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Chapter Text

Suki yawned as she got up from bed in the morning. Sleep hadn't come easily to her in Ba Sing Se. Sokka and Aang had told her of their search around the city for Appa. One wouldn't think that it would be easy to hide a ten-ton flying bison, but they had found no sign of Appa in the city. Aang was still certain that Appa was in the city, but where, they didn't know. More concerning, however, was Sokka's concerns that Joo Dee had been sabotaging their talks with people in the city.

"People kept focusing on her when we were talking to them," Sokka had complained to her the night before. "I swear I caught her shaking her head at someone, telling them not to tell us anything!"

When they were all home, they had caught the man in the house across the street watching them. When they had confronted him, his words had been all the more unnerving. "Listen, you can't mention the War here. And whatever you do, stay away from the Dai Li." Suki and Sokka had taken their younger friends back into the house then, and they didn't know what to do next. It was becoming increasingly clear that there was something wrong with Ba Sing Se. How could they not talk about the war? And what was with the Dai Li?

Cultural authority, Suki thought, rolling her eyes as she got dressed. And I'm a purple platypus-bear.

She greeted her friends as she left her room, looking over them all. Toph looked mostly bored, while Aang was sitting dejectedly on the floor. "Sokka," she said with a smile. He returned with his own smile as he gave a little wave. Suki walked out of the front door, checking for mail. To her own surprise, they had actually received something. Who would be sending us mail? We just got here. She unfurled the scroll, reading the announcement of a birthday party for the king's pet bear. Suki paused, pulling a face as she reread the letter. Yes, she had read correctly. It was a birthday party for a bear. She blinked as she processed the information.

Then she grinned.

She went back inside, waving the letter victoriously. "Does anyone else feel like crashing a bear's birthday party?" Everyone's face showed some form of confusion. She offered the scroll to Sokka, who began reading it. "The Earth King is throwing a party for his pet bear," she explained. "It'll be in the palace. The king will be there—along with a few hundred other people. It's the perfect opportunity to sneak in and bypass this ridiculous waiting period."

"A party for a bear," Sokka said, raising his eyebrows as he finished reading the scroll. He raised his eyebrows.

"You mean, platypus bear?" Aang said. That was a good point, really.

"It just said bear," she responded, shaking her head.

"Maybe he actually meant his pet skunk bear," Sokka suggested, rereading the scroll.

"Or his armadillo bear," Toph said.

"Gopher bear?" Aang asked.

Suki shook her head. "We're getting off-topic," she said, then paused and shrugged. "It really just said bear…does that make it a bear-bear?"

"This place is weird," Toph said. Frankly, the animals were the least weird part of the city, at least in Suki's opinion. Her mind wandered back to the Dai Li.

"The point is that the palace is going to be full of people," she said. "People who aren't usually let into the palace are going to be coming in. I've been thinking that we may have to bypass the procedure of waiting to see the Earth King."

"You mean, break in?" Sokka asked, a slight smirk on his face.

"If that's what it takes," Suki said. "Which it seems like it does. The wall was the main problem, but we may be able to use the party as an excuse to get through. Once we're past the wall, I'm sure I can get us to the Earth King." She saw Sokka and Aang grin, but Toph only frowned.

"Won't work," Toph said, still laying down.

Suki folded her arms. "Why wouldn't it?"

"Well, no offense to you simple country folk, but a real society crowd will spot you a mile away. You've got no manners!" Toph began eating a pastry.

"What? I have manners!" Suki couldn't help but feel a bit indignant. It didn't help when Sokka began laughing; she swatted his arm.

Toph burped before she responded. "None of you get it. Upper class society has its own big tradition of manners. It's more than just 'please' and 'thank you.' I may've chosen to leave that society behind, but I learned all about those manners." Toph rolled her head slightly. "You never learned anything. And frankly, it's a little too late."

"Aha," Sokka exclaimed. "But you learned it! You could teach us!"

"Yeah," Aang agreed. "I'm mastering every element. How hard could manners be ?" With that, the twelve-year-old Avatar grabbed a curtain and draped in over his back like a great cloak. He spoke in an exaggerated manner, like a caricature of a nobleman. Not to be outdone, Sokka did the same, and within moments the two of them were both bowing excessively. Finally, the two boys hit each other's head as they bowed at the same time, both falling to the floor. Suki couldn't quite restrain a giggle as she saw Sokka's sheepish expression as he rubbed his head.

"Suki might be able to pull it off, but you two would be lucky to pass as busboys!" Toph said as she came up to Suki's side.

"But I feel so fancy!" Sokka protested.

"I think you should leave fancy to the ladies," Suki told him with a smile. She turned to Toph. "The party is tonight. We'd better get to work if we're going to pull this off."

Toph nodded. "I can teach you to act the part. And you can make sure we look the part."

Suki was a quick learner, Toph had to give her that. Hours after they had come up with the plan, Suki was able to give a fairly convincing impression of an upper-class young woman. Her lying skills weren't as great, but hopefully they would be enough to get them past the palace wall. Finally, the time came that they had to get ready to go to the party.

