""It's really not your fault at all. He's just woken up to the real world, as I did--and he's learned that love is nothing but a distraction."



Extreme explanation merited; feel free to quit reading at any time, I'll layer this from most important to least important.

First, Ozai. His character has come to fascinate me almost as much as Mai's has; he's the supreme villain of the series, and he hasn't had that much screentime or information revealed about him. I'll probably be making more and more fanart of him in the coming weeks (if I can do fanart at all), in some sort of an attempt to beef up his reputation before the final battle.

Second, what the heck is going on here? Well, I've actually had this scene in mind for about two months; Ozai dropping in for a surprise visit to Mai's house. She'd a person of interest in Zuko's defection, after all, and with Azula having been revealed to be a liar in regards to Zuko, I figured that he might take a personal interest in this. While there, I could see him taking some personal, sadistic pleasure in mentally battering her. He just seems like that type of guy. Using her feelings for Zuko to try and coax information out of her....

Third of all, why Mai and Ozai? Well, Mai's been my favorite character, and also, I woke up to the creepiness of the Mai/Ozai ship a few months ago. For a lot longer than that--since around the time of the second season finale, I think--I've liked picturing Mai as having an underlying hatred of Ozai. He's the man who banished Zuko, after all; and any feelings Mai would have liked to express would be forbidden for fear that they reached Ozai's ears. With this preexisting resentment in mind, the concept of such a relationship held a very twisted weight. There aren't many things darker than an evil dad taking interest in his son's girlfriend. It gives Ozai another small boost to the "pure evil" level. It's also interesting that their names end with the same letters, but sound different. The fact that his authority would make Mai unable to refuse him gives it another edge. While I don't pretend that it has a chance of canon status, the concept is enough to merit something.

As for Ozai and love...here's where I give him a favorite dynamic. I like picturing him to be less like Voldemort, who never understood or felt love, and more like...his own identity. Someone who knew it and understood it, even experienced it, but eventually conquered it and extinguished it. In a sense, he "let go of his attachments." There's the one shot in the end of "Zuko Alone" where he is standing next to the fountain after Ursa's disappearance, and it seems possible that he could have actually loved her. Of course, if he "killed" that love and used her and abandoned her, as he seems to have done so....he has a tremendous inner darkness. Consider the foil of Aang, who I believe needs love to win this war, and Ozai, who I like to think has destroyed his own love. It sets the bar a little higher in my mind.

As for Mai, who knows what was in that letter? Who knows if she got the letter? But I think the last thing she'd want would be someone coming in and breaking love down into some philosophical delusion. Poor girl.

The picture was referenced from another Bleach screencap....I love that show and its references. I should have spent today writing or studying, but I couldn't focus, so I had to get this out of my system.

I still have faith in Mai and Maiko, regardless of what the trailer implies.

The characters belong to Avatar: The Last Airbender and its creators, Mike and Bryan.
The pic is mine, reffed from Bleach, as I said.


For another take on this/improved version, check [link]

Thanks to for being that awesome!