Chapter 1: Walls and Secrets

"Rise and shine, Twinkletoes!" Toph's voice cut through the early morning silence of the house they had been given in the upper ring of Ba Sing Se and Aang's groan of frustration reached Rinzen's ears.

"Which one?" she answered dryly as she stretched a little, not getting up from where she'd been sitting against the wall all night, half-dozing and half-keeping watch as she normally did at nights.

"The shorter one," Toph retorted and Aang's responding groan of complaint was even more drawn out than the previous one as he forced himself tiredly to his feet to start training for the day and followed the blind girl out into the backyard. Rinzen watched him go, unable to help a small smile as she watched him drop to the ground to begin push-ups under Toph's stern instruction, yawning the whole time.

The last dregs of winter had given way to spring practically overnight and the breeze that passed through the open windows of the house was pleasantly warm, which only made Rinzen a little melancholy for her lost glider. She would have given anything to take it up into the air on a nice spring morning like this, but the remnants of her staff were reduced to ash and buried somewhere at the bottom of the ocean near the North Pole.

She considered asking Aang to borrow Appa before she remembered why they were in Ba Sing Se in the first place, feeling like she had been punched in the stomach as she recalled climbing after Aang out of the desert library's sinking window only to find Appa gone and Toph practically in tears, the first time she had ever seen the blind girl so shaken.

"You look exhausted," Katara noted as she glanced Rinzen's way, folding up their sleeping mats as she spoke. Sokka had wandered out in search of breakfast, leaving only the two girls in the large bedroom. Momo clambered into Rinzen's lap and she rubbed his large ears as he purred contentedly. She had grown extremely fond of Momo ever since Aang had properly introduced them after she had rejoined the group at the Northern Water Tribe and explained to her that he'd found the lemur at their old home in the Southern Air Temple.

"I'm fine," she dismissed, catching Katara's frown at her lack of response. "Really. I've gone longer without sleep, and I feel better keeping watch."

"You know, it's one thing to keep watch all night when we're traveling," Katara said reluctantly, "But we're in Ba Sing Se now. Under a roof and everything. No one would blame you if you relaxed a little."

"That's not as easy as you make it sound," Rinzen sighed as she set Momo on her shoulder, where he curled up as his tail looped around her neck, and climbed to her feet. "This whole place gives me the creeps. I won't feel at ease until we get Appa back, talk to the Earth King, and leave." They had only arrived in Ba Sing Se a couple of days earlier, but Rinzen already wanted to get out as soon as she could. She was used to vast landscapes and open skies after months of traveling, but now felt far too confined in a city with too many walls and narrow alleyways.

Katara glanced out the window, grimacing at the sight of a Dai Li agent prowling along a rooftop several houses away from theirs. "I know what you mean. But at least we can start looking for Appa here, and it's a stable place for Aang to finish his earthbending training."

They looked out into the backyard and winced in sympathy in unison as Toph stamped a foot on the ground and sent Aang flying over the garden wall with a yelp.

"Assuming he lives to finish it," Rinzen deadpanned and Katara snorted with amusement. They had given up on convincing Toph to take it easy on Aang. With the limited time they had to get him to master all four elements, they didn't have the luxury of letting him learn slowly when summer was fast approaching.

"Look, if you're so worried about the city, why don't you go explore it a little today?" Katara offered, drawing Rinzen out of her thoughts as they watched Aang limp pitifully back into the backyard and promptly collide into a large boulder Toph had pulled out of the ground. "Scout around, see if you can find anything about Appa."

Rinzen pursed her lips, nodding a little in agreement. "Yeah, I can do that."

"If you're going out, can you pick up some food from the market?" Sokka complained, poking his head into the room. "We're out of everything edible!"

Katara rolled her eyes, shaking her head wearily at her brother's bottomless pit of a stomach. "I'll go to the market," she reassured Rinzen as she slipped out of the room, "You look for Appa."

Of all the things Rinzen had expected to see as she wandered through Ba Sing Se that afternoon, it certainly wasn't a small tea shop in the heart of the lower ring with a board outside advertising "Hot Butter Tea!" Bewildered, she took a few steps towards the shop, peering inside. Finding what seemed to be an ordinary bustling tea shop inside, she moved to the counter, requesting the butter tea impulsively and paying a few bronze coins for it.

