Creation began on 12-27-09

Creation ended on 12-31-09

Avatar: The Last Airbender

The Princess and the Walls of Secrets

A/N: Memories and current opinions generated by the characters, especially the only good princess of the whole series.

Yue had seen many remarkable things on her way to Ba Sing Se with the others within the Earth Kingdom, but to her, especially today, nothing had been more remarkable than the birth of a new baby. Only a few moments after Aang had left them, expressing his emotions once more, the expectant mother, Ying, had gone into labor. Katara, who had some experience in handling deliveries, helped deliver the baby, and had asked her to help, even when she confessed that she'd never done anything like this. It was like a life-changing lesson for the princess. Ying had named the baby, which had been a girl, Hope, after her great-grandmother. She almost felt envy toward Hope, who'd been born without complications, unlike herself in the past, but accepted that life was different for everyone, and refused to take unnecessary or unneeded anger out on an innocent life. Sure, her hair was still white, a side-effect of Tui imparting her with its life, but she was alive, and for her, it was acceptable. Even Sokka told her that he liked her hair.

Then, nearly an hour later, Aang had returned, revealing that he had seen a giant drill heading to the Outer Wall. She had to see it along with the others when they got out of the ferry station their boat dropped them off at. Toph and Aang used their Earthbending to raise a piece of the ground they stood on up the wall, and the princess saw the drill, sending a jolt of fear into her heart.

"Fire Nation," she had heard Sokka gasp.

"We finally made it to Ba Sing Se, and we're still not safe," she heard Ying, "no one is."

"They haven't touched the wall yet," she told them, "so, we still have time to stop them."

"Hey, there's nobody allowed up here on the Outer Wall. Who are you?" They heard the voice of General Sung, who, to Yue, seemed more experienced in war battles due to his age…or just defensive.

After escorting the family to the Ba Sing Se Monorail station, Yue returned to the Outer Wall's top and saw General Sung ordering his soldiers to continue dropping their large rocks at the drill, which had already penetrated the wall.

Sokka, Aang, Katara, Toph, I hope you guys are alright, she prayed, and looked down at the massive drill, gasping at the sight of Aang, who was fighting the girl that used blue flames against her enemies, Azula, the Fire Nation Princess and daughter of Fire Lord Ozai. "Aang!"

By use of Earthbending, Aang had gathered the rocks around his right arm and pushed Azula away, allowing him to finish Sokka's plan to take out the drill. The end result was…quite muddy. Even she got hit with mud, though it was only a minute amount and it only got on her legs. The Fire Nation had lost again in their attempt to take the rest of the Earth Kingdom by taking its capital city, being reminded by Toph that there used to be a siege that lasted almost six-hundred days that was made by a Firebender referred to as the Dragon of the West, later discovered to be none other than Iroh of the Fire Nation himself over three years ago.

Now that they were all on a train heading for the Inner Wall, they would be able to find Appa without much distraction. This allowed Yue and Sokka to relax a bit as they sat together.

"Sokka, I think you got taller since the drill incident," she told him.

"Really?" He asked her, and she giggled. He had then realized that she had tried to make a joke.

"Look, there's the Inner Wall!" Katara informed them, and Yue looked at it. "We've finally made it to Ba Sing Se."

The Inner Wall looked different than the Outer Wall: It seemed smaller and less-protected than the Outer Wall…and cleaner, as well. When Yue looked over at Aang, she saw the look of depression on his face.

"Don't worry, Aang," she tried to cheer him up. "We'll find Appa."

"But it's such a big city," he told her.

"He's a giant bison," went Sokka, "where could anyone possibly hide him?"

They then entered the wall and exited out into the sight of the city…and saw the magnificent sight of its hugeness!

"Oh." Sokka sighed, apparently having his belief of finding Appa easily shot down by the size of Ba Sing Se, so Yue held his hand to cheer him up.

When their train reached the station and they got off, Toph expressed her dislike of the city.

"Back in the city again," she uttered. "Great."

"What could be so wrong about being here?" Yue asked her, unable to be completely mesmerized until she knew what it was about Ba Sing Se that bothered the blind Earthbender. "I mean, it looks fantastic and beautiful, like it could've been a place that was sought out for thousands of years by thousands of people before our time."

"It's just a city with a bunch of walls and rules, Yue," she told her. "Just wait. You'll get sick of it in a few days."

