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Chapter Text

“You have no parents. You are an orphan.”

“I have no parents. I am an orphan.”

“You live to serve the Queen.”

“I live to serve the Queen.”

The lantern circled Leng Shan, illuminating his jagged features in the darkness. The light traveled round and round, over and over, steady as a heartbeat. The drone of his voice was the only sound that pierced the silence of the underground room hewn from stone beneath the Royal Palace.

Zhu Li didn’t know exactly how many times she’d been brought to this place in her nine-year existence—she only knew this wasn’t the first time. She was sent below ground whenever the memories started to surface: a pair of faces she couldn’t quite place; a voice; a hug; a soft lullaby. The same dream night after night—of being ripped from her mother’s arms by Dai Li agents amidst shouts of “Traitors!” and “Take them away;” of being dragged screaming into the streets.

Then there was Leng Shan, who’d taken her in to live among the other children who worked in the palace. He taught them how to sleep with one eye open, how to fight, and how to obey orders without question. Unlike the people in Zhu Li’s dreams, he had no kind words or warm hugs to offer —only the cold backhand of his stone gloves when punishments were in order. The children scrubbed laundry and made beds, brought the Queen trays piled high with exotic foods and spoke only when spoken to. Those who obeyed had rice in their bowls and a floor to sleep on at night. Those who didn’t disappeared and were quickly forgotten.  

Light and darkness; lies and truths—they all blurred together until Zhu Li didn’t know which was which anymore. Thoughts of a life with her family faded into nothingness. Those were only stories she told herself in order to feel less alone. 

She had no parents. She was an orphan. She lived to serve the Queen.

Chapter Text

Republic City, 20 Years Later

Iknik Blackstone Varrick was many things: a shipping magnate, a millionaire, an inventor, an ex-convict, and an award-winning filmmaker. Somehow, in the wake of Republic City’s destructive final battle with the Earth Empire, he’d even managed to become a philanthropist—it was his wife’s idea, mostly, although he also liked to give his head voices a little credit there. The way he figured it, he could probably be a lot of other things if he tried hard enough—a champion Pai Sho player, a stunt driver, or perhaps a bestselling author. One thing he was sure he was not, though, was a babysitter. Yet here he stood, being confronted by the tallest of three pint-sized airbenders in the evacuee camp’s smallest supply tent while her siblings sat bickering on the floor.

“I’ve tried everything I can think of. It’s your turn,” the teenager said. She set aside a freshly-assembled bag of rations and gestured to her sister and brother behind her.

“Meelo, you’re doing it wrong!  It’s four carrots and three bananas per person, not four bananas and three carrots! And Mom said you have to tape the bags shut like this,” the girl with twin buns said. She held up the care package she was putting together.

“She’s not the boss of me, and neither are you, Ikki!” the one called Meelo shot back, jabbing a finger in his sister’s direction. “And no one here even likes carrots!”

“Yes they do!”

“No they don’t!”

“Yes they do!” 

“No they don’t!”

Varrick turned to Jinora, the oldest airbender. “Loudmouth over there has a point. Carrots?! Eugh. More like crunchy abominations. No wonder the Fire Nation donated so many of the things; they don’t want ‘em any more than we do.”

“Never mind that—you’re supposed to be the adult in charge here, remember? Please help me do something,” Jinora looked at Varrick and grumbled. 

Varrick dumped a box containing 85 packages of freeze-dried cucumberquats out on a table and grumbled back. “Yeah, yeah, I hear ya, kid,” he said exhaustedly, setting the empty box aside and pulling out his wallet. “What does it usually take to get them to pipe down? Candy? A poodle pony? Some real estate?”

“No,” Jinora frowned and folded her arms. “I already told you—we’re Air Nomads. No worldly possessions, remember?”

Varrick lowered his wallet, annoyed at the prospect of yet another problem he couldn’t solve with money. “Fine.” He frowned so hard it looked as if his mustache was melting. “But just so you know, I have almost no experience with this sort of thing.”

He stomped over to where the two younger children were fighting and forcibly sat himself down cross-legged on the floor between them. “Loudmouth! Giggles! Listen up! We are gonna throw these bags together quickly and quietly without any more of this hullabaloo or I’m telling your parents to feed you nothing but carrots until you’re both old enough to get jobs. So—here we go—quiet game—no talking—starting...right...now,” he said. He pinched his own lips together to accentuate his point.

Meelo made a face while Ikki whined. “Aw, that sounds so boring,” the girl said. “Can’t you tell us a story? Uncle Bumi always tells us a story.”

Varrick loosened his grip on his mouth, let out a gargantuan breath, and began stroking his chin thoughtfully. “A story, huh? Okay, okay, now you’re speaking my language, kid. How about this—it’s an idea for a mover I’ve been kicking around. I call it—” He leapt up and struck a pose. “—Nuktuk versus the Colossus! The thrilling nine-part tale of everyone’s favorite hero as he single-handedly stands up to the Earth Empire’s mighty army of—”

“Nah,” Ikki shook her head.

“Boring. Been there, done that!” Meelo shouted.

“Sheesh, tough crowd,” Varrick looked over at Jinora, who seemed as put out as he did.

Ikki tugged gently on the edge of  Varrick’s pant leg to draw his attention back to where she was sitting. “How about a story about a queen who lives in a castle? With rainbow butterflies that sing songs—”

Meelo clenched his fists in front of him. “I want a brooding hero! With a dark and troubled past—”

“...and magic and love and romance—”

“—and a fist fight! ”

Varrick plopped back down onto a crate in front of his not-quite-captive audience and yelled at them. “All right already! Shut up and let me think of something.” He buried his fingers in his curly hair and scrunched his eyes closed, humming a single note softly to himself. After almost a full minute, Meelo and Ikki looked at each other and shrugged.

Varrick’s head popped back up suddenly and without warning. “Forehead!” he addressed Jinora, snapping his fingers. “Hand me the hottest pepper we’ve got in here and start taking notes, I think I’ve almost got a million-yuan idea!”

Jinora handed him a green bell pepper. Varrick wrinkled his nose in disgust at the vegetable and tossed it over his shoulder. “Forehead, you’re fired,” he said. Meelo’s pet lemur Poki, who had just woken up from a long nap in a nearby box of toothbrushes, picked the piece of produce up off the floor and sniffed it.

“Whatever, doesn’t matter,” Varrick continued. “I’m about to tell you three a story that’s gonna change your lives. It’s got politics, it’s got pathos, it’s got people punching each other, it’s got forbidden love, and it’s got…” he stopped and rolled his eyes, “singing butterflies, as long as you keep working and behave yourselves. I’m gonna tell you kids the story of how I met my wife.”

“Ooooh,” Ikki clasped her hands together in anticipation.

“This better be good,” Meelo said, reluctantly dropping a fourth carrot into the care package he was assembling.

“Of course it’s good; it was the best thing that ever happened to me! Minus the part with the earthbenders trying to skewer me with stalagmites, anyway—but we’ll get to that later. So, once upon a time, in the days when lion turtles walked the earth with great big cities on their backs, there was a hidden magical kingdom—”

Jinora plodded over to her siblings, swapping out an empty banana crate for a full one. “Wait, I thought you said this was the story of how you met Zhu Li. Lion turtles haven’t had cities on their backs for thousands of years,” she said, knitting her eyebrows.

“Listen, kid, if you’re gonna get all bent out of shape about trivial details like historical accuracy, we’re gonna have a hard time here. You wanna tell a good story? You gotta set the scene first. The truth is optional,” Varrick said. He flourished his arms in the air, then suddenly dropped them to his knees and kept talking. 

