One year before Aang was discovered in the South Pole in Kanto...

Mao had just turned fifteen years old, and was traveling back to the adopted domain of the Hojo clan to undergo his naming ceremony. Once the domain of the Hojo were in their homelands in Kanto, but these lands are still under the iron grip of the Fire Nation. General Honda was waging a war by himself and a group of volunteers. Ba Sing Se had turned their backs on Kanto. The naming ceremony was a traditional custom, that all Air Nomad male teenagers undergo that would formally make them a man in the eyes of their clan.

"Mao-san! Mao-san!" a distant called out to him. Barely audible because of the wind.

"Mao-dono, there appears to be a rider trying to catch up to us," said large powerful man who was escorting him on his travel.

Mao turned to look over his shoulder to see that his guardian was correct. A young monk in the traditional clothes of a novice, with his arrow tattoos, was waving furiously at them as he galloped toward them. Mao pulled at the reins of his horse and turned it to face the newcomer.

"Ho there!" shouted Mao's companion, raising a hand to motion the newcomer to stop.

"Watanabe-san! Mao-san! It's me, Gorobei!"

"You refer to my lord as, 'Mao-dono' Gorobei-kun."

"Why do you call Mao-sa...I mean Mao-dono as your lord. You're a retainer of the Honda clan aren't you?"

"He was a guest of the Honda. And protege of Honda-dono. Why he's practically his lordship's second son."

"Such honorifics are silly. Why in the Earth Kingdom, they don't use them. In fact, I don't see why anyone should have titles."

"Why you insolent-" growled Watanabe.

"That's enough Watanabe," Mao interjected. "The monks teach us that honors and titles are impediments to universal equality and fraternity. Naturally, some novices would be unaware of our some of peculiar mannerisms. So what seems to be the matter Gorobei?"

"We saw you riding down this road and Kosai-sensei wanted to talk to you before your naming ceremony," Gorobei said stiffly. "We're traveling with some sheep and goat herders. They're taking their flocks for their summer grazing you see."

"Please lead the way," replied Mao and Gorobei silently led them to the encampment.

"You summoned me Kosai-sensei?" Mao entered the yurt and promptly sat in front of Kosai who was waiting patiently for him.

"Yes I did. It concerns your recent activities with the Kazekage."

"I-I don't know what you mean."

"Yes you do. Even though I'm an old man of the cloth, it does not mean that I did not have my wilder days. And I have managed to grow very long ears."

Mao mentally raised an eyebrow.

"And I wish to tell you, that you have become too brazen," Kosai frowned as he raised his voice. "Have you not learned anything from my lessons?"

Mao did not reply.

"...You are straying into a very dark path Mao. Stray any further and you will following the path of Asura. A demon made manifest that only lives for and only desires chaos and destruction. A demon that has an insatiable thirst for blood. Did I not teach you that you should only fight to purify your enemies, not to destroy them? When you surround an enemy, you leave one avenue of escape so that he may choose to run away, rather than stay to be slaughtered! Corner an enemy like that would only make them more dangerous!"

"They had left us with no choice," Mao offered weakly.

"Silence! We do not need anymore evil in this world! We do not need anymore demons to kill and kill more good men! War is not to be taken so idly like a sport! You are gambling with people's lives! No power in the world can bring back the dead, no one. What will you tell the families who lost their fathers, sons, and brothers because of your actions?! Do you have no shame?!"

Mao sat motionless letting his old teacher speak.

"All you are doing, is sowing the seeds of destruction, to a fragile world that you are to save!"

"...That was never my intention. I thought that by attaining victory no matter what the cost, I may be justify the sacrifices that we made...Remind me one of your lessons sensei. My favorite is the three Khans who first united the Air Nomads," Mao said cautiously.

"Very well then," Kosai said mildly. "There were three men who were enjoying tea together. They were sworn brothers and the best of friends. The oldest was the leader would later become the first Khan of the Air Nomads. He was brave and fierce warrior, and he feared no man. The second oldest, who would become the second Khan, was shrewd and cunning. The third and greatest of them was the youngest. He was just ambitious as the others, but he would be the one who laid the foundation for a two hundred year dynasty. Sometime during their gathering, the oldest brought out a nightingale that he had bought from a peddler. He wanted it to sing while they had their tea, as it was customary. But the bird would not sing."

