Part II: Forty-Two


The sun was barely past the zenith, hot and bright in the street. Standing in the shade didn't help much in the humidity, but the sun was behind the building and off of their faces, and that felt like more of a relief than it was

Iroh peered around the corner, eyeing the squat stone building hunched up at the end of the narrow street. A faded sign with the words LUCKY DRAGON BREWERY written on it hung on the wall, along with a faded painting of a scaly, faintly serpentine creature he guessed was supposed to be a dragon, if someone had never seen a dragon before.

The brewery looked like it had been closed for several decades. Like everything on this street in the sprawling industrial section of the Middle Ring, it seemed to be neglected and empty. The windows were dusty, some of them broken. The street was mostly empty, save the open workshop doors of a furniture maker. The street was littered with wood shavings, and the scent of sawdust tickled Iroh's nose even down the street.

He could just see the woodcarver at his bench, working on what looked like a table. The man hummed happily, blissfully unaware of him, or Delun's men, or what might be happening at the brewery down the street.

"It is too quiet," Iroh said softly. "I do not like this."

Commander Delun was at his elbow, looking at the building through a spyglass. The rest of Commander Delun's men were scattered across the neighborhood, in hiding, watching the building from all directions in case anyone tried to get away. "Neither do I. We need to send our men in, but I don't know what we might find inside. We're going in blind."

"Send us," Kikki said, jerking her thumb at the other Kyoshi Warriors standing behind her. "We can get in and get out without being seen."

Delun looked skeptical. "I don't doubt your skill, miss, but there could be Earthbenders in there. Lord Kun employs a small army of them. We don't know how many men are in there. There's only four of you."

"Four is all we need," Qing said, pulling a cheeky grin. "Trust us, Commander, we can do this. Earthbenders are nothing. They won't see us coming. Huk told us where to find the cellar door. We can get in and out fast."

"Absolutely not," Delun argued, but Iroh met Kikki's blazing eyes for a moment, seeing the fury there. He took a breath and came to a decision.

"The Kyoshi Warriors will go in first," Iroh said firmly, and Delun's gaze flicked to him. He looked like he was going to argue the point, but his mouth closed the next moment and he nodded.

"Of course, General. As you wish."

"Strictly recon, ladies," Iroh said, especially to Kikki, who shifted from foot to foot, clearly ready to burst into the Lucky Dragon and start bashing heads. He knew how she felt. "Go in, give us the layout and try to avoid any of Lord Kun's men. No fighting unless you have to. We just need to know how many there are, and what we should expect. Report back here in twenty minutes. Do you understand?"

"Yes, General Iroh," Chao-Ahn said, while the others nodded.

"Go," he commanded with a nod, and watched as they slipped away, going around the building they were sheltering behind. He didn't ask them how they were going to get into the building. He knew what the Kyoshi Warriors were capable of.

Now he just had to wait.

He didn't want to. If what Huk had said was true, his niece and nephew were being held hostage in that building. He wanted to march in there, fists blazing, and get them back. He'd burn down anyone who came between them, and enjoy it. He knew that he would, and perhaps one day he'd have to make his peace with that, but today was not that day.

Who knew if they'd been hurt? Or worse...

He couldn't think about that, or he'd go mad. He leaned against the wall, trying to meditate, to clear his mind, but all he could think about was Azula's soft eyes and rare smile, and Zuko's tight hugs. Pain laced across his chest and he rubbed at his shoulder. His burns from the fire were throbbing, the skin raw and stinging. The bandages needed changed, but he hadn't wanted to take the time.

Nothing mattered except getting Zuko and Azula back.

"It's been fifteen minutes," Delun said softly.

"They will come back."

"What if they've been captured?"

"They won't be," Iroh said firmly, and turned to look at Delun. He started to say something else, but Delun inhaled sharply, and jerked his chin in the direction of the brewery. Iroh whipped back around and saw Xiuying pushing the sliding doors of the loading docks open with a rattling bang.

Iroh's heart dropped immediately, but he raced toward the building anyway.

He already knew, long before he could see the crushed expression on Xiuying's pretty face, that they were too late.

Zuko and Azula were long gone.


