disclaimer: Mike and Bryan own the ATLA universe; Mariko belongs to me (: enjoy!

I See Fire

Blasts of orange and red streaked across the dark courtyard, fading into mere cinders only minutes after they were thrown; she pretended there was an invisible enemy behind the fountain, narrowing her eyes against the rising dawn's dimness, bolting for the fountain and grunting as she propelled herself into the air by a simple leap onto the top point of the fountain spout.

Doing a small somersault, she swung out her right foot to send a curved arc of flames screaming at the invisible enemy, landing on the courtyard floor in a crouch.

Even though their future had been displayed for the world to see on that damn stage, it shouldn't get under her skin… but it did anyway, and it pissed her off to no end.

Noone could decide her fate for her… Her fate was in her own hands, and that was final.

Mariko straightened, panting slightly, swinging her left arm out and placing her right hand on her left shoulder to stretch out the kinks, doing the same for the opposite arm. She looked at the rising sun making the morning sky a pinkish gray, and she sighed softly, trudging to the covered walkway and undoing her hair from the loose ponytail she'd put it in for training, finger-combing the messy locks as she retreated inside to cool off.

"More ferocious!" Another kick swung out, a thin jet of flames streaking, "Pretend you're striking through your opponent's heart." A quick punch thrust forward, orange and red dancing vainly in a spiral.

His pupil broke concentration to groan in exasperation and scowl over at his teacher, "Ugh, I'm trying!"

She cut in patiently, "I know it's frustrating, but try anyway, Aang. You've got it in you." She urged, meeting his gray stare and smiling supportively.

"Now roar like a tiger-dillo." His teacher instructed, the concentrated scowl set on his face, watching the airbender turn to spout a weak blast of fire from his mouth. "That sounded pathetic! I said ROAR!" He snapped emphatically when seeing the younger boy's cheesy grin splayed on his face.

Aang put more force into his 'tiger-dillo roar', three blasts of fire coming from his palms and open mouth, spooking his lemur who hopped into the arms of his teacher.

Zuko nodded approvingly, making a face when earning a jab to the side from Mariko's elbow, scowling at her.

Mariko ignored his scowl, petting Momo's ears affectionately.

"Who wants a nice cool glass of watermelon juice?" Katara called from the front steps of the house.

"Ooh ooh, me, me, me!" Aang chirped, twisting to bounce over to where their friends were watching/ lounging, before he was pulled back by Zuko's grasp on his robe.

"Nice try, Aang, but I don't think Cifu Princeling's lesson is over." Mariko snickered, crossing her arms as the lemur settled on her head.

"You're damn right it's not over yet. And don't do that…" Zuko made a face at her smug smirk as his ears burned when hearing two nicknames he detested.

"C'mon, Zuko, just take a break! What's the big deal?" Suki piped up from lounging next to Sokka.

Zuko scowled in defeat and sighed, letting him go. "Fine. If you wanna lounge around like a bunch of snail-sloths all day, then go ahead!" He scoffed, turning to stride off into the low shrubbery.

"Maybe Zuko's right. Sitting around the house has made us pretty lazy…" Sokka mused.

Mariko rolled her eyes, smiling a little. "You think?" She turned to trot after her boyfriend, catching him as he was nearing the ledge of their hilltop view. She sighed and slowed her pace, grasping his sleeve and lightly tugging, meeting his slightly annoyed scowl. She smiled cheerily despite the scowling face of the prince, "Mind if I join you?" He was being more irritable when training Aang than normal, and that was starting to worry her just the slightest bit.

Zuko made a face and then complied with a nod, turning to walk the perimeter of the estate and she sidled to his right out of reflex, his arms crossing over his chest.

"Is something bothering you?"

"What's that for?"

"You're being more impatient and rigid with Aang's training. Either something's amiss or you started taking bitch pills."

He scowled at the stable where Appa was, exhaling steadily and rubbing his temples. "I don't even know where to begin…" He grumbled.

"It has to do with that meeting, the day before the eclipse, doesn't it?" She shrugged at the odd look from him, amber eyes calm. "Just a guess." She turned in the direction of the courtyard's walkway, both of them walking in that direction.

