Zuko had expected to be greeted with Shizue's unnerving smile when he left the house the next morning. Instead, an ostrich-horse-pulled carriage waited out front. A man wearing a conical hat sat in the driver's seat, silent and expectant. There was no sign of their usual guide.

"Where's Joo Dee?" he asked.

"Joo Dee will not be accompanying you today. Will that be a problem?"

Zuko folded his arms. "Yeah, actually. We were hoping to explore some cultural heritage sights. We'd assumed that, since she's our guide, she'd be able to answer our questions."

The man dipped his head in a bow. "I will have the request passed on for you, though I cannot promise it will be processed today." He glanced at Iroh, Toph and Katara, who stood behind Zuko. "Do you still wish to—"

"We'll skip the carriage for now," Toph said, turning around and waving her hand in a dismissive manner.

The driver bowed his head and drove off. Zuko and the others followed Toph back into the house. As expected, Aang and Mai were still seated at the table and eating their breakfast. Momo was snacking on stolen pastries underneath the table. Zuko could only assume that Sokka had yet to emerge from his bed.

"Whasshup?" Aang asked with a mouthful of sweet bun. He swallowed. "I thought you guys were going into the city with Shizue?"

"She didn't come," Zuko muttered, dropping onto one of the cushions. "No one came except the driver."

Mai took a sip of her tea. "That's surprising."

"I know." Zuko ran a hand through his hair. "They're normally so eager to give us a supervisor. I don't like the fact they're backing off now."

Katara settled next to Aang. "It is strange Long Feng would suddenly let us explore the city without supervision, especially after all the threats he made back at the palace."

"Oh, I doubt we are without supervision," Iroh said in his usual easy-going way. "The Dai Li are undoubtedly watching."

"It's true." Toph leaned against the wall. "I did a quick check on the street and there were two people hiding on the neighbour's roof."

Zuko frowned. "Then I guess Long Feng really is trying to lull us into a false sense of security. He must be hoping we'll slip up if left to our own devices."

Iroh said that this was likely. More reason for all of them to sit back and act like nothing was wrong. "Enjoy the city," he advised. "Act like tourists. Eventually, our Dai Li friends will relax their guard and we'll be able to make our move."

"Yeah, I'm really not interested in playing happy tourist," Zuko said dryly.

All he cared about was getting Shizue alone so that he could try talking to her again. That was the whole reason they'd decided to use the "let's visit cultural heritage sights" excuse this morning.

Katara nudged Zuko with her foot under the table. "You're glooming again."

He opened his mouth to retort, to point out that he had every reason to be frustrated, but she just raised her eyebrow. He exhaled and leaned back on his palms. "Whatever," he muttered. "I still have no interest in this city."

Iroh sighed in a way that suggested he wished he could get his nephew to think beyond objectives and to try to enjoy life a bit. Zuko shifted in agitation. Even Aang and Katara were giving him frowny looks. Mai was the only one who paid no heed to his "glooming", though he wasn't sure if that was because she agreed that exploring the city was a waste of time. If anything, she seemed more interested in her tea than the conversation.

"Nephew, I know there is much distressing you at the moment, but if you keep pushing yourself, you're going to burn out. Shizue and the Dai Li are not going anywhere. You should take the chance to—"

"How can you even say that?" Zuko exploded, getting to his feet. "There's obviously something wrong with Shizue! My mother could also be in the city and in the hands of the Dai Li, and here you're telling me to enjoy the sights!"

Iroh held his hands up in an appeasing gesture. "I didn't mean—"

"Play happy tourist and enjoy yourselves if that's what you want, but I'm not stepping out of this house until I knew for certain that Shizue isn't coming today."

"Nephew—"

Zuko stormed off to the small garden out back. He would have retreated to the bedroom, except Sokka was still snoring in there. Besides, all he really cared about was getting away from everyone. He couldn't stand listening to his uncle act like the situation with Shizue and the Dai Li wasn't serious, couldn't stand having Katara and Aang judge him as if he was the one acting strange for not wanting to waste time in this hellhole of a place. Zuko was so worried and on edge that he felt physically sick. The last thing he wanted to do now was sightsee, let alone pretend to enjoy himself.

