Love, Dai Li, and Tea

by Nate The Ape

As far as Iroh is concerned, even a member of a totalitarian, brainwashing secret police force deserves an opportunity to meet a special someone. It makes one agent's already wild summer equal parts delightful and complicated-and even turns Hong himself into a hero no one saw coming. Good!Dai Li agent/Tamil-based OFC whirlwind romance fic, during canon. Cross-posted at AO3.

14. Chapter 14

*stumbles in, nearly dead on his feet* Lordy, did this turn out to be a marathon of a chapter, involving an awful lot of sleepless hours of writing and proofreading. I made it though.

And I've very thankful I've completed it, because I was resolved that I just wanted to get back to canon events, to get the "offscreen" portion of Hong and Rajata's relationship over and DONE with in one go before sliding into the events of the "Lake Laogai" episode. Even I didn't think it would take a full fifteen chapters to get to this point, and I'm sorry if that got on anyone's nerves. But again, even a fictional relationship needs time to grow.

We don't quite know exactly how much time passes between the events of "City of Walls and Secrets," and "Lake Laogai," but in the latter episode, we hear Smellerbee say that Jet's been gone for "a couple weeks." When you take into account the fact that a week on the Chinese calendar is ten days long, I have a resulting loose timetable in my head that Hong and Rajata first met at Pao's three, four days after the sword fight between Zuko and Jet, and since then, about twenty days have gone by.

I've certainly tried to put as much fun and romance as I practically could into that interval-before the Fire Nation coup ruins it all for them, ha ha ha ha!

WARNING: This chapter contains-

-a um, "wet T-shirt" moment.

-Joo Dee creepiness.

-Dai Li brainwashing creepiness and mild intimidation.

-Teasing talk between two characters about having sexual intercourse in full public view.

-Ingrained Earth Kingdom sexism.

-An animal being disciplined.

-Long Feng being creepy.

-An already dead animal being violently torn apart by other, flesh-eating animals.

-Hong reminding us readers that he's still very much a creepy Dai Li agent.

That should cover it, so enjoy and review, reader friends!

---

In the wake of Hong's timely rescue, it was inevitable that the bond between him and Rajata would grow all the closer.

The next time they were able to arrange a chance to spend time together through a letter, Hong invited her to take a stroll with him through a forested portion of the Agarian Zone. There, as a former resident of that general area, Hong was able to track down and show her a family of several rare indri-koalas.

Rajata marveled at the incredible jumps that the impossibly cute, leaf-eating primates made through the trees, grabbing the trunks and boughs with all four feet as they landed, and the resounding, eerie wails the adults uttered, flinging their heads back as they did so.

After eventually leaving the indri-koalas, they continued on their trek through the rural landscape. Soon, the beauty of the trees and flowers, the green, open freedom of the forest and fields, the warm sunlight, the joy of still being alive-it all ended up going to Rajata's head like some wonderful liquor.

Without quite knowing why herself, she suddenly extended one of her shapely, sandaled feet in front of her-and on impulse, began to push herself down the trail, earth-skating in a spirit of sheer excitement.

She briefly looked over her shoulder to see Hong paused in mid-stride, slanted green eyes wide with confusion in his broad features, before she sped on.

"What are you do-?" she heard him begin behind her.

Rajata halted a few dozen paces down the path before facing him.

"What does it seem like I'm doing, my Shiva?" she giggled. "I feel like doing some earth-skating on this fine summer day-and I'd be interested to see just how well an agent of the Dai Li can keep up. So, skate to me baby," she grinned as she beckoned to him.

"My only reply is, just don't feel too bad after I end up leaving you in the dust," he smirked back before rushing at her.

But although the Dai Li might work hard and play hard, Hong felt sporting enough to keep his pace more or less either consistent with, or even a little slower than hers as they sped over the ground together, Rajata occasionally teasingly shouting, "Hong, aaja!" to spur him on.

Very soon, the ardent pair left the trail entirely. Like the braided channels of some wide rivers, they nimbly curved around the trunks of the trees, the bushes in their path. They used both their bending and muscle power to jump over logs, stumps, downed trees, and even a few ravines as they needed-Hong doing it with an easy, athletic, alluring grace that Rajata had never imagined such a large man was capable of.

They crossed each other's tracks with the speed of stooping hawks, in front of or just behind each other, spiraling around their lover in big, graceful loops. It was passionate poetry in motion, a spontaneous dance performed at near breakneck speed together, as they grinned-and twice, her qinglang got fired up enough to utter the traditional fighting cry of an Earthbender solider in sheer excitement, a harsh, deep yet resonant sound.

But after perhaps fifteen, twenty minutes, a combination of exertion and the summer heat forced Hong and Rajata to slow down, then come to a stop in a small glade of flowers, panting hard and absolutely dripping with sweat, both their long braids disheveled and dirty from impacts with leaves and branches.

Spirits though, does he ever both look and smell so fucking sexy like that, it occurred to her.

"Well," Hong gasped, looking around, "that little race sure worked up a sweat on both of us."

Rajata nodded. "I'm just dripping, and you definitely wouldn't want to smell my pits right now."

"Same goes for mine. Luckily, there's a large creek not far from here, if I remember correctly, with a beautiful little waterfall as well. Feel like a rinse in it, Rajata?" he asked her, lips curving upward in a smooth, knowing smile as he raised his eyebrows.

"Gods, you're such a pervert," she replied in seeming disgust-but she was laughing as she did.

It sounded very appealing indeed.

At the creek, both of them undid their braids and let their hair fall loose, taking turns sticking their heads under the bracingly cool rush of falling water to work the bark bits and leaf fragments out of their voluminous locks.

Of course, their shared wash in the creek meant that the cotton fabric of Rajata's slightly baggy, sparrakeet green shoulder-length choli, draped sari, and matching lehenga skirt-all with borders that were finely checked with cinnamon brown and yellow ochre-immediately ended up clinging tightly to the curves of her body once she took the full-body dip.

And Hong "had" to strip down to his loincloth in her presence of course-revealing not only his great, toned body to her gaze, but a considerable number of scars that pitted and streaked his limbs and torso. Healed stab wounds mostly, she figured from their shape, probably from either a concealed or thrown knife, dagger, although there were also a few healed slashing injuries which looked to have been quite bloody and painful.

There were even three different lines of bumps on his upper torso, obviously indications of places where ribs had been broken by a hard blow and the bone had knit itself back together.

"Merciful spirits Hong," she winced in sympathetic shock, blinking even as she used her cupped hands to splash the brisk, refreshing water into her armpits. "Wow, have you ever gotten worked over during your time as an agent! Be careful out there."

"I try to be," Hong replied as he stepped out of his pantaloons. "And the more experienced you become as an agent, you naturally become a lot more skilled at being able to detect any signs that a civilian is either lying in wait very close by to jump you, or has a weapon that he's preparing to grab, even as he approaches you with faked nonchalance."

"Still, schist happens when you're out on patrol," he conceded, "especially when you're doing them in the Lower Ring districts, filled with rowdy scumbags who hate your type with a passion. At various times since the day I first began my apprenticeship, I've been knifed, stabbed with daggers, shot with a crossbow, bludgeoned by hunks and pillars of stone, slashed by swords, whacked by throwing clubs."

"Really? I can't believe you're still here, after going through all that. Gods, I never realized-never appreciated-how dangerous your job must actually be, not only for you, but for any one of you Dai Li."

"You definitely can't afford to get complacent when you're out in uniform," Hong agreed as he waded into the rushing creek himself now with that lazy grace, sighing in pleasure as it rose up his shins. Man, he sure was looking very fine right now. "But don't worry Rajata. We're all trained to be the best of the best, have a partner to help watch our ass, and I can vow that at least ninety percent of the people in this city would rather walk through fire then make a run at one of us Dai Li. I am an unstoppable death machine, you know," he grinned as he walked up to the waterfall which was currently gushing over her back and shoulders.

Even as she politely stepped away into the suddenly chilly air to let Hong have his own turn in this natural shower, bracing himself against the pressure of the water's force and weight, and sat down a few paces away in the chuckling water, which reached a few inches above her navel in his position, Rajata laughed, and not only because of his last comment.

"Heh, you know what's ironically funny about that walking across fire comment?" she mentioned as she laid back partway in the water, the mild current gently tugging at her thigh-length hair while she scraped through its roots with her fingernails. "My parents and uncles have told me about how, every year in their respective home villages, a week before Diwali in mid-fall, the festival of lights, their communities would celebrate a festival known as Thimithi, part of which involves the celebrants ritually walking over a layer of glowing coals. I'm not kidding," she added.

