𝑯𝑰𝑫𝑫𝑬𝑵 𝑫𝑹𝑨𝑮𝑶𝑵, 𝒂: 𝒕𝒍𝒂

➳ 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘹𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘯: 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴

ONE DAY, ON HER WAY TO WORK, SOMEONE AMBUSHES KIDA. Or, at least they try to, before Kida places them into a choke hold and pushes them against the side of the closest building. She's about to give this person a piece of her mind, before she sees who it is, which makes her 10 times as angry.

"You've got to be kidding me," Kida scoffs. She lets go of him as though he was something she'd thrown away. She hates that out of everyone she's ever known, it was Jet who had to be in Ba Sing Se, of all places. She doesn't care how or why he's here; Kida just wants him gone and out of her life for good, like she thought he was.

Jet smirks, putting his hands up dramatically. "I thought you'd be happy to see me."

"Then I guess you never really knew me," Kida retorts. It takes every muscle in her body not to do something she knows she would regret later. Kida steps back. Reflexively, she puts her hand behind her back, only to realize that she no longer carries a knife in her belt.

"I know you better than most," Jet counters, causing Kida to scoff once more. "So, I guess the Avatar and those watertribe siblings must be around here somewhere." When Kida stiffens, Jet's smirk deepens. "What, you split from your boyfriend?"

Kida has to resist the urge to strangle him right then and there, but decides that it's just not worth it to have a murder charge on her hands. "Fuck off, Jet." With that, Kida tries to leave, before Jet grabs her wrist. She snatches it away just as quickly.

"Wait," he says. His smirk disappears and instead he furrows his eyebrows. "I wanted to ask you about those two men you work with. At the tea shop. Do you notice anything different about them?"

"What? Why?"

"I think they might be Fire Nation."

Suddenly, Kida decides it would be worth staying for this conversation. "That's ridiculous, Jet," she defends. "They're just refugees, trying to find a better life."

"I don't think they are," Jet insists. "I swear I saw the old man heat up his tea."

Kida rolls her eyes. There might have been a time when she would have charged into battle with Jet for the smallest of reasons, but even the one he just gave seemed pretty weak. "Maybe that's because he works in a tea shop."

"It's not that Kida, you have to believe me. Please. I need your help." Something flashes through Jet's eyes. If it was anyone else, they wouldn't have known what it was. But Kida recognizes it, because she recognizes Jet all too well. She's seen it in him before and in her own reflection as well. Rage mixed with determination.

Kida ignores it. "Are you joking? After what you tried to pull last time I saw you? Leave it alone, Jet. Considering our past, I'll let you go, but don't think I'll turn you into the Dai Lee if you even try to pull something." Kida leaves before Jet can even reply and this time he doesn't try to stop her.

When Kida gets to the shop, Zuko is already serving customers. Iroh is probably in the kitchen brewing some tea.

Kida walks to the break room to change into her uniform, and promptly starts taking the customers' orders. Once the crowd dies down a bit and everyone has been served, Kida drifts over to Zuko.

"Hey, can I talk to you?" Kida asks as she sets a tray down and leans against the counter next to Zuko.

Zuko looks at her as though he couldn't be bothered. Despite the amount of time spent together, either at work or after, Zuko has yet to warm up to Kids. "What do you want?"

"There's this guy, Jet," Kida starts. "He might know about...I mean who you and Iroh really are."

"What makes you say that?"