Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Smile Because It Happened ❯ Chapter 23

Chapter 23

 

Zuko sighed as the guards bent the ice locks that sealed the large steel door to Mai's cell. Dammit, his stomach still hurt, not to mention other parts that were pleading with him to return to Katara's side and finish what they had just barely begun to start. But nooooo… he had to go find out what Mai's deal was.

 

The door slid open and he blinked at the scene in front of him. He moved inside the room, unable to take his eyes off the far wall.

 

Mai stood shackled to the metal wall, her arms outstretched so she would be unable to attack in any way. Not that she had much clothing on to hide knives in- they had stripped her down to her bindings and loin wrap only. He frowned at this lack of decorum, but realized that due to her knife-hiding abilities, the guards had no other choice. Luckily, they kept the room comfortably warm for her in this frigid climate, but if she were to manage an escape, she would quickly succumb to the extreme cold outside the cell.

 

Zuko moved closer, keeping his eyes locked on the woman who had been by his side for the last four years. Her expression was completely blank, which he was used to, but her eyes… her eyes seemed utterly empty. “Mai?”

 

The black-haired woman didn't move. Didn't respond at all. He tried again. “Mai? It's me. Zuko. Do you remember me at all?”

 

She twitched slightly at his name. “…Fire Lord…” she murmured in a monotone. “…Fire Lord…”

 

Zuko crossed his arms and pondered. “Ami?”

 

The reaction was instantaneous. “Yes. My name is Ami. I came from a small Earth Kingdom village that was destroyed by the Fire Nation. I am very grateful to be here.”

 

“What is the name of your village?”

 

“It is a small Earth Kingdom village. It was destroyed by the Fire Nation. I am grateful to be here.”

 

“Who are your parents?”

 

“Killed by Fire Nation.”

 

His heart hurt for her- no one should be manipulated like this, and it was clear Mai had been brainwashed. The thing was: he didn't know how to undo what had been done. “Where's Azula?”

 

Her whole body convulsed and her eyes flew wide in pure panic. He had never seen such an expression on her and in truth, it frightened him. Mai never showed such extreme emotion. “N-No… d-don't… I… I won't…”

 

“Mai, you have to tell me. Where is Azula?”

 

Tears slipped down her cheeks as her mask of anxiety never wavered. Her eyes went lucid for a moment. “I made a mistake,” she whispered, her tan eyes focusing on Zuko for the first time since he had walked in the room. “I should've feared her fury more.”

 

“Mai?”

 

The focus went out of her gaze and her face returned to the calm, unemotional stare he was used to. One of the guards cleared his throat. “Um… Lord Zuko?”

 

His golden eyes flickered to the guard. “What is it?”

 

“We thought you should know, sir, that the young woman has, well...” he trailed off, uncomfortable. He rubbed the back of his neck, agitated.

 

“What?”

 

The guard nodded to the other one and they moved to Mai's shackles. “It might be better… to show you. Perhaps you can understand what it means.”

 

The Waterbenders bent the ice shackles off her wrists but kept her arms away from her body. Carefully, they spun her around using fresh water from some urns in the corner, keeping their hands off her completely. The firelight from the torches clearly revealed what had been wrought upon the poor Fire Nation woman.

 

Zuko gritted his teeth and fought an urge to vomit. Mai's back was so disfigured it made his own scars seem like beauty marks in comparison. Layers upon layers of burnt skin twisted across her back, like she had been…

 

“…Whipped with lightning,” Zuko growled. His hands clenched into fists.

 

The guards carefully turned the woman around again, securing her ice shackles against the wall once more. “We've been extremely careful with her, but she has not once cried out in pain from the wounds,” one of them said, “and we've had our best healers try to heal them, but they've resisted everything- including the Oasis water. No one knew how wounds such as this could've happened. That's why we felt we should show you.”

