Yes! I finished this before my bone-crushing, terrifying, rough and tough, killer TOURNAMENT! No- it's not that dramatic. But this chapter does have a little drama, some humor, but LOTS of Maiko!! And I also remembered about spoilers. There won't be any until later which is why I stopped putting those up for a while. Anyway...Enjoy!

Ages are still the same; Zuko- 12, Mai/Azula/Ty Lee- 11

Chapter 18: The New Girl

The hallways of the royal palace were normally quiet during these times, and this morning was no different. Azula quietly made her way through them, on her way to Zuko's room. The silence nearly bugged her to death. As you can conclude from that, she isn't exactly a withdrawn, quiet person.

After minutes of pondering their large home, she finally found herself standing in front of her brother's door.

"Zuko! Wake up!" her commanding voice echoed throughout the hallway she was currently in, and- obviously- the room she stood before. His only reply was a muffled 'no'. Sighing, she opened the door and proceeded inside.

"What." To Azula, that didn't even sound like a question.

"Get up," she repeated. "Breakfast is ready." She refused to anything else. If he wanted to stay in bed- then that's his choice.

"Yeah, yeah…" he unhurriedly sat up. "Where's Mai?"

"She's already downstairs," Azula impatiently stood by the door, leaning on the frame. "Speaking of Mai, why'd you have her stay here?"

"What do you mean?" Zuko yawned as he pulled his hair back to it's typical style.

"Don't play stupid," she sighed. "You know how she was supposed to go with the rest of her family to the southern fire nation- but instead she's here." she explained once more emphasizing the word here.

"Is…that a bad thing?" he asked as a maid calmly made his bed.

"Well, not really. I was just asking why you would want her here." she crossed her arms, knowing now she was winning another argument with her brother. "Something just told me you couldn't stay away…" the princess smirked, leaving the room, and a partially embarrassed prince behind.

--

School. Ugh. Most kids/teens from the fire nation dreaded this word. But then again, who doesn't? Zuko glanced at the clock on the wall, but this had made that feeling inside of him a lot worse. It was unbelievable how middle school lasted so long. Stupid bell! Why couldn't it just ring already? He should at least be thankful it was almost over.

'Ring!!' Wow. Some coincidence. Exiting the room, he found himself outside, where he usually met up with Mai.

"Hey,"

"Hi," she answered, though her response didn't sound so enthusiastic. Then something caught the prince's attention. From at least 20 feet away stood a group of girls. Of course, they were all wearing the same thing, considering this is a private school, but there was one that stood out.

"Zuko?" she brought him back to earth. "You're staring..?" she smirked.

"What? No! I...I was not." he answered. Now it was Mai's turn to look at the girl- but not like that...She was tall, slender, and her chocolate-brown hair flowed down to her shoulders. After a while, she said good-bye to her friends and headed their way. "Uh, Mai- she's coming this way."

"Yes, and?"

"What do I do?!" he panicked.

"What do you mean what do you do?" she answered.

"She's coming this way and-"

"Nothing! Just stand there and look like-"

"Psh, you don't even care do-"

"No, actually, she-"

"But even if-"

"She's coming!

"Shhh!"

"You Shh!"

"Hi," she walked into the scene. Mai stayed 'uninterested' as Zuko simply smiled at her. From Mai's point of view, this couldn't be good.

"Yes?" the girl coldly asked. Zuko gave her a quick glare as she threw her arms up in defense. "Yeah...I'll just be over...there..." she referred to where Ty Lee stood with Azula. He smiled approvingly as she gave the girl a cold look before leaving.

"Hi Mai!" Ty Lee squealed. She however, noticed her friend's glumness. "What's the matter?" she asked as though she was singing. Sometimes her happiness could be irritating.

"Uh...nothing?" she lied.

"Yeah right. Look," Azula pointed over to Zuko happily talking to the girl.

"What?" she whispered so that it was barely audible. "What about them?"

"Oh! I know her!" Ty Lee boasted.

"You do?"

"Well, not really," she hung her head slightly. "But I do know her name is Lyka- and that she obviously likes Zuko. Oh and that he likes her." she happily told her friends. Mai watched in disgust as they continued on.

"Ugh..."

"Oh don't worry, he'll get over her." Azula shook her head. Just then, they started walking away- his arm around her shoulder.

"What the?"

"She's just...straightforward!" Ty Lee declared. "Not afraid to just SAY HOW SHE FEELS." she carefully and slowly emphasized those last four words by practically screaming them into Mai's ears.

"Straightforward?"

"Straightforward." Ty Lee repeated. Mai rolled her eyes, and proceeded over to the way home. Or in this case- back to the royal palace.

Phew! I'm done! And another reference!! I got the girl's name somewhere (Lyka). And if you know, tell me in a review! Winner gets a COOKIE (better than the previous) and a mention in the next chapter. You'll be like a famous star. No- not really. But if you don't know, it's cool.

-Black5Belt