Chapter 22

Iroh was meeting with some of the old advisors who had since retired and some of the senior Generals from the Army and Navy while Izara was waiting outside, ever vigilant. Zuko had left a week ago and would have arrived in the Earth Kingdom a few days ago, with Appa flying at full speed. The old men were laughing and chatting away, catching up and talking about anything and everything that had happened since they had seen each other last. Iroh discussed opening a branch of his tea shop in the Capital and asked them to support the business so he could eventually return to the Earth Kingdom once he left it in good hands.

It took another hour or so for all the men to tire and call it a night. They were in a large restaurant in the Capital, so Izara and Jay would escort them back to their homes along with Iroh and then return to the palace. As they strolled through the streets of the Capital, Iroh saw his friends home safely before they finally got to the last house. It was closest to the palace, only a few hundred metres away.

When they arrived, Jay and Izara stayed back a little to ensure they weren't infringing upon Iroh's privacy, but this worked to Izara's advantage. She felt more comfortable staying out of sight and hidden in the shadows, so being in the Capital was good for her.

This was when she spotted him. Someone who set the hairs on the back of her neck on end, and every sense in her body went into overdrive. Jay noticed the change in her demeanour, mainly because they had worked together many times, and he could tell something wasn't right since she wasn't standing still while they waited. Izara had noticed the same man on the way out hours ago, and he was in the exact same spot he had been. Something wasn't right.

Izara silently gestured with a nod in the direction of the man she was concerned about. Jay didn't look worried, but Izara didn't want to take any chances. Since they were close enough to the palace, she gestured to the guards at the front gate, and they only noticed her after she grabbed a dagger from her holster and flung it as far as she could. It clunked on the ground metres from them but drew their attention in her direction. Two of them came rushing over and took over for her. She left Iroh to be escorted back to the palace by them, trusting her instincts enough to not let this go. Jay trusted her and let her follow her hunch.

When she breathed in, she got a specific scent that made her panic because it smelt like it had when the siege against the Supremacists was on. She had remembered it, and it must have been what set her off. Although she was loath to essentially leave her post, she didn't move far until seeing the Iroh made it back through the Palace gates with Jay and the other gate guards. She would report back to Iroh in the morning immediately to tell her what she'd done and why, but for now, she felt that she needed to capture this man at all costs and then get information from there.

Moving around the corner so she was concealed, she began to close in on him. He had been standing at the corner of a home that she knew wasn't occupied by anyone of his appearance. This was what she did best. She moved in the shadows and got just a little bit closer as the minutes went by, always keeping him in her sight so she could capture as much as possible in her memory. Using her collar, she pulled it up to stick near her face and head to cover as much of her pale skin as possible. She grabbed another dagger from her other holster and hoped for the best. It had been a long time since she'd tried to capture someone alive, so she just had to be cautious and do her best.

Playing it safe, she grasped her dagger in a backhand grip. Silently, she closed in until she was just a few feet away from him. He seemed to react to something, but she was unsure what it was. Did he hear her? Halfway through transitioning her weight between her feet, she stopped moving and held her breath. Once, he seemed to relax, and then she struck. Hitting the back of his neck with the hilt of her dagger, he dropped to the floor with all his dead weight. Now that he was unconscious, she could search for him and figure out who he was. Hopefully, her hunch was correct, and she hadn't just knocked some poor innocent man out in the street.

Rolling him onto his back, she dragged him into the shadows, pleased that Iroh had gone home while it was dark. This had at least allowed her to take him into custody when it was easier to hide what was happening. As his face came into view, she took in the details about his face as best she could. He was older than her, maybe in his mid to late thirties and had dark brown hair with a beard that was a bit shorter than an inch long. His complexion was dark, as if he had been outside a lot, but she could see a lot more when there was more light.

She searched him for weapons and found a dagger, a few smaller throwing knives, and a small bottle. Pulling the cork off the bottle, she pulled it to see what it was inside and smelled, only to find something familiar. It was poison from the ukoma flower. It wasn't a widespread poison but caused haemorrhaging within an hour or so. Maybe he had stayed back because he knew that the Fire Lord was away unless it was Iroh that he wanted to get rid of. Either way, Izara tried to resist the fury bubbling inside her. Wrapped around the bottle was a small piece of paper with some strange symbols that she couldn't understand. Maybe it was in code?

Keeping her cool, she grabbed some of the cloth making up his jacket and ripped it, creating a makeshift piece of fabric that she could tie his wrists. The jacket felt like it wasn't made of the cheapest material, but she couldn't quite feel bad. Maybe once he got interrogated and cleared of any suspicion, she might feel bad, but not yet. Not when she felt confident that he was somehow involved with the Fire Nation Supremacists.

