Toph was of two minds right now…
On one hand. Zuko was happy so she was happy. No one deserved happiness more than Zuko.
On the other hand…. Toph had lost exclusive rights to her favorite pillow and somehow Mai seemed to know it. Or at least it felt that way as Mai was laying right behind Zuko. Pressed up against Zukos back, fingering with his hair. And Toph could just feel Zukos satisfied heart beat from thirty meters away.
He was like a lazy cat unfurling by Mais touch. And she was like some sort of feline herself feeling very self satisfied with herself.
Sokka smirked satisfied. "Hah. Told you my advice would work."
Zuko blinked as he looked up. "What advice?" he asked and Sokkas face just fell.
Aang how-ever snickered into his hand.
Mai smirked as she looked up. Ones again looking so satisfied with herself. Her fingers still going through Zukos hair in constant small movements.
"Well what-ever! This is no time for that sort of gooey romance." Sokka stated.
"You're just saying that because Suki isn't here." Katara commented dryly.
"No!" Sokka proclaimed. Which was clearly a lie. "We have business to attend! Everyone gather around!" he asked as Sokka sat down and spread out a map he had in his hands. "Okay so we have a brand new plan! Our plan is no longer to take out the fire lord doing the eclipse but use it to break out prisoners who can be our allies!" he stated. "Our mission now is to gather intel and give new directions to our current allies. Where they need to be and where we meet up!" Sokka said. "From now on this place, the Western Air temple will be our permanent base of operations! Our permanent camp is here and we can move out in smaller groups able to move quicker to collect intel from Fire nation outposts! Aang can now also concentrate his time on mastering the elements, which means Aang and at least one of his teachers will stay here at all times."
"Aww man." Aang pouted.
"So Mai and Ty Lee! You had contact to the military. You should have most intel about where to go to gather information!" Sokka stated.
Mai groaned deeply as she finally had to stop playing with Zukos hair and stand up to approach the map. "Well. When it comes to fire nation intel you are in luck. They keep strict records on everything. And take deep pride in having excellent records. Each prison will have records of all prisoners who came and left. Describing where they came from and where they left too. And then there are the outpost record holders keeping track of soldier movements and prison movements. The biggest ones within the fire nation are here. Here and here in the capital." Mai pointed at three different places the last places being the capital. "I suggest we just stay out of the capital. But these two places should be good places to raid. Though if I may suggest something. They should both have the official records and copies. If we went for the copies they would be less likely to even figure out they have been raided. So I propose we go for the copies."
Zuko was all smiles as he looked up at Mai.
"That does sound like a good plan." Sokka had to admit.
"Like I said. My uncle is the warden of the boiling rock. My dad is an appointed colony governor. They are all about the paper work." Mai rolled her eyes. "And of course. Their precious perfect records. It's a matter of honour I think."
"Man you guys are all about that honour aren't you?" Sokka asked.
"Oh yeah." Mai stated. "Honour to the fire lord! Honour to the fire nation! Honour to the army! Honour thy family. Honour the cow." she shook her head. "They use it so much as a justification that it outright lost all meaning. I mean you can call it honour all you want. But as long as you are acting like a bloody coward that's not really honourable at all is it?"
The others nodded slowly.
Zuko nodded as well. "You may say serving the fire lord is honourable. But if you think that justifies your cowardly actions and senseless violence for your own selfish goals. Then there is no honour in that at all."
Aang inhaled a deep breath. "Standing up for your own principles even if the world is making fun if you. That's real honour."
"Beside Ozai is super pathetic." Mai rolled her eyes. "You should have seen him walking around in the palace! Look at me! Look at how big and important I am!" she straightened up to imitate an older man. "I'm so much better than my brother. That's why I keep calling him a fool! Uh let me intimidate my nine year old kid, now everyone know what a great man I am." she held up a hand. "I am Ozai. My dick is the seize of a pea. But the world can't know. So I put up giant banners of myself everywhere! That'll teach them that I am not over compensating!"
Aang couldn't help it as he clasped the hands over his mouth to hide his laughter.
"Mai seriously!" Ty Lee gasped. "That language!"
Zuko though was laughing into his hand too.
"Ozai is seriously like that?" Sokka asked.
"Oh absolutely." Mai stated. "He's the kind of person who feels the need to intimidate everyone. Even little kids and women to make himself feel worthwhile. Trust me. He is super pathetic and I can't wait till I see him go down."
