𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙴𝚕𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗

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It was mid afternoon, and the shop was almost depressingly empty with only two patrons. Although at some points it was boring, La'kea learned to enjoy the quiet moments, savoring the peace that would only last until the shop was filled during the evening.

They found little mundane tasks to keep themselves occupied, like how she handed Iroh miscellaneous items to the old man to stack on a shelf.

"Ahem," Zuko suddenly whispered as he joined them behind the counter. "We have a problem."

She quickly set aside her various items, turning towards the prince with a worried and curious look. "What is it?"

He gently grabbed her arm, turning her away from the empty shop behind him. Leaning down, the prince explained in a hushed tone. "One of the customers is onto us." Her eyes widened in panic and he nodded as his uncle listened in. "Don't look now, but there's a girl over there at the corner table. She knows we're Fire Nation."

Unable to help it, she glanced over her shoulder to see the suspect in question. At the sight of the innocently pretty girl, her first instinct was to tell Zuko he was being paranoid, but then she remembered Azula. Who was also a young girl that was deceptively pretty, it could be a diversion tactic.

He quickly spun her back around and then grabbed his uncle's shoulder, "Didn't I say don't look?"

"You're right, Zuko." A sly smile slid across Iroh's face. "I've seen that girl in here quite a lot. Seems to me she has a little crush on you."

"What?" Both Zuko and La'kea exclaimed in unison. The prince stared at his uncle baffled while she just blanched. The islander shook herself as a surge of resentment washed over her inexplicably.

"Thank you for the tea," Everyone jumped as the girl in question suddenly appeared at the counter, holding out her payment. Zuko took the coins silently, turning to place them in the cash box.

La'kea fought the urge to scrutinize the girl in a closer light, the suspect looked up brightly. "What's your name?" She asked sweetly.

"My name is Lee," He answered quickly, turning back to face the girl. "My uncle, friend, and I just moved here." The islander made a face, keeping her back facing the girl.

"Hi, Lee. My name's Jin." She introduced herself with a pleasant voice, and La'kea finally looked over her shoulder to see the girl glance to the side as she blushed. "And well, I was wondering if you would like to go out sometime." The islander had to immediately stop the loud protest forcing it's way from her mouth.

Zuko glanced down at her in alarm as his uncle suddenly leaned in with a grin, "He'd love to!"

"Great," Jin said happily with a bright smile. "I'll meet you in front of the shop at sundown." Without even a confirmation from the prince himself, she quickly left the shop. Zuko just stared vacantly at the spot the girl had been occupying as La'kea felt like she was going to be sick.

Late in the afternoon, their shift had ended for the day after Iroh had convinced Pao to let them off early.

Now, Zuko was sitting in the middle of their living room as Iroh worked a gel into his hair happily, the prince hadn't even thought about how much his hair had grown out. La'kea sat cross legged on the couch to his right, watching disinterestedly. Even though she had never been particularly chatty, a trait he had appreciated, the islander was uncharacteristically silent.

"All done!" Iroh declared, stepping back to look at his work.

Leaning forward from her vantage point, she finally gave a bemused snort, and Zuko immediately made a beeline for the bathroom to see what his uncle had done in the mirror. The prince grimaced at the sight that greeted him, his hair had been parted down the middle and slicked down to the sides of his head unflatteringly.

La'kea's reflection appeared behind him in the mirror, looking like she felt... Well, as he turned towards her, he didn't really know what she was feeling. What was bothering her so much? "You okay?" He questioned with slight concern.

She just gave a weak shrug, halfheartedly smiling up at him. "You don't have much dating experience. How do you feel about tonight?"

"Uh..." His hand touched his hair lightly, unable to undo his uncle's hard work. "I feel absurd."

That finally got a genuine laugh from her, she shook her head, assuring him that he looked fine as they walked back into the main room. Iroh hastily ran over to his nephew, handing him a heavy pouch of coins. "In case you need to pay for a meal, or if you want to buy her anything nice," He explained happily before suddenly pushing him towards the door. "Go, go! You need to get going, you don't want to keep her waiting." Zuko was only able to give a hasty goodbye to La'kea before being shoved out of the apartment.

Iroh turned back towards the living room, dusting his hands off as he smiled widely at La'kea. "Would you like some tea?"

The islander was sitting in the middle of the floor with a pile of plain cloth around her, and a pair of scissors in hand. She hacked away mercilessly at the fabric as the old man walked over to hand her a cup of steaming tea. "What is that you are doing," He inquired gently.

