AN: Slightly AU in that Jet was never taken/brainwashed by the Dai Li for his brawl with Zuko, merely put into prison for the night. And keep in mind that this is more introduction than anything - there will be lots of action and fun in the upcoming chapters. I love knowing how a story will end before I even finish writing it c;

Setting: Ba Sing Se, after its fall to the Fire Nation

Avatar: the Last Airbender and its characters belong to Bryke~

Chapter One

With a yawn, Mai tossed another knife lazily at the wall. The yawn melted into a long-winded sigh as she shifted in the seat of the plush green armchair. After spending the whole day meticulously avoiding both Azula and Zuko, she could finally rest... even though for her "rest" was usually synonymous with "extreme boredom". Now that she had time to herself, she settled into the familiar monotony of honing her not inconsiderable skills. From the comfy - though hideously upholstered - chair that she'd found in a vacated room, she directed her vast arsenal at a target Ty Lee had made for her the night before. To her chagrin, her quarry featured concentric rings in more shades of pink than should have the right to exist, on a scroll of paper. The particular hues reminded her of Ty Lee's clothes, and she all too easily imagined aiming her stilettos at her friend instead. Not that she would ever actually hurt Ty Lee... Even if she did want to strangle her sometimes.

For once, though, Ty wasn't her chief annoyance. The perky, pink-clad circus performer had vanished into the rings of Ba Sing Se earlier that day to do who knew what. No, lately the Fire Nation royalty seemed to have a way of getting under her skin. Compared to Ty Lee, whom Mai could tolerate most days, Azula and Zuko threatened to tear apart her peace of mind at any given moment. That she had to avoid both siblings, as opposed to just one, only served to irritate her further. Keeping out of Azula's way had become second nature; as if she wanted to deal with that more than she already had to - she was jaded, not masochistic. Zuko, on the other hand…

The next blade hit the wall with a little more force, its hilt jiggling slightly upon impact.

Sighing again, she imagined what it would be like to be able to relax around Zuko. Sometimes she wondered if she would ever find out. When he spoke to her, she constantly had to be on guard against saying something embarrassingly inane or staring into his warm, golden eyes... For some stupid reason, his voice, his smile, caused a sensation in the pit of her stomach akin to rabbitroos doing backflips that would make Ty Lee proud. In fact, almost any time she ended up in the same room with him, she instantly turned into a completely different person: one capable of feeling things (if not yet capable of expressing them). Her palms would clam up, her face would get hot... No one - not even his psychotic sister - could provoke such an intense reaction. The emotions that she painstakingly kept in check went into a frenzy if he so much as walked past. The jerk had some kind of power over her. It had been that way ever since they were kids. At least back then, it sort of made sense. Of course she'd had a crush on him at the impressionable age of nine; he was handsome, he was sweet, he was the prince - and a welcome contrast to Azula's cruelty and Ty Lee's optimism. How he managed to break through the sarcasm and disinterest she now used to shield herself from the world baffled her at best and angered her more than she'd like to admit. The idiot didn't even realize he was doing it, either. An indignant huff escaped her and she loosed another knife, wishing that it had pierced Zuko's backside rather than the center of the target.

Then, like the idiot she tended to be with him on the brain, she thought what a shame it would be to mar one of his best features.

She blushed slightly. It galled her that just the thought of him made her uncomfortable. Her hand fisted around the hilt of her next knife and she had to consciously relax her grip. She hated that he made her feel this way; she hated the vulnerability that accompanied this kind of attachment.

Regrettably, she couldn't banish her tender feelings for him as easily as his father had banished him from the Fire Nation.

A part of her wondered how much of him had changed since then. Years had passed since she'd last spent time with him, when he'd been exiled from his home in disgrace. In some ways, the young man she diligently evaded around the Earth Kingdom palace reminded her of the boy she used to know: he still couldn't speak eloquently to save his life, he still had a horrid temper that flickered to life at the slightest provocation from Azula... Involuntarily, a soft smile played upon her lips. For some reason, she was glad that he hadn't changed completely. The visible differences alone she had yet to grow accustomed to. Physically, he had grown taller, stronger. Having to leave his pampered, palatial life had forced him into hard work and even harder living. Not that she was complaining, for once. He cut a fine figure, even in the heinous Earth Kingdom-style robes they all had to wear. But then there was that scar...

