Becoming Zuko - a Prince's Demise

by ystv

Book Earth: After escaping Azula with the help of Iroh, the team seeks out a town to recuperate. Toph talks to a mistreated captive at the marketsquare, not realizing his identity as the missing Fire Prince. without the others consent, she brings him along. He won't be able to hide forever though. A tale of a fall, and a hard won redemption. Co-written by ML8991

29. Papierkrieg

A/N: No comments to last chapter? Come on people you can do better... Please?

.

Teaser: "I want to see your passport."

Zuko pulled it out and handed it over. What was it with people's obsessions here about formal identification?

The guy took out a looking glass and inspected the passport closely.

---

Chapter 29 Papierkrieg

Alone, what an odd feeling. Zuko hadn't realised how much he'd relied on the presence of the others to feel somewhat safe. Alone. Here, he had no backup. Here, he was vulnerable. Zuko turned in his sleeping bag. He'd grown quite attached to the toasty warmth it provided.

He knew the sun had risen, even though all he saw out of his little window while lying on the thin provided bedroll was the wall of the house across the street. The buildings were tall here, the streets narrow. He didn't have to see it, he felt it in his core, and that was comforting. The connection was no longer crackling and flickering as it had been by the end of his time on the market square.

No, he didn't want to think of that. But as he lay there, his thoughts just moved on to the next sore topic: He still missed Uncle.

He did not miss much else, he realised, which was a crazy thought, having spent three years feeling like he wanted more.

A roof over his head hadn't been a necessity most of the time the past month and a half. At times he'd been deprived of shelter, at times he'd even preferred to be without. Now having a door and the keys to it was a luxury. And food no longer had to taste good for Zuko to be glad to have it.

He'd departed from Uncle because he had not seen the point in travelling together and feeling degraded at every turn.

He'd been so desperate for better accommodations, a better living standard. He'd even robbed some rich guy to be able to provide better for Uncle; a tea set, portable riches, luxury items. He'd tried to give Uncle a better life on the run, he'd tried to rebuild his old life in their situation, so it had hurt all the more when Uncle had verbally thrown his efforts back into his face.

Zuko had not been able to imagine living like this for any period of time, and now he couldn't even recognise that version of himself anymore. Instead, he was starting to understand Uncle just a tiny bit better.

He still remembered his words to his Uncle: "I can't live like this."

It made him laugh. That Zuko had forgotten what the difference between existing and living was. Though he'd lived through it before when fighting infection after the Agni Kai. Back then he had pushed through and banished it from his memory. Now, it came back to him.

He observed the light that was now touching the house across the street shift ever so slightly.

He'd forgotten what being at risk of dying felt like. It wasn't quite comparable to his last brush with death though. Although Zhao's attempt on his ship had been close, it was nothing to that day. The burn had taken him quickly and had had a strong grip on him through pain, and within a day, a fever. Clinging to live as a prisoner had been a way slower decline.

That hadn't been living. Trapped and without choice, not being given enough nutrients to stay alive, and forced to stand for long hours to make sure he did not retain enough energy to live. Facing torture day in, day out.

Zuko sat up abruptly, slipping out of the sleeping bag to plant his feet on the ground. The air felt chilly in the room. He looked around. The room was very small, barely more than a broom closet. He'd locked the door and it reminded him of a prison cell, but here, he knew he had the keys; here, he knew he could leave at any time.

He shouldn't be mulling over these things, he had a lot of things to do, and barely a plan on how to achieve them.

Outside of his window, the city was waking up. He heard hurried footsteps from down below, a murmured conversation here and there as people walked past. Occasionally, there was a shout. Zuko looked around his little room again. The provided blanket that he'd discarded was still lying there in the corner, crumbled. His Sand Nomad clothing lay neatly folded on the dresser. The jug of water that had been provided still stood on the ground where he'd put it.

He was glad he'd washed the barf stain before going to bed, steam drying it after he'd drawn the curtains. So his clothing was all ready to go. With a sigh, he got dressed so he could search for the loo. After that, he decided he'd do a bit of a warm-up for his body, and then check out his neighbourhood.

However, when he started some of his warm up exercises, the thoughts kept coming back. It sounded crazy to him, but he was glad he no longer was that person.

The Zuko that had left Uncle Iroh, had been an arrogant brat; naive too, in a way.

Ironically, he was finding himself aiming for the same thing as back then. He was aiming to go home; but on an entirely different basis. He didn't want to go home to be at home. He wanted to go home to save his people, just like he had in the war meeting that had led to his banishment. He needed to do it the right way this time, though.

He needed to get going, but… he finished his exercise… first he'd spend a few minutes in connection with Agni.

00000

The streets were dirty and narrow. Despite it being early, they were already quite lively. There were people huddled in covered corners and Zuko quickly concluded that they did not have a home and had spent the night on the streets.

He needed to get a job, and soon, to make sure he wouldn't be staying out there as well. Not in the city. It was one thing to sleep outside in the countryside, but in a city, no, he needed a safe place to sleep without people around.

Zuko had a plan. It wasn't particularly thought out but he'd just work with what he had. He did have some rather unique skill sets, after all, and he did need a job that would let him go at least into the Middle Ring, hopefully. But realistically, he might just have to start somewhere.

Approaching people wasn't working out too great. He just wanted to ask for directions, but they turned away in distrust and fear. That was the price for being covered up, he supposed. Zuko was just glad that it was traditional garb and not just a ragtag collection of clothing he'd seen other nomadic tribes wear.

He eventually found some rugged-looking man that was willing to talk to him, and who looked at him rather strangely when he heard that Zuko was searching for a public office. Much to Zuko's annoyance, the guy seemed hesitant and unsure and did not give him a clear answer, only a rough direction for some sort of government building it might be in. Zuko shouldered his bags again and walked back towards the tram station, as the guy had instructed.

He did not see any indication of there being much of a government building there, however, only a little ticket booth. Zuko decided to try his luck there, and the man who sat there took one look at him and snubbed him as if it was a crime to ask a question. At least the guy did give more specific instructions and Zuko was off again.

It wasn't that easy to find the street he had been guided towards though, the Lower Ring was cramped and soon an hour or two had passed. He had to ask for directions again, and finally found someone who was not only willing to talk to him, but also gave useful information. It probably helped that he was getting close now.

The petite old lady who stood at the counter looked up when the creak of her shop door announced his presence. Zuko bowed his head respectfully.

"Hello, I'm new to the city, what do I need to know so I can find work and not break any laws?"

00000

There was a lady at their gate, just creepily waiting in front of their door. Toph hadn't slept terribly well, but it could have been worse, and ever since that lady had arrived, she'd been waiting for a knock that never came. She knew what this meant and she was not looking forward to it.

She stretched, unable to go back to sleep, and stood up to explore their big ambassador lodgings. There was a skywell in the centre of the main building, and a decently sized garden; a not quite atrium, surrounded by some sort of wall with a covered pathway. She felt one area where there were a couple of cramped, small rooms, which she recognised as servant quarters. There were no servants in there yet, however. They'd probably been expected to bring them. Toph liked it better this way, without them.

She explored the grounds further with her senses, reaching out and crystallising her view with her hands on the solid wall beside her. There was a small servant gate in the back, and some shrubbery surrounding the grassy grounds in the centre.

Toph had claimed a room of her own, the rest of the Gaang had bunked together in a room. Katara was up and moving. She was doing something in what Toph presumed to be the kitchen, half hidden just in front of the servant quarters. Now that she was thinking about food, it struck her as a good idea to eat.

Aang was more difficult to track, he wasn't in his bed anymore, but she didn't know where he was. It was an ick to her senses. Reaching out again didn't lead to much, he'd either gone out or found a spot to stay at which she couldn't sense. An annoying habit of his.

"Morning Katara." She greeted. "Where's Aang?"

"Meditating somewhere high up in the garden, I think."

Toph metaphorically rolled her eyes, annoyed at herself and at Aang for not greeting her. He tended to ignore everything and everyone around him however when he was meditating, so no surprise.

"Soooo, we got some weird lady waiting outside of our door."

"Just waiting? Maybe we should ask her inside, see what she wants."

"Oh no, don't you dare. I don't want a babysitter."

"Oh come on, she'll probably show us a bit of the city, I think someone mentioned something about that yesterday when we arrived here."

"I'd rather explore on my own," Toph said mulishly. She felt Sokka move now, probably following his nose. The smells of Katara's cooking were starting to permeate the morning air. As soon as he'd entered the kitchen, he was ordered to get Aang. Grumbling, he went outside to shout for him and a moment later, Toph felt the boy touch down on the grass. So he had been up in one of the trees, of course…

Breakfast was a quiet affair, as Toph filled the others in as well, about the lady waiting for them at the door and they collectively decided to give her a chance, despite Toph's reluctance.

Toph was underwhelmed. 'Joo Dee' was weird, and though they didn't talk about it in front of the Lady, she knew, they all agreed. She all greeted them by name, which was creepy, and she didn't listen one bit about what Sokka was saying about having to meet the Earth King.

