Zuko raised an eyebrow when he spotted a man running down the Palace's open halls, as if he were searching for someone desperately. He wasn't a Palace servant, that much was clear, given the old-fashioned robes he was wearing. Zuko's expression turned into a frown when the man stopped running, looking around himself in anguish. The Prince stood up and stepped away from the turtle duck pond, the place where he spent most his spare time… which was a lot of time, actually. He hadn't been too busy ever since he had returned home.

"Are you looking for someone?" he asked, approaching the man. He only noticed the servant was vaguely familiar when he saw him up close.

The servant looked up and smiled at the sight of the scarred prince, who was taken by surprise by the man's joyous attitude.

"Oh, my! If it's the Prince!" he said, smiling. "It's been a long time since I last saw you…"

"Uh… sure," said Zuko, frowning. Indeed, he knew this man, but he still couldn't place him.

"I was actually looking for your sister, though. No offense," said the man, when Zuko seemed irritated to realize he was searching for Azula. Everyone wanted to find Azula nowadays… she had always been more popular than him, he knew that all too well, but it seemed her fame had grown even larger while he had been absent.

"Why should that offend me?" said Zuko, huffing. "I don't know where she is, but if you can't find her in the Palace then she must be at the Gladiator Arena. Why are you looking for her?"

"Oh, it's because Lady Mai is in the middle of childbirth right now…" said the servant, thoughtlessly.

Zuko's eyes snapped wide open. She was giving birth right now? Would she be alright? Worry began washing over him immediately, and the look on his face took the servant by surprise.

"You are most welcome to come by to see her as well, Prince Zuko," said the man, smiling reassuringly. "She has many maids supporting her and helping her with her labor, but I'm sure she'll be pleased to see her friends, the Fire Lord's children, coming by to congratulate her and meet the baby…"

Zuko snapped out of his concern after the man conveyed his last thoughts.

"W-wait, what? You think she'd want me there?" he asked, in shock. "Why would she…?"

"Well, I was under the impression you were friends… am I wrong?" he asked, tilting his head to one side.

"N-no, well… no," said Zuko, his eyes dropping. "We… we are friends."

"Then I'm sure she'll be happy to see you," said the man, beaming. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go find the Princess! Farewell, Prince Zuko!"

"Yeah…" muttered Zuko, and Mai's servant ran down the Palace halls once more, now headed towards the main gates.

Zuko frowned and paced in the garden for a moment, troubled. He wanted to see Mai, to make sure she would make it safely through birthing, but he was sure she wouldn't be pleased to see him show up uninvited… or would she? At this point, Mai was nearly a stranger for him. He couldn't pretend to understand her. And he was certain he would feel completely out of place if he caught sight of Mai and her husband holding their firstborn…

The mere thought made him clench his fists. He should have been the one she had married, he should be the father of the child she was delivering into the world right now. But he wasn't, and he'd do best to accept that for once and for all. He should just skip over the awkwardness and not go…

… But his feet were carrying him towards her house before he knew it. He kept beating himself up for what he was doing, his mind telling him one thing while his heart said the entire opposite, and for reasons unknown, he was following his heart instead. He ought to stop walking and turn around, head back to the pond, but he couldn't stop himself. His lack of self-control was truly shameful.

"Prince Zuko!" said a Royal Guard, surprised to see him out and about. "Where might you be headed?"

"I, uh…" Zuko mumbled, unable to find a way to explain his actions.

"Wherever you're going, you shouldn't go on foot, Prince," said the guard, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"I'm not going too far…" he said, lowering his eyes. "Just… M-Mai's house."

"Lady Mai has moved from her family's house, sir," said the guard. "She lives a few blocks away from here nowadays. Please, Prince, take a palanquin."

Zuko didn't seem too willing to follow fit with the man's request. He didn't see why he had to take a palanquin, he doubted Fire Lord Ozai would be displeased to know he had gone somewhere on foot. The guard really had no need to push him into the opulent ride if he didn't want to take it…

But he didn't know where Mai lived now. So, truth to be told, the palanquin didn't sound like such a bad idea.

It started to feel like a bad idea once he was being carried away by a group of slaves. For some reason he felt like an utter fool… probably because he found this to be a stupid activity. Being carried around made it seem as if he were unable to walk on his own. And being carried on a palanquin was something reserved for important people. He didn't feel too important nowadays. Regardless, he had already climbed on, so he had to endure the ride for as long as it lasted. He would run back home as soon as he had made sure Mai and her child were fine…

Zuko wasn't the only person arriving to Mai's doorstep by the time the slaves stopped at her house. He climbed off the palanquin and spotted a carriage parked right in front of where his vehicle had halted. He was surprised to find Ty Lee waiting eagerly for the door to open, looking quite nervous. She turned to look at him when she realized the person on the royal palanquin had climbed off, and her eyes opened wide when she saw him.

"Zuko?" she said, blinking a few times. "Gee… I wasn't expecting you to come!"

"Y-you mean I'm not welcome…?" he muttered, as gloomy as ever. Ty Lee rolled her eyes but smiled at him, glad that she wouldn't be alone as she waited for news about Mai.

"You know, Azula is right. You should stop being so dramatic," she said. "Nobody said you weren't welcome, I just didn't know you'd come by to see Mai."

"I figured… I just figured I would," he muttered, as the house's gate was opened by another servant, the twin of the man Zuko had seen at the Palace.

"Lady Ty Lee, it's good to see you! Oh, and… Prince Zuko? That's unexpected!"

Zuko scowled at the man's surprise. He couldn't help but glare at everyone's reaction. Was it that unbelievable that he would be worried enough about Mai to drop by when she was giving birth?

