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Chapter Text

1 - Dawn

It was said, by those with too much time to think, that starting a journey at dawn would bring good fortune and a positive outlook.

Mai was fairly confident that she was in the process of conclusively disproving the entire notion. Princess Azula had seen her off at the crack of dawn this morning to act as a glorified messenger to the back-end of Nowhere (which was of course in the Earth Kingdom), but the day had brought nothing but rain, boredom, and sentiments like "the back-end of Nowhere." At least the job came with a fairly comfortable carriage that kept her out of the rain. But sitting on a cushioned seat in a windowless box as the Earth Kingdom landscape rolled by unseen was hardly the most engaging activity.

Mai liked to be engaged.

That's why she had thrown in with Azula's mission before even knowing what it was about. Living in Omashu (er, 'New Ozai') had offered her nothing but the company of her family. Needless to say (but Mai was bored enough to say it anyway), the chance to be continuously berated for failing to be both sufficiently quiet and sufficiently enthused was not how she wanted to spend the rest of her teens. It seemed, at the time, that anything the princess had going was bound to be an improvement, especially if Ty Lee was once again involved.

Sure, Azula could be a jerk, but Mai was a jerk, too. And yes, every so often Azula made Mai actively fear for her safety and life, but the princess also bestowed many special freedoms and privileges on those who served her, so it probably evened out.

And then there were Azula's cruel tests, the little challenges to do things like give up her baby brother to rebel kidnappers as a demonstration of loyalty and practical thinking, but that was basically just life in the Fire Nation. If you weren't being challenged to commit a betrayal that felt like a cold knife sawing through your stomach, then you probably didn't have any friends. Or money. Or power. Or anything, really. Go home, peasant; be sure to set out at dawn.

But it had turned out that Azula's mission was hunting down her brother Zuko.

(And her uncle, General Iroh. Whatever.)

Mai remembered Zuko.

He had been nice.

He had been nice, and because of that, his father had lit his face on fire and banished him.

(Typical Fire Nation. Because that was normal. It was. Everyone said so. It was expected and it was okay and that was part of what made their nation so glorious. And contradicting the Fire Lord was treason, so shut your mouth and get on with your life. Preferably starting at dawn.)

Mai liked the idea of seeing Zuko again. But then, after they had left Omashu, it came out that Zuko (and Iroh, whatever) might not want to come home. And he didn't have a choice in the matter. Because he still hadn't captured the Avatar, which after three years of doing just that was suddenly a crime. As if still being banished wasn't punishment enough for Zuko, now the Fire Lord wanted to throw him in jail. And contradicting the Fire Lord was treason.

Learning the full situation had left Mai feeling like she needed to make a decision, except there was no decision to make. Refusing Azula wasn't an option, not now and not ever. There was nothing that could be done to save Zuko. And Azula wasn't even that keen on chasing him, because she had stumbled across the Avatar himself, Zuko's old mission, and the only thing Azula liked more than terrorizing Zuko was doing his hobbies better than him. So now they were all chasing the Avatar. Yay.

Mai sighed and shifted on the nice cushioned bench. It turned out that chasing the Avatar was boring if you couldn't find the Avatar in question. The only thing more boring was a courier assignment to Nowhere, Earth Kingdom.

The carriage rattled down the packed dirt of the road, and the roof echoed with the tapping of rainfall, but Mai was otherwise isolated in the windowless cabin. Supposedly, it provided security, but that left nothing to look at, aside from the message tube she was delivering. Nothing to do but think, and be lost.

Mai wondered if messenger hawks could get bored. At least they could take a break to hunt a mouse, or something. She wasn't even the one driving the carriage, so she couldn't decide to stop and seek out a diversion. She'd have to knock on the front panel and ask nicely if she even needed to get out and pee. So classy.

She wondered where Zuko was, right now. No doubt he'd run far away from his sister. Would he remember Mai, if they met again? Would he still know her name? She had so rarely spoken to him, had always looked away first whenever their eyes accidentally met. She wondered if she'd be disgusted by his scar. She couldn't even handle changing Tom-Tom's nap-nap when Mother was too busy. Why couldn't she be stronger? Had Zuko learned to kiss from Earth Kingdom girls? Or maybe a pirate princess? Wasn't there a 'Jojo the Kissing Bandit' running around this countryside who Zuko could have encountered?

Mai decided that it was time for a nap. Sleep could do for attitudes what dawn had utterly bungled.

Then the whole carriage jolted and tilted and flipped.

Mai suddenly found that the gravity that had been keeping her almost-comfortably settled on the cushioned bench now yanked her head-first towards the wall on her left. She kicked out with both feet to shift her weight and spin as she fell, allowing her to land on the left/bottom door in a crouch. Another moment brought a set of needles ready between her fingers.

She waited.

Above the din of the rain, a man's voice rang out in surprise and maybe a little pain - the carriage driver, no doubt - followed by a brief sound of clashing weapons. Then the world surrendered to the tappity-tappity-tap of the rain again.

Mai inhaled.

The right/ceiling door burst open, letting the rain in to splatter on her head, while a shadow in the shape of a person rose to fill the space-

-Mai threw her needles in a spread-

-and there was a flash and motion that could have been silent lightning but was actually a pair of broadswords moving to deflect them all.

Oh.

Not another one.

It was bad enough that The Water Tribe Boy could intercept her blades, but now she was seeing the same thing in a random highwayman-

-who had somehow knocked a whole carriage on its side and taken out the armed driver in moments-

-and was wearing the opera mask of the Blue Spirit-

-and was posed in the doorway with his head tilted as if surprised at the sight of her even though he hadn't hesitated to knock aside her needles-

-and wait, hadn't Mai seen something about a very dangerous Blue Spirit rebel on a Wanted poster?

The Blue Spirit's head moved, almost as if he was looking around the carriage's interior. Mai took advantage of the distraction to twist her wrist and summon a razor disc that she had flying even before it had fully snapped open. The Blue Spirit flicked the twin broadswords again to bat it out of the air, but in that time Mai had already jumped up, kicked off the wall/bench to give herself some more height, and grabbed onto the doorframe above. The Blue Spirit's gaze tried to follow but her momentum was swinging her up and around to kick with both feet-

The Blue Spirit was fast, all right. His dodge was just enough that her kick only struck at his left boot instead of something more vulnerable and centrally located, but she still hit with enough force to make him slip on the rainy surface of the carriage's side.

The Blue Spirit fell.

The Blue Spirit fell through the carriage door.

Which meant the Blue Spirit fell right onto Mai.

Okay, maybe it wasn't exactly a tactical decision worthy of Azula.

They crashed on the other door (the one currently serving as the floor) with twin grunts, his noticeably masculine. Mai shoved the Blue Spirit off of her, then grabbed a hinge-claw blade from her belt with each hand and came up only to find that he had retrieved his swords. Her attempts to cut and stab were deflected with the flats of the blades.

She feigned hesitation, and as predicted the Blue Spirit sliced in at her. But she was ready to duck beneath the swords and drove her blades towards his knees, sure that she was about to end this fight. Then she was reminded why optimism was a terrible thing when he twisted at the last moment and threw a kick at her side. His boot slammed into her ribs hard enough to make her gasp, her weapons dropping from her hands, and she skidded across the wet floor to the other side of the carriage.

There was a sound of air against sharp metal, and Mai hurriedly turned around to face her attacker, scrambling to pull one of her long stabbing-knives from a sleeve, and looked up just in time to see the Blue Spirit coming in with wide pincer-like slices of his sword arcing in at her-

-she wouldn't be fast enough-

-and each of his blades hit the walls on either side of the compartment and stuck there.

The Blue Spirit looked back and forth between them with frantic glances.

Huh.

Close quarters weren't this guy's preferred fighting ground, either, then.

Mai lunged at him with her knife-

-and he let go of his stuck swords and caught her wrist and twisted-

Her hand involuntarily dropped the knife, but that was fine, as she had come prepared with a second hand. She didn't have time to grab another weapon, so she just delivered an open-palm smack straight to the Blue Spirit's mask. It turned out to be hard enough to sting, but that same solid material was being smashed against its wearer's face by the blow. He made a sound like he wasn't having any fun and let go of her arm.

It all happened so quickly that her knife was still in the process of falling to the floor.

Mai grabbed for it-

-but the Blue Spirit got it first.

He brandished the knife.

She grabbed its twin from her other sleeve.

She looked her opponent right in his blank painted eyes.

And then the knife-duel began.

Apparently, broadswords weren't the only weapons the Blue Spirit liked. He deftly deflected and thrusted and sliced and parried. Mai preferred throwing her weapons, but she hadn't neglected her dueling, and met his every attack even as she found his defenses to be utterly impenetrable. The rain fell down on them through the open ceiling, and their knives sparked from the force of their strikes, but the sounds of the battle were drowned out by their grunts and cries of triumph and snarls of frustration.

It was the most alive that Mai had ever felt.

And it lasted less than a minute.

Then one of her dodges landed her right foot on something much more round and moveable than floor, and it rolled out from under her fast enough to send her crashing down on her back. She grabbed for the long round object when it dropped back towards her face, but then her attention was stolen by the approach of the Blue Spirit.

She expected him to drive his stolen knife into her body and steal her breath forever.

Instead he plucked the treacherous rolly-thing out of the air and looked at it.

And then Mai recognized it. It was the tube containing the message she was supposed to deliver, the one with Azula's personal seal on it-

The masked head shifted, and she could tell that he was looking at her.

Despite the mask's lack of expression, she knew exactly what he was thinking. He was going to take her letter. She'd have to go back to the princess and explain how she had failed to stop a highway thief. It was one thing to lose to a ten-ton Airbending animal, but a random masked robber? Even one who fought like a demon?

She flexed her wrist and shot a sharpened bolt at his neck.

But the Blue Spirit still had her knife, and he deflected it with a wild cry of surprise.

Hm, something about that sounded familiar-

But he was jumping now, landing with spread legs on the blades of the broadswords that were still stuck in the walls. He jumped again, grabbed the doorway in the ceiling, flipped around so that his feet were hooked on the doorway and he could reach down to retrieve his swords, flipped back up and climbed his way out-

-and then Mai remembered that she wasn't just this guy's audience. She raised her other wrist and filled the air with bolts.

All but one missed, but that one landed home in the Blue Spirit's masked forehead just before he disappeared through the door and into the rain. Mai thought for a moment that she had lost him.

Then there was a thud on the roof.

The message tube rolled back in through the open ceiling and fell down into Mai's lap.

As she looked at it, not quite able to believe her luck, the ceiling echoed with the squeal of scrambling boots. Had the Blue Spirit tripped just because she'd tagged him before his last flip? Ha, what a dork.

By the time she managed to climb back up and poke her head into the rain again, the dork in question was gone. Even as the rain full soaked her, she had to smile. This hadn't been boring. And it had nothing to do with Zuko. Now she supposed she should see about the driver who was supposed to be taking her to her destination. And she'd probably have to help get the carriage back on its wheels. Unless, that is, she wanted to walk the rest of the way in the rain.

She sighed and climbed out of her stupid box.

So much for the dawn bringing good fortune.

The rain had died down to a chilling dampness by the time Mai arrived - changed into a new set of clothes, her hair as tamed as it could be by only a single brush and no mirror - at her destination that evening.

That was about only the positive aspect of the situation.

After an exchange of hand signals, stamped papers, and probably some tedious complaints about military life, Mai's carriage was waved through the gate into the main grounds of the Mantapsan Armored Facilities. She was fortunate that the Blue Spirit hadn't killed her driver, because she had only a vague idea of how to deal with a security checkpoint when the people manning it were on her side. Security checkpoints belonging to the enemy were much more straightforward.

The carriage came a stop, and soon the door was opened for her, letting in a breeze that was heavy with the stink of smog and hot metal. Just like Omash- er, New Ozai had been getting by the time she left.

Mai grabbed the message tube that had brought her all this way through rain (and stupid masked bandits) and stepped out into the twilight air with all the grace she could muster. She was on the job, now, so she kept her face as still as a doll's and her head leveled at the precise angle of 'not royalty but close enough to order your death.'

It was wasted on the guard waiting for her, but he wasn't the primary audience for the performance. At least one person at this base would be expecting Mai's best behavior, and there was no telling if she was watching right now.

The guard motioned her to follow and set off towards Mantapsan's main complex.

Whatever 'Armored Facilities' were supposed to mean, the place was more elaborate than anything Mai had seen yet in the colonies, more like a city such as Omashu than an outpost. There were factories and residences, a train station and depot, military offices and construction grounds, soldiers and technicians and slaves and servants. Rows of tanks waited to be loaded onto cargo trains, vast machines surrounded by skeletal scaffolding glowed with the work of welders, and smelters belched black smoke into the sky. And amidst it all, tubes ran everywhere, pumping water from a river bisecting the grounds of the whole facilities.

It was what Father had been starting to turn Omash- er, New Ozai into.

The guard led Mai quickly through the maze of machinery and people, bring her past a line of chained Vocational Prisoners carrying boxes under the supervision of a pair of armed handlers. One of the prisoners raised her eyes to stare back at Mai, an act that technically deserved punishment, but it wasn't worth making a fuss. There was no excitement to be had in torturing an enemy who was already defeated. Victory, as Mai often insisted, was boring.

They reached the Mantapsan Command Center shortly after that, and Mai's escort led her through the dull metal corridors and up steady, reinforced stairs. Their destination proved to be on the second floor, surrounded by offices full of drones doing paperwork. The guard knocked once on a certain heavy door, and Mai waited.

A familiar voice echoed, "Enter."

Mai was ushered into a room that was half-office and half-museum. A massive desk dominated one side, while the other was lined with shelving that displayed miniature models of military machinery- some of them quite familiar. She was surprised to find War Minister Qin leaning over the desk; she would have expected him to be somewhere in the vicinity of Ba Sing Se these days.

She was less surprised to see the tall figure standing up from the desk. After all, this was the person she had come to talk to. The gold edging of the dark armor gleamed in the lamp-light, and the sash of command couldn't be more precise in its draping.

Mai bowed. "Commander Minh, thank you for receiving me. I come on behalf of Princess Azula with a work order." She took the message tube from her belt and held it out atop her palms.

Qin cleared his throat and moved away to browse the displays.

The commander, meanwhile, remained standing behind her desk. "Welcome to Mantapsan. I must say, this is an unexpected surprise. Your mother's last letter said you were just settling in at Omashu."

Mai raised her head just enough to make eye contact. "The princess renamed the city New Ozai when she came to request my services. We are on a special mission for the Fire Lord."

"Ah, quite the opportunity." The corner of the commander's lip quirked in what Mai had learned to recognize as a smile. "But I would expect nothing less of my favorite niece."

Comm- No, Aunt Minh was in a family mood, it seemed. But Mai knew better to lower her guard. "You honor me. I had no idea you valued me so."

"Of course I do. The nephews are hardly worth thinking about, and of all the nieces, you alone seem to have more in mind for your life than a favorable marriage." Aunt Minh tilted her head, and her gaze went to the shelves that Qin was perusing. Mai gave enough of a glance to confirm that the object of attention was a model of a set of extending bridges, not unlike what were used to invade Omashu. "Besides, I introduced your parents to each other. In a way, your existence is my responsibility. Perhaps I should have played matchmaker for more of my sisters."

Mai didn't even like to acknowledge the fact that Mother had carried and birthed her, never mind letting Aunt Minh claim credit for her entire existence. But then, expecting this particular aunt to display some level of perspective and humility was like expecting Ty Lee to read a whole book by herself. Auntie Mura was the only relative on this side of the family who Mai would actually deign to spend time with voluntarily.

But Mai didn't have a death wish, as evidenced by surviving Azula's friendship for all these years, so she just dipped her head again and said, "Well, only peasants have to love all of their relatives."

Aunt Minh barked a laugh and finally stepped out from behind her desk. "Indeed. You're also the only one in the family with any wit. But let us see what the princess requires of the finest assembly facilities in the colonies."

Mai held out the message tube again. Aunt Minh took it and admired the Princess's seal for a moment before breaking it and retrieving the message within. Mai stepped back and kept her head lowered, the very picture of a humble niece. Mother would only take away your dinner for interrupting something important; Aunt Minh was more the type to have you locked in a closet for a day. And then there was what she'd done to Cousin Mihoko that time and the resulting limp-

But keeping quiet didn't mean Mai was going to ignore what was going on around her.

Like the war minister, over there. Qin was pretending to look at a model of the bridges Father had designed for the invasion of New Ozai, yet he was also paying close attention to the little family reunion. He was probably worried about Mai acting on behalf of Father for some political thing. Father used to work for Aunt Minh, after all, and now he was a governor here in the colonies. Maybe Qin thought they were plotting to oust him and take over the Royal Engineering Corp, or something stupid like that. But then, maybe they were. Mai never listened when Father and Mother talked about politics. It was always boring, and besides, if she knew anything, she'd have to tell the truth when Azula asked.

Aunt Minh lowered the paper. "I'm afraid the needs of the princess can't be met by any of the units currently in stock. We do have a suitable chassis available that we can use as a base, but we'll need to manufacture additional parts and put an engineering team on meeting the full list of requirements. I don't suppose I can persuade you to make do with something slower?"

Mai had to shake her head. "Azula is adamant about the speed and durability. It's possible we'll be attacked by a sky bison."

"The Avatar?!" War Minister Qin's squeak echoed through the room as he spun around. "The princess is chasing the Avatar?"

Mai didn't bother answering. She kept her eyes on her family. "How long will it take to complete the work?"

Aunt Minh moved back to her desk and slid a long sheet with a grid on it out from under various other papers. "Our lines and facilities are fully occupied right now. We'll have to shift some things around, but I think we can-"

"No," Qin barked. "The completion of the Ba Sing Se project is our highest priority, by order of the Fire Lord himself!"

Aunt Minh's face went blank. "And yet this latest order comes from his daughter, for a mission he himself assigned. Perhaps, War Minister, we should send a hawk to confirm or clarify your orders. In the meantime, a lead engineer can be designated and briefed, and I will begin exploring the options for shifting the work being done in my facilities. Mai, I'll have someone show you to the nicer guest residence. I presume you'll be remaining onsite until the unit is ready?"

"I will." Mai liked the sound of 'nicer guest residence.' But then, if the likes of War Minister Qin were hanging around, it would make sense to have someplace with real beds and a minimum of elephant-mice. "I'm to send word when the unit is ready, and a pair of drivers will come to pick it up. Then we'll rendezvous with the princess."

"Ah. A shame that Azula herself won't be coming. I've heard such wonderful things about her."

"Yeah, a shame." Aunt Minh had that much right. Azula was everything great about life in the Fire Nation, right down to the chance of getting your face burned off for having a little bit of human compassion in you. "I think she'd like you."

It turned out that the base's nicer guest house was something like a luxury inn. It had servants (more Vocation Prisoners from the Earth Kingdom, but none of them smelled bad), and hot running water, and even a staffed kitchen that would deliver food on order. It was as posh as life got outside of the Fire Nation, ignoring the smell of smoke and industry on the air, and even that was mitigated by what had to be a liberal infusion of perfume into the decor.

Mai was shown to a suite on the top floor, and she immediately demanded that a bath be prepared for her in her rooms. It was ready by the time her order of a bowl of fresh fire-flakes was delivered still sizzling, allowing her to soak and eat away the memory of her earlier brawl in the rain.

She appreciated the comforts, even if they did little to improve the overall situation. Zuko was out there, somewhere. As was the Avatar. (She wasn't sure whether to hope that they were somewhere close to each other.) And here she was, sitting around without even a Ty Lee to entertain her while Aunt Minh put together a new toy for Azula.

At least the Blue Spirit had provided a little diversion.

By the time Mai got out of the bath, her luggage had been brought up from the carriage, and a new robe had even been laid out for her use. Aunt Minh might have once disciplined Tom-Tom so hard that he still wouldn't go near her, but at least she knew how to treat an important guest. Mai completed her daily rituals of brushing her hair with a hundred strokes and sharpening her full collection of weapons, and then decided that she might as well go to bed. She'd been traveling since dawn, after all. And it had thoroughly failed to deliver on either good fortune or a positive outlook.

She left one oil lamp burning on its lowest flame, providing just enough light that if she had to get up in the night, she wouldn't kill herself navigating an unfamiliar room. Then she slipped a folded razor-disc under her pillow, laid her head down, and allowed sleep to take her away.

She might have dreamed, might have imagined finding Zuko and being ordered by Azula to put a knife in his throat, but then again, it might have just been the swirling of her regular thoughts as she drifted off.

She was brought back to wakefulness by noise. Annoying noise. Noise from- the ceiling? Thuds and slamming? Was there a marriage suite up on the roof or-

A sound like the roar of an undead dragon jolted Mai so badly she nearly jumped out of bed. Pieces of wood and tile rained down on her, and she looked up to see something dark and textured stabbing down through the ceiling. What in the world-

And then a demon crashed through the ceiling to land beside her on the bed.

A demon with a familiar face and twin swords in his hands. A demon with had a dent in his mask where a bolt had been pulled out of the forehead.

The Blue Spirit.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter Text

2 - Stone

It was said, by the respected strategists who served the Fire Lord, that time and persistence could wear down even the most solid stone.

But Zuko wondered which was supposed to be the stone in his life- all the difficulties that prevented him from going home, or himself? Which would be worn down first?

This was why he didn't like these supposedly wise sayings; they would serve any master and switch allegiance at the first opportunity. He preferred to give his attention to more practical matters, like how he was supposed to get into the big noisy military base where the Knife Woman was staying.

He didn't know why the Knife Woman was in that fortress, but he knew it somehow involved Azula, and that made the matter his highest priority right now. The Knife Woman had been carrying a message tube with his sister's seal on it, which meant it had something to do with hunting him down. That was the whole reason Azula was in the Earth Kingdom, and she was far too dangerous a foe to be left alone to enact her plan.

(She said Father had called him a miserable failure. But that-)

Azula was also here to arrest Uncle for treason.

Zuko had left Uncle behind, and now there was no way to warn him about whatever this was.

But Zuko would take care of it.

He had to.

It hadn't been hard to follow Knife Woman's carriage, even in the rain. Getting into this complex was another matter, but not impossible. It couldn't be. There was no problem so big that it couldn't be eventually be solved with enough effort, enough stubbornness. And he'd personally proven that fortresses were particularly vulnerable to stubbornness.

As the day turned to night, Zuko had watched the base, noting all the comings and goings, and explored the surrounding countryside. He was especially intrigued about the infiltration possibilities offered by the massive trains that came and went through special gates in the fortress walls, but the number of guards paying attention there was a bad sign. No doubt they knew the vulnerabilities, and had honed their security against other would-be infiltrators.

Zuko preferred to do things his own way.

Dark smoke continued to puff up from beyond the base's walls even after the sun went down. It must be some kind of major manufacturing center, then. He knew the names of a few, but wasn't sure about the minutia of the war effort this far inland.

If was being honest with himself, he wasn't even sure where exactly in the Earth Kingdom he was right now. There were rumors that the Avatar had been involved in something around Omashu, so Zuko was traveling in that vague direction; he knew too well the futility of trying to follow the Avatar's paths exactly, and had to keep reminding himself not to veer north anymore, that he didn't know where the Avatar was ultimately headed. So he had kept moving along the roads, listening at villages and waypoints for rumors of the Avatar or his sky bison, leaving as soon as his Blue Spirit 'procurement' made things a little too tense.

