When the Levee Breaks

by seirios aster

A chance encounter can change the course of history. Katara and Toph find Zuko in the tea shop in Ba Sing Se, and Azula recruits a spy who actually finds her brother and the Gaang. Will Ba Sing Se still be doomed, or is it enough to change the world?

First foray into Avatar fanfiction. Please excuse the noncanon characters. Hope you like it. Feedback is greatly appreciated.

---

Hikaru sat at the counter and watched the customers drink their tea. He really wished he had turned down this job, but money was money, even if he did get stared at simply for looking Western. Granted, most people just ignored him after a couple minutes, but he still felt bad for his coworker, who all the women stared at constantly. Said coworker had a day off that day, so he was "lucky" to be the only busboy working that day. It may have meant more tips, but the payoff was not so great. Every so often someone would try to pick a fight with him because the West had been ignoring the imbalance in the East for a century. It did not matter that he was from a desert in the middle of nowhere and had never heard about the war before coming to the city. No. It also did not matter that the thought-police forbid everyone from speaking of the war. Of course not! Somehow, he had managed to get himself into a position so that he was technically wanted without doing anything against the law. He hated his life occasionally.

Surveying the shop, he noticed that the girl (was her name Jen or Jin?) who had just sat down at the front table was the one that had gone out on that date with his coworker a couple days ago. Hikaru remembered that he was supposed to be working and not daydreaming, so he went over to take her order. He smiled and said, "Hello, Miss."

Jin was her name, he remembered. Smiling back, she asked, "Has Li been around?"

Hikaru grimaced. He knew he was supposed to lie and tell her that he was not there, that he was ill, but she deserved to know the truth. "He's in the back room," Hikaru replied hesitantly. Jin made to stand up, but Hikaru shook his head. "Don't. He's hiding from …" He glanced in the direction of the blind girl and her companion. "…An ex-girlfriend. Um, you should probably order something?"

Jin nodded slowly, processing the information. "I will have that new blend of tea---the Western one," she replied. Hikaru suddenly felt slightly uncomfortable. He wished he had not brought any of that blend with him; everyone insisted on calling it "Western" even though it was just plain black tea. Fine, it was Earl Grey and therefore did deserve the label. "And I would like one of the teacakes."

Still smiling, Hikaru bowed slightly and walked back to the counter to give the order to the old man who called himself Mushi. Hikaru grinned and commented wryly, "Your nephew probably could have saved himself a lot of grief had he decided to not hide from his supposed ex-girlfriend. I doubt Miss Jin is very happy with him right now."

"There is no convincing my nephew once he has made up his mind," Mushi replied good-naturedly. "What did the young lady order this time?"

"Black tea and a cake," Hikaru replied concisely, again glancing at the table occupied by the two young women that Li was currently avoiding. Li, on principle, avoided contact with people as much as possible. Hikaru had his theories about why, but he had to admit that being stared at constantly became very creepy very quickly, which completely explained why certain friends of his got slapped on a near daily basis.

"Ah. You hate it when they call it the Western one," Mushi observed as he began to make the tea. Not many people ordered it, and when there was any left over, Hikaru tended to drink the rest of the pot. "I can understand; when I was younger, my father sent me overseas to see some of the West. It was quite uncomfortable to be so out of my native element."

"You might do well to tone down the irony, sir," Hikaru warned nonchalantly while searching for a plate on which to put the teacake. "You never know when the thought-police are around. Not that I like them in the least; I hate them. Others do not necessarily."

"I know; I know," Mushi said thoughtfully as he continued to prepare the tea. "I still wonder how you came up with these ideas. Your term for the Dai Li is somewhat atypical."

Shrugging, the young man replied, "They remind me of the law enforcement officers in a book I once read. They arrested people if they even detected any defiance on the part of a person. A thought was literally a crime. Hence, the thought-police."

Chuckling, Mushi replied, "You do not strike me as the type that reads much."