"You'll have to do most of this," Toph admitted as the two girls entered the room. "Color coordination isn't exactly my strong point." She motioned to her eyes. "Neither is makeup."

"That's alright," Suki said. Toph could feel her rummaging through the closet. "Sokka bought us a lot of clothes. He's…actually really good at that, isn't he?"

Toph snorted. "When I first met them, Sokka was obsessed over coordinating a trophy belt with a purse be bought." Suki laughed.

"You wouldn't believe how bad his first impression was," Suki told her as she handed her a robe. "I thought he was just a sexist idiot."

"Really?" Toph asked, taking the robe and going behind a screen. She began changing clothes. "I get the idiot part, but I never thought he was sexist. What'd he do?"

"He thought my warriors and I couldn't fight because we're girls." Toph felt Suki's hand going to her hip. She could practically hear the smirk on the other girl's lips. "But I showed him."

"That sounds fun," Toph said, grinning as she put on the new robe. "I'll bet he was real sorry after that."

"Oh, he was. But Sokka learned his lesson. And, after that, he asked me to train him."

Toph paused. "Oh, that explains it. When you two were fighting Azula's chi-blocker friend, there were a few times that your fighting styles felt the really similar. I guess that's why."

"Sokka can be a bit of an idiot sometimes, but he's actually really brilliant. I only taught him for a few days, but he's a really quick learner."

Toph came out from the screen, showing Suki her robe. "How does this look?" Toph was more than capable of dressing herself. Still, her parents had always insisted on having a servant help, and loose strings could be a dead giveaway at an event like this.

"Hm…there's a string over here that could be tighter—do you mind if I tighten it?" At Toph's nod, Suki quickly fixed it. "There." With that, Suki took her own robe and began changing while Toph waited. "So have you been to many events like this?"

Toph snorted. "Not exactly. See, my parents had me trained from childhood in high society manners, but they never actually let me attend anything. They never even let me off of our own land."

"What? Why?" Toph didn't answer, figuring that Suki was more than capable of figuring it out herself. "What, just because you're blind, your parents don't think you can go outside your home?"

"Yeah, that's it," Toph answered. "They took one look at my eyes and decided that I'm some fragile doll. They never listened to even tried to understand me." Toph frowned as she tried to push down her feelings. She thought again of the night that she had run away to join Aang. She didn't regret it.

"But you're an amazing earthbender," came Suki's incredulous response. "I may not have known you for long, but I've seen what you can do. Don't your parents know?"

"They didn't know until the night I joined Aang," she said, crossing her arms. "And you know what they did when they found out? They said they'd given me too much freedom! And said they'd have me guarded all the time. Well, I'm done being a prisoner in my own home. So I ran away." She couldn't help but think of her mother. Or even her father. It hadn't been her intention to hurt them—but they couldn't seem to understand that they were hurting her by keeping her locked up all the time.

"Well, I'm glad you're here," Suki said, coming out from the screen.

"You look great," Toph said, a smirk on her face.

Suki laughed. "Why, thank you Toph." She came forward. "Okay, now I can take care of our hair and makeup." They were quiet for a little bit as Suki took care of their hair. Toph felt Suki's fingers dividing her hair evenly, braiding them into symmetry. She could usually do her own hair well enough—at least well enough for day to day activities. Like fighting. But a party at a palace required more attention than she could really give. Suki's hair was another matter, and Toph had to give her some advice on what to do with her short hair. Maybe I'll try short hair one day, Toph considered. Then again, that may be hard to maintain. I think I'll stick to putting it up.

"I hope you're good at makeup," Toph said after Suki finished their hair.

"Oh, I'm very good at makeup," Suki said, pulling out the different powders and stains that they had. "I suppose you don't know, but the Kyoshi Warrior's traditional uniforms actually include makeup all over our faces, in the same pattern that Avatar Kyoshi used to wear. I've had a lot of experience putting it on…trust me, our makeup will be prefect."

"So you put on makeup to go out and fight?" Toph remarked. She felt Suki begin to powder her face and stopped talking.

"Is there something wrong with makeup?"

"It's girly."

Suki laughed. "I'm still not seeing anything wrong. Listen, Toph, we're all free to be who we want to be. But I hope you know that it's okay to be both a girl and a warrior."

Toph felt a smile come to her lips. Yeah, she liked having Suki around.

Before long, the two of them were fully dressed and done up. They were ready to go crash the bear's birthday party. Toph and Suki both held fans in their hands as they exited the rom, entering the living area, where Sokka and Aang were playing a game. Toph could feel the boys stop their game, standing up quickly as they looked at them. Toph and Suki were calm for a moment before they both released a fit of giggles. This was different, Toph found, from all the other times she'd been dressed up like a doll.

"Suki," came Sokka's awed voice. "You look so…wow."

Before Suki could respond, Toph blocked her mouth with her fan. "Don't talk to the commoners, Suki. First rule of society." But she could barely restrain a smirk. Still, something was odd. Toph couldn't help but frown a bit as she noticed Aang. His heartbeat was going quicker than usual, and he hadn't said anything to him. Breaking the first rule, Toph turned her head to him. "What's with you, Twinkletoes?"

