As a reward for protecting Ba Sing Se from the Fire Nation attack, Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph and I are allowed into the city. At this moment, we were on the monorail awaiting our arrival to Ba Sing Se.
Sokka, Toph and I sat on one side of the monorail as Aang and Katara sat across from us.
Sokka's head laid against my shoulder as he dozed off. A bit of his saliva leaked out of his mouth as he drooled all over my tattoo.
Sokka and I needed to have a serious talk about our relationship, because what were we? We haven't exactly discussed what has been happening between us. We've admitted our feelings for each other in some way, and we've almost kissed several times, in which were all interrupted. When we get settled in Ba Sing Se, I need to get him alone so we can have an conversation.
Katara looks out from the window and notices the Inner Wall of the Earth Kingdom capital drawing closer. "Look, the Inner Wall!"
After hearing Katara's screams, Sokka awakens quickly. He gives me a confused look before glancing at the mess he made on my shoulder.
Sokka whips out a cloth from his sash as he begins cleaning his saliva off my shoulder. "V, I'm so sorry."
I look away from my shoulder and into Sokka's eyes. "It's okay, I don't mind some of your drool on me."
Sokka half smiled as he continued wiping my shoulder, clean.
"I can't believe we finally made it to Ba Sing Se in one piece."
Sokka snaps his head towards his sister, slightly skeptical. "Hey, don't jinx it! We can still be attacked by some giant exploding Fire Nation spoon. Or find out the city's been submerged in an ocean full of killer shrimp!"
Toph is slightly annoyed, yet still jokingly. "You been hitting the cactus juice again?"
I lightly giggled, but Sokka sent a glare my way, causing me to stiffen and stop laughing.
"I'm just sayin', weird stuff happens to us."
A man, sucking a corn plant in his mouth, takes a seat between Toph and Sokka, startling them.
In order to say something, I turned to look at corn man, but Sokka clasped his hand over my mouth, forbidding me to speak. "V, don't."
Aang and Katara look out the windows.
Sympathetically Katara says, "Don't worry Aang, we'll find Appa."
"It's such a big city." Aang sighs in doubtfulness.
Sokka is somewhat optimistic. "He's a giant bison! Where could someone possibly hide him?"
The monorail enters the Inner wall. Sokka, Katara, Aang and I view the giant city through the windows.
Sokka comes to realization from the city's gigantic size. "Oh."
The four of us notice that Ba Sing Se stretches almost as far as our eyes can see, and it has many roads and buildings. Our train enters the monorail station, stopping there. All of us disembark.
"Ah," Toph sighs, miserably. "Back in the city."
"What's the problem?" Sokka asked, excitedly. "It's amazing!"
With Momo rested on Toph's shoulder sleeping, she speaks. "It's just a bunch of walls and rules. You
wait, you'll get sick of it in a couple of days."
Aang looks at the bison whistle in his palm, and he blows it. "I'm comin' for ya, buddy." Katara walks over to the downtrodden Aang, and places her hand on his shoulder. More confidently. "He's here; I can feel it."
The monorail departing, behind us on the other side of the track, there is a woman with long dark hair that billows in the wind. She approaches us with a strange smile on her face.
"Hello, my name is Joo Dee!" She cheerfully says. "I have been given the great honor of showing the Avatar around Ba Sing Se. And you must be Sokka,
Katara, Venus and Toph! Welcome to our wonderful city. Shall we get started?"
"Yes." Sokka exclaims. "We have information about the Fire Nation army that we need to deliver to the Earth King, immediately."
"Great!" Jo Dee robotically spoke. "Let's begin our tour. And then I'll show you to your new home here. I think you'll like it!"
"Ugh!" Sokka groans, lightly annoyed, he walks up to Joo Dee. "Maybe you missed what I said. We need to talk to the King about the War, it's important."
"You're in Ba Sing Se now. Everyone is safe here."
Everyone on the team had a confused look on their faces regarding Joo Dee's strange statement.
✼ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ✼
We were now taking our tour in a carriage pulled by an ostrich horse through the streets. Refugees lined the streets and there were many shops.
"This is the Lower Ring." Jo Dee says.
"What's that wall for?" Katara curiously asked.
