by The Tale of Aang; Azula; Toph; Sokka; Zuko; Katara (retail) (epub)
“Have it your way,” Jet said. I can tell he’s annoyed.
I turned and walked back toward Uncle. When I saw what was in his hand, I froze for a second. What was he thinking? He’s risking exposing us as Firebenders just to make his tea hot! I hoped that Jet didn’t see the steam rising from the cup, but I could tell it was too late. Jet stared suspiciously at us before walking away quickly.
“For a wise old man,” I whispered. “That was a pretty stupid move.”
Uncle didn’t respond and I didn’t press the issue. We had more important things to think about right now. The monorail finally came. We got on and took our seats. So many people going to the city, all hoping for a new life. All except me. The closer I now get to my chance for a new life, the more I miss the old one. However much I try to deny it, I am still a prince in exile, hiding in the stronghold of my enemy.
Arriving in the city center we found an apartment, then headed out to the marketplace. Uncle picked up a huge bouquet of flowers. “I just want our new place to look nice,” he said to me.
What is he talking about? He’s acting like everything is fine. Like being here is a good thing. It’s not. “This city is a prison. I don’t want to make a life here.”
“Life happens wherever you are, whether you make it or not.”
More lectures. More philosophy. I don’t want to hear it.
“Now come on,” Uncle continued. “I found us some jobs and we start this afternoon.”
Jobs! He really is trying to make a life here. The only job I want is as Prince of the Fire Nation, and then someday as Fire Lord. But I guess that’s not going to happen, is it?
We came to a small tea shop and Uncle stepped inside. Of course. He got us jobs in a tea shop. What else would he do? So it comes to this—serving tea to rich people and Earth Kingdom soldiers. My new life. I hate it already.
Pao, the owner of the shop, handed us aprons. I slipped mine on. Ugh, this is so humiliating!
“Well, you certainly look like official tea servers,” Pao said. “How do you feel?”
“Ridiculous,” I muttered, not caring if he heard me.
Uncle sipped some tea. “Ugh! This tea is nothing more than hot leaf juice!”
“Uncle, that’s what all tea is,” I pointed out.
“How could a member of my own family say something so horrible?” Uncle said. Then he looked around the shop. “We’ll have to make some major changes around here.”
Sure. Whatever you want, Uncle. I really don’t care.
That evening we returned to our apartment. I was actually exhausted from standing on my feet, carrying trays of tea to people all day. I stretched out on the couch to rest.
“Would you like a pot of tea?” Uncle asked.
“We’ve been working in a tea shop all day,” I replied. “I’m sick of tea.”
“Sick of tea?” Uncle said. “That’s like being sick of breathing.”
For you maybe, Uncle. But not me. I am sick of everything, of my whole life. I just want to rest.
And so my life goes. Day in and day out. Wake up. Go to work. Serve tea. Come home. Sleep. Do the same thing tomorrow. This city feels more and more like a prison each day.
One evening we were in the shop serving tea to a group of Earth Kingdom soldiers.
“This is the best tea in the city,” one soldier said.
Uncle beamed. Naturally. “The secret ingredient is love,” he said.
“I think you’re due for a raise,” Pao told us.
That’s nice. At least we’ll have a bit more—
Suddenly Jet burst through the shop’s front door, flashing his two hook-swords.
What’s he doing here? What’s he trying to do? He’s pointing at us.
“These two men are Firebenders!” he shouted.
I knew it! I knew he saw Uncle heat his tea that day at the monorail station. A foolish move that could now cost us everything.
Jet turned to the soldiers. “I know they’re Firebenders. I saw the old man heating his tea!”
“He works in a tea shop,” one of the soldiers replied, looking at Jet like he was crazy.
Stay calm now. Ride this out. The soldiers have no reason to believe him. They like Uncle. They love his tea. All of this can work in our favor. Just relax, Zuko.
“He’s a Firebender, I’m telling you!” Jet shouted again.
