I'm going to add a daily (or updately) koan to these fics. The wisdom continues at the bottom of the chapter.

Today's koan: That which doesn't kill you...

~~ Interspection~~

"I have to go see her."

"You don't have to do anything."

The candles flared. One would do well to expect a hot atmosphere at the Fire Lord's table.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot that family means nothing to you!" Zuko nearly shouted. The room was dark, hung with rich ruby-red tapestries. A plate engraved with gold and piled high with slices of roast pork lay untouched between the couple.

Mai sighed. "Let me see the letter."

The Fire Lord eyed his girlfrieAlerts+nd doubtfully, then handed it over. Her eyes flicked over the lines, composed face giving no sign of her thoughts.

"Well?"

"She hasn't apologized for anything."

"She can't, you know how she is!" Zuko protested, "She is apologizingthe only way she knows. She outright said she's learning."

"Yeah, and she could be learning flower arranging for all we know." Mai coughed doubtfully into one silk maroon sleeve.

"But if she is really learning…healing…" Zuko held Mai's gaze levelly. "I need to help her."

"She is and always will be dangerous. She is a snake. Do not trust her."

"Mai, anyone can change!" Zuko cried. "You and I should know that better than anyone."

This was too much for the woman. Poise dissolved. Her left-hand fingers clutched reflexively at something hidden in her belt, and she stood suddenly, emphatically. Her lover followed her movement. Though only he was a firebender, the air around each of them suffered equally with heat.

"No, Zuko," she said, and her voice was soft like a cotton-sheathed dagger. "You want to believe everyone has good in their hearts, no matter how deeply it is buried-"

"I don't-!"

"Let me finish."

Zuko conceded with a lowering of the eyes.

"You want to believe because you found your own secret good inside of you, that anyone can. But some of us are born with black knots around our hearts, be it born of ancestry or spiritual influence or something entirely random. Some of us cannot pick which way our toes point."

He met Mai's gaze with protest on his lips, but swallowed it instead. He turned, considered. Zuko's face was wan, lost in his resplendent Fire Nation robe. When he spoke, his voice was calm. It did nothing to assuage Mai's doubts. "Maybe she is crippled by what is inside her. Maybe she, like me, is a product of our upbringing. Either of these circumstances could be curable or incurable. I have to find out."

Zuko was full of an energy Mai could not identify. Hope? Curiosity? Guilt? "You owe her nothing."

"It isn't about owing, Mai." His voice trembled with the effort of keeping his emotions in check. "You weren't there. You didn't see her – at the end – like a cornered beast…"

"So you pity her, who would have your life in a heartbeat."

"Yes, I do."

Mai sighed wearily. "Stupid is as stupid does. Still, there's something off about this letter…I will abstain from further judgment until clarity comes."

Silence reigned and relief filled Zuko's sharp face. Finally, the two resumed kneeling positions on their velvet cushions. They resumed their meal, but their gazes did not meet, and their movements were restrained and polite.

Eventually, Zuko spoke again. "What about you? Your turn-about…you must admit you are the secret-good type."

The woman smirked. Mai had turned against her nation, yes, but she had not done it for any ideology. Though blessed with a knack for wielding knives, daggers, and throwing stars, the Fire Lord's girlfriend was still an adolescent. That strange period between childhood and adulthood can addle any well-set brain, make the approval of a significant other more important than the sun and everything else under it.

Mai moved forward and caressed her lover's hollow cheek. "I am still stealing bits of your flame, darling."

~close~

...will probably have to be amputated.

By the way, interspection = introspection plus intersection.