DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NICKELODEON'S AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER OR ITS CHARACTERS. I am just a member of the search and recovery team for Sokka's space sword.
Author's Pre-Chapter Notes: Thanks go out to bowow0708 and sunflower13 for their wonderful betareading skills. They make me a better author (as do all of your reviews). Thanks also to jrba95 for fanart. You can find it under deviantart under that name. Strangely enough, one of the drawings looks ALOT like my older brother's daughter, who is 19! Thanks also for all the reviews!
As soon as her aunt left, Lan Chi rang furiously and continuously for Changda until the maid arrived in her room, breathing heavily.
Her eyes were wide; she was convinced that Lan was calling her to tell her that their scheme had been discovered. "My lady! What is it?" She closed the door behind her. "Has someone found out about our plan?"
Lan shook her head, and, grabbing the maid's arm, dragged her farther into the room. "It's off. It's off. It's off. It's off. It's off. It's off. It's off." She repeated, shaking her head until the maid put a hand up to her own head.
Lan did not know how to explain what had just happened; she felt that she could not, at that moment, string enough coherent words together to explain it, so she found herself spouting gibberish until Changda took both her shoulders in her hands.
"My lady! Stop! You must tell me what happened."
Lan silenced herself, and looked blankly at her friend for a moment. "It's off." She said again. "The plan. Our plan. We must cancel it."
Changda was horrified. "B – but, my lady. Why?"
Lan shook her head, wonder in her eyes. "Because – because my uncle is going to escort me to Tao Xing himself."
Apprehension washed over the older girl's face. "Oh, no! Judge Liang is going to escort you? That will make it almost impossible to escape!"
Lan shook her head again, slowly this time. "No. Not Uncle Fai – Uncle Iroh."
Changda's hands went up to her mouth. "The Dragon of the West?" She breathed in disbelief.
"Yes. And my cousin." She gripped Changda's hand painfully.
Changda looked confused. "Your cousin Zuko?"
Lan Chi nodded. "Yes." Her voice was breathless.
"The crown prince?"
Lan nodded again.
"The cousin you're in love with?" Changda felt like an idiot, asking such simple questions.
"Yes." Lan began to smile, and, when Changda did not respond in kind, Lan took her by the arms and shook her slightly. "Don't you understand? I'm going to see Zuko again! I'm going to be traveling on a ship with him! I'm going to see him!"
"But, my lady...are you still going to have to marry that man?"
Lan looked confused. "I don't know. But – I don't care! I'm going to see Zuko again! And my uncle! I'd marry a man a thousand years older than me if it meant that I could see Zuko again!"
Changda was horrified now. "B – but, my lady, what about our plan? You can't just call it off."
"But, don't you see? I have to! I can't leave now! Not when I'm so close to seeing him again! To being with him!"
Changda felt like she was talking to a crazy person. "But, my lady, just because you are able to see him doesn't mean that you'll be allowed to marry him."
Lan pulled a face. "I know that, Changda. I'm not – simple. But I have to see him – I have to be with him. This may be my last chance. And my uncle, too. I'll probably never see either one of them again!"
Changda saw everything spiraling out of control. "My lady, no. You can't think like that. You may be able to see him, but you'll still have to leave him, and be some other man's wife. You don't want that, do you?"
Lan frowned at her. "No. No, of course not."
"And, my lady," Changda felt it important to build upon her small success. "My uncle is here – in Lao Hai. He's here to take you to Ba Sing Se."
"He has? Oh, no, Changda! Send him away! I can't go with him now!"
"My lady! No! You must go!" There was fear in Changda's eyes.
Lan pulled back, her face miserable. "Why? Because I promised that I would give you money for your farm? Is that all you care about?"
Sadness came over Changda's face, and she shook her head as she spoke. "No, my lady. No. How could you think that? Do you believe me so mercenary?"
Lan's face fell. "No, Changda. Of course not. I'm sorry. But why are you so anxious about my marriage?"
