A/N: So I split my chapter into two because it was over 12,000 words. Longest chapter I've ever written! This is part 1, and part 2 is the next chapter. These chapters follow the episode "Lake Loagai". I hope you guys enjoy.
Looking down at the drawings sprawled across the floor I tried hard not to laugh at my brother's very unique artistic ability. The outlines Sokka had drawn of Appa were more like circles with lines coming off for the feet. He drew an arrow going up the middle of each circle. It was great he was trying, but at the same time those drawings would probably not help us find Appa.
Sokka, who was seated on the floor tracing another circle with his paintbrush, looked over at me with question. "What?" he asked. "What's that face for?"
Shrugging, I sat cross legged beside him on the floor and said, "Nothing… Just looking. I need entertainment."
Yesterday evening after Kale and I had gotten out of our armor and sat on one of the pillows in the room, Aang walked in a few moments later looking really dismayed and upset. When he saw Kale and I he immediately brightened up and ran across the room throwing his arms around me. He then tackled Kale hugging him too. When Aang's excitement died down everyone gathered so Kale and I could explain all that had happened in the last few weeks.
As I retold of the last few weeks traveling with Uncle Iroh and Zuko, Sokka was amused when I told them how Zuko kept wanting to fry my boyfriend. When I got to the part about Uncle waking up, I could tell my sister and Toph were relieved. Then I told them about our trip through the desert, arriving at the Oasis, running from Xin Fu and Master Yu, hiding in some flower pots, making our way to the secret passage, hitching a ride on the ferry, running into Jet, and then getting into the city. When I mentioned Jet, Katara's eyes widened.
"Jet's here in the city?" she asked, surprised. "No way!"
Sighing, I looked down in dismay. "Yeah… But he was imprisoned by the Dai Li after he tried to attack us all. I haven't seen him since." This made Katara cringe when I mentioned the Dai Li.
"Those men aren't to be trusted," Sokka muttered. "They're up to no good. They won't let us see the earth king! I have a feeling they haven't even told the man were here yet!"
"Believe me… Kale and I know," I said, then went on to tell them about the Anti-D.L. Kale added in about his brother being the leader which really caught everyone's attention.
When we finished telling our story, I finally asked, "So what happened with you guys?"
Aang was the one who answered. He told us that after they left us at the abandoned town, they flew to the Oasis we'd spoken of and met a crazy researcher Professor Zei. The dude led them on an expedition to Wa Shi Tong's Library, a hidden library underneath the desert, where they met a scary giant spirit owl who happened to be Wa Shi Tong himself. While they were at the library they discovered that a solar eclipse was to come in a few months, before the day of Sozin's comet. During this eclipse all fire benders would lose their bending.
Immediately I cringed at the idea of not being able to bend. That meant I'd have to rely fully on my warrior skills that day.
"When we escaped the sinking library and got to safety," Aang continued, and his eyes closed tightly as his face contorted in pain. "We found out Appa had been taken by sand benders." Immediately I frowned, feeling worried for the giant kind sky-bison. I truly hoped he was okay.
Katara continued the story, seeing as Aang's mind had carried to somewhere else. "After we left the library on foot, we kind of got a little lost in the desert. It was almost two days of walking aimlessly through the desert that we ran into some sand benders. One of the sand benders was with the group that had taken Appa. He told us he sold Appa to a trader who was headed to Ba Sing Se. That's why we came here originally." Katara continued to explain how on their way they ran into the pregnant woman I'd met on the tram the other day, and how they helped her and her family cross the serpents pass to get to the city. Sokka explained exuberantly about the massive sea creature they had to escape, and Kale pouted that he missed such an adventure. Katara continued to tell us how they made it to Ba Sing Se and then added in quickly about running into Suki along the way. I shot her a look of question.
Sokka took over. "Suki's one of the Kyoshi Warriors we met back on Kyoshi Island a long time ago. She helped us cross the pass too. I'll take over! After we got to the city, we were just getting to the outer wall when we saw a giant drill made by the fire nation trying to put a hole through the great wall of Ba Sing Se. Turns out it was your sister and those two creepy girls that are always with her."
"What?! Azula was trying to break into the city?!" I asked, my eyes wide with horror.
