Happy Republic Day to all my Turkish readers!

Responses to Reviews:

Zigzagdoublezee: Yes, having Suki join the team here seemed like a good progression from her more limited role in the last book.

(Plus I like her anyway.)

RonaldM40196867: I think Iroh would make a good teacher.

As Always, Please Review!

Zuko's first impression of Ba Sing Se was how big everything was. Upon making themselves known to the authorities, they had been shepherded past the wall into a vast room flanked by lines of columns and with a vaulting ceiling, richly painted with intricate patterns rendered in greens, browns and golds.

Unfortunately, that also applied to the giant queue that the two of them were stuck in, which stretched from a desk all the way at one end of the room out of the door. Many of the people in the queue still had carts full of their personal possessions with them. Zuko scowled, as he fingered the big bag of money which now hung at his waist. Both he and Mai were laden with bags, full of Mai's supplies and what few possessions he had gathered on the way here.

That included quite a few Fire Nation weapons, and so Mai had improvised hidden compartments in the bags the night before they had entered the city in case they were searched. She had even gone as far as stuffing fabric in so the weapons wouldn't clink when the bags were moved around.

Fortunately, security had been lax, and their bags had not even been checked. With so many refugees entering the city, the guards had clearly decided they didn't stand a chance of getting through everyone's possessions quickly.

"I can't believe they took our ostrich-horse," he grunted.

"At least they paid us for it," Mai pointed out. "And I'd rather have the money than have to look after it in the city."

The army had requisitioned the animal upon their arrival, telling them that they would have more need of it than some refugees in the city. Zuko was sure they were right and appreciated that they had bought it, even if he hadn't had much choice in the matter.

They shuffled forwards slightly as the queue progressed, the people who had been at the front walking off to the side, towards a platform where a train stood, ready to take them to their new lives in the city once it had been filled up. Several of its carriages were dedicated solely for luggage space.

"Next!"

Finally, it was their turn. Zuko stepped up to the desk, where a tired looking man sat scribbling on a scroll. He looked up at them.

"Is it just you two?"

Zuko nodded.

"Names?"

"My name is Li," Zuko told him.

"And mine is..." Mai began. Zuko saw her flail for a moment, and began to worry that she would blow this for them before it could even begin, but fortunately she managed to pull it back.

"Ren," she said. "My name is Ren."

"I see," the man scribbled it down in his book, looking bored. Zuko breathed a small sigh of relief.

"Where are you two from, then?"

Zuko had anticipated that he would be asked this question, and so had considered his answer carefully.

"Taku," he said. It was on the coast, a bustling trade city with links to the Fire Nation which provided a cover in case his eye colour was questioned, and was in the direction he had come from.

The man shook his head.

"Terrible," he said. "What they did there... they're monsters."

"We only just got out," Zuko nodded. Whatever the Fire Nation had done to Taku must have been bad.

Shaking his head again, the man stamped two pieces of paper and passed them across the desk.

"Your passes," he announced, "granting you passage into the city. Good luck to you."

And with that, their meeting was over. Zuko stepped out of the line and towards the train, Mai following behind him. Ahead of them, an old man was trying to guide a cart into one of the luggage carriages aided by an ostrich-horse- which had not been taken, Zuko noted resentfully- and a few earthbender guards.

"So, we're in," Mai whispered as they walked. "Do we know what we do now? Have we even got a place to sleep tonight?"

"There'll be somewhere," Zuko said with more confidence than he felt. "We have money, don't we?"

"Don't say that too loudly!" Mai hissed. "We'll be robbed!"

Zuko stopped, abashed. He hadn't thought of that.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"Doesn't matter," Mai carried on. "We can look after ourselves, can't we? Something will work out."

She stepped onto the train. It was mostly full by now, and so a general hubbub of conversation pervaded the carriage, making it possible to have quiet conversations unheard by others if you were careful.

"One of us will have to get a job though," Mai said as if the thought had only just occured to her.

"Work?" Zuko groaned in mock horror.

"I know you're a high and mighty prince, and you don't know what that word means," Mai whispered sarcastically.

"Not in here," Zuko pointed out. "Unless you want to find comfortable accommodation in the Earth King's dungeons."

"I think that will he a last resort," Mai conceded. They found a seat and sat down, as a second train pulled into the station, a sign that theirs must be close to departure.

"This whole operation seems very efficient for earthbenders," Mai observed.

"They've had months of practice," Zuko replied. "I suppose it makes sense they'll have got good at it."

That silenced the conversation. For they both knew why the authorities of Ba Sing Se had been forced to become so fast at processing refugees- and that reason was probably about to appear over the hills any day now.

Then, the flow of refugees boarding the train stopped. The doors were closed to the carriage. Zuko waited with anticipation for something to happen.

A low rumbling began at the rear of the train, causing the air to vibrate ever so slowly. Then Zuko felt movement, and the train moved off, picking up speed as it accelerated out of the terminal. Daylight hit them, forcing Zuko to cover his eyes as they acclimatised to the light.

As he lowered his hand, he saw Ba Sing Se in all its glory for the first time. Railway tracks built on top of aqueducts criss-crossed the city, which stretched as far as the eye could see. Houses, some of them small and run down, others grand and spacious, stretched away, connected by streets which bustled with a collection of humanity unmatched in all the world. Not even the Caldera, the largest city in the Fire Nation, was like this, Zuko noted with awe. There were even a few tall chimneys, belching smoke, in the distance.

He felt a hand snake into his own, and turned to see Mai smiling at him.

"It's alright, I suppose," she told him, in a tone which indicated that she thought it was a bit more than alright.

"Yes," Zuko agreed. "It doesn't beat being a Prince, but I think we can work with this."

The train sped on, accelerating Mai and Zuko towards their new lives, safe where the war could not touch them.