3. Autumn

There was a collective feeling of malaise at the table, shared equally by the men both young and old. Even Mimi, who stood some distance away, felt a fatigue that was unconnected with her sore knees. Certainly, the news that was being shared by the various commanders and lower ranking officers of the Fire Nation army led by General Iroh that were in attendance was a prime factor for this atmosphere.

"If General Shinu is correct and the colonies are unable to supply us any longer, what about more direct sea routes from the mainland?" Commander Heng asked the table.

Commander Jiao shook his head. "My liaison with the navy – a Commander Zhao of the Western Fleet – says that they're already too occupied in the West Lake to provide anymore logistical support to the Army. We can expect that the naval supply route through Mo Ce Sea will be unable to provide the throughput we require in the event of colonial shortages."

Commander Jiang snorted. "Sounds like the Navy being a bunch of lazy snail sloths to me. They've never liked the Army, and now they've got a good chance at screwing us over."

"That is enough," General Iroh finally spoke up, silencing all discussion between his commanders at the table. He stood, drawing the attentions of everyone in the room. "We must remain focused, or we will not succeed. Commander Jiao, how much longer can we supply the army?"

The man in question huffed, his hand on his chin as he thought about the question posed to him. "Maybe four months, max. Probably less if we fight an actual battle, though that could lessen the ration load if we lose a sizable number of men."

"That seems like a bad outcome either way," Jiang grimly noted. "So come winter, we will have to make the hard choice of whether or not to continue the siege."

"No," said Iroh. The general sighed. "It will mean that by winter, we will either be the victorious conquerors of Ba Sing Se…" he paused, causing everyone to looked expectantly at him, "…or we will have suffered the greatest defeat in Fire Nation history."

There was a low concerned murmur among the dozen or so men at the table. Suddenly, a messenger burst through the flaps that separated the command table from the rest of the tent. The young man was out of breath, but he carried a scroll in his hand and a determined look on his face.

"Sirs, uh, I have a top priority message from General Dai. It's very urgent."

Iroh extended a hand. "Let us see then." The messenger handed him the letter. "Dismissed." Nodding quickly, the messenger slipped out of the tent.

With a deep breath, Iroh unraveled the scroll and scanned each line, his eyes narrowing as the seconds passed. His audience waited with bated breath as he lowered the scroll with a downcast expression.

"General Dai's army at Omashu has been routed by Earth Kingdom forces and is now in full retreat. This means that half of our sustained operation to take over major Earth Kingdom cities has now failed."

"That's absurd!" Heng yelled. "I know Dai – he wouldn't ever retreat if he could still fight."

Iroh nodded. "I know. But Dai fell during the final battle, and his army fell with him into complete disarray. We only have this information now because it took some time for them to reorganize."

"Wait," Lu Ten finally spoke up for the first time during the meeting. "If they've taken time to reorganize, how long ago were they defeated?"

Looking back at the letter, Iroh blinked. "It says they fought the decisive engagement two weeks ago."

"So there's the possibility of an Omashu force heading up right now to box us in?"

"Doubtful," Jiang said. "They'll need to take some time to at least properly organize and secure their own defenses. And they'd need to organize a long and complex supply train to manage the logistics for any sizable force. I wouldn't bet on them being a threat for at least a few months."

Iroh hummed his agreement. "I must concur with our valued commander. It is unlikely that they will be an issue soon. Rather, we must focus on breaking down the Inner Wall to breach the city. Commander Heng, what is your opinion on the current disposition of our forces?"

Heng rubbed his cheek as he looked down at various reports. "We've repositioned multiple battalions at the front, constant alert and permanent double patrols; we won't have another repeat of the Sheng Incident. However, we've completely stalled out as far as progress on the siege goes – we can hold our current position and take the occasional ambush without much problem, but there are too many issues facing our army for us to move closer to the walls and attempt to attack."

"I see. Lu Ten, the men?"

"I feel like the general mood of the men has shifted negatively – morale has dropped due to our clear lack of progress on the siege and there's the feeling that we've fought Ba Sing Se to a hard draw. The Sheng Incident also still weighs heavily on the minds of many soldiers, and the rate of desertion has increased since summer."

Iroh frowned. "Will desertion be a problem?"

Lu Ten shook his head. "Right now, it's still localized and small-scale. We're containing the incidents as best we can, and we've caught some of the deserters already."

