Another Avatar University Story

Chapter Ten

"I've got two orders of Jasmine Tea-" Zuko cut his sentence off as he got to our table and recognized who we were. Katara scooted closer over to me while I straightened my body up, clenching one fist under the table just in case.

"You work here?" Katara grumbled to him, narrowing her eyes.

"Yeah, I do," He replied with an equally disgruntled tone. "And listen, could we have like a uh.. truce and all tonight? It means a lot for my Uncle to be here helping him and I don't want to disappoint."

"Iroh's your uncle?" I asked, but unlike Katara, I wasn't annoyed.

He rolled his eyes. Zuko sat down the tray and passed the two tea cups and the teapot to us. "Listen, I'm sorry about what happened on Monday. Take my Uncle's tea as my own apology."

Katara gave him a quick 'hmph' and shot him an angry and took her cup and poured herself some tea. I followed suit. Zuko, however, just stood there.

"Is there something else?" I asked, sipping from my cup.

"What? No, there isn't. You two enjoy the tea." He replied, walking away towards the kitchen.

Immediately after he disappeared into the kitchen, I sighed in relief and unballed my hands. My body slumped back down into the wooden booth and began to get comfortable again.

I began sipping the tea once again and though it was hot, it was very good. My head perked up and my eyes widened. This tea was really good.

I turned to face Katara. "Did you try it out already? It's really really good you know!"

She looked down towards her cup and then brought it to her face, sipping on it. She also perked up, and her eyes widened. Then she turned to look up at me. Her cup was just in front of her mouth but I could see she was giving me a warm smile. She nodded her head up and down.

"I'll take that as a yes" I chuckled. She giggled, closing her eyes.

"We have to bring Sokka here some time." I said.

"Agreed," she replied while sipping down the rest of her cup "but I don't know if he'll be as... restrained as we were with that Zuko kid."

"His apology seemed genuine, not gonna lie" I poured myself another cup of tea. "Maybe all is not what meets the eye."

"What do you mean? Are we talking about the same Zuko that literally had his arms all over me?" She protested, now glaring towards me.

"Yes, we're talking about the same guy" I said while I drank from my cup. "First off, well.. I don't know, he just seemed nice and all just now. Maybe he's good deep down underneath all that.. whatever he is."

She didn't seem too happy with my response. She crossed her arms and, while I didn't see it, I could hear her tapping her foot on the floor beneath us.

"I guess.. well, then he's just confused. Maybe he's just confused." I deduced.

"I can settle for that logic then" She replied with a smile.

The two of us finished our tea after that. We got up and left our booth, leaving spare cash underneath the teapot as a tip. I think Katara wished that it was Iroh that received that tip and not Zuko but I didn't really mind whoever received it.

We stepped outside and, to my surprise, I was quite warm despite being blasted by the cold and the breeze. I figured the tea would help warm me up but I don't know how long the effects would last with it being that cold out here. I turned to look down towards Katara who crossed her arms, still wearing my hoodie and trying to retain the warmth she had inside.