Fuel To My Fire - Book Two (ATLA Zuko Fanfiction)

Chapter Fifteen

Sakari's POV

I was serving a customer some tea one morning at the tea shop, when I watched three men approach Iroh, preparing to make him an offer.

"So, you're the genius behind this incredible brew." One of the men said. "The whole city is buzzing about you! I hope Pao pays you well."

"Good tea is its own reward." Iroh replied humbly.

"But it doesn't have to be the only reward." The man countered. "How would you like to own your own tea shop?"

"My own tea shop?" Iroh asked in shock.

"He'd love to!" I answered for him, rushing to his side.

"It would be a dream come true." He said to the man.

"What's going on here?" Pao suddenly appeared beside us. "Are you trying to poach my tea maker?"

"Sorry, Pao, but that's business for you, am I right?" The man said.

"Mushi, if you stay, I'll make you assistant manager." Pao said to Iroh, trying desperately to make him stay. "Wait, senior assistant manager."

"I'll provide for you a new apartment in the upper ring." The man offered. "And the tea shop is yours to do whatever you want, complete creative freedom."

"I even get to name the shop?" Iroh asked, sounded excited.

"Of course!" The man replied.

"Uh, senior executive assistant manager?" Pao tried again to keep Iroh.

Iroh simply handed the teapot he had been holding to Pao and bowed to the three men in front of us.

"Sorry, Pao. We're going upper class." I told him, jumping in excitement a couple of times.

"Did you hear that, Lee?" Iroh asked Zuko as he walked past. "This man wants to give us our own tea shop in the upper ring of the city."

"That's right, young man. Your life is about to change for the better." The man told Zuko.

"I'll try to contain my joy." Zuko said grumpily and stepped outside.

I decided to follow him out, leaving Iroh to chat with the men about his new tea shop. But when I exited the shop, Zuko had disappeared.

"What the...?" I mumbled, looking around for Zuko.

I eventually spotted him; he was standing on the roof of the tea shop with a piece of paper in his hands. I furrowed my brow in confusion and decided to leave him to whatever he was doing, entering the tea shop once again and shrugging off the bad feeling I was starting to get.

*****

I didn't see Zuko again for that whole day and I was starting to get worried, fiddling with my necklace nervously.

"I am sure he is fine." Iroh said as we entered our home.

"You're probably right." I sighed. "But, where is he?"

As if on cue, Zuko walked through the front door, acting like he didn't just disappear for the entire day. Iroh, having spent the day not worrying about him, simply started packing his things to move to the upper ring.

"Where have you been?!" I asked, my voice raised and my arms crossed.

"I needed some time to think." He replied, giving me a kiss on my forehead.

"I was thinking as well! Thinking about names for my new tea shop." Iroh said, interrupting us. "How about The Jasmine Dragon?"

"Hmm, I like it." I told Iroh.

"Uncle, can I talk to you alone?" Zuko suddenly asked, pulling a piece of paper out from his shirt.

Zuko and Iroh stared at me for a moment and I threw my hands up in exasperation, walking down the hallway to my room. I opened the door and then shut it, but I stayed on the outside of it so that I could eavesdrop. The next words Zuko spoke made my stomach drop.

"The Avatar's in Ba Sing Se. And he's lost his bison."

Just when I thought he had moved past this, forgotten all about Aang and getting his honour back. How did he even know he was in the city? How did he know he had lost Appa? The paper. It must be a missing poster of Appa.

"We have a chance to start a new life here." I heard Iroh reply. "If you start causing trouble, we could lose all the good things that are happening for us."

"They're only happening for you!" Zuko snapped back. "Have you ever thought that I want more from life than a nice apartment and a tea serving job?"

"There's nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity." Iroh told his nephew. "I suggest you think about what it is you want from life, and why."

"I want my destiny." Zuko stated.

"What that means is up to you." Iroh said calmly.

Zuko ignored him and made his way to his bedroom, stopping when he saw me standing in front of my door.

"You weren't meant to hear any of that." Zuko said quietly, disappearing into his room.

I angrily stormed out to the living room, where Iroh was still packing his things.

"I am guessing that you were eavesdropping?" Iroh asked.

"How could he do this?!" I exploded. "How could he just throw this great life away?! We've been so happy lately! And he's just gonna go straight back to hunting the Avatar!"

"Calm yourself, Sakari." Iroh said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "He will do what is right. I know he will."

"But what if he doesn't?" I sighed, walking out the front door.

*****

I wandered the streets for a while until I came to the pond that Zuko brought me to not so long ago. We were so happy then; he had forgotten all about capturing Aang and restoring his honour. I bended the water from the pond and slammed it into a tree nearby, letting some of my anger out. I kicked and punched the water, sending it flying at the poor tree, breaking off branches and stripping it of its bark. I felt the air around me heating up, but I didn't care, I just continued to beat up the innocent tree until I blew it right out of the ground. I fell to my knees on the ground, panting heavily, when a strange fog appeared around me.

"Sakari." A feminine voice spoke.

I looked up and found myself face to face with the ghostly image of Princess Yue, she looked very worried.

"Yue? What are you doing here?" I asked, shocked that she once again appeared to me.

"You need to forgive him." Yue spoke sweetly.

"But-"

"No buts." She interrupted me. "I still believe that he will change. But not if you hold onto your anger towards him."

"Well, see, that's why I'm here." I indicated the tree in front of me. "To let my anger out."

"I can see that." She said, glancing at the tree sadly. "Go to him, Sakari. Before he does something he'll regret."

"What do you mean?" I asked, but it was too late. Yue was gone.