Merry Early Christmas and/or holidays to all of you cultured souls out there. Sorry for the delay, but here we are again with a new chapter for War For Peace, which is, quite frankly, probably my most popular story. That being the case, it's kind of a shame that I struggle to find more time for it. I know waiting for updates sucks, which is why I try to cram these chapters full of as much good content as I can. We are nearing the Ba Sing Se arc, which will be a massive part of this story. But we're not there yet, so stay strong!

In other news, apparently this site only provides email alerts now if email opt-in is enabled in account settings. Moreover, you may have to renew this setting every few months. So, if you don't want to miss any updates for this story, double-check that setting and make sure you keep it active! Not sure why they implemented such a tool, but who can say?


Time passed slowly out on the open ocean. Originally, the vessel of the Fire Nation natives had stuck close to the shores of the Earth Kingdom, but as the risk of being spotted by EK troops on those shores increased, they had gone further out into the ocean to avoid detection, though the landmass still wasn't terribly far over the horizon.

Needless to say, when there was nothing to see around you besides water, nothing besides the light and the celestial bodies ever changed. The monotony often made it feel like things were in stasis. For Xisheng in particular, the past three days felt particularly long, mostly because he spent them doing little more than practicing the new technique Azula had bestowed upon him. Progress had been made, but it wasn't particularly quick, which contributed to the feeling of slowly passing time.

While he still couldn't fully use his busted arm, he wasn't as in much constant pain as he had been before, and he was still able to use his hand on that arm. He had already begun attempting to condense his flames with both hands by now, which had admittedly helped him somewhat. He could now create a condensed fireball that was a little more than halfway to the benchmark Azula had set for him, and getting to that point didn't feel as grueling as it had before. Azula had been right: with constant training, a limit that once seemed difficult to surpass would eventually become manageable.

Of course, now he had a new limit that was difficult to overcome, so it wasn't like the whole thing had become a simple matter. He just had a new goal to overcome. He was glad to be closer to that goal than before, but there was still quite a ways to go. Unfortunately, he was certain that he could have been progressing faster, if only he wasn't somewhat distracted by other things.

He hadn't spoken to Mai since their little fiasco a few days ago. Not for lack of trying on his part: he was pretty convinced that the young woman was intentionally avoiding him. Not because she was upset, as best as he could tell. But rather, because she seemed... skittish, almost. Frankly, it felt very weird to even describe Mai in such a way. It wasn't something Xisheng had ever expected to attribute to her. But whenever they ran into each other, which hadn't been happening much since the girl had mostly stuck to her room the last few days, she always got a little stiff, and subsequently found something else to do that meant she had somewhere else to be.

So, it didn't seem that she was angry with him so much as uncomfortable around him, which honestly stung more than the first option. While he had a friendly relationship with everyone in the group, if there was one thing he could specially attribute to him and Mai, it was that they were practically never uncomfortable around each other. Whether it was just talking or sitting in silence, neither of them ever said or did anything that made the other feel uncomfortable in their presence. It was by far one of the main reasons they were always able to relax around each other. To have that unique aspect of their friendship jeopardized did not sit well with Xisheng at all.

Problem was, he couldn't really do much to investigate the cause of this disturbance, because he couldn't actually get Mai to stick around long enough to talk to him right now. At this point, he almost felt like he'd have to ambush and corner her, but considering that she already didn't want to be around him for some reason, that didn't seem like a great idea, and would probably make things worse before they got better.

With a sigh of frustration, Xisheng cast his multi-colored gaze at the flickering orb of flames in his hand. He would have liked to be able to focus on this: it was a technique Azula expected him to master, and it was a stepping stone to something even greater that she had hinted at. But as much as he knew that he should have been able to put other concerns from his mind, he was having trouble doing so. He enjoyed what he had going on around here, but frankly, life had been a lot simpler before all of this...

Before he could dwell on this further, Xisheng felt something press up against his cheek: glancing down and to the side to identify it, he spotted a slender finger doing the deed. Said finger was attached to a certain brunette that was giving him a quizzical look. She spoke after noting that Xisheng had finally acknowledged her presence.

"Geez, finally. I don't think I've ever seen you lost that deep in thought, Gohan. I called your name twice."

Since he didn't want to have a potentially dangerous sphere of flame that could explode in his hands if things went wrong with Ty Lee right next to him, Xisheng allowed said flame to gently expand back to its normal size before dissipating. He certainly didn't need something like that on his conscience on top of everything else.

"Sorry. I was just thinking about some things."

Now that they were actually talking to each other, Ty Lee retracted her offending digit. "You're telling me. Your aura's pretty subdued and not nearly as colorful as usual. Must not be happy thoughts on your mind, huh?"

Glancing back out at the ocean, which was mostly calm for now, Xisheng momentarily questioned the validity of Ty Lee and her aura talk, but ultimately decided that it wasn't that important. He was certain that any halfway perceptive person would be able to tell that he was a little down right now, with or without auras being involved.

"I guess not. But it's no big deal. Did you need something?"

The brunette next to him on the deck folded her arms as she offered him a look that clearly expressed her incredulity. "No big deal, huh? I think we both know that's not true. I don't think you've ever actually been worried about something that wasn't important."

"I think you give me too much credit."

Ty Lee gave him a mocking pout in response to that. "Oh, you think so, do you? I can always stop, if you want."

With a light snort, Xisheng said his piece on that. "Right, that's what you said about all the flirting, too. And yet, I'm pretty sure you've stepped it up, rather than cutting it back."

While he hadn't actually meant this to sound accusatory, Xisheng acknowledged that it may have come across as such. At any rate, Ty Lee looked a little troubled by his statement, akin to a puppy that had been scolded. Well, maybe that was just what her sad face looked like. Either way, the brunette apparently felt that his statement was expressing unhappiness, as evidenced by her response to his words.

"O-oh, that's... I didn't realize you wanted me to stop. You didn't say anything..."

Seeing that she was getting the wrong idea, Xisheng made to quickly amend his statement. "No, it's not that I necessarily want you to stop, it's just... well, why are you doing it? You still feel the way you did that night, right?"

Now aware that Xisheng wasn't necessarily upset, Ty Lee's dour expression lightened a little, though it was simply replaced with a look of consternation. She hadn't expected this topic to come up so suddenly. Unlike some people, she generally felt that she wasn't very good with discussing heavy topics without any prior warning. She needed time to think about what she wanted to say and why. Unfortunately, she didn't have that kind of time right this moment.

"Well, yes... I do."

Knowing that she was probably uncomfortable, Xisheng kept his eyes out to sea, to avoid putting any more pressure on his companion. "So, you like me. But you don't actually want to go anywhere with that right now. So why do you keep flirting with me the way you do? It's kind of contradictory, isn't it?"

Unsure of how to put her feelings into words exactly, Ty Lee fidgeted with her fingers for a moment as she examined the steel under her feet with great scrutiny. In her head, the logic made plenty of sense. But saying it out loud, she wasn't sure if anyone else would agree. Especially not someone rational like Xisheng.

"It's because, well... I don't want things to be awkward between us. I mean, I know that sounds weird: the situation is kind of awkward no matter how you look at it. But... wouldn't you be uncomfortable, if I started treating you differently? If I didn't know what to say or do around you, because I was trying to step lightly... wouldn't that be even worse? To feel like anytime we were together, there was tension? Would we even be able to enjoy being around each other like that...? I don't know, maybe that's stupid. It probably just sounds like ignoring the issue, huh?"

Xisheng was quiet for a moment as he pondered Ty Lee's reasoning. Ultimately though, he did agree that it made a fair bit of sense. "No... well, maybe, but it's somewhat understandable. I wouldn't want us to be uncomfortable around each other either. I suppose it doesn't really change the facts of the situation, but even if it's willful ignorance, I don't think it's a bad thing to try and keep things the way they were before. I know exactly how it feels now for things between friends to become estranged. In a way, it's admirable that you don't want to just sit back and let things grow tense, even if you have to embrace a bit of an odd situation."

While Ty Lee was glad to hear his opinion on this, she was curious about a particular line he had uttered. However, she didn't get a chance to ask about it, since Xisheng wasn't actually done talking. "That said... I don't suppose you could tell me what gives you pause? I'll admit, I've agonized over the possibilities quite a bit since you told me there was some mystery obstacle that you were worried about."

The brunette next to him donned an apologetic expression almost immediately. That was an answer before she said anything at all. "I'm sorry, Xisheng. But I still can't tell you that. It's... complicated, and I don't really know how to handle it yet."

Xisheng was obviously dismayed by this answer, but he didn't get visibly upset about it. "Could you at least tell me if it's something that's my fault? Or even if it's not something I did, something about me that's the problem?"

This time, Ty Lee was quick to dismiss his notion. "No, no, no, Gohan! It's not you, I promise! I mean, other than you existing at all being part of it, but... it's all me, I swear. Well, mostly me, I guess..."

Frankly, Xisheng did derive some relief from that, though some part of him acknowledged that Ty Lee might have been lying. But then again, he had also concluded already that Ty Lee wasn't very good at lying, and she usually made it obvious when she was. Still, that didn't mean it was impossible for her to lie successfully. Even so, Xisheng didn't want to mistrust her outright. She hadn't done anything to deserve that.

