DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NICKELODEON'S AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER OR ITS CHARACTERS. I just shave the wool off koala-sheep (wow, that's really random).
Author's Pre-Chapter Note: I am the proud new owner of "Avatar: The Art of the Animated Series," and I made an interesting discovery! On page 137, below a picture of the Fire Nation capital, is a caption that reads "Royal Caldera City," (capitalized as you see here), so I'm going with that as the name of the capital! Mystery solved (for me, at least)!
"All right, Uncle – Jee – men, we are going to fan out." Zuko pointed to two of the firebenders. "I would like you to canvass the people in the market area. You know what to ask." He ticked them off on his fingers. "One – have they seen any old men with arrow tattoos or any old men who wear hats and long sleeves all the time? Two – have there ever been any strange, unexplained things, like wind storms that have come out of nowhere? Three – have they ever seen or met an old man who seems to be able to bend more than one element? Four –"
"Prince Zuko, may I interrupt?" Iroh raised a hand.
Zuko sighed in aggravation. "What is it, Uncle?"
"I was hoping that I might be allowed to cover the market. You see, I have broken one of my sandals, and –"
"No, Uncle!" Zuko stopped him. "We all know what happened last time you covered the market."
"I said that I was sorry."
"Yes, I know. But we barely escaped with our lives." He looked at Iroh pointedly. "You are going to take one of the rhinos and go to the outlying farms and investigate there."
"That could take all day." Iroh had little desire to spend the day bumping around the dusty countryside on a rhino.
"Have you somewhere else to be?" Zuko yelled, his patience at an end, flames licking at his fists.
"Well, I do need new sandals."
"Uncle!"
Iroh slumped, disappointed. "I will go to the farms."
"Jee, you and the rest of the firebenders talk to the townspeople. Go door to door if you must."
"Yes, your highness."
"And where will you go, Prince Zuko?" Iroh was hoping to swap with his nephew.
"I'm going to the garrison." He pointed to the fortified building on a hill overlooking the harbor. "If there are rumors," he squinted up at it, "they will know."
He dismissed the men, and they all obeyed, with the exception of Iroh, who hung back, putting a hand on Zuko's arm to stop him.
Zuko resisted the impulse to roll his eyes. "Yes, Uncle?"
Iroh made to speak, then stopped, then opened his mouth again, although no sound came out.
"What is it, Uncle?"
"Prince Zuko, perhaps it would be – best, if I went to the garrison in your place, or if I accompanied you."
"You are not getting out of going to the farms."
Iroh shook his head. "No, it is not that." At Zuko's skeptical look, he continued. "Really. It's just that – well, Zuko, when you are dealing with high-ranking military men, a bit of finesse is required. You can't use fear – or intimidation."
"When have I used fear or intimidation?"
Every day, Iroh wanted to say. Since leaving the Eastern Air Temple, since talking with the old man there, Zuko had become harder – he was more impatient, more apt to snap at people – bitter. With Jee, with the other men, and with Iroh himself, he was distant and forbidding.
"The officers of the garrison – I know how to talk to them, Zuko. Let me go with you."
Zuko looked at Iroh, unconvinced. He didn't need his uncle's help. He didn't want it, either. He wanted to solve his own problems – he wanted to find the avatar on his own. He wanted to prove to his father that he could solve his own problems – that he was a fit heir. But, perhaps his uncle had a point. Iroh had been in the army for more than half his life. He knew how to talk to these men – he could speak their language. And, what kind of a Fire Lord would he, Zuko, be, if he could not accept help and utilize the talents of those around him?
"All right, Uncle. You can come with me." He turned to walk away, but stopped, and turned back to look at his uncle. "Thank you."
The men at the garrison gates were either unimpressed by royalty, or unimpressed by Zuko's assertion that he and his uncle were royalty. Either way, the two of them were denied entrance.
Zuko stood in front of the closed portcullis, tapping his riding crop on his boot and fuming. "We're princes of the Fire Nation, Uncle! Who do they think they are to deny us entry?"
Iroh shrugged in good humor. "They are just doing their jobs, Prince Zuko. They do not know who we are; it's not as if we have paperwork stating who we are." He smiled. "Give them a few moments to consult their superiors – I'm certain that everything will work out."
A dignified-looking man in a Fire Nation uniform with a colonel's insignia peered through the gate, and jumped visibly. He stepped back and made a turning motion with his arm. "It is the Dragon of the West, you dolts! Let them in! Let them in!"