“So anyway, where was I? Right. Lion turtles, magical kingdom, spirits dwelling among us, all that stuff. We hear the majestic sounds of a choir as we zoom in on a cottage in the magical kingdom, where we meet our heroine, Zhu Li—a poor but beautiful peasant maiden. Spirits come to her aid as she tidies her quaint little cottage, paying meticulous attention to all the dusty bits on the bookshelf—this is where the rainbow butterflies come in, probably—and then she bursts into song! Somedayyy…I’ll meet my soulmate…he’ll have a mustache…and a cargo ship full of freight…”

Ikki’s eyes shone with wonder while Meelo looked like he was about to doze off. When the impromptu musical number was over, Varrick slammed both of his hands down on the empty crate he was sitting on, startling both of them. The pair of siblings let out a quick shriek in unison.

Varrick resumed narrating, his eyes burning with intensity. “...Then, everything changed when the Earth Kingdom attacked!”

Ikki gasped and clamped her hands over her mouth. “Oh no!”

“Oh yes,” Varrick said. “Cut to an exterior shot of the palace in Ba Sing Se. The crusty old Earth Queen has been spying on the magical kingdom through her enchanted mirror—she wants to steal all of the kingdom’s magic and use it to make herself young and beautiful again! So she calls for her court magician—the wicked sorcerer, Leng Shan—and tells him to go steal the source of all magic, the elusive Spirit Crystal,” Varrick tried doing jazz hands to lend the part about the crystal some extra pizazz. 

“Spirit Crystal?” Jinora said. “I’ve never heard of—”

“It’s a thing, look it up,” Varrick brushed her off. “Now, only one person in the whole kingdom is brave enough and smart enough to match wits with the evil wizard. Zhu Li takes up her trusty sword and challenges Leng Shan to a duel! Hah—take this—and this—and that! Yah!” Varrick said, acting out a sword fight with a broom. “Oogh!” he pretended to stab himself and staggered backwards, collapsing to the floor. “Zhu Li stands triumphant over her foe!”

Ikki burst into applause—Meelo and Jinora joined in, although the latter of the three was probably just being polite.

“But just before he retreats from battle into the nethersphere, Leng Shan lays a curse on our hero!”

“A curse?!” said Ikki.

“A nasty one. ‘I curse thee, Zhu Li! I shall seal thine emotions away forever!’” Varrick said, acting out the part of the sorcerer with a ridiculous falsetto. “Oh, and the Earth Queen still got the Crystal somehow,” he added as an afterthought.

“Aw, what?” Meelo said, pouting. “What was the point of the sword fight then?!”

“Trust me kid, it’s gonna look amazing on the big screen,” Varrick said. He stood up and dusted himself off, then proceeded to frame an imaginary scene with his fingers. 

“Now, pan over to Zhu Li—who is still very cute and adorable—but is also acting mysterious and brooding and all of that stuff now, because Leng Shan’s evil curse is tormenting her and she can never tell anyone about her feelings. Inside, she’s all warm and fuzzy, but outside, she’s a cold, heartless war machine. But she makes a vow to the stars—a vow that she’ll do whatever it takes to get the Spirit Crystal back! So she takes up her sword and makes her way to the Earth Kingdom, searching in vain for many years—until one fateful night, when she infiltrates a royal ball in disguise. She’s intent on challenging Leng Shan to a rematch—but as she makes her way across the misty courtyard, she stops in her tracks. She finds herself face-to-face with a devastatingly handsome stranger clad in fine furs—a young nobleman from the South Pole whose dashing good looks are only rivaled by his business sense.”

Varrick paused to let the kids draw their own conclusions. He was met with a pair of vacant states. He tapped his fingers against the wooden crate—still nothing. “I’m talking about me! ” he finally said in irritation, pointing to himself emphatically.

“Ohhhh,” Meelo and Ikki said in unison. Varrick cleared his throat and kept going. 

“Our eyes meet from across the sparkling white plumes of the Royal Fountain, and time seems to stand still—but not too still, because I need to fit a big dance number with a bear in here somewhere.”

Ikki squealed. “Wow, that’s so romantic!”

“You got that right! It was downright magical!” Varrick folded his arms and grinned triumphantly. “I’ll never forget the first thing she ever said to me.”

***

Ba Sing Se, 10 Years Prior

“I’m sorry, sir, but you don’t appear to be on the guest list.” 

Zhu Li ran her finger along the lines of the page fastened to her jade-green clipboard, stopping once in the middle to steal a second glance at the Water Tribesman who stood before her, picking wax out of his ear with his pinky and then looking at it with unwarranted fascination. 

Varrick flicked his earwax into the Royal Fountain and frowned. “Well check it again!” he said. “You know what? Never mind, just let me see it.” He plucked the clipboard out of Zhu Li’s hand and skimmed over the page, his face falling gradually as he eyeballed his way down the list. He turned the clipboard upside down and flipped the paper up to check the other side—it was blank. He tossed the clipboard into the fountain. “Well that list is obviously out of date! Why don’t you just get the Queen out here for me and we’ll sort this all—whoah! Easy on the merchandise, lady!”

Zhu Li had pinned the man’s arms behind his back while he was busy talking and was prepared to send him hurtling into the fountain after her clipboard when she felt a familiar presence behind her.

“Zhu Li, a report, now. Explain all this noise.” It was Leng Shan, dressed in formal wear instead of his usual Dai Li uniform. 

Zhu Li stiffened at the sound of his voice. “My apologies, Captain Leng Shan. This man was attempting to enter the palace grounds without an invitation, then seized and vandalized palace property when I turned him away.” Zhu Li looked over at the fountain, where her clipboard was bobbing along face-down in the water.

“Hey! The only thing being vandalized here is my dignity!” Varrick shot back, twisting his head as far towards her as he could. Then he turned to Leng Shan in a last act of desperation. “The name’s Varrick—Iknik Blackstone Varrick, and I was invited. I’m a guest of Lady Xing’s.”

“Ah, yes, of course, Mister Varrick. You were a last-minute addition, I understand. So sorry for the confusion,” Leng Shan’s lips twitched up in a cold smile. “Right this way,” he said, his eyes boring into Zhu Li. She reluctantly let go of the Water Tribesman as Leng Shan ushered him through the palace gates.

Before he went inside to join the other party guests, Varrick smoothed down the rumpled folds of his jacket—then he turned around and stuck his tongue out at Zhu Li. Something prickled deep in her gut, but she maintained a stoic expression.

Once Varrick’s ice-blue jacket had disappeared behind the palace walls, Leng Shan laid a hand on Zhu Li’s shoulder. “That man is of great interest to me. My colleagues and I will be observing him carefully tonight. See to it that he doesn’t try to leave early. If he does, alert me at once. Understood?”

How such a tactless, rude, unsubtle man could possibly be of interest to the Dai Li was beyond Zhu Li’s comprehension, but an order was an order, and Zhu Li was nothing if not obedient. She had learned long ago not to ask questions. She bowed to her superior. “Yes, Captain.”

“Good,” Leng Shan replied. His face was calm, but his eyes held a hint of danger. “We wouldn’t want him to miss any of the festivities.”

Whatever Leng Shan wanted with the odd man, Zhu Li thought, it probably wasn’t going to end well.

