LOOK IT'S ONLY BEEN ABOUT 3 MONTHS SINCE THE LAST UPDATE!

"The Upper Ring? That's not so far, let me just call my parents and we'll walk there." Toph took off her backpack and dug around for her cell phone (which she wasn't supposed to bring to school, Katara noted).

Katara wasn't really looking forward to seeing Zuko at this teashop, although she supposed it would be fine; after all, she had been determined to become his best friend that fateful second day of school, and she was definitely not one to give up on people. Besides, a little teashop-how cute! The brunette nearly purred aloud at the thought of homemade brownies, cookies, and cakes being served to her-by her current object of hatred, no less- as she sipped at a cup of jasmine tea at a booth in a brightly-lit café. Oh yes, Katara was a sucker for adorable eating establishments.

"They want me to prove you're with me," Toph said, rolling her eyes at her paranoid parents' attitudes, "so just say hi or something and tell them we're going to the... the teashop, or whatever. They said otherwise they're sending the limo to pick us up and make sure we get there."

Sighing, Katara took the phone from her friend, although she knew the girl's parents weren't completely out of line this time. Obviously to get to the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se you had to go through the other rings. And while the Middle Ring wasn't so bad, the Lower Ring could be a little shifty at times if one wasn't careful.

"Oh no ma'am, sending the limo won't be necessary. We wouldn't want to draw a crowd, after all. Uh huh. I'll have her home by 9:30. No problem, ma'am. Bye now," the older girl finished the phone call, and began to hand the phone back to Toph.

"BYE!" Toph yelled, loud enough for her mother to hear from the cell phone at arms length, and shut the phone quickly. "That woman needs to get a life.." she said, shaking her head slowly.

The tan girl almost squealed in delight as the pair approached the doors of The Jasmine Dragon; it was every bit as cute as she had hoped. Decorating the doorway were two golden dragon sculptures, their scaled tails intertwining near a giant green paper lantern lighting up the entrance.

Stepping inside the teashop, it got even better. There, waiting a table, was Zuko, wearing a clean lime-green apron that clashed horribly with his bright orange prison-issued denim pants and his black t-shirt.

Katara and Toph made their way to the front of the shop and ordered their drinks from the old man Katara had met at the hospital; he identified himself as Zuko's uncle, Iroh. He gave them a number and said Zuko would be with them momentarily and that they could have a seat at any they chose.

Upon hearing the common "my nephew will be out with your drinks shortly," Zuko glanced back at his uncle and caught Katara's eye instead. She gave him a little wave while his face drained of the little color it held. The girls couldn't stifle their giggle at Emo Boy's face melting into an expression of true despair.

"Uncle, I can't bring them their shit-er, stuff, they only came here to make fun of me! Can't you bring it out to them for me?" Zuko whined, fearful of his classmates' cruel remarks that they would no doubt unleash upon him if he appeared at their booth.

"Certainly not, this is part of your community service. Now go out there and serve the community!" Iroh ordered, pushing the tray toward his nephew, "besides, I can't brew the tea and bake cookies if I'm out there handling the customers."

"Can't I take care of the food, just until they leave?" Zuko moaned, grasping at straws. He knew he couldn't make tea nor bake, and he knew he had lost the argument at the look his uncle gave him. "Fine. But you just be aware that you have put my mental health into jeopardy with this."

"Welcome to the Jasmine Dragon, where our only...secret ingredient is...love..." Zuko trailed off, keeping his head down as he nearly slammed each of the cups onto the table where Katara and Toph sat, wanting to leave as soon as possible. He turned to swiftly walk away, but..

"Don't mumble now, Sparky, say the whole thing," Toph said smugly, slurping at the tea placed in front of her.

"Yeah, come on Zuko. I want to know what this place is all about," Katara agreed, munching on the delicious brownie she had been presented with.

The angry boy turned around, glaring at them and blushing furiously with embarrassment, "why are you here anyway?"

The older of the two teenage girls sipped her tea nonchalantly, "I like tea. That apron is very flattering, by the way."