Katara laughed, and kissed him on the cheek. Aang turned red and smiled like a kid again. Apparently that was a yes. Aang smiled as Katara slowly moved her lips from his cheek to his lips, which made contact. The full moon shone into the room, making the setting perfect. They didn't care if some stupid secret agents were watching them. They didn't care about the war, the fact that the people in Bai Sing Se didn't know about the war, they were oblivious at the fact that Toph and Sokka were looking at them. Toph by vibrations, of course, and Sokka with his mouth opened wide. As they pulled apart, Katara's heart ached, as though she were never going to see her again. Aang slowly opened his eyes, seeing the dreamy stare in Katara's.

"What was that?" Sokka said, walking into the room and lighting some lamps.

Katara stood up, shocked at the fact that her brother saw them kissing. Okay, so she did care about that. But it was her brother. She was supposed to worry about that. Aang looked scared as Toph wagged a finger at him, yelling words that didn't even make sense as they were being ran together.

"I'm sorry! Whatever I did, I'm sorry!" Aang yelled, backing against the wall as Toph came closer.

"We're here to get Appa! Not for you two to fall in love!"

"Toph, what did you say earlier to me?" Katara said, taking the girl's wrist roughly. "What did you say? 'Oh, I think you and Aang going to the water pools in the evening is so romantic!' That is exactly what you said!"

Toph blushed, and scuffled her way out of the room. Sokka followed, grumbling. Katara gave Aang another kiss on the cheek, smiling softly, and followed the other two, shouts ringing into Aang's room as she caught up with her brother. Aang smiled to himself, falling backwards onto his bed. He had kissed Katara. And it was more romantic this time. And they were together too! This was better than earlier. This was the best thing that had happened in the whole journey in Bai Sing Se. Hopefully tomorrow they'll have even more fun, and maybe a bit more kissing as well. Hopefully they'll find Appa as well, too. Without that stupid tour guide following them everywhere.

The next morning, Katara stretched as she went out to get the paper that was always sitting in the basket on a column that held up the porch. She rolled her eyes at what she saw on the front page. A stupid thing about the King's bear again. Was that all they cared about? She really wished that they would worry about the war. That was what the world was based on now, and they were avoiding that by taking these people and forcing them to forget what they heard. Katara tossed the paper back in the basket, sitting down on the steps, strands of hair falling out of her braids. She blew them out of her eyes as she saw the governor across the street open his door, waving good morning to get his paper.

"Morning," Katara muttered, giving a half-hearted wave. This city was horrible. Maybe she should have listened to Sokka and they should have ran away last night, try to find Appa, and then get out of here. "Oh, hey Ju Dee."

Their tour guide showed up, still smiling as usual. Katara rolled her eyes, setting her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. Ju Dee walked up the path towards Katara, bowing. Rolling her eyes again, Katara stood up, groaning and entering the house, Ju Dee following.

"Look, we don't need you following us in the house. I know how to cook, clean, everything. I was born in the Southern Water Tribe. If you don't listen to me and let us be in peace in our house, I will talk to the guards about this."

"Oh, but I am hear to deliver good news!" Ju Dee said, smiling yet.

"Whatever. Come on in, Ju Dee."

Katara knocked on Aang's door, then Sokka's, and finally Toph's. Everyone came out, grumbling, rubbing their eyes. They weren't pleased being wakened by Katara, who woke up early all the time. Aang didn't mind when he realized that Katara was fully awake, but had a bad attitude since Ju Dee came by so early. Katara sat down, arms crossed. Aang sat down next to her, Sokka on his other side, Toph on Katara's left.

"The King said he will see you tonight! He heard of the Avatar's presence at his bear's party, and thinks it would be great to thank you in person!" Ju Dee said excitedly.

"Are we going to see him in that stupid carriage, hear a thank you from his adviser, and then see him be carried off?" Katara grumbled.

"Probably, but that is better than nothing!"

"We want to speak to him, Ju Dee. Just talk to him. He is a king. Kings don't let advisers do the work for them. Kings do the work themselves. Political, financial, every single thing," Toph said, rubbing her eyes. "Katara, where's breakfast? I'm really hungry right now."

"Their supposed to bring it to us, remember? There's no kitchen in this place. Sorry, but this isn't a kitchen-allowed house," Katara said. "Ju Dee, where's our breakfast?"

"It shall be here in thirty minutes. I will be going now. I shall pick you up this evening." Ju Dee bowed and left the house, allowing the inhabitants to mind their own business in peace.

"Too bad the Dai Lei is watching our every move. I wanted to Airbend my way down the hill," Aang said with a yawn, stretching out on the pillows he made into a chair.

"I wanted to go out to the backyard where a nice watering pool is. There looks like enough of water to bend into something fanciful," Katara said dreamily.

"Me, I just want to get some food," Toph grunted.

"Same here!"

Everyone looked at Sokka, who got hit in the back of the head by Katara. Sokka gave a yell as he fell forwards, and Katara gave a satisfied smile. She was pleased that she had finally given him a good hit in the head that he deserved. Aang gave a laugh, falling over, clutching his sides since he was laughing so hard. Toph didn't know what had happened, so she stood there, staring blankly into the air, although she couldn't see. Katara walked over to the door as a loud knock came.

"Here is your breakfast, sirs and madams. If you need anything, we will be in the house nearby," the man pointed five houses downs.

