A/N - Thank you Looneyluna! Thank you readers!


Chapter 7: A Friendly Reunion

Azula's long nails dug into the innkeeper's shoulder through his clothes. The man wept with fear and begged not to be harmed. Despite a crowd that gathered around the Relentless and its newly reunited crew, no one in Da Bao stepped forward to help the man. Mai noticed that the people of the Earth Kingdom town stayed back as if Azula's mere presence radiated some kind of flame that threatened to devour them all.

"Once more." Azula stood behind him so that the agony on his face was clearly visible to those gathered. When she spoke, it was for everyone to hear. "An injured old man, a boy with a scar over his eye, a child with an arrow on his head, and their three friends. I know you must have seen them. Tell me where they went, and I may spare your sad little life. I'm nice like that."

"I gave the man and the boy a room at my inn, yes," he whimpered. "But I didn't see them leave, I swear! Please, I'm just a poor innkeeper. I've done nothing against the Fire Nation."

"He may not know," Mai suggested quietly. Azula's brown eyes shot over to her and glared. A chill ran up her spine and she fought the urge to take a step back. I didn't see him when I ran out the door…

"West." The voice belonged to a man who stepped forward from the crowd. His clothing marked him as a poor peasant like all the rest, but something in his manner intrigued Mai. The abject fear Azula instilled within the quivering crowd did not cause his voice to tremble. Perhaps a pitiable simpleness prevented him from being properly intimidated. "I saw them go west," he repeated. "They looked just like you said. Please, spare this poor man."

"West, you say." Azula's brown eyes—darker under the light of the stars—considered the informer. Her clutch on the innkeeper's shoulder loosened. Already on his knees, he fell to his palms and began to crawl away. Azula made no motion to stop him. Seeing this, neither did Mai or Ty Lee. She did, however, step toward the other man and beckoned Ty Lee with her left hand.

Mai watched her acrobatic friend hesitate, or so it seemed. As Ty Lee bounded over to Azula, Mai found herself wondering if her own mind were just playing tricks on her.

"Very well, old man. We'll leave your precious innkeeper alone. We'll even spare this excuse for a town." She held up a single slender, acuminate finger. "But there is just one thing that bothers me."

The gray-haired man scratched his moustache, which appeared like a nervous gesture to Mai.

Azula's nail darted forward, jabbing the man right in the eye. A scream escaped him and he dropped to his knees, clutching at the left side of his face with both hands. Some dark fluid oozed between his fingers and dripped to the dirt below.

Many in the crowd gasped and some made as if to move forward, but their fear kept them back.

Mai watched silently while something crawled up within her mind. They are nothing to me, she reflected, trying to push that something back into the dark corners of her thoughts. Nothing at all. They are cattle that do not even try to help their own kind.

"I despise being lied to,." Azula said. She turned to Ty Lee, who currently held a hand over her mouth. "Ty Lee, why don't you be merciful and end this man's suffering?"

"What?" she choked out.

"You heard me. End it for him."

"I can't…"

"Sure you can. It's easy. Here, let me show you." And then she did something very unexpected: she took hold of Ty Lee's shivering arms and, like a mother guiding a child, she lead her behind the man. Ty Lee followed, no more animated by her own power than a doll.

Mai felt like she was dreaming as the princess pushed the man's arms aside and placed her friend's arms around his head and neck. Standing there, Mai noticed the man's hand go to his side. He pulled something from a pouch in his belt—something small and round and opaque. It couldn't have been a weapon. What, then?

"All you have to do," Azula said, speaking to the acrobat over the horrified rumble of the crowd, "is turn his head to the side. Like this. And then, eventually…"

That unwanted thing in Mai's mind surged forward again, and no thoughts, no excuses defended her against it this time. She raised her arm and with a flick of her wrist let her arrow fly. It sped through the air, and with a dull thud embedded itself into the man's head. He slouched over instantly and Ty Lee gasped. The crowd screamed. The round thing tumbled from his hand and into the dirt.

Azula nearly let her friend fall from her arms as she stood up. Now uninterested in Ty Lee, she glanced to the arrow in the man's skull and stormed over to Mai.

"There was something in his hand," Mai said in her usual composed tone. Run! her feet commanded, but she would not. She will not harm me. She's tired and angry from her encounter with the Avatar… this will pass. Still, when Azula neared, she could not help but add: "I thought it was a knife."

Her friend's expression softened, then. Azula looked at the ground and picked up the round object from where it lay a few feet away. It contrasted with the tan dirt under the starlight. Behind her, Ty Lee crouched, frantically attempting to pull herself together.

"Looks like we ruined his Pai Sho game." She held up what the man had held in his hand. It was a tile bearing a lotus flower.

How strange, thought Mai.

The tile burst into flames. Azula cast it to the ground by the body where it continued to burn. "Let's get going. Bring Ty Lee with you." For a moment she spared a glance back at the quivering girl. "And tell her I'm sorry. She's had a hard night. I should have done it myself." She headed back to the open hatch of the Relentless.

Mai went quickly but confidently to Ty Lee. She placed a hand upon her shoulder, but Ty Lee shrugged it off.

