Disclaimer: No I don't own Avatar.
I hate the Firelord.
That's the only thought running through Mai's, the emotionless daughter of a Fire Nation noble, mind. She's just barely keeping on her mask as she watches the Prince of the Fire Nation beg his father for mercy. Her Prince now has tears coming from his eyes. She knows how he's acting should make her stop respecting him. Liking him… Loving him. Yet she cannot.
"You will learn respect, and suffering will be your teacher."
She knew something like this would happen, but it didn't prepare her for what she saw. Flames came from Firelord Ozai's fist to Zuko's face. The most horrible scream she could ever hear echoed through the arena and her mind. She couldn't look anyway and she wouldn't even if she could. Mai wanted to run up to him, but sat frozen in her chair. It felt like her soul had been ripped to shreds. She wanted to cry, but Mai couldn't.
After Prince Zuko was well enough to travel, he was sent on an impossible mission. He was to capture the Avatar, who had been missing for one hundred years. Mai never even got to see him once he was taken to the healers. But for three years she hoped. No one could tell that she even cared, but she hoped for the impossible.
Then Princess Azula, a childhood friend and sister to her crush, came and everything changed again.