When we got on the tank train we were going to use to chase the Avatar, I was excited.

"Look at this! There are bunk beds! I call top! Ooh, look! There's even a car for our mongoose dragons!" I had already snapped back into the overwhelming excitement act I had used for so many years. I spoke faster and higher pitched. Polite people called me bubbly. I knew I was annoying. But I didn't mind because it was the annoyance factor that kept most people from probing too deeply and that was the way I liked it.

A day in to our trip, though, tucked away in a passenger cabin that was starting to feel progressively smaller, I was less pleased. Mai was near silent, polishing her knives again and again. This, at least, was normal. Azula's silence was not. She spent most of her time instructing other people what to do, but she had not said more than three words to either of us since we boarded and let us do what we wanted. Mai would disappear into the washroom frequently and I just sat on my bunk, quiet as the rest of them.

The morning of the second day, however, Azula snapped back into herself. She commanded our attention, discussing strategies and counter-strategies nonstop. She talked through until dinner, only then pausing. She looked at both of us with that look she gets when she knows something you don't. a chill ran down my back. I knew things were about to change abruptly.

"So, ladies," she started, drawing out the suspense. "We haven't really had much time to catch up yet, have we? At least, not surrounded by spies and the such, like at Omashu." she smiled a slow smile, as if she already knew our secrets. "What would you say if I proposed a friendly game of Truth or Dare, just to shorten the process a bit."

"Truth or Dare? We're not in the Royal Fire Academy anymore." Mai answered, and I couldn't help agreeing with her. I had expected something much worse from Azula.

"Too childish? Then what do you suggest?" Azula answered, her eyes flashing. She was in a dangerous mood. Her aura, usually a deep crimson, was shot through with more black than I had ever seen before I left. It would be a bad idea for Mai to keep pushing her.

I suppose Mai picked up on the signals even without being an aura reader because she agreed to play Truth or Dare. Azula smirked at her, arranging herself on her bed.

"Who wants to go first, then? Maybe you, Mai, since you've deigned to play this childish game with us." Azula's every word was dripping with sarcasm. Only an idiot would say no.

"I'd love to go first." Mai deadpanned, pushing the limits much farther than I would ever dare to. I'm not exaggerating when I say I was worried for her life.

"Perfect. Truth or dare?" Azula had her eyes locked on Mai's, challenging her to make another move. "Just remember, I'll know if you're lying. And you won't like the consequences." The open threat only increased the tension in the room, already big enough to choke me. Mai was playing with fire, quite literally.

Thankfully, Mai slumped back on her bunk, dropping Azula's gaze. The tension diffused a little, but Azula was still on the offensive.

"Truth, I guess." The apathy had returned to Mai's tone, signaling that she was no longer interested in conflict. Azula's eyes remained sharp.

"What's wrong with your arms?" she spat out like she had the question prepared in advance. You could see the shock and fear in Mai's eyes for an instant, though she covered it quickly. Azula had struck right where she wanted to.

"Nothing is wrong with my arms. I don't know what you're talking about." She answered quickly. Azula was not satisfied with this answer.

"Prove it. Show me."

"No. I said truth, not dare." all of the sudden there was fire in Mai's eyes too, fiercely protective. There was something wrong with her arms that she didn't want us to know about. That much was clear.

"Fine," Azula turned her laser glare to me next. "Ty Lee? Truth or dare?" I couldn't tell what she wanted from me, so I chose randomly.

"Dare," I answered, sounding more confident than I felt. Azula smiled a dangerous smile. I chose wrong.

"Kiss me." My jaw dropped. I read in her eyes that this was a test, but my mind was spiraling out of control. I had loved her for years upon years. I had fantasized this moment a million times over. Azula wanted me to kiss her. I wanted to kiss Azula. Everything was falling into place. This was it.

I don't even remember getting off my bunk. All I know is I found myself sitting within inches of her, feeling her body heat. I could see every feature of her beautiful face with pristine clarity. This was the moment I had been waiting for for spirits knows how long. My breaths were coming fast and short and for a moment I was worried I would pass out before I even got to kiss her and ruin everything.

I just went for it. I pulled her into the kiss, feeling her soft, soft lips against mine, my hands in her hair and oh spirits it was the best moment of my life. I wanted to kiss her forever and I knew I still loved her and always would and none of it mattered if she would just keep kissing me.

She broke the embrace quickly though. I'm ashamed to say I was short of breath. Azula wiped off her mouth and looked away from me. Reality came crashing down on me. It was a test. She didn't care about me. I took a deep breath and went back to my bed, trying to pick up the scattered pieces of my heart. I would not cry. I would not cry, not in front of her, and if it killed me she would never know how I felt about her. That kiss was the beginning and end of our relationship and that was that. I hardened my eyes.

"What about you?" I asked. She looked at me pointedly.

"I'm not playing." She answered, so sharply that I had to wonder what she was protecting.

"Truth or dare?"

