#kai being the only one out of them that can breathe actual fire

[cassettemoon]

rgb siblings doodles again :)

[kindaasrikal]

I like to think that sometimes the ninja have elemental accidents that makes them deal with the wrath of Wu. I also like to think that sometimes those accidents actually help them.

Kai: starts to uncontrollably shoot fire from his mouth, and in a mission where they need to light a bunch of pedestals near the same time, it really comes in handy.

Zane: can’t help but freeze things each time he touches it, and in summer best believe everyone is clinging onto him for that refreshing ice to cover their skin.

Nya: When tied up and captured with the release button behind her, Nya is awfully thankful that for the past week her hair has been incredibly heavy with water and will not dry, since now its heavy enough for her smack the button with.

Cole: keeps making rocks float in the air, and has found a new past time making them spin around someone’s head each time they get a concussion. He likes shaping them into dumb stuff too. He also specifically does it around villains, so when they realise them in their confusion he can throw the floating rocks directly at their foreheads.

Jay: becoming a lightning rod is one thing, Jay being really worried as he shakes Lloyd who is slowly dying before accidentally electrocuting him, getting yelled at for doing it, only for Lloyd to shoot up and start breathing again is another.

Lloyd: When Lloyd can’t stop glowing green, he becomes an oversized flashlight when they have to go on a mission in a deep, dark cave. Lloyd is terrified like a lil baby since he has to lead and keeps screeching each time any noise is made. No Lloyd that wasn’t your father it was a rat.

Bonus+

Wu: once kept creating things out of his hands and couldn’t stop. Mystake and the Fsm loved it since he kept making tea cups out of his hands. Mystake swears that that was the first time she had gotten so much business.

Garmadon: kept shooting destruction beams out of his hands when he was younger and would have to keep his hands as fists so the Fsm wouldn’t realise. After being sent on an errand to the town they regularly visit, he accidentally opens his hand and shoots a beam at a house. Instead of getting yelled at by the people surrounding it, the people with yellow hats turned out to be construction workers who were tasked to break down the house for a new one to be built. They were literally just complaining about how long it would take when Garmadon shot it down to dust. The Fsm got ten letters the next day asking for Garmadon’s help.

Morro: once saw someone struggling to breath and panicked, cover their mouth, and after the the past week of accidentally making the wind stronger or weaker where the training grounds was destroyed multiple times and Wu had to tie everything floatable down, Morro accidentally became an oxygen mask as he pushed and pulled the air from the person periodically. After the person began to breathe properly again, Morro burst into tears because he thought they were struggling to breathe because of him. Wu had to sit him down and explain exactly what had happened. Now, in the present, Morro likes to make people shut up by taking away their breath for a second.

Euphrasia: once couldn’t stop making everything float before she got dragged into helping people move stuff around since she made it easier. She keeps having old grandmas asking her to carry stuff around and help renovate homes. She’s gotten sick of hearing ‘a little to the left- ohhh no more to the right!’.

Sora: kept accidentally breaking things and once broke some rich guys toaster. She then proceeded to try fix it only for her powers to go haywire and make a toaster deluxe 5000 when it can fry, grill, and toast bread to perfection with added on butter. She had to block the guy five times after he kept asking for her fix his microwave.

Wyldfyre: she became super sweaty after over using her element only for Kai to realise that the only reason his fire was able to make the bottle he was holding blow up was because it was coated in sweat from Wyldfyre’s hand. They tested it out and whilst Wyldfyre’s flames and normal ones can’t make it blow (if her flames did she’d be blowing up 24/7 and normal flames aren’t strong enough), Kai is perfectly capable of making her sweat into bombs. Ghost Wu is not amused when he sees his monastery on fire.

Pixal and Arin begin to not only be sick of all the elemental accidents, but also appreciate them for their usefulness, since Arin likes to use Kai’s flaming mouth to help bake pies.

[old-people-like-avatar]

Netflix Avatar the Last Airbender S1 - Overall Thoughts [SPOILERS]

I am a longtime fan of Avatar the Last Airbender. I did not watch it in its original 2005 run, but I discovered it in around 2010 after my good friend R.S. recommended it to me. It's been my #1 favorite TV show ever since and I have rewatched it more times than I can count. I was cautiously optimistic about NATLA.

Now, having watched the whole first season of NATLA, and looking at the season as a whole, I think the best word to describe it is uneven. I can't say that I loved it, and I can't say that I hated it. But there were things I really liked about it and things that really did not work for me. Overall, I enjoyed watching it -- if only to dissect what did and did not work about the adaptation -- and would want to watch more.

WHAT WORKED

Everything to do with Zuko and Iroh. I found myself going back through just to rewatch all of the Zuko and Iroh-related scenes. I thought Dallas Liu really nailed Zuko -- from tantrums about his journal being stolen to incredible action sequences to the boyish vulnerability of worrying about the laces on his gauntlets. He took an iconic character and made him his own. NATLA added some incredible scenes and lines to my favorite duo: Lu Ten's funeral (coupled with orchestral version of "Leaves from the Vine"); Zuko's first war council; Iroh choosing to go with Zuko on the boat; the 41st Division; Iroh putting a blanket on Zuko. And I liked that NATLA emphasized that Iroh needed Zuko in the wake of Lu Ten's death as much as Zuko needed Iroh after his mother left.

Daniel Dae Kim's interpretation of Ozai. Ozai in ATLA is kind of one-dimensional. Daniel Dae Kim's Ozai adds a deeper layer to him in that he genuinely seems to think he's doing legitimate parenting -- even going so far as to visit Zuko after burning his face and remarking, glibly, that he'll recover ("but he'll never heal," says Iroh). It adds an even more monstrous angle to his cruelty because Kim's Ozai seems to think he's doing it for his children's own good. This post perfectly encapsulates my feelings about why I thought the agni kai between Ozai and Zuko was an excellent addition to NATLA.

Zuko/Aang. These two bonding over goat hair brushes was the scene I never knew I needed. The way Aang managed to wrest a little smile out of Zuko in that scene before Zuko blew up at him for criticizing the Fire Lord? And the way that tied into the "Compassion is a sign of weakness" scene from the agni kai? Great character work.

WHAT DID NOT WORK

Dialogue. I already observed at length my dissatisfaction with the clunky, exposition-dumping dialogue in my episode-by-episode writeups. It certainly wasn't as bad as the Movie-That-Shall-Not-Be-Named, but . . . there was no art or subtlety to it, and no trust in the audience. A disappointment.

The GAang did not feel like family. The lack of breathing room in the 8-episode season meant that all of the "filler" episodes that fleshed out the relationships between Aang, Katara, and Sokka were sacrificed. I am not saying NATLA needed to recapture each of the filler episodes. But they needed to build the foundational bonds between the main trio with showing not telling and they really didn't. They separated them for big chunks of 2 episodes. And, really, they just felt like traveling companions. That took all of the emotional heft out of, well, everything related to Aang, Katara, and Sokka. I mean, frankly, the kid actors did a better job establishing the "family" dynamic just by being themselves in their press interviews than the show did with the characters.

Aang did not run away from responsibility. I am not one of those people that's just mad that the show wasn't exactly like the cartoon. No. What I mean is, even putting aside the cartoon, even if you just look at NATLA itself: their own themes were undercut by never showing Aang actually running away from responsibility. Each avatar seemed to be berating Aang for doing something he was never actually shown to be doing.

Katara. I really don't think this one is on the actress. Katara felt like a fundamentally different character from ATLA's Katara. It's not to say an adaption is not allowed to have their own interpretation of a character, but... I just did not understand NATLA Katara. There was no passion, no rage, no overbearing nurturing. She was... I don't know what she was. Traumatized, yes, but nothing grew out of that trauma? Meek, until the plot demanded that she suddenly become a waterbending master without any guidance other than a waterbending scroll? The "younger sister"? More than any of the main characters, I'm not sure what NATLA was trying to say about Katara at all. And, as a result, I'm afraid the word to describe it might be uninteresting. And given that she is the heart and soul of Team Avatar, this one was really tough.

Despite the fact that a lot of NATLA did not work for me, I still enjoyed it because the things that did work for me, well, really worked. So. I'm here for all of the Zuko/Iroh scenes!

[drunknillawafer]

right down the line: zuko x firebender!reader

You grew up close to the Royal Family due to your father's position as a General, but you ran away from home after the agni kai against your best friend. Now, you're just trying to do your part in ending the 100-year war.

hellooo so this is my first official published fic that i will keep up! hopefully you guys like it, let me know! this is set in book 1 ep 10 in the Jet episode! i do not own Avatar or these characters! okayy enjoyyy >.<

Part 2

⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙⁺˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚⁺‧͙

All I can see for miles is shades of crimson and orange. We’re so close to home, it almost feels like I’ve returned.

I’m standing in the trees near Jet and The Duke, peering down at twenty Fire Nation soldiers and their camp, waiting for the right moment to attack. The plan was to keep an eye out and alert Jet if anything could be of use to us. I hold onto my swords in anticipation.

“We’ve been here all morning, what if we don’t get a shot?” The Duke asked.

“Relax, we will.” Jet replied in his infamous cool manner. He was so sure we would score big this time and have one of the greatest victories thus far. I didn’t see the point, it seemed like your average solider platoon. But maybe he was right. He hasn’t let me down yet.

I met Jet when I was 13 and freshly ran away from home. I had left everything that could resemble Fire Nation in my room and took only my closest valuables. With one bag over my shoulder and a week of struggling to find food, the cool leader crossed my path in a forest not too far from where we’re standing now.

“Are you lost?” Jet questioned me.

“No, I’m hungry.” It was true. I hadn’t eaten for so long because I didn’t know how to find food. My family’s position in society meant I usually had servants dressing me, brushing my hair, and finding my food for me. It’s not something that crossed my mind when I left in a rageful fury.

“What’s your name?” He replied.

“Y/N.”

“You’re a kid. Don’t you have parents to feed you?”

“You’re a kid too, don’t you?”

And that was that. I had passed Jet’s mysterious test and he invited me into his little world of lost children who were strong, brave, and alone. I was lucky to have found them when I did.

Three years later, the same cool leader has me standing in the trees like a predator waiting to catch its prey. That’s when I hear it. The voice of a teenage boy.

I crouch down to focus on the noise and see the rustling in the bushes near the Fire Nation camp we’re getting ready to bust. A boy in blue appears, looking backwards to his friends in an annoyed tone. Just as I spot him, he spots the soldiers in black and red.

“This is it.” I tell Jet. He nods and whistles his command to the Freedom Fighters, sending us off to our mission.

I come down from the trees and land on my feet, quickly inspecting my environment. Taking out two of my swords, I spot the boy in blue preparing an attack for a Fire Nation soldier who will surely beat him. His stance is all wrong, I can’t believe he’s actually attempting this.

I use both of my swords and dig them into the ground, launching my feet forward and off the dirt floor, kicking the soldier in the abdomen and out of balance. He falls over with the wind knocked out of him.

“Hey! He was mine!” The boy in blue exasperated.

“No, he wasn’t.” I snarked at him. This is the fun part of being with the Freedom Fighters, winning.

After a few minutes, the soldiers scurry off like rats when the lights turn on. They go in every direction, disappearing into the autumn-colored forest.

“We did it!” I celebrate. For a moment, I catch my breath and put my swords back into their sheaths.

The trio of strangers gather together and start walking toward us.

“Who are you guys?” The youngest with a blue arrow on his head spoke first.

“I’m Jet, and these are my Freedom Fighters.” The leader introduces the members one by one, leaving me for last. “And this is Y/N. She’s my right-hand.” He graces.

I wave at the trio, taking them in as they process the new information they’ve just been handed. It’s a Water Tribe pair with another boy in orange. His clothes were strange, when was the last time someone wore Air Nomad clothes like his? I wondered. I had briefly seen the girl bend water, but it was impossible for the boy to be an air bender. The Fire Nation made sure of that.

“Let’s loot!” Jet interrupts my thoughts, and the rebels cheer in agreement. Looting time.

I focus on a tent to begin raiding the soldiers' bags and belongings. If we’re lucky, the group can score something to help us in our efforts—a map, a plan, a supply shipment—anything to take the empire down.

As I go through my first bag, the boy in blue enters the tent. I look up at his glare and stare him right in the eye.

He crosses his arms and gloats, “Just so you know, I could have handled that. But thanks for your help.”

“Didn’t look like that from where I was standing.” I shrugged and shifted my focus back onto the bag. I flip it upside down so the contents come spilling out.

“And where were you standing by the way? You guys came out of nowhere!” Clearly, he wasn’t going to let my swoop-in go.

“We were in the trees, been staking out all morning.” Nothing of importance in the first bag so I move onto the next one, opening the top and letting the soldier’s belongings fall on the floor for me to inspect. “Until you,” I point at his chest, “came along and made the perfect distraction. It should be me thanking you.”

A balled-up messenger hawk message comes out of the bag. I can tell from its design that it comes from the Admiral, lucky me. Ignoring the boy in front of me, I open the letter and read the writing.

The Avatar has returned. From now on, any information must be reported to Admiral Zhao. The Banished Prince is to be ignored.

The Banished Prince. My finger grazes the ink.

“One day she’s going to try and overthrow me, I swear.” Zuko confesses as he lunges forward with his sword. I dodge his attempt at an offense and strike back.

“Even if she does, you and I can take her.” I reply. My mind is focused on the sparring round, but Zuko seems to be somewhere else. He’s not taking any of my bait to back him into a corner.

“You’d help me fight?” His demeaner softens and I know this is the moment I can use to win. I use the gymnastics I was forced to learn to my advantage and gain the higher ground on a bench near the turtle duck pond. His sword falls out of his hand as I send my blade toward him, making sure to not seriously hurt him. Zuko holds his hands up in defeat. I win this round.

“Duh, it’s kind of my throne now too. I’ve grown fond of it.” I hold one hand to my heart, feigning admiration for the title.

The Prince and I grew up together. Learning fire-bending at the same academy, attending snobby important society gatherings, and now practicing sword-fighting at the Royal Palace’s turtle duck pond. We became halves of one whole. If the cosmic forces upon us gave me the mind, it gave Zuko the heart. And together, we felt complete.

“One day I’ll have to be Fire Lord.” He solemnly said.

“One day. But for now, just focus on beating me! Round 4?”

I take a deep breath in and push the memory away. Time makes it easy. The boy in blue waiting for my response to the messenger hawk letter makes it even easier.

“It’s nothing, just old information.” I crumble the paper into a ball once again and throw it with the rest of the useless items I’ve gone through so far. “Do you want to come to the hideout?” I change the subject.

“You guys have a hideout?” His eyes widen in amusement.

“Yes, but maybe I should know your name before I let you go up there.”

“It’s Sokka.” He answers. “And you?”

“Y/N.” I hold my hand out so he can shake it, and he does. When his hand touches mine, a pit forms in my gut. I got the feeling I’d be knowing him for a long time. “Well, Sokka, follow me.”

[quirkwizard]

hey quirk wizard what do you think the top five best quirk users are?? (like the quirk and how they use their quirk)

So there are a lot of factors to this. Because Quirks are so varied, it can be hard to judge who exactly is using their Quirk the best. Though to set up my criteria, I believe that the best Quirk users are the ones that are pushing their Quirks to the absolute limit within the limits given. I also think that people with weaker Quirks are more valid options for this list since they have to work around their Quirk a lot more. Kai is great with his Quirk, but that would be true of anyone with "Overhaul" since it's that good. Skills and equipment can be accounted for as well, but only when they are in service of the Quirk. Like I think Aizawa and Stain are some of the hardest working characters out there, but I wouldn't call them effective Quirks users due to how little of their kit is actually based around using their respective powers. It's more working around the power then with it.

I will given honorable mentions to Geten and Best Jeanist. We're told that their Quirks take a lot of effort to get to the points they are, but those are more informed traits rather then anything we see.

Bakugou: Yes, Bakugou is very skilled with his power. He's arguably done more within Quirk then any Year 1 student. This includes some interesting uses like his complicated flight and usage of support equipment. That being said, he hasn't exactly achieved anything that far out there for his power. A lot of it is just different blasts.

Hawks: Probably the one the fans forget. Hawks has such immense control over dozens upon dozens of feathers, training them to the point where he can use them subconsciously and is borderline omniscient. However, I put him lower on the list because I am not certain if what he has is skill or talent given his feats as a child.

Endeavor: Ah, yes, better Bakugou. Despite having such a straight forward power, he's able to get quite a lot out of it. Stuff like burning footholds, his shaping of the fire, and the myriad of usage is more then proof of it. And while that could be contributed to the Quirk's innate power, the fact that Endeavor is able to punch above his weight class so often really does show his skill with it.

Mirio: Yeah, no surprise here. Mirio took this barely functional power and turned it into something worthy of a hero. The man goes into state of total sensory deprivation where he cannot breath and is still able to molly whop dozens of students all at the same time. He's easily the go to example of a good Quirk user and probably the character you all expected at the number one spot.

Deku/Koichi: This feels like cheating given they both main characters I still think these two have to put in a lot of works to get their Quirks where they are. If anything, their success and growth with their power is even more impressive because they have to deal with such unprecedented handicaps and issues with their powers. Izuku's Quirk was killing him and Koichi had to deal with brain damage.

[jadeleechsupportgroup]

Envenomate - 5

Ace is absolutely incensed.

“I don’t know who he was,” you tell him.

“You have to go tell Azul,” Ace practically snarls. “Now. While the fucker is still up there.”

You look nervously in the direction of Azul’s office. “I’m sure Floyd already did,” you say meekly. “Or Jade. They never miss anything.”

He shakes his head. “You should do it yourself,” he says tersely. “I’ll go with you if I have to.”

You take a breath and sigh. “No, it’s okay. I can do it. I’ll go. …right now,” you add to further dissuade him.

“Kay, I’ll be watching.”

You don’t want to break the rules. There aren’t exactly rules, but you’ve never tried to interfere with Azul’s work before, as you got the impression all hell might break loose. This is different, you insist to yourself as you climb the stairs. This isn’t business. It’s personal. For him, too.

You can’t hear any conversation through the door. It’s heavily reinforced, both magically and mechanically, plus the club is much louder than usual. You chew on the inside of your lip as you debate your next move.

A thought drifts into your head. Something underhanded, clandestine, perhaps even dastardly, one might say. You abandon the front door and head for the second floor exit.

Azul actually owns the empty building adjacent to the Lounge; he just leaves the ‘Coming Soon’ sign in the dusty window so nobody will bother trying to lease it. You climb over the fire escape railing and make the unnerving step to the opposite one, then pull yourself through the unlocked window with only mild discomfort. You learned to do this in heels a long time ago, so you’re good at it, but you’re careful to tread silently, too. Then you open the false panel in the wall and make your way through the dimly lit corridor.

“I need to show you something.” Azul tilted his head a little and cupped his hand against your cheek.

“Like what?”

His hand slid to yours, and he kissed your fingers softly before letting go and turning to his desk. He opened a drawer and motioned for you to join him.

“You know I would never do anything to place you in harm’s way,” he said as he laid his hand over yours. Pearly, silken skin shimmered against your own. “But there may come a time that you need to leave rather urgently.”

He bent down slightly, taking you with him, and moved your hand to the inside of the drawer until it located a small switch. When you pressed it, you heard a faint grinding noise, almost that of wood sliding into place. You glanced up to see a space open in the wall.

Azul led you to it and showed you through the makeshift doorway. As the panels closed behind you, he pointed out the other switch to operate it from the hidden side, as well as a pinhole window to the office. Nearby was a small storage chest.

You became hyperaware of everything around you when he opened it. Inside was a backpack containing several grand in cash, as well as untraceable credit cards, two burner phones, and false identity papers. Next to the bag was a rather terrifying gun.

“You may need to protect yourself as well,” he said quietly. “Of course, we will do everything possible to render this place unnecessary.”

You hugged him and held on for your life. “I’ll be careful,” you mumbled over his shoulder. “You better be, too.”

You never told him there was a certain thrill that came with dating him. Being just close enough to the danger sent sparks through your blood.

You slow your steps as you reach the end of the hall. Now you can hear them talking. You place your hands against the wall and look through the tiny window.

The sight before you makes your stomach lurch.

Azul has his back to you. He is leaning casually against his desk, with his hands resting over the edge. His coat is hastily discarded on his chair, and his sleeves are rolled to his elbows. You try to focus on the neat lines of his suspenders, dividing his white shirt into puzzle pieces, and not on the other pair of hands planted on the desk on either side of his hips.

“I admit I would not have taken you for a man willing to accept a currency other than money,” says the stranger’s voice, smooth and seductive.

Azul’s laugh peppers the air. “Is it so wrong to want something for myself sometimes?”

“Not at all.” The stranger moves one hand to Azul’s side and follows the curve of his hip. “I would argue it is necessary for a man to take what he wants at all times.”

You reel back from the window and bite down hard on the flesh of your forearm to keep from crying, though silent tears spill over anyway. You know you’re shaking because everything blends together, and you wish you felt numb, but you don’t. You feel like you’ve been shot in the chest.

“Mmm…I can appreciate your logic,” comes Azul’s voice through the wall.

Whatever the stranger says is too muffled to understand.

“Though I must point out one microscopic - yet, I fear, insurmountable - flaw.”

“Oh?” The stranger’s voice turns curious. “Do tell, my love.”

Acid leaves a fiery trail as it crawls up your throat.

“You should never try to take something of mine.”

A sudden crash startles you. You scramble back to the window. Azul has the stranger’s neck in his mouth, though he abruptly lets go, leaving a bite mark that gushes bright blood. The man collapses with his mouth open in a strangled scream. Azul spits on the floor and wipes his mouth with a vile grin.

“Can you feel the venom?” Azul presses the sole of his fine leather shoe over the stranger’s throat, stifling his gasps for air. “There are two types, actually, that are racing toward your heart.” He begins counting on his fingers. “The first is called tetrodotoxin, which immobilizes every muscle it touches.” He chuckles. “To think, I used to take the nickname ‘pufferfish’ as an insult, when it turns out we can kill in such similar ways.”

Azul pushes the man’s head back with his toe, exposing the wound further. “It only takes about half a teaspoon to kill a man, but rest assured I gave you much more than that.

The man tries to grab Azul’s ankle with flailing hands. Azul crushes the useless fingers beneath his heel.

“The second is a blend of digestive enzymes that will break down your flesh on contact.” He tilts his head as if considering something. “You will be dead before it can do much damage, but I assure you that it will hurt the entire time you’re dying.” He raises his voice. “Floyd,” he calls, and the door opens in response, “if you could remove him before he ruins the carpeting…”

You feel like you’ve been injected with a numbing poison yourself. You melt to the floor and try to breathe as you process everything you just saw. Your head snaps up when you hear the secret panel slide open, and your breath catches when Azul steps through it. He’s on his knees before you in a moment, with worry lines creasing his perfect skin.

“Did he hurt you?”

Your crying has become a string of hiccups, so it’s a long minute before you can speak. “I’m sorry…I thought…I thought-”

Azul pulls you into a compressing hug. “I am terribly sorry, my sweet. I would never try to hurt you, especially in such an awful way…though I did not know you would be watching.”

Once you calm down enough to pull yourself together, Azul helps you stand and takes you into his office. There is no sign of the stranger, and Jade is setting the last few items back into place on Azul’s desk. He blinks at you.

“Thank you, Jade,” Azul says as he reaches into another desk drawer for a potion bottle with a sigh. He drinks from it, then trades it for the glass of salt water Jade has also brought him.

Jade bows his head politely and takes his leave.

“Are you alright?”

Azul sets his glass down and opens his arms for you again. You crush yourself against him. “There is no need to worry about me,” he mutters into the top of your head. “Are you alright? Jade told me what happened.”

