worked together.  And the Harmony Restoration Movement would have taken away that teamwork.  Zuko did this for his people.  For my people, too -- the people of the Earth Kingdom.

Zuko's revocation of his support for the movement had sparked small protests outside the hotel from other citizens of the Earth Kingdom.  But they didn't know what Yu Dao was really all about.

But there were more loud noises than usual today, it wasn't just people shouting.  It sounded a lot closer, as if it were right outside our room.  There was wooshing and bangs from jumping, and yelling too.

"What is that?" said Zuko, who was just finishing his hair.  He went toward the door and I followed.  Katara and Aang were there, and most of the guards were stuck in ice, frozen in place.  A guard went to attack Aang from behind, but Katara created multiple water spikes and sent them toward him, yelling, "Can't you people give it a rest?!  He just wants to talk!"

But before she could send the spikes any further, Zuko took her wrists, saying, "Katara! Stop!" and held one behind her, and one over her. She moved, but couldn't get out of his grasp.

I didn't like the way he was holding her because it almost reminded me of the day my wrist was burnt.

"Let go, Zuko!" said Katara. "You're hurting me!  Don't make me hurt you back!"

"I'm hurting you?! What are you doing to my soldiers?!  My people?!"

"Zuko, let go of Katara," I said.  "You're hurting her!"

"First, she has to agree to stop attacking my people!"

"Your soldiers attacked first!" yelled Aang, pointing at him.  "Let her go now!"

"I am the Fire Lord!  I have to protect the citizens of the Fire Nation!"

Aang inhaled, and I could see he was about to airbend.

"Zuko!" I yelled.  But before I could get there, Zuko was knocked to the ground by a gust of wind.  He stood up quickly and punched fire twice, but Aang knocked both blasts out of the air with waterbending.

"I came here to talk to you, Zuko!  As a friend!" yelled Aang.  "But you've changed!  You've forgotten what we fought for!"

The wind started to blow.  Aang's eyes and tattoos started glowing, and he rose into the air.

"Maybe Avatar Roku is right.  Maybe a promise is a promise," he said, as Zuko's eyes widened.

I went up toward Zuko and went just beside him, as the wind started to circle and we could barely stand, holding our hands up to try and shield ourselves.

"Aang! Stop!" yelled Katara. "If you enter the Avatar State in such an emotional way, you won't be able to control yourself!"

She went closer to him and held his face close to her own.  "You have to calm down," she said.  "Please, sweetie. For me."

The wind stopped.  Zuko and I fell over, but sitting.  Katara caught Aang and held him.

"I can't believe it.  I might've done something terrible without even thinking it through.  Zuko, Jin, I'm so --"

"Katara's right," interrupted Zuko, hands gesturing to tell him it was okay. "We both need to calm down.  And talk."

"Are you kidding me?" questioned Aang. "THAT'S WHAT I WANTED IN THE FIRST PLACE!" he yelled, spitting. Zuko and I turned away, and Katara looked surprised as well.

We took Aang and Katara through the city streets.

"Did you know that Yu Dao is the oldest of the colonies?" he asked them.  "Many of the Fire Nation families here immigrated over a hundred years ago when Yu Dao was just a tiny village at the bottom of a valley. Together with the Earth Kingdom people who were already here, they built all this," he said, referring to the city.  He stopped in front of a blacksmith, clanging away at a strip of metal.  

"Yu Dao now makes the finest metalwork ever produced, using both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom expertise."  We continued walking.  "That's why this is one of the richest cities in the world."

Katare stopped in front of a shoemaker, where a young Earth Kindom man was shining a Fire Nation man's shoes.  

"It doesn't seem like the Fire Nation citizens and the Earth Kingdom Citizens share equally in that wealth," she said, watching the man shine his boots.

"It's not perfect, Katara, but all the city's people, including the Earth Kingdom people, are better off now than they were a hundred years ago."

