Reviews on next chap. ;]

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Chapter 19

Zuko turned around on the bow of the ship, to make sure Hakoda's ship had turned in the other direction. He figured they must have, since they were out of sight. He felt somewhat relieved, and in another way distressed. Hakoda and Sokka are going for the volcano, while Zuko and the others are going to the capital. Zuko's ship slowly pulled into the dock, and everybody unloaded. Toph hurled into the earth, showing a real smile for the first time in days. "LAND!" She yelled. She stroked the earth in admiration. "I thought you could metal bend, so a ship wouldn't really be a big deal for you?" Aang asked, picking up his new glider.

"Well, I can metal bend, but despite that earth is my natural element and I like it more of the two." Toph explained, picking up a handful of dirt and rubbing it against her skin. Aang shook his head and caught up with Zuko who was already on his way. "Zuko, wait. We need a plan." He tried to reason, but Zuko didn't slow down. He seemed to speed up. Aang sighed, and waved on the rest of the group. Suki, Ty Lee, Katara and Toph hurried their ways up to them. Aang turned around to face them as he walked,"So, we should split up, to cover more territory. Suki, you should go with Ty Lee, Katara should go with Toph, and I'll just stay with Zuko." The plan was reasonable enough for everybody to agree. They continued through the trail, until they saw a huge, old building. Big, black clouds swarmed the top, and parts of the stone on the side of the walls were crumbling. Zuko shot his head down and continued, he wouldn't let that get to him. But it got to Aang.

"Is that it?" Aang asked in disbelief. Zuko just nodded, and hurried. The others stared, and followed him, all giving Zuko concerned stares. He ignored them.

He waited until he was in touching distance of the building, then turned to Aang. "I sent a search team here a few days ago. They probably are gone by now, but they said that there is only one way to enter."

"Well that's gonna change." Toph said with a smirk, cracking her knuckles. She rubbed her hands together, and punched her fist into the side of the wall. A small, but noticeable dent formed as she removed her fist and repeated. After a few strikes, there was a large whole in the side of the wall.

"Stay behind me." Toph warned, and everybody followed. She metal bended through the tunnels of the building, and Zuko slammed his eyes shut. He hated it here. Aang could almost feel depression radiating off of Zuko. He stared at him, and gave him a heartfelt nudge on his shoulder. The dark tunnel eventually became more and more light, and they could see that it was eventually ending. Zuko and Aang hurried past the others and turned their heads around the corner. They saw a large dining room, that was currently unoccupied. They heard footsteps, and swung their heads back , listening tentatively. The footsteps were greeted by another pair of footsteps, and they both eventually slowed. "Do they have any of her whereabouts yet?" One voice asked, a low, mans voice.

"No, but if we don't get her back in the next two days the boss is going to be furious." The other answered calmly.

"Yes, he will. It's been almost a year since the boss actually bought one of his own findings. He must have really liked her." The man said with a low chuckle.

"Yes yes, she was quite a stunning young lady. I swear I knew her from somewhere though, didn't you?" The other man asked, his voice just a notch higher.

"Yeah, I kind of felt like that too... She looks a lot like the Fire Lord's hubby." They both chuckled. And Zuko through his face in his hands. Aang's eyes widened, and his brows furrowed. Zuko's mouth began to twitch with anger, and he couldn't take it any more. He swung around the corner, ignoring Aang pleads to stop. The two men stared at him, completely dumbfounded. Zuko grabbed both of their necks, and flew them both into the wall. He grabbed their necks again, squeezing tightly, until he could hear them gasping for air. "Who were you talking about?!" He yelled. They stared and blinked, and eventually one spoke up.

"We don't know who she is! One of our men just found her on the streets of the Fire Nation!" He managed to choke out. Zuko gripped him harder, until he coughed loudly from the impact. The other man began to notice who Zuko was, but the first was in too much shock to realize.

"What did she look like?!" Zuko demanded, slamming his head against the wall.

"She had long dark hair and auburn-ish eyes! An- and that's all I remember I swear!" He pleaded, shaking his head.

Zuko shot a look at the other man, who trembled at the hate in his eyes,"That's all I remember too! She was wearing a red Fire Nation robe before she was brought here and we changed her attire!" He yelled, and shook as Zuko's nails pierced into his skin. Zuko slammed their heads against the wall again.

