Mai was speaking less than usual. That is to say, she wasn't speaking at all. She hadn't spoken to anyone in days.
No one was surprised.
But it hurt Zuko all the same.
Then again, he wasn't in the mood for talking himself. His mind kept wandering back to what Kiyi may or may not be undergoing at the hands of the Kemurikage. Those thoughts always seemed to cloud over any attempt at conversation.
Talking even less than the two of them was Ursa. The woman had positioned herself on her bed and lie there for several days, only getting up when Zuko insisted that she eat. She'd lost both of her daughters. She'd lost one long before she'd even got a chance to love her.
Ozai hadn't given her the time to raise the child right.
The young woman resented her.
But it hurt all the same.
And it hurt just as viciously as losing Kiyi.
Across the room, Zuko sat trying to read through some messages sent from various Fire Nation provinces. With his mind in such disarray he couldn't seem to pick out the meanings of any of them. It didn't help that Sokka and Toph were jabbering away.
And, with a hint of dismay, he noted that Aang's comforting words and Katara's hope speeches were just as nerve grinding.
He caught the end of one of Aang's attempts at conversation. "You know we'll find them both. Just like how I found Appa!"
"That's just what you said before we lost Tom-Tom. They keep taking from us and we never take anything back!"
"What are you saying?" Katara asked softly.
"I'm saying that the next Kemurikage to enter this palace is going to walk out on fire!" Zuko's temper finally exploded.
"Zuko, you know that isn't going to solve anything, they'll just send someone new…" Katara started.
"I don't care what it solves or doesn't solve." Without thinking he knocked the scrolls before him to the floor. "I need someone else, someone on their side to hurt the way we do."
Aang looked around the room.
At the withdrawn mother lying on her bed.
At Mai fiddling with her weaponry with more melancholy than usual.
At Zuko, who was once again fuming to such a degree his younger self would probably be put to shame.
And Aang realized what was missing. This thing seemed to always be present in all of their adventures no matter how dismal things seemed. But it seemed to be in short supply at the moment. Everything just looked so grey. "All we need is a little hope."
"And where are we going to get that!?" Zuko slammed his fist on the desk, burying his face in his hands as if the action would drive out his frustrations.
Katara looked over at Zuko, "Maybe this time we just have to wait for hope to come to us."
.oOo.
If Azula knew it would be this easy to break Zuko she would have done it years ago—granted Kiyi wasn't in the picture years ago. No less she would have done it. And she wouldn't be feeling how she felt now. A foreign emotion.
One she wasn't prone to.
One she hadn't felt in so long she really couldn't place a name on it.
Others might call it guilt.
She had taken Kiyi and Tom-Tom for a reason. "It's the only way to make sure they ever return home. The only way they won't see any harm." She kept telling herself. The mantra did little after hearing Zuko threaten to light her on fire.
Well, not her specifically, but he may as well have.
The more Azula heard, the less she felt she should linger by the palace.
The further she should keep from home.
But home was all she really wanted.
That was it, she decided, that's why she felt the need to protect that stupid child. What other reason could she possibly have? She could see in her mind's eye, Kiyi laying on the foot of her bed. All night the girl stayed there, keeping Azula company. Not saying anything, but still giving her as much support as a child could provide.
But that didn't give reason to her wanting to protect the child before that night.
Before last night.
No, Azula wanted home. She wanted to be back at the palace, pampered by servants. And the only way to do so was to get Zuko's trust. And to get his trust she'd have to be the hero. It was a selfish motivation she knew. Her motivation had to be selfish, she decided, everything she did was selfish.
And Azula found herself bitterly snickering.
Home…
Change one letter and she wanted the same thing as Zuko. Hope and home…they weren't so different were they?
Azula drew her cloak back over her head and slinked back the way she came. She took the long way.
Stalling.
That's what she was doing now.
She knew what she was going to have to do when she got back to the underground hideout.
The other Kemurikage were growing suspicious of her. Apparently more of them abused the children than she thought.
She felt sick thinking about it. She pictured Kiyi lying next to her, asking her if she was okay. And Tom-Tom, wide-eyed. Innocent. Hadn't done a bad thing in his life. Azula didn't particularly want to hurt either of them.
She drew a few coins from her pocket, rattling them in her palm, intent on getting something to eat along the way. And then she spotted a store.
If she was not mistaken, this was where her father used to buy her makeup from.
She looked from the food stand to the makeup store. She would have never had to make this decision if she were back at home. She'd just be able to buy them both and then some.
Upon arriving back in her small room, Azula dropped her handful of newly purchased belongings down on the bed. She picked Kiyi up and set her on the bed. "Hold still." Azula commanded. "Understand?"
