❃ Moon Peach Cakes Part II ❃
After practically getting kicked out of the tailor shop by his friend, Prince Zuko begrudgingly made his way to the market by himself. It had been his intention to spend some more time with the girl today, but it seemed that the universe always needed to get in the way of things. Why did girls' outfits take so much longer to make?!
The disgruntled teen kept grumbling to himself as he approached the market. Busy as ever, the whole place was packed with a variety of stalls and people. Fruits and vegetables, meat, pets, pelts, gifts and trinkets, the market provided it all.
However, Zuko had only come here to get one thing: moon peach cakes. They were a popular pastry filled with moon peach jam. It was the perfect treat for a girl like Keya, who had only been exposed to the kind of food that could fill you up enough until the next meal (even though she had a talent for making even that stuff taste good). These past months, he had noticed how curious the girl was about everything the world had to offer. The well-travelled boy was sometimes surprised by what caught her interest. It made him appreciate the things that he had taken for granted all those years. In return, he wanted to introduce the world's greatest things to her, like moon peach cakes.
Yes, ever since they had entered the city, Zuko had seen it as his personal duty to show Keya the ways of a better life. At first, his hatred for his own situation had clouded that goal, but now that he had chosen a different path for himself, he knew that it was his task to take care of her. At least until her brothers arrived, his inner voice taunted him. Yeah, it was likely that she would leave him and his uncle after her brothers arrived in the city. The situation with her brothers left a bad taste in his mouth, a possessive thought that tainted his good intentions with jealousy. Those guys had made their naive sister travel to Ba Sing Se all on her own, but now that she was safe and sound, they were going to take her away from him again? How dare they!
For a dark moment, the drake of jealousy had its sharp claws etched in his mind. Zuko struggled with himself over the issue. He didn't know Keya's brothers after all, so why did the thought of them meeting their sister again drive him to the edge? Was he really that upset at the thought of Keya leaving him? How was he even so sure that he'd never see her again? She deserved to see her family!
Zuko approached the pastry stall, still wrestling with himself as he did so.
"Three moon peach cakes." He ordered bluntly. The boy wanted to bring home an extra cake for his uncle.
The lady behind the stall packed the three pastries in a cloth and set it on the counter. "Three moon peach cakes? My, handsome, are you going to be sharing them with a special someone?"
"I want to buy one for my uncle." Zuko smiled softly. "I'm sharing the other two with my friend."
"Is the friend a girl?"
Zuko blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. That action alone was enough of an answer to satisfy the baker lady. She let out a boisterous laugh and slapped one hand on her stall's counter, before packing the pastries for her customer.
"Oh!" She gushed happily. "Young love! How sweet, here's a discount. Enjoy your date!"
"Thank you." The Prince accepted the discounted moon peach cakes with a surprised smile on his face. Keya would have loved to meet this woman. He was thankful that the girl wasn't around, though. Zuko was embarrassed enough by the lady's teasing without his friend there to poke fun at him for it.
With some extra time to kill, Zuko simply wandered about the rest of the marketplace. He strolled from stall to stall, inspecting their products with barely contained boredom before moving onto the next.
Suddenly, he spotted a familiar trinket stall. More specifically, his eyes landed on a beautiful necklace, one that Keya had stared at during their first day in Ba Sing Se. Its dark, blueish silver cloth held a shiny moonstone in the middle. It looked similar to the necklace he had seen the Water Tribe girl, the one who travelled with the Avatar, wear. It was even presented on a Water Tribe cloth! Zuko approached the man at the stall.
"Hello, young man! How can I help you today? I have gifts and trinkets from all over the world!"
"I was curious about this necklace," Zuko pointed to the Water Tribe jewellery, "from which of the two tribes is it?"
The man delicately lifted the cloth and the necklace to inspect his item. "Hmmm... this necklace is from the Northern Water Tribe. Or at least, the one who made it is- which is me! Were you interested in buying it for your lover?"
