Mai wait, leaning against the inside of the door of Azula's cell, staring through the bars at the former fire princess. She had been coming to visit the princess four days ago when the attack had happened. She had been through the third checkpoint, waiting for the guards to open it when she had heard the crashing coming from somewhere behind.
She had readied herself then, never going anywhere without her many blades, and had waited calmly, watching the door that led to this position. A quick glance back to the soldiers had told them that they were to provide her assistance, stopping whoever was trying to break out the prisoner. Thats what she had assumed then. Given the situation, it was the right thing to think. But hindsight was always there in the future to prove your assumptions in the past wrong.
The assassin had been good, well trained. The guards hadn't been any match for him. But he hadn't expected to encounter Mai there, and the small startle of seeing her face and realizing who she was had been all the opening Mai needed to cut him down. Within moments, her bodyguards had surrounded her and dragged her off from the prison, safely back to the palace. She had wanted to interrogate Azula, beat the truth out of her, but these had been Zuko's hand picked men. With regards to her safety, even she didn't have the right to overwrite them.
She had learned of her mistake when she got back to the palace. Word was already waiting for her of Ozai's death. She had no feelings for the man, but he had been a member of Sozin's bloodline, and a very well guarded one at that. The assassin sent had managed to kill him before being cut down. Half of the men stationed at the special prison had been killed in the process.
A letter was immediately sent out to Zuko, informing him, and warning him, of the attacks. A few days latter a response had come from Iroh, telling her that her husband had almost been killed, and was currently unconscious from poison that had been forced into his body. The royal herbalist there had been able to treat the poison, but Zuko had still been too weak to write himself.
And so now Mai found herself back at the prison, gaze settled on the former princess beyond the bars. She thought seeing her there, trapped and behind bars, would have given her some form of satisfaction, would have made her feel avenged for the time that she had to spent locked away for protecting her future husband.
But seeing Azula there, chained and beaten, body battered and broken... she couldn't find any sort of satisfaction in it. She had thought that she had abandoned all the care for the girl, if one could call her that, but there was a certain level of care that she would have to cross to not feel even a little sympathy looking at her state. And that line wasn't something that she felt comfortable crossing. Just thinking about it made her shiver. Only Azula was capable of caring nothing for someone in this state, as ironic as it was.
More disturbing than the physical state, however, was Azula's mind. She hadn't regarded Mai when she had entered, and thus far hadn't even acknowledged her being there. She just continued to stair off into the distance, eyes slightly fixed to the left of the door, and occasionally said something condescending. Mai had wondered if Azula had been talking to her at first, just not having the respect to meet her eye to eye, but at some point she had mentioned the word mother.
Just as she was about to leave, however, she saw Azula's eyes slowly shift over to her, and she saw the almost glazed look slowly melt away as the former princess recognized her presence. But her look didn't settle into one of anger, as she had expected, rather it was a very slight, knowing smile. Mai recognized that look, even if she hadn't been on the receiving end of it often.
"Well well. Mai. I guess the trifecta is complete, now isn't it. Zuko, Ty Lee, and now you. Or are you hiding more special guests. The Avatar? Uncle Iroh?" She laughed. "I do enjoy the company. So nice of you all to find time to visit me once each year." Azula's eyes regarded her with slight amusement, staring into her. Mai felt herself shiver again, though shrugged it away. Something about Azula's madness was unsettling.
"Your father is dead." Mai said after a few moments of thought, watching Azula closely while weighting her reaction. She wondered if Azula would even care? Slightly upset? Maybe even happy? Her father was the only person Azula had ever shown any real emotion towards or around. Maybe news of his death could shake her.
"Oh." The amusement in her eyes flickered for a moment, seeming to dim, but then remained in place. "Thats nice. I assume Zuko got tired of having him around?" A slight smirk seemed to take its place at the corner of her lips.
She wasn't surprised by Zuko's coldness. Her father was dead, no big deal. Just one more thing to write off her list, one less piece in the game. Thats all it meant, Mai knew. One less checker on the board. "No, Azula. It was an attack on your family. Ozai. Zuko. Even you."
"I see." Another comment with no visible reaction. Either Azula wrote it off because it hadn't happened and thus wasn't important, she didn't care for her life at this point, or she was mulling it over in her mind and considering its impact. Given the state of Azula's mind, Mai gave equal weight to any of the possibilities. After a few moments, Azula gave her a slightly concerned look. "Shame. That would have made things a little easier on you."
Mai slightly indicated her head, not showing any emotion but finding herself curious. "What do you mean by that, Azula? Asides from a few minor political statements, my life isn't any more different now than it was in the past. You should just count yourself lucky to be alive, Azula. Lucky that I was on my way to visit you when it happened."
Azula just shook her head slightly, as much as her constrictions would allow. "You would have been better off if the assassin had succeeded." She gave Mai a pitying look. "Because now you've seen me. You've been confronted by your husbands lie, and its planted the seeds of doubt in your mind about how much you can trust him. Ty Lee will be standing on one side, demanding something be done, and on the other you'll haze Zuzu telling you that the right thing is already being done and that he lied to you to protect you. But, now that you've seen me, you can't just write it off as a game I've played with Ty Lee."
Mai reached to her side and brought up one of her knives, holding it lightly in front of her chest as Azula finished what she was saying. "I could just kill you know, problem solved. Only a few loyal guards know what happened. It would be easy to just kill you now and be done with it. It would certainly spare all of us a lot of grief."
Azula's response was to laugh. Not the made, cracking laughter that she had heard of, but genuine amusement. "Thats right, Mai. All you have to do is kill me right here. Kill a chained, beaten, half dead and helpless girl in cold blood. My existence makes yours more complicated, and for once in my life not for the virtue of anything I've caused. For once, its the decision of someone else that makes me a thorn in your side. So tell me, Mai. Can you take the easy way out here? Can you end my life and just carry on with yours?"
Mai pulled her arm back, and for an intense moment really and truly tried to justify it, to just throw the dagger and be done with it. Go back to Zuko, tell him that a second assassin had been sent after his sister. He wouldn't believe it, but for the sake of their marriage would let it slide. Ty Lee would be devastated, but would eventually recover, life much better for not having Azula in it. But for everything she could bring to mind, every way she could justify it...
Her hand dropped down to her side, and her gaze settled on a glare leveled on Azula's eyes. "I won't become you, Azula. Even to save myself the massive complication that your existence brings on me, even because of the pain that it causes Ty Lee, I won't kill you in cold blood just so I can avoid a headache."
That same laugh, back for a moment before dying down once more. "I don't know if I should be happy or upset, Mai." She grinned madly at her, voice becoming condescending. "Happy that I get to continue this miserable existence for a little longer, or disappointed that you didn't learn anything in our time together. Really Mai, I would expect this of Ty Lee, but not you."
But then Azula did something Mai hadn't expected. All of the madness and joy disappeared, and Azula looked her straight in the eyes with the most sober look she had ever seen in the girl. "Or maybe you've just realized the truth." And then she was gone, eyes glazing over and back in her own little world.
"What truth?!" Mai felt annoyance rise up in her, and for a moment she concidered striking Azula down, controlling herself enough to resist the impulse. She waited around for awhile longer, but Azula never came down from her little trip into madness. Eventually Mai was forced to leave, to return to her duties, but for the rest of the day it continued to bug her in the back of her mind.