The sky hanging above the wall is an incredible sight, a canvas of orange with splashes of pinks and golds. It is a fine opening to what may very well be a final day. In her travels, Azula has heard tell of it. Of a device that set to breech Ba Sing Se's walls. Even still, she has a job to do. She isn't particularly worried about trifles outside of the wall. She fashions her hair into a scraggly topknot-she can never seem to tame her locks-and slips into her day clothing.

She doesn't have much in way of possessions just a small cabbage stall-already twice destroyed by the Avatar and his companions-and the essentials, a few changes of clothes, a makeshift comb, a waterskin, a few pairs of shoes, and some kitchenware and gardening tools. She puts on her conical hat and heads out and into the streets.

She can hear the rumbles even from this distance and considers that maybe it is a horrid idea to find herself outside. But then, maybe she can sell a few doomsday cabbages. She pushes a cart full of them into the center of the market square.

The square is bustling and jovial. Azula can't help but be intrigued, it perplexes her how they can be so happy with their sanctuary seconds away from a breech. A woman passes by her stall. "Would you like to buy a cabbage?" She asks. "It may be your last chance to buy one, now that the war has reached Ba Sing Se."

"Excuse me?" The woman tilts her head.

Azula conceals an exasperated sigh. "The city is going to fall and we are all going to die today. I recommend buying a cabbage as your last meal."

The woman gulps and walks away. A rather brisk and hustled walk. Azula pouts to herself, she never has been particularly great with people. Not friendly conversation anyhow. She wonders if she may have come on too strong. She approaches the next passerby differently, "would you be interested in a doom's day cabbage?"

"Doom's day?" The man asks.

"Yes. Doom's day."

"What do you mean?"

Azula blinks, "I mean that the wall is about to be breeched so I am offering you a good quality final meal." She pauses, looking at the tray of food that he is already holding. "Rather something to enrich the one you already have."

The man seems to consider for a moment and Azula dares to get her hopes up. She thinks that today will be her lucky day. With the Avatar and his friends preoccupied with the wall, there is no one to make a mess of things. The man pats his pockets. "I think that I just spent the last of my money on this." He motions to his meal.

Azula nods. "You should make better spending choices in the future. Good day."

The man frowns and makes his way away from her stall. She is almost certain that she has offended him somehow, but she opts to pretend that he had simply been mournful of his lost opportunity.

She greets a second man and offers him a cabbage.

"Maybe tomorrow." The man smiles.

"But there will not be a tomorrow." Azula insists.

He halts in his tracks. "Why wouldn't there be a tomorrow."

Azula founds herself staring in bemusement again. Could it be that they really don't know about the drill. That they are absolutely oblivious to what transpires just on the other side of their walls? Azula parts her lips. "There's a drill."

"A drill?"

She nods. "It is Fire Nation. They are going to breach the outer wall very soon."

The man gives an uneasy chuckle and shifts his weight from one leg to the other. He mumbles something before taking off much like the first woman. Azula sighs. She wonders if the Earth King knows about this, perhaps word has not reached him yet. Mayhaps it is she who should bring it to his attention. Her expression dims, who is she kidding? She can't even sell a single cabbage much less be able to deliver profound information to the king himself.

She re-adjusts her hat and decides to herself that if she can sell just one cabbage, she will bring her news to the Earth King. She tries to draw consumers in but she doesn't have the spunk nor vigor that the woman running the meat cart does. And she doesn't have that suave and slick voice that the man running the jewelry stand boasts. She certainly doesn't have the perky, cheeriness of the brother-sister botanist duo.

She is just Azula.

She supposes that her voice is pleasant enough and that her appearance is at least somewhat charming. But the baggy cotton pants and shirt she wears do her no favors. She is exceptionally average in those regards. But she has a sharp mind and she is something of a prodigy. She knows so, her father has said as much. Even if he hadn't, she hasn't seen anyone grow a cabbage as fast or as large as the ones she grows. The sheer amount of them is impressive if she must say.

She decides that she is wasting her talents on people who can't recognize her talents. If she wants to do this, if she wants success-and she will have it one way or another-she will need to be bolder.

She looks towards the sky; it is clear and blue. Early afternoon. She still has much of her day to accomplish what needs accomplishing.

.oOo.

"This drill is a feat of scientific ingenuity and raw destructive power. Once it tunnels through the wall, our troops will storm their city. The Earth Kingdom will finally fall, and you can claim Ba Sing Se in the name of Fire Lord Ozai. Nothing can stop us." Vows Qin.

Tylee taps her chin, "hmmm, what about those muscley guys down there?" Once quick glance into the drill's binoculars reveals a team of well chiseled men. They slam rocks up against the drill's framework.

