A/N: I know several have expressed concern that June is spelled the wrong way. Rest assured, it is not. My beta and I disagreed on the spelling because I spelled it without an "e" and she spelled it with one. She told me that, on the Nick official site, it was spelled J-U-N-E and not J-U-N. In the interest of thoroughness, I checked that out for myself and read the credits at the end of the finale. Jennifer Hale voices both Kyoshi and June and it is, indeed, spelled with an "e." Just thought I'd clarify that because June's name is going to be coming up frequently in this story.
Chapter Six
The little lemur had been through quite an ordeal. There wasn't much Katara could do for the fracture in his hind leg as the injury was already days old, but she did what she could to alleviate his pain. Nonetheless, Momo appreciated the luxuriant pampering her healing session provided as well as the unlimited supply of food he'd received upon his return. Once he was fed, his broken limb set and his strength renewed, however, Momo set up a wild chittering that would not be quelled, not that his attempts to convey what had befallen Aang yielded any real results besides causing him a great deal of pain and sapping what little energy he had.
Zuko, Katara, Sokka, Suki and Toph leaned in close to the frantic animal and listened keenly to his guttural babbling. Unfortunately, no one in the group could understand a single thing he was trying to communicate, and Momo was growing fatigued with the effort. "What do you think he's trying to tell us?" Zuko wondered aloud as Momo's frenetic squawking grew faint and weary.
"Isn't that obvious?" Katara demanded in a strident tone, filled with anxiety as she straightened and turned away. "Something has happened to Aang!"
"Katara, stop jumping to conclusions!" Sokka hushed her sharply. "You don't know that at all! He could be trying to tell us how he broke his leg in the first place!"
"Oh please, Sokka!" Katara snorted in an anxious stream. "Momo's hurt! Aang wouldn't just leave him behind!" From his fluffy pallet, Momo put up a strident twitter of absolute agreement. "You see?" Katara cried triumphantly. "Momo's backing me up. We need to leave immediately!"
"Katara, Momo's delirious from lack of food," Sokka reasoned, stooping low to scratch affectionately behind the lemur's ears. "That can happen, you know? He doesn't know what he's doing right now." Indignant over being misunderstood so thoroughly, Momo reached out to weakly bop Sokka against the forehead with his paw. Sokka reared back with an affronted yelp. He glared at Momo. "That was hurtful. I know you've had a rough couple of days, but that's no reason to take it out on me." The lemur responded with a dispassionate chitter.
"It would seem he doesn't agree with you, Sokka," his sister deadpanned pointedly.
"Well, maybe Aang didn't know Momo was hurt," Toph considered in Sokka's defense. Like Sokka, she was questioning whether Katara had genuine reason to be upset or if her understandable longing for Aang was making her unduly paranoid. "Do you even know for sure he went with Aang in the first place?"
"I know you probably don't want to hear this, Katara, but…Toph has a point. You said Aang left before you woke up, remember?" Suki reminded her. "Are you sure he planned to take Momo along? Did he say anything?"
"Why would he need to say anything?" Katara huffed in frustration, growing more and more agitated with their calm reasoning over the matter. "He always takes Momo with him." Yet again she received backup from Momo on that subject, but, this time, the little flying monkey was ignored altogether.
"Katara, come on," Sokka cajoled. "At least consider the possibility that you're getting too far ahead of yourself because, right now, you don't know. We all just kind of assumed Momo went with Aang, but maybe he didn't. Maybe the reason we haven't seen Momo in days is because he was hurt and—,"
"Stop it! Just stop it, you guys!" Katara snapped fiercely. She threw an imploring glance around the circle of their shocked faces. "Please, listen to me," she entreated in a rush of breath. "Something is wrong. You know Momo practically follows Aang everywhere. They were together, but somehow they got separated. Something's happened. I know it! I feel it! We need to go look for him right now!"
Unaware of the mini drama playing out in her sitting room, Mai shuffled into the middle of everything, half groggy with sleep and a bit irritated to have awakened alone in bed. She held a wriggling, whimpering Shi held at arm's length and thrust him towards his father. "Zuko, your eldest needs a change," she announced dryly, "and it's your turn." However, the admonishment she had poised on her lips over his slow reaction was forgotten when she noted the serious faces surrounding her. "Okay…who died?" she demanded bluntly.
Choking out a small whimper, Katara turned towards the large, cathedral windows on the opposite side of the room, hugging her middle protectively. The gesture alarmed Mai more than the somber expressions had. "What did I say?" she asked. "No one really died, did they?"
