Disclaimer: We don't own Avatar. We're not making any money from writing this.

Author's Note: This takes place about year after the end of "Sozin's Comet."

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Chapter 1: To Lay a Trap

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Amaya was reading through some of her new volumes.

The door opened to reveal a nobleman, his hair well styled and his manner austere. He entered the room, stopping just beyond the doorway. Amaya ignored him. Unless he had business with her, she had no interest in greeting him.

Amaya continued to read, becoming increasingly irritated. If he wanted to read, then he should just find a book already! If he wanted to talk to her, he would have spoken! She stood up; her chair screeched as her feet, impeded slightly by her long black skirt, kicked it backwards. She walked over to the man with as much grace as annoyance. "Will you at least sit? Your company is unnerving. Speak."

"I have a book for you. Read it and let it advise you."

A hungry look crossed Amaya's face. The thought of a new book made her half crazy. She reached for it.

"Promise me you'll share your knowledge." The man withheld the book for a moment.

"Of course!" Amaya frowned. "I am a librarian, after all."

The man smiled, giving Amaya the book, and backed out of the room, his hands in the formal Fire Nation bow.

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The palace was quiet. Much too quiet. Mai had escaped from her family's house and had run into a new problem: Zuko was tied up in meetings for the rest of the day. That's what she'd been told by the guards outside the meeting room. She'd nevertheless loitered outside the door of the room, but nothing had happened. Eventually, she'd realized that what the guards had told her had been true, and she really wouldn't be seeing Zuko any time soon. Feeling immensely disappointed when she had to venture out from her spot to get lunch, a thought struck her. She could go and consult the librarian at the Underground Library below the palace. Ozai had tried hiding the librarian away with all the information she'd collected over the years, but Zuko had learned about it and had opened the doors for people to visit her. Mai thought that maybe there would be something there to entertain her, or to at least keep her from pining away over Zuko.

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Wandering down to the library, Mai thought about what she'd ask the librarian. What the woman's name was, for one thing. She was stumped after that.

The door protested against Mai's insisting it open. But it succumbed to her will in the end. "Hello?" she called. Her voice echoed back to her. She started to feel uncomfortable, but then she saw all the lit lamps and shelf after shelf of books. Books always had a calming effect on her. It pleased her to see so many.

"Hello!" a voice called back to her. A shuffling sound came from behind some shelves, and a woman hurried up to Mai. "Oh, aren't you well-dressed! What's the occasion?"

"I always dress like this," Mai said. Change the subject, Mai thought. "This is… a nice place," she said. Wow. Had she actually just said that?

"Do you really think so?" Amaya's eyes shone. "I do. It's the best library in the world! Except, I don't have any animal spirits here. I hear they have some nice Library Spirits in the Earth Kingdom! Information about them can be found in Aisle 23, shelf—"

"That's okay." Mai tried to smile. "But—" She spotted a chair. She draped herself into it and faced Amaya with her customary glazed-over look. "Tell me something I don't know. I'm so bored."

"I would have told you about the Library Spirits if you'd only let me," Amaya pouted. "What's got you so bored?"

Mai frowned. "I'm bored because my betrothed is going to be in meetings for the rest of his life, and there's no time for me in his schedule, but I can't possibly do anything about it since the fate of the world is at stake. Is that a good enough explanation?"

Amaya pursed her lips. "Who's your betrothed? He sounds like a drag."

Mai arched an eyebrow. The woman who never left her library was calling Zuko a drag? "He's Fire Lord Zuko."

Amaya gasped. "Oh! Congratulations! He was the first man I'd seen in so long! I thought he was the handsomest thing ever!"

Mai smirked. "He probably is." She sighed. "It's just… I don't ever see him anymore. It's been a week already."

Amaya sat in a chair behind her large librarian's desk. "A whole week without seeing your betrothed? Does this job of his have any perks?"

Mai stared at Amaya. Why was she being so open? It was all Zuko's fault, she decided. He'd made her more outgoing, and now she was able to talk about her feelings with a complete stranger. What was wrong with her? She'd never have done that before! "Well… he can get whatever he wants just for asking… but that's about it. When there are all-day war meetings, and nobody can agree at the meetings that are only supposed to take a couple hours at most… I just wish he were a prince again and we could have time alone." Her cheeks were damp. Oh, no. Was she crying? This was too much. She was going to lose it.

"Oh, Mai!" Amaya leaned over her desk to peer into Mai's watery eyes. "You poor thing!" When was the last time Mai had been called a "poor thing?" It had to have been a really long time. "You're just desolate for him, aren't you?"

Mai opened her mouth to protest, but nothing came to mind that wasn't a blatant lie. She'd been working on not lying about her emotions any more, because it irritated Zuko endlessly. She nodded weakly, admitting defeat as her mask disappeared entirely.

"What can I do to make you feel better?" Amaya prodded.

Mai stared. This girl she barely knew was so intent on making her feel better. How odd. "I just want to be with Zuko… I mean, Fire Lord Zuko. But there's no possible way to do that. He's needed in those meetings."

"How old is he?" Amaya furrowed her brow.

"Seventeen." Mai had gotten so used to answering this question it was automatic.

Amaya frowned again. "How could they overload a seventeen year old? He'll go prematurely gray!"

"Nobody seems to care about that." Mai whipped out a knife and twirled it through her fingers. She calmed down a little bit, but not enough.

Amaya gasped and brightened up. "I've got an idea how to help!"

Mai replaced her knife and looked up at Amaya hopefully. That was a new thing, too, but she didn't have time to kick herself for letting it through. "What is it?" she demanded breathlessly. She was really starting to be pathetic.

"The problem is that nobody agrees on anything, right?"

Mai nodded.

"Well, there's something you can do to bring them all together."

Amaya laid out a plan that Mai couldn't believe had come from a shut-up librarian.

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