Maybe he shouldn't have used such a recognizable and dramatic mask.

But the mask let him feel like someone else, for a little while. Someone who wasn't such a failure. Someone daring and heroic, like in the theater. Even though the Knife Woman had scarred it by shooting him with a small bolt as he was escaping her carriage.

Well, now he was going to be very daring and heroic by getting into that military base and figuring out what the pretty Knife Woman was doing for Azula.

If nothing else, maybe he could at least remove the Knife Woman from Azula's service. Azula herself was tough enough to fight; he didn't need some strange, beautiful super-warrior trying to stab him at the same time. And taking something away from his sister appealed to him, considering all that she had taken from him. There was nothing she could give that would make up for stealing his chance to return home.

Nothing.

And he had figured out how he was getting into the fortress. A river ran through the grounds, passing under the outer walls. No doubt the entry point was barred to keep infiltrators from simply swimming straight into the place. But just like any living thing, the fortress consumed according to its needs and produced waste as a result.

Some of that waste was in the form of the thick black smoke that wafted through the air above the fortress, and Zuko was willing to bet the river was being used to take care of the rest.

Guards with lanterns patrolled the fields around the fortresss, and the rain earlier would make the ground noisier, but the overcast weather was at least blocking out the moon and stars to make the night as dark as possible. Zuko moved in towards the fortress slowly, passing around the patrols and moving only when their own wet stomping could cover the sound of his own footsteps.

Eventually, he reached the outer walls of the complex, and made his way to the indentation where the river flowed out. There was a lit guard station at the top of the wall there, and the hole where the river flowed out was indeed covered in bars.

Zuko crouched at the riverbank and considered.

While the bars were spaced closely enough to prevent anything like a barge from passing through, a canoe or single swimmer could slip right between them.

If the swimmer could fight the rushing current no doubt caused by all the rain.

If the swimmer could avoid being spotted by the guards.

If the swimmer could withstand whatever poisons in the water had it smelling so sharp.

Zuko hesitated only a moment before diving in.

His mask was immediately flooded, and even though he was holding his breath, a foul metallic taste still somehow filled his mouth. He kicked furiously against the current, glad for a moment that his exile had kept him at sea for so long. The current was strong, but not stronger than the surf of an angry ocean, and he'd humbled himself enough to let his crew teach him how to survive falling overboard.

Zuko wasn't sure how long he paddled and kicked, sometimes rising above the surface of the water to find that he'd lost ground, but he gritted his teeth and told himself that this was much better than the time he nearly drowned beneath the ice at the North Pole. He wouldn't let this stop him, and he had survived worse. That meant victory was just a matter of will.

He might not have his honor, but he had plenty of will.

Without warning, he collided with a metal bar and grabbed onto it. It was a lifeline, allowing him to hold himself up above the surface of the water and catch his breath. He didn't stay long, for fear of being spotted, and the bar provided a stable base to kick off to complete his swim.

And so he passed into the domain of allies who would see him as an enemy.

The interior of the base was busier than Zuko expected, but he found that getting out of the river wouldn't be a problem. It had become an artificial channel into which irregularly-spaced pipes dumped the waste water from various sources, and it wasn't far before he reached the first and clambered up onto the walkway behind it. From there, a ladder took him up to the main grounds of the base.

A base that, apparently, didn't sleep.

The nearby buildings - factories and smelting plants and construction bays - rang with activity and glowed with industrial life. There were people moving around on all kinds of business, but not enough that Zuko had to wait more than a few minutes for a chance to hurry over to the nearest building and hide behind what seemed like a ventilation unit.

He wondered what the army needed so badly that this place couldn't take a break. Was there a shortage of tanks somewhere? Even back when he was getting news from the Navy, it had been hard to keep track of all the new technological advancements. The last he'd heard, the Northern Air Temple had coughed up one last big idea before it fell to the Avatar and some rebels, but there was already a backlog of concepts from its inventors that were all supposed to finally win the war. Could one of them be in production here?

And what did it have to do with Azula?

Still, dripping wet and smelling like a century-old oil rig (it probably wasn't a good idea to Firebend until he changed his clothes), Zuko was starting to feel better about the situation. Now that he was out of the water, he could sneak around and eventually solve the mystery. And in a complex like this, there were plenty of places for the Blue Spirit to hide.

His best chance of figuring out what was going on was to find the Knife Woman. Even if she wasn't still carrying Azula's orders, she'd have to know at least enough for Zuko to start piecing things together.

Now, where in all this industry would a young woman at the height of beauty and fashion be?

It turned out that there was little palace at the center of the complex, right next to the main offices. It wasn't a royal palace, of course, but it still made Zuko steam a little. He had been given a decommissioned little dump of a ship to use to find the Avatar, and was now forced to beg or steal for what he needed, while people were living like this on an army base?

Surely, Father couldn't know about this.

Azula, on the other hand- well, it was a good place to search for her sharp little minion.

Fortunately, no one was overly concerned about the security of a mansion at the center of a military complex. His sneaking methods continued to get him where he needed to go, and he was even able to scale the building using its pointless decorations. The curved, tiled eaves over each floor were a bit hazardous, but nothing he hadn't managed before. He made his way to the top, taking note of all the shuttered windows. Rather than trapping himself inside, he could start at the top and look in at the various rooms until he found the Knife Woman.

It was a good plan, and he was proud of himself for taking a moment to figure out the most efficient method. Uncle sometimes said he didn't think things through, but that wasn't right. Zuko just often lacked the time and opportunity to sit around planning out every detail while nursing a cup of tea. He had to act quickly to secure his destiny, and anyway, adventures like this were often full of surprises. Why waste time trying to list possibilities when there was no way to imagine them all? Breaking down situations as they came was much more practical. Uncle probably just liked playing war-games for the fun of it, so typical for a lazy-

Zuko pulled himself up onto the palace's roof and found himself in a garden.

Huh. He hadn't been expecting this.

It was a very limited garden, with the flowers and tall bushes confined to long planters that formed a grid of paths. Scattered metal poles held up candle-lamps to provide both a thin light and plenty of shadows. This space was probably meant to be a relief from the industrial nature of the rest of the base, another pointless luxury for people who didn't-

Footsteps. Heavy boots. Two sets.

Zuko dived behind one of the standing bushes and curled himself within its shadow.

A pair of soldiers turned the corner around the other side of the bush. Their features were hidden by their helmets and the lack of light, but the spears they carried were plainly visible. A guard patrol. So this building's security wasn't completely lax. Zuko had been right to stay outside, rather than risk whatever patrols were active in the much more limiting confines of the interior. This was no real problem, as long as he stayed alert. He could-

One of the guards stopped. Even through the armor, Zuko could see the soldier's back stiffen.

A voice said, "What?" and the second guard stopped as well.

"You smell that?"

The second guard's head turned back and forth, and Zuko heard sniffling. "Smell what?"

"It's like a burnt-out engine. You know, one of the old types with the thing on the top?"

"Well, sure. They're building all kinds of junk like that here. It's probably not healthy to spend so much time breathing this air. I hope the War Minister finishes up here before-"

"You idiot, they're not breaking down engines up here! The flowers smell nice. But something really stinks of mechanics right about-"

The first guard turned around. He held his spear so that it was pointing vaguely towards the bush Zuko was currently using as a hiding place.

Oh, no.

His clothes!

He'd swam through that weird water-

The guard approached, spear-first. The other reluctantly followed.

This was fine. Zuko would just keep still behind the bush and stay in the shadows. They wouldn't notice him. He would wait this out, and then move on to trying to find the Knife Woman's room.

The guards were now splitting up, circling towards his position from opposite directions.

No, he couldn't stay here. Maybe he could pull himself up over the top of the bush before the guards found him.

Zuko started to stand up-

A new voice called out, "Hey, where'd you guys go?" It came from the next path over, and was followed by more footsteps coming from behind Zuko.

Okay, maybe Zuko hadn't broken this situation down enough before jumping into it. Whatever. He could deal with it. He always did. In a way, it was freeing. Now he didn't need to decide anything, didn't need to stop and think. He could just focus on moving forward.

To that end, he reached for his swords.

Maybe he was no Firebending Master yet, but he had a skill with bladed weapons that had served him well. Father didn't think that a proper Firebender needed to bother with weapons training, so Zuko had never formally studied swords, but just because he didn't need to didn't mean he wasn't interested. The palace library had some scrolls and books on swordfighting, and after Mom had gone, he'd found them a good way of entertaining himself whenever he needed to hide from the rest of the world.

It had even led to one of his few pleasant conversations with Azula's childhood friends, when he'd found the quiet one playing by herself with a nasty-looking thing that she explained was a shank confiscated from a prisoner in the notorious Boiling Rock prison. Her father's brother had given it to her as a gift. Zuko had passed some time showing her how to properly hold it, and the exact kind of stabbing motion that would make the best use of its short blade. She'd been quite impressed, he remembered. Then Azula had come and chased him away.

After his banishment, he'd focused harder on his Firebending, but many of the soldiers under his command had favored swords, so he was able to observe some real fighters at work. He'd even been able to acquire a pair of junked antique blades that he'd repaired and sharpened into useable form.

He eased them out of their scabbard, waiting-

-the first two guards moved into sight from opposite directions-

-the whites of their eyes glistened in the light-

-Zuko stood up-

-one guard's eyes went wide-

-the other took a step back-

-Zuko leaped at them.

Blades met spear shafts in a dual attack that halved the weapons of both his enemies. But that still took Zuko long enough that the one guard was able to shout, "Intruder!" before Zuko could sweep his legs out from under him and slam the butt of a sword into his face. The other guard went down just as easily and much more silently.

But by then the third had arrived, and the sounds of more running boots were approaching through the garden. More than he could fight, but fighting wasn't necessary. At least, not much fighting. He attacked the third guard, slicing in with one blade to allow the shaft of the spear to rise to block the blow, chopping down with the second blade to force his opponent to shift stance to accommodate the dodge, and then an easy shove was enough to send the guard crashing into one of the lamp-poles.

It all took less than a second, and before the lamp candle went out, Zuko changed his position. When the new darkness fell, he was completely lost to sight.

Then the guard reinforcements arrived.

Zuko didn't stay put. He made a crouching dash back towards the edge of the roof and managed to get halfway before someone shouted, "There!" Zuko rose and went into a full run, but a whisper of rushing wind gave him just enough warning to stop and twist before a spear flew through the spot he had been about to occupy. Then something lit up the night air, and Zuko felt his Inner Fire resonate with approaching warmth. He leaped by instinct and flew over a fireball, landing amidst the guards.

(His shirt sizzled painfully from the near miss. Seriously, what had been in that river? It was literally cooking him.)

He struck out at the soldiers with his swords before he could even count them, gaining himself enough room to sidestep and slip out of their center. He ran down another of the garden's paths.

And then he realized he wasn't running out of the garden, he was running deeper into it. And before he could try to find a new path, he emerged into something like a courtyard and found the way forward blocked by a massive dark disk standing up like the 'coin stones' that Earthbenders soldiers used to crush their enemies-

But no, a second look in the light of four open torches around it revealed that this was no danger to Zuko. It was an enormous carving of a gear made of dark mottled stone, the sigil of the Fire Nation etched into the side, standing upright on a short platform. Zuko eyed the dark, course stonework barely long enough to determine that it could function as a useful shield, and jumped behind it just in time to dodge some more spears and fireballs.

Okay. Now what?

A voice from his pursuers echoed in the night: "Squad 2, circle around and cut off the other side of the courtyard. Squads 6 and 4, pincer on the statue. He's trapped himself."

No! Zuko wouldn't let himself be out-maneuvered. Not this time! But what could he do? There were too many soldiers to fight directly, not by himself (although an Airbender ally would maybe make up the difference). And there was no other escape unless he could fly (the Avatar sure would be helpful right about now) or sink into the floor, but he-

Wait.

Zuko looked up at the statue that was currently shielding him. The carved stone gear was twice his height and thicker than he was. He gave it a tap with the tip of his sword, and it felt pretty solid. The coarse texture probably meant it was 'iron stone,' a kind of volcano rock found near deposits of the metal. The Fire Nation preferred it for any work or decoration that required rock, and it was known for being very heavy.

Very heavy.

He heard the movements of troops in the garden paths behind him, as well as the rush of attackers coming into the courtyard on the other side of the statue.

The platform beneath the statue came up to Zuko's knees, and wasn't even as wide as the full length of the carved gear itself. But the statue probably wasn't just resting in place; it would be fastened in some way, most likely a metal rod rising up from the platform and into the stone. He'd need some way to damage it-

He sniffed, taking in the rancid chemical odor of his clothes.

He looked at the four torches forming a square around the statue, the flames completely unshielded.

Well, that was worth a try, right?

He dashed to the nearest pole and yanked it out of the ground. It slid easily, but even as he was running back for cover he heard shouts- too close. He crouched down, ripped away a piece of his left sleeve, and bunched it up at the seam where the statue was standing on the platform. He felt heat and saw the reflection of additional firelight in the air around him. They must be coming up behind him. Spears also rose up over the statue as more soldiers approached from that side-

He stood up, backed away, and held the rod out so that the flame of the torch touched his sacrificed sleeve-

There was light and a flash and something hit him hard and everything went white.

Ow.

Zuko's ability to hear came back first, echoes of shouts from all sides that were soon drowned out by a dragon's groan.

No.

Not a dragon.

The floor.

He snapped into full wakefulness, raising his head and reflexively straightening his mask. He was still on the garden rooftop, not far from the large stone gear, and an array Fire Army soldiers surrounding him. But the circle of guards stood at a distance, trapping him within a considerable open space. Why-

The floor groaned again and he could feel its vibrations through his body. He - very slowly - turned to look back at the gear statue.

It was leaning.

It was leaning towards Zuko.

It was leaning because chunks of both the platform beneath it and the base of the statue itself were missing, the ragged gaps marked by scorch marks.

Okay. The first thing Zuko resolved to do was get rid of these clothes as soon as possible in a way that didn't bring him near any open flames.

For now, he just went still. He understood why the guards didn't want to get close; the floor shouldn't be making those kinds of sounds unless it was severely stressed. The weight of the statue had shifted towards the portions that were already damaged, and any sudden motion-

Zuko spotted his swords a short distance away, but well within the perimeter formed the soldiers.

Well-

He couldn't Firebend, for both safety reasons and to protect his identity. A good set of twin swords wasn't easy to come by. He was currently trapped. He couldn't let himself get caught. He needed to find out what Azula was up to. He needed to capture the Avatar. He needed to go home. He had to get his swords back.

Risky.

But a risk worth taking.

Zuko crawled towards his swords-

-the floor groaned again-

-the soldiers cried out-

-he grabbed the swords-

-a horrible scraping heralded the fall of the statue-

-the soldiers all ran-

-he tensed-

-the statue loomed-

-its edge slammed into the floor just short of him, the force of the impact knocking him back on his butt even as it stabbed through the floor and there was a sound of splintering wood and the floor began collapsing and he tried to get to his feet and run but he was sliding and falling and-

He dropped into a dimly lit room, falling too quickly to make out any of its features. He hit something unusually soft and forgiving, bounced a bit, and realized he had made a fortunate landing on pile of sheets and a mattress.

He was on a bed. A nice bed. In a nice bedroom. A single gas lamp was lit, revealing red walls and a divan and a mirror and a makeup table and a screen and a pile of clothes and a leather case filled with knives and there was someone else in the bed.

There was someone else in the bed.

Zuko turned to look into the wide, shocked eyes of a beautiful woman whose long dark hair glistened even in this half-darkness. She seemed familiar, somehow, but he couldn't-

Case full of knives.

Her.

As Zuko realized exactly who he had fallen into bed with, her eyes narrowed and she snapped her hands towards a pillow. It didn't take a tactical genius to know she was going for a weapon.

So Zuko did the only thing he could.

He threw himself on top of her.

He managed to pin her just short of the pillow, which leaped up in response to the impact of his landing to reveal a hinged something with an excessive amount of points. The Knife Woman hammered at his ribs with one elbow as she tried to reach for the weapon with her free arm.

Then he realized he was still holding his swords.

Yeah, those would help.

He lifted himself off of his opponent enough to bring both blades to cross right in front of her throat, just as he had with the Avatar. And like the Avatar, she immediately went still.

Okay.

Good.

Now what?

The Knife Woman's hair was twisted over her face, so he couldn’t see what expression she might have been wearing. Her robe had fallen off of her left shoulder, though, revealing both the pale and delicate skin of an ideal Household Lady and a steadiness to her muscles that promised swift and painful aggression as soon as he gave her an opening. Where had Azula found this woman?!

Zuko rolled off the bed, pulling her with him.

And then they were standing in her bedroom, his swords still at her throat.

He knew this was an unstable situation. He knew he was being hunted. He knew he needed to be concerned about his safety above all else right now.

But still, he leaned his head forward until the mask was touching the jet-black hair that hung over her ear, and whispered, "What was in that message tube?" It was a shame to break the theater of the Blue Spirit's silence, but he needed answers, and there shouldn't be anyone here who could recognize his voice.

The Knife Woman somehow managed to give a little shake of her head without cutting her own throat on his blades, shifting the hair that had separated them to reveal the side of her face. She wore no expression at all, not worry or anger or even annoyance. And so when her gaze slid and she stared at him out of the corner of her eye, the intensity was like a bolt of lightning that sent tingles up and down his spine.

She drawled, "Is the implied threat that you'll kill me if I don't tell you?" Her voice made it sound like she couldn't care less.

Was he threatening her?

Zuko wanted to know about the message, and so he had asked. He was holding deadly weapons against the pale smooth skin of her throat, but-

"Just tell about the message."

She raised an eyebrow. "No."

Great. Now what? Was she supposed to hurt her? Kill her? She had no weapons, no armor. In fact, now that he thought about it, he didn't think she was wearing anything under her robe-

No, focus on the situation. He could manage this. He hadn't expected the Avatar to come quietly, had he? In fact, that gave him an idea. "Then I'll just take you with me. Maybe in a few days you'll be ready to talk about Azula wants."

"You know Azula, huh?" Her lips pressed together.

Zuko was done with this conversation. He dragged the Knife Woman so that she'd be forced to walk along with him, keeping his swords at her throat until they were close to the pile of clothes on the floor. He used the toe of his boot to lift and then kick up a belt or sash of some kind into the air, returned one of his swords to the scabbard, and then grabbed the floating fabric with the free hand and used it to tie the Knife Woman's wrists together.

She made a sound like a grunt, which he assumed was her discomfort at how tight he was making the bond, but then she said, "That was a slick move. I'm almost impressed enough to forgive you for tying me up with my own chest-wrapping."

...where had Azula found this woman?

Zuko ignored the jibe (she was probably trying to distract him so she could escape or attack) and shoved her to get her moving. He kept a sword pointed at her back and steered her with his free hand on her shoulder, maneuvering her out of the bedroom, through her suite and into a hallway. There was a flight of stairs leading down at the far end of the hallway, and Zuko hurried them towards it. The Knife Woman didn't resist, didn't attempt to shout for help. She really wasn't afraid of him at all, was she? Was this her idea of fun?

And then a sound like a speeding army echoed from behind Zuko, and he whirled to find a sea of soldiers streaming down the stairs coming down from the roof.

They'd found him!

He immediately yanked the Knife Woman in front of him and pointed his sword under her chin.

The soldiers stopped their rush short at the far end of the hallway, thankfully. Zuko began backing away, keeping the Knife Woman between him and any potential attacks. The Firebenders amongst the guards were maintaining their attack stances, and the rest clutched their swords with a tension that betrayed a dangerous yearning.

How did Zuko keep falling into these situations? First the Avatar, and now-

A door right next to Zuko opened, and an old man stepped out, blinking. It took Zuko a second to recognize the new arrival, but War Minister Qin hadn't changed much since the time he attempted to search the Northern Air Temple for the Avatar.

Qin looked straight at Zuko's mask. Then his gaze shifted to the Knife Woman.

Qin looked over to the soldiers. "The girl is expendable. Kill the intruder." Then he slammed the door closed, and Zuko heard the sound of frantic running. Coward!

For a moment, everything remained still.

Then the Firebenders struck, punching out jets of flame converging on Zuko's position. He shoved the Knife Woman as hard as he could and let himself tumble backwards. He hit the floor hard, but he had managed to put enough distance between himself and the incoming fire that he didn't explode. (He really needed to get out of these clothes.) He was on his feet by the time the swordsmen closed in on him, and he had to parry their attacks as he danced between them, using his motion to keep them from trapping or ganging up on him.

But that carried him towards the other soldiers, including the Firebenders, and he realized that he had been fooled. They knew how he fought, now, and they were going to box him in and bring him down.

He parried another stab, sidestepping, and looked around for some kind of escape. There were no windows in the hallway, and the only stairs were at the far ends, and-

-and the Knife Woman was standing at a safe distance from the fight, her hands freed, looking at him. Somehow, she seemed to realize that she had caught his gaze, and she inclined her head as though trying to draw his attention to-

-the open door of her suite.

Zuko jumped back from a soldier's attempt to slice his stomach open and turned to run back the way he came. The Firebenders closing in on him stopped and took defensive stances, but he swerved away from them and bolted back into the suite. He ran through the parlor, into the bedroom, where there was a window-

-the glass shattered upon the twin strike of his swords. He sheathed his weapons and grabbed the curtain, and then he jumped headfirst out into the night.

The curtains went with him, snapping taut and curving his fall before ripping free of their mounts. He let go of them as his momentum carried him up and over to the edge of one of the eaves, and he managed to catch ahold of the roof's edge and arrest his fall with only some slight pain to his arm sockets. He gritted his teeth through the discomfort and proceeded to climb down the side of the building only slightly faster than he could safely go. He reached the ground just as the whistles and gongs sounded, and then it was a frantic run to get back to the waste-water channel.

Then escape would be a simple matter of letting the current carry him back out of the fortress and to safety.

If he could get there before the security forces cut him off.

If he could pass through the bars of the outlet portal before some kind of covering was put into place to trap him.

If he could survive another dunking into whatever nasty stuff was in that water.

If not, he'd forever lose his chance to return home. And maybe die.

He washed up on a barren river bank.

He took a moment to completely strip off his clothes, keeping only his mask and his swords. He was fairly certain they could be cleaned enough not to explode on contact with an open flame. Seriously, what was in that water?

And why had the Knife Woman helped him escape?

Zuko hated mysteries.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter Text

3 - River

It was said, by those who actually spent time outside for fun (the freaks), that rivers are a source of life. Mai, however, was hoping to use a river to find a little death.

Still, even if she didn't find and murder the Blue Spirit today, the search would at least get her away from Aunt Minh.

'Auntie' had shown up shortly after the Blue Spirit's escape, last night. The guest residence had been placed under full lockdown by a combination of regular base security and War Minister Qin's personal guard force, and one of the first things they'd done was deny Mai access to her own suite because of some junk about the 'structural integrity' of the ceiling being compromised. So she was stuck standing in the hallway in her sleeping robe, trying to persuade one of the guards to go into her suite and at least grab some clothes (and an arsenal of knives) that she could put on.

