Open Your Eyes | Book 2

10: The Tale of Zuko and Kida

"If you're going to keep the poor boy away from other girls, then at least give him a reason why he should!"

I snapped my gaze up to the man. "What are you talking about?"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm not blind. Actually, the only ones who seem to be blind are you and my nephew."

I shook my head, taking my eyes away again. "I'm not blind," I assured. I traded stacking the cups for fiddling with my lotus bracelet. "It's just not the time for that in our lives. When this war ends...maybe."

Iroh took a step closer, dropping his voice to a low whisper that only I could hear. "You do realize you both are on enemy sides of the war." He gave me a severe look that I did everything to avoid. "It would be better to deal with your feelings now, instead of waiting until it's too late. Maybe it'll even help him find his own path."

I slowly looked at the wise, old man and as much as I hated to admit it with this topic, he was right. I knew what I felt, I had known it for a long time. If I ignored it forever, though, then I might lose my chance. Some girl like Jin might come along and ruin everything.

I inhaled a large gulp of breath before letting it all out at once. "I'm going to regret this at some point in my life," I grumbled.

He chuckled and gave me a wide smile. "That's the spirit!"

I rolled my eyes at the kooky man but still went on to listen to his advice. I went to the back room. When I entered through the doorway, I saw Zuko was cleaning some of the cups at the basin across the room. Pao was getting up from his desk as I walked in.

The shop owner and I gave each other polite head bows as he walked past me. "Is Mushi almost done with inventory?"

"I think so," I answered without any real consideration.

"I'll check," he muttered and went back to the main part of the restaurant.

Once he was gone, I walked over to where Zuko was silently standing at the sink. I hopped up onto the counter beside him, dangling my legs off the edge and watching him clean. He had finished scrubbing several cups and set them out to dry but I noticed that there was still some grime stuck to their bottoms. I covered my mouth to hide any sort of laughter, knowing that I'd upset him if I pointed out his mistake. I'd simply re-do his dishes later so Pao didn't notice. At least he was doing better than when he first started – he wasn't breaking dishes any more.

"So, Jin seemed like a nice girl," I spoke up. I wasn't really sure where to begin. I wasn't good at this sort of thing. For me, romance usually happened in the heat of a battle, whether that battle was against the Fire Nation or just an argument I'm having with someone. A casual dinner date wasn't really my thing.

"Who?"

I gave him an incredulous look. Had he already forgotten her? I wasn't sure how I felt about that reaction. It seemed pretty cold-hearted, but at the same time, I didn't want him to remember her. "The girl we talked to five minutes ago."