"Well, that's good to hear... guess I'll just have to keep on wondering, then. Though I hope it's something that has the potential to be resolved at some point."

"Oh? Gohan, are you saying that you're eager to be with me?"

This time, it was Xisheng who got somewhat bashful. Though admittedly, he was also a little nervous about his answer. He knew that it wasn't "yes", outright. Not because the idea of being together with Ty Lee repulsed him, but because there were many factors to take into consider. Committing to a relationship was more than just him and one other person doing what they wanted. He had to consider his career, his obligations, and whether or not he wanted to potentially drag someone along into a military life. Ty Lee may have been wooed by some of his good points now, but would she regret spending some of her life with a soldier when he was called away to the front for months at a time? What about when he came home, missing an arm or a leg?

He didn't think she was shallow, but being in a relationship with a soldier was not easy. It was far more of a commitment than your usual relationship, and some people didn't know what they were getting until it was too late. Most of all, he wanted her to end up in a situation where she could be happy, and while Xisheng was confident he could provide that right now, he didn't have any faith in his ability to do so long-term. The last thing he wanted was to blindly accept Ty Lee's attraction to him now, only for her to be miserable later when the full weight of that commitment crashed upon them. Even if he had to remain unhappy, he'd be willing to tolerate that if the people he cared about ended up better off.

Of course, he wasn't going to bring all of this up right now. That was too much to drop on Ty Lee's shoulders at a time like this, especially considering that she supposedly had her own qualms about a relationship for some reason. He didn't want to give her an even more convoluted burden to carry right now, and especially one that may have made her feel that she was part of the problem. That being the case, he kept his answer intentionally vague.

"Let's just say I've considered the idea."

Naturally, this wasn't quite the answer Ty Lee wanted to hear. She'd partly hoped he would just come out and admit to wanting to be with her: if he had, she could just dismiss her quandary altogether. After all, her main issue was trying to take everyone's feelings into account, and not pressuring Xisheng into a decision that might cause harmful friction between everyone. But if he just wanted to be with her without any prodding and unfair pressure on her part, well... she could hardly be held responsible for his feelings and what came of them, right?

But, well, he hadn't said that. She had half a mind to push him for a more direct answer, but Ty Lee knew that he would have given one if he wanted to. Besides, she hardly had any right to demand a straight answer, considering that she wouldn't give him one either. That being the case, she decided to not pursue it any further. She knew better than to try and rush someone in matters of the heart. She'd been friends with two incredibly difficult girls since they were kids, after all.

"Well, that's better than a no, I guess... you mentioned earlier that you knew how it felt for things to get strange between friends. You didn't mean you and me, right...?"

"Hm? No, not you and I. I meant..."

The man beside her fell silent at that, prompting Ty Lee to try and prod for an actual answer. But she didn't have to, since Xisheng apparently thought of what he wanted to say.

"Do you think Mai likes me too?"

Needless to say, Ty Lee had not been expecting this answer in the slightest, causing her to do a physical double-take. Sure, she had picked up on the fact that Xisheng and Mai hadn't been spending much time together over the past few days, but she hadn't imagined that the soldier was referring to her earlier. More importantly, what was his intent in asking this question...?

"That's, uh... sudden. Why would you ask that?"

Xisheng pondered how to word his situation for a moment. "Well... a few days ago, I said some things to her that, in hindsight, could probably be construed as flirtatious. I didn't really have any ulterior motive other than telling her what I really thought, but... well, she's been avoiding me pretty pointedly since then. It doesn't really seem like she's angry, so much as uncomfortable. Normally I would assume that I just upset her somehow, but like you said, things can get awkward between people not because they're actually unhappy, but just because they don't know how to confront how they're feeling... I just... can't help but wonder, is all."

Ty Lee did not offer any immediate answer. Mostly because she didn't know what she should say. If she were being completely honest with herself, the acrobat believed that Mai did have feelings for Xisheng, even if the girl didn't fully realize it. Initially, Ty Lee seemed to be the only one who was even aware of it. But now that Xisheng was considering the possibility, she found herself feeling a little anxious. There was a strange knot in her gut that wasn't entirely welcome.

Which was kind of ironic, really. The whole reason she hadn't immediately gone all in with Xisheng was specifically because she thought her friends might miss out on a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: an opportunity Ty Lee would probably have several more of, if past experience was anything to go by. But at the time, she'd only been considering the situation from a theoretical standpoint. Now that the possibility of said theory was becoming more real, Ty Lee wasn't sure if she was actually happy about it.

If she answered yes, would Xisheng be happy? Would his face light up? Would he breathe a sigh of relief, and smile like he didn't have a care in the world? Some part of Ty Lee told her that she should be happy for both him and Mai if he did. A much bigger part of her acknowledged that she'd be crushed. She did want her friends to be happy, but did she want it to be at her expense? This was like the decision to abandon everyone and run to the circus all over again.

It was a decision that still haunted her from time to time: choosing herself over everyone she cared about. Part of her acknowledged that she was practically setting herself up for another decision of that nature with what she was doing, but it wasn't like she could change how she felt. Then again, maybe she was just overreacting. Maybe Xisheng just wanted to know how things stood, and it had nothing to do with his own feelings. All she could really do was ask.

"Do you... want her to like you?"

Xisheng glanced at the girl next to him in surprise, though the look in his eyes was quickly followed up by uncertainty. After a moment of silence, the soldier opened his mouth to speak, and Ty Lee felt the lump in her stomach jump up to her throat. But what graced her ears next was not the voice of her companion. Rather, it was the clang of a bell echoing throughout one of the few communication pipes on the ship. Ty Lee had half a mind to ignore it, but Xisheng completely turned his attention to the rapid clanging. He'd heard that sound a few times before, during his time aboard a Fire Nation warship.

"The alarm...?"

Without a moment of hesitation, the soldier made for the main structure of the ship, leaving Ty Lee with little choice but to follow him. She wasn't happy to have the moment of truth interrupted, but she knew that Xisheng would be focused on whatever was happening now. The two of them entered the confines of the vessel soon enough, and Xisheng made for the metal stairs off to the side that would lead to the small room that counted a bridge on a ship of this size. That was where an alarm would have come from.

When he made it up to the room in question, he spotted the captain, as well as a few members of the crew. The captain was using a telescope to peer out of the wraparound window that offered 270 degree coverage. Xisheng almost instinctively stood at attention and waited to be addressed, a nearly automatic response after temporarily serving on another ship, but he caught himself before he could. He was technically a member of a special unit right now, and thus, he had special privileges. As someone serving Azula directly, he didn't have to actually observe typical military decorum in this situation.

"Captain. What's the situation?"

The captain in question, a middle-aged man with a black beard wrapping from one sideburn to the other, glanced back in his direction. He seemed unsure of how to respond first, likely because of that special situation Xisheng had just thought about. At the end of the day, he too deduced that Xisheng had special exclusion from normal procedure, as one of Azula's representatives.

"An Earth Kingdom warship is on the horizon. It's heading this way."

While it may have sounded like a very typical situation, Xisheng was actually surprised to hear this. He was quick to move up to the window with the captain. "An Earth Kingdom warship...?"

He held out his hand to the captain. "May I?"

There was a moment of hesitation on the captain's part, but perhaps Xisheng's politeness helped ease the tension. The man handed over the telescope so Xisheng could use it, then indicated the general direction of the enemy vessel, which made Xisheng's job a little easier as he started scanning the horizon. With the captain's guidance, it didn't take him long to spot the vessel in question: Xisheng hadn't really known what to expect, but the ship that greeted his vision was certainly not it.

On the horizon was a wooden ship about the size of a typical Fire Nation frigate. There were no sails that he could see, and affixed to the sides of the vessel were what appeared to be slabs of stone, though he couldn't tell how exactly they were fixed in place from this distance. Other than these facts, the ship was too far out to really distinguish much, other than the fact that it was indeed coming in their general direction.

"Huh... I've never actually seen an Earth Kingdom Navy ship before. Not sure what I was expecting... how formidable is this thing?"

The captain had, admittedly, never encountered an EKN ship either. However, since the purpose of his outpost of origin was to keep an eye on the seas in the area, he had been provided with information on potential enemy vessels that had been encountered before. At the very least, he had some information about what he was looking at.

"It's difficult to say. The Earth Kingdom has mostly removed itself from the naval war after their initial loss of naval supremacy at the start of the conflict. They don't have an organized ship classification system like we do: if they choose to field a vessel, they just send out whatever they can manage. That said, the lack of sails means this is an intentionally modified ship. Captured EKN vessels have been known to sport propeller systems powered manually by Earthbenders. Some sort of crankshaft system with actual benders doing the heavy lifting. Archaic by our standards, but still better than sails when you're facing Firebenders."

The captain took the telescope back from Xisheng and peered out at the enemy ship once again. "The vessel appears to be the size of one of our frigates: perhaps around one-hundred thirty feet in length or so. The lightweight stone slabs affixed to the sides are their form of armor, at least from fire blasts in close range. Their offensive power likely consists of boulders and rocks on the deck of the ship that will be manually launched at us via Earthbenders: the EK has never been much for mechanized weaponry."

That seemed to be the full assessment the captain had to offer, though it was followed up by a voice from behind them all. Said voice belonged to Azula, who had just made it up the stairs. She was just finishing affixing her hair ornament, and said hair looked a little wet. Seemed she had been interrupted in the middle of something. Either way, she had apparently heard enough of what the captain had to say.