Kosai paused, prompting Mao to continue where he left off.

"At first, they let the bird be and proceeded with their tea and had their meal," Mao continued. "They thought that if they played music, it would sing. But it did not. Embarrassed, the first Khan had the bird placed in front of them."

Kosai nodded. "What did the first Khan do?" He asked.

"He said, 'Bird, if you do not sing. I will kill you,'" replied Mao.

"The first Khan united the Air Nomads by fire and sword. Those who opposed him were killed. Combatants, innocents. It made no difference if they opposed him. He sought to unite the land solely by conquest. But he did not realize his dream. He was betrayed by a lieutenant who proved to be just as ambitious as he was. He thought by walking the path of Asura, he would possess the strength to unite the land." Kosai paused and then continued. "Tell what the next Khan say to the bird."

"The second Khan stayed the first's hand when the bird still refused to sing. He said to the bird, 'Bird, if you do not sing. I will make you sing.' So he tried feeding the bird seeds, and gave it water. He had even had another nightingale placed inside so that it may be encouraged to sing. But neither of them sang which embarrassed the second Khan."

"And what happened to the second Khan later in his life?"

"The second Khan, through his guile and cleverness, forged alliances with the other clans, and used diplomacy to compel, or bribe others to submit to his rule. He also proved to be an able military commander and finished what the first had started, and conquered the rest of the continent. He was the one who established the first Khanate; that would be known to the world as the Air Nomad Empire. But despite his lieutenants' protests he then attacked the Fire Nation, and his army was soundly defeated. He never recovered from the loss. Eventually he grew old and senile and feared for the future of his clan. Through his pride and vanity of having his biological son to inherit the throne, he had his adopted son and three generations of his son's family executed. From the old, the lame, down to the last child. He later became paranoid and suspected enemies all around him, even those who thought of him as friends and allies. When the second Khan finally passed away, he left behind a boy, who inherited the title of Khan, and was surrounded by women, who knew nothing what it means to rule. Eventually the boy Khan was controlled by a man equally as clever as his father. And this man nearly led the empire to ruin."

"And what of the third Khan? What did he say to the bird?"

"The third Khan said to the bird. 'Bird, if you do not sing. I will wait for you to sing.'"

"But the bird still did not sing."

"After a while, the third Khan opened up the cage, and waited for the bird to respond. The bird and its new companion then flew out of their cage, and nestled on a nearby tree, and there they began to sing."

"What happened to the third Khan later in his life?"

"The third Khan was just as ambitious as his brothers. But he sought to rule by moral principles and enlightened rule. But wherever there was resistance or conspiracy, he settled matter with discretion and with swift justice. He established codes that dictated our laws, standardized weights and measures, and was counseled by the Council of Thirteen and the Avatar. And established a two hundred year dynasty."

"He gave what the people what they truly desired, which was peace and freedom," Kosai said with approval. "And he ruled by the rule of law. Not by the rule of man...Mao, you will do well to remember this lesson. The only time a conquest is ever successful, is when the conditions are so horrible and appalling; when the land is rife with strife, the trust of the people is betrayed, their hearts hardened, and forced into desperation and despair, and the land is ruled by selfish tyrants. It is only when the people will have no choice but to accept the rule of an invader, can a conquest succeed. Might, does not make right."

"...Thank you for this lesson sensei," Mao rolled his hands into fists, planted his knuckles on the ground, and lowered his head in reverence.

In the coal mining town, the Air Nomad miners refused to work, instead they stood in front of the shaft, blocking everyone's way. Someone had noticed that the top brass of the mines had been using cheaper and inferior timber for the support beams. Instead of cedar or teak wood, they were using ash, or old wood that was dug out of other mines that were recent cave-ins. The last straw came when the top brass decided to cut their pay in half, and give the difference to their Earth People counterparts. Instead of earning ten coppers a day, they were earning five. While the Earth People miners saw an increase from twenty-five to thirty per day.

"What's all this?" demanded a foreman who was dressed in Earth Kingdom attire. "Oogi, get these people to get back to work."