He sat on the steps and placed his head in his hands. Trembling slightly, he sucked in deep breaths to calm down. He was still doing this when the door to the garden slid open. "Go away, Uncle," he muttered.

There was a cough and a faint shuffling of feet. "Uh, it's us."

Zuko frowned and raised his head to see Katara push the door shut. Aang stood next to her, biting his lip and looking a bit sheepish.

Zuko sighed and went back to staring ahead. "What do you want? I'm not interested in hearing any more speeches."

The two sat down on either side of him.

"Sorry about earlier," Aang mumbled.

"We didn't mean to upset you," Katara assured him. "We just—"

"Forget it," Zuko said, though his tone was bitter. "It's not like this really impacts any of you, right? It's no wonder you can—"

"Don't say that!"

He blinked, startled by Katara's sudden vehemence.

She clasped his hands. "We do care, Zuko. I might not know Shizue like you do, but I know how important this is to you. All of us do."

"Katara is right. We all want to help you."

Zuko pulled his hands away with a frustrated sound. "Then why is everyone—"

"Because we care about you," she said firmly. "You're always so tense and focussing on what needs to be done or what might go wrong next." She placed her hand against his cheek. "You're under so much stress that you can't even see how awful you look."

He flinched back from her touch. "I'm fine."

"Are you?"

He held her gaze for a moment before looking the other way. Aang nudged him in the arm and asked if he wanted to talk about it. Zuko felt like he was trapped between an over-helpful tag-team.

"What I want is to meet Shizue," he said bluntly. "That's it."

Aang exhaled. "Well, I can't really help with that. I'm still trying to figure out a way to meet the Earth King, but you know what?" His lips curved into a smile. "I reckon everything is going to work out."

"You would say that," Zuko muttered. The Avatar was known for his careless optimism.

Katara got to her feet. "Alright, that's it."

Zuko blinked. "That's what?"

"I don't want to listen to you gloom yourself into a big ball of negativity, so"—she held her hand out to him—"I think a distraction is in order!"

"Distraction?"

"I get you don't want to do anything until you know what's happened to Shizue, but you can't just sit around here and brood either." She smiled. "So, how about we begin your first healing lesson? It's too bad we don't have a practice dummy to use, but we'll make it work somehow."

Zuko was oddly moved, just as he had been the first time she had said she would try to teach him healing. Aang even offered to be a test subject.

"I tried to learn healing from Katara," Aang confessed, "but I don't have the inborn aptitude or something. I can't even heal tiny cuts." He shrugged. "I guess even being the Avatar has its limits. Still, if I can help by being your substitute dummy, then leave it to me!"

Zuko stared at the two—both earnest, both willing to spend their time with him to make him feel better. He sighed, even as a reluctant smile curved his mouth. "You guys," he muttered.

Aang and Katara grinned, sensing his defeat.

"Come on!" she said, taking his hand and pulling him to his feet. "I'll get my scrolls and we can get started."

Zuko allowed himself to be ushered inside by the two. Sokka had finally emerged from his bed and was now eating breakfast. He greeted them with a mouthful of food and asked what the plan was for today. Katara explained what she, Zuko and Aang were going to do until either Shizue turned up or they got further news.

"I'll stick around," Toph said with a shrug. "Besides, you'll need me if Shizue does come."

Iroh and Mai had decided that they would look into the Lower Ring and see if they could get news of what was happening outside. Most of the refugees came in from the docks there, and it had seemed like the area was not quite as subdued by the Dai Li. Besides, both were a little worried about what the Fire Nation—or, rather, Azula—might be doing. Azula wasn't the type to give up. Sokka thought this sounded interesting and decided to join them.

"We'll keep an eye out for a suitable mask as well," Iroh said, glancing at Zuko.

Zuko met his uncle's gaze. There were probably some apologies that needed to be exchanged between them, but he was perceptive enough to understand that this was Iroh's way of saying that Zuko should do what he thought was necessary. Their methods of coping had never been the same. Maybe Zuko did fixate on his goals too much, but he couldn't relax and not focus on finding the truth either. Not in this case. Iroh must have come to accept that.