After her brother's Agni Kai with their father, Azula had ordered both her friends to the palace. With great relish, she described - in gruesome detail - what had happened. "Like the weak fool he is, he got down on his knees and begged for Father's forgiveness. Father, of course, refused to tolerate such a disgraceful display. He's put up with plenty of Zu-Zu's failures in the past, and this was some kind of breaking point, I suppose. I knew Father was bound to lash out at him eventually, but I don't think Zu-Zu expected it at all... When the fire caught his face, he fell backwards - I would have thought he was dead if it weren't for all that whining and moaning! Last I heard from the the infirmary, they had to peel the layers of burnt skin from his face. But you should have seen him writhing on the floor..."

Mai clenched her jaw, trying to forget the insidious, satisfied sound of the Azula's voice. From the cringe-worthy explanation, Mai had expected the worst when she finally met him again: blackened flesh, a missing eye, bared bones... But as usual, her friend had lied. The area around his eye had never healed properly, freezing half of his amber gaze in a perpetual squint. Red-purple skin, wrinkled and rough, covered the better part of the left side of his face. Oddly, she found it attractive. It was a testament to his character; he had stood up for what he believed was right, and the scar had been the result. Instead of a hideous disfigurement, she saw a mark of old pain that had long since healed - on the outside, at least.

She had plenty of scars herself, inside and out. Most people did. One of his just happened to be prominently displayed for everyone to see. Besides, it made no difference to her whether he was missing half of his face or half of his arm - he was still Zuko. Nothing changed that - not even the years that had passed.

Unfortunately, their inability to act normal around each other had also stayed the same. Her mind shifted from the distant past to an incident that had happened only a few days ago. She, Azula, and Zuko had been eating breakfast when a member of the Dai Li walked into the spacious dining hall, announcing that the guards had been assembled to hear the princess's next instructions.

"Fine," Azula had sighed with a smirk at her brother, obviously loving her position of authority. As the one who had initiated the conquest of Ba Sing Se, she had stepped in as temporary ruler until her father could send a proper replacement. "Running a city would be difficult for someone of a lesser constitution," she announced to the room in general as she stood. "Fortunately for me, I can handle anything. But don't worry Zu-Zu," she added, slanting another imperious grin in his direction. "You'll learn someday... If father gives you the chance." She had left her position at the head of the long table and vanished from the room, the Dai Li following silently.

Mai's eyes had slid to Zuko, who sat directly across from her, to see how he had taken Azula's latest barb. He seemed to be giving his bowl of wheat noodles a harsh glare. Unsure of what to say, of what she could say without seeming too forward, she'd dropped her head, hiding behind the thick black fall of her bangs. Covertly, she watched him. He appeared to be winning his staring match with his breakfast; he remained motionless except for the subtle furrowing of his brow. A few minutes passed in silence. Then he had looked up, his gaze flashing over to her.

Quite suddenly, she had realized that she was alone with him... And he probably expected her to talk to him coherently. She had been torn between euphoria and dismay – not that he could tell. In her head, she cursed violently, using words her parents probably thought she didn't even know existed.

"Has she been like that all this time, ever since I left?" he'd asked, oblivious to her discomfort.

"Like what?" she managed to say.

His face scrunched up, his mouth hanging open slightly, as he tried to think of the proper way to describe it. Mai tried to not find his expression endearing, and failed miserably. "Well?" she prompted testily.

"I don't know, smug and...stuff."

She had opened her mouth to say that, yes, his sister was inherently smug, and also a sadistic bitch, but decided against it. It hadn't struck her as proper morning conversation. So, instead, she shrugged. "I guess."

He'd looked back down at his noodles and poked them with his chopsticks. "Right."

Fortunately, Ty Lee had twirled in, fresh from her morning yoga exercises. She promptly saved them from any more awkward discourse by being her happy, hyper self and dominating the conversation. Thank the Spirits... because if she hadn't-

"Mai!" a commanding, familiar tone shouted, jolting her out of her thoughts.

"What?" she drawled, annoyance seeping into her voice. She glanced up from the stiletto she had been twirling. Seeing the anxious look on Azula's face, she repeated the question, but with a little more feeling. On the rare occasions when something troubled Azula, Mai knew to care - or at least, to fake it. "What's wrong?"

Azula rolled her eyes, obviously incensed by the fact that she was worried about anything in the first place - and that someone else could perceive it. But for a moment, her strong, confident demeanor faltered. For once, she looked like the fourteen-year-old girl she was as opposed to the ruthless leader that had conquered the Earth Kingdom and killed the Avatar. She must have sensed it, though, because she regained herself almost immediately. "Ty Lee has been absent since this afternoon," she said snappishly, her displeasure at being caught with her guard down evident in her tone. "I've sent out guards but they're Earth Kingdom and useless. They've found nothing. It's getting late…" she trailed off momentarily, her brow creasing with worry. Affecting nonchalance again, she waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. "She knows better than to disobey me, and I ordered her to be back by nightfall."