"Come inside, come inside! She's still in labor, so you'll have to wait to see her once she's done," said the man, stepping away from the door and allowing them room to enter the house.

Zuko turned towards the palanquin before heading inside.

"Go back to the Palace, please," he said. "I'll find my way back on my own."

"Or I can give you a ride if you want," suggested Ty Lee, smiling.

"Whatever, just… go," said Zuko, turning back to the palanquin bearers and dismissing them effectively now. The men looked disappointed, but they obeyed him without question, to Zuko's relief.

He entered the house behind Ty Lee and they were led by the servant into an empty living room right across the room where Mai was currently at, according to what the man said. Zuko felt snakes twisting inside him as he thought about Mai's safety. He hoped she'd make it through birthing without a hitch…

"Where's Ruon Jian?" asked Ty Lee, when the servant was about to leave.

"Oh, the master has been told about Lady Mai's labor," he said. "He was at work, but he should be home any minute now."

"I see," said Ty Lee, smiling thankfully for the information, and the man took her grin as his cue to leave.

"Huh, so her husband's not around?" said Zuko, bitterly. Ty Lee pouted and turned around to glare at him.

"Don't get started with this, please," said Ty Lee. "He's a good man. You'll see it for yourself when you meet him!"

"Yeah, yeah…" said Zuko, rolling his eyes. "I don't even know why I came here."

"Truth to be told, neither do I," said Ty Lee, sternly. Zuko was surprised by her sudden change of attitude. "Zuko… I know this whole situation makes you jealous and angry and all the things you keep talking about, but if you're going to stay here, make everyone a favor and be supportive! This isn't a competition over who would be a better match for Mai!"

"Sure it's not," he mumbled, allowing himself a sour thought: Because he already won.

"Zuko…" grunted Ty Lee, and the Prince sighed.

"Fine, fine, I'll just shut up and pretend I'm happy! Is that what you want?"

"Yes!" she said, smiling happily now. Zuko felt a hardly bearable urge to get out of the house right away. Dealing with Ty Lee only became worse by the minute…

A fuss out on the hallway pulled him out of his thoughts. Both Zuko and Ty Lee were surprised to hear a couple of voices arguing loudly. Zuko approached the door just when the same servant from before opened it, looking slightly troubled.

"Please, w-wait here…" he said to the new arrivals, whose identities Zuko guessed correctly on the first go.

"You… are… HEARTLESS!" Sokka squealed, bending over himself as he panted by the door.

Azula entered the room, rolling her eyes as she walked inside, hardly even realizing her friend and her brother were in the chamber as well.

"You're supposed to have a lot more stamina than that, aren't you?" she replied, her arms folded over her chest as she turned around to look at Sokka. His legs were shaking as he walked inside, collapsing on the nearest chair.

"And you're… not supposed… to have me run… after you… like that…!" he said, gasping for breath, his black-and-blue armor rising with his chest as he breathed.

Zuko and Ty Lee looked from one to the other, utterly confused.

"Uh… what's going on?" asked Ty Lee, smiling uncomfortably.

"Huh, you were here, Ty Lee," asked Azula. "You and… Zuko?"

The Prince only glared at his sister, his irritation growing further. Why did everyone find it unbelievable for him to come see Mai?

"Yeah, me," he said. "What of it?"

"I'm impressed. I didn't think you'd have the guts to come," said Azula, smirking slightly, annoying him further. "What do you know about her situation?"

"Well… nothing, really," said Ty Lee, looking nervous. "She's in the room across ours, from what we were told, but we have no idea how long she's been in there, or how much she's progressed."

"Huh…" said Azula, clearly concerned but not willing to show her soft side to so many people at once.

"What did you do to him?" asked Zuko, jerking his head towards Sokka, who was still breathless.

"Oh, nothing of importance. He's just making a fuss over nothing, as ever," said Azula, shrugging.

"Y-yeah, right!" said Sokka, resting his weight on his knees as he glared at his sponsor from his chair. "She told her palanquin bearers to… to go at full speed. And I had to chase after them… carrying all my weapons… and my armor… all across town!"

"Gee," said Ty Lee, wincing. "The Arena is at the other end of the city… and you came running all the way?"

"And so did the palanquin bearers, yet they didn't complain," said Azula, shrugging.

"You know… I really wish one of them had tripped… so you'd have fallen on your royal ass…" said Sokka viciously, making Azula chuckle and smirk at him.

"I just hope you know that your resentment is like music to my ears," she said, looking down on him as usual. Sokka couldn't help but scowl at her, still angry.

"You two will never change," said Ty Lee, giggling slightly.

Zuko raised an eyebrow at Azula's attitude towards Sokka. She behaved like this with people on her same standing, not with slaves. Even after Ty Lee had explained to him the strange circumstances that had brought the two of them to work together, he couldn't make heads or tails of why they seemed to be friendly rivals instead of bitter enemies…

"Where's Ruon Jian? Is he with her?" asked Azula.

"No, he was at work," Ty Lee replied. "Apparently he's on his way, but we don't know much about that either…"

"You two just don't know anything, do you?" asked Azula, looking at Ty Lee and Zuko disapprovingly.

"Well, how about you go find out more stuff, since we're so useless?" said Zuko, rolling his eyes.

"Why, that's quite some progress already! I can hardly believe you've finally acknowledged it," said Azula, her eyes gaining a vicious quality as she irked her brother further.

Zuko was amazed by his self-control this time. Before he had seemed to lack any willpower, but now he was using all of it to stop himself from attacking his sister. In all the time they had been apart, the sole thing about her that had changed had been her sharp tongue, which had grown quicker with every day that went by.

