by The Tale of Aang; Azula; Toph; Sokka; Zuko; Katara (retail) (epub)
“His chi is blocked,” the general told me.
I can use a Waterbending healing technique to open up his chi paths again. There. That should be better. Good, he can move his arm again. “Who did this to you?”
“Two girls ambushed us. One of them hit me with a bunch of quick jabs, and suddenly I couldn’t Earthbend and I could barely move. Then she cartwheeled away!”
“It’s that girl—I think her name is Ty Lee!” She attacked me in Omashu along with Princess Azula. She punched me with those quick jabs and my bending vanished. It’s a horrible feeling of weakness. I don’t ever want to feel that helpless again. “She doesn’t look dangerous, but she knows the human body and its weak points. It’s like she takes you down from the inside.”
Why is Sokka suddenly squealing and jumping up and down like a monkey? Sometimes he’s so strange. “Yes?” I asked Sokka.
“What you just said! That’s how we’re going to take down that drill. The same way Ty Lee took down all these big Earthbenders!”
“By hitting its pressure points!” Toph added, getting Sokka’s idea immediately.
That’s my brother. He’s our plan guy. Just when I think he’s gone over the deep end, he bounces right back!
“We’ll take it down from the inside!” Aang said. “Sokka’s plan has got to work. Everyone inside that wall–the whole world, in fact–is counting on us.”
He’s right. I try hard not to spend every moment worrying about the fate of the world, and how it basically rests with our every action and choice, but it’s the truth.
Sokka’s plan worked! After weakening the drill’s supports from the inside, Aang slammed the outside of the drill with a huge rock, stopping it in its tracks. I can’t believe we did it! We stopped the drill and saved the city. Now we can finally head toward the Earth King.
We rode the train past the inner wall and got our first glimpse of Ba Sing Se. When we got out at the station, Aang pulled out his bison whistle and blew. “I’m coming for you, buddy.”
Now that the distraction of stopping the drill has passed, Aang’s had time to think about Appa again. I can feel his mood sinking. I’ve got to help keep his spirits up.
“He’s here, Katara. I can feel it.”
“We’ll find him, Aang. I know it.”
We’ve just been approached by a woman named Joo Dee. She says she’s going to show us around. So strange. I wonder how she knew we were coming. She even knows all our names and she knows that Aang is the Avatar.
“Shall we get started?” Joo Dee asked.
“Yes,” Sokka replied. “We have information about the Fire Nation Army that we need to deliver to the Earth King right away.”
“Great!” she said. “Let’s begin our tour.”
“Maybe you missed what I told you,” Sokka said. “We need to talk to the king about the war. It’s important.”
“You’re in Ba Sing Se now,” Joo Dee replied. “Everyone is safe here.”
She’s not even listening to Sokka. What is going on here? I know Aang and Toph don’t like this place. I think that soon I’ll understand exactly why. … In the meantime, I guess I should pay attention to the tour. I might learn something important.
So this is the lower ring of the city. It’s a walled-off area where all the poor people and refugees live. It’s so sad! It’s like they’re prisoners here in their own city. Here’s the middle ring–filled with shops, restaurants, and Ba Sing Se University. This looks a lot more livable than the first ring.
“We have information that is absolutely crucial for the king to hear,” Sokka repeated.
“Look, here’s one of the oldest buildings in the middle ring, Town Hall,” Joo Dee replied.
“Is that woman deaf?” Sokka asked.
“She hears you. It’s called being handled,” Toph explained. “Get used to it.”
Joo Dee is definitely ignoring Sokka. But why? The fate of the world is in our hands. We have to get this message to the king!
“What’s inside that oval wall?” I asked as we entered the upper ring.
“And who are those mean-looking guys in robes?” Sokka added.
“Inside the oval is the royal palace of the king,” Joo Dee explained. “Those men are agents of the Dai Li, the Cultural Authority of Ba Sing Se. They are the guardians of all our traditions.”
“Can we see the king now?” Aang asked.
