The Girl He Won't Remember

Chapter 25

I never did rejoin the others after my "walk", and part of me wondered if they were worried about me. Probably not, I decided. They're preoccupied with Jet. Besides, they've probably gotten used to me disappearing by now. I spent the morning with Iroh, who was deciding on a name for his new tea shop, and helping to move their things to their new home in the upper ring. Zuko vanished to do whatever it was he was doing, which concerned me for so many reasons.

"He's fine," Iroh reassured me. By this point, I was convinced that he could read my mind. "My nephew may be troublesome, but he is not reckless enough to do anything self-destructive." At that moment, we looked at each other and shared that exact same expression. We knew Zuko, and we knew the lengths he would go through to achieve something. We hurried and sat their belongings down, and tried to figure out where he could have gone. That was when I remembered Jet and the others talking about Lake Laogi. That was where Appa was, it was where the Avatar was going— and that was where Zuko would be. Iroh and I rushed to catch up with him, finding a tunnel that had once been underwater. The Avatar and his friends had obviously been here; the Dai Li wasn't foolish enough to leave the secret entrance so exposed. We climbed down the ladder and were submerged in darkness. The tunnels were dimly lit with lanterns that gave a green tint to everything. Quietly, the two of us poked our heads into rooms, trying to find Zuko. Along the way, I poked my head into an area filled with women. All were dressed identically, all were lined up at attention in an army-like fashion. In front of them stood a man in the Dai Li uniform, speaking in a mesmerizing monotone. "I'm Ju Di," he'd said. "Welcome to Ba Sing Se."

In a zombie-ish unison, the women all repeated his words. "I'm Ju Di. Welcome to Ba Sing Se."

He added, "We are so lucky to have our walls to create order." Again, they repeated in their eerie manner. More than freaked out, I hurriedly tiptoed to catch up with Iroh. For an old man, he was fast. 

We finally found a door that had aggressive roars emitting from it, and we only knew of one person reckless enough to risk being caught. Iroh slid the door open and we slipped into the room, swiftly closing it behind us. Instinctively, Zuko whirled around and positioned his swords to put up a fight. 

"So," Iroh said, "the Blue Spirit... I wonder who could be behind that mask."

Zuko sighed and removed his mask. "What are you two doing here?"

"I was just about ask you the same thing," his uncle replied. The old man stepped towards his nephew. "What do you plan to do now that you've found the Avatar's bison? Keep it locked in our new apartment? Should I go put on a pot of tea for him?"

Appa was chained to the ground by his legs, unable to lift himself. He was a mixture of viciousness and fear. I'll never know what he'd gone through since the day he had disappeared, but, whatever it was, he had clearly been through hell. I wanted to pet him, show him as much affection as I could to make up for whatever he had suffered. I stayed in my place, locking eyes with the bison. If only Aang knew where he was... where were they?

"First, I have to get it out of here," Zuko said. 

Iroh rose his voice, angrier and louder than I'd ever heard from him. "And then what? You never think these things through! This is exactly what happened when you captured the Avatar at the North Pole! You had him, and then you had nowhere to go!"

"Iroh—" I tried to calm them down. His voice was echoing, and I was sure that it was only a matter of time before someone overheard. I was completely disregarded.

"I would've figured something out!" Zuko shot back. 

"No!" His uncle shouted. "If his friends had not found you, you would have frozen to death!"

Zuko grunted. "I know my own destiny, Uncle!"

Finally, I spoke up. All this talk about his 'destiny' over these years— I was fed up with it! "Is it your own destiny?" I asked. "Or is it a destiny that someone else has tried to force on you?"

"Stop it," Zuko insisted. "I have to do this!"

"I'm begging you, Zuko," I said. "It's time for you to look within yourself, and ask yourself the important questions: Who are you? What do you want? Stop making decisions based on what others would approve of! Why do you continue to allow your life to be so easily manipulated?"

Zuko let out a yell of frustration and threw his swords and masked to the ground. His yell bounced from wall to wall.

For a while, no one said anything. Even Appa was silent. I hesitantly walked to Zuko's side. He didn't look at me. He stared down at his mask and swords. I rested a hand on his arm, the other holding his hand. I whispered, "Whatever you choose, make sure it was what you wanted. Don't listen to me, don't listen to your uncle, don't listen to the mindset given to you by your father. Listen to your heart, and whatever it tells you is right." Without receiving a response, I backed away and rejoined Iroh. We waited for a solid six minutes for a reaction, and we weren't disappointed. Zuko used the tips of his swords to unlock the shackles around Appa's legs, to which he received a very large and thankful tongue to the face. 

I couldn't have been more proud. 

We stealthily sneaked through the tunnels without bring attention to ourselves, though I would have to shush Appa every two minutes. After what happened in the Cave of Two Lovers, I didn't blame him for being so anxious. When we emerged from the tunnel, I winced from the sudden blinding sunlight. Appa didn't hesitate to soar into the sky and embrace his freedom. 

Zuko threw his mask into the lake, and we all watched it sink down until it was no longer visible.