Sunburn

20

Things were certainly looking up.

Zuko smiled as and his uncle stepped out of the carriage that had brought them to the Earth Kingdom Palace, he helped his girlfriend down of it like the gentleman he is and the three walked towards the palace together. All wearing their finest Earth Nation robes. Iroh wore green, Zuko wore a reddish brown shade and Tsai's wore her trademark golden ochre.

"Many times I imagined myself here, at the threshold of the palace." Iroh commented as he held the basket of his tea supplies, "But I always thought I would be here as a conqueror. Instead, we are here as the Earth King's personal guests, here to serve him tea. Destiny is a funny thing."

Tsai always pictured herself here, but in her head she was welcomed as an honored guest and assigned personal guards amongst other luxurious goods. This wasn't quite what she had in mind, but it would do for now. She was excited to talk to the King. Maybe he'd listen maybe he wouldn't but she wouldn't lose anything trying.

"It sure is, Uncle." Zuko agreed with a slight smile.

Moments later Zuko sat quietly beside his uncle as he poured a cup of tea in the King's meeting room. The throne was elegantly decorated with golden figurines and a mural depicting Ba Sing Se in traditional ink brush art.

"What's taking so long?" Zuko asked warily. They had now been waiting for a while.

"Maybe the Earth King overslept?" Iroh suggested.

"No," Tsai said suddenly. "It is not customary of Earth Kingdom people to be unpunctual."

What kind of royal reception was this supposed to be? Tsai shook her head if her mother was in charge of this Royal Reception none of this would've been acceptable.

Tsai stood up and dusted her palms on her dress.

"That's it," she announced in a bored tone. "I'm sick and tired of waiting. This is unacceptable. I'm going to go find the Earth King myself."

"Have you lost your mind?" Zuko reached for her arm holding her in place.

"I'll be back soon," she simply said shaking his light grip off. "You don't even know where he is." He added crossing his arms over his chest in disapproval.

"Don't worry, I know my way around a palace." She said cockily before exiting the room.

Or at least attempting to. She was pushed back into the room when several Dai Li agents came into the room and surrounded the three.

Iroh's brow furrowed in suspicion.

"Something's not right." Zuko whispered.

Azula suddenly stepped into the room and she walked past the Dai Li agents, coming to standing in front of her brother just outside the ring of agents.

"It's tea time!" She chirped joyfully, however her tone was malicious and held a sharp edge to it as per usual.

Zuko jumped to his feet in surprise and anger, "Azula!"

Azula wore a uniform similar to the Dai Li agents including a matching emerald green bow at the top of her head.

"Have you met the Dai Li?" Azula asked lightly as she smirked, "They're Earthbenders, but they have a killer instinct that's soFirebender. I just love it."

Iroh calmly picked up his cup of tea, now standing up. "Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname 'the Dragon of the West'?"

Azula rolled her eyes at her uncle, "I'm not interested in a lengthy anecdote, Uncle."

"It's more of a demonstration, really." Iroh replied and he calmly took a sip of the tea.

Tsai had heard this tale before, she knew what was coming. The three of them stood together backs pressed against each other. Zuko glanced over at his uncle in surprise then he smirked slightly and spun behind Iroh, Tsai quickly ducked and summoned her trusty hidden blades ready to attack if needed. The older man jumped to his feet and began breathing fire, scattering the Dai Li agents. Zuko quickly ran and kicked a fire blast at the wall, blasting a hole in it as Iroh continued to breathe fire as he walked backwards, then he ran down the hallway after his Tsai and his nephew.