She waited patiently at the counter until it was served piping hot in a fragile teacup, which she took to a table to nurse. Once it was cool enough to drink, she took a slow sip and for a split moment, she was back in the Southern Air Temple, a steaming mug of butter tea cradled in her hands as she watched Monk Gyatso teach Aang how to play Pai Sho.

"Ah, you must be the Avatar's sister." Rinzen was brought out of her reverie by a smiling, kind-looking man with an apron around his waist. "I am Pao, the owner of this tea room. I was told by one of my employees at the counter that you were here." She mentally cursed herself for not covering up her tattoos, but before she could hastily make her excuses and leave, he added hurriedly, "I don't mean to bother you if you're just looking for some peace and quiet, but I noticed that you were trying our newest tea variety. Does it match up to, well, your standards?"

Rinzen flushed a little under his scrutiny. "I…yeah, it's really amazing," she admitted. "I think I've only had butter tea like this exactly once since my brother and I woke up from the ice." She felt a pang of sorrow as she recalled Iroh treating her with one of the first bits of kindness she had ever experienced on Zuko's ship. It felt like an eternity ago, though it had only been a few months.

"Unfortunately, I cannot take credit for the recipe, it comes from one of my newest employees," Pao admitted.

"Can I meet him?" Rinzen asked curiously, draining her tea and getting to her feet. "I'd like to get the recipe, if that's okay."

"Of course, of course. I'm sure it was yours first, after all." Pao led her around the counter to the back of the tea shop, calling, "Mushi! Someone would like to meet with you about the butter tea!"

"One moment," a familiar gruff, but kind voice called back and Rinzen had to keep her jaw from dropping as Iroh came around the corner, dressed in Earth Kingdom clothes and an apron tied around his large waist. The old man's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of her before he burst into jovial laughter. "Oh, Rinzen, I thought it was you!"

"You two know each other?" Pao asked, bewildered.

"Yes, Rinzen and I met several months ago. In fact, she's the inspiration behind my butter tea recipe." Iroh winked at Rinzen and she couldn't help but grin widely. If he was here, then that meant Zuko definitely was, too. She hadn't seen them since Azula had shot Iroh with lightning weeks earlier, which was even more of a relief that Iroh had clearly healed since then. "Lee is out back, if you would like to say hello to him," Iroh added and Rinzen stared blankly at him. He raised his eyebrows pointedly and it finally clicked that they were in hiding under pseudonyms.

She nodded quickly when Pao turned to her, confused by her long silence. "Right, yeah. It's been forever since I saw Lee, I should say hi." She hurried around them to open the back door.

As she slipped through the door, she distinctly heard Iroh chuckle to Pao, "Ah, young love, you know how it is," which made her flush, her cheeks scarlet as she shut the door behind herself, relieved to see Zuko standing in the alley with his back facing her. He too had an apron tied around his waist and wore dark green Earth Kingdom clothes.

"I think your uncle's trying to start rumors about the two of us with your boss," she said, causing Zuko to start and drop the bag of trash he had been carrying as he spun around.

"Rinzen!" He turned faintly pink, glancing down at his apron self-consciously and then back up at her. "What are you doing here?!"

"Well, I was drinking tea," she pointed out wryly. "It's not like I knew you and your uncle were working here until your boss introduced me to the guy who brewed my tea. Who happened to be your uncle. Speaking of which…?"

Zuko pursed his lips sullenly. "Uncle thinks it might be a 'fresh start' for us." The words sounded bitter in his mouth, but Rinzen ignored it in favor of closing the space between them to throw her arms around him. He froze, unsure what to do, before patting her back awkwardly. "Uh. Hi, there."

"Hi, yourself," she answered, grinning as she pulled back to smile up at him. "It's really good to see you. I'm glad you're both okay."

She could tell the moment her smile thawed him out as he relaxed marginally, a tiny smile tugging at his lips. "It's good to see you, too," he admitted.

"So does this 'fresh start' mean you're not going to be hunting my brother anymore? Because that'd be pretty neat," she pointed out, stepping back fully to frown pointedly at him, and he wrinkled his nose a little.

"Well..." She raised an eyebrow and he exhaled somewhat dramatically. "Fine. But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"I'll take that." She grinned and he rolled his eyes, reluctantly cracking a small smile again in return. Just then, the door behind them creaked open and the smile immediately vanished off Zuko's face as Iroh peered around the door, looking vaguely disappointed to see them standing a good two feet apart.

"I don't want to know what you were expecting to see," Rinzen decided, shaking her head as she nudged past Iroh to head back through the tea shop.

