A/N: There is Mai bashing in this because I don't like Mai. Never have, never will.

Aang walked through the hospital corridors, heading to the reverse isolation ward where his best friend Zuko was. The doctors didn't have the foggiest idea what was wrong with Zuko, but they did know that his white blood cell count was so low a simple cold could kill him within hours. That meant he had to live in a bubble, unable to have physical contact with anyone or anything that wasn't completely sterilized. Zuko hadn't been the most touchy-feely person before, but even he was starting to miss human contact. The fact his girlfriend, Mai, hadn't bothered to visit him for more than five minutes in the six months he'd been here wasn't helping Zuko any. Sokka, Katara, and Toph visited him about once a week. Aang and Iroh visited him every single day, no matter what the weather.

Zuko was asleep when Aang arrived so Aang walked just out of his line of sight to wait for him to wake up.

"Hi, Song. How's Zuko doing today?" The head nurse for the reverse isolation ward smiled at him. He wasn't family, so she wasn't supposed to give him any information regarding Zuko's health, but she did anyway.

"He's been a little tired, but other than that he's been about the same as usual." Damn. Aang had been hoping that there would have been a little progress, at least. There hadn't been any positive progress in the six months of Zuko's hospitalization, but that didn't mean Aang was going to give up anytime soon. Iroh wasn't going to, either. Zuko was waking up by this point so Aang walked back over and flipped the intercom on.

"Hey, Zuko! Sorry I'm a little late today. Uncle Gyatso needed my help getting something out of the attic," Aang lied smoothly. He never told Zuko that he waited while he slept. He was worried that Zuko would resist the sleep he desperately needed so he wouldn't make Aang wait. Iroh did the exact same thing.

"Hey, Aang. How's school?"

"Same as always. Jet and Sokka got suspended for three days for fighting, which is completely unfair since Jet started it. Ty Lee made head cheerleader again. Mai almost got expelled for bringing knives to school." Aang knew that because he'd been in the principal's office for playing a prank on Mrs. Paddywhacker when she was getting yelled at. "Katara got all straight A's as always, as did Azula. My art project won a ribbon at the school art fair."

"Mai almost got expelled?" Zuko would focus on her, of course. Forget the friends who actually came to see him and tried to keep his spirits up. Mai, in Zuko's eyes, was the important thing.

"Yeah." Aang, honestly, had hoped that she would get expelled. Maybe if she didn't have seven hours of school and couldn't participate in sports, she might actually visit the boyfriend she supposedly loved. But she hadn't been expelled. They fell silent for a moment as Aang waited for Zuko to choose the next topic of conversation. Song was right. Zuko was definitely more tired today than usual. He was trying not to fall asleep while they were talking.

"Did you think of what adventure the sock puppets are going on next?" The sock puppets Zuko was referring to were puppets Aang had made of them and their friends. He had started off with ones of Sokka and Katara, that he'd done little 'Punch and Judy' routines with. He'd added the other ones over time.

"Yep. I made a new one, too. Another bad guy. I'll bring them by tomorrow." Aang was currently making up an epic tale of love, war, and the triumph of good over evil. It was kind of hard, though, since scenes could only have two characters in them unless he had someone, usually Iroh, to help him. The puppets made Zuko laugh, which was always a good thing, and the main reason why Aang went to all the trouble involved.

Zuko was struggling to keep his eyes open at this point so Aang slipped his hand into his pocket and pushed a button on his phone to make it chirp. He pulled it out and pretended to have just gotten a text from Gyatso requiring him at home. If he told Zuko he was leaving because of how tired Zuko obviously was, Zuko would just pretend he was wide awake and stubbornly resist sleep.

"I'm sorry, Zuko. I have to leave early. Uncle Gyatso needs me." Zuko looked a little disappointed but he nodded. He pressed his hand against the glass. Aang did the same thing. It was as close as Zuko could come to actual physical contact, and it was something he did only with Aang and Iroh.

"See you tomorrow, Aang?" Zuko asked the same question every time, and Aang gave him the same answer every time.

"The only thing that could keep me away is the end of the world." It was a ritual, just like pressing their hands together on opposite sides of the glass. Zuko was sound asleep by the time Aang reached the nurses' desk.

The next day, Mai sat down next to him at lunch. Aang stared at her. What was Mai Kame doing sitting at his lunch table? She usually sat at Azula's table with the rest of the privileged and wealthy.

"How's Zuko doing?"

"Considering that he has a disease that the doctors can't identify much less cure, all of his hair has fallen out, his skin is so pale it's translucent, his white blood cell count is so low he has to live in a bubble or he'll catch a cold and die, and to top it all off, his supposedly loving girlfriend can't be bothered to take five minutes out of her day and visit him, he's doing pretty well. Of course, if you'd visit him once in a while, you'd know all of that for yourself, now wouldn't you." The words popped out before Aang could even possibly filter them. He fell silent as everyone stared at him. He hadn't realized that he was quite that…bitter over Zuko's illness. Still, if he was the one Zuko loved, he'd treat him a heck of a lot better than Mai did. She showed no sign that his words had had any impact on her whatsoever.

"I'm glad to hear that he's doing alright." She stood and headed back to her usual lunch table without another word.

"Aang!" Katara sounded scandalized. "You should have been nicer to her, I'm sure Zuko's illness is hard on her."

"Oh, yeah. It's so hard on her; she can barely find the time to participate in sports, what with all the time she spends at the hospital." Sokka snorted at Aang's sarcastic response.

Don't forget all those concerts she's had to miss, while she fusses over him, Aang." Toph laughed at Sokka's comment, coughing on her milk. Katara glared at all three of them.

"You three are impossible! You should have more compassion for her. This is a very difficult time-"

"As evidenced by the fact that nothing in her life has changed except for the fact she no longer has Zuko on her arm." Katara was a sweet, compassionate, caring person, but in this case her compassion was seriously misplaced. Mai was cold and emotionless, and Zuko deserved far better.