As the train departed with the Earthbenders in charge of running it, Yue noticed a woman on the other side of the tracks…with a friendly smile that, to her, seemed disturbing. She was wearing a long, light-green robe with a small, dark-green scarf around her neck and her hair supported by a strange, ornament that didn't seem to do so much except to act as an accessory for her.

"Hello, my name is Joo Dee," she greeted them as she approached them. "I have been given the great honor of showing the Avatar around Ba Sing Se. And you must Sokka and Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe, and Toph Bei Fong of Gaoling. Welcome to our wonderful city. Shall we get started?"

"Uh, no thanks," said Yue to her. "We're just here to find someone, and then we'll be on our way."

"Great, let's begin our tour. And then I'll show you to your new home here. I think you'll like it." She had responded, turning to lead them away from the station toward a carriage.

Sokka, feeling as though Yue had been shot down or offended, walked up in front of Joo Dee and uttered, "Maybe you missed it. We just need to find someone here, and then leave. We're trying to end a war before everyone gets into serious trouble here."

"You're in Ba Sing Se now. Everyone is safe here." She told him, and resumed leading them toward the carriage that was waiting.

Everyone looked at one another and each had confused expressions, but decided to at least take a look around the city. One of the reasons being was that Aang, Katara, Sokka and Yue hadn't seen inside the walls before, and another being that, while their primary concern was locating Appa and getting him back, they needed to request help from the Earth King, the very ruler of the whole Earth Kingdom. If they obtained his help, they could have a chance at stopping the Fire Nation before the arrival of Sozin's Comet, which would grant the Firebenders greater power to end the war in their favor. Yue had been told of this by Aang, whom had been informed by Avatar Roku, the Avatar before himself, during the Winter Solstice before they came to the Northern Water Tribe to learn Waterbending.

As their tour progressed, the princess saw their setting in the back had changed to something she wasn't too familiar with, but had seen enough of to know that it was filled with dread: Lots of people, dressed in clothes with stitches, rips, and covered in dirt were around the streets of the part of the city they were touring in, with a large wall that seemed to block off much the area.

"This is the Lower Ring," she heard Joo Dee say to them.

"What's that wall for?" She heard Katara ask her.

"Oh, Ba Sing Se has many walls. There are the ones outside protecting us, and the ones inside to help maintain order." Joo Dee explained. "This is where our newest arrivals live, as well as our craftsman and artisans, people that work with their hands. It's so quaint and lively."

Yue then pulled away from the sight of two refugees looking at them, afraid of the one holding a large sword that glistened their way, and held onto Sokka's arm.

"You do want to watch your step, though," informed Joo Dee.

"But…why do all of the poor people have to be blocked off in just one part of the city?" She asked her. "It…just doesn't seem right."

"This is why I never came here before," they heard Aang reveal. "I've always heard it was so different from the way the monks taught us to live."

Yue once again looked out at the people of the Lower Ring, praying that Than, his sister, his wife, Ying, and his newborn daughter, Hope, were alright, suspecting that they would be sent here, as well, being refugees of the war. Sad to say, she missed them right now.

The carriage then carried them away from the Lower Ring…and toward a scenery that was much cleaner and prettier than what they had seen before, with more trees and fewer people walking around, wearing better-looking clothes that held no speck of dirt on them whatsoever.

"This is the Middle Ring," said Joo Dee, explaining more of the city's locations, "home to the financial district, shops and restaurants, and the university."

Yue was then reminded of Professor Zei of the Ba Sing Se University, but none of them spoke up about him or what they had found out while in the desert to Joo Dee, who was still smiling that smile of hers, which really disturbed her. Until she uttered, "Does the university have any history on the Water Tribes or Air Nomads?"

"Possibly. Isn't history fascinating? Look, here's one of the oldest buildings of the Middle Ring, Town Hall." The carriage had stopped and the woman got off and walked away.

"It felt like she was only listening to every other word I said," Yue told the others.

"It's called being handled," Toph revealed. "Get used to it."

They got off the carriage and looked around the Middle Ring a bit, Yue seeing that it did have a lot of things to amuse or occupy oneself for some time. Seeing that even some people wandering around were drinking cups of tea and looking quite pleased with how their day was progressing. But, somehow, the princess wasn't completely impressed by their expressions and how they spoke of things. It was like, to them, there was nothing wrong at all, and that such a war, like the one they were in, didn't exist.

"Yue?" Sokka asked her. "Are you okay?"

"Maybe I should sit down back in the carriage," she suggested to him, feeling weak in her knees now.

