The entirety of the Earth Kingdom palace is surrounded by plants and trees, along with its own wall, much like the walls surrounding all of the rings. I can't help but gawk out the window as we move down the main road leading toward the Earth Kingdom palace. Iroh and Zuko are silent as we make our way closer and closer to the King.
Eventually, we do stop in front of the palace. It is huge, with brown and green and gold accents. The Earth Kingdom symbol sits above the main entrance toward the palace.
A footman helps us all out of the carriage, and I can't take my eyes off of the palace and the surrounding gardens. Iroh is carrying all the ingredients for the tea, and I am in charge of the accompanying cookies. Zuko carries nothing, except for his new perspective of life.
"Many times," Iroh says as the carriage pulls away, "I imagined myself here, at the threshold of the palace. But I always thought I would be here as a conqueror." We are walking toward the palace, and I cannot believe what I'm looking at. "Instead, we are the Earth King's personal guests, here to serve him tea. Destiny is a funny thing."
Zuko beams with pride as he says, "It sure is, Uncle." Zuko has a different view on his destiny now, so seeing us all walk into the palace together is a good starting point. Zuko knows his destiny isn't capturing Aang anymore, but to be happy with who he is. At least, that's what I think Zuko's destiny is.
We are directed from the main palace to the Earth King's Tea Palace, which is where the Earth King traditionally hosts guests. It is surrounded by even more gardens, and I want to veer away from the task at hand to get lost among the flowers. It reminds me of Song's mother's garden, so long ago. I catch a faint scent of blooming flowers before we are escorted inside.
Once we are inside, Iroh starts to brew some jasmine tea for the king, and I set out a plate of the lemon cookies I made this morning, half awake. I look around the room, and it is so spacious I feel like I could get lost on the way out of this building. In front of us is a low throne that the Earth King will sit in whenever he gets here. Everything is gold, and there is a beautifully painted screen behind the throne, depicting mountains and forests.
Zuko sits and fidgets with the embroidery on the side of his tunic, but he is calm. Eventually, Iroh's tea is ready and he pours us each a cup. However, the King hasn't shown up yet.
"What's taking so long?" Zuko asks. I imagine royalty is always punctual, probably because they have so many appointments to keep. Zuko likely knows this too well.
"Maybe the Earth King overslept?" Iroh comments.
"I don't think the Earth King can oversleep," I mutter.
However, after our comments, a lot of Dai Li agents surround us, forming a circle. Under his breath, Zuko says, "Something's not right."
My fist clenches as the agents surround us. My anxiety has been bumped up from excited to meet a king to the memory of the Dai Li agents dragging Jet away. It gets worse when Azula walks in, standing in front of the throne.
"It's tea time!" she says.
Zuko and I jump to our feet, Zuko saying, "Azula!" I glance over at Zuko, and I see that the fire in him that was there last time we saw Azula is back. The new Zuko, the one that I just kissed and went on a date with, is gone.
"Have you met the Dai Li? They're earthbenders, but they have a killer instinct that's so firebender. I just love it." Azula is dressed in green Earth Kingdom clothes, with her hair tied back. She looks innocent, not like she is ready to kill the three of us.
Iroh is calm, though Zuko and I are ready to fight. Iroh picks up the cup of tea he just poured and speaks, seemingly not surprised that Azula is here, "Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname 'The Dragon of the West'?" Iroh stands as he speaks, holding his cup in his hand.
Could I dodge the rocks of the Dai Li agents without my bo? How helpful would I be in this situation?
"I'm not interested in a lengthy anecdote, Uncle," Azula says, looking bored at her nails. Everything about Azula grinds against me. Her personality. Her tone. Her innocent demeanor.
"It's more of a demonstration, really." He takes a deep sip of his tea, and Zuko grabs me and moves us both behind Iroh's back as he lets out a giant breath of fire, much like a dragon.
Then we are running. Zuko runs toward the wall on one side, kicking a fireball at it and pulling me through. Iroh follows behind us, still shooting fire out of his mouth. I only have a brief moment to admire Iroh's prowess with blending tea and firebending before I hear earth hitting the wall right behind us.
