Chapter 1

"So, did he tell you where she is?" Mai's rasping voice murmured into his ear.

"Yes," he replied. "Or at least, he told me where to start the search... where he sent her."

"Where?"

"The colonies."

"Hmm."

She did not have to wait long before Zuko's temper flared, together with every single candle in the room. "I wish I could do something NOW! But now that Aang's brought here Kuei, and the Northern Water Tribe fleet will be here in two days... there's no chance I'll be able to go there and come back before anyone notices!"

Since representatives of all the major players in the world were already present in the Fire Nation capital (some due to the virtue of living there, while others due to having been imprisoned after the failed invasion of the Day of the Black Sun), it was decided that the peace negotiations would take place there. The Earth King and Chief Arnook were the only two people missing; the Avatar had left several days ago on Appa to retrieve the former, while the latter had departed with his entourage as soon as the news of the victory had reached the North Pole and was now travelling at full speed towards the Fire Nation capital. The Firelord was needed here.

"Zuko."

"Yes, Mai?"

He was still agitated, clearly torn. "I will go," she said daintily, wondering why she cared.

Zuko turned around forcefully to face her. "What? No, Mai, you will not."

"Zuko," she reached out to him. "You will be missed here, if you go. I won't. I have practically made it my art not to be missed. You cannot be missed if you are invisible in the first place."

"You are not invisible, Mai."

At that, she had to smile. "Perhaps not anymore. After all, it is hard to be invisible if you are sitting with your boyfriend in plain view of all the nobles of the Fire Nation! Not to mention more than one Earth Kingdom noble with a daughter in a marriageable age... and the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe..."

Zuko laughed. "Heh. Katara would kill you for what you are now suggesting, Mai."

Small embers lit in his girlfriend's dark eyes, and he loved them. "She might try. But still, Zuko, I want to go."

He lifted his head and looked at her earnestly. "You are serious about that? You really want to go?"

"And fetch your mother? Of course, you jerk, why not?"

"Besides, it's not like there's many people you can send instead," she continued after a brief, though lengthening, moment. "There can't be many who know how she looks. After you burnt every last portrait of hers on the Ember Island, you know."

"I still have one," Zuko said defensively.

"Oh, yes, like that's gonna help." She rolled her eyes. "Zuko, let me go. If anything else... she knows me. And I know her. She will trust me sooner than any platoon of the Royal Firebenders you send for her."

Zuko's eyes lit, and she knew she had made a HUGE mistake. "OK, Mai," he said. "If you really want to go, then I won't stop you. Can't stop you, probably. So... thank you very much for doing this for me. I'm really grateful. But you won't go alone. The colonies are rough, and I want you to be safe. I need you to be safe. I need to know you're OK while I sit here with these old, cranky men and do – all those negotiations stuff and all. So, I'm sending a platoon of the Royal Firebenders with you. You're not to give them the slip. That's my order to you, as your Firelord."

"...please?" he added a moment later.