"What?" Aang sounded startled. "Oh, no, nothing's wrong here. Everything's fine." Toph raised an eyebrow at her friend's weird response. His heartbeat was still faster than usual, but there was nothing Toph could think of to worry about. So she just moved on, going with Suki as the older girl went to leave the house.

"We'll get in," Suki told the boys, "And then we'll find a way to let you guys in. Hopefully, by the end of the night we can have the Earth King on board with your invasion plan."

Jet stood outside Pao's tea shop, peering in to observe the firebenders. The two of them worked in the tea shop as though they were any other refugees, taking orders and serving tea to the guests. Mushi had his characteristic grin as he chatted merrily with the guests. Li worked with a dourer demeanor, stiffly taking orders and silently pouring tea. The most conversation he would make was a quick nod of his head. Beside them was Katara, her behavior a medium of Li and Mushi's attitudes. Jet couldn't help but notice how she and Li almost orbited around each other. When they weren't taking orders, they often stood to the side, near each other. She made comments to him occasionally, a teasing smile on her face. Li rarely responded, but he didn't seem to take offense, either.

Nothing he was seeing would prove Jet's case.

"Jet, we need to talk." The voice came from behind him.

"What ?" He startled for an instant before he recognized the voice as Smellerbee's. "Oh great, it's you guys." He turned to face her, mild surprise running through him. Smellerbee and Longshot had been quiet with him all day, and he noticed them exchanging quick, worried looks. They think I'm crazy, he thought. They had declined to follow him to observe Mushi and Li. But if they're here now… "Where have you been ? I could use some help with surveillance here!"

But his friends still looked unhappy and Jet's hopes sank. "We've been talking, and we think you're becoming obsessed with this. It's not healthy." Smellerbee's voice held what sounded like gentle concern, but Jet couldn't accept it. It was clear enough that she didn't believe him.

"Oh, really? You both think this?" Jet asked. He looked at both of his friends, his siblings in all but blood. But neither backed down, neither came to his defense. They really think I've lost it, Jet realized. A sense of stressed despair began to boil in him. His last friends wouldn't stand by him. Had they always thought he was crazy? Or was it only just now that they were in Ba Sing Se? What do I do? I know what I saw! Katara may not have told me the truth, but I know she knows!

Longshot placed his hand on Smellerbee's shoulder. "We came here to make a fresh start. But you won't let this go. Even though there is no real proof!" Smellerbee told him.

Something in Jet snapped. "Well, maybe if you'd help me!" After everything they'd been through together, how could they refuse to even consider that he was right?

But Smellerbee still was not swayed. "Jet, you gotta stop this. It's only a matter of time before you get yourself into serious trouble."

It was too much. He couldn't let those firebenders infiltrate the city, and he couldn't just sit back and let his friends act as though he's crazy. "Maybe you've forgotten why we need to start over," he snapped. The Fire Nation. All because of the Fire Nation. Smellerbee and Longshot both looked down, looking vaguely guilty. "Maybe you've forgotten about how the Fire Nation left us all homeless ! How they wiped out all the people we loved." Involuntarily, he recalled his village being burnt down. Never again. "If you don't want to help me, I'll get the evidence on my own." With that, he turned around, walking right into the tea shop. Firebenders and Katara's threat be damned, he would expose them for what they were.

Suki and Toph waited together in the long line of partygoers. All of the people waiting were clearly high society people, and Suki did her best not to arouse suspicion. At the front of the line, officials were checking people's invitations before letting them in. It had been the one major flaw in the plan—they had no invitation. The scroll they'd been sent was only a notification of the party, not an invitation to it. Toph had been unbothered, figuring that her identification as a member of the Beifong family would be enough to bypass the need for an invitation.

Finally, they reached the front of the line, and the guard held out his hand. "Invitation please."

"I think this will do," Toph said, holding up her document with the official seal of the Beifong family.

But the guard was not impressed. "No entry without an invitation. Step out of line, please."

"Look, the Pangs and the Yum Soon Hans are waiting in there for us!" Toph argued with all the entitlement of a noble twelve-year-old. She had Suki convinced. "I'm going to have to tell them who didn't let me in."

"Step out of line please," the guard repeated. At least he's dedicated to his job, Suki thought as she and Toph got out of the line. Too bad he's making it harder for us to save the world in the process. She looked around, a small frown on her face. It wasn't going to be possible to sneak past the guard; it was far too open, and they were too many people to see. A carriage arrived at the gate. Out of the carriage came an official-looking man, wearing long, dark green robes. All of his hair was pulled back into a long braid. Beside him came two of the Dai Li. Suki frowned slightly as an idea came to her. It may be the only way we can get in, she thought. Though I don't like the idea of drawing the Dai Li's attention to us.

But they needed to speak to the king, and they were out of options.

She walked up to the man, Toph walking beside her. "Excuse me, Sir? I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm afraid my sister lost our invitations. Our parents are already inside, and they must be worried sick about us. Do you think you could help us?" Suki's heartbeat quickened as she spoke and waited for a response. "And whatever you do, stay away from the Dai Li."