Those two really don’t miss anything. Your breathing is shaky, but you feel better. “I’m okay now.” You twirl a lock of platinum hair around your finger. “But next time I’m not gonna invite myself to the party. Either party.”

Azul laughs brightly. “Even though that is how we met?”

You roll your eyes. “Is it safe for me to kiss you yet?”

He presses his delicate lips to your forehead, then your temple, then your jaw, pausing over your mouth long enough to murmur something only for you to hear. “Oh, my darling, you are always safe with me.”

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | {5}

[gingerale2017]

Toothbrush

Fluff <333 Words: 2k Pairing: Cinder Linh x Kai Fandom: The Lunar Chronicles Setting: Around a couple months Warnings: None that I know of Ao3 Link

Someone could tell Cinder her nerves were all fried and dead and she would believe them. In fact she was surprised they were still functioning because they felt like they were on fire.

She sucked in a breath before she forgot to but it was shaky. She mentally cursed. Considering how close her and Kai’s bodies were, she was certain he heard the wobbly sound.

They decided (meaning Kai dragged a willing Cinder) to dance with each other late in the night in Kai’s room, despite the Peace Ball being three nights ago, an event where she was actually forced to dance. Kai might have said they were dancing tonight but no one could call this dancing. Instead their bodies were so close together that would surely mold together soon as they swayed.

She kept her eyes low and focused on the button on his chest. She felt as if her whole body was in turmoil. Perhaps, if she didn’t look at I’m she won’t screw up. Kai, being so close, could probably feel the erratic speed of her heart and her failed attempts to control her breathing. She was also 95% sure her hand was shaking while he held it. 

Kai, however, seemed perfectly calm, an emotion she envied very deeply in this moment. Perhaps he was lost in thought. Perhaps he was bored. Considering her lack of dancing skills, she reckoned he probably had enough with her.

He sighed suddenly, as if he were reading her thoughts, and the hand on her waist dug deeper into her back. He let go of their interlocked hands and guided hers to his neck. She gulped. He got impossibly closer as their chests met and their legs touched. 

“Cinder, my love, you don’t have to feel so tense,” he murmured, speaking for only the third time this night. They haven’t been very talkative, and for good reason. This proximity messed with her ability to breathe, how could she even dare to speak?

“Tense? I’m relaxed.” She lied.

“Then look at me while we dance. I promise you won’t have to lie when you say that.” 

Oh no. She had to resist his gaze.

Cinder chuckled awkwardly. “You talk as if your eyes are some magical item and can cure any disease whenever someone looks into them.” She said, still refusing to meet his eyes. She feared would melt or at least explode her brain.

Kai sighed again. “Darling.” he murmured, almost like he was chiding her. His hand travelled up her body in parallel to his whispers. She felt sparks from his trail, never pulling away, making her shiver. He reached her chin and tilted it up to his face. Oh no. 

Their eyes finally met and her skin erupted in goosebumps. Kai’s eyes never failed to make her knees weak. A romantic copper that lit up brighter than anything else in is room. What was once the sight she failed to avoid was now the only thing she could look at. She couldn’t look away if she tried.

It was hard to believe Cinder had managed to date the Emperor if the Eastern Commonwealth, but if anyone could, it would be the Queen of Luna.

His fingers on her chin moved to caress her cheek. His touch was definitely one of the best things she experienced with him. Her stomach did repetitive somersaults yet it did not bother her. Instead, it excited her, warming her up in the best ways. He moved his hand back to her waist.

“Shall we start again?” he said, already starting to sway. She nodded.

She felt the grip of his hands on her waist the most. In fact, she was sure he was holding her hips now. He tried guiding her back and forth but she could barely think. His eyes muddled her thoughts. She kept messing up the footwork but he reassured her with a knowing smile.

The room started to get stuffy and hot real fast. Why’d she wear long sleeves anyway? With sweatpants? In this warm climate? 

Back and forth. Side to side. Cinder forced herself to pay attention so she didn’t make a fool out of herself. Her breath came in short breaths that she worked hard conceal. But it was hard to focus when they maintained this kind of eye contact. It was intense and a little frightening, but soon enough Cinder reveled in it. 

The atmosphere shifted so quick that she almost didn’t notice. Like it was almost… natural. Suddenly there was less observing and more doing. He would slowly drag his hands from her waist to her chest while drawing circles with his fingers. Her own fingers began entangled themselves in his hair, though it was different from her habitual curling. More pulling instead. They seemed to do this on their own. His eyes darkened with something she couldn’t recognize. It made her want to do something. Cinder’s hands dug deeper into his hair, hugging his face closer to hers. She could feel his breath tickle her mouth. 

Warnings popped in her head. Thoughts we're impossible to form. Her eyes trailed to his mouth, carved elegantly on his face, and lips she wanted to kiss. Badly.

She looked up at him to find that he was starting at her lips which slightly parted at the discovery. He licked his own and started to lean in.

They met in the middle with a slow, enjoyable kiss that gradually got more passionate. Soon enough she was pulling at his hair, desperately kissing him without any thought of stopping. He pushed her back until she hit the wall. One of his hands grabbed her cheek while the other explored her lower body.

Kai left her mouth and started again on her throat, sowing kisses up and down on it. She gasped when he reached her collarbone, again when he squeezed her hip, and again when he returned to her lips. Cinder wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling more than content with his actions.

They slowed down a bit until they remembered air existed, panting extensively. His forehead bunched with hers and their lips illustrated matching flimsy smiles. 

“I wasn’t expecting that.” She confessed. Truly, she was surprised, but now that she thought about all the signs he’d been giving she should have at least anticipated it. The right space, the forced warmer climate, the crimson on his cheeks, her mind recalled all of it and truly she should have known better.

“Me neither. I’m not disappointed though.” He gave her a tender kiss on her forehead.

“Neither am I.” A peck on the cheek.

“Can you ditch the guest room and sleep with your dance partner tonight?” Kai asked. He gave her his signature puppy dog eyes and double downed with a kiss on her jaw.

Cinder sighed. “I hope so, but I have to get my stuff. I always want to, you know.”

A kiss on her other cheek. He was starting to pick it up again, as if he was saying ‘all right, break over, time for part two, let’s go, let’s go!’. 

“I know.” Kai barely grunted out, too preoccupied with sparking kisses on her neck. Cinder felt him care for the kisses he planted with careful detail before. He’d turn her neck into a rose garden soon enough and pick out her own flowers to give to her every morning. She subconsciously threw her head to give him more space. Her body obviously reacted kindly to his advancements. She never knew the lack of control she had over her body, or rather, the amount of control Kai had over hers. It was almost traitorous if she didn’t enjoy it. 

“Kai, I have to get my toothbrush.” No response. He must’ve not heard her. Now paying attention to the signs, she realized he was lost in a passionate cloud. 

He tried to push her even further on the wall that Cinder almost caved in. She decided she needed to put a stop to his activity before it went too far. Or, at least before he reached her lips because then she was confident she wouldn’t be able to control the consequences then.

Placing her palms firmly on his shoulders, she pushed gently until he realized what she was doing. His brow furrowed in confusion, then his eyes lost a little of its hungered haze. His face transitioned apologetically. “Sorry, I got a little carried away.” He straightened up. “So, will you spend the night with me, a handsome, charming, funny young emperor or in your dusty, unattractive, boyfriend-less room?”

She gave a dry laugh. “I already said yes but I need to get my toothbrush.”

He cocked his head. “At this point, just leave it here.”

“Well I need that among other things.”

“But it’s on a whole other floor!” He whined. Cinder held back a chuckle. He was unbearably cute when he couldn’t bear to be alone. “Borrow mine if you have to!” She forgot how desperate he gets. The best ego boost ever. 

“I’ll be quick.” This time she made a move and pecked him on the nose. He tried to glare but his ears reddened. “I promise.”

She left her spoiled Emperor before he could complain about her absence and practically ran to her room to collect all her things. To be honest, she wasn’t sure if she could bear to be alone again either. After so much of Kai, she could barely imagine virtually none of Kai. 

The Dark Days. They have been erraticated from her mind with no explanation. She wasn’t complaining.

Soon enough she was in front of Kai’s door with brushed teeth and fresh clothes.

When he opened the door he looked her up and down, lingering at certain moments, and raised an eyebrow. “Did you forget your toothbrush.”

“Uh, no, it’s in the bag.” She lifted a small tote bag that he was too blind to notice.

“You can always use mine.” He repeated. “It’s the same as kissing.”

“I can assure that it is not the same as kissing, and are the cause of many diseases.” 

“Such as?” 

She snorted. “Delusion. Which you don’t need more of.” She let herself in, forcing her way through Kai.

“Hey!” he countered. “On what grounds am I delusional?”

Sighing, she plopped herself on his bed. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s the fact that after I rejected to go to the ball with and you still persisted in asking me.”

“Well it worked out in the end, didn’t it?” Kai walked towards her in a very slow pace, as if he were executing some scheme.

“A revolution and a failed marriage later, it did.”

He reached the foot of the bed and crept on next to her as his goal. She gulped, a feeling of anticipation rose in her chest. “At least you’re here with me.” He inched closer until he was properly on top of her. “Safe.” He murmured, nearing her mouth. “Healthy.”

He suddenly grabbed her body, shocking her and inciting a surprised gasp. They flipped positions so that she was now on top of him. “And in my arms.”

A giddy and satisfied smile appeared on his face. She had the sudden need to wipe it off his face with her lips. More warnings lit up her vision and she blinked it away, along with the desirous thoughts. But they always lingered, like a short breath on a cold morning.

She didn’t know what to do with her arms, or her legs, or her waist. She was very much a ragdoll at this point and she wouldn’t have complained if Kai treated her as such. The only thing she could control was her head as it hovered over his. She had a feeling that if she didn’t kiss him, he would.

So she did. Slowly, tenderly, and mindfully. Her hands fired up again and found new places to trace on his chest. One of his hands got caught up in her hair while the other gradually palmed the skin of her waist. Cinder might’ve made a noise or two because Kai abruptly flipped them over again.

There was a ‘hmpth’ from one of them, she didn’t know who nor cared, and once again the kiss turned passionate. He pressed his body against her as the hand on her back slid up her shirt. He returned to her neck as her hands pulled on his pajama shirt. She felt repetitive and slightly painful tugs on her scalp as he tried to make more space for his mouth. It was more enjoyable than expected.

“Stars,” He muttered. She thought she imagined it until he kept going. “I love your neck.”

The words shocked her, even in that hungered haze. It made want to do something, to want more. She groaned as her hand grabbed his jaw and pushed it up until their lips met. She kissed him with a new type of craving, with the same type of desire from earlier. This is time she didn’t suppress it. Her metal hand slipped underneath his shirt and rubbed his back, while her fleshed one tugged his hair in a frenzy. More gasps and small noises were let out. Every time she heard her name escape his lips she would respond by kissing him on the sensitive part of his neck where she’d get more response out of. It gave her more drive to feel and peck his skin, to kiss and suck his lips, to whisper and murmur his name. Her heart pounding in her chest made it all the more intense, and even more so when she could feel his.

The more she thought about them, the more Cinder wanted to smile. While her lips were practically hovering over his ear, she couldn’t help but grin, then laughter spilled out. She dug her head into the crook of his neck, trying, and failing, to stop herself.

He pulled away so they met eye to eye. How he got underneath her, she couldn’t remember, but, stars, he was gorgeous in this angle. And his shirt was practically undone so her eyes couldn’t help but linger. She felt his soft fingers draw circles on the small of her back as he grinned up at her.

“What’s so funny, my love?” Kai asked. His voice was rough and lips plump from kissing for so long. It was surprisingly attractive. Well, it shouldn’t be surprising because almost everything about Kai is attractive, especially to her.

“I don’t know. I just felt like laughing.” She let out another giggle. “I feel so…” She paused, searching for the right word.

“Happy? Joyful? Bliss?” He offered.

“Euphoric.” She smiled, kissing his nose. She rather liked his nose, as she did his neck, and his face, and oh-so-mangificent eyes, and his elegant hands, and his intelligent voice, and his lips, oh stars his lips! She adored his lips, and how they felt against hers. Especially how they felt against hers.

Her gaze paused at the swollen sight, trying her best to swallow the urge to devour them again. Just how plump could they get anyway? 

Kai had other plans. He grinned like an amazed artist satisfied with his work. He brought his hands to either sides of her bare hips, making her heart jump in excitement, and laid her down next to him.

Their eyes met for the thousandth time that night but in this moment she saw stars, galaxies, and universes of wonder in his. 

“Kai?” She murmured, breaking the silence.

“Yes, my love?”

“I think I’m going to sleep here tonight.”

He smiled, eyes tinkling at the joke. “I think that’s a wonderful idea, my love.”

He pulled her close so they could fold on each other, limbs intertwining with limbs. She smiled as her cheek pressed to her chest. His leg rested on her hip and his hand played with her locks.

Not very long after, their hearts matched each other’s beats and they fell into a long and comfortable sleep.

A/N: So here's that one make out pic I promised to post... Whatever. Hope you like :D Tell me if you no like D:

Tagging: @just2bubbly @cinderswrench @cindersassasin @the-wee-woo-royal @deprivedmusicaljunkie @crescentchat @notjacinclay @wheresmymom-imlost @salt-warrior @rapunzelfromthemoon @briggycat @impossiblesuitcase @kaider-is-my-otp @definitelynotisabel @wassupnye (these are for my kaider ONLY fics so please ask if you want to be tagged or removed <3)

[webslinger-holland]

The Emperor of Magic | Part 4

Summary: The emperor manages to get inside one of the crow’s minds, but he isn't able to hold off against her for very long. It begins to compromise the rest of them.

Warning: +18 Warning, swearing, crows forced to succumb to past traumatic memories/nightmares, eyes of crows turning black as well as fingertips

Pairing: Kaz Brekker x Fem!Reader

Type: Series

Word Count: 2.3k (sorry it’s short)

Series Masterlist

Author’s Note: The reader’s dialogue is italicized because she actually doesn’t verbally speak to the crows, only through their thoughts. Also, past memories are written in italicized for better distinction between what is past and what is present.

Upon hearing that name, Kaz Brekker felt a familiar cord being struck in the deep and dark crevice of his heart. As that name was a painful reminder of who he once was and what he was forced to leave behind. He often reminds himself that that person is dead and he is all that remains. 

With his head hanging low, Kay’s gaze shifted upwards to glare at the prisoner with hooded eyes. His jaw was locked and his hands clenched together into tight fists at his sides. He was seething with anger.

“How...” Kaz stopped himself in order to regain his composure. “How do you know that name?”

He said this out loud, which only caused slight confusion amongst the crows. They didn’t seem to understand what he was asking, but they recognized that he was staring directly at the fugitive. They didn’t quite understand what was happening.

His question went completely unanswered. The emperor of magic simply stood there facing his general direction. He seemed to narrow his eyes at her, mentally wondering if there was a smirk plastered on her face underneath the bag over her head. He wouldn’t brush it off.

And so he repeated himself. “I said...how do you know that name?”

More silence.

Without thinking, Kaz went to grab the gun at his side. He raised it up and instantly fired a shot, which caused a short bout of mayhem between his crows at his recklessness. They called out his name in utter shock, having been taken away by his action. 

The gun did exactly what you’d expect a gun to do rightly; it fired a bullet that should have lodged itself between her eyes. However, the bullet stopped directly in front of her face and dropped to the ground. He carelessly threw the gun away.

“Fuck,” Kaz cursed under his breathe. He walked away momentarily as if trying to find a way to vent his anger.

“What the hell is happening?” Jesper demanded an explanation.

“She’s messing with my head,” Kaz said slowly. He tried to shake the feeling he felt of her looming presence, but she wouldn’t leave him alone. She had infiltrated his memories having just discovered his name. “I can feel it,” Kaz explained further.

“But how?” Inej questioned.

“I don't know!” Kaz almost lost his temper with how loud those words came out. “I don’t know how she got into my head, but she knows my name.”

All of the sudden, Kaz saw brief flashes of his memories from the past. He was hunched over his desk, looking over the plans nearly three years ago. He watched his former self take hold of the plans and crumple them up. He discarded them.

Out of instinct, Kaz squeezed his eyes shut tightly in hopes of blocking her out of his mind. He quickly shook the memory out of his line of vision. It didn’t take long for him to realize that she had been the one to activate that memory. 

He began pacing back and forth. He could feel the strong sense of fear taking over his demeanor, feeling at a total loss of control over his thoughts and memories. He was shown another memory of himself in his office. He heard the familiar voice of Jesper and Inej talking to him, but his former self didn’t look up.

Upon being shown that particular memory, Kaz was able to put the pieces together. When he turned his body to face the prisoner, he saw that she was no longer looking towards him, but rather, with her head slightly lowered. He narrowed his eyes at her odd demeanor.

“Boss,” Jesper watched Kaz carefully. “What you doing?”

“She’s looking for something,” Kaz spoke mostly to himself.

“What?” Wylan perked up. “I-In your head?”

“Yes,” Kaz nodded.

“How do you know for that she’s looking for something?” Nina added.

“Because she’s silent,” Kaz examined. He only knew this because he too also grew silent when he was thinking hard about something. “She’s focusing,” Kaz noted.

For a brief moment, Kaz wondered if it was a coincidence that he saw himself in her mannerism. He studied her carefully as if she was a newfound species he had just discovered. He wondered what she could possibly be after.

“What is she looking for?” Matthias asked him.

A beat of silence was all that followed. One particular memory came flooding back to Kaz’s mind; the one where he finally chose to present his grand scheme to the rest of the crows. In the memory, the voices of the crows were quick muffled as if they were struggling to become clear. His former self hadn’t looked up at them just yet as they filed into the room.

Finally, a wave of realization overcame his features. His shoulders dropped in defeat and his face went blank. He could practically hear the gears turning in her head as she tried to make out who belonged to those voices. Now Kaz realized what she was searching for.

“It’s you,” Kaz breathed in realization. “She’s looking for all of you in my memories.”

And that instantly became his biggest mistake. For this job, he recruited his most trusted companions; the ones he had worked with in the past and the ones he knew he could rely on to get any job done that was thrown their way. Now he had put them in harms way.

He tried so hard to block that memory out of his mind for the pure sake of his crew. It felt like he was pushing his shoulder against a solid door in attempts to keep an intruder out. He was using all his mental strength to keep her out, but it wasn't going to be enough. The door cracked open.

The blurry images of the memory came into his line of vision. He saw the heist’s plans laid out in front of him. Those distant voices that had once sounded rather foggy had now grown into something clearer. Much to his surprise, Kaz’s memory of himself was the first to speak in a normal voice that could be understood.

“The person we are breaking out of the court isn’t just an ordinary scientist this time,” Kaz’s former self placed his hands on the table to lean forward in his place. “They aren't Grisha, but they are more powerful than them.”

“More powerful than Grisha?” Wylan wondered out loud. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “Is that even possible?” Wylan almost scoffed in the memory.

In that exact moment, Kaz was ripped out of that particular memory. His eyes snapped open. He quickly redirected his attention towards the youngest member of the crew who stood not too far away from. He was compromised at this point.

“Wylan Van Eck,” the emperor of magic’s demonic voice sounded. “The demolitions expert.”

Both Wylan and Kaz heard that demonic voice speaking in the back of their minds. And it frightened them both terribly.

“G-Guys,” Wylan stuttered. He had just glanced down at his hands to see that his fingertips had begun to grow black “W-What’s happening to me?” Wylan’s voice quivered in fear.

“Wylan,” Jesper called out desperately. 

But there wasn’t enough time to save him. His eyes were overcome with a wave of darkness that turned them pitch black. His body succumbed to the darkness taking over which resulted in him collapsing to the ground. His mind began to wander through the abyss of his worst nightmares. And there was no telling when he’d come out.

From there, it all came shattering down around them. It was a chain reaction. For the crows had grown to be somewhat like a spiderweb; each of them were connected to one another in some way or another. Returning to the memory only showed Wylan turning to face Jesper who stood directly beside him. 

“So remind me why we are breaking them out?” Jesper from the past asked almost sarcastically because it didn’t seem like a very appealing heist to him.

“Because she is worth nearly 100 million kruge,” Kaz shut him down in the memory.

By this point, Jesper had abandoned his post to hurry towards Wylan’s body. He dropped down to his knees, gathering the boy into his arms for comfort. He tried to wake him up by desperate tapping his cheek and calling out his name. But nothing changed.

“Wake up, please.” Jesper begged. He felt tears pricking the corners of his eyes. “Please Wylan. Wake up.”

“Jesper Fahey,” the demonic voice resounded once again. He perked up upon hearing his own name in the depths of his mind. He was slow to turn towards the prisoner. “The sharpshooter,” the voice added.

“What the hell do you want with us?!” Jesper was seething with anger. He quickly rose to his feet and proceeded to reach for the guns at his sides. He pointed one of his guns directly at her face. 

Though, in reality, Jesper knew that his precious guns would be no match against the emperor of magic. He had seen firsthand his boss fire a single round at her and she completely deflected it without flinching. So his eyes shifted towards the only person they all believed could take her down. 

Without much warning, Jesper’s eyes grew black just like Wylan’s had done not two minutes earlier. His mind became clouded with memories from his past. He flinched at the pain it brought him. His arm eventually fell at his side and his body dropped to the ground.

The familiar voices from the memory came flooding back into Kaz’s head. He had to watch Jesper turn his attention to Nina who stood beside him. She spoke up next.

“Where is she contained?” Nina asked, glancing back down at the map. 

In the background, Nina’s eyes had only widened in horror upon seeing two crows collapse to the ground. She raised her hands to stop whatever madness was ensuring since she was always reminded that she was the only one who might come close to stopping her. All she needed to do was stop her heart.

“Nina Zenik,” the deep voice spoke to her. Nina’s own heart dropped. “The heartrender.”

Out of instinct, Nina looked towards the one person who always kept her grounded. She knew what was going to happen next. She reached out for him only to see the tips of her fingers growing black in color. Her once beautiful green eyes changed to this pitch black shade of horror. 

The strong heartrender stumbled forward for she was unable to keep herself standing up anymore. Before Nina was able to fall to the ground, Matthias was able to catch her in his strong arms. He lowered her to the ground slowly just as she slipped past the darkness.

The memory returned once again. 

“She’d be kept here,” Matthias pointed to the center of the map where the White Island stood. “In the dungeons to be specific,” Matthias added.

In the memory, Nina’s former self had shifted her attention to the great fjerdan who stood beside her. He knew the court better than anyone in the room. The change shifted to compromise the next victim.

“Matthias Helvar,” the demon breathed. “The druskelle.”

Upon hearing his name, Matthias lifted his head to look directly at the emperor standing before him. He felt his own jaw lock into place. His blood began to boil in anger. His hands clenched into tight fists as he held the body of the woman he loved dearly.

“Demon,” Matthias hissed. “Go back to hell.”

Out of pure anger and resentment, Matthias stood to his feet with every intention of putting one final stop to the emperor. But he too fell under fatigue. He began to loose his footing, dropping one knee to the ground. He glanced towards one of the last two crows remaining. He tried to hold himself up and be strong for as long as possible. His eyes became black and his body tumbled to the ground.

In utter shock and horror, Kaz was forced to watch his four closest friends succumb to the darkness. He glanced at each of their unconscious bodies, feeling the panic and fear growing stronger with each passing second. He didn’t know what to do; he wasn’t in control anymore.

His heart stopped for a second as he heard a sweet familiar voice from that same memory resound in the back of his mind.

“But that means...” Inej’s voice trailed off in the memory. She was one of the few who knew exactly who he was talking about. “The Emperor is real?” Inej asked horrified. 

