𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗚𝗜𝗥𝗟 | zuko

9: THE CAPITAL CITY

"What?" asked Katara.  "What is it?" She had turned to me.  My mouth was still wide in shock and  Kyra was giving me a wide-eyed look.

"What's wrong?" repeated Katara. 

"This place," I said, looking around at it still, "looks exactly like the place I took Zuko to when we went on our date in Ba Sing Se."

"He remembered?" asked Suki.

"He remembered," I assured.  "I can't believe it.  He modeled this place after it."

"He did," agreed Kyra.  "It looks exactly like the Firelight Fountain."

"Do you think..." started Aang touchily.  "Do you think he did it on purpose?"

I didn't even think about that. "Maybe he did," I said.

"Hey, Jin," started Kyra, interrupting my admiring of the fountain. "There are some stores here, want to go shopping?"

"Please," I said, standing up after taking a seat on the brim of the fountain.  Sokka and Katara went to pick up food, Suki came with Kyra and me, and Toph and Aang went to find a place to stay.  

"Here," said Suki, pointing to a store whose sign read Kadichi's Clothing Palace.  "It's a good place to start."

She opened the door to the ringing of a bell tied to the hinges.  A young woman sat at a desk, looking at her nails.  She half-smiled at us when we walked in, then left us to browse.  It wasn't a very big shop, but wasn't so small, either.

We ended up buying a couple of outfits.  Kyra was obsessed with this one specific scarf.  It was extremely silky, but simple, and a really nice scarlet orange color. I found some clothes that were perfect for me, with long, but tight, sleeves, that would keep me cool in the warm Fire Nation, as well as a couple of skirts that were styled a lot like Suki's, with gold designs at the bottom.  We had no Fire Nation money, so Suki paid.  

There was no place in Fire Fountain City that had grounds big enough for Appa, so we decided we'd camp on the outskirts.  There was more room to practice Kyra's earthbending there, anyway, and they had all camped there before.

"They look great," complimented Katara toward our new Fire Nation garb.  

"Thanks," said Kyra, and I smiled, sharing her statement.

"Hey, we got dinner," said Sokka, as Katara waterbent soup into different bowls.

-- ꩜ 🌊 🌏 🔥 --

In the morning, we set off again.  We made it to the Capital City by afternoon, as it wasn't such a long journey to make in the first place.  

"So, what do we do now?" asked Kyra.  "Are you just dropping us off, or..."

"No, we're here to help," said Katara. 

"Besides, there's still more to teach you, isn't there?" smiled Suki.  Sokka nodded in agreement.  

"Well, why don't we take a break, and go to the palace later.  It'll be a surprise for Zuko," said Aang.  

There was a murmur of consent. 

"Where are we staying, though?" asked Kyra.  "Shouldn't we look for a place to sleep?"

"I'm sure there's room enough in the palace," said Aang.

"We're staying in the palace?" said Kyra excitedly.

"Well, when the Fire Lord was your Firebending teacher, it tends to come with some perks," smirked Aang.

Kyra squealed.

"Hey, Jin, do you want to go into town?" she asked me an hour later, after practicing earth bending with Toph for a while.  She had interrupted my tree stance, and I opened an eye to see her, letting go of a breath I wasn't aware I was holding. 

"Yes, sure," I said, still staying in the stance.  "Can I go, Suki?  Sokka?"

"That's Master Sokka, to you," he said.  Suki rolled her eyes and elbowed him.

"You can go.  The palace gardens are a much better place to practice, anyway."

We took a walk into town, just the two of us.  It hadn't been just the two of us in a few days, now. I was hoping to find someplace to send a letter to my family.  After stopping for a while to get a portrait done by a street artist (which cost us a whole gold piece), we finally went off to the post office, where I wrote a letter to my family, and Kyra did the same, also sending the portrait of the two of us along with it.

On our way around, hoping to find somewhere to get good tea, Kyra stopped in passing of a messy-haired boy.  He had tan skin and was wearing Fire Nation clothes, and his hair was black.

"You were right, Jin," she said.

"Right about what?" I asked.

"I did find someone in the Fire Nation.  Look at him."

"Yes, I saw."

She looked at me as if asking a question, raising her eyebrows as if it was obvious.

"Go get him, Kyra."

"Okay, okay," she said.  "Go around that building so it's not creepy, and watch this."

She strode over to the boy sweetly, confronting him as he walked.  He stopped in his tracks.

"Hi," said Kyra.

"Um, hi?" said the boy.

"I'm Kyra."

The boy looked confused. As was I.  "I'm Hakan?"

"Hakan, you are extremely good-looking.  Are you a firebender?  I bet you're a firebender."

Hakan scratched the back of his neck. "Thanks, I guess.  And, um, yes?"

"That's great.  I'm an earthbender."

"You are?"

"Mhm.  Would you like to go for tea with me?  It looks like you aren't doing anything interesting."

"Well, I --" Hakan thought for a second. "Ah," he said, shrugging it off.  "Sure, I'll go for tea with you.  Kyra, you said you were, right?"

"Mhm," she said, as she linked elbows with him.  Hakan looked confused, but content, and went along with it as they walked around the building I was standing at.  "And that's how it's done," Kyra said to me as she passed.  

I walked back to where we were resting, in an earthy area just outside the city.  Aang and Sokka were resting on Appa, Toph was practicing fighting with Katara, and Suki was still doing stances.

Sokka opened one eye, then the other when he saw Kyra was not with me.

"Where's Kyra?" he asked.

"She found a boy," I said.  "Went to get tea with him."

"Well, when she comes back, we can go to the palace, alright?" said Aang.

I took a deep breath.  "Alright."