Book 4: Air ~ Chapter 2 ~ The Ballrooms of Ba-Sing-Se

Book 4:

Air

Water... Earth... Fire... Air... Long ago the four nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them. But when the world needed him the most, he vanished. A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar. An Airbender named Aang. And although his Airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he can save anyone. But I believe, Aang can save the world.

He spent winter mastering Waterbending. By the time ipring came to an end, he had learned how to Earthbend. At summer he learned all about the art of Firebending. Now that autumn has arrived, I can’t help but wonder if the season of shifting winds will teach him something new.

Chapter Two:

The Ballrooms of Ba Sing Se

Sokka was stirred to consciousness by a large fruit landing straight on his nose. He groaned in complaint, mumbling something about unwanted wake-up calls and sat up. His head felt heavier than yesterday... and not without a reason.

He looked up, giving an angry glare to the white lemur sitting on top of it.

“Would your Momoness like to get off my head now?” He mumbled in his sweetest fake voice.

Momo shifted his weight, using Sokka’s ears to support his hinder paws and observed him curiously with his big, green eyes.

“What was that, young man?” He said in a scolding tone, picking up the fruit and bringing it in front of Momo’s muzzle.

The confused lemur took the gesture as a gift and accepted the fruit. He took a big bite.

“Ugh! What did I expect? It’s a lemur, for crying out loud!”

“Talking to yourself, Sokka? Should I start worrying about your mental health?” Katara asked, peeking from the door and leaning against the frame, grinning. She may not allow Toph to tease Sokka too much but she was a whole different case. She was his sister after all.

Sokka frowned and narrowed his eyes. “Nope,” he stated, matter-of-factly. “But you might want to worry about this lemur’s safety though. All of a sudden, eating Momo doesn’t seem like a bad idea.” He took Momo from his head, handed him over to Katara and left the room, shaking his head angrily.

Katara and Momo, after being left alone, exchanged a long look. “So, what do you think got into him, Momo?” Momo, without answering, climbed up her shoulder, fruit still in hand and kept eating.

* * * * *

Zuko breathed in deeply in the morning air and a faint smell of sulphur forced him to grimace and breathe from his mouth.

“What’s that face for?” Mai asked him, coming behind him and pulling him to her.

“Uh, nothing.” He shook his head. “The air just kind of stinks, doesn’t it?”

Mai sniffed the air too, and without realizing it, made a face identical to her boyfriend’s. “It does,” she agreed. “What happened? Is something wrong?”

The young Firelord shook his head. “I don’t know. My nose seems to think a volcano must have erupted.”

“But nothing of this sort has happened. We would have been the first to know.”

“Exactly,” Zuko whispered, staring off in the deep blue of the gulf stretching before the largest balcony of the palace. The view down under the crater where the Capital City was built and all the way to the port was beautiful. Some Swan-lions flew away, golden feathers raining down on the spot where the two of them were standing.

Mai reached out and caught one in her hand, then used it to tickle Zuko’s neck. He squirmed and smiled a little. “Do you think that everything is really alright?” He asked her eventually, pulling away from the feather.

She nodded. “Yes, I do.” She kissed him, trying to reassure him. “You’ve got enough on your mind already. No need to worry about things that have not happened and aren’t going to.”

“Yes, but...”

She placed a thin finger over his mouth, hushing him. “Shhh. No buts. And no worries for no reason. You’re new to all this Firelord business, and this is exactly why you have advisors and your uncle here to help you out. Alright?” She murmured gently.

Giving up, the scarred Firebender eventually nodded, knowing this was the only way to give Mai her peace of mind. And maybe some of his as well. The black haired girl took away her finger and soon replaced it with her lips. And Zuko didn’t mind that. He did not mind that at all.

* * * * *

Aang played around with his food, thinking of the previous day’s events. He wondered if he should tell his friends about his little adventure and his little chat with Roku. He wasn’t even sure if there was a point in doing so. Would they understand? He knew he would have to tell them about his decision sooner or later though.

“Aang? Are you okay?” Katara asked, passing a bowl to Sokka who didn’t mind a second plate of food as usual. “You’ve hardly touched your food.”

“Yeah, all’s good.” He smiled reassuringly and turned back to his food. “Just a bit sleepy still.”

“Where had you been?” Sokka asked, mouth overstuffed with food. “Katara went nuts all day looking for you.”

“I went for a walk. Wanted to clear my head. Sorry I vanished like that. I just wanted some peace and quiet.”

Toph tapped her fingers on the table, showing that she could tell he wasn’t completely honest. Sometimes it wasn’t half as cool that his Earthbending teacher could sense it when he was lying. He pretended he didn’t notice and lazily brought another bite to his mouth.

“Ooooh, so we’re not peaceful enough for you?” Sokka asked, offended. It took just a second though for him to nudge Aang’s ribs and laugh loudly. “Just kidding. I can see why you’d want to get away from someone like Toph.”

“Hey!” Toph stomped her leg on the ground, warningly lifting a thick tile, which levitated inches from Sokka’s side.

“Alright!” The young Water Tribe boy lifted his hands in defeat. “There are others who might give you a headache around here.” The tile lowered itself and finally fit back into its proper place on the floor. “Like Katara.”

“You’re really pushing your luck right now, Sokka,” the blue-eyed Waterbender warned. The water inside Sokka’s glass stirred uneasily.

“Huh?” Aang murmured, momentarily stopping his playing around with his food. Momo took the chance to come and sit on his shaved, tattooed head.

“Never mind,” Sokka said, grinning. “We’re all good. Having a civilized conversation while you’re zoning off someplace else thinking top secret Avatar stuff.”

“Okay,” Aang said passively and stroked Momo’s paw.

After falling silent for a long time, Toph clapped her hands together, wanting to draw everyone’s attention. “I’ve got an announcement to make.”

“We’re all ears,” Sokka said. “Except for Aang. He’s still asleep or lost in his own world.” He chuckled on his own for a while, but slowly fell silent as he met Katara’s disapproving look.

“Did you say anything? Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention,” said the Airbender, lifting his head and looking around the table.