"I can't, they refuse to work."

"What?"

"Everyone's fed up, including me. First my best friend's kid gets beaten within an inch of his life. Then, we try to get justice but the justices don't lift a finger. Now when we raise a fuss they cut our pay and make the mines unsafe. How do you expect me to persuade them to work, when I'm a foreman and I'm paid more than them?"

"Then maybe I should find someone else."

"Now...Now let's not be too hasty here."

"There are a lot of people who want your job."

"All right, all right, I'll get them to go to work." Oogi threw up his hands in his defense. "Just don't fire me." As he made his way to his fellows at the shaft he was racking his brains of what to say to them.

"What's wrong Oogi?" asked Kenrou.

"You guys...need to go back to work."

"What? I'm not going back down there, not after what they're doing!"

Dozens of voices shouted in agreement.

"Look guys. What choice do we have really? Kenichi, how are you going to feed your family? Miyako is sending all of her money home to you guys but it's still not enough. You need your daily wages if you are to put food on the table. Where else are you going to get work? And you Kenrou. You're a bachelor, spending your money on clothes, hoping that some Earth Person might hire you because you look sharp. No one wanted to say it to your face, but no one is going to hire you. You're stuck here."

Kenrou glared at Oogi, walked up to him and punched him in the face, knocking him flat on his back.

"What about you huh? You're a company-man now, huh? Yeah, that's what you are. They bought you, so you're willing to do what they say. Including replacing us if we get killed in the mines, with another poor sap who's waiting in line."

Oogi tried to get up but Kenrou pushed him down.

"We're hardworking and honest workers! Not slaves! You go back to your masters tell them that we're not working until they start treating us like human beings!"

At the foreman's office, Oogi and his fellow foremen who relaying the workers' demands.

"Too bad it can't be helped," said a young foreman.

"What kind of attitude is that?" demanded chairman.

"Everything is happening just as I had predicted. How can we ask the workers to work for less while we make their work more difficult and less safe?"

"We went over this before," said the chairman slowly, jabbing at the young man to make a point.

"Well, I haven't heard anything about it," Oogi interjected.

"That's because you don't need to know."

"Yes, I do. I also would like to know why we don't use steel for our support beams?"

"It will be too expensive and not too many people make them."

"Not unless you buy them from the Fire Nation. If you buy from them they'll cheaper and better than the ones in the Earth Kingdom."

An awkward silence hung over them as everyone except Oogi had a mixture of shock and surprise, that quickly changed to blind anger.

"We're not going to buy anything from those ashmakers!" snarled the chairman.

"What were you thinking when you suggested that?" demanded the young foreman.

"Hey, I was just thinking about the safety of my men," replied Oogi.

"Your-Those are not your men, you presumptuous nomad! Those are the company's men! And you and they will do as exactly as we tell you to!" the chairman rose to his feet.

"What's wrong with you? All of you?" Oogi asked incredulous. "We're talking about people's lives here."

"And what is keeping those ingrates employed, is this company."

"But the miners are the company."

"WE are the company! The company is us! Who was it who came and built the mines? Who sells the coal to keep the country prosperous? Who do you think keeps this town alive by employing half of the workers? Who built those houses and rent them to those ungrateful miners? We did, not you! So know your place and do as we tell you!"

Oogi rose to his feet in a blind fury. He was never one to lose his temper.

"We're human beings! And those men out there are free men! Not slaves! This land belonged to me, my father, his father, and his father before him! This land, is land of my forefathers of the Uesugi clan! And who was it who put the coal in the ground for us to dig up? Not you, God! And we have a God-given right to stand up for ourselves! And I am ashamed with myself for being your boy for so long!"

"Then you're fired!"

"You can't fire me! I QUIT!" Oogi stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him as hard as he could.

"You should not have done that," said the young foreman knowing full well that he was speaking out of turn.

"Then you can join him!" the chairman bellowed.

"But why did you decide to cut everyone's wages?"

"It was because the Earthbenders would have gone on strike," said a man sitting next to the chairman. He was an older man, with a few stray hairs on top of his mostly bald head. And like the chairman's, this man's clothes were spotlessly clean with gold accessories. The man looked and acted important, and could easily override whatever the chairman would say or do; more importantly he knew it too.

