Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar, though it would be nice if I did, but sadly it belongs to Nickelodeon. However, this story is pretty much my own.

White Bounty

Change in Plans

Unlike many of the inexperienced Firebenders, Princess Azula did not let her emotions effect her bending. Her strenuous training ensured that. Sitting in the large meditation room of the palace, the princess of the Fire Nation, with her golden eyes, concentrated on the flames flickering before her. It was the image of serenity, but her mind was seething from the latest report she had managed to overhear.

The incompetent man, Admiral Zhou, had allowed the Avatar to escape. She had heard rumors that one man, a Blue Spirit as he was so cleverly nicknamed, had managed to evade detection into a supposedly impenetrable fortress and freed the Avatar. Then together they had managed to avoid capture, despite the fact the Admiral Zhou had elite forces with him. Now both the Avatar and the Blue Spirit had disappeared. Azula wasn't sure who she hated the most, the fool Zhou or the Blue Spirit. If it was up to her, they would both be burnt to a crisp.

Once she became Fire Lord, of course she would have to change the title to Fire Lady, she would make sure to have Zhou killed for his failure, but at the moment he had a purpose and she wasn't the ruler of the nation, yet. Hopefully, the imbecile would recapture the Avatar before her brother Zuko had the chance.

Zuko. The mere thought that he might someday be Fire Lord was sickening. She didn't even want to admit she was related to him. He was weak, a disgrace; the only reason he would ever become Fire Lord was he was a year older than her. It didn't hurt that he was a male heir either. But Zuko had been foolish, challenging their father to a duel of Agni Kai and earning the dishonor he deserved by his cowardice.

She smiled remembering Zuko's cry of pain followed by the smell of charred flesh as he was struck by their father. She only wished that her father had killed Zuko that day, giving him the fate which was warranted to him. Her father had a weakness concerning his only son. When she inherited the throne, and she would make sure of that, she would not show Zuko the same mercy.

It seemed that even though Zuko was a sympathetic fool, her father favored him despite the fact he was disloyal while she had been the perfect heir, cunning and calculating never letting her emotions get in the way.

She scowled at the fact that Zuko had been offered a slim chance for redemption. Of course, at the time of his banishment, no one had thought the Avatar was even alive. Zuko was supposed to be exiled forever, and she to inherit the throne, but then the Avatar returned changing her plans. The exiled prince had a chance of redemption- a chance at returning to claim his throne while she would be left out in the cold.

She sat calmly evaluating her options, musing if it would be easier to rid herself of the bothersome Avatar or to take care of Zuko. The Avatar was wanted alive by her nation, and gave hope to the dim-witted, faltering peasants who saw him as the key to winning the war against the Fire Nation, so it was not likely anyone would kill him, and even if she did manage to kill the Avatar, he would only return posing a threat to her once again. On the other hand, no one in the fire nation would dare attempt to murder her dear brother, for that would be treason. However, she was sure that her brother had made enemies outside of the Fire Nation, many who would love the chance of getting rid of him, despite the fact that killing him would be very foolish and dangerous.

"My lady, Princess Azula," a servant said interrupting her thoughts, "here is a message for you."

Avoiding her urge to tear his head off for calling her Azula when he knew she detested that name preferring Zula, she carefully took the sealed parchment and a small package before irritably ordering the servant to leave. When she was alone again she opened the letter from one of her men serving under Zhou. Finally she could get an accurate account on the Avatar's escape.

As she finished reading the letter the scowl on her face deepened. Crumpling the note, she burnt it with the fire from her hands leaving behind nothing but ashes which she blew into the air. Princess Azula watched as they slowly scattered to the ground.

While many considered the Blue Spirit must have been from the Earth Kingdom, she doubted it. Now it seemed her suspicions were confirmed. The Blue Spirit had to be a traitor from the Fire Nation to know his way about the fortress. Only a few of the more elite soldiers had such knowledge of the secret tunnels underneath the prison.

She turned her attention to the package that had come with the note. Curious of its contents she cut the strings sealing it with a quick slice from her fingernails. Opening it revealed a sword and a note attached saying it belonged to the mysterious man who Azula wanted dead. Somehow her spyhad managed to grab the weapon during the confusion of the fight when the man had dropped it. Of course he soon regained another weapon, but it was not his original. To the average soldier, it seemed like an ordinary sword. In a fit, she almost threw the useless weapon across the room. However, something caught her eye causing her to stop and examine it more closely.

A small etching.

A small etching, barely noticeable, yet there it was. Azula had remembered this distinct etching, yet she could not place its origin. Placing the sword back inside the wrapping, the princess smiled viciously. She had no doubt, it would come to her, and she would soon know the identity of the soon to be dead traitor.

--

Jun tripped looking like a fool.

But, it was precisely what she wanted. There were times she wanted to be invisible, but there were also times she needed to draw attention to herself. But with her helmet on, no one could really tell who she was anyway. She was just another soldier.

Crying out in astonishment as she fell, she nearly knocked over the man walking past her. "It's been a long day," she said for an apology.