"Making something," The islander answered flatly as she lifted up her handiwork to inspect it. Although Iroh only saw a plain square, it was apparently satisfactory to her because she set it back down and picked up a sewing needle and thread with stiff fingers. "I probably won't wear it but... I need to make it."

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As Zuko stepped out of the tea shop, glancing around the street warily as the sun went down. He turned at the sound of footsteps to see Jin, who had her hair up, step out of the alleyway.

"Hey," The girl greeted, taking in his appearance as she walked over. "Well, look at you," She reached up to ruffle his hair. "You look so cute."

He pushed her hand away, trying to futilely salvage Iroh's hard work. "It took my uncle ten minutes to do my hair." Jin smiled, wrapping her arms around his as they walked to the market street.

As they searched for a place to eat, Zuko recognized a market stall, the one with the islander cloth. "Hey, hold on," He told the girl at his arm as they walked over to it. "I need to check something."

The prince knocked loudly on the stall, and the same merchant as before quickly appeared. "Yes, sir. How may I help you?"

"I'm looking for a specific piece of cloth," He explained, describing the one La'kea had shown to him.

The man nodded, "Ah, yes. I believe I still have that one. No one was buying it so I moved it to the back but," He returned from the back of the stall and laid it out. "Here."

Jin stared at it curiously, and looked up at him in question but he just held out the handful of gold coins. The merchant gave a nod, wrapping the bark cloth in thick paper before tying it off with a piece of twine, and the prince quickly grabbed it.

"What's that for?" The girl asked innocently, leaning around her escort to look at it as he gently tucked it under his arm.

"It's... For my friend," The prince answered slowly.

Jin didn't ask anymore questions about it as they made their way to an open air restaurant in a busy intersection of the city. "So," She lifted her cup of tea to her face as she leaned towards her date across the table. "How do you like the city so far?"

Zuko pushed around the food on his plate. "It's okay," He answered flatly. "My friend thinks it too green."

"Really?" She lifted a brow with a smile. "What do you like to do for fun?"

A memory of sparring casually against La'kea popped into his mind. He just kept his eyes on his food, "Nothing."

A waiter appeared at their table, bent down to ask them politely, "Excuse me, sir. Would you and your girlfriend care for dessert?"

"She's not my girlfriend," He snapped loudly, slamming his fist down onto the table. The waiter backed away nervously as the people around them stopped to stare. Zuko just huffed, lacing his hands together as he looked off to the side before glancing at Jin.

The prince stared in mild surprise at the sight of her slurping up noodles rapidly. He cleared his throat as she looked up at him. "You have... Quite an appetite for a girl." He winced internally, twiddling his thumbs as he wished to be anywhere but here right now.

"Um... Thanks?" Jin blinked at the comment, although this boy was cute he had almost no social skills. "So, Lee, where were you, your friend, and uncle living before you came here?"

Zuko stumbled over his words, trying to come up with a feasible lie. He should have thought of questions she might have asked earlier. "Well," He hesitated, "We've been travelling around for a long time."

"Oh!" She exclaimed, excited to finally have something to talk about. "Why were you travelling so much?"

"We were, uh," He fumbled with his answer, "Part of this travelling circus." He could almost feel La'kea shaking her head next to him, but Jin seemed to buy it.

"Really?" The girl exclaimed, "What did you do? Wait, let me guess." She tapped her finger against her chin for a moment before pointing it at him with a wide smile. "You juggled."

"Yes," He folded his arms as he looked down at her impassively. "I juggled."

Jin leaned forward excitedly, "I've always wanted to learn how to juggle." She suddenly shoved random items stolen from the table towards him, "Can you show me something?"

At the sight of her delighted face, the prince tentatively accepted the items, staring at them hesitantly before tossing them up in the air. He held his arms out but the items only fell around him, one breaking apart on his head.

"I haven't practiced in a while," He muttered, wiping off the food from his hair as she smiled up at him in acceptance.

"It's alright," She assured him, suddenly standing. "Hey, I want to show one of my favorite places in the city."

The full moon was high in the sky as Jin pulled Zuko through the dark streets. "I'm so excited for you to see the Firelight fountain," She explained, holding onto his hand. "The lamps make the water sparkle and reflect in the most beautiful way."