"Okay." Toph at last sighed. "I give in… She's pretty cool."
"I'm just sick of Ozais bullshit honestly." Mai said in a sigh. "He's a little man with a big ego. That's all he is. It's pathetic." she smirked amused. "No wonder both Ozai and Azula are scared of Zuko. Zuko is only sixteen. And he is already a far greater man than Ozai can ever hope to become."
"Wait… Ozai is scared of Zuko?" Aang asked.
"Oh yes." Mai said in a nod. "And so is Azula. Why do you think Ozai send Azula out there with no hope of returning if she doesn't catch Zuko? And why do you think Azula has lost it this much. They are actually afraid they might loose."
Zukos eyes widened. And so did Aangs, Sokkas, Katara's and Toph's. None of them had actually expected to hear it.
"Wait Azula isn't allowed to come back if she doesn't capture me?" Zuko asked astounded.
"Ozai doesn't tolerate anything less than perfection. You of all people should know that." Mai commented. "Like I said. He's a pathetic little man like that. No. Azula has not been allowed to return without results. Now she's desperate. And quite frankly… I think at this point she'll do anything to win her fathers favour back."
There was quiet.
"There is descent in the fire nation." Mai said. "Regular people are turning to Zuko and the Avatar. Ozai is loosing control of his own people. You can bet he hates it."
"Sounds like the fire nation is coming undone." Sokka blinked.
"Not entirely. Ozais power is still great. His generals and nobles has an interest in maintaining their power. People like my family rather that things stay the way they are so they can maintain their status. Without Ozai they could loose both status and riches." Mai said. "Honestly though. They'll live. They might not be able to live in luxury any more. But what's wrong with just living a normal life instead?" she asked in a slight eye roll. "I was sick of being a noble lady by the age of five. Just sit still, look pretty and say the correct thing. Yeah no thanks."
"Yeaaah…" Ty Lee sighed. "Running away with the circus was a lot more fun."
"Wait so you are both nobility?" Toph asked in a blink.
"Of course we are." Mai said. "We would never have been allowed to hang out with Azula in the palace if we weren't nobles. It was all about family connections."
"I'm the youngest out of six though." Ty Lee said. "So I'm not that important. I don't think my parents even noticed when I left."
"Well… I was my parents only child until only two years ago when my little brother was born." Mai said. "They always wanted a boy though. And was more aiming at raising me probably to marry the best possible noble man of highest possible status." she groaned deeply. Then she smirked. "But they couldn't say no when I wanted to join the pre-military academy as a kid. Cause that's honourable for fire nation to train to one day join the military." She said. "Well… I guess they hoped I would just meet a General one day and marry him." she muttered annoyed. "Like I said though. For them it was all about just building family connections and so on. Screw that."
"Well. Looks like we have our first locations." Sokka commented. "Give me a bit of time to work on a plan. We'll be moving forward."
"Okay so Mai is pretty cool." Toph finally had to admit as she finally got Zuko a bit to herself that afternoon.
"I know right?!" Zuko asked in a grin. "She's so good with knives! You wont even believe how fast and precise she is! And she just says things the way she sees it! No bullshitting around! And she kicks serious butt."
"That also describes me!" Toph pointed out.
"I know. And that's why you're also really cool." Zuko said making Toph halt. "She's so strong! And don't just mean the martial arts but you know. She'll stay true to herself! It's so cool! And she's actually really nice. And don't care about status at all!"
Toph sighed deeply. "Zuko… I'm happy for you. Seriously. I just.."
"Yeah." Zuko said.
"You're my pillow brother and don't you forget it!" Toph exclaimed.
"Huh?" Zuko blinked. "Oh… " he suddenly realized. "Toph. Of course you're still my honorary sister. Duh." he said. "In fact you are my favourite okay?"
"Oh… Right." Toph blushed deeply.
"Want a ride?" Zuko asked.
"You know it!" Toph exclaimed and Zuko chuckled as he hunched down allowing Toph to climb on his back.
"Where to then Ms Beifong?" Zuko asked amused.
"To kick Jerk lords butt!" Toph proclaimed. "At top speed!"
"Well hold on then!" Zuko laughed as he ran with Toph on his back making the girl laugh in delight. Zuko smirked as well. He had started to get the hang of this! They weren't loosing family, they were just getting more extended family. The world was pretty cool like that.