Chapter Text
Once Azula was back in her own bedroll again, sleeping a little less than soundly but at least sleeping, Zuko bit the bullet and got ready for work.
"Buddy system," Jin reminded him. "Don't go off alone, okay?"
"I'll be fine," he said. The Dai Li would have a hard time grabbing him off the street. "Keep an eye on Azula?"
"Obviously."
"Tell Longshot I said hey, will you?" Jet asked, grabbing him by the shoulder on his way out. Zuko nodded and shrugged off his hand.
"I'll tell him."
He didn't see any Dai Li on the roofs, but that didn't mean they weren't there. He did his best to stick to the main roads where there were lots of shops, but enough space that the crowd wouldn't totally swallow him up. This was...easier said than done, but he reached the Junior Guard station unharmed, so that counted for something.
Longshot was already there, uniformed; so, unfortunately, was Jing.
"Ah, Lee! You're late," he said disapprovingly. "I was just informing your cohort of some security measures we'll be implementing, in light of recent breaches. Where is Jet?"
"He's..." Zuko made eye contact with Longshot. "He's out sick. He said he'd be back in soon, though."
Longshot's cautious expression faltered, his eyes widening. He gave a small nod.
Jing, on the other hand, sighed. "Well, please inform him we're not running a charity. He won't be paid for unexcused absences. Bad enough that Water Tribe boy took a vacation right when all these troubles started. I told them over and over again, hire locals..."
Zuko didn't point out that neither he, Longshot nor Jet were local. "I'll let him know."
"Anyway, as I was saying, our basement appears to have been compromised, presumably by thieves entering through the drain tunnels. Thankfully, no documents appear to be missing, but please lock up all shelves securely before leaving the building," Jing said seriously. "And please return your uniforms to your lockers before clocking out for the day."
"Yes, sir," Zuko said.
Jing bustled away, leaving Zuko and Longshot to their own devices.
Longshot gave Zuko a long look.
"He said to tell you hey," Zuko replied, making sure Jing was out of earshot. "I can't tell you where he is now, but he's safe. Him and Azula both."
He wasn't sure if he imagined Longshot's eyes looking a little watery; probably best not to mention it.
"Come on, we should get started on work." Zuko headed down the stairs; he was uncomfortably reminded of the descent into the catacombs, but he pushed that to the back of his mind.
~
Toklo found himself rapidly losing his nerve as they got closer to the house. They'd had no contact with the group since leaving the ship, so no way of knowing what news they'd come back to — it was terrifying. He...he was terrified.
"Yue," he said, trying to force the trembling out of his voice. "Any spiritual intel? Maybe a little premonition?"
Yue didn't look amused, and shook her head. Toklo sighed.
"We're here," Akela announced to Chief Hakoda over her shoulder. If she was worried, she was doing a fantastic job of hiding it. She knocked on the door. "Guys? It's us, we're back."
The door opened just a crack, four sets of eyes peeking out; then it opened fully, revealing Ty Lee and Smellerbee standing inside. Smellerbee had Kiyi in her arms, and the Duke clinging to her leg. All four were covered in a dusting of flour.
"You're here!" Ty Lee exclaimed. She pushed Smellerbee to the side, holding the door wider. "Come in, quick."
The kitchen, normally the hub for activity in the house, was deserted. A ball of soupy-looking dough lay on the counter, and a pot of burnt-smelling broth bubbled on the stove.
"Where is everyone?" Toklo asked, because surely they hadn't all taken off on a rescue mission.
"Mai and Longshot had to work," Ty Lee said. "Jin and Zuko left last night to go into the Upper Ring and look for Azula."
"And Ursa...?"
Ty Lee and Smellerbee shrugged in tandem.
Oh, boy. Toklo glanced to Akela, who was badly hiding a grimace.
"This is fine," she said, like a liar. "Um."
Toklo shared a look with Chief Hakoda, who looked similarly at a loss. Great. "Okay," he said, straightening his tunic. Chief picked you for this for a reason, he reminded himself. "Chief, why don't you and Akela go see if Longshot's heard anything? He works for the Guard office, he might have heard something through the grapevine."
"I can get you guys in," Yue piped up. "If we stop at my place I can be ready in ten minutes. Our boss takes off early for lunch, so we shouldn't run into him."
Perfect. "Thanks, Yue. You're a lifesaver."
"Hopefully," she replied.
"I'll stay here and try to help with...this." Toklo gestured around the kitchen; as much as he wanted to help find his friends, he wasn't comfortable leaving Smellerbee and Ty Lee to fend for themselves.
"Come on," he said, taking Kiyi from Smellerbee. "We can get cleaned up, and see if we can salvage some of this food."
"Good luck," Akela said as she followed Yue and Chief out the door. Toklo replied with a salute.
"You too, Kel."
