Mai let out a contented sigh as she slipped into her bedroom, glad to be able to return to her home after the battle on the day of the Black Sun. Everyone in the capital city had to evacuate, and even though Mai had been expected to stay behind to help the Fire Nation Army, she had been forced to leave her home for the dreary underground bunker. Mai never imagined that she would miss her silk sheets and amenities, but living in a cramped space with the brutes enlisted for the cause made her yearn for the benefits of her high-social life.
Any sense of merriment that filled the normally morose teen was swept away by the sight of a simple scroll resting innocently on her pillow. Thin, pale fingers plucked the scroll up, and the sight of the royal Fire Nation seal holding the edges of the paper together told Mai all that she needed to know. Only one person in the entirety of Fire Nation royalty would insult Mai to go so far to leave her a letter over talking to her themselves, or even sending a messenger in their place. That one person was the very person Mai had given her own heart to – Prince Zuko.
Mai should have been surprised to find a solitary letter from Zuko lying on her blood-red sheets just after a victorious triumph for the Fire Nation, but she wasn't. Mai didn't even have to read the letter to know what it would say. Zuko would wax on and on about his destiny. Zuko was obsessed, and he would go off to the ends of the Earth to try to fulfill what he believed to be his fate. In fact, Zuko already had. Most of all, the letter would contain an apology. Zuko would say he was sorry for hurting her, but not for leaving. Mai didn't have to read the letter to know what it said, but she did anyway. She was right.
Ever since Zuko had returned to the Fire Nation after killing the avatar and restoring his honor, he had been frightfully twitchy. The young prince was hiding something, and every time Mai tried to pry, Zuko would brush the girl off, sending her back into her disaffected shell. What was most interesting about Zuko's plight was whenever Azula came into breathing distance of the prince, Zuko would tense up to the point where Mai thought he would pass out if Azula stayed in his presence for too long. Of course, Azula would just smirk knowingly in Zuko's direction, before walking off, leaving Zuko furious and Mai curious.
Zuko had everything he had ever wanted. There were servants to do his bidding. The whole Fire Nation adored him. Zuko had finally been restored to his rightful place next to his father, and best of all, the prince had finally returned Mai's affections. On paper, everything was perfect. Zuko should be happy, but Mai was not stupid. She knew the Fire Nation prince was hiding something.
It wasn't just Azula's presence that sends Zuko into a downward spiral of self-loathing and paranoia. Mai had been spending enough nights with the fire prince to notice that he often sneaks out at night, adorning a dark robe. Always a light sleeper, the moment Zuko rose from the bed, Mai's eyes would snap open. She always remained still and kept her breathing even, not wanting to alert Zuko. If Zuko became aware of Mai's own knowledge of his nightly excursions, he might pull away from Mai. It already felt like she was trying to grasp at a river as it flowed between her fingers, and Mai did not want to lose Zuko entirely. Instead, she remained silent, as Zuko would pause at the window, his figure completely blocking out the moon, before he would slip away into the night. Mai liked imagine that Zuko's momentary hesitation night after night was indicative of Zuko's desires to remain in Mai's arms, but she wasn't naïve enough to pretend her girlish fantasies were anything but.
Mai would remain awake until Zuko returned in the early hours of the morning, the sun weakly trying to break free of the horizon. The entire aura surrounding Zuko would sing of remorse. The prince would never return to bed, only stopping shortly to strip off his robes and run out of the palace, where no one would see him for the rest of the morning. Mai was getting tired of waking up alone, but she would keep returning to Zuko on the chance that one night, when he came back from his trips, he would seek solace in Mai. It had never happened, but Mai knew her support was more important than her own desires.
Mai knew that she loved Zuko more than he loved her in return. She had been in love with him ever since she was a little girl, trailing along after Azula, but Zuko had always regarded her as his sister's scary friend. Mai never knew what really changed with Zuko for him to finally accept her love, but she was too afraid to ask. Now sitting in her too quiet room, Mai wondered if perhaps she tried talking to Zuko a bit more, even pushed him a bit, she could have gotten him to open up. If he had just opened up, would he still be there with her? Mai became momentarily frustrated with herself for even letting such thoughts cross her mind. It was foolish to even dabble in such fantasy. Mai wasn't Zuko's top priority. She came second in his life.
