Teaser: The man was tall and heavy. Towering over Zuko. "Get out of my… house."
AN: I hope you liked the last chapter, I haven't heard of any of you on here so I don't know. LoveToRead, I hope you're doing fine, as I know you usually write reviews, but it's been a while. I'm just gonna assume you've been busy and I do hope you will like this new chapter :)
Chapter 30 Не стріляйте у ворон, щоб ворон не стріляв у вас
Half-hidden, Jet leaned against the wall. He still couldn't quite believe it, Longshot and Smellerbee had left him and he felt that anger festering inside of him. They'd always stuck together. He'd always been able to count on them… now however, they suddenly did not want to follow his lead anymore.
Yeah, he knew they'd agreed to start anew in the city, but all Jet was currently planning to do was prove that this guy was a firebender, and then let the authorities take over.
He knew this old man was a firebender. He'd seen him heating his tea, for lùdì's sake. And there was just something about how he held himself. Yeah, he appeared a tad bumbling, seemingly good-natured, and jolly. But there was also just something about him that screamed soldier; Fire Nation Soldier to be specific.
There was a difference between how Fire Nation Soldiers held themselves compared to Earth Kingdom ones. There were small signs, small movements, and Jet was wondering how he had missed it initially. Looking back at their time together, it sickened Jet that they had shared a meal; that he'd provided that man food.
So he stood outside, keeping the teashop and both its entrances in view. The old man had come out for a little break, but he seemed to spend most of his time in the kitchen, completely content with the making and serving of tea. It annoyed Jet. That guy just didn't slip up. He'd been closer, earlier in the morning, witnessing how the man had successfully used spark rocks. Everything he did seemed so mundane, yet Jet's alarm bells were ringing.
All he needed to do was prove that this guy was a firebender. He just needed to get him to slip up. This was taking too long. Jet grabbed his swords. It was near closing time now.
Longshot and Smellerbee had tried to argue that this was unhealthy, that he was getting obsessed, before they had left.
He'd just have to get the evidence on his own.
He slammed the door open and pointed at the short, fat man, at his golden eyes.
"I'm tired of waiting. This man is a firebender! I saw him heating his tea."
Mushi just stared at him, looking rather perplexed.
A tired-looking guard looked up. "He works in a tea shop…"
Why didn't they believe him? He pulled his weapons, steeling himself. "I'm telling you…"
The guard told him to drop his weapons. Hah.
"You'll have to defend yourself, old man. Come on. Show them what you can do."
"Please, son. You are confused." the man said, holding up his hands in a pacifying gesture. A pot of tea held in one loose grip.
"Come on. Fight, then everyone will know."
The guards got up, one grabbing for his swords. "Nice and easy." the guard repeated but stilled when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"At least let's go outside, so we don't destroy the shop." continued the old man, seeking peace.
Jet saw red, this old man was laughable, as if he'd fall for that… he swung his swords and promptly had to evade hot tea being thrown at him.
"Please." cried the old man.
Jet twisted and attacked, stopped only by a metal tea tray that intercepted his blades. The man jumped back and quickly kicked a table in between them, then dove towards the back wall where a bucket and mop was, waiting to be used.
Jet couldn't evade the water this time as this lunatic of a man swung the mop to force him back. Jet blinked and spat out dirty, soapy, water, but he didn't let that deter 'Mushi' was a coward. Hiding behind a fake name and a fake life.
'Mushi' approached, holding the mop easily in his hands. A laughable attempt to make Jet stay back. The guy didn't attack, he stopped right before Jet, the wet part of the mop pointing at him.
"I'm just a tea maker. Please leave. You're scaring away customers."
"Liar." Jet shouted as he knocked the mop to the side and stepped into Mushi's space, swinging his swords at him. The old man however shifted, and suddenly the mop slid in front of Jet, nearly hitting him in the midsection. Jet jumped on a table and got attacked with the wet tangles of the mop once again. He knocked them away, angrily.
"Come on, if we must fight, then let's at least take it outside." the firebender demanded again.
He blocked a series of assaults from Jet, quickly moving from one stance to another. Each hit left deep grooves in the wooden pole. There was no denying it, the guy was a trained fighter. That he was dangerous was becoming very apparent, even without fire, but this wasn't enough.
Jet jumped over the incoming low swipe of Mushi's mop, took a step back, and felt the door at his back. Angrily, he twisted around Mushi, whose range had become limited by the proximity of the walls, and attacked him in the side, somehow managing to hook one of his swords into the makeshift cord the apron had been bound with. He pulled and cut, so the apron now loosely hung from Mushi, hopefully becoming a tripping hazard. Good.
Jet jumped and the pole, once more, was there to intercept him, so Jet took a swipe from above and tried to immobilise the mop. Mushi pushed him away and kicked open the door he'd been pressed against.
Jet managed to hook his swords around the pole, and kicked in the gap between his blades, causing it to splinter. He needed that reach gone as soon as possible.
They had gathered a row of onlookers that yelled at that.
"Come on, old man, you must be getting tired of using that mob. Why don't you firebend at me?"
Mushi shook his head and blocked the incoming blades with the splintered handle. Jet grinned and twisted his hook sword around the mop part of it, forcing it out of Mushi's hand.
There was a call from the tea shop. "Mushi! Here, take this."
Jet quickly slid into the way, preventing the old man from being thrown his new weapon, this time a broom.
He twisted his body and charged forward for a series of assaults, to which Mushi ran backwards in quick, stable steps.
"I bet you want to help yourself out with a little fireblast right now."
"You don't know what you're doing," the old man said, evading another swipe before turning around. He must have been aware that he was going towards a well, as he jumped quickly onto the edge and to the other side while Jet swung at him again. Still no firebending.
"You hear that?" Jet announced to the crowd that was watching them, "The Fire Nation is trying to discredit me by playing a harmless fool. He's a Fire Nation soldier. It's obvious."
He hooked his swords into the pulley mechanism above the well and swung down, towards Mushi, who was pulling off his apron. Jet flicked it away when it was thrown at him, but it got caught in his swords.
"Show us your fire. You coward." Jet spat as he peeled the apron from his sword. Something flew through the air, clattering to the ground between him and Mushi.
The broom was lying innocently on the ground and Iroh moved. Jet quickly jumped, aiming to step on the broom to keep it on the ground while swinging his swords towards Mushi at the same time. The guy evaded them like a master, and managed to raise his arms to Jet's backside, giving him a push that sent him stumbling off the broom.
While Jet was catching himself and quickly turning, Mushi had managed to get his foot below the broom, kicking it up so he could grab it without bending forward. Now he was wielding it with an ease that testified to even more prior experience. Jet barely blocked the first swing. This was not how this was supposed to go.
