Morality Chain

Good lord, my update times are insane. I've got to start working harder,

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

"How is she?" Azula didn't bother to look in Mai's direction as the quiet girl exited Ty Lee's room.

"Her wounds aren't serious, but they'll take some time to fully heal," Mai looked behind her. "Are you sure you don't want to find a healer-"

"For the third time, yes," Azula snapped. "I gave away my identity back in that facility, and now Long Feng is probably be scouring the city as we speak. I can't afford careless movement, and if Ty Lee's wound isn't serious, then she can stay here and recover."

There was another pause, and Azula could tell Mai wasn't too happy with Azula's decision. Well, she hadn't expected her to be.

"Without a proper doctor, she won't be able to fight for a while." Ah, of course. Having failed to appeal to Azula's sense of sympathy (something even Azula herself wasn't certain actually existed), she was speaking in practical terms.

"If things go as they should, the next part of the plan shouldn't need us to physically exert ourselves, anyway," and with that, Mai's last argument was shot down. Azula didn't need to turn around to know her friend was glaring daggers at her back.

This was because of my own carelessness and impulsiveness. Azula knew she was the root cause behind Ty Lee's current injury, and she resisted the urge to grit her teeth. In any case, the only thing she could do know was to finish this as quickly and efficiently as possible. For Ty Lee's sake, and for her own.

Meanwhile, a tiny nagging sensation in the back of her mind told her to go see Ty Lee for herself. After a brief moment of hesitation, she turned and brushed past Mai (who was studiously ignoring her) and ducked into the gloom of Ty Lee's bedroom.

Her friend's torso was bandaged, as was her arm. According to Ty Lee she had taken a direct hit to it from one of their stone fists when the Dai Li had caught her off guard, and this was the result. It wasn't broken, which was a small blessing, but it was the single most serious injury any of them had received throughout the entirety of their travels (unless one counted Uncle's lightning-inflicted burns, and Azula refused to acknowledge him as actually being part of their group).

"How are you?" she questioned, and at the sound of her voice, Ty Lee squirmed under the covers, turning her head away from her.

"I asked you a question, Ty Lee," Azula let enough of an edge enter her voice to make her friend react, and after a long moment Ty Lee shifted to face her, her face a mask of despondency.

"I'm okay, Azula," she said softly. "Don't worry about me."

"If you're fine, you certainly don't look the part," giving her bangs a quick tug, Azula leaned over to take a closer look at the arm.

"Hm, it's worse than I expected, actually," Azula's eyes narrowed. "Don't strain yourself for at least three days, you understand?"

Ty Lee nodded slightly, and Azula sat back on a chair, a brief feeling of discomfort coming over her. She simply wasn't used to dealing with people in a position like this, and in the end it was nothing more than a brief sense of obligation that had led Azula into this room in the first place.

She was on the verge of standing and leaving Ty Lee to her rest when she heard her friend's voice again.

"Azula, I'm sorry," it was barely more than a whisper. The princess narrowed her golden eyes.

"Sorry? About what?" She'd said the same thing back in Lake Laogai, Azula recalled, but there hadn't been much time to pay attention.

"About…" her friend shifted uneasily, unable to hide the small wince of pain as she did. "About everything, I guess. How I'm so useless, how-"

"Ty Lee," Azula put a hand to her head, certain she could feel a headache coming on. "Don't be ridiculous. You're most certainly not useless."

"But I-"

"I chose you to come with me on this mission because I thought your abilities would be of great help to me," she stared directly at Ty Lee with an unflinching gaze. "Are you saying that I was mistaken?"

"N-no, of course not, but-"

Silently, Azula considered whether to let the matter drop right then and there. Not only was this venturing into territory Azula was uncomfortable with (although she would never admit it to anyone other than herself), she still had more plans to think through and refine.

On the other hand, it was better that if Ty Lee had any grudges or discontentment she let it out now instead of letting it fester inside. Azula suppressed the urge to sigh. Ty Lee definitely took a lot more maintenance than Mai did, even if she was more openly loyal to Azula. And so, Azula folded her arms and leaned back in her chair.

