"The governor still refuses to leave, even though the city is technically no longer his own," explained the Fire Nation general. "The only way we'll remove that family is by force."
"We'll need to be careful about it though," cut in Katara. "They have a baby there... and a daughter too, I think."
"Mai has not returned since she teamed up with Azula and Ty Lee," said the general.
"But Azula's dead," said Aang. "Where did she go after that?"
"Probably somewhere she could be bored without distraction," said Sokka.
"No one knows where she went," said the general, and then he called their attention back to forming a battle plan. However they were soon interrupted again.
"Firelord Zuko!"
Zuko looked up from his map, a little annoyed. "What is it?" he asked. "We're busy!" He was cranky from the last few days of fightingm, and quite honestly wanted to waste no time in plotting their next move to end this and restore the kingdom to Bumi, the rightful ruler.
"My lord," said the messenger in an apologetic tone. "We've recieved word from Ba Sing Se... the Dai Li have escaped." Zuko raised his eyebrows. Just then things had to be looking better here, they had to begin looking awful someplace else. "There's been no sighting of them, so it sounds like they may have just left the city altogether." Zuko nodded.
"If anything changes let me know immediatly," he said with a nod. Then he adressed the council. "Until that happens we stay here and finish what we've started." The servant bowed respectfully and hurried away.
----
It was late in the afternoon, and after doing several chores, Jin decided it was time to pay the old apartment a visit. She told her parents she was going to go buy food and left. Breaking and entering that place still seemed a little wrong to her, but an article of clothing was all she would need, and since she saw no harm in that, she went ahead with her plan, having to climb through a window since the door was locked.
Although no one was living in it, just by looking around she knew immediately that she was not the only one who had been inside. Things that she remembered being there before were now gone, stolen by desperate peasants no doubt. The place had not been completely emptied however. In fact there was still quite a lot inside. It looked like food had been the main thing stolen, and a few valuables, probably to be traded for money. At first, she felt angry that someone would dare to steal things that once belonged to Zuko and Iroh, whom she missed and loved so much, but then she realized Iroh would have helped them, the way he had helped her. He would have wanted those hungry people to have that food, and it would have gone to waste anyway. Getting angry and going after them would solve nothing, so she refocused on what she had come there for in the first place and headed for the room she remembered was Zuko's bedroom.
It was no surprise to her that the place had not been rented yet. Ever since the Dai Li had taken over along with the Fire Nation, refugees had almost stopped coming altogether. But now that things were supposed to be getting back to normal, now that the war was over, it wouldn't be long before Ba Sing Se became a popular haven for refugees again. There had been rumors going around that the Dai Li had broken out, but they were only rumors now, and there'd been nothing seen so far to prove them true. It still left people wary, however.
After lighting a few candles, she was pleased to see that Zuko's room appeared to be virtually untouched. All the drawers were shut, the closet was closed and even the bed looked like it hadn't been touched by anyone. Perhaps no one had thought there would be anything of value in there. She quickly went to one of the dressers and pulled the door open, grabbing the first shirt that came into veiw. It almost made her laugh when she saw he had simply stuffed all his clothes in there rather than taking the time to fold them, and she wondered if his mother had ever hassled him about it. She folded the shirt gently and stuffed it in her bag.
Pausing for a moment, she thought that perhaps two shirts would be better than one, and she reached in and pulled out a second one. This one was black, at least it looked like it in the dim lighting. All his clothing, she noticed was either green or just dark. Not a very wide range in colors. She held up the shirt in her hands and smelled it. The aroma made her heart ache. It smelled just like him. She had never really picked up a distinct smell on him before, but now that she held something that was his, she could actually smell him. It made her miss him even more, but at the same time it made her feel like she was holding a part of him in her hands.
She tucked the shirt away in her bag, and not a moment too soon because the door behind her opened slowly. "No way! She got it open!" said a surprised voice. Jin spun around, nearly jumping out of her skin at the sudden arrival of... whoever it was. She squinted in the dim lighting and realized it was a boy, almost her age, and a girl who only looked a year or so younger. Both of them smelled awful, and she knew immediatly that they had come in off the streets. "We've been trying for like a week to get that door open, but it wouldn't budge! How did you get it to open?" asked the boy, who was staring at her astonished.
