Sometime later Zuko and Sokka fortunately managed to find Suki and Hakoda. Having found the three prisoners, they needed to save they hatched a plan to escape the Boiling Rock.

"We have a new plan," Sokka whispered as he punched the rolled-up mattress, Zuko grunting as if in pain whenever he struck, "But it's gonna need a big distraction. Be in the yard in one hour." The door suddenly began to open and Sokka lunged forward, grabbing Zuko's head in a chokehold and forcing him to drop the mattress.

"Alright," The male guard grunted, pushing Sokka off the former prince, "That's enough."

Sokka watched as the two guards lead Zuko out of the cell before leaving himself.

"What are you doing?" Zuko demanded as the guards dragged him down the hall and up several flights of stairs, "Where are you taking me?"

The guards didn't answer as they lead him to another room that was furnished with only a torture chair in the center of it. He grunted as he was shoved into the room, stumbling and landing on the chair. He turned to glare at the guards angrily, "I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Come on, Zuko." Zuko jumped and looked up in surprise at where Mai was leaning against the wall in a dark corner, her head bowed. He suddenly felt nauseous. She lifted her head and stepped into the light, dark amber eyes narrowed, "We all know that's a lie."

Zuko swallowed thickly, "Mai..."

"Sit down Zuko." Mai ordered as she rounded around him. Slowly and unsure he did as instructed and took a seat in the only chair in the room. His elbows rested on his knees and his head was bowed. "How did you know I was here?" He sighed.

"Because I know you so well." Mai replied flatly from where she was leaning against the wall to his right, her arms crossed over her chest.

"But..." Zuko looked over at her in confusion, "How?"

"The Warden's my uncle, you idiot." She replied, looking off to the side as Zuko groaned and rubbed his forehead, "The truth is, I guess I didn't know you at all." She reached into her sleeve and unrolled the letter Zuko had left her, "All I get is a letter." She flung her arm out to the side and snapped at him.

Zuko looked away uncomfortably.

Mai cut him off with a scoff then she walked around behind him, holding the letter up and beginning to read from it, "'Dear Mai, I'm sorry that you have to find out this way, but I'm leaving. Thank you for being a friend.'"

"I heard what you did," Mai continued. "Stood up to your father, renounced to the throne. Why are you throwing your life away Zuko? For what? For her?!"Mai exclaimed with as much emotion as Zuko had ever heard her speak with in his life.

"Mai..." He ran his hands through his face in frustration as he sat up his back straightening a little. "This…" He trailed off. "Everything." He shook his head weakly. "It's-It's not."

"It's not what?"She snapped in frustration.

"This is greater than her. Greater than us." He explained in best of his ability. "This is about destiny Mai."

"Zuko," Mai began. "She's ruined your life. You can still come back home. Apologize to your father. Take the throne. You and her together? It just… it doesn't make sense. She's taken everything away from you."

Ironic. How ironic Mai's words were. If only Mai knew that he had been the one to take everything away from her. From her family. Her brother's raging words still stung when he thought of them.

"Because of you- I have lost my name, my future, my family, my sister! Everything!"

He shifted in his seat uncomfortably as he soaked in the guilt of the prisoner's words. It really was no wonder the girl from the colonies wanted nothing to do with him.

"I know you don't feel the same way, but you and I… We.We make sense. I would never ask you to renounce to the throne, turn against your family. Abandon-"

"Mai." He said sternly interrupting her. "I did all of those things because Iwanted to. Because Ihad to do them. Because it's mydestiny."

The dark-haired girl looked as if she had been split by a bolt of lightning. She looked at him with disbelief. Her eyes clouded with hurt.

"This isn't about you or her. This is about the Fire Nation. I have to do this to save my country."

"Ha." She scoffed at him again and crossed her arms over her chest, "Save it? You're betraying your country."

"That's not how I see it."

"Did you even really care about me?"

"I docare about you, Mai." Zuko protested, "You're my oldest friend."

