❃ Moon Peach Cakes Part I ❃
A few days passed in the blink of an eye. Iroh and Keya had moved all of their possessions to their new apartment in the upper ring. All the while, Zuko sluggishly slept on and only woke up briefly to eat or drink something. The Prince's fever had definitely lessened in intensity by now, but the illness had left him weak and tired.
He was still sleeping off that tiredness when Iroh decided to work on a new recipe that he had heard about from one of his customers, called 'jook'. The dish was traditionally from the Earth Kingdom and was often served as breakfast, especially when someone was recovering from an illness. The old uncle had wanted to make something for his recovering nephew that was healthy and easy to digest. Jook fit that description perfectly.
According to the recipe that Keya had explained to him (he had asked her the night before how to make it), the rice porridge needed to be boiled long enough to become a large, wet paste. After that, one could serve it with side dishes like vegetables or meat. According to the girl, her brothers always enjoyed their jook with whatever she had managed to forage from the forest that day. However, most Earth Kingdom folks had specific preferences regarding their added ingredients. Some people even liked to eat it plain!
Iroh was quite certain that it wouldn't matter to his nephew what he added to the jook. This kind of food usually wasn't up to the Prince's standards, anyway. Nevertheless, he wanted to make it for the boy. A hearty, home cooked meal could help the healing process of even the most stubborn people.
Perhaps he should have asked Keya to help him make it. She had a special way with food, after all. Her poor upbringing had forced the girl to become creative with the limited options she had. But more importantly, Iroh believed that she cooked with the most important ingredient of all: love (lots of it!). The fact that she had been cooking for her entire family for the past years helped as well, of course.
Still, Iroh had kindly decided to let the girl sleep in for once. Her worries regarding her brothers' trip were starting to wear on her mentally. Just the night before, he had caught her just before she could chop her fingers off while she cut some vegetables for dinner- she had been too distracted to notice that she had reached the end of the cucumber! After that, he had immediately sent her off to bed early. Iroh wanted her to rest up and take it easy. Taking care of one sick teenager was more than enough trouble for the old man. Besides, if he was to live in the Earth Kingdom for the rest of his life under the guise of being a 'refugee', it would do him well to know a little bit about its cultures and traditional dishes.
The retired General let his thoughts drift by as they wished. In the meantime his jook was coming along nicely. Iroh stirred it and hummed softly, his mood bright and cheerful as the morning sun shined through the windows.
Suddenly, the door to the hallway slid open. Zuko walked out of his room calmly. His hand rubbed his neck as he yawned and strolled over to his uncle.
"What's that smell?" The sleepy Prince asked.
His uncle stirred the pot and showed it to him. "It's jook," he answered, "I'm sure you wouldn't like it. Keya gave me the recipe."
Zuko's sharp brow raised curiously. The teen hovered over the jook and lifted the pot's heavy lid. With a big sniff, he analysed its contents while his uncle observed his reaction carefully.
"Actually, it smells delicious." Zuko said and grabbed an empty bowl from the cupboard. "I'd love a bowl, uncle."
With a sceptic frown, Iroh poured some jook in his nephew's bowl. "Now that your fever is gone, you seem different somehow..."
"It's a new day! We've got a new apartment, new furniture, and today's the grand opening of your tea shop." The boy smiled as he accepted his breakfast. The chirpy Prince happily sat down by the window and looked out over their new view. "Things are looking up, uncle."
Zuko took a big sip of his uncle's rice porridge. The old man looked at his relative with serendipitous surprise. It seemed like his nephew was finally going down a better path.
Another door slid open. This time, it was Keya who stepped out. Her light brown hair stood up in every direction as she yawned and rubbed her puffy eyes. She was still in her sleep clothes, an oversized pale green shirt and a loose fitting tunic and trouser combo to match.
At the sight of her, Zuko beamed and set down his empty bowl. "Good morning, Keya. Did you sleep well? Uncle made some delicious jook for breakfast."
"Zuko?" Keya mumbled sleepily. "You're awake?"
