Chapter 23
Still being winter in the Fire Nation, it was a cool day. The sky was a pale blue, streaked with wispy white clouds and a sharp breeze cut through the air. Ty Lee drew her arms around herself, wishing she'd brought a jacket. She glanced over at Mai who looked perfectly fine with the current temperature.
Ty Lee made easy small talk with Mai as they walked the short distance to the palace gates. She went on and on about how fancy the rooftops and everything else became the closer they got to the Fire Lord's home. Mai was bored at the observational topics and barely listened. She felt uncharacteristically nervous about entering the palace for the first time in so long. And not because of Zuko.
Despite what Ty Lee and others often thought, Mai was also affected by the events of the Boiling Rock so many years ago. She was not conflicted like Ty Lee was about having sided against Azula. No, she knew with absolute certainty that she'd done the right thing.
But there were times, albeit infrequently, there were times that she remembered the rarer, fonder memories of her childhood with Azula and felt a dash of sadness at where the fallen princess had ended up. Perhaps those thoughts were just a case of yearning for simpler times. Now though, having heard the full account of what life in the mental institution was like, she wasn't sure she wanted to turn a blind eye to the situation anymore. Especially since Azula had been chucked in there when she was only fourteen, nearly fifteen.
Mai shuddered at the thought of having her life stripped away at such a young age.
Entering the palace would call up all sorts of memories that their little quartet had experienced. And it would also serve as a reminder of the things Azula was currently missing out on.
She had it coming. All of her hostility and cruelty pushed us to act how we did. Even though I joined her because she was more interesting and inspirational than Omashu, there were always undertones of instability. She had it coming, but I don't know anymore… if she deserves this treatment. Zuko, what are you thinking?
They approached the palace and walked through the vast grounds until they reached the front entrance. A guard informed them that the Fire Lord was currently meeting with some Southern Water Tribe representatives regarding trade and treaty policies. Ty Lee was ecstatic that this gave her and Mai a chance to roam about their old hideouts in the palace.
Mai reluctantly agreed and followed a bouncing Ty Lee down the extravagantly empty hallways. They wound their way through a couple twisted hidden passages that Azula had found during her mischievous eavesdropping days and ended up in a dusty little room atop a narrow spiraling staircase that overlooked the sea in the distance. The rafters were exposed on the low ceiling and the walls were made of pale smooth stone. A bunch of pillows and cushions were piled up in the corner, untouched from when they'd brought them here as kids. This had been one of their favorite places to hide from Zuko when they played in the palace. Mai was certain he'd never known about it then and probably still didn't to this day.
Ty Lee knelt in front of the tiny window and pried it open. A gust of wind whistled through the glass and she shivered. Suddenly, the idea of exploring the palace wasn't as exciting as she thought.
"It's sort of not the same without Azula here," she traced her finger along the stone windowsill. "She's the one that found all of these places that we probably shouldn't even know about."
Mai stood beside her, not wanting to coat her clothes in years of built up dust. She looked out the window at the glittering water in the distance and almost smiled, "Yeah. As intense as she was about making rules for us to follow, she never followed them herself."
Leaning her chin against the cool stone sill Ty Lee asked, "Do you think she'll ever come back?"
Mai knew she wasn't asking about Azula simply returning to the palace, "I don't know. She has a lot to work out." She nudged Ty Lee with her foot, "Come on, this is depressing. Let's find Zuko and see about that letter."
Ty Lee nodded and tugged the window shut. They made their way back down the passageways and through a tapestry, giving one of the patrolling guards quite a shock at their sudden appearance. Ty Lee laughed and asked of Zuko's whereabouts. The soldier directed them towards an intimate meeting room near the back of the palace.
They could hear voices coming from inside, so Mai and Ty Lee entered an adjacent room to wait out the meeting. Fifteen minutes passed until the scraping of chairs against the floor signaled the closing of the discussion next door. Ty Lee poked her head out of their room and saw a few people filtering out, being escorted away by more Fire Nation guards. She gestured to Mai that they were good to go, and the two entered Zuko's meeting room.
The young Fire Lord was chatting amicably with two Water Tribe members that had lingered behind the rest of their group. Mai recognized them instantly as the siblings that had been a part of the Avatar's cohort.
Zuko looked up at the arrival of two new guests and Mai was amused to see his jaw drop at her surprise appearance, though her face did not show it. Ty Lee didn't miss this either.
"Mai? What are you doing here?" Zuko stammered, blinking rapidly. Ty Lee "ahem'ed" her presence. "And Ty Lee, it's… it's good to see you both."
The Water Tribe pair exchanged a glance and Mai vaguely wondered if they were still sour over the numerous times she, Ty Lee, and Azula had challenged them.
"We'll see you later, Zuko," the woman hugged him briefly and waved goodbye, following her brother.
"Uh, right," he nodded to the departing duo.
They passed through the room and Ty Lee flashed a grin at the man she'd seen numerous times at Suki's side on Kyoshi Island. He's still a cutie. Sokka blushed and gave a quick wave before his sister pushed him out of the room and closed the doors behind her.
"Sorry about that, I didn't know you guys would be coming," Zuko's eyes swept around the room, but kept darting back to Mai. "Tea?"