"Oh, Ba Sing Se has many walls! There are the ones outside protecting us, and the ones inside, that help maintain order." Outside the carriage we cross some refugees. "This is where our newest arrivals live, as well as our craftsman and artisans, people that work with their hands. It's so quaint and lively!"
Two men are conversing in an alley. One of them is holding a large sword that glistens in the light. Both glare at the carriage as it passes. Katara becomes unnerved, her face blanking out, while Momo, who was looking out of the window by hanging from the ceiling, quickly retreats completely into the carriage.
In nervousness Jo Dee says, "You do want to watch your step though."
Katara has a nervous look on her face. "Why do they have all these poor people blocked off in one part of the city?"
Aang is upset and somewhat bored. "This is why I never came here before. I always heard it was so different from the way the monks taught us to live."
We continue our tour all the way up to more nicer homes and community. "This is the Middle Ring of Ba Sing Se, home to the financial district, shops and restaurants, and the university."
Aang and Sokka look out of the windows, bored. "Yeah, we met a professor from the Ba Sing Se University. He took us to an ancient underground library where we discovered information about the war that is," Sokka leans toward Joo Dee, losing his patience, "absolutely crucial for the Earth King to hear!"
Jo Dee smiles; excitedly. "Isn't history fascinating? Look, here's one of the oldest buildings in the Middle Ring, Town Hall!"
The carriage stops and Joo Dee exits. Sokka stares at her, annoyed. "Is that woman deaf? She only seems to hear every other word I say."
"It's called being handled. Get used to it." Toph crosses her arms as everyone else glares sadly at Sokka.
We continue our tour. "The Upper Ring is home to our most important citizens. Your house is not too far from here!"
The carriage passes by another wall with a tall gate. Behind it, the roof of an enormous building can be seen.
"What's inside that wall?" Katara asks.
Three men are standing in the gateway, wearing dark robes and wide brimmed hats turn their eyes, looking somewhat hateful at us.
"And who're the mean-looking guys in robes?" Sokka adds on to Katara's question.
"Inside is the Royal Palace. 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?" I bluntly asked.
"Oh no," Jo Dee giggles. "One doesn't just pop in on the Earth King!"
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We finally stop as we reached the home we were staying in. Momo flies, and descends and lands on the roof of a small house. "Here we are! Your new home."
Out of no where, a messenger comes, giving Joo Dee a scroll, and leaves. "More good news! Your request for an audience with the Earth King is being processed, and should be put through in about a month. Much more quickly than usual!"
"Excuse me, did you say a month?" I coughed out.
"Six to eight weeks, actually." Jo Dee closes her eyes and smiles widely.
"Girl, don't get smart with me."
Sokka held my shoulder as he led me inside the home, it was smaller compared to the other houses around us, but it was cute. I liked it.
Once we settled into the house, Jo Dee started talking. "Isn't it nice? I think you'll really enjoy it here."
"I think we would enjoy it more if we weren't staying for so long." Sokka crossed his arms, as he pressed Jo Dee. "Can't we see the Earth King any sooner?"
Jo Dee clasps her hands together, with her signature smile. "The Earth King is very busy running the finest city in the world!" Sokka has an annoyed expression covered on his face. "But he will see you as soon as time permits."
Aang turns to look out the window determined. "If we're going to be here for a month, we should spend our time looking for Appa."
Joo Dee bows behind Aang. "I'd like to escort you anywhere you'd like to go."
"We don't need a babysitter." Toph gets up and walks toward the door.
"Oh, I won't get in the way." Jo Dee takes a step, blocking Toph's path. "And to leave you alone would make me a bad host!" Sokka and I look at each other before glancing back at Jo Dee. "Where shall we start?"
Toph turns around in annoyance.
Jo Dee had taken us to a pet store and we were now speaking with the owner at the counter.
"I'm sorry, but I haven't heard anything about a flying bison. I didn't even know there were any."
I could sense the presence of Joo Dee lurking behind me and I could tell she had that stupid smile on her face even though I didn't turn to look at her.
"If someone wanted to sell a stolen animal without anyone knowing, where would they go?" Aang asked.
Sokka is slightly frustrated. "Where's the black market? Who runs it?" He points at the store owner accusingly. "Come on, you know!"
I whip out my small dagger as I begin to capitalize on Sokka's energy. I flip the owner over the desk with my knife close to his neck and grab the hem of his shirt to bring him closer to me. "You know."
