I got a little bit bored while sat at home so I have filled my time with writing so that I could upload quicker.

Chapter 4

" So let me get this straight you have to leave the Fire Nation? " Mai asked, a bit confused but also scared.

" Yes Mai I have to leave... but I'm not worried about what will happen to me, I'm worried about you." Zuko confessed though you could tell by the glisten in his amber eyes that he was worried about Mai.

" Why?...Why are you worried about me?" Mai asked softly in great confusion.

" You use to be so... so withdrawn but now you've started letting go a little more and you seem so much freer now. I'm worried that me leaving will make you go back to how you were." Zuko said in despair.

" Well... Well... Well then let me come with you!" Mai screamed sounding desperate. Zuko was speechless at her last remark.

" When do you leave?" Mai continued a bit calmer now though still upset.

" I have four hours to collect my belongings then I have to leave the palace and be out of the Fire Nation within an hour after that." Zuko replied.

" I'd better be getting home for dinner Mother would have a fit if I were to be late." Mai said while looking down at the floor

" All right then Mai, I'll see you some other time." Zuko said while pulling her into a warm embrace.

Mai walked back to her home trying to keep her emotions in check although they were out of control. She walked through into the kitchen where she was greeted by the cook who sat her down and gave her some spicy noodles for her dinner. While she ate she started thinking about what she would do. I should go with him... Oh don't be stupid Mai you can't go... Yes, yes I can go and I will... But I only have four hours left to gather my belongings, I will have to work fast to get to the docks in time. So once Mai had finished her lunch she went to her room to gather her belongings.

Mai made sure that the door was locked so that she was not disturbed while she was packing, She rum aged through her wardrobe to find her bags. She put three pairs of trousers in red, black and burgundy into her large bag along with three long sleeved tunics, a pair of leggings, a black skirt and a burgundy dress along with clean bindings.

In a smaller bag she packed soap for her hair, a wash cloth, and two towels, a comb and soap for her body. She would pack her hairbrush and toothbrush later.

In the smallest bag she put things that were personal to her like her favourite book, a box which contained a small red book which was padlocked closed, three small pairs of earrings and a necklace, a small amount of make up, two nail varnish's and a nail file.

Mai decided that she would take a quick bath as the next one could be a long time away. She let the heat of the water soak into her skin for almost 30 minutes before getting out and re-dressing. She brushed out her hair and cleaned her teeth before placing the hair brush, tooth brush and toothpaste into her bag.

Mai decided that even though her parents didn't care for her she should leave a quick note telling them not to worry, so she sat at her desk and took out her writing equipment. She dipped the brush into the deep black ink and wrote :

Dear Mother and Father,

I have wrote you this note to inform you that I have accompanied Prince Zuko in his banishment. You have no need to worry as I am sure that we will be fine. I will write to you whenever possible so that you know I am all right.

Tell people what you like about my disappearance though it would be much simpler to just tell them that I have gone to live with my uncle in the boiling rock, it would save questions and would save the shame that would fall on the family.

All my love,

Mai.

Mai left her house unnoticed and made her way to the dock. It felt as though she had been walking for hours when she finally reached the docks but it was actually only about twenty minutes before she reached her destination. She searched around for the ship that was to take take them across the sea's. It didn't take long to find due to the fact that it was the smallest ship in the docks at that time, it looked a little drab compared to the other much larger ship's which were designed for war or to carry goods to and from the colonies to the capital city.

Still Mai wanted to be certain that it was the right ship so she waited for Zuko to turn up. Mai didn't have to wait long as he arrived about ten minutes later. She approached him as he boarded the ship and he tried to stop her from coming with him into exile but she was not having any of it.

" Mai, you don't have to come, you don't need to come, your not the one who was banished, I was, this is my disgrace and I don't want to drag you into it with me." Zuko said as they boarded the ship that was to be called home for the time being.

" I don't care, I want to be with you and nothing you say or do will stop me from coming." Mai countered.

" Nephew, it looks like there really is no talking her out of it. Mai wants to come and we have to respect her decision" Iroh said to Zuko while flashing a wide grin at the ebony haired girl stood next to him.

Once on the ship they all went below deck to sort out their rooms.

" Well then Mai, we had better find you a room and tell cook that there will be one extra person to feed." The retired general said with a wide grin.

" Nephew, you go and sort out your room I can take care of Mai for now. He continued.

" Fine, I'll see you at dinner Mai." Zuko said as they turned to leave.

" So. Mai, why did you choose to come with us on this trip anyway when you could of kept all the luxury's that come with nobility and stayed at home? I'm sure your parents will be worried when they find out that you have left." Iroh said with slight surprise in his voice.

" I assure you general Iroh, my parents will not be at all worried, my father maybe for a little while but once my sibling is born he won't care any more. My Uncle is the person that will worry about me. My Mother, well she won't be worried, she'll be angry if anything." Mai replied her voice staying calm and even.

" Come on now, your mother will be worried... Then again she didn't really care for you did she. Any way lets get off the subject now and go find cook. Oh and Mai dear, just call me Iroh I'm not a general any more dear." Iroh reasoned his voice becoming brighter when he changed the subject.

They strolled down the halls at a leisurely pace, talking about many things until they found the ship's cook. Iroh told her that there would be one extra on board then went to find Mai a suitable bedroom.

They found her one that was had a bathroom joined to it which turned out to Iroh's room originally but Iroh insisted that Mai take the room and use it for herself.

Fire Nation Palace

Meanwhile, back at the palace Azula and Ozai were having their evening meal.

" So, my dear, how do you feel about having your imbecile of a brother out of the way for good." Ozai said in a triumphant tone of voice.