“Yes, Inej Ghafa.” She turned to face the voice who spoke to her in her mind. “I am very much real.”

Instinctively, Inej had to shifted her body to face towards Kaz. She held onto the last sliver of hope that he’d be able to save her and save them all. She had this panicked look on her face that he will never forget as he had never seen her look more terrified in her life. 

This was the final straw for him.

“Wait!” Kaz begged for the first time in his life.

Without hesitation, Kaz broke into a full run towards the emperor. He had every intention of putting a stop to her schemes because she had passed a line by messing with his crows. Unbeknownst to him, Inej had just fallen to the ground behind him. She slipped past the veil. He raised his cane above his head, fully intending to bash her head in.

But right as Kaz brought his cane towering down, his body fell through black clouds. The darkness had taken hold of his senses, which rendered his body completely useless in reality. When Kaz lifted his head to get a feel of his unknown surroundings, he was met with his worst nightmare staring directly at him.

OOOH!!!! Only one more chapter to go! What are everyone’s thoughts? What do you think is gonna happen in the last chapter???

TAGLIST:

@d34drapunzel @adorawritesalot​ @vixythepixie​ @theghostofshadows​ @lonelywitchv2​ @arcadialine​ @zeeader​ @cleverzonkwombatsludge​ @shara-ne​ @iloveinej​ @ireallydontcareanymorebrooo @mystic-mara​ @missymisha​ @tremendoushearttaco @home-of-disaster @gh0stgirl333 @harrydimples @marina468 @phoenix666stuff​ @grippleback-galaxy @mariar31

[iamsonormalaboutninjago]

Okay I seriously want Lloyd’s Oni Form to return back in Dragons Rising S2. But what if he got trapped in his Oni Form??

This is non serious but I would genuinely love to see it.

In the finale Lloyd can’t beat the final villain. He has been powered up by a source dragon, becoming a conduit to defeat the villain, but he can’t. They are being pushed back and it looks like the battle is all but lost.

The Ninja rally again for one big push, a last chance assault that if it failed would spell doom for the merged realms.

All the Ninja come together in a line. The villain rears back into a defensive stance, appearing to brace for the brawl while actually hiding a secret weapon/ ability / elemental thing behind their silhouette.

None of the Ninja can see it, besides Arin, who’s on the far side of the line. His eyes widen as he realizes they’re charging towards a death trap. Exclaiming loudly, he pulls out his grappler and fires at the villain, latching onto their hulking body and swinging right into the line of fire as the Villain unsheathes their weapon and fires it.

Arins directly in the way, in a slow motion shot we see him close his eyes and brace…

The energy of the weapon cracks on his body, half the force being transferred into him and the other sent in a shockwave knocking everyone off their feet.

After the dust settles Lloyd notices first, sprinting over to Arin with the anxiety of a father worrying over their son. Lloyd holds Arins limp body in his arms, he can feel multiple cracked bones, scars on his face forming as Arins breath grows slower. Fear, desperation, rage fills Lloyd, he should’ve noticed first he should’ve seen the weapon, he didn’t, now Arin is dying in his arms. Even with source dragon power he just isn’t powerful enough to protect the ones he loves.

The villain readies back up again and charges at Lloyd. The green ninja hears it, fear mixing with rage and regret in his body, heart rate increasing, his muscles tighten his inhibitions drop, instinct taking over his brain as he looks up with piercing purple eyes.

Lloyd drops Arin and lunges forward, body rapidly covering in gold scales, transforming into a full rage filled Oni. He grapples with the villain and finally pushes them back.

Except the source dragon power, mixing with Lloyd’s Oni blood messes with the transformation. Lloyd’s body convulses with a bright golden light, he keeps growing taller and his scales protrude longer than any Oni’s would reasonably grow.

Small wings sprout out of his back. Lloyd can’t even control himself as he flies around the villain blasting beams of destruction from every hand.

The villain is in a frenzy unable to hit the golden abomination. After only seconds Lloyd is as tall as the previously hulking villain and throwing punches with more force than the beast could ever muster.

The other ninja look on in horror… Lloyd is as tall as a building and unable to stop his attack, rage surrounding his body like an aura. The Ninja run up to Arin and check on him. He isn’t dead, he’s heavily injured but he’s alive. Kai tries to exclaim to Lloyd but the hulking Oni doesn’t respond.

Lloyd flies up in a final attack. The villain cowering beneath him as Lloyd slashes with massive claws into the side of a nearby building. He dismantles half the structure from its original height, lifts it and throws it into them. Crushing the villian with no hesitation, no respect for their life, only revenge fueling his desire…

Dust and debris fill the area, obscuring the mutant Lloyd from the Ninja. When visibility returns the ninja pull themselves from the wreck, but Lloyd isn’t there. All they see is a trail of three clawed prints running into the night…

End of season! :D

I imagine that when the power of a Source Dragon mixes with the power of an Oni things get really weird. Lloyd would get trapped in his Oni form due to it as the amount of power is too much for him to handle and his brain turns off. It’s pretty unlikely they use source dragon energy again to defeat the final villian but it’s just an interesting idea.

The next season would be spent trying to find Lloyd and turn him back to normal. While Arin would be recovering from his injuries and feeling guilty due to Lloyd transforming cause he thought he was dead.

Sorry this is so long I wanted to capture the full feeling I had in my mind lol

[sword-reborn]

(( warning: very mild suggestive humor. basically cain being cain LMAO ))

--- [Attached: A video. Blake is seen sitting in what looks like the bustling lobby of some large gray building, maybe a Pokemon Center of some kind? They just stare out into space with a disgruntled expression, bouncing their leg up and down impatiently. You see a Torchic sitting on their lap, tugging at the fuzz lining their jacket sleeve playfully with its beak.

A few seconds pass, and before long a stranger who looks to be around Blake's age with dark purple hair tied back in a messy ponytail approaches, casually sitting a few chairs away from them. He seems a lot more chipper in comparison, crossing one leg over the other and whistling quietly to himself. Blake doesn't seem to even register him.

Eventually, he casts a glance over to the trainer, taking a moment to look them up and down. A half smirk tugs at his lips, and he leans in a little. "Heyy, you're cute."

Blake furrows their brows at his remark, and turn to face him with a look of scrutiny.

"Excuse me?"

"Hm, what?" He quickly clears his throat and sits back up straight, looking like he's suppressing a chuckle. "I didn't say anything."

After holding their glare for a moment, Blake just rolls their eyes and turns their head away with a sigh through their nose.

A long silence passes, before the stranger speaks up again. "The name's Cain. Can I get yours?"

Blake doesn't bother looking at him this time. "...Blake."

"Blake, eh? Pretty name." Cain muses, continuing to smile at them even with their cold demeanor. "Hey, was Ame just here?"

"She's in the other room with my sister, I think. And some girl named Victoria."

"Ohhh, so she's with someone else then. Kay~" He sighs, but his eyes fall to the Torchic on their lap, and he gives the little Fire-type a fond smile. "Who's your friend there?"

"Oh- this is Ruben." They answer, looking down at their new Pokemon like they'd only just remembered he was there. Ruben chirps, standing up on his trainer's thigh and looking over at Cain with big, curious eyes. Cain extends a finger out to the little guy, and the Torchic responds with a light nip before ruffling his neck feathers and nestling back into his trainer's coat.

"Heheh," Cain huffs with amusement and pulls his hand away. "So he's your starter, eh?"

"Uh," Blake's frown deepens a little as they scratch Ruben's head feathers. "Actually, I have other Pokemon, but uh, I'm just..."

They trail off, and there's a long pause. Cain seems confused by their silence, but then his eyes seem to soften in what appears to be understanding.

"Starting over?"

Blake finally looks up, considering his words. "I mean... sort of, I guess?"

"Mm, same here." He leaned back and folded his arms behind his head, mumbling. "Figured I'd try taking on this league instead..."

Blake quirks a brow at him, but he shakes his head as his lax smile from before returns. "Anyways, Blake, whaddya say to a battle?"

"A- huh? Right here?" They take a moment to look around, taking in the rather crowded interior of the building. "Is there a battle court nearby or something?"

"No, I don't think so?" Cain shrugs as he rises to his feet, bemused by their question. "No one cares if we fight inside, silly. Besides, this'll be a good time to see how that lil fireball of yours does in a battle."

There's blatant doubt at his words in Blake's expression, but they decide to shrug it off and stand up anyways, scooping Ruben up into their arms. "Alright, would be a good way to pass the time I guess."

"That's the spirit~." Cain hums, then steps back a few paces to give the Pokemon room to fight. "Ready when you are, pinky."

"Why is that everyone's go-to nickname for me?" Blake mutters under their breath as they stand across from him, before crouching down to let Ruben hop down from their arms. The tiny chick Pokemon stumbles across the smooth tiled floor for a moment, before catching itself and straightening up.

Cain digs out a Pokeball from under his jacket, tossing it up and down in his hand at few times. "All set? If it's your first time, I'll be gentle~."

His flirtatious comment bounces off Blake like rubber as they give him an unimpressed stare in return. "I think I'll be fine, thanks." they deadpan.

"If you say so," With a flick of his wrist, Cain tosses the capsule and sends his Pokemon out onto the field- a male Nidoran pops out, landing on the floor with a small grunt.

The fight commences rather quickly, with Ruben leading with an ember attack, and Nidoran enduring the burst of flames before countering with a swift Tackle. The two exchange blows for a couple more minutes, Ruben fumbling about a bit clumsily but doing relatively well with Blake calling out orders. Soon enough, another Ember to the side is enough to bring their opponent down. Nidoran falls to its side with a huff, declaring Ruben the victor.

For the first time since the recording began, Blake's face actually lights up a little at their win. "Hey, not bad Ruben!" they congradulate their Pokemon, crouching down to give him an affectionate rub on the head with their thumb. Ruben chirps out in triumph, flapping his tiny yellow wings excitedly.

Cain gives his Pokemon praise for trying before recalling it to its ball, then turns his eyes to Blake. "Cute and talented," he muses. tucking Nidoran's ball back into his coat. "Very well! That was pretty impressive, especially for working with a Pokemon that's less experienced. C'mon, let's go get these guys healed up."

The two make their way to the nearby counter, but are greeted by Kaita, Ame, and a girl with black hair emerging from the stairs in the back. You notice the Rowlet perched on Kaita's shoulder, and you see Blake run up to their sibling in excitement before the video ends.]

----

[goldenavenger02]

everything you lose is a step you take

But it was Azula and as soon as she mentioned it with the crazed look in her eyes that showed that her mental state was unstable, he should have known that his little sister would do what she had always done. Play dirty. 

(Zuko recovers from being struck by actual lightning)

An Agni Kai was one of the possibilities that Zuko had considered when he asked Katara to accompany him to the fight against Azula, but he had also expected her to play fair.

But it was Azula and as soon as she mentioned it with the crazed look in her eyes that showed that her mental state was unstable, he should have known that his little sister would do what she had always done. Play dirty.

So when her hands were full of lightning and her gaze shifted towards Katara, Zuko knew what he had to do and he rushed to shield Katara from the blast that would have surely ended her life.

It happened in a flash; a light blue, fiery, painful flash.

His body convulsed harshly as the lightning made its way through him and he could have sworn he heard Azula mock him by saying, "Zu Zu, you don't look so good."

After that, he couldn't hold himself up anymore and was forced to focus on his harsh breathing as he heard Azula and Katara fight for what felt like hours; until he heard rushed footsteps and was slowly maneuvered onto his back before a soft coolness quenched the fire in his chest

He finally managed to open his eyes to see Katara, eyebrows knit tightly with concentration as she held the water over his wound before looking at his eyes. It was only then that he managed to voice his thanks in a whisper.

Zuko watched as Katara's eyes filled with tears that quickly spilled onto the ground as she responded. "I think I'm the one who should be thanking you."

As Azula continued to scream and spit fire, he let Katara pull him to his feet, the fire in his chest still blazing but not as hot as she held onto his shoulders.

"We should get you inside. I need to get a better look at your wound." Katara insisted as the guards came out of the shadows to take Azula away, but Zuko shook his head and turned to them.

"Don't lock her in the prison tower. Send her to a place where they can help her."

"Oh, Zu Zu, still too weak to lock me up." Azula sneered between her disturbed screams as she was taken away, leaving Katara and Zuko in the still-flaming courtyard. He focused on ignoring her words, that he knew that he was giving her the best option possible but it still made his chest ache and burn harder to the point where he could feel sweat start to form at his brow.

That was when he turned to Katara, only for her figure to be distorted, that he remembered this distinct feeling. He had felt in Ba Sing Se as he was falling ill just before he had lost consciousness and he could see that Katara was saying something but all that came out was muffled noise.

"I don't feel good…" he managed to moan before his feet fell from under him and his vision went black.

…

For the first time in Iroh's adult life, he felt like he could breathe freely. His brother had been stopped, the one-hundred-year war was over…and he was on the right side of history. 'If only you could have seen this, Lu Ten.'

Helping rebuild Ba Sing Se was going to take a long time, maybe even years to fully restore it, but as he watched members of all four nations band together to do so, he had hope that it would be just as beautiful when it was finished, if not more so.

Even when his mind brought back the worry about Zuko and his friends, minus Aang who had been to them first with Ozai unconscious and no longer able to bend, he forced it to go away. Aang had stopped The Fire Lord, so the others had to be victorious as well.

At least that's what he was telling himself for the first day as he joined the rebuilding effort, starting with his tea shop in the heart of downtown.

It wasn't until the midday break for food and his teapot of jasmine had started to steep, that one of the fire soldiers approached him with a scroll in hand and an apologetic look on his face that Iroh had last seen when he lost Lu Ten.

"Are you alright, soldier? I have a pot of steeping jasmine tea if you would like to sit with me." He explained while his heart pounded and his thoughts flooded with every bad scenario that could have happened in the capital, all centered on his nephew.

"I'm afraid not, I'm busy delivering messages to and from the fire nation, but that's why I came here. I have a message from Katara for you."

"Go ahead." Iroh swallowed nervously, trying to keep his face stoic as the man unrolled the scroll and began to read.

"The fight against Azula resulted in victory and she is currently being taken care of in the Fire Nation Prison Hospital. Suki, Toph, and the other Kyoshi warriors have started the rebuilding efforts with the civilians with Sokka acting as a supervisor due to a broken leg. The win did not come easy for us, however, and Zuko is very injured. I'm doing my best to heal him, but due to the severity of his condition, it was recommended that I send for you in between sessions. He had not regained consciousness since fainting shortly after the fight and he has started to develop a fever. I can only assume that he will continue to deteriorate before he starts to recover. I hope this message finds you well, Katara."

Iroh was already on his feet before the customary closing of the water tribes. "When do you leave for the capital?"

"After we've grabbed some food and the rest of the letters to the capital."

Iroh nodded as he started making a mental checklist of what he had in Ba Sing Se while asking. "Do you have room for one more?"

…

No matter how hard Katara tried, she couldn't break through the fever that was rampaging through Zuko's body. From healing with one hand and wiping off his forehead with the other to focusing directly on the fever for a full session rather than the lightning wound, it seemed as though nothing was working.

As she slowly tried to repair internal damage, the heat from the wound and his skin passed onto her, making her stomach ache and her brow sweat profusely, but she couldn't stop until she had to. 'I can't let him die, not now.'

Her throat was parched and she was running out of clean water for bending by the time Sokka hobbled into the room with a crutch under his arm and a glass of water in his hand.

"I can't use that for bending." She told her older brother as she soothed yet another internal burn.

"It's not for him, it's for you. Drink."

Katara stopped bending with her left hand to take the water and drank it in one gulp, letting the coolness soothe her parched throat before passing the glass back to Sokka and continuing to work on trying to repair what she could.

"How bad?"

"It's internal burns. Healing them is hard because fire benders are warm so they can only be soothed. Between that and his fever…" she stopped healing with her right hand to wipe down Zuko's warm forehead, feeling the skin twitch under her soft hand when the cloth went over the top of his scar, "I sent for Iroh in Ba Sing Se yesterday morning. I'm hoping that he has a better solution."

"Why don't you let me take a shift? You need food and sleep."

"Because you're not a bender."

"I can sponge a sweaty forehead, thank you very much." Sokka pretended to take mock offense and Katara knew it, but the exhaustion had spread to her bones and she couldn't remember the last time she ate something, so she went along with it.

"You'll get me if something happens?"

"You have my word." Sokka insisted and that was enough for Katara to rise from her chair and set off on a mission to find food and a soft bed, all while trying her hardest to ignore the fact that she should still be working on healing Zuko.

…

The messengers arrived at the capital as nightfall was settling onto the city and the second day of rebuilding was winding down with a meal before everyone went to their temporary housing. But as soon as Iroh dismounted from his ostrich horse, he was immediately stopped by one of the Kyoshi warriors.

"General Iroh," The teenager nodded before bowing to him and he didn't have the heart to correct her, so he bowed back to her, "My name is Suki. Sokka told me that you would be arriving at nightfall and asked for me to escort you to the infirmary."

"Thank you, dear." He nodded before following her to the palace.

The ground of the courtyard was scorched by fire and lightning and the structures weren't much better in terms of damage. He knew that this was where the battle between his niece and nephew had taken place and as they passed every charred structure his heart ached as he tried to picture just how violent the fight had been.

When they walked inside, however, aside from a shattered mirror the interior was untouched. Down to the snarling portraits of Ozai glaring down at those who made their way into the palace walls. He knew that in the coming days, they would be taken down but for now, he avoided their judgemental looks.

They finally arrived at the infirmary, passing the rooms that held injured soldiers and civilians from the battle until they arrived at the large doors that were made from melded iron that only held members of the fire lord's family. Suki reached her hand forward and delivered three hard knocks to the doors before they opened, but Iroh couldn't wait for another second and rushed towards his nephew.

His nephew, who was still unconscious but his brow was twisted in agony, who had beads of sweat falling from his temples due to the rising fever, and who had a sickeningly large lightning wound that cascaded over his chest but led to a hole of torn, infected skin in the middle.

"Oh, Zuko…" he muttered under his breath as he pushed his hair out of his eyes, his fingers lingering on his hot forehead, "you did well. But the fight is not over yet."

He didn't even register Suki's departure until he heard a different voice greet him that he knew belonged to the water bender who had sent for him in the first place.

"Katara," he offered her a brief but grateful smile while turning his head before he asked, "what have you done so far?"

"I've been trying to heal the internal injuries first to heal the infection, but due to his fever and his body heat, all I can do is soothe the burns. I've also been trying to get his fever down so I have a better chance of healing the wounds, but it hasn't budged. I think it's only gotten higher."

"I know he's still unconscious, but we need to find a way to get some water into him. He's dehydrated, which is only making things worse," Iroh explained as he ran the cool washcloth over his nephew's forehead, "Zuko has always been prone to illness, even as a child. It'll take him a while to shake this but he will as soon as we can get him healed enough to awaken."

"I'll go get more water." Katara nodded and rose from her spot towards the iron doors as Iroh called out after her.

"Bring me my teapot and the brown box beside it," when she gave him a nod of confirmation before the doors closed behind her, he turned back to his unconscious nephew and wiped at his forehead again, knowing that the boy couldn't hear him, "you always did hate that tea. But it does wonders for infection."

…

Zuko's face burned.

The world was dark, his stomach was twisting harshly with nausea and his face was searing hot. If he moved, he likely was going to be violently sick, but at the same time, he felt the urge to open his eyes and take in his surroundings.

'Zu Zu, you don't look so good.'

The haunting echo of Azula's voice was enough for him to open his eyes, expecting to see her sneering over his body with a triumphant grin because she had won the Agni Kai. All that he saw was a dim light filling the room and the moon outside of the window.

He was inside. The battle was over. He was in the infirmary that he had been in so many times as a child after fights with Azula. That was a relieving sign because it meant that he had won…hopefully.

"Easy, Zuko," a voice soothed softly as he managed to turn his head to see Katara hovering over him with a soft smile, "you don't want to hurt yourself more."

"We won?" He managed to choke out, his throat as dry and hot as his face, but the nod from the water bender was enough to make speaking worth it. But when he tried to take a chance to shift his position in the bed, that's when he felt it.

The unmistakable hot, searing pain of a lightning strike right in his torso forced him to turn himself over in order not to retch onto Katara. As he continued to vomit, sending more pain into his chest, he felt two cooling hands on his stomach that finally started to lessen the pain.

"I'm sorry." He coughed as he rolled onto his back once again and realized that it was Katara who was trying to heal his stomach.

"It's okay, I should have warned you. Azula did a lot of damage and it's going to take you a while to get back on your feet." Katara explained slowly and softly as she removed her hands from him.

"Just how much?" He questioned as his body started to shake violently.

"You have a pretty bad infection that's making healing the wounds near impossible," she explained as she reached over and slowly pressed a cold cloth to his forehead, stopping the shaking, "your uncle is working on some sort of tea to combat it, but it's going to be a bit till you can stomach much of anything."

"Where are the others?"

"Toph, Suki, and Sokka are working on helping rebuild both the Capital and Ba Sing Se. Aang has been pitching in when he can, but he's been meeting with other nation leaders nearly every day to start planning on how to move forward. Your uncle has been meeting with other fire nation officials to remove the Ozai loyalists and to resume the throne temporarily."

"Temporarily?" Zuko's head was beginning to ache as the pillow under him tried to lure him back to sleep and his face continued to burn with a renewed fire behind it.

"Until you've recovered enough for your coronation."

"Right," Zuko nodded, although every fiber in his being was telling him just how much he didn't want or deserve to be the new fire lord, "right, that makes sense."

"You should go back to sleep. You'll probably feel better in the morning." She insisted as she pressed a cooling hand to his face and began to quench the fire on it.

"What about you?" He asked as he closed his eyes and tried to let the coolness lull him back to sleep. But before it welcomed him with open arms, he heard her voice answer with a shakiness that made him concerned.

"I have a few more healing sessions to do."

…

He hadn't been asleep for long when a soft hand gently squeezed his shoulder and he managed to open his eyes. Even though it had been cleaned up, Zuko didn't dare move for fear of vomiting once again. But he adjusted his gaze and couldn't help but smile despite the pain when he saw his uncle smiling back at him.

"Hey, uncle." He rasped while blinking a few times to clear his vision, trying to see better in the dim light.

"Zuko, I didn't expect you to be awake so soon," his uncle stopped to press something cold against his forehead, "you're still very ill. But, you're awake now, so you must be starting to turn a corner."

But instead of having some sort of comment to add to his uncle's statement, the memory of how shaky and tired Katara had sounded before he fell asleep came back; he couldn't figure out why it scared him so much but it made him unsettled enough for him to ask, "how's Katara?"

His uncle was silent for what felt like hours; although it couldn't have been more than a few minutes, it was enough to worry Zuko for that time until Iroh finally spoke, but his answer wasn't the reassurance that he was hoping for.

"She's putting up a strong front, getting up every few hours to continue to try and heal your wounds. But as soon as you're out of the woods, I guarantee that she is going to crumble without her worry and adrenaline."

Something about Katara being weak, tired, and unable to defend herself nearly made Zuko sick to his stomach and he knew that if it was Aang, Toph, or Sokka, he'd feel the same way. But he wouldn't be making himself more ill over it, surely not.

'Do I…like Katara?' he wondered briefly, but he shook it away just as fast as it came, 'No. She's just my friend. My friend who is running herself dry on my behalf.'

"We should get some tea into you before you fall asleep," Iroh interrupted his thoughts as he stood and Zuko grimaced at the idea of the nasty tea that Iroh made whenever he fell ill, even though it always ended up helping him feel better; and he knew that his uncle saw the grimace because he offered Zuko a sympathetic smile before walking through the iron doors, "the sooner you drink it, the sooner we can convince Katara to get some real sleep."