As we question the man, Sokka leans in and places his chin on my shoulder. "You heard her, answer the question!"
Nervous and sweaty the man stutters on his words. "Uhhhh..." I could see him zone out for a minute. "That would be illegal. You'll have to leave now; your lemur is harassing my sparrowkeets,"
We turn to see Momo eating a birds' food while defending himself from a sparrowkeets.
Our next stop was outside Ba Sing Se University. Several students are walking to class. We had been passed by a group of guys who stopped to wave and say hello to me.
While I was speaking with one of the guys, Sokka groaned to himself and said some unkind things.
"-Yeah, I'm not from around here," I told the older boys who had asked me where I was from.
"You don't look from around here." One of them said. "You look like you're off the coast of the earth kingdom."
"Actually-" I was rudely interrupted when Sokka had firmly took the ends of my hair and pulled me away from the boys.
"Sokka, ow! Sokka! 0w! 0w!" I turned to the male students before getting dragged away by the water tribe boy. "Nice to meet you!"
Sokka had pushed me up against one of the statues infront of the university, some students noticed and gave us suspicious glances.
I whipped my head towards Sokka angrily. "Are you insane?"
"Are you?!" He yelled back.
"You're the one who just dragged me and pinned me up against a statue so yeah, you look crazy right now." My eyes darted towards the students passing by.
Sokka rolled his eyes. "I don't care. Stop talking with those guys. You aren't even getting any information out of them about Appa. You're just flirting."
A mischievous grin appears on my face. "You're jealous,"
"J-J-Jell what?!" Sokka shrieked. "I'm not jealous."
I focused on every feature of Sokka's face through my lashes in an effort to make him nervous.
I guess it was working, he lowkey folded.
He let go of me, releasing his arm from my chest where he had me pinned. "Okay, I'm jealous. But you're mine, who do those guys think they are?"
I furrowed my eyebrows at the water tribe boy. "Oh, I'm yours?"
Sokka's cheeks flustered red as he brought his hand around his neck and started rubbing it.
I jabbed my finger into Sokka's chest. "I don't remember anyone asking me out. So I'm not anybody's until they make it clear. From what I know, I'm single."
With that I escaped out of Sokka's grasp, leaving him astonished. I walked towards the rest of my friends who were talking to one of the students.
"Any luck?"
"We just started talking to him," Toph answers.
"Hmm... I've never seen any sandbenders or nomads around here. You should ask Professor Zei, he teaches the class on desert cultures."
Oh, yeah... he's definitely deceased by now.
Sokka comes out of hiding and stands infront of the student, he was clearly annoyed. "Right. And which of your professors could we ask about the war with the Fire Nation?"
"I don't know." The student replies, still nervous. "I'm not a political science student... I've got to get to class. He stands up and goes away, but trips, dropping his scrolls. He quickly picks them back up, and hurries to go. Joo Dee waves at him, smiling.
We were dropped off back at the house. Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph and I are standing at the steps of our home. Joo Dee is sitting in the carriage, and talking to us through the window. "Well, I'm sorry no one has seen your bison. Why don't you go get some rest?" Still smiling. "Someone will be over with dinner, later."
As the carriage drives off, Sokka, followed by the rest of us, notice a man in the house across from ours peeking through a window.
Sokka gestures us to follow him as we walk across the street to knock on the neighbor's door.
The same man appears and opens the door, smiling at us. "You're the Avatar! I heard you were in town. I'm Pong."
Aang smiles. "Nice to meet you, Pong."
"Hi," I lightly waved.
"Hello." He politely answered.
"Stop, being friendly." Sokka murmurs in my ear before looking at Pong.
"You're threatened by a middle aged man?"
"So, Pong," Sokka ignored me. "What's goin' on with this city? Why is everyone here so scared to talk about the war?"
Pong shifts his eyes to the sides. "War? Scared? What do you mean?"
Toph speaks neutrally with a slight annoyed tone. "I can feel you shaking."
"Look, I'm just a minor government official." Pong looks to the sides to confirm that no one is present except us. "I've waited three years to get this house. I don't want to get into trouble."
"Get in trouble with who?!" Katara asked.
