In the dark of the night, a Sky Bison took off from the Upper ring of Ba Sing Se and flew over the walls of the city, leaving the siege far behind it.

It had been one day since Aang had woken up and suddenly pronounced that he had received a message in his dreams, telling him to go to the eastern air temple. There he would find a Guru who would teach him to master the Avatar State.

The Earth King had not been happy about this, believing that if the Fire Nation got wind the Avatar was no longer in the city they would try something, but Aang assured him that he would not be gone for long; they wouldn't have time to try anything, and soon he would be back and more powerful than ever. He had decided to leave on a dark night, to make his flight over the Fire Nation siege lines easier.

The next morning, Suki got up early. She always did, or at least nearly always did, a habit she had got into on Kyoshi island where she and her warriors had been one of the only lines of defence against Fire Nation incursions, along with the fearsome Unagi. There hadn't been many of those, but it was better to stay vigilant. Besides, Suki liked mornings.

Today, she decided to enjoy it with a stroll along the city walls. Normally these would have been off limits, especially with a siege on, but she had taken an active part in said siege and in any case being the Avatar's companion did come with certain privileges.

She would have taken Sokka, but he was fast asleep and she didn't have the heart to wake him up. Consequently, she went alone.

At this time of the morning, there was nobody about, the normally bustling city life of Ba Sing Se not having woken up yet. The train was entirely empty except for her and the two Earthbenders propelling it, any soldiers who might have taken it otherwise already being stationed on the wall.

Suki thought of home. Kyoshi island had always been a very quiet place, isolated from the mainland and consequently it had escaped the worst of the war. The worst problems Suki had had to face were a problematic love life, including a short-lived relationship with a boy with a habit of foaming at the mouth she'd rather forget about, and making sure people didn't get eaten by the Unagi. There had been a few close calls.

Apart from a few sightings of distant Fire Nation warships on the horizon, the only time the war had come to Kyoshi island was the fateful day the Avatar had returned, pursued by that Fire Prince. The Prince had done great damage to the village and might have killed her if Sokka hadn't intervened. Still, when she had run into Zuko again, he had been working in the new tea-shop in the upper ring.

Suki didn't know herself why she hadn't told Sokka who the serving boy was; she may have decided that since Zuko hadn't interfered with their lives in the city, as he would have been expected to do if he were still seriously pursuing the avatar, there was no point interfering with his.

The train reached its destination, and after bounding up many flights of stairs Suki reached the top of the wall. Ordinarily, she supposed, this view would have been beautiful, a vast plain stretching away below them until it reached the tree line. If she squinted she could even make out the outline of the Serpent's Pass in the distance.

Now, though, that plain was largely obscured. The four great carcasses of the drills that the Fire Nation had used to try to break through the walls still littered no-man's-land, with each of them crawling with engineers. The Fire Nation must have been trying to fix them, or at least cannibalise them for parts for whatever invention they would try next. Suki suspected they wouldn't have much luck with the repairs. At the foot of the walls lay the remains of the tanks that had fallen during the first attack, and had smashed into a million pieces.

Behind them stood the Fire Nation camp, which hadn't changed that much since the first day of the siege. The artillery, the lines of Tanks, and the tents full of the common soldiery of the Fire Nation were still there. Also still there was the grand tent of the Fire Lord, looking resplendent in the morning sun. Suki thought angrily that the status symbol of a warmongering maniac had no right to look that good.

As she watched, a group began to move out of the Fire Nation camp, and towards the walls. Any fears of an attack were soon put to rest though. There was nowhere near enough people there to seriously plan any non-suicidal attempt on the wall, and the leader held a big white flag above his head. With a start, Suki realised that the figure with the flag was wearing the fire lord's armour. Behind him came a large cart with a drape pulled over it, pulled by one of those Komodo Rhinos that the Fire Nation seemed so fond of.

The procession drew up in front of the wall, and Ozai handed his flag to a subordinate before clambering on the top with a cone in his hand.

"Defenders of Ba Sing Se!" He bellowed. Suki could just about hear him, and so could the Earth Kingdom guards standing near her. She supposed that Ozai didn't care if anyone high-ranking was listening, and thought his message would get through anyway.

"From one warrior to another, you have fought well. When you surrender, rest assured you and your families will be treated with the dignity you deserve."

Suki heard some derisive muttering coming from the men next to her; the word "impenetrable" was used.

"But I know you may not want to. Warrior's pride I can understand, and I know you may have bought into the mythology of invincible walls that your leaders have drilled into your heads. So allow me to add a little incentive."

