chapter eight
x
In the dead of the night, Azula and Ty Lee lay on their backs in the courtyard gazing up at the glittering stars. They looked magnificent tonight, and Ty Lee struggled to choose if she wanted to look at the beautiful Azula or the beautiful night sky.
"Are things going good between us?" Ty Lee asked nervously, wiping her sweaty palms on her gorgeous silk clothes.
"Be honest," purred Azula, running her fingers over the damp dark emerald grass, "you love fixing broken things. You fetishize it."
Ty Lee sucked in a deep breath as she broke out into an uncomfortable sweat. Azula could do so much to her with so little.
"N-not like-like-like mechanical things," Ty Lee insisted, hoping with all of her heart to be let off the hook. "I'm not really good at that stuff."
Azula smirked, quite proud of how panicked she made Ty Lee.
"You love fixing broken people and broken situations, because it makes you feel important and useful to the world," said Azula. The truth of the chilling, cold, cavalier words punctured Ty Lee's soul. "The only problem is that I am not broken. At least, I am not anymore."
Ty Lee fought off a frown. She knew when she saw Azula nonresponsive that things were even worse than she feared over the years. They still were bad, Ty Lee knew, but she would never slight Azula's incredibly large ego. That would be suicide. Literally. Azula would kill her for a single insulting word. Literally, and Ty Lee knew it.
"You're probably right, princess," Ty Lee decided to say. It was the right choice; she knew by the very placid expression on the face of her true love.
"The moon is lovely tonight," Azula casually said, and the night moved on.
She did not say another word about Ty Lee's desire to fix her.
That was for the best.
x
Mai woke up to a sound downstairs. She heard hushed voices in the night and her skin broke out into gooseflesh. Her heart began to race with adrenaline when she heard the footsteps. People were inside of her house somehow. She grabbed the two knives she kept on her bedside table and crept down the stairs to slit the throats of any burglars.
She caught sight of a human shadow and lifted her knife to aim for the throw, but something hit the side of her neck. Mai dropped the knife as her vision blurred and the floor began to spin around her. Suddenly, she crumbled and fell into darkness.
For the next she did not know how long, she came to and then passed out and came to and then passed out and came to and then passed out. She heard voices, but none of them were very helpful. No one seemed to want anything from her, and no one moved her from the floor. She had her back against damp stone, but knew little other than that. The ceiling had faint traces of light but it was so blurry that she could hardly tell.
Finally, she opened her eyes and blinked several times. Everything returned to clarity and she took a few deep breaths as she looked around. Mai saw them first. They were the people she was supposed to be looking for, the ones who were kidnapped by the extremists.
Fantastic. That seemed to mean that Mai also was abducted.
This was easily within the top ten worst days of Mai's life.
She stood up and felt wobbly on her feet. Mai ignored the mother and child, who stared at her but did not say anything, and started walking towards the uneven stone steps in front of her. She moved so slowly that it pained her. Mai swayed, dizzy as could be, and therefore could not seem to move with the steps of a huntress.
Mai crawled up the stairs, slipping every second or two, and found that the door was locked. That was unsurprising. What was surprising, was the fact that her hair remained in the bun she pinned it into when she slept. It hang loose and tickled her neck but no one bothered to remove the pins.
She took one into her shaking fingers and dropped it. Damn it. Teetering, she leaned down and picked the pin up in her trembling fingers. It took effort and made her head sear with pain as she forced her woozy self to focus, but she managed to unlock the door after a lengthy period of time, much longer than it usually took.
Eager to escape, Mai pushed open the door and started walking. How she swayed. She looked around and saw—despite the blurred surroundings—a crumbling abandoned fort. No one bothered to tear them down after the war; there was no reason to do so.
She started to wobble through, her ankles threatening to give out at any moment. No one appeared to be around, but she heard voices behind doors. Mai tried her best to be stealthy, and was glad she was taken without shoes. That helped her stay quiet when she could not focus her movements.
No one bothered her as she slid through the shadowy hallways.
There had to be a way out.
