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

Thank you to all my readers who are still here for some indiscernible reason.

I'm thinking of ending it here.

How do you feel about that?

-x-x-x-x-x-

Chapter 37: The Last Straw

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The Eastern Air Temple rose above the clouds in a frozen serenity.

Aang watched it approach, a sullen, far-off look in his eyes.

No one questioned him for the reason.

Sokka had taken an envoy of Earthbenders to search for Suki, and insisted that everyone else should continue on the journey, because with Mai to help, things may go more smoothly in the search.

All those who rode Appa were silent, and had been for some time.

Soon after Sokka missed Suki, Lin had mentioned Ty Lee and the situation had seemed less dire.

Ty Lee and Suki, even alone, could take on a great many warriors, and would be treated as high-profile prisoners if they were prisoners, at all.

Zuko still felt guilty for not staying.

Certainly, he'd be much happier when this business was over, but when his wife had gone missing, Sokka had leapt at the chance to help.

He wanted to return the favor.

Really, he did…

"We're here," Aang said blandly.

Appa bellowed, and in the wake of this sound, a man appeared.

Taking in his leathery skin that stretched over his bones in a wrinkly expanse and his bushy beard that had grown even longer than when Aang had met him, the gang remained silent.

"I know what you came for," Pathik announced. "Aang, you should have come to me sooner."

"I know," Aang said, and offered a hand to Lin.

Lin let him have it, and he airbent them down to the ground.

Pathik then reached out his hand to Lin. "This will be no simple task," he said, "but if you are willing to be strong, we can get through this."

"Tell me what I need to do," Lin said.

"Follow me," Pathik said gently, and as he led Lin into the shadows, the others began setting up camp.

"You look… happy," Katara commented to Zuko.

"This guy seems to have actual answers," Zuko explained. "Just look at him! Looking like that, he's got to know what he's talking about."

"He's not the best at relationship advice," Aang muttered.

"What?" Sura asked. She'd been unpacking the tents along with him, and was the only one to even hear his voice.

"I didn't say anything important," Aang said.

"As long as this ends quickly, I'll be happy," Toph said, though she was trailing her feet along the Air Nomad patterns on the floor with some interest.

Her words were met with universal agreement, though it was hard to miss the fact that no one was entirely hopeful.

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"I know you have been on a tiring journey."

Because he was prhasing this, not as a question but a statement, Lin felt her input was unnecessary.

"Are you ready to end it?"

"I am," Lin said at once. "I'm tired of being scared."

"And your consciousness has been strengthened with time, has it not?"

"Is that unusual?"

"You are unusual. You were never meant to exist."

Lin swallowed, but did not allow her face to change.

The ability to hide her discomfort surprised Lin somewhat.

Another thing she hid.

"I am pleased by what I can see," said the guru giving her a half coconut.

Lin stared at the liquid inside.

"Please, you need only drink it."

Lin quickly downed the stuff. "Onions and bananas?" she asked.

Though the words sounded strange together, the taste was better than she could have expected.

She was sorry that it was all gone.

"That's right." The guru said proudly. "My students all drink it. Why not my patients, too?"

Uncertain if there were a proper way to respond, Lin stayed silent.

"My first question is a simple one: Why do you not believe that you are the Fire Lady?"

"I have my own mind. If I were the Fire Lady, I would remember being her, and not being me."

"Memories are fluid," Pathik said. "To be a person is not the same as realizing it."

Lin shivered. "That… I didn't expect you to be genuinely frightening," she said.

"You used to fear everything, didn't you?"

Lin bit her lip.

The guru laid a hand on Lin's head. "So much turmoil. Forgive my inability to interfere before you'd become a person, Lin."

Lin pulled Pathik's hand off her forehead. "What are you saying?"

"You were created a servant. A lowly, fearful creature. And yet, time has shaped you. It would be much easier to reach into the strength of your true self and rebel against something you truly hated. And now…"

Lin stepped away from Pathik. "I'm going to need some time to get used to you," she said.

"Do you have time?" Pathik asked.

She couldn't really reply to that.

"I say that you do not. And what will you do?"

As her teeth dug into her lip, Lin looked away. "I… will do what I must."

"It is not easy when someone asks you to die," the guru said then, and Lin stared at him at once.

"You're asking me to… to die? I thought… I thought we were…"

"The person you have become must die," Pathik said.

