Before we left, I asked Zian if he wanted to come with us one more time.
"Uh . . . " he glanced at the tea shop where I dared not enter.
"Is it Jin?" I smirked, punching his arm slightly.
He shrugged. "I just found her again. I think I should stay. And what can I say, she's warming up to me."
I grinned. "Whatever."
"You're not gonna say bye to Zuko?" He asked.
I scowled. "Never in a million years."
"I see. Well, bye," Zian smiled. I reached out and pulled him into a hug.
"Bye," I said into his shoulder, "for like the third time."
He laughed, and then let to of me. "Good luck, Ayame."
"Thanks." I pursed my lips. "I'll need it."
Aang wanted to talk to me after. "Well, I guess the king is doing okay."
"And his bear!" Katara called from behind.
"Certainly you mean his pet skunk bear?" Sokka interjected.
"Or his armadillo bear?" Toph suggested.
"Gopher bear?" Aang put in.
"It's just, 'bear'." Katara shrugged. "That's what it said on the invitation." There was a short pause.
"This place is weird," Toph said.
I smiled. "Well . . . ?"
"Well," Aang shrugged, "I think we should split up for some time. You know. I need to . . . do stuff. and I bet you guys'll too."
I raised my eyebrows. "You. . . you want to split up?"
"Sure, if you want," Aang said. Katara sat near us. "There's this guru I need to meet."
"Guru." I repeated. "And that's what?"
"Some knowledgeable guy," Aang grinned. "So."
"So, you need me to know because . . . ?" I trailed off, still confused.
"He's going to teach me about the spirit world. Maybe I could speak to him about you."
My eyes widened. "You'd do that?"
"Sure."
I grinned. "Okay then."
He grinned too. "Okay then."
♋♋♋
Jet had seen him. On his way to Ba Sing Se, he had seen the old man warm his tea cup without a visible fire. He'd seen it, he was sure, with his own eyes.
And here Jet was, standing in front of the Jasmine Tea shop and waiting.
He was going to kill that firebender, and whoever he was in league with.
Smellerbee ran up to him. "Jet, we need to talk."
"What? Oh great, it's you guys! Where have you been? I could use some help with surveillance here!"
"We've been talking, and we think you're becoming obsessed with this. It's not healthy," Smellerbee spoke, Longshot by her side.
"Oh, really? You both think this?" Jet set his jaw.
Longshot placed his arm on Smellerbee's shoulder in agreement with her statement.
"We came here to make a fresh start. But you won't let this go. Even though there is no real proof!" Smellerbee argued.
