Atop the Walls of Ba Sing Se
General How was confused. It was apparent that the Fire Nation was massing for another attack, but he could not see how this one would work.
Judging by the amount of troops he had committed, it was clear the Firelord had every confidence that he would win, but from his vantage point on the walls How did not see it. There were no drills, no artillery, not even any of those tanks. Just rows upon rows of Fire Nation soldiers, most of them armed with long polearms. Hundreds of Fire Nation banners fluttered in the breeze.
As How stood watching, he heard a respectful cough behind him, and turning around he found an Officer of the Dai Li.
"Orders from the Earth King, sir!" The man barked, thrusting a scroll into his hands. How opened it and was surprised to find a directive ordering the Dai Li into front line service defending the walls.
Sure enough, there was a row of Dai Li agents stretching along the walls as far as the eye could see. How didn't know how they had done that so quickly and quietly, but the Dai Li always had a flair for that sort of thing.
"It's not that I'm not grateful for the extra manpower, but the Dai Li have never been frontline troops. You're secret police."
"We are skilled Earthbenders, sir, and every man is needed against this siege." The officer shrugged. How accepted this logic, and so waved the man away.
He heard the sound of drums, and turned around again to find the ranks of Fire Nation soldiers beginning their advance, their steps in unison with regimental musicians beginning to play a Fire Nation marching song called "The Advance of the Firelord", to help them maintain formation.
If How had turned around at that moment, he would have seen the Dai Li captain raise a fist to signal his men.
He abruptly felt the walls shake violently, and once he had regained his footing whirled around to find the Dai Li agents jumping off the inside face of the walls. As they travelled downwards, the walls began to come with them.
How realized what they were doing too late.
Treason, he had time to think.
And then he was falling.
The Jasmine Dragon Tea Shop
It had been a week since Zuko had rescued Azula, Mai and Ty Lee from the clutches of the Earth Kingdom in Lake Laogai, but they had not yet found a way of getting back to the Fire Nation camp; it turned out the walls were just as good at keeping them in as they were at keeping the Fire Nation out.
Zuko had had to find an abandoned warehouse to hide them in, and had then faced the difficult task of trying to convince Azula to go along with this plan.
"They'll be looking out for you! Do you want to get captured again?"
"Finding me and capturing me are two entirely different things, Zuzu. They don't stand a chance."
"They did it before."
Azula had got angry then, and her distinctive blue flames flared to life in her palms.
"Look, Azula, if you have any gratitude for what I just did for you, then you'll do this for me. Stay here. Do not throw your freedom away again."
Surprisingly, the guilt trip had worked.
Zuko finished washing the cups in the kitchen of the Jasmine Dragon and then took his leave, walking down into the middle ring. Now that he had secured his ticket out of here, he was strangely coming to like the city. There were even people he said hello to on a regular basis now.
"Hey Lee," a voice said at his side, and Zuko turned to find Jin there. He didn't know how long it had been since he had seen Jin; there had been one disastrous date attempt a while ago, but nothing since. "How are you?", she asked.
"I'm fine," Zuko said, inadvertently reverting back to the awkward teenager he had been on that night.
"I heard you live in the upper ring now. Your uncle has a tea-shop there. Must be nice."
"Yes, it is." Zuko's attention was suddenly drawn to smoke on the horizon, coming from the direction of the Lower Ring.
There was a lot of smoke. It had appeared much too quickly to be a simple fire. For that many fires to have been set so quickly, Zuko suspected that Firebenders had to be responsible. The Fire Nation must have somehow got into Ba Sing Se!
"Jin, I'm sorry, but I have to go."
And Zuko ran off, leaving Jin standing there awkwardly for the second time. He felt bad about it for a second, but soon his attention had turned back to Mai, and the possibility of returning home.
Soon, he began to hear screams, and saw people run past in the direction of the Upper ring; at first a trickle, and then a flood. These people looked terrified, and were carrying all the possessions they could carry on their backs and in carts. Zuko could empathise; he and Uncle had been in a similar position once.
And then he saw his first Fire Nation soldier. Wearing the red uniform with the skull mask that he remembered, he watched the man blast down a door with his fire. Screams came from within the building, accompanied by a lot of banging and crashing, before the screams were abruptly silenced and the soldier walked out again carrying a chest presumably full of valuables. Flames spilled out of the building behind him as Zuko ran on.
"Zuzu!" Azula shouted with pleasure as her brother entered their hideout. "The Fire Nation is here! Isn't it wonderful!"
"Yeah, it is." Zuko agreed, but all he could think of as he said it were the screams.
"Let's get out of here." Mai said.
"We need to find father and explain to him what we've been up to," agreed Azula.
And with that, the four of them entered the street- and stepped into a scene of utter carnage.
Carts were overturned, and most of the buildings were on fire. Civilians huddled on the floor, trying not to attract attention to themselves or begging for mercy from Fire Nation troops trying to force them to give up valuables.
Ba Sing Se had fallen, and was now suffering the fate of all cities taken by storm.
Zuko saw a group of three Fire Nation soldiers threatening an old man; one of them had him by the hair and the other two were brandishing handfuls of flame in his face. Zuko began to step towards them, but felt a hand on his shoulder. Azula shook her head. "I want Father to take you back but interfering like this will just make that harder."
Zuko saw her point, but was she seriously expecting him to stand by and do nothing?
Before he could do anything though, the choice was taken out of his hands. "Father!" Azula pointed and ran towards him. A figure in gleaming bejewelled red armour emerged from the smoke around them, looking every inch the glorious conqueror- except, of course, he was coming long after the main Fire Nation assault. At their approach, the man stopped, and took off his helmet.
"Azula! Zuko! What are you doing here?"
His expression then hardened.
"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't arrest you right here."
Zuko didn't like the sound of that, but Azula quickly spoke up. She told Ozai of Zuko's efforts to rescue her from Lake Laogai, conveniently leaving out the part where he had nearly left her in her cell. Ozai listened intently.
Azula finished her story.
There was a terrible silence for a few seconds, and Zuko contemplated bolting.
And then Ozai threw back his head and laughed.
"My son! Clearly I was misinformed! I had been told you were a traitor to the fire nation, and yet here you are going out of your way to rescue Azula! You are stronger than I gave you credit for."
Ozai's smile only deepened (though it seemed strangely fake).
I have good news for you too. Your quest is over. The Avatar is dead. You can come home."
That was news to Zuko. The Avatar was dead?
The shock must have registered on his face. "Don't worry, I'm not going to send you off after the new one." Ozai reassured him.
"We should go and take the Upper Ring," Azula suggested. Ozai's expression immediately became colder. "I'll deal with you later", he snapped at her. "It would not be honourable for me to express my feelings about your weakness here, in my hour of victory and in front of my troops."
Azula looked as if she had been slapped in the face, and it was obvious that she was no longer Ozai's favourite child prodigy.
Ozai put his helmet back on.
"Onwards! We have an appointment with the Earth King."