A/N: Idea for this chapter donated by Tellemicus Sundance: Thanks!

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Azula leaned over the railing of her ship, watching the sun rise over the dark waves, one thousand thoughts crashing in her mind. Face it Azula, you are the most hated person alive. Azula pressed her lips together, squinting in the morning light. That's probably true, she admitted to herself, and here I am facing it. That had been the second time she had been told of how much people despised her. Her fingers tightened around the cold railing; just thinking about it made her furious. Friendship and love are just small sacrifices for power, she reminded herself. I don't need anyone but myself to be somebody great. However, it didn't matter how much she told herself that, for she kept drifting back to the notion that her father truly didn't love her. She then realized that she never really thought about it until the Avatar got under her skin about it. He had taunted her while she lay in chains; her wrists were still raw and chaffing from the experience.

"Are you alright?" a voice whispered in her ear, touching Azula's shoulder. The princess shrugged off Ty Lee's hands and continued to ignore her. She had been avoiding Ty Lee and Mai all morning. "Are you hungry?" Ty Lee pressed. "You must be starving!" Again, Azula refused to answer, though her stomach rumbled in protest. She was just too angry to care.

"Zuko has been asking for you," Ty Lee went on. "And the Avatar is anxious to try and make a treaty of some kind."

"I don't care. And frankly, I don't care if I never see either of them again. Leave me alone." Azula knew she shouldn't be sharp with her friend, for Ty Lee had done nothing to deserve this.

Ty Lee sighed. "I know you're angry, but you don't need to take it out on the rest of us because we've done nothing wrong. We're just worried about you." Azula suddenly spun around as if she had realized something. As Ty Lee caught sight of the princess's grimy face, it was evident that Azula hadn't washed in days. Ty Lee wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"You're right," Azula said.

Ty Lee's eyebrows disappeared into her hair. "I am?"

"It isn't your fault."

"It isn't?"

"It is the Avatar's fault," Azula told her. "And I should be 'taking it out' on him." She said nothing more as she gently pushed her friend out of her way and walked briskly down below the deck.

"What are you doing?" Ty Lee called after her anxiously. "Azula? What are you going to do? Azula!"

Azula pushed pass a guard, snatching his keys from his outstretched hands. The guard had enough sense not to protest. When Azula burst into the cell, Zuko looked up, frowning in puzzlement. Aang frowned as well, giving his cellmate a questioning look. Azula crossed the room and grabbed the Avatar up by the scruff of his neck and slammed him roughly into the wall. His head thwacked against the hard metal, bobbing on his shoulders. "You did this to me!" she shrieked at him.

"Azula!" Zuko exclaimed, jumping to his feet. He tried to wrestle his sister away. "Stop it! Put him down at once."

The princess shoved her brother away with one hand and returned to giving Aang frequent blows to the head. "You don't know what it's like!" she snarled. "You don't know!" She shoved him one last time into the wall before storming out and slamming the door behind her.

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"Aang!" Zuko rushed over to him. The monk slid down the wall, his eyes closed. "Aang? Are you alright?" Zuko shook his shoulders as Aang moaned in pain. "Aang?"

"Ouch," the boy said, quite obviously. "I have a killer headache."

"No kidding. Thank goodness you're okay. Katara would kill me if...," said Zuko, shaking his head with relief.

The monk's eyes fluttered open and he looked at Zuko questioningly. "Katara?"

"Yeah, I promised her I wouldn't let the evil firebenders toast you."

"Do I know her?"

"Uh..."

"Do I know you? Who are you? Why am I here? Where is here?" Aang spewed out a long chain of questions, all of his words strung together and almost impossible to understand.

"Have you completely lost your mind?" Zuko demanded. "I'm Zuko. Stop messing around."

"Oh," said Aang. "Zuko." The boy mused quietly for a few moments. "And who...Who am I?"

Zuko stared. "You have lost your mind."

Aang studied him closely. A giggle escaped his lips. Then another and another. Soon, a cheesy grin was spreading across his face, lighting up the entire room.

"What's so funny?" Zuko demanded hotly.

"Your face! That's what's so funny. Haha, just look at it!" He was giggling uncontrollably now.

"You must have hit your head harder than I thought," Zuko said, putting his hands to his face. "What's wrong with my face?"

