Sam
It was the next morning and we would have to check the mirror. Before I did that though, I had to get the girls ready for school. Nan helped Chang and I helped Izumi. I was putting her clothes on her and she looked up at me.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, my darling?"
"Do I HAVE to stay in my room today?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. It's only for one more day." I said.
"But Bumi!" she said. I brought my hand up to my forehead in annoyance. I was sick of this.
"Izumi! You should have thought about Bumi before you lied to us. I don't want to hear another word about it, do you understand me?" I asked, sternly.
"Yes, Mommy." she said, defeated.
"Alright. Looks like you're ready to go." I said. I handed her her bag and we walked out. Chang's door was still closed. We waited a couple of minutes but no one came out. "Wait here, hunny. I'm going to check on Chang." I said. Izumi sat down on a bench and I walked into her room. She wasn't dressed and was laying in bed.
"Chang, what's wrong?"
"I don't feel good, Sam." she said, holding her belly. I looked at Nan and only then did I notice how tired she was.
"She was up all night, vomiting." she said.
"Why didn't you come get me or Zuko?"
"I'm sorry, your majesty. I did not want to disturb your graces." she said.
"It's ok. Next time, though, please come get us." I walked over to Chang and felt her forehead. She was burning up. Then something caught my attention. A smell I couldn't quite place. "I need to take Izumi to go to school. I'll be right back." I said. I walked back out and caught one of the servants. "Belna, please go fetch Fen and send him to Chang. She is sick. I will be right back after I take care of Izumi." I said. She bowed and scurried off.
"Is Chang ok?" Izumi asked.
"Yes, hunny, she will be fine. Let's get you to school." I walked her out to the steps and handed her off to Geshna. I explained to her what was going on and that it would only be Izumi today. She wished Chang well and they headed off. I went to find Zuko. I wanted him to be there. Something didn't feel right and I was worried about Chang. I found him in the training yard with Sokka. He saw me approaching and the concern covering my face and he focused his attention on me.
"Zuko, Chang is very sick. I sent for Fen. Please, come with me." I said. Sokka looked concerned.
"Is there anything we can do?" Sokka asked.
"Not right now. Thank you, though." I said. I took Zuko's hand and we rushed to Chang's room. Fen was already there and he looked at us concerned. He gestured us to step out into the hallway.
"I'm very concerned about Chang. This is more than just an upset stomach." he explained.
"That is what I am concerned about." I said.
"I think she was poisoned." he said. Then it clicked.
"The smell! It was almonds! It's cyanide!" I said. Zuko looked at me.
"What is cyanide?"
"It's a deadly poison." Fen said. "Where could she have been exposed to it?" Then it occurred to me. The food.
"It had to have been in the food. I wonder how the other children are." Zuko's eyes widened in horror.
"Sokka said they are all sick too, Sam!" he said. Oh. Shit. "Fen, do you know how to counteract the poison?" Zuko asked.
"Not offhand. I will have to research it, and quickly. I will also need to see the other children." He said.
"Katara, their mother, is with them. I'll have a servant let Aang know." Zuko said.
"Why didn't Izumi get sick?" I asked.
"Well, she refused to eat last night." Zuko said. Bingo. That's the difference. She did eat something since she was hungry and Zuko and I weren't in the business of making our six-year-old daughter go hungry. But it wasn't the same food.
"Could someone try to hurt her at school?" I asked, suddenly concerned.
"We aren't going to chance it." Zuko said. "I am going to go there myself and get her. You stay here with Chang."
"No, I'm coming with you. I want my daughter in my arms as soon as possible." I said. Zuko didn't argue. "Nan, please stay with Chang." she looked hesitant, "don't worry, it's not contagious." she looked relieved and went to her side.
Zuko and I ran to the stable to ready a rhino. Aang came running up to us.
"No, guys, take Appa! He's faster!" he said. Zuko and I looked at each other and nodded. We followed Aang to the courtyard were Appa was. We climbed aboard and we went to the school. Because we flew on Appa it only took about five minutes. He landed in the square and Zuko and I burst into the school. Everyone, including Geshna, jumped at our sudden entrance.
