Chapter 1
"Ready for bed?" Mai asked.
"Yeah," Zuko said. He lay down on his soft bed and pulled his silk crimson duvet over him. Mai sat down on the bed, tracing her finger over the gold patterns that adorned it.
"You seem tense," she said. "What's up?"
"Well, it's a little hard being fire lord when the other three nations hate you for what you father did to them."
"Zuko, you've already liberated the other nations. What more can you do?"
Zuko sighed. "Mai, even though I freed the other nations, I can't replace every man that my father killed. They hate me for being his son."
Mai shrugged, and got into bed next to him. "Zuko, you've only been fire lord for a year. You're an eighteen-year-old boy. You've tried your best. Relax. Worry about it tomorrow." She leaned over and kissed him. Zuko reached over to turn off the light. "I love you," Mai said, as her eyes began to close.
Zuko stared at the ceiling, letting his mind become flooded with a tsunami of thoughts.
But none of them were about the other nations.
I've tried my best, and they'll see that I'm not like my father in time. He thought. But what about…
Zuko looked over to Mai's sleeping form. Pale skin, gold eyes, black hair. Pretty, but not as pretty as…
Tanned skin, blue eyes, brown hair.
Mai was beautiful. She was kind. She loved him. So why didn't he care for her the way she cared for him? Zuko had already decided that he was going to propose to Mai. She would be a good fire lady and an obedient and loving wife. There were times when he had thought he loved Mai, but whenever he kissed her, or held her in his arms, he imagined how it would feel if she were there.
Katara. That name had become etched into his mind and heart since the night in Ba Sing Se. She had offered to heal his scar. She had only known him as an evil, conniving prince who wanted nothing but the avatar. And yet she had still offered.
She had stood up. She had touched his scar…
That was when he knew that Katara of the Southern Water Tribe was the one that he loved.
Katara loved Aang. And she knew that he loved her very much. But it was hard for her to accept him as more than a friend. Aang was still so young, and he was like a brother to her in so many ways. Katara knew that she would most likely end up with Aang, and she would be happy. But she knew that she could never love his gray eyes the way she loved the eyes of another.
She knew she could never love Aang's gray eyes the way she loved his golden ones.