Suddenly, a flash of realization struck me. "Where are Jin and Li?" I asked, frantically looking around for them. They were nowhere to be seen.
"The Earthbending twins?" General Iroh asked.
I hastily stood up, slightly rocking the raft. "Jin! Li!" I shouted, gazing out at the endless water. I looked down at Takara. "Where are they?"
"I don't know" she replied. "We got separated when the wave struck".
I then turned back to the ocean, cupping my hands around my mouth. "Jin! Li!" I shouted once more. "Jin! Li!"
Where could they be?
The warriors raised their spears, and the Waterbenders eased their stances. "What should we do with them?" the old man asked.
The Avatar glanced at his companions before looking back at Jin and Li. "Do you know where your family is? Maybe we can take you to them".
Jin shared a neutral glance with Li before gesturing to the parchment. He wrote a few more lines before handing it to the Water Tribe girl. "He says that their village is probably abandoned by now, but they have relatives in Omashu".
"Hey, that's where we're going!" the Avatar said, looking as if he were seized by inspiration. "Why don't you come with us?"
I didn't reply, pursing my lips as I tried to stare resolutely at her.
She slapped me across the face, and I felt the sting of her sharpened fingernails rake my cheek. I then felt the blood slowly trickle down from the wounds as she said "That was some quality fighting, for a mere peasant".
I glared down at the Princess and growled "I won't tell you anything!"
"Oh, you will" she replied coldly, holding two fingers in front of her face. A small, blue flame extended from them, bathing her in haunting light. "You'll tell me a great many things". The smile she bore chilled me to my very bones.
Kneeling beside General Iroh, I sliced my topknot off, proceeding to throw it onto the stream as I felt a great change within myself. My old identity was gone, and I would never get it back.
As I stared down at the stream, Takara's face stared back at me from the surface of the water, and I felt a dagger of regret and shame stabbing through my heart.
Suki sighed. "Oyaji will be so pleased that she's still out there" she said, walking back to the edge of the wall.
"He cares that much about his warriors?" Katara asked.
Suki shook her head. "Takara is his daughter. He initially wouldn't let her become a Kyoshi Warrior after her mother died, but she managed to convince him. She was the oldest of us, and yet she lacked faith in herself. Despite that, she's the bravest person I have ever known. She'll always do what she thinks is right".
Knocking on the door, she found that it was open. "Hello, mom?" she asked as they peered inside. The twins followed her inside as she asked "Anyone home?" The house appeared to be empty, and there were no other people in sight. As they came to the centre of the room, the twins' eyes widened with shock as they sensed something. They barely managed to look over to each other before a large, metal cage closed around them, sealing the three of them inside. "Hey!" Toph exclaimed. "Who do you think you're dealing with?"
"One loudmouthed little brat who strayed too far from home and twin Earthbenders who betrayed their own people before deserting from the Fire Nation army" a familiar voice replied from outside the cage. Jin and Li exchanged panicked expressions as they realized that they had been captured by Xin Fu.
The sick feeling in my stomach continued to gnaw at me from the inside as the Earth King held his arms out and proclaimed "In our hour of need, it is with the highest honour that I welcome our esteemed allies, the Kyoshi Warriors".
We bowed before him, and Azula, in front, said "We are the Earth King's humble servants". I barely managed to suppress a disgusted scowl.
I turned as I heard the door opening and saw Zuko stepping out of his bedroom. He seemed much better now; his fever had gone down, and he looked lucid enough. "What's that smell?" he asked as he walked towards Iroh and me as we worked in the kitchen.
"It's jook" Iroh replied as he stirred it with a ladle. Glancing over at Zuko, he added "I'm sure you wouldn't like it".
I took another ladle and dipped it into the jook before taking it over to Lihua's cage next to the window. The tiger eagle leaned down and sniffed it before tentatively licking it with her tongue. Finding that she liked it, the predator then started lapping it up. Turning to my right, I saw Zuko leaning down and inhaling the smell. "Actually, it smells delicious. I'd love a bowl, uncle".
Iroh turned to me, and I shrugged, understanding the scarred teenager's new behaviour no better than he did. He then turned back to the pot, proceeding to fill a bowl and say "Now that your fever is gone, you seem different, somehow".
"It's a new day" Zuko replied jovially. "We've got a new apartment, new furniture. Today's the grand opening of your new tea shop. Things are looking up, uncle".
Iroh smiled, while I arched an eyebrow in suspicion. "Are you… feeling well, Zuko?"
He turned to me after taking a sip from his bowl and smiled. Seeing him actually happy was very off-putting. "Of course. I feel great". I nodded, starting to feel cautiously optimistic about the teenager's future.