"But isn't that why we hired the nomads? If the Earthbenders go on strike we can easily break them simply by hiring more nomads to replace them. The ten Earthbenders that are striking right now are just nomads."

"Indeed you're correct. But these are uncertain times. Demand for coal is rising and so is everything else, now that the war is over. To increase production, we will need more Earthbenders, and we have to have them work more hours. But in order to get them to work more hours, they need more incentive."

"Then it would defeat the purpose of having the nomads if we're hiring more benders. If we hire more benders it would give their labor union more leverage."

"It does. But we have a contract with the benders who have organized. They promised not to strike for five years. Provided that we increase their wages, make their membership mandatory for all workers, reduce their hours into eight hour shifts, and promise to pay a bonus for those who work over those eight hours."

"It was a reasonable arrangement," added the chairman, not satisfied to be left out of the conversation. "Up until they wanted to extend those benefits to the nomads. But we stood firm on that. But they wouldn't budge. So we compromised, the contract would be in effect after one year's time."

"I get it now. The benders are already too few in number, but with the nomads they would have the leverage they would need. So before one year, you want to force the nomads out," the young foreman breathed incredulously, shocked and awed by his superiors' ruthless and clever tactic. "But that's unfair for the nomads."

"Toughen up Toukichirou. It's just business. Now, summon the magistrate, we shall end this once and for all."

At the magistrate's office, his deputies were reporting to him about the workers' strike at the mines.

"Yare, yare," sighed the magistrate in the local dialect drawl. "This is going to be troublesome. First, we have a corrupt government official who paid for his post. Second, we have an internal investigation that screams danger. In which we already had on investigator murdered when he was following a lead. Third, we have this underground newspaper creating more anxieties. And now this. To make matters worse, the ministers from Hakuma are breathing down my neck to break up the strike."

I certainly don't envy your job, thought the deputies.

Someone knocked on the door, breaking the magistrate's rant.

"Come in."

The secretary popped his head through the crack of the door. "Magistrate sir, the chairman wishes to see you. He says it's urgent."

The magistrate looked hard at the secretary before saying, "Send him in."

"He wants you to go to his office at the mines," the secretary said quickly.

"Tell him to come here then." The magistrate glared at his secretary who hurriedly closed the door. There were some shouts that could be heard through the thick mahogany doors. He was glad it was not him who was being shouted at. The meeting arrangement would waste time, but it was not without cause. By having the meeting at his office, the magistrate is setting the tone of the meeting, and it showed that he was in charge and in control. By having the meeting at the coal mines, it would be admission that the coal mining company have considerable influence, it would send a bad message that he may be in the company's pocket.

After an hour of an over-lengthy discussion later, the magistrate had dismissed his deputies, ordering them to keep order and enforce the law at the mines. The magistrate fell back into his regular routine, visiting the various departments in the two story building. It was tedious work, for a young man who was a keeper of the peace, and a recreational rugby player. Working behind a desk did not and would never excite him in the least. But the town needed a good man for such an important job, and he earned his post after making a name for himself as a tough, but fair man of the law. And he should be a good man, after spending his childhood and his teenage years under the tutelage of a hard nosed Confucian monk.

The magistrate was trying to find his secretary for roads, bridges and dikes, who was nowhere to be found. He wanted to talk to him about reports of an expected drought in the region. They needed the dikes and the irrigation if they are to avoid disaster. But the only person who was at his department was a petite young woman. She was...inexperienced...as she rummaged through her desk looking for her planner that had the secretary's scheduled appointments. If the girl was not well figured, he would be annoyed at her incompetence.

"Magistrate sir! Magistrate sir!"

The magistrate closed his eyes and refrained from rubbing his temples at the very sound of his personal secretary calling out to him. This is the Magistrate's Office for God sake! Not some farm out in the boonies!

"Yes," the magistrate said patiently feeling a vein throbbing.

"The chairman is here. He's in your office now."

"My office?" The magistrate replied in bewilderment. And then walked briskly to his office. Running is for children and thieves.

