1. Spring

Three hundred days. Nearly the number of days in a year. Enough time for a field of crops to be planted, grow, and then be harvested. In three hundred days, a newborn could walk for the first time.

It took three hundred days for the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se to fall under the siege of the Fire Nation.

For Kai, it was a cathartic, almost religious experience. One moment, he, along with thousands of other foot soldiers in the army of General Iroh, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, were entrenched outside the wall of Ba Sing Se, surrounded by a myriad of siege weapons that fired at an increasingly unstable wall. In the next, like the immense roar of an ancient dragon, there was a cacophony of intense sound, the likes of which Kai had never heard before in his life; it was such that covering up his ears did little to dull the noise. An imposing plume of dust and smoke rushed over the Fire Nation army, and when both the noise and dust had subsided, there was a gash, like a terrible wound that oozed blood in the form of earth, that beckoned to all of the weary Fire Nation soldiers. Behind the wall was like a beautiful promised land with its rich fields of wheat and bright blue sky.

The silence was deafening. Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom soldier alike were completely still from both shock and awe. However, as with any momentous occasion, there was always one person who reacted faster than any other to a great reveal.

"The wall has fallen! The wall of Ba Sing Se has fallen!" The cry came from down the line of where Kai stood. In the next moment, the entire army's worth of cheers erupted, and almost immediately, the Fire Nation army surged forward across the barren land outside Ba Sing Se's Outer Wall, with only thoughts of victory and glory on the minds of its soldiers.

"Come on, Kai!" Zheng, one of the other soldiers in Kai's platoon, yelled. "This is it!"

Excitedly nodding, Kai ran forward with everyone else, spear and shield in hand, as the Fire Nation army poured through the crack in the wall like ants, their red uniforms and armor contrasting with the beige earth of the wall and the green and yellow fields of Ba Sing Se's vast agrarian zone.

"This is it, men!" Lieutenant Chan yelled, struggling to get his voice to carry over the roar of the massed army. "Remember the objectives! Secure the granaries marked on your maps!" All the men under his command – some twenty-five soldiers – grunted affirmatives and split into their pre-designated subgroups.

Kai, for his part, split off with Zheng and Hui toward the spot marked on their map – it was a storehouse marked just three li from the breach in the wall where the Fire Nation had concentrated its attacks for the last year.

All three soldiers took off at a brisk, yet sustainable marching speed to cross that distance of three li in just under fifteen minutes. When the storehouse came clearly into view, both Kai and Zheng purposely fell behind Hui, letting him lead the way forward. Both Kai and Zheng had their spears ready, while Hui had his arms at the ready in a proper fighting stance.

"Hyah!" Hui grunted, shooting off a burst of flame that knocked down the front door of the storehouse. The only response the three Fire Nation soldiers received was the dust blowing outward from the storehouse, causing all of them to cough and splutter.

Kai strode in, his spear lowered, as he glanced around the dusty storehouse and the assortment of cobwebs that accompanied it. "I don't think there's anyone here."

"Yeah," Zheng agreed. "Doesn't look like they've used this place for a while either. Map does say this one though."

"Eh, could be drawn wrong, or just old," Hui theorized, looking over Zheng's shoulder to see the map. "I bet these maps were made the last time a Fire Nation envoy or whatever got past the wall of the city, and it's been like a century since that's happened." The firebender looked up at his two comrades. "Any ideas on what we should do?"

Kai shrugged. "Find a different granary? Our battalion needs food and missing out on a granary could be pretty bad down the line. Plus, it doesn't help if Chan gets on our asses about not finishing the job. Going down the road and looking for another granary doesn't sound like a terrible idea."

All three of them could hear Chan's loud, abrasive voice in their heads already: "Why didn't you three knuckleheads take some initiative for once in your worthless lives? I must be babysitting at the daycare, because you all seem like some weak pansy children that like to sit around all day long instead of working. Now drop and give me a hundred!" The collective experience made them all flinch.

"Sounds good." "Yeah." Agreement rang out in the otherwise quiet building, and like that, all three Fire Nation soldiers walked out of the abandoned storehouse, leaving it to its empty, silent fate like it had been for some time before.

After walking just a li down the dirt path, the three came to a stop at another granary – this one, however, had signs of activity inside.

