Disclaimer: We don't own Avatar. We're not making any money from writing this.
I have no excuse for my long absence.
I hope none of you missed me too terribly.
-x-x-x-x-x-
Chapter 33: Panic and Initiative
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"Where's Sura?" Lin asked the first person she saw in the morning.
Unfortunately, that person was Sokka. "She left," he said.
"Where did she go?" Lin asked worriedly.
"I don't know," Sokka shrugged.
"When is she coming back?" Lin asked, now following Sokka.
"I don't know. Stop asking me questions, Mai!" Sokka tried to escape.
"Don't call me that!" Lin shouted, as Sokka was getting further away from her.
"Whatever, Mai!" Sokka called back. "It's just getting reallyannoying to tiptoe around your limits."
Lin stamped her foot. She was not Mai! Why did everyone still call her that?
Suki walked in. "Have you seen Sokka?" she asked.
"Yes. Have you seen Sura?"
"Nope. Where'd Sokka go?"
"That way. Where'd Sura go?"
"No idea. I think she said she'd be gone for a while."
"How long is a while?" Lin asked.
"I don't know. Depends on the situation." Suki stopped at the door Sokka had just gone through. Pausing just before she walked through the door, she said: "Sura might not come back."
"What?" Lin's eyes bulged.
"She was supposed to be meeting with someone from the Northern Water Tribe. That's where she's from. I'm sure she misses it… and since I know a thing or two about Water Tribe men, I think I'm qualified enough to say he was rather handsome."
Lin took a few steps back. "You can't mean that…" she said.
"Hey, don't be scared! She's just going home!" Suki smiled. "It's going to be fine." Then she walked through the door.
Lin was shaking. Sura was gone, without so much as saying goodbye!
And now she was left with these, admittedly funny, strangers from the outside world who didn't even care enough to learn her name!
Alone in the room with the door locked behind her, Lin was finally able to think.
Nobody knew where Sura had gone.
What if, as Suki said, Sura wasn't coming back?
That would mean Lin wasn't important enough to bring along, or hadn't been trusted with information.
Did Sura think Lin would betray her?
She was shaking again.
Lin breathed deeply, trying to calm herself.
Judging by how little the Avatar's friends were affected by this, Lin had no place with them.
They were already frightening to her, so what could keep her with them now?
How could she escape?
Her eyes wandered to the clothing piled up in a corner.
Sura had a pile like this, too, but Lin had noticed that her own clothes were not only made of nicer fabrics, they were looser around the middle for no apparent reason.
Lin picked up a dress.
It could work as a disguise.
It was a deep, vibrant green so it wouldn't stand out too much… except for the expensive fabric.
Lin knew this dress was too fine for her or her new life.
She laid it aside.
Similarly she eliminated each of the other gowns until she reached the bottom of the pile.
There was a plain green dress that no noble would look twice at.
It was perfect!
Lin stripped down to her undergarments. As she leaned over to pick up her new dress, she noticed something.
There seemed to be a very hard knot tied under the skin of her torso.
Lin didn't know why she hadn't noticed before.
Thinking back, she realized that she'd been becoming increasingly uncomfortable recently.
It had been harder to bend and stand…
Lin poked the mystery.
It seemed to poke back!
Lin let out a yelp.
What was going on here?
The knot poked Lin again, and she screamed.
She hurried into her change of clothes, hoping that getting this knotty, poking intruder out of her sight would also put it out of her mind.
There was a knocking at the door.
"Lin? Are you all right?"
Topekaia.
Nosy firebenders.
Could their inability to keep to themselves be a genetic defect?
"Fine!" Lin yelled.
"Why did you scream? The Fire Lord is very worried!" There was a pause. "I'm very worried!" Topekaia raised her voice a bit more.
"False alarm," Lin said, thought the alarm had been far from false.
"Are you sure you're all right?"
Why should this handmaiden even care?
"Fine!"
"Can I come in?"
"No! Leave me alone!"
"What's wrong? I know something's wrong. Open the door M-Lin!"
"Nothing's wrong! Go away!" Lin fought the urge to open the door as she'd been commanded.
She gripped onto a bedpost… just wait it out! She thought to herself. She'll give up!
She heard Topekaia's loud sigh and slow retreat, and turned back to considering the knot, against her better judgment.
Sure enough, the knot poked her back.
Lin bit back another squeak.
How had this happened to her?
