this is my first ATLA fic and my comeback in FFnet. i only use notepad, and i rarely use the CAPS key, so any mistakes in capitalization, grammar and such are my fault.

about the story... this is really not how i thought of the story to come out as, but while writing it, it just flowed that way. i still have some stuff on my mind and i think all the stories will fit into one storyline, so i decided to just put it into a multi-chapter fic. this might still be due for re-write if i'm not lazy enough to re-do it. rating will be T since i'm not really sure how the other chapters will be. and updating will be dependent on my muse and how often will my mind work. =)

Disclaimer: the fanfiction story's mine but the characters are borrowed from Avatar: The Last Airbender by Mike and Bryan and Nickelodeon


Mai has never been a jealous girl.

Growing up, she's got pretty much all the attention she wanted. Well, she even got more than the attention she ever needed. Being an only child, her parents always made sure she got what she wanted, on one condition; she have to follow whatever they said. For everything she asked for, she just had to stay quiet, stay silent, stay obedient, and basically, stay put. It wasn't hard really, for her, her parent's political agenda were nothing but boring work. She didn't want to deal with it either way, so staying in the shadows were something of a good thing for her.

She doesn't mind that her parents never had enough time with her or that she was asked to go to her room and play alone. After all the meetings with older people who only talk about stuff that she didn't care about, staying in her room was a welcoming thing. She's even surprised her parents took them long enough to think that a noble girl shouldn't be listening to all that horrible attacks they were planning on doing to other nations. Noble girls shouldn't be worrying about that, they should just stay pretty and just be a sight to behold.

She doesn't mind that she was sent to the Fire Nation's elite school. After all, it would be nice to get away from the boring house for a while to meet other people.

But she was mistaken, it wasn't at all interesting. All the girls were either so stuck up or so whiny that she didn't want to mingle with any of them. Again, without much thought, she stayed in the shadows. That was until she gained the attention of the Fire Nation Princess.

"So, what do you do?"

The Fire Nation Princess stood looming over her one afternoon. It was their breaktime and Mai had decided that polishing her new set of daggers would be a good time to pass the time. This is not a first time somebody asked her a question with an obvious answer, so she merely raised her left hand holding the dagger up, without looking at her inquirer.

"No, I mean, what do you do." The Fire Nation Princess didn't like being ignored and Mai took it as another stuck up girl who wants all the attention. She just shrugged.

"You don't look like a firebender and I haven't seen you at the arena practicing fire bending either." She shifted from where she's standing and walked around Mai. Mai, still not looking up, continued on polishing her daggers, now at her second. Listening was something she's very good at.

"Unless you're like my brother who have to hide with his fire bending teachers to excuse his feeble attemp at producing fire from his palms. Really, if he isn't my brother, I wouldn't think of him with the royal blood."

Like instinct had told her, Mai shot up a glance at the girl beside her. The girl she's been intently ignoring was the Fire Nation Princess herself. Mai could already hear her mother scolding her for being ignorant and for being rude. And she knows she would just never hear the last of it if she didn't do anything to rectify the situation.

Mai scrambled at her feet, dropped her daggers to the lawn, shifted to her side to face the Princess, leaned forward and bowed low to her.

"I'm sorry Princess, I should've known it was you. I apologize for my actions. I never thought the Princess would be in the gardens at this time."

The Princess's mouth moved to grin at Mai. It doesn't matter that the greeting was late, but at least she knew her place.

"Azula! Call me Princess Azula."

Mai looked up and saw the grining Princess staring at her. Feeling she had again violated another code of conduct, she placed her forehead back to her hands. She felt the sweat forming around her palms as she pressed it more flat to the lawn beneath her.

"Yes, Princess Azula."

"Sit up!" Azula commanded. It wasn't as commanding as what she would hear from their teachers, but not as soft as what Mai's parents had used on her. It was as if Azula was just commanding one of her servants but not quite as belittling.

Mai slowly returned to her sitting position, straightening her clothes beneath her. She wiped the sweat from her palms on her skirt in an attempt to also flatten the cloth and taking off some of the grass that had stuck themselves on the silk.

"So, what do you do?" Azula asked again, offering her a small smile.

"I throw knives." Mai answered hesitantly. She didn't know why, but something has told her that it was the kind of answer the princess has been asking for.

And if she didn't look, she would've missed the way the Princess's eyes glisten and her smile become wider. But it wouldn't be hard to miss why the Princess had decided that she'd be good to hang around with.

And on that day, she earned herself a friend.