"Shall we try it out?" Kai asked, waving his spear at the building.

"Can't hurt," Zheng replied. "Maybe we can get them to share."

The three walked into the granary and were greeted by the sight of a group of Fire Nation soldiers, four in total, that stood over a huddled family of Earth Kingdom civilians – a man, woman, and a young son and daughter. They were all dressed in the usual fashion of the country with a few green accents, though their clothes were faded and clearly dirty from the work of the field. Two of the Fire Nation soldiers, armed with spears, were standing at guard over the family, while the other two were categorizing the stored wheat and other crops of the granary. One of the soldiers who was helping categorize had laid his spear against the wall of the storehouse, and he now carried a small scroll that he filled out with an ink pen.

"What's the meaning of this?" one of the men – likely the firebender of the small team – asked, as he saw the three newcomers.

Kai raised a hand, as if to prematurely calm the man. "Our map was out-of-date and the granary we were supposed to get was abandoned. We looked for another and came by yours."

"And?" one of the men, who looked old enough to be Kai's father, guarding the family snarled. "This is ours, so get out and find yourselves a nice granary without us inside down the road."

Hui raised both of his hands disarmingly. "Hey, hey, no need for that now. All the other granaries on this map have teams assigned to them, so we'd go through this with any of them. We just want to make sure our battalion has enough food for the season."

"Yeah?" the firebender replied. "Well, go do this with some other team then! We don't want you here."

"Come on guys, we're all on the same team here," Zheng piped up.

Kai could almost see what patience was left in the second soldier – one of the two guarding the family – snapping like a twig under the foot of a fat man. "Same team, huh? Same team?" the soldier barked, striding forward with his spear. "I'll have you know that I've fought at Omashu. All over the west coast. I've even come up against some of them Kyoshi warriors. What's a pipsqueak like you, barely out of diapers and boot, got in common with me? You even wet your noodle before, huh?"

The firebender of the other team and Hui both came forward. "Okay, that's a bit uncalled for, Hong," the other firebender said. Hui stood between Zheng and the other team; his eyes narrowed in anticipation, then widened in surprise.

"Watc–" Hui was barely able to utter a sound before he saw the man of the Earth Kingdom family push himself off the ground and shove the last remaining soldier that absentmindedly stood over the family of four. The man dove for the spear that lay against the granary wall but screamed when a small burst of fire engulfed him.

Kai turned his head to see the other team's firebender in a combat pose, the smoke of his small fireball still emanating from his outstretched hand. He could also see the effects of the fire on the man – the awful burnt red skin, the singed hair and clothes. It put a grimace on Kai's face. Even if he had seen his fair share of burns growing up in the Fire Nation, it was usually a far cry from the effects of a concentrated burst of fire meant to actually harm another person. And never had he seen it meant for someone's head in the way that this firebender had intended it to be.

Still, the man went for the spear. Just as his hand closed around the weapon, he grunted in pain as one of the soldiers – the one who had aggressively gone toe-to-toe against Zheng – thrust his spear through the center of the man's gut. The spear slid through the man and out the other side, carrying on its tip entrails and blood. The red liquid spurted from the man like a fountain of water, spraying the wall of the granary and his own family. The screams of the family were deafening.

"Shut up, or I'll gut you all too!" the other guard of the family yelled, forcing the mother to clamp her hands on her children's mouths. Even so, the muffled sounds still echoed in the building.

Kai did a double take at the turn of events and felt an amount of bile rise in his throat. It was the first time he had ever seen a man die in person in his sixteen years. Of course, he had seen people get shot by fire or tumble off the backside of the wall during the three-hundred-day siege of the Outer Wall, but that was a far different sight than the visceral experience before him.

He turned to the kids, who now silently watched their father's corpse, his innards splattered across the wooden floor, his blood dripping from his gutted remains. Their eyes were wide, as if trying to absorb every facet, every detail of their father's death. Then the boy turned toward Kai, and the Fire Nation soldier swallowed at the sheer misery and anger that existed in the eyes of a boy so young. They burned with rage at Kai, for the injustice of having seen his own father killed in front of him.

We are creating our own enemy, a voice faintly echoed in the back of Kai's mind. But as much as the thought bothered him, he ignored it and helped the other team clean up the carnage.

