Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or anything related to it.
Chapter Ten
Tossing pebbles into the water as he walked along the side of a small creek, Zuko soaked in the much-needed solitude. It's been a number of days now since they had left that town with their supplies and pockets replenished. In the end, to everyone's surprise, it was the Aang and Iroh performing duo that had earned the most income. Zuko and Katara came in at a close second, but that was mostly because Katara had raked in a sizable amount in tips. Not having run into any more Fire Nation troops, their travels had been rather quiet and peaceful since. By Sokka's calculations, they should reach the southern coast in the next day or so.
Today they had set up camp a bit earlier than usual, so everyone broke off to find his or her own pastime. Zuko took this opportunity to spend some time alone and think about how his life had once again taken a sharp turn. How did he end up going from hunting "the Avatar" to traveling with "Aang" in such a short amount of time? It was unbelievable to say the least.
At first, he kept telling himself that he only helped the boy and stayed with the group for his uncle's sake. But in time, he really did grow to like the airbender as well as his friends. In some weird way, it was like he belonged somehow. However, that sense of belonging…although it made him happy…also carried a weight with it. He was afraid to accept it, because he knew what it would mean, what it could lead to. He would be lying if he said he didn't consider everyone he was traveling with as his friend. Even Sokka. But there was a dangerously thin line between friendship and alliance. Once he crossed that line, there will be no turning back. Being allies with the Avatar would mean making enemies with the Fire Lord.
Zuko knew that Aang was waiting for his answer, but going against his father was still something he couldn't bring himself to do. It wasn't as simple as just defying his father. It was defying him with the intention of bringing him to his fall, and that was what troubled Zuko. The man may not have ever loved him as a son, but he was still Zuko's father.
At the same time, he was beginning to feel like he couldn't just leave Aang hanging to deal with everything on his own. The boy already had such a huge burden to bear. As a friend, one who owed him plenty, it would be difficult to just stand by and do nothing. Zuko truly wanted for Aang to be successful in everything he did, no matter what the task may be, because he deserved so much. But why did it have to be this?
And the throne? Zuko could honestly say that he didn't care much about it at this point. There were more important things on his mind than simply securing his place in the world. The life of his father or the life of his friend. In the face of such difficult choices, the throne itself became rather insignificant.
Looking up at the blush-colored sky with the sun getting ever closer to the horizon, Zuko suddenly realized how late it was. It's already that time again, huh?
Taking a deep breath, he pushed his troubles aside for the time being. Then with a smirk on his face, he turned around and picked up his pace, directing his thoughts to something more exciting: a rematch.
As he walked, he mused about how it all began. It really started more as a stress reliever than anything else. Ever since he and Katara first fought it out, they'd been repeating themselves every day. Each night, the loser would demand a rematch, and the winner would accept and designate the next match to be at sunset the following day. Somewhere along the way, the venom went away. What began as a daily venting from having to put up with each other's existence turned into more of a constructive sparring routine. Usually by the next match, the loser will have developed a counterattack to use against the winner's winning move from the previous night. He definitely noticed an improvement in his fighting and bending skills, and he actually found Katara's company enjoyable now that she wasn't glaring at him day in and playing tricks on him day out anymore. By now, they no longer verbally requested rematches. They knew they could count on each other to show up when the time came…just like he knew she'd be waiting for him now in the clearing on the other side of the trees in front of him.
He stepped through the trees, and there she was, turning around to face him with a hand on her hip. "You're late." A grin spread across her face. "Not scared, are you?"
Zuko smirked. "It's seven to six in my favor. Why should I be scared?"
Water from the creek was already gravitating towards Katara. "You'll have plenty of reasons once this fight is over!" With a glint in her eyes, a smile on her face, and ribbons of water trailing her every move, Katara rushed at Zuko.
Another round began.
With both of his legs and one arm wrapped tightly around the tree branch, Sokka stretched his other limb out, reaching for the very big and very red apple dangling before him. "…almost…there…" For him to find these huge luscious apple trees in the middle of the forest they were passing through, it must have been his lucky day.