The lady felt off, bodily reactions falling flat and her voice modulation unnatural. It all felt rehearsed. Reluctantly, they agreed to a city tour and, much to Toph's annoyance, Joo Dee's idea of a city tour contained going by coach, which left Toph completely in the metaphorical and literal dark.

00000

It was becoming increasingly clear that this woman would not help them one bit to get to the Earth King. She deflected every time Sokka tried to steer the conversation to the war and to their need to see the Earth King.

"It's called being handled, get used to it," Toph said, arms crossed in annoyed resignation, so they listened to the droning presentation being undertaken in that fake, cheery, manner.

To Sokka's further annoyance, Aang was not playing his role of all-powerful Avatar very well either. He wasn't thrilled about the city, but he cowed way too easily, at least at the moment.

At least Katara tried to help Toph with her argument, to sight-see her way, as Toph was pissed that they couldn't just stop every so often on busy streets so that she could jump out and feel out the ground. Sokka understood both sides of the argument.

Sokka knew Toph's insistence on stopping all the time in the Lower Ring also, in parts, had to do with her hope to sense a familiar pair of feet. No such luck though. Sokka was sure also that she was trying to get a sense of the city as well, even though understanding the layout would be hard with the gaps from travelling by coach. They were all on the lookout for Zuko subconsciously.

The Lower Ring was dirty and crowded, Sokka was sure Katara's heartstrings were being tugged and Sokka was keeping close to her so she wouldn't be as tempted to help everyone. Sokka relaxed when they passed back into the Middle Ring.

While they were being taken through the University grounds, Joo Dee pointed out the library and Sokka exploded:

"How awesome. Now listen, we were in a big Library too, out in the desert, and guess what! We found crucial information for the war that the EARTH KING needs to know."

Katara held a calming hand onto his arm. "Hey, let's not draw too much attention, we want to come here again when it's time."

Joo Dee ignored their protests and instead ordered the coachman to lead them off the university grounds. The woman went on to point out various shops and restaurants on the way as if nothing had happened. There, they learned about some spas and the financial district. Of course, she also made sure to share the history of every other old house and attraction. Here's a market, this is the restaurant with the oldest continuous licence in Ba Sing Se, this other house has been repurposed to be a small theatre.

She droned on and on and Sokka started to feel resigned as well. After they passed the Opera House, they travelled alongside the wall and took the gate back into the Upper Ring, where Joo Dee proceeded to point out family mansions and their architecture. Their heads were starting to swim from all the cultural bits and pieces; as if her presentation of the other two rings hadn't been enough information being forced onto them. They were pointed to beautiful gardens, a street known for romantic dusks, and other randomness, but then, after some more important mansions and the like, something changed: There was another wall, surrounded by a wide street, expertly plastered.

When they drove past a gate, there were very particularly dressed men. Sokka had the impression that they were guards, but they didn't quite look the part. Joo Dee was still droning on about something they were supposed to be able to see on the other side. She was pointing out of the window, but no one was listening.

The wall was long and they were travelling next to it for several minutes before another gate appeared, a bigger one this time, with a huge symbol of the Earth Kingdom on it. Katara interrupted her.

"What's behind those walls?"

"Oh, that is the Earth King's palace."

Aang perked up, bored. "Can we see the King now?" He finally took the initiative.

"Oh no," Joo Dee laughed. "One doesn't just pop in on the Earth King."

Aang visibly deflated, but then braced himself. "But I am the Avatar, we need to talk to him."

"I'm afraid you won't be able to meet him right now. We'll arrive at the crystal statue park soon. I think that will be an amazing place to walk for a bit."

"I need to talk to the King!" Avatar said, opening the carriage's doors with a burst of air, jumping out. Toph quickly followed and Katara and Sokka stood up as well

Joo Dee's face had fallen, taken on a worried expression. "Wait! You can't, the Dai Li won't let you in and you'll get in trouble… You need a permit to bend."

Sokka stared at her. Toph had turned around as well, unseeing eyes narrowed. "A Permit to bend?" She spat. "Why didn't you lead with that, we could have gotten that hours ago. What else do we need a permit of? Breathing, maybe? Any other rules you forgot to mention? Oh, and let me guess, we need to fill out forms to ask for an audience with the King too, and it will take weeks, wasting everyone's time for nothing, as you're not planning on getting us an audience at all."

Joo Dee had gone a bit pale and her smile looked more like a grimace now, as she was urging them to calm down, starting to look a little desperate.

Some of those funky-robed men were slowly approaching as Sokka noticed, so he called out. "Hey, let's return to the carriage and talk in private. Come on Aang, without flying."

Sokka was determined to get to the bottom of this. "Who were the men that were approaching us just now?"

"The Dai Li of course, they are the cultural authority of Ba Sing Se, the guardians of all our traditions." Joo Dee said, sounding very rehearsed.

"They're earth benders?!" Toph stated.

"They are the very best." Joo Dee confirmed and Sokka decided to push.

"So they're the Royal Guards?"

"They are the cultural authority, and at the top of the cultural authority is the Earth King. Aah, see, we have arrived. Let's take a little walk and enjoy the crystal sculptures."

Sokka looked out of the window and had to admit, the gate was gorgeous, it seemed to be metal work, but it had colourful inlays, and the gate's pillars had figurines of badgermoles on top. Was that Jennamite? Would they glow in the dark?

"No, we're going to stay right here and talk," Katara said, not wanting Joo Dee to try to distract them again.

"Actually," Toph said, "let's find some ground to stand on so I can see, and then let's talk."

"I think we should return home and talk there!" Sokka interrupted. He'd looked outside and seen more of those Dai Li staring at their wagon. He remembered Joo Dee's words about bending permits. It might be better not to piss off any Dai Li from the get-go, and he knew how quickly the other three were resorting back to bending to get their way.

There was some grumbling, but they agreed and told Joo Dee that they wanted to go straight back to their house. Somehow they even managed to get her to do what they wanted this time, the atmosphere was tense the whole way however.

Once there, they had stepped out of the coach, Joo Dee seemed unsure of what to do. Reluctant to just invite herself in but also reluctant to leave them alone.

"Joo Dee, come on in, we need to talk with you!" Sokka demanded. Toph looked very unhappy about this.

Joo Dee shuffled in, her fake smile still plastered all over. No one offered drinks as they gathered around the low table in the living room.

"Explain the city. We've seen it, now explain it. What do we need to know?" He pressed.

Joo Dee looked at them a little blankly but then started out with:

"Ba Sing Se is the greatest city in the world, everyone is safe here."

"We already know that. What do we need to know?"

"There is no war in Ba Sing Se. The walls are here to protect us and the Dai Li and the guards work together to ensure order."

"Okay, what's the plan if someone breaks through the wall? If the Fire Nation actually gets in?"

"It's impossible."

"So there is no plan for that. What about the rest of the Earth Kingdom, is Ba Sing Se and the Oh So Mighty Earth King just going to abandon it in its entirety?"

"I'm not privy to the city's affairs with the outside."

"Which officials are handling the city's affairs with the outside?"

"I'm Joo Dee, your guide to the city of Ba Sing Se."

"Urgh." Sokka realised they weren't getting anywhere.

"The Dragon of the West broke through the outer wall before," Toph snarked. "It's not impossible."

"There is no war in Ba Sing Se. You are safe now."

Toph huffed. "This is a waste of time."

They fell silent and Sokka realised they hadn't responded to something crucial. Maybe the others hadn't listened, Aang probably plain hadn't heard, but Sokka had, and it was important.

"Joo Dee, you mentioned Bending Permits."

"Oh yes, every bender needs a licence to bend in the city. It's the law."

"And when exactly were you planning on telling us about that?"

"I thought you'd like to see the city first. If you want to, we can go get that done now."

"Yeh, we want to get that done yesterday." Toph jumped up.

"Why does every bender have to have a licence?"

"The Dai Li want to know who is bending in their city. It is to ensure the cultural heritage of the city doesn't get damaged and people don't endanger themselves or others with it."

"The Dai Li; not the Guards; the Dai Li." Sokka mused.

00000

The lady was weird, Toph had known that already, but it wasn't getting better, she still was as unpleasant and rehearsed as she had been in the beginning. Repeating those boring sentences over and over must be bringing her comfort, because there might have been a slight offbeat thump in her heart here and there while reacting to their questions, but it always calmed down a bit when she resorted to her rote replies. It was disconcerting.

Now, they were sitting in the waiting room of a government office in the Jiu Shi district of the Upper Ring, waiting for their turn. Joo Dee had told them to just wait here, she'd help them, and Toph really wanted to believe it was a lie, but Joo Dee had been surprisingly calm. The booth Joo Dee was talking in was conveniently out of hearing range, and after a few minutes of waiting, Toph was growing impatient and got up to investigate.

Aang got up too, but Katara pulled him back. "Let Toph do her thing."

Joo Dee was just turning around, a stack of paper in her hands, Toph stomped back to her seat feeling deliberately cheated.

"I have a few forms for you to fill out. We have to get through registration first."