"I don't think anyone can ask anything anyway," said Ty Lee, shrugging. Azula frowned at the amount of words with 'any' that she used in a single sentence. "We can't do anything but wait to hear how it goes when it ends…"

Sokka sat up after he finally felt he had regained his breath and he looked out through the open door, staring at the room where Mai was supposed to be at. He couldn't hear a sound coming out of it.

"You're sure the girl's in labor?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "Back when I was in my Tribe and women gave birth they screamed a lot… I mean, I know this girl is all doom-and-gloom, but I don't think she'd be able to put up with such pain without making a sound."

"Well, we're making a lot of noise," said Ty Lee, shrugging. "Maybe she's complaining and we just can't hear her."

"Or maybe it's over already," suggested Azula.

"Or something went wrong…" Zuko muttered, worried.

"Why, always the mood killer, aren't you?" said Azula, glaring at him. Ty Lee grew pale after Zuko's statement, worried.

"No need to worry…" said Sokka, standing up from his chair. "Girls are tougher than they look. Believe me, I've seen many of them give birth and come out of it perfectly fine! And that was down at the Pole, so up here it should go just fine! You guys have better technologies and medical development, don't you?"

"Uh… we do?" asked Ty Lee, clueless.

"We're supposed to, at the very least," said Azula, frowning. "You should be right. So, please, stop trying to make these two morons panic."

"Hey, I wasn't trying to make them panic!" said Sokka, pouting. "I was just stating facts! I mean, I've heard that giving birth is as painful for women as a kick in the nuts for a man… so I just figured you'd have to be incredibly tough not to scream with that."

"Ah, well, Zuko wouldn't know of such toughness, would he?" said Azula, smirking. Zuko grew pale and moved away from his sister, recalling a few moments of his childhood he wished he could cast away from his memories.

"Huh?" said Sokka, grimacing. "You mean…"

"When we were kids he would always rat me out whenever I did something out of bounds," said Azula, staring at her nails. "So at times I would take my revenge by kicking him where it hurt him most…"

"Y-you even burned a hole in my pants once…" said Zuko, grimacing as he recalled how her foot, clad in fire, had struck him in his most delicate zone.

"Indeed… you had to jump in the turtle duck pond to put it out," said Azula, with a smile on her face. "Ah, the good old days…"

"The good old days I wish I could forget," her brother replied bitterly, still glaring at her.

"You're a fearsome force to reckon with, I'll give you that…" said Sokka, grimacing. In his dream she had been considerably kind to his assets… but after hearing this, he doubted she would be kind to anyone's assets. And if she ever found out about his dream, she would end up kicking him just as she had kicked her brother in the past, perhaps with lightning instead of fire so that he would suffer even more for being so insolent.

"Watch out for her," Zuko warned him, surprising Sokka. "If you upset her for real she'll make you regret it."

"Yeah, well… I already have some experience in that regard," said Sokka, looking at the ceiling with feigned interest. Azula raised an eyebrow towards him inquisitively, but before Zuko got the chance to ask Sokka about his sister's revenges on him, they heard the heavy footsteps of someone who was walking down the hall.

"Is she still inside…?! How is she? What do you know?!" they heard a man's frantic voice as the servant tried to cool him down.

The four people within the room grew quiet for a moment until the desperate man came into sight. He was breathing heavily, his eyes slightly out of orbit. His hair was tied in a high knot, but a few locks had fallen out of it, accentuating his anxiety.

"Please, wait in here, master Ruon…" said the servant, bowing down as the man walked inside the waiting room, his hands going up to his hair in signal of distress.

Ruon Jian took a moment to realize he wasn't the only one within the room. He jumped when he caught sight of the other four people, two women he was familiar with and two men he didn't recall having met in his life.

"Princess! Ty Lee!" he gasped. "I… I'm really glad you came…"

"Hey, Ruon. We're here to support both of you," said Ty Lee, patting him on the shoulder.

"And I appreciate that far more than I can express. Thank you," replied Ruon Jian, with a shy smile.

"So… what did the servant say?" asked Ty Lee.

"He says she's been inside for a few hours now, that she should be done soon…" said Ruon Jian, anxious. "Got to say I'm not sure if I'm glad she's still in there or not. I didn't want to be late, but I thought she might be done by now…"

"These things take time, don't worry," said Ty Lee, smiling kindly. "But why were you at work today? Didn't you think the child would be due yet?"

"Oh, we knew it would happen soon," said Ruon Jian, grimacing. "But the baby came in sooner than we expected it. Mai's water wasn't supposed to break in three more days. This took us all by surprise."

"Yeah, tell us about it," said Ty Lee, chuckling.

"I had taken the next days off from work," said Ruon Jian, sighing. "I wanted to be around when the baby came… but yeah, this had to happen on the one day I didn't take off."

"Seems like your fortune is quite crappy, huh?" asked Sokka, his hands behind his head.

Ruon Jian looked at him, surprised by his fighter getup. Regardless, he performed a bow towards him, making Sokka stare at him, confused.

"Uh… huh?" Sokka mumbled.

"I suppose you must be Princess Azula's gladiator," said Ruon Jian, smiling weakly. "Mai mentioned you once when we were talking… it's nice to meet you."

"Oh, uh, nice to meet you too," said Sokka, tilting his head down curtly.

Ruon Jian turned towards the other man in the room now, and he found Zuko's harsh glare on him. The other three felt slightly wary of the showdown that seemed to be about to happen and they looked nervously from one to the other.

"So… I suppose you must be Zuko," said Ruon Jian, smiling a little. "Prince Zuko. I'm glad to see you've returned to the Fire Nation safely."

Ruon Jian bowed down in the same way he had bowed before Sokka, though Zuko didn't seem inclined to return the favor.

"T-thanks…" he muttered, as Ruon Jian lifted his head again.

"I'm glad to meet you at last," he said. "Mai spoke often about you."

