Chapter 17
4 Years after the Hundred Year War
West of the Outer Wall
The following morning, the two girls made their final river crossing on the lengthy journey to Ba Sing Se. The next stretch of their travel led southeast, a beaten pack animal track with a mighty forest stretching to their left and the northern tip of a mountain range to their right. After a couple of hours of hard walking, the pair emerged onto an open, barren plain of coarse sand, stretching for miles and miles in the easterly direction, until it met their destination, the great walls of Ba Sing Se. Even from the distance of many miles, the outer wall looked both majestic and ominous.
Having made it this far, Azula and Katara now faced an important choice. All travel to and from Ba Sing Se passed through a solitary gate in the southwestern section of the outer wall, more than a day's travel away. To reach it, they could choose to either head straight east and then travel alongside the wall, or they could proceed in a southerly direction skirting the mountain range, through the canyons that would protect them from any potential Dai Li spotters on the outer wall.
"So?" Azula turned to face Katara with an impatient stare. "What do you think?"
"I'm undecided," Katara shrugged uncertainly. "I suppose I'm leaning slightly towards the mountain path, even though the terrain there is very rough."
"I hoped you would say that," Azula nodded at her, looking pleased. She then squinted in the distance, staring intently at the wall. "What's that big heap there by the wall?" she asked, pointing in the distance. "Don't tell me they haven't removed the remains of our drill?"
"Earth King Kuei actually decided to leave it where it was, as a monument to an epic battle," Katara explained. "I think it was a good decision. The sight of it still fills me with both dread and awe."
"I guess," Azula shrugged. "I just hate having to stare at the evidence of my defeat. Bah, let's just go," she sighed, heading straight for the mountain path, Katara having to pick up her pace to catch up with the princess.
They had not made it very far down the rocky mountain path, when the two girls came upon a surprising sight. At a sharp turn in the path, an elderly man stood next to his cart, weeping bitter tears. "Cabbages! Oh, my poor, poor cabbages!" the elderly cabbage merchant lamented, plucking at his scraggly beard in despair.
"What happened here, good sir?" Katara asked as they came closer to the startled old timer. "Is there anything we can do to help?" she added, noticing that the merchant's cart was in a particularly bad state, as if someone had trampled all over it, destroying its fragile cargo of precious cabbages.
"There's nothing you can do to help me now! My cabbages are gone and I am ruined!" the old man cried dramatically.
"Probably some bandits," Azula ventured. "These canyons make for particularly good ambush spots."
"If only it had been the bandits, then I would be more understanding!" the old merchant complained. "But no, it was just some young noblemen from Ba Sing Se, looking for a thrill! Ah, I miss the days when Ba Sing Se was a closed city... at least it kept those bored thrill seekers contained within its walls!"
"That's reprehensible, to do something so petty just for fun," Katara said, noticing Azula nodding at her words. "Do you know if this is something that happens regularly?"
"You should ask around the neighboring villages, young lady, I'm sure you'll hear no end of complaints and disturbing stories," the cabbage merchant told the waterbender. "Tormenting the peasant folk is something of a hobby for some of those Earth Kingdom nobles. And there are stories about them going as far as abducting young and pretty girls from the villages... I'm sure you can understand for what purpose," the old man looked disgusted as he spoke.
Katara and Azula exchanged glances, the waterbender for once sharing the sentiment as she regarded the rage and anger in Azula's golden orbs. "I can't believe that nobody has put a stop to this," Katara snarled.
"Who's going to stop these men? I've been told that they all come from influential Upper Ring families," the ruined cabbage vendor explained. "You should seriously reconsider heading down this path, young ladies. Those monsters might still be nearby, and one of them is an earthbender!"
"I'm counting on them still being nearby," Azula muttered quietly. "Oh, and an earthbender… how very frightening," she added, speaking aloud.
"Don't worry about us, good merchant," Katara smiled at the old man, removing one of her last coins from the money belt and passing it over to the grateful looking cabbage merchant. "Please, take this. I hope it goes some way to recover your losses."
"A whole Fire Nation gold piece? My thanks, kind lady! This will save me from ruin for sure!" the old man bowed to them gratefully, Katara smiling as she bid the old man farewell before the pair moved on, resuming their journey down the mountain path.
"What did you give him the money for?" Azula admonished her as soon as they were out of the old man's earshot. "We only have two more coins left!"