How could it possibly be what she thought it might be?
She realized this new discovery made the Fire Lord's claims ring true.
If she were his wife, it would make sense for… this to happen.
All the more reason to escape before someone noticed!
"Guess what we're doing today!" Suki said to the rest of the gang.
Suki's only answer was a full set of skeptical glances.
"We're going shopping!" she announced, despite the lack of enthusiasm.
Katara eyed her incredulously. "Suki, do you really thing this is the best time?"
"Of course! Lin will have fun shopping! Won't you?"
Lin looked over at Suki's wide, hopeful eyes.
She thought this offer over for a moment. It may be… advantageous.
She kept her face straight as she said: "Sure. Who else is going?"
Lying came so easily behind the mask.
"Lin, you're awfully excited…" Toph observed.
"Of course! Shopping is… fun."
Toph was unimpressed. "I'll come, too." She announced.
Lin stood up uncomfortably, clapping a hand over her belly as she felt a sort of flutter in it. "When do we go?" She tried to look casual as she picked up the bag of food she'd packed.
Zuko eyed the way Lin was standing and glanced at Katara.
Katara raised an eyebrow questioningly.
Zuko jerked his head in Lin's direction, just slightly.
Katara's eyes widened. "Lin," she began cautiously, "is there something you'd like me to… examine for you?"
Lin stared at Katara. If she'd guessed, there really was no time to lose!
"You're scaring her," Toph cautioned.
Katara bit her lip. "Can I give you a medical checkup?"
"Why?" Lin asked.
"Because as your friend I want to make sure you're doing well!" Katara said.
"My friend!" Lin echoed. "Is that what you are?"
Katara was brought up short, and all she could do about it was stare.
"I'll be outside." Lin said, and marched out.
"Where did that come from?" Suki asked,
"Hormones, probably," Toph said, standing up to follow Lin out.
Zuko cringed. "Great. That just means she'll be acting like that even after she's healed!"
"Maybe not when she understands what's going on," Katara said.
"I'd better get out there… maybe all she needs is time to relax!" Suki hurried off.
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Sura was led into a small indoor garden.
The sight of so much greenery still amazed her, even after so much time in the Fire Nation.
As she was examining an exceptionally large pink flower, she heard a step behind her.
She jumped, still not used to taking it easy rather than stealing moments to herself from her masters.
Instead of some Earth Kingdom guard telling her to start standing still instead of wandering around, she was greeted with a familiar face.
"Kesuk!" she cried. She threw her arms around her old friend. "I can't believe it's you!"
"It's great to see you, Sura!" Kesuk said, smiling down at Sura, who was only a little shorter than him. "When they told me you were here I couldn't believe it! I thought the worst…" Kesuk grimaced.
"They didn't let me communicate with the outside world," Sura explained. "They were afraid I would be discovered and then it was only a matter of time before the rest of the slaves were freed along with me."
"How awful was it?" Kesuk asked.
"It got a lot better once I learned I could evade their orders, and cause little 'accidents' with waterbending." The smile from reuniting with Kesuk only amplified with her devious glee.
"I hear you're the only person the Fire Lady trusts," Kesuk said.
"Yes, because while she was being brainwashed, I took care of her. She remembers me every time she's told to forget everything because I was part of her brainwashing environment."
"You figured all of that out? I hear everyone else is still trying to figure it out." Kesuk offered Sura his arm shyly.
Sura gave him an encouraging nod as she accepted, but took charge and directed their walk along a path with the flowers that most interested her. "Because they were her friends first, and it's painful to them when Mai… Lin, screams and runs away from them at every opportunity, but when she runs, she runs to me. That especially bothers her husband."
Kesuk stopped when Sura turned to look at a small group of yellow flowers. "Do you think she can be cured?"
"I used to," Sura admitted. "Now I'm not so sure. I think she's lost in her new identity." Sura bit her lip, she hadn't expected tears to spring up. "She's fighting my attempts to wake her up. I don't think it's something our old masters did to her. I think she now honestly believes that she is Lin Qiang, and anything I say she'll think means I want to drive her away or something. Somewhere behind it all, she's still my friend, and I owe it to the person she was to help but… I'm starting to think I can't."
"Sensitive Fire Lady? I thought she was cold and emotionless."
