Chapter 2: Princess and Peasant
It turned out that there was no need to threaten your way into Ba Sing Se when you're traveling with the Avatar. Azula expected some level of distrust for the Avatar, since he had seemingly abandoned the world for a hundred years. The General on the wall had gratefully allowed the Avatar and his friends inside the city, providing them with passage to the city's upper ring as a thank you for saving his hide.
Azula kept her mouth shut as much as possible while they walked into the city. She didn't want to slip up and give herself away, knowing absolutely nothing about the peasant whose body she was in. It also disgusted her to use a peasant's voice, since it had no class behind it. People didn't instantly obey her anymore, and that lack of control frustrated Azula. When everyone boarded a train Azula found herself with no way out of the conversation.
"Katara, why have you been so quite lately?" Sokka asked. Azula didn't say anything in response. "Katara, are you in there?"
Oh right, he's referring to me Azula thought. "Sorry, just thinking a lot."
"Really? I thought you would be excited to finally be in a place where we don't have to deal with Prince Jerk or the Dangerous Ladies" Sokka said.
Azula suppressed a laugh. Prince Jerk, I have to use that on Zuzu she thought. "Well I'm just thinking about how we're going to complete our goals" she said.
"Simple, talk to the Earth King about the war then search for Appa" Sokka explained. "Care to share any of your ideas?"
For a moment, Azula wasn't sure what to say. She glanced out the window and saw the inner wall approaching. "Look, the inner wall" she said, trying to avoid the question. "We finally made it to Ba Sing Se intact."
"Don't jinx it!" Sokka shouted. "We could still be attacked by some giant exploding Fire Nation spoon. Or find out the city's been submerged in an ocean full of killer shrimp."
Azula was about to say something when Toph beat her to it. "Have you been hitting the cactus juice again?" Toph asked.
"I'm just saying, weird stuff happens to us" Sokka said. As if on cue a large man sat down between Sokka and Toph while sucking on corn.
You don't know the half of it Azula thought. She looked at Aang and saw that he seemed to be depressed. Since when was the Avatar just like Mai? "What's keeping you so gloomy?" she asked.
"It's a big city" Aang said. "We might not find Appa."
"He's a giant bison, where could someone possible hide him?" Sokka asked. Then the train passed through a tunnel in the inner wall, and on the other side everyone saw just how large the city was.
OOOOOOOOOO
Meanwhile Katara was busy trying to appear as the Fire Nation princess. Ty Lee and Mai had taken her to the nearest military camp to stay at for the time being. The general in charge had immediately given up his personal tent when he saw Katara approach, knowing the princess would only tolerate the best he had to offer.
Inside the tent Katara was trying on fresh clothing to replace the ruined ones she had. It felt horrible to dress someone else's body, especially one that had tried to kill her before. Eventually she settled on a copy of the outfit that she remembered seeing Azula wear each time she had to fight her. With the new clothes on Katara looked at herself in a full size mirror.
Even her reflection looks like it's going to kill me Katara thought as she looked at the mirror. Those amber eyes just seemed wrong to her, as if staring at them long enough would burn her. Then there was that royal headpiece in her hair, marking her as Fire Nation. She pulled out the headpiece and threw it at the mirror, shattering the glass.
The sound of glass breaking caught the attention of two elderly women outside the tent. They both entered the tent and saw their princess with her hair down. Li and Lo were concerned for her, wondering why she could break a mirror like that.
"Is something wrong" Li said.
"Princess Azula?" Lo asked.
Everything is wrong Katara thought, wanting to yell it at them. "I thought I made it clear to not be interrupted!" Katara yelled instead.
"We're concerned for your wellbeing" Li said.
"Maybe you should get some rest" Lo suggested.
Katara sighed. "Maybe you're right" she said. "Just make sure no one comes in during the meantime."
"Very well Azula" Li said.
"Sweet dreams" Lo said.
Katara watched them leave the tent, relieved that they were gone. Why would she take advice from them? Katara thought. Even though Li and Lo were technically her enemies, Katara realized that their suggestion to rest could help. So she found a bed in the tent and lied down in it to take a nap.
OOOOOOOOOO
Back in Ba Sing Se, the train carrying Azula and the others pulled into a station in the lower ring. Everyone walked out of the train and took in the view of the city. Everyone except Toph of course.
"Back in the city, great…" Toph said.
"What's the problem?" Sokka asked. "It's amazing."