"But what? Do go on, Ty Lee, I'm curious."

"But… but I haven't been able to help you capture the Avatar yet," Ty Lee continued speaking while steadfastly refusing to look at Azula. "You know why I came with you on this journey, Azula?"

"Because I asked you to?" she responded archly.

"No. Well, yes, I mean, you came up to me and everything," Ty Lee chuckled, and her laugh was sad. "But really, I wanted to…" she paused. "I wanted to make up for what I did to you."

"What you did to-" Azula shook her head. "Ty Lee, that's in the past now. I don't care about something like that."

Ty Lee's turned to look at her, and this time there was a look in her eyes that even Azula found difficult to identify. "I thought you were supposed to be a good liar," her voice was soft.

And Azula found that she had nothing to say in reply.

(X)

"Arrested," Azula leaned back in her chair, a hard gaze on her face. "Are you certain?"

Mai nodded. "There's no official word, of course – it would introduce far more complications to the defence of Ba Sing Se that they really can't afford right now, but at the same time, this means that there's officially no change to the Dai Li and there's a general loss of direction amongst them."

The princess blew out a long breath. "Well, that's something I'll have to thank the Avatar for the next I meet him, then," she muttered to herself.

More importantly, though, what about Zuko? Azula's feature rearranged itself into a frown. Like it or not, I needed Long Feng to lead me to him.

"Anyway," Mai continued. "Now that Long Feng's out of power-"

"No."

"What?"

"I know Long Feng's type," Azula gazed out past her at a Dai Li agent maintaining a meaningless patrol down the street. "If he's at all competent, he'll have ensured the loyalty of his men to him even if he's arrested or discredited in public. Make no mistake, Mai. Right now, the head of the Dai Li is still Long Feng."

"You're sure?" Mai's face betrayed her scepticism.

Azula smiled thinly. "Tell me, Mai, if some rogue group decided to overthrow my father tomorrow and somehow succeeded, how many people do you think would just drop all loyalty to him?"

"…" Mai nodded. "All right, in that case, what then?"

"In that case, the Avatar would probably have dismissed Long Feng and the Dai Li as an active threat," Azula tugged at one her bangs. "We can use that. But first, I'm going to need to arrange a meeting with Long Feng."

Preferably with the Avatar and his group nowhere near the place.

(X)

"Jin?" at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder, Jin shifted to look behind her.

"Eeroh? Um, ah – I still have another ten minutes left in my break, don't I?"

"Yes, you do," the portly old man smiled gently at her before settling himself onto the seat next to hers. "And as a matter of fact, I've just decided to take a break myself, and help myself to a cup of tea," as he spoke, he handed a steaming cup to Jin, who accepted with a grateful smile.

The next several seconds were spent in silence, the two of them simply sipping and enjoying their brews. Then, after letting out a sigh, Eeroh spoke again.

"I just wanted to make sure that everything was all right. These past few days, you've have a distracted air about," he paused. "I am paying you enough to support your mother, aren't I? Do you need me to increase your wages?"

"Of course not, Eeroh, don't be silly!" Jin shook her head. "I'm getting more money than I've ever had in my life! It's just…" she paused, and glanced down into her brew. "It's a little silly, actually."

"If you truly believed it was silly, you would have stopped worrying about it by now," Eeroh remarked. "If it is serious enough to have put a frown on your face for the past three days, then it is serious enough for you to share it with someone."

Jin nodded once. "Well, it's like this. I had – have – some friends in the Outer Ring, and, well, they agreed to come visit me in this tea shop as soon as possible. I even got them special passes and everything. But… well, I haven't seen any of them since we set up shop here. I'm a little worried about how they're doing, to be honest."

"Mm," Eeroh said contemplatively. "These friends you speak of, they wouldn't happen to be the ones who visited the old tea shop the other day, would it? Those two rough-looking lads."

"Yes, those two," Jin smiled and nodded at the memory. "To be honest, it was the first time I'd met the two of them, but… well, we really got along."