"I think she liked people to think she was, but her friends say otherwise. Her husband isn't missing her for her lack of response to him. And whenever she 'wakes up,' she's wanting him with her, so I'm pretty sure she has the capacity to love in her." Sura finished with a smirk that chilled Kesuk like the sunlight playing upon freshly fallen snow.
"All right. I'll give you that. What about her knives? Has she tried to commit suicide with them yet because of her dark, bleak depression?"
"No!" Sura playfully slapped Kesuk on the chest. "She was actually very hopeful when I met her. She told me that she was sure Zuko… the Fire Lord, would come for her. I didn't believe it. I also didn't believe he'd be willing to bring me with them when they escaped, but I was obviously wrong."
"Seems like her reputation is seriously flawed," Kesuk said thoughtfully.
"Actually, I don't know how flawed it is, but she couldn't possibly have so many friends if she were like we've heard."
"What about you? Are you enjoying the royal treatment? I heard the Fire Lord was ordering extra clothes for you."
"That's about all the royal treatment I get, but to be fair, the Fire Lord hasn't exactly been indulging himself in the privileges of royalty. In fact… I think Sokka… a warrior from our sister tribe… is taking more advantage than the actual royalty."
"He must love her very much," Kesuk said solemnly.
"You should see him when he tries to touch her!" Sura could only be half humorous. "He gets this look in his eyes…" Sura quieted, growing solemn now, "… it looks like he's dying," she finished.
Kesuk nodded. "I think I understand. He sees the woman he loves and he's so close that he can touch her, but instead of connecting with her, he drives her away. It must be maddening."
"I think soon Lin won't be the only one suffering from a mental affliction." Sura had phrased it as a joke, but it came out sad. The stress was, indeed wrecking Sura's mental state.
"I know you're a major part of this now, Sura…" Kesuk pulled up short, having spotted a bench. "But I don't know when I'll catch you next."
Sura raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
Kesuk's dark face reddened. His icy blue eyes flitted around, as if making sure no one was watching. "It feels weird talking to you in such a foreign place, but I get the feeling your life is taking you to still another foreign place…" Clumsily, he pulled Sura down onto the bench with him. "I just want to know if I can come, too?"
Sura cocked her head. "You mean to help heal the Fire Lady?"
"After that." Kesuk's face took on a stony cast, his jaw tightening as his lips resolved into a thin line. "I don't have a place in that group. I just wondered if I still had a chance…"
Sura laughed. "If you're asking if I'll come back and see you when it's over, the answer is of course! I've been missing home so much. The Fire Lord has promised to arrange for my transportation up there."
"Well, I wasn't so much thinking of just seeing you." Kesuk was fumbling around in his pockets. "I… I havesomethingtogiveyou!"
"What?" Sura cocked her head at him, trying to process the jumbled words he'd just thrown at her."What was that you—" Sura stopped talking when she saw a betrothal necklace inches from her face. "Oh…"
At least it was self-explanatory.
"I carved this the day before the siege… I thought I could give it to you then… but you remember what happened…"
Sura laughed. "Kesuk, you've been keeping an ice stone betrothal necklace with you this whole time? You couldn't have known I'd be in Omashu!"
"Well… yes, I've been keeping it with me." Kesuk lowered the necklace.
"And you said you'd thought the worst… you still kept it?"
Kesuk nodded.
Sura gripped Kesuk's hand. "Thank you."
Kesuk now looked quizzically at her.
Sura smirked and picked up the necklace. "Help me put it on?"
Kesuk's relief came in such a flood he laughed as he cried.
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In the market, Lin gravitated toward large crowds.
She tuned Toph and Suki out until they stopped asking her questions.
Then she waited until they were in an area where people were packed closely together.
A smile came to Lin's face as she slipped into the press, practically carried along.
How easy it was to drift along with it all…
But it could not last.
She didn't know where she was going, but she knew she had to get away.
She ducked into an empty alley and quickly did her hair and slipped the top layer of her clothes, the one Suki would be searching for in the crowd, off.
She stopped at a clothes stand and sold them. Then she was off into the chaos again.
"Even I could appreciate a man in the Earth Kingdom juggling fire!" Toph said as she and Suki had emerged from the crowd. "Too bad everyone had to keep milling around like that… I could barely make out his movements in all that confusion!"
"Tell me about it!" Suki laughed. "But what you didn't see was the high wire act that was set up just barely out of range of the flames… It reminded me of Ty Lee…" With a gasp, Suki clapped her hands. "Do you remember Ty Lee, Lin?"