Kiyi nodded.
Azula drew out her kohl eyeliner and various other tools. Hopefully she'd bought enough makeup…and the right kind…to make her little trick convincing.
"You keep the makeup on. Don't smudge it, don't wash it off." Azula instructed as she applied the kohl, dark and heavy, around the child's left eye. "I can make you look hurt, but you're going to have to act the part as well."
"Whaddaya mean?" Tom-Tom asked.
Azula sighed, this was why she hated talking to children, she always had to dumb herself down to do it. She always seemed to forget that they had a much…simpler language.
How troublesome.
"The makeup," Azula moved so that Tom-Tom could see Kiyi, "makes you look scratched and bruised. But you have to act hurt too."
"Mm kay." Tom-Tom climbed up onto the bed. "Ow! Ouch! Owie!" He chattered to himself as Azula continued working with Kiyi.
"How was that!?" He asked.
Azula rolled her eyes, "it was fine, now how about you wait until after I put the makeup on you to continue acting?"
"But I still gotta practice!" Tom-Tom declared.
"You're acting is fine."
Kiyi giggled, causing Azula's perfectly straight line to run squiggly down her face.
"I said hold still!"
"Sorry." Kiyi mumbled as Azula rubbed the smudgy squiggle away.
"There." Azula stepped back to view her work.
Kiyi hopped off of the bed making room for Azula to set Tom-Tom down. "Now it's your turn."
Tom-Tom was surprisingly easier to work with than Kiyi, she had his makeup applied in just a little over five minutes. Rather it would have been so had it not been for her uncanny need to make every aspect perfect.
"Alright. You two stay put…" Azula caught a glimpse of Kiyi on the verge of rubbing her eye "and don't smudge the makeup! I have one more thing to do tonight."
"Can I come with?" Kiyi asked.
"No. Absolutely not. You'll only slow me down."
The girl set herself into a pout.
"And if I take you with, I'll have to take Tom-Tom too. You have to watch him." She said quickly and then added, "it's an important job."
Kiyi tapped her small pointer on the corner of her mouth. "Hmm…I guess so."
"Good, I'll be back in a bit."
Azula slipped out of her room. If things went accordingly she'd be killing two birds with one stone tonight. She edged down the hall and to the left into another hall and then made a right. Quing's room was down there somewhere.
She made sure no one was around before peering into the room she thought was his.
Apparently she thought wrong, for Yuso was the one lying on the bed in that room.
She move to the next door, feeling a pang of sympathy for Yuso, when she found that he was in fact right next door to Quing. Though the boy himself wasn't there, the Earth Kingdom girl he kidnapped was.
And she was just the child Azula was looking for.
Azula took in a deep breath, hoping that Quing was stupid enough to leave his door unlocked. She placed a palm on the door and shoved.
For once in a long time, luck was on her side, the door squeaked open.
Yuso poked his head out, opening his mouth to speak.
Azula put a finger to her lips and slid inside. Only coming out when she had the child.
The child made out to scream, quickly Azula cupped her hand over the child's mouth. She bit down.
Hard.
Right between her thumb and pointer.
Azula could feel warm blood trickling down both sides of her hand. She ignored the stinging throb that came with it. "Don't say anything Yuso."
He shrugged. "Quing could use another good asskicking."
"Perfect." Azula replied. "I'll see you at dinner."
.oOo.
Zuko stared out into the night, wondering how many of the Kemurikage were out that night. Wondering how many kids were being taken. How many mothers, fathers, and siblings were screaming out in anguish.
The vague shapes against the inky-blue horizon—houses and trees and everyday people—took on skewed images in his mind. Images of Kiyi crying and cold somewhere deep within the forest. Of Tom-Tom tied up to a tree as the Kemurikage mocked him in firelight.
Who knew what those guys were up to.
He came to see them as savage humans and spirits just looking to take children to taunt them and hurt their families.
Amoung the trees, Zuko caught a flicker of black.
He squinted into the darkness, watching a little shape waddle up the palace steps.
Impulsively, fire sprung to his fists. He shot up from his sitting position with such haste that the chair clattered noisily to the floor.
"What's going on?" Aang followed in his lead.
"Someone's out there." He answered.
Katara peered out the window. "It's just a little girl. A-and I…I think I know her."
"Kiyi?" Zuko asked.
"No. Hope." Katara whispered. "I delivered her after going through the Serpent's Pass."
"Hope." Zuko repeated.
He looked out into the courtyard again; one of the Kemurikage jumped down from the roof and into the black of the tree-line.