Those were the words that convinced Zuko to comply with the gross herbal remedy because even if she was just a friend, helping her made Zuko feel good. Like he could do the right thing.

…

It was weird for Katara to continue with the healing sessions once Zuko was awake. Even though she was glad that he had finally opened his eyes and that the infection was slowly but surely fading, the way he looked at her with what she could only describe as worry was starting to get annoying.

She was the one who was supposed to be worried about him. He had been the one to risk his life and almost end it by taking the lightning meant for her, he was the one whose body was struggling to comply with her healing the wounds inside of him. So why in the world was he concerned about her?

"You can at least speak to me," Katara finally said as she tried to once again knit together the tearing despite Zuko gritting his teeth as she did, "instead of just staring at me like that."

"Like what?" He questioned through his teeth, fighting back the pain as she pulled the skin together.

"You're worried about me and you won't tell me why, you just keep staring," she explained as she moved to the large burn in the center of his torso, feeling his muscles visibly loosen under her water-covered palms, "so I need you to tell me why, so I can focus."

The room was quiet aside from the soft slosh of water from her healing and she began to wonder if she had stunned Zuko into silence with her shaking hands until he spoke up, his voice weak from pain and exhaustion.

"Because you look awful, Katara. You haven't slept for more than a few hours in days. You barely eat, you hardly drink," he stopped to take a shaky breath and she couldn't help but notice that his left arm snaked around his torso where she had just been bringing the damaged skin back together, "and I'm pretty sure that it's making the healing less effective."

He wasn't wrong. Sokka had pointed out her eye bags during breakfast where she could barely touch her food due to her worry. She was worried about the future and how she didn't know where she fit into it. She was worried about Aang who was a thirteen-year-old boy by himself in meetings with people who could easily take advantage of his kindness and age.

And most of all, she was worried about Zuko; the future fire lord who was just now starting to heal, who had been so hurt just a few days ago that she sent for Iroh in case he had to make final goodbyes, that almost convinced her to pull Aang away from his work because their friend was on death's doorstep. Even though he was making small strides towards his recovery now, Katara was still worried that one misstep was going to send him right back to when he first lost consciousness and she doubted that he could bring himself back from that a second time.

"That doesn't mean I should stop," she insisted as she covered her palms once again and tried her hardest to focus on the wound despite the shaking in her hands, "not when you're still so injured."

"Katara," he moved forward and gripped her wrist, shocking her with how tight it was but she knew that it was to get her attention and not out of malice, "if you keep healing me while you're like this, there's a large chance you'll do more harm than good to the both of us."

Katara sighed because she knew that he was right. Shaking hands only could make mistakes while steady hands were the ones that healed and fought, she knew that from her own experience. Even though her fears pulled on her heart, she knew that she needed a break that was longer than a few hours.

So she bent the water off of her palms and into the bucket she had placed by his bedside before putting her hands together and offering him a bow of respect that she knew he would protest against before speaking.

"I will return by the next sunrise."

And with that, she stood up slowly and made her way out of the iron doors to make her way back to her room, keeping an eye on the sundial in the hall as she walked.

…

Zuko managed to push himself up to rest against his propped-up pillows without throwing up from the shocks of pain radiating through his body. He never thought he'd be so thankful to see the sun, even if it was from the infirmary window.

The warmth felt good on his feverish skin and he could feel strength in his body that had been missing through all of the healing sessions he had endured; even with his chest aching as he breathed from the wounds, he felt like himself again.

So when a knock on the iron doors interrupted it, he had to fight back the urge to yell at whoever was behind them and instead, called out for them to come in, expecting to see Suki, Iroh, or even a very exhausted but stubborn Katara.

But when the doors opened to reveal Aang, still in his traditional air nomad colors of orange and yellow and holding his staff in his right hand, Zuko couldn't stop his happiness from escaping his lips with a cheer as the thirteen-year-old nearly crushed him in a hug.

"I'm so glad you're awake," Aang muttered from where he had firmly pressed his face against Zuko's light red robes that were common for infirmary patients, "I was here for a while, helping them with Ozai, but you look so much better when you're awake."

Zuko chuckled at Aang's rambling while holding the small Avatar to his chest, making sure that the boy knew that he was alive and was on his way to recovery before he finally made his request that he knew would be best for his strength in the long run.

"Can you help me walk to the window?"

He expected a protest of concern, but Aang just wordlessly nodded before letting go of him so he could offer his hand out. Zuko took it firmly and slowly pulled himself to his feet, his legs starting to shake immediately with the unfamiliarity.

"Here, take this," Aang offered out his staff, which Zuko wrapped his hand around tightly to stop the shaking in his legs, "it's good for balance."

"Thanks, Aang." Zuko nodded and slowly made his way to his goal, holding onto his friend with his left arm and the staff with his right until they finally made it to the window, the sun shining on him as it began to set behind the mountains that lined the edge of the fire nation.

"Do you want a chair?" Aang asked softly, but Zuko shook his head. The sun made him stronger, smarter, and faster. If he wanted to, he could let go of both Aang and the staff, but he didn't as a symbol of their friendship and his respect for his friend.

"Do you remember when I was teaching you how to firebend, and I would wake you up in time to meditate as the sun came up?" He waited until Aang gave him a nod of confirmation before continuing, "waterbenders grow strong with the moon, but firebenders, we grow strong with the sun. It amplifies our powers. I'm hoping that the feeling of sunlight on my skin.-"

"Will help you heal." Aang finished and Zuko nodded before turning his eyes back to the soft orange coming from the sky, feeling his adrenaline start to go down with the sun and an ache starting to form in the pit of his stomach.

He gripped harder onto the staff as his head started to pound with fever and he could have sworn Aang had said something, but his mouth was dry and he felt way too hot like the room was closing in on him.

He didn't know if it was a mercy or not when his vision finally went black even though it was accompanied by Aang's terrified scream.

…

Katara didn't think she could wake up to anything more terrifying than Aang's scream. He was just now thirteen, younger than all of them except for Toph, and his scream sounded so much younger than he was.

'Screw the sunrise.' She told herself as she hurried towards the infirmary, tightening her sash on the way and bracing herself to see the wildest of nightmares behind the iron doors.

What she had been thinking didn't even begin to shine a light on the sight of Aang struggling to drag Zuko back to his bed with tears rolling down his face.

"What happened?" She demanded as she rushed over to help support the teen's weight, looking over to see Suki with a lack of Kyoshi make-up standing in the hallway and ready to do what was needed, "go get clean water"

"He wanted to be in the sun," Aang choked out while they pulled Zuko into the bed and Katara started to use the reserve of fresh water from her flask to figure out where he had strained himself, "he said that it would help him heal."

Katara sighed as she started to piece back together the strained skin because Aang wasn't incorrect. The sun did strengthen firebenders just like the moon was helping her hands to stay steady as she scanned Zuko's body, but the fact that he was up without her knowledge like he had waited for her to be gone to make the request, made her blood boil.

'I'm his healer, for Pete's sake. If he wants to get up, I should know about it.'

"H-he's gonna be okay, right?" Aang's voice shook with tears and it tugged at Katara's heart as she once again remembered just how young he was, "I didn't want him to get hurt, I just wanted to help."

"I'll know when Suki brings me more water," she explained as she once again soothed the harsh burns that were scattered across his torso and started to work on the bruised shoulder that was likely from the fall, "but he strained himself too much, that's all. He didn't set himself too far back."

"Oh, thank goodness," Aang muttered as his head went to his hands, and it finally hit Katara at just how exhausted he looked. His eyes had dark circles similar to her own and his body sagged unnaturally.

"You should get some rest. You have a few meetings in the morning before you head out again," She explained softly as the doors opened again and Suki set the bucket of water down next to Katara's feet, "he's going to be okay."

"You'll get some sleep too, right?" Aang asked as he stood up slowly, "I'm not the only one who has been working non-stop."

Katara bit her lip for a moment as she pressed more water to the wounds, trying to bring down Zuko's rising fever once again, but she plastered on a fake smile for Aang, who was the last person she wanted to worry about Zuko's well-being.

"Yeah, I'll head to bed as soon as this session is over."

She cursed herself out internally for the lie as soon as Aang walked out of the heavy iron doors, knowing fully well that she had zero plans of going back to sleep when there was work to be done.

…

Regaining consciousness for a second time was almost harder than the first time. The first time, his bones hadn't ached and his burns hadn't been sore; but now Zuko was waking up to both and it was absolute agony.

"Don't move," a voice warned and the anger laced within it made him realize that it was a very upset Katara before he even had a chance to open his eyes, "or I'll have Suki chi-block you."

"Sorry." He managed to cough while opening his eyes, immediately greeted by her glare.

"You could have at least asked Aang for a chair. You're still running a fever and your wounds are still infected."

'Right,' he remembered as Katara's hands roamed his body with expertise, 'I asked Aang to help me to the window.'

"Thought it would help."

"Well, now you're staying here unless I'm around," Katara explained while coating her hands in freshwater, "your uncle can't be fire lord forever."

"Is that the only reason you're healing me?" Zuko snapped even as her hands soothed the harsh burning in his chest, "so I can assume the stupid throne?"

"Did I say that?" She snapped back, her voice just as fiery as his even though he could swear that he heard it quiver, "maybe I care about you, Zuko. Maybe seeing Azula strike you and leave you for dead was one of the worst things I've ever seen and maybe I haven't been able to explain that to you because every time I try, your self-hatred and stubbornness get in the way."

He was stunned by her words as her hands still went about trying to heal his body. 'I know that I care about her, but…she feels the same way?'

"Katara, I wasn't trying to hurt you."

"You have hurt me," she shook her head as she bent the dirty water into the bucket before starting to make her way toward the iron doors, "and you're just too blind to see it."

"Katara," he called out to her, but the heavy slam of the doors just solidified one thing to him; he was too late and he was alone.

Well, at least for a few hours until Iron emerged with breakfast and a still steaming teapot that must have just been taken off the stove. As Zuko managed to eat some of the food and drink some of the tea, he finally let out his feelings for the water bender to his uncle that had been weighing on him since he joined their crew.

"I just don't know what to do, uncle," Zuko finished as he sipped on the tea, "it feels like every time I speak to her, she finds a reason to be upset with me."

"Well, for starters, you can finish your tea."

Zuko couldn't help but smirk at the predictability of the beginning of his uncle's response as he continued to sip at it slowly.

"If you love Katara, more than you have loved before, " Iroh stopped to lay a cold cloth on the back of Zuko's neck and he let out a shudder of relief at the cool but calming sensation, "you will figure it out."

"That's not helpful."

"I can't give you answers I don't have, nephew," His uncle smiled for a brief moment before gently pressing on the cloth, squeezing some of the water onto his neck, "but, you're a smart boy. You'll figure it out."

"I don't even know how to talk to her about this when all she does is worry about me." Zuko sighed while looking down into the empty cup as if he was hoping to find an answer in it.

"You'll have to find that answer on your own," Iroh spoke while gently taking the empty teacup before using two fingers to tilt Zuko's gaze upward so their eyes were in direct contact, "but I know you will."

'I hope you're right, uncle.'

…

The days continued to pass slowly now that Katara refused to be around him aside from the healing sessions which grew less and less frequent as he continued to heal and regained his strength. While Zuko was thankful that he was getting closer to being himself again, it brought forth a new wave of anxiety.

'I'm going to be the fire lord, and the others are going to leave,' Aang had already come and gone like the wind as soon as he saw that Zuko was okay from his fall, but the others had their duties to attend to that were not in the fire nation. Even his uncle was ready to settle in Ba Sing Se, 'Katara is going to leave.'

He struggled with the knowledge that there was a high chance that Katara wasn't going to speak to him and as soon as his injuries were fully healed, she was going to be gone for good and he was going to be alone.

So when the day finally arrived for his coronation and he only required one healing session a day, he got up slowly; if there was any way that he could prolong his ascension, he was going to do it.

'I cannot follow in my father's footsteps,' he told himself as he shrugged on his white undershirt before gripping his fingers around the royal robes that hung next to his bedside, 'and I cannot lose Katara.'

He shrugged his left arm into the sleeve with little to no pain, but when he went to do the same with his right, the shock of pain from the bruise and the residual burn had him stunned to the point where he hadn't heard the door open until Katara was standing in front of him.

"Let me help you," she muttered while softly guiding his arm into his robe, "if you injure yourself now, I think Suki will have my head."

Zuko couldn't help but smile as she pulled the robe tight and tied the sash with the same level of concentration that she had healed his wounds for days, but when she looked up at him and asked if he was okay, he knew that he had to speak to her.

'Now or never.'

"Katara?" He asked softly as she went around to the back of his head and started to brush out his hair gently, most likely pulling it into a top knot for the crown.

"I'm still mad at you," she responded and he winced at the harshness of her tone, "you could have inadvertently killed yourself."

"Can you at least hear me out?" When she didn't respond but continued to style his hair, he finally spoke, "I…I wasn't sure about it for the longest time. I knew that you were my friend as much as Sokka, Toph, and Aang, but," he stopped to swallow down his nerves, "I'm in love with you, Katara. And even if you don't feel the same way, I need you to know just how sorry I am, because I can't do this without one of my best friends by my side."

The room was eerily quiet aside from the slight rustle of hair being softly pulled through a hair tie until finally, she came around to where he could see her and reached her hand up to softly press against his scarred cheek.

"You are going to be a great fire lord, Zuko. You're strong, you're kind and you're intelligent. You are everything that a leader needs to be."

The way she spoke made him terrified that she was going to walk out of that room without another word. That what she had said would be the last words he ever heard from her. That this was goodbye.

Until she cut off his anxieties by pressing her lips on his and wrapping her hands around his neck, leaving him with the only option to press his lips against hers and wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her close to his body so he couldn't lose her.

She pulled away after a few moments and he couldn't stop himself from looking into her blue eyes which were full of happy tears as she spoke, "I would be honored to be by your side."

Zuko pulled her back into a kiss and took in the smell of saltwater that filled the air whenever Katara was around as he reassured himself once again.

'I can do this.'

[xxl1zardb3ansxx]

Kay so I lied imma just post chapters of my story when I can so here you go :) This one is kinda short

On the way

It was pretty much uneventful. Star flew over a majority of the Mud kingdom, which she did not particularly enjoy. Too many snakes and big scary Mudwings. It also smelled horrible, but she thought not to mention that in her journal just in case a Mudwing found it. It was quite peaceful in the open sky though. No noisy dragonets, no Astrion. Just clouds. They didn’t make very much noise so Star didn’t mind them. The mountains were a little less fun. Star had to be careful because there were random mountains sticking up everywhere. It also didn’t help that there were a lot of clouds, which made it even harder to see. Star only had to stop once when she needed food. She found a goat, who was relatively skinny actually, but Star didn’t really care. Meat wasn’t a huge part of her diet because she lived in the rainforest, with rainwings. And Rainwings are vegetarian so you get the point. Although, there were some interesting botany samples along the way. Bright blue flowers, a very folding looking pink flower, and a red round fruit. Which after looking it up in her botany book, found out it was a strawberry. Thus she tossed it into her mouth and picked a couple for the rest of the trip. Eventually, Star came across a large mountain with a sign reading “Jade Mountain Academy” across the top with a slogan underneath that said, “We wish you the power of the wings of fire!” Star guessed this was her destination and landed on a hill not far from the entrance. She didn’t want to go in quite yet, for she was nervous. Star took a couple deep breaths and went into the Mountain. There were a couple students in the halls, not many though. Probably because the actual beginning of the semester was on Monday. A Nightwing greeted Star as she walked in.

“Hello! And welcome to Jade Mountain Academy, or JMA for short. I’m FateSpeaker.” The Nightwing said in a very cheery and excited tone.

“Uh, hi. Star, nice to meet you?” Star said, not really used to talking to other dragons.

“Star, Star, Star,...Ah ha! Here you are! You're in the Jade Winglet. Which is down the hall and to the right twice.”

“Thanks.” Star said, and just before she walked down the hall FateSpeaker said, “Wait, here’s your library card, and map of the school. Okay, bye bye!”

Star took the map and a little pouch with the card in it. She began walking down the hall and noticed that everyone’s thoughts were really loud. *Okay, little thingamagigama here. Star inherited mind reading from Moon and Astrion got the visions and stuff. Ok! Toodles!*

Star used the trick her mom showed her and pretended to hear everyone's voices slipping away into raindrops in a storm. Star could still sort of hear them, but it helped quiet down the noise. Star also noticed that she was getting some weird looks. Oh no please don’t tell me they know my- A bright pink blur in her face broke her thought.

“Hi! *Gasp* It’s you again! Hi!” 

Star recognized that voice. It was the pink Rainwing from back home that wanted her mom’s autograph.

“Oh, hey.” Star said, stepping back. 

“I’m Rosey! What’s your name?” Rosey said, excitedly shifting between yellows and shades of pink.

“Star. Nice to uh, meet you.” Star said, trying to evade this giant ball of sunshine.

“Oooh, that’s a pretty name! Does it have a second part? Like the Moon does?” Rosey persisted, shining even brighter pink with a little yellow on the fin-like things on the side of her head. (I don’t know what their called)

“Yeah, um, it’s uh, StarGazer technically, but I like Star.” Star said, being pushed against the wall by Rosey’s energy.  “Ooooh, that’s so pretty! I wish I had a name like that! I would want to be like NightStalker or something cool like that! Hey, where'd she go?” Rosey said, suddenly realizing Star was gone. Star had used the time while she wasn’t paying attention to slip down the hallway and into the room labeled ‘Jade Winglet’. Star sighed when she got in there. Relieved to not have to deal with Rosey anymore. It wasn’t Rosey herself, it was just her mind is really really loud. Inside the cave were several different styles of beds. A hammock, a stone ledge, a very cold looking stone ledge, a heated stone ledge, another ledge covered with leaves, a silk web, a hive looking ledge, a kelp covered ledge, a ledge covered with a thin layer of mud, and a final one that looked quite bumpy and uncomfortable actually. Star decided to take the leaf covered stone ledge, as the hammock was probably for a Rainwing. Star was not very excited at that thought though. That meant she would be staying in the same room with other dragons! Although this mountain was clearly not big enough to have everyone have their own rooms. Star set down her satchel next to her and just laid down for a bit. The bed wasn’t quite as great as the one back home, but it was still comfortable. Star flopped her tail over her snout and just sat and thought for a while.

[awkwardpenguinproductions]

Occupation

Part 18 of Dragon of the Yuyan

Read on AO3 | Series Masterpost

Zuko is not at all prepared to find Omashu draped in red and half plated in iron.

He is also not prepared to come face to face with one of his sister’s childhood friends.

It's only Zuko's experience blocking arrows with his dao that keeps him from being shot full of senbon before Aang brings the scaffolding down between them. Then they're found by the Omashu Resistance, and really, Zuko would love to hear just why this King Bumi, whom Aang had talked up as an amazing earthbender, would just… not defend his city from invasion? Like at all? Zuko can't wrap his head around it.

When the Resistance decides to retreat, Sokka comes up with the most bizarre cover Zuko has ever seen. The population of a city is transformed into a plague-ridden, shuffling horde, and he has the rogue thought that when the war is over, the Water Tribe warrior should try his hand at playwriting.

Zuko doesn’t have time to dwell on it, though—he’s trying desperately to keep up with an airbending Avatar bound and determined to find his friend. Tree-running (rather, roof-running) in Omashu is awesome, and he has got to bring Kai and Jiyoti here sometime, but by Agni is he going to be so fucking sore tomorrow. He finally catches up to Aang when he stops to free an enormous goat gorilla that the dumb kid addresses as Flopsie.

At this point, Zuko doesn't even bother trying.

He grabs Aang's collar before he can jump onto the creature's back, and forces him to turn around.

What in Agni's name do you think you're doing? He signs furiously. Do you have any idea where B-U-M-I actually is?

The face Aang pulls in response is not helpful, you little brat, and Zuko pinches the bridge of his nose.

Think, airhead! He demands, ending the command with a hard flick to the center of the blue arrow. You've been here before. Contrary to what it looks like, the Fire Nation didn't completely rearrange the city. Where's the city jail? Where's the place where the worst of the worst people are kept? That's where you'll find B-U-M-I. 

Aang takes a deep breath and lets it out, ruffling their clothes as he accidentally airbends. "Okay, I know where to go."

They clamber onto Flopsie’s shoulders, and Aang guides the goat gorilla through the deserted city streets to the peak of the mountain. Through the bamboo and plywood scaffolding, Zuko can see the in-progress iron statue of Ozai that stands at the top, and can’t resist flipping the thing off with both hands. Thankfully Aang doesn’t notice.

Around the back at the foot of the statue stands a portable cell, similar to the one at Huzhen, and Zuko has to swallow down bile at the reminder. This one has a retractible roof, and Zuko is very puzzled as to why until he catches sight of the crane standing nearby, and the fucking metal coffin hanging from it. Spirits damn his people’s ingenuity. 

Aang vaults from Flopsie’s shoulders, with Zuko on his heels, and races to the closest window.

“Bumi! Bumi!” He hisses.

The gaunt, droopy-skinned face of a very old man with mismatched green eyes and wild, pure white hair appears behind the bars.

“Aang, is that you?” He asks in a creaky voice, bushy white eyebrows lifting in surprise. “Where did you come from?”

“We’re here to get you out!” Aang hisses, furiously examining the portable cell for weak points, ranting in hissed whispers as he does. “What’s the matter with you, Bumi? Why didn’t you fight against the occupation? Why didn’t you escape when you had a chance? We talked to Yung, and he said you decided not to do anything!”

“Listen to me, Aang,” Bumi cuts in. His tone isn’t anything Zuko can recognize as angry or harsh, but it immediately shuts the airbender up. “There are options in fighting called jing. It’s a choice of how you direct your energy.”

“I know!” Aang snaps, and if Zuko wasn’t standing guard, he would’ve given the brat a whopper of an arrow-flick for talking to a much older master in such a tone, childhood friends or not. “There’s positive jing when you’re attacking and negative jing when you’re retreating,” he counts on his fingers.

“And neutral jing, when you do nothing!” Bumi adds, grinning beatifically. Zuko takes one look at that grin and knows that every disparaging story he'd heard about Omashu's king being insane is absolutely true.

“There’s three jings?” Aang splutters.

“Well technically there are eighty five, but we’ll just focus on the third,” Bumi replies. “Neutral jing is the key to earthbending. It involves listening and waiting for the right moment to strike.”

Like the Yuyan, Zuko realizes. Yuyan combat and archery both rely heavily on watching and waiting for the right moment to shoot or strike. Zuko didn’t know that there was an actual jing for that.

“That’s why you surrendered, isn’t it?” Aang asks softly.

“Yes, and it’s why I can’t leave now,” Bumi answers.

Aang sighs heavily, and leans his forehead against the metal. “I guess I need to find someone else to teach me earthbending.”

“Your teacher will be someone who has mastered neutral jing,” Bumi explains. “You need to find someone who waits and listens before striking.”

The wooden platform they’re standing on creaks as more weight is added, and Zuko can hear the rhythmic marching of Fire Nation guards. He grips Aang's shoulder.

"I hear it too, Zuko," Aang says. "Bumi, are you sure you want to stay here?"

"I have to, Aang, but I'll see you when the time is right," Bumi replies, and his smile doesn't seem nearly as addled this time. Then he peers at Zuko before grinning in a thoroughly unsettling manner. 

Thankfully, the marching guards draw closer before Bumi can say anything, and Zuko takes the opportunity to yank Aang away to hide in the closest shadow. He covers the kid's body with his own, trusting in his dark brown and green Earth Kingdom clothes to prevent Aang's bright yellow and orange gi from being seen.