"Sorry to keep you all waiting gentleman," the magistrate said mildly when he entered his office. His work office. His only office that had files and documents for his eyes only that were inexplicably being handled by the chairman and his young friend; who the magistrate guessed is his son. Embarrassed both men quickly replaced the documents where they found them and sat back down. He glared at them for a moment, as they waited for him to do something. Letting the matter drop as a best course of action, he took his seat behind his desk. "So, how can I help you, GENTLEMEN?" he said with some bitterness.

"It concerns the miscreants at the mines," began the chairman. "They're interfering with our work place by preventing our workers to enter the mines. I wish for you to do something about it."

"I am aware of it," the magistrate said evenly.

"Yes. Your men are there. But they refuse to do anything."

"They're there to enforce the law and maintain order."

"Well they're doing a lousy job. They're letting the miscreants do what they want."

"So long as they don't break the law."

"Yes, they are. They're interfering with our place of business."

"They are your workers whom you had mistreated. If they refuse to work and are simply milling about at their workplace, then it is out of my hands. Unless they're breaking the law, I can't do anything."

An awkward silence fell upon them.

"They're no longer working for the company," the young man said to break the silence. "Since they have refused to work, we were to forced to fire them. And since they are no longer our workers. They're nothing more than rogues."

The magistrate studied the young man before him. He never seen this young man before. He was aware of the young foreman, Toukichiro, but not this one.

"Why did they stop working?"

"...I can't imagine why."

"There's gotta be a reason."

"Look, the longer this goes on, the greater disturbance this will cause." The young man said forcefully. "With those rogues, the miners cannot gather coal for us to sell on the market. With no money for us to pay everyone, there will be no customers for the town's shopkeepers. No patients going to the doctors. No children going to school. And no coal for the mills to smelt iron and make steel. Which means that there will be work for them to do. This town will die, unless you do something about it."

"Nonetheless. They are not breaking any of our laws. And because this is only a dispute between your company and its workers. I cannot interfere."

"I'm sure we can make out some sort of arrangement," the chairman said carefully. "It must be difficult job for you as magistrate. So many responsibilities, so many worries, and so many unnecessary anxieties. What with your wife's spending habits. I thought that you wanted this post to enrich yourself a little bit more, rather than being the average hick-magistrate from the countryside."

The magistrate frowned at the mention of his wife. They were having some money problems since she likes to buy knick-knacks, but that was for their children. And for the man to measure his paygrade and comparing him to a country bumpkin was insulting. But it was like water on a turtle-duck's back since his wife has her family's estate to draw money from. And he was no fool that the chairman was trying to bribe him, not that he would ever accept a bribe. But, if it was not for the fact that the old fool was terrible at it, he would be laughing with incredulity than feel insulted.

Ametuer.

"Whatever you're trying to, initiate, I'm not interested. So unless you have something more dire to report, I will have to ask you to leave."

"This isn't the last you have heard from us," hissed the young man as he angrily rose to his feet.

"Don't worry Chang," the chairman stood up and made a show of assuaging his young friend. "If the magistrate intends to do all day is to sit in his office and do nothing, then there is not much we can do about it. It just proves that all he's good for is collecting his salary and his pension. So it will be left to us to forge ahead and prevail, as we shall and always do."

"Don't do anything that you may regret later. Or I'll throw the book at you," growled the magistrate.

A week later an inspector was sent to the town to make a report on the situation. Such inspections were conducted by the provincial government to see that everything is in order. This inspection was special, since the magistrate had a sent a report to Hakuma informing his superiors the rising tension in the town. Regular inspections are very important, from uncovering government corruption to seeing that there is effective law enforcement, such things were a serious matter. The inspectors in turn report to their superiors in the provincial capital who oversee the day-to-day operations in place of Ba Sing Se. The provincial governments in turn execute the policies, and carry out the edicts that are dictated from Ba Sing Se. Theoretically, these capital decisions are made by the Earth Kingdom, after being counseled by his ministers. This basic framework of efficient governance has been in place since the coronation of the first Earth King, when Ba Sing Se was first established. The Avatar at the time also assisted in the development of this system. But ultimately this system of government relied on good governance on the grass roots level; meaning that the system relied on the collective good conduct of all of the men of the law, in the individual villages, and towns throughout the vast Earth Kingdom.

