Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender is the creation of Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, and is owned by Nickelodeon.
Author's note: Hey, I'm back (kind of)! I wanted to finish writing this before I posted it, but it just wasn't happening. I'm hoping that posting it will give me more incentive to write ;) Life is busy, so bear with me! I won't be posting as often as I did on my previous stories. At any rate, I hope you enjoy.
"Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh."
Proverbs 3:25
The night was heavy as the young noblewoman paced her spacious room. She could hear the distant booms of fireworks over the city. Tonight, the Fire Nation capital was celebrating. Mai was not, for at the moment, she was furious at the Fire Lord. She knew that most would call her cold and emotionless, but that was a carefully cultivated façade. She certainly felt emotion; however, she buried it so deep inside herself that sometimes even she had to remind herself of it.
Tonight, despite her best efforts, her emotions had come bubbling to the surface. Zuko had pulled her aside to tell her that he was going on a mission to search for his mother. He had already confronted Ozai to ask the whereabouts of his mother. Unsurprisingly, the former tyrant was not exactly forthcoming with an answer. On their short post-war vacation to Ba Sing Se, Zuko had quietly started poking around for any information regarding his mother.
Today, he had received a lead from the governor of a minor town in the Earth Kingdom. A woman matching Ursa's description had apparently been sighted there. Zuko had come bursting into her house in a decidedly un-Fire Lord-like fashion, and informed her that he was going to return to the Earth Kingdom to follow up on the lead.
"Zuko, you just got back from the Earth Kingdom. Are you sure you should be rushing back so soon? Your own country needs you," she stated calmly.
She watched as Zuko's expression of delirious happiness had melted.
"Mai, you don't understand. I have to find my mother. She gave up so much for me, and I-I need to make things right. I need-" he had stopped at the dangerous glint in Mai's eyes.
"You need? What about what everyone else needs?" she retorted in an uncharacteristically loud voice.
His face had degenerated into an angry mask; she had seen some of the "old" Zuko escape in that moment. She expected to see some smoke momentarily.
"Katara understands. She's already agreed to join me," he said, his voice a hard contrast to her yell.
Unexpected hurt coursed through her head in that moment. She had sensed something between Zuko and the waterbender. Zuko had told her it was nothing – they were just close friends who had been through a lot together. But this? He was going to go chasing through the Earth Kingdom on a fool's mission with this girl?
Her eyes narrowed at him, and she pointed a slender finger at the ornate door leading out of her room.
"Get out. It's over, Zuko."
Most of the anger fled from his face, and expressions of sadness, regret, and disappointment quickly flitted across his features.
"Mai, I-" he started.
"Get out, Zuko," she repeated, obviously fingering one of her throwing knives.
The Fire Lord's face became hard once more.
"Goodbye, Mai," he said coldly. With that, he turned and left.
She was pulled from her reverie by shouts from the streets. The grand celebration was being thrown to mark the signing of the peace treaty between all the nations. She looked out across the city, and knew that Zuko was in the thick of it, probably giving yet another speech as the people cheered.
Fireworks began to boom over the palace. Since her house was in close proximity to the palace, the flashes of light filled her dark room with an eerie glow. Blue. Gold. Green.
Mai sat down at her vanity and began to unbind her hair. She took the pins out of her dark locks, and looked up into her mirror. In that moment, a particularly bright firework lit the room, and Mai saw another face join hers in the mirror's reflection.
She stood up abruptly, her heart pounding. Fortunately, she was still wearing her robes, so her knives were close at hand.
"What do you want, Azula?" she asked cautiously.
Her old friend had a mad glint in her golden eyes as the glow of fireworks continued to fill the room. Mai was disturbed at the unbalanced look on the former princess' face. She had heard stories of Azula's downfall, but had been unable to bring herself to visit the girl since the end of the war. She could see for herself that the rumors were true. Azula had gone mad.
"What, I can't drop in on an old friend without suspicion?" Azula asked sweetly.
"My old friend is supposed to be in a prison cell," Mai shot back.
Azula gave a long-suffering sigh.
"I suppose that's true. I did tell little Zuzu that I would escape. After all, this is a night of celebration. I didn't want to miss it," she said wistfully.
"So again, why did you come here?" Mai asked pointedly. Is she going to ask me to join her again?
"I wanted to set things right," Azula said with a snarl.
Mai began to feel real fear in that moment. There was such a contrast between Zuko and his sister. As much as she hated the young Fire Lord right then, she knew he was good for the world. She was reassured when he spoke of "setting things right". Now, when she heard Azula utter the same words, a chill traveled up her spine. She mentally calculated the proper trajectory to throw her weapons, and prepared to attack.
Through the eerie light flashing in from outside, Mai saw Azula's hands move in an unsettlingly familiar motion. As she threw her blade, an electric blue glow filled the room. The flashing of the fireworks grew more frequent – the show was nearly at an end.
Mai 's slender knife sliced through the air as a bolt of electricity arced towards her. The lightning made contact with her chest, and she could no longer distinguish between the light of the fireworks and flashes of electricity that were still coursing out of her body as she fell to the floor.
She opened her eyes, and Azula's face stared down at her with hatred.
"You betrayed me for the pretender. You are only the first thing dear to him that I have taken. Goodbye, Mai," she said dangerously. Mai could see that her blade had made contact – blood ran down Azula's shoulder.
The last thing the young woman saw before her vision faded was a pair of boots walking confidently out of the room. As she took her last breath, she reflected that the last words of both Fire siblings to her had been "Goodbye, Mai."
A small, unnamed island lay off the northwest coast of the Earth Kingdom. To a select few, it was known as Desolation Island. Most paid it no mind. It was only rarely passed by on occasions when there was stormy weather in the normal shipping channels between the Earth Kingdom and the Northern Water Tribe.
Those who were aware of its existence generally avoided it at all costs. Sailors swore that ghosts who had not been granted entrance to the Spirit World resided there, for screams and moans could be heard above the crashing waves.
Unbeknownst to the sailors, the island was inhabited, albeit not by ghosts. The island was in fact the location of the Fire Nation's best-kept secret, for besides the island's inhabitants, only the former Fire Lord knew of its existence. The island was a prison for those the Fire Nation wanted to forget. Aside from the prison guards, only a handful of prisoners called the desolate place home. Ironically, the prison island was also home to a key – the key to a long-held secret of the Fire Nation royal family.
One gloomy night, a messenger hawk approached the island. The bird hesitated mid-air, as if it could sense the despair that emanated from the place. Instinct kicked in, however, and the creature completed its mission.
The hawk dropped off its missive to a harsh-looking man, who immediately unfurled the scroll. Messages only arrived once every few years. He lived on the point of the island furthest from the prison. He no longer had a name. This island was all he had known for the past twenty-three years. It had been abandoned for a short time under Azulon's rule, but he remained – awaiting the day he would be called to service. He had served Fire Lord Azulon, and he had served Fire Lord Ozai. His loyalty was to the legacy of Sozin.
The warden was aware of his existence – indeed, he needed food delivered, as the rocky soil was not fertile enough to plant anything. However, the warden knew nothing of his true mission. Sozin's Comet had come and gone, and the man had awaited news of the Fire Nation's victory.
The news, however, was grim. The man's hands clenched in fury as he read the contents of the letter.
The true Fire Lord has been imprisoned, and the Pretender has taken his throne. It is time to release Sozin's Fist.
It was time to depart his lonely existence on Desolation Island. It was time to gather the secret army.