"And just what exactly does that all mean in the end, Captain?"

The addressed man bowed to Azula before answering her. "It means we have no chance in a direct confrontation. The enemy ship is larger and faster than us."

"Then running doesn't seem to be an option. Surely we can set this wooden shape aflame if we get close enough to it?"

Xisheng spoke up this time, though he did credit the captain with the knowledge required for his assessment. "If the captain is correct about the enemy's offensive power, we can't risk getting close enough to attack with bending. With a ship as small as ours, a direct hit from a boulder of significant size could sink us easily. Even a near miss could capsize us. This is a transport vessel, and we don't have the speed or maneuverability to evade incoming projectiles while approaching. Even if we could get close to them, they have defenses in place to minimize the risk of fire, and if they bothered to prepare to that extent, I'm sure they have some means of extinguishing fires fairly effectively too. Even a pile of dirt on the ship that they could bend would make it fairly easy to extinguish flames unless the crew itself has been rendered incapacitated."

Though Azula couldn't actually see the ship without the aid of magnification, she peered out towards the horizon. "Fair enough. But you did say this ship was wooden, with stone shields attached, yes? I'm certain I could punch a hole through it with lightning."

"We'd still have to get close enough for you to do that, and that bears the same risks I mentioned."

The captain weighed in once again as well. "A single hull breach, or even multiple, also wouldn't incapacitate the ship immediately. It would take some time for it to sink, and we'd still be endangered during that process. Not to mention, if the Earthbenders have enough materials on board, they will likely be able to plug hull breaches fairly quickly. Your highness, with all due respect, we just don't have the firepower to confront this ship. If we are sunk this far out at sea, we will be captured or killed at their leisure."

Quite frankly, Azula didn't look happy about this assessment. However, she did seem aware of its validity. "Tch. Fine. What do you suggest we do then?"

"Our only option is to head for the coast and hope we can find somewhere to hide there. Hopefully, the small size of our ship means we have avoided detection thus far, but since the enemy vessel is coming in this direction, it's impossible to know if it's a coincidence or because they've actually seen us. Either way, getting closer to land is our only hope, even if it means giving us a way to abandon ship and escape to shore."

Azula's mood for the situation certainly wasn't improved by any of this. "I'd prefer to avoid losing this vessel if possible. I have no interest in being stranded in the middle of nowhere on the coast of the Earth Kingdom. We will make every effort to preserve this ship, even if it ultimately calls for drastic measures. Make sure your crew is aware of this fact, Captain."

The older man was obviously a little cowed by this statement, but ultimately he bowed to Azula and moved towards the communication system to give orders to the crew. Said orders also included a call for everyone to be prepared for combat if it was necessary.

Hopefully, that wouldn't be the case. The odds of this little tug and its crew taking on an actual frigate were very bad. However, Xisheng understood why they would have to fight if it came down to it. He didn't know where exactly they were off the coast of the Earth Kingdom right now, but he did know they weren't terribly close to their destination. While the EK didn't keep very good control of their seas, Azula and her group would be smack in the middle of their territory if they were forced to go on land. Without a vehicle to actually move them around, they'd be in dire straits: whatever food and water was on this ship, it wouldn't last terribly long out in the relative wilds of the Earth Kingdom, and they would be risking capture every step of the way to whatever destination they had in mind. Azula was right in saying that they really couldn't afford to lose this ship.

At this point, Xisheng wasn't sure what he should actually do, considering his lack of involvement with crewing the ship. He was reminded of his first time at sea, knowing that you couldn't really do anything other than rely on a bunch of other people you didn't know. Still, it wasn't like there was anything he could do about it: the ship had all the crew it needed, and it wasn't like they needed his help, even if standing around bothered him.

Maybe Azula picked up on his discomfort, or maybe she just actually thought there was something of more value for him to do. "Lieutenant, return to the deck. We have all the eyes we need up here. And perhaps appraise Mai of the situation if you see her."

While he doubted the usefulness of these orders, Xisheng was nevertheless grateful to receive them. At least it offered a pretense for him to do something of value. "Will do, Princess."

He offered a bow, mostly because they were in the presence of other troops, and turned on his heel to go back down the stairs. With little to do herself, and still curious about continuing their earlier conversation, Ty Lee followed him. It only took a few moments to get back down the short stairs that led to that part of the ship, so the two of them were back in the main cabin soon enough. However, they didn't remain alone for very long: or at all, rather. Mai had been approaching the ladder before the two of them started going down it, leading her to stop short. Incidentally, the unexpected meeting forced her and Xisheng to make eye contact.

For a moment, Xisheng hoped he'd actually be able to say something, but Mai was quick to shift her gaze elsewhere, looking a little uncomfortable with the situation suddenly thrust upon her. She did, however, notice Ty Lee right behind him. When she asked about the situation, it was obvious that Mai was directing her question to the brunette specifically.

"I heard the announcement. Something about a ship...?"

Frankly, Ty Lee was a little surprised. Objectively, she didn't think she was the right person to ask for a rundown of a tactical situation. She knew Xisheng had said something about them having tension of a sort, but Ty Lee hadn't expected Mai to just blatantly ignore him like this. Now she was curious about what Xisheng could have said to bring this situation about.

Still, Mai was talking to her, so she had to answer. "Uh, yeah... an Earth Kingdom ship is out there. We're going back to the shore to try and hide from it."

She didn't really know what else to say about it, so Ty Lee simply fell silent. Xisheng saw this as an opportunity to try and chime in, and maybe initiate some sort of conversation, even if it was a simple one. "We're heading out to the deck to keep a lookout. We could use your eyes, Mai."

Unfortunately, he didn't receive much in return for these statements. Mai still didn't look at him, since she suddenly found a rivet on the wall extremely interesting. "I'll... watch the back. I don't need any help."

That was all she said before turning around and heading away from them to go outside. Ty Lee watched as Xisheng's shoulders slumped slightly in defeat. Frankly, he would have preferred for Mai to be at the front of the ship, where her sharp vision might help them spot a nifty hiding space. But he obviously wasn't going to get that out before she ran from him. Maybe he'd ask Ty Lee to request her to switch places with him once they got closer to shore.

Since there wasn't much else he could do right now, Xisheng made for the door as well, with Ty Lee hot on his heels. She was still trying to make sense of this awkward air between her two friends. She couldn't imagine what Xisheng could have possibly said to Mai for the latter to act this way. She was almost acting like he had assaulted her or something and was too scared to speak up to anyone about it. Ty Lee had seen some girls go through that while at the circus. But she knew without a shadow of a doubt that Xisheng would never do anything like that. Plus, she couldn't imagine that Mai wouldn't just stab such a person in their sleep if they had wronged her in such a way.

Unfortunately, as they stepped out onto the deck and past a few bustling crewmen, it didn't seem like Xisheng was in the mood to talk about it. Aside from being put out from Mai's blatant attempts to avoid him, they were in a pretty serious situation and he was focusing on what he could do within that situation, even if it wasn't much. This left him and Ty Lee in silence at the front of the ship as well, but at least this silence was less awkward and more of a mutual understanding that now wasn't the time to talk about things that were relatively unimportant to their current dilemma.

And yet, while they were in an objectively urgent situation, it didn't really feel like it. After all, there wasn't really any immediate danger. The EK ship was too far away right now to see with the naked eye. The small FN transport ship did have a smokestack that could give them away, but with relatively little power needed to push it around, the black smoke that emerged from it was relatively tiny and dispersed into the air pretty quickly, so it was unlikely the EK crew would notice it unless they were pointing a telescope directly at them. They didn't even know if the EK ship actually knew they were present. And hell, if it was obvious that they were shifting to an intercept course, that would probably be announced over the pipes.

So basically, their 'urgent' situation was half an hour of sailing without actual threat. Although, by the time they were actually able to make out the shoreline of the continent, one could actually see a small silhouette on the ocean's horizon with the naked eye. The EK ship was definitely getting closer to them, though that was no surprise since they were headed in the same direction, and the enemy frigate was undoubtedly somewhat faster than them. It was a common misconception that small boats went faster than big ones: larger ships cut through the water at much higher speed, at least if they had the right propulsion power to go along with their size.

Around the time they were able to see land, Xisheng did ask Ty Lee to fetch Mai so she could stand at the front instead. Sure, even with her great vision, she wasn't going to outperform the captain and his telescope. But at the same time, the captain only had one pair of eyes and could only look one place at a time. It never hurt to have multiple people scanning for something when you had a lot of visual 'ground' to cover. Ty Lee almost considered it an opportunity to probe Mai about her behavior since they would be alone for a moment, but as before, now wasn't really the time. So she simply did as Xisheng asked and fetched Mai so she could move to the front. Xisheng, aware that she didn't want to be around him right now, was notably absent from the front of the ship by the time the two girls got back. He'd probably just made sure to move to one of the sides.

Admittedly, once it was Ty Lee and Mai alone at the front of the ship, the acrobat had really push to restrain herself from asking a bunch of questions. She didn't know how much Mai did or didn't have to focus in order to contribute to the situation. But it wasn't like conversation was her only means of making sense of the situation. Ty Lee was the observant type, at least when it came to people. Just taking in Mai's body language and demeanor helped pin down how she was feeling, at least to an extent. That information might come in handy when she actually had a chance to ask about it. There was only so much she could glean from her friend's convoluted miasma of an aura right now.

