Head Eunuch Kim walked through the bustling streets of the Capital City with hurried, determined strides. He was on a very important mission that the Fire Lord had personally tasked him with.
A few passers-by looked in his direction, wondering why the head eunuch was outside the palace, but after a few seconds of speculation, they shrugged and went on their own way. Soon, he finally reached the doors of the troupe quarters.
A group of entertainers gathered at the entrance saw him, whispering amongst themselves, giggling and throwing come-hither looks at him. "Good evening, sir..." One of them stepped forward, holding a fan to her chest and bowing deeply. "For business or pleasure?" She purred as she looked back up, a seductive smile playing on her plump, pink lips.
"Business." He replied curtly, averting his eyes from her before he got fully distracted from the task at hand. "I am here to retrieve Lady Chiyo upon the Fire Lord's orders."
"Chiyo?" The woman tilted her head innocently to the side. "I'm afraid she isn't here, sir. But I am," She grinned and stepped closer, making the eunuch take two steps back. "Maybe I can be of service to the young Fire Lord while Chiyo isn't here."
"I-I'm sorry, my Lady, but that is not possible. Do you know of Lady Chiyo's whereabouts then?"
She threw her head back in laughter before extending a fair hand towards him. "And do you think that information is free?"
Kim tutted and retrieved a generous string of coins from within his sleeves, dropping them in the woman's awaiting palm. "Now answer me, where is Lady Chiyo?"
She tucked the money into her robes hastily and grinned. "Chiyo is out of town. She's somewhere in the Western Earth Kingdom preparing for her coming-of-age—"
"That's what the others told me last week," Kim interrupted her, getting more and more impatient. "And the week before that, another entertainer said that she was in Ba Sing Se. But I have checked the reports on every Fire Nation dock and harbor for the last month. There has been no such record of Lady Chiyo leaving the Capital City."
"And what are you implying? That we are hiding her here in the Salinja troupe quarters?"
"Aren't you?"
The woman showed no signs of wavering nor any flustered expression as she smiled and bowed once more. "I have said what I know and that is all that I can offer in terms of business. If you do wish to know more, why don't you come inside and have a cup of tea with us? See for yourself. Maybe we aren't as innocent as you think we are."
After their first dinner date in weeks, Mai and Kei Lo left the eatery to take a leisurely stroll back to the flower shop that belonged to Mai's aunt.
They had left their old home, and along with it, they left Ukano. Michi, Mai's mother, had had the last straw and finally stood her ground, finding the strength to leave her husband for good. They sought refuge with Michi's sister who gladly took them in.
A much simpler, humbler life that of a florist. But one that was decent and honorable.
Hesitating for a few seconds, Kei Lo finally decided to gather his courage and hold Mai's hand. Truthfully, he expected her to either pull away in disgust, or hit him for even daring to do so.
Instead, she laced her slender fingers with his.
There was no change in her expression at all, but if one looked closely enough, there was the vaguest hint of a smile at the corner of her lips.
"I still can't believe you wouldn't go out with me until my leg healed..." He grumbled, pouting a bit.
In response, she rolled her eyes. "Casts are so unattractive. And I'm still not over the fact that you keep that girl's autograph in a frame in your room..."
"No, no, that wasn't it! I mean, it took you this long to trust me, like really trust me."
"Maybe, but that's because you don't make sense to me. I don't get why you would betray the New Ozai Society!"
"I've told you over and over." Kei Lo stopped walking and faced her, looking into her eyes. "It's because of you..."
"Exactly! That makes no sense!"
He sighed deeply and searched for the words to convey his sincerity. "I joined the society because I wanted to belong to something. I couldn't care less about all that political stuff. I-I lost my parents when I was young... And since then, I've been bounced from one place to another..."
Kei Lo felt her hand reach for his cheek and he opened his eyes. Mai looked at him with half-lidded, searching eyes. "And now?"
"Meeting you made me realize that I don't want to belong to something anymore. I want to belong to someone." He smiled, holding the hand on his cheek and slowly leaning in for a kiss.
A scream broke them from their trance and they immediately sought out its source. Mai trembled slightly when she realized that it came from the flower shop at the end of the road. "Mom!" She ran ahead of Kei Lo, reaching into her robes for her weapons.
With ghost-like movements, a group of dark-clad figures emerged from the flower shop and ran across the rooftops.
"YOU STOP RIGHT THERE!" Mai threw a couple of daggers, but they all missed their intended targets. "What were you doing in our shop?!"
