Zuko's golden eyes widened.
He couldn't believe it.
'He's here'.
The Avatar is in Ba Sing Se. And he has lost his bison.
He clutched the flyer in his hands and turned his gaze frantically to the sky, looking for signs of him. He climbed a nearby rooftop to get a bird's eye view of the lower ring. 'Finally' he thought as he pulled himself to the roof. "Here's my chance to capture the Avatar once and for all, and restore my honor as the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation."
"And I won't let him get away this time."
"My, my, you're easy to find..." Azula smirked as she got down from the giant lizard she was riding. "It's really astounding my brother hasn't found you yet."
Appa growled at her and the Kyoshi Warriors stood in front of him, shielding him with their fighting stances. "What do you want with us?" Suki raised her fan and shield, readying herself for an inevitable fight.
The princess raised an eyebrow. "Who are you? The Avatar's fan girls?"
To her left, Ty Lee giggled. "Oh! I get it! Good one, Azula!" She piped while Mai rolled her eyes at them.
"If you're looking for the Avatar, you're out of luck!"
"I knew this was a waste of time. No Avatar, huh?" Azula sighed. "Well that's okay... Any friend of the Avatar, is an enemy of mine!" She charged forward and sent a flash of blue flames towards the warriors who shielded themselves and Appa.
The two girls followed Azula in attacking the warriors. Mai brought out her knives and skillfully trapped a warrior into a tree trunk. "You're so colorful, it's making me nauseous!"
A warrior charged towards Ty Lee with a sword raised, but Ty Lee easily avoided her by doing a back flip and sliding to the warrior's blind spot. With the use of her specialized chi- blocking techniques, the warrior slumped forward, crashing down on the ground. "You are not prettier than we are!" Ty Lee placed her hands on her hips.
In the end, Suki was left standing, fending off Azula's advances towards Appa. As she deflected an attack, a fallen tree trunk caught fire, making the bison back away, fear evident in its eyes. "Afraid of fire, I see!" She taunted with a smirk. "That's good. You should be."
Sensing that they were fighting a losing battle, Suki turned to the bison. "Go, Appa! Fly away from here!" Suki charged forward with her sword but Azula was faster. She leapt into the air, avoiding the sword and hit the warrior's hand, sending the sword flying off her hand.
One of the warriors regained consciousness and attacked Azula from behind with her fans. At the momentary distraction, Suki looked up to see Appa flying back to them. She clenched her fists.
She can't let them have the Appa.
She ran towards the flaming tree trunk and broke off a branch. She waved it in front of Appa's face, desperate to send the bison away. "Get out of here! You have to find Aang! We'll be okay!"
Frightened by the flames engulfing the branch, he turned away and flew up in the sky. Suki smiled bitterly and looked just in time to shield herself from a flaming shot send by Azula. Without a sword, Suki pulled out her fan, raising it to attack.
Azula laughed at the warrior's futile attempt. "Don't you know fans just make flames stronger?"
Iroh gave his old friend a kind smile.
"General Iroh, are you sure you don't need a ride to the upper ring? I'm going there anyway..." Quinta asked as she helped him fold their clothes.
"We are alright, Lady Quinta. The nice men who offered us the tea shop will send a carriage for us by afternoon and we'll be set by then!"
"If you say so..."
A knock was heard followed by the eunuch's exhausted voice. "My Lady! We must go to the palace now! The king orders your urgent obedience!"
This irked Quinta's nerves. "Do you forget that while we entertainers are of lowly status in the hierarchy, it is still our discretion and decision who we entertain?!"
Suddenly the door bursts open and two agents of the Dai Li moved forward, bowing to Lady Quinta. "My Lady, the Earth King awaits you at the palace."
She balled her fists in anger, but she knew better than to mess with the Dai Li. She had heard rumors of their true role in Ba Sing Se. If they truly were just keepers of the cultural heritage of the great city, why is it that they are composed of only highly skilled earthbenders?
Iroh gently touched her arm, "You must go, my Lady. I'm quite certain we will meet again."
After the lady and the Dai Li had left, Zuko entered their apartment, clutching the flyer tightly in his hand. "So I was thinking about names for my new tea shop. How about, The Jasmine Dragon?" Iroh stroke his long white beard as he evaluated the name. "It's dramatic, poetic, has a nice ring to it!"
Zuko showed his uncle the flyer. "The Avatar's here in Ba Sing Se. And he's lost his bison."
"Zuko, we have a chance for a new life here. If you start stirring up trouble, we could lose all the good things that are happening for us." Iroh pleaded with his nephew. He wanted him to make a new life here, a simpler, but happier life, far from the troubles of politics and family drama in the Fire Nation.
"Good things that are happening for you!" Zuko snapped at him. "Have you ever thought that I want more from life than a nice apartment and a job serving tea?!"
"There is nothing wrong with a life of peace and prosperity. I suggest you think about what it is that you want from your life, and why?"
The prince turned away from his uncle to look out the window. 'What do I want? I want what is rightfully mine! I want my honor. I want my birthright. I want my place in the Fire Nation. I want my father's acceptance and love. I want...'
"I want my destiny."
"What that means is up to you."
Quinta gazed out the window of the carriage as they rode through the lower ring. Seeing General Iroh here in Ba Sing Se was quite a blessing in disguise. Their little contest back in Pao's tea shop had brought her out of her slump and depressing thoughts for a brief moment, a much needed break.
Her ears perked up when she heard the familiar lilting tune of Song of the Nabi. It was one of Suiren's most favorite performances when she was younger, and she was very particular with it by perfecting the dance by the age of 17. The song told the story of a springtime butterfly as it flits across a field of flowers.