Ultimately, it turned out that Mai's eyes weren't needed. The captain, or someone else on the bridge, spotted a potential hiding place and directed the crew towards it over the pipes. After a heading adjustment, the ship was on its way towards a certain point on the shoreline, though Ty Lee wasn't able to tell what exactly they were going for until they got a little closer. When they did close the distance, she saw that it was a small cove of sorts in a cliff face: a small chamber of rock had been carved out by the elements. It wasn't large enough to be of much value, but with the tiny ship they had, it would serve as a decent hiding place.

As their tiny tug sailed into the mouth of this cave, the ambient light dimmed considerably. The opening was large enough to let a fair deal of sunlight in, but it was obviously darker in here than it was outside. Having slowed down considerably, their ship pulled up to some rocky outcroppings against the wall of the cave, a few dozen yards past the cave mouth. It was far from an even surface, but it would allow for some people to carefully walk along the path, and there were enough stalagmites nearby to anchor the ship with rope. Once they were close enough to disembark, several crew members hopped over the railing of the ship to do just that.

Xisheng returned to the front of the ship at around this time, taking stock of their environment and noting that there was a path of sorts formed by the rocks that could be followed further into the cave, up and above the water. Maybe it was just a funny formation in a dead end cave, but it did also look like it could lead somewhere to the surface. Glancing back at the girls a few feet away from him, Xisheng figured he could take one more shot at things.

"I think I'll investigate this path and see where it goes. Do you two-"

Before he could even finish, Mai was stepping away from him and heading towards the back of the ship. "No."

Ty Lee couldn't help but wonder if the girl had to be so abrasive, regardless of what her issue was. Xisheng honestly looked kind of wounded by the outright rejection, though ultimately, he just sighed and shook his head. "Yeah... yeah, alright."

Clearly a bit exasperated, he nevertheless managed to avoid sounding too irate as he spoke to Ty Lee again. "If Azula asks, let her know I'm checking out this path. I'll be back shortly, assuming it's not a particularly long path."

Normally Ty Lee would have gone with him on this little adventure, but frankly, she had better things to do right now. She was getting a little sick of this depressed aura swirling around Xisheng. She had noticed it somewhat in the past few days, but it was getting really bad now, and she couldn't help but hold Mai accountable for it. She really needed to find out what the deal was.

"I will. Be careful, Gohan."

The man nodded his affirmation before stepping off the boat and onto the rocks beyond it. Ty Lee was a little worried about him walking around out there with one arm still in a sling, but he wasn't exactly a klutz. He'd probably be fine. Besides, she had to focus on his other needs, apparently. Not knowing how long they'd be hiding out in this cove or how much time she would actually have to carry out a conversation, Ty Lee quickly turned on her heel and made for the rear of the boat, where Mai had retreated to. Being a small ship, it didn't take long for her to lay eyes on her moody friend, who was peering out at the wider ocean that could be seen from the cave mouth as she leaned on the railing.

For a moment, Ty Lee pondered trying to be subtle about this, but in the end, she figured that there was no point in beating around the bush. So she just opened up with her burning question as she approached. "Alright, what the heck is your problem, Mai? What's the deal with you and Gohan right now?"

Annoyed by this approach right off the bat, Mai glared at her friend as the brunette came to lean on the railing beside her. "I don't see why it's your business."

"Well, if it was just you being moody, not bothering anyone else, I guess it wouldn't be. But Gohan's miserable because you're giving him the cold shoulder for some reason. So, now it's my business."

Mai rolled her eyes. "That still just sounds like you sticking your nose in others' business."

Ty Lee frowned as she received this response. Mai hadn't really been all that combative or difficult since they reunited in Omashu. Maybe it was just because she'd found a few reasons to be in a good mood, but right now, Ty Lee was reminded of those years after Zuko had been banished: years where Mai had often been a dour, irritating person to talk to. It wasn't exactly a dynamic the brunette had missed. But in a way, it was something she was familiar with, and that meant she knew how to handle it.

"Well if I could trust you to actually address the problem and resolve your feelings, I wouldn't have to bother. But we both know you aren't going to do that. You don't have any intention of actually doing anything other than avoiding Gohan, right? You're just going to turtle up and hope whatever is bothering you just magically disappears, just like the old days."

Mai's glare intensified, though her tone of voice remained mostly even. "I don't want to hear that from the girl who ran away from the things that bothered her. Who are you to lecture me about dealing with my problems?"

Ty Lee fell silent at this, mostly because Mai had a point. If she were being honest with herself, it wasn't like Ty Lee had left to join the circus specifically because she wanted to do that with her life. She had been growing more and more discontent with her family situation and the feeling of not being special in any way compared to her sisters. She could have addressed the issues she had with her parents and her sisters, telling people how she felt and what she wanted, but the thought of doing so, and the thought of it all blowing up in her face, had been nerve-wracking. Ultimately, she had simply chosen to run from those problems instead of confronting people about them.

"Fine, you got me there. But there's a big difference, y'know? I may have run from my problems, but I didn't really hurt anybody in doing so. It's not like losing one daughter they had five copies of really bothered my parents any. You and Azula were the only ones who really cared about it, and even then, I don't think me leaving really crushed either of you. Unless you wanna tell me that you cried over me leaving for months or something?"

Mai didn't respond specifically to that comment. "What's your point?"

"My point is that the way you're handling this problem, whatever it is, is seriously hurting Gohan's feelings. I mean, according to what I've gathered, he's got no idea why you suddenly hate him."

This did earn a pause and a mild look of uncertainty from Mai, at least for a moment. "He's a man and a soldier. I doubt his feelings are hurt. Besides, it's not like I hate him..."

The last part of that was mumbled, though Ty Lee still caught it. "Oh, I'm sure. That must be why you fled in terror from him whenever he tried to talk to you today. And what does being a man or a soldier have to do with having feelings? He's not any less human than you or me because of his gender or his job. You know as well as I do that he's a sentimental person, but even if he wasn't, anyone would feel bad if someone they cared about started treating them like crap without any explanation. You know as well as I do that he probably thinks he did something wrong. He'd sooner blame himself than assume you're just being unreasonable."

Admittedly, Mai did seem a little bothered by this perspective now that Ty Lee had brought it up to her. She knew Gohan would probably be confused, but hadn't really considered that he might feel guilty of something. Or maybe she just didn't really think he'd care that much if they stopped talking. That was probably less of a misjudgment of him and more of a lack of faith in herself, however.

She didn't say anything back to Ty Lee's assessment, which prompted the brunette to press for a response. "So, what's the problem? Gohan said you started acting like this after he said some things to you. What, did he say something bad? Did he hurt your feelings, hm?"

Mai scoffed before she even realized it. "As if. He's not cruel enough to do that intentionally, nor stupid enough to do it on accident. He just... I don't know, said some stuff I wasn't ready for."

"OK, like... what, exactly?"

Now that she had to say it out loud, Mai clammed up a little. Admittedly, this sounded kind of stupid when she actually put it into words. "Just, you know... compliments, and stuff..."

Ty Lee did not offer any immediate response to this, which prompted Mai to glance over at her. Said brunette was offering a completely bewildered expression, which she soon extrapolated on. "So, you've been avoiding him and acting like he did something wrong because he... complimented you?"

"I mean, they were compliments about... me as a woman, and stuff!"

Ty Lee's expression only grew more incredulous. "I'm gonna be honest, Mai, this sounds really dumb."

Now a little embarrassed to have Ty Lee of all people condemning her, Mai grew more irate again. "You know, you've been kind of a bitch lately, Ty Lee."

"Look, I'm sorry about making fun of you a few days ago. I didn't think you'd honestly care. But you have to admit, this current situation sounds really silly. I mean, is this how you're going to treat the guy you like after he praises you? Don't expect to get a lot more of it if that's the case."

"Wha-hey, I never said anything about liking him!"

For once, Ty Lee knew how it felt to be the wiser, more informed person in a conversation. Was this how it felt to be a master who knew things the pupil did not? She kind of liked it. "What makes you think you need to say it? You go out of your way to spend time with him. You listen to him talk about stuff you don't really care about yourself. You do him favors and defend him when other people say bad things about him. Heck, you actually laugh and smile around him, which I would have considered unthinkable a few years back. You used to be pleased when he said nice things about you too. Not sure what changed about that in the past week or so. Either way, you couldn't convince anyone that you don't at least think about you and him sometimes, even if you just chalk it up to daydreaming. Do you really think I can't tell?"

Her black-haired friend stared pointedly at the water beneath her, though it didn't do much to hide a prominent blush from her face. Having all of this called out so brazenly was pretty embarrassing, especially for someone who wasn't used to displaying emotions so strongly that anybody could see them. She was used to being a lot more reserved than this, so having her feelings exposed to others kind of put Mai out of her comfort zone. She didn't like having things laid bare so easily. Not after all of those years of keeping her thoughts and feelings to herself at her family's behest. It was like having a supposedly infallible wall develop a big crack, and you couldn't have full faith in its ability to protect you anymore.

