Avatar Chapter 12
I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender
It was always risky to deceive the Princess but the girl was still young and had much to learn, no matter how brilliant she was. She was a difficult child to deal with to be sure but neither of them had ever given thought to having children and she was the closest thing to a granddaughter they would ever have.
Li and Lo knew something was amiss even before Azula started her trials. Servants in the Palace they knew for certain had not been properly vetted, and were only there for a few days at a time with long break in-between. There would always be spies and informants in the capital, it was the cities nature, but these individuals were getting far too close to their charge for Li and Lo's liking.
They were nameless servants to the Princess, but Li and Lo and even lady Ty Lee noticed there were too many new faces. Ty Lee obviously saw nothing wrong and was always happy to greet a new servant, asking about their name, family life, hometown, favorite color. Often surprising the poor souls so used to being ignored, it actually helped Li and Lo identify a few infiltrators as a most were caught off guard by such a friendly and chatty noble girl.
They had not yet cornered one as they were certain whoever was employing these people believed themselves be undetected, for the time being. And in truth they had not caught anyone breaking in to a secure room or looking through any secret documents. It was as if whoever was behind this was simply gathering information on Azula, and Li and Lo had a feeling that whoever it was did not have the Fire Nations or the Princesses interests in mind.
And it was just as the Princess was coming away from her more violent tendencies, the plucky gymnast must be a gift sent from Agni. Ever since that Ty Lee had started living at the Palace Li and Lo noticed Azula soften at the edges. Not by much but they had been playing this game far to long not to notice that the Princess was much calmer when her friend was with her.
It was a welcome change, ruling with fear was an effective path but it must be tempered with logic and foresight. Azula excelled at instilling fear in others but still had to learn how to properly apply it, and the plucky acrobat would hopefully prevent the Princess from many of pitfalls of her position.
More interesting was the information they received from their agent in the royal spa, Lady Ty Lee had a very intimate feelings for Azula. That was a potentially harmful or beneficial development depending on how it played out but any action on that would have to wait until after their 'vacation'.
They would meet with Azula and her entourage in due time, it was an incredible endeavour this railway, but for now they had work to.
"Are you ready dear sister" Li spoke to Lo
"But of course, you know I can't remember the last time we got to root out some sleeper agents." Lo spoke to Li
"Neither can I, I do hope I have not gotten rusty "Li replied.
"Nonsense, you are just as skilled as you ever were, now let's go and make some young stud sequel." Lo claimed encouragingly.
"Oh you old flatterer you know just how to cheer me up don't you" Li replied cheerily.
"My dear stop, you are going to make me blush" Lo spoke.
The twins smiled at each other and walked side by side down the halls of the Palace, ready to do what must be done.