"You know the generals and admirals were called in for that meeting…" Zuko said, telling her of what had transpired inside the war room, the exact war room in which he had made his first mistake at thirteen, of his father's incorrigible plan to harness the energy from the coming comet to wipe out the Earth Kingdom.

Mariko stopped walking when they stepped into the courtyard, eyes resting on the fountain, but he could see her frame trembled slightly; as he stepped closer, she cut her gaze to the side, closing her eyes with a steady exhale. "Conquering Ba Sing Se wasn't enough, apparently… Damn, damn, damn!" She lifted a hand to hastily run her fingers through her wild hair, teeth grinding. "Spirits, this is horrible! H-how can Ozai be so… so sick? What kind of bastard is he?" She hissed, keeping her voice down once remembering that they were still within possible hearing range of their friends.

"Welcome to my world. That's the only reason Aang needs to master firebending, before that comet comes. If he doesn't…" His jaw tightened and a grim light entered his gold stare that was fixated on the fountain.

"It was bad enough that it was my fault Azula took down Ba Sing Se from the inside out on her own, but this is a thousand times worse, Zuko!" She tore away to begin pacing, both hands fisted tightly at her back, her boots clacking softly on the stone floor.

"I know, Mariko, I know. There's still time to stop all hell from breaking loose; we can make time! …We have to." He trailed off, hopefulness fading.

"Aang can't cut down your dad; he's not like us." She furrowed her brow in concentration, taking his words into consideration. "I know he's not the type to like violence; I guess that's what the monks trained him to abstain from when he was a kid. There has to be some other way…"

"If there were another way to stop this from getting worse, believe me, I'd have told you. There isn't, Mari." Zuko stopped her pacing by grabbing her right arm and turning her in his direction, gold eyes hard. "I know you don't want to hurt him, but this is something none of us can avoid. Even us." He added quietly, seeing her shoulders that had been tensed sag slowly and she used her left hand to cover his own out of habit.

Mariko sighed slowly and dropped her gaze to the scuffs on his boots, her fringe getting in her face. "Even if we can't avoid it, then I'm going to fight. My fate is in my own hands, right? That's all I need to know." She smiled warmly, lifting her head up and tilting her chin cockily. "So long as we'll fight together." She smirked.

The fire burned brilliantly in her stare and deep down it warmed his heart to marvel at how strong and confident she had become in their separation. Even though he hadn't been there to be her friend, he was damned if he wasn't going to be there for her as her boyfriend.

He smirked back, brushing her fringe from her forehead absently with his fingers weaving in her messy black hair. "You're probably going to brain me for not kissing you for that, but the show has to go on, right?" He hummed, perking her ears.

Pursing her lips briefly, she exhaled and nodded. "Be gentle… Okay, your rendition of 'gentle'." She tugged on the collar of his deep crimson tunic to press her lips to his in a tauntingly slow kiss, and before he could hold her closer to prolong the teasing lip-lock, she drew back a half-foot; she grinned impishly at his disgruntled face, wiggling her fingers in a cheeky wave. "Have fun, love."

"You know this isn't over by a longshot." Zuko groused, crossing his arms and shifting his weight from one boot to the other, arching a brow, hesitating to leave her.

Mariko smiled smugly. "Nope, you're too stubborn to give up a challenge; ya've always been like that, since we were little." She said, giggling quietly when he 'humphed' and then stalked off to go 'alert the press'. She watched him leave and sighed, giving it a few long minutes.

'BOOM'.

"Never subtle, is he?"

::::::::dOb::::::::

"There's one technique you need to learn before facing my father: how to redirect lightning."

She threw another glance at her, noting she kept her eyes on both firebenders standing in the middle of the courtyard as the prince started gesturing how to redirect lightning using himself as an example.

"If you've got something to say, spit it out, Kat." She said softly, her tone blunt.

Slightly taken off guard by her blunt tone, she let her shoulders sag before following her gaze. "Did you know about this?" She asked quietly.

