Reviews on next chapt. ;]

I'm too eager not to write this O.O

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Chapter 24

"So, princess isn't your girlfriend?" Jun taunted.

Zuko blinked,"What?"

"That girl who always wears blue, and-"

"No! She isn't. She's a friend." Zuko cut her off, annoyed.

"Well I figured.. Unless you were two-timing." Jun went on. Toph busted into laughter.

"I wouldn't do that to Mai!" He shot back, now yelling. Zuko couldn't believe he had just said her name with out even trying.

"Okay, okay, yeesh. You fire benders." Jun said with a laugh. They carried on, until Jun arrubtly slowed down.

"Whoah!" Jun shouted hauling Nyla to a stop. His tail thrashed and his whiskers trembled.

"That means we're close, right?" Zuko asked, a hint of eagerness in his tone.

Jun shook her head,"No. When we're close, Nyla just gets twitchy. He gets like this when we are already there."

Zuko's eyes widened with excitement, but as soon as it came it left. "But... There isn't anything here..."

"Yes there is." Toph exclaimed, jumping to her feet. She placed her hand on the ground firmly. "There are three long metal hallways that are connected... there." Toph continued as she pin pointed the location. She pointed exactly where it ended, which was straight ahead. Zuko began running but stopped as soon as he realized he couldn't do anything with out Toph's help.

"Can you-"

"Hold on." Toph interrupted, cracking her knuckles. She then pounded one foot into the earth, creating a huge whole. She continued until the hole was big enough to fit inside of.

"Come on." She instructed to Zuko.

Zuko turned to Jun.

"Thanks, again." He thanked quickly.

"No problem. Nyla's the one who did all the work." She paused to stroke Nyla's head affectionately,"Well, the next time you lose someone, you know where to find me." And with that, Jun was gone.

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The deeper Toph lead them into the ground, the more thoughts escaped into Zuko's already filled mind. He set his hands on his temples, trying to force them away, but this seemed to make things worse. She has to be here. I can feel it. She's here. We'll be together again, soon. His head encouraged. He clenched his fists, trying to remain silent. His thoughts seemed to clear away as soon as Toph ran into him.

"You go down that way," She instructed, pointing into the next dark tunnel,"I'll go down this one." Zuko nodded as Toph departed, and ran as fast as he possibly could down the path. She's here. She's here. She's closer. She's with me. Here she is. She's here, she's here. Mai's here . Mai, Mai, Mai Mai, Mai, Mai.... Her name wouldn't stop flowing through his head. Zuko's automatic response was pain, but the more he thought of her name, the calmer he became.

"MAI!!!!'' Zuko screamed at the top of his lungs as soon as he couldn't contain himself. He screamed her name again, and then once more. He didn't care if anybody heard. If anybody decided to get in his way of Mai, his Mai, he would end them. Right then and there. He ran his fingers along the cold, metal walls, and froze as soon as he felt a strange texture. It felt like, a knob. His eyes widened, and he swung the door open.

"MA-" Zuko yelled. His face fell as he realized he was still alone. He blinked away hot tears and ran to the next door, filled with hope again.

But, he was still alone. He repeated this over and over, bursting through every door way, until there was only one left.

"Mai.... Mai...Mai.. please...Mai..." Zuko wailed unintentionally. He slowly took a hold of the metal handles, and gathered himself together to see her again.

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Mai stared out the dusty window. Every beam of light was blocked by clouds, and her cell was pitch black. She let her head fall, and stared at the puddle of tears under her.

Where am I? She thought. Who am I? Why is it so dark... everywhere... Mai thought. Her eyes closed, waiting for a glimpse of sunlight. But it never came.

The silence of the cell was overwhelming, but it was better than when there was noise. Mai shuddered against the wall. She let her senses drown in the silence, and relaxed into the wall. She was so at ease, so relaxed, and looked so peaceful. But, her lazy, exhausted expression soon turned to hate and fear as the door began to creek open.

She backed into the wall as fingers began to reveal themselves. She stared at the coming figure, until it was completely revealed. It was a boy. Mai muttered a sound of pain under her breath. She wasn't surprised to see a boy, but what surprised her was his expression. She couldn't put a finger on his look. It was a mix of several emotions.