Zuko was surprised by this statement, his shock evident in his wide eyes.

"Why would Mai have…?"

"She used to reject me by saying she had someone else in her life," said Ruon Jian, smiling painfully as he looked back on those times. "She always thought fondly of you… I'm sure she still does. She told me about your friendship with her, and I was really glad she had a good friend in both the Prince and the Princess when she was younger. I'm glad you were such an important part of her life."

But I'm not anymorethought Zuko, his eyes falling after hearing those words. He hated to think this way… but Ruon Jian had won. Mai belonged with him. He had been in her life, and now he wasn't. This man had taken his place, and he had no choice but to accept it and move on.

"Yeah…" he muttered, nodding. "Sure."

Ruon Jian was taken aback by Zuko's response, not sure what else to say now that he had seen how troubled the Prince seemed to be by the conversation. Azula cleared her throat, interrupting the awkward moment.

"I don't remember if I've asked Mai about this," she said, surprising Ruon Jian. "But… what names do you have in mind for the kid?"

Sokka frowned and eyed her with uncertainty at her question. It didn't take him too long to realize she had asked it merely to spare them all from the bothersome situation between both men. It might have been only for her personal benefit, but she had pretty much saved them all…

"Oh, uh… for a girl we had agreed on Jiao, and for a boy we thought about Yuudai," said Ruon Jian, smiling nervously. "I wonder what it might be…"

"What would you like better?" asked Ty Lee, beaming.

"I… I really don't know," said Ruon Jian, his smile widening. "As long as Mai delivers the baby safely, I don't really care what it might be. I'll love our child no matter what."

Ty Lee sighed and stared at the ceiling dreamily, probably thinking about how wonderful it would be to have a husband like that. Zuko looked at Ruon Jian, uneasy. It irritated him to think that he seemed to be so in love with Mai… was there no way he could compete with this guy?

But their inner musings were interrupted when an older woman showed up at the door, a smile on her face: one of Mai's assistants during her labor. The group faced her, eager to hear what the outcome of the birth had been.

"Everything went perfectly fine," said the woman, smiling.

Ruon Jian looked like he could have fainted of relief. He released the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding and he beamed, looking at the servant with shiny eyes.

"So she's fine? And the baby…?"

"Lady Mai is resting right now," said the woman. "And the baby… well, it's a wonderful baby boy!"

"A boy!" said Ruon Jian, looking at the others with enthusiasm. "I'm the father of a boy! I…! Oh, I'm a… I'm a father!" he declared, as if the realization had only hit him right then and there.

"Congratulations!" said Ty Lee, clapping happily. Azula and Sokka were smiling as well, glad to know everything had gone smoothly. Zuko seemed relieved Mai had made it past birthing safely, although he still seemed quite upset regarding the fact that she had given life to a child that wasn't his own.

"I think three of you could come in to see them," said the woman. "But please be very kind and gentle. The baby is a newborn and Lady Mai is very tired…"

"We will be," said Ruon Jian, smiling. "Okay, then… who's coming?"

There hadn't been much of a need to ask that. Zuko looked reluctant and Sokka felt completely out of place, seeing how he was the one who had the least to do with Mai. Therefore, Azula and Ty Lee followed Ruon Jian into the room across the hall.

Mai looked quite tired indeed. The group of servants who had helped her deliver her baby had taken care of cleaning up the room to the best of their ability, so there was little trace of the blood and fluids spilled during birthing. She was holding a bundle of mantles in her arms and she was smiling kindly at it. She looked up when she realized more people had entered the room.

Ruon Jian smiled brightly at the sight of his wife and child, tears stinging his eyes. Mai was used to him being unexpectedly emotional at times, so she only chuckled slightly at the sight and showed him the baby. Ruon Jian walked to her side, to look closely at the tiny child in Mai's arms.

"You're both okay… you're both okay," he said, dropping on his knees next to her. It seemed like the smile on his face would never vanish.

"And you made it," said Mai, smiling back at him. "I was so afraid you wouldn't be here on time."

"I was so afraid of that too!" said Ruon Jian eagerly, making Mai smile even further. "I'm sorry, I just can't believe… it's our son. You're holding… our Yuudai."

"Yeah…" said Mai, smiling at the baby. "Our Yuudai."

Ty Lee couldn't hold back the tears as she looked at the wonderful family. Even Azula found herself moved by the scene, thinking that little boy would most definitely have the best parents anyone could have asked for.

Meanwhile, across the hall…

Sokka eyed Zuko with uncertainty, still unsure of what to think of him. It was the first time they were alone in the same room, so… maybe it was time to get to know Azula's brother better? Zuko didn't seem too willing to start up a conversation, seeing how he still looked quite depressed, so it would be up to the Blue Wolf to do it.

"So… a baby, huh?" he said, looking up at the ceiling as he paced around the room carelessly.

"Yeah… a baby," muttered Zuko, sighing. "What of it?"

"I dunno," said Sokka, shrugging. "Honestly, I have no clue what to do to start a conversation with you, so I just… went for the obvious! And you see, it's working, so I did a good job."

Zuko raised an eyebrow, in complete disagreement, but he folded his arms over his chest while looking at Sokka with inquisitive eyes.

"Why do you want to start a conversation anyway?"

"It'll be boring to stay in here without anything to do, you know?" said Sokka. "The first thing that came to my mind was talking, so just go with it, will you?"

Zuko sighed and rolled his eyes at the Water Tribe man.

"Sure," he muttered.

"Now… I'm pretty sure we started out on the wrong foot," said Sokka, chuckling and extending his hand towards Zuko. "Let's try and fix that, shall we?"

