Road to Ba Sing Se | Zuko

35

In no time, the tea servers were surrounded. Keya looked around excitedly for the Earth King and his bear (what type of bear was it actually? She had neglected to ask Kanak. Surely it wasn't just 'a bear'?), but they weren't anywhere to be seen.

"Something's not right." Zuko whispered to his uncle. Keya inched closer to him. She held onto his sleeve nervously.

Zuko noticed her small grip on his sleeve. The Prince subtly connected his pinky finger with her own, frustrated with the fact that it was the most he could do to calm her down. Then again, he wasn't so sure if he wanted her to be calm. Something was going on and he needed her to be alert.

"It's tea time!" A young girl, around fourteen years or so, suddenly walked into the room.

Her green outfit did nothing to hide her pale skin, dark hair, and fiery gold eyes. She matched Zuko in the sharpness of her features, indicating their family resemblance. She walked with her hands behind her back, like a military General on her way to scold her troops. Yet, her face held nothing but a smug sneer filled with a combination of satisfaction and contempt as her eyes fell on Iroh and Zuko. A glint of surprise passed her face when her eyes landed on Keya. Who is this? But she covered it up before anyone could notice.

Zuko stood up in shock and offence. "Azula!" He exclaimed. Without thinking, he thrust his arm out in front of Keya protectively.

Azula raised a curious eyebrow when she noticed his action. The Princess sneered menacingly as she continued to speak. "Have you met the Dai Li? They're earthbenders, but they have a killer instinct that's just so firebender. I just love it."

Iroh bent down and grabbed his freshly poured cup of tea. He raised it to his lips, but did not take a sip. "Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname 'the Dragon of the West'?" He asked calmly, but there was a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"I'm not interested in a lengthy anecdote, uncle." Azula inspected her pristinely sharp nails boredly.

Iroh smiled. "It's more of a demonstration, really." He sipped his tea. Keya stepped behind Zuko carefully when she noticed his on guard stance. Something was about to happen.

Without any warning, Zuko grabbed Keya and pulled her in his chest. He moved to stand back to back against his uncle, just in time for the old man to release a big burst of fire from his mouth. Keya whimpered against her lover's chest as the sounds of fire and battle erupted around her.

Using this momentary demonstration as a distraction, Zuko quickly blasted a hole through one of the paper walls. He dragged Keya with him as he made his escape. Iroh was right behind them, flames still blasting from his mouth in order to give themselves a head start.

The trio sprinted down the halls as quickly as they could, but the Dai Li agents were right behind them. Two of the agents shot out their rock-covered hands. Shards of pebble-sized rocks lodged themselves into the walls. The trio turned a corner just before any of them could be hit.

Iroh used his powerful lightning to blast another hole through the outer wall. Without hesitation, the old man jumped through. He landed with a rough grunt in a rather shapely bush. Keya hesitated as she looked down the hole. She was way too high up! What if she missed the bushes?!

Zuko stood beside her, looking rather conflicted as well.

"Come on!" Iroh yelled to them. "You'll be fine!"

Keya turned her head to Zuko to see if he had any plans of jumping. The boy had made up his mind before she could ask him about it.

"No." He said. "I'm tired of running. It's time I faced Azula." With that said, the young Prince headed back to fight his sister.