He helped her back to the carriage and stayed with her until they were moving again, this time toward their final destination of the tour. They saw very few buildings and many trees and flowers, as though it were a perpetual dreamland or something.

"This is the Upper Ring, home to our most important citizens. Your house is not too far from here." Joo Dee explained, as their carriage was passing a large wall that was guarded by several men in dark robes that possessed dark expressions on their faces.

"What's inside that wall?" Katara asked.

"And who are the mean-looking guys in robes?" Sokka added.

"Inside is the Royal Palace. Those men are agents of the Dai Li, the cultural authority of Ba Sing Se. They are the guardians of all our traditions." Joo Dee answered.

"Can we see the King now?" Aang asked her.

"Oh, no! One doesn't just pop in on the Earth King."

At that moment, Yue wanted to speak out against this subtle refusal of just wanting to see the Earth King, but decided against it, still disturbed by the woman's smile, and stayed quiet for the duration of the tour until they reached their house. She still didn't feel so well, like she had a stomachache now, but tried to ignore it, pretending that she was fine. When they arrived at their house, she noticed that it was definitely larger than she had expected it would be, like a tiny version of the Earth Kingdom Royal Palace, and it was very beautiful.

Wow, she thought, taking a step on the stone steps. It's…almost too nice.

"Here we are. Your new home," she turned to Joo Dee, who had just received a scroll from a messenger that came and went. "More good news. Your request for an audience with the Earth King is being processed, and should be put through in about a month. Much more quickly than usual."

The princess' eyes widened while Sokka, completely stunned, repeated, "A month?!"

"Six to eight weeks, actually."

-x-

It's too nice, thought Yue, looking around the interior of their home as she sat down on a square mat. Way too nice.

"Isn't it nice?" Joo Dee asked them. "I think you will really enjoy it here."

"I think we'd enjoy it more if we weren't staying so long," said Sokka to her. "Can't we see the King any sooner?"

"The Earth King is very busy running the finest city in the world, but he will see you as soon as time permits," responded Joo Dee to him, while Yue paid close attention to the tone of her voice, believing it to be just as disturbing as her smile was to her.

"If we're going to be here for a month, we should spend our time looking for Appa," Aang told them, to which Momo perked up and flew over to his left shoulder.

"I'll be happy to escort you anywhere you would like to go," went Joo Dee, bowing her head to them.

"We don't need a babysitter," uttered Toph to her, as she walked toward the door.

"Oh, I won't get in the way," she replied, getting in her way, "and to leave you alone would make me a bad host. When shall we start?"

It wasn't until half an hour later that they were outside again, searching for their bison by asking various people for information. One of them was a pet shop owner tending to a few birds.

"I'm sorry, but I haven't heard anything about a Flying Bison. I didn't even know there were any." He told them, while Yue looked around the shop at the animals, but keeping a close eye on Joo Dee.

"If someone wanted to sell a stolen animal without anyone knowing, where would they go?" Aang asked him.

"Where's the black market? Who runs it? Come on, you know!" Sokka demanded, agitated and pointing an accusing finger at the guy.

When Yue turned to face away from them to examine a Cat Owl and then back again, she noticed that Joo Dee had moved her head, but since she had taken her eyes off her, she couldn't tell what she had just done.

"Uh, that would be illegal. You'll have to leave now. Your lemur is harassing my sparrowkeets." The man told them, pointing to Momo, who was trying to keep the birds away while grabbing as much bird feed as he could into his mouth.

They left and tried to speak with somebody from the Ba Sing Se University, hoping to get any amount of information from them.

"Hmm, I've never seen any Sandbenders or nomads around here," answered a student to their questions. "You should ask Professor Zei. He teaches the class on desert cultures."

"I'm sorry, sir, but we don't have that option, anymore," said Yue to him. "But is there a professor around here that we could talk to about what's happening outside the walls of Ba Sing Se that involves the Fire Nation?"

The princess then looked at Joo Dee, not taking her eyes off her, and watched her shake her head with that smile of hers.

I knew it, she thought, realizing why the others they spoke to either didn't give them any information concerning their missing bison or left them with unanswered questions.

"Uh, I don't know. I'm not a political science student. I have to get to class." The student told them, and left in a hurry.

"Sokka," went Yue, dragging Sokka away by his right arm and away from Joo Dee's presence. "Sokka, we should all head back to the house now…and away from that woman."

