Author's Note: This is the REAL Chapter Fourteen. I posted a totally different chapter by mistake. Sorry!

Avatar: The Last Airbender

Water.

Earth.

Fire.

Air.

It has been six years since the end of the Great War. Since Aang defeated Fire Lord Ozai.

The citizens are working hard to reconstruct their battered countries, and there has been great success so far. Fire Lord Zuko had reclaimed his nation's honor; Toph is now a great earthbending trainer; Sokka is chief of the Southern Water Tribe, with Suki at his side; Aang had started up a group called The United People's Society.

Great progress had been made in reuniting the Four Nations. Much is being done to maintain order and peace. But my friends and I know that where there is light, there is shadow.

No matter how far we've come, there is always more work to be done.

Chapter Fourteen: Alone

The little girl giggled like crazy as her mother tickled her belly and sides and made funny noises. "Mama, stop!" the girl yelled between chuckles.

"I am not Mama!" Mai growled playfully. "I am the Tickle Beast!"

The little girl continued to laugh up a storm. Finally, Mai sat upright and stared straight ahead. When her daughter stopped giggling and looked up at her mother, Mai suddenly leaned over and swept the girl into her arms. Mother and daughter shared a few more laughs, and finally both heaved a sigh.

Nearly a year had passed since her last encounter with her ex-husband. The last time Mai had seen Zuko, they were exchanging final farewells in the Southern Water Tribe. As she had stood facing him and saying goodbye, her heart had ripped in two. When she returned to her Fire Nation home without her husband, Mai had fallen into a deep depression. She had lost her true love, and she never thought she could be happy again.

However, as Mai gazed at her daughter, Narya, she realized that she had been wrong. So what if she didn't have her husband? She did have her daughter, and that was enough for her.

"So what do you want to do today, baby?" Mai asked.

"Hmm..." Narya's eyes sparkled like gold as she thought. "Let's go to the beach!"

Her mother chuckled and smiled. "Now that sounds like a good idea," she replied.

Suddenly a knock sounded at the door. Mai rose from the sofa and opened the door.

"Mom?" she said. "What do you need?"

Her mother stepped to the side to reveal the strangers that stood behind her. "Mai, these young men would like to have a word with you."

The first man nodded. "Yes. We're sorry to intrude, ma'am, but there are some important matters that we must discuss with you."

Mai's eyes hovered over the officials. "Yes, well, um—" She spared a sideways glance at her daughter, who was still seated on the couch. "Could we discuss these matters elsewhere?"

The first man, who had dark skin and was incredibly tall, followed her gaze. He nodded as he looked back to Mai.

The young woman turned to her mother. "Mom, could you watch Narya for a few minutes?"

With a grin, she nodded. "Certainly, Mai."

"Stay here, Narya," Mai called to her daughter. "I'll be right back, okay?"

The little girl nodded her reply and gave a thumbs-up signal. Mai smiled, and continued to follow the officials out the door.

After they walked a few feet, the other warriors fell back as Mai led them through the palace. She came to a stop before a large door that was nestled at the end of a long, narrow hallway. The woman reached into a pocket of her Fire Nation robes and withdrew a silver key. She stuck the key into the lock, and opened the large door. Mai held the door open as she gestured for the three men to get settled into the meeting room.

"All right," she said as she closed the door behind her and proceeded to an empty chair. "What's going on? What do you need to talk to me about?"

The dark-skinned warrior spoke first. "This is regarding the Fire Lord's seat."

Mai studied him. "Go on."

His green eyes glimmered wearily. "It has been dormant for too long. This nation needs a leader!"

Mai nodded. "And what exactly are you suggesting?"

"It's time someone would take the Fire Lord's throne," another warrior spoke. "Someone from the Royal Family."

Mai's eyes widened with shock. "You don't mean Narya? But she's only a child!"

The warrior nodded in agreement. "Yes, she's far too young to take the throne. But she wasn't the person we had in mind."