Toph made a face. So much for keeping her identity a secret. She knew better than to lie, that would only come to bite them in the butt down the line. Especially in a city as strict as this one.

Joo Dee handed her a board with paper on it, together with a brush and inkstone, as if it was the most natural thing to do, and excused herself to go back to talking with the lady in the booth. She generally liked not being treated differently, but this was quite a bit ignorant.

"Ehm, sorry Lady, but I need help filling those out." She made a face and waved her hand before her eyes.

00000

"Your calligraphy skills are impressive." The lady said when Zuko handed her the registration papers back.

"Thank you, years of practice."

"You asked for advice on how to live in the city. I think you're already starting way better than most. You've come to register, and you're aware that there may be rules. The best advice I have for you is," She leaned over to whisper even though they were alone in the room: "Whatever you do, try to not gain the attention of the Dai Li."

Zuko nodded and met her in volume, hushing his words. "What can I do to not get their attention?"

The lady kept whispering too. "There is no war in Ba Sing Se, remember that. Talking about the war from outside could get you in trouble. They want to keep the city calm, so they pretend that it doesn't exist."

That was crazy. Zuko pressed his lips into a thin line to keep from saying anything. This definitely could get him in trouble, but he still had to respond, and he realised at once that this lady was taking a risk to tell him this: "Thank you for letting me know."

"You're welcome, now for work. What kind of work are you skilled in?"

"Uhhh, I'm good with ink and brush, I'm also decent at taking care of animals and good with my dao, though I'm guessing the latter probably isn't that great to keep me away from the Dai Li."

"Yeah, they pay close attention to those who can fight, even if they only arrest those who give the city trouble. You'll have to fill out this form to get a weapon permit, by the way." She handed him another form and he replied as he started filling it out.

"Understandable."

"You can try to apply for guard duties at one of the local brothels. They usually don't look too closely at the guards there. They're more interested in customer information."

"No, absolutely not! I'd prefer something that gets me within reach of the University. I need to reunite with some of my friends there."

"They'd have gone through the Lower Ring first, they might still be here."

"They're special, and well, our meeting point is in the Middle Ring, so I really need to be able to go there."

"I see. Well, that makes everything a lot more difficult, you can't just pass from the Lower to the Middle Ring any longer, they created gates below the Railways about five or six years ago. You would need to get work there to get a pass, but they're highly coveted. I can suggest a few places to try: If you're good with animals, you might be able to do some carriage work throughout the city. I think searching for scribe work here around, especially to pass through into the Middle Ring, may be difficult as well, though you certainly have the skill. But hey, maybe you will be lucky."

Zuko had never been lucky, so that statement felt like a stab to the gut. The lady was right though, he had to try.

After the lady had read back his paperwork, she stamped a registration form, as well as a weapon permit and additionally wrote a list of places down for him on a separate piece of paper and he thanked her again. Before leaving, he asked for instructions to find the first place.

00000

As it turned out, because they didn't have passports, with the exception of Toph, they had to get that sorted too. Apparently, it was a big deal. Only after that, they could move on to getting their bending licences. Either way, Joo Dee kept being infuriating. She had wanted instruction from Toph on how to write her first name. As if it wasn't right there in the passport. Toph knew how to write that in a stone slap, though Joo Dee had been less than pleased when she'd shown it to her. And then she had reacted to the Bei Fong name, apologising profusely for not recognising her status. It was annoying.

Then she kept asking all these questions. Toph suggested that it was way more than that paper asked for. Katara was slowly filling out her own paper next to them and only occasionally threw them a glance. Toph truly wondered if these questions really all were on there.

Sokka, having finished first, went over to the booth by himself, and promptly returned, very annoyed. "They say my handwriting isn't legible, and I have to rewrite the whole dang thing. I can read it fine."

He was even more frustrated when his second attempt wasn't accepted either. Katara's was, but apparently, she'd filled out some information wrong, plus, she had to fill out more paperwork because she was a bender.

Sokka's third attempt was approved, but he, too, had apparently misinterpreted something, so they explained it to him and sent him off again with a fourth round of the same paper. What a waste of paper.

When he was done, he got a paper asking about his weapon skills which appeased him a bit. But then it asked about where people were from and their professions, and finally, 'What would you do' questions.

"Hey, why do you need to know all of this?"

"I don't know."

"Aang? Don't write your life journey on it. Keep it short and simple, they don't need to know every little detail of our life."

"But they're kind of asking about it."

Joo Dee's voice was getting on everyone's nerves and Katara kind of pitied Toph for having to listen to it up close. She saw how done Toph was with her, too.

Katara had gotten a Bending Licence request sheet and was trying to fill that out. Aang had gotten one too, so they had decided to do that one together and were now trying to figure out what they needed to fill in.

They were asking about styles and grade levels, and it was pretty obvious that this had been written for Earth Bending primarily.

They settled on just writing Northern Water Tribe and self-taught. Katara also wrote 'Master'.

After filling out the information for waterbending, Aang continued to fill his with airbending but ran out of space, so he went to request another paper, the lady took a look at what he'd written so far and shook her head.

"You can't put these on one paper, you have to fill out separate ones."

"Oh, I'm sorry, in that case, please give me four papers." The woman who had already turned back to what she was doing barely looked up and just handed them to him.

So Aang sat back down and started copying his information onto two separate papers, then starting a third one. He couldn't remember a time when he'd been writing his name so many times in a row.

"Toph, what style are you teaching me?"

"My style."

"Ehm, okay. And how progressed am I?"

"Eeh, maybe intermediate beginner?"

00000

The first place Zuko tried to apply for didn't even give him time to introduce himself. They were throwing him suspicious glances and all while telling him to get out of there. Zuko sighed and went to the next place. When he approached the second one, one of the Ostrich horses tried to bite him, which probably didn't leave a great impression either, so he wasn't sure if they'd told him the truth when they said they had no job opportunities currently.

The third place claimed not to need anyone new, but at least they suggested one other place that might be looking. Sadly no luck there either.

Finally, there was just one place on the list left, and it was late afternoon. Zuko would soon have to start looking for somewhere to stay. He'd also been to the closest gate into the Middle Ring, and as suspected, they did not let people pass through to find a job, he'd seen some people try and get sent away.

The last place was right next to the tram tracks and listed not only one but two places. A Post Office and something to do with transportation?

He entered the Post Office first. Someone was standing in line, handing over a package and Zuko braced himself for getting rejected once again. The man before him was taking forever to fill out whatever he needed filling, a line was forming behind Zuko, and the guy in front of him was rummaging through his coin purse. Zuko was tired and the people in his back did not help his nerves.

Finally, the man left and Zuko stepped up.

"Hello, I'm sorry, but I'm looking for work. I can do deliveries, scribe work, accounting, guarding…" Zuko trailed off.

"I'm sorry, we're not currently looking for anyone… Next."

Zuko squared his shoulders, hiding his disappointment. He really needed a job.

"Hey, you." A hand came out of nowhere to stop him. Zuko looked up, into the eyes of a man who'd been standing in line. "You can read and write, you say?"

"Yes." Zuko hissed. What was the deal?

"And do accounting?... Do you have a weapon permit for these blades?" The eyes that were mustering him were shrewd and held a mean streak. Zuko's eyes narrowed.

"Yes on both accounts. What do you want?" Zuko probably should have been more polite, but it had been a long day.

"Good, good…" The man was saying. He wore decent quality fabric, had a round face, and a bit of a belly, but was otherwise quite inconspicuous. "Would you mind waiting for me outside? I may have a proposition for you."

Zuko was taken aback, that wasn't what he'd expected. He dumbly nodded and mumbled a 'sure', then awkwardly waited outside.

The man came a while later. "Oh, great, you're still here."

Zuko nodded. "What's the proposition?"

"I'd like to ask a few questions first. You're looking for a job, right?"

"Yes, I am."

"Are you just carrying weapons or do you really have any actual skills?"

"I'm decent with the dao."

"Are you a bender?"

"No, I'm not." Zuko's voice was harsh. "Why?"

"Just trying to get to know you. It's not every day you see someone from the Si Wong Tribes. Come with me."

"Where to?" Zuko narrowed his eyes.

"Let's just get out of the street and somewhere we can talk. Do you have your own writing kit?"

"No, I just arrived here yesterday."

"Aah, that explains the lack of stains on your hands. Well, I'm really hoping you aren't just claiming to have some calligraphy skills."

"I can prove it to you."

"Good." The man walked onwards and Zuko followed, not liking how this was going.

"Where are we going?" Zuko pressed.

"Oh, Hóu Street, House 86, Middle Ring."

"I can't go to the Middle Ring, I don't have a pass."

"Let me handle that. So, what's your name?"

"Oktai."

"Passport?"

"What do you need it for?"

"Just checking. You don't look Si Wong to me."

Zuko's eyes narrowed further. "I can't help my parentage, but I'm from the Dong Tribe, I assure you." He however pulled out the passport and handed it to the guy to check.

"Very new."

Zuko repeated his explanation about them only being issued when someone was leaving. After examining it, the guy handed it back and Zuko put it away quickly.

"What made you leave the Tribes?"