She was not the kind of person who stayed locked up for long.
She was stronger than that.
x
Zuko found out about the abduction of his ex-girlfriend via a letter.
Reading it horrified him. He held it in his hands and read the words over and over and over again until he had practically memorized them. Once he had enough, his expression contorted into something truly sour and he burned the paper to ashes. The acrid smell of smoke filled his nostrils but he did not care. He let the ashes fall and did not care if they burned any of his nice furniture or lovely, expensive rugs.
None of those material things mattered when he could lose the one person he truly cared about above all else. He was in love with her and he would always be in love with her. Nothing could change that, even Mai breaking up with him.
Zuko had to verify it. Maybe the letter was wrong. He called a meeting.
They came to the consensus that the letter was true, especially after soldiers searched for Mai for an entire day.
"Maybe she just skipped town on me," said Zuko, but he did not even believe himself. "Maybe she did, maybe she did."
The words did not help soothe him at all.
She was in danger and he felt like there was nothing he could do about it.
x
Azula sat on a patio in the sunlight with Ty Lee. She sipped tea as casually as could be while Zuko's court descended into chaos over one insignificant noblewoman. Ty Lee kept worrying about Mai, but she did not want to say it aloud.
Princess Azula would not let her get away with skirting around the topic.
"Mai was kidnapped by Fire Nation extremists. Did you hear?" purred Azula with satisfied smirk on her beautiful face.
"You seem really happy about that," squeaked Ty Lee, shaking as she spoke. "Not that you don't have every right to hate her but… but…"
"But nothing," snapped Azula. "She did the worst thing you can do to a person."
"It was a mistake, Azula. Everybody makes mistakes," whispered Ty Lee, unsure if she should hide behind her teacup. She wished she could disappear inside of it.
"Yes. Even I make mistakes, and this mistake was not hers. It was mine, for trusting her in the first place," Azula said, her lip twisted into a snarl as she set down her tea with no intention of ever picking it up again. She lost her appetite thinking about this. "I hope they destroy her."
"You…" Ty Lee swallowed her fears; she had to know. "You didn't arrange for it, did you?"
"No. I just got lucky, I suppose," Azula purred, leaning back in her seat. She shrugged and glanced up at the cloudless, eternally blue skies. "I would not use my power on something so petty, Ty Lee, I assure you."
"Oh, uh, good." Ty Lee forced a smile and bat her eyelashes.
"She betrayed you too," said Azula and Ty Lee's mouth opened into an 'O'. "What? She did."
"I'm not sure how, princess." Ty Lee blushed, embarrassed and confused and mostly ashamed for speaking so ill of her best friend just to impress the girl she pined after. It was sleazy and cowardly.
"You see, she made you lose everything you ever wanted just so she could have what she wanted. I would have given you the world, and you knew that," Azula said. Ty Lee knew it had partial truth, but she also knew something else.
"I didn't want her to die," whispered Ty Lee. "I'd rather lose everything than lose her life."
"Do you not think that most people would rather die than betray their friends?" Azula coolly said, locking eyes with Ty Lee and chasing her gaze when she tried to break free.
"Azula, can I say something you might not like," Ty Lee said very quietly. She felt super frightened to dare say it out loud.
"Fine," said Azula, shrugging.
"I know you…" Ty Lee rubbed her lips together and fidgeted before she could collect her thoughts again and continue speaking. "I know you want to hurt her and kinda hurt me and the thing is that it isn't gonna make anything you—you—you—you feel hurt any less."
"How wise," bitterly stated Azula, and Ty Lee decided she would never protest against Princess Azula ever again for as long as she lived. "How foolish."
"You're right," said Ty Lee, and she drank her tea in one gulp to avoid saying anything else.
Azula watched, amused by the display.
She liked to make them dance. That was why she hated dolls. People existed, you see, and people were so much more fun to play with than porcelain.
Ty Lee's cheeks remained flushed for ages.
x
Zuko knew one person had to know where Mai was. It was the same person who knew that Mai was investigating the kidnappings. He went to confront his father.