Jet hacked at the broom, hooked both his hooks around it to try to gain leverage, He tried to slide down his blades to get at the hands, but nothing quite worked. The old man was surprisingly nimble. He lost one sword, and all Mushi seemed to be doing was keeping him at bay. The man had greater reach with the broom, he could have gotten past his guard and poked him multiple times. He was still holding back. It made Jet seething.
And he still wasn't firebending.
Jet jumped up to evade a footswipe when someone called out:
"Drop your weapons!"
Jet and Mushi both paused, letting their weapons sink. Mushi took a step back and let the broom fall to the ground. Jet did not.
"Arrest him, he's a firebender." He screamed, pointing a sword at Mushi.
Mushi held up his hands. "This poor boy is confused, I'm just a simple refugee."
The men wore uniforms, Jet had heard of them, The Dai Li.
"This young man wrecked my tea shop and assaulted my employee." He heard being said.
"You don't understand, he is a firebender, I saw him."
But everyone ignored him.
A guard who had been in the teashop at the time now talked. "It's true sir, we saw the whole thing, this crazy kid attacked the finest tea maker in the city."
Mushi had the audacity to blush and reply "Oh, that's very sweet."
"He is a firebender." Jet screamed.
"Come with us, son." No, they were coming at him instead of Mushi. He wouldn't let them. He swung his remaining sword at them but the Dai Li agent just grabbed at his weapons as if there was no blade at all, and quickly twisted it out of his grasp and, in a matter of seconds, Jet's wrists were encased in stone. "You have to believe me, he is Fire Nation. He's a firebender."
Screaming, he was pulled away.
000
Zuko had been ordered to come to the gate, but not into the Middle Ring, today. Apparently, Yánjùn took a bath-day today, so instead he'd be shadowing Wāi.
"It's quite traditional for the rich to take an off day to bathe every five days here in Ba Sing Se. I assume you don't do that in the desert. In the city," Wāi said city like the opposite was the dirt beneath their feet." we have bathhouses and we wash regularly. It is expected, so you better make sure you don't smell."
"I don't smell." Zuko threw him a dirty glare. "I know how to take care of my body."
"Do you?" Wāi poked.
Zuko, rather than answering, redirected the conversation back to the topic. "I'm sure bath holidays have a social purpose and Yánjùn is very much doing business."
Wāi laughed at that and nodded. "Indeed, indeed."
He behaved jovially, but Zuko had seen the man's shrewd streak and knew he was still testing the waters with him, trying to figure him out. Knowledge was power, and he did not doubt that, though Wāi was loyal to Yánjùn, he was very much interested in having a share of the power Yánjùn wielded.
"So, how do the Desert Tribes keep themselves clean?"
"Are you searching for more reasons to look down on Sand Nomads?"
"I got you a job."
"You knew you'd have use for me if I could back up my claims to have skills."
"True, true. I don't look down on men for their origin, neither does Yánjùn. People tend to be way too quick to disregard people with valuable skill sets for the way they look, talk, or smell. Giving people with unique talents a chance is an opportunity. And it makes these people stick around."
"You know Yánjùn threatened me."
"Yeah, that too. A little assurance never hurts." Wāi shrugged.
"You are twisted."
"Just making sure you know what is expected of you. You don't have to tell me how to keep clean in your culture, I was just making conversation. You may do well however to adapt as to fit in better and learn about the cultural practices here… Keep your clothes though, they make you look intimidating. Now let's get some work done, we're here."
00000
The Gaang had agreed to sleep in, but Aang found himself unable to. There was worry creeping through his mind. They had made zero progress getting to the Earth King, and it was too early to go to the library. They still had to wait another day to start looking for their missing member, as per Zuko's request. Aang felt lost, so he got up to seek some companionship while he meditated.
Outside, a cool breeze was brushing through, and Aang promptly decided to take Appa out for a fly. There was nowhere decent to land though, Aang noticed when they got airborne, unless he was flying out of the city, They had taken away the banner too, once they had arrived in the Upper Ring, probably to deter him from flying around. Aang felt caged. He needed Sokka's ideas.
Back at the house, the rest were slowly waking up and, now that they had money, they were going out to eat.
"So, what's the new plan to get to the Earth King?" Aang asked after his brief and disheartening flight, speaking as he walked back inside.
"We were thinking, now that we have money, we could buy some clothes to better fit in," Katara said. Sokka nodded along, a little bit too readily.
Toph did not look nearly as excited but didn't protest.
"Sounds good. Where do we start?" Aang smiled.
00000
As they had come to expect already, Joo Dee was readily waiting at their front door. They'd confirmed this with a glance out of the window and slipped out of the servant's entrance in the back.
Sokka had suggested that they go back into the vicinity of the palace grounds and observe the whole place to see how they might be able to get in so they could figure out what sort of clothes they might need. As it turned out, getting there wasn't as easy as it had seemed when they'd been in the palanquin.
It didn't help that Aang was his very easily distracted self who wanted to see everything and Toph was trying to get him to feel the earth and doing "I spy with my little eye" (or her own weird version of it, anyway) as a form of training. Katara suspected that this was Toph's way of coping with feeling trapped in this place.
Katara sighed. They were all just young kids, even Sokka as the oldest was only fifteen. This city forced its citizens into a lulled sense of security. With no talk about the war, it was as if this city's whole world was the city. People liked to believe their world was safe. They themselves had to be careful not to forget why they were here.
Without a palanquin and a city guide, it was quite a bit more difficult to find the palace, despite its size. The city was big, and decently detailed maps were available only for each sector. Sokka kept indulging, while at the same time attempting to lead them through while Aang was still looking around very curious, and frequently flew somewhat ahead only to share information that would throw Sokka off his game, despite Toph's efforts to keep him grounded. They ended up not arriving until the sun was at its peak, and by that point, they were rather hungry.
There didn't seem to be any outright shops in the palace's vicinity, just villas with gardens and high walls surrounding them. Toph made a comment that it felt like her parents compound all over again, so they decided to take a walk around the entire structure of the palace, in the hopes of finding a place they could eat, bellies grumbling. It truly was big. Aang kept repeating the idea of flying up to get a peek at what was inside, leading to Sokka repeatedly pointing out all the reasons why this would be a bad idea.
There was nothing much to be seen from the outside: just gates and Dai Li. Toph wasn't saying much, it seemed that she was just observing for now. Katara also suspected that there weren't any weak spots in the walls, how could there be if they were built by earth benders.
Sokka eventually couldn't hold back any longer. "Toph, what do you see?"
"Gardens, a whole bunch of gardens, I think I've seen some barracks with bunks, but I can't tell who lives there. I sense parts of the palace as well, but it's far enough away that things are fuzzy. The walls don't have any weak spots, perfect earth bending work, and I'm pretty sure they have some sort of built-in alert system should anyone try to enter that way."