"Look, Bosco, the Kyoshi Warriors are here to protect us" the King said to his pet bear. It was very strange, seeing the large, brown creature laying at the King's feet. I couldn't help but stare at it as the four of us knelt in front of his throne, which was dwarfed by a massive statue of a Badgermole. "Aren't you excited?" The bear rumbled, and he turned to us and said "It's been a difficult week for me. My most trusted advisor, Long Feng, and his Dai Li agents tried to take control of Ba Sing Se from me".
"It's terrible when you can't trust the people who are closest to you" Azula replied. I glared at the back of her head, wishing all manner of horrible fates to befall the psychotic teenager.
"But there is good news" the King continued. "As we speak, the Council of Five is meeting to plan an invasion of the Fire Nation this summer on the day of a solar eclipse".
My eyes opened in wide shock before they fell on Azula, and I knew that information was one of her deadliest weapons. "Really?" she asked, her interest piqued. "Now that sounds like a fascinating and brilliant plan".
Jin and Li clenched their teeth as they attempted to push, pull, or force their cage open, but their efforts were for naught. It was entirely made of metal, which made it impossible for them to bend. The cage was also very claustrophobic, and Toph was sandwiched in between the Earthbending boys, which only served to distract them in their efforts. "Hey, your elbow's poking into my side!" she grumbled, trying to shove Jin's arm away. Their cage jostled, and Li's head accidentally bumped into Toph's. "Ow!"
"I think we should go right" they heard Master Yu say from outside. Shortly after they had been captured, they had heard his voice, and knew that he was one of their captors.
"What are you talking about?" Xin Fu demanded as he brought what must have been a carriage to a stop. "The Beifong estate's this way".
"I'm quite certain you're mistaken" the so-called 'master' retorted.
Managing to free her arm, Toph banged on the cage. "Hey, can you two old ladies quit your bickering for a second? I got to go to the bathroom, and the breath on these two is stinking this thing up!"
Jin and Li glared over at the blind girl as Master Yu said "Oh! Uh… okay, but make it quick".
They heard him starting to make his way to the back of the cage when Xin Fu asked "What's wrong with you?"
A moment later, the clean, prissy little man said "Oh, very sneaky, Toph! Nice try, but you can't trick me". The twins exchanged a deadpan expression.
"Let us out of here so we can kick both your butts!" Toph shouted, banging on the cage.
"Quit your banging!" Xin Fu growled, and the cage shook as he banged on it. "You three might think you're the greatest Earthbenders in the world, but even you can't Bend metal". The cage proceeded to jostle once more as they were on their way, and Toph placed a hand on the cage. The twins both contorted their arms and placed a hand on her shoulders, letting her know that they were there for her.
I wiped the last of the face paint from Ty Lee's ever-smiling face, my own face paint still on. Azula, in typical fashion, had commanded me to remove it from the three of them, leaving myself for last. I then walked over to where Mai was sitting, meeting her eternal frown with one of my own as I went to work. "We have been presented with an extraordinary opportunity, girls" Azula said as she slowly paced back and forth.
"Mai finally gets to wear makeup that's not totally depressing?" Ty Lee asked. I couldn't help but smile; Mai narrowed her eyes at me, but I couldn't care what the heartless girl thought.
"Ha, ha" she said sarcastically, glancing over at the other girl.
"I'm talking about conquering the whole Earth Kingdom" Azula replied. I froze, my eyes widening in shock. I turned to look at the Fire Nation Princess gazed out the window at the nearby Upper Ring homes. "For a hundred years, the Fire Nation has hammered away at Ba Sing Se from the outside. But now we're on the inside. And we can take it by ourselves".
"Gosh, you're so confident" Ty Lee said. "I really admire that about you".
"From the inside, we're in perfect position to organize a coup and overthrow the Earth King. The key is the Dai Li; whoever controls them controls Ba Sing Se".
Despite how ashamed I was of how I had helped Azula to defeat and imprison Suki and the others, I now knew that my decision to not turn on her during the battle for the drill back at the Outer Wall had been the right one; here, I had an actual chance of taking down Azula from the inside, just like she was planning to do to the city. I just had to find a way to take her by surprise.
She then turned to me and said in an obviously mocking tone "It must make you angry, to help me conquer your precious homeland. It infuriates you, doesn't it? To watch me orchestrate my greatest triumph. It must ache inside of you to not try to strike me down. Here's your chance; take it. Attack, and see if you can take me down".