"We live just two buildings down from here," he called after her cheerfully even as she heard Zuko shushing him hurriedly. "Top floor apartment. Come by anytime!"

"Uncle!" Zuko hissed, sounding mortified, and Rinzen couldn't help but stifle a smile as she just waved her hand in acknowledgment before slipping back out through the tea shop to the busy street so that she could return to the upper ring.

As she entered the house, Aang perked up from where he was sprawled on the floor, clearly exhausted after his training. "Did you find anything on Appa?" he asked eagerly and Rinzen shook her head as Momo fluttered down from the ceiling rafters to settle on her shoulder, stroking his fur.

"No, sorry." Aang's expression crumpled into resignation as he dropped his gaze away from her and she felt a pang of guilt as she debated for a moment whether to admit whom she'd seen in the lower circle. "Hey, I ran into somebody today," she blurted out before her brain could catch up to her mouth.

"Really? Who?" He looked up again and looking into his wide, curious eyes, she suddenly found that she couldn't bring herself to say Zuko's name. He had promised he wouldn't try to capture Aang anymore, and he hadn't even asked where she was living, but she couldn't take any chances.

"Oh, just, um...a new friend."

"Ooh, is it a boy?" Sokka drawled sarcastically, leaning over the railing separating the raised level of the house from the lower area where Aang was laying.

Scowling, Rinzen snapped back, "Yeah, actually."

Sokka toppled over the railing in shock as Aang gaped at Rinzen. "Really?"

She felt her cheeks redden a little as she ducked her head. "It's not that shocking," she muttered, embarrassed, "I know how to make friends."

"Katara, Toph, Rin's got a boyfriend!" Sokka yelled, recovering from his abrupt fall and surprise, and both Katara and Toph hurried into the room, eyes wide, although Rinzen was sure Toph was only making her eyes bug out for dramatic effect.

"He's not my boyfriend!" she protested quickly, because Katara was beginning to smile a little too widely for her liking. "He's just a guy I made friends with! I only just met him today!"

"Love at first sight's a thing," Sokka muttered sullenly.

"Hey, a boy and a girl can be friends without being boyfriend and girlfriend!" Rinzen argued. Momo chittered angrily when she raised her voice and leapt off her shoulder.

"I mean, she's right," Katara pointed out, although she looked a little disappointed that Rinzen didn't actually have a love life. "Look at me and Aang. We're just friends, and he's a boy and I'm a girl. It's possible."

Rinzen caught Aang's crushed expression just before he hid it as Katara glanced his way. "Um, yeah. Totally possible." He forced a wide smile and Rinzen felt a pang of sympathy for her little brother, having noticed that he'd fallen for Katara practically the day they were pulled out of the iceberg.

"So what's this friend's name, anyway?" Toph demanded curiously, pulling Rinzen's attention back to her.

"Uh...Lee."

"Sounds fake," the earthbender answered immediately and Rinzen felt a stab of panic.

"Lee's a perfectly normal name," she pointed out, keeping her voice as calm as she could.

"Too normal, if you ask me." Toph began to pick at her teeth with a fingernail, seemingly disinterested even though her clouded eyes were fixed right on Rinzen and narrowed suspiciously.

"She's got a point, how are we supposed to stalk him if he's got the most common name in the whole Earth Kingdom?" Sokka complained.

"Uh, you're not?" Rinzen raised an eyebrow back at him. "I can have friends outside of you guys, you know."

"We know," Aang reassured her quickly. "We're not gonna go stalking anybody. Right?" He aimed a glare at Sokka pointedly, who sighed loudly and nodded in agreement. Aang glanced at Katara and Toph next and Katara nodded immediately, but Toph was still staring directly at Rinzen, which just made it more unnerving since Rinzen knew she couldn't actually see her face.

"I wanna meet this guy," she said stubbornly.

"After that interrogation, none of you are ever gonna meet him," Rinzen decided and Katara looked even more disappointed. "Look, I appreciate that you're all worried, but he's just a guy I met literally today." She conveniently left out the part that they'd all met him months earlier, anyway. "I don't wanna scare him off."

"Look, we get it. It's fine, really," Aang stepped in quickly to placate her, giving her a bright smile. "I'm glad you're making friends." The sincerity in his voice made her feel just a little warmer towards him.

