PART III: Forty-Seven

Pain ran through Suki's middle, centering just below her ribs, where Bai's fist had hammered home. She had to give it to the bastard; she hadn't thought he was capable of something like that. She'd always thought he was a pencil-pushing know-it-all who kowtowed to anyone with enough authority to lead him by the nose, when she thought anything of him at all.

Clearly, Bai had been holding back on her.

"Are you alright, my lady?" Fen said gently, one hand on her shoulder as she breathed through the pain, sweat sliding down her skin. She glanced up at him. Zuko's secretary was as pale as rice milk, his mouth twisted into an angry line and his normally slicked back hair tumbled into his face.

"I don't know," Suki said truthfully, her voice breaking, some of her fear showing. She couldn't help it. Too many things had happened in too short a span of time. Her head was still spinning.

Zuko had been attacked and kidnapped. Iroh was looking for him. Lady Lian was dead, a Kyoshi fan down her throat. Guo had been attacked by an assassin carrying a dagger from her own mother's forge. Bai had brought the Grand Sage to the palace and used some law to install the Sage as Steward while Zuko was gone... Ty Lee had been arrested. Tam was who-knew-where. Hopefully Piandao found her before she was arrested too.

And Bai, Bai had punched her in the stomach, hard enough to buckle her knees, hard enough to make breathing hard, as Fen, Captain Lio, and a cadre of guards escorted them through the palace toward the healing ward.

That wasn't all.

Ty Lee had let her secret spill. It wouldn't take long for the rumor mill in the palace to churn out the news that she was pregnant. What would happen next, she had no idea.

She just needed a moment to think, to breathe. To assess the damage. And then to act.

Please let me still be pregnant...please... Suki thought, clutching at Fen as they walked. Captain Lio glanced at her and then put one arm beneath her shoulder, steadying her. She glanced at him and he frowned.

"I'm sorry, Seneschal," Lio said softly. "For everything."

"It's not your fault, Lio," Suki said raggedly, as they turned a corner and the doors of the healing ward came into sight.

"I should have stopped him. I... For what it's worth, I disagree with Grand Sage Luzhou. But the evidence..." Lio looked away. "It doesn't look good for you, Suki."

"I know," Suki said, as one of the guards opened the door and the two men helped her into the ward's waiting room. "You're just doing your job. I'm not angry with you."

"What Bai did was without honor," Lio said seriously, his face becoming a still as stone. The normally unflappable Captain was angry; she could see it in his eyes, festering there.

"Bai will get what's coming to him if I have to do it myself. Preferably with something blunt and crude that will take a long time," Fen said through his teeth. Suki couldn't forget the way Fen had slapped Bai; she hadn't thought Bai had it in him, but she really hadn't thought Fen was capable of slapping a Councilman. If Piandao hadn't stopped him, she was pretty sure Fen would have gone for Bai's throat.

"I may help you with that," Lio said in an undertone, as a man came out of the door to the ward, stopping dead in his tracks. It was Pikon, a bandage standing out starkly on his neck where the assassin had cut him. He spotted them immediately, his mouth opening a little. Then he glanced back over his shoulder at the door that had swung shut behind him.

"Seneschal! I...I was just going to send for you!" Pikon said. "Councilman Guo is awake."

Suki's heart might have leaped at the thought just that morning, but all she felt was mild relief. At least if Guo was awake he was out of danger, and that meant they couldn't blame her if he died too. They might still try to pin the attack on her, but she'd handle that when the time came.

"I'm afraid we have more pressing matters at hand," Lio said. "The Seneschal has been injured."

"Nam-Kyu. I need to see Nam-Kyu right away," Suki said, one hand on her stomach.

Pikon seemed confused for a moment, and then his professional mask dropped into place. "Of course, right this way."

It didn't take them long to help her into the first room on the mostly empty ward. Fen helped her to sit down, as Nam-Kyu came stumping into the room, Pikon on her heels.

"Pikon tells me you've been injured? You haven't been fighting again, have you?" Nam-Kyu said, but then started, when Suki looked up at her, sweat beading on her brow. Nam-Kyu's lined face hardened as their eyes met. "Everyone out."

