𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐆𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 [ᴢᴜᴋᴏ]

ten

Jasmine was woken up from her peaceful sleep by a violent banging on her door. "What in the Avatar's name?" she mumbled and rubbed her eyes while getting up to answer the door.

"Yes?" She looked up with squinted eyes still having to adjust to the corridor's bright light.

Zuko was standing in front of her with crossed arms, tapping his foot on the floor impatiently. He let out a huff when he saw Jasmine rubbing her eyes. He gulped when his eyes travelled down her bare legs.

She blushed when her mind woke up fully and she saw him looking at her legs. The girl only got some shorts and an oversized t-shirt to sleep in.

Zuko cleared his throat and immediately looked away. "Get ready, my uncle wants to see you."

Jasmine glared at his retreating figure. "Get ready," she mimicked him angrily and closed her door with a huff before getting ready quickly, not wanting to let Iroh wait for too long.

When she looked presentable enough, she left her room and looked left and right, still not sure about where exactly to go. A defeated sigh left her lips and she just decided to go with the flow until she got to the deck.

It didn't take Jasmine as long as it did the other day to find her way around and when she reached the deck, she was hit with fresh and cold air. A few guards were carrying around boxes and doing other tasks while the girl looked for Iroh.

Iroh was nowhere to be seen and Jasmine pressed her lips together. When a guard passed her, she turned around in a flash and tapped him on his shoulder.

He turned around and took off his helmet and the girl immediately recognised him and his warm brown eyes. He was the one she saw right before they reached Zhao's port the other day. Smiling, she put her hands behind her back, "excuse me, where can I find General Iroh?"

He smiled back, revealing his dimples. "He should be here in a few minutes, miss." He bowed his head before quickly going back to his tasks.

Jasmine knitted her eyebrows and watched him leave. "Did he just call me miss?" she whispered to herself.

"Good morning, Jasmine dear," Iroh said, having her turn around in a flash, "would you care for a cup of tea?"

She nodded and quickly followed the man to a little table on the other side of the deck. Iroh took a seat and gestured to the other seat and nodded at her.

Jasmine hesitantly sat down and bit the inside of her cheek. What does he want to talk about?

Iroh calmly poured some tea into two cups before setting down one cup in front of Jasmine. He slowly took a sip, letting the hot liquid warm him up from the inside. The old man noticed that she nervously shifted in her seat and decided not to let her wait any longer. "I want to talk about your firebending. I thought about letting you train with Zuko but I first need to know at which level you are."

Jasmine gulped and shot him a nervous smile. "Well, I secretly trained by myself since I found out about my bending."

The tea-loving man hummed, "I want you to show me your firebending." He looked over his shoulder and waved over the all too familiar guard. The young guard came to a halt in front of Iroh and bowed.

"Kano, I want you to fight Jasmine here but only as far as she can defend herself. I only want to evaluate her bending abilities."

Kano gulped, his eyes briefly flickering to Jasmine. He hesitantly nodded and straightened his posture. "Of course, sir."

He wants me to fight?! Jasmine's shoulders tensed and her wide eyes snapped to Iroh. Her bending was okay for someone who taught themselves but it was in no way in a Fire Navy soldier's league. The girl searched Iroh's eyes in hope of finding a hint of humour, or rather of finding anything that could hint at him joking. But he was serious.