A/N - Special thanks to Looneyluna at AvatarSpirit for perusing my writings beforehand. Any failings in style or story are mine alone. Chapter 2 comes soon, and others are to follow.
Avatar: The Last Airbender and all its characters are a creation of Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, and the property of Nickelodeon. The following story is but a small and profitless way of saying: "Thank you."
Chapter 1
"How wonderful!" Ty Lee exclaimed as she climbed into the hot water.
Mai leaned against the smooth, rocky side of the hot spring and nodded. It felt good to get a bath after all these days, and it helped to ease the humiliation from her mind. Azula had been furious when those two Water Tribe brats escaped Mai and Ty Lee and arrived in time to help rescue the Avatar. Mai had brooded for the past three days. We had them! It was disappointingly simple to defeat those two. If only that furry flying nuisance hadn't been there.
Ty Lee took a deep breath and plunged her head into the water, interrupting Mai's thoughts. Her hands scrubbed her hair furiously. Mai smirked. Finding this hot spring was a huge windfall. They all needed a good wash before continuing their pursuit. Azula might be able to heat whatever water she chose to bathe in, but this natural hot spring gave Mai and Ty Lee some time away from their leader. She let herself sink further into the water.
They were near a small village, and Azula had told them to remain at camp while she gathered information. She wasn't worried about trouble: the village was only a few harmless peasants.
The acrobat resurfaced with a splash. Her long brown hair clung to her face and shoulders. "Ah, this is splendid. Even the circus didn't have this." Ty Lee grew suddenly quiet, and a wistful smile came to her lips. She pulled her hair away from her face and sighed.
"Miss it?" Mai asked.
Ty Lee looked at her for a long moment before answering. "Maybe a little. But, while we might not get much of a crowd, traveling with dear Azula sure is exciting. Don't you think so, Mai?"
Mai shrugged and let her eyes droop shut. True, she had been wasting away from boredom staying with her parents and Tom Tom at the new New Ozai, and anything was preferable to that. But those two Water Tribe fools were no challenge at all on their own. If we could just get them away from that bison...
She had also looked forward to seeing Zuko again. Azula intended to arrest him as a traitor, although the princess hadn't explained the details to either her or Ty Lee. Even so, Mai thought, there's still a chance he'll see the light. His exile had struck her hard. Now, though, he was so close. She wondered what would happen when they met. Perhaps she could convince him to surrender without a battle.
"Thinking about Zuko?" Ty Lee chimed in.
Mai's eyes snapped open. "What?"
"You were smiling. And blushing." Ty Lee's lips curled into a grin. "It's sweet, you know."
"I'm not blushing." Mai dismissed her comment, having regained her composure. She shifted against the side of the hot spring and shut her eyes once more. "The heat of the springs must be making my skin flush."
"Must be." Mai heard her giggle. "It's okay, though. I was just thinking of that cute Water Tribe boy we fought. I bet his aura is—"
"Is what, Ty Lee?" Mai was afraid to open her eyes when she heard Azula speak, but she forced herself to. How much did she hear?
The Fire Nation princess stood just behind Ty Lee and leaned in close to the acrobat's ear. Mai saw a dangerous glimmer in Azula's golden eyes. Ty Lee gulped.
"Dim," the acrobat said hastily. Azula rested her hands upon the poor girl's shoulders, and Mai saw her acuate nails pressing imperceptibly into Ty Lee's skin. "Dim and unimpressive. He is a weak warrior, after all. Mai and I—" She winced.
"Failed to keep him and the waterbending girl from helping the Avatar," Azula finished, her voice nearly a whisper in Ty Lee's ear. Then she smiled a little and patted her right shoulder. "But, let's look forward, shall we? You girls mind if I join you? It has been a long day." Mai noticed a certain calculating look in the princess's eyes when she looked at her friend.
"Of course not, Azula!" Ty Lee sang out. "We would be glad to have you here. Just like old times!"
"Like old times," Mai confirmed.
Azula stripped off her clothing and eased herself into the large rocky bowl of the spring. She eased her top knot out of its ring and set it aside. With a shake of her head, her raven hair fell past her shoulders. "Well," she said, smiling, "it's good to be among friends once again. It became pretty lonely after my brother's exile. Not that I missed him. But I didn't get to see the two of you nearly enough, being busy with affairs of state and all. I'm sure you know enough about that, don't you Mai?"
"I find it dull," Mai responded. "If my father were a soldier, I might at least hear some war stories. But it's just paperwork and requests, all day long. Now that I'm older, I get to help."
"Where have our childhoods gone?" Azula's gaze crawled over Ty Lee. "Remember how we used to spend our days in the palace gardens, cartwheeling and carrying on. That was a lot of fun, wasn't it?"
Ty Lee brightened up. "Yes, it was. I remember that one day we climbed up the pillars and walked along the tops of the arches. Oh, that was such fun! You didn't come up, did you, Mai? You were watching a snake, or something."
"Better a snake than a pair of monkeys."
"If you say so. It was great up there, though looking back they don't seem so high up now." The acrobat turned to Azula. "Your mother was so angry when she found us!" Then, realizing what she had just said, she jerked her right hand up to her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry."
"Don't be," Azula said kindly. Then her lips twisted into a scowl. "Mother always was getting in the way of my fun. For my own good, she always told me, yet she was always trying to keep me from climbing higher, and in more ways than one. She would have had me grow up like Zuzu. But who betrayed the Fire Nation?"
Mai knew what it was like to be kept restrained by her parents. She would have spared Tom Tom the constant monotony as the child of a government official. She wondered what the resistance in New Ozai had done with him. Still, it was never easy to hear Azula speak of her older brother. Azula's flame might burn blue and bright, but there was much to be said for a slow, gentle ember, writhing gracefully like a snake through the grass.
"Well I have bathed long enough," Ty Lee said. "If I stay here any longer, I'll wither up like an old grandma!" She stood up knee-deep in the steaming water. "I'll go dry off and get some rest in my tent. Tomorrow will be a long day!"
"Maybe something will happen," Mai muttered. As Ty Lee left, she noticed Azula's eyes following the acrobat. She rose silently. Azula's left hand darted out and seized her arm.
"Mai," she turned to her with scintillating eyes like those of a raptor, "I'll need to talk to you when I'm done. I have a special mission for you. And trust me, you won't be bored."
She nodded, and Azula let go of her arm. The princess of the Fire Nation sunk deeper into the waters, which grew warmer as Mai stepped out onto the grass. She gathered up her clothes and left, wondering what Azula had in mind.
