Alliance

Chapter 16

Iroh moved through the streets of the upper ring in the rather large city of Ba Sing Se. It hadn't been easy sneaking past the heavily guarded check points that were placed in various sections to keep the thieves and beggars out of the wealthy portion of the great city. But with a change of costume it became easier, being a wealthy teashop owner rather than a crippled old man.

Just look like you belong, Iroh reminded himself as he passed two Earth Kingdom guards. He smiled and waved to them, which they returned with a short bow. Continuing down the street, he passed many amazing variations of Earth Kingdom architecture before he came to the house he was looking for.

Taking a deep breath, he double checked the address on the lost Appa poster. So with that, he let his knuckle land on the door. He was not exactly sure how the Avatar and his friends were going to react to him asking them for help. After all, he did aide in his nephew's chase all over the world, however it is the Avatar's job to help people.

Iroh is a person, well at least he hoped he was in their eyes. Earning their trust and forgiveness may not be as easy as he anticipated. After there was, no answer, he knocked again, this time it was opened by a sleepy eyed Avatar. Iroh had no doubt he'd been out all night looking for his lost bison.

"Good morning," Iroh said with a large smile. Aang hadn't recognized the old man, yet.

"Good morning," Aang replied, rubbing his nearly closed eyes.

"I have news of your lost…" Iroh was cut off by the twelve year old Airbender's cry.

Realizing who was at the door, the young Avatar launched himself backwards. Landing on a table in the middle of the room where the Water Tribe siblings and the blind Earth bender were eating their breakfast. Eggs and rice flew in different directions as he got into his Airbending stance.

"Aang!" Sokka shouted as his meal covered himself.

"Hey!" Katara yelled, while bending her beverage out of her clothing.

"What's your deal Twinkle Toes?" Toph said, angry at the interruption in her breakfast. She stopped when she realized what had startled the Avatar. Toph stood up as she recognized a familiar presence. "Glad to know you're ok." She smiled at the old man.

Katara and Sokka had very different reactions. In fact, they were not exactly sure how to react.

"What are you doing here!?" Sokka blurted as he took out his boomerang.

"I have news on where to find your lost bison," Iroh said.

"You know where to find Appa?!" Aang shouted with hopeful excitement as he jumped off the table and rush towards the firebender. "Where?"

"I'll tell you, but I need your help." Iroh replied.

ATLAB

Li-ro was nearing the end of his morning shift, as he continued down the metal walkway in the large Fire Nation drill. He hated these early mornings, they always left him warn out for the rest of the day. The Fire Nation would have used the drill to break through to the other side of Ba Sing Se's first wall, that is if they hadn't been stopped by the young Avatar.

It must be hard for someone so young to take on such large responsibility, The Earth soldier thought to himself. The entire crew, excluding Princess Azula and War Minister Chang, had been taken to some unknown location for interrogation.

Nodding to another Earth Kingdom soldier as they past each other, Li-ro spotted something out of the corner of his eye. The other soldier passed out sight as he felt sure someone else was near.

"Is someone there?!" He called out, no answer. Maybe it was just his imagination, or a trick played by his tired mind. But no, he knew he had seen someone turn the corner up ahead.

Gripping his spear, because Earthbending was useless in the metal drill, so using caution, he stepped forward.

"Who's there?!" He called out, still no answer.

As he turned the corner, the Earth soldier allowed himself to relax a bit. No one was nearby. Then as if out of nowhere, a figure landed in front of him. Before he could react, one of the Spirit's blades sliced through his spear. Getting a glimpse of the blue and white mask of who, he was sure to be the Blue Spirit. Then with the other sword, the Blue Spirit used his hilt, by slamming it into the soldier's head, falling to the ground as the Earth soldier's mind went blank.

ATLAB

"As long as it's not taking over the Earth Kingdom," Sokka said, hoping to get a smile out the group, but only received a sharp elbow from his sister. "What!?"

Iroh let out a small chuckle. "No, I need your help on a different matter and it is the Avatar's job to help people."

"I say we help him," Sokka said, clearly proud of himself for making a sarcastic comment that was worthy of laughter.

"Since when are you in such a hurry to help someone?" Katara questioned her brother's peculiar behavior.

