Hi. Here. Chapter 9. Read. Enjoy. Bye...

Disclaimer: Avatar. PlayStation 3. What do those two things have in common? Right, I don't own them. -pouts-
Spoilers: Nope. Still now spoilers here.

Of course, the ages are still the same.

Chapter 9: The Beach

Mai's eyes slowly fluttered open, having light golden rays shine on her eyes. The sun was evidently up, so there was no way she could fall back asleep now. She turned her head to see Zuko still sound asleep. Sitting up, threw her arms up, yawning.

Suddenly, the door burst open with a very excited Ty Lee in a short top and skirt. Obviously, they were going somewhere. "Rise and shine, you two love-birds!" she practically yelled. Mai quickly wiped the blush on her face, as Azula pushed her brother out of bed. He landed with a 'thud' on the carpeted floor.

"Why?" Mai yawned once more getting out of her bed.

"We're going to the beach!" the girl in pink explained happily. "So hurry up because we're going there in...now!" she set her hands on her hips, impatiently waiting for the two to get dressed.

"I haven't even eaten breakfast yet," the young prince complained turning around, still to lazy to get up.

"So? They have food at the beach, lazy-butt." Azula crossed her arms, still waiting.

"Now come on- let's go." Mai stood above him, holding her hand out to help him up. For a while, he just sat there staring at her. She had on a reddish-orange halter-top that stopped midway, and a skirt that wrapped around her waist and fell to her ankles. Eventually, he took her hand and stood up.

"Just hurry," Azula walked out the door- too impatient to wait any longer. Ty Lee flopped onto one of the beds, waiting for them.

"Why don't you go follow Azula?" Zuko asked as he carefully took off his shirt to change. Mai couldn't help but watch. Seeing the smirk on Ty Lee's face, she jerked her focus onto the floor, mentally slapping herself for that.

"Because I'd really rather wait for you guys," she traced the elegant pattern on the bed sheet with her fingers, bored. "Besides, if it really mattered that I go gollow her, she'd come back and get me..."

Zuko shrugged and fluffed his hair one more time before confirming he was finished and ready to leave.

--

The kids walked through the soft, golden sand beneath them. It felt calming and relaxing if you were barefoot. Once the family- and friends- finally found a nice place to stay, everyone set their stuff down and settled down.

Zuko sat down with his mother, not exactly willing to join his sister and her friends for...whatever, though Ursa would constantly nag him to.

"I'd really rather not, mom..." he insisted.

"Come on Zuko, just for a little while." the Fire Lady found the right spot to set her umbrella in the sand. "We're having lunch in a few hours, so you should at least get to play with them now."

"But they're all playing Kaui Ball...It's not exactly my type of sport." he watched as Mai gracefully flipped forward, kicking the ball and sending it crashing down to the other side- scoring a point.

"I used to love that sport," Ursa continued trying to convince him.

"Alright then," he stood up and dusted himself off.

Azula flipped backwards, kicking the ball, sending it up into the air for someone else on her team- which consisted of her, Mai, and Ty Lee- to hit it. Turning her head to her left, she saw her brother approaching.

"Hey look, it's Zuzu..." she smirked. Mai looked over to him, causing her to lose her focus on the game. Unaware of it, the Kaui ball landed quietly beside her. It wasn't until the cheering of the other team, for Azula to notice.

"Uh...sorry?" she shrugged.

"It's fine," she seemed pretty calm about it. At this time, Zuko was by her side. "We'll just play another game. But this time, we won't have someone on our team distracted, blankly gazing at my brother she thinks is so cute and has a major crush on..."

Zuko listened to all of this, wondering who she was talking about in her non-stop rant. And as soon he glanced at Mai, he was pretty sure he saw her face turn a deep red color as she looked away, unwilling to meet his gaze.

"Azula," he stopped her. "Can we just get on with the game?"

"Whatever," she gathered them together for a group 'plan'. "

"Ya sure, whatever," she gathered them together for a group 'plan'. "Now, see that girl over there in gold and red?" they all looked towards the girl Azula had just described. "There's just a slight hesitation on her right arm and leg. So as long as we keep hitting it to her right side, we'll be fine."

"Oookaaay," Ty Lee agreed. "But what about the others?" Azula looked over to the other team, examining them as another idea ran through her mind.

"Well, there's really nothing wrong with them. Except for the kid with the dark hair. He seems more on the offensive side." she explained. And with that, she threw the Kaui ball into the air. Just as it hit its highest point, her arm swiftly smacked it, sending it to the other side.

Just like she planned, the ball flew to the girl's right side as she completely missed.

"Yes!" Azula boasted to herself. This time, it was the opposite team's turn to serve. A boy, about their age, did the same as Azula, only her team didn't miss. Ty Lee simply ran up to the ball and right before it hit the ground, she got down a swept it- sending it into the air for anyone on her team to hit now.

Zuko took this as an opportunity and performed a jump kick on the ball having it crashing down to the other team's sandy floor. By this time, a bunch of teenagers and children were gathered around the court to watch the intense game played by little 7 and 8 year olds.

After minutes of playing, it was almost over. If Azula's team would score another point, they would win. Now with Mai as the server, she executed the standard serve- sending it to the other side. Another girl kicked it- only to be stopped at the net.

"Well, that was fun!" the little 7 year old, Ty Lee, turned to her team.

"Ya, but I think mom's calling us...for lunch." Azula looked over to the rest of her family sitting on a nice marronish blanket on the floor with food surrounding them. Iroh and Ozai were already ahead of everybody, with a bowl of food and chopsticks in either hand. Ursa was calling the kids to come eat, being the patient mother she is.

"I guess we're eating early then," Mai said as she walked that way. They'd get to play later...

Hello! I know there's not a lot of Maiko here...but there should be more in the following chappies ;D

-Black5Belt