"I'm afraid the Seneschal is under arrest. I can't leave her," Lio said regretfully.

"Arrest? For what?" Nam-Kyu said, and then her hand cut through the air. "It doesn't matter. She's my patient, and this is my ward. Not even Fire Lord Zuko gives me commands here. You and your men will step out of the room, Captain. That's an order."

The old woman's bark echoed in the sterile room, and Lio glanced at Suki, and then nodded. He gestured to his guardsmen, and they stepped outside and took up positions in the hallway. Lio bowed at her.

"My lady," he said in a soft tone, and then left the room. Fen followed him, glancing back at her. The door close behind them, leaving her alone with Nam-Kyu, who threw the lock and turned back to her with her gimlet eyes stormy with anger.

"What happened?"

Suki told her everything, starting with the massacre at Lady Lian's and ending with Bai's devastating punch to her stomach. Nam-Kyu listened to her without interrupting, but her mouth got thinner and thinner, lines appearing as her scowl deepened.

"He hit you?" Like Fen, Nam-Kyu's voice was full of banked rage, like she'd like nothing more than to find Bai and end him.

"In all fairness, I did kick him first," she said, but her humor fell flat, and the next moment the tears she'd been holding back came over her again. Her face crumpled and she let out a sob.

After that, everything was a blur. She was aware of Nam-Kyu gathering her up in her arms, stroking her hair and crooning softly to her. She clung to the old healer's shoulders as everything tumbled over her at once. Her fear, her anger, her panic and worry over Zuko, which had been burning like a lit coal in her guts since Piandao had handed her the letter from Iroh.

She should be marching an army to Ba Sing Se to get Zuko back, and instead she was here, facing murder charges, her friends arrested, and who knew where. She was alone and in pain and she'd failed to protect the one thing that mattered most.

"Am I going to lose the baby?" Suki asked, pulling back, the fear rising in her as she hiccuped. She wiped at her nose, smearing tears and snot, and not caring one bit. Nam-Kyu reached for a cloth on the side table, handing it to her.

She blew her nose and then wiped at her face, sniffing, her eyes burning and swollen. She looked at Nam-Kyu, watching her with a grim expression on her face.

"Am I?" Suki repeated, twisting the damp cloth in her fingers. Nam-Kyu touched her face.

"Let's see, shall we?"

Nam-Kyu got her a robe, and then helped her undress. Suki lay back on the exam table as Nam-Kyu washed her hands. She was afraid to breathe, though she noticed the pain in her stomach was lessening. Bai had hit her hard, but she'd taken harder punches to the gut before.

Just never while she was pregnant. She had no idea the damage such a blow could do. She grasped the edges of the examination table, staring up at the ceiling as Nam-Kyu examined the bruise blooming on her stomach.

"Nasty thing. It'll go black for sure. I have a poultice that will help, but we have other worries, don't we?"

While Nam-Kyu did a pelvic exam, all Suki could do was close her eyes and pray to whatever higher power was watching over her that everything was okay. Or maybe she was just talking to the baby, hoping against hope that it would feel the worry and fear she felt, somehow. That it would hold on, no matter.

Please let everything be okay, please... Please... I need one thing to be okay right now... I can handle the Grand Sage, and Bai. I can handle being arrested and charged with murder. But I can't handle Zuko and this on top of it. Please... Please...I need you to be okay in there. Please, little one...

Tears leaked down her temples, as Nam-Kyu pushed her stool back away from the table. She walked over to the sink and washed her hands, then turned back to face Suki, who was watching her with her heart in her throat.

"How is it? Am I...? Is it? Is the baby okay?"

Nam-Kyu surprised her with a soft smile. "I think the heir is as stubborn as their parents."

Suki put her hand over face and let out another sob, this time of relief. "It's okay?"

"Everything looks fine for now. There's no sign of any bleeding. Yet," Nam-Kyu said, as she dropped the hand from her burning eyes. Nam-Kyu wrapped both of her hands around Suki's and patted her fingers.

Suki caught Nam-Kyu's meaning, and her relief stopped dead in its tracks. "Yet?"