Glancing down to see if his friends were waiting for him, Sokka found that they had in fact already started to head off without him. "Hey! Wait, you guys!" he hollered and frowned in annoyance when nobody did as he asked or even bothered to answer. He just couldn't understand why nobody seemed to share his excitement for free food. Determined not to walk away empty-handed, he resumed his task with an exasperated huff.
Reaching out once again for the juicy prize, his mouth began to water when the tips of his fingers finally touched the apple. But before he could grasp it in his hands, a small dagger came out of nowhere and cut it from the tree.
"Need some help with that?"
Sokka really, REALLY didn't want to look and see who was talking to him, because he had a feeling he already knew. Forcing himself to crane his neck up, he saw a girl with long dark hair, clad from neck to toe in deep dark colors, standing on a tree branch not too far away. His high pitched scream pierced the air. "Fire Nation! RUN!!"
That definitely caught everyone's attention. Senses alert, they began scanning their surroundings, looking for signs of trouble. Little did they know, they had already walked into the trap. Numerous Fire Nation soldiers suddenly descended upon them, jumping down from the trees and surrounding them with their weapons at the ready.
Toph knitted her brows. Why didn't I sense them coming?!
At this point, a pink-clad girl made her light-footed landing within the ring of soldiers. "Wow! I thought you'd never come!" Ty Lee said as she stretched her stiff muscles, perky as ever. "We've been waiting up in those trees all day!"
Within the circle, they all took their stances, sizing up their numerous opponents while trying to think of a way out of their situation.
Up in the trees, Sokka was still wrapped securely around his branch as he watched the scene unfold below.
"Hey," Mai called out to him apathetically. "Are you going to do this tree-hugging thing all day, or are we going to do this?"
Sokka frowned at her, tightening his hug around the branch defiantly. "I'll do whatever I want, and you can't do a damn thing abou—"
A knife planted itself in front of his face, barely a hair's width away from his nose, before he could finish. The Water Tribe boy gulped and mumbled, "All right, maybe you can."
Suddenly springing into action, he pulled the knife out of the branch and jumped to his feet, throwing the weapon back at Mai. When she dodged, he leaped to another tree branch in escape.
Mai pulled out another set of knives and pursued.
A couple of branches later, Sokka grabbed hold of a higher branch, using his momentum to swing himself up onto that branch. Then with a swift motion, he pulled out his boomerang as he turned around and threw the weapon at the girl.
Everyone tensed as the ring of soldiers kept inching closer, but it didn't seem like anyone was about to attack.
Beside Aang, Zuko whispered, "Looks like they're waiting for us to make the first move."
"Then I guess that's what we'll do," the monk whispered back. "APPA!"
The giant bison, who was also within the circle, growled as he turned and swung his powerful tail. In a split second, a quarter of the soldiers was tossed back. Then baring his teeth and putting on his fiercest expression, the fluffy monster charged at the soldiers on the other side of the circle. Fearful for their lives, said soldiers turned tail and ran as fast as they could as Appa chased them into the distance. The ring of soldiers was now broken and fighting broke out as everyone began taking on enemies closest to them.
A pair of sword wielding soldiers charged at Zuko and Aang simultaneously from opposite ends. As Aang's attacker swung his weapon, aiming for the monk's head, the boy evaded simply by squatting down. Taking a deep breath, Aang blew out a forceful blast of air at the soldier's mid section and sent him flying back, though not before he dropped his sword. The monk caught the weapon before it hit the ground then turned around and tossed it to his friend. "Zuko! Catch!"
The firebender caught it just in time to parry the strike from the second soldier. When the soldier came again with another swing, Zuko sidestepped the attack and clamped his hand around his opponent's sword wielding hand. Instantaneously raising the temperature of his palm to an unbearable degree, he forced the soldier to drop his weapon. Then he pulled the man forward and kneed him in the gut. The man collapsed into a heap as Zuko retrieved his weapon. Giving the pair of broadswords in his hands a test swing, the prince smirked. Perfect.
The two boys made eye contact again for just a brief moment before wordlessly breaking off. This wasn't the time for talk or congratulations. The fight had only just begun.