“We know.” Sokka grinned. Katara kept glaring at him. “Okay, okay, shutting up!”

Aang exchanged a questioning look with Katara and she mouthed a “Never mind,” at him.

“I appreciate you all ignoring me,” Toph demanded, stomping her foot against the stone floor.

“Sorry, Toph. Go on,” Katara apologized.

“So, I had an idea. I am going to cook us dinner tonight. Isn’t it awesome?” She smiled excitedly.

The rest of the gaang exchanged looks with each other. “Um... Toph?” Aang started. “I... Maybe...”

“I think that what Aang is trying to say is that–” Katara tried to finish for him and Sokka interrupted.

“You’re kinda sorta... uh...” He stopped like the other two, unable to find a nice way to put it.

“Blind you mean?” Toph said and laughed carelessly. “Well, duh! That’s no big secret.”

“Yeah, but... How are you going to cook, without seeing?” Aang asked, trying to sound nice.

“I can! Come on, guys, you don’t really think I can do it, do you?”

Sokka scratched his head nervously, while Aang and Katara preferred to stare at their feet than Toph. “You don’t really have to do this, Toph. I can take care of the cooking,” Katara started.

Toph pushed her lips together and shook her head. “Look. I had enough of that back home, when my parents thought I couldn’t do anything without assistance. Now I’ve got you all and we’ve travelled all over the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation! I can handle a pot with boiling food in it.”

“Yeah, but–”

“You all know we won’t stick together forever, right? I mean, come on, Aang became a fully realized Avatar, he’ll have a bunch of stuff to do, and Sokka and you can go back to your tribe now that your dad doesn’t have to be away anymore. And what about me? I won’t even be able to make a bowl of rice?”

The rest of them shifted uncomfortably on their seats, considering the blind Earthbender’s words. They didn’t want to admit it, but eventually, they would have to get split up and each would follow their own path. Aang began wondering if the monks were right after all. Could he really be with Katara, or would he be off taking care of some Avatar business so often that they’d hardly ever see each other? Was this really what was in store for him?

Katara sighed, knowing that to some extent, Toph was right. “Fine. I’ll help you out with it tonight. How about that?”

“All I need is instructions. I’ll do the rest on my own,” Toph said right away.

“Deal.”

The two girls grinned at each other for a second, before Aang took a deep breath and braced himself to announce his decision to the others. “Uh... Speaking of splitting up...” he started.

“Oh, hey, I wanted to say something about that too!” Sokka said out of the blue, letting Aang’s sentence unfinished. As soon as he realized it though, Sokka apologized. “Oops. You were saying something. Go on.”

“It– It’s okay. It can wait. Go ahead,” he told Sokka, grasping the change to postpone telling his friends.

“Sukki and I had a talk last night,” he explained. “And we made a decision.”

“Alright?” Katara raised her eyebrows and looked at her brother, wondering if she should worry. By the way he spoke, it seemed as if he was about to say something awful.

“Okay, well, we... I asked her to come with me to our village and meet Gran-Gran.”

Katara, who was holding her breath, exhaled, feeling relief. “That’s nice! I’m sure Gran-Gran’s gonna like her. I’d like to see Gran-Gran too. I’ve missed her. Maybe we should all go!”

“Yeah, about that...” Aang mumbled, but nobody noticed.

“Whoa, whoa. I know you’re all excited about flying off to the South Pole, but I’d rather take a rest and stay here,” Toph said and laid back on the floor. “Besides, I’m as good as blind in Snowland! I so can’t see there!” she added, remembering that horrible time at the Serpent’s Pass, where she hadn’t been able to cross over Katara’s ice bridge and almost drowned when the Serpent threw her in the water.

“Alright. Sounds fair enough,” Katara agreed. “Oh, I know! How about asking Zuko’s uncle to stay with you while we’re gone?”

“Was that an implication that I need a babysitter?”

“No, I just thought of it so that you wouldn’t be all alone. Travelling to the South Pole takes a little longer than it does to get from the Upper to the Middle ring, you know?”

“I’m a tough shell,” Toph objected.

“I know–” A heavy knock on the door cut her midsentence. “Who could it be?”

“Toph’s babysitter,” Sokka joked and stood up to open the door, nearly tripping on the tiles Toph was bringing out of place. “Not funny, Toph.”

“Not to you.” She grinned.

Sokka opened the door, to find one of the Palace soldiers standing before their door. He glanced inside for a second, wondering if Aang or any of the rest of them got in trouble. For the first time of his life, he knew that he didn’t do a thing to mess with anyone. “Hello? Can I help you?”

“This is for the Avatar,” the soldier said and handed him over a piece of paper wrapped in a roll and tied with an emerald green ribbon and the Earth Kingdom’s insignia on it.

“Okay, thanks. I’ll make sure he gets it.”

“You’d better do so. It’s very important,” the soldier said and left. Just then Sokka decided, that having Joo-dee at his door was much less awkward than having one of the Palace soldiers.

* * * * *

Mai entered the Throne Room, with Ty Lee excitedly skipping behind her. For the first time in all those days, she had taken off her Kyoshi warrior makeup and was wearing her usual clothes. Mai stopped for a while, and her childhood friend grabbed the chance to make a graceful back-flip and take a few steps, balancing only on her fingertips.

“What is going on here?” Mai asked, not loud enough to expect an answer, but her surprise was obvious. Zuko, having his hair pulled back in his usual bun, the Firelord’s emblem proudly on his hair and his scar standing out against his alabaster skin, was standing a few feet away. He smiled at the sight of his less-crabby-than-usually girlfriend’s.

“Some changes,” he explained. “If I get to hang a lot around here from now on, I might as well make it a pleasant place to be. It can look powerful, without being completely scary. After all, this always gave me the creeps.”

Mai grinned. “No wonder. Although I liked it. It gave of an air of mystery.”

“Aang suggested that we pull some curtains open,” he said and waved at the little acrobat, whose long braid slid across the floor as she circled the young couple.

She stopped to balance her weight on one hand and wave back. “Nice to see you, Zuko,” she said cheerfully.