"You do have a talent for that, Jin," Eeroh's laugh was warm. "Well, while I too wonder what those boys are up to, we still have a job to do, and a tea shop to run. So, let's do our best at that, shall we?"

"You got it, Eeroh!" Jin laughed and stood to return to work, although not before, Iroh noted, giving quick glance to the doorway of the teashop.

And the day wore on.

(X)

"What are you doing here?" In the darkness, Long Feng's glare was that of a snake.

Azula received the glare, and replied with a smile of poison. "Well, I happened to run into one of your stray agents running around, and I managed to convince him to let me hold an audience with you after I told him my name. Your schedule is not too packed, I hope, your Excellency?"

"Enough games, princess," Long Feng snapped, the title sounding like a pejorative as it left his mouth. "I know what you want."

"Do you," a single eyebrow was raised. "I can only assume that after your little facility under the lake was compromised, you were forced to move the various valuable prisoners to another secure location. Might I have an idea as to whether the male I inquired about is still within your possession?"

Silence for a long moment.

"Come, come, Long Feng. No need for reticence. In case you haven't realized, I'm the one holding more power between the two of us right now. I'm the one who can move to give you back everything you've lost."

"More power?" it hadn't seemed possible, but Long Feng's expression grew even darker. "You are a single girl, princess. Do not be so foolish as to presume that you pampered upbringing will carry you far in Ba Sing Se. I still command the Dai Li, and at a word I can offer your death."

So easily revealing his cards… he's more flustered than I'd thought. Azula mused silently. I suppose this must be the first time in a long while that he's experienced such a loss of control.

This would call for a slightly different mode of negotiation, then.

"You're right, as you say, you still command the Dai Li, if in secret," Azula paused. "But it wasn't so long ago that you commanded far more, was it not? All of Ba Sing Se was at your disposal, the king's ear was yours… No matter how one looks at it, the heights from which you have fallen are lofty indeed."

There was a pause. No, not a pause. More like a stony silence.

"Where are you going with this?" Long Feng finally spoke up.

"Actually, I was hoping to renegotiate that deal we had." Azula spoke smoothly. "There are still things you can give me that would help me further my own goals. And of course, there is much I can offer you as well."

Another silence. Azula could almost see the gears whirring in Long Feng's head as he tried to suss out what it was that Azula wanted from him. She kept her own face impassive. Behind her, the Dai Li agent shifted slightly. She ignored him – she was after bigger fish right now.

Finally, "Well, what is it?"

"I want temporary command of the Dai Li," Azula said simply. Before Long Feng could say anything further she held up a hand. "And before you start your indignant rage, you might as well know that as far as I'm concerned they're a means to an end. I want the Avatar. Your Dai Li will help me get them.

"Now," she continued smoothly. "You're wondering what you'll get out of this, aren't you? It's simple. Since the Avatar is currently in cahoots with the Earth King, taking down the Avatar will also mean getting rid of the Earth King. And with him and the Avatar gone, you'll have your position and power secured again."

The plan was a good one, Azula reflected. In fact, the single biggest danger was that it looked too good to Long Feng, whose suspicions were no doubt easily roused. He was a cornered beast right now, and he would no doubt fight ferociously against any perceived encroachments on his power.

Still… the bait she offered was tempting indeed.

"You surprise me, princess," Long Feng's voice was smooth and silky once more, dripping with undertones of menace. "After assaulting a Dai Li base you now wish to ally yourself with them. Also, nowhere in that deal did you mention that youth you originally wanted returned – the one I presume is your brother?"

Oh, so that's how he wants to play it. Azula tugged at one of her bangs. "I should have thought it went without saying. Command of the Dai Li would mean gaining access to their secrets and prisons, would it not?"

"No," for the first time since the conversation had started, Long Feng, stood. "You don't need those records in order to carry out your little plan. You'll be able to order my men to move as you see fit, but none of the state secrets of Ba Sing Se will be revealed to you."

Azula folded her arms. "I still want him back, Long Feng. Unharmed and unspoiled. Remember that."

"We still have the terms of the original deal, do we not?" Long Feng waved a dismissive arm. "If you want that boy so badly, deliver me the Dragon of the West like you said you would."

