Lisa paused walking to wipe the sweat off her brow. She was getting tired of walking; her and her little group had been walking for nearly 3 hours now. There was still more walking before they arrived home. She looked ahead to where Firelord Zuko stood, lifting his daughter Yuan upon his shoulders. She looked to her side to see Firelady Bo Bae carrying the baby, Azula, in the baby wrap and her older daughter Ahaja holding her hand.
"How much further until we get there?"
"Maybe another 20 minutes." Bo Bae answered, being the only one besides Lisa who spoke English. Bo Bae told Zuko what she'd told Lisa when he gave her a questioning look. They walked on, enjoying the nature and the soft songs eight-year old Ahaja was singing. From time to time two-year old Yuan would talk to her dad as she rode on his shoulders. Lisa looked back to the three-month old Azula to see she was sleeping peacefully. At least someone is enjoying this trip, Lisa thought.
Before long Lisa spotted the grand gates that surrounded Ba Sing Se, the small town she was to now live in with her friends. She glanced up to see the flag poles on either side of the gate proudly displaying the flags of the people who lived within the gates. Zuko called out to the guard at the gate, and the gate was opened for them. He placed Yuan on the ground and she and her older sister Ahaja ran up the path towards the main part of town several yards ahead.
Near the gate, Lisa noticed several acres of farms. The farms grew things from apple trees to wheat to some things Lisa couldn't identify. Between the farms and the gates Lisa spotted the watch dogs. Several Rottweiler dogs stood guard. They walked up until the once small looking buildings were now bigger. She spotted the two little girls talking with some other kids from the town, telling about their journey into the city.
The first set of homes had a blue tone to them with rounded edges to have a soft look to them. A small "bridge" ran from the door of the home to the road so they could cross over the canal of water that ran in front of the homes. There were a few smaller homes, then a much larger one, which Lisa guessed held the Water Chief and his partner. She was led to one of the smaller ones, across the road from the large home.
"This will be where you'll stay. You'll be safe here across from the Water Palace." Bo Bae told her. She dropped her stuff off inside before following Bo Bae for the rest of the tour of Ba Sing Se. When she came out of her little house, she saw Firelady Bo Bae talking to who she guessed to be Water Chief Yoo Chun. He was dressed in the traditional blue of the Water Tribe. She respectfully bowed before introducing herself.
"Nice to have you here, before you finish your tour let me show you around the Water Tribe." He led her into a small courtyard surrounded by blue walls with wave patterns on it. She noted this courtyard was about in the middle of the Water Tribe. Once walking in, she noticed several others all dressed in the same blue clothing as the Water Chief.
"This here is Sakura and her husband Ryu, and their three children Kimiko, Megumi and Jeong." Yoo Chun said, indicating the family dressed in coordinating blue outfits. She followed him around to another area in the courtyard.
"This is Jun Su, my partner." Yoo Chun said, putting his arm around the slightly shorter male. Lisa noticed that Jun Su's clothes nearly matched Yoo Chun's, so she assumed he was a sort of, Assistant Chief. She bowed before him out of respect. Another man approached.
"Chief Yoo Chun I…" he paused when he noticed Lisa standing there.
"Lisa, this is Dong Yul." Yoo Chun told her while giving Dong Yul a pat on the shoulder. Dong Yul smiled at Lisa. She hid a blush, he was cute. She especially liked his clothes. Though they were blue, they were unique from the rest. Lisa looked around and noticed that she had already met everyone here.
"Is this everyone from the Water Tribe?"
"Well yes, we're a small group." Yoo Chun said. "Well I suppose I should let Firelady Bo Bae get you back on your tour of Ba Sing Se now." He nudged her toward Bo Bae as he and Jun Su walked off toward the Water Palace. As she walked toward the Firelady, she noticed the grin she wore.
"You like him, don't you?" Bo Bae said, indicating Dong Yul. Lisa blushed this time. Bo Bae laughed and led her out of the courtyard back to the main road that went through town. Just outside the courtyard Lisa noticed a chicken coop. A bit beyond the chicken coop the buildings changed appearance. They went from rounded corners and blue tones, to orange, brown and yellows with pointed corners in a temple style.
