Chapter 13: Memorable

Any form of gambling within Ba Sing Se must be organized with written instruction from your local Dai Li Information Center (see ordinance #346 on information on taxes for gambling winnings).

-Dai Li Ordinance #345

"Identification papers, please."

Something about the way the Dai Li spoke made what should have been a polite request send a chill through Jin's core. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied Lee, mouth agape and just staring blankly at the agents. It was clearly going to be her responsibility to talk their way out of this.

"I'm sorry, our parents sent us on an errand, and we forgot out papers at home." Jin raised her voice a few octaves, hoping to sound younger than she actually was.

The agents' eyes flicked towards one another almost in an almost imperceptible manner. "All citizens are required to carry their identification papers with them at all times." The agent on the right explained.

Her shoulder's deflated. "Right… but like I just said-"

"Our parents aren't home!" Lee shouted in interruption. All of them turned to look at him, Jin's face a twist of pure fury and confusion while the Dai Li kept up their signature blank stare. Lee audibly gulped before continuing. "And uh… they had our papers with them so we had to go without them?"

As if it weren't telling enough that he made his words sound like a question, Lee was turning so red that Jin could swear she feel him radiating heat despite being a few feet from him.

"Very well." This time the agent on the left spoke, although his tone of voice almost perfectly matched his partner's. "Then please allow us to take you to the nearest Dai Li Information Center so we may locate your parents and they may take you to your home."

One of the agents stepped behind the pair, sending a clear message to the both of them to get moving. With their escape blocked, they had no choice but to move. This district's Dai Li Information Center was just a few blocks away, but the walk seemed to stretch for an eternity for them.

The agents dropped them off unceremoniously at the district's small Information Center before leaving back on patrol. They were sat on an uncomfortable bench while the world's most bored looking Dai Li agent "guarded" them. Apparently a spare glance every few minutes is what constituted for guarding according to the agent.

Lee had whispered to Jin about running when he noticed how inattentive their guard was, but she quickly shut that idea down. However bad getting captured by the Dai Li could be, it would be made infinitely worse by running. They took escapees as personal insults to their organization.

Sunset was just a few hours away, and the smoking man would be out for Lee's head if he failed to bring in the missing payment. He studied the bored agent sitting behind the desk, his face buried in a leaflet that looked somewhat familiar to Lee.

"You can't just keep us here." Jin sneered out, just as antsy as Lee to get going. "What are we even being charged with?"

The man just grunted before leaning back in his chair and crossing his legs over the desk.

Jin changed tactics. "Wait until you find out who our parents are. They are magistrates you know! For the Earth King himself."

"Uh huh." The man thumbed to a new page in the leaflet and frowned deeply. "Duzu is gonna cost me." He muttered under his breath, but Lee was again struck with a strange sense of familiarity at the name.

"They'll have you mopping floors soon once they find out about this injustice." Jin shook her fist to accentuate her point.

"Uh huh."

Their conversation continued with its pattern for several moments before finally the agent grew sick of Jin's threats.

"Would you shut up kindly?" The agent spun in his seat to face them, his eyes still betraying his boredom with the slightest hint of anger behind them.

Lee gave a slight gulp of realization as he could finally read the cover of the leaflet the man had been reading.

"Not a chance! I demand representation!" Jin continued on unabated.

"Is that for today's races?" Lee cut in with the strange question that had both the agent and Jin looking at him like he'd just begin performing a one man show of The Ballad of the Blind Bender.

"Uh yeah, it is." The agent spoke after recovering from the surprise.

"How about a trade?" Lee's mouth was working faster than his plan was formulating, but he was already in it this far.

"How's that?" The agent said as he flicked some dirt off his sleeve.

"You let us go free, and I tell you which ostrich horse to bet on to win." Lee kept his voice even despite his rapid heartbeat.

The agent rolled his eyes. "Yeah right, like I am going to bet my copper pieces on the word of some kid."

"Not copper, gold." Lee produced five gold pieces from the concealed bag in his pocket. "And the bet is on me. It's zero risk for you, nothing but upside."

The man's mouth was agape at the sight of the glistening gold pieces. "How did you get that kind of money?"

Lee gestured with his shoulder towards Jin. "Like she said, our parents are magistrates. This is walking around money for us." He could feel Jin's apprehension from beside him, but Lee paid her no attention.

"Who's the winning bet then?" The man was at full attention now, his boredom a long afterthought by now.

"Not so fast, first we have to have a deal that you'll let us go."

The agent rubbed at his chin as he considered the offer. "Say I agree, I am just supposed to risk my job and go to the track while you both go on your merry way?"

Lee gave a small smile; he was still holding all the cards. "There's a race in fifteen minutes, you could take us with you and then we'll part after you win. If we hurry we can easily make post time, but we have to leave now."

