"Okay, then, I'll take these…" Sunset said, pointing to a large bag of leaves, and these. "Oh, and what type of wines does the Earth Nation have?"

The lady behind the counter motioned to a couple of servants, who started packing everything that Sunset had pointed at earlier, including the tea leaves. "Ah, an interesting question, my lady, there are several types of wine, but I just happened to receive recently several boxes of very high quality Mao Tai from Ba Sing Se." She bowed slightly and extended her hand towards the side of the store, where three large boxes lay.

"I have very… eclectic visitors," Sunset said, "and quite a few who are devoted to the tasting of wine, do you have an open bottle?"

The merchant seemed slightly startled, and spared a glance at what Sunset had already selected and was being loaded into her rented cart. A slight calculating look crossed her features.

"I understand your hesitance," Sunset said, "but if I like it, I won't take less than one of your boxes, and of course the rest of the bottle."

The merchant's eyes went wide and she hesitated. "Ba Sing Se is several months away from here, and the wine takes decades to make. I do not mean to offend, but that is a lot of money on top of everything else."

"I am not offended," Sunset said. "And I appreciate your concern, but this is an investment for me, so I am not afraid to spend on something that is worth it."

"Very well," the merchant said, bowing. She turned to another servant. "Fetch me a cup for our guest."

"I think you should slow down, Prince Zuko," Iroh said, watching his nephew stroll down the streets with several soldiers as they intimidated most people on the street to let them pass. "Running mindlessly will only get you in trouble."

"I had the Avatar, Uncle!" Zuko growled. "I had him, and he tricked me!"

"You and Zhao and a bunch of soldiers and questionable Fire Sages if I recall correctly," Iroh countered. "Perhaps taking a step back and considering where you are going will put things into perspective?"

"I don't need rest!" Zuko snarled, glancing over his shoulder.

He wasn't looking at where he was going, and thus completely missed the servant loading the cart in front of him. "Zuko! Watch out!"

Zuko's head turned to the front, but by then it was too late. He slammed into the servant carrying a large box, making them both stumble back. The servant fell, dropping the box to the floor, and Iroh winced when he heard several bottles break.

"Watch where you're going, you idiot!" Zuko shouted at the downed servant, cutting the air with his hand and leaving a trail of flames in front of the terrified local.

"Hey, dumbass!" someone shouted, making Zuko stop and glare at the young woman that had emerged from the store the servant had left earlier. She was dressed in a silken setup with a yin-yang sun of red and gold that matched her hair. Clearly a Fire Nation design… or was it?

"What. Did you call me?" Zuko hissed.

"A dumbass. A moron. A jackass. A dimwit. A nincompoop. A dunce." The young lady listed walking around to help the downed Earth Nation servant up. "The kind of idiot that thinks that it's okay to destroy someone else's property and can walk away with no consequence."

"Your servant should watch where he's going." Zuko said coldly, apparently holding back his ire on account of her seemingly being a subject of the Fire Nation.

"He's not my servant," the young lady snapped, "and just because someone has an honest job doesn't mean you get to treat them like trash."

Interesting. This lady was clearly a merchant of some sort. Iroh could recognize the marks on the box. That was definitely not cheap. It was little wonder that she should be upset. But many things intrigued him. Her dress and attitude did befit a Fire National, but also were of really high quality. Quality enough to warrant bodyguards, a sigil, and some notoriety. And yet, she had neither recognized Zuko (arguably one of the most easily identified faces of the Fire Nation) or presented herself by title or family as tradition would demand upon facing a royal with his guard.

"Prince Zuko, perhaps you should cov—"

"Don't interrupt me, uncle," Zuko growled. "I will teach this merchant not to interrupt my business."

"Pay me the fifteen gold pieces that cost and you can go."

"Fift—" Zuko stomped his foot on the floor. "I will not! You will beg forgiveness for interrupting your prince an—"

"You're no prince of mine." She snorted. "Pay up."

Uh-oh. Maybe this girl did know that Zuko had been exiled after all. That was one hell of a calculated insult if that was the case. Even if it wasn't intended as such, predictably his nephew did take offense and snapped into a fighting position. "Take that back!" he snarled, his form flowing until he threw two bolts of fire straight at the young woman.

