someday we'll find it {shen. open.}

Sheltered would probably be the very best way to describe Jin. Not to say she was ignorant of the war as some citizens of Ba Sing Se had been but she'd been protected for the most part. Or the best she could be in the slums. Her father had always been the type to make certain she had everything that she needed. He was a very busy man and for ill or for good he’d often give his children material items to compensate for not having him around all of the time. Her mother worked endlessly and she complained but she and her brothers never went without. As a child and even as a teenager her mother made sure that she kept her daughter and sons under her thumb. Jung, Jing, and Ling did their best to get out of the house and perhaps they had a bit more slack because they were boys.

Time alone was a luxury. Pao's was the only place she was without her family. If it wasn’t her mother it was her father or her brothers. Her mother often justified it by saying that the world wasn’t the same safe place she grew up in. If it had ever been safe.

Needless to say it was a bit of a shock when she announced she would be leaving Ba Sing Se for Republic City. Her father had thought it would be good for her to get out of the house as he didn’t want her to be much of a leech or a parasite child. He would do anything for his daughter of course and helped with money. His daughter always had itchy feet and even though he didn't want to he let her go. Her mother had cried the entire time and hugged her up against her chest and begged her not to go. If Jin’s mother had it her way she would have never let Jin go. It made her feel guilty but she had to leave and find her own place in the world. Wherever it was.

Opening her tea house had been the best decision she ever made. She bought a small building, a few tables, decorated, and made certain to write to her family back in Ba Sing Se. Her china was also important but it didn't quite matter how the tea got to one. The pot could be made of tin but if the tea was good the flavor would shine through. She had saved for numerous sets and cups. She only had four tables and she served from the tea pot her father had given her for her eleventh birthday. It was an old pot that was a dark emerald green color engraved with intricate gold patterns. Her cups were beautiful but they didn't match her pot at all which suited Jin just fine. All the cups were different much like the residents of Republic City. She had green cups, blue, yellow, and red.

Today was spiced tea day. She noticed some fire nation citizens trickle in and she served. To be honest she should have hated them but things weren’t going to be like that in Republic City. Everything would be different.

Despite her being new she had started to get in a steady flow of customers. Most of them were early birds and a lot of them were construction workers but they were infinitely interesting and she loved to speak to them. She had found the best brew for spiced tea and had decided to serve it on "Fire Nation Day" and so far it was well. Two of her tables were full and before that she had a full tea house. Hopefully, she'd continue to prosper and maybe one day hire someone to help her out. On Fire Nation Day she tended to serve fruit tarts too as she found out that the Fire Nation ate them just like the Earth Kingdom citizens. It was actually fairly remarkable or at least it was to her as she thought that it was interesting they shared so many of the same ingredients and sometimes the same recipes. One of her tables paid and left so she locked up her money in a box behind the counter and served her other table which was occupied by an elderly couple.