It's a long, long way to Ba-Sing-Se

But the girls in the city

They look so pretty--!

They kiss so sweet

That you really got to meet

The girls from Ba-Sing-Se--!

She hadn't come back.

Not that he cared really.

The brown-speckled teacup began to fog under his fingers, the clay started to glow a soft yellow.

One whole week and she had not been back.

The small teapot started to smoke and the bottom dripped. Zuko stared beyond the brilliant color of the angry cup in his hands above the basin. He didn't register his Uncle's soft steps next to him, setting down a tray of used cups. Iroh whistled softy before a light caught his eye. "Z-Zuko! Nephew what are you—"

The pot shattered into tiny pieces and slid to the bottom of the basin. Zuko let out a growl and let flames lick his hands before they extinguished and he ruffled his hair. "I'm such an idiot!" He yelled.

Iroh stood with wide eyes at his young Nephew and decided that something was possibly bothering him. "Zuko, for you to Firebend while our boss is in the front must mean something is wrong…"

"Nothing's wrong!" He said irritably and glared at the old man. "This is all your fault anyway." He muttered.

Iroh sighed, "I know you do not like living here in Ba Sing Se, but I have told you that for now—"

Zuko didn't seem to hear him. "Why did you even decide for me? If I had just said no, I wouldn't even be worrying about her." Iroh looked at Zuko's frustrated face in confusion.

"Huh--?"

"Why does it even bother me? I'm Fire Nation and she's –she's—"

"Zuko! Keep your voice down!" Iroh hushed and grabbed his nephews mouth closed. Zuko threw his hand off and huffed. He was afraid he would start yelling again but the boy just hung his head and a defeated look graced his face. Iroh smiled slightly.

"Are you speaking of the lovely Jin you went on a date with so long ago?"

"No!" he yelled before taking in his uncle's face and sighing. He nodded numbly.

Iroh's smile took to a grin and Zuko regretted his outburst instantly. "Well, well if my little nephew isn't love struck."

The boy's shoulders squared. "I am NOT love struck."

"I guess you're right; I mean the girl is dull and ugly." Iroh shrugged with a nonchalant face. He was about to laugh when he saw Zuko's angry amber eyes piercing his own. "I'm just teasing nephew, did I not say she was lovely?"

Zuko's mouth pursed and he turned to lean on the wooden table, his eyes analyzing the grain.

Iroh frowned. Obviously that date was not just a date… and Jin was not just a girl. He turned and peeked out side to see the boss sweeping the welcoming mat and shut the door. Walking up to his nephew he laid a hand on his shoulder. "Zuko… what happened on your date?"

"Nothing." He murmured, turning his head to the side.

"Hmmm." Iroh nodded and closed his eyes, stroking his beard. "Either nothing happened at all or nothing happened that you want to share."

The prince remained silent. The elder man shook his head. "My dear Prince Zuko, you must explain your troubles if you wish for advice."

"I don't have any troubles." He grumbled and swished around to yell at his uncle. "And if I did, I certainly wouldn't ask you for advice!"

Zuko slammed his fist on the table before storming out of the small kitchen, slamming the door behind him. Iroh cringed at the outburst and exhaled, before his eyes caught the small table sizzling with a new flame. He slapped the cloth on the table hurriedly, gritting his teeth. "Well at least I know what girls do to my nephew's attitude!" He said to himself with a grin.

Zuko inhaled the crisp night air with vigor, letting it cool his insides and cleanse his thoughts. He began walking down the main street, staring at his feet and watching all the shops close down.

He hated it. The city of Ba Sing Se was poison on his nerves, it was like a confined iron box to a flame and he couldn't stand it. From the dirty confined streets to the sickening color of jade green, the more time he spent here the more he wanted to burn it down.

He missed the spacious clean marble streets of the Fire Nation's capitol. He missed the smell of ash on his clothes and the prideful colors of obsidian and blood. Despite his exile from his nation, he was raised in that culture, raised to hate those opposed to it in any way and his honor would not let him forget it.

He looked up to see an elderly man reach high to snatch a lantern, bringing it to level to blow out.

"Oh! They're not lit…. "She exclaimed, instantly looking down as her forest colored eyes dimmed under her brown hair, like a weeping willow tree in the sad winds.

His hand clenched to a fist and he could feel his body want to heat. Exhaling slowly he kept on walking until finding a damaged stone fence blocking an empty plot. Taking a seat he looked up to the small bit of dark sky he could see between the building roofs on either side of him.

"What's wrong with me?" he questioned and slowly tidbits of the other night raced back to his mind.

Her soft hand in his, a perfect fit in his hot palm, a cool touch. Her kind smile, accepting every little mistake he made, making it felt like he could tell her his every regret and she would just tilt her head and smile. He remembered those bright, sparkling eyes as green as the leaves of his Uncle's tea flowers.

