Hey! I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender. I do own Markaia, Sam, and other characters that don't belong. Let me know what you guys think! Read and Review please! It means a lot! This was beta'd by F1nal Front1er!
I straightened my back as the voice chuckled. "Why so alarmed, Markaia?" her emotionless voice taunted me. I growled, irritated, and turned around to face Mai. She had a small grin on her face, but other than that it was just her usual straight, emotionless face. "You act as though you'd never expected to see me again."
"I did expect to see you again." I paused, thinking over what I had told Zuko. "In fact, after I reached Ba Sing Se, I planned on finding you." Mai's face twitched a little. I had probably caught her by surprise. I took a small step back, and her eyes quickly darted to my hands.
"I don't believe you." She squinted at me. I stared at her hands and saw the tips of a silver knife or a shuriken; I couldn't be sure. That was one point she had me at. I'd never fought an opponent that could fight with those tiny weapons. Sword fighting was one thing, but shurikens were another story. I decided to change the subject and stop moving.
"Were you the one who set this up?" I asked a little loudly. The fire was getting a little closer and the sounds of falling trees were getting louder. I heard a ruffle behind me and then something fell.
"It was Ty Lee who knew the earthbending police." Mai's eyes moved over to the person behind me, who I assumed to be Ty Lee. "But yes, Markaia, this was a plot to get back at you." Mai's eyes squinted once more, and just like I had remembered from the pond, I saw the jealousy in her eyes.
"Even I was surprised that she could get away from the earthbender," Ty Lee's annoying voice chirped behind me. I cringed. "But we have you now, Markaia."
"You don't deserve to take my only happiness away," Mai growled at me. The knives slid down a little more to reveal themselves. I was confused a little bit, but I didn't have time to think about it before Ty Lee pushed me forward with her feet straight to Mai. Mai caught me by my throat and lifted me slightly. I felt my feet dangle off of the ground. It was amazing to think we were the same height, but she possessed so much strength for a petite person.
"I can see why Azula wanted you to suffer." Mai's eyes were close to tears, but her facial expression told me it wasn't from sadness. Her hand that was grasping my throat and making me choke dropped me before her other hand with the knife came at me. I only had enough time to block it.
I backed away quickly before she could get at me with her knife, but then I bumped into Ty Lee. "I'm sure the Avatar and his team wouldn't miss you," Mai seethed. Ty Lee grabbed my right arm and pulled it behind me before pressing a pressure point in my back; I couldn't move at all due to the agonizing pain. "Don't think you'll be the only one suffering, Markaia. Zuko will also suffer for making a foolish mistake." Ty Lee pulled my hair so I would look up at Mai in the eyes.
Mai's eyes were covered by her short bangs, but I could see that she was tearing up from the jealousy. I yelped in pain as Ty Lee tightened the grip on my arm and pressed harder on the pressure point. "Mai, the fire is near," Ty Lee whispered, slightly scared. I saw Mai nod and Ty Lee pulled me up to my feet, but I still couldn't move; if anything, standing up made the pain a million times worse.
"I don't want to see you again." Mai smiled slightly as Ty Lee pushed me into a tree, face first. The wind was knocked out of me, as my vision got a little blurry. I saw the flames flickering on a tree right next to the one I was leaning on.
There were three sharp pains, two in my hand that was against the tree, and one in the back of my knee. Then, I found I couldn't move either of them. I looked at my hand. Mai had pinned me to the tree with those knives. Was it even possible for her to throw them hard enough to pin my wrist and the side of my knee to the tree? The fire caught on quickly to the tree I was pinned to, and in the distance I saw Mai and Ty Lee heading off towards Ba Sing Se. I winced as I reached with my other hand to the knife in the side of my knee. Warm blood was trickling down my arm and leg; I quickly yanked the knife out of my leg, screaming out in pain.
I felt the fire touching my hand that was pinned, and I used my other hand to put out the fire long enough for me to pull the knife out of my wrist. I dropped them to the ground before landing on my butt hard. My right hand was in agonizing pain and I could barely move it at all, but I didn't have time to think about it because the forest was on fire and I needed to get out of there before Mai got to Zuko, wherever he was.