"Come on," she urged. "We can't stay here. Not like this." When her friend didn't move, she thought about Azula's words. "Azula said she's sorry. I don't know what happened to the two of you with the Avatar, but she's angry and did not mean to take it out on you."

Something lurked behind those tear-filled gray eyes that turned toward her, but Mai didn't know what. And, just like that, it was gone.

"Yeah," Ty Lee sniffled, wiping her eyes with her fingers. "It's just been an awful night." She stood, and a calm settled over her, but it was not the usual sprightly cheer she possessed. "We better get out of here, right?"

Mai nodded. The two of them hurried into the Relentless, pulled the hatch shut, and leaned against it. Warmth permeated the small compartment—most of the front car was dedicated to the locomotive engine that pulled the Relentless along, leaving little room for its passengers. Since the coals had not yet cooled, Azula simply rotated a handle to allow coal and water to flow into the engine once again, then pushed the valve gauge forward. The wheels turned, and the treads began to pull them forward.

They left Da Bao behind to mourn and wonder.

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Some time later Ty Lee left for the front half of the middle car where they bunked. Mai slipped into the seat by Azula's side. The princess's dark eyes looked out of the large slits in the front of the engine car.

"There's a field of boulders ahead. We will stop there. I don't think we'll be pitching tents outside tonight." Her hand grabbed the valve gauge that controlled the Relentless's speed. A dull groan came from the machinery that propelled the massive vehicle forward as Azula yanked it. The Relentless lurched as less steam pumped the pistons and it began to slow.

"I thought you said the two of you would head north." Mai realized saying so now was a little ridiculous. They were headed north now, not west like the dead man in Da Bao would have had them believe. Yet she trusted Azula to take her point.

"I did. Something came up, though and we headed out a bit later than I expected. However, we did find the Avatar."

"We are out of the way here, so we shouldn't have to worry." Azula cranked the handle that controlled the flow of fuel from the engine tank. Its doors shut with a grating metallic sound. "On foot the Avatar and his friends have no hope of outpacing us, so that gives us the luxury of time."

"How did you find them?"

"Dumb luck, really. I thought we should hide the Relentless on the northern edge of the Si Wong desert and take the mongoose-dragons. Not of a lot of people in the Earth Kingdom make a habit of going to the desert from the north, I've heard.

"We were just getting ready to leave when I decided to have a look around, just to be sure it was as empty an area as I'd heard. I took a look through the spy glass and what should I see but two strange desert-skimming ships off in the distance. With the Avatar, no less. I thought by the time we reached Ba Sing Se we'd be forced to infiltrate the city to find him, but there he was, right in front of us. And without his precious sky bison.

"Still, somehow he and his friends knew we were coming two weeks ago, and I wasn't willing to risk it again. And yet, with the Avatar so close at hand I didn't want to abandon our precious ride. I had Ty Lee follow them on a mongoose-dragon from a safe distance and report back to me when they stopped. I followed even farther behind." Her hand reached up and patted the steering controls.

"They went all through the night and the next day. Something was gnawing at them. Then at dusk the second day, Ty Lee came back to tell me they were almost an hour and a half away and had camped for the night."

"Everything went almost perfectly. We took our lizards and rode right up to them, ready to strike. But that worthless Waterbender of theirs just happened to be awake. She shouted. The others got to their feet before I could silence her with lightning, because really, why waste effort on subtlety at that point? When I did, though, well…"

Mai sat quietly in her seat after Azula's words drifted off. She folded her hands in her robes and waited. Nothing penetrated the warm silence of the engine car; not even the sound of their breath. Even though the princess's brown eyes looked in Mai's direction, there was a feeling of distance within them.

Azula rose to her feet.

"Something happened to the Avatar, Mai. Something awesome. But, whatever it was, I did not let awe prevent me from acting. And that," she said, leaning very close to Mai's face, "is the reason why Ty Lee must never hesitate when I call upon her. Just like you never would."

Her nails reached up and pressed lightly into the flesh of Mai's cheek. "Right, Mai?"

A creeping cold spread from Mai's stomach, and she saw that chill reflected in the lurid pools of Azula's eyes. Yet as always there was something about her friend, a force or presence that commanded attention and engendered belonging. Obey me, it would say, and you shall not want for purpose.

"Of course, Azula," she said, and knew within her heart that she meant it. With so little in this world that sparked her interest, the ties of friendship were ones she held to dearly.

"Excellent." Her hand withdrew. She yawned, stretching her arms wide. Her hands pressed against the wall and ceiling of the cramped room. With a heavy sigh her muscles relaxed and that aura of authority vanished within her. "It's been a long day. Our lizards are dead, but we woke up and hurried back here to chase them down. Now, if you'll excuse me, I think I need some sleep." With that, Azula vanished into the bunk compartment.

Mai only waited a minute before following her example. She found Ty Lee in the bottom bunk where she normally slept—Azula had her own somewhat more comfortable one on the other side, which the princess had already slipped into. Mai silently removed her robes and pulled herself up into the top bunk.

She lay there and stared at the ceiling in the darkness for a time before falling asleep. The chill of Azula's nails remained upon her cheek.

But her dreams were warmed by a young man with golden eyes and a scar.