"I knew, I shouldn't trust you to keep a secret." Argon complained to Zuko.

"What are you talking about? I hired you to help, and since this is still part of the job I hired you for, I have every right to bring whoever I think it could help." replied Zuko, with an intense voice, however as low as he could, so that other won't wake up from their fight.

"Oh! Suddenly you thought it that way (?), because the last day we agreed to keep this a secret and not having your friend running about and causing us trouble!"

"I assure you I won't be a burden, I am a capable bender and I am sure I can help you in many ways." decided to speak for myself. Argon simply looked towards me and then he just ignored me. AH! The nerve of that man!

"How come one girl holds you in the palm of her hand and can't say "no" Zuko?"

"I don't know…How do you manage to do the same thing Argon?"

"Well I guess it had to be her in the end. Any other woman/man you would have denied to them…"

That was strange! "What do you mean by this Argon?" I asked.

"Oh come on now! Isn't obvious? Look I generally might not be able to understand things, or see things the way others do, but I can read people like an open book. You think I haven't see how you look each other. Apart from that I can guarantee you that Zuko li…" he was saying, but Zuko places his hand on his mouth and stopped him.

"That is not the time for things like that!" he said to Argon with a quivering voice.

Argon pulled away Zuko's hand and looked at both of us. "I see…it's ok, you can't pass the stage of denial so easily."

I actually wanted Argon to finish his sentence. I wasn't sure where it was going, but I felt my heart beating like crazy while listening to him, as if he was about to reveal something I wanted to hear, yet something I wanted to hide. Probably it's just my wild fantasy again and he wasn't going to say what I was thinking. Maybe another day he'll tell me again.

"Please Argon…are we done?" ask Zuko, quite desperately "Look I know what we said, but things changed and now Katara is coming with us, so please can we just accept it and move on. "The Phoenix Remnants" won't wait for us all night long.

Argon sighted and looked away for a moment. I guess that was the end of the conversation.

"Anyway…you are wrong again "Lord" Zuko…" said Argon ironically "…because the Remnants will be waiting for us. I found the location of one of their bases, so they are not going anywhere."

"When did you…?" asked Zuko, but Argon managed to answer first.

"I had a second round with the traitor guard, since I thought there were more I could learn. I have the location of the base they were meant to transfer the weapons the brought yesterday."

"Excuse me but if that is the case, shouldn't we actually be in a hurry now?" I asked and both men turned to look at me "I mean if the Remnants know you have caught their guard, wouldn't they already know that their base is probably already found? If so we might not actually have much time, if they started an evacuation."

I could see Zuko smirk under his mask, before he turns to look at Argon. He on the other hand frowned and looked away again.

"Anyway, let's move out!" he said and he moved first. He was really quick, climbing to the room of the palace in mere seconds and easily jumping over the walls to the outside.

"Shall we go too Katara?" said Zuko and placed his hands together for me to have a foothold to jump up to the roof. We weren't as quick as Argon (at least I wasn't) but I guess I'll get used to it with time. Although I don't really know for how long I'll end up doing things like that. The three of us easily moved through the darkness and passed the guards around the palace unnoticed. We moved away for the perimeter of the palace and into the streets of the city below. At the beginning we were running through the streets, as fast as possible blending into the shadows. It reminded me when Zuko and I went off to search for my mother's killer. Back then I still didn't trust Zuko and that was his chance to show me that he really meant to help us. No matter what followed that day I never felt like I was able to pay back Zuko for what he did for me. When we learnt that he was about to search for his mother, I was more than anxious to help him. Of course after that he went and rebuilt our village, and now I feel like I own him again. I know he doesn't think it that way, but I do and I feel it like a burden on my heart. While in thoughts Argon signaled us to stop.

"Okay…up we go…" said and placed his hand together. Zuko nodded and put his foot between Argon's hands and jumped on the rooftop of the nearby building. Argon then looked at me, waiting for me to do the same. I wasn't sure why we had to get up there but I didn't really wanted to ask and probably make Argon more irritated. However he probably realized what I was thinking…

"Don't be fooled…" he said to me "…this city never truly sleeps. No matter how careful we are our enemy has eyes everywhere. The only thing they don't expect is for as to fly." continued jokingly. "Now up!" said once more, pointing in the direction with his head. I run and stepping on his hands I jumped. He must have really strong hands for I felt a great push from beneath me as he raised me higher towards the roof. Zuko caught my hand and pulled me up. He was also strong. I could feel his muscles as he was pulling me into his arm, making sure I won't fall. "Are you ok?" he asked me.