"Where did she go?!" Zuko shouted, and they trembled at the sound of his voice.

"We don't know!" One spat out. "Yeah, she woke up a few days ago, and got completely spooked and ran off!" The other admitted.

Aang just listened from the corner, hearing just about enough. He eventually showed himself, and the two men shuddered against the wall.

Zuko noticed, but didn't stop,"Where did she run to?!" He shouted once more.

"She ran up the stair way, and somehow escaped from the top of the building." He spat out, and gasped for air once Zuko released them and threw their backs against the wall.

"You go check the top for any signs, and I am going to take a look around this place..." Aang explained, waving the rest of the group in. Zuko knew what that meant. Aang was going to rescue the other girls that were being held here. Zuko ran up the stair way and saw the door Mai escaped out of. He swung himself out, and came to a dead stop when he saw it. It felt like his heart froze, that a huge part of him died as soon as he came out of the door. He was nothing. There, lying sprawled out on the floor in front of him, was Mai's clothing, completely drenched in blood. He hadn't noticed falling to his knees, but he was on the floor now. He reached a hand to touch his face, and noticed that wet tears rolled off his chin. He couldn't even move. All around him he could see nothingness, without her, this was who he was. His head drooped down, and he dared to touch the cloth in front of him. His fingers trembled against the wet fabric, and he saw his tears fall onto it. His teeth clenched, and his breathing quickened. Zuko had never felt this empty in his entire life. He began to hyperventilate and his hands wrapped around her clothing, hugging them against his chest. For the moment, it was somehow holding him together. He also hadn't noticed he had been screaming her name since he had even seen the clothing.

Aang ran up the stairs as soon as he heard Zuko screaming, and froze when he saw, just as Zuko had. "Oh... no..." He moaned, and fell to his knees next to Zuko. Zuko buried his face in her clothing, not carrying about the blood that stained into his robes. Katara trailed behind Aang, and stared at them. She swallowed hard when she saw what was going on, and set an affectionate hand on Zuko's shoulders. Toph was not far behind Katara, and just stood behind the three of them. She could tell something drastic must have happened, since nobody was talking and Zuko was crying and screaming. Katara turned around and whispered the situation in a monotone, and Toph's eyes widened.

"But... wait, didn't those guard dudes say that Mai had to change her attire once she showed up?" She asked quietly, though Zuko somehow managed to hear in between his screams. His eyes sprung open, and he flew back. "So... so... So she's not... She's still... Might be..." Zuko mumbled, and Aang slowly began to smile and nod."This was set up." Came Suki's voice from behind. Toph hadn't noticed her arrive. "This was an easier mission than I thought! All of the guards are scared of us, and did exactly what we said! We let all of the prisoners free already!" Ty Lee exclaimed cheerfully from next to Suki, acting as if nothing had just happened.

Zuko arubtly turned around,"What were they wearing?" He asked. Ty Lee stared at him and blinked,"Well, hardly anything." She whispered, and looked down. Zuko frowned again, and set his face back into her clothing. Katara set a hand on his shoulder again,"See, you weren't wrong. She's still okay." She whispered, and Zuko didn't respond. They were quiet for a moment, then Aang spoke up. "So, I assume you are throwing everybody here in jail for the rest of their lives?" Aang asked, trying to keep things as positive as he could manage. They all chuckled as Zuko nodded, and began going back downstairs, Mai's clothing in hand. The men shuddered in fear at their arrival, and Aang helped lead them all, including the boss, down to their ship. Zuko had already prepared a team of officers to arrive days earlier, and they were exactly on time. They stared in shock at the amount of prisoners. "Take them all, and lock them up forever." Zuko explained simply, and headed back up the side of the ship. The police shrugged and began to lead the prisoners to the closest prison.

"That's my dad's ship!" Katara yelled as Hakoda's crew pulled in next to Zuko's.

Sokka ran down the side, and at once hurried right up to Zuko. He stared for a brief moment at the stained clothing in his hands, but then shook it off and spoke.

"She wasn't there, was she..." Sokka asked, and Zuko shook his head. "And that's-" He said, motioning towards the clothes.

"A trap. A set up. She's still alive, I can feel it." Zuko cut him off,"And I presume you didn't find her, either?" He asked.

Sokka shook his head,"No. But, you're never going to believe who we did find."