Azula woke up slowly, with her head lying against something soft. Someone was combing their fingers through her hair, speaking gently to her, though she couldn't quite make out the words. She felt fuzzy again, like she'd gotten drunk and was still hungover.

Her eyes were gummed up and swollen, and her mouth was fuzzy and tasted terrible. She moaned and shifted, trying to remember how she'd gotten here.

When she forced her eyes open, she found herself staring at a pair of red pants and black boots, both of them covered in dirt and straw.

"Azula?"

Her head gave a throb, and she clutched at it, lifting up and meeting Zuko's eyes in the light of the fire burning above his hand. "Zuzu?"

"You were starting to worry me," he said, pulling a relieved smile that didn't reach his eyes. His scarred face was smudged with dirt, and there was straw stuck into his unbound hair.

"Where are we?" she croaked, looking around the room. "How did we get here?"

But even as she said it, the memory of Nobu storming into the room came back to her. He'd been followed by a man in dark green robes, with a long white beard and a terrified expression on his face. Nobu had jabbed something into her neck while Zuko had screamed for him to leave her alone, and then...

Then everything had gone dark again.

She lifted her hand to her neck. It felt sore to the touch, but it wasn't bleeding. Whatever he'd done to her had only knocked her out.

"Nobu injected us with something, some kind of drug," Zuko said. "You passed out immediately. Then he did the same thing to me. I woke up here about twenty minutes ago. I don't know where we are."

Azula licked her chapped lips and looked around the room. It was small, some kind of cell. Possibly underground, like the last place. The straw on the floor was moldy and smelled rank. The floor beneath it was packed earth. The walls were made of stone. There wasn't a single window or light in the place, except for the handful of flames burning above Zuko's unbound hands.

There was a metal door that had what looked like a sliding plate in it, set down near the floor. It wasn't very large. She doubted she could fight a leg through it, much less her whole body.

"Hey, at least we're not tied up any longer. That's an improvement," Azula said, stretching. They'd been strapped to those chairs for more than a day, and she'd gotten incredibly cramped and stiff sitting there for so long. Not to mention the fact that her bladder had been bursting the entire time. Still was.

"I don't think this is a good sign though," Zuko said darkly. "They obviously moved us, but why not tie us up in the chairs again?"

"I don't know. They were bolted down. Maybe they have to move them," Azula said, struggling to her feet. Her head still felt woozy from the drugs, and her legs were still stiff from sitting in the chair for so long. "But at least we can walk around. And go pee. Speaking of which..."

"That corner," Zuko said, pointing at the far left corner with his free hand. "I already went the second I woke up."

Azula wobbled over to the corner, which smelled pretty strongly. The dirt was dark and wet. Her nose wrinkled, but she was not feeling very choosy at the moment.

"Don't look. Or listen. Sing or something."

Zuko put his free hand over his eyes, and started humming a little song she thought she recognized, but couldn't quite place. She didn't waste any time. The relief was immediate and by the time she was done, she felt a little clearer of mind than she had before. She pulled her pants back up and kicked some dirt into the corner with a huff. Zuko was still covering his eyes and humming when she came back and sat down beside him. He stopped and lifted his head.

"The jerks could have provided a bucket at least," she groused, running her tongue over her dry lips. With her bladder no longer screaming at her, she finally felt how thirsty she was. Her mouth was bone-dry.

"Are you okay?" Zuko asked her, as she clawed her hands through her hair, picking out straw.

"No," she said with a sigh. "But I'm alive. We both are. That's something. Why do you think they moved us?"

"I don't know," Zuko said, looking around, the light from his fire bouncing around the tiny cell. "I had the feeling Nobu was going to keep us in those chairs for a while. He didn't look happy when he came in."

"Did he say anything?"

"No. He drugged me right after he got you."

"There was a man with him. Some old guy with a beard. He looked angry," she said, drawing her knees to her chest. "Who do you reckon he was?"

"If he's with Nobu, I'd say he's our enemy," Zuko said, leaning his head back against the wall. His eyes closed for a minute. "I don't like this, Azula. We're not tied up. That means they're not worried we're going to get free and escape. That means they don't think we can. Even with the full use of our firebending."