Zuko knew this guy wasn't just asking randomly, he was fishing for information, trying to figure him out. He had to be careful.

"The same reason most people come here?"

"Already afraid to call it by name?"

"I've been advised not to mention what's going on outside."

"Good advice. You might have a chance in this city."

The guy, Zuko realised he still didn't know his name, kept up the conversation, and Zuko found the subjects just off putting enough to ensure that he wasn't forgetting to pay attention to what he was saying. He was sticking to keeping his answers short and in line with his story anyway. Zuko recognised the street they were in now as the one that led to the closest gate. The people here seemed just a tad more well off and there were some memorable street signs as well.

"Remember where we're going?"

"Hóu Street, House 86."

"Good, so you've been paying attention. Now let me see if they let me take you through. I've never picked someone off the streets like this."

They stood in line, and Zuko very much doubted that he'd be let through. This whole situation seemed just a bit good to be true, really, but he was willing to try.

"Passes." One guard demanded.

The guy took out a pass and pointed to him. "He's with me, a new hire."

"Sorry, no can do. You know the rules." The other guard said.

"Come on, I am the Steward of the Jiǎohuá household."

"No pass, no entry."

"Oh, well, it was worth a try." They stepped out of line. So this guy was a steward, not a merchant. It sounded like he worked for someone at least semi-important.

"Listen, it's getting late, but I will pull a few strings. Be here tomorrow at eight in the morning sharp and I'll get you through."

00000

Aang had placed the papers onto the booth to the bored-looking lady, who now inspected his work far more thoroughly than before.

"You filled out bending permit requests for three different bending types. You realise that they'll be stamped with your name, you cannot just hand them out to someone else."

"Yeah, of course. They're all for me."

"No one can bend more than one element. Don't take me for a fool, boy, I've been doing this job for a long time, and you brats always try to pull some sorts of tricks. And airbending, very funny. Thought I wouldn't notice?"

"I am the Avatar, and I am an Air Nomad, this isn't a joke."

"The Avatar? The Avatar?" For the first time, she looked up and mustered him squinting even with the glasses she held to her eyes.

"Well, you do look like an Air Nomad. Eeh, hmmm." She lost her composure, obviously a bit at a loss. "Well, I…I don't have the right forms for the Avatar. I'll have to ask my superiors what to do, and how to issue a combined Bending Licence…. Ugh, and we'll have to get a stamp form for the air symbol. I'm really sorry, but I think that is going to take until tomorrow."

"At least give my friends their licences now, please."

"I'm sorry, but I do need to process their paperwork first, and it's getting late, they should finish up filling out their forms, and you can all come back tomorrow."

Aang rolled his eyes. This was ridiculously complicated. A few minutes later, Joo Dee was herding them out of the building and back into the carriage.

"I'll order an assortment of local specialties to your accommodations. I'm sure you'll love the cuisine, Master Sokka."

"Ehm, please make sure there's something vegetarian for Aang in there," Katara called out after her.

It was unlikely that she'd bring only meat, but better make sure.

00000

Zuko was still trying to process what had just happened, he knew he hadn't been hired yet, but by the way this sounded, he'd be having the opportunity to enter the Middle Ring tomorrow. Where was the catch?

He'd probably have to work for some rich snob, but he'd get paid and be able to place his message. Now he just needed a home address. It was late afternoon. He'd prefer to stay near the gate, but he was sure that these streets were more expensive just by mere proximity to the gate.

He didn't have a job yet, though he was fairly sure he'd get it. Still, he had to keep that in mind just in case something went wrong and he needed to rely on the rest of the money he had. There wasn't a whole lot of it left.

He was getting really used to getting rejected from places. Some inns weren't even willing to disclose their prices, and others were just stating ridiculous ones. It of course couldn't just be easy. He might have to settle for whatever place was even willing to take him. The one he'd stayed in last night just was too far away for his comfort. He needed something reasonably close.

He entered the door to another establishment. He had to keep trying. "Hello? Do you have a room for the week?"

"Oh, who are you? Where are you from?" A boy Aang's age looked out from behind a doorstep. "Dad, someone funny-looking is at the front desk."

"Coming." A man with scruffy hair showed up at the door, first looking puzzled before mistrust seeped in. "Your kind isn't welcome here."

"Please, I just need a place to stay. I know I look scary, but I don't want any trouble."

"Dad, come on, he doesn't even look that scary. And he said please."

"No."

Zuko turned around, the weariness slowly seeping into his shoulders. He'd had his pack on his back nearly all day, he really was getting tired. He'd just try the next place.

An old lady was swishing the entrance to the house next door, clearing some of the ever present dust that covered the street. Zuko closed the door behind him and was about to walk past when the lady called him.

"He didn't give you a room?" she shook her head in regret. "That man needs to learn that not everyone's out to get him. Come on in. You are looking to rent for more than a day, right? I've got a room for you if you'd like to take it. Five copper pieces a day. I could sure use the money. My last tenant moved out a week ago. Moved to another district, the lady. I hope she's doing well. Well, are you coming or not?"

"Uh, sure?"

He followed as the woman just kept chattering, the building was a crooked little thing. The price sounded fair. Far fairer than some he'd heard in the past hour or so, he really couldn't be picky, and maybe this grandmotherly-looking woman was just lonely. Maybe not everyone was out to get him after all.

00000

Aang dreamt of paperwork that night, and it was a never-ending stream of filling out forms. By the looks of it, Sokka had too, his eyes looked haggard when he stumbled into the kitchen the following morning.

The girls looked a little better but Toph visibly slumped in resignation when Joo Dee showed up. And then, just like in the dream, they were back in that office.

The woman handed out freshly pressed, highly official-looking passports and then the desperately awaited permits; one stamped with the symbol of the Water Tribe for Katara, one stamped with the Earth Kingdom symbol for Toph, and finally, one for Sokka, for his weapons.

Finally, she turned towards Aang and pushed forward a couple of sheets of paper.

"I got it sorted out, we had to dig out the avatar-related forms from the archives. Please fill these out and then we can hopefully issue you with the appropriate permit."

Aang took one look at it and straightened back up, now angry.

"I filled all of this stuff out the day before, you even told me to put it on different papers when I filled it out like this. You have all the information you need already! I won't fill this out again. Stop wasting everyone's time."

There was a sudden silence in the office as the lady looked at a loss at what to do, and everyone had turned to look at Aang.

00000

Zuko had woken up with the sunrise and felt restless. So he found himself on the way to the gate early, he would get some food along the way before he was due to meet the other guy.

The Lower Ring was once again busy and loud, and he had to make sure to keep track of where he was. Taking a wrong turn would be so easy, but he eventually made it to the gate with some food in his belly and time to spare. He played with the thought of investing in a map, but Ba Sing Se was just too big and he'd probably do a lot better asking and memorising as he went. He did however invest in some brush and ink, as well as some paper, and was now trying to find a peaceful corner to compose his note.

He'd left his belongings in his temporary lodgings, as he'd paid the lady for three days. That had been a hard but necessary decision, he just couldn't lug his pack with him everywhere at all times. Now he was waiting close to the gate, trying to write as cleanly as possible. The board in the writing kit was smaller than he'd hoped for, and he had to be careful not to smudge anything. He'd cut the paper like a horizontal bookmark later, he decided.

After it had dried, he folded the note and put it discreetly away.

He didn't have to wait as long as he'd expected. The man was early too, and quickly approached him. Zuko had placed himself strategically, ensuring an unobstructed view over the place while remaining relatively inconspicuous, so he was surprised that he'd been picked out so quickly. To be fair though, he was wearing rather unique clothing. He did stand out. Oh well.

"This is a day's pass for the Middle Ring. Whether we hire you or not, make sure that you return before curfew, or you'll get into trouble. Alright?"

Zuko nodded and took the pass. This time he was let through without a hitch. Passing through the gate, it was like entering a whole new world. The streets were clean and lively, as were the people; the buildings, though not particularly fancy, looked well-maintained. The buildings were bigger and there were gardens. It felt easier to breathe here. He noticed how the roof tiles were no longer brown, but rather a muted green, the same ones, everywhere.

"Do you remember where we're going?"

"Hóu Street, house number 86."

"Great, how would you try to find it if you were alone?"

"I looked at some maps and it seems that each district has naming themes. So Hóu Street would be in the Shēngxiào district, I'd ask for that, then ask around for the street once I'm there."

The guy looked pleased, but he didn't initiate conversation again until they stood in front of house 86 in Hóu Street, Shēngxiào District.

"You'll be interviewed by Yánjùn personally. Good luck."

The guy went in to talk with Yánjùn first though. After he reemerged, Zuko was led into a spacious office, where a spindly man sat behind his desk. He had a long thin moustache, styled downwards in what Zuko assumed to be the current fashion trend in Ba Sing Se, and was dressed like a wealthy man.

"Well, well, Wāi tells me he picked you up from the streets."

Zuko bowed his head a bit and nodded. "I'm Oktai of the Dong Tribe of the Si Wong Desert."

"Your clothing certainly looks authentic, the way you wrap it does too, and no rips or blood either."

