It is early morning by the time Iroh and the other old man return to the main flower shop. The squeaking of the opening door makes Zuko jump to his feet, going into a fighting stance almost immediately. I haven't fully slept, so I stand and join the three by the door.
"What's going on?! Is the club meeting over?" Zuko says, relaxing when he realizes it's just Iroh returning from his meeting.
Iroh stands next to Zuko and I, saying, "Everything is taken care of. We're heading to Ba Sing Se." Iroh bows to the Pai Sho player. I don't think I've ever been to Ba Sing Se, but I have heard a lot about the impenetrable city.
"Ba Sing Se? Why would we go to the Earth Kingdom capital?"
"The city is filled with refugees. No one will notice two more," the Pai Sho player says.
"Hiding in plain sight," I say, nodding. It makes sense. No one will suspect that Zuko's burn was intentional from his father, likely a casualty of war rather than malicious intent from his father.
"And it's the safest place in the world from the Fire Nation. Even I couldn't break through to the city," Iroh says, shrugging his shoulders.
Someone opens the door, causing the bell above to ring, and I reach for my bo. However, I relax when it is just a young man dressed in green and brown.
"I have the passports for our guests, but there are two men out on the street looking for them," he says, pointing behind him.
The three of us gather around the window set in the door. Sure enough, in the bright sun, the two earthbending men are showing off our wanted posters.
I jokingly say, "Do you think they did a good enough job on my hair?"
Iroh stifles his laugh and nudges me in good fun. However, his face turns serious and he exchanges something between him and Zuko that words do not convey.
Luckily, the Pai Sho player, Fung, says, "We have a way around this. Come here."
The young man that brought our passports hands them to us, and I stuff them into the pack carrying my bo. We follow them to a side of the shop, where I saw the desert rose last night. There are three rather large pots, all with the desert rose. I resist the urge to touch them again.
Fung grabs the base of one of the plants to reveal that it comes completely off. There is an empty compartment below the plant. There are some bits of dirt down there, and it will be a tight fit for Iroh. Zuko grumbles about fighting, but complacently climbs into one. Iroh and I follow suit.
However, when it comes to placing the pack with my bo in, I face an issue. The bo won't fit. I look over at Fung who says, "If we place it outside the pots, it can look like a support for when the plants get too big. Or we can let Riho use it like a walking stick."
If we were intercepted by those earthbenders, what would be more believable? The walking stick way could be used to knock away animals if they came too close, whereas desert roses don't really need that support, and the bo was too big. "He can use it as a walking stick," I said, taking my bo out and handing it to Riho. "Just be careful. I don't want it broken."
Though the bo is sturdy, I don't know how I would find another if it broke. It is a loose connection to a past that is no longer mine, like the torn cloth I gave to Zuko last night. It is a thread, weaving me back to a version of myself I can never be again. It is a hope, that I can carve a story into it one day, telling the story of me and all that I could be.
Maybe there will be time for that in Ba Sing Se.
For now, Fung puts the covers over our pots, and the world turns mostly dark. There is a sliver of light coming through the seal around the dirt, and Riho begins to drag us out the door and away. We head up a steep hill, and I can feel the wheels struggling through the sand. Will Riho drag us all the way to Full Moon Bay, the place where refugees are ferried directly into Ba Sing Se? Or just allow us to walk the rest of the way, wandering the hot desert?
I hope the ostrich horse is well taken care of where we left him, tied up outside the cavern. He has seen and done a lot for us.
I fall into another fitful sleep, given that the journey is anything but smooth. Riho pulls us all the way to the edge of the desert, just in case those earthbenders are tracking us. We skirt the western edge of the desert, sticking to the shadows of the mountains. When we reach the forest, Riho stops and helps us out.
He hands me my bo, still in good condition. I smile at him as he helps me exit the pot. "If you just follow the river northeast, you will come across a mountain that the river disappears into. There is a hidden path, as well as many Earth Kingdom soldiers guarding it. You will explain that you are refugees looking for passage to Ba Sing Se. They will allow you to enter the ferry station through there."
Riho looks around, always alert for any enemies in the foliage. Has he gotten attacked before? "Here are your passports. Mushi, Lee, and Amrita. Along with some money for the fare. From there, it is up to you to find accommodations in Ba Sing Se. You should be safe there. There is no Fire Nation in Ba Sing Se."
Could that be true? There are Fire Nation eyes everywhere. I clench my hand around my bo, but nod along. I stuff the passports securely into my bag, hidden, along with the money pouch Riho hands me.
I look next to me. Soon, there will be some Fire Nation in Ba Sing Se. But Zuko and Iroh are not my enemies. They have shown kindness - well, Iroh has shown kindness. They are not the Fire Nation that murdered those before me.
They are my friends.
Maybe if I can share my thoughts with Zuko, he could be something more.
Riho leads us to a small path in the overgrown spring foliage. From there, we trek northeast, me leading with my bo to part the branches and scare off any venomous animals that may be lurking. We travel for the better part of the morning, the sun hidden behind the leaves above us. Nobody speaks.
We follow Riho's instructions and eventually come across some Earth Kingdom soldiers hidden along the path. They stop us and ask for our intentions. Iroh - Mushi - takes the lead here. "We are refugees looking for passage to Ba Sing Se. We are looking for Full Moon Bay and the ferries stationed there."
The soldiers nod and start to lead us deeper into the forest. I can see part of the mountain on our left, and the soldiers stop at a wall. It is bare; there are no vines climbing the wall. This wall gets moved frequently.