They passed by the fountain were the performance was held and her hazel-colored eyes were fixated on the dancer.
The young performer moved with grace and poise like that of a professional entertainer. The way she lifted her feet lightly and spun gracefully with her hands at her sides like the wings of a butterfly reminded her so much of a younger Suiren.
And suddenly, it struck her.
"Could it be?"
She ordered the carriage to stop once more and she all but flew out of the carriage, running towards the fountain, not minding the dirt clinging to the hem her kimono.
The performance ended and the girl bowed to the people before running up to a woman. Quinta watched as the woman grabbed the girl's arm forcefully.
"She's in trouble!"
"CHIYO!" She shouted despite being short of breath from the run. The pair whipped their heads around to see the breathless woman running towards them. Quinta squinted against the midday sun to gaze upon the young girl's face.
"Those amber eyes..."
She ran the short distance forward pulled the young girl in her arms; clutching, holding on to her for dear life. "Oh, Chiyo dear! You are alive! Thank Agni and the spirits!"
"Old Quinta?"
It was the woman with Chiyo who whispered and the entertainer looked at her. She couldn't help the gasp that escaped her lips as she saw who it was. "Reiko..."
"What's going on?" Lily panicked as she looked between the two. She moved away from the old woman and stood behind Lady Reiko. "W-who are you?! What do you want?!"
Confusion marred Quinta's face as she looked at Suiren's apprentice. "Do you not remember who I am, child? It's me! Lady Quinta! I taught you the ceremony of tea making and conversation!"
Reiko shielded the girl from her old mentor. "This girl has lost her memories of the past. I think it best if we move this conversation somewhere else-" She said as she warily eyed the Dai Li approaching them.
Quinta gripped Lily's arm. "I'm taking the child with me! She is much safer with me and I'll take her back to Suiren as soon as possible."
"You can't just uproot the child where she is, Quinta!" Reiko held on to Lily tight.
"Think of your sister, Reiko! Chiyo is her ward! Her child!"
Lily's head was spinning with so much confusion. She stepped back, away from them as the two women fought. She felt her legs buckle beneath her and she fell to the ground, the fall rendering her unconscious.
As dawn approached, Zuko clutched the Blue Spirit Mask once more in his hands. This was might be his last and only chance to capture the Avatar. The first step was to get hold of the bison. He left the rest of the plan for when he gets there and hurriedly put the mask on, tying it carefully behind his head.
He surveyed from the rooftops until he found his target. An agent of the Dai Li patrolling the alleyways. Once the trap was set, he baited him for a chase, shoving him forward. "Out of my way, skinny!"
The agent chased him as he rounded a corner at a dead end. He used the earthen gloves in his hands to attack, sending it forward. It made contact at the dark figure and it collapsed on the ground, lifeless and still.
Zuko unsheathed his broadswords and placed one on the agent's neck. "If you don't want to end up like him, you'll do what I say."
Appa growled and thrashed against the chains that held him to the ground, stomping his feet, trying to intimidate the masked figure that stood before him.
"You're mine now." Zuko drawled as he stared up the bison. The stone door opened from behind him and he turned around with his broadswords raised. "Uncle?!"
"So... the Blue Spirit... I wonder who could be behind that mask..." Iroh approached him.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was just about to ask you the same thing. What do you plan to do now that you've found the Avatar's bison? Keep it locked in our new apartment? Should I go put on a pot of tea for him?" Sarcasm was evident in his tone.
Zuko gripped the swords and looked at Appa. "First, I have to get it out of here—"
"AND THEN WHAT?!" Uncle Iroh bellowed furiously. "You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole. You had him, and then you had nowhere to go!"
"I would've figured something out—"
"NO! If his friends haven't found you, you would have frozen to death!" The thought of his nephew dying filled him with dread. He cannot afford to lose another son. He barely survived losing Lu Ten. Losing Zuko as well would break him.
The prince growled in frustration. "I know my own destiny, uncle!"
"Is it your own destiny? Or is it a destiny someone else has tried to force on you?"
He turned away. "Stop it, uncle! I have to do this!"
"I'm begging you, Prince Zuko!" Iroh pleaded with his nephew. "It's time for you to look inward and begin asking yourself the big questions! 'Who are you?' and 'What do you want?' !"
He gritted his teeth as a million thoughts and emotions raced through his mind.
Here he was in front of the avatar's bison. It was the first step in capturing the Avatar. But his uncle's words haunted him.
What was his next move?
He always thought that he would cross the bridge when he got there, but now that he was here, he wasn't so sure of everything. He wasn't even sure of himself.
"Who am I? I am Prince Zuko, son of Ursa and Ozai, prince of the Fire Nation and heir to the throne. Or at least I was..."
His mother was gone and his father had banished him out of his nation, stripping him of his birthright and honor.
Without all of that, who was he?
"What do I want?"
Zuko threw down his sword and mask, letting out a shout of frustration and anger, his voice echoing inside the cavernous cell.
After the painful decision of freeing the bison, Zuko and Iroh climbed out of the hatch that was previously hidden underneath Lake Laogai. They stood there watching the sun set behind the mountain ranges of the country.
"You did the right thing, nephew." Iroh smiled and put a comforting hand on Zuko's shoulder.
The young man stared at the Blue Spirit mask in his hands. In that cell, he had severed all ties connecting himself to his life in the Fire Nation. All that was left was this mask. Chiyo's mask. The only object that he had of hers. The last happy memory that he had with her.
"Leave it behind."
With every last strength left in him, Zuko threw the mask into the lake, watching it sink into its dark depths and disappearing from sight.
"Goodbye, Chiyo."