Chapter 20: The Big City
After retrieving Appa from a mountain they left Minister Qin at, Aang and the others flew towards Ba Sing Se. Haru was at the reins while Aang was in the saddle with his feet in the air. Katara was applying water to Aang's burned feet and slowly healing them. Suki was trying to repair Aang's shoes but didn't have the right material to replace the soles. Below them the drill was slowly grinding to a halt, courtesy of Haru and Katara's sabotage that made the engines explode.
"How did this happen?" Katara asked, referring to the burns she was healing.
"It turns out that crazy girl Azula has a brother," Aang answered. "And apparently lightning runs in the family."
"Okay, from now on you're not going anywhere alone," Suki said. She tossed the ruined shoes aside, deciding that they weren't worth the effort to fix. "Too many people want you dead."
"But we should be fine once we're in Ba Sing Se," Aang said. Then he noticed that Appa was heading down early. "Haru, why are landing now?"
Haru was looking straight at the Outer Wall, guiding Appa to land on it. "No one in the city has seen a sky bison in a hundred years," Haru explained. "We don't want to freak people out by flying straight for the Earth King."
In minutes Appa landed on the Outer Wall, and was immediately surrounded by dozens of Earth Kingdom soldiers. Aang leapt off Appa and landed in front of him, leaning on his staff to keep his weight off still delicate feet. All of the soldiers either wielded spears or took earthbending stances, all aimed at either Aang or Appa.
"Civilians aren't allowed on the wall," one of the soldiers said.
"I'm the Avatar," Aang said. "We need to see the Earth King."
A few of the soldiers lowered their weapons and whispered to each other. Once they finished their discussion one of them signaled the rest to stand down. "We'll take you to General Sung."
The soldiers lead Aang and his friends to a building on the wall. Leaving Appa and the others just outside Aang entered to meet the general. Behind a desk was General Sung, a middle aged with robes that seemed too big for him. He was about to yell about the intrusion when a soldier whispered in his ear, informing him that Aang was the Avatar.
Sung stood up from his desk and walked over to Aang. "What brings the Avatar to this grand city?" Sung asked, bowing to Aang.
"I need the Earth King's help," Aang answered. "Can you get us to him right away?"
"Not personally," Sung answered, stroking his chin. "But I can get you authorization to be in the Upper Ring. I'll be sure to let the palace guard know you're coming."
"Thank you," Aang said with a bow.
"Just be sure to stop at the Inner Wall first," Sung recommended. "You'll need to pick up a guide there."
"Why?" Aang asked.
"Because there are laws in Ba Sing Se that must be obeyed by everyone," Sung explained. "You may be the Avatar, but that does not make you an exception."
"Alright, fine," Aang said.
After climbing back into Appa's saddle the bison flew towards the Inner Wall. Passing over the Agrarian Zone between walls everyone noticed how most of the land below was used for farming. Everything the city needed had to be produced there, since trade with the outside world was cut off in the war. Farmers on the ground saw Appa pass by, pointing him out for their kids to see.
Along the way Appa followed a train propelled by earthbending, which carried refugees towards the lower ring of the city. It led to a station just inside the wall, and Appa landed just outside of it. People at the station backed away from Appa, uncertain if the bison was friendly or not. Aang and the others climbed out of the saddle in time to see a woman in yellow approach them, who had a strange smile on her face.
"Hello, my name is Joo Dee. I have been given the great honor of showing the Avatar around Ba Sing Se."
"We don't need the grand tour," Suki said.
"You must be Suki, Katara, and Haru," Joo Dee continued, ignoring Suki's interruption. "Welcome to our wonderful city. Shall we get started?"
"First, can I get some new shoes?" Aang asked, holding up a tender bare foot and pointing at it.
"Why yes, there's an excellent cobbler in the lower ring," Joo Dee answered. "We can stop there on our way to your new home."
"Everyone back in the saddle," Haru said.
While the kids climbed aboard, they noticed that Joo Dee was hesitant to join them. Used to handling inquisitive refugees and traveling in carriages, riding a sky bison was a task she had never been prepared for. But since she lacked an excuse to avoid the issue, she reluctantly climbed into Appa's saddle. When Appa took off Joo Dee's perpetual smile wavered for a moment, barely maintaining her self-control.
Despite the unusual perspective from the air, Joo Dee could still locate a suitable store for Aang to replace his shoes in the lower ring. The cobbler didn't have the same kind of shoes Aang used to wear, given that the style hadn't been made in a century. Instead Aang had to make do with a pair of sandals that were the latest fashion in Ba Sing Se.
After the quick stop Appa was back in the air flying towards the upper ring, quickly passing the wall dividing the lower and middle rings. Joo Dee gave her usual descriptions of what the rings contained, though her speech wavered due to her discomfort in the air. The house reserved for the Avatar was easy to spot in the upper ring, thanks to the wide spaces between the luxury homes. When Appa landed in front of it Joo Dee showed everyone the inside of the house.
