The Fire Nation palace was in quite the excitation today, as On-Ji noticed, walking down the streets and carrying a heavy bag with her.

She spent practically the entire night making wild speeches to her mirror, about the importance of friendships, the power of will, the needs of the Fire Lord and how she was ready to martial arts her way through a bunch of traitors. She carefully laid mannequins with frowy eyebrows to make her speeches, even. On-Ji was more than ready to speak to Zunli and convince her to let the young girl come with the group.

After both her talks to Konzui and Osamu, she felt strangely energetic, perhaps more than usual. She knew that no fights would happen if the mission were to take place but… what if they get complimented for their role in defeating the traitors , What if Lord Zuko invites them all over and personally thank them with remarks about how their loyalties will earn the respect of countless generations of Fire Nation people ? It wasn't technically a ninja task so she wouldn't mind.

Though her spirits went down when she realized that this jerk of a girlfriend was around. Mai or something, the famous knife thrower who participated in the fall of Ba Sing Se with Azula before betraying the crown princess at the Boiling Rock to save her boyfriend, the current Fire Lord. Freed after the end of the war, she returned to the castle to support her beloved through the endless trial of leadership, although she left sometimes, for reasons that she never disclosed.

And On-Ji really liked those departures, because she really disliked Mai.

Now, the young girl was not spiteful. Mai is the future Fire Lady and a noble, so it was okay for her to be kind of stand-offish to people who might not be of a similar stature. And she would still lay her life down to protect her, but the raven-haired noble still drew the contempt of the young ninja. She was only ever smiling when Lord Zuko was around, without him though, she always kept a poker face, sometimes transforming said poker face into a frown when irritated.

And she was fairly easily irritated. How could Lord Zuko hang with her ? Geez, On-Ji knew that not all mean people are bad and that she might have her reasons, but Mai still had the immense honor of being disliked by the one ninja who likes almost everyone, and it was no small feat.

Distracted in her thoughts, On-Ji bumped into the back of a firebender in mask and armor. He was with his buddy, and she quickly recognized them as the guys from yesterday. She quickly apologized but quietly stuck around the duo, aware of their chatty mouths.

"So what's happening exactly ?"

"Well apparently, Lady Mai…"

He grimaced under the mask. On-Ji was not alone in her contempt of the knife thrower, thankfully enough. The servants who thought good things of her either never met her or simply waved off her moods as "moments".

"… Invited some foreign troops to watch over Zuko, because we're not competent enough for her taste."

"What about that one person who defeated the assassin ? Was it her ?"

"She was away, and well we can't rely on that person again, huh ?"

"Yeah, anyhow, is it the Dai Li again ? Or these savages from the tribes ? Because I'll tell ya, a single one of us is worth about ten of these guys ! They're just inviting the assassins to the room of the Fire Lord, I tell ya !"

"Yeah and why invite these ? The Fire Nation tried to curb their barbarian beliefs so they're mad at us now. Why would they move to the palace like this ? Maybe Mai promised them a lot of money."

"In that case, they're traitors to their countries and you can't except anything from traitors." Said the firebender, taking on a wise tone, and earning himself fierce nods from his partner.

"We need to protest against these people in the castle right now, before they steal our jobs."

"Yeah, we're going to give them the cold shoulder, that'll teach em !"

A small commotion started, and On-Ji looked over as the gates of the castle opened, a swarm of generals and nobles coming out of it. She recognized Osamu but decided not to bother him, aware that there would be suspicions if they were to talk casually. Others were not so shy, and waved to catch the attention of some of the generals. One in particular noticed the noise, boasting the strong mustache and glare of master firebenders.

"General Tao ! Could you please give us a second of your precious time and explain the situation to us ? We are rightfully worried about…"

"ENOUGH ! You will keep your posts but the Kyoshi Warriors will be escorting the Fire Lord ! Blame your incompetence, it brought these foreigners within our proud nation's most sacred building in the first place !"

The women still frowned, but the men were looking excited as Tao made his exist. None of them looked worried about his small speech.

"Ho boy, the Kyoshi Warriors ? The chicks in armor from the Earth Kingdom ?"

"Heck yeah ! I'm going to make them visit the castle !"

"Me first !" they said, pushing their ways past the guards and entering the castles, other men were also eager to enter, though they were probably aware that they had a very low chance of actually getting a Kyoshi girlfriend.