I glared down at the Fire Nation Princess, my lips pursed as my hands clenched into fists. I breathed heavily as I felt my anger burning inside. Casting a glance to my left, I saw Mai marginally draw a tiny dagger from her sleeve, while Ty Lee looked like a pleasant cat ready to pounce. Consciously prying my fingers loose, I turned and walked out of the room, picturing Azula's superior smirk behind me. Walking into the room I had been given, I slid the door shut before leaning against a wall and sliding down until I was sitting.
I interlocked my fingers behind my head, staring down at the floor. I couldn't wait for the chance to wipe that smug smirk from her stupid, smug, superior face. I wanted to take Mai's magical, never-ending supply of shuriken and daggers, give Azula some permanent scars, and make her suffer. Reaching into my sleeve, I took out the White Lotus tile and rolled it over my fingers, gazing intently at it.
I stood with my hands clasped behind my back beside Iroh and Zuko as we stood in front of the kitchen. Today was the day Iroh and I had been looking forward to for some time: the opening of the Jasmine Dragon. The tea shop was magnificent: the shop itself was an exquisite building, with a large fountain in the centre of a patio out front, presenting a picture-perfect location. People streamed in through the front door, greeted by two hostesses as they were guided to their tables. A large, green carpet depicting twin green dragons covered the centre of the floor.
"Who thought when came to this city as refugees that we'd end up owning our own tea shop?" Iroh asked as he placed a hand on my back. The three of us were wearing expensive, yet tasteful, green clothes, reflecting our new place in society.
I smiled and placed a hand on Iroh's shoulder. "We deserve this".
"Follow your passion, Zuko" the older man said, turning to his nephew. "And life will reward you".
"Congratulations" the teenager told us. "You two deserve it. The Jasmine Dragon will be the best tea shop in the city".
Iroh smiled. "I'm thankful because you decided to share this special day with us. It means more than you know".
He and Zuko embraced in a tight hug, and I smiled. Zuko then turned to me, and I said "I'm glad that you've managed to turn yourself around".
"I know I never said it before, but I want to thank you. I see now that you were only trying to help" he replied, and we both embraced. He then said excitedly "Now let's make these people some tea".
"Yes, let's make these people some tea" I agreed, wrapping an arm around Iroh's shoulders as we walked into the kitchen to start brewing.
I leaned against a pillar with my arms crossed, staring off into the distance. Mai and Ty Lee were beside me, sitting on the stairs. My hands tightly gripped my arms as I clenched my teeth, silently brooding. Azula put the three of us up to aiding in her scheme to solicit the Dai Li in her takeover of Ba Sing Se, hence our presence here.
Mai sighed audibly. "I'm tired of wearing this girlie disguise. I don't know how anyone can fight in this". There were one, maybe two men clinging to the top of the pillars, watching us from the shadows.
Ty Lee started doing stretches and various exercises that displayed her prodigious flexibility and said "Maybe that's why it was so easy to beat the Kyoshi Warriors and take their clothes".
"How much longer do we have to serve the Earth King?" Mai asked in her perpetual apathetic and emotionless tone. "If I have to clean up one more pile of bear poop, I'm gonna throw up".
"Princess Azula promised we would go back to the Fire Nation as soon as we capture the Avatar. We just have to be patient" I said dutifully, doing my best to make it sound believable. I was playing a dangerous game, but if I wanted to take down Azula, then I had to wait for when she would be distracted and not be able to see me coming.
"Shush up!" Mai hissed, sounding like what she was saying wasn't a pre-arranged line. "Do you want the whole palace to know we're Fire Nation?"
"Sorry" I apologized. I thought I heard whoever was spying on us leaving, though it was hard to tell.
Azula then emerged from the shadows and walked towards us. "Good work, girls. I'm sure the Dai Li will deliver the message".
Jin and Li kept punching at their metal cage along with Toph, not willing to give up hope. They were the three greatest Earthbenders in the world; they were mountains, unmovable and unconquerable. They would find a way out of this prison. Each time one of them punched the walls of the cage, they sensed the vibrations ringing through their surroundings. Suddenly, after Toph made another punch, she stopped and said "Woh. You guys should see this".
Jin and Li turned to where she was facing, gently easing their bodies due to the tight confines of their prison. They both punched the wall in front of the blind girl as hard as they could. They sensed the vibrations spreading through the metal like ripples in a pond, along with… something else.
The twins exchanged a glance before punching the wall again. The vibrations rippled, and the other thing they were sensing became clearer. A third punch, and they saw it: earth! As they thought about it, it all began to make sense: metal was simply refined and purified earth, but it would stand to reason that little bits of earth would still remain, and that meant that they had something to Bend.
