Chapter 110: Imprisoned under Ba Sing Se
They were placed in cells, in pairs. Iroh and Zuko, Sokka and Aang, and Toph and Katara. Appa and Momo were locked away together in a larger holding area.
Zuko stared morosely at where the cell door used to be; like at the Northern Water Tribe, there wasn't a conventional door that he could get through. Unlike at the Northern Water Tribe, it would take him a lot longer to get out, if he could at all with the suppressant running through his system.
He looked over at Iroh; as soon as they had been placed in the cell, the older man had settled himself down in meditation and allowed his eyes to drift closed and his breathing to become slower and more rhythmic.
"Uncle?" he said quietly.
The older Firebender didn't respond or react in any way. It was like he hadn't even heard his Nephew speak, like Zuko wasn't there at all.
Zuko sighed and shook his head. He'd find a way out himself.
Katara frowned at the wall of her cell. Toph stared at… nothing. She'd been oddly, unnervingly, quiet since her bending was suppressed.
Katara finally said in a low voice, "Toph, are you… are you okay?"
The little Earthbender was silent. Then, "I can't see."
It hit Katara all at once. Yes, they'd all lost access to their bending, but Toph had had one of the few ways to experience the world ripped away from her. The Waterbender's eyes glistened and she moved over to sit beside her friend, their shoulders touching. She resisted the urge to throw her arms around the other girl, knowing that it wouldn't be appreciated.
"It's okay." Katara said, trying to be reassuring. In her head, though, she wasn't so certain.
"How long do you think we've been here?" Aang asked. "I miss being outside and free."
Sokka sighed and stopped pacing the length of their cell. "Aang, it's been like twenty minutes. Half an hour, if we're being generous."
The Airbender shrugged a shoulder. "Do you think the others are okay?"
Sokka sighed again. "I don't know. I hope so. We are so… I hope so, yeah."
They were both quiet after that.
It didn't take Azula long to hear about the Avatar's capture by the Dai Li, alongside his friends. She'd embedded herself amongst the Dai Li's information channels, ingratiating herself at key points so that she was prepared to strike from within.
It hadn't taken long to figure out that the Earth King was nothing. A puppet, a figurehead. His power was symbolic, nothing more. No, Long Feng held all the real power in Ba Sing Se.
But not for long.
Azula smiled as she skimmed through the report that a helpful agent had gifted her.
A prisoner manifest.
It read:
Avatar Aang of the Southern Air Temple – Airbender (master), Waterbender (advanced – master?), Earthbender (initiate/advanced) – bending suppressed fully.
Katara of the Southern Water Tribe – Waterbender (master) – bending suppressed fully.
Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe – non-bender – weapons confiscated.
Toph Bei Fong of Gaoling – Earthbender (master) – bending suppressed fully.
Zuko of the Fire Nation – Firebender (advanced – master?) – weapons confiscated, bending suppressed fully.
Iroh of the Fire Nation – Firebender (master) – bending suppressed fully.
It was the last name on the list that really got her attention.
"Uncle…" she murmured to herself. He'd finally crawled out of whatever hole he'd been hiding in.
She smiled as she realised that he'd been thrown into another hole, one with no way out.
Her golden eyes skimmed across her brother's name. She scoffed slightly when it questioned whether he was a master; as if her idiot brother would ever achieve mastery of Fire.
She rolled the scroll and clicked her fingers loudly. A Dai Li agent emerged from the shadows and bowed.
She handed the scroll to him and said, "I will be needing to speak to some of these prisoners. It is in the best interests of Ba Sing Se that I do so."
The agent bowed again and nodded. He gestured for her to follow.
She did.
Aang had taken to whistling to pass the time. It was driving Sokka ever so slightly insane.
"Aang." He said through gritted teeth. "Do you have to do that?"
The boy shrugged. "What? I'm bored. Whoever knew that being in prison was so boring?"
Sokka closed his eyes and slapped a palm against his forehead. He was starting to develop a semi-permanent mark there.
He said, "We need to try and think of a way out of here."
Aang shrugged. "How? You need Earthbending to get through that door and I-I can't bend at all cause of whatever was in that needle."
Sokka noted that the Airbender seemed to get a little smaller as he said that, as if he was curling in on himself.
The Tribesman sat down beside him and slung an arm around his shoulders. "It'll be fine. I'll think of something. I'm the plan guy, right?"
Aang smiled up at him. "Right."
Privately, Sokka thought that they were doomed.
Zuko had discovered a small nail lodged in a crevice of their cell. He'd spent the past hour trying to dig into the rock where the door was. So far, he could just about fit the tip of his little finger inside. At this pace he figured it would take him somewhere in the region of ten years to make it through, assuming the nail didn't wear away before then.
He sighed lowly and let the nail drop to the floor. He glanced over at Iroh; the older man was still in the same position, quietly meditating. He found himself envying how calm his Uncle was, in any given situation. Zuko didn't think he'd ever seen his Uncle lose control; not of his temper, his patience, anything. He seemed to have the same good humour about everything.
He shook his head and went to sit opposite his Uncle, like they did during Firebending training. He closed his eyes and tried to match his Uncle's breathing.
What he didn't see was a sliver of gold that appeared through Iroh's eyelids and the upwards quirk that appeared in the older man's lip.
Katara hadn't given up hope of escaping. She was, however, taking a break from trying to think up escape plans. She could admit to herself that it wasn't her strongest skill; Sokka was the creative thinker out of the two of them. Not smarter, she thought, but definitely more… versatile in his thinking.
She was still sat on the floor, Toph leaning against her shoulder. They'd both been quiet for a long time; Katara couldn't decide if the younger girl had gone to sleep or not.
That conundrum was solved when Toph asked in a small voice, "Think the others are alright?"
Katara sighed. "I do. I have to. They're all really strong and tough. They'll be fine."
She felt Toph nod her head. "Right."
Iroh hadn't been meditating. Or, rather, he hadn't merely been meditating in the way that Firebenders often did.
During his lifetime, Iroh had encountered many things that one might deem 'spiritual'. He'd faced the Great Dragons, Ran and Shaw; he'd held a portion of the Eternal Flame; he'd even journeyed to the Spirit World, as the Sages of old did. Those events, amongst others, had gifted him a… sensitivity to spiritual energy. He was drawing upon every ounce of that sensitivity, that awareness, and was attempting to reach out to one who was overflowing with the same.
Far above the Catacombs, in the Upper Ring of Ba Sing Se, in the apartment located above the Jasmine Dragon, Miyuki stirred in the midst of her midday nap.