"He needed it more than we do," Katara shrugged. "We'll be in Ba Sing Se soon, and I have several sources to call upon for assistance, if needed. We'll be just fine, Azula."
"Ugh, but what if we need the coin for a bribe or something like that?" Azula sighed. "Getting past that passport checkpoint in the outer wall isn't going to be easy."
"Wait, there's a passport checkpoint?" Katara blinked. "I thought they would have gotten rid of those after the war!"
"Why would they do that?" Azula stared at her in wide-eyed disbelief. "Just because the war is over, do you honestly think they would let just anyone stroll in past the outer wall? There's no way the Dai Li would allow that. They love to be in control of every aspect of the lives of their citizens."
"Hmm, you're probably right… see, I've never had to think about these things because I always just flew into Ba Sing Se with the Avatar on Appa's back," Katara sighed. "Sorry... but what does that mean for us? Do we need to get Earth Kingdom passports from somewhere?"
"Well, actually..." Azula blushed slightly as she reached into the pocket of her dress and produced a pair of passports with the Earth Kingdom insignia on them.
"Earth Kingdom passports! Where did you get them?" Katara gasped.
"Now, don't go and freak out on me about this, but... do you remember that time when we got separated in the crowd during that silly festival?" Azula asked, Katara nodding at her quickly. "Well, I happened to use all that commotion to help myself to a couple of passports..."
"It doesn't sit well with me, but I suppose it was necessary," Katara sighed. "I just wish there was a way to make it up to those poor women you stole from. But I suppose it would be just a minor inconvenience for them."
"Does that mean you're not mad about it?" Azula asked, looking pleased, and also slightly relieved.
"No, like I said, it was necessary. Actually, that was very clever of you to use the perfect opportunity for it," Katara smiled at the princess, delighted to see her blushing so very prettily from the compliment.
Following that conversation, they continued walking in silence for a good hour, eventually stopping for a little break. The sun was high up in the sky, its rays blazing down at them, making the canyon they were traversing as hot as a frying pan. Having finished drinking, Azula had just handed the canteen of water back to Katara, when she cocked her head barely perceptibly, having detected slight movement nearby.
"Ambush," Azula whispered. Katara quickly finished drinking and put the canteen away just in time as they suddenly found themselves encircled by four massive eel hounds, their riders grinning at them from high up in their saddles.
"Why hello there, ladies," one of the men, all of whom looked to be in their early twenties, addressed them with an oily smile on his face. "It's rare to meet two such distinguished beauties on this road. Today must be our lucky day for making our paths cross."
"Pleased to meet you, good sirs," Katara answered timidly, deciding to go along with her peasant girl charade. "I don't suppose you could offer us a ride to the capital?" she asked politely.
The four noblemen exchanged amused grins and began to laugh among themselves. "Oh, believe me, you both will see plenty of riding very soon," one of the men gave them a particularly lustful stare that made Katara's skin crawl.
The four men quickly dismounted and began to advance on them, Katara and Azula pressed together with their backs, still acting frightened to lull the degenerate nobles into a false sense of security. "Please, sir, don't come any closer, or we will be forced to defend ourselves," Katara spoke in her best timid and frightened voice.
"Baby, I'll wear your bites and scratches like a badge of honor," one of the men chuckled at her, causing more laughter to erupt from the group.
"Can we finally dispense with this charade?" Azula asked, sounding angry and impatient.
"Yes, just be careful and don't harm the hounds," Katara replied.
"What are you talking about, you crazy broad," one of the men reached out for Katara to grab her, but she easily avoided his grasp and in one smooth motion coaxed water from her hip flask. A gushing torrent struck Katara's attacker in the face, throwing him against the cliff and freezing him solidly against the rocks.
The man reaching out for Azula briefly stopped upon noticing the princess pointing at him with two fingers. The man began to laugh aloud at the gesture. "Ha! Is that supposed to scare-... aaargh!" he screamed as condensed blue flames leapt from Azula's fingers, intense and superheated, instantly burning off the man's clothes and melting his skin and flesh underneath. He fell to the ground, badly burned as he continued to roll around briefly, before going completely still.
"Damn it, these two are some crazy benders!" one of the two remaining miscreants shouted, sounding rather panicked.