When the inspector arrived, the magistrate along with his secretaries lined the entrance of the office building, as the inspector arrived in his enormous carriage. They all bowed when the inspector stepped out onto the street, whose eyes darted in every direction.

"It's quite dirty here. Not at all like the clean and orderly streets of Ba Sing Se," the inspector said with disappointment. "Why the buildings are grey and depressing. They should be repainted."

"What you see inspector is the color of jobs in this town," replied the magistrate.

"What was that?"

"We are a simple coal mining town. We also have a steel mill here, so that they may always have a cheap and abundant supply of coal to stoke their forges, to smelt iron and steel."

"Oh. I see," the inspector said with surprise. "I heard Dong Zhuo owns the land. Does he own the mines and the mill?"

"No inspector. He sells the license for the mining company to mine the coal from the ground, in which he is paid a royalty per ton that is extracted."

The inspector nodded appreciatively and walked inside the magistrate's office building.

"If the inspector sits in here. I will have the records be brought to you." Motioned the magistrate to a conference room where they could get started with their work.

"You will refer me as 'Your Excellency'."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your Excellency," the inspector said loudly as though he was reprimanding a child.

"If, your excellency, will sit and wait inside, I will bring the records for you to see."

"Well, if you must. Such things are necessary," the inspector drawled. But after having the records placed in front of him, the inspector simply glanced at the pages at random. Paying special attention to the projected tax revenues, and the actual tax collection. "I see your tax collection have been able to exceed what you had predicted." The inspector's comment was awkward causing the magistrate to momentarily hesitate.

"Thank you, your excellency," the magistrate prudently replied.

"I think I have seen enough, what's next?" the inspector said as he sharply closed the record book.

"Each of the secretaries will give a brief presentation on the current situation here in the town. Especially in light of the workers' dispute with the mining company. There have been-"

"We'll go through all that later," the inspector said dismissively. "Right now, I am a bit weary from my traveling today. And I believe a late lunch is in order."

"There is a restaurant across the street," offered the magistrate. "They have a small conference room that we use to continue after we eat."

"That won't do. Is this how you treat inspectors? We should dine at your house magistrate."

"My-my house?"

"Yes. I hear that you have a family compound with servants, don't you?"

"Yes, I do," the magistrate said hesitantly, not liking where this may lead.

"Then take me there."

The magistrate stared at his secretaries in bewilderment. None of them expected for this to happen. But then again, if they upset this rude and fickle inspector, they might get in trouble for some fault that the inspector may take offense to; regardless if the fault is a minor flaw or a capital offense.

"Very well then," the magistrate gave in. "I shall need to send word ahead to tell them of our arrival. Then we could continue there."

"We can continue the rest of the inspection tomorrow. Right now, I'm quite tired."

"If you say so, your excellency," the magistrate bowed with restrained politeness.

By the time the magistrate, the inspector and his entourage had arrived at the family compound, the servants were still scurrying about trying to get some last minute cleaning in. His pregnant wife was in the thick of it, barking out orders, and unintentionally intimidating the scullery maid. She looked like an officer on army maneuvers, which is why he married her. Unlike the traditional norm of having long hair styled into an elaborate knot. She instead had short chestnut hair, parted to the side. Despite her heritage as an Air Nomad, her eyes were brown like his, instead of grey.

"Come on look lively, we don't want to embarrass ourselves before the inspector! He came all the way from Hakuma you know!"

"Madam, what should I do about the young master, he won't stop crying!" cried the nanny with a bundle of joy crying very loud shrill voice.

"Oh, there, there, baby. Don't cry," the lady of the house taking her bundle of joy and gently supporting its head. The baby immediately stopped crying when it saw its mother. "Obama! I told you to get the ten year old wine, not the cheap stuff!"

"Miss Haruhi, please think of both your babies. You should not be pushing yourself, not in your condition," the head housemaid said, both concerned and a little disappointed in her, as she reached for the baby. But Haruhi turned to put herself in between the reproachful hands and her pride and joy.

"Don't worry, this baby is not to be coming anytime soon. Bei Jia! Stop fooling around with the curtains, it'll take too long to clean them!"

