Azula said little the next few days, even though her uncle had tried to get her to open up. She served customers in a daze, her mind on other, less pleasant, things. She was mad at herself for allowing someone to get that close to her heart. He’d just been a stupid boy, and they’d shared a single kiss. Why did his rejection bother her so much?

  Perhaps love had to be earned. She watched her uncle, happy as could be, pouring tea into customers’ cups. She would do something nice for him, she resolved, but what? She considered Pao, the owner. He was busy sweeping the floor. Though Pao was a good man and had treated them well, her uncle deserved to have his own establishment. She would find a way for Iroh to set up his own shop in the wealthy district of the city. Yes, showing love was the answer.

  “Excuse me, miss,” a man sitting at a table near her said, “I could use a refill.”

  She scowled at him, for he was disrupting her scheming. “Get your own.”

  The man flinched and backed away. Evidently, he’d heard of her battle with Jet. Everyone in the whole city had, it seemed.

  She rolled her eyes at him and walked away, her mind full of ideas and potentialities. What was the name of that rich man who always came to their shop? Quon? That was it. He had the look of a tea enthusiast, and he’d had plenty of money to burn. She’d seen him reach into a bag full of gold coin.

  She would need to spy on him, however. One should always know her target: strengths and weaknesses, dreams and desires. She’d shadow him the next time he came in.

  ***

  The more she dug into Quon's background, the more curious she became. Though he was a member of the minor nobility (a distant relation of King Kuei, even) and he lived in the upper ring, he was a man with interests in every part of the city. Not all of those interests were legitimate, either. It would make approaching him tricky.

  She crept along the roofs in the upper level of the city. Up here, everything was simply…bigger. The houses were spacious, with ample room for families to enjoy each other’s company. Even so, the greatest of these houses was dwarfed by her family’s palace. Nothing could rival that, except perhaps the Earth King’s residence itself.

  What a far cry from these were her current lodgings! She and her uncle were crammed like sardines in their tiny apartment. Her uncle slept on a cot in the living area while she slept in the only bedroom. Great walls and gates protected them, ensuring no undesirables made it up to this level.

  Usually. She grinned behind her Red Spirit mask. Tonight, she'd breached the walls of the inner city, the first Fire Nation soldier to do so in the history of the One Hundred Year War. Her mission wasn’t to conquer anything, however, but to do reconnaissance and secure funding for her uncle or die trying. Not that she planned on her demise any time soon.

  Her target made his abode close to the great palace. She slipped over his estate’s walls and climbed a large tree. Once again, she was grateful for the training she received at the Royal Fire Nation School for Girls. Sneaking into this house was easy. She'd found at least three infiltration points.

  She searched the windows of the house, looking for any sign of Quon. She spotted him on the farthest balcony to her right, and he was talking to someone. She slipped down the tree and sneaked toward the lattice next to the balcony.

  She hid under the balcony and listened to the conversation.

  “The Dai Li do not take kindly to power plays, Quon,” a low man’s voice said.

  She could hear the smile in Quon’s voice. “Long Feng needn’t worry about me. That is, unless his grip is slipping.”

  "You're speaking of the raids in the western provinces? The work of the Red Spirit?"

  She could almost hear the smile in Quon's voice. "They never caught the devil. It makes the Grand Secretariat look weak, inviting challenge."

  “Nothing is as deadly as a cornered spider rat," the other man said. "You’re playing a dangerous game."

  “Those are the only kind worth playing. That is, if you want to succeed in life,” Quon said. "The question is, are you with me?"

  The other man sighed. “You know I’m with you.”

  “That’s good to hear. I will speak to you further at another time.”

  The other man took that as his cue to leave and bid Quon goodbye. Quon's footsteps walk away from the balcony. She climbed up the lattice, thankful for the conversation she'd just heard. She was debating whether or not to keep her mask on.