"I didn't steal my clothes."

"I want to see your passport."

Zuko pulled it out and handed it over. What was it with people's obsessions here about formal identification?

The guy took out a looking glass and inspected the passport closely.

"Brand new, high quality paper. Wax…" He wet his finger, rubbed it against the waxed paper and licked it?

What was going on?

"Wax from Buzzard wasps. Very authentic indeed. Only your eyes are not."

Zuko didn't reply, he was sure the guy had already heard what he had told Wāi.

The guy pushed Zuko's passport towards him and Zuko took it back into the safety of a fold in his robes.

"Wāi tells me you were at a post office, offering a variety of jobs, most of them aligning with what a scribe would do. He mentioned you also carried dao, and that you claimed to be decent with them. I want to see proof."

Zuko sighed but got up, he was getting real tired of always having to prove himself for the same things all the time. He looked around, looking at the fruit basket on the desk. There were some dried dates, figs, and raisins. Zuko picked one of the figs, threw it into the air and pulled his swords with one hand. In one smooth motion, the fig met the blade's edge. Zuko picked it out of the air before it could hit the ground, and presented the two halves. He knew his portrayal was anticlimactic, but he didn't care. It would get the point across.

"Nice circus trick." Yánjùn looked bemused, but Zuko saw he was impressed anyway. "For a swordsman of your skills, I'd have expected better quality weapons though. How did you learn.?"

"The Si Wong tribes have a long-standing tradition with the dao. They taught me." Good thing that he had prepped for that question.

"Hmm," The man rubbed his nose. "Very well. Put those blades away. Let's see if you can prove yourself with paperwork just as well. Sit down."

The man pushed an inkstone and brush towards Zuko's side of the desk.

"Now write down what I dictate to you."

Zuko wet his brush, rubbed it against the ink stone, and waited.

The guy was describing a scenario and Zuko took notes in shorthand of what he deemed important, then when he got the specifics, he drew a diagram, filled in the numbers and items, and calculated how much would be needed this week based on what Yánjùn had described the past use and current stock to be.

Yánjùn was strutting back and forth, having stood up from his chair to narrate this exercise.

Zuko made sure to keep in mind how much stock would be used up in the time between the order and the arrival of the new items when he calculated numbers. After they got through the first round, the merchant had him repeat this for two more items with different prices, sizes, amounts, and arrival times. He also had him calculate how much they'd have to pay and how much they'd sell things for to get decent profits. It wasn't hard. He'd done that sort of thing regularly on the ship, just with different items. He hadn't trusted anyone else with it. Especially not on the tight budget they'd been had.

Yánjùn was observing him thoughtfully as Zuko wrote out an order for the requested items in proper Earth Kingdom script. And Zuko also went ahead without having to be told and wrote a receipt that would need to be signed. Zuko was done rather quickly. He gave it a once-over before deeming it good enough and laid down the brush on its stand.

He knew they'd been scrutinising him, but he'd been rather used to being scrutinised by his tutors all the time, for which he was grateful for now. The tutor had been quick and tough, much more than Yánjùn. Here, he took the challenge in his stride, smooth as the ink on the page. He handed the paper to Yánjùn, whose eyes widened comically as soon as he saw the brush strokes.

"No way, that's not… how? Wāi, come look at this, tell me you see this too."

Wāi also looked taken aback, shocked.

"Those are the cleanest brush strokes I have ever seen." He admitted, a little hoarse.

"Where did you find this guy?"

"I… I…"

"Well, whatever. I couldn't imagine better calligraphy from the Royal Palace itself."

Zuko flinched ever so slightly, but they were still staring at his writing. He was safe.

Wāi was humming, still in disbelief. After some more moments, the dreaded attention returned to Zuko however.

"Well, well. I might have believed you about the art of the sword, but this is just a bit too good to be true."

"We're not barbarians, we know how to write. I happened to do bookkeeping." Zuko defended.

"Maybe so, but this is too good."

"Where do you think the stories of Wan Shi Tong's library come from? We have a long tradition of treating writing as an art, it's part of sword training too. It helps with focus."

The last part wasn't even a lie, Pianado had made him write a lot. He winced at the thought.

"And of course, the Dong Tribe invests in practice papers for a child. What do you take me for… How old are you even?"

There was no way he was gonna say 16, it just was too young. "I don't actually know."

"Very convenient. I'm not convinced."

"I was orphaned, I don't know how old I was at the time and I didn't really keep track of the years that followed. My mother may have started to teach me calligraphy, and yes, I was young, but the Dong Tribe made me hone that skill."

"I think that you aren't who you claim you are… And I think you are trying to hide. Lucky for you, I'm not interested in the Dai Li taking you away. I have uses for your skills. I'll admit, you have impressed me. But beware, I'll keep a close eye on you. You get to keep your secrets, but you'll give me your loyalty in return, and you will not want to try me, because the alternative is worse."

Zuko suppressed a shiver, it was a threat, clear as day.

00000

Somehow, Aang had gotten his way, but it had still taken two hours. But he'd plain refused to fill out that entire new form, he'd even checked if there was any information he hadn't filled out yet, and had only filled out what was missing, which was firebending. He wasn't planning on using that anyway, thank you very much.

They'd also dragged their feet with finding a proper air symbol stamp, but eventually, everyone walked out of there with their passports, permits and city passes. They'd been approved for all Rings, which was nice.

Now Aang wanted to get back to Appa because the Bison had been cooped up all day yesterday already. Joo Dee had been against it, but he had very much enough of it. The people in the city would get used to seeing a Flying Bison. He wouldn't let them ground Appa for however long their stay here took.

It would mostly just be flying anyway, maybe landing in some park or something, but most places and streets weren't big enough for Appa to land, and those that were, there were too many people to do so.

He also needed some alone time, so he fled before anyone could stop him. He'd deal with them when he got back. This was time for Appa. He felt bad about locking him up and they'd been way too preoccupied with getting them there. He'd ignored Appa's needs. He hadn't shown enough love to him at all in the past few days, and he felt guilty. He was making sure to change that now. Appa deserved better than to be locked in and ignored.

00000

Katara was trying to get Joo Dee to leave. The lady was fretting about Aang having taken off, and insisted on educating them about city rules… again.

"Well, we can't get him to come back just so, he'll come back when he comes back. It can be half an hour, it could be several hours, so just calm down, he's not harming anyone. He's just going for a fly." Sokka argued. This had been going back and forth for a while, so Katara eventually stepped in.

"Joo Dee, I looked at the pantry, and there is no food in there, would it be possible for you to organise some food for us while we wait for Aang to get back?"

"I really shouldn't leave you alone."

"We can take care of ourselves, we'll stay here anyway. Toph and I will practise some bending in the backyard as we wait. We just really need something to eat soon."

"Yeah, I'm super hungry! Please get us food!"

Joo Dee sighed, clearly conflicted, but then nodded. "I'll be back in half an hour."

"We'll stay here and wait for Aang."

As soon as Joo Dee left, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

"That woman is something else," Sokka claimed. "Like an elbow leech."

"Yeah, we need to ditch her to get anything done." Toph agreed.

"So, I guess we just run off?"

"I don't think that lady has enough stamina to follow," Toph said.

"We should still get closer. We can have her take us to the crystal statue park again, honestly. I'd like to see it anyway. We can go from there." Katara pointed out.

"There are a lot of those Dai Li there though. I think they're pretty much the royal guard. They'd spot us from a mile away if we made any sort of commotion this close to the palace. We need to not only ditch Joo Dee, but then we need to blend in."

"Oh, you just want to go shopping. How much money do we have left anyway?"

"Ehm, not enough to get all of us clothes that would fit in with the sort of fanciness people wear in the Upper Ring," Toph announced.

"How would you know? You don't know how much money we have?" Sokka said.

"I know how much high-end clothes cost and that's just out of our range."

"Oh, so how do we get money?"

"Or Clothes?"

"Uh, high-risk trading?" Katara suggested, smirking sheepishly.

00000

Zuko trailed after Yánjùn, wondering if he'd just made a mistake. He still felt that threat in his bones. He'd managed to haggle out a decent pay and had to argue about not moving into the servant quarters. He did not want to constantly be under the scrutiny of this man, nor to be able to be called at all hours of the day and night. No thanks. Furthermore, he'd just told his Landlady Shengtong that yeah, he was looking for a room on a more long-term basis. And he didn't want to draw Yánjùn's attention to Aang and the others either.

"Why not?" had been the question, and Zuko had scrambled to come up with reasons. He had stated that he'd already paid for a room for the foreseeable future and that he didn't mind the travel every day. Getting more confident, he pointed out that being located in the Lower Ring may also be beneficial to Yánjùn. Yánjùn had stared at him in disapproval, twirling his moustache between finger and thumb, but apparently decided to wait him out.

"Be my guest. The offer stands if you change your mind. You wouldn't be getting more or less either way."

He'd handed him this month's pass and a bunch of equipment, and ordered him to follow. Zuko had been ordered to inspect the logs of wares that had just arrived and to familiarise himself with the inventory of the house. After a short noon meal, provided by the merchant's kitchen staff, he'd been taken on a trip through the Middle Ring.