"I don't strike people as a book-loving swordsman with a penchant for traveling, but I am, despite what anyone else thinks," Hikaru replied melodramatically. "I just wish I made a little more doing the job I love," he continued frankly. He sighed before laughing it off. "I must sound completely crazy," he decided, accepting the cup of tea for Jin from Mushi.

"I think you may have been reading too many novels, Hikaru," Mushi commented. "I doubt that you will blend in very much if you continue to describe yourself as you have. A 'book-loving swordsman' you call yourself? I doubt you could bring yourself to harm anyone."

"I try not to," Hikaru answered with a grin before walking back over to Jin. He set the two plates down on the table. Jin smiled at him and thanked him. Hikaru nodded and made to walk away, back to the counter, when the blind girl's friend motioned for him to come over. "Yes, Miss?" he asked her. She was the first person he had seen in the city with blue eyes. She was wearing clothing like most other people in the city of Ba Sing Se, but that was probably just an attempt to blend in. He could tell when people were "out of their native element," as Mushi had put it. Hikaru figured she was from the Water Tribe since she looked unlike anyone from either the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom.

The young lady looked somewhat nervous. Hikaru idly wondered if it was because of his blue eyes or his light hair or his accent or any of the other things for which people around here stared at him. First, the girl stammered an apology. "I'm sorry for staring. The y---I, uh …"

Her blind friend picked up where the first left off. "I was just wondering where you were from? I mean, usually only Water Tribe has blue eyes, according to Katara, who also says that you have yellow hair, which is again apparently bizarre. I, of course, wouldn't know."

The first girl, whom Hikaru guessed was Katara, looked rankled at her friend's outburst. "I apologize for Toph's rudeness---" The one named Toph protested; Hikaru smiled at that. "But, I had heard that there was another guy working here as a busboy," Katara said, having regained her cool, looking at Hikaru expectantly. "It's not of much importance, but I would rather know."

Hikaru relaxed just a little. "Yes, Li is my coworker. He's a little eccentric, but I doubt that he will come out of the back room anytime soon," he said to Katara. To Toph, he explained, "Your friend is right. I do look quite differently from most of the people in this city and likely in this part of the world. I'm from the West, specifically from an enclave of the Western Wind Clan. They are analogous to the Air Nomads---same sorts of skills. They tend to be a little more violent, however, acting more like the Fire Nation. The rest of the West is composed of the Water Republic, the Earth States, and the Fire Empire.

"Where I am from, people of the fire, water, and wind live in the same area---a trick of geography. Movement along the continent caused the Wind and Water people to immigrate to a group of islands originally settled by the Fire Empire. As a result, what is now known as the Water Isles has a mixture of all three groups. That said, the rest of the Fire Empire does not get along well with the Water Isles, and the Wind Clan in the far north ignores everyone else."

"Exposition much?" Toph snapped; she found the political information boring.

Hikaru blushed a bit. "Sorry. I got carried away. You probably wouldn't want to hear about international politics on the other side of the world." He reassured Toph, just in case she was afraid of a potential war: "Look, they are nowhere near able to come over here to start anything. There's too much risk involved, and I don't even want to think about the protests."

"You're a lot kinder than you seem," Katara mentioned, surprised by the way he was acting so friendly. She realized after a moment that what she said could be interpreted as somewhat of an insult and clarified, "I mean, you just seemed a little … cold."

Hikaru half-smiled. "I get that sometimes," he admitted. "Why are you asking after Li, anyhow? Aside from the reason that most young ladies ask after him?" he inquired.

Toph rolled her eyes as Katara answered nervously, "I just heard about this shop and Li and thought that maybe he was an old acquaintance. The descriptions I've heard sound a bit like him, although I must admit that I would have been surprised if Li is him."

"Whatever you say, Sugar Queen," Toph murmured under her breath.

