Mai looked at Zuko, her golden eyes had acquired a sad, mournful look.
"Then what do you want from me?" she asked. "Tell me, and I would gladly give it if I could. I need to know what it is you want from me."
Zuko looked at her face, noticing how vulnerable she looked, at how the moonlight made her glow, how unearthly and beautiful she was with the wind gently blowing through her raven black hair. As he took all this in, he simply said, "I want you."
Mai looked slightly shocked. He had not given the answer she expected.
Zuko drew a small breath before continuing. "I want to see you everyday. I want to watch you smile, even if someone else has made you happy. I want to be there if you cry, even if I can't do anything to help. I want to always be near you and see you living your life."
Mai watched as his eyes glazed over with tears, hearing his voice crack as he spoke, wondering how he could've been in love with her, even as she betrayed him for the protection of her family. When he had brought her here to the palace, she had imagined it had been to punish her and make her suffer as she had made him suffer, from the persecution by his sister to the loss of his uncle, and any other wrongs she had done him.
To find that he had been in love with her the whole time was, to say the least, shocking. And she had been so cruel to him! She had done terrible things, and still he loved her! How undeserving she was! Yet, as angry with Zuko and herself as she was, she now desired Zuko more strongly than before.
She wanted this man for herself. She had to have him forever. And he was hers.