Pong puts his finger on his mouth, and whispers. "Shh, listen, you can't mention the War here. And whatever you do, stay away from the Dai Li." As he closes the door, everyone looks at each other's faces in confusion.
✼ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ✼
The next morning, we boredly lounged around the upper part of the living room.
Katara comes out from the door, yawning and stretching. She takes a roll of papers on a mail slot attached to the wall, she comes back running towards us in excitement. "I got it! I know how we're going to see the Earth King!"
"How are we supposed to do that?" Toph begins to mimick Joo Dee. "One doesn't just pop in on the Earth King!"
Katara reads from the papers. "The king is having a party at the palace tonight for his pet bear."
"You mean, platypus bear?" Aang asked.
Katara glances back at the paper. "No, it just says bear."
Sokka is laying upside down. "Certainly you mean his pet skunk bear."
"Or his armadillo bear." Toph adds.
"Gopher bear?" I question as I was filing my nails.
Katara intensely examines the paper, trying to find the mistake. "Just... bear."
"This place... is weird." Toph breathed out.
Katara grows excited again. "The palace will be packed. We can sneak in with the crowd!"
Toph lies down. "Won't work."
Katara is slightly confused. "Why not?"
"Well, no offense to you simple country folk, but a real society crowd will spot you a mile away. You've got no manners!" Toph takes a pastry from a bowl and eats it.
"Excuse me?" Katara scoffed offended. "I've got no
manners?! You're not exactly lady fancy fingers!"
Toph lets out a loud burp. "I learned proper society behavior and chose to leave it." She throws the half eaten pastry to the side. "You never learned anything. And frankly, it's a little too late." Toph picks her nose and flicks the snot off her finger.
Sokka flips on his stomach. "Aha, but you learned it! You could teach us!"
"Yeah, I'm mastering every element. How hard could manners be?"
Aang grabs a nearby curtain and puts it around himself like a noble's robe, and talks in a very sophisticated manner. "Good evening, Mr. Sokka Water Tribe, Ms. Katara Water Tribe, Ms. Venus Earth Kingdom, Lord Momo of the Momo Dynasty. Your Momo-ness." Momo peeks at Aang from under the carpet and slightly bows.
Sokka stands up also wearing a curtain like a robe. Mimicking a typical high class person. "Avatar Aang, how do you do? Go on."
Aang bows to Sokka, and Sokka, trying to outdo Aang's bow, bows back. Aang tries to further out do Sokka's bow with a deeper bow and Sokka returns this bow with an even deeper bow. Both of them try to bow at the same time, but they knock each other's foreheads' together and fall down.
I couldn't help, but laugh at the two.
Toph walks toward Katara and I. "Venus could definitely be able to pull this off, Katara might as well, but you two would be lucky to pass as busboys!"
Sokka and Aang, who are still on the ground with curtains still on top of them. "But I feel so fancy!"
✼ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ✼
Th girls and I find beautiful Earth Kingdom dresses, in one of the closets.
"This is going to be so fun!" I exclaim, pulling out the outfits for Toph and Katara.
"Let's just get this over with." Toph grumbled. I sat in front of her as I pulled out my makeup set and began to powder her face.
Katara was styling my hair at the same time that I was putting Toph's makeup on.
Toph coughed aggressively. "Makeup is so itchy."
I lightly shrugged. "I'm used to it, I've been wearing makeup since I was your age."
Katara who sat in back of me, styling my hair spoke. "I've never worn makeup before."
"You're going to look fabulous, you too, Toph."
"Wish I could see," she joked.
"Don't worry, Toph." Katara reassured. "Venus is like so talented when it comes to makeup, her natural makeup look is so pretty and her Kyoshi warrior look as well."
I applied blush on Toph's cheeks. "Oh, thanks. Katara."
Toph extended her hand and began touching my face. "Toph, move your filthy hands away from me."
"No need to get defensive," Toph chuckled evilly. "I just wanted to feel what you looked like."
I grumbled. "Wash your hands next time. Booger girl."
While Katara was doing my hair, she pulled my head back. "Ow!"
"Sorry." She quickly apologizes. "Your hair is getting so long now. My nails got stuck in it."
"Oh, I know." I filled Toph's eyebrows in. "I've been contemplating cutting it, but I'm unsure. I've had my hair long for as far back as I can remember."
