Fic Rec: The Prisoners

The Prisoners by blue_lacquer was her avatarbigbang 2010 story. It's this wonderful Mai-centric fic about what happened to her between "The Boiling Rock, Part Two" and the series finale.

I love the relationship between her and Ty Lee in this story, and the relationship between her and her uncle. I love how we see Mai as being very much a Fire Nation girl - she saved Zuko because she loved him, but she doesn't believe in the Avatar and she's just as imperialistic as any other random Fire Nation person.

The transfer from the Boiling Rock to the Capital Prison is a major turning-point in the story. Ty Lee and Mai meet some familiar faces and life gets very much more dangerous for them.

blue_lacquer does an amazing journey from Mai, showing us her despair at the life of a prisoner, her conviction that she'd do what she had done again, and her figuring out that maybe the Fire Nation was wrong and maybe she can do what she wants with her life.

She also does a really wonderful job with Huu's characterization. I was very impressed by that. I love her characterization of the Warden of Boiling Rock, as well as Ty Lee and her family. There's a chapter while Mai and Ty Lee are at the Capital Prison where we have most of Ty Lee's sisters coming secretly to visit her. It's a stunning contrast to the way the only person in Mai's family reaching out for her is her uncle.

There are fourteen chapters, and the chapters are of a handy size for reading. Not long enough to require you to set aside a specific time-frame to read, not short enough to be annoying.