Sparky

by BelleBasBleue

It has been said that fire benders, when in love, create a spark so bright, it could rival Agni himself. Zuko has returned home to the Fire Nation after nearly five years, and everything feels different. He's not really sure who he is and what he wants out of life, but he just knows that something is off. Luckily Mai is right there beside him supplying blunt, yet helpful feedback.

2. Decisions

"Mai, dear, please shut that window. We can't risk poor little Tom-Tom getting a cold."

Mai heaved a deep sigh and shut the shutters to the window with a snap. She leaned against them and watched her mother cradle Tom-Tom in her arms. Her mother was completely absorbed in playing with her little baby, and Mai supposed her mother wouldn't even notice she was in the room save for the draft. Mai tapped her painted fingernails against the wall and caught little Tom-Toms' eye over their mother's shoulder. Mai gave him the tiniest smile, the corners of her lips just barely curving up.

Lady Michi set her baby in his cradle and cooed at his sleepy eyes. She turned around to face Mai and her face morphed into one of annoyance. "Why are you still here, Mai? Shouldn't you be in bed? We wouldn't want Princess Azula to have to wait for you tomorrow because you were lying in bed for too long," she said coldly.

"I'm going for a walk," Mai mentioned offhandedly, leaving the room in front of her mother. Lady Michi fell into step easily beside her and gave her a disapproving frown.

"Don't walk away from me." Lady Michi huffed. "You should be more grateful for this opportunity, Mai. It is not every day you get an opportunity to travel with royalty."

"Yes, Mother."

"You need to take this chance to get higher in the ranks. You are already getting older."

Mai stifled a frown, and struggled to keep her mask straight. "I just turned seventeen."

"You became of age last year. You should be married off by now. Maybe somewhere along the road, you will meet some noble who is of the right station," Michi wondered aloud. "It's too bad the Firelord's son was banished so young," she mused.

Mai gritted her teeth. "Goodnight, Mother." Mai closed her bedroom door with a snap. Her eyes stared longingly at the window at the other side of her bedchamber. It wouldn't hurt to get out just a little.

"If you're thinking about going for a walk," her mother called from the other side of the door, seeing through Mai's plans straight away. "Don't forget to bring your guard. This city is still full of dangerous earth people."

Mai sighed. "Thank you, Mother." After her mother's footsteps fade away, Mai opened the door again and walked swiftly down the corridor, knowing her assigned guard would follow her no matter what. It was no use sneaking out at this point.

At least outside the air was less stuffy. Night had fallen upon the captured town of New Ozai and it was silent as always...except for the footsteps of the guard behind her. Mai sighed, making obvious her distaste for the stupid guard her mother forced to accompany her. It didn't matter how many blades Mai kept within her robes, her mother had declared it improper for her to "galavant across the town" without an escort. Mai was counting down the hours to her departure with Azula and Ty Lee. Anything was better than staying stuck here, merely being the image her mother and father molded her to be. They had a new baby anyway; they had no use for her anymore. Apparently, since she is only seventeen, she was too close to spinster-hood for her mother's comfort.

With the enforced curfew placed on the residents of old Omashu, Mai was the only one walking the streets. The machinery lay dormant, as well as the annoying postal system, lending some of the smog and dust from the day to dissipate under the light of the crescent moon. As bored as she was, Mai appreciated the moment of peace the night offered. It was almost as if the one hundred year war had ended, or had never begun.

"Excuse me, Lady Mai, but I believe it is wise to head back home," the guard advised gruffly. Mai rolled her eyes at his tone, but turned around nonetheless.

"Go ahead." Mai let the guard step in front of her and take the lead down the cobbled road. As they approached the last turn, Mai held back and slipped behind some crates piled outside one of the doorsteps to the inner market. She waited for him to notice her absence, and look for her in the wrong direction, before darting back onto the street, keeping to the shadows.

Mai swung by the town bakery and picked up a box of unused produce and bread loafs from the day and shoved them into the pockets of her dress. Silently, she visited the doorsteps of the poorer houses and left little piles of food. It wasn't much, but it would be well received.

