Chapter 81

Katara wasn't sure she had ever seen as many people in one place as on this evening in the square in front of the Royal Palace of Ba Sing Se. She couldn't even make a guess at how many people might be in the crowd, but Azula's educated guess put the number at around twenty thousand. That was a massive crowd and it further showcased the discontent the actions of the Dai Li had provoked in the capital's citizens. People of all ages and from all walks of life were out in numbers, but the younger generation made up the clear majority of the activists, as expected.

An impromptu stage had been set up on the stairs leading up to the Royal Palace, and the organizers of the rally had made several speeches. Katara and her friends were a little too far from the stage to be able to hear the speeches in full, managing to grasp only a few snippets, but judging from the raucous cheers of the crowd, the fiery addresses had been received well. Once the speeches were over and done with, some of the local musicians of Ba Sing Se took the stage to regale the crowd with their protest hymns. Candles were being passed out in the crowd, and Katara, Yue and Azula had all ended up holding lit candles as they listened to some of the particularly gripping protest songs. Katara's skin was still covered in goosebumps from the magic of the moment, the kind of unity of the crowd she had never experienced before. To see so many people around her determined and willing to fight for what was right was restoring her faith in humanity as they all sang along united to the most popular of the hymns.

The modern world, it is exploding
Violence flaring, bullets loading
You're old enough to kill but not for voting
You don't believe in war
But what's that gun you're toting?

And marches alone can't bring integration
When human respect is disintegrating
This whole crazy world is just too frustrating
And you tell me over and over and over again my friend
Ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction

Katara had been a little nervous to attend the rally, even if she firmly believed that she was doing the right thing. She would have preferred it if Azula had stayed at the estate, but considering the nature of their relationship, Katara understood that there was no way Azula would have stayed behind when she and Yue were so intent on attending. With this many people in the crowd, she agreed with the assertion by the others that the Dai Li would not dare to interfere in any way. And as the evening progressed and the protest songs continued to inspire an even greater sense of unity and togetherness in the crowd, Katara became more and more relaxed, starting to fully enjoy herself.

Because the crowd was so loud, singing along to the protest hymns, Katara and most of the people around her completely missed the moment when the screaming started. It was only when the music abruptly stopped playing, that they realized that something had gone terribly wrong, as evidenced by even more screaming and an odd, muted rat-tat-tat sound that chilled Katara to the bone. Wait, is that gunfire? Is that really what gunfire sounds like? She thought to herself frantically.

In a matter of moments, the happy feeling of unity in the crowd disappeared, replaced by panic as everyone's fight or flight instincts were triggered. Katara, Azula and Yue were trapped in the middle of the crowd, together with their friends. People around them were pushing and pulling them into opposing directions as everything quickly went to hell in a hand-basket. Azula was the only one who seemed capable of keeping her cool, as she grabbed the hands of both Katara and Yue, holding on tightly and allowing the crowd to steer them into a random direction because fighting the tide would have been dangerous, not to mention impossible. This meant that they quickly became separated from their other friends, Zuko and Sokka getting dragged into another direction, Jet, Suki and Ty Lee in yet another.

Katara's heart was thundering in her chest and she was so terrified that she nearly lost control of her bladder, which really was the least of her concerns right now. At least the tide of the crowd seemed to be pulling them towards one of the several exits leading towards the Middle Ring. It was also bringing them further away from their Upper Ring estate, but there was not much they could do about that. It seemed that perhaps they might manage to make it out in one piece, but then some assholes rushed them from behind with such force that they nearly bowled Azula and Katara over, which would have been particularly dangerous in this situation and could have easily led to them being trampled to death. Even worse, Azula lost her grip on Yue's hand, and their girlfriend was immediately pulled into another direction by the crowd. Katara and Azula both screamed Yue's name from the top of their lungs, but it was to no avail. Even if Yue heard or saw them, she was in no position to fight her way through the crowd and get back to Azula and Katara.