A hand lifted to contain her lilting laugh, but he heard it anyway and he wanted to smack himself for looking like a fool in her presence. She tilted her smile, accepting his babbling excuses.

He swallowed hard as his lips tingled.

So cool and delicate her lips were… so fragile and kind. The cool of her lips mixed with his constant heat and he had yearned for more. Oh Agni he wanted more… more than what he had ran away with.

He shivered and his hands clutched his knees. "I still want more…"

A snap and his body swung with the speed of a dragon, his fist slamming into the brick of the wall to his left, scalding the stone in charcoal black. He gave a yell and his fingers gripped the wall as he leaned towards it, standing now. "This is ridiculous. I do not feel for this peasant." He murmured but he knew there was no denying anymore. He wanted her, wanted her smile, her touch and her kiss, all to himself. He knew she would never accept Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, but she would accept Li and so he would milk the lie for all it was worth.

Iroh's fingernail traced the graving of the lotus piece for his Pai Sho board. He slurped his tea and exhaled the steam, relaxing his body and smiling to himself.

The door rattled open with such a force that Iroh had no doubt that his nephew was royalty; it was spoken in his presence. He turned his head and watched as the boy flustered, shifting his weight. "I—I want advice."

The old man grinned.

He felt stupid. Then again he always felt stupid after spending time under the influence of his Uncle. His face grimaced as Iroh pushed the big bouquet of white dragon lilies in his arms. The pollen made him want to sneeze and the tiny white…(stick flowers?) in between each lily sprinkled his hands.

He wanted to set the whole thing on fire.

"Now, she lives two streets down and four houses across." Iroh grinned. "Now remember what I told you nephew, you must apologize for abandoning her and—"

"I didn't abandon her." He muttered. His Uncle gave him a look and he promptly shut his mouth with a frown.

"Hand those to her and then ask her if she would like to go to the upper ring with you for a... ?" He Uncle trailed off, looking at Zuko expectantly.

"A… walk?" He suggested but then glowered when his Uncle shook his head. "A picnic?"

"A tour!" Iroh exclaimed.

"This is undignified; I don't even know my way around Ba Sing Se!" He retorted and Iroh shook a finger. "It's not all about you your majesty. She will give you the tour."

"How does she know the way around the Upper Ring?" He questioned and his Uncle shook his head. "You did not ask her about herself at all did you?"

Zuko felt stupid. His Uncle pushed him towards the street, "have a nice time nephew, and relax! Enjoy your day off!"

He walked, throwing the old man a grimace.

He had been staring at the same door enough so the sun was a notch higher in the sky. The clouds shading the house were now split so that sunshine glimmered along the tiny shutters.

Truly, it was like almost every other slummed up shack in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se. It was an ugly shade of grayed brown and it smelled like dirt. It had a small green mat and an old rotting rocking chair in the front, but other than that it looked no different. The only exception was the beautiful pot of flowing leaves on the window ledge. The plant was growing surprisingly well for the conditions and it looked… happy. He finally walked forward to look at the bright leaves, full, vibrant and somehow… familiar. Turning he raised an unsteady (white pollen dusted) hand to the door and knocked.

And waited.

Maybe she wasn't home and he could forget this ridiculous idea and go back the apartment to whine and mope. Maybe this was his chance to set the bouquet on fire and run like no tomorrow, as far from the memories of this Earth Kingdom girl. His lips tingled and his feet stayed rooted to the ground while his hands were cold from his nervous sweating. He shuffled at the door and looked at the plant again.

Something bright and red was buried in the pot and leaning over closely he saw the small blood red bud of a Fire Blossom. His eyes widened at the trademark flower of the Fire Nation.

"Li?" A voice inquired a voice so soft and so musical. He looked towards her and froze. She was staring at him under the sunshine of the afternoon, her green eyes shining like the Earth Kingdom Sea and her brown hair long and loose, tickling her pale face and her curious lips.

Oh those lips…

He stared. His hands shook and the waxy parchment holding the flowers wrinkled on his grip. He wanted so badly to run, to scream, to roar fire or to simply cry. She took a step closer and suddenly the dirty smell of earth washed from his senses with the graceful smell of apple-peaches. "Li… what are you doing here?"

He thrust his hands out and finally let go of the burdensome weight of the lilies into her hands. "I—I came to give these to you." He grumbled and his frown deepened at her raised eyebrows.

She was quiet, her fingers tracing the petals.

"Well?" he asked, growing impatient. "Don't you like them?"

She finally looked up at him and his heart thudded when her smile spread and she tilted her head. "They're beautiful Li, thank you."

Her expression stole any of his own and he forgot what he was supposed to do next.

She continued to smile at him, her eyes hypnotizing him into a calmer state.When she looked away, her face was sad. "Li… I want to apologize. I…I didn't mean to rush myself on you the other day."