As she wrapped up at the last house on the block, she poised to hoist herself upon the roof to get home easier without being seen, but by some unknown force, the ground moved from under her, forcing her to fall into the dark alley beside the home. Mai discreetly grabbed one of her blades and slid it between her fingers, ready for an attack, but she was instead met with mad cackling.

"Oh, no need for those, dearie," an old voice chortled. "I can't do much to you within this old metal cage."

Mai looked up, and within the shadows at the end of the alley, she was met with the mad, green eyes of former King Bumi. "How did you get out?" she asked in a flat tone, barely raising an eyebrow. "You seem to be doing that a lot lately."

Bumi smiled. "Oh, I was just taking a little walk, much like yourself. I had a hankering for some rock candy." He bit down on a hunk inside his metal coffin. "Want some?" From the small face hole, a small clump of bright, pink rock candy landed just a ways from Mai's feet.

Mai toed the candy with her foot, giving it a displeasing look. "No thanks," she said flatly.

King Bumi gave her an appraising look. "Your loss." He crunched down on his own serving. 'Now what's a proper young lady doing down in the lower ring of Omashu all alone?" He caught a look at the parcel of food on the doorstep behind her. "You don't seem like one to do such a thing." Mai declined to reply. King Bumi only shrugged. "Suit yourself. We all have secrets, but it depends on what we do with them that makes us who we are. I, for one, secretly enjoy a nice boat trip across the desert. The taste of sand is quite fine."

Mai sighed and brought her lips together and pursed her lips. "How delightful. I'll ask the prison keepers to give you a glass of sand instead of water for your next meal, since you enjoy it so much."

King Bumi smiled and laughed with his whole body, at least as much as he could within his metal cage and old body. "Why thank you, dear. Now let me tell you what; I will keep your little secret hidden from your parents if you will do one little thing for me." King Bumi winked at her.

Mai kept her face stoic. "No need; I'll be gone tomorrow anyway."

King Bumi shook his head, tutting. "No, no, no; just because you run away does not mean your parents don't follow."

Mai frowned. "What are you talking about, old man," she demanded.

"Wherever you go, your parents do not physically follow you, nor do they know where you go, but their hold on you does not diminish. You will still be their perfect image of a lady...unless-" King Bumi pauses for dramatic effect. "Unless you forge your own path…" He let the rest of his sentence fade off. The former king met Mai's steady gaze, seemingly trying to gauge some sort of reaction. Mai gave him none. A silence grew between the two of them. "I will keep your parents distracted and let their hold on you weaken if you simply consider one question I pose for your journey," King Bumi suggested. "Why is it that the past flows into the living?" Bumi appraised Mai in silence before giving her a wink. "Safe travels, and remember: the White Lotus tile opens wide to those who know her secrets." Snapping his fingers, King Bumi launches himself into the air, bending the earth until it returns him back to his prison high above the city, in the distance.

Mai stood there in the dark for a few moments, pondering the old man's words. The question seemed like old man babble to her, but as Mai returned to her room back in the small palace that used to belong to King Bumi, Mai carefully copied the question on a small scroll before blowing out her candle and turning in for the night. She supposes that she at least won't mention their meeting to Azula the next morning, even though she doesn't believe the old man's words. But it couldn't hurt to be careful.

Being cooped up on a ship the size of a lion turtle was not Mai's favorite pastime. Not that she had many past times besides reading, knife throwing, and the occasional playing of an instrument, but Mai did not like being trapped.

Azula was on a rampage that morning, so Mai kept to her quarters, but the room was small and insignificant with not a window in sight. Mai groaned and draped herself over her desk chair dramatically.

There was a knock at her door. Mai pinched the bridge of her nose in disgust before molding her face into something more appropriate to meet guests with. "Yes?"

The door popped open, and Ty Lee's large, curious eyes brightened at finding Mai. "Oh I had hoped I would find you here!" Ty Lee bounded into the room letting the door click behind her without much ceremony. "Are you hiding from Azula too?" she asked in a soft voice, almost like it was a secret.

