Daughters

The Dai Li will now have the jurisdiction to perform a background search on any individual they deem to be an enemy of the state.

-Earth King Edict #43

Day 37 of the Siege of Ba Sing Se…

"It's your move."

"I know that." Azula folded her hands beneath her chin as she studied the battlefield laid out on the table in front of her. She flicked her gaze to her cousin opposite her for just a moment, but it was long enough to see just how much he was enjoying this.

"I could tell you the best action to take." Lu Ten said in that sickeningly patronizing tone that had been driving Azula crazy.

"Shut it." She was truly beginning to regret sitting down to play Pai Sho this morning.

"Why don't we switch to dominoes? That seems more your speed." Lu Ten knew just how to get under skin.

Azula glared at him with all the fury that a pouty 8 year old princess could manage. Then she saw it. The winning move. The best move ever conceived. She could already hear excuses coming out of Lu Ten's mouth after her victory.

She moved her White Jade tile forward two squares and grinned.

"I win."

Lu Ten cleared his throat. "Actually." He moved his Knotweed tile directly in front of her White Jade before continuing. "I win."

Azula slammed her face onto the table. "How do you always do that?" Her voice came out muffled against the Pai Sho set.

"Easy. You're just bad at this." Lu Ten stuck his tongue out at Azula as her annoyance boiled over and she tackled him from across the table.

The cousins play-wrestled for a few seconds before Lu Ten allowed his younger cousin to pin him in a choke hold. He tapped her forearm as he laughed. "I yield, you are superior."

Azula stood up from Lu Ten who rose to his full height, both now sharing the same jovial grin. She looked back at the Pai Sho set and frowned again.

"Do you really think I'm bad at it?" Her voice came out so softly Lu Ten barely heard it.

He grimaced; he'd forgotten just how sensitive Azula could be. How quickly that projected confidence could shatter. Before any more feelings of doubt could manifest, he bent down to pick her from the ground and squeezed her tightly. "Of course not, you know I like to tease. You came really close to winning that time."

His neck was constricted as Azula tightened her hug. Her speech came out muffled as she pressed into the crook of his neck. "You have to show me how to win, ok?"

Lu Ten peeled her off of him so he could look at her face to face as he held her at arm's length. "I promise.

"When does Uncle Iroh get back?" She asked with curiosity as Lu Ten set her down.

"I told you 'Zula, he can't come back until Ba Sing Se has been conquered."

"But why not?" Azula stomped her foot, a small puff of smoke escaping from beneath it.

"He is carrying the pride of our entire Nation on his back; he will not leave his army behind until his mission is successful."

Azula crossed her arms and scowled angrily. "I wish that dumb Earth King would just give up. Uncle Iroh is going to win and everyone knows it."

Heaving a heavy sigh, Lu Ten began packing away the Pai Sho set. "Azula, I have told you before you must respect everyone, especially your enemies."

"But they're wrong, and we're right." She whined petulantly.

"Regardless, without respect we are reduced to savagery. A good soldier knows to bow in the face of both victory and defeat."

Azula pondered his words, as she was wont to do. Her ability to analyze was unmatched by many adults, let alone her peers. After a few seconds, the question formulated in her mind. "What happens if the enemy doesn't respect us though?"

"It doesn't matter, we can only control our own actions. You represent our proud Nation just as much as my father does. Ask yourself how you think the Fire Nation should be seen to the rest of the world." Lu Ten finished packing up the set and made to leave the room. "And don't answer that, I really want you to think on it."

Day 42 of the Siege of Ba Sing Se…

Jin pounded at the dough repeatedly with balled fists. It had become the one task she was still allowed to do at her mother's bakery. Between the school shutting down and the Earth Army's demand for more bread, Jin spent the better part of her day helping here.

The only break in the monotony came from the chiming of the bell above the entrance door. Of course, this too had turned into an annoyance over how often it rang out. Her mother, Tien, with a heart as big as a badger mole's, had begun feeding many of her neighbors who were struggling due to the siege. Many businesses had shut down, either through the army seizing their building for "strategic purposes" or every citizen no longer willing to part with money for anything beyond food and board. As such there was an ever growing number of people seeking her mother's generosity.