I laughed a little. "Zuko is not like we did anything dangerous. We went against the whole Fire nation, not too long ago. I think I can handle some roof climbing."

"Ah yeah…" he said a little awkwardly and let me.

"Yeah…If you are done chit chatting up there might you give me a hand."

"Oh wright!" said Zuko, realizing we forgot Argon. He raised his hand towards him and so did I. Argon was heavier than I thought but thankfully Zuko pulled more of the weight himself.

Idiot…why am I still acting like I am that close to her. Well, I am close to her, but not that much. He was just climbing a roof, I didn't have to protect her from that. Though now she might need some help as we are running and jumping from one roof to the other. Years of hunting the Avatar, years running from my father and sister, years of living in the worst conditions have make roof jumping look like a child's game. And then I saw Argon jumping a three meter gap between two roofs as easy as he would have crossed two roofs that were next to each other. Show off! I jumped across and Argon grabbed me so that I wouldn't fall. Then I saw Katara jumping. A misstep and I could see that he wouldn't reach us. Argon saw that too and quickly assumed his form, pressing his hands forward and pulling them back. The ceramic tiles of the roof, we had just jumped from, followed his hand movement and went into the air under Katara's feet. Katara managed to balance herself on the tiles and then Argon pulled her closer until she managed to jump off.

"He is an Earthbender?" she asked. I guess I haven't told her.

"Yeah"

"Now he looks even more like Toph, to me."

"Keep moving." said Argon and moved forward.

"You see! He is not all that bad sometimes." I said to Katara, as I helped her stand to her feet.

"Yeah I guess, but he is still a little bit cold."

"I guess." I replied as we went behind Argon.

"Do you know anything about Argon, Zuko?" she asked me then.

"I know what is necessary and I feel he honestly wants to help with the situation, so that is enough. If you are interesting you can always talk to him, it would be better than having me talking about him behind his back." I said and Katara nodded in agreement.

Argon stopped in the front and start checking the area around. We were currently at the top of a temple of Agni, with a tower raising to its side, providing us a good spot to have cover.

"Why are we stopping?" I asked Argon, moving closer to him.

"Do you know that theatre your father, Lord Ozai, was said to visit a lot?"

"Yes."

"I remember passing it by, last time I was scouting and I'll be able to find my way from there, but I don't remember which way is from here."

"Hmm I see. Truth to be said it's been long since I visited this area of the town. Stay here with Katara. I'll look around to find it and come back." With that I left for a moment.

Ah peace and quiet! I like it and this hour of the day and I definitely enjoy the night missions. Except for this moment. Zuko is a quiet guy but now I am left with that girlfriend of his…Katara.

"Hey Argon, may I ask you something." she said breaking the silence.

"Yeah I guess. Zuko did tell me that you bunch are of the friendly type that you won't let me at my peace anyway…" I replied probably irritating the girl.

"How did you ended up here? Why are you helping Zuko with this crisis? Are you some kind of mercenary, or an old adversary maybe…?"

As if I wasn't annoyed enough, she was also a quick talker.

"Calm down sis. You want to know why I am here, I got it. If that's what it takes to make calm down I'll tell you." Katara nodded and waited for me to explain.

I putted my arm forward to show her my various tattoo.

"These are not random shapes or icons. These are letter, letters from an ancient language that people used to be able to talk and pray to the spirit. These particular ones are actually a pray for spirits to protect those going to battle…"

"It's strange but I feel like I have seen them before."

"You are from the water tribe, wright? Well I know there are still some ancient temples with this scripts at the North Pole, so if you have ever visited it it is very likely that you might have seen one. Either that or you are one like me." Katara start thinking for a moment until she found the answer.

"It's true, now I remember. I did saw this writing at the North Pole…" she then paused for a moment, before looking at me again "…so what are you?"

