Don't have much to say, except that last chapter I had a scene break inserted between the viewpoint switch, but the site's stupid editing system removed it.

Mai slipped back into her bed and feigned sleep until Azula returned with Ty Lee at nearly five in the morning. She pushed her in and closed the tank door. As soon she left, Mai got up and went over to her friend. "Ty Lee, I saw what Azula did to you," she whispered. "We need to get you out of here."

Ty Lee just stared at her, tears in her eyes. "I'm not leaving, Mai. If I go, she'll kill me, or make me go through that again!"

"You'll have to go through that again anyway if you don't stand up for yourself and leave." She stepped toward the door.

"You were watching; why didn't you stand up for me?" The words cut like a knife into Mai's heart. She had had a good reason, but it didn't seem as firm now that Ty Lee was right in front of her.

"Azula would have killed us both," she said, without much conviction. "Now come on. We have to get out of here." Ty Lee ignored her. Still in the clothes Azula had mostly destroyed, she collapsed onto her bed and began to cry. Mai sat down next to her and continued without success to try to get her to leave. It was no use. Azula had thoroughly terrified her, broken her spirit. It hurt her to watch her friend in such a state.

The next morning, they started their travels again. Ty Lee still hadn't woken up after getting to sleep as the sun was rising. Mai couldn't convince Ty Lee to leave, and had given up. She wanted to try and provide her with some protection, so she decided to confront Azula about what she had done. A mistake, but still the right choice to make. She signaled for them to stop, and within a minute both tanks were at a complete halt.

"Why did you want us to stop?" demanded Azula. Mai walked over to her tank and went in, making sure the door was still open.

"Azula, I know what you did to Ty Lee," said Mai with as much venom as she could muster. "You had better not do it again."

"Or what? I'm the leader of this group, remember. We do what I say. Your little knives aren't going to hurt me. And how did you know what I did to Ty Lee? If she told you, I have an even worse punishment in store for her."

"She didn't tell me. I saw you. A sleeping potion wouldn't work on me. I recognized the smell and took an antidote."

"And yet you didn't help her. You're such a wonderful friend. Ty Lee must be so happy." Azula didn't even see it coming. Mai punched her in the stomach, hard. It was a humiliating experience for a princess.

"I don't need you anymore! I'm leaving!" She stormed out. Azula just stared for a moment. She had only seen Mai get angry very rarely, and it was often shocking. Still, she could find consolation in torturing Ty Lee. She entered Ty Lee's tank.

"You told Mai about what I did, didn't you?" Ty Lee got up at the sound of her voice and retreated to the back. She shook her head. Mai had been right. Azula was just going to torture her for as long as they remained together. She pushed past Azula, fleeing into from the tank and into the woods. Azula struck the wall of the tank; the metal sizzled and melted. She would have to find them again, but with the whole Fire Nation army on her side.

Mai stormed through the woods. Let Ty Lee suffer. She couldn't stand to be around either of them. Thoughts of hatred continued to fly through her mind until she couldn't sustain them any more. The anger burned out, and left her feeling hollow and empty. She stopped in a clearing and fell to her knees, regretting her decision. She thought about going back; returning to free Ty Lee from Azula, but before she could decide on anything, a jet of fire streaked over her head.

Acting on instinct, she threw a knife in the direction the fire had come from. She heard a cry as it hit someone, but it was not the cry of Azula as she had expected. It was a male voice, and one sh knew well. It was the voice of Prince Zuko.

She saw him rush into the clearing, and he sent a jet of fire heading her way. She rolled to the left and just barely escaped the flames. "I don't want to fight you, Zuko."

"Of course you don't! You want to capture me alive so you can bring me to Azula!" Zuko struck again, this time using one of his swords. Mai countered with a dagger, the only close range weapon she had. She forced the blade out of her way, and tried to get it at Zuko's throat. If she could get him to stop his attack, she could explain what was happening. He fought back, breathing fire on the blade as it neared his throat, and forcing Mai to drop it. She pulled out two throwing knives. They were not meant for close combat, but would do for the moment.

She parried blow after blow from Zuko, not losing any ground but not gaining any either. She couldn't do much to attack, but kept defending. After a while, Zuko seemed to be running out of steam. His blows came less forcefully, and looking at him, she realized why. His shoulder had been hit by the knife she threw and was starting to bleed badly. "Stop fighting. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Of course... you don't...," he replied, gasping for breath. He forced himself to fight for several more minutes before collapsing in pain and exhaustion. Even then, he still tried to get up.

"Come on," she said, offering him a hand. "I'll help you." He ignored her, dragging himself to his feet, struggling with the pain. Picking up a stick to support himself, he put his weight on his good arm and limped back to camp. Mai quickly attempted to follow him, but she was drained from the battle, and couldn't travel that much faster than he could. "Let me help you," she insisted. "I'm not with Azula any more, and I never will be again."

Zuko didn't believe her, but the pain was becoming unbearable, and so he put his good arm over her shoulder and leaned on her. Mai felt herself going slightly red as she realized her crush on Zuko had persisted through those three years. They made slow progress back to Zuko's camp. When Iroh saw his nephew's state, he quickly pulled out a medical kit and began to clean bandage his wounds. After he finished, he looked up at Mai, and to her surprise, smiled. "I see we have a guest. Would you like some tea?"

Okay, what happens to Ty Lee will be next chapter. There may be more M rated stuff including torture, violence, and language coming up, but you'll get a warning beforehand. Please feel free to comment on what happened. I'm also working on fixing some confusing stuff in other chapters.