"Thanks, kiddo." She rubbed his head fondly. "I'm gonna go take a nap or something before I head out again to keep looking for Appa." The surprise on everyone's faces raised her irritation again. "What? I didn't sleep last night! Stop looking at me like I've got two heads!" She stormed into the bedroom, sliding the screen door shut behind herself with a little more force than necessary and unrolling her sleeping mat before dropping onto it unceremoniously. The door slid open just as she turned away from it with a soft "whoosh" and then shut again before Aang took a seat on the edge of her mat.

"It's just, you don't usually take naps," he pointed out quietly.

"I can admit when I need sleep," she muttered and he poked the small of her back gently. She shuffled aside to give him some room, turning to face him as he sprawled out beside her.

"You know, even if this Lee guy was your boyfriend - which he's not," he added hurriedly as she narrowed her eyes pointedly at him, "I'd be happy for you."

That took her by surprise as she blinked back at him. "You would?"

"Well, yeah." He ducked his head shyly. "You deserve to do something for yourself once in a while." She wanted to protest, insist that nothing and no one could ever come before his safety, but even as she opened her mouth, Aang quickly interrupted, "I know you've spent your whole life looking out for me, and I appreciate that. But you should get to be happy, too."

She felt a thick lump rising in her throat even as she managed a tiny smile. "Thanks. You should, too. With Katara and all."

Aang flushed bright red as he sat up. "You heard her," he muttered, "We're just friends. At least, she sees me as just a friend."

"Hey, just give it time. She'll come around," Rinzen reassured him, propping herself up on her elbow slightly. "You're a great guy, she'd be lucky to have you."

He perked up slightly, smiling hopefully. "You really think so?" For a moment, he hardly looked like the maturing teenager he had become over the last several months, but more like the little boy he had been before the monks had taken him aside all those years ago.

"I know so." She knocked her shoulder against his gently. "Now go tell the others to back off about my not-boyfriend, okay?"

He laughed a little as he got to his feet. "Yeah, yeah. They just worry, you know?"

"I know." She watched him slip out of the room before settling in to take a quick nap, exhausted from staying up all night.

It was evening by the time she woke up and even Sokka admitted as she came out of the bedroom that she looked better than she had in days. After they ate a quick dinner, they split up to search for anything that could lead them to Appa, and Rinzen found her feet carrying her back to the lower ring until she was standing in front of the apartment building two doors down from the tea shop. Glancing around tentatively to make sure no one noticed her, she headed up the stairs until she stopped outside the top floor apartment door. She raised a fist to knock, hesitated, and then dropped it again, turning to head back down to the street.

"You might as well come in if you came this far to see us." Zuko's voice startled her and she nearly stumbled on the top step, grabbing onto the railing to keep herself from falling. The firebender in question stood at the base of the stairs, looking vaguely amused at her surprise. "Uncle asked me to run out and buy some spark rocks, ours went missing last night," he added in explanation, climbing up the rest of the stairs to join her. "He'll be glad to see you, he likes you."

"You say that like you don't," she deadpanned and he rolled his eyes, nudging her aside to open the apartment door.

"Are you coming or not?" he shot over his shoulder and she huffed before following him into the small apartment. It only had one large room, a stove and countertop against one wall and two cots against the other.

"I was wondering if you'd come, Rinzen," Iroh said where he stood at the stove, sounding delighted as he turned to smile broadly at Rinzen. "Make yourself at home." Zuko gave her a smug look, as if vindicated that he'd proven his point, before tossing the emerald-green spark rocks on the counter and flopping onto one of the cots.

"Why spark rocks?" she pointed out as she took a seat at the tiny wooden table. "Does your firebending not work?"

Zuko made an affronted sound even as Iroh chuckled. "No, no, it works just fine. But we'd rather keep it under wraps." He lifted a teapot in a silent question.

"I guess that makes sense," Rinzen agreed, nodding in response to the offer of tea.

"What I want to know is what you're doing in Ba Sing Se," Zuko said, frowning as he sat up again on the cot. Iroh raised the teapot towards him and he glowered at it as if it had personally insulted him. "I deal with enough tea at work, Uncle." Looking disappointed, Iroh set to brewing two cups of tea.

Rinzen bit her lip, debating if they needed to know the entire truth, before admitting, "Appa's been taken." It wasn't as if Zuko and Iroh needed to know that they were trying to contact the Earth King about the solar eclipse date they had discovered in the desert library.

"Your bison?" Iroh glanced over his shoulder, startled. "Someone took him?"