Hong's reaction was understandably one of shock, his head immediately snapping forward out of the main flow of the falling water, which he'd been allowing to bathe his forehead, scalp, and shoulders. "They walk on fire?! Now, I've certainly heard of Diwali before-even though it's not part of my culture, it's still a beautiful festival, and I always make sure to stroll to take a stroll through Tenjiku Town on at least a couple of my evenings off during that time, just to enjoy the beauty of all the lamps, those colorful sand decorations, the fireworks. But your people actually walk on fire as part of this Thimithi festival? No offense, but that seems rather insane to me, not to mention highly painful."

"I won't disagree," Rajata replied from her reclining position, "and my parents, my uncle, have told me that you'll certainly see your share of people limping afterwards, with nasty blisters on their feet. But they do it as a display of devotion and faith towards the goddess Draupadi, so that she'll protect and favor them. Even children apparently participate."

"I'd still far rather burn incense or paper money, paper carriages, paper food, or so on, to get on the good side of a goddess or a female spirit any day," Hong declared, as he did a quarter turn and let the falling water clean out his right armpit, wash over his shoulder and part of his thick neck, "instead of my feet. Do the people in Tenjiku Town still do this Thimithi celebration?"

Rajata shook her head, the water splashing around her ears as she sat back up and began to comb her fingers further down her wet hair, feeling for any remaining crud. "Not that I've heard. I guess there aren't enough people in our little community to make it worth it."

"If it was, would you do the firewalking ceremony?"

She hesitated for a moment. "Maybe. I mean, it's part of my culture, of who I am as a Tenjikuan woman. At the same time though-earthbenders like you and I are taught from an early age that since they're closest to the element we manipulate, our feet are extremely sacred parts of our bodies. The idea of putting mine through an ordeal like that makes me cringe in more ways than one."

"Well, I know I certainly wouldn't approve of you doing a thing like that to them," Hong grimaced. "Besides, you're already plenty hot as it is," he grinned, appreciatively looking her up and down as she stood back up, squeezing some of the water out of her hair as Rajata suddenly realized just how obvious the curves of her body were underneath her soaked clothing.

Indignantly, she slapped her hands over her breasts and turned away, snapping at Hong, "Could you at least try to show a bit of decency?"

Still, neither of them could be said to have been offended by the views they were getting of their lover.

---

When Hong returned home after another long, but mostly uneventful patrol with Guozhi in District 107 of the Upper Ring, Yuxuan politely stayed in the background until his master had finished a breakfast of sweetened jook porridge with fried dough sticks and oolong tea, and rice noodles with coconut cream, before taking out a letter from under a panel of his robe.

"This arrived after you left for your shift, Lao Yan-or should we address you now as Yingxiong Yan now, sir?" he added with a grin.

Hong gave a light, flattered chuckle as he took the letter and began to open it.

"Well, if you and the rest of the servants feel like addressing me that way, I can't say I'm going to have any issues with that," he smirked. "But the way I see it, saving Miss Puri from death by snakebite was simply me doing my duty, both as one of the Dai Li, and as a man," he shrugged. "In other words, I just did what needed to be done-and was lucky enough to show up in time to make a difference."

Yuxuan nodded. "Either way, it was noble of you."

As expected, the letter proved to be from a thankful Rajata-and also an invitation for yet another outing together, if it could be managed with their work schedules.

To Agent Hong Yan,

Once again, I cannot express my gratitude enough to you-and neither can my parents and siblings and friends-for jumping in and killing that cottonmouth-krait, which otherwise would've made me pay the price for being careless enough to settle into a position where I couldn't really fight back with my earthbending.

(You can bet all of your ostrich-horses that next time I'm out in the great outdoors, and I hear some birds suddenly getting worked up, see them gathering around to follow and harass something in the grass, I'll be paying a lot closer attention-and standing up!)

As you obviously know from the impromptu ceremony that we all surprised you with, and the four dozen (Okay, that might be an exaggeration, ha ha) flower garlands you brought home after we tossed them over your shoulders, you've just done quite a lot to change people's hearts and minds in this area of the Lower Ring-and certainly among my fellow Tenjikuans, Hong.

Again, my deepest thanks. But I've spent enough time on a subject which keeps reminding me of how I, you know, nearly suffered an agonizing death by venom on that day.

We both know of course, how Avatar Aang thought it was a great idea to "relocate" our city's zoo and its inhabitants to an area just inside the Agarian Zone. When all is said and done though, the new, earthbent enclosures evidently look pleasant and refreshingly natural, and the animals are now already a lot healthier, in much better spirits, from what friends of mine have told me.

So, next time you have another day off from your busy schedule of keeping our city safe and peaceful, would you like to come spend at least part of it at the "new" Ba Sing Se Zoo with me, Agent Yan?

I eagerly await your reply, handsome,

Rajata Puri.

Hong gave a smooth smile before thoughtfully regarding the letter again.

"Should I write a reply on your behalf sir?" Yuxuan asked.

Although he craved sleep, Hong shook his head. "No, I can spare several minutes at my desk to do it myself."

Once he'd greeted Mingxia with an affectionate hug and a kiss, asked her how her evening had been, he took a seat in his study and got ready to put the stylus to paper, to tell his lover that sure, he'd be more than glad to accompany her on a visit to the newly constructed zoo-but then he realized he could offer her a similar experience, which would delight her even more.

It was a supremely generous gesture-but one that also couldn't help but make him pause in indecision for a moment as he mulled it over. Only a precious, very small percentage of civilians-especially ones from the Lower Ring-had ever been allowed to step foot where Hong planned to bring her, and this was definitely pressing against the boundaries of the official rules.

Certainly, there was a real-and worrisome-chance that Rajata might cross paths with him while she was enjoying the place.

But hey, he was one of the Dai Li, Hong reminded himself. He made the rules.

And nothing made him happier than the satisfaction of seeing Rajata happy, whatever risks it might entail.

So, he wrote out the invitation-but then decided not to send it just quite yet as another whim occurred to him.

Considering where they were going on their next date, it was particularly vital now that she look good-although quite frankly, Hong thought she could still look stunning even in a peasant's tattered hemp rags.

Later that afternoon, after he'd woken up, eaten, and gotten dressed, that outlook induced Hong to take a quick carriage trip to a unique area of the Middle Ring that was populated mostly by Tenjikuan refugees and their progeny-and therefore, known as Tenjiku Town-before he had to leave for his next shift, where he had his driver stop at a place called Jairaj's Jewel Palace.

---

When the courier presented her with the package that evening, sheathed in avocado green paper, not only did an astonished Rajata tell the teenage boy to relay her acceptance of the supreme honor upon opening it, but all three of the Puri sisters were more than delighted, gasping at and nearly overwhelmed by the sparkling contents.

"Raj, you catching Hong's eye was the best thing that ever happened to us," Tuhina said dreamily.

Rajata dully nodded. "Well," she managed to say after a few seconds, as she regarded the treasures that glittered in her hands, "looks like I should probably go out and buy some articles of clothing that'll do these items justice."

"Oh my spirits, you'll be needing to buy yet more fancy clothes?! Aww, darn it!" Maalai replied snarkily as she raised her head, causing all three sisters to laugh.

---

Three days later, Rajata once more stepped out of a carriage in the Upper Ring, delighting as usual in both the affluent surroundings and the prospect of seeing her favorite Dai Li agent very shortly.

The late morning air was balmy and dry underneath the glare of the summer sun, not uncomfortably hot, and the sky was patched with a dozen or so oblong, billowy clouds that Rajata could tell were heavy with moisture from their slate hue-but not to the point where they might produce sudden, unwelcome spotty showers, she sensed. Superb weather for a stroll through a zoo.

The full makeup, the silk garments, the flowers in her nearly hip-length braid, the brand-new, dazzling jewelry sent by Hong she'd donned for the occasion-it all made her feel like a princess. A very appropriate place to have that sensation too, for she found herself standing just a hundred yards or so away from the trio of relatively small arches which formed the western gate to the Imperial Palace, gazing up in awe at its monumental, circular protective wall, and the equally massive gold-tiled, two-level pagoda roof of a guard tower which reared above it.

It was yet another wonder that until now, she'd only been able to form a sketchy, indistinct picture of in her imagination as a Lower Ring civilian. But Hong had done it again when it came to both being a doting qinglang, and elevating Rajata even farther above her once-humble status, inviting her to come see the Earth King's private zoo behind this wall as a VIG-an astonishing honor that not even her city pass permitted.

She was about to set foot where only a small, elite percentage of Ba Sing Se's hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of inhabitants were ever allowed to tread. An awe-inducing thought, and she dearly hoped she wouldn't end up unknowingly saying or doing something stupid, crass-or disrespectful-around one of those top-tier people. Now, where was her handsome, heroic escort?