So Jin had begun to ignore the bell. On this particular day she was so focused on her job, that she didn't even notice the footsteps that approached her. It wasn't until the hands covered her eyes that her stupor was finally broken.

"Guess who, Little Sparrow." Her brother's deep voice filled the room.

Jin was on him in a second, spinning from her seat to hug him around his waist. It had been over a month since they'd last seen each other. "Gun-Su! Are you on leave?"

She felt him nod his head. "Just for the day, tomorrow I am back on top of the Outer Wall."

Try as he might, her brother did a poor job of masking just how exhausted he sounded. His voice was gravelly, and he didn't return her hug with the usual vigor she was used to. Still, she didn't want to let this rare opportunity of seeing him go to waste. "You want to go to the Arts District with me? I heard they have one of Rui's works on display right now."

"That'll take us right through the Garori District." Something in Gun-Su's tone gave her an uneasy feeling.

"Yeah? I figure we can pick up Lee while we're there, he lives in that district." Jin wasn't sure she liked where this conversation was going.

"We can't go, Jin."

She glared up at him instantly. "What's your problem with Lee? Don't tell me you're about to talk about his 'strange' appearance again, because I will leave right now if that's the case." The subject of Lee had become a tense subject amongst the siblings since the pair's conversation on the Endless Staircase nearly two months prior.

"I promise, it's not him." Gun-Su held his hands up in a pleading manner. "It's just… I came through there on my way here and there's a… demonstration going on right now that I'd rather not go to."

"Demonstration?" Jin questioned her brother's non-descript language. "You mean like a protest? The Dai Li wouldn't allow one so close to a market district."

"Not a protest, it's a uhh…"

"Spit it out, Gun-Su."

He balled his fists at his side and looked at the ceiling in exasperation. After cursing under his breath, he double checked that their mother was not around and answered. "It's a public execution."

Jin's eyes widened in shock. "Since when do the Dai Li allow that?" Her voice came out as a squeak.

"This siege has everyone on edge." He offered as explanation. "Plus, the person being executed isn't exactly on anyone's good side right now."

"Who is it?" Jin racked her brain, trying to think of a single person she knew of that could draw that level of ire.

Gun-Su shrugged. "I don't know their name, just that it's a firebender."

Jin was out of the of the bakery before he could say another word.

Garori District had turned to pandemonium. Jin couldn't go more than a few feet before bumping into someone else. The crowd was all headed in the same direction, towards the district's public square. It was barely any distance away, but it took more than ten minutes for her to push through the throng of people.

She was on the outskirts of the square, with hundreds of people packed in there was no way to get any further. Not to mention she couldn't see a thing being too short to see over the largely adult crowd. Jin was just about to attempt to climb onto a balcony of a nearby building when a hand reached out to touch her shoulder.

"Jin, wait." Gun-Su had caught up with her evidently. "I don't want you to see this, this is serious."

Shrugging him off her shoulder she turned back to climb to the balcony. "I want to know why they are doing this."

Gun-Su dragged his palm across his face. "It doesn't matter, this is no place for little girls, especially my baby sister."

"I'm not a baby anymore!" She yelled back as her foot slipped, nearly sending her toppling if not for her grip on the balcony's railing.

"Ms. Jin, do be careful." Rui suddenly appeared from the crowd, his face etched with worry over seeing Jin dangling.

Hopping down onto the bench she'd used to reach the balcony; Jin gave a respectful bow to Rui. "I'm fine, Rui." She flushed as Rui gestured towards her brother with his eyebrow in a questioning manner. "Forgive me, this is my brother Gun-Su. Gun-su, this is Rui Yishu, my art teacher and Lee's father."

"In that order of course." Rui chuckled as he gripped Gun-Su's wrist in greetings. "What an awful occasion to be meeting at though."

"Exactly my point! Master Rui is right, we should go." Gun-Su tugged at his sister's sleeves, although Jin had planted her feet.

