In this chapter we get to see Long Feng's inner circle in action! Which means...they have a meeting. Yay bureacracy! We've actually already met most of these guys. The only new faces are Quy and Yong.

Enjoy!


GG Chapter 6 - The Directors' Meeting

At the end of every week, on Yin-Waterday, shortly past noon, the highest ranking members of the Dai Li met in Long Feng's office in the Royal Palace. It was a small but significant affair. They discussed the past week's events and the coming week's plans, exchanging information and keeping everyone up to date on what was going on in the separate branches.

There were five Directors in all, one for each branch of the Dai Li. Tuan was Head of Surveillance, which meant he was in charge of basic security for the entire city. A stressful job, to be sure, but nowhere near as complicated as Yong's - as Head of Investigations, he had both a black market system and an entire underground resistance to ferret out. Shirong, as Head of Reeducation, was in charge of keeping the more outspoken citizens quiet and calm and generally happy, whether they wanted to be or not. The Preservation Branch, headed by Delun, had actively maintained the organization's original purpose of protecting Ba Sing Se's cultural heritage by caring for museums and important historical artifacts. And through it all, Quy, Head of Administration, kept the entire organization running smoothly, dealing with the sea of paperwork that was generated by the other branches.

The Directors were Long Feng's inner circle - his most trusted subordinates - and together the five of them kept the entire city of Ba Sing Se running smoothly.

Which was why it was a bit of a shock when Tuan walked into Long Feng's office with Yong that day, to find a sixth person in the room.

Yong took it in stride and nodded politely to the newcomer before heading over to greet Quy, who was already sitting at the low table in the middle of the room. Tuan, however, stood in the doorway, blinking at the man who had been a mere surveillance agent until very recently.

"Tuan," Enlai said, the honorary title of Director conspicuously absent, and the Head of Surveillance wondered just when he'd come to be on a first-name basis with his subordinate.

...Oh, right. Probably right after Enlai was promoted to practically his equal.

Well. This was going to take some getting used to.

"Enlai," Tuan answered. Enlai nodded and went back to looking over the papers in his hands, easily dismissing his former boss's presence.

Oh, yes, this was definitely going to take some getting used to. He turned away from Enlai and headed to the table. Yong had already taken a seat on one of the cushions, so Tuan settled in between him and Quy. "Hello Quy."

"Hello, Tuan," the older man said.

For a few moments, there was silence, broken only by a high-pitched buzzing that came from some insect as it flew around the room. Where it had come from, Tuan had no idea, but he amused himself by watching it swoop about. Finally, Long Feng appeared from behind some bookshelves. "Are we all here?"

The door opened to admit Shirong and Delun.

"Ah. Good." The Grand Secretariat went to the head of the table and sat down. Enlai finished with whatever he was looking at and took a seat beside him. "Before we start," Long Feng said when they were all settled, "I am going to take a moment to announce that I've taken on Agent Enlai Tong as my personal aide. I am sure I do not need to explain why."

Oh, no, he certainly didn't. Since procuring the information that had been used to push back the advancing Fire Army, Agent Enlai had gotten the attention of all the directors. Tuan knew that the others all thought quite highly of Enlai, what with the whole saving-the-city thing, but he himself just felt miffed. Enlai had just gotten promoted for abandoning his post and risking his neck and the possibility of capture to get information from a dubious source. Huzzah.

Alright, so he was feeling a little bitter. He was sure he had good reason to.

The only upside to losing his subordinate like this was the disappointed look on Yong's face. Doubtless the Head of Investigations had wanted Enlai's skills for his own branch - just like he wanted every other decently skilled agent Tuan had. He usually got them, too.

Not this time, though, Tuan thought to himself, being careful not to smirk. It was actually rather easy not to, because that bug - which had previously been content to fly around the ceiling - suddenly decided to come buzz around his ears. Tuan tried to shoo it away toward Yong, but it refused to leave him alone.

"Enlai will be attending these meetings from here on out," Long Feng continued. "And a good many other events, as well. Tuan," he added, causing the Head of Surveillance to look up sharply, "I assume you've found someone to replace Enlai in District 87?"

"Uh, yes," Tuan nodded, still trying to get rid of the bug. "Yes, I have. It's all been taken care of. Shan Cui. Good kid, talented Earthbender, fresh out of training. He's been working the district since Yin-Fireday."

"Fresh out of training?" Quy repeated. "You're sure he'll be able to manage a district on his own?"

