Gladiator

by Seyary-Minamoto

In a world where the Avatar wasn't found, the Fire Nation took over two nations and they strive to overcome the last one. Water Tribe warrior Sokka seeks to fight for his people's rights, but he's captured by his enemies. His life is no longer in his hands as he fights as a Gladiator, and his fate will eventually depend on the Fire Nation Princess, who needs him for her own ends...

310. Chapter 310: Eve battle-Double dagger 1

The eve of battle/A double-bladed dagger

1

The bedroom door opened smoothly. She stepped towards the nightstand, yanking her cabinet open and impulsively fishing out the latest missive that had arrived for her a week ago.

She had read it over multiple times: she still couldn't shake off the strange feeling it elicited inside her. The tone was uneven, switching between casual, grave and stern enough times to leave her drawing blanks. Had she been any younger, more inexperienced, perhaps she would have simply found the whole matter irritating, a bother she didn't need in life… but after everything she had witnessed, every stressful moment she had endured over the course of the past months, ever clinging to the hopes that she might never need to face the Fire Lord again, she couldn't take her father's unexpected messages for granted anymore.

And so, she raised the letter carefully, her narrow eyes ready to scrutinize every ideogram upon the paper in the hopes of finally unraveling the truth behind her father's mysterious attempt to communicate with her:

Dear Mai,

We don't correspond nearly as often as I would like. Your single-line responses to my yearly letters tend to drive across a point that I hate to acknowledge, but that I have no choice but to accept: Michi and I weren't the best parents we could be for you. We are deeply remorseful for that. Perhaps one day we will be able to say this to you, personally. If that day never arrives, though, may this letter convey our sentiment to you.

I don't wish to make this a bleak, dreary message. I know it would displease you if it were one. How is Ruon Jian? How about Yuudai? Tom-Tom still looks forward to meeting him. I can only hope that opportunity will come someday. Is he old enough to start school yet? Has he been much trouble for you and your husband? Is motherhood a rewarding experience for you? I hope it has been. I can only hope you have made the right choices for yourself, Mai, for that is what matters most. You took your life into your own hands and disregarded my advice, my opinions… and now I can see that you were wise to do so. Your old man may think he knows best… but ultimately, it's quite likely that he was wrong to assume that, just as he was wrong about countless things he never understood.

I hope you're safe. The rumors that have reached us from the Fire Nation mainland are disquieting. Perhaps you could visit your aunt more often, as she's bound to be lonely. If the Capital becomes too oppressive, perhaps you and your family could spend some time in her village to get away from the big city's pressures. I'm sure she would be thrilled to have your company. I believe you stay in touch, at least she has said so in what letters I've exchanged with her… so I trust you don't feel entirely abandoned by your family, even if some of us haven't done enough to keep you from feeling that way, if you do.

Don't feel any obligation to respond, Mai. Not even with your one-liner letters, for I'd rather you don't force yourself to do anything you wouldn't wish to do. All I want is to make sure you know you are loved, even if we did a terrible job of showing it for most your childhood and teenage years. I'm sorry for the countless mistakes I made in raising you, and I assure you, so is your mother. But for what it's worth… I want you to know we are safe, Mai. We are alright. We will remain safe for the foreseeable future, though I can't presume to know what truly lies in store in the horizon. I intend to protect your mother and brother as best as I can.

I hope your days have been peaceful and that you continue to thrive in a beautiful life lived with your family. I regret that Tom-Tom, Michi and I may not be part of it… but I acknowledge my responsibility in making it so, nonetheless. Have a wonderful day or night, whenever this message reaches you. Stay safe. Remember Aunt Mura will always be a safe harbor for you and yours in the Fire Nation.

Your father,

Ukano

She scowled as she finished reading it again: she couldn't find any signs that suggested this was a coded message of some nature. She had sent a letter to her aunt, inquiring if she had received a letter from Ukano as well… and Mura had responded with a perplexed missive of her own: there had been no word from her brother-in-law or her sister for months. It was possible that Mura had lied, that perhaps she had to keep matters quiet and hold back from sending any compromising messages to her niece out of fear that they might be intercepted… but would her aunt even think of such things? Mai certainly hadn't explained her complicated situation with the Fire Lord when she last visited her, to collect a fresh, healthy plant that replaced the one from which she made her usual tea…

Mai let out a deep sigh, tempted to toss the letter away for the umpteenth time. She was moodier than usual lately and that was saying something. Even Yuudai and Ruon Jian were occasionally nervous around her, and her displeasure only worsened every day: Ty Lee had visited the previous day with no news to speak of. Nothing, not since Azula had been sighted during Memorial Day. Not a word…

She dropped the letter in the cabinet again and took her seat on the edge of the mattress, her face buried in her hands. She had never wanted to involve herself in anything complicated, let alone anything political, for that was the most unpleasant kind of 'complicated' there could be. But right now, the true source of her anguish was the certainty that she was, in fact, not involved with anything at all. That she was as much of an outsider to the strife and chaos at the core of the Fire Nation as any of her neighbors might be. To think she was supposed to be a spy… she should be grateful, perhaps, to have spent around five months utterly incapable of fulfilling her unwanted duties to the Fire Lord, but fear for Azula's sake was pushing her into a dangerous, reckless territory she certainly didn't want to step into. One of these days she might actually fail to hold back… one of these days, she might simply go to the Palace and allege that she wished to see her friend, knowing she would have to report to Ozai about her visit afterwards, but even so…

How was she? Had she handled her pregnancy well? Considering how heartbroken she had been when she had last left Mai's house, Mai couldn't imagine Azula would have endured the changes, emotional and physical, as well as Mai herself had back when she had been carrying Yuudai. Had she found any mercy from her father, from her new husband…? Had Zhao been at least a decent partner, to some degree? The thought was revolting to Mai, but for Azula's sake, she certainly hoped the man had been respectful, at least…

She snarled, slamming her hands on the mattress underneath her, nails digging into the sheets. She hated complicated situations… but she hated being powerless to change them all the more. Azula remained beyond her reach and that wouldn't change anytime soon. All she could hope for was that the next rumor Ty Lee happened to hear about her might just reveal that she had successfully escaped the Fire Nation once more, this time with no intent to return to the father who would torment her endlessly otherwise…

And that, inevitably, directed her thoughts to her own father: Ukano's letter hadn't felt as passive-aggressive as they usually did. He kept blaming himself for their estranged relationship, but perhaps the most perplexing element in the letter was the fact that he kept all his attention on her rather than himself. He hadn't said a single word about Omashu, what tribulations he was facing as Governor, how stressful his life was, how pleased he was to have his wife and son to help him bear with it all… his old letters had no ill intent, Mai knew as much, but they were certainly vexing in ways her unaware father couldn't understand. She had never felt she had a place among them: her father and mother were better off with Tom-Tom, their ideal son whom they had pampered and never repressed remotely as persistently as they had with her. Their position at the head of a city in the Colonies, away from the Fire Lord, provided them with much more freedom than what they'd had during Mai's childhood…

She had been little more than a pawn in their schemes to get closer to the Fire Lord, to establish a connection with Prince Ozai through the friendship of their daughters… had Azula displeased Mai too much, Mai might have rebelled openly against her parents for the first time at her young age and refused to bond with the Princess for their political convenience. Strangely, that was where Ty Lee had proven rather helpful without her awareness: the enthusiastic, cheerful girl who could break into tears at one second and show the broadest of grins the next, had perplexed both Azula and Mai. In the end, they had as good as bonded over their lack of understanding of Ty Lee… eventually, Azula and Ty Lee had bonded, too, by teasing Mai over her crush on Zuko.

What leisurely days they had lived when they had been too young to understand the world at all. Whatever conflicts they'd had as children were petty, meaningless, pointless compared to the nightmares they had grown to see and understand as adults. In the end, Mai could only be grateful that her parents had pressured her so much over building a friendship with Azula when they had… for as forced as its beginnings might have been, theirs had become a stronger bond than those Mai shared with either her parents or her brother. She couldn't help but grieve for her friend's fate and wish, hopelessly, that she might have found some semblance of peace after everything she had faced…

Curses, she couldn't even stop her thoughts from constantly turning towards her. It happened all the time, over any triggers… and her father's letter brought too many of them to count. Not only was he presenting himself as a kindly father he never truly had been, not to Mai… but his wording, his letter's structure, were quite strange and tense. He was dancing around something, furtively, secretly… and Mai couldn't help but associate that to the countless secrets she wasn't privy to in the damn Fire Nation. Secrets she might never come to understand, at this rate…

She shook her head, resolving to stop herself from thinking about this now. She had other things to worry about: her father certainly had brought up something she had to focus on, for Yuudai would be of the right age to begin formal schooling soon. She had ensured to teach him the basics of writing and reading herself, though the restless little boy seemed to prefer athletic pursuits than those of the mind. She'd left him with a small, simple calligraphy assignment in the living room for now, and she half-expected to come back to find him nowhere around, headfirst in his toy trunk in his room, instead…

Her father's letter, and Azula's situation, were simply out of her control. Pondering them aimlessly would lead her nowhere.

A glance into Yuudai's room revealed he wasn't there, and his cheerful voice drifted upstairs from below as Mai closed the door properly. She let out a relieved sigh, supposing her servants had succeeded at keeping the boy on task, to a fault.

Mai climbed the stairs to the first floor of the house, on her way to check if Yuudai was done with the calligraphy assignment, when a knock on the front door startled her.

She stopped at the foot of the stairs, in the small vestibule in her house. Her brow drew together as she stared at the door, only a few steps away. She didn't receive visitors often lately, only Ty Lee, and she came by on a strict weekly basis… she had been here yesterday, so if this was her once more, could it mean something had happened? Had she found out about anything urgent? If so, perhaps showing up in broad daylight wasn't ideal…

Could it be anything else? Could it be anyone else? Had Ozai finally sent for her, demanding she did her job at last?

Another knock. She felt snakes twisting inside her gut as she stepped towards the door slowly, hearing her servants' footsteps behind her: they had no idea she would get the door before they could…

She was surprised to hear voices outside, though, once she stopped right by the door, as quietly as possible. The voices sounded… upbeat? Cheerful? Her confusion increased upon detailing their words… upon finding one of them sounded familiar, somehow.

"… We really ought to take you out on a big tour of the city, Rei. I mean, you and I saw a lot of it during the Festivals, but it would be fun to show you some other places, too. I can't pretend I'd be much of a tour guide, though…"

"I'm sure you'd be great at it, Lady Wen…"

Rei? Wen? Neither name sounded familiar… but Mai's heart almost stopped when a third voice joined the other two:

"Oh, she'd be better than she pretends she'd be, Rei. Someone toured her all across the city often, as far as I know…"

"W-well, now, I wouldn't say all across the…"

Mai yanked the door open forcefully, violently, just before an Imperial Guard Captain knocked on its wood for the third time.

