A. N. : Well, we finally did it guys. 200 chapters. That's... wow. Damn. That's a lot. Uh, we're slowly reaching the final arcs there, so there shouldn't be a 300th, but who knows. This fic has been going wildly outside of my expectations from the very start ! Hope you'll stick around till the end !

It's a quiet evening.

Mai was asked to help with the preparation of dinner by the – by the healer. That's one use of knives she isn't really familiar with, but she managed. And unlike Qin, she didn't need to hold her breath at the smell of fish sauce.

He tried his best not to let it show, but he also almost turned blue, so…

Aside from that – and the fact that Mai is almost certain Qin started going to his garden at some point between the moment he had to breathe again and when the pot was left to simmer with a lid on – the only notable thing that happened was that man talking to her about something not related to the task at hand.

Please don't say such outrageous things again while you're here, was what he said. He didn't say explicitly what he was referring to, but… well, there's only so many things Mai has said out loud that could be considered outrageous.

Ty Lee already told her off for telling Azula that if she wants to die so much – and she doesn't, right ? – then she should just do it herself and not involve the rest of them. For some reason, Ty Lee didn't find it funny, not even in a mean way.

It's not like Mai wants Azula to – she was just pointing out her hypocrisy, is all. Surely Ty Lee can't believe that Azula would, that she really wants to die. She's just scared, and running away.

She thinks there's nothing she can do, when her chains are really already untied and she's just holding them in place herself.

But that's not what he thought was outrageous. Or maybe he did think it, but figured it wasn't his place to tell her.

No, what he meant with his demand was please don't say you're going to kill Fire Lord Ozai again. Or something along those lines.

Or – no, he said while you're here, didn't he ? It's not a matter of how much she wants Ozai dead and how announcing it – no, even the thought alone is treason, but saying it out loud is so much worse – could get her imprisoned, or even executed.

His worry isn't about that. It's more…

Someone hearing Mai make this kind of declaration here would get him accused of complicity, or even incitation. The latter, most likely. Why else would a good and proper Fire Nation Lady – Fire Nation girl now, right – threaten the Fire Lord's life, if not for the corrupting influence of a pirate ? The scheming weasel-snake even feigned integration to better gain the trust of his patients before turning them against the wise rule of the Fire Lord…

Mai has read such stories before in the paper.

She never used to think they may be false. Why would she ? The Fire Nation is the light of the world, anyone rejecting this fact is either delusional or barbaric, and must either be taught better or purged.

In a way, Mai guesses she's just following these principles even now.

She's just opened her eyes and seen that the real barbarism is burning your child for speaking out of turn, or pointing a weapon against a man who opened his door to you.

In a way, Mai doesn't fucking care about right, or wrong, or proper, she just wants Ozai dead, and she wants to be able to live with herself.

And so, she's decided to enjoy this quiet evening and the food she helped make and the company of people she likes and people she is thankful to but cannot wait to be away from.

Speaking of –

We're leaving, Azula says. Mai raises an eyebrow, as Ty Lee exclaims we are ?! so dramatically that it almost sounds fake.

In a few days, just the time to prepare for the trip, they will leave.

First to the Gates of Azulon, to catch a boat heading north, and then it will be a matter of convincing some fisherfolk to get them to Teukan.

Qin tilts his head to the side. Right, this piece of history is so old that it was barely even mentioned in class, no chance a man from the Earth Kingdom would've heard of, or cared enough to remember anything about the Fire Nation's long-gone past, back when it wasn't even a nation at all.

Since when is Azula interested in old ruins ?

Azula glares at Mai's smirk and the unsaid that's a Zuko thing they both know to be true. It doesn't last long, though, because then Ty Lee asks if Azula wants to maybe meet ghosts from the Golden Age, and all they can do is stare at her in disbelief.

In the end, Azula just holds her head and sighs.

I can't bend anymore – she holds up a hand, with a venomous glare that forbids interruptions or shows of pity.

Mai carefully steels her face. Steals a glance at Ty Lee, who bites her bottom lip and stares at the ground as she struggles to keep her hands to herself and not engulf Azula into a bone-cracking hug. Qin has just closed his eyes in acknowledgement.

They're going to the Sun Warriors ruins so that Azula can study anything there that may pertain to firebending. Nothing she knows, be it forms or theory, says anything about how to fix this, and Doctor Sekiji doesn't know anything either.

As far as she is aware, outside of the Royal Library she can't access anymore – not that she hasn't already read through most of the books on firebending there anyway – and the specific skills subset of fire healers, carvings from the Golden Age might be the only remaining source of knowledge she could take from to have a chance of bending again.

She won't even mention combustion benders as an option. That's just a lost cause from the start.

And so they will go to the ruins, and she will study and find her flames again. Mai nods. Ty Lee grins.

They're going north, then.