Even though Katara was absolutely terrified for her own life, she was even more concerned for the sake of Yue and their friends. But she also realized that before they could help any of their friends, she and Azula had to save themselves first. The crowd was definitely starting to thin out as they reached the Middle Ring gates and passed through them, at which point Katara's heart almost leapt out of her mouth at the sound of gunfire very close by. Was someone just randomly shooting into the crowd? Had the Dai Li called upon the Earth Kingdom military?

"In here," Azula barked at her, suddenly spotting a gap in the crowd. They dove for it and ducked into the first alley they came across, quickly running down the length of it. Weaving through several alleys, Katara almost started to believe that they were safe and she was about to call out to Azula and tell her to stop so that they could gather their wits and go back for Yue. Unfortunately for the two girls, as they rounded the next corner, they crashed into a man wearing a military uniform standing there. Another soldier stood nearby, busy taking a leak, fortunately with his back turned towards them. Katara froze from the surprise, and so did Azula, allowing the first soldier to reach out and grab them both by their wrists.

"Well, well, and what are you two running from?" the first soldier asked them. He didn't sound very friendly and his grip was iron clad, Katara discovered that right away, there was no breaking free from his hold.

"We were on our way home from work, but then we came across crowds of people running like crazy, so we sought to hide ourselves," Azula tried a lie.

"Interesting," the other soldier said, having finished relieving himself and having stuffed his sausage back into his pants. "You're Fire Nation, aren't you?" he pointed at Azula before looking over at Katara. "And you have a Water Tribe collaborator, it seems. The Dai Li have long suspected foreign agents behind all of these protests. You are going to enjoy their enhanced interrogation techniques."

"We are no spies!" Katara protested, having stopped struggling to escape. She didn't want to get punched in the face and preserving her energy seemed like a good idea. "We're simple students of the BSSU!"

"The Dai Li will be the judges of that," the first soldier shrugged, not looking impressed. "Let's drag them to the paddy wagon," he added and they were about to drag them away, when something unexpected happened.

"Let them go, you assholes!" a familiar voice called out angrily. Katara turned to look, her heart jumping with fright when she saw Yue standing there, wearing her blue beanie to obscure the incriminating white hair. One side of her face was worryingly coated with blood, but fortunately there wasn't too much of it and the wound was likely shallow. That was the least of Katara's worries, though. She really wished that Yue would have just hidden herself, instead of getting herself arrested along with them… or worse. The soldiers were unlikely to react well to being called assholes.

"You'll be joining your friends, girl, but only after we make you regret calling us names," the pissing soldier walked menacingly towards Yue while his buddy continued to hold a tight grip on Katara and Azula. Katara could not get a good look at what Yue was doing because the soldier's broad back was obscuring her line of sight, but she did see Yue move and as a result, the soldier coming after her suddenly grabbed his face and screamed. Even while pawing at his face, the soldier still tried to throw a wild punch at Yue with his left arm, but Yue luckily dodged the blow. The soldier dropped to his knees, frantically starting to rub his eyes, unable to do anything.

"Fuck this!" the other soldier cursed having witnessed his buddy getting put out of the commission. He suddenly grabbed Katara and very roughly shoved her aside. Katara struck the wall on the opposite side of the alley. The blow wouldn't have been particularly harsh, but because of the momentum, her head still impacted the wall. Katara blacked out for a moment, finding herself on the ground dazed when she opened her eyes. What she saw next made her scream from the top of her lungs. The soldier's hand was going for the sidearm strapped to his belt.

Azula had noticed it as well, however. She brought her foot down with as much force as she could muster, slamming her heel into the soldier's boot. It was enough to distract him as he yelled angrily, shoving Azula aside with force. Yue used the moment to run at him, and now Katara could see the can of pepper spray in her outstretched hand. She made it just in time before the soldier had retrieved his firearm. He soon joined his whimpering fellow on the ground as Yue wasted no time in helping Katara and Azula up from the ground, then leading them away, back in the direction they had come from, eventually coming across several other side alleys which eventually led them out into a square that was currently occupied by a traveling circus. They had already put some distance between themselves and any potential pursuers, and this was the perfect opportunity to blend into a crowd and disappear.