The streets were lively and Zuko was busy memorising their tracks, so he'd possibly be able to find his way through the streets at a later point.

"Where are we going?" Zuko asked, wanting to prepare for the next task.

"Oh, just the local market."

"Why do you need a scribe for a shopping trip?" Zuko asked, keeping his voice level to hide his confusion.

"Find out who is going to supply my businesses this week of course. Only the best for business." Yánjùn strutted merrily in front of him.

"What are you looking for?" Zuko asked, reluctantly.

"Oh, you'll learn."

00000

Sokka had found a map and several scrolls about different localities in the small office they had found upstairs and so they'd poured over the best plan of action. By the time Joo Dee had returned with food, they had had a bunch of ideas on how to lose Joo Dee and where… Aang had sadly taken longer than Joo Dee, but now at least their bellies were full. To Sokka, it made it much easier to think.

When Aang returned, Katara stood protectively in front of him and stared Joo Dee down. The mood was tense while Aang ate. Aang simply ignored it, refusing to feel guilty for having gone on a flight with Appa.

They then proposed the plan they'd settled on to get out of the house and as soon as they could, gave Joo Dee the slip by breaking up into groups and meeting up at the agreed point. Aang had been a bit confused but followed along readily enough. He was less fond of the thought of having to hide his arrows again.

"Maybe I should just knock on the palace doors and introduce myself. And if that doesn't work, we could say we're a theatre group that the king requested, I mean, we already kind of prepared that idea." He tried to defend.

"Have you seen how big the palace is? That would never fly. We'll have to sneak in."

"Let's first find a way to blend in."

00000

Zuko had tailed Yánjùn through inspecting items at several fabric stands. Slowly, he came to the realisation that while he could differentiate between high quality and average, he couldn't quite tell what made the difference. Yánjùn had fun pointing out how little he knew about the whys. With a condescending note in his voice, he was explaining all about weaving patterns and thread thickness. There was also talk about single versus plied yarn, and that it mattered how it affected the thread's evenness. He then also started explaining how different ways of plying affected the look and feel of a fabric. How a simple four-ply was very durable, but used for different things than two two-plied yarns that were twisted into a four-ply, which would be called a four-strand cable. Soon, Zuko's head was swimming from the unfamiliar terminology.

Yánjùn was very specific about what he picked out to send to his tailors to display and use for the Upper Ring and fabrics for those shops he supplied in the Middle Ring.

Zuko's head felt overly full by the time they moved on to accessories. He'd taken quite a few notes in his scroll for notes, and had filled out plenty of receipts for purchases. He understood now why Yánjùn had wanted him to come.

Currently, Yánjùn approached a stand that sold hair pieces and hairpins and other jewellery. He beelined for one particular headpiece, Zuko did not see the appeal of, but Yánjùn went ahead to hold it up so everyone could see, and announced loudly:

"Oh, I can't believe it. I remember selling a similar piece to Lady Fa. A beautiful item."

People in the vicinity turned around, curious as to what might have gotten the attention of Lady Fa. Zuko wasn't familiar with the name, but he wasn't really familiar with the Upper Class of Ba Sing Se, so no surprise there. He understood at once what Yánjùn was doing, however: Yánjùn was strategically placing hints about the upper-class fashion choices here, and promoting both this stand's work as well as his own business at the same time. Every move was calculated.

They moved on to a different stand shortly after and Zuko was starting to notice that Yánjùn looked pleased whenever someone threw Zuko a worried glance.

It started to dawn on him that his unusual, perhaps even scary, appearance had probably been a major reason he had this job now. He'd been selected as a possible candidate by Wāi not despite looking intimidating, but because of it. That such an intimidating-looking guy had been searching for scribe work must have been what caught Wāi's attention.

Most scribes did not look intimidating, they generally shared traits like being very studious and having a stickler for exactness. Those all were good traits for scribes, but often led to them being a bit inflexible in Zuko's experience. Scribes were, if they were lucky, trained to understand political high ground. They were required to do things the right way. They were supposed to keep themselves in the background, much like a bodyguard would, just with a different function, guarding their master's words, not their body.

Zuko shared the studious side of it, but he had been studious out of necessity, not out of joy or because of a particular talent. Exactness had been drilled into him, yet, training in fighting required one to always adjust to a situation in the blink of an eye. You adjusted, or you faced the consequences. It gave Zuko an edge.

Zuko was sure Yánjùn enjoyed thinking he had him under control.

In the meanwhile Yánjùn had moved on, keeping up his pretentious chatter throughout. At a weapon smith's stand, he started testing Zuko on his knowledge again, but his eyes quickly shifted to grumpy approval as he realised that Zuko knew about metalwork despite his low quality blades. He had Zuko test the quality and balance of several items on display but did not buy anything.

They slowly migrated through the market and Zuko was still sorting through the abundance of new information when a waft of sewer gases and rotten fruit hit him unsuspectedly. Zuko immediately gagged. No, throwing up was bad. His head was spinning. Disoriented, Zuko tried to breathe and force down the reaction. He felt sick to the core. Humiliated, exhausted, shaky.

He wasn't even quite sure why.

"Hey, keep up… Oh, come on. Don't tell me a little smell can knock you down. Get moving, we don't have all day." Yánjùn's snidey voice reached him somehow and Zuko numbly followed. He felt tense all over, his breathing shallow. Yeah, following orders probably was a good idea.

Zuko later found himself in front of a stand with spices. He forced himself to pay attention, focusing on breathing deliberately, taking in the pleasant variety of smells in an attempt to root him in the presence. What had just happened? This… This wasn't good, he needed to get it to stop.

Yánjùn was eyeing him suspiciously.

00000

It must be illegal to hang up laundry outside in Ba Sing Se, because how else could one explain the fact that there were no laundry lines to be found anywhere; nothing in gardens or backyards, not even in any courtyards. Aang had sneakily flown up to several houses to check. Therefore, their first strategy to get clothing to blend in failed spectacularly. They didn't want to do any breaking-and-entering in their pursuit, so they switched their focus to trying to find a market.

As they stuck out like a sore thumb with their colourful clothes, they moved quickly and used side alleys often, especially when they saw suspicious hats. Joo Dee surely was frantic now, but they couldn't help but feel a bit of schadenfreude.

Once they had finally found a market, in a lovely clean square, thankfully very unlike the one they had found Zuko in, it was not at all what they had expected. There were no stands, there were little boutiques and fancy small shops. Each had a table out in the front, showcasing a share of their wares to entice onlookers.

There were many ladies in elegant clothes, and important-looking men, going in and out. Some had a servant hurrying after them, sometimes carrying large packs.

Katara approached one such shop and was presented with the fanciest assortment of fabrics that Katara had ever seen. The overhanging sign stated that this was "Lady Fa's Tailoring Jīngpǐndiàn" and, as Katara peered inside, she saw a mannequin inside with an unfinished dress pinned down and a lady working on a table next to it. There were no clothes on display, just shelves with rolls of fabric and a back room they couldn't peer into.

Next to it, Sokka looked at a shoe shop. There were various shoe examples on a shelf outside. There were straw sandals which were woven showcasing intricate patterns, and fancy cloth slippers with fringe patterns. There was beadwork, some even showcasing neatly worked faces, in fine embroidery. Sokka was wondering why anyone would put faces on shoes of all things.

There were variations of clog shoes as well, some of the soles were fairly reasonable, Sokka had seen them all around the Earth Kingdom. Then for some reason, there were heavy clunky ones that Sokka didn't see the appeal of in these clean streets. He'd seen simpler versions of similar ones in muddy regions before, but they made no sense to have around here. Finally, Sokka saw some shoes that seemed to be leather. When he got closer he noticed the braiding was done by cutting the leather into ribbons and woven into pretty patterns, much to his disappointment. In his opinion, closed shoes were the gold standard, some good, stout, closed leather boots, not… whatever this was.

The weapon's shop was also disappointing, as Sokka quickly realised that the swords and daggers were merely ceremonial blades as he'd picked one up to inspect it a little, and noticed right away how weird and uncomfortable it fit into his hand. The guy from inside came strutting and in an angry stutter shooed him away shortly after.

Toph had gone to the elegant fountain in the middle instead of looking at items and was splashing a little, and Aang was flitting from shop to shop, distracted from their original task.

It was quickly becoming apparent that there was no way they'd get what they were seeking, but they did enjoy exploring, even if people threw them glares that told them that they knew they didn't belong there.

They moved on eventually, trying to come up with other plans; they made their way out of the market quarter and found their way to the Middle Ring, to their luck therein. Upon entering the Middle Ring, they were glad for the slightly less stuffy. semi-idyllic atmosphere, and they finally found some clothes hidden in a courtyard, well out of sight from the street. But they weren't fancy, they seemed to be worker's clothes, stained and fraying. These people here weren't rich and they would miss these clothes and they would make them stand out still anyway, just in a different way. They decided to put them back where they found them and move on.