  Her feet softly touched the balcony, and she sneaked into the room. A small fire burned in the fireplace, for a slight chill nipped the air. Quon sat in a soft chair, facing the fire and turned slightly away from her. His hands steepled.

  “I wondered when Long Feng would send an assassin,” he said. He didn't turn his head to look at her. He was a bald man with a dark, chinstrap beard and a sharp glint in his eye. "It's clever to send you in the attire of the Red Spirit."

  “I don't work for Long Feng,” Azula said. She left the bladed spear on her back. It wouldn’t do to scare Quon.

  “Really?” Quon said. “Good. Then why are you here?”

  She hesitated. “I would like your help.”

  Quon finally looked at her and raised his eyebrows. He smiled calmly. “Come, let us speak face to face.” He waved at a chair across from him.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Azula walked over to it, but remained standing. Should anything go amiss, she would need to fight her way out. She was standing in a wolf's den. As a deterrent, she tried to radiate confident danger.

  Quon was unfazed. "Your voice sounds familiar." He tapped his lips. "You're the tea maker's niece!"

  Azula raised her eyebrows. The man was very intelligent, not someone to take lightly. She pulled off her mask.

  Quon tilted his head backward slightly. "Are you the real Red Spirit?"

  "Does it matter?" Azula answered.

  "I suppose not," he said. "Only the symbol matters, really."

  She nodded.

  “You made it past my security.” He rubbed his beard. "That takes some doing."

  "It was easy enough."

  "The question remains, why are you here?"

  Azula breathed in deeply before responding. “My uncle in the lower level—he wants to open his own tea shop.”

  "He does make some wonderful tea." He rubbed his beard. "I might be able to help you with that. But...you'll need to do something for me first."

  This is what she was waiting for. "What?"

  “I have a job for a young lady of your talents. Should you succeed, I’ll happily give your uncle his just desserts.”

  She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not going to kill anyone for you.” She glanced down and saw some men’s feet under the long curtains at the far end of the room. Maybe that’s why Quon wasn’t worried about her. This man was cunning.

  “Nothing so…uncouth…as murder. Have a seat, please, and we'll discuss the details.”

  ***

  In the lower area of the city, Azula waited on a rooftop. Night had fallen. Hiding behind her mask, she kept her eyes on the street below. In just a few minutes, a cart would be rolling down the cobblestone street. Her job was to steal it.

  According to Quon, the man who actually ran the Earth Kingdom, Grand Secretariat Long Feng, stole money from the treasury to pay his secret police more than what was stipulated on paper. It was how he ensured their loyalty. The Red Spirit's act of thievery this night would weaken him, allowing others in the government a chance to vie for power. If she had still been working for the Fire Nation, this would have presented an awfully tempting opportunity…

  She saw the cart as it turned a corner. It was flanked by two Dai Li agents in nondescript clothing, for Long Feng avoided drawing attention to his illegal operations. Too bad for him. They were most assuredly earthbenders, which would prove difficult for her, and she couldn’t use her firebending without being discovered. It was why she’d asked Cai for something special. It had taken a long time to arrive, but it would prove advantageous tonight. She hoped to disable, not kill. She was so very tired of killing.

  She waited for the cart and its guards to come closer. When they reached the choke point, she threw some darts dipped in shirshu venom. The first darts struck home in the driver of the cart. He immediately slumped over, paralyzed. Before the man had fallen, the first guard had crumpled to the ground as well. The second guard must have seen her, though, for he shifted out of the way just in time. He launched rocks from the cobblestone street at her.

  She quickly rolled out of the way as they smashed into the roof where she’d been standing. Cursing under her breath, she ran down the roof toward the cart. Stone after stone nearly struck her, but she dodged them at the last second. She reached the end of the roof and gave a mighty leap, throwing more darts at the lone guard.

  He raised a stone to block the darts and then shot the stone at her. She batted it away with her bladed spear. Her feet landed on the cart, and she swung the bottom of the spear into the guard’s head. He fell, unconscious. She jumped on top of him and threw a dart into his arm, just in case.