However, as we approach the end of the hallway, it's just a dead end. Iroh bends a shot of lightning and Zuko shoots fire alongside him. Iroh and I jump out the burning hole, landing on some animal shaped hedges. However, Zuko isn't joining us. I pull Iroh to his feet, aware of the imminent danger we are in.
Iroh, thinking Zuko's hesitation is because of the heights, says, "Come on! You'll be fine!"
"No! I'm tired of running! It's time I faced Azula!" Zuko says, turning his back on us.
"Zuko!" I shout. "Please!" However, he has already started to walk away. The Zuko that I promised would be safe in Ba Sing Se is gone. The Zuko that I thought would make the wrong choices, go down the wrong path, is back. Zuko has chosen revenge over me.
Iroh grabs my hand and we run off, deep into the palace gardens, through trees and bushes and out of the Earth King's palace grounds. I have no time to focus on his actions, because my brain is stuck on Zuko's eyes. Zuko's choices. Zuko's return to what he once was. Somehow, Iroh finds another hidden door that leads us to the Upper Ring, and he's dragging me, dazed.
He stops at one point, in the thickness of the houses in the Upper Ring. Iroh shakes me, saying, "Zia! I need you to focus!" It takes me a moment, and my eyes focus back on Iroh in his finery. I nod. Iroh smiles at me, despite everything. "Stay here, I'll be right back."
He disappears, but isn't gone for more than five minutes. He is dragging a Dai Li agent that was likely tracking us. He throws him on the ground and hastily ties his hands and gags him. Iroh looks up at me and says, "I have an idea."
Good, because I am completely devoid of any thought beyond Zuko showing me why I was right to hesitate. Why did I think we could be safe in Ba Sing Se, with its walls and hidden eyes? The Air Nomads were always right to avoid Ba Sing Se. I'm foolish to have thought otherwise.
"Follow me," Iroh says, slinging the Dai Li agent over his shoulder. We stick to the side streets, until Iroh comes to a stop at a fancy house. Appa is standing outside the house, munching on a section of bush. Part of the house has scaffolding on it, like they are repairing a hole.
We are at Aang's house.
"Iroh," I start, but I don't know what I could say. This is Iroh's plan? Why would Aang trust us? I want to throw up. I haven't thought about seeing Aang ever again, even after we found Appa and freed him. I don't want to do this. I can't do this.
Iroh throws the Dai Li agent in the corner of the porch. Sensing my apprehension, he looks over at me. "Zia," he whispers, moving to hold my arms in comfort. "It's okay. I will keep you safe."
Why am I so anxious to see Aang again? He didn't recognize me last time, at least not that I could see. Granted, I was treating Iroh's wound.
We are the last airbenders. Will he be ashamed of me that I can't airbend anymore? Will I be disappointed if he doesn't recognize me? Does he even hold me in his memory? I followed him. And then he left me, alone. In the cold. To be used as bait for him. How can I be bait when he doesn't even remember me?
I put my hand on the railing around the porch. The world is pitching and turning, and I want to throw up, and I want to cry. I am overwhelmed by everything. Zuko's kiss, then him turning his back on us, just to get the last word with Azula.
From far away, I can hear Iroh saying, "Zia, you're having a panic attack." Iroh knocks on the door, leaning me against the railing. Someone opens it, and there is a brief conversation. Iroh grabs my arm and guides me into the house. Everyone is a blur of colors, and I can't focus on anything. My breathing is heavy, and Iroh has me sit down on a cushion.
There are three figures, each in different colors. Someone is in blue, and orange, and green. Iroh kneels in front of me and takes my hands in his. "Zia, please. I need you to listen to me." I nod, though it's hard to focus on anything other than the thought that Zuko is gone and Aang won't remember me and that we aren't even safe here, in Ba Sing Se, from the Fire Nation. Everything is wrong.
"Zia?" another voice says, though it's hard for me to pinpoint who is speaking.
Iroh nods, and he is the only thing I can see. "Zia. I need you to take a deep breath. Yes, just like that. Now hold it in. Good. Slowly let it out. Repeat. Good. Breathe in, hold, breathe out."
