Not-So Royal Treatment

After taking a few days to settle into the Lower Ring of Ba Sing Se, it was time to meet up with the others.

And rather than wait for whatever hair-brained scheme Aang or Sokka would come up with to find them, Zuko, May, and Ty Lee took the initiative.

All three of them had already been good at the acrobatics needed to sneak around, climb walls, and jump across rooftops. With them starting up cultivating since recovering their memories, doing all of those was even easier. None of them was near the level needed to fly on a sword (not that they had swords, and Zuko's duel dao weren't going to cut it).

They'd been warned as soon as they got off the ferry to avoid the Dai Li at all costs, though thankfully Jet was arrested by them so they didn't need to worry about his stalking on top of that. Still, they weren't worried. They had been better than the Dai Li even before they remembered their past lives. Now sneaking past them was a cakewalk.

Zuko still didn't want to stay out for long, however. Jet wasn't the only creep in the city, and he didn't trust someone wouldn't break in and attack Uncle and TomTom if they realized they were home alone.

It wasn't hard to figure out which house in the Upper Ring the Avatar had been given. All they needed to look for was Appa snoozing in a side garden with Momo sleeping on his head to find the right place.

The second they arrived, Toph opened the door with a smirk, having sensed them approaching. "Took you long enough," she said before Yue rushed over to hug her siblings.

"Unlike those who got the royal treatment, we actually had to find a place to live and jobs," said Mai dryly as she passed the siblings into the house.

"And housing in the Lower Ring is so cramped it was hard to find a place that would also let us use a stable. Our apartment only has one bedroom and the walls are so thin," Ty Lee complained.

Zuko made a face, knowing exactly why that was her biggest complaint, and broke off from their hug. "How's negotiating with the Earth King going?" he asked, changing the subject.

Those living in the Upper Ring made a face.

"Nowhere fast," said Katara bitterly.

"The King's being stubborn?" asked Zuko, not surprised. It would be rather foolish of him to instantly trust the prince of his enemy's nation on his word alone, so some negotiation was to be expected.

"For the King to be stubborn we'd have to actually talk to the King," said Sokka, also miffed. "And it's been made clear to us that's not happening."

The three from the Fire Nation looked confused.

"What?" asked Ty Lee. "They're not even talking to you? But you're the Avatar!" she said, looking at Aang.

"Rude," said Mai with a disapproving frown.

"Exceptionally rude," agreed Yue, looking offended on Aang's behalf. "The greeting my tribe gave him when they arrived is the proper and traditional response to a visit from the Avatar."

"It was a fun party," agreed Aang.

"It was more than just a party, Aang," said Yue, looking like she'd been wanting to vent this out for a while. "It was a showing of respect. Be it spiritually, powerfully, or culturally, you are important and the only person this world has agreed upon to be able to judge its leadership without consequence. If you declare a king, chief, or lord is corrupt no one would have grounds to argue with you. They might try anyway, but your judgment is absolute. It's part of why you have to be the one to defeat the Fire Lord. If the Earth King had made the informed decision to snub you, then you could be well in your grounds to depose him too."

"So like how Avatar Kyoshi opposed Chin the Conqueror?" asked Katara, remembering a particular village they'd gone through.

"Exactly," said Yue, waving towards her to emphasize her point. "He was a despot, and she had every right to stand against him."

"She's right," said Zuko. "Showing you the best of our society and respect for your position is what tradition dictates, and even if you definitely wouldn't get that greeting at the Fire Nation right now, all royalty is still taught decorum."

"The Fire Lord used that power as a reason to paint you as a threat to further justify what happened to the Air Nomads," Mai explained.

"So, basically, the high-ups here should be kissing Twinkle-Toes' feet but they aren't, and giving us this house and letting us stay here rent-free when we're clearly not wanted is the bare minimum," Toph summed up.

"Only just barely," said Yue, still miffed at the slight.

"Wait," said Ty Lee, catching on to something else Yue had said. "You said if it was an 'informed' decision. What did you mean by that?"