"Oh, what makes you think that?"
"I think there's something that runs through the wall,there's a small space that feels hollow, and it is attached to something on the inside."
"Interesting, maybe it's bells."
A short while later they saw a wagon pulled by an ostrich horse pulling up to the gate in front of them. The Dai Li had obviously seen their group and one was observing them while the other had the driver step out before thoroughly checking first him, and then the wagon itself. They checked everything, the cargo, the wagon's insides and outsides, even throwing a glance under it. Finally, the guy was allowed to mount again and the gates opened.
"I don't think we're going to get in through there. Ugh, we need Zu– eer, Oktai. Hogmonkeys, I need to be more careful." Sokka caught himself. "But anyway, my point is he knows so much more about all this royalness and stuff, he might have an idea on how to get in. Ugh, and I'm getting hungry, why aren't there any taverns or restaurants here?"
"Because everyone has their own cook here." Toph explained. "They don't need to go out."
"Why can't we just go to the library and take a peek, maybe Zuko got to it already?" Aang whined.
"Because it will be suspicious enough that a group of kids go and request a book, someone could get interested and prevent Oktai from leaving a note." Sokka crossed his arms, putting heavy emphasis on Zuko's alias, hoping Aang got the message. "Come on, sticking around here is pointless… we're being scrutinised by the Dai Li over there, I think it's better if we left. Let's go to the Middle Ring and find somewhere to eat."
00000
Zuko followed Wāi into the establishment, already pulling out his writing supplies to start working. Wāi took one look at him and laughed. "Put that away."
Confused, Zuko did as told and then trailed after Wāi as he found a vacant table.
"Sit down. We're here to eat, you must be hungry, I certainly am."
Zuko didn't reply but followed his example, he didn't like this.
"Order whatever you like."
"What's your goal?" Zuko hoped blunt words would get behind this. What were they doing here?
"Oh relax. We're just here to eat."
It was a mediocre establishment, which wasn't surprising with it being in the Lower Ring. There were only two options as far as food went. Both had a helping of rice, which was just fine with Zuko. There were more options for drinks. Two types of cheap wine, rice and grape, neither of which Zuko wanted, he'd rather not get a clouded mind from alcohol. Then there were the traditional teas, and thinking about teas suddenly set a pang of longing through Zuko.
The cup of jasmine tea made him feel at home and lonely at the same time. He'd never liked being forced to drink so much tea, and he'd had no idea when it had started turning into a comfort. He missed Uncle. There was no way he could easily search for him in this city though. If he'd even made it here in the first place. He didn't have the time to search anyway. He had to prioritise, and staying hidden always had to be on the top of the list. Looking for Uncle would pose a risk for both of them.
Food arrived and Wāi curiously observed how Zuko lifted his veil just a little for each bite. It wasn't that different from doing calligraphy and holding his sleeve, just closer to his face.
"You're really dedicated to this Sand Nomad culture, I have to admit I'm impressed," Wāi stated
Zuko glared at him and didn't grace that with a reply. What had the guy expected of someone wearing a veil?
"This afternoon, things might get a bit rowdy. We need to go to some clients, to collect their tithe and let's just say, the two people on my list weren't willing last time, which is where you come in, if you get my drift."
Zuko nodded, he wasn't looking forward to that, but he had known full well that this would be part of his job, but he dutifully waited for Wāi as he paid for their food before they left.
00000
"Lao Shung, Yánjùn has given you plenty of chances. You had a deal, it's time for your side of it."
"Fuck off, Wāi." An old voice from inside said. "There's nothing to take."
Wāi gave Zuko a nod and Zuko lifted his foot to kick down the door. It was easy enough, the wood was old and brittle. Wāi lifted his robes to step over the door and Zuko followed.
An old man stood in the room, clutching a broom angrily.
"Now look at what you've done," he shouted.
Zuko stood next to the door, He hadn't pulled out his swords yet, choosing to wait to see how this situation developed. He didn't quite feel comfortable, but he knew his clothing by itself looked intimidating already. He held himself at the ready anyway, just in case the old man would attack them with his broom, not that his form seemed any good.
"You owe Yánjùn rent…"
Zuko tried to tune him out. He felt weird, and that was somewhat unexpected. He'd intimidated people plenty of times, often even unintentionally. The Sand Nomad clothing only enhanced this. He'd never used these skills to aid someone else's mission; to further someone else's goal this up and personal. It felt wrong to offer aid in violence against poor people who had to live in conditions like these.
Zuko tuned back into the conversation when the guy moved, walking over to a run-down drawer. Jamming in the key, he opened it.
"Yánjùn is a cutthroat. Here, this was all I made this week." The guy pulled out a string of very few coins. He didn't quite see how many, as the guy threw them at Wāi, who barely caught them in a stumbled effort. He took one look at the coins in his hand and crunched up his nose.
"A few copper coins. Are you taking me for a fool? Even if you buy groceries and other necessities, you still should have left at least five silver coins, your work doesn't pay this poorly. These aren't the same pieces," He pointed to the pottery standing on the racks at the wall. "I know you sold that red one that stood in the corner over there. Do you want my friend here to start breaking some fingers to change your mind?"
It felt violating to hear someone say that, but Zuko stepped up anyway. It was easier to shut off his emotions, and just do what he was told. He'd done it a hundred times before, he'd hurt people before in practice, because his firebending teachers had told him to fight. He'd hunted the Avatar, even after he had realised that he was hunting a bunch of children. He was used to ignoring the nagging voice inside of him, even though it made him feel ill to the stomach.
He grabbed this guy's hand and the broom immediately fell to the ground, clattering.
"Nooo, please, please. I'll pay. I'll pay… Just leave my hands." Zuko let go at once and the man scrambled away to the bed in the corner, stumbling over the fallen broom.
He fumbled with the mattress, and pulled out a coin purse and shakily held it out for Zuko to take..
"This is all I have, I swear."
Zuko took it and handed it over to Wāi, feeling cold. He faintly registered how his heart was pumping and tried to calm himself by quietly breathing in and out.
"Aah, seven silver. I knew it. See, that wasn't so hard, was it? Now, Yánjùnun is reasonable. You can keep four silver and these small coins. Just don't try to lie to me again."
Zuko was glad that they were leaving promptly. He wondered if that guy had just tried to hide his savings, or really tried to take them for a fool. Wāi's praises felt sickening. However, in his slimy way, he did explain why he'd suspected there to be more. And considering these new facts, as well as letting the scene pass in review, he found himself feeling less sympathetic to the old man. Wāi was good at his job, and though he wasn't a guy that Zuko found pleasant to be around, and he didn't agree with Wāi's methods, he saw why he had handled this the way he had.
