by The Tale of Aang; Azula; Toph; Sokka; Zuko; Katara (retail) (epub)
“Can we see the king now?” Aang blurted out.
Good for you, Aang. I’m tired of tiptoeing around this lady.
“Oh, no! One doesn’t just pop in on the king. But your request to see the king is being processed, and should be put through in about a month! Much more quickly than usual!”
Is she for real? No way I’m staying in this place for a whole month!
Joo Dee showed us to our house, but none of us were in the mood to relax. So we decided to walk through town searching for Appa. Joo Dee insisted on coming with us.
Unfortunately we’ve had no luck. No one has seen Appa, and no one even wants to talk to us. I don’t think I’m going to survive here if everyone acts this way. It’s so frustrating. It’s like there’s a big secret here that everyone’s hiding and we’re the only ones who don’t know it!
It’s our second day in Ba Sing Se, and I’m hoping today is going to be better than yesterday. Katara actually came up with a plan for us to see the king, so tonight Katara and I are getting all dressed up in fancy clothes and makeup, so we can sneak into a party the king is throwing. It’s a perfect opportunity to tell him about our information!
At first the guards at the door wouldn’t let us in, but then this guy Long Feng helped us get in. Then he wouldn’t leave us alone until we found our “families.” We were finally able to lose him. We were supposed to let Aang and Sokka in through the back door, but somehow Aang and Sokka snuck in without our help. Anyway, we’re all inside now. Time to set the plan in motion.
“What are you doing here? You have to leave, or we’ll all be in terrible trouble!”
That voice, it’s so familiar. It’s Joo Dee! We just can’t get rid of her. But we can’t let her stop us when we’ve gotten this far.
“Keep their attention while I find the Earth King,” Sokka said to Aang.
Come on, Aang, just keep their attention until someone spots the king—Ahhhh! Who’s grabbing me? Where are we going? This is not good. We’re obviously not wanted here. I guess we’re getting a little too close to whatever big secret makes this place so mysterious and makes everyone who lives here so frightened.
“Why won’t you let us talk to the king?” Sokka shouted. “We have information that could defeat the Fire Nation!”
At least everyone is here with me. I wonder who these guys are, and what they will do to us.
“The Earth King has no time to get involved with political squabbles and the day-to-day minutia of military activities,” a man said.
It’s that Long Feng guy. He’s the cultural minister to the king and head of the Dai Li. What a liar! I bet he knew exactly who we were when he met us. And what kind of answer is that? What else could the king possibly be concerned with?
“But this could be the most important thing he’s ever heard,” Aang said.
“What’s important to the king is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se,” Long Feng shot back. “It’s my job to oversee the rest of the city’s resources, including the military.”
“So the king is just a figurehead,” Katara said.
Even though Long Feng’s denying it, it’s pretty obvious to me what’s going on here. Long Feng has the power. He controls the city. And he keeps the king in the dark.
“You can’t keep the truth from the people of the city!” Katara shouted. “They have to know.”
“I’ll tell them,” Aang added. “I’ll make sure everyone knows.”
“I understand you’ve been looking for your bison,” Long Feng retorted. “It would be a shame if you were not able to complete your quest.”
Does this guy know where Appa is? I can feel Aang getting angrier by the second. And now I know that it’s a really bad idea to make Aang mad.
Long Feng finally let us go. But as we were leaving, a woman came into the room and introduced herself as Joo Dee. But she’s not the Joo Dee we know. She’s someone completely different, claiming she’s Joo Dee. Seriously, this city just keeps getting weirder and weirder. And I just keep liking it less and less.
Chapter 7
We’ve been putting posters up all around town, asking if anyone has seen Appa, but no one has. We’ve finally decided to take a break and return home. That’s when Joo Dee—the original Joo Dee, not the second one—knocked on our door.
“What happened to you?” Sokka asked. “Did the Dai Li throw you into jail?”
“Of course not,” she said. “I simply took a short vacation to Lake Laogai.”
“Why are you here?” Aang asked.
“Putting up posters is not permitted. It’s against the rules.”
