Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar or the song "Kansas City" from Oklahoma, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.
Author's Note: I got this song in my head a few weeks ago and thought it described Ba Sing Se reasonably well. The last verse didn't fit very well, though, so I had to wing it.
Kansas City
I
got to Kansas City on a Friday,
By Saturday, I learned a thing or
two.
Up to then, I didn't have an idea
Of what the modern
world was coming to.
It only took a day or two in Ba Sing Se for Sokka to realize that it was not exactly what he had expected. He supposed that he had built up some incredible, perhaps impossible, expectations about the city during their travels, but he hadn't been the only one. The image of the thick walls protecting the Earth Kingdom's capital and making it a bastion of hope and a symbol of the world's resistance to the Fire Nation had been, well, irresistible, especially after Omashu had fallen.
Although Aang had expressed some doubts, only Toph had truly been uninterested in going to Ba Sing Se. She seemed to accept the necessity of getting their information to the king, but Sokka had to admit that she had been right all along. He hadn't understood the meaning of bureaucracy, but he certainly got it now. Furthermore, he didn't like it.
I counted
20 gas buggies going by theirselves
Almost every time I took a
walk.
Then I put my ear to a Bell telephone,
And a strange
woman started in to talk. What next?
Sokka had just expected that the Avatar would gain immediate entrance to see the king and was flabbergasted at getting a wait of one or two months. He hated biding his time when there were important things to be done.
Granted, the technology around them was fascinating, and if their business weren't so urgent, Sokka could happily have spent hours studying it and asking questions. The earthbending-powered trains and their supports, for example, were absolute marvels of engineering, but that didn't seem to adequately balance the creepy elements of the city, like one Joo Dee being replaced by another or discovering that the vaunted Earth King was little more than a figurehead.
Everything's up
to date in Kansas City.
They've gone about as far as they can
go.
They went and built a sky-scraper 7 stories tall,
About as
high as a building ought to grow!
Every member of their group seemed to have his or her particular issue. Aang was utterly distracted, both by Appa's absence and Katara's presence. Honestly, Sokka didn't see the big deal about that dress Katara wore to the king's party. She still looked like his sister, although he preferred her wearing less makeup.
Meanwhile, Katara was wholly occupied with supporting Aang, whatever he wanted, and Toph was simply bored. The three of them under one roof was enough to drive anyone crazy, so Sokka spent as much of his time as possible out exploring the city and admiring the architecture. By just focusing on the buildings, you could almost forget what was going on inside them and what the walls were for. Now if he could only shake the persistent feeling that he was being watched.
Everything's
like a dream in Kansas City.
It's better than a magic lantern
show.
You can turn the radiator on whenever you want some
heat,
With every kind of comfort, every house is all complete.
You
can walk to privies in the rain and never wet your feet!
They've
gone about as far as they can go.
Of course, not everything about living in Ba Sing Se was bad. They had a nice house to stay in, and regular meals were provided, something that was always high on Sokka's list of priorities. After the months of traveling, it was a nice change to not have to scramble for food and shelter or hide their identities. The house even had a bathroom indoors!
The residents of the city used some kind of green crystal for flameless lighting, which Sokka had not seen before. Katara and Aang informed him that they'd seen similar crystals in the Cave of Two Lovers. Sokka didn't know how he had missed that. He still hadn't gotten the full story of what had happened to the other two in the cave, and with the way both of them blushed every time he asked, he didn't think he was likely to.
Everything's up to date in
Kansas City.
They've gone about as far as they can go.
They've
got a big theatre they call a 'burleque;'
For fifty cents, you
can see a dandy show!
In summary, their accommodations were probably the best Sokka had experienced since they were the guests of King Bumi in Omashu. Too bad that this, too, felt a little like a prison. They were free to walk about as they chose, but there were things they weren't supposed to ask and people they couldn't talk to. The university was interesting, but it didn't take long to figure out that it was little more than a place to disseminate the myths of the city, like the one that there was no war.
There were, however, a wide variety of entertainments available in the city, things Sokka had never before imagined. He was familiar with music and dance, but writing for him had always been a means to communicate rather than an art form. He stumbled into a poetry reading one evening and discovered that he had quite a gift for Haiku, at least until he lost track of his syllables.
One
of the gals was fat and pink and pretty,
As round above as she was
round below.
I could swear that she was padded
From her
shoulder to her heel,
But then, she started dancin',
And her
dancin' made me feel
That every single thing she had was
absolutely real!
She went about as far as she could go!
After being unceremoniously kicked out for his verbal transgression, Sokka sought another diversion. He found a theatre that appeared to be enormously popular and had the additional advantage of being fairly inexpensive as well. He paid and watched a variety of acts, including dancing, comedy, and a puppet show.
Eventually, a woman appeared on the stage, and she was apparently the main attraction because loud cheering rose up. Sokka goggled at her when the lights fully showed her, certain that her proportions defied the laws of nature. However, as she methodically began removing her clothing, he became convinced that her body was perhaps the only thing in this cursed city that was real. Red-faced, he made his way out of the building and back to the house. He forbade anyone in the group from going to that theatre again and shut his door without giving any explanation.
Whenever they got out of this place, it couldn't be too soon.
--
Member of the Boomeraang Squad: charleegirl, Jesus.Lives, Liselle129, Strix Moonwing, Avatarwolf, MormonMaiden, libowiekitty, Snows of Yester-Year, La Vixen de Amor, chocolatecoveredbananacheese, Aangy, and honorary member SnakeEyes16
Author's Note: I know, the ending doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it was the best I could come up with. Anyway, Sokka is the only person who doesn't give a real opinion on the city, so I felt like I had some room to speculate.
Review responses:
airnaruto45: I guess I'm one of the charter members of the Boomeraang Squad, but I didn't originate. However, my furthering of the name increased the membership dramatically. I'd have to know more about your group before adding my name to it, and the other members of my squad are individuals that I can't really speak for.
Wishing Only Wounds the Heart: Well, thank you, I'm glad you thought the last two chapters were good. I know this one got a little silly.
Vanille Strawberry: Yeah, I loved that ending with just substituting knives for bullets. By the way, I read Ember Island Confessions and really enjoyed it. Haven't seen the promo yet.
nutshak: It's okay; I know what you mean. I'm always happy to hear that the emotion of a story was effective because that's usually my primary focus.