Chapter Text
Kona fought the shake in her fingertips.
Before her, the Earth King’s palace sprawled further than her eye could see. It paled in comparison to the magnificence of the walls, but it was still a sight to behold. Above the palace doors, a slight breeze sent a ripple through the banner boasting the emblem of the Earth Kingdom.
She focused on that fluttering green cloth, if only to calm her anxious mind.
This was the Earth King’s palace.
They were in Ba Sing Se.
This was an honor.
There was no need to fear.
They were building a life of peace.
“Many times I imagined myself here, at the threshold of the palace,” Iroh said as he stopped his approach, breaking Kona from her musing.
Kona and Zuko fell to rest beside his opposing shoulders, listening intently as he, too, stared up at the captivating green banner.
“I always thought I would be here as a conqueror. Instead, we are the Earth King’s personal guests, here to serve him tea.”
Iroh laughed, but it wasn’t his normal boisterous sound. It was a soft noise, almost melancholic. Kona squeezed his hand, and though he didn’t look at her, he returned the gesture.
“Destiny is a funny thing,” he continued after a long breath.
“It sure is, uncle,” Zuko said, his voice warm and reassuring. It was nice to hear the tone in his voice while in public. It was becoming less rare, but Kona treasured his soft words all the same.
Iroh grinned over his shoulder at Zuko before he took a purposeful step forward. Whatever thoughts he had, seeming to fade away with each step. She watched him square his shoulders and raise his chin as he marched. Selfishly, Kona was glad to see she wasn’t the only one with anxiety regarding their summons to the palace.
With a deep breath of her own, Kona moved to follow Iroh when something blocked her path. She looked down at the arm slung in front of her, then at Zuko, her eyebrow raised. He was looking at her, of course. Why else would he have gotten her attention? His eyes were unreadable.
She felt her brow furrow as he just stared at her.
Then she saw what he was pulling from his belt.
Kona looked around frantically then rolled her eyes. With a glare, she snatched her dagger from his hand. She thought briefly of trying to hide it in her belle sleeves, but decided against it. She didn’t have a holster on her wrist and the fabric of her sleeve was much too delicate. It would show every curve of the blade.
Instead, she slid the sheathed blade into the pocket of her new robe, thanking Agni that Iroh had insisted that she got the fabric tailored to her needs.
Still, she sent another unimpressed look at Zuko who only nodded back at her in satisfaction.
Kona had left her dagger behind on purpose. He had to have known that.
She wasn’t able to wear her boots today, her normal hiding place. She had opted for a pair of nice slippers to pair with her beautiful jade colored silk robe. They were meeting with the Earth King, after all. If there was ever a time to dress herself well, it was now.
Kona pushed his raised arm away from her, annoyed by his mother-henning. “I left it behind on purpose. Besides, do you really think they will let us see the Earth King with weapons on our person?”
“You’ll figure it out.”
He brushed a gentle hand against the small of her back, and leaned in, mouth close to her ear. “You look beautiful, by the way.”
He swept away without a backwards glance, leaving her to scowl at his back. She followed with reluctance, eyeing her surroundings with a critical eye. If the kingdom guards took her dagger, she would be very cross with Zuko.
But they didn’t.
The Dai Li agents that escorted them to the throne room barely even looked at them, let alone searched them. Kona would think it odd, but with how little crime she saw in the city, she guessed she could understand.
Either the Dai Li were so unaccustomed to struggle in the safety of the walls that they had grown complacent in their duties, or they were so efficient that not even a whisper of the crimes they stopped had escaped their hands.
The second thought intimidated Kona more than she cared to admit, so she forced herself to drop it, inching closer to the members of her party.
After many twists and turns, very likely designed to confuse the unfamiliar, the agents led them into the throne room.
It… was not what she had expected. It was grand, but it was so very different from that of the Fire Nation palace, which she had only seen once. Where the Fire Lord’s throne screamed intimidation and power, with a wall of fire that separated the royal family from their subjects, the Earth King’s throne was simple and unassuming. It stood on top of a few steps, in an open room with a beautiful mural behind it.