"No!" Lin turned and ran awkwardly out of the room.

"She will be a good student," Pathik said to himself when he'd been left alone.

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"Have you thought much about what would happen if you were dead?" Lin asked.

Sura was distracted by her plans, but she still looked at Lin for an explanation. "Is that what the face is for?"

"I think I'm going to die soon," Lin explained.

"That's ridiculous," Sura said, and surveyed the room again.

It hadn't taken her long to locate a place to set her plans into action.

Now, however, she wasn't sure if she could go through with it.

"It's not, really. I think the guru wants me dead."

Sura stopped her contemplations altogether to stare at Lin. "Did he say that?"

"Yes, he did. Clearly."

Sura took Lin's hand. "Then let me try something, my way, please."

"And I won't die?"

"You won't. Just walk out into the middle of the room, please."

As Lin walked further in, Sura spread a sheet of ice along the floor.

Lin's foot shot out from under her. She recovered on the way down, and spun around to catch herself. "What…?" Lin looked to Sura for an explanation.

"Nothing," Sura said innocently.

Katara and Aang entered to see Lin struggling to her feet.

"Where did all this ice come from?" Katara asked.

Sura frowned. Katara and Aang would probably not like the answer, but they deserved to know. Sheskated across the hall to them.

"She regains her memories every time she hits her head." She shifted the ice under Lin, making her compensate and skate frantically around.

"So you're trying to make her hit her head?" Katara's voice went shrill. "But you'll—"

"Sura? You're trying to hurt me, too?" Lin stared at Sura. Then she burst into tears, falling to her knees. "I thought I could trust you!"

"Oh, Mai-Lin!" Katara skated over to her, holding her around the shoulders. "Sura is only trying to help you!" Katara was in full mothering mode. She stroked Lin's hair and rocked her. "It's all a mis—"

Zuko and Toph entered.

"I told you there was ice in this room," Toph said, pointing.

The sound of Mai's sobbing reached Zuko, and he saw Katara doing her best to calm her down. "What happened?" Zuko's voice went raspy. He tripped, slipped and fell a couple times on his way over. "Mai! What—"

"Sura hates me!" Lin cried.

"No, I don't!" Sura protested. "I'm trying to help!"

Katara was still trying to stop Lin's sobbing. "She's sensitive, Sura!"

Zuko reached for her. "Can I take over?" he asked Katara, trying to take Mai from her.

"No!" Lin screamed. "Don't touch me! Get away!"

Katara exchanged pained expressions with Zuko, Aang and Toph. "Lin, Zuko wants to comfort you."

"He scares me." Lin almost whispered.

Zuko melted to his knees. She was afraid of him again. The universe had discovered a new form of torment.

"He loves you." Katara said, turning Lin to face Zuko. "He wouldn't hurt you for anything…"

"He's the reason I have to die!"

The room fell silent.

"What was that?" Zuko asked.

He was too dazed to be angry.

"I'm going to die," Lin said again.

"No, you're not going to die." Zuko lifted Lin to her feet, his own feet melting footprints in the ice. "Who said you would?"

"The guru," Lin said. "And then Sura tried to kill me, just like he said."

"I'm going to have to talk to him," Zuko said, his voice a barely controlled growl.

"To protect me?" Lin asked.

"Of course. That's what all of this has been about. And it's going to end. Are you coming with me?"

"I don't want to see him, again. This… this whole thing is a mess and I'm tired of being in the middle of it. I need a break."

Zuko nodded distantly. "It's only fair," he said, his voice drifting into a contemplative calm. "Lin Qiang," he said after a brief pause.

Lin looked up expectantly.

"It's time for work," Zuko finished, and stepped away from her then. "Toph, take her up into the fresh air to relax."

"Yes, sir," Toph said, giving him a mock salute. "Though, can't I go rough up the Guru with you?"

"No. I'm doing this."

"You can't go and actually hurt him!" Aang protested.

"If it were up to me, Twinkle Toes, that's exactly what we'd be doing," Toph said. "Where does he get the gall to threaten people like that?"

"That's why I'm sending you away," Zuko said. "Now."

"Come with me," Toph said with a beleaguered sigh.

Lin did so without a second thought.

"Are you sure she heard right?" Katara asked. "He couldn't have actually meant he'd kill her."