"The history lesson is great and all, but none of it matters!" exclaimed Aang.  "By betraying the Harmony Restoration Movement, you're going to start another war!"

I squeezed Zuko's hand just the slightest bit, hoping this would make him stay calm as he stopped in his tracks.  He took a breath.

"Look, Aang, when I came here a week ago, I had planned to personally enforce the removal of Yu Dao from the Earth Kingdom!  But then..."

He told them the story of the day we came here, about how the people had already built connections, about how the mayor's wife was an earthbender, and everything about that day.  

"So, we stayed," I finished.  "The Harmony Restoration Movement would destroy what the people worked so hard to create here."

"I changed my mind," continued Zuko.  "Ever since I've had my coronation, I've had trouble finding peace.  Now, I think I've finally figured out why.  I'd forgotten about my people."

Zuko turned around.  

"I know you defeated the Fire Nation, Aang, but my people still deserve respect!"

"I defeated the Fire Nation?!  You mean we defeated the Fire Lord!"

"It'd be disrespectful to take from them a life they spent generations building!  I won't let you do it!" yelled Zuko.

"Harmony requires four separate nations to balance each other out!  You can't have balance if one nation occupies another!" retorted Aang.

"Maybe Yu Dao can be an exception," suggested Katara.

"What?!" said Aang jerking around to meet her gaze.

"It's just a thought," she shrugged.

"Exceptions should be made for all the remaining colonies!  Most of them have been around for well over a century," said Zuko.

"They're older than you, Aang," I said.

"You have got to be joking.  That would make peace impossible!" Aang replied.

"Well, regardless, the Earth King needs to be a part of whatever happens next," said Katara over the both of them.  "If Aang and I can arrange a meeting, will you be there, Zuko?"

He glanced at me, and I nodded. "I'll be there," he said.

"Talking's good.  I guess," said Aang quietly. 

Chapter Text

We went back to the Royal Palace in the capital that night.  

"You're tired, Zuko," I said, as we walked through the halls toward the throne room.

"I'm not," he lied.

"Have you looked in the mirror lately?" I said, brushing hair out of his face and glancing at the dark tones under his eyes. 

"Your guards haven't been helping, have they?" I asked.  

Zuko shrugged. 

I led him through a curtained door.  "That's why I called the Kyoshi Warriors," I said, gesturing to the group of girls in the room.  In front were Suki and Ty Lee.

一

Both he and I might've slept better if we slept in the same bed that night.  But I didn't ask, and neither did he.  So I took to the room next door like usual, and it took me hours to fall asleep.  I heard talking outside, but I was barely half-awake when I did, so I took no notice until I realized it would be Zuko.  So I put on a robe and got out of bed and to Zuko's room, but he wasn't standing there next to Suki and Ty Lee.  

"Where is he?" I asked.

"He went for a walk to get a drink of water," answered Ty Lee.  "He'll be back."

"Okay," I said.  But even if I told them it was, I was still worried.  I didn't know why.

"You should get sleep, Jin," said Suki.  "We'll keep watch, don't worry."

"Thank you," I told them, and I went back inside to sleep.  but I left the door open the slightest bit, to hopefully know when Zuko came back.  Of course, I fell asleep before then.  

Zuko was already downstairs and dressed before I even woke up.  I had asked the Kyoshi Warriors to come the day before we left Yu Dao.  I hoped that some competent, familiar guards would help Zuko actually sleep through the night.  But he still looked tired, so I assumed he didn't go back to sleep.  His elbow was resting on the table and his head was in his hand.

"Good morning," I said.

"Morning," he replied bluntly.

"You didn't sleep last night, did you?" I asked, taking a seat.  "Not even after you took a walk?"

"How did you --"

"I was awake too," I said.  "I asked Suki, she told me you'd be back."

"No," he replied.  "I didn't sleep."

"Zuko, there's something wrong," I said.  "What is it?"

"Nothing's wrong," he said. "I just can't sleep."