“We don’t care about the rules!” Aang yelled. “We’re finding Appa on our own, and you should just stay out of our way.”
All right, Aang! I’ve been wanting to say that since I set foot in this place. Time to break some rules!
So we headed back out. While we were putting up posters, Katara ran into this kid named Jet that she knows from before. I don’t know what he did to her in the past, but she’s really mad at him.
“Katara, I swear I’ve changed,” he pleaded. “I don’t even have my gang now. I’ve put all that behind me. I’m here to help you find Appa.”
“You’re lying!”
Hmm, that’s odd. I can feel his heartbeat and the vibrations his body’s making as he breathes in and out. He’s feels perfectly calm. His breathing is normal and his heart rate is steady. If he was lying, his heart rate would speed up and his breathing would grow faster and unsteady. No, this guy is telling the truth. “He’s not lying.”
Even though Katara is still skeptical, we’ve decided to follow Jet to this warehouse where he heard they were keeping Appa.
This place is empty! Appa’s certainly not here. Maybe Katara is right about this guy. Maybe he’s leading us into a trap. Maybe—Wait a minute. What’s that? I’m stepping in something that feels very familiar. It feels like—oh. “Appa was here,” I announced, reaching down, picking up a handful of his fur.
“We missed him,” Aang said sadly.
“They took that big thing to Whaletail Island—very, very far from here,” said an unknown voice. Apparently the building janitor has seen Appa. Aang’s insisting we go, no matter how far away it is. Jet said he’ll help, but Katara still doesn’t trust him.
Boy, oh boy, is she steamed up! Her heart is pounding like a hammer and her breathing is all over the place. Katara really likes this guy! “Was he your boyfriend or something?”
“No!”
Ha! She’s totally lying. No wonder she’s so mad at him.
As we got ready to leave, two people came running over to Jet. They seem to know him.
“How did you get away from the Dai Li?” one of them asked him. Then she turned to Katara. “He got arrested by the Dai Li a couple of weeks ago.”
“I don’t know what she’s talking about,” Jet insisted.
Okay, now this is really weird. Impossible, in fact. The girl who’s saying that Jet had been arrested, and Jet, who’s insisting that he hadn’t been, are BOTH telling the truth. Normal heart rates and breathing in both of them. How can that be?
“They both THINK they’re telling the truth,” Sokka discovered, “which means that Jet has been brainwashed!”
I guess he’s not such a dud after all. That makes sense, finally.
“The Dai Li must have sent Jet to mislead us, and that janitor was part of their plot too,” Katara said.
“I bet they have Appa right here in the city,” Aang said excitedly. “Maybe they took him to the same place they took Jet. We need to find a way to jog his real memories.”
So Katara’s Waterbending a sparkling band of healing energy around Jet’s head. Slowly he’s beginning to relax. Soon his true memories are going to drift up through the brainwashing … and here it comes. Apparently, the Dai Li had taken him to their headquarters, underwater, beneath a lake.
“Joo Dee said she went on a vacation to Lake Laogai,” Sokka recalled.
> “That’s it!” Jet cried. “Lake Laogai!”
Okay, now he’s DEFINITELY telling the truth. I hope Appa’s there, I really do. I can’t wait to put this whole Appa mess behind me. If he’s really gone, I don’t know what I’ll do.
We’ve finally arrived at Lake Laogai, but there’s no sign of any kind of headquarters. There’s nothing here. It’s just a lake and—Whoa, wait a second! It’s hollow beneath this rock! That’s an entrance!
“Got it!” I shouted. I’ll just Earthbend this rock up and—there it is, a tunnel leading under the lake. Okay, we’re heading down now. It feels huge. …
“I think there might be a cell big enough to hold Appa up ahead,” Jet said.
Again he’s telling the truth. Please be in there, Appa. Please!
Okay, we’re in and—
“Take them into custody!”
Long Feng! But Jet was telling the truth! He expected to find Appa here. Oh, well, it looks like instead of finding Appa we’re going to be fighting Dai Li agents.
