They had reached their new campsite – a cave on another island, farther to the east, although still in Fire Nation waters. Zuko had bound Mai to another tree as soon as they had landed. She sat silently, still staring sightlessly at the ground. I still feel nothing. Nothing…it's like I've already died on the inside.

The sun was setting to the west. They had flown all that day, landing perhaps an hour before. Now, her captors – or companions? – were putting the finishing touches on their new campsite. Mai still didn't respond, even when the aroma of cooking soup reached her. She vaguely noticed that she was hungry, but she didn't care. Let me starve. I'm a dead woman, anyway. She closed her eyes.

Someone was saying her name. Mai raised her head, blinking confusedly. I must have dozed off. Zuko was kneeling beside her, a bowl of steaming soup in his hands. "Mai," he said again. "Are you awake?"

"Yes." She grimaced as a knot in her shoulder sent sharp pains down the length of her spine.

"Here, I've brought you something to eat." He held up the bowl. "Hungry?"

"No."

"Really?" His brows lowered in a puzzled frown.

"Yes." Mai didn't look at him. She was still numb.

Slowly, Zuko set down the bowl and sat down on the ground, facing her. She could see his legs. It's funny. Once, I would have given anything to be sitting here with him like this. Now…it's meaningless. "Mai." His voice was gentle again. "I'm…I'm not good at talking. But…are you okay?" She said nothing. "Mai, come on. Look at me." She didn't move. "Mai!"

"Leave me alone." She spoke without anger – just three clear, simple words.

He sighed. There was a long pause. "Mai," he said softly, "she's my sister. I know what she does to people. Believe me, I know! Talk to me, Mai. What did she do to you?" Now the numbness was receding; hot anger was bubbling up in her throat. "Mai…"

"Leave me alone!" Her head snapped up, and her flashing silver eyes bored into his. "I said I don't want to talk about it!"

She saw the hurt and anger in his face. Just as quickly as it had come, her own fury died; she was numb again. Mai let her head fall forward. She heard him get up and leave. I don't care. I don't. She closed her eyes again.

Mai woke. The sun was rising, and she seemed to be the only one who was awake. She sighed and laid her head back against the tree, rolling it from side to side to get some of the stiffness out of her neck. A few more nights sleeping against trees, and I won't be able to move my head at all, she thought ruefully.

Movement. Mai's eyes snapped to her right. It was the blind earthbender. The tiny girl was approaching her quietly, her thumbs tucked into the belt she wore around her waist. Toph stopped a few feet from her; her blind eyes seemed to look straight at her. It was a bit unnerving. Mai shivered. "Hey, Sunshine. I'm heading down to the ocean for a morning bath. Wanna come?"

The captive stared at her, shaken out of her misery for a moment. "What? Sunshine?'"

The child grinned. "You coming, or not?"

Was she mocking her? Mai drew herself up. "I don't know it you've noticed," she said icily, "but I'm a prisoner. I'm bound."

"I know that. I'd untie you first, meathead." Toph thrust her hands further into her belt and cocked her head. "So, you coming, or what?"

Mai considered telling her off. Lowborn little tramp…if she'd spoken to me that way in the Fire Nation, I'd have had her whipped! She wriggled her arms in their bonds, and winced as they chafed. Then again, I would like to spend a few minutes without these ropes. It's been a while.

"Aren't you afraid I'll run off?" she asked.

"Where would you run to?" Toph wanted to know. "We're on an island. Unless you can swim pretty good, we've got nothing to worry about. Besides," and her smile grew almost menacing, "I think I can handle you, Sunshine." Mai gave her a sidelong glance. She distinctly remembered having had several narrow escapes from boulders and the like thrown in her direction by the tiny earthbender who stood before her. With Mai disarmed, Toph no doubt could handle her.

After a moment's hesitation, Mai finally nodded stiffly. "Very well."

Toph leaned over her and began to work on the bonds. Despite her delicate-looking fingers, the knots gave way quickly. Mai rubbed the life back into her wrists and slowly rose to her feet. "C'mon, Sunshine!" Toph said cheerfully, turning away. "The best way to the beach is through here." Wordlessly, Mai followed.

The beach was nice. It reminded Mai of the beaches on Ember Island near Zuko's family beach house, where they had played as children. The sand was soft under the soles of her shoes. She battled an impulse to take them off and cool her toes in the shallow water. Folding her arms across her chest, she stood like a statue while the earthbender stripped off her outer clothes and waded carefully up to her chest.

Toph turned her head in her direction. "You coming in? The water's fine."

"Me?" Mai hesitated. It had been a while since she had washed. But then, she didn't want to disrobe in front of…What am I saying? Mai rolled her eyes. The girl is blind! Determinedly, she shed her outer garments and slipped into the water.

The water was cool and refreshing. Mai pulled her hair out, and it fell to her shoulders. It used to be longer than that. She felt a twinge, but determinedly pushed the memories of her imprisonment aside.

When she had finished swimming, Mai made her way to a large rock on the beach and sat down to dress herself again. Toph came out soon afterward. Mai watched with interest as the child put her hair up. Her small fingers skillfully wound up her long, black tresses into a bun, then slipped her ever-present headband in front of it. The girl knows what she's doing! Mai thought, her brows lowering. I've never seen a peasant who knew how to do that…

The blind earthbender approached and flopped down into the sand beneath the rock where Mai was perched. "I kinda had a reason for asking you down here," she said frankly.

"I see." Mai raised an elegant brow. "And what would that be?"

Toph smiled, her unseeing eyes fixed on the rock. "How much do you know about my earthbending, Sunshine?"

Icily, Mai turned away. "I know you bend earth, metal, and somehow see through the ground. And don't call me Sunshine!" – With a flash of anger.