Then the green-eyed warrior picked up where the other left off. "Fire Lord Zuko's father and sister are incapacitated, and his mother's whereabouts are unknown. There is only one member of the Royal Family that is suitable."

Mai's eyes suddenly grew wider with a combination of fear and astonishment. "Oh, you can't possibly be considering—"

"Mai"—the green-eyed warrior leaned forward to stare into her eyes—"you're the only one who can take the throne."

The former Fire Lady started shaking her head. "Oh, no." She rose to her feet and backed away from the meeting table. "No, no. I—I can't possibly..." Mai swept her gaze over the warriors. "No, I can't possibly lead the Fire Nation. I—It's not in my blood. It's not in my heart. Now Zuko was a leader. I am not—"

"Mai, this nation needs a leader, and you are the only one suitable." His green eyes hardened with seriousness. "You're the only one who can take the throne."

"No! I can't!" she bellowed with a pleading edge to her voice. "I can't take the Fire Lord's throne!"

"You have to." The warrior's voice remained steady. "You're the only one left in the Royal Family."

Mai gave an awkward chuckle. "No, I am not even a member of the Royal Family anymore. We're divorced—"

"Yes, but you did bear him a child," another warrior persisted. "Under Fire Nation law, that binds you to the Royal Family."

Mai closed her eyes and shook her head. She was suddenly getting very dizzy, and her stomach felt cold with a combination of anger and several unknown emotions. She heaved a shaky sigh, and opened her eyes to the hardened warriors' faces. "No!" Mai roared, having had enough. "The answer is no! Now get out of my palace! I don't want to see any of you near me or my child ever again."

The warriors stared at her, their round eyes filled with dismay and disappointment. Nevertheless, they wordlessly rose to their feet and exited the meeting room. Once the three men were completely out of sight and Mai could no longer hear their heavy footsteps echoing down the hall, she too left the room and locked the door behind her.

As she rapidly made her way through the corridors, she could feel a single tear making its presence known. Mai sniffled, and realized that, for the first time in several months, she missed her husband. More tears slid down her cheeks as she remembered the wonderful times she had shared with Zuko: his coronation, the day they got married, the birth of their daughter...

Mai wondered where she had gone wrong. How could she have let him slip through her fingers after six years of marriage? Her heart clenched as she remembered that it wasn't about where she had gone wrong. She gritted her teeth at the bitter memories that came flooding back. Zuko had been cheating on Mai for a year prior to their divorce. It was bad enough that there was another woman in his life, but to make matters much, much worse, the other woman was that lowly Water Tribe peasant that Mai had once called "friend".

They were never the best of friends, but the two young women had no longer been bitter enemies, separated by the War. Katara and Mai, along with the rest of Team Avatar, had worked on rebuilding the nations and maintaining peace throughout the world. At the time, Katara and Aang had been together for two years; it never crossed Mai's mind that she would ever have to worry about the waterbender and her husband.

"Mommy?" she said as her mother burst through the door. "What's wrong?"

Mai just stared at her daughter as she tried to steady herself. She shuffled through her thoughts in search of an answer. Mai heaved a trembling sigh. She wasn't about to lie to her daughter. Mai bit her lip and feigned a smile as she approached the sofa where her daughter sat. "Oh, I was just...thinking about your father."

"You miss Daddy too?" Narya's golden eyes glimmered with sorrow.

Mai attempted another smile, but failed. "Yeah." She sniffled. "I do." She sat down beside her daughter.

"Don't worry, Mom," Narya said. "Daddy's gonna come back soon."

Her eyes burned with tears. She suddenly wished she'd have stuck with a lie. "I hope so," Mai murmured. She gave another sigh, and pulled her daughter into her arms. This was a comfort tactic, but not for Narya—for Mai. As she again grieved for her husband, she needed someone to hold near, to imagine that the breath she heard and the warmth she felt belonged to Zuko. Clutching her daughter tightly, Mai desperately longed for time to be turned back, for the last year to be completely erased. She wanted her old life back. She wanted Katara to stay with Aang. Most of all, she wanted to be back in her husband's arms.

