AN: Warning: Much of this chapter is narrative, but it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT, SO PLEASE READ IT. I was inspired by '1984' to write this. NO REFERENCE IS MADE TO ANY POLITICAL SPECTRUM, GOVERNMENT, OR REAL-LIFE SITUATION. I'M SIMPLY TAKING A PLOT POINT FROM THE CANON AND EXAGGERATING IT TO EXTREME DEGREES, AS I ALWAYS DO IN FANFICTION. After all, I need to provide some context for Ba Sing Se, since these are the final chapters of this fanfic. I hope you enjoy it.
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Hui-Hui was a young woman born and raised in Ba Sing Se, where she had lived her entire life. Like her parents and grandparents, she had spent nearly her entire life within the city walls, believing it to be much safer than the outside world.
The war waged by the Fire Nation terrified many people, who reacted in various ways. One way was to shut themselves away. Can you blame them? Ba Sing Se was a self-sustaining city with the most powerful wall in the world. It had stood for millennia without being breached.
However, even though Hui-Hui had spent her whole life in Ba Sing Se, she could tell that, in recent years, things had become strange and dangerous. It was as if the evil from outside, unable to penetrate the city, was growing from within.
Why did she think this? It started with strict control. Now, people could no longer speak openly about the war, especially during the years when many young men went off to fight, and explosions could be heard in the distance. If you wanted to talk about this or other topics that were becoming taboo in society, you had to do so in private, far from the watchful eyes of Ba Sing Se's security forces.
But soon, this became impossible. Under intense propaganda, neighbors began to denounce one another. Whereas before, you could sit down for a quiet cup of tea and talk about why the price of rice had increased, and yields had decreased, now, you had to keep your head down lest you be labeled a 'speech criminal.'
They began calling people who were imprisoned or forced into exploitative and nearly slave-like labor simply for expressing their thoughts to others. It wasn't just speaking, either. If you wrote in a private diary, drew, or created any depiction of those forbidden topics, you were locked up. One's mind soon became the only refuge where one could think freely. But it seems they even want to monitor that place.
Luckily, reading minds was impossible, thought Hui-Hui as she used earthbending to fish in the river. She used this gift to catch fish, which she then brought to dry land. As a child, she used to play with others in the river. She never imagined that in the future, she would have to fish this way or else she wouldn't have a proper lunch. As I said before, the price of rice had gone up, as had the prices of other foods. People had to find ways to eat so they wouldn't starve.
However, Hui-Hui knew that fancy restaurants, usually filled with nobles and wealthy people, still had plenty of food, which they squandered and wasted. Why did they have access to food, and she didn't?
Before, Hui-Hui wouldn't have given such things a second thought. However, the oppressive atmosphere and situation looming over Ba Sing Se had stimulated her more self-critical side, which hindered the city-state's government's attempts to achieve its goals.
As she tied a string around the mouths of the fish she had caught that day, the young woman began to wonder. Why could she no longer speak her mind freely? What was wrong with discussing the war, rising prices, or abuses of power?
Not only that, but why did they burn books, scrolls, and other documents? Why were cookbooks on how to prepare potatoes banned? The government's response, 'It is content harmful to the citizens' minds,' clearly did not satisfy her, which made her think even more about these things.
The situation worsened when they began prohibiting people from gathering in public places. Some people came up with the idea of protesting. It was something that simply arose. Why not complain and demand change? 'We outnumber them!' they thought. Indeed, they did.
However, what could civilians do against trained soldiers who were there to pacify them? Almost nothing. Many people were injured or arrested. Even Hui-Hui's childhood sweetheart died after being struck by a rock spear clearly aimed at her.
Guilt was one of the driving forces behind her thoughts. She felt she had to fulfill Yoon-gi's wishes and dreams. She simply couldn't let those dreams die because if she did, she would feel as if she had lost him forever.
But she couldn't gather the group anymore. She had to do it alone because of an event that sent a chill down many people's spines. Among the group that organized and led the initiative, there was one notable figure: Yamato.
He fanned the flames by standing up in public places, protesting, and calling on people to participate. He was clearly showing his rejection of everything happening in Ba Sing Se. You could say no one loved the city so much and hated what was happening to it so intensely. However, a month later, everyone was summoned to a meeting where the city's 'Shadow,' as the Dai Li were called at the time, appeared in public alongside a very different Yamato.
He was thinner, and his hair was dry and damaged, yet he looked quite healthy and was wearing expensive clothes. However, the sparkle in his green eyes that had convinced so many people to join his cause had vanished completely.
His captivating eyes now seemed as lifeless as Yoon-gi's. The worst part came next: a long speech in which he expressed regret, renounced his previous statements, and praised the government's actions. He said they must submit, accept, and endure for the good of their people.