Chapter Text

Rain began pattering down against the canvas rooftops that lined the makeshift streets of the Republic City Evacuee Camp. It created a comfortable ambience as Jinora, Meelo and Ikki diligently continued their work in the supply tent.

“That’s one-hundred fifty bags of food hand-packed by Meelo, the Camp Champion!” the smallest Airbender proclaimed as he puffed out his chest.

Poki chittered and tugged on Meelo’s elbow in annoyance. “...and Poki, the Assistant Camp Champion,” the boy added at his pet’s insistence.

“Only three-hundred fifty more to go,” Ikki said. She ruffled Meelo’s hair, much to his chagrin.

Jinora, who was packing her siblings’ work into a larger crate for distribution, peeled back the tent flap to look outside. People went about their business in the rain, using their newspapers and jackets as umbrellas. Even in the worst of times, Republic City kept moving.

“So, what happened next? You said you met Zhu Li at a royal ball, right? Did you ask her to dance?” Jinora said, turning back to Varrick. He’d lapsed into a daydream in the middle of telling his story—he jumped a bit when he realized where he was again.

“Well, I mean—I would have, probably, if I hadn’t been dragged off to Earth Kingdom jail,” Varrick said, a bit defensively.

“You went to jail?” Meelo perked up in the corner, dropping another fistful of carrots into a bag he’d just puffed open with airbending. “Cool.”

Varrick felt another burst of inspiration coming on. “Well, y’see—the wicked Leng Shan knew that if Zhu Li fell in love, it would break his evil spell! So he made up some crime I definitely didn’t commit and had me thrown in the slammer.”

“But you must have wanted to escape so you could see her again!” Ikki said, leaning forward.

“You bet your bananas I did! But it turns out I didn’t have to. Zhu Li found me first and busted me right out of there. Sword in hand, she stormed the dungeon, fighting off hordes of dark spirits left and right!” Varrick took up the broom again and started swinging. “Back, you vile spirit! Back, I say!”

He paused and frowned, feeling unsatisfied with his own performance. It needed a little something extra. Varrick’s arms drooped back down towards his sides as he asked “Can I get a little dramatic wind over here, please?”

The airbenders happily obliged.

***

Ba Sing Se, 10 Years Prior

It was a warm, clear morning in Ba Sing Se, and Leng Shan was being made to suffer the heat of the sun and his employer’s garish taste in flora. The Royal Gardens’ oppressive colors bore down on him from all sides. He shifted his gaze towards the gaudiest flower of them all—a woman whose temper was matched only by the size of her hairpiece.

Queen Hou-Ting, the exalted ruler of the Earth Kingdom, lowered her teacup and frowned. “You call this tea?!” she snapped at Zhu Li, who was standing stock-still beside her. “Slop is more like it.”

The Queen dumped the contents of the delicate porcelain cup onto the grass, seized the teapot that sat on the table before her, and shoved it into Zhu Li’s arms. The brown liquid sloshed over the young woman’s uniform, leaving a stain.

“Make another pot, and don’t ruin it this time!”

“Yes, your majesty,” Zhu Li said, retaining her composure. She bowed to dismiss herself.

“And clean yourself up, you look like a mess! You’re an embarrassment to my entire staff,” said the Queen. She huffed as Zhu Li stopped and bowed again on the way back inside.

Hou-Ting turned her attention to the perpetually ill-looking man seated to her left, who was fumbling with his own teacup. “Gun!” she said, his name coming out of her lips more like a bark than a proper word.

Gun tensed up in surprise at the sudden attention, his teacup clinking against its saucer clumsily. “Yes, your highness?”

“Give me the daily report. And make it quick, I don’t have all morning,” said the Queen.

Gun nodded nervously. “Ah, very well, your eminence. The cleanup crews have completed their rounds after last night’s party, and I assure you, the ballroom is looking absolutely pristine. The kitchens, however…”

Leng Shan regarded his own teacup as Gun droned on, spouting meaningless nonsense. The cowardly little man was officially the Grand Secretariat of Ba Sing Se, but as far as Leng Shan was concerned, he was a joke. In years past, the position of Grand Secretariat had been held by far more powerful individuals—strategic geniuses, like Long Feng. Now the job amounted to little more than being a glorified housekeeper. The position of Grand Secretariat should have remained with the Dai Li, and perhaps then the Earth Kingdom wouldn’t be in this predicament—plagued by bandits and debt.

Though Leng Shan was loath to admit it, the Dai Li themselves had been weakened as much as the rest of the kingdom; reduced to a shadow of their former selves. Avatar Aang had seen to it that the texts containing their methods of brainwashing were destroyed, and the practice had all but stopped. As a result, controlling public opinion became a needlessly complicated task. Leng Shan’s own experiments with brainwashing had produced mixed results at best—it seemed to work most effectively on children, but it never lasted.

His only real success had been with the servant girl, Zhu Li. Years of receiving the hypnotic treatments as a youth had instilled absolute loyalty in her. It was a small reward for what her parents had put him through—but what good was she to him, really? A non-bender; a mere scullery maid who performed decently enough in a fight to be promoted to patrol duty. The only outstanding thing about her was her ability to follow orders. Still, she was one of the few assets he had outside of the Dai Li—perhaps there was some use for her yet, he thought as he glimpsed her returning with clean robes and another pot of tea.

The Queen poured herself a second cup and tasted it, looking poised to throw another tantrum. Leng Shan saw the storm brewing in her eyes and cut in. “If I may, your majesty, I believe Zhu Li ought to be commended for her assistance in the arrest of the Water Tribe man who infiltrated the party last night,” he said.

“Must we talk about that unpleasantness at breakfast time?” Gun said, looking desperately at Leng Shan. Leng Shan looked back at him, a dangerous glint in his eyes. Gun continued, his confidence shattered. “I-I wouldn’t want to upset her majesty—”

“Oh, please, as if anything Leng Shan has to say isn’t already inherently upsetting,” the Queen glowered across the table at him. “Zhu Li, good job—you’re dismissed. Leng Shan, give us your full report now so we can get the rest of the unpleasantness over with.”

Zhu Li bowed again and headed off towards the kitchens.

“Yes, my Queen,” Leng Shan said. “The tax shipment from Gaoling is still in the process of being recovered. Local law enforcement groups have traced most of the missing items to a group calling themselves the Black Blossom Clan. I can assure you, most of their numbers have been dealt with—it’s only a matter of finding out how and where some of the items have been sold off.”

The Queen tapped her impossibly long fingernails against the tea table. “Hmph. Well, see to it that they are recovered. The gemstones, especially. I can’t abide the idea of someone else wearing them. It’s a disgrace to the crown. I need all the manpower you can spare on that job.”

Leng Shan nodded his assent. “Very well, your majesty. However, we need to retain some of our forces along the southwestern coast. There are still reports of pirates intercepting ships to and from Kyoshi Island. The villagers along the coastline of the mainland have requested the help of the Royal Navy in resolving this issue, but our fleets alone can’t handle them, and the United Republic and the Fire Nation have both denied our requests for reinforcements.”

The Queen glowered. “Why can’t this ever be simple? Collecting my taxes shouldn’t have to be an international affair. If you ask me, the villagers should be punished as much as the bandits for this. It’s their responsibility to get me my money. Can’t they even defend themselves?”

“That, I cannot say, your highness,” Leng Shan said in reply. “However, we have had a breakthrough in the matter of our southwestern waters. My informants have confirmed that neither the pirates nor the bandits are interfering with the shipping fleet owned by Varrick Global Industries.”

The Queen leaned forward. “Go on,” she said.