Mimi walked behind her charge, as she usually did, with her sword in its sheath and her eyes as alert as a hawk's. She walked at her usual steady pace, keeping just two or three steps behind the man she followed, and she made sure that no one unexpected followed her. Every now and then, she would selectively tune in to a conversation off to the side, if there were people talking, just in case the conversation seemed unnatural or forced, as if for show. It was all to protect the man in front of her.

"Please, Mimi, there's nothing to fear here," Prince Lu Ten of the Fire Nation said with a smile as he turned around. "In the week I've known you, I now know it's normal for you to look around and make sure it's all safe, but we're surrounded by Fire Nation troops and the entire region is secured by our forces. It wouldn't kill you to walk by my side and keep me company through some talk, now would it?"

"Perhaps not, sir," the bodyguard replied, "but it may kill you. Your father ordered protection for you at all times of the day, and I'll make sure no harm comes to you."

Lu Ten sighed. "As always. You know, since that assassination attempt last month, nothing has happened at all. I'm not even sure if the Earth Kingdom will try something like that again, considering how miserably their last assassin failed."

"That may be, sir," Mimi responded in her usual deadpan voice. "However, we cannot take that risk. Your father certainly doesn't believe that they won't try again, and I don't intend to let any assassin close enough to try again, sir."

"And about that 'sir' thing, you can drop it, just like I told you the last time – calling me 'Lu Ten' is just fine with me. I'm not my father."

"Yes, sir."

Lu Ten nodded to himself with a small chuckle. "We'll get there one day, Mimi. That we will."

"Of course, sir." But she could not help let out a small smile out at his boyish persistence.

The pair continued down the path, and after a few minutes, Mimi finally saw Lu Ten's destination – one of the larger infirmary tents in the camp, positioned near its center for close proximity to both the command tent, which was the heaviest-guarded part of the camp and the elite troops' barracks.

Lu Ten lifted the entrance flap of the tent, gesturing to Mimi to graciously allow her in first with a smile on his face. Mimi, for her part, did not bother refuting the invitation and dipped her head slightly in acknowledgement and thanks as she slipped into the makeshift infirmary. Each of the cots in the infirmary were curtained off, a sign of luxury on the battlefield that Mimi knew would disappear when the casualties began increasing in open warfare. It was fortunate for the army that while the siege had been long and laborious, it had been light on injuries and deaths until recent days, when it became apparent that the wall was heavily damaged; the Earth Kingdom forces of Ba Sing Se made riskier, larger attacks because of that, leading to a recent uptick in casualties for both sides.

The prince followed soon after Mimi, and soon, a nurse hurriedly came by, handing Lu Ten a binder of medical diagnoses before quickly leaving again. Lu Ten quickly flipped to the first page, taking just a few seconds to scan the page before he handed the binder to Mimi. Heading for the first occupied cot, Lu Ten quickly put on a smile as he slowly pulled back the curtain, which revealed a man whose legs were both fully bandaged up in heavy-looking casts.

"Sir!" the wounded soldier saluted as he saw the prince, attempting to sit up straighter in his bed.

"At ease, Liang," Lu Ten responded. "How're the legs? I know getting hit by rocks isn't fun."

"Yes, sir," Liang chuckled. "I'll be back on my feet in no time."

Lu Ten squeezed the man's shoulder as he cheerfully nodded. "I'll hold you to that," he said, pointing a finger at the soldier, "and I'll treat you to a meat bun once you're out, alright?"

"Sounds great, sir!"

"Get some rest, then." Lu Ten pulled the curtain closed again, and after he did, he took the binder from Mimi once more and flipped to the second patient.

Mimi looked at the prince with a questioning eye. "Meat buns?"

Lu Ten did not bother to turn back to her as he handed back the binder. "It's his favorite food." The prince took a deep breath, then pulled back the curtain on the next cot.

"Hey Chen, how's the arm? Think you can get back to tip-top shape soon? We could definitely use an archer like you out there!"

Kai heaved slightly as he sat outside the granary, his back against the storehouse's wall. They had dragged the body out of the building, which had left a long red stain on the wood of the granary floor, onto the dirt outside. Even now, he could see the man's feet from where they had dumped the body on the other side of the granary.