The fire covered her shape before she had any chance of erecting a defense, making the locals scream in horror at her apparent sudden death. But Iroh knew better. She hadn't even seemed impressed at the flames. That spoke of supreme idiocy, or most likely confidence. Now it was her turn to prove the second was merited.

"What a waste," Zuko said. "She should have—"

"What, let you get away with wasting my hard-earned money because you're not man enough to pay up?" the woman asked from within the flames. Before their eyes the fire curled up around her, revealing no damage had been done to her or even her dress.

Iroh's eyes narrowed. That was impressive fire bending.

"So," the woman said casually as Zuko's flames snaked up her arm and condensed into a small fireball that she quenched when she closed her hand into a fist. "You're a pyromancer. Do you have any other tricks?"

"But… how?" Zuko asked, eyes wide.

"You think the personal student of the goddess of the sun would have trouble with a flame?" the woman asked. "I learned to handle pyromancy when I was just a little filly. If that's all you can do, then you'd better pay me and let me go my way, you're not going to impress me otherwise."

"Oh my," a voice said next to Iroh, making him turn to look at the other young lady that had just arrived. This one had the fairest skin he had ever seen, and was wearing a complicated kimono of white silk with flowing streams of diamonds embroidered into it with silken thread and sapphires, almost simulating waves that matched her own hair. "I see that Sunset has met young prince Zuko. I hear his temper is a match for his father's."

Iroh studied the woman. She looked young but carried herself with a quiet confidence and spirit that the other woman lacked still. She was definitely older. But how much… he couldn't tell. "I'm afraid Prince Zuko damaged some of the young lady's goods," he said. "And my nephew refuses to pay, which is the cause of this debacle."

The woman glanced at him with a smile. "Is it? Sunset Shimmer would not stoop down to this if it was just about the money. Are you sure nothing else happened?"

Ah. "Indeed, something else did," Iroh acknowledged. "I was hoping my nephew would get some rest. Perhaps that would have quenched his anger and he might have acted differently."

"Hm, perhaps he will get some rest," the lady said. "Especially if he keeps pushing Sunset Shimmer to act." She shook her head. "Maybe next time he will be more careful about stepping on others he considers below his station, if he understands why Sunset is doing this."

"Maybe he shall," Iroh said. His attention returned to Zuko, who now was obviously more than ready to start a real fight. The young lady was looking more annoyed than worried.

"Sunset, dear," the woman next to Iroh called. "I have already purchased another box. I need to head over to… a different place. Please don't change the flow of history. I have it on good authority the young prince is just overtaxing himself."

"Fine. As soon as this clown learns to calm the hay down, I'll head back over."

"I'm going to teach you to respect your betters!" Zuko snapped, his body flowing into a powerful fire blast that never finished. While he followed the steps, the young woman had simply raised her hand and the flames had snuffed out as if they had never existed.

"Wha—"

"I heard you hadn't slept much," Sunset Shimmer spoke, "maybe you should."

Zuko collapsed as if he were a puppet whose strings had been cut. Iroh ran over to him and knelt down motioning for the guards to step back. He turned his nephew around and leaned in, hearing him breathing calmly.

He looked up, but Sunset Shimmer and her cart were gone. He narrowed his eyes and stood up. "Please carry Prince Zuko back to his room and make sure he sleeps. I will be back shortly."

The bodyguards nodded, lifting Zuko up and carrying him away. Iroh looked around. Now, where had that young lady gone?

Sunset set the new box of wines on her counter, and wiped her brow before she started organizing the rest of her purchases. "The nerve of that insufferable little…"

She stopped when she heard the bell at the door chime. "Hello?" a voice called in.

"Come on in," she called back. "I'm just finishing up in here." She lifted the crate from the counter and put it down behind the bar. She straightened up, looking down at her current clothing, something that Rarity had designed with their last world-visit in mind, and decided that would do for today. No time to change into her usual bartending clothes.