No doubt he's already here-or will be very shortly-to greet me and lead the way, she thought, quickly scanning and listening for any sign of him on the vast expanse of sandstone panels, as she reminded herself that Hong was unlikely to be in uniform-

And then, Rajata was jolted out of her thoughts, her casual scan of the incredibly vast front plaza, as a chiming, feminine voice spoke up from several feet in front of her.

"Hello, Miss Rajata. Are you enjoying this delightful day, in this splendid heart of our fine city?"

Rajata gave a sharp gasp, and recoiled, instinctively reaching at the stone beneath her as she realized one of those uncanny young women and "public servants" known as Joo Dees was addressing her. Somehow, she'd been both quick and quiet enough in her gait to stroll right up to Rajata in broad daylight, in the middle of a huge, flat piazza, without her even noticing. True, that was partly thanks to the fact that she'd been caught with her mind on other things-but she found it no less chilling for that.

Just like everything else about the Joo Dees was.

This one was maybe five, six years older than Rajata, a long, emerald green wooden hairpiece secured in her shoulder length black hair as she regarded Rajata with that half-insane, half-welcoming grin, the dark green hems of her drooping sleeves touching perfectly.

Rajata took a few more steps back, and tried to keep her voice from trembling as she compelled herself to meet the Joo Dee's vapid jade gaze.

They're mostly harmless, she tried to reassure herself. Mostly. I'm also just simply standing around, not doing or saying anything threatening, or illegal-not even in the actual palace grounds right now.

All the same however, it was the first time that a Joo Dee had ever directly approached and spoken to her-and Rajata wasn't enjoying the novelty.

"What do you want?" Rajata said firmly. "And where is Hong? He's supposed to meet me here at the Western Gate."

The Joo Dee cheerfully smiled again, making Rajata's stomach shrink into a knot.

"Agent Hong Yan has sent me to inform you that he will be temporarily delayed by needing to assist in formally processing several rebellious citizens who engaged in an unexpected, but easily controllable, outburst at one of the Upper Ring's gates-whose arrests he freely assisted in, even while not on active duty. Aren't we fortunate indeed to have such willing defenders of our culture and society?" she grinned.

"Ye-yes, I suppose we are," Rajata replied, feeling both disappointed and mildly concerned. "Hopefully he's okay. And do you have any general idea of how long it'll be until he can get here?"

"I assure you that Agent Yan is perfectly fine," the Joo Dee chirped, before tossing her head to drive away a biting fly. "As for his arrival, he estimates that he will be delayed by no longer than an hour and a half. In the meantime, I am to escort you through the palace gate, and provide you with companionship until he comes along."

More like supervise me, Rajata thought darkly, her face falling at the prospect of having to spend any length of time in the company of this deeply twisted, abnormal woman that essentially had no mind of her own anymore. Just great.

But she resigned herself to the inevitable, and followed the Joo Dee to the central arched passageway through the great sandstone wall, coated with plaster which had been painted dark red.

Four Imperial Guards stood at attention there in their plumed helmets and leather armor, a pair positioned at each end of the shadowy corridor. The closest two regarded Rajata with detached, severe gazes as she drew close, and she got ready to give an explanation-but then they gave her a brief, permissive nod in tandem, followed by a quick, shoulder deep bow of the head before they parted to allow both women through. Just like that, she marveled, she was in.

Hong let them know I was coming, of course.

She couldn't help but reach out in the gloom and briefly run her left hand across one of the walls, sensing in her core as a bender just how profoundly ancient, infused with the stately energy of thousands of years, the stone and plaster underneath her fingers was. The stories it could tell…

Most of the dirt, the rock, Rajata had ever felt under her feet and hands, bent with her chakras, was rather like a well-worn garment or old chair, something that you could just sense had been altered and used over and over again by generations of benders. The immense walls separating the rings of the city felt a little like that too, even at places well away from the gates.

The sandstone of this wall that cordoned off the palace though, underneath the layer of plaster-the feeling of the bending used to construct it was so far in the past as to just be a faint echo. This rock was all but pristine in its nature. An incredible sensation.

Seconds later, she blinked in the sunlight as they came out onto the grounds of the Imperial Palace.

"It can get quite hot standing out in the open here, I've found," the Joo Dee chimed. "Let's find a patch of shade to stay cool in while we wait for Agent Yan."

An appealing idea, Rajata reluctantly conceded-even if it meant having to be uncomfortably close to this creepy lady.

---

Zai Tian too, was thankful for the shade provided by his broad, conical hat as he paced alongside Agent Shing, stone-sheathed fists held together in the small of his back while they did another slow circuit of the palace wall's inner face, stopping now and then to look busy by checking nearby patches of shadow, or scanning the top of the wall for make-believe intruders and assassins.

Mostly though, they were just killing time, or making small talk.

It was quite far from the sort of duties Zai Tian normally performed as an Investigations Agent, even on what could be called a slow-paced day.

But Ba Sing Se's criminal types weren't causing all that much trouble at the moment, and Shing's regular patrol partner had taken ill, and somebody needed to fill the resulting gap in the meantime-if only to prevent His Moronic Majesty, whenever he actually bothered to stick his head outside the palace doors, from happening to see only a single agent instead of the expected two and then whining to Long Feng about how could he allow the Dai Li to become so lax about guarding their king properly? (Never mind the dozens of Imperial Guards he had on duty at any one time.)

So Zai Tian had been asked to fill in for a few shifts of this simple security duty. Very simple.

The irony of it made his lips curve into a slow smile. That naïve chump of course, would actually be a lot more secure right now without the Dai Li in the mix, with precious little time remaining for him to sit on the Badgermole Throne…

But for now, they had to keep up appearances.

"Who's that chick?" Shing suddenly asked, turning his head to peer at a pair of young women he'd noticed standing in the shade of the wall, relatively close to the west entrance, as Zai Tian followed his gaze. "Never seen her around the palace grounds before," he said suspiciously.

"You talking about the Joo Dee? There's so many of them ou-"

"No, not her," Shing grumbled in irritation. "The other one."

Zai Tian pushed the brim of his hat up slightly for a better look. The carob brown skin, the slightly wavy hair, the clothing-it all proclaimed that her ancestry could be traced back to the far away land of Tenjiku, currently firmly in the grip of the Fire Nation for at least the last couple decades.

Some members of its refugee community had managed, one way or the other, to find a place among Ba Sing Se's elite, he knew-as generals, as concubines, as servants, as wives-

He tried to place her, but got nowhere.

Then he realized. Duh. Although he'd never met or seen her before, it dawned on him that this could only be his big brother's new girlfriend, evidently invited here to meet him for some sort of exclusive outing-perhaps a tour of some of the royal gardens, the royal tea palace, or even part of the Imperial Palace itself. He should've known.

"Shing," he said with a grin as he discreetly appraised Rajata, "I believe that's my probable future sister-in-law we're looking at."

"Hong's girl, huh? Wow, she's sure a catch all right. With looks like those, I'm having a hard time believing that she's from the Lower Ring."

"Well, you know what they say, about finding diamonds in the rough."

As Zai Tian said that, he then realized Rajata was clearly-and understandably-far from comfortable right now with having to be so close to a Joo Dee, cordial though the other woman was trying to be. The poor thing was occasionally fidgeting in thinly concealed agitation, her breathing sharp and quick as she uneasily glanced about, as if looking for assistance.

Zai Tian decided to take pity on her, regardless of whether he was on active duty right now. Besides, this was the perfect opportunity to start getting to know the woman who he was pretty positive would be bearing the title of Lady Yan before the year was done.

After telling Shing to keep on with his patrol, and that he'd rejoin him later-if Kuei happened to notice the solitary agent and get annoyed now, it would be a very simple matter to both placate and make the Dai Li look even more noble to His Majesty by truthfully explaining that instead of shirking his duties, why, Agent Zai Tian here had actually been compassionately looking after an overwhelmed, confused young lady, in a spirit of welcome-Zai Tian broke away to make his approach, shifting his hands to hold them at his front now.

On noticing him, Rajata gave Zai Tian a brief, curious glance, then did the respectful, palms-touching namaste greeting and bow that he'd occasionally seen performed by other Tenjikuans before.

"Vanakkam, sir," she said, in a distinctly accented voice as she smiled-even while, to his mingled amusement and mild surprise, she began to drift towards Zai Tian in a very atypical act for a civilian-rather than nervously putting distance between them. Then again, he reflected, Rajata quite justifiably viewed the Dai Li in a new, heroic light these days-and even if she hadn't, it was obvious that she'd still much prefer to stand near a Dai Li agent instead of a Joo Dee any day.