If there was one thing Katara hated more than fighting Ty Lee, it was fighting Ty Lee with a limited supply of water. With no source of water nearby, the amount of liquid in her water skin was all the fighting power she had. That was definitely a bad thing, since she needed to stick with long-range attacks in order to protect herself from her opponent's magic fingers. The only long-range attack currently at her disposal that would not deplete her water supply was the water whip, which she had been relying on for a while now without much success. Damn that girl and her somersaults! And she knew from experience that if she were to keep using the whip, Ty Lee would find an opening before long. She had to switch tactics now.
Calling back her whip, Katara quickly froze the water into a pole in front of her, reaching from the ground up to the height of her waist. Then with continuous outward sweeps of her hands over the pole, shaving off a thin top layer with every pass, she sent a series of mini ice discs towards her opponent.
Ty Lee, though quick and agile, was unable to dodge all of the attacks, suffering a series of small cuts on her limbs. "Ouch! That hurts!" she said with a wince, as she came out of her series of flips.
Taking this distraction as her opportunity, the waterbender melted her ice pole back down to liquid and reshaped them into a series of ice daggers, suspending them in mid air in front of her. When she swung her arms out to either side, her projectiles sped forth.
Seeing this, the acrobat dived forward just in time, going under the flying weapons, tucking into a roll. As she came out of the roll, she was kneeling right in front of Katara.
The waterbender only had enough time to gasp before Ty Lee dealt a series of jabs to various parts of her waist and legs. Suddenly losing all sensation to the lower half of her body, Katara collapsed to the ground.
Up in the trees, leaping his way back towards the group after leading Mai around in a big loop, said girl still on his tail, Sokka saw what happened to his sister and called out her name in concern. "Katara!"
Not too far away from Katara, fending off four spear wielding soldiers around him with his pair of broadswords, Zuko heard Sokka and turned to seek out the cause of the Water Tribe boy's alarm. Seeing the waterbender on the ground with Ty Lee hovering over her, Zuko realized he needed to wrap up his fight quickly. Jumping back to break away from his opponents, he said, "Come again, all at once."
The four soldiers, now standing in a line, eyed each other then shrugged and charged with their spears.
Now that the spears were lined up nice and neat, all it took was one powerful clean swing of Zuko's swords and the spears all broke in two. As the soldiers stood staring dumbfounded at the short sticks in their hands, the prince turned and ran off, wondering what exactly it was that these men were being taught in the army these days.
Zuko knew he wouldn't get there soon enough, so he threw one of his swords as he ran, aiming for Ty Lee. The acrobat jumped back and cartwheeled away, just as the sword planted itself right where she had been. The prince threw his second sword, forcing the girl to retreat even further. As he reached the fallen waterbender, he picked up the first sword and hurled it once more at Ty Lee, trying to keep her as far back as possible. Then, not waiting to see if it hit or not, he swooped Katara up into his arms and took off.
"Hey, Zuko! That's not fair!" Ty Lee said as she gave chase. Then a boomerang came from behind and passed through the air in front of her, catching her attention. "Oh! It's the cute Water Tribe boy!" she said excitedly. She turned around just as Sokka leaped down from the trees and caught the returning boomerang, looking at her with a serious glare. At that, her smile only brightened. "Looks like you want me to play with you instead."
At this point, Mai had caught up and came down from the trees as well.
"Mai! I'm taking this one. Zuko's all yours!" With Zuko and Katara now forgotten, Ty Lee set her sights on Sokka.
Without saying a word, Mai simply picked up her pace and went after the prince.
Katara felt rather lame being carried away the way that she was. She was a waterbending master after all. Where was her dignity? "Hey! Put…put me down!" she protested with an embarrassed blush.
"Scream later! I'm a bit busy right now!" Looking over his shoulder, Zuko realized it was Mai behind him, not Ty Lee. He cursed under his breath.
"Just put me down!"
"Look, we're already at a disadvantage, so stop bothering me! Mai can match my speed without problems. And now that I have a load in my hands, I—"
"Are you saying I'm heavy?!" Katara exclaimed indignantly.
Zuko winced. Maybe I should have used a more flattering term… "If you want to be useful, then spot for me!" he said, trying to change the subject.
"Spot for what?!" As if to answer her question, a series of stilettos rushed past them, much too close for comfort. Turning her head to look behind Zuko, Katara saw Mai with a set of knives held up in her hand, poised for another attack. "To the right!"