Mai shrugged. "Why else would I lock myself in this infernal bed chamber?" Mai's mask shifted slightly to filter through some of her own emotions. "Were you looking for me?"

Ty Lee nodded and sat in the chair adjacent to Mai's. "There was a change of plans this morning. We can't go back to the Fire Nation yet."

"Why not? Does it have to do with-"

"Zuko? Yeah," Ty Lee confirmed. "The Firelord says the ship is not welcome until we have physical proof of the Avatar's passing," she said gloomily.

Mai groaned in frustration. "That's why Azula was in such a foul mood this morning. What are we going to do? We don't exactly have the Avatar's dead body on board."

Ty Lee's jaw popped open. "Mai! You shouldn't say things like that. We don't need to bring a- a deceased person home!"

Mai shrugged. "What else would the Firelord accept? Anything else can be faked: from the red cloth of the monk's clothes to his finger. I mean how else is he going to believe that we're not lying. We don't even know if the Avatar died. The whole world may believe it, but that boy and the rest of his group could be hiding anywhere. Of course the Firelord needs proof."

Ty Lee fumbled with the hem of her skirt, biting her lip. "Azula doesn't know what to do. We have Zuko, and she thought that would be proof enough that the Avatar was dealt with. Do you have any ideas? We can't exactly go back and find the Avatar again. Even if he's alive, he's long gone; we don't know where he would have gone."

Mai tapped her painted fingernails against the ridge of her seat, eyes narrowed; thinking. "We can maybe take an animal's heart or something," Mai mused.

"Like that fairy tale?" Ty Lee asked. "The one where the hunter was asked to carve out the princess' heart for the evil spirit?"

Mai shrugged. "It might work, but it's better than nothing. I mean we still have to convince the Firelord why we didn't bring the body, or the head at least, but we can maybe make up some mumbo jumbo about the symbolism of the heart. I don't really care, to be honest."

Ty Lee sighed. "I don't really want to hurt an innocent animal for its heart, but it might work...I just want to go home at this point." Ty Lee pulled her legs up to her chest and she pressed the side of her cheek against the tops of her knees. "I wonder how Zuko is feeling, being gone for nearly five years."

Mai frowned. "It's not like he chose to leave," she murmured. "At least we chose to leave home."

Ty Lee clicked her tongue, showing a rare sign of anger. "Speak for yourself. Azula almost burned me alive." Ty Lee shook her head, clearing the anger to replace it with her positivity again. "Ugh, her aura is getting so dark these days, it's affecting my own. She wasn't like this when we were young, right?" Ty Lee wondered aloud.

Mai patted her arm, offering her some comfort. "I don't think it's our fault, if that's any consolation."

"But don't you think we should help her? I mean we are her friends!"

Mai heaved a heavy sigh. "I don't know, Ty."

The two friends sat in silence, letting it seap deep into their bones. Something had changed at Ba Sing Se, and Mai could not put her finger on it. Maybe having Zuko on board somehow shifted the dynamic of the little group around Azula, but it felt like they were falling apart. Mai sighed internally realizing that the three of them might never have been truly together if Ty Lee felt forced to follow Azula as Mai had when she had seized her only opportunity to get out of Omashu. The question of the mad King Bumi came to mind, and Mai's felt herself groan internally as the words began circling her head once again. Mai didn't know what to make of the question the king had given her, only that it had something to do with how Azula acted, and now how Zuko acted. The first night guarding Zuko had yielded more questions than answers in Mai's mind.

"How was Zuko last night?" Ty Lee asked, tentatively breaking the silence. The tone of her voice was innocent enough, but there was a little lilt to her voice that betrayed her intentions.

Mai's eyes flicked at Ty Lee and she gave her a calculating look. "He was decent."

Ty Lee suddenly swiveled in her chair and nestled her chin in her hands and looked at Mai emploringly. "Decent? Like clothes off or on?" Mai shot her a dark look. Ty Lee grinned mischievously. "You still have a crush on him don't you!."