As the gate rolled up, Iroh smiled at his nephew. "See? I told you that all would go well."
Zuko stared back at him stonily.
The colonel rushed forth, followed by his subordinates. "Welcome, General Iroh! Welcome!" He bowed. "And Prince Zuko." He bowed to him. "An honor to have you both at our humble garrison."
Zuko was bolstered by this. "Please have someone see to our mounts." He handed the reins to one of the soldiers with an air of entitlement and brushed past the colonel, who followed him with resentful eyes.
Iroh noted this, and tried to smooth it over. "Colonel? I'm sorry, I did not catch your name."
"Colonel Zheng, Sir." They fell in side by side to walk to the garrison building, to which Zuko had already begun.
"Zheng. Thank you for opening the gate. How did you know we are, in fact, who we say that we are?"
"I served under you when you were in the northern Earth Kingdom. Right before the Battle of Shan Qu."
Iroh brightened. "Ah! A good battle! We routed the enemy, didn't we?"
Zheng puffed. "Yes, so we did, Sir."
Iroh's face crumpled a bit. "We lost a lot of good men, though."
Zheng nodded grimly. "Yes, we did."
They were silent for a moment, then Iroh jovially gave him a pat on the back. "But we are here, eh? Two old war horses?"
Zuko rolled his eyes, although neither man noticed.
A guard opened the door for the three of them, and they passed through into the main hallway, and then into the colonel's office. Zheng ushered them into chairs before his desk. "May I offer tea, your highnesses?"
Iroh lit up. "Oh, yes! Have you hibiscus? They are native here, are they not?"
"Yes, yes, indeed." He gave the order, and one of the guards nodded and was gone.
"Tell me, Zheng," Iroh made himself comfortable, "which division were you in?"
As the two older men began swapping war stories, Zuko stood and wandered around his office. There were scrolls nailed to the wall – maps of the city and the surrounding countryside, and official orders. Zuko fingered one and let it drop. "Should you post these here, Colonel? Isn't this classified information?" He interrupted their conversation.
The officer looked at the wall, and then at Zuko. "Classified information? From whom should we safeguard it, Prince Zuko? The Earth Kingdom peasants who unload the ships? Or those who till the land?" He waved his hand airily. "We have no trouble here. There has not been a whiff of a rebellion here in twenty years – more." He shook his head. "No. We do not have that trouble here. These people are too concerned with putting food on the table to bother with resistance. You know the Fire Nation motto – keep them busy, keep them docile. Works for us!"
"Oh, yes! Quite!" Iroh chuckled as a corporal arrived with tea. "Oh, smells delicious! Hibiscus tea is so aromatic, isn't it?" Iroh rubbed his hands in anticipation.
The colonel began pouring the tea, but Zuko refused with a wave of his hand and continued looking at the maps. "Colonel," he pointed at one of the maps, "are these caves in the northwest corner of the district?"
"Yes. They are a day's ride."
Zuko nodded, thinking. "Have they ever been searched for the avatar – or for rebels, for that matter?"
The colonel's brows went up. "The avatar? The avatar's been dead for a hundred years."
Zuko dropped his hand and turned to face Zheng. "The sages say differently. As do other – sources."
"And what is your interest in the avatar, Prince Zuko?"
Iroh laughed, trying to deflect the question. If the man did not know about the agni kai, and Zuko's banishment, Iroh did not want to inform him. "Oh, you know – like father, like son."
The man's eyes narrowed. Ozai's trek around the world more than twenty years before was almost legendary – for its brutality, and for its failure. Ozai had searched, all right, burning everything and everyone who stood in his way or resisted. And, yet, he had not found the prize for which he had searched.
"Perhaps you will have more – luck, your highness."
Zuko did not turn. "I don't need luck."
"More success, then."
Zuko faced him then, his face impassive. "I will. I intend to find the avatar, and win this war, once and for all."
Zuko, of course, wanted to search the caves he had spotted on the map. At first, Colonel Zheng had refused his permission outright, but some cajoling and flattery by the Dragon of the West convinced the man to allow it and lend some men and rhinos for the expedition. Besides, Iroh reasoned, it was never a bad thing to give the colonists a show of strength. They needed to be reminded, sometimes, who was in charge.
Zuko's men, naturally, found nothing in town. No one had ever seen an airbender nor anything that could be attributed to an airbender, and no one had ever heard tales of any surviving Air Nomads. They were free, then, to explore the outlying farms that Iroh had never reached.