It was then that the door opened both Zuko and Mai turned expecting to see a guard but instead saw a prisoner standing beneath the doorframe.

"Let's go we're rioting," Mecha said casually to Zuko as he pointed out the door with his thumb. He stretched his hand painfully and popped the joints in his fingers. He then turned to look at the gothic girl that was also in the room.

"Woah," He let out sounding as if he had been struck by a blinding light. It seemed that for a moment he forgot why he was there. "Who are you?"

Mai's eyes narrowed as she looked at the rugged prisoner before her with antipathy. Zuko took this opportunity and rushed for the door moving past Mecha who stood dumbstruck still. Mai ran behind Zuko but the Mecha slid the door behind him and stood between the girl and the door blocking her way.

Zuko looked back at the two confused through the viewing slat.

"So…" Mecha asked running a hand through his wavy locks. "What's your name?" Flashing the girl one of his heart-dropping grins. The type that would make all the girls swoon back in Yu Dao.

"Mecha," Zuko banged on the door. "We have to go!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll catch up," He said dismissively keeping his eyes on the girl.

He didn't have time to wonder if Mecha would be OK if left alone with her in a foul mood. He knew that she was more than capable of protecting herself. The prince rolled his eyes and shook his head lightly before turning away.

'Go figure…'

Xxx

"Where's Tsai?" Katara asked as she poured some porridge into Theo's bowl.

It was lunch time and the waterbender was currently making sure everyone was well fed for the day. What were they having again? Some rice porridge flavored by some lemongrass herbs Aang had found nearby earlier in the day.

"I think she's upstairs meditating." answered Toph absent-mindedly as she finished her porridge.

"Still?"Katara said through gritted teeth. The girl had been upstairs all day long and had not even gotten around to doing the one task she had to do.

She practically stomped out of the courtyard and to the second floor where the girl was still sitting down meditating. For a moment she thought her eyes might've been playing tricks on her, but it almost looked as if the girl from the colonies was glowing.

Katara cleared her throat from a distance. Tsai opened her eyes and glared at her incredulously.

"Come for a rematch?" She said bitterly almost mockingly opening both of her eyes to see the smug look on Katara's face.

"Let's be real it wasn't much of a fight to begin with," Katara taunted cooly making the red-head's blood boil.

Ouch. Need some ice for that burn Tsai?

Fuming she rose to her feet abandoning her mediation as the last of her patience was shredded. Tsai knew that this was about more than just the laundry. Toph who had followed Katara up with Momo at her side took a seat at the edge of the courtyard.

"Alright," She sat ready to witness the entertainment. "My money is still on Katara," she said to Momo laughing wishing she had some popcorn.

"I have had it up to here with you!" Tsai snapped. "What do you want me to do? Beg for your forgiveness? I can't change the past. I can't change what my people have done, but we can change the future and I choose that change. I'm sorry the Fire Nation took your mother away, but we all lost something in this war. You weren't the only one. So, stop being a selfish, hypocritical-"

She struggled to finish the last words. She didn't want to be crass. It seemed like a frog was stuck in her throat and was trying to jump out.

"Selfish, hypocritical what?" Katara pressed with a scowl on her features. Hands on her waist as she looked down at the Fire Nationer.

"Bitch!" The other roared with an angry expression on her face. No longer holding her tongue back.

Tsai's eyes widened when a water whip struck in her direction. She ducked missing it by an inch and saw Katara's furious movements as she attacked. Her scowl deepened as she lunged forward ready to strike.

Katara smirked viciously as she for the second time in the day spilled the water turning the courtyard's ground into slippery ice.

Toph watched attentively waiting for the girl from the colonies to eat ice and fall on her butt. Instead this time she stopped mid run almost slipping and regained her balance instead bending her knees and sliding across the ice swiftly with grace.

Katara was taken aback and pulled her remaining water into a whip which struck her opponent. Tsai winced as she was struck with the water but continued moving forward pouncing when she reached Katara.