Their tea table was placed front and center before the throne. Beside the Dai Li, there were no barriers separating the king from his subjects. In Kona’s mind, it sang high praises on the Earth King that he didn’t rely on scare tactics and intimidation.
She was suddenly quite excited to meet him.
Iroh got their station ready, as agents that escorted them moved to guard the door. Kona and Zuko watched as Iroh moved with meticulous, practiced movements before coming to rest between them.
Kona reached out to squeeze his hand once more, which earned her a soft pat on the hand, before she clasped her own hands in her lap.
Then, they waited.
And waited.
Time dragged on, and what could have been a small delay fell away to something more prolonged. With each passing minute, Kona’s hard won excitement slipped back to anxiety. Could something be wrong with the Earth King? With the city? Is that why the king had seemingly forgotten about them?
“What’s taking so long?” Zuko asked, voicing Kona’s own thoughts aloud.
“Maybe the Earth King overslept,” Iroh offered, but it fell flat.
“In the middle of the day?” Kona countered anyway, to which Iroh only offered a halfhearted shrug.
Movement from the corner of her eye pulled Kona’s attention as the Dai Li agents stationed at the door rotated around the room to the table before them. Behind her, she could hear the telltale steps of more people entering the room, followed by the harsh noise of the door slamming behind them.
More and more Dai Li circled around them causing Kona’s heart to thump in her chest. Could it have been a trap all along? Did the Dai Li realize they were Fire Nation?
“Something’s not right,” Zuko muttered, eyeing the change from the corner of his eye.
Iroh hummed in agreement from between them and Kona shifted her hand, bringing it closer towards her hip. The reassuring weight of her dagger pushed against her side. If any of them made a move, she would do what she had to do.
“It’s tea time!” A chillingly familiar voice crooned from outside the circle, and Kona tensed.
Zuko shot to his feet, defensive. “Azula…”
She emerged from between two of the agents, her usual smirk on her face.
Kona drew herself up, taking in the girl before her. Gone was her fire nation regalia; in its place was the clothing of the Earth Kingdom. The symbol of the Kingdom sat on her chest mockingly and for perhaps the first time Kona felt anger for the girl burning within her.
During their time in Ba Sing Se, Kona had felt like an imposter donning the comfortable neutral colors of the Earth Kingdom. She felt like a wolf in sheep’s clothing, lying to everyone she met. Then, faster than she expected, the city started to feel like home.
She let herself enjoy the new colors; her neutral palette slowly grew to jades and emeralds. Her boots became slippers, her comfortable, convenient clothing became more refined, more delicate. She wore the wardrobe her mother’s family would have raised her in.
Kona glared at the pretty green bow that held Azula’s hair in place. All she wanted to do was snatch it away.
All at once, Kona knew she wasn’t an imposter at all. They weren’t imposters. They never were.
The difference was apparent now.
“Have you met the Dai Li?” Azula asked them, stopping before them with a smirk, unaware of Kona’s growing frustration. “They’re earthbenders, but they have a killer instinct that’s so firebender. I just love it.”
Kona’s stomach twisted. The Dai Li were traitors. The group that was supposed to protect the king—protect the city had turned.
So, what had happened to the king? No, that’s not important now. Focus on yourself.
Kona looked around, unable to contain her nerves. They were completely surrounded.
Kona felt Iroh move to his feet beside her, his arm brushing hers as he picked up a cup of his prepared tea to hold before him.
“Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname ‘Dragon of the West?’” Iroh asked Azula, sniffing his tea with a serene expression.
Kona tensed immediately, fingers itching to jump to her sides and free her blade.
“I’m not interested in a lengthy anecdote, Uncle.” Azula rolled her eyes, smug energy rolling off of her as she checked her nails. She thought they were trapped. Helpless.
She underestimated Iroh.
“It’s more of a demonstration, really.” Iroh pulled the tea cup to his lips and took a long drink.
Kona leapt behind him, ducking her head, and she felt Zuko’s body covering her own, his natural resistance leaving him less likely to be burned from the burst of flame that spewed from Iroh’s mouth. Kona and Zuko shuffled awkwardly, staying behind Iroh as he set fire to the entire room with a single turn.