Zuko didn't seem too interested in fixing anything, but he decided to comply. He was more interested in this slave than he dared admit, mostly because his sister seemed to get along so well with him. It made him quite curious to discover what kind of man he was…

"Fine," he muttered, shaking Sokka's hand.

"I'm Sokka."

"Uh… Zuko." the Prince felt like a fool. He knew this guy's name already, and the guy knew his as well! So why couldn't he spare him the pointless nonsense…?

"Pleased to make your acquaintance for the second time," said Sokka, beaming.

"Right," said Zuko. "You're my sister's gladiator, then…"

"Yeah, I am," said Sokka, his eyes going down to the floor for a second. Zuko raised an eyebrow when he thought he saw fondness in them… why did this guy seem so comfortable around Azula? What sort of deranged masochist was he?

"Can I ask how that happened, exactly?" asked Zuko. "Ty Lee tried to explain it to me, but she didn't know all the details…"

"Oh…" said Sokka, blinking a few times as he came back to reality. His mind had been filling up with images of Azula until Zuko interrupted his train of thought. "Well, it happened pretty much because we struck a deal. She wants me to become the top gladiator in the Superior Gladiator League, and I want to go back home, so once I beat everyone and become Number One, she'll let me return. That's the agreement we reached."

"Huh, so that's it," said Zuko, looking a little relieved. "Well, now it makes more sense. You're just being used by her… now it's not as weird as it seemed before."

Sokka's eyes opened wide at Zuko's words. That was right, he was just being used by Azula. He had kept telling that to himself through the whole day, but he hadn't quite believed it until he had heard it come from someone else.

"Yeah… I suppose that's it," said Sokka. "B-but I'm using her too! That makes us even!"

"True…" said Zuko. "It's unusual for my sister to go with someone else's conditions. Either she's gotten bland or you're way wittier than I've given you credit for."

"Huh… I'd say it's the latter," said Sokka. "She made me run after her palanquin mercilessly, after all. You really think she's softened up?"

"Well, when you put it that way…" said Zuko, shrugging.

They fell silent for a moment before Sokka found another topic he wanted to talk about… something that had been bugging him for a while now.

"Say, I might have no business asking," he started. "But I've never really understood why you were banished…"

Zuko's eyes widened at the question as he felt as if an iron hand was squeezing his heart tightly. He didn't look at Sokka as he answered, his voice trembling.

"I… I just… my father was ashamed of me," muttered Zuko. "I did something… something I shouldn't have done. So he took my honor from me by banishing me, and he wouldn't restore my honor unless I brought the Avatar before him."

Sokka frowned at those last words. If Zuko was back in the Fire Nation, it meant he wasn't banished anymore.

"Then… you mean you found the Avatar?" he asked, shocked.

"No, I… I spent ten years searching for him. It was no use," said Zuko. "I'm only back because my Uncle convinced my father to let me return."

"Huh…" said Sokka, slightly relieved. He had no idea what the Avatar's fate had been, but he didn't think it would bode well for the world if the Fire Nation found him. Despite he was growing used to his life as a gladiator, he still hoped, deep down, that the world would change for the better someday. And the Avatar had always been the main hope for that change to occur.

"Anyway…" muttered Zuko, uncomfortable by the subject. "Are you sure of what you're doing?"

"W-what do you mean?" asked Sokka, blinking blankly.

"I mean, working with my sister like that," Zuko replied. "It might end much worse than you imagine. She's always a step ahead of everyone else, and her goals… well, they're all that matter to her. You might have signed up for something beyond your control."

"I probably did," said Sokka, shrugging and smiling a little. "But so far it hasn't been much trouble. Truth to be told, your sister isn't as bad as you think she is… and I suppose you're not as bad as she thinks you are either. You just have some sibling rivalry, is all. You guys seem to bring it to a whole new level, I won't deny it, but yeah… I think that's most of what there is to it."

"Y-you don't understand," said Zuko, shaking his head. "I don't think anyone would…"

"If someone understands, it's me," stated Sokka, chuckling. "I have a sister too. She's about Azula's age. She was quite a jerk to me very often. There was this one time when I needed her to save me from some rabid tiger-seal, but instead of doing it, she just laughed at my misery. So, you see, I get it."

Zuko had seen tiger-seals when he had been traveling by the South Pole and he didn't recall them being rabid creatures… but he didn't see why Sokka would lie about this, so he decided to trust his judgment.

"So you know what it's like to have a crazy sister," said Zuko. "I guess we have a few things in common, then…"

"Seems like we do," said Sokka, smiling a little.

"So… you were at a fight?" asked Zuko, eyeing Sokka's outfit. "Did you win?"

"Sure did," Sokka replied proudly, folding his arms over his chest. "It was a piece of cake. The guy was higher than me on the ranking, but I kicked his butt anyway!"

"Huh… good for you," said Zuko, still slightly disgusted by the gladiator business in itself.

"You don't seem too enthusiastic about this," said Sokka, eyeing him with surprise.

"I'm not a big fan of the Gladiator madness everyone else seems to thrive about," said Zuko, shrugging. "I don't get it, really… even my uncle is into it. It's weird."

Sokka winced at the mention of Zuko's uncle, recalling how he had fought against the man's current gladiator.

"Well, he's pretty new in it," said Sokka, shrugging. "He might get bored and dump it… hopefully."

"Hopefully?" repeated Zuko, confused. "Why are you hopeful about that? Have you already met my uncle?"

"Yeah, once," said Sokka, gulping. "He's an odd fellow… though his gladiator is way weirder than him."

"No kidding," said Zuko, sighing. He wasn't getting along much better with the earthbender nowadays. Her jabs towards him made him think of her as a younger, nastier, and ill-mannered Azula.

