The Girl He Won't Remember

Chapter 21

Kenji had "forbidden" me from working the next day, shooing me out the moment I stepped in. The bakery was apparently under severe maintenance. I was never really told why, but it was the first time that cranky old man had ever shown any concern for me. Or maybe he was just concerned that my working during maintenance would ruin his reputation. Anyhow, I spent that day roaming through the market. I hadn't heard from Jet, but I most definitely was not complaining. While roaming, I felt something yank at the back of my shirt, jerking me back into an alley. I opened my mouth to yell, but a hand clamped itself over my mouth to block any noise while the other arm had me pinned to the wall by my chest. I was face to face with a blue kabuki mask with white fangs, glaring at me with empty eyes. Once I stopped fighting and shouting, the black-clad removed its hand from my mouth and held a finger to the lips of the mask.

"Let go of me," I warned. "Let go of me right now or else I'll scream. I'll scream and water-whip you so hard into oblivion, your ancestors and even your descendants will be sore." The stranger removed the mask, and my adrenaline immediately dropped. "What on earth is wrong with you?!"

"It was the only way I could guarantee that you'd talk to me," Zuko said. "Why are you acting like you don't know us, like you don't know me?" He stepped back, unpinning me. "You've been driving me insane! You made me think that I was just imagining that it was you! Why?!"

I brushed dirt from my clothes and picked up the bag he made me drop. "I'm trying to start a new life here," I said. "Just like you— and we can't do that if we're constantly together. It would be like nothing had changed!"

"Saki, please," his voice softened. "I need my best friend back. I need... I need you back."

"Zuko," I said spoke just as softly, if not more. "This is kind of defeating the purpose of starting over..." I gently placed a hand on his cheek, my finger grazing his scar. He leaned into the touch before I removed my hand, walking away. 

"I saw you with Jet last night," he blurted. I stopped in my tracks without saying anything or turning to face him. "When we were at the fountain, after I lit the lamps for Jin. I saw you kissing him." He sounded equally hurt and confounded. "After what he did to you, how could you still be with him? He hurt you!"

"I did it to protect you!" I whirled around, then walked back to him. I lowered my voice to a whisper. "What were you thinking?! Firebending in public? Are you intentionally trying to expose yourself, and right after Jet's explosion at the tea shop? If I had known that you would put yourself at risk like that, I wouldn't have told her that it was a good idea to ask you out and—"

"I'm sorry!" Zuko hit the palm of his hand against his forehead. He looked at me again, almost teary eyed. In all of our years in each others' lives, I had never seen him so vulnerable. I lunged forward, wrapping my arms around him in a tight embrace, and he did the same. We stood there like that for an indeterminably long time in silence. A few passersby noticed us, not-so-discreetly wondering amongst themselves why we were standing there for so long. "You should come to our apartment tonight," he finally said. "Uncle and I have been wanting to talk to you for a long time now. It'll be just like old times." He pulled back slightly. "Will you?"

I nodded, giving a hint of a smile. "Of course I will." 

"So, how'd your date go?" I asked Jin as we sat on the edge of the fountain. She chose not to go to the tea shop that day, as to be expected, and opted that we go to her favorite spot. She ran her fingertips along the water, her reflection distorted in the rippling. 

"Lee was sweet. I can see why you still look at him the way you do," she smiled. "We went out to eat, and he told me a little bit about himself— did you know he and his uncle are in a traveling circus? Then we came here... It was just what I had hoped it would be..."

"A traveling circus?" I chuckled. When she nodded, I said, "They are just filled with surprises, I guess. Then what? Did you two kiss?" I felt horrible asking, especially when I knew the outcome already.

"No," Jin sighed. "I mean, a little, kind of. He said it was complicated, and then he left." She looked at me. "Are you two... seeing each other? Is that what's making it complicated? Lily, you could've told me! I asked you before even asking him out! If you—"

"No!" I rose my voice to silence her frantic speaking. "Jin, you've been my best and only friend since I came into the city. I told you that it was okay, and I meant it. I would never put you in that kind of position, or anyone else, for that matter."

"Then what could it be?" She asked sadly. "What makes it so complicated?"

I sighed, thinking carefully. "If he's still how I remember him to be," I said, "then he's still struggling to find himself. He was never a very stable person, and an entirely new environment isn't helping that. He just... takes time."

"And you're sure it has nothing to do with the relationship between the two of you?" It took me a moment to nod. When I did, Jin hugged me tightly, sniffling quietly as if to hide that she was trying not to cry. "Thank you," she said, "for being my friend."

I entered the tea shop near closing time, though there were a few straggling customers. Zuko was serving tea to them, and Iroh was cleaning the counter. "Would you like some help?" I asked. 

Iroh looked up and smiled. "I could not ask you to do our work."

"It would be my pleasure," I smiled. I picked a wet rag from behind the counter and began cleaning tables. I heard the two remaining customers behind me commenting about being glad to finally see a pretty face in the shop, and how there was nothing better than a pretty girl serving them. Now, if this had been back on the ship, these men would've already had seawater filling them like balloons or been frozen from the neck down and left out on deck to thaw. However, I didn't have the privilege to do so. Instead, I bent their scalding tea into their laps. The two brawny men quickly shot up from their seats, shrieking from the pain. I suppressed my laughter and sauntered over to their table, bending the tea from their clothes and back into their cups. "This pretty girl doesn't like being ogled," I said with a smirk.

Without an apology, the two of them paid for their countless cups of tea, and left with what little masculinity they had left and a look of fear in their eyes. The same look the two boys gave Katara at that earthbending academy.

As soon as the shop was closed, the three of us walked to their apartment, where we sat and drank tea. We recollected stories of our journey leading up to our arrival in the city, though I (wisely) avoided mentioning that I was with Aang and the others. I hadn't felt so at home in a long time, and I suddenly regretted departing. Iroh told stories of people he'd come to know in the city, laughing at his own jokes. I looked at Zuko every now and then, seeing his lips quirk into a smile. 

It was well past midnight before any of us had even realized. I thanked Iroh for the tea and stood to go home, but both of them refused to allow me to leave. 

"It's late," Iroh protested. "It would be dishonorable to let you walk through the lower ring at this hour. I insist that you stay here for the night." 

As much as I wanted to protest, he had a valid point. I agreed to stay, and claimed a spot in the corner of the living space beneath the window to sleep, much to Iroh's disliking. The older man quickly fell asleep in his room, and I had assumed that Zuko did as well. Curled into the fetal position in my corner, I slowly began to drift into sleep as I looked up at the night sky. Just as I was in-between consciousness and sleep, I felt two arms wrap around me and my face was resting against a warm chest.