Zuko shifted to the right as he ran, anticipating the weapons to come through on his left side. Instead, they came on his right side, and one of the knives made a rather deep cut in his arm, causing him to wince with a hiss.
"No! Don't move to the right!" Katara said sharply. "She's throwing them to the right!"
"Be more specific!!"
Meanwhile, Toph, Iroh, and Aang were left to deal with the remaining soldiers. Toph, however, didn't think much of it. Though numerous, her opponents weren't much of a challenge. She was just in the middle of thinking that when she heard a sharp swoosh from behind. Her hairs stood on end as she realized what it was. Arrows! But she knew there was no chance of her blocking, because by the time the arrows could be heard, they were already within striking distance. She braced herself for the hit when a strong gust of wind rushed in from her side, forcing the arrows off course. "Twinkle Toes!"
Another wave of arrows followed the first, but by now Aang had already placed himself between Toph and her attackers who were hiding somewhere up in the trees behind the thick foliage. With his staff in hand, he deflected the aerial attacks. "They brought Yu Yan archers!" He frowned as he continued to defend her. The archers had been up there waiting for their opportunity this entire time. They were targeting Toph specifically because of her blindness, and that made him mad. "Iroh, I'll leave things here to you. I'm going after those archers!"
Aang took off and airbended his way up into the trees within seconds, catching the archers off guard. They retreated, but not before Aang was able to see that there were three of them. The boy pursued.
Back on the ground, Iroh turned to give Aang a response, only to find that he had already disappeared. "Uh…"
"Iroh!" It was Toph this time. "I think Sokka needs some backup! Take care of things here!" With that, she took off as well.
Iroh held out his arm towards her and opened his mouth to ask her to wait, but she was already long gone. The old firebender placed a hand on his forehead and shook with a sigh as all the remaining soldiers surrounded him. Getting into his stance, his eyes scanned across his opponents. "Well, children. Looks like it's just you and me."
"Ha! Gotcha!" Ty Lee exclaimed triumphantly. After a while of their strike and dodge dance, she finally made a solid hit and immobilized Sokka's right arm. When he swung his other arm at her, she ducked under the limb and came back up behind him. Taking the knife from the leather pouch strapped around his waist, she jumped back, holding up her prize teasingly.
Sokka turned to face her with knitted brows. "Hey, give that back!" He lunged for it with his good arm many times over, but she skillfully kept it out of his reach.
Ty Lee giggled. "It's like we're frolicking in the woods!"
Sokka smacked his head with his hand, getting agitated. "We are most definitely NOT frolicking! Now give it back!" He reached out again, and this time she jabbed her fingers into his arm, rendering that limb useless as well.
She chuckled and waved the knife in front of him. "Can I keep this as a memento of the fun time we had together today?"
"NO!" Sokka practically screamed while stomping his foot on the ground multiple times. "And it hasn't been fun! What's wrong with you?!"
Ty Lee only chuckled some more at his agitation, but that came to an abrupt stop when she found her feet suddenly encased in stone. She looked down with a gasp. When she looked back up, Sokka's leg was already in mid strike, the bottom of his foot about to connect with her abdomen. Reflexively, she bent back into the bridge position to evade. However, as soon as her hands touched the ground, the earth came up and locked them in place as well. Now that she was finally looking behind her with her head upside down, she saw Toph approaching.
"Now, this seems familiar," Toph said, looming over the captured acrobat with folded arms and a smug grin on her face. This was exactly how she had caught Ty Lee back in Ba Sing Se. "You're not very bright, are you?"
Weaving through the branches with his glider, Aang was about to catch up with the first archer. Retracting the wings to transform the glider back into a staff while hovering in the airspace above the archer, he twirled the staff in his hands a few times then swung it down, whacking the archer hard on the head. The man lost consciousness so fast, he fell out of the tree without so much as a yelp.
At this point, one of the two remaining archers turned around and retaliated, shooting multiple arrows at a time in rapid successions as the aribender rushed towards him. The archer's aim was perfect, but Aang's reflexes were equally amazing. The archer wasn't able to do much more than put tears in the boy's clothes. He continued to shoot as the boy drew closer, leaping from branch to branch. Then he saw the boy whip out his glider and jump up into the air.
