~~~Tale of Zera~~~
Zeraphina was resting at home after the whole incident with Jet the other day. True, her wound did heal nicely, but now there was a scar in its place, and the owner of the tea shop decided that Zeraphina deserved a couple of days off because of the shock. Zuko and Iroh decided that it was best for Zeraphina to enjoy a couple of days off so she followed their instructions and stayed inside.
She leaned against the wall after finishing up all of the housework and preparing food for dinner that night, but something was weighing on her mind. It was a sad day for her, a day that she should have celebrated with her family.
"You are thinking about them, aren't you?"
"Of course I am. It's a very special day for me. I should have been there with them for this day."
"I understand your sadness. Iroh and Zuko are out to work today. Perhaps you could walk around the city for a while, get your mind off of this."
Zeraphina sighed and thought that it wasn't so bad to take the voice's words to heart. So, she grabbed her overcoat, braided her hair, and left the apartment to wander for the rest of the day. She started off wandering near the markets, admiring many of the stalls that sold all sorts of beautiful items.
"Wonderful gemstones for sale!"
"Beautiful vases here!"
"Adorable dolls for your precious little ones!"
She smiled upon seeing the most adorable little doll wearing Earth kingdom clothing. It had a sewn on smile, black button eyes, brown yarn hair and wearing beautiful green clothes with symbols for the Earth Kingdom in gold.
Zeraphina admired the doll for just a little while longer, until she was snapped out of her thoughts when she heard a voice call out to her.
"Looking for something for a special little someone?" the owner of the stall asked. Zeraphina looked up and saw an older woman with greying black hair and a sweet smile, "I see you're looking at that wonderful little doll. Perhaps for a daughter?"
"Oh, no Ma'am. I'm too young to be a mother right now." Zeraphina chuckled, "I just noticed that this doll looks a lot like my little brother."
"Your brother?" The woman questioned, "This doll was actually based off of a little boy that I met a couple of years ago."
"What do you mean?"
"It was a little boy walking around here with his mother. A beautiful woman with long brown hair and bright blue eyes. The boy was very sweet and bought a lovely little doll wearing red. Said it was for someone very special."
The woman then smiled and took the doll off the stand before handing it to Zeraphina, "Here you are."
"No, ma'am, I don't have enough to afford it."
"Then why don't you just take it."
"But--"
"No buts, young lady. I have a good feeling about this, and I am usually always right about these sort of things."
Zeraphina sighed and nodded, taking out just a few coins from her pocket and placing it on the stall. The woman was about to make her take the coins back, but Zeraphina ran before she could say anything more. When she was far enough, Zeraphina looked down at the doll and was reminded of what this day was.
"It does look a lot like him, doesn't it?"
"Indeed it does, Child. And that story the stall owner said, is it possible that your brother and mother were here in this city?"
"I don't know, but if they were here, then maybe something happened to the village."
"Maybe there will be a dream about them later on."
"Maybe."
Zeraphina continued walking through the lanes of stalls, browsing everything that they had to offer. She even bought a small bouquet of white flowers and a couple of candles for a small thing she had to do. She left the town and went to a small hill where she could be alone. On a small rock, Zeraphina set down the doll and wrote a name in the dirt before lighting the candles with her white flames.
She smiled and nearly cried, "Happy birthday, Jian." She said, "You have to be ten by now, right? So much time passes when I'm away from you, mother and father. But I promise, little brother, I'll meet you someday. Just wait a little bit longer for me, okay?"
Zeraphina just stayed there until the sun started to go down. She took the doll, stuffed it into her pocket and went back to the apartment. As soon as she entered the apartment, she was bombarded by Zuko who took her by the shoulders and gripped tightly.
"Where have you been?" He asked, "You weren't here when we got back home and we were worried sick."
Iroh just smirked at the stove while glancing at the two.
Zeraphina sighed and brushed Zuko's hands from her shoulders, "I wasn't allowed to go to work and I got bored staying here all day, so I went for a walk. I needed to do something for today."
