I do not, of course, own the Avatar storyline or characters. The story is mine, and any new characters are also mine. But quite obviously Zuko, Katara, Aang, and Mai are not.

Six months after the final battle:

Zuko paced the room, trying to contain his temper. Mai was up to her same sardonic, uncaring antics. He thought she'd gotten over that, thought she'd grown. After all they'd been through together, after the battles they'd fought! And still she was so immature. She questioned his every move, viciously jealous and possessive for no reason. He'd tried to reason with her, tried to make her see that he truly loved her. But to no avail. Over the last six months, he'd come to realize that this was in fact her true personality- the other had simply been an act.

And now- his fists clenched, then lit with bright flame. He'd come a long way in controlling his expansive temper, but Mai could bring it out in him like he'd never even tried to control it. With a growl of rage, he brought his fist slamming down on a coffee table, smashing it to bits. He watched the splinters of table burn brightly, then sighed and clenched his fist, extinguishing the entire table. What was he going to do? He was Fire Lord now, but he didn't feel like it. Here he was, quarreling with his girlfriend who he didn't even like as a person anymore, when he should be trying to put his country back together.

So. What could he do? He needed to focus on the Fire Nation. It needed him far more than Mai did. She might not understand, and he cringed to think of her wrath, but it had to be done. He'd end up burning the entire palace down if he had to spend much longer with her. They were over. Now he just had to tell her…

Katara sat on the surface of the lake, stirring the water with one fingertip, making pattern upon pattern, compounding the spirals and whorls. She wished she knew what to do. She had thought- no, she'd known that she could be happy with Aang, knew him to be her soul mate, the one person she could spend the rest of her life with. But here she was, as unhappy as she'd ever been. Aang was and always would be one of her best friends, but despite his being the Avatar, and going though so much in his young life, he was still immature and prone to juvenile snap decisions. Furthermore, he refused to see they weren't happy together. He was as miserable as she, but insisted he'd never been happier. And he was jealous of her freedom, her ability to travel incognito. She knew he resented her for it, though he would never say so. But she wanted responsibilities, wanted to be able to do something! Sokka was down with the Southern Water Tribe, helping their father to rebuild what remained of their people. Katara knew it was only a matter of time before he took over from their father as head of the tribe. Which was great- for Sokka. But she could no longer be happy in the South Pole. Her people didn't need her down there. They had numerous water benders now, though none as powerful as herself. It would have been far too awkward for her to go there to live- they would have expected her to take charge, and would have then resented her for it. She could do no good there. But here, with Aang, she did even less. He was too powerful, and made her own talents obsolete. He barely even listened to her opinions anymore. She sighed deeply, then placed her palm flat on the surface of the water, stilling the entire body of water in one quiet movement. She only wished her heart could be as still.