It took a moment, as Suki looked back from whence they'd come and Toph searched the movements of everyone around for Lin's signature, before they realized what had happened.
"Oh Spirits, no!" Suki cried. "We've lost Lin!"
Lin smiled to herself at her new feeling of freedom.
She couldn't remember a time when she'd felt this content.
She still had to figure out how to handle her little intruder, but besides that, she was doing well.
She didn't have to worry about the Fire Lord or the Avatar anymore, because they'd get over losing such a burden.
The Fire Lord would now be able to find his Fire Lady without suffering under the misconception that Lin was his wife.
She was still upset about Sura, but maybe out here in the huge, free world, she'd be able to find her.
Or, a better friend, even…
The thought occurred to Lin that she should probably find a job.
She didn't really want one in this city, though…
Where should she go?
She knew what she was good at.
Servant's work.
She'd have to find a place where they'd need or want the basic work she could provide around the clock, as well as giving her a home.
She wandered around the Upper Ring until she found a large, rich-looking house.
She took a deep breath and walked to the front door. Hesitantly, she raised her fist to the door. She waited a moment, then knocked.
A bleary-eyed servant opened the door.
"What is it?" he asked.
Lin looked into the man's dark green eyes. "I'd like a job."
Suki and Toph searched the crowd, pressing past people desperately.
"Have you seen a very pale girl with long black hair?" Suki asked.
Half of those standing nearby were pale women with dark hair, and looked up at the description.
"Whoops," Suki sighed.
"We're on our own, Honey." Toph said. "We need to get moving before Lin gets carried too far." Toph had meant that Lin would be carried along by the crowd's pressure, but both Toph and Suki were gripped with terror at the realization that it was very possible Lin had been kidnapped again.
They picked up their paces even more.
"Wait here," the serving man said to Lin, indicating a door at the end of the room. He disappeared through a door at the end of the room.
"I just… survived that," Lin mused to herself setting herself down on the bench, looking at the jade opulence around her.
The silk cushions on the bench were so comfortable, and felt so familiar…
Lin felt reenergized by that small comfort.
As the door opened to reveal the same serving man who'd opened the door, Lin reminded herself that she would have to work for a job if she really wanted it.
She couldn't relax yet. As she stood up, her muscles, heretofore drowned out by her adrenaline, protested all the way.
"Follow me. You're lucky he's awake," the servant turned sharply and walked down the dimly lit hall.
Lin hurried after him, feeling colder the further in she went.
She glanced over her shoulder to make sure nobody was there.
Despite her fear of being discovered, Lin found herself suffering a pang of disappointment.
Part of her had wanted to see the Fire Lord standing there, arms open or her.
"He's in there," the servant said. He then disappeared back the way they'd come.
Taking a deep breath, Lin knocked on the door.
"Enter," came a deep, disinterested voice.
Lin did so hurriedly.
Pausing just inside, she smiled humbly and bowed, hands folded.
"Fire Nation, are you?"
"Yes sir!" Lin said, looking down at her hands.
She wondered if, now that she was determined to spend the rest of her life in the Earth Kingdom, she should start acting like an Earth Kingdom citizen.
"What are you doing here?"
Lin switched to serenity. Perhaps the overeager act was a liability… "Recently, I have experienced a lifestyle shift. I'd like to actually accomplish something, and I expect this is the place to do it. I'll do anything. All I ask in return is room and board. Does that sound reasonable?"
As Lin had been speaking, the nobleman had shifted his position, steadily coming out of his crouching position over his papers, and had sat bolt upright.
He now studied Lin with wide-eyed scrutiny. "You have a job!" he said. "What is your name, Miss?" he unrolled a new scroll over the ne he'd been using, and dipped his brush into the ink again.
"I am Lin Qiang. I go by Lin."
The nobleman nodded, writing hurriedly. "Go on."
"I prefer not to do dirty or heavy work, but if it is required of me, it shall be done. I can convey messages from superior to subordinate—"
"I want you on display somehow, Lin Qiang. You are a well-trained ornament! One might even say you have a noble bearing! In fact, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were some sort of Fire Nation nobility!"
"I spent some time with Fire Nation nobility," Lin allowed, holding serenity firmly over her discomfort, which was directed both at the thought of her former masters and the Fire Lord.