The others exchanged a glance and Team Avatar informed them about their own first few days in Ba Sing Se ("At first it seemed nice," said Katara. "They really appreciated us stopping that drill."). About being 'handled' by a strange woman named Joo Dee ("She never stops being perky," said Toph. "And not in a way that feels normal. It's both annoying and creepy."). About being stonewalled in their requests to see the Earth King ("We told them about having important information about the Fire Nation and everything, and they still wouldn't see us," said Aang. "All they say is 'There's no war in Ba Sing Se ' and give excuses why we can't go."). About their unsuccessful attempt to sneak into the Earth King's party for his bear ("Like an actual bear. The same kind we had in our old life," said Sokka in disbelief. "It was weird," Aang agreed.). And finally about meeting Long Feng, and being told the Earth King was ignorant of the war and the state of his kingdom, and with Long Feng's control over the Dai Li, the monarch would stay that way ("At the moment he appears to be the true power behind the throne," said Yue. "But he has no intention of working with us, and a contract with him would not be binding.") before sending them off with another woman also claiming to be Joo Dee and the whole thing hinting at something more going on ("Different woman, same creepy smile," said Sokka, looking disturbed.).

"Do the Dai Li know the rest of us are here?" asked Mai after hearing the whole story.

"No," said Sokka. "We only told one person we were looking for you, and she's someone we can trust."

"You're sure about that?" asked Zuko dubiously. It was their necks on the line after all.

"It's Lou Qingyang," said Sokka, making Zuko and Mai relax but Ty Lee looked lost.

"Who?" Ty Lee asked.

Sokka rolled his eyes. He was actually starting to get used to her terrible memory, but still, she should remember this person. "MianMian," he said.

Ty Lee immediately lit up. "MianMian's here? I like MianMian. We can trust her."

"You didn't even remember her name," Katara pointed out in bemusement.

"That's 'cause she didn't tell me her real name when we first met and she got locked in as MianMian in my mind," said Ty Lee indignantly. "Even when she told me it was way later, I still remember her better as MianMian. Though it got a bit confusing since her daughter was also MianMian."

"Well, she's on our side," said Aang brightly. Then glanced at Zuko and added ruefully. "Though she did say she'd punch Zuko next time she saw him first."

Now it was Zuko's turn to look lost. "What? Why?" he asked.

"Something about burning down her village," said Toph, enjoying this way too much.

Zuko blinked, then remembered and slapped his forehead. "Of course, the only village I ever burned down was the one full of warriors with death fans."

"The only village?" Katara asked in surprise.

"It's not like I go around doing it for fun," Zuko protested.

"So what is your current plan?" Mai asked, getting them back on track.

"At the moment, keep pestering them until they either let us talk to the King or find some other way to talk to him," said Sokka with a shrug. "Because Yue is right, any contract not signed by the Earth King wouldn't be binding enough, and I wouldn't trust that Long Feng guy with one anyway."

"He is the type of sneaky fucker who'd have some loophole written into it that we wouldn't notice until too late," Toph agreed.

"We're also keeping an ear to the ground about where the Water Tribe fleets are, so maybe we can at least get their portion of the contract," said Katara.

"Maybe if the chiefs sign it first, it would put greater pressure on the Earth Kingdom to agree too," said Yue, though she looked doubtful. "If nothing else, I can use my authority as princess to sign it in the place of my father if we can't find him, but it would be better if I at least inform him first so I can do it with his blessing… Not that I'm letting him say no."

"So all we can do is sit tight and wait," said Ty Lee.

"Pretty much," Aang agreed.

"We apparently have an appointment with the Earth King in six to eight weeks," said Katara. "So long as that wasn't a lie, which it probably is but there's always a chance it wasn't."

"It at least gives me more time to whip Twinkle-Toes into shape," added Toph.

"Then we wait," agreed Zuko.

A/N Sorry this is so late. I didn't realize I'd missed a week. I just started a new job and have been cleaning my house from top to bottom preparing for Thanksgiving guests.