Where will you go from here?
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters.
A/N: And here is [finally] the end. Can't believe I forgot Ty Lee… Anyway, takes place about two and a half years after Mai's career started. And I randomly chose Teo to be Ty Lee's husband.
I wrote most of this a long time ago, and only finished it recently. I just wanted to get the story done.
"Well, you're certainly doing well for yourself," Ty Lee commented over the porcelain tea service.
"My work pays well," Mai answered, with an almost involuntary look to the wall on her left, which was decked richly with a variety of weapons. "I'm often paid with unique and expensive weapons. See the kodachi over the fire place? I sent one much like it to Father for his birthday." A silence stretched between the two old friends, which Mai broke. "How's the pregnancy going?"
Ty Lee seemed to light up. "Teo and I saw the Avatar shortly before I came to visit you. Aang predicts my baby will be a healthy girl. We're naming her for you." Mai donated a subdued smile. "Will you be able to attend her birth?"
"Not if she's born any time around the new moon. People say that if they have someone killed under a new moon, then greater spirits are less likely to notice, so that's usually when I'm employed. But if she's born any other time I should be free," Mai added at her friend's fallen gaze. "What?" she asked when Ty Lee didn't look up.
"Well, the Avatar will probably be there. It just seems like it's not the best match, a hired killer in the same room with the world's great peace-keeper," Ty Lee admitted.
Mai looked to her tea as she poured. "I help keep peace. People who own land virtually own the people on their land. Rich people have disagreements with other rich people who own land near them. One landowner hires thugs, the other hires fighters, then first hires an assassin, so only one person has to be killed in the end, if things go well. Mercenaries don't kill mercenaries, soldiers don't kill soldiers, and people don't kill people."
"Except for you," Ty Lee said. She didn't look very assured by Mai's explanation.
"Zuko will be there," Ty Lee said. "Well, of course he'll be there; I'm having her at the palace." Mai made no response as she refilled Ty Lee's porcelain cup. "He hasn't been serious about anyone since you left."
"Ty Lee—where are you going with this?" Mai drawled, finally lifting her eyes to Ty Lee's. Her friend's lithe arms rested on her belly, though her eyes hesitated before meeting Mai's.
"Zuko wants to see you. He told me that too much was left unsaid after everything, and you left so soon, and he wants to see you, Mai." Mai didn't answer. Ty Lee's hands fell from her belly to the tea table, inches away from Mai's exquisite manicure.
"Mai—don't you still love him?"
The assassin's gaze held fast to Ty Lee's fingers and her own. "I can't read either of you like I used to. You and Zuko both are sinking away. It's like Azula, or fear of Azula, is what held us together. And now that she's gone, we're losing each other."
Mai placed her hands over Ty Lee's. "You'll never lose me, Ty Lee. I wouldn't allow that to happen."
"Then why don't you ever visit me?" Mai could read the hurt in her friend's eyes.
Mai wanted to tell her friend it was because of her work, that visits could make her a target. She wanted to say that she felt unwelcome in the Fire Nation. She wanted to say anything other than the truth. But she sighed and said it anyway.
"I was scared you would be ashamed of me. I was scared of what I'd become. I saw you with this wonderful life—a husband, friends, politics. I was scared of what my showing up could do to that." Ty Lee, with incredible agility for a woman of her size, maneuvered around the tea table and enveloped Mai with a hug.
"Mai—you're always welcome! You know I don't care about all that! I only said the thing about the Avatar because I wasn't sure—"
"Ty Lee—I can't breathe," Mai gasped. Ty Lee let her go and settled next to her, her large brown eyes shining with tears. "It's all right, Ty Lee. I'll come for the birth."
Ty Lee looked away, frowning. "Come back to the Fire Nation, Mai. We miss you. I know you don't enjoy the Earth Kingdom—even in the summer you were all wrapped up like it was cold! You didn't like the weather, or the people, or the smell—"
"This isn't anyone's country but mine," Mai said. She stood and walked over to the window overlooking her modest mountaintop estate. "It was abandoned. I had it fixed and brought back to life. No one wanted it, and this is no one's territory."
"That's what I'm talking about, Mai," Ty Lee said as she came closer. "You're just covering up. I'm sure there's plenty of work for you in the Fire Nation—Zuko's been tracking down corrupt army officers for months and they're still getting through the charges."
"Murder my own countrymen?" Mai asked.
"Or do something. Mai, you act like you've been exiled. You aren't! Zuko misses you! I miss you! Your family say they never see you. Mai… please just come back and stay with your family for a while."
Mai sighed and looked out the window. A storm was rising.
"All right."