"Thanks, Uncle," Zuko murmured.

Iroh gripped his shoulder. "Just remember what I said to you while we were in prison."

Zuko lowered his gaze. "I know."

oOo

The Lower Ring was noisy. Mai turned her nose up at the dirty streets, peasant-like people, and the rundown buildings. There was nothing appealing about this section of Ba Sing Se. It was the seedy underbelly of a city that tried to mask itself as a utopia, the darkened crack where cockroach-earwigs crawled out of and where just taking a stroll was like walking into a barrage of unpleasant smells. Sure, there were some nicer parts, but everything about the place still screamed poor and not really wanted.

Still, that was what made the Lower Ring perfect for gathering information. The people living here were not seen as important. The Lower Ring was set up for containment rather than complete control. There were patrol guards and Dai Li, but they didn't appear to be on constant watch as they were in the Middle and Upper Rings. Plus, all the farmers lived in the Lower Ring, and it was likely that most of the soldiers came from here as well. The Dai Li would have a hard time getting people to pretend there was no war in this part of Ba Sing Se. It was too close to the Outer Wall.

Mai stepped aside to allow a group of kids chasing a ball to pass her. She had split up from Iroh and Sokka after their first stop at the docks. Sticking together was a waste of time and would limit how much information they could gather. That and she had just wanted a chance to be alone. People were always in her face back at the house. It was tolerable sometimes, but it was also draining.

She continued her exploration, eavesdropping on conversations and speaking to those who seemed promising. She was just passing an alleyway when she heard a muffled cry come from the narrow space. The sound made her pause. Mai narrowed her eyes and stepped into the alleyway just in time to see a brutish looking man push a girl up against a building. There were two other men standing behind him, laughing and making rough comments.

"Stop!" the girl exclaimed, twisting and thrashing against his hold. "Let me go!"

"Your father owes me a debt. How about I just take it from you, eh?"

Mai raised her arm and released a flurry of blades. The two men who had been watching yelped in surprise as they were suddenly pinned against the opposite building.

"How about you try your luck with me instead?" Mai taunted.

The brutish man growled and released the girl, pulling out a knife as he charged. Perfect. Mai got more blades ready and threw them with expert precision. One knocked the knife out of his hand, the others pinned him to the wall. It was over so quickly that all he could do was blink for a bit before he started swearing and threatening her.

She stepped closer and pressed her knife to his throat. "You talk too much. Maybe I should just silence you now."

He swallowed, throat bobbing against the sharpened tip. Blood escaped from the sliced skin. She held his gaze, daring him to speak. He did not dare.

"Didn't think so," she murmured, pulling her knife away. "I'm going to leave you and your friends here to think about your deeds. Perhaps someone will be nice enough to let you down." A smile curved her lips. "Or perhaps they won't."

She turned and shot a sharp look at the girl. "Let's go."

The girl—a cute-faced teenager with unruly brown hair and green eyes—hurried to catch up to Mai. They had only walked a few steps together before a hand clutched Mai's arm, and she suddenly had a soft body pressed against her side.

"Wow!" the girl said, looking up at Mai with shining eyes. "You were amazing!"

Mai tried to shrug her clinger off. "It was nothing."

"What's your name?"

"Luan."

"I'm Jin. Thanks for saving me."

Mai furrowed her brow. There was something unnerving about Jin's bright, admiring gaze. She was also conscious of the fact that Jin was still clinging to her.

"Let me go," Mai said flatly.

Pink bloomed on Jin's cheeks and she released Mai as if burned, mumbling apologies and fidgeting with her hair.

"You'll be fine from here," Mai said, stepping away to put some distance between them. "Bye."

Fingers tugged at her tunic.

"What now?" Mai said, repressing a sigh.

"Um." Jin blushed and twisted the fabric of her dress in her hands. "I just wondered if you wanted to stop and get some tea or something. As a thank you," she was quick to add.

Mai raised her eyebrow. "You want to buy me tea to thank me?"