They stopped in an empty and dark area, the fountain in the center was surrounded in a circle by unlit lamp posts. Jins face fell at the sight, "I don't believe it. They aren't lit."

At the sight of the crestfallen girl, Zuko felt a spark of pity. "Close your eyes. And don't peek." Jin smiled, and obliged, holding her hands over her eyes.

Glancing over to see if she had listened, the prince stepped forward towards the fountain, looking to make sure there weren't any witnesses as he set down La'keas gift gently. He inhaled slowly, steadying his heart rate, and when he was finally breathing with even beats, the prince sprung into a horse stance. Angling two fingers, he jabbed at the air in quick secession, small bursts of flame alighting each of the lamp posts and candles floating on the water with precision.

When he was satisfied with his work, he turned back towards his date. "Okay, now you can look."

Jin gasped as she lowered her hands, taking in the sight of the flames flickering reflections in the water, almost glowing. She walked forward, still looking around with an awestruck expression and she questioned happily, "What happened? How did they get lit? What did you..?"

Zuko didn't answer only turning towards the fountain with a small smile, thinking of how he had to bring La'kea here at some point. Jin tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, looking at the prince from the corner of her eye slyly.

Touching his hand, she grabbed his attention and he looked down her in confusion. When she started leaning towards him, he quickly pulled up a piece of paper between them.

"I brought you something. It's a coupon," He hastily explained, "For a free cup of tea."

She took the coupon with a smile, "Lee, this is so sweet."

He leaned back, rubbing the back of his head, "Don't thank me. It was my uncle's idea. He thinks you're our most valuable customer."

Jin giggled as she looked down at the coupon, "Your uncle's a good teacher." She walked over to him, gently turning his head towards her. "I have something for you too. Now it's your turn to close your eyes."

Zuko looked off to the side, but hesitantly obliged. As soon as he did, she leaned forward to press a light kiss to his lips, and as she pulled back, he moved forward to return the kiss. The prince backpedaled rapidly, staring in shock as he realized that the girl he had kissed was not in fact who he was picturing.

Jin stepped forward in concern as he turned away, "What's wrong?"

"It's... complicated." He answered vaguely, not that it mattered, she already knew what- Or who- He was referring to.

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Iroh leaned out the window of their apartment, trying to search for his nephew who suddenly opened the door behind. The old man started clipping the miniature bushes in the window sill. "How was your night, Prince Zuko?" He asked casually as the young man stomped over to their bedroom.

"Wait," Iroh warned, "You might not want to-." Zuko slammed open the sliding doors and stormed in only to halt in his tracks.

La'kea lifted a brow, pulling all of her untied curls over her shoulder. "Would it kill you to knock?"

The prince struggled to form a coherent sentence. The islander stood against the window, rays of moonlight gracing her form as she turned slightly to look at him. She was wearing a piece of pale cloth wrapped around her chest, exposing her dark torso. The matching cloth she wore wrapped around her legs ended above her knees, tied off with a blue sash around her hips.

"What-," He sputtered, "What are you wearing?"

"I told her she could use our room to change," Iroh called out from behind him.

Zuko rolled his eyes at his uncle and slid the doors shut behind him as he stepped into the room. "What are you wearing?" He repeated.

She stared back at him almost defiantly, lifting her chin. "I'm trying to reconnect with my roots. This is more or less what we used to wear on my island." Her shoulder's suddenly slumped, "It's not working."

The islander sighed as she sat down on the floor, resting her chin in her hands as she looked up at him. "So how did your date go?"

"Ugh," He groaned as he sat on his bedroll, tucking away the bark cloth discreetly to surprise her with it later. "It was so awkward, you would have laughed."

La'kea bit back a smile, but couldn't stop her giggle, "Did you at least have fun?"

"I guess," He shrugged, "But I would have had more fun with you." 

Her face lit up, delighted to see a small blush bloom across his face. "Really? I've been wanting to explore this place more." 

The prince stared, distracted, at the little curls straying across her face, he hadn't seen her hair untied in three years. When they had met for the first time. His thoughts drifted back to that time, she had been frighteningly frail, and angrier. They both had been. He thought of how they spoke to each other back then, the hostility and distrust. An idea popped into his mind. "Hold on."

Zuko slid open the door and leaned through it, "Uncle. Don't we have the day off tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Iroh's voice answered faintly. "Why?"

"Perfect," The prince whispered, turning back towards La'kea, who was looking at him curiously. "Do you have any plans for tomorrow?"