"Isn't it nice?" Joo Dee asked. "I think you'll really enjoy it here."
"Can we go see the king now?" Aang asked.
"Oh no, you don't just pop in on the Earth King," Joo Dee said.
"Why not? He's the Avatar," Suki asked.
A knock at the door immediately caught Joo Dee's attention, and she answered the door. Outside was a courier who handed a scroll to Joo Dee before leaving to complete other deliveries. After reading the scroll Joo Dee faced Aang. "You're request to see the Earth King is being processed, and should be put through in about a month. Much more quickly than usual."
"Seriously?" Haru asked.
"Six to eight weeks actually," Joo Dee said.
"We are not waiting that long," Aang said.
"The Earth King is very busy running the finest city in the world," Joo Dee excused.
"It won't be running much longer if we don't see him right away," Suki argued, getting up close to Joo Dee. "We need to see him about the war."
"You're in Ba Sing Se, everyone is safe here," Joo Dee said, completely dismissing Suki.
Suki wanted to punch Joo Dee for being so dismissive about a devastating war, but settled for turning around and dragging Aang and Katara into the next room. Haru stepped between Joo Dee and the door while Suki closed it. Locking the door and leading Aang and Katara to the other side of the room Suki believed that Joo Dee wouldn't be able to hear them talk.
"We're not going to get anywhere with her around," Suki said, jerking her thumb at the door.
Aang nodded, already wondering how he was going to get rid of Joo Dee. "So should we just knock her out here and move on to the Earth King?"
"Not subtle enough," Suki said.
"What do you have in mind?" Katara asked.
"Can you and Haru keep her busy for a few hours?" Suki asked.
"Shouldn't be too hard," Katara said.
In the evening everyone left the house, telling Joo Dee that they wanted to visit the palace right away. Suki let Joo Dee redirect them elsewhere, taking Appa to a marketplace in the middle ring. Deliberately asking any and every one questions regarding the war kept Joo Dee busy trying to keep them silent. When Joo Dee started getting visibly frustrated Suki led Aang away from the others, trusting Katara and Haru to keep Joo Dee busy.
Leaving her Kyoshi Warrior uniform in Appa's saddle, Suki wore a slimmer dark outfit for stealth. She led Aang back to the upper ring, taking a few hours to reach it without being seen. The palace was surrounded by dozens of guards, but Suki had Aang earthbend a tunnel beneath the ground to get around them. They had to go slow to minimize noise from earthbending, and prayed that they wouldn't hit any existing tunnels before reaching the palace.
After half an hour of tunneling Aang and Suki reached a cellar beneath the palace, which was filled with metal chains. Being careful not to touch anything Aang closed the hole in the wall from the tunnel, trying to make it appear that nothing was there. Suki walked over to the cellar door and carefully opened it, checking to see if anyone was in the hallway. She gestured for Aang to follow her out of the cellar, stealthily moving through the hallway.
Having no idea where the Earth King's throne room or personal chambers were located, Suki and Aang wandered the palace halls at random. Patrols roamed the halls as well, which required Suki to grab Aang by his shirt and pull him into dark corners until the patrols passed. A few people thought they heard something, but continued on to their business elsewhere. To avoid one patrol Suki ducked into a room, taking Aang into a study.
The study was large, and had a fireplace at the end that burned with low green flames. Several tables were inside with many papers and scrolls left on them, but were difficult to read in dim green light. It appeared as if someone had been examining the documents, but had to leave in a hurry. Aang grabbed the document on top, finding a disturbing report on it.
"What is all this?" Aang muttered. The top of the report read Suspicious Persons: Monitor Closely and had a list of names as well. At the top of the list was his name, followed by all of his friends. Other names followed, from Ayami to Jet to Zei.
Suki walked over to Aang and glanced at the list. "This cannot be good," she muttered.
Suddenly another door to the study opened, surprising Suki and Aang. They quickly ducked under the table, hoping that the poor lighting would conceal them. Entering the room was a middle aged man with a receding hairline, along with a woman in the same uniform as Joo Dee. The man took a seat in front of the fireplace with the woman stood in front of him.
"I trust that everything is in place for the King's bear's party?" the man asked.
"Of course Long Feng," the woman answered. "We'll be able to immediately evacuate the King should the Avatar make an appearance."
The sound of someone running in the hall outside caught both of their attention. A courier entered the room and handed a scroll to Long Feng, then immediately left. Long Feng quickly read the scroll and smiled. "This development should help keep the Avatar under control."
That comment got Aang's complete attention, and he almost moved to confront Long Feng before Suki grabbed Aang and covered his mouth with her hand. Suki knew that now was not the time to expose themselves without finding the King first. Aang had to stay silent and watch Long Feng pocket the scroll he had just received.
"Is there anything else?" the woman asked.
"No Joo Dee, that is all," Long Feng stated.
For a moment Suki wondered how Joo Dee got here so quickly, but the woman's voice was completely different from the Joo Dee she knew. Unless more than one woman had the same name, something strange was going on here. Before Suki could get a good look at her face Joo Dee left the study, closing the door behind her.