"There is something," I said.  "There's always a reason, for everything.  You can tell me, Zuko.  I'm your girlfriend, that's why I'm here."

"It's nothing," he said. 

I gave up, knowing he was going to continue to be stubborn about it.  

"Okay," I said, and breakfast was quiet, just like the rest of the day.

I barely saw Zuko, much less talked to him, and I couldn't even find him in the evening. I was extremely bored after dinner and ended up talking to Suki while she guarded a back door.  

"Hi, Suki."

"Hi.  Bored?"

"Very.  Have you seen Zuko?"

"He's just coming back from the prison, I think."

"The what?"

"Um, the prison?  You didn't know?"

"I knew there was something," I mumbled.  "Do you know who he went to see?"

"I saw him go in, and I saw him come out.  I didn't watch him go inside."

"Did you... sneak up on him?"

Suki looked down.  "I was worried.  I didn't know what he was doing.  He's my friend.  I'm sorry if --"

"I would have done the same thing," I said.  "Thank you for telling me."

Suki smiled and bowed slightly.

I had an idea who he was meeting with.  There was really only one possibility that was in the Fire Nation Capital Prison.

I watched Zuko for a second in the throne room.  He stood tall in front of the throne, then lit the fire in front of it swiftly with a woosh.  He watched it glow for a second, then sighed. 

"This isn't me," he mumbled to himself, and put out the fire with a sssssss.  Then I walked inside.

"Zuko," I said firmly, standing in front of him.

He looked a little surprised to see me.  "Um, hi, Jin."

"Have you been meeting with Ozai in prison?"

"I -- Jin!  Where did you hear that from?"

"Not from you," I said.  "You're supposed to tell me things!  I'm your girlfriend!  I can help you!"

"I just..."  he fell back to sit down.  "You wouldn't understand."

"I wouldn't understand?  Zuko, I'm not royalty, but I'm sure I've been in a similar situation.  You don't have to keep to yourself anymore!  You have people who care for you!"

I rarely yelled.  But I was angry that he hadn't been telling me anything.  I was always there for him, yet he didn't care to tell me this.  I was sure I could help him better than his father.  Ozai, of all people.  Was he so desperate?

"Jin, I --"

"No, Zuko.  I don't want to hear it. "

"I messed up.  Please, Jin."

"I'm taking a break, Fire Lord.  I'm done with this."

"Jin!"

I didn't listen anymore.  I don't think I've ever been so angry with someone in my life.  I didn't even know where I was going to go to.  I could go to Hakan's and see Kyra, but I didn't want to ruin their time together.  Just because I was furious at my boyfriend didn't mean I had to ruin her time.  So I decided to take an overnight ferry back to the Earth Kingdom, then a train back to Ba Sing Se.  But I didn't want my parents to think anything horrible either, so I'd stay in a hotel somewhere for the remaining three days of my trip.

I arrived in the upper ring of Ba Sing Se and decided to stay in the Elephant Koi Escape for the three days left.  I hoped that giving myself time to just think stuff over would help me.  But mostly, I wanted to give him time.

Was I too mean?  Maybe.  Maybe it was a petty reason.  But you shouldn't keep things from your girlfriend.  I know we don't get to see each other as much as we'd like to, but I still have strong feelings for him.  Why would he keep things from me?  Why wouldn't he come to me?

Did I love him?

Chapter Text

Jin -

This is going to be short.  Fire Lord Zuko had spies in the Earth Kingdom.  He's learned that Earth King Kuei is sending his armies to Yu Dao to extract the Fire Nation colonists forcefully.   So he's decided to take his troops to Yu Dao and fight the Earth armies off to keep the colony.  

I'm bringing the group to the battlefield, but I didn't want to just invade on you, so I'm sending you this letter.  Come to the city reaches of Yu Dao as quick as you can if you do decide to help.  I don't know how long the battle is going to last.  But I know it's going to come.

Suki 

It arrived at my hotel room with three days left in the week.  That meant Suki wrote it the night I left.  