On-Ji herself entered quickly, wanting to get the problem dealt with quickly, and walked in the gigantic halls of the castle, carefully listening in to the idle chatter. There were comments about how beautiful they were, some men asking what warrior women like for gifts, but also plenty of debates about how far the nation fell, hiring warriors from other countries to defend the lord.

The name of a certain woman named "Ty Lee" came back a lot. On-Ji's fangirl senses quickly tingled in answer, as she halted her search to listen up some more. Ty Lee was the third member of Azula's group during the war, an expert chi-blocker with a bright smile, who joined the Kyoshi Warriors after the end of the war. She was exactly the kind of warrior that the young girl tried to emulate, optimistic and cheery, but more than able to fend off groups of benders.

So that's how Mai got the warriors to join the castle ? On-Ji hastened her pace, searching for both the young girl and Zunli, with the hope of perhaps obtaining some kind of autograph or gift from the former. People spoke of her as much more sane than her co-workers, after all, so On-Ji's demands would not be met with a lightning bolt or a cold glare.

She was not supposed to distract herself from her mission but the occasion was a rare one.

The brunette progressed within the halls, without ever meeting one Kyoshi warrior or anything really worth of her attention, sometimes smiling or waving at passerbys but never stopping for a chat. She cautiously progressed towards the main room of the lord of the nation, aware that she technically had no business stepping in. None of the soldiers or firebenders stopped her though, presumably thinking that she was just in charge of keeping the mighty room clean.

And beside, the guards had to stop some disputes in front of the palace, people were having sharp arguments about the ongoing events and were ready to trade blows instead of wits. And the crowd had no interest in stopping them, eager to see some firebending action.

She could stop it but it was not her immediate duty to do so, and the guards would certainly be able to solve the problem without needing to shove their fists in some hot-blooded protestant's nose.

Hopefully.

On-Ji settled the bag down along with others belongings from her fellow servants, and grabbed a trusty mop. It would be very easy to disguise with that particular object and it could be used as a weapon if she were to meet another assassin again. It couldn't compare to a sword or her usual weapons but she could still easily overcome the unaware killer.

She carefully progressed between the immense halls, up until she finally heard some chatter within the next room.

The Firelord's main room, that is.

Peeking her head in slowly, On-Ji nearly cheered when she saw the Kyoshi warriors but frowned when she noticed the tall figure of Mai, and very slowly entered the room, moping up the carpet. As predicted, no guards stood in front of the door, she was free to go in.

Some of the warriors turned their heads to stare at her while their leader was explaining the terms of her protection. Her name was Suki or something, and she was focused enough to pay little heed to the entrance of the undercover ninja. Her fellow warriors merely turned their heads around and listened to her, Zuko and Mai carefully listening in the background.

She was a fly on the wall, and she was so immensely happy with it. Unwilling to interrupt the conversation, she retreated behind one of the immense pillars and pretended that she was cleaning things up.

"We'll be your bodyguards within the castle. Not a single assassin is going to get past us without a fight."

"Understood." Said Zuko, calmly nodding. He looked a bit tired, with pockets under his eyes. Mai herself actually looked worried. She felt kind of sad for the both of them, and yet knew that some of the other soldiers would perceive the young lord's weariness as a sign of weakness. Ozai or Azulon stood firm and planned ruthlessly in spite of the assassins sent after them.

But that's because they lacked the compassion of Zuko, along with his gifts for making friends despite the odds. He did burn the Kyoshi Warrior island to the ground at one point, did he ?

"We'll also be escorting you for your trip to Yu Dao, for your own safety."

"Then I'll come too." Said Mai, again with a usually concerned tone of voice. Zuko smiled at her, and so she did. On-Ji felt both jealousy and bewilderment at the idea of a smiling Mai, but merely kept moping the floor in silence.

"Perhaps you'll need some protection yourself, the…"

Ty Lee smiled in the background, and so did Zuko.

"She doesn't need protection."

"So cute !" thought On-Ji, wiping the floor with a level of speed beyond what she should be able to do.

"We'll be escorting you to the gates for your speech, are you ready ?"

"The Fire Nation is in turmoil, I can't let chaos happens in the streets." Declared Zuko. "I'm coming to calm them."

Suki smiled and the little group went out of the room quietly. Zuko did turn around and glanced briefly at On-Ji and the sparkling ground below her feet.

"… Good job there." He said, before stepping out of the room. On-Ji merely leant againt the pillar, sighing dreamily. How could this Mai be so angsty with such a boyfriend ?

She only ever interrupted herself when she heard coughing behind her. Excepting to see the menacing figure of a fire nation general, she was both relieved and frightened to see the figure of Zunli.

