Not Too Far from the Yew Tree (an ATLA fanfiction)

This is the Light of the Mind, Cold and Planetary

Jet was pulled from his thoughts when the plate was set on his table. Before he could say anything the server had already left, so he picked up his chopsticks and mixed up the plated beef chow fun. In restaurants they always swirled the noodles into a tidy pile, but his family had never served it that way and he didn't like food that looked too tidy because he associated it with flavorlessness, like the kinds of foods he had seen Xiao Dan and Long Feng eat. The plate was heavy stoneware glazed in dark blue, in similar quality to the atmosphere of the Middle Ring restaurant, dark and heavy but familiar. Paper lanterns were tied to the ceiling cross-beams and the uneven stone floor was coated in the day's dust.

Despite being in the Middle, many of the clientele were from the Lower. Upper class people avoided the hearty homecooked style featured there, which, incidentally, was what drew Jet. The chef wasn't from his home village but he must have been from the same region as he favored the same seasoning balances and techniques. Chunks of marinated beef rested in a pile of wide egg noodles garnished with bean sprouts and whole red chili peppers. The bold flavors upset the upper class citizens of the city, who preferred their meals more finely diced, but he enjoyed it. He began eating and tried to ignore the feeling of being watched.

He glanced at the dish the girl at the other table had. Tong sui. It was a sweet dessert soup made with coconut milk, longan, red dates, snow fungus, and ginkgo nuts. From the way she was toying with the dish it seemed like she was trying to stay in the restaurant as long as possible although she must have already been full from her meal. The lighting here is dim. She doesn't realize how badly scarred I am. He turned his attention back to his own food.

As the waiter walked past Jet flagged him and asked for a lantern to be brought. The man grumbled, but as Jet was a regular customer he could afford to make such requests. He averted his eyes as it was set on the table and pushed it to his right side, the side she would see, so she would realize and abandon her intentions.

He ate in silence. At the bottom of the plate he glanced over and met eyes with her. He quickly looked away. Why is she still here?

If I want her, she's willing. All I have to do is flirt a bit, the way I used to. Jet paused, then smoothed out the blue ribbon tied around his wrist.

He frowned and wiped his mouth with the cloth napkin. The waiter came over and asked if everything was okay, a note of concern in his voice. "It's fine. I just have a toothache." As he was paying the bill, they brought him a clove for the invented pain gratis. He pocketed it and left. The girl kept looking at him so he kept his gaze straight ahead and pace fast like he had urgent business to attend.

I'm doing her a favor. Ever since the recent business with abolishing the Dai Li, I'm a targeted man. Getting involved with me will just get her hurt. He walked to the train station in the evening's fading light.

His residential suite at the palace was too large for his own tastes and always felt drafty and empty. Kuei wanted him nearby for his own convenience and was coming to overly rely on him as he previously had Long Feng, and Jet understood how easy it was to abuse that kind of starry-eyed trust. In his case, however, what he wanted wasn't something the king could ever provide. As he settled into the bed, he wondered if he should have accepted the girl's interest, if that might help him get over Katara, but wasn't sure if he wanted to abandon those feelings just yet. He'd relied on them four years, even if he'd only been with her a brief time to begin with and had carried on pining in her absence. She represented a purity he'd never thought could exist after his village had burned, like a nostalgic story remembered from childhood. It had been the previous spring he'd met her again in Shu Jing and received her rejection, but she was still precious to him regardless. With Katara, their affection had never been physical to begin with, so the absence of her physical presence hadn't changed his feelings.