Earthbenders put up the walls, and kept them in good repair, with barely any effort.

Well, the earthbenders were gone now.

In hiding, imprisoned, or fighting against the Fire Nation forces from the safety of Ba Sing Se.

So what could the Fire Nation garrison do with the walls?

In a low-priority place like this?

The answer was wood, apparently.

Wooden repairs on the walls, on the houses.

Everywhere.

Wood, wood, wood.

Just slap it on whenever something breaks.

Doesnt matter what.

For fucks sake, the repairs weren't even well-done.

Non-bending stonemasons were hard to come by in these parts, from the looks of it.

In fact, being so close to the war had probably driven most of the capable craftsmen and laborers off to safer work in the colonies.

The smart ones, at least.

Most of the houses wore the wooden look better, the ones he could see outside the walls at least, being largely made by non-benders to begin with.

Iroza was half-surprised they werent patching up the streets with wood.

He wouldnt put it past them.

Even so, he tried to look on the bright side.

So what if his new home away from homne was an impoverished shithole?

His road trip was stil over.

He could finally take his place in the military chain of command, wherever that place was, and start doing something productive.

Leading patrols, rooting out bandits, overseeing more shoddy repairs, or digging goddamn latrines.

At this point he could not care less.

Really.

He was about ready to explode into action if someone so much looked at him funny.

That wasnt even the paranoia speaking anymore.

He was just bored to tears.

It was a shame he had figured out his father's plan so easily.

At least paranoia was fun.

This was just.. Well, boring.

And annoying.

He had wasted fartoo much time trying to plan for some sinister scheme.

One that never happened.

All of his worrywarting had been for nothing.

The sleepless nights, time spent devising escape routes, coming up with conspiracy theories, and thinking about where he would go when shit hit the fan.

Totally meaningless.

Boring and annoying.

Yeah.

That summed up his mission so far.

As they approached the entrance to the city, he was almost hoping some asshole would come and take a swing at him, just so he could feel vindicated and vent at the same time.

That would probably be a bad first impression, though.

So when he passed through the gates, only to be bombarded with cheers and the thunderous chanting of his name from whole throngs of people, Iroza only barely managed to suppress his newly-awakened desire to kill.

A flinch and his hands briefly tightening into fists, to remind himself that being startled was not a valid reason to start burninating the countryside, were the only tells that made it through.

He waved at the crowd, donninga smile that probably looked prince-like.

This time he was ready for the noise, though he was still only able to pick up a few pieces out of the fresh tidal wave of obnoxious screaming he was assaulted with.

"Prince Iroza!"

"He's here! Look, there he is! It's the prince!"

"I love you"

His smile became a bit strained, what with all the bile in his throat.

Ugh.

Groupies.

Things continued like that for a handful of minutes, perhaps the worst minutes of his entire life if he was feeling hyperbolic, before he was finally approached by someone who had even the barest hint of decorum about them.

A tall, spindly looking man with a strangely elegant black beard grown halfway down his chest.

All dressed up in robes that were fine, but not too fine.

"Prince Iroza" he said reverently, stepping into a low bow.

"What an honor! I am Ji, representative of our most noble governor, General Rama. On his behalf, allow me to be the first to personally welcome you to the great city of Wan Bhing. We are, all of us, deeply honored and humbled by your presence."

Iroza suppressed a sigh.

This was going to bea whole thing, wasnt it?

Dredging up his best courtly manners, he motioned for the man to rise. "The honor is mine. Tales of Wan Bhing reach far and wide, and mylord father speaks highly of General Rama. I am eager to work with him."

Iroza had literally only heard the man's name once in his life before this.

From Azula, the day before he had left.

"He will be pleased to hear it. The general has done much to prepare for your arrival,"

he said, delicately coughing into a fist and gesturing to his carriage.

The dragon moose at the head of it looked twitchy from all the noise and attention.

Iroza could relate. "By your leave, I will accompany you in your carriage to the general's mansion at the center of the city"

He quickly closed his eyes so he could roll them in private.

It was going to be a whole thing.

"Of course, that sounds wonderful," he said, with a smile and a nod as he turned and stepped up into his carriage.

Going in first allowed him to drop his smile without looking like a psychopath.

Strategy.

Ji climbed in shortly after, sitting opposite him and pulling the curtains back.

Sunlight and a simply delectable urban fragrance filled the carriage.

He raised an eyebrow at the man.

Quickly noticing the look, Ji chortled.

"My prince, the people long to see you! The general has spread the word of your arrival, raising their spirits, and they've been close to rioting with excitement."

So everyone knew he was here?

Joy.

That wouldn't complicate things at all.

He gave a clipped nod.

Whatever.

Happy thoughts.

This would be over soon.

Ji reached back and rapped his fist against the wall.

The carriage started forward with a lurch anda gruff command from the new coachman.

Iroza grimaced internally.

The roads were stil/ bumpy.

Resigned to being the center of attention for a while, his gaze wandered back to the crowd.

Nowhere else to look, really.

He already felt himself leaving the situation in his mind, but the royal demeanor remained.

Impeccable.

The facade of posh dignity.

More cheers from the commoners as they basked in his attention.

Grinning and laughing, many of them holding banners and booze, and all of them dressed in colorful clothing.

There was also music.

They passed different troupes with different crowds surrounding them as the carriage continued on down the road.

They passed through a large marketplace, with games and even more revelry.

It was all very festive.

Iroza could only assume a local holiday was underway.

"Seems Ive interrupted quite the party. What's the Occasion?" he said, glancing over at his escort with a joking smile. "Not just for me, l assume?"

"But of course, your highness!" Ji responded immediately, gesturing out to the festivities with fervor.

"General Rama has arranged this festival in your honor! All of this has been meticulously planned in the weeks leading up to your arrival. A welcome surprise, I hope."

What?

Iroza blinked, narrowing his eyes at the man to make sure he wasn't just bad at sarcasm.

"Really? That seems.." He tilted his head. "Expensive"

"Anything less would have been an insult to your honor, and ours," Ji said with a nod, beaming at Iroza's baffled expression.

He blinked again, looking out at the festivities more skeptically.

A whole festival?

He hadn't done anything.

It was just a military assignment.

So why?

Was General Rama really so eager to make a good first impression?

He poked his head out the window, looking up at the road ahead.

On it stretched, all the way to the center of the city.

He could barely see the center, but it was there.

Economic hardships hadn't changed the sheer size of the city.

And all along the road, from what he could tell, were more and more festivities.

Lights.

Decorations.

Booze and merriment.

Lots of people dressed to impress, cheering his name, and having a lovely time.

Forget expensive.

This was excessive.

He might expect something like this for the Fire Lord.

But for him?

What was the angle, here?

What could be gained from flaunting wealth in a city known for lacking it?

The first, most likely answer was to curry favor with a member of the royal family.

It made sense.