"We must make an example of deserters," Jiang emphatically declared, "or we will have bigger issues on our hands. I say we publicly execute them and be done with this matter."

"No, we can't do that!" Lu Ten responded. "If we execute them, we'll only destroy the morale of the men and make more people susceptible to the idea of deserting."

Jiang laughed before retorting. "You're still young and inexperienced. If we don't enforce discipline among the men, the entire army will disintegrate into a mindless rabble. We need to do what is necessary while we still have the opportunity to do so."

"I may be young, but I clearly understand what the men on the ground are thinking and how to address their concerns. Can we say the same for you?"

Jiang's eyes narrowed. "Shall we put it to a vote, then? See how many of us agree with you and how many agree with me."

"That is enough," Iroh finally intervened. "For now, I believe we should imprison these men until the end of the siege and decide what to do with them when we return home. Until then, we will shelve this topic."

"Yes sir," Jiang spat through his teeth as civilly as he could. Still, Mimi could see the pointed glare he gave Lu Ten before turning away from the young commander. Lu Ten ignored it and simply stared across the table. The tension between the two men was palpable, and everyone was eager to follow Iroh's advice and move to less dangerous waters.

Kai had no idea how long he had been cooped up in the dark, somewhat cramped cell. Well, that was not entirely true – enough time had passed for Kai to feel his muscles weaken and a fair amount of facial hair to grow. They – being his captors – had not been starved him, but he also was not getting enough food to keep up a daily exercise routine beyond basic stretches and light workouts.

What really got him was the boredom. There simply was not much to do in captivity, and Kai passed the days by staring at the earthen ceiling. Lethargy frequently overtook him as he did nothing, and sleep was a constant companion even though he wished he could be awake. The seconds slipped into minutes that morphed into hours that accumulated into days that turned into weeks, and at the end of it all, Kai was still where he began, sitting on the ground in near darkness.

The small amount of light that an outside torch provided for his cell was suddenly covered, and Kai's head perked up when he noticed. It meant that someone was standing outside, and only one person ever came to visit – his sole jailer, and perhaps his sole companion in the desolate existence he now found himself in.

There were two reasons Kai was excited. The first was that someone was outside. Sometimes she stayed to chat for a few minutes, other times she left after a single word, but just the thought of human interaction kept him sane day to day. The second reason was food. Kai would never refuse food, and food was always good.

"Lunch," the female voice intoned, and a tray of the same food he ate everyday slid in. The woman's voice was noticeably dull today, causing Kai to scrunch his brow even as he reached for his food. As he chewed on a mouthful of rice, he noticed the light from outside his cell still being partially blocked. Was she just standing outside quietly? Why? In spite of his natural curiosity, he kept quiet, slowly chewing on his food as he sat in the darkness. A few minutes passed, with the shadow wavering slightly as if trying to decide whether to leave or not.

"My friend died today," a voice suddenly came from outside Kai's cell. He slowly processed the words as he placed his chopsticks on his bowl, swallowing the last mouthful of rice in his mouth.

"I… see," Kai replied. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"There was a fight in the morning," she continued. "We got caught up with a group of firebenders, and the last time I saw him alive–," she stopped, and Kai could hear a quiet sniffle from outside. "I was facing a firebender, and then he was in front of me. He took a hit that would've killed me." Another pause. "He was my best friend."

Kai grimaced, not knowing exactly what to say. Even the wittiest person would have little to say – how would one comfort their captor in the face of a great personal loss?

Before Kai could speak up, however, she continued again. "I don't even know why I'm talking to you. You're one of them – a Fire Nation soldier that wants to conquer the world. You're the enemy, and you're nothing more than ants to be stomped out!"

"Hey," Kai replied, a look of affront flicking across his face. "That's not fair at all. You know nothing about me, much less who I am and what I want. You think you've got it bad? Your buddies killed my best friend in front of me." He felt anger swell up inside him, roaring like an angry dragon. How dare she, someone who knew nothing about him, judge him like a worthless insect? "How do you think I've felt for the past – I don't know – however much time you dirt-people have kept me here!"

"Dirt-people?" the voice reached a new height of incredulity and disbelief. "You dirt-people? How dare you! You are the one here, in my homeland! You are the invaders, and you dare insult my people and country?"