Her eyes were wider than they ever had been when they fell upon her visitors. Visitors she had no warning were coming… visitors who were as confusing, perplexing, as they were profoundly relieving… especially the one standing at the center of the group, the one whose golden eyes found hers quickly.

She wasn't wearing her hairpiece. Her clothes were far more casual and lighter than they used to be. Her hair seemed longer than ever, too… and one of her hands rested on a six-month baby bump that left Mai breathless when her eyes drifted down in its direction.

For a moment, everything was silence. For a moment, there was nothing but a powerful breeze brushing through their clothes, their hair, leaving even Mai more disheveled than she ever would be, in usual circumstances. She blinked, bringing a hand to rub her eyes, as though to ensure this would be no mirage…

She lowered that hand to find Azula still stood there, before her, with an unusually affectionate smile upon her face.

"I'm somewhat sorry to drop by unannounced… but it's good to see you, Mai."

"A… Azula. Azula…?" she said, breathlessly. She had been panicking over her friend's fate mere moments ago, fearful that she might be in a world of pain…

But here she was, standing tall and strong, her eyes a much more vivid gold than they had been on their last, devastating encounter. She had tied her hair in a ponytail rather than her more frequent half-knot, her face bore only a light layer of makeup, her body didn't tremble visibly, she seemed only slightly thinner than she used to be before the battle against the Bloodlust Spear… her skin wasn't so pale anymore. She had eaten properly, then. She had rested, even if there were still light bags under her eyes… she had recovered. Miraculously, she had recovered…

Enough to have a spark of mischief in her eyes that Mai was more daunted by today than ever before.

"W-what are you doing here? Why are you…? Did your father send you here?" Mai asked, apprehensive about saying anything too revealing while a soldier could hear them: Azula, however, showed no manner of apprehension over the guard this time. Was it a different one from the captain she had seemed distrustful of on her last visit…? He looked like the same person…

And Azula certainly did not. The difference from meeting her heartbroken friend and the smiling woman she saw now was as strong as that of the bright sunlight that bathed the city today, contrasted with the pouring storm she had arrived with on that dark day. The shock was so strong that Mai could barely register, even now, that there had been two more voices… two more people who had arrived with Azula. And while she could feel their gazes upon her, she couldn't possibly take her own eyes off the Princess.

"Oh, I came here voluntarily this time. He allowed it, but I made the choice for myself," Azula declared, smiling as she stepped towards the still stunned Mai. "Now, I know this is a big shock, but…"

Mai's hand clasped her right shoulder, pulling her in for an impulsive hug she couldn't hold back right now. Azula let out a soft huff of laughter, letting her own arms slip around her friend's frame.

"Careful now… my bladder's becoming a thing of nightmares lately," Azula confessed, chuckling as Mai pressed her body against her womb in their embrace. The warning, however, saw Mai pulling back: the usually stoic, cold-blooded woman seemed so shaken she was acting more impulsively than ever today, unable to stand her ground against the sudden revelation that the friend she had worried sick about was, in fact, still in one piece somehow… "I'm sure you went through the same thing, so you know what I mean…"

"I do, but… Azula. You're…" Mai said, swallowing hard as she finally let her gaze travel over Azula's shoulder… focusing on her companions, at last. "You're here… and you're not alone."

"No, I'm not. I meant to offer you polite introductions, but you grabbed me before I could do so," Azula chuckled, reaching up to squeeze Mai's hand gently before glancing back at the two women she had brought with her. "This is Lady Wen, my midwife."

"It's… it's my pleasure to meet you," Song said, with a devious smile: she could see a streak of confused recognition in Mai's face, and yet… even she seemed to hesitate, unable to place her. The fact that her disguise was paying off to this day, around people who had known her on a more personal level, still amazed the healer.

"Right… your midwife," Mai said, blinking blankly and bowing her head towards her, curtly. "Greetings."

"And this one here is Rei," Azula said, smiling warmly at the youngest member of the group, who flushed and smiled too when Azula clasped her shoulder in an affectionate gesture. "She's my daughter."

Mai heard the word, but she didn't process it right away. She stood in place, blinking, her lips parted… and then she shook her head, as though having replayed the words in her mind multiple times until they finally sank in:

"Your… what?" Mai said, unable to present herself as impassive when she was as thoroughly confused as she was right now. Azula let out a soft chuckle.

"I'll be happy to explain inside… I really could use sitting down, my feet swell over anything lately, even a simple walk from the Palace. The city certainly looks calm, huh? And there's not that many soldiers about anymore, I suppose that's a good thing…"

"Well, they were patrolling constantly for long enough that… oh, just come in," Mai said, shaking her head and stepping back: her servants had been watching with peeled eyes from the corridor, gasping in astonishment when they recognized Azula. "No point in just talking out here, I'm sorry, I just…"

"You're a little shaken up. I'm not holding it against you," Azula said, smiling as she stepped forward and entered the house. She dared squeeze Mai's forearm lightly as she smiled at the familiar building – the very chance to return to this place felt like nothing short of a miracle to her, one she certainly appreciated plenty.

"P-Princess…" the servants bowed to her, flustered and dazed. Azula smiled fondly at them: receiving respectful reverences of this nature was no longer the norm for her. Even that was something to appreciate nowadays.

"Rise. I hope all of you have been well," Azula said, nodding in their direction as her companions entered the house behind her… all but Renkai, of course.

The Princess raised an eyebrow upon noticing the guard had made no move to enter the building's premises. As ever, he meant to guard the door and afford Azula enough privacy to speak with her friend at leisure by doing so.

"You'll wait out there, then?" Azula asked him, simply. Renkai nodded.

"Take your time. I will escort you back to the Palace once you're done," he said, dutifully.

Azula couldn't hold back a small smile as Mai closed the door, puzzled by Azula's odd familiarity with the guard. That voice sounded so much like the one from the guard who had brought her here before… just as Lady Wen's voice sounded familiar. She felt strongly familiar, all in all… but Mai couldn't place her so far. She had no recollection of knowing anyone with that hairstyle, the clothes were perfectly ordinary Fire Nation fashion…

And Azula's daughter? Her eyes fell upon the blushing young woman again, and Rei bowed her head dutifully in her direction, acting not too differently from the servants down the corridor.

"Lady Mai?" said one of the two servants, apprehensive. "W-would you like us to prepare lunch for…?"

"I… suppose. You didn't come by just to leave at once, did you?" Mai asked Azula, who shook her head promptly.

"If you'll have us, we'll stay for some time. Who knows? I might even stay long enough to greet Ruon Jian today, unless you get sick of us before that," Azula smiled teasingly at Mai. Her friend raised an eyebrow, skeptically… and yet a small smile spread over Mai's lips, too.

"Well, I suppose that depends on whether you behave yourself or not, Azula," Mai said, jerking her head towards the corridor. "Come, we can sit at the garden today."

"No storm today, fortunately," Azula said, following Mai towards the sliding doors that led to her pristine, indoors garden.

Rei gasped happily, utterly enthralled by the colorful, elegant assortment of plants within the enclosure. Song as well gaped around in wonderment, quickly identifying a few familiar plants with healing properties. Azula, however, remained focused on the friend she had reunited with… who also focused on her.

"Do you… want tea? Snacks? Anything?" Mai said, unable to disguise the tension in her every word. Azula smiled remorsefully at her, reaching out to clasp her wrist again.

"I know this is all quite strange, Mai. Don't force yourself to act like it's not, you'll get premature wrinkles if you keep making those faces…"

"It's on you if I get them," Mai said, sternly, letting out a deep breath. "Azula, I've been…"

She fell silent quickly, though, as the sound of quick footsteps came rushing in their direction. Mai winced, turning quickly towards the little boy who came rushing in their direction.

"Mom, can I help in the kitchen, Mom? Li Fan said I should ask you…!" Yuudai exclaimed cheerfully, but he slowed down when he glimpsed Azula, realizing his mother wasn't alone.

"Yuudai…" Mai swallowed hard, glancing at Azula with uncertainty… only to find her friend smiling kindly at the little boy.

"Well, you certainly have continued to grow up marvelously, haven't you?" Azula said. Yuudai bit his lip and smiled. "It's good to see you again, Yuudai."

Yuudai nodded shyly, leading Mai to huff dismissively and shake her head.

"You're not getting away with that cutesy act, Yuudai. Come on, at least greet your Aunt Azula properly, will you?"

"H-hi, Aunt Azula…" Yuudai said, cheeks flushed as he pouted at his mother. Azula couldn't hold back a soft chuckle at the childish reaction of the little boy.

"He's way more obedient than I was at his age, for sure. You have nothing to complain about with him, Mai…" Azula said, and Mai scoffed before pointedly glaring at her.

"Don't say that or he'll think I'm being too strict and unfair to him. Goodness, this boy…" Mai sighed, stepping up to Yuudai, who bit his lip and grinned as innocently as he could. "Working in the kitchen, you say?"

"Pleeeease?"

"You're sure you'll work? Or will you try to sneak your hands into uncooked food like you did the last time I let you?"

"I didn't do that…!" Yuudai pouted, blushing again. Mai stared at him pointedly as Azula chuckled behind her. "It wasn't me, Mom!"

"Right, because the Yuudai-sized handprint that clawed into the finished dough could have been someone else's doing, of course…" Mai said, crouching before the little boy. His blush was stronger yet at her spot-on accusation.

"It… got made smaller. It was Li Fan…!"

"Oh, you're blaming her now? Is that how it is?" Mai asked, halfway through amused and outraged by this point. Yuudai pouted. "Well, then, you have one chance, Yuudai: if either Li Fan or Shuai call for me at all over anything you did, you will be timed out here in the garden with us. Understood?"

"Understood…" Yuudai pouted. Mai shook her head, pulling him close to kiss his brow briskly.

"Go on, be good and let them know I could use some tea and cookies over here…"

"Cookies?!" Yuudai exclaimed, beaming. Mai's eyebrow twitched.

"Well, if you'd rather eat cookies, you're allowed to forsake your request to help with the cooking…"

The young boy nodded eagerly, and Mai sighed but smiled while Azula laughed behind her. Children were fickle and yet predictable all the same.

"Go, then. Tell them quickly and don't eat all the cookies before they bring them here, alright? We have guests, so be on your best behavior," Mai said. Yuudai nodded, brimming with excitement as he rushed towards the kitchen, running recklessly. "Don't run like that, you'll bump into the…!"

On cue, the boy bounced against one wall and continued running regardless. Mai sighed, shaking her head as she rose to her feet again, meeting Azula's amused gaze.