Doing her best to keep a straight face, she dragged the man towards the palace gate until the guards noticed her. Since it was the same ones before, they must have been looking for her, expecting her to return. Jay may have asked them to watch out for her, and she would have to thank him later for his trust and faith in her. They helped her take the man into custody, one of them sharing the load by lugging half his weight. At the same time, she supported the other as they took him to the small cells that the palace held underground. It wasn't a proper holding facility, but it was better than nothing. Once they had the man locked up inside a cell, she thanked the gate guard and sent him back to his post, not wanting him to get in trouble on her account. She would return in a few hours once her shift was over and inform the prison guards of the situation. They hadn't met her before, but when she mentioned that she had been guarding Iroh, they immediately listened closer and seemed to take heed of her words. Since they would be there for another 7 hours or so, she trusted that they would keep her in the loop and told them that she would return in a few hours to check on him, but asked them for their vigilance in the meantime.

Silently, she dashed across the palace towards her post with Jay, who frowned deeper in concern as soon as she entered his line of sight.

"What the fuck was all that about?" Jay asked in a hissed whisper.

"So before I came to the Capital, there was a small siege with the Supremacists. I was there. There was a smell that I didn't identify with the men until now. I noticed him in the same spot when we were returning as when we were leaving. He hadn't moved at all. When I searched him, he had weapons and a bottle of poison with a coded message. I just knew something wasn't right. He's in the cells now." Izara replied as calmly as she could, but her adrenaline was still coursing through her veins.

"Luan is a good code breaker. Get him to look at it in the morning." Jay replied after a moment of silent thought. Izara was grateful that he trusted her instincts.

"Thank you. I'll ask him when he arrives. I'm sorry about all this, but I just couldn't let it go." Izara bowed her head in apology, but Jay waved his hand to dispel it.

"No, I know that's why you're here, and you've been tasked to look after the Fire Lord's Uncle while he's away. I know we don't see much of each other, but I know not to doubt you. I'm glad you noticed him when we left and returned." Jay put a hand on her shoulder and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

"Thanks, Jay. I won't forget this. Thank you for believing in me." Izara copied him, placing a hand on his shoulder in appreciation.

"To tell you the truth, I used to be the most cynical guy you would have ever met. Once I started working here and met the Fire Lord, I saw how much trust he put in people even though he barely knew them. He gave people enough belief that they also believed in themselves, which taught me that I should be more like that. My partner, Seong-Jun, always sees the best in people. It took me a long time to get my head around it." Jay seemed like an intelligent guy, but his apprehension wasn't surprising. In fact, she only would have been surprised if he hadn't questioned her at all. Except if it was Kazan.

"Seong-Jun is lucky to have you. I'm grateful for your faith in me. I just hope it was rightly placed. Maybe my instincts have dulled." Izara smirked, and Jay chuckled softly in reply to her joke.

"I don't think so. I think they must be sharper than ever. I didn't notice that guy was in the same spot when we left and returned. Even if he lived nearby, that's still weird, but the bottle of poison and a coded note seemed pretty damning to me." Jay echoed her thoughts, and she felt a bit better.

"Tut-tut, Jay. I thought you were trying to have more faith in people?" Izara asked with mock disbelief.

"I think this is a bit different." He replied with a smirk, and they both laughed.

Despite the situation and the possibility that someone was attempting to scope out the palace, break-in and poison the Fire Lord, humour was a common way for guards to deal with their situations. Jay had been in the Army before posting here, so he knew it was a standard coping mechanism. Jokes and sarcasm were how they dealt with horrible situations, especially those that were unavoidable. As a result, most people in their fields developed a dry and dark sense of humour laced with a sense of macabre.

Hopefully, this guy would be cleared of suspicion, and she wouldn't feel so concerned. Still, she would feel better about being concerned if he was doing reconnaissance. It was a challenging position to be in. She had already begun mentally writing her report to Guozhi and Luan and rehearsing what she would say to Iroh and Fire Lord Zuko when he returned.

As she considered how she would calmly convey to him that someone wanted him or his Uncle dead, the latter being the worst of the two options for him, she hoped he was going okay in the colonies. There were many things for him to work out, and he had been busy with Aang, constantly trying to figure out how to solve the situation and make everyone happy. However, such a task was practically impossible.

About an hour later, she zipped off to quickly check on the prisoner, who was still unconscious. If he hadn't woken up naturally by the end of her shift, she would ensure she got some information before she rested. Otherwise, she wouldn't be able to sleep.

Since everything was fine, she returned to her post and updated Jay, whose kind support validated her more than he probably realised. She thanked him again, and they chatted softly until their changeover was due. Jay offered to stay for a bit longer until she could report to Luan on the situation. Luan was grateful for her vigilance and told her not to apologise for being hyper-aware, as it kept the Fire Lord safe. As the morning guard was arriving, he asked for someone to stay at his post with Jay until Kai came so that they could check on her detainee. He had awoken, but as per Izara's request, no one had spoken with him.

They decided it would be best to speak with Iroh first and then discuss what to do from there. Iroh might know if it was a personal enemy, someone seeking to cause damage or even an assassin for the Fire Lord. Hopefully, Iroh would wake in an hour, and they could discuss the matter further.

For now, though, Izara remained awake and stayed in the small cells with the guards, and Luan returned to his post. He said he would tell her when the Interim Fire Lord woke and he had reported in and would ask for his presence and judgement.