Kai opened his mouth to retort again, but before he could speak, the figure outside had already walked past the eye-level hole. Without warning, the hole closed, leaving the cell in pitch-black darkness. He closed his mouth and leaned back against the earthen wall as he closed his eyes.

Why did he have to lose his temper with the only guard that was willing to actually interact with him? She had just gone through the same experience Kai still so vividly remembered himself. Why could he not just have empathized and ignored her understandable, if rude, outburst?

He sighed and let sleep take his mind. At least his dreams were not against him like life itself seemed to be.

The walk was quiet for Mimi and Lu Ten as they made their way back to his tent. The air had just started to become chillier as autumn set in, and Mimi was increasingly thankful for the hard layers of padding and leather that her armor afforded her – a curse in the summer, but quite warm when it became cold.

They reached the tent, and Lu Ten entered first, with Mimi slipping in right after and making sure that the entrance flap was securely tightened so that no one from the outside could enter. When she turned around to face Lu Ten again, she found his lips on hers as he brought her into a warm embrace.

"That bad today, huh?" Mimi whispered as they pulled apart. Lu Ten nodded, and she went in for another kiss. "Maybe we should talk about it?"

"That's probably a better idea," Lu Ten admitted, and the couple sat down on his bed. Lu Ten sighed and fell onto his side, resting his head on Mimi's lap. Absentmindedly, she brushed his hair with a hand as he flopped an arm over the side of the bed.

"What's bothering you? Is it Jiang again?"

"Jiang's a part of it, for sure," Lu Ten replied. "He's just… insufferable. Arrogant and condescending, like he knows everything even though he's one of the most disconnected commanders I've ever seen."

"Sounds like Jiang, alright," Mimi murmured. "Back when I was a Bubai Warrior under him, he was always a hardass. That's just his style. Can't doubt his skill in the battlefield though – he's won many battles and will probably make general sooner or later."

Lu Ten huffed. "You're right. I know father talks a lot about him, says he's a good general that can do great things for the entire nation. But he's not infallible, and I feel like he's blind to some of the dangers that face the army now."

"Like what?" Mimi asked, curious. Lu Ten took a deep breath and sat up, turning to look at her.

"Do you know how long we've been here, at Ba Sing Se?"

"Um, maybe a year and a half?"

"About seventeen months, to be more precise. In that time, do you know how many men we have lost?"

Mimi shook her head.

"We marched on the Outer Wall with fifty thousand men – the largest, greatest army ever assembled in the history of the Fire Nation. Today, seventeen months later, we have just over thirty thousand."

Mimi gasped. "How? Twenty thousand soldiers…"

"Gone," Lu Ten grimly said. "They died in the initial siege, the invasion of the Agrarian Zone, or through skirmishes and ambushes in the last half-year. No small number of troops have deserted as well, though not at the scale of the men we've lost to battle and sickness. We've shifted battalions around constantly to obscure those losses. Now, knowing that we have only sixty percent of the army we originally had, what do you think our strength in battle is like?"

"… sixty percent?" Mimi hesitantly responded.

Lu Ten mirthlessly laughed. "A common mistake – 'oh, the general marched out with a thousand men, why did he lose against five hundred defenders?' The answer is fairly simple: not every soldier fights. To support every fighting soldier, there needs to be people behind them. Messengers, cooks, foragers, scouts, dedicated guards, officers – these are all people that may never pick up a spear or firebend on the field of battle, but they are all still integral parts of the army. So that army of a thousand that the general brought to fight may really only have three or four hundred men ready to fight in a battle at the end, and so they lose."

"So what you're saying is that this army may only have a few thousand soldiers that can actually fight right now?"

"It's not that bad – maybe fifteen thousand men can take to the field if need be. That's enough to crush most every army the Earth Kingdom has fielded in the last decade. We could always force every man into battle, but that would be desperation and the effective end of that army's ability to function. The only reason we can siege a city across the world is because the Fire Nation Army has the finest supply trains in the world, and that logistics only works because of the support troops we task to maintain it. In the absence of those support troops, the army collapses."

Lu Ten rubbed temples of his head as he continued. "It's a big mess, and I fear the only solution for it all."

"What is the solution?" Mimi asked.

He turned to her again, hands falling down. "The only solution is to retreat."

"What? That's crazy – how can we retreat when we're so close?"