The soldiers show us that that is true, as they bend the wall down to reveal a dark passage. They wave us forward and shut the wall behind us. Luckily, the path is one way. Sure, it twists and turns, and we can hear the faint sound of running water. But it is one way - forward.
At the end, two more Earth Kingdom soldiers stand against some torches. They remove the wall behind us, and we are led into a spacious cavern. The light comes from a hole in the ceiling, a dayught hole, as well as a narrow slit that faces the open air.
Between us and the narrow slit is a wall, with the Earth Kingdom symbol repeating between watch towers that are stationed with soldiers. It feels like it was a stronghold, meant to keep out attackers. Though the only people that could enter are earthbenders or a very large drill.
It is loud, as there are over a hundred refugees on this side of the wall. They hover around tents and small campfires. The smells are overwhelming. It smells like smoke, and unwashed bodies, and too many spices and meats. My free hand, the one not holding my bo, searches for Zuko's.
I don't want to get lost, and I would hold Iroh's hand if he was standing next to me. Zuko squeezes my hand once, then lets it go. So much for that comfort.
Iroh leads the way, and we stand in a line for a very long time. Iroh removes from his robe sleeves some jerky, which he passes around. I take the water out of my pack and pass it around. We do not talk, as there is too much noise for us to really understand each other. The walls of the cavern seem to bounce all the noise around, including the slapping of the water against the ferry.
At the very end of the line is an aggressive looking lady, dressed in deep green. Behind her is a wall of stationery items. Stamps, ink, paper. She is approving or denying people's passports. It looks more like she is denying then approving. Will our passports be legitimate enough to make our way through?
There is no need to worry, as our counterfeits are made by the pros in the old man secret society. She shouts us forward, and Iroh says, "Three tickets for the ferry to Ba Sing Se." I pull out the passports frantically, handing them up to Iroh.
She accepts them rudely, her eyes quickly searching for any signs of counterfeit. She must not see them, or our passports must be really good quality. She stamps them, throws them down to us, and Iroh catches them smoothly. I open the pouch, and the glittering of the different coins in the pouch shocks me.
This is more than enough for the fare.
"Three gold coins per ticket," she says, eyeing me. I scramble out the coins, each looking like the Earth Kingdom insignia that bears down on all sides of us. Is Ba Sing Se the right place for us? Will Zuko's anger be contained in the walls?
We pass through and are one of the last people to board a boat near the middle. I hear the gangway retreat after us, and it takes me a moment to get used to the lurching of the boat.
Later, after we have settled down and the ferry makes its way out of the station, I corner Iroh. "Riho said there was only enough here for the ferry," I say, gesturing to my bag that I now carry rather cautiously, afraid of pickpockets.
"I am a very high ranking member of the White Lotus," Iroh whispers back to me. "Look, they are handing out lunch. Come, that jerky was not enough to feed us. Lee!"
We stand in another long line to receive a rather lukewarm bowl of questionable looking soup. Some vegetables float to the surface. Between the three of us, there is one piece of questionable meat. We lean against the port side of the boat, Iroh turns introspective.
"Who would've thought after all these years, I'd return to the scene of my greatest military disgrace. . ." - Iroh turns away from us, flipping around wearing a straw hat with a flower - "as a tourist?"
I stifle my laughter. Where did he get that hat?
However, Zuko does not find this funny. "Look around. We're not tourists. We're refugees." He takes a swig of the soup and spits it back out immediately. "Ugh! I'm sick of eating rotten food, sleeping in the dirt. I'm tired of living like this!"
"Well, tonight you get to sleep on wood!" I say, gesturing to the no dirt floor around us. Granted, there is probably enough dirt on all our fellow refugees to change that. How posh were his beds back at the capital, that he yearns to return to their warmth and comfort after three years away?
"Aren't we all?" I look around for the voice of the person who spoke. It is a dirty boy about Zuko's age, with a piece of hay sticking out of his mouth, leaning against one of the supports to allow for shade. How much of the conversation had he heard? Does he know about Iroh's military mishap?
Iroh and I turn to look at him. He approaches us, saying, "My name's Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters. Smellerbee and Longshot."
Two smudgy looking boys, roughly around the same age, come out of Jet's shadow. They look like they belong in the forest around the ferry station, not on their way to Ba Sing Se. Granted, I don't think any of the ferry passengers intended to end up here.
One of the boys, smaller and with a bushy haircut, says, "Hey." The other just nods at us.
Zuko glances at them but does not turn around. "Hello," Zuko says. There is tension thick in the air, and I grip my bo tighter. Granted, I haven't set the weapon down since exiting the flower pot.
"Here's the deal. I hear the captain's eating like a king while the refugees have to feed off his scraps. Doesn't seem fair, does it?" Jet asks. He moves closer to Zuko.
"What sort of king is he eating like?" Iroh asks.
"The fat, happy kind," Jet replies. Iroh drools, and I close his mouth so bugs don't get in there. "You want us to help 'liberate' some food?" He points these questions at Zuko, as if sensing my apprehension toward this boy. He seems like he wants to play fight soldiers, not fight in some war.
Zuko stares at his bowl for a long time before throwing it overboard. "I'm in," Zuko says.
"Great. We'll meet you here a little after nightfall," Jet says, smiling with that piece of hay sticking out of his mouth. Great, another night of talking Zuko out of a bad idea. A half baked plan created by some toy soldier.