That's when Aunt Minh had arrived in full armor, face free of all expression.

In retrospect, perhaps Mai should have seen a warning in that. But she'd just turned as her aunt approached and said, "Oh, good, can you tell this simpleton that I need-"

Aunt Minh's strike was as quick as it was solid. The open palm of her hand slapped against the side of Mai's face hard enough to make her stumble back.

Before Mai could make her eyes focus again, Aunt Minh had said, "Is this the kind of pathetic service you give the princess? It's a wonder she wastes her time on you."

Ah. Mai was no longer the darling favored niece. The Blue Spirit had made everyone on the base look like an expensive collection of fools, and of course Aunt Minh could not look like a fool. Therefore, it was someone else's fault.

Mai was savvy enough to know that taking the blame could end badly for her. It was the kind of thing that could lead to people burning faces off and calling it justice. Her jaw was starting to ache from the blow, but she couldn't stay silent now. "Princess Azula has never expressed dissatisfaction with my work. What was I supposed to do about any of this?"

"Really?" Aunt Minh grabbed Mai's chin and yanked her close. "You need to ask? A masked spy falls right into your lap, and you let him take you hostage? And then you sit by and do nothing while he escapes? And all this after the same infiltrator delayed your arrival here. How can you be of any use to Azula if a common burglar is beyond your skill?"

Mai had wanted to say that the Blue Spirit was hardly common, that Azula would do well to offer him a job, but her face was still stinging, and unlike Zuko, she could take a hint. "I agree that this Blue Spirit has caused me far too much trouble. I humbly promise that the next time we meet, I will defeat him for the glory of the F-"

"Good," Aunt Minh had barked, finally letting go. "Get going."

Mai had blinked in confusion. "What?"

Aunt Minh looked to the guard. "My failure of a niece requires her weapons. Go into the suite and bring out as many as you can carry."

And then she grabbed Mai by the hair and yanked as she started stalking down the hallway. Mai bit down on a squeal and tried to keep up. Was she going to be locked in a closet for her punishment again?

But Aunt Minh dragged Mai out of the guest residence and across the grounds of the Mantapsan Armored Facilities. Guards and technicians - even a few Vocational Prisoners - were running around in the wake of the Blue Spirit's antics, and some of them paused to look as Mai was hauled along like a misbehaving child.

She should have taken it quietly. She shouldn't have given Aunt Minh anything.

But people were watching and her face still hurt and the air was cold and she'd started stammering, "No! Wait! I- I'm not wearing- I need clothes- and boots- and- and- please-"

But Aunt Minh had stalked on, dragging Mai all the way to the main gate, weakness and sleeping robe on full display to anyone who wanted to risk being interested.

The guards opened the gate just wide enough for Mai to be thrown through it. She stumbled into the same dirt road that her carriage had passed over earlier that evening, and managed to regain her balance just as her case of knives landed with a clatter at her feet.

"Consider yourself banished from this facility," Aunt Minh growled, "until you bring me the Blue Spirit. I don't care what you tell your princess, if you see her again first. And if she'll have anything to do with a servant who has lost her honor."

Mai turned to protest, to at least ask for a mount or something-

She got one last look at her aunt's hard eyes before the gate snapped shut again.

Well, great.

Azula would be sorry, no doubt, that she'd missed the show.

Mai had indulged in a sigh and picked up her knives. It seemed she had a Blue Spirit to find.

The first order of business, though, had been getting into a presentable state. Even a well-maintained road was murder on her bare feet, and the nearest proper colony settlement was (according to the signs at the waypoint markers) a day's walk. She resigned herself to having to spend several days on this stupid manhunt, hopefully finishing before Azula's new toy was ready. Or else. The specific 'elses' weren't worth getting into.

By dawn, Mai's feet were cut and numb, and she knew she still had hours of walking ahead.

Then she found the merchant wagon at the side of the road.

It was parked next to a small campsite with a low fire, and in the dim light Mai could see that it was a pretty fancy wagon, large enough to be its own mobile walk-in stall. Or, at least, it could have been before someone bashed a hole in one side. It was dark within, as the hole wasn't very big, but she could see that a person was moving around inside. Moving and swearing up a storm in the deep voice of a man.

Mai found that a bit comforting, as she felt like swearing, too.

Instead, she hobbled over near the wagon, raised both of her hands in what she hoped was a sign of peace, and shouted, "Hey, you! I'm a fellow traveler who needs help!"

The figure within the wagon stopped moving. Then he called out a suggestion that wouldn't have helped Mai in the least and was probably illegal in most provinces.

This guy was probably a merchant, right?

Mai reached into her satchel of knives, and picked out one of the fancy ones that she only threw at people at parties. "I need boots, clothes, and breakfast. And I have good steel to trade! Are we in business or not?"

After a moment, the merchant stomped out the back of the wagon. It was indeed a man, probably about Father's age. He gave her a look that lingered on the knife in her hand. "Fire Nation, eh? What're you doing paradin' around like that?"

Mai wiggled the knife. "None of your business. Are you trading or not? This is quality craftsmanship. Treat it well and you can pass this knife to your grandkids. Or sell it for a new whatever-it-is that got broken." She wasn't even lying. She regularly threw her weapons away, but she was rich enough to afford good replacements. And of course Azula provided only the best materials for her loyal minions.

The merchant held out his hand for the knife, and she gave it up. Then it occurred to her that she had just handed an Earth Kingdom stranger a deadly weapon, but she dismissed the thought; Blue Spirits aside, she could handle just about any warrior she encountered, even in her sleepies.

The merchant examined the blade, turned it from side to side to check the balance, and gave it a shake. "Not bad. For another two of these, I'll help you."

"Two?" Mai snorted. "A little overpriced for some boots and breakfast, don't you think?"

"I think we ain't haggling. You want to walk to the nearest town, you go ahead. Be fun t'see if you rip up your feet first or cook that milk-skin 'n the sun. One'a your ash-nose friends probably just broke into m'wagon and robbed me, so I'm thinkin' you can pay for yourself and my losses."

'Ash-nose?' What a pervert. But whatever. Mai got another two of her fancier blades out of her satchel. "Fine. Here." She threw them in the dirt at the merchant's feet.

Then he turned towards the wagon and hollered, "Bao! It's safe. Got a girl who needs clothes and food!"

"Eh?" came the echo of a woman's voice from out of the hole in the wagon, but the man didn't seem to care. He had picked up the knives and was sliding them into his belt.

Bao turned out to be a plump woman who, once she got a proper explanation, brought a pair of shoes, some threadbare gray clothes, and a dusty hat out of the wagon. As Mai dressed around the other side (she apparently wasn't allowed inside), Bao put a pot of tea and a bowl of rice porridge over the campfire.

She also wouldn't stop chattering while Mai tried to choke down the sticky porridge. "It's lucky you found us, girl wandering around in something so flimsy. You need to see a healer or something? Bandit hurt you?"

Mai managed an, "I'm fine," and washed some of the porridge down with the tea. She tried to avoid moving as much as possible, hoping to minimize the rubbing of her new(ly purchased) rough-spun clothes against her skin. They weren't the flowing robes she usually favored, so she was also limited in the amount of weapons she could functionally carry.

Bao shook her head. "Lucky. Don't know what things are coming to when they're knocking holes in the sides of the wagon. Didn't used to be like that. Used to be they'd stand in the road and go, 'Your money or your life.' You knew where you stood with that. Now they're breaking in and knocking everything over and wrecking the merchandise and running away with just some clothes and paint. It's because your folk are taking everything from everyone and calling it taxes. No offense, of course. And now even Fire Nation girls are getting robbed of their clothes on the road and I just don't know."

A single word in that rant managed to get Mai's attention. "Paint?"

Bao spat in the fire. "The good blue one, too! We don't see the blue stuff too often, had to pay more for it, but Wei said we could move it for twice that. Twice! And now we're down the cost of what was stolen and broken and we got to fix the wagon. It's going to rain again and we got a hole in the side. Hey, you got more of those knives? It's just that it's a whole bowl of porridge you're eating and they're always looking for good tools at the next village."

Blue paint, huh?

Mai judged the information worth the asking price, and plunked another of her fancy blades into the empty bowl before handing it back.

And so with a limited number of blades in her sleeves and a hat atop her sloppy hair-bun to block the sun, Mai set out to find someone who would be in desperate need of some blue paint. She remembered, last night, that the Blue Spirit had stank of industrial waste, the kind that could peel the color off of walls with just the fumes, and his mask had been looking a bit runnier than it had during their first encounter.

The Royal Fire Academy for Girls had taught a course on tracking (Mai could admit that her whining of "I'm never going to need to know this!" was ill-considered, in retrospect), and it emphasized that rivers were life. They provided clean water and a recognizable landmark. A Blue Spirit who needed to clean up and fix his mask would probably need a river, or a tributary water supply. And according to the map painted on the waypoint she had passed a few hours earlier, there was only one river in the area that wasn't being tainted by Aunt Minh's big fancy facilities.

Too bad it was such a far walk.

The sun was setting when she finally found him.

She didn't find the river until after midday, and of course had no way of knowing whether her quarry would be upstream or downstream. But she could see that it flowed out of a forest in the distance, and any fugitives would probably prefer the cover of the thick trees and aggressive bushes to more open landscape. It would make her searching more difficult, but it also meant that the Blue Spirit would be less likely to see her coming, which was probably a fair trade-off.

It was the first time she had taken a nature walk. She'd spent as much of her life indoors as she possibly could, and even her time outside was all limited to roads and cities and military facilities and depots and other things she could expect to be covered in a safe layer of grunge. When she had to travel, she did so inside a carriage as often as possible. It came from being the daughter of an engineer-turned-politician, and she'd never had any reason to dislike that portion of her existence, at least.

It turned out that water had a scent. It felt refreshing in her nose.

She plunged into the forest, following the river as best as she could. She made sure she also checked all of the river's tributaries, finding brooks and lakes and even a little waterfall. It was interesting, making those discoveries. Even a landscape as plain as this had surprises to share. Sure, it was muddy and too hot and she had to sometimes hack apart a bush to get where she wanted to go, but at least there was no one here to bother her. Just chipmunk-squirrels that sometimes screeched at her, and a bolt from one of her wrist-launchers solved that whether or not she actually hit anything.

But as the day wore on, she started to grow bored with nature. The sun was setting, and she wondered if Aunt Minh had cooled off enough to let her come back for the night. Maybe just long enough for a spot of dinner? If she turned around now, she might be able to get back before midnight.

But no, who was she trying to fool? Zuko wasn't even allowed to keep searching for his chance to return. Going back empty-handed was just asking for an even worse punishment.

Mai kept following the river and gradually becoming aware of the sound of a waterfall somewhere ahead as she hacked at some of the especially thick foliage in her way. Maybe she would stop for a rest when she found it. Waterfalls were supposed to be nice to look at, although it sounded fairly boring to her. How long could someone just stare at a moving curtain of water?

Then she stumbled into a clearing, where a wide set of falls about twice her height glowed orange with the light of the setting sun.

Ugh, so bright. Mai shielded her eyes and turned away-

-and her sight landed on a blue demon mask not far from her feet, freshly painted, drying on top of a rock.

She froze.

Not far behind it, an ostrich-horse was tied to a tree, and pile of clothes - some dusty and green, others wrinkled and black - was lying on top of an empty sack.

She turned slowly back towards the waterfall, and amidst the brightness she realized that the curtain of water was broken by something human-shaped. It moved in place, and she realized it was washing itself.

He.

He was washing himself.

The water fell on a head of dark hair and down a smooth bare back and over thin bare limbs and over a very bare backside.

Mai choked down a shriek and made a semi-controlled crash back into the bushes.

She hadn't meant to look!

Wait.

Why was she acting like this? This wasn't like the time she had stumbled on Zuko crying over his missing mom. The Blue Spirit was an enemy. A criminal. So what if he was- was- was in a vulnerable state? She was a professional (and almost an adult). He was her designated target. This way, she could be absolutely certain that he didn't have a knife up his sleeve. Or any sleeves at all. She should be out there trying to stab him right now!

She'd just ignore his lack of clothes. She'd seen her brother without a diaper, after all. The principles were basically the same. Maybe she could even make some disparaging remarks in a campaign of psychological warfare. Yeah, that would work. This would be fine. She pulled a pair of razor-disks from her sleeves and emerged silently from the bushes to ambush her vulnerable enemy-

-and he was gone.

She turned to look for the mask on the rock and it was gone too and that's when the blade of a broadsword nearly lodged itself in her head.

She rolled forward, losing her hat in the process, and managed to dodge the sharpened steel. But her roll took her straight into the pool of water surrounding the waterfall, so when she snapped back up and flung her razor disks towards land, her soaked sleeves filled the air with droplets that caught the sun.

Through the mist of sparkles, she saw the Blue Spirit bat her blades out of the air with a sword. Of course. He had his mask on with a black cloth tied around his waist to (barely) preserve his modesty, and in his left hand he held a scabbard that still had one sword in it.

Mai reached into her sleeves for more knives and he crossed his sword and scabbard in front of him as he rushed at her-

-and her fingers became tangled in her wet sleeves and ash these stupid peasant clothes!

She ducked under his next chop and twirled away to gain some distance, losing one of her shoes in the process. Her wet clothes clung restrictively to her limbs but she managed to get a knife out of her belt in time to deflect a stabbing attack. The Blue Spirit surrendered to the momentum of the deflection and skidded past her, hooking his scabbard behind her left knee and yanking to send her flying off her feet.

She landed flat on her back and was completely underwater for a moment.

She sat up sputtering, her long hair free of its bun and sticking all over her face. As the Blue Spirit turned back towards her, she jumped to her feet in a spray of sunset-stained liquid and realized that she'd lost her other shoe. And her knife.

That was fine. She hadn't lost her wrist-shooters.

Except she usually aimed for clothes, being content to pin her enemies for a quick victory instead of waiting to see if they would bleed out, and the Blue Spirit wasn't actually wearing much of anything except a cloth that did not look like it would hold on to him very tightly if he tugged at it-

She swallowed and shot a bolt at his mask as he tried to move in again. He dodged it, raising his saber defensively, but the automatic loader would have already put the next bolt into place-

-Mai's next shot didn't actually happen, but instead drops of water sprayed from her wrist-shooter as it clacked with a wet sound and uh oh-

-she raised her other wrist-

-realized she wouldn't have time to line up a shot-

She ducked under his slice and rammed her shoulder right into his chest. He grunted as she hooked her left arm around his waist so that he couldn't get away her from her. That stupid mask filled her vision as they were pressed together-

-wow, these wet peasant clothes were very thin and his skin was very warm-

-and she used her right arm to draw his spare sword from the scabbard he still held and then let go of him to twirl away.

He spun to keep her in sight, his goblin mask as leering as ever but his body language now wary.

She raised the sword in an overhead Lurking Dragon stance and crouched low. It'd been a while since she'd had a sword-lesson with Zuko, as basic and informal as they were, but she remembered enough to do some damage.

The Blue Spirit's head tilted a bit. He seemed a bit put out by the situation.

Mai allowed herself a smile and raised her eyebrows. If he wanted to take this personally, she was willing to get very personal.

(No, wait, that sounded wrong-)

He dropped his scabbard and took a two-handed grip on his saber.

Mai began taking Sweeping Strides to circle him.

He settled into a Thunderstrike stance and started sidestepping to keep her in view.

For a while, they just orbited each other in the pool. The waterfall covered the sound of their movements, glowing a nauseating mix of fire-orange and blood-red.

The ostrich-horse let out a squawk.

Mai attacked, a leap-step that closed the distance enough to for a full-armed stab. He deflected simply by shifting his gripping fists, moving the blade of his sword with minimal effort to shift her stab to the side.

Not bad.

Mai retracted her sword and twirled it, swinging it low enough that the tip of the blade sliced the water at her feet and smacked a glistening spray at her opponent. He flinched at it and she stabbed again, and this time he moved by instinct, dodging even as he tried to block her. It was inefficient, but it worked, blunting her attack, but he was slower to bring his sword back in line, and she managed to chain her strike into a series of chops that hammered away at his defenses.

She thought she might be about to win when he moved his leg and kicked his abandoned scabbard in her face.

She actually managed to catch and bat it away, but it blocked her sight for a critical moment in which he took the initiative and brought a hurricane of his own chops down on her. She knew she didn't have the strength to take the kind of battering that she'd just given him, so she focused on dodging. She leaned and stepped and even squirmed out the way of the deadly cutting edge, using her full flexibility to make herself as substantial as a bored sigh. Her movements and his attacks kept a steady splashing that blocked out the world and stranded them alone in their own little glistening reality.

But it couldn't last forever. Nothing does.

She took a horse stance and raised her saber again to catch his latest strike on the back curve, letting herself sink until she brought him to a stop, then pushing back to try to destabilize him. His feet slipped for a moment before he shifted his stance, growled, and pushed back at her.

Mai decided to teach him a lesson about keeping his cool and stood up to meet his shoving with her own. They were locked in place for a moment, arms bent and straining, their bodies as close as they could get with their scraping swords between them-

And then she twisted the arm with the good wrist-launcher on it so that she could aim at his mask-

-if this launcher was like her other, she should get one good shot before the water ruined the mechanism-

-there was a CLUNK-

-a SPROING-

-and the launcher fell to pieces as the bolt sprang out at the completely wrong angle and shot straight between the Blue Spirit's legs. It struck the water, having only come close to hitting something vital.

They both jumped back.

Mai felt her face warm. "Oops."

"Watch it," he bit out. Then he grabbed for her-

Mai twitched her head to slap him in the mask with her wet hair, dashing away in his moment of blindness. He chased, driving her through the waterfall, but in the gap between the spray and the cliff behind it, she turned and brought her sword back into line. She burst out with a thrust that was the first thing Zuko had taught her about bladed combat, and soon they were having a proper duel, their swords a blur of shining metal and sparkling water. They moved back across the pool, meandering in their storm of combat.

And Mai found herself smiling the whole time.

Well, she was smiling until one of his slices came too close to her face and chopped off a bit of her hair when she snapped her head back.

He even gave a, "Ha!" as if he hadn't been completely losing the fight up to that point.

So she took a two-handed grip on her sword and swung as hard as she good at the stupid-looking mask.

He blocked it, of course, but instead of letting her blade bounce off of his, he angled his sword to carry hers on a new path that left her overextended, and he twisted his wrist and her sword was being ripped from her hands, and she snarled and tried to give him a hip-check as she stumbled past him, and he grunted at the impact and she slipped and fell forward into the water but rolled and turned and prepared for a last stand-

And saw the Blue Spirit grabbing for the cloth that had fallen from his waist.

Oh.

Stay professional-

By the time he got it tied on again, Mai had managed to rip another tri-blade free from her stupid wet peasant clothes and had it pressed against his throat.

"I win," she said.

"Cheater." He raised his hands above his head.

"Yes."

The masked head tilted. "Who are you?"

She quirked an eyebrow. "Who wants to know?"

He didn't reply, but now that they were this close and no longer trying to kill each other, she could read a story on his body. He was thin; the muscle he had was developed, but he had a decidedly bony look that probably didn't come naturally to him. She could spot each of his ribs.

"So," she found herself saying, "you're the Blue Spirit."

"And you belong to Azula," was his reply.

She blinked. "How did you know that?"

"I didn't." He didn't seem the list bit worried about having a trio of sharp metal points at his throat. "I didn't. But I know whose messages you've been delivering."

"Is that what this is about? You're working against Azula?" Why did that feel disappointing?

His head gave a bob that wasn't quite a confirmation. "More like she's working against me. Knowing what she's doing will help me survive."

"Well, you don't have to worry. This is business about the Avatar-" And as she said it, Mai finally remembered the Wanted poster she'd seen about the 'Blue Spirit Rebel.' He'd helped the Avatar escape from the Fire Nation. "You're protecting the Avatar, aren't you?"

He gave a firm shake of his head. "I'm not! I just- he's important-"

Mai tightened her grip on her tri-blade. "Take off that mask."

"No."

She could do it for him, but that would leave her vulnerable. "What are you afraid of? You're my prisoner, anyway. If A- Commander Minh doesn't kill you, you're going to prison for the rest of your life."

He lowered his hands. "How are you going to get me back? I don't see any chains."

Ash. She hadn't thought of that. She was used to operating with a support crew. "So maybe I'll just take care of you myself. One quick stab will do the job. And put your hands back up."

He kept his hands down. "You won't. If you had any desire to hurt me, you wouldn't have been talking to me."

"Shut up." She tensed, ready for him to attack again. She could stab into his throat before he could move, and he had to know that. He wouldn't-

"Why are you even here? All by yourself?" His voice went low as he said, "Is this a game for you? Am I your latest toy? Well this is no game for me, you-"

"You think those fireballs last night were part of a game? You think I'm out here in these peasant rags because I have nothing better to do?" She didn't know why she was talking. She should ignore him and just stab him so she could go back to Aunt Minh. But she couldn't do it quite yet, and needed some way to hurt him instead. "I was banished from the Mantapsan fortress because of you! I can't go back until I take you prisoner or just bring back your head. So get those hands back in the air or I'll do things the easy way."

He stared at her.

She prepared herself to stab him.

He raised his hands.

"Thank you," she found herself saying. And as long as the words were out there, "And thanks for pushing me out of the way of the fireballs last night."

He continued to stare. "You're welcome." His voice had gone soft.

And there was something maddeningly familiar. What about that tone seemed to tickle at her memories?

"That's why I need to know what Azula is doing," he said, voice once again growing hard. "My honor is at stake, too."

His honor?

Mai glanced over at the ostrich horse (which seemed to have completely ignored the whole confrontation). There were no saddlebags, no supply packs. Just the clothes and the empty sack. And the Blue Spirit clearly hadn't been eating lately.

He-

No.

She looked back at him. "I don't care. You're an enemy, and you're trying to manipulate me, and I actually have a use for my honor, you criminal. I'm waiting for someone, someone who might need me when there's no one else, and I-"

Ash, she really was tired, wasn't she? She shouldn't be saying any of this.

She should be stabbing this masked moron instead. All she needed to do was thrust into his throat, drive her blades into his body and let the sour blood flood out-

"If you have a use for honor," the Blue Spirit said, "then maybe we can find a use for each other."

Mai shifted her gaze from his throat to his stupid, stupid mask. "Are you trying to flirt with me?"

He was silent for a long moment. "No. I am trying to make a deal. You're going to take me back to your fortress and end your banishment. And then we can work together to both get what we want."

Mai blinked. "Huh?"

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter Text

4 - Dance

It was said, by poets with too much fascination for the outlawed arts, that the clash of enemies could be a form of dance. Whether in conversation or combat, there is a rhythm and partnership, a patterned grace that creates something beautiful to behold.

Except Zuko's attempts to capture the Avatar had proven that he had two left feet, as far as this metaphor went, and now he was up against an opponent who practically defined grace and beauty.

The Knife Woman kept the points of an evil-looking, hinged blade-weapon at his neck and blinked. "What do you mean, we can work together?"

This was good. Despite the deadly weapon at his neck, and the lack of anything covering his body but the Blue Spirit mask and a (barely adequate) rag, she was intrigued by his (business) proposal. If she wasn't, she wouldn't be asking; she'd be trying to kill him regardless of the consequences, like War Minister Qin last night in the factory-fortress.