He took in the words and instantly spit them back. "No!"

Her head snapped to look at him.

"I'm the one who needs to ask forgiveness... I ran away from you… you did nothing wrong Jin." He said, his voice full of his culture's pride before slowing to a quieter sincerity. She smiled with heated cheeks and hugged her flowers. "Thank you…" She whispered.

He grinned to himself, his ego coming back full swing when he felt he had done well. His new found pride kept him going, "I was wondering if you would touch me--err—"

Jin looked at him in confusion.

His ego crashed and his hand rose to rub the back of his neck. "T-tour, tour me around the Upper ring of the city." Agni he sounded so stupid. This was not something a Prince was supposed to deal with, especially not the Prince of the Fire Nation. It was undignified and he had half a mind to yell at her to stop looking at him, to stop smiling at him.

But her hand rose to hide the smile she could not and she openly grinned at him. "I would love too!"

He felt like an Airbender, light and high of clouds. It was disgusting.

She smiled and told him to wait as she put the flowers away and went back in the house. It was a silly request, he would have stood there forever even if she had just slammed the door on him the moment she saw him.

She came back with a smile and a ponytail, looping her arm around his and pushing her head into his shoulder. He thought his Firebending had lost control went his face flushed with heat.

She didn't belong in the lower ring of Ba Sing Se.

They had gotten through to the Upper Ring with the flash of a small ring on her thumb, which she explained was a sign of a student. She had gone to school in the Upper Ring, some prestigious private school, for two years on a permit given out by the King every few years to the lower peasants. She had worked hard for it, she said with a carefree smile. Like it had been no big deal, like working hard had meant smiling.

She knew the history of almost every monument and building and she explained any one he looked at. He learned about the tall column trees surrounding the library (they were so strong they kept growing through the stones, so the city built around them.) He learned of the great female Earth Bender who was raised by Air Nomads and saved thousands of the Earth Kingdom citizens by creating the large rocky mountain cliffs stopping the crashing waves from reaching the farmlands outside the city. He even learned that his white dragon lilies bloomed this time every year in the city park in the Upper Ring, given to the Earth Kingdom by the Fire Lord, years and years ago. So long ago that the lilies were extinct in his Nation and they now only grew in that garden.

Zuko learned that Jin loved history and art; she loved the earth and everything it grew. He learned that her favorite thing to eat was apple-peaches and she made pies of them to sell to the Upper Citizens and give away to the children of the Lower ring. He learned that her eyes changed shades of green in different light, and his favorite was in the sunlight, when it looked nearly turquoise in its intensity.

He swallowed hard and clutched her fingers in his palm as she dragged him to yet another stall, showing him all the tiny earth crafted jewels of flowers and birds.

Zuko learned a lot, a lot about her and how she made him enjoy this wretched city. She made him smile, or at least twice at her laugh and at her embarrassed face when she tripped and he caught her, scolding her not to run so fast, that they had all day.

They were seated on a white bench now, gilded in jade, looking out on the rest of the city and the far stretches of farmland before it hit cliffs and then ocean. She was leaning on his shoulder and her eyes were lidded, her smile still there… always there…

His hands felt clammy and his mind was finally numb. He never said anything offense to her, but hearing much of the Earth Kingdom's history made his Fire Nation mindset want to barf. Somehow though, the way she spewed the information from perfect glossy lips and inspired eyes… it was hard to think badly of.

She had asked him things too… What's your favorite fruit? Do you like pie? Where should we sit? What would you like to see next? Do you know that story? He was mostly unresponsive or would grumble out an intelligent, "I don't know, I don't care, No, Yes," He sighed out loud and relaxed against the bench, his conscious still urging him that he was slipping while his senses begged to melt into the girl beside him.

"Li… I'm sorry if I bored you today." She spoke quietly, almost offhand.

He looked down at her and his eyes narrowed. "You didn't." He said matter-of-factly and ruffled. It was ridiculous to think she could bore him, where did she get that idea?

He felt like he should assure her more and the nervousness flooded again. He shifted, "Your… your very soothing to listen too…I…I like it."

Great, more unintelligent babbling. He shut his mouth with a click and his brow furrowed in hopelessness.

He heard her soft giggle and imagined her soft smile to accompany it. "Thank you Li."

He longed to hear her soft voice say Zuko.

So that's Chapter One, Frustration. Please guys, if you support Zutara and you want to tell me why. Don't. I respect you guys, I understand you guys but I don't crew that Ship. Zuko/Jin is the one I've clung too, and I'm gonna make it work. Anyway, this will be a multichip, angsty, romancy and funny. Some other main characters will be introduced and I will follow the plot of the episodes, although altering time and a few things.

Clicky da blue button? If not that okay, this particular Ship never got past too many gates and I know its fan base is low. The story is more for me… 