The earthbender merely smiled. "All true. But I can also tell what people are feeling through the vibrations in the earth. I'm pretty good at it, if I do say so myself." She paused. "I just figured you'd want to know – I know you were telling the truth. I was angry at first…you know, about Katara…" Mai winced. "But I don't feel any deception coming from you."

"How reassuring." Mai was uncomfortable. The blind peasant could pretty much read her mind? She thought back to her breakdown, when she had sobbed on Zuko's shoulder, and realized the earthbender must have heard it. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment and anger.

"You don't have to be hostile, Sunny." Toph still didn't seem upset. "You seem to hate Azula pretty good – and anybody who hates Azula can't be all bad. I won't say I exactly trust you…after all, you've been pretty tight with Princess Meanie Pants for a while now, and that's got to mess with you. But I think you're okay."

Some of Mai's hostility cooled, and she couldn't help but feel a faint amusement. Princess Meanie Pants? "I…appreciate the thought," she said, letting some of the ice thaw from her voice. "Thank you."

Toph nodded absently, plucking a blade of grass that was poking up from the sand at the base of the rock. She popped it into her mouth and chewed absently. "So you and Prince Sparky used to have a thing, huh?"

Mai bristled again. How dare she? How dare he? "Been flaunting his conquests, has he?"

"Nope." Toph moved the straw from one corner of her mouth to the other. "I can feel it whenever you two talk. Plus it only makes sense…you saved our guys' butts at Boiling Rock, and as far as I know, he was the only one you knew well enough to do something like that for. That," the blind child added, "is another reason I think you're okay."

The Fire Nation girl couldn't restrain an ironic smile. She had done what she had done purely for Zuko, and not to endear herself to anyone – but maybe it would have some side benefits. "It wasn't as great as it sounded."

"Probably not. Most things aren't." Toph shrugged. "But I know what you're capable of. You've left a mark or two on me in your day!" She smiled ruefully and held up her arm, displaying a thin white scar on her wrist. "That's your handiwork right there." Mai said nothing. "Anyway, I have a question for you, Sunshine, and I wanted to ask you over here where the others wouldn't hear." She cocked her head, fixing her blind eyes on Mai's face. "Would you fight alongside us, if you got the chance?"

Mai blinked. "Alongside you?" she echoed. Spirits, this earthbender is nothing if not unpredictable. "I'm your prisoner. I was sent to kidnap and kill your people."

"Sure. And Zuko tracked us for months, over three different countries. But there he is, training Aang how to firebend." Toph shrugged. "You can redeem yourself, you know."

There was that word again – redemption! Mai shuddered, remembering the last time she had heard it. She could see Azula's glittering golden eyes, and see the smile curving her red lips. Would you like a chance to redeem yourself? The floodgates opened. The fire, and the agony…

Something touched Mai's arm! She sprang backward with a cry of terror and rage. Her foot caught on something, and she fell heavily. "Easy! Easy there, Sunshine." Toph's concerned voice cut through the memories. Gasping, she looked around, and found herself lying flat on her back in the sand, with the blind earthbender standing over her. "Hey, you all right?" the girl asked. "You just wigged out. Been hitting the cactus juice or something?"

"No!" Mai's voice sounded more like a sob than she had intended. "I mean, yes. I mean…I'm all right." She swallowed her panic with an effort. Her heart was still hammering in her ears. What was that?

Gently but firmly, Toph reached down, took Mai's arm, and helped her up. "Sit down," she commanded. "Your heart's going a mile a minute! Relax."

"Let me go!" Mai pulled her arm out of Toph's grasp, but she did sit down. Slowly, her breathing slowed, and she felt more like herself. After a moment or two, she glanced up at the earthbender. The girl was standing quietly, her face inscrutable. "I'm…sorry," she said grudgingly.

"Nothing to be sorry about," Toph said calmly. "You think you're the first traumatized person I've talked to? Suki had some pretty crazy freakouts for a while. She still does, sometimes."

Suki. The head of that group of geisha warriors. Hadn't Azula sent her to the Boiling Rock? She must have been one of the prisoners who escaped – on the same day I betrayed Azula. Mai shivered. Funny, the things that she could remember. "I'm fine," she muttered.

Toph smiled as if she didn't really believe her, but let it pass. "So would you?"

Mai blinked. "Would I what?"

"Fight alongside us. You remember! – If you got the chance."

There was a pause as Mai considered this. "I doubt I'll ever get that chance," she said quietly. "But…if you were fighting Azula, then yes, I would."

"That's all I wanted to know." Toph nodded gravely. She seemed much older than she looked. – Then again, with this war, most of us do. Mai looked away. "Listen, we better get back up to the camp. If they see we're both gone, they're going to think you carried me off or something." Mai, trying to gather the tattered shreds of her dignity, inclined her head gravely and followed the blind earthbender back to the campfire.

None of the others were up yet. Without being told, Mai quietly sat down with her back to the tree and held out her hands. Toph hesitated; a pink flush rose on her pale cheeks. "Er…I'm sorry about this, Sunshine," she said, stooping and picking up the ropes. She tied Mai's wrists together. The cords jerked tight around Mai's body, securing her to the tree once again. "There. Is that all right? Too tight?"

"It's fine." The curtain of apathy had dropped back over Mai's spirit. "It doesn't matter, anyway."

"Sure it does." Mai could hear the smile in Toph's voice, even if she wasn't looking at her. "If I damage you, Prince Sparky will sulk at me!" She laughed a little and turned away. "I'm going to make some breakfast. Porridge sound good?"

"Whatever." Mai leaned her head back again. She noticed that her swim had loosened a lot of the muscles in her back and neck. I guess I owe her, she thought reluctantly. The corners of her lips twitched in the suggestion of a smile. Never thought I'd see the day when I'd be grateful to the Avatar's earthbender!