"Erm..." Zuko didn't know how to respond to that. "Well, how much is it?"
The old man smirked. "The gem for this necklace still has to be carved- as is the tradition. For two gold coins, I'll carve it for you. For one gold coin, you can carve it yourself. Mind you, carving a moonstone is tougher than it looks!"
All he had to do was carve it himself and he'd get it for half the price. Of course, since the Prince was good with knives and swords, this would be a good deal on his part!
Tempted by the fact that he could actually afford it, the Prince thought about the gift for a second. If Keya were to leave him and his uncle soon, this would make a nice parting gift. He knew that the girl's father was from the Northern Water Tribe, after all. Wouldn't it be nice to give her this necklace? She deserved to have nice things... nice things given to her by him, specifically.
"I'll carve it myself." Zuko said and handed the man a single gold coin.
The man accepted the money happily and handed him the necklace. Zuko nodded his goodbye and left the market. He still had some time left to kill before Keya would be done, which made for the perfect time to carve the moonstone.
The Prince headed towards the park in front of the tailor shop, where he could keep an eye out on anyone leaving or entering the store. He sat down on a bench with a good vantage point of the shop's entrance and got out his gift. He unwrapped the necklace from its traditional cloth and held the moonstone in his palm. As the sun hit the gem, its milky white colour glistened with different shades of green and blue. He gazed at it. Oh, how it reminded him of her beautiful eyes. It seemed to him that this necklace was made for her to wear, as if fate itself had made him buy it for her.
He didn't need long to think about the design he wanted to go for. Carefully, Zuko grabbed a dagger from his tunic (the teen wouldn't go anywhere without a sharp weapon at hand) and started carving. The few refined couples that promenaded through the park would sometimes stop and stare at the foreign looking boy with his necklace. Zuko ignored them all, too focused and unbothered to lift his gaze from the project in his calloused hands.
Slowly but surely, the moonstone started taking the shape of an actual moon. Before he knew it, the sun had started to get low. The sky was filled with orange and pink hues as he finished his carving. He looked at the shop's front entrance. No one had come out yet.
How long was Keya going to take?!
But before he could go back to the shop and drag her away from those tailors, he saw the girl exit the store by herself. He quickly put the necklace away and stood up at the sight of her.
His jaw dropped.
The girl before him was no longer a poor Earth Kingdom peasant. Keya wore an elegant, pale green dress that suited her skin and hair colours nicely. The dress was rimmed with hand-sewn details of flower petals. It was simple, but somehow that only emphasised her beauty even more. Long sleeves flowed out from the dress elegantly, like water flowing around her as she moved her arms. The late afternoon sunrays cast a golden glow on her figure like a radiant halo. She was the most gorgeous creature that the Fire Nation Prince had ever laid his eyes on.
Keya tugged on her hairstyle uncomfortably as she looked around for her friend. Somehow, whatever the ladies at the store had done to her hair was not going to budge anytime soon. She was stuck with the intricate braids and the silly headgear that they had woven into them. Thankfully, she quickly spotted Zuko.
The girl waved happily and made a soft jog towards him (as far as her dress would allow her to do so). "Sorry for making you wait! Those ladies really didn't want to let me go..."
"It's alright..." Zuko swallowed thickly. Somehow, seeing his friend in a fancy getup made her look even more beautiful than he already knew her to be. "You look nice."
Keya's grey eyes brightened and her pearly teeth revealed themselves happily. "R-really? Thank you. I had to really fight those ladies off before they got to my face, but they did unfortunately put one of those silly Ba Sing Se hats on me. I swear, these guys have all that wealth and for what? They can't even buy good style..."
Zuko was silent as he watched Keya ramble on. She was so lovely in every way. Time seemed to move slowly for him. It took him a good second to realise that he was staring. By that time, the boy had already lost track of the topic that his friend was going on about.
"...My mother actually said to me once, that style was about expressing yourself and representing who you are. I never really got it back then, but now that I think about it-"
"Come on," he interrupted her tangent, "I want to show you something."
