Zuko slowly walks towards the main gates of the Earth King's palace dressed in his firenation attire but also the cloak he wore the previous night. The main gates on the outside are massive, standing over thirty feet tall with two armed guards standing at the front. Zuko lifts the cloak's hood over his head then lowers his head down so his face is unseen. On his hip are the twin swords he's carried since he left his crew. The wind blows his cloak up and past his body like a cape revealing his royal firenation armor to the guards. Upon seeing him, the two raise their weapons and bark orders but Zuko ignores them. Taking a deep breath, Zuko feels the air around him begin circling his body as he breathes. As the guards advance on him, Zuko squats down then jumps upwards into the air spinning his body and bending the winds around himself. A tornado of dust and sand forms around his waist, his cloak being blown violently behind him as he raises high into the air. Paying little mind to the guards on the ground, Zuko merely ascends over the wall and flies into the center of the courtyard.

Many of the earth king's guards had heard that the avatar had returned and now walks the streets of their city. However, none of them were prepared to see the avatar himself fly over the gates to the palace and land gently mere feet away from the grand staircase. Other patrols around the courtyard are frozen in place, not knowing how to address the situation but their hesitation stops when Zuko speaks. "I am here to have an audience with the earth king." He says calmly before removing the hood from over his head. "I believe he is expecting me." He continues, slowly walking towards the grand staircase. Without an answer, Zuko lifts his foot and places it on the first stair tensing slightly expecting the guards to attack him. But nothing happens. He walks forwards stepping up the large marble stairs one at a time before lunging upwards propelling himself with airbending as he clears half the staircase in a single jump. With a second gust of wind, Zuko ascends the second half of the stairs before pausing to allow his cloak to settle over his form again.

"Greetings, Avatar Zuko." The familiar voice of Dong Jou greets as Zuko gets to the door. "How has your earthbending progressed?" His former master asks, causing a slight smirk to grow on Zuko's face.

"Good. My teacher is Toph Beifong. The niece of my predecessor, another blind earthbender. She's just as stubborn as you are." Dong Jou almost chuckles when Zuko says this. "I take it you're going to escort me to the earth king?"

"Yes, but I also have a warning for you." The Dai Li agent replies before opening the door for Zuko. "The Dai Li has been ordered to keep watch over you and your allies. From what I understand is that you and Long Feng had a bit of a... disagreement at the party last night."

"He should have thought about that before he threatened my uncle." Zuko replies as he walks past Dong Jou and enters the palace. "Though, I suppose I may have gone a little overboard with that. But I'm not apologizing."

"I didn't expect you to." His former master replies. "I wanted to warn you, as your former mentor and friend. While I don't agree with the police state that Ba Sing Sei has become, I do know that keeping the war an unspoken topic keeps the people more at ease."

"I understand, however I am here purely to get the aid of the earth kingdom for a mission that will end this war. The only people I have discussed the topic with are General Sung and Long Feng, but I think that conversation with him would count more like a lecture." Pulling his attention away from the conversation for a moment, Zuko can sense nearly two dozen men in the room ahead of them. He can feel through the vibrations that they're preparing for an ambush. "If you're planning on leading me into a trap. It'll take a lot more than two dozen men to defeat me." Zuko says as he stops dead in his tracks. Dong Jou doesn't face him, but Zuko can sense the man's heart rate is accelerating rapidly.

"I'm sorry, Avatar Zuko." His master replies before turning to face him. "Long Feng wants you removed from Ba Sing Sei entirely." Zuko frowns when he hears this before locking eyes with his former master.

"Do you have anyone close to you that was hurt in this war?" Zuko asks, and his former mentor arches an eyebrow at this question. "Someone who was even killed?" Dong Jou remains silent for a few moments, thinking about whether or not to answer him.

"...Yes." He admits, and Zuko senses he's telling the truth subconsciously thanking Toph for teaching him this skill. "I lost my wife and son, when we were fleeing from a small village that is little more than a burnt spot on a map now." Zuko feels the sadness coming from Dong Jou's voice, the man's green eyes water from the painful memory.

"I'm here trying to prevent those tragedies from happening to millions of other families in the earth kingdom, and all over the world. Do you want to prolong this war?" Zuko asks and all his former mentor could do is shake his head. "Then I ask that I'm allowed to speak with the earth king." His mentor takes a deep breath then removes his hat. The middle aged slightly balding man takes a deep breath and nods to Zuko before dropping it on the ground.

Inside the throne room itself, Long Feng stands beside the Earth King hiding a jovial attitude. The Avatar will be dealt with, removed from the city and he can go back to puppeteering his city in peace. When the door to the throne room opens, his happiness grows a triumphant smirk on his face but the moment he sees Zuko walking through the doors his mood is instantly soured. "Your Majesty." Zuko greets as he enters the room, Earth King Kuei sits on his golden throne with his pet bear Bosco sitting beside him. "I apologize for my late arrival. The Dai Li wanted to throw me a welcoming party." Zuko says before glancing at Long Feng who is visibly steaming in anger. "But, I declined them. Unfortunately this is a bit more urgent."

