Boys

I couldn't help but feel slightly out done by all Zuko's drama. I mean , I'm not saying I was jealous of Zuko, but the man had a story. He had really done stuff, you know? And it wasn't really like his physique was doing anything for my confidence either. I crossed my arms and glared at the clouds, feeling stupid and petty.

"Are you okay?" Zuko's voice was filled with worry. I could tell he thought he'd done something wrong.

"I'm fine," I sighed and covered. "Just a little hungry, man. I would kill for some jerky. " It wasn't a complete lie.

Zuko shuffled around his bag awkwardly, looking for something. I met him with a raised eyebrow when he popped up, holding out a bag to me.

"Want some fire flakes?"

"Are you trying to kill me? I've had those before, and I am not falling for that again."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I -I didn't know you didn't like them." Now he was looking all mad at himself again. Oh, for Yue's sake, he wasn't going to start crying was he? I had dealt with enough pouting from the "warriors" at the South Pole.

"Why do you even have those in your bag?"

"Because," he scowled back at me, tossing a handful in his mouth. His Highness waited until he was done chewing to finish his sentence. Wuss. "Your opinion does not dictate the actions of the rest of the world. Mai likes them."

This was really weird. Zuko was a person, a person with a girlfriend who liked to eat crazy food and throw pointy things at me. I realized I didn't even know the basics of Zuko. I took this minor mention of his personal life as an invitation to my new favourite class, Zuko 101: A Brief Introduction to the Workings and History of Zuko.

"What's your favourite colour?"

My thought process confused him, but he answered (kind of) nonetheless. "I don't have one." The look on his face made it clear that he had never bothered to pay attention to stupid things like colours.

"How old are you?"

He rolled his eyes. "I turned seventeen a few days before the invasion."

"Aw, sweet! What'd you do, throw a massive party in the Fire Lord's palace? Host a carnival in the city? I bet you had a cake as big as Appa!"

"I didn't do anything. It's just a day."

"Ugh! Royalty is wasted on you! Come on you had to do something, you can't have been the only one to know! Oh! I've got it! That crazy sister of yours set a cage of puppies on fire in your honour!"

Zuko sneered at me. "That didn't happen."

"You know I'm just gonna keep guessing until you tell me."

"Well," he was blushing like crazy and I began to wonder if Azula really had set some puppies on fire. "I went to Mai's house and she wanted to celebrate, so..." He couldn't finish his sentence. I burst out laughing.

"Are you absolutely sure we're talking about the same Mai? You're, like, my hero right now!"

Rematch

I hadn't believed her, not for a second, when she had come to tell me about the fall of Ba Sing Se and the Avatar, all honeyed voice and gloating, bronze eyes. I had shouted back at her.

And two weeks ago, when she had come to thank me for allowing her to make her way into Ba Sing Se and gain the trust of the Earth King, who revealed Sokka's invasion plan to her, my arms had ached for my fans, my sword, anything to shut her up for good. It was really quite sweet, seeing that peasant cry over you. Shame he hasn't got the slightest idea how to find you, much less rescue you.

And here I was, her favourite prisoner, on a gondola leading me to freedom, every single prediction I had thrown at her ringing true.

And there she was next to her friend who had taken down half my girls. The words slipped from my mouth.

"This is a rematch I've been waiting for."

"Me too," Zuko growled, more to himself than me. Once on top of the gondola, I looked back to the fantastic beast of a princess and her little, pink helper.

"One's missing. The girl with the knives."

Zuko blushed and looked at his feet. "Don't worry about her."

Sokka and I exchanged a look. Zuko would have to explain later; the fight that had kept me motivated in prison was about to begin. I hoped Sokka would cut her head off.

First Chance

There was never any question to it, really. Sure, Azula was my friend, but as soon as she crossed the line that flew out the window. There was never a big, dramatic epiphany when I realized that my love for Zuko was meant to be because he was right, the Fire Nation was in the wrong, and I had to save him so he could train the Avatar and take down his country. I just didn't want the loser dead.

The truth was, this was my first chance to actually do anything to help him. No one had asked my opinion when he was banished or when he dumped me with a freaking letter. Hey, Mai, would you be into it if I developed a habit of ditching you for long periods of time or would it be kind of annoying? Gee, Zuko, that's a toughie. Honestly, I would have gone with the idiot if he'd just asked.

Frankly, I had been glad that the first time I saw him after his banishment, he had helped (well, tried to help anyway; Zuko's not really good at life in general) Azula beat up the Avatar. I thought it would save us from useless drama if we were on the same side of the war. What a load of crap that was.

Gryffindors

The best prisoners were the ones that provided a challenge. After all, what was submission worth if it had been given easily?