"It's the Upper Ring," Tuan said, and with a wave of his hand he finally shooed the buzzing menace to the other side of the table. "Nothing ever happens there."

Enlai rolled his eyes, and then he raised a rock-covered hand and slammed it on the table. The buzzing immediately stopped. Enlai lifted his hand, exposing a crushed spiderfly.

"Thank you," said Tuan. "Goddess, that was annoying… Anyway, he – Shan, I mean – was recommended to me by Agents Huang Xu and Wu Sheng Shi, so I have full faith in his abilities."

Delun chuckled. "Oh, yes. Anyone recommended by those two must be competent."

"Well," Tuan admitted, "they do have high standards. And a...rigorous training regimen."

o0O0o

"KICK IT KICK IT KICK IT KICK IT KICK IT!"

Shan didn't need Huang's screamed advice to know what to do, but it was reassuring all the same. He made the earth spike under the ball, causing it to fly across the playing field. A moment later, a member of the opposing team had swept the ground out from beneath his feet, but Shan didn't care - he was too busy watching the ball complete its flight and land gracefully in the net. The Investigations agent playing goalie tore his hat off his head and threw it on the ground.

"Yes!" Wu Sheng grinned, earth-skating to Shan's side and offering a hand. Shan took it and clambered back to his feet. "Nine to one! We are clobbering them!"

"As usual," sighed the Investigations agent who'd knocked Shan to the ground.

"Now don't go getting sore, Lee," Wu Sheng chided. "It's just a game of earthball. Say, I wonder if we could get this to an even ten before it's over..."

o0O0o

"Moving on," said Long Feng. "The latest reports from the army indicate that the Fire Nation intends to do nothing more for the time being." He smirked. "The loss of their prince has done wonders to their morale."

"Yes, but will it be cause enough for them to withdraw?" Quy asked.

"I think so," Delun said. "They've been holding the Siege for nearly two years with little effect, which is doubtless a terrible strain on their resources and patience. They managed to break through the Outer Wall, but we pushed them back and are quickly rebuilding the section they broke through. If they want back in, they're going to have to wait to amass enough blasting jelly to do it - which will probably take years, given how long it took them to use the stuff in the first place. That calls for more time, patience, and resources to be spent."

"And when you couple that with the death of a member of the royal family..." Yong said.

"Exactly," Delun nodded. "Armies throughout history have given up for lesser reasons. They would have to be crazy to keep this up for much longer. At this point, it's a matter of when the Fire Nation leaves, not if." He paused for a moment, thinking. "Besides, their comet's due to come back in a few years. They may just decide to withdraw and regroup, with the intention of using its power on us later."

Long Feng grimaced. That was a whole other can of weevil-worms. "We have six years to decide how to handle the comet," he reminded them. "Had the Siege actually worked, we would have no time left at all." He cast a quick glance at Enlai, and then looked across the table at Shirong. "While we're on the subject of the Wall being broken, Shirong, I suppose you should give us your report on the farming families."

Shirong sighed. "It's going well, for the most part. We've managed to get four full families back to their land, and we're almost done with a fifth. They believe that any ruined crops are the result of a cattle stampede. There was one family that was completely wiped out when the Fire Nation broke through...we've convinced the others that they were murdered by marauding bandits."

"Marauding bandits?" Tuan repeated.

Shirong sighed. It wasn't too far-fetched of an explanation; the Agrarian Zone did have a few groups of outlaws. "You can't have a fire in a house made of stone, and a sickness that only targeted one family without killing anyone else would be too odd. So, yes, marauding bandits murdered the entire family. And then destroyed the house with their earthbending. Because they're horrible people." He looked at Long Feng. "The side effect of this explanation is that we now have several farming families out for a group of nonexistent-bandits' blood. I'm not sure if this is a good or bad thing."

"I'm sure it isn't a bad thing," Long Feng said. "They'll find a group of bandits to take their anger out on, and the Agrarian Zone will have a few less outlaws."

Shirong nodded. "We should have most of the rest of the families done within two weeks. Most of the subjects have been very cooperative, and are more than willing to let us help them."

"Except?" Long Feng prompted.

Shirong sighed. "The Qiangs."

o0O0o

Huo rubbed his temples and took a deep breath. "Mr. Qiang," he said, keeping his voice polite and slow, "I would greatly appreciate it if you cooperated with me."

"And I would greatly appreciate it if you stopped spouting nonsense, Agent Huo!" Ling Qiang snapped. "I saw what I saw! The entire wall blew up!"