"It's still possible you could miscarry. It's still too early to tell, I'm afraid. Which means I'll have to keep you here in the healing ward. Until I'm sure you're out of danger," Nam-Kyu said, her lips pursing, wizened brow arching. "Which could take several days. Possibly even a week. Or more."

Suki smiled a little. "You scheming old woman. The Grand Sage wants me arrested. He won't listen."

"He will listen to me, I promise you that. I can stall them as long as we need, until Zuko returns if necessary. And I am concerned. You've had a lot of stresses and no few shocks in a very short period of time. That isn't good for you or the baby. Things could change for the both of you. I need you to be aware of that."

Suki nodded, as Nam-Kyu helped her to sit up. She touched Suki's face, wiping at the tears leaking down her cheeks.

"I will. I tried..." But words failed her.

"Chin up, my girl. I know things look dark, but you're still in this fight. Your little one needs you to keep it together," Nam-Kyu said sternly. It wasn't a rebuke, but it worked on Suki like a shot of adrenaline.

Nam-Kyu was right. She'd broken down a little, overwhelmed and scared, but she couldn't let that happened again. Zuko was gone, who knew where, and in what danger, and she was alone, surrounded by enemies. The Fire Nation needed her.

Their child needed her.

Suki wiped at her eyes and then lifted her chin. "My mother used to tell me to never let the bastards see you cry."

"Your mother and I would get along, I think," Nam-Kyu said, nodding. "You're going to get through this, Fire Lady Suki."

"I'm not the Fire Lady," Suki said, sniffing.

But Nam-Kyu's smile was soft. "But you will be."

"Zuko..."

"He'll come back to you. Zuko is as much of a fighter as you are. He's come back from worse. I think that boy would do anything to get back to you. An army wouldn't stop him. Never doubt that."

"Never," Suki whispered, shaking her head, her heart aching.

"You just remember that, and you'll both get through this."

Suki took a breath and then closed her eyes for a moment. Nam-Kyu was right. She'd get through this, and if something had happened to Zuko, she would feel it. She knew that she would. She'd been feeling anxiety over him; somehow she had known something was wrong before Iroh's letter had arrived. She knew though, in her bones, in her heart, in her soul, that if Zuko were dead, she would know it. She didn't know how she would know, but she knew that she would.

She had to trust in that, trust in Zuko, and the Kyoshi Warriors, in Iroh, and even Azula.

Zuko would come back to her. To them.

And she'd protect the Fire Nation until he did. He had entrusted it to her, and she would do what she could to protect it, even though her enemies were trying to take her down, and wrest control from her hands by hook or by crook.

She would fight in whatever way she could.

She licked her lips and glanced at the door, then remembered what Pikon had said. "Guo is awake?"

Nam-Kyu frowned. "Yes. Damn fool ripped his air tubes out. He's still recovering from a punctured lung."

"But he's okay?"

"He's breathing on his own. He's survived this long. I think he'll pull through."

"Good," Suki said, sighing. "And also not good. Guo already hates my guts. If he thinks I was behind the assassination attempt on his life... He'll join Bai and the Grand Sage. I know that he will."

"That's a worry for tomorrow. You need rest. Lay down and try to get some sleep. I'll inform your captors that you'll be staying in the ward until I release you."

"The Grand Sage won't like that."

"The Grand Sage can eat shit," Nam-Kyu said, making Suki laugh, stuffing her fist against her mouth to stop the sound. She watched Nam-Kyu cross the room and then step out into the hallway. The door closed behind her and she let out a breath, her hand straying to her stomach.

"I'm going to get us out of this mess, little one. I promise. And when your daddy comes home, I swear, I am never letting either of you go again," she whispered.

Her voice echoed in the empty room and faded into nothing.

Shirong paced the corridor of the Earth King's palace, feeling out of place, unwanted. Useless. He kept going back to the wide windows that looked out over the wide courtyard. He could just see the spires of the university in the distance, towering over the walls that surrounded the palace.

He'd always wanted to see the palace for himself, and had walked past the grand, golden gates more than a few times, wondering what it would be like to walk in the halls of a place that held so much history and importance.

He'd poured over book after book, looked at drawings and paintings and maps, read the histories of a hundred Earth Kings and Queens, hoping for a glimpse into the living history of the Kingdom of his birth.