"I am a man who has dedicated his life following teachings that the spirits have left behind in this world and the way of life they used to teach to the people back at the ancient times, because you might not know it but spirits actually inhabited our word as well, before moving in the end at their own Spirit Realm. So you might say I am something like a priest in service of the spirits, and as a priest I had a very important task. To protect one of their temple back at the Earth Kingdom. But it was one day that the Phoenix Remnants arrived…we are only few of us who still follow this ancient religion and I was the only one at that temple I mentioned. The Phoenix Remnants attacked in great numbers…I couldn't win them all, so I ended up escaping away."

"Why would they attack a temple?" Katara asked.

"There were four artifacts left behind by the spirits, one for each element, all said to hold tremendous power. I was the guardian of one of those said artifacts. The truth is though I do not know what is the true powers of the artifacts, but the good news is that the remnants probably don't know as well."

"Is it possible that the Remnants went after the other artifacts as well?"

"They did…After what happened I visited the other temples as well. I found only dead people and the artifacts gone."

"So…is that why you are here?"

"Yes. I came here to reclaim what it was stolen from me and my people and stop the Remnants from unleashing a chaos they couldn't even imagine to the world!"

All these information were shocking. The situation was probably worse than I have anticipated and Zuko had said nothing to me, once again. Still I can't believe that all this time back I saw for the first time an ancient language that bared so many secrets. I remember back at the North Pole, when Aang went into the spirit world, while in front of the pond of Ying and Yang. While I was there waiting I noticed different symbols and writings which I couldn't understand and haven't seen before. I wanted to ask Yue their meaning back then Zuko attacked me, the invasion began, followed by many crazy events and I completely forgot about it. And still after all this time I saw them again and learnt their meaning. I wonder what if I have learned beforehand the meaning of those words. Maybe we would have found one of these temples. Maybe we would have met Argon earlier and he would become our friend. Maybe we would have be there to protect the temple from the Remnants attacks. I looked towards Argon, but he didn't have his natural relaxed face. He was rather sad, gazing at the distance.

"What's wrong?" I asked. He turned and looked at me.

"You heard my story. I couldn't do what I was supposed to do. I couldn't protect the artifact or the temple. Instead I fled when I faced the enemy. I should have stayed there even if it costed my life."

"Don't be like that…you wouldn't be able to stop them even if you did stay there till the end."

"Don't you understand Katara? It was my duty, what I said I would do at any cost…and I didn't." he said quiet calmly for the emotional situation he was into.

That talk. It reminds me of Aang and how he felt guilty for leaving behinds the rest of the airbenders, 100 years ago. I now know only time is the cure for that.

"It's ok. You are here now so that's good. Maybe on your own you weren't able to succeed, but now you have us. You will come to realize how important having others, having friends, help you is. Zuko was somewhat stubborn and lonely at the beginning but he has moved on and he was able to reach where he is today."

"Well due to insufficient information I would prefer you not to call me stubborn and also I am not lonely. I simply need people to prove themselves to me first as you should do as well, because small talking or…big talking, or just talking in general is not enough for me to trust you."

I sighed. I guess my good side just cannot reach this guy. I would be really irritated by now, but I feel bad for him, since he just told me his story…and saving me from falling…and coming here against his will in the first place.

Zuko arrived a few moments later. He jumped off the roof and run through the streets again since the theater was apparently close. After we reached it Argon managed to remember the wright way and from there, we only needed a few minutes before we reach our destination.

"A store with fabrics?" I asked.

"I remember this place. My father hired them many times to do the decorations of many rooms in the palace. Are you sure the Remnants are hiding here?"

"I know it. I found out when you hired them yourself. I felt that they were acting suspiciously when I saw them in the palace, so I might have followed them back and then saw them disappear from my sight. Although it is a dangerous act it is possible that some of their employs have managed to find information from the inside, while working for you." Argon answered Zuko.

I raised my eyes towards the sign and read the name of the shop once more. "Red Cloth". I haven't heard that place before. Still Argon was sure enough for us to go inside. There was one problem.

"How are we getting inside? The place is obviously locked." I asked while standing in front of the door of the building.

"Geez lady it's just a door." Argon said and placed his hand on the door and pushed. The door broke in half and fell down. "See!"