Pushing myself up with my left hand, I began to hobble down back to the main road. My only chance of seeing Zuko, Mai, or Ty Lee again would be to get caught. I limped down onto the road and looked down the street. More people were trying to put the fire out. I clamped my right hand onto my dress to stop the bleeding. Looking up the road, I saw the barricade of police standing guard. I sucked in a sharp breath as I slowly made my way up the road to the barricade.
When I approached them, they weren't paying attention to me. I guess I didn't fit the description of myself; at least, that's what they said. My face and dress were probably dirty from the ash and smoke, but I didn't want to check. I needed to save Zuko. I clenched my left hand into a fist and then swept my hand up, causing the ground under us to go up in flames. "Let me repeat myself:" I said as I made the fire spread around us, "I am Markaia Tymaine." I put the fire out and allowed them to put me in cuffs.
"You're smart for turning yourself in," the man I had burned earlier in the restaurant said. "Maybe the Fire Nation Army commander will be a little more lenient with you." I slowly followed them as they surrounded me as we walked to Ba Sing Se.
We approached villages of Ba Sing Se, and I felt like a zoo animal on display. People watched as I shamefully walked between the guards, and some parents turned their children away for unknown reasons. It was like the whole world knew that I was a murderer who had broken out of prison. I would never harm a child though. Even though Azula was slightly younger than me (she being only - what, fifteen? - and I was nineteen) and I had killed her, it was for the best. I would never harm innocents though. My mind wandered to Ressie and Tenia.
What would they think of me now that I was the murderer of a child? How ashamed would they be for even considering to take me in, to feed me, to care for me, and then sending me off to see my own mother? We turned the corner of the road, passing the Earth Kingdom Palace, and walked to a large green building: the jail. They opened the door for me and pushed me into the building before guiding me down a hallway and into a room with fine shoji doors.
The Commander and another man, whose face was covered, were sitting in chairs at a table. The guards closed the shoji doors behind me. The Commander smiled tightly at me before gesturing for me to sit down across from them on the ground, and I quietly complied, limping over and carefully sitting down. "Why are you limping?" the Commander asked harshly. "That is improper conduct in front of the Fire Lord," he spat. I froze and the strange man lifted his covering from his face. I felt kind of scared.
I tried to find my voice, "I go-got into a fight with Mai, sir." I gulped. It was almost as bad as telling my parents why the neighbors hated me, and then later getting punished for it. "She got me in the knee and hand, sir," I said formally. The Commander knocked on the wall behind him, which I assumed was another door because it opened quickly.
"Why were her wounds not treated?" he asked tightly. The man's face got scared.
"We didn't know she was injured." The man walked away and quickly brought back some bandages and some water to rinse the wounds. He handed them to the Commander, who handed them to me to clean myself. He waved the man off and the door closed and it was just us again.
I felt the Fire Lord's eyes scanning me like an evaluation; my palms were sweaty. "Who rescued you from the prison?" the Fire Lord asked calmly, sipping some tea from the cup he was holding. I carefully cleaned my hand, but answered the Fire Lord formally.
"Your son, my Lord."
"So, not only you will suffer then. Did you request help from him?" he asked. I shook my head.
"No, my Lord." I licked my dry lips. "Zuko did it out of his own will, my Lord." I wrapped my hand and wrist before tending to my leg. The Fire Lord changed the subject quickly.
"We aren't here to only discuss your breakout, Markaia Tymaine." He said as he put his tea down on the table. "We are here to discuss punishment for killing my daughter." His eyes bore into my skin. "While I understand that she had killed your mother, you will receive the death penalty for it nevertheless."
I wasn't sure if I wanted to bring up that he killed my father, but I kept my mouth shut. "Please, my Lord, I was willing to serve under the Commander during the life sentence for murder in the Fire Nation prison."
"Commander, that is not a part of the law." The Fire Lord looked to the Commander. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded calmly. I sat quietly as I finished up bandaging myself.
"My Lord, I do not see why we should waste away Markaia's life with the death penalty. She is the top of the class in Fire Nation training, and she overpowered your own daughter. I didn't want to lose a good soldier." The Fire Lord looked to me, but I kept my gaze down.
"I see." He drank his tea.
"If it is of interest to you, my Lord, I would like to serve out punishment under your command," I said confidently. Zuko wasn't here to stop me, and I was going to be in deep shit anyway.