"Sandbenders in the desert," Rinzen clarified. "They stole him and sold him to someone here in the city. We're trying to find him and get him back, we just got to the city two days ago." She dropped her gaze to her fingers. "Appa's never been separated from us like this before." Sure, they had been separated in the swamp they had been dragged into by some mystical force just before they had met Toph, but Aang had found Appa within a couple hours by searching through the tree at the center of the swamp and they had been reunited only minutes later.

She was dragged out of her thoughts by Iroh setting a cup on the table in front of her and she quietly thanked him as she took a sip, smiling a little at the taste of jasmine tea. After butter tea, it was one of her favorites.

"Are you sure he's here in Ba Sing Se?" Zuko prompted and she looked up at him only to find him watching her contemplatively. She knew he was the only one who really knew how much Appa meant to her and Aang, after the talk they'd had while searching for Iroh when he had been kidnapped by earthbenders months ago.

"The sandbenders said Ba Sing Se," she pointed out.

"I'm just saying it's a big city, but not big enough to hide a sky bison," he pointed out wryly. "Someone definitely would've spotted him sooner, if that was the case."

"I know. But it's the only lead we've got," she confessed, clutching her cup tightly and letting the warmth seep into her fingers.

"You'll be the first to know if we hear anything," Iroh reassured her as he took a seat at the table opposite her and she glanced up to give him a faint smile.

"I appreciate that." She bit her lip. "I'm glad you're both okay after what happened with Azula." Zuko wrinkled his nose at the mention of his sister, but Iroh smiled back at her in response. "You two didn't run into her after that, did you?"

"No, we figured she's just been concentrating on your group," Zuko answered wryly and she rolled her eyes.

"Well, that's probably true." She frowned as she realized something. "Wait, so you didn't hear about the drill?"

"The what?" Zuko looked bewildered.

"The drill that got through the outer wall." She glanced at Iroh, who looked just as nonplussed as his nephew. "Azula had a giant drill built to get through to the city, we just barely managed to stop it before it could get further than the outer wall."

"We got here the day before you did, so we didn't hear anything about a drill," Zuko pointed out. "Besides, in case you hadn't noticed, nobody here even seems to be aware of a war going on except the refugees coming in."

"Yeah, I noticed." Rinzen frowned. "It's creepy how nobody's allowed to mention it. The Dai Li nearly arrested us for trying to talk about it when we got into the city." She left out their attempt to reach the Earth King and their subsequent run-in with Long Feng.

A soft chittering distracted her and they all turned to the window ledge, where Momo was perched precariously with his wide green eyes fixed on Rinzen.

"How'd you find me, little guy?" she prompted with a chuckle, getting up and crossing over to the window as Momo happily leapt into her arms. "I should probably get him home," she admitted, glancing back up at Zuko and Iroh. For a fleeting moment, she thought she saw disappointment cross over Zuko's face before he stood.

"I'll walk you."

"I can get home by myself," she pointed out, frowning now and feeling a twinge of panic that he would find out where she was staying - and in turn, find out where Aang was.

"At this time of night?" Zuko nodded out the window and she found that most of the lights in the city had been extinguished. The trains wouldn't even be running anymore and she mentally cursed herself for letting time slip by so quickly.

"Fair enough," she agreed reluctantly, figuring she could try and lose him at the edge of the upper ring. They said goodnight to Iroh and slipped out of the apartment building to set off down the street. Momo clambered up onto Rinzen's shoulder and then leapt over to Zuko in a swift movement as he jolted a little, startled by the lemur settling on his shoulder.

"He must like you," Rinzen joked and he awkwardly scratched Momo's ears, earning a contented purr as she stared at them. "Wow. I was kidding, but he actually does like you."

"What? I'm good with animals," Zuko said defensively, but scooped Momo off his shoulder again and passed him back to Rinzen. Promptly, Momo leapt back over to him, crawling practically under his shirt. "Hey! Get out of there!" Zuko protested, trying to fish the lemur out of his shirt as Rinzen couldn't help but laugh at his squirming. "Oh, nice to see I'm providing you with some entertainment," he complained, finally getting Momo out and passing him back over again.

"Okay, fine, I'll scold him for you. Bad lemur. Bad, bad lemur." Rinzen made a point of waggling her finger in Momo's face as his large ears drooped dramatically. She settled him back onto her shoulder as his tail curled around her neck again. They settled into a comfortable silence for several minutes as they walked, and Rinzen couldn't help but peek at Zuko's unreadable face once in a while. "So, fresh start and all. That sounds nice," she offered as they passed through the arch into the middle ring. Momo had curled up and fallen fast asleep on her shoulder by then, purring quietly in his sleep.