Pain, lust, love, anger, sadness, joy... everything. Mai's eyes searched him, trying to point out any weapons, but there were none. Her scowl had deepened as he strode up to her.

He kept moaning a word. Mai. What does that mean? She thought. As he got closer to her, Mai began to curl into the wall, throwing her head down automatically.

"G-go." She stuttered. His eyes only widened more at the sound of her voice. It was cracked and wavered, as if she was crying. He reached his hand out to meet her own.

"NO!" She screamed, and writhed back from him, throwing her back into the wall. Mai's breathing was rough and hard. His fingers trembled the closer it got to her skin.

"PLEASE! NO N- NO!" She shrieked. Eventually, he couldn't contain himself. He needed her. He set his hand against her cheek, and waited until she at least glanced at him to speak.

"Mai... Look at me.." He said softly, cupping her chin in his hand. She swallowed hard, and glared up at him.

"I'm not going to hurt you... I'm going to get you out of here, okay? Do you... I'm... You don't... Remember me?" He mumbled quietly.

Mai just stared at him, and the more he spoke, the softer her features became. She noticed he was different from the others. His voice wasn't frightening like there's. His voice was sincere, and soft. She shook her head.

"No." She whispered, still shaking her head.

His eyes searched her face, and he bit down on his lower lip hard. She watched small drips of blood trickle down his chin. Why is he hurting himself? Mai wondered.

The boy slowly and cautiously ran his hands up and down her face, tracing every feature with his thumb.

He later snapped his fingers, and a small flame flickered in his palm. Mai whimpered and tried to squirm away, but his firm grip prevented her from turning.

"Shh, it's alright. Look, it's not touching you." He spoke softly, barely a whisper. His tight grip of her arm loosened, and stroked freely up her side. Mai stared at the fire, until the stare she felt on her was beginning to make her nervous. She peeked up at him, and was immediately entranced by something in his eyes. It shimmered and called out to her. It made her feel... alive. He watched her every move with anticipation, and stared into her eyes intently.

"You're... Y- you're... you.." Mai trailed off, her eyes frozen on the left side of his face. His skin was torn, and burned red. She hadn't noticed her hand reaching up to touch his scar. She hesitated just as he fingers brushed against his skin. He quickly, yet gently, took her hand in his own and set it against his cheek. He let his eyes close.

"Zu... " Mai started, and his head shot up. He gently pressed her against the wall, but immediately pulled her back again as he felt her stiffen.

"You remember?!" He yelled in a whisper.

She shook her head slowly,"No..." She moaned, and set both hands on the side of his face. But, there was something about him she wanted. She wanted to feel him. She wanted to kiss him. No, she couldn't. She didn't even know him. For all she knew, he could be one of them. She shook that thought away. No, this boy was different. He wasn't trying to harm her in any way.

And, he wanted to kiss her as well. But he knew, if he tried to it would scare her. And at the moment, just being in her arms was good enough for him. He rested his head on the wall next to her. They stayed this way for a long time, until Mai couldn't take it. She wanted to know him. He was there, in her memory.. Somewhere, and she wanted desperately to find him. Tears drained from her eyes again, she hadn't even noticed she had stopped crying. Ever since she arrived, she hadn't stopped crying. The tears had never ended. But, somehow, he had made her stop crying. He heard her sniff, and lifted his head from the wall.

"Don't cry. It's alright now, I'm here." He gently cooed, wrapping his arms back around her. For some reason, this comforted her. He waited until Mai stopped crying again, then took a step back.

"Lean your head down, so I don't hurt you." He instructed softly, and she quickly complied.

A small flame flickered back into his palm, and he smashed it in a perfect line against the metal chains that trapped Mai to the wall.

She ran into him, wrapping her arms around his back, and let her tears stain into his shirt. He let tears fall as well, and they stayed like this for a while. Crying into each other. Mai didn't understand any of this, she didn't even know who this boy was, but she loved and missed him. He pulled away, and stared into her heavy, wet eyes.

A small smile started to shape its way onto his dry lips,"Let's get you out of here."