•••

Mai was shaking her head. "As much as I want to...as much as I try to convince myself that I don't need Zuko..." She closed her eyes and bowed her head. "...it's just not the same."

"I understand," said Keiko, nodding. "It's never the same without the man you love." She tore her gaze from Mai and stared into space. She gritted her teeth as the painful memories continued to haunt her. Images of her fiancé flashed in her mind—Rhan's gaunt, pale face as he turned to tell Keiko how much he loved her...his frail hand slipped in hers as he gave his final goodbye...his parched lips as he kissed her for the last time...his oddly tranquil expression as the life spilled out of his body. Keiko quickly shut her eyes in an attempt to put an end to her vision. "I'm sorry, Rhan," she whispered as her heart tore in two.

"What'd you say?"

Keiko stared into the amber eyes of her best friend as her mind returned from its trip to the past. Keiko shook her head. "Nothing," she replied, wiping at her eyes.

"What should I do?" Mai continued. "No matter what, I can't stop thinking about him."

Keiko grunted. "Sounds like you're still in love with him. After all that's happened..."

"Of course I'm still in love with him!" Mai let out a strange sound—something between a laugh and a sob. "He was the love of my life. He always will be."

Keiko shrugged. "Well, why don't you just get him back?"

Mai shook her head. "It's not that simple, Keiko. He—he has a family now."

Again, the woman shrugged. "So? The cheating bastard has another family. He belonged to you first."

"No. I met his family, and his children. Zuko...he seemed so happy. I can't tear him away from that."

Keiko rolled her eyes and frowned. "Mai, he's putting you through hell! If getting him back will make everything better—"

"It won't make everything better." Mai shook her head. "Sure, I would have him again, but his children won't."

Keiko raised her eyebrows. "Whoa, wait a minute. Children?"

"Yeah." She let out a brief sigh. "His girlfriend had twins."

"Whoa," Keiko breathed.

"Yeah." Mai looked away. "I couldn't live with myself if I took him away from that."

Keiko nodded, studying her friend. She had known Mai for a few years. They had met while attending a convention for young mothers. She was two years older than Mai, but her little boy was right about Narya's age. The little boy and girl became fast friends, and so did Mai and Keiko. Over the years, they had become quite close. Keiko knew the Fire Lady could have quite the temper and vengeful attitude, so the woman's words surprised Keiko greatly.

"So do you forgive him?" she asked carefully.

Mai held her gaze for several moments. Finally she answered, "No. I can never forgive him for cheating on me. It's something that will stick with me for the rest of my life. But that doesn't mean I hate him. I still love him, and deep inside, I—I guess I'm still hoping that he'll return."

Keiko nodded. She knew the feeling well; she had been through something similar to this herself. She knew that Zuko would never return, but she wasn't about to tell her friend this.

"He's never coming back, is he?" Mai murmured shakily, as if she read Keiko's thoughts.

"Honey..." Keiko found herself at a loss for words. What was she to tell her best friend? That there's no chance of her ex-husband leaving his new family to reunite with her? Or was she to lie and tell Mai that it was a sure thing? After many silent moments, Keiko settled for: "It's never foolish to cling on to a sliver of hope, no matter how small."

"I take that as a 'no'," Mai murmured without meeting her eyes.

Keiko sighed, growing a little agitated. "I'm sorry, honey, but to tell you the truth, I just don't think it's likely that Zuko would suddenly leave his other family to return to you. You said it yourself: they need him."

Mai closed her eyes and buried her face in her hands. Several moments passed, the silence broken only by Mai's sobbing breaths.

Keiko reached across the table to rub the woman's arm comfortingly. "Mai, don't worry. I'm sure you'll find someone else."

The Fire Lady moved her hands from her face to reveal her smudged makeup and bright red eyes. "I don't want someone else. I want Zuko."

•••

Laughter filled the air as Narya raced to catch the ball before it could pass her. She caught up behind it and kicked it as hard as she could. As the hard leather ball rolled through the grass, the boy made a dive for it, but it was too late.