Lies! Hui-Hui clenched her teeth as she walked home, choosing quiet paths where no one could see her angry expression. What had they done to Yamato? They didn't know, but they sensed that something extremely important had been taken from him. The threat had grown even greater.
Could the government strip you of your individuality and your thoughts and replace them with something else? If so, would you still be yourself, or would you simply be a consciousness trapped in a body you couldn't control? It would be like being possessed by a spirit, just like in the stories!
But that demonstration was what really calmed people down. After all, no one wanted to end up like that, not even Hui-Hui. She had to keep her thoughts buried deep within her mind and not share them with anyone to avoid taking risks.
However, something caught her attention: the windows of the houses on her street were all shut tight. She had an ominous feeling, so she hid in an alley and looked toward her home. Her green eyes widened when she saw several city police officers and a Dai Li forcing two elderly people to their knees on the ground.
Her parents! The front door had been smashed in by a tremendous force. It looked like there had been a struggle because her mother had a bruise on her cheek, and her father was bleeding from the head.
"Don't you have a daughter? Where is she? We know she was hanging out with one of the organizers of the protest months ago. In fact, she participated in it herself," one of the police officers clad in armor asked. He stood out from the rest.
"HAHAHA! Why should I answer you, dog?" The bloodied man growled between laughs. One of the men holding his arm shoved him against the cobblestone street.
His head made a dull thud, and his laughter stopped for a moment before resuming, though muffled by his mouth pressed against the floor. Clearly, he didn't care about the physical abuse he was receiving.
"You really don't want to answer? That would be a shame, you know? We'd take your daughter to the dungeon and make her ours if you don't. We'd leave you and your wife alone otherwise." The man in armor crouched down and patted the defiant man on the head.
"What? Are you going to abuse her and my wife as they've done to other women? Hehehe! I know! I know everything. I was conscripted by force, and I saw just how corrupt our army and government have become. Morale in Ba Sing Se has hit rock bottom, too, not just the food," the man shouted. His voice carried to everyone on the street, but no one dared to look out the window. No one wanted to be the next one forced to his knees on the ground.
"Bastard!" the captain said angrily, lifting the man's head only to slam it against the street again and again. A pool of blood soon filled with pieces of torn skin.
"Stop! Don't damage his head. He must be able to understand our orders for the mining work," the Dai Li finally said in a cold, unfeeling voice. The police captain trembled slightly before stopping.
"Take them away..." the man was about to order, but two spikes of earth shot up from the ground, piercing the throats of the two captives. For a moment, uncertainty flashed in their eyes, then joy.
Hui-Hui hid in the alley, frightened and panicked by what she had just done. Her father, who had taught her earthbending, had told her that if he and her mother were ever in danger, she should end their lives.
'The horrible things they do to prisoners and captives are so abhorrent that I haven't been able to sleep soundly since I retired. I was only able to do so because an explosion damaged part of my chi channels, making earthbending painful for me. My daughter, if one day I am captured and your mother is too, and if you have the chance, aim for our throats with what I taught you. I don't want to suffer what those people are capable of inflicting on others.'
The young woman remembered those words with tears in her eyes. She didn't dare cry out, so instead, she grabbed the fish in her hands and began to run, taking advantage of the fact that no one was watching.
"Find the killer! He or she can't have gone far!" The wind carried the captain's shout, but Hui-Hui fled as fast as she could, quickly escaping the reach of those people, though not for long.
She knew her actions would draw more police and soldiers, or worse, the Dai Li, to search for her. She wasn't good at hiding, so she was terrified, knowing that sooner or later, she would be found.
She returned to the river, knowing that if she followed it, she could make her way into a forest within the city. There was a cave there that she had found with Yoon-gi in her childhood. It was a place where she felt she could hide for a moment before fleeing again.
No sooner had she said it than she found the place again. But she couldn't get in. There were several figures in unfamiliar attire standing at the entrance. Their bodies were wet. Upon seeing her, they quickly caught her.
"Secret and safe infiltration, right?" Look, Shisui! A woman found us!" Sokka pointed at the girl who had been trapped by Petra and Toph's combined earthbending.
"She doesn't seem to be an enemy. Look, she has fish," Zuko said, picking up the fish that had fallen to the ground. Though they were too small to whet his appetite, they were a sign that this girl wasn't someone they should fight.
"Who are you?" Aang asked Hui-Hui directly. She was still in shock over what she'd had to do and her capture, but when she heard the question, she snapped back to reality.
"No... who are you?" asked the young woman from Ba Sing Se.
Shisui, who had his hair pulled back into several braids, smiled broadly and pointed to himself.
"We're invaders. You have no idea what a crazy journey we had underground," replied the sage. To understand the context of his words, one must go back in time, but that's a story we'll tell next.