Instead, she was standing with him in a pool of water beside a short, wide waterfall. She was dripping wet, in control of the situation, and maybe kind of enjoying it when she wasn't talking about someone- well, that didn't matter. She'd looked happy while fighting him. She'd been playful.

And then there was her asking if he was flirting with her when he was trying to convince her not to kill him.

He hadn't been, but he was starting to suspect that the question was a way of saying that she was flirting with him. He wasn't used to that. The closest he'd ever come to having a girl interested in him was when Song tried to talk him into having hope for the future or something and thought putting her hands all over his scar was something he'd tolerate of a peasant he'd just met.

Did that mean Knife Woman was starting to suspect his true identity?

After all, he was starting-

No.

She couldn't be who he was thinking of. That girl never would press her body against his and narrow her eyes at him as she grabbed his spare sword and yanked it out to use against him.

But then there was the fighting stance she'd taken a second later-

"I think I've thought of a way for both of us to get what we want," he told her, refusing to let himself get (more) distracted. "You can return to the Fire Nation's service, and I can find out what Azula is up to."

The Knife Woman stared at him, and he could see her surprise drain away from her face to leave a professional mask in its place. He tried to draw confidence from his own much more dramatic and less metaphorical mask. After all, he wasn't wearing anything else that could give him confidence right now.

He might have felt better about all of this if he had any practice at talking people into doing what he wanted. (That was definitely one of Azula's strengths, not his. And, come to think of it, Uncle's.) Or if he had a weapon. Or didn't have to hide his Firebending. Of if he was wearing something other than his Blue Spirit mask and a humiliatingly inadequate scrap of cloth.

And if the Knife Woman holding the blades at his throat wasn't such a terrible mix of a devastating fighter, stunningly beautiful girl, and maybe someone he might actually know-

And she didn't want to kill him.

Last night, she'd directed him to a safe escape route when he'd thought he was surrounded.

Now, she was trying to take him prisoner despite that being completely impractical for her.

Maybe Knife Woman didn't really want to hurt him?

"The part I find confusing," she drawled holding her weapon steady at his neck, "is how I can turn you over to a sadistic Fire Nation commander in a way that doesn't kill you. Unless you want to die." She inhaled deeply, and he could actually see her putting on additional layers of self-control. Her posture grew more confident, and grace returned to her movements as she began circling him. She kept her blades pointed at his throat until she passed around his left side, and then before he could even think about moving, she twirled so that she now held her weapon in a throat-slitting position from behind him.

She could have been a dancer, it was such a smooth move. But she was too nice a girl for that. Maybe. (Hopefully?)

Zuko swallowed. "But you don't need to bring me back to restore your honor." She was lucky, that way. Unlike him. "You implied you could bring proof of my death. This wouldn't even be the first time I've convinced an enemy of my demise."

She was behind him, so he couldn't see if she had any reaction. He could just imagine her lack of expression, though. She was back in control of herself, after that rant about losing her honor and waiting for someone to return to her-

No, he couldn't think about that. Uncle said Zuko could jump to conclusions too quickly, and there couldn't be any mistakes with this. He wouldn't be able to stand it.

Her voice drifted from out of sight, "So if I want to go back my luxury guest accommodations, my choice is to either really kill you and become a hero to my homeland, or fake-kill you and leave you running around helping the Avatar to destroy the Fire Nation. Hnnnn, decisions, decisions."

He felt a smirk tug at his mouth, beneath his mask. She was feeling playful again. And perhaps that made her more likely to make a deal.

He was confident enough in his read of a woman standing behind him holding a deadly weapon to his throat that he replied, "I'm not trying to destroy the Fire Nation. But before I explain, it would help if I could put some pants on. Don't you think this is a bit undignified?"

Her whisper sent warm breath into his ear: "I think we both left dignity behind when you fell into my bed last night, don't you?"

Did she have to phrase it like that? "I- uh-"

"Take off that mask, and I'll let you cover the rest of yourself."

He swallowed. He could absolutely not let her see his face. He was too recognizable, and if she knew who Prince Zuko was-

After she'd so confidently stolen his spare sword, she had started the next stage of the fight with an effective but definitely amateur sword-fighting technique.

His amateur sword-fighting technique.

Oh, it hadn't stopped her from holding her own and even getting the upper hand a few times, especially with her speed and strength to make up for her deficiencies. But she'd started their duel by assuming a Perched Dragon stance. As a kid, he used to think that stance looked impressive, but he'd since learned that it was meant for a lighter saber than he liked to use. Her grip was the exact kind of wrong he had perpetrated for a year after misinterpreting an illustration in one of Lu Ten's old books.

It was as if she was a shadow of himself from a certain time in his combat self-education.

But this woman was no one he knew.

She couldn't be.

Especially not-

"It's for your protection that I wear the mask."

The blade at his neck shifted with a flash of light, and then it was once again pointed at him for a stabbing. Knife Woman stalked back into view from his right, gazing at him with narrowed eyes. "I don't need protection."

"I believe you," he said truthfully. "And I offer no insult by making it my gift to you."

She pressed her lips together, but otherwise there was nothing to read from her face.

Then she kicked at his shin with her bare foot. "March. Out of the water. Keep your hands up and go stand in front of that tree."

He complied, further encouraged by the lack of throat-slitting, and she followed with her blade pointed at his left kidney. Once he was standing in front of the tree she'd indicated, a curving thing with a trunk that forked at about his chest-level, she slapped his arms down and pushed them so that he was resting his palms right where the split was. What could she-

THUNK

THUNK

THUNK

THUNK

Zuko reflexively tugged his hands back, but they wouldn't move. Each of his wrists was pinned in place by the crossed handles of a pair of knives stabbed deep into the wood of the tree. The skin of his wrists, of course, hadn't even been nicked.

Knife Woman stepped out in front of him again and leaned against the tree. "So. You were saying?"

He had to smile, beneath his mask. If he had been this smooth with the Waterbender peasant, that time he tied her to a tree, he had no doubt that she'd have given up her compatriots. "I'm not an enemy of the Fire Nation."

"And yet you helped the Avatar, attacked me in my carriage, and broke into the Fire Nation's premiere manufacturing facilities in the colonies."

He shook his head. "I thought your carriage had another fat Earth Kingdom merchant in it who could 'donate' to my cause. I have much to gain if the Fire Nation wins the war. But not if certain people get what they want. Princess Azula is one of them. I-"

He needed to consider his words. He couldn't give himself away, but he was a terrible liar. So maybe the truth would help? "I saw that you were delivering a message for her. I just- I need to know what she's doing. That's all. I went looking for you in the fortress, or for that message. I even tried to spare the lives of the guards. They were the ones trying to kill me." He remembered how Knife Woman had been in his arms when Qin's soldiers had thrown their fireballs. "And they tried to kill you."

And he'd pushed her away so that she wouldn't get hurt.

He couldn't tell if the reminder affected her at all. She just looked at him with that inscrutable gaze of hers. "Everything you're telling me is so vague. How am I supposed to know that it isn't all lies?"

"I'm not asking for charity. If you tell me what Azula wants, I'll give you my mask and enough of my blood to convince everyone that you killed me."

Her chin tilted upward just a bit. "I thought I couldn't see your face for my own protection."

"That's right." But he could tell that he was losing on this point. She kept coming back to the matter of his face. She didn't trust him enough to let him remain a stranger.

Maybe he should just let her see. Maybe she wouldn't recognize him. Or maybe she wouldn't be revolted by the lesson seared onto his face. Or maybe she would be someone he knew, someone who-

No.

"I'm not," he said, "asking much of you. A little information, and a little discretion. That's it. In return, I'm giving you your honor back. There are people who ache for a deal like that."

She arched an eyebrow. "It's a funny kind of honor that I earn by betraying my princess."

Zuko said nothing. It was a good point. But that was how it worked out, this time.

Knife Woman tilted her head from side to side.

Then she said, "I'll think about it."

What?

She stalked past him, and he tried to turn to keep her in sight, but those knives of hers kept his wrists pinned to the tree, and his vision was limited by the mask. "Where are you going?"

"To get out of these wet clothes and dry them off. You're fine, there." He heard the slap of wet fabric being dropped onto stone. "I'll let you know when I've come to a decision."

Oh.

Okay.

Maybe this was a good sign?

Or maybe he'd ruined this 'dance' by tripping over himself in his eagerness to twirl his partner.

(He had no idea if that metaphor made any sense. Dancing carried a heavy fine in most civilized provinces.)

Zuko didn't realize he'd fallen asleep until he woke up.

He was draped over the forked tree, his wrists still held in place with the knives. It was dark, but he could hear the waterfall splashing behind him. He forced himself up, his joints creaking as he moved and his muscles all throbbing with a stiff soreness. Sleeping while sprawled over a slanted tree was not something he recommended.

At least he was still wearing his mask. How much time had passed? The sun had been setting when Knife Woman had left him to go dry off. If it was dark now, then it might just have been a few hours. Had she left and gone for reinforcements? But he couldn't believe she'd just walk away without unmasking him. He needed to investigate. But he was stuck to a tree.

He was starting to think that maybe he'd gone a little over the top with the Waterbender peasant, that time. Being stuck on a tree was very frustrating.

Well, if Knife Woman wasn't around-

He breathed, just as Uncle taught him, and then exhaled in a burst as he extended his will into his fists. Fire blazed to life in the darkness, illuminating the little patch of forest around him and sizzling the damp bark of the tree. He kept up the flame, flexing his wrists the whole time against the knife-handles that were pinning him, and as the wood slowly heated and burned, he felt them loosening. Finally, one knife shifted enough for him to slip his right hand free, and he let his fire fade. Then it was a simple matter of yanking the other knives free until he could get his left hand out.

Aha! The Blue Spirit was victorious again! Or, at least, still surviving. But that was enough.

He turned around, finding his darkened camp, the wide waterfall, and a night sky that was starting to lighten in the east-

The east?

The sun was rising!

He'd been asleep all night!

He hurried to find some clothes and his swords. He couldn't know when the Knife Woman had left, but she was his one chance to find out what Azula was doing, and if she had gotten away, then he-

-found the Knife Woman's clothes lying on one of the wide rocks near the pool at the base of the waterfall. He touched them. They were dry.

He looked around more slowly, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness again after his little Firebending trick. His swords were back in their sheath, which had been retrieved from the water and left out to dry next to the clothes. A pile of knives and the pieces of her broken wrist-shooters had been gathered in the hat she'd been wearing when she found him. It, too was dry. And there was a black leather case that proved to be full of all manner of small bladed weapons, with a few worrying empty slots.

Someone had been busy.

He stepped carefully around the rock.

The Knife Woman was completely unconscious, sitting propped up against it with her arms folded over her stomach.

Oh.

Her tangled hair spilled over her face, not quite hiding that her mouth was hanging open and she was drooling. She was wearing the same thin sleeping robe as when he'd fallen into her bed during his infiltration of the fortress. Had she brought it with her? Strange. But good planning.

He should be getting some rope to tie her up, he knew. She was a whirlwind of combat when she was awake, and this might be his only opportunity to make her his. (Prisoner. His prisoner.) She'd been reluctant to make a deal with him. He could kidnap her and just refuse to feed her until she revealed Azula's plans. She'd wake up in his power.

But there was the way she fought with that sword. And her link to Azula. And that person she said she was waiting for-

He crouched in front of her, and examined her visage in the growing dawn light.

She was beautiful, of course. But he wasn't looking at that. He made himself study the shape of her face, the angle of her nose, the curve of her chin. He thought back to a shy girl who'd found him crying alone one day, a girl who once grinned and showed off the genuine prison-shank her uncle had sent her, a girl who watched him so seriously and respectfully as he demonstrated the proper motions for stabbing. A girl whose face seemed to shift from deathly pale to worrying red in an instant, and never according to any logic he could discern.

She couldn't have grown up into this stunning, unpredictable women who came to electrified life when risking herself in personal combat.

Could she?

Zuko stood up and decided to put some clothes on before he did anything else.

Zuko waited for her. The sky was bright blue again when she finally woke up.

Her eyes were barely open when she noticed him crouched in front of her, but she reacted in an instant, whipping her hair out of her eyes, tensing her limbs and forming a fist with one hand while the other to tried to tug her robe over her legs.

They stared at each other like that.

She gave up trying to cover her legs. "I fell asleep waiting for my clothes to dry."

He had figured as much. "It's time to make a decision."

An expression tried to come to life on her face, but she killed it before Zuko could see what it was. "I just woke up. Can I have a minute to freshen up, first?"

Zuko held out the damp rag he'd prepared for her. "Here. You have some drool on your chin."

Her eyebrows drew together for a moment. She reached out to take the rag, her motions jerky. Her fingers brushed against his gloves as they closed around the rag-

-and then she whipped it into his masked face and for a moment he was blind and then her body slammed into his stomach.

Oh for-

He ripped the rag off his mask and began fighting again.

The six blades up her sleeves didn't surprise him. He was also expecting the razors she produced from within her robe. He was a bit taken aback at the hinged tri-blade she had somehow hidden beneath the lower hem that was so spectacularly failing to cover her legs, but he was able to disarm her of that, as well. It seemed to be the last of her weapons, but she didn't stop fighting him.

Thankfully, she was no grappler. He endured her elbow jabs and knee slams and head-butts and even an attempted foot-stomp (although what she thought her scraped bare feet were going to do to his boots, he had no idea) until he managed to toss her away.

She landed on her feet in a crouch, hair whipping. She was breathing hard, but as her eyes focused on him, she gave a little shrug. "Well, you can't blame me for trying."

No, he supposed he couldn't. He would have done the same thing.

But he stayed in his fighting stance. Just in case.

She relaxed and retrieved the rag she'd thrown in his face. "Anyway, you have a deal." Her eyes fell from him as she wiped the drool on her chin. "Info on Azula for proof of your 'death' and then we can both put this whole affair behind us."

Really? Just like that?

He stayed in his stance. "You're sure?"

She snorted, and very carefully held the rag out and arm's length and carefully placed it on the ground. "The situation is a little different now that I'm not holding a knife to your throat. I guess killing you is no long an option, so I'll take the other choice, please."

She didn't sound upset about it.

"Fine." He lowered his hands but didn't entirely relax. "You first."

"Have you ever heard of a tank-train?"

He tried to think. He knew of tanks and trains, of course, but the combination didn't bring anything to mind. He shook his head.

Knife Woman gave a twitch of her shoulder that might have been a shrug. "They're not common. It's an armored train that doesn't need tracks. It's fast and it's heavy, and most of them have big spikes poking out in front."

"Why are you telling me about this?"

She nodded. "Azula wants one. A special order for a tank-train as fast as a sky-bison and heavier."

A sky-bison!

Azula was chasing the Avatar!

Zuko nearly started running off in pursuit of one or both of them before he remembered that he had no idea where either one was, and he wasn't supposed to be 'Zuko' right now. He had to act casual. He had to pretend he-

Forget it. "Where is the tank-train now? Tell me!"

Her eyebrows rose. "I was going to. Anyway, it's no surprise. They're building it to order at the Mantapsan Armored Facilities."

Zuko was starting to feel dizzy.

Why wasn't he allowed to just whistle up new technology for chasing the Avatar? He had been stuck with the oldest ship in the fleet and-

No.

There was a reason. This was all Father's will. Zuko needed- He needed to prove himself. If he had an army helping him, it wouldn't be his accomplishment. Not really. Azula didn't have to prove anything; she was just cleaning up his mess (and enjoying it a little too much). Father was wise in his decisions.

Zuko just had to figure out a way to power through this latest obstacle. He wouldn't give up. He couldn't.

The Knife Woman was looking at him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He turned away from her. She was a distraction. It didn't matter who she was. She was helping Azula. He needed to-

He needed to-

He needed to fulfill his end of the bargain. She had given him the information he asked for.

And for all she'd made him work for it, she hadn't actually hurt him. He was proving himself, honorably.

For a moment he felt the urge to rush over and hug her. But he was pretty sure that wouldn't be a good idea, as much as having her in his arms might be nice. She could still have a blade on her, somewhere. And he wasn't going to try to imagine where; madness awaited him down that road, he was sure.

He clicked his tongue, and his ostrich-horse trotted over . His few belongings had already been packed up, and all he had to do was swing himself up into the saddle to be on the move.

"Hey," said Knife Woman. "I told you what you want to know!"

Zuko spurred his mount into motion.

The Knife Woman hurried after him.

But her feet were hurt, and she wasn't able to fun too fast. The ostrich-horse needed only to keep to a light trot to stay ahead of her.

Ahead of her, where she couldn't see his face.

Zuko removed his mask, and then the glove on his left hand. He took out his dagger - the one that reminded him to never give up - and one quick slice was all that was needed to cut the skin across his left hand's palm. He held it over his mask and squeezed.

The blood dripped all over the leering visage of the Blue Spirit.

He turned it over and repeated the process. He made sure to spill extra blood where the mask would cover his mouth; if he had been fatally stabbed, there was a good chance he would have coughed up blood, and he wanted the Knife Woman's evidence to pass muster. When he was satisfied, he tossed the mask behind him, and spurred the ostrich-horse into a run.

He left her behind with her prize.

Now he needed to find his.

But how?

How could he compete with Azula's resources?

The Knife Woman was out of sight when the answer came to him.

Of course! It was so simple! It would prove his strength, but give him what he needed to accomplish his task. It would take a lot of work, but that wasn't discouraging. He'd put so much work into finding the Avatar, already. It was easy to do more when his goal was so close. And then he could go home. He could prove himself to father.

And he could maybe learn the Knife Woman's name.

He could confirm if she was Mai.

His heart felt light for the first time in a while as he slowed the ostrich-horse and turned it around again.

He knew where she was going, and his (stolen) mount was much faster than her, so it wasn't hard to beat her back to the fortress.

What had she called it? The Mantapsan Armored Facilities? He'd heard of them. They supplied the Ba Sing Se efforts. That made sense, if War Minister Qin was there. They must be cooking up something that might, on a good day, equal Uncle's accomplishments almost five years ago.

Heh.

Zuko set up a camp out of sight of the fortress, up-river (because down-river was an ashing health hazard), and tied the ostrich-horse to a tree with a rope long enough for it to access a tributary to the main river. It could catch itself some fish while Zuko did real work. (He made a mental note to see about stealing himself some food while he was on his daring adventure to finally get the key to capturing the Avatar.) He strapped his swords to his back, and retrieved one last thing from his supplies.

His backup Blue Spirit mask.

Then he snuck his way back to the fortress to watch and wait.

The Knife Woman returned after dark.

Zuko was impressed; it was a fairly long walk, even in her more practical traveling clothes, and she had to have walked the same distance the day before with little or no food since. But then, he was getting used to being impressed by her. It seemed like he was impressed every time she made a face at him. Or tried to kill him. Which were often at the same time.

All of the fortress's security was focused on her as she made her way to the front gate. There was some activity when she presented herself; no doubt they were checking the 'evidence' of her victory and confirming that her banishment was at an end.

That's when he began moving. He'd been watching the fortress all day, in addition to his observations from the other night. The fortress was secure, definitely, but guards were human, and with everyone looking (understandably) at the striking young lady coming back from the field of battle with a bloody trophy-

And, of course, the dark was the Blue Spirit's ally.

Slip around the outer patrol. Travel in bursts, only when eyes were elsewhere, and make use of other sounds to cover the whisper of movement.

The fortress walls were smooth, but the parts that were meant to slide away to let the trains in couldn't be. They were too segmented, with too much machinery involved. Zuko had climbed ship-rigging in storms, so this was no great hardship. It was slow, and in other cases, he probably would have been caught by watching guards-

-but he slipped over the top of the wall without a problem, and made his way down in the shadows.

He was in.

Once again, the sprawl of the engineering facilities gave him what he needed to move around out of sight.

And the Knife Woman's homecoming was quite noticeable.

A woman in a commander's armor escorted Knife Woman back across the grounds, talking loudly enough that Zuko could hear her happy tone without catching any of the words. They passed by one of the workyards, and the commander pointed to a boxy thing that resembled a train car. Workers were in the process of welding armored plates onto it, and the commander made a point of walking over to a pile of the plates and saying something about them.

The Knife Woman gave a low reply, and then they both headed towards the palatial residence.

Zuko had gotten in trouble there the other night, but now he knew the security. He knew how to climb the outside of the building and knew not to go anywhere near the roof.

And he knew what floor the Knife Woman was staying on. Her old room would have been closed off thanks to the damage he did, of course. But windows were such helpful things when it came to tracking people.

An hour later, he had found her.

She was sitting in front of a mirror, swathed in a black robe long enough that the bottom trailed across the floor to trace a path from a copper tub. She was brushing her hair slowly and precisely.

He took a moment to admire the sight. He'd been doing a lot of climbing, after all. If things didn't go well, being rested and ready could save his life.

Then he used his dagger to unlatch the window. He opened it soundlessly, began to ease his way in-

-and then a hairbrush crashed into his mask and he slipped and tumbled forward and landed in a heap on the floor.

When he looked up again, Knife Woman was standing above him, arms out at her sides and long needles held between each of her fingers. Her eyes were wide and her voice was strained as she said, "You?! Again?"

"Yes?"

She snorted. "It is you. I recognize the voice." Her eyes narrowed. "Have we- have we met before the other day? There's something familiar-"

No. He couldn't do this now. "I need to ask you one more thing."

"Ha. No." She bent over and retrieved her hairbrush, and then turned to move back towards her mirror.

"No?" But he needed-

"We're done. " She sat down and began brushing again "I'm the golden niece once more, and you're officially dead. Get out of here and don't be seen."

"But I need you."

She stopped. She turned around. She raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

He nodded, and got to his feet. "I'm going to steal the tank-train, and I need to know-"

And then she burst into laughter.

He wasn't sure whether he was humiliated or delighted.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter Text

5 - Run

It was said, by the kinds of minds who think saying something obvious is a good substitute for offering practical solutions, that you can't run before you walk.

Then again, perhaps it wasn't so obvious, if Mai had done the exact opposite.

She was a born minion. A well-dressed, nice-smelling, very efficient thug. She was supposed to have no greater ambition in life than to stab whoever Azula pointed to, and otherwise avoid thinking as much as possible. It was how her parents had risen to the height of Fire Nation society (but with less stabbing) and how the Fire Nation had all but conquered the world. No doubt the Fire Lord himself was pretty good at burning things first and not asking questions later, judging from his parenting strategies. That was the accepted way, and to do anything else would be to break her body against it. Just like Zuko.

If Mai wanted to have a mind of her own, little inconsequential rebellions would have been a good start. And yet somehow she had found herself playing the kind of treasonous games that could get her killed if she was caught.

(She hoped she could blame Zuko for all of this. Otherwise, it would be her fault, and that couldn't be right.)

She had passed the point of no return when she brought the bloody Blue Spirit mask to her least favorite aunt. The guards at the Mantapsan Armored Facilities had actually made her stay outside the massive front gate while they carried the news of her 'victory' to Aunt Commander Minh. The wait was just long enough for Mai to start worrying that the little deception she and the Blue Spirit had cooked up wouldn't work- that Aunt Minh would continue to refuse her entrance to the fortress and make her either walk all the way back to Azula and explain her failures or go kill the Blue Spirit for real this time.

