Wild At Heart (Zuko)

Chapter Forty-Seven

At the Jasmine Dragon. Zuko and Iroh observe the happenings standing at the back. Iroh is clearly over the moon with his tea shop. With the life that they have managed to build here. Escaping their pasts and embracing a new future. Zuko lets out a breath and does smile slightly. Perhaps Iroh was right all along about this place.

"Who thought when we came to this city as refugees, that I'd end up owning my own tea shop?" Iroh asks and then looks at his nephew. "Follow your passion, Zuko, and life will reward you"

"Congratulations, Uncle"

"I am very thankful"

"You deserve it. The Jasmine Dragon will be the best tea shop in the city" Zuko offers, Iroh shakes his head.

"No" Iroh argues softly. "I'm thankful because you decided to share this special day with me. It means more than you know" Zuko looks at him softly before he reaches out and embraces his uncle in a hug. When they pull apart, they share a warm look before a flash of red hair steals Zuko's attention. He turns to find Kali just inside of the doors, in her cover-up skin. She is out in the open during the day, a public place, and she has to hide herself here. Zuko smiles and moves toward her to greet her. She seems flustered, out of breath. He looks over her to check on her, there is a rip in her dress.

"Hello" She greets warmly and he raises an eyebrow at the tear on her dress.

"What happened?"

"Nothing" She answers and touches his arm. He frowns and touches the rip on her dress.

"Nothing?" He asks, she hums and just smiles at him.

"I took care of it" She assures him, then leans up to kiss his cheek. He gives her a look as she heads towards the back of the store. That doesn't make him feel better about this, she's implying that someone has tried to hurt her.

"Petal" He follows her, touching her arm to get her to stop. She sighs.

"A couple of Dai Li agents ambushed me at my home" She admits. "I'm fine" She assures him.

"Why?" He asks her. She pulls a face and shrugs. She has no idea why. She keeps under the radar, mostly. She has had a few run-ins with them, but nothing to warrant a snatching. And not from her home. "And that doesn't bother you?"

"I don't know" She answers and steps closer to him. "During my time away, I stole some things...I needed to, maybe it's because of that" He cups her cheek.

"Did they hurt you?" She shakes her head.

"No, I'm fine" She assures him. "I tore my dress when I ran away....that's it" He lets out a breath and nods, letting his hand fall to his side. Relieved. Though still worried about the Dai Li. She walks away from Zuko, heading towards where Zuko is making up tea for the shop. She rummages through her bag to find what she is looking for and then produces a carved jade dragon which she holds out to Iroh. "I thought you might like this" She offers and he moves closer to her, smiling as he picks up the dragon from her hand. He chuckles softly and nods.

"It's beautiful" He assures her. "Do I want to know where you got this?" She shakes her head with a slight smirk. He hums and moves to set the statue on the counter, turning it a little left before stepping back to admire it.

"There..." He turns back to Kali. "How about some tea?" She nods. "Go and get a seat, drag my nephew with you he's due a break" She chuckles as she heads back over to Zuko.

......

Kali sets the badgermole figurine on the dresser next to a pygmy panther one. There is also a new ceramic vase and a framed sketch of a turtleduck. It adds something to the place that Zuko hadn't given it. He is practical. So there weren't any decorations in here before, at all. She's given the room life. She hums to herself as she arranges things on the dresser. She feels better about staying here. After the time she spent alone, coming to terms with who and what she is, she realised that this is not the worst place in the world to live and that she could come to like life here. She picks up the vase and wrinkles her nose. She wants to put it somewhere else. She turns to look around the room, to try and figure out where to put it. Suddenly, Kali's eyes go completely blank. Empty. Void. And she drops the vase from her hands. It shatters on the floor. Images and sounds flicker through her mind. She takes a breath when she comes back around.

"Angry girl" She states to herself and then gasps. "Zuko" She whispers and then hurries out of the room.

......

The tea shop is void of Iroh and Zuko when Kali walks in. There is only one server working. Kali shakes her head and then closes her eyes trying to work out where her vision took place but it's not somewhere she has been before. She doesn't recognise any of it.

"Kali?" She opens her eyes to find the server standing in front of her. "Iroh told me about you" He explains.

"Are they here?" She asks, he shakes his head.

"No, they got a message from the Royal Palace" He answers. She turns and rushes out of the tea shop and along the street towards the Royal Palace. She has a really bad feeling about this. They were finally getting settled. Zuko was coming around to the idea of them living here and building a life. Of course, something was going to go wrong.