Lu Ten shook his head. "At the end of every day, our chances of taking Ba Sing Se slips a little more from our grasp. More men die, less food and supplies are left – these are compounding issues that could threaten the lives of every Fire Nation soldier here, in this camp."

Mimi swallowed. "The soldiers would never go for that. You'd face a mutiny."

Lu Ten took a deep breath. "I know. That's why it can't ever happen… and why I think we're all doomed. It would require a man stronger than me to order this army to leave when they feel they're so close to victory."

"So this is what's been weighing on you this whole time," Mimi whispered as she put a hand on his back, rubbing gently in circles as Lu Ten held his head in his hands. "I'm sure this will all be fine. We'll win. I'm sure of it." Lu Ten looked at her with a forlorn expression. Leaning in, Mimi pulled him into a kiss that only deepened as they both fell backward onto the bed, their hands exploring and their passion growing.

Wen felt a measure of apprehension as she walked toward that cell with a dinner tray in her hands. It had been six or seven hours since she was here, but the words that both of them yelled echoed in her mind. She winced as she recalled some of her harsher choice words, but at the time, it was easily justifiable given the slur he had thrown at her. Still, it was unbecoming for her to lower herself to that standard, even if she was right. She would be the better person.

As she came to a stop, she realized that the hole that was meant to give him light into his cell had been closed for a good six hours. For a second, she panicked even more because that closed off the cell's only access to the air that circulated in the hallways, but then relaxed as she remembered that the earthen walls were fairly porous and would not unduly impede airflow.

The first thing she did was bend open the eye-level hole that she had previously closed, allowing some of the torch light in the hallway back into the cell. Then she earthbent open a small opening on the ground, sliding in the tray of food like she had for the past two months.

"Oh," she heard the voice inside the cell speak. "You're back."

"Yes," Wen replied, keeping her voice steady. She knew what she wanted to do, but she would only do it if he gave her what she deserved in return. "Dinner time."

There was a pause before the voice inside the cell muttered, "thanks," and she heard the sound of a metal tray sliding against the earth. As she listened to him eat, she leaned her head against the wall and waited. It was not long before the sounds of chewing stopped, and the sound of chopsticks being placed down told Wen everything she needed to know.

"I'm sorry," the voice quietly said, just loud enough for Wen, with her head by the hole in the wall, to hear. "I said some things I shouldn't have."

Wen swallowed. "Me too. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you."

"It's understandable," the voice replied. There was the sound of him shifting his weight inside the cell. "I get that. I felt it too, back when Zh– back when Zheng died."

"Zheng?"

"My friend. He was killed just before I was captured. You were there."

Wen thought back to how this prisoner had been captured, and she finally remembered – a hot summer day and an ambush on a high-priority target. There had been firebenders, but they were easily dispatched when outnumbered and caught off guard. There were also some non-bender soldiers, but against earthbenders, they could do little. There had been one Fire Nation soldier who, against all odds, managed to kill an earthbender. She did not know the earthbender who fell that day, but it was a surprising turn of events in a battle that should have been straightforward and easy for them. Da Gou was the one who finally stopped that soldier.

"I remember," she quietly said. "I… I'm sorry. Watching your friend die in front of you is terrible."

There was a mirthless laugh from inside the cell. "Well," he replied. "I guess that makes two of us, huh?"

"Maybe, yeah."

There was a silence between the two. It was not uncomfortable, but still, Wen expected one of them to say something. It felt like there was a larger, unspoken question that was begging to be asked. Something that both of them knew, but neither were sure of the answer to.

"Why am I here?"

Wen blinked. "Because we captured you?"

A sigh from inside the cell. "No, no, not the cell specifically. But why am I here, in Ba Sing Se?"

"Well, technically, you're not in the city itself. We're underground right now, outside of the Inner Wall."

Another laugh. "Really? Well, I guess underground prison cells aren't the hardest thing for earthbenders to make." He paused for a moment. "But the same question. Why am I even here for, fighting in a war that started so long ago and fighting in the same spot that someone like me a hundred years ago was at? Why are we even fighting?"

"I don't know," Wen answered truthfully. "Someone, a long time ago, probably knew the answer, but I didn't even know about the war until I was a teenager. All I know is that I fight because you and the rest of the Fire Nation were outside of my home and someone ordered me to stand against you all. I did what I felt was right. Why are you here?"