She wondered if she could bring herself to do it.

But then the gate opened, and the great Commander Minh walked out in full uniform with a smile on her face. "Ah, my favorite niece at last returns victorious. I never doubted you for a moment."

Mai brought her hands together for a formal bow, partially to keep herself from making the heretical and more-than-a-little obscene finger gestures that she so desperately wanted to right now. "Thank you for your confidence, and for the chance to restore my honor. And murdering that masked hobo was fun, too."

It wasn't even fully a lie. Now that it was over, Mai could admit that the parts where she and the Blue Spirit had tried to kill each other had been a little bit fun. For sure, having a sword duel with a naked man was the opposite of boring, never mind the entertaining back-and-forth that was their attempts to take each other prisoner. It was almost like arguing with Ty Lee, except there were swords involved and the wardrobe malfunctions were truly accidents.

Aunt Minh nodded as though she expected that response (but she'd known Mai all her life, so she probably had), and motioned for Mai to follow her back into the smoky air and mechanical din of the Mantapsan Facilities grounds. As the gate ground closed behind them, Aunt Minh had said, "And did you discover what the Blue Spirit wanted from us? My investigations found no evidence of sabotage."

Ah. The problem here was that Mai had indeed gotten to know the Blue Spirit well enough to do a little illicit conspiring when no one was looking. The Blue Spirit wanted to know what Azula was doing so that he could ruin said doings for his own profit. And Mai had helped him, telling him about Azula's order for a tank-train with which to chase the Avatar and now perpetrating a fake report of his death. She was, in fact, committing treason with the Blue Spirit. It was both dirty and exciting.

It wasn't like the treason especially bothered Mai. If the Blue Spirit did something to ruin Azula's chance to capture the Avatar, oh well. Maybe someone else would have the opportunity to catch the little bald freak and become a hero. Someone who needed it more-

But the problem with committing treason was that people could get fatally upset about it. Fatal for Mai, that is. Sadly, she hadn't yet figured out how to make Aunt Minh keel over without leaving any telltale knife-holes.

So Mai had walked steadily across the grounds of the facility and kept her face blank as she said, "Would you believe that the Blue Spirit was actually Fire Nation under that mask? Most of his actions were part of some political plot that would profit him or his faction. I admit most of the details went over my head. And, to be fair, he was kind of hard to understand, what with the fatal wounds and all the bubbling."

Aunt Minh gave a sigh that was all too familiar in its sound. "I wish I could say I was surprised. I expected a local rebel, but- well, as the war draws to a close, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of this kind of thing. The Fire Lord will have to bring greater discipline to his people, and I'm sure the Princess Azula will be a great help to him. Speaking of whom, War Minister Qin was able to clarify the priority of his Ba Sing Se project, to his own disappointment. We've pulled a team to construct the Princess's tank-train, and my engineers are confident that they'll be able to meet her requirements. Would you like to see the work in progress?"

Mai didn't. "Sure, why not?"

Aunt Minh had led the way over to the construction yards, where a tank-train was indeed being assembled amidst the larger components of Qin's project. She gave some explanation of the armor and how some new honeycomb design would withstand a bison-hit while remaining light enough to keep the vehicle fast, but Mai only half-listened. She had little interest in technical matters; she only cared if the thing worked.

Once she was satisfied that Mai had endured enough engineering babble, Aunt Minh had nodded. "You probably wore yourself out, chasing down that masked traitor. I've ordered a new room prepared for you in the guest residence. Your old one is still under repair. Why don't you retire for the night? The tank-train will take another 48 hours to complete, and I have already sent word to the princess. There is nothing for you to do but represent Azula in case a question comes up."

"Sounds good." Mai suppressed a yawn and bowed to her aunt. "I bid you good night, and thank you once again for your generosity." She held the bow for a moment, and then turned to go-

"One thing last thing," Aunt Minh had said.

Mai paused.

"What did the Blue Spirit look like, under that mask?"

Ironically, of all the parts of the guy that Mai had seen (and there was precious little she hadn't, but thankfully no one would ever find out about that), his face was still a mystery to her. She could only go by his voice and his behavior to conjure up an image of what might lie beneath the snarling goblin.

"Just a boy." Mai had shrugged at her aunt. "Nothing more."

It was probably even true. She hoped it was.

Mai, in her naïveté, had thought that would be the end of it. That she had successfully manipulated everyone and gotten, in the short term at least, what she wanted. She had celebrated with dessert for dinner (or rather, three desserts for dinner, because she hadn't eaten since yesterday's rice-gruel breakfast) and then a long bath.

If the time was tainted by thoughts of where Zuko was tonight, and if he was eating enough, that was just part of serving her nation. Forever.

Then the Blue Spirit had broken into her room while she was brushing her hair, and declared - in that voice of his that so niggled at her mind - his intention to steal Azula's tank-train.

Mai surprised herself by cackling as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

And it kind of was. How could one guy with a sword steal an advanced war-machine from the most capable military manufacturing facility in the world? It was impossible, and yet he was so earnest. He was going to die, and her treason would be discovered, and then she would die, and Zuko would probably die, and everyone important would be dead. And he had announced his plan like he going down to the market to buy a scarf.

Mai laughed even as her stomach clenched enough to hurt.

"I'm serious," the Blue Spirit insisted. There was a childish petulance to his tone that made it even funnier.

"I know." But Mai forced herself back under control and wiped tears from her eyes. "That's why it's funny." As she grew serious again, the weariness in her body seemed to weigh her down with a new urgency. She went over to the room's bed to lay down, not even bothering with the covers, and closed her eyes. She knew the Blue Spirit wouldn't hurt her, now, so she could show as much physical vulnerability as she wanted. "Go away and stop trying to get me killed." She rolled over to show her back to him-

-wait-

-she snapped upright and glared at the Blue Spirit. "Why do you have your mask? Did you steal it back? Do they already know I helped you?"

"What? Oh." He shook his head. "This is my spare. I actually have a third, too."

She relaxed and let herself collapse again. "Of course you do. But you still stole some paint to touch up the first mask."

He crossed his arms over his chest, and she could tell that he was glaring at her behind his mask. "A man in my position can't afford to throw away resources."

"No. Just your life." She closed her eyes again.

He didn't leave. "If you help me, I think there's a chance. Then I can use the tank-train to beat Azula to the prize. You and I both win."

That was an odd enough statement to make her look at him again. "How do I win? I was already winning before you risked my life by showing up here again. Now at best I can break even."

He came over and sat down beside her on the bed. "You helped me before, for your own reasons."

"No, I didn't. You turned the tables on me, remember? I had no choice." Technically, she had turned the tables on herself by falling asleep while he was her prisoner, but she was willing to give him this one. She was very generous, that way.

He leaned over her. "Is that what you're telling yourself? I didn't realize you're a coward."

Oh, that was it. She grabbed one of the pillows on the bed, harnessed her Qi, and snapped her arm out to throw the pillow straight into the Blue Spirit's face. It flew with the speed of an arrow and impacted with enough force to knock him completely off the bed. He crashed to the floor with a cry of surprise.

Why did his voice sound so familiar?

Mai crawled over to look down at where he was crumpled on the floor. "I'm a coward, huh? Says the masked idiot who lost a fight because he was distracted by dropping his towel."

The Blue Spirit sat up on the floor and adjusted his mask. "A brave warrior knows why she's fighting. But you refuse to see it."

"Oh, yeah? Why are you fighting?" She remembered how vague he was, back beside that waterfall, when she demanded explanations and got only allusions to the political games he might be playing. "Or can't you even admit them to yourself?"

"I'm fighting to restore my honor." He got to his feet again, squaring his shoulders. "But it will take more than a bloody mask to do it. I need the tank-train. And I won't let the possibility of dying stand in my way. Unlike you."

She didn't like the way he was towering over her, now, but she wasn't going to show that by standing up. Instead, made a show of languidly sprawling down on the bed, looking up at him the whole time. "I don't have a way. I got everything I wanted already. Risking my life now would just be stupid. Like you."

"Really? Yesterday, you said you had a use for your honor. You said there's someone who might need you. Someone who had no one else."

Oh, yeah. Mai had forgotten about that. She'd let herself get all- all- all flustered by this jerk and had almost started talking about Zuko.

She stared back at the Blue Spirit like she didn't care. "And that's another reason for me to stay alive. You're bad at arguing."

"This person can't be worth much if she's leaving you to deal with the likes of Azula."

Really? Really? Mai felt her face tightening before she could get it under control. "He has no choice. That's why he might need me."

He curled forward and leaned his hands on either side of her head. He was upside-down from her perspective, but the mask filled her entire field of vision. "And who exactly is this someone?"

She licked her lips. "Eat ash."

"Maybe- maybe you need to do more than just stay alive, if you want to help this person."

Hah. Sure. She reached up to push the mask away from her. "Whatever, Blue Spirit. Still dressing like a reject from the Ember Island Players for my protection? If you think you can charm me into babbling my life story, you're more of an idiot than I realized. And I already thought you were pretty stupid when you announced you're stealing the tank-train, so good job."

He let himself be pushed back. "What's your name?"

Mai blinked. He didn't know? She was used to everyone knowing her name- well, everyone important, anyway. She couldn't recall mentioning it, or her family, in any of their little verbal duels. Or during their actual duels. She had even held back that Aunt Minh was a relative.

She smirked up at that ridiculous mask. "What kind of an idiot would I be to give my name to a complete stranger?"

He was too quick to answer, "I'm Lee."

She snorted. "You can call me Blades."

"That's not your real name." But if he was attempting to project any menace at her, he was falling far short and into the realm of 'pouty.'

She didn't much care. "When did I say it was?"

He stared at her, silent and faceless, and she turned the same regard back on him.

Why did his voice sound so familiar?

"Maybe," he said, finally turning away from her, "it's in your best interest if Azula doesn't get her new toy. That's why you told me about it before. That's why it was so easy to make a deal with you." He walked up to the mirror, and looked at his reflection.

How could he know that?

Mai pushed with a foot against the bed's headboard so that she could keep an eye on him without sitting up and acting like she was interested. She slid across the top of the covers until her head hung over the edge, and her hair drooped to the floor. "You're guessing. And poorly. I'm the one who delivered the order for the tank-train. Even assuming we both survive, and you actually manage to steal the thing, and no one knows that I helped fake your death- where was I going with this? Oh, yeah- do you have any idea what would happen if Princess Azula doesn't get her toy?"

He turned back to look at her. The mask, of course, didn't show any expression. "She'd punish the people in charge of this facility. Then she'd then have to fill out the forms to requisition a second one, and explain to somebody how she managed to lose the first."

Huh.

Mai thought about all the conditions she had set on the question.

Well, okay, yes. He was right.

But-

And it would delay Azula for a little while longer. Give Zuko more of a chance to find the Avatar, or at least run a little farther.

Huh.

Plus, it would be kind of hilarious if Aunt Minh was the target of Azula's wrath. That's what you get for throwing people by their hair out into the road in their sleepies!

Mai sat up on the bed again and drew her robe tighter around her. "What kind of help are you asking for?"

"Access to the fortress once the tank-train is complete. Information on how to operate it. Assistance with figuring out how to drive it out of here intact."

Drive? Mai hopped to her feet. "You're going to drive it out? Just crash your way through the front door and into the sunset?! Sacred flying ash, you're nuts!"

"Language." His head tilted. "And if you have a better idea, I'm listening. But I need that tank-train, and I'll do what's necessary."

Mai thought about it. A way to steal the tank-train - without anyone seeing the Blue Spirit - outside of the fortress? She couldn't imagine that whoever Azula sent to pick it up would stop for a hitchhiker. She would be on board at that point, but she would have to kill the drivers if she didn't want to be found out.

He was right, it would have to be before Aunt Minh officially handed it over, unless he had his own military hardware out there, but then why would he need the tank-train? But how to get him inside the fortress? How to teach him to drive, when she herself had no idea? She didn't even know how to leave the fortress when she wasn't being dragged out by her hair.

She sighed. "I'll need time. A- Commander Minh said the tank-train will be finished in 48 hours. So we have that long to throw something together. How do I meet you to- to pass on the info or whatever? I think we've pushed this whole method of breaking into my room late at night as far as it can safely go."

"You're free to leave the fortress?"

Mai nodded, even though she wasn't entirely sure.

The Blue Spirit went over to the open window. "Then go down the main road until it forks, and then-" He gave her directions to what he described as a hidden bit of forest much closer than where she had tracked him down yesterday. "If I can't be there to meet you, just leave anything you've brought and I'll find it later."

Mai liked that idea. If she changed her mind about this whole 'help the oddly persuasive masked bandit to steal rare expensive machinery' plan, she could just stay in bed and never see him again. Unless he came looking for her, like tonight. But the only thing marking him as the Blue Spirit was his mask and weapons. If Mai killed him for real, then she could tell any story she wanted.

It was a very Azula thing to consider. Not quite as bad as 'let's exchange a political prisoner for your baby brother and oops never mind let's just goad the people holding the baby into attacking us instead.' But close.

"See you then," is what she said. Then she lounged back down on the bed, twisted to give him one last glance, and cooed, "Wear something nice for me. Like pants."

She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing again.

He nearly tripped climbing out the window, but he totally deserved it.

Mai's career as a spy began the next morning. To help get into the mood, she wore an extra pair of needles stuck in the hair bun at the back of her head.

She attended breakfast with Aunt Minh and War Minister Qin and his staff on the first floor of the guest residence. An army of servants made sure everyone had all the noodles, steamed buns, and tea that they needed. The conversation was mostly dominated by news of the war and a sighting of the Avatar in what everyone called the Conqueror's Knob, the peninsula in the southwest said to be the historic home of Chin the Conqueror.

Breakfast seemed a bit early to start working, but with 36 hours to the big heist, it was probably better not to delay. Mai waited for a lull in the conversation, and scooped up some spiced noodles as she said to Aunt Minh, "Azula's request included documentation for working the tank-train."

Aunt Minh was seated at the head of the table, at Mai's left. She took a sip of her tea and nodded. "Every vehicle is different, and we needed to streamline some of the options on the one we're preparing for the Princess, so we'll give you diagrams and a manual for the controls." She glanced at Qin, and added, "Of course, it's still advised to have a trained operator as a driver. Knowing which levers to pull won't teach you how to manage that kind of weight and speed."

Ash. That wasn't good news. Still, it was something, and if the Blue Spirit wanted to kill himself in such an expensive manner, then Mai certainly wasn't going to argue with him anymore.

War Minister Qin chuckled. "Looking to learn a bit about the family business, Lady Mai? I'm surprised your father wasn't training you on buttons and levers during your childhood."

Mai looked at him, swapped her chopsticks for a razor with a twitch of her fingers, and stabbed the last sweet-bun on her plate. "I was busy with other things. Useful things. Nevertheless, I feel it my duty to the Princess to familiarize myself with the controls as soon as possible. There's no telling what can happen in a fight with the Avatar."

"A wise choice. As the War Minister can attest, the Avatar has a way of ruining plans." Aunt Minh ignored Qin's grunt and gave a gesture to one of the guards at the room's entrance. "I'll have a copy sent to your rooms. It's always good to see ambition in loyalty. Perhaps the Princess will reward you with a command, someday. Like mine."

Mai couldn't imagine anything more boring than fighting with ministers over schedules and resources, but she bowed her head and took a bite out of her speared sweet-bun.

And so that was one problem solved. Or partially solved. She still needed to get the manual to the Blue Spirit. To that end, she spent the rest of the day exploring the grounds of the facilities. She was ready with the excuse that she was conducting an inspection for Princess Azula, but no one asked her. They must have seen a well-dressed (well-armed) woman holding a black handkerchief over her nose and mouth (the place stank of manufacturing, and that was the nicer areas), and decided that the matter was above their pay-grade.

The only ones willing to even look at her, surprisingly, were the Vocational Prisoners in their greenish-grey rags and jingling chains. They kept up with their hauling, cleaning, and churning tasks throughout the manufacturing facilities, but they looked up whenever she entered and their eyes lingered before concentrating on their tasks once more.

Mai should have reported them for a flogging, but she didn't actually care, and she had Things to do.

She resolved one of those Things when she found the intake vent, several hours after lunch.

It ran from one of the buildings, a structure nearly covered in notices that no Firebending was permitted within, to one of the outer walls. She'd seen several large, slatted grates on the walls during her approaches to the Mantapsan Facilities, and assumed this was one of them. Learning more was a simple matter of strolling around the building until no one's eyes were on her, and then using a pair of knives to scale the wall in a flash and haul herself up to the roof. The duct that ran from there to the wall was big, and even had a latched door to let people get in. Probably for cleaning.

Mai slipped inside to find something than the Avatar might enjoy, a metal tunnel filled with a cool breeze that brought fresh air into the building below. The metal path resonated with the hum of the machinery powering the fan at the end, isolating it from the rest of the world. The din of hammering and welding and hauling was hidden by the thrumming, and the air was the first taste of the outside world Mai had experienced since she returned to her Aunt.

She followed the air to its source, being careful to slide her boots instead of stomping on the metal floor. There was an access door that took her around the fan, and sure enough beyond that was a vent about half her height. It took a while of working with one of her longer knives, but eventually she loosened the screws holding it in place, and was able to bend the vent enough to permit a thin, wiry body to crawl its way through. Satisfied, she made her way back to the No Firebending building's roof, and spent ten minutes fixing her hair so that no one would know where she had been.

She was back in her room, trying to read through the instructions for the tank-train, when Aunt Minh came with some news and an invitation to dinner.

Mai returned to her self-made exit in the middle of the night with a rope and a more form-fitting outfit, and lowered herself down through the vandalized vent to escape the fortress without anyone knowing.

Then she went to meet her partner in treason.

Mai was a little disappointed, if just because of the lost opportunity to continue the joke, to find the Blue Spirit fully dressed. "I hope you didn't get bored waiting for me all day."

It wasn't so much of a clearing in the forest as it was a fallen tree that had flattened a chunk of foliage and then rotted and collapsed into a kind of walled refuge. The ostrich-horse was tied to a hole carved in one of the stronger remaining branches, and the Blue Spirit sat in the center of the space, in front of what looked like the remains of a campfire.

"Blades," he said as though greeting her. Was he really going to use that dumb nickname? "I wasn't bored. I was meditating."

"Yeah, I don't actually care. I just wanted to say something more interesting than 'Hi, Lee.' Here, I brought you a present." She threw the tank-manual to the ground beside him. "It will tell you how to work the controls. But I have it on good authority that big metal things going very fast are trickier to steer than an ostrich-horse." She looked at the beast, and it stared back at her. "So good luck with that."

The Blue Spirit picked up the manual and flipped through it. "I see. And what about the actual theft?"

Mai slipped a tri-blade out of her belt - her sleeves were too tight to accommodate any hidden weapons, thanks to the grate she'd had to squeeze past - and twirled it on a finger. "Come around the south wall at a certain time, and I'll have a rope lowered for you to climb. Getting past the guard patrols is up to you. If you don't show after ten minutes, I'm hauling up the rope and forgetting the whole thing. Once you're in, I'm going back to my room, and that's the end of my part in this. I can tell you how to get to the tank-train, but that's it. The actual theft is up to you."

The Blue Spirit stood up and stretched. "How will I get the tank-train out? I presume it's not so strong that it can ram through the walls."

Mai didn't like how thin he looked. She knew small packages could contain big surprises - she had trained alongside Ty Lee, after all, and Azula practically considered it a life philosophy - but he seemed too spindly for his size. "That part is simple, actually. I thought it would be hard, but then I got an idea when the Commander brought me some news."

The Blue Spirit turned to look at her.

Mai purposefully didn't meet his gaze, as if her words had no great import. "You're going to steal the tank-train while the front door is already open."

His mask tilted. "While it's trying to leave? I- I jump on the thing while it's-"

"Not quite," Mai interrupted. "Azula is paranoid and craves control."

The Blue Spirit nodded. "Yes."

He didn't even hesitate, and she was criticizing royalty. Sure, he regularly committed treason, but- He wasn't surprised, either. He knew Azula that well?

Who was this guy?

Why did his voice sometimes sound familiar?

Did-

Did Mai know this clown?

She hoped he wasn't one of the boys who Mother had trotted out for her before they landed the Omashu opportunity. She hadn't exactly been sociable to any of them (they were all boring), and working with one of them now would just be embarrassing. (Especially with the No Pants Incident.) She recalled several who weren't Firebenders, but none of them stuck in her mind enough that she could remember their voices right now.

Mai shook her head and got back on track. "Azula isn't going to let anyone here deliver her brand new death-machine. She's sending her own crew. We just got word today. Azula's personal advisors, Li and Lo, have apparently been learning mechanical operations in their spare time, and they're going to drive the thing to her. "

"Those old ladies?"

He knew them.

Mai forced herself to continue, "They'll be here the day after tomorrow. While they're coming in, the gate will be open, and that's when you'll start the tank-train and drive for the door as fast as you can."

The Blue Spirit stared at her.

Mai waited.

He sighed. "The timing is going to be tight."

"Yes." She arched an eyebrow. "Were you expecting something else, Lee?"

"I- I had hoped you'd come up with something a bit more- well, reliable. You're this- this freakishly deadly warrior and you tracked me down in the wilderness and I can't lower my guard for a second around you or you'll seize the upper-hand."

Mai wasn't sure how to respond. That was the nicest thing anyone had every said to her. Even Azula expressed her approval mainly in unspoken ways (like not doing awful things). Mother and Father certainly didn't fling compliments around. And Aunt Minh's praise had about as much weight as a fart and stank just as much. But the Blue Spirit seemed to respect her, and wasn't shy about admitting it.

Should she smile? Ty Lee would probably be inflicting hugs on people at this point.

Then he added, "Are you sure you're really trying? This is a terrible plan."

Really trying?! After she messed her hair today finding him a route into the fortress? "Take it or leave it, Lee. You're the one who broke into my bedroom and sold this whole proposal."

He pointed at her. "You have just as much to gain as me. You should be more motivated."

"Whatever." Mai stepped closer and yanked his finger out of her way. "You don't have to like it; you just need to accept reality. My plan is the only thing we can do on short notice, and I'm doing my best with it. Messing this up won't get me anything. And you should know that."

He took his own step forward, and they were almost touching. "What about the person you're trying to help? Does he know that?"

Oh?

He really wanted to go there?

Mai had to work to keep her breathing even. She wished she was wearing her usual flowing clothes. This more fitted outfit left her nothing with which to hide her movements, leaving her feeling exposed. But at least she still had her weapons.

She raised the tri-blade she'd been playing with and tapped it against the Blue Spirit's mask. "He will. When he sees how many years I've spent remembering him- well, I doubt someone like you has ever experienced that kind of loyalty." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, letting it calm her. "I'll lower the rope in twenty-four hours. Be there or not. Up to you."

Then she spun on her heel and walked away.

Stupid self-destructive bully. Why had she thrown in with him again? Why was she risking her life for him? Oh, right: She wasn't. She was risking herself for Zuko. The Blue Spirit was just the method to her madness.

She didn't get far in her retreat before she heard that maddeningly familiar voice again.

"And who is this boy," he said in an achingly familiar whisper that carried through the trees, "who you'd wait so long for?"