The archer moved his aim up higher, trailing the glider. But to his surprise, the glider was empty. A decoy! By the time he looked in front of him again, Aang was already coming at him with a flying kick to his chest. The attack knocked him off, and he screamed all the way to the ground with a thud as everything faded to black.
Aang jumped back up to his glider, his eyes scanning the surrounding area. He had lost track of the last archer.
Then a series of arrows came down from above, puncturing numerous holes into his glider. The young monk began to fall, bumping into a few branches along the way. He let go of his glider as he got closer to the ground and sent a blast of air downward to cushion his landing. As soon as his feet hit the ground, he immediately went back up into the trees. However, he had lost sight of the archer again, and everything grew quiet.
The two had entered into a game of hide and seek. Every so often, arrows would come flying at Aang from out of nowhere. But whenever the boy turned to look, he would find no one. This isn't getting anywhere.
Another string of arrows came from behind Aang, and this time one of them got him in the shoulder. The boy gasped in pain then, losing balance, fell off his perch. After dropping about ten feet, his stomach connected with another branch. "Oof!" His body went limp.
The archer finally came out of hiding and approached the unconscious airbender. Pulling out a rope, he reached out to tie up his captive when the boy suddenly sprung to life and rolled out of the way, snatching the rope with him.
Jumping to his feet with a grin despite the stinging pain from the arrow still lodged in his shoulder, Aang said in an almost singsong voice, "Found you."
The monk swiftly swung the rope, which looped around the back of the archer's calves before returning to the boy's grasp. Pulling on both ends, he tugged the archer's feet out from under him. Aang tied his ankles together with one end of the rope before he had a chance to get back up. Then he secured the other end of the rope around the branch.
Sitting up and finally noticing what was being done to him, the archer blanched. "Wh…what are you doing?"
"This!" Aang said as he kicked the man off.
"AHH!!" The archer screamed in fear as he swung back and forth, hanging upside down.
Aang reached over his shoulder until his hand found the arrow. Then bracing himself, he pulled it out with a hiss. Tossing the arrow aside, he hurried back to help his friends.
Toph, Sokka, and Aang returned to Iroh at the same time, anxious to help the old firebender out with all the soldiers. However, by the time they got there, they were already too late.
Littered all over the forest floor was a bunch of unconscious Fire Nation soldiers. Sitting in the middle of it all was Iroh, enjoying a cup of hot tea. Curled up beside him in naptime position was Appa, who had returned after getting his fill of exercise from soldier chasing.
Seeing the young ones return, Iroh looked up with a bright smile. "You came just in time! The tea is ready."
The kids on the other hand, were rendered speechless, finding themselves impressed and terrified all at once.
"I can't believe it…" Sokka finally found his voice. "The Dragon of the West just flexed his muscles, and we ALL missed it!!!" he hollered as his arms dangled limply from side to side. He frowned down at his swaying limbs then eyed the two benders standing beside him. "Hey, guys. Little help with the arms here?"
Toph and Aang both sighed, but did as he asked, each holding one of his arms up.
With his dramatic body expression in place, Sokka repeated himself. "…and we ALL missed it!!!"
Looking around, Aang suddenly realized something. "Where're Zuko and Katara?"
Zuko knew he couldn't put off the inevitable any longer. Mai was closing in. He had to fight. Tossing Katara over one shoulder, holding her in place with one arm, he turned to prepare for his opponent's arrival.
Katara, with the top half of her body now draping upside down over Zuko's back, gritted her teeth, thinking that this must undoubtedly be the worst day of her life. "Hey! What do you think I am?! A piece of meat?!" She pounded his back in frustration.
The prince winced. "Deal with it! I can't fight with no hands!" Distracted, he nearly got caught in a spray of throwing stars. Following closely behind the weapons was Mai.
Zuko jumped back and swung his free arm in a downward arc to set the ground on fire, raising a wall of flames between himself and his attacker. However, that didn't really buy him much time. Moments later, Mai burst through the flames with a pair of stilettos in her hands, ready for close combat.
