At noon, Yui was at the Three Chrysanthemums. Kou— Xi Zu was still in the Upper Ring, so she was safe enough for the moment.

The spirits are being kind to me, she thought. Running into the Dragon of the West had been a stroke of luck so good she didn't even stop to think about why he was even in Ba Sing Se. Yes, she knew that the Fire Nation could be trusted no more than the Earth Kingdom, but as long as she never actually mentioned her twin could earthbend…

She spotted the old man's companion quickly — which did make her wonder; the boy had so obviously been attacked by a Firebender. Was he an earthbender too? Maybe Kouji wasn't a freak! — and squirmed her way over to him. "Hi," she said, and was rewarded by seeing him jump.

The Dragon of the West looked amused, and invited her to have a seat.

"Thank you," she said, sliding into one. The scarred boy sat next to her, clearly sulking.

"You have a lovely voice," the old man complimented her. "I haven't heard that opera in decades, but you did a fine job as Princess Akiko."

She thanked him again, a little more shyly this time. He was the second person she'd met who had heard the opera — and the first one had taught her the song to begin with. Thank you, Agni. You and the other spirits really are looking out for me now. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Where to begin?

It didn't help matters any that the man across from her was the Dragon of the West, Prince Iroh, once the Firelord's heir and one of the most dangerous men in existence. To make things worse, she was just a peasant. A colonist peasant. Possibly a traitor as well; Yui wasn't entirely certain about that.

She took another deep breath, fighting with her crashing nerves.

"Is there a Natsumaru to your Akiko?" he asked gently.

She gave him a grateful look. "After a fashion — my brothers."

"Ah?"

Yui licked her lips, checking her story mentally to make sure she wouldn't give away the wrong thing, then said carefully, "My little brother and I were… taken by the Dai Li just over a fortnight ago, near as I can figure. And my big brother isn't at home. I don't know what happened to him."

The scarred boy blinked and asked, "Do you know Jet?"

"No!" she said hotly. "That terrorist? Hell no."

He looked hurt at the curtness of her reply, but Yui had no room in her for guilt at the moment. The Dragon of the West tapped the table to get Yui's attention again. "Are there any others in your family here?"

Yui shook her head. "It's just me, Ichi-ni, and Kouji."

He looked concerned, but pressed on. "Do you know why the Dai Li took you?"

She fell silent, considering. She couldn't very well tell him the real reason, or that the whole thing was all her fault. But she couldn't think up a plausible lie to protect Kouji and Ichiro, either. Finally, she said quietly, "I can't remember. I— it's just— it's blank. There's nothing…"

The concern only deepened, and— yes, there was the guilt. "I have heard that before," Prince Iroh said slowly. "Will you tell me what you do remember of how you came to be in Ba Sing Se?"

"I…" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "We were looking for somewhere safe." She paused, then added, "From the Fire Nation." The scarred boy's head snapped around to her, looking confused. "Ichi-ni… he's all we've got," Yui explained. Not a lie. "But he's sixteen. Adult. And… I guess he's got good soldier qualities."

"I understand," the prince replied, sounding regretful. He sighed heavily. "What has happened to you here?"

Yui explained their first few weeks in Ba Sing Se, then turned her idiotic adventure in the Earth Palace into a blank spot. "The next thing I remember…" She stopped and shuddered, and her reaction wasn't feigned.

Prince Iroh gave her time to pull herself together, ordering tea for them all.

Finally Yui let out a shaky breath and said, "The next thing I remember is waking up. As somebody else."

The two men gave her blank looks, and Yui shuddered again. "I wasn't me. I was… some half-blood girl named Lei. There were parts of me that were still me, but…" Her hand clenched into a fist. "I was ashamed. Ashamed of my Fire blood. Ashamed of my body."

The boy looked stunned and disgusted; the prince just looked disgusted. "There are rumours…," he said slowly.

Yui shuddered again. "I don't know what they are. I just know what happened to me. What that bastard did to me."

"And they have your brother still."

The girl nodded. "I… I don't even know how I stopped being Lei. I fell asleep as Lei and woke up Yui again."

Bit by bit, the prince drew the rest of the story from her, drawing as much a complete picture as he could while still managing to reassure Yui. The boy, on the other hand, grew more and more agitated as she spoke, until Yui realised that she was hotter on the side closest to him than she was on the other. Startled, she looked over at him to see the air around him was distorted with heat.

Firebender!

Prince Iroh noticed as well, and said warningly, "Nephew."

The young man closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, trying to calm down. Finally the heat petered out, and Yui thought critically that Ichiro could do that much faster. She didn't voice her thought aloud, however; they didn't need to know about the breach of the Firebending Law.

Yui licked her lips and considered what else to tell them. Finally, she just said, "Please… I need to get them out of there. I can't do it alone."

Prince Iroh reached across the table and patted her hand gently. "Don't worry, Yui," he told her. "We'll find your brothers." His face wore a comforting smile, but his eyes were molten with anger.