The soldiers stood up slowly. “Drop your swords, boy. Nice and easy.”
Jet ignored them and rushed toward Uncle. “You’ll have to defend yourself. Then everyone will know what you can do. Go ahead. Show them what you can do.”
I can stop him—without Firebending! I stepped forward and snatched a pair of swords from the soldiers. “You want a show, I’ll give you a show!”
I swung the blade and Jet met my attack with a swift movement of his hook-swords. The battle was on. Everyone jumped out of the way as we fought, leaping and slashing, hurling over tables and crashing into teapots.
Jet’s good … but I’m better!
He lunged forward, slamming into me, sending us both crashing through the front door. We tumbled out onto the street. Uncle, Pao, and the soldiers followed, and a crowd gathered as our battle raged on.
“You must be getting tired of using these swords,” Jet taunted me. “Why don’t you go ahead and Firebend at me?”
I swiped at him again, but he blocked the blow and countered with an attack of his own.
“Please, son, you’re confused!” Uncle shouted. “You don’t know what you’re doing!”
Our swords locked, then his eyes fixed firmly on mine. “Bet you wish he’d help you out with a little fire blast right now,” Jet snarled.
I shoved him back. “You’re the one who needs help.” My next swipe nearly caught him, but he ducked and rolled away.
“You see that?” he shouted, trying to appeal to the huge crowd of Earth Kingdom citizens who continued to gather. “The Fire Nation is trying to silence me! It’ll never happen!” Then he lunged forward again.
Jet showed no sign of letting up, and I was certainly not going to give any ground. It’s good to know that these weeks working in the tea shop haven’t dulled my fighting skills.
Suddenly a group of Earth Kingdom soldiers burst through the crowd. With them were agents of the Dai Li, the king’s personal guards. I had heard people talk about them, about how even the soldiers feared them.
“Drop your weapons!” a Dai Li agent shouted.
“Arrest them!” Jet yelled back. “They’re Firebenders!”
Uncle stepped forward. “This poor boy is confused. We’re simple refugees.”
Then Pao pointed at Jet. “This young man wrecked my tea shop and assaulted my employees!”
One of the soldiers who had been in the shop stepped forward. “It’s true, sir. We saw the whole thing. This crazy kid attacked the finest tea-maker in the city.”
Who will they believe?
The Dai Li agents grabbed Jet. “Come with us, son.”
“You don’t understand! They’re Fire Nation!” Jet cried, as several more Dai Li agents used Earthbending to slap rock handcuffs onto Jet and haul him away. “You have to believe me!”
They tossed Jet into the back of their truck, slammed the door, and drove away.
Our secret is still safe—for now.
Chapter 6
There’s that same girl. She comes into the tea shop every day. And she’s always staring at me. She must suspect that I’m Fire Nation. What other explanation could there be?
“Uncle, we have a problem. Don’t look now, but there is a girl at the corner table. She knows we’re Fire Nation.”
“I’ve seen that girl in here a lot,” Uncle replied. “Seems she has quite a little crush on you.”
“What?” A crush? What is he talking about? I’m sure she’s a spy and—
“Thank you for the tea. What’s your name?”
It’s the girl. She’s talking to me! Think fast, Zuko. I have to use the name on my
fake passport. “My name’s Lee. My uncle and I just moved here.”
“Hi, Lee. My name’s Jin. I was wondering if you would like to go out sometime.”
“He’d love to,” Uncle said, answering before I even had a chance to think.
“Great!” Jin said. “I’ll meet you in front of the shop at sundown.”
Oh, great! Now Uncle’s pushing me into a … a date! Thanks a lot. I don’t want to go on a date. I don’t know what to talk about. Everything I can say would just be a lie anyway. I certainly can’t tell this girl the truth about who I am. Why did Uncle do that? I really don’t want to go.
But when the shop closed, Jin was outside waiting for me. She took my arm and we started walking through the city. We stopped at a restaurant and ordered some food.
“So, how do you like the city so far?” Jin asked.
