It was almost morning when the party crashers returned to their temporary homes. Zuko could sense the Dai Li keeping active watch on them, and Toph was especially guarded, almost more than Sokka. Then again, the other boy's default mode involved paranoia, and not all of it unjustified.
Uncle Iroh was sitting on one of the cushions with Momo on his lap, stroking the lemur behind the ears.
"There you are," Iroh said, rising to greet them. "I was wondering when you would return,"
"Long story, Sokka grumbled.
"Where were you all day?" Zuko asked.
"Out shopping," Iroh answered with a grin that faded as soon as he saw the looks on their faces. Once the new Joo Dee had left, Zuko ditched the Dai Li uniform and the girls changed out, affording the old man some time to drum up some tea.
After a quick rundown of their misadventures at the party, Iroh stroked his beard thoughtfully. Either he keeping a tight rein on his reaction, or he was already suspicious of what was happening.
On the plus side, the Dai Li had not yet burst into the house, so they had not breached their end of the deal as far as Long Feng was concerned. Yet.
[-]
Her eyes had gone blurry. Slow at first, but now it was hard to ignore. Still, the light of a full moon streamed through the openings in the ceiling. The clangs in the prison were
"Hama…" Kinna rasped. "Help…"
Her friend laughed rustily, seemingly unaware of anyone else besides her immediate victim as she ambled towards the exit, crushing the struggling guard against the ground.
[-]
"What was that?" Zuko wondered aloud. He massaged his temples, trying to alleviate an oncoming headache.
"Another waterbender had escaped?"
Katara immediately perked up. "What?"
"Shut up, Kanna!" Zuko snapped, but immediately regretted it.
The room went silent, but the combined stares of Sokka and Katara made up the difference.
"Why did you call me Kanna?" Katara asked.
"She was one of the past Avatar's friends," Aang explained. "I think Zuko's having trouble separating the memories."
"Aang, that's our Gran-gran's name."
"Did she ever mention someone named Kinna?"
There was a knock at the door before. By virtue of being the closest to the door, Zuko rose to see who had shown up, groggily opening the door.
Auburn hair and blue eyes, she was dressed like a number of the guards they had seen, the ones responsible for the rest of Ba Sing Se. One hand rested on her hip near her sword. Her eyes widened, then narrowed.
"You…" she sneered.
"Uh…Is there a problem?" Sokka asked from across the room.
"I'm not-" Zuko began to say when a boot to the chest came as a surprise, but everyone was on their feet as the scuffle moved inside.
"What's your problem!?" Zuko growled, deflecting a jab aimed below the belt.
"You mean you don't remember? Maybe you'll remember this." Flipping a fan from her belt, she pressed it to Zuko's neck. The banished prince winced at the sensation of metal against his skin.
"Suki!" Sokka exclaimed.
"Who's Suki?" Zuko asked.
"I'm Suki," the redhead said. "From Kiyoshi Island. Surely you remember that much."
. Zuko blinked a few times. "…Oh. Nice to meet you again."
Joo Dee 2.0 rushed through the door, frantically examining the damage in an oxymoronically calm manner.
"What is going on here?" she inquired, polite as ever.
"Lover's quarrel," Toph shrugged, earning a trio of less than amused glares.
Joo Dee took a moment to process the turn of events before reinforcing her smile. "I see. I will send for someone to clean up this shortly."
"What are you doing here?" Katara asked.
"I was asked to escort Suki to the Avatar's estate."
"Thank you, Joo Dee," Suki said, still giving Zuko and Toph stink-eye.
A lingering awkward silence, Joo Dee glancing at everyone before withdrawing.
"It's good to see you," Suki exclaimed, embracing Sokka, pecking him on the cheek, causing the boy to blush.
"You look so different without your makeup," said Katara. "And the new outfit."
Suki rolled her eyes. "The crabby lady we're assigned to makes all the security guards wear them." And look at you, sleeveless guy. Been working out?"
Sokka beamed under the attention, moving around his arms for show. "Ahhh, I'll grab a tree branch and do a few chin touches every now and then. Nothing major."