Firmly planting their feet, the three of them punched the wall of the cage with both hands, their faces contorting with the strain of trying something no Earthbender had ever before managed to do. "Come on, metal" Toph growled. "Budge". She drew back her fist and punched, leaving a sizable dent in the wall. "Whoo! Toph, you rule" she cried excitedly, and the twins smiled at each other. They drew their fists back and punched, leaving dents of their own.
"Thank goodness you're here, Suki" a voice said. I turned to see the Avatar's Water Tribe companion, Katara, running towards us, a scroll in her hand and the Avatar's lemur on her shoulder. "Something terrible is going on. The Fire Nation has infiltrated the city". My eyes widened slightly in shock before they settled on Azula; perhaps now, my moment to strike had come. Katara appeared to be a Waterbending Master, and I was almost certain that with her skills, and the element of surprise on my part, we could finally take down Azula. "I just saw Prince Zuko, his uncle, and Shan We! We have to tell the Earth King right away!"
I stopped short just as I was readying myself for a strike. "Oh, don't worry" Azula calmly said as she stood up. "I'll be sure to let him know".
The lemur screeched in distress before flying off, and the Water Tribe girl started to attack. Ty Lee was quicker, though, and the perky teenager flipped into the air, pinching a pressure point on the girl in blue's neck. The water from her pouch splashed onto the floor as she collapsed, appearing to be unable to move. It was all over before I could do anything.
"So, Zuzu's in the city, too?" Azula asked conversationally. "I think it's time for a family reunion". She turned to me and commanded "Take her somewhere she won't cause any trouble". Without saying a word, I crouched down and picked up the Water Tribe girl, hefting her over my shoulder before walking away.
Jin and Li clenched their teeth as they pulled at one side of the cage's wall. Toph was pulling on the other side, and she looked like she was exerting a similar amount of effort. They had punched enough dents to create a slight gap where the cage opened, and the three Earthbenders were now applying all their strength in order to pry it open.
With a final exertion, the door was ripped open, revealing the dark of night. The cart came to a halt, and the three of them quickly hopped out of the hole they had just made, hiding in some nearby bushes. Xin Fu and Master Yu walked over to the hole, their eyes wide with shock. "It's another one of their tricks" the so-called 'master' said.
"There's a giant hole in the box!" Xin Fu countered. "How is that a trick?"
"It's not" Toph snarkily replied as she and the twins stepped out onto the road. "It's the real deal". Jin and Li then smirked as they struck their feet against the ground, summoning two flat rock walls before bringing them together and squishing the two men. Toph then punched her fist forward, throwing them into the metal cage. The three of them then leaped over and sealed the hole with their newfound abilities. They then climbed onto the top of the cage as Toph raised her fist into the air and declared "We are the greatest Earthbenders in the world! Don't you two dunderheads forget it!" She kicked the cage for emphasis before high-fiving with the twins.
They then leaped down onto the ground and created sizable craters before being raised up on waves of earth that they then used to propel themselves forward at unbelievable speed.
"Thank you for coming to the Jasmine Dragon, and we hope to see you again" I said as I bowed to the last patrons who walked away. Our first day had been a rousing success; the entire day was rush-hour from the moment we opened, and Iroh and I had been hard-pressed to maintain a level of brewing that allowed us to keep up with the onrush of customers.
I turned around and saw Iroh sweeping away at the carpet while Zuko took empty dishes into the kitchen. The scarred teenager's new demeanor had held up ever since he had come out of his fever, and I couldn't be happier for him; he was finally taking charge of his own life, and he was all the better for it. I heard footsteps approaching, and turned to see a messenger walking up to me with a scroll. "A message from the royal palace" he said, handing the scroll to me.
I accepted it and bowed to him as he left. Unfurling the scroll, I read over its contents, and my mouth fell open. "I… I can't believe it" I said breathlessly.
"What is it?" Zuko asked as he and Iroh approached.
"Great news" I replied, handing the scroll to the older man. "We've been invited to serve tea to the Earth King!"
Iroh's face became as white as the Avatar's Bison's fur as he read over the letter. He then fidgeted excitedly before rushing off into the kitchen. Zuko placed a hand on my shoulder and said "The King probably knows where the Avatar is".
"And Jin and Li might be with him!" I finished, feeling my heart thudding in my chest. After all this time, I would finally be reunited with the twins and have them in my arms again.
Ooh, things are REALLY starting to heat up now! Every time I post a chapter now, I am reminded of how much fun it is to write this story, and of how annoying it is to barely have any time to write thanks to my job. Oh well.
Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion to Book Two, coming this Tuesday!