Getting out of the city is absolutely nerve wracking, especially considering that they have a giant goat gorilla tagging along that is absolute shit at stealth. Zuko can't decide if it's a miracle or simple incompetence that keeps them from being stopped by any guards, but they manage to sneak back out of the city without mishap, and then it's simply a long and bone-jarring ride on Flopsie's shoulders to the rendezvous site.

It's full dark by the time they get there, and Zuko immediately hops down, takes off his dao, and begins stretching out the stiffness from the ride and the crazy roof-running he had to do while Aang fills in Sokka and Katara. 

Yung stomps up to the group, looking even more grave than usual. "We've got a problem," he states baldly. "We just did a headcount."

"Oh no, did someone get left behind?" Katara asks worriedly. 

"No, we have an extra," the general replies, pointing over to where poor Momo is being hugged to death by a toddler in Fire Nation colors with a shock of dark hair and tawny eyes. There’s something familiar about the kid, but Zuko can’t figure out what it is.

Katara immediately goes gooey over the kid, and takes charge of him for the evening, making sure he's fed and kept clean. Once he's freed from the baby's grasp, Momo takes refuge on Zuko's shoulders, hissing every time the kid comes close. 

It's after dinner that the messenger hawk arrives. The baby (the Governor’s son, Mai’s brother) is to be exchanged for King Bumi, and while Zuko is glad that the child seems so highly valued by his father, he can only wince at the thought of Ozai’s reaction to such a tactically stupid move.

Noon the next day finds the four of them standing at the foot of the unfinished statue of Ozai, the baby strapped securely to Sokka's chest. Katara and Zuko flank Aang, with Sokka and the kid safely in the rear, and Zuko has to stomp hard on his instinct to keep his hand on the grip of his dao. Sokka had floated the idea of the trade being a trap this morning, and with every moment that passes as they wait for the other side to show up, Zuko finds himself in growing agreement. 

Finally three figures appear on the other end of the scaffold and stride forward. Three teenage girls, one immediately recognizable as Mai in the lead, flanked by a brunette in pink and… 

Fuck. FUCK.

Azula.

Zuko employs every single trick the Yuyan and court life taught him to keep himself from visibly reacting. His sister looks almost exactly the same as she had over three years ago. Same smooth black hair arranged in a topknot with locks falling artfully to frame her face, same cold polished bronze eyes, same military trim appearance and royal bearing. She looks amazing, sleek and powerful, and Zuko is absolutely scared shitless at the sight of her.

Mai and Aang call across to each other, then Azula turns and says something to Mai, and Zuko knows that whatever she's saying is bad news for his squad. He's frozen, though, because if he so much as twitches Azula will notice, and she'll pounce like a tigerdillo.

"The deal's off!" Mai declares, raising a hand. The metal coffin containing King Bumi is hoisted rapidly up and away, and Aang starts forward with a cry of "Bumi!"

Azula lunges into a horse stance and sweeps her arm forward, a line of blue fire following her extended fingertips and racing in a roaring inferno towards Aang. In the same moment Zuko draws his dao and sprints forward, and as Aang dodges Azula's strike Zuko takes control of the flames with his bending and sweeps them away with a swipe of his blades. The expression on Azula's face is hilarious, but he doesn't have time to appreciate it properly, because she immediately goes on the attack.

Azula fires arrows of blue flame almost as fast as Kai shoots in the Archers’ speed drills. Zuko blocks them with his swords, the steel glowing as it becomes a medium for his own bending, sending back his own swipes of orange flame that Azula dodges with annoying flexibility. Her eyes are wide as she does, though, and he knows that he’s caught her off guard. 

Zuko smirks at her, and glories in her furious glare as he lashes a fire whip through the air at her with his right blade. She dodges by leaping into the air and returns with an axe-kick that lays a long line of blue fire to fall on his head. Zuko spins a shield of orange flames to block the attack, and when they die away Azula stands panting through gritted teeth.

Zuko is breathing hard as well, suffused with a savage sort of triumph at managing to fight his prodigy sister to a standstill.

“A Firebending Master traveling with the Avatar," she muses, tone light but gaze sharp. "How treasonous. Mind telling me your name so I can make sure it's stricken from the records? You'll be dead, of course, so it'll hardly matter to you anyway."

As far as you're concerned, I'm already dead, so I'll pass on that, thanks, Zuko thinks, settling deeper into his stance in preparation for her next attack. 

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Azula sneers, moving her hands, folded with only the first two fingers out straight, in curves around her. The air crackles, and blue-white sparks follow the movements. "Let me fix that!"

She points her right hand at him, and a jagged bolt of fucking lightning erupts from her fingertips and races towards him.

FUCK FUCK FUCK!

Zuko drops to the wooden floor of the platform, gritting his teeth and feeling all of the hair on his body standing on end as the lightning roars over his head.

"ZUKO!" 

His squad sounds absolutely panicked, and Zuko knows for a fact that the panic will hit him later once they're all safe and as far away from Azula as possible. He glances up through his bangs at his sister, who is sheet white and staring at him with wide eyes, and immediately jumps to his feet and bolts, not bothering to sheath his swords. Appa is waiting at the edge of the platform, and Zuko runs right off the edge and into the saddle.

"Aang, we got him, go go go!" Sokka shouts, as Zuko sheaths his blades and lets a shaken-looking Katara check him over. 

"Appa, yip yip!" Aang commands, flicking the reins. Appa roars and soars away from Omashu, and Zuko glances back to see Azula, Mai, and the girl in pink who can only be Ty Lee watching them go.

They land behind a mountain nearly a mile away, where the refugees from Omashu are waiting. Ukano's son is being reluctantly held by one of the Omashu women, who eagerly gives him up to Katara.

"We're going to start heading to Ba Sing Se," Yung declares perfunctorily.

Aang nods. "We need to return the baby to his family."

Zuko takes a deep breath and raises his shaking hands. We need to wait to do that until Princess Azula and her friends have left the city. It's too dangerous with her still there.

"Is that who that blue-fire girl was?" Sokka asks, waving absently as the former citizens of Omashu begin moving out. 

Zuko nods, grimacing. I did say that she'd been declared a Firebending Master at thirteen, didn't I? The lightning-bending was new, but not terribly surprising, considering that it's a trait of the Royal Family.

"Why is she here now?" Katara asks, holding the baby close. She looks pale, and Zuko wonders what he'd missed while focused on Azula.

If I had to guess, the Fire Lord probably decided after the defeat at the North Pole that the Avatar is too much of a threat to remain at large, Zuko explains, trying to ignore the slimy feeling that always comes with trying to think like his megalomaniacal father. He probably sent her to capture Aang and either bring him back to the Fire Nation alive, or kill him. With the Comet arriving at the end of the summer, the next Avatar would be way too young to be any hindrance to whatever plan he has to utilize it.

"So we need to stay as far ahead of her as we possibly can, if we want to keep Aang from being flash-fried to a crisp," Sokka decides. 

Zuko nods. That would be best, he agrees. As far as I know, there's no way to block lightning. You either get out of the way or you're toast. One hit and it's over.

All three of his friends look green at the thought, and Aang grips his staff tighter.

"We still need to return the baby," he says. "We can wait until nightfall, and I can just fly over, drop him off, and fly back."

We'll need to find a good vantage point to see when Azula leaves so that we know when it's safe for you to do that, Zuko signs. 

They do exactly that, and when Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee leave the city just before sundown, Aang straps the baby to his chest as snugly as possible, and carefully glides toward the city. Zuko, Katara, and Sokka wait with Appa and Momo, and as soon as Aang returns, they turn south and fly away as fast as Appa can go.

They make camp at the northern edge of the massive southern swamp a couple hours after midnight. Zuko tries to insist on taking watch, but is overruled ruthlessly by both Katara and Sokka. He spreads out his bedroll, lies down, and stares at the stars.

Fuck. He'd known that he'd eventually have to see Azula again, you can't challenge the heir to a throne without actually coming face-to-face with them, but. He can't actually believe that she's here, in the Earth Kingdom. And she's mastered lightning. The tiniest part of him that is still her big brother, still her Zuzu, is incredibly proud. Only the best of the best firebenders, usually only members of the Royal Family, are able to do that, and the fact that she can, as young as she is… but the greater part of him, the part that had spent the majority of his childhood being tormented by his sister and father, is absolutely terrified. There's no defense against lightning. As he'd told his squad earlier, all it would take is one hit, and that's it. Game over.

He can't let Azula anywhere near Aang. If her actions today have shown anything, it's that she's still the same cruel, ruthless girl she was when he was still living with her. Maybe the brunt of that can be blamed on Ozai and his own cruelty, but right now, he has to focus on keeping his student, his friend, safe from her. Maybe once the war is over, there'll be a chance to see if there's any way to lessen Ozai's mark on her, but for right now, she has to be treated as the major threat that she is. 

He doesn't sleep that night.

Previous | Next

[kellanved-ammanas]

TF2 Drabbles: Engie & Pyro - Nightmare

Summary: As for a request, could you write another one like chapter 5. With Engineer and Pyro since I love Engi being like a dad to Pyro. My idea would be that Pyro is having a bad nightmare and goes to Engi for comfort. Maybe end with them cuddling but like platonic

~

One of these days Engie was going to have to get a coffee machine to put in his workshop so he wouldn’t have to trudge all the way to the kitchen every time he needed to refill his coffee thermos. Or perhaps he’d make his own coffee machine just for the sake of it. What improvements he could make to such a machine, he wasn’t sure of, but surely there was something.

Then again, having such a machine in his workshop would likely only encourage his bad habit of staying up way too late. Like he was doing right this very moment. He should probably at least try to go to bed. He’d just got done refilling his thermos though, he couldn’t let all that freshly brewed coffee go to waste. Likely, he would regret it tomorrow but…

He froze as he turned down the hall that led to his workshop. The door was open. He’d closed it upon stepping out as he always did, meaning someone else had gone in. It hadn’t been locked so they hadn’t broken in or anything but he resumed his approach with caution.

Probably it was nothing but it didn’t hurt to be wary. He didn’t have his guns on him but with a mechanical hand and a metal thermos full of hot coffee, he had a good chance of coming out on top in a fight against an intruder.

Upon reaching the door, he was careful not to touch it lest it make a sound and give him away. Allowing him to peek in and take stock of the potential danger before committing to any course of action. ….

It was Pyro. He stood with his back to the door, looking down at the gutted mini-sentry Engie had laid out on his workbench.

Engie let out the breath he’d been holding, rolling his shoulders to release the tension that had gathered in them. “Hey firebug, what you doing up so late?”

Pyro turned to look at him but didn’t say anything. Instead he shrugged his shoulders.

“Had another nightmare?”

Pyro nodded. Well, seems he’d decided to take Engie up on his offer to help with that instead of going straight to looking for the team’s limited supply of gasoline to burn something down, often setting the fire alarm off too and waking everyone. Now Engie had to actually help him. Which he didn’t begrudge in the slightest but wasn’t sure how to best do.

So, delaying, he closed the door before joining Pyro at the workbench, placing his thermos down on top of it. “You wanna tell me ‘bout it?”

A beat or two of silence as Pyro seemed to think about it before shaking his head.

“’Kay, feel free to change your mind if you want to though. I’ve heard talking about those kinds of things can help. Not that that’s an area I got any real expertise in.” The way people and their minds in particular worked were far harder to understand than the simple world of robots and machines. “In the meantime, for a distraction, you wanna help me with this mini-sentry here? I’m trying to make one that can shoot rockets. Though, I’ve also been thinking of trying to make one that can spew flames to help guard ‘gainst the enemy Spy. Not that you don’t do a grand job of that all by yourself but you can only be in one place at a time.”

Pyro perked up, nodding vigorously. The prospect of more flames never failed to make him feel better. Perhaps some would argue that leaning into his pyromania was unhealthy but Engie disagreed. Anything that made Pyro happy and helped him feel better could only be a good thing.

[thefandomcassandra]

hallowed be thy unknown Ch1: Haunted Turnabout 1: Bluebell and Statice

The trip from Kurain to the metropolitan area was always Maya's least-favorite part of visiting Mia. It was two bus rides—one of which was so finicky that she actively had to pray it would arrive on time—and a bullet train. A two hour affair that was only made worth it by the bright light and bustle of downtown that signified stepping into the world her sister lived in.

Sure, she'd prefer Mia called her more frequently with idle gossip and chatter about this that or the other rather than just 'hey, hold on to this for me for like a week, max, kay?' but with reception being what it was out in the mountains, it was a miracle they even talked when they did. Still...what drove her to put documents in a hollowed-out clock of all things? Was she just getting paranoid in her old age?

Ooh, Maya should try and scare her. Last time she'd done that, Mia swore a blue streak and Maya picked up some new fun words. It was hilarious. Yeah...that sounded like a great idea.

The building that Mia's office was in always reminded Maya of an anthill. People bustled in and out in swarms, passing by each other without giving anyone a second thought. It was so different from how insular and close-knit Kurain was in comparison. Nobody here really knew each other and that's how they liked it. Which is why the suspicious lack of people in the area made her suddenly on-edge. It was never this quiet.

The eerie quiet was only broken when she got close to Mia's office, where Maya could hear someone wailing like they were hurt. Concerned, Maya broke into a sprint and threw open the office door, then froze in place. Her heart closed her airway off, throat clenching around the horror and agony of what she was witnessing.

Mia—

She was slumped against the wall by the window, chin tucked against her chest, something crumpled by her hand. Her eyes were sightlessly focused on the floor. Glass shards framed the scene like a halo, the blood matting her hair leaving tacky streaks down her forehead and chin.

Kneeling next to Mia's— next to Mia was someone Maya didn't recognize. He was wearing a pink sweater and a red scarf—bright red, not blood red, her foggy mind appended—as well as grey sweatpants and what appeared to be house slippers. While she could only see his back, he looked like he might only be a little older than her.

He was wordlessly wailing, mourning her sister. Had he found the— had he found Mia first? Why hadn't he called the police? What—?

"Hh—!" Maya tried to call out to him, tried to ask him what happened, what he was doing, but she couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, Mia was— she was— Mia—!

The guy turned to look at her. In the darkness of the Fey & Co Law Office, his eyes seemed empty and white, nonexistent in his pale face. Still, as Maya's gaze slid off of Mia's unmoving body—she couldn't be dead, she couldn't be, they'd just talked earlier that day, she had just talked to Mia, she couldn't be—and came to rest on him, he seemed to realize something that made the agony and sorrow twist and warp into something hopeful.

Hope...how could he hope when Mia was—

The guy stood up slowly, his knees quivering. Then he took a step towards Maya. She reflexively stepped back, the sound of her panicked breathing only broken by the click of her shoe against the thin office carpet. The confusion the guy was expressing blossomed—like a flower, like a bloodstain—into actual, real hope. He pointed at Maya with a shaking finger, mouth working around words he wanted to say. Then he finally got them out.

"You can see me?" He sounded excited. He sounded ecstatic. He sounded like no one had ever acknowledged his presence before.

Ice and fire ripped through Maya. Tears coursed silently down her face. She couldn't breathe.

Why was he happy? Why was he acting like Mia wasn't dead behind him?!

"M—" She still couldn't form words. She wanted to scream and collapse into a messy pile on the floor. She wanted to shake her sister awake. She wanted to wake up from this horrible dream herself.

"You can see me—can hear me too!"

"Wh—" What happened? Who are you? Why are you so happy? Where did you come from? None of those questions would knock loose from where her heart choked her silent. She gaped and wept. Her legs gave out and she crumpled to the floor in a heap, reaching out with one shaking hand to try and touch her sister so she could tell if she was—

She wasn't. Of course she wasn't. There was too much blood. She wasn't moving.

Mia was dead. Maya couldn't refute that fact, no matter how much she wanted to.

As she had that singular thought, the moment of damnation that cemented this horror as truth and reality, the guy launched himself forward to close the distance between him. He was all in her face, his obviously blank eyes searching for something in her expression. His legs were folded slightly, his body still in the air.

He floated by her, surprised she could see him.

He was dead too.

The shock rattled her voice free and Maya screamed as though she was joining them in the afterlife. Then everything went dark as she finally gave in.

Maybe when she woke up, she would be proven wrong and Mia would be fine. Maybe this was all just a bad dream. Maybe...

Maybe...

Coming out of fainting was only tangentially similar to waking up from sleeping. It left her aching—especially her head and throat—and she felt exhausted and uneasy. Her pulse kept a rapid beat in her ears, her breathing irregular, and even after all that, she couldn't cry. She had nothing left in her, it seemed.

She felt like a jack-o-lantern, hollowed out, fragile, and slowly rotting. It was miserable but what could be more miserable than waking up on the bed of what looked like some kind of jail cell with no food or water and no idea how she'd even got there.

Also the dead guy she found at— in Mia's office was here too. He was keeping a respectable distance from her, sitting on the ground in the far corner of her cell, watching her as she tried to collect herself.

Now that it wasn't dark and there wasn't— Now that it wasn't dark and she could see better, the dead guy wasn't so scary. Sure, his eyes were blank, which made it hard to tell what he was looking at, but overall he seemed like some dude. His dark hair was spiky and slicked back save a little cowlick that fell over his forehead. His eyebrows were wild and expressive. He was wearing a face mask, though he had pulled it down to his chin, no longer needing it now that he wasn't alive. The sweater he was wearing looked handmade and sported a large red heart—the same color as his scarf—with a yellow 'P' on the front.

He didn't look anything like how Maya assumed ghosts would look—all bloody and mangled from their horrible deaths. Save for the blank eyes and the vague translucency, he looked like someone she might've passed on her way to visit—

As if he realized she had calmed down, the ghost stood up—feet planted firmly on the ground like a living person—and bowed deeply. "Sorry!"

"Huh?" The first thing she had said since— and it was an unintelligent and garbled noise of confusion. Still, his apology was confusing.

"I didn't mean to scare you. Things were already bad and you'd just come in but I'd been there a while so I didn't realize you hadn't had time to come to terms with things and my just being there terrified you." He spoke all one rambling run-on sentence, as if he didn't need to breathe—which he didn't. "So I wanted to apologize and also introduce myself since you're the first person who's been able to see me?"

Maya wasn't sure how to react. She wasn't sure she had it in her to react with anything other than neutral passivity. She just nodded at him.

He stood up and beamed a million-watt smile her way. "Phoenix Wright!"

"Maya..." She suddenly remembered her manners and tacked on, "Fey."

"I figured. Mia talked a lot about you. Plus you look like her." Phoenix watched her curiously. Hearing Mia's name stung but no more than everything else did. "I, uh, was kinda haunting her?"

"Why?" What reason would this ghost have for haunting her sister? Mia was a good person! She hadn't done anything worth haunting, had she?

"Oh, uh, no, it wasn't anything bad like that!" Phoenix held his hands out as if to soothe her, as if she was a startled and caged animal. She relaxed a little, unaware of how on-edge the idea had made her. "No, uh...I don't really know why I became a ghost? But Mia had done her best, all things considered, and I was already studying law on the side—which my friends made fun of me for because it's such a strenuous thing to do as a side gig compared to being a classical theater major—so since I wasn't going anywhere I thought I could learn how to be a lawyer by watching her?" Another one of his breathless run-ons.

Maya tried her best to parse what he had said and came up a little short. "You...Mia defended you in court?"

"Yep." His easygoing expression shifted into something a little more melancholy for a moment, a sheen of sweat forming on his forehead, before he grinned again. "But, like I was saying: I was hanging around Mia because I admired her so much and it's not as if I had anyone else to go see. No one could see me anyway, so why not just stick with the last person to really believe in me?" That was something loaded and heavy.

Better to not bother with pressing at open wounds. "Yeah..."

"So, introductions out of the way and all, I have good news and bad news—not necessarily in that order and not exactly in that amount. Which do you want first? You've been unconscious all night and I haven't so I can fill in all the blanks if you like."

Did she want to know what was going on? Maya looked at Phoenix as he stood there, bouncing in place, too full of energy to sit still. This man was a ghost and Mia wasn't? Why? And what happened? What was going on?

She nodded. She didn't care which news came first.

"Okay," Phoenix began counting on his fingers to keep track of what he was going to say, "so let's start with this: you're in a holding cell in the local detention center. You're suspected of having murdered Mia, though I don't know what charges exactly—I'd assume second-degree at best, first-degree at worst, but that all depends on what the witness has to say and who all the prosecutor is as to the severity. All-in-all, you're facing a decade or more in prison."

"But I didn't—!" For a moment, Maya forgot that she was a glass vessel. Shouting spiderwebbed cracks across her surface. Vitriolic anger pulsed and pushed against her ribcage and she could feel fire press against her teeth. Deep breaths. Don't...don't...

"I know that," Phoenix spoke softly but with a firm steadiness that helped brace her in this trying time, "and you know that, but they don't know that. Someone saw you enter the office and called the police. They must've had enough reason to suspect you of assaulting Mia because the cops made sure you weren't dying before they took your personal effects and threw you in here—metaphorically. They were very careful and set you down gently, even if the cots aren't comfortable."

She became acutely aware of the metal bars that poked through the thin cot, achingly cold against her sweaty skin.

"You probably have a few minutes before you're taken for questioning with the acting prosecutor for your case. The guards noticed you were awake and sent a message up the chain of command. You're going to want to have your legal counsel sorted before they take you there. Also you haven't had your phone call. You should exercise that right."

"..." Did she have an attorney? Mia once told her that if she ever found herself in a legal mess and she couldn't help, to call the firm she used to work for. Grossberg was the guy's name? Maybe she should use her phone call for that.

Even though he chattered a mile a minute, Phoenix was an observational person. For all that Maya hadn't spoken or emoted much, he seemed to have picked up on the fact that she was deep in troubled thought and carefully walked over to her, only to gently float by her shoulder. "Maya, do you want me to go look at the crime scene? Gather information for you so you're not in the dark?"

Would it even matter? "...sure." It wouldn't make anything worse. She was the only one who could see him in the first place.

He beamed at her. Maya was beginning to wonder if he was just happy she could see him, the joy of that eclipsing the sorrow and grief of losing someone they both cared about. "Alright. I'll find you if you're not back here when I'm done, alright?" Maya nodded at him, slow, worried she might crumble to dust. "Don't worry. You're going to be fine." Then he floated out the ceiling and she was left alone with her thoughts.

Somehow—somehow!!—the ghost that had been haunting her sister wasn't the most horrifying part of this day. Instead, it was the understanding that—save for said ghost—she was alone. Aunt Morgan and Pearl were in Kurain. Mia was dead. They thought she killed her. It was just Maya, the girl from out of town, and the ghost of some college kid.

A choked sob scraped past her walls, through her teeth like a shotgun blast. She hunched over on the cot and covered her mouth with her hands, trying to stopper them up. She couldn't cry now. She couldn't cry. She couldn't.

Mia, slumped against the floor. Blood trickling down her forehead. She wasn't breathing. Iron and bile. Wailing—not just Phoenix mourning his friend and mentor but her mourning the loss of her last remaining direct family member.

Every time she blinked she saw after images of that horrid scene. Her fingernails dug into her cheeks as she tried to swallow her terror and sorrow. She couldn't break now. She had to keep going. She had to!

Through the ocean tide in her ears, Maya caught the sound of someone opening her cell and heavy footsteps closing the distance between the exit and her. Someone was standing over her, looming. Their shadow was large and eclipsed her. She swallowed heavily and turned her face upward to see whoever had come to take her to questioning.

He was huge, easily twice her size, and rather unkempt. He had a pencil tucked behind one ear and a large bandage on his cheek. His eyes were kind, his smile genuine and asymmetrical, and he was offering her a large hand to help her up.