Toph's mouth went ajar she saw the two girls wrestling in the floor. Both pulling at each other's hair and scratching each other. The only thing worse than a bending fight was an actual cat fight.

Katara's loops had become undone and she clawed at the red-head's arm. The other pulled at her braid and bit her arm. Both of them shouting insults at each other as they struggled for dominance.

Hearing the commotion Aang and the rest of the children came upstairs to witness the horrific scene. The ice had melted already and both girls rolled around in the puddles as they continued fighting.

"ENOUGH!" Aang bellowed as a wild gust of wind came between them and tore the girls apart throwing them to opposing sides of the courtyard. Katara held on to her arm where the girl had bit her.

"I can't believe you bit me!" She shouted back. "What are you some kind of animal?"

Tsai ran a hand through her messy hair, her head hurt from the pulling that Katara had done, she noticed the scratches that were in her arm and groaned. They stung.

"Don't.Touch my hair!" The other shouted. Both of them glaring daggers at each other from the distance.

"Aren't you sick of fighting?" Aang began in an angry tone. "Don't you see what you are doing to each other? You should be working together. This isn't right. Tsai you should do your job and Katara there is a proper way of saying and asking for things and neither of you are right!"

xxx

Zuko faltered slightly when he saw the chaos in the courtyard, looking around rapidly until he saw Sokka, Hakoda and Suki pressed up against one of the guard towers. He ran towards them, dodging other prisoners and guards that tried to attack him as he rushed towards his friends. He had almost reached the other four when a guard lunged at him in an attempt to subdue him, but Zuko grabbed him and threw him over his shoulder.

"Zuko, good." Sokka said in relief when the former prince ran over to him, "Wait-Where's Mecha?" Sokka asked looking behind Zuko's shoulders.

"He got… distracted?" Zuko said. "He said he'd catch up."

Sokka face palmed and glared at Zuko. "You had onejob!" He shook his head.

"Fine. Now all we need to do is grab the Warden." He pointed at the top of another tower where the Warden was, "And get to the gondolas."

Zuko nodded and asked, "And how do we do that?"

"Uh..." Sokka frowned then shrugged sheepishly, having not thought that far ahead. "I'm not sure."

"Argh!" Zuko growled, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation, "I thought you thought this through!"

"I thought you told me it's okay notto think everything though!" Sokka shouted back hysterically.

"Maybe not everything, but this is kind of important!" Zuko argued then groaned and grabbed his head, shaking it in aggravation while Sokka pursed his lips and touched a finger to his chin in thought.

"Fellas?" Hakoda called out, his attention riveted to what was happening in front of him, "I think Suki's taking care of it."

"What?" Sokka questioned, peering around his father and staring in wide-eyed amazement as Suki ran towards the middle of the chaos, jumping up onto the head of a guard who was scuffling with a prisoner.

The leader of the Kyoshi Warriors quickly ran across the sea of fighting guards and prisoners, using their heads as steppingstones until she reached the tower and then leapt up, scaling the wall rapidly. She pushed herself off the wall and back flipped through the air, catching the bottom rail of the platform with feet. Swinging herself up from below, Suki somersaulted upward and grabbed the platform's upper railing just as a guard charged towards her. She front-flipped off the rail, narrowly avoiding the flames the guard firebending at her, and landed to his left.

Moments later and some soldiers facedown moaning in pain. Suki popped up in front of the Warden, who attempted to attack her, but she grabbed his arm in a deadlock, raising her other fist up and holding it dangerously close to his face.

"You wouldn't dare." The Warden hissed at her.

Suki smirked and spun the man around, bringing his hands together and using his red sash to bind them behind his back then she yanked his headband down and twisted it around, so the knot was in his mouth gagging him.

"Sorry Warden," She said cooly as she tightened the tie and let go, "You're my prisoner now." She slammed him against the wall and looked over at the others as they ran over to her, all of them out of breath. She smiled cheerfully, "We've got the Warden, now let's get out of here."