Mai groaned and got up from her chair, turning away from her friend. "Ugh, you are still on that? That was years ago. Can't we just forget about it? He didn't want to see me at all last night."

"So you wanted to see him?"

Mai frowned over her shoulder. "You're putting words in my mouth. He knew why I was there. Azula demanded I keep an eye on him, but frankly I couldn't get him to shut up." Mai felt the center of her chest warm with the memory of their conversation. Mai straightened her back and shook her head. "He's changed a little, but he's still the same kid in some ways, I guess."

Ty Lee nodded, but she had a look in her features that said she knew a secret. "What did you guys talk about."

Mai pursed her lips. "Just small talk."

"Does he still like you? Did you see any sparks?" Ty Lee poked.

Mai raised one of her eyebrows. "Sparks? He's a firebender, Ty."

Ty Lee shook her head vehemently. "No the 'sparks'," she emphasized. Mai blinked her eyes, clearly not understanding. Ty Lee huffed. "You know the sparks that firebenders get when they like someone."

Mai snorted. "That's just a myth; come on."

"I bet he likes you, though," Ty Lee teased.

"Yeah, the girl who is one of his sister's best friends, who also helped drag him onto this ship as a prisoner. Yeah he definitely likes me," Mai said, letting the sarcasm drip from her mouth.

Ty Lee shrugged, still with the secretive smile on her face. "That's what you think." She gave Mai a quick hug before walking towards the door. "You should think about walking around and maybe joining me in the training room on the other side of the ship. Your knives have been missing you."

Mai sighed. "Maybe a little later. I should probably talk to Azula and try to help her come up with a plan. I don't really want her ripping out her hair as well as ours in the trouble."

Ty Lee smiled. "That sounds like a plan, Mai-Mai. See ya around."

"Of course it will work. I thought of it!" Azula picked at the food beneath her fingernails, chatting for her own benefit. "We don't need to sully our hands with carving out the infernal organ ourselves. We can just send one of the lackeys."

Mai sighed, not bothering to hide her annoyance. "Sure; whatever."

"Oh don't look so down, Mai. It was your idea first, but I just added to it. I will make sure your name is beside mine on the order, would that make you happy?" Mai shrugged in response, making Azula sigh dramatically. "You looked so happy this morning, what happened? Your name can go in front of mine if you would like," she stated. Azula leaned forward taking a bite of her dinner."You aren't cheerful often, Mai-Mai," Azula prattled on. "Did you find a new stiletto to try throwing?"

Mai flicked a piece of rice onto the placemat beside her bowl. "What does it matter," she said in an even, droning voice.

Azula sighed. "I want to keep you happy, Mai." Azula put down her knife exclaiming at a sudden idea that came to mind. "Oh you saw dear Zuzu last night, right? How was he? Brooding as usual?"

Mai only shrugged.

Azula sighed. "He really should be more thankful. I'm saving his life, you know. Father would never take him back if it weren't for me," she explained matter of factly. Azula smirked. "Too bad Zuzu won't join us for dinner." She gestured to Mai with her knife. "Mai, I want you to visit him again tonight. Try and see if he knows anything more about the Avatar and what his friends may be doing."

Mai nodded. "Of course, Azula," she murmured. "I love talking to him," she said sarcastically, but the sarcasm was lost on Azula.

Ty Lee looked between the two of her friends with a bright smile on her face. "Oh it's so good to finally be getting back to the Fire Nation, don't you guys think?" Mai poked at her fish and sighed at Ty Lee's tactics in changing the topic of conversation.

Azula sighed. "Of course, Ty Lee. We have not been gone very long, but I'm sure our nation has missed us."

"Maybe they will have a celebration in our honor," Ty Lee said excitedly.

"Father surely will arrange one, there is no question about it." Azula sighed, smiling at her friends. "We have killed the Avatar and brought back the banished prince. The Fire Nation will rejoice." Azula let out a short bark of laughter. "That or things will just continue as normal." Azula's face fell slightly before a blindingly wide smile spread across her face. "Father surely will give me a new mission to complete."