"Yeah," Katara said. "But we stopped them. We were able to take the machine down and your psychotic sister was forced to flee." Katara then continued to tell us how they were pretty much given a tour of the city, escorted by a weird chick named Joo Dee. Then she expressed with irritation how they were being watched every second by the Dai Li. She then told us how they managed to sneak into the Earth King's party that he was throwing for his pet bear, and tried to get to the Earth King, but the leader of the Dai Li- Long Feng- intercepted them. He threatened them saying that if they weren't quiet about the war he'd remove them from the city.
"The Dai Li make me sick!" I hissed. "They think they can just take over and control the Earth King and tell the Avatar what to do. Well I say let's do something about it. There has to be a way to get past the Dai Li so we can speak to the King."
Sokka shook his head. "No… We can't just barge in. We're greatly outnumbered. The only thing we can do right now is find Appa. Once we find Appa, then we can decide what to do."
Jumping up now, I said, "I'll tell you exactly who has Appa. It's the Dai Li! I have a gut wrenching feeling they have the poor guy and are keeping him as blackmail against Aang."
Kale stood quickly, saying, "We don't know that for sure though… We can't just make rash decisions and go looking for a fight. Besides... You need to stay low Amber, especially since the Dai Li wants you as a weapon. We can't afford for any of us to get imprisoned right now."
"Kale's right," Aang said. "As much as I want to listen to you Amber and go smack some Dai Li around right now, we can't just go on a whim. We have to wait till we hear word. Tomorrow we'll make posters of Appa and put them all around the city. Surely someone's seen him. He's not hard to miss." Sighing in defeat, I decided there was no more reason to argue.
Now as I sat with Sokka, watching him draw some more posters of Appa, I still knew deep down the Dai Li had their hands all over this. They had Appa, and the thought made me sick. "I really hope we find him," I said softly, staring at one poster Sokka had already finished.
Sokka suddenly put his paint brush down and sighed, closing his eyes as he too thought the same thing. "We all do… Appa's family."
Toph, who was lying back on a pile of pillows in the middle of the room, said, "When I find out who has that poor guy, I'll crush them with all the rock I can find." Her face contorted in pain, and I could tell she felt responsible for Appa's kidnapping.
"It wasn't your fault, Toph," I reassured.
Toph sighed. "I feel like it is."
"The only one at fault is those terrible sand-benders," Sokka muttered.
The door opened then and suddenly Katara, Aang, Kale, and Momo (who was on Kale's shoulder) walked into the room. Katara held a pile of posters in her hand, and held one out for us to see. "We found a printer to make our posters!" Katara exclaimed with excitement.
Standing, I walked over and looked at the drawing with surprise. It was a very detailed sketch of Appa. "Yep… That will probably work," I said, then smiled at them.
"Hey, I thought designing "the lost Appa poster" was my job. I've been working all day on my Appa," Sokka said, then held up one of his circle drawings with a pout.
As Katara and Aang went over to criticize his art work, I turned to Kale with question.
"Did anyone interrogate you on why you're in the Upper Ring?" I asked.
Kale shook his head. "No… Looks like I'm not the one they want."
Crossing my arms, I muttered, "Good for you. I'm stuck in here."
He smiled apologetically. "You know it's not forever. It's just until we can find Appa and tell the Earth King all about the corrupted Dai Li. Once the Dai Li aren't trying to capture you anymore, you'll be free to walk around the city with no worries."
Nodding, I said a bit annoyed, "Feels like I'm under house arrest though."
Kale tried to lighten my mood. "At least you can be lazy for once in your life. Think of this as vacation. Take a nap or meditate."
Toph walked over to us. "Oh please! Princess doesn't know how to vacation. She can barely sit still." She poked me in the arm hard. "Don't think about disguising yourself and trying to sneak after us."
I shoved her hand away and crossed my arms. "I wasn't going to do that."
Toph stood beside me for a moment. "Hm... Not lying... That's a first." She walked off to go join the others.
Kale laughed and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Well that reassures me."
"You ready to go hang up some flyers?" Katara suddenly asked, walking over to Kale and I. Momo (who still was on Kale's shoulder) chattered excitedly and flew across the room to Aang who welcomed his furry friend with a smile. Momo must've been ready to get Appa back as much as the rest of us.
Kale nodded to Katara, gave me his amazing smile, and then walked over to the others who were still laughing as they analyzed more of Sokka's drawings.
Katara looked over at me with sorry eyes. "It sucks you can't come along. I know you wanted to help. Will you be okay?"