"But Miss Haruhi!" the scullery maid protested.

"Nevermind child and help in the kitchen!" Haruhi shouted, completely ignoring the head housemaid who continued to hovering around her.

The magistrate looked pensively at the inspector who was quite enjoying himself.

"One moment please, your excellency," the magistrate said briskly as he half walked and half ran to his wife. "Dearest darling!"

"Dear!" Haruhi cried as her husband placed a chaste kiss on her lips. "Is the inspector here?"

"Yes he is."

"Damn! Don't you ever repeat those words," Haruhi said hurriedly to the two month old baby.

"It's okay, it's okay." The magistrate rubbed his wife on her upper back vigorously in a circular motion. "Anyway, we'll just eat out in the garden."

"But, we already have the dining room ready for you." Haruhi frowned.

"No it's okay, we'll eat outside. It'll be a lot easier."

"No it will not," Haruhi said defiantly.

"Yes. It will," the magistrate said forcefully.

"I'll have none of that lip," Haruhi growled.

"But honey," the magistrate said, unintentionally raising his voice.

"Stop yelling at me!" Haruhi half yelled and half growled, her eyes narrowed at him, her bundle of joy starting making baby noises as though it was siding with its mother.

"Sorry," the magistrate said hurriedly, he forgot how hormonal women can be when they are pregnant. "We'll have lunch in the dining room."

"Good," Haruhi smiled warmly, "I'll send Obama with the wine to start out first. Followed immediately with the main course. And then work on its way down." She was explaining that she would order that the kitchen would serve the main dish, and then appetizers and finally the light dishes; instead of serving it all in reverse.

"Wonderful!" The magistrate smiled brightly.

Moments later, the inspector and his entourage were seated and served. But one would notice that the inspector's entourage were looking pensively at the seating arrangement. All except for the inspector's right hand man who sat placidly with his master, and the magistrate.

"Please sit. You are all my guests here. Don't be shy," invited the magistrate.

"What is this?" asked the inspector indignantly in reply.

"What is what your excellency?"

"Inviting servants to dine with us. They should be dining with all of the rest of the servants."

"My apologies your excellency. We are less formal here in the new territories."

"So I can see," said the inspector as though he was admonishing him. "Go, you are not needed here." The inspector waved his servants away who promptly obeyed.

They were served the best that the magistrate could buy whatever the town had to offer. Though it was not as good as the food in Hakuma. It was extravagant as they could get in town, with hippopotamus-pork, turtle duck, giant coy fish, and fowl. But the inspector simply stared at his food.

"Please, eat to your heart's content your excellency," the magistrate said in genuine politeness.

The inspector's right hand man glanced at his master, smiled, and proceeded to eat as though nothing was out of the ordinary.

"I am dissatisfied with the way I am being treated," said the inspector in a low voice.

The magistrate was surprised and did not know how to react at first, until he felt his blood rush to his brain and began to boil over. Is his food not good enough for his pompous oaf?

"Would you like some other dish your excellency? Perhaps you would like to have some steak? Maybe you would like to have more fine wine? Or some fruit, what I am serving is too heavy for you."

"I am dissatisfied!"

The magistrate was puzzled and turned to look at the inspector's man who was calmly eating.

"I will not be treated this way!" the inspector shot to his feet, causing his dishes to spill to the floor. All that the magistrate could do was kneel before the inspector with his hands folded in front of him.

"Perhaps if his excellency tells me what is the matter, I may correct it."

The inspector stared at the magistrate from his nose, turned, and walked out of the room. The butler, the valet and the footman were just as puzzled. Did they do something wrong as to displease him, or was the inspector willfully being difficult? The inspector's right hand man polished off his rice bowl, set it down and rose to his feet.

"Magistrate sir. I wish to see your garden. I heard from one of your servants that your wife takes especially good care of it. They say it is the best in the province. And I am curious about that enclosure over there in the corner."

"Yes, please follow me," the magistrate said, understanding that the man was going to explain the inspector's strange behavior, out of sight and out of earshot of unwanted attention.