"Just a bunch of walls and rules" Toph said. "You wait, you'll get sick of it in a couple of days."
"Well if the rules become a problem we'll just have to bend them out of our way" Azula said. If this city is anything like New Ozai I should be in charge after a week she thought. In this body, probably a month or two…
While they talked a new woman in a yellow uniform walked up to them. Azula spotted the woman's strange smile, noting that it seemed forced. "Hello, my name is Joo Dee. I have been give the great honor of showing the Avatar around Ba Sing Se. And you must be Sokka, Katara, and Toph. Welcome to our wonderful city. Shall we get started?"
"Yes, we have information vital to the war effort the king has to see immediately" Sokka explained.
"Great! Let's begin our tour. Then I'll show you to your new home here. I think you will like it" Joo Dee said.
Is she deaf? Azula wondered.
"Maybe you missed what I said? We need to talk to the king about the war" Sokka said. "It's important."
"You're in Ba Sing Se now. Everyone is safe here" Joo Dee said.
She's dodging the issue Azula thought. "Can we just get going already?" she asked.
"Of course, off we go" Joo Dee said. She led everyone away from the train station and boarded a cart pulled by ostrich-horses. The cart moved through the lower ring first, heading deeper into the city.
"What's that wall for?" Sokka asked as he spotted one further in the city.
"Ba Sing Se has many walls" Joo Dee said. "There are the ones outside protecting us, and the ones inside that help maintain order. This is where our newest arrivals live, as well as our craftsmen and artisans, people who work with their hands. It's so quaint and lively." Out the window everyone saw people holding swords and eyeing the cart. "You do want to watch your step though."
Interesting… Azula thought. We could use these back at the capital. Looking out the window she observed how the walls kept the lower class contained and separated from their betters. "Well at least we won't have to deal with the questionable types, going to the upper ring" Azula said.
"This is why I never came here before" Aang said. "I always heard it was so different from the way the monks taught us to live."
OOOOOOOOOO
Meanwhile in the military camp, Katara was tossing and turning in her sleep. She was dreaming, and in the dream it appeared that she was back at the South Pole. Walking through her home village Katara noticed that it was abandoned, as though everyone had fled only minutes earlier. Turning around she saw Sokka and Kanna in the distance.
"Hey, wait up!" Katara shouted. They turned to face her, and then with fear on their faces they ran away. Katara tried to catch up to them, but they were too fast and vanished in the distance. Out of nowhere a wall of fire rose up in Katara's path, so she turned around and saw Aang lying on the ice with Zuko standing over him.
"Thank you sis, I couldn't have done it without you" Zuko said.
Enraged, Katara tried to bend the ice into a wave of water to force Zuko away from Aang. Instead she got a wave of blue fire which incinerated Zuko and Aang together. The flames vanished and Katara was alone, horrified at her actions.
Suddenly the ice shattered beneath her feet, sending her plummeting into an abyss. Falling through empty space Katara saw the moon above, quickly moving away from her. Below her was the sun, and she was falling into it. Katara reached for the moon, screaming "Don't leave me!" but she kept falling. The sun's light outshined the moon as Katara was consumed by its flames.
Immediately Katara woke up drenched in cold sweat. I can't do this she thought. I can't be Her. Katara put the headpiece back in her hair just to keep up appearances and then walked out of the tent. Ignoring questions about where she was going, Katara walked out of the military camp. She was nearly out of sight from the camp when she heard and unnaturally perky voice calling for Azula.
Katara stopped and waited for Ty Lee to run up to her. "What is it?" Katara asked bluntly.
"Look what I found" Ty Lee said. She held up her hand, which was holding onto a small clump of white fur.
Appa! Katara thought, recognizing the fur. "Where did you find that?" she asked.
"It was between here and Full Moon Bay" Ty Lee answered. "So are we going to track down the Avatar again?"
"Yes" Katara said. If I can get Appa back to Aang he'll believe that I'm not Azula.
OOOOOOOOOO
"Here we are, you're new home" Joo Dee said.
Azula looked at the house provided for the Avatar in the upper ring. It was the nicest looking house in the area, but quite some distance from the palace. Looking around she spotted several places that could be used to spy on the house, including the roofs of nearby buildings. Keeping us where we can be monitored, they're hiding something in this city Azula thought.