"You have the ugliest birthmark!" Aang said, trying to hide his smile behind his hand.

Now that just made Zuko angry. "Do you have better things to do than waste my time?" he demanded, turning his head away from the giggling monstrosity,

"I don't know," said Aang quite seriously. "Do I?"

"Aang...," said Zuko slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Is that my name?" the Avatar asked cheerfully. "Oh goody."

"This is ridiculous," Zuko muttered bitterly as Aang rubbed the back of his head to feel the swelling knots.

Aang looked up to Zuko. "You have nice hair," the monk commented. "Can I touch it?"

"Absolutely not!" Zuko cried, utterly disgusted, although he secretly thought, I do have nice hair, though, don't I?

Aang continued to touch the back of his head, his frown deepening. He suddenly looked horrified. "I'm bald!"

"It took you a while to figure that out," said Zuko dryly, leaning his head against the wall with a sigh.

"Did you...Did you shave my head?" Aang asked accusingly.

"Yes Aang, I did," said Zuko sarcastically. "Does that offend your honor?"

"Yes!" he shouted angrily. "I'll...I'll fight you!"

Zuko snickered. "Assuming you know how to airbend."

"Airbend? Is that even possible?"

Zuko choked on a laugh, thinking that this could possibly be a vaguely amusing way to pass time. "Oh yeah," said Zuko quite seriously. "And you know what else? I can firebend. Here, watch this..." Zuko lit his fingers on fire.

Aang's eyes widened in what Zuko thought was fear. "Witchcraft!" he cried. "Sorcery! Get away from me you demon!"

Zuko roared in laughter, something he hadn't done in quite a long time. The look on Aang's face was purely priceless as the monk cowered in the corner. This couldn't be real.

"Am I...Am I in hell?" Aang asked Zuko nervously.

"Or something like it," said Zuko, rather glumly. "We are on Azula's ship."

"The way you say her name, it seems as if you've known her a long time. Is she like your ex-lover or something?"

Zuko's head snapped up and he looked so disturbed that Aang couldn't help but crack a smile. "Do you really think I have amnesia or something?"

Zuko stared at him as he tried to process this information. Then something finally hit him. "Oh, you liar."

It was Aang's turn to laugh. "Look Zuko," he gasped in between giggles, "'gullible' is written on the ceiling!" And Zuko, in all his glory, lifted his eyes to the top of the cell. He turned beet read after realizing his mistake.

"That's not funny, Aang!" Zuko yelled hotly.

"I. Can't. Believe. You. Fell for that!" Aang shrieked in fits of laughter, in which he promptly received angry shouts of protest.

"Did she not hit your head hard enough? Because I can really help you out," Zuko threatened, advancing on him. The cell door burst open and they turned, worried that it was Azula back for another round.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Mai demanded. "It sounded as if someone was being murdered!"

"If you had waited a little longer, Aang would have been," Zuko said darkly, looking up from heavy brows.

"I'd shut it if I were you," Mai warned. "Azula isn't in the best of moods."

"When is she ever?" Zuko muttered under his breath. Mai's eyes sparkled in amusement.

"But seriously," Aang exclaimed, doubling over. "First I got him to believe I had gone loopy and somehow lost all of my memory...THEN I made him think 'gullible' was written on the ceiling!"

"Is it?" Mai asked in surprise, lifting her head. Aang stared at her. "I'm kidding." She then spared a glance at Zuko, her lips quirking up at the ends. "Did you really?"

Zuko looked astonished. "Mai, are you...Are you laughing at me?"

She merely smiled and backed out of the cell, locking the door behind her with Zuko staring after her in confusion. Wasn't she holding them captive? Hadn't she threatened to kill him? She had, hadn't she?

"Did you see that?" Zuko asked.

"See what?"

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Mai paced outside in the hall. She shouldn't have acted so friendly towards the prisoners. Her eyes kept flicking back towards the locked door. The Fire Lord would certainly have Zuko killed once they returned to the Fire Nation. Mai wasn't sure if she would be able to stand by and watch...She could barely watch him face his father back at the Agni Kai. The worst thing of it was having him die before she had the chance to tell him how she felt. Mai suddenly mused how Azula would react if she had "accidentally" left the door unlocked.

