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[found_myway]

The medical care available on Stacy is far beyond anything that the Four Nations had, better even than the powers of skilled waterbenders to heal. Which is why Zuko is lying in discomfort now, not raging agony, as the burn on his back heals

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[knifeurrib]

Mai tries to find the time to put her thoughts in order on her way down to the medical bay. She's angry; angry with herself for letting Azula getting a shot off at Zuko, angry at Aang for not listening to her and killing Azula when they had the chance, for not protecting Zuko, angry at Zuko for also not listening to her and being stupid enough to turn his back on his sister. Angry at Azula for doing it in the first place. Angry at the whole group for not doing what had to be done.

She's also scared, she has to admit. Scared that Zuko might've ended up dead or badly hurt. He was the only person in the whole world who made her feel the way she did around him. Losing him was not a prospect she wanted to face. Not that anyone looking at the girl would pick up on any of the conflicting emotions - except possibly anger. It was in the way her eyes narrowed just slightly, the very small bit of tension in her jaw and the quick, sharp way in which she walked.

She glides into the medical bay, light on her feet as always. At the sight of Zuko lying on the cot, the angry welts on his back, she stops, eyes flashing. Azula was going to pay for this. She eases up to the bed and puts a hand on Zuko's shoulder, touch soft.

"I thought you said you were fine."

[found_myway]

"The doctors are pretty good here. I can barely feel a thing."

That's not entirely true. He definitely feels pain from the burns, but it's significantly less than he's used to feeling from burns like this.

Still, the soft, pleasant touch of her hand relaxes him and helps him ignore the pain even more. He can focus on that, rather than on the burns, and enjoy the pleasure in spite of the pain.

"I'm sorry. I did another stupid thing. You're probably mad at me now."

He knew better. He knew he knew better. And yet, here he was, injured in a medical wing.

And Azula was in the brig, where she couldn't do this to anyone else who wouldn't be expecting it.

[knifeurrib]

She's glad to hear those words. It means that he knows he's done something stupid (she doesn't think wrong). And part of her wants to accept that and just make sure he's going to recover from this. To forget about it and let him learn the lesson on his own.

There's another part of her that knows that she can't just let it go. Because if she doesn't confront this problem now, if she doesn't talk about and make him understand why she did what she did, then there will come a time when Azula will have the upper hand again and she'll look back at this moment and regret that she didn't take the chance when she had it.

Mai squeezes his shoulder; it's an affectionate, warm gesture, but there's steel in her grip. She crouches slightly so she can look him in the face when she talks. Her voice is steely; she's angry, after all. However, it's not at the same level as their Boiling Rock argument.

"I'm not angry at you for getting shot, Zuko. I'm angry at you for letting her live and then getting shot. You know how dangerous she is, you know what she's capable of - why didn't you listen to me? If she gets out of the brig, if she gets a chance, you know she'll do her best to kill all of us. Why, Zuko...?"

And despite the anger, there's a bit of fear and sadness in her voice. She's not frightened of Azula, she's frightened of losing him.

[found_myway]

"Because if anybody's going to kill her, it had better be me. She's my sister. She's my responsibility."

His voice, slightly muffled through the donut-pillow that supports him, is made a little less serious by it, but what he says is still grave. "I let her live in the Fire Nation. Here isn't any different. But whatever happens, whatever she does, home or here, it's on my shoulders."

Translation: His life just got a LOT more difficult.

"And I'm not letting you get a Punishment over her. No matter how much you think it would be worth it."

A burned back? That's a small sacrifice to make, to get Azula locked up, to show the crew just how dangerous she is. But Punishment, for Azula's life? For Mai?

No. Just, no.

[knifeurrib]

She has to restrain herself from snapping, but it still comes out a bit bitter, "You can't carry everything on your shoulders, Zuko. Just... get rid of her! Then she won't be a problem! Or make sure she stays in that cell forever, because if she's free to walk around..."

She takes a breath and looks away, eyes narrowed. "I'll take care of it myself."

With or without Zuko's approval. She's not going to let Azula stay a threat. Not if she can help it.

[found_myway]

"I know I don't, I just have to carry this."

This is so important, Zuko tries to lift himself off his donut-pillow, and can only get high enough to just turn his face to see Mai's hand next to it.

"I already made the decision to let her live. She was dangerous in the Fire Nation too - the only difference was that I got to say how long she got locked up, not this Council. You don't want me to risk getting hurt? I don't want you to risk it either. You're just as important to me as I am to you."

[knifeurrib]

"And if she had broken out at home and if she had tried to hurt you, I wouldn't have hesitated to kill her then," Mai replies. It's been at the back of her mind for a while now.

She sighed and offered him a little smile, almost teasing. "Zuko, I betrayed my country for you. What makes you think I care about the council?"

[found_myway]

He responded to the teasing, chuckling softly. There was something very sweet about her willingness to kill Azula for him - although there was no way to make that not sound terrible, even in his own mind.

A better way to say it would have been - Mai was willing to do what needed to be done to keep him from getting hurt. She'd done it once, and now she was saying she'd do it again.

He'd already expected it, but that didn't make it any less moving.

"I didn't think you did."

He gropes for her hand, not able to see it, but wanting to hold it.

"You don't have to call it betraying your country. You can say you supported the rightful heir to the throne."

He'd make sure it got in the history books that way, if there were ever any history books to be written about their lives.

[knifeurrib]

She let his hand find her own and she gave it an affectionate squeeze, even as she shook her head. He couldn't see it, but he would be able to tell by the mock chiding she was about to give him.

"You know what I mean."