A/N: I think it's the weakest chapter in the whole story. I tried to rewrite it and patch it up several times, but it still stubbornly remains the weakest link in the chain :P Regardless of it I hope you'll like it :)


Chapter Two: Chon

Chon starts his day with a nice amount of annoyance.

The whole city around him is buzzing with life; the shops are closed down for the day, with only a handful of them – most of which are selling souvenirs and little knick knacks, made exclusively for this occasion – open. The offices are empty and silent – as they are, too, closed for the day -, and there are no lessons held in the schools of the capitol. All the inns and hotels are packed; there is not one free room in the whole city. The houses are adorned with flowers and ribbons and flags and banners are hanging from the roofs and the balconies, especially where the parade accompanying the future Fire Lady is supposed to pass through. They vary in color and emblems – most of them are either blue or red, some of them the combination of both, but he has even seen a bold one in brilliant purple.

Thought the real festive hasn't even started yet, people are already celebrating. Not even twenty minutes ago he passed a smaller square, where a tiny band has set up, already playing joyful, beat-up songs, with a dozen or so people dancing around them. The band was most likely from either the Northern Water Tribe or the Earth Kingdom, though the ban on dancing and real music was lifted technically as soon as Fire Lord Zuko took the throne, there are still very few musicians in the Fire Nation who can play great music one can dance to.

Not long after that, passing a still open pub, he was offered a glass of rice wine – completely free, as the owner is inviting everyone passing his pub today in honor of the royal wedding. And he is not the only one – Chon has already had to arrest a man because he was so drunk that it was to be afraid of that he would disturb the flow of the ceremony. For Agni's sake, it was only ten in the morning!

And what does he get from all merryment?

Nothing. Nothing, because he has to work like it was an ordinary day. He can't stop for a moment to dance, not even for only one song – not even if there was a really pretty girl dancing on the square who caught his eye. I can't accept the offered rice wine, because he is on patrol, and it is strictly forbidden to drink on patrol; he would have risked his job if he had accepted that little glass. Oh, how he needs a drink now!

He sighs. He should have counted on it when he singed up to be a member of the royal guard.

He drums his fingers against the hilt of the sword on his hip as he wanders on the streets; the instruction he got this morning is clear: keep peace and order on the streets. Collect each and every suspicious individual; don't let anything disturb the ceremony. They can't take any chances, not now, when virtually every important politician of the Four Nations is in the city, and the biggest ceremony, the biggest union ever since the singing of the peace treaties is about to happen.

Chon grunts.

Like keeping order was such an easy feat.

The Fire Nation capitol is not free of so called 'suspicious individuals', not at all, not even on an ordinary day. There are always pickpockets, petty robbers, lowlifes wanting to start a revolution, but never getting further than the closest bar. And today? With all these fanfare and tourists and important politicians and money in the city? Despite of all the precautionary measurements, Chon is sure that the number of criminals in the city right now is about the double of the usual.

He has already caught two pickpockets – pickpockets; annoying, petty pickpockets, the lowliest of criminals - today, and the real thing hasn't even started yet. He doesn't know if he should be grateful for this – after all, he hasn't had the misfortune to run into a group planning an assassination attempt yet – or annoyed – after all, if he does have to work today, at least something interesting should happen.

But then it's not that they haven't taken precautionary measurements, really: for the past two weeks every ship coming to the docks was checked thoroughly; the Gates of Azulon is completely closed for the day – nobody comes in or goes out; there's an extra check in point waiting for the incomers at the gates of the city; there are twice as many royal guards in the city than on an ordinary day.

He keeps drumming on the hilt, increasing the tempo a little bit.

It's unnerving – having to work when the whole damn nation is taking a break, and not even having anything exciting to do. At least if he could unveil a minor plot against the Fire Lord or his bride… Just a small one, not big enough to cause a real problem, just something that could make him forget how unfair life is to him today. Hell, he would even settle for a couple of youths wanting to throw rotten eggs from the roofs into the way of the parade.