“You too, Ty Lee. Aren’t you meeting up with the Kyoshi warriors?” he asked curiously.

“They’re all taking a break after all this action. Jee, go figure. I join them and the next day, they all want to take some rest. It’s alright though. I got some time to practice some new moves.” She grinned widely, coming back on her feet lightly. Truth be told, Zuko really appreciated that little ray of sunshine around here. She cheered everyone up. And after all this tension, this was what all of them needed most.

He looked around the wide hall; palace servants were climbed on ladders, redecorating the ceiling, some painting it new as Zuko had ordered, while others adjusted the curtains or cleaned the wooden floor until it would shine.

“I like it,” Ty Lee announced, clapping her hands together. “Especially the ceiling. How did you have this idea with the suns and the dragons?” She pointed at the previously white ceiling, which was now being decorated with swirling dragons, a red and a blue one, the ones Zuko knew were his real Firebending masters, Ran and Shaw. In the center of the ceiling, a short woman dressed in red was drawing a big sun with waving rays and he had plans for smaller suns in other spots, not as obvious.

Zuko scratched his head, accidentally dropping his crown. He sighed and wondered how long it would take for him to realize that he can’t scratch his head with the crown on because the same thing happened every single time. “When I first joined up with the Avatar,” he started, “we went to the Sun Warrior ruins to help him out with learning Firebending.”

“But nobody lives there, correct?” Mai interrupted.

“The ruins are intact, but most of what we found was simply stones and statues or wall carvings.” Not a lie, just a half truth. The stones were more than the Sun Warriors. Inside his head he chuckled, thinking how smoothly his uncle, Iroh, was constantly avoiding telling all the small details without being dishonest.

And speak of the D... ragon, the old general came out of the blue, laughing loudly at something a warrior was telling him. “It’s good to bring an old civilisation back to life like that,” Iroh said, winking at Zuko.

“I’m glad you approve of this, uncle.”

Iroh patted his nephew’s back encouragingly. “This place needs no more reminders of the past than it already has. Not the recent past, that is. We always need to remember where our people started from. And the Fire Nation comes from the Sun Warriors, the first humans who learned how to bend fire.” He nodded to himself, then looked proudly at his nephew. “You are going to be such a wonderful Firelord, I can already see that.”

* * * * *

The Water Tribe warrior held the rolled message on his hand, staring at it curiously and with a bit of worry. You’d better do?! It’s very important?! Yeah, duh! It’s for the Avatar! But... why? “Aang? Who did you mess with yesterday?” Sokka asked as he went back in the room, tapping the rolled message against his open palm.

“What? Nobody!” Aang said, but sounded somewhat guilty. He preferred not to glance at Toph and find out how much she’d sensed.

“Then why was a soldier at our door, handing over an important message for you?!”

“I don’t know! I was off to see Zuko, I wasn’t even here!” He defended himself. “Let me see that.” Using the air in the room, he slipped the message out of Sokka’s grasp and brought it to his waiting palm.

Avatar Aang,

We would like to inform you that you are our honorary guest to the Autumn Ball in the Palace tonight. You and your friends are welcome to come and each of you may bring a date.

We hope to see you there,

Fo Shi

Sokka and Katara had gathered over the Avatar’s head, trying to satiate their curiosity. Aang smiled widely. “See? No trouble. I told you! Fo Shi invited me to the Autumn Ball, that’s all!”

Toph, still on her seat, asked, “So all that fuss was about a royal ball invitation? Big deal.”

Aang scratched the back of his head. “But... Wait... Who exactly is Fo Shi?”

Katara shook her head and Sokka shrugged. Toph laughed. “You don’t know who Fo Shi is?! Seriously?”

“I don’t see anything funny in that,” Sokka said, annoyed.

“But it is! Fo Shi is the Earth King’s twin sister. Everyone knows that.”

“Wait, does that make her the Earth Queen?” Katara asked.

“No. That makes her the Earth King’s sister. Tradition says that there always has to be a male monarch on the throne of Ba Sing Se’s palace,” Toph explained, being aware of the Earth Kingdom’s laws and traditions better than the rest of them.

“What? That’s not fair!” Katara exclaimed, considering it extremely unfair. Master Paku’s refusal to help her master Waterbending in the Northern Water Tribe because she was a girl, came to her mind.

“Well, that’s the way traditions are,” Toph said matter-of-factly, shrugging. “Half of them are incredibly stupid.”

“You know, Katara, the Northern and Southern Air Temples housed only male monks, while the Eastern and Western housed only female ones. It was some sort of tradition as well,” Aang said, remembering the way the Airnomads used to get split in the four Air Temples.

“That sounds somewhat fairer than completely refusing a position to a woman,” Katara said, satisfied.

“Alright, I’m glad we got past my sister’s anti-sexist ravings, but can we go back to Kuei and Fo Shi for a second? Why didn’t Kuei mention her to us? Why didn’t she ever show up? And why did she send Aang the invitation, instead of Kuei?” Sokka would keep on bombarding them with questions, if Toph hadn’t placed her hand over his mouth.

“My best guess, is that Kuei and Bosco are still travelling around the Earth Kingdom before the Earth King decides to get back to his proper place, and in need of a leader for the city, Fo Shi took his place in the meantime,” the Earthbender explained.

“I never realized you were so much into politics, Toph,” Aang said, surprised.

“Growing up in one of the most well-known families of the Earth Kingdom, your parents make a big deal over you learning those kind of things. They were explaining the political system of the Earth Kingdom to me since I was seven.”

“I can’t really decide if I find that cool, or utterly boring,” Sokka announced. “At seven, all I cared about were snow fights and building igloos.”

“And don’t forget running after penguins!” Katara reminded him.

“Sokka had a thing for penguins?” Aang asked surprised. It hadn’t been too long ago when all he wanted was to go penguin sliding.

“Sure. Only difference is, I was half your age then, Aang,” Sokka said, blushing deeply.

Aang exchanged a look with both Toph and Katara and they all burst out laughing.