At his signal, the Firelord's men pulled the cover off the cart, and Suki's heart stopped.

"Here we have some citizens of the Earth Kingdom. We captured them on foraging missions. A peasant here, a merchant there... we even took prisoner the famed Kyoshi Warriors!"

Sure enough, there they were. They were still wearing their green armour, even if their weapons, headdresses and face paint had been taken away. Rage filled Suki's heart at the sight.

"So here is my ultimatum to you. Surrender by this time next week, or these prisoners burn. Right here, with you watching."

Suki had seen enough. She needed to alert the Earth King. She needed to alert her friends.

One hastily assembled emergency meeting later

The Earth King sat at the head of the table, with Bosco the Bear by his side. On one side of it sat the Generals who made up the council of five, and on the other sat the Avatar's companions who had been left in the city.

Suki finished explaining what she had seen on the walls to them, and immediately the Council chamber exploded with noise.

"My goodness" the Earth King said. "I know he's desperate to take the city but he's willing to burn prisoners to do it?"

General How stood up and cleared his throat.

"Your majesty, the Firelord's threats might carry more weight if he actually possessed a means of penetrating these walls. Right now, he does not, which is why he has these prisoners and is trying this stunt."

"Those prisoners are my friends!" Suki said in a low voice. "Are you seriously suggesting we let the Firelord burn them?"

How looked uncomfortable. "If it came down to a choice between your friends and the city of Ba Sing Se, well..."

Suki couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"So you're going to do nothing."

How could only nod. He couldn't meet her eyes.

"We could try negotiating", the Earth King ventured. "A prisoner exchange, maybe the Princess Azula for them?"

"NO!- I mean, your majesty, that benefits them far more than it does us. Besides, the Firelord invited you to parlay and then tried to kill you. He's not exactly trustworthy."

Suki had heard enough. Talk of her friends being not valuable enough for that general to try to save was making her angry and she had to leave before she did something she regretted.

Something violent that would get her arrested.

As she stormed out, she saw Sokka make his excuses and hurry out after her, soon followed by Toph and Katara. "Suki!" He shouted once they were out of the chamber.

"What?" She almost shouted at him. Sokka involuntarily recoiled, but then straightened up. "You're thinking of rescuing the Kyoshi warriors by yourself aren't you."

"Why, are you going to tell me it's a bad idea as well?"

"Of course not." Sokka replied. "In fact I was coming to ask you what you needed from me."

Of course, Suki should have known that Sokka would stand by her. She had let her anger at How spill over into an assumption that her friends wouldn't help her. She smiled for the first time since Ozai's threat that morning.

"In fact," came Katara's voice from behind her, "you can count on all of us."

"So where do we start?" Asked Toph.

"Ooh!" said Sokka. "Do we have any Fire Nation uniforms..."

The night before, somewhere far across the city

The security and policing efforts in Ba Sing Se had been drastically increased because of the Siege. As well as regular security services, the Dai Li had been involved, much against the better judgement of the Earth King; they were still felt to be too loyal to the imprisoned minister Long Feng, but this was a time of crisis and everyone was needed. It was rumoured that three women, who called themselves Kyoshi warriors and who had only arrived in the city relatively recently, were patrolling the streets at night.

None of this particularly affected Li though. He had been a security agent for decades prior to this siege; he had patrolled Ba Sing Se all throughout the last one too.

His orders were clear; look out for firebenders and anyone who might be a Fire Nation spy. The walls of Ba Sing Se were after all impenetrable but all it would take was one gate left open and that could change. As a result, Li took his duties more seriously than ever.

Just then, a movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. It looked like a figure ducking into an alley. Suspicious, Li moved to investigate. His suspicions grew even further when a strange light began emanating from the alley, almost like...

Firebending.

Li sprang around the corner and let the figure have it with his earthbending. He wasn't on the level of the Dai Li, but he was still pretty good, and his rock projectiles hit their mark. The figure collapsed.

Just then, he felt something cold and sharp touch his neck. Turning his head to catch the face of whoever had him prisoner, he only caught a flash of blue and a terrifying demonic expression.

The figure spoke. "Where are the prisoners of war held?"

Li thought of himself as moderately brave, and so tried to resist. "No! I'll never tell you!"

Suddenly, he was on the floor, scrambling backwards as the figure loomed over him, now with both swords drawn and raised.

"That was the wrong answer. Now tell me or this mask will be the last thing you ever see."

At the mention of the threat of death, all Li's remaining courage deserted him. He spoke the two words he knew had the best chance of saving his own life.

"...Lake...Laogai..."