Huo groaned and hid his face in his hands, mumbling to himself about Qiangs and their rock-headedness. The entire family was as steady, strong, and stubborn as the giant wall they lived by.

And he had to convince thirteen of them that they hadn't seen the Outer Wall blow.

It was days like these he was convinced the spirits hated him.

"You did not see the Wall blow up, Mr. Qiang," Huo intoned. He speared the lantern with a look as it circulated around the track, wondering if it was defective. But no, it was glowing merrily, just as it was supposed to.

"But I did. I seen it with my own eyes!"

Oh, good, Huo thought sarcastically, rubbing his forehead. And here I was worried you saw it with someone else's eyes...

"It ain't exactly somethin' you can just fergit," Ling continued. "Just imagine it, Agent! A great big chunk of the Wall, just goin' BOOM!" He waved his arms for effect. "And all that fire, and the stone crackin', and the rocks rainin' down..." He trailed off there, and looked sad. "I reckon the Bis never knew what hit 'em."

Ah, yes, the Bi family; another bunch famed for sharing all the traits of the wall they lived on. An entire branch had gotten wiped out in the blast.

Except, you know. They didn't.

"The Bis were murdered by marauding bandits, Ling."

Ling's eyes followed the lantern around the track. "Sonny boy, I don't claim to know how that light's s'posed to help me feel better, but it ain't working."

Huo groaned and hid his face in his hands. It's my son's birthday, he thought bleakly. Lee was turning four. Huo had figured a four-year-old wouldn't care if his father wasn't present for his entire birthday. A four-year-old didn't necessarily have a complete grasp of what a birthday was. I should've just taken Shirong's suggestion - alright, more like an order - and taken the day off. But noooo, I wanted to be a good leader and set an example for my fellow reeducation officers and come in and talk to a man with a rock for a brain.

He could really be a self-sacrificing idiot sometimes.

o0O0o

"They'll be won over with time, of course," Shirong said. "Everyone will. It will just...be a very long time."

o0O0o

The meeting went on for a while longer. Yong spoke about the state of the black market, which hadn't been terribly active, what with the Fire Army blocking most smuggling routes. Tuan reported that there wasn't much going on in Surveillance. Quy made the usual statement that his subordinates in Administration were sick and tired of sorting through the other agents' horrendous handwriting when they were filing paperwork. Delun started to talk about a new display the Preservation Branch was putting together for some museum, and they quickly changed the subject before he could go into much detail.

"Final order of business," Long Feng said at last, sending a significant glance toward Shirong. "But first - we all do remember a certain Dongzhi party this past winter solstice, correct?"

There were groans from around the table.

"Very good, then," Long Feng said, soldiering on. "And I'm sure, then, that we all remember a certain conversation we had concerning reconditioning."

"Not...really," Tuan admitted, looking embarrassed.

"No one expects you to," Yong grumbled. "You were plastered."

Enlai looked interested. Tuan sank a little lower in his seat.

"Those of us who can actually remember that conversation can probably recall a certain part of it where we discussed the possibility of reconditioning foreigners," Long Feng continued.

"Wasn't that when Tuan spilled his wine all over your robes, Yong?" Delun asked innocently.

"It was."

"I did what?"

"I remember Shirong saying something about being so skilled he could brainwash a foreigner within a month," Quy put in before the conversation could get too far off track.

"Yes," Long Feng said, latching on to the point. "We've been presented with an opportunity to test that theory."

Delun nodded knowingly. Shirong's face was expressionless. Quy, Yong, and Enlai looked interested. Tuan just looked confused.

"General How's men discovered a surviving Firebender after the Fire Nation's withdrawal from the Agrarian Zone," Long Feng said. "We currently have the man in custody at Lake Laogai."

"Wait," Tuan said, "wait, we have a Firebender under the lake?"

"He's under control," Long Feng answered. "And Shirong has been monitoring him for the past few days."

Yong turned an intrigued look towards Shirong. "Really?" he said, looking very, very interested.

"I've acquired a decent amount of information on his history and lifestyle," Shirong said. "He's been very forthcoming with his answers."

"And how soon do you think you could start the real work?"

Shirong shrugged. "He's tired. He doesn't resist much when I ask him questions. And he'll only get weaker from here." He tapped his fingers on the table. "I could start the reconditioning immediately."

Tuan exploded. "We're reconditioning a Firebender?"

"Tuan," Yong sighed, "haven't you been paying attention at all?"