Changda's face twisted in grief. "Because my uncle told me something. Something that will change everything."
A chill came over Lan. "He told you something?"
"Yes, my lady. About the war."
Her eyes narrowed. "What about it?"
Changda shook her head again, her eyes wide. "I can't tell you."
Lan's face reddened. "You tell me that your uncle has confided something in you – something about the war – something that will change everything, but you will not tell me what it is?"
"I," she gulped, and looked around. "My lady, if I tell you, will you promise not to tell anyone? Not your aunt, or your uncles, or even your cousin? Especially not your cousin!"
Her mistress looked at her with suspicion. "I – I don't know if I can promise that, Changda. If it's that important..."
Changda shook her head resolutely. "Then I cannot tell you."
"But how can you expect me to keep a secret that you say will change everything?"
"Because you must. Because I will not tell you otherwise."
Lan glowered at her, and was silent for a long moment. "Fine. I won't say anything."
"Swear by the spirits?" Changda prompted.
"Changda..." Lan was becoming frustrated.
"If you cannot..."
She gave an aggravated sigh. "I swear by the spirits."
Changda could tell that the younger girl was becoming impatient, and she held up her hands. "I trust you."
"Good. What is it?"
Changda looked around her again, as if expecting someone to spring at her from behind the drapes. "My lady, my uncle learned from my cousin, his son, of course, who is a colonel in the Earth Kingdom army, and who's stationed near Ba Sing Se –"
"For pity's sake, Changda! Get on with it!" Lan interrupted.
"Yes. Yes. All right. Anyway, my cousin told my uncle that Ba Sing Se is getting involved in the war."
Lan felt sick to her stomach. "Ba Sing Se?" She remembered her conversation with Corporal Sheng, the young man she had met in Daejeon Ju, so long ago – the young man who had called Ba Sing Se the "sleeping giant," and who said that, once that city began sending soldiers, the Fire Nation would be devoured by the sheer size of the Earth Kingdom forces.
"Yes, my lady. He says a million soldiers will be joining the fight soon."
"A million." She hoped that she had heard wrong – but she was sure that she had not. A million soldiers – that was more, she was certain, than were in all the Fire Nation armed forces put together – perhaps more than in the entire Fire Nation.
She sank down on her bed. The Fire Nation was going to lose the war. This war that Lan had come to hate so much – the war that had cost her so much, that had cost Changda so much, that had cost Iroh so much, the war that had destroyed so much of the Earth Kingdom – it would end, perhaps soon. "Is your cousin a reliable source?"
"My uncle says that my cousin heard it from more than one person above him. A general, and a strategist for the army."
"When?" She looked up at Changda's concerned face. "When is Ba Sing Se entering the war?"
"By year's end, they say."
By year's end. By year's end, the colonies might be gone. Her fiancé might no longer be governor – he might no longer be alive! As an official of the Fire Nation, it was quite possible that he would be put on trial – perhaps put to death! But, if he was put on trial, would other officials be put on trial, as well? Like Fai? Or Iroh? Or Zuko? Would they find themselves in jail? Convicted of crimes against humanity – that was what defeated enemies and combatants were charged with, wasn't it? Would they be – executed?
It was unthinkable. She couldn't let that happen! She couldn't let dear Fai be convicted for doing his job. He had never been dishonorable, and had never perverted the pursuit of justice in the Fire Nation's favor. He was honest, and fair, and balanced. And Iroh! Oh, Iroh! The Dragon of the West! How the Earth Kingdom would love to put him on trial – or perhaps put him to death without even the distinction of a trial. And Zuko! The Prince of the Fire Nation – what a coup that would be for the Earth Kingdom, to try the Fire Lord's son! To execute him!
She felt ill to her stomach, and she put a fisted hand to her abdomen.
She couldn't let such a thing happen to them!