"We'll just have to prove them wrong, won't we?" Azula said, a grin sliding along her lips. "You heard Nobu. He has plans for us. Or rather, Rian's father has plans for us. He's not going to let us die in here. Not yet anyway. Rian's father wants to kill me himself. And who knows what he has in store for you?"

"And Suki. He threatened Suki," Zuko said and his face crumpled. "I have to get back to her, Azula. I don't know what they're going to do to her, but I won't let them."

Azula closed her eyes for a moment, feeling exhaustion clawing at her. She hadn't been able to sleep in the chair, too uncomfortable and scared to do anything but sit there and stew. Zuko hadn't slept either. She didn't count being knocked out by Nobu's mystery drugs as sleep either.

They were both tired, hungry, and most of all, thirsty.

"Do you think Uncle is alive?" she asked after a moment.

"I don't want to think about that," Zuko said tightly. "If I think about that then..."

He stopped, his voice thick with emotion. He looked down at the flames dancing above his palm, and the fire dimmed a little, sputtering.

Azula conjured her own handful of bluebell flames, and Zuko looked up at her.

"Take a break. We're both exhausted. You're going to need your chi at full strength when we get out of here," she said reassuringly. Zuko looked back down at his flames, and let them go out. His hand dropped and he tipped his head back again. Blue light from her fire bounced eerily off of the walls.

"We should try the door."

"I already did. Bolted. There's no handle on this side. It's metal, so we can't burn it down. Where's Toph when you need her?" Zuko said, rubbing his hands on his pants. "We need to think of a plan."

"We could pretend I'm sick and when they come in, we attack them," Azula offered.

"They're planning on killing us, Azula. I don't think they're going to care if you're sick," Zuko said.

"Good point, but they obviously don't want us dead yet, or we'd be dead. And I don't know about you, but I'm dying for a drink," she said.

"Me too. I'm starving," Zuko said, and his stomach growled loudly. Her own stomach felt hollow, but she had gotten used to the feeling over the years.

She'd spent years traveling alone throughout the Earth Kingdom, surviving on what little she could buy with the money she earned on her travels. She'd been sick back then, her mental illness untreated, and holding any kind of steady job had been hard for her. She'd never been flush with cash, and as a result she'd gone without food and shelter more times than she could count. She could go longer without eating than Zuko, who was used to being fed by the palace chefs, could, despite the past year of Iroh feeding her up. Hunger was not something he was prepared for. He'd weaken faster than she would if that kept up.

Azula stood with a decisive movement and went over to the door.

She banged on the metal with a hollow rapt. Nothing happened, so she banged again. And again and again, until her knuckles hurt.

"HEY! I KNOW SOMEONE IS OUT THERE!" she shouted, banging her palm against the door. "HELLO?"

"They're not going to answer."

"Yes, they will! HEY! I'm thirsty! DO YOU HEAR ME? WATER, ASSHOLES!"

Her voice echoed in the little room, her dry throat protesting the loud volume and strain. She coughed and then banged on the door harder, her flames dancing. "IF I DIE IN HERE FROM HUNGER AND THIRST THEN THE BIG BAD VILLIAN MAN WON'T BE ABLE TO MURDER ME! HELLOOOO!"

She banged on the door and screamed as loud as she could for another ten minutes, until her dry throat gave out on her and she devolved into a coughing fit. She hacked, her mouth dry, clutching at her throat, with tears stinging her eyes.

"Give it up, Azula. I don't think they're going to answer," Zuko said wearily. A moment later, however, the panel in the door slid open and two terra cotta jars were shoved through the slot. They thumped onto the ground, followed by two bundles wrapped in cheesecloth.

Azula dove for the door, tossing the fireball at the open slot, but it snapped closed just before the flames hit it. The flames scattered across the metal, dissipating into nothing. She conjured another glowing blue fireball over her hand and cursed under her breath.

Zuko had scrambled up the moment the slot had opened, and he came over to stand in front of the door. He toed the terra cotta jars, making one of them roll over in the dirt. They had corks shoved into the ends. Zuko crouched down and grabbed one of the jars. He tugged the cork out of the mouth of the bottle and smelled it.