"What could possibly be more important than staying at home like we told you?"
"Perhaps celebrating my baby brother's birthday? You're not the only one that has family that they miss."
Zuko was stunned from this and didn't say a thing as Zeraphina walked to the only room in the apartment, slamming the door behind her and flopping onto the bed. She took the doll from her pocket and smiled at it.
"He's going to enjoy it, Child. I know it."
"I really hope so."
~~~~Tale of Zuko~~~~
Zuko glanced over at Zeraphina as she cleaned up a couple of the very few empty tables. He felt guilty about shouting at her the other day, and mulled over what she said to him.
"You're not the one that has family that they miss."
Those words hit him hard, as he too knew the feeling of missing his family. Well, aside from Azula, he could do without her. But he missed mainly his mother who disappeared all those years ago. He remembered that Zeraphina was taken from her family by force, which made her pain all the more painful.
"Lee!" Zeraphina shouted, bringing his attention back to reality, "It's almost time for closing, can you grab the last few plates?"
"Yeah... sure." Zuko said and took the last bit of plates from the rest of the tables. As they cleaned up the rest of the tea shop, Zuko kept giving glances at Zeraphina while she just ignored him. Iroh sighed and pulled the two of them out of the tea shop.
"Uncle, what are you doing?" Zuko shouted.
"There is far too much tension in the tea shop, it will affect the tea leaves for tomorrow. Why don't the two of you go and enjoy the evening? It's so beautiful tonight, so why don't you two just go out and enjoy it?"
"But Master--"
"No buts young lady. Go out and enjoy the night."
And with that, Iroh slammed the doors to the tea shop in their faces and the two teens had no other choice but to go.
"We should head back to the apartment. It's almost dinner time." Zeraphina said.
"Actually, why don't we eat out tonight?" Zuko suggested, "The tea shop owner gave us a tip after that incident with Jet."
Zeraphina sighed and followed Zuko to a small restaurant nearby. They took a seat and ordered their food, but Zuko mainly just picked at his meal while Zeraphina slowly ate her food.
"Excuse me, sir. Would you and your girlfriend care for dessert?" A waiter asked.
"SHE IS NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!" Zuko shouted loudly, gaining the stares of a few people.
"There's no need to shout that, Lee. Your temper is getting the better of you. Something you should work on." Zeraphina said and took another bite of her food.
When they finished their meal, they walked along the now empty streets in pure silence. They stayed like this for what felt like hours, but Zuko finally broke it.
"Are you upset with me?" He asked.
"Yes, I am. Have you just figured that out?" Zeraphina snapped back.
"Look, how was I supposed to know that the other day was so important? You never told me about that."
"I mentioned when we were younger that I had a younger brother and that they were very important to me." Zeraphina growled, "And then you had to go and ask me what was more important than staying home? I've tolerated your behavior for a long time, My Prince, but that statement was crossing the line."
"I told you to stay home and you didn't obey me!"
"Well you don't control me!"
"I am your prince and I give you the orders! When I tell you to do something, you will follow them to the letter."
"You may be my prince, but I am a Dragonborn. Whatever power you have, I have three times the amount."
"No you do not! I am the prince of the Fire Nation, and you were sent to stay by my side."
"I was not sent to stay by your side!"
"Then why are you staying with me?!"
"BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT YOU, THAT'S WHY!"
Zuko was stunned into silence, not saying a single word as Zeraphina turned her back towards him.
"You're not just my Prince, Prince Zuko. You're also my closest and only friend. And it is not in my nature to abandon my friends."
The young man and the young woman didn't say a single word for a few minutes. But then, Zuko walked away, leaving the girl to stand all alone in the darkness of the empty streets. Zeraphina was shocked by what Zuko had done, taking a seat on the side of the street and pulling her legs up to her chest.
"How could he just leave me here? I guess he forgot his promise to not leave me back when we were kids." She muttered and buried her face into her knees.
A few minutes later, Zeraphina heard someone walk closer to her. She looked up and saw Zuko with his hand outstretched to her.