The warden had looked forward to breaking this defiant criminal's pride.

He sat, disgraced and struggling as they ran from the gondola: the scowling, young traitor who thought he could manipulate Mai's fragile emotions, the two thugs, one a towering moron whose muscles outweighed his wit and the other a petite, mouthy redhead, and the father-son barbarian duo.

The savage turned to face him with a smirk.

"Sorry, warden. Your record is officially broken."

Predetermined

I knew what would happen as it played out before me, but it still felt unreal, like a dream.

But this -this inevitable end I had always seen, this horrible, predetermined betrayal that was following its script to a tee -this I was not prepared for. My eyes still watered; my hands still shook; my throat still stung.

As always, we knew our places, though poor Azula's was to be the only one not to see it coming at her.

Destiny was upon us, ready to take Mai's life and, though I hadn't known it yet, Azula's sanity.

Mai didn't believe in things like destiny and auras, the silly girl. Hers was always the most obvious, the most romantic, the most tragic. She didn't realize that in finally choosing Zuko and escaping Azula's twisted manipulations, she was falling right into fate's.

"No, you miscalculated!" Azula's voice felt far away and in my head all at once. Her aura terrified me. "You should have feared me more!"

A flash of silver and defiance shining in Mai's eyes and aura, Azula was ready to snuff it out. I felt my body spring before I knew what was happening. The gasp she made as she fell felt like a twist of the emotional knife I had plunged into my gut while betraying Azula.

Destiny is a funny thing.

Anger Management

"So," he looked up at me through his bushy eyebrows as we mopped the floor. "How 'bout that riot, huh?"

"Yeah, talk about crazy."

He froze, putting his hands on top of his mop and his chin on top of his hands, and leaned on the mop. "You didn't do any of it? Didn't help at all?"

"Nope," I grinned down at him.

"Well, that's not what I've heard."

My mop clattered on the ground as I swore and caught my head in my hands. I felt so ashamed; I had broken my promise to him when he had only tried to help me. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to, I just got caught up in the moment and-"

"I don't want to hear it." With his stern expression and his arms crossed over his chest, I couldn't help but feel like he was the one looking down at me. "What happened to controlling your anger?"

"It wasn't about anger!"

"Then what about thinking about your actions in general? How will you ever be able to stay out of prison if you can't act like a responsible human being?"

I had no response for him.

"I'm very disappointed in you."

"Me too," I let out, rubbing at the back of my neck. I picked up my mop and turned away from him. I wouldn't want to look at my face right now.

I heard him pick up his mop too, a few yards behind me. Before he got back to work, he gave me a firm squeeze on the shoulder.

"You'll get it. I know you will."

I gazed at him over my shoulder and hoped my look said everything.

Love

The princess paced her quarters of the airship, unsettled by this new turn of events. She hadn't expected this. Not from Mai or Ty Lee, who had been her best friends for as long as she could remember.

She had always known of Mai's feelings for Zuko, but they had seemed insignificant or, now that he was a traitor, definitely a good thing because Mai's anger and hurt could be used to hunt Zuko down, bring him back in chains. She felt like a fool for encouraging them in Ba Sing Se.

Her thoughts were interrupted by three sharp knocks on her door. She composed herself and stood up straight. She took a deep breath and let her words fall out, silky as ever.

"Come in."

The young soldier found the princess standing near her large vanity, her armour removed and her hair loose as she ran a comb through it. He felt entirely uncomfortable in her presence after hearing stories from the members of the crew who had spoken to her before, especially while she seemed to be preparing for bed. He felt the words forming in his throat, but couldn't quite force them to his lips.

"Yes?" Her voice was sharp, but smooth. She placed the comb on the vanity and approached him, one eyebrow raised and a smirk on her painted lips.

"We've found their course. We will arrive at the Western Air Temple before midday."

"Good." She nodded and looked away, uninterested, and took a pile of red silk from the foot of her bed. He turned to leave. "Wait, soldier. Stay right there." She walked past him, running a finger across his armour, and disappeared behind a folded shade. "Tell me, what do you know of love?"

He felt as if he couldn't breathe, but paraphrased what he had been told in his training.

"Love is a weakness, an attachment that holds you back from your true potential."

She emerged wearing the red silk, which turned out to be a sleeping robe. She stood just close enough to double his discomfort, tying her hair back with a ribbon and peering up at him with half-lidded eyes. Surely, he had misheard her age. This wasn't how he remembered fourteen-year-old girls acting.

"Are you sure?"

"Y-yes, princess."

She looked him up and down once more and turned to her bed.

"You are dismissed."

The soldier's words had confirmed what she had been taught to believe, but, for the first time since she was very young, the princess had trouble sleeping.