"Okay, that was insane," Katara said. She was still breathing hard as the three of them stopped for a moment, trying to gather their wits. She turned on Yue. "What were you thinking, sneaking up on those soldiers like that?" Katara chided her reckless girlfriend. "You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"I wasn't going to let those jerks hurt you, okay?" Yue replied defiantly.

"Cool it, Kat," Azula frowned at her. "We owe Yue a lot of gratitude. Although… you did make me worry a bit more than I would have preferred to," she admitted uneasily.

"Alright, so maybe I hadn't thought everything through, that's what happens when you're burning with adrenaline," Yue sighed. "It worked out, okay?"

"It did and now we need a plan on what to do next," Azula said.

"Well, I assume that we want to get home safely, right?" Katara asked.

"Kat, the Upper Ring will be swarming with soldiers right now," Azula shook her head. "We need to find a place to lay low for tonight."

"What about Zuko's apartment?" Yue asked.

Azula frowned, not looking particularly happy about this idea, but she eventually agreed with a nod. "I suppose it makes sense, but it will only work if Zuko and Sokka have gotten out," she said uncomfortably. Katara felt a cold pit of fear spreading in her belly at the thought of something bad happening to her brother, as well as Zuko and the rest of their friends. "I'm sure they're going to be fine," Azula said, turning towards her, although she sounded nervous herself.

"Well, we need to get there first," Katara said. "Which way was the apartment?" She knew the Middle Ring fairly well by now, but it was dark outside and everything looked a little strange and distorted. Not to mention that she was still in a mild state of shock.

"I think it's this way," both Yue and Azula spoke at once, pointing in diametrically opposite directions. They both burst into laughter at that, an almost absurd reaction considering the gravity of their situation. "Seriously, let's go with Azula's suggestion," Yue conceded quickly. "My head is still spinning a little bit."

"Are you alright?" Katara asked with concern. "What happened?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry. Someone in the crowd crashed into me and I fell down," Yue explained. "Next thing I knew was someone kicking me in the head and I blacked out for a moment. Some guy grabbed me, though, and pulled me up to my feet. If he hadn't done that-"

"You could have died in the stampede," a very pale looking Azula muttered.

"But I didn't," Yue stated, giving them both a reassuring stare. "Let's focus on that, okay? And let's start walking. We probably have a long walk ahead of us before we get to Zuko's place."

"Actually, I think we're not that far, I recognize the restaurant across the street," Azula said. "It's that place where Zuko took us after the Kyoshi Island tournament. He thought that he was going to impress us, but the place was actually really crappy."

"Oh… you're right, that was only a few blocks from their apartment," Katara nodded. She wanted to disagree with Azula's opinion of the restaurant, but even as someone with less refined tastes than her capricious girlfriend, Katara had to admit that the place hadn't been good. There had been a gross long silvery hair in Yue's salad, and Katara had been served a disturbingly pink chicken breast. It hadn't been a good time.

The threesome carefully made their way through the Middle Ring streets, mindful of any patrols, military or police. They seemed to be in the clear, however, and as they approached Zuko's apartment building, Katara felt a great weight lifting from her chest as she saw Sokka and Zuko standing outside, pacing nervously back and forth across the pavement, as if they could not decide on what to do.

"Sokka!" Katara exclaimed loudly as she all but flew into her brother's relieved arms. It didn't seem that Azula was going to follow her example, however, so a slightly frustrated looking Yue walked up to Zuko and slightly awkwardly embraced him. At least Azula did look mightily relieved to see their brothers safe and sound.

"Damn it, we were arguing whether to go back for you," Sokka sighed, eventually releasing Katara. Her emotions were spilling over and she found it hard to even stand, she was so overwhelmed. "I really, really hoped that you wouldn't be so stupid as to try and go back to the estate."

"You can thank Azula for being sensible, then," Katara chuckled weakly.

"What about the others?" Yue asked nervously.

"We lost track of them," Zuko replied. "We were hoping that you would know."