Ty Lee came up around the corner. She looked surprised to see Mai there. "What are you doing here?" There was a plate of food balanced on one hand.

"I heard them yelling and came down to investigate," said Mai without missing a beat.

"Oh," said Ty Lee hesitantly, shifting on her feet. "Well, Azula's been looking for you."

"Has she?" Mai asked, surprised. "I thought she was too busy avoiding everyone and slamming various young boys' heads into the wall."

"She's taking a break," said Ty Lee, cracking a smile.

"Thanks," said Mai, hurrying away and wondering what Azula could possibly want.

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"I just came up from the cells. You requested me?" Mai drawled in her ear. Azula turned her head slightly to see Mai out of the corner of her eye.

"What are you talking about?" Azula asked quickly.

"I...," Mai started, frowning.

"Did Ty Lee put you up to this? Is she trying to get me to 'open up'? I don't need your help. I just want to be left alone. Is that so much to ask?" Azula shouted hotly.

"Azula, I..."

"Get out of my sight before I do something I'll regret," Azula snapped, turning her attention to the open water that stretched out before them.

Mai left hurriedly, fuming. Ty Lee was going to get it! What was she trying to pull anyway? Was Ty Lee trying to get Mai killed? It didn't seem like the sort of joke the cart-wheeling princess would pull.

Just as Mai opened the metal hatch to stop down under deck, guards burst out into the sunlight shouting: "They've escaped! The prisoners are gone!"

Azula was instantly at their heels, following them down to the cells. Indeed, they were empty...the door swinging wide open. Mai watched a vein jump at Azula's temple as the princess slowly turned around to survey her men. "One of you," she said quietly in a dangerous tone, "screwed up. If I find who did this, you better hope for your sake that it isn't you. Now, find them." The crew immediately reacted and began to search the ship. "They shouldn't have gotten far!" Azula called after them.

Mai stood there, still in shock. She had seen them but a few minutes ago. How could they have gotten out? Her throat suddenly felt tight. Had she forgotten to lock the door? Azula would have her skin when she found out. But then she realized something. Who had been the last person to go down to the cells? Ty Lee.

Mai searched the deck frantically. Where was she anyway? Suddenly everything seemed to make sense. Mai understood why Ty Lee had been so hesitant and nervous around her and also why there had been a plate of food in her hand...She hadn't been giving the prisoners their breakfast; she had been stocking them up for their journey. It also explained why Mai was sent to Azula...Ty Lee hadn't wanted any witnesses when she released Zuko and the Avatar.

"Ty Lee!" Mai called, almost angrily. Where was she? Mai cursed under her breath and stomped down to the sleeping quarters. Then, there she was. She was standing out in the hall, leaning casually against the door to her and Mai's room.

"Hi, Mai," Ty Lee said, her eyes shifting hesitantly.

"Don't you 'hi, Mai' me," Mai replied dangerously. "I know you let them out."

"Who?" Ty Lee asked, playing dumb.

"ZUKO AND THE AVATAR!" Mai bellowed.

"They escaped?"

"Get out of my way," Mai snarled, shoving Ty Lee to the floor. Mai knew that if there was one place that the guards wouldn't think to look in, it would be the rooms that were kept locked at all times. She pushed her way into the bedroom. There was no one in sight.

"There's no one here, Mai," said Ty Lee, standing up and rubbing her arm.

"They have to be!" Mai exclaimed. "There is no way you just tossed them overboard. We're too far from shore!"

"That's because I didn't toss them overboard," said Ty Lee, annoyed.

"This isn't funny. I told Azula that I had come up from the cell. She's going to think it was me! You need to find them!" Mai cried, desperate. "She also knows that I like him, so more fingers are going to be pointing at me."

"You like me?"

Ty Lee's eyes flashed warningly in the direction of the sound. Aang's head poked out from underneath the bed. He caught Ty Lee's gaze. "Oops," he said. "I forgot I wasn't supposed to talk."

"I knew it," Mai breathed, rushing forward and snatching up Aang by the scruff of his neck. Zuko caught her wrist and held on tightly until she dropped the Avatar.

"Ty Lee, this is treason," Mai shouted angrily.

