A quick, little oneshot :) R&R

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The Firelord was not a relaxed man. He worked almost constantly, it seemed. For to rebuild a nation as great as the Fire Nation was a tough job, and Zuko took it seriously. The rebellions had been stroke against, and peace was winning. Occasionally the Avatar would come to visit, and the two of them weren't to be found for days as they counseled about the world.

Sometimes there would be times when he could afford to relax a bit, but in the five years he'd been on the throne, he'd still not slept eight hours straight. He seemed to live for his nation.

When times were really rough, and lots of problems encountered the Firelord, the circle under his eye carved itself into his skin as if it was going to stay there forever.

Now was one of those times.

Zuko's wife, Mai, always did her best to make Zuko's life easier, and she took her share of the work, like fighting the rebellions. It was also her who visited the Earth Kingdom when needed, though Ty Lee mostly was enough. The problem was that even with all his advisers, admirals, masters and his wife, Zuko didn't seem to relax less, but actually the opposite. Mai figured that he was afraid they were going to do something wrong. When he very rarely gave her some work to do, he came and hang over her shoulder every fifth minute to check if she was doing it right.

Zuko's life was stressed, and even thought his advisors, admirals and masters noticed and told him to rest, even though they felt the stress themselves, Zuko did not change. But even though the stress had a bit effect on his advisors, admirals and masters, they had even more effect on his wife.

It had been a month since they had had what Mai would call a conversation, and their only interaction was a quick "hello" in the morning, if she was up. Usually, she got up later and went to bed earlier – because Zuko's day was just too long to follow. When he got up, it was practically night yet!

Mai, who hadn't even felt as much as a kiss in over a month, decided to do something about the situation, and after a quick conversation with Aang, which persisted in her suggesting and him agreeing, through letters, she was ready to go through with it.

She made the tea herself, and the steam was relaxing. It was late. The sun had been down for hours. Her eyelids felt so heavy …

But she did not let herself fall asleep. She waited faithfully until he arrived.

He was yawning as he walked in, rubbing his eye. He stopped instantly as he smelled the tea, and he looked around, groggily putting together the scene.

"Good evening," Mai said pleasantly and smiled humorously at him. He really looked hilarious as he stood there and stared at her with open mouth. "Come and sit down."

"I was just going to bed –" he slowly, and with tired voice, began to argue.

"I didn't ask if you wanted to, I told you to," she said, a fierce edge in her voice that he didn't miss, not even in this mode. He knew there was no way around, so he walked toward her, sending craving glances toward the bedroom. Mai smiled internally, but it did not show on her face.

He sat down on his knees in front of her, and she poured the tea for him – his hands would have been too clumsy.

"Tea is good for your health," Mai mused. "You should inhabit drinking it once in a while."

"You sound like uncle," he murmured blurrily.

"Well," Mai answered, looking off into space, something suddenly occurring to her. "He is very wise." Whatever, she said to herself.

"It's good," Zuko sighed and yawned.

She smiled at him. "I made it myself," she said and put the kettle back on its plate. He nodded, and as he did, his head began to hang, and he nodded a few times more, his eyes opening and closing at infuriating speed.

She caught the cup before he dropped it on the floor.

He yawned. "It's been a hard day," he murmured. "I'll go to bed." Mai watched him as he began to get to his feet, but he slumped back on his knees momentarily. She didn't move.

He shook his head, trying to clear it no doubt. He fell once again when he tried to get up. Then he tried crawling, but that didn't work, either.

"What's … happening?" he whispered weakly, focusing on her with enormous trouble.

"You're going to sleep," she answered sternly, not looking back at him. She opened the kettle and let his tea fall back into it.

"Mai …" he mumbled, and it was almost impossible to figure out the name. "What have you …"

She finally looked at him, and to her astonishment, she saw fear in his eyes. He couldn't actually believe that she was trying to poison him? Well, in truth, she kind of had.

"Zuko, you're going to wake up again in a few hours, and you'll be perfectly fine. Only you'll be better than now." She stood and walked over to him. She hesitantly sat down and stroked her hand through his hair. He tried to get away from her hand, but he didn't succeed.

"It's …" He trailed off, and his eyes sunk. He didn't open them again, and she sat there and stared at him. Then she reached up and touched some of the hair that had fallen down onto his forehead, when his hand suddenly grabbed hers. She realized he'd opened his eyes again. "How can I trust you?" he asked.

She was so puzzled over the question, he almost fell asleep, but then she freed her hand and said: "How can you ask me that? I have been with you for so long, I have stood by your side, supported you –"

"You did the same things for Azula," he cut in, and his eyes caught hers. She did not think about it before her hand cut through the air and whipped across his face. His eyes rolled around, and he was more awake than before.

"I sacrificed everything for you," Mai whispered. "I betrayed Azula for you."

"So who are you betraying me for?" he asked, somewhat clearly this time.

She slapped him again, and he gasped. "I would never betray you! You're more important than anything in my entire life!"

"Then why are you doing this?" He was slipping again.

Her voice smoothed a bit, and she touched his forehead with feathery motions. "Did you know you have a circle under your eye? They're several inches deep!"

"So?" he murmured.

"So I'm worried about you," she answered and put her own forehead into his hair. "I'm worried about the Fire Nation. If you're constantly tired and on the nerve, you can easily make mistakes, and you can be controlled by lesser men than you." He tried to turn his head to her, and she backed off to look into his eyes. "But most importantly, I'm worried because you haven't touched me for over a month!"

He opened and closed his mouth several times, before she finally closed it with her own. She didn't deepen the kiss, afraid she would be influenced with the 'poison', too, and his eyes were questioning when she pulled back.

"You will sleep, and then you will learn to give your generals, admirals, advisors and masters, but most importantly your wife, more credit, and you will let them have more part in your work."

"But –"

She put her hand on his eyes. "Sleep, Zuko. Sleep well and deeply. When you wake up, you'll be well rested. And I'll be by your side." She kissed him once more before he disappeared.

-

When he awoke, she was there, just as she'd promised, and even though the circle under his eye was not gone, he was well rested.

He began giving over more of his work to others, and Mai was proud of him.

Zuko was only slightly amused, but mostly annoyed, that Aang had known about her plan.

Later, things would become stressed again, and he would begin to work too much.

One night he walked into his room and saw Mai sit at a table with kettle and cups.

"Tea?" she asked and held up one cup with an inviting smile.

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Wonder if Zuko will ever touch any of her tea again. Please review :)