“You know, maybe we should worry more about this Autumn Ball instead of discussing Sokka’s childhood years,” Katara pointed out eventually. “I have no idea if I even have something to wear!”

“Katara, chill. How long will it take for you to get ready? Don’t be so tragic!” Sokka said, laying back and playing it cool.

His sister had already jumped to her feet, making her way to her room. “You’d better tell Sukki soon, if you want to bring a date along.”

Sokka shook away his little sister’s tip. “I’ll do it later. No need to worry! We’re meeting up this afternoon after all, I’ll tell her then.”

“What?!” Katara and Toph said at the same time. “You can’t tell something like that to a girl the last moment! Even I know that!” Toph warned. “Go now. She’ll totally freak if you delay telling her so long. She won’t have time to find clothes and do her hair and all the other stuff girls do.”

Sokka lifted an eyebrow and looked at her questioningly. Not that the blind Earthbender could see that. “I think you’re overreacting a bit,” Sokka said.

“Not at all!” Katara said. “Agh! They should have sent that message earlier! Don’t have time! Agh!” Holding the sides of her head, she vanished in the inner rooms of the house.

“Better not tease her while she’s like that,” Aang advised Katara’s older brother. “Or she might keep you frozen till next month.”

“Guys, I’ll try to figure out what I should wear too... See ya!” Toph said, running in her room and shutting the door with a loud thud.

“Well, well, now we’ve got the rest of the house to ourselves. What do you want to do Aang?” Sokka asked, crossing his arms over his head and laying back, staring at the ceiling.

Aang jumped on his feet excitedly. “How about flying over to an Air Temple and play some Airball?” he suggested. Although he knew that Sokka wasn’t good at all at this game, he really wanted to play something that would remind him of the old days.

“Nah… Too far away from here. Pick something closer,” Sokka said lazily.

“Ugh…”

* * * * *

“Well, I guess our cooking plans got cancelled for tonight, huh?” Katara asked Toph, folding some dresses she’d tried on and rejected while Toph played with her meteor shard.

“Yeah, true. But I’ll try to cook before you and Sokka leave for the South Pole,” the Earthbender said.

“Alright.”

“What am I supposed to wear? I don’t even see my own clothes, why should I care?” She picked on a few tufts of hair and let them fall down again.

“Come on, we’ll find you something,” Katara encouraged her. She opened the closet and found that dress Toph had worn at the ball they’d sneaked in to spot the Earth King during spring. “How about that?” She showed it to Toph.

The blind girl waved a hand over her face and grinned. “Real smart, Katara,” she told her.

The Waterbender frowned. “It’s the dress you’d previously worn in a ball over here. It looked very good on you back then.”

“Good, I liked that thing. Let alone it’s long enough that I can be barefoot and nobody will even notice.” She grinned to herself and took the dress from Katara. “Thanks,” she remembered to say before leaving Katara having to deal with her own clothing drama.

* * * * *

Sokka arrived at the palace’s stairs and faced a guard, very similar to the one who had been at their door this morning, bulky and tall.

“Um, hi.” Sokka gave him one of his I-am-not-suspicious grins of his and waved. “I wanted to visit Sukki, one of the Kyoshi warriors?”

“Are you Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe?” the guard asked.

Sokka gulped down. “Yes?”

With no warning, the guard began laughing loudly. “Go ahead, boy, Sukki told me you would probably show up.” He winked at Sokka and stepped aside, bending the heavy, stone doors to open.

“Thanks,” Sokka mumbled, thinking how weird all of the palace soldiers were.

“Oh, forgot to tell you how to get here. Second floor, eastern wing. If you get lost, ask anyone.”

Sokka bowed in a rush and hurried up the stairs as the doors shut behind him. Last time he’d been in this palace, it had been dark, with velvet curtains covering the walls and a whole lot of confusing halls one after another. Let alone the Dai Li. They could make this place incredibly scary. He decided he liked it much better like that, as servants hung decorations across the hall that led to the ball room.

Thanks to his warrior orientation skills, he didn’t need any further instructions and soon was outside of the doors where the Kyoshi warriors were staying. Just then he thought that the guard hadn’t told him which one was Sukki’s room. When he was about to knock on a random door, a door opened and a hand beckoned him to get in.

As soon as he got near the door, he was pulled inside. “Sukki, hey!” Sokka greeted his girlfriend surprised. He took in his surroundings. The room was pretty big, dressed in green and cream, the colors of the Earth Kingdom. “That’s a sweet place.”

Sukki smiled. “You were bound to get lost the moment that guard gave you instructions,” she said and sat on her bed. On it was laid out her Kyoshi warrior uniform. Sokka pushed it a little aside, to sit next to Sukki.

“And why’s that? Don’t you trust me to find your room in this palace?”

“It’s not that. He’s just never specific enough. Being really loud is what he’s best at. He may be good at his job, but seriously, don’t let him start talking! The whole palace will know what you two have been saying!”

They both laughed for a while. “Sorry this is last minute and all, but we got an invitation to the palace’s Autumn Ball for tonight.”

“I know. Everyone around here has been making a fuss over this ball for days now.”

“And why didn’t you tell me?” Sokka complained.

“Oh... Well, it didn’t cross my mind when we were together,” she murmured teasingly and kissed him. She pulled away for a second and said, “I was busy thinking of other stuff.”

Sokka grinned. “Really?” Then his lips were again on hers.

She kissed him back excitedly and fell back on the bed, with Sokka on top of her. “If we keep up like this though, I’ll never manage to get ready on time,” she murmured.

“I don’t really mind that,” Sokka murmured back.

“Sure you don’t. But if I am to show up, I want to do it right.”

Sokka groaned and sat up. “Fine.” He stood on his feet and straightened his clothes. “You girls are all weird,” he muttered, rolling his eyes.

The warrior grinned. “I’ll see you tonight.” She stole a last kiss from him, before he left.

* * * * *

“So, how do I look?” Toph asked, making a clumsy twirl and almost stumbling.

“It’s perfect. Just…” Katara hesitated. “Um…”

“Is there a problem?” Toph asked, picking on the silky fabric she could not see.