00000
The Gaang had left the Upper Ring in search of food. The Middle Ring was so much livelier and more welcoming compared to the Upper Ring, and the contrast once more astonished them; it put them at ease. Within the meandering of the busy people, it was so much easier to mix in with people and relax a little.
They'd found a food stand that sold what was called a Ba Sing Se speciality. Of course they'd gone there because there was a vegetarian option as well. Toph did not find it that special but agreed that it was good.
In the meantime, Sokka summarised: "So, I haven't seen any window to climb into, not even if we could climb the wall. They check the carriages thoroughly, so we wouldn't be able to hide there. And we haven't seen any servants, so that's out too."
"The servants probably don't leave the palace at all most of the time, it's safer that way." Toph pointed out. "They don't go home, and it's an honour to serve in the palace, a worthy price to pay for not being able to go home."
"Maybe we should dig up that theatre group idea again." Sokka chuckled, half serious. "I had half a script ready. We could totally wing something to get in."
"Haha, and how are you going to convince them to let you in?" Toph laughed. "The 'Hello I'm the Avatar' might have worked with my parents, but I doubt it will work with Dai Li."
"Well, it might actually work better than trying to blend in."
"And why's that? You don't have that strong of an accent."
"Well, Aang has tattoos and we have quite dark skin and brown hair. That sort of thing is kind of hard to hide."
"Oh, I mean, I knew about Aang's tattoos, Oktai mentioned that once, but dark skin? My parents never bothered to describe people beyond their social standing, why would they describe skin colour. Why am I even surprised?" Toph crossed her arms, but had a thoughtful expression on her face.
"It's probably also because most people in the Earth Kingdom have more or less the same skin tone, so there was no reason to mention skin colour." Katara appeased, sensing the tension between Sokka and Toph."Our shade of skin is just the Water Tribes as far as we've seen. You can kind of tell who is Fire Nation and who is from the Earth Kingdom, too. People from the Fire Nation tend to be paler than people from the Earth Kingdom. That, and some facial features just look slightly different. . ."
"I really need to ask Oktai to describe that to me sometimes."
"Oktai, actually, has what we call golden eyes, it's a light brown-orange colour, it even reminds of fire a little. Did he ever describe to you what fire looks like?"
"Yeah, he did," Toph said, now with a thoughtful smile.
"So yeah, hiding skin colour and facial features can be quite difficult. People see us and consider us savages. I'm pretty sure some people think we look that way because we don't wash, which just plain isn't true. Some may also think we use paint, which also, nope, we don't, it's all natural."
Toph didn't know what to say. There was one thing though they'd been ignoring. If they couldn't work on getting to the Earth King today, there was something equally important.
"So, Aang, I've been thinking, since we're not getting anywhere with the Earth King, we should go somewhere to have an earthbending lesson. There isn't any space in the garden without hitting a tree or something."
"Ugh, yeah… you're right." groaned Aang
00000
The next door Wāi knocked at, a thin woman opened, and the first thing that sprang to Zuko's attention was her subdued posture. She cowed even more when she recognised Wāi as she opened the door for them to step in. Zuko felt guilty already. He knew they were here to get this family's money, and apparently this address was one of those Wāi had had issues with before.
Once inside, the woman quickly picked up one little kid that had hidden behind her leg and carried them inside to place it behind her. Another one was holding himself on a chair, half hiding behind it and Zuko felt bad to be there. These people clearly weren't the problem here.
He looked around and saw a bed tucked in a corner. A man lying there, a half-empty glass of some sort of liquid resting on a nightstand, the hand loosely wrapped around it
"Jiǔguǐ" the woman called out tentatively, "Wake up, Yánjùn's people are here," but the man didn't react at all, and Zuko put two and two together. It stirred an angry pull in his guts.
"Jiǔguǐ, you lazy ass, it's time to pay up!" Wāi added.
The man groaned and shifted a little, but did not rise, not that Zuko had truly expected him to. The woman looked terrified, the children way too cautious, both of them clinging to her. They deserved better from the man supposed to provide for and protect them.
Zuko didn't wait for Wāi's order. He swiftly stepped up to the bed, and took the glass out of his hand to put it down somewhere safer. This woman didn't need the mess of shards and a puddle on top of everything else. He stepped back up to the bed and roughly shoved the man's shoulder. The man startled and sat up, face pulled into an angry, probably headache-induced, squint.
"Fuck off. How…dare y…you wake… me up." he hiccupped and for the first time looked up. "Who are you?" then staggered to his feet, swaying once he'd managed, pointing vaguely in Zuko's direction as he did so. Zuko smelled the booze in his breath and it made him feel slightly nauseous. Angrily, he pushed the feeling back inside.
The man was tall and heavy. Towering over Zuko. "Get out of my… house."
"No." Zuko, ready and agile, evaded the man's swing at him with ease. Without looking away he pointed behind him, towards the woman. "Take the children outside, they don't need to see this."
"Don't order… my wife… around." The man hollered, then shouted to his wife. "Stay!"
There was a notable pause.
"Now, who took…my drink?"
"That would be me," Zuko said more confidently than he felt. "Now, you listen. We're here to collect what you owe from Yánjùn, but seeing how you treat your family, let me warn you: The money will soon be the least of your worries."
"Who do you think…you are?" he slurred
"I'm the one that will break your arm if you don't sober up." Zuko said sharply. "You have a duty to provide for your family. Yet you're here drinking yourself under the table. You disgust me."
The man laughed. "Shuuure, tell Yánjùn he can go fuck himself."
Zuko heard desperate whispering behind him, but he didn't pay it any mind. "Take the kids and go." He knew, potentially, he would make their situation worse, but something had to be done. This guy needed to wake up.
"Please don't hurt him. We'll give you what we have." The woman cried when Zuko took another step into the guy's range. "Leave." Zuko ordered again.
The guy took another swing at him just as he heard the door open and close. The guy wasn't very coordinated in his intoxicated state, he didn't even manage to touch Zuko's billowing clothes.
"Last chance." Zuko warned.
The guy tried to punch him again, but this time, Zuko evaded and grabbed the man's incoming wrist. He locked the arm in place with his armpit and pulled while twisting to the side. There was a sickening crack and the man screamed.
Zuko stared down at the man who lay there on the ground, clutching his arm.
"Next time it will be the other arm and your jaw."
Zuko stepped over the man and turned to leave.
"Oh, and if I find out that you let out your anger on your wife and children… then you can add a leg to that list too. Learn how to take care of your family."
