Zuko sat quietly, staring out the window. He blinked, and suddenly his imaginary friend was back, sitting on the window sill, swinging her legs as she grinned at him.
"You know, Mai is still waiting for an explanation on this whole mess," she giggled.
He turned away, hoping that ignoring would make her go away.
Only it never did.
"Hey, Zuko," she suddenly appeared, upside down in front of his face. "Guess what I heard today!"
He sighed heavily. "What?"
"There's this all-day war meeting coming up!"
He felt his heart skip a beat.
"How do you know that? I don't know about this!" he jumped up, and she appeared a small distance away, shrugging.
"I overheard Azula telling Mai," she answered, blinking innocently at him.
"You said you only know what I know!" he snapped. "Because I made you up!"
"Well....." she shrugged dramatically. "Then you met the real one, and now we're... the same? Almost."
"What does that even mean?"
"How to explain?" she tapped her chin thoughtfully. "When a water drop hits the ground, it sometimes splits into smaller drops. Bring them together, and they stick back together!"
"That doesn't explain anything," he snapped again.
"Because you're stubborn," she giggled. "When people interact with other people, small pieces break off and stick. Memories of a person, usually, and I'm weird because you made me real, and so now..."
She waved her hand to indicate herself.
"When the real Amaya drifted by, like two drops of water, we became one," she smiled brightly. "Get it now?"
He sighed, sinking into a chair. "Not really."
"I think it will make more sense the more pieces that come together," she shrugged.
"There are other pieces?"
"You really think you're the only person who's made me real?"
"You're talking in riddles again," he grumbled.
"You'll see," she snickered.