“Well, you must have grown a little taller since the last time you had this on. Your feet show.”

“Ugh!” Toph complained, falling back on Katara’s bed. “So this means I have to wear shoes, huh? So not fair! Stupid, high-society snobs!”

Katara smiled. “Hmmm, get out of it and let me see if I can lengthen it for you. My grandma back in the South Pole had shown me how to do that,” she offered.

“Isn’t it going to take time?” Toph asked.

“Yeah. But we’ve got plenty of it till tonight, don’t we?”

The two girls grinned at each other. “I like the way you think.”

* * * * *

“Prin- Erm, I meant Firelord Zuko, a message for you,” a guard said, handing the paper to Zuko, bowing deeply and leaving.

Zuko shook his head to himself. This soldier had been having a hard time calling him anything other than ‘Prince Zuko’ since he’d been crowned Firelord. Instead of giving that any further thought though, the Firebender opened the letter and started reading. It was a report from soldiers at a post near Roku’s island, or as it was most commonly known among the Fire Nation, Isle Huo Shan. His eyes widened as they moved across the lines, shocked by the news about it. It said that the highest top, the volcano crater had been smoking dangerously last night, but that it didn’t erupt after all.

“Uncle,” Zuko said, his golden eyes still pinned on the thin paper, as he beckoned for the old General to approach. “Come see this.”

Iroh sipped some of his ginseng tea and took the letter his nephew handed over to him. “Oh dragons! It is odd that the volcano didn’t really erupt then. By the report, it seemed to be very awake yesterday,” he murmured, scratching his chin sceptically.

“Yeah… Odd…” Zuko agreed. “I knew it smelt like ashes this morning.” He prepared himself to run to his room, remembering something he wanted to do, when his uncle grasped his hand.

“Hey, Zuko! You forgot to write back to them. You should ask them to report anything else happening in the area right away.”

“Oh. Yeah, right.”

“There; put things in an order. Come on, I am leaving tonight, you must keep your mind together. I shouldn’t worry about you at the Autumn ball in Ba Sing Se, should I?”

“There is a ball in Ba Sing Se?” Zuko exclaimed. “Why didn’t you tell me? How come the Earth King has no time to answer to my request about a hearing, but he can plan out balls?!”

“Relax, Zuko, get a cup of tea. You should keep your temper in check. It is Fo Shi who planned the ball, not the Earth King. Rumour has it, the king has yet to return.”

“I should talk to Fo Shi then. She’s representing the city at the moment. I’m coming with you tonight,” Zuko announced.

“How many times do I have to tell you that your people are the ones who need you most right now and not the other nations? It is not safe to travel outside the Fire Nation’s borders right now.” General Iroh placed a big hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “You stay.”

“Ugh!” Zuko grunted between his teeth and turned around. “If you can, write back for me. There’s something else I have to do,” he mumbled and left to find Mai.

His uncle looked at Zuko’s back as he walked away with sad eyes. “After all I am probably not going to make it to the ball in time…”

* * * * *

“Almost ready,” Katara told Toph, pinning up the last of the Earthbender’s hair. “There. You’re all set.”

“Finally,” Toph sighed. “I had almost forgotten how boring it had been to sit for hours and be prepared for that kind of royal mumble jumble.”

Katara smiled. “Lucky you don’t have to do it every day then, huh?”

“Absolutely!” Toph stood up and stretched her toes which felt sore from sitting for so long. “Momo,” she called to the mischievous lemur, “Come here, you little bug.” The white furball flew through the room and came to sit on Toph’s shoulder. He seemed to like the silky feel of the girl’s pale green dress.

“Be nice now, it took me hours to make Toph’s hair,” Katara warned the flying creature which stared at her with his big, curious, green eyes. He probably didn’t understand a word she said.

“Oh, he’d better be, because he is going to be my date for tonight,” Toph announced.

“The lemur?” the Waterbender inquired, raising her eyebrows and holding back a laugh.

“Got any better suggestions?”

Katara grinned. “Of course not.”

* * * * *

Aang put on his formal attire; loose robes that covered his shoulders in the color of ochre, a deep brown-red belt-like wrap around his waist. Last, he put on a heavy saffron coloured shawl reaching down to his arms. He put on his wooden necklace, one of the last bits of his heritage that remained intact. He double-checked his head, making sure he didn’t need to shave it again, and finally smiled, satisfied.

“I think we’re ready to go,” he heard Katara saying from the main room. “As soon as Aang comes, we can leave.”

Aang grinned and stormed in the room. “I’m here!” he announced. He froze on the spot, mesmerized by Katara. She looked so beautiful, dressed in a long, pale, ice-blue dress, which was tight around her torso and turned into a long, alpha-shaped skirt with elaborate swirling patterns on it. Her bare shoulders were covered with a soft violet shawl. Her mother’s necklace, was as always decorating her beautiful, dark neck. “Wow,” he breathed out. “You look beautiful.”

Katara blushed, so deeply that it showed even against her dark skin. “Thanks.”

Toph snickered and nudged Sokka. He looked at his little sister and nodded to himself. “See, Katara, I told you, you were overreacting. You look great!”

To the Water Tribe warrior’s surprise, his baby sister and tattooed friend had eyes only for each other, holding hands; Aang’s grey eyes had locked with Katara’s blue ones. Aang gave Katara a shy kiss and pulled away, and Katara blushed violet.

“Wh- wh- wait… You… She…” Sokka looked from one to another, hand pointing to the two of them, jaw left hanging open.

Aang grinned and scratched the back of his head and Katara giggled.

“It was about time Twinkle Toes and Sweetness got together!” Toph said, winking at the direction where the two of them were standing.

Sokka was pulling his hair, still at loss of words. Momo flew over his head and made a croaky sound, a bit like laughing. “You too… I… only one… didn’t know?! Gah!”

“Come on, Sokka, let’s go,” Katara said, grinning widely at Aang and pushing her brother towards the front door. “Stop doing that, I didn’t act like that when Sukki and you got together now, did I? Pull it together.”