"Keep it down," Ty Lee hissed. "You'll get us all in trouble."

"Well?" Aang asked impatiently. "You didn't answer my question. Do you like me or not?"

"No," Mai said angrily, regretting previous her words.

"Why does Zuko get all of the girls?" Aang whined, crossing his arms.

"Why indeed," said Zuko, giving Mai an odd look as Aang continued to pout.

"Stick out those lips any further and I'll be forced to cut them off," Mai warned Aang, waving a small blade in front of his face. Aang's unhappiness morphed into terror. "Good." Mai then turned to Ty Lee. "Why did you let them out?" she demanded in an urgent whisper. "And why did you lie to me about it?"

Ty Lee sighed. "I let them out because I knew you wanted to but never would."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mai demanded hotly. "Do you suggest that I would ever even think about letting them out?"

"I suggest that you've been thinking about it ever since we captured them," Ty Lee corrected. "Especially that one." She pointed at Zuko.

"I'm flattered," said Zuko, "though thoroughly confused." He cocked his head to the side and surveyed Mai. "Do you have the vaguest idea of what she's talking about?"

"No," Mai muttered, coloring.

"I see," said Zuko, not sounding convinced.

"Get a room," Aang mumbled under his breath, loud enough for Zuko to give him a scathing look.

"Well, this is awkward," said Ty Lee hesitantly, glancing at the door. "We need to lock them back in and return to the deck, saying that we have searched the sleeping quarters with no luck."

"No," Mai refused. "I'm not going to help you."

"Mai, I did this for you. I wouldn't be able to stand seeing you unhappy. You would be broken-hearted if Zuko died," said Ty Lee sincerely.

"Why do I get the feeling that no one here cares about me?" Aang demanded as he continued to be ignored.

"I'm always unhappy," said Mai dully. "What does it matter to you?"

"Why do I get the feeling I'm missing something?" Zuko asked, frowning as he glanced between Mai and Ty Lee.

Mai spun to face him. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"Shut up!" Ty Lee snapped. "Someone will hear!"

"Hello?" Aang asked grumpily. "Are you people even listening to me?"

"Do you like me?" Zuko demanded from Mai.

"No!" Mai cried, aghast.

Zuko grinned. "Yes you do."

"Do not."

"Do too. I can see it in your eyes."

"You can not!"

"This is ridiculous," Aang muttered, stomping away from them to sit in the corner.

"You guys aren't taking this seriously!" Ty Lee cried. "Our lives are on the line so I suggest you all shut the hell up." Her cheeriness was gone; her face looked stricken...She was clearly afraid.

"You're right," Zuko mumbled. "This isn't the time nor the place."

"We need to turn them in!" Mai said in an urgent whisper. "Do you want the Fire Nation to lose the war?"

"Do you?" Ty Lee calmly replied. Mai had nothing to say to that. "We both know this is wrong. They're good people. The Avatar is a good person."

"Finally! I've been included in the conversation," Aang said, exasperated, from his corner.

"We are supposed to be loyal to Azula. That's what good people do," Mai said angrily. "Do you just want to turn your back on her? She has been good to us. She has always stood by our side. We can't do this to her. I'm sorry Ty Lee; I refuse to be a part of this."

"Now I truly see where your loyalties lie," said a voice from the doorway. It was a wonder how none of them noticed Azula open the door. "So, only Mai remains my friend. I must say, I am surprised. Everyone knows Zuko is her dear heartthrob. I had thought it had been her who let them out. Obviously, I was wrong."

"I knew it," Zuko whispered to Aang, looking smug. Once glance from Azula shut him up.

"So, Avatar. Did Ty Lee let you out? Or was it some guard?" Azula asked smoothly.

"Uh...," said Aang, blinking stupidly.

"Quick," Zuko whispered, almost jokingly. "Pretend you have amnesia." Ty Lee's lip quivered and Zuko knew that this was no matter to kid about.

"No difference," said Azula. "I can judge by the look on your face that she did. Ty Lee, my friend, it looks as if Zuko and the Avatar won't be the only ones to be executed with our return to the Fire Nation."

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A/N: Sorry it took me so dang long to update. My French and English teachers are pure evil: (I've been working on orals these past weeks). So, my bad and everything. Reviews puhleasssse.