"You okay?" Zheng's voice floated to Kai. He looked up to see his fellow soldier, a small grin on his face and a leather waterskin in his extended hand. Kai gratefully accepted the bag and took a long swig, relishing the feeling of the cool liquid wetting his parched throat.

"I'll be fine," Kai absentmindedly replied, holding the waterskin in both hands as he put his forearms on his knees. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the cool eastern Earth Kingdom spring breeze.

Zheng sighed and sat down beside Kai, snatching the waterskin from his hands and taking a long drink from it himself. Leaning back, Zheng took in the wide blue sky, propping his head against the wooden wall of the granary.

"It's just…" Kai spoke up, "that was the first time I've really ever seen someone die." His words caused Zheng to tilt his head toward Kai. "It's funny, right? We spent like a year in the trenches, taking potshots at every enemy we saw, and there must've been a lot of people dying. But still…" he trailed off as he looked forlornly into the brown dirt, distractedly drawing circles on the ground with a small twig. "It's really different to see it so up close and, I don't know, personal. I grew up in a small village, and before shipping out here, I never saw anything like that, not even an animal getting killed."

Grimacing, Zheng nodded his head and slapped a hand on Kai's back, causing the slightly younger man to splutter.

"Ya' know, I like to philosophize from time to time; fancy myself as a learned man. Maybe I can help a bit. I may not be much older than you – maybe five, six years, right?"

Kai nodded. "Probably, though five or six years is a lot when I've only got seventeen to spare."

"Sure," Zheng chuckled. "But the point is that I've still got more experience than you on this stuff, regardless of what the knucklehead in there says. I've seen my fair share of battles and let me tell you," Zheng leaned in closer to Kai, "it hasn't gotten any easier for me watching a man die."

"Really?"

"Really." The older soldier took another drink of water. "It's every bit as brutal as the first time." He capped the waterskin. "At least for me. I've seen men that don't even flinch when they step into a pile of blood and guts."

"That's… intense, I guess."

Zheng shook his head. "Nah, it's terrible. They're completely desensitized to it. The way I see it, as long as you're still bothered by death, then you're good. The worst thing that can happen to any of us is to lose what's left of our humanity. Even if the war ends, what good is it if all you know is death?"

Kai widened his eyes as he looked at Zheng. "That's deep, buddy."

Zheng's playful punch to Kai's shoulder didn't hurt much, and as Kai ruminated over Zheng's words, at the very least he felt a little measure of comfort in his soul at the thought that since he could still feel, he was still human.

The two guards standing outside the command tent snapped off crisp military salutes when they saw the prince and bodyguard duo approaching them. Lu Ten simply nodded at both guards before slipping under the fold of the tent's entrance, Mimi following close behind him.

Immediately, Mimi was bombarded by the chatter and business that accompanied every army camp's headquarters. It was very much a head for the body that was the army, with messengers flowing in and out like blood to each part of the body, feeding orders and taking reports as they came and went. Lu Ten, having grown up in such environments, was quite used to the buzz and strode through it all like he owned the place – though that was not too far off from the truth. He walked straight to the partially secluded back of the tent, where he and Mimi found Lu Ten's father, the venerable General, surrounded by the army's other commanders as they all huddled over a table-sized map of Ba Sing Se.

"Father," Lu Ten announced his presence. "I have surveyed the troops. Morale is high and our wounded are few. We are in a good position to commence the second stage of the invasion."

A hearty chuckle erupted from the highest commander of the Fire Nation forces.

"That is good, Lu Ten. Very good news indeed," General Iroh replied, a wide smile on his face. "We will begin the conquest of Ba Sing Se's agrarian zone in one week, after making sure we have secured all of the granaries in our current area. Commanders, can you see to the details of the operation?"

"Yes, sir!" all the men beside Iroh affirmed as they saluted.

"Then you are all dismissed."

Lu Ten walked to his father as various army commanders filed past him. A few steps away, Mimi stood still, surveying the environment and quietly keeping guard behind Lu Ten.

"Come, Lu Ten, let us have some tea," Iroh spoke up once they were the last three souls in the back half of the command tent. "I have managed to find some rare and exotic leaves from Gaoling that I've been dying to try." Gesturing to his son, General Iroh walked around the table, only stopping when he came parallel with Mimi.

