Deepest apologies to the anonymous reviewers :( I'll miss you.

And guys! I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update! I've been so swamped with homework and I really wanna do well this year :( You'll have to forgive me, for I get the feeling that we'll have bigger gaps between the updates like this :P Oh, and I totally actually just ditched my math homework for this . I needed a break...

But on a brighter note, here's the next chapter.

Anyway, read, review and enjoy – and those of you who haven't already, go and check out "The Wings of a Phoenix", which I posted shortly after last chapter.

19. What Have I Done?

Within forty eight hours, Nyla came to a stop outside the walls of Ba Sing Se, the only thing preventing her from scaling the wall and jumping over was Jun pulling against her reigns for her to stop. Reluctantly, she skidded to a halt and then lifted her snout to the air and started indicating forward, through the wall, just to make sure her master knew that the one she was tracking lay beyond.

A guard on the outside of the wall looked at the beast disapprovingly as Jun and Kalo slipped down from her back and approached him.

"What is that thing?" he asked.

"Nyla is a shirshu," Jun answered in a bored tone. "And I'm a hunter. If you'll be so kind as to open the gate – we need to enter the city." She played with her nails as she spoke and only looked up when he didn't answer immediately.

"I can't let you into the city with that thing," he said quite simply.

Smirking, Jun walked up to him, "You can and you will. Open the gate."

"I'm sorry, bu–"

Jun grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threw him against the wall. "Open it," she hissed in a poisonous tone. "My bounty lies within."

Wide eyed and clearly frightened, the man gave the order for the guards to open the gate. Kalo and Jun got back onto Nyla's back just as Appa landed behind her.

"Jun, you didn't need to do that – I could have convinced them to," Zuko said.

"Well, be a little faster next time, Princey – you snooze, you lose," she smirked, before allowing Nyla to enter the city slowly and without tearing it apart in her ravenous search for whoever's sent had been on the notes.

"I'm not a Prince anymore – I'm the Fire Lord," he said out loud, though not loud enough for her to hear him.

Then Toph shouted down to Sokka, "Hear that, Snoozle? You snooze, you lose."

Sokka turned around to glare at her and almost fell off the back of Nyla. Suki caught him when he shrieked and shook her head with a sigh as he readjusted himself on the seat.

People on the streets cleared the way and stood back and went very hush, hush as the two giant animals and their passengers came through. Many people were whispering and giving them edgy looks, clearly afraid and wondering what their presence meant.

Jun and Kalo took no notice of the stares and whispers they were causing, but the others had to remember to keep their cool, feeling very unnerved with all the strange and prying eyes on them.

Nyla sniffled impatiently as she walked about the outer circle of Ba Sing Se until the area became clear of houses and buildings on the edge of Lake Laogai. She sniffed her way up and down the bank a number of times before circling the same spot a few time and then starting to claw at the sand. Jun made her stop before she could do any damage.

"Looks like whoever it is you were looking for is under the ground now," Jun said.

Toph and Sokka jumped off Nyla and Appa and looked around.

"This is Lake Laogai," Sokka stated. "The Dai Li had a hideout under the lake the last time we were here, remember, Toph?"

She nodded.

Ty Lee, Zuko and Suki joined them on the ground.

"I remember," said Ty Lee. "Long Feng took me, Mai and Azula here when Azula was working with him."

"I remember coming to get you guys... I ended up just freeing Appa instead and letting him rescue you," Zuko said.

Jun raised an eyebrow, "So, these dudes – I'm guessing they're earthbenders. So what, they made a hideout underground?"

"Yea, pretty much. It's Old Ba Sing Se under there," Sokka explained.

Jun and Kalo slipped down from Nyla's back and stood on the lake edge with them. "Well, where Nyla is now is directly above where the sent is strongest," Jun informed them. "She's getting pretty impatient. Do you want her to dig, or does the blind girl want to earthbend?"

Toph frowned, "I've got a name."

Jun smirked, "I know. But you're not answering the question."

"Hm." Toph blew a tuft of her hair out of her face and then slammed a foot into the earth and then parted it by clapping her hands together and moving them apart slowly. A crack slowly appeared in the ground and became deeper and deeper. When Toph stopped, she jumped into it and could almost have touched the ground above if she had tried.

"I'll make a sloping tunnel down so you guys don't have too much trouble following," she decided, mainly talking to Zuko, Ty Lee, Sokka and Suki. They nodded back at her and with a sharp smash of her fist against the rock on the inside of her hole, the earth was pushed away and her tunnel was immediately formed.

Beneath where they were standing were holding cells. Windu was the only occupant for that time, curled up against a wall with his knees to his chest, wishing for himself to be dead. There was only one thing he said and he continuously whispered it to himself.

"What have I done?"

He couldn't believe half of the things he had done to help Long Feng and Admiral Shang. He had betrayed them all – his Tribe, his Chief, his friends, his family, the whole world. But worst of all, he had betrayed himself.

"What have I done?"

A tear rolled down his face as he hugged his knees. He hated what he had become – a slave to the enemy, unable to use his own free will against their orders because they just had to say the magic words, and his world fell away from him and he became their puppet. He hated those words.

"The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai..."

There were so many voices he had heard saying those words. It frightened him and made him sick. And the worst part was when he saw it used on the rooms full of Ju Dee women. It was totally unnerving to hear all of the women repeating the same lines over and over again, in perfect synchronization. And it was scary.

What scared him most was that this had all been going on without anyone noticing. The world thought it was safe and that the war was over. But really, Long Feng and Admiral Shang were under Ba Sing Se, bent on world domination and creating an army of Ju Dee's.

Not only that – they had begun to add men to their rehabilitation programs and there were no longer only rooms full of women repeating the same lines like robots, but rooms full of these men too.

"What have I done?"

His head went to his knees and he hugged his legs tighter. Body shaking, he sobbed silently to himself.

"What have I done...?"

Azula smiled happily as she watched. Slowly, she was learning to be patient and just enjoy the show from her seat in the Spirit World. It was getting good, and things were just about to make a leap for the best.

"Good luck, guys."

Ursa and Yue smiled with her.

There was a loud cracking and rumbling sound for a second and the earthen walls around him and floor beneath him shook.

"What the –?!"

Everything shook for a moment again and then all went still. Windu looked around in shock and wonder, trying to figure out what was going on.

"Hello?" he called out weakly. No reply.

But just faintly, he was sure he could hear voices. And he looked up. He could hear them – they were somewhere above him.

"Hello?"

There was the rumble again, and in less than two seconds, it had gotten louder until it was deafening. Then the roof above him gave in and he shouted out in shock and threw his hands over his head for safety.

Suspender!!! Yay, lol. Sorry it's a teensy bit short :D But eh, it's better than nothing, SO NO COMPLAINING!!! Anyway, tell me what you thought and please leave a review.

Now, I think I'd be pushing it a bit if I kept asking for at least 5 reviews after disabling anonymous reviewers... so I'll drop it back down to three (3), which was always my bare minimum. So guys, gimme three reviews so that I may update :D If I get more, that's brilliant. I love you all! ^_^

Next chapter, things start getting really, really good :D, so stay tuned!

ZUTARA ON!