"Yeah! Or we could go out for dinner tonight. I know this really great noodle shop and—"

"Sorry. Not interested."

Jin grabbed her by the wrist. "Then at least let me thank you this way."

Before Mai could react, she was tugged forward and her lips touched something soft. Her eyes widened. Every thought in her mind juddered to a halt. Jin's face was a blur in front of her gaze. Their lips were still touching.

Lips. Touching.

Mai made a muffled sound and pulled back. This time it was her cheeks that were a brilliant pink. "You—"

Jin smiled a little cheekily. "Thanks again for saving me, Luan. I'm glad I was able to meet a guy like you."

Mai choked on the words she wanted to shout at the stupid girl. Jin grinned and waved before running off down the street. Of course Sokka had to choose that moment to appear. He strolled casually towards Mai, munching on what looked like a piece of fried bread.

"What happened to you?" he asked. "Your face is all red."

Mai glared at him. "Shut up."

She stalked ahead, fuming and wiping at her mouth with the back of her hand. She couldn't believe she'd just had her first kiss taken from her by a female nobody. Worse, that the nobody had thought she was a guy. Of all the shameful things that could have happened.

Sokka chuckled and caught up to her. "Must have been something big to shake you up. I don't think I've ever seen you look so flustered."

Her eyes narrowed. "Say another word with that big mouth of yours and I will permanently silence you."

Sokka got the hint. He stopped teasing and asked if she'd managed to get any interesting information.

"Not really."

People had been more willing to talk about the war, but what she had overheard wouldn't be of any real use to them. It was all stuff they knew: to be cautious of the Dai Li; that the Fire Nation had pulled back for now from Ba Sing Se, but was still slowly taking over the Earth Kingdom.

Sokka sighed. "Yeah, same for me."

Mai said that he could stick around to learn more if he wanted, but she was done with information gathering. Sokka decided to call it quits too and suggested they go find Iroh. Maybe the old man had been able to have better luck than them. She found no fault with this plan, so the two of them set out together. Sokka chatted away quite happily, always one to fill the silence, though she couldn't say that she was paying attention to his words. Her mind kept drifting back to the humiliating situation with Jin.

She tugged on the short, black strands that covered her head. It had been upsetting to have to cut her hair. She had even cried a little when she'd realised that her face would always be scarred. Mai wasn't vain, but the disfigurement had still been difficult to accept. She hadn't been able to see out of her left eye before Zuko and Katara had healed her. That had been scary. Now things weren't so bad: she could see perfectly again, and while her skin was still puckered and scarred, it was true that from far away a person probably couldn't tell she had burn damage unless they knew what to look for. Mai should feel lucky. She knew this. Compared to Zuko, she had got a much better deal.

But she had just been mistaken for a boy. That hurt her self-esteem.

"Maybe it was the clothes," she muttered.

"Huh?" Sokka blinked at her. "What about clothes?"

"Nothing."

Mai quickened her pace. She'd just have to do some shopping and buy some more feminine looking clothes. It had been her intention to do so anyway, though she had been sidetracked by weapons. The last thing she wanted was to be mistaken for a guy again, especially if it meant getting kissed by lovestruck girls. That was one humiliation Mai would never live down.

She really hoped she never met Jin again.

oOo

There were only two things that had shocked Azula since coming to live in the Lower Ring with Jet and his Freedom Fighters: the first was that Smellerbee was actually a girl; the second was that Ty Lee didn't seem to mind living in squalor. Ty Lee was always bubbly and had quickly made connections with their neighbours in the ramshackle apartment building where they now lived. She'd even found a small troupe of street performers to befriend. Of course, the troupe had happily accepted her into their fold as one of their workers. Azula couldn't understand it. Everything annoyed her about the Lower Ring: the noise, the smell, the cramped living quarters, the stupid peasants. It was only her drive to succeed that kept her maintaining the charade as an Earth Kingdom refugee.

"Ruolan," Ty Lee said, propping her elbow on the windowsill and glancing down at the street. "Do you think that—oh, it's Jin."