"Yes! Yes I have! And none of you are making sense! All I'm understanding is that there was some sort of conversation about brainwashing foreigners at that stupid Dongzhi party..."

"You're the one who got us onto that topic in the first place, Tuan," Quy said, recalling how Tuan had drunkenly thrown an arm around an annoyed Shirong's shoulders and started asking random questions about reconditioning.

"I don't remember anything about the party!" Tuan snapped. "All I remember is waking up at his house" - he pointed an accusing finger at Yong - "with the worst hangover I've ever had in my life!"

"Which is why you wouldn't remember the actual party," Delun said.

Tuan groaned and hid his head in his hands. He hadn't meant to get drunk like that. It had just been an extremely stressful winter. The snow had been piling up. The Siege had been driving everyone crazy. He'd had a nasty headcold that refused to go away. A family of spider-squirrels had taken refuge from the cold in his attic, and their nighttime scampering had left him sleep-deprived. Yong had been eyeing up his subordinates, trying to figure out who he could get to transfer to Investigations. Huang and Wu Sheng had been cavorting through the halls of Lake Laogai singing Dongzhi carols for weeks.

Could he be blamed for wanting to drown his sorrows in alcohol for a bit?

And now, three months later, that night was still haunting him. Tuan made a mental note to never drink again.

"So what are we doing with him, exactly?" he asked warily, changing the subject.

"Shirong's going to prove just how skilled he is," Yong answered, looking at Shirong, "aren't you?"

"Oh, yes," said Delun. "What was that you said at the party? 'Give me the most devoted and patriotic Fire Nation soldier you can find, and I'll have him loyal to the Earth King within a month.'"

"Exactly," Shirong nodded. "And I still stand by that."

Tuan resisted the urge to rub his forehead. "Let me get this straight," he said slowly. "You're going to take a Firebender and convince him he's a full-blooded and loyal Earth Kingdom citizen."

Shirong frowned. "Not quite," he said. "It would be stupid to try and convince him he was pure Earth. All he'd have to do is look in a mirror to know there was something wrong with the idea. I was thinking more along the lines of a halfbreed from the colonies. It would explain the eyes, and his subconscious wouldn't rebel so much if I let him keep at least part of his Fire heritage."

"What about the firebending?" Quy asked warily. Shirong shrugged.

"I've dealt with crazed Earth soldiers before. He won't be the first bender whose abilities I've had to restrain."

Quy didn't look convinced. "You've never had to restrain a Firebender's abilities before."

"He's already losing his connection to the sun. Keep him underground for a while, recondition him to hold his bending instincts at bay, make him think he was never a bender in the first place - it shouldn't be too hard." Shirong eyed each of his fellow directors in turn, and then Long Feng, who was watching the entire debate with a quiet air of amusement. "Give me a month, and I'll have him thinking he's one of us. Or half of us, at least."

There was a moment of silence. Yong leaned back in his seat. "I'm willing to bet that you can't."

"You said as much at the party," Shirong nodded. "How much?" When Yong said he was willing to bet, it wasn't just an expression.

"Well," Yong mused, "I suppose Tuan's already set the stakes for us."

"I did?" Tuan asked warily.

"Of course you did," Yong said maliciously. "At the party, you happily announced you'd bet a thousand jin on Shirong's success."

Tuan's jaw dropped. "I said that?"

Yong merely nodded. Tuan turned to the others.

"I said that?"

"You said that," Quy sighed.

"Oh, spirits have mercy..."

"A thousand is a bit much, though," Yong admitted. "So. A hundred?"

A hundred jin was nowhere near as much as a thousand, but it was no small amount of money, either. Shirong shrugged. "I'll take it."

"I'll stake a hundred on your failure," Delun said. "I was there when we pulled the Firebender out of the pit. He wasn't very cooperative. If you can convince him he's a loyal citizen of the Earth Kingdom, it'll be worth a hundred to see it done."

"Two against one, then," Yong said, sounding almost cheery. He was always one for risk-taking, be it physically or financially or otherwise. "Anyone else like to join in?"

Quy sighed. "I suppose I'll put in on Shirong's success. I said as much at the blasted party, at any rate."

"You should really join in, too, Tuan," Yong said, eyeing the other man, who was cringing in his seat in an attempt to become invisible. "After all, you said you would..."

"I was drunk!" Tuan protested. They merely favored him with dull looks, and he sighed. "Fine. A hundred on Shirong's success. Dammit all..."