“We apprehended the owner of the fleet, a Mr. Varrick of the Southern Water Tribe, at the party last night. We have reason to believe that he’s had...dealings with the outlaws, shall we say. It remains to be seen what he knows, but after a few days in the dungeons, I believe he will be ready to talk.”

“Well, beat the information out of him if you have to and then use it to grind those outlaws to dust!” said the Queen. She curled her hand into a fist and slammed it against the table. The tea set trembled noisily. “I’m sick of not getting what’s rightfully mine.”

So am I, thought Leng Shan. So am I.

***

Of all the dark, dusty corners of the Royal Palace where Zhu Li performed her guard duties, the prison was by far her least favorite. Even more so today than most days—the newest prisoner was not adjusting very well to his surroundings.

The man from the Southern Water Tribe stopped jamming himself up against the bars in a vain attempt to squeeze through them and recoiled as she approached him. He scowled. “What, you again?” he asked. Zhu Li glanced at him but didn’t answer.

He continued. “Bet they sent you to torture me, didn’t they?! Well, try your worst, lady, you’re not getting anything outta me. I am one-hundred percent innocent.”

“I didn’t come to torture you,” Zhu Li said flatly, giving him a half-lidded stare over the rims of her glasses. “I came to bring you your breakfast.”

She slid him his tray of water and rice. He turned up his nose at it. “Rice again?! Don’t you people have any sea prunes? Or cake?” He stopped and muttered to himself. “Sea prunes...cake...sea prune cakes? Not a bad idea—hey, lady! You wanna do something useful around here? Write this down—‘note to self. Invent sea prune cake.’”

It wasn’t that Zhu Li didn’t sympathize with his plight, exactly. He might even have really been innocent, as he claimed. It was just a little harder to feel bad for him when he insisted on being so loud about everything. Besides, in all her years as a rank and file guard at the palace, none of the prisoners had ever tried to order her around. There was something a bit surreal about the whole experience.

Seeing that Zhu Li wasn’t particularly moved by his suggestion, Varrick stopped talking for a second and took a bite of his rice. “Well, whatever, this is still probably better than what they’re having up there. What kind of weirdos throw a party just to eat a bear? Blech.”

Zhu Li moved on to the next cell without comment. Varrick bellowed after her. “You’ll all be hearing from my lawyers!”

***

Three days and six bowls of rice later, Varrick’s swagger had all but disappeared, and he was starting to look desperate. He had dark circles under his eyes, and he forgot to passive-aggressively insult Zhu Li when she brought him his food.

“Have you heard from my lawyers?” he asked, wringing his hands.

“No,” Zhu Li said as the last flicker of hope faded from his eyes. She handed him his rice. He set it aside and started pacing the floor.

“This doesn’t make any sense. They can’t keep me here if they don’t have any evidence! Right?!” he stopped and grabbed hold of the bars in front of him, locking eyes with Zhu Li, who said nothing.

“All I said was that the Queen had nothing to lose by signing a shipping contract with me, and that whoever she has doing it for her now can’t be worth what she’s paying them because they keep losing her tax shipments to bandits or pirates or whoever they are, I don’t know—and then that Leng Shan guy—pretty shady character if you ask me—comes outta nowhere and says ‘That’s classified information, only someone in league with the pirates would know that,’ but come on! Do I look like a pirate to you?!”

Zhu Li sized him up from head to toe. His manic eyes, dark stubble, and long, tattered coat really weren’t doing much to help his case.

He didn’t wait for an answer either way. “No! I’m an important businessman, for crying out loud! Ask anyone who knows anything, they’ll tell you! Ask Lady Xing! She’ll vouch for me.”

“I have to go,” Zhu Li said, looking at the other trays of rice she was meant to deliver.

“Wait!” Varrick pressed his face deeper into the bars, his eyes swimming with desperation. “You seem like you might be a smart lady—you help me get out of here, and I’ll make sure you get compensated for it. Anything you want—a cushy house in the Upper Ring, a nice pile of gold coins, a ship in my fleet named after you—what do you say?”

What Zhu Li wanted, he probably couldn’t give her—the means to find people who only appeared in her dreams; the courage to finally use her life savings to get out from under Leng Shan’s thumb. She shook her head. “I’d lose my job.”

Varrick looked at her like she’d just sprouted an extra set of arms. “So what if you lose your job? You really wanna spend the rest of your life in this dungeon being bossed around by that saggy old queen and her creepy Dai Li agents? Just let me walk outta here and then go get yourself a new job! Heck, I’ll give you a job if you’re that desperate—my executive assistant ran off to go marry some girl he met two weeks ago, so there’s an opening for that if you’re interested—”

Zhu Li thought she’d probably rather be swallowed alive by a catgator than spend any length of time working for Varrick.

“Think about it and come back later; we can talk about the dental plan!” he called after her as she left.

***

The next time Zhu Li came around to his cell, Varrick didn’t seem terribly interested in talking about the dental plan. He was too busy attempting a handstand. He strained to keep his legs propped up against the wall as he mumbled to himself.

“…candy flavored letter openers…portable refrigerators…flower pots with feet…”

Not wanting to interrupt whatever was going on, Zhu Li set his meal down in silence. She was prepared to walk away and let him get on with his day—but somehow, despite all her attempts at being stealthy, he caught her on the way out.

“Great, you’re back!” Varrick opened his eyes and slid down the wall head-first. “You’re a little late, but it’s only your first day, so I’m gonna let it go just this once,” he flashed an admonishing glance at her from the dank, cold floor. “Now stop staring and start writing, I’ve got a million and one ideas today and we’ve gotta get ‘em all on paper while they’re still hot.”

Zhu Li narrowed her eyes. “I never agreed to that.”

Varrick snorted and splayed his arms out. “I agreed to it for you! You’re gonna thank me later, trust me. Now, write this down—”

“I have other things to do,” Zhu Li interrupted him before he could take the charade any further. His smile sank like a flower wilting in the midday sun, and something nagged at the edge of her mind as she observed his pathetic figure slumped against the metal wall, silent for once. Zhu Li tried not to feel sorry for him, but it was impossible.

She relented and reached into her robes, pulling out the small notepad and pencil she always carried around in case the Queen’s orders got overly complicated. She knelt down, reached through the bars, and placed it next to Varrick, who looked at it with widening eyes as he rolled over onto his stomach.

“Here,” Zhu Li said plainly, “Write it down yourself.”

And just like that, he was back to normal—if one could consider his outrageous behavior normal, anyway. “All right, fine, I’ll do all the writing for today since you’re new and all, but don’t get used to it!” he said. His mustache twitched up in anticipation as he started humming and scribbling on the notepad like a madman. Zhu Li walked away, wondering whether she’d done the right thing. She hoped she wouldn’t come to regret this later.

As usual, Varrick got in the last word. “I’ll see you bright and early tomorrow!”

***

If Zhu Li got to Varrick’s cell early the next day, it certainly wasn’t on purpose. Varrick seemed to think otherwise.

“Excellent timing, Zhu Li. I’ve been burning the midnight oil, so I’ll probably need to go down for a nap within the next two to four minutes, but I think you’re really gonna like what I came up with last night—”

Zhu Li did a double take. “How did you—”

“Know your name? Because I’m a genius! Get used to it,” Varrick said, tapping his temple with his finger. Zhu Li folded her arms and squinted at him. Varrick continued talking, unbothered by her show of suspicion.