Azula glanced up from the grocery list she had been writing. Ty Lee waved at someone outside, no doubt Jin. The girl lived down the hall from them with her father and younger brother. She was harmless enough as far as peasants went. Azula hadn't cared to get involved with her much aside from a brief conversation to glean information. Jin hadn't been able to offer anything of value, so Azula had dismissed her as someone not worth knowing. Ty Lee, however, did not think of people in terms of their usefulness. Instead, she had seized the chance to strike up a friendship.

"I don't know why you bother with that peasant," Azula muttered.

Ty Lee flashed her teeth in a bright smile. "I like Jin. She's nice."

Azula rolled her eyes and went back to writing her list. Not long after, there was a knock at the door and Ty Lee was welcoming Jin inside their apartment. Jet, Smellerbee and Longshot weren't home right now, so at least it wasn't as cramped as usual. Azula couldn't say that she was happy to be stuck entertaining their neighbour, though. Jin was busy telling them all about the way she had been cornered by Zhen Kang and his goons. She'd thought she was a goner until the most gorgeous boy had come along and saved her.

"He was so cool," Jin gushed, eyes shining in remembrance. "He had all three of them beaten in seconds, and he wasn't scared at all."

Azula perked up. "Sounds like a good fighter."

"He was. Too bad he didn't agree to go on a date with me." A grin curved her lips. "Though I did manage to give him a thank you kiss."

Ty Lee clapped her hands. "Oooh, I want to meet him. What was his name? What did he look like?"

"His name is Luan," Jin said just as excitedly. "He was a bit standoffish, but he was so good-looking. So much better than the other guys around here."

She went on to explain that he had black hair and, in her own words, the loveliest, warm-coloured eyes. It was true that his features were more on the pretty side, but she hadn't minded that at all. Even the scar on his face hadn't bothered her.

"Oh, he has a scar," Ty Lee said, leaning her chin on her palms.

Jin nodded. "It was pretty big." She shaped her hand over her left eye. "It covered all this area, though it looked old. I'm guessing he got it a while ago."

Azula dropped her quill. Ty Lee had also stiffened and shot a surprised glance at her.

"Do you think it could be him?" Ty Lee asked.

"The description does fit," Azula allowed.

Zuko and the others were supposed to be somewhere in Ba Sing Se, so it was possible that Jin had run into him. There weren't many people with that particular kind of scar either—not young, attractive boys with black hair and "warm-coloured" eyes.

"Could be who?" Jin asked, furrowing her brow. "Do you know Luan?"

Azula's lips curved into a sharp smile. "Perhaps. If you ever see him again, do let me know. I'd love to meet this Luan as well."

Jin agreed happily enough. She stuck around a bit longer before she left them for her own home. Ty Lee didn't look quite so bubbly after Jin's departure. The smile had faded from her eyes and she sat on one of the cushions, pulling her knees right up against her chest.

"Are you sure you want to meet him?" Ty Lee asked. "We're not ready to act yet and he—"

Azula's smile did not falter. "My brother won't be a problem. Besides, my plan is progressing precisely as it needs to."

Ty Lee didn't get a chance to ask for an explanation. The door opened and Jet entered the apartment. He greeted them with a casual nod as he kicked off his shoes and shrugged off his bag. He looked tired: his hair was messier than ever and he rolled his shoulders and stretched as if to work the kinks out of his body. No surprise since the only job he'd managed to get was as a labourer at the docks. He also had to start work much earlier than all of them.

"Long day?" Azula said, not quite able to hide the taunt from her tone.

Jet gave her an unimpressed look. He'd long-since lost the need to put on his charming act every time he was around her.

She smiled and got up from her seat, stepping close to him so that their chests were almost touching. "You don't seem happy, Jet," she observed. "Is Ba Sing Se not the city of luxury you thought it would be?"

His brow furrowed and he stepped away from her. "It's still early days yet."

"Don't kid yourself." All trace of amusement vanished from her eyes. "We both know that the inequality you so despise is rampant in this city. They even have a wall to keep us poor refugees locked away."

His shoulders tensed. "So."