And what can you do, you stupid girl? She asked herself. How can you stop it? Would you like to fight everyone in Ba Sing Se? Would you like to carry away all of your relatives to somewhere safe that the Earth Kingdom can't reach – because you might as well wish for that – it's as impossible as anything else you've ever wished for!
She sighed, because it was true. She couldn't save them. She was nothing. Just a pawn to the Fire Lord. Just an insignificant, part-time scribe. It's not as if she had anything to bargain with – anything that the Earth Kingdom wanted...
She stood suddenly as a terrible, wonderful thought came to her, and, despite her plan's embryonic development, she turned to Changda. "You're right. I – we must go with your uncle. Right away. There's really no time to lose."
In the end, it was not hard for Lan Chi and her maid to sneak out of the house and steal away to journey to Changda's family farm, where the older girl's uncle had gone to await them.
It was merely a matter of waiting until Ming and Fai, and most of the servants, were asleep, sneaking out to the stables, and, thanks to the coachman, gaining entrance to the horses. However, rather than choosing her own, highly bred mare to ride, Lan chose a sturdy cart horse that could be depended upon to carry both her and Changda. She saddled it, and they were soon on their way.
Lan was concerned about leaving – she refused to call it "running away" – after all, she intended to come back, and she did not want to worry Ming and Fai. For this reason, she had insisted upon leaving a note for them, although Changda was uncertain whether such an idea was wise.
Still, Lan had left her aunt and uncle a note, and she hoped that it would placate them until she could return – and she also hoped that she could do what she must do to save her family.
The journey to Changda's home was completed overnight, and they arrived just as dawn was breaking.
Lan was not prepared for the sight of Changda's family home, expecting, somehow, a neat and prosperous farm like those in the Fire Nation, or like those in and around Lao Hai proper. Instead, she found a farmhouse decrepit with disrepair, barns and outbuildings half-burned or in rubble, and only a few fields growing crops in rock-choked, uneven earth.
A stout, muscular man hailed them from behind a plow, and he came running to see them. Changda slid from the horse, and went running towards the man, throwing her arms around him. Lan drew the ostrich-horse closer to them but did not dismount, unwilling to intrude.
Changda drew away from the man, finally, and, brought him over to meet Lan Chi.
"My lady, I would like to introduce you to my father, Xian Ren." She slipped her arm through his. "Papa, this is my lady, Lan Chi Sun. She has been very kind to me."
He looked at Lan suspiciously, but, finally, bowed. "My daughter has written me of you. Welcome to our home."
She bowed in return from the saddle. "I thank you for your hospitality, and also for the lending of your daughter. She has been a stalwart friend and companion."
Despite his gruffness, he smiled fondly at his daughter. "She is a jewel." He turned back to Lan, more disposed to be charitable to her now. "Please, come within, my lady."
Lan Chi dismounted, and Xian Ren took the reins of the horse. He led them to the farmhouse. "Changda, take my lady into the house and see your mother. She's been waiting for you since yesterday morning."
Changda bowed, a smile on her face. "Yes, Papa." She drew Lan Chi through the door, and called out for her mother.
Lan could hear clattering from what she assumed was the kitchen, and a thin woman, drawn, but tanned, appeared in a doorway. When she saw Changda, she threw up her arms and came rushing into the room with a squeal.
"Oh, Changda, my girl!" She attempted to envelop Changda in her arms, but the maid dwarfed her mother.
Changda cast a sheepish look at Lan Chi, who watched them with a wistful smile. "Mama, don't fuss so."
The woman's eyes slid to Lan Chi. "I'm sure your young lady doesn't mind." She continued looking at Lan Chi until Lan cleared her throat.
"No, ma'am, I don't. Of course."
Changda finally pulled away from her mother, and presented her to Lan Chi. "My lady, this is my mother, Yanjun De."
Changda's mother bowed, and Lan reciprocated. "Thank you, Ma'am, for inviting me into your home."
