As the last dishes are placed into the sink, Sokka picks up a small folding sign and walks out in front of the tea shop. He unfolds the small sign and sets it up beside the sundial in the center of the court yard. "Afternoon lunch break, we'll reopen at 3pm." The small sign reads, the logo for The Jasmine Dragon painted just at the base of the sign. He locks the doors after the last customer leaves before taking a seat in one of the booths. "Man, that was rough. There must've been half the upper ring in here this morning." He sighs, stretching as wide as he can before taking off his apron and reclining back in the seat slightly. "Thanks for taking over with the noodles babe, I usually over cook them." Yue smiles softly as she places his and her bowls on the table before setting down a small teapot. It doesn't take long for Aang, Jin, Katara and Toph to migrate over to the side booth and take a seat. As Jin plops herself down on the end of the short bench, she sets down a tray of dumplings and fried tofu. The wooden bowl didn't even touch the table before Sokka snatched one of the large steamed dumplings off of the board. Grinning, Sokka licks his lips before opening his mouth wide to tear into the large dumpling when he notices it.

Silence, not in the "We're tired, hungry and don't have the energy to talk." Sort of silence, this kind of silence hangs awkwardly in the air like a joke that didn't quite land right. It has weight, tension and unspoken questions hanging with it. More noticeably, Zuko isn't in attendance but they hear the Avatar/former prince upstairs walking around. They can even feel his movements, the entire building seems to shake gently with each step as tremors radiate through it. Sokka sets his meat bun down slowly before looking around the table at the others. Then he breaks the silence, with the theatrical caution of someone stepping into a sacred temple with muddy boots: "So... are we all just going to pretend that didn't happen? Or are we going to talk about the part where Lee just showed off all his bending for a random woman and two kids?"

The silence deepens for a moment. No one answers. Then Yue inhales, sharp and quiet, and finally says what they've all been thinking. "He called that tea... The Spirit's Brew." She nods toward the small white ceramic bowl still resting at the edge of the counter where it had been left. Cold mist still wafts gently from its surface, curling lazily into the air like incense. As if the tea itself hasn't forgotten what it was. As if it's still alive.

Toph stands from the small table, turning and sliding out of her side of the booth. Timidly she walks over to the temple and picks up the ceramic bowl. The cold sensation around the rim is just barely above freezing, and it almost hurts to hold it. She quickly brings it over to their table so they can investigate it further. Jin spots a sliver of movement from the corner of her eye, a small piece of paper had drifted to the ground. "Sokka, pick up that piece of paper that fell from the table."

"Why me?" He asks mid chew, though thankfully he had the courtesy to cover his mouth with his hand before replying.

"Because you're closer?" Jin asks incredulously, her lips tucked into an unamused blank expression. Sokka grumbles before standing and picking up the small folded note. "Is it just a napkin?" She asks, prompting him to unfold the small parchment.

The hand drawn face of the blue spirit looks up at him from the parchment. "What the..." He mumbles, then he notices the writing on the page. "Finish your meal, then speak to Mushi. You will not be charged." He stares at it for a moment before turning it around so the others can see it.

"If you're holding up a piece of paper, you're gonna have to tell me what's on it." Sokka stares at her for a long moment. Toph slowly tilts her head toward him, then raises her hand and waves it in front of her unblinking eyes.

"Right... Sorry." He says before reading, "It's a note. Says to talk to Mushi after the meal, and it's got this weird smiling face on it."

"Looks more like an oni," Aang mutters, accepting the parchment as Sokka passes it to him. "Why would Lee give something like this to that woman?" He pauses for a moment feeling the dense paper in his fingers. "This isn't regular parchment," He says, passing the piece of paper to Katara. "Feel this."

He passes it to Katara who runs her thumb against the paper then along the edge feeling the dense thick parchment. "It's thick... really high quality parchment. It's hard pressed, the ink doesn't bleed and there isn't any water damage from where the bowl was sitting on it." She passes it to Jin.

She pauses for a moment, her eyebrows furrowing in thought. "Definitely not scrap paper." She passes it to Yue before glancing over at the table where Sumei had been sitting. "That note was meant to last."