Good question! How can she say no to the Avatar?
“Oh, no,” Joo Dee replied. “One doesn’t just pop in on the king.”
Unbelievable! But he’s the AVATAR!
Now we’re stopping. Why are we stopping?
“Here we are, your new home,” Joo Dee said. Then she turned to talk to a messenger who just arrived. “More good news. Your request to see the king has been processed and should be put through in about a month.”
A month? Every day we wait is one day less we have to plan our invasion of the Fire Nation. How could it possibly take that long for the Avatar to see the king? Aang shouldn’t have to wait for anyone!
“If we’re going to be here for a month, we should spend it looking for Appa,” Aang said.
He’s right. At least we can make good use of the time.
After a whole afternoon of searching for Appa with Joo Dee, who insisted on coming along, we came home without having had any luck. At least Joo Dee is finally gone! Not only isn’t she helpful, but she seems to be intentionally blocking or controlling all our efforts to see the king and find Appa. And Sokka tried to ask our next-door neighbor, Pong, about the war.He told Sokka never to mention the war again, and to stay away from the Dai Li. I couldn’t believe my ears!
“This is ridiculous,” I said. “No one will talk about anything important. It’s like there’s a conspiracy.”
“We have to find a way to see the Earth King,” Sokka said. “That’s the only way to straighten this out.”
The next morning as I was reading the newspaper, it hit me! The king is having a party at the palace tonight for his pet bear, so we can sneak in to see him!
Toph and I are getting dressed up in fancy dresses, to try to blend in with the society crowd. Earlier today she gave me some lessons on how to act like a rich society lady. She knows all about that; her family is really wealthy. It’s actually kind of fun pretending to be one of these women. Sometimes I think about how different my life would be if my parents were well-off, like Toph’s, or even if my grandmother had stayed at the North Pole instead of migrating south. … It would be kind of nice to be able to dress like this all the time. I can’t wait to see the look on Aang’s face when he sees me in this fancy getup–it’s nothing like my usual robes. I wonder what he’ll say. …
“Wow! You look beautiful!” Aang said immediately.
Beautiful? Oh my gosh, he’s actually blushing! Wait, I think I am too. … Okay, Katara, it’s not such a big deal. So he thinks you look beautiful, so what? It’s just the excitement over being a normal girl, that’s all. It’ll wear off. …
We’re finally in the party and able to start searching out the king. We almost got turned away at the king’s door because we didn’t have an invitation. (I guess the Beifong seal of the flying boar doesn’t work everywhere.) Then I saw this guy walking toward us and I told him my blind cousin lost our invitation–Toph must have loved that! Anyway, the guy, Long Feng, said he’d be honored to help us. Apparently he’s the cultural minister to the king. I guess there are a few nice people here! Unfortunately he was also very protective–he kept saying he wasn’t going to leave us alone until we found our families! Thankfully, Aang and Sokka snuck in on their own dressed as busboys.
“What are you doing here?” called a familiar voice.
It’s Joo Dee!
“You have to leave immediately, or we’ll all be in terrible trouble!”
What does that mean? How much damage could we cause? Oh, no–why is Aang Airbending! We’re supposed to be undercover. Now everyone knows the Avatar is here! Wait, it looks
like it’s okay. Aang is going to entertain them while we look for the king. Okay, where could he be? Oh, there he is! And Aang’s making his way over to talk to him. Finally! He’s–wait, what’s happening? Someone’s grabbing me–AHHH! I’m being dragged out of the ballroom! What is this? Where are we, in some kind of library? Thank goodness, Sokka, Toph, and Momo are here. But where’s Aang?
The door’s opening. It’s Aang and that guy who helped us, Long Feng!
“Why won’t you let us talk to the king?” Sokka asked. “We have information that could defeat the Fire Nation!”
“The Earth King has no time to get involved with political squabbles and the day-to-day minutia of military activities,” Long Feng replied.
No wonder he helped us in–we just made it easier for him to trap us!