Yanjun De looked Lan over, then nodded tersely. "My daughter thinks highly of you."
Lan looked nervously at her maid, who grimaced back.
"L – Lady Lan Chi is really excited to meet Uncle Yindao. He's here, isn't he?"
"In the barn, with your brother. Go and fetch him. I'll make Lady Lan Chi comfortable."
Changda nodded, and was gone, leaving Lan standing awkwardly staring at her maid's mother. She finally looked around the room in which they stood. It was obviously the room in which the family did most of their living; there was a pile of mending by a shabby chair close to a window curtained by faded silken fabric, another chair, with well-worn upholstery, near a cold fireplace. A small table sat against one cracked wall, covered with old books, a spindly chair on either side.
"You want to – sit down?" Changda's mother indicated one of the wooden chairs, and Lan gave a small smile, pulled one of the chairs out, and sat, her hands clasped demurely on her lap.
Yanjun De nodded, and folded her arms across her chest. She opened her mouth to say something, and then shut it again abruptly. She drew in a deep breath, and looked at Lan Chi resolutely. "We don't want you here."
Lan paled, and stood. "Perhaps I should go – wait outside."
"I would prefer that you go altogether."
Lan nodded sadly. "Oh. Oh. I – see. I – I will, if that is your wish. I – I'm sorry. For everything." She understood why Changda's mother felt that way – after, Lan was the enemy.
Lan Chi started for the door, seeing all of her plans flush away.
"I'd prefer that, but Changda wouldn't, and she would not look kindly upon me throwing her friend out of my house."
Lan stopped, and pivoted to look at the woman.
Yanjun De continued. "You look at this farm, and you see a run-down hovel. It didn't used to be that way. It used to be prosperous – my husband's family could feed half of Lao Hai with the crops that they raised. But then –" she gazed into the distance, remembering, "then the Fire Nation came. Oh, they'd been in Lao Hai for a long while, of course, but they'd left us alone, and we continued on. Until one day when we didn't. The day they decided that we should give them all of our crops, and they'd sell it back to the people of Lao Hai."
"I'm so sorry," Lan began, sorrow on her face.
"I'm not done, though, so keep your apologies. The Fire Nation nearly destroyed us – although the Earth Kingdom army helped them out a bit, without meaning to. It took years for us to be able to plant crops again. I had to go to work in town as a lady's maid – I'm sure Changda told you that." Lan nodded, and Yanjun De did the same in response.
"It wasn't until this last year that I could come back to live here, back to my husband, and to my youngest son. All my other children – all the others, are either off working, or in the army, fighting the people who not only ruined our lives, but pay our daughters' wages."
She paused, and looked at Lan Chi, and Lan felt compelled to speak. "I don't know what to say, Ma'am."
"There's nothing to say. Not every silence needs to be filled, you know. You could just listen."
Lan Chi colored at the rebuke, but she nodded.
"Do you know why I was able to come back here, my lady?" Yanjun De squinted at Lan, who shook her head. "Because Changda has a good job, and sent all her wages home. That's why I was able to come home. My own daughter has to sacrifice her youth so that we can keep our heads above water."
Lan felt a tear come to her eye, and she brushed it away.
"You can cry, my lady, but it isn't your sorrow. It's mine. Mine and my husband's. That each of our daughters works in the homes of the Fire Nation gentility, and send their hard-earned money home to help us. That's not the way it's supposed to work, you know. Parents are supposed to provide for their children; not the other way around."
"It is my sorrow, though, Ma'am. Even though I am not responsible for your – predicament, my nation is, and I am vastly sorry for that."
"Begging your pardon, my lady, but your apologies do very little for me."
Lan was obediently silent.
"And now Changda writes and tells us that you want to give us money to start farming again on a larger scale. In exchange for what, I am not entirely certain. First, it was to escape an unwanted marriage, and now – now, I don't know why you're doing it." She looked for a long time at Lan.