"Laugh all you like, Azula, but you're only looking at the fate that awaits you. Pretty soon, from the looks of it, too," Mai said, glancing down at Azula's prominent womb. She even dared venture a hand towards it, gently setting it upon the bump. "Curses, I can barely believe it's real even if I'm looking at it…"

"I've had five months to get used to the idea, give or take… and I can barely believe it either," Azula admitted, smiling sadly at Mai. Mai glanced at her remorsefully, and Azula clasped her hand gently. "I'm doing alright. Believe it or not, I…"

"I barely can, but I'm seeing it all the same," Mai said, unusual compassion and emotion in her eyes. "The bloody Palace has been as silent as a grave for the last months. I get most my information from Ty Lee lately… and she barely gets anything, either."

"Not even from Shoji?" Azula asked, with a sad smile. Mai crooked an eyebrow. "As far as I know, he's leading some strange association of supporters of mine…"

"And how do you know that, exactly?" Mai asked. Azula smirked.

"Let's say I have my ways…"

"What does that even…? Oh, you're as infuriating as you've always been. You really just love to make me mad, don't you…?"

"Mai, I-…" Azula started, chuckling at her friend's apparent moodiness…

This time, Mai angled herself towards Azula's right, ensuring not to apply any undue pressure on Azula's womb as she hugged her again, from the side now. Azula's smile was earnest as she clapped her friend's arm gently. Mai buried her face in Azula's shoulder, no doubt ashamed of showing such vulnerability to her friend… and yet she couldn't bring herself to stop, not just yet.

"I… I feared so much for you, damn it. Me and Ty Lee both, we… we've been worried sick, but we didn't dare reach out to you. We thought… maybe you wouldn't be allowed to come see us, maybe we wouldn't be allowed to visit you either, we might just cause you trouble…"

"I wasn't exactly free to go wherever I wanted to… I'm still not, to be frank," Azula admitted, patting Mai's shoulder gently. "My father had me watched on my way here, so…"

"He… he did?" Mai asked, pulling away to gaze at Azula in utmost fear. Azula nodded.

"I can sense the… spy, I suppose, if that's the word to use in this case," Azula said: she had resonated after making her request to her father, and she had certainly felt the unwanted, unpleasant rotten fire tailing them as they progressed through the city. It had stopped a couple of houses away, no doubt keeping watch from a vantage point in another location: Seethus knew she could sense him, and it seemed he wasn't about to risk being caught in the middle of a mission to hound her, aware that she might reveal his existence to the world if she chose to do so. "I do it through a firebending ability, there's nothing more to it. He's watching us from a distance, maybe from a tall rooftop, I don't know for sure, but I don't think he'll be able to overhear us."

"Good… I guess," Mai said, clearly perplexed. Azula offered her a weak smile.

"Even if he keeps me watched this way, Mai, things… things have gotten better, somewhat. I've gotten better, too. You probably can't believe how much, but…"

"I honestly can't. But it doesn't feel like an act, so…" Mai said, pulling back to scrutinize Azula's face intently. She gritted her teeth as she confirmed her very words on that moment. "It's not one, is it? You… you really have recovered, to a fault. You're… well, a little bit like you used to be, before all this. Not completely yourself, no, but…"

"I don't think I can truly go back to who I used to be, frankly," Azula confessed, breathing deeply and shrugging at Mai. "It's one of many prices I've had to pay throughout all this chaos, I suppose. But I truly have found… well, a little bit of peace, I suppose. Some stability, maybe? I'm… I'm definitely feeling better than I was when we last met. Which isn't saying much, but…"

"Good to know," Mai said, nodding promptly… though she frowned afterwards. "You were wearing my clothes the last time you left this house, too."

"Uh… yeah. It was inevitable, I'm sure you can remember that…" Azula said. Mai raised an eyebrow and Azula sighed, recognizing the familiar expression on her friend's face. "And you want them all back, don't you?"

"Well, if you took them as a gift rather than a loan…"

"Fine, I'll give them back when I come again, damn it. You're as much of an ass as you ever were," Azula smiled, lightly brushing Mai's shoulder with her knuckles as she stepped into the garden, where Song and Rei already sat together.

Mai let out a sigh… and a small smile spread over her face, too. Her heart, so clenched and unsettled, seemed to be on its way to easing up after finally seeing Azula again. She wasn't the confident Princess she used to be… but there was a renewed serenity in her gaze that starkly reminded her of that last meeting she had with Azula and Ty Lee, right before everything fell apart. The consequences of the chi corruption had been receding then, rendering Azula much mellower, calmer than usual… she seemed to be much like that right now, too. She was still powerless, still weakened… but even so, she had many people to protect, such as the pair who sat outside, studying the garden intently.

"And these are peonies, Rei."

"They're lovely!"

"Their roots help a lot with digestion, so they're both useful and lovely. Their flowers are definitely something to behold, though…"

Mai stepped into the garden's veranda and made for the furniture stashed against the wall. She picked up a few cushions and then offered them wordlessly to Azula. The Princess smiled gratefully before making to sit down… at which the midwife leapt to her feet immediately, leaving her other companion to gape at the garden intently while she helped Azula take her seat.

"Now, now, I'm not that helpless…" Azula smiled. The midwife shook her head, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"You're not, and I don't care that you're not: I'm making sure you sit easy and slowly, alright?" she said, firmly. Azula sighed and nodded.

"Right, right, whatever you say…"

Her permissiveness, and submissiveness, were odd even under their current circumstances. The familiarity between Azula and her midwife felt quite odd to Mai – much as she continued to find the woman herself quite odd. She couldn't have been serving her for that long, but it felt like theirs was already a tight friendship…

Yet the mystery of Azula's so-called daughter was all the more pressing and Mai meant to unravel that one first, after she offered the others two cushions of their own.

"Take your seats wherever you please," she told them once Azula was sitting safely. Wen smiled and nodded and Rei did the same, though she kept her head down still. "Just… don't sit inside the garden, evidently."

"Of course," Wen said, with a smile. "It's beautiful. Finding a good place for each element in a proper garden is a complex, artistic journey, wouldn't you say?"

"Indeed, but this was always meant to be more of a functional garden anyway," Mai said, simply. "Which you seem to have noticed. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that a midwife would know medicinal plants when she sees them…"

"No, you probably shouldn't be," Wen said, with a warm grin.

"Well, feel free to relax, I guess… the kitchen will send us some refreshments eventually," Mai said, ushering the others to join Azula by sitting on the floor. Rei obeyed quickly, and Wen was the last one to do so. "I suppose I'll just… blatantly ask for more thorough introductions now, since you think we're safe? I, uh, I don't mean to be rude in any way, Azula, but I've known you since we were kids and… the only child I've ever associated with you is the one you're carrying there."

Mai pointed at Azula's belly upon finishing her statement, and Rei blushed profusely as she lowered her gaze. Azula, of course, let out a careless laugh as she nodded in acknowledgement of Mai's words.

"I know it's quite a surprise, but I'm being completely serious and honest," Azula said, smiling at Mai. "I've legally adopted Rei."

"Okay…?" Mai blinked blankly. "Last I knew, you were utterly adamant about not having anything to do with children. Not that she looks like much of a child, truthfully… but it's odd that you would want to adopt anyone, I'd say."

"Well, she made a rather strong case for herself by being one of the nicest people I've ever known," Azula smiled at Rei, who smiled shyly and blushed at her compliments. "But I suppose you want the full story, so… here it goes: Zhao brought her to the Palace so she'd serve as our maid. But the truth is… she's his biological daughter."

"She… what?" Mai gasped, glancing over at Rei, who smiled shyly. "Well… huh. Good thing you don't look much like him…"

"I… don't?" Rei blinked blankly. Azula chuckled as Mai nodded.

"It's quite lucky, if you ask me," she said. "But then… you're her stepmother, is what you're trying to say?"

"Well, no. I'm her sole legal parent, unless Zhao finally stepped up and acknowledged her in the Temple, which I doubt he did or will ever do," Azula said, with a shrug. Mai frowned. "We've had many clashes, which I'm sure comes as no surprise to you. I found it slightly unsettling that his daughter served as his maid, and it became even more unnerving when he barely even checked on her, when I found out he hadn't even tried to give her an education… I've been doing my best to look after her ever since he brought her to the Palace. And in the process, well…"

"You somehow became her mother?" Mai asked, raising an eyebrow. Azula shrugged.

"I know it doesn't exactly suit me, but…"

"It does!" Rei exclaimed, though she shrank in place shyly after having spoken much more loudly than she had meant to. "I-it does. You're… you're the best parent I've known. The best mother I could have asked for…"

"I've told her I'm really not that impressive, but she refuses to believe me…" Azula told Mai playfully: Rei smiled and shook her head while Azula grinned at her, too. "At any rate, after one too many arguments with Zhao, he threatened to take her away and… well, who knows what fate he had in store for her, had he done that. He mocked me for playing at being the nice stepmother… and that gave me the idea of legally adopting Rei."

"And… you could do that?" Mai asked, raising her eyebrows. "The Fire Lord didn't…?"

"He didn't mind, though I didn't confirm with him that he'd be alright with it, first," Azula said. "Rei isn't going to be part of the succession line or anything of the sort, she's simply my daughter and that's that. The less royal pressures she has to deal with, the better for her."

"Understandably so," Mai said, glancing at the still blushing Rei, who offered her a weak grin. "Though it seems a little odd to think of you as the mother of someone… what, ten years younger than you?"

"Eight, actually, but who's counting…?" Azula shrugged carelessly. Rei giggled at her response, and Azula smiled fondly at her. "At any rate, that's that story. She's been teaching me how to do my own chores while I helped her learn how to read and write… though by now I fear she'll end up being the one giving me lessons, at the rate at which she devours every book that reaches her hands."

"I'm not that good yet…" Rei chuckled, shaking her head.

"She's too humble to admit she's a math genius," Song declared, beaming, and Rei's blush strengthened. Mai hummed.

"Is that so? I used to be good at math in school. Better than Azula…"

"I still got top grades…" the Princess responded, raising an eyebrow. Mai eyed her nonchalantly.

"After doing ten times as many exercises as I did, usually."

"Mainly because you didn't do any, whatsoever: you somehow understood all the concepts by sheer instinct," Azula retorted, and Mai only offered her a smug smirk.

"At any rate… it's quite an unexpected choice on your part to adopt a girl, but I'm assuming you know what you're doing," Mai said, glancing at Rei again. "Welcome to the madness, I suppose, though you've probably been involved in it for a long time as it is. Anyway, if you want any embarrassing stories about your mother, I'm always available to share…"

"Oh, I've told her plenty of those, you needn't worry…" Azula said, shaking her head.

"Really? Even about your mochi thievery, have you?" Mai asked, amused. Rei giggled and nodded.

"She warned me not to offer her mochi if the kitchens ever made any… but I still did, when they did," Rei said. Mai sighed.

"My condolences, I'm sure you didn't get to taste even one…"

"Oh, come on, I'm not a complete asshole, I let them have one piece each…" Azula said, waving a hand dismissively at Mai's words, and laughter rang in the garden at her shameless, ineffective defense.

