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Borealis: A Zutara Story	By : jaded_priceless Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > AU/AR - Alternate Universe/Alternate Reality Views: 34026 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, Avatar: The Legend of Korra, any historical figures or events, or easily recognizable persons, places or things. I make no profit from this work of fanfiction

Chapter List
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- 172
Chapter 168
Katara stepped away from him and opened the door. The restaurant was down the street from the hotel and just by looking through the window Katara could tell it was already filled with soldiers from the Ursa and the ones Chu-Hua had pulled from the other division. Zuko placed his hand on the small of her back and led her down the street.
He stopped in front of the local jail. “Do you want to go in and see them? I’ve arranged that they both be placed in the same cell and that their meals be brought to them from the restaurant where we’ll be eating.”
Katara looked through the window. She could see that Sokka and Aang were huddled together. Upon closer inspection she realized they were swapping meat for vegetables. She smiled and approached the jail. Sokka looked up and their eyes met through the window. His nodded towards Aang and then shook his head at her. She nodded sadly and turned away in understanding. He wasn’t blindfolded.
Aang hated violence. She wasn’t sure what happened but if she could feel the ground rumbling so could Aang. He’d been taught by the world’s best Earthbender. The cage that he and Sokka were in was metal but the Dai Li had built a separate earthen cage to hold him. She knew her bruises hadn’t faded enough for Aang not to notice them.
She had been through too much to let a moment of selfishness upset Aang to the point he accidently killed them all.
She didn’t fight when Zuko wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her to him. She leaned heavily against him and he rested his head atop hers. When they walked in the restaurant all of the soldiers rose and bowed. Zuko told them to be seated and thanked them for their bravery before announcing that as long as they were in that town he’d be purchasing all of their meals. The crew from the Ursa toasted him but the new arrivals just blinked in disbelief.
Zuko gave the hostess ten gold coins and asked that remainder of the bill be sent to him at the hotel. She too bowed before seating them. Katara bent her head to look at the menu when Zuko slid into the booth portion next to her and she understood why. The menu prices were far below reasonable. Most of the meals were only a few coppers. He asked Katara what she was ordering and she said pointed to a meal with cow-pig, rice and vegetables. Zuko turned the menu over, “Do you want to share this?”
Katara frowned then looked at what he was pointing at. The dish had cow-pig, rice, and vegetables as well as curry, chicken, three more vegetables, and dessert. At two silvers it was underpriced but still the most expensive thing on the menu. Katara nodded. The town was small and away from the more highly traveled areas. It was in the heart of what would soon be a battleground as the Fire Nation attempted to establish a land route to Ba Sing Se. The restaurant, the hotel and the town probably would not be there much longer. When the waitress arrived to take their order Katara told her to add the unlimited tea service for an extra silver. The woman’s eyes widened and she nodded thanking them vigorously.
Their food arrived shortly. The serving was more than generous so Zuko invited the Zhao twins to share it with them. As word spread that Prince Zuko was picking up the tab the restaurant became more crowded. The owner looked out and saw that his establishment was filled to capacity and it was becoming more than his wife, sister, and son could handle. He reluctantly called up for his niece and daughter to help serve. When the Fire Nation soldiers came into town he had told the two young women to stay hidden.
Jin peeked into the dining room before realizing she had forgotten her apron. She quickly ran back up to her room to get it. She didn’t like wearing the mud-colored garment but as her mother stated it was shapeless and helped to hide her figure. After Ba Sing Se fell it was no longer safe for young women in the city. Before the conquest everyone lived in fear of being taken by the Dai Li for saying the wrong things or walking a certain way but at least the Dai Li protected them. The Fire Nation soldiers were the primary menace.
Jin ran in and out of the dining room taking orders and delivering food. Her aunt passed her a tray and told her to deliver the pot of Oolong to a table at the back. They had ordered the unlimited tea service. She walked out of the kitchen carefully balancing the heirloom tea set filled with the hot liquid. She lifted her head to see where she was going and stopped dead in her tracks dropping her uncle’s most expensive possession. “Lee!”