"Hello, Agent Zai Tian Yan," the Joo Dee chirped.

Recognition flashed across Rajata's dark face, as she glanced from the Joo Dee, then back to him.

"You're Zai Tian? Then you must be...Hong's younger brother! He's told me a few things about you," she grinned.

"That I am," he replied with a quick nod. "A pleasure to meet you at last, Rajata. Hopefully Hong hasn't made me seem like too much of a pain in the neck, in his stories about me," he smirked.

She lightly laughed. "Likewise, Zai Tian, sir. And he speaks nothing but just glowingly of you," she winked.

"If you don't mind me asking, what business brings you to the 'forbidden' grounds of the Imperial Palace? Granted, I think I can safely assume my big brother invited you here for a particularly special romantic outing," he added with a knowing smirk.

"We're planning to spend the day taking in the royal zoo together."

Zai Tian gave an impressed, drawn-out whistle. "Well, that's certainly not an experience just anyone in this city gets to enjoy. You'll just love strolling through it though-especially since His Majesty's Zoo is stocked with exotic creatures from all corners of the world, many of which are species you've probably never even heard of before."

"Sweet."

He nodded. "But shouldn't your other half have hooked up with you by now?" he then asked as he scanned the expanse of the plaza. "I know better than anyone that it's not like my brother to run late if he can help it…"

"Unfortunately, Agent Hong has been temporarily delayed, due to the necessity of having to suppress some criminal activity," the Joo Dee replied through her spreading smile.

"What a pity," Zai Tian said, as Rajata once more flinched at the sudden reminder of the Joo Dee's unwanted presence, giving her an uneasy glance before meeting his own gaze once more. He didn't think it was just the summer heat which was making her lightly sweat.

"Therefore, I have been sent to greet and attend Rajata in the interim," the Joo Dee cheerily grinned.

"Well, I'll take over that role now, Joo Dee," he told her.

The Joo Dee abruptly froze, giving him that torn, uncertain look they always displayed when you overrode the command they were currently obeying, or expressed intentions that were contrary to it.

"But Miss Rajata and I are getting along perfectly fine as companions," she chirped, seeming slightly hurt. "And it would be very impolite of me to take my leave of her before Agent Hong has arrived, especially since he's entrusted me wi-"

Zai Tian smoothly cut her off. "Joo Dee," he droned, "The Earth King releases you from your task."

Rajata half-gaped in bafflement and dawning alarm, then slowly cringed back from both of them as the Joo Dee's malachite green eyes suddenly became dilated and blank, and she intoned, "I shall enjoy this period of leisure."

"Then make the most of this fine day," he told her with a smooth, friendly smile. "Take a walk, feed the koi, or some of the street cats, watch the glassblowers at their work, read a book-whatever appeals to you."

The Joo Dee gave a nod, one last bow, and then strolled away towards the palace gates.

For her part, Rajata was mute, black-lined eyes wide as she just blankly stared at Zai Tian like she'd seen a ghost.

He gave her a different type of smile now, one intended to silently tell her that what she'd just seen him do was none of her concern, and that she'd do best to remain speechless about it, pretend she never witnessed the display of mindless compliance.

His brother's new crush proved to be no fool, and she gave a weak, conceding nod before releasing her shocked tension by means of a lengthy, faintly quivering sigh. She then gave Zai Tian a soft, wary, grateful smile before reluctantly daring to move closer to him again.

"Well, at any rate, thanks for sending that Joo Dee away," she said. "She was making me way too uncomfortable."

"Don't mention it."

"I'm sure you're probably on active duty right now, or about to be, since you're in uniform. If you are, I'm sorry to be taking time away from your duties."

"Don't apologize," Zai Tian assured her with a dismissive wave of a stone-gloved hand. "Few things are more boring than doing security duty along the palace wall during daylight hours, to the point where on some days I've felt that I'd almost be glad to have Koh himself, or just a dark spirit in general, show up. At least something interesting would be happening then."

She laughed. "Yeah, I think that would count as rather too interesting!"

He chuckled in agreement before saying, "So, I can see my older brother has been treating you very well indeed when it comes to providing you with luxurious presents. Mind telling me about some of them while we wait?"

---

At last, nearly an hour and fifteen minutes after he'd originally intended to greet Rajata in person at the palace gates, Hong found himself quickly strolling through the Western Gate's arch, dressed in a shamrock green satin changshan jacket with four strap buttons, embroidered with the silver figures of badgermoles and worn over a citron yellow undershirt of the same material, with wrist-length sleeves. A pair of pear green pants, and his apricot orange cotton cloth shoes completed the outfit.

He was more than a little displeased by having being delayed, and especially the knowledge that he'd kept Rajata waiting. But a Dai Li agent was never truly off duty, and Wu Sheng knew that was exactly the way things went down on too many of your days off. Go figure. But he was here now.

On emerging into the regular small plain of the palace plaza, Hong quickly looked around for her, holding his hand level with his brow to cut down the sun's glare. Even though he'd sent that Joo Dee in his place, he was still worried that Rajata might've lost her patience regardless, and decided to just go back home…

"Over here!" he heard her shout, turning to see her waving at him about seventy yards away.

He smiled and went to her-even as it registered with him that oddly, instead of the assigned Joo Dee, his brother happened to be playing the chaperone instead, the two of them having obviously been engrossed in conversation. But Hong dismissed it, really having eyes only for his gorgeously attired date at the moment.

And oh, was she ravishing on this equally beautiful day!

She wore a shining satin, pleated lehenga skirt that reached down to her graceful ankles, striped with vertical bands of emerald green and dazzling gold. Above her bare midriff, she'd donned a shoulder length linen choli, grass green with dandelion yellow crosshatching-a choli which just happened to be low cut, and so displayed a little cleavage. She knew what he liked, he thought with an appreciative smirk.

In her oiled, brushed, braided hair, she'd fastened a tiger lily, and a drooping, alabaster white bunch of jasmine flowers elegantly hung from each half of the back of her head. It struck him that those had to have cost a pretty copper piece, for it was difficult to get the fragrant vines through one of Ba Sing Se's relatively cold winters.

In the left wing of her nose, she wore the gold nose ring he'd bought for her, studded with tiny glistening diamonds, and five pairs of filigreed bangles adorned her wrists-pure silver, in tribute to her name. From her ears hung a pair of ornate, silver and pearl chandbali-style earrings. Around her ankles were several pairs of colorful glass bangles.

At her collarbone, she wore an especially fancy gift from him, a deep choker composed of square-cut emeralds and diamonds in a checkerboard pattern, mounted on a latticework of gold wire. At the center, a large, teardrop-shaped emerald, rimmed by more diamonds, gleamed. From the choker's bottom edge, eight pearls hung, alternating with the same number of suspended emeralds.

The image Hong had formed in his head of how these items of jewelry would look on Rajata as he selected and bought them had been beguiling enough. But finally seeing her in them right now was just breathtaking.

"Hot damn," he said simply, giving a thin smile.

"Pretty much my thoughts too," his brother concurred with a slow, admiring nod as Rajata gave a flattered giggle, brown eyes shining.

"Gnarly, radical, on the block I'm magical," she grinned, white teeth shining in the sunlight.

"A regular princess," Hong agreed.

"Well, I'll take that to mean I look expensive now-and sexy!" she grinned again, before embracing him in greeting, gratefully kissing his cheek as he accommodatingly lowered his head. "It goes without saying Hong, I can't thank you enough for buying me all these amazing, gorgeous items of jewelry-and I'm especially touched that you bought a few smaller things for both my sisters too. That really made their month."

"My pleasure, and it's only fair that I spread the wealth around now and then," he grinned as they parted. "But what are you doing here with Rajata, Zai Tian?" he then asked in puzzlement as he turned his attention to his brother. "Shouldn't you be on patrol right now? And where's the Joo Dee I sent?"

His younger brother quickly explained what had taken place, how he'd taken over the role.

"Well," he said with a small grin as he met Hong's gaze, then began to look around for his partner, "now that the man of the hour has arrived, I guess it's time for me to return to my oh-so-exciting task of patrolling the palace wall and hand Rajata over to your care. You two have fun, and don't get into any trouble that I wouldn't get into," he smirked, before he strode off.

---

Everything about the Royal Palace's compound, Rajata quickly concluded as she walked alongside Hong, was imposing and immense-including the distance they had to cover, even if they'd wisely come through the gate closest to the royal menagerie.