Rumbling earth created barriers all around them and Kona watched Azula leap behind it—her Dai Li keeping her safe. How had she inspired this loyalty? What had she promised them?
In the pandemonium that followed, Iroh dropped his assault, instead turning to blast crackling blue energy at the wall, the door too blocked to even consider escaping through.
The earthen wall crumbled away, leaving a blackened hole. Kona leapt through it without a second thought, and she heard Zuko and Iroh fall into step behind her. They knew that the Dai Li and Azula were surely giving chase.
Kona pushed herself, keeping herself moving, but the silk slippers beneath her feet couldn’t get a grip on the smooth stone of the floor. She suddenly wished she would have worn her boots, though they clashed with her apparel. She could barely keep up with Iroh and Zuko, let alone outrun the Dai Li in her current garb.
She rounded the corner before them, wheezing as her momentum sent her careening into the wall, her slippers useless against the change in direction.
Kona forced herself to push off the wall and keep moving, though the hit made her ribs rattle. Iroh and Zuko shot past her, not having that same issue, though they each sent a glance back.
She waved them off, moving once more to follow them.
Rock clattered behind her, too close.
No.
Her face hit the ground.
Her ankle screaming in agony.
Kona kicked in panic, but her leg was pinned, a stone hand clutching her ankle to the ground. Another followed, pinning her other ankle to the floor, and Kona clawed wildly at the stone, trying to move out of its grasp. A matching glove of earth suddenly forced her extended wrist to the floor, fusing her wrist to the stone.
The world shook as Iroh lightningbended the wall open in front of him and jumped to freedom. Only then did Zuko turn again. His eyes widened, horror flashing across his face.
“Kona.” He only barely choked her name out of his lips.
“Go!” Kona yelled, as an agent came behind her. The glove on her wrist pulled her arm back with no warning and she couldn’t contain the hiss of pain as her shoulder was forced to rotate backwards. A knee stabbed into her spine, pinning her to the floor, as a robed arm reached for her other wrist.
She didn’t fight it. It was futile, and she knew it.
Her wrist met her other behind her back, and she felt the stone shackle them together. Kona craned her neck, unwilling to look away from the horrified visage of Zuko, though her chin was digging painfully into the floor.
He was still hesitating by the hole Iroh created. She pleaded with her eyes for him to go. For him to leave her behind.
She heard Iroh yelling, but she couldn’t make it out. Azula passed by Kona, sparing her only a small disappointed click of her tongue, before she prowled towards her brother.
“Go, Zuko! Run!” Kona finally begged aloud, her check flush against the floor as a rough hand pushed her down, as if she could resist at all.
“I’m tired of running,” she heard him say, turning away from his escape completely.
“No,” Kona all but wailed. Her shoulders screamed as the agent forced her to her feet. Her legs flailed, struggling to find purchase on the stone floor, but her shoes made it impossible. She kicked off the slippers that had betrayed her, though her ankle screamed in protest as her feet finally found resistance against the floor. It seemed her weak ankle had returned tenfold.
“You’re so dramatic, Zuzu,” Azula said, coming to a stop between Zuko and Kona. Kona fought harder, struggling to keep a good look at him even as the Dai Li tried to force her away. She wanted him to read her face, to see she wanted him to run. He didn’t seem to care.
“What? Are you going to challenge me to an Agni Kai?” Azula taunted.
Kona whined deep in her throat. He couldn’t do it. He was out of practice—unable to bend for weeks to keep from being discovered.
“Yes!” He said, anyway, and Kona saw his eyes flicker back to her, panic entering his face. “I challenge you!”
“No, thanks.”
The world turned orange as Zuko attacked Azula, but he was too distracted and too overwhelmed. He didn’t see the Dai Li move forward and just as easily as Kona; he went down. First his feet, then his arms.
“Knock them out,” Azula said, a smile pulling at her lips as she turned away from her brother.
His wild eyes met hers, but there was nothing they could do.
The world went dark.