"And I'll wager on Shirong's failure," Long Feng said. Shirong looked surprised, and Long Feng smiled. "As Delun said, if you can do this, it will be worth the hundred jin." Should Shirong succeed, Long Feng would have the pride of having such a skilled agent on hand. Should Shirong fail, he'd have an extra three hundred jin in his pocket.

Shirong snorted and gave Long Feng a look that said, quite plainly, You and your win-win situations.

"Enlai?" Long Feng added, turning to his aide. "You're welcome to join us, if you wish."

Enlai blinked before shaking his head. "No thank you, sir. I think I'll pass."

Long Feng nodded and turned back to his directors. "Very well, then. Is there anything else?"

There was a moment of silence, and then Yong turned to Shirong. "What are you naming him?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"The Firebender," Yong clarified. "You are going to rename him, correct?"

Shirong thought for a moment. "I suppose I should," he said at length. "Jouin is not a very Earth Kingdom name."

"So what are you - "

"Lee, I suppose."

There was a quiet chorus of groans from around the table. Yong snorted. "You are extremely unoriginal, Shirong."

"Indeed," Delun pointed out. "We already have a few hundred Joo Dees thanks to your lack of creativity..."

"I created the Joo Dees, didn't I?" Shirong grumbled. He failed to see why this was an issue. "And Joo Dees are supposed to be indistinguishable anyway. Lee is a perfectly sensible name."

"There are a million Lees," Yong said.

"Then he'll be one in a million. I have other things to worry about besides his name."

"Now, Shirong," Long Feng said. "You're about to attempt the most daring reconditioning you've done in your entire career. I think your subject deserves a more imaginative name than Lee."

Shirong eyed his old friend. "What do you suggest?"

"I was thinking Xiaofan."

"Xiaofan?"

"Paper, Enlai," Long Feng ordered, and the aide quickly passed him a sheet of paper and an ink-filled brush. Long Feng quickly wrote out two characters in swift strokes before handing the paper to Shirong. "Xiaofan."

Shirong scrutinized the name. "Little...little model?"

"Little obedient one," Yong said suddenly, and he laughed. "Yes, that is perfect. You ought to name him that, Shirong."

Shirong glanced at the other directors. Quy didn't seem to really care, Tuan looked like he just wanted to get out of the room, and Delun merely shrugged. "It's better than Lee."

"Very well, then," Shirong sighed. He didn't particularly care what the Firebender was named, so long as he could start working on his project. "Xiaofan it is."

"Is there anything else we need to talk about?" Long Feng asked. When no one answered, he nodded. "Meeting adjourned, then."

They stood and stretched and slowly began making their way out of the room. Yong walked with Shirong.

"When do you think you'll begin?"

"Soon," Shirong said. "Now, maybe." There was nothing else for him to do. Except convince a bunch of Qiangs that they hadn't seen the Wall blow up.

Brainwashing a Firebender sounded so much more appealing.

"I would like to see him," Yong said. "I've never seen a Firebender up close before. And I would like to - without getting my face burnt off, that is. Do you think I could come see him at some point?"

Shirong shrugged. "If you like."

"Would you like any help breaking him?" Yong asked then, and Shirong grimaced.

"I'm quite certain I can manage on my own, thank you."

It was Yong's turn to shrug. "Suit yourself." He walked on ahead, making his way toward one of the palace's exits. Probably heading home for the weekend.

Shirong, for his part, headed for a staircase that would lead him down into the tunnels, and from there to Lake Laogai.

o0O0o

He must have reached the Lake just as the earthball games that doubled as training exercises finished, as the hallway was crowded with agents who were alternatively crowing their victory or grumbling about their defeat.

"Ha-HA!" someone shouted, and Shirong saw the infamous Huang and Wu Sheng and another, younger agent hanging out in a side hallway. "Final score: Sixteen to three!" Wu Sheng whooped. "Great job today, guys!"

"I almost feel sorry for the Investigations team," Huang mused.

"Don't," said Wu Sheng. "That was some pretty awesome bending today, Shan."

"Heh. Thanks."

"So, what say next time we try to beat them with an even twenty to nothing?"

"Maybe..."

Shirong walked on. He made his way down the hallways of Lake Laogai, steadfastly ignoring everyone he passed, his mind fixed on the task at hand. He was going to recondition a Firebender. He wanted to get into the right mindset. So he passed fellow agents and Joo Dees with nary a glance, until he nearly ran into Huo.