"Oh no, you should stay. I wish Lee were here too actually, that black smith has him working all sorts of strange hours." Rui tightly gripped the bench handle before lowering himself to a seat. Jin felt a pang of guilt remembering the lie she had concocted to explain Lee's 'work'.

"Come again?" Gun-Su stared down at the older man in confusion. "You'd want your son to see this?"

"Want? No. But this is the reality of our world, and I'd be a fool to deprive him of learning that." Rui took a deep breath as sat back against the bench. "Injustices like this are becoming more and more prevalent, if we bury our heads in the sand then they will only grow in magnitude."

Jin sat beside her teacher and beamed up at him, glad that someone was on her side. "Do you know why they are being executed?"

From under his breath Jin could hear Gun-Su mutter something about the person being a "dirty firebender", which she glared at him for.

Rui either didn't hear or chose to ignore the remark. "I know the man… and his family. His wife told me what had happened; apparently some thugs attacked him, and he fought back with his firebending. The Dai Li arrested him the next day, a new edict has been written outlawing all firebending within the city."

"They'd execute him for that?" Jin stared into the crowd, whipped up into a fury with most yelling slurs and insults about firebenders. "Someone has to do something. Gun-Su, you are in the army, you can command them to stop!"

Her brother looked at her, his face etched in bitter frustration. "Jin, I told you we have to go."

"Your brother can do nothing for him now. There are no trials for those arrested by the Dai Li." Rui looked at Gun-Su. "You may go, I will deliver Jin back to your home after her art lesson."

"I'm not leaving her in this mess." He replied through gritted teeth.

"Then you may stay." Rui said with a passive wave of his hand. "But Jin has made her choice, and we must respect that."

Jin stared up at her brother, matching his furious gaze with one of her own. There was no way she would be backing down from this one. Gun-Su cursed loudly, spun on his heels, and left the square the way they came.

"I think you made a wise choice, and although you do not have to listen, I think it would be best if you stayed here with me until this ordeal is through." Rui said as the crowd grew even louder. From the shouts it was clear the prisoner had been brought out to the gallows.

"I want to see… I want to do something!" Jin could feel the tears beginning to sting at her eyes.

"There is no stopping this from happening, and I can't allow you to endanger yourself. If you wish to watch, feel free, but I find the act itself to be too much for me to bear."

Considering his words carefully, Jin realized that he was right. Both about not being able to stop it and not really wanting to see someone be killed. And so, she settled into her seat and they both waited silently.

Over the raucous crowd they could not hear the executioner explaining the man's crimes and why he was to be executed.

They could not hear as the man pleaded with the Dai Li to let him go.

They could not hear his wife begging hysterically to just let her touch her husband one last time.

They could not hear the trapdoor being released and the man taking his last breath.

It wasn't even evident that the execution was already over until the crowd began thinning a half hour later. They stayed at their seats until they were the only two souls remaining in the square.

Jin finally saw it, the body of the branded traitor slowly rocking back and forth in the wind. A wooden sign had been hung with a rope around his neck with hastily painted on characters.

Firebender.

Day 48 of the Siege of Ba Sing Se…

The first time Azula saw her she thought she was a new servant. This was a ridiculous thought of course, she was dressed far too elegantly to be a servant.

Dressed in a silken red dress with gold trimmings, her perfectly made-up face smiled as she walked towards Azula in the hallway.

"Hello Azula." Her voice was much too high for Azula's liking, sounding like at any moment she may break out into a song and have birds encircle her to join in on the melody.

"Who are you? How do you know me?" Azula sneered at her as she crossed her arms haughtily.

This woman had broken one of the palace's unwritten rules: Azula knew everyone. The princess had made it her life's work to endeavor to know every face and name that passed through these halls. What had started as childhood curiosity had turned into a near obsession, especially after her grandfather Azulon had complimented her after calling to a servant by name.

Of course, there was no punishment for breaking the rule. There hadn't needed to be, nobody had ever broken it before.

"Oh my." Her perfectly manicured fingers shot to her red painted lips. "I thought your father would have talked about me by now."

She sounded embarrassed, but with that perfect smile plastered on her face Azula couldn't be sure what she was feeling. "No, he did not." Azula finally spat back.