Several men and women turned to her in response but the scar faced teen in front of her didn’t look her direction. He had his head down talking to the person beside him. She took a tentative step forward, “Lee! You’re Lee right? The server from the Jade Dragon tea shop in Ba Sing Se? Mushi’s nephew?”
Zuko turned away from Katara and raised his head, finally noticing her now that she was right in front of them and had mentioned his uncle’s tea ship after a moment he spoke, “Hello Jin.”
She smiled, pleased that he had remembered her. “I was wondering if you’d gotten out of the city.”
“I went to look for you and your Uncle but after the Fire Nation took over it was more difficult to sneak through the rings…” Jin’s voice trailed off as she noticed how many eyes were on her. She looked around the room to see that most of the men and women began elbowing each other. The boy she knew as Lee was sitting at a table with two boys and a girl who appeared to be their age.
The girl had glanced at her briefly but had lowered her head again and was now playing with her napkin. The two boys had turned around and were looking at her with wide grins. They had jet black hair and eyes the color of honey. When they were in Ba Sing Se part of what had drawn her to Lee were his eyes.
They were gold like Fire Nation eyes but unlike the cold eyes of the soldiers and colonist these were filled with pain. She had assumed his mother was a rape victim. Many women were unable to kill the children of their attackers; she guessed his mother had been one of them. The idea that he was half Fire Nation was furthered on their date when he lit the lanterns for her.
Even without the uniforms Jin would have guessed the other two boys were Fire Nation by the way they carried themselves and the hardness in their eyes. One elbowed the other and as one they slid their chairs to opposite sides of the table. She noticed they were twins when one started a phrase and the other finished.
“Dinner …
“…and entertainment.”
She looked at the scar-faced boy sitting with them. His hair was longer and he was dressed differently; instead of the greens of the Earth Kingdom he was in vibrant reds and golds. She took a step closer and noticed the richness of the fabric he was wearing. Now she was starting to question if maybe that other boy; the one who chewed straw and was taken by the Dai Li for speaking of a Fire Nation infiltration had been right along. “Lee, why are you sitting with them? What are you wearing?”
Most of the dining rooms occupants were wearing the same color but his was a deeper shade of crimson. Only he and the girl beside him had garments with woven gold trim. “Lee? Lee, what’s going on? Why are you wearing that? Why are you sitting with them?”
Katara looked up at the girl then at Zuko before deciding to fold her napkin in the shape of a swan. It was one of the more surprising things Toph had taught her. She glanced up again when a group of soldiers walked in and bowed to Zuko, thanking him for his generosity. She half smiled at them and tilted her head in acknowledgement when they greeted her.
“Lee what’s going on?” Jin repeated weakly as money began changing hands at various tables and Lee moved closer to the girl who was sitting at the booth side of the table with him.
“My name isn’t Lee,” Zuko said flatly.
“You can say that again,” Zhao 1 muttered.
“If your name isn’t Lee then what is it?” Jin asked her voice getting louder as her crush whispered something in the girl’s ear.
“And who is she? Why is your arm around her? Is she the reason I never heard from you after we went out? Why you pushed me away and ran away so quickly?” she added angrily while glaring darts at Katara.
Zuko didn’t have to look around the room to know all eyes were on him. He hadn’t thought much of Jin since he’d left Ba Sing Se much less imagined he run into her. He placed his palm on his forehead; increasing the pressure as he drew his fingertips and the heel of his hand together. Jin’s reaction had drawn the attention of the room to him. He wanted nothing more than for her to go away and leave him and Katara in peace but if he’d learned anything about her it was that she was persistent.
“Lee! Answer me? Who is that girl and why are you sitting so close to her? Why are you sitting with the Fire Nation? How did you get out of Ba Sing Se?”
- 170
- 171
- 172
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Borealis: A Zutara Story