“Now, I’m gonna need you to number these ideas from most to least marketable —start with the new snowmobile design, it’s pretty much a guaranteed hit once we get it down to the South Pole. Come back tonight and we’ll decide on a direction for the advertising campaign.”

“But I don’t—”

Before she could finish protesting, the notebook had been shoved into her hands from across the bars, and Varrick lay snoring in his cell, his hand lolling over the side of the too-small bench that constituted his bed.

This is ridiculous, she thought as she carefully pocketed the notebook. He’s a prisoner. I’m not on his payroll. He can’t expect me to do any of this.

He was sleeping too deeply to rouse—she’d have to argue with him later.

***

She didn’t get the chance to argue with him after all. When she returned that night, his cell was empty.

Zhu Li had never, ever been one to ask questions around the palace—she’d had that desire beaten out of her as a child—but for the first time in a decade, curiosity got the better of her. She asked the warden what had happened. “The prisoner from the Water Tribe—has he been released?”

“Ugh, we should be so lucky,” the grizzled man said. “He’s not out of our hair just yet. Leng Shan took him in for questioning this afternoon, though, so...we’ll see,” he said, shrugging indifferently. “They might transfer him to a more secure facility.”

Zhu Li nodded and moved on, retaining the look of stone-cold indifference that had gotten her this far in her career at the palace. Despite her better judgement telling her that he was just another prisoner; that this was simply the way of things, she felt a nasty pang of something in her gut. If Leng Shan was the one questioning him, it had to be something serious. And Leng Shan was rarely ever hands-off during interrogations.

Zhu Li continued through the motions of her job all day, making deliveries and standing guard at her posts, but the feeling didn’t subside. She’d spent her whole life burying these sorts of emotions, as one did when one worked for the city of Ba Sing Se. Friends disappearing, rules changing at the drop of a hat, people starving in the Lower Ring—if you couldn’t quickly move on from them, you got swept up in the endless cycle of tragedy and fell victim yourself.

It had all been easier to deal with when she was working here as a child; partially because she’d been too young to understand all of the intricacies of politics, but mostly because she’d been so much more receptive to Leng Shan’s hypnotic treatments back then. As she grew older and her thinking grew more complex, they’d started to lose their efficacy. Now, Zhu Li’s thoughts were her own again, and memories of her past, though foggy, started to return. She’d taken up reading, consumed books like they were food for her starving mind; formed opinions and made plans—though she dared not speak them to anyone.

She often dreamed of packing up what few possessions she had and leaving Ba Sing Se behind for good to seek her fortune in the world. But something always stopped her—perhaps it was because this was the only life she knew, and there was some small measure of comfort in routine. Perhaps she was afraid of what horrible truths she might find if she chased the specters of her parents. But more likely, it had to do with Leng Shan—she’d seen what he did to deserters and traitors. The price of defying him had always seemed too high.

...unless, of course, she were to meet someone worth defying him for.

***

After her shift ended, Zhu Li sank onto a bench in the inner courtyard. It lay in the shadow of an elephant koi topiary that the Queen particularly hated, though Zhu Li had personally grown rather fond of it. It would be a shame when the Queen inevitably had it ripped out of the ground.

As Zhu Li sat down, the miniature notebook tumbled out of her robes. She frowned and picked it up—she’d forgotten all about it. She began absently thumbing through the pages, wondering what kinds of strange gibberish she’d find in it now—a memento of the madman who’d upended her life from inside a prison cell in a matter of a few days and then vanished.

The first three pages were notes along the same lines as his mumblings—multicolored fish hooks, edible slippers, and the like. But then, to Zhu Li’s great astonishment, Varrick’s scribblings became more coherent. She traced her finger over a detailed blueprint for a new kind of snowmobile; one that was somehow fueled by snow. From what she’d read of mechanics, the design seemed sound—at least in theory. After that, there was a sketch of an engine for a biplane, a recipe for soup, and a mathematical formula to determine the rate at which fuel flowed through a tube.

Zhu Li’s eyes went wide. Maybe he really was a genius.

With each progressive page, she made a new discovery, and yet, the mystery that was Varrick deepened. Too soon, she found herself coming up on the end of the notebook. On the last page, he’d listed all of his lawyers’ addresses and telephone numbers.

Finally, she came to the back cover. Where it had once read If Lost, Return to Zhu Li Moon in plain, well-controlled strokes, there had been a great deal of crossing out and scribbling, and beside it in a sloppy scrawl the words PROPERTY OF VARRICK GLOBAL INDUSTRIES had been penciled in instead.

So, he’d found her name in the notebook. That solved one mystery, at least. But there were too many more.

Before she knew it, she found she had left the confines of the topiary garden and set foot in a hotel in the Middle Ring. She walked up to the concierge with focus and intent. A thrill of excitement and a deep pang of anxiety hit her all at once.

“Excuse me, ma’am,” she asked. “May I use your telephone?”

She tamped down the rush of nerves that threatened to expose her. Too many people over the course of her lifetime had been lost to the Dai Li’s machinations. But the world couldn’t afford to lose a brilliant mind like Varrick’s—and she would make sure it didn’t disappear.

***

All of Varrick’s lawyers had stayed away for a reason: the ones who weren’t from the Earth Kingdom didn’t do business where the Earth Queen was involved on principle; and that went double for the ones who were Earth Kingdom natives. No one got into a legal battle with Queen Hou-Ting and came out unscathed—at least, that was the impression Zhu Li got after speaking with them on the phone for several hours.

If there was any hope of Varrick walking free, it had to lie with someone on the inside. Zhu Li racked her brain for ideas, but the truth was, in all her years working for the palace, she didn’t have many allies. The few friends she’d had growing up here were gone now, and although she did her work efficiently and well, she didn’t hold any sort of sway with her superiors. In the grand scheme of things, Zhu Li was only a replaceable cog in the big, greasy, ugly wheel that was Ba Sing Se.

She replayed her conversations with Varrick in her head—there had to be a clue in there somewhere. A name he’d dropped…? Something he’d said floated to the forefront of her consciousness.

“I was invited. I’m a guest of Lady Xing’s.”

“Ask Lady Xing! She’ll vouch for me.”

She only hoped he was right.

***

“Are you aware of what time it is?” Lady Xing asked Zhu Li when she found her on her doorstep in the waning hours of the night. The young noblewoman wrapped her arms around herself in the chilly night air, puckering the fabric of her satin nightgown. “If I could afford a security force, rest assured they would have fed you to the bull pigs by now.”

It was always hard to tell whether Lady Xing was joking. Zhu Li was thankful that Xing’s family, noble though they were, could barely afford to maintain the gate she’d climbed over to get here, much less a fully-fledged security team.

“I’m here on behalf of Mr. Varrick. He needs your help,” Zhu Li said.

Lady Xing’s mouth twisted into a frown at the mention of Varrick’s name. “Well, if ‘Mister’ Varrick wants anything from me, he can apologize for abandoning me at the Queen’s party first. Tell him I said that.”

Zhu Li bowed deeply before Xing could finish reaching for the door. “It...may be a matter of life and death, ma’am. He was detained during the festivities. I’d appreciate it if you could go without a direct apology from him until he’s safe—in the meantime, I apologize on his behalf for any grief he may have caused you.”

Lady Xing scrutinized Zhu Li from top to bottom. “And who are you to him, exactly?”

“I’m…” Zhu Li paused, trying to find a way to sum up her brief but intense acquaintance with the prisoner who’d tried to bribe her into letting him out—the loud, impertinent genius who’d been the first person in over ten years to talk to her like she was someone worth talking to. She straightened her back and looked Lady Xing in the eye.