“What’s most important to His Royal Majesty is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se. It’s my job to oversee the rest of the city’s resources, including the military.”
So that’s it, then. The Dai Li, and this guy in particular, actually run things. No wonder we can’t see the king. We’d find out that he has no real power here. This is what everyone’s been hiding from us.
“So the king is just a figurehead.”
“He’s your puppet!” Toph added.
“Oh, no, no,” Long Feng insisted. “He just can’t sully his hands with the hourly changes of an endless war.”
Finally, someone here admits there’s ACTUALLY a war!
“But we’ve found out about a solar eclipse that will leave the Fire Nation defenseless! You could lead an invasion–”
“No!” Long Feng shouted. “It is the strict policy of Ba Sing Se that the war not be mentioned within the walls. Constant news of an escalating war would throw the citizens into a state of panic.”
This is insane! The war is going to reach this city eventually. In fact it already has–we just stopped a huge drill from breaking through the outer wall! We didn’t think Omashu would ever fall, but it did. Nowhere is safe from the Fire Nation. Not even Ba Sing Se. And believe me, they’ll have more than their fair share of panic if they just sit back and do nothing.
“You can’t keep the truth from all these people! They have to know!” I cried out.
“I’ll tell them!” Aang shouted. “I’ll make sure everyone knows!”
“Until now you have been treated as honored guests,” Long Feng said calmly. “But from now on you will be watched by the Dai Li. If you mention the war, you will be expelled from the city. I understand you’ve been looking for your bison. It would be a shame if you were not able to complete your quest.”
He’s threatening us! He knows we’re searching for Appa, and he’s threatening to kick us out of the city before we’ve had a chance to find him. Could it be that he even knows where Appa is, and is holding him prisoner to keep us quiet?
“Now Joo Dee will show you home,” Long Feng said.
Who’s that? That’s not Joo Dee. …
“Come with me, please,” she said, smiling.
“What happened to Joo Dee?”
“I’m Joo Dee. I’ll be your host as long as you’re in our wonderful city.”
She’s Joo Dee too? That’s impossible. …
Chapter 8
We’re trying to make the most of our time here while we’re waiting to see the king, and that means finding Appa. Hopefully these missing- bison posters and fliers will help. Aang has been flying over the city spreading them everywhere.
Someone’s knocking at the door. It’s Joo Dee–the first Joo Dee.
“What happened to you?” Sokka asked. “Did the Dai Li throw you in jail?”
“Of course not,” Joo Dee replied. “I simply took a short vacation to Lake Laogai, out in the country.”
That’s odd. “But why did they replace you with some other woman who also said her name was Joo Dee?”
“I’m Joo Dee.”
Yeah, lady, I heard you, but that still doesn’t answer my question. Why am I even expecting an answer? She’s ignored almost every question we’ve asked her since we got here. Boy, this conspiracy runs really deep. It’s like it’s compromised everybody. …
“I’m here to tell you that dropping fliers and putting up posters is forbidden.”
“We don’t care about your rules!” Aang shouted. “We’re finding Appa on our own, so just stay out of our way!” Then he slammed the door in Joo Dee’s face.
I guess we’re not following their rules anymore. Finally! I mean, usually I think it’s best to try to work things out before it gets to this point, but that clearly isn’t happening here. These people will do anything to stop us from speaking the truth, even if that means keeping us from Appa. We were never going to get any help from Joo Dee or the Dai Li.
We’re heading out with piles of missing-bison posters. If we split up, we’ll cover more ground. … I’ll go this way.
“Katara?”
HUH? I know that voice. It can’t be!
“I think I can help you.”
I don’t believe it! Jet! Here in Ba Sing Se! I’m still so mad at him for flooding that village, I could scream! Since he’s so fond of floods, I’ll show him a flood. WHOOSH!
“Katara, I’ve changed!” he cried as the powerful rush of water slammed him into the alley’s back wall.
“Tell it to some other girl, Jet!” I can never trust him again. Never! I cared for him, really cared for him. I thought he was brave and strong and good. And then he failed me.