The Fire Lord's image seemed to plant itself at her side.
She could practically smell him and feel the heat radiating off of him.
Was she fantasizing now, or was he reaching for her hand?
"I'll see what my wife can do with you. You came to the right place! I'm glad to have you!"
Lin glowed with pride.
She was useful!
Opening a drawer, the nobleman produced a floor-plan of his home.
He looked at it for a moment, then drew an "x" over a room, then handed it to Lin. "Breakfast starts at two hours after sunrise. If you're a firebender, you'll just have to wait."
"No trouble," Lin said as she accepted the paper. "I'm no firebender." She did not mention her knives, as she feared that doing so could lose her the job. "Could I get something to eat now?" She had spent so much time escaping she'd forgotten all about eating.
The nobleman was returning to his work. "Go ahead. The kitchen is on the map. Now I need to finish this so I can go see my wife. It's been all day!"
Lin bowed. As if of its own accord, her mouth dropped open. "I sympathize," she said as she left. When the door was closed behind her, she put a hand over mouth. What was that? She asked herself.
Suki and Toph trudged into the palace, dreading the moment when they'd tell everyone what had happened.
"Who are you more afraid of? Zuko or Katara?" Toph asked.
"Katara's my sister-in-law. I'm more afraid of Zuko."
"Same here. Old flame-head will probably explode!"
The door guards let them in.
"Here goes nothing…" Suki said, opening the door to the Gang's suite.
"Suki! Toph! We were worried!" Aang smiled as he ran up to them. His smile faded when he looked behind them. "Oh, no," he said simply, as if he were unable to say anything else.
"We lost her in the market." Toph said quietly.
"Oh, no!" Aang stepped away from them.
"What?" Zuko asked, tuning in at the first hint of trouble. "What's wrong, Aang?"
Aang looked at Zuko worriedly. "Lin…"
"What?" Zuko pushed past Suki and Toph. He was greeted with an empty hall. "Where is she?" he cried.
Now, anyone who hadn't heard what came before reacted, and filled the space just inside the door.
"We don't know! We just searched the whole marketplace! We were looking all day and there was no sign of her." Suki began to cry. "I'm so sorry I failed you. I just thought… we could have some fun…"
Sokka gave her a comforting hug.
"Oh Agni have mercy..." Topekaia moaned, knowing the uproar Lin's absence would cause, and the harm it could do to her.
Zuko leaned against the door frame. "Do you think someone took her?"
"We have no idea," Said Toph. "It was so crowded she could've just gotten lost."
"So she's just disappeared!" Topekaia threw her hands in the air in disbelief, "there was no one trailing her to make sure she didn't get away?" She asked, her voice less agitated.
"We nearly lost each other," Suki said. "Toph was able to find me because she recognized my footsteps."
"Don't you recognize Mai's footsteps, too?" Zuko asked.
"They've changed, and I haven't gotten used to them yet. I'm sorry I couldn't recognize her anymore." Toph bowed her head down, too ashamed to let others see her face.
Sura and a Water Tribe man, a stranger to all the others, walked into the room. Too excited to see the warning signs at once, she said: "Hi, I would like you guys to meet..." Finally seeing all the worried looks, and Zuko's face in particular, she groaned. "How and when did she disappear?"
"We were in a huge crowd in the market, and she just disappeared," Suki said solemnly.
"I'll go look for her. Something or someone probably scared her and she's hiding." Sura moved for the door, but then stopped and folded her arms. "Is there any evidence to go on?"
"Wouldn't she have screamed or something if she were scared?" Toph asked. "I didn't hear anything like that."
"Do you think maybe she was planning this?" Sokka asked. "I remember she was asking where Sura was this morning… I told her I didn't know."
Suki gasped. "I did, too… I told her you might go home, Sura."
Sura stared in shock at Suki "You didn't!" She turned to Zuko. "Lin only stayed because I was here! I need to find her or she'll never come back!"
More color drained from Zuko's face. "Then go… hurry! I will go talk to King Kuei about arranging a search party or something." He had to do something useful, after all.
"I'm coming, too!" Suki, Toph and Topekaia said.
"I'll just… go back to my suite," said Kesuk.
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As Lin buried herself in the blankets of her new bed, a wave of calm swept over her.
Even though Sura was no longer around, Lin had a new life.
She could be her own person.
To make it all better, she was confident she'd never see the Avatar or his friends again.