"I guess." There was a note of bitterness again in his voice as he shrugged one shoulder. "Uncle seems to think it'll work."

"Well, he hasn't been wrong on a lot of things," she pointed out. "Maybe it will. You could probably make new friends here."

"It helps that we're already friends," he blurted out suddenly and she glanced up again to find him determinedly looking away. What she could see of his cheek under his scar was bright pink. She couldn't help but feel a pleasant warmth spread through her chest at the thought; she had hoped they were friends after everything they'd been through together before they had separated at the North Pole, but she hadn't considered that he actually felt the same way. Impulsively, she slipped her hand into his and he glanced down at her, surprised.

"I'm glad," she answered tentatively and, to her surprise, he managed a tiny smile back at her.

"You two!" They both jolted and turned to see a Dai Li agent approaching them from a shadowy alleyway. "What're you doing out this late at night?"

"I didn't realize walking was a crime now," Zuko said stiffly, his shoulders tensing.

The Dai Li agent's eyes flicked up to Zuko's scar and Rinzen felt Zuko's skin begin to heat up as his temper flared, instinctively lacing her fingers with his and squeezing his hand until he glanced at her and exhaled slowly, the heat in his palm against hers fading again. The agent then glanced at Rinzen, his eyes fixing on the arrow on her forehead as recognition dawned in them.

"You'd better get home to your brother, Miss," he said coldly before turning to disappear back into the shadows.

Rinzen stifled the shiver up her spine. "That was creepy," she muttered, pulling on Zuko's hand to force him to start walking again when he just glared at the spot where the Dai Li agent had been. "I hate this place."

"Tell me about it." Zuko tossed another glare over his shoulder, though there was no one there anymore to catch the brunt of it. "What's his problem, anyway? People can walk around if they want to, it's not like there's a curfew."

"Would you relax?" Rinzen tugged his hand again until he finally looked back at her. "They're the police, it's their job to be suspicious. Even if they're creeps about it."

As they reached the edge of the upper ring, she reluctantly tugged her hand from his as he looked back down at her, frowning curiously.

"I can find my way from here, you should probably get back to your uncle before it gets too late," she suggested, her heart hammering a little as she worried that he might insist on following her home, or secretly track her path back to Aang.

"It's probably still a far walk from here," he pointed out. "I really don't mind."

"Look, I really want to believe that you're taking this fresh start seriously," she blurted out before she could stop herself, dropping her gaze away from him to avoid seeing the look on his face. "But if you want me to trust you, then you'll turn around and walk away right now."

Zuko was silent and she dared to peek up at him only to find a raw, hurt expression on his face right before it closed off entirely and he scowled.

"Fine." He turned sharply and stormed off. Feeling guilty, Rinzen almost called after him, but stopped herself, instead turning and heading into the upper ring after she made sure he was out of sight.

She slipped nearly silently into the dark house, only years of training keeping her from yelping with surprise as a lamp flickered on to reveal Sokka sitting in an armchair, his arms crossed sternly.

"And where have you been, young lady?" he said in his deepest voice, but his mouth was already twitching upwards into a grin.

"I'm two years older than you, dummy," she answered dryly, depositing a sleepy Momo into his lap. "And I was with Lee."

"Ooh, Lee," he teased and she took off one of her shoes, throwing it at his head half-heartedly and taking the advantage of his distraction to slip into the bedroom before he could catch her again.

It didn't matter if anyone teased her now, in any case, she reasoned as she unrolled her sleeping mat beside Aang's and lay down, watching her brother's chest rise and fall nearly silently in his sleep. She had already ruined things with Zuko without meaning to.

It took waaaay too long and a full rewatch of the series to get me motivated to finish the first chapter of this sequel, BUT I DID IT!

I realize this is a huge time-jump, but I thought it would at least be an improvement from the play-by-play recap of the first half of Book 2, especially since there wouldn't be much of a divergence or change in canon aside from Rinzen just being there, you know? I hope this serves as a decent substitute. I'm going to try and carry this sequel all the way through Book 3 as well, so there will be only two "books" in this version of the story.

(And yes I know Ba Sing Se is pretty damn huge and they definitely couldn't've walked the entire length of the city in one night, but just let me rule-bend a little)

I hope you enjoy it!