The palace lived up to the image he'd had of it in his mind. It was grand and beautiful, a monument to the Earth Kingdom and their monarchs.

What he had never counted on was just how out of place he would feel within its wall, how small and insignificant he would feel, as the walls closed in on him, and his worry and guilt chased away whatever scholarly interest he might have once had.

He stood at the window, staring past the familiar spires of the university at the rising cloud of smoke that filled his entire view now. There had been explosion in the Middle Ring, if he was any judge of distance. It wasn't close, wherever it had been, but when the explosion had happened, every window in the palace had rattled, and bits of plaster and dust had rained down from the high ceilings.

There had been a lot of activity after that. Soldiers had run past him, shouting orders. He'd flattened himself against the walls, trying to get out of the way, but also trying to glean little bits of information. It hadn't taken long for him to spot the smoke out of the windows.

And the smoke had risen, grown into a towering demon, filling the sky, and rolling over the rooftops of Ba Sing Se like a pyroclastic flow.

The city of walls and secrets was on fire.

Shirong's guts twisted. Worry made sweat slide down his back and he ran a hand through his dark hair, tugging at it, until it stood up in all directions.

Azula was out there in that burning city, somewhere. The man, the Smoke Demon who had taken her, her knew that he was responsible for the fire. He had to be. The explosion, something told him that it was connected to the liquid the Smoke Demon had thrown onto the wall of the Jasmine Dragon. The whole place had been obliterated in a hail of debris and fire when the flames finally reached the liquid.

Shirong watched the smoke billowing, thinking of Azula with his heart on fire. She had to be okay. She had to have survived.

His stomach knotted. General Iroh and the Kyoshi Warriors were out there right now, somewhere in the city, looking for Azula and Fire Lord Zuko. They'd had a lead, a warehouse. One of Lord Kun's men had flipped after General Iroh had interrogated him.

Fear slipped down Shirong's spine. General Iroh scared him, but Shirong knew that the man wouldn't stop until he got Azula and Zuko back. The intensity that had driven the old general reassured him. If Azula was out there, Iroh would bring her back. He clung to that knowledge as he watched the smoke billowing into the sky.

He found himself wandering away from the window, through the palace corridors, and back toward the rooms where the King had put the injured Kyoshi Warriors. His room was here too, but he hadn't been able to sleep much since the explosion.

He found Governor Chuanwei pacing in one of rooms, her arms crossed over her bony chest, her jaw working. One of the Kyoshi Warriors, Mei Lin, was asleep in a bed near the window, her wrapped hands lying atop the blankets. The Governor glanced at him as he passed the room, but she didn't stop him. She hadn't had much to say to him, though she'd stopped Iroh from choking the life out of him.

None of them had had much to say to him since the explosion. He didn't blame them.

It was his fault. All of it.

He should have said something, should have told Azula, Iroh, anyone, about what that man had done to Huy. He hadn't trust the Smoke Demon, but he'd still done as he was told. There was no taking it back now.

He'd lost her. He'd just found Azula, and he'd lost her.

Shirong turned a corner, heading for his room, and collided with the Earth King, who bounced back from him in startlement. Shirong gasped, lowering his head and bowing.

"My apologies, Your Majesty! I didn't mean... I... I'm sorry!"

"It's alright, young man. Shufong, is it?" King Kuei said, narrowing his eyes behind his pince-nez glasses.

"Shirong, your Majesty," he said. "Is there, uh... Any news?"

The Earth King looked pale behind his glasses. His pet bear wasn't with him, for once, and he looked stoop-shouldered and a little duck-footed. Shirong had never seen the King, except in pictures, and none of them had prepared him for just how underwhelming he would find the man in person.

Where Fire Lord Zuko had had a commanding, but friendly air about him, King Kuei gave off a distracted, even flustered vibe. He looked like a man who wanted to be anywhere else but where he was at the moment.

"There was an explosion in the city. I don't know much else," Kuei said, and then he walked over to one of the wide windows, where the sky was filled with smoke. "I told my men to report back to me here. My advisers... I needed a break. They've been on me for some time to handle this mess with Lord Kun. They said the city was a powder keg. I suppose they were right. Now they're on me to act, but I have no idea how. I fear making the wrong move. And I'm worried about my friend. The men I sent to find Iroh and Delun have not returned yet. I fear they were caught in the explosion. I don't know what to do."