"And you are…" Iroh trailed off, his expression indicating his expectation of a quick answer to his implicit question.

"Mimi, sir. Commander Jiang ordered me to protect the prince, in compliance with orders from you, sir."

Iroh slowly nodded. "Ah, that must be it. I was wondering why I have never met you, but it must be because Jiang only put you on the task quite recently. A true shame about Lu Ten's last bodyguard, truly." The veteran general's dark amber eyes – the same shade as Lu Ten's – seemed to pin Mimi to the spot, and even though she was a seasoned, if young, member in Commander Jiang's elite Bubai Warriors, she still felt a measure of trepidation creep into her chest. There was a deep power lurking behind those eyes, and at that very moment, it was as if the general could through her and unravel all her deepest, darkest secrets.

What was he looking for? Her loyalty? Her competency? Things that any regular man would have been content with, knowing that she came, handpicked from Commander Jiang.

"Well, you are certainly free to join us for our noon tea, Mimi," Iroh suddenly said, and the pressure that had quickly built up just as quickly dissipated as his eyes seemingly sparkled with joy. "Brewing tea for one of my finest warriors would be my honor."

Mimi gulped. This had to be some sort of test from the old, wizened general. There was no way it was going to be as simple as just a nice cup of good tea. Perhaps she had already even failed.

"W-while that sounds delightful, sir," Mimi started, trying to keep her voice steady, "it would be improper for me to relax when I should be keeping vigilance over the prince. It would be better for me to keep watch outside your tent instead."

"Oh, come now, Mimi," Lu Ten began, but he was quickly waved off by his father.

"The girl has a point, Lu Ten," Iroh responded. "It was improper of me to make such an offer and to put you in such a strange and difficult position." He turned to his son. "You could do with being more like her, so diligent and dedicated."

"Dad!" Lu Ten's incredulous voice floated over.

Iroh simply chuckled, but as he passed Mimi, his eyes seemed like they were analyzing her one last time before they returned to a cheerful disposition more in line with his content smile. Slowly, she fell into line behind Lu Ten, doing her best to ignore the events that had just occurred.

Was she overthinking it? Perhaps she had just imagined it all? Maybe it was just an innocent offer for some tea. But Mimi was someone who trusted her gut instinct, and her initial reaction had been that it was a test of some sort. For what, she had no idea, but the general was more than just his kind, almost grandfatherly disposition – of that she had no doubt, considering his formidable reputation as the Dragon of the West.

There was no use in overthinking it, Mimi concluded. If it had been a test, then all she could do was to strengthen her resolve to pass it. That was how a Bubai Warrior faced problems, but more importantly, it was how she had always overcome problems of her own.

"Are you sure that we should be out so late?" Kai whispered, looking at Zheng.

"Don't be such a wuss," the older soldier responded, striding down the dirt path to a different mass of tents. "I bet even some of the captains and commanders are joining it – it's not every day we get to celebrate breaking through Ba Sing Se's walls, after all."

"I know, I know, it's just that I'm still a little worried…"

Zheng spun on his heel and grabbed Kai by the shoulders, gently shaking him. "What're you afraid of? Getting in a little trouble with the higher ups? It'll be fine, man." He turned back to face the road and continued walking. "Were you like the goody two-shoes of your village or something?"

"Kinda, yeah," Kai replied sheepishly. "I've never been to an actual party or anything like that, and definitely not when it's not allowed."

Zheng snorted. "Figures. Well, there's a first for everything. Tonight's gonna be your first party, and it's gonna be great."

There was a brief pause as they walked on the road. Finally, Zheng spoke up.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, go for it."

"Why did you decide to join the army? Or were you were conscripted?"

Kai sighed. "No, I decided to join." He kicked a small nearby rock as he walked. "It was… how do I say it? It's not like I'm really patriotic or anything," Kai suddenly turned to Zheng while raising his hands, "though I definitely, completely support the Fire Nation in the war!"

Zheng chuckled. "It's fine. I understand, though I'm probably going to wear Fire Nation red for the rest of my life."

"It's just, I don't know, I wanted to see the world, I guess. Get out of my hometown."

"Oh, you don't like it there?"

Kai finally kicked the small rock off the path. "Maybe. It was just too small. Stifling, kinda. Never really felt like I fit in. Maybe that's why I don't really feel that attached to my home."

