the avatar, and that one good firebender, lee

water, part three

"did we really have to leave kyoshi?" sokka, staring at the singed village, mopes into the palm of his hand. his other cheek stays flushed, with a red mark painted in a warrior's intricacy. "ah, suki."

"yes, really. the fire nation is on our tail," katara exclaims, rolling her eyes at sokka's grief. "you know what, i bet it was that eyepatch guy chasing us. the--the prince, prince zuko?"

"him! yeah, that jerk," sokka scowls. "he really had to make us leave. i can't believe i saved him."

"you hit him with your boomerang."

"yeah, thus saving him from doom," sokka corrects, his sister scoffing at the explanation. "whatever. wherever we go next, i wanna talk to the warrior girls."

-------

"lee, if you're gonna steal my shift, might as well tell me about it," jang mutters in the kitchen, setting down his tea pot as he loosens his tie. "i got all dressed up for nothing."

"we don't have shifts," zuko calls, earning a grumble of i wasted all this hair gel as jang retreats to his room.

"uh, yeah we do," feng says, grabbing a tea pot and a set of three cups and relaying the customers' orders to kook at the table.

"we do?"

"zuko, i started it last month," kook informs, exasperated, before taking notes of feng's customers' orders. she points to a board behind her, one that zuko hadn't noticed before, lined with names and times of the day. "come on, get with the program. i guess you can do jang's shift until lunch."

"fine."

"prince zuko says fine, but lee the tea server says sorry." feng and kook snicker at the boy's grimace.

"fine—sorry," zuko splutters. "whatever." taking his teapot, he marches out of the kitchen and onto the deck, bearing a pout as he passes iroh by.

behind him, feng calls, "and if you're interested--i have a shift tomorrow too!"

-------

the jasmine dragon docks at kyoshi island, and, stepping on dock, the crew notes the scorch marks scarring the trees, streets, and buildings. meeting them however are the kyoshi warriors and oyaji, all bearing welcoming smiles. "the jasmine dragon, we've been waiting for your arrival. we haven't gotten enough of your tea since you last visited."

iroh smiles, shaking oyaji's hand and bowing to the kyoshi warriors. "i too have waited long for this. the desserts we bought didn't last a week." smile dropping, he gestures to the landscape. "but may i ask what happened here? has the fire nation attacked?"

oyaji nods solemnly. "we take it that news of the avatar's arrival spread quickly. the fire navy attacked, but the avatar defended our town and put out the fires with the unagi."

"the avatar?" zuko asks, interest piqued. "the avatar was here?"

"yes," oyaji nods. "they left a few days ago, after fighting the fire navy."

"did they--"

"well, it seems your people have worked hard rebuilding; they deserve some good tea, oyaji," iroh interrupts, raising a hand to direct the warriors up on deck. then, at his nephew, "lee, help feng bring oyaji's shipment from the back."

"come on, prince, before you make a fool of yourself," feng muttered, dragging zuko back on the deck.

-------

during music night, zuko wanders off the ship, letting the echoes of lieutenant jee's violin dwindle, and sits by the shores. pulling out a napkin from his pocket, he snacks on the dessert he saved from town, and pauses to roll up his pants and pull at his collar. with a sigh, he turns around. "you don't have to follow me around all the time."