But the man just smiled, bowing his head politely. "I am honored, please come with me." Suki restrained a relieved sigh as she and Toph followed the man. The guard who had refused them previously bowed. When his back was turned, Toph stuck her tongue out at the man. Suki grinned, shaking her head slightly. Manners.

Before they knew it, they were in the palace. The man had escorted them inside. Helpful for avoiding problems, but it also made it difficult for Suki to let Sokka and Aang inside. The three of them entered into the main hall, where festivities were being held. There was a large crowd of people, talking and eating. Servers made rounds with food and drinks. There was a huge table; at the end of the table was the king's bear, gorging on plates of food at a time.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" the man who had helped them into the place said. He turned to face them. "By the way, I'm Long Feng. I'm a cultural minister to the king." Suki felt a slight chill. Cultural authorities.

But she just smiled politely. "I'm Kyeri, and this is Suki." She hoped that was convincing.

"Now where are your parents? I'd love to meet them," Long Feng said.

Suki felt her stomach plummet, but she quickly glanced around the room. "I'm sorry, but I can't see them anywhere. If it's alright, my sister and I should really look for them. Thanks for your help." She and Toph began walking away, trying to slip from the man. But the next thing Suki knew, they were in front of him again. He leered down at them, and Suki knew he was onto them.

"Don't worry," Long Fend said, and Suki was sure she wasn't imagining the sinister layer in his tone. "As your escort it would be dishonorable to abandon you ladies without finding your parents first. We'll keep looking." With that, he began leading them around, searching for their nonexistent parents. Suki tried to stamp down the growing anxiety as she followed Long Feng around, trying to keep up the rouse for as long as she could. Provided that he hadn't somehow figured them out already—but if he had, why play along? "And whatever you do, stay away from the Dai Li."

She hoped the boys were having an easier time. She wasn't sure that she or Toph would be able to reach them any time soon.

"This is the best tea in the city!" a customer said to Iroh.

"The secret ingredient is love," Iroh told the man. Katara stifled a laugh as Zuko made an expression of disgust. Iroh came over to them. It was nearing the end of Katara's first day as a tea server. It wasn't the worst job Katara had ever done. Still, there had been a few customers at the shop who had been exceptionally picky or indecisive with their tea orders. Zuko had come over one of those times, encouraging them to get over it. Iroh, at that point, had pulled them to the side and asked them not to glower at customers.

Overall, things were going smoothly.

"I think you're due for a raise," Pao said to Iroh. Katara smiled; Iroh truly appeared to be in his element. He'd quickly taken charge of the tea-making. That alone was quickly garnering attention. Iroh's friendly nature only helped.

Naturally, things would go wrong.

The door burst open. "I'm tired of waiting!" Jet shouted as he marched in, a glare easily apparent on his face. Katara felt her heartbeat speeding up. She wasn't overly surprised to see Jet again. Threat aside, he was still Jet, and Jet was nothing if not one-track-minded about fighting the Fire Nation. Still, she hadn't quite thought he would openly confront them in the middle of work. He really wants to do this here? Now? "These two men are firebenders!" Jet whipped out his blades.

Katara glared right back at Jet, all but tossing down the tray she was holding as she stepped in front of Zuko and Iroh. Beside her, she distantly noticed them exchanging a look as they figured out how to handle this. "Jet," she half-shouted. "I've told you like a dozen times, leave us alone!" She wasn't quite sure what to do. She'd threatened him before—but she doubted that would work too well in a crowded public space.

"You know this boy?" one of the guards asked her.

She froze only momentarily as she tried to think of something, something to support her friends and herself from Jet. "He's—he's my ex-boyfriend!" she blurted out, grimacing as she said it. But at least a story quickly formed in her mind. "Ever since I got with Li, he's been going crazy, always following us around and—"

"That's a lie!" Jet shouted, pointing at her with one of his hooked blades. For a moment, he looked genuinely hurt. Katara noticed Zuko walking up to stand beside her. "I know they're firebenders, I saw the old man heating his tea!"

It wasn't a convincing argument, to Katara's relief. Thankfully, the guards at the table were in agreement. "He works in a tea shop."

"He's a firebender! I'm telling you!" Jet fired back.

"Drop your swords, boy," one of the guards ordered, standing up with his fellow guard. "Nice and easy."

Jet ignored him. "You'll have to defend yourself," he said to Zuko, who had stepped forward, in front of Katara. "Then everyone will know. Go ahead, show them what you can do."

Jet started coming towards them. The guards made to get between them, but Zuko quickly grabbed one of the guards' dual blades, drawing them in challenge to Jet. "You want a show? I'll give you a show!"

With that, the two boys began to fight in the middle of the tea shop. Katara's eyes widened in baffled horror for a moment before she tried to push the remaining customers to the side. Zuko had quickly knocked a table in front of him. It was no deterrence to Jet, and the boys were soon going toe-to-toe with their dual blades. Katara whipped a few pots full of tea into Jet's face, stunning him for a moment. Zuko kicked him back, but Jet was attacking again in moments. Katara glared at the boy, trying to find enough water to hit Jet hard, but Iroh's hand came around her wrist, pulling her to face him.

