A/N: The second question I have to tackle is, if they were so in love, why does it take Azula tricking them to go to dinner in order for them to get together in the comic "Going Home Again"? This is my attempt at explaining that distance, and although I don't like it nearly as much as the first bit, because so much of this one is straight from the show and not my head, I still thought I'd share.
It had been over six months. Not that she was counting. And things in her own life were getting worse. Her best friend Ty Lee deserted her, Azula grew more irritable every day, and then to top it off, her parents saw fit to turn her world upside-down and drag her off to some Earth Kingdom colony they were supposed to be in charge of now. No, she was not happy about any of that. But it paled in comparison to the tight feeling in her chest she got whenever she thought about the letters. Or their absence.
Mai couldn't know, of course, that by that point he had not only lost his ship and crew and thus all means of communication with the Fire Nation, but had also been sentenced to death by his father. She only knew that she hadn't heard from him, and that this Earth Kingdom colony was unbearable. She blamed these feelings for the fact that she so easily fell in with Azula's demands before she even knew what they were. Once she found out, she wasn't sure what to think - they were supposed to drag him back to his father in chains? Oh yes, as Ty Lee had guessed, she would be happy enough to see him again. She missed him desperately. But bringing him home as a prisoner? A dull feeling settled in her stomach as she wondered how she would react when Azula caught up to him. She must do whatever Azula said, of course. And yet how could she betray him?
Later on, she would admit that following Azula was a lot of fun. Running around in her crazy tank machines (where had Azula come up with those, anyway? Mai had never seen anything like them), fighting off those stupid Water Tribe peasants, dueling with warriors who fought with silly fans - of all things! She'd take knives any day - and taking over the giant Earth Kingdom city from the inside. Mai had been born for that kind of stuff.
And when they finally did catch up with him, it was entirely anti-climatic. Mai and Ty Lee were stuck babysitting the stupid Earth King and his even stupider pet bear (whatever the heck a bear was), while Azula had all the fun. A battle had apparently raged hot down in the catacombs, but of course Mai saw none of it. She viciously hated that bear for it. And in the end, it turned out - and she was almost disappointed - that Azula preferred to convert her brother back to their side, and Mai wouldn't even have to make a choice. It might, Mai mused unhappily, be the most boring ending to the story possible. Just what she deserved.
It was even worse when she saw him. He was standing alone in the throne room, Azula having left to - well, do something devilish, Mai was sure. His shoulders were slumped and his hair was short and messy. She could only see his back from where she was standing. He was taller, a lot taller than last time she'd seen him - she could tell even though he was slumping. Suddenly too shy to approach or say anything, Mai swallowed. Everything that had passed between them now seemed unbearably awkward. The distance between them seemed impossible, even though they were in closer physical proximity than they had been anytime in the last three years. Even without the weight of Azula's disapproval hanging over her, she didn't know how to do this. Her eyes fixed on the ground, she turned and walked away.
[A/N: If they got together just as the aforementioned comic describes (see scans-daily [dot] dreamwidth [dot] org [slash] 2090336 [dot] html), I couldn't resist wondering why Azula wants them together and wants Zuko home. I'm sure Zuko wondered that too. This second scene takes place on the ship from Ba Sing Se back to the Fire Nation capital, somewhere around the other maiko scenes in "The Awakening".]
His jaw was hard. "Azula only wants me home so I can serve her." His knuckles were white, fists closing on the shiprail until it hurt. "She wants me to know I'll never be able to challenge her. I know she didn't give me the chance to join her to see me come back as father's heir."
Mai was silent. She knew all this. She'd accepted it already. She placed her hand on his, and wondered when Zuko would accept it.
"Can I do it?" he wondered in a rare moment of voiced self-doubt. Mai didn't know whether he was questioning his ability to follow Azula, or his ability to challenge her. Her hand tightened around his. She didn't want to know.