“I’m his executive assistant.”

Chapter Text

In its seventy-four year history, Republic City had certainly seen its share of confrontation. Sometimes it festered for years between government officials and played out in long, drawn-out legal proceedings that felt like endless games of Pai Sho. Sometimes it erupted suddenly when a triad emerged from the city’s dark underbelly to wreak havoc on anyone unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. And then there were the Amons, Unalaqs and Kuviras of the world; the people who saw fit to use Republic City as a stage on which to act out destructive battles that would seal the fate of the Five Nations.

Tenzin had seen it all, and experience had shaped him into a wise, compassionate leader. He knew better than anyone that when the mecha tanks cleared out and the last of the debris had settled, there was still a great deal of work to be done to ensure that the peace they had won was a lasting one. He would devote all the time and energy he had to healing what had been broken; to nurturing the city his father and Lord Zuko had built, until their dream of a place where benders and non-benders from every corner of the world could live together in harmony had come true.

It wasn’t going to happen overnight, or possibly even in his lifetime, and he couldn’t do it alone. Thankfully, when the world needed them most, the new Air Nation emerged and rose to the challenge.

“All right, does everyone have their assignments?” Tenzin asked for a final time. He was heartened by the positive response—a hundred airbenders bobbing their heads in agreement, flashing him an enthusiastic thumbs-up, or voicing an affirmative. Even the rain couldn’t dampen their spirits.

“Then let’s get out there and make a difference,” he said, proudly watching as the assembly of people in glider suits dispersed themselves throughout the camp.

The crowd of airbenders scattered, leaving a single, hunched figure standing before the airbending master. A young man in a rain poncho smiled sheepishly up at Tenzin, waving his hand in a meek greeting.

“Bolin?” Tenzin asked, raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t know you were here.”

“Well, yeah, you know, it’s just…” Bolin scratched the back of his head, his bashful smile morphing into an uncertain grimace. He started to talk faster. “We saved the city from Kuvira and all, and that’s really great, but now Mako’s a cop again and Korra and Asami are off in the Spirit World somewhere and Opal’s busy here doing airbender stuff, so I thought...maybe I could come help too?”

Tenzin smiled warmly—if the world had more Bolins in it, the pursuit of peace would be much easier. “Of course. We’d be happy to have you on board,” he said.

Bolin’s face brightened. “Really? Oh, thank goodness—I mean, Bolin and Pabu reporting for duty, sir! What’s our assignment?” He straightened himself out as his fire ferret emerged from his poncho and did the same, perching himself on Bolin’s shoulder.

“I’ll find out where the road cleanup crew needs the most help clearing out debris. Until then, why don’t you go down to the supply area and see if anyone needs a hand? I’m sure they’d appreciate the extra muscle,” Tenzin said, pointing the young earthbender in the right direction.

“Help with supplies, got it,” Bolin said, giving a salute. He turned and jogged off towards the loading bay. “See ya later!”

Tenzin bid him farewell and ducked under the flap of a nearby tent, where two more of his best volunteers were waiting.

“Zhu Li! You’re here early again,” Tenzin said, pleased but not surprised. Zhu Li’s organizational skills had proven to be one of the city’s greatest assets as they scrambled to find places for all the returning citizens to go.

“Good morning,” Zhu Li said, looking up from her clipboard to greet him. Beside her, Tenzin’s wife Pema was balancing their son Rohan in one arm and a stack of papers in the other.

“Morning, honey! How was your meditation at the Spirit Portal?” Pema asked, standing on her tiptoes to give her husband a peck on the cheek.

“Just wonderful. I think it was the morale boost everyone needed,” said Tenzin. “I’ve just sent them out to perform their assignments for the day.”

“Great!” Pema said, beaming up at him for a moment. Then she thrust their young son into his arms, suddenly all business. “I’ve gotta go distribute these pamphlets to the new arrivals, so could you take Rohan for a bit? He’s got lunch and a snack in that bag over there, and I brought a change of clothes for him just in case. There are some toys he can play with in there too, but make sure he eats first, and if he gets cranky you can put him down for a nap on one of the cots—thank you, sweetie!”she said in a single breath, disappearing out of the entrance with an umbrella in hand.

Tenzin and his son turned slowly to face one another and looked each other in the eye.

“I don’t want a nap,” Rohan said.

“We’ll see about that,” Tenzin replied, a knowing look on his face.

He turned his attention to the only other adult in the room. “I trust that the rest of my kids haven’t been causing you any trouble?” he asked Zhu Li.

“Not at all,” Zhu Li said, smiling graciously. “They went to Supply Tent Four to assemble care packages with Varrick.”

There was a short pause. Even Rohan sensed that something was off.

“They’re...working with Varrick,” Tenzin repeated, his forehead creasing downward. “I see.”

Sensing Tenzin’s distress, Zhu Li stopped writing on her clipboard. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled nervously.

“...I’m sure they’ll be fine,” she said.

***

“Whoa, what happened to your tent?” Bolin asked. He gaped open-mouthed at Varrick, Jinora, Ikki and Meelo. The four of them were struggling with a mess of poles, ropes, and canvas. Poki sniffed the air warily and scampered over to his owner.

Jinora, who was airbending a shield around the supply crates to repel the rain from them, started to answer. “Well, actually, it was—”

“—a freak windstorm! Highly localized, came outta nowhere. Never seen anything like it,” Varrick interrupted.

Jinora opened her mouth to say something else. Meelo cut her off.

“Yeah, it was a freak windstorm, Jinora,” the little boy said pointedly. Varrick winked at Meelo, who winked back. Jinora bit her lip and scowled at both of them. Poki lowered his ears guiltily.

“Aw, hurry up, you guys! I wanna hear the rest of the story,” Ikki said. She struggled to put two of the tent’s poles back together with her hands.

“What story?” Bolin asked. “Oh, hang on, let me help you with that.” He took the poles from Ikki and twisted them together.

“Thanks!” Ikki said. She focused a stream of air to help lift the canvas into place. “It’s a story about Zhu Li and how she had a sword fight with a mean sorcerer who put a spell on her feelings and how the Earth Queen stole all the magic in the world but then Zhu Li met Varrick at the ball and broke him out of jail.”

“Oh yeah, I guess she did help break him out of jail,” said Bolin. He grabbed another pair of poles and connected them. “It was during the fight with Vaatu, right?”

“Nah, this was one of the other times she broke me out of jail,” Varrick said. He waved his right hand dismissively, forgetting that he was supposed to be using it to tie the tent to a stake in the ground. Meelo caught the rope as it slipped out of Varrick’s grip and handed it back to him.

“Ohhh,” Bolin nodded, a look of sage understanding crossing his youthful features. It quickly devolved into baffled concern. “Wait, that happened more than once?”

“Well, who can really keep track of these things?” Varrick said, innocently shrugging his shoulders as he finished with the rope. “But yes. It was a jailbreak for the ages. Picture this: dark spirits and armed guards lurk at every turn, closing in on Zhu Li as she braves the dark depths of the palace dungeon! But she doesn’t give up—no sir, Zhu Li never gives up! Haunted by the memory of her encounter with the charming stranger she’d met at the ball, Zhu Li presses on, determined to rescue him.”

“Ooooh,” Bolin said, already enthralled by the tale. The tent finally stood itself up again, properly covering the crates. Jinora breathed a sigh of relief and took down her air shield while Bolin waved the younger siblings and Varrick inside.