Mai kept her back to him. "A better person than you, Lee."

Then she left him behind in his solitude.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter Text

6 - Scatter

It was said, by the reknowned history-philosophers once produced by the Fire Nation before the Royal Government stopped paying them for doing nothing, that all great accomplishments began with scattering of the seeds of friendship on the right soil.

Zuko had never paid much attention to farmers, up until he started stealing from them, anyway. And now he suspected he had fallen on the wrong side of this particular metaphor.

It was the midnight before The Great Tank-Train Robbery (as he was thinking of it, because he was robbing his sister of her tank-train, and if he actually pulled it off it was going to be so great) when he approached the Mantapsan Armored Facilities as the Blue Spirit for what would hopefully be the last time. Once more, he slowly and carefully flitted around the outer patrols. At this point, he was even starting to recognize the gait and grumbling of some of the soldiers, and was reminded of a gag the Ember Island Players liked to use in their comedies where deadly enemies would clash so often that they'd greet each other and inquire about their health before once again entering into battle.

(Zuko had never much liked that gag. It was unrealistic, but lacked the stylization that elevated the material into Art. In general, he felt that cynical comedy rotted the mind and had no place in respectable theater. Especially not musicals.)

This infiltration had a little added challenge, though. The other times, he only had his swords with him. But if the Great Tank-Train Robbery was successful, he wouldn't have time to return to his camp for his meager supplies. He had stuffed everything he owned into a backpack and was carrying it with him now. It was a depressingly light burden, especially since he still hadn't replenished his food supplies. The only thing he had to leave behind was his ostrich-horse, and he still regretted that he hadn't been able to think of a way to bring it along. He'd stolen that ostrich-horse from a nice girl, and wanted to at least get her money's worth out of the thing. It only seemed fair.

He reached a particular point of the fortress's outer wall and waited, scrunching himself to become just another shadow cast by the lanterns and torches.

A few minutes of patient stillness later, as another patrol moved away, the end of a rope plopped down on his head.

Zuko grabbed it and began climbing. The rope led him to a heavy grating high up in the wall, and he could feel the fresh air outside the fortress being sucked in around him. The grating had been pulled away at one corner, just barely enough for him to squeeze through if he pushed his swords and backpack through first and then exhaled all the air in his lungs.

He landed awkwardly in a corridor formed from bolted metal plates, a setting that would amplify every sound if he fell, but a pair of cold hands reached out to grab his arms and steady him before he could fully lose his balance.

He looked up into a beautiful pale face framed by glistening black hair that waved in the artificial breeze. Sharp eyes stared at him with a shine that reflected the metal around them.

"So," she said, "come here often?"

The Knife Woman, or 'Blades' as she challenged him to call her, was a mystery in many ways. But one thing he was absolutely certain of was that she really liked cynical comedy.

He was marginally less certain that he knew her real name and might have even watched her grow up. But he'd been banished from the Fire Nation for three years, when girls did some of their most dramatic growing, and so he couldn't be entirely sure that this stunning woman was, in fact, Shy Little Mai.

(The cynical comedy was one of the more confusing clues. He couldn't recall Cute Little Mai ever responding to a joke with anything other than a blank stare.)

"Um- hi, Blades" he wound up saying.

Knife Woman snorted. "You know, I almost expected you not to show up. I believe the words 'terrible plan' were uttered at one point."

She was right. Zuko had said exactly that. And he hadn't changed his mind since then.

He did regret saying those words, though. She was trying to help him, and she seemed to have taken real offense over his opinion. He had never been particularly good at dealing with his own anger, never mind the anger of other people, and he was also distracted by the idea that she might be Weird Little Mai and she kept talking about someone important to her who she was helping by delaying Azula. Someone who didn't have a choice about not being here to fight his own battles. Someone she implied didn't even know she was fighting for him. Someone who had been gone for years.

Someone, she was convinced, who had no other loyalties he could rely on.

Him. The someone might be him.

She couldn't know about Uncle Iroh or all the help he had provided, but even he had preached just giving up on finding the Avatar and returning home-

Zuko shook his head. He couldn't let himself get distracted. Not by Uncle, and not by the Knife Woman- whoever she might be. "I'm sorry. I've made some pretty terrible plans, myself, and thrown myself into them anyway." He thought about how he had nearly drowned at the North Pole. And had nearly frozen in a snowstorm at the North Pole. And dueled Zhao while a glowing monster made of magic water had rampaged at the North Pole.

(He could admit that the whole thing at the North Pole had not been his finest hour, even if he was sure he could have made it work if everyone hadn't interfered. Somehow. Probably.)

He continued, "But I worked through those problems, and I'll do that again now, with your plan. So, uh, thank you. And sorry for starting a fight last night."

She stared at him with those piercing metallic eyes, her hair and robes dancing in the mechanical wind. "I- I guess I forgive you. Thanks. For apologizing." She took a step towards him. "It might be a silly question, but- but do we know each other, without that mask?"

Zuko was reminded of a scene from the play 'The Steadfast' about a pair of Warriors who refuse to join an uprising against their Dragon Lord in the days before the Avatar. As the old kingdom falls and the rebel armies amass for their last strike, the two warriors - a man and a woman - stand together on a towering cliff and acknowledge that the only thing stronger than their loyalty to their oaths is their love for each other, and are about to kiss. Then they get pushed off the cliff by the bad guys.

Zuko distinctly recalled a performance of the play that his mother took him to, and how the stage hands mimicked the wind giant fans they waved just off-stage. It was the most romantic story Zuko knew.

With that in mind, he took his own step closer towards Knife Woman, and with their windswept bodies just short of contacting, he whispered huskily, "We have been brought together into a criminal conspiracy of destiny, and what I should have done last night was provide constructive criticism of your plan, like pointing out that if you had read the tank-train's manual, you'd know that the engines take ten minutes to heat up, and so I can't just start it up and blast out the front gate like you said. And I should have done so respectfully with my own suggestions for addressing the problem while giving you a voice in discussion."

What more could a woman want to hear?

Knife Woman's face twitched.

She took a step back again and turned around. "You know what? We should get going. Things echo in here." She started walking down the hall-like duct, her steps light and silent. "And I tried my best with the plan. Up until now, planning was something that happened to other people."

Zuko shuffled after her, careful not to rattle the floor with his boots, and tried to remember all of the leadership lessons that Uncle had given him. At least, he assumed there was more than one such lesson. He hadn't actually listened to much of what Uncle said when it wasn't about Firebending, and come to think it, he had rejected a lot of that particular advice-

"I- uh, appreciate your effort," he wound up saying. "You as a person bring great value to this enterprise. Our enterprise. Because we both have equal investment in its execution and success." He thought a little more, and then added, "Go, team."

Knife Woman came to a stop beside what look to be a door, but she didn't touch it. Instead, she glanced back at him with a look of betrayal on her face that was the clearest expression he'd ever seen on her. "Did you just say 'Go, team?' Tell me I heard wrong."

"I did?" Zuko had been tempted to lie, but he had the feeling it wouldn't have helped.

Knife Woman squeezed her eyes shut. "I apologize, too. I shouldn't have been upset at your calling my plan terrible. I prefer that to- whatever this is." She shook her head as she opened her eyes again, and unlatched the door. It swung open to reveal a rooftop view of smoke-belching factories.

Zuko followed Knife Woman out onto one such roof. Once again, the fortress was active despite the late hour, and the air was heavy with the rancid smell of smog and heated metal. "So, I was thinking we could come up with a new plan. Together. Because-" He stopped himself short of talking about 'enterprises' again. "Because you're amazing."

No, that was far too much! Why had he said that? He was very glad he was wearing a mask, because he could feel his face starting to blaze with heat as he added, "You know, professionally."

She stared at him.

Then she sighed. "Li and Lo will arrive at noon tomorrow to pick up the tank-train. That's when you drive it away. I'll figure something out to deal with your engine problems. Wait for a signal of some kind."

Hey, she was starting to plan with him! Maybe he'd actually said the right thing! He wished he still had a logbook, like when he'd commanded his ship, so that he could record his first official instance of saying the right thing to someone! "Great! So about how you could distract the security forces-"

"Yeah, I just said I'll figure something out. See you tomorrow." She gave a half-hearted wave and turned away from him again-

"Wait! I thought we were planning? We- we have twelve hours until then. Working together, we can-"

"Lee." She said his fake name the way she threw knives.

He swallowed. "Yes?"

She didn't turn around to face him. "Look, I'm not that kind of traitorous assassin. I'm not interested in anything besides the whole tank-train thing. In case stumbling on you in the bath gave the wrong impression. Or letting you keep breaking into my bedroom. Or helping you help yourself help my- my friend. Or not stabbing you at any of the times when I really could have. That was just business. Amusing business, but business. So- you keep out of sight, and be in position for the theft tomorrow. I'll take care of everything else."

Oh.

Oh.

He-

He hadn't-

-hadn't meant-

Or did he?

As he tried to figure the answer, he blurted out, "Where am I supposed to spend the night?"

She stiffened noticeably, and started walking away. "You're not invited to my bedroom, anymore. Not that you ever were, really."

Oh.

That was a good lesson. Infiltrating a girl's room uninvited was insensitive. He hated how complicated this was getting on top of all the logistics of stealing state-of-the-art military hardware. "So, we're still going after the tank-train, right?"

"Of course." She slowed as she came up to the end of the roof. "And then we'll never see each other again. Lee."

She stepped out into the night and dropped straight off the roof.

She landed fine, as he had come to expect by now, in a flurry of robes and a brief flash of knives. She was too good for anything else.

Zuko hoped he hadn't just alienated her. If he did capture the Avatar, tank-train or no tank-train, and finally earn the right to return home-

If he did see her again, she'd recognize his voice. She'd know he was the Blue Spirit. And maybe she wouldn't want anything to do with him. He'd have his honor, but he might also have her as an enemy for his actions and deception.

Maybe that was okay. She was kind of mean, and she worked for Azula. Whether or not she was really Silly Little Mai, it was better if they didn't become allies again. Or friends. Or anything else.

Then he looked around at the factory roof where she's left him, and saw a shadowy pile next to one of the boxy machines that powered the ventilation duct they'd used to enter the fortress. It turned out to be a very nice blanket that he recognized from his trips to Knife Woman's bedrooms, and a box of military rations full of bland but nutritious fare.

Hm.

She really was amazing.

And confusing. He hadn't even tried to steal anything yet, and he was already exhausted.

He spent most of the night in a half-sleeping, half-meditating state.

The warm blanket certainly helped, as did the full feeling in his stomach. He hadn't eaten too much, in case he had to move quickly, but planned to take the rest of Knife Woman's thoughtful gift with him when he stole the tank-train. The factories worked all night, and Zuko got used to the sounds of engines and hammering and steam and wheels. The smell was as bad as ever, a mix of stinging chemicals and sludgy oils that hung on the air and soon coated the back of his throat, covered with a heavy funk of corrosive smog, but it was almost like what his ship used to stink like, and it was comforting in a way.

The night passed.

Then he awoke with a start at the sound of screeching gears and stony grinding.

The morning had already arrived, the sun struggling through a sky of smoke and rainclouds.

He crawled to the edge of the roof, and finally got to see the activity of the Mantapsan Armored Facilities in its full 'glory.' On the opposite side of a wide lane running through the facility grounds, a massive set of doors on the side of one of the noisier buildings were grinding open. A shadow shifted within the building and then moved forward, emerging to reveal what seemed to be a pair of giant free-standing tank-treads. They both rolled along to the construction yards, comparatively tiny civilian conscripts scampering along as their vanguard, and there came to a rest as a team of mechanics converged on them.

Zuko couldn't help but wonder if he should be stealing whatever these treads were supposed to be a part of, even though it was clearly too impractical.

As work continued on the Giant Tread Things, Zuko checked the rest of the construction yard, and soon found his true target.

The tank-train proved to look exactly how it sounded. Even if it hadn't, he expected that it would have been easy to identify. Of the various machines and vehicles in the area, it was the only thing being polished, and he knew it had to be meant for someone who would demand a neat appearance. That, of course, indicated Azula.

In a way, the Knife Woman was another tool of Azula's with a remarkably neat appearance.

Too bad he couldn't steal her, too. But, even if she didn't wind up as his ally, he still owed it to her to keep her safe. She'd restored her honor by claiming to have killed the Blue Spirit, and he'd given her a mask to help prove it.

As he thought about it, it bothered him that honor could be bought with deception. True honor had to be earned. That was why Father had given Zuko such a challenging quest. If he didn't truly capture the Avatar, then he wouldn't earn any honor. But if he tricked them like Knife Woman had tricked the people here, Father and everyone would give him the honor anyway. Honor was just how society saw a person, right? Zhao lacked honor because everyone could see what a ratsnake he was, and it was his military victories that earned him what respect people gave him. So what was the difference between honor truly earned and honor mistakenly given? What was behind honor that could give it a value of its own?

Well, he didn't have the time to really think about it, now. There would be plenty of opportunity after he captured the Avatar.

And to do that, he needed to get to the tank-train.

And for that, he needed a new face.

His Blue Spirit mask went into his backpack, right beside his other backup. His normal traveling clothes made him look close enough to one of the civilian conscripts working here, with their faded green color. He'd have to risk showing his face, but at least the Knife Woman wasn't around to see it. Once again looking like himself (or as close to it as he could get as a fugitive), he climbed down from the rooftop with his backpack of supplies and circled the building until he found a spot where he could join the flow of activity without anyone noticing him. Then he was just another unskilled laborer. He carried his pack in his hands like cargo he'd been ordered to transport.

He moved in the general direction of the construction yards, detouring into a free-standing workshop. A few of the people working around there glanced at him, but he kept the scarred side of his face turned away from them. When he came to what looked like a supply closet, he ducked inside and sorted through the cluttered shelves until he found a stained smock and a welding mask. Further disguised, he left the workshop and moved into the construction yards.

On the one hand, he was pleased that things were going well, so far. On the other hand, every moment he had to hide his identity made his heart sizzle. He should be allowed to go wherever he wanted, not forced to pretend to be someone else.

He walked past more strange contraptions of massive scale that he couldn't identify. One looked like a crankshaft the size of the whole ship he'd sailed on for three years. But that couldn't be right, because why would anyone want to rotate something so big?

He reached the tank-train just as a trio of civilian conscripts were wiping down the front engine. There were three segments to the assembly, including the engine car, and they were all a lot more spiky than they had looked from a distance. The front had two thick spears jutting forward, above the deflector-pilot, like the horns of a savage animal. The tops of all the cars were covered in dagger-like points. So it could ram things without crashing, and nothing could land on top of it.

Yes, it was definitely made with sky-bison in mind.

One of the men polishing the front car turned to Zuko. "Do you need something, sir?"

Uh, oh. Zuko could hardly say that he was here to get ready to steal the thing. How could he- Ah! "New orders. It needs to be extra polished. With the good stuff."

The conscripts exchanged glances. "The good stuff? You mean the chroming?"

"Yes! That! You should go get some and polish this again." He nodded, hoping the authority in his voice was carrying through the welding mask.

The men exchanged glances again. Then the leader said, "Uh, whose orders were these?"

Zuko gave what he hoped was a confident nod. "Straight from the top. The- uh, the girl insisted this thing has to really shine. Because she's a companion to Princess Azula, and the princess is very impressed by shiny things. Which the girl would know. Because she's a companion to the princess. And I was asked to tell you that."

The first conscript looked at the other two. They both gave him shrugs. "I see. What's your name?"

"Lee."

The man grinned. "What a coincidence! Me, too! And this is Nguyen and Bo."

Zuko hated friendly workers, but he bit back on the growl forming in his throat. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah. Always good to meet a fellow Lee." Real Lee nodded at Nguyen and Bo, and they climbed down from the tank-train. "Well, we'd better go getting the chroming."

Ha! It had worked! Zuko's years spent telling his incompetent ship crew what to do had really given him a skill for command! "Good. I'm just going to do a last inspection. Make sure all the screws are tight. I'll probably be done before you get back, so don't look for me. I mean, don't expect to see me here."

He headed over to the third car without waiting for acknowledgement, as anyone too busy for conversing with conscripts would do. As he got closer, he realized he wasn't sure how he was supposed to get inside of it. There didn't seem to be a door, anywhere. But he did spot what looked like a lever right in the space between the main body of the car and the wheel assembly. He grabbed it and tried to pull it down, but it wouldn't budge. He tried again-

"Sorry, sir," Real Lee's voice came from over Zuko's shoulder. "We left the security bolt in, as per regular procedures. Let me get that for you." He reached around, and sure enough he grabbed a bolt of metal near the base of the lever that was holding the whole thing in place. Zuko couldn't believe he had missed that. Real Lee slid the bolt out-

-and suddenly the lever in Zuko's hands lurched down with surprising ease. He stumbled forward, and the side of the car lifted up and the edge-

-the edge smacked into his welding mask and he tumbled backwards-

"Sir!"

Zuko grabbed his mask, managing to keep it on his face, but as a result he dropped his sack.

When he got his welding mask straightened again, he found that all of his supplies were scattered across the ground. His gifted rations, his spare rope, the vintage illustrated adventure-printings he'd spent the last of his stolen gold on, his spare pants-

-and his Blue Spirit masks.

He stood, frozen, unsure what to do.

The conscripts were all looking at the mess.

Zuko tensed and prepared to attack.

Then Real Lee said, "Sorry, sir, I should have warned you." He picked up one of the masks. "Let's go, guys, clean these things up for the boss, here." The other two moved to pick up the rest as Real Lee nodded to Zuko. "You're an opera fan, I see?"

"What? Oh, yes!" Zuko grabbed his sack from the ground. "Yes! Big opera fan. I like to- sing? Yes, I sing at festivals! While wearing my mask! Which you have there!" He took the mask back. "And now I have it. Thank you!"

Real Lee smiled. "I used to fancy a good performance myself, before- before I was dragged from my village. They say the Blue Spirit adventures actually were first performed in the Earth Kingdom, you know. I've always been a bit proud of that."

Zuko frowned. "Why? You're from the colonies."

The skin around Real Lee's eyes tightened. "No, sir. The Fire Nation didn't bother taking over my village. The poisoned water from this place just made enough of us sick that they could eventually march in and take the strongest to work here."

The conscripts were slaves!?

No, that-

If it was true, it was a violation of Fire Army policy. Zuko had read it in the books of regulations that had come with command of his ship. He'd have to report this fortress for the dishonorable violation, once he got his honor back. No one outside the fortress could know what was going on here, and especially not any of High Command back home.

Definitely not Father.

Zuko finally realized he was still holding his Blue Spirit mask. "Uh, right." He stuffed the thing back in his sack. "And I didn't know the Blue Spirit was from the Earth Kingdom. The character, not the criminal traitor. Who is dead now. The criminal traitor, not the character."

Nguyen and Bo had picked up the rest of spilled supplies, and handed them over to Zuko for him to pack up again. As he grasped his backup-backup Blue Spirit mask, an idea struck him. "Here, Lee. You can have this one. And there's no need to mention my moment of clumsiness, right? From one opera-fan to another."

Real Lee laughed. "Of course not, sir. I accept your gift and will value it." He took the mask, and held it over his face for a moment before laughing again. "Let's go, boys. We have to get that chroming. I expect we won't see you again, sir. Good fortune to you."

Real Lee bowed, followed by his friends.

Then they finally left Zuko alone.

Zuko huffed a sigh of relief beneath his welding mask. That was a close call! But he'd handled it. Destiny was on his side!

He hurried into the open train car before Destiny got any more funny ideas. Thankfully, the lever he found inside closed the doors again without any further trouble, and the slits running across the top of the compartment walls gave him a good enough view of the outside that he'd be able to see what was going on.

Now it was just a matter of waiting, hidden from the world in the very thing he wanted to steal.

A matter of waiting, and trusting in the Knife Woman.

He didn't know why he wasn't expecting her 'distraction' to be a massive explosion. It was the most efficient solution, and she was very direct, in her own way.

Of course, there was no way of knowing that it was her doing and not a very well-timed industrial accident. But it was about noon, and it was almost like he could sense her at work in this.

Zuko couldn't see the source, just the plume of smoke and fire that rose up from behind the array of factory buildings. The fire didn't abate as expected, so what had gone up must be actively fueling the flames. Zuko gave it moment, as all the various workers moved in the direction of the disaster and the soldiers all rushed to their emergency stations. When he was sure that no one was around, he popped the tank-train car open again and moved up to the engine car. It was even shinier than before, thanks to Real Lee's efforts, and there was no real trick to getting this door open. He was soon isolated in the driver's compartment, greeted by an array of switches, levers, buttons, and dials.

Okay. He'd been studying the manual for this very moment. He went through the procedures for heating up the engine, using his Firebending to immediately get a blaze going in the firebox. The tank-train seemed to slowly come to life around him, the metal plating rattling and the dials starting to spin and vents beginning to belch steam and smoke. The engine panted like a beast of burden.

Zuko hated waiting. Any moment now, someone could notice and attack. But he had to. He was going to do this right. He had to.

He'd never be able to go home, if he didn't.

At last, a specific dial twitched its way into the green coloring, which meant it was time to go. Zuko shifted switches and spun handwheels, and when the tank-train gave an encouraging shudder, he pulled the lever that the manual had told him would put his new prize into motion. No one had bothered him, and as he looked out the front windows, he saw the main gate of the fortress still open on the far side of the grounds. He was doing it! He was-

There was an ear-splitting CLANG that echoed from outside and came with a gut-churning lurch. That was the only motion the tank-train made.

Uh, oh.

What had he done wrong?

He took a look across the control board, seeing some of the dials inching alone towards their red sectors, trying to intuit the problem. As he moved his gaze over everything, motion outside of the windows caught his eye.

He looked up to see a triangle of Crimson Guards, the elite protectors of the Royal Family, riding komodo rhinos straight towards him.

Zuko stared for a long moment, and then reached for his sack. It seemed the Blue Spirit would be making another appearance, after all.

He hoped the Knife Woman could forgive him. He hoped even more fiercely that he wasn't about to get her killed.

TO BE CONCLUDED

Chapter Text

7 - Dusk

It was said, by giggly overly-idealistic schoolgirls across the Fire Nation, that the way to tell you're truly in love with a boy is if you wind up committing arson for him.

Mai held very firm to the fact that, while she might technically be lighting the Mantapsan Armored Facilities on fire for the Blue Spirit, she was ultimately doing it for Zuko. So there.

Because she wasn't in love with the Blue Spirit. She wasn't even attracted to him. Yes, he was fun - when he wasn't ruining her life - and she respected him as a warrior who apparently walked through fortress security like it was nothing, but she wasn't the type of girl to fall head over heels after a little adventure and some unexpected nudity. The fact that she had fallen for Zuko after a particularly bracing and clothing-damaging game of Hide'n'Explode was just because she had been four at the time. Four-year-olds were stupid.

And she was only committing arson because the Blue Spirit was making her do all the work in this ridiculous plot to steal Azula's tank-train, and now he needed some kind of distraction while he warmed up the engines in preparation for his escape. It hadn't taken Mai long to settle on lighting something on fire; there was no reason to mess with the classics, and in a place like Mantapsan, open flames were dangerous even when in the full control of expert Firebenders. She also knew exactly where to set the fire: the channel of waste-water that ran through the center of the facilities, where all the factories dumped the remnants of the chemicals and oils used in the creation of the Fire Nation's greatest feats of engineering.