The crowd around him starts to thicken; the road he is on now is part of the parade, which is supposed to start in less than thirty minutes. People are milling out of their houses, readying themselves for the spectacle.

Chon grunts.

At least he is not among the ones chosen to keep the crowd at bay when the palanquin of the future Fire Lady passes by. That would be pure agony – standing in the midday sun in the heavy armor – not just his everyday armor, of course; a special task like that requires a different, more elaborate armor, which is even heavier -, keeping his posture, making sure that nobody breaks through the cordon. Doing this job he can at least move around and take short breaks in the shadows of the roofs. And anyway, it's not like Lady Katara couldn't defend herself if she had to.

He has seen her and the Fire Lord practicing in one of the inner gardens of the palace. It was a full blown bending battle, what even he, a non-bender, could appreciate. It was a deadly dance of waves and flames, and when it was over – and he couldn't tell which one of them won -, he was surprised that neither of them got hurt. And then, for the fist time in his life, he wished he was a bender.

The street is almost completely packed by now; he won't be surprised if someone faints in the next few minutes because of the lack of oxygen. Other guards, at least a dozen of them on both sides of the street, in that small area he can see, are trying to hold back the crowd desperately, keeping an aisle wide enough for the parade to pass. Chon notes to himself that he is not that unfortunate after all again.

He gets behind crowd, choosing to stand by the houses in the back, resting against a wall, his gaze still on the crowd. Nothing; no action, only citizens and tourists with little flags or bouquets in their hands. Nothing, nothing… He is sure that nothing is going to happen now, at least not until the wedding ceremony is over. The coronation after that, on the stairs of the great temple, in front of thousands of people… well, he is not completely sure that will go without a glitch.

He is just starting to relax when a silvery glint draws his attention to his left. A man is standing there, a quite ordinary man, maybe thirty years old, in simple red robes, his hair in a traditional topknot, trying to get to the front of the crowd, almost knocking others over, so he will be able see the bride of the Fire Lord clearly as she passes on her palanquin. Chon almost convinces himself that there is nothing wrong with that man, that he is simply eager, thought maybe a little bit too eager, and that the glint he saw was just that man's bracelet, or cuff, or something like that, but then he sees the light reflect on something in the man's hand again, and this time, he sees the object clearly.

There's a blade hidden under his sleeve.

His body is ready for the fight in an instant. He bolts, pushing himself off the wall – he hopes that he gets to the man before that could realize that he has been spotted, but his hopes are in vain. The man recognizes the danger immediately, turns, and tries to run, colliding into the bystanders, knocking some of them over. But Chon won't let him get away.

The chase is short – the man, who must have wanted to attack Lady Katara, is clearly new to the capitol – maybe he is, Chon ponders, somebody from the outer islands, or one of the colonies, who is mad at Fire Lord Zuko for his new way of politics. If he is, well, then he is not alone, Chon knows it well.

The would-be-attacker's second turn leads him into a dead end – something Chon is really grateful for. He starts to panic, Chon sees it, and in his panic he tries to climb the wall in front of him, the blade from his sleeve falling to the ground, but he cannot escape; Chon reaches him, grabs his feet and pulls him down to the ground. He falls to the cobblestones with a great thud, his ankle turning in a painful angle under him. Chon knows that it must hurt, but he just can't feel sorry for him, because he might be grumpy about being on patrol today, but he is still a member of the royal guard, and therefore loyal to the Fire Lord and his family. Their enemy is his own.

Before the man could blink, Chon has his sword against his throat and his hands twisted behind his back; the man is defeated and completely unable to move. If he does, it's either his hands breaking or the blade of the sword cutting his throat open.

That's it; Chon's third criminal that day, and a potential assassin nonetheless – no matter how incompetent assassin he might be. Chon's chest swells with pride as he yanks the man to his feet, starting lead him to the building – not an official prison - where they are collecting all the criminals caught today.

Well, he did get some action after all.

Meanwhile, behind their backs, as they are walking away from the main streets of the capitol, back at the palace the drums start to sing. The parade is starting.