"You remember back when we first met?" asked Sokka. "You recall how I was on those crutches…?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Well… Toph was the one who put me in them," replied Sokka, bitterly.

Zuko's eyes widened in surprise.

"She…? Toph did? How could she…?"

"Beats me," said Sokka, shrugging. "The girl's a menace. I'm already dreading the day I'll face her in the Arena again."

"But… she looked like she was more bark than bite," said Zuko.

"Why don't you fight her one-on-one and give me your opinion then?" asked Sokka, pouting.

"I'm just saying, she's slender and short. She's probably a good bender, but is she really that great? Maybe you're the one who's not cut out to fight her…"

"Oh, you think so, do you?" asked Sokka, offended. "Go fight her, then, Zuko! I really want to see how much better you can do!"

"You'll probably be really disappointed with yourself if that happens," said Zuko, smirking a little. "I doubt I'd lose against her in a fight."

"Oh, sure you wouldn't," said Sokka, staring at Zuko in disbelief. "You're really full of yourself, aren't you?"

"Full of myself?" asked Zuko, his confidence transforming into irritation. "What makes you say that?"

"From what I've heard, Zuko, you're the one who's a lot more bark than bite," said Sokka, smirking slightly.

"Huh?! Oh, sure, if you hear it from Azula…"

"When did I say it had been Azula who had told me that?" said Sokka, raising an eyebrow. It had been her, of course, but it would be a lot more fun to tease Zuko making him think otherwise…

"Then who was it?" asked Zuko, frowning.

"Piandao himself, actually," said Sokka, his smirk growing. "He told me I was the worthiest man he had ever trained… still, didn't he train you too? Oh, boy. I suppose that's proof that you're more talk than anything. If our master said something like that, then you wouldn't be better than me, clearly."

"How would you know that?" grunted Zuko. "Piandao trained me when I was just a kid!"

"Well, let's just look at the full picture. I'm a master of jian swords," said Sokka, proudly. "According to what I've heard, mastering dao swords only takes a week, yet mastering jian swords takes a year, and, according to Piandao himself, I mastered the jian in less than three months. What does that say about my amazing skills, huh? And what does that say about you, who had to master dao swords because they were the only thing suitable for you…?"

"D-dao swords aren't that easy to master, I'll have you know!" he shouted, glaring at Sokka.

Sokka couldn't help but laugh with disbelief, shaking his head.

"Yeah, sure…" he said, staring at Zuko with teasing and cruel eyes. Zuko grimaced when he realized the expression on the gladiator's face seemed a copy of Azula's trademark mocking façade when dealing with him.

"You seem to forget, I'm a firebender too," said Zuko. "I can use swords and bend fire at the same time!

"Oh, really?" asked Sokka, chuckling. "I seem to recall Azula said your basic firebending wouldn't impress her… you think it'll impress me?"

"You… you're just trying to get to my bad side," said Zuko, his eyes ablaze with fury.

"Oh, no, I'm just proving you give yourself way too much credit," said Sokka, shrugging. "But, truth to be told, we won't get to figure out if you're tough or not… unless we cross blades to find out, don't you think?"

"You're… you're challenging me?" asked Zuko, clenching his fists. "I don't have any weapons with me…"

"Excuses, excuses…" said Sokka, rolling his eyes, and Zuko seemed to grow even more furious.

"Well, FINE! I'll find swords! We'll see who's Piandao best student now!"

"Oooooh, I'm trembling with fear!" said Sokka, as Zuko stormed out of the room. Sokka chuckled for a moment, feeling proud of having irked Zuko… before realizing the Prince had actually left the room to find dao swords.

He grimaced when he realized they had taken his silly spat with him way too far. Sokka bolted down the hall quickly, not sure where Zuko might have gone to. He didn't want to fight that badly… he couldn't deny he was curious about who was actually stronger, but having a combat while being exhausted after chasing a palanquin seemed a very bad idea.

Sokka found Zuko in the house's dining room, and he was just about to request to postpone their fight when he realized the Prince had found some twin ornamental dao blades placed on the wall. He picked them up and turned to face Sokka, who grimaced again.

"Okay, Zuko, how about we think this through…?"

"Oh, so now you want to think, huh?" asked Zuko, aiming the swords at Sokka. "Sounds like you've realized your sword is no match for mine."

Sokka could take insults to himself, but to hear someone diminish Space Sword's worth like that was enough to make his blood boil. He snarled and he released his black sword from its scabbard, aiming it at Zuko.

"You're about to see otherwise, Prince Zuzu…" said Sokka, recalling how Azula had nicknamed him on their previous encounter.

Zuko's rage was only fueled further when he heard Sokka mock him in that way. He jumped forth with a scream, his swords in tow, and he slammed them down on his opponent, in hopes to strike such a powerful blow that Sokka would be forced to give up right away.

To Zuko's dismay, Sokka managed to stop both his swords and he ducked. Zuko's momentum had him fly over him and perform a barrel roll on the floor before jumping back to his feet, still clenching the swords tightly. Sokka was the one to attack this time, moving his body smoothly to avoid getting struck by the dao swords. His common sense told him that Zuko would likely have the upper hand, since he was wielding two blades instead of one. Sokka had to be very careful while evading his blows, so that he could deliver his own attacks whenever he found an opening in the Prince's form.

Zuko couldn't believe his opponent was proving to be such a skillful and sneaky fighter. He would have never expected Sokka to be this strong. The gladiator kept slipping out of reach with ease, delivering such efficient attacks that now he could believe that Piandao had considered him as worthy as he had. They continued exchanging and parrying blows for a while before Sokka almost managed to stab Zuko in the chest. The Prince jumped back right on time and swung his swords in Sokka's direction, sending fire his way.