I waved her off with the best smile I could give. "I'm always okay… I'll probably just go take a nap anyway. Besides... You look like you have a good group. I would just get in the way."
Katara sighed. "I wish you could come though. It feels like we just got back with you and we're always ditching you."
Hanging my head slightly, I said, "Being half-spirit has a lot of downfalls." Then I gave Katara another fake smile. "Look at it this way. At least if someone comes by while you guys are gone with news of Appa, then one of us will be able to get the message. So in a way I'll still be helping."
This made Katara find a small smile to give me.
As they all started to leave, I watched them go with a wave trying to encourage them that I'd be okay. Once they shut the door behind and I could no longer hear them on the other side, I let out a hard sigh as I was left alone. This was the first time in a while I was left alone, so it would be a little weird. I was used to being around people all the time. The room felt so empty without my family or friends.
Walking over to the pile of pillows on the floor, I plopped down and lied back on the soft bundles closing my eyes. Maybe if I took a nap like Kale insisted, they'd be back when I woke up. I'd only been in a drift for two minutes though, when suddenly I heard something. It was the sound of footsteps outside and I wondered if the others had forgotten something. Getting back up from where I'd just gotten comfortable, I groggily walked over to one of the windows that looked outside. Glancing out on the porch, I expected to see my family or maybe Joo Dee. I saw no one. My heart skipped a beat and a chill ran through me. I backed up with confusion. I could've sworn I heard footsteps…
Sighing, I turned around to go back to my spot deciding I was probably just paranoid. Only I didn't get very far. As I turned, I bumped into someone and stumbled back a little bit. Looking up in horror, I saw a man in a long dark green robe, with narrowed green eyes, a goatee, and a long mustache. He had two Dai Li agents flanked on both sides of him. They had come inside so stealthily I hadn't heard them.
My blood went cold.
The man smiled at me with determination.
"Um… Long Feng, right?" I asked with a weak voice, immediately knowing who he was.
He responded with a leveled voice. "I see your friends have mentioned me. Hello, Princess Amber… I've heard many things about you."
With a grimace, I said, "Yeah… I've heard some things about you." Taking a step back, I tightened my fists. "You've got a lot of people who don't like you." Then with determination, I lit a flame in my hand and jerked the fire at the three men. They all were surprised by my sudden attack, and as they ducked from the volley of flames I took that as my cue to run. I wasn't going to stand around and chat with Long Feng all day.
"Stop her!" Long Feng shouted as I rushed toward the front door.
My hand brushed the handle, but I was too late. Something hard caught around my feet and I fell with an 'Oomph' into the door falling hard on the floor. Wincing from the pain that radiated through my body, I gasped when my hands were grabbed and yanked behind my back being encased in hard stone. Looking at my ankles, I saw a stone like cuff had wrapped around them tightly.
"Let me go!" I screamed at the Dai Li agents in fury. I tried to yank my feet and wrists apart but the restraints were too strong.
The Dai Li agents yanked me up off the ground and practically carried me back over to Long Feng who seemed amused by my poor escape attempt. "Your fire truly is a beautiful thing," Long Feng said, looking me over with thrill. "The rumors about you were all true. You will be a perfect asset to our people! You will help us destroy everyone who opposes us!"
"Let me go! You can't do this to me!" I snapped, struggling in the hold of the two men in Dai Li uniforms. "If you take me Aang and the others will know, and then I have no doubt they'll beat you all to a pulp!"
Long Feng laughed at my threat. "The avatar and his friends do not scare me." He then put on a straight face as he spoke again. "There is no need for alarm, Amber. I am not here to take you... At least not at this moment. I'm actually here to interrogate you… How did you and that other Fire Nation boy get past my guards into the Upper Ring? You didn't do it alone. Who helped you?"
It was then I knew. Long Feng was trying to get the Anti-D.L's headquarters out of me. He was trying to find Kuro's gang to protect his little Dai Li force from resistance.
"Like I'd tell you," I hissed. "You'll just brainwash them all. How did you even know I was here?"
Long Feng smirked. "We've been watching you and your friends since yesterday. I have no clue how you slipped under our detection, but when one of my men reported you were all of the sudden with the Avatar, I just had to see for myself. You've created a much harder challenge on us now. If those guards the other night weren't idiots, we would've had you and your boyfriend in our custody and no one would've known you were here. Now the avatar and his friends will talk if you just disappear."
"I won't work for you," I hissed. "I won't be used as your weapon!"