A thin smile spread across her features. "Then, we are in agreement."

"It would appear so."

As Azula turned to depart the gloomy prison, her smile changed into a frown. Well, I've got the deal down.

All I need to do from here is command a group of suspicious Earthbender elites in order to overthrow the King of Ba Sing Se and his military command structure, while at the same time securing the Avatar.

This shouldn't take too long.

(X)

"Feeling better?"

At the question, Ty Lee nodded, giving an experimental flex of her wounded arm. "About as good as can be expected," she replied honestly.

"Good," Mai nodded once. "Wouldn't want to show any weaknesses in front of our new agents, would we?"

"I'm still not sure about working with them," Ty Lee muttered. "I mean, they're creepy, somehow." She could catch the tightening of Mai's features out of the corner of her eye. She wasn't any happier with having to work with the people who had arrested Zuko, but it appeared that she still trusted Azula enough to follow her lead for now.

As the neared the entrance of the hall where Azula was introducing herself, her voice slowly faded into clarity.

"… and I know what some of you are thinking. You're thinking that you've just been exposed in front of the entire court of Ba Sing Se, and so it's time to lie low. Don't rock the boat. Don't do anything to rouse the Earth King's ire. Leave well enough alone. Is that what you think?" Rounding the last corner, Ty Lee could see Azula standing in front of the Dai Li agents of Ba Sing Se, hands clasped behind her back as she drew her gaze slowly across the entirety of the assembled men. "If that is indeed what you are thinking, then you are fools. The Earth King may be a spineless, cloistered weakling, but even he will not forget that you as an organization have been working to deceive him from the moment he ascended the throne. The way things are right now, you will never regain the trust of the Earth King, and you will never enjoy the prestige and power you once had. Were it not for the Avatar's actions throwing all the schedules into disarray, they would already have begun moving to limit your powers and your duties."

There was a pause, and Ty Lee could feel the murmurs rising with the men assembled, but they were too well-disciplined to chatter amongst themselves while still at attention.

"Gentlemen," she smiled. It was not a pleasant smile. "The time to act is now. The palace is still in disarray. They are in the midst of preparing a new direction for the command structure of the city since they've realized they can no longer rely on the old one. They are incredibly vulnerable at precisely the moment they believe themselves at their strongest for overcoming a threat. And in this we have our chance." she paused once more, letting her gaze sweep over the crowd once more. "I ask you this – are you with me?"

A single rumble of agreement came from the men standing before her, and her smile widened.

"Good. Now, your superiors have already received their briefing for the duties I expect you to discharge," a brief pause. "Jade Squad One, we have things to discuss. The rest of you, dismissed to go make preparations."

"Good speech, Azula. Inspiring." Ty Lee laughed as the princess stepped towards the both of them.

"I should hope so," was Azula's only reply. "In any case, that's one more task out of the way. Now I need-"

"You called, your excellence?" A heavyset man, flanked by four similar agents, came up behind her. Azula turned and nodded once.

"Yes. I need every available piece of information that you have on the Avatar. His living quarters, his habits, and if possible, his current whereabouts."

"I shall see to it that is delivered with all haste," the man said as he bowed deeply.

"Good," Azula turned away, the matter already forgotten. "And now, we have other matters to settle."

"Hm? We do?" Keeping step with Azula as she walked, Ty Lee raised an eyebrow as she posed her question.

"Yes. Some unfinished business with old friends."

(X)

"So where the heck where you the past couple of days?"

Facing down an annoyed Jet, Azula resisted the urge to set him on fire then and there. Aside from the fact that he was not a pleasant conversationalist at the best of times, what she had intended to be a quick conversation to get Jet steered on the correct path for the next phase of her plan was dragging itself out into a long, unpleasant affair.

"I had an unfortunate run-in with the Dai Li," Azula said by way of response. "My friend ended up the worse for it, and we had to lay low for the next few days while she recovered." She turned to indicate Ty Lee, whose bandaged arm was still clearly visible. "I don't suppose you just lazed about when I couldn't contact you?"