As for Ty Lee, she wondered if she should stop now while she was ahead. Technically, she wasn't doing herself any favors here. She had pretty much known how Mai felt before now, but confirmation was a powerful thing. Mai obviously liked Xisheng, but her inability to process her own feelings properly was holding her back from making anything of it. Even worse than that actually, it was actively tripping her up and creating a negative outcome. It would actually be good for Ty Lee's own romantic prospects to just let Mai keep to herself and bottle up her confused feelings. It would probably create an even bigger rift between her and Xisheng, which automatically advanced Ty Lee's own interests.

After all, Xisheng hadn't answered her question before. Maybe if Mai just confessed to him, he'd jump at the opportunity. In that case, allowing her friend to ruin her own chances would potentially remove that possibility from occurring. Objectively speaking, it would help Ty Lee get what she wanted.

Although, the brunette wasn't sure if that actually was what she wanted. Well, sure, at the deepest basic level, she wanted to be together with Xisheng. But the whole reason she hadn't jumped at the chance to just outright ask him to date her was the acknowledgment that her friends might benefit more from such a relationship than she would. That logic was self-sacrificial to the extreme, and heck, almost contradictory: that had been her reasoning at first, but she still hoped that Xisheng would just fall for her instead. In that case, why had she wasted her time not just going for it since that night?

Admittedly, maybe her qualms had evolved from what they started as. Sure, a part of her still worried about what might happen to the dynamic between the entire group: she was too good of a person to not care at all about how such a thing might affect her friends. But more than that, Ty Lee acknowledged that her initial quandary had only focused on how she, Mai, and Azula felt. She hadn't really taken into consideration how Xisheng felt. Was he even really interested in pursuing a relationship at all? If so, who did he actually want to do it with? At the end of the day, no matter how she felt about herself or her friends going after him, wasn't it up to him to choose what he wanted to do and why?

Point being, after Xisheng's vague answer to her about his feelings on her, and his complete lack of an answer regarding Mai, Ty Lee could acknowledge that his own feelings on this situation were ultimately the deciding factor over everything. So she didn't see any point in trying to manipulate the situation in her favor. At the end of the day, she would want him to pick her because that was what he wanted, not because she had sabotaged the competition, especially when that competition was her own friends. That being the case, she couldn't in good conscience leave things as they stood now, even if it would improve her own odds to do so. What kind of friend would that make her?

"Listen, Mai... I can't tell you what to feel. But, and don't take this the wrong way, this could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you, y'know? Even you and Zuko didn't get along as well as you do with Gohan. How many more times do you think you're going to meet such a perfect match for you? Especially when Azula is done forcing you to meet new people, and you settle into a comfort zone? This might be your last chance."

She had been silent for some time, but Mai's features settled into a frown at this. "Last time I thought I had a 'perfect match', his dad blew half his face off and he got banished halfway around the world. I don't have any faith in fate's willingness to let me be happy. What's the point in pursuing some childish dream that's guaranteed to end in failure?"

Personally, Ty Lee thought such a fatalistic outlook was extreme, but at the same time, she did kind of understand where Mai was coming from. An extroverted person like Ty Lee was bound to have many encounters in life. Just statistically speaking, there would be a lot more opportunities for her to hit it off with someone and end up in a happy relationship. Someone like Mai, on the other hand, didn't have particularly favorable odds. She didn't meet new people very often. When she did, they rarely perceived her as desirable, and it was even more unlikely that she'd find them desirable back. Just speaking to numbers, she had pretty low odds of finding a partner she'd be truly happy with in life.

And yet, despite those low odds, she'd gotten lucky enough to find such a person relatively early in life... only to have him cruelly snatched away by the whims of the world. For someone who might only get a few chances at that sort of happiness throughout her life, having the seemingly luckiest chance wither into nothing probably fostered a pretty negative outlook on future prospects. Some people were just like that: rather than assume one failure meant they'd be likely to succeed in the future, they assumed that one failure meant they were just likely to fail again. Personally, that wasn't an outlook Ty Lee was particularly fond of, but she understood that not everyone had such an optimistic view of the world.

"It's a little extreme to say "guaranteed", don't you think? Besides, if the end result of not trying is that it doesn't happen for sure, isn't it better to try and at least have a chance of success? I mean, if not trying is failure anyway, what's the point of not trying for fear of failure?"

This logic made plenty of sense in Ty Lee's head, but apparently it didn't do much to sway Mai to her side of things. Likely because Mai had her own side to consider. "This is probably hard for someone like you to understand, Ty Lee. Becoming invested in a person is difficult for me. Fully opening up to someone, allowing yourself to be vulnerable with them, trusting someone with your thoughts and feelings and happiness... it's effort. An expenditure. A leap of faith that has just as much of a chance of turning into a disaster as it does of paying off. And when it does fall apart, it's not like I get a return on any of that emotional and psychological investment. It's just gone. Opening myself up to vulnerability and pain and disappointment for no reason at all. Avoiding all of that isn't 'extreme', it's just..."

Still staring down at the water beneath them, Mai's expression grew particularly sorrowful for a moment. "...risk management."

Silence reigned between the two girls for a time after that. Mai had said her piece, and Ty Lee didn't know what to say in response. Honestly, the main issue was that she just couldn't really understand Mai's point of view here. They were fundamentally different in this regard. Ty Lee knew that everyone was different: some people perceived relationships and even human interaction in general very differently. But while she grasped the concept of what Mai was getting at here, she didn't really understand how it felt or why it would be potent enough to govern one's decisions when it came to something important. She supposed there was a big difference between understanding a feeling in concept and understanding it due to having experienced it oneself. No amount of theoretical discussion would impart one's own understanding of something as vague as this to someone else. Ty Lee just had to acknowledge that the way Mai processed relationships, and how they taxed her, was fundamentally different from herself.

Still, it wasn't like she had to alter Mai's entire way of thinking on this front. She was a grown woman more than capable of deciding whether or not she wanted to pursue something. But she was being a bit extreme here. It wasn't like this was a zero sum game.

"I... kind of understand. I mean, not really... it's not like I can sympathize, but I can kind of see what you're getting at. Even so... it's not like you have to go to this length, right? I get that you don't want to get hurt again, but do you really want to protect yourself by hurting someone you care about? It's not like you have to stop being friends. You know as well as I do that Gohan would understand if you told him you didn't want to be anything more than friends, and he'd never pressure you to do otherwise. I mean, not to diminish what he said to you, but I don't think he was trying to propose or anything. Shouldn't you at least tell him why you're going to cut him off if you are going to? I think he deserves that much."

Mai placed her chin in her palm. "I'm not going to cut him off... I just needed some time to think about what I wanted."

"So then, you're saying you know what you want now, right?"

Ty Lee's friend hesitated to answer, and when she did, her words didn't sound very convincing. "...yeah."

Mai barely sounded like she had convinced herself, so Ty Lee certainly wasn't convinced either. But if she had anything else to say, she didn't get a chance to, since the cave around them rumbled at that moment, and dust and pebbles started falling from the ceiling, which caused the two girls to look up at the ceiling. Mai spoke for both of them.

"Well that doesn't sound good."


Not long after Xisheng had left the boat and its crew behind, he had made it a good way up what passed for a rocky path on the side of the cave. Admittedly, a lot of it was just some weathered rocks jutting out of the water, which meant that there was plenty of algae and slippery surfaces to go around. With an already busted arm, he hadn't been too keen on slipping, so the soldier had paid careful attention to his footing thus far. Even his social woes weren't enough to distract him from doing that. After all, if he slipped and broke his legs out here, he'd probably drown before anyone actually found him.

That wasn't to say his thoughts didn't dwell on that social situation at all. Over the past few days, he'd kind of hoped that the thing with Mai would reach a breakthrough if he just found an opportunity to talk to her before she could mysteriously find something else to do. But today, when he'd actually gotten a chance to do that, she'd elected to either ignore him or just shut him down entirely. He was starting to think that things were more dire than they had first appeared. Maybe he was totally wrong about the source of the problem? Maybe it was something else that he was too oblivious to even recognize? Still, he couldn't think of anything recently that could have remotely sparked this behavior other than the exchange a few nights go.

But he didn't really understand why anything that had been said that night would result in such a frosty tension between them. Admittedly, it was possible he didn't know enough about her to understand why there was a problem. On top of that, was the problem actually him, or was it her? Was it similar to Ty Lee's supposed situation, where he was involved in the problem, but not necessarily the cause of it? Were all women this confusing, or was it just the particular women he had elected to coexist with?

Pushing down a sigh, Xisheng tried to focus on his surroundings, to take his mind off of things if nothing else. At least he may have actually been able to do something about this part of his life. The makeshift path had actually taken him pretty far away from the ship and the cove itself, guiding him to a higher elevation. If he looked back behind him, he could still see the ship, but the distance was several hundred yards. He was honestly surprised that the cave went this deep, though he had to acknowledge it might not have really been a cave, so much as an odd formation in the cliff.

In fact, as he continued his trek, Xisheng was fairly certain that he was coming up on another entrance. There seemed to be more light a little higher up, around a bend in the cave wall. Perhaps this did connect to the rest of the land somewhere? Eager to find out to sate his curiosity if nothing else, Xisheng continued along the path, which was thankfully a lot less slippery now that it was above the waterline. After another minute or two of walking, he did indeed come across a decent sized entrance that was about the height and width of two men. Beyond it lied some jungle trees and vines nestled into the rock formation Xisheng and his comrades were hiding in.