 

“She was whipped,” Zuko repeated, his loathing of his sister increasing a hundredfold just by looking at the shell of a woman that had been his girlfriend. “With a Firebending technique that utilizes lightning.” His hand rubbed his abdomen carefully. “The scars… don't fade. Even with Waterbending.” He sighed. “I'll bet she used the pain to break Mai's mind and control her. Mai's not a Firebender- she wouldn't last long underneath Azula's torture.”

 

“Chief Arnook declared that she is to be put to trial for her attempted assassination of you and Master Katara,” the other guard informed him. “If found guilty… she could be put to death.”

 

His topaz eyes grew hard. “She is not responsible for her actions,” he snarled. “Azula forced her to do this. All of this. Mai may have held the knife, but Azula was pulling the strings. She is guilty, not Mai.”

 

“But my Lord…”

 

“Enough. I will speak to Katara about this, but I'm sure she will feel the same way. Until then, keep her warm and comfortable- take those damned ice shackles off, for one thing. With her back as mangled as it is, having her arms held up like that must be agonizing, even if she isn't saying anything. Her mind's so muddled, she probably can't register pain.”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

Zuko nodded in approval to the guards, who seemed relieved at being able to allow their prisoner some relief. Even though she had attacked the Fire Lord and a Waterbending Master in an attempt to kill them, she had been a quiet but helpful addition to the Water Tribe community. They were fond of her and didn't want to see her come to harm, despite the laws in this regard.

 

“I am very grateful to be here,” she murmured as the guards released her ice shackles. “Thank you…”

 

Zuko shook his head as he left the room. Truly, he was seeing a side of his maniacal sister that made him question the intelligence of siring children. Did he really want to risk fathering a child that ended up as insane as Azula? Ozai? Even Sozin and Azulon?

 

Maybe it would be better to let the royal bloodline die with him than to chance it.

 

.o(O)o.

 

Katara looked up from the bowl of broth she was attempting to finish as Zuko entered, his face grim. Placing the bowl aside, her oceanic eyes held many questions that she did not need to voice.

 

“Azula… needs to die.”

 

She lifted an eyebrow. “I could've told you that. But I'm guessing that your reaction is because of Mai? How is she doing?”

 

He was amazed- he fully expected her to be furious with Mai for stabbing them both, but instead she was concerned for the woman's well-being instead. Even she knew something wasn't right about her. “She's… been tortured,” he said quietly, sitting down carefully next to the Waterbender. At Katara's gasp, he shook his head. “I don't know how she managed to survive it, to tell the truth. I know the agony I was in when Ozai…” His hand came up and lightly touched his eye, then dropped to his lap again. “This was ten times… no, a hundred times worse.” His gaze lifted and locked with hers, and she saw the guilt therein. “Azula whipped her… with lightning.”

 

Katara made a growling noise. “That bitch,” she swore. “How could she do that to someone? Let alone someone who's been her best friend all her life?”

 

“It just proves how twisted she really is,” Zuko replied sadly. “And unfortunately, Mai paid the price. We're just lucky Ty Lee never got caught, or else she might've gotten the same sort of treatment.”

 

Katara looked thoughtful. “I don't think so. I don't think Azula would've risked going after Ty Lee at all.”

 

“What?”

 

“Think about it. Ty Lee has the ability to take away a person's bending ability. She's taught it to the other Kyoshi Warriors. If Azula went after her, whether when she was alone or in the Village, there was a very likely chance she'd get chi-blocked and then that'd be the end of her.”

 

Zuko's good eye grew wide. “That makes perfect sense.” He leaned in quickly and kissed her soundly on the lips, much to her surprise. “How did you get so smart?”

 

Katara blinked, momentarily stunned by his abrupt reaction. She quickly recovered and gave him a saucy little smirk. “I've always been smart,” she told him, “but you just weren't intelligent enough to realize it.”

 

A knock at the doorway caught their attention, and they turned as Aang walked in, followed by Toph. “How are you two feeling?” he asked.

 

“I'm sick of just eating broth,” Katara sighed, “but other than that, I'm fine.”

