Chapter 13: Finally Entering Ba Sing Se

Last time: Harry and the Gaang helped a family get to the docks to Ba Sing Se before embarking on Appa and heading towards the city themselves. However, theya re met with an attempt of the Fire Nation to conquer the city by drilling in the outher wall of the city. As they try and stop Azula and her gang by collapsing the pillars in the drill, Harry pushes his friends out of the way before they can be harmed by falling pillars.

With a mighty crack, he feels his body narrow down to a focal point, twisting and twirling until he's not sure where his arms or legs are. His body is unravelling as his magic forces it to go away, anywhere other than here. He feels himself zooming out, but simultaneously staying immobile as his magic tries to get him somewhere safe. All of this happens in seconds as Harry seemingly disappears with a loud bang. He reappears with another loud sound as he gasps with a startled breath and a sudden pain in his back. He drops to the ground, his arms coming around to hug himself as he pants in confusion.

He lifts his head slightly, the adrenaline still rushing through him. He seems to be outside but there is nothing but sand in front of him. He twists his head slightly and finally spots the drill he was in moments ago, kilometres away. He gapes at it, his back still aching from whatever magic just happened. Did … did he just teleport? Can wizards do that? Sure, portkeys exist, but he doesn't remember hanging onto an object! He doesn't even know the spell for making portkeys! Now that he thinks about it, it would make sense that wizards can teleport, but he's never heard of it, and the pain from his back reminds him that it might not be without consequences.

He starts to shrug off his tunic, trying very hard to limit his movement as twinges of pain race across his back muscles. He holds up his shirt, surprised to see two deep lines at the back of his tunic. He gingerly pats at his back, wincing as soon as his fingers come in contact with a very sore and open wound. He's not surprised to see that his fingers are dripping with blood when he holds them back in front of him.

Harry takes a deep breath and stands up, starting to work his way towards the drill in the distance. It's very hard to run in the sand, and he's not sure he has enough magic to hurry over there. As he runs, hoping to everything on this strange planet that his friends are okay, he finds himself becoming more and more tired. It seems the miraculous magic act has taken more out of him than he thought.

Frustrated tears start to well within his eyes as he continues to move, yet the drill stays as far away as it was when he first appeared. He can't even muster the energy to use his flames, all of his on moving forward. He's not naïve enough to believe that they all got out of the drill okay, even if he managed to push them out the door. Life has taught him, more than anything, that he can never be hopefully naïve about his people's safety. As the last of his strength leaves him, he drops to the ground with a startled grunt.

Harry lifts his head, his tears mixing in with the sand beneath him. He can't give up now. He can't let his friends down. He refuses to lose anybody else. He's honestly not sure he can take it. Not for the first time in his life, he wonders what he did in his past life to deserve this. This constant worry and fear for his life that has integrated himself within his very being. His friends could be dying at the moment, and he could do nothing to stop it. Fear grows in him as he sees his vision starting to tunnel. The adrenaline has finally left him, leaving his body prey to the exhaustion that's slowly encapsulating him. He tries to call his magic to do something, anything to help his friends. Sadly, this last call of power seems to have taken all he had left and his mind goes blank in the blink of an eye.

The first thing that wakes him up is the feel of something sliding near his leg. The pain in his back is the second thing that registers and he would have groaned in pain if he had not been so exhausted. He blinks open his eyes slowly, eyebrows knitting in confusion for a moment as he wonders what happened and where he is.

"Juicy meat! It has been so long since I found something to eat!"

Harry makes a "huh" sound, the feeling of scales trailing down his legs finally awaking his brain as he instinctively kicks at whatever is crawling on him. He frantically turns on his butt, only for his eyes to widen at the angry snake coming towards him.

"Stop!" he instinctively screams out, hand groping for his wand. The snake freezes, swaying in confusion.

"It speaks?"

"Yes! I speak, don't eat me!" he orders, heart calming down from the jump scare. The snake doesn't look that big, and not like the weird animals in this world. Knowling his luck, it's probably a very dangerous snake though.

"How does it speak?"

"I open my mouth and sounds come out; now please tell me you won't bite me."

The tense silence that follows as the snake thinks about his answer makes the pit in his stomach grow exponentially. While usually, he would have vanished the snake without much trouble, he's honestly not sure if his magic can hold out and he's not willing to test a very angry snake. Said snake droops before slithering up his leg and curling at his waist.

"I won't bite you if you get me a meal."

Harry hesitates a bit, looking around at the blank desert. The giant wall of the city is still looming in the horizon, and he's honestly not sure when he's going to get another meal. "It might take a while; I have to walk all the way to the city." As he says it, he wants to slap himself upside the head. Using Slytherin logic would really have served him not being eaten by a hungry snake.