Wāi said no word, stunned. Zuko closed the door and turned to the wife. He pulled out his coin purse and handed some money to her. "Here, bring him to the doctor to get his arm in a splint. I told him I'd break more if he hurt you and the children, so do remind him of that promise, because I will do it. You deserve better than that piece of vermin."
00000
They had been walking for quite a while, before Wāi finally found his voice again. Zuko had seen it coming, this time, the man wasn't that hard to read.
"Well, I wasn't quite sure you had it in you at first, but I'm glad to be proven wrong, that sure was something."
Zuko didn't reply, he found no joy in violence, it had been a necessary evil, and he had a feeling that more was still coming.
"A bit ironic that you gave the family money for a doctor visit though."
"Did you want to see them starve?"
"Why do you care so much?"
"I know what it is like, and that woman and her children don't deserve what that man is doing to them. He needed a wake-up call, and motivation."
No sooner had the words come out his mouth then he promptly thought of that woman who had come to clean his wounds back when he'd been bound to the market square, and the memories drew up phantom pains that sent shivers down his spine.
Biyu. She'd apologised for not being able to do more. She'd been berated by her husband and called names and it had been awful. Just for helping him once. He'd never seen her again after. Zuko felt bad for her. He'd escaped that situation. Biyu probably couldn't. She didn't deserve it either.
"Well, not that I don't approve, just maybe consult with me first, next time."
00000
Finding a place for bending practice where they wouldn't bother anyone and could do damage control proved to be more difficult than expected.
They'd asked around for a good place, but apparently, it was unheard of to practise bending on the scale they were used to.
Much to Toph's annoyance, it turned out on top of that, there were a lot more rules around what was acceptable for bending within the confines of the city:
Don't bend deeper than one floor below, if allowed at all in the area. Don't pull up walls from street grounds. Don't disturb grass in public parks et cetera, et cetera. It went on and on. Basically it ended up meaning, you could pick up dust in the air to bend with, without kicking up a fuss, but that was about it.
They were told that, due to lack of natural resources within the city that weren't already bound to a building or place, there was a whole market for stone and earth for bending,
And, as apparently stealing layers of house walls as well as from the street was a big enough issue, it had its own fines and penalties.
All in all, those laws were just the do's and don'ts of bending itself. It made Toph wonder how so many people didn't know the basics. For all the detail however, they mentioned nothing about learning bending as a skill, nor about experimenting, or training said skill anywhere.
To learn the skill,it turned out, you had to get your permit stamped to learn a particular type of skills, and only then could you sign up for standardised classes. Bending spaces had a full packed schedule with classes for all these different skills. They weren't available for renting however for private use.
There were apparently also standardised tests which you could take. These too needed a stamp on the permit and only happened every once in a while, some only once a year.
This mess of rules went for organised fighting as well as professional skills like pottery, sculpturing, and construction.
Outside of classes, you had to have the materials and space to practise or utilise those skills, if you were lucky. I.e. Toph thought, you had to be rich, due the material demand they were told about earlier. Otherwise you just had to be happy with what you had, which was barely anything if one followed the letter of the law.
Therefore, while they were now registered benders, their bending permits were still pretty much useless. They may be rich, albeit off of the city's dime, but the ambassadorial accommodations were clearly designed for entertaining, not for bending.
They all learned this from a deranged lady who felt a bit like Joo Dee, behaved exactly like Joo Dee, and according to Sokka, was even dressed like Joo Dee, but wasn't Joo Dee. It was creepy.
They also had a hard time getting away from her, as she tried to attach herself to the group like an elbow-leech, which just added to the eeriness of the situation.
Rules.
So. Many. Rules.
And wow, It was common courtesy in the rest of the Earth Kingdom not to bend house walls, nevermind a safety issue if anyone would dare, so it was generally not done. She hadn't thought that there would be a place that would have to make it into a law. Some things were just common sense, surely? She repeated to herself in incredulity.
Admittedly, Toph had never cared much for that sort of sensible restriction. She could judge perfectly well if something would hold or not with just one touch. She just didn't fancy getting buried in any spare rubble… who would? If she ever miscalculated, and she had in the past while learning this skill, her stubbornness would keep the stone from injuring her. It was troublesome, though, not the trouble she was usually looking for.
Needless to say, after looking at the bending arenas and having no luck, and continuing to try to find a place to actually bend, the training they had wanted to do at such a place didn't actually happen. At least not with Earthbending. And if they were lucky to find one of the rare independent training halls, they had waiting lists of at least a week. Alternatively, they could have signed up for group classes which cut the wait time somewhat but that,nope, not happening. It reminded the Gaang just how big Ba Sing Se was. So many people, so of course many of these places were packed. It didn't make it any easier for them.
Instead, to try and make sure the day wasn't a complete waste, Katara trained Aang close to one of the main fountains, where they'd made a bit of a spectacle out of it, revelling in the freedom, until some Dai Li who were patrolling nearby had ordered them to stop it, citing some stupid civil ordinance. Luckily a winning smile from Aang and a sincere apology from Katara made sure there was no consequence beyond that admonition.
After that chaisement, for the rest of the day, they tried to maintain a low profile, and Toph had felt for all the dust, about all she could do to try and do some semblance of earthbending.
It was proving difficult, the city was overly clean and even sand-sized grains were hard to come by, though there was the occasional grain or two of Si Wong sand in flower beds and in hidden street corners. With all their time in the desert, she'd grown to know how they had felt. Dust however, was smaller still, harder to detect, especially when it was just floating around.
The last time she'd felt for dust, there had been a face caked in it, back when she'd met Zuko in the market square. He'd been covered in the stuff, as if the whole dust of one Ba Sing Se street had accumulated on his body. It had been way easier to detect than these particles flying around or loosely gathering in corners.
This wasn't fun. She almost felt a little deprived of her element.
To distract herself, she thought towards the next day. They'd be going to the library and hopefully would be able to see Zuko by the evening. That was something to look forward to. She was already so sick of this place.
00000
Thoughts of Biyu's and the drunkard's family's plight didn't leave Zuko alone for the rest of the day. After such a busy, eventful afternoon, he felt exhausted, even more so after escorting Wāi to the closest gate. He was now trying to get home as quickly as possible.
He was in a different part of the city, so he still had quite some way to go. At this sort of time of day, he noticed everyone was using the monorail, leading to long waiting times, so he decided to go by foot instead. He could do it.
To sate his hunger, he bought himself some street food, then continued walking. He just wanted to be out of the streets and in the comfort of his own four walls, and was working on thoroughly pushing away the memories with Biyu, and what had happened today.
He wouldn't forget, no, he'd made a promise, but it helped him in no way to think about it now. Something about that encounter with that man had made him feel, and act. And though he hadn't lied to Wāi about why he'd reacted that way. There just was some component to it that was off. These acts of wanton violence weren't him. The best he could do was push that feeling away.