Mai never imagined she would feel such profound relief over anything related to Azula. Usually, the emotions Azula elicited in her would be amusement, back when she was flustered over foolish reasons, or frustration whenever she was too stubborn. On occasion, she even felt a pang of envy at her friend's apparent high energy, at her determination and willingness to make the most of her life without fear of failure. Then, if she feared Azula was biting off more than she could chew, she'd feel a smidge of protectiveness she expected the Princess would either mock her for or take offense over… as of late, Mai had simply been furious with the world on her behalf. She had been anguished, mortified, desperate for any signs that one of her oldest friends would be alright… and today she had finally confirmed that she was. She didn't understand why or how just yet, but the familiarity and comfort that she sensed between her three guests suggested Azula's new company had a lot to do with that newfound peace that she appeared to radiate now. Yet Mai knew, however, that she was still grappling with heartbreak she might never overcome for as long as she might live…

"And… you're the midwife assigned to Azula, then?" Mai asked, glancing at the midwife next. Azula raised an eyebrow, smirking at Mai after exchanging a knowing glance with her health advisor.

"She is… though I think you might not need thorough introductions with her, Mai," Azula said. Mai frowned slightly. "Your servants are out of earshot?"

Mai raised an eyebrow, listening in on the noise of the kitchen. Yuudai's muffled voice accompanied those of two women, which meant they were still working at preparing lunch, as well as at setting up the snack she had requested. The fact that Mai didn't even question Azula's suspicions or caution didn't escape Rei's notice: was this the way the highborn always lived their lives, constantly bracing themselves for spies everywhere…?

"They're not bound to hear anything we say, but keep it down anyway," Mai suggested, glancing at Azula. "That spy of your father's you say you can sense…?"

"He's still where he was, so he won't be likely to overhear anything," Azula confirmed. Mai nodded.

"You say I don't need introductions, then? So… I do know her, after all?"

"You felt like you did, did you?" Azula smirked. Mai sighed, glancing at the midwife again. Wen grinned innocently, but that didn't help Mai place her anyway.

"I suppose I do, but… I can't remember ever meeting any Wens, and my midwife wasn't so young either. I don't think I knew any other midwives, so…"

"Well, you could say my experience in the medical field is a little broader than that…" the midwife in question said, with a weak grin… but she sighed and shook her head before long. "Alright, I guess I'll just try to make it easier. Give me a second…"

She undid her half-knot, gathering all her hair into a ponytail, but she tied it loosely. Only her bangs dangled over her forehead, and she blew them into the proper position with a careless huff of air. Mai's eyes scrutinized her with confusion… as well as with a smidge of recognition, she thought.

"Should be a braid rather than a ponytail, but it'll do. Though, if that's not enough… imagine me wearing a hanbok, instead?" she suggested, with an awkward grin.

Those words did it: Mai gasped, eyes widening again as she clasped Azula's arm tightly. The Princess chuckled at the reaction, and Song grinned guiltily before returning to her newer hairstyle once more.

"How…? H-how did…?" Mai gasped, staring at her in disbelief. "Song?"

"Rui Shi's doing," Azula said, with an earnest smile. "It was probably a stroke of luck that he would choose to send her to safety with Lo and Li, in Ember Island, of all places."

"I was there for a short time… got my new life as Wen sorted out while I was there," Song said, with a weak grin as she continued to fix her hair carefully. "Once the pregnancy was confirmed, the Palace sent for Lo and Li and they said they wouldn't be in optimal conditions to offer Azula any assistance. So… they sent me, instead."

"And… no one noticed it's you," Mai said, matter-of-factly. "I… I mean, I felt like I'd seen you before, but I couldn't seem to place you. Your makeover certainly was effective…"

"I guess it was," Song said, with a careless shrug. "Though being chatty and annoying also helps steer people away from my actual identity…"

"Heh. Definitely not qualities anyone who knew you would associate with you," Mai said, with a weak smile, as she glanced at Azula. "Then… you've had these two by your side for all this time?"

"Well, not all of it," Azula said, raising her eyebrows. "Rei first came around on my birthday… Song showed up a few weeks later. Since then, they've been burdened with putting up with me, my mood swings, my food cravings and all my weird symptoms…"

"It's no burden," Rei giggled, and Song smiled as she nodded in agreement.

"We are honored to serve, if anything," Song said, with a dramatic reverence that saw Azula snorting and laughing, shaking her head at the playful formality in her friend's tone.

There was no doubt to be had that the two women had been powerful healing influences for Azula, but Mai didn't have a chance to remark on that: a sudden clutter from the kitchen brought her to grimace, just as her three guests were startled by the noise of falling kitchenware…

"L-lady Mai!" Shuai's voice broke through the house, and Mai sighed, shaking her head.

"A predictable outcome and I did nothing to prevent it anyhow," she said, pushing herself up to her feet. "You'd think I'd have learned the first ten times…"

"I suppose even you can't be that strict with your son, can you?" Azula smiled. Mai huffed, pointing at her belly bump.

"You'd better brace yourself. You'll be no better once that one's born, mark my words," she said, a small smile on her face as she stepped towards the garden's doorway. "I'll be back in a bit, just give me a moment…"

"Go on," Azula said as Mai marched towards the kitchen, prepared to deal with whatever catastrophe her son had wrought upon the servants.

The Princess released a happy sigh once her friend was gone. Song offered her a weak grin, gesturing at her legs soon:

"Need any massages so far?" she asked. "It was a longer walk than usual…"

"I think sitting down is helping enough so far," Azula said. "No worries, Song. Though I guess we'll just keep calling you Wen while we're here…"

"Probably for the best," Song said, with a sad smile. "Though you did say that sketchy firebender you can, uh, resonate with isn't that close by, right?"

"He's not. I suppose I scare him, to a fault," Azula said, with a shrug. Song bit her lip.

"And you can't feel anyone else following us?" she asked. Azula shook her head.

"If there's anyone else, they're not firebenders. But frankly… I can't imagine my father would feel the need to send anyone to tail us other than him," Azula said.

"I would ask why you're so sure, but I guess you're better off explaining later?" Song asked. Azula nodded. "But that's not the only thing we need to be braced for, right? Do you really think the Fire Lord could reach Mai's servants?"

"Who knows? He certainly tried to ensnare Mai herself, nothing would really stop him from doing it to her servants too," Azula said, staring out the ajar door Mai had left in her wake. "If he grew to suspect Mai isn't being forthright with him, or fully honest… well, he'd surely move against her family, her servants, anyone else she might feel responsible for, and not only would he draw information from them, but he'd likely punish her through them. Same as he did with me."

"I guess so…" Song said, biting her lip. The ruckus in the kitchen could be heard from where they sat, though Mai's voice appeared to remain level, as it usually did. "She seems to be okay, though."

"Yeah… I did fear my father might have done something to her across these months," Azula acknowledged, letting out a relieved sigh. "But she's still herself. She's still alright, from the looks of it. Though I'll try to talk to her more thoroughly about everything next…"

Azula's words trailed off when strong footsteps marched down the corridor once more: mere moments later, Mai appeared by the room's threshold, carrying a child in her arms… a child covered in white powder, from head to toe.

"As you can see…" Mai said, raising her eyebrows as Yuudai smiled guiltily. "I'll need a longer moment than intended."

"Oh, now, is it snowing in your kitchen?" Azula smirked. Yuudai giggled at her question.

"Indeed, and Yuudai thought jumping headfirst into a pile of it was a grand idea," Mai said, sarcasm coating her every word. Yuudai giggled again before sucking one of his fingers clean. "Ugh, don't eat unbaked flour, Yuudai, for crying out loud…"

She marched off without another word, her son carelessly chipper about the mischief he'd been up to. The three guests in the garden only laughed softly in their wake, though their amusement receded quickly as Song focused on their previous conversation subject once more.

"I'm guessing she'll keep him with us now?" Song said, biting her lip. "Want me and Rei to distract Yuudai while you talk with Mai about, well, everything?"

"It would certainly help if you could do so," Azula said, nodding as her gaze flickered between the two women – Rei bit her lip and nodded promptly.

"I'll do my best," she said, with innocent determination.

"Consider it done," Song grinned. Azula smiled warmly.

"Thanks, both of you," she said.

They had to wait about twenty more minutes before Mai and Yuudai returned, the boy in a fully different outfit, his hair wet. The servants arrived with the steaming teacups and an assortment of cookies too, so the garden was quite hectic for a moment. The little boy beamed brightly when the servants handed him a small bowl with plenty of cookies his mother advised him to eat slowly.

"You're only eating as many as there are in your bowl right now, so pace yourself," Mai told him sternly once her servants returned to the kitchen. Yuudai nodded before clasping three cookies at once and cramming them into his mouth. Mai let out a sigh and rolled her eyes while Azula smiled beside her.

"I fear he may be your undoing, at this rate," Azula said. "He's far too powerful even for the likes of you, Mai."

"Tell me about it," Mai sighed, shaking her head as Yuudai ate happily, without a care in the world. "I know I ought to make sure he won't go overboard, or else he won't be hungry for lunch… but frankly, he eats as he pleases. I doubt it'll be a problem."

"It's not like this happens often anyway," Azula said, with a sad smile. "Though… I hope it will happen at least once more in the future, if nothing else."

"Ty Lee will lose her mind when she finds out you were here," Mai said, offering Azula a sympathetic smile. "I'm not sure which of us was more worried about you at this point, Azula."

"I wish I hadn't given you cause for concern," Azula sighed, bringing the teacup to her lips. "But perhaps I can see Ty Lee the next time I come to see you?"

"That… that'd be a good idea. Though be careful, she's bound to hug you even more tightly than I did," Mai said. Azula bit her lip.

"Then I'll try to arrive first and go to the bathroom before she shows up… many things about pregnancy are ridiculously inconvenient," Azula sighed, glancing at Mai in helplessness. "I have no idea how you managed to make it look easy, even…"

"Heh. My deception skills are far superior to yours and always have been, Azula," Mai said, proudly. Azula smiled and nodded in acknowledgement of Mai's apparent superiority.

"Of course they are."

Yuudai had already eaten half his bowl of cookies. Mai grimaced, wondering if she ought to intervene and distract the boy somehow… but someone else beat her to it.

"Your name is Yuudai, right?" Rei said, smiling amicably at the boy. He glanced at her somewhat shyly before nodding, bringing another cookie to his mouth. Rei bit her lip, a streak of guilty amusement crossing her face. "You know… I had a few accidents in the kitchen too, back in the day."

"You did?" Yuudai said, blinking blankly. "But you're a grown-up!"

"Oh, I'm not one just yet…" Rei laughed softly. The idea that someone so much older than himself would still be a legal child didn't register with Yuudai in the least, and he simply stared at Rei in utmost perplexity. "Even grown-ups have accidents in the kitchen sometimes, though. You have to be really careful, or… or you'll do things like what I did. I forgot about the beans I was baking one time, and… well, it looked like I was cooking coal when I finally returned to the kitchen. It takes a long time for beans to be ready…"

"It takes less time if you hydrate them through the night…" Song said, with a weak grin. Rei winced, glancing at her in surprise.