Slowly, the world starts to calm down. I look around, and Aang is very close to me. He catches sight of the orange cloth in my hair and touches it briefly.
"Zia?" Aang whispers, squatting too close to me.
I want to look away. The panic starts to rise again, but Iroh is holding my hands still. I take a deep breath in. And I nod. "Yes, Aang."
And he smiles. He smiles so big, then tackles me to the ground in a giant hug, laughing and laughing and saying, "I thought it was you! After Azula attacked us in that village! But I was so tired I thought you weren't real."
I can't help but smile and laugh a little, despite all that's happened to us.
"But, I don't understand. How are you here?" Aang moves off me, and I sit up.
"I followed you when you left in the storm. I didn't know why you left, but I didn't think a 12 year old should be flying in such weather alone. But I was on my glider. I was more foolish than you!" I say, trying to find humor in that situation.
Aang sits back, turning serious. "I. . . That was the day I found out I was to go to the Eastern Air Temple to finish my training. Because they wanted to separate me from Monk Gyasto and train me to be the Avatar."
"Oh," I say, touching Aang on his arm. He holds such a heavy burden on his shoulders, destined to save the world from this awful war. But I look up, at the Water Tribe boy and the girl we met before. "Aang, at least you're not alone now. Neither of us are." I smile and look at Iroh. "We've both found people that care about us."
Aang smiles and hugs me again, before glancing at Iroh. "But, why are you with him?"
"They travel together!" the earthbender girl says. "I met them in the woods once and knocked him down. Then he gave me some tea and some very good advice."
"Actually, you gave us just as good advice," I say, remembering what she said. That we should tell Zuko we care for him. Somehow, all our roads led us here.
Iroh turns serious, saying, "Princess Azula is here in Ba Sing Se."
"She must have Katara!" Aang says.
"She has captured my nephew, as well."
"Then we'll work together to fight Azula, and save Katara and Zuko."
The Water Tribe boy finally says something, clearly agitated by Iroh's presence. "Whoa there! You lost me at 'Zuko'."
"I know how you must feel about my nephew," Iroh says, moving to put his hands on the Water Tribe boy's shoulders. "But believe me when I tell you that there is good inside him."
"Good inside him isn't enough. Why don't you come back when it's outside him, too, okay?" He starts to push Iroh away toward the door.
However briefly, there was both. Inside and outside. "Zuko's changed a lot," I say, standing from the cushion. I can't believe I'm doing this. "I've been with them since I woke up in the iceberg." I touch my neck, where Zuko's hand once burned me, but now sits the necklace he gave me. "He's different. Please. I don't want Azula to hurt him."
The boy stops pushing Iroh toward the door and looks at me, pleading. Aang adds, "Katara's in trouble! All of Ba Sing Se is in trouble. Working together is our best chance."
Finally, the boy nods.
"I brought someone along who might help us," Iroh says, moving toward the door. We follow him outside to where the Dai Li agent is still sitting, tied up. The blind earthbender girl bends some pillars against him, pushing him up to standing. Iroh takes the gag out of his mouth.
The agent has a nasty scar across his face, and he immediately starts talking. "Azula and Long Feng are plotting a coup! They're going to overthrow the Earth King!"
"That was easy," I mutter, and Aang smiles at me.
"My sister! Where are they keeping Katara?" the Water Tribe boy asks. He points a nasty club at the agent. I should really get their names.
"In the Crystal Catacombs of Old Ba Sing Se, deep beneath the palace." With that information, Aang directs us all to climb aboard Appa. I help Iroh climb, telling him that using the fur to help climb won't hurt Appa, that they hardly feel it. It was so much easier to board a sky bison when I could bend.
The blind girl says, "Here, let me help you! Climbing like that is awful." She proceeds to bend the rocks underneath us, unceremoniously knocking us onto the top of Appa. There isn't a saddle, likely because he just escaped.
"You'll want to hold on tight, Iroh," I say. "Sky bison can move pretty quick." I smile, remembering flying with Kala. How nice it will be to be up in the air again after so long of being stuck on the ground.