Well, here it is. The second chapter in Elements of Love. Zuko's been having some problems. Oh, and I still don't own A:tLA or GD.

"Sometimes I need to apologize.

Sometimes I need to admit that I ain't right.

Sometimes I should just keep my mouth shut, or only say hello.

Sometimes I still feel I'm walking alone." -Green Day, Nimrod, "Walking Alone"

Zuko's POV

This time, Zuko thought, I'm not apologizing for what I've done.

Zuko stared at the clenched piece of parchment in his hand, anger coursing through him like blood. Mai had left him, and for what reason? It was because she thought he had a thing for Toph. That's insane, isn't it? He and Toph have always just been friends, nothing more. Then again, a month ago when he had seen her beauty in Mai's quarters he had felt rather strange. He had just accounted that to the fact that it had been scorching that day, but that shouldn't have mattered. He was a firebender after all.

A frown crossed Zuko's face. He took the crumpled note and smoothed it out, wanting to reread it.

It read:

Dear Zuko,

I'm sorry we have to part like this, but I can't go on living this way. I can't stand the way your head is always in the clouds these days. This definitely isn't the same Zuko I first fell in love with. I can only attribute it to the fact that you are no longer in love with me, but someone else entirely. My best guess is your longtime friend Toph. She is quite beautiful these days, as you so obviously have noticed. However, if for some reason you should ever want to see me again, I've gone home to my parents' house. They wish to travel and would like me take care of Tom-tom.

Best wishes to you,

Mai

Oh, I forgot to mention, I left the ring on the nightstand, too. Give it to someone you really love.

Zuko slammed his fist into the wall beside Mai's old bed, but then he quickly pulled it back. He'd given up giving in to his rage a long time ago. There was no point in sliding backwards now. Instead, he threw the note up and out in front of him, threw his fist into the air, and shot a ball of fire at the offending piece of parchment. He then watched in great satisfaction as it disintegrated and the ashes fell to the floor.

It was stupid, what he'd just done, and he knew it. He didn't care, however, not anymore. The Fire Lord stood up from the bed and walked over to the mirror, where his reflection was staring back at him. He stared at his dark, shaggy hair hanging loosely into his golden eyes. His eyes, the left one surrounded by a scar, had a haunted look to them. They also looked sleep-deprived, which stood to reason, considering he hadn't been able to sleep very well in the week since Mai had left him. He had been too busy with his thoughts to get much sleep at all.

Did he really feel something for Toph? Deep down he wanted to deny it, to say that Mai was the one in the wrong and not him, but he knew that was not the case. In the last few weeks all he had seen when he closed his eyes was Toph that day in Mai's room. That always led to other thoughts about her, the night he first met her, when her burned her feet, her unquestioning acceptance of him, her ability to always know just what to say, and her incredible earthbending and metalbending abilities.

She really is amazing, he realized. He felt shallow for thinking this next thought, but it was true. Where most women when they first met him would often shy away from him because of his scar, or some would even do the complete opposite, Toph would never see his scar. She just accepted him for who he was as a person, and really, that was all he could ever ask for.

Just then his mother Ursa, whom Zuko with some help from his friends had rescued from a high-security Fire Nation prison, strode into the room.

"There you are, Zuko dear. A servant's been looking for you for most of the afternoon. Have you been in here the whole time?" she asked him, her voice softening as she looked around.

"Yes, I have been," he responded somewhat tersely. He needed to be left alone with his thoughts right now. Then a puzzled frown crossed his face and he asked, "Why's the servant been looking for me?"

"I don't know dear, but you can ask him for yourself. He's right here," Ursa replied, moving out of the doorway to make room for a small man that looked somewhat like a saber-tooth moose-lion whose name Zuko remembered to be Moshi.

"Okay. Uh, so what do you need, servant?" he asked. Even after five years, having servants waiting on him was still a little weird to Zuko.

"Fire Lord Zuko," Moshi began with a bow, "we received a message via Messenger Hawk that Miss Toph Bei Fong's ship has entered the Fire Nation."

Zuko couldn't help feeling a thrill run threw him. In the wake of Mai's leaving he'd almost forgotten what day Toph's visit started. "Thank you, Moshi," he said graciously, "you're news is much appreciated."

"You're welcome, my Lord," Moshi said, bowing once more before leaving the room.

Before she followed the servant out the door Ursa turned and said to Zuko gently, "I'm very glad that your friend Toph is coming to see us again, Zuko. I think she's just the person you need to help take your mind off of Mai. She's a very sweet girl, even if she is a little, shall we say, rowdy, for my taste." His mother gave him one last smile and a nod before she stepped through the door. Once again Zuko would be left with his thoughts.

Hopefully, Zuko thought to himself after his mother had gone, Toph will do more for me than just take my mind off of Mai. With that thought in mind, Zuko took his leave from Mai's old quarters. He meandered through the palace a bit before going to his throne room, where he would eagerly await Toph's arrival.

So that's the second chapter! Hope you liked it! As always, reviews are much appreciated. Next chapter, prepare for Toph's POV and to learn about the "uprisings" in the Earth Kingdom.

~Cori