~
Jin had bathed, brushed her hair, and changed out of her uniform, and finally felt a little more like a human being again. She sat with her aunt and Jet at the table, sorting out rocks from the dried beans she was cooking for dinner. Auntie had been quiet ever since Jin had explained the situation earlier, and Jin couldn't shake the anxiety creeping up her spine like a fever chill. Was she angry? Upset? She'd seemed understanding enough, but —
"Is your friend still sleeping?" Aunt Mei-Li asked, picking a rock out of the pile of beans.
"I can go check," Jin said.
"Bring her more tea when you go. I just brewed another pot of lemon and ginger." She nodded toward the kitchen counter.
Jin stood up, pouring a cup from the pot. She added a generous amount of honey, knowing Azula preferred it sweet — she'd wrinkled her nose at the last cup, though she'd still drunk it all. Carefully, she brought the cup back to her room and knelt down to check on Azula.
She was still sleeping, but when Jin felt her forehead for her temperature, her eyes opened a sliver.
"Mom?" she mumbled, blinking.
"It's Jin. I brought you some tea," she said, rubbing Azula's shoulder. "Can you sit up?"
Azula sighed, slowly rising. She rubbed her eyes while she took the cup, yawning. "Where is Jet?"
"Helping my aunt with dinner," Jin replied.
"And Zuko?"
"He left for work. He's gonna tell Longshot we're safe here."
"We're not," Azula pointed out, sipping her tea carefully, eyes still heavy-lidded. "But I suppose safer than anywhere else."
Jin sighed. It was true, though she didn't like thinking about it. "Do you want anything to eat?"
Azula considered, opening her mouth and then closing it again a couple times. Finally, she asked, "Do you have any more moon peaches?"
"Sure." Jin stood up. "I'll be right back."
~
Enlai wasn't often one to sleep in, but it was a day off work, and Shufen was still asleep, so when Mei-Li had gotten up, she had told him not to worry, to go back to sleep.
Had he known his wife was going to acquire two new teenagers in his absence, he would have gotten up sooner.
"Mei-Li," he said quietly, not wanting to pull her from her task of rinsing rice. "Did we have this many children before?"
"Jin is...hosting her friends for a few days," she said carefully. Enlai glanced at the vaguely familiar boy sorting beans at the table with Eun-ji, and the girl sitting on the floor in front of Jin's chair with a bowl of moon peach slices while Jin braided her hair, and understood by their tired eyes and the collection of scrapes and bruises on their faces that she meant harboring.
"We only have food for four this week," he pointed out; Shufen was still nursing, but Mei-Li had to eat to nurse her. His wife pursed her lips; his job repairing roofs and floors hadn't the most consistent salary, and refugees' rations were limited to a set amount per person.
"I'll pick up some extra work around," he added, to ease Mei-Li's mind. "Lu Gan Jin has been wanting tiles redone in his courtyard. I'll find the time."
"Don't wear yourself out. We can make it work," she said. "It just may mean smaller portions."
From the skin-and-bones look of Jin's friends, they couldn't afford smaller portions. Gan Jin was a generous client; Enlai would work out a deal.
~
The agents who had been involved in misplacing the Fire Princess had yet to answer for their incompetence or find the girl. Nor yet had Junior Agents Tu and San owned up to any betrayal; Commander Huan remained indisposed following the Princess's assault upon him, though Long Feng suspected his pride bore the brunt of the injury.
In all, there was precious little for Long Feng to oversee, and that dreadful noblewoman was still occupying his seat.
Long Feng loathed being forced to twiddle his thumbs. Worse still were the hapless king's attempts to engage her in conversation — her annoyance could not be more plain, a sentiment Long Feng found himself unfortunately sympathetic to.
What, exactly, concerned her enough for her visit to last this long — in shameless spite of pointed hints from the attending Joo Dees that she ought to be visiting one of the Upper Ring's many spas or other attractions — remained an elusive piece of information that grated on Long Feng's nerves like sandstone. Surely there were better things to do than entertaining Kuei and his bear for hours on end. He was half tempted to recruit her to the Joo Dee initiative, for how nearly convincing her faux smile was, and how intent she seemed on always being there when Long Feng came to check in on the king.
(There was a niggling suspicion at the back of his mind — something about her seemed almost familiar. Though, Kuei had mentioned her background was in theatre — it could be that Long Feng had seen her face on a poster. He pushed it from his mind.)
He could not waste precious time agonizing over the Earth King's guests when there was a much more pressing matter. Whoever had revealed the Princess's capture to Kuei could easily let slip even more sensitive information. This could not be allowed.
For the first time, he considered that it might be time to employ drastic measures against the formerly complacent and easygoing monarch. Previous rebellions from Kuei had been curbed by redirecting him toward mindless pursuits of entertainment, but never had he so brazenly dismissed Long Feng, nor had he ever been in possession of such volatile information.
There goes the evening, he thought — for getting Kuei away from the noblewoman would surely take up his whole afternoon.
He sighed. Perhaps he could count himself lucky the king had not required brainwashing thus far.
Really, though, it was a terrible inconvenience.