" Oh Father it is wonderful, he was never ant use to either of us and he was soft, just like mother and now that he is gone you and I can lead the Fire Nation to greatness." Azula replied in her sickly sweet voice.

" Hmmm. Yes daughter, I agree, with the little boy gone you can prosper and will one day make a wonderful fire lord yourself. Anyway I have heard that your fire became blue for a moment today. I am most proud of you daughter, you truly are a firebending prodigy, just like your grandfather said you would be." Ozai said pride evident in his voice.

" Thank you Father, I hope you will find that I will prove most useful on the battle field in the future and should Zuko rebel against us I would take the greatest of pleasure in permanently ending him once and for all!" Azula stated with a sudden ferocity to her voice.

Mai's house.

Haruko and Kagami had been continually calling Mai to come down for her meal. So after ten minute's Haruko decided that he would go up and tell her himself that she was to come down for dinner.

He was less than prepared for what he found. He found the room empty with a note on the bed. He sat down on the edge of his daughters bed and read the note silently to himself.

" Kagami, you had better come and take a look at this." Haruko shouted to his wife.

" what is it, where's Mai." Kagami said as she entered the room.

" You had better read this." Haruko said quietly while handing her the note. Kagami read the note to herself and tried to take in what Mai had written.

"Oh dear, that's not good, I knew she was unhappy here but I didn't think that it was this bad." Kagami said sitting on the chair next to Mai's bed.

" I need to write a note, to Ty Lee. She was her best friend and I think she has a right to know that Mai is gone and may never return." Haruko said while taking out a piece of parchment and sitting down at Mai's desk to compose the note.

After many failed attempts he ended up with :

Dear Ty Lee,

Gather your family and read this note out loud to them.

You all have the right to know that our daughter Mai has gone into exile with Zuko and that we are not to worry. Mai is a strong girl who is more than capable of taking care of herself despite what others may think. You must all realise however that you may never see Mai again though you will hear from her, she has assured us that she will write whenever possible to let us all know how things are going. She wishes you all happy lives. She has asked us to tell you not to tell the princess where she has gone but to tell her that Mai has gone to live with her Uncle at the Boiling Rock Prison and will not be returning under any circumstances.

Mai was a wonderful girl and I am sure that she will not want any of you to suffer and she will want you to just get on with your lives as best you can.

Wishing you all the best,

Mai's parents,

Haruko and Kagami.

Once the letter had been composed Kagami made her way down stirs still in anger. Haruko set the note aside to dry and went back to sit on his daughter's bed.

He had always had a fairly good relationship with Mai despite what people think and loosing her now had torn him apart so he dropped his head down onto the pillow where Mai use to put her head and thought about what had made her so unhappy, he wept for hours on end and did not move from her room for the rest of the day.

He walked around her room just looking at her things that she had left. He went through her wardrobe and felt the silk of her cloths, he looked through her bedside table and found a number of pieces of paper with writing on. He took them all out of the draw and sat on her bed. He spread the bits of paper out on the bed and then decided that he would read a few.

The first one read :

June 3rd

I hope all goes to planned in that damn agni kai, I still don't like that he has to fight his Father, I just know that it won't end well, something will go wrong and Zuko will get hurt I just know it. The damn thing isn't even worth it his Father may as well just burn him anyway then banish him for good measure, that's probably what will happen anyway.

How did Mai know what would happen? How did she read things and people so well? Haruko asked himself. He decided that he would read some more of them to see if he could learn why she was so unhappy that she just uprooted herself and left.

The second one read :

May 29th

I can't believe that he actually asked me out. Prince Zuko asked me out! It's like a dream come true, I had no idea that he liked me to. I mean he use to blush when he walked past or when he saw me but I never thought he would take it further than just a few stolen glances. But he did, he actually did, I never thought that he liked me back. I always liked him so when he asked me dream come true! I cant tell mother that we kissed though she would have a fit, his kisses are so soft and passionate and I love them about as much as I love him.

So she did like the boy... She LOVED the boy... How did I not realise this before now. He thought to himself astounded that his daughter knew of love and what it felt like. He read just one more and it told him what he needed to know about her, it told him why she was miserable.

The last one read :

May 15th

She makes me miserable, I feel worthless in my own home. My Mother, if I should call her that now, should be the one to comfort me when I am hurt and she should be the one who makes me feel like I am wanted, she should encourage me and give me positive comments not negative all the time. All I ever get off her is " Oh for heavens sake Mai why did you have to go and do that at dinner today." Or " Oh Mai you had better be good today at tea there will be a young man there and I want you to try and attract his attention, Oh and Mai be a good girl and wear something light not black and make sure you wear a dress we want to impress the nice young man now don't we." Ugh I do not want to impress him heck I don't even want to meat him he sound just like the others, only interested in having heirs and becoming more powerful. It makes me miserable, I have been raised as the perfect little doll but I want to be able to express myself. Mother just doesn't get it though, she never will, I'm nothing like her, never have been never will be. She pays me no attention and in her eyes everything that I do should result in discipline, I hate it. My life feels like it isn't

worth living any more. She has made my life a misery and I just want it to stop altogether. I want nothing to do with her after I have moved out when I grow up. I plan to shut her out of my life completely when I get the chance. My life has only three bright spots and they are spending time with my Father, spending time with Ty Lee and spending time with Zuko.

That was all he needed to be convinced that Kagami was awful to his daughter. He would talk with her later . Haruko gathered the paper's back up and put then my back into the draw he fell asleep on her couch that night and for many nights after that.

A/N

Thanks to all my readers and thank you to those who review.

I went a little crazy with the quotes and letters but oh well I don't care.

I enjoyed writing this chapter and I had plenty of time to write it so I uploaded rather fast.

Thanks for reading.

Winterdevils.