"Hey! That's cheating!" yelled Sokka, shaking the fire away with Space Sword… and it faded much quicker than he had expected it to. "Huh? Gee, your fire's way weaker than Azula's!"

Sokka hadn't needed to annoy Zuko further, but that last sentence was enough for Zuko to lunge at him, a killer intent in his eyes. Sokka jumped back, crossing the threshold of the dining room and reaching the hallway as he tried to keep Zuko from burning and slicing him up. Zuko's fury made him far deadlier, but it also blinded him… and Sokka knew he could use that rage to his advantage once Zuko had burned down most of this sudden energy outburst. Sokka continued studying his rival's moves; Zuko was quite skilled with the dao blades, but Sokka would prove himself superior soon enough…

Azula frowned when she caught notice the sounds in the hall. Ty Lee was too busy fawning over the baby, and Mai was too worn out to pay attention to anything other than Yuudai, but Ruon Jian also seemed to notice there was something odd going on.

"What's…?" he asked, moving as if to head to the door, but Azula raised a hand, stopping him on his tracks.

The Princess walked to the door and she swung it open… just in time to see her gladiator jumping back to avoid a fire blast, which he batted away with his sword. Sokka continued walking backwards, his eyes set on the other end of the hallway, from where Zuko was running down to meet him, with the dual dao swords in his hands and a furious look on his face, his mind set on striking Sokka down…

He was so focused on Sokka he didn't notice the moment in which his sister slipped out of the room she had been in. She ducked and struck Zuko's legs with her feet, tripping him and sending him flying headfirst through the hallway. The scarred man lay on the floor now, his head throbbing horribly after taking a hard blow to the head when he landed.

Sokka watched Zuko's parabolic flight with a shocked look on his face. He hadn't expected his sponsor to help him sort out his issue with the Prince.

"Hey, thanks! He was getting a bit too hysterical…" said Sokka, chuckling and smiling thankfully at Azula. Yet he failed to notice that she seemed nearly as mad as her brother was. Azula stomped all the way to where Sokka stood and struck him on the head with a powerful punch, her knuckles digging into his skull painfully.

Sokka collapsed after her fist collided with his head, feeling a pulsating pain on his now swollen head. Only now he realized how irked Azula was while she glared at him, enraged.

"What the hell is the matter with the two of you?! How stupid can you both get?!" she yelled, looking from one to the other.

Zuko lifted his head with difficulty, only figuring now that the one responsible for his sudden collapse had been Azula herself.

"What did you think you were doing, sword fighting in someone's house?!" she yelled. "Don't you know anything about manners?! What the hell could lead you fools to do something like that?!"

"I… I didn't mean…" Sokka mumbled.

"Just shut up!" Azula screamed. "I don't want to hear it, you moron! Don't you realize someone just delivered a baby?! They need peace and quiet for now! So how about you behave like a normal human being for once instead of being the uncontrollable savage you always act like?!"

Sokka had dealt with an angry Azula before, but this time he didn't feel like countering her words. He felt more like a kid who was being nagged by his mother. Zuko grimaced at what she had said, realizing how stupid he had been by behaving as he had, bending and swinging the swords around. What if something had caught fire? It could have been catastrophic…

Ty Lee and Ruon Jian peeked out into the hall to find Azula glaring down disapprovingly at both men, her hands on her hips.

"You're both such idiots…" she said, rolling her eyes before turning towards Ruon Jian. "I'm sorry about this mess. If they broke anything, just send a notice and I'll make sure to replace it."

"No, no need," said Ruon Jian, smiling and shrugging the matter off. "You don't have to pay for anything, Princess," it seemed that becoming a father had rendered him impervious to bad things for now.

"In any case…" said Azula, glaring at Sokka again, who looked at her with fearful eyes, hoping her fury would subside soon. "I think I'll take my leave now. My savage-… gladiator has proved he's as socially inept as my brother. Keeping these two idiots in the same room promises there won't be a house left by the end of the day."

Sokka wanted to drop at her feet and beg for her forgiveness, but she was clearly too displeased at the moment to listen to him. Zuko wanted to defend himself, to say he wasn't socially inept… until he realized he had been close to setting a house on fire and had been using ornaments to fight another social inept. He sighed and dropped his head on the floor again, lacking any arguments to defend himself.

"Okay, then," said Ruon Jian, smiling at Azula. "Thanks for dropping by. It meant a lot."

"I'll come by to see the little boy again on another day," said Azula. "Whenever the idiot I have to take care of learns how to behave, I suppose."

The Princess walked into the room and said her farewells to Mai, congratulating her once again. Ruon Jian and Ty Lee were left staring at Zuko and Sokka, and they both seemed to be about to grow a second head after the blows they had received.

"Let's go, then," said Azula, storming out of the room and grabbing Sokka by the ear, pulling him up and dragging him down the hall. Sokka whimpered but didn't complain, feeling stupider with every second that went by. He waved at Ty Lee and Ruon Jian before looking down at Zuko, who was starting to sit up.

"Hey…" he said, and Zuko glared at him as he got pulled away by Azula. "We didn't get to settle this, but you can see for yourself how strong I am if you come see me fight in the Arena! I have a match a week from now! Come by and watch me fight!"

"Shut up and keep moving!" Azula commanded, as they headed towards the main door of the building, getting blocked out of sight when they took a corner.

Zuko sighed and dropped his gaze to the floor, feeling even more foolish than before. He really needed to control his temper…

"Uh…" said Ruon Jian, behind him. Zuko turned around and stood up, his head still throbbing, and he bowed down, his eyes shut as he apologized.

"I'm sorry. I was completely out of control. I shouldn't have done that…"

Ruon Jian was surprised, but he managed to smile despite being impressed as he was.