As the day drew to a close, they returned to the Upper Ring. The guards checking their passes were burly and looking them up and down distrustfully, but let them pass.

They returned home exhausted but in a way better mood than the day before. On the doorstep, they found an exhausted-looking Joo Dee. Her smile was weak and forced, but she visibly seemed to relax a little as they showed up.

"I had thought you wanted to go shopping and explore the city on your own for a little bit. You had me worried, I hadn't even given you any money for your enjoyment yet." She produced purses, multiple ones, one for each in fact, and they were filled to the brim, each containing more silver and gold pieces than copper ones.

The Gaang looked at the woman stunned.

"Please, next time just let me know where you're going and when you'll be back. I am responsible for your stay here. I'd like to make sure that it is pleasant and that you're not getting into trouble. I'll check in with you tomorrow morning."

With that, she got up and left, leaving the Gaang bewildered on their doorstep, money purses in hand.

00000

It was late afternoon by the time Yánjùn let Zuko go for the day. He had offered to get someone to guide him to the correct gate to the Lower Ring, but Zuko had declined, after all, he had a note to hide.

He found the university easily enough. The library was just across the campus grounds and Zuko quickly found himself within one of its doors. The librarian, a man of short stature and a magnifying glass fastened to a necklace, looked at him in suspicion.

"I'd like to read the Yuèjīng, the Classic of music, does this library have it?"

"Do we have it? Of course, we have it! We're the most expansive library in the world."

"That would be Wan Shi Tong's library," Zuko said, his amusement hidden behind his scarf.

"Pha, a myth. Professor Zei went looking for it, but hasn't returned in months, stubborn as he is, he'll probably die in the desert before he gives up on that dream. Anyway, come with me."

The librarian looked up the title in an inventory log, then led him through isles and isles of books, he took a ladder to access the high shelf and climbed up to get the tome. In the meanwhile, Zuko had taken his note and slid it up his sleeves, so he could slide it in between the pages when no one was looking.

The short man carried it over to a reading desk and carefully set it down.

"It's your first time here, right?"

"Yeah."

"Are you studying music? Rhythm, lyrical writing? This book hasn't been requested in a long time."

Zuko opted for a noncommittal hmm instead of an answer and the librarian did not ask again.

Then, Zuko finally got to open the book while the Librarian hung out close by, obviously not comfortable leaving him alone yet.

Zuko began leafing through the pages, stopping every now and again to read a passage so it didn't seem as obvious that he was looking for a specific passage in a book he was supposed to never have read. He'd been doing it for a while when he was suddenly greeted by quick steps, and tensed up, he hadn't placed his note yet, this was bad.

The librarian turned around the corner and stared at him. "You are from the Si Wong Desert, aren't you?" He breathed.

"Yes, I am?" Zuko confirmed, nodding as well.

"And you mentioned Wan Shi Tong's library… Have you seen it? Is it real?"

Zuko lowered his head, a bit ashamed, but nodded. "It is, or well, it was." Zuko could just hold himself back in time from saying he saw it sink, might not be the best idea to tell a librarian that he'd watched a library disappear.

"It was?"

Zuko answered carefully: "Wan Shi Tong no longer welcomes humans into his library, so he made accessing it impossible. I don't know if he moved it to the spirit realm, but if not, then it is buried under sand now." So I guess Ba Sing Se's library is now in fact the biggest library in the living world after all."

"Oh… There are tales of a moving library tended to by Wan Shi Tong, as he studied humans, appearing in places to share and spread knowledge. They are ancient, but many places in the Earth Kingdom have reports that point towards it having been real and there. Some mention an owl-like creature, which one of our statues at the main entrance has been based upon."

"Wan Shi Tong is an owl." Zuko nodded, leafing through another page. The guy lingered, curiosity now peaked even more, but he seemed to not be quite sure what to ask, and how. Zuko was not in the mood to indulge in a conversation, he was getting tired. "Would you mind?" he pointed towards the book he was reading.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. Please don't mind me."

The guy walked out of the aisle and soon came back to wipe down the aisle mirroring this one. Zuko tried to focus on finding the right passage. He knew it was somewhere in the second half. Once he'd finally found it, he threw a quick glance at the guy, slipped the note in and moved on. Leafing through the rest of it at a slightly quicker pace.

The guy had moved on to the next aisle. Occasionally walking to the front desk when the gentle ding of the bell announced a visitor. Zuko closed the book and went to look for the librarian. It was getting late, he needed to get back.

"I'm done. Do you want help returning the book to its place?"

"Oh, that would be very kind of you."

Zuko took the book as the guy climbed onto the ladder and held it high for him to take. The guy did not go check the book and Zuko breathed a sigh of relief before bidding his goodbye. He'd managed to place it within those three days, he hadn't even needed all of them. He couldn't quite believe himself. Things were going too well.

000

It was quiet. It should not have been quiet. The incessant hissing and banging should have been there to tune out, but it was starkly absent and Azula was pissed.

The reason? Apparently they had a shortage of fuel. The travel was eating up more fuel than planned, and somehow she hadn't been informed until they were stuck in the middle of ploughing through a forest and the next village was several miles away.

War Minister Qin was busy avoiding her and trying to get the supply chain sorted out. Azula had made it very clear that they needed more than the expected amount in the future, they'd been lucky this mishap had been realised before they were within sight of the Great Wall, but this one mishap was one too many. She was dreading the report she'd have to write to the Fire Lord.

This made her think of Zuzu. She hadn't gone to investigate the village, not wanting to go directly against her father's words, but she hadn't given up. She'd had all her ears open, but so far no one had reported back to her. It was as if her brother had simply vanished off the face of the earth… again… and she still didn't know for sure what had happened. The rumours had been wild. People were speculating if it had really been him, and there was a wide variety of reports on what happened in the first place.

And she was stuck here, babysitting Minister Qin's bottomless money pit of a drill. And it wasn't even going anywhere right now. She needed to get out.

"Mai, Ty Lee, let's go out for a bit. I want to enjoy our surroundings"

Ty Lee appeared at once with a backflip. "It's so quiet here I even heard you." she smiled her ever gleaming smile, and Azula rolled her eyes at the display of positivity.

Mai was slower, she slid into the room with her ever-broody expression and level voice. "Where are we going?"

"Just away from the drill for a little while, maybe do a little bit of practice. It is too cramped in here to properly train."

"Sounds good." Mai flatly replied.

The woods were eerily quiet too, which wasn't all that surprising with that huge machine just standing there, but it had been silent for a while. She'd expected the birds to start up again.

Maybe the noisiness of the drill had deafened them a little. They really weren't used to silence anymore after having spent a week in the Agni-damned thing.

Ty Lee was cartwheeling in front of them, seemingly completely carefree. Mai had her arms in her sleeves, her face showing nothing. There was a noise behind them. Azula paused. Subtle, but there… It was the noise of something tugging on twigs of the underbrush as it went by. It stopped. There were no obvious noises like twigs snapping. Azula continued, Mai had picked up on her caution and was moving carefully. Ty Lee wasn't but she was generally quite quiet and agile, she'd notice in time if something was out there.

They walked onwards, Azula had abandoned the idea of having a mock-fight, her instincts were telling her something was there, even though there was no further sound. They walked onwards and Azula couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Azula was itching for something to let her frustrations out.

And there it was. Something came flying out of the bushes but Azula avoided it easily, it was child's play. She didn't waste any time to find out what it was but turned towards a kick that was about to reach her face. Azula leant back and sent out blue fire.

Mai and Ty Lee, by the sounds of it, had also been engaged in battle. From afar their attackers all looked the same. Distinct clothing and red and white makeup, like Avatar Kyoshi.

"Well, well. Aren't you far from home?"

The girl fighting her spat: "So are you."

The girl narrowly blocked Azula's fire with her shield and pushed onwards. Azula heard a thud of knives and an angry shout from someone she didn't know, off to the side; probably Mai's work. She heard Ty Lee spouting some nonsense about dancing, as she sent another wave of fire at the girl, who had produced fans from her belt. Fans, out of all things. Well, they were associated with Kyoshi, so she wasn't that surprised.

"Look at you, bringing fans to a fight with fire. Don't you know fans just make flames stronger? Zuzu really should have been able to best you."

The fan narrowly missed Azula's arm, close enough she could see the glint of their metal panels. The fight went onwards, the girl was trying to protect herself from the flames and the heat with her shield and fans, but as Azula had predicted, her attempt to shield the flames with the fan weren't going well. It fanned the flames as was natural, and she could see the very moment when they heated up enough for the girl to drop them, fingers a little singed.

"Oops, sorry." Azula mocked, she shrugged nonchalantly as she moved to raise her leg to kick, now close enough to reach the other girl directly with her body. The girl blocked and retaliated and Azula jumped back. The girl was strong and had good form, but little to no experience fighting a firebender. Azula had no qualms about using that to her advantage. Another girl joined this first one. Coming to her help.

"Suki, watch out." She warned, and went in to attack Azula as well while this Suki took a step back to recover. This girl wasn't as good as the other, and she shied away from the blue flames with big fearful eyes.

