In the moment of the tea-table talk the sky turned orange as the sun began to vanish behind the clouds.
"Oh, I must hurry!" Iroh said as he rose to is feet.
"What is it?" Katara asked.
"Today we ran out of ginseng and black tea leaves. I'll need to buy some more before the shops close. We also broke one of our kettles; I'll need to replace it. Unfortunately for me the merchants who sell them are all in different parts of the city. With all of this excitement it seems I forgot. I also need to sweep up the store before I go" Iroh explained as he prepared to go into town.
"I'll help" Aang offered.
"So will I" said Toph. "Me too" added Katara.
"I can use my glider staff to get to whatever is the farthest away" Aang said.
"Hmmm" Iroh considered. "The merchant who sells the kettles I like lives in the Middle Ring of the city. He is the farthest away."
Aang picked up his staff and opened its wings. "I'm on it" Aang said. Iroh took the needed money out of his pocket, gave it to Aang, and told him where to find the merchant and what kind of kettle to buy. After he did Aang ran out the entrance and became airborne.
"I know where to buy black leaves" Toph said. Iroh repeated the same process as with Aang and Toph left.
"Well I guess I can stay here and sweep" Katara proposed.
Ordinarily Iroh may have objected to this seeing as Katara was pregnant but seeing as she was still in the early stages of it, sweeping was not a strenuous activity, and he did not wish to insult or patronize her he agreed, lending her a broom and then leaving to buy ginseng.
The initial thrill of helping out quickly dissipated as the moments of brushing the floor with the broom became dull and monotonous for Katara but she was not one to abandon an important task just because it was boring. Though as the seconds turned to minutes and the minutes turned into dozens, she wished that someone would come back or something interesting would happen.
After about a half hour a lone man wearing a straw hat entered the shop through the doorway.
"I'm sorry but we're closed" Katara told him politely.
The man did not react.
"Are you here to visit Iroh?" she asked. The man merely shook his head.
A subtle whistle sound came from the outside and the man removed his hat, revealing his face. He had a brown mustache and green eyes.
"My name is Jing" he said simply. "My daughter has gone missing and I am searching the city for her. I have a picture of her, perhaps you have seen her."
"Oh that's awful" Katara said sympathetically. "Let me see the picture, maybe I have seen her."
Jing pulled a piece of parchment out of his sleeve but released it as a small gust of wind blew it to the center of the shop.
"I'll get it" Katara kindly assured as she knelt down and grabbed the paper. Then she noticed something odd; the sheet was blank. As she became confused, she looked up and saw a foot swinging at her.
POW!
Jing kicked Katara in the head and knocked her onto the floor.
"Grab her men!" Jing yelled.
Half a dozen Dai Li agents, including Poli, surged into the shop and formed a circle around Katara. Two of them grabbed her arms and forced her to her feet. Jing formed a glove of Earth in his right hand and grasped Katara's neck in it.
"Great job Jing" Poli praised. "The Avatar's wife; she is as much of an enemy of our master as her husband. Not to mention her demise shall upset him so greatly that his anger will blind him and make him reckless, making him a much easier target. Finish her."
"You're all making a big mistake" Katara warned gravely.
"Nice talking with you" Jing said as his grip tightened. Before her neck could snap, Katara inhaled through her nose and as she exhaled, she used Waterbending to freeze the vapor in front of her and Jing's arm became totally encased in a block of ice and he lost his steadiness and stumbled away.
Katara then took a stance and swung her arms above her head, calling the leftover tea in the kennels to her, creating a protective field around her.
"Kill her!" Poli ordered.
One of the agents launched his rock gloves at Katara's head only for her to use the tea to splash it aside and the formed the tea into a ball and propelled it towards the assailant. The still hot tea burned the man's skin and he fell to the ground groaning in pain.
Poli snarled in anger and he stepped forward, causing straps of rock to grip Katara's feet and pulled them forward, causing her to fall on her back. Two other agents strapped her arms to the floor and Jing fastened an Earth strap around her waist.
"Well you're a fighter, I'll give you that" Poli complemented shallowly. "But in the end it is Earth that is the superior element."
He then formed the glove of rock on his hand into a sharpened spike shape and prepared to launch a barb at her neck.
Thinking quickly, Katara swished around the saliva in her mouth, concentrating it and spat. She instantly froze the spit into a sharp icicle that struck Poli in the face, cutting a huge gash in his cheek.
