I was rudely awakened from my peaceful slumber by a familiar raspy-voiced teenager early than I would have liked on a Saturday! What was wrong with that kid?

"Aiko, wake up. It's noon- way too late for you to still be sleeping." He shook my shoulder violently (though that may have been a bit a bit of an exaggeration), as he tried to wake me up.

"But it's Saturday. Why do I need to be awake before 3 pm? Why must I be punished this way?" I mumbled without opening my eyes or turning to face him.

"You're going to do something other than sleep today. I didn't have this issue when we out in the wilderness." He demanded. I snorted, and reluctantly looked at him.

"That would be because we were on the run, princess. I had no choice." I turned back around and closed my eyes again. "Besides, working for days on end- whether it be school or a tea shop- wares me out. I'm tired, so I'm going back to sleep." I heard him groan impatiently and mumble incoherently. I smirked at his childishness.

Next thing I knew, I was on the ground with my blankets on the other side of the room. I shivered from the sudden impact of air on my skin effectively cooling me. "It's so cold, Junior! At least give me my blankets back!" I yelled, holding my arms in an attempt to regain the feeling of my blankets. It was useless.

"No, I told you it was time to wake up. That means we're staying away from everything relating to bed." I begrudgingly stood up, and shouldered him as I walked by. Seething about how I was forced to be kept from my bed, I say sat down on the couch with my feet under me.

Zuko came in after me with a mildly intense glare. "Off the couch. Don't you have something to do today?" I rose an eyebrow as he pointed from me to the stove. I furrowed my eyebrows angrily. Is he trying to suggest that I need to be doing the cooking?

"This is because I'm a girl, isn't it?" I glared at him, but was shocked when he shook his hea d.

"No, dimwit. I'm saying you need to finally start that 'special meal', you bragged to us about when we got to Ba Sing Se. It's been nearly a week, and you've yet to make it." Zuko explained impatiently. I blushed slightly in embarrassment for forgetting about that.

"Fine, I'll make it..." That's when I finally took notice of the tea-loving uncle I came to adore as a father (especially since I knew my biological father was a genocidal maniac). "Hey, where's Uncle?" I asked in confusion.

Zuko looked down in what I thought could have passed for as sadness, but I knew Zuko didn't become upset like that. What is going on right now? "It's... my- our cousin's birthday."

It took me a second to register what he was saying. Our only uncle was Iroh... Who's birthday was...? Oh. I remembered something from the show I watched at that moment. It was really blurry, but I could make out the drawing of what looked to be a young man with some sort of incents in front of it. Lu Ten. I remembered.

For some reason the thought brought a year to my eye. "Lu Ten." I mumbled quietly. I could see Zuko's eyes widen as far as they could since I knew the name. The name itself brought a tear to my eye. "He- He's gone, isn't he?" I managed quietly.

Zuko only nodded silently. "He... was killed during Uncle's famous 600 day siege on Ba Sing Se. The loss of his son broke him and he stopped." The scarred boy looked away from me, and I swear he was choking back a sob. He somehow managed to remain strong, though.

Lu Ten died in this city. It must have been so hard for him to be here right now- especially today.

"Hey, Zuko? I'll go make that dinner. It'll be the best I've ever made it before, just for you guys. I'll be back later." He nodded quietly, as I grabbed a few coins (unsure of how much I'd actually need) and walked out the door.

As soon as the door was shut, I looked back in the window to see Zuko still standing there quietly. Poor guy. I sympathized. Lu Ten must have meant a ton to him. I only wish that I could have known our cousin.

I walked through the shops of the middle ring looking for the spices and herbs that could replace what I used for flavor in my original recipe. I spotted one tiny shop that didn't seem to get many customers there. I stepped inside with the chime of a bell. I looked around and noticed that the walls were covered by different spices and ingredients- just what I needed.

A black-haired woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties was putting some spices up  when she caught sight of me. "Oh, hello there young lady! How can I help you?" She asked kindly, moving towards me.

I smiled at her and began to look around. "I'm just looking for with a bit of an onion-garlic flavor, or perhaps some kind of peppers." She nodded in thought on before moving towards a group of spices in different urns labeled in Japanese (or is it chinese?) to the left of me.

"I have some onion-garlic powder and dried  Cajun peppers. Will that do?" As she spoke, I had made my way to the place she was standing by. She opened the urns with the ingredients in question and I could smell the potent smell of good spices in it. I looked at the contents and smiled. "This will do wonderfully. Thank you."

She nodded. "How much will you need, darling?" I thought for a second.

"No more than half an ounce of each, please."  She smiled and poured out a small amount of each spice into tiny burlap sacs that could easily fit in the palm of my hand.

"It doesn't seem like you don't get much buisness. Why not?" I asked as she tied up the first bag and moved onto the second.