She refused his offer and simply stared at him.

"I was told you were awake, pal." Despite his size, he managed to stay rather quiet. "You're wanted for questionin'."

"What time is it?" She hadn't even gotten the time. When had she eaten last? When had she had a drink? She felt nauseous.

The large man blinked in surprise. Then he turned to look at the guard outside her cell—the one holding the door open. "Has she eaten?"

"She just woke up, sir."

The man shook his head. "Get her somethin'. A donut or whatever. She needs food in her."

Why did that matter? Maya stared at him, trying to see what his angle was. He wasn't like Phoenix, whose only anchor to the living was her. He was some cop—maybe a detective—so why did he care if she ate or not? She was going to questioning. She was going to be raked across the coals for a verdict that fit with the narrative everyone else had decided on.

He turned back to face her and scratched at the bandage on his cheek, the edges of it peeling a little beneath his fingernails. "Sorry 'bout that. They should've gotten you something before lettin' us know you were up. Dunno why they thought it was okay..." The last bit was mumbled under his breath, as if only to himself.

"What time is it?" Maya pressed again. He hadn't answered her, just assumed she was hungry.

(She was but the hunger was secondary to the grief. The ache in her stomach helped her ignore the ache in her chest. If she filled that, she'd have one less pain to drown the actual problem.)

"Ten in the mornin'." The next day, then.

Maya stood up—slowly, slowly, or she'd spill her guts on the floor—and turned to face the man. "I'm supposed to get a phone call?"

"Did they not—?" Why was he so indignant on her behalf? She didn't care this much and yet this stranger—this enemy—was upset that she hadn't been given her due rights.

"I was unconscious." If she spoke in small sentences, in simple phrases, then she wouldn't cry.

The man frowned, the expression pulling his face in a way that seemed very unlike him. He must be an easygoing man for frustration to be this uncomfortable looking. "I'm gonna' bring this up durin' the next meeting. We can't just toss unconscious perps away without takin' care of them first. Just isn't right, is it pal?"

Was he talking to her? Maya stared at him blankly.

He seemed to realize she wasn't sure what he was on about and dropped it. "Now let's get you to the phone so you can call...whoever. Hopefully they'll have gotten you food by then, so you don't pass out during questionin'."

Maya followed the detective out of her cell and down the hallway of the detention center. She tried her best to not look at any of the other holding cells, at any of the other people waiting their trials, by focusing on the detective's back instead. He was broad-shouldered and it was hard to lose track of him, especially in such a narrow hallway.

Like Phoenix, the detective saw fit to chatter as he walked, almost uncomfortable with silence. "My names Dick Gumshoe, by the way. I'm a homicide detective."

"Mm." Maya made a noise to acknowledge she was listening to him.

"I'm sorry for your loss." Everyone keeps saying that but this detective can't possibly mean it because he's certain she killed Mia. "I didn't work much with Miss Fey but she was pretty damn good at her job."

"Mm."

"It's actually really fascinatin' coz at first it was lookin' like Payne might be takin' this one, on account of it bein' an open and shut case, right? But then - then they got Prosecutor Edgeworth in! He takes this case like it's personal. I'm not one to talk out of school or anythin', but he and Miss Fey didn't have the best relationship or anythin'. Sure there was some respect there, but Prosecutor Edgeworth thought Miss Fey was an upstart and she thought he was a brat. Dunno why but—" Maya tuned out what he was saying at this point. He was just talking to talk, all gossip, no substance.

What did any of this matter? They thought she was guilty. She didn't have to be nice to Detective Gumshoe, even if he was being nice to her.

Eventually, however, they did reach the phone. Detective Gumshoe stepped aside and gestured for Maya to make enter the room where the corded phone was. "Here ya go, pal. Make your phone call now and then we'll get goin' to see Prosecutor Edgeworth, to get your story sorted."

"Okay." Maya entered the room and closed the door. On the other side, Detective Gumshoe watched her through the small window. She felt like a caged animal. Like a specimen in a zoo.

The phone here was about as old as the one up by Kurain, which was only good because it meant it was something familiar and comforting. She needed all the comfort she could get. Attached to the phone was a thick phone book that Maya balanced on her knee while she leafed through it, choosing to forsake searching all of it manually for using the index to narrow down where Grossberg's office number would be in the swathe of white and yellow pages.

She dialed the number she found and sandwiched the receiver between her chin and shoulder as she closed the phone book and put it down where she found it. It rang once, twice, thrice. The dial tone felt like a death knell. Maya tried to time her breathing to it to calm down, each shuddering breath forced slow to prevent her from throwing up.

Someone finally picked up.

"Grossberg Law Offices, how can we help you?" The chipper, practiced voice of a receptionist was crunched and compressed by the bad phone. Maya let out a breath and winced. The noise was probably unpleasant for the poor woman.

"Hello, my name is Maya Fey. I was hoping to speak with Mr. Grossberg? My sister used to work for him." Could the woman tell she was desperate? Did their phone have caller ID? Did she know the call was coming from the detention center?

"Mister Grossberg? One moment." Before Maya could say anything else, she was put on hold. A squelched and crackly classical tune played through the receiver, marking out the time on hold. She could wait. She could be patient.

She was on hold for a suspiciously long time. Longer than would be necessary for a simple line transferral. Unless Mr. Grossberg was swamped with cases, it was unlikely that he would be in his office and unavailable like this. Anxiety began to breed butterflies in her gut.

The repetitive hold music cut off with a click as the receptionist picked back up. "Mister Grossberg is currently unavailable to take cases at this time. He says he's unable to fit you in his schedule on such short notice and wishes you well, Miss Fey."

Rage burned bright against the back of Maya's eyes. She hadn't mentioned she was in need of a lawyer. She hadn't said she was in the detention center. He was lying to her, refusing to help her, and he knew something. Mia had trusted him to have her back and yet the cowardly man was running away, abandoning her.

"Ah..." If she said any more she might scream. She had to choose her words carefully. She had to be clever, like Mia would be. "Can you pass him a message then?"

"Of course!" On the other side, Maya could hear the receptionist uncap a pen, ready to take her message. "Go ahead, Miss Fey."

"Please thank Mr. Grossberg for his assistance. Mia worked at his firm, interned there, and his loyalty is astounding. I do hope he is rewarded for all that he's done for my sister and myself." She could be clever. She could be vicious. She could hurt with her words. She could make this man regret refusing her help with noting more than the power of guilt. "And please tell Mr. Grossberg that I will never forget this, truly."

The receptionist was silent. It was hard to tell if she was reading between the lines of Maya's message or if she was waiting for more.

"Have a nice day, ma'am." Maya took initiative and hung up the phone. She leaned against the table and swallowed air in an attempt to not start crying again. Her eyes stung, watered, her chest felt hot.

Even Grossberg—her sister's mentor, the person she'd interned for—was abandoning her. She only had a ghost on her side. What a sick joke.

When she felt composed enough, she exited the room. Detective Gumshoe was still standing there, alongside one of the many faceless cops that seemed to populate the place like drones. He handed her a cheap to-go cup of some hot liquid and a glazed donut wrapped in wax paper.

"There ya go. Food." Detective Gumshoe seemed pleased with himself. The way he was smiling at her reminded her of an overeager and friendly dog. Maya blinked at the food and drink. "Wasn't sure if you liked coffee or not so Darryl grabbed you some cocoa." He pointed at the faceless cop—Darryl, apparently—with his thumb as he spoke. Darryl pulled his hat down over his eyes as if he was embarrassed.

What was their game? "Thank you." Maya took a small bite of the donut. It took all the restraint she had to not devour it in seconds. She had to pace herself.

"Any time, pal!" Detective Gumshoe started off down the hallway again and Maya followed him with no worry. "Anyway, I hope you don't mind but I've already put in the request for a state-appointed attorney for you, since you probably don't got anyone."

"Thank you." She didn't, but that was none of his business. He probably assumed she had nobody because her sister was a lawyer.

"You're welcome!" Her mental comparison to a dog was becoming more and more apt as she thought about it. He seemed happy for simple, empty praise. It was a little sad. "So I do wanna warn ya, okay?"

Maya nibbled on the donut and took a sip of cocoa. "Hm?"

"Mister—Prosecutor Edgeworth is kinda stern and a little scary, but he means well. I just want you to know that he's not just gonna slam you with the book, okay? You don't have to worry about tellin' the truth in questionin' coz he's not gonna use it to make things worse. He just wants to know what really happened and pursue judgement."

Maya didn't believe him. Lawyers had a difficult job—from what she remembered of Maya grousing over the phone about one case or another—but prosecutors were at an advantage when it came to how the law was upheld. Guilty until proven innocent with a maximum trial length of three days. Prosecutors just had to craft a narrative and file the charges while the defense had to lobby for an acquittal or a reduction of charges due to extenuating circumstances. Prosecutor Edgeworth, whoever he might be, was just looking to corroborate the evidence so he didn't have to twist the truth so hard.

Justice. As if.

"I just don't want you to feel like you gotta lie to protect yourself, okay pal?"

"My name's Maya." She didn't mean to say that but it was out there. Bitter frustration coated her teeth and tongue. "Not 'pal'."

"Right..." That shut Detective Gumshoe up. He fell silent as he walked, Darryl following behind Maya so she was sandwiched between the two.

It was at this moment that Phoenix returned, phasing through a wall to float in step with Maya. "I don't know how helpful this will be, but I did find some interesting things."

She didn't respond. She couldn't respond with other people nearby. She did, however, tilt her head at him in greeting. He smiled back at her.

"So the light stand that Mia bought recently was shattered next to her. That probably broke during the struggle but I thought that was interesting enough to note. Her phone had been disassembled recently so I think someone bugged it but we don't have concrete proof of that so it won't be any help. They have an eyewitness, like I said, and it's the woman who called the cops. She was in the hotel across the road, the Gatewater? From what I can tell, she's being difficult to work with but not for the reasons you'd expect." The constant low chatter of Phoenix talking—to himself, to her, it was all unclear—was oddly comforting. It was like white noise, a rise and fall of near-endless sound.

Maya continued to eat as she listened to him talk about what he had found, trying to piece together the bigger picture herself.

"They found a paper with your name on it, Maya. Written in blood. It's weird because the autopsy report I saw said she died instantly so she couldn't have done that but who could have known your name to try and frame you? Maybe it has to do with the wiretap I can't prove existed?" Phoenix was floating with his legs curled slightly, leaning forward as if he was swimming through the air. "The weird part of everything is why that clock was used as a murder weapon again. I'm beginning to think Larry is cursed, frankly, but you know the Butz."

Phoenix's thoughts filled the remainder of the walk to the interrogation room. Maya hardly noticed they'd even arrived at their destination until Darryl filed to the side of the door in front of them and Detective Gumshoe opened the door and held it for Maya to enter.

She did and he closed the door behind her and stood to the side of it on the inside.

The interrogation room was a slightly larger than average room for the detention center. There was a square table in the center and two chairs facing each other across the table. On one wall was a large mirror—two-way, if TV shows could be trusted on this matter—and there was a very visible security camera in the upper corner of the room. She felt judgemental eyes raking every inch of her body as she sat down across from who she figured was Prosecutor Edgeworth, silently placing her half-empty cup and wax paper down as she did so.

Beside her, Phoenix righted himself. "Edgeworth?" He sounded shocked. No, not shocked, horrified? Or perhaps simply breathless. Something was up about that.

Did Phoenix know Prosecutor Edgeworth? She looked between the two and tried to imagine them in the same room. Even if she matched their ages, the idea of this man and his wine-red suit and cravat being acquainted with Phoenix in his handmade sweater and scarf was nearly unthinkable.

Prosecutor Edgeworth tilted his head in greeting. "Miss Fey."

"Maya, Prosecutor Edgeworth." Miss Fey was her sister. She was just Maya. Only Maya.

"Maya, then." His voice was soft but carried weight with it, his accent imperceptibly not local—more than Maya's own. "Do you understand why you're here?"

"Mia." She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of any kind of reaction.

Beside her, Phoenix muttered, "I didn't know he was going to be the prosecutor for this case. I mean, not that it matters or anything, but a little forewarning goes a long way. Plus the last time I saw him wasn't exactly..."

"Correct. You are being held under suspicion of killing your sister, Mia Fey. You will be going on trial tomorrow, in fact. Do you have legal counsel as of yet?" He was so clinical. It's not as if Prosecutor Edgeworth was scary so much as he was detached and treating this whole situation as if it was nothing more than paperwork—which it likely was for him.

Lucky for her, Maya was incapable of being emotional without going out in a blaze of glory and she'd locked everything behind a glass dam in her head. She could be dry and emotionless too. "Not right now."

"Did Grossberg not help?!" Phoenix sounded scandalized. Maya shook her head and he started mumbling under his breath. Maya caught a few choice words about Grossberg, among other things.

"Has the precinct put out a call for a state-appointed attorney?" Prosecutor Edgeworth asked Detective Gumshoe.

He saluted at the younger man. "We got the word out the second she finished her phone call, sir. She should have an attorney by tomorrow's trial." No sooner. Last-minute. Great.

"Good." Prosecutor Edgeworth focused his attention back on Maya, shuffling through a handful of papers he had on-hand. "Now you understand this looks bad for you, correct?" He didn't wait for an answer, pushing forward into his accusations. "We have an eyewitness who saw you assault the victim as well as an incriminating piece of evidence that names you as her killer. These are serious charges being brought against you and I want you to take them as such."

Did he think she was a child? She was young, yes, and not quite an adult, but she wasn't a child. She wasn't naive. She understood what was happening.

"I'm not a fool, Prosecutor Edgeworth. I am well aware of what's happening." If her words were icy, if her tone was cold, it was to bite and cut at his skin. How dare he think she's not aware of the gravity of the situation.

He blinked, barely ruffled by her response. "Good. Currently what you're being charged with is first-degree murder and forcible entry—"

"First-degree?!" Phoenix leaned forward and slammed his hands on the table between Maya and Prosecutor Edgeworth. If anyone else saw it rattle, they said nothing. "On what grounds?! She had only just come down from Kurain. What premeditation includes bludgeoning her sister with a clock?!"

"On what grounds am I being charged with first-degree? What evidence of a motive do you have?" Even if Prosecutor Edgeworth couldn't hear Phoenix, he was probably making good points? Maya could never keep the murders clear in her head but she knew first-degree was the worst of them.

Prosecutor Edgeworth didn't expect that, it seemed, as he took a moment to collect himself. "As I was saying: you are currently being charged with first-degree murder and forcible entry. I am advocating for second-degree murder or even manslaughter, although this is dependent on your testimony and any additional information you can give me at this time." He cleared his throat. "As of right now, we have no definitive evidence of a motive, hence my push for a different charge."

"That's better, I suppose..." Phoenix stared at Prosecutor Edgeworth as if he was upset about something Maya could barely understand herself. "I don't know why they're pushing forcible entry except to tack on additional fines and a longer sentence. The door was fine. Nobody had broken in. Mia had been expecting Maya."

"I didn't break in." Prosecutor Edgeworth looked at her oddly. Maya continued, level, emotionless. "I was expected. If you're going to add to my sentence, don't make things up."

"The door was thrown open—"

"I had opened it like that because I was worried about my sister. Her office was dark, even though she told me to come by at nine. I fainted not long after seeing...I didn't think to close the door. It was unlocked." He had to think she was stupid then. Why else would he just assume?

Phoenix was of a different mind about the whole situation. "I don't know why Edgeworth would make such an obvious mistake. I mean, it's not if he's perfect or anything, but he's pretty smart and he wouldn't call for forcible entry unless he was fed incorrect information. That's assuming that he was the one leveling the original charges. Maybe the witness said something?"

Prosecutor Edgeworth looked at Detective Gumshoe, face pinched in frustration. "Detective, did we have proof there was forced entry to the office?"

"Uh, not to my knowledge, sir?" Detective Gumshoe looked confused, as if he didn't understand why Prosecutor Edgeworth was so upset. "We got pictures of the crime scene, like always, and the boys drew up a diagram but I never saw nobody talkin' about the door or the locks."

"Make doubly sure we know if there was forced entry. Now!" At Prosecutor Edgeworth's sharp command, Detective Gumshoe saluted and left the interrogation room in a hurry. Prosecutor Edgeworth sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with one hand. Then he leveled a flat glare at Maya, who returned it in kind. "Thank you for bringing this...oversight to my attention."

Maya didn't accept his thanks. She didn't want to owe him anything. If anything, he owed her. And Phoenix, really.

"Now, I am formally requesting your testimony at this moment. In order to properly ascertain if you deserve these charges, I must know what your part in all of this is." Pretentious. That was what Prosecutor Edgeworth was. Pretentious and detached but she didn't mind the latter.

"Formally?" Maya pressed back.

"You're not obligated to say anything. You, in fact, have the right to refuse giving testimony if it's incriminating. You can spend every agonizingly quiet minute in this room without saying a single word but it will only harm your case." Again, he spoke slowly, as if he was explaining this to a child. "The formality is so we have a record of your testimony for the court in case you chose to refuse to testify on stand if and when you're called. Backups, if you will."

"He's being vague," Phoenix complained. "Pleading the fifth doesn't always imply self-incrimination, it just is your right to keep your mouth shut. He might keep you a while but he can't torture a confession out of you."

"Alright." What harm could it even do? "What do you want to know?"

"Why were you visiting Mia Fey that night?"

"She's my sister." What a stupid question. "I don't see her very often because she's here and I live up in Kurain, but every so often I'll take a trip over and hang out. She called me up and asked me to visit."

"Careful." Phoenix's warning caused Maya to stop talking. "Don't give him any more than what he asks for."

"You live in Kurain but Mia didn't?"

"Yes." Why was that important?

"And how long of a trip is it from Kurain to your sister's office?"

"About two hours if you're lucky. A bus, a train, a bus, then on foot." That seemed more like an important question.

"On your phone we found evidence your sister called you earlier that day. What was the purpose of that phonecall?" What?

"It's legal but I hate that they can do that." Phoenix shot Prosecutor Edgeworth a glare. "Because it was on your person, it was processed when you were detained and, as a phone, it might have evidence on it so they looked at your message and call history."

"She called me, like I said, to ask me to come visit." Maya wasn't going to give Prosecutor Edgeworth an inch on this one.

"Any particular reason why?" He was leading.

"Does it matter?"

"It might lead to a motive." That was his angle. Okay.

"She wanted to see me. That's all." She wasn't going to budge now. The Fey women were notoriously stubborn. She'd like to see him try and make her talk when she didn't want to.

"Fair enough." Prosecutor Edgeworth flipped through his papers and, as if he found what he was looking for, tapped the paper and locked eyes with Maya. "Are you aware of what the murder weapon is?"

Maya stared at him. He continued, unperturbed.

"It's a statue of the Thinker, given to Miss Fey after her latest case by the person she defended. That would make this the second time that the Thinker has been used to kill someone."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"It seems unlikely she just had the Thinker sitting on her desk at all times, is all. I certainly wouldn't." Was he trying to infer something?

"I mean, I wouldn't either," Phoenix admitted, "although Mia was her own person. I just don't trust Larry that much, believe it or not. Seems like Edgeworth doesn't either."

That was enough. It had been bothering Maya for some time. "Prosecutor Edgeworth?"

"Yes?" He seemed surprised she was initating any kind of conversation.

"Do you know a Phoenix Wright?"

His shoulders tightened and his face darkened and paled all at once. Prosecutor Edgeworth, who had been a firm and unreadable opponent until this moment, was surprised. Something familiar swam behind his eyes. Something dark and deep and hungry, agonized. Then he schooled his face and posture back to stern and rigid decorum. "I did. Why do you ask?"

Maya watched Phoenix out of the corner of her eye. He was watching Prosecutor Edgeworth like he was waiting for something. "Mia defended him, is all. I wasn't sure if there was a connection since you weren't the prosecutor on that case but I wouldn't want to prosecute someone I cared about either."

"I—" She'd stumped him. Just as Maya was gloating inside her head, Prosecutor Edgeworth stood up and roughly shoved the chair away from the table. Then he exited the room, taking his papers with him.

Maya stared at where the prosecutor had been sitting. Had talking about Phoenix really upset him that much? She turned to look at Phoenix and noticed he was staring at where Prosecutor Edgeworth had been sitting as well, his expression unreadable. Maybe she had pushed too far. It hadn't even hurt the person she wanted to hurt.

A cop—not Darryl but some other faceless person—came to retrieve Maya and she went quietly back to her cell. Once back in there, she sat on the cot and let herself feel.

She shouldn't have many tears left in her. Her prior breakdown had worn her down so much already and yet, as if to prove the well would never run dry, she sobbed like a small child. It was choking, freeing, every hiccupping wail the truest agony of her soul. Even as she muffled the noise so nobody would hear her, even as she clutched at her face and pressed the balls of her hands against her eyes to stop herself from crying so hard, she couldn't help it.

On the far side of her cell, facing away from her, Phoenix waited for her to stop.

When she was done, finally spent, she sighed heavily and scrubbed the tears off her cheeks and from around her eyes. Phoenix was still facing away from her, patiently waiting on his cue that things were okay.

He had given her space and time while not abandoning her. Maybe it was because he had been a ghost for so long but he was oddly conscientious about seeing people in vulnerable positions. It was...comforting.

"I'm okay." Maya's voice was shot but steady. She really did feel better. No longer was she a thin glass jar with a volatile liquid in it. Her heart was settled, though still aching. She wasn't in danger of breaking any more. She could focus on other things. "Thanks."

"No problem." Phoenix smiled at her, a soft one. "I know how hard it is to be alone. I wanted to give you space without leaving you alone. Plus that gave me time to think."

"Think?"

"Well yeah!" He floated so he was reclining sideways. "About your whole situation, what to do, and so on. I have some ideas if you're willing to hear me out?" He really was just excited to talk to someone. Maya was starting to understand why, even in the short amount of time she'd known him.

Maya tilted her head at him, wordlessly indicating he should just go for it.

Phoenix righted himself. "Here goes. To start with, it's unlikely any state-appointed attorney will actually fight Edgeworth on whatever charges he's bringing forward. He's got a...bit of a reputation as a 'demon prosecutor' and most defense attorneys tend to be a little scared of him. Something about his mentor, Manfred von Karma's whole forty year legacy really rubbed off on him and he's been holding his own for a fair couple years."

"You're friends with the demon prosecutor?" Maya didn't like him. She was allowed to not like him. He was a condescending prick.

"Childhood friends," Phoenix corrected. Then his face turned bright pink. He hadn't meant to say that. "Look, I haven't seen him since we were like...ten? Elementary school or so. I just...there's more there. Trust me, okay?"

"Mm." Maya rolled her eyes and waved for Phoenix to continue his thoughts.

"Right, uh, state-appointed attorneys. So they're not gonna fight Edgeworth which means you're probably on track for ten to life, if you're lucky, which you might be. If he brings proof it was manslaughter instead of murder, you're on for fifteen max. So him offering to adjust the charges against you is actually a kindness." Phoenix seemed pretty serious. "Or as kind as prosecutors get a lot of the time."

"That's so nice of him."

"Isn't it?" If Phoenix noticed her sarcasm, he didn't comment on it or react to it. "That's not accounting for the fact that they'd also likely advocate for a self-defense plea to marry the manslaughter charge. That's the best they could do without trying to fight Edgeworth too hard. No defense attorney worth their salt will take your case and push for a full acquittal." It stung hearing that, but it wasn't news to her.

"Self-defense plea?" She knew what all three of those words meant, just not together.

"They'd say that you and Mia got into an argument that night and it came to blows. During the scuffle, while defending yourself, you bludgeoned Mia over the head and she died. It was neither premeditated, nor intended to kill. The closest thing to an accident you could have in a murder case."

