The next day, Cho took him to a place she called the Firelight Fountain. The lanterns were not lit during the day, but there were still people all around. On this day, there was a small band playing, and many of the people were dancing. Cho's eyes lit up with excitement as she looked at Lu Ten.
"Please tell me you dance," she said.
"Dancing is one of life's greatest pleasures," he told her. "It is the truest form of self-expression."
"Great!" she cried, and dragged him into the circle.
She taught him some steps and they moved together with great ease. There was one song that everyone but Lu Ten seemed to know the steps to, but the people all helped him, so he got to dance with pretty much everyone that was there. He was linked arms with a short, stout woman, doing a sort of skip-step, when in the crowd around the edge, he spotted faces he knew. It was the couple from the train station! He excused himself and jogged over to them. The main difference was that the woman had apparently given birth, as she was holding a tiny baby in her arms.
"Hello!" he greeted.
"Hello to you too!" returned the wife.
He glanced down at the baby. "Congratulations! Boy or girl?"
"Boy," said the man. "We've been trying to find you for a couple days. We wanted to introduce ourselves and get your name as well."
"I'm Ping," Lu Ten said.
"I'm Yang, and this is my wife, Lily," the man said. "We really wanted to say thank you again."
"And now we have a name for our son," Lily added. "We'll name him Ping, in honor of the first act of kindness we received since becoming refugees."
"Please, I am not worthy –" Lu Ten began, but they cut him off.
"Of course you are," Lily insisted. "You have a good heart."
He bowed to them. "I am so honored."
They bid him farewell, and he felt a tap on his shoulder. He whipped around to find Cho.
"What did you do for them?" she questioned.
He told her what he had done at the train station. "It really wasn't a big deal."
"Are you kidding?!" she cried. "That was huge! You're the sweetest, Ping."
He felt heat come to his face that he knew was not from dancing.
Later that day, he was supposed to rendezvous with his companions for the mission and report anything they had found. Lu Ten had not returned to look at the weak spot in the wall, since he was pretty much spending every moment he had with Cho now. However, he could not take her to the meeting, so he told her he was searching for an apartment and that he would meet her again for dinner. So, he met the other Fire Nation spies at a crowded restaurant and they gathered around a table. They were thankful for all the noise so that they could not be overheard.
"So," said Lu Ten, taking charge. Being the leader, it was appropriate. "Has anyone found anything?"
They all shook their heads.
"The wall really must be impenetrable," said one.
"What about you, Prince Lu Ten?" asked another. "Have you found anything?"
Lu Ten hesitated. Faces swam before him of everyone he had met. The people he danced with, Lily and Yang with their new baby, Sun and Jin, and most importantly, Cho. If he told the Fire Nation about the weakness in the wall, all of their lives would be ruined. He inwardly apologized to his father.
"No," he lied. "I haven't found anything."
"Well, what should we do?" asked the first spy.
"All of you go back to camp," Lu Ten instructed. He feared if the others stayed, they might find the weak spot and then nothing he could do would stop the Fire Nation. "I'll stay for the remainder of the week. Tell General Iroh that I will be coming back soon. This mission is futile, but I'll do my duty and complete it. Send a messenger hawk when you get back." He told them where he was staying so they could complete this task.
"Yes, sir, Prince Lu Ten," they agreed, and they left.
Lu Ten did not know how they were going to get back out of the city, but he knew they would find a way. He hoped to hear from them in the next few days, as he was already forming a plan to get the Fire Nation away from Ba Sing Se.