"But we haven't gotten any leads yet," he tried to reason with her.

"We won't get any as long as we're with her. I just saw her shake her head when we asked the student about what's going on outside Ba Sing Se, and he left without telling us a thing. That probably explains why everyone else we asked about Appa wouldn't tell us anything: It was because she was with us, watching us, listening to see if we would ask about what we wanted to know. I don't think Joo Dee can be trusted around us as long as we're here. We have to get away from her."

Sokka looked over at Joo Dee, and took his girlfriend's word for it that this tour guide couldn't be trusted with them.

"Okay," he agreed with her. "Let's go home."

-x-

"Well, I'm sorry no one has seen your bison," Joo Dee apologized to the group as they stood on the steps of their home. "Why don't you get some rest? Someone will be over with dinner later."

As the carriage rode off, Yue was pleased that she was just gone.

I never thought I'd be happy to see her leave, she thought, and then looked at Sokka, who knew what to tell the others.

"Everybody, Yue suspected that the reason we couldn't find out anything was because of Joo Dee," he told them.

"What? How could she be the reason?" Katara asked her.

"I saw her shaking her head when we asked that student about the Fire Nation," she confessed to her. "Every time we tried to find out something important, she would always shake her head and smile. It's like she doesn't want us to know anything."

Then, they turned to the house across the street from theirs, seeing a man hiding behind a door.

"Might as well test our luck now that she's gone," said Sokka, and they walked over to the door and knocked. "Hello?"

The man opened up and greeted them.

"You're the Avatar and Northern Water Tribe Princess," he greeted. "I heard you were in town. I'm Pong. How are you?"

"Nice to meet you, Pong," responded Aang in a friendly tone.

"Pong, do you think you could tell us why everybody here never wants to talk about anything serious outside the walls?" Yue asked him.

"Yeah, like why they don't want to talk about the war with the Fire Nation." Sokka added.

"War? What are you talking about?" Pong asked, sounding nervous.

"I can feel you shaking," went Toph to him.

"Look, I'm just a minor government official. I've waited three years to get this house. I don't want to get into trouble." Pong told them, and then looked left and right, as if on the lookout for someone.

"Get into trouble with who?" Katara asked him.

"Shh. Listen, you can't mention the war here, and whatever you do, stay away from the Dai Li." He told them, and then closed his door on their faces.

"I had already made the choice of not talking to the Dai Li," said Yue, taking the expressions on the faces of the Dai Li agents they had seen earlier as an excuse to keep her distance from them.

All they could do now was go home and wait for dinner to be brought over to them, reminded that they hadn't eaten anything since breakfast on the ferry to the Outer Wall.

-x-

The next morning, Yue and Katara were the first ones to step out of their house, stretching their arms up and yawning after a long and good rest. Yue felt much better after sleeping from the events of yesterday, like she was a whole new person. She then noticed a roll of papers on a slot attached to one of the vertical supports of the house and grabbed it to see what was going on in the city today.

"Katara, look at this," she told the young Waterbending Master, showing her the news of the day.

"No way," she gasped. "Yue, this is perfect!"

They went back inside and found the others lounging around the upper part of the living room.

"We got it! We know how we're going to see the Earth King!" Katara told them.

"How are we supposed to do that? Joo Dee says that one doesn't just pop in on the Earth King." Toph tells them.

"It says here that the King is hosting a party at the palace tonight for his pet bear," reveals Yue to them.

"You mean Platypus Bear?" Aang asked them.

"No…it just says 'bear'," Katara explained.

"Certainly, you mean his pet Skunk Bear," went Sokka.

"Or his Armadillo Bear," added Toph.

"Gopher Bear?" Aang tried again.

"Just…bear," Yue told them again.

"This place…is weird," sighed Toph.

"The palace will be packed with people. We can sneak in with the crowd." Katara revealed the idea.

"That won't work," she told the Waterbender.

"Why not?" Yue asked the Earthbender.

"Well, no offense to the simple country folk, but a real society crowd would spot you from a mile away. You've got no manners." She explained to them, which offended them.

"We do, too, have manners, Toph," Yue told her. "You haven't displayed any manners since the day we met you in Gaoling."

"Yeah, and you're not exactly Lady Fancy Fingers," Katara added in, only to hear Toph burp afterward.

"I learned proper society behavior and chose to leave it," she explained, tossing a pastry that she was eating away. "You never learned anything. And, frankly, it's a little too late."

