Carved In Rock || ATLA

I Found

The Tale's of Ba Sing Se/Appa's Lost Day's/Lake Laogai

"And I'll use you as a warning sign, that if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind. And I'll use you as a focal point so I don't lose sight of what I want. And I've moved further than I thought I could but I missed you more than I thought I would. And I'll use you as a warning sign, that if you talk enough sense then you'll lose your mind. And I found love where it wasn't supposed to be, right in front of me. Talk some sense to me." - Amber Run

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"Aelita?"

"Yeah?"

"Run."

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Four sets of eyes stared back at Joo Dee with varying levels of concern and distrust. This was exactly what they had wanted to happen when they came to Ba Sing Se, right? An audience with the Earth King himself and despite the best efforts of Long Feng, it seemed as if Aelita had managed to secure the once-in-a-lifetime meeting.

But something about this felt wrong.

"I thought one didn't just pop in on the Earth King?" Toph spoke up first, one brow raised in suspicion.

"Oh goodness well of course they don't." Joo Dee waived off the obscene notion. "But Miss. Kenshin didn't pop in, she was invited."

"By who?" Sokka asked.

"A member of the royal family," Dee explained her rehearsed story that avoided giving away too many details. "It appears they met while out in the city this afternoon and she made quite the good impression. The Earth King was delighted to hear and requested the Akira's presence at once."

"I see." Katara doubted. "And she couldn't stop by here on her way to tell us first? She wouldn't want us to worry."

"That's why I'm here. So you don't have to worry. Now you know exactly where she is, and you may all rest easy for the night." The host smiled.

"What about Aang?" Toph continued to question. "He is the Avatar after all, shouldn't he be with her."

"She's right." The monk agreed. "Aelita and I are a team. It's only natural we meet the King together."

"Oh, there's no need to be jealous. I'm sure your time with His Grace will come soon enough."

"I'm not jealous, I'm concerned and a little bit pissed off." Aang floated to his feet and stalked over to stand before Joo Dee next to Sokka.

"Language of such nature is rather unbecoming of a young man."

"You're about to hear a lot worse if you don't start to tell us the truth." Sokka snapped, any patience he had having completely disappeared. "Either speak up or shut up and get the hell out of our way. We'll ask the Earth King ourselves."

"Now, now, there is no need for hostility." Joo Dee continued steadily despite how badly she was shaking on the inside. These children were going to be the death of her, literally. After the stunt pulled by the young Prince, she couldn't dare report to Long Feng anything other than a success less she end up like the agents that failed so drastically this morning. She didn't want to die. She didn't want to go back to Lake Laogai. Somewhere someone was waiting on her, even if she couldn't remember who it was now. "I'd hate to see you escorted out of the city before you were reunited with your friend or your bison. After all, there are only four of you but there are dozens of trained Dai Li willing to protect the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se." She relaxed slightly when she could see the thinly veiled threat was duly noted by each of the children. "Speaking of your bison, I'll be by first thing tomorrow morning to help you continue your search personally. I'd be heading off to bed now if I were you."