“I… You… He… Eh?!” was all Sokka managed to get out.

* * * * *

Sokka used most of the time until they reached the Earth King’s palace to pull it together and finally convinced himself it was absolutely normal for his sister to date the Avatar after all. Maybe even expected. He had teased her countless times, calling Aang her boyfriend. Now it was all striking back at him. Bah! Stupid karma!

“Wait, so you two are like really together?” he asked for the fifth time.

Katara mumbled something inconceivable through gritted teeth and hardly kept herself from slapping her forehead like her brother had done countless times before. Aang noticed it and took her hand.

“She’s my date for the ball, if that’s answering your question. I think we’re pretty much together.”

Toph brought her green fan before her face to cover up her chuckling and Sokka stared at her. As expected though, she couldn’t see that. “Get over it already, your sister’s dating the world’s strongest bender. Relax.”

“I’ll meet up with you inside, guys, I’ll go find Sukki,” he told them and ran off, hoping that he would clear his head in the meantime and would manage to prepare a proper big-brother speech for Aang.

“He really took it personally that we didn’t tell him, didn’t he?” Aang asked but couldn’t help to grin at the stunning Waterbender to his side.

“Well, he didn’t tell us anything about Sukki either, right? We just had to see him kissing her in our face,” Katara huffed.

Toph lifted her shoulders whispering something such as, “Must be a sibling thing,” to Aang as they walked up the palace’s stairs.

* * * * *

In the rooms furthest into the Capital City’s palace, Zuko was sitting on a loveseat with elaborate carvings, taking his time to, as one would put in simple terms, sulk. Mai was looking at him from the room next door, half hidden behind the scarlet curtains with the golden trimming, knowing she should give her boyfriend his space.

“How long has he been like that?” General Iroh asked her, coming up from behind the girl.

Unlike most girls, Mai didn’t jump or flinch or seem surprised by his sudden appearance. “I don’t know. Maybe a couple of hours? What happened this time? He was really happy about the Throne Room’s renovation.”

“He’s a bit touchy about a few things I told him, I believe. Maybe I should go talk to him. I’m about to leave.”

A soldier, dressed in red and black, his face almost fully covered by a helmet approached the new Firelord. “Sire? Here’s your tea,” he said, and after bowing, he handed the china with the warm liquid to Zuko.

“Tea?” Zuko lifted his eyebrows and looked at it curiously, as if he hadn’t seen a thing like that again in his whole life.

“There’s something that I don’t like about this,” the old man said, stretching his back until it made a couple of clacking sounds and made his way in the room. “Wait right there,” he told the soldier, before he had the chance to walk away.

“Is there something that you need, sire?” the man inquired, bowing and saluting to his superior the usual way.

Iroh put on his innocent look and took hold of his nephew’s teacup. He inhaled deeply the steam coming from the heated beverage and smiled. “Mmmm, this smells really good.” The soldier flinched but pulled himself together quickly. “What kind of herbs did you use?”

“I– I didn’t do the tea, sire,” he said.

“Then who did? The cooks?”

“I think so.” The soldier said, seeming uncomfortable.

“Well, if you’d like, go and fetch us a whole teapot, I’d some as well,” Iroh ordered the soldier, who had turned ashen white.

“Wh– what, sire?” he stuttered.

“The teapot? If you please.”

“Uncle, what is all this about?” Zuko asked, standing up and heading to the grey-haired General’s direction. “Have my tea if you want it so badly.”

“I believe this man has some serious reason for not wanting me or anybody other than you drink that tea, Zuko.”

“What do you mean?” Zuko’s eyes shifted from his uncle to the soldier uneasily, too many times for even him to count.

“That someone is trying to poison you.” As soon as the words left the old dragon’s mouth, the soldier, quick on his feet, bolted for the wide doors. “Don’t let him escape!” Iroh roared and, letting the china with the poisonous liquid fall on the bamboo floor and break, threw a fireball at the soldier, who dodged it at just the right moment.

Zuko, finally realizing what was happening, ran behind the soldier until they reached down the end of the hall and cornered him. He tried to run the other way, but Mai was already standing there, little stiletto knives in hand.

Zuko launched a kick at the guard, who quickly lifted his hands and blocked the blow with his wrist. He took a few steps back, meeting solid wall and seeing it was his only chance, he lifted his hand, creating a flame in his open palm. Mai threw three knives with deadly precision, pilling the soldier’s sleeve against the tapestry behind him. He struggled to free his hand and when he realized he couldn’t, he lifted his other hand.

“Oh, come on, don’t really make me do it again.” The girl sighed, sending three more stilettos to him, pinning his other hand against the tapestry as well.

Zuko prepared himself to punch him, but a hand stopped him. He met Mai’s eyes as she shook his head. “He can’t go anywhere or do anything. Just ask what you need to know,” she advised.

* * * * *

“Whoa. This is even more impressive than that party for the Earth King’s bear!” Sokka murmured as he and Sukki entered the ballroom. She was dressed in a beautiful, green kimono which showed off the Kyoshi warrior’s curves. Her brown hair was pulled up an elegant bun, held up by two golden hair sticks.

“What did you expect? That one is not for just a bear,” Sukki said, smiling.

The room was decorated in the colors of the season, bronzes, browns, yellows and oranges. Ornaments of all sorts hung from the ceiling and adorned the railing of the semi-floor where the large staircase led to. Wide buffets with foods were placed on each side of the room, while vibrant music echoed through the large space.

“Come on, let’s go find the others,” Sukki called to him and pulled him into the crowd.

When they found them, Aang and Katara were listening to some Earth Kingdom royalties, who were excitedly explaining to the young Avatar all about their family line and its history. Toph stood a few inches away, with an utterly bored look on her face. It wasn’t like she hadn’t told her friends how wearisome she found those kind of high society events.

“… and this is how my great-great-great grandfather, Ku Yon Li, became the Earth King’s advisor,” the man concluded. Aang and Katara breathed out in relief, glad that this was over.

“Your family’s story is very interesting, Mr. Yan, but we have to go and see someone. We will see you around!” Aang said before both he and the beautiful Waterbender next to him were snatched away from those aristocrats.