"Sometimes he's got an odd way of phrasing things," Aang said. "Please don't take it the wrong way."

"We're talking about death!" Zuko shouted. "What's to rephrase?"

"I… We have to ask him," Aang replied. "And we can't act before we know what's going on."

"Get Topekaia in here," Zuko ordered. "We're all going to find the guru together, and we're going to talk with him about this."

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Toph lounged against a few rocks she'd arranged in a comfortable couch for herself. "It's nice up here, isn't it?" she asked.

"It actually is," Lin said. "I'm surprised."

"Yeah, I know. It's not like I usually enjoy being so high up, but at least there are some rocks to play with."

"What if we played with rocks together?" Lin asked, sitting next to Toph.

"Sure. I could make you dance."

"Make me dance?"

"Don't freak when I do this," Toph instructed as she lifted up some of the mountain under Lin's foot.

With her foot now elevated a bit higher, Lin watched Toph in growing understanding.

"Now the other one," Toph said, and lifted up a bit of rock under Lin's other foot.

"And now I dance," Lin asked.

"That's right."

Toph maneuvered the rocks beneath Lin's feet in the pattern of a common Earth Kingdom dance she'd observed back home.

Lin began to giggle.

"I should have thought of this a long time ago!" Toph exclaimed.

Lin waved her arms gracefully to match the movements Toph put her through. "This is fun!"

"Maybe we can even keep it up after this is all fixed! I bet it'd be a riot to make Zuko dance. He'd flip out."

"You could make him flip, too," Lin suggested.

"Let's see what we can do with you," Toph said, "just keep following my lead. Do exactly what I say."

"Even if you asked me to do something crazy?"

"Especially then!"

"I'm listening!"

"We're spinning now," Toph announced, and twirled the rocks under Lin's feet in a circle.

"Oh, and here I thought you were going to tell me to do something really crazy!" Lin said. "Spinning is tame."

"I haven't even gotten started!"

"Come on, tell me to do something insane. I'll bet you've got plenty of ideas!"

"You bet I've got crazy ideas! I just haven't gotten the chance to be crazy in a long time! This is great!"

"Let loose. I'm here to do what I'm told, anyway!"

"You'd do anything I asked?"

"Of course. You know me. I'd jump into a river, or bait a badgermole, but only if you told me to."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Sure. You'd be all: 'Lin, go and bait a badgermole,' and I'd do it. I'd just walk up to it and start making fun of its giant claws like an idiot."

"Yeah!" Toph said in the midst of a booming laugh. "Yeah, I'd be all: Lin, just go and jump off a cliff!"

"I will!" Lin announced.

Before Toph could realize she was serious, Lin had done just that.

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"Guru Pathik," Aang called, letting his voice echo, "where are you?"

They'd made their way back to the campsite they'd set up, where Appa was taking a well-earned nap.

Pathik stood up from a ledge where he'd been meditating. "I thought you would come and see me soon."

"Lin says you want her dead," Zuko said accusingly.

"You also want her dead," Pathik said calmly with a nod of his head.

"No! That' exactly what I don't want! Aang! I thought you said this man was wise!"

""He is," Aang said, though he glared at the guru. "Sometimes, though, he's hard to understand."

"What is this 'Lin,' but a new person created in another's mind? She is a parasite. She is an unnatural being."

"This doesn't sound like you," Aang said, walking closer. "What's going on?"

"The truth is, if Lin is not destroyed, Mai can never live in peace. It is not good for two minds to live in one body."

"Did you have to use language like that?" Sura asked. "Did you have to say 'die?'"

"Yes. Because the shock was necessary. The parasite needed to let go. Her weakness is that she will do anything for duty. Laying down her life, included."

"But she was terrified," Sura said, "and asked me to keep her from it."

"It is only one step closer to her end," the guru said. "There are many chakras that need opening before she can be ended, and fear is one of them. She must face the worst of her fears, and overcome them."

"That just doesn't sound right to me," Topekaia said. "Isn't there a gentler way? Nobody should have to go through something like that, not even someone who's hardly real."

"I know what must be done," said the guru. "You came to me for help. Help is what I offer. Have you found any other method that could work?"

There was no answer.

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Lin was sort of enjoying the feeling of the air rushing around her body so quickly.