"Katara thinks Aang is missing," Sokka provided softly. "I think it's just her separation anxiety kicking in."
The glare Katara leveled at her brother was positively glacial. "Well, no one asked you for your opinion, Sokka! Aang is missing," she stressed flatly. Her friends stared at her mournfully, not knowing what to say to her. Their pitying looks only made Katara even angrier. She shook her head at them, fists clenched tightly at her sides in sheer frustration. "I can't understand how you all can be so glib about this!" she cried. "If any of you were missing, Aang would have been out there looking for you by now!"
"Katara, you know that's not fair," Sokka replied in a woeful tone.
That soft admonishment was all it took for Katara to regain some of her composure. "You're right," she murmured regretfully. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I don't know what I'm thinking. I'm just…I'm sorry."
"Look, we all need to remember that Aang does have a habit of disappearing from time to time," Zuko pointed out almost reluctantly. "It's not exactly something that's beyond the norm, Katara. So even if he is gone, it may not mean anything."
"It feels different, Zuko," Katara maintained.
"But that doesn't necessarily mean it is different," her brother countered. "This is all conjecture anyway. For all we know, Aang has already made it to Ba Sing Se and is entertaining Bosco as we speak. He'd laugh to know you were all twisted up like this while he's having fun."
Mai was about to ring in with her own commentary when Shi burst forth an indignant cry over his dirty bottom, making it quite clear to the entire room he was not happy over being ignored. His mother bounced and cooed to him, all to no avail. He was a difficult baby to please once he was in a bad mood…much like his father.
"Here," Toph volunteered, stunning them all when she reached out for Shi. "Let me take care of the kid." The moment he was in her arms, however, she was wrinkling her nose in disgust. "Pee-uuuuu!" she cried, holding the baby at arm's length and averting her head as his pungent aroma tickled her nose. "How can something so small make a smell so big and awful? Ugh. What are you people feeding this kid? You must stop now!"
"Oh, you're hysterical, Toph," Mai deadpanned.
"Seriously, he's rank."
"Are you going to change him or not?" Mai demanded.
"No, I'm not going to change him!" Toph balked. "Hello? You're dealing with a blind woman, remember? Must I remain you people daily of this fact? Besides, that's what you have your royal nurse for. I'm just going to take him out of here so that his squawking isn't such a distraction."
"You're all heart, Toph," Mai returned sardonically.
"It's a gift," Toph volleyed back. She lowered her tone surreptitiously to add so that only Mai could hear her, "Try to talk Katara down while I'm gone, okay? She's really worried. Maybe you'll have better luck at calming her down."
After Toph left with the baby, Mai was the first one to speak as everyone else seemed reluctant to set Katara off on another tirade. "Okay, somebody please explain to me what's going on," she began in a careful tone. "Why does Katara have the idea that Aang is missing? I thought he was in Ba Sing Se."
"He probably is," Sokka interjected under his breath.
Katara pinned him with a narrowed glare. "You don't know that for sure!" she snapped. "None of you do!" Momo might have chittered his strident support over her statement if sheer exhaustion and pain hadn't already overtaken his tiny body. While Katara made her argument, he was, unfortunately, sound asleep.
"And you don't know that he's hurt, Katara," Zuko countered reasonably. "He's only been gone a couple of days. If you're that worried, why don't you send him a message?"
"Yeah," Sokka piped in. "You're always welcome to use Hawky."
"Hmm, yeah that's a brilliant idea," Suki drawled in a mocking under-breath, "…because the message is so guaranteed to get there if Hawky does the job."
"Why exactly are you so concerned, Katara?" Zuko charged, surveying her with a penetrating look. Not for the first time, he wondered if there was something more to Katara's worry, something she was leaving unspoken. "Aang's not helpless. He knows how to take care of himself! I don't understand why you're so agitated!"
"Oh, you don't understand?" she snapped suddenly, rounding on Zuko furiously. "Well, it couldn't have anything to do with the fact that Aang is practically hated in the Earth Kingdom right now, could it, Zuko? You wouldn't know anything about that, huh?"
"Wait a minute," Mai inserted defensively. "Are you blaming Zuko for that?"
"Well, I think everyone here is aware of the fact that if you support the Firelord these days you're not exactly met with love and adoration in the Earth Kingdom," Katara flung out tartly.
"And that's my fault?" Zuko cried defensively.
"You have to admit Aang's continued support of you has put him in an awkward position, Zuko!" Katara retorted. "You sit here safe in your palace and far removed from what goes on out there!" she fired on, pointing her finger towards the window for emphasis. "It's Aang that bears the brunt of the hatred for you! But have you, even once, taken two seconds to consider what kind of position you've put him in?"