So, with a force of borrowed soldiers, Zuko and Iroh rode out to the caves. It was, as Zheng had said, a full day's ride, and, although it did not fatigue Zuko, Iroh was stiff by the time they arrived. As usual, Zuko was very excited about the possibility to finding the avatar, and he was convinced, as he always was, that the airbender was just around the next corner or the next rock, waiting to be found. Alas, as always, the avatar was not to be found, although they did find a small band of highwaymen who had been plaguing the region's roads for some time, and, so Colonel Zheng, at least, considered the expedition a success.
It was a tired Zuko and an exhausted Iroh who returned to the town the next day, and, after thanking the colonel for his assistance, Zuko returned to the ship. Iroh, who had been very winded, had asked the colonel for a restorative cup of tea, and Zuko had not seen a reason to stay with his uncle.
Jee and the others had had no success in the countryside, which Zuko had expected, and he disconsolately ordered his lieutenant to ready the ship. Iroh came aboard about an hour later, and Zuko gave the order to depart.
"Well, what a successful trip!" Iroh leaned over the rail and smiled tiredly as they pulled away from the pier.
Zuko's brows drew down. "How so? We did not find the avatar."
"Well, we made a new ally in Colonel Zheng, and we assisted him in taking some dangerous criminals off the streets." He clapped Zuko on the back. "And, I got new sandals!" He pulled out a sack that had been concealed in his sleeve. "All in all, a successful visit."
Zuko gave him a dark look.
"No, you must roll it out more evenly, my lady." Zhifang, the Liang cook, took the rolling pin from Lan. "If you do not, the skin of the dumpling will be too thick in some areas, and too thin in others." She demonstrated, leaning on the rolling pin and flattening the dough out to a uniform thickness. "See?" She lifted the thin sheet up and presented it to Lan.
Lan nodded. "Very nice."
The cook crumpled the dough back into a ball and slapped it onto the counter.
Lan gave a squeal of dismay. "That was perfect, Zhi! Why did you do that?"
"Because I know how to make dumplings. You do not." She pointed at the rolling pin. "Try it again."
Lan sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yes. All right."
She pressed the dough into the counter with her hand, and then put the rolling pin to it. She put her elbows up, hunched her shoulders, and rolled the dough out. When she was finished, she stepped back to allow Zhifang to inspect it.
"No." The woman wadded the dough back up, and Lan groaned.
"Zhifang, that dough is going to be inedible." Ming Yi stood in the doorway.
The cook looked up at her employer and smiled. "We aren't eating that dough. I made the dumpling skins earlier."
"What?!" Lan was outraged, but Ming Yi laughed and clapped her hands in mirth.
Zhifang grinned at Lan Chi. "This is just practice for you, my lady. It's dinner for us."
Lan laid the rolling pin down. "Oh, fine. Make fun of me."
"Well, let's leave Zhifang to finish dinner. The newest candidate is here."
Lan and Ming Yi had been interviewing prospective ladies' maids for the past week. There had been some very qualified candidates, but none who had been satisfactory in Ming Yi's eyes.
"Can't you just interview her and find something wrong with her by yourself?" Lan asked.
"Very funny, young lady. Come on."
Lan dusted her hands together, removed her apron, and followed her aunt to the sitting room.
The young lady who stood upon their entrance did not seem to be much older than Lan Chi herself – perhaps sixteen or seventeen. She was very tall, even taller than Ming Yi, and broad shouldered, like many of the Earth Kingdom people now under Fire Nation rule. She had light brown hair that was pulled back into a severe bun, and long bangs that nearly obscured her eyes, although Lan could see that her eye color was hazel – a sure sign of Earth Kingdom ancestry.
She bowed deeply, and Lan Chi did the same. When Lan's eyes came up, she saw that the girl was gaping at her – at her hair, presumably. Unperturbed, Lan smiled. She was much too used to stares to be insulted.
Ming Yi settled herself on the sofa, and indicated that the maid should sit in an adjacent chair. Lan sat beside her aunt, and noticed a crusting of dried dough on the side of her arm. She tried to wipe it away surreptitiously, although most of it landed in her lap.
"You are?" Ming started the interview.
She pulled her eyes away from Lan. "Oh – oh, Changda – my lady."
"Well, Changda, I understand that you have some information for us?" Ming asked in her most imperious voice.