"Welcome to Sunset's Isekai, my little bar outside of spa—" she stopped, frowning as she recognized the portly old man that walked in. He had been with the so-called prince earlier. "I'd like to say it's a pleasure, but I'm not sure why you followed me."

The man looked around the bar in complete bafflement for a few seconds, then turned to regard her. "This bar of yours, is it in the spirit world? I can sense I am no longer in my own."

Sunset's eyebrows rose. "I'm impressed. My bar is in its own dimension, outside of yours."

"Ah, most interesting!" the man said, smiling widely as he took a seat. "I saw you bought some White Dragon leaves earlier, Miss Shimmer, perhaps we could drink some tea?"

Sunset took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Fine. Fine. Let me heat up some water."

They remained quiet as she set up the teapot and poured in some hot water, letting the leaves seep. Her guest seemed content to wait and relax while the tea was ready, so she took advantage of that to put a couple of bottles of the Earth Nation wine she had bought on the bar, then pushed the box with the rest of them into her storage.

When she straightened up, she found that her guest had poured two cups of tea already. "Tea is best enjoyed with good company," he said when she raised her eyebrow.

Despite herself, she couldn't be angry at him. "Fair enough, resonates with what my old teacher used to say."

She picked up her cup and sipped the tea. It was very good. Almost velvety, with a creamy texture to it that warmed her body and relaxed her muscles. She felt the tension slowly drain as she sipped the cup.

"Excellent tea," the man said. "But do forgive me, my name is Iroh."

"A pleasure, I'm sure," Sunset said.

"Indeed! It is not often I meet such an interesting individual! You seemed to have unusual bending skills. I have never seen the like."

"Oh… that was magic."

"Ah," the man said as if that explained everything. And it did. Still…

"I'm surprised by the lack of reaction to this revelation."

Iroh nodded. "It is not that I am not surprised, but rather that I have come to understand that in different worlds, rules would naturally work differently."

"You did mention this 'Spirit World'," Sunset said.

"Yes, a most interesting place," Iroh responded. "I wouldn't mind visiting again."

"So, what brings you to my bar?"

"A great many things," Iroh said, leaning back on his seat. "Curiosity. My feet. Thirst."

Sunset grinned. "You're adorable."

"Ah, I will take that as a compliment."

"It was. You're not what I expected, given the company you keep."

Iroh's smile became a little less pronounced. "You must forgive young Zuko. He has much to learn about the world. About himself. About anger and frustration."

Sunset flinched. "I know that feeling all too well."

"Perhaps, but you seem to have a better handle on it than he does," Iroh pointed out, raising his cup in her direction. "Had the other young lady with you not pointed it out, I would have taken longer to notice your misdirection earlier. Very clever."

Sunset sighed. "I just didn't want this Zuko guy to be angry at the servant."

"Indeed!" Iroh said with a full belly laugh, "It was most amusing to see my nephew so flustered. I think he likes you."

Sunset rolled her eyes. "Nice way of showing it."

"Ah, the boy will grow out of it, I hope," Iroh said, leaning in to pour more tea into his cup. "His father gave him that scar on his face for showing weakness before, and the Fire Nation is known for seeing things like humility and temperance as weaknesses."

Sunset frowned. That was an all-too familiar theme. "You seem different."

Iroh sighed. "I wasn't always." He gazed at his cup. "Once, long ago, I was one of the Fire Nations most ruthless and efficient generals. I wanted power. I was hungry for victory at any cost. Glory and recognition kept me ensnared with their promises...I won battle after battle during the one hundred year war and finally laid siege to Ba Sing Se for six hundred days! And on the cusp of victory…"

Sunset watched him deflate and sip his tea.

"...I learned my own dose of humility."

She sipped her own tea. Thoughts flashing back to her own stint as a power-hungry demon of fire. "What happened?"

Iroh's shoulders slumped. "My son, Lu Ten died in combat. Up until that day, I was blind to what my so-called victories brought with them. The suffering of others. The families lost. The despair others had felt and would feel as the war continued. It was a harsh, humbling lesson that I took to heart." He placed the cup on the counter and tipped it slightly, his eyes lost. "Up until then, there was no pain. And because there was no pain for me… there was no pain for others.

