Mai carefully selected one of her shruiken throwing knives, picked up her handheld whetstone, and drew the blade across the stone with a rasp. The knife did not really need to be sharpened. Honestly, she was probably doing more harm than good by re-sharpening all of her blades for the third time this week. But it was something to do.
Rasp. No murderous fathers. