Side note: I am a tea-loving freak; I'm drinking a huge mug of Ginseng tea while writing this.
Children Of Agni
Chapter 4 Ba Sing Se
Zuko and his uncle arrived in Ba Sing Se with little occurrence, his uncle got them both jobs making and serving tea (no, not more tea!), and little apartment in the lower ring of the city. Zuko hated the city, he always had, and he hated being caged in by walls and rules and those strange men in the black and green uniforms. But most of all Zuko was sick of his Uncle acting as though they were going to settle here, and live here. Zuko didn't want to live imprisoned. He had enjoyed one night in this city and that was his date. Even after those men had given his uncle a new teashop and a new apartment, even if it was a nice and beautiful prison, it is still a prison.
The flyers fell slowly and beautifully; Zuko reached out and caught one. This was a ray of hope, the avatar had lost his bison, and if Zuko could find him first… well he'd think about what to do with it later, the main thing was that he would have it.
Iroh sat, lost in memory, remembering his son, and their journey to war together. His son had been his lieutenant, his right hand man, and his best friend. They had barely known each other before their journey to war. On the six hundredth day when his son had led the charge into the breach, and fell fighting against that monster. Iroh's heart had been torn from his chest.
Zuko entered the room to see his uncle packing, damn! Zuko had just thought up a new firebending technique and was going to write it down, draw a picture, anything so he would not forget it. Then he saw the expression on his uncle's face and he knew what he was going to name the technique.
"So, I have been thinking of names for my new tea shop" said the old man rapidly trying to hide his emotions. "How about the Jasmine dragon, it is dramatic, poetic, and has a nice ring to it."
"The Avatar is in Ba Sing Se Uncle" Said Zuko taking out the flyer, "And he has lost his bison"
He cautioned him not to go looking for trouble, that it could destroy all the good things that have happened to them since they reached the city. Zuko didn't listen, Zuko didn't care, he knew what he wanted, and he knew his own destiny. That night he donned the mask of the blue spirit and went in search of the bison. Taking a Dai Li agent prisoner he forced him to tell where the headquarters were, Zuko then knocked out his prisoner locked him in a storehouse, after removing his stone hands and shoes and left him there to rot. Zuko broke into the Dai Li headquarters snuck through the passageways searching each cell in turn. He found the bison soon enough was about to take it for his own when he heard someone enter the room.
"Uncle?" Zuko asked in surprise,
"Ah, the blue spirit, I wonder who could be behind that mask?" his uncle inquired rhetorically.
"Uncle what are you doing here?"
"I was about to ask you the same thing. What are you going to do now that you have the avatar's bison? This is exactly what happened when you captured the avatar at the North Pole, you had him and then you had nowhere to go. You never think these things through."
"I would have figured something out."
"No! If his friends hadn't found you, you would have frozen to death."
Zuko went and cut each and everyone of the chains that bound Appa to the floor.
"Go, find the avatar!" Zuko shouted, Appa needing no further encouragement, gave Zuko an approving nod before flying away.
Zuko and Iroh made their way out of Lake Laogai finally arising out of the lakeside entrance. Zuko stood on the shore looking into the blue mask that marked his darkest deeds.
"You did the right thing nephew" Iroh stated calmly then he saw the troubled expression on Zuko's face as he looked at the mask, "leave it behind" Iroh stated simply.
Zuko dropped the mask into the water and watched it until it was out of sight. He and his uncle made their way back to the city; it was time to move into their new apartment.
Azula walked away from the battle with only a few cuts and bruises, but she had three broken ribs. Her opponent had come off better. Ever since her failed siege of Ba Sing Se she had been unable to bend lightning properly, even when she calmed her mind she could not produce a deadly voltage. So her opponent survived, and she was probably back to full strength by now, while Azula was still marred. Even as Ty lee tended to her various wounds Azula cursed that little peasants existence. These would take a few weeks to heal, ah well, time to plan. Azula allowed herself a small gasp of pain as Ty lee wrapped her chest in bandages.
Zuko sat in his new room, painting a firebending technique. It was taken from the wisdom of earth, and somewhat from the wisdom of water. His brow furrowed, brush moving in delicate strokes; praying to Agni that this one would work. A technique he could use to defend, to protect. He had tried so many times to make the technique he had developed to diffuse fire so many times, and still he could not replicate the power he had felt on that night in the wilderness. He could extinguish the fire, but only to an extent.
"Uncle just stream the fire at me" Zuko ordered as he put up his anti-fire shield moving his arms in an outward direction, they had found a place to practice underneath their new tea shop. Zuko made his aura strong like earth, and for a few seconds uncle's fire could only come within a few feet of Zuko, just lapping around the edges of the shield but then the flames broke through and Zuko barely had enough time to dodge out of the way.
"Zuko these attempts are futile, you're a fire bender, you can only create and bend the fire to your will you cannot force it into nonexistence." Iroh argued adamantly.
"I have done it before uncle, and I must figure out how to do it again." Zuko spoke calmly, but with a soft edge.
"You are living a life of peace now" his uncle protested, "why do you insist on developing your firebending if you have no use for it."
"Uncle, you told me the reason yourself, many years ago: I must provide in peace what I will need in war." Zuko breathed deep and spoke in a resounding tone "now shoot fire at me; we are going to get this right."