"Damn it," Azula swore. She was clearly freaking out about Ty Lee. Katara hoped that Suki and Jet were okay too. If Jet got nabbed by the cops or the military, it wouldn't look good, considering that he was a draftee. Katara wasn't sure about the Earth Kingdom laws, but she suspected that dodging draft was something that got people put away for years.

"If we went upstairs, you could make phone calls," Zuko urged them. "If they got out safely, they should have made it all the way home by now."

"And I need to take care of Yue's head wound," Katara nodded.

A few minutes later, Yue was sitting at the kitchen table with Katara hovering over her, sterilizing the wound on Yue's temples with hydrogen peroxide. Azula stood in the nearby foyer, trying desperately to recall the phone number of Ty Lee's apartment from memory. Normally, Azula would find that sort of task ridiculously easy, but that was clearly not the case when she was close to panicking. Having disinfected the wound, Katara made sure to properly bandage it, regardless of how small or shallow it was. She wasn't going to risk it getting infected. Zuko and Sokka were milling about nervously, generally being a bit useless, so Katara chased them off to procure them all something stronger to drink, since all of them obviously needed it to calm their nerves. The two boys returned with cheap whiskey and soda for them all, and Katara gratefully accepted the drink. Even Azula calmed down after a few reluctant sips and was finally able to recall Ty Lee's phone number, eventually getting put through.

"Ty Woo? Hi, this is Azula," she spoke on the phone, everyone listening in eagerly, praying for good news. "No, she's not with me. That's why I was calling," Azula's next words made them all exchange worried stares. "Alright, of course I will. And if she comes back, please ask her to call this number," Azula said, giving the number of Zuko's apartment. "Okay, bye… and don't worry, I'm sure she'll show up only to laugh about our concerns," Azula said without much conviction as she disconnected the call.

Seeing that Azula was standing by the phone unmoving, Katara rose and walked up to her. Azula was in tears. Katara wrapped her arms around the Fire Nation girl and pulled her into a hug. She knew how much Ty Lee's safety and wellbeing meant to Azula, though, so this was not something that could be fixed with hugs alone. "Don't despair, Zula, she might show up yet," Katara tried to remain encouraging.

"She might have done what we wanted to do at first, which was to go back to the estate," Yue suggested.

"It's possible," Azula nodded tearfully. "Let me call the estate."

"I'll do that, Zula," Katara spoke softly, giving Azula a light push towards the kitchen. "Go and sit down with Yue and the boys, okay?" Azula did not look too happy, but she still took her glass of whiskey and soda, and did as she was told.

Katara quickly dialed the number of their Upper Ring estate. It took a couple of rings before Aang answered the phone. "Aang?" Katara asked quickly. "Is everything alright?"

"Katara, I'm so glad to hear your voice!" Aang blurted out. "Mai and I were wondering where all of you had disappeared to, and then things became really crazy!"

"What do you mean?" Katara asked nervously.

"There were suddenly a lot of people in our street, yelling and running," Aang explained quickly. "I just about managed to lock the front gate or else I think some of those people would have broken in. They looked like they were running from something? Also, did we hear gunshots?"

"Yes, the Dai Li had the military break up the rally we went to," Katara replied. She heard Aang gasping on the other end of the line. "We're alright, Aang, but we lost Ty Lee, Suki and Jet. I'm guessing they didn't make their way back to the estate?"

"Nope, it's still just me and Mai here," Aang said.

"Damn it," Katara cursed. "Are you two safe?" she asked.

"I think so. We're just a little bit spooked. That was definitely really scary to watch, all those people just rushing by," Aang replied. "Things seem to be calming down a little, at least."

"Alright, that's a relief," Katara said. "We're going to stay the night at Zuko's apartment and make our way back to the estate tomorrow, okay? And please, be careful."

"Of course, Katara, you too," Aang said, sounding relieved as they ended their conversation.