“I think I just realized the actual usage of fans in all those kinds of balls and stuff,” Toph announced, when she and the whole gaang were far enough from any unwanted acquaintances.

“Really?” Sokka asked.

“Sure! It is to keep your mouth hidden when idiots like him tell you the story of their, their father’s, their grandfather’s and their great-grandfather’s lives and you want to yawn without them noticing you.”

Sukki chuckled and soon the rest of them joined her.

Momo flew back to them and landed on Aang’s head, with some tasty treat held in his front feet. Of course he would found something of his liking in the buffets.

“Hey!” Toph exclaimed. “Tonight you’re supposed to be my date!”

Sokka laughed and nudged the blind Earthbender and Toph punched him back, half grinning. He lost his balance for a second, and fell on Sukki, who steadied him.

A tall stranger approached them, dressed in a long, fancy dress with golden trimming, very pale, pastel green skirt and darker green patterns of flowers and vines. She had a longish face and small black eyes. She smiled at them. “Hello. I am Fo Shi.” She shook hands with Aang and bowed her head slightly. “We are so honoured to have you here, Avatar,” she said.

“Thank you for inviting us,” Aang answered, bowing back.

“I assume you are all enjoying yourselves?”

They all answered with “Yes,” and “Yeah,” and Fo Shi, satisfied, smiled once again. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask,” she said. “I will be over there.” She pointed at the direction of a small balcony on the semi-floor above them, where a man and a woman dressed in plainer clothes, probably advisors or servants, were sitting.

“Alright,” they all agreed and the Earth King’s sister walked away.

“Jeesh, am I the only one who noticed how similar she and Kuei are? They’re identical twins!” Sokka observed.

“True. So alike…” Katara agreed.

“Whatever you say!” Toph waved a hand before her face, pointing out that she couldn’t see.

* * * * *

General Iroh caught up with Zuko and Mai soon enough, to find the soldier pinned with his back on the wall. He came to stand beside his nephew as he asked, “Who sent you?”

“I– The–”

Zuko, losing his patience, threw away the soldier’s helmet, which covered the most of his face. He recognized him as the one who had brought him the volcano report this morning. The one who kept calling him ‘Prince Zuko’. “Who?” Zuko demanded again.

I serve the true Firelord!” he finally said and stared back into Zuko’s golden eyes. “You’re the banished prince. That’s all you’ll ever be! You should have never become Firelord!”

Zuko’s hand closed around the man’s throat and the soldier’s eyes widened with fear. “What Firelord, who do you mean?!” he asked between gritted teeth.

“Your predecessor of course!” the man spitted arrogantly. He squirmed to free his neck of the young Firebender’s grip with no avail. Zuko felt his palms heating and the soldier squirmed uncomfortably.

“Zuko!” Mai exclaimed and pulled his hand away. The soldier’s neck was red where Zuko’s hand had been. She shook her head again at her boyfriend. “It’s not worth it.” Then she turned to the direction where footsteps were heard. “Guards! Take him down to the prisons.”

Two palace soldiers arrived and each held one hand of the traitor as they led him away.

“So much for being safe here,” Zuko mumbled, exchanging a look with his uncle and walking away.

“Zuko! Wait!” The old man ran behind him and finally stopped him.

“What?! You said it wasn’t safe to get out of the Fire Nation because it was filled with enemies of mine! And what about the Fire Nation?! Apparently I am just as unwanted here too!”

“Will you listen for a second?”

“What is there to listen?!” Zuko exclaimed. “They still want me dead, even if all I want is to fix my country and have peace!”

Iroh sat down heavily, not knowing how to make his nephew listen. It was always hard to talk to him when he became like this; he wouldn’t listen a thing. He stared down at the floor where the poisoned tea was still split and the china pieces lay shattered on the golden tripping of the rug.

“I just wanted to say goodbye. Captain Fo wants to sail for the Earth Kingdom.”

“Can I come with you?” Zuko pleaded once more, sounding much younger than he was.

“Now there is even more reason for you to stay. Go and talk again to the guard, find out who is behind this. You heard what he said. I serve the Firelord.”

Zuko asked, looking up at his uncle. “My father?”

“To be honest… I don’t know. You must see what you can find out about this. And be careful. Especially with food and beverages. Until you learn who is behind this, you must be very cautious with what you do and say around others.” He pushed Zuko’s hair from his forehead and looked at him. “I don’t want anything to happen to you, kid.”

The young Firelord saw then that his uncle’s intentions were to protect him. He smiled reassuringly. “I’ll take care of myself. Have a safe trip, uncle,” he wished to him and gave him a goodbye hug before the general left for the port.

* * * * *

“Well now that’s interesting,” Sokka said, crossing his arms over his chest. Everybody in the ballroom had stopped dancing, talking or eating and they all looked up at the Earth King’s sister. Fo Shi had stood up and looked up at all her guests.

“Well, good evening,” she started. “Thank you all for attending to our annual Autumn Ball. Tonight we have the honour of having a very special guest among us. Avatar Aang is here tonight!”

All of a sudden, everyone around them, noticed the tattooed Airbender and taking a few steps back to take a better look at the boy who saved them all, the crowd created a circle around Aang and his friends. Aang grinned nervously and waved a hand at them. “Hi, all. Nice to be here,” he said shyly. Everyone whispered with each other and eventually the crowd erupted in enthusiastic clapping.

“I would personally like to thank the Avatar for being here with us and would like to offer a gift as a token of our gratitude.” One of the palace’s busboys, dressed in dark brown clothes bowed to the Avatar and handed over to him a green cloak with geometrical patterns on it and the Earth Kingdom’s emblem in the middle. “As he is from now on named as our city’s great protector!” Fo Shi finished.