Hakoda, doubled over slightly and holding his stomach as he tried to catch his breath, commented in admiration, "That's some girl."

"Tell me about it." Sokka rasped, staring dreamily at his girlfriend.

"Hey guys," Mecha added sheepishly as he caught up to the group. Sokka looked at him with a perplexed expression. Despite the chaos around there was a slight smile on his face. A very rare one. It was probably the first time he had ever seen the oldest teen smile. He noticed there were also several slight cuts on his upper arm. For the first time since Sokka had meet him he looked the most human he had ever seen.

"Where in the world where you? We almost left without you!" Sokka exclaimed. "Sorry," he said sheepishly. "I got… distracted." He cleared his throat and shook all daydreaming thoughts out of his head.

It's not like that mattered anymore the five of them were finally together now ready to escape. Zuko looked over his shoulder expecting to see Mai. If Mecha had gotten out that meant Mai had too.

The group ran up the stairs to the gondola's platform, Suki and Sokka at the front while Mecha carried the Warden over his large shoulder between them and Zuko and Hakoda took up the rear.

"We're almost there." Suki called over to Sokka when the gondola was in sight.

Escaping the Boiling Rock was hard but not impossible. The group stumbled upon some major issues like Azula and Ty Lee chasing after them and almost the gondola almost collapsing into the volcanic boiling water, but the persevered and successfully made it through. It also helped that Mai came through to stop Azula from killing them all.

"I never expected this from you." Azula stated, glaring at Mai from beneath her brows

Standing off the side, Ty Lee clasped her hands in front of her and looked between her two friends with a frightened expression. Her eyes bounced back from one to the other as she struggled to see where her allegiances truly lay. Azula jerked her chin up and scowled, "The thing I don't understand is why? Why would you do it? You know the consequences."

"I guess you just don't know people as well as you think you do. You miscalculated." Mai replied flatly, not letting it show on her face just how scared she was. Her next words though, were brutally honest. "I love Zuko more than I fear you."

Azula's face twisted into an ugly snarl of rage and she shouted, "No! You miscalculated! You should have feared memore!" Shifting into her stance, Azula prepared to generate lightning Mai prepared to attack.

Lightning crackled at Azula's fingertips as she prepared to strike, but with a sudden change of heart Ty Lee leapt forward and jabbed her fists into Azula's back several times blocking her chi while Mai stared with a stunned expression.

"Ah!" Azula gasped as she fell to the floor, unable to move. Her eyes flickered over to Ty Lee as she ran over to Mai.

"Come on," Ty Lee exclaimed, pulling on Mai's arm, "Let's get out of here!"

She tried to drag Mai away, but guards surrounded them, preventing them from escaping. Whimpering slightly, Ty Lee huddled closer to Mai, glancing around fearfully.

"You're both fools." Azula spat from the ground, glaring at them furiously as two guards picked her by her arms and held her upright.

"What shall we do with them, princess?" A guard asked as several grabbed both Mai and Ty Lee.

"Put them somewhere I'll never have to see their faces again." Azula answered with snarl, staring into both Mai and Ty Lee's unreadable faces, "And let them rot."

Xxx

Crickets chirped loudly in the middle of the night. The skies were cloudy, yet the full moon shined brightly above the Western Air Temple.

Things had been rather quiet in the group since Tsai and Katara's fight earlier that day.

Tsai sat on the second floor of the courtyard facing the statues of the ancient airbender that inhabited this temple as she did a pretty lousy job at washing and drying everyone's clothes. She almost felt as if they were gazing down at her in judgement.

'What?'She felt lie sneering at one in particular. 'Why should I have to do everyone's laundry? Do you even know where kids get into all day?'

She frowned a little. "Stupid Katara…" She grumbled under her breath. She looked down at the small bandages that covered her body where Katara had hurt her.

"Hey," A voice said cooly.