Glancing around, Xisheng took in the scenery. It was a pretty nice change of pace, after being at sea, even if they had only been away from land for a little under a week. He supposed anything was welcome after you had to put up with the sea for too long. That said, the most important thing here was informing everyone that there was another entrance they needed to keep an eye on...

Xisheng was about to turn around and head back into the cave, but just before he could do so, he heard a branch snap off to his right. Now, noises like that often occurred in the wild, but it was always prudent to be extra sure of what was around you, so naturally, Xisheng turned his head in that direction, half expecting to see a wild animal moving ponderously throughout the undergrowth. However, what he laid eyes on was no beast: or perhaps it was the basest beast of them all. Frozen with one hand pushing a vine out of his path was an Earth Kingdom soldier, a young man with a barely forming beard that looked scarcely older than Xisheng, if that. His green eyes were focused intently on the man across from him: a man currently wearing the uniform of a Fire Nation soldier.

Time seemed frozen for a moment. With such a completely unexpected meeting thrust upon them, neither soldier reacted right away. It was almost comical, like they were about to break into laughter after a moment's pause. Catching an enemy soldier off-guard was weird like that: in that moment, before anyone attacked, you really saw just how ordinary and human the other side was. You saw the stunned surprise, the racing thoughts, the reeling panic... and the shifting of expressions as time resumed its normal pace and both sides sprung into action to defend themselves.

Both men flung an arm out at the opponent, one emitting an arc of orange flame, and the other, pulling a chunk of earth from the ground around him. But Xisheng, used to ambushes and sudden battles to the death due to his previous deployments, reacted just a little faster, and with more accuracy. The piece of earth launched at him soared past his head, creating that intimidating swoosh as it cleaved through the air and smashed into pieces on the rock face behind Xisheng. His flame, on the other hand, caught the Earth Kingdom soldier square in the face, sending the young man flailing to the ground as he screamed in agony. In that one split second, someone's life had been ruined forever. That was the nature of war.

Knowing full well how serious this situation may have been, Xisheng was about to finish off the enemy in hopes that he was a lone scout, and that their position could remain unknown. But the screams of the fallen soldier did not fall on the deaf ears of the forest. In mere moments, cries of alarm echoed out from other Earth Kingdom soldiers not far off in jungle, rallying everyone around to action. Unfortunately, it was not one lone scout.

With the odds now against him, Xisheng wasted no time on the one soldier he had wounded already, instead turning on his heel and diving for the entrance to the cave. It was the right move: he just barely beat the avalanche of rock called down from higher on the cliff face, an attempt by his enemies to prevent him from escaping them. Xisheng crashed down onto the other side, coughing up some dust as he got back to his feet as quickly as he could. His enemy's haste had actually afforded him some extra time, but not much. It wouldn't take Earthbenders that long to clear away the blockage they had created. Fully aware of this, Xisheng rushed back towards the Fire Nation ship as quickly as he could, slowing down only to be sure of his footing when necessary.

Short on time, he didn't wait to reach the ship before shouting at the crew. He did that as soon as he was certain someone could hear him. "Hey! Free the ship, we have to get out of here! We need to cast off right now!"

Some of the sailors on the deck and the path heard his cries, but none of them actually moved to follow his instructions right away. Well, that wasn't too surprising. He wasn't a typical authority figure for them, so it wasn't like they were going to obey his orders without question or anything. With a grunt of frustration, Xisheng kept running, figuring he would have to inform someone who was actually in charge of the situation. Thankfully, either said people in charge had heard him yelling or one of the sailors had told them through the pipes that Xisheng was making a racket, as both Azula and the captain came out onto the deck by the time Xisheng arrived near the ship. Ty Lee and Mai had heard his voice echoing off the walls of the cave as well, so they also ended up coming to the front of the boat.

Knowing they didn't have long, Xisheng didn't wait to be acknowledged or given permission to speak. In fact, he didn't even wait to get right up to everyone, still being a few yards away as he relayed the dire situation. "We've got an Earthbender patrol of unknown size on their way down here right now! We have to go!"

By the troubled look that dawned on the captain's face, he understood why this situation was so bad. Azula didn't seem to pick up on it immediately. She probably didn't perceive a few Earthbenders as a significant threat to herself. However, she was probably also only considering the threat from the angle of a theoretical contest of skill where nothing else mattered. Azula often seemed to compartmentalize potential problems into whether or not it was something she specifically could handle. Problem was, there was a lot more to worry about in these situations.

"I understand that we don't want the enemy vessel to ascertain our location, but I don't see any reason why we'd need to panic so much because of a few Earthbenders, Lieutenant. We are undoubtedly superior to some backwater patrol."

Xisheng was struggling to catch his breath for the moment, so the captain explained the problem. Xisheng had to admit, he liked this guy: they seemed to have a common tactical understanding with one another. "Princess, we are situated in a cave made of earth. Regardless of whether or not we can defeat the enemy in a fight, it takes just one average Earthbender to collapse the ceiling on our heads. They could land one boulder on our vessel and sink it, or outright block our only avenue of escape. We cannot risk fighting them here under any circumstances!"

Having caught a second wind, Xisheng chimed in. "Exactly. Victory or defeat isn't always measured by combat. Our objective is to protect this ship. If we defeat the enemy but lose it in the process, we are defeated ourselves."

While he wouldn't have expected it, Ty Lee actually weighed in. "But what about the bad ship outside? We don't know if it's still around since we couldn't keep an eye on it. It could be right around the corner!"

Xisheng had to admit that she had a point. "Frankly, it probably is. I can't imagine why there would be any soldiers out here in the middle of nowhere unless they were a shore party for the frigate. Maybe they did see us come this way. Either way, we actually have a better chance of surviving on the open water than we do in here."

The ship captain started motioning to his crew, though many of them had already started releasing the vessel after they had overheard his concerns. "He's right. We're better off attempting to evade them in the water where we have some breathing room than in an earthen coffin. Make it quick, men! We need to be out of here yesterday!"

The entirety of the crew started hustling to get the ship free, which thankfully didn't take long since the vessel was a small one. Once it was free, everyone hopped aboard as quickly as possible, and began steering the ship back towards the cove entrance. Unfortunately, they weren't actually outside by the time the Earthbenders Xisheng had encountered were in the cave themselves. The FN crew still had a few yards to go before they were outside, and the enemy was halfway to their position, rushing down the cave walls with significantly more ease than Xisheng had managed, courtesy of their Earthbending, which they used to pull out clean, straight slabs to run on. They'd be upon them in no time.

Thankfully, however, Azula was still on the deck, and she was charging a bolt of lightning before Xisheng even had a chance to ask her to. Maybe the speed of her generation was just too quick, but it was more likely that the enemy Earthbenders had never seen lightning bending in their lives: either way, they didn't react in time to Azula's attack, which arced towards them as they raced forward. The bolt of lightning crashed against the wall right in the midst of them all, blasting the approaching soldiers off of their stone surface and into the waters of the cove. Alive or dead, who could tell?

With the crew on deck having never seen something as magnificent as lightning from the hands of a bender before, there was a raucous cheer from all the hands as the ship passed under the cove mouth and into the light of the sun once more. However, that cheer died in everyone's throats as they were able to lay eyes on the ocean waters again: Ty Lee's prediction had been right. The EKN frigate they had been running from in the first place was no great distance away from them, just a little further up the shore. While it wasn't in motion right this moment, it was close enough that you could see the ship's crew reacting to their presence. Xisheng could see someone on the deck pointing in their direction, and soon after, hear the distant peals of a bell that must have been their alarm.

"Ohhhh shit..."

The captain was quick to shout out to his men. "Push the engine to its full power! We need to get as much distance as possible!"

With their lives on the line, everybody scrambled to push their tiny tug to its limits. Unfortunately, even its top speed wasn't really all that impressive. It just wasn't built for that kind of thing. This was made obvious when, a few minutes into their retreat, the EK frigate was gaining on them, even though it had been forced to break off from its own resting position on the coast, a process that took a lot longer for a larger ship. Even with that delay, they were gaining ground on the Fire Nation vessel in their sights. Knowing full well that they would likely have to take evasive action, the captain had already moved back to the bridge so he could quickly issue navigation commands to the helmsman.

As the enemy frigate drew closer, Mai expressed some concern. "So, now what? What do we do about this?"

For once, Azula found herself in a situation that posed a danger to her, but that she had no control over. This was one of, if not the, only times where her life was completely in the hands of someone else, and it wasn't someone she knew personally or trusted particularly much. As the enemy ship loomed even closer, even she had to admit to herself that she was nervous.

Xisheng knew full-well what kind of bad situation they were in as well, but he had been in such dire straits before. That was not to say that he was free of worry, but he at least managed to keep it under wraps. "Does everyone know how to swim?"

Ty Lee cast a nervous glance at him. "That's not funny, Gohan."

"Then it's a good thing I wasn't joking."

Really, she hated to admit to something like this in such a heated moment, but Azula figured that practicality was more important than pride at this juncture. "I... do not."

Ty Lee cocked a quizzical eyebrow at her. "What, really? You went to Ember Island like, six times as a kid!"

Embarrassed to admit to lacking such a basic skill, Azula snapped at her. "And you'll recall that I swam exactly zero times in every instance! Swimming is a skill for peons who don't have barges and flagships!"