"But what if you are wrong? What if this place has nothing to do with the current situation? Would you just destroy the property of some poor people who try to make a living?"

"If we end up being wrong, I assure you Katara that I will pay for any damage we cause…" Zuko said to me but Argon stopped him. He then turned towards me.
"I am not wrong and when we go inside and see I was wright I will look you and say "I freaking told you so."." he said. There he goes being irritating again.

"Argon why don't you go first and we'll cover your back." Said Zuko and Argon moved without any further word. "Look Katara I understand your feelings but please try not to oppose him too much. If you just let him be will be just fine. I need you to be the bigger man here, or woman, you understand what I want to say wright?"
I sighted "Just for you Zuko, just for you."
"That is got enough…" he replied and moved in.

Argon was already behind the bench, searching for something.

"What are you looking for?" Zuko asked him.

"There has to be a switch of some kind somewhere here. I think they are hiding underground." With that we all ended up searching together, but in the end we couldn't find anything.

"I don't think there is anything here." I said and Argon sounded displeased again. "Fuck it!" he said and opened a hole on the floor. "You don't have to get angry because of that." I told to him, feeling really angry myself at this point.

"It's not feeling angry, it's being wright."

As we moved closer we saw stairs moving downwards and into the darkness. "Me and Zuko should go down there and check it out. Katara you can stay here and make sure no one comes down there with us." Said and without waiting for a reply he jumped into the hole he created, right to the bottom.

Zuko looked me apologetically. "If you don't mind I'll go as well."

"It's ok…" I replied but then something happened. Two people came inside the shop. I could see the wearing the symbol of the Phoenix, one having it as a big tattoo covering his left eye and part of his bald head and the second, a woman, was wearing a suit with a hood that had the Phoenix painted all over it. I looked Zuko and are eyes met, confirming each other that those people were are enemies and that it was time to fight.

The bald man moved first jumping in the air, sticking his hand out, sending a ball of fire towards both of us. I jumped to the right, Zuko jumped to the left and the ball hit only the floor. However when we split up so did our opponents. The woman jumped in the air spinning and the lower her right leg, cover with fire, trying to hit me in the head. I rolled to the side once more. I stopped and kneeled at the spot, opening my flask and letting the water come out. With a sharp move of my hand I sent water rabidly towards her. I hit her and the continuous stream made her crash in the wall behind her. While she was there I closed my hand tight into a fist freezing her, as the water turned into ice. With this I found some time to check on Zuko. He was fighting in close combat with the other man, exchanging mostly fists and kicks rather than actual fire. Zuko seemed to have the upper hand utilizing his speed and training against his opponent. The man went for a wide strike from his right, at the height of Zuko's face. Zuko lower his body, folding his left hand and placing between the opponent's fist and his face. From the hit Zuko was pushed on the side, but his footwork proved very good as he managed to move his right feet quickly to stabilize his position. With the sudden move he brought his right hand and performed an uppercut, hitting the man's chin, disorienting him. As the man moved backwards feeling dizzy, Zuko launched his attack throwing some quick punches and jabs that brought the opponent to even worse position. Zuko turned his body so his right side would be facing the front side of his opponent. He moved his right foot on top of his opponent's left so that the he want be able to move and then, putting fire on it first, moved his left fist right into his opponent's nose. He removed his foot on top of his opponent's and the bulky man fell down. Maybe I had an easier opponent.

Zuko caught a few breathes and then looked at me. "Katara watch out!" he shouted. Then I heard the ice breaking and some shards came hitting me in the back. I managed to turn just enough to see the woman freeing herself and then raising her fist to hit with firebending.
"Duck!" Zuko shouted once again and I show him running towards me. I moved instantly and did as he said. He jumped in the air with his feet forward. His fire clashed with the woman's but easily overpowered her and sent her back to the wall. She probably hit her head since when I turned to face her she was unconscious.

"Thanks…" I said to Zuko, and then he heard more shouting. Out of the hole in the floor three men come flying, one actually even hit the roof, and then landed on different locations. After a few seconds Argon came out of the hole as well and looked towards me and Zuko.

"I freaking told you so!" he said to me.