Her hands stopped functioning. She dropped whatever garment she had been holding into the water and very stiffly turned around. She would know that voice anywhere.

Her eyes met her brother's forest green ones. Mecha stood before her. This time he wasn't going anywhere. He had changed. He was larger than how she remembered him. His wavy dark hair reached past his jaw and covered most of his forehead. However, his most striking feature was now the scar that covered his entire body. The red scars spread like vines covering his neck, arms, chest and even his face.

"Mecha!" She gasped and quickly moved tackling him into a tight embrace. They were finally reunited. Nobody would tear the little family that they had left apart now. He hugged her back just as tightly and couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at the force in which she tackled him.

A pair of eyes watched from the distant stairs. The prince leaned against one of the temple's walls as he observed the scene unfold before him. His arms crossed over his chest. The smallest smile playing on his features.

"What are you doing?"

A chill went up his spine and he jumped lightly embarrassed of having been caught witnessing such an intimate encounter.

Toph looked at Zuko with knowing eyes a shit-eating smirk playing on her features.

"Nothing!" He let out an angry scoff before skulking away.

"I can't believe you're here!" She said touching his messy hair. "You're so big!" She said looking at his muscles. "And your-your-" She looked at the scar that seemed to cover every inch of his body. She frowned a little. It didn't take a genius to know where or how he had gotten that scar.

"Azula…" She whispered.

"Hey! Chili Pepper! Flame-O!" They both turned to see Toph calling from the stairs. "We're all having tea! Come on!" She called to both of them from a far.

Mecha raised his hand in a wave dismissing Toph and turned his attention back to his sister.

"I don't really feel like joining the others," She admitted. "I just want to talk to you."

The two siblings stayed up talking for what seemed to be hours. They talked about everything that had happened in the year in which they had been separated.
Mecha told Tsai about how the Fire Nation officials came to Yu Dao and how he lied about a conspiracy so that his father and specially their mother would be spared from any consequences. He spoke about how their mother's heart broke and her father became livid at the news of their daughter being hailed a traitor to the Fire Nation. Mecha ran away after that and took shelter in the other Fire Nation colonies and later in the Earth Kingdom as he looked for his sister. On his journey he saw the same horrors or war that Tsai had seen and became scarred by them. He found his way as well and renounced to his title as a Fire Nationer.

After hearing that his sister was captured, he traveled to the Fire Nation which is where he encountered Aang and his friends just a couple of days before the invasion on the day of the Black Sun. The day in which they had briefly met, and he had stayed to hold Azula back who held no mercy and hit him with a bolt of lightning.

Tsai also told him everything. She did not spare a single detail about her journey with the Fire Nation's Prince and his Uncle. She told him about her spiritual awakening.

"Do you know anything about it? Me being a spirit and all?"

He looked at her as if she had just grown a second head. He had absolutely no clue what she was talking about.

Her plans for the future.

"So, what are you going to do now? Become some kind of government diplomat for the Earth Kingdom? You know now that we're Fire Nation exiles."

"No.." She answered softly as the two sat by the pile of now clean wet clothes that had been hung to dry. "I've been thinking. The things that I've been seeing lately... I've got greater things in mind." She answered in a focused tone as her mind racked all of the plans she had been internalizing for the future.

She only spared one… very insignificantdetail from her tale.

"Like what?" He chuckled. Mecha was happy to finally be able to laugh. He felt like it was a privileged he had lost long ago. It felt refreshing to freely be able to do it again. "Becoming Fire Lady?" He joked just like he once had back home in Yu Dao.

Mecha laughed slightly at the ridiculousness of his joke. It took him a moment to realize that his sister wasn't laughing. He turned to face her with an arched eyebrow and his face contorted into one of raw shock when he saw that the color of her face and hair had blended into one. He had never seen his sister like this.

"Tsai!" He gasped. "Don't tell me-"

His shocked expression morphed into one of fury. Her red face told him everything he needed to know. Her brother jumped to his feet and she followed pulling on his arm holding him back. She repeated his name repeatedly and rounded his body pressing her palms on his shoulders holding him in place.