If the situation wasn't so tense, Mai might have said something snarky, but frankly, she was actually a little worried. At least Azula or Xisheng could shoot some fireballs back at the enemy or something, but there was literally nothing she could do. That was kind of nerve-wracking. Even Xisheng was considering the possibility of being sunk, which meant he thought it was likely they were going to get hit. That also meant that she could get flattened by a big boulder today. The thought of dying was scary, admittedly, but somehow, of even more concern was how this last day had gone. She wasn't really going to die with the last thing she'd said or done with Gohan being the cold shoulder, right? She wasn't even that sentimental, and she still acknowledged that as being way too tragic.

But it wasn't like she could apologize for it right this moment. She just had to hope really hard that they got out of this in one piece. Xisheng, on the other hand, was still focused on what Azula had revealed. "If the ship capsizes, try to stay on top of the hull. If it splinters, look for a floating piece of debris to hang onto. You'd be better off getting captured by the EKN than drowning out here, since you'd probably manage to escape in that case. If worse comes to worst and there's no debris to hang on to, grab onto me. I'll carry you."

There was a moment of surprised appreciation on Azula's face as Xisheng offered his own body in this theoretical dire scenario, but it was quickly replaced with one of incredulity. "I do so appreciate your commitment, but need I remind you that you are down an arm?"

Xisheng didn't seem troubled by this accurate assessment. "As long as you hold on to me and my one good arm is free, I can manage. You're light."

Frankly, Azula was impressed by his resolve to protect her. For a moment, she could have sworn she had a heart flutter. But, then again, maybe it was just anxiety. Whatever it was, she didn't have an opportunity to discuss their situation further, because apparently, the EKN frigate was in range to attack. They could discern this because a large boulder that was probably half the size of the Fire Nation ship was raised into the air above their deck. Earthbenders aboard the ship were preparing to launch it right at them. A few moments later, the boulder was soaring through the air, blotting out the sky as it carved a lazy arc through it. It was kind of funny, how slowly it appeared to move through the air, when it would undoubtedly capsize them if it hit.

However, this first boulder was nowhere near close enough to hit them. It fell far short, splashing harmlessly some ways behind them, though the splash was a magnificent one, launching water dozens of feet into the air and sending out a large rippling wave. Yeah, it would definitely be bad if they got hit by one of those.

Ty Lee, who had been clenching her fists tightly in anxious anticipation, honestly seemed surprised by the miss, and by how wide of a margin it had missed. "Maybe they aren't as close as they thought...?"

Xisheng didn't entertain her optimism. It wouldn't do them any good here. "More likely they're just getting a feel for their range. It's hard to judge the right distance at sea on the first shot. The next one will definitely be closer."

Unfortunately, the wounded soldier was right about that. When the next boulder came soaring through the air, it was obvious to everyone on deck that it was going to be way too close. Maybe even a direct hit. Thankfully, the captain saw it coming, and he had the helmsman pulling a sharp turn to change course but a moment after the rock was in the air. This time, the boulder landed off to their side, still missing by enough to avoid being a problem, thanks to the captain's maneuvers. But while they had avoided this one as well, it was due to their evasion, not enemy inaccuracy. That wasn't a good sign.

Indeed, the next boulder that was launched into the air from the enemy vessel came right at them, and it was even leading them: the enemy was aiming where the FN ship was going to be, not where it was right now. The helmsman made another drastic turn, but having bled some of their speed in the first maneuver, they didn't manage as significant of a course change by the time this next boulder landed: thankfully in the water, but only just. This time, it was close enough that the gigantic splash from the impact shoved the FN ship to the side, tilting the whole thing to an angle beyond forty-five degrees. Everyone was caught off-guard by the huge shift in their footing.

Thankfully for Ty Lee, she was near the cabin, and got pressed against one of its walls. Azula fell to her knees, but was otherwise alright. Mai, unfortunately on the far side of the end of the ship that kicked up into the air, went careening towards the opposite railing, which was nearly in the water itself at this point. Xisheng managed to grab her arm before she went too far, though stopping her required him to take a heavy bracing stance to prevent them both from flying. Well, martial arts had many uses, it seemed.

"Hang on, I got you!"

As the ship rocked back towards its original position, inertia yanked Mai back towards him, in a moment that might have looked a little romantic if she hadn't slammed into his torso with enough strength to knock the wind out of both of them. It forced a cough out of him, but Xisheng recovered quickly enough.

"Oof... you alright?"

She knew it was absolutely asinine to feel this way now of all times, but Mai couldn't deny that she felt a little flustered to be in Xisheng's embrace like this, held against him by his arm. At least her acknowledgment of how silly that was allowed her to get her bearings more quickly.

"Uh, y-yeah. Thank you."

Maybe they would have made a moment out of this, but Ty Lee interrupted it as she pointed up into the air. "Look out, there's another one!"

This time, the boulder coming at them came at a particularly impressive angle. You could tell it was right on target the moment in left the deck of the EKN ship. You could almost sense the impending hit. Worse yet, after two sharp maneuvers, the Fire Nation ship had lost too much speed to effectively dodge again. It wouldn't be a near miss this time.

Knowing that they had no other chance of surviving at this point, Xisheng released Mai so he could make use of his one good arm, which he promptly held out in Azula's direction. "Azula!"

In the palm of his hand was a flame that he was only partially condensing, as it flickered with only half ai invisible cage holding it back. Azula picked up on what he wanted immediately, though she wasn't quite sure how well it would work. Then again, it wasn't like they had time for anything else. Two Firebenders manipulating the same flame was very rare, but it could lead to impressive results. Holding out her arm to meet his, Azula wondered if they even had a chance to do this in time, as the incoming boulder was already halfway to its destination. But when her flame touched his, she was surprised by the sheer force of chi that compressed his side of the equation. It caught her so off-guard that it almost overpowered her own flame before she caught herself and pushed back.

Had he actually improved this much so quickly? Or was it pure adrenaline allowing him to push out more power than he ever had before? Many lives that he cared about were at stake, after all. Whatever it was, Azula admitted that she felt pride swelling in her heart as she matched the level of chi Xisheng was exerting on his half of their Firebending combination. Between the two of them, the flame between them was compressed to a tiny dot: a white sphere with an indigo center no larger than a small apple. The pressure this flame was under was so great that its actually whistled as it consumed the air around it, a shrieking wail that bespoke great fury.

Fully in sync now, the master and apprentice hurled the tiny orb of flame towards the incoming boulder, but it left their hands as a lance of scorching hot flame. One could see the air around it shimmer as it passed at the speed of an arrow. Its short flight led it directly into the center of the incoming boulder, where it culminated in a huge explosion of blue, white, and indigo flame, the beauty of which was marred only by the dirt and rubble of the target it had obliterated. When the dust cleared, all that remained of the boulder that would have spelled their doom was a few pebbles showering the Fire Nation ship.

Literally everyone was staring up at the spectacle in awe, even Xisheng and Azula, who hadn't really known what the end result was going to be even if it was their gambit in the first place. Azula was, quite frankly, exhilarated. It had been a long time since she had broken a limit in Firebending: even if it had involved a partner.

"Incredible... ha, those peasants are nothing compared to us, Gohan! We could destroy them easily!"

While he too was greatly pleased with the result, Xisheng wasn't quite as eager to go for another round. His arm was trembling, having never channeled that much chi that quickly. It almost felt like Ty Lee had jabbed him a few times. Needless to say, he didn't think he could actually manage another attack that powerful. They had well and truly disintegrated that massive boulder that was nearly the size of their own ship.

"I don't know, you might have to try lightning on the next one. Maybe that will be enough to..."

Xisheng's words petered off as he noticed the EKN frigate turning away from them. It appeared to be turning around. "Or not...?"

Ty Lee peeked around them to try and get a better look at the enemy. "Are they... running away? But why? Don't they have every advantage?"

Xisheng pondered this too as the enemy frigate completely turned around and started sailing back towards the shoreline. "I guess maybe... they're out of ammo? Maybe the whole reason they stopped by the shore was to restock on boulders? That would explain why they only had a few available by the time they needed to engage us."

Mai breathed a sigh of relief, having admittedly felt pretty stressed about the whole ordeal. "Yeah, but they still had those sheets of rock on the side of the ship, right? Why not use those?"

Realizing that his own heart was thumping hard as hell due to the stress and adrenaline, Xisheng couldn't help but laugh as relief washed over him. "Ha, who cares? Maybe they didn't want to sacrifice their armor to try and attack. Either way, we did it! Haha... whew..."

Even Azula was relieved that the situation was over, but she wasn't going to admit that to anyone, of course. "Shame. We could have taken the ship for sure if they had been foolish enough to come closer! The power of that new attack was too immense for scum like them to withstand!"

"Princess, I don't think I could have managed another one of those..."

"Well then, you'd better start building up your stamina. We will definitely be doing that again, make no mistake!"

Glad that she could even be excited after all of this, Xisheng slumped to the deck and took a seat as the crew started to cheer for their survival. Man, what a hell of a day.


Late into the evening, Xisheng was dozing off at the rear of the ship, on the same bench that everyone had sat on while witnessing the rainstorm a few days ago. He'd been pretty tired after the fiasco with the EKN, but had refused to go to bed early, on the grounds that he could still be helpful. That said, he hadn't actually done much since the fight. Azula had actually given him permission to rest: heck, she'd practically ordered him to before she went about whatever business she had.