"I'm not playing."

"Truth or dare?"

"I'm not playing, Ty Lee. What don't you understand about that?" she spat at me, looking disgusted. I didn't want to cause trouble with her, but if she was going to abuse me like that than she sure as hell was going to play Truth or Dare.

"Come on, Azula. Won't you deign to play with us?" Mai asked from the shadows of her bed, her eyes belying her casual posture. Azula looked at her, then at me.

"Fine. I will play one round. I will choose truth. Be careful." She put on her most queenly tone, like she was doing us a favor by playing. I looked at Mai, afraid to ask the wrong question. Azula's aura had only gotten darker as the night went on. She looked back at me, just as worried. Azula watched the two of us with a smile. "I'll give you a minute to think of a question." And with that she got up and walked into the mongoose dragon car. I hopped off my bed and ran over to Mai.

"What do we do?" I whispered

"We can back off and do something easy, or we can hit her hard." Mai was still shrouded in shadow. I couldn't see expression.

"Easy. Please easy." I answered fast.

"Then it's up to you." She said, motioning for me to get off her bed. I was shocked and confused. Mai had never acted like this before.

When Azula returned, I was back up on my bed and had my question set.

"Well?" she asked, look back and forth between us. I cleared my throat and she zeroed in on me.

"Your question is: what's your favorite animal?" I mumbled. I knew it was stupid. But it wouldn't get me killed. Azula just laughed at me, then announced it was time for us to go to bed.

We gained on the Avatar and his friends quickly, following a trail from his flying bison, and we caught up within a day. We had a small battle on a mountain, but they flew off quickly. We found them again the next day, or rather, a campsite they had recently vacated and stopped to look around.

"Wads of wet fur. How delightful." Mai said, plucking some of the animal fur out of a nearby river. I walked over and joined her.

"Hmm… they're not wads. They're more like bundles… or bunches? It's an uh sound." We had been keeping our dialogue fairly meaningless since the game. There was a tension on the tank train at all times and it was smothering in such a small was nice to get out in the open air where our troubles could spread out as much as they wanted. Azula had been acting nice since the incident, and her aura had been lighter, but she was still not entirely stable. I swore to myself I would apologize just as soon as I thought I could without getting my head blown off.

"Clumps?" Mai offered and it took me a second to figure out what she was talking about.

"Clumps! They're clumps!" I shouted once I understood, giving her a big hug. I was trying to be nothing more than funny, happy Ty Lee and praying that Mai, too, would forget the events of that night. She got out of the embrace, looking at the trail of fur that went into the distance.

"The trail goes this way" she pointed out. Azula, however, was looking at the trees in the opposite direction.

"The Avatar is trying to give us the slip," she announced. She pointed out the broken treetops, showing signs of a flying something flying a little too low. "You two head in that direction," she gestured towards the trees. "And keep an eye out for the bison. I'll follow this trail." She jumped onto her mongoose dragon and took off, and Mai and I did the same.

It took us a bit to catch up to them, despite the speed of our rides. I decided to take advantage of our privacy, being that it was the first time we had been alone together yet.

"Hey, Mai?" I started tentatively.

"Yeah?" she answered, sounding abstracted, still scanning the skies.

"So… about the other night…" I trailed off, not really knowing where I was going. She instinctively tensed, pulling her arms in closer, reminding me of her adamant denials. Maybe I would ask her about it. "Well… I just, uh, thought it was really weird that Azula made me kiss her. What's up with that?" I forced a laugh and glanced over at her. She looked back at me with a 'how dumb do you think I am?' kind of look. She was not impressed. "I mean it, I didn't want to kiss her!" I tried.

"I totally believe you." She deadpanned, rolling her eyes. She caught sight of the bison and took off, throwing knives at the sky and they crossed a river looking for sanctuary. The mongoose dragons just ran across the water and you could hear their gasps on the other side. I laughed. We both leaped off our steeds, Mai throwing knives before she even hit the ground. I jumped from tree to tree, focusing in on the water bending girl with a flurry of punches. Mai started shooting at the girl and I took on the guy, clearly a nonbender, knocking out his limbs within a few seconds. When I tried to head-butt him, though, I just bounced off and it hurt.

"Nice try, but no." he answered me from where he lay on the ground. He then attempted to rescue the girl, whom Mai had pinned to a tree. "How you doing?" he asked, looking at her.

"Well, you know," she answered, sounding stressed. It was actually pretty funny.

"I thought when Ty Lee and I finally caught you guys it would be more exciting." Mai said with a sigh, walking towards our prey, ready to capture them for good, when were both knocked into the river by their bison. The current was too strong to swim back, so we made our way to the opposite side.

"Was it just me, or was that guy kind of cute?" I asked in another pitiful attempt to convince her that I'm not in love with Azula. She just groaned.

Hi all. I'm going to try very hard to keep my updates on time, but I'm back in school now so there might be some delays. Well, see you next week!

-N