Iroh's eyes were wide, eyebrows drawn in clear worry. But he shook his head. "Li can handle himself," he said, though he cast another anxious look at his nephew before returning his focus to Katara. "We can't draw more attention to ourselves by making this worse." Katara scowled, but she stayed back, watching Zuko and Jet fight. As Katara had seen before, Zuko was brilliant with the dual swords, fending Jet's attacks off. Still, he was pushed back, forced out the door of Pao's Tea House. Jet followed after him, and Katara felt a rush of dread as she ran out after them.

The boys' blades were in a deadlock. "You must be getting tired of using those swords," she heard Jet say to Zuko. "Why don't you go ahead and firebend at me?" Oh please don't, Katara thought, thinking of the Earth Kingdom village. You're smarter than that, Zuko. To her relief, Zuko ignored the jab, continuing to fight with his swords.

"Please, son, you're confused!" Iroh pleaded loudly. Katara had hardly noticed him coming out from the shop, she was so focused on Zuko's fight. "You don't know what you're doing!"

"He knows what he's doing!" Katara snapped. She moved forward. "Jet, do you really think you're going to get away with attacking us in public?! I won't let you!"

But he ignored her in favor of continuing his furious attack on Zuko. He linked his blades together, swinging them towards Zuko. Zuko took steps back as he avoided Jet's blades.

"Bet you wish he'd help you out with a little fire blast right now," she heard Jet say. She felt Iroh's hand come over her shoulder, silently discouraging her from joining in the fight. She wanted to. Oh, she wanted to.

But Zuko held his own, and neither of the firebenders were provoked by Jet's taunts. As Jet swung his blades towards Zuko's feet, Zuko stabbed one of his own swords into the ground, pinning one of Jet's blades down beside his own. "You're the one who needs help," Zuko told his attacker.

They continued fighting, now with only one blade each. They swiped and swung, moving through the patch of the street, Zuko's blade coming perilously close to Jet, who only barely dodged. Finally, the two of them had fought their way over to a well. Katara's eyes widened only slightly as she saw the well. Jet jumped backwards onto the well.

"You see that ?!" Jet cried out to the growing crowd. "The Fire Nation is trying to silence me! It'll never happen." His eyes were alight with fury, with a ceaseless pursuit of the Fire Nation, utterly certain in his discovery of Zuko and Iroh. He wouldn't stop, ever, and he was prepared to fight Zuko for as long as it took to expose him—or worse.

Jet never saw the explosion of water from the well coming.

In moments he was blasted from the top of the well, a startled shout escaping his lips before the water threw him onto the streets. Katara stepped forward, leaving Iroh behind her as she came closer to Zuko. Her hands were outstretched as she bent the water from the well, freezing Jet's feet to the ground. She glared at him as he gave her an offended, stunned look. "I told you before, Jet—I won't let you hurt the people I love."

"They're firebenders! I know it How can you stand to help them?!"

Katara opened her mouth, uncertain what to say. Her heart beat quickly and her hand almost trembled with indignant rage. But before she could get a word out, she felt Zuko knock her arm with his own. She glanced to the side and saw him beside her. Immediately, she felt relief begin to calm her. He's okay, she thought. He and Iroh are fine. We just have to deal with this without making things worse. Katara still eyed Jet, but she refrained from giving Jet the proof he wanted.

"We're done," Zuko told him.

At that moment, two men in long green robes in conical hats approached them from the crowd. The same people from the customs office, Katara recognized. They definitely appeared as some sort of authority, striding stoically towards them. "We can handle this from here," one of the men said, motioning towards Jet. Katara blinked, exchanging a quick look with Zuko.

"Arrest them, they're firebenders!" Jet said, motioning to Zuko and Iroh. Katara glared at him.

"This poor boy is confused," Iroh said, coming up to them. "We're just simple refugees." Iroh's voice was confident, giving no hint of the truth. Still, he looked more sympathetically upon Jet than anyone else in the crowd. Katara couldn't help but wonder if it was Iroh's general kindness and grace, or if he felt some form of responsibility for accidentally sparking Jet's pursuit of them. Either way, if was more than Jet deserved.

Pao joined in on their complaints, pointing angrily at Jet as he spoke. "This young man wrecked my tea shop, and assaulted my employees!"

"It's true sir, we saw the whole thing," one of the guard from earlier said. "This crazy kid attacked the finest tea maker in the city."

"Oh, ho, ho. That's very sweet." Iroh actually blushed from the compliment. Katara would have been happy for him under better circumstances.

"He's been stalking us since we got to Ba Sing Se," Katara told the men. They used gloves made from rock to restrain him, forming stone cuffs around his wrists as he struggled to escape. Katara released him from the ice, allowing the men to take him away.

"You don't understand!" Jet shouted. But the crowd wasn't interested in listening. "They're Fire Nation! You have to believe me!" Finally, as the men dragged Jet away towards a wagon, he returned his gaze to Katara. "Katara, please, tell them the truth! You know I'm not making this up! Please!" Katara could feel the stare of a few of the remaining onlookers, waiting for her to answer. Something in the desperation of his voice gave Katara a sick feeling in her gut. It was technically true that Zuko and Iroh were Fire Nation, after all; Jet wasn't wrong about that. Katara could almost sympathize with him—lying to and harming others wasn't her usual nature.