"You'd better hurry. I haven't eaten in days! What is a human even doing around here? And how do you speak? Humans don't ever show up around here." Asked the snake, hiding from the sun by slithering (ha) around the waist of his tunic. The wizard sat there on the ground, with a snake around his middle and resisted the urge to laugh hysterically. What was his life? Like literally. He sighed before standing up, trying to ignore the pulsing pain coursing through his back. His magic was still sore and weak, too weak for him to risk a healing spell to go wrong.

"Do you have a name?" he asks the snake, shifting his shirt slightly and hissing in pain as he slides across his wounds to lay across his shoulders. "My back is injured, so I'd appreciate if you try and not go across them."

The snake does a strange sound that reminds Harry of a scoff, "Mammals. So weak." As he says it, the snake's lower body pulls up, draping more across his chest than his back. "Why would I have a need for a name?"

"Do you want one?"

"I do not care. You still haven't answered my questions."

Harry can't himself and laughs as he slowly walks towards the drill and the wall. "I was in this big building over there, but something happened and I got sent here. I can speak because I live very far away and some people can speak to snakes in my home."

"Why did you get sent here? Did you get sent here to talk to me? How far away do you live?"

Harry hums as he thinks of how to explain dimension travel and magic to a snake, "I'm from another planet. Somewhere so far, that you can't reach it by walking there."

"That's far." Harry snorts, a small bitter sound. "Yeah … yeah it really is." He sighs in relief as he gets to the wall and the shadow helps him cool down. He's lucky and unlucky that the sun is going down, for the heat is less damning across his back but he does not want to spend the night in the desert alone. Well, with a snake, but he's not counting his chances.

"How about Salathiel? For a name."

"It is acceptable."

And so Harry Potter and the newly named Salathiel slowly made their way to the city of Ba Sing Se as the wizard tried not to pass out. The wound at his back was becoming increasingly more painful, and Harry dearly wished that his magic would come back at least a little for him to heal himself. The teleportation magic that he had done must have drained it thoroughly, and he didn't get the time to eat, drink or even sleep to help his magic get its strength back. His firebending was still going strong, luckily. Not that it could do much to help him in this heat. Although in hindsight, he could've stopped Salathiel with it. Using his bending has not become instinctual yet, and he really should remedy that.

He had to take several breaks due to his aching limbs and weak muscles, which rather stressed the small wizard. The sun was gone now and without it, the temperature had dipped drastically. He was lucky enough that it didn't seem to be going towards freezing temperatures like he had heard when he went to primary school, but this was still worrying. The serpent had moved to cling at his waist once more, seeking any kind of body heat. Yet Harry continued, determined to get to the city as fast as he could. The time he had spent unconscious had been long as he remembered it being midday when he had entered the drill, not almost sunset.

With a sigh, he leaned back against the wall looming above him, careful not to aggravate his wound, dearly wishing there were other ways to enter the city. He would have to stay here for the rest of the night, with no shelter or food. This is not how he thought the day would go when he woke up this morning, that's for sure.

As he looks at the stars emerging from the sky, he wonders how his friends are doing. He hopes Aang isn't beating himself up too badly. He's come to know the small avatar, and he's sure he will blame himself for his supposed death. Choosing to save his friends will always be his priority, and he is so glad that he met them. He can't imagine how depressing it would be, navigating this strange world with no support of any kind. He would probably be trying anything to go home. He hopes Katara isn't wallowing too much that Sokka can still tell his jokes and that Toph is still being her usual blunt self. He knows he isn't dead, but this is likely what they believe, and he knows the pain they are feeling. When Cedric died last year, he'd wished anything just to have saved him or taken his place. Then again, it has only been a few hours. They're most likely still searching for him. At least he hopes so.

He misses his friends at home as well. He misses Ron's blabbering and encouragement. He misses Hermione's rants about homework or his questionable decisions. He misses Neville's quiet presence and Ginny's fierce aura. He misses Luna and all her stories about creatures. She might be the only one who knows what happened to me, he thought with a snort. He misses Hogwarts and its comforting presence. He misses … he misses Sirius.

Shifting to his side so his wounds could get a break, he sighed and buried his face in his knees. He just wanted to be safe. Was that really too much to ask?

After having spent the night fitfully trying to get some sleep, Harry made his way back towards the entrance of the city, going slightly faster than a day ago, but not by much. His magic was coming back in weak strides, but not enough for any useful spells. Salathiel was getting angsty and so the wizard was more than eager to get to the city's gates. He finally reached the entrance to the city close to midday. The guards who were posted there didn't immediately recognize him, which Harry felt slightly offended at. He had helped to save their city if the abandoned drill was of any news.

They looked at him and his torn water tribe clothes in confusion.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Harry." They looked at him with no hint of recognition. He rolled his eyes, "The Avatar's companion? Harry Potter? I was literally here yesterday. Do you have that short of a memory?"

One of the guards' eyes widen as he droops in surprise.

"You're alive?" he exclaimed in shock.

"Yes, I am. Could you perhaps alert Aang and his friends?"