Ty Lee had noticed Xisheng's shaking arm not long after the skirmish, and had done some pressure point voodoo to soothe his exhausted muscles before thanking him for his hard work and leaving him to rest for the day. Mai had thanked him a second time for catching her during the fight, but hadn't stuck around much longer after that. Xisheng had hoped a life-or-death encounter would have cleared up the air between them completely, but he figured that was better than nothing. It was progress of a sort.

So really, he hadn't done much the past few hours, and he wasn't doing much now. He told himself that he would enjoy the stars out here at night, but honestly, he'd probably fall asleep before making sense of a single constellation out there. Even now, his head was resting against the cold steel of the cabin, and his eyes were closed. He wasn't quite out yet, but he wasn't aware of much going on around him, that was for sure.

That was probably why he didn't notice that he wasn't alone any longer until he heard the shuffle of clothing right next to him. Cracking an eye open so he could glance over, he was surprised to see Mai sitting beside him, looking up at the stars in his stead. Even though she didn't look at him, she didn't miss his awareness of her presence.

"Hey."

Surprised that this was happening right now considering the past few days, Xisheng was caught a little flat-footed. "Oh, uh... hey...?"

Even though she had been the one to initiate this conversation, the girl next to Xisheng didn't say anything else immediately. Whether that was because she had nothing else to say or because she was wondering what to say next was a mystery to Xisheng. Ultimately though, she did speak, though she didn't say much.

"I'm sorry, Gohan."

"Do you have something to apologize for?"

At this, Mai actually looked at him, though it was a bemused look. "You don't have to try that hard to be nice, you know. I was kind of an asshole these past few days, you can say it."

"Oh? Were you ignoring me specifically to be an asshole?"

"Well, no, but... still, it must have seemed like it from your perspective."

Xisheng shrugged as he glanced up at the stars. "Honestly, it just seemed like you hated being around me for some reason. Probably worse than if you actually were just being a jerk..."

Mai's expression grew a little regretful. "Then I have plenty to apologize for, right? I... probably should have considered that you'd assume the worst if I just didn't say anything at all. Sorry. I didn't mean to make you think I suddenly hated you for some reason."

The exhausted soldier glanced over at her. "Well, then... what actually was going on, then?"

Mai fell silent at this as she pondered what she was going to say. Of course she knew the right answer to this question. Something along the lines of 'sorry, I'm a cynical and pessimistic piece of shit who's afraid of committing to a personal relationship that deep because I'm worried it's all going to crash down on me just like it did the first time'. Well, maybe that was self-deprecating, but now that she'd had some time to herself to ponder why the acknowledgment that she liked Gohan bothered her so much, Mai felt that it was accurate. It really had nothing to do with him in particular. She was just so wary of opening up to someone completely again, only for it to go absolutely wrong. That was the only experience she actually had with romance, after all.

Of course, it wasn't like Zuko specifically had betrayed her trust or let her down. That relationship had crashed and burned mostly due to external factors beyond his or her control. Well, maybe it was in Zuko's control, technically speaking. But she didn't think it was fair to expect him to have accurately predicted how his decision in the war counsel would play out that day.

Point being, that actually made things worse. If she just had to put faith in Gohan's ability to make it all worthwhile, she could actually do that. He always listened to her, always understood how she was feeling or why, always respected her boundaries, and always thought of her safety or happiness. She didn't actually have any fears that he would let her down, personally.

But what could he do against the whims of the damned world? Could he stop himself from dying on one of the many battlefields he'd find himself on in the future? Could he refuse some superior officer if he was sent away to some barren outpost in the middle of nowhere? Could he refuse Azula if she demanded he serve her for his whole career? The problem with her willingness to commit to a relationship that required Mai to put herself out there wasn't the other person, so much as the expectation that something was going to go wrong and ruin it all, and she really didn't feel like going through all of that again.

But she wasn't going to tell Gohan any of this. What would be the point, other than putting a weight on his shoulders that he didn't deserve? All it would do was make him feel inadequate somehow, since it basically amounted to her saying that she couldn't trust him. Even if she argued that it was external factors that she couldn't trust, it just amounted to 'I don't trust your ability to handle hardships that would get in the way of our relationship.' In so many words, it was just a matter of placing more stock in the world's ability to ruin things than his ability to make her happy. A 'I believe you'll lose if it comes down to you versus the cruel world'. Pragmatic, perhaps. But also not a very good place to build a relationship from. Gohan was a pragmatic person, but Mai also knew that he was much more idealistic than her. So she wasn't going to tell him any of this: it would just burden him with an insurmountable goal that he would probably endlessly strive to achieve, and she didn't want to be responsible for all of that wasted time and effort of his.

"...mood swings."

Honestly, Mai didn't think this was a very good excuse. But what else could she tell him to try and rationalize several days of drastic emotional difference compared to what he was used to? It wasn't like she could use her period as an excuse: he'd been around her for several months already and she'd never gone through a drastic mood shift because of that.

Her excuse was about as flimsy as she surmised, since Gohan obviously didn't buy it. "Mood swings...? And this just happens to be the first one you've gone though since we met, huh?"

Mai thought of trying to justify her excuse further, but ultimately found that too tedious. It wasn't like any amount of work shopping was going to make him believe it anyway. "Take a hint, Gohan. All you need to know is that it was me, not you. Let's just go back to the way we were before, alright?"

If he were being honest with himself, Xisheng could admit that he was not at all satisfied with this answer. He was getting a little annoyed with all of this 'problems I have involving you but I swear it's not you' going around. At this rate Azula was going to tell him something similar any day now, and he'd be three for three. He had to admit, it stung a little that his friends wouldn't trust him with whatever these issues were at this point. All it did was make him question their honesty on whether or not he was actually doing something wrong.

But for now, he knew it wasn't a good time to push. Mai had clearly spent several days working through her mystery problem to conclude that she wanted to at least maintain the relationship they currently had. The last thing he wanted to do was give her a reason to reconsider right afterward. So he would settle for this at the moment.

"The way we were before, huh? Does that include me saying anything nice about you, or do you want to cut that part out?"

Glancing away sheepishly, Mai grappled with that question. Rationally, she knew it would be a good idea to tell him to not do that. After all, if she wanted to stay away from a relationship like that, it would be prudent to curb any behaviors that could be construed as affectionate. But, well, she didn't really want it to stop. Unlike Ty Lee, she hadn't exactly gotten a whole lot of attention as a girl throughout her life. She did like hearing him say nice things about her. Besides, she had restraint, right? It wasn't like she'd fall to pieces because of a mere compliment. Even though that was exactly what she'd just done... but not from here on out, assuredly. She just had to get over the initial confusion and uncertainty of her feelings, and decide what to do with them. Which was, of course, nothing. It'd be fine from here on.

"I won't stop you, if you want to."

While he was still a little troubled by all of this, Xisheng figured now was a good time to ride the defused tension into a lighter mood. There was no need to push his luck. "Alright, if you say so. I'm just saying, I might not save you next time if you're being really cranky."

Mai scoffed. "We both know you'd save me even if I was being a total bitch."

"And aren't you glad about that?"

There was another moment of silence between them, though it didn't last long. After all, it wasn't like Mai didn't know the answer to that.

"Yeah... yeah, I am."


Somehow, someway, every time I tell myself a chapter will be pretty short, it isn't. The outline is always so brief and simple (JK, I don't use an outline), but it ends up being as long as all this. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now, seeing as how it has happened, uh... pretty much with every chapter I've ever written. Oh well.

So, here's the chapter you've got for December. All details about the Earth Kingdom Navy have been absolutely made up by yours truly. My source is I made it the fuck up. That's mostly because there is very, very little canon info about the EKN at the time of ATLA. How big is it? What do their warships look like? Who knows? I feel like I made some reasonable inferences about them based on other canon information: the EK seems to mostly rely on bending for their mechanization throughout ATLA, such as with their trains in BSS and their tanks during the Black Sun. We never saw metal vehicles aside from those aforementioned tanks, so metal war machines also seemed pretty rare for them. Also, considering how badly they got canonically stomped by the FNN, I don't think they'd really waste a lot of metal on warships when most of their conflict is land-based at this point.

Anyway, I'd like to thank all the people who donated to the arts these past few months. It made me really happy to know that some people saw enough potential and value in me to do that! To all of you who did that, seriously, thank you so much. More than monetary support, it was motivational support too.

On that note, I have been doing some math, crunching time and work and all that. If that monthly support reached approximately 100 a month, I could definitely guarantee an update once a month, since that would allow me to consistently knock off enough work time to do this instead. So, if you're interested in pursuing that goal, you can find links to a particular organization that starts with the P-word on my profile page via Twitter or Discord, the latter of which anyone is free to join if they want to talk about this story, their story, ATLA in general, etc.

Please note that none of this is an ultimatum. This story is being continued no matter what, completely irregardless of donations. The donations are not for this story to be written, it's just for people who would like to offer some support for a guy who writes for fun, and would be more than happy to spend extra free time writing even more for fun. Please don't feel obligated to do this. I appreciate the fact that my story is enjoyed at all, and ultimately, sharing it with people is the main reason I'm writing it.