"But if you learned it, you could teach us," suggested Sokka to her.

"Yeah, I'm mastering every element," added Aang, "how hard can manners be?"

"Not too hard when used properly," Yue told him, trying to demonstrate manners. "Good evening, Mr. Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe, Ms. Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, and Avatar Aang and Sir Momo of the Southern Air Temple. Your excellencies. Shall I lead you to your dinner table and guests this evening?"

"Why, thank you, Princess Yue of the Northern Water Tribe," went Sokka, getting in on the demonstration. "It would be an honor if you were to dine with us, as well."

"Why, thank you, sir," she told him, offering her right hand to him, which he accepted.

"Hmm… Yue seems well enough. Katara may be able pull it off, but you two could probably be lucky enough to pass as busboys." Toph told Sokka and Aang.

"Aw, but I feel so fancy," sighed Sokka, letting go of Yue's hand, then.

Later in the evening, when the lights were on and the sun was down, Aang and Sokka were waiting for the girls to instigate the first part of the plan to infiltrate the party and speak with the Earth King.

"Earth!" Aang shouted, holding out a balled fist.

"Fire!" Sokka shouted, wiggling the fingers of his own hand. "Aw!"

He had lost to Aang again in their element game. Then, the doors behind them open up and revealed the girls in their exquisite Earth Kingdom dresses, with Yue's bearing a light-green shawl that was almost identical to the one that Aang always wore, except that it was longer and had gold trimmings, covering up much of the upper portion of her dress, which matched that of Katara's, with her current hairstyle being the same, but with green beads to replace the blue ones for her hair loopies. They held out fans to hide the lower halves of their faces, which also had make-up on them, staring at them calmly…before surrendering to a series of giggles.

"Wow…you're so beautiful," praised Aang and Sokka to Katara and Yue, respectively.

They were about to respond with words of appreciation, but Toph stopped them.

"Don't talk to commoners, ladies. First rule of society." She told them, and then they walked away.

"When we get in, we'll find a way to get you in through the side gate," said Yue to them as they left.

-x-

When Katara said that the palace would be packed, Yue didn't expect the line to be long…or the people attending the party to be so…fancy and showing their wealthy nature constantly. It was nothing like what she was familiar with back home at the North Pole. Luckily, the guard allowed them to enter the palace with Toph's family seal, so there was no trouble. All that was needed now was to locate the side gate and let Aang and Sokka in.

"Toph, can you see the side gate around here?" Katara asked.

"Yeah, it's that way," she answered, but Yue prevented them from going near the gate when she saw a familiar face.

"It's Joo Dee!" She told them pointing over to their so-called tour guide, speaking with somebody.

"What is she doing here?" Katara wondered, and the three disappeared into the crowd of people, having to wait until Joo Dee was away.

Meanwhile, on the outside of the palace, Aang and Sokka were waiting outside…until Sokka felt that something was wrong inside.

"We need to find a different way into the palace," he told Aang.

"We could go in with them," he suggested, pointing to a bunch of men in short robes carrying food inside. "Toph said we might pass as busboys."

"That'll do," he reasoned, and they got to it.

Back inside, Yue felt like she needed something for her heart, which was beating too hard for her to breathe normally.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" A woman asked her.

"Oh, yes," she told her. "Must be all of the excitement from being here."

While Katara had gone to see if Joo Dee was gone, the princess was left with Toph, whom was with her standing by a wall.

"Well, everybody wanted to see the bear belonging to the Earth King," the lady said to them. "I'm Luok, by the way."

"I'm Jasmine…and this is…Okusama (Madam)," Yue responded, having disapproved of the original alias that Katara thought of for Toph, being called Dung, which, to her, sounded more like Dumb, and decided upon a proper name, since Toph was like a princess back home in Gaoling when they met her at her home, dressed in her pretty robes.

When Katara came back, she was with Aang and Sokka, who were dressed as busboys, and Yue felt better now that Sokka was near.

"May I offer you anything, young ladies?" Sokka asked, sounding like a perfect gentleman.

"Why, thank you," she answered, accepting a crab puff from the tray he was holding.

"I told them about Joo Dee when they came," Katara explained. "We can't find her now."

Yue turned her head away and saw Joo Dee, and she was coming their way!

"Trouble!" She gasped, but it was too late.

"What are you doing here?" She asked them when she got close. "You have to leave immediately, or we'll all be in terrible trouble."

"Not until we see the King," Sokka defended their cause for coming here.