"Aww, Afraid of fire?"

At that moment, Suki ran towards Azula, her sword raised high, going for her chest. Azula jumped high and, whilst still airborne, twisted around the blade and slapped Suki's hand, hard. The blade flew out of her hands and its tip landed with a thud in a nearby tree as Suki stumbled from the impact. Azula rolled out the momentum of her jump and quickly rose to turn around to fight hand to hand. She felt her topknot was getting askew and bit her lip in frustration. Perfection was everything.

Azula caught sight of Mai, still locked in a battle with one girl, and flipped Suki to the ground. The girl immediately scrambled back up, now a wakizashi in hand. Her headpiece by contrast was impressively, and frustratingly, still in place. They exchanged more blows, but Azula was more careful now.

"So, I heard my brother set fire to one of your villages." She wanted to rile up her opponent. Suki, to her surprise, did not rise to the bait.

"Zuko is dead." She spat.

"Oh, he is?" Azula expertly evaded the blade. Now seeing Ty Lee in the background with rope in hand still fighting. "I've heard wild stories about him being a prisoner and escaping."

"And you believe them? Why would a travelling circus steal him away? No, he died a prisoner, and the village tried to cover it up."

"Fair, you have a point. Well," Azula's tone was light. "I guess if he doesn't turn up somewhere, then you're right. We'll see. My brother is surprisingly good at surviving."

She sent a volley of fire bursts onto Suki who had now resorted to the strategy of trying to jump out of the way. As they turned and twisted step for step, Azula caught sight of Mai multiple times, tightly locked in battle, in an atypically short range for her. Back with her own fight, this Suki kept receding, and Azula realised belatedly that she was making her way over to her katana. How could she not have noticed earlier? She must be losing her touch from being cooped up for so long.

Suki swung her wakizashi and progressed fast. She was watching Azula like a hawk now, evading the fire with increasing skill. She was learning.

She was also getting tired. They'd probably been tracking them, been on their feet much longer than Azula, who had been, relatively, comfortable inside. The girl's blade was still quick though, and got dangerously close for quite a few times. For a non-bender, she really was quite good, just ill-prepared for this type of fight. Well, Kyoshi Island had stayed neutral to the war for a long time, so they'd been left alone, they hadn't been in many firebending battles, it was natural Azula supposed scornfully. Now, that lack of knowledge was costing her.

Ty Lee jumped into her line of vision again, still fighting and talking and doing acrobatic manoeuvres to avoid the blade and fan… She seemed to have gotten in possession of a fan herself and was twirling it around as if it had belonged to her all along. She looked like she'd been having fun. No, she clearly was having fun.

A blade swooshed way too close to Azula's liking and she jumped back. She'd miscalculated that one by an inch or two, and now her left shoulder pad had a cut in it as payment. It was impressive, but not good enough. Azula pushed back, she didn't want a forest fire to break out, but she had to get some space. That would add unnecessary complications to their operations, so she had to be sparing, but she knew how to play with fire, safely, and effectively.

The fight drew out even longer, they had ceased talking. But eventually, Azula saw an opening, and she took it, and grabbed the Kyoshi warrior to hold a flame to her neck. Zuzu was inspiring, sometimes. He hadn't used them efficiently against her, but she knew how to utilise them better.

The white neck leaned away from the flame while Azula felt the chest below it heaving.

"You've lost." Azula gloated. Looking around, she saw a very dishevelled Mai, somehow her hair had slipped out of her usual buns, and was caked in dirt all over, picking up all her projectiles while her opponent was pinned, another laying on the ground, bleeding, and still. Azula couldn't quite tell if she was just knocked out or dead.

Ty Lee was looking worse of wear too, but not as bad as Mai. She had somehow produced rope from somewhere and was busy tying up two warriors whose limbs clearly were not co-operating with their owners still, clearly subjects to Ty Lee's effective chi blocking techniques. Ty Lee looked up to Azula and smiled.

"That was fun."

00

"Prepare two separate cells. We're keeping this one separate from the others. And bring me some simple tunics." Azula ordered.

The crew of the drill hadn't even noticed that they had been in trouble. Azula didn't trust them to handle their prisoners at this point, if they couldn't even notice that.

As Azula's rush from the fight was dying down, she pushed her prisoner forward. These Kyoshi Warriors had so conveniently brought rope, she thought, amused. She wanted to know why they were carrying that rope, what they had been intending to do with it. It wasn't something you just carried as basic equipment, definitely not in these quantities in land as flat as this.

She pushed the bound girl forward. She stumbled forward, unable to rely on her hands for balance, as Ty Lee had tied them together on her back. She was straining her head to keep an eye out on the other Kyoshi Warriors as they moved into the Drill, but soon, Azula was forcing her up the ladder, to which she awkwardly leaned forward to manage at all without her hands.

The drill wasn't designed to keep prisoners, especially not six of them at once. The rooms were small with bunk beds. Azula didn't want to go look for an empty one. She needed to make sure they were weapon free. Mai had tapped all of them down but they all knew how easy it was to hide something beneath all those layers, not to mention in the hair.

Azula unlocked her own bedroom. The desk was folded up and locked away and Azula knew for a fact that there were no weapons, no tools, whatsoever in here. Here, she had all the power.

"Get in."

Suki reluctantly took a step forward and stared at the room, eyes angry rather than fearless. It pissed Azula off. She was to be feared.

"So, you are the Avatar's Fan Girls."

This Suki didn't reply, just stared at her with cold, blazing anger. Azula decided she didn't mind, they'd not be leaving here until they had the fuel situation figured out, and now she at least had something to entertain herself with. After a few days, that makeup would be streaked and spotty, hunger would set in, and she didn't even have to lift a finger. No, she was looking forward to some simple mind games. Outrightly inflicting pain was fun, but it would be more interesting to see them break without it. More rewarding too. She had time on her hands now, and she was bored.

Suki had positioned herself in the room, still standing up, so she saw both Azula and the door. But Azula just waited, letting her stew a bit in the all-consuming silence, smirking at the restless flicking of the eyes to her and the door.

Finally, someone knocked on her door and as Azula had seen her trying to subtly free her arms without success, she didn't worry one bit as she turned her back to open the door and take in the folded clothes. She put them on the bed. Next, she walked around Suki and stopped her from turning, before holding one hand to her neck and a finger to the rope, burning it.

She walked around her again and leaned against the wall next to the door, cradling a dancing little assortment of blue flames.

"Strip. Fully. Or I'll burn the things off of your body." She said with a childishly cruel smirk. "Your choice."

0

A/N 16.07.2024:

Ystävä: Wohoo, hello there. You were wondering about Jet, you say? I gave you Azula against Suki instead. Muahahahah.

I also took great joy in torturing the Gaang with , on the other hand, is just breezing through it, hehe, even managed to make it his job. And he found a room to rent, he's doing so great, it's making him suspicious. To be fair though, is Yánjùn safe? Is Shengtong?

Remember, you can make our day by leaving a thought or two in the form of reviews!

ML8991: Heh, paperwork. This was a scene that was originally going to go into the expanded canon, but it slotted just so well here; adding to the maddening nature of Ba Sing Se. We were somewhat inspired by Asterix and Obelix's Bureaucracy Task,though theirs is far worse than we could put pen to paper. I hope however that ystävä has done Joo Dee justice; trying to make her blank and earnest at the same time is quite something heh.

Otherwise, another thing I want to bring up is Zuko's self-perspective. I would imagine that, especially with Azula's supreme talent, Zuko grapples with self-doubt and doesn't actually think he is too talented in many fields, if any (beyond perhaps swordplay, given we never (until the new show that is), see Azula handle any weapons. However, I would strongly imagine that, outside of the rushed and cruel education practices that Zuko was taught under, he is actually an extremely advanced student. By necessity he knows many languages and cultural customs, to what end you will soon find out ;). As well as this, he has an exceptional grasp on figures, as well as (likely encouraged by Ursa, Iroh and Piandao) an appreciation, and perhaps a talent for, the fine arts (such as painting, theatre and similar). All in all, this has been the reason why I at least have written Zuko as very smart, because I believe he is.

It is perhaps also why we are writing him as a better liar than in the show; It is simply him putting on a performance, namely that of the Prince, the Golden Heir, the Zuko that could have been, if his mother's influence on his normal temperament was not so strong. It is ironic then that this can often be seen through, perhaps because he isn't presenting himself in that image. Imagine the King coming to you in rags, you wouldn't believe him if he told you he was the King. Much the same is happening with Zuko. His authority is challenged by his appearance; it is only when he is in a position of power do people heed those words. Oktai is a character he puts on, and he is living that life he has made for Oktai. The falseness only comes out when people notice the unavoidable, but even that Zuko has a back up for. There are somethings he can't change without significant preparation and acting; things like posture and stance, which are also big tells for the sort of person Zuko really is, and for some people (namely Yánjùn and Wāi) and in this chapter, that's enough

Looking forward to seeing all of you and any new people on the next chapter, we thank you, as always for your ongoing support and feedback, we appreciate every ounce. Take care and until next time :).