Flames of Destiny

14. DON'T TRY AND GET IN THE WAY!

Warning: There is an f-bomb in this chapter. You have been warned.

Iroh folded the white tunic as he continued packing his belongings that he'd collected from the few weeks spent in Ba Sing Se into the chest. It was all that he needed to bring with him in the coming move to the Upper Ring.

The Upper Ring. It felt so surreal to Iroh. In a span of a few weeks, he had gone from being branded a traitor by his home nation and becoming a refugee of war, to being a tea server and then the official tea maker for a humble tea shop in the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se.

Now, he was given the opportunity to have his own tea shop.

His. Own. Tea. Shop.

His.

"It's like a dream come through."

Indeed it was to the white-bearded man. Before he was approached by that businessman earlier at noon, Iroh had been content with being 'Mushi the best tea maker in Ba Sing Se'. He never dared dwelled on his dream of owning and running a tea shop of his own.

That was, of course, until Quon made him an offer that he couldn't refuse.

Pao had tried his hardest to protect his employees from getting poached. He physically stepped between 'Moshi' and Quon, then offered to promote his tea maker to 'senior assistant manager'. After hearing Quon's counteroffer of 'a new apartment in the Upper Ring' and 'complete creative freedom over the new tea shop', the middle-aged tea shop owner attempted to persuade 'Moshi' to stay with his final offer of 'senior executive assistant manager', though his tone conveyed that he wasn't exactly confident that 'Moshi' would stay.

Really, it was the notion of naming the tea shop that sold Iroh. By lunchtime, he and Zuko had resigned from being tea servers at Pao's Tea Shop. Percy also resigned, the jet black-haired man tagging along with the two people that he knew the longest in the city.

The sound of the door opening and closing had the white-bearded man turning his head to see Zuko entering the room, presumably to start packing.

"So I was thinking about names for my new tea shop, How about the 'Jasmine Dragon'?" he suggested, choosing to ignore Zuko's wandering eyes as if looking out for unwanted listeners. "It's dramatic, poetic, has a nice ring to it. Percy thinks it sounds 'cool', not that I fully understand how coldness is related."

Instead of giving an opinion on his uncle's suggestion, Zuko fished out the flyer from his tunic after being certain that Percy was not in the room and handed it to Iroh. His voice was firm as he spoke, "The Avatar is here in Ba Sing Se and he's lost his bison."

Iroh grabbed the paper, his amber eyes quickly scanning the contents on it. Sure enough, the drawing of a large sky bison was smack in the middle of it. But it was the words underneath that had his attention. Several of its characteristics were listed, along with one person in particular to contact.

Avatar Aang, Upper Ring, 96th District, Building 217

The former general bit back a sigh before it could escape his lips as he placed the paper on top of the box, his attention returning to his nephew who had made his way towards the window. "We have a chance for a new life here. If you start stirring up trouble, we could lose all the good things that are happening for us."

"Good things that are happening for you!" the former Prince countered instantaneously, whirling around to glare at the seated Iroh. "Have you ever thought that I want more from life than a nice apartment and a job serving tea?"

"There is nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity," Iroh remained calm as he explained. "I suggest you think about what it is that you want from your life and why."