She continued. "For the money, if it's true, I thank you. But if you get our daughter killed, there won't be anywhere on Earth that you can hide, my lady."
Lan paled, and unconsciously put a hand to her chest. "I won't."
Yanjun De smiled grimly. "So, tell me what it is you want us to do, exactly."
"I don't want you to do anything. I want your brother to take me to the Earth Kingdom army command."
Changda's mother gave a mirthless laugh. "Yindao? Take you to the army? What for? Are you thinking of surrendering? Or defecting?"
Lan Chi lifted her chin, for the first time comfortable with speaking. "Not defecting, exactly. More in the way of treason, I suppose."
Yanjun De's eyes opened wide. "Treason?"
Lan nodded. "You've lost quite a bit to this war, Ma'am, but you're not the only one."
The other woman's brow lifted. "Oh, yes? What did you lose? A hair comb?"
"My father and brother. Killed by the Earth Kingdom."
"While they were trying to kill Earth Kingdom soldiers, no doubt." She seemed unmoved.
"Oh, no doubt. But they did only as they were told. As did the Earth Kingdom soldiers, I'm sure. But I'm tired. I'm tired of losing people to this war. And I have several people that I care about. A family. Just like yours. And I'm trying to prevent that – losing them, I mean."
"You saving them might be a lost cause."
"Because Ba Sing Se might enter the war?" Lan retorted.
"Who told you that?" Her tone was sharp.
"Changda."
Yanjun De fumed. "I wouldn't pay attention to her. She talks too much."
"Just enough, I'd say. If Ba Sing Se does enter the war, the Earth Kingdom will win."
"Does that upset you?"
"Yes, of course. It is still my nation. But I've seen too much of what my country has done – although the Earth Kingdom army helped them out a bit, without meaning to." She echoed the other woman's words. "And even though the Fire Nation has done some good – "
"Good? What could be good about what they've done to this country?"
"They helped build Lao Hai, and Yu Dao, and a dozen other cities. Brought some prosperity."
"At a price."
"Oh, I know that it was at a price. I don't dispute that. But that's neither here nor there. I won't debate you on the cost of the war. If the war is to end, I would rather it be done quickly, and with my family safe."
"You still have not told me why you want to go the Earth Kingdom army command."
Lan smiled, although it did not reach her eyes. "And I shan't, Ma'am. That is something I will take up with your brother."
A strangled cry came from Ming Yi's throat, and she put a hand on Lan's bedroom wall to support herself, while the other hand grasped the note Lan Chi had left for her. She finally found her voice, and called for her husband.
He came at a run, still in his morning dressing robe, with shaving lather on his face.
"Whatever is wrong,Ming?"
She turned to her husband, her face stricken, and shook the note at him. "She's run away, Fai! She's left a note!"
His face shuttered as he took the parchment from his wife. "Did you summon her maid?"
"No!" Ming threw her arms up. "Lan took the maid!" She pointed to the note as Fai began reading it. "She's said so!"
Dear Aunt Ming and Uncle Fai,
By the time you read this, I will be far from here. Please do not worry; I know where I am going, and I am with Changda, who knows quite a bit about this land. Please do not be angry with her – I forced her to go, against her will, and she was quite reluctant to do so. Please do not think that, had she come to you with my plan, you would have been able to stop me. As you know, I am quite stubborn, and I would have found a way to leave with or without Changda, and I think it wiser to go with her.
We have not gone to her farm, so do not look there. If you feel you must inform her parents of her disappearance, of course, I do not wish to stop you, but it may cause them undue worry.
I know that you must think that I have run off to avoid my marriage, but I assure you that is not the case. I am resigned to the marriage, but there is something I must do before I leave for Tao Xing.
Please do not look for me. You will not find me, anyway, and it will raise a terrible scandal! We shall be fine, and I hope to return by my birthday.
With love, your disobedient niece,
Lan Chi
P.S. I know you will search for me, despite my pleas to the contrary. Thank you for caring about me enough to ignore my request.