"You and-and- him actually!" His eyes went shot wide in fury.

To think that once he had been actually excited about the idea of his sister becoming the most powerful lady in the land and hitting it off with the scarred prince.

"Yes," She sighed. "We actually dated." She admitted feeling a little embarrassed she was actually confessing this to her brother.

"Dated?" He retorted in shock. It went over the girl's head that he was emphasizing the past tense of the verb. Not repeating the shock of the statement.

"Tsai, I was about to kill the bastard. I almost strangled him!" Mecha spat angrily. "He ruined our lives! Took everything away from us. Our names, split our family-"

"No," She shook her head lightly. "No…" She lowered her head her tone almost pleading. "We have to stop." She breathed.

"We can't blame every single horrible thing that has happened to us on Zuko. He's done bad, but he's also done good. He's changed and so have we. Look at how much we've grown from all of this." She explained softly attempting to keep the upbeat attitude she was known for.

"Zuko?"The other retorted his name as if it were a pest ignoring his sister's tone. "Since when do you call himby hisname?"

She was about to respond but he cut her off.

"Yeah! Maybe we've grown, but what about mom? What about dad? The colony? What about everything else? It's his fault that you were treated like a slave and after everythingyou forgive him?No- You defend him?" He looked at her with a bewildered look. The anger still lingering painfully in his eyes.

He looked at his sister's pained expression and then it dawned upon him.

"Look-" She bit the inside of her cheek as she began racking her brain for an explanation. It was almost as if he was on trial.

"Zuko he-he was there for me a lot. When I got your letter about what happened in Yu Dao he was there. We went through hunger together, we survived together. Got lost and found at sea alongside his uncle. We built our lives together as immigrants, and yes maybe it was his fault that I became a servant for the Royal family, but it was also mychoice to stay. I could've run from that life in the Crystal Catacombs, but I didn't. And when we were there, he tried to take care of me. Believe me he did and he's forever sorry for all the mistakes he's ever done."

Mecha's full brows furrowed at the horrible realization. Teeth clenching as he looked down on her. If looks could kill. It looked as if he was about to go on rampage. "You love him…" He almost growled out.

"How can you-" He still couldn't wrap his head around the idea.

Mecha had so much regret. So, so much regret of sending his sister on that ship. She had already made up her mind not to go and he- he had encouraged it. He blamed himself for everything that had happened since. If she hadn't set off on that journey this entire chain reaction of unfortunate events would've been prevented.

"You best not hurt him…" She said to him upset.

"Is that a threat sister?" Mecha couldn't help but laugh a little. "Do you hear yourself talk?" He laughed harder.

She bit her lower lip and tucked a stray hair over her ear. Her eyes met her brother's and he ceased his laughing when he realized she was dead serious. Mecha made a strangling motion as if he was choking an invisible body in front of him in comical frustration. Then he let out a sigh and lazily wrapped an arm around his sister. They had been separated for too long. This wasn't worth fighting over.

"I'm sorry," She apologized against his shoulder. She meant it. He rubbed her back gently and apologized as well.

"What-What about you?" She crossed her arms over her chest. Still standing with his arm hung around her shoulders. Mecha was really popular with the ladies back at home. Tsai wouldn't have been surprised if he had left a trail of lovers all along the Earth Kingdom and colonies.

"Oh," He let out a dreamy sigh. "I met the most beautiful girl today."

"Really?" A smile grew across her face in intrigue. "She's beautiful, classy, her hair is as black as night. Seems like a real no bs kind of gal." He elaborated with a goofy grin on his lips.

"Alright, I'm liking this girl." The other added.

"Yeah, she's even named after my favorite month."

She looked at him expectantly.

"Her name's Mai."

It took a minute for all the dots to connect in Tsai's head. It was then that a loud scream resounded and echoed the Western Air Temple.

"WHAT?!"