Hikaru did not miss Toph's comment, but he pretended not to have and shrugged in response to Katara. "I doubt that this acquaintance of yours is working in this tea shop. Li and his uncle are refugees from the War-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, and aside from the owner, I'm the only other employee. I'm sorry." He paused then smiled wryly. "Then again, Li did hide in the back room the moment he saw the two of you walk in."

Toph raised an eyebrow. "Really? That is suspicious," she admitted before continuing nonchalantly yet pointedly, "Oh well. We were wrong. Time to pay and leave. Bill, please."

"Toph! Stop it," Katara scolded her. She turned back to Hikaru. "What do you mean, he hid in the back room?" Katara was almost afraid to know the answer. If she was right…

"I don't know why he did it. I assumed you were his ex-girlfriend or something," Hikaru answered, wondering what her reaction would be. However, at that, Toph snorted and attempted not to laugh. She failed, which caused Katara to elbow her. Toph glared in her general direction.

Katara sighed and finally gave in to her friend. Resignedly, she asked Hikaru how much was owed and paid the tab. The two young ladies were leaving as Hikaru cleared the table. As soon as they had exited the building, Li walked back into the main room. Hikaru suppressed a grin and walked past him into the back room to place the plates down.

A couple minutes later, Li stormed back into the kitchen, glaring pointedly at Hikaru, who had been occupied with doing the dishes. Hikaru pretended not to notice the teenager. After a little longer, he asked, "Well, your Royal Highness, what is it?" knowing full well what was the matter. After all, Hikaru had neglected to mention that Jin was there.

"Stop calling me that, and you damn well know why I'm standing here!" Li exclaimed. Hikaru put Li's current anger level at around a four---not yet very angry, but still seething.

"I told you that I would cover for you when those girls came in," Hikaru reminded him, deciding to leave off a title referring to the truly melodramatic teen. "You never said anything about your girlfriend." Li was about to protest when Hikaru continued, "Yes, you implied I was to warn you about her, but you never ordered me to." Oh what the hell. "Seriously, Mr. Prince of Everything, you need to work on your phrasing if you are going to make it anywhere in life."

"Would you stop with the nicknames? I am trying to yell at you here!" Li growled. Hikaru knew that he was really pushing it. He knew that the titles hit a sore spot and that if he even alluded to Li being incompetent, he would find himself in an argument that even he had a hard time believing. Recently, it only ended in a fistfight since both of them had bad tempers and more holes in their psychological armor than either was willing to admit. Li sighed exasperatedly and clarified, "Look, I know you think I'm just going to complain about Jin, but I'm angry about what you said to those two girls. You made it sound like I was the one they were looking for!"

"Whatever you say, Li," Hikaru replied disbelievingly. "I think that you are the one that they were looking for, despite what you say. After all, why else would you run and hide in the back room if it was just another foreigner instead of a blind Earth Kingdom girl and a Waterbender?" Li looked surprised at Hikaru, who continued, "Yes, I knew she was one. The real question is why would a Waterbender be searching for you, a lowly, unimportant refugee?"

"You lowly peasant!" Li snarled. "If you only knew---"

"Knew what, your Highnessness?" Hikaru demanded. "And what right do you have to call me a peasant, you selfish salaud? Or did you run out of things to call me? For God's sake, if I didn't know better I would say that you really were royalty! You arrogance certainly befits one! And with your temper, you sure aren't Earth Kingdom! And don't get me started on honor---"

Li went pale then looked more furious than ever. Hikaru still ranked the teenager's rage below a seven, which was the level of anger that clouded your actions. He had seen much worse, but this was in Li's upper limits. "You know nothing. Nothing!" Li said in a deadly calm, with barely veiled rage. "I may not be the most honorable person in the world, but I'm certainly more honorable than you! I know my place, and it would do you well to know yours!"

Hikaru scoffed and shook his head. "I know mine, but you act above this station, which makes people suspicious. Those two were looking for an enemy, not a friend, and the enemies of Water and Earth are those serving a group of aristocratic megalomaniacs," Hikaru replied.