This made Long Feng laughed hard. Then he looked at me with piercing eyes. "Even if that was my intention right now, you wouldn't have had a choice in the matter… As you already seem aware, the Dai Li can be quite persuasive." A chill ran through me. "That's not why I'm here today though. I just want to know how you got here. Once you tell me what I want to know, then we'll be on our way."
I decided to change the subject quickly. I refused to betray Kuro or his friend Coal. They were too kind to be put in prison for treason. "I know you guys have Appa," I began. "I swear if you've hurt that poor guy I'll kill you all. Where are you keeping him?"
The leader of the Dai Li's eyebrow twitched, and he stepped back with a guarded voice. "If you know what's good for you girl, you'll tell us how you got into the Upper Ring," he hissed. "Stop trying to change the subject!"
Scowling, I hissed, "I'll never tell you! You tell me what you did to Appa!" I stepped forward in fury. "Tell me or I'll burn that stupid mustache right off your face!"
The two Dai Li agents tightened their holds on my arms and I winced in pain. Long Feng stepped over and grabbed my chin hard so I was forced to look into his eyes. "You can search all over Ba Sing Se girl, but you all will never find that beast. Now, answer my question! I'm not leaving until you tell me what I want to know."
Yanking my chin away, I shut my eyes and concentrated hard as I tried to get as much fire power as I could. When I felt the energy course through my veins, I felt the Dai Li agents yank away from me. With as much strength as I could, I shot fire at the dirt that encased and trapped my hand. The dirt blasted off and hit the wall behind me with a loud crash. Then when the Dai Li agents were taken off guard, I threw another blast of fire at Long Feng who tried to block and was thrown back on the ground. The Dai Li agents rushed over to help him up.
As they did this, I fired at my feet to free my ankles from the rock around them, and then I lit another flame in my hand.
"Sir… She's glowing! Is this the spiritual side of her?" One of the Dai Li agents asked, now that Long Feng was off the floor and beating at a small purple flame that was eating at his robe.
Long Feng looked at me with fury, and I let my flame increase almost daring him to try anything. "You have so much power inside you, yet you use it to help these kids. You're wasting it all! You would assist this nation greatly if you agreed to work for us!"
Smirking, I said, "These kids are my family, and they're the good guys. I will never work for you."
Long Feng scowled, and then yanked from his men who were still holding him up. "This isn't over, Amber. We will meet again," he hissed. Then he started to walk toward the front door, and I watched him go with narrowed eyes. He stopped before he opened the door, turning back to me and saying, "You should know, that as of now my men will be watching you all every minute of the day. Any sign that any of you are trying to cause a crisis of war, and I will arrest you and kick your friends to the curb."
I scowled at his words. "If you're kicking my friends out then I'm going with them!"
Long Feng turned and fully faced me, his green eyes piercing through me. "You truly wouldn't have a choice in the matter." He then stared down at my glowing hand that still held a powerful blazing flame. "So much power… being wasted." He then turned and opened the door, but not before whispering something to one of the Dai Li. His agent nodded, and Long Feng and the other agent left the building.
My eyes widened when suddenly the Dai Li agent that Long Feng had spoken to, was in front of me and grabbing my shoulder hard. My breathing hitched at his sudden speed, and my fire died as I tried to shove him off. As he continued to hold my shoulder firmly, I struggled and kicked at him hard trying to make him let go.
"Have pleasant dreams," he said. "This will only hurt a little." Confused, I stopped struggling for a moment and stared at him with question. He pulled something out of his pocket and pricked it into my neck holding it there. I gasped at the sharp pain that shot through my nerves, and grabbed his hand trying to pull him away. "Get off of me!" He jerked his hand from my shoulder, and the sharp pain left me. I stumbled away from him quickly and looked at his hand seeing a strange dart like object.
"Wha-what did you-" my mouth went dry and my eyes became blurry as my focus started to leave me. The drug he put in my body was taking effect fast. My limbs started to feel like jelly and the room spun around in circles.
"It's a special herb that can knock even the strongest man unconscious," the Dai Li agent answered. "Long Feng wanted to be cautious so you wouldn't follow us." His voice was fading by his last few words, and I felt my knees give out on me. Falling to the wood, I watched with blurry eyes as the agent turned and left the house, closing the door behind. The last thing I remember is the sound of the door shutting, and then darkness took me over.