She didn't know why she felt so delighted at the surge of freedom that seemed to overcome her senses.

Something was telling her this should be terrifying. She kept her face composed.

She had been told by Mistress Toph that she should jump, so everything should be fine.

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Wind whistled as Mai fell through it, head first, and Zuko's eyes widened in horror. "Mai!" He cried, leaping to his feet and running to the window.

The stunned gang ran to see Mai still falling, her eyes closed peacefully.

"Someone has to save her!" Zuko said, leaning out as far as he could and looking for something- anything that he could swing on, or throw down to her…

"I've got it." Aang said, and he jumped, opening his glider as he descended toward Mai. "Mai! Give me your hand!" he called.

Lin stirred.

Why had someone interrupted her fun? Falling was enjoyable. She opened her eyes to see the bald young man with the blue arrow painted on his head looking at her with terror in his wide gray eyes. He wasn't using her name, though, so she needn't respond.

"Lady Mai, please! I'll have to catch you."

"Why?" Lin replied.

If he refused to use her name, she may as well respond now that it was obvious she was being addressed.

Aang blinked.

Mai didn't want to be saved?

But he had to save her.

She was his friend, the fate of the Fire Nation depended partially on her survival due to the third reason—the impact her death would have on Zuko.

He went into a nosedive and grabbed Mai.

"Hold on to me," he commanded.

Lin quickly did as she was told, fearing the consequences if she didn't.

The thought of dying from the fall had never crossed her mind.

She expected to land, and possibly have a long walk back up the mountain.

The boy with the gray eyes was sounding just a bit angry.

As he flew back up the side of the mountain, Lin wondered at how he'd been able to fly.

She searched her mind for anything that could give her a reason for this, but came up empty… and just a bit sore.

Why had she gotten a headache so quickly?

It was ridiculous!

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At the word "suicidal" Zuko had gone into a controlled panic. "She remembers, doesn't she?" he asked.

"She didn't even look at me at first!" Aang continued, disregarding Zuko's question. "She just kept on letting herself fall! It's like she only cared once I yelled at her!"

Zuko gave Aang a pained look. "Do you really think she was trying to kill herself?" his voice was strained.

Aang pulled up short. He realized that talking to Zuko like this was like whipping a hungry dog. "Why don't we ask her?" he asked, trying to calm down.

Lin was trying to cycle through the accusations before her.

She was suicidal?

No, she hadn't even considered death.

She'd simply done as she was told.

Of course she hadn't responded to the boy.

He hadn't addressed her properly with her own name.

Why should she respond when someone was being rude?

"So, Mai, why were you falling?" Zuko asked, his voice deceptively steady.

"I jumped." Lin shrugged.

Should she risk getting Mistress Toph in trouble in order to acquit herself of suspicion of madness?

Zuko swayed slightly, his knees seemingly on the brink of melting. "Why did you jump?" He couldn't let himself be weakened like this… he had to focus...

"Mistress Toph asked me to."

"Toph!" Zuko exploded. "How could she?"

"I'm sure something happened and there was a misunderstanding," Katara said.

Zuko knew this to be true.

Suddenly, he felt an immense sense of relief knowing that Mai hadn't tried to kill herself.

But at the same time… if Aang hadn't been able to fly, she very well could have…

"It's time to fix her brain. Now!" Zuko looked at the Guru with a steely ferocity. "Just a careless joke can send her to her death! This is not safe, and we can't possibly save her from everything!"

Lin stood. "All right… I'm leaving." She started to edge around the men.

"No, you're not! You're staying right here." Zuko laid a powerful hand on Mai's shoulder. "You're not leaving my sight again."

"The first thing you must do, Fire Lord Zuko," said the Guru, stepping forward after his long silence, "is leave me alone with her."

"What?"

"For her to focus, she must be in a setting devoted purely to meditation. That means all of you must go. Just leave me alone with her for an hour."

"That's all it'll take?" Zuko's mouth dropped open. "We've been here so long... and all you needed was an hour?"

"I only now discovered the secret. I must work around the barrier her captors set up in her mind. It divided her mind into two parts, and is only trying to keep her from switching between consciousnesses. I may have to be harsh, but I am going to put both halves together, so there is no struggle."

"Harsh?" Zuko questioned, stepping in front of Lin.

"It's the only way." the guru said solemnly. "She refuses when I ask nicely."