Shirong saw the distress in the Earth King's eyes. The man was in over his head, that much was clear. Shirong bit his lip, and then, unable to stop himself, he spoke up.

"I'm worried about the others too. Azula..." But he stopped that thought, closing his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, Kuei was watching him, frowning. "But the fire is a bigger problem than you realize. Most of the middle ring is made of wooden structures. The buildings are close together, much too close. I've seen how quickly fire can gut an entire street. Just last summer, the Street of Serpents burned to the ground because someone's lamp was knocked over. They barely got it under control, and that was a small fire. That fire from the explosion... It's huge. Whole city blocks are going to be lost. Entire neighborhoods... Possibly even the whole city!"

"They've called out the fire brigades. I'm sure they'll get a handle on the fires."

But Shirong's mind was whirring, remembering something he had read long ago. "Do you remember the tales of the Great Fire? During the reign of Earth Queen Dualla?"

Kuei glanced at him, brow rising. "I remember something about the Great Fire from my studies as a boy. Not much, mind you. There was a great loss of life. People had to flee into the outer ring. The entire western half of the city was rebuilt. That's when the university was established, during the reconstruction."

"You remember correctly, your Majesty. Earth Queen Dualla, she was a fascinating woman. She went to see the fires herself. She came up with the plan to stop the flames."

"I don't believe I know that part of the story," Kuei said, turning around and leaning against the window sill.

"She created fire breaks. She had Earthbenders tear down buildings that weren't on fire to make gaps in the fire line, and where they could they Earthbent walls as high as four stories, to stop the flames from climbing them and spreading farther. She saved the eastern half of the city, your Majesty, but if she'd done it two days earlier, she may have saved the western half as well. It was the great lament of her life, that she trusted to the fire brigades to handle it when they were outmatched."

Kuei stared into the middle distance, rubbing at his chin for a moment. "She saved the city. Only to rebuild the damned thing the same way they did before. Wooden buildings too close together... A powder keg."

"The fire is spreading, your Majesty. Your advisers are right. If you don't do something, we'll have another Great Fire on our hands. With all due respect, you need to act. Now."

King Kuei glanced at him, and then reached out, touching his shoulder. "You've a sharp mind, Shirong. And you're right. For once in my life, I need to act. Thank you," Kuei said, and then, with a nod, he marched away, his head held high, leaving Shirong to sigh and sink against the window, his forehead pressed to the cool pane.

It wasn't much, but he thought maybe he'd helped. At least he'd done something right.

"Where are they?" a voice said behind him, startling him. He whipped around to face a young woman sagging in the doorway of one of the rooms. She was breathing hard, holding onto the door frame for all she was worth. Her hair was singed and ragged. She had chemical burns on her face, which were covered in soothing salve the color of mint leaves. Her arms were bandaged, and so was her right shoulder. The bandage on her shoulder was stained bright red as blood from her wound soaked through.

He stared at the Kyoshi Warrior. He knew her name. Rin. She'd been the one who had fought off the men in the courtyard of the Jasmine Dragon. She had helped him pull the others out of the fire, before getting caught in the explosion herself. He'd helped pull her out of the wreckage. He'd thought she was dead when he'd found her body, sure that she had succumbed to her wounds, but she had stubbornly kept on breathing.

There was too much fight in her.

In all of the Kyoshi Warriors, he'd noticed.

"You're not supposed to be out of bed," Shirong said, starting forward, but Rin shook her head, trying to walk forward. Her legs were shaking, and her knuckles were white on the door frame.

"They should have been back by now," Rin croaked. "I heard... That explosion... It was them, wasn't it?"

"We don't know yet," Shirong said, reaching her side. He didn't know where to touch her, afraid that he would hurt her. "General Iroh took everyone but that other Kyoshi Warrior, Mei Lin. Her hands were burned, she can't fight."

"Zuko," Rin breathed, ignoring him. Her eyes flicked to the window, and she saw the smoke rising in a thick black cloud over the city. Her eyes widened and she paled even further beneath the ghastly salve on her face. "I have to get to Zuko..."