It didn't take long for Zuko to realize that fighting the girl was an equally bad idea. Mai was quick and precise. It took everything he had just to steer clear of her weapons' thrusts. And with a load…correction: with a delicate ton of weight on his shoulder, which he was trying to keep away from her, she had him completely on the defensive.
Just then, he spotted something in his peripheral vision. There was a cave at the base of a small cliff, not too far away. If he could outrun her and get there first, he might have a chance.
Ducking down to avoid Mai's next attack, he picked up a handful of dirt and threw it into her eyes. When she shielded with her sleeve, he made a run for it towards the cave.
Mai followed, pausing at the cave entrance to take another look at the forest behind her before going in. With her eyes still not adjusted to the dark, she moved forward with cautious steps, keeping her ears open.
Then a stream of flames came at her from somewhere off to the side, momentarily lighting up the cave as it scorched her upper arm. She had barely registered the pain when she received a kick to her side that sent her to the ground. "Ow," she said as she placed a hand over her aching side. "That hurts, Zuko." To anyone who didn't know Mai, that statement would have sounded flat. But by Mai's standards, that tone of voice expressed plenty of agitation.
She scooted over to the cave wall so she could lean up against it and examine the burn on her arm. Now that her eyes were accustomed to the dimness, she could see that it wasn't pretty. Even the slightest touch caused her to suck in her breath through gritted teeth. "Damn. If I knew how much this stings, I wouldn't have let you get me."
Still breathing hard, Zuko remained in stance, though he really wasn't quite sure what he should do. He was more confused than anything else. Mai had been recruited by Azula to help her capture Aang and himself. But despite all that, she had helped him escape. And now she was pursuing him again. He frowned. "What's your game, Mai? Where's Azula?"
She held his gaze for a moment then looked away before speaking. "Listen to me, Zuko. I don't have much time," she said, her voice all business now. "Azula sent Ty Lee and myself to capture you, Iroh, and the Avatar while she remains in Ba Sing Se to play ruler. But…she probably expects that we'd fail. She already knows about the whole solar eclipse thing, you know. She's maneuvering troops from other Fire Nation controlled cities in the Earth Kingdom to Ba Sing Se and even requested troops from the Fire Nation itself. With Ba Sing Se as her base, she's planning a massive attack on a number of neighboring major cities…all to take place around the time of the solar eclipse when the Avatar can be expected to be at the Fire Nation."
Katara's eyes widened, suddenly forgetting that she was being lugged around like a sack of potatoes. Is she giving us information?
"But if Azula knows about the eclipse, why would she take troops away from the Fire Nation and lessen their defenses?" Zuko questioned, unconvinced. "That doesn't make any sense."
"Obviously, neither she nor the Fire Lord himself considers six people on a giant fuzz ball…Avatar or not…as much of an invasion," Mai retorted. They stared at each other, letting the words sink in. Then Mai looked away again. "Well, I just thought you should know."
Zuko scrutinized her carefully. "You expect me to believe you'd betray Azula?"
"Didn't I do that once already?" she replied in her usual half-bored tone of voice. Then she cast her eyes downward, looking within. "Azula's been my friend since childhood. She can make me do a lot of things, but…not everything."
Zuko knew better than to simply take everything at face value. Mai was one of Azula's closest allies after all. "Give me a reason why I should trust you."
"Because we need you," she said, truly serious for the first time.
Zuko frowned. "We? Who's we?"
Mai sighed. "Your country, Zuko. Your people. They're tired of this war."
Even Katara couldn't believe her ears.
"You've been away from our homeland, so I'm not surprised that you don't know," the Fire Nation girl continued. "But ever since the reappearance of the Avatar, there's been a lot of talk among the common class. Heck, even some of the nobles have whispered it."
The prince raised a brow. "Talk?"
"We've been forced to fight this stupid war for generations, endlessly and hopelessly. But with the Avatar's return, people have become a bit more…optimistic. The Avatar doesn't just bring hope to the other nations, Zuko. He brings hope to us, too. Many are starting to believe that the end is near."
"With the recent fall of Ba Sing Se and the soon to return Sozin's Comet, the Fire Nation is practically on the verge of complete victory. The end is already in sight. So, why would they feel the need to depend on the Avatar for anything?" Zuko argued.