"Come on. Let's go." He said, taking her hand and pulling her back to her feet.
"Hold on a second, where are we going?" She asked as they ran.
"Just follow me."
Zuko and Zerpahina ran until they reached a small open space in the town. The area was lit up with beautiful candles, some of them hanging from the strings above a gorgeous fountain with the rest of the candles floating in its waters.
Zeraphina couldn't help but be in awe, taking a few steps forward to better admire the beauty surrounding her. She gave off the brightest smile, while Zuko only cracked a small one happy to see her smiling again. He couldn't explain it quite yet, but he felt at ease when she was smiling. Something that he hardly felt since Azula's betrayal.
"Zera." Zuko said, Zeraphina turned around and saw his soft smile, "Do you like it?"
"I love it. It's so beautiful." Zeraphina said softly as he walked closer to her side, "How did you even do this so quickly?"
"I have my ways." Zuko said then turned to Zeraphina, "Listen, Zera. I know I was out of line back there, and I'm sorry for that."
"You're sorry? You haven't apologized to me since we were children. Back when you accidently disturbed me while on the full moon."
"I never disturbed you on the full moon."
"Yes you did. The first time we met, you gave me a poor apology and then told me to continue singing and dancing."
"I asked you nicely on that day."
"And then you ordered me to dance and sing for you even more until dawn."
Zuko sighed, remembering that day so clearly. Zeraphina chuckled and closed her eyes as she remembered that day as well. The smile Zuko had on his face that night.... she missed it so much. The days that they could laugh and play like nothing else mattered.
"I see that Master Iroh was right. Ba Sing Se does have a way of changing people. Has it changed you already?"
"Maybe." Zuko said, his smiling face turning serious, "Say, Zera... Do you like it here in Ba Sing Se?"
Zeraphina shrugged her shoulders, "I can't say that I care for all of their rules and regulations, but I suppose it is a nice enough place to live in for a while."
"Then... would you like to stay here in Ba Sing Se?"
"What are you talking about?" Zeraphina asked.
"I mean would you like to stay here in Ba Sing Se.... If I thought about staying here?"
Zeraphina was once again stunned. Prince Zuko, who had thought of nothing else other than capturing the Avatar and returning to his rightful place on the throne, was thinking about settling here in the Earth Kingdom capital? It was almost like he was replaced.
"Are you planning on staying here in the city?"
"I don't know yet. But you did promise to stay by my side when we were kids. Will you keep that promise if I decided to stay here in Ba Sing Se?"
Zuko looked down at Zeraphina, waiting for her answer. But instead of an answer, she linked her pinkie with his, something she used to do when they were kids.
"I am a Dragonborn. I am loyal to those I respect, and I am loyal to those I call my friends. You are both, My Prince. Wherever you decide to go, I will be right there with you to help you stand tall."
Zuko nodded and the two watched as the lights from the candles flickered until they went out.
~~~~~~
A single candle flickered in the soft breeze that blew in through the open window. The light from the candle illuminated a small doll dressed in red clothes, a single name written above the doll's head and a young boy kneeling in front of it.
"Hey there, sis. It was a busy day today in the village." The boy said smiling as he talked to the doll, "I know that this is just a doll, but somehow I feel like you can here me through this so I'm gonna tell you what happened. Raisa pranked me today by pushing me into the river. I got so mad that I almost hit him with a rock with my earthbending. Mom told me I should check my temper, but I blame that on our Fire Nation blood. Dad's been teaching me how to throw rocks twice as big as me, and I'm getting pretty good at it. Soon, I'll be able to fight like a real soldier just like mom and dad."
The boy suddenly got sad, "I just wish you were here. Mom and Dad told me about what you did for us, and when you come back, we'll have the biggest party thrown for you! I can't wait to see you again, big sister."
"Jian! Dinner's ready!" A woman's voice called out to him.
"Coming!" he shouted and rushed to join his family for their dinner, still hoping that one day, he could finally set eyes on his big sister's bright fire red hair.