Including the Fire Lord.
With a groan, Lin curled up around the knot of pain in her heart.
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"I will send out a search," said King Kuei. "I cannot promise that we will find her immediately, but I agree, she must be found."
"Thank you," Zuko said, trying to smile.
"I will do all I can, my friend," said the Earth King, wearily laying a hand on Bosco's head, the other one massaging his temple.
Near midnight, Lin was fast asleep.
And Mai was just waking up.
As she groggily sat up, she began muttering to herself.
"Of all the things I could have done… This has to be the worst thought-out plan—" Mai noticed, though her vision was blurry, that her knife belts and holsters were missing.
She distinctly remembered Lin stripping them off and putting them on a chair, thinking they'd be safe.
"New plan," she muttered stumbling out of the room.
She couldn't immediately leave.
She'd need her weapons for self-defense.
A second later, she stumbled back in, muttering: "Map."
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"Kuei says he'll send search parties," Zuko said to his tense and worried friends. "I don't have high hopes for this. They'll be looking at the streets, not inside buildings. Kuei doesn't want to have them searching hotels and asking when people arrived." Zuko leaned against the fancy door to the Earth King's throne room.
"You should get some sleep," Katara said. "When we find Mai, you'll want to be able to function properly."
"If I go to sleep, they could find her and I won't know," Zuko said.
"We'll wake you up," Katara said. "Please, Zuko?"
Zuko looked at her. "Katara, I appreciate this, but you really aren't my mother."
Katara sighed. "I know, but I hate seeing you like this."
"That's too bad. I'll be looking like this until I know exactly where she is again."
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"Need… a firebender…" Mai mumbled, the darkness around her as thick as the haze in her eyes. "Still no idea how any brain that claims to belong to me would come up with leaving Zuko…" she yawned and blew her too-long bangs out of her eyes. "Lin needs a haircut," she said. She bumped into a wall. "I am so… graceful…" she said between yawns.
At least speaking out loud helped to ground her in reality, if for no other reason than that she felt her jaw move.
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"I am going to spend the night at the Jasmine Dragon," Zuko announced. "You can all come over in the morning. Go get some sleep."
"Are you sure?" Aang asked carefully.
"Positive. If anyone can help me keep my head on straight, it's Uncle. See you all in the morning." Zuko bowed slightly to all his friends and walked away.
Katara frowned for a moment, then threw her arms around Aang. "This is just awful!" she sobbed.
"I know," Aang said, just holding her as she began to sob. He stared sternly over her shoulder, trying to picture some embodiment of all the turmoil they'd gotten beaten around with, so that he could find some way to destroy it.
It was too shapeless, too elusive.
Just like Lin's location.
He held Katara tighter.
This was real.
This had not been taken.
At least he could count himself lucky for once in his life.
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"What're you doing up?" someone asked.
Mai jerked around clumsily to see the dim outline of a man. "Same question. You answer it first," she tried to sound awake.
The man chuckled. "Fair enough. I heard you talking. Now it's your turn."
Mai took a moment to curse the shallow thought process that forced her to think out loud to block out the undertow of Lin. "I woke up and saw that… my possessions… were missing."
"Oh…" the man cocked his head. "You're new."
Mai sighed. "I'm Lin Qiang," she said in as convincing a tone as she could have mustered had she claimed to be an airbender.
Wow.
That had felt… weird.
But she couldn't go tossing around her real name, liability that it was.
Even in the dead of night with half a brain she wasn't that stupid.
"Nice to meet you, Lin!"
"Shush up!" Mai whispered harshly.
"Oh, right… Hey, I could help you find your stuff, if you'd like."
Mai pondered that until she felt herself slipping. "Come here, then," she said, shoving the map against his chest. "I couldn't read that scrap of tree carcass, anyway."
The man chuckled. "You're on the right track, I'd say. Let's go!" he said eagerly.
Mai waited for the man to pass ahead of her.
No need to learn his name—she'd forget it by morning, anyway, and giving Lin a reason not to remember was as generous thing as she could think to do.
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Zuko saw the search taking place.
They weren't doing a very good job, but at least they had large numbers.
Maybe he was so used to tracking that he had unrealistic standards.
Why couldn't he be the one to find Mai?
If these people found her, he'd be disappointed in himself.
He made it a point to duck into every alley on the way to the Jasmine Dragon, making absolutely sure Lin wasn't huddled against the wall waiting to die.