"Concerned I am sleeping with your ex-girlfriend again?" asked Ozai mockingly, eyeing his son with a smirk Zuko would love nothing more than to wipe off of his face.
Zuko decided to bypass "pleasantries" and ignore his father's bile.
"Where is she?" screamed Zuko, his hands smoking.
Ozai calmly cocked an eyebrow. Zuko honestly thought he might murder his father if he did not think Ozai knew where Mai was.
"I assume you are referring to your ex, in which case I would tell you that she probably just doesn't want you to know where she is," he said, which he truly believed. Ozai did not find it surprising that Mai would run from Caldera, that she would abandon Zuko and her life here.
Zuko snarled through his bared teeth. "She was kidnapped."
"Or so she said," Ozai replied, shaking his head at his own son's ignorance.
Zuko raged, "No! Not or so she said!"
"You were the one who had her investigating kidnappings. I would call this your fault."
Zuko hissed irately, "You would call a rainstorm a continent away my fault."
"Then why are you talking to me?" Ozai asked, fighting the urge to roll his eyes at the boy.
"Because you know. You know and I know you know," Zuko snapped.
"I do not. I like her. I want no harm to befall the girl and I would never allow my lackeys to hurt her. This is someone acting on their own to protect their work from her investigation," said Ozai, each word what he believed to be the truth, whether Zuko would believe him or not.
"Save it," Zuko snarled.
So tiring, thought Ozai, so tiring to deal with this insolent boy.
x
Ozai thought about this kidnapping for some time. He found information about it, and used it to his advantage. It was true that the girl was taken for snooping. Ozai was wrong to believe she just grew tired of her boring life. He spent an entire night contemplating whether or not he should do something about it.
She was in love with him, apparently. He quite enjoyed that fact.
So, in the morning, Ozai summoned his son. Zuko came despite the fact Ozai had no power, of course, expecting that his father would confess to the crime of ordering Mai's kidnapping.
"I will rescue her," growled Ozai and Zuko sneered at him. "I will. You will find I will be quite cooperative, and you can so easily keep me in line now that I am mostly powerless."
"Why would you rescue her? I'm still certain you're the one who had her abducted! You're the only one who knew how much she knew!"
"No, I am not. I imagine people in your court were aware. Traitors are everywhere, and family are the only ones you can trust."
"I don't trust anybody in our family but Uncle, and barely him half the time."
"You have issues." Ozai shrugged. "But that is not the matter at hand. Give me resources and let me save the damsel in distress for you. I believe I am the best person for the job, since these people admire me so deeply. I can persuade, bargain and kill to bring her back to you."
"I doubt I'll get credit."
Ozai smirked. "Of course not. But did you not come here the other day to accuse me of seducing her? Perhaps you were right about something for once. Maybe I want her as much as you do, and maybe she would prefer seeing my face than yours."
Zuko glowered. "I will consider getting your help, but I'd sooner ask Azula. In fact, I sooner will ask Azula."
"How foolish," said Ozai. "She despises Mai, even stabbed her in the neck once. My daughter holds deep grudges. But I quite like the girl. She is far more interesting than any others I have entertained in my life."
"I," snarled Zuko, "will think about it."
He stormed out of the prison.
Ozai slowly shook his head at his son's shortsightedness.
x
Azula and Ty Lee were sharing tea beneath the rising sun when Zuko at last returned from the prison. Princess Azula reveled in how disheveled her brother looked after fretting for so long about his precious Mai. It was almost as enjoyable as knowing Mai was probably in agonizing pain, probably afraid, locked up like she deserved to be.
"I want your help," Zuko spat, which made Azula roll her eyes.
"You ought to be polite if you want to ask me for something," Azula purred. Zuko was startled for a moment by how… not insane she seemed. She spoke like herself, but he doubted she could improve so quickly. Ty Lee was good for her, regardless.
"Fine. Please, could you help me," said Zuko.
"Tell me what you need me for," purred Azula.
Zuko took a breath and began.