"But that's not what happened!"

"Again: I know that and you know that, but they don't know that. All they know is that there's an eyewitness account that says you hit your sister over the head and she died. Plus that message in blood. It doesn't look good so why would they fight for a full acquittal when there's an easier way out?" Phoenix looked as frustrated by the idea as Maya felt. "That's what you're going to get out of the state, anyway. You'd need a better—or more brave—lawyer for anything else."

"That's...that's not fair!"

"No, it's not." Phoenix took a moment to think something over before he spoke again. "Speaking of the eyewitness: her name is April May, she's very pink, and I think nobody is going to like her on the stand. She seems...prone to manipulation. But she says she saw you there that night and she can pick you out of a crowd because of that. She's also, like Edgeworth said, the one who called the police. That makes her credible in tandem with that paper that has your name on it."

"In spite of the fact that she's lying?" Why was the whole world against her?

"Yeah." Phoenix kicked back in the air and frowned as he thought some more. The oppressive silence of the detention center blanketed them both until something seemed to occur to the ghost and he planted his feet on the ground in surprise. "Oh, oh, wait, wait, so I have an idea but you have to hear me out, okay?"

"O-okay?"

"So there is one way you could have a brave and-slash-or better defense attorney than the state-appointed one: defend yourself." He seemed so proud of himself, which was heartening, even if Maya was very confused as to what that would even entail.

"How would I even do that?" It's not as if she knew law or courtroom procedures. Mia had never really talked about work with her so she would be going in relatively blind. "I don't know how. I'm not— I'm not Mia."

"I know that." His voice was low and careful, soothing. He was worried because she was stressed but he seemed so sure about his idea. "But remember how you took what I said in interrogation and got Edgeworth to drop the forcible entry charge and explain his reasoning?"

"Yeah?"

"We do that, but in court."

On paper it was a fine enough idea. Phoenix had all the law knowledge and Maya was the only one who could see and hear him so nobody could tell she was being fed the answers. But the idea of standing in front of a group of people—some of which wanted to see her put away for life—and arguing that she didn't kill her sister was anxiety-inducing. It made Maya break out in a cold sweat just thinking about it in hypotheticals. If she had to actually do it...she might just pass out again.

"I know the idea is terrifying," Phoenix must have seen how pale she had become because he was back to comforting her, "but I've been there before and it's not any worse than letting someone else do it for you and do it poorly, right?"

Wait. "You defended yourself? I thought Mia—"

"I got up on the witness stand and argued for important things to be struck from the record because I didn't like what was being said. Also I committed perjury. Several times. You can't do much worse than that." He gave her a weak, embarrassed grin.

When she didn't ask anything else, Phoenix took that as his cue to keep explaining his idea. "I was a law student. I know things, right? And I spent all my time as a ghost following Mia around and learning how she did her job—both while working for Grossberg and when she opened her own offices—so I think I have a pretty good idea how to handle this. The only thing I can't do is defend you myself and talk to witnesses. And pick up physical evidence. You have to be the one to do the legwork and all the talking in court but I'm pretty confident in my skills. I was top at debates in my literature classes."

"So you do all the technical work and I do all the presentation?" It sounded a little bit like a bad group project but if Phoenix was offering...it's not as if she has any better options right now.

"Yep. The only really complicated thing is how we're going to get them to let you out to do independent investigations. Prosecution isn't going to look too deep into things like the phone and the destroyed light stand. It doesn't hurt their case, so it's a nothing piece of evidence, even if the defense can make it into something useful, right?"

"Are attorneys allowed to investigate?" Maya frowned. "Isn't that the police's job?"

"Prosecution works hand in hand with the police so they have better access and control over crime scene investigations. It's part of why they've got the upper hand in cases, among other things. Meanwhile, defense attorneys aren't working with the police but they're allowed to do independent investigations and that's where a lot of the more interesting parts of being the defense comes from, in my opinion!"

"You must've liked mystery novels, huh?"

Phoenix smiled like he was caught and tugged on his scarf a little, embarrassed to have been read so easily. "Used to want to be a superhero growing up. Nothing quite like playing hero in the park to make crime scene investigations feel like they're exciting...not that I was ever doing any, but I did watch Mia during a lot of them."

Idle chatter was what it was but it didn't hurt that Maya was more relaxed than before. She smiled at him and indicated he should continue his thought. "Do you have any ideas for how I can get any investigating done? I doubt they're going to just let me leave the detention center without a fuss."

"Probably not." He crossed his legs and sat mid-air, his lips pursed in deep thought. "So I have two possible fixes, both of them more than a little difficult to pull off. The first is that you get one of the cops on the investigation team to act as your informant and let them do all the hard work while you take a nap in here."

That was...well it was the lazy option but Maya didn't trust the cops as far as she could throw them. Despite her looks, she could throw them rather far, but throwing cops wasn't a smart idea so that whole point was moot.

"And the other?"

"You get them to take you out to investigate yourself." That one was more straightforward but also...a lot riskier. "Tell them you'll be defending yourself, that you want to go investigate, that you'd like an escort and guard. If you're lucky and they're nice, they'll let you do that but they'd have to ask the Chief of Police or the Chief Prosecutor to clear that and it's just a lot of paperwork. You do have the upper hand, though, so it might be easier than you think."

"What? How?"

Phoenix looked at her oddly, head tilted. "Did you not know? Mia and the current Chief Prosecutor went to school together. They were close. She called from time-to-time." When she didn't say anything, he laughed loudly. She did her best to not be embarrassed but her cheeks were hot. "No, no, you don't have to be upset or anything. That's on me for assuming. But yeah, Mia and Chief Prosecutor Lana Skye were friends. I'll bet if you ask, she might say yes."

"Worst thing she can say is no," Maya admitted. "She can't throw me in jail any more than I already am."

"There we go!" Phoenix floated closer to Maya, laughing.

Maya stood up, walked to the door to her cell, and rapped her knuckles against it. On the other side, a faceless cop startled and walked over to where she was standing.

"Yes?" Even their voice was generic. Amazing.

"Do you think you could ask Chief Prosecutor Lana Skye if I could talk to her about my sister, Mia Fey?" She made sure to properly emphasize both the names. It would do her no good if her message got lost in a game of telephone.

The cop blinked at her, somewhere between startled and horrified. "Uh..."

"They were friends and I had a question for her." Trying to ride the line between a hard sell and being casual was difficult. It was taking a lot of effort to not sound desperate.

"I can— uh, I'll ask." They walked a distance away and started talking into their walkie-talkie, constantly glancing back at Maya as if they were worried she would just disappear. Then they walked back up to her and said, "Chief Prosecutor Skye will be here in half an hour or so."

"Thank you." Maya was surprised but she didn't want to show it. Turns out asking nicely works! Who knew?!

As she sat back down on the thin cot, Phoenix floated close, his eyes sparkling. "I'll level with you: I didn't think it was going to be that easy. Mia and Lana are two completely opposite people and, with as distant as Lana is these days, I wasn't sure if she was going to even entertain the idea."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Maya rolled her eyes.

"It worked out fine, didn't it?" It did but she wasn't going to let him off the hook so easily. "Maya, c'mon!"

She waved a hand at him. "I'm going to take a little nap while the Chief Prosecutor shows up. Wake me when she's here, okay?"

"With what?" Phoenix shoved his hands through Maya's shoulder, leaving patches of weird prickly cold where he was phasing into her.

"You're loud." He let out a squawk of indignation. "Just yell."

"Rude." But he didn't seem too bothered by it. Both of them had adapted to their situation rather quickly. Maybe that's why Maya wasn't as nervous about defending herself as she should be. Phoenix was going to be there. She wasn't going to be alone. That was well worth the stress in the end.

——

Lana Skye was a tall and imposing woman. Even on the other side of the glass in the visitor's booth, sitting in a terribly uncomfortable chair, back rigid as a two-by-four, she radiated an aura of command and no-nonsense.

Phoenix undercut all that by sitting next to Lana so Maya could focus on him instead of her.

"I was told you wanted to speak to me about Mia Fey?" Lana's voice was monotone and low, emotionless. It wasn't too far from how Maya had been in questioning. So even she was mourning Mia.

"Yes. Well, yes and no. Sorry for lying to you a little." Maya flinched as Lana's flat expression pursed, her disappointment apparent. "It does have to do with Mia, just not...all of it..."

"...continue." She wasn't leaving. That was a good sign.

"I've decided to defend myself in court tomorrow." Better to get the simple news out of the way first. One thing at a time.

Phoenix gave her a thumbs up from where he sat next to Lana.

"Interesting. Was there any particular reason for this?"

"Considering the evidence and witness, any state-appointed attorney would argue for a lesser sentence but not a full acquittal. I didn't kill Mia, so pleading anything other than not guilty isn't something I want to do." Be firm. Be direct. Deep breaths. The worst she can do is say what you're doing is foolish.

Chief Prosecutor Lana Skye stared at Maya through the glass. She hadn't moved much since she sat down, remaining as still as the surface of a lake. Trying to read her expression or body language or even her tone of voice for her mood was nearly impossible but also...she wasn't making Maya half as nervous as Prosecutor Edgeworth had. Maybe because she had been friends with Mia when he had despised her?

"Are you sure this is something you want to do? I understand that this is a trying time for you, but you can't be rash."

"I've given it plenty of thought." Maya cut off whatever else Lana might have been saying. "I might not have been living here with Mia, but I was studying law in my spare time. I wanted to be just like my big sister and the best way to do that was to read her old textbooks so I could eventually join her firm." That was a blatant lie that she and Phoenix had put together to explain any information she would repeat that was too complicated and specific for some random girl from the mountains to know offhand. It was so nobody scrutinized her knowledge too closely. "I want to defend myself because I didn't do it. Someone is framing me. I would never have k— I would never have hurt Mia."

Lana maintained steady eye-contact for what felt like forever before she spoke again. "Was this the only reason you asked for me? To inform me that you wouldn't need an attorney?" She didn't seem to think it was. Good. It was easier if she was smart.

"Not just that, but I wanted to ask a favor of you. That's why I used Mia's name to get your attention. Again, sorry about that." She did genuinely feel bad. If someone used Mia to get her attention and then never actually talked about her, Maya'd be upset too.

Lana said nothing so Maya continued on, filling the silence.

"In order to properly represent myself, I need to be able to gather information about the crime scene and so on. I was hoping that I could be allowed to go investigate, despite my being arrested on suspicion of murder. If need be, with a guard or two? Handcuffed, if that would make it an easier sell." This was the big gamble. There was no telling if she would even entertain the idea with how risky it was to her position. "It would let me get a better understanding of what went down and build a better defense. It would mean the world to me."

What felt like an eternity passed before Lana spoke again. Her voice cut through the tension like a knife, precise and sharp. "You understand this is an unusual request, correct?" Maya nodded, afraid if she spoke aloud she'd start crying again. "But what you're suggesting is well thought-out and has very little risk for us and the precinct. If you're willing to behave and keep your hands to yourself—no pocketing evidence at all—then I can assign one of the current team to act as your guard while you do your investigation. This is because of my admiration for your sister, you understand?" She leaned forward and braced her hands on the countertop, her tone deathly serious with undertones of anguish. "I am choosing to believe that you're innocent. I am trusting you to find the person who killed her and bring them to justice. Can you promise me that, Maya?"

Maya blinked in surprise. Lana had been so stoic, so unflappable, and now she was passionate and demanding. The contrast was a little shocking. "Of course. I promise I'll find who did this and make sure they're caught and suffer the full extent of the law."

Lana sat back down and folded her hands in her lap, pulling her composure back around her like a shawl or armor. "Then I will have an escort sent to your cell within the next ten to twenty minutes. No longer than a half hour. Do not make me regret this."

"What if the trial goes on for another day?" Phoenix wondered aloud.

Maya parroted, "And if there's a second day?"

"This is a luxury gifted to you for the duration of your stay in the detention center. Does that help?"

Maya grinned and nodded her head. "Yeah it does. Thank you, Chief Prosecutor Skye."

"...Lana."

"Thank you Lana."

Lana stood up and pushed her chair back under the counter. "I look forward to seeing your work in court, Maya." Then she was gone and the guard in the visitor's room gestured for Maya to follow them back to her cell. Phoenix floated next to her the whole way.

"That went better than I thought it would, really, but that's to be expected considering Lana and Mia's relationship." Maya shot Phoenix a confused look so he elaborated. "They were 'friends'." Still, she didn't understand why he was emphasizing the word so hard. He just snorted and buried his face in his scarf as he laughed. "Never mind. This is good though."

Maya walked in her cell and waited for the guard to leave before she spoke aloud again. "Yeah?"

"Even though she said to not take evidence, it's less about having evidence and more about having context for evidence that matters. Plus, if she's assigning a guard to you, that's a singular person. They can be distracted." Phoenix waggled his eyebrows.

"You're saying I should steal evidence anyways?"

"Only if you need to!" He backpedaled so hard he floated backwards in the air, seemingly repelled by Maya's glare.

Only if she needs to.

The fact that Lana had agreed was buzzing through Maya's veins like an adrenaline rush. She could look at the crime scene, go talk to witnesses, gather information that Prosecutor Edgeworth had no control over. That meant she could start building up her ammunition for court. Even if Maya didn't understand the legal aspect of being a lawyer, she understood the arguing part and was really good at it. She was a youngest sibling after all. Arguing was in her DNA.

As she thought about all this, Phoenix muttering about where they should go and who they should talk to for the best possible use of their time, the door to Maya's cell opened up and a shadow fell across her once more.

She looked up to see Detective Gumshoe standing over her, holding handcuffs and looking somewhere between apologetic and a little miffed.

"Detective Gumshoe," Maya greeted.

"Miss Maya," he responded. "I'll be your guard while you're investigatin'."

She stood up and offered him her wrists without complaint. This was one of the stipulations, so there was no reason to put up a fight. "Thank you."

"I didn't have much choice in the matter, pal." He cuffed her and then looked back out of the cell. "Where to?"

Maya looked at Phoenix, who chewed on his lip while he thought. "Maybe the office, if you'd be able to stand being there?"

"Fey & Co. Law Offices," she told the detective. And then, as an afterthought. "Can I have my phone back?"

"Huh?" Detective Gumshoe looked at her, confused. "Your what?"

"My phone? It's...I don't have a lot of personal things with me outside of Kurain and even if I can't make phone calls, it still...it's my phone and Mia..." She couldn't explain that she wanted to hear Mia's voice again, that she had a recording of their last ever conversation on her phone. She couldn't tell him that it was an anchor to a person who isn't around any more. She could only fumble around for a plausible lie.

Thankfully, Detective Gumshoe seemed to understand that she was having a rough time and just started poking around in his jacket pockets. Then he pulled out Maya's phone and handed it to her. "Don't tell nobody I gave you this, okay?"

Phoenix was staring at Detective Gumshoe, eyes wide, a thoughtful frown on his face. He was trying to suss out what Detective Gumshoe's angle was.

Maya just felt grateful that he was kind enough to bend the rules for her. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all...

"Thanks..." Maya tucked her phone in her sash, the charm attached to it hanging out as a reminder she had it.

"Literally do not mention it, pal." Detective Gumshoe doubled down on his demand. Maya just nodded and followed him out the detention center, toward the building Fey & Co. was located. While they walked, the detective started to talk again, filling the air. "So you were right about the door and the locks. There was no sign of forced entry or nothin' so Mister Edgeworth dropped that charge. Sorry we kinda implicated you in that way, pal."

"Hm?" Maya looked up at Detective Gumshoe, surprised he was apologizing. Apologizing for things, giving her her phone back, and being nice to her. Maybe he was a nice guy in spite of it all, huh?

"Wow...he's apologizing." Even Phoenix was taken aback.

"Oh, uh, it's okay..." What else could she even say about that? "I mean, I'd probably have assumed the killer forced their way in too."

"You're still sayin' you're innocent, huh?" He wasn't asking out of some kind of malice. He seemed to genuinely not understand why she was refusing to accept the charges against her.

If he was on trial for the murder of his sibling, would he roll over and accept his death or would he fight to the death to prove his innocence. It was a stupid question.

Maya didn't bother answering him. If Detective Gumshoe realized her silence was aggressive and pointed, he didn't speak out about it. Instead he spent the rest of the walk to Fey & Co. Law Offices without trying to start another conversation with her.

Even Phoenix only muttered once about how that was a stupid question and fell quiet. If a chatterbox ghost noticed, then she has to have been giving off a dangerous aura.

Police tape cordoned off the entire hallway that led to Mia's office, a few gawkers craning their necks to try and catch a glimpse of whatever the police were doing. Thankfully—for Maya—the scant few cops posted up around the area were preventing anyone from getting close to the door so nobody could see a damn thing.

Detective Gumshoe stopped to talk with one of the cops on duty to inform them of why the suspect was allowed out, then gestured for Maya to enter the crime scene. "Go ahead. Miss Chief Lana said you aren't allowed to touch anythin' but you can look about. I also got a copy of the autopsy report that was printed off recently if you want that."

Phoenix, already past the threshold and waist-deep in the chair, poked his head back out towards the door. "Oh that's useful!"

"Is that okay?" Maya wasn't sure if what he was doing was allowed, even if he was offering.

"Don't ask that, just take the evidence!" Phoenix whined.

"I mean, I already offered, didn't I pal?" Detective Gumshoe waved the paper at Maya. She took it and read it to herself quietly.

Victim: Mia Fey (27, Female) Time of Death: 9/5 at 9:00PM Cause: Single blunt force trauma. Death was instantaneous.

All that remained of her sister printed in black and white. Maya folded the report as small as she could—using an old note-folding origami pattern she remembered Mia teaching her when she was little—and tucked it in her sash next to her phone. She didn't want to see it anymore. She didn't want to think about it.

Phoenix waved at Maya. "C'mere." She walked to where he was floating, carefully stepping around the chair and over the scattered papers to where he was. He pointed at the phone sitting on Mia's work desk. "This is the one where the back is a little messed with, see?" Maya picked it up and turned it over, noting where screws were a little loose. "That's where it connects to the phone line."

"I know how a landline works," Maya kept her voice low so Detective Gumshoe couldn't hear her speaking to Phoenix. Like he was saying, the bottom of the base was a little loose, as if something had been attached to the mounting cord and hidden out of sight. "...that does look bad."

"If you're looking for messages left on the answerin' machine, there aren't any. We already checked." Detective Gumshoe was still standing by the door—now closed, probably so she couldn't run away—but his loud voice carried far.

"Oh, uh, I wasn't." Maya put the phone back down. Phoenix had already made his way to where the glass was, near the outline of Mia, pressing his face too close to the shards. If he wasn't already dead, she'd be worried he'd get glass in his eyes and face but he was incorporeal so he was just trying to get extra details. Maya picked her way over the fallen plant and peered at the glass too.

"This was a lightstand. It was nice, too. I remember when Mia bought it...I think." Phoenix sorrowfully stared at the broken thing. "It brightened up the room, the colors playing off of Charlie." When he noticed Maya's confusion at the name 'Charlie', he pointed at the upturned plant. "Charlie."

"Poor Charlie." Poor Mia.

"Don't pick the plant up!" Maya jumped when Detective Gumshoe called out. "It's sad and all, but we aren't allowed to mess with the crime scene!"

"I wasn't going to!" What a busybody.

Phoenix had already moved on to looking down at the outline of Mia. He kept worrying at his scarf and had pulled his face mask up. He never wore it over his mouth, not since she'd met him. Why now? "Mia..."

"Phoenix?" Maya kept her voice low, standing next to him. He looked at her, startled, and then back to the outline.

"...I have problems with time. Being dead means that, unless I'm making a conscious effort, days become a sludgy mess. It was...easier to stay aware when I had goals, which is why I know so much about law and stuff, but I was having issues finding motivation as of late." His voice sounded rough, like he had been coughing a lot. He looked like he was in pain. "I also liked giving Mia her space. I didn't listen in on phone calls, didn't watch her answer emails or write letters or even keep notes on cases. I already felt a bit like I was intruding, right? Things had gotten busy for Mia...personal. So I clocked out more and more frequently."

Oh. She understood. "You weren't aware or around when Mia—"

"If I had been—if I had been awake and around—if I had been better—!" He tugged on his scarf like it was choking him, pulling it up over his mouth and nose. Phantom tears poured down his face. "I could've helped more. I could've told you who did this. I just...woke up because I felt something was wrong and Mia—"

What could Maya say to comfort him? It wasn't alright, because Mia was dead. But also it wasn't his fault. What could he have done to stop this? So far, Maya was the only one who could see and hear him!

"Dead men can't testify in court," Maya settled on.

That pulled a laugh from Phoenix. A snotty, hoarse laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. "I mean, they tried it once, but yeah."

They had tried it once. Maya could never forget that fact.

"Detective Gumshoe?" Maya turned towards the large man as she called out. He looked over at her, eyebrow raised in confusion. "Can we go somewhere else?"

She must've sounded extremely pitiful because he didn't hesitate to hold the door open for her again. "C'mon, pal. Where do you need to go?" He was quieter than before, as if he was worried seeing her sister's murder scene upset her in some way.

"Maybe the Gatewater?" Maya tried to not flinch. Phoenix hadn't made a sound as he came up alongside her—he was a ghost, after all—but failed somewhat. "The witness was staying there. I'll bet we can talk to Miss April May."

"Across the street, to the Gatewater?" She tried her best to not make it sound like she was unsure of what she wanted to do.

Detective Gumshoe grimaced. "Hey, uh, I don't know if that's a good idea?"

"Why not? Isn't that where the witness called from? Don't I have a right to see where the crime was witnessed from?" Maybe if she played up being an indignant young woman, someone genuinely torn up by seeing where her sister died, she could manipulate the detective in her favor.

(It was true, really, but he didn't need to know that.)

Detective Gumshoe's face went on a journey. First concerned, then confused, then almost constipated, and finally he just looked defeated. "Well...y'see...you're not supposed to bother the witness, pal."

"I won't bother her, I promise!" Technically not a lie. She wasn't going to bother the woman if she could help it.

"How d'you know the witness was a woman?" Oops. Phoenix had been the one to tell her anything about their so-called eyewitness.

"Lucky guess?"

Detective Gumshoe stared at Maya as if he was trying to read her mind. Lucky for her, she has a better poker face than most people would assume. It helped she looked cherubic. People underestimated her. Then he let out a long, weary exhale. "Fine, but remember what Miss Chief Lana said, okay? No takin' nothin', no runnin' away, and no tryin' to break free, alright? I don't wanna' hafta' put you back in your cell with no chance of doin' this again."

Did he think she was stupid? She wasn't going to do any of that. There was too much riding on her being able to walk about! "Right." She put on her most serious face possible.

Detective Gumshoe gave her what she could only assume was a fond smile and started his way back down the hallway. "Alright, c'mon pal."

Maya followed behind him once more, Phoenix hovering just above her. As they walked, Phoenix wondered, "Do you think Gumshoe would really care if we talked to April May?"

Maya shrugged.

"I mean...I don't think he would let you ask too many probing questions—not as if she would answer them, from what I saw—but if we needed to, you could very much use Gumshoe as a distraction while you searched around." Then, as an afterthought, he asked, "Do you think they'll let us in her hotel room?"

Maya made a vague noise. Detective Gumshoe looked back at her but didn't ask anything. Maybe he just assumed she was thinking and vocalizing some of her thoughts aloud.

"I mean...it's a nice hotel and it costs so much money and we are going to see a singular woman. That's a bad look, even for you." What? "Actually...especially for you."

Maya glared at him and he held his hands out as if he was soothing a vicious beast.