"You don't understand. You must go."

Some sort of violent spirit must've possessed Yue, for she just pulled Sokka away from Joo Dee, who was trying to shove him to move, and in the process, caused Aang to spill a pitcher's contents onto another guest.

"Aaahh!" She gasped.

"I'm sorry," he apologized to her, and used Airbending to dry her off, but unintentionally left her a mess. "Oops."

"Oh, the Avatar!" She said in amazement. "Oh, I didn't realize the Avatar would be here."

Soon, all eyes were on Aang, as he'd been unintentionally exposed by his Airbending, showing his arrow tattoos to the general audience…and Joo Dee's smile changed to an expression of pure dread, as though what she had tried to prevent had proven inevitable entirely.

"Oh, no, what have I done?" Yue asked, but Sokka intervened.

"Aang, keep their attention on you," he whispered to the Air Nomad. "We'll keep looking for the Earth King while you entertain them."

"Watch this, everybody!" Aang went, and jumped out of his busboy disguise and onto a table, Waterbending everyone's beverage out of their cups and balancing atop a pitcher as he made a giant, multicolored ball.

"Ooh," they were all mesmerized by his display of bending used to entertain them, and Yue felt better allover again.

"Let's go, Yue," Sokka told the princess, and she followed him, Joo Dee banished from their current train of thoughts completely.

"Sokka, we don't know who the Earth King looks like," she reminded him.

"He should be the royal type: Flowing robes, fancy jewelry, has a luxurious lifestyle," he described him to her, but as she looked around, every man fit his description of the Earth King.

"But that could be any one of them," she told him, but then noticed a large palanquin draped with curtains that cloaked a man sitting inside it. "Okay, that's definitely him. The Earth King."

"Aang, the Earth King!" Sokka told Aang, whom got the message, and ceased his Waterbending and created his Air Scooter to meet the King.

Sokka and Yue attempted to do the same, but were then captured by…agents of the Dai Li.

"Hey, let us go!" Yue demanded, feeling rocks around her wrists.

Katara and Toph were nearing the palanquin when they felt hands made of stone grab their faces and backs to pull them away. Aang stopped at the end of the table and met a man in dark-green robes and looked like he took whatever occupation he did seriously.

"Avatar, it is a great honor to meet you," he greeted Aang as the Earth King was carried away by his servants. "I am Long Feng, Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se and Head of the Dai Li. I'd like to talk to you. You're friends will be waiting for us in the library."

-x-

"Why won't you let us talk to the King?!" Sokka demanded, angry at being taken away from the opportunity to speak with the King. "We have information that can defeat the Fire Nation!"

"The Earth King has no time to get involved with political squabbles and the day-to-day minutia of military activities." Long Feng told them, sitting in front of a hearth that illuminated the library in greenish fire, generated by the pile of crystals that were seen by them.

"What are you talking about?" Yue asked him. "The former King of Omashu is taking action against the Fire Nation. General Fong is also taking action against the Fire Nation. Why isn't the Earth King taking action against them? This could be the most important thing he has ever heard from anyone."

But Long Feng was unwavering and responded, "What's most important to his royal majesty is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se. All his duties relate to issuing decrees on such matters. It's my job to oversee the rest of the city's resources, including the military."

"So that means that the King is just a figurehead," went Katara, disturbed by this fact.

"He's your puppet!" Toph added in, just as disgusted and frustrated by this.

"Oh, no, no! His majesty is an icon, a god to his people. He can't sully his hands with the hourly change of an endless war." Long Feng defended.

"This war isn't endless," Yue tried to reason with him. "Unless the Fire Nation is stopped, by summer's end, a comet will arrive and grant them unfathomable power enough to end the war in their favor…and if they win…everyone will be at their mercy. It won't matter if you have the walls or not. They'll take Ba Sing Se, regardless."

"We found out about a solar eclipse that will leave the Firebenders powerless," Sokka added in, using the information they had gathered from Wan Shi Tong's Library before his simple mishap had insulted the very spirit into sinking the whole place before they had the chance to escape. "You could lead an invasion and end the war before the…"

"Enough!" Long Feng cut him off. "I don't want to hear your ridiculous plan! It is the strict policy of Ba Sing Se that the war not be mentioned within the walls. Constant news of an escalating war would throw the citizens of Ba Sing Se into a state of panic. Our economy would be ruined, and our peaceful way of life and traditions would disappear. In silencing talk, Ba Sing Se will remain a peaceful utopia. The last one on Earth."