The young woman walked over to the Prince and sat down next to him. His cheeks went pink as she leaned her head against his shoulder. However, she hadn't done so as a romantic gesture, but as a way to use him as her personal pillow. He could see that she was trying to continue her night's rest right then and there.
"Yes, I'm awake. My fever's completely gone and I finally feel well rested, but I cannot say the same about you..." Zuko looked at Keya's tired form against his shoulder. He gently put his arm around her to keep her steady while she rested her eyes.
Iroh scooped some jook into two different bowls and brought them to the table where Zuko and Keya were seated. He set the bowls down and frowned at the girl worriedly.
"Don't tell me you're getting sick as well?" The old man directed at the sleepy teenager.
Keya opened one eye begrudgingly. "No, not sick. Just couldn't sleep. My brothers are supposed to arrive in the city any day now... I'm scared that something might have happened. I was up all night worrying about them."
Iroh nodded. "Your worries are understandable." He pushed her bowl forward. "But for now, take it easy and eat your breakfast. Zuko can take you to the market for some shopping once you're done. The two of you are now citizens of the upper ring! This means that you'll be required to dress like it as well."
"Zuko's coming?" Keya sat up straight and laughed. "What bribery did you use to get him to do more shopping, Iroh?"
Iroh smirked innocuously and ate his jook. It hadn't escaped him how his nephew was always much more easy going when it came to the grey-eyed girl.
"I didn't need any bribery." Zuko turned to her with a mix of confusion and seriousness on his handsome face. "I want to escort you while you do your shopping. We can even go and get some moon peach cakes afterwards... if you'd like." Zuko rubbed the back of his neck shyly. Hopefully, Keya wouldn't mind spending the day with him. He wanted to show her a better side of himself. He wanted her to see him as a worthy man, an honourable man, even.
"Oh!" Keya's wide, grey eyes stared at him. A small blush started to form on her cheeks, matching his own. "O-of course you can join me. Although, I don't think I need an escort in the upper ring. From what I've heard, this place is a lot safer than the lower ring."
Zuko scoffed, his shyness suddenly replaced by something more confident and possessive. "You forget that I grew up surrounded by rich people and royals. Trust me, these guys aren't any better than the hoodlums in the lower ring. They'll snatch a pretty girl like you up if they think you don't have a man. Also, it's proper etiquette to escort a girl if she's by herself."
Keya was taken aback by his boldness. Even Iroh stopped eating his breakfast for a moment to gawk at his nephew. It was no surprise that Zuko knew something about Ba Sing Se's upper class etiquette (given his upbringing), but the fact that he was using his knowledge to try to impress Keya was rather unexpected. Iroh glanced at the girl. It seemed to have worked in his nephew's favour.
Keya herself felt rather dumbstruck at the Prince's directness. With a dark blush and nervous deposition, she tried to reply as neutrally as possible to his flirting. Mayday! Mayday! This had never happened before!
"O-oh well- I mean- If it's proper etiquette, then I- you can come, of course. Thank you for your offer." She bowed politely and stood up. "Thank you for the jook, Iroh. It was delicious. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get ready for the day."
With that said, she scurried off to hide in her bedroom and get dressed. She couldn't face the two men while she was this shy and embarrassed. Since when did Zuko become so smooth?! And why was it so attractive that he was being protective and nice?!
Before she knew it, she had already changed and gotten ready for her shopping trip. It had taken her a bit longer to manage her messy hair than usual, especially since she felt the need to look extra nice today. Zuko had promised to get her some moon peach cakes after all, so didn't that mean that this would be a...
...a date?
"Eek!" She shook her head and gripped her freshly braided hair. "No way!" She hissed to herself. Zuko was just being nice!
"Don't imagine things that aren't there, Keya..." She scolded herself softly. "He's a Prince after all, why would he be interested in a-"
"-Are you ready to go?" Zuko's voice interrupted her critical self-talk from the other side of her sliding door.
"Yes!" Keya stumbled forward and opened it.
