Lu Ten blasted another arc of fire toward the battalion of earth benders.

"Hold your line!" the commander shouted. Lu Ten gritted his teeth and held his ground as the earth benders swelled forward, flinging rocks at the fire nation army. Still, they pressed forward towards the gap in the wall, killing anyone who got in their way. Lu Ten lifted his sword and lead the soldiers forward to the gap, only to be met with more earth benders. They dove forward into the streets of Ba Sing Se, but there were just too many earth kingdom soldiers. Even blasts of fire didn't deter them. Lu Ten tried to force his way in, to claim Ba Sing Se for his father, but he was just too slow. He looked up just in time to see a boulder flying toward his face before everything went dark.

"Ayeshi! It's too dangerous out there. Hide!" Ayehsi grabbed the teapot and ran down to the basement after her mother. Faint booms echoed through the city and the walls shook as the fire nation army pounded the outer wall. Ayeshi sat against the wall between her brothers, cradling their father's teapot. None of them spoke as the house shook some more.

"Not again." their mother moaned. "Well. Some luck they'll have. Your father didn't die so that the fire nation could take our city. Ayeshi, did you lock the front door?"

"Yes, mother."

"Good. I swear, if we get looted again . . ." Ayeshi's mother, Miyo, was a small, stout woman, standing at the foot of the basement stairs with her brow furrowed. She was proud and stubborn, fully prepared to defend her home with the knife hanging from her belt. Her eyes narrowed. "Boys, you have your weapons?" The boys nodded. "If only one of you children had been an earth bender . . ."

Ayeshi and her brothers rolled their eyes. Their mother so badly wanted at least one earth bender in the family. She fantasized often about being able to drop boulders on a fire nation soldier's head or even bury one alive in the earth.

Another boom shook the house. Ayeshi jumped and curled her torso over her father's teapot. Han and Wei clutched at her clothes and buried their faces as dust rained down from the ceiling. Only Miyo had not moved, though Ayehsi saw her knuckles going white around the hilt of the knife.

Ayeshi didn't know how long they huddled down there—hours, probably—but presently the shaking stopped like it always did. The fire nation had once again failed to breach the walls of Ba Sing Se. They were safe, for now. Ayeshi climbed back upstairs and opened the door to their house. Outside men were already clearing away the bodies, both earth kingdom and fire nation, smothering fires with earth. Ayeshi made to step outside but had to stifle a scream when she saw a man lying on her own doorstep.

He was fire nation, and badly hurt if not dead. His helmet had been knocked off and blood trickled down his face, but he was handsome. Ayeshi stepped closer to get a better look.

"Ayeshi!" Miyo screamed. "Be careful!"

"Mother, he's hurt."

"He's fire nation. Those are the men that killed your father. Where's my knife? I'll finish the job."

"No! No. Please, Mother. I—I want to see if he's still alive. Maybe we can help him."

"Here. Take my knife and keep it close. If he moves at all . . ."

Ayeshi took her mother's knife and leaned over the fallen soldier. She took the edge of her skirt and gently wiped the blood off his face. "Mother, let me help him. If he turns on us, I'll take the knife and kill him. I won't let him hurt us. But I don't want him to die. Maybe he has children like us back home."

"He's awfully young for that." Miyo lifted the man over her shoulder and dragged him inside. Ayeshi smiled. She secretly hoped the soldier didn't have children, didn't have anyone.

They took him down to the basement and let Ayeshi work on him. She carefully removed his armor and the tunic he wore underneath—trying not to swoon at the sight of his firm muscles—and began trying to bandage his wounds. He had probably been hit by an earth kingdom boulder, judging by the extent of his injuries. Ayeshi felt several broken ribs and nearly wept, knowing there was nothing she could do for them. Worse were his head injuries. There was so much blood. Ayeshi cleaned the wounds as best she could and bandaged him up. c

"He doesn't looked so good." Ayeshi jumped, but it was only Wei. "Why are you protecting this soldier? He wants to kill us."

"I—I don't know. There's just something about him."

"You think he's hot, don't you?"Ayeshi turned scarlet.

"Understandable. Even I can appreciate that he looks good. Or he will, once those injuries heal up. Anyway, Mom sent me down here to tie him. We can't risk anything once he wakes up."

Ayeshi nodded and helped her brother tie up the soldier. The poor man would be in for a rough time when he woke up.