It would've been awfully nice if Hong had thought to arrange for a litter, she thought with a sigh, and she was halfway tempted to earth-skate down the west to east meridian path she and Hong were currently walking eastward on-but it wouldn't do to leave an unsightly streak of rubble cutting across the palace grounds. (As she regarded the stone path, bordered with green and gold paint, she vaguely recalled that it was said to pass through the Badgermole Throne itself.)

As usual, her agent boyfriend's longer legs meant that he often threatened to outdistance her without even trying, sometimes having to slow his pace-but it became rather easier for both lovers to stay in step when they affectionately took each other's hand. Hong also regularly made brief pauses to look her up and down, in her silks and jewelry, an admiring, captivated expression on his face.

She astutely grinned up at him, leaning into his side and releasing his hand to drag her left one down his broad back, smoothly telling Hong, "You're finding me temptingly hot right now, aren't you, my brave Shiva? In fact, I can see in your eyes that you'd have no problem shagging me right here, right now with the way I look, wouldn't you?" she tittered.

"You must be using those crude mind-reading skills on me," he smirked. "And no, no I wouldn't," he grinned. "We could actually even get horizontal right now, if you're interested," he smoothly offered, arching his eyebrows.

She felt her cheeks turn red with shock and embarrassment. "Are you crazy?" she said in disbelief, eyes darting about. "Right on the palace grounds for everyone to see? We'd never hear the end of the resulting scand-"

Hong interrupted her with a confident chuckle. "In case you forgot, I'm one of this city's feared secret police, remember? Even all those prim, easily outraged nobles and court officials who just love to bend mountains out of mole-rat hills wouldn't have the guts to go chastise us," he confidently scoffed.

"Well, I'm still not willing to satisfy our desires in that public of a fashion," she replied. "Might be fun at some later time though," she playfully added, generating a snicker from both of them.

---

Hong led Rajata through a gate in the wall which blocked off the "inner sanctum" of the palace compound before they skirted around one of the two huge, gold-plated, round-roofed temples which stood on each side of the main palace on a two-tiered white marble terrace, then passed between it and the western side of the palace proper.

There, an awed Rajata couldn't help but pause for a time to just take in the grandeur of the main hall, her gaze sweeping up the enormous flight of hundreds of stone steps that led up to the narrow west entrance of the four-tiered building, flanked at the top by two huge, hunched stone statues of badgermoles.

As he patiently waited a few paces away, Hong then noticed a distinctive, hulking figure in a dark green cloak and a commander's armor descending the stairs, his lengthy beard flowing down over the gold ring clasp which secured that cloak, a leather coronet worn in his hair. He knew this man extremely well.

Rajata then spied the man herself, although she was obviously in the dark about his identity. But she seemed to recognize the aura of power he exuded, the distinct military bearing and coolly assured demeanor he shared with her boyfriend.

Her tone and expression were both respectful and intrigued as she slid over to him, touched his arm, and commented, "I'm guessing that man definitely has to be some sort of big-shot military commander. Is it all right if you tell me who he is?"

Almost by reflex, Hong found himself starting to say That's classified. But then he paused and thought a bit, deciding that there was no harm in simply telling her the man's name and rank.

"That's clas-That's General How," Hong amended. "He's not only a top general, but while you've very likely never heard of them, he's also the leader of the Council of Five, which is composed of the five highest-ranking generals in the Earth Kingdom Army."

But they still can't hold a candle to the skills of us Dai Li-who very soon are going to put these guys out of business, Hong couldn't help but smugly think.

"Wow," she said, impressed, observing How descending the steps. "A big shot indeed."

The general was close enough now to clearly see them, which he did, stopping then to regard the pair-and give Rajata in particular an appraising, thoughtful glance for several moments.

In response, she gave General How a shy, respectful smile before placing her hands together and bowing, the general responding with a faint smile of his own and a quick nod.

Hong just impassively looked back up at How, decided to casually scratch an irritating louse bite above his right ear, and gave a mild grunt of recognition before the two of them carried on.

---

It was another spectacular early summer day, but General How wasn't cheered as he made his way down the leg-torturing flight of stairs, hands held behind him. The faint aching he'd recently begun feeling in his knees and feet after either climbing or descending one of the four palace staircases was yet another reminder that he was getting older.

He sure felt old, these days. Every day that passed, without any effective offensive tactics being allowed on the part of their city's military, meant that the Fire Nation's forces were that much closer to being able to openly, viciously attack Ba Sing Se with everything they had, while their bending was at an unspeakable peak due to that blasted comet.

If only the Council of Five could send out troops deep into Fire Nation-controlled lands, keep the invaders busy on two fronts, at least slow them down, fill the role of a sharp stone in a person's shoe…

But that just wasn't going to happen-not as long as that creepy, obstructionist bastard Long Feng and his agent minions continued to clutch even higher levels of royal influence in their stone-gloved hands…

He was startled out of his gloomy reverie by the sight of a grandly dressed, younger couple on the plaza below, who'd paused not far from the base of the stairs. How felt his eyes narrow slightly as he realized that the man, as if he'd somehow been summoned by the general's own dark thoughts, was one of the Dai Li in formal civilian clothing.

It was hardly a secret that the relationship between the regular military and the Dai Li was at best, an arm's length, strained one, if not downright adversarial.

Still-if only for the pragmatic purpose of better knowing one's enemies and trying to work together with them more effectively-How had made a point of least learning the names of and becoming familiar with the faces of the hundreds of agents who served under the Grand Secretariat.

It was Agent Yan who currently stood beneath him. Well, there were worse agents that you could stumble across. While General How would never say it out loud, as members of the Dai Li went, Hong Yan could almost be called likable.

Whenever they crossed paths, the younger man tended to respond to his presence with a brief, dismissive little nod, perhaps a glance of bored, almost feline indifference-and sometimes even bothered to address him by his name or title. (How much preferred that to the open, sneering disrespect, the contempt and superiority which most other members of the Dai Li displayed towards the Council of Five any day-and you had to have at least a grudging respect for someone who was bold enough to crawl down alone into a metal-lined underground chamber, where he could no longer really make use of his bending, to kill off a trio of hardened street gangsters.)

But the shorter Tenjikuan woman holding his hand, almost comically dwarfed by Hong's greater size and looking just glamorous in her linen blouse and pleated satin skirt, festooned with items of sparkling jewelry that even some of the court noblewomen would envy, was a stranger to him.

In spite of her splendid attire, How still got the strong impression-from her stance, her musculature, her feet, and a dozen other signs-that the young Tenjikuan lady did not come from a high-born background.

Must've caught Agent Yan's eye in the Lower Ring someplace.

For her part, she seemed to recognize his authority and power, and displayed appropriate deference with a gentle, cordial, uncertain smile which lit up her soft brown eyes, before she acknowledged his rank with the typical bow of her people.

He found it all to be very charming. How couldn't help but feel the own corners of his mouth curve upward a little, and he gave a friendly nod in return before she and Hong then turned away and moved along.

Although he didn't even know her name, How could already perceive that Hong's lady companion was every bit as sweet-natured, as lovely on the inside, as she was outwardly.

For a second or two, he even found himself halfway in the grip of a platonic, friendly type of love.

---

At last, Hong's right hand sliding across and down her bare lower back in affection, Rajata eagerly strode under the three-tired, gold-roofed, black and green paifang gate behind which the imperial zoo and its animal residents awaited-naturally separated from the rest of the palace compound by yet another looming, earthbender-guarded wall.

It proved to be a manmade paradise at first sight, containing everything that she'd expected and more, with well-maintained beds of colorful flowers, expansive patches of bamboo, flowering bushes, lush, clipped hedges, stands of ornamental grasses, and mature conifer or deciduous trees to greet the couple at every turn of the flagstone walkways.

And of course, there were the residents of Kuei's menagerie themselves, living in naturalistic, roomy enclosures that were either sunken below the level of the surrounding earth with stone walls to provide support, or had the animals at eye level with visitors, with flat-topped stone barriers, wooden fences, moats, iron bars, or copper mesh preventing the captive critters from successfully making a dash for freedom.

Unlike the bare, pitiful enclosures that the inhabitants of the city's public zoo had dwelt in until recently, these ones contained logs and swathes of grass, hills and terraces, trees and bushes, ponds and even little flowing streams.

Indeed, one of the first things she saw in the imperial zoo was a low-walled enclosure that contained a pond ringed by reeds, home to various kinds of beautifully plumaged waterfowl-blue swans, mandarin ducks, red-breasted geese, bar-headed cormorant-geese, flamingos, steamer ducks, giant ibis-egrets, knob-billed ducks, magpie-geese, gray pelicans-and of course, turtle-ducks. Swallows wheeled and called and swooped as they skimmed the pond's surface for insects, or just knifed through the blue vastness above their heads.