"Hold on there," Mai interjected calmly. "You know I never get in the middle of your political squabbles. That's you guys' thing, but blaming Zuko is harsh and unfair, Katara. You accuse him of being selfish because he's not thinking about Aang, but you're the one being selfish because you're not considering the position Zuko is in! He needs to think of his people first and I'd think you could understand that."
Sokka smoothly inserted himself between them, wishing more devoutly than anyone, except perhaps Katara, that Aang were there. He was always the peacekeeper in situations like this. "Okay, let's not allow our tempers to get the best of us," he soothed both women. "Katara is just speaking out of worry right now. She doesn't blame Zuko for anything." He leveled a pointed look at his sister. "Do you, Katara?" There was something in the steely way she met his stare that spoke otherwise, however.
"Katara, are you really worried?" Zuko queried softly.
She pinned him with glittering eyes. "Yes," she choked.
"Okay…okay," Zuko relented with a sigh. "I don't know if I believe something is wrong…yet, but obviously you believe it and that's enough. I'll send messengers to Ba Sing Se immediately to check on Aang's whereabouts."
"Thank you, Zuko," Katara replied with a relieved slump. "I'm sorry I attacked you a minute ago."
"You're fine," he dismissed quietly. "Forget about it. I have a tendency to lead with my heart too. I get it." Their eyes met briefly in a silent stare of truce and understanding.
"Firelord Zuko?" Five pairs of eyes swung around expectantly to regard the timid servant standing in the entranceway. "You've just received a correspondence from the Earth King," he said, passing Zuko the scroll before bowing respectfully and exiting the room upon Zuko's dismissal.
Zuko unrolled the note and scanned it quickly. "It's from Kuei," he informed his friends as they began to gather around him. "He says that Aang has arrived safely and that their business should be concluded in a few days." He passed the scroll to Katara so that she could read it with her own eyes. "There, read for yourself," he bid her. "Are you satisfied? He's okay."
Katara looked the message over before tossing it aside. "No, I'm not satisfied," she replied. "I don't like that Aang didn't contact me himself. That's not like him. I still want you to send the messengers."
"Okay," Zuko agreed, ringing for a servant so that he could dispatch the message. "I'll have two of my guardsmen on their way to Ba Sing Se within the hour."
"You're not thinking it's a forgery, are you?" Suki wondered, stooping low to examine the discarded note. She traced her fingers lightly around the Earth King's seal. "Because this looks pretty authentic to me, Katara."
"I don't care how authentic it is," Katara mumbled. "Aang didn't write it."
"Katara, what does it matter?" Sokka cried in exasperation. "He's there. Isn't that what you wanted to know? He's in Ba Sing Se and he's safe! Why are you begging for trouble where there is none?"
"Because it doesn't feel right, Sokka," Katara replied, returning to her position near the window. "It just doesn't feel right."
****
"So nice of you to remember you supposedly answer to me, JianJun," Long Feng remarked as the errant Dai Li agent ducked quietly into his study. "Where have you been?"
"My apologies, Long Feng, sir," he said. "I had a few matters of business to attend to."
Long Feng stroked his chin in consideration of that answer. "I wasn't aware you had any business to attend to other than mine," he reminded JianJun pointedly. "And you've been woefully lax about that lately."
"I do have a good reason…" JianJun replied in a very cryptic manner.
"And that is?" Long Feng snapped rather impatiently.
"Me," Azula provided, stepping out from behind the Dai Li agent. She took a ridiculous amount of satisfaction in Long Feng's completely shocked reaction. "Did you miss me, Long Feng?" she asked sweetly.
Long Feng's reaction was swift and visceral. He surged to his feet with an enraged snarl. "What is she doing here?" he barked.
"What do you think I'm doing here?" Azula challenged with a laugh. "I should think you'd be happier to see me, considering I'm the one who arranged for your release and all. No need to say thank you. I'm sure you'll show your gratitude in other ways." With a lilting sigh, Azula deposited herself in the nearest chair. "This is very comfortable."
Ignoring her attempts at small talk and distraction, Long Feng sneered, "You're lying."
Tapered black brows arched in amused challenge. "Am I? Every move you've made for the last three months has been by my design." She emitted a soft laugh. "It's like you're my very own puppet. Isn't it rather nice how, even with so many years of silence between us, our dynamic still remains the same?"
Infuriated nearly to the point of bodily harm, Long Feng pierced JianJun with a scornful glower. "You! This is your doing!" he spat. "How dare you bring her into my presence?"