Instead, he mused about reuniting with the Gaang. He really hoped they'd find his note and he'd see them soon. He'd better tell Shengtong that some kids might drop by tomorrow evening.
Suddenly, that time frame seemed way too soon. He felt tense. He felt doubtful.
He pushed that away too.
Just because there was no war in Ba Sing Se didn't mean there was no war at all. That, too, made him feel on edge, everything did. He really needed to calm down.
Looking around to gauge the angle of the sun, he realised he had no idea where he was. How on earth had he gotten this distracted? A while later, having found someone willing to tell him where they were and point him in the right direction, he was back on track.
It was getting dark now, and the streets were calming down. Zuko's pace was still swift, always looking for the next street to take, wanting to escape the stares and passersby bumping into him. At least those were getting less and less, until he was practically alone in the street.
Something clattered to the ground beside him and his eyes immediately followed the sound.
He only realised he was under attack when the two men were almost on top of him. There was no way to evade them both and Zuko just reacted. He heard bone crack and felt nothing. There was a strangled cry next to him, right as he was tackled.
"Give us your money!" the guy hissed into his ear, then shouting to the other guy "Come on, I'm holding him," while Zuko tried to get free.
The partner was whining something, but Zuko was busy trying to throw the guy holding him off. Panic and muscle memory were both kicking in hard. Zuko didn't think, he just reacted. He was let go and promptly stumbled upwards, only to be dragged down again.
There was a shout from the other guy, and he was let go shortly after and Zuko slumped down, all tension and fight leaving him at once.
He only realised that they had left him an undefined time later. He felt violated despite being fully dressed and everything accounted for, even the money the thugs had attacked him for. His heart, he realised, was still racing, and his breathing was harsh, sharp, uneven. He didn't quite feel all of himself.
Vaguely, he recalled the other guy shouting something about being hurt and to leave him alone, but the memory felt like an echo.
He knew he'd broken another bone today. He didn't even know which one, just that there'd been a sickening crack. He hadn't been in control. Not one moment of it. His body had reacted and his mind hadn't followed. And then, at the end, something in his brain had switched off even more.
He'd been lucky the guys retreated. They hadn't realised.
He was missing time.
Now, the street was truly deserted. Zuko scrambled up, checking his clothes once more. He needed to wash them but they seemed to have survived the tumble without tears.
Numbly he walked onwards, now slower, and very much paying attention to what was going on around him.
He barely greeted his landlady when he got home, and straight up forgot to tell her about the potential visit tomorrow. Instead, he barricaded himself into his room right away.
He was scared, the realisation only dawned upon him in the barren state of his spartanly furnished room. Scared of himself. Scared for himself and of what had even happened in the first place. He was losing control.
He needed…
He… exhaustion was sitting in his bones.
He needed to figure out a way to not get hijacked by whatever this was. He needed to figure out how to feel his body, because even now, as he tried to relax, he felt that he couldn't. He still felt numb; his chest, heavy.
All attempts at meditative breathing were falling short. It wasn't working. His inner flame was flickering weakly. It felt off, disconnected. He felt alone.
00000
By the next day, they had made it a game, giving Joo Dee the slip. With Toph's help, they were quite successful at it too. Today, they were on a mission. Three days ago, Zuko should have arrived in the city. It was finally time to seek out the library.
They made use of the public monorails, rather than a palanquin to get closer, after Sokka had finally found a place that sold them a schedule, and now strolled through the city's educational sector.
The buildings were tall and well maintained, exuding a sense of order and purpose. Sokka had also bought a map of the district and was now looking for the main entrance. They'd already rounded several university buildings and it was quite exciting to see such big structures dedicated to learning.
The South Pole didn't collect knowledge like that, they passed down words of wisdom and practical skills, Katara said as they were walking through. Stories, songs and histories were told around the fire at night. Aang agreed, although he said that the elders had also written a lot of the prayers and "higher mysteries", whatever they were, down for future Nomads, he said with a wistful tone. Katara squeezed his hand in response in support.
Sokka loved their traditions, but sitting down in a corner all by himself and exploring books on a chosen topic had been a true discovery for him on their travels. He could even tell the Gaang about it after and that was super fun. A shadow passed through his thoughts, and he repressed a shudder at the past.
Not everyone shared his excitement. In fact, Toph showed an obvious lack of it. "Great, a room full of fragile books where everyone has to be quiet."
There were doors on all sides of the library, but Sokka wasn't sure if they were allowed to enter through there, so they circled the building until they saw the big gate, The building itself was at least three stories tall and ornamented, making them all feel small as the walked up to the heavy double doors. Sokka tried pulling them open and struggled. The gates were heavy wood showing an illustration of none other than Wan Shi Tong wrapping his wings around piles of books and scrolls.… Of course.
He shuddered.
Stepping inside was like stepping into another world. Two statues, one of each side, guarding the passage, one immediately recognisable as Avatar Kyoshi, the other some man draped in fancy stone clothes. Both statues were around twelve metres tall, standing on a tall pedestal. It was pompous.
"So, who's that dude?" Sokka asked into the round, just then hearing an offended gasp from across the room, where a door had silently opened.
"That is Zhengzu, the 46th Earth King, you ignorant brat. Now come in, before you embarrass yourself even more."
The lady turned out to be a librarian. And when Aang shyly asked why the 46th Earth King stood there with Kyoshi, they got an impromptu lesson of Ba Sing Se's history, all spoken in hushed whispers and angry glares.
"What do you bunch of kids want in a library anyway, half of you are too young to be students. This isn't a place for children, you all belong back in school where they teach you proper history and how to behave in a library."
They were being led to a counter where another librarian was sitting. It was a man of short stature, currently holding a magnifying glass to read something on his desk. He looked up when they got close and eyed them with mistrust. Was every librarian so unfriendly?
"We know how to behave in a library, thank you very much." Toph crossed her arms. "We'd like to read Yuèjīng, the classic of music." At that, the man sitting perked up, eyes now thin slits and his brows furrowed, he looked suspicious.
"Zhúzi, I'll take it from here, someone requested that particular book just two days ago, so I remember where it is."
It was as if they had exchanged meaning beyond words, because now, Zhúzi was looking at them with more than just annoyance, warning them to dare misbehave. Did anyone suspect anything? He hoped not. It would suck if they would have to try to find Zuko at the gates.
In the meanwhile, the guy in the chair rose and led them through the library. It was expansive, but nowhere near Wan Shi Tong's library's dimensions.
"So… The person who requested this book two days ago, was he a Sand Nomad?" Aang asked.
The man turned around abruptly, eyes scrutinising. "As a matter of fact, yes, he was." He crossed his arms.
