Jet POV:

He didn't want to believe what he was seeing. Hot tea. They had hot tea, which couldn't be possible unless...

The blond-haired one let out a strange, garbled-sounding curse as his cup exploded in his hands.

Jet growled and dashed his own cold tea to the ground. He turned on his heel and began to stalk in another direction. He needed to get away from that...that filth. At least until he figured out what to do about it.

Smellerbee followed up behind him. "Jet?" Her voice held a slight note of worry. She grabbed his sleeve. "Jet, what's wrong?"

"They're here," Jet answered in a low, venomous tone. "The Fire Nation is here."

"And how do you know that?" the brunette girl demanded. "We just got here-"

"The old man had hot tea," Jet explained. "Tea doesn't just magically get hot. And then that other one...cups don't just explode in people's hands."

Smellerbee bit her lip worriedly. "Jet..please don't do this. A man doesn't have to be a firebender to have hot tea."

"But-!"

He felt another hand on his shoulder. Longshot's steady gaze conveyed to him their fears...that he may be getting obsessed over this. And that this might ruin their second chance at life.

"We're done with all that," Smellerbee reminded him quietly. "...You promised."

Jet suddenly felt guilty. He didn't...want to ruin his friends' lives...not like the Fire Nation did. "Listen guys, I'm not breaking my promise. I'm going to get the evidence I need...and then take it to the proper authorities. Alright?"

Smellerbee breathed a sigh of obvious relief. "Thanks, Jet."

Longshot's lips quirked upward ever-so-slightly, showing his approval.

Jet exhaled a slow breath. He could do this. He could do this without ruining their second chance. He could do this before the firebenders wrecked their lives again.

Gaang POV:

The walls of Ba Sing Se, an amazingly breathtaking marvel. A symbol of hope and refuge for all, one of the last safe havens from the war.

Except the war was headed right for it, in the form of a big, black machine of death and fire.

"What...what is that thing?" Katara breathed.

A gigantic, metal contraption with large treads and black plate metal covering it's impressive length. Dark smoke billowed from a chimney at the top, partially obscuring the pointed, diamond shaped head and dark red Fire Nation emblem.

"Probably not good news," Sokka answered, his voice ringing with despair.

"I can feel that thing from here," Toph informed. "Whatever it is, we have to stop it. Because it feels like it's headed right for Ba Sing Se."

"We need to get up on the wall," Aang said. Surely someone up there has noticed it, at least."

"Maybe they have plan," Matthew added. "We can help plan?"

"Of course we can help," Toph smirked. "You're with the best of the best, here."

"Let's hurry, then," Sokka urged. "We need to beat that thing to the wall, and it looks like it has a head start."

Zuko POV:

Alfred stared out the window for the whole train ride, taking in the sights of Ba Sing Se. Zuko felt his lips involuntarily tugging into a small smile at his expression. A happy mixture of childish wonder and intense interest. Then the train began slowing down...and the buildings got closer...and Alfred's expression fell into disappointment.

Zuko was surprised at the sudden transformation. What brought this on? He looked outside again to try and determine what Alfred had noticed.

Slums. Poverty, filth, and unsavory characters mixed with the countless desperate refugees. The air looked almost dingy with dust and smoke from the assorted fires of shady shops slammed up against broken houses and leaning apartment buildings.

The train slowed down further as it approached the train station. This was their stop. Zuko pushed his straw hat low over his brow so that the brim would cover his eyes. You keep your head down in places like this. He glanced at Iroh, hoping that his uncle could read the steadily dimming atmosphere...

No, Uncle was a big ball of genial smiles and openness, as was his approach to everything. But Iroh could take care of himself, when it came right down to it.

Alfred, however...

Zuko elbowed the oblivious blond. Alfred raised an eyebrow in askance. Zuko discreetly gestured outside, and then to himself, hoping Alfred would wise up quickly and adjust himself appropriately.

Alfred rolled his eyes, showing that he didn't find such theatrics necessary. Zuko grunted quietly to show that he insisted upon it.