"Relax, so am I!" the other man exclaimed, the earthbender revealing himself as earth pillars rose underneath the two girls, launching them high up in the air. While falling, Katara quickly bent an ice slide for herself, landing back on the rocky ground safe and sound, ready to go on the attack. As for Azula, just as she was about to hit the ground, blue flames sprung at her feet and she remained hovering slightly above ground, instantly launching a pair of blue-flamed lashes at the surprised earthbender, easily destroying his rock armor.
The vastly inferior enemy bender tried his best to protect himself anew, but the combined attacks of the two girls, among the most talented benders of their age, broke through easily. Katara's water whips shattered the rock barrier of the earthbender, while at the same time freezing his feet to the ground. Unable to dodge or protect himself in any way, he was left completely exposed to Azula's attack. The princess had intended for her fire blades to destroy the earthbender's rock barrier, but with it already gone, the thin blue blades sliced through the exposed man's torso, neatly slicing him into three well cauterized parts.
The unexpected outcome of Azula's attack shocked both girls, and they both hesitated for a moment, which allowed the last of their attackers to quickly mount his eel hound and try to make his escape. Katara recovered swiftly, however, and a well-timed water whip reached the fleeing man and ripped him from the saddle, throwing him painfully onto the rocky ground. He rose as fast as he could, whimpering as he tried to limp away, but then a buzzing crackle coursed through the air as Azula's lightning caught up with the final assailant, dropping him to the ground lifeless.
"Perhaps it was not necessary to kill a fleeing man," Katara mused uncertainly.
"Really?" Azula gave her a piercing stare. "You know what would be happening to us right now if we didn't have our bending. Or do I have to spell it out for you? We'd be getting r-..."
"Don't say it!" Katara exclaimed quickly. "I know... I know," she let out a deep sigh. "You're right. They absolutely deserved it. Who knows how many girls they had preyed upon before coming across us?"
"Exactly," Azula nodded curtly at her. "I'm glad you're seeing reason," she said as lightning leapt from her fingertips and struck the man frozen solidly to the rock from Katara's earlier attack, ending his life as well. "Alright, now we're done," Azula added with a smug, satisfied grin.
"I'll never get used to such violence, even when it is justified... and it very rarely is," Katara muttered. "That said… if what the cabbage merchant told us is true, and I have no reason to doubt the man, then we have just done a big favor for the villages west of Ba Sing Se."
"Well, there you go, another good deed for us, aren't we so happy?" Azula rolled eyes at her, looking like she did not understand Katara's need to rationalize the violent act they had just committed, even if it had been in self-defense. "Also, would you look at that... we finally have mounts for use, when we're already almost at Ba Sing Se," she chuckled, holding two of the eel hounds by their reins.
"Hmm... well, I won't complain about that," Katara smiled as she walked over to the princess. "This means we can reach Ba Sing Se today, and if everything goes well, perhaps we can even spend the night sleeping in comfortable beds."
With their eel hound mounts, Azula and Katara reached the outer wall of Ba Sing Se in the late afternoon, having saved themselves almost an entire day of traveling. Since for two simple Earth Kingdom peasant girls to show up riding eel hounds would have posed a lot of immediate questions and attracted suspicion, they had dismissed their mounts well before approaching the outer wall.
Before passing through the immigration checkpoint, the two girls had taken some time to further alter their appearances. Azula had limited herself to messing up her hair and assuming a slightly more frazzled and not at all perfect appearance. To Katara, this was a painful reminder of how Azula had looked after that terrible Agni Kai with Zuko, and she was having a tough time trying to suppress those memories and focus on the task at hand.
Katara's darker skin tone had demanded far more attention, since they were desperate to avoid additional questions from the immigration officers, or to be recognized by the Dai Li and their sympathizers. In the end, Azula had spent almost half an hour with her makeup kit, helping to disguise Katara as a stereotypical looking Earth Kingdom peasant. The whole experience had felt very awkward and intimate, with Azula so close and occasionally touching her face. Katara had been glad that her cheeks were covered by layers upon layers of foundation, masking her blush, but each time their eyes had met and lingered, she had noticed Azula's cheeks reddening ever so slightly.
With their appearances sorted and documents in order, it was time for the true test, getting past the immigration officials at the passport checkpoint. In the end, they did not face the expected scrutiny, smiling prettily at the male clerks in the booths, stating visiting their relatives as the reason for traveling to the capital, and in short order having their passports stamped with approval to enter Ba Sing Se.