"Ho, it's you !"

"Konzui told me everything, let's go in a quieter place." She said, quickly heading down the stairs. On-Ji followed, wiping everything in sight with her broom, and they both quickly reached a desert hallway. They could both see and hear the crowd outside, although Fire Lord Zuko's arrival and the guards dimmed the noise by a generous margin.

"So, you want to join me and Konzui ?"

"Indeed. I met up with him because I'm-"

"How do you even know about it ?"

On-Ji shrugged and made her cutest smile yet to try to appeal to the nature of Zunli. It didn't work.

"Gossip."

"One does not spread gossip like that. You must be informed by someone else, who is your backer ?"

"I don't have one, I'm simply a girl from Ember Island, eager to make friends and wipe the halls so that Lord Zuko can see his handsome face on the sparkling floor."

"You wouldn't be a mere servant if you were from the Ember Islands, you'd be strolling in the halls and glancing at us, instead… unless you're from one of those old families…"

She began to think, the young girl proceeded to exploit the opportunity to move up.

"But I'm eager to help out ! I want to know who's helping these assassins to get in !"

"You're young, you sound excitable and loud, and you're probably going to be making mistakes left and right, no."

"I'm not a dumb teenager !" she defended herself with. "I can stay quiet ! Maybe I'll even put in a blindfold ! We're supposed to-"

"See ? Maybe start being actually quiet instead of yelling."

"I can be quiet, it's not like we're going to be close, right ? Just check and warn the guards or the Kyoshi…"

"Yes, but there is always the chance that something could go wrong. I don't want for you to be potentially harmed, you're young enough to have escaped the horrors of the War : let's not trust you into another conflict."

"But Konzui is old enough for that ?"

"He knows the consequences, you just heard gossip and thought that it's just a "fun" little experience. I can't let you in."

"I promise that I'll keep my mouth shut, I just want to help the nation !"

"We all do, young girl, but you're going to be a load for us if we get caught."

Clearly, she wasn't going to be moved. Perhaps making her own investigation or following them would do it ? But she still felt that they needed her in. If something were to happen, she could certainly defend them.

"Maybe I can just… follow you from afar, a bit ? if something happen, I rush back and warn the guards. That way, I don't get in danger and I can leave if it happens."

Zunli glared down at her but seemed to consider the idea.

"So I won't slow you down too…"

"Are you sure about this ? How will you follow us if we enter a building ?"

"I can just wait, if you take too long, I can always warn some guards. I'll be your third eye behind your head !"

Zunli hesitated for a long moment, closing her eyes and stroking her chin.

"We prepared this plan for only two of us, it would be dangerous to change it hours before we set it up."

"You can keep the plan, I'll just sneak around and watch out, we won't even interact !"

More hesitation, she was fond of those.

"You will not call out to us if something were to happen and you will flee if something dangerous happens."

"Right, to save you by calling the guards."

Sharp ember eyes glared at round brown eyes.

"Promise me."

"I promise."

"Hrm, very well then… we have reason to believe that a firebender named Ukon is smuggling the assassins in through a fairly complex road."

She pulled a map out of her massive sleeves, much to On-Ji's amazement. She pointed at a road, going from the city all the way to the coasts.

"He lives at the edge of the capitol and uses secret road to carry the assassins under the army's nose. He has a small foothold in the ports, where boats carrying the would-be killers arrive. We're going over there to gather definite proof."

"Why not ask guards to investigate ?"

"He has some of them under his payroll, I'll tell you who to warn if anything happens, or else they might kill or knock you out and bring you back to him… and beside, have you heard Tao ?"

"I did."

"The Fire Lord doesn't trust his servants anymore. We have to do it ourselves to convince him that there are loyal subjects around."

"Why not get more people then ?"

"Ho, when the others will hear, they'll be quick to say that they supported us. And beside, too many people will be troublesome. Anyway, meet us within Calore street in twelve hours and just follow us. We'll be making our little investigation, and then we'll tell to the trustworthy guards. Then it's in their hands and we leave as glorious protectors of the Lord."

"Ok, I'll hope that it'll go well…"

"It will, Agni will guide our path."

The two women nodded and promptly left. Too absorbed in her discussion and subsequent thoughts, On-Ji failed to notice the two Firebenders at the corner, leaning against the wall.

"Ho boy, they're moving in to get the boss."

"We gotta warn him."

"Yeah, thank god they were holding their conversations loudly, huh ?"

"Yeah, huehuehue."

AGENTS OF THE FIRE NATION