Once more, the Avatar suddenly entered her thoughts.

"This has probably come to your attention already," Rajata offhandedly remarked to Hong as she regarded the swallows elegantly whirling around and above them, "but yesterday, after work, I was catching up with Harita, one of my good friends from the Lower Ring, and she told me that she'd actually seen the Avatar that morning. Isn't that awesome?!"

"Interesting. What was he doing?" Hong inquired, his tone smooth and casual. "Did he speak to her?"

"He was flying high above her when she saw him, so no. He passed right overhead on some sort of glider, she told me, with his flying lemur alongside him-he was searching for something, she felt-and then was gone," she shrugged.

A horned ground squirrel scampered out of a hedge and into the path a couple yards in front of them, pausing for a few seconds to sit back on its haunches and regard them with comically wide gray eyes before moving along.

"First of all, don't get me wrong," Rajata continued wistfully as a related thought occurred to her, her attention focusing back on the darting swallows once more while they resumed their stroll, "I'm perfectly happy to be an earthbender, and to keep my feet on solid ground whenever possible."

"Same goes for me," Hong nodded beside her.

"But by Surya's chariot, I'd still give damn near anything to be able to bend air, to fly, just once in my life, like Avatar Aang can-even if it was only for a single day," she declared longingly, clenching her fists against her chest before spreading out her arms and tipping her head back, closing her eyes to become more aware of the breeze passing through her splayed fingers as she inhaled.

"And if I could choose a particular day to be able to fly, this would be the one-and the icing on the cake would having you be able to join me in the air," she added, warmly smiling at Hong as she opened her eyes again.

"It's certainly one of those days which makes your spirit soar."

Each enclosure contained its own unique wonders. A pair of long-legged, giant owls, standing three and a half feet tall. An armadillo bear. Hulking bear-dogs, eight feet long with long tails, thick necks and wolf-like heads. Squat hippo-rhinos with stubby horns. Marsupial sabertooths.

They slipped through a narrow gap in a wooden stockade into a large pen which contained several grandfatherly giant tortoises, cropping the lush grass with their beaked mouths or just lumbering about like animated boulders-Rajata grinning in pure delight as she stroked their long, leathery necks, squatted down to talk to each of the gentle creatures like they were old friends, and eventually went for a jerky ride on an older male.

They walked through a gated area of parkland which was home to various exotic, peaceable grazers-spotted deer-goats, slingshot antelope, stag-moose, ibex-hyrax, quagga-rheas, swamp deer, dwarf pronghorns, six-horned pronghorns, tapir-antelope, hare-wallabies, peccary-duikers, iguana-crocodiles, capybaras-that trustingly walked right up to Hong and Rajata and allowed themselves to be petted and scratched.

She and Hong were about halfway through their leisurely excursion through the zoo when the two of them stopped to admire a herd of six adult towering moose-giraffes, standing ten feet tall with incredibly thick necks, sloping backs, and beautifully patterned coats of large, chestnut patches bordered by pale yellow.

Among the herd was a gawky, big-eyed young calf, its budding horns covered in brown fluff. Rajata gave a charmed smile as the baby moose-giraffe began to frisk around-only to be startled by a sudden, deep animal grunt, and an elegant, cultured male voice saying from somewhere fairly close to her left side, "He's a delight to watch, isn't he? I'm really proud of him-especially since he's the first moose-giraffe calf I've ever successfully bred in my zoo."

Rajata whirled around in the speaker's direction like she'd been stung. A strange trio had just come around a bend in the path, all of them regarding her with measured curiosity, evidently intrigued by both her presence and native garb.

In actual fact, Rajata's own silent, stunned appraisal of the newcomers only lasted for several seconds. But for her awed, frantically working mind, time seemed to suddenly slow, to crawl like a chilled insect as she took every detail in and struggled to come to grips with it all.

The man who'd just spoken was either very close to or exactly her own age, regarding her with admiring, intelligent, slanted green eyes in a lean, triangular face over a pair of pince-nez type glasses, dressed in green and gold silk robes-and sporting a green velvet crown with the seal of the Earth Kingdom on its front, topped by a gold finial.

Rajata had known, from the moment the full implications of Hong's invitation had sunken in, that there was a chance-unlikely though it was-that she might actually bump into King Kuei, direct descendant of either Hou-Tu or Bhumi, depending on your culture, and the most powerful man in the Earth Kingdom.

But being aware of a possibility and picturing it in your mind's eye was one thing. To see that His Majesty was right here, in the flesh, gazing back at her and Hong, was quite another.

At King Kuei's left side stood a hulking, hump-shouldered, long muzzled creature with flat feet and claws like pitchfork tines. The animal looked rather like a weird, smaller version of a platypus-bear-but it was clearly not the same. And in a bizarre, incongruous touch that nearly made Rajata burst out laughing at the silliness of it, the beast was wearing a beige linen shirt, and its own, smaller replica of its royal master's velvet crown, secured by a leather strap around the great shaggy neck.

It reminded her of how, as young girls, she and Tuhina had been known to dress up the friendly, tolerant street dogs that often visited their home in old, tattered clothes-although something told her that the massive animal before her, bored and laid-back as it seemed, probably wouldn't be nearly so accommodating.

And then there was the other man. Half a head taller than her boyfriend, he was at least twenty years older and noticeably balding, with a tuft of beard and a wiry mustache. While he wore his graying hair in the same queue, he wore a much longer outer jacket than her qinglang, black in color with more strap buttons and gold hems, and a formal-looking green underrobe, also with gold trim, holding the cuffs together in the same manner as the Joo Dee. Everything about him exuded a no-nonsense demeanor, supremely assured in his authority, his stance perfectly rigid and erect as he calmly gazed back at her.

His calculating eyes were a very dark shade of green, currently regarding her with a mixture of mild surprise and seemingly slight annoyance, although Rajata couldn't imagine why.

But then his features softened, becoming pleasant and almost kindly as he gave her a polite, measured smile. She struggled to claw his name from her memory, but came up empty.

She should know though, the eyes seemed to say.

---

Well, this is a rather interesting-and slightly unwelcome-development, Long Feng decided as he regarded the familiar figure of Agent Hong, and the far less familiar, beautifully attired, ethnically Tenjikuan woman in her early twenties affectionately holding his hand, before throttling a flicker of irritation.

It was not that he necessarily had any issues with Hong, or any other of the agents under his command, dating or marrying, mind you—for one thing, strong earthbenders like his Dai Li tended to sire children with powerful bending abilities of their own, which was obviously exactly what you wanted to ensure new blood, new generations of benders that were fit to be called Dai Li agents down the road.

(Vaugely, in a corner of his mind, Long Feng remembered how Commander Quan Hsiao had occasionally brought up to him the idea of encouraging at least some of the agents under their command to marry and have children with selectively chosen, compatible wives who either were or came from families that stood out as especially proficient at earthbending. While Quan's proposal was something that Long Feng personally couldn't bring himself to formally approve or condone, it also made a great deal of sense on paper, and it could be rather interesting to see how it actually played out in practice, he had to admit.)

And considering that Long Feng had once had a wife of his own in his younger years, who'd borne him a now adult, independent son and two daughters before her eventual death, that would certainly be highly hypocritical.

The problem was that Kuei, currently standing beside him with that cosseted bear, loved to talk to strangers whenever possible. Oh, nobles were generally perfectly acceptable to let him speak freely with.

But nearly all Tenjikuans in this city were refugees-or the first- or second-generation descendants of said refugees. So the chances were pretty good that she knew all about the war's existence as a result-and could easily mention it in conversation right in front of His Majesty.

Or-especially if she was from the Lower Ring-once she'd gathered her wits sufficiently, she might seize this as a golden opportunity to complain to the Earth King about her lot in life, beseech him to help her unfortunate pauper neighbors and friends.

That could well lead to Kuei deciding to actually take an interest in the Lower Ring, even bother to visit it-leading to him hearing things, seeing things, that could then make the control the Dai Li currently had over him rather shakier than Long Feng cared for.

It wasn't even close to being as serious, as immediate of a threat to their plots and plans, as the Avatar's meddling currently was, to be true-but the risk was still there.

He gave Hong an indirect, displeased glance. While he was far from the first agent to bring a lower-ranking lover into the palace compound on a generous whim, it really would've been nice of Hong to inform him before the fact.

Hong very briefly averted his eyes before looking back in Long Feng's direction.

Yeah, I acted a bit impulsively there. I should've been more cautious.

Long Feng then realized his emotions must have come through slightly on his features, for the Tenjikuan woman now seemed troubled as she regarded him, although she could just be awed by the power that came with his position.