 

“You just had a knife in your stomach,” Toph pointed out. “You're lucky to be eating at all.”

 

Aang's eyes met Zuko's. “How's Mai?”

 

Zuko repeated his story, this time going into more detail about his encounter with his former girlfriend. By the time he had finished, the Avatar's expression could only be described as disgusted.

 

“I… I can't believe Azula…!”

 

Toph snorted. “I can. I told you she was crazy.”

 

Katara glanced around. “So… what do we do now? We can't let them put Mai on trial for something like this. It wasn't her fault.”

 

Aang held up a small vial of liquid. “I got the Oasis water for Ursa,” he said, his cheeks pinking slightly, “so we should probably head back to the Earth Kingdom.”

 

Zuko shook his head. “I need to get Mai back to the Fire Nation. Our healers are trained in how to deal with burns. They'd be the only ones who would know if she can be healed.”

 

Katara nodded slowly. “Once her body is healed, then we can focus on her mind.”

 

A chittering sound preempted the arrival of a familiar furry creature. “Momo!” Aang cried out cheerfully. “How in the world did you make it all the way here, buddy?”

 

“He stowed aboard one of the merchant ships,” Sokka answered as he followed the winged lemur into the room. He held up a scroll. “He was carrying this.”

 

Katara's eyes lit up. “That's a scroll from home.”

 

“Yeah. Suki… she's in labor. Gran-gran says that the baby'll probably be born by the time I get this.”

 

Toph tilted her head to the side. “Why don't you sound happier? You're a daddy.”

 

Sokka sighed as he plopped onto the floor. “I kinda wanted to be there for her,” he confessed, “but at the same time, I'm scared to death. I don't know anything about having kids. What if I do something wrong?”

 

Katara rested a hand on her brother's arm. “Sokka, relax. You're going to make a great dad. After all, you practically raised me after Dad went off to war, remember? And I turned out fabulous.”

 

Toph chuckled. “I'm not convinced, Sugar Queen.”

 

The Waterbender ignored her. “I just hope that when I have my own kids I'll be as good a parent as you were.”

 

Sokka's gaze met Zuko's- and he frowned slightly. “Well, thanks, Katara… but I need to get back to the South Pole as soon as possible.”

 

Zuko scratched his head. “So… I need to get Mai back to the Fire Nation. Sokka needs to get back to the Southern Water Tribe. Katara…”

 

She crossed her arms stubbornly. “I'm heading to your mom's- I'm afraid of what might happen if we wait too much longer to try and heal her.”

 

“I'm going with you, Sweetness,” Toph announced. “As much as I'd like to go and celebrate the birth of a little Sokka-spawn, I wouldn't be able to sense him on all that ice. Besides- I'd like to visit with Fire Mom again.”

 

Zuko's brow lifted. “'Fire Mom'?”

 

“Just go with it, Sparky.”

 

“That leaves me,” Aang mused. “The box I found at the Temple held all the documentation regarding the non-benders that were fostered out to other families, but that's not overly pressing at the moment.” He grinned at Zuko. “Did you know that Ty Lee's family has Air Nomad blood in it?”

 

“Doesn't surprise me at all. The whole family is a bunch of acrobats that are as light on their feet as you are. With the way she bounces around and flips and whatnot, I'm really surprised she isn't an Airbender too.”

 

“So where are you going to go then, Twinkletoes?” Toph asked. “Out to find more Airbenders?”

 

“No,” he replied, shaking his head. “I need to head to the South Pole too.” His grey eyes lifted to Katara's. “I need to talk to your dad… about our marriage.”

 

Zuko frowned. “Wait. I thought Katara and I were considered married now. Didn't Arnook say something like that?”

 

“I kinda… gave Hakoda two boats when I asked him if I could marry her.”

 

Sokka's eyes went wide and his jaw dropped. “Oh, oceans,” he breathed. “You're good as married to my sister, then.”