Ty Lee and Mai both shook their heads. The former spoke quietly, "No thanks, Zuko, I don't think we're going to stay for long." She chewed her lip and looked at Mai, who spurred her on with a curt nod. Ty Lee took the crumpled letter halves out of her pocket and placed them on the table.
Zuko's face fell slightly. Of course that was why she was here, but what about Mai?
He sat back in his chair and indicated that the two women do the same. Both sat across the old polished table from him and Mai studied his face. He looks older, like the troubles and stress of the job have accelerated his aging. She wrinkled her nose. The beard is… different.
Ty Lee watched Zuko unsuccessfully try to avoid stealing glances at Mai. The silence was awkward, so she jumped right in to the task at hand, "So. Why can't I go see Azula anymore?"
Zuko shook his head and flexed his hands out in front of him. This was not going to be the most pleasant conversation. He cleared his throat and following Ty Lee's example, got straight to the point, "She had a breakdown after your visit the other day. I think you may have had an unintentional hand in causing it and so I don't want you to see her if things like this are the result."
Ty Lee leaned forward in her chair, "A breakdown? What happened? Is she okay?"
"She's fine. She was in hysterics and gave herself a bad burn. One of the guards had a tough time restraining her until the doctor administered a sedative," Zuko looked sternly at his sister's most frequent visitor, "Now you tell me, what happened in there?"
In hysterics? Ty Lee shrank back. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead in her hand, shielding her face from Zuko and Mai. Her anger at Zuko disappeared in an instant. Was it because of me? We didn't start arguing until I brought up Mai.
She felt Mai's elbow jab her in the side and saw Zuko looking expectantly at her. Ty Lee inhaled and simply told Zuko, "We had a fight. I guess both of us ended up in, um, bad shape." She shot a glance at Mai, thankful that she had put up with her drunken sadness last night.
"You look just fine to me."
Ty Lee's gaze shot towards him and she saw a subtle shadow of contempt in Zuko's expression, "What?"
He rubbed his scar, "All I'm saying is that you look like you've recovered. But Dr. Liu seems to think that this little fight has set Azula back a few months."
"But I was part of her progress too!" Ty Lee, heart sinking at Zuko's words, was quickly losing her composure. "She seemed almost happy for a while, like before the Boiling Rock. You can't… you can't just ban me because of one argument!"
"Do you really think if you go back over there, she's going to welcome you with open arms and apologize? I don't want her to freak out again, so this is the best move for now. It isn't forever, so I need you to comply," Zuko's gold eyes were now focused entirely on Ty Lee.
She swallowed, aware that he might have a point, but still bitter about his attitude in conveying it. She took the opportunity to poke one of his nerves, "Why are you so suddenly going into protective big brother mode? You never did anything before this."
"I'm helping her now!" Zuko roared. Thin tendrils of smoke curled off of his tightly clenched fist. He took a breath to calm himself, "I know I tossed her on the backburner before, but I'm not going to anymore. I'll call off the cooling, I'll speak to Dr. Liu more thoroughly, I'll go see her. We'll… we'll make her more comfortable. I'm going to work at this like I used to."
Mai scoffed under her breath. Zuko's eyes darted to her, "Something wrong?"
Mai tilted her head to the side and considered him, speaking up for the first time, "I just don't think this turned-over-a-new-leaf shtick will last very long. You've always been indecisive when it comes to Azula."
His brow twitched, but Mai continued, "I know a part of you dislikes her, and me, because of what she and I did. And everyone knows you resented how easily everything came to her as a kid. But you still care about her because she's your sister. Back and forth between stifling her growth and wanting her to improve. I think your judgement on what's best for her is too clouded. The doctor should be in sole charge of what happens to her. Isn't that the point of having her stay there?"
Ty Lee looked at the two of them glaring at each other in tense silence. She saw Mai run her finger along what she knew was a knife concealed in her sleeve. It was a habit the woman had developed in the past when she was annoyed with something Azula ordered, but didn't want to make a fuss about.
Zuko opened his mouth to retaliate, but Ty Lee cut in, "Stop. We're all… conflicted about Azula, but we should be working together to figure out how to help her. Not tearing out each other's throats."
The Fire Lord squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed the side of his neck. He seemed to be biting back a few more combative responses at Mai, but when he did speak, he was composed, "I agree. We can continue this later. As you saw, we're hosting members of the Water Tribe. They'll be here for another few days on their own and then representatives from the Earth Kingdom and the Avatar will join us. It will be a meeting filled schedule for the next two weeks, but once they're over, you are both welcome to return and we can hash out a better method for helping my sister. In the meantime," Zuko deliberately looked at Ty Lee, "I stand by what I said. No visits for now."
Ty Lee held her tongue and nodded. She and Mai stood and exited the room. Zuko followed them into the hallway as they said their goodbyes in a strained atmosphere.
Mai glanced at a flickering torch next to the door and was reminded of her suspicions regarding Azula; her gut had been nagging at her ever since she mentioned the possibility of escape to Ty Lee. Those burns… As she swept past Zuko, dress swishing against his robes gently, she caught his eye and whispered in her gravelly voice, "Keep an eye on her."
Zuko knew Mai well enough to recognize the slight differences in her expression when she was serious or just bored. He recognized the former, but shot a confused look at her retreating back, wondering if she knew something he didn't.