"Izumi!" Zuko shouted out of fear. Izumi looked at him, scared. "You're coming with us, now. Geshna, you too. We will fill you in." then he looked at Sheeza, "Izumi and Chang will not be in school until further notice." Zuko said. Izumi came running over to Zuko. He picked her up and held her. He looked down at me and gestured to the door and we all left on Appa back to the palace. Zuko picked her up again and we ran into Chang's room. By this point, the children had all been moved into her room and placed on cots. Made sense so Fen could monitor them more efficiently.
"Fen, please check Izumi. Now!" Zuko set her down on her feet and she looked at me and then at Fen, scared. Fen came over and examined her. When he was done, she quickly grabbed hold of Zuko's robes. He stood up and sighed.
"She does not exhibit any signs, your majesty." Zuko and I both sighed in relief.
"Mommy, Daddy, what's going on? I'm scared." she asked. Zuko looked down at her and picked her up again.
"It's ok, Turtleduck. Some of the other children just don't feel good. They will be ok." Zuko said. I hope I thought. He carried her out of the room and I followed. He took her into her bedroom. It was after we were in the room when we realized Geshna had also followed us. He sat her down on her bed. "Please stay in your room for the time being. Geshna, stay with her until you hear from Sam or myself." Zuko said and Geshna nodded in understanding.
"Who do you think did the poisoning?" Zuko asked as we walked back into Chang's room.
"Obviously it was one of the cook staff. But who?"
"Maybe the chef?"
"No, it was the one who brought it out. I noticed something weird with the way she was walking. I didn't think anything of it at the time." Toph said, coming into the room. Even though she was blind, Toph had amazing sight.
"Would you be able to pick her out again?"
"Totally." she said. We took Toph to the kitchen and we had all of them line up. They all looked confused. One looked scared. I didn't say anything but I made a mental note. Toph walked up and down the line and I could tell she was seeing with her feet. She walked back and stopped at a woman. The same woman I had noticed.
"It's her. She's the one." Toph said, pointing at her face. The woman looked aghast.
"What? That's impossible! I would never hurt the children." I saw Zuko move out of the corner of my eye and I looked over at him. He wore a smirk of disgust on his lips.
"We never said what this was about, Koshi. We never mentioned the children." he then looked at the guard with us, "take her to the Capital City Prison. I want her in a high security cell. No one in or out except for food and water." Zuko ordered. "The rest of you can get back to work."
"Thank you, Toph. You're truly a wonder." I said.
"No problem." she smirked.
At that, we went back to the children. Fen had several books with him and he was tirelessly looking for something.
"Anything yet, Fen?"
"Well, it says they need fresh air. We have Aang pulling it into the room." Perfect.
"I want to check on Izumi. She must be scared." I said. Zuko looked over at me and followed me out of the room and into hers.
"Izumi?" I asked. She was sitting on the bed, terrified.
"Mommy? What's going on?"
"Someone tried to hurt you children. The other children are sick but Fen is going to fix them up. You were lucky and you didn't get sick." I explained. I didn't want to go into detail. That would just traumatize her. We decided to stay with her.
Zuko and I had been sitting with Izumi for several hours when we I heard a knock on the door.
"Sokka?"
"I'm sorry to disturb you guys but I have a feeling this has to do with-" he looked down at Izumi, "why we are here," he concluded. "If that's the case, we really need to finish that mirror. I just got back from checking it. I think we got it but I need you to look at it, Sam." he said. Dammit. He was right.
"Alright," I said. I looked at Geshna.
"Don't worry. I'll protect her." she said. I knew she would.
Zuko and I followed Sokka to the room. I had hoped this would do it. We were running out of time. We came into the side for the suspect. All we saw was a mirror. We went to the other side and looked. We could see through!
"Yes! Yes, this is perfect!" I said. I turned around and throw my arms around Zuko's neck and kissed him. He looked surprised but didn't pull back. "Zuko! This is thanks to you! You're a genius!" I said, making Zuko blush. "Sokka, we can move forward with this as soon as the children are stable." I said. "Speaking of which, I want to check on them." I said. Sokka nodded.
"I went into the room with the children and they were all in the same state they had been in. Toph was there too. I was going to need her.