"Oh – oh, yes, my lady – ladies, I mean." The girl blushed and handed over a scrolled parchment.
Ming untied the ribbon and unrolled the parchment. She read over the words, nodding and making small sounds in her throat. "So I see that your mother, both of your aunts, and your two older sisters are all successful ladies' maids?"
The girl's head bobbed.
"Is that a yes?" Ming's brow arched.
"Yes, oh, yes, my lady."
"And all are employed in Fire Nation households here in the city?"
"Yes, Ma'am. I mean, my lady."
Ming nodded. "And you apprenticed with them?"
"Yes, my lady." Her eyes slid to Lan Chi, who was completely disinterested, picking at another spot of dried dough. "For – for the past year."
"But you yourself have never been employed as a ladies' maid."
Changda's face fell. "No, my lady."
"I see." She dragged her eyes over the girl. "Your family has a farm here, is that true?"
"Y – yes, my lady. How did you know?"
Ming smiled. "You've a farm girl's build. Tall, with strong arms and shoulders."
The girl's face became red. "Is – is that a problem?"
Ming smiled, finally. "Not at all. I was just testing my powers of deduction."
Changda looked puzzled.
Ming turned to her niece. "Lady Lan Chi, have you any questions?"
"What?" Lan pulled herself from her reveries, which, although she would have denied it, all involved Zuko – Zuko holding her hand, Zuko kissing her...
"Have you any questions for Changda?"
Lan looked at the other girl curiously. She seemed nice enough, although it was difficult to tell with the maid's eyes cast to the ground submissively.
"No. I don't think so." Lan shook her head. She knew that her aunt would make the decision, so she knew that any questions that she herself could ask would have no consequence.
Ming slapped her thighs. "That's it, then."
Changda's shoulders slumped, and she stood. "Thank you anyway, my lady. It was a pleasure to meet you."
Ming stood, as well, followed by Lan Chi. "Can you move in tomorrow?"
"Wha?" Changda was clearly astonished. "I – I got the job?"
"Well, why not? You've never been a lady's maid before, and my niece has never had one before. It should work out perfectly." She turned to Lan. "Don't you think, Lan?"
Lan Chi looked at her new ladies' maid again. "Yes, Aunt Ming. I don't see why it shouldn't."
True to her word, Changda moved in the next day, assigned to a room with one of the senior housemaids. She was very excited, and her family was ecstatic – and surprised. Of all the seven children in the family, Changda was the quietest and the most placid, and her parents had resigned themselves to her remaining at home for the rest of her life. They did not want that for their youngest daughter – out in the big world, gainfully employed, she might find a greater purpose – and even a husband, if all went well.
Upon moving in, Changda's first assignment was to go through Lan Chi's wardrobe and do any necessary mending. Changda diligently went through all of Lan's robes and found a hem or two that needed restitching.
She was just sitting down to that task when she accidentally knocked over a row of portraits by Lan Chi's bed. She hastened to pick them up.
"Here, let me help." Lan had entered the room silently, and Changda jumped.
"I'm sorry," Lan smiled. "Did I scare you?"
Changda averted her eyes. "No, my lady."
Lan set the pictures back up. "You don't need to be scared of me, Changda. I don't bite."
The maid blushed, and stood before Lan, her hands folded demurely.
Lan threw herself down on the bed, and, when Changda did not move, Lan gave a puzzled look. "Are you waiting for something? Am I sitting on something you need?" She twisted to look under her.
"N – no, my lady. I – I am not to sit in your presence."
Lan's brows rose. "Really? That's rather silly. How are you to do your mending if you do not sit?"
"I – I don't know, my lady." Changda's eyes did not rise.
"Well, sit down, do. Don't mind me. Really."
Changda reluctantly sat, and, when she looked up at her new employer, Lan smiled.
Lan was intrigued by this newcomer. She knew why Ming had chosen Changda as her ladies' maid. Changda had been the youngest person, by far, to apply for the position, and her aunt had seen, in the young woman, a possible companion for Lan. Lan did not mind – she had not had a friend her age since Ling at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, and, she admitted, sometimes she felt lonely surrounded by only adults.
Still, she could not force the girl to be her friend, or to feel comfortable around her, so she thought to put her at her ease.
"So you have two sisters?"
Changda had taken the mending on her knee. "Yes, my lady."
"I don't have any sisters."
The other girl was quiet.
"How many brothers do you have?" Lan asked.