"So ..." She touched his arm and moved with snakelike smoothness to face him. "Why don't we do something about it? It's what you and your Freedom Fighters do, right? Fight injustice."

Jet met her gaze. "Just what are you suggesting?"

"I want to start a revolution and give equal rights to all of the people of Ba Sing Se. Will you help me?"

A flicker of the old passion burned in his eyes. She resisted the impulse to laugh. He was so easy to read. Of course this stupid peasant who had put all of his energy into fighting the Fire Nation would not be able to sit back and play the good citizen now. He would want to rise up, to tear down the walls that kept him continuously oppressed. There were many others like him as well. So many refugees who had come here expecting a better life, so many who'd had their dreams crushed. Now all Azula had to do was rally them together. Once she had a strong enough force, she'd start bargaining with the real power behind the throne and tear this city to the ground.

"You've got yourself a deal," Jet said, holding out his hand.

Azula accepted the handshake. "Let's liberate this city, Jet," she said, purposely making her voice soft and intimate. Even her expression was calculated to make him feel like he was the only one who could fight at her side. "Let's make our new beginning, just like you wanted."

His fingers intertwined with hers. It was a touch that lingered too long to be platonic, but that was fine. Azula ignored the fluttery stirs in her stomach and instead focussed on how much easier it would be to manipulate him if he cared about her. The stronger he felt, the better. Emotions only existed to be exploited. She would use every bit of Jet's infatuation with her if it meant succeeding. That was just her nature.

Ty Lee watched them with an unreadable expression before she glanced out the window and began humming a song under her breath. Azula decided not to demand an explanation for the uncharacteristic look. The important thing was that Ty Lee was still at her side. The important thing was that the plan was in motion, and soon everything would be in place. Azula could already see it lining up in her mind's eye like the connecting moves on a Pai Sho board that would bring her to victory. The pieces were set, the first move had been made, and now all that was left was to play the game.

I hope you're prepared, Earth King, she thought with a twisted smile. I'm about to take your city from you.

oOo

Zuko had almost given up hope of Shizue coming to meet him. He'd had a productive healing lesson with Katara—and he was indeed grateful that she, Aang and Toph had helped to keep him distracted—but a part of his mind had still kept returning to the predicament with Shizue. Too much was resting on this meeting. When there was at last a knock at the door, he scrambled to his feet and raced to the entrance.

"Shi—"

The name died on his lips. A woman with a jaw-cracking smile did indeed stand before him, but it was not Shizue. It was the first Joo Dee who had welcomed them to the city.

"Hello, Lee," she greeted in her eerie way. "I am so sorry I could not come sooner. I hope it is not too late to begin the tour you requested."

Zuko curled his hands into fists. "Where's the other Joo Dee?"

Her smile did not falter. "I'm Joo Dee."

Toph walked over, wriggling her finger in her nose in a manner that would have normally disgusted Zuko if he wasn't so distracted. "Oh, it's you. What happened to you? Did the Dai Li throw you in jail?"

"Don't be silly," Joo Dee said. "The Dai Li are the protectors of our cultural heritage."

"But you disappeared at the Earth King's party," Toph pointed out.

Joo Dee laughed. "I simply took a short vacation to Lake Laogai out in the country. It was quite relaxing."

Zuko didn't buy it. Judging from the equally unimpressed expressions on Toph, Katara and Aang's faces, neither did they.

"So why'd they replace you with a woman who also called herself Joo Dee?" Katara asked.

Joo Dee actually looked a bit irritated. "I told you that I'm Joo Dee."

Zuko narrowed his eyes. He grabbed Toph's hand and pressed down on her palm with his thumb. It wasn't a code they had discussed, but Toph was smart enough to figure out what he was asking. She squeezed his hand in return and mouthed "Not lying". Either this was the real Joo Dee or she was just as brainwashed as Shizue.

"You'll do just as well then," Zuko said, and yanked the woman further inside before closing the door.

"Wait," Joo Dee said, sounding quite alarmed, "what are you trying to—"

"Don't let anyone through that door," Zuko ordered Toph and Aang.

