Author's Note: Hey, guys! So, anyone else seen the new episode of The Legend of Korra yet? It was so exciting! Make sure to watch the new season! - Fira

Thirty-two

In a minute or so, Maya found herself staring as Zuko walked through his bedroom door, gesturing over his shoulder for her to follow him. There were a few seconds in which nothing happened, and then he turned around to look at her, eyebrow raised. "Well? Are you coming in, or not? You wanted privacy."

She shook herself and stepped inside, looking around awkwardly as Zuko shut the door. When he saw her, he said, "What? Not good enough for you?"

"No. Just… Last time I was in here, you threatened to burn me. It's just not a very pleasant memory, is all. Makes me feel weird being in here."

Zuko shrugged and then went over and threw himself onto his bed, folding his arms behind his head. After a moment, he looked at her. "You can sit down in the chair if this is gonna take a while."

Maya folded her arms across her chest. This situation was becoming more and more awkward.

After another few seconds, Zuko said, "What? Why are you looking at me like I'm crazy?"

"You're being nice to me." She immediately wished she had thought of a better response, and cringed.

He scoffed. "You said you thought we could be friends. If we're gonna be friends then that means I have to be nice to you now. Also…" He paused. "I don't know. I kind of feel bad. I've been a dick to you. And you're like the only person besides Uncle who's ever tried to be nice to me. So, I think the least I could do is offer you a chair."

She laughed. "Sorry. I know you're trying to be nice. It just feels weird." She grabbed the chair from his desk and pushed it around so that she could sit and face him. It was actually a very uncomfortable chair, and she wondered why he would ever want to sit on it, but she didn't tell him that. Instead, she said, "I want to tell you about me. Specifically, about how I got all of my scars, and why you found me nearly drowned in the middle of the ocean."

Zuko sighed. "This is gonna take a while."

"Just hear me out."

"Fine. Whatever."

And so she told him. She told him about her mother, and how she had died when she was young. She told him about how she was half Water Tribe, and how her mother and father never really got along. She told him about how her father had slowly gone insane once her mother had died, and had started screaming at her for not being able to firebend. She told him about the torturing, and the burning, and the hair pulling, and how every time he burned her, she told herself she wouldn't let him do it anymore.

Then she told him about the year she'd had on the streets. She told him about the odd jobs, and the scary nights, and about being poor and hungry. And then she spoke briefly about the job on the Earth Kingdom merchant ship, and the pirate attack, and the storm. And then she had talked about everything, and there was nothing else to say. And they were both silent for a long, long time, and Maya began to wonder if Zuko had fallen asleep on her. And then he gave a long sigh, and looked at her.

"Why did you tell me all that?" he asked. She could not tell what he was thinking by the sound of his voice or the expression on his face. He seemed completely emotionless.

"Because I figured it would be important for you to know about me, so that you can decide whether or not you're still okay with being my friend."

He didn't speak for a long time. And then he said, "I guess I should tell you about me now."

"It's okay if you don't want to," she replied quietly.

"My father gave me the scar on my face," he said.

She decided that she would pretend like she hadn't already heard the story. "I see," she said.

"I was only thirteen. It was because I had said something in the middle of a meeting full of old generals that I should not have been in. Some guy wanted to sacrifice a new division of soldiers in the war. He wanted to put them up against supposedly the best Earth Kingdom soldiers they had, to use them as bait. I told him that that was pretty fucked up, but I didn't actually say it like that. Then my dad – the Fire Lord – got really angry and told me that I would have to fight in an Agni Kai for speaking out of turn. I thought he was talking about fighting the general, so I said I would do it. Then when I turned around to face that old guy, I saw my father instead. I didn't know what was happening. I wasn't going to fight my own father, so I begged him to forgive me. I told him I would do anything if it meant I didn't have to fight him. And then he told me I was weak and he slashed me across the face with a fire whip."

Maya flinched, even though she knew it had been coming.

Zuko didn't even pause. "And then he yelled at me for not fighting him and sent me off to find the Avatar because apparently that's the only way I can restore my honor." He sounded spiteful and angry now. Maya didn't blame him.

"That explains a lot," she said, after a minute of dead silence. "Now I understand why you act the way you do."

"But I don't understand something," he said.

"Well, you can ask me things."

"Okay. Why are so persistent about being my friend? Especially after that one time I got mad and threatened to burn you? I would think that with a past like yours, something like that would traumatize you and you'd want nothing to do with me."

"Well…" Maya thought about it for a little bit. Then she said, "I guess it's because you and I are both broken, and I think I really wanted to fix you because if I could fix you, then that means that I could probably fix myself, too. Does that sound horrible?"

"Kind of."

"Sorry."

Zuko turned his head and grinned at her. "So we're both broken, huh?"

"Apparently."

He yawned. "Thanks for the heart-to-heart, Maya. But I'm tired now, so I'm going to sleep." He turned on his side away from her.

"Does this mean you're going to stop being a dick to me?"

He turned his head in her direction. "Probably not. But I'll try."

She smiled. "Good night, Zuko."

"Good night."

Silently, she put his chair back at his desk and left the room.