Mai glared up at him. "Did you not hear anything I just said?" she asked, her voice uncharacteristically stern. "With what Azula's planning, many people are going to die. Not just Earth Kingdom but Fire Nation as well. What kind of world do you think this will become should Fire Lord Ozai succeed in conquering it?"
Zuko said nothing. He knew all too well. True, the end of the war may be in sight. But if his father wins, the fighting will not stop.
"If we win, it'll just be a victory for the Fire Lord and his high council, not the Fire Nation," Mai continued, echoing his thoughts. "You know how it works. Those in power hunger for more power, and they'll use whatever means necessary to attain their goals, even at the expense of their own people. You of all people should know that. Or did you forget how you came to be banished?"
Zuko glared, but Mai didn't back down, glaring in return.
Perched up in her isolated spot, completely ignored by the other two, Katara wondered what Zuko's banishment had to do with any of this.
Mai's eyes softened, as did her voice. "It's time for change, Zuko. You're much more than what you are right now. I know it. Your people are waiting for you."
"I'm banished, remember?" Zuko said, his eyes downcast. "You just said so yourself. Nobody's waiting for me."
"You were banished by your father, not your people. Your scar is proof of your loyalty. They won't cast you aside so easily."
Katara perked up again. His scar?
"Not many people know about my Agni Kai. Fewer still who knows the reasons behind it."
A slight smirk tugged at the corner of Mai's lips. "Yes, well…I may have accidentally leaked some of that information here and there. Not to mention the crew who went into exile with you and lived to talk about it. They've been more than willing to retell the tragic tale of how their young prince incurred the Fire Lord's wrath in his foolish, yet, noble attempt to defend his people."
Zuko scowled and grumbled at her obvious teasing, causing Mai to actually laugh lightly.
"This sort of underground information spreads quickly. Many more know about it than you think." She got to her feet and winced slightly at the pain in her arm. "I better go before the others catch up." She started to head out.
"Mai, wait!" Zuko called after her. "I can ask Katara to heal that for you." His eyes widened as he suddenly remembered the waterbender over his shoulder. "Oh! Katara!" Setting the girl back on the ground, he gave her an apologetic look. "Can you stand?"
Katara glared daggers at him but nodded nonetheless. With her legs still feeling a bit wobbly, she held on to his arm for support.
"Are you retarded?" Mai asked, back to her old self again. "After all the trouble I went through to get this, you want to heal it? If I'm going to go back empty handed again, I figured I'd better have something to show for it. Azula will laugh at me, but that's better than the alternative." She turned to go.
"Mai!" Zuko stopped her again. "What you're doing…this is treason. Do you understand what you could be getting yourself into?"
Mai turned her head slightly, her back still to them. "Whether or not it's treason depends on where your loyalties lie. And I'm afraid mine has always been with the clumsy boy who fell into a pond trying to save a girl from a flaming apple."
"Mai…" Zuko was completely dumbfounded.
She met his eyes with a small smile. "I'll be waiting for your return…Prince Zuko." That said, she headed back to look for her friend while Zuko was left staring at the spot where she had just been, trying to process everything that had passed between them.
Beside him, Katara was doing pretty much the same thing. Mai seemed to be quite different from what she had always believed. There was more to her than just someone who was searching for a way to cure her boredom. When she was talking with Zuko, it was like she came to life somehow. It was as though that was the real Mai, which she kept masked away most of the time. Katara couldn't help but be impressed by her loyalty to Zuko as well as her people.
Katara turned her thoughts to Zuko. She didn't understand everything that he and Mai had talked about, but from their conversation, she was able to get a pretty good idea about what had happened to him in the past. Things started falling into place, and she felt she had gained a little more insight as to why he was the way he was. Looking back at Zuko, she was beginning to see him in a whole new light.
A/N: I wish I could animate this chapter. The action would be so much easier to tell in pictures than in words. I hope I didn't lose anyone in the mayhem. Heh… I'm so used to typing "Zuko" that whenever I try to type Azula, I always end up typing "Azuko". It's getting on my nerves!! Does this happen to anyone else? Haha! Well, now that I've got this chapter posted, I can go see Spiderman in peace this weekend. Thanks for reading! Reviews appreciated!