Katara nodded, and the men came in, carrying trays upon trays of food, drinks, and other breakfast items. Katara gave a look to Aang, who shrugged his shoulders. They really didn't need all of this food, though. There were only four of them. Why was all the food needed? Well, it didn't really matter. Momo ate a lot of food as well, so that made it even. Sokka started to drool when he saw the pastries being opened by a young woman, who thought he was drooling at her.

"Pardon me, I don't want to be with you."

"Oh? Huh? I was drooling at the food, sorry. Food's awesome," he said, reaching for a strawberry-flavored pastry and taking a huge bite. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome," bowed the young woman, and left with the rest of them.

Katara sat next to Aang, and Toph sat next to Sokka. She asked where some rolls were, Sokka handing them to her as soon as she said that. Toph raised her eyebrows, taking one and setting the bowl before her, eating her roll. Katara took a bowl of berries and smiled as she noticed all her favorites were in there. Aang was drinking some water that actually tasted like some sort of fruit. They had all found something they enjoyed to eat. But before they could even dig into their favorites, Ju Dee came back.

"Ju Dee! Please, leave us alone!" Katara shouted, trying to shove the woman out of their house.

"Oh, but you are done eating, I see! I'll send for the maids to clean up."

"No, we aren't done eating! I barely even got to eat half a berry! Please, go."

"If you insist, Katara. I shall come back later. When would be a good time for you?"

"How about in ten hours? When we want to be bothered."

"You don't want to search for your bison?"

"Well, we would like to, but you would be a better host if you let us search the city ourselves. Don't worry, we've gotten in worse trouble than being caught by some robbers."

Katara shut the door and locked it with ice as Ju Dee left the house. Hopefully that would keep them out for awhile. She went back over to the table and sat back down, sighing. She took up her bowl of berries again and started to eat, this time without interruption. That was what she had been wanting so badly.

Aang finished his water and reached for a roll from Toph, but she snatched up the bowl, then laughed, holding it out for him to take one. She smiled at him, but didn't even know if Aang smiled back to her. She felt weird not being able to know what a person looked like thanks to her blindness. Toph stood up, saying she was full and walked into her room. Katara shrugged her shoulders and ate some more. Sokka was still eating like crazy, the same with Momo, who was reaching up from underneath the table with his tiny paws to gather up food from the many trays. They were enjoying everything when a gong started to sound from the palace wall. Apparently there were people gathering around there. Katara looked at the other two, who followed her out of the house so they could see what was going on. Toph soon caught up with them, looking a bit confused.

"What's going on?"

"We don't know yet. I think someone is making a speech," Katara muttered.

Indeed someone was. This person was hard to see as they were all the way on top of the wall, and the sunlight was coming from behind him, causing his front to look as though it were a shadow. The man was fat, and it was definitely not a woman. Everything about him told the group that he wasn't supposed to be up there. Katara put a hand on Aang's shoulder as guards tried to get up to him, but he blocked them off with Earthbending.

"People of the upper ring! You must listen to me! You are being told what to do! There is a war going on! Outside the walls of Bai Sing Se! The walls are protecting us, so do not worry about the war outside, but worry about the war inside! Against the Dai Lei, who are forcing us to do things we would not normally do!"

Aang looked at his friends. He would be in trouble if they were even involved with this guy. Katara shook her head when she realized what Aang was thinking. He nodded, knowing that she would be disappointed as much as him if they couldn't find Appa.

"In fact, let's just go and find Appa. Come on, I'm sure Ju Dee and the others won't even find us. Let's just head to the lower ring first. That'll be easier to get to."

The group followed Aang towards the lower ring, where the Black Market was held and a lot of the refugees lived when they first arrived in Bai Sing Se. Katara smiled as little girls in the middle ring ran about in the fields that were available just for that reason. They seemed happy, but they didn't know what they were in. They were in a society that was being controlled by a force of people who think they knew what they were doing was best for the people, but it wasn't. Bai Sing Se was supposed to be a society that was to be equal to the rest of the world, but protected by the walls of Bai Sing Se. That wasn't the case. Katara took a last look at the middle ring as they entered the lower ring. It was a bit pleasant, in some areas. But not a lot of the city was pleasant, especially in the lower ring. Katara grimaced when she saw a young boy and girl crying in the alley way, after another child took their toy. Their father probably worked hard on that toy, and now their father had to work hard again to make another one for them to enjoy.

"This isn't right. All these people need help, but the government isn't doing anything about it. It's terrible. Children don't have shoes to cover their feet, they don't have food, and many of these families don't even have shelter. What about those people we met before we got into the city? The one with the baby named Hope," Katara said. "What happened to them? They're probably in some rundown apartment building, trying to find food for their baby girl."

Aang nodded, his hands clenched into fists. He was feeling the same pain as Katara was. He believed in a perfect society where there was no war, and everyone had the equal chance to go wherever they wanted to. But this wasn't equal. They were blocked off by walls, ranks, and everything else. He took Katara's hand, leading her down an alley way, Toph and Sokka following closely behind them. He smiled up at her, trying to make her feel a bit happier.

"Look, we'll make it all right later on. The city will be a bit more unpopulated once everything outside is over, which should be soon once we find Appa," Aang said reassuringly.

"I know, but I don't think we'll get out of here in time to tell the Northern Water Tribe about the Solar Eclipse! We'll have to wait years, decades, maybe even centuries! The Solar Eclipse happens in three more months, Aang. We have to get out of here soon," Toph said, holding onto Sokka's wrist.

"Yeah, yeah. I know how it goes!"