“Okay, everybody in!” said the earthbender. He twisted around to face Varrick. “And keep going, this story actually sounds pretty good.”

“Sure thing, kid. Grab a box of carrots and sit down, we’re gonna be here a while,” Varrick said, welcoming Bolin into the fold.

“Me and Poki can show you what to do,” Meelo said, offering Bolin and Pabu a seat next to him.

“All right! Thanks, you guys,” said Bolin. He was a quick study, and soon everyone had settled into a comfortable working rhythm again.

After a while, Ikki couldn’t seem to contain her curiosity. “So? Tell us what happened! Did Zhu Li defeat all the dark spirits by herself?”

“Well, sort of,” Varrick answered. He cleared his throat, getting in character for yet another grand performance. He hopped up on a crate, ready to recapture his audience.

“The spirits, sensing Zhu Li’s determination, send her an ally to aid her in her quest! The Great Apricot Snake Spirit—who kind of had a thing for me at one point, but it never would’ve worked out—materializes out of the ether and grants Zhu Li some of her awesome power, fusing to her sword! The mighty sword glows brilliantly, piercing the inky darkness of the dungeon. It drives away the dark spirits in a single swoosh and melts the bars right off the prison where I’m being held captive—and Zhu Li picks me up and carries me away to bask in the sweet, sweet air of freedom.”

“Woohoo! And you lived happily ever after?” Ikki asked.

“Heck no! I was miserable,” Varrick said, dropping the whimsical act.

“What? Why? Weren’t you glad to be out of jail?” Bolin asked.

“Well, yeah, of course I was,” Varrick said, absentmindedly stroking one side of his mustache. “But the Apricot Snake Spirit drives a hard bargain. That deal had way too many strings attached.”

***

Ba Sing Se, 10 Years Prior

Another situation in Ba Sing Se was developing very quickly, and Varrick wasn’t sure yet how he was supposed to feel about it. On the one hand, he was out of jail. Hopefully, that meant no more sleeping on a bench and eating plain bowls of rice for every meal. Additionally, the fact that he had been brought to a lavishly decorated meeting room in the Royal Palace instead of the interrogation room in the dungeon was a sign that someone expected to resolve this little kerfuffle with diplomacy instead of brute force. That was good, because Varrick really wasn’t a fan of brute force. He eyed Leng Shan warily from across the table, the memory of the previous night’s interrogation fresh in his mind.

On the other hand, he was still in handcuffs, which probably meant that there would be very little hope of him gaining the upper hand in this particular negotiation. Varrick did not like the idea of being at a tactical disadvantage at the bargaining table—it was something he had managed to completely avoid up to this point in his career, and for good reason. He was keenly aware that whatever was about to happen in this room could spell disaster for his long-term prospects. He’d need to stay sharp, get a read on things as fast as he could, and incorporate the element of confusion whenever possible.

One of the Dai Li agents stationed at the door spoke up. “Captain Leng Shan, the Royal Cabinet members have arrived.”

Leng Shan’s harsh, craggy facial features seemed to tighten momentarily. “Very well. Show them in.”

Four well-dressed individuals filed into the room. At the head of the group was Lady Xing, who conducted herself stiffly. Behind her was Gun, looking apprehensive even in the absence of the Earth Queen. Two other officials followed close behind, looking poised and serene—as though they couldn’t sense the animosity already brewing in the room. It was probably due to practice rather than ignorance.

“Grand Secretariat Gun. General Deng. Minister Yu,” Leng Shan inclined his head towards each of the passing Cabinet members. “Lady Xing,” he added after a meaningful pause. Xing turned and flashed the captain of the Dai Li a look of thinly-veiled contempt. Varrick could have sworn he felt the room grow colder.

“Ah, Leng Shan. So it’s you I have to thank for abducting my date and ruining my time at the party. I should have known,” Xing said. Her green eyes fixed the captain of the Dai Li with a hard, focused glare.

Leng Shan delivered a carefully-worded response. “If I may, my Lady, perhaps you should choose your suitors more wisely. This man is in league with bandits and pirates, and is a threat to national security.”

“Oh, I’m aware,” Xing said. Keeping all her wits about her, she smoothed out her robes as she seated herself, folding her hands neatly in front of her. “It’s just that some of us prefer to confront such threats with tact and discretion rather than with senseless brutality.”

Leng Shan held his ground, his voice dripping with derision as he, too, seated himself at the table. “Well, to each her own. We don’t all have the luxury of being so soft hearted. Now, to what do we owe the pleasure of this unscheduled meeting?”

Gun and the other ministers seated themselves in the order in which they’d entered, with Xing taking the seat furthest from the doorpost. Even without the seating arrangements making it obvious, the pecking order here was fairly clear. Xing was calling the shots today.

Varrick thought he might still be in Xing’s good graces—he let loose with a charming grin in her direction. Xing looked at him, but did not smile back. She turned to her fellow cabinet members, who pulled out a number of scrolls and laid them on the table. Some were for taking notes. One of them was a map.

“We are here to discuss how Mr. Varrick may be of use to us in eliminating the outlaws along the southwestern coast of the Earth Kingdom. We will begin with a strategy for the area west of the Taihua Mountains.” Xing pointed to the southern edge of a peninsula on the map that jutted out into the South Sea. “Mr. Varrick, what do you know about the Black Blossom Clan?”

Varrick, sensing that he was being put on the spot, tried to see how noncommittal of an answer he could get away with. “I mean, I don’t really know them know them—”

“I would advise you to answer the question thoroughly, Mr. Varrick,” Xing interrupted. “You are in a very delicate position, and unfortunately, even I cannot fully guarantee your safety if you do not cooperate.”

“All right, you got me—I’ll talk.” Varrick held up his wrists, jingling his handcuffs at her. “It’s pretty bad manners to make a fella negotiate in handcuffs, though. Not very courtly of you.”

“Should you choose to work with us, I will see to it that you receive a full pardon from Her Majesty, the Earth Queen,” Xing said. “But you must prove yourself first. So, I’ll ask you again: what do you know of the Black Blossom Clan?”

“Well, they were a tough bunch to get in touch with, that’s for sure,” Varrick said. He stretched and put his feet up on the table, shocking Gun and the other members of the cabinet. “I had a guy for that, though—Shuji, my old assistant. He knew their boss. Used to be our liaison. I’d throw the Black Blossoms a little bit of pocket change to leave my crates alone, and a little bit more if they kept the other bandit groups from taking them—not exactly my favorite kind of transaction, but hey! Still profitable in the long run. You gotta be willing to get your hands a little dirty if you wanna stay in business these days.”

Minister Yu turned pale, but found the nerve to speak up. “I see. And...how might we get in touch with this Mr. Shuji you mentioned?”

Varrick’s mouth creased upward. “Beats me. He quit a few weeks ago. Said he was gonna go down to Chin Village and get married, and that’s the last I heard from him.”

“All right,” said General Deng, placing a pin on the map over Chin Village. “And the pirates around Kyoshi Island—what can you tell us about them?”

“Well, there might be pirates around Kyoshi Island, but you won’t usually catch them dropping anchor there—and I don’t blame ‘em, either. You do not wanna tangle with the locals. You ever end up on the wrong side of a Kyoshi Warrior’s fan? It’s not fun, I’ll tell you that,” Varrick said, shuddering at an unpleasant memory.

“All that aside, the pirates also haven’t attacked any of your ships. Care to explain why?” Yu asked.