Running through the halls of the Fire Nation palace, I laughed as my older brother chased me through the dimly lit halls toward the palace garden. "Amber! I'm going to get you!" Zuko cried, laughing behind me as we reached the large entrance that led into the palace garden. Rushing across the warm grass with my bare feet, my five year old self ran over to the giant tree in the garden and went behind it.
"Amber!" Zuko, who was six, exclaimed running behind the tree too. We ran in circles around the tree, Zuko trying to grab me but every time I managed to speed up before he could.
Finally my legs became tired and my breathing was hard. Stopping my run, I tried to breathe just as Zuko tackled me and sent us both onto the grass of the garden. We both laughed and giggled as we wrestled in the grass, and I never wanted this fun to end.
"Stop!" A hard voice snapped. We both stopped and quickly got to our feet, knowing exactly who it belonged to. Looking across the garden, Zuko and I saw our father marching over to us with piercing gold eyes. We could tell he was not happy with our childish play.
"You two are royalty! You do not have time to be acting like children!" We both looked down at the ground in shame. "Zuko! Go to your room!"
Zuko looked over at me with worry as he walked past father to head back inside the palace. When Zuko was gone, dad looked down at me with nothing but hate. "You're so worthless! Such a waste! I don't even know why I put up with you!" He slapped me hard then, and I cried out losing my balance and falling back on my butt. Crying in pain, I watched as my dad glared down at me.
"So much power being wasted inside some stupid child. I can't even stand the sight of you," he hissed. Then he turned and left me on the ground, clutching my pulsing cheek as I cried hard from his hate.
My body felt so weak… So tired. Trying to open my eyes, I did for a brief second seeing through blurry eyes I was still alone. Then I let my eyes shut once more and darkness overtake me again.
Sitting in the igloo that was my home, I stared out into the cold world watching as my thirteen year old sister tried to start a fire outside. My fifteen year old brother was sharpening one of his spears by the unlit fire. Gran-Gran was at a friend's tent, speaking about the war probably. Standing from the pile of shirts and trousers I'd just folded, I walked outside and winced as soon as the harsh cold hit me.
"Kaya!" Katara exclaimed. "Can you help me light this fire? I keep trying but nothing's sparking." Looking over, I saw her holding two rocks she must've been trying to clap together to create some sparks. Walking over to her, I took one of my gloves off and knelt beside the pile of sticks. As I shot a fire red flame toward the pile, I heard Katara ask, "How's your head feeling?"
When the pile took light, and fire began to encase the sticks, I pulled my hand away and put my glove back on. "Okay… It's just a stabbing pain every now and then. Gran- Gran said it could probably be damaged tissue that didn't properly heal eight years ago."
"Or it could be your memories trying to resurface," Katara softly said.
Standing from the fire, I shook my head. "What memories? I was six when I came here Katara. There's no point in remembering those six years that probably held no significance."
Katara now grabbed my shoulder and her blue eyes pierced through my gold. "But don't you want to know who you are? Aren't you at least curious to where you came from? How you ended up here? Don't you just want to know?"
Now I frowned and turned away, my heart aching at the thought. "Obviously my past wasn't a good one. From the scars and marks I have all over my body, I don't want to remember how I got them. I'm scared to relive those nightmares." Tears fell down my cheeks almost freezing to my skin.
Sokka stood now, placing his spear down, and he walked over hugging me to him. "It's okay, Kaya… You don't have to remember. We love you just the way you are."
Hugging my brother back, I said, "Thanks, Sokka. I love you guys so much."
Opening my eyes, I winced at a bright blue light above my head. "She's awake!" Katara exclaimed, and I saw the bright blue light was her healing water. Wincing, I tried to sit up but only fell back on the pile of pillows someone had lied me against.
"Thank the spirits!" Kale cried, and it was then I saw him kneeling beside Katara who was putting her water back in her pouch. "What happened to you?"
My hand weakly went up to the spot on my neck where the dart had pierced. It felt like it was pulsing in pain. Looking around, I saw Sokka, Aang, and Toph were standing over me looking just as worried as Kale and Katara.
"Um…" Trying to sit up again, I felt Kale support me as I managed to finally sit up straight. Clutching my head which was throbbing in pain from the drugs, I said, "The Dai Li… They came…" My voice was hoarse, and I felt my muscles were still a little unsteady. "They tried to get the Anti-D.L's whereabouts out of me, but I wouldn't give in." Sighing, I dropped my hand as the pain became dull. "Long Feng threatened to kick you guys out of the city if you caused any war talk."
