Lynne swept into the entrance hall. She loved the slight rustle of her gray and blue kimono as she crossed the room. She smiled at those she knew, and nodded at those she had only heard of.

"Lynne!" called one of her friends. She made her way over, and fluttered her fan in front of her face.

"What do you think?" she asked.

Her friend sighed. "Why do you insist on covering up your tattoos? They're so beautiful!" Lynne instinctively tugged her sleeves lower until only the tips of her airbending arrows showed.

"So what's the latest gossip?" Lynne asked.

Her friend sighed again. Lynne stifled a giggle. She liked to be melodramatic, wearing black all the time and such. She might not be a bender herself, but the two were great friends.

"The Bei Fong boy is taken," she told Lynne, "he finally got engaged."

"To who?" Lynne asked, genuinely surprised.

"I never met her before," but she subtly pointed her out amongst the crowd. She went through the entire list of gossip and rumors, before she finally remembered a real nugget. "Oh, here's something that should interest you," she said. "The Avatar is coming. And don't even start with your 'I'm related to the great Avatar Aang' spiel."

"Here?" Lynne asked, still stuck on the previous sentence. "Tonight?"

Her friend laughed. "Of course, tonight. He's been making his rounds. Now he's at Ba Sing Se. Oh no!" She was staring across the room. "Ugh! The old wolfbats will not leave me alone! I have to go," she said, "but I'll talk to you later." And she went over to where a crowd of older women were discussing who should marry who. It seemed Lynne's friend was their main subject.

Lynne self-consciously tugged her sleeves again, and wandered off to visit her other friends.

--one hour later—

Kyzu was waiting outside. And he was getting impatient.

"For the last time," the guard said. "No invitation. No entry."

"But I. Am. The. Avatar," he explained yet again. What did he have to do, call on the power of his thousands of past lives to prove it?

"Yes, but if you don't have an invitation –"

"Avatar Kyzu!" called a voice from the great doorway. The guard spun around, then quickly bowed. The Earth King stepped out into the street. "It is good to see you again," he said, giving his own, though more shallow, bow to Kyzu.

"Your Majesty," Kyzu said, inclining his head.

"Come in, I'm sure you are hungry after your travels." He waved the guard back to his duties and led Kyzu into the ballroom. "I apologize. But I cannot fault him for taking his job so seriously."

"I accept your apology, Your Majesty," said Kyzu. "I am just glad to be out of the cold." They both laughed. The mild weather of Ba Sing Se was hardly a problem for a born firebender.

"I would love to talk with you, Avatar Kyzu, but I must attend to my other guests, or they'll feel neglected. Good night."

"Good night, Your Majesty." The Earth King began his rounds, and Kyzu surveyed the ballroom. He attracted the gaze of most of its members, but he merely smiled and headed for the banquet table. He wasn't comfortable with his red robes, they were too bright for his taste, but he felt everyone should remember his nation of birth.

He shook his head slightly and poured himself a drink. When he turned around again, his eyes were instantly caught by a young lady in a blue and gray kimono, only a few feet away. She was fluttering her fan in front of her face, so he could only see her light gray eyes. Tendrils of her hair had come loose, and curled across her shoulder, as if they had been placed there on purpose. What gave him a start was the blue arrow tattoos on her arm where the sleeve had slipped down, but she quickly tugged them into place.

He had never seen her before in his life. But he knew her.