But Jet's actions had forced her to make a choice. To tell the truth to save the boy who had attacked her loved ones. Or to lie to save her loved ones and condemn Jet in the process.

It was hardly a choice at all.

"He's crazy," Katara said firmly. "Just keep him away from us!" She could see Jet's eyes widen, gleaming with stunned betrayal, as he was placed in the wagon. Katara turned away as the door was closed and the men carted Jet off.

It was only with years of practice at polite civility that Toph refrained from earthbending Long Feng out of the palace. Still, her patience was leaking out with every word and step. She could feel Suki's heartbeat quickening every so often, increasingly nervous that Long Feng knew who they were, that they would be in trouble at any moment. Toph couldn't help but suspect that he had known who they were the whole time. He had been far too helpful to a pair of lone children without an invitation.

And now they were struggling to shake the creep.

Toph finally managed to give him the slip just as she felt two familiar figures walking into the palace. Toph smirked as she felt Aang and Sokka carrying trays of food. She had told them that they could pass for busboys. Good thinking. At least you two didn't need us to let you in. She came closer to them, an idea coming to her mind as she heard the boys talking to each other.

"Another crab puff, please," she requested in a haughty, fancy tone. She could feel Sokka moving to offer her a crab puff.

"You found us!" Aang said. Toph could hear the happiness in his voice.

"I'd know your little footsteps anywhere, Twinkle Toes," she told him as she went ahead and took one of the offered crab puffs. She felt Suki coming over to them.

"Thanks for letting us in," she heard Sokka say. Suki lightly whacked his arm.

"It's not like we just forgot about you," Suki told him, light irritation in her voice. "But the guy who helped us in here won't leave us alone for two seconds."

"What guy?" Sokka asked. With a jolt, Toph realized that she couldn't feel where Long Feng was. She felt the others looking around the large room they were in. But for all that she could feel, for all that the others could see, Long Feng had disappeared. It should have been a good thing, having one of their handlers gone. But something about that slimy man made Toph think that it was more of a sign of trouble. She felt more certain than before that Long Feng had known exactly who they were. But before she could voice her suspicions, she felt a different familiar (and equally unwelcome) figure walking up to them.

"What are you doing here?" Joo Dee asked them as she came up to them. For once, the unsettling frozen tone of her voice was different. She sounded almost…afraid. "You have to leave immediately, or we will be in terrible trouble!" She tried to push Sokka, trying to force them to leave, but Sokka blocked her with the tray he was still carrying.

"Not until we see the king," he insisted.

"You don't understand," Joo Dee quietly argued. "You must go." With that, she pushed Sokka, knocking him into Aang, who spilled some liquid in the pitcher he'd been carrying.

Right onto one of the party guests, who let out startled exclamation as her robes were soaked.

"Sorry," she heard Aang say, clearly abashed. "No, don't shout!" Top could feel him make an airbending motion, and heard a strong gust of wind blowing against the baffled party guest. Aang was attempting to dry the woman's robes off. Toph couldn't help but think of Aang's fake sneeze when he had come to her house—somehow, she doubted that airbending a robe dry would work out too well. To say nothing of how obviously he had probably just revealed himself. An assessment that was probably right, considering the woman's reaction.

"The Avatar! I didn't know the Avatar would be here," the woman said in awe, loudly enough that everyone around them stopped what they were doing to stare at Aang. She could hear him chuckling nervously. Nice job, Twinkletoes.

Not that it particularly mattered. She was still sure that Long Feng already knew who they were.

Toph and Suki slipped away as Joo Dee was distracted, resuming their own search for the Earth King. This is his party, she couldn't help but think. He has to be here. What sort of host doesn't even make an appearance before his guests? The feeling that something was terribly wrong only grew.

Zuko scowled as he helped Pao clean up his tea shop. Around him, Uncle Iroh, Katara, and Pao himself were all busy setting tables straight, cleaning up broken cups, and wiping up tea. They were mostly working in silence, still processing what had happened. Iroh had hugged him, expressing his relief that he was alright—and approving of his restraint in the fight. Pao had been an awkward participant, watching as Zuko handed the dual blades back to the guard whom he had borrowed them from. They had offered a few statements regarding the incident, Katara giving sharp indictments of Jet's actions. Only when that had been done had Pao asked if they would be willing to help clean up his shop. He had been remarkably understanding—though, perhaps that was only because he was still shocked about the night's events. Somehow, Zuko doubted the man had ever had such an experience before.

After giving her own statements, Katara hadn't said a word, quietly going about cleaning the shop.

Zuko paused in cleaning the shards of a cup as he glanced over to Katara. It wasn't normal for her to be so quiet. Zuko wondered what was going through her mind. Was she glad Jet had been taken away? Did she regret speaking against him? "He's—he's my ex-boyfriend!" Something in his gut churned slightly at the memory. But then, she had made it quite clear that Jet wasn't welcome.

Zuko wasn't sure why Katara's bluff had unnerved him so much, anyways.