"It… does?" she asked. Song chuckled and nodded. "I…! I had no idea!"

"Oh, it's quite alright, they can be eaten in other ways too…" Song said, patting Rei's shoulder as she glanced at Yuudai helplessly.

"See? I'm still learning how to cook, even if I'll be a grown-up soon," she said. Yuudai giggled at her words.

"You're learning many things beyond that, too," Song smiled. "Like how to use an abacus well beyond my area of expertise, to be honest. Do you know how to use an abacus, Yuudai?"

"Dad has one!" Yuudai exclaimed, somewhat jumping from his seat in excitement. Song smiled fondly at the boy.

"Does he? Has he taught you how to use it?" Rei asked, smiling brightly. Yuudai bit his lip before shaking his head once, quickly.

"He says it's not a toy…" he said. Rei hummed.

"Well, it's not… but if you use it for its intended purpose, I'm sure your dad will be very proud of you," Rei said, smiling weakly. "Do you know how to count, Yuudai?"

"I do! I can count to… t-to fifty!"

"Ah! That's very good, then," Rei said, encouragingly. Yuudai grinned eagerly. "I learned how to count when I was little too, but I only learned how to count with an abacus when… when my mom taught me how."

Azula's easygoing smile gained an unexpected emotion as Rei spoke those words with genuine pride. Mai didn't miss out on the tears that blinked in her eyes, even if Azula was quick to wipe them off while failing to restrain her feelings upon hearing anyone using that word to refer to her.

"She meant you?" Mai asked her, softly. Azula offered Mai a weak smile and a nod.

"I'm afraid so. I should be used to it, shouldn't I? I'm… I'm mom now, huh?" Azula said, gritting her teeth before taking a deep breath to ease herself.

"You're as bad at handling your emotions as ever, aren't you?" Mai said, with a slight smirk. Azula huffed, her teasing effectively succeeding at calming her friend.

"Because you're much better at it than I am, aren't you?" Azula asked. Mai's smile gained strength. "You've bottled up everything since we were kids, Mai…"

"Takes one to know one. We're all too similar when it comes to that," Mai admitted, letting out a deep breath before gesturing at Azula's left shoulder. "How's the wound? Did you heal from it properly yet, or…?"

"I'm a lot better. Wen's been rather helpful," Azula said, raising her eyebrows upon mentioning Song's false identity. Mai nodded subtly in acknowledgement, needing no more information to understand what Azula wanted to convey. "My bending's improved slightly… there's a blue spark in it at times, but I haven't made much use of it anyway. So… yeah. I've recovered quite a bit."

"Looks like it. It's… good, though a little odd," Mai said, frowning slightly. "I understand having these two with you must have cheered you up, but… the last I knew, you were marching right back into hell, knowingly. Your dragon…"

"He's in better conditions… though still imprisoned," Azula said. Mai hummed.

"Well… if that's so, that explains one source of improvement, at least," Mai said, nodding. "Not under threat of death anymore?"

"Not constantly, not unless he happens to lie down under that damn blade, but I don't think he'll be doing that anytime soon," Azula said. "He has a new shackle system that doesn't keep him bound to the ground so forcefully… obviously, I'd prefer it if he were free, but a smidge of improvement is better than nothing.

"Good, but… I have to say, I'm a little confused over how you achieved that. Is your father… easing up on you?" Mai asked. "Is that why you've come here today? Do you think he's finally had enough of punishing you, and it was finally safe to come see me? Or…?"

"Or… did I have a deeper purpose in mind when I came here?" Azula finished for her: Mai's eyes narrowed.

"Heh. Predictable," she said, though she smiled slightly. "Well, I'll worry even less now if you're scheming like this already. You've definitely made a miracle recovery…"

"You could say so," Azula said, with a weak smile.

"Then he'll still expect me to report back on whatever happened when you came here?" Mai asked. Azula sighed and nodded.

"I'm afraid so. But that's… actually what I was hoping for?"

Mai's brow drew into a scowl, and Azula smiled guiltily at her. Mai, of course, remained unamused.

"Explain yourself."

"Look… if I could've asked if you were willing to help me with this, I would have done it beforehand," Azula said, pleadingly. "But the truth is… things had calmed down. My father had… well, eased up, yes, to a degree. He let me partake in Memorial Day, he agreed to my request to change the restraints on Xin Long, he didn't put up any protests when Zhao decided to move out of my room…"

"He… what?" Mai said. Azula grimaced.

"He and I have been clashing in just about every awful way you could imagine," Azula said, shaking her head. "His treatment of Rei has left much to be desired, but… I'm pretty sure he suspects the truth already."

"About…?" Mai said, frowning. Her gaze fell upon Azula's womb, and she frowned heavily. "You couldn't deceive him properly? Was he more conscious than you expected or…?"

The darkness that crossed Azula's face starkly reminded Mai of her friend's state upon her last visit. She stopped talking immediately… she froze on the spot, understanding Azula's silence all too well. She gritted her teeth, clasping Azula's hand gently.

"I'm sorry. I… just go on. Don't explain that," she said. Azula swallowed hard, grateful for Mai's quick, sharp mind. She certainly didn't want to talk about that gruesome night, to anyone.

"I… well, he's been making himself scarce more than anything, avoiding me, or us, I should say… he's only a problem whenever he's around, of course," Azula said, earnestly. "He's mostly just frequenting brothels or taverns, apparently, so…"

"Brothels?" Mai repeated, with notorious disgust. Azula shrugged.

"Honestly… I can't say I give a shit," she said. "All the better if he doesn't have any such expectations from me."

"I… I suppose, but… damn it, Azula," Mai said, shaking her head as she brought a hand to her forehead. Azula smiled sadly at her friend.

"Like I said, he's moved out of my room, so I see even less of him than I did before. It's much better this way, so…" Azula said, glancing over at the garden carelessly. Rei and Song were still chatting with Yuudai: Azula expected their playful conversation dwarfed all sounds from her own with Mai, ensuring that no one would have a chance to overhear them at all. "At any rate, everything seemed to be calming down… until that wasn't the case anymore."

"And why's that?" Mai asked. Azula smiled sarcastically at her friend.

"I wish I knew," she said. Mai's brow furrowed. "Ultimately… that's what I want to understand. My father… the last time we crossed paths he glared at me as though I were a walking bomb, ready to set the Palace on fire just as the Grand Royal Dome burned back when it did. I'm no longer informed of anything going on anywhere beyond the confines of my bedroom, so I have no idea why we're backtracking yet again. I don't think I did anything that could have displeased him to this extent, but I refuse to ask him directly: he'll deem me unworthy of any kind of knowledge, he might take it as an impertinence, as further betrayal, so…"

"So, you… you want me to find out for you?" Mai asked, with a dry grin of her own. "You want me to spy on the one who asked me to spy on you, in the first place."

"Well… I don't have any wild expectations," Azula said, eyeing her remorsefully. "If you can't find out anything, well, it can't be helped. But if you could even get a smidge of information out of my father…"

"What kind of information do you even expect I could obtain?" Mai said, scowling.

"What kind of information would he expect you to obtain from me?" Azula asked. Mai shrugged.

"Anything to suggest you're being treasonous," she said. "Such as asking his spy to spy on him, instead…"

"Well, clearly you're not going to tell him about that, are you?" Azula asked, with a dry grin. Mai raised an eyebrow slowly and Azula sighed. "You wouldn't be that crazy…"

"I wouldn't be. You're lucky for that," Mai said, curtly. "So… you're baiting him by coming to see me. If you're the source of his displeasure somehow, he'll expect you're plotting something related to whatever changed his behavior recently, whatever he's hiding from you… is that what you're thinking?"

"I suppose so," Azula said, nodding.

"Do you have any ideas on what could have set off his wrath again?" Mai asked. Azula shook her head.

"Nothing set in stone," Azula said. "Though… I have one particular fear, of course."

"Sokka?" Mai asked, softly. Azula's nostalgic expression strengthened upon hearing his name.

"Though… in a rather twisted way, I suppose," Azula said. Mai raised an eyebrow conveyed she ought to continue talking, so the Princess did as much. "This will be difficult to explain. But anyway… Zhao told me once, in the middle of one of our big arguments, that he had helped my father send troops to… to the South Pole."

"Fuck," Mai scowled, staring at Azula fearfully. Azula breathed deeply and nodded.

"I went to my father like a fool, begged for mercy he obviously wasn't about to grant them… but I didn't care. I was ready to do anything I had to do in order to… to keep him safe. But instead of accepting my subservience, instead of complying with my request, my father just revealed to me that Sokka was…"

She couldn't even bring herself up to say the word. Even attempting to speak it choked her up, and she shook her head before offering Mai a tight, desperate and dishonest grin.

"Evidently, I… I lost my mind. I was… I don't really want to say this, but… I felt ready to die. Anything so… so I could be with him again." Azula said. Mai's horror increased with each new word Azula spoke. "And… against my expectations, I succeeded."

"At… dying?" Mai asked, raising her eyebrows in utmost confusion: she felt her body growing colder upon hearing Azula's utterly nonsensical words. She wasn't dead, that much was blatantly obvious, she was sitting right beside her…

"At seeing him again," Azula said, smiling weakly at Mai. Her friend's confusion only worsened at that. "I… I suppose Ty Lee would be stoked, and she'd be much more willing to believe me than you'll be, but… I had a strange dream. At least, I suppose it was some manner of dream, but… I found him in it. He called for me, and… and even though that sounds like nothing but absolute delirium, like the dead coming back to haunt the living, I actually knew, at once, that he was still alive. It was… it was him, Mai. It was his spirit, his soul, and I knew he was still alive. He told me then that… that he'd forged a message to mislead my father. The ships did attack… but him and those with him succeeded at protecting the Water Tribe. So…"

"You… you're serious, Azula?" Mai asked, raising her eyebrows. "You'd sooner believe this dream, a totally arbitrary vision that may just have been the product of your grief… than believe your father's information?"

"Yes. It sounds stupid, but… yes," Azula said, with a sad smile. "I suppose I finally understand the meaning of the word faith. I have no solid evidence that he's alive… all I have are feelings, sensations that don't belong to me. Feelings that, he told me, came from the bond between us. He felt my anguish when I heard of his alleged death, he was desperate to reach me and… I have no idea, Mai, not really, of how the hell we managed to communicate at all. But I know him… I know him better than I know myself. It was no mirage. It was…"

"Okay. Okay, I'm going to pretend I… I believe this. Though, just so you know, I'm going to ridicule you and Ty Lee over your visions and auras forevermore, once things get better," Mai said, with a deep sigh. Azula smiled sadly at her. "What do you want me to do about any of this? Confirm that he gave you false information, or…?"