The channel even had big 'WARNING: HIGHLY FLAMMABLE' and 'ABSOLUTELY NO FLAMES' signs painted all around it. It was like it was asking to be set on fire.

The trick was doing it without revealing herself as a traitor.

So Mai started her day by going down to breakfast with Aunt Commander Minh, as was her habit, and putting in an order for a full plate of spicy deep-fried koala-sheep nostrils and a Royal Family-sized bowl of Fire Flakes with extra sizzle-butter, which was the exact opposite of her habit. Both Aunt Minh and War Minister Qin had eyed her selection as the servants brought it out to the table, and 'Auntie' even deigned to comment, "And here I hoped you were avoiding the typical teenage mistake of having carnival food for breakfast."

Mai had very carefully shrugged as she popped a strip of crispy nostril into her mouth. "As soon as Princess Azula gets her tank-train, I'm sure she'll want to be off in pursuit of the Avatar immediately. We'll be existing on ration packs, I'm sure, so I'm loading up on beneficial super-vitamins." She channeled a bit of Mother and tilted her head back just enough to point her nose above everyone else's head. "It's the latest nutritional science from the Capital, as I'm sure Minister Qin can attest, since he's always on top of advancements and news."

Qin had blinked several times. "What? Oh! Yes, uh- yes, the latest nutritional science. Yes, quite right. It's amazing, the vitamins that have been discovered in sizzle-butter. And properly managed diets are how we're going to win the war. Well, diets and the giant drill I'm building here."

"I'll take your word for it," Aunt Minh replied with a crinkled nose as she turned back to her regular breakfast noodles. "Well, if your stomach can handle such things, I'll leave you to your 'nutritional science.' Speaking of the tank-train, in four hours the Princess's retainers should arrive to take custody of it. Would you care to inspect it beforehand? Some Vocational Prisoners should be giving it a final polish right now."

Mai swallowed a handful of fire flakes. The extra sizzle butter was unpleasantly greasy on her tongue, but she resisted the urge to make an Azula-face. "Of course. I'll do it right after breakfast."

Right after breakfast, she hurried up to her room and broke out her most awful makeup.

Unlike certain people named Ty Lee, Mai did not just use cosmetics as a way to enhance her attractiveness. She didn't actually want to be attractive all the time. Often, she wanted to be scary. And so she carried makeup that could be used to turn what Mother called her 'striking' features into something closer to 'intimidating.' Mostly, that involved darker shades. There was nothing like some artificial shadows to make you look like a spawn of the Spirit of Death.

(Sadly, it seemed that Mai needed to try harder to not be attractive. She'd never thought herself to be pretty before, but apparently she was cute enough that random masked traitor/saboteur/robber/spy/warrior jerks were falling for her at the drop of a hat. Or his towel, as the case may be. She would have thought it would need to be her towel dropped to start that kind of thing, but she must just be that gorgeous. It was kind of thrilling, after spending a lifetime feeling invisible next to Ty Lee. Thrilling in a stupid way, that is. And she was most certainly not interested in the Blue Spirit.)

This time, she used her cosmetics to take her complexion from 'lurks indoors too much' to 'you don't have to drain the corpse of all blood before putting it on the pyre, you know.' She added enough shadows around her eyes to make them look somewhere between sunken-in and missing. And she camouflaged her lips until they were completely indistinguishable from the rest of her face. Then she dipped her hair in some water, put on her most wrinkled robe, sprawled on her bed, and waited to make her dramatic debut.

It wasn't long before there was a knock on the door and a muffled announcement of, "Your escort is here for the tank-train inspection."

Mai groaned as loudly as she could without it sounding dirty. "Be gone! I have been poisoned!"

Five minutes later, Aunt Minh was kicking the door open. "What's this about you being poisoned?"

Mai let her wet, clingy hair hang over her face and groaned again. "I don't know what's going on in those kitchens, but breakfast is trying to fight its way to freedom via the nearest exit." It took an effort not to ruin the whole thing by laughing. Sometimes she was too witty for her own good. Instead, she clutched her stomach and grunted.

Aunt Minh frowned. "What about the inspection?"

Mai groaned again.

Aunt Minh let out a familiar-sounding sigh and put a hand to her forehead. "This is what you get for eating like a circus freak."

Mai covered an urge to smirk by clutching her stomach and writhing a little bit. Little did Aunt Minh know that had been working for a lifetime to build up an immunity to fire flake-poisoning, and it had at last become of use. "Please, send a healer. I need medicine."

Aunt Minh snapped her hands to her sides and stalked over to the bed. "No. I think you have three hours until Ladies Li and Lo arrive, and I don't care if your organs have liquefied by then, I will see you leave with the tank-train on time."

The she grabbed Mai's hair and yanked her up.

Mai didn't need to fake this cry of pain. She did need to bite down on a very dirty word speculating on Auntie's personal hygiene.

Aunt Minh lifted the hair until Mai's face was even with her own. "I don't know why you insist on embarrassing this family, but you won't do it under my watch. Little brat." She dropped Mai and turned to stalk out of the room. The door slammed loud enough to leave echoes.

Mai gave one last groan for the theater of it, and then got to work. Good ol' Aunt Minh, behaving exactly as expected.

Siphoning off some oil from the room's lamps was a trick that every little kid learned to do, because in the Fire Nation you never knew when you might need to make something flammable. She went through her full collection of throwing blades and settled on one of her larger razor disks; it offered the best range, and could curve around corners, even if the accuracy degraded at large distances. Then she went over to her window with one of her less glamorous tools of the trade, her Triangulation Spyglass, marked so that she could precisely assess distances. She pointed it at a spot of the waste-water channel that she could see from her bedroom window, figured how far away it was, and then mentally did a little more math to figure out the exact location of a part of the channel that she couldn't see from her window. Plausible deniability, and all that.

(Mai's favorite subject back at the Royal Academy for Girls had been geometry, so much so that she'd done Ty Lee's homework for her without being asked. Cousin Medekhgui had teased her about it, saying that boys didn't want to kiss girls who could calculate the ratio of the length of a right triangle's side opposite a given angle to the length of the hypotenuse, especially without tools or having to write anything down. Mai had responded by bouncing a knife off of three surfaces to spear an apple and then making a gesture that got her sent to her room without dinner.)

Then she put her razor-disk in the lamp-oil to soak, prepared some matches, and waited for Li and Lo to arrive.

She couldn't quite see the tank-train from her window, so she had to trust that the Blue Spirit was doing his part.

It had been weird, hadn't it? He had been so focused on stealing the tank-train, even bullying and manipulating her into helping. And then last night he'd practically asked her for a good-luck kiss. Sure, she had been upset at his earlier insults and he would want to placate her so she'd do her part, but he had been outright complimenting her. And not in a 'you have skills that I can use' kind of way.

He'd called her 'amazing.'

What a freak.

Maybe he really was one of the boys who Mother and Father had tried to hook her up with to strengthen their ties with the Ministries. Maybe he was War Minister Qin's son, locked in a bitter rivalry with his father. Maybe he was plotting to overthrow the Fire Lord! Was that even a real thing? Maybe he wanted to produce heirs who could both sneak into fortresses at will and also pin a fly to the wall with a chopstick from across the room, and then he would have her killed so that his next heir could be a Firebender, thus creating a team of half-siblings with a range of skills, just like had happened with the Changs last year.

Wow. Ty Lee was right. It was hard to tell if a boy really liked you.

Such thoughts had made the time of Li and Lo's arrival come at a crawl, but eventually noon arrived. The sun tried to peak out from the heavy clouds, but it must have been just as bored as Mai, because it quickly gave up and found something better to do. She had to keep waiting, though, her razor disk soaking in the lamp oil. She had it and her matches right there on the windowsill, ready to go. She stared at the main gate, willing them to open and let in a pair of old creepy ladies. She hoped the Blue Spirit was in position and ready to get hot with the engine.

All was still.

Somewhere, a bird tried to chirp, but it was drowned out by the sound of hammering and welding.

A thump echoed across the fortress grounds, and the doors of the main gate began grinding open.

Yes! Finally!

Now to just wait for the optimum moment-

Mai watched with her spyglass as a carriage rolled into the fortress followed by a set of Crimson Guards mounted in formation on komodo rhinos. Ah, so Azula had sent protection. It was definitely good that the Blue Spirit was stealing the tank-train here, and not on the road.

When the carriage had passed through the gate - but not the full line of guards - Mai lit a match, held it out at arm's length along a very precise angle, picked up the oily razor disk in her other hand, breathed in, breathed out, and threw.

It spun straight through the flame of the match and caught fire as it flew.

Mai dropped the match and waited.

The razor disk arced up and over and around and back and dipped out of sight behind one of the factories.

Mai waited.

There was a sound like a sudden wind, and the faces of the buildings on the far side of the waste-water channel lit up orange.

Mai nodded. Job well done.

Then there was a BOOM and an echo and one of the buildings just fell over and flames rose up high enough that Mai could see them and something else went BOOM followed by about a dozen CRACKs and another building collapsed and there was shouting and people were clanging alarm gongs and everyone was running around and the flames had now spread to the buildings surrounding the channel.

Oops. That was a little more than she'd intended.

But to be fair to herself, the warning signs had just talked about things being flammable. Not explosive. Stupid inadequate signage.

Oh, well. More headaches for Aunt Minh, and this still counted as a distraction.

Mai climbed up onto her windowsill, grabbed the edge that ran up and down alongside her, and leaned out as far as she could go to try to see the construction yard. It took a little searching as the wind whipped at her robe. A pair of giant treads for Qin's drill-project-thing had been moved out there since she'd last looked, but she soon found the tank-train sitting bright and extra-polished. As she watched, steam and smoke began rising from its chimney. So far, so good. No one else seemed to notice as the smoke grew thicker (the extra-rancid smoke from Mai's bit of sabotage was much more noticeable), and then the tank-train gave a shudder-

-here we go-

-the front gate was still open, the carriage halted right where the doors would have to close-

-the wheels of the tank-train began to move-

-steam puffed out of the chimney-

-Mai's grip on the windowsill tightened-

-this one's for you, Zuko-

-and then the tank-train snapped a whole handspan forward before freezing in place again.

Huh?

It shook, and the smoke poured out of the chimney, but it wasn't moving.

Mai stared at it, willing it to go. Come on, what was the problem? Hadn't that moron read the manual she'd worked so hard to steal for him by asking for a copy?

And then she noticed the Crimson Guard riding towards the tank-train on their rhinos.

Oh, ash.

It was all falling apart. The Blue Spirit was about to be caught, and then Mai's treason would be discovered. Not only would Aunt Minh know, but Li and Lo were here now to give their own account to Azula-

Mai wasn't sure what she was planning. She just acted on instinct, jumping back into her bedroom and whipping her robe off. She just threw on a set of the black shirt and pants she usually wore under her outer robes, not bothering with anything else in her haste. She didn't even have time to load up on blades, just taking a long-knife in each hand before jumping out the window. She stabbed the knives into the wall of the guest residence, climbing her way down almost as fast as an uncontrolled fall, reaching the ground just as the Crimson Guards reached the tank-train.

She was too late. She had no idea what to do, and it was already too late.

It was said, by the Royal Guidelines To Finding A Worthy Spouse, that the ideal Royal Consort was someone who could do the job better than the actual royal.

Well, that was turning out to be a simple task. Knife Woman had provided the required distraction, and now Zuko was failing to steal the tank-train. Whether or not she was Mai, she was a definite opportunity to marry up. Not that he was considering marriage anytime soon. First he needed to restore his honor, then return to the Fire Nation, then ask her out on a date, and then consider marriage. Anything else would be utter chaos.

He waited in the engine compartment of the tank-train, crouched right in front of the control panel but facing the door to the cabin. He didn't know if the Crimson Guards had seen him through the windshield, but regardless they would head here first to figure out who had lit the engine's fires-

The door slid open, revealing one of the Crimson Guard in their faceless red armor. Zuko immediately lifted himself with his arms and kicked up with both feet, catching the Guard right in the chest. The armor rang with the impact, and the Guard gave a metallic cry of pain as he toppled backwards.

Zuko closed the door to the cabin again.

Of course, he couldn't withstand a siege forever. Or more than the next five minutes, truthfully. He was going to have to find a way to get the tank-train moving, or give up and get out of here. He didn't know if he could do either- he had no idea why the vehicle wasn't moving and he had checked the startup procedures twice now (as well as the useless Troubleshooting section), but neither could he abandon what might be his one chance to hunt down the Avatar before Azula could. If he couldn't restore his honor and end his banishment, did it matter if he survived? Well, it might to Uncle.

And maybe the Knife Woman. Who might be Mai.

Zuko drew his swords and got ready to fight.

The cabin door slid open again, and this time the Crimson Guard on the other side began by punching a jet of flames straight at the floor.

Except Zuko was no longer on the floor. He had suspended himself pressed against the ceiling by propping himself between the cramped walls. As soon as the Crimson Guard realized that there was nothing in front of him to light on fire, Zuko dropped down on him.

As soon as he was done with that Guard, he stepped outside the tank-train and waved his swords at the others who had preparing to storm the engine room. Two ambushes was as far as he could push that particular tactic.

Time to mess with his enemies by going on the offensive.

Mai was having a hard time making her way to the construction yard. It seemed that multiple buildings being on fire and things still exploding over by the waste-water channel were causing quite a bit of panic and activity. People were running in all different directions, some trying to go to fight the fires while others were trying to go protect some of the stuff not on fire yet while more than a few just wanted to be away from any danger and some of the guards were shouting confused exchanges about a fight over in the construction yards.

At least no one had taken any notice of her, yet. But then, without her fancy outer robes and complicated hairstyle, she probably just looked like any other random Colonial Trash. Plus she was still wearing her 'I'm dying, Auntie' makeup, so there was no danger of random men falling in love with her at first sight. She had enough of that in her life already.

Then she nearly ran right into Aunt Minh.

Mai noticed her just in time to whirl and immediately start jogging along with a set of Vocational Prisoners. Even so, Aunt Minh's wrathful stride had her clip Mai's shoulder hard enough to cause a stumble, but 'Auntie' just continued on without even a break in stride.

That was close.

Mai followed the Vocational Prisoners to their destination, a covered supply depot of some kind, where they immediately began prying open stacks of crates. She had no idea what their ultimate task was, and she was about to ditch them now that the coast was clear, but then she noticed that there was something familiar lying on top of one of the crates.

It was a Blue Spirit mask.

But it couldn't-

Wasn't he over at-

Then why-

Mai picked up the mask. It was definitely the exact same design she'd seen so many times over the last few days.

"Hey," came a voice that was not the Blue Spirit's, "what are you doing with that?"

Mai turned her attention away from the mask. One of the Vocational Prisoners was striding towards her, a worried look on his face. He pointed at the mask.

Oh, well. She could always solve the mystery later.

She slipped the mask over her head, flipped a sarcastic salute to the man, and ran like the Fire Lord himself was after her.

Now that she was masked, there was no reason to avoid shoving and kicking people aside to carve a path to the construction yards. Shouts and insults followed her, but she was too fast. When something blocked her way she climbed or vaulted over it. When someone blocked her way she delivered a knife-handle to a chin or stomach or kidney to clear the way.

She ran around tanks and engines and giant treads-

-and skidded to a stop where the Blue Spirit was bobbing and weaving at the center of a gathering of a dozen Crimson Guards.

They all stopped and looked at her.

But wait, how could the Blue Spirit be here if she had his mask?

Oh. He'd mentioned a backup, hadn't he?

Well, okay, then. Now there were two Blue Spirits.

One of the Crimson Guard punched a fireball at her. She dodged underneath it and slid across the ground up to him, where she crossed her knives over his elbow to pin his arm and then swept his feet out from under him. The elbow gave a wet crack and the Guard gave a wet groan and she threw him at another Guard and stood ready for the next joker who wanted to try something.

She felt a warm back press against hers, and the Blue Spirit said, "Do we know each other?"

She smirked beneath her mask. "I asked you that, last night."

"Oh." She could practically hear his burning need to ask where she had gotten his mask. But instead he just went with, "Nice of you to come."

"I had nothing better to do," she drawled as three Guards came in at them with whips of flame. As she and the Blue Spirit dodged and jumped and tried to maneuver the Guards into attacking each other, she added, "So what's the hold-up?"

"I don't know! It won't go! But everything on the panel says the engine is performing fine!"

Mai thought about the problem as she feinted towards a Guard only to launch herself for real at one who was trying to attack the Blue Spirit from behind. She had flipped through the manual to make sure it was real, before giving it to him, and there was a lot of detail in it, but she did recall being amused by a warning on the easily-skipped first page. "Did you remove the security bolts from the wheel assembly?"

"Um." The Blue Spirit was silent for a bit too long. It shouldn't have taken that much concentration for him to dance between two Guards who were trying to roast him and leap up to give twin kicks to their faceplates that knocked them off their feet. "Security bolts?"

"Sure." Mai sliced one of her knives through a fire whip that was trying to flay the skin from her bones, moving it fast enough that the wind of the blade's movement 'cut' the whip in half. "They put them there so that the thing doesn't roll away. Or no one drives it off without permission. (Heh.) The wheels won't turn while they're in."

The Blue Spirit muttered something, and slammed the handles of his swords hard on either side of a Guard's helmet to make it ring like a bell, dropping the guy to the ground. Then he spun the swords so that he was holding them in a reverse grip, stepped back so his rear was pressed up against Mai's again, and held the swords out behind him so that the handles were presented for the taking on other side of her chest.

Aw, how nice. She slipped her knives into the Blue Spirit's sleeves and accepted the swords. Then he bolted over to the tank-train, pulling the knives out as he ran, and ducked underneath the engine car.

Well, he might be a moron, but at least he could take a suggestion from a woman. And he had given her swords to play with!

Mai decided to make herself as distracting as possible while her partner removed the security bolts.

Zuko recognized the bolts as the same type that had immobilized the lever for opening the cargo car doors, the one Real Lee (if Zuko had known how many people were named 'Lee,' he would have picked a different alias) the slave had to help him with. He should have guessed that there would be more!

But there was no time to think about that, now. He just had to take care of the problem and get out of here.

There was one bolt per wheel, and they didn't come out easily. He had to hammer them free with the handles of his borrowed knives. The sound of the straining engine almost drowned out the noise of the fight as Knife Woman continued to engage the Crimson Guards. He had no idea how she had gotten his spare mask from Real Lee, but she was his savior, arriving in the nick of time to solve his problem and help him fight.

He also couldn't get the image of her clad in black and wearing his mask, with her shining hair whipping behind her, out of his head. Zuko's first crush had been the actress who had played the Dark Water Spirit in the controversial 85th Sozin's Day performance of 'Love Amongst the Dragons II: Love Harder' in the Capital, but Knife Woman was looking even better today.

But no, he couldn't get distracted. He had an unholy fusion between a tank and a train to steal.

The last bolt was removed from the wheel assembly of the engine car, and now he just needed to take care of the two cargo cars-

The tank-train lurched forward and Zuko got smacked on the head by an axel.

Mai decided she didn't like swords. They were fun to spar with, but throwing them didn't work. She'd spent half the fight trying to retrieve the one she'd chucked at a particularly frustrating Crimson Guard, which had done the opposite of reducing her frustration.

Then the tank-train practically jumped and began moving. She paused briefly in her assault on a Guard to smile beneath her mask.

But wait, the wheels of the cargo cars weren't turning. They were being dragged across the ground by the engine-car-

-and the tank-train pulled away, accelerating at a fraction of what the engine was trying to do, leaving deep furrows in the ground and the seemingly lifeless body of the Blue Spirit in the middle of them.

No!

Mai bashed the Guard in front of her right in the head with both swords, sending his helmet sailing in the sky, and ran over to the Blue Spirit. He couldn't be dead- he- he-

He had to help save Zuko. Yeah, that was it.

Mai shifted a sword and used the free hand to reach for his mask, hoping that underneath it he might still be breathing-

-and his hand snapped up to catch hers. "Don't."

He was alive!

She yanked her hand free and smacked his mask. "Idiot. Your tank-train is leaving without you."

He sat up, looking around. "Which way did it go? And where are the Guards?"

"They-" Mai looked around. She was alone with the Blue Spirit in this little section of the construction yards. She hadn't taken out that many of the armored goons, she knew. Where could they- She looked over at the departing tank-train. The remaining Guards were chasing it on their komodo rhinos. "Thataway!"

Zuko's day was not going to plan.

He hated that.

He should be driving across the countryside in his newly 'confiscated' tank-train, ready to chase down the Avatar and finally capture the kid. Instead, he was riding a 'requisitioned' komodo rhino across the chaos of the Mantapsan Armored Facilities - which seemed to still be on fire and was now exploding in random places for some reason even as the runaway tank-train was smashing its way through machines and workshops - with the Knife Woman racing alongside him on her own stolen mount. She was leaning forward in the saddle, her hair streaming behind her in the wind. Maybe Zuko should consider growing his hair out a bit? It looked good with the mask-

No, don't get distracted.

Fortunately, he and the Knife Woman were much lighter than a Firebender in the all-concealing armor of the Crimson Guard, so they were gaining on the group that was pursuing his tank-train. As they got closer, Zuko began contemplating his strategy. People were giving them room, fleeing from the tank-train and making no attempt to get involved with its pursers. It would be tough but possible to come up alongside each Guard and engage in a tense duel of steel against flame, because he couldn't risk revealing his Firebending abilities. If he defeated all the Guards, he could catch up to the tank-train free of all interference and-

-and the Knife Woman sped past him on her own rhino, his swords tucked into her belt on her back, grabbing a sack of what looked like lugnuts off the ground from the remnants of a smashed workshop. She grabbed her dark shirt and ripped a long strip off the bottom, for reasons Zuko couldn't begin to comprehend. Then she dropped a lugnut into the strip of cloth, held both ends and began spinning it over her head-

-making a sling-

-and she whipped her arm and one of the Crimson Guards was knocked straight out of his saddle by the force of the impact of the lugnut.

Sacred flying ash!

If she wasn't Mai, where had Azula found this woman?! And if she was Mai, what the blazes had she been eating in the last three years and where could Zuko get some?!

He watched as she repeated the trick, taking out a second heavy Crimson Guard with a slung lugnut, and decided that she had this part well in hand. He spurred his own komodo rhino on to catch up to the hobbled tank-train, a simple task now that the Crimson Guards had another problem to deal with, and reached over to grab on to the spikes sticking out the back of the rear passenger car. He hauled himself out of the saddle and onto the vehicle, fitting the toes of his boots into the little ledge between the curving main body of the car and the wheel assembly, and began inching his way up to the front.

He was halfway there, right in the middle of the second cargo car, when the tank-train came up on the front gate of the fortress. Fireballs, as well as the occasional arrow and spear, began falling around him as the regular guards realized that daring theft was happening while the rest of the fortress was burning down. He tried to block it all out while also remaining aware enough to notice if a fireball was arcing towards his head. At least the tank-train was already pointed in the right direction. It passed through the gate just as the massive twin doors started grinding closed.

There was the sound of repeated metal clanking coming from the tank-train's roof-

-and then the fortress was behind him.

