Road to Ba Sing Se | Zuko

34

With that said, Keya bowed politely and returned to her job. She usually wouldn't have stopped to chat with a stranger during the afternoon rush hour. However, it was tough living in a big city like Ba Sing Se as a foreigner, so Keya had entertained Katara and her lemur just a little to make them feel more at ease. Katara had better watch out, though. Didn't the girl know that it was considered rude to ask so many questions? The people in Ba Sing Se were never too keen on being questioned after all. It was one of the few traits Keya herself shared with the inhabitants of her country's capital. Whatever, she thought, as long as she left a good tip!

As Keya returned to her work, Zuko suddenly passed by with a tray full of empty cups. The duo smiled at each other briefly as they caught eyes. Keya smiled shyly to herself once her crush had passed her. Zuko secretly turned back to give her a second glance, before bumping into Hun.

The grumpy brother held his own tray of cups with an intimidating amount of strength. His broad shoulders and towering height made him appear to Zuko as a fortified watchtower, Keya being the one he watched over. The oldest son of the little earth kingdom family had seen the way that his little sister interacted with the scarred teen. At first, his joy of being reunited with the girl had made him overlook their shared glances and subtle hand brushes, but now it was getting to be a bit much for the protective nineteen year old. He had a job to do as an older brother after all. Hun shoved his arm against Zuko's.

"Watch it." He hissed in warning to the younger teen as he walked away.

Zuko was left standing in the corner of the teahouse. His heart thumped angrily in his chest as it pumped all of his blood to his hands, ready to let the Prince bend his element to his will. But Zuko did no such thing. His eyes glanced back to his love interest, before he closed them and sighed. Violence held no more place in his life. Lee from the teashop was peaceful and led a happy life. He couldn't risk that by fighting his girlfriend's brother, even if his honour was hurt by it.

"Uncle," Zuko yelled out to the kitchen, "I need two jasmine, one ginger, and one lychee!"

"Did you hear that, son?" Iroh's voice echoed through the kitchen, where another person received his call.

"Yes, sir. I'm working on it."

Lei grabbed a knife from the rack beside him and got started on his new task. After years of sword training, his skills had finally come to be of some use to him. His fingers curled beneath his palm as he brought the sharp metal down on a helpless ginger root.

Iroh turned back to his nephew with a tired, but content smile. "Even with the new help, there's no changing the pace of tea making. I'm brewing as fast as I can!"

Zuko gave his uncle a soft smile and a nod, before he turned back to serve another customer. From her spot at the table, Katara gasped and jumped up from her seat when she noticed the two familiar faces.

In all haste, she grabbed her belongings and urged Momo back on her shoulder. The Water Tribe girl left as quickly as she had come.

In the meantime, Keya returned to the girl's table to take her order when she noticed the two vacant seats. It appeared that Katara had left without ordering anything or saying goodbye. Was it because the Water Tribe girl had found out that Keya wasn't a waterbender like her? She sighed dejectedly and continued with her work.

The rest of the day was busy, but rather uneventful. By the time the last customers had left, the sun had already set. Zuko and Keya closed up the shop as Keya's brothers stuck around to discuss matters with Iroh. One door was left open as Zuko swept out the day's dust. Keya listened in on her brothers' conversation with Iroh as she cleaned one of the tables.