Tale Of Two Avatars

City Of Walls And Secrets

We travel into Ba Sing Se soon after we took down the drill, entering the city by train. Katara glances out of the window behind her, pointing excitedly at the inner wall, "Look, the Inner Wall! I can't believe we finally made it to Ba Sing Se in one piece."

"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!" Sokka warned.

Toph stares at Sokka weirdly. "You been hitting the cactus juice again?"

"Ha! Never gets old," I chuckled, gaining a glare from Sokka.

"I'm just sayin', weird stuff happens to us," Sokka reasoned and the next thing I know, a man sucking what looked like corn sat in between Sokka and Toph nonchalantly, causing Sokka to stare at him in disgust. 

I notice Aang staring out of the window pensively and without needing to tap into our bond, I could already tell what was on his mind. I put my hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry Aang, we'll find Appa."

"It's such a big city," Aang sighed. 

"He's a giant bison! Where could someone possibly hide him?" Sokka reasoned, going over to us and peering out the window. Moments later, the massive, vast city of Ba Sing Se dotted with a multitude of buildings comes into view, proving his statement wrong.

"Yeah, what a small city, I wonder where anyone could possibly hide him," I riposted sarcastically. 

Sokka only chuckles anxiously at this, continuing to peer out of the window silently. The train comes to a halt soon after and we disembark the train, stepping onto the platform. 

"Back in the city. Great," Toph sighed. 

"What's the problem? It's amazing!" Sokka praised in excitement.

"It's just a bunch of walls and rules. You wait, you'll get sick of it in a couple of days," Toph shrugged.

Again, I notice Aang walking over to face the vast city before him, taking his flying bison whistle out. I tread over to him, watching him blow his whistle to call Appa. "I'm comin' for ya, buddy." He looks over at me confidently. "He's here, I feel it."

"I know he is," I reassured. "We'll find him, I promise."

We both exchange smiles and turning back to the group, we find a lady with long dark hair standing before them, a broad grin plastered on her face. "Hello, my name is Joo Dee! I have been given the great honour of showing the Avatars around Ba Sing Se," She turns to face Katara, Sokka and Toph. "And you must be Sokka, Katara, and Toph! Welcome to our wonderful city. Shall we get started?" I spare a surreptitious glance at Aang.'The way she speaks is quite weird, quite unusual, almost like she's too cheerful. What do you think, Aang?'

Aang's voice in my head comes back confident and reassuring, 'Don't worry about it Suzume. She's just probably trying to be nice, or maybe she's just nervous. She seems like a nice person.'

'If you say so, Aang.'

"Yes. We have information about the Fire Nation army that we need to deliver to the Earth King, immediately," Sokka informed.

"Great! Let's begin our tour. And then I'll show you to your new home here. I think you'll like it!" Joo Dee smiled, beginning to walk away from us.

Sokka groaned in frustration, walking 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," Joo Dee reassured and I frown slightly in confusion, looking at Aang again, who looked just as confused as I was. 'You sure she's fine, Aang? She just said everyone's safe here, shouldn't everyone know that the Fire Nation almost broke into Ba Sing Se?'