Sam
It had been a three months since the incident at school with Izumi and Chang. School had been quiet. I don't know if it was because the teacher was scared of losing her job, because Chang's parents actually did talk to her or if it was because Geshna was now posted inside the room while Izumi was in class. I didn't trust the teacher anymore but I did trust Geshna. I was actually surprised that Izumi didn't really mention Chang anymore but I was glad for it.
Izumi was off school for the day for one of their teacher days and Zuko and I had decided to take the day off to spend with her. Izumi and I were in the Turtleduck Garden playing. "Mommy, when will Daddy get here?"
That was a good question. I thought he was right behind us, but he wasn't here and we had been here for about an hour. Probably got caught up with work. I looked down at Izumi.
"How about we go find Daddy and kidnap him? Then we can bring him out here to the garden. What do you think of that?" Izumi's beautiful face lit up at the prospect of kidnapping her father. We walked into the palace searching for him. He wasn't in the office. He wasn't in the council chamber or the military chamber. He wasn't in our room. The last place I could think of was the throne room. And if he was in there then something happened. But, we proceeded with our plan.
We walked into the throne room and, sure enough, Zuko was standing there speaking to Jok. I figured he must have gotten caught into conversation. It was no secret that Jok was one of Zuko's best friends. Izumi and I decided to sneak up behind Zuko. Jok saw us but I help my finger to my lips signaling him to keep quiet. I had Izumi in front of me and she tip toed to her father. She quickly, wrapped her arms around Zuko's leg.
"Boo! Daddy, I scared you, didn't I?" Izumi asked. Zuko had jumped out of his skin, much to Izumi's delight.
"Yes, silly. You did scare me." Zuko said. He reached down and tousled her hair and turned back to Jok. Normally he would have continued to play with her. Something was going on.
"Izumi, why don't you go to your room and play for a little bit?"
"Aww! Mommy, you said we would kidnap Daddy!" Izumi whined.
"Change of plans, hunny. We will kidnap him later." She sulked but she accepted it and went off to her room. She really was a very good child. She understood that we had a country to run, even at her young age.
"Zuko, what is going on?"
"Nothing you need to worry about, Sam. I have Jok and his men handling it."
"Zuko, we are a team remember? We both bear the weight of the burden. Tell me what is going on." Zuko sighed, realizing arguing was futile.
"A body was found in Capital City." he said.
"A body? Accidental or…suicide or…murder?" I asked.
"We are not sure yet. There are a lot of unanswered questions. Jok and I are trying to get to the bottom of it. I'm going to have to head there right away."
"So the body is still there?" I asked Jok.
"Yes, your majesty. She is. She was discovered less than an hour ago." So it was a girl. Or woman. I wasn't sure. I looked at Jok and spoke.
"Alright. Then I'm coming too." I started to walk towards the door when Zuko grabbed my arm. Harder than he meant to, I thought. I winced and he loosened his grip.
"No, Sam. This is nothing for you to get involved in. I don't want you anywhere near it."
"Why? Because I'm to dainty to handle it? Remember where I come from, Zuko. Crime is rampant in Las Estrellas. There is an average of 2 or more murders every day there. Plus I worked in law enforcement as a psychologist and I saw my fair share of violent crimes. Either Jok takes me too or I find it myself." I said, stubbornly. Zuko sighed in defeat.
"Fine. Jok take us there." Zuko said. I held up my hand and turned to one of the servants.
"Please make sure Izumi eats lunch and dinner. I don't know how long we will be."
"Yes, your majesty." she said, bowing. I looked at Zuko and held out my hand. He scooped my hand up in the crook of his arm.
I turned to Jok and nodded, signaling we were ready. He led us to the scene. He came up to the other lawholders that were there and gestured to us and, of course, they let us through. It was then that a familiar voice called out.
"Zuko! Sam! What are you doing here?" It was Azula. She was apparently working this case. She had started as Joshi's assistant, but after she was released, she was promoted to his partner.
"Azula! What happened here." Zuko asked.
"We don't know much. This girl's body was found here a couple of hours ago at this point. She fell to her death. We are still trying to determine if this was a murder or suicide. We don't think it was an accident. We obviously don't get many violent crimes here so we are all scrambling." Azula admitted. I looked over and saw part of the girl's foot between people standing around. It was bare with no shoe. I walked over to her, Zuko following close behind.
When we got there, I heard him gasp. And I saw why. The girl looked similar to me. Skin tone like mine. Her hair thick and curly like mine. Her eyes brown like mine. I could also tell her clothes were not local either - they were definitely outsider clothes. But not clothes that the average person would wear. They didn't leave much to the imagination. And they were dirty. Very dirty. It had been a long time since she had a bath. I looked over her. She had obvious fallen from a height great enough to kill her almost instantly. It looked like she had landed on her feet and then fell backwards with a hard blow to the head. This was evidenced by a large pool of blood under her head and her feet bent in an unnatural way. This was obviously the blow that killed her - the back of her head caved in. I also saw small pin prick marks all down her arms. And this girl was young. Maybe 14 or 15. She had a tattoo on her neck and it was language I recognized. In between my thoughts I could feel Zuko's eyes on me.
"Sam, tell me what you're thinking." he urged.
"She's not from the Bending Nations." I said.
"Yeah, no kidding, Sam. We figured that out already." Azula said. Even though she had changed, her personality was still the same - sarcastic as ever. Zuko shot her a look.