"Huo?" he asked. "I thought I told you to take the day off. It's Lee's birth - "

"Yes, yes, I know, don't remind me," Huo growled. "I'm going home right now, never mind if it's only a few hours past noon... I am never missing my son's birthday again." He stomped off down the hallway, and shouted over his shoulder, "Just so you know, I told Howin he can handle Ling Qiang's reconditioning!"

"...Right," Shirong said. "Say happy birthday to Lee for me."

"Party's on Yin-Spirit Day," Huo reminded him, and then he turned the corner and was gone.

Shirong sighed and continued towards the Firebender's cell. When he got there, he stood outside the door for several minutes, collecting himself.

He was going to brainwash a Firebender.

It was probably going to be the most amazing achievement - or failure - of his career.

He had three hundred jin riding on his success. And while he could spare the money, he'd rather not lose his pride.

He regarded the door, and thought of the mind ready for molding that lay beyond. And he could mold it. He knew he could. He'd done it thousands of times before, after all.

He reached for the door handle. Time to get to work.

o0O0o

The door opened, and Lu Ten looked up blearily. Shirong stood there, gazing impassively down at him. There was something new in the man's demeanor, Lu Ten thought, but he wasn't sure what.

After a miniature staring contest, Shirong strode forward and hauled the Firebender up by the front of his shirt. Lu Ten yelped in protest, but Shirong paid no heed as he pinned him firmly against the wall. Lu Ten glared at him, not quite surprised at the sudden change in behavior.

Looked like they were finally getting down to the serious stuff.

"The Fire Nation is withdrawing from our lands," Shirong said at length. "They are not making another assault. They are going to abandon the Siege."

"That's a lie," Lu Ten snarled, and got a vicious backhand across the face.

"They are going," Shirong repeated in a low voice, "to abandon the Siege."

The scary thing was that it might actually be true. Lu Ten knew how much effort and resources had gone into blowing up the Wall in the first place. Blasting jelly, soldiers, time…all had been wasted the moment they'd been defeated in the Agrarian Zone. Calling a retreat would be a logical move right now. It would be so much easier to wait a few years and flatten Ba Sing Se with the comet's power.

But neither Iroh nor Azulon wanted to burn the city to the ground. A destroyed Ba Sing Se would be a useless waste. No; they'd prefer to capture it for their own use. Preferably before the comet came, so that they wouldn't be forced to unleash its terrible power on the city.

So Shirong might be telling the truth when he said the Fire Army was retreating. But he also might be lying. For his own sake, Lu Ten decided to believe that Shirong was lying.

His legs were starting to ache. More than usual, that was. Lu Ten closed his eyes and focused on breathing. He felt a hand grasp his chin, and his head was pulled back to face Shirong. He opened his eyes to glower at the Earthbender.

"You're all alone," Shirong said, meeting his gaze steadily. "No one is coming for you. No one will ever find you. Your army has abandoned you. Your nation has abandoned you. Your beloved leader has abandoned you." After another pause, he said quietly, "You have nothing."

He stepped back, letting Lu Ten collapse back down to the floor, causing him to hiss in pain as his legs were jarred. Lu Ten fixed the man with the best glare he could muster, but Shirong only looked unimpressed.

"What did you say your name was?" he inquired, sounding almost polite.

"It's Jouin," Lu Ten said, and was taken by surprise when Shirong leaned over, reached forward, fisted a hand in his hair, and yanked.

"Let me make something clear to you," Shirong said, ignoring his prisoner's pained noises. "Your name is not Jouin." He tightened his grasp, pulled a little harder, and before Lu Ten could panic over the fact that somehow Shirong knew he'd been lying all along, he said, "Your name is Xiaofan."


Next time: Shirong gets some brainwashing in before attending a very important birthday party.

In my headcanon, weeks in the Avatarverse are ten days long, with two days named for each element, plus another two for spirit. The two days for each element are divided by yin and yang. So the days of the week are as follows: Yang-Spiritday, Yin-Spiritday, Yang-Earthday, Yin-Earthday, Yang-Fireday, Yin-Fireday, Yang-Airday, Yin-Airday, Yang-Waterday, and Yin-Waterday. Links to my cobbled-together calendar system are in my profile if you're curious.

The characters used to spell "Xiaofan" literally mean "little" and "model/example," but I've also seen the name translated as "little obedient one." Seeing as an obedient person could be called a role model or a good example, the alternate translation seems pretty reasonable.

Thanks for reading!