"He genuinely believed what he'd told me, back then. So… I guess I want you to unravel if maybe he discovered recently that the information he received about the South Pole is false, rather," Azula said, earnestly. Mai frowned. "It's… it's a lot to ask, I know. He might give away nothing, and I wouldn't be particularly upset with you if that were the case. But…"

"You think that's what's made him act strangely?" Mai asked, folding her arms over her chest. "He's started to suspect Sokka's still alive, somehow?"

"Maybe the battle in the south took a turn for the worse. There's a chance he learned Sokka is still leading the warriors in destroying his fleet, I don't know," Azula said, shaking her head. "To be honest, I have no idea what he's up to. From what he told me in that vision, he… he continues to fight for me. He says he'll… he'll come back for me one day. I'm not sure whether I want him to or not, but…"

"You're not?" Mai asked. Azula shrugged.

"I've been… well, quite disappointing as of late," Azula said. "Weak, helpless, standing aside while my father destroys everything in his reach because of his slighted pride… I'm afraid Sokka will be let down over what he'll find if he returns to me in any capacity. But either way, I… I'm sure he can't do that anyway. He doesn't have the means. I've turned it over in my head a thousand times and… he can't do much about his circumstances right now, not without risking the safety of his tribe. So… I want to trust that he won't do anything too stupid. But even so, I… I don't know if my father gained any reason to suspect him of having survived when he meant to have him murdered. So, unfortunately…"

"Unfortunately, you've come to me for aid," Mai concluded. Azula sighed. "Yes, I heard you, you won't pressure me to find answers, but you want me to look for them anyway. I won't pretend I feel comfortable with this, but… you effectively have left me with no choice, haven't you?"

"Not true. You could just say 'fuck you' and refuse to do any spying for me, and then hopefully not tell my father that I wanted you to spy on him, too…" Azula said, her voice decreasing in volume further and further with each word she spoke.

Mai smiled slightly, shaking her head as Azula shrank in place, toying with a strand of her bangs. That Azula would give her a chance to get out of a complicated situation where she needed her help was rare, and sadly, just another sign of how badly burned her spirit still was. Long ago, she would have stopped at nothing to persuade Mai that she had to do this. A few years ago, she likely would have acknowledged the difficulty in the task but impressed upon her that Mai, and Mai alone, had the skills and talent to do this. Today, however, she gave her an out openly, even if one she wasn't exactly pleased to offer her. Today, she knew Mai would be safer if she didn't do anything that came close to defying or deceiving Ozai, and she wouldn't have blamed her friend at all for taking the safest course of action.

"What's your reasoning for your visit today?" Mai asked. Azula raised an eyebrow. "As in, your official reasoning. What story am I supposed to feed your father when he calls me in for a report?"

"I've thought it could be simply that…" Azula said, biting her lip. "That the baby moved recently. It's not a lie, it hadn't done that at all, and I was starting to worry. Let's say I'd been pondering visiting you for a while to ask if Yuudai had been any better, but then the baby moved and the idea of visiting you was still in my head anyhow. I wanted you to meet Rei, too… not a false excuse, really, I did want that…"

"Then… that's what I'll tell him?" Mai asked. Azula sighed.

"Not enough?" she asked. Mai shrugged.

"I don't want to say anything to the effect that you're snooping around his business, of course," Mai said. "But he may expect something bigger from you if he truly suspects you're up to no good on any level. We'll have to think of something bigger to work with."

"How much bigger?" Azula asked, glancing at Mai nonchalantly. "I don't intend for us to reveal openly that I already think you're spying for him…"

"Evidently not," Mai sighed, shaking her head. "Though it would be rather amusing for us to stage some dramatic argument if we come across each other in the Palace, right after I informed your father of your actions…"

"But that would render you useless in his eyes, and I think you're only safe from his worst because he believes you can be useful," Azula said. Mai sighed and nodded.

"And my usefulness is also what has kept Ty Lee safe so far," Mai said. "Either way, we have plenty to worry about as it is. Best not ponder things that might not happen at all. Do you have any other secretive ventures that are ultimately harmless? Anything else you have been up to…?"

"Educating Rei?" Azula said, raising her eyebrows. "To be honest, you could be a helpful addition to the ranks of her teachers… obviously, only if you care to be. Admittedly, my memories of most the subjects she's passionate about are more than a little hazy. You might be able to help her with more sophisticated stuff than what I can remember…"

"I might be," Mai said, glancing at Rei with a raised eyebrow: the young woman appeared to have befriended Yuudai quickly, and they were playing a guessing game of some sort with Song, beaming brightly as they did. "It's another reasonable idea, admittedly. Still not treacherous enough for your father's tastes, probably…"

"Just how treacherous do you want me to be?" Azula grimaced. "I don't want to put anyone at risk. I mean… sure, you could go on and tell him I had a vision of Sokka where he revealed he was alive, but even you don't believe me, so…"

"I don't, but he might," Mai said, simply. Azula frowned. "He might actually think you're in communication with him through solid means, simply because he's paranoid and terrified of… of the two of you together, I suppose."

"Not sure if terrified is the word I'd use…" Azula said, resting her forearms on her belly bump as she crossed her arms.

"Well, I can't think of a better one if he's freaking out about anything and suspecting you of foul play somehow," Mai said, running a hand over her hair. "What else have you been up to? Just teaching Rei?"

"And being pregnant," Azula said, with a careless sigh. "There's a few more things but I'm not sure it's a good idea to share that."

"Huh. So you really are up to something treasonous, of course you are…" Mai smirked. Azula smiled sadly.

"He'd definitely see it that way. And he'd set it all on fire if he finds out about it, so… I'd rather avoid that," Azula said, with a shrug. "Suffice to say, it's something entirely harmless but he'll definitely think otherwise because he's irrational. So… yeah. That's not going to happen."

"Alright, then. New friends you've made beyond these two? Or, uh, this one, technically, as Wen is… who she is," Mai said, with a shrug. "Evidently, I'm not to say a word about her true identity, right…?"

"Evidently," Azula confirmed, staring at Mai pointedly. Her friend nodded. "She's Lo and Li's niece, she studied in Ember Island's Sanatorium, and that's that."

"Alright. That's that," Mai said, nodding. "Any other new pursuits? No other friends indeed? You seem a lot more comfortable with that guard…"

"Ah, Renkai? He's… not as untrustworthy as I feared," Azula said, swallowing hard. "But that as well isn't something I ought to explain to my father. Renkai's… up to something of his own. I'm not sure he's made any progress with it, but it's something that will sit badly with a member of my father's closest circle, so…"

"Another idea that takes us nowhere," Mai sighed. Azula grimaced.

"There's… the guzheng?" she said. Mai frowned. "I've taken it up again. Governor Tiang brought me Lu Ten's old guzheng as a wedding gift. It's the only gift I've cared to make use of, I don't know if Zhao's done anything with the rest, but I couldn't care less, so…"

"I see," Mai said, eyeing Azula warily. "Was there anything in the guzheng? A hidden note of support or anything of the sort?"

"No, of course not," Azula said, shaking her head. "I've picked it up again so I could perform for Xin Long. It's not anything too noteworthy, but… strangely, the new guards I've been assigned seemed to enjoy my performance? I don't trust them anyway, but they were helpful when I performed the Memorial Day ritual by the lake after that. One even offered me a knife to carve the candles, so…"

"You were seen there, yeah," Mai said, breathing out slowly. "Ty Lee mentioned as much. You were gone from the public eye for months, and no one expected it to be any different that week after you weren't seen on the Parade…"

"I didn't really want it to be too different, personally," Azula admitted. "I don't feel like… like I'm the person everyone believed me to be anymore. But as the crowds at the temple went utterly mad over wanting to see me, I… I set aside my misgivings, if just for that moment. I did something treacherous on that day too, something my father didn't understand…"

"Did you?" Mai raised an eyebrow.

"I gave them a thumbs up," Azula said, making the gesture again and smiling as she did. Mai blinked blankly.

"I… seem to recall Ty Lee explained that's something connected to Sokka?" Mai said. Azula nodded. "Huh. That's very treacherous indeed, then…"

"I'm afraid so," Azula sighed, glancing at her nonchalantly. "So, yet again…"

"I can't say that," Mai sighed. "Do you think he understands what it means?"

"No idea, but he would have the means to find out if he ever learns of what I did," Azula said, with a shrug. "As for anything else… I don't really want to bring more attention to my connection with the Head Sage, so that's probably a bad idea, too."

"The more things are off the table, the more you convince me that you're up to far more treacherous things than you want to acknowledge," Mai said, with a weak smile. Azula sighed dramatically. "And the most treacherous of them all is the one for which there's no evidence whatsoever, of course. You really love making my job difficult, don't you?"

"Complicating everyone's lives is a special skill of mine… though complicating mine further yet, of course, is my true specialty," Azula said, glancing at Mai hopelessly. "I trust you to know what sorts of things to say and which ones to keep to yourself. You were smart enough to get through his questioning back in the day without much preparation, if you had any at all. Though… he questioned you after I came here, didn't he? The last time I visited you…"

"He did," Mai confirmed, with a sigh. "And nothing really came from it, I think. I told him what we agreed would be reasonable to say within the circumstances, whatever he was likely to suspect… and I suppose that's really the problem here, isn't it? We don't know what he's suspecting you of this time. Treason? Sure, but he's probably always suspecting you of that, so…"

"I certainly haven't been able to communicate with anyone properly for the past months," Azula said. "I mean, I'm aware that there's groups of people who wished to support me…"

"I'm aware of that too, and clearly I'm not going to sell them out," Mai said. Azula smiled gratefully.

"But I haven't been in direct contact with them, anyway. I know I never seem innocent in anyone's eyes, but…"

"Well, let's see," Mai said, frowning. "Maybe I ought to tell him you've noticed he's displeased. He would likely wonder why you're being more adventurous… maybe that's what I can answer for him with whatever lies you want me to feed him."

"I'm not sure a lie would suffice there," Azula said, frowning. Mai shrugged.

"The truth is simply that you're unsettled by how he's been acting, just when you thought everything was calmer. Right?"

"Right," Azula nodded.

"That's not so unflattering, is it? I can certainly argue that you're not up to anything nefarious because, as long as I put it that way, it wouldn't even be a lie. But for something stronger than this… how about something related to Zhao?"

"Oh?" Azula raised her eyebrows. Mai shrugged.

"Throwing him under the bus isn't going to ruffle your feathers, is it?"

"Well… personally, no. I'd rather not cause him more trouble than necessary for Rei's sake, but I can't pretend I care for him in any regards, especially as of late," Azula acknowledged. "What do you have in mind?"

"What kind of arguments have you had? I could, potentially, argue for your unhappiness in your marriage?" Mai said. Azula hummed. "That you were trying to get away from…?"