Poli jumped back shouting in pain as he gripped his cheek in his hand. "Kill her Jing!" he shouted vengefully.
"Don't think that fancy spitting trick will work twice" Jing warned as he prepared for the death blow, tightening the strap around her waist with Earthbending to make it harder for her to spit.
As she felt her stomach tighten Katara then remembered the children that grew inside of her womb how they would perish if she did. And so, she did something she would never have done when normally faced with an enemy.
As Jing prepared to kill her Katara begged, "Wait! Don't please! I'm begging you! I'm pregnant! You'll kill the baby too!"
"She's lying" one of the agents scoffed.
"I don't think she is" Jing said as he looked into Katara's eyes.
As he recovered, Poli walked over and said, "It doesn't matter! We've got a job to do! Kill her Jing!"
Jing hesitantly maintained his stance. "But…she's pregnant…" he muttered.
"Fine!" Poli yelled impatiently. "If you aren't man enough to do it then I'll kill her myself!"
Poli raised his right hand in the air and prepared to stab Katara in the neck with his sharpened Earth gauntlet.
Suddenly, a blue flash of lightning shot through the air, blasting through Poli's glove and scorching his hand.
Iroh stood at the entrance of the restaurant, a rare serious look on his face. For one of the few times in his life his voice contained no trace of humor or lightheartedness as he said, "You are so committed to your goal that you would actually murder a pregnant woman?! I will hold nothing back!"
"It's The Dragon of the West; the Fire Lord's uncle!" one of the agents yelled.
"Kill him!" commanded Poli as he bitterly cradled his nearly destroyed hand.
The agents all launched their gloves at the Iroh but the retired General cast a wave of flame around his body that parried the projectiles off to the side. He then shot an orb of fire from his fist that struck the agent closest to him and as the agent fell to the ground, he hit his head so hard he was nearly knocked unconscious.
A second agent charged at the Dragon of the West, his arm outstretched like a spear, his gauntlet acting as the spearhead. Iroh grasped the man's arm and lazily flung him to the side, throwing him into an inexpensive vase that shattered as his head was bashed into it.
Another agent kicked up a boulder from the ground and shot it towards the old man. Iroh quickly charged a bolt of lightning in his fingertips and it darted forward faster than a bullet, incinerating the boulder and striking the man on the shoulder. The man fell to the ground, prostrate and defeated.
The fifth agent pulled a knife from his sleeve and snuck up behind Iroh and prepared the thrust it into his heart. The master Firebender pirouetted to face him and gripped the attacking arm, following the man to the ground, and then a decisive, controlled punch to the head rendered the man out cold.
Now Jing was the only agent left able to face Iroh. He stepped forth and set a ripple of Earth forward to grip Iroh's feet and take his stability, but the old master saw this move coming an ocean away. The Dragon of the West leapt in the air and kicked a wave of fire forward with his left foot. The blaze knocked Jing back a dozen feet and he crashed into a large pot used to boil large quantities of water, and it shattered.
"Retreat!" Poli ordered. The agents who were still awake carried the others who weren't and ran out the door. Jing and Poli remained and Jing rushed forward to distract Iroh as Poli ran to Katara, the knife the other agent had dropped in his left hand.
"Katara!" Iroh yelled as Jing prevented him from making his way to her.
Before Poli could reach Katara as she laid defenseless a massive rock soared through the air and slammed into his back.
Toph had returned from buying tea leaves and was now inside the shop, fully prepared to protect her friend.
"Let the lady go and no one gets hurt bub" she cautioned.
"There's too many Poli!" Jing shouted. "We have to get out of here! The King will have us executed if they catch us!"
Poli nodded angrily as he stood and quickly summoned a cloud of dust from the floor and outside that covered them as he and Jing escaped.
"Guess I should have swept better" Katara joked.
"I can't see them with my feet" Toph said as she couldn't detect the escapees with her Earthbending. "They must have somehow escaped deep underground."
Toph then released Katara from the rock shackles and she stood up.
"Are you all right?" Iroh asked. Katara nodded.
"How did you know I was in danger?" Katara asked Iroh.
"The animals of this world have many things to teach us" Iroh said as he motioned to Appa and Momo as they stood proudly outside the shop. "Momo found me and Appa brought me back."
"Thank you, all of you. I don't want to think what would have happened if you weren't here. But I can't escape the feeling that this is just the beginning."
(Note : I need your support! Leave a review, throw some Power Stones and add this book to your collection.)