Zuko breathed a sigh of relief. So that was one part done. He'd technically stolen the tank-train. Now he just needed to actually take possession of it. Too bad the Knife Woman was back on the other side of the gate doors, but she'd be all right, he was sure.

And then a masked face leaned over from the top of the tank-train to look down at him.

Mai?

But no, it wasn't his spare Blue Spirit mask. It was styled differently, and cruder in look, as though carved and painted with the wrong tools. The masked figure was also wearing a dark green hooded cloak, and seemed to be armed with a pickaxe. And as more masked faces leaned over the side of the cargo car, Zuko realized he was outnumbered about a dozen-to-one. How were they even up on the roof, with all the spikes up there?

Then the first masked stranger said, "So which one are you, then?"

The voice was familiar. Zuko had heard it recently, he was sure, earlier today, when-

-when the prisoner slave named Lee had taken the spare Blue Spirit mask as a bribe for leaving Zuko alone!

Zuko tried answering, "The real one?"

Mai wanted to be disappointed that Li and Lo had moved out of the way of the tank-train, but as much as she didn't care for the creepy old twins, she had no real desire for them to get run over by a big metal machine. She especially didn't want to feel responsible for their deaths, however indirectly she might be involved.

Although her involvement was becoming more direct by the moment. She'd just beaten up a squad of Crimson Guard. She was fairly certain there was a law on the books specifically against that.

But she saw the Blue Spirit clinging to the side of the tank-train, shuffling his way to the front, now free of interference. The vehicle was about to pass through the main gates to freedom. His success was a foregone conclusion. She could lose herself in the chaos of the fires, ditch the mask, make her way back to the guest residence, burn her clothes, and pretend none of this had ever happened.

Before she could pull the reins of her rhino, she saw activity above the main gate.

In the little bridge that ran over the doors, where guards were desperately chucking spears in an attempt to look like they were doing their jobs, some figures not shaped like guards were running.

And as Mai watched, those figures attacked the guards.

And then they positioned themselves over the center of the gate, looking down as if waiting for the tank-train.

She didn't even think about it. She spurred her rhino on and caught up to dragging rear of the tank-train. Then she pulled her legs up to crouch in the saddle.

The tank-train passed through the gate. Hooded figures dropped onto the spiked roof of the center car with what looked like metal plates on their feet, shouting something like, "Freedom for the Earth Kingdom!" and the fortress doors were swinging closed and her rhino roared in surprise and tried to stop-

-and Mai sprang forward without even aiming.

Her leap was sloppy, coming at a diagonal, and would fall short, but she still had her sling. As the massive doors closed in on her poor frail body, she whipped her sling out and snagged a set of smokestacks extending from just under the roof of the rear car. She had enough time to feel a wave of relief before she was yanked clear of the closing doors with a jolt that shook every bone in her body.

It was all she could do to hold on as she dangled from the smokestacks, but the craftsmanship was good and nothing fell off. As soon as she was sure that had, in fact, survived her little maneuver, she kicked her legs forward to get herself swinging again, and hooked her feet into a slit high in the side of the car. It seemed to be some kind of observation gap, but Mai used it as a stable point from which to haul herself to the top of the train car. Spikes covered the surface, but she was very good at placing her feet with precision.

Ahead, the hooded figures were leaning over the middle car, and she could see that they were wearing masks, too.

Oh, good, she was being stylish. How reassuring.

She carefully made her way forward, stepping around the field of spikes. There was just enough space to place a heel or occasional palm, and she wondered if this would be more comfortable if she had Ty Lee's flexibility. But then, what wouldn't?

No, wait, she didn't want an answer to that.

Over the wind that whipped past her, Mai heard one of the masked morons shouting something about, "I thought you were on our side! This machine is a cursed product of an evil nation. It must be destroyed before it can harm more of the Earth Kingdom!"

And then the Blue Spirit's voice wafted up from somewhere out of sight with, "Do you think I could borrow it for a little while before you destroy it?"

Oh, for crying out loud.

Mai didn't need to hear anymore. These punks were messing with the Blue Spirit's plan, which would keep Zuko from coming home sooner-

-but if the tank-train was destroyed and had to be rebuilt, that would still delay Azula enough to help Zuko, and why continue to risk herself when she could probably help Zuko more by staying alive?

If she interfered, it would just be to help the Blue Spirit himself.

The landscape rushed around them. The tank-train was building up some real speed now, despite still dragging the two cargo cars. It passed off the road, not in the least impeded by the rougher ground.

Why should she risk herself for the rude masked jerk who attacked her, dragged her into treason, insulted her, tried to seduce her, insulted her again, valued her contributions, and kept getting himself into trouble that she had to help him out of?

Sure, it had been fun, but-

He was fun, wasn't he?

And she still wanted to find out if they knew each other, without their masks.

Ah, ash it. That was enough. Why examine it any closer?

Mai carefully positioned herself so that she was standing with her legs pitched between spikes. "Sorry, everyone. We need to clear the dead weight. Don't make me take that literally."

The rebels all turned to look at her. The speaker pointed at her and said, "You're the one who took my mask!"

Mai tilted her head from side to side. "Finders, keepers."

Then the rebels all rushed her, running heavily across the spiked surface of the roof with their heavy boots, plates fastened to the bottom to protect them as they moved.

And Mai was stuck where she was standing because of all these stupid spikes.

Ah.

She wasn't really good enough to defend herself with swords without moving at all.

So when the first pickaxe swung in at her, she snapped her improvised sling up to catch and wrap the handle so that she could yank it away from her. Then three more came in.

The Knife Woman was here?!

Zuko couldn't help but smile beneath his mask. He had no idea how she had managed it, but that just made it all the more impressive.

The hooded and masked rebels all moved to confront her, leaving Zuko still clinging to the side of the middle car. There was nothing stopping him from continuing to inch forward to the engine car, but as impressive as 'Blades' was, there was a reason Zuko hadn't tried to climb up to the roof. Even she might need help with a dozen prepared rebels on difficult terrain.

But what could he do?

Hmmmm-

He resumed inching forward on the little ledge, pushing himself to move even quicker than before. One of his boots slipped, making his stomach flip and he just noticed how fast this thing was going. He swallowed, gripped the frame even harder, and carefully brought his boot back in line. Then he moved on, getting closer-

-almost there-

-and he stumbled onto the linkage between the second car and the engine. A quick search revealed the switches he'd need - as well as the security bolts locking them down, because at this point he knew to look for the lousy things - and then he started undoing the linkage so that he could ditch the cargo cars.

They would have been nice to keep, but he didn't need them. By leaving them, he'd get rid of the rebels, and give the Knife Woman-

-give Mai-

-a chance to escape and return to her life.

He would have liked to keep her, but he knew he couldn't. She'd eventually discover who he really was, and then she'd realize the kind of person he really was. She didn't think much of the Blue Spirit, and her illusions of Zuko would be shattered as a result. Better to give her the chance to escape before it was too late.

The linkage clicked and opened. There was a scraping, because he'd missed one of those stupid security bots-

-and then the engine car pulled free and left all the trouble behind. He turned to watch the cars fall back, hoping for one last glimpse of his Blades-

-and saw a trio of brand new Fire Nation tanks steaming at full speed towards him.

Oh.

It was officially the slowest fight of Mai's life.

Sure, the rebels all had weapons and those plate-soled boots that made them spike proof, but those plates were heavy, and as a result they weren't exactly dancing shoes. (Not that Mai knew much about dancing, except that anyone who did it too much would be struck blind by the Spirit of the Sun.) The rebels would carefully come in at her, swing their weapons as well as they could without shifting their feet, and then Mai would use her strip of cloth to catch and redirect the blow, followed by a jerk that would unbalance her opponent.

With that system, she was able to hold off a dozen enemies at once.

And then the engine car started pulling away with the horrible sound of scraping metal.

Oh, no, she was not standing for this.

She used the rebel she currently had trapped with her strip of cloth to leverage herself up into a leap that carried her to the next rebel. She landed on top of his - no, her - boots and pulled herself up into a handstand on the rebel's head (thank you Ty Lee, for the lessons) that she let fall on to another rebel whose shoulders made for a good platform from which to make a leap of faith.

She was airborne for an eternity, or at least long enough to realize that missing her landing might actually kill her.

Then she dropped beside the Blue Spirit on the rear of the engine car.

He startled, and she could hear the bewilderment in his voice when he blurted, "What are you doing here?"

She pulled his swords out of her belt and handed them back to him. "Helping you, stupid. What's the plan?"

"Uh, I haven't really worked out what to do about- um-" He pointed behind them with one hand as he sheathed his swords with the other.

Mai turned to see that while the cargo cars and annoying rebels had been left behind, three tanks were in hot pursuit. Their treads tore up the grass as they sped along. But then she noticed something that gave her some relief. "It's okay, now that we're free of the dead weight, it looks like we're moving faster than them. See, they're falling behind-"

Plumes of fire launched from each of the three tanks to converge on the tank-train's engine. Something exploded, and the control compartment collapsed into scrap metal.

Mai sighed underneath her mask.

And then the Blue Spirit added, "We're not slowing down."

What? "What?" She looked, and sure enough, the tanks were still losing ground. "So, that's good, right?"

The Blue Spirit's voice was a growl that was so familiar it made her hair stand on end. "Not if we no longer have the ability to steer or stop this thing!"

Oh.

Mai moved to the remnants of the control compartment and stared digging. She pulled one twisted bar of metal out and held it up. "What's this?"

"That would be the brake."

"Okay. We just need to know where it's supposed to fit."

"You gave me an instruction manual, not the full blueprints to this thing!"

Mai threw the bar over the side. "Fine. We'll do it the old-fashioned way, then. We just need to get to the fire and put it out, right? This thing runs on heat or smoke or something."

The Blue Spirit must have been staring at her, the way his mask was so still. "That- might work. I- uh, I'm glad you- uh, you know, you're still helping, and I-"

She reached out and touched his mask. "Work now. Be a bashful little boy later. Okay?"

She liked to think he was blushing furiously under the mask. "Right. Sorry." He turned to start working, and she grabbed another twisted bar of metal-

-and he snapped an arm out to point ahead. "Is that what I think it is?"

Mai looked to find a wide ravine rapidly approaching. "Yes. At least there's a bridge?"

The Blue Spirit let his arm drop. "The bridge is all the way over there. And this thing no longer has steering."

Ah, yes, that would be a problem. She quickly grabbed for another piece of scrap, knowing that getting to the fire and putting it out was their only chance, unless they wanted to try jumping off this thing while it was in motion-

And the Blue Spirit moved his hands as if pushing something down in front of him. The steam and smoke immediately tapered off from the remains of the chimney, and the train began slowing.

He was a Firebender?!

All this time, he'd hid it, and used swords?! But why? What kind of a Firebender would lower himself to using weapons like she did? Was he making fun of her? No, he couldn't have been. Did she know a Firebender-

-a Firebender who needed to hide?

She said, "Are you-"

But he shouted, "We're still not slowing down enough! We're going over!"

Over?

Over what?

Oh! The ravine! How close-

And then the tank-train launched out into empty air.

Zuko didn't have time to think. It was all instinct when he grabbed Mai and jumped as hard as he could. He felt like he was drifting up from the tank-train, but all he was doing was falling at a slower rate, he knew. He still had the momentum from being on the vehicle, taking him and Mai out towards the center of the ravine. He had to do something else.

He kicked with both of his feet, exhaling as he did so and willing his Qi to flow out through his legs. Fire blossomed and exploded with concussive force, actually reversing their motion and pushing them back and up for a brief moment. He saw the wall of the ravine right behind him, and the edge of the cliff that the tank-train had just driven off of-

-and he threw Mai as hard as he could towards it.

It was like she floated out of his grasp, a spirit returning to the sky, her hair splaying out behind her like wings even as her mask leered at him like a goblin.

And then gravity took hold of him once again, and he fell.

Mai didn't have time to think. It was all instinct when she grabbed the edge of the cliff and pulled herself back up onto solid ground. She needed a moment after that to remember which way was up, and how that whole breathing thing worked.

Then she realized that the Blue Spirit hadn't come with her.

She spun and looked back over the edge just in time to catch the crash of the tank-train below and the spectacular destruction that sprayed metal and smoke all over the area. The sound echoed like thunder, and Mai couldn't help imagining it as a threat from Azula about what would happen as a result of all of this.

She looked for the Blue Spirit's body, unable to shy away from confirming his death, but it was such a long way, and the smoke and debris made it difficult to tell what was down there. But surely he couldn't have survived a fall like that, right? He was just-

-just a Firebender.

Who she probably knew.

She had to go look.

She had to.

She-

She heard the sound of tanks. Their pursuit hadn't given up yet.

Mai took one last look at the ravine, found no answers, and with a sigh stood up and ran. She had to get back to the fortress, before anyone realized she was gone.

Zuko had impressed even himself by surviving that fall.

Not that he's fallen the whole way. Although he couldn't catch the top of the cliff, he'd at least managed to reach the ravine wall. He'd stabbed his swords into the rock, and while it wasn't strong enough to support his weight, the resulting controlled-skid down to the bottom of the ravine had been marginally survivable. He'd been feeling the bruises for weeks, but it was survivable.

Too bad the rations Mai had given him had been in the tank-train. He had no food, again.

He wanted to go back to the fortress. She might help him, at least give him some food.

But after everything that happened today, he doubted it would be so easy to break in again.

No, it was over. He'd do her no good by trying to see her, nor himself. It was better to just move on. He still had to catch the Avatar, after all. Even without a tank-train, he was sure it was still possible. And he still had an 'inherited' ostrich-horse back at his original campsite.

Zuko started walking.

It was dusk by the time he found his way out of the ravine. And then it was off into the wider world.

Alone.

For now.

It was simpler to get back into the fortress than Mai expected. She was all set to force her weary body to deal with walls and gates and obscure passages all over again, but it turned out to be as simple as walking through an open door.

All of the gates, train accesses, cargo drop-offs, and doors were wide open, as workers (none of them in green) toiled to bring out the components of War Minister Qin's big Ba Sing Se project. Giant treads were being mounted on trains, boxes of parts were going out bundled on carriages, and a team of the greatest engineers in the Fire Nation were trying to figure out how to get a giant crank-shaft around a corner. It was an elegant kind of chaos, and no one paid attention to Mai. It probably would have been an effort to get someone to notice her.

And so she was able to return to the guest residence building - which had some big black scorch marks on it, but otherwise didn't seem to be in danger of imminent collapse - and climb back up to her room. Then her clothes and mask went straight into the fireplace, while she washed up the dirt of combat and returned to her crumpled robe.

Mai had been back for about half an hour, lounging on her bed, when Aunt Minh kicked the door open (again).

"And what about you?" she snarled, stomping into the room. "You told me you killed the Blue Spirit!" She was holding half of a broken spear, which she raised as she stalked towards the bed.

Mai tensed. Would she have to deal with one more fight today?

But then Li and Lo came into the room, and one of them (Mai could never tell them apart) snapped, "Commander, we expect you to behave."

The other added, "First let us determine if the girl deserves a grave."

Both old women turned to Mai and said, "Speak, child."

Oh, wow. Li and Lo were rhyming. They meant business. Mai brushed her hair out of her face. "I did kill the Blue Spirit. Why, did I miss something? It sounded pretty noisy outside, and I thought I smelled some weird smoke."

Aunt Minh's face was turning red. "Are you telling me you've been here all day while my fortress was burned down by a pair of Blue Spirits, all of the Vocational Prisoners rose up and escaped after they destroyed the projects they were working on, and Princess Azula's new tank-train was driven into a ravine?!"

Mai kept her face blank, of course. It would be in-character for her even if she wasn't trying to hide she'd participated in more than half of that fun. "Wow, no wonder it was so noisy. My stomach was hurting me too much for me to even get up and go to the window. But wait, you said a pair of Blue Spirits? How many are there?"

"Masks are symbols for the rebel masses," one of the old ladies threw in. Her sister came in on cue with, "We observed two today even when we both put on our glasses."

Aunt Minh threw her half-a-spear to the floor, sending it bouncing up to crash into the mirror opposite the bed. Mai winced at the noise as the mirror shattered and crumpled into a pile of worthless glass.

Aunt Minh didn't even seem to notice. "This is not my fault! I am running the finest assembly facilities in the colonies. Everything is ruined because of a worthless niece, an incompetent army, Minister Qin's self-serving politics-"

As she ranted, either Li or Lo made a hand gesture, and two members of the Crimson Guard came into the room. Mai wasn't sure if they were among the ones she had beaten up today, but she did notice some nasty dents in their all-concealing armor. They marched straight towards Aunt Minh.

"-conspiracy by the Colonial Governors to discredit me," she was saying, "but we will rebuild the facilities even better than they were before, and all will see how my leadership here will finally deliver victory in this war, and then-"

That's when the Crimson Guards took her by the arms.

She blinked and looked at them. "What is this?"

Li (or Lo) said, "We will review the day's events as well as your policies."

Lo (or Li) said, "And then we will determine if you are still of use in the colonies."

Mai got to watch as her aunt was dragged screaming from the room.

Heh.

But there would be time to enjoy revenge later. She looked to Li and Lo and bowed her head. "I'm sorry I wasn't capable of defending Azula's interests today. I can't believe the tank-train was destroyed. I will do better next time, I vow it."

Both old ladies gave a dismissive gesture, and they said in unison, "Rest while you can. The princess will get what she wants, even if it takes more time." And then they walked out of the room, leaving Mai behind with a broken mirror and the ashes of the evidence of her treason.

She hoped they were wrong.

She hoped that Azula didn't get what she wanted, no matter how much time was spent. Otherwise, the Blue Spirit might have died for nothing, and Zuko-

Well, Li and Lo were right about one thing. Mai should rest. She needed to be ready to help Zuko again, when the time came.

Hopefully, the next time wouldn't be so utterly ridiculous.

THE END OF THE ADVENTURE, BUT NOT THE END OF THE STORY

Chapter Text

EPILOGUE - THREE MONTHS LATER

Mai was heading for the Earth King's throne room - or, rather, the former Earth King's throne room - with Ty Lee when she heard That Voice again.

For a moment, she wondered if she was dreaming.

It had been a strange few days, dressing like a disgustingly colorful Kyoshi Warrior to infiltrate the Earth Kingdom's capital, and then helping Azula to bring the whole thing down. Mai had been forced to put on a performance for the Dai Li, fight the Avatar's companions, wear green all the time, and even put up with Ty Lee trying to train a bear to walk on its hands. She'd gone to bed last night exhausted, leaving the princess to solidify her new rule, whatever than entailed. And now she had just gotten up with Ty Lee to find something to eat, because it seemed like most of the servants had quit and fled.

But she was hearing That Voice again.

That strangely familiar voice.

The voice of the Blue Spirit.

And it was saying, "Mantapsan was decommissioned? Was it because they were taking slaves?"

Mai blinked. It had to be him. He was talking about the fortress she'd burned down for him, the adventure they'd shared before he'd died-

"Oh, no," Azula's voice rang out in reply. "Father authorized the taking of slaves from any villages that wouldn't surrender to us- I want to say about a year ago? It's been so much more efficient than the regular conscription process, especially since we don't need to pay them. No, it was just decided that rebuilding Mantapsan was a waste, considering the extent of the damage. There are newer facilities, and Father wants to bring the development of special projects back home."

"I see." That Voice sounded disappointed, or maybe just tired. Mai hadn't gotten to know it that well.

She felt a finger poking her in the shoulder, and turned to find Ty Lee staring at her. "Are you okay, Mai? You're paler than usual."

"I-" She tried to think up a lie, but all she could come up with was, "I need to see him."

But that wasn't a lie at all.

She dashed forward, heading towards the voices, and barged straight into the massive throne room where Azula had spun out her plan of conquest. The Princess was within, still wearing the green uniform supplied by the Dai Li, but was now lounging on the throne as if she owned it. Which she technically did.

And standing next to her was a man - young, hard-edged and tense - in brown and gold robes. He turned as she entered, and Mai saw that a livid scar ran across one eye and the side of his face-

"Ah, Mai, good morning," said Azula. She looked at her fingernails in that way she always did when she was feigning nonchalance. "Say hello to Zuzu. He helped me kill the Avatar last night. We're taking him back to the Fire Nation as a hero."

Zuko?

Zuko?

ZUKO?!

Mai was dimly aware of Ty Lee trotting into the throne room. If this was Zuko, then where was the Blue Spirit? Had he just left? Did Zuko just sound like him? And why was Azula now playing nice with Zuko? Weren't they supposed to be taking him prisoner? Did she have the authority all this time to just change her mind about it? Had Mai been worried for nothing?

Had it all-

-the treachery, the Blue Spirit-

-had it all been for nothing?

"Um, hi," Zuko said. He raised a hand as if to wave at her, but then faltered, and wound up using it to smooth the back of his hair. "So, you're Mai, huh? It's been a while."

There was no doubt about it.

That was the voice.

The voice of the Blue Spirit.

Zuko was the Blue Spirit.

Mai felt like an idiot.

Zuko waited for her response, and every second of silent staring made him feel even worse. This was more horrible than he'd imagined. The way Mai was staring at him, it was like he was more than just a criminal who had lied to her. That was the stare of someone about to lose all control and commit murder.

Would she really attack him? Or just scream out the story of what he'd done trying to steal the tank-train. Azula had offered him a chance at redemption, but would it extend to all the destruction he'd caused?

Mai stepped forward.

Zuko's instinct was to run, but there was nowhere to go. The throne room was massive, but he couldn't outrun the harm she could do him.

She walked right up to him, staring at his face the whole time.

She raised a hand, reaching for his face.

Oh. Of course. The scar. She was disgusted by the scar. She was going to try to touch it, just like he hated.

She said, "So this is what you look like under that mask," as she moved her hand up.

He raised his own to intercept it and keep her away from his scar-

But he missed, because she placed her hand on the unburned side of his face.

Huh?

She stared at him as her cold fingers traced the lines and features of his undamaged skin. Her touch tickled his cheekbones, his ear, and the flesh under his chin. Her eyes were focused and intent, truly studying him, and he was lost in the raw emotion he saw in them. He couldn't tell what she was feeling, as she kept her own face perfectly blank as she caressed his, but her eyes shimmered with something escaping from her heart.

He barely noticed when her hand passed over his nose and found his scar.

It was just part of her study of him, a continuous sensation that had started on one side of his face and carried over to the other.

He stood there the whole time, letting her have her way until her hand dropped away, and she pushed forward to press her own face into the front of his robes. What was she-

And then he felt the moisture soaking through to his chest.

She was crying.

Silently. Motionlessly. But she was still crying.

Should he put his arms around her? Should he say something? He had no idea what to do, and now- now she was shaking, and- oh, no-

She pulled away, and it turned out that she was laughing. She was smiling, and a flick of her fingers removed the last traces of tears from her eyes. She looked at him with that same smirk she'd turned on the Blue Spirit so often, and said, "So, I hear you like opera."

Zuko found himself giving a laugh. "I- uh-"

And then snapped forward and kissed him.

This time, he did wrap his arms around her, and kissed her back.

After a while Ty Lee sighed and hugged herself. "Isn't it romantic?"

Azula replied, "If you say so. But why do I have the feeling that we're missing something? "

END