Sokka frowns. "So we're not just dealing with some cryptic tea spirit here. Someone went out of their way to make this official. That paper alone costs more than our weekly meat bun budget."

Toph crosses her arms. "So let me get this straight. Some mystery figure, possibly a spirit, probably not, uses rich people's paper to tell a starving woman to eat noodles and talk to Mushi?"

"No," Yue says softly, her eyes distant. "It's not just that." They all turn to her. Yue lowers her teacup slowly, eyes distant, fingers tracing the rim in slow circles. "I heard something this morning," she says softly. "One of the customers, an older man, sitting near the window was whispering about an attack in the Lower Ring. Said a crime syndicate down there was hit hard. Real hard." The others fall silent.

Aang leans in and asks, "Which gang?"

"He didn't say," Yue replies. "But he said the whole safehouse is gone. Walls cracked open, roof scorched, floor frozen solid. Smoke is still rising from what's left of it."

Toph whistles, her face a mix of awe and disbelief. "That wasn't a hit... whoever attacked them was sending a message."

Yue nods. "He said it wasn't just destruction. It was surgical. Precise. Like it knew exactly who was guilty and who wasn't."

Jin's voice is soft. "What do you mean?"

"The only ones who survived..." Yue's voice dips even lower. "Were the people the gang had kidnapped. People in cages. Locked in back rooms. The ones they were going to sell or ransom or worse. Not a scratch on them." A chill prickles along the edge of the table.

Sokka sets down his tea. "And the others?"

Yue hesitates. "Dead... and their leader was found incinerated, just a black skeleton in the rubble. With nothing above the shoulders." Silence. Then she adds, almost like she's afraid of what the words might summon: "They said a ghost did it. A figure in a smiling mask... the same one on that paper. That it moved like smoke and shadow. That it bent blood into crimson weapons of ice. That it fought with two swords, one of fire, one of ice." No one dares speak. Not even Sokka. Then Yue continues, softer still, "I asked the man if it was a bender. He said no. Not like us. No movement. No stances. Just... will. The elements obeyed it. Instantly. Like they knew what he wanted before he did."

"That's not bending. That's something else." Toph mutters.

Aang stares down at the mask on the parchment. "Or someone else."

Jin looks toward the stairs. "And now that same face is showing up here. Sending people to us."

Katara doesn't speak. Her eyes haven't left the parchment. "Question is... why would Lee of all people have this parchment?" The silence thickens again, the only sound permeating the air is the muffled footsteps from upstairs.

"Y-you don't think Lee's involved with this... Do you?" Aang asks, shifting uncomfortably in his seat from the silence.

"He pulled off that magic spirit-tea stunt like it was rehearsed. Every movement was perfect, and I've never seen him earthbend that gracefully before. Normally when he bends, he has all the finesse of a drunk komodo rhino trying to throw off its rider." Toph replies, tilting her head in the direction of the small table. Sokka squints, pinching his chin in deep contemplation for a moment. "Careful Snoozles. I can hear the gears grinding from here, you're gonna set something on fire up there."

"Yeah yeah, shut up. I'm thinking." He replies, but this prompts Toph to launch his second helping of food into his face. "Uncalled for Toph." He says, taking a hand and slowly whipping the stir fried noodles from his face. "I was about to say... that this mystery spirit, or ghost or vigilante thing has been seen with dual swords, multiple bending styles and has a level of control that lets him seemingly bend with his mind. That has to be Lee."

"Except." Jin cuts in, raising a hand and gesturing to Sokka. "One, No one can bend blood, two, that spirit was bending without actual bending movements from what Yue said and three, he was very... Busy last night."

"... Define, busy." Toph says after another uncomfortable silence.

"We went to the bath house last night after training, he showed me all of the other elements he bends, then we were disturbed." She pauses for a moment to sip her tea. "We weren't even ten minutes in when Lee stood up and said someone was watching us. Turns out? Fire Nation assassins."

Aang's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"Three of them. He said they were probably hunting him after you all took down the Drill." She replies with a nod.

Sokka straightens. "In the Upper Ring? That's bold."

"He wasn't worried," Jin says, voice cool. "He just got up, dried off, walked outside in nothing but a towel, and when he came back, his knuckles were bruised and he said they wouldn't be a problem anymore."