Li narrowed his eyes. "You think I'm Fire Nation?" he demanded. "If I was, why would I be hiding in the one place that the Fire Nation has never overtaken? Why would I be hiding?"

Hikaru returned the glare. He could not deal with this right now. Hikaru could not stand the conflict; he was afraid of what he might do if Li pushed him over the edge. His expression softened. Hikaru had to apologize; Li certainly would not attempt to end the fight until they resorted to violence. Certainly not now, in this argument. "I shouldn't have said that. I know that you---you're not like that." Hikaru paused to collect his thoughts. "Just tone down the aloofness a bit, okay? I can only stand so much. We've both had a hard time this week, and I understand that. I know I'm running on a short fuse. Just answer me this: why did you come to work today?"

Li grimaced. "I was going to stay home, as you know. However, those two walked in as I was talking to Uncle about something important, and I'm not sorry you had to lie about it. They know who I am, and I really do not want to Dai Li after me and Uncle, all right?" he explained.

"I understand," Hikaru replied civilly. "The thought-police should be subverted."

"I still think you can be an intolerable pain. This changes nothing," Li said.

"You can loathe me, but I forgive you," Hikaru replied patiently. As the saying went, forgiving one's enemies annoys them so much, but Hikaru disliked carrying resentment even if he liked annoying people in that fashion. He also understood that Li was just trying to save face.

Li stared at him, puzzled. "If there is one thing that I do not understand about you whatsoever, it is that you have this incredible ability to calm yourself down," he said.

"Ah, you misunderstand," Hikaru corrected him. "What I can do is act. For instance, I may still be pissed off at you; it is just that you cannot tell." That was complete bull, but the comment would lighten the atmosphere, put them back on good terms.

Li snorted, incredulous. "Right. If you think that glaring is hiding your emotions, you need to look up acting in the dictionary," he, in turn, corrected Hikaru.

------

Later that night, Hikaru had finally got off work and was at the door of his apartment. If he knew his roommate, Macleod was already passed out on his futon, having forgotten to change out of his work clothes. He had probably also forgotten to eat dinner. Hikaru smiled slightly and unlocked the door. Macleod was not asleep but sitting at the table in the kitchen space drinking some of the local liquor. Hikaru set his jacket down on his futon and locked the door behind him. He walked over to the kitchen cabinet and took out a glass. After sitting down at the table with Macleod, he poured himself a drink, and then Hikaru waited.

"I saw her today," Macleod murmured, staring at the golden brown liquid in his glass. Hikaru waited for him to continue. His friend's melancholia was not something to be trifled with. "At least, I think it was her. She, she didn't recognize me, so I can't be sure, but she … I just can't believe that---" Macleod looked away, disheartened. "I was probably mistaken."

"Hey, don't doubt yourself. It might have been her," Hikaru said. He grimaced. Once Macleod got into one of these moods, he would not be what passed for normal for a while.

"Why would she come here?" Macleod wondered. "If she was looking for me, she would have looked at home, not here. Not this city. Not at this job."

Hikaru nodded in acknowledgement of his friend's case. Back home, the other young man had worked as a messenger, and back home was not the East. Macleod looked more like he was from the Fire Empire, with his bright blond hair and piercing cerulean eyes, but his name implied that the Water Isles was his home. "You never know. It could have been her," Hikaru mentioned calmly, sipping his drink. "Maybe she did recognize you but thought you didn't recognize her? She may have not said anything because she thought you had moved on."

"She knows I wouldn't. I can't," Macleod said, trying to reassure himself of the fact. He ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "I did try for Fanny, but I couldn't forget her, and Fanny always knew that my heart was someplace else." He covered his eyes with a hand.

"Don't beat yourself about it. You couldn't do anything," Hikaru reminded him. "I'm sure she forgave you. I can't imagine her not doing so."

