DISCLAIMER: I do not own Avatar: TLA.

I wanted to do something that involved everyone, and this is what I came up with. It took me forever to finish, partially due to school but mostly because I got stuck so much. -_- Muses, y u torture me so?

Of all the times Dad had to invite family over. I love my aunts, uncles and cousins, don't get me wrong, but being stuck here means I'm not with Azula, and that really bothers me.

"Earth to Maiko!"

The ground shakes under my feet, causing me to yelp and fall on my ass. Lin Beifong, three years my junior, cocks an eyebrow at me looking for all the world like her mother. "You've been zoning out all day. What's up?"

"Lin, don't knock her down." Tenzin, ever the gentleman, offers me his hand as I push myself into a standing position. Behind him, Bumi is snickering as Kya just sort of laughs. I give my "cousins" a quick smile.

"Nothing's wrong, I'm fine. Come on, let's have a rumble: The four elements and…um, do you have a weapon, Bumi?"

"Sure I do, but you're lying," he says easily, and I cringe. For all his wild energy and thick head, Bumi sure can be perceptive. Lin nods in agreement, and, too late, I remember she's a living lie detector. Kya, the oldest of us all, eyes me with concern.

"Is this about Azula?" she asks, and my mouth goes dry. Seeing my expression, Kya quickly adds "I was talking to your gran-gran last night and she told me what's happening."

"Azula?" Bumi echoes with a frown. Tenzin is so startled he nearly falls over while Lin's eyes are wide in shock. "You mean your aunt, the one who killed Dad and nearly killed Mom too and threw Ty Lee and Aunt Mai in jail?"

"…yeah." There's no use hiding it; even if I did somehow manage to lie convincingly, they'd find out sooner or later. "I've been trying to help her, but it hasn't been such smooth sailing…"

"You WHAT!" Lin roars, making all of us cover our ears. "Are you INSANE?! She's a killer, Maiko!"

"She's my aunt, Lin," I snap back. "I want to help her—you haven't seen her, she's…really sad…"

"Sad that she didn't finish off Dad properly," Bumi snorts. "Who are you trying to kid, Maiko? You've heard the stories same as us; more so, in fact, because of Fire Lord Zuko—"

"I think they're right," Tenzin pipes up, and I glare at him, which makes him cringe.

"You don't get it! Nobody's ever given a damn about her, not as a person; she's only ever been a weapon, a means to an end. I think you'd be a little screwed up too if you were her! Is it so bad I want to help her?! She's going to die if I don't do something!" A blast of fire emanates from my body, and only a combination of Kya and Lin's quick action stops me from accidentally burning someone. Tenzin squeaks, Lin swears and Bumi hollers so loudly I'm half-surprised nobody comes running to check on us. "Sorry," I mutter, crossing my arms. "Cons of being a firebender." In a perverse way I'm glad it happens. Serves them right.

"This really matters to you," Kya says quietly, fixing me with a piercing sapphire stare. I stiffly nod; it's not surprising that she's sympathetic—Kya is one of the kindest people I've ever met—but she won't be able to change her siblings' minds, let alone Lin's. There is quiet for a moment, me with my back turned again trying to hold onto my temper and the rest exchanging looks that probably say something along the lines of 'Maiko lost her marbles'. So nothing could be more shocking than when Bumi's voice breaks the silence:

"Okay. What do we do?"

"You wanted to talk, Zuko?" Katara prompted when the guards had cleared out of the throne room and Team Avatar (as Sokka still insisted on calling them) was alone. With the absence of an audience, Zuko exhaled, letting his posture soften as he sat back in his seat. He shut his eyes briefly before saying, in a flat yet exhausted tone,

"Maiko has taken an interest in my sister."

The silence that followed was almost heavy enough to crush them. Toph then proceeded to shatter it with a "WHAT THE FUCK?!" that shook the walls almost hard enough to send them crumbling and sent a fissure through the floor. Sokka let out a squeak that was so high-pitched as to be nearly inaudible while the look on Katara's face made Aang edge a few feet away from his wife. Attempting to get the whole story before all hell broke loose, the Avatar lost no time in asking Zuko to elaborate.

Zuko gave his friends a brief explanation of what was going on, carefully avoiding the fact that Ty Lee seemed to have taken Azula's side this time around. "…and I need your help deciding what to do. Especially yours, Aang. I can't move Azula; she needs to be somewhere fairly close so I can keep an eye on her, but if I forbid Maiko from going I know she'll ignore me and somehow find a way." Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm completely at a loss."

"Exile her," Katara said coldly. "Away from any possible power bases, she's helpless."

Zuko shook his head. "I thought about it, but there's no way she would ever survive on her own."

"So?" Toph snarled.

"No, you can't do that." Sokka seemed to have regained his ability to speak. "If you send her to her death, you're no better than Ozai was."

A chill passed through the air as all five young adults were reminded of the promise Zuko forced Aang to make. Silence reigned for almost a quarter of an hour before Toph voiced what all of them were wondering: "What the hell are we gonna do?"