"She is from near where I'm from. That tattoo on her neck. The first line says "Living Hope" and the other one is a name, Steyad. Her name, I presume. Orphanages from where I come from, and the surrounding countries, tattoo the children's names and their orphanage on them for easy identification. Especially if they try to escape. A practice I always was against. Orphanages there are more like prisons for unwanted children." Azula was writing this down quickly trying to keep up.
"Do you see anything else?"
I looked up at the building and saw a window with the curtains blowing out. I turned on my heel and headed toward the building.
"Sam! You can't go in there!" Azula called.
"Azula, you guys have no experience with this stuff. I do. I'm going to see if I can find something that maybe was missed." I said. Azula didn't agree but she allowed it. She and Zuko accompanied me.
I walked into the room and I instantly smelled something foul. It was unclean stench. Whoever lived in this room was not taken care of and was dirty. Could definitely be our girl. There was a pile of hay where she was obviously sleeping.
"What is this?" Azula said. She was walking over to something next to where what appeared to be where she had been sleeping. Once I got a good look, I recognized it.
"Azula don't touch that!" I shouted. Azula jumped and looked at me.
"What?! Why? What is it?!" Azula shouted back, startled.
"This is drug paraphernalia. Looks like heroine." I was surprised. These kinds of drugs had never been in the Bending Nations before. At least not to my knowledge.
"What is heroine?" Zuko asked.
"It's a drug. A powerful drug. I think I see what is going on here, and if I'm right, it's worse than we thought." I concluded. Zuko and Azula looked at each other and back to me. "This girl was trafficked. And if she's here, there will be more girls just like this one." I stood up and walked out of the building back into the fresh air. Azula grabbed my arm.
"Sam, tell me everything you've observed." she said.
"She is an outsider from near where I come from. The clothes she is wearing are definitely outsider clothing but not just anyone wears clothes like these. These are often worn by prostitutes. I don't think she was pushed. I think she was jumped. She landed on her feet. You can tell because her feet are mangled. Typically if someone is pushed, they don't land on their feet. I also saw track marks on her arms so she was using those drugs. All of the signs points to her begin trafficked. I'm sure of it." I turned back to the girl and I felt a pang of sadness for her. Then I turned back to Azula, "Azula, before we clean up this crime scene we need a sketch artist to come in and capture her body as it is now. The more detail the better. It has to be an artist of realism who can capture even the tiniest, most minute detail. You think you can find someone who can do that?"
"Yes, I think so. We can look around for someone."
"It has to be done as soon as possible. Then I want her body cleaned up and removed from here. Please make sure everyone is respectful of her. We will need to lay her to rest properly."
"I will. Don't worry, Sam."
"Thank you, Azula. I know I can trust you with it." Words I would never have believed years ago. I was starting to feel dizzy. I sat down on a bench near the scene. Zuko came over and sat down next to me. Clearly concerned.
"What do you mean, trafficked?" Zuko asked.
"Zuko, remember when I told you that there are people who are worse than your father?"
"Yes, though I never actually believed it." Zuko admitted.
"The people who run this, are an example of that." I said.
"Sam, I don't understand but you're scaring me. What is going on. Please, explain!" Zuko said impatiently.
"I can't. I mean, I need time to think. Let me collect my thoughts." I said. I got up and walked back home, Zuko in tow.
I arrived at the palace and headed for our room. I took off my clothes and went into the bathing room, drawing a bath. Zuko followed me in as I climbed into the tub. I leaned back and closed my eyes and Zuko sat down on the stool in the room.
"Sam."
"Shhh." I said.
"But-"
"Shhh." I repeated. I was trying to think. Zuko sat silently as I laid in the tub. It had been about an hour when Zuko chanced to speak again.
"Sam, I know you need to think and all that, but I need you to talk to me. This is my nation and my responsibility, too. If there is a threat, I need to know!" I laid in the tub quiet, not responding to him. Zuko got impatient. "DAMMIT, SAM! TALK TO ME!" he shouted.
"Outside the Bending Nations, human trafficking is the most profitable organized crime behind the illegal sale of weapons and drugs." I said.
"What does that even mean?" Zuko asked.
"It means that it is a lucrative business run by the worst of the worst. Let me finish my bath and I promise. I will explain everything I know." I said. Zuko sighed annoyed. He got up and stormed out grumbling.
After I finished my bath I walked out and Zuko was sitting on the bed staring at me. I wasn't looking forward to explaining this to Zuko. I walked over to my dresser and gathered my sleeping clothes. I put them on and then walked back to the bed, ready to climb in when Zuko grabbed my arm, stopping me.
"Sam, I am not letting go of you until you start talking." Zuko said. His grip hard for the second time today. It felt like a vice on my arm.
"Zuko, let me of go, please, you're hurting me!" I said, getting upset. Zuko let go and rubbed my arm.
"I'm sorry, Fire Lily. I'm frustrated. You aren't giving me anything." Zuko said.
"I know, hunny. I'm sorry. I promised I will explain. Can we please get into bed first? This is going to take awhile." Zuko walked around to his side of the bed. He sat with his back propped against the backboard and I sat cross-legged in front of him and it was finally time to explain this heinous crime to Zuko.
We sat down on the bed and I explained everything to him. What trafficking was. What human trafficking is. What they do with the victims. By the time I was done, Zuko looked like he was going to vomit.
"You ok, Zuko?" I asked.
"I think I'm going to be sick. You're right. There are people worse than my father. What do you think we should do?"
"I think we need to call the Council of Nations together. If it's here in the Fire Nation there is a good chance it can spread to the other nations if it hasn't already. We need to educate everyone and get them ready for what is to come."
Zuko agreed and, the next morning, sent messengers to everyone to come to the Fire Nation as soon as humanly possible. This was an emergency.