"I get that. Sometimes, you're just meant for more than a life of farming the same land your ancestors farmed – it's a big world after all."

"Yeah, exactly! I think that's it. I joined partially because I would be able to see more than just what I grew up with. And now I'm on the other side of the world."

Zheng smiled at that, and the two walked fell into a comfortable silence on the dirt path. Less than half a li up ahead, they could see a mass of lights and a faint rumble in the distance. It was clear that a mass of tents – mostly in the barracks section of the camp – was the center of the victory party. It was a raucous affair, with many a spilled barrel of liquor and already passed-out soldiers littering the ring of the tents.

"Zheng, you're finally here!" a man yelled as he walked up to Zheng and Kai. "Was almost thinking you weren't gonna make it." He thrust a mug into Zheng's hand. "Better get to it – night's still young!" With that, the man strode off into a nearby group, laughing loudly as he did so.

Grimacing, Zheng handed the mug to Kai without turning around. "Might as well get started, yeah?"

Kai looked down at the mug of beer that he now found in his hands. "Um, I've never had any alcohol before."

The older man turned to Kai with an incredulous look on his face. "Uh, Kai… how?"

"No parties, remember?"

Zheng shook his head and slapped Kai's back hard, causing the younger man to splutter and spill a little of the beer in his full mug. "First time for everything, then."

Mimi silently stood by the entrance flap of the tent as she watched Lu Ten work at his desk with his back to her. Outside, the sounds of an impromptu party organized by various regimental leaders throughout the army raged on, though with the distance between the barracks being used for said party and the higher-ranking officers' tents, it was little more than a dull roar than an actually irritating or distracting sound.

Suddenly, Lu Ten yawned and stretched out his arms. "I think that's about good," he said, as he stood up and pushed in his chair. "Though I wish I could've gotten a little more done. You know what? Here, Mimi, come here – I want to get your opinion on some of this."

"Yes, sir," Mimi replied, discretely stretching some of her sorer muscles out of habit as she strode over. She felt a little conflicted, since her formal education, while not lacking compared to the average citizen, was nothing special and certainly paled in comparison to the education of a royal. If the prince could not figure something out in a report or document, there was little hope she could either.

"Just this little section here," Lu Ten quietly said. "How does it flow?"

Mimi blinked a few times to make sure she was seeing correctly. Instead of long blocks of text about military affairs, the writing she saw was instead neatly and openly spaced with each character elegantly drawn and crafted.

"Sir, is this poetry?" Mimi asked, her brow furrowed. The last time she had regularly read or heard poetry was when she was a young girl, back when her own mother used to read it to her. Since then, it was rare that she had the opportunity to sit down to read or attend a reading of a poet. It was one of those rare, secret hobbies that she kept hidden from others since she knew that her comrades would tease her relentlessly about having such a 'boring' pastime.

"Indeed, Mimi," Lu Ten responded with a small smile. "Just a little something I've been working on. You could say it's a hobby of mine, though I've only found the time to work on it today since we've won such a monumental victory."

Mimi absentmindedly nodded as she scanned the words. "Falling leaves?" she asked, unsure of the deeper meaning behind some of the words and phrases used.

"Oh yes," Lu Ten quickly said. "Like the children's song. My father used to sing it to me when I was a child, and I have a soft spot for it. I plan on compiling this and some of my other works to give to my father when we take the city, so I thought that it was fitting for me to return some of the gifts he gave to me when I was younger."

"Very good, sir," Mimi awkwardly returned. Peering into the intricate relationship between her charge and his father was more than she really needed to know. "It's well written. I think your father would like it."

Lu Ten exhaled with a pursed lip smile. "You don't have to say that for me, Mimi."

"It's the truth, sir." There was silence as Mimi stood behind Lu Ten, who was organizing the various pieces of parchment and pens he had strewn about his desk. "Will you be retiring for the night, sir?" she asked.

"No, no," Lu Ten distractedly responded. "I think I'll go see what all the fuss is about with the soldiers and the victory party, as they are calling it."

Mimi frowned. "I must warn y…" she trailed off as Lu Ten turned around, just a half arms-length away from her, with his hand raised.

