A/N: An idea I had written out a while ago. This is set in what I think was Book 2, the one that centered around Ba Sing Se.

-

She waits.

Within the walls of Ba Sing Se, life exists in a strange bubble, separate from the chaos of war, although certainly not safe. It is a city full of secrets, though its people seem content to take them at face value. But she knows of the Dai Li and the tendency those who upset it have of disappearing. So she is careful.

Over the years she hears snatches of gossip and rumors, enough to piece together a truth full of holes. When she hears of her son's banishment, she struggles to convince herself she did the right thing. She saved him once, nearly at the cost of her life. She cannot do it again. Not here.

When the Avatar returns, she allows herself to nurse frail hope in her heart. Perhaps, she thinks, Zuko's travels will bring him to me.

I will wait for you, my son.

-

Exactly one year after her flight, Princess Ursa is captured.

When she awakens, there is a Dai Li soldier in front of her. He mentions nothing of titles or the Fire Nation, and she is pleased--even having failed, they haven't realized her identity. It is a small comfort.

Then the soldier begins speaking to her, a series of monotonous statements each as much of a lie as her life here is. There is no war. Ba Sing Se is safe. We will protect you. The lamp that passes in a continuous circuit hurts her eyes, but she cannot close them.

Then the lies change.

You have lived in Ba Sing Se all of your life. You are happy here. Repeat now: My name is Joo Dee.

But it's not, she thinks. I am Ursa, a proud princess of the Fire Nation. I will not bow to you.

After what seems like hours, (just to appease the soldier of course, get him to go away and let me sleep) she succumbs.

-

The boy stepping off the ferry has a guarded look to him: his bag cautiously slung over one shoulder, his tense gait that could easily slip into a warrior's stance at the slightest provocation. Even the black hair creeping over his forhead casts a shadow over his one good eye, as if protecting it. The other, gold and slitted like a tiger's, flashes in the setting sun, and shifts something hidden in her. Yet her mouth works nearly of its own accord, and soon the disturbance has left her placid mind.

"Hello, and welcome to Ba Sing Se! I am Joo Dee and I will be your guide..."