“It’s okay.” What am I supposed to say?
“What do you do for fun?”
“Nothing.” Fun. I’m not a child anymore. I don’t have time for fun. This really is not going well.
Then the waiter came over. At least that stops me from having to talk for a few seconds. “Excuse me, sir. Would you and your girlfriend care for dessert?”
Girlfriend! What is he talking about? I just met this girl. I don’t even want to be here! “She is not my girlfriend!” I snapped.
Great. Now I’m making a scene. She probably hates me for shouting that out. When is this evening going to be over?
“So, Lee, where were you and your uncle living before you came here?”
How do I answer that one? Keep it vague. “Um, well, we’ve been traveling all around for a long time.”
“Oh, why were you traveling so much?”
Think of a good lie. Something she’ll believe so she’ll stop asking all these questions. “We were … part of a traveling circus.” Dumb, Zuko. Really dumb.
“Really? What did you do? Wait. Let me guess … you juggled.”
Sure. That’s as good a lie as any. “Yes. I juggled.” Now can I go home?
“I’ve always wanted to learn how to juggle. Can you show me something?”
She’s handing me three clay pots. I can’t juggle. I’m just going to break this stuff. I tossed the pots into the air and tried to catch them, but they crashed down all around me, smashing to bits. “I haven’t practiced for a while.” She’s going to know I’m lying.
“It’s all right,” Jin said, smiling.
She was nice enough not to give me a hard time. “Hey, I want to show you one of my favorite places in the city,” she said. “I’m so excited for you to see the Firelight Fountain. The lamps make the water sparkle and reflect in the pool in the most beautiful way.”
We came to a large fountain. The water was shooting into the air and splashing down into a large pool, but the lamps all around it were dark.
“I can’t believe it!” Jin cried. “The lamps aren’t lit.”
She looked so disappointed. She really wanted to show me this and now the evening is turning out badly for her. I shouldn’t do this … but she’s been so nice to me. It’ll be okay if she doesn’t see me do it. “Close your eyes and don’t peek.”
When Jin’s hands were securely covering her eyes, I performed a simple Firebending move, sending a flame from lamp to lamp until they were all lit. She is right. The water does sparkle, and it is beautiful. It also feels so good to Firebend again, even this little bit. “Okay, now you can look.”
Jin opened her eyes and her face lit up almost as brightly as the fountain lamps. “Oh, wow! What happened? How did they light? What did you—” She stopped asking questions and her smile just got bigger and bigger.
She was so sweet I’m sure that she didn’t even think that I might be a Firebender. I did do the right thing. She looked so happy. That kind of makes me feel happy, too. She leaned in to kiss me. I don’t know if I should kiss her. I—wait, I almost forgot. “I brought you something,” I said, holding up a coupon between us. “It’s a coupon for a free cup of tea.”
That made her smile some more.
“Lee, this is so sweet.”
“Don’t thank me. It was my uncle’s idea. He thinks you are our most valuable customer.”
“I have something for you, too,” she said. “Now it’s your turn to close your eyes.”
Okay, my eyes are closed. What’s she going to do? I wonder if—oh, she is, she’s kissing me. I can’t let her do that. I can’t get involved with this girl. Everything she thinks she knows about me is a lie. And that’s all it could ever be. I could never let her know the truth. I have to pull away.
“What’s wrong?” Jin asked.
Now I’ve made her feel bad. I really didn’t want to do that. “It’s complicated.” I can’t stay here with her anymore. “I have to go.”
I hurried back to the apartment.
“How was your night, Prince Zuko?” Uncle asked when I walked in.
I don’t want to talk about it. I stepped into my room and slammed the door shut. I don’t know. I actually like this girl. But I can’t let this develop into anything. It would be based on lies, and I can’t have that. Still, I enjoyed doing something that made someone else happy. And tonight I felt happy for a few minutes. I can’t remember the last time I felt this way. I opened my door and stuck out my head.