Ty Lee looked across the table at Mai, trying to catch her eye. Mai kept her gaze guarded and focused directly on her food like it was the most interesting thing she had looked at all day.

"If things go back to normal, I might have to have you two move to the capital. I don't want you too far away," Azula mused. "I will need you,"

"That will be so fun! We haven't been together that often since we were little! It's just like old times." Ty Lee beamed.

"Yeah, just like old times. Would you like me to place an apple on my head?" Mai asked, her grating voice void of emotion. Azula laughed at the memory.

Ty Lee grabbed an apple off the table and smiled kindly at Mai before placing it on her head with a giggle. "I think it goes really well with your outfit. Your aura is perfectly purple!"

"Thank you," Mai said with a drained tone.

Azula lit her pointer finger on fire. "Would you like me to add a little flame to the top of it? Just for good measure."

Mai shrugged. "Why not."

Azula lit the stem of the apple with glee but put it out before it could get to the core of the apple. "Sometimes it feels like nothing has changed at all." Azula's eyes softened for a second before hardening within seconds. "But I guess time does pass."

"But the past feeds the present," Ty Lee added lightly. "Time seems to flow like water, I guess, don't you think Mai?"

Mai froze at the phrase, remembering the question the crazy old earthbender had said that she kept written in a scroll in her room. Mai didn't let her hesitation bleed into her outer mask, but she chose her next words carefully. "The past is part of the living, I suppose. We never truly change….just grow." Mai swallowed.

Ty Lee looked at Mai worryingly. "Mai you look tired; are you alright?"

Mai coughed, nodding in reassurance. Azula looked between Ty Lee and Mai with a suspicious look, keeping an eye on them as she finished the last few bites of her meal.

Ty Lee kicked Mai's leg, finally making Mai look up at her. Mai raised an eyebrow and looked at her irritably. Ty Lee jerked her head towards the door and back to a tray of food. She made a wide gesture with her hands, which looked like firebending. This only confused Mai more. Ty Lee huffed and put a hand to the left side of her face, covering her left eye, before pointing to the door, the tray of food, and the time. Azula looked between Ty Lee and Mai warrily, watching their strange game of charades as she finished the last few bites of her meal.

Ty Lee gave Azula a bright smile and stuffed a large spoonful of rice into her mouth. Mai rolled her eyes, but pushed her chair back and stretched her arms above her head, feigning fatigue. "Look at the time," she droned. "I think I'll turn in early. I'll just take some of this food to Prince Zuko before turning in." Mai bowed to Azula and nodded her head to Ty Lee before leaving the room with a small tray of food for the prince.

It was quiet in the hallways of the ship. It was getting late enough in the evening that most of the guards had retired for the evening, while the few that had nightwatch were stumbling to the poop deck and the brig. The few that Mai passed gave her a quick nod of the head before leaving her to her own devices. None of them questioned the tray of food in her hands, nor the polite smile she had plastered on her face. One guard gave her an impressive bow, but that was probably due to his fear of her and her stilettos. As he marched away, he kept a stern eye on the sleeves of her robe. Mai suppressed an eye roll. It was no longer fun aboard this ship if everyone was afraid of her.

Mai rounded the corner to the guest quarters where Zuko was lodged to find a curious dark head of hair peeking out of the bedchamber. Prince Zuko did not appear to notice her as he looked both directions before tiptoeing out of the room. Mai cleared her throat, making Zuko jump and spin around. His eyes were wide and he quickly hid his hands behind his back. "What are you doing here?" He said, feigning nonchalance.

Mai lifted the tray in her hands up, answering his question. "What are you doing outside of your room?" Mai marched up to Prince Zuko and gripped him by the elbow before unceremoniously dumping him in his room on the chair he had sat in the night before. Mai pressed the door closed, but slammed the tray of food down on the small automan between the two chairs in the room. She sat down on the chair adjacent to him and draped her robes around her before grabbing a mango off of the tray. "Eat. If you're going to sneak out, you need to have some strength in you. Azula said you haven't eaten today."

