Daughter of the Moon - Book Two: Earth

Chapter 12.2: The Conflict

- Elara -

For some reason, I had just assumed that by reprimanding Jet in the alley after his ridiculous surprise attack just a few days prior, the boy would drop his stupid theories and leave us to live our boring lives in the tea shop (even though his theories were absolutely correct). Unfortunately, I would soon find out that would not be the case.

In the middle of another busy night at the shop (while Iroh was receiving yet another wave of praise from the customers), I was surprised to find the front doors opening with a sudden bang, silencing the chatter that usually filled the dining area. I turned to see what had caused all the commotion, and I nearly dropped my serving platter when I recognized who it was. It was, in fact, Jet-and a very angry Jet, for that matter.

"I'm tired of waiting! These two men are firebenders!" he exclaimed as he pointed to Zuko and Iroh.

My heart dropped as he drew his hook swords and prepared for a fight, and looked over at Zuko and Iroh for some kind of cue for what we should do. Unfortunately, they looked just as unsure as I felt in that moment, and that wasn't going to get us anywhere. I knew right then that this was going to be an interesting night. We had made no plan for when something like this would happen, and I was confident that Zuko was going to do something brash because of it.

"I know they're firebenders!" Jet continued with his completely ludicrous (and completely accurate) accusations. "I saw the old man heating his tea!"

An eruption of chuckles and snickers erupted amongst the customers at Jet's revelation, and I was initially confused as to why these refugees were taking this subject so lightly (I mean, firebenders had taken everything away from many of them, after all), but as soon as I realized that they thought Jet's evidence was ridiculous, I found myself snickering along with them.

"He works in a tea shop," one of the customers—a guard from the middle ring—pointed out as he stood up, mostly likely in an attempt to deescalate the situation.

"He's a firebender, I'm telling you," Jet hollered as he took a hesitant step back, inching further and further away from the man.

"Jet, what are you doing here?" I asked as I sensed violence in his demeanor. "I thought I told you to leave."

"I couldn't leave," he argued. "I have to save everyone and show them the truth."

Once the guard had recognized that this boy couldn't be negotiated with, he motioned for his companions to join him, taking the steps necessary to cut in. "Drop your swords boy, nice and easy," the officer ordered calmly.

"You'll have to defend yourself," Jet continued as he stared daggers at Zuko, completely ignoring the guards approaching him. "Then everyone will know. Go ahead, show them what you can do!"

Just as I had expected, instead of ignoring the trouble and keeping on the down low, Zuko decided to get more involved in the situation than he needed to be, which did nothing less than to make the situation worse. Just as one of the guards went to draw the swords at his waist, Zuko stepped in front of him and grabbed the hilt instead, approaching Jet with the intent to duel (boys and their freaking honor).

"You want a show?" Zuko threatened. "I'll give you a show."

"Lee, wait," I pleaded as I tried to intervene, but Zuko only shoved me away as he grabbed a table and kicked it at Jet (honestly, I couldn't understand why I liked this boy).

Fortunately, a crowd of customers had caught me, saving me from what could've been a nasty fall (who was I kidding, I was skilled enough to catch myself, but the customers probably shouldn't have known that), but by the time they had set me upright, all that was left of Jet and Zuko was a table that had been sliced perfectly in half and a broken front door as the battle raged its way outside.