Five
It had been a few days since anything really noteworthy had happened. Maya was beginning to wonder if she was just going to stay on this ship forever. No one, not even Zuko, had mentioned letting her off anywhere, and she had given up the idea of leaving, anyways. Ever since their argument a few days ago, Zuko had avoided her at all costs, and when he was forced to be around her, he was civil – but cold. Maya wondered if maybe calling him a horrible person and then slamming the door in his face had offended him just as much as he had offended her.
At the moment, she was sitting beside Uncle Iroh as he taught her the basics of a card game that he called Elemental Solitary. It was a game, he had told her, that one could play by oneself. She was listening intently, purposefully ignoring Zuko, who was on deck with them, pacing back and forth.
Suddenly, a beam of bright light shot up into the sky. It was white, tinged with blue, and blinding. It disappeared into the clouds, lighting them up from the inside and giving the sky an ominous glow for a moment, before the light disappeared altogether, as if it had never been there in the first place.
Maya stared. Uncle looked up from his game as if he had missed it, though she knew he hadn't. Zuko had stopped pacing. "Look, Uncle! Do you know what this means?"
"I won't get to finish my game?" Uncle asked, voice full of regret.
Maya grinned.
"It means," Zuko continued, glaring at the both of them, "That my search for the Avatar has finally come to an end."
"I don't want you to get your hopes up, Prince Zuko," Uncle replied seriously.
"That light came from an incredibly powerful source!" Zuko shouted, pointing behind him. "It has to be him!"
Maya folded her arms across her chest. "How do you know it's a boy? Are you afraid of getting your butt kicked by a girl?"
Uncle put a hand on her arm to calm her down.
Zuko glared at her angrily for a moment, and then he said, "The next stop we make, you're leaving."
"Good. I didn't want to stay, anyways," Maya lied. In truth, even though Zuko was a pain in the ass, she was beginning to get used to being on this ship. And Uncle Iroh had been nothing but kind to her since her arrival. She felt comfortable here, and she was beginning to see Zuko as a kind of irritating older brother. Eventually, she knew, he'd come around. He'd have to. He couldn't stay angry forever. She just wished he would tell her what the hell was the matter with him.
Uncle suggested that they all go down to their rooms to relax and get some space from one another. Maya stood and went down below before Zuko decided to yell at anyone. She had a headache.