"No. And I wasn't nearly as reckless as you," came the sharp retort. "The Dai Li have been in a real mess the past couple of days. Apparently something happened out on the wall that shook them badly. There's been a lot less Dai Li patrols over the last two days – like they don't have the willpower to keep up enforcing the city or something."

Azula nodded and acted like this was new information to her. "So they've been destabilized," she mused. "This might be the perfect time to act. The lake-"

"The lake's been wrecked." Smellerbee cut in with a shake of her head. "I went with a bunch of curious people to see for myself. Whatever was under the water isn't there anymore."

"But what about the prisoner?" Mai spoke up for the first time.

"Yes, what about my brother?" Azula muttered as she gazed off into the distance.

"If they thought he was just a random Fire Nation guy, they might not have judged him valuable enough to be worth moving," Jet said slowly.

Well, fortunately for me Long Feng dug deep enough to uncover some secrets about us. Azula thought. Out loud, she said, "My brother is alive. And I'm going to find him."

"All right," Jet nodded. "How?"

A pause. She glanced over to Jet. "I have an idea. But you're going to have to trust me."

"Well, you've certainly given me plenty of reasons to have every faith in your noble intentions." Jet's voice was sardonic. Nevertheless he folded his arms and leaned back against the wall. "I'm listening."

"All right, then. This is what we'll do."

(X)

"All right, my Lady," the Dai Li agent showed her to the desk with several stacks of paper neatly arranged on it. "This is the information we've managed to uncover on the Avatar, the Five Generals, and the Earth King. Unfortunately, the most recent documents were still on Long Feng's desk to be confiscated when he was arrested, however we can still recall most of the important points concerning those documents."

"A pity, but we'll make do," Azula said as she settled herself down on the chair. There was a slight pause on her part, and then she dug up a scroll from one the pockets of her robes. "Have this taken to the Jasmine Dragon in the Inner Ring and hand it to the store owner there. This is to be done immediately, and he is not to find out that this came from me."

"Understood," as one of the Dai Li bowed and departed, scroll in hand, another stepped up.

"The Avatar has currently left the city, Princess," he spoke softly. "Our latest report pegs him as heading for Chameleon Bay to rendezvous with a group of Southern Warrior Tribe warriors."

"Indeed," Azula's voice was noncommittal. "I'd hoped I could sweep him and his companions up into our net as well, but if they've left for now-"

"Ah, my apologies Princess, but you appear to have misunderstood slightly. The Avatar has left, but two of his companions are still within the city. The only one that went with him was the male Water Tribe member. The earthbender and waterbender girls are still within Ba Sing Se, and the Waterbender is in fact liaising with the Five Generals right niw."

"Is that so?" a predatory look in Azula's eyes. "So much the better. The perfect bait with which to snare the Avatar when he returns." Although I really have to wonder what it is that the waterbender peasant would know so much about that she would appear at a meeting with the five generals. She tugged at her bangs. I suppose I'll find out when I have them at my mercy.

"Very well," she said out loud. "Continue on with your plans, and leave me to do my duty here.

"My Lady," the Dai Li agent bowed once, and retreated from the room.

Left alone, Azula grabbed the nearest set of documents and quickly began rifling through them. What she was looking for… well, more accurately, what she was looking for to not be in there would be of vital importance in the near future.

(X)

"Her plan's crazy," and despite his words, Jet couldn't help the note of admiration creep into his voice. "Crazy enough to work."

"You sure about this, Jet?" at his side, Smellerbee was frowning deeply. "I mean, working against the Dai Li is one thing; they're a bunch of oppressive bastards, but we're talking the Earth King here. We definitely don't want to get on his wrong side."

"The Earth King," Jet snorted. "What has he done for us people? Hiding behind these walls while the Fire Nation rampages outside? I don't owe anything to him!"

"…" Longshot tipped the brim of his hat.

"No, that's not going to be a problem. I told you, this isn't a combat operation. Just a bit of sneaking around to find information. We're not going to hurt anyone who doesn't have it coming, okay? I've told you all this!"