Less than half an hour later, the two girls found themselves sitting in the car of the monorail as it made its way across the Agrarian Zone towards the inner wall. "So far, so good," Katara remarked, carefully glancing around the car, taking stock of the other passengers. None of them looked like a potential Dai Li agent to her.
"I just don't like being out here, so exposed," Azula muttered back at her. "It makes me nervous."
"It'll be alright, I'm sure of it," Katara gave her an encouraging smile, then noticing that Azula was continuously tugging on the straps of her backpack. "Stop fidgeting so much," she reached out to touch Azula's hand, the princess clasping it briefly and firmly before releasing it again. "There's no reason to be so worried."
"Easy for you to say," Azula sighed. "I don't think it will go quite as smoothly as you want to believe."
"Well, I still think there's no reason to be worried," undeterred, Katara smiled at the princess. "In case you haven't noticed, we make a pretty good team."
"I suppose we do, at that," Azula looked up at Katara, briefly returning her smile. "Maybe I am worried over nothing..."
"I'm sure you have no reason to be concerned," a kindly middle aged woman sitting on the seat opposite to them spoke up with a smile on her face. "Attitudes have been slowly changing even in Ba Sing Se, and I am certain that your parents will be understanding and approving."
"Uh... what?" Azula blinked in confusion.
"Umm, approving of what?" Katara asked the woman.
"Oh... I'm sorry," the older woman smiled apologetically. "Watching you two simply reminded me of the conversation I had with my husband more than twenty years ago on this very monorail. Well, he was not my husband then, not yet, and I was bringing him with me to introduce him to my parents. He was just as worried and concerned as you, young lady," she smiled at Azula.
"What? She's not my girlfriend!" Azula fumed.
"I'm not her girlfriend!" Katara protested aloud.
"I see... well, I am sorry for making the wrong assumption," the middle aged woman apologized as she bowed to them before moving away to resume sitting at the other end of the monorail car. "Could have fooled me," she added while retreating, a knowing smirk on her face.
"Agni, are all people in Ba Sing Se this crazy?" Azula grumbled after the impertinent woman had left them alone.
"They must be," Katara nodded. It hadn't escaped her notice how their reactions had been almost identical to that incident in the past when June had made the comment about her and Zuko, with them both vehemently denying any attraction. Katara still didn't know exactly how Zuko had felt about her at that time, but she had definitely been going through a phase of crushing on him... an issue that she had foolishly solved by deciding to start dating Aang. It hadn't helped that Mai had immediately pounced on Zuko once the war had ended. Now they were both single again, but instead of exploring the possibility of a relationship with the Fire Lord, Katara instead found herself falling in love with his sister. Life could certainly be full of strange twists, as Katara was discovering lately.
"Where should we get off?" Katara turned to whisper to the princess, noticing that they were approaching the inner wall.
"At the first opportunity," Azula whispered back. "The sooner we can lose ourselves in the crowd, the better."
"I think there's a monorail station right in the inner wall," Katara said. "We might as well get ready." Azula nodded as they both rose, preparing to disembark from the monorail car.
Only one or two other passengers also got off at the inner wall station, with equally few boarding the monorail. As the two girls stepped off the monorail, looking on as it departed the largely empty station, at first nothing seemed to indicate any trouble. The monorail station, elegantly crafted by master earthbenders within the inner wall, had two entrances, one of the massive stairways leading down to the Lower Ring, while the other descended towards the Agrarian Zone. It seemed that this monorail station was mostly used by workers traveling to the Agrarian Zone, either by using the monorail or on foot.
With all those considerations in mind, this wasn't a place where Katara expected to find a large amount of people just standing about, with nothing obvious to do. When Azula and Katara turned to swiftly make a beeline for the stairs leading down to the Lower Ring, they were both unpleasantly surprised to notice that these groups of lazy looking bums suddenly sprang into action, moving to cut them off.
"Seems like we weren't quite stealthy enough," Katara sighed, watching as the Dai Li sprang their trap upon them.
"Oh well... I don't really mind going for the straightforward and violent approach," Azula chuckled, standing by her side as she let the backpack slide off from her shoulders, the princess cracking her knuckles in anticipation of battle.