"It took the death of the one I loved for me to understand the love I had denied others. I did not know what it was, and I could not comprehend it until it was too late." Iroh took a deep breath. "I am trying to teach Zuko the lessons I didn't learn soon enough, that he might not make the same mistakes I did in my youth."

Sunset couldn't help but frown at the memory of the prince, slowly realizing why she had felt such anger. "I was a lot like him. It took… friends and being humiliated and defeated before I even understood there had always been another way."

"Ah, but it is a lesson that you learned fully," Iroh said kindly. "Your anger at Zuko was not just because he was throwing a tantrum, it was because he was bullying an innocent person." He served himself more tea. "If I were to guess, I would say that you did that at one point too. And that whatever happened to teach you a better way still left you feeling guilty."

Sunset snorted. "Me and every other Sunset Shimmer in the multiverse, it seems."

"Guilt is not useful, miss Shimmer," Iroh said. "Guilt is self-serving in the end; with guilt you do not do things for others, but because you want redemption. However redemption is not achieved by being selfish. Perspective, however comes from realization. And it is perspective that guides us to do better for others and ultimately for ourselves.

"It took perspective for me to realize what I had denied my son—and where my decisions had taken him. Perspective taught me where I could help, rather than destroy. Where I could guide, rather than force. This is what I want to teach young prince Zuko. Perspective. Perhaps in this search for the Avatar he will find it and grow far beyond his siblings and even his father."

Sunset smiled. "I hope so. Perspective is something we could all use."

"I have a feeling that this bar of yours brings with it plenty into your life." Iroh nodded, finishing his tea. He stood up and stretched. "Well! This has been a lovely conversation, but my old bones are tired. Perhaps I should go rest as well." He dug into his pocket.

"Oh no, don—"

"Nonsense, Miss Sunset," he interrupted, putting down a pile of gold coins on the counter. "We do owe fifteen gold coins for the crate."

Sunset chuckled. "Twelve. The three extra you can give to the servant Zuko attacked. It's what I was going to do."

Iroh smiled and nodded.

"Oh, and before you go… let me take a picture with you."

When Zuko snorted awake, he immediately hated the fact that he felt better. Whoever that merchant was, either she was too powerful, or he had been too tired. He groaned and rolled onto his feet.

Looking up, he saw his uncle studying a silver card of some sort. "Uncle Iroh. What happened?"

"Ah, Zuko," Iroh said, smiling as he stood up and dusted his pants. "Nice to see you awake! Had a good night's sleep?"

"A good—" he bit his lip and took a deep breath, choosing to glare at his uncle instead of shouting. "I slept all night?"

"Indeed! Yes, you did!" His uncle cheerfulness was something that was too grating to acknowledge.

"And what happened to the merchant woman that did this to me?"

Iroh shrugged. "She went away."

"If I ever see her—"

"You should thank her," Iroh interrupted.

Zuko gaped at his uncle, unable to process that train of thought. "Why?"

"She let you go easy," Iroh pointed out. "You cost her a lot of money when you bumped into that servant. Instead of repaying her for what you caused, you instead chose to fight. She was wearing Fire Nation clothes too. For all intents and purposes, she could have been one of your future subjects who you disparaged and dismissed in front of another nation."

Zuko cringed, closing his eyes and absorbing his uncle's words. True, he had not looked where he was going. And true, he could have simply apologized. And true, he had insulted a fellow fire bender and subject with his attitude. All of his words rang true. And he had to accept that.

"Uncle, we shall find this merchant and repay her for the loss of her wines."

"Ah, I have already ensured she got it back, Zuko," his uncle replied, his voice tinged with the slight hint of pride that made those moments secretly worth it. It was his uncle's pride in him that sometimes kept Zuko going, after all.

"Good. If I ever meet her, I will apologize in person, but for now we must hurry after the Avatar."

"Right you are!" his uncle said. "And good news too, while you slept we heard word that the Avatar had doubled back and was traveling North."

Zuko forgot about the merchant, feeling anger and eagerness boiling within him. "Good. Then we will bring him down."

Author's Notes:

If you like what I write, remember I have a Patron to help support me and to keep getting more stories!