Sitting unnoticed a table away from Jet's gang, Mai listened in on his argument with his friends while sipping at a cup of tea and remembering the conversation she and Azula had shared the night before.

"You're sure we can trust that Jet character on this?" she'd questioned.

"Long enough for him to accomplish what we need his help for," had been the reply.

"Azula, Jet's made no secret that he hates the Fire Nation and everyone in it. I don't see how you can consider him a reliable ally at all."

"Oh, that's all you see when you look at Jet? A Fire Nation hater?" there had been a smile on Azula's face. "It goes deeper than that, Mai. Deeper than specific targets of his ire. You see, people like Jet? They need a cause. Doesn't really matter what it is, although in our case I suppose we make easy targets. They need something to stand up to, to kick against, something they can be absolutely one hundred percent certain is wrong, and that they are the only ones who can make it right. Even if by some hideous twist of fate the entire Fire Nation collapsed tomorrow, people like Jet won't settle down – they'll find some new crusade of righteousness to go on. Always."

Mai had made no reply.

"And so," Azula continued. "All I needed to do was to give him a cause. Convince him my brother was wrongly imprisoned. Once you're past the initial hump of his prejudice against Fire Nation – made easier by the fact that Zuko apparently saved his life – he's going to pursue this particular set of circumstances with reckless abandon and zeal. All the way to the bitter end."

And as she sat there drinking her tea, Mai couldn't help but note that it appeared Azula had been right after all.

(X)

"All right," Azula nodded with satisfaction as she looked at the chart in front of her. "We've more or less decided on the best places to assault the generals come tomorrow. Now we need to see to overthrowing the Earth King directly."

"Oh," from her hand-standing position, Ty Lee looked up at Azula. "Did you have any plans for that in mind?"

"As a matter of fact-"

"My Lady," the Dai Li agent he had sent to the Jasmine Dragon appeared before her again, dropping to one knee. "I have fulfilled your request."

"That's good," Azula never looked up from her scripts. "Stay a moment, if you'd please. I'd like to ask you something."

"Yes, Princess?"

"I've been looking through your records, and I can't find any record of how you intend to deal with Sozin's Comet when it arrives," she looked up to stare him in the eye. "Surely you must have a plan for dealing with that?"

There was a silence in the room. Finally, the Dai Li agent cleared his throat.

"My apologies, but I know nothing of such plans."

"Indeed? That seems odd. After all, Sozin's Comet should give the Fire Nation more than enough raw power to tear through the walls of Ba Sing Se without exerting themselves hard, and it's scheduled to arrive by the end of the coming summer. Surely someone like Long Feng would not be so careless as to ignore such a major threat?"

More silence. Azula hesitated just long enough for the words to sink in and then she shrugged elaborately.

"Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. Back to business, shall we? We have a kingdom to overthrow."

(X)

"Well I must say I'm surprised to see you here."

"…"

"Don't feel like talking? That's fine. Anyway, for the time being, this is what I need you to do. Will there be a problem?"

"…"

"Ha. Thought not. Well, then, sweet dreams."

(X)

After closing time, Iroh was busy wiping the tables clean as he and Jin prepared to close up the shop. A huge grin covered the old man's face.

"Just imagine! An invitation to serve tea to the Earth King himself! What a privilege!"

"Will it really be okay, though?" Jin questioned. "I mean, I don't know much about court niceties and all that… I may be able to come to the Inner Ring, but I grew up in the Outer Ring, and that's where I got all my manners from."

"Not need to worry, Jin," Iroh beamed at her. "All those ceremonies I thought you on how to properly prepare tea will serve us just fine in the palace tomorrow," there was a brief chuckle. "My only worry is that the tea I brew won't be to his liking!"

"Don't be silly, Eeroh!" Jin laughed at him. "Your tea's the most popular in town. The fact that this place is jam-packed every single day is more than proof of that."

"Yes, I suppose so – hm?" There was a sharp rap on the doorway, and Iroh looked up into the face of the last person he'd have expected to visit his tea shop.

"Uncle," Azula began without preamble aside from a quick glance at the silent Jin. "My brother's in trouble, and I need your help."

Chapter End

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