The Girl He Won't Remember

Chapter 22

I woke the next morning before the other two merely out of habit. Iroh's snoring could be heard through his closed door, and Zuko still slept with his arms protectively around me. His breath stirred my hair and his. I couldn't help but smile. I carefully pried myself from him, stood up and smoothed out my hair and clothes. I still had a bit of time before I needed to leave for work, so I took this time to leave a Thank You gift. I tiptoed out of the apartment and ran to the market. I found the few stands that were already prepared, bought fruits and tea leaves, shoved them into my bag, and sprinted back to the lower ring to their apartment. Thanks to my morning routine of constantly running, it was no trouble. I still hated running, of course. Running is evil.

I quietly slipped back into their apartment to find them both still fast asleep. Perfect, I thought. I set my bag on the floor and grabbed their spark rocks from the table, and set their teapot over the flame. After putting the tea leaves in the soon-to-be-boiling water, I pulled the fruit from my bag and set them on the table. Papaya, mango, berries, apples. If there was one thing I knew that would please these two, it was food and tea. Unable to find a knife, I bent the steam emitting from the teapot into a knife-like shard of ice and sliced the fruit. Once the tea was done and the fruit had been placed into bowls, Iroh emerged from his room. 

"How have you woken before the sun?" He yawned, rubbing his eye childishly. 

"It's become a habit," I smiled, pouring him a cup of tea. "I made breakfast— sort of— as a thank you for letting me stay the night." I handed him his cup and bowl. "It's mango jasmine tea. I thought you might like it." He grinned at the mention of tea, probably not caring what kind it was, and suddenly looked more awake. As he began eating, I looked over at Zuko, who was still sleeping deeply.

"I have yet to see my nephew as happy and calm when you are not around," Iroh chuckled. 

Not wanting to disturb his serene slumber, I simply bent down and kissed Zuko's forehead. "I'll come by the shop later," I said with a smile. "Kenji has been wanting to send a basket of pastries as a welcome gift, even though it's been quite a while since you've begun working at the tea shop." I picked my bag up from the floor and waved goodbye before leaving.

As much as I loved the sense of nostalgia I got while with them, it was time to get back to my new reality— even if that included frantically working at the bakery. When I arrived, I quickly tied my apron as people pooled in. I went about my usual day: cleaning up after toddlers and grown men alike, running back and forth trying to bake and serve at the same time, and forcibly being nice in response to unwanted flirting. That day, however, a few familiar faces came through the bakery door. First came the two men from the tea shop, whose faces went red the moment they laid eyes on me. They sheepishly sat down, and neither had said a word the entire time they were there. Next came two faces that I was both shocked and ecstatic to see.

"Hi," Katara said, holding a poster to me. "We were wondering if you c—" She stopped once it had dawned on her that it was me, and her face lit up. Having a tray of treats balanced on both of my hands, I had to do everything possible to not fall or drop anything when she dove to hug me— which had completely caught me off guard. I truly expected her to hate me, or at least be upset when she saw me. I mean, I did leave without so much as a real goodbye to her or her brother. "Saki!"

I shushed her. "My name is Lily here," I told her, but I was smiling just as excitedly. I placed the trays down on the counter to hug her, then I hugged Aang. "What are you two—"

"Excuse me! I've been waiting for my bean curd puffs for ten minutes!" A customer shouted. 

"Coming!" I picked the trays up again and began serving, and Aang and Katara simply followed me around. "As I was saying: What are you guys doing here? At the bakery, I mean."

"We're looking for Appa," Aang said. "He was taken by sandbenders, and he's somewhere in the city. We were hoping we could hang some posters in here, maybe hand them to your customers." 

I handed a couple their egg custard tarts, and fried dough to their daughter. "I'm really sorry to hear about Appa," I said, lowering the empty trays to my side, "and I'd love to help any way I can, but my boss would have a tantrum if he caught you hanging posters here. Hand some around, though. He can't control that."

Aang nodded with an eager smile, doing exactly that. Katara followed me as I set the trays down and began preparing the pastry basket that I just knew Kenji would forget about, and somehow pin the blame on me once again. "How long have you been in the city?" She asked. "How have we never seen you?"

"It's a big city," I shrugged. "I've been here for weeks now, and I don't think they'd allow the Avatar and his friends to live in the lower ring with refugees." I handed Katara a tart and smiled, and she smiled back as she accepted the treat. 

Aang joined us with his grin still present. "All done," he declared. He looked at Katara. "We should go get Toph and Sokka," he suggested. "We can cover more ground with their help."

Katara nodded, and said, "When you get the chance, come visit us in the upper ring. It'd be great to see you again, and you can formally meet Toph." They flashed simultaneous smiles and left the bakery. Only seconds after they exited, Kenji appeared, fuming. He rambled angrily about allowing someone to 'harass' his customers and disturb the peaceful atmosphere of his bakery. Thus, he fired me on the spot. 

On the bright side, he still wasn't aware that I was stealing food for those two little kids. 

I wasn't in the least bit upset about losing my job. Well, I guess that isn't true. I was only upset about having to find a new way to make money. I made my way to the tea shop, but before I entered, something caught my attention. Somebody as standing on the roof of the tea shop's neighboring building. I went around to the back to check it out, only to see that the person as Zuko. "What are you doing up there?" I asked. 

He swiftly climbed down, clutching a sheet of paper in his hand. "He's here," he said. 

"Who's here?" I asked. "You have to be a little less vague."

"The Avatar," he looked at me, handing me what I soon realized to be one of Aang's flyers. 

I groaned, rolling my eyes. "Not this again," I sighed. 

"He's here!" He said again, raising his voice as if I didn't fully understand what he was implying. "This could be my chance! This is my chance to regain my honor, and prove that I am just as could as my sister and worthy of my destiny!"

"You don't need to repeat history to prove those things!" I rose my voice as well. "You and your uncle have such a wonderful life now! Why would you throw all of that away just for the off-chance that you catch him? And if you do catch him— then what? How can you guarantee that things will go the way you want them too?"

Zuko froze. "You don't believe that I can do it."

"I didn't say that."

He frowned, turning his back to me and going back into the shop through the back door. "You didn't have to." He slammed the door behind him.