"It'll be fine," Lu Ten assured his bodyguard. "All of those men are loyal Fire Nation soldiers and would die to protect me. It'll be completely safe." He turned back to his desk to put a folder back in the stack. "Plus, it could help take the edge off for both of us. Agni knows I could use a strong one right about now."

"Sir?"

"Oh, I'm sure the men are cracking open all the good barrels for tonight's occasion."

"Sir, it would be completely inappropriate for me to drink while guarding you."

"Think of it as my professional suggestion to you as a fellow soldier, then. Or perhaps a direct order would work better?"

Mimi sighed. "Very well, sir. Perhaps a drink or two would not hurt… too much."

Lu Ten playfully punched her in the shoulder on his way to the tent's entrance flap. "That's the spirit."

"Oh, great Agni," Kai mumbled as he stumbled onto an overturned barrel. "I shouldn't have gone so hard." In the spirit of competition between comrades, he had gone straight from "never drank alcohol" to "runner-up in alcohol-drinking contest" in the span of a few hours. He had also gorged himself on every fine delicacy he could find, which ranged from the eccentric sweets of the colonies to some good, if decidedly Earth Kingdom-style, roasted turkey duck – it was no Komodo sausage, but it was still hearty and delicious.

"Ugh," he groaned, falling backward onto the dirt. His head was still spinning, but at the very least, he felt a measure of comfort.

The night sky was full of stars, and for a moment, Kai could almost pretend that he was back in the Fire Nation, back in Shao Chen, as a small child lying on a grassy hill with the cool spring night breeze blowing across his face and the scent of blooming flowers thick in the air. Of course, he returned to reality just as quickly, but the fond, rare recollection of his childhood was a nice dream while it lasted.

Tomorrow, he would have to pick up his spear and don his armor just like the thousands of other soldiers beside him, and he would have to march on the walls of the city proper under the command of the greatest general the Fire Nation had ever seen. Like every other soldier in the camp, drunk on the victory they had achieved, there was no doubt in Kai's mind that General Iroh could bring them the ultimate victory of defeating the Earth Kingdom by taking Ba Sing Se.

I hope I can go home soon, Kai thought to himself before he closed his eyes, content with food in his belly and the dreams of a better future in his mind. It was not the thought of returning to his hometown that filled Kai with such warmth, but rather what 'home' represented – a place of belonging and contentment, where he could live in peace and live off his honest work.

The cool spring breeze ruffled his hair, gently embracing him as he lay on the dirt path.

The city of Ba Sing Se was calm at night, perhaps eerily so considering the great military defeat it had just suffered earlier in the day. Even within the Lower Ring, there was no indication of any real panic that one would imagine would come with the fall of a city's outer walls.

In a courtyard at the front of royal palace of the Earth King, a lone agent of the Dai Li, the protectors of the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se, stood in front of lines of saluting soldiers. There were nearly four dozen of them.

"Each of you are here tonight because you have all served with distinction," the Dai Li agent intoned. "And beginning tonight, you will be able to serve when your nation needs you to. Under the command of Feng," a man in the line stepped forward, "you will work in the Agrarian Zone to distract, repel, and hinder Fire Nation forces before they threaten the Inner Wall. It will not be an easy task, but it is a necessary one. Those at the highest levels have full faith in your abilities to handle this assignment. Show our enemies that we are not to be trifled with."

"Yes, sir!"

The Dai Li agent watched the soldiers earthbend away into the tunnels beneath the palace that would lead them to the Inner Wall of the city and allow them easy access to the Agrarian Zone. When they were all gone, he slipped away into the darkness as well, and within seconds, there was no trace that anyone had been there at all. Nothing to suggest the Earth Kingdom had deployed troops to fight the Fire Nation. No proof that the Dai Li had extended their authority outside the walls of the city. In fact, there was no turmoil within the city at all.

After all, there was no war in Ba Sing Se.

A/N: Units of measurement are "Chinese length units effective in 1930" according to Wikipedia, since those are converted into easily rememberable lengths in the metric system and, less easily, in the modern U.S. customary system.

For reference:

1 li = 1/2 kilometer = ~1/3 mile

1 chi = 1/3 meter = ~1 foot

If enough people would prefer me to use metric or customary units instead, I will consider changing them. Otherwise, I will continue using these two units to denote measures of length.