"Y-yes, of course!" The guard ran off, leaving behind his confused friend who smiled awkwardly at him. He led him inside the stronghold to where the rest of the city folks were milling around. "Is there any way I could get some water? And some type of medical aid?"

A glass of water is pressed into his hands which he gulps down with immediate relief. He doesn't even have to ask before his glad is being refilled and he gulps it down as well. Once he's finally satiated, he sighs in relief and satisfaction before bowing in thanks. A guard hands him a cloak with a hood, wincing in sympathy at the wounds. The guard comes back with a woman, a creepy smile on her face.

"I brought Joo Dee. She will bring you to the Avatar's residence in the inner wall."

"Hello. I am honoured to show you to your residence. I have been informed that you require medical assistance, so I will bring you to a healer's clinic before we join you with the Avatar."

Harry sighed in relief, his bad was not in good shape, "Thank you. Will you send word to them, so they know I am alive?" The woman smiled, a wide uncomfortable smile.

"You will see them soon enough." With that ominous sentence, she walked off towards the monorail. Harry's suspicious bell rang quietly in his head as his feeling of safety disappeared entirely. Adrenaline rushed back to his body as he nodded in thanks to the workers before following the woman, his body tense.

As Harry thought they were going to go on the cart with the rest of the refugees, Joo Dee showed him towards another cart that Harry had previously thought hidden. His suspicion rose up in a notch as they settled in.

"Why did we take this cart?"

"I thought you would appreciate the silence and lack of stares." While that was true, he was pretty sure that wasn't the reason.

"Can you message my friends so that they come meet me at the healing place?" he asked again, warily looking at her face. Her smile turned strained as her eyes closed, "You will see them soon enough."

Every Umbridge and Ministry fools alarm that he has built himself in his head for the past three years. This Joo Dee was no good. He needed to find his friends, fast. He did not want to fall prey to another corrupt government. As the lady blabbered on about the wonder that was Ba Sing Se, he stayed still, nodding at the right moments. Even through his tense mood, he still enjoyed looking at the city when they finally arrived. The city was so different than anything he had seen back home that he had no choice but to admire it. While it resembled Omashu in a way, in others it was vastly different. It was by far the biggest city he had first visited in this world, and it was greatly impressive. Some aspects of it reminded him of his own home, the city layout vaguely resembling the streets of London. Not that he's been there much. He assumed that if he visited Asia, he would find cities much more similar to this. The use of earth bending to function the various machines around him made him nostalgic for Diagon Alley, in its vaguest sense.

He did not have the time to admire the city for more than a couple of minutes ago Joo Dee urged him on. If he hadn't been convinced that something was wrong before, something was wrong now, as they passed by several medical facilities. While Harry still couldn't read the language of this world, he could clearly see the people coming in with injuries and exiting with bandaged limbs. Maybe she was taking him to a "better" hospital, but he's not sure he would buy it.

Luckily for him, slipping away was relatively easy as she continued to explain what he was seeing, detailing the history of the city as they went. As she rounded a corner, he stopped and quickly ran into a nearby alley the opposite of where she was going. He didn't dare go back to the medical facilities that he had seen earlier, as he would be much too easy to find.

Salathiel had awoken from the slumber he had fallen into, hissing demands for food. Harry appeased the snake with a few scratches but walked a bit faster. He weaved through the people, careful not to jostle the cloak that had been given to him to protect his wounds. The number of people roaming the streets was insane, far more than he had ever seen since arriving here. As he walked, he subtly and carefully pulled out his wand, his magical core having reawakened enough for this.

"Point me Aang."

The wand spun around for a few seconds before pointing north. He sighed tiredly before cancelling the spell and starting to walk in that direction. Seeing all the stalls with delicious-looking food, Harry really wished he had money at the moment. He forced himself to keep walking admit the small stares, one due to his clothing and his foreign face. He had never noticed how different he looked to everyone in this world than now.

As he self-consciously pulled down the hood of his hood, not paying attention to where he was going, he ran into someone. The person hissed in surprise and anger, Harry recoiling as well. As he went to apologize, his mouth dried and eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the teen in front of him.

"Zuko?"

XxX: hi? I'm back! I cannot believe it has been SO LONG. I genuinely did not mean to leave this fic for so long and I'm so sorry about that. A lot happened, the main fact that I started uni and it was harder than I thought lol. I meant to publish another chapter recently but got the fanfiction writer curse, I lost my whole document. I still haven't found and have no idea what happened to it, so I had to rewrite the whole thing. I like this version better, tbh, but it still sucks.

You'll be glad to know that I now have plot! While I was gone I rewatched the show and wrote down what I wanted, whereas before I was literally going by episode, which I can't do now as I'm changing stuff. The intro arc is finally done, so I hope you guys liked this chapter. As I'm almost done with school (summer courses are suckers), I will not be gone so long next time I promise.

Thank you for the continued kudos and few comments, it's literally what kept me going. I'll see you guys soon for sure, thanks for sticking by!