Long Feng walked over to the fireplace and added a few logs to build up the green fire. He tossed a few green crystals in it as well, which maintained the green color of the flames. With the fire bigger the green light shone on more of the room. Then he walked over the table that Suki and Aang were hiding under, and looked over the documents on it.
After a moment he noticed that one report was missing. "Where did I put that?" Long Feng muttered to himself, checking underneath the other papers on the table. Then he crouched to check the floor beneath the table. "What the…"
Immediately Aang bent a strong gust of wind at Long Feng, taking him by surprise and nearly blowing him into the fireplace. Retaliating Long Feng bent the crystals in the fireplace, lifting them up and throwing them at Aang. Still aflame the crystals nearly hit Aang before he shattered them with earthbending, scattering pieces of burning crystal across the study.
Green flames turned red as books and scrolls were set aflame. New light filled the study, revealing everyone in the room. "The Avatar…" Long Feng muttered, quickly trying to think of a way to turn the situation to his advantage. "If I had known you were coming I'd have dinner prepared."
"Where is the Earth King?" Aang demanded, only letting his guard down for a moment to extinguish the fires in the study.
After taking a moment to straighten his robes, Long Feng bent the ground beneath the piles of wood and crystal by the fireplace, tossing more fuel into the fireplace to refill it. "Now why would you go through all this trouble just to see him?" Long Feng asked.
"I need his army to win the war," Aang answered.
Suki stepped beside Aang. "Where is he?"
Long Feng sat down in front of the fireplace, facing Aang with his back to the green flames. "The Earth King has no time to get involved with political squabbles and the day to day minutia of military activities."
"I'm not leaving until I get his support," Aang said.
"You'll be waiting a long time," Long Feng said. "The King only deals in cultural matters, I'm the one who runs this city."
"Then you can get us the army," Suki said.
"No, I don't think so," Long Feng said. "You are no military commander. You don't know the risks of war. Or that taking the army out of Ba Sing Se would cripple the city's defenses. Going on the offensive would cost countless lives, are you prepared to have their blood on your hands?"
"If you don't help us those people are going to die anyway," Aang argued. "The Fire Nation will not stop until Ba Sing Se falls. You can help me prevent that and stop this war."
"Enough!" Long Feng shouted, standing up. "It is the policy of Ba Sing Se that the war not be mentioned within the walls. If continue your foolish quest you will be expelled from the city."
"You can't keep this a secret from everyone," Aang said.
"The people have a right to know," Suki said.
"You will be silent or you shall suffer the consequences," Long Feng threatened. He paused for a moment, then grinned. "Tell me Avatar, do you know where Katara is?"
The tone in Long Feng's voice told Aang that something had to be terribly wrong. Immediately he left the study, taking Suki with him and not caring about stealth anymore. Soldiers inside the palace were about to stop them when Long Feng gave an order to let them leave. Once Aang was outside he unfolded his glider and took off, letting Suki hang from his legs. Flying with a passenger was dangerous enough on its own, but doing it at night was reckless.
Flying straight to the house in the upper ring Aang found Appa waiting there in the backyard. Haru was outside throwing hay into Appa's mouth for him to eat. Seeing them relieved Aang a bit, but he wanted to be certain that Katara was alright. Aang landed in behind the house with Suki and then ran up to Haru. "Is Katara here?" Aang asked.
"We got separated in the marketplace after you two snuck away," Haru answered. "I just got back from there, maybe she's inside?"
Aang rushed inside the house through the backdoor, leaving both of his friends outside. "Katara!" he shouted, but there was no answer. He checked every room, finding no sign of her. "Where are you?" he muttered in the main room, just as Suki and Haru walked inside.
"Any sign of her?" Suki asked.
"Nothing," Aang answered. He hurried towards the door to get to Appa. "We need to look for her."
Haru grabbed Aang's arm to stop him. "It's the middle of the night," Haru said. "We're not going to find anyone in the dark."
"We'll get some rest and look for Katara first thing in the morning," Suki said.
Aang didn't want to wait, but his friends wouldn't budge on the issue. Under protest he walked to his room and crawled into bed. Worrying about Katara kept him awake for hours, but he eventually slept. The few hours Aang did sleep seemed to pass instantly, and Aang was the first to wake up in the morning.
About to head out the back door to search on Appa, the sound of the front door opening caught Aang's attention. Turning around he found Katara walk into the house. Immediately Aang rushed over to Katara. "You're back!" Aang shouted. "I was worried."
"I'm fine," Katara said.
"Where'd you go?" Aang asked. "Haru said you got separated yesterday."
"Yea, I turn my back for one minute and he and Appa are gone," Katara said. "Have you noticed that Appa tends to be gone right when you need him?"
"Can't say that I have," Aang answered. "So where did you stay last night?"
"Joo Dee showed me a place a friend of hers lives at," Katara said. "It's right on the edge of Lake Laogai."