“It was nice,” I said. It really had been.
A few days later some wealthy merchants came into the tea shop and offered Uncle his own tea shop. “I’ll provide you with a new apartment in the Upper Ring,” one of the merchants said. “And your new tea shop is yours to do with as you please—complete creative freedom.”
“Did you hear that, Nephew?” Uncle said excitedly. “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 merchant said to me.
“I’ll try to contain my joy,” I replied.
I have to step outside. So now we dig ourselves deeper into this city. A new shop, a new apartment in the fancy section of town. More responsibilities. More of a permanent life here. More lies. I don’t want to do this anymore!
Just then a piece of paper drifted down from the sky. It was a drawing of the Avatar’s bison. Then another flyer fell. They were falling all over.
The Avatar must have made these. He has lost his bison and is searching for it here in Ba Sing Se. So the Avatar is also here, in the city, close at hand. This is the chance I’ve been waiting for, the chance to leave all this behind and seize my true destiny.
Perhaps that merchant is right, after all. Maybe my life is about to change for the better.
When I got home I found Uncle packing his things. He was smiling, happy. Everything was going right for him. “So I was thinking about names for my new tea shop. How about ‘The Jasmine Dragon’?”
“The Avatar is here in Ba Sing Se and he’s lost his bison.” I showed Uncle the flyer.
“We have a chance for a new life here,” Uncle said. Exactly what I thought he would say. “If you start stirring up trouble we could lose all the good things that are happening for us.”
Nothing good has happened to me. “Good things are happening for you,” I told Uncle. “Have you ever thought that I want more from my life than a nice apartment and a job serving tea?” I can try to fool myself, but I am who I am, and nothing will ever change that.
“There’s nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity. I suggest you think about what it is that you want from your life … and why.”
“I want my destiny.”
“What that means is up to you.”
Up to me? He’s talking like I have a choice as to what my destiny is. Do I? How can I? I am Prince Zuko, next in line to be Fire Lord. I have always known what that meant. And now, once again, my destiny is within my grasp.
But first I need to enlist the services of an old friend.
Disguised as the Blue Spirit, I ambushed a Dai Li agent a
nd forced him to tell me where the bison was being held. It turned out that he’s being kept in a cell in the Dai Li’s secret hideout under a lake called Lake Laogai. I made my way there and quickly found the cell.
Stepping inside, I brandished my swords, and the great furry beast growled at me.
“Expecting someone else?” I asked. At last, I’m one step away from the Avatar. “You’re mine now.”
Before I could take my next step, the door behind me slid open. I prepared to launch a surprise attack on my opponent. But I was the one who was surprised. “Uncle?”
“So, the Blue Spirit. I wonder who could be behind that mask?” he asked, although he knew the answer.
I tossed my mask and swords to the ground. “What are you doing here?”
“I was just about to ask you the same thing,” Uncle replied. “What do you plan to do now that you’ve found the Avatar’s bison? Keep it locked in our new apartment? Should I go put on a pot of tea for him?”
“First I have to get it out of here.”
“And then what!” Uncle shouted at me. I had never seem him this furious. “You never think these things through!”
“I know my own destiny, Uncle.” I will not let him talk me out of this. I will not let him doom me to a life of making tea.
“Is it your own destiny? Or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?”
I won’t listen to his double-talk. He’s just trying to confuse me. “Stop it, Uncle! I have to do this!”
“I’m begging you, Prince Zuko. It’s time for you to look inward, and begin asking yourself the big questions. Who are you? What do you want!”
Can he be right? Can my desire to fulfill my role as prince, to capture the Avatar, to restore my honor—even to become Fire Lord—all be someone else’s dream? What I think I’m supposed to do rather than what I want? I don’t know. I’m not sure of anything right now.
What I do know is that Uncle is right about the Avatar’s bison. What would I do with it? Where would I keep it? There are no easy answers.
I looked over at the creature one more time. It is trapped. I understand how that feels. And it is not a good feeling.