He let out a huff of breath as he returned to cleaning the shards. They were almost done, and then they could go back to their apartment. There, they could speak openly about what had happened. Perhaps that was why Katara hadn't said anything yet. Still, Zuko couldn't help but worry about her.

Finally, everything was cleaned up, and Pao released a heavy sigh. "You all did good work today," he told them. Zuko crossed his arms. Pao shook his head, raising his hand to his forehead. "I think perhaps we could all use a couple days of rest after this. Please, go home and rest this mess off. Be back in a couple of days…we'll have to earn enough to pay for some new cups." He offered a smile to Iroh. "I suppose it shouldn't be hard, with Mushi's genius."

"Thank you," Iroh said, bowing his head slightly as he smiled. At least someone's happy. "We will be back in a few days." He turned and walked out of the door, Katara silently following. Zuko gave a last glance to Pao as he turned.

"I forgot to say congratulations," Pao suddenly said, and Zuko turned back to look at him. "I hadn't realized that you and Katara were together." He offered a small smile. "I wish the two of you good fortune." With that, Pao went into the back room. Zuko just stared for a moment, his mouth dropping slightly as he processed what Pao had said, as well as what Katara had said earlier.

He closed his mouth, walking out the door, and joining his uncle and Katara in the street. Uncle Iroh smiled as he saw him, leading them along the street. Zuko avoided looking at Katara for a few long moments before she turned to him, finally speaking to him for the first time since Jet had attacked. "Is everything okay?" Her bright blue eyes met his own.

Zuko paused for only a moment before he told her, truthfully, "I'm fine. I just want to get back to the apartment." Katara stared for a moment, as though searching for any lie, before she nodded. "Ever since I got with Li," she had said before the fight. With him. As in together. Zuko looked over to Katara as they walked.

His cheeks felt strangely warm.

The king had just finally made an appearance when the Dai Li had attacked them. A stone hand had been shot out, covering Toph's mouth, keeping her silent as she was hauled backwards. She had tried to struggle, but her hands were bound quickly, and before she could think to use her feet, her captor spoke in her ear, telling her not to struggle—her friends were already in custody. They were to be released peacefully, but only after Long Feng spoke to them.

She already didn't like this, for too many reasons to keep track of, but she waited in a library with her friends. She could feel Sokka's heart pounding. Fear? No, more like anger. She definitely knew the feeling. Finally, Aang came in, along with Long Feng, who strode past them.

"Why won't you let us talk to the king?" Sokka asked, his patience clearly lost. "We have information that could defeat the Fire Nation!" That was the part that was coming to bother Toph. She had long been impartial to the war, sitting it out in the cage of her parents' home. It had never affected her until recently. But now that she'd been out, she was increasingly understanding how much of a menace the Fire Nation had become. How could Long Feng, a person of authority in the Earth Kingdom, be trying to stop them from offering a plan to defeat the Firelord? Ba Sing Se was attacked just a few days ago, for crying out loud!

"The Earth King has no time to get involved with political squabbles and the day to day minutia of military activities," Long Feng told them dismissively. Toph listened, trying to understand. The Earth King should be leading. How could he possibly 'not have time' to deal with a major threat to his own kingdom?

"This could be the most important thing he's ever heard," Aang argued.

"What's most important to his royal majesty is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se," Long Feng told them. "All his duties relate to issuing decrees on such matters. It's my job to oversee the rest of the city's resources, including the military." Toph scowled as she processed those words, her apprehensiveness blossomed into angry dread as she understood the truth behind Ba Sing Se's weirdness. She could feel the quickening heartbeats of her friends as they put it together as well.

"Then the king has no actual power," Suki reduced, her voice quiet for once. Kyoshi Island was disconnected from the mainland of the Earth Kingdom, she recalled distantly, and often equally disconnected from the rest of the Earth Kingdom's affairs. Still, the Kyoshi Warrior must have been stunned by the usurpation of power that had, at some point, occurred in the Earth Kingdom capital.

Toph wasn't any happier. "He's your puppet!" she furiously accused Long Feng. How could this have happened? How had the king allowed all power to be taken from him—did he even realize? She thought of her practical imprisonment by her parents. She wondered if the Earth King felt similar, or if he was oblivious to his own status as a puppet king.

Either way, it was abundantly clear that they weren't going to be able to see him.

"Oh, no, no. His Majesty is an icon, a god to his people. He can't sully his hands with the hourly change of an endless war," Long Feng denied, uselessly. Regardless of what he now said, he had already made the truth plain.

Sokka, apparently, was still determined to press the issue of the invasion. "But we found out about a solar eclipse that will leave the Fire Nation defenseless. You could lead an invasion…"

But Long Feng, apparently, couldn't be reasoned with. He stood up as he spoke. "Enough! I don't want to hear your ridiculous plan. It is the strict policy of Ba Sing Se that the War not be mentioned within the walls." Toph grimaced. "Constant news of an escalating war will throw the citizens of Ba Sing Se into a state of panic." The war, Toph thought with growing contempt, will continue whether you talk about it or not. "Our economy would be ruined, our peaceful way of life—our traditions—would disappear. In silencing talk of conflict, Ba Sing Se remains a peaceful, orderly utopia: the last one on Earth."