The blond sighed, reluctantly crossed his arms, and let his chin rest on his chest. He began emitting a nearly palpable aura of, 'Don't fuck with me, or I will use this hammer.'

Nearby passengers began shifting uncomfortably and scooting away in response, their gazes carefully travelling elsewhere. Zuko was satisfied with this. Iroh noticed the suddenly tense atmosphere, and was quick in determining it's cause. His smile became bemused. "Nephew..."

The scarred teen eyed his Uncle. "Hm?"

Iroh snorted softly. "You would...but why Alfred?"

"Because he's him," Zuko answered, knowing Alfred wouldn't understand them. "It's the safest option, like it or not. He's tall, built, and an admittedly good actor. I'm just this way."

The train came to a stop. Iroh was one of the first to stand up. "Well, try not to scare our neighbors, at least."

Zuko stood up and followed his uncle off of the train, Alfred's uncharacteristically forbidding presence trailing behind them.

Gaang POV:

The general in charge of the wall's defenses, so confident and secure in the competence of the forces at his disposal, swallowed his pride like a bucket of pungent, rotten fish. "Avatar...please help us?"

Aang's cheeky smile did nothing to help the general's pride. "Of course! We'll take care of it."

The soldier at the general's side tilted his head slightly. "But no one can get close enough to even touch it."

Sokka's mind turned over the possibilities. "Well...how close can you get us?"

The general looked to the soldier.

"Within a quarter of a mile, sir," the soldier answered dutifully.

"That's close enough," Toph interjected. "I can take it from there."

The general regarded Toph for a moment, before shaking his head and saying, "Lieutenant, assemble your most competent team. If they say they can do it, then I'll hold them to it."

Zuko POV:

As they began distancing themselves from the roughest part of the Lower Ring, Alfred relaxed his tense posture. He muttered something in his own language-the third time he'd done so, Zuko noted. "Is that going to become a habit?" he asked in quiet High Court. "No one knows what you're saying."

Alfred smiled and let out a small laugh. "That's how it feels for me, but all the time. Everyone else is speaking a weird jumble of several known languages from my world that I can't make heads or tails of."

"...I think you should learn it some time," Iroh interjected, looking around casually to be sure no one was paying any special attention to their hushed conversation. "You don't know how long you'll be here."

The blond's nose wrinkled slightly at the prospect. "Nah, I don't want to tempt fate by acknowledging the possibility of being stuck in this weird medieval Asian world."

Zuko smirked. "You don't like it here, I'm guessing?"

"No offense, but my world has so much more to offer me...like western culture." He sighed with false nostalgia. "I miss western culture. Almost to the point of missing Europe...almost. Most of Europe can still kiss my ass, though."

"You're not making sense," Iroh warned. "You should probably limit the, ah...rambling, for now."

Alfred silenced himself. Zuko breathed a sigh of relief. The less they spoke High Court, the better.

...Though he wondered if they could convince Alfred to pick up at least basic Common Language, and avoid the some of the risk of getting tagged as Fire Nation on a daily basis.

Gaang POV:

Matthew helped Katara out of the hole just before Toph closed it. They were right under the drill now(that's what the general had called it)...it was much bigger up close.

Sokka whistled appreciatively. "You gotta hand it to the Fire Nation, they know how to engineer good stuff."

"I'd like to hand the Fire Nation an butt-whooping," Toph responded. "So let's get this going."

"This thing is way too big to hit from the outside," Katara noted with dismay, her filled water pack suddenly feeling more insignificant than comforting.

Aang searched the metal belly above them, wondering at how they were going to accomplish this daunting task...and then his grey eyes alighted upon the perfect solution. "We'll take it out from the inside!" He blasted open the unassuming hatch as it passed over them.

"Good thinking!" Sokka praised.

"I'm staying out here," Toph declared. She bent a pillar of rock straight into the thing's metal underbelly. "I can try to slow it down out here, where I can see."

Aang nodded and jumped into the opening, helping Sokka an Katara in. Matthew took advantage of his height, gripping the metal lip of the hatch and levering himself in.