“I don’t want to fight you!” he yelled, slashing my ice daggers with his sword.
What’s he doing? He’s dropping his sword to the ground. But wait, what’s he reaching for? I knew he was lying!
WHOOSH! It’s not so easy to fight when you’re pinned against the wall with ice daggers, is it, Jet?
“Katara, what is it?”
Sokka! Thank goodness. “Jet’s back, and we can’t trust anything he says.”
“But we don’t even know why he’s here,” Sokka said.
“I don’t care why he’s here. Whatever the reason is, it can’t be good.” Why is Sokka defending him? He knows what Jet did!
“I’m here to help you find Appa,” Jet said.
Huh? What’s that rolled up in his hand? It’s one of our Appa fliers. I thought he was reaching for a weapon. … Well, I don’t want his help. I don’t want anything to do with him!
“Katara, we have to give him a chance,” Aang said, catching up to us.
“Katara, I swear I’ve changed,” Jet pleaded. “I was a troubled person. I let my anger get out of control. But I don’t even have my gang now. I’ve put all that behind me.”
Talk is cheap. All that talk about saving innocent people from the Fire Nation and doing the right thing, and yet he flooded an entire village just to prove a point! Well, I’m not going to let him do this again. He’s not going to make me trust him. “You’re lying!” What’s Toph doing? She’s walking over. She’s feeling the wall he’s leaning against. Is she going to take out the wall?
“He’s not lying,” Toph announced. “I can feel his breathing and heartbeat. When people lie, there’s a physical indication. He’s telling the truth.”
“Katara, we don’t have any leads,” Aang added. “If Jet says he can help us find Appa, we have to check it out.”
So nobody feels like I do? They’re all willing to just forget about what Jet did and believe him. Maybe I’m overreacting. Why am I still so mad at him? I guess I can’t ask Aang to pass up any opportunity to find Appa just because my feelings for Jet are … complicated. “All right. But we’re not letting you out of our sight.”
As we followed Jet to the warehouse where he’d heard they were keeping Appa, I tried to make sense of my feelings. Maybe it’s just been a really long time since I’ve had someone to lean on, someone who was older, someone who was wise and brave. I guess that when I met Jet, I was so excited because he was kind of that person to me. He was totally devoted to fighting the Fire Na
tion; I didn’t even have to convince him of how important it is! And I guess I did sort of feel a special connection with him. I felt safe when he was around, and then he betrayed that, he betrayed ME. I’d really like to believe that he’s changed, but what if he hasn’t? What if I get hurt again?
Time to snap out of it–we’re here. … So Jet WAS telling the truth. Appa was here, but the janitor said that he’s been sold to some guy who took him to some distant island. Maybe I can trust him again after all. …
“I don’t care how far it is,” Aang said. “We have to try.”
Aang’s right. Now that we know where Appa is, we’ve got to go after him.
“All right,” Sokka said. “Let’s get moving.”
“I’ll come with you,” Jet said.
“We don’t need your help.” I already have way too much to deal with. I can’t handle him, too.
“Why won’t you trust me?” Jet pleaded.
He can’t be serious, can he? How can he ask that question? “Gee … I wonder.”
“Was this guy your boyfriend or something?” Toph asked.
What? Why would she ask that? She wasn’t even with us when everything first happened–how does she know that we weren’t just friends? Am I acting like an angry ex-girlfriend? Is that why she said that? “No!”
“I can tell you’re lying,” Toph said.
She’s infuriating.
“Jet!” someone called out.
It’s those two kids from his gang. I knew it! I knew he was lying! He’s never going to change, and I almost fell back into trusting him.
“I thought you said you didn’t have your gang anymore.”
“I don’t,” Jet said.
He has some nerve to continue to lie right to my face when the proof that he’s lying is standing right here.
“How did you get away from the Dai Li?” one of his gang buddies asked.
“The Dai Li?!” Is he in with those thugs too? What if this really is a trap?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jet said.
“He got arrested by the Dai Li a few weeks ago.”