She took one step, letting go of the door frame, and crumpled forward. Shirong, who had been prepared for that very thing, caught her before she fell, putting one shoulder beneath hers.

"Easy," he said, as Rin panted, her head falling forward, her singed hair falling down her bandaged shoulder. "I've got you."

"Zuko needs me," she said, and then she passed out completely, her head falling back against his shoulder, her feet turning. He nearly dropped her, but managed to swing her around so that he could scoop her up. Her head flopped against his arm as he hefted her with a grunt.

Then he staggered back into her room, his arms shaking. She didn't look heavy, but she was all muscle, a Warrior, not a waif. When he settled her back into the bed, she stirred again, her eyes opening, unfocused. Perspiration sparkled on her brow. He thought she was still out of it, but when he started to pull away, she caught his shirt in a strong grip.

"You have to find them. Please..." Rin gasped, and then collapsed onto the pillow, clutching her shoulder. The tortured expression on her face eased, and he realized that she had passed out again. Shirong let out a breath and his hand touched hers briefly.

His mind whirred, as he turned to face the window. He could still see the smoke rising as the city burned.

"I will. I promise."

But he had no idea how.

He was still watching out the window when they brought them in. He heard them first, shouted voices, raising the alarm. The voices brought running feet, servants, and the King's physicians. He rounded the corner and saw guards, covered in soot and dust, carrying stretchers between them.

Shirong stopped dead in his tracks, the blood draining from his face when he spotted a familiar figure on one of the makeshift stretchers.

"General Iroh!"

He rushed forward, but one of the guards shoved him back.

"Stand aside, he needs medical help!"

Shirong spotted a blood-soaked bandage wrapped around Iroh's head. He was unconscious, his beard stained pink from the blood. He was breathing though; he could see his chest rising and falling as they pushed past him. He flattened himself against the wall, as Chuanwei pushed a guard aside and grasped Iroh's limp hand.

"What happened?" Chuanwei barked, making the guard at the head of the procession stop.

"The whole damned street went up. Delun is dead. We had to dig them out of the rubble. The entire city is on fire. We're lucky we found them at all."

Chuanwei stood aside for a physician, who checked Iroh over, then pointed to one of the rooms. Shirong's eyes fell on the other stretchers as they were carried past. He recognized two of the Kyoshi Warriors, though he didn't know their names. One of the girls was unconscious, though she had a compress on her stomach, which was stained scarlet. The other had what appeared to be a broken leg; someone had field-wrapped it, but it still needed set. She was awake, breathing hard, tears in her eyes. She seemed to be too much in pain to speak.

There were others; soldiers by their uniforms. They all looked battered and beaten. Chuanwei checked the two Kyoshi Warriors over, and then looked around, catching hold of a soldier by the scruff of his neck.

"Where are the others? Kikki and Xiuying? Where are they?"

But Shirong's eyes had fallen on the people in the rear of the procession. His stomach dropped to his toes as he saw a soldier walking with a wrapped bundle. The cloth was soaked through with blood, and he saw a hand dangling, the gloved fingers limp.

Chuanwei turned and let out a sound, which tore out of her in a rush of pain and disbelief. She pushed forward, and the soldier stopped, letting her tug the cloth open, revealing a painted, blood-splattered face that was very still.

"Xiuying..." Chuanwei breathed and then let out a soft cry. She kissed the girl's forehead, trembling. "My darling girl, my little sister... May Kyoshi greet your spirit in the afterlife."

"She got us out," a thready voice said, and Shirong saw the shortest of the Warriors limping down the corridor. She looked the worse for wear, her green uniform ripped, and covered in blood and dust, but she was still standing. Though her paint was smudged with tears that were still leaking down her cheeks, she looked angry. "If it wasn't for her, we would have been in the cellar when the explosion happened. We would all have died, but she got us out. Xiuying got us out."

"Kikki..." Chuanwei said, reaching for her, but the Warrior scrubbed a hand beneath her eyes, backing up a step.

"They were gone. Zuko and Azula. They were there, but... We were too late. It was all for nothing. The bastards knew we were coming. It was a trap."