"This is the Air Nomad's land." Bo Bae told her. "Mostly this is my step siblings." Lisa looked in at the homes, all of which were off the main road. There young and old children played in a central courtyard. The children wore yellow and brown toned clothing. Some waved as the duo walked by. Lisa waved back. Around the next corner the homes took on a green tone.
"This is the Earth Kingdom." This too was off the main road. There was several smaller homes and one larger one, the Earth Palace.
"Most of those smaller homes are the other children here. The large one is the Earth Palace which is the only palace here that has two families living in it." They walked to the courtyard off the side of the Earth Palace. The courtyard was walled off by green and brown toned walls. Inside the courtyard, the Earth King greeted them.
"Hello, I'm Chang Min, the Earth King." Lisa bowed to him. "This is Je Hoon, the Earth Queen." Lisa bowed to her as well. The Earth Kingdom people wore mostly green colored clothing. She noticed off to one side sat two other guys. Lisa followed Bo Bae to them. Bo Bae greeted the both of them, and then turned to Lisa.
"This is Yun Ho, Governor of the Earth Kingdom, and his partner Jae Joong." Lisa noticed that, Yun Ho wore the green of the Earth Kingdom, but Jae Joong wore the reds of the Fire Nation.
"Why does Jae Joong wear different clothes?"
"Jae Joong isn't from the Earth Kingdom; he is like me, from the Fire Nation. But he is with Yun Ho, who is from the Earth Kingdom." Bo Bae explained. Two little girls approached Yun Ho and Jae Joong. One girl wore the green clothes, the other the red clothes.
"These two are Chung Cha," Bo Bae said, pointed to the girl in green, "and Ae Cha." Bo Bae said as she pointed to the girl in red. "They are twins. They are Yun Ho and Jae Joong's children." Four other children then walked up to them, all wearing green.
"These are, Dae Hee, Dae Jung, Dae Ho and Dae Cha. They are the children of Earth King Chang Min and Earth Queen Je Hoon." Yun Ho told her. Lisa smiled at them. Bo Bae led her out of the courtyard and back to the main road.
Just ahead, Lisa saw the biggest home in all of Ba Sing Se. The bright pagoda styled home loomed high above the rest. It was the currently the only Fire Nation home, but there was room in the surrounding area for smaller ones should the need come. Around it was a very large courtyard lined with a red and brown walkway. There was a slightly smaller courtyard in front of the Fire Palace with private gates. Bo Bae led them into the larger courtyard, which was filled with tables.
"In here is where we eat our meals together." Lisa admired the tables. All were very finely polished with red and brown colors. All the chairs were cushioned. The tables sat at one end of the courtyard, and a small stage sat at the other end. The two walked out of the courtyard, and crossed the road again.
"This is the training arena." The training arena sat across from the Fire Palace, and next to the Earth Palace. This too was surrounded with a walkway. Inside was stadium seating with a large open area in the middle.
"Can I go into the Fire Palace?"
"Normally, no, you can only come in when called for. But since I'm here, I'll let you in this time." Bo Bae led her across the street and through the gates. The gates had a unique design of tongues of fire on them. Lisa looked around, in the center was a fountain, along the sides was trees, flowers, and on one side a small pond with ducks in it. This was certainly the nicest place she'd seen so far. She looked head to the tall building in front of her. She noted there were at least three floors to this home.
"Are you coming?" Bo Bae called. Lisa noticed she was already up most of the steps to the home. She caught up to her and went inside. Most of the first floor was set aside for the throne room. Opposite the door sat two chairs surrounded by a trough of fire. A door to the left, near a set of stairs, read 'Kitchen'.
"There to the right," Bo Bae pointed, "Lives Ursa, Firelord Zuko's mother." Bo Bae led her up the first set of stairs, to the second floor. Lisa noticed that you could still see down to the thrones from this floor. Looking down the hall, she saw only a few doors.
"Mostly here is the children's floor. Zuko and I live upstairs on the third floor. But that level is restricted, you don't get to go up there." Bo Bae then led her back down the stairs, and out of the Fire Palace.
"The servant at the gate will lead you back to your home, when the gong sounds it is dinner time, don't be late." Bo Bae said, before closing the door. Lisa shrugged and walked down to the servant, who with a bow, started off toward her home in the direction they'd come.