 

“That's what Chief Arnook said too. So that kinda supersedes anything that happened between you and Katara.”

 

Zuko turned to Katara. “He bought you for two boats?”

 

Katara's eyes were sad. “It's a Water Tribe tradition,” she said quietly. “A suitor gives the bride's father something that he made himself as a bride price. The larger the offer, the more binding the betrothal. In some situations, the wedding ceremony itself was bypassed because of the value of the offer.”

 

“And a boat- just one, mind you- is enough to make a marriage offer considered valid,” Sokka added. “Aang says he gave our dad two- which, in the eyes of the Water Tribe, means he is now married to Katara.”

 

Toph flinched.

 

Aang saw it and discreetly placed a comforting hand on top of hers. “That's why I need to talk to Hakoda,” he told them. “To see if there's some way we can nullify this. I… I realized how selfish I was being before and I want to make things right.”

 

Zuko met Aang's eyes. “So if I wanted to ask Katara to marry me once you dealt with Hakoda?”

 

“With my blessing, Sifu Hotman. Although, you'd have to step it up a notch with the bride price, I think. Make him believe you to be the better man.”

 

Zuko frowned. “Why pay off the father in the first place? Why can't anyone just ask Katara what she wants?”

 

Katara grinned. “Hear, hear.”

 

“Tradition,” Sokka replied. “To prove to the bride's family that you, as her husband, can provide for her and support her. Which is why the offer must be hand-made: to show skill with your hands. Suki didn't have any family for me to offer to, so I made some weapons for the Kyoshi Warriors to use.” He chuckled. “They approved.”

 

Zuko looked confused. “I'm a Firebender. I don't make anything with my hands except fire.”

 

“Gotten soft in your role as Fire Lord, eh, Sparky?” Toph chortled.

 

“Quiet, woman. I don't see you offering any ideas, and I think you've got as much at stake here as I do.”

 

“The answer's simple. Build Katara's old man a boat- but make it out of metal.”

 

Everyone blinked at her. “Of course!” Aang cheered.

 

“That'd definitely make Dad sit up and take notice,” Sokka agreed.

 

Zuko sputtered. “I don't know how to build a ship! We have shipbuilders for that!”

 

Sokka guffawed. “You think fighting your crazy sister is hard? Trying convincing my dad that you're a better catch than the Avatar. Being the Fire Lord ain't gonna help you this time.”

 

Toph patted him on the shoulder. “You'd better learn fast, Sparky.” She pointed in Katara's general direction. “This isn't about wooing the love of your life- it's about wooing her father.”

 

“Fabulous.”

 

“And once that's done,” she continued cheerfully, “you get to go convince your stodgy old Fire Council that you're going to make a Water Tribe peasant into the next Fire Lady.”

 

Zuko groaned and fell back against the pile of furs and blankets behind him. He gave Katara a pleading look. “Can't we just elope?”

 

“I haven't even said I'd marry you, Dragon.”

 

Toph let out a whistle. “Niiiiiiice. Original. Kudos, Sweetness. Never thought you'd come up with such a fitting nickname. He does have dragonbreath.”

 

“I do not!”

 

“So that's why your mouth has steam coming from it when you're mad. Your teeth are melting from the stench,” Sokka added sagely.

 

“So help me, Sokka, if you don't shut up right now, I'll send you back to Suki in a box.”

 

“You don't scare me.”

 

“Then I'll burn off your ponytail instead.”

 

“Aaaaaaugh! You wouldn't dare! This is my warrior's wolf-tail!”

 

“Great role model for that kid,” Toph sighed. “The future of the Southern Water Tribe has this guy's blood in him. They're doomed.”

 

Aang chuckled. “Maybe it's a good thing I don't want to marry Katara anymore,” he whispered in Toph's ear. “Can you imagine Airbenders with Sokka's behavior?”

 

Toph's loud laughter echoed throughout the room, causing the rest of the group to wonder about her sanity.

 

They didn't need to wonder. She already knew it was looooong gone.