So, he gave her a courtly, welcoming smile.

She simply wouldn't have been human if she hadn't been charmed by that smile.

His eyes shifted to Hong again.

You'll be able to ensure that she stays obedient in her speech while Kuei is with us, I trust?

A slight, confident nod. She's a native of this city, not an outsider like Toph and Katara, who had no appreciation of who they were dealing with when they met us. My girl knows better.

Long Feng gave a slight puff of air out of his nostrils, the skin around his eyes loosening.

Very good. Time to carry on with the introductions and this excursion, then.

---

Behind her, Rajata heard Hong say in a smooth, flat tone, "Good afternoon, Your Majesty. Ni hao, Minister Long Feng, sir." Daring to briefly turn her head away, she saw Hong give both of them a modest bow before forming his hands into fists and placing them together at the level of his heart in some type of formal salute.

Rajata found herself halfway gaping as she returned her gaze to both men, her eyes widening in awe. She was a stone's throw not only from the Earth King, but from Long Feng, Grand Secretariat and Hong's freaking boss as head of the Dai Li-in fact, rumor had it that in his own way, it was Long Feng that was the true ruler of Ba Sing Se, the one who called all the shots, made the decisions of governance.

There was certainly no doubt he would've had to do just that, be the de facto ruler for quite a long while, when one considered that the previous Earth King, Kuei's father, Lang by name, had been assassinated when Kuei was only four, and his mother had died of some illness or other soon after the child king had turned nine, from what Rajata knew.

Incredible. Holy Brahma.

She was quick to give each of them a Tenjikuan-style bow, voice shaky as she said, "Vanakkam, Your Majesty. Vanakkam, Minister Long Feng, sir. It's an honor beyond words to meet both of you."

"This is my dear girlfriend, Rajata Puri," Hong explained as he took his place alongside her, gesturing at her with his right hand by way of introduction.

"My fond salutations, Rajata," Long Feng replied smoothly, his voice a low, rich, cultured bass.

"And it's an equal honor to see you taking pleasure in my prized collection of exotic wildlife, Miss Rajata," Kuei replied, although he and Long Feng were both giving her strange looks, as if they still expected something more from her.

Then it dawned on Rajata, even though she'd never had any education or experience with courtly protocol. While a slow bob of the head was perfectly appropriate for Hong as both a man and one of the Dai Li, she was expected to do a full kowtow as a woman.

That thought rather got under her skin, but Rajata still knelt on the path and touched her tilakam-marked forehead to the stone. Certainly, as a divine figure, the son of the Earth Goddess herself, the Earth King was very much worthy of this display of reverence on her end.

As she began to sit back up, the bear suddenly came trotting right up to her.

Rajata tensed up, reaching with her chi to fling stone at the animal if she had to, but Kuei just laughed, telling her, "There's no need for concern miss. The only dangerous thing about Bosco here is his breath. He's just saying hello."

She nervously decided to take Kuei at his word and kept still as Bosco (and good Radha, his breath truly did reek!) thoughtfully sniffed her with his huge wet nose-until he opened his mouth and reached for the side of her head!

Things happened very fast then, with rock grinding as she heard Hong cry, "Rajata!" and a confused Bosco's hind feet abruptly plunged deep into a suddenly formed pair of holes in the ground. Kuei too, was taking action, rushing forward and actually yanking one of Bosco's minute ears as Rajata leapt to her feet and backpedaled.

He then lightly whacked the bear over the nose as he chided, "Bosco! Bad bear! What have I told you about trying to eat the decorative flowers out of women's hair?!"

Her heart racing, Rajata watched in shock as Hong came up alongside her and raised the bear's feet back up out of the ground with an upward movement of his hands, before giving her a reassuring sideways hug.

Bosco shook himself, as if to relieve his own tension, before realizing his royal master was giving him a highly disapproving glare. To her amazement, the enormous bear responded by sitting down and looking very sheepish.

"Are you all right, Miss?" Long Feng asked.

"Yeah, I think so," she replied, taking a shaky breath. "He didn't bite into me, at any rate."

"I'm terribly sorry about that, Miss Rajata," King Kuei said regretfully as he turned back to her. "I've raised Bosco here from a cub, and I swear that he truly is as friendly and docile and tame as any dog-but even dogs can have their naughty moments. Again, my apologies."

"Not your fault, Your Highness," she said. She weakly smiled. "I guess he just can't resist the sweet scent of jasmine!"

"Let's really hope that he can manage it from this point on though," Hong sternly drawled.

Kuei lightly laughed before saying, "Oh, he's smart enough to learn his lessons. He can also do tricks like a dog too, he's so smart ," he told Rajata. "Go shake the pretty lady's hand Bosco," he told the bear.

Taking up her cue with well-founded apprehension, Rajata warily held out her slender hand, palm upward, as Bosco approached her again, raised an immense paw with claws like pitchfork tines as Hong silently backed away-but never taking his eyes off her, always ready to move-and with amazing dexterity, placed it over her palm.

Delicately, he kept it there, the tips of the claws lightly pressing into her forearm as Rajata moved her hand up and down several times before letting it drop away.

"See?!" Kuei grinned, placing his hands on his hips. "He's very smart, like I said, and I can tell he really likes you too, Rajata! Yes, isn't she great, Bosco?" he told the bear in a low, child-like tone.

Behind the Earth King, Long Feng lightly snorted in scorn.

---

Although it was really supposed to be Hong's job, the Earth King was gleefully enthusiastic about showing this beautiful, sweet-natured, exotic stranger he'd stumbled across around the royal zoo that he was so obviously proud of.

What other option did she and Hong really have, but to humor him? She made sure to still keep close to her boyfriend however, trying not to divert her attention from Hong too much.

Long Feng stayed with them all the while, mostly staying imperiously silent. He proved to be very polite, if rather aloof, company, evidently admiring her great beauty and displaying proper respect to her as a guest.

But yet, in some way that Rajata couldn't quite place, she found herself getting the strong, uncomfortable impression that the Grand Secretariat was very much a grim, calculating, ruthless man underneath all of that, untrustworthy and deceptive to the bone. And here she'd thought the Joo Dee had made her uneasy!

In distinct contrast, Kuei was downright garrulous, always asking her questions as they strolled along. But whenever he did, Rajata suddenly had a sort of psychic awareness that both her boyfriend and his boss were coolly paying very close attention, with a predatory type of alertness, even though their expressions were ones of nonchalance.

She had to take care with her responses, walk on eggshells.

"So, can you tell me what Tenjiku is like?"

"Well, I wouldn't know, because I've lived my whole life in Ba Sing Se. My parents and uncle originally came from there though, so they'd be the ones to ask."

"Are you from the Upper Ring? You must be, with all this dazzling jewelry and silk clothing on you."

"I've actually lived my entire life from birth in a house in the Lower Ring, Your Majesty. All of this expensive finery is thanks to my generous boyfriend here."

"What do you do for a living?"

"I sell spices in the market with my parents."

"Do you have any children?"

"Not yet."

"Do you have any siblings?"

"Three younger ones, two sisters and a brother."

It struck her that Kuei seemed downright starved for any type of information about the world outside the confines of the palace compound, and the thought made her feel a strange pang of pity for him. He was definitely highly naïve, and she highly doubted he'd be able to cope at manning her family spice stall for even half an hour's time.

On the other hand, however, it also made him charmingly endearing.

There were more zoological wonders to encounter.

Giant, blunt-faced kangaroos which stood nearly as tall as Hong, ate leaves, and walked like a person instead of hopping. Giant warthogs, five feet long, wallowed in a mudhole as the sun gleamed off their scary-looking tusks.

Hideously ugly marabou stork-cranes with ten-foot wingspans. Toucan-puffins. Roadrunner-hawks. Arctic lions. Twenty-foot-long monitor lizard-crocodiles which made her blood run cold as their forked tongues flicked the air. Sickle-tusked elephants, immense beasts with tusks that grew out of the lower jaw and curved downward.

There was a heated reptile house, home to a squat bodied, beautifully patterned twelve-foot-long viper, a beaded lizard-crocodile, a moray eel-boa, a king cobra, giant salamanders, and armadillo lizards, among others.

One of the best parts of the day for Rajata was not only seeing Kuei's colony of endearing, hyperactive meerkat-ferrets, but getting to go in their enclosure at his insistence. The curious, playful creatures climbed right up on her knees and shoulders to get a better look around, cajoled pets and tickles, and took freshly killed cockroaches, provided by a keeper, from her fingers as she laughed and squealed and aaaahhhed with blissful joy, Hong looking on with a warm, fond smile as they stood atop his knees or sniffed around his feet too.

