A sense of security

Inside the confinement room, after his teacher left, Zuko reviewed his lessons for a while. Bored out of his mind, he wanted to look at the scenery outside, but the moment he pushed open the window, the guards turned their eyes on him, leaving him no choice but to retreat inside.

It was called a confinement room, but it was really just a secluded courtyard within the Royal Palace. Ozai had sentenced him to a month here, with guards stationed at both the front and back. He was not allowed to go anywhere.

With nothing to do, Zuko practiced a few rounds of Firebending moves. When he grew tired, he simply sat on the floor to rest. Looking around the empty room, he could not help grumbling to himself:

It was all Azula's fault! She just had to drag him into making trouble with her!

Even worse, Azula hadn't been punished, while he had to be locked up here!

He raged helplessly for a while, but there was nothing he could do. His only hope now was to join their plan to find his mother once he was released.

Come to think of it, he found the whole thing unbelievable whenever it crossed his mind. Although Azula certainly treated Kahn differently from everyone else, he truly had no idea when those two had gotten mixed up with each other.

And when it came to something like this, Azula had actually told Kahn first.

Zuko felt that something was off about the two of them.

Just as his thoughts were wandering, a faint noise suddenly came from a corner of the room.

Zuko looked over warily. A floor tile in the corner lifted, revealing a concealed passage, and then Azula emerged from it.

"Azula!"

"Shh-"

Azula warned him to shut up. Zuko immediately caught on and lowered his voice, his eyes filled with shock.

Azula was not the last to come out. Ty Lee followed, then Mai, and finally Kahn. All his friends were here!

"What are you doing? And what's with this secret passage?"

Zuko asked in a lowered voice.

"We came to play with you. You must be going stir-crazy after half a month, my Zuzu."

Azula chuckled softly.

Ty Lee also greeted Zuko:

"I heard you're finally willing to explore with us. Welcome to the [Royal Girls' Exploration Club]!"

"What are you even talking about?"

Zuko was confused by what he heard and had no idea what they meant.

Understanding Zuko's bewilderment, Kahn stepped forward and said:

"Let me explain."

Since Mai and Ty Lee still could not be allowed to know the part concerning Yin Shu, Azula cooperated by sending them away, having them watch the guards at the front and back.

Perhaps because they were accustomed to taking instructions from Azula, neither suspected anything, and they obediently went.

Kahn told Zuko why they had come to see him and about his and Azula's real plan. After listening, Zuko did not immediately ask any questions about those matters. Instead, he suddenly said:

"So you joined too? That [Royal Girls' Exploration Club]."

"That's not the point, all right? If you understand, then get moving!"

Kahn snapped in exasperation.

That little brat. Sooner or later, he'd give him a beating!

"All right."

Returning to the matter at hand, Zuko, still unaware that he was in for a beating, asked worriedly:

"Isn't this too risky? There are guards outside, and palace maids come to deliver meals too. If we're discovered..."

Kahn supported Zuko's cautious words with both hands and feet, but Azula said impatiently:

"Are you coming or not? Do you think we really need you that badly? That we can't do anything without you? Hmm? My foolish brother."

"You!"

Zuko immediately wanted to flare up, but after taking a deep breath, he held himself back. This made both Azula and Kahn see him in a new light.

People grew up when they left their parents. After the upheaval in the Royal Palace, not only Azula but Zuko too had grown visibly. He simply did not show it most of the time.

Zuko made his decision. "I'll go with you."

Although he had ultimately failed to coast along without doing any work, Kahn still patted Zuko's shoulder in gratification at seeing his growth. Even Azula showed a rare, faint smile of satisfaction.

"Then get ready to go."

"By the way, I already found out when the palace maids bring your meals every day. We just need to get back before then."

Zuko froze. "Azula, you..."

"You'd better thank me properly, my dear Zuzu. I'm not this kind every time. Especially to you-opportunities like this don't come along often."

Zuko shut his mouth at once. Thinking Azula seemed rather nice was the greatest delusion he had ever had in his life.

The five of them entered the secret passage, with Azula still leading the way. Following her example, Zuko raised a flame in his palm, lighting up their surroundings a little. He studied the dim, unknown passage and asked curiously:

"Come to think of it, what's with this secret passage? How did you find it?"

At that, Azula clicked her tongue, and Ty Lee told him:

"You really should have explored with us before, Zuko! There are secret passages like this all over the Royal Palace. The one we're in now is just one of them."

"Listen to Ty Lee, Zuzu. Even an outsider knows the Royal Palace better than you. I truly feel sorry for you."

Azula still refused to pass up any chance to mock Zuko.

Zuko did not argue. Looking at the network of secret passages beneath his feet, he felt that Azula and Ty Lee were not entirely wrong. He really did know too little.

The old Zuko would never have ventured into places like these without permission. But perhaps that day's prank had flipped some sort of switch in him, or perhaps there was some other reason. He was gradually becoming less averse to such things.

After emerging from the other end of the passage, they officially began today's [exploration game]: searching for hidden rooms or secret passages in the Royal Palace that they had yet to discover.

Azula suspected that Ozai might have put the things Yin Shu had left behind in a hidden room known only to him.

Although the girls had indeed discovered many secret passages, none of them could say when these passages had been built, why they had been built, or how many there were.

As the royal palace of the Fire Nation, the most powerful nation in the world, it still held many secrets.

However, hidden rooms were called hidden rooms precisely because they were concealed. They were not so easily discovered. At least, after all their searching today, the group had found no useful clues.

So Azula cheerfully decided they would continue next time. Ignoring Kahn's resistance, she intended to turn this activity into a daily pastime.

The group dispersed before the palace maids delivered his meal, and Zuko hurried back to the confinement room, pretending nothing had happened.

Looking back on the day's experiences, although he had broken quite a few rules, he seemed to feel more at ease than before.

Because this time, he was not alone. He had companions.