“Sure! The Governor of Kyoshi Island likes me, the pirates are terrified of her, and that’s really all there is to it. You make friends with the Governor, and bam, you’re safe almost anywhere in the South Sea. Maybe you guys should try kissing up to her for a change.”

The Cabinet members looked at each other uncomfortably. Relations between Ba Sing Se and Kyoshi Island hadn’t exactly been friendly the last couple of decades. There had even been talk of Kyoshi Island breaking ties with the Earth Kingdom and becoming a part of the United Republic.

Not that any of that was Varrick’s problem.

“Would you give us a moment?” Gun asked. He and the other Cabinet members huddled together out of earshot.

“Sure, it’s not like I can go anywhere,” Varrick said, eyeing the Dai Li agents standing guard at the door. He uncrossed his legs, then crossed them again in reverse. His shoes plopped against the table obnoxiously. He started counting the vases in the room out of boredom. When he ran out of vases, he started counting floor tiles.

At long last, the Cabinet members resumed their places at the table. “We have come to an agreement, one which I hope you will accept for your own sake,” said Lady Xing. “With the Queen’s permission, we will send a delegation to Kyoshi Island to formally request the assistance of the Kyoshi Warriors in eliminating the threat of bandits and pirates in the southwestern quadrant of the kingdom.”

Varrick’s face broke into a grin, and he held up his wrists again. “Sounds great, Xing, glad I could help! Now if you’ll just get me outta these things, I’ll be on my way—”

“You are not leaving,” Xing said. “You will be joining the delegation, Mr. Varrick.”

Varrick blanched. “Oh, come on, you don’t need me! You’re the one with all the court experience—”

“And you are the one with a fleet able to freely sail the South Sea without the risk of a pirate attack—”

“So just take one of my boats! I’ll even let you borrow it for free,” Varrick said, the word free rolling off his tongue awkwardly. It wasn’t a word he was used to using, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

“And you may be the only person here with enough social capital to sway the Governor of Kyoshi Island. You told us she likes you. Is that untrue?” Xing asked, giving Varrick the most no-nonsense look he’d ever seen in his life.

“Well, it’s not not true,” Varrick answered, suddenly feeling sweaty. “But it might not be the best idea for me to go see her right now—”

“You are going, Mr. Varrick, and whether you will make the journey with or without those handcuffs attached to your wrists is entirely dependent on how you conduct yourself from this point forward,” Xing said.

The handcuffs rattled as Varrick slumped his chin into his palms. It was going to be hard to find a loophole to get him out of this, but maybe he could figure one out if he stayed sharp. He listened while the ministers talked amongst themselves.

General Deng looked up from the map. “Lady Xing, do permit me to say that a military escort for Mr. Varrick would be the wisest course of action to ensure that things go smoothly. If you’ll allow me some time to organize a task force from the Northeastern provinces—”

Minister Yu interrupted. “General Deng, I simply must disagree. Any military presence would send the wrong message to the Kyoshi Island officials. We are looking to enlist their aid, not start a battle.”

“Of course, you are right,” General Deng replied. “This is a diplomatic mission, first and foremost. But if Mr. Varrick’s...associates...from the Black Blossom Clan decide to come to his aid and attack us en route to the ships—what then? You would send the delegation into their territory, defenseless?”

Minister Yu’s hand tightened around his pen. “If you will permit me to say so, General Deng, they would be defenseless either way. Your troops’ utter inability to repel the outlaws is what landed us here in the first place—”

“And if you will permit me to say so, Minister Yu, it was not my troops’ lack of skill that put us in this unfortunate position, but rather your lack of consideration for them in the budget,” said General Deng, her fingers curling into fists. Gun slowly scooted his chair away from her.

Xing rubbed her temples. “And it is exactly this kind of indecision and in-fighting that keeps us from making any progress,” she said. “We need to come to a compromise.”

The four ministers began talking over one another, their overlapping voices raised in argument. Then, Leng Shan suddenly stood up, shocking everyone in the room. “I will volunteer to join the delegation. As both the captain of the most elite fighting force in Ba Sing Se and its highest cultural authority, I can appeal to the Governor on the basis of cultural exchange while the Dai Li maintain order in our ranks and protect the delegates from undesirables. I’m sure Her Majesty will agree that I would be an asset to your team.”

The members of the Royal Cabinet fell silent. No one seemed to want to acknowledge that Leng Shan’s plan was compelling, at least in theory. Xing looked as though she wanted to outright refuse him, but she settled on a biting remark instead.

“Yes, how very magnanimous of you. I’m sure Her Highness will be glad to be rid of you for a few weeks. And naturally, I will be joining the delegation to supervise you, Leng Shan,” she said.

It was as good a time as any to toss a wrench into the works, Varrick thought. He jumped back into the conversation. “And I get to bring my assistant!” he said.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him.

“What? I don’t get to nominate anybody? What am I, chopped blubber?” Varrick asked. He slapped his palms against the table and stuck out his bottom lip.

“Er...I’m sorry, but I thought you said Mr. Shuji quit being your assistant,” Gun said, looking a bit concerned.

“No, not Shuji! Shuji’s old news,” Varrick rolled his eyes. “I have a new assistant now. Bring in Zhu Li.”

The Dai Li agents standing guard turned to each other in confusion. One of them leaned toward his colleague, whispering behind his hand. “Isn’t that just the girl we assigned to bring him his food in prison? I’d hardly call that an assistant.”

The second guard’s eyebrows converged on each other. “Maybe he doesn’t know the difference,” he said.

Minister Yu, overhearing the conversation, looked at Gun and made a hand gesture around his temple that indicated he thought Varrick had a few screws loose. Varrick pretended not to see it.

Xing was not amused in the least. “Do as he says,” she told the guards.

Leng Shan’s expression darkened, but he said nothing.

Varrick leaned back in his chair and smiled ominously. If he couldn’t get away from Leng Shan, he was going to make the man’s life a walking nightmare—starting with stealing his loyal subordinate away from him.

***

Zhu Li was in the middle of doing the Queen’s laundry when she was suddenly summoned before the Royal Cabinet. She was surprised to see General Deng and Minister Yu in the same room—they usually avoided each other whenever possible. But what shocked her even more was the sight of Varrick—stubble and battered coat and all—sitting at the table with Leng Shan and the officials. Despite the handcuffs linking his wrists together, Varrick waved and greeted her like he’d been expecting her.

“Zhu Li! There you are. Took you long enough to get here. Hurry up and sit down,” he said. Zhu Li remained in the doorway, motionless.

Lady Xing cleared her throat. “Zhu Li, Mr. Varrick has nominated you for a position as his aide on a diplomatic mission to Kyoshi Island. Do you accept?”

Zhu Li quietly replayed the question in her mind, reviewing the facts as she knew them. Yesterday morning she’d been resigned to living out the rest of her life in Ba Sing Se. Yesterday evening she’d foolishly risked her reputation to help a stranger. And now said stranger was asking her to travel across the sea to a place she’d never been before, in a room full of people far above her station. She felt a pang of apprehension—or maybe it was exhilaration? She wasn’t sure what to call it yet.

Ultimately, however, the choice wasn’t hers to make. It would be foolish to get her hopes up. Without a word, she looked towards Leng Shan, expecting him to end this strange and confusing episode in her life once and for all with a swift rebuke.

To her surprise, Leng Shan only nodded.

Zhu Li turned back towards Lady Xing, feeling herself filled with the same sense of determination that had brought them face-to-face the night before.

“I accept.”