The group could only stare at him with a full measure of shock, horror and anger, that he would, willingly, allow the war to continue on so long as the walls of the city remained intact…and he in power. It was sickening to even think that, when they thought it was easier to have the Fire Nation be their enemy, they'd have to contend with the select few of the very Earth Kingdom…or just this man that had control over the Dai Li.

"You can't keep the truth from all these people," went Katara to him. "They have to know."

"I'll tell them myself," added Yue and Aang, at the same time. "I'll make sure everyone knows."

"Up until now, you've been treated as our honored guest.But from now on, you will be watched every moment by Dai Li agents. If you mention the war to anyone, you will be expelled from the city.I understand that you've been looking for your bison. It would be quite a shame if you were unable to complete your quest." He counter-threatened them. "Now, Joo Dee will show you home."

Yue looked at Aang, who felt just as powerless as she did to do anything for the greater good of the world, and then turned to face the arriving Joo Dee, only to gasp at the sight of a woman that was clearly not her.

"Come with me, please," she told them.

"What happened to Joo Dee?" The princess asked her.

"I'm Joo Dee. I'll be your host as long as you're in our wonderful city," the woman answered, smiling the same smile that she was disgusted by on the previous woman's face.

-x-

The night air was chilly, but Yue needed it to take her mind off of everything she heard tonight.

How are we ever going to stop the Fire Nation without the Earth King's help? She thought. How are we ever going to find Appa if no one's willing to tell us anything?

"Yue?" She heard Sokka's voice as she turned away from the open window she was looking out at the stars and moon through. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, Sokka," she answered him. "Thank you for checking up on me."

He came over to her and placed his arms around her shoulders. Yue could tell that he'd definitely grown taller in the past few days of their journey through the Earth Kingdom. It was almost impossible to tell that it was she that was older than he was by one year.

"Oh, you're still wearing your Earth Kingdom dress," Sokka noticed, seeing that, in all of the commotion, Yue had never changed out of the dress and back into her Water Tribe clothes for the warmer climates.

"Huh?" She questioned, realizing that she had forgotten to change out of the dress. "Oh, I still am. I'll just head to my room and change out of it…"

"No, wait," went Sokka, keeping her from leaving just yet. "I… Yue, would you…care to dance with me, please?"

The princess felt touched, having never danced with the one she loved before, and held out her hands for him.

"I'd be honored to dance with you, Sokka," she answered him, her eyes shining like sapphires in the sea-green ocean.

They went outside to the porch and danced to a slow, soundless song that only they could hear. It almost seemed like some sort of a special play that involved them as the only characters, with the stars and moon as their audience. Their dance had taken them right off the porch and they, subconsciously, danced down the quiet street. Anyone that saw didn't say anything, potentially mesmerized by their movements, and only watched. When they felt their feet growing tired, the couple realized that they had danced right off the porch and out the Upper Ring and right down to the Lower Ring, standing in front of a large fountain surrounded by lanterns and lamps. A sign to their left read 'Firelight Fountain'.

"I can't believe we danced all the way here," Yue uttered out. "It's like… Like magic."

"Yeah," agreed Sokka, and he lead her to the fountain to allow her to rest her feet. "How do you feel?"

"I feel fine now. Thank you, Sokka," she answered him, motioning for him to sit next to her. "Thank you for the dance. It was…extremely wonderful for me."

"Yeah… Me, too," he agreed, subconsciously placing his left hand over her right hand. "Yue?"

"Sokka?"

"I'm really glad you decided to come with us after we left the North Pole."

"Yeah… I'm glad, as well."

"We've faced many challenges on the way here: Wandering around the Foggy Swamp, getting through the Cave of Two Lovers, returning to Omashu only to find that it had taken over, the Si Wong Desert, even that girl with the blue flames. I can barely understand how we managed to get through it all."

"We're all helping the Avatar. He gives people hope…just like how you give me hope…every day up to right now."

They looked at each other again, lost in their feelings for each other, and kissed on the lips again as the sun began to rise.

A/N: Please, review this as soon as possible. I know it has some dialogue from the episode, but I had to make it long and have Yue be more involved with the plot. And Sokka mature a little due to Yue's presence within the group. Another chapter will be in the making. I don't know much about the possibility of a lemon-theme chapter with Sokka and Yue, but if it comes to that, this story will be pushed up to being mature. Peace out and Happy New Year!