Author's note:

Well, this is the second part of my little series attempting to address my frustrations with Maiko. (Rant in Maiko Revisions)

I wrote this one because I wanted to imagine what Mai went through during her two months (I'm estimating) in prison. I mean, she was sure of her love for Zuko, but I couldn't understand how she could forgive him so quickly after being released from prison. If I were in her place, I wouldn't have assumed that he loved me as much as I loved him, especially since Mai wasn't given any hint of his feelings after he locked her in that cell. It's not like he was the one who ordered for her release at the end of the war either. I guess she just trusted him. Luckily, she was right in thinking he loved her. However, I still want to put some depth in her decision to return to him.

Yeah, if my first fic was to address the lack of development prior to their actual relationship, this fic is to address the problem with how they semi-broke up. I feel like Mai is the one who always tries to make things work between them, and Zuko's kind of apathetic about it. He loves her, but won't do much to show it. I'd like to think, though, that even if it wasn't shown in the episodes, he actually thought/worried about Mai while he was with the gaang. I'll pretend he thought about her every night before he went to sleep, but that's all I'm going to imagine for Zuko's part. This fic is just going to focus on Mai's side of the story.

Disclaimer: Not mine!

The dungeon was filled with the blood curdling screams of a girl. She was hung by her wrists against the wall. Though it was obvious it killed her to even try, she raised her head slowly and shot her torturer a defiant look.

"Well, Mai," the fire princess sneered at her once-friend. "Can you honestly say you still love my brother more than you fear me?"

"Nothing you do will make me regret what I did," the prisoner told her quietly as she winced through the pain of her burns. "I don't even understand why you're doing this. If I recall correctly, you ordered the guards to lock me and Ty Lee up so that you'd never have to see us again. And yet here you are. You aren't even giving it your all. If you just did what I know you're capable of, I'd have been dead within the first 2 minutes."

Azula laughed. Her friend knew her power too well. "If you must know," she replied. "I find that leaving you alive and in pain is far more enjoyable than immediately disposing of you. There's no thrill if you don't suffer. I am not going to give you the satisfaction of skipping your physical, emotional and mental torture by killing you. Oh no, I think this does you a lot more justice. At this rate, you and Zuko can have matching scars by the time I'm through with you. And when I'm done for the day, you'll have no one. Ha, you don't even know if Ty Lee's around or alive for that matter."

"Don't you hurt her," Mai warned. "None of this was her fault. I'm glad she finally stood up to you, but I'd rather you take your anger with her out on me." Poor Ty Lee, Mai thought. I don't know how long she'd last if she were to be tortured. She's a skilled fighter but a big baby when it comes to pain.

"Well, it's not like you'll know anytime soon anyway," Azula laughed. "Although you could say it's your fault she's in this mess in the first place."

"Well, Azula," Mai said. "At least I've got someone who genuinely cares about me. Even as a princess, you can't even keep just one friend. The only ones you had chose to go to prison than continue hanging around with you. To think people chose the Boiling Rock over you."

"Be quiet!" Azula lashed out with an accompanying fire whip which struck Mai right at the side of her stomach. Mai screamed in pain. "I don't need anyone. Everyone's beneath me. I will be crowned fire queen when Sozin's comet arrives. It won't matter if anyone likes me. I just want them all to fear and obey me." With that she struck Mai a couple more times before the warden ran in.

"That's enough!" he shouted, immediately recoiling and lowering his voice. "I'm sorry Princess, but I can't stand by and watch my niece being hurt so."

Azula straigtened up and turned away from Mai. "I was just about done anyway," she said casually as she walked towards the door. "Oh, but warden, next time you speak to me like that, it'll be your turn. Father isn't too pleased that you let 5 prisoners, including my brother, escape."

As soon as she left, the warden went to Mai, untied her and laid her on the floor. "Mai, how are you feeling?" he asked with great concern.

"I'm fine. Just a little toasty," she tried to joke. This only exasperated her uncle.

"I'll never understand why you did such a stupid thing," he reprimanded her. "As far as I, the warden, am concerned, you are a traitor to the nation and you deserve your punishment. But as your uncle, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe, if only for your mother's sake. Your friends caused me a lot of trouble. If it weren't for their successful breakout, I might be able to do something about your situation sooner, but as it is, I'm afraid you'll have to wait before I can get you out of here."

He looked down at her torso and inspected the fresh wounds. They were definitely going to leave a few scars. He helped her up gently as she was still very weak. He brought her to her isolation cell and told her to rest. When her uncle left, she lay on her cot and began to think. Recalling the recent events made her eyes begin to water, but she quickly thought of other things to keep herself from succumbing to that kind of weakness. No, not once in the past had she shed a tear for any boy - not even after he left her with just a letter - and she wasn't about to start now. She wasn't lying when she said she didn't regret what she did. She told the truth when she said she loved Zuko more than she feared his sister, but that was it. That's where it ended. She was content with that final grand gesture of love, but she also knew that she had had enough. Her heroic deed was also her way of letting him go. As she was running towards the roof right before she fought all those guards, she already knew. That was the end of her and Zuko.