Fai sighed as he reached the end of the note. "That – girl." He shook his head.
Ming looked at him expectantly. "Well?"
He looked at his wife. "Well what?"
"Well, are you going to send someone to search for her?"
"You know that I will." He shook the note. "Even she knows that I will." He turned on his heel and left Lan Chi's bed chamber, Ming on his heels.
"Where do you think she has gone?" Ming asked her husband's back.
He stopped so quickly and turned to her that she ran into him. "You would know better than I. She is your niece, after all."
"Do you think she's safe?"
"I hope to spirits that she is."
"Do you think she'll really be back by her birthday?"
"How long is that?"
"Less than three weeks. Oh, that dratted girl! I was planning a party – she's only sixteen once, after all. And it will probably be –" Ming's voice broke, "our last birthday with her."
Fai patted her arm. "Of course it will not be, Ming. Just because she is married does not mean that you will cease to be a part of her life."
"Oh, Fai, you know what it is like. She will have her own life, her own family. I feel like I have lost her, and I only just found her!"
"You're being silly. You will go visit her, I am certain. She will not be able to keep you away!"
Ming shook her head sadly. "I feel that something bad will happen, Fai. That she will never get the opportunity to be settled – to be happy."
"Don't be ridiculous. She'll come home soon."
"Do you think she's well?"
"Of course. She's fine." He started off again, worried, calling for his man servant. "Chan! Send for the coachman."
"Li? Our coachman? Whyever for?"
Fai gave her a knowing look. "He knows these parts better than anyone else. And, I suspect that he knows Changda better than anyone else, as well."
Ming put a hand to her mouth. "Really? Changda and Li? Are you certain?"
"As certain as I can be. Now, let me get dressed, and we'll start the search for our foolish, foolish niece."
"It's madness! You know that, don't you?" Changda's uncle looked at Lan Chi sharply. "You're as likely to be imprisoned as anything else."
Lan, sitting before him in Changda's family's living room, quailed for a moment, although she did not show her fear. "That's why I am traveling with you, Sir."
Yindao blew through his closed lips, and shook his head. "I hope that your confidence in me is not misplaced, my lady." He rubbed his cheek with his one good hand, the other having been lost in the war.
That was the first thing that Lan Chi had noticed when they had met earlier in the day – he was missing his left arm from the elbow down, a relic of his time fighting the Fire Nation.
He was, for a man drastically affected by the war, remarkably jolly, and very different from his severe sister. Lan Chi, in fact, felt so buoyed by his merriness that she felt no compunction sharing her plan with him.
It was an audacious plan, to be certain, and almost certain to fail, in the most spectacular way possible, but Lan would not back down. She could not.
Changda and Lan exchanged glances as Yindao rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose that I could take you to General Fong. His base is only two days' ride on an eel hound."
"Will you be able to get my lady in to see the General?"
Yindao nodded. "My brother-in-law is a colonel under his command – you remember him, Changda – Jong Wu."
The maid nodded, and Yindao went on. "We should be able to hire an eel hound about fifty miles up the coast. The army uses them, mainly, but there are some for us ordinary folk, if you know who to ask, and, of course, if you have enough money."
"Oh, I have enough," Lan smiled. "Enough to hire an eel hound and bribe anyone that I need to."
Yindao looked at her keenly. "This is very important to you, isn't it?"
Lan nodded firmly. "The most important thing in my life. Perhaps the most important thing that I have ever done."
Author's Notes: Well, we are finally getting into the meat and potatoes of the story - in other words, to the important part! I hope that you enjoyed it. Sorry that I have left you on a cliff. We have a few more chapters left before Lan and Zuko meet one another - darn it! I was REALLY trying to reunite them BEFORE chapter 30! Well, that's still my goal. Hopefully the next part of the story, in which Lan sets up her audacious plan, will move quickly.
Thank you so much for reading, and PLEASE review!