Before they could enter the house a messenger arrived and delivered a scroll to Joo Dee. The woman read the scroll quickly. "Good news everyone, your request for an audience with the Earth King is being processed, and should be put through in about a month" she said. "Much more quickly than usual."
"A Month!" Sokka complained.
"Six to eight weeks, actually" Joo Dee said.
Just be grateful that you can actually see the king eventually Azula thought. Back in the Fire Nation you didn't 'request' an audience with the Fire Lord unless you were royalty, and everyone else had to wait for the Fire Lord to summon you to his throne room. Azula was glad they were being delayed, since it gave her time to plan her next move.
"If we're going to be here for a month we should spend our time looking for Appa" Aang suggested.
"I'll be happy to escort you anywhere you like to go" Joo Dee said.
"That won't be necessary" Azula said. "You're dismissed."
"I won't be in the way…"
"Dismissed!" Azula said.
"Leaving you alone would make me a bad host" Joo said.
Azula walked up to Joo Dee really close to whisper without anyone else hearing. "Leave or I will make certain that you never work anywhere in this city ever again!" She watched Joo Dee's smile waver for a moment, who then nodded and left the house. Now that's more like it Azula thought.
"Finally" Toph said. "She was getting on my nerves."
"Yea and I doubt she would be any help looking for Appa" Aang said.
"She would have gotten in the way" Azula said.
"Well then we better start searching for Appa" Sokka said.
"If you don't mind, I'd like to stay here and get settled in while the rest of you go" Azula said.
"Okay" Sokka said. "Could you cook some dinner for when we get back?"
Cook? Azula thought. "Um... sure?" she said. Where's Ty Lee when you need her?
OOOOOOOOOO
Outside the military camp, Katara was looking at three mongoose-dragons. Ty Lee and Mai had climbed into the saddles of the left and right creatures, leaving the middle one available for Katara. She slowly climbed up the creature, taking her time to not fall off. Once in the saddle Katara grabbed the reins, wondering how to make the creature move.
"Um, Yip Yip?" She quietly said. The creature only spit its tongue out in response. I guess that only works on Appa she thought. Then she pulled on the reins and the creature took off, running across the land. Katara had to suppress a scream, surprised at how quickly the creature had accelerated. After taking a few minutes to get accustomed to riding she looked back and saw Ty Lee and Mai keeping pace with her.
While riding towards Full Moon Bay, Katara thought about her situation. She was traveling with her enemies to track down her friend's sky bison which would think of her as the enemy. There had to be some irony in that observation. Katara had no idea how to explain what happened to her friends. Hi, I'm not the crazy firebender but the girl that found you in the iceberg… It sounded ridiculous in her head.
At sundown they reached the shores of Full Moon Bay. Looking around Katara spotted another clump of white fur on the ground. This one was burned at one end, which worried Katara. What have you been through Appa? she wondered while holding the burned fur. "We're making camp here and keep an eye out for the bison" Katara ordered, which still felt strange giving out commands with a different voice.
Like well trained pets, Ty Lee and Mai immediately started following the order. They set up a tent for Katara and a second one for themselves. While they worked Katara walked to a nearby river to draw water to cook with and brought it back to the campsite. When she set down a pot of water Ty Lee and Mai stared at her.
"Is something wrong?" Katara asked.
"No no no" Ty Lee said. "Did you want to cook with me tonight?"
"If you don't mind" Katara said.
"Great, this will be fun" Ty Lee said.
Ty Lee lit a fire with spark rocks and set the pot of water to boil. Katara looked through the food supplies and found a lot of raw turtleduck meat with Azula's name on the wrappings. Must be her favorite… Katara thought. She boiled the meat and made turtleduck stew with it and various spices that Ty Lee provided.
When the stew was ready Mai was the first to try it. Katara couldn't be certain, but it looked like Mai smiled for half a second after the first bite. "It's alright" Mai said.
"Well I think it's excellent" Ty Lee said after eating her own stew. "You're a really great cook Azula."
Must not shudder… Must not shudder… Katara thought at being complemented as someone she hated. "Well I try" she said.
OOOOOOOOOO
At the Avatar's house in Ba Sing Se, the kitchen was in ruins. Filthy pots and pans lay everywhere, various pieces of what used to be raw ingredients sticking to everything. The only things close to edible were the slabs of meat which were burned on the outside but still frozen on the inside. Azula had tried to cook but failed miserably, having always delegated her cooking to servants and Ty Lee.
"Screw this, I'm ordering takeout" Azula said.