They’re pretty good Earthbenders—very good, in fact. But nothing I can’t handle, especially with help from the others. Is that all you got, Dai Li? You guys wouldn’t even make it through Earth Rumble Six! You just—Oh, no! Aang said Long Feng’s escaping!
Good, Aang and Jet are on it. Katara, Sokka, and I can finish up these Dai Li wimps.
By the time we caught up to Aang and Jet in the other room, Jet was lying on the ground. No sign of Long Feng, but things aren’t looking so good for Jet. Katara’s trying to heal him, but I can’t tell if it’s working. He’s telling Katara that he’ll be fine, but the sad thing is, this time, it feels like he’s lying.
Back out into the tunnels. Focus, Toph, feel the spaces behind the doors. No, too small to hold Appa. Too small. Too—here it is! Behind that door. If he’s in this tunnel he’s in that room. In we go and—empty!
“He’s gone!” Aang cried. “Long Feng beat us here.”
“If we keep moving, maybe we can catch up with them!” Sokka said.
These tunnels are like mazes. Got to feel for the twists and turns and—the stairs! Here’s the way back up! “Come on! Follow me!”
Finally, we made it—back out onto the shore. And we’re surrounded by Dai Li troops—lots of them! Too many, from the feel of it. We can’t take them all. I can’t believe we came all this way and we didn’t even find Appa. I can barely face Aang. I can only imagine what he must be feeling. This is all my fault.
Wait, what’s Momo doing? He’s chirping wildly like he knows something.
“Appa!” Aang shouted.
Appa’s back! Yup, I’d know that unmistakable thud anywhere—even in the sand! I don’t know how, but he’s back. After Aang, I think I’m the most relieved person in the world.
It didn’t take Appa long to Airbend the Dai Li troops into the lake with his huge tail. Then he bit Long Feng on the leg and tossed him into the water too.
As uncomfortable as I am being off the ground and on Appa’s back, I’ve never been so happy to climb up onto the big, smelly beast. Welcome back, Appa. Welcome back.
Now that we have Appa there’s nothing stopping us from telling the Earth King the truth about the war, the eclipse, and Long Feng’s conspiracy for power. Well, almost nothing—except a bunch of royal Earthbending guards at the king’s palace! We just have to keep battling our way in. …
Finally! We’re face-to-face with the king in his throne room. Long Feng and some Dai Li agents are here too. Surprise, surprise.
“We need to talk to you!” Aang insisted.
“He’s lying!” Long Feng shouted. “They’re here to overthrow you.”
“You invade my palace, lay waste to my guards, and you expect me to trust you?”
“He has a good point,” I said.
But when he heard that Aang is the Avatar, the king decided to listen to us.
“There’s a war going on right now—for the last hundred years, in fact,” Aang explained. “The Dai Li’s kept it secret from you. It’s a conspiracy to control the city and to control you!”
After a lot of coaxing, the king agreed to allow us to prove our point. So we’re taking him to Lake Laogai to show him the Dai Li’s secret headquarters.
Okay, where’s that entrance? Wait a minute. How can this be? Still, I can feel it with my feet. “It’s gone! There’s nothing down there anymore.”
“The Dai Li must have destroyed the evidence,” Katara said.
Great. Now the king will never believe us! Not that I blame him. I mean, our evidence doesn’t exist anymore. But now Katara’s pleading with him to come back and look at Ba Sing Se’s outer wall. Hey, I know what she’s going for here—great idea! She wants to show him the Fire Nation drill! There’s still a chance. …
We’re heading back toward the wall—there’s the drill, right where we destroyed it! The king has to believe us now. …
“Dai Li, arrest Long Feng!” the king ordered.
Whoo hoo! He finally believes us. Now we’re getting somewhere.
We were back in the throne room when a general named How arrived with some amazing news.
“We searched Long Feng’s office,” he said. “I think we’ve found something that will interest everybody. Secret files on everyone in Ba Sing Se, including you kids.”
“It’s a letter from your mom, Toph,” Katara said. “She’s here in the city, and she wants to see you!”