"This is why, I keep my hair in this signature look." Toph said. "I don't have to deal with it."
Katara finished my hair as she moves on to Toph, beginning to style her hair.
I finished Toph's makeup as well as I decided to do my own makeup before Katara, since she was too occupied with Toph's messy hair.
"Do you even wash your hair?" Katara grimaces as she brushes through Toph's tangled hair.
"Ppft. No."
Before I could apply my makeup, I heard a faint knock at the door, so I went to it and slightly opened it. "Yes?"
Sokka was anxiously standing at the doorway. I had a robe on and my hair was finished, however no makeup on so Sokka hasn't yet seen my completed look.
"Oh..wow..you look pretty."
I became flustered as I looked down at my feet. "Thanks, Sokka. I'm not done yet. But did you need something?"
Sokka noticed Katara and Toph as he peered into the room. As they watched Sokka and I interact, I turned around to see the girls snickering.
"Actually...we'll talk later," he sends me a little head nod. "Okay?"
I could feel the temperature in my body rise. "Um..yeah. We'll definitely talk later...alone."
Sokka perked up. "Yeah," he chuckled. "Alone."
We awkwardly stared at each other for a bit before Katara spoke. "Okay, bye now Sokka. Venus has to get ready!"
Sokka shook his head, dazed. "Yeah, I'm gonna leave you to it."
I sent him a little wave. "Okay, bye."
He held onto the slide door, slowly closing it. "See you later."
As Sokka left, I played lightly with my bottom lip. He always managed to consistently cloud my mind.
I walked over to the dressing mirror and began applying my makeup.
"What was that about?" Katara teased.
I started applying my eyeliner. "What was what about?" I didn't dare to even play with the possibility of seeing her even through the mirror.
"Don't be dumb," Toph said snickering. "You and Sokka. What was that about?"
My body began to warm up again. "I have no clue."
"You're lying." Toph smirks.
"Shut up, Toph, you're twelve."
Katara hysterically laughed, but then stopped once Toph's hair had broken the brush Katara was brushing Toph's hair with. "Oh, come on!"
After joking, fooling around, crying, laughing and maybe talking about boys. The girls and I were finally ready.
Katara, Toph and I enter the room that Aang and Sokka are in. We wore makeup, exquisite Earth Kingdom dresses, and had a fan each. Toph, Katara and I stare at the boys calmly before giving in to a fit of giggles.
Aang blushes and stares dreamily at the sight of Katara. "Wow, you look beautiful."
Sokka flicks Aang's forehead, I turned to him with my eyebrows raised.
"V?" Sokka questioned approaching closer to me.
I felt nervous and weak in the knees due to his presence. "Y-yeah?"
With his mouth hanging open, Sokka gave a brief blink. "I'm so glad you were birthed into this world."
Oh?
"You do look beautiful, V." Aang commented.
Sokka flicked Aang's head once again.
I smiled brightly at the both of them. I open my mouth to reply to the boys' compliments, but Toph places her fans in front of my mouth, shushing me.
"Don't talk to the commoners, Venus." Toph points a finger to Katara. "You too. First rule of society."
"We'll get in the party, and then find a way to let you in through the side gate." Katara says to the boys as she and Toph begin walking out the room.
While I still remained in the room with the boys. I quickly moved over to Sokka and placed a tender kiss to his cheekbone. "We still talking after the event?"
Sokka nodded his head, rapidly as he looked at me in awe.
I turned to Aang and gave him a lightly hug, trying not to smudge any makeup on his clothing. "Thanks for the compliment Aang, you look beautiful too."
"Venus!"
Toph's voice made me jump up a little bit. "Coming!" I retorted. As I closed the house door and ran after the girls.
✼ ҉ ҉ ҉ ҉ ✼
Once we got to the palace, Several high class citizens are lined up and being admitted inside by a guard, who is checking the invitation of groups before letting them pass. We got into line and waited for the line to dimp down before it was our turn. We were now next in line and approached the guard.
"Invitation please."
"I think this will do." Toph formly says.
Toph shows the official seal of the Beifong family to the guard. "No entry without an invitation. Step out of line, please." He says.
As the guard points his finger to the side, Katara, Toph and I move out disappointedly, when Katara notices a carriage, from which a man comes out, and two guards bow to him. Katara has an idea, and she, along with Toph and I go to the man.