"All I'm saying is that the person she said killed Mia—you—and a big detective rolling up on her hotel room to have a chat might raise some flags. Gumshoe's presence will help assuage her fears but like...you're seeing why it's probably not going to earn you brownie points with April May?"

What could she even say to that? She just rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I know, I know. It's something to think about." Phoenix then fell silent as they entered the Gatewater.

At the front was a tall man in a nice uniform. He gave Detective Gumshoe a bright smile and bowed. "Ah, welcome to the Gatewater Hotel, good sir. How can I be of assistance?"

That seemed to throw the detective off-balance. He blinked at the man in confusion, then scratched at the bandage on his cheek. "Uh, yeah. We're here to see the room of one, uh, Miss April May?"

That name got a reaction out of the man, who blushed deeply. "Ah, the lovely Miss May. May I ask who is making this courtesy call? We cannot allow just anyone to enter our customer's rooms without first ascertaining their intent."

"Detective Dick Gumshoe, with the local precinct." He flashed his badge at the man. "I'm here as escort and she wanted to speak with Miss April May about what she saw recently."

The man—bellboy, judging by his outfit, though why he was working the front desk was unclear—looked at Maya and frowned. Then he turned to face Detective Gumshoe again. "And you are certain you can keep a handle on her?"

"It's not as if she can't hear you," Phoenix griped from over the check-in book.

Maya just let his derision roll over her. She couldn't get upset by things like this or she would flip her lid every couple minutes.

"She's been a model prisoner. You don't gotta' worry, alright pal?" For some reason, Detective Gumshoe got a little upset at how Maya was being treated.

"Oh. He thinks you're good now?"

He probably thinks she's at least a polite and amicable person when bound by law and chains.

"Then I will trust your judgement, good sir." The bellboy bowed again and waved them towards the elevators. "Third floor suite, room 316, to the right when you exit. Please tell Miss May hello for me." Again, he blushed.

Phoenix made a gagging noise. Maya forced herself to not laugh.

As Maya, Detective Gumshoe, and Phoenix filed into the elevator, the detective pressed himself against the far wall so Maya wouldn't be crushed. She stared at him in confusion. "The elevator isn't that small."

"Yeah, but I know how people get in enclosed spaces. I don't wanna' make you uncomfortable or anythin'."

As he was saying that, the elevator rose and Phoenix disappeared into the floor. He let our a startled yelp. "Right, shit."

"I'm not uncomfortable in enclosed spaces, I promise." Maya tilted her head a bit. "You're fine."

"Oh." He stepped away from the wall a little and hummed as they waited for them to get to the third floor. When the doors opened on their floor, they both stepped through. Phoenix followed, his head poking up from the floor like a strange shark.

"The plumbing here is so nice. I don't think I've ever been in pipes this clean." What was Phoenix on about? Maya gave him a glare and jerked her chin up, silently telling him to walk on the floor like a normal person. He rose up and walked behind Maya, his ghostly footfalls silent. "You're no fun."

Room 316 was easy enough to find. Maya stayed behind Detective Gumshoe as he knocked on the door so that, when the witness opened it, she would be nearly invisible. He seemed to take it as her being nervous anyway.

It swung open and poor Detective Gumshoe stood face to face with the most pink woman Maya had the displeasure of seeing. Every inch of her was a bubblegum color, her hair perfectly styled, and her perfume was saccharine enough to put Maya off of cake and other sweets for a while.

"Oh!" April May spoke at a shrieking pitch. Maya flinched back a bit, as did Phoenix. "Hi there, big boy. How can I help you?"

"Uh, Detective Dick Gumshoe, local precinct. I, uh, that is, we have some questions? Can we come in?" Poor Detective Gumshoe didn't know how to handle her. Considering she was pressing herself seductively against the doorframe, Maya was suddenly impressed with him. A lesser man would've started slobbering over her.

"We?" April May peered past the detective's large frame and made eye-contact with Maya, who was glaring. Her pupils contracted, becoming thin slits, and she nearly hissed. "Isn't that the girl?! The killer?!"

"She's only here to ask questions and I'm here to keep an eye on her." Detective Gumshoe spoke to her like he was soothing a wild beast.

"I just wanted to see the view." This was not just a half-truth, but the same half-truth she told Detective Gumshoe. Maya did want to see the view, if only to see how well she could have seen into Mia's office, but also to try and get a read on this April May. Thus far, Maya was inclined to agree with Phoenix's original assessment of 'difficult' and 'manipulative' if only because she was trying to get Detective Gumshoe's attention by being sexy.

"Hey, Maya?" Phoenix was already inside her room, out of sight. He didn't need to be quiet, thankfully, but Maya had to pretend as if she wasn't trying to hold two conversations at the same time. "I found something. Do you think you can get inside here and get April May distracted?"

Probably...

"Look, Miss April May, we won't be here long, I promise." Detective Gumshoe to the rescue! "She just wants to see your view of the crime scene and then we'll leave. No questions, no mess. You have my word."

"Well...," April May drew the word out like she was unspooling yarn, "if you say so, Mister Dick." She stepped inside and Detective Gumshoe and Maya followed her.

Detective Gumshoe mumbled, "Please call me Gumshoe."

Inside the hotel room was a truly luxurious place. A lavish bed with nice sheets, two gorgeous chairs sharing an end table with a beautiful glass lamp on it by the window, and a large wooden dresser. Off past the bed was a door—presumably leading to the bathroom—and the overall scheme of the place was red and gold—even if the 'gold' was actually brass.

Phoenix was half-in, half-out of the dresser. When Maya entered, he met her eyes and pointed at a screwdriver that was poking out of the top drawer, grinning widely. "Thing!"

"So, Mister Dick—"

"Gumshoe."

"—are all the men on the force as big and strong as you, or does the Chief of Police give his hardest jobs to his most handsome soldiers?" April May was practically purring at Detective Gumshoe, who looked like he was unhappy with that development.

"Well, uh, it wasn't the Chief of Police exactly, but, uh..."

Maya felt bad for him, sincerely. He was nice to her and she was just letting him be harassed by this irritating witness. Still, she wasn't going to let this chance go to waste. She sidled past the dresser and waited until April May was facing away from her before opening the drawer and snatching whatever was inside to palm into her sleeve—a difficult feat when one was handcuffed.

It was square, with two wires protruding out of it, and she had to be incredibly careful to not drop it or even give away she had it in the first place.

"Smooth!" Phoenix stepped out of the dresser and kept pace with Maya as she walked to the window and looked at the building across the way. Mia's office was...there. As much as Maya hated to admit it, it was plausible—if not difficult—for her to have seen inside her office that night.

Maya turned on her heel and walked carefully back towards the door. "Detective Gumshoe?"

"Yeah?" The way the poor man's voice pitched was so sad. He sounded panicked and glad that she was probably asking to leave.

"I'm ready to go now." She tried to keep her tone even, crossing her arms and glaring at April May to sell how she was hiding the object she'd stowed in her sleeve. "Back to the detention center, I mean. I saw what I was looking for."

April May sneered at Maya. "Go back to prison, you little murderer." Then she pawed at Detective Gumshoe one last time. "Don't be a stranger, okay Mister Dick?"

"Yeah, uh, sure. Let's go, pal." Detective Gumshoe could not leave fast enough. Maya definitely felt bad for him now. He looked so unhappy with how she was acting. "You have a good day, Miss April May." He didn't give her a chance to answer, closing the door so fast it rattled the frame. Then he let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Maya started her way back to the elevator, hoping to put as much distance between her and April May as she could as quickly as possible. "I didn't like her either."

"Not just coz she's sayin' you did it, huh?" He caught up to her and called the elevator, smiling down at her.

What was a...diplomatic way to answer him? Maya looked over at Phoenix—already prepping to drop down to the ground floor through the other floors—for help.

He shrugged. "Iunno?" Wow...

"She strikes me as...prone to flights of fancy." Maya settled on something inoffensive and technically true. A lie is, at its heart, a flight of fancy.

"I just don't know how to handle people like that..." Detective Gumshoe held the elevator door for her and then pressed the button to take them down. This time he didn't press himself against the wall. Growth.

"She was rather...touchy." Again, Maya was being generous. Again, she was being careful.

Detective Gumshoe was silent for the remainder of the elevator ride—not in a bad way but in a thoughtful way—but when the doors opened, he spoke up again. "You're...you've been real good this whole time. I wanted to thank you for that."

Maya frowned at him. "Did you think I would've gone to the trouble I did just to ruin all my hard work? I'm serious about this; it's my life on the line, after all. Of course I'd be good."

"Yeah, but still...I wanted you to know I noticed." Detective Gumshoe picked at the bandage on his cheek as he spoke. "I wasn't too keen on bein' your babysitter but your attitude made hangin' out with you kinda' fun."

"'Hanging out'? Does he think this was a playdate or something?" Phoenix, who had fallen from above to follow the two of them out of the hotel, snorted. "I mean, nice of him to find your company enjoyable—heaven knows I do—but like...he was your guard. And he was pretty bad at it too."

But at least he was nice.

"Uh...thank you?" What did she even say to that? "You're...not so bad yourself?"

"Aw, shucks..." Detective Gumshoe chuckled and beamed at Maya.

The rest of the trap back to her holding cell was oddly quiet. Even Phoenix remained silent as he tried to figure out their game plan for the trial tomorrow. When they finally got back, Maya looked for where the security camera was and angled herself in a way so she could retrieve her illicit evidence from her sleeve.

It was a small black box with two wires that ended in the same plug as a phone line had.

"That's...a wiretap. That's...that's decisive evidence. That's great evidence, actually! Holy shit, Maya! That's such good evidence!" Phoenix laughed with every bit of him, his joy throwing him backwards in a lazy spin.

Maya stared at the wiretap in her hands. Looking down at the small electronic device, she could feel the faint flickering of hope kindling in her chest. Phoenix's elation, his unbridled delight at them having this wiretap, was a gentle breeze stoking this hope towards a slowly growing flame.

"A wiretap...what does that even mean?"

"It means that April May will know things she shouldn't! It means we can catch her in impossible lies!" Phoenix laughed harder. "She was tapping Mia's phone! If we're smart about this, we can discredit her!"

Oh. Oh! Maya clutched the wiretap to her chest. This evidence that only she and Phoenix knew about would be their secret weapon. That and—

She tucked the wiretap into her sash and pulled out her phone. Then she cycled through the menus and clicked on the message she was looking for. Through her cheap phone speaker, Maya heard her sister's voice for the first time since she died.

"Hello? This is Maya." Phoenix stopped laughing and closed the distance between them, his expression suddenly grim.

"Hey Maya, it's me." Maya had to fight back tears. This was the last converstion she had with her sister. This was the last time she said her name.

"Mia! What's up? You haven't called in a while." What a foolish complaint. She should've been happy Mia had called her at all. Service in Kurain was already spotty at best.

"Sorry, I've been so busy." She sounded genuinely sorry. She hadn't meant to be too busy to talk to her. "How you been?"

"Well, lonely. And it's all your fault." How could she have said that? How could she have even jokingly implied that Maya's isolation was Mia's fault? "Nah, I'm just teasing. I've been great! I'm finally getting used to having my own place." She'd only moved out of the manor was all. It's not as if she has moved out of Kurain in its entirety. She still had ties to the place, was too childish to go be an adult outside of her hometown.

Not that Mia knew any of that. She died assuming her little sister was growing up.

"That's good to hear. Actually, I'm calling because I have a favor to ask." Phoenix looked at Maya with a strangely concerned look. He wanted to ask her a question but didn't want to interrupt the recording.

"I know, I know. You want me to hold evidence for you?" It wasn't as if this was the first time. Mia liked using Maya as a bank vault for evidence every so often. Maya always agreed. It made her feel connected to her big sister.

Mia laughed. Maya missed Mia's laugh, even if it was a tinny recording playing out of her phone. "Sharp as always! There's a lot of buzz about the upcoming trial... I just don't feel safe keeping the evidence here."

Maya didn't remember much about the trial Mia was preparing for, just that it had to do with the man who'd ruined their mother's reputation—the reputation of the Kurain Channeling Technique. Mia hadn't shared much with her...something about eyes and ears.

It hadn't mattered much at the time. "I gotcha. So, what is it this time?"

"It's... a clock."

Phoenix gaped at her. He seemed to realize something that she had known since she'd gotten the information about the murder weapon from Prosecutor Edgeworth. The clock she was talking about was the same thing that killed her.

"A clock?"

"Yeah, it's made to look like that statue, 'The Thinker.' And it tells you the time! I thought you might like it. You always liked toys." Toys. Toys.

Maya choked back a sob.

"Hey! I'm not a little girl anymore!"

"Now, now." Mia laughed again. "You know I'm only teasing. Ah, I should probably tell you, the clock isn't talking right now."

"Huh? It's not working? That's dumb!"

"I had to take the clockwork out. Sorry. I put some papers inside it instead." Something seemed to occur to Phoenix in that moment, another epiphany. Whatever he had realized, he wasn't going to speak until the recording was done.

"Papers? Is that the evidence, then?" They shouldn't have said this out loud. They should've been more vague.

"Hmm, well... there's a possibility that it might turn out that way, yes. Can you come by the office tonight, say 9:00, to pick it up? I'll be in a pretrial meeting until then." She had just said what time she was going to be there, when the door would be unlocked. She had set the table for her killer.

"Okay, but I expect dinner! Something good! Like...burgers! I could really go for a good burger." They always ate out whenever Maya came over. It was a ritual of theirs. The guy who ran the place knew their orders by heart.

"Okay, okay." Mia laughed. "We'll hit the usual joint."

That was all it took. "Alright! It's a deal! Okay, see you soon!"

"Yep. I'll be waiting, Maya."

Then she had hung up. The recording caught the phone clicking. Then a stilted digital voice said, "Conversation recorded on September 5, 9:27 AM."

Maya cradled her phone to her chest and cried, silent tears blurring the world around her. When she could finally speak, she choked out, "I just wanted my phone so I could hear her again but..."

"Maya." Phoenix reached out as if to lay his hand on her shoulder in comfort, then paused, remembering he couldn't actually touch her.

"This is evidence, right? This and the wiretap?" It had to be. It had to be or she might fall apart. If this was evidence, if Mia's killer had tapped her phone, then they killed her because of the case she had been preparing.

If this was evidence, then she knew who killed Mia and it would be near impossible to get him without buying another day.

"Yeah. It's pretty damning, actually." Phoenix was sitting midair, legs crossed. He looked pensive. "This is...tomorrow, we can draw this out."

"I think I know who did it but..."

"I do too." Phoenix scowled. "If we draw this out, if we buy one more day, then we can get him. I know we can."

"I'm scared." She wasn't a lawyer. She was barely an adult. Tomorrow she was going to stand up in a courtroom and defend herself using the words of a ghost and pray she could prevent her own conviction. "I'm scared, Phoenix..."

"You're stronger than you know."

"What if I mess up?"

"You just have to act like Mia. It's what I do." Maya stared at him. He gave her a sad smile. "Maya, I've been dead for three years. Every bit of being a lawyer I've got is stolen directly from your sister and you thought I was someone impressive. I'm not, I just pretended I was Mia and you saw me as someone of her skill-level. So tomorrow, you'll do the same."

Pretend to be Mia? Maya tried to imagine Mia in her place. Her mannerisms. Her confidence. Her smile. Could she even do that?

"You'll be great, I promise."

"How do you know?" She wanted confirmation. She wanted comfort. She wanted to be held. Phoenix could only do two of those things.

"Because I've seen you go about all day and solve this mystery with me. I've seen you lie to people using clever half-truths, smile when you wanted to scream, and claw your way out of a desperate situation with your words and your wits. You, not Mia." He floated down so he was sitting level with her on the floor. "If anyone can do this, it's you, Maya Fey."

Phoenix believed in her.

Maya scrubbed at her face. "I wish I could give you hug."

"Me too." He missed comfort, probably. He wanted to comfort her. He wanted to be comforted. "But know this: come tomorrow, everyone else will know just how competent Maya Fey is. Everyone will see how brave and capable you are. You just have to pretend, just for a little bit."

"I miss her..."

"Me too."

"I wanna go home..."

"I know."

"I'm tired..."

"Let's get you on the cot so you can sleep, okay? C'mon now, I can't touch you so if you pass out on the floor and wake up with an aching back, I can't do anything about it."

Maya hoisted herself up and clutched her phone to her chest as she curled up on the thin cot in her cell. Phoenix hovered next to her, unable to touch her but wanting to tuck her in. She pulled the blanket up over her shoulders and screwed her eyes shut.

"G'night Phoenix."

"Night Maya."

The world faded to black, the warm feeling of hope spreading through her body in waves as Maya gently fell asleep.

[absolutelyfizzing]

cruel and spiteful

anon - If you take requests, can I have Zuko X reader, where Zuko tells them about his scar?

description - zuko tells y/n how he got his scar. he also has a very important question to ask her. (established!zuko x reader)

warnings - fluff, some tears, description of violence and abuse (no more vivid than is in the show), no connection to the content after the original series, some kissing, zuko is aged up (probably 20-24 years old)

word count - 1700

a/n - I tried on this one but I make no promises that its good

MASTERLIST

You stayed in peaceful silence next to your boyfriend as you read and he worked. Your leg was draped over one of his so you could have some contact but not enough that either of you would get distracted. You often thought about how thankful you were that you could have moments like this. That you had been together long enough and were comfortable enough with each other that you could spend evenings like this.

Zuko fidgeted a bit in his place and you glanced over at him. He had bags under his eyes and they looked red. You knew that he had been overworking himself lately and not getting enough sleep. Many nights he would come to bed after you had fallen asleep and then leave before you woke up simply because there was so much for him to do. You also knew that you wanted to take care of him and to let him know that his mental well-being was just as important as getting his list of tasks done. At that thought, you closed your book and sat up a bit.

"Zuko?" you asked quietly, not wanting to disturb the peace in the room.

"Hm?" he hummed out but he did not look up from his work.

"Zuko, honey, you have to stop working for a minute." You tried to reason but he just huffed. You didn't say anything else but you slowly moved to take his things off of his lap, giving him time to finish reading the paragraph he was on. He let you slip the papers into your hands and you placed them on his nearby desk. You stood silently and grabbed his hand to pull him up.

He didn't complain or make any indication that he didn't want to get up as you led him to your shared bathroom. You had him brush his teeth and you pulled his hair into a bun for him before you both headed back to bed, this time in your pajamas and with the intent of going to sleep.

"Actually, can you mess with my hair?" he almost whispered. He requested you touch his hair every so often because he loved the feeling of your fingers carding through it.

"Of course, my love," you assured and he smiled at you.

You sat on the bed, your back against the headboard. He laid next to you so his head was on your lap and you were looking down at him. You began to brush through his hair with your fingers, running your nails along his scalp. His eyes closed at the feeling as he sighed. You could tell that the anxiety of the day was leaving him.

After you had been brushing through his hair for some time and his breathing had evened out, you moved to run your fingers over the lines of his face. You just assumed that he was asleep from how calm and still he seemed. Your fingers traced along his brow lines and his eyes. You moved them down towards the shape of his nose and then his jaw. When you moved back up his face, you traced along the edges of his scar. You never asked him about it and you didn't actually know how he got it. You were from the earth kingdom and had never heard any conversation around the palace about it so you assumed that he was in some sort of accident. You knew that he would eventually tell you how it happened if he wanted to. As you were lost in thought you hadn't even noticed that his eyes were open, gazing at you from your lap. When you accidentally met his gaze, you flinched, like you had been caught doing something wrong.

"You can touch it, it's okay." He whispered out to reassure you and you hesitated before tracing it again. "Have you already heard the story?" he questioned. He knew that you hadn't known much about him when you met and that stories around the palace had ceased, mostly because it was old news and he no longer seemed self-conscious about it.

You shook your head shyly.

"Do you want to?"

You made eye contact with him. "If you don't mind telling it." You tried to make sure that he knew he didn't have to. He smiled up at you and sat up from your lap. He moved so that he was sitting in front of you, legs crossed under him to match yours. His knees were touching yours and he pulled your hands onto his lap. He looked up into your eyes and felt anxiety despite your non-judgemental gaze. He paused for a moment.

"My father did it." He started, looking at your face as you gasped a bit but you tried not to react, wanting him to continue uninterrupted. "When I was younger, I think I was thirteen, I sat in on a war meeting with my father and his advisors." His gaze had drifted down towards where your fingers were tangled with his.

"I disagreed with something, I spoke up. One of the generals had recommended sacrificing men as bait for a trap and I felt like I had to say something. It was seen as an act of disrespect so my father told me I would be fighting in an agni kai to settle the matter."

You kept your gaze on his face. You had only seen one agni kai in your time in the fire nation and it was not something you wished to see again. You struggled to believe anyone would expect a thirteen-year-old to fight in such a match.

"When I showed up, I had assumed I would fight the general, that was who I disagreed with. Instead, my father stepped forward to fight me. I knew I couldn't have won but I also didn't want to fight him because he was my father and I didn't want to show him violence. I got on my knees and asked him to forgive me but he saw it as a sign of weakness."

Zuko took a deep breath. He hadn't had to tell this story in a while and remembering the traumatic fight made him feel emotional.

"He burned me for my vulnerability. I was then exiled by my father, my scar a brand to let the kingdom know of my shame, and he sent me on my impossible mission to find the avatar. To find Aang." He finished, looking up to your gaze again. He was a bit surprised to see tears streaming down your face and he immediately cooed at you, shushing you and wiping your tears away.

You let out a broken sob and he brought his hand to the back of your neck to pull you into him so your face rested against his shoulder. Your fingers moved so that they were latched onto his shirt. You cried quietly for a few minutes, Zuko's hand soothing you by rubbing along your back.

"I'm so sorry." You whispered out. Zuko didn't respond immediately, thinking about his answer. For a while he would have said 'it's okay or 'i had it coming' but he now knew that it wasn't true. That it was cruel and he shouldn't have had to go through that.

"I'm okay now." He decided on and you nodded against him. You sat up a bit and moved your hand to cup his jaw on the side of his scar, your thumb just barely grazing over the edge of it.

"You are beautiful." You breathed out and Zuko was surprised by your words but they almost brought tears to his eyes. "Your father was a cruel and spiteful man and for him to have taken his anger out on his own child when you were just a kid is heartbreaking. I'm so sorry you had to go through that and I am so proud of you for having become such an amazing man in spite of your cruel upbringing."

You wiped away the single tear that trailed down his face.

"Will you marry me?" He whispered out, surprising himself a bit. He had of course been planning on proposing to you but he had a plan set up months from now. It was elaborate and romantic but as he sat in front of you, he wanted to be able to say he was your husband as soon as possible. Your face cracked into a smile and you giggled a bit. Zuko wanted to hear that sound for the rest of his life.

"Of course I will, Firelord Zuko." Your words reminded you of your future and your face paled a bit. Zuko was ecstatic that you said yes but worried as your face showed anxiety. "I'm going to be royalty." You choked out, your fear showing. You had, of course, hoped that you would be spending the rest of your life with Zuko, but you had never given your future rank much thought. Zuko let out a laugh at your realization.

"You already are." He added and you quirked your eyebrow in question. "You are the person I care for the most in the world, you are my closest advisor and you help me in all of my decisions, you are under my protection at all times. You are already queen in practice, just not in title. You will rule by my side as an equal as you already do. As you have done for the last 2 years."  

You smiled at his reassurance and leaned forward to pull him into a searing kiss. You hoped that he could feel all of the emotions you were trying to express through it. He hummed against your lips and brought his hand up to rest in your hair. When you both pulled away, out of breath, he leaned his forehead against yours.

"I love you." He mumbled out and you smiled.

"Nowhere near as much as I love you." you replied easily.