Four Elements High School: Junior Year

Chapter 10: Dinner Date

When Zuko walked into the Jasmine Dragon one chilly Saturday morning, he saw Jin serving tea, which was to be expected, and Azula sitting at one of the tables, sipping said tea, which almost gave him a heart attack. 

"What are you doing here?" he asked. Azula took a long, infuriating sip of her beverage before addressing him.

"I live here now, genius," she said smugly. 

"B-but-" 

"You said I could always stay with you and uncle, and now I'm doing that."

"But what about my room?!" Zuko protested. Azula laughed. It was unsettling.

"I guess you'll have to sleep on the couch if you're staying here tonight." Zuko frowned and stomped off, most likely to go complain to Uncle Iroh, when he was intercepted by Jin. 

"Hey, do you wanna hang out tonight?" she asked. Zuko did a mental check of his schedule. 

"Sure," he said, "is Haru around?"

"No, he came down with a nasty case of pentapox," Jin said sadly, 

"I'm pretty sure I've heard of that before," Zuko muttered quietly.

"But the two of us can have fun! I'm done with work at six," Zuko nodded and went over to help Iroh with the pastries. Jin was cool. She was easygoing and witty, and although she could be a little overbearing sometimes, she knew how to have a good time. 

At around six, Zuko got back from running some errands and Jin was waiting for him outside the tea shop in her faded green Honda civic. 

"Where to?" he asked. Jin shrugged.

"Not sure. I guess we'll find out." Oh, that was the other thing he didn't like about Jin. She was too carefree. One of Zuko's favorite things about Mai was that she was the opposite. She always had a plan. It didn't matter if they were going to get sushi or just doing a thousand piece puzzle at home. Mai knew what she wanted. 

Wait, why am I comparing this girl to Mai? This isn't a date. Jin turned on the radio, and an unholy combination of funk, jazz, and pop started playing. 

"Let's go to that old-school diner off the highway," she said. 

"I've never been."

"Neither have I." Zuko sighed. This probably wouldn't end well. The diner was only a few miles away, so they were there in a matter of minutes. 

"After you," Jin said, opening the door. The diner was almost entirely populated with adults in their fifties and sixties, and the two of them felt ridiculously out of place. Well, at least Zuko did. Jin led him over to one of the bright green booths and ordered a root beer and two burgers and fries. 

"It's weird to think that all of these people would go to diners like these when they were our age," she said.

"Yeah," Zuko replied, not really caring. 

"I mean, it's a pretty romantic place, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Zuko said without thinking, "Wait, what?" A waitress in a pink uniform served them their food, and Jin finished her burger in a matter of seconds. 

"You have quite an appetite... for a girl," Zuko stuttered. Haru was usually the one leading the conversations. 

"Uh, thanks," Jin said. The next 20 minutes were equal parts pleasant, fun conversation, and awkward silences that seemed to last an eternity. After they'd eaten their dinner and dessert and gotten candy from the gumball machine, they decided to head home.

"Let's stop by the lake on our way back. The lights are so beautiful at night." Zuko smiled a little bit. It was nice to see that his friend was happy. There was a lake just off of the edge of town that sometimes had radiant lights that caused the water to sparkle. 

"Oh," Jin said when they got there, "They aren't lit." Zuko sighed and nonchalantly lit them with firebending.

"You didn't have to do that."

"It was nothing," Zuko said. 

"I don't think it was," Jin said, and before Zuko realized what was happening she leaned up and kissed him.

"Ah!"Zuko pushed her away, "What is wrong with you?! I have a girlfriend!"

"You've been flirting with me all night!" Jin yelled.

"Flirting?!"

"You said that the diner was romantic."

"I- I wasn't thinking I- ugh!" Zuko sighed, "I thought that you just wanted to be friends."

"Are you kidding me! Are you blind?! I've liked you ever since I started working in the Jasmine Dragon!"

"You started working in the Jasmine dragon when you were 15!" Zuko shot back.

"Exactly." Zuko sighed.

"Jin, just take me home." Jin grit her teeth and walked back to the car. What followed was the most awkward and uncomfortable car ride Zuko, and probably anyone, had ever experienced. After five minutes of silence that felt like five hours, they finally made it back to the tea shop.

"Let's... talk about this later, okay," Jin said.

"Sure," Zuko said in an offhanded way, "I'll see you in class." He quickly got out of the car, slammed the door behind him, and saw Azula sitting in the window. At least Jin had kissed him at the lake and not outside the shop. Zuko had no desire to be burnt alive, fried with lightning, or both at the hands of his sister. And that was when his phone started to ring.

Incoming call: Mai

She knew. Zuko had no idea how, but somehow Mai knew. Maybe she was a vampire. Zuko shakily walked into the Jasmine Dragon and answered it.

"Hey," he said, trying to slow his accelerated heart rate, "What's up?"

"Zuko?" he froze. He knew that voice like it was yesterday. 

"Mom?"

~~~

Azula's eyes widened. Zuko was talking to their mother? 

"I- I thought I would never hear from you again," he was saying softly. There was a long pause. "No, no I understand. You don't need to apologize. You did what you had to do." Zuko smiled at her. Azula tried to smile back, but it wasn't genuine.

What's wrong with you? Don't you want your brother to be happy?

"Mai showed you pictures of me?" Another pause, "Yeah," he touched his scar, "I've definitely... changed." Azula took a step closer and could hear muffled apologies on the other end.

"No, Mom, that's all in the past. I'm doing so much better now." Azula couldn't hear what her mother said next, but Zuko looked her in the eyes, "Azula?" Azula felt a wave of panic surge through her. She wasn't ready to talk to her. Azula looked Zuko in the eyes and subtly, almost imperceptively shook her head. 

"Uh, she's not here right now, but she's doing fine," Zuko improvised. Azula bit her lip and quietly crept up the stairs to her room. 

~~~

Thanks for Reading! 

Also, Jin is the girl Zuko went on a date with in the tales of Ba Sing Se episode. She's a pretty minor character, so I'm sorry if I didn't clarify earlier.