"Four, my lady."
"All older?"
"Three older, one younger."
"Oh. I had a brother. He died."
Changda looked up, sympathy on her face. "I'm so sorry, my lady."
Lan shrugged. "It was a long time ago. He was just a baby."
"I'm still sorry."
Lan smiled. "Thank you." She idly kicked her night stand. "You probably know my parents are both dead."
Changda blushed. She did know that. "Yes, my lady. I am sorry for you." She looked up, stricken. "I mean – for that."
"I understand." She picked up her mother's picture from the nightstand and held it out. "This is my mother. She was Water Tribe."
Changda looked at her in shock.
"I know. Mixed marriage. Odd, isn't it?"
"N – no, my lady. Not at all."
"It is odd. I don't mind if you think that. I think that, too. But," she shrugged, "they loved each other."
"She was quite beautiful."
Lan smiled. "Thank you. She died giving birth to my brother. I – I don't remember her much." She laid her mother's portrait on the bed, and showed Changda her father's picture. "This is my father. He was a great war hero." Remembering that Changda was actually Earth Kingdom, she realized that the maid may not see her father in the same light, and she blushed. "He was Lady Ming Yi's brother." She laid it down with her mother's portrait. "He died in the war."
"I'm so sorry. So many people have died in the war. I lost two uncles." She paled. "Th – they did not live near here. They were fighting somewhere else. They were not rebels! I swear! We – we would never rebel –"
Lan blushed even redder. How odd to think that this girl who sat in front of her had family who fought on the other side of the war. Lan held her hand up. "Please don't worry, Changda. I do not think either you or your family disloyal."
"Oh, oh, thank you, my lady. I really did not mean anything by it."
"I know you did not."
Changda dropped her eyes to her stitches. "Thank you."
Lan rushed on to Su Hsing's picture. "This was another aunt. Ming's sister. I used to live with her, but she – died." Lan looked at the picture. "She was very kind." She laid that frame on the bed, too, and picked up Iroh's picture. "This is her husband. I lived with him, after my aunt died."
Changda's brow furrowed. "He looks familiar."
"Really? I don't know why. He –" she stopped. He might look familiar because he's the Dragon of the West! You ninny! He may have been the one who killedher uncles, or the general who ordered the troops in the battle that killed them.
She quickly put down the portrait.
"Has he – is he – still alive?" Changda did not know how to ask, so she stumbled over her words.
"Oh, yes. He's – traveling. With my – cousin."
"Oh. Is that why you aren't living with him anymore?"
Lan looked at the portrait a long moment before laying it down. "Yes."
There was a long silence, and Changda, now interested, pointed at Lu Ten's portrait. "Is that your sweetheart?"
Panicked for a moment, she looked around, but, then, realizing that Changda referred to Lu Ten, she smiled slightly and shook her head. "No. That's my cousin."
"The one traveling with your uncle?"
"No. My uncle is traveling with my cousin, Zuko. This is my cousin, Lu Ten. He was Su Hsing's son."
"Was?"
Lan nodded somberly. "Yes. He was killed in the war, too."
"I'm so sorry."
"Thank you. I miss him so much. After my parents died, my uncle Iroh and Aunt Su Hsing adopted me, and I was raised as Lu Ten's sister." A nostalgic smile came over her face. "He was the greatest brother anyone could ever ask for. And the greatest person ever."
"He's very handsome. He looks a lot like your father."
Lan looked at Lu Ten again. "Yes, you're right. He does. Funny that I never noticed it."
"Do you have a picture of your other cousin? What's his name? Starts with a Z?"
Lan tore her eyes away from Lu Ten. "Zuko?" She shook her head sadly. "No. I was going to get one made, but..." she paused. "Something bad happened to him, and I never did."
"Oh, no. He must be all right, though, right? He's traveling with your uncle, after all."
Lan Chi laid Lu Ten's picture on the pile. "I don't know. I guess he's all right."
Changda heard the note of sadness in Lan's voice. "I'm certain that he's fine."
Lan looked at her. "I hope that you're right."
Author's Note: Here we have the introduction of Lan's new and permanent ladies' maid, who is from the Earth Kingdom. Hmmm...that may cause some awkwardness, since there is a war going on, and all. We also get some more of Ming Yi's shenanigans - I have read several reviews that cite her as a favorite, and I am glad! She will come in and out of the story for a long time, dispensing her special brand of tough love and take-no-prisoners mothering!