Toph grinned maniacally and took up position at the entrance. Aang looked a bit nervous but also stood next to her. Zuko, who was still gripping the protesting Joo Dee so that she could not escape, turned to Katara. His eyes sparked with a wild energy, the light of a person who knows he is being reckless but cannot bring himself to stop.

"Help me," he pleaded. "I can't risk doing this by myself."

Katara held his gaze for a moment. "I don't know how much help I'll be. My waterbending couldn't even heal your amnesia, remember?"

"We still have to try."

She glanced at Joo Dee, who was pale and had finally gone quiet. Perhaps the woman was too confused to keep kicking up a fuss. Perhaps a part of her had even recognised the wrongness of her life as Joo Dee. Either way, Zuko could not turn his back on her. He'd lost his identity once; he could not bear to see another suffer a similar fate, not when it was obvious these women were being used by the Dai Li. Katara must have felt the same. She uncorked her water flask and covered her hands in the clear liquid.

"Let's try it," she said, stepping closer to him.

Zuko relaxed his hold on Joo Dee. "Please be calm. This won't work if you resist."

"I don't understand," Joo Dee said. "What's going on? What are you trying to do to me?"

Katara smiled and explained that they just wanted to help her. Then she pressed her palm against the woman's forehead, letting it glow for a moment. Joo Dee slumped back into Zuko's chest. He steadied her so that she didn't fall.

"That's a pretty convenient move," he observed. Katara had done the same thing to Changpu to help them sneak off that one night.

"Yugoda would probably scold me if she saw me using the technique in this way," Katara admitted. "Forcing a person to sleep comes with its own risks and shouldn't be done lightly, but I didn't want her struggling. Not if we're—"

"Going to be messing around in her head. I get it."

"Exactly." Katara summoned more water from her flask. "Here, lie her down."

He did as asked, letting her head rest on his lap. Katara knelt beside him and cradled either side of the woman's temples. She nodded to him to say that she was ready. He covered her hands with his and let their energies merge, just as they had done when they had healed Mai. The rush of power was as exhilarating as ever, but this time the sense of wrongness that connected him to Joo Dee felt different. It wasn't a ripple of pain, an absence that needed to be filled, or even a withered root that needed to be nourished. This was a shifting presence that encircled her mind, slippery like sand yet also impenetrable. It felt utterly foreign—even made him feel a bit sick.

"Do you feel that?" Zuko asked, meeting Katara's gaze.

She tilted her head to the side. "You mean the resistance?"

Zuko nudged her energy with his own towards the shifting thing of wrongness. "I mean this."

Her brow furrowed. "I don't understand what you're trying to show me. Her mind does feel odd, though. There are too many layers of resistance in her flow of energy, so it looks like she has experienced some kind of amnesia."

"This isn't amnesia."

He could feel it: a dark, twisted mass that did not belong. This woman hadn't lost her memories. She'd had them rewritten. Someone had tampered with the very essence that made up her identity, putting their ugly energy all over her mind. It was foul. It was sickening. He couldn't believe that Katara hadn't sensed it right away. He even told her as much, since she was the one more experienced with this stuff than him.

"Perhaps this is a difference in your healing abilities," Aang observed from where he stood by the door. "Firebending is more closely linked to the energy within our bodies, right? I mean, it's the only element that can be created. It doesn't just rely on an outside source."

"I guess," Zuko said, pulling his hands away to break the connection and frowning down at Joo Dee's face. "We call the source of firebending our inner fire, but it's not like I have a real fire inside of me. That's just the easiest way to explain how it feels." He glanced at Aang. "Well, you would know. You can bend fire as well."

"Right," Aang said. "So, if we compare firebending with waterbending, maybe that's why you're both sensing different things now. Katara's water is a source outside of her own energy. It's something she uses to manipulate the flow of energy in another person's body so she can quicken the healing process, but I've never seen you create fire when you heal. For you, it's always a fusion of energy." He rubbed the base of his neck. "I could be wrong of course, but I remember Roku saying something similar when I asked him about our spiritual bond. He said Katara couldn't create anything like that because of the difference in how you heal."