Macleod smiled sadly. "No, I can't imagine her holding a grudge against me, either," he admitted. He let go of his glass and stood up, swaying on his feet a little. Macleod sat down on his futon and coughed violently. Hikaru made a mental note to ask him about the cough later. Macleod was terrible at taking care of himself; the last time he fell ill, it became pneumonia. After a couple minutes, Macleod had fallen asleep. Hikaru would suggest to him tomorrow that he ought to take a sick day. Macleod would run himself ragged if he was left to his own devices.

Hikaru stayed up drinking for a while, thinking about the events of the day. Li would have likely forgotten about the argument by the next, and Macleod would not likely remember the conversation Hikaru had just had with him. One thing did bother him, however. At about lunchtime, a young woman had come into the shop. There was nothing really abnormal about her, but Hikaru just could not shake the feeling that he had seen her before, which did not make any sense. He was probably just imagining things, but she had asked questions that, taken at face value, did not mean anything sinister. It just seemed like she was doing reconnaissance. Hikaru shook his head. No, he was imagining things---his old, on-the-run paranoia was acting up.

Hikaru cleaned up the kitchen area before finally turning in for the night.

------

Sokka was disinclined to believe Katara. He was very disinclined. No, it had nothing to do with the fact that she and Toph had went down to the lower levels of Ba Sing Se alone to check out some tea shop. No, it had to do with the fact that she had actually found something. Prince Zuko, to be precise. Sokka did not approve. At all. Therefore, he continued to sharpen his boomerang in a disgruntled fashion, muttering as he did so. Momo watched on sagely.

"Are you sure it was him?" Aang was asking the two girls. He was worried, but it was not about Zuko. Aang did not think that the banished prince would try anything. After all, his own people had a warrant out for his arrest. Two, if you counted the alter ego. Aang was really worried about what else could be going on in the city if they could not even notice the presence of Zuko. Specifically, the strangeness with the Dai Li. "Was General Iroh there, too?"

Toph nodded. "Yes, he was, Twinkletoes," she answered. "The prince was hiding in a closet. I think he thought we didn't notice him. Iroh didn't bother to move. I think he knew we weren't going to do anything. Oh, and Snoozles? The nice waiter thought that Zuko was Katara's ex-boyfriend. I liked that waiter, even if he was a little weird. I think he's an Ai---"

The words had taken Sokka a couple seconds to process, but he had processed them nonetheless. "What!" he shouted, cutting off Toph's sentence. "Zuko? Katara? I'll murder him!"

Katara sighed. "Don't hurt the waiter; he didn't know any better," she said patiently.

"I think he was referring to Zuko, Sugar Queen," Toph pointed out. "It's no use murdering Zuko, either, Snoozles. After all, he hid in a closet to remain unnoticed. I don't think he has any intentions towards your sister, despite what your depraved mind may come up with." Sokka sat back down and resumed his former activity, muttering on the same topic as before.

Aang nodded and agreed with Toph. "I think that Zuko and his uncle are here because they're trying to avoid the Fire Nation. If Zuko had any other plans, he would have followed Toph and Katara back here. It is obvious that he didn't, seeing as we haven't had any visitors tonight," Aang reasoned. He paused, furrowing his eyebrows. "Wait, Toph. What was it that you were about to say? About the waiter? Did you say Katara thought he looked Western?"

Katara answered for Toph, saying, "He couldn't be from the Earth Kingdom or the Water Tribe. I mean, his hair was too light for Water Kingdom, but he had blue eyes, so he couldn't be Earth Kingdom. I think he knows about Zuko but doesn't say anything. The waiter knew we were there for a reason other than a social one. He's rather perceptive."

"And an Airbender," Toph added before Katara could stop her. Aang's jaw dropped. Momo looked at Aang questioningly before scampering after a speck of dust on the floor. Sokka continued to mutter. He didn't like his sister talking about these boys. That he did not.