She thought she could see the soldier grin as he gave her a hand. "Nah, I think it's these helmets, I can't see a thing in them, so probably no one else can either."

Jun grinned back chuckling, accepting his gesture.

She then continued on her way still chuckling because while the man had given her his hand, her other one had cautiously reached its way into his pocket and managed to steal his keys replacing them with replicas. He hadn't noticed a thing since he was too distracted helping a fellow comrade. As she rounded the corner, she jingled her prize in triumph before pocketing it. "Stage one complete," she whispered underneath her breath.

The exchange would never be discovered until of course she made her escape attempt. Jun found this part of her work the most entertaining. Acting. Surprisingly, that was a key factor to her success. All she had to do was put on a little show in order to get connected to the right people and everything went easily. It was the reason she stayed in the job, that and the fact it paid.

She walked back to her room to get some sleep before it would be time to implement the next stage of her plan.

--

At night, especially on the days of festivals, there were not many people around the prison as they went off to celebrate. Jun had wanted to wait a couple more months until there celebration of the spring solstice before acting, but she was rushed knowing reinforcements were being sent for so she had to proceed ahead of time.

However, at the moment there was not a full count of guards in the prison due to the fact many had been sent off to search for the Avatar. Soon though, reinforcements would arrive, but she had about a week until that would happen. So in a way, it was beneficial that someone had broken security. Jun always tried to see the positive aspects in life, because in her line of work, there were few.

Changed out of the bulky soldier armor and into one of the more comfortable garments, Jun found it easier to move around. The armor added almost twenty pounds, and she could barely stand while wearing it. However, without the armor, Jun was more exposed because if anyone saw her they would become suspicious. The armor really helped to disguise her figure and without she was vulnerable. They might ask questions she didn't want to answer- why was she going around without armor, or why was she so petite? Or they might even notice her feminine figure. Questions were always bad.

Since it was night though, Jun was able to walk fairly easily through the almost deserted hallways. Unlike the Blue Spirit, she was planning on using stealth, not force to escape, because she knew that if she became surrounded by the enemy, they wouldn't care if she or her bounty lived and there were only so many she could fight before she would succumb to the overwhelming numbers.

Hearing footsteps, she paused, backing into the shadows of the wall. Jun quietly held her breath, waiting.

Once the noise faded away into the murky depths of the hallway, she resumed her course, glad she hadn't been detected. Silently, she slipped into one of the barracks unnoticed. Quickly she scanned the room. Several men were sleeping. She passed over them until she found her target.

Jun quietly crept over to the empty bed and then began another search. Finally she stopped victorious. Careful not to wake the men, she pulled out a small flask. With one swift movement she opened the lid and dumped a bluish powder inside. She then closed the lid and swished the flask around- making sure that the powder would be absorbed by the liquid.

Although alcohol was prohibited while on duty, Jun found that some of the men were not to keen on this order. Many of them disobeyed, including the one whom she had just placed a sleeping powder into his flask. After observing the men's habits for several days, she had noticed he usually took a couple of swigs before going on duty. He would often be late to his nightshift, or come with the smell on him. Many complained, but since it didn't affect his work too much allowed his indulgence.

Today, though, it would, for she had added a sleeping powder. He wouldn't be showing up to his shift this night if all went as planned. Tonight, he shouldn't cause her any trouble. After replacing the flask to its hiding spot, Jun headed toward the door. However, she stopped when she noticed the handle moving. "Of all the nights, he's early tonight. Great," Jun thought.

Quickly assessing her situation, she scurried over to one of the beds and placed a blanket over her hoping the man would not notice her. She had come so far to be discovered by a fool. All she had to do was wait until he drank the potion and passed out.

Through her squinting eyes, she watched as he moved through the room over to where she had just been. Instead of grabbing his flask, he sat down and pulled out a note and began to read.

Jun stayed in her hiding spot for what seemed like hours before she heard the man reach underneath his bed and pull out his flask. Finally she heard the sound she was hoping for, a dull thud as the man fell back onto his pillow and began snoring.

Relief swept through her body but Jun decided to remain for a minute more to ensure the man was deeply asleep. Deciding enough time had passed, she ambled out of the cot. Then she saw the handle jiggle again so she quickly returned to the cot and resumed her mock sleep.

This time, however, she didn't go unnoticed. The man, whose cot apparently was the one she decided to occupy, came over. "What?" he exclaimed finding there was some one already there. So much for subtlety, she had already been spotted.

Improvising Jun staggered up, slouching over so the man couldn't see her face.

The man assumed, from her appearance and the smell left on her by the flask, that she must be drunk. With a dirty look, he shooed her away. Jun continued until she wobbled out the door. Once it was closed, she straightened up and sighed hoping the rest of her night wouldn't go so horribly. "At least I didn't mess up step two completely."

--

Thanks so much for the reviews. I appreciate them. :)

k.o.i.t.a – Yes, Zuko will eventually meet Jun, but there will probably be a couple more chapters before that happens.

-iziz