His Fire Lord robes were discarded in his room, his flame crown put away, and his bag was on his back. And Zuko was more excited than he would ever care to admit. There was still a line of royal guards a few yards behind him in the courtyard, but he wasn't paying attention to them.

It would look a little odd to an outside observer, the Fire Lord dressed down in the clothes of an Earth Kingdom commoner standing in front of his palace. Zuko didn't care. There had been an excess of speeches and talks and paperwork (so, so much paperwork) for weeks, and now he was finally getting a vacation. Just a few months before Zuko would have (and had) scoffed at the idea of a vacation, but if there was one thing life had taught him up to this point, it was that almost anything could change.

Of course, he appreciated the constants as well. He turned away from where he had been surveying the sky above in order to catch Mai's eye. She was lounging on the steps behind him, studying her nails. She'd, unsurprisingly, made a face at the pale green dress that had been provided for her, claiming that it wasn't her color. In Zuko's mind it flattered her just as much as everything she ever wore...or didn't wear, as the case sometimes, wonderfully was. Though, in his more rational moments, he could admit that he wasn't exactly an unbiased judge.

She wasn't easy to read, but he liked to think that he was getting better at it, and the fact that she wasn't standing with him, an arm through his or around his shoulder, or at least close enough to give him the opportunity to grab hold of her, said a lot about her hesitance regarding this trip. For once, however, Zuko was optimistic. He was going to see Uncle again, he was going to see his friends (his friends), and he would have Mai with him. If they could accept him out of nowhere just on his word, then they would certainly be fine with Mai after she saved half of their lives.

She caught him staring at her and raised an eyebrow. Zuko felt himself grin reflexively. He might have said something, but before he could open his mouth a familiar bellow cut through the air. Zuko whipped around to look up and there was Appa, massive and fluffy as always, and Aang, in his normal perch at the curve of Appa's neck, grinning widely.

He was off Appa in a flash and a gust of wind before the bison had even finished landing and immediately hugged Zuko and clapped him on the back.

"Hey, Zuko!" Aang greeted him with every bit of his normal enthusiasm, perhaps a few notches more. Then he leaned to the side and waved at Mai. "Hi, Mai!"

"Hey," Mai intoned evenly.

"You two ready?" Aang inquired.

"Absolutely," Zuko responded and favored the Avatar with a smile. He strode forward quickly and tossed his bag up onto Appa's back. Aang spun around in an airbending assisted jump and retook his own seat, but Zuko paused to make sure Mai was following before he scrambled up Appa's side and into the saddle.

She handed her bag up to Zuko, who stowed it next to his, and then she paused. Zuko watched a look of mild consternation cross her face as she surveyed Appa's massive side and the distance between the ground and the saddle.

"Just grab his fur," Zuko offered helpfully and what he hoped was encouragingly.

Mai obeyed and when she had nimbly made her way halfway up he held out his hand and helped her the rest of the way into the saddle.

"First class travel," she said wryly once she was seated.

"You bet," Aang laughed as he picked up the reigns. "Aren't you, buddy?"

Appa's groan in response could have been an affirmation.

"How is it in the-" Mai began, but it was then that Appa lifted himself into the air again with a sweep of his tail. Other people, Zuko was sure, would have yelped or even gasped had they been as startled by the sudden quick assent as Mai visibly was. Zuko's girlfriend, however, was not other people and instead just cut off her words abruptly and balled one of her fists in Zuko's sleeve. Zuko found himself smiling again as he put an arm around Mai and pulled her closer to him.

"You'll get used to it," he assured her with all the confidence in the world.