The Earth King showed them a good-sized pond, surrounded by iron bars, in which barracuda-piranha swam, each fish being at least five pounds in weight and looking as mean as a demon with their triangular, protruding teeth. To impress his visitors, Kuei clapped his hands to summon a groundskeeper, and asked him to arrange a feeding.

In short order, a pair of keepers appeared, holding a freshly killed domestic deer-goat between them. Swinging it back and forth a few times to gather momentum, they hurled it over the bars to land squarely in the pond with an almighty splash.

Almost as soon as the deer-goat's carcass hit the water, the barracuda-piranha went for it with all the subtlety of a meat cleaver, their teeth slicing hide and flesh with just as much swift effectiveness as a stunned Rajata watched the water become a roiling welter of white and crimson foam.

In just six minutes, the deer-goat had been reduced to naked bones.

"You might not want to stick your feet in there," Hong remarked dryly as he glanced over at her.

Yeah, no schist, she thought.

Throughout their impromptu royal tour, Bosco was well-behaved and pleasant towards Rajata, occasionally veering away to crop some of the lush summer grass like some hunch-shouldered, shaggy, long faced cow-pig, or excavate an ant's nest with just a few swipes of his pitchfork claws before eagerly licking up the frantic workers and pale, soft brood with an amazingly long tongue before rejoining his regal master.

"His digging can really make havoc with the gardens," Kuei sighed with a resigned shrug.

At one point, Rajata dared to ask him, still far from used to the idea that she was basically conversing with a living god, "I can see that you and Bosco are very fond of each other. Is he the only pet you have?"

"No," the Earth King replied. "I also have several big, adorable dogs who I love dearly," he beamed. "They don't get along with Bosco though, unfortunately, so they have to be kept separate. I also have three Siamese cats-but for Hou-Tu knows what reasons, they hate me half the time," he ruefully chuckled.

"Go figure," she wryly snorted. "Anyway, where did Bosco here come from?"

"He was found as an orphaned cub, wandering in an Earth Kingdom forest by a team of animal collectors I'd dispatched to obtain rare beasts for this menagerie, cold and hungry," Kuei said. "We have no idea what happened to his mother, although she clearly had to have died in some manner or other. I looked after him myself until he could eat solid foods, with a moo-sow playing the role of wet nurse."

"Well, that's an odd pair. I'm glad you helped save his life and gave him a home though," she smiled. "But since that time, have any other 'bears' like him been captured or seen?"

"Never, I'm afraid," Kuei replied, shaking his head. "There can't be just one of anything, obviously, and common sense says that he had parents at one time-but although people have reported tracks, and distant sightings of similar looking animals now and then in that region, nothing conclusive has come to light yet." He frowned under his glasses. "Hou-Tu knows I've sure sent out plenty of expeditions in attempts to find a female companion-but to no avail."

Big cats of course, also had starring roles in the Imperial Zoo, including a jaguar-puma, a clouded leopard, and a scimitar-toothed cat. One deep enclosure was home to a pair of tigers, beautifully striped in orange and black.

When the lounging male tiger happened to glance in their direction, he suddenly stiffened, his eyes locking on Hong and Rajata with a scary-looking glare as the cat lightly hissed. But Hong wasn't intimidated, and proceeded to stare the tiger down from his higher vantage point. The cat turned away first.

Rajata was both impressed and chilled by the display. Later that evening, she would tell her mom that even though Hong had saved her life, was her devoted and doting boyfriend, you still couldn't have paid her enough to stand in his line of sight during those few minutes. After all, between the Dai Li agent and the striped cat, there was easily enough evil magic being produced to kill an entire district's worth of people.

Of course, once Rajata had seen all there was of the imperial menagerie, the whole heady, fantastic experience, this awesome and unanticipated meeting with royalty had to end.

There was nothing more to keep her and Hong in the illustrious presence of King Kuei and Minister Long Feng any longer at this point, so after another courtly bow and a warm thanks to both those powerful men for being willing to escort her around on this fine day-she couldn't resist giving Bosco a parting hug across his hunched shoulders-Rajata took her leave of them with Hong-and with a sense of great relief to be seeing the back of Long Feng at last, even if she wasn't entirely certain just why.

After the charming gesture of asking Bosco to help him wave good-bye to Rajata, the Earth King regally strode away, knowing his chief advisor wouldn't be far behind.

As they parted though, Long Feng turned to Hong, smoothly saying, "Your lady companion here is quite charming."

"Thank you, sir."

"When you can find the time though Hong, I would like to have a brief word with you. Later on."

"As you wish, sir," Hong replied with a slight bow.

After leaving the zoo grounds, and then the palace compound, this most splendid of days out on the town was capped off with dinner together at a place in the Upper Ring called The Four Swans, famous for its noodle and spicy barbecue dishes.

When Rajata returned home, the rest of her family bombarded her with eager questions.

"What was it like, seeing the Royal Palace?" Tuhina asked in excitement.

"What sort of animals does the Earth King have in his zoo?" Pankaja said.

"Are the palace grounds really as massive as I've heard they are?" Madhuri inquired.

"Did you get to pet any of the animals in the zoo? Or feed them?" Maalai said.

"Did you get to see everything there, I hope?" Ashwin asked.

"It was incredible," Rajata replied, closing her eyes and shaking her head in disbelief. "Just incredible, with all types of exotic animals there that I had no idea even existed. And guess who Hong and I bumped into while we were in there?"

"Who?" said Maalai.

"King Kuei himself. I am not making that up," she added.

"The Earth King?!" Madhuri yelped. "You met the Earth King?!"

"No. Frigging. Way." Tuhina gasped.

Rajata only giggled gleefully before saying, "Yes way! It was insane!"

Rajata and her family stayed up well into the night as she told them all about her phenomenal, singular day at the imperial zoo, pausing only to change out of her fancy, elegant clothing into something less formal and put her new jewelry away in the drawers before taking a seat and getting comfortable. Her parents and siblings listened with rapt astonishment.

When she went to bed at last on her spacious charpai cot, hair flowing free and unadorned over her pillow, Rajata spent a long while just blissfully smiling as she stared up at the ceiling, her heart nearly bursting with gratitude and wonder.

She'd been so alarmed and freaked out when Hong had come to sit across from her at Pao's Tea Shop that morning, to have a member of the Dai Li offer to take her on a date, secretly dreading that he would ultimately turn on her when it suited him.

But a sincere, warm love had blossomed between them, and he'd taken her hand in his own stone-mailed one to pull her far above her station, led her to one wonder after another, given Rajata and her initially panicked, skeptical family anything and everything they desired.

He'd given her the keys to the kingdom, protected her life, nearly joined with her in his moonlit garden, made her a wealthy woman, introduced her to royalty and potentates today, treated her like a princess. And amazingly, he asked so little in return.

She knew to her core now that she was going to marry him, spend the rest of her life with Hong Yan.

I have no clue, she drowsily thought before she let sleep take her, what I did in this life to deserve a man like him-but I definitely did something right.

Later, a couple hours before dawn, Rajata woke up again in response to some noise or another that she couldn't immediately place, feeling unaccountably ill at ease.

Rain was pelting down outside, and lightning periodically flared through the darkness, producing whip cracks and snarls of thunder. For a few moments, the sounds of the storm further fed her sense of dread.

But then Rajata thought no more of it as she rolled over. She was a grown woman, not an easily panicked little girl, and the storm could do her no harm behind these walls.

Nor was there any reason to feel concerned about anything else. Hong had equal room in his heart for her and Mingxia alike.

He was bound to her, she was bound to him, and nothing could possibly change that at this point.

Nothing.

---

In Hindi, "Aaja," serves the same purpose as "Come here."

I am very aware that when it came to the amount of encounters Rajata has here in this chapter with the highest-ranking people in the Earth Kingdom, we're nearly verging on contrived coincidences here. But I can assure you, their appearances will have a deeper role to play than mere cameos.

I had a damn lot of fun coming with animal residents for The Earth King's zoo, including new hybrids. Many creatures however, are actual extinct species from our own Earth's prehistory, including the bear-dogs (Amphicyon), the giant ground-running owls (Ornimegalonyx), the hippo-rhinos (Teleoceras), the giant tortoises (extinct Aldabrachelys species from Madagascar), the moose-giraffes (Sivatherium), the giant viper (Laophis), and the short-faced kangaroos (Procoptodon), among others.

Others, like the hare-wallabies, armadillo lizards, and capybaras are actual, modern animals.

Long Feng is such a difficult character to capture, in more ways than one, and I can only hope that I did at least a halfway decent job with his viewpoint.

Next chapter, canon events start to make themselves known...