"You had better not hurt her. At all. Got it?"

"Of course, Fire Lord Zuko. She is to be the mother of the next generation of royal children. We can't let her brain be damaged."

Zuko's shoulders slumped.

He'd have to leave Mai to go through whatever it was the guru wanted to put her through.

He turned to her. "Good luck," he whispered. Then he forced himself to walk back through the door... stopping just inside it to listen. He nearly knocked into Sura, who was standing in the exact place he'd meant to hide in.

"What are you doing here?" he whispered.

"I'm curious. I want to hear how this is done. And I want to learn about Mai's past."

Zuko shrugged. "Fair enough."

"Lady Mai of the Fire Nation, please sit down."

A pause. Zuko held his breath.

"I'm sorry, sir, but if you wish to address me, I request that you use my name."

"Of course, Lady Mai."

An audible sigh of frustration. "Whatever."

Zuko smirked.

"We will first be dealing with the throat chakra, which rules truth. You must accept truth that you've been hiding from."

"I'm not hiding from anything." Came the stubborn reply.

"Denial will not solve your troubles. You are in a position where you must accept the truth or the lies will undo you. You cannot lie about your own nature. Nor can you lie about your own identity to yourself."

"How am I supposed to tell the lies from the truth?"

Shuffling sounds.

"What are you doing?"

"By touching your forehead, I will be able to feel what is going on in your mind."

"Fine."

"I see the illusions that have been planted in your mind. You see yourself as a humble servant with no past or future. You feel the fear of trusting someone you shouldn't, and of letting your guard down only to be crushed. You feel your memories arise, and are afraid of the pain they carry with them. You feel the pain and stop there, because you don't know of anything worth enduring the pain for."

There was another pause, and Zuko could hear a little yelp from Mai.

"What are you doing?" she squeaked.

Zuko's heart rate picked up, and he looked around the corner to see Pathik leaning over Mai, his hands surrounding her stomach's slight bump.

"I'm meeting your son."

"My son?"

Zuko smiled broadly. So he was going to have a son. Once Pathik fixed Mai's brain, they'd be able to pick out names… He shook his head vigorously. He had to stop thinking like such a… such a father? Well, he was one. Maybe he didn't have to worry about it, after all.

There was a sharp gasp and another yelp.

"Was that enough proof, Lady Mai?"

She started crying. Violent sobs wracked her body.

Zuko gripped the wall tightly. Pathik could handle this. He knew it. He'd just have to hold himself back.

"Relax. The effect is wearing off. You'll have to…" Sura tried to soothe him, but was having a hard time thinking of something positive to say.

Lin pulled into herself.

How long had she been pregnant?

Had there been truth in the Fire Lord's claims, after all?

There must be, as he'd claimed to be her husband.

That meant all the things she thought were true were lies.

And besides, she must have been making everyone around her miserable.

A sharp pain was engulfing her consciousness.

She held her head, hoping that would help.

"Fire Lord, she may need your assistance," Said Pathik.

Zuko didn't pause to wonder how he'd been discovered. With a little push from Sura, he started running, and gathered Mai into his arms. She was moaning and twitching and cringing. "It's going to be fine, Mai! Relax." Zuko instinctively put pressure on her temples, making small circles.

"The condition is wearing off. This way it's painful, since it hasn't had time to wear away."

"Z-Z-Z…" Mai stuttered. Her fingers twitched, catching on the cloth of Zuko's sleeve.

Pathik touched Mai's forehead again. "Full of emotional turmoil once more." He nodded calmly, taking in Mai's condition. "All is w—" he trailed off. A frown of confusion passed over the guru's face, before being replaced with a sort of irritated grimace. "That's more than emotional turmoil… it feels like she's imploding."

Zuko cringed. More mind control. "All right. If you think it'll help."

"Open your eyes, it's time for work, Lin Qiang." The guru said quietly.

Mai stopped twitching. She let go of Zuko's sleeve.

"What was that for?" Zuko moaned. "I thought we were trying to break her out of that!"

"We'll have to do it the sneaky way." The guru replied gently. "This will be a bit painful for you, Lord Zuko, but it won't last long."

Zuko nodded, still grimacing.

"Lin Qiang, you must be very calm."

"I am calm, master," came the subdued voice of Lin.