The reaction Aang had was different from the one that Katara would have thought. "He couldn't have been one," Aang said, a thoughtful look on his face. "The West never interferes with our half of the world. They trade for spices with the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom occasionally. Are you sure he couldn't be Water Tribe? Or maybe Earth Kingdom?"

Toph sighed exasperatedly. "I'm sure. He said he looked like he was 'Wind Clan' or something like that. Then he went into this really long monologue on politics," she said.

"Besides what he said," Katara started hesitantly, "he has golden brown hair and is as pale as a Firebender. His eyes may be blue, but there is no way that he is even part Water Tribe."

"That's pretty bizarre," Aang said half to himself. "They tend to keep to themselves."

"Who tends to keep to themselves, Twinkletoes?" Toph asked. "A little clarification?"

"The Wind Clan. All of the West, actually," Aang replied, thinking about it. "Huh. Well, there are black sheep in every group, I guess. I think I want to meet him, just to check up on the other half of the world. They've been pretty quiet in the past couple centuries. That said, silence does not necessarily mean that everything is okay."

"Anyway, what are we going to do about Zuko?" Sokka demanded, annoyed about how they were still talking about some waiter. "We can't just leave him alone! What if he's spying for the Fire Nation? I know you think he's just here to start over, but we can't be sure of that."

"We can't exactly tell the Dai Li, Sokka," Katara pointed out. "Even I wouldn't do that to Zuko. There is something very strange going on here, and I wouldn't subject anyone to that."

"Now you know why I hate Ba Sing Se," Toph piped in.

------

Zuko did not particularly care that it was almost midnight. He did want to go to sleep, if only to let oblivion take him so that he did not have to think about how close he and his uncle had come to being recognized that day. If they had been found out, the Avatar and his friends would have most likely turned them in to the Dai Li. Zuko would have rather been caught by his sister, which was seeming to be a likelihood in the next couple of days. His annoying coworker had mentioned the girl that had come in earlier in the day, and Zuko recognized the behavior to be typical of something Azula would orchestrate. He suspected that Mai or Ty Lee would probably come around the teashop in the coming week and hang around for a couple days. After a short pause, Azula would attempt to take over the city, and her first act would to have him executed or shipped back to the Fire Nation to be executed. It might be her second act if the Earth King was still around---his execution would be more important, after all.

Zuko took a break from thinking such morbid thoughts only to realize that he had been making himself a cup of tea. He stood there, staring at the cup and the teapot for a couple moments. "I'm becoming Uncle," he realized belatedly. He stared at the tea some more and then finished making it. After all, it would be a shame to let it go to waste.

------

It was very dark outside of the light cast by the campfire, and it must have been sometime after midnight. The stars and the half-moon were brightly shining. She watched Azula's reaction as she gave her report on the status of Ba Sing Se. She had not mentioned Azula's brother or uncle; no, that would be stupid with the Princess in her current state. Mai was boredly sharpening her throwing knives, and Ty Lee was trying to brighten up the mood a bit. The newcomer to the party wondered not for the first time how Azula had convinced the other two girls to join her. She did not have the right to speak, either, though. She was with them too.

"Is that all you have, Ahni?" Azula asked her once she had concluded her report.

Ahni was hesitant in answering, but did so to the best of her abilities. "No, there was something else, but I thought that it was not worth mentioning," she said. Azula motioned her to continue. Mai became interested, but Ahni decided that it was mostly because she had neglected to report that she had found Azula's relatives. The real information was of very little importance to her current company, but she answered anyway. "I ran into a former mark, a man that I was hired to kill by my previous employer, but it was a mission I did not complete, partially due to said employer's untimely death at the hands of his right hand man."

"Truly?" Azula asked. "Hm. That is an interesting development, but barely worth mentioning. Are you sure you did not run into Zuzu at all?"