Toph whistles low. "Let me guess: he didn't clarify what happened?"

Jin shrugs. "I'm pretty sure he killed them."

Everyone goes quiet again for a beat.

Jin reaches for a dumpling like she's just mentioned the weather. "We stayed until closing. Took the long way home. Then we... Well, we had a roll in the sheets before going to sleep."

Aang blinks. "Oh, yeah, I get that. The beds are kind of stiff, I toss and turn all the time." The others stare at him for a moment before it clicks that he doesn't know what she's talking about.

"Aang... you sweet summer child... that's not what she's talking about." Yue says but he still doesn't understand what they mean. She clears her throat gently, cheeks slightly pink. "Well... that's certainly a rock solid alibi."

"It's an alibi and a flex. Respect." Toph smirks. "And it tracks, I felt each movement, bounce and heard every moan. Jin, you are not subtle." Toph's knowing smirk only grows into a wider grin.

Katara presses her fingers to her temple, sighing. "Spirits help me."

Jin takes a slow sip of her tea, completely unbothered. "Point is, he never left the villa. Trust me." The parchment still lies on the table, the mask's inked grin stretched wide.

Sokka eyes it. "So if it wasn't him... who's going around Ba Sing Se writing creepy miracle notes in rich people's paper?"

Katara finally lifts her gaze from the parchment and forces a small smile. "I don't know," she says, "But I'm guessing that this is avatar stuff. Maybe he has a deal or a pact with this thing."

"What? Like Heibai? I don't think this spirit is gonna be appeased by a few acorns and patience. It's catching bodies Katara. When spirits are that pissed off, something is really wrong here." Sokka replies, but as his sister goes to retort they all feel a slight tremor flow through the building.

The stairs creak softly. Footsteps follow slowly, deliberately, even. The measured steps of a soldier tap each stair. Zuko steps into view, towel slung over his shoulder, his sleeves rolled to the elbows, and a faint shimmer of steam still clinging to him from washing up. Without a word, he crosses the room, he lifts the neck strap of his apron off his shoulders then hangs it on a wall peg. He doesn't ask why everyone's quiet. Doesn't seem to notice either as he steps into the kitchen, grabs a bowl from the drying rack, and scoops up a helping of stir-fry with mechanical precision. Jin tracks him with her eyes, smirking faintly watching his muscles ripple through his clothes. He steps back out, and slides into the seat beside her like this is just another lunch break. Toph is grinning. Aang glances nervously between Zuko and the parchment still face-down on the table. Katara keeps her gaze on her tea, stone-faced. Zuko picks up his chopsticks, stirs the noodles once, and finally lifts a bite to his mouth. He doesn't even finish chewing when...

"So. Do you know anything about some spirit that's been causing a stir in the lower ring?" Sokka asks, blurting out his question and piercing the uncomfortable silence between them.

Zuko pauses mid-chew. Everyone tenses. He glances up slowly, eyes flicking to Sokka, then to the rest of the table. Then finally, down to the parchment sitting ominously between the teacups and dumpling trays. He finishes chewing, swallows then speaks. "Just its name." He picks up another bite of noodles like nothing happened. Another beat of silence passes and Toph smirks, already enjoying this.

"Seriously? You're not gonna tell us its name?" Sokka asks trying to coax Zuko to continue speaking but the avatar merely stares at him with a blank expression as he slowly chews a piece of beef. Zuko takes a deep breath before swallowing this next bite of food. He lets the silence hang in the air even longer as he takes a slow deliberate sip of tea.

"It's called: The Blue Spirit." He replies, but as he goes to take another bite of food, Sokka swipes his bowl so he can continue speaking.

"That supposed to mean anything?" Toph asks, tilting her head slightly.

"Don't know." Zuko replies, lifting his tea cup slightly so he can indulge in its aroma before the next sip. "It came to me in a vision." He replies, taking another sip of the tea and letting another beat of silence fall over them. "I was helping heal some of the wounded just after the battle with The Drill. When I went to sit down and rest for a few moments before my next patient, I closed my eyes and saw it."

"Did it speak or say anything? What did it look like?" Aang asks, now completely enraptured in this story.