"Water," he said, and then grinned up at her. "You always did get your way, didn't you?"

Azula grabbed the wrapped bundles and swiftly opened both of them. Inside of both bundles were chunks of salted jerky, two hardtack biscuits, a bruised apple, and a wedge of hard cheese.

"They're feeding us. That means there aren't any immediate plans to kill us," she said, sniffing the cheese. "Unless this stuff is poisoned."

"They had us in those chairs for hours. We were knocked out for who knows how long. They'd have killed us then. What would be the point of poisoning us now?"

"Good point," Azula said, taking the water from him and taking a long swallow. The water wasn't cold, but it wet her throat and filled her dry mouth, and that was all that mattered. Zuko let her have her fill and then took it from her, obviously as parched as she was.

Then they sat down and ate their meager meal together. The meat was salty and tough, and the biscuits were tasteless, but she was so hungry she didn't care. They shared the rest of the first jar of water, emptying it as they washed down the biscuit. They wordlessly saved their apples, a biscuit each, and half of their cheese hunks, wrapping them back in the cheesecloth.

Her thirst slaked, some of the edge taken off her hunger, and her bladder empty, Azula felt a little closer to human.

"We need to come up with a plan, he said again, and she nodded, and then yawned. Her flames sputtered. Despite the food and water, she felt tired again. Zuko saw and reached out, taking her wrist in his hand. "You should rest."

"I'm not tired."

"Yes, you are," he said, lighting his fire again. "Sleep. I'll stay awake. We'll do shifts."

She wanted to argue the point, but she yawned again, so hard she heard her jaw pop. There was no use denying it. She was exhausted. Her flames burned out again. "Okay, but don't let me sleep long."

Zuko nodded and Azula hesitated, and then scooted closer to him, sinking her head back down into his lap. Her eyes drifted closed of their own accord, too heavy to keep them open again.

As she drifted down into a dark and restless sleep, she thought she heard bells chiming from far away, but she couldn't be sure.


"Down here," Kikki said, gesturing for Iroh to follow her through the brewery. The abandoned building was full of dusty casks, and crates, the main floor a maze that he picked his way through, following Kikki's light footsteps.

They ended up in the corner of the building, where Huk had told them to look. There in the floor was the trap door Huk had described. The door was open, the lock broken by one of the Kyoshi Warriors.

There were stairs leading downward, and he followed Kikki into the cellar of the old brewery.

The cellar was full of small rooms, some of them still stacked with old casks left there to mature and then to rot after the brewery shut down. There were sconces lit on the walls, the flames guttering. Commander Delun followed behind him silently.

They passed several large storerooms, and then turned a corner, where Chao-Ahn was standing before an open door. The door was metal and there had been a heavy lock on it recently, but it was dangling, broken into pieces by one of the Kyoshi Warriors.

Chao-Ahn stepped aside and Iroh walked into a room lit by a skylight in the ceiling. A small cask had been shattered on the floor, and the liquid contents were slick underfoot as Iroh walked through it. The tiny stub of a candle was sitting in the wet liquid, the flame guttering in the air moving from the open door, close to burning out in the liquid entirely.

Just beyond the candle, sitting in the middle of the room, were two metal chairs, which had been bolted to the stone cellar floor. Qing was standing beside the chairs, holding something in her hands.

Iroh looked at the chairs, feeling his stomach fold over, an old memory slamming into him. He backed up a step, feeling sick.

Chao-Ahn saw the look on his face and touched his shoulder. "General? Are you okay?"

"The chairs. They were designed to hold benders," he said, scowling. "I have not seen their like since the war, and I'd hoped to never see them again."

"What do you mean?"

"My grandfather had them designed to hold prisoners for interrogation. The hands, feet, and head are all held immobile. They cannot bend, or move. It was torture. I disliked them, and petitioned my father to stop their use."

"Did he?"

"No. He called me weak," Iroh said darkly, the stark memory sharp even now, forty years later. "And locked me in one for two days. To teach me humility."

Chao-Ahn looked horrified, her mouth falling open. "That's terrible."

He sighed heavily and dropped his head, one hand braced against one of the chairs. "They were facing each other so that they could not breathe fire except at each other. They were trapped. Helpless. And now they're gone. We were too late."