Everyone clapped again and Aang with his friends half smiled as gifts were handed to Katara, Sokka and Toph as well. The Airbender looked up at Fo Shi and when the people around him began to fall quiet, he spoke. “Thank you,” he said, lifting the cloak. “But I cannot accept it the way you do expect me to.” He moved his hands in a circular pattern, creating a sphere of air and balancing himself on the top of it to reach the semi-floor where Fo Shi was standing. He bowed his head and gave the cloak to her, who stunned took it back. Then he turned to look at the crowd underneath. “I understand that you all may be looking for someone to name as your protector. But the Avatar is meant to protect all nations and maintain balance among them.

“You have been surrounded by your safe walls throughout the war and you hardly saw any of its violence and destructive power. For the past hundred years countless people have found protection behind those solid walls, people whose homes had been destroyed and their families kicked away from their own land.

“And these are the ones who really need the Avatar right now.

“This is why, although I appreciate the gesture, Fo Shi, I cannot receive such a title. Tomorrow, I am leaving Ba Sing Se, to help where I am needed and find what is left of my people’s heritage to preserve it as best as I can.

“Thank you all for listening me out and I hope that you understand.”

Fo Shi seemed at a loss of words, her long fingers covering her mouth and doing an excellent job concealing her expression of outmost surprise. She cleared her throat and placed a hand on the boy’s saffron coloured shawl. “I do understand, Avatar,” she said in a loud voice, so that everyone could hear her through the room. “But I would like you to keep the gift. Even if you do not agree to be our protector. As a show of respect to a great person as you are.” Someone came forward and folded the cloak, which ended up in Aang’s hands once again.

“We should get going,” Aang told to Fo Shi. Nobody was paying attention anymore, as they all had been occupied by exchanging their opinions about what Aang had said. Only his friends ran up the stairs, to get to the Earth King’s sister and the Avatar. “We are going to start early tomorrow.”

“Would you like someone to escort you to your home and carry your gifts perhaps?” Fo Shi offered and a young woman stepped forward.

“No, thanks,” Katara said, smiling. “I think we can manage.”

“As you wish,” she said, bowing goodbye as the five friends and the white lemur walked toward the palace’s exit.

“That was some speech now, Aang!” Sokka congratulated his friend, passing an arm over his neck and hugging him. “Way to go!”

Sukki smiled. “It was definitely a speech worth listening,” she agreed.

“Yeah, go team Boomer-Aang!” Sokka yelled as they exited. The loud voiced guard Sokka had met this morning was still standing to his post and looked at them curiously. “We’re back to business! No kidding, I might have kind of missed spending hours on Appa’s saddle flying around and sleeping on the ground.”

“You mean that?” Aang asked, his face lighting up. “But I thought you guys liked it so much better here.”

“Come on, Twinkle Toes! You’re acting as if you met us yesterday!” Toph exclaimed, hands wrapped over her chest. “How much longer do you think that I would last in this place? Dai Li or not, that place is still full of rules and walls.”

“She’s right, you know. After all that has happened through this year, I can’t convince myself to stand still for too long. After all, we’re still a team, aren’t we? Where you go, we all go.” Katara took hold of Aang’s hand. Sokka flinched, knowing this wasn’t just a friendly anymore anymore. Boy, was he going to need some time to get used to that!

“We’re going to visit Gran-Gran first,” Sokka objected. “But then you take us anywhere you want. Except the Kyoshi Island.”

Sukki frowned and tapped her foot against the cobbled pavement, hands on her hips. “And why is that exactly?” she demanded.

Sokka grinned and took a few steps away. Just in case Sukki felt the need to slap him with her fan. “Well… I don’t want him to ride the Unagi again. We’ve had enough with meeting giant sea serpents for the rest of our lives, thank you very much.”

The girl burst out laughing and kissed his cheek. “Oh, but you should see the Unagi now! It has babies swimming around the sea. Three of them. They’re so cute!”

Sokka’s jaw dropped. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope.”

“Awesome,” Sokka said, all trails of excitement gone from his voice. “This is the end, Kyoshi Island is completely out of our map!” he declared.

* * * * *

After Sukki went back inside the palace, the rest of the gaang made their way through the empty streets of the Upper Ring and finally arrived home.

“What a day,” Sokka said and instantly sat down on a pillow. “Admit it, Fo Shi can sure throw a party. And look at that sword case she gave me! It is so awesome!”

“It is good,” Aang said absently.

“Uh huh. He’s zoning out again.” Sokka raised an eyebrow and looked at Aang. “Why do you have that same look you had during breakfast?”

“Nothing.”

“Come on, Twinkle Toes, even I can tell something’s up with you. Spill.”

“I will drop Katara, Sukki and you at the South Pole but then there is something I’ve got to do. I want to go around the Air Temples and see what I can find about what happened when the Fire Nation attacked them.”

“Come on, Aang, there’s nothing to find. Fire Nation storms in and bang! The monks are unprepared, they fight but get killed. There’s nothing more to that.”

“Sokka!” Katara scolded. “That is so not nice!” She made her way to Aang and gave him a hand to stand up. “Come, I think you need some fresh air.”

Sokka turned to look at Toph who was shaking her head. “That was far too insensitive, even for you.”

“What did I say?!” Sokka complained.

* * * * *

“I’m coming with you at the Air Temples,” Katara said. She looked so pretty in the moonlight and her blue eyes sparkled.

“No, you said it, you wanted to sit with Gran-Gran for a bit.” Aang looked away, and stared beyond the walls of Ba Sing Se. This would be his last night here; he wouldn’t come back for a while.

“Yeah, as in say hi, make sure she’s alright and talk with her a bit. If you can wait this long, we can go together.”

Aang smiled. “Are you sure?”

“What do you think?” Katara asked, placing her hands on her hips. She smiled. “Of course I am. We’re a team.”

“Thanks.”

“Will you tell me why you were covered in ashes and had black smudges all over your face yesterday?” she asked, sitting beside him and leaning against his shoulder, their fingers touching.

“You remember?”

“Of course I do. I was just too sleepy to ask you last night. Did you really get in some kind of trouble?”

“Well, uh…” Aang started, blushing and beginning to explain everything about his talk with Zuko and then the eruption at the volcano and Roku, as they both stared out in the night sky.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

If ya wanna go ahead and read the next chapter, click here.