Katara turned to look into the kitchen, aware that she didn't need to say anything. Everyone had heard the bad news already. Katara was quite concerned by the desperate look in Azula's eyes. She didn't think that Azula had her medication with her. They really didn't need a mental health crisis right now. It would be the possibly worst timing ever for that. She wondered if knocking Azula out with booze was a good idea or not. Katara knew that the method was reasonably effective when she applied it to herself, and they didn't really have any other options. "I'm going to call Suki," she decided then. "Maybe Ty Lee ended up with them. They were sticking close together."

"I saw Ty Lee getting pulled away from everyone," Azula muttered forlornly.

"It's still worth a try," Katara said. She wasn't too hopeful, but she also wanted to know whether Suki and Jet had made it out safely. Katara was also having troubles recalling Suki's phone number from memory, only managing to get through after a couple of mistaken calls that had earned her some angry shouting from the other end of the line. "Hey, Suki, it's Katara," she said, relieved to hear her friend's voice.

"Hey Kat, are you all safe?" Suki asked, sounding quite nervous.

"Yeah, but we lost Ty Lee," Katara replied. "Is she with you, perhaps?"

"Shit, no," Suki said. Katara's face fell. "I lost track of her in the crowd, but hopefully she'll be okay. She's gotten out of tighter spots in the past."

"That's true, I suppose," Katara nodded. It was true that Ty Lee had the street smarts and the instinct of a survivor. She probably had the best chance from them all to make out of this situation alive. If they had made it, then Ty Lee was most likely safe as well.

"Katara?" Suki asked. "If you try to call me again then know that I won't be here to answer. I'm going away for a little while."

"Are you going to flee together with Jet?" Katara asked.

"Jet… is going away for longer," Suki managed, sounding broken up about something. "He's going to dodge the draft."

"Isn't that really dangerous?" Katara asked nervously.

"Of course, that's why I'm getting him out of Ba Sing Se," Suki explained. "You know that Jet has strong opinions about military service, especially under the Dai Li banner. So he's going into hiding."

"But that kind of exile could last years!" Katara exclaimed. Then she realized it. "That's why you're so upset. Oh… I'm sorry, Suki," she sighed.

"It's okay," Suki managed, sounding tearful. "It needs to be done. I'll just… I'll be alright. Anyway, we'll talk more when I get back, okay? Although you might want to go to Gaoling early, Katara. That's just my piece of advice," Suki said before disconnecting the call.

"Okay, so we got that Ty Lee isn't with her, but what else did she say?" Azula asked nervously.

"Jet is going to dodge the draft, so she's smuggling him out of Ba Sing Se," Katara replied. "Also, she said that we should consider flying to Gaoling early."

"That's definitely a good idea," Yue nodded. "I don't think those soldiers would identify us, it was dark and I was wearing my silly beanie, but I'd still rather play it safe."

"Agreed," Azula said. "I'll call the airline tomorrow and get our tickets swapped to an earlier flight."

"This is just crazy, though," Sokka sighed after everyone had fallen silent for a while. "My mind is still reeling, trying to process everything that happened. I'm guessing things might make more sense tomorrow, so… maybe we should just go and try to get some sleep?"

Azula gave an almost hysterical laugh at that comment, making Yue and Katara exchange nervous glances. It seemed that they both would be called upon to provide enough comfort for Azula to avoid a mental health crisis. Fortunately, Katara was absolutely certain that they both were willing to give their absolute best to make sure that Azula felt safe and reassured.

Suki was struggling to hold back the tears as she sat behind the wheel of her Ford Maverick, steering it along the lakeshore road. The road was dangerous, especially in the middle of the night, so having her eyes constantly watering was definitely not helpful. Still, she wouldn't even consider letting Jet drive, not this one, potentially last time as she drove them both to the nearest Serpent's Lake ferry terminal. She agreed that Jet needed to get out of the capital, things were definitely too hot in Ba Sing Se right now. But when Jet had told her where exactly he intended to go, Suki had simply lost it.

"Are you sure I can't change your mind?" Suki asked, trying not to sniff mightily.

"Come on, Suki," Jet replied, his voice sounding strained. She knew that he wasn't really annoyed with her for trying to talk him out of his plan, but her constant attempts were making it harder and harder on him. And Jet wasn't a guy who liked to get overly emotional or, spirits forbid, even cry.