She combed her fingers through her hair, "I only knew about the comet, not about Ozai's plan. Zuko told me before he told you guys. It doesn't matter now, though, now does it? The important thing is to prepare and be ready for the fight of our lives."

"…But you know if you make the wrong move… it's over." Zuko's voice cut across what the waterbender was going to say next.

Aang chuckled sheepishly, "Well not over, over. There's always Katara and a little 'spirit-water-action'… am I right?" He looked at the aforementioned girl.

Katara frowned slightly at the memory, "Actually, I used it all up after Azula shot you." She saw the firebender seated next to her wince a little.

"Oh."

"You'll have to take the Fire Lord's life, before he takes yours." Zuko stated grimly, recounting what his girlfriend had said before about the soft-spirited airbender.

'Aang can't cut down your dad… I know he's not the type to like violence.'

::::::::dOb::::::::

"I have a surprise for everyone!" Katara exclaimed brightly.

"I knew it; you DID have a secret thing with Haru!" Toph snickered proudly, oblivious to the odd looks she received from Suki, Mariko, Sokka and Zuko.

The quartet returned to eating as Katara said, "Uh, no… I was looking for cooking pots in the attic, and I found this!" She unraveled a long parchment that had a baby portrait of a black-haired toddler. "Look at baby Zuko; isn't he cute?" She giggled as it earned a couple of laughs from the quartet, smirking at the prince's frown. "Oh lighten up, I'm just teasing."

Zuko corrected flatly, "That's not me, that's my father." An awkward silence entered after his sentence.

"But he looks so cute and innocent." Suki piped up, gesturing to the portrait.

"Well that 'sweet little kid' grew up to be a monster… and the worst father in the history of fathers." Zuko stated, scowling at the darkness.

Aang piped up, "But he's still a human being."

"You're defending him." Mariko chimed blandly from picking at her rice, her words meant as a statement.

"No, I agree with you: Fire Lord Ozai is a horrible person, and the world would be better off without him. But there's got to be another way." Aang declared, frowning.

"Like what?" Zuko demanded.

"I don't know… Maybe we can make some big pots of glue, and then I can use glue-bending to bind his arms and legs together so he can't bend anymore!" Aang smiled at the prospect.

Mariko put her bowl down and sighed, "Aang, you can't skirt around the inevitable. I know you're not particular towards violence, but whether you like it or not, if you don't take down Ozai before he does it to you, it's over… this has to be done." She stated patiently, speaking before Zuko could open his mouth to retort, looking at her friend's troubled gray eyes.

"But Mariko, you know it's not in me to just kill someone… I'm not a firebender!" Aang protested.

"Yes you are." She smiled bitterly at his inevitable defeat to the argument, "Being the Avatar means you've conquered your fears against using any of the four elements, and fire was one. You can still do this… I know you can." She stated.

"This goes against everything I learned from the monks. I can't just go around wiping out people I don't like!" Aang argued, groaning exasperatedly and stepping away to start pacing infront of his friends.

Sokka piped up, "Sure you can; you're the Avatar. If it's in the name of keeping balance, I'm pretty sure the universe will forgive you…"

"This ISN'T a joke, Sokka, and this sure as heck isn't a simple pep-talk either, Mariko! None of you understands the position I'm in!" Aang shouted, glaring from one to the other.

Katara stepped in, "Aang, we do understand, it's just…"

"'Just what', Katara; what!?" Aang snarled.

"We're trying to help!" Katara stated, scowling patiently at him.

"Then when you think of a way for me to defeat the Fire Lord without taking his life, I'd love to hear it!" He shouted, glaring from her to the others before storming off back inside the house.

"Aang, don't walk away from this!" She barked, starting to bring him back when a gentle hand tugged on her elbow from behind.

"Kat, let him sort this on his own." Her amber eyes were empathetic as she added, "nothing we can say at this point will lighten things for him. Believe me." She held her friend's blue stare with just a measure of guilt.

The water bender dropped her gaze momentarily before exhaling, nodding and throwing another glance in the direction of the house's dark doorway that led further into the abandoned beach house. "… Right."