"Not a chance am I letting you slip away in a crowd."

Lee sputtered for a moment and Jin jumped in, ready to cover for her friend now. "You must have another agent here who can watch us while you go and come back. You guys always work in pairs, don't you?"

"Well yeah, but…" The agent trailed off as he looked at the leaflet again before doing some arithmetic with his fingers.

Jin turned to whisper in Lee's ear. "I hope you know what you are doing."

He nodded once before addressing the agent. "So do we have a deal?"

"You only go free if I win the bet, right?" Lee nodded his head in agreement before the agent continued. "Then deal, my partner is sleeping in other room, he'll watch you. Now who's the winning bet?"

"Dao De." Lee said with no hesitation.

The agent paged through the leaflet looking for names. "That's forty to one odds, you sure you want to stake your freedom on that ostrich horse?"

Lee stood from the bench and dropped the golden pieces on the desk. "Absolutely."

They waited.

And waited.

Jin was gripping the bench so tightly that she swore she could feel herself making an impression in the wood. It was unreal to her how calm Lee stayed next to her.

Now being watched by the bored agent's partner (who looked incredibly annoyed at having been awoken prematurely), Jin estimated that it had been a half hour since their deal had been agreed upon. There was no doubt that the race would have already concluded by now.

Even running, Jin wasn't sure if they could make it back to the smoking man in time. That is if they were even let go by the Dai Li at all.

The creak of the door ended her ruminations and, in the doorway, stood the world's happiest looking Dai Li agent.

"Dao De smoked the field! I couldn't believe my eyes." The agent proudly displayed a small sack that no doubt contained his winnings.

Lee stood up, looking quite happy with himself. "I guess we'll be on our way then."

The agent couldn't stop smiling. "Of course!"

The annoyed Dai Li agent stood up from his guard post. "You mean I watched these kids so you could go betting?"

"Shut up, Sojee. This kid just helped me hit it big, they earned their freedom." The winning agent gave the other a considerable sum of gold pieces to placate him, which seemed to shut him up easily enough.

Jin rose to her feet as well and practically sprinted to the door. The agent called them back just as they were through the threshold.

Jin and Lee gulped in unison.

"Wait up!" The agent followed them out the door before placing ten gold pieces in Lee's hands. "I always honor my word. Now enjoy your freedom."

The pair began running to meet their deadline and Jin waited until they were two blocks away before asking the question that had been burning in the back of her mind since their deal went down. "How did you know which ostrich horse would win?"

She could see him smile as they darted through an alley for a short cut.

"Easy." He said between breaths. "Ostrich horse races are fixed by the gangs of the Lower Ring."

After a dead sprint through the market square, they made it to the smoking man just as the sun disappeared behind the horizon.

He made a big show of counting every gold piece in the payment before finally dismissing Jin and Lee. Their exhaustion after the long sprint was evident as they practically crawled back to the market square to rest on a bench.

"Hey." Lee said after a few moments of silent rest.

Jin looked at him with half closed eyes and beamed at him, ecstatic to be done with this whole ordeal. "Hey."

He returned the smile before producing a gold piece from his pocket. "I kept one of the extra pieces the Dai Li gave us." Lee answered her unasked question. "We're close to that dessert place you like, my treat."

Jin hopped to her feet. "Dessert Circle! And it's not just one place, that market has everything."

After arriving at the stalls, they settled on blowing their entire budget on something the merchant called "Gummies of the World." It was apparently an attempt to mimic every culture's cuisine in gummy candy form.

Armed with enough candy to satisfy them and all their classmates, they climbed a quarter of the way up the Endless Staircase and began to gorge themselves with no shame.

As the last bits of sunlight gave way to the stars and the moons, Jin finally remembered what today was.

"Lee!" Her sudden outburst almost made him choke on the candy.

"What is it?" He said in between coughs as he beat his chest.

"It's your birthday!"

He cocked his head slightly before his eyes widened in realization. "Oh… yeah."

She frowned at his lack of excitement. "I had a whole day planned for you! It was going to be great. I even…" Jin trailed off and her face flushed.

Lee looked at her confused. "What?"

"I… um, even got us day passes to the Middle Ring to check out this really neat zoo."

Lee's tired brain slowly caught on to what exactly she meant. "You mean all that sneaking about we just did to get the money back, and you had passes?"

Jin flushed even more and she gave an embarrassed laugh. "I forgot in the excitement this morning."

Lee flopped down on the stair they were sitting on, his head resting next to Jin. "That would have made things easier."

Smiling down at him, she could only shrug. "Well at least you had a memorable birthday still."

He couldn't help but laugh. "The most memorable one I've ever had."

AN: Happy to be back with writing, expect more soon! Thanks for reading.

Word Origins:

Duzu = adapted from Chinese word for "bet"

Dao De = adapted from Chinese word for "unlucky"