"Focus on my voice. Forget about everything else."

"Yes, master."

"Now, breathe deeply."

Lin allowed herself to be led through the breathing exercises.

Somehow they were familiar.

Remnants of something she'd once been taught.

Unsuccessfully.

They'd asked her to breathe deeply, and to concentrate on her inner… what had it been?

Her inner fire.

But she'd stopped every time.

Something held her back.

She was supposed to release fire.

How could she possibly do that?

She couldn't release anything else for the world to see.

All her emotions were private and painstakingly hidden.

All her thoughts on any matter— important or not—were held back, for fear of saying the wrong thing.

How could she possibly be expected to generate fire?

She remembered the faces of her parents.

Her mother's long and thin, unforgiving and sharp.

Her father's prematurely lined.

Hadn't she often thought about how her mother was driving him to an early grave?

Was the guru still talking to her? She couldn't hear him any more.

His voice had long ago been drowned out by those of the several people who'd influenced her.

There was Ty Lee, who always wore pink and behaved that it was so unlike the way she'd been raised that it was fascinating. The way expression seemed to bubble forth from the other girl had always made something inside her smile, even if it irritated her.

The voice of the guru broke through Lin's consciousness again. "Good. Your memories are constructive. Try to move past your childhood."

"No." Lin heard her own voice, but could not feel her mouth move. "I need to sort through it all."

"She is stubborn." The guru's voice was fading away again. "Not many people refuse instruction in that state."

Lin registered a low, dark chuckle which her mind converted into a loud, cold one accompanied by an image in her head of another girl, young with harsh features.

"You look so funny with your silly hair ribbons on fire—" The end of the other girl's sentence seemed cut off.

Like she'd been about to say something else.

However, her lips still moved.

Lin was terrible at reading lips.

Instead, she could feel heat near her ears. "Why did you do that?" she moaned.

"Because it's funny!" the other girl stamped her foot.

"Can you undo it?" Lin asked urgently.

"Of course I can! I can do anything!" Impatiently, the other girl focused her gold eyes on Lin's head. More heat.

"Azula! You have to stop before you burn off all her hair!" next to the other girl was Ty Lee, her hands practically in her mouth, she was so terrified.

Suddenly, water was on Lin's head, in her face. She sputtered. That wasn't dignified… but the fire was out.

"That's how it's done, 'Zula. Remember it." It was a boy's voice, but she couldn't place the owner. She turned to look at him, and rather than near her shoulder, he was crumpled on the floor next to a chair in the shadows.

"Come on, Zuko, we both know that's a lie."

That was her own voice.

His head whipped around, his hair emphasizing the movement.

"Mai."

That name, again.

The face of the Fire Lord in her memories was housing his eyes, filled with shock, pain and fear.

"How did you find me here?"

"I didn't."

Something about those words told Lin that they were not from memory, but that now her mind was shifting into a dream.

Her mind's image of Fire Lord Zuko got to his feet. "You're right about that." He reached for her face, and cupped her jaw. "I found you."

Zuko's face melted away, shifting and blurring until it became the girl from before, who had burned her hair ribbons.

Azula.

The reason she'd feared lightning.

The reason she'd so easily been taught to fear royalty.

The reason she'd had to save Zuko at the Boiling Rock.

"Why did you do it?" Azula screamed in her face.

This, too, was different from the past.

"Tell me why you would betray me! You knew what I'd have to do to you! Why would you make me hurt you?"

Zuko.

It had been Zuko all her life that kept her from falling completely under Azula's power.

And now, it was Zuko who was doing all he could to stop her from falling completely under Lin's power.

"And this is the end," said the guru. "Tell me your name."

Her eyes opened to focus on the old man, wrinkled and sinewy and with eyes that were very awake.

"You want my name?" she asked as the haze faded into a corner at the back of her mind.

As she paused, she noticed a weight had lifted from her shoulders.

The guru merely blinked at her with a smile.

"My name," she said again, and she shook her head. "Where is—"

"I'm right here," Zuko said, tapping her shoulder.

Before even thinking, she threw her arms around him. "I'm Mai," she said.

Despite all the tumult that seeped into her mind at that moment, her voice remained steady.

"I know," Zuko said, and his dark chuckle reverberated through Mai's memories.

Let the next troubles they'd encounter wait.

For now there was peace.