"Ma'am?" A guard knocked at her door before entering her bedchambers. Mai rose from her bed, not a single line marred her face to give away any emotion Mai was feeling. The pale girl was an expert at keeping faces.
"I'm sorry to intrude, ma'am, but your mother is here and is requesting an audience with you," the guard bowed.
"My mother?" Mai asked, a slight tilt to her gravely voice gave away her shock. Her mother was supposed to be in Omashu, ruling over the Earth Kingdom city with her father and Tom-Tom. Her parents had recreated a perfect little family, and had set themselves up nicely with a cushy job with benefits. Mai had been living under the assumption that she had not been missed.
It was a little known fact amongst the high-brow of the Fire Nation that her father, Izan, shared no biological ties with Mai. Izan had met her mother, Zola, when she was still pregnant with Mai. The two had fell in love, and once Mai was born, the entire Nation had believed that Governor Izan had sired his first child. Izan had always treated her like a daughter, and as long as Mai remained quiet and unseen, she got whatever she wanted. Mai never had any logical reason to doubt her father's love and affection for her.
That didn't stop the hurt, hidden behind her stony façade, from blooming at the birth of her little brother. Her father did not treat her any different from before, but he finally had a child that was truly his, and not only that, a son. Why would anyone want to waste any time on a nothing child that he had no responsibility for? Even if Izan did not act differently than before, Mai knew that if it ever came down to a choice between herself and Tom-Tom, their father would pick Tom-Tom every time. In the end, blood is always thicker than water.
Even her mother could get away from distancing herself from her eldest child. Zola finally had a child with the man she loved, instead of the dead-beat one-night stand that resulted in Mai's conception. It was too hard to watch the three of them act like a happy family. They had everything they ever wanted, and no material possessions Mai could glean out of her parents could mask the hole left behind. Even if Azula hadn't approached Mai with her offer, she would have still found a way to leave Omashu.
"Mai," her mother cried would while entering the room, immediately sweeping her daughter up into a hug. "It is so good to see you."
"You too, mother."
Zola took a seat next to Mai on her bed, clasping her hands within her own. "I came to ask you to come back to Omashu."
"What?" Mai pulled her hands from her mother in shock.
"You heard of the avatar's return, I'm assuming?" Mai hadn't. She had been living under the assumption that Zuko had killed the avatar, permanently. Suddenly, all the blank gaps in Zuko's demeanor began filling in place.
"Yes," Mai lied, waiting for her mother to continue.
"A battle is coming," her mother continued. "There is no way to avoid it if we want to continue the Fire Nation's reign. It's going to be dangerous. I want you to come home where you will be safe."
Mai understood her mother's concern, but even if she could escape from Azula's grasp, she would not be able to return to Omashu.
"I have to stay, mother."
Even if she was not the most important person in Zuko's world, he was to her. Zuko would now be an enemy of the state, labeled a traitor by the Fire Lord, and she would have to remain in the Fire Nation capital to ensure his safety. If she were to return to Omashu, there would be no way to make sure her loved ones remained unharmed. Zuko, her parents, and little Tom-Tom were all in peril every day this war stretched on, and regardless of her importance on their lives, they were all important to her. Everyone she loved was in danger, and Mai would try to hardest to keep them all secure.
"Mai, are you sure? Your father would really like you to return, and Tom-Tom misses you!" Her mother continued pleading, but Mai had already made up her mind.
"I'm needed here. Azula has recruited me to a special task force. Leaving is not an option." Mai knew that it was a bit cruel to throw Azula's power around as an excuse, but it worked. Zola slumped, knowing that even she, wielding all of her husband's power, could not compete with the heir to the Fire Nation throne.
"Well," Zola clapped her hands together, "now that I am here, we should catch up! I haven't even received a single messenger hawk from you. What's going on in your life, now? I have been hearing rumors about a boy."
Mai discreetly nudged the letter from Zuko behind her back, and out of sight from her mother's eyes. "Nothing. There is nothing going on."