Prince Zuko grumbled in reply, not meeting her eyes as he started picking from the food on the tray. "Whatever." Mai raised a brow at his tone, but let him be.

Mai chewed her mango thoughtfully as she surveyed Prince Zuko. He was in similar clothes to yesterday, except they looked a little stiffer, like they had been kept in a trunk for too long. His hair looked like it had been combed back this morning, but it now lay bedraggled around his face hiding the long, dark circles under his eyes. Zuko kept his head bowed, focusing on his food and a piece of torn paper beside him. His leg was jiggling as a nervous tick and he kept glancing at her from the corner of his eyes. Mai spied the hilt of a small dagger in his pocket and she leaned over the table to pick it out of his pocket. "Hey, what are you doing!" Zuko cried in surprise at her hands reaching towards him. He tried to grab the dagger back from her, but to no avail. "That's mine."

"Obviously." Mai lay it on the table and gestured to the rest of his body. "Got anything else?"

"Why should it matter," Zuko said defensively. His face heated up, and the tips of his ears turned red with slight anger.

Mai sighed, crossing her arms. "You are not allowed to have any weapons aboard the ship until we reach the Fire Nation. You are also not supposed to leave your quarters without supervision," she stated.

Zuko lowered his head and pulled out two more small daggers, one in his shoe and one from a small scabbard behind his neck. He set them on the table in front of him. "There you go. You happy?"

"Mildly." Mai sighed and settled back in her chair, nursing a tea cup. She pulled out a few scrolls that she had snatched up earlier from the war chambers and got busy ignoring Zuko.

Zuko didn't try to start a conversation in favor of brooding in his chair. He didn't pull out anything to do, preferring to stare at the walls of his bedchamber. After a few minutes, he turned to stare at Mai quizzically. "Where did you get those?" He wondered aloud.

"The war room."

Zuko took a second glance at Mai, spluttering. "What? How did you do that?!"

Mai shrugged. "I was there to check on updates from Azula, but they weren't telling me everything so I grabbed a few scrolls to study."

"Wouldn't they have seen you? Or even notice you taking them? Where did you put them?" Zuko looked Mai up and down, almost expecting her to start pulling things out of her robe like a magical purse.

Mai gave him a flat look from the top of her scroll. "They don't really notice me when I'm in a room, so it was actually quite easy." Mai snapped her fingers, bringing Zuko's attention to her face. "I have pockets, your highness."

Zuko gulped and rubbed the back of his neck. "Right, sorry for asking. I should have known that." The two of them fell into a palatable silence, but that did not stop Zuko from staring warily at Mai, as if expecting her to start bursting at the seams with all the things she kept in her pockets.

Mai sighed and put down her scroll. She pulled a few stilettos out of the pockets of her sleeves, setting them carefully down on the table before going through the rest of her pockets to indulge Zuko's curiosity.

Zuko held up his hands to try and stop her. "Oh no, you don't have to show me. Those are your secrets to keep!"

Mai let out a short chuckle at Zuko's reaction. She paused to give him an amused look, her mask falling in the comfort of his sincerity. "It's not like I have all the weapons of the armory in my robes, calm down." She took out a few more scrolls from the largest pockets and pulled out a few short blades and daggers from the thin pockets underneath the outer cover of her robe. She untied the outer robe just enough to pull out the rest of the stilettos and some of the pens and tea packets she kept on her. Zuko watched her in silent horror.

"How do you walk with all of that on you?"

Mai gestured for him to come to her side of the room and she started to show him all of the pockets on his own robes he could use to put stuff, but not weapons of course. "The art is to glide when walking instead of stomping around."

Zuko pouted. "I don't stomp."

Mai gave him a rueful smile. The smile was not big, but it snuck out onto her face and Mai didn't bother trying to reign it in. "That was supposed to be a joke, your highness."

"Well I still don't stomp," Zuko huffed. He paused and caught Mai's gaze, holding it in his own. They were standing in front of one another beside the tea table with a large amount of weapons, mostly from Mai, piled on the tea table and in their pockets. Zuko seemed to pause and grapple with his breath. "I told you to call me Zuko, Mai," he added quietly, his voice just barely reaching Mai's ears.