She met face to face with the Prince himself. His bright, golden eyes sparkled at the sight of her. Her chin lifted up to face him. Too close! Both teens instantly jumped apart at the unexpected proximity of their faces.
"Hey." Zuko smiled.
Keya smiled back. "Hey."
The hallway of their new apartment was silent for a moment as the two teens looked at one another. Both were caught in the other's gaze. From Keya's point of view, Zuko looked much happier now that he had healed from his illness. It made him look even more handsome for some reason! How was that fair?!
At the same time, Zuko was doing everything in his power to stay calm and collected in front of the girl before him. Her beauty had grown as she had gotten healthier in Ba Sing Se. Nowadays, he had a hard time looking at her without somehow making a fool of himself. She had even seen him when he was sick and weak! How dishonourable... Now was not the time to make the situation worse and behave like a dork. He needed to be cool.
"So, uhm, let's go then?" Keya's soft voice spoke hesitantly.
Zuko stumbled and nodded. "Yeah! Ahem- yeah. Let's go."
Not cool. At all.
The Prince silently scolded himself as he led his friend out of the apartment and into the city. The two teenagers strolled past many beautiful parks and gardens, all groomed well for the bourgeois residents to enjoy. Something about the contrast between this place made the girl feel uncomfortable. How could a city change so much depending on a single neighbourhood? Even her royal friend, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, frowned slightly at the excessive grandeur of the buildings around him. He hadn't realised just how long it had been since he had been surrounded by such wealth. He was unsure how to feel about it now.
After a peaceful walk, the two finally found themselves at one of the upper ring's many tailors. Keya was immediately pulled in by an enthusiastic employee who wasted no time in taking her measurements and suggesting different fabrics to sew a nice dress out of. The peasant girl had to really insist on nothing too fancy, since she would need something that was comfortable enough to work in.
In the meantime, Zuko spoke to another employee about his own clothing. For some reason, getting a decent tunic as a man was easier than getting a dress or tunic as a woman. Zuko's measurements and outfit-making process took only an hour or so, whereas Keya was still struggling under the dress maker's detail-oriented persistence for extra flowers and lace on her dress. It didn't help that the ladies at the tailor shop specialised in make-overs.
"Come on, just a little bit of makeup? Surely, you want to look nice for your boyfriend? 'Lee from the tea shop' is well known, even in these parts. Someone will snatch him up if you keep looking like this!" The jolly dressmaker sing-songed suggestively.
The Prince stood by awkwardly as his female friend was being partially disrobed for her 'makeover'. His golden eyes were focused on the wooden floor and his adam's apple bobbed up and down as he tried to distract himself from the situation beside him. Keya was currently in the middle of having her hair tugged on, while also trying to keep a part of her decency in front of the guy she was definitely not dating.
"He's not my boyfriend!" She stammered. "Please, I just need a simple dress. I'm not made for all these fancy add-ons."
The dress makers laughed and shared some suggestive glances. "Oh honey, don't try to fool us. Look at the poor boy! Your under layers are still on, but he can't even look at you!"
Keya followed their pointing fingers to the red-faced Prince. He must have felt so awkward, she realised. Zuko was raised in an extremely formal household, after all. Being in a situation like this must have felt very inappropriate to him. Keya sighed.
"How about you get those moon peach cakes you promised me?" She suggested to her friend. "I'm sure this will take a while, so hopefully I'll be done by the time you get back? Otherwise, they might get sold out by the time we get to the market."
Zuko nodded in response. His eyes were still glued to the floor. "I'll meet you at the park when you're done." He rasped.
Keya's grey eyes followed his form as he made his way out of the shop. All the while, the rowdy tailors and dressmakers laughed and gossiped about 'Lee from the tea shop' and his new girlfriend as they worked on giving their unwilling participant a makeover.
❃
A/N: I actually wanted to put their 'date' as one chapter, but the events following this moment will be too long to write as 1 part. So, next chapter will be part two of this one. Enjoy~