I had to go.  I knew I did.  But Suki said she didn't know how much time she had.  Was the fighting going on now?  What was happening?  Sending a letter back would take much too long and of course, there was the wait for a reply.  

I was worried.  So I decided to go.  I had days left before I had to go home, so I used that time.  I quickly took whatever I might need, and changed into clothes easy to move in.  Really, I only took my staff with me.  I hoped I wouldn't be gone for long.

I took the fastest train to the outskirts of Yu Dao and went quickly from there.  I could hear the battle going on in the city.  It was loud.  There were people my age fighting each other -- protesters fighting the Yu Dao revolutionaries, and Fire Nation Soldiers fighting Earth Kingdom ones.  

General How of the Earth Kingdom now stood face to face with Zuko.  I watched from afar as they yelled at each other, fighting.

"General How! Withdraw your troops immediately!" yelled Zuko, shooting a fist of fire toward him.

"With all due respect, Fire Lord Zuko, you stand on Earth Kingdom soil!  Here, your words have no authority!" bellowed the general, deflecting Zuko's blasts.

Suddenly, a beam of light came from a dome of rocks in the mountains, and Aang rose from it in the Avatar state, making the wind blow all around him.  All eyes were on him.

He descended upon Zuko.

"Aang, I know how this looks, but I swear to you, in my heart...!" He stopped and sighed, taking off his helmet.  "None of that matters, does it?" he said loudly, to both himself and Aang. "I'm doing exactly what my father would have done."

The land started to split with a loud rumble. Aang was doing it from above to separate to the two sides, but under Zuko's foot, rock crumbled, and he slipped.

"Zuko!"

But he was already falling.  Aang, still in the Avatar state, dove down in the newly made canyon.  He grabbed his arm and flew back up with him, Zuko looked surprised that he would have saved him.  

Above, Katara created an ice airway and came toward the side of the land with the gates of Yu Dao.  Aang landed with Zuko, who fell over.  

Aang ran to Katara, and they hugged, then turned to face the Earth king.  I stood amongst the group behind them that stood in front of the entrance to Yu Dao.  

"Earth King Kuei, look at who you're fighting!" announced Aang to him.  He gestured to the crowd.  "Fire Nation, yes -- but also Earth Kingdom -- Water Tribe -- and now, Air Nomad."

Aang took another step forward.  "This is who stands against your army."

"And against the Fire Nation army, too!" said one of the boys from the resistance. 

"It took me a while, but I finally understand," continued Aang. "You're not just fighting a colony.  You're fighting a whole new kind of world."

The Earth King looked at Aang thoughtfully, as the protesters yelled from the other side of the rift.  

"Don't listen to that ash-maker propaganda, Earth King Kuei!"  said one of the protesters.  "Harmony now!"

The other protesters echoed those last words as the Earth King put his hand up for quiet.

"Quiet!  Quiet! I need to see what I... what I..."

He turned to look at our diverse group that stood in front of the entrance to Yu Dao.

"I just need to see."

Aang turned to look at Zuko, who had been standing, but was now leaning over, hands on his knees.

"Zuko...?" said Aang and I.  

"... so I was right, then...?" he mumbled.  "... all along... my decision... was right..?"  

He was breathing heavily, and he wasn't balanced.  He fell over.

"Zuko!" I yelled, along with Aang, rushing toward him as he fell onto the ground.

一

"Jin," called a voice outside the door of my hotel room, a place closer to the Jasmine Dragon than the Elephant Koi Escape, though it is smaller.  It was Aang's voice.

"Zuko's awake," he said.

I got up quickly off the bed and opened the door.  It had been four days since Zuko had fainted.  I told my parents and Kyra I was staying for a couple of days longer because Zuko wasn't feeling well.

Well, it wasn't a lie.

"Really?" I said to the Avatar, who was standing there, smiling.

He nodded. "He's in the Jasmine Dragon with Iroh," Aang said.