"I know."

Zuko shifted his weight from one foot to another. Mai considered his movements and filed them away for future reference, analyzing his reaction.

Zuko smiled, but turned away to gesture to the weapons. "What do these do? How do you use them?"

Mai cleared her throat and rambled off the basic facts of each type of weapon she kept on her and what they were used for. Most of them were meant to maim or injure someone without ever killing them, but one dagger as well as a small vial were to be used to kill. "I obviously don't need to use those very often, but they are good to have around just in case." Mai pressed those two weapons into the pocket closest to her chest. "Now where to?"

Zuko tilted his head in confusion.

Mai sighed, as if the question and answer were obvious. She pointed the door then to Zuko himself. "Where were you going to sneak out to? As long as you have an escort, you can go anywhere."

"But we don't have an esc-"

Mai groaned aloud and pulled Zuko towards the door by his elbow. "I'm your escort, you turtleduck. Now let's go." She pushed him out the door unceremoniously, leading him into the main parts of the ship. There were still a few guards out, but none of them really minded Mai, nor the Prince trying to keep up with her. "Where am I going?" Mai whispered to Zuko, bringing him closer to her to make him walk faster.

"Uh I was actually just going to go to the top deck," Zuko answered dumbly. Mai stopped them by a corner and brought him into the shadows to avoid a guard, and her eyebrows furrowed.

"You just wanted to see the deck of the ship?" Mai shook her head in bewilderment.

Zuko rubbed the back of his neck. "I just want-I wanted to see the sky."

Mai stared at him speechlessly before grabbing his wrist to lead him to the top deck of the boat. She stood there in silence, letting him take in the view. He sighed at the sight of the sea again after being cooped up in his room for two days and he took a large lungful of air, puffing out his chest. Zuko seemed to forget Mai was there as he stood amazed by the ocean. Mai wasn't technically supposed to take him out of his room, but the peaceful look on Zuko's face was worth it. He looked like a little boy. She stood on the right side of him and marveled at how young he looked in the light of the moon. It's almost as if the past four, almost five years had never happened. Zuko turned towards her, and Mai let out a breath of air she had been holding. The scar on the left side of his face was horrific, to put it lightly, and hardened his looks. Mai's memory of Zuko had been of the young boy who had played with her and Ty Lee when Azula was busy, and he was the boy who had fallen into the fountain with her when Azula had set fire to the apple on her head. Just like last night, Mai found that the Zuko in front of her was the same boy she had known as a kid, but he had grown up between then and now, and she supposed that she had as well.

"What?" Zuko asked, breaking Mai's train of thought.

Mai hummed and turned away from him, looking out at the moonlit water. "Do you remember when you pushed me into that fountain?" Mai folded her arms and propped herself up against the railing of the ship.

Zuko wrinkled his eyebrows. "I guess, yeah." Zuko lay against the barrier as well, rubbing his right elbow against Mai's left accidentally. "For the record, I didn't push you; your hair was almost on fire."

"You still pushed me into the water."

"Yeah, but I fell in with you."

"I still went in first. You were quite heavy for a thirteen year old."

From the corner of her eye, Mai could see a slight blush rise to his cheeks. "I wasn't heavy, thank you very much. I was just strong for my age."

"Sure you were."

"Ugh, why did you have to bring that up? Mom teased me for days about it! And Azula!" Zuko cried, his head falling to hide under his forearms.

Mai hid a small smile. "You're right. You are still the same kid." Mai watched Zuko lift his head to look at her. "You haven't changed in the characteristics that matter the most."

"You mean I'm still the little boy who couldn't even fight my father. Right?" Zuko suddenly turned away, becoming closed off within seconds. He looked bitter more than angry, and Mai felt the shift in the air. "I'm still really easy to manipulate and torture. Why am I bothering to come home when nothing is ever going to change."