He held out his arm for her to take. Keya took it unsurely, before following his lead and exiting the park. The look on his face suggested that he was determined to guide her to whatever he had planned next. It was confusing. Usually, Zuko didn't want to spend time with anyone else more than necessary. Why was he being like this?
Keya's head twitched to the side curiously. "You're being unlike yourself lately. What happened to the grumpy dork I know?"
"Grumpy dork?" Zuko scoffed with a smile he tried to hide. "I don't know what you're talking about. I'm the smoothest guy you've ever met. Besides, what's there to be grumpy about? My uncle's getting his own tea shop tomorrow, we're living in a new apartment, and I'm walking through the safest city in the Earth Kingdom with the world's most beautiful girl on my arm."
"I..." Keya stammered. Her face instantly disappeared behind her hands from embarrassment. "I-I can't believe you said that. Do you..." Her big, clear eyes peaked at him from behind her brown hands. "Do you mean that?"
Zuko stopped walking for a moment and pulled her hands away from her face. His left hand trailed up to her chin and lifted it up so he could stare right at her. His face was serious, but there was a mischievous glint in his golden eyes.
"Of course I mean it. Ba Sing Se is the safest city in the world, after all. Isn't that why you came here?"
With that, the spell he held Keya in was broken. The poor girl rolled her eyes and smacked him on his bicep playfully. "I can't believe you. Did you get that one from your uncle?"
Zuko laughed and held his arm back out. Once he felt her arm circle around his own, the Prince started walking again.
"Yeah, actually. Did it work?" He said, half jokingly. He had, in fact, learned that move from his uncle. The old man had used it once after the Prince's agni kai with Zhao long ago.
"I don't know..." Keya's voice sounded playful and light. "I'm kind of upset about it."
Zuko guided her around another corner. They were almost at their destination. "Really? I guess that means that I'll have to make it up to you, then." His eyes twinkled as he looked at the short brunette beside him.
"I guess you do. A moon peach cake would go a long way..." Keya hinted jokingly.
"Moon peach cakes? I've got something way better for you, just wait." Zuko kept his eyes on the road, ever watchful of suspicious strangers despite the safe area they were in. "We should be there any minute now..."
Keya hummed happily as she followed him. "Better than moon peach cakes? I find that hard to believe..."
Zuko rolled his eyes in response. They were almost there. Their final destination was just around the corner. He promptly stopped and turned to Keya.
"Close your eyes." He said. "And no peeking!"
Keya did as she was told. The girl closed her eyes and waited for his next move. She couldn't help the sarcastic comment from escaping her lips. "Ever the trusting friend, aren't you?"
Zuko rolled his eyes (even though his friend couldn't see him do it). He held his warm hands over her eyes and guided her around the corner.
Firelight fountain sparkled and gushed peacefully under the setting sun. All the lanterns were lit romantically today. It was perfect. Suddenly, Zuko was happy for his date with Jin. He would have never discovered a spot like this without her having taken him there. He leaned down to Keya's ear.
"You can open your eyes now," he breathed, "we're here."
Keya shuddered as she felt his breath tickle her ear. He was so close! Slowly, she opened her eyes to the magnificent sight before her. She gasped.
"Wow... Zuko, I can't believe you took me here! This is one rockin' place to eat moon peach cakes."
Zuko smiled at her. "I didn't just bring you here to eat moon peach cakes- is that the only thing you can focus on right now?"
He laughed when she gave him a guilty look. Keya laughed with him, but quickly got lost in his good looks. He was so handsome when he looked happy.
"You're really handsome when you smile like that, did you know that?"
Zuko's eyes widened and he rubbed his neck. A dark blush crept up from his neck. "I-I... really?"
"Yeah, of course!" Keya hid her smile behind her hand shyly. "I've actually been meaning to tell you this, but... you're a real catch, Zuko. I know that you get insecure about your scar sometimes." She placed her hand on his scar. Zuko gulped at the sensation. "But you're a very good looking guy, especially when you smile."