Everyone was silent for a moment as Long Feng's words sunk in.

"You can't keep the truth from everyone like that," finally came Aang's baffled, furious response. He stepped forward, pointing his finger at Long Feng. "I'll tell them! I'll make sure everyone knows!"

Long Feng was unaffected. "Until now, you've been treated as our honored guest." He stepped forward and bent down towards Aang. Toph could feel Aang's heartbeat. It was going quicker than normal, and Toph felt certain that it was because he was angry. For a moment, she almost wondered if he wouldn't go into the Avatar State. It would get them into even more trouble—but then, maybe it would have been worth it to spite Long Feng. Luckily, Aang remained in control as Long Feng continued to speak. "But from now on, you will be watched every moment by Dai Li agents. If you mention the War to anyone, you will be expelled from the city." He turned around and walked back to where he had been before. "I understand you've been looking for your bison, and for your Water Tribe friend." Toph froze, and she could feel the others doing the same. Sokka clenched his fists. "It would be quite a shame if you were not able to complete your quest."

"What have you done to my sister?!" Sokka demanded.

"Nothing so far. It is up to you to ensure that it remains that way," Long Feng threatened, his voice nonchalant. As if he were discussing the weather, rather than threatening the Avatar and his friends. Toph could feel Aang's heartbeat rising. She blew at her bangs before she stepped forward, firmly grasping his hand. As pleasing as attacking Long Feng would be, it was abundantly clear that they couldn't take the risk. Not right now. To her relief, Aang made no move, though she practically feel his rising anger. She could only imagine the look on her friend's face. "Now, Joo Dee will show you to your home."

Sokka continued to glare at Long Feng, undoubtedly upset about the threat against his sister. She felt Aang and Suki turn to look at a woman who entered the room. It wasn't Joo Dee—her body shape felt too different to be the same person. "Come with me, please," the new woman said in the same eerie tone as Joo Dee.

"Uh, who are you?" Suki asked. She sounded unsettled.

"I'm Joo Dee," the woman said. Toph grimaced. "I'll be your host as long as you're in our wonderful city." Top felt Aang looking towards her, and she shook her head. They followed the new Joo Dee out of the room, being taken out of the palace. They were quiet, processing all that had happened, all that they had learned. I guess the invasion plan isn't going anywhere, she thought with stifled irritation. But we still need to find Appa and Katara.

"You know," she said to Aang as they left the palace. "I think this may be the worst city ever."

Frankly, that was too polite of a description.

It felt later than it actually was when Zuko, Katara, and Uncle Iroh made it back to their apartment. They entered the apartment silently. Uncle Iroh turned to them.

"It's been a long day," he acknowledged, looking at the two teenagers sympathetically. "All things considered, I think you both handled yourselves quite well." He offered Zuko a smile. Why couldn't my own father ever smile like that? "I'm going to make us a pot of calming jasmine tea before we go to bed." With that, he went to their counter, readying a small fire, the pot, and the chosen tea.

Zuko could hardly bring himself to argue.

While waiting for a few minutes, he moved to sit closer to Katara. She had remained quiet. She looked up as he sat near her, though. She offered a small smile, and he tried to return it. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Her smile slipped in a slight frown for a moment. "Of course," she said. "I'm fine. Why?"

Zuko grimaced, shrugging slightly. "You've been kind of quiet, and I thought that was kind of weird." Katara raised an eyebrow. "I mean, you usually like to talk a lot." He grimaced. "And I thought maybe something was wrong. Because of what happened with Jet."

"What happened with Jet was his own fault," Katara told him. Her voice was sharper than usual, and Zuko thought that something in her eyes was a bit strange. "You did the right thing."

Zuko frowned, looking down as he tried to understand. "What about you?" he asked. Katara only frowned. "Do you think you did the right thing?"

She paused for a noticeably long moment. "I think I did the only thing I could do. Betraying you and Uncle Iroh wasn't a real option." Zuko couldn't help but smile a bit. If nothing else, he thought, at least we were thrown together. It was so strange to think of how much Katara had become a part of his life. But he was glad she was.

He let out a breath, refocusing as he tried to understand Katara's behavior. "You still seem upset about something."

"Jet attacked us. Of course I'm upset."

"But that's over, and nobody was hurt." He frowned, trying to reach into his own mind to understand what Katara was feeling. "Are you sure you don't regret lying for us? Jet might be in a lot of trouble now."

"It was the right thing to do," Katara insisted, speaking louder now.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't have done it," Zuko said, raising his hands a bit. "I'm just saying, maybe you feel bad for throwing him to the tiger-wolves to protect us." Katara let out an indignant huff, glaring at him slightly. Zuko felt his cheeks warming up as he grimaced. That didn't come out right, he thought.

"The tea is ready," Uncle Iroh said, offering them each a cup of tea. Katara wordlessly took the offered tea, and left the room.

"What happened?" Iroh asked quietly, as he sat across from Zuko and gave him a cup of tea.

Zuko let out a breath. "I tried to make her feel better," he said, and took a sip of the calming tea.