(Zutara) Let Me Pretend; Your Soul is Winter Fire

Tea Fields

He didn't notice the blood on his tunic until he was back in his bedroom. Sneaking in through the window, cautious not to disturb Uncle sleeping a thin wall away, Zuko didn't think that night in the Middle Ring could have gone any worse or any better. Nothing binds people together like near disaster.

He was still revelling in the way Katara clung to him as he pulled off his tunic and his fingers came away red. He didn't need to check his body. He'd gained enough scars, knew pain like a second way to breathe, to know he wasn't hurt.

When he saw her in the Middle Ring it took everything in his power not to reach for her, check her over for injuries. When he saw her fingers, he cursed himself in every way Agni knew for letting it happen. But how would Zuko know she'd gotten hurt? Why would Zuko care?

Blue would care, he thinks as he scrubs one of Pao's tabletop with a little more force than necessary. Blue would get to care.

Can we be back before nightfall?

The question won't stop rattling around his head. What's worse is the answer keeps chasing it, like a desperate hare trying to outrun a wolf-fox. Katara wants to leave him to be with Blue, but he is Blue, but she doesn't know that. But why should he care if it all comes to the same conclusion? If it means he's finally, finally, going to get everything he's ever wanted?

Around and around, it goes. Predator taunting prey, except Zuko is both and there's no end in sight to the confusing tightness in his chest.

Don't be an idiot, of course there's an end. But your little Waterbender pet isn't part of it.

He doesn't need Azula to know what he should want. What he needs is a distraction.

He doesn't know if Agni is being kind or cursing him when Jet saunters in, straw limp in his mouth from the heat as spring gives way to summer. "Hey, Lee, you're not too busy for a chat, are ya?"

He is, but what is Pao going to do besides dock his last pay? Uncle and he are moving up in the world. A world where they once lived in palace's and their tea was brought to them by a different server every cup if they wanted. But they'll no longer be stuck in the Lower Ring, and Zuko will no longer have to put up with Jet's unexpected drop ins.

He tries not to make his bad mood Jet's fault as he sits at the table he was just cleaning. Jet settles down opposite him. "So, I heard the news. Pao, and the Lower Ring, are losing its best tea brewers."

"Its best tea brewer and a subpar tea server," Zuko corrects good-humouredly. "Lucky I'm his nephew or I'd be just as stuck here as everyone else."

"You're always so down on this place," Jet says, attention unnervingly precise. "Though I understand, you never seemed to fit in. Must not be used to the dirt."

"It's the capital of the Earth Kingdom. Dirt's in the name," Zuko answers carefully.

"Not for you." If Jet notices him tense, he shows nothing. "Not with where you're going. I'm jealous. Did you know, if your Uncle's tea is really good, you might meet the Avatar?"

Zuko screws his apron up in his lap until it's a ball of cloth wrapped between white-knuckled fingers. "You don't say? Rumours were going around he was in the city, but barely anyone down here's seen him."

"You're surprised? Come on, man. You've been here long enough to know the Dai Li have fingers in every pot in this city. Have fun dealing with them being in your business. Lots of famous people in the Upper Ring, and your Uncle's teashop is sure to be a hotspot." Jet leans back in his chair, watching people filter in and out of Pao's. "You know, I once met the Avatar?"

"Really?" Genuine surprise pitches Zuko's voice higher. "You never said."

Jet frowns. He's side on to Zuko, but in half the expression Zuko can see, he seems another world away. A world he'd sooner forget. "Met his girl too."