"I..." stuttered Jin, confused. "I just opened it." The boy shrugged and looked around.
"Looks like there was nothing good in here anyway," he muttered, shaking his head. Jin immediatly felt defensive of Zuko's things and she headed out, making sure they stepped out with her, and she shut the door behind her.
"There's nothing of any value in there," she said. "And I'd advise you not to touch that room." The boy narrowed his eyes suspiciously and glanced at his sister.
"Seems to me there is something in there... something valuable if you're trying to protect it... thought I can't see why you'd need it. Looks like you already got a home, so why not spare something for us poor people?" Jin shook her head.
"There's nothing in there!" she hissed. The boy immediatly began to rush for the door, and when Jin went to shove him away, the sister grabbed on to her wrist and flung her into the wall across from the door. Jin twisted around,
but found she didn't need to do anything at all. The boy was fighting and fighting with the door, but it would not budge. He gritted his teeth and turned to her.
"I don't know how you managed to keep it closed," he said in a dangerous tone. "But trust me, I will get in there and find what you're hiding." He hurried off with his sister and Jin stood there dumbfounded for a few minutes. Then she glanced back at the door curiously, wondering why it hadn't opened for them. She reached for it and it slid open without a problem.
After puzzling over it for a few minutes she turned and headed out, knowing she probably would never know the answer, and at the moment it really didn't matter.
----
Night fell and Jin undressed in her room in the dark, not needing much light. Her nightdress needed washing, and, knowing no one would care, she pulled out the black shirt she had managed to take from Zuko's bedroom. She smelled it again, taking in his wonderful smell, and she slid it on. The feeling she got from it was almost surreal. Everywhere the cloth touched, it felt like he was touching her -in the most innocent of ways-, and she smiled to herself, holding one of the sleeves to her nose and taking in another deep breath, inhaling him. The shirt was long and stopped about six inches from her knees. She smiled at herself as she glanced at herself, then she paused, taking a better look at her reflection.
The moonlight reflected off of it and lit up her body, which was starting to lose some of its muscular shape. She hadn't done much exercising lately and made a mental note to start up again. Glancing behind her to make sure no one was coming, she slid the neckline of her nightdress over and looked at her scar. It looked as raw as the day she had gotten it, and she doubted it would ever fade. It was raised and rough to the touch, and she could almost feel it hurting again. Along with that scar came bad memories... Iroh laying alone on the battlefield with her screaming through tears beside him.
A film of tears covered her eyes. It had been a while since she'd let herself even think of that awful day, but she couldn't stop the few tears that did escape her eyes. The door behind her opened, but she didn't notice. "Jin I.
Jin! What happened!"
She snapped out of thought and in a panic she tugged her nightdress back in place. But it was too late. Her mother approached her with worried eyes, and without asking permission, uncovered the scar and stared at it with wide eyes. "I got it in battle," said Jin, brushing the tears away, allowing the sadness to pass. Her mother stared at the scar in disbelief and then looked back up at her daughter, her expression almost being horrified.
"Then it really happened..." she muttered. Jin nodded.
"I tried to tell you..." she whispered. Her mother took a step back and Jin frowned. "Please... please don't be mad with me, Mom." Her mother turned and left without another word and Jin lowered her head, staring at the ground ashamed.
----
Zuko stood in front of his own mirror, putting on his armor. The battle that lay ahead would not be easy, and for once he was actually concerned on if he'd make it out or not. It wasn't that he was afraid of dying, it was he was terrified of leaving Jin. He could hear the army gathering and preparing to go into battle and he took in a deep breath. There was only one thing left to do. He picked up the letter he'd written from his nightstand and tied it to the great bird's leg.
"Tell her I love her," he said softly, and with a loud squawk it flew off. He groaned, his ears ringing and muttered, "Saying it with your eyes may be a better idea..."