"Well, I have to thank Long Feng here for their hospitality. It's not every day that the reincarnation of the woman who founded your organization walks through the doors." Kuei replies, but he sees Zuko's confused expression and decides to elaborate further, "Avatar Kyoshi founded the Dai Li over three hundred years ago."

"Really? That's interesting." Zuko says as a smirk grows on his face, he turns and looks at Long Feng for a moment drinking in the man's seething anger. "I guess this means I'm your boss." He says causing the earth king to laugh and Long Feng to further seethe in anger.

"Hahaha! I guess it does!" Kuei roars with laughter, almost spilling himself out of his throne as he holds his stomach. "I haven't laughed this hard in ages, my young friend." He says as he wipes away a tear from his eye. "Now, I remember you mentioned that you had something you wished to discuss with me."

"Yes I do, however I don't believe it is something that should be discussed so openly. Even if your attendant here is a political advisor, I'd rather speak of this as one world leader to another." Zuko requests, Kuei purses his fingers together in thought. "And I apologize about the alias. My name is not Lee, it's Zuko and I'm both The Avatar and the Prince of the Firenation." Kuei gasps when Zuko says this and he half expects the king to order his men to arrest him.

"My my, it's about time I get to speak to someone from the royal family. I've been sending letters for years but I've never gotten a single reply. What brings you here, Avatar Zuko?" King Kuei asks, and Zuko furrows his eyebrows at this statement.

"Again, I'd rather not discuss it in current company." This time Kuei furrows his eyebrows at this question.

"Why are you so insistent to get me alone to speak with you? I'll probably be discussing this with my advisory board later anyways, so why the secrecy?" Kuei asks, and Zuko realizes that if he doesn't let the cat out of the bag the king is going to jump to conclusions.

"Because Long Feng and the Dai Li have been covering up The Great War." Zuko says bluntly and Kuei is taken aback by this statement.

"A war? That's preposterous, we would have heard of such a horrid event. Who is it against?" Long Feng asks, feigning cluelessness about this but his acting is as bad as his mustache.

"Then how do you explain the entirety of the lower ring being filled with refugee families, or the massive invasion force that I had to stop from drilling into the wall? Or from 7 years ago when my uncle, General Iroh broke through the outer wall during his invasion?" Zuko asks before reaching into his bag and pulling out dozens of sealed documents inside. "I stole this from the commanding officers and engineers inside the drill. They're orders, written correspondence and occupation plans for Ba Sing Sei." He continues before throwing the bag forwards, it lands a few paces away from Long Feng. "You didn't think I'd come to this meeting without evidence."

"What reason do I have to believe that it isn't a forgery?" Long Feng asks as he swipes the documents from the ground. "I mean look at this, these schematics this machine would be impossibly large."

"It was, and its empty shell sits a half mile outside the outer wall." Zuko replies, before turning to face the earth king directly, "If you don't believe me then I can show you in person. Your Majesty." He continues, Kuei stares at him for a few moments before looking over at Long Feng and extending a hand.

"Let me see one of those," he requests and Long Feng now visibly sweats at this but he relinquishes the papers and hands them to the king. "This is... unprecedented. I hadn't even known there was a war to begin with, much less against such a mechanized force."

"Sir, if we really are at war with the firenation it wouldn't be wise to entertain him any longer. He is the prince of the nation we're supposedly at war with and he's already tried to get you alone. He's also armed." Long Feng says just above a whisper but Zuko hears him. Before long feng can turn around, Zuko has already taken off his swords before openly dropping his scabbard to the ground.

"Those were just for my own protection." Zuko says before walking forwards up towards the earth king. "If I really was your enemy, then why did I come all the way here to speak with you? Why wouldn't I just use my power as the avatar to take the city by force? I've already slain a hundred thousand men at the north pole, it wouldn't be difficult." He continues before lifting a hand and pulling the hair over the left side of his face back so that they can look clearly at the scar across his eye. "What does this shape look like to you?" He asks as he approaches Kuei's throne. Neither man can find an answer for him until Zuko stops at the foot of the throne and tilts his head to the side. "Place your hand on the scar."

Timidly, Kuei lifts his hand and places it over the reddish scarred skin on Zuko's face. To his horror, his hand falls in line with the marking over the boy's face, his fingers falling into the exact lines where the scar splits into five damaged paths off the main body of the scar. A terrible realization washes over Kuei as he sees this, his hand almost fits perfectly into the scar over Zuko's left eye. "You really want to know why I'm here? It's to get your support to take down the Firenation. They've taken everything from me, my honor, my throne, my mother... even my first love. All they've ever done is take, and it's time that the firenation is burned away and reborn from the ash. The only way to do that is to kill Firelord Ozai and for me to take the throne." Kuei stares at Zuko for a moment then pulls his hand away from his scar allowing him to stand up normally. "You want to trust me, then let me prove it. Long Feng is not to be trusted."

"My liege, you can't be considering this boy's accusations can you? I'm y-your most trusted advisor!" Long Feng protests, "He threatened me in my own office!"