Zuko and Katara exchanged a startled glance. He supposed it did make sense. Even Shang, the old scholar, had believed that firebending might have started as a different kind of bending because of its internalised nature. Power in firebending came from the breath; good technique allowed a better amount of energy to materialise within the body that could then be willed beyond the limbs. That was how fire could be created without an outside source, just like the dragons of old. However, the true source of firebending was much simpler. Zuko was always conscious of his inner fire. It was a spark of pure energy that existed within his body. It was also what he drew upon when he healed, or rather the golden, flame-like energy that thrummed deeper within.

Perhaps it was indeed this sensitivity to energy that allowed him to understand what had been done to this poor woman. He couldn't understand all the intricacies or the different layers of her mind; he simply didn't have the theory knowledge. However, he could feel the imprint of a foreign energy. It was like a stamp of ownership tainting everything. He wanted to get rid of it for her, but he wasn't sure how. A part of him could even sense that the task of healing such an enormous amount of damage might be too much for him. It felt like the tampering had been going on for years. It would be like trying to recreate a story from a text that had been erased and written over a thousand times, leaving only faded scraps of the truth.

"I don't know what to do," he admitted in a small voice. "I can't—I can't heal this. What if Shizue is the same? What if—"

Katara grabbed his face. "Zuko, look at me."

His eyes focussed on hers.

"We're going to find a way," she said firmly. "Maybe the fact we can feel different things will work to our advantage. At the very least we have to try, right?"

He swallowed. "Right."

"Then let's try again."

Zuko nodded and followed her lead. Reconnecting his energy with the woman was unpleasant. The sense of wrongness in her mind still made him feel a bit queasy. Then again, maybe it was just the thought that the same had been done to Shizue.

Maybe even his mother.

He shuddered and almost lost the connection. Katara shot him a glance under her lashes—worried, questioning—but Zuko ignored her and closed his eyes. He had to try his best to focus. Katara was better at manipulating Joo Dee's energy to ease through the layers of resistance, but he was the one who could feel the shifting, dark mass that was the real root of the problem. All he had to do was figure out a way to remove the taint. Too bad his instincts only seemed to want to warn him off. The dark mass was such a slippery thing of ugliness, but it had also been attached so deeply to her mind. Far, far too deeply. He was scared that he would only damage her mind further if he tried to remove it.

Zuko was just about to give up and focus on working through the knots and walls of resistance like Katara was doing, but Toph broke his concentration.

"Earthbenders incoming," she warned. "You better decide if you want to fight the Dai Li now or play it safe, because I'm not gonna hold back and I doubt they'll be happy once they realise what you've been doing to that Joo Dee."

"What do you want to do?" Katara asked him.

Zuko tensed. He knew that they didn't have enough footing to make a stand. Not really. Even without waking and questioning the woman, it was obvious that he and Katara had not managed to heal this Joo Dee. He also had no idea where Shizue was being kept. Sure, the four of them were probably strong enough to take down whatever Dai Li agents were coming for them now. He could even threaten them to find out the location of Shizue's whereabouts, but that wasn't the issue. The real issue was that right now Zuko felt like he was teetering on the tip of a domino and one wrong move was going to knock the whole lot down.

Should he risk making a stand? Had he already risked too much just trying to heal this Joo Dee?

Toph shifted into a bending stance. "Time's up."

"Wait," Zuko said, holding his hand out to her. "Don't attack them."

She huffed but relaxed her stance and moved away from the entrance with Aang. As if on cue, the door burst open and a group of Dai Li swarmed into the house. The man in the lead was the same cold-eyed agent from yesterday. His gaze swept the room, pausing on Joo Dee. Zuko shifted the woman off his lap and got to his feet.

"Joo Dee fainted," Aang blurted out in a rush. "It's really not as bad as it looks."

The agent didn't spare him a glance. "You are all coming with me for questioning."

"Why?" Toph demanded, jutting her chin. "What have we done that's so wrong?"

He pulled out a piece of parchment and unfurled it for them all to see. Something cold yet hollow settled itself in Zuko's heart. It was the wanted poster that had been made for him and his uncle. Their covers had been blown.