Toph shook her head in annoyance as Aang made a happy, relieved, noise, but stopped when Toph grabbed him by the arm and pulled him close, mulishly complaining: "Aah dang, he came here before us after all. Now he'll have a head start."
Sokka clued in on what she was doing. "Hey I couldn't help it that I didn't have time the past few days, someone's got to bring home some money."
Katara and Aang were staring at them in confusion. The guy seemed to notice.
"What's this about?" He barked.
"Well, these two, as well as Oktai, the Sand Nomad, they're in a music class, and I'm blind. I wanted them to read it for me and, well apparently Oktai couldn't wait but had to go research on his own, then had the audacity to claim he doesn't have time today out of the blue."
"Yeh, he's really competitive." Sokka doubled down.
"Let's get to the book, guys." Katara reminded them and the short man nodded, relaxing a tad.
He led them to the correct aisle and got the book down for them. He didn't just hand it over for them, however, he carried it to a study table at a more open section of the library rather than the book stand they'd observed in the aisle.
"Here." He walked away and Aang pulled out the note Zuko had written for them. The clean characters stated which poem he'd try to hide the note at. He opened the book and started leafing through it. "Ehm guys, how are we supposed to find this, this book is massive. This is gonna take forever."
"That's some weird poems."
"Looks like these main columns are the actual poem, but what are those Hánzǐ spread out next to it? They don't make any sense."
Toph sighed. "Those are gongchepu, written music notes, so you know what to sing."
"How do you know that?" Sokka asked, a bit incredulous.
"Duh, my parents wanted me to be cultured. Now search for that poem, I want to get out of here, and that guy is still keeping an eye on us, so behave."
In fact, it didn't take long for the librarian to come over to them again.
"Are you an airbender?"
"Uh, oh yeah, I thought it's better to not touch the pages at all if I can help it,"
"Hmm, a living relic, how did your people survive? You don't sound like you are from the city."
Aang's expression turned hurt. "I'd rather not talk about it."
"You are a curious group, you, a living relic, two, what I assume to be Water Tribe kids, and your Sand Nomad friend included, I haven't heard anyone like you attending any university courses. Word would have spread. I'm sure there would be scholars who would love to ask you questions about airbending!"
"They study that here? Wait, do you happen to have anything about the Air Nomads here?" Aang's eyes now started to gleam.
"We do have a small collection of books about Air Nomads, and a few airbending scrolls indeed, but as Air Nomads didn't come to our city a whole lot, so our collection is quite limited."
"That doesn't matter, that's amazing. Can you show them to me later?"
"I sure can…Your friend mentioned Wan Shi Tong's library. Have you been there too?"
"Oh yea– Oww. What was that for?" Toph shrugged."
"Why are you asking?" she said instead. This guy was too curious, and they didn't know what Zuko had told him, and if it would put Zuko in danger if they revealed anything about what happened in the desert.
"Because your Sand Nomad friend first claimed it as being real, and then claimed that Wan Shi Tong no longer welcomes humans in his library and that it's buried below sand now. So you've been there, too?"
Thanks to Aang, the cat was already half out of the bag, so they needed to do damage control. Just how?
"Hey, could you help us find this passage, or poem, or whatever it is?" Sokka interrupted, holding out Zuko's note.
"That's some immaculate penmanship, I don't recognise the writing, however. Who wrote this?"
"Oh, Oktai did." Katara said. "He's really good at calligraphy."
"Indeed, fit for the court, this writing. That's very curious." he was side-eyeing them again.
Sokka couldn't shake off the feeling that this guy suspected them of something, but he also couldn't quite tell what. He hadn't asked about Aang being the Avatar, which surprised him a little, but they really needed to stay focused. If possible, he wanted to meet Zuko by tonight, they needed to talk.
"Can you help us find the passage or not?"
"Alright. Let me see."
Sokka didn't quite know how the guy was searching for it, but he must have had some sort of strategy, because he skipped large parts of the book. They also witnessed the very moment when he found it, as he paused and picked up something that had been lodged in between the pages.
"What is this?"
"Oh great, thank you for finding it." Aang tried to grab it, but the guy held it high into the air.
"So that's what you were after."
Aang looked sheepish at being caught, they all did. The guy looked disgruntled and quite a bit disappointed in them.
"Sorry," Katara tried to smooth over. "This was the only way we could think of contacting each other if we got separated. Please give us the paper."
The guy grumbled something about refugees and respecting libraries as he handed her the slip of paper "Now, give me the book and leave, as you clearly aren't here to appreciate the old classics."
Sokka immediately grabbed the note. He was the map guy after all. He took a look at the paper and Zuko's ridiculous writing. The guy was a showoff without even trying.
The paper stated:
Find the Wood Dragon Gate, it's closest. Enter Lower Ring from there. Go to the ninth district. It's the tree themed one. My room is on Gingko Street, but it's in a side arm of it. Ask for the Lóngmén Inn, House Nr. 19439 is to the left next to it. My landlady's name is Shengtong. Wait for me to get home. Come alone!
00000
The loud noises of the drill had been with them for the past few days again, and everyone was growing tired of them, Azula included. Right now however, she didn't mind so much, because it would obscure the sound of the door opening up to her favourite prisoner.
Azula had ordered her friends to take the Leader of the Kyoshi Warriors out of her cell, the cleared out broom closet. The girl had been left to stew since capture with barely any food, and very limited water. She'd been brought into Azula's own quarters and, as per her order, strung up.
That had been a while ago.
The girl was wearing a dirty military undershirt, as well as simple trousers made for sleeping, and hadn't seen any spare water to clean up with ever since she was captured. Azula smelled her even from the door where she observed her.
She heard her too, rasped breathing, and occasional coughing, from a dry and sore throat, Azula was sure. The ring Azula had ordered attached to the ceiling was being put to good use. Now, the proud warrior hung from her arms, feet barely touching the ground. Azula had made sure that the girl was hungry and tired, she'd been isolated and dehydrated, and now she was in pain.
The way Ty Lee and Mai had strung her up suited Azula just fine, she had wanted to be able to circle her and to have clear sight of her face; like this, it was easy. With her back towards the door, the girl hadn't even noticed her yet.
Azula approached, cloaked by the noise of the drill. As she did, she heated up a flame which she then held close to the girls back to see how quickly she'd freak out.
It didn't take long for her to flinch back and growl. Azula chuckled. She hadn't even burned her… yet.
"What? Is the Princess of the Fire Nation so lacking in facilities that she has to house her enemies in a closet?"
Azula stiffened at the double insult, quickly snuffing out the flame so as to not get ahead of herself and took a step around the girl to see her face.