"Thank you," I said, quickly bowing then passing him and running down the stairs,  down some streets to the teashop.  It was evening, and pretty dark out.  The dark blue sky had no clouds.

"Zuko?" I said, opening the door.  The shop was closed, but the lights were on, and there was someone sitting at one of the tables, dressed in light green.  He stood up.

"Jin," he said.  He stood in the same spot, but I walked toward him.  

He smiled.

"Jin, I'm so s --"

I cut him off there, kissing him for at least five seconds.

"You don't have to be sorry."

"No, I do," he said, his hands in mine, both by our side.  "I should never have kept things from you.  I don't know why I didn't ask you for help."

"You have so many people who care for you, Zuko.  Who love you.  I love you, Zuko."

"I love you, too, Jin."

Chapter Text

"Is Zuko feeling better?" asked mother, after giving me a hug when I arrived.

"Much better," I said happily, putting my bag and staff by my bedroom door.  Then I came back around to the sitting room.  "Has Kyra come around at all?"

"She keeps asking when you're coming back, counting down the days," said father.  "Every night."

Just then, the door opened quickly and we all turned to face it, knowing exactly who it was.

"How many d -- Jin!" said Kyra, running to give me a hug.  "Dear spirits, I missed you."

"I missed you, too," I said with a smile.  

"How's Zuko?" she asked.  

"He's fine now," I told her.  

"You've been seeing him for how long now?" asked mother.  

"A year," I answered, taking a seat.  

"That's a long time," she said.

"Oh, we all know what she's wondering," interrupted grandfather.  "It's taking a long time for him to ask you to marry him," he shrugged, making me blush embarrassedly.

"Father!" exclaimed mother.  Though her face didn't look so surprised.  

"Well?" he said.  "You were getting there, won't you?" 

"I, well..."

"She was," whispered Kyra.

"Do you have a reason?" asked grandfather.

"Well, not really," I said, looking up and down, anywhere but directly at my parents and grandfather.  "But, um, he did ask me to live with him."

一

yesterday evening

"Jin, I do need to be sorry.   I didn't know what to do, and that's on me."

"I understand, Zuko.  But there's always going to be problems."

"I know that know."

"Turn to someone who can always be there for you," I said.  "And I wanted to ask you -- this promise Aang said something about, a promise to you... what was that."

Zuko sat back down, and I sat across from him.

"I asked him... I told him that if I ever became too much like my father -- I asked him to promise he would end me."

"And... and that's what you thought he would do?"

"I -- no.  Somehow I knew, when my foot slipped, that he wouldn't let me die.  I don't know, I had this nightmare, he was in it, I think we had the same one.  My father was there, and Avatar Roku, my mother.  Something about it... I don't know."

"The nightmares are over,"  I said.  "You're safe now.  You're with me."

"I'm glad I'm with you," he said.  "I want to always be with you."

I smiled.

"I'm serious, Jin," he said happily.  "Why don't you live in the palace with me?"

"Zuko, I -- wow.  It would be a dream, Zuko." He smiled. "But my family would never let me."

"You're convincing," he said.  "I'm sure you could do something."

"Well..."

"I love you, Jin.  Just try?"

I took a deep breath.  "I'll try," I said fondly.

一

the present

"He did?!" said mother and father, standing up.  Grandfather was smiling.  

"Finally," he muttered, but it seemed only I heard.

"Um, yeah, he did," I said.  "But I didn't think you would say yes."

"They will," said grandfather.  Mother and father turned to him, aghast.

"We will?" asked mother.

"She deserves this, Fera.  She's worked hard for it.  You can't be so protective all the time, you know.  She's not a child."

Mother knew grandfather was right, I could tell, but she tried to argue anyway.

"But father, she wants to live there.  What if something happens.  And, um, besides, we'll miss her."

"This is exactly like the first time she asked to go.  For the spirit's sake, she'll be living in the most heavily guarded palace in the world.  With the Fire Lord, the Avatar's firebending teacher.  And, she can fend for herself just the same."