  As she stood over him, she noticed something odd. There were long white hairs on the man’s coat. She grabbed one and studied it. It was the Avatar’s beast. What was the Dai Li doing with Aang’s flying bison? Things had become even more curious.

  Smiling behind her mask, she kicked the driver off his perch on the cart and onto the pavement, and then grabbed the reins of the ostrich horses who were pulling the cart. She rode away, disappearing around a corner.

  ***

  A few blocks down the street, she pulled the cart into an alleyway. Cai sat there on a second cart.

  "Quickly!" she said.

  They swiftly and quietly got to work, transferring the contents of the cart into the smaller, more nondescript cart. It was easily two great chests' worth of gold coin. In only a few minutes, she and Cai had moved it all over. Then, he snapped the reins and departed out the other end of the alley.

  Azula climbed up to the rooftop and stealthily stole her way to a drop-off point where she could change into her normal garb. She blended into the crowds and nonchalantly sauntered home. None would be the wiser.

  ***

  A few days later, once the heat died down, Azula visited Cai. The cabbage merchant had been more than happy to house the ill-gotten gains in his warehouse. His eyes lit up at the sight of so much gold. "It's beautiful."

  Azula shook her head. "I don't mind you taking a holder's fee, but the Red Spirit gives back the money to the people." Her mind drifted to Quon. "Besides, there are other parties who would probably kill you if you took too much."

  "Never get too greedy." He said, his face growing pale. He frowned at the gold. "Do you think that was too easy?"

  She nodded. "The Dai Li have grown soft. They aren't used to threats inside the city. I doubt they'll make the same mistake twice."

  "So, what are you going to do?"

  She pointed to the gold. "Quon will want the lion's share."

  "Do you trust him?"

  Azula snorted.

  "What are you going to do, then?"

  Azula rubbed her chin. As a loose end, Quon would most assuredly try to kill her. It's what she would do if she was him. Yet, she still needed his money and support for Iroh's shop. Her smile tightened.

  ***

  Quon was waiting for her on his balcony. “That was some exquisite work. One could almost believe you were the Red Spirit,” he said. "My sources say the Grand Secretariat is sorely displeased.”

  She left her mask on. “A deal is a deal. The cart is in your stables, minus some holder's fees and a donation to the needy people of this city.”

  "The Red Spirit does have a reputation to uphold," Quon said dryly.

  Azula shook her head. "Cynics like you would never understand."

  He raised an eyebrow. "You presume to know me?"

  Azula said nothing to this.

  “The only matter left is your payment," he said. Quon whistled, and men began moving from behind the curtains.

  She grinned. She’d been expecting a double cross. The whistle hadn't ended before she started throwing darts at the feet of the men. They cried out in surprise and collapsed to the ground.

  Quon raised both eyebrows in surprise and clapped his hands twice before a dart found its way into his shoulder. His arms and legs lost their strength, and he crumpled to the floor. She aimed her bladed spear at him as more men ran into the far end of the room. Some carried swords. A few aimed their bows at her.

  "Lower your weapons!" she said.

  "Do as the young lady asks," Quon said. Even paralyzed, his lips held a knowing smirk. "You realize, I had to try.”

  “Here’s the deal," she said. "You will honor our original agreement. If you renege on this, certain rumors will circulate that it was you who stole the money. If anything bad happens to my uncle or me, same thing. I'm sure Long Feng would be very interested to hear that.”

  He sighed. “Agreed. Do you mind removing your spear from my throat?”

  She lowered it.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  She backed away as Quon's men picked him up and sat him in the chair.

  “Your uncle will get his shop," Quon said. "He does make some excellent tea.”

  “Good.” She warily turned to climb down the lattice. “Remember, he isn’t to know I’m involved.”

  “That’s just the thing I don’t understand,” Quon said. “Why not? I would think you’d want him to know.”

  She paused. “Because he’s a good man, not like us.”