Where will you go from here?

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or settings.

A/N: Takes place in Omashu, where her family are guests of the benevolent yet eccentric King Bumi. Timeline-wise it's after Zuko's coronation.


"Mai, it's so nice to speak to you again," the girl's mother told her as the ex-governor of Omashu looked on proudly. "All the things we've heard from the Capital, all the wonderful news!"

"Actually, Mother, I've got something to say," Mai told her as they sat for tea. Her parents looked on expectantly, obviously thinking of bountiful rumors in her favor.

"I'm not going back to the Fire Nation," Mai said evenly. "Unless my work takes me back there, I guess. Or I'm visiting on vacation or something." Mai's parents wore similar looks of astonishment at her news.

"Mai—whatever for?" her father asked, stroking his beard.

Mai shrugged. "There's no real reason for me to be there. I'm pursuing a career in the field of hired killing, an assassin to be exact." What had been astonishment metamorphosed into shock.

"Mai! What ever for?" her mother exclaimed.

"Like I said," Mai answered, pouring the newly arrived tea. "What else would I do? Stay in the Fire Nation? Make a proper marriage and go on living like any normal person? I'd go insane with boredom and start killing people for free. If it's going to happen, I might as well get paid for it."

"But surely—an assassin?" her father managed to spit out.

"What? I've heard people looking for jobs are supposed to play to their strengths. I've got all the qualifications and connections of a noblewoman and extreme skill with thrown weapons. Sounds like a nice résumé for an assassin to me."

"But Mai—Tom Tom should have an older sister to look up to!" her mother managed, completely ignoring the tea she held so precariously in her violently shaking hands.

"I said I'd visit," Mai said, mildly rolling her eyes. "It'll be just like when I was with Azula. Except Azula's dead and Ty Lee's busy being married, and having a kid in a year or two."

Mai's parents showed no signs of having been swayed. She supposed she owed them some effort further to convince them not to worry, though Mai was coming up dry. She couldn't tell them it wasn't dangerous, or that she'd visit regularly or often. So Mai simply stood, closed the gap between her and her parents, and placed one arm around each of their shoulders.

"Trust me," She told them in a hushed tone. "I need to do this."

Mai's parents mutely hugged their daughter fiercely, and, for all they knew in this strange new world, for the last time.

"Promise me," her mother said breathlessly, as though trying not to cry. "Promise me I'll see you again. Promise me this isn't the last time I'll see my only daughter."

"… I promise."


A/N: Nothing much to say for the chapter. Next chapter should interest you though; Mai applies for her job. It features Xin Fu and maybe even June.

In Christ,

ZFF