"It's no big deal. Nothing bad happened in the end, right?" he said, grinning. "Now… would you let me get those back to their rightful place?"

"Oh, right," said Zuko, handing the swords over to Ruon Jian, who gave him another smile before heading down the hall towards the dining room.

Ty Lee eyed Zuko with amusement, something that irritated him slightly.

"W-what…?"

"Men. You're all crazy," she said, chuckling.

"Y-you're one to talk…" muttered Zuko, blushing slightly.

"Say… that proposal from Sokka sounded quite interesting!" said Ty Lee, smiling. "How about you actually go see his fight? You've never been to the Arena, have you?"

"No, and I don't want to go," said Zuko, his hands on his pockets.

"Oh, come on, don't be so depressing! You know what? I'll go with you!" she said enthusiastically, smiling at him.

Zuko didn't seem to think it was such a great idea, but Ty Lee's happy-go-lucky attitude knew no restraints. Giving in now would be a lot easier than fighting back, especially when he didn't feel like fighting back against anything else in his entire life. Not after this incident with Sokka.

"I… I guess it wouldn't kill me to do it," he muttered.

"Yay!" she squealed happily, beaming at him. "But for now… how about you come meet Yuudai?"

"Yuudai…" Zuko repeated, the foreign name rolling off his mouth softly.

Ty Lee smiled and ushered him to enter the room. He obeyed, walking into it with his head down. But he lifted it again when he caught sight of Mai holding the baby, a very unusual smile on her face. She looked at him and beamed, showing him the face of her sleeping child. Zuko was amazed, both by how cute the baby was and by the way he had managed to fall asleep despite the fuss right outside.

Zuko took a few steps forward, kneeling by Mai's side before he knew what he was doing.

"Hey," she said. "I'm glad you came."

Zuko was surprised by that statement, but it was all he had needed to hear to leave behind his previous foolishness. A smile spread over his face as well as he looked down at the baby again.

"He's beautiful. I'm sure… I'm sure the two of you will be great parents."

Mai smiled and caressed the baby's chubby cheek. Zuko couldn't help but be amazed at the sight. It suddenly didn't matter if the kid on her arms wasn't his child as well, because this was the first time he had seen Mai so happy. And that was the one thing that truly mattered.

Instead of treading behind the palanquin, as usual, Azula had forced Sokka to walk in front of the Royal Procession as punishment for his recklessness, making it so he had to move quickly if he didn't want the bearers to run him over. The guards walking by the palanquin seemed confused by whatever had prompted Azula to torture her gladiator like this, but they didn't say a word as they watched him panting when he had finally arrived to his house.

Azula climbed down from the palanquin, to everyone's surprise, and walked up to Sokka. He was leaning on the rocky enclosure that stood around his house, his chest heaving after what the Princess had forced him to endure.

"Learned your lesson, Sokka?" she asked.

"Y-yup… chasing a palanquin… is a lot better than being chased by one…" he replied.

Azula rolled her eyes and shook her head, trying to stop the smile that threatened to spread on her face due to his wittiness. Sokka laughed slightly and looked at her apologetically after standing straight, rubbing his head with his hand.

"I'm sorry, Azula. Your brother was a bit offensive, so I felt like returning the favor… and before I knew it I had challenged him to see which one of us was tougher. I'm sorry. It was completely uncalled for."

Azula sighed and shook her head, but she seemed satisfied with that.

"So long as you learned that lesson too…"

"Yeah. Don't pick on Zuko. He's Azula's to torture, not mine," he said, managing to make her smile this time.

"Good to know that's the conclusion you reached," she muttered. "But I'm still not taking you to the house of any of my acquaintances ever again."

"I think I can live with that," said Sokka, chuckling. "Sorry again. Didn't mean to embarrass you or anything…"

"You only embarrassed yourself," she said, and Sokka shrugged, figuring she was right. "Well, then… you probably should do something about that bump. It seems I hit you too hard."

"Is it that noticeable?" asked Sokka, touching it and wincing at the pain.

"The left side of your head looks twice as big as the right…" she muttered, unable to hold back the laughter as he grimaced, realizing she was speaking the truth.

"Well… I asked for it, I'm not going to deny it," he said, chuckling as well.

It was odd for them to laugh together like this, and it didn't take too long for the two of them to notice how odd the situation was. Azula looked at him with a strange emotion on her eyes, something Sokka couldn't quite recognize. It was something he had never seen her showing beforehand… what exactly was it?

"In any case… go inside and get some rest. You need it," she said, taking a few steps back. "We can talk about your training regime on some other day, alright?"

"Oh, yeah," he said, smiling. "I think my head aches too much for me to think properly anymore."

"Well, then…" muttered Azula, looking at him again. "I'll be seeing you, Sokka."

"Yeah… see you," the gladiator whispered as the Princess climbed on the palanquin, sneaking one last look at him as she did.

Sokka didn't enter the house yet. He stood watching how the Royal Procession walked down the street, heading back to the city. He stared until he couldn't discern Azula's shape within the palanquin anymore. The dream he had enjoyed last night had turned him into a different man, apparently… and it wasn't good for him to become different, not when it came down to her. Because, as Zuko had confirmed, he was only being used by her. It was all she cared about… and why should she care about anything else? She was a Princess, he was a slave. She was Fire Nation, he was Water Tribe. There were a million reasons and more for him to stop acting as he did, reasons to stop him from pursuing what he shouldn't be pursuing… but a heart hardly ever listens to reason.

He sighed and shook his head, feeling even more stupid than before, knowing now that he needed to snap out of this. His current infatuation was, hopefully, something fleeting that would die out soon, something he would learn to ignore in due time… because nothing else could be done about it. He had to come to terms with the fact that the Fire Nation Princess would never fall in love with a man like him.