ᗪㄩ乇ㄥ 乃乇几ᗪ乇尺

Chapter 13

"So, we're not allowed to put up flyers. We have to go through a long process just to see the king. What should we do? How can we find Appa now?" I paced back and forth.

"We can find that exotic animal merchant. If we find him, we may find Appa!" Katara smiled.

"Ok, but how do we find him?" Toph countered.

"I'm not sure..." Katara sulked.

"How about we all take a day to relax and explore the kingdom?" Sokka suggested.

"That sounds great and all, but I want to find Appa as fast as possible." Aang sulked.

"We'll find him." Katara patted his shoulder sympathetically.

"Ok.. then you guys have fun, I'll try getting us some leads." Aang said and used his glider to fly out of the house.

We shared concerned looks and then decided to do what Aang said. We split up to do our own things all while keeping an eye out for anything Appa related. I went all the way to the poor section where that famous tea shop is located. I was walking around a little bit lost and examined my surroundings. "Excuse me, could you please direct me to the Jasmine Dragon?" I asked a group of girls.

They pointed down the street, so I followed their direction, and there I saw a sign saying 'The Jasmine Dragon' I looked back at the group and thanked them. I walked inside the tea shop and saw no one inside. "Odd...I thought this place was popular?" I mumbled to myself. "Sorry, we're closed for the day." I heard someone speak as they came out from the back. We locked eyes, and all I could do was open my mouth in shock.

"(Y/n)!?" He said in shock.

"Zuko!" I smiled big.

I ran up to him and hugged him tightly, wrapping my arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me close, squeezing me just as tight. "I'm so glad to see you're ok! I was so worried about how you were without me there to help! I'm sorry I left, I only left because I wanted to learn waterbending and help Aang and-" I started rambling again, but he put a finger on my lips to quiet me. I quickly shut up and looked at him, slowly loosening my grip.

"It's ok, I know why you left. You wanted to grow, I've been growing too. You helped me realize so much just by leaving." He moved my hair out of my face.

"Really? So Iroh didn't help?" I smirked.

"No, he helped too." He smiled softly. We separated from the hug, and I couldn't help staring at his face.

"You changed your hair." I looked at his short hair. "It looks much better." I smiled.

"Would you like any tea?" He asked, motioning me to sit.

I nodded and sat down while he went into the back. He came back a couple of minutes later with Iroh. "(Y/n) it's so good to see you." Iroh spoke as Zuko sat the cup of tea down in front of me and sat down, Iroh following Zuko. I smiled and agreed, then took a sip from the tea. "You remember my favorite tea?" I looked at Zuko, and he nodded. "How long have you guys been here?" I asked. "About a week. This place has been very generous to us. We get a lot of customers." Iroh drank his tea, never getting rid of his smile.

"How long have you been here?" Zuko questioned.

"About a day now. This place is very big, I still haven't finished exploring."

"Be careful when you explore. There's a lot of muggers here." Iroh warned.

"I am careful. Thank you for worrying."

"How's your progress with the group going? About letting me join?"

"Oh, right! Well, Aang seems to be the most on board, I'm not sure about Sokka and Toph, but I'm mostly worried about Katara. She hates Fire Nation a lot, and she's putting all that hate onto you, so I can only do so much. If you join, the rest is up to you to fix it."

He nodded, understanding. I finished my tea and looked outside through the window next to me. "Oh, it's getting dark already. I have to go they might be worrying about me. I'll come back tomorrow, I promise!" I stood up and went towards the door. "Wait, (Y/n)!" Zuko called out, I turned around, resting my hand on the door handle. Zuko looked at Iroh nervously, Iroh nodded his head so Zuko looked back at me. "Would you like to work here?" I smiled big and nodded my head.

"I'd love to!" This caused him to softly smile.

"Come back tomorrow in the morning and we'll train you." Iroh waved.

Iroh whispered something to Zuko as I left the shop after waving goodbye one last time and started walking back to where I was staying. "Wait up!" I heard Zuko call out behind me. I turned around and waited for him. He jogged up next to me, and we started walking. "Iroh told you to walk me back, didn't he?" I snickered. He awkwardly nodded his head as he scratched the back of his neck.

"So, who's Toph?" He asked.

"Our new member. She's an Earth bender, she's blind, but she's really good at it."

We talked mostly about small talk topics as we were getting closer and closer to our destination. We made it to the house I'm staying in, and before I opened the door, I looked back at him. "You might want to leave before they see you." I suggested. He nodded and turned around to leave, before he started walking I grabbed his wrist. He looked back at me confused. "Be safe on your way back. I'll see you tomorrow morning." He smiled softly. "I'll see you tomorrow." He then left.

I watched him leave until he faded into the night and then went inside. There I saw everyone eating dinner. "(Y/n)! You're back! Where were you!? We were worried about you! Don't do that again ok!" Katara stood up and ran up to me placing her hands on my shoulders. "I'm sorry, I explored the whole place. It's massive yet very beautiful." She sighed relieved and sat back down. I followed her, and Sokka handed me some food.

"I got some good news."

"What is it?" Toph asked.

"Did you find Appa!?" Aang asked excitedly.

I shook my head no, this shot his enthusiasm down quickly. I felt so horrible for him. "I know we're going to be here for a while sooo." I dragged it out trying to build suspension. "Sooo what? You went shopping?" Sokka sarcastically joked. "I got a job." This made everyone drop their utensils with surprised and happy expressions on their faces.

27 May

Dear Journal,

Today a lot has happened, that's come to be the new usual thing in my life. I don't mind it too much though, but I'd much prefer a quiet life. Anyways, Ba Sing Se doesn't allow us to put flyers up so we're back at square one for finding Appa. This has got Aang down in the dumps and I wish we could find him soon.

I explored Ba Sing Se and it's a very diverse and beautiful place. There was this tea shop I kept hearing about in the streets called the Jasmine Dragon. So, I went to check it out and to my surprise it's ran by Iroh and Zuko. I was so surprised to see them, it made me so happy seeing them again.

I got a job at Irohs tea shop which is great. I'll be able to make money to keep us fed and supplied while being with Zuko and Iroh. However when there are others around I have to call them by their fake names since they're now fugitives. And Ba Sing Se is not fond of fire benders, which means I can only use water here. Which I'm ok with.