Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Chapter 2: New Allies

Zuko was behind the counter of a very busy tea shop. He wondered where his uncle was but didn't worry about it too much. He knew that whatever was keeping his uncle, it must be important. His uncle had taught him not to panic at the slightest change in a schedule. The bell rang signaling that someone had entered the shop. When Zuko looked up he was stunned. There stood his uncle and to his great disbelief…Mai.

Zuko tried as hard as he could to keep his cool, knowing that his uncle probably had a good reason as to why he was currently escorting her into their home. He made eye contact with his uncle and saw a look that said everything is ok. Zuko went into the back room and met Mai and is uncle, he shut the door and looked at his uncle.

"Explain!" Zuko had tried to keep his cool but enough was enough, he was going to get some answers.

Iroh looked at his nephew. He understood why his nephew would not understand what was happening. He took a deep breath and put his arm around Mai.

"Well Zuko, while I was shopping I happened upon young Mai here who was quite distraught at the time. She told me she was tired of working with your sister Azula. So I offered a place here with us. She just wants to be happy. Please understand Zuko. You were able to change sides, so why can't she?"

Zuko was about to retort when reason hit him. His uncle was right, he had changed…for the better. So who was he to make Mai's decision for her? She deserved the same opportunity he did. He looked at her. He couldn't help but notice how beautiful she was. This could turn out rather interesting, he thought to himself. He turned to look back at his uncle. He sighed.

"I'll go and prepare my room for her, uncle I will move my things into your room." After he finished he turned and made his way up the stairs to make the necessary preparations for Mai to stay with them. As he walked up the stairs he could have sworn he heard Mai mutter "thank you" under her breath. He smiled to himself and thought. Interesting indeed.

Iroh smiled after his nephew left, he looked at Mai a sighed. "Well he certainly has grown into a fine young man. I am very pleased with how he handled that just now. He has become the man I always knew he would be."

Mai smiled at Iroh. "Thank you for your hospitality. If you want I can do some work around the shop for you while Zuko is up-stairs making his room inhabitable for me."

Iroh nodded at Mai. "Well if you don't mind standing at the counter, the prices are on the register."

Just then the bell rang to signal the door opening. Iroh took a deep breath "ah and there is your first customer." He smiled at Mai as she was walking out. He followed her and noticed that she had suddenly gone rigid. He immediately thought the worst and figured that Azula and Ty Lee had walked in. But 

when he looked over her shoulder he was almost relieved to see that it was in fact the avatar and his friends who had walked in. He casually put his hand on Mai's shoulder and whispered in her ear. "I will handle them; you go let Zuko know who has arrived. If we are lucky then maybe we can join up with the avatar in hopes to end this war."

Mai only nodded and went up stairs to tell Zuko who arrived.

Iroh went forward to address aang first, knowing that he would be more understanding than the others. Then he saw Toph and smiled. So this is the group she was having trouble with. He thought to himself. He then decided to approach her.

Toph sensed him approaching and smiled. "Well hi there! Did everything work out with your nephew?"

Iroh smiled at the remembering of their conversation that they had in the woods. "I believe that it has thanks for asking. How have you been my dear friend? I trust everything worked out with you?"

Toph went and gave Iroh a hug. "It's worked out pretty well. I have been great and now even better since I have found you. I need more advice…but not here."

Iroh looked at her with understanding, and then looked the other three who seemed to be in shock.

Aang was the first one to speak. "Toph. You know this man?"

Toph smiled "Yeah he and I met in the woods during one of times when we weren't getting along. He gave me a cup of tea and some excellent advice. He doesn't mean us any harm, if he did he would have attacked already…right?"

Aang seemed to realize where Toph was coming from. He looked at Iroh and smiled, "well I guess if Toph trusts you then I guess we do too. Umm…where is Zuko? He isn't going to attack us is he?"

Iroh chuckled at the slight worry in Aang's voice. "Well allow me to explain a few things. If you will all take a seat I will get us some tea, then I will explain what is going on."

They all nodded and took a seat at the table closet to the counter so that Iroh wouldn't have to walk too far. A few minutes later Iroh appeared with five cups of tea on a tray. He casually passed out each glass to the four and then proceeded to take a seat. He took a long sip of his tea and sighed.

"A lot has happened since we last met. First of all Zuko and I no longer support the Fire Nation. We have both decided to start over here in hopes that maybe we could blend in, and so far it has gone well. Second, we have a new Fire Nation traitor in our presence. Mai has decided she is no longer favorable of working for Azula. She is currently upstairs telling Zuko that you four have arrived. Hopefully he will handle it like he did when he decided to let Mai stay with us." At this, took a sip of his tea. He took a breath and then continued his explanation. "Finally, we were also wondering if there is maybe a possibility of us joining your group. Zuko and I could teach you firebending and Mai would be a great asset to the group. She knows Azula's plans."



At that Sokka decided to step in. "But what if Mai is part of Azula's plan? What if she is just trying to set us up?"

Iroh nodded in understanding. He looked at the door to the back room and noticed was creaking open he sighed. "If you don't believe me then allow her to tell her own story." He signaled toward the door. Suddenly the door opened as Mai and Zuko walked into the room. Surprisingly Zuko seemed to be keeping his cool and wasn't showing the slightest intent to attack. Mai stepped forward and looked directly in Aangs eyes, "Zuko and I have been talking and well…we want to be good. We know we have both caused you a lot of trouble and we are very sorry for that. Just know that we are now willing to risk our lives for the avatar. We will see the end of Firelord Osai."

The four of them seemed to get into a huddle to discuss what Mai just said. A few seconds later it was Katara who stood up and looked Mai directly in the eyes, "we have decided to give you a chance, but one screw up and you are both gone."

Mai nodded her thanks to Katara. Katara's eyes then flashed to Zuko's, "Well aren't you going to say anything?"

Zuko looked up at her and then sighed, "I never dreamed that one day I would join sides with the very person that I have been pursuing for the past three years. But, I feel that it is in my best interest that I follow my heart. And my heart is saying…that I need to help Aang."

On that note, Aang stood up and walked over to Zuko. Aang looked into Zuko's eyes and held out his hand, "I am glad you have decided to join us, we could really use your help."

Zuko looked at Aang's hand then took it in his own and shook. Zuko looked at Aang, "Thank you."

After that they decided that they would continue their celebration at the tea shop for the rest of the day. Knowing that tomorrow they would have to start gathering troops and preparing for what they had hoped would be the final battle.

A/N: Hey guys. I hope you have enjoyed my story so far. Please READ and REVIEW. I am never going to know what you think about my story if you don't REVIEW it so please help me out. Thanks for reading.