"Sir, I'm sorry to bother you, but my sister lost our invitations." Katara whispered. "She's blind. Do you think you could help us? Our family's inside and I'm sure they're very worried."
The man grins as he examines every one of our faces, he arrives onto mine as his grin broadens more. He bows and places a hand on my shoulder. "I am honored, please come with me."
I shiver from his touch, but ignored the uncomfortable sensation, so we could successfully enter the palace.
We walk towards the guard at the entrance, following the man. The guard bows to him and the four of us go into the royal residence. As we are walking in, Toph and Katara stick their tongues out at the guard as I stuck up my middle finger while his back is turned.
We entered the palace hall, where nobles were seated around a large dining table and conversing with one another.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" The man turns to us girls. "By the way, I'm Long Feng. I'm a cultural minister to the King."
As I marvel at the palace away from my friends, I begin to wonder. It was stunning. A man had entered carrying drinks on a tray. I returned to the girls after grabbing one.
"I'm Kwa Mai, and this is...Dum." Toph frowns and pulls a string hanging from Katara's headdress, causing her pain. "Ow!"
"Now where is your family? I'd love to meet them."
"Actually," I respond with a wine glass in my hand, swirling the drink inside. "I am their step mother, Mila. We're just going to look for their father and get out of your hair."
Fuck, why did I just introduce myself as my mother? I wouldn't be surprised if this pervert Long whatever, knew my prostitute of a mother.
As we walk away, Long Feng appears in front of us. "Don't worry, as your escort it would be dishonorable to abandon you ladies without finding your family first." He turns to me as he speaks in his cool toned voice. "I would love to meet your husband. I'll tell him what a beautiful women he has. We'll keep looking." I turn to Katara and Toph and give them a nervous glance as Long Feng wraps his arm around my shoulder and leads me in front of him.
"You look a bit young to be a mother, huh?" Long Feng began making small talk with me. I tried my best to put on my poker face, but I was utterly disgusted, he had been flirting and eyeing me down since I've arrived.
"Well, thank you. I have been told I could pass as an University student, but I'm not too far from the age range."
Long Feng chuckled deeply as he removed my beverage from my hand and takes a whiff of it before glancing down at me. "So you like older guys?"
I laugh anxiously. Not again. Please not again. I was internally panicking so hard on the inside. I wanted to just break down in tears. Where's Sokka? "I have a husband." I lightly flicked his arm off me.
So that Katara and Toph could go look for Sokka and Aang while I accompanied Long Feng, I slightly turned my head and shooed them away. As I talked to him, they vanished.
Long Feng cracked a grin. "You're a loyal lady. I respect that." He was about to turn to look at Toph and Katara, but they had ran away so I took his head and brought it closer to mine.
"Why don't we go to the bathroom if you know what I mean?" I gagged on the inside. I felt so disgusted, doing this because of my past experiences with older men touching me.
Long Feng finished his drink as he smiled brightly. "I'd like that." He began escorting us somewhere, but I had loosened my grip from him and hid amongst the crowd of people. Hopefully, he wouldn't be able to find me for a while, there were hundreds even more people attending this event.
I nearly dropped someone's drinks when I ran into them, but thanks to my quick reflexes, I was able to catch all of them and return them to the tray without spilling any.
"Venus?"
"Sokka?" I shifted focus over to him and saw him dressed as a busboy alongside Aang. Katara and Toph were also present.
"What happened with that guy?" Sokka asked immediately. "Katara filled me in on what happened...did he touch you?"
I blinked numerous of times trying to collect my memory. "He was a bit touchy, but nothing inappropriate."
Sokka maneuvered me into an embrace, I liquefied into his arms. I felt like crying. I simply needed to return home as of now and chat with Sokka and cuddle. I don't want to think about any of the old memories Long Feng has just brought back up.
Out of no where, Joo Dee approaches us, and is anxious to see us. "What are you doing here? You have to leave immediately, or we will be in terrible trouble!"
Joo Dee tries to push Sokka, but he blocks her with his tray. "Not until we see the king."
"You don't understand. You must go." Joo Dee shoves Sokka on Aang, causing him to spill the water inside the pitcher he was carrying on a guest.
"Aarrrh! Oh!" A women shrieked.