"Father, I just..."

"I think she should go, Fera," said father, making Kyra and I even more hopeful.  "We love her.  But so does he.  She should have as much time with him as she likes.  And she'll still come to visit," he explained.  "It's not like she'll be gone forever."

Mother looked fondly at me.  "Alright," she said.  "Okay.  You can live with Zuko."

"Thank you!" I exclaimed, hugging both mother and father.  "I'll send him a letter, ask him to come next week."

"Ask him to come?"

"Well, yes, for you to meet him, and I don't want to take a ferry again."

"Really?" 

"Well, he won't be in full Fire Lord garb, it is the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se, but yes.  I think he'd want to meet you."

"Well, it'll be good to meet him," said father.  "I've only ever seen him on posters, anyway."

I laughed.

一

It was early morning, exactly a week later, when there was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," I said.  It wasn't like anyone else was going to, as they were all in the kitchen.

It was Zuko, dressed in the same green Earth Kingdom clothes he was wearing in the tea shop that night, but his hair was up with the Fire Nation hairpiece.

"Zuko! Hi," I said, hugging him.

"Hi," he smiled.  "Um, I'm here to, well, pick you up, obviously."  He scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, I'm packed," I said.  I lowered my voice to a whisper.  "But, um, my parents want to meet you first."

"Oh, good," he said a little sarcastically, in the same whisper.  My parents and grandfather came to the front of the house to greet Zuko.

Mother bowed.  "It's so nice to meet you, Fire Lord Zuko."

"Please," said Zuko, bowing just the same.  "Just Zuko is fine.  And the pleasure is mine."

"We're glad you're taking care of our daughter," said father.  "Thank you for being good to her."

"She's been good to me just the same," he said, making me smile and blush.  "I love her."

"So do we," said mother, looking fondly at the both of us.  She gave me a hug, then my father and grandfather did the same.  

"Now go," she said, smiling.  "Before I cry."

"Goodbye," I said, smiling.

"Bye, Jin," said mother and father.  

I wasn't going to live with them anymore.  I lived with Zuko, in the Fire Nation now.  Just the thought made me miss them, though they were mere feet away still, waving. I loved them, yes, but I'd been with them my whole life.

And my love with Zuko was only beginning.

Chapter Text

"Izumi!" said Jin frantically, searching around the throne room for her daughter.  "Dear spirits Izumi, it's not funny anymore.  Come out, please."

There was a giggle from one of the pillars some feet away.  Zuko had been searching on the opposite side of the room.  He turned around with a smile toward Jin, then turned to where Izumi's voice had been heard, tiptoeing.

Jin rolled her eyes.

"Izumi!" said Zuko, pulling her out from behind one of the many pillars in the room.  The five-year-old smiled and laughed as her father picked her up and put her on his shoulders.

"Daddy!" she said.

"Zuko, it's not funny!" said Jin, pointing her finger at the two.  

"Oh, come on, it's a little funny."

Jin sighed.  "Okay, fine.  But we do have places to go, you know," she continued.  "And it's not me that they want to see, it's the Fire Lord."

"I'm sure they'll like seeing the Lady Jin just the same," said Zuko, taking Izumi off his shoulders and putting her on the ground.

Jin smiled.  "Alright, we should get going."  She took Izumi's hand and led her down the hall, watching her husband walk next to her with great interest.  He noticed.

"Like what you're seeing?" he asked with a smile, as a guard opened the door to the outside for the family.

"Always have," I said.  "I like your hair that length.  You should keep it."

In the seven years that had passed, Zuko had grown his hair to the traditional length, just to his waist.  It was almost as long as Jin's.

"You just like playing with it," he smiled, getting into a carriage that would take them to the ferry.

"Not just me," smiled Jin, as she heaved Izumi inside. "Izumi likes playing with it too."

Zuko rolled his eyes.  "And, um, remind me why we're going to Cranefish Town?"