"I see. And how did you end up with…him?"
"Long story short: he's helping us. Aren't you, Lee?"
"Yes," Zuko said, stiffly pouring tea. "Helping."
Suki looked at Sokka with a raised eyebrow, but quickly caught the message. Sokka then grabbed Toph, pulling her around like favorite child, even though the girl had a pastry stuffed into her mouth.
"This here is Toph."
The girl in question waved. "Hey."
"So what brought you to Be Sing Se, Suki," Katara asked.
"After you left Kyoshi, we wanted to find a way to help people. We ended up escorting some refugees and we've been here ever since. And the Avatar arriving in Ba Sing Se was big news. When the Kyoshi Warriors were rotated out of the security at Full Moon Bay, I arranged for a trip here."
"Are the other Kyoshi Warriors around?"
"The others are at post or resting before we go out into the field again."
Sokka frowned slightly. "Oh…"
"Don't worry," Suki said. "It's not for another week a least." Momo flew onto the girl's shoulder, chirping happily. "Hi, Momo! Good to see you too." Smiling, she gave the lemur scratches, then looked at Aang. "So what have you all gotten up to?"
[-]
Finished with a day of work, Jet strolled back to the apartment, rolling a piece of straw in his mouths as he mentally reviewed what had transpired over the last year.
Most of the Freedom Fighters had scattered after the incident at the dam that had resulted in their disbandment and were working their way to Ba Sing Se.
While he and the other Freedom Fighters had all but sworn off of vengeance, they were not content to just sit around and wait while others went off to war. Unfortunately, he doubted anyone would take a group of kids to train as soldiers, even if they already had experience fighting the Fire Nation.
For the interim, they had taken refuge in an apartment that was meant for a much smaller group, perhaps a family of four. Thankfully, most of them had gotten jobs to pull in some money, and no one had really bothered them. Longshot and Yun had spruced the apartment up, Jia was almost obsessed with keeping the place clean, and someone was always around to keep unwanted guests out.
Sliding through door, he slumped against the nearest wall, arms crossed behind his head, glancing around the apartment.
Looks like I was the last one finished today, Jet thought.
Smellerbee was snoring in the next room, Longshot was working on dinner. Li, Yun, and Jia were huddled in a corner.
Jet had been slowly getting to know them. The three were old friends and had spent considerable time traveling. They had shared some interesting news about happenings abroad, some of which made Jet want to go out and back into the fight.
"Hey, Jet," Yun called out. "We're running short on some things. Longshot's got a list."
"I'll go out with Li to pick them up."
The market was crowded, and the produce could have been fresher, but they had a surplus of coin when they had left with all the items they had set out for.
On the way back, they saw a large crowd gathering around a well with a man perched on the top.
"What's that old man doing?" Jet wondered aloud.
The man in question looked haggard, dirty and greasy, hair sticking out wildly as his posture as he paced back and forth.
"You fools are all blind," he declared, "unaware of the dangers beyond your walls. The firebenders are out there, approaching. They intend to destroy us, without relent, without mercy. They will attack us until they burn this city to the ground!"
Without warning, the old man pointed vigorously in their direction.
"You are one of them, child; spawn of evil!"
Li and Jet glanced at each other and looked around to see who he was pointing at, as did everyone around them.
While the man continued his rant, a pair of men in dark green robes and wide-brimmed hats approached. The crowd parted for them, giving more space than what was strictly necessary. The man took notice and turned his attention to them.
"But look! Agents of the Liar approach!"
The man was muffled and restrained before he could continue, struggling as he was dragged off by the men in dark green.
Jet tapped Li's shoulder and beckoned her to follow as the crowd dispersed and made their way to the apartment.
A/N: One year. One solid year with over sixty-thousand words, 82 favorites, 129 followers, 54 reviews, and almost twenty-three thousand views.
Today marks the one year anniversary for Avatar: Finding Yourself. Thank you for your support for this story. I hope you had a most excellent new year's celebration, and I hope you continue to enjoy this story as much as I enjoy working on it.