Her warrior makeup was no longer pristine, though it stuck rather well to the girl's skin. The edges were smudged. To her disappointment, Azula could not see any tear tracks, instead, the girl glared at her, reminding her vaguely of her brother, they shared that same undiminished spark of determination.
The girl was just setting herself up for more pain by initiating conversation like this, and Azula was miffed about not having had the first word.
"It's been Crown Princess ever since dear Zuzu was banished."
The girl dared to snort at the nickname. It further pissed off Azula, no one except her was allowed to insult her potentially late brother like that.
"Watch your tongue," she snapped, restraining herself from slapping the girl. This wasn't how this was supposed to go.
"Why are you still competing with him then?" Suki's words hit, despite her voice being weak and scratchy.
"Why were you in the woods?" Azula needed to take charge of this conversation at once.
"Why do you think?"
Azula stepped up. With her finger, she started to trail the loose fabric that had been tucked in as Suki had been forced to stretch her arms up high, leaving goosebumps on the stretch of bare midriff now exposed.
"Answer me."
"Or what, you'll set fire to me? …How creative."
"Fine, if that's what you want, let's get to business, shall we? Where shall I start? With your hair? With your wrists? No, you're right, that's too direct, too boring." Azula said, having all of a conversation by herself. Without warning, she began.
The untucked fabric that she'd been trailing delicately with her finger caught fire and the girl flinched and started squirming. Azula let the flames progress just a little, then restrained them to where they were. Licking at Suki's skin without burning her.
"Why did you pass through the woods?"
"We were travelling."
"Why?"
"None of your business."
The fire started creeping at her skin ever so slightly, and she hissed, moving her toes in an attempt to gain some hold on the ground to do anything… She couldn't and Azula smiled.
"What was all that rope for? I have to admit it was awfully convenient to tie you all up, so thank you, but it was a little odd."
Suki had a hard expression on her face, obviously trying to ignore the pain so she could focus. "We were going to sell it."
"Oh, really? Somehow I don't believe you."
"Believe what you want." the girl hissed with a scratchy voice as Azula heated up the flames just a tad, then snuffed them out. The skin that had been touched by flames had turned bright red. It wasn't a bad burn, but Azula knew it would be painful, especially crouched over in the small of the broom closet.
She held up a finger with a dancing flame.
"You know, if you keep hanging like this for much longer, you'll start getting nerve damage. You won't be able to hold your precious fans."
"Like you care." The girl sounded defiant, but Azula saw the fear in Suki's eyes.
"Tell me why you have rope."
"Go eat rocks." Another cough took over and she whined in pain as the movement shook her.
Azula chuckled. "No thanks…" She said lightly and decided to change her approach. She was going to get something out of this girl. "You know, your fellow Kyoshi Warriors aren't very smart, talking while a guard can hear you. They mentioned you meeting the Avatar."
She let the words hang around.
"So what? Yeah, he came to our village months ago, and then your brother came and burnt it down, so the Avatar left."
"And that was when you joined the war effort."
Suki just glared. She looked tired.
"You're still in contact with him though."
"I'm not."
"Where is he and his little Gang?"
"Not in your reach."
"So you do know something."
"Well, If you don't know where they are, then they are out of your reach."
Azula crossed her arms and snorted. The girl was too defensive. She was good at not trapping herself in statements by vague, noncommittal answers, but she had just given Azula an opportunity to throw her off track.
While it was true that Azula didn't know where the Avatar currently was, her prisoner did not truly know that she didn't know. Azula turned away to leave. She'd give Suki a day to think about it. She walked away with a smile on her face. Azula had all the time she needed.
AN 25.11.2024:
Ystävä: Soo, hehe, this chapter was originally going to cover more, but it got so long that we decided to split. Good news is, I've started on editing the rest already.
Either way, I think this chapter does cover a lot and I hope you enjoyed it.
Now, some commentary. I hate the name Mushi, I was so looking forward to replacing it… but… Zuko gave that name to Iroh before this story split off from canon, so, we are pretty sure Iroh would keep it in the hope of Zuko stumbling across it at some point and find him. Too bad Zuko has not heard of any Mushi so far.
Writing Zuko in the henchman role was super interesting to me. In a way, he's been one for a long time, and yet, this felt so different, so against his nature. Before, he had the illusion of autonomy, a mission. Now, his superior is right there. It does help that he's starting to learn to trust Wai's judgement, at least a little, even if he doesn't really trust the guy itself.
One thing that I've been looking forward to too is to explore how Zuko struggles with the trauma that haunts him.
In the past year, I've slowly been reading Bessel van der Kolk's book 'The Body Keeps The Score'. It was well worth it. Bessel is a neuroscientist, and one of the leading experts on trauma and treatments.
While I've been instinctively putting lots of things into the story before, I now have a lot more direction and I feel more able to accurately describe what Zuko's going through on a physical, emotional, and psychological level. Being hijacked by trauma is terrifying.
Trauma disconnects the body from the mind. It can hit you overwhelmingly out of seemingly nowhere. I try to give little clues what sets Zuko off. However, Zuko often isn't able to process what causes him to feel the way he does. While feeling lonely, and constantly feeling unsafe everywhere, even in your own body, it's very hard to function. So, like so many of us, he's desperately trying to understand what's going on and trying to take back control.
ML8991: So yeh, a lot in this chapter. It was fun to watch Ystävä adapt the Jet and Zuko fight scene to one between Iroh and Jet; I hope that you guys enjoyed that as much as I did. Otherwise yes, Zuko is coming to terms with himself a lot in this chapter. Being in a space where he is confined once again, if not bound, is going to prove difficult, and he has a lot to unpack within himself that he is desperately trying to not let show.
This is probably due to his upbringing, he has been told to be strong and "upright", but as we know from canon, this is a facade/persona enforced on him. So this new, detached, personality is very jarring for him, but we found that the way we have developed Zuko in our story is very in keeping with what Ystävä has found in their reading, adding yet more confidence to how we are handling his challenging psyche.
The Gaang too are interesting to write here. They are pretty out of their depth, so they are grasping at anything to try and achieve their goals. But in the City of Lies and Secrets, it is very hard to grab purchase on anything like this, and the Gaang are very much in the dark about just how deep the system goes. Personally, I am looking forward to exploring this depth and hope that we can do justice to Season Two's creepiest secondary antagonist.
But to its main antagonist, Azula. Oh, she is fun to explore, and we are only touching the surface. Having her play off Suki was great to try and explore and see how we can use their dynamic. Here are two girls who have both been raised as warriors, but with very different outlooks to the end goals. One is a shield to protect, the other is a weapon to take down those shields. Suki has a great level of tenacity… but even the greatest mountain will come down with time and, as Azula says… she has all the time in the world.