"Hey," Sokka said in defense, "He helped us at the North Pole."

"That's true."

"Of course he did cause the loss of Yue…" Sokka said, thinking out loud. "Then again it was her choice… but Iroh did help invade in the first place…"

Going back and forth with reasons why he should or shouldn't help the old man, Sokka seemed lost in his own train of thought. While his Water Tribe friend was deciding whether or not to help Iroh, Aang was more interested in knowing if Iroh really could reunite him with his lost friend.

"Can you really take me to Appa?" Aang asked, still hopeful that he could find his bison.

"I can," Iroh answered, then raised a brow at the still disputing Sokka. "Is he going to be ok?" He asked, The Dragon of the West had never really seen someone so lost in side himself.

"Yeah, he'll be fine," Katara answered, she wasn't sure if she was amazed or disturbed by her brother's 'unique' attributes.

"Ok," Aang said, "You take us to Appa and we will help you. Now what is it you need our help with?"

"I need your help finding my nephew."

"He did chase us all over the world… But he never really did anything…" Sokka was immediately snapped out of his thoughts. "Hold on, do you mean Zuko or some other nephew?"

Iroh shrugged, "I mean Zuko."

"Then the answer is no." Sokka answered with a slight edge in his voice. "The guy has a list a mile long why we shouldn't help him. I mean, he attacked our home, chased Aang…"

He was cut off by Katara, who covered her brother's mouth. "We don't need to go through that again."

"What happened to Zuko?" Aang asked, curious to how much he would need to risk by helping his enemy.

"He was taken by the Di Lai" Iroh answered.

"The Di Lai!?" All four of the kids exclaimed at once. Aang however continued. "If the Di Lai have Zuko, he's probably imprisoned somewhere near the Earth King's palace."

"No, I don't think so." Iroh replied, "Long Feng didn't know Zuko was Fire Nation when he took him. I believe he had Zuko shanghaied into the Earth Kingdom Army."

"Now that would be something to see," Sokka said with a huge grin, imagining the same Prince Zuko who chased them all over the world, ending up fighting for the Earth Kingdom. But the fact, he did chase them and attack them more than once, held Sokka back from jumping into the situation. Looking at the Airbender, Sokka could not help but ask, "You're not seriously thinking of helping Prince Zuko!"

"If it will help get Appa back," Aang answered, "I will do anything."

"Besides, my nephew has changed." Iroh insisted, "There is good in him. He is not the same man he was a few months ago."

"Fine," Sokka said reluctantly. "If it will help us find Appa, that is the priority."

"All agreed?" Aang asked the group. Resulting in a definite "Yes" from Toph and a slight nod from Katara. "It's settled then. We will help you rescue Prince Zuko after you take us to Appa."

Iroh smiled, everything was going to work out after all. He just hoped his nephew would understand why he went to the Avatar for help.

ATLAB

Zuko was disguised by the blue and white mask he had slipped into his belongings since the Fire Nation town. It was certainly lucky that they used masks at all the Fire Nation festivals.

Moving down the corridor he suddenly came to a dead end. He was stuck. Zuko had been sure the drill had penetrated the wall. There had to be some way out, any way. It was not long until he spotted the answer. About twelve feet off the ground, a ventilation shaft looked just big enough for the Banished Prince to crawl through.

Sheathing his swords before shooting a blast of fire, which melted the metal screen off the duct. Then launching himself upwards he grabbed onto the sides and pulled himself into shaft.

After what seemed like hours of endless crawling through a maze of ducts. Zuko finally felt a slight breeze brush by his face. Knowing that his exit was coming up, he picked up his pace. Before long he came across a slope that led down to the opening.

Allowing himself to slide down the vent, he knocked out the screen, landing on the ground inside the outer wall of Ba Sing Se. Prince Zuko had just penetrated the first wall of the un-penetrable city.

Taking no time to absorb his conquest, the Blue Spirit continued over the farm land towards the Earth tram, hoping to catch a ride through to the inner wall.

Authors Note: Thanks for your patience! I know it's been a long time since I last updated, but I used the time to revise some of my previous chapters. (Not changing the story line of course) After this chapter I believe I will wrap this story up in the next four chapters.

Thanks for reading!