And she turned, hitting the wall with her fist. Kikki sagged, her head down. She wasn't crying; her body was alive with anger, shaking with exhaustion and grief.

Shirong felt more out of place than ever before, watching their shared grief. A grief he had had a hand in causing. Guilt made his chest burn, and he thought of Azula. They had been too late to save her or the Fire Lord. Somehow, they'd been taken from the warehouse.

But where?

He watched in numb disbelief as the injured were taken to rooms. The corridor was chaos and noise. The soldier carrying Xiuying's body passed him and he couldn't tear his eyes away from her limp hand. Chuanwei tried to approach Kikki, but she seemed to be lost in her own grief, pushing away from the woman and disappearing down a corridor.

The Earth King returned, but Shirong avoided him, moving away from the noise and work of the triage center they were setting up.

He found Kikki sitting on the floor a few corridors away, her arms on her knees. She wasn't crying. She was staring at a tapestry on the wall, as if she wasn't really seeing it. Her short hair was matted with blood on one side and she was picking at her lips, smearing the red paint on her gloved fingertips.

He sank down next to her on the floor and stretched his legs out.

"I'm sorry about your friend."

"Fuck you! Traitor!" Kikki snarled immediately, turning flashing blue eyes on him. "You did this, you piece of shit! You should be rotting in a prison cell for what you did. You don't get to be sorry! Xiuying is dead and you're still here? FUCK YOU!"

That broke her. Her anger turned into a sob. Shirong sat there, her words echoing in his ears, watching as she buried her face against her knees and cried.

He put his head back against the wall, staring at the tapestry. It took him a moment to realize that the tapestry was a story. His eyes moved over the woven figures. It was the tale of the founding of Ba Sing Se, when it had just been an underground settlement full of glowing crystals. The tapestry ended with the raising of the first walls above ground and the founding of the current city. He knew the story well. He'd read all manner of books about Ba Sing Se's architecture and history, from the founding to the modern times.

He'd also transcribed more than a few boring texts about Ba Sing Se's infrastructure at his job as a scribe. He'd spent three months deciphering a crumbling scroll filled with faded text so tiny he'd had to use a magnifying glass to read it, meticulously copying it for preservation. As hard as that had been, he'd learned a lot, reading that scroll every day.

He'd copied a few other things at that job too. No few of them questionable. His boss didn't care much about who his clients were, so long as they paid half up front for their commissions, and half when the job was done.

Criminals in Ba Sing Se had a lot of money to throw around, and some of them sometimes needed the hands of a scribe. Shirong's hands fisted in his lap, feeling like he'd been hit by lightning all of a sudden.

"They were in a cellar?" he said, turning to Kikki. She lifted her head and glared at him.

"What?"

"A cellar? Beneath that brewery? You said it they were in a cellar?"

Kikki sniffed. "Yeah. Why?"

"Did anyone see them leave?"

"No. Before the explosion, we questioned some people. No one saw them leaving. The people who owned the places around it, they thought it was abandoned. They'd never seen anyone go in or out. There was a woodworker. Spirits, we found his body..."

Shirong frowned. "Tunnels."

"What?"

"The tunnels beneath Ba Sing Se."

"The Crystal Catacombs?"

"No. These aren't nearly as deep or as old as that. There are smuggler's tunnels throughout the city. During the war, criminals would use them to bring illegal goods in and out of the city without the Dai Li knowing about it. They still use them. They run everywhere, all throughout the city. If you know how to find them."

Kikki nodded slowly.

"Lord Kun would know how to find them."

"Definitely," Shirong said, his pulse picking up as he thought. "We know he's involved, working with that Smoke Demon. According to our snitch, Lord Kun owned that brewery. Which means there's probably a tunnel entrance in the cellar."

"The street blew apart. The building is gone, it's nothing but rubble," Kikki croaked. "It would take months to dig out that cellar, whatever is left of it. Any tunnel down there would have collapsed."

But Shirong shook his head. "Even if we found that tunnel, we'd have no idea which way to go. It's a maze down there. All of the tunnels interconnect."

"Then how do the criminals get around?"

But Shirong smiled, his heart racing and his mind whirring like a machine. "You need a map. And I know where to get one."