"Sorry. No, don't shout."
Aang uses his hands and foot to airbend a gust at the guest. His hat is blown off, along with Momo. It dries the water on her, but also turns her hair, clothes, and makeup into a mess, leading Aang to smile sheepishly. The guest is briefly shocked, but smiles in amazement.
"The Avatar!" She lightly flirts. "I didn't know the Avatar would be here."
All the guests' attention is now focused on Aang. Aang looks around at the guests as Momo hides back under the hat on the floor and slinks away. Aang blushes and waves at the crowd, laughing nervously, as Sokka leans in toward Aang.
Aang jumps out of his busboy clothes and lands on the long dining table as Sokka walks off into the crowd. Aang swings his arms over the guests' drinks, waterbending the liquid out of the cups. He jumps onto a pitcher and balances on top of it, while continuing to waterbend. Aang brings the liquid above his head and creates a swirling multicolored ball. The crowd cheers and claps as he spins around. The bear growls with delight at Aang's antics.'
After a while, two lines of guards walk into the hall. Eight of them are carrying a curtained palanquin, The Earth King is sitting on the platform.
Suddenly, a hand had covered my mouth and torso, pulling me backward. I muffled against the glove.
I was taken to a huge library with a burning fireplace. My friends were also present, and the green fire was the only light in the library.
Sokka rushed over to me, examining my face. "V, are you alright?"
Before I could reply the library's large double doors shut and the cool dark toned voice from earlier spoke. "She's fine. I wouldn't dare touch a hair on her pretty head."
Aang and Long Feng had arrived. He sat in front of a hearth that illuminates the area with a green flame.
Sokka held me close to him as he pointed a finger at Long Feng angrily. "Why won't you let us talk to the king? 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."
"This could be the most important thing he's ever heard." Aang said.
"What's most important to his royal majesty is maintaining the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se. All his duties relate to issuing decrees on such matters. It's my job to oversee the rest of the city's resources, including the military." Long Feng explains.
"So the king is just a figurehead." Katara said.
"He's your puppet!" Toph angrily proclaimed.
Long Feng raises his two hands in defense. "Oh, no, no. His Majesty is an icon, a god to his people. He can't sully his hands with the hourly change of an endless war."
Sokka marched towards Long Feng. "But we found out about a solar eclipse that will leave the Fire Nation defenseless. You could lead an invasion..."
Long Feng stands up, annoyed causing Sokka to back away in confusion and fear. "Enough! I don't want to hear your ridiculous plan. It is the strict policy of Ba Sing Se that the War not be mentioned within the walls. Constant news of an escalating war will throw the citizens of Ba Sing Se into a state of panic. Our economy would be ruined, our peaceful way of life, our traditions would disappear. In silencing hall to conflict, Ba Sing Se remains a peaceful, orderly utopia: the last one on Earth."
My friends and I stare at Long Feng with a mix of shock and horror at the discovery.
"You can't keep the truth from all these people. They have to know." Katara says.
Aang steps forward, pointing a finger at Long Feng. "I'll tell them! I'll make sure everyone knows!"
"Until now, you've been treated as our honored guest." Long Feng steps forward and bends down to look Aang in the eye. Aang stares back at Long Feng, angrily. "But from now on, you will be watched every moment by Dai Li agents. If you mention the War to anyone, you will be expelled from the city." He turns around and walks over to the hearth with the green fire. "I understand you've been looking for your bison." Long Feng turns slightly to look at Aang. "It would be quite a shame if you were not able to complete your quest." Aang appears frightened, but his expression soon changes to that of anger.
Long Feng sits down, a women opens the library doors and walks toward us. "Now, Joo Dee will show you to your home."
Jo Dee stood in front of us, but this wasn't the Jo Dee we first knew. We all look in suprise as we examine her.
"Come with me, please."
"I didn't like her, but what happened to Joo Dee?" I question as my face sours in confusion.
"I'm Joo Dee." The new lady bows her head. "I'll be your host as long as you're in our wonderful city."
"Joo Dee" smiles cheerfully at the group in the same artificial way.
A/n: Oml, long chapter guys😮💨 Sorry if there were a lot of typos, lmk if u see any cause I'm not rereading this chapter again for like the 10th time😭
Anyways, enjoy this pic of me at work