Sie listens intently to the conversation, wondering just were his life has gone wrong. He doesn't wonder for too long, he thinks that he can pinpoint the exact moment when things had taken such a stark turn.

Qin flashes a confident and boastful smile. "Please! The drill's metal shell is impervious to any earthbending attack."

But that doesn't alleviate the queasiness in Sie's stomach."Oh, I sure hope it is, War Minister Qin…" He trails off, he knows how these things usually go after a healthy amount of experience. "...but just to be on the safe side." He looks to Mai and TyLee. "We should probably take care of that." He cringes to himself as another rock collides with the drill.

Twirling knife around her finger, Mai remarks, "Finally."

Sie winces to himself, he hates when she does that. One of these days she is going to take someone's eye out.

"Something to do." Her words are punctuated by a clunk and a shout. There it is. The moment he had dreaded. Mai apologizes less than half-heartedly.

.oOo.

There, that should do, Azula thinks to herself. She knows that her task is no longer going to be easy. She is well aware that she has maneuvered herself right into the general vicinity of the Avatar himself. But she is a girl of goals and plenty of determination.

"Excuse me! You can't be out here right now!" Calls the general.

"I can be! And I will be! Maybe you don't have the nerve to come down here and do what is necessary, but I do. I'm stronger than you." Is what Azula would have declared had she heard the man over the sound of whirring mechanics and rebounding rocks. Instead she continues arranging her stall as though he hadn't spoken at all. Because, as far as she is concerned, he hasn't. And really, if a plea falls on def ears, has a plea really been made at all? Azula doesn't ask herself this question because she has no reason to.

Instead she taps one of the earth warriors on the shoulder. "Would you like to buy a cabbage. Battles are exhausting, you will have an advantage if you aren't fighting hungry."

"WHAT?" The man hollars over the noise of the drill.

"These cabbages will help you prevent the apocalypse." Azula speaks with more volume.

"WHAT!?" He repeats again.

She flinches as the man drops to the ground. The man's attacker waves before cartwheeling over to the next. Azula narrows her eyes, to think she had a sturdy sales pitch going for her too.

.oOo.

Sie is growing more and more anxious. Mai and TyLee have returned and the earthbenders have been dealt with. But he knows that there will be more of them. He just knows it. He is also well aware of just how much trouble the Avatar can cause after having run into him in Omashu. But where is he? Where.

A horrid noise violates his ears. "Congratulations, crew. The drill has made contact with the wall of Ba Sing Se, start the countdown to victory."

So why is it that he begins counting down to their defeat. It might be that he knows deep down that the protagonists always win. That those are the rules and he can deny them no more than he can deny the knife-related background death of one of the drill staff. His corpse has already been drawn out of the frame (blood and all) with no trace of it ever having been there. But with no place for it to have been reasonably moved to.

He decides that it is also worth noting that a cabbage stall has been erected just outside of the wall. He wonders what kind of ploy this may be.

"War Minister, an engineer was ambushed! His schematics were stolen!" Declares one of the personal, confirming his suspicions about that damn cabbage stand.

"Titans, go!" He coughs, "Sorry, I mean, let's go ladies." Whatever that cabbage merchant has planned, he won't let it succeed. Too much is at stake here. His nation is depending on him and the Fire Lord, his father, has set expectations high. He dreads to think of what could happen if he comes home without victory. He can't allow himself to end up like his banished and scarred brother.

.oOo.

She watches them fall left and right, her potential customers drop like flies. The worst of it is that they actually seem interested in buying cabbages off of her. The problem is that by the time she has successfully communicated over the drill's volume, they only have time to smile and say, "yeah, I'd like one" before a Fire Nation soldier intervenes.

Feeling utterly defeated and rather useless, she makes her way to the infirmary. The least she can do is offer them a free cabbage for their troubles. She has an excess of them and she decides that it wouldn't pay to waste a perfectly good cabbage.

With a pang in her heart, she gathers a few of them into her arms and wanders back within the wall. This, of course, would have been a pristine opportunity for Sie to make a move but he has already opted to go after the ambushers. So, as most mishaps accidentally are, Azula blissfully avoided her own.

For some reason she ponders what everyone used to say of her; that she was born lucky.

The sky is still blue and the temperature is pleasantly warm. Several of the soldiers take comfort in her cabbages. She supposes that, that is what matters; that people know the value of tedious and painstakingly grown produce. Particularly of the cabbage variety.

Despite their suffered injuries, they seem happy.

In fact, they thank her for the cabbages.

No, she decides, she has hasn't been born lucky. She forges luck for herself.