"No, Princess, I did not see Prince Zuko," Ahni replied. She had found him, but he had apparently had a day off. Her old enemy had been very talkative, even if he did suspect her. Ahni knew that Azula did not trust her and also probably did not think very much of her espionage skills, despite the fact that Ahni had infiltrated Ba Sing Se, avoided the Dai Li, and found all the information she was searching for. The coup de grâce was that she did so without bothering to change out of the Fire Nation uniform in which she was dressed.

"Which of the Western cities are you from again?" Azula asked Ahni for the sixth time.

"I am from the Fire Empire city of Hinterwelt, your Highness," Ahni replied again. She had traveled to this area looking for new work and to get away from home and all of the feelings and memories attached to it. That was when she had met up with Azula. The first thing that Azula had decided was that Ahni had to dye her hair black, since her natural color stood out far too much. The second thing Azula did was to dub her Ahni, since Ahni's real name displeased the Fire Princess. Ahni did not particularly care. What was in a name, after all? Azula would still be Azula, even if she were called Aurora or Arwen. The mental image that came to mind after Ahni had that thought was very amusing. Azula would not have made a good Queen of Gondor, she decided. Ahni kept a straight face, knowing that Azula would not take kindly to that sort of thought, and she did not want to chance being attacked with blue lightning.

"I've heard of that city," Mai said yet again. "They are famous for their scientific advancements in the field of gunpowder. I heard that they are taking Fire Nation technology and modifying it to suit their needs. I heard that the Fire Empire might make an attempt for territory in some of the Earth States when the comet comes."

"They won't last past winter in the northern Earth States," Ahni mentioned. "It gets too cold. They will think that the war will be over by fall, so they won't bring winter coats. Then the cold will hit, and the Fire armies will have to retreat, even if Sozen's comet is on our side. You can't beat those winters. An attempt only ends in defeat." She paused. "What will happen when the Fire Nation takes over the East?" she asked Azula. "Will it set its sights on the other half of the world? Or will you be content with what you have?"

Azula laughed chillingly. "We have no use for the West," she replied haughtily. "You haven't even managed to build boats capable of traversing the open seas. Steam power is unheard of. We have been using coal for a hundred years. Your people discovered steam ten years ago. Why conquer people below us? Better to wait until they make a worthy adversary."

Ahni resented Azula's tone and the content of what the girl claimed. However, it was better that she stayed silent on the matter. "Of course, Princess," Ahni replied deferentially.

"What are we going to do with your brother, Azula?" Ty Lee asked. "If we find him, I mean," she added, recognizing her mistake after the fact. "I meant when," she hastily corrected.

"I will reason with him, try to make him see the light. If he still insists on siding with the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe peasants, I'll send him back for Father to deal with him accordingly," Azula responded, ignoring Ty Lee's slip up. "If he agrees to work with us, I'll have him find the Avatar for me. Then, after he completes that mission, I'll send him back to the Fire Nation and again have Father decide what to do. I'll, of course, take most of the credit for capturing the Avatar. I might speak on Zuzu's behalf, depending on how cooperative he is."

"You will make a fine Fire Lady some day, Princess," Ahni said, believing every word. From her days at court, she knew that only the most cold-blooded could make it to the top of the political heap and stay there. Hence why the old Republic had failed, and the Empire took all.

"You will leave tomorrow and go back to Ba Sing Se, this time with Mai accompanying you," Azula ordered Ahni and Mai. "You primary objective is to monitor Dai Li and other troop movements. The secondary objective is to find dear Zuzu and Uncle Iroh. If it does not compromise your other objectives, Ahni, you may complete that old mission of yours if you so choose. I would prefer you did not, but you may collect data on that as well."

Ahni nodded, knowing that Azula meant she should keep watch on her enemy so that he did not recognize her and thereby compromise the mission. Mai asked some logistical details about Azula's plans, current and future, before they all decided to get some sleep. Ahni did not look forward to the next day. She knew she could trust Mai with the knowledge about Zuko, but she would rather avoid the teashop altogether. She would rather avoid the man, that specter of the past, but she knew that they both hated blue lightning. So follow Azula's orders she would.