They were suddenly awash in muted red light, and surrounded by metal pipes, vents, and engines. The air was hot and dry, even more so than outside. Sokka took one look around at the metal labyrinth they were in, drew out his club, and lashed out towards the nearest engine, breaking one of the pipes. Pressurized steam began to whistle out of the new opening.

"Sokka!" Katara chastised in a hushed tone. "Someone's going to hear!"

"Exactly," the Water Tribe teen responded. "Something like this must have engineers. Engineers have maps, and we definitely need one of those." He turned around, and burst another pipe open.

Matthew frowned and listened intently. "...Someone coming."

Just as he said that, the sound of heavy footsteps began echoing down the walkway. Through the steadily thickening steam, emerged a masked face, followed by a heavily muscled figure holding a large wrench. Katara reacted first, freezing the hulking man engineer in his place.

Aang rapped his knuckle against the man's frozen torso. "Sokka, have I ever told you how much of a genius you are?"

"Not often enough," Sokka answered, already rummaging through the rolls of diagrams and maps the engineer had in his tool belt. "Aha!" He pulled one out, brushing the light layer of frost off of it. "Let's see here..." He opened it up and studied the picture intently. His expression quickly morphed into one of worry. "Hmmm...big and sturdy, typical of the Fire Nation. Everything has a back up, and I'm willing to bet this thing has a crew to match it's size..." he turned the map over, to find even more diagrams. "Spirits, where do we even begin?"

Matthew looked over Sokka's shoulder, taking in the maze of lines and piping systems with a knowingly critical eye. "Here." He tapped a specific image. "Break these and weaken shell."

Katara thought about it. "That would focus all our energy on one section...which is actually a good thing if it's big enough."

"If we weaken the structure, I can deliver the final blow from the outside," Aang added.

"Then the whole thing goes kablooey!" Sokka finished excitedly. "It's this way. Let's go!"

As they began to go, however. Aang stopped them all. "But wait...what about the guy in charge of this? We need to get them too."

"The control center is way at the back of the drill. We couldn't take out the bracers and get back there before the crew was on high alert. And we don't have enough time for vise-versa either...the second in command would just take over, and the crew would still be on high alert. Either way we'd end up facing ever security measure this thing has to offer. And like I said, we don't have time."

"We'll do them both at the same time," Katara said. "You and Matthew go take out the main guy, and we'll take out the bracers."

Sokka still looked dubious. "Are you sure you don't need help by the bracers, though?"

"I'm sure two experienced benders can handle some big metal beams," Katara assured with a falsely sweet smile. "Question is, can a non-bender and a novice handle a few meanies in red armor?"

Blue eyes sparkled at the challenge. "Let's just see who can get done first."

Zuko POV:

Alfred stretched his arms high above his head. "Home, sweet...home, I guess?"

Their new 'home' was a ratty apartment consisted of a small living area separated from a smaller bedroom by a thin screen, a wash area, and tiled area with a counter and a small hearth for cooking. Thankfully the sitting area already had a tattered rug, a low table, and some colorless cushions to sit on.

"It may not look like much," Iroh said, "But it's better than the last place we stayed in...wouldn't you agree?"

Zuko scowled at the questionable stain on the wall, and the shoddily repaired window. "Not really, this time there's people around to accompany the bugs."

"Hey, I think this place has been broken into, before," Alfred noted, gesturing vaguely towards the window. "Should we see about investing in a lock?"

"We don't have anything worth stealing," Zuko pointed out. "There's really no point."

Iroh sighed. "Well, first impressions aside, it's a roof over our heads that probably won't leak until it rains." He idly looked towards the bedroom, and the single raised cot pushed against the wall. "Oh, and I call the bed."

Yaaaaaaaay, new chapteeeeeer! I know you guys are rather excited to see the twins reunite, but be patient...It'll happen, just not yet.

Thanks for all the favs, follows, and reviews! It makes me feel like I have friends. So tell me what you thought of this chapter? Pweaaase?

Later dudes. ^J^