He told himself that he was being ridiculous to expect her to be there, but he would never be able to sleep if he knew that he'd left a stone unturned and given up, and the phantom images he kept placing in his own path were not helping him in any way.
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"They probably have it in here," said Mai's map reader.
"Then let's look," Mai said, trying to push past him. Why had he stopped, at all?
The man rolled up the map. He was moving to put it away in his tunic when Mai poked him.
"Remember, that's mine. I'll be needing it back."
"Oh, right. I'll just open the door."
Mai was feeling suspicious of this man, but had no time to speculate or investigate.
When the door was open, she marched into the room.
"What exactly is it that you lost?" the man asked.
"Don't bother me, I'm looking. You can go away now," Mai waved him off.
The man hovered in the doorway for a moment. "Who are you really?"
"Leave me alone. I'm trying to find my weapons so I can get out of here."
"Why did you come here in the first place?"
Great.
Why couldn't she have Azula's talent for lies?
Or at least her knack for intimidating everything with legs.
Mai scrambled for an answer.
None came.
"Well?"
She thought harder.
She was only half conscious.
What was she supposed to say?
"Look, I just need to get out of here. You'll never see me again if I leave, so just leave me alone so I can go home."
"Where is your home?"
"Not here. Leave me alone." Mai's hand brushed against the soft, familiar leather of her knife belt. She sighed in relief. "I've already found my weapons, so I don't need you anymore."
"I think something might be wrong with you," the man said. "You need to go back to bed." He took a few steps toward her.
"That is not your concern. I'm trying to fix the problem on my own."
"Come with me, you need some sleep," the man gripped her arm.
"You let go of me!" her hand fell on the familiar handle of one of her spare knives. It would be frankly desperate of her to stab this man, but if it got her back to Zuko, it would be worth it.
"What's that you've got?" the man asked, rather worried.
"It's a knife, if you must know. Let go of me, or you'll meet it intimately."
"You are seriously crazy. Come on, I'm taking you back to where I found you." His other hand clamped over Mai's arm. He yanked her away from her knives, and dragged her out of the room. He then closed the door firmly behind both of them. "I think they were right to take those from you. You're crazy!"
"I need to leave!" Mai insisted as she was dragged down the hall. "There isn't much time!" her mind was going crazy, indeed.
If she could even entirely call it her own any longer.
"You need to stay in your room. Where is it?"
"I'm not telling you," Mai said stubbornly. "You can't take me there if you don't know where it is. Release me before I paralyze you!"
"You are definitely fixated on violence, aren't you?" the man prodded her in the back to get her to move along. "You need sleep badly."
"I need freedom. I need—" Zuko "—to go home!"
"It's past midnight! You'll just get lost."
"I will walk until I get there. Agni, don't poke me like that!"
Finally, the man stopped walking. "You're a citizen of the Fire Nation, aren't you?" his hands loosened.
Mai huffed at the word citizen. "I don't need to explain myself to you. Just let me go get my knives so I can get back to—"
"Look, I'm a compatriot," he said more gently. "I know you want to go home. Ba Sing Se is really nice and everything, but it isn't home. I think once you wake up, you'll be able to concentrate more."
"Undoubtedly," Mai said in disgust. "Just let go now!"
"You're going to hurt yourself. Come on, Lin." He was gentler now, but no less insistent.
"Coming here was a mistake," Mai said. "I need to leave before I'm stuck here."
"Everything will be much clearer in the morning," the man assured her.
"No, it won't! You don't understand!"
"Calm down, Lin! You'll wake someone up! Again!"
"Right…" Mai breathed out, releasing some tension. She knew she wouldn't be escaping that night. Zuko would be worried sick, but she was trapped. She looked up at the face of the other Fire Nation citizen. Could she tell him who she was? No, she didn't think so. "I'll go back to bed, I promise. Good night."
He released her arm, but stood completely still. "'I'll watch you."
"Fair enough," Mai said with as sigh, and trudged back to her room.
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Zuko knocked on the door to the Jasmine Dragon.
To his surprise, his uncle arrived at the door, hand lit up. "Nephew! What is it?" there was a grim look on Iroh's face.
"I'll tell you in the morning. If I don't sleep now, Katara will have Aang and Toph earthbend me into a bed and have them keep me there all day."
Iroh nodded. "Come on in, then."