It was Jin's turn for an eye roll. "Republic City, Zuko." The two went inside the carriage, and it went off. "And they're finally opening the Government Building there, making the name official."

"Right," remembered Zuko, dragging out the word.  

They got there by sunset, where Zuko, Earth King Kuei, Aang, and Sokka, the new chief of the Southern Water Tribe, were to declare Republic City the capital of the United Republic of Nations.

There had been a lot of trouble to get themselves this far.  But it had all been worth it.  Together, the group had united not only themselves, but the whole world.  They had brought all four nations together to create this city. This new nation would be open to anyone who wanted to move there and be governed by a council with a representative from each of the four nations, the representative being chosen by the ruler of each.  

"This place is going to be a metropolis for innovations," said Zuko, looking up at the tall buildings and streets of the city.  People gathered in one of the particular areas near the center, where the government building was.  Their ferry passed the statue of Aang in Yue Bay, and a couple of minutes later came to a stop at the docks.

Jin, Zuko, and Izumi were met by Katara, Toph, and Suki at the docks.  Next to Katara stood her son Bumi, who was almost two years younger than Izumi, yet already more energetic.  The two were friends, they liked to chase each other around.  

"It's amazing to see you both again," said Katara, placing her arms around Jin for a quick hug, then smiling at Izumi.  

"It really is," commented Jin, after greeting Suki and Toph.  "Have you seen Kyra?  She told me she would be here."

"She's here," said Katara, looking over her shoulder for Jin's best friend.

"I saw her and Aruye near the front of the stage, talking with Sokka."

"Thank you," said Jin, handing Izumi over to Zuko.  "I'll see you in a couple of minutes," she said to him.  

Kyra and her now husband, Hakan had a one-year-old daughter, Aruye.  They lived in the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se, where Hakan's parents had bought them a house there as a wedding present.  They enjoyed it there, and Kyra's parents could easily come to visit when they pleased. 

"Kyra!" said Jin, waving toward her friend.  

"Jin!" exclaimed Kyra. "How's the Fire Lady doing?" she asked.

"It's so great to see you," said Jin, finally reaching where she was near the front of the stage.  "I've been amazing.   How's Aruye?" Jin asked, letting the baby grab her finger.

"She's walking all around the house," said Jin.  "She's everywhere, we've had to move everything breakable high up."

And that was a lot of stuff, considering all the glass things they had from Kyra's father.

"Well, good thing she's short," smiled Jin, looking into the baby's gold eyes. "Has she shown any signs of bending yet?"

"Not at all," said Kyra.  "But when the doctor came, he said she'd definitely be a bender, he just doesn't know which yet."

"Well, that's --"  Crowds got quieter around them, and groups of people turned to face the stage.  "Oh, actually, I have to be up there," said Jin, pointing behind her at the stage.  "I'll talk to you in a couple minutes, yeah."

"Oh, sure," said Kyra.  "Have fun, Fire Lady."

Toph and Suki joined Kyra in the front row of the crowd as Jin went up the steps to the platform in front of the shiny new Government Building.  It wasn't much taller than the ground, but Jin felt as if she could see so much more from up here.  Maybe it was because she could see so many people.  There were people from all the nations, even Air Acolytes, who followed the customs of the Air Nation without being benders.  

Jin took Izumi from Zuko and held her hand as she stood next to her mother.  Katara stood next to them nearer the back of the stage, as they were not the ones making speeches. 

Aang started to speak, but people were still conversing in the crowd below. Zuko cleared his throat loudly, and everyone turned to face the stage, chatter fading away completely.  He nodded to Aang, who now began speaking.  

"After everyone's hard work over these past years, so much has happened," said Aang.  "And I'd like to thank every single one of you, from all four of the nations, because without you, none of this would have been possible.  So, people of the United Republic of Nations..."

Zuko, Sokka, and Earth King Kuei joined him in saying this.

"Welcome, to Republic City."