The enclosure in the garden was in the center. It was Haruhi's secret garden, of sorts, that was enclosed by a eight foot tall hedge. The secret garden had just cherry blossom trees. Every spring they would have a small private party for cherry blossom watching, sing poetry, and simply to party. It was also where he and Haruhi would have their more intimate moments together, and it was where he proposed for her hand in marriage.

The magistrate's reverie was broken when he nearly bumped into the metal gate that he kept locked. He felt guilty for taking a stranger into the secret garden, his wife's secret garden.

"I think this is far enough," the magistrate said.

"Why can't we go inside?"

"I don't have the key. And I keep this part of the garden locked up. Before, the servants used to use it as a sort of lover's garden you see."

"Oh," mused the man but evidently quite interested.

"So why is your master so upset? Was it something that we did? Was it something that I did?"

"Yes, you did not offer him any money," the man said bluntly.

The magistrate furrowed his brow, his blood promptly started to simmer and boil. So that is why the inspector was so keen on going to his house.

"He was dissatisfied with your treatment of him because you did not offer him a bribe."

"Now why would I offer him a bribe?"

"If you don't he will report you for being a bad magistrate."

"What?" the magistrate asked incredulously and equally angry. "What about my reports of that corrupt judge? What about my proposal of repairing the dike and expanding our irrigation? What about the presentation?"

"He doesn't care about such things. He has more important things to do rather than bother with tedious reports and presentations of monotonous things."

"What's so important that he would not do his job?" Frowned the magistrate crossing his arms in front of his chest.

"Oh, like ordering more railways to be built in more deserving towns and cities. New irrigation ditches for the farmers who actually need them. Or ordering Hakuma's army to help settle your little problem with the nomads."

"Wait a minute. Are you telling me that the railway plan was pushed through the provincial government because of bribes made by Ba Sing Se's railway companies?"

"Yes. How did you think that the proposal was able to take only a few months to pass instead of two years?"

"What about the proposals for the dike and the irrigation?"

"Those are separate issues."

"So the inspector wants a bribe, why? I can simply send him away and report his criminal behavior."

"Isn't that why you sent that report about those workers that are on strike? The nomads are becoming a big problem and many people want them gone for good. If you pay the bribe we can easily force them to leave. And if you don't want your proposals to go through some tedious bureaucracy, and fall into the cracks, we can work out some sort of arrangement."

"How much are we talking about?"

"Twenty-five Sovereigns."

"Twenty-five- For God sake man, that's all of last year's tax revenue!"

"Well, just raise more taxes and get some more." The man shrugged. "Just make some sort of excuse."

"That's unfair."

"Life is unfair, that's the first thing my master taught me. But my master is a powerful and generous man, if you play your cards right. I should know, I've served under him after I lost this." The man pulled up his pant leg to reveal that he had a pegged leg.

"How can you serve such a tyrant?" The magistrate said with incredulity.

"Simple, I bribed him to take me on as his right hand man. There are many like me who are looking for high paying jobs. Those who lost a limb can't find work. And because the Earth King decided to downsize the army, a lot of talented officers were decommissioned."

"You still have your officer's half-pay don't you?" the magistrate asked, referring to the mandatory stipend that the crown is to give to the Earth Kingdom's commissioned officers.

"Half-pay is becoming worthless. Ever since the war ended, the price for everything has gone up. But we're getting off track. Will you pay the bribe or will I have to report you?"

"Get out." The magistrate shot his hand to the front gate of the compound. "Go fetch you master and his entourage and get off of my property. You are no longer welcomed here."

"You're a good man magistrate sir. But bear in mind, one word from the inspector can make or break a man. I've seen it all too many times."

"You've seen. But done nothing."

Later at a nearby inn. "How dare he treat me this way!" growled the inspector as a maid poured him a drink. "After all those chances I gave him."

"Perhaps he did not understand your subtle messages," offered the man.

"Didn't you tell him outright why I came here?"

"I did. But he obstinately stood by his virtue."

"Damn his virtue! I want my compensation!"

"Calm yourself master," the man said placidly. "We need to tread carefully here. We don't know anyone in Hakuma since we were transferred here from Owari."

"...You're right. Prudent as always Dousan. We'll just have to make him an offer he can't refuse."