"That's not bound to work," Azula admitted, with a weak smile. "Like I said, he's certainly tried to get away from me even more than I've tried with him, so clearly that wouldn't be much of an argument to be made…"

"Then… what kind of conflicts did you have before?" Mai said, staring at Azula intently. "Did he say anything hurtful? Anything stupid?"

"Many times, yes," Azula admitted. "But… huh. I think what's particularly bugged me is Zhao's conviction that I'm somehow pitting him and my father against each other. It's honestly laughable to me that he'd think I have the power to do something like that… but I guess that's just a sign of how powerful I used to be, huh? I still scare men over twice my age just by being… me."

"Sounds about right coming from you," Mai said, and Azula let out a soft chuckle. "Then Zhao expects you to be up to no good, and you believe he's pathetic for it. Is that, more or less, it?"

"He's also accused me of using people… of taking advantage of Rei, basically, by pretending to protect her when I'm only using her. Probably using her to make him mad, as far as he's concerned," Azula said. "I guess one of the things he was most proud of was… was comparing me to my mother, actually."

"Uh… that's not wise," Mai said, frowning. Azula chuckled.

"That's one thing you certainly can tell my father. He might just burn Zhao to a crisp for offending his respectable wife so horribly by pretending she and I could ever have anything in common," Azula said. "Though that, as well, sounds like I'm pitting them against each other, doesn't it? Maybe I really am, after all…"

"Maybe," Mai smiled slightly. "Then… what, exactly, made him compare you to her?"

"That I'd try to protect the weak and downtrodden, basically," Azula said, rolling her eyes. "As if I'd only started doing that in recent times. Bad habits die hard, and a certain someone definitely got me to start this one… but if one thing particularly incensed me, it was his way of outright declaring his daughter was lesser than him. He pretended he meant it simply because he's Crown Prince… but that's not the only thing he was trying to say, and it showed. He's no better than my own father… both treating their daughters like commodities they can do without if we displease them. It's no wonder they're best friends, huh?"

"Not at all," Mai said, breathing deeply. "This seems better, though. I can certainly make the case that you're looking for further support in raising Rei without his help, even if she's almost an adult now…"

"Even if she is, I'm hoping to help her be as prepared as possible for a future where she can be independent eventually," Azula said. "She's not there yet, she doesn't want to be there either, but I really want to ensure she learns how to spread her wings. It's easier said than done, though…"

"Of course it is," Mai sighed. "I have no idea what her story is… but what you've said about Zhao so far doesn't suggest her origins are flattering in any way."

"They're not. It's why he refuses to acknowledge her as his own," Azula said, with a sad smile. "It feels like daughters abandoned or mistreated by their fathers somehow end up flocking together…"

Mai frowned at Azula's words: she hadn't quite been abandoned or mistreated… but her father's letter came back to mind, nonetheless. The Princess's gaze seemed to drift off, but Mai's scowl strengthened.

"There's… something that might have no connection with any of what's going on. With any of what worries you," Mai said. Azula glanced at her, raising an eyebrow. "But… I received a strange letter from my father a few days ago."

"Your father?" Azula repeated, puzzled. Mai nodded slowly. "Odd. Doesn't he usually only write on your birthdays or so?"

"Indeed," Mai confirmed. "Something about the letter felt off even if I can't place what it is. I can show it to you after lunch if you want to see it, I don't know if it could have any relation with what's bothering you, but…"

"It would be odd, I guess. I have nothing to do with your father as it is," Azula said, raising an eyebrow. "If he were having trouble with any governors, it would be easier to imagine him being upset at me if it were related to the ones I was friendlier with, like Tiang, or the ones I actively despised, like Kuan. But your father? I only visited Omashu twice in my life as it is…"

"Well, I don't know. With a father like yours, one would expect him to blame you for just about anything going wrong in his rule nowadays, whether he has basis for it or not," Mai said, with a sigh.

"What's so strange about the letter's contents, though? Did he say anything about the city, or…?"

"That's exactly what's strange: he didn't," Mai said. Azula frowned. "He kept talking about… me, which is very odd. It didn't even feel like a guilt trip, he said things like that he wanted Tom-Tom and Yuudai to meet, and he didn't even make it sound like it's my fault that they haven't… he was alarmingly nice throughout the whole message. It's… disturbing."

"To think we're alarmed by nice fathers rather than the opposite. What low standards we have…" Azula sighed, shaking her head.

"I don't know if I'm reading too much into it…"

"You're you, so you're not. When you think something's off, it's because it is, Mai," Azula said, firmly. Mai shrugged.

"I'd like to think so too. But I don't know… it's strange, all in all." Mai said. Azula frowned.

"When did that letter arrive?" she asked.

"About a week ago," Mai said. Azula folded her arms over her chest.

"My father's sudden spike in hostility towards me happened around that time, too. Then, just this morning he called Wen in for a report about my latest activities," Azula said. Mai frowned. "The timing lines up, there could be a connection between his mood and whatever's wrong with your father… but what do I have to do with it? I can't see any real connections there…"

"I'm afraid neither can I, but that doesn't mean much," Mai said, with a shrug. "Your father doesn't need an excuse to treat you like garbage. If anything, finding excuses for it is his concept of courtesy. He burned Zuko for a stupid reason, banished him for a stupid reason… he might just be mad at you for being friends with me, the daughter of a governor who may or may not have displeased him. Stupid, and yet enough for a fickle man to take as a serious reason to lash out at someone."

"I suppose you're right," Azula sighed. "I'm some sort of scapegoat for whatever's wrong in his life, at this point."

"I fear you are," Mai said. "Ultimately, though… my father's message feels off because there's something ominous about it and I can't understand what it is. He acknowledges his failings in raising me, he advised me to visit my aunt in case things get uglier in the Capital, he… he said something about protecting my mother and brother? I really don't know why he felt the need to say something to that effect. Protect them from what, in a city like that one?"

"Hell knows," Azula said, raising her eyebrows in utter perplexity.

"It feels weird," Mai said, shaking her head. "So… he might be in trouble with the Fire Lord. His letter doesn't give away anything incriminating that I could identify, but I don't know if your father might feel differently about it…"

"What do you mean by that?" Azula said, raising an eyebrow. Mai breathed deeply.

"I don't know what's the meaning of the letter. I really don't. But… if you're right to suspect my father's letter, and your father's shitty mood, have some sort of connection, maybe I can shift his attention away from you. If I bring the letter when he summons me for questioning…"

"You could give him what he wants," Azula reasoned, frowning. "At the cost of potentially endangering your father?"

"Would your father doubt my devotion if I'm willing to throw my family under the bus to save my hide?" Mai asked, matter-of-factly. Azula grimaced.

"And what if he's in actual trouble?" Azula asked. Mai shrugged.

"As it is… the damn letter reads like a goodbye," she said. Azula's eyes widened. "At one point he outright says something about how he wishes he could convey his feelings in person but that, if the opportunity never comes up, he wanted me to know about them through the letter, if nothing else. He even tells me not to feel obligated to answer, which makes me believe, quite strongly, that he just… doesn't want an answer at all."

"I… I'll have to take a look at it," Azula said, alarmed now. Mai shrugged. "Though, if you're wrong to…"

"If I were wrong, that'd mean your father would probably misunderstand the letter somehow, summon my father and question him about whatever's going on?" Mai said, with a shrug. "Well, it would be inconvenient, but he'd get to see me. He wouldn't have much reason to complain about our distance anymore…"

"Huh, so if he gets dragged here against his will, you'll just tell him he shouldn't complain, as this was what he was asking for in his letter?" Azula asked, with an awkward smile. "Mai… you're more twisted than I am."

"Why, thank you. You flatter me, really," Mai said, with a sharp smirk.

"You're sure about this?" Azula asked, pointedly. Mai breathed in and released the air slowly.

"No. I'm really not," she admitted. "I want to think he'll be able to make a run for it if he's in actual trouble and if I'm not misreading that letter's intent. But admittedly, if I'm wrong… it means he's in no trouble, there's no connection between your conflict with your father and my father, and I'll have stirred a pot for no real reason. It's risky… but it'll also enable me to help you by further establishing myself as some amoral asshole who'll sell out anyone to save myself. Which is what your father wants me to be."

"And you've always excelled at becoming whatever your figures of authority expect from you," Azula acknowledged. Mai offered her a sad smile, and Azula let out a deep sigh. "Well… alright, then. If this is how it is… then this is what you'll give him once he summons you. I hope your father will be alright."

"So do I. But I'll try to diminish your father's fury as much as I can," Mai said. "If I can convince the Fire Lord of how reliable I am, well… it'll help us all, ultimately."

"Hopefully," Azula said.

She reached out to clasp Mai's hand, squeezing it gently in a gesture of gratitude for her willingness to take such risks for her sake. Mai squeezed back only slightly.

"You'll have to come back, then," Mai said, eyeing Azula expectantly. Azula smiled and shrugged. "Six days. Do you think you can make it by then?"

"Huh. That's actually… an important day," Azula admitted, with a weak grin. "Which is odd, considering my terribly tight schedule is usually clear, but…"

"You actually have something to do then?" Mai asked, puzzled. "Well, damn. What are the odds? Is it something you can't do while here, or…?"

"Come to think of it…" Azula said, a slow smile spreading over her face. "Maybe I can, as long as you comply, that is. How would you feel about organizing a birthday party?"

"Oh?" Mai blinked blankly. Azula smiled, gesturing in Rei's direction lightly with her head.

"It wasn't a lie that she'll be of age soon. It's literally happening six days from today," she said. Mai smiled. "I'd thought it'd just be us in the Palace, but… if I can get permission to come here again, we could actually give Rei her very first birthday party ever. If it's not too much trouble to organize…?"

"Yeah, it's going to be so much harder than enduring your father's questioning and spying for him and for you, definitely," Mai said, mockingly. Azula chuckled softly.

"I mean, if you'd rather not, we could simply come by some other day. Why did you want us to return in exactly six days, though?"

"The weekly meetings. That's why," Mai said. Azula's heart clenched upon hearing those words.

"Fuck. I… heh. Ty Lee must be really pissed at me for missing so many…" Azula said, with a sad smile upon hearing words that were relics of a bygone era, in her eyes. Mai shook her head.

"Not pissed, just… depressed about not having any chances to see you, I suppose," Mai said. "As you apparently already know, she's always in touch with Shoji, but there's not much she can do as of late. The Gladiator League's gone, I suppose she's bored out of her mind in general…"

"Well, she ought to feel at least slightly better about life if you ask her to help you organize a birthday party for my daughter. It's right up her alley, isn't it?" Azula said, relaxing with her back against the wall. "It's depressing to think much about the defunct league, though. Especially because…"

"Don't blame yourself, or him, or… well, anything you did or didn't do, I don't know," Mai said, shaking her head. "Your father could have chosen any path but this one…"

"I know. I also knew he was likely to choose this one," Azula shook her head. "As much as I knew, I still… I wasn't careful enough. A lot of people got burned in various ways for it…"

"None as much as you," Mai said, shaking her head. "So don't dwell on it and just… look forward to coming back next week. Alright?"