Aang scowled. "What?! Long Feng was here?!"
"He didn't try to imprison you?" Kale asked.
Shaking my head, I said, "No… I don't think he will because he knows you guys will fight to get me back."
"What did they do to you?" Katara asked. "We came back from passing out flyers only to find you sprawled on the floor unconscious!"
Wincing at the memory, I answered, "They didn't want me to follow them so they drugged me with something, but I don't know what it was. It knocked me out pretty good though."
"That man's going to get what's coming for him!" Sokka hissed. "No one messes with my family and gets away with it."
"You better grab your machete and chop him down like vines then," Kale joked, referring back to the swamp. "You were pretty viscous last time."
Sokka frowned at Kale. "Shut up."
Rolling my eyes at the two, I looked over at Aang. While Kale and Sokka argued with one another in the background, I said to him, "I spoke to Long Feng about Appa."
Aang looked at me with burning question. "What did he say?"
"He didn't deny he has Appa." I stated. "So we just have to find out where he's keeping him."
A new determination came to Aang's eyes. "I say we go hunt Long Feng down and torture Appa's whereabouts out of him then!"
Toph beamed at this. "I like your sudden spunk Twinkletoes."
Katara shook her head. "No… We can't risk Long Feng getting to Appa first. Not to mention, if things go wrong Amber could be captured and we could be arrested. We have to be sneaky about this. We have to wait until we hear word of Appa's whereabouts."
We all groaned at the thought of waiting.
A knock on the door sounded only a moment later, and we all jumped at the sound. Sokka and Kale had stopped arguing, and they both reached for their weapons in case it was the Dai Li.
"Wow! Word comes fast!" Aang said excitedly. I had a feeling it wasn't news about Appa behind that door.
As Aang went to go answer the door, I was helped off the floor by Kale. My muscles felt like jelly, but I managed to find my strength to stand. Whatever those men put in my body had really messed me up.
"I'll give that man what he deserves," I muttered, wincing at the soreness in my legs and arms. The pain was probably more from the fall when I fell unconscious.
Kale sighed. "You're starting to make a long revenge list."
"My dad's still first on the list," I promised.
The door opened then, and we all looked over to see who was coming in. To my surprise it was a woman in her mid-twenties, with long black hair and glazed green eyes. She smiled too widely, and she looked like she was in a trance. She walked into the building, and I could tell everyone was amazed to see her.
"Joo Dee?" Aang asked, bewildered to see her.
"Hello Aang, and Katara, and Sokka, and Toph, and Kale, and Amber," she said. It was as if she were reciting a script.
"What happened to you? Did the Dai Li throw you in jail?" Sokka suddenly asked, stepping over to the woman with suspicion.
Joo Dee waved her hand to dismiss his questions. "What, jail? Of course not! The Dai Li are protectors of our cultural heritage."
Toph jumped in irritated. "But you disappeared at the Earth Kings party!"
Joo Dee was unfazed. "Oh, I simply took a short vacation to Lake Laogai, out in the country. It was quite relaxing."
Lake Laogai...
"But then they replaced you with some other women who also said her name was Joo Dee!" Katara exclaimed.
Joo Dee calmly said, "I'm Joo Dee."
Immediately I knew something was very wrong. The Dai Li wouldn't have given this woman a vacation. Staring at her glazed eyes, I remembered what Kuro had said the other day.
"They take them to their secret torture chamber at Lake Laogai and brainwash them."
My eyes widened and I stared at this woman with sudden horror. She was brainwashed by the Dai Li. She was one of their puppets!
"Why are you here?" Aang asked suspiciously.
"Dropping flyers and putting up posters isn't permitted within the city. Not without proper clearance," she said.
Sokka scowled. "We can't wait around to get permission for everything. It's bad enough you won't even let us see the King!"
Joo Dee smiled wider. "You are absolutely forbidden by the rules of the city to continue putting up posters."
"Is that Long Feng's orders?" I asked, pretty sure Long Feng had something to do with this.
Joo Dee looked at me still smiling. "No. It is Ba Sing Se's rules."
Aang turned furious and clenched his fists. "WE DON'T CARE ABOUT THE RULES, AND WE'RE NOT ASKING PERMISSION!" Joo Dee backed toward the door surprised by Aang's temper, trying to keep smiling. "We're finding Appa on our own and you should just stay out of our way!" Aang then slammed the door in Joo Dee's face and turned to us with tightened fists.