"GOAL!" Narya bellowed as the ball soared past his makeshift post. "I'm the best player in the world!"

"You just got lucky that time," Ayoko called from across the field. He smirked as he drew closer to Narya. "But now you're going down!"

"Yeah, right! In your dreams, Ayo." She nodded toward the ball that rested in the nook of his arm. "Come on, let's go again. I'll give you the first kick."

Ayoko nodded, and tossed the ball to Narya. Narya waited until the boy got into his position. Mustering up all her strength, she sent the ball hurtling towards him. His eyes fixed on his target, Ayo lunged forward and brought his foot to the ball, sending it back to Narya. She swerved to her right just in time to—

"Narya!"

The little girl abruptly stopped in her tracks and glanced around in search of her caller. Her eyes fell on the woman standing across the field, waving her arms.

"It's time to go, Narya!" her mother called.

Narya heaved a frustrated sigh, and turned around to a grinning Ayoko. She shot him a puzzled look. Brown eyes gleaming, Ayo pointed to the ball that had rolled past Narya's post.

Narya rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Fine. You won. I gotta go," she said, jutting a thumb in her mother's direction.

"When will you be back?" Ayo asked, his victorious smile fading.

Narya shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe tomorrow."

"Okay!" Ayo's grin returned.

Narya gave him a quick hug goodbye, and took off toward her mother, Mai.

"See you tomorrow!" Ayo called from behind.

The girl waved farewell, and rejoined her mother under the pavilion.

As she neared Mai, she saw that the woman's eyes were again tinged with red.

"Mom?" Narya began nervously. "Is something wrong?"

Her mother shook her head. "No, dear, nothing's wrong. Let's just go home."

Narya resisted the urge to sigh. She was too young to understand many things in life, but to this little girl, one thing was obvious: her mother was hiding something. Narya hated seeing her mother in pain, and lately it seemed like she's been in a lot of it. She longed for her mother to reveal the source of her tears, but Narya knew that this would never happen.

"Mom..." Narya began as the two relaxed onto their sofa back at the palace. "What's bothering you?"

Mai fixed her eyes on her daughter and studied her for many silent moments. "Nothing's bothering me," she replied with hesitation. "I'm fine."

Narya wasn't fooled. "You miss Daddy, don't you?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Mai said, her words sliding out like ice.

"I miss him, too," said the little girl, ignoring her mother's words. Slowly turning toward Mai, she asked, "When's he coming back?"

Mai gave a short sigh and closed her eyes. Her bottom lip trembled with repressed anger as she responded, "He's not coming back."

Narya's golden eyes grew wide with shock, and her heart felt like it froze over. "Wh—what do you mean?" the little girl squeaked.

Mai's eyes glinted with a certain coldness that made the girl want to run for her life. "Narya, Daddy's not coming back!" she shouted. "He's never coming back! He's got another life and another family; he doesn't want us anymore."

Narya stared at her mother, both confused and horrified. Her father was never coming back to them? Her heart felt like it shattered to pieces. Tears quickly filling her eyes, Narya sprang to her feet and scampered off.

Narya exploded through the doors to her bedroom and threw herself on the bed. Her little body shook as she bawled into her pillow. Daddy doesn't want me. She repeated this miserable thought over and over again. She sniffled, and lifted her head from the pillow. Narya scanned her room, sweeping her gaze over her nightstand, her desk, her miniature couch, and her toy box. Tears continued to flow as she played with an idea in her mind. The girl climbed off the bed and made her way to her toy box. She dug around for a few seconds, and finally her hand found the plush paw. Narya pulled out her stuffed teddy bear, the same one her father had given her for her third birthday. Narya hugged it tightly, resisting the urge to bawl some more. Then another idea struck her, and she glanced at the door, which had been left open a crack. Sparing another glance to her teddy bear, Narya gradually came to her decision. If Daddy and Mom don't want me, then I'll find someone who does.

End of Chapter Fourteen.