Maybe a thing or two

I was tempted to ask about what other goings on had happened in my "absence" but Mai's curt mention of Ty Lee gave me more than a few questions, "Why do you say I wouldn't like her? She is a friend of yours isn't she?" Mai gave me a slight nod, calmly eating another spoonful of soup before responding, "Yes...a hyper and over energetic one but a friend all the same." "And she saved your life from Azula correct?" I asked with a growing smile, my prying seeming to make Mai more uncomfortable as we talked, "Yes...I suppose."

My smile beamed brightly as I reached out to Mai, placing a hand on hers as I spoke, "Then why wouldn't I like her?" At the contact Mai slightly jumped, looking down at my hand before glancing away with a blush on her cheeks, "B-because..." I tilted my head in curiosity, this was becoming very interesting, "because what?" Mai's blush was deep now, her eyes never being able to look into mine as she quietly mumbled, "She...messed around with my pressure points a little too much and..." one hand swept over her chest, despite the numerous blankets covering it, "this was the result..."

There was a moment of thick silence between us, Mai from embarrassment and me from utter surprise, "So...how did she..." Mai's blush grew deeper if at all possible as she spoke, "Ty Lee is a master of pressure points and she was trying to make me laugh. After a few tries and very mixed results she hit a few wrong spots..." Mai grumbled a bit, seeming to hunch into herself as she finished her thoughts, "she told me to stay positive, talking about how much you'd like them when we saw each other again."

I was do very tempted to say something along the lines of agreement but smartly kept my mouth shut, my hand giving Mai's a soft squeeze, "I think Ty Lee sound like a good person, despite her...mess ups she sounds like she had a good enough heart to save you." Mai sighed softly, her blush slowly receding as she nodded in response, "She was, the only reason she followed Azula's orders was out of fear..." another subdued snear snuck it's way across Mai's face at the mention of the princesses name, "unfortunately she had Ty Lee wrapped around her little finger." The way that she spoke was filled with anger, even for her, so I decided to file away Ty Lee for another time and try to move onto something else.

"You never did finish your story," I spoke, giving Mai's hand a squeeze, "What happened after you stopped working for Azula?" Mai sighed, taking a few more sips of soup before resuming her tale, "Eventually the Avatar came and brought peace to the nations, balancing out the world and everything like that." With a tilt of her head Mai thought for a bit before speaking, "The slaves at the palace were let free and everything pretty much went back to normal. My parents wanting me to go after Zuko since he was the new Fire Lord and otherwise finding a 'good husband' for me to marry."

I smiled softly, squeezing Mai's hand once more, "I take it you had to get out of the house after that?" Mai nodded, looking into her soup for a while before looking up at me, "I asked every Earth nation person I could find, none of them had any idea where you went." I chuckled softly, "for a while neither did I." "So then," Mai began, her monotone holding a lower, more mournful tone to it, "Where did you go?"