"I honestly didn't know you cared so much about the Yu Dao independence," Suki sighed, shaking her head.

"I didn't care that much until recently," Jet shrugged. "But the way the Dai Li have been acting recently, it's downright imperialistic thinking. Maybe that's why we never abolished the kingdom from the name of our great nation, not even after the monarchy became purely representative. The imperialist mindset has always been there in the government and behind the scenes, right? And now we see it in its entire ugliness, the way people are getting crushed beneath its heel. What about people's rights of self-determination? That used to be something we all agreed upon, especially after the Great War. But now when the people of Yu-Dao want to choose independence? Nope, can't have that."

"Yeah, I get it. It sickens me too," Suki nodded reluctantly. "I'm just terrified about what your actual plans are, Jet. Going to Yu-Dao and linking up with the Freedom Fighters? Why? It's literally the least safe place to be. You could get killed!"

"I just feel like it's the right thing to do, Suki," Jet replied. "The Earth Kingdom wants to declare me an outlaw? Well, I'll turn around and really stick it to them where it hurts. I've been in touch with a few people who also got their draft notices. They also plan to flee to Yu Dao and follow my example."

"You're heading into a warzone, Jet," a fresh flood of tears escaped Suki's eyes.

"I know," Jet nodded. He had a tense look on his face, as if he was struggling with his decision. At the same time, Suki could tell that he was convinced about this path. She doubted that she could do anything to talk him out of it. Besides, the conflict might last for months, if not years to come. Jet probably couldn't hide all that time anyway, at least not anywhere close to Ba Sing Se. "I could be gone for a long time, Suki," he sighed. "And I might not come back, which is why… you shouldn't wait for me, babe."

Suki nearly crashed the car at his words, sobbing aloud. "Don't say that, please!" she exclaimed.

"It's the truth, though," Jet replied. "I'll try to come back, but it's better to keep things real. You're twenty-one and you need someone in your life, okay? Just know that I won't begrudge you for moving on."

"Stop talking about that!" Suki shouted angrily. "I don't want to hear a single word!" Saying goodbye to Jet was already tearing her heart to pieces so badly that she was seriously considering running away with him to Yu Dao. He probably wouldn't stand for it, though. Jet would probably tie her up, toss her in a lifeboat and send it floating back towards the Ba Sing Se ferry terminal. Despite Jet's brash and irreverent attitude, Suki knew that deep underneath the exterior of a player, Jet could be noble and courageous, ready to sacrifice himself for the right cause.

"Alright, I won't say anything else about that," Jet said, sounding apologetic. "But I hope you'll remember what I said if I'm not back in six months, or within a year."

"Shut up," Suki hissed. She hated that he was still going on about this. It hurt too much to imagine giving herself to anyone else, at least right now.

"Alright, I'm shutting up about it," Jet managed a small smile at her. Suki's heavy heart instantly felt a tiny bit lighter as she took the right turn off the main road, onto the path leading down a slope towards the shoreline. The lights of the ferry terminal were now right ahead of them, the place eerily silent on this chilly summer night.

Suki pulled into the terminal's parking lot, unhooking the seatbelt. "Stay here," she told Jet when he was about to leave the car with her. "I'll just check the next departure time and be right back, okay?" Jet nodded and got back into the car. Suki returned a couple of minutes later, having run down the path to a gate with a ticket booth. The booth was closed, which was not surprising considering the ungodliness of the early hour. There was a sleepy looking guard with a beautiful looking shepherd dog on the other side of the gate, but Suki had decided to ignore him, simply checking the ferry departure times and then jogging back to the car.

"Well?" Jet turned towards her, looking a little anxious.

"The next one is at six o'clock," Suki replied.

"And what time is it now?" Jet asked.

"Four thirty," Suki said.

"Well, that leaves us with a lot of time to kill," Jet remarked. "Do you have any ideas?" Suki shook her head. Knowing Jet, Suki felt certain that she could guess what he was thinking about. Jet was honestly the horniest guy she had ever dated, but Suki kind of dug that about him. There was nothing wrong with a healthy sexual appetite, after all.