The words tore out of him, too painful to be real. All of his hopes had already crashed and died the moment he'd seen Xiuying's face in the street. Huk hadn't lied. They had been here, but they'd been moved, probably after the attack on the hospital. Huk had known where Zuko and Azula were being held after all; if he were this Nobu, he would moved his prisoners as well.

That meant that they were back at square one. He refused to believe that Zuko and Azula had been killed. Nobu had kept them alive this long, he had to believe the wasn't going to kill them yet. It was all he had to cling to.

He didn't know what to do. He'd been prepared for a battle, but all they had were empty chairs and questions. He looked up and met Qing's eyes. She was still holding something against her chest, fear in her big blue eyes.

"What's wrong?"

She bit down on her lip and then held out her hand. He took the object in her hands and felt his heart drop again. It was Zuko's golden, flame-shaped crown. He clung to it tightly, his eyes closing for a long moment.

"We'll find them," Qing said rawly. "They're still alive. They have to be."

He turned and looked at Commander Delun, who had come to stand beside the chairs.

"I'm so sorry, General," he started, but Iroh shook his head.

"Huk may have some clues as to where they might have moved them. I will take the Kyoshi Warriors back to the palace to interrogate him further. Barring that, we need to organize a team to investigate each of Lord Kun's properties."

"We should issue an arrest warrant for Lord Kun and Nobu."

But Iroh shook his head. "No. They will go to ground and we will never find them. This city is too big. Even with a warrant and wanted posters, they have enough money to allude us. I want them to believe we're nowhere near them."

"We aren't."

Iroh didn't reply to that, even though he knew it was the truth. He tucked the crown into his palm, feeling the sharp edges digging into his skin as he did.

"I questioned that man in his shop," Xiuying said behind him, standing in the doorway all of a sudden. He turned to face her and saw her tapping her fan on her thigh impatiently. He'd sent her to question the woodworker after she'd opened the doors to Delun's men.

Xiuying's eyes flicked to the two chairs in the center of the room and stayed there, a horrified look on her face. He knew what she was thinking.

"Xiuying?"

She started and looked back at him. "Sorry. Kikki told me about the chairs, but... I didn't come down here before. Poor Zuko."

"What did the woodworker say?"

"Nothing. He didn't see anyone arrive or leave today. He said this place has been empty for fifteen years. He didn't know anyone was using it."

"They could have left last night, when he wasn't in his shop," Iroh pointed out. Xiuying bit her lip and nodded.

"That's what I thought, but maybe if we looked around this cellar? There are smuggler's tunnels all over Ba Sing Se. Everyone knows that. If this place has one then maybe it leads to wherever they took Zuko?" Xiuying said, her face hopeful.

"If there's a tunnel, one of our Earthbenders could find it," Delun said.

"They were here, at least. That's something," she said and then she froze, her eyes widening as she spotted the broken, spilled cask on the floor, and the candle sitting in the honey-colored liquid on the floor. All of the blood drained out of her face in an instant.

"Xiuying?"

"EVERYONE OUT! NOW!" Xiuying screamed, grabbing Iroh by the shoulder and yanking him into the hallway.

He didn't ask her what was wrong. He ran for the stairs instead, his legs pumping. He could hear her screaming at everyone else, footsteps pounding behind him.

He charged up the cellar stairs and let out a bellow from his army days, one that had shaken enlisted men in their boots and could penetrate the chaos of a battlefield. His voice echoed in the old brewery as he charged for the exit.

"EVERYONE OUT OF THE BUILDING! NOW! GO! GO! GO!"

He grabbed one soldier in passing, who looked at him in shock, shoving him before him. The loading dock doors were still open. Delun's men streamed for the exits, obeying his command at a run.

Iroh followed them into the street, but he didn't stop, bellowing at the men to keep running. They obeyed him, running down the street as fast as they could go.

They didn't run far enough.

The street exploded beneath them, and for one long moment that seemed to last for an eternity, Iroh was aware of being blasted off of his feet, of stone and brick and wood pelting him, of screaming and fire, and pain in his head.

Then everything went blissfully dark and utterly silent.