Wow! I can’t believe my mom’s here! I never thought she’d defy my father. … I thought my leaving would be the end of our relationship. But I guess Iroh’s nephew, Zuko, isn’t the only lucky one. … I guess my mother cares too.
I handed Katara the letter and asked her to read it to me.
It sounds like she’s changed—a lot. Like she finally understands who I really am, and she’s ready to accept me. This is almost too good to be true. For the first time in a long time, I really can’t wait to see her!
Everybody else got good news too. Aang was given a scroll found on Appa’s horn, telling him about a guru at the Eastern Air Temple who can help him with the Avatar state. And Katara and Sokka found out where their dad’s Water Tribe fleet is.
It looks like we’re all going our separate ways. Aang and Sokka are flying off on Appa—Sokka’s going to find his dad, and Aang’s off to find his guru. Katara is staying behind with the king. And I’m off to meet my mom.
I can’t believe how sad I am that we’re splitting up. These guys have definitely had an impact on me. I was wrong, thinking I could always do everything on my own. I need these guys. They’re my friends. And I’m really, really going to miss them. But I can’t pass up a chance to see my mom. Besides, we’ll meet up again, I know it.
I’m off to this fancy apartment building where my mom’s supposed to be waiting for me. Okay, here’s the apartment, just breathe. It’s going to be fine. She wants to see you, right? After all, she wrote that letter. She reached out and traveled all this distance. It’s going to be better than fine. It’s going to be great. Just stay calm.
KNOCK. KNOCK.
“Hello, Mom?”
KNOCK. KNOCK. That’s odd. The door just swung open. “Anyone home?” Hmm … I guess I should go in.
“Hello!”
Something’s very wrong here. This apartment is empty! There’s no furniture. There’s nothing here at all.
WHAM!
What’s that? Something just dropped over me from above, surrounding me on all sides. Some kind of cage … a cage that I can’t bend! It must be made of metal! “Who’s here? And who do you think you’re dealing with?”
“One loud-mouthed, little brat who’s strayed too far from home.”
I know that voice. It’s Xin Fu from the Earthbending arena!
How did he find me? He must have followed me all the way from home. So much for the loving, teary reunion with my mother. The letter, it was just a fake, a hoax, just to get me here. How could I be so stupid to think my mother would come all this way to t
ell me that she now understood me?
The cage is being lifted. I must be on some kind of platform. No, it’s a carriage—with an ostrich-horse, by the sound and smell of it.
And now we’re moving! I’m trapped. I wonder if the others are in trouble too? I don’t know how, but I’ve got to get out of this cage! I’ve got to find my friends!
Chapter 8
We’ve been traveling for hours, I’m sure of it. But since I can’t bend metal, I can’t sense the vibrations of the ground or trees around me, and so I have no idea where we are. But from the sounds, the smell, and the bumpy ride, I think we’re in a forest.
“I believe we need to go right.”
THAT’S not Xin Fu, it’s Master Yu! So he’s in on this too.
“What are you talking about,” Xin Fu replied. “The Beifong’s estate is this way.”
Hmm. Maybe I can use this to my advantage.
“Hey! Can you two old ladies quit bickering for a second? I have to go to the bathroom!”
“Okay, but make it quick,” Master Yu said.
“What’s wrong with you?” Xin Fu shouted.
Great. NOW he’s got brains!
“Very sneaky, Toph!” Master Yu said, trying to sound like he wasn’t fooled. “Nice try, but you can’t fool me.”
“You may think you’re the greatest Earthbender in the world, but even you can’t bend metal!” Xin Fu added in his smug tone.
I need to get out of here! If only I COULD bend metal, I’d be out of here in a minute. Then those guys would be—
Wait a minute … metal comes from the earth. If I can bend it when it’s still ore embedded deep in rocks, why shouldn’t I be able to bend it in its processed form? It’s the same stuff, right? Maybe it’s not the METAL that’s holding me prisoner, it’s my mind. Sheesh. Now I’m starting to sound like Aang!
But what if it’s true? Aang always had the power to Earthbend within him. It was only his approach that stopped him. Maybe that’s my problem too. Okay. Here we go.