"What time is it?"

"Past nightfall," the princess answered succinctly, clearly annoyed.

Mai didn't understand why their friend's absence concerned Azula so much. Ty might have possessed an alarming degree of naivete, but she could certainly handle herself. If she couldn't, she wouldn't have been brought along on this venture in the first place. In some ways, Ty was more powerful than either of them; she could stop anyone in their tracks with a quick jab of her hands, even someone as dangerous as Azula. As far as Mai was concerned, if Ty Lee could handle Azula, she could handle anyone. The streets of Ba Sing Se could be navigated easily by someone as skilled as she. "Well, what do you want me to do about it?" she asked, aggravated.

A piercing yellow glare met her own, perpetually less-enthused, eyes.

She sighed. "Fine, I'll go look for her."

Visibly relaxed once more, Azula settled back into her typical calm, cool superiority and crossed her arms. "Good."

With a roll of her eyes, Mai shoved herself out of the chair. She sulked out of the room, ripping her weapons out of the target along the way. "Whatever," she grumbled to herself, giving the fierce scowl she would have preferred to fix on Azula to her shoes as she swept down the hall in a fit of silent resentment.

"Mai?" said a familiar voice, drawing her gaze up from the migraine-inducing yellow and green pattern of the rug.

"Z- I mean – Your Highness," she muttered, glancing to the side as she weighed her chances of escaping him and possible mortification.

A tentative smile crept along the edges of his mouth. "Mai, uh... If you can call Azula by her first name, you should have no problem calling me by mine."

To her horror, heat rose in her cheeks. "Whatever," she muttered, crossing her arms.

He chuckled nervously. When she remained quiet, he asked, "So… Where are you going?"

"Out."

"Oh… Uh, why?"

"Because."

Mai watched his face contort with frustration. Too bad he didn't like her one-word answers. She refused to give any more than she was likely to get in return, especially when multi-sentence responses risked humiliation. She would not fall all over him and swoon at his feet; she doubted she could even if she wished to. Giving that kind of control over willingly scared her. If he really wanted to talk to her, he'd make it happen. When he started sharing things with her, maybe she would reciprocate. Until then, short answers were her safest option.

Taking a deep breath, he tried again. "Well, what are you planning on doing?"

Her eyes wandered momentarily over his face before she realized he had asked her a question that merited an actual response. She blushed and ducked behind her bangs. His cheeks colored as well, and Mai, no longer able to employ her tactic of feigned indifference, gave in. "Azula told me to go look for Ty Lee. I guess she got lost somewhere in this Agni-forsaken city."

Scowling, he grumbled, "Do you always do as Azula says?"

"Do you?"

He said nothing.

"My answered to that question is the same as yours."

To her surprise, he didn't storm away, and rather, made another valiant attempt to have a conversation. "Why doesn't she just send out the Dai Li? It's dangerous out there!"

She raised an eyebrow. "I can handle myself."

"Well yeah, but-"

"I'll be fine. Ty's probably in a pet shop swooning over some baby turtleducks or something. I'll be back before the hour is up."

Zuko nodded, his mouth sealed tight against any more protests. For a second, she started to apologize for being short with him, but stopped herself. Adamantly avoiding meeting his eyes, she felt her mask of indifference crack as her mouth twitched into a frown.

Desperate to remain composed, she walked around him with slow, sedate steps. As soon as she did, she heard him mutter, "Stay safe."

Unsure if he had meant her to hear it or not, she reddened and hurried the rest of the way out of the palace.

AN: D'awww, awkward Maiko c:

Yes, this is Maiko and Jai. I've never written Jai before, so I thought I'd try exploring it as if she had actually met Jet in the series/comics. Frankly, I think Mai and Jet would have gotten along really well, since she's not one to take bullshit, and Jet practically hands out bullshit like candy. Interesting dynamic, in my opinion. But of course there's Maiko, I can't seem to keep myself from injecting Maiko into everything I write... They just have such chemistry, and go so well together!

Alas! To be continued~ But don't worry, the next chapter is actually already written. I just need to edit it. My other Maiko story, Lost Without Him, will be updated soon. I want to get Zuko's POV just right - the perfect mixture of awkward, temperamental, sensitive, and oblivious.

Also expect a modern AU chapter fic coming up soon, along with a Pokemon oneshot. As soon as I can get these chapter fics under control, and finish Zutara Week (no comment) I'll start posting a Tokka chapter fic I've had in the works for a while now.

Thank you for reading! Reviews are always appreciated, let me know how I'm doing :) Seriously, sometimes I swear I'm barely coherent...

Til the next update~