"Alright, alright. If you insist," Azula said, with a gentle smile. Mai squeezed her hand once more.

The servants came by merely a couple of moments later: lunch was ready, so all the house's residents and guests gathered at the dining room to enjoy the meal – Renkai, outside, was given a plate as well, but he insisted on staying outside regardless. Rei was surprised to be assigned a seat of honor by her mother's side, unused to being treated as someone of high social standing. Her table manners were tense and nervous, as she wasn't used to being a welcome guest for anyone of high social standing, but she managed not to fumble anything important – not that it seemed the Princess's friend would have cared much if she had, busy keeping track of her son's feeding process, ensuring he didn't take bigger bites than he was ready to and that he ate all the food on his plate. Mai's diligent work to ensure Yuudai ate properly might have seemed slightly amusing to Azula ages ago, if worth noting at all… but nowadays, she was as good as making mental notes of every exchange she saw between Mai and her son. She had never expected to feel a soft spot for a child, and she couldn't remember truly feeling one for Yuudai before… but it seemed the reality of her own child's impending arrival, looming ever-closer, had changed things for her. While she had worked with Rei in regards of her education, offering her more stability than she ever had found in her life before, she couldn't make up for whatever shortcomings Rei's earlier childhood had featured… and she certainly had to do her best to ensure her child would be born and raised in the best of circumstances possible, so that it might grow to be as lively and healthy as Yuudai was.

Impulsively, she let herself imagine herself in Mai's position, helping a child eat, dressing them for the day, tidying their room, even reading them stories before bed… they were such mundane concepts, but her heart pounded painfully at that notion. She wanted to do that… if just to try it out, she wanted to. But in all likelihood, she would be unable to do so. She'd have to send the baby away, probably with Song and Rei so that it would be raised as far away from the Fire Nation's horrors as possible…

It was obvious. It should be obvious and yet… her hand fell upon her womb as she felt the need to cling to the child, the same need she had first experienced in this house, on the upper floor, when she had violently smashed that cup against the door. Even if she kept smiling, laughing at each playful comment Song made, or reassuring Rei that she was allowed to eat to her heart's content, she couldn't help but feel choked up as she let herself soak in the pointless, unrealizable hopes of raising her baby all the way until it was as old as Rei right now, if not longer yet…

It was weird to hope for such things, to even take to asking Mai for advice after lunch ended, regarding how to handle the initial stages of raising a child. Naturally, Mai and Azula seldom spoke about such things, for Azula had never shown the slightest interest in the subject, but she was better off learning as much as she could right now. Azula wouldn't have anticipated Mai would be fired up to speak about this… but she was pleasantly surprised to see her friend had far more advice, in many regards, than Azula had foreseen. The right moment to start the potty training, different ways to ensure the child slept soundly through the night after the first three-to-six months of chaos, how to prepare as far as clothing and shoes were concerned, the delicate hygiene of a baby and how to preserve it, the better way to hold a child, ensuring that their head would stay upright… there was no end of advice to be given, and yet both Azula and Mai knew that no amount of recommendations would suffice: if she truly had the chance to raise the child somehow, Azula would have to adapt to her baby and its needs little by little once it was born, just as Mai had done the same with Yuudai.

As promised, Mai showed Azula Ukano's letter too, and she couldn't help but agree with Mai about the strange, suspicious sensation the wording elicited in her friend. Still, there was nothing to be done about the message's contents right away so, by sundown Azula, Song and Rei readied themselves to take their leave, already exchanging farewells with their hosts. Yuudai seemed cross about their departure, clinging to Rei's leg, asking if she'd come back soon, a request Azula answered positively – she dispelled his moodiness right away upon doing so. Yet the front door opened before they could take their leave at all, and Ruon Jian's voice echoed through the house as he stepped through the foyer.

"Mai? Uh, there's a gentleman out here, and…"

"Daddy!" Yuudai squealed, finally relinquishing his hold on Rei's clothes to rush to the door.

"Ah, little man!" Ruon Jian laughed, though Mai could sense the lingering tension in his voice. "Where's your mother, Yuudai? There's someone right outside, I figure she's aware of that, but…"

The three guests stepped into the foyer then, accompanied by Mai. Ruon Jian's tense grin faded from his face instantly, his jaw dropping comically when his eyes found purchase on the pregnant woman standing right next to his wife.

"P-Princess?!" he squeaked, almost toppling over – his balance off since he had been leaning down to hug Yuudai after he entered the house.

Azula offered him a sympathetic smile before nodding in his direction. His jaw seemed to drop all over again… until emotion finally kicked in, and a blissful laugh left his lips.

"Princess! I…! Oh, but it's good to see you again!" he said, rising to his feet and stepping up to Azula, Yuudai tailing him intently, no doubt eager to steal his father's attention again. "Oh, goodness, I…! I can't hug you, can I? I shouldn't. I know it's inappropriate, but it's just…"

"Well, I'm not going to fry you if you try, I can vow that much," Azula smiled, glancing at Mai. "She's the one who needs to give you permission, I suppose."

Mai hummed, scrutinizing Ruon Jian with a raised eyebrow: her husband gazed at her pleadingly. He had never been particularly close with Azula, but her circumstances, so turbulent and terrifying, had mortified him just as they had mortified everyone else in the city…

"Fine, then. Do it quickly," Mai decided, closing her eyes in a grandiose display of magnanimity. Azula chuckled, shaking her head as Ruon Jian approached nervously…

But he wrapped his arms around her all the same, mindful of her prominent womb. He hugged her quickly, squeezing her in a rather unforeseen, brotherly and affectionate way… and then he pulled back, smiling nervously at Mai.

"There. All done. No need to get jealous…" he said, with a nervous giggle. Mai raised an eyebrow.

"Honestly? I wasn't jealous: I just like making you squirm," she confessed, and her stoic façade shifted into a devious smirk in plain sight for her horrified husband to see.

"Y-you… Mai! That's mean!" Ruon Jian squeaked: everyone laughed, even Mai, and naturally, Ruon Jian's own laughter joined everyone else as he clasped Azula's right shoulder carefully with a hand. "But frankly, Princess, I… I'm surprised you were here! I didn't think anyone had seen you for weeks…"

"Well, this is my first Palace outing since the Festivals, so you could certainly say so," Azula confirmed. Ruon Jian let out a sigh and he nodded quickly, withdrawing his hand once more.

"I see… and, ah, that explains the guard, too," he said, with a chuckle. "Goodness, I thought we were being watched or something, that the Fire Lord might have assigned someone to guard us…"

"He hasn't done that so far," Mai said, glancing at Azula, who nodded.

"But he might start taking measures of the sort if I stay here for much longer, so we should be off," Azula said, offering Ruon Jian a weak smile.

"W-well, however brief it was, it's good to see you… a-and it's also good to meet your, uh, handmaidens?" Ruon Jian guessed. Rei and Song grinned awkwardly.

"They're Azula's midwife and daughter, to be precise," Mai explained. Ruon Jian hummed in acknowledgement.

"Ah, I see, I… w-wait, daughter?!" Ruon Jian squeaked, glancing at Azula in utmost confusion. The Princess shook her head, smirking at Mai.

"I'll leave all explanations to you, if that's alright by you," she said. Her friend sighed and nodded.

"Best get going, yes," she said.

Rei and Song stepped outside first: Renkai bowed his head in acknowledgement at each of them, and then he stood in wait as Azula said her farewells to Mai, while Yuudai and Ruon Jian watched quietly.

"Be careful," Azula said, earnestly. Mai nodded. "You know how to navigate these waters, you have before… but be cautious anyway. Don't do anything that could represent a greater risk to you and yours…"

"I won't," Mai said, breathing deeply. "And you'd best be careful, too. Go straight home and make sure he doesn't think you're up to no good on any level, alright?"

"I will," Azula smiled sadly. Mai bit her lower lip. "Then… see you in six days?"

"We'll be waiting," Mai assured her. Azula's grin gained more strength. "And I'll make sure to let Ty Lee know you're okay before then. I'll also try to warn her not to go too wild when she hugs you…"

"Please do, though knowing her, she won't listen anyway," Azula chuckled. "Be well, Mai. And thanks for today."

"Thank you for putting me out of my misery at last," Mai said, smiling a little as well. "Ruon Jian and Yuudai will certainly thank you for it, too. Don't make me fear for your life again as much as I did over the past months, will you?"

"You, fearing for me?" Azula asked, raising her eyebrows playfully. "Come now, Mai, you can't say such things out loud or people will realize you do have a heart…"

"Speaking of experience, are we?" Mai asked. Azula chuckled, nodding in her direction.

"Maybe so," she acknowledged, raising a hand in farewell. "Goodbye, Mai. I'll see you next week."

Mai nodded, letting out a deep breath as Azula marched up to where her three companions awaited. The Princess wrapped an arm around her daughter's shoulders upon reaching her, and Rei was happy to lean into the embrace. Their voices could be heard as they marched away, but their words became impossible to discern as they progressed down the street. After taking a corner, they were gone from sight.

"That was definitely a surprise, huh?" Ruon Jian smiled, taking Mai's hand in his.

Mai let out a trembling sigh: she wasn't one to show herself vulnerable before anyone, not even her own husband, but her walls collapsed and crashed on that very moment. Tears bloomed in her eyes as she turned towards him, pressing her face to his shoulder. If Ruon Jian was surprised by her reaction, he certainly didn't show it as he wrapped his arms around her.

"She's doing better. She's… healing. They're helping her, so…" Mai managed to say, her voice thick with tears. Ruon Jian nodded, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head.

"You've helped too, I'm sure. She knew she could count on you… and that's why she came to see you," Ruon Jian concluded. Mai let out a soft huff, and he couldn't know whether it was a gesture of agreement or disagreement… he smiled, holding her closely all the same. "Breathe easier now, Mai. Just… breathe. She's going to be okay… we're all going to be okay."

There was no true basis to Ruon Jian's words, they were nothing but wishful thinking and Mai would have been the first to declare as much, to even ridicule him for them, were the circumstances any different. But as things stood, comfort was still a necessity even after a day that had turned out to be so much more hopeful and positive than she ever anticipated. Her friend had survived the anguish of her father's punishments, the stress of a tricky pregnancy, the heartbreak of losing the love of her life… she had managed to live past all such dreadful ordeals and she was still strong enough to stand on her own two feet, scheming and conniving as she ever was – and at this point, Mai cherished that side of Azula so much more than she ever imagined she would, for it meant her old self was still in there, somewhere, regardless of all her sorrows.

Azula had endured the darkest nightmare she had ever faced… therefore, Mai couldn't falter either: she intended to protect her friend, come hell or high water, the next time she faced the Fire Lord.