"Toph." I said. She turned her head in my general direction. "Do you think you could procure a portrait of Xinche?"
"Uhh. You really want to ask that of the blind woman?" Oh right. I could see how the others would forget. "Sokka, will you go with her? We need something of him so we can show it to the girls."
"Yes, we will leave immediately." Sokka said.
"Take Appa." Aang said.
"Right, we will head out now. Here's hoping for a resolution soon." Toph said. With that, they headed out. Aang would stay here with his children. Zuko and I went back over to Izumi and crawled on her bed with her.
"Geshna, you are free to go." Zuko said.
"I would actually like to stick around if you don't mind, your highness." she said. She loved our family but she especially loved Izumi and it showed in spades. Zuko smiled and gave her a nod. She stepped out of the room to give us privacy.
We had been there for a little while when another knock came at the door.
"Come in!" I said and at which they did.
"Azula! What brings you here?" I asked.
"Rumor has it that the children were poi-"
"Shh!" I said, quickly cutting her off.
"Oops, sorry. I wanted to see if I could help." she looked at Izumi, "little squirt looks ok."
"Yes, she didn't get sick." I was starting to be thankful for her temper tantrum last night. "Chang and the other children are sick though."
"Who is Chang?" she asked. Oh right, she didn't know. We filled her in on what happened with Chang and why she was here. At least, as best as we could with Izumi present. We would fill her in with more details later.
"You mean the brat who was bullying Izumi is now staying here?" she asked disgusted.
"They are friends now, actually. And yes she is." I said. "Here, let me introduce you." she looked skeptical. Azula was nothing if not protective of her niece. We walked in and the other children were sitting up in bed. Chang was laying down, her hair soaking wet with sweat. She was pale and appeared very weak. I walked up to her and smoothed the damp hair off her forehead. She fluttered her eyes at me. I started to get tears in my own. Izumi wanted to see Chang but we couldn't let her see her like this. This would definitely scare her. I looked over at Fen and he looked exhausted.
"Azula, how about you sit here with Chang for a while. Fen needs to get some rest." I suggested. Azula was staring at Chang. "Azula?" I asked again, placing my hand on her shoulder.
"Huh? Oh, yes, I'll stay with her. Fen, go ahead and rest." she said. Fen nodded and he went into the room next door for some rest.
"Great, she needs to be monitored closely. She is by far the sickest. I still haven't figured out why though." Zuko said.
"Well, after you, Zuko and Izumi left the table, she ate Izumi's food." Aang explained.
"What?! That explains why she is so sick then! Poor thing." I said, looking sadly at Chang.
By this time, it was getting late. No one had eaten all day and none of us were confident enough to eat. I stood up and stretched.
Where are you going, my love?" Zuko asked.
"Everyone is hungry and I don't think anyone cherishes the thought of our servants handling our food. I am going to figure out what to cook." Everyone looked at me surprised, except Zuko. "Yes, I can cook. Really, how do you people think I survived before I met Zuko?" I had posed the same question to Zuko all those months ago at our second honeymoon.
I cooked dinner, everyone ate, and went to bed. We all were exhausted. We went to check on Chang and she still looked rough. Then we noticed something next to her. Azula had laid down next to her. She was awake, watching Chang. We also saw Fen sitting in the corner.
"Azula, Fen is awake, you don't have t-"
"No, it's ok. I want to stay." she said. I nodded and accepted it. If she wanted to stay with Chang, I had no problem with it. We went over to our room and got ready for bed. I bathed as did Zuko. He usually did that in the morning but everyone was out of sorts after the events of the last 24 hours. Once we finished, we headed over to Izumi's room.
"Geshna, we will be with her the rest of the night. You may take your leave." I said.
"Ok but I'd like to stay close." she said.
"Alright, make yourself at home in one of our guest rooms." I said. "We will be taking her to our room." I said. I wanted her to know where she would be just in case. She bowed respectfully and walked out.
"Come on, turtleduck." Zuko said.
"I'm sleeping with you?" she asked.
"Yes, until…for a little while." Zuko amended. Izumi wasn't going to argue. She liked sleeping with us.
Tomorrow, Zuko and I would have to figure out who tried to poison the children. And the children only.