"…It's obvious Aang's on a spirit world journey." Sokka deduced matter-of-factly.

Zuko sweatdropped, "if he was on a spirit world journey, wouldn't his body still be here?"

"Oh right..." Sokka visibly deflated at the reminder.

Katara shook her head, a determined look crossing her face as she said, "Aang's gotta be somewhere on Ember Island; let's split up and look for him."

"I get to go with Zuko!" Toph zipped to latch onto said boy's left arm, making him blink and his girlfriend deadpan. She pouted over at the assumed-odd looks from her friends, "What? Everyone else went on a life-changing journey with Zuko; now it's my turn." She defended confidently.

Mariko rolled her eyes, elbowing her boyfriend. "Then I'm chaperoning you two; spirits know the princeling is a gentleman," she teased, snickering at the sight of his ears turning pink.

Zuko coughed and scowled pointedly at the cheeky smirk on her lips, exhaling. "Fine."

The group of six then split up to search the island, Sokka flying the perimeter on Appa, Suki and Katara searching the town, and Mariko, Toph and Zuko scouting the perimeter on foot.

"Judging by the looks on your faces, I'm guessing you didn't find Aang either." Sokka guessed as he touched down infront of the porch of the house when the group returned empty-handed short of a few hours later.

Mariko rubbed her temples from resting against Zuko's right side, sighing, "It doesn't make sense, it's like he disappeared without a trace."

"Hey wait a minute! I just noticed something; have you noticed that Momo is missing too?" Toph piped up, blinking her milky eyes once in surprise.

Sokka took on a horror-struck expression, "Oh no, I knew it was only a matter of time! APPA ATE MOMO!" He cried, scrambling to open the resting bison's maw and look inside, "Momo! Don't worry, I'm comin' for ya, buddy!"

"Sokka, Appa didn't eat Momo. He's probably with Aang." Katara refrained from slapping her forehead, deadpanning (much like Mariko, Suki and Toph did).

"That's just what Appa wants you to think!" Sokka rebutted before thoroughly checking inside the innocent beast's mouth.

Zuko slapped his forehead, "Get out of the bison's mouth, Sokka! We've got a real problem, here; Aang's missing and the comet is only two days away." He stated grimly.

All four girls looked to him as Katara spoke again, "What should we do, Zuko?"

"I don't know…" He trailed off at noticing he was the center of attention, distinctly feeling his ears burn again as he added defensively, "Why are you all looking at me?"

Mariko folded her arms, "You're the expert when it comes to tracking Aang. Did it for three years." She answered for the rest of their group, glancing up at him knowingly.

::::::::dOb::::::::

Mariko regarded the seedy tavern with a calculating scowl. She kept particularly close to Zuko's side, one hand's fingers interwoven with his, the other hand at her back, ready to draw her sword should the need arise.

"And the reason you've brought us to a seedy tavern is why?" Katara's voice near her jerked her attention away momentarily from observing her surroundings.

Zuko pointed forward at a black-haired woman seated at a lone table in the center of the room, "Jun."

Sokka blinked, "Oh yeah, that weird bounty hunter with the giant mole."

Mariko huffed, crossing her arms, watching her dodge an oncoming man's lunge, "Her." She hadn't forgotten that overgrown sightless beast and the cocky woman that was its master.

Another man flew at her from her supposed blind-spot, being deflected with the side of her right arm and then knocked back with a well-placed kick, the glass of whatever she was drinking momentarily leaving her hand as she turned to beat down her challengers. The firebender didn't particularly like her, though at the same time she admired and slightly envied the finesse she carried herself with, finesse and ruthlessness intermingling in her blows and dodges she exhibited.

She could take on Dai-Li agents and Mai and even Azula; there was no reason for her to envy a non-bender bounty hunter.

"I don't know who this Jun lady is, but I like her!" Toph beamed cheekily at her left, arms folded complacently.

A/N: yay, off hiatus! sorry for the long wait, gents..

preview of the next chap:
"It was because of me that Ba Sing Se fell… and it's going to be me who rewrites history… This I swear."

*"I See Fire" - Ed Sheeran