"Actually no, it's not his doing," Azula interjected dryly. "Let's give proper credit, shall we? This was my brain child from start to finish. But JianJun has been very adept at carrying out my orders. He's also become a rather accomplished liar." She flashed a smile over at the stoic Dai Li agent. "I taught him that."
"Get out!" Long Feng growled. "Both of you get out of my study right now before I remove you myself! And I can do it, Princess. I know very well you have no bending. The Avatar stripped you of power, much like you stripped me. Ironic, wouldn't you say? The point is…you're no match for me!"
"But I am," JianJun warned him smoothly. "Don't even consider touching her." As if to add weight to his unspoken threat, several more Dai Li agents slipped into the room to stand behind him and Azula. "I suggest you sit down and hear what she has to say," he advised Long Feng.
"I don't take orders from you!" Long Feng sneered.
"Then take orders from me," Azula countered calmly. "Sit down, Long Feng."
To his horror and humiliation, Long Feng found himself obeying her command with a spasmodic swallow. There was something chilling, menacing in the way she delivered it. Even without her bending and certifiably insane, the diminutive young woman before him maintained a commanding and confident air. She had once told him the divine right to rule was something one was born with and Long Feng reluctantly acknowledged the truth in her words now. Power was something that radiated from Azula's core, as natural as a genetic trait. It was evident in the way she continued to hold the Dai Li enthralled even when she seemingly had no power to speak of.
The realization that the Dai Li's loyalty for the Fire Nation princess remained unshaken even through her madness and crushing failure caused envy, rage and hatred to explode in Long Feng's brain. Had he the courage to stand against them all, he would have killed her in that moment without a second's hesitation. He literally burned with the desire to end her.
"You want to follow her so badly?" he challenged JianJun between clenched teeth. "Do so and get out of my sight! It has nothing to do with me!"
"Not so fast," Azula said, seemingly unbothered by Long Feng's obvious wrath. "You and I have business to discuss first. And, I think I would love a cup of tea while we talk," she drawled in saccharine graciousness. "It was a long journey and I'm just parched."
Realizing belatedly that she was baiting him, Long Feng released a rumbling snort of laughter. "Princess," he began in mild amusement. "While you may or may not have instrumented my release from prison, you by no means own me. Let me disabuse you of that notion right now."
"You think not?" Azula challenged. "I wonder what the Earth King would do if he learned you'd been released. I don't suppose that would make him very happy."
"The Earth King has bigger problems on his hands right now," Long Feng countered. "Besides, even if he didn't, he can't touch me. Much like you can't."
"Oh yes," Azula drawled in a bored tone. "You have been busily raising my army these last few months, haven't you, Long Feng? I can understand how that would instill you with confidence."
"My army," Long Feng stressed. "You have no power here. You're obviously as deluded as you've been rumored to be if you think so! Now, if that is all—,"
"—You don't dismiss me, Long Feng!" Azula snapped harshly. "When I am finished with this conversation, you will know it!"
"Say what you have to say and be done with it!" Long Feng bit out.
"I see your time in prison has stripped you of all your good manners, Long Feng," Azula tsked. "Such a shame."
"What do you want?"
"Your loyalty, of course," she said. "I won't ask for your trust and respect because that's a laughable prospect even to me. But you are going to help me get what I want and, in return, I will then help you get what you want."
"I'm perfectly capable of getting what I want without you, Princess," Long Feng retorted.
"Are you?" Azula laughed. "Because, from my vantage point, you haven't been doing such a fine job of that thus far. This supposed power you think you have, it's very tenuous. It wouldn't take very much to shake your allies' confidence in you at all…especially when they're reminded that the Avatar is out there and you have no immediate plans as to how to deal with him. You wouldn't want to find yourself in another situation like you did with the Dai Li, would you?"
"It's hardly the same," Long Feng spat. "You were able to persuade the Dai Li away from me because they believed you had something I did not. That's not the case this time. You're a pariah and a laughingstock in the eyes of your own nation. Even your brother won't recognize you as family. To the world, you're nothing more than a crazy, delusional failure," he finished in immense satisfaction. "No one would dare choose to follow you."
"Be that as it may," Azula remarked, seemingly unfazed by his cruel verbal attacks, "while I may, indeed, be crazy and delusional in your eyes, I wouldn't make assumptions about who will and will not follow me. You see, I have something that you don't, Long Feng."
"And what's that, Princess?" he indulged in the most patronizing tone.
Azula's lips curved in a malevolent smile. "The Avatar."