He shifted inside the cell again, and when he spoke, Wen realized that he had moved so that his back was against the wall that she herself was leaning against. "Why am I here?" he repeated. "Well, to tell you the truth, I'm honestly not sure. I guess this is just me doing my duty for my nation. I didn't have much else back home, so I signed up. See the world and bring glory to the Fire Nation – all that stuff."

"So fighting was what you wanted?"

"No," he muttered. "I didn't expect to get caught up in such a large battle. Most soldiers never see this kind of action in their lives. I just did what everyone expected me to do. What about you? How's it possible that you didn't even know about the war?"

Wen fidgeted a little at the question. "I grew up in the Inner Ring."

"Inner Ring?"

"It's the innermost part of the city. My father's a minister, so I lived in an affluent part of the city. When I discovered that I was a natural at earthbending, my father made sure I had the best teachers Ba Sing Se has to offer."

He ahh-ed at her explanation. "So you're a rich girl."

"I resent that," Wen snapped. This was why she hated telling others about her childhood – when they realized that she had grown up in wealth, their attitudes immediately shifted as if she was unable to relate to others.

"Hey, no offense meant," he quickly replied. "It's just that I've never really talked with anyone who could go a day without working. I'm from a small village, and we were all about the same being equally poor."

"I see. Well, growing up in the Inner Ring meant that the war was never mentioned to us, so it wasn't until I had signed up to join the army that I was told."

"Wait, you joined the army? Your father was okay with that?"

"No, he hated it. But thankfully for me, he didn't know about it until a year after he thought I was at university. He never really paid much attention anyway. By that point, I was already making my way through the ranks, and he had to accept that it was what I wanted to do. I'm pretty sure he did pull some strings to get me a posting back in the Inner Ring though."

"So that was your rebel phase, huh?"

"Seriously?"

"Hey, I'm gonna call it like I see it. I've read enough books to get the general idea – rich girl has a streak of rebellion and does something her parents wouldn't approve of. I dig that."

Wen blushed. It did quite accurately describe her life. "Well, behold, for here I am in the flesh." She gesticulated for dramatic effect, even though he had no way of seeing her. "Let it be known that even fiction writers can touch upon the truth from time to time."

"Well, you say that, but the wall between us makes it kind of hard for me to see that, and the light isn't exactly easy on my eyes considering I've been down here for Agni knows how long."

"You're telling me you haven't been keeping track of the days by scratching into the wall or whatever? That's a pretty common trope too for prisoners."

There was a pause, and then Wen felt him slap the wall between them.

"I'm an idiot. Why didn't I think of that?"

"I think you said it pretty well yourself."

He laughed, and the good humor was infectious, so she joined in as well. It was almost cathartic to connect with someone in their circumstances, and there was an inherent appeal to the idea that two natural enemies could come together.

"You know," he said, as he struggled to contain his laughter, "I don't actually know your name. You do have a name, right?"

"Indeed, my good Hotman. Yes I do."

"Agh, don't call me that. It sounds like something out of a classical play."

"But that's exactly why it's so endearing, isn't it dear hotman?"

Wen could imagine him rolling his eyes.

"Alright, name?"

"I'm Wen," she quickly said. "Wen Jia."

"I'm Kai," he said just as quickly.

"Just Kai?" She did not know what Fire Nation names were usually like, but the lack of a family name was, in the Earth Kingdom, a noteworthy occurrence.

There was a brief pause. "Just Kai," he affirmed, something indescribable in his voice.

"Well, Just Kai, it's nice to finally meet you. For real."

"Save that for when I get out of here – and I will."

Wen knocked on the wall with a fist. "Well, when you can earthbend this out of the way, I'll bow down to you." She began to walk away with a lighter heart than when she arrived. Out of all of the experiences she had since going against her father and joining the army, this one was by far the strangest. Could she, three years ago, have seen herself finding comradery with a Fire Nation soldier of all people? Probably not. Yet, there was something enlightening about the whole thing.

He – no, Kai was not so different from her. Not at all. They were just two people, separated by birth and geography. What made them enemies that had to fight to the death? Was it for their nations? Honor? She was beginning to think that there was nothing at all that said they had to be fighting. They were both in a war that had long lost its sense of purpose except to those that stood to gain everything from conquering the world – the rest of them were just pieces in a game of Pai Sho whose only victor was Death.

That was a simultaneously chilling and illuminating thought.