The woman did not look the least bit perturbed by the angriest tone that Azula could muster. Instead, she actually had the gall to loop her finger down one of Azula's hair strands framing her face. "I can see why your father talks so much about you, you're absolutely adorable."

This woman had the most incredible way of ignoring what Azula wanted, it was like they were having two different conversations. So, this time she went extremely direct, figuring the poor woman may be stupid. "Who are you, lady?"

"Oh." She brought her hand to her mouth to cover her slight giggle. "How silly of me, my name is Izana."

"Why are you here?" Azula crossed her arms even tighter. "I-za-na?" She purposely drew out each syllable of her name.

"Your father invited me, silly. I was sure he would have mentioned it to you."

"Why would he invite you here?" From what Azula could tell, this woman could offer literally no value to improving either the palace or the Fire Nation as a whole.

Izana seemed to think on the question for a moment, her porcelain skin not wrinkling one bit as she placed a finger to her chin. "Well, your father and I are… friends as well. So I'm going to be spending more time around here. We'll get to know each other in time, doesn't that just sound great?"

"Terrific." Azula deadpanned before brushing past her to go find her cousin, praying he would have a solution to this new problem.

"But she's the worst person ever!"

Azula had just spent the better part of her Pai Sho match with Lu Ten complaining about Izana before making such a proclamation.

"Azula, you just met her an hour ago." Lu Ten pointed out in an exasperated tone. "Don't you think you ought to give her a change?"

She stuck her lower lip out in a pout. "No, because she's the worst person ever."

Her cousin rolled his eyes before making the winning move. "And she's in your head clearly, that was the worst you've done in a while."

Letting out a shrill groan, she stood up from the table and wandered to a nearby window. "She's a coward. Not even telling me why she's really here. Does she think I'm stupid? I know that father is courting suitors."

After joining her at the window, Lu Ten patted her on the shoulder sympathetically. "Sometimes adults think children won't understand, I'm sure she just didn't want to upset you."

"I understand plenty."

Azula stared down at the turtle duck pond in the garden below, the way the animals moved around in circles always seemed strangely calming to her. Despite this, she couldn't shake the feeling of loneliness whenever she walked through the gardens. With Iroh gone and her father completely uninterested in them, Lu Ten was the only to still get close enough to appreciate how much care the gardening staff poured into the ground.

"Then understand that your father may be lonely and wants to find love again." Lu Ten offered as way of explanation.

Now Azula knew he was just trying to make her feel better, she couldn't remember the last time her father had ever even uttered the word 'love'. Looking at Lu Ten, who Iroh could not go more than a conversation without gushing about, Azula was beginning to understand what her father was after. "I'm not good enough for him. Father wants another child so he can have a better one."

"'Zula, no." Lu Ten swallowed the lump in his throat and bent down to hug her tightly. "Don't say such things."

The floodgates had opened though as she sobbed into his shirt. "But it's true, father barely even talks to me."

He rubbed at her back as he did his best to slow her tears. "He's just busy is all, there are many war meetings to attend." Lu Ten knew full well that wasn't true, he was in many of those meetings and never saw his uncle there, but Azula did not need to know that. The continuing ignoring of his daughter could not continue, it tugged at Lu Ten's heart more and more each day. "I'll talk to him for you, maybe you two can get away for a day to Shu Jing. Have you been there before?"

Wiping her nose on his shirt, she shook her head. "No, what's so special about there?"

"Oh it's incredible, there's this festival coming up and the whole town is decorated to celebrate. There are even fireworks."

This piqued her interest as she wiped away the last of her tears and smiled up at him. "I wanna go!"

Lu Ten helped her to her feet and made for the door. "I'll go tell your father right now to take you, it's in a week's time."

"Hey Lu Ten." Azula called out softly to him. "Can you come too?"

It took everything in his power to not cry on the spot. "Of course, 'Zula."

AN: Shu Jing is the town that Piandao lives in.

Also I know I'm cheating a bit by having Lu Ten not be in Ba Sing Se during the entire siege, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity for him and Azula to interact.