Mai frowned. "You know that is not what I meant. You are still-" Mai cut herself off as she saw Zuko start to grimace. Mai let out a low growl and reached out to grip his arm, making sure he was paying attention to her. "I wasn't there for the Agni Kai, Zuko. I don't really know what happened, but I can tell you right now that you are the same kid I knew, but not necessarily the one that left on that ship," Mai spelled out. Mai forced her mask back up to hide the anger she felt welling up inside as well as the sadness she felt when she had first learned of Zuko's banishment when she was barely twelve. "I don't know what's happened to you over these past five years, but no one on this ship does, except maybe your uncle. I don't know how different or similar you are to the young boy who fought an Agni Kai with his father, but I don't know until you show me."

Zuko frowned back, pulling his arm from her grasp. "Yeah, but what about you?! You're completely different!" he yelled.

Mai cast a glance around them, but luckily no guards had noticed them yet. "Keep it down."

"No you keep it down! You are completely different Mai from the shy, happy little girl I knew! You are so "blah" and emotionless and you keep insisting on calling me Prince, but then simultaneously acting like you know me! You don't know anything about me and I don't know anything about you, so why are we pretending that we do!" Zuko took a deep breath and turned away from Mai, his breaths coming out as large puffs of smoke. "I'm going to bed; don't bother following."

Mai grabbed his wrist and yanked him back towards her. They crashed into each other on the deck of the ship and Mai tipped backwards and almost flipped over the railing. There was a scramble of hands and Zuko grabbed Mai back away from the ledge as she grabbed on to him to stay upright. They ended up collapsing on the ground, Zuko falling on top of Mai. They both groaned. Mai pushed herself up with her elbows to sit upright. Zuko was lying across her lap with his hands holding the side of her waist while her hands still held his forearms. Zuko looked up and they both shared an awkward look before their eyes darted away. A guard above them shouted at the sound of them falling and they heard footsteps racing towards them. "Get up," Mai whispered, pushing at Zuko to get off of her. "Get up!" Mai urged, shaking Zuko from his frozen phase. Zuko scrambled up, then knelt down and offered a hand to Mai to help her up. She took it without thought, and the two of them ran back towards his room before the guards could reach them.

The door to Zuko's bedchamber closed behind their backs and the two of them breathed heavily as they slid down the door, their hands still clasped together. Mai was surprised to find his hands so warm even on such a cold ship, but she reluctantly let go. Her fingers slipped out of his grasp and she pushed both of her hands into her sleeves. "I'll talk to Azula about letting you walk around the ship with a guard."

Zuko looked at Mai with a sideways glance, but instead of looking suspicious, Mai was treated to an appreciative, small smile. "That would mean a lot….thanks."

"Your welcome," Mai bit out, still not used to this type of kindness from the royal family. "It's the least I can do…..Zuko."

Zuko's smile brightened. All around his head little sparks gleamed and twinkled. Zuko ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry for pushing you, again. I shouldn't have popped off like that."

Once again Mai was caught by surprise. Mai took a couple extra breaths, trying to even out her heartbeat from running across the ship. "I think I was the one who pulled you this time." Mai let out a soft laugh. "...Sorry."

"No problem." Mai could hear Zuko swallow beside her and she turned to watch him as more sparks danced around his head, illuminating the dark room.

Mai looked at Zuko with a tentative expression in her eyes. "Are you alright?"

Zuko coughed. "Yeah." He batted at another floating bit of fire. "Peachy."

Mai nodded, but was looking at Zuko like he was crazy. "Alright then. I'm going to go to bed…Goodnight Zuko." Mai gave Zuko a quick bow before briskly leaving the room.

---

Hello Readers! I hope you liked this chapter. Someone asked in the last chapter about the ages of the characters, so I just want to clarify that the characters are just aged up but the timeline of the show is just extended.

Zuko:18

Mai:17

Ty Lee:16

Azula:16

And Aang is 14. Hope that helps! Please let me know how you are liking the story, and feel free to leave some kudos behind. The next chapter will hopefully come out next Tuesday around 3pm EST, so you can look forward to that :-) Until I write again, TTFN