"Like an Oni, a demon." Zuko replies, "It didn't speak, just smiled. Its lips, eyes and facial features were white but its skin was a dark blue like the waters of the north pole." He pauses, flicking his wrist and summoning his bowl of stirfry back to his hands. It had moved so quickly, Sokka didn't have enough time to keep a grip on it. "I got flashes, ideas of what it wanted. It knew how I'd react to it, knew I'm the avatar and knew how my father would react to Sumei and her sons."

"So what's the story behind the spirit's brew then?" Yue asks. "And the piece of paper?"

"The tea was my idea, but the note was the spirit's idea. The vision it showed me had flashes of that parchment." He gestures to the folded paper in Jin's fingers. "Showed me the words to write, and it knew we would help her."

"So you think this Blue Spirit can see the future or something?" Jin asks but Zuko just shrugs.

"That's about all I know of this thing." He replies.

"Did you see it bend at all? From what one of the patrons said earlier it bends all the elements like you, but it does so without moving muscles. It's like the elements obey its will automatically." Yue asks but Zuko just shakes his head.

"I only saw its face, the spirit's body was covered in a black cloak pulled up over its head with a hood." He finishes speaking, he looks down to his bowl of stirfry then exhales a puff of fire onto it to briskly reheat it. No one knows what to say as he finishes. He takes the time to enjoy the silence, slowly eating his meal with a calm measured pace. Aang shifts uncomfortably. Toph fidgets with her cup. Even Sokka, who normally has something stupid to fill the space, just stares at the folded parchment like it might bite him. Zuko keeps eating like he didn't just admit to maybe being chosen by a spirit in his sleep. That's when Katara quietly sets her tea down.

"Alright," she says, brushing her hands together, "I think we've all had enough spooky spirit mumbo jumbo for one lunch break." Everyone looks at her. She offers a small, forced smile, but there's steel behind her voice, the kind that says, This conversation is over. "We've got a full afternoon shift ahead of us," she continues. "And a lot of customers who probably won't tip if we're all walking around like we've seen a ghost."

Toph snorts. "Maybe because we have."

Katara ignores her. "So here's the deal. Tip jar competition. Whoever pulls the most tips by closing gets the full haul."

Toph cracks her knuckles. "Let the great tip war begin."

Sokka immediately shoots to his feet. "Alright, alright, hold on. Before this turns into a brawl, we need some rules."

Katara nods, already stepping in. "Agreed. Ground rules. Or this becomes an actual duel and someone loses an eyebrow."

Toph snorts. "Just one?"

Sokka starts counting on his fingers. "Ok. How about, no bribery, no seduction, no bending food into heart shapes, and no-"

"No," Katara cuts in, raising a finger. "Let me handle this." She turns to the group, all business. "Rule one: No blatant flirting."

Yue immediately raises a hand. "Define blatan-"

"Obvious," Katara replies without looking at her. "Winking, eyelash fluttering, suggestive compliments... no."

"But that's my default setting." Yue pouts.

Katara glares. "Rule two: No excessive skin showing." She pauses. "That means you, Jin."

Jin throws her arms up. "I show one shoulder and suddenly I'm a threat to the earth kingdom" Yue tries very hard not to laugh behind her cup but Jin hears her and scowls.

"Jin, you're already showing enough cleavage for all three of us combined." Yue deadpans, causing Jin to fein offense to her comment. Jin scoffs, raises a hand to her chest as if she was deeply offended.

"Hey. I'll have you know, Lee appreciates my cleavage thank you very much." Zuko chokes on his tea before starting to cough violently.

"Rule three," Katara interrupts the two, "no stealing someone else's customers. If someone's already got a table, leave it."

Aang raises a hand, wide-eyed. "So... everything else is fair game?"

Katara shrugs. "If you want to throw in bending, good luck not launching the dumplings into orbit."

"Oh I'm absolutely using bending." Toph says as she cracks her knuckles.

Aang smirks. "Can't wait to see Toph earth-launch a teacup into someone's lap for tips."

Toph grins. "If it works, it works."

"Okay! Rules are set. Tips or bust. Let's do this." Sokka exclaims, slamming his hand down.

Toph's grin widens. "The one with the least amount of tips does dishes for a week." Zuko says nothing, but his chopsticks click just a little faster. And with that, the games begin.