The room was silent as we stared at Aang with surprise. We'd never seen him blow up like that before.
"Guess that was one way of getting our point across," Kale muttered, pulling his hand from the hilt of his sword.
Sokka seemed nervous. "That might come back to bite us in the blubber."
Aang scowled. "I don't care! From now on we do whatever it takes to find Appa!"
Toph grinned. "Yeah! Let's break some rules!" She then stomped her foot on the floor and the stone wall on the building broke into pieces creating a large opening on the side. We all looked away as pieces of rock flew everywhere, then we coughed as dust filled the air. When the dust began to settle, we looked at Toph with speechless amazement. She shrugged saying calmly, "What are they going to do? Kick us out of the city? They've made that threat plenty of times already."
We decided she was right, and we made our way out of the building that now only had three walls. Deciding the Dai Li weren't going to capture me at the moment, I followed the others as we hung up more posters around the city. My strength was back, so I assumed the drug was finally wearing off.
After we hung up some posters in the Upper Ring, we went to the Middle Ring. Since Kale and I were clearly accompanying the Avatar, no one stopped us from passing through the gate. The guards eyed me as we passed, making me inch closer to Aang to let them know they couldn't touch me.
After hanging up some posters in the middle ring, we finally made it to the lower ring. In the lower ring we decided to split up to cover more ground. Sokka and Toph walked off together, Kale and Aang went in another direction, and Katara and I headed in our own direction.
As we hung up posters, I noticed Katara looked like she wanted to say something but seemed hesitant. When I asked what was up, she weakly smiled rubbing the back of her neck.
"I've just had something on my mind since you and Kale showed up yesterday. You could've stayed with Zuko and your uncle, but you came back to us instead. I guess I just wanted to know why?"
Katara's words took me a bit off guard, and I pulled my hand slowly away from the poster I'd just hung up. Looking away with a sigh, I hung my head and answered, "I always feel so terrible for always leaving them… It hurt even more this time saying goodbye… However, I knew I had to get back to you guys. My destiny is to help Aang defeat my father, and in order to do that I had to find you all."
Katara frowned and looked troubled. "Your destiny… or the destiny you were forced into?"
Smiling at Katara reassuringly, I said without doubt, "I know what I want Katara. This isn't about the spirits anymore. Even if Huo and Roku aren't my two favorite spirits right now, they're not the reasons why I'm doing this. As I worked in the tea shop with my brother and uncle, I saw the sadness, and fear in each one of my customers eyes. Even if we're in this city, with a giant wall around us, we're not truly safe until my father is defeated. This war has to end, and peace needs to come back to this world. I came back to you guys, because I'm ready to end this war once and for all. Also, I really missed you guys."
My sister seemed to appreciate my words and gave me a smile. I was relieved to see her mood had lightened by what I had spoken. Then to my surprise she wrapped her arms around me and hugged me to her. "Mom would be so proud of you…You've become such a brave and courageous young woman." I was stunned by her sudden compliment. "I know we're not related by blood, but you'll always be my sister."
Hugging Katara back as a stray tear fell down my cheek, I said, "Thanks... And mom would be proud of you too, Katara. You've become so strong and wise. Even if I'm physically older, I always thought of you as the big sister. You remind me so much of mom."
Katara pulled away then, and I saw she felt elated at what I said. "Someone's got to keep you and Sokka in line."
Laughing, I nodded in agreement. "Yeah… Definitely."
We then went back to work hanging up posters. The both of us felt ten times better than we had when we first started through the city. It felt nice to have this sisterly moment with one another. I had a feeling I'd never share the same experience with Azula.
It was after five more minutes of walking through the Lower Ring that we heard a very familiar and unwanted voice. "Katara?"
My eyes widened as I quickly recognized who the owner was. Katara and I stopped hanging our posters and turned sharply to the owner of the voice. We were both amazed to see Jet walking toward us with a poster in his hand. Immediately I stared at the teenage boy in not just shock but utter question. What was he doing here? Did the Dai Li release him from prison? Had he escaped? I'd been worried about what the Dai Li would do to him, and here he was, in the flesh.
"I think I can help you," Jet calmly said, giving that sly grin I hated so much.
A/N: End of part 1… Now onto part 2. =)