"Only because you threatened the only family I have left." Zuko shoots back quickly but Earth King Kuei raises his hand and silences their argument.

"A part of me wishes that none of this is true... but, I need to see it for myself." Kuei replies, and Long Feng visibly pales at this statement. "Long Feng. For your sake, I hope none of this is true."

"Very well, my lord." Long Feng backs down, but he shoots a defiant glare at Zuko who bows respectfully to the earth king.

"How are we going to see this proof of yours, Avatar Zuko?" Kuei asks and Zuko motions for him to follow.

A procession of Dai Li agents form up around Zuko and the earth king as they are escorted through the lavish halls of the palace. The entire time, Long Feng is protesting this nonsense but Kuei makes it abundantly clear that he's let his mouth run for far too long. As they descend the stairs into the courtyard, Zuko grabs the bison whistle from his pocket before walking a few paces ahead of the group. Kuei watches as Zuko brings the whistle to his lips and blows, but no sound comes out of it. He watches a bit confused as Zuko just sticks the whistle back into his pocket then directs his attention upwards towards the sky. Kuei follow's Zuko's line of sight up towards the cloudless sky before he notices something moving. Circling overhead and then swooping down just in front of Zuko is Katara and Aang on the back of Appa. "I have to warn you, Your Majesty, Appa's take offs can be a bit intense. So I suggest you strap yourself down."

"Y-you mean we're going to fly there?" He asks, his eyebrows lifted so high that his spectacles threaten to fall off his nose due to the exaggerated expression.

"Of course." Zuko says as he shifts his weight down then thrusts an arm upwards erecting a small staircase that ends at Appa's saddle. "After you, your majesty."

Hesitantly Kuei reaches up and grabs Zuko's hand before being pulled up into Appa's saddle. Zuko helps the earth king tie himself down to the saddle before looking down at Long Feng. Zuko jumps over to Appa's head then grabs the reins and shouts "yip yip!" causing Appa to take off before Long Feng could even touch the bison's fur. Kuei shouts as Appa bounds forwards and then takes off into the air holding onto the saddle for dear life as they ascend high above the clouds. "This is... amazing. I can't find the words to describe it." Kuei comments before looking at Zuko. "You all live like this? All the time?" He asks. "Not all the time, no, we land for rest and for food." Zuko replies before Kuei turns away to look down on his city.

"I never imagined the city would look so beautiful." He says as he looks down at the city. "I've never been outside of the palace grounds, much less this far from home."

"You need to be in touch more with the people you rule over. My father rules completely differently than you do. He wields power with an iron fist, and anyone who speaks out against him..." Zuko replies before trailing off allowing Kuei to fill in the dots.

"Is that what happened to you?" The king asks, turning once again to look at Zuko. The avatar doesn't answer verbally, instead just nodding to the king before he sees it. "You can see it from here now."

"What on earth is that..." Kuei whispers as he spots what Zuko had just pointed at.

"The Drill." Katara answers, and in the distance the large metal cylinder sits out in the middle of the desert that surrounds Ba Sing Sei. The massive insignia of the firenation present on the front. Around it are the scattered remains of the battle, destroyed fire tanks and earth kingdom crawlers litter the battlefield. Zuko has Appa land on the outer wall allowing Kuei to get a better look at the superweapon. He gets down off of Appa before walking over to where a mounted spyglass is sitting before peering through it. The hull of the machine is melted, burst and shredded along the segments that hold it together. As he scans the area around the drill, he finds more shrapnel that was once a part of this machine. The entire command tower lays crumpled in a mess of steel and red shingles strewn about the battlefield. As his eyes scan over a bit of green he quickly has to avert his eyes from what he saw.

"You've been living a lie." Zuko says as he walks up to the earth king, who is vomiting at the sight of the dead. "But we can stop the war and all we need is your help." Zuko says as he rests a hand on Kuei's shoulder. "In four months, 3 weeks before summer's end, there will be a solar eclipse directly over the firenation. It is the perfect time to invade and defeat Firelord Ozai. We can't firebend under a solar eclipse."

"My liege, I apologize I couldn't get here sooner. I was going to explain all this before they could lie to you." Long Feng announces as he is elevated out of the lower levels of the wall. "It is a modern art piece, we imported it from the firenation..." He lies, even without the ability to sense it Kuei sees right through him.

"Dai Li. Arrest Long Feng." Kuei demands and the two Dai Li agents standing behind him immediately slap iron manacles over his wrists. "If you lied about something as important as this, then you've also lied to me since the moment I could speak."Kuei's usually timid tone is now almost befitting as a warrior king as he condemns Long Feng. "Take him away."

Long Feng is pulled away in chains, being led back to the elevator where he had emerged from. Behind him, a confident smirk sits on Zuko's face at just how quickly he had managed to take him down. However as Long Feng disappears from view one of his men speaks up from behind his shoulder. "We are loyal to you, not the earth king. Long Feng." He says and a slimy grin grows on Long Feng's face. If he can't control the city in the open, then he'll do it from the shadows. "I want each of them monitored, and I have just the person in mind to handle the avatar." He says as the roof of the elevator is sealed above them.