"Remember what I said when you were thinking about what car to buy?" Jet asked innocently a while later.

Suki had to laugh a little despite herself. "You said that it should be big enough for us to have sex in it," she snorted.

"We never did, though," Jet remarked, smiling.

"Let me guess, you're going to say that we should rectify that mistake while we still can," Suki rolled her eyes.

"Guilty as charged," Jet said. "It would beat an hour of sad moping, wouldn't you say?" he turned towards her with that crooked smile of his that she loved so much.

"It's… hard to argue with that," Suki sighed, leaning into the kiss. Indeed, if their relationship was destined to end here, she preferred to go out with yet another amazing memory.

Ty Lee was shivering with anxiety as she looked out of the window of the small room where she had been led in and then left by the Earth Kingdom soldiers. As the light began to dawn, she could make out more and more features of her surroundings. It looked like she was at an airport, but it didn't seem like the Ba Sing Se international airport. This one looked a lot smaller. Perhaps it was some kind of a military airport?

She still felt like an idiot for getting caught the night before, and it had been such a stupid way in which it had happened. Ty Lee had spotted a couple of Earth Kingdom youths struggling with a soldier who was menacing them, and she had run to their help. But the two youths had then started shouting that she was a Fire Nation spy and had even helped the soldier to apprehend her. Ty Lee had lived on the streets long enough to understand that sometimes you had to do underhanded stuff in order to survive, but at that moment, it had been a little hard to hold on to her faith in humankind.

It seemed that the Dai Li had been preparing for this operation for a while, because Ty Lee had then been taken to a specially prepared detention center, somewhere outside the great walls of the capital. The detention center had been absolutely packed with people. Once the officials had verified her identity and confirmed her Fire Nation citizenship, she had then been moved to an isolated location, together without about a dozen or so fellow Fire Nation citizens, most of them looking young enough to be students. Then they had been hoarded onboard of a military transport and moved yet again, to what now appeared like a military airport. Ty Lee was terrified, wondering what awaited her now, but she was certain that it would be nothing good.

A few minutes later, the doors opened and a man entered. Much to Ty Lee's surprise and relief, he was wearing a Fire Army uniform. The look on his mustachioed face wasn't particularly friendly, however, as he looked down at some papers on his clipboard. "Ty Lee Watanabe?" he asked her. Ty Lee nodded. The man made a note on his clipboard. "So, Miss Watanabe, you feel so much sympathy for the poor and oppressed people of Yu Dao that you believe it merits taking part in an illegal demonstration against the government of the Earth Kingdom?"

Ty Lee frowned, considering her answer. She wasn't sure what the man wanted to hear her say. He seemed really hard to read. His aura was just dull, like that of most soldiers. "Umm, yes?" Ty Lee tried nervously.

"I see," the man smirked, jotting down more notes on the clipboard. "Well, I'm sure you and your fellow rebels will appreciate the opportunity to contribute towards helping the people of Yu Dao in a more meaningful way, as members of the Fire Nation military volunteer corps."

"Uh…" Ty Lee shuddered, not liking the sound of that one bit. "Did you say volunteer corps, sir? Because I, ah… I don't remember having volunteered?"

"You don't?" the man looked at her with a steely, almost cruel gaze that made Ty Lee's legs tremble slightly. "What options do you think you have here, Miss Watanabe? Are you quite sure that you wouldn't prefer to volunteer? Or else we might hand you back to the Dai Li. They are very fond of their enhanced interrogation techniques."

"On second thought," Ty Lee gulped. "I think I have decided to volunteer for military service." The man gave her a brief smile and a nod, jotting down more notes on the clipboard before pushing it towards her and then handing her a pen. Ty Lee briefly read the contents of the document she was signing, and with no other option left to her, she signed the papers with a trembling hand. Yu Dao, here I come, I guess…

Next chapter: Azula, Katara and Yue travel to their first professional Pai Sho tournament, while we keep an eye on the developments in Yu Dao.