Once Kei Lo had caught up, she used his shoulder to jump onto the roof and chase the cloaked figures. "I said, STOP! Who are you and what do you want?!"
"We already have what we want."
The assailants stopped and so did she. As they turned around to face her, she did not heed the masks beneath the hood of the cloaks, nor the distorted voice with which the cloaked figure spoke. Her gaze was focused on the child they were holding.
Her baby brother.
"Tom-Tom!" Mai lunged for them, but she was too late. When she was a few inches away from snatching one of them, they vanished up in thick smoke that made her eyes and throat burn, rendering her immobile.
When the smoke cleared, they were gone, and so was her brother.
He had long wondered what was it that made sake so appealing to adults. When he was younger, he had stolen a noble's cup and snuck a few sips of it during the occasional gatherings in the palace. At first it was mild and sweet, a bit savory, then came the slow burning sensation from the fermented rice wine. He ended up spitting it all out, feeling dizzy and queasy afterwards.
Now, Zuko was downing one cup after another, hoping it would ease his longing, anxiety and pain; just like he heard from stories of men drinking to forget their worries even for a brief moment.
"I wish I never let you go back there. I wish I could just lock you up here. At least you would be with me, then."
It had been weeks since he left Chiyo at the troupe quarters. And since then, he had not seen her, nor her shadow at all despite her promise to return soon. He hadn't even received a single letter, much less a notice of where she was or what she was doing. He had sent countless people to look for her, but she was nowhere to be found.
Even Lady Reiko was clueless, having been busy with taking care of Kiyi in place of Ursa.
In a desperate attempt, Zuko had paid an entertainer a considerable price just for information, but all she gave was the same vague answer he was getting from everyone else.
Chiyo wasn't there.
Zuko was pouring the last of the sake into his cup when a knock coming from his bedroom doors was heard. "Fire Lord Zuko, Head Eunuch Kim has returned."
"Send him in."
The doors swung open and the eunuch hurried in. Once he was at a respectable distance, he bowed his head. "Good evening, Fire Lord Zuko—"
"Enough with the formalities!" Zuko growled, clutching the cup with a trembling hand. "Where is she?"
The eunuch shuddered, already expecting the Fire Lord's temper caused by impatience and stress. "M-my Lord, s-she is nowhere in the troupe quarters! I was permitted inside and I c-checked everywhere! They say she is in the Earth Kingdom—"
Zuko had thrown his cup to the far end of the room, the porcelain shattering into countless pieces after hitting the wall and spilling its contents. "Didn't I tell you not to come back here until she is found?!"
Eunuch Kim dropped to his knees and bowed parallel to the floor, wailing his apology. "I'm sorry, Fire Lord Zuko!"
"Get out!"
With his command, the eunuch was out of the room in less than a few seconds and he was alone once more. His only company was that of his thoughts, and his growing paranoia.
"Where are you, Chiyo?"
Morning had come and the sun had risen, yet he was still reluctant to rise from bed. His head throbbed relentlessly, an after-effect of the alcohol, and his limbs felt like they were made of lead.
"Fire Lord Zuko, Constable Sung is here to see you."
Zuko begrudgingly peeled the sheets from his body, got up from the bed and donned the robes he had clumsily discarded last night on the floor. "Come in, Constable."
Constable Sung entered the Fire Lord's quarters, choosing to ignore the mess of broken porcelain and the aroma of spilt rice wine that permeated the room. He bowed once and relayed his urgent report. "Fire Lord Zuko, there has been an attack in the Capital last night. Lady Mai's younger brother has been abducted."
"What?! Why am I only hearing this now?!" But it was pointless to ask that when he already knew the answer. He was too preoccupied with other matters and it seems everything is slowly getting more and more out of hand. "Who are the perpetrators?"
"We have asked Lady Mai. She was the person who got closest to the kidnappers before they vanished into thin air—"
"Did you just say vanish into thin air?"
"Yes, Fire Lord Zuko. Lady Mai said that they looked like the Kemurikage."
At this, Zuko frowned. "The Kemurikage is nothing but a childhood tale, one that parents used to scare children from misbehaving. They aren't real..."
"That is all the information we have so far, my Lord. What is your command?"
"I'll go there personally and investigate. Send word to the Avatar. If it is true that we are up against spirits here, we'll need Aang's help."
"Where... Where am I? W-who are you?"
"Who else? I'm your new teacher!"
"W-what are you doing?! Let go of me! HELP!"
"Shout all you want, no one will come for you. Now... It's time for your first lesson."