Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or its characters.
A/N: This fic was revised and corrected by Private Fire, a person that I appreciate very much, therefore this is for her. Written from Zuko's perspective.
Love and Duty.
I was driving my car as fast as I could. I could feel the adrenaline coursing through my veins. I turned my eyes to the passenger side seat. She had fear in her pale gold piercing eyes. Her sleek black hair was dancing violently with the rush of air. I heard shots behind us. She turned to me and took out the gun from inside of our bag. From the corner of my eye, I saw her turn around in her seat to shoot at cars which were hunting us.
Flashback:
"That's your new mission," my boss Piandao gave me a folder with some papers inside. I gave him a half smile. I didn't want that mission. I didn't want to awake my past.
"Do I have to take it?" I still hated this stupid idea.
"Yes, you're the perfect person. They will trust you and ask no questions."
"How could you say that? What if they don't want me there? You don't know them as well as I do. They think I have run away because I didn't want to follow in the family business.
"That's true. Look, they are your family. They will take you back no matter your situation or their money laundering. Come on Zuko, give it a chance."
I sighed in resignation.
End Flashback.
Still driving, I again turned to my copilot. Mai was shooting at our pursuers. She turned to me, her eyes full of tears, and her hair in disarray.
"We're going to die, aren't we?" She said with a dry voice.
"Remember what you told me last week?" I said trying to comfort her. "'You're mine and I'm yours, and if we die because of this, we die. But first we'll live.'"
She started to laugh in the craziest way.
"So, we're going to die," she confirmed.
"Maybe. But we're together and nothing else matters, right?"
She didn't answer.
Flashback:
I was standing at the front door of my old house. I didn't know what to expect from my family. My mom was gone. That was the real reason I had run away. She was killed by my father's enemies. At the time, I had felt like he didn't care about my mom's death. He had actually seemed relieved.
There were just two people who I did care about, Azula and Mai, and I had to leave them behind. Azula is my little sister and even though we didn't have the greatest relationship, I still care for her. And Mai used to be my favorite person in the world. She is Azula's best friend and my childhood sweetheart.
Anyway, I took a deep breath and knocked the door.
"Zuko?" She was in shock.
"Yes, Azula. It's me, your brother." She pulled me into an awkward hug. Afterwards, she pulled me into the house and invited me to sit in the living room.
"Where have you been? People missed you around here. You didn't even say goodbye to anyone."
"I'm sorry 'Zula. I needed to get away from all of it." I've had missed my sister so much, but I wouldn't say it aloud.
"You were really needed, Zuko. We all were surprised when you left. At first, we thought you've been kidnaped, but Mai told us that you ran away. You didn't tell anyone why." I took my sister's hand and squeeze it. She pulled away immediately.
"I'm really, really sorry. I didn't feel strong enough to confront the situation. The fact that mom was gone just killed me somehow."
"We could have helped. You didn't think about that?" Just then, Azula sounded really angry.
"Azula, I won't stop saying I'm sorry till you and all the people that I've hurt, forgive me." Azula smiled a little at my statement. I felt guilty. I had to do my duty and that meant betraying my family.
"Ok, I take you up on that. But first, tell me about what you've been doing all these years," she asked me.
I lied of course.
End flashback.
The shooting stopped for a while. But I couldn't stop driving because they were still chasing us. Mai seemed to pale further. Her light gold eyes were shedding tears of frustration.
-Why? Why did you choose to be a cop? Seriously, you could have chosen any other profession! But a cop? You really wanted to be killed!" Mai sounded angry. I hadn't wanted to involve her in this mess.
"I've already told you why I decided to be a cop. Don't judge me. Anyway, you decided to come with me, I didn't make you."
"Oh! You're unbelievable Zuko! Do you think that I would let you embark on this suicide mission all alone? I lost you once. I couldn't lose you again." I couldn't help but smile. This girl really loves me and I love her in return.
Flashback:
It was a month after my return. Mai and I were back together, my father had accepted me back and my relationship with my sister was getting better. But there was still the mission. That day, I went into my girlfriend's room to take her lap top. Mai was a genius with a computer. She was the one who made all the money transferences. All the information that I needed was on her lap top. I was transferring all the records to my USB, when she appeared in the room.
"Zuko? What are you doing?" she asked with a frown.
"Nothing," I answered nervously.
"Let me see."
I tried to hide the evidence, but she discovered me.
"You're a cop?! You're betraying your family! You're betraying us!" She snapped.
"This is not about you or my family. This is about my duty. You wouldn't understand."
"Do you think I'm an idiot? Worse yet, you lied to me. You didn't trust me enough to tell me your secret. And now, I'm tied to this. I need to tell Ozai, he's my boss." Mai seemed hurt.
"Listen, I'm sorry. I should have told you this earlier, but I couldn't. Now you know everything and I don't want to lose you. Come with me, Mai. We'll take this information to the cops and then make our escape . . . together," I said. She was surprised.
"You're mine and I'm yours, and if we die because of this, we die. But first we'll live." She walked over to me and kissed me passionately.
"I'll take that as a yes."
She didn't answer. She just kissed me again.
End Flashback.
"Zuko? Stop!" she ordered.
"What?! We still have chance to lose them!"
Mai seemed tired. Her hair was in her face. "We're not going to escape. Even if we make it, they're going to keep looking for us. They will find us and kill us."
"Don't say those things. We're going to have a life together, remember?" I tried to comfort her.
"Zuko, it was fun while it lasted." Mai turned to face me. Our eyes met for a while, but I had to return my attention to the road. She took my face and made me kiss her. We kissed a few seconds and I almost lost the control of the car.
"We're going to crash if you do that again," I warned her.
Suddenly, another two cars appeared in front of us. I looked in the rearview mirror and our original pursuers were still there. Mai took my hand and squeezed it. I kissed her one more time, took a deep breath and then everything turned dark.