"I'm afraid that not many people use these spices around here. They like their food plain, and rarely add spice to their food. Nothing too much. I have some noodles and other things, but they can go anywhere else for that. I don't think I'll be able to hold business here much longer without the needed revenues." She laughed lightly as she tied up the other bag and handed them both to me.

"What am I telling this to you for? You don't need to be burdened with my problems. You probably have enough of those to deal with of your own." She smiled kindly and moved away. "Is there anything else you need, or is that all?"

I looked at her and frowned. "I don't mind. It's a shame really. These spices are really good in foods, I think I'll make you my official place to go for food." I finally realized what she had asked and nodded. "Oh, I do need some noodles. You said you had some?"

She picked up a burlap sac that held egg noodles which revealed when it opened. "I do."

I smiled and asked for one bag. "Do you have any meat here? Nowhere seems to selling much of it."

She handed me the bag and moved to the back and returned with small thin steaks that seemed to have been salted and stored in a cellar. "Will this do?"

I inspected the meat and nodded. "You have everything here don't you?" I laughed as she handed me a few steaks.

"No, not really. It's fine, though. Is that all?" I nodded quietly and she looked at what I wished to buy. She looked at me with a smile. "A gold piece. I'm afraid meat is expensive and hard to come across these days. Is this an okay price?"

I honestly had no clue what it was worth, but I didn't bother to question it. "That's fine. I should have it in here." I looked through my pockets until I came across the only gold piece I had.

"Here you go." I handed her the piece and included a bronze one. "You deserve it, ma'am. I'll be back in the future. So, be expecting my buisness."

She smiled at me gratefully and placed the pieces in a box that didn't seem to have much else in it. "You're too kind, miss. I look forward to talking to you in the future."

I smiled back and walked out the door.

I looked at the sky and noticed that the sun was beginning to set. "Oh no! I needed to get cooking if I wanted to have it done by the time Uncle gets home!"

☆¤☆¤☆

I stood at the stove as the steam from the need and cooking noodles warned me pleasantly. I understood that the people of the fire nation as a general whole seemed to use their abilities for the wrong reason, but why is fire a bad element? It's gives warmth and life, and If I was honest, it's beautiful.

Zuko walked into the kitchen seeming better since his glum state (more than usual) from today being his cousin's birthday. "You actually found what you needed? I'm surprised you actually took the time to do this." He teased slightly.

I gasped in mock hurt. "I'm hurt that you don't have faith in me. I can be productive when I want to be."

He rolled his eyes and muttered to himself about how that was a lie. I scoffed, but decided to ignore him. The smell of the spices coming off the meat in delicious waves. My mouth watered with anticipation. This was going to be good.

Zuko sat at the kitchen table behind me, and I swear he did it only to annoy me. "It smells like you're burning it." He drawled. My eye twitched in irritation at that statement. I've had plenty of experience cooking this, and now he goes and insults it? I'm going to have his hea d for that.

"It's not burnt. I'm flash-steaming flavor into the meat with the broth. Don't tell me how to cook my meal." I grumbled the last sentence angrily at him.

He looked from me to the cooking me, then back. "The pan has to be covered for flash-steaming, Aiko." He replied like I should know that plain as day.

"No, it doesn't. This is better done in open air- the way I do it." I quickly snapped back. "How would you know, Mr. High-and-Mighty? You probably never cooked a meal in your life since you had plenty of servants to do it for you." I scoffed and looked back at my nearly finished masterpiece.

I shouldn't get so angry at him. Today was a bad day for those two and even me, and I wanted to make something special. I knew I was good at this, but thinking that I could be failing the meal that I prepared to help Uncle through today made me feel bad. I was quick to defend, but I'm not going to apologize, no matter how childish it seems.

The food was done nearly ten minutes later, and it was only five minutes more when Uncle walked in. "Mmm... what am I smelling that is so delicious?" The old man wondered from the door after taking a deep breath.

"Aiko is burning the food." Zuko piped up before I could say anything. I sent him a glare, as I poured each of them a bowl and sat it on the table.

"I decided to finally make that commemoration dish that I told you about when we got here." I answered for myself, flicking Zuko flicking Zuko in the head as I walked by him. As a comeback he touched me with a red hot finger. I looked at him and mouthed 'Jerk'. He only smirked with a look that said something along the lines of 'I know'.

"Well, I'm sure it's delicious." He took a seat in front of one of the bowls and took a bite. He smiled and hummed in delight as he tasted it.

I smiled and sat at the table as well. I looked at Zuko as he took a hesitant bite. He slowly changed his look from unsurity to delight (well, as close as he was capable of), then changed it to disgust when he caught me looking his way. "It's awful."

I rolled my eyes and ate some myself. The spices seemed to have been cooked thoroughly into the meat and the onion flavoring gave the noodles more than just a flour-y taste. I thought it turned out well, despite the lack of typical ingredients.

We all ended up going to bed early that night- the emotions of today making it harder to stay awake as long as usual.

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A/N To make up for being a couple days late on the DP fan fiction, I decided to post this one a day early, so your welcome.