Not knowing how to respond to her confession, Zuko stumbled back and grabbed the moon peach cakes from their bag. "Great! Let's eat!" He stammered.
Keya giggled and accepted her moon peach cake from his outstretched hand. She quickly took a bite. Wow. She moaned softly as the peach filling danced in her mouth.
Zuko suddenly coughed and choked on his cake when he heard her. She looked at him with mild concern, but he just waved her off and got back to finishing his treat with a red face. Keya shrugged and (more quickly than she would have liked) finished her own moon peach cake as well.
"Wow," she said, "this is my new favourite snack for sure."
"Yeah, it's a real treat." Zuko rasped.
The two teens stood together quietly for a moment, just looking at the fountain and enjoying one another's presence. The ambience of this place gave Zuko the courage to make his next move. There was no better moment than right now.
"Keya," he turned to her, "I've got something else for you."
Carefully, he lifted the blue cloth from his tunic. Her eyes sparkled when he took out the necklace he'd carved for her. "Woah, Zuko! You shouldn't have! How expensive was this? I'll admit, it's really beautiful though."
"The price doesn't matter. I remember you looking at this necklace the day we arrived here. I know your brothers will be arriving soon and you'll go back to them, so I wanted to give you something to remember me by. A token of our f-friendship, if you will."
With a soft red glow on her cheeks, Keya watched as Zuko clumsily stepped behind her and placed the necklace around her neck. His warm fingers unintentionally caressed her nape as they worked to close the back of the necklace. Goosebumps travelled up her arm when she felt his warm fingers. Both their hearts thudded loudly during their intimate moment.
Once done with his task, Zuko dropped his hands by his side. Keya turned around to thank him, but he held out his hand to stop her. There was no more going back now, it was now or never.
"There's no need to thank me. A part of me did this for selfish reasons." Zuko sighed and looked her in the eyes seriously. "Keya, I don't want you to forget me when you go back to your brothers. I know that I've been rude and self-absorbed in the past to you, so it's completely okay if you don't accept what I'm about to say, but... I... I don't know how else to say it-
I burn for you, Keya.
Ever since I met you, something about you pulled me in. No matter how different we seemed at first, there was never a moment where your presence didn't spark something inside of me. I wanted to protect you and push you away all at once. Now I see that no matter how much I try, you'll never leave my mind. You've completely captured me. I want to become someone worthy of your presence, worthy of your love. All I ask is for you to let me know what it is you want from me, and you'll get it. If you want me to back away and never speak of this again, I-I'll do it. But if there's a chance you feel the same..."
Keya stepped forward and reached her hands up to his face. The sight of her was so mesmerising to the Prince that his worries faded. If she didn't want him, at least he could live his life knowing what she looked like in his arms.
"You've changed much since we met, Zuko." The way she breathed his name made the boy's throat bob up and down. She hesitated. "I don't know what to say..."
"You don't need to say anything." Zuko's lips hovered over her own, but he dared not touch her without knowing her answer.
"Hmm, maybe not." Keya looked into his eyes with a soft smile. "But I can show you if you let me?"
"I would let you do anything." He breathed.
No more needed to be said. Keya's hands held his face gently as she closed her eyes and let her lips connect with his. Zuko wasted no time with his response. The Prince closed his eyes and melted into the sensation of his dreams. His arms circled around her waist protectively. He never wanted to let her go. The two teens held onto one another as they sealed their love confession in front of firelight fountain.
After the extended moment, Keya released him and stepped back from their kiss. Zuko opened his eyes to gaze at his love. She kept her hands on his chest while he rested his own on her hips.
"You tasted like moon peach cakes." She giggled with a giddy sparkle in her moon-lit eyes.
Zuko laughed breathlessly. He was in too deep. "How strange, so did you."
❃
A/N: This chapter took me so long to write! Did you catch my inspiration for Zuko's confession?? I couldn't help myself~