Ba Sing Se
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They were in the air again getting closer and closer to Ba Sing Se. Today was the day when they were supposed to reach the city. Kiri had gotten more used to the thought of seeing the city again but she still had a little nudging feeling in her stomach. She was lying on her back; daydreaming about the lemurs back at the temple. She missed their gurgling noises and their playfulness. It felt like ages since they left the temple because the time on Appa seemed monotonous. "I really hope King Kuei will help us out with the Phoenix King rebels." Aang pondered out loud in a deep voice. Kiri sat up in the big leather saddle and looked at him. His clothes were fluttering softly in the afternoon wind and his face had a grave look. "Yeah, me too", Kiri agreed. She had never met the Earth King himself and therefore didn't know how he would respond to their request. But what she did know about him was what Aang and the others had told her; he was never aware of the Hundred Year War and solely a puppet of the cruel minister Long Feng. But after realizing this with the help of Aang, he did everything he could to stand up and be the king he was supposed to be. He must be interested in helping Aang. If the rebels keep their current pace, they will soon be too powerful… She thought to herself while eyeing the skyline. Aang turned his head to look at her and signed her with his finger to look down. And there it was – Ba Sing Se.
The city looked majestic as they were flying towards it. Kiri had never seen it from this angle; the size of it was unbelievable. The enormous impenetrable walls surrounded the different rings of the city and from up here you could easily see the giant Royal Palace in the middle of the upper ring. Kiri had never seen it before because of the city's big size and the fact that she'd been living in the outer ring. She felt the nudging in her stomach grow bigger as she scouted the area of her old home in the outer ring as they flew closer. Aang made Appa fly close to the ground by the outer wall and pointed to a big sign on the wall; "常に戦う" (always fight) it said. "This is where the old Firenation tried to penetrate the walls to take over the city", he said. Kiri's eyes flew open. "Are you serious? What happened?" She felt her heart pound heavier; even though she hadn't been living there for a long time she still saw it as her childhood home, and this news chocked her. Had the old Firenation really been that close to taking over the world? The thought made her shrug. "Team Avatar stopped them of course", he said with a blink in his eye, "yip yip!" They flew over the city and approached the upper ring. They've really been all over the world? That's remarkable… She thought about all the stories Aang had told her about his and the other's journeys. She wished that she had known them then; that she could have helped them in their hard struggles. But they had managed perfectly fine; because of them the world was now starting to heal itself. She smiled and felt her heart grow big. She couldn't believe Aang – her boyfriend – the Avatar – had been able to change that much in an age of twelve. "You're really amazing, you know that?" She smiled out, her voice filled with devotion. He turned his head to send her a smile and an air kiss. The Spirits had really granted her a blessed life after all of her hard times during the war. `Thank you´ she mouthed as they proceeded on landing near the Royal Palace of Ba Sing Se. A loud horn sounded as the guards standing outside realized the Avatar had arrived. When landed, Aang held out his hand for Kiri to take and they swiftly jumped down on the ground, a gentle gust of air twirling around them. Two guards greeted them: "Honoured Avatar and friend; welcome to Ba Sing Se!" Aang smiled and continued holding Kiri's hand. This made her comfortable. "Thank you sir, is there a possibility that we can see King Kuei as soon as possible?" One of the guards stepped a slight inch closer, saying: "The King is currently in a private meeting, why don't you enjoy our wonderful city for a while until the King is done?"
They were sitting in one of the trains leading towards the outer ring of the city and Kiri was staring out the window, gazing upon the marvelous city. The nudging grew stronger and stronger as the train passed several tall and massive buildings. She didn't know why she was this nervous; she wasn't going to see anything there besides maybe the house. Aang had insisted on going there even though Kiri had objected. She wanted to but something inside her told her not to. She didn't how she was going to react if the house wasn't there anymore. Aang was talking to a couple beside him that obviously couldn't believe they were sitting in the public train next to the Avatar. Kiri smiled. Aang could really not go anywhere without people stopping him on the street to talk to him. He was like a celebrity. But then again, he did make it easy for people to notice him; he always wore the monks' clothes and his balled head with the blue arrow tattoo wasn't something anyone was used to seeing. Even Kiri would catch herself staring at the blue tattoos, probably in a mix of acknowledgment and envy. Kiri mindlessly started fixing her braid. When she was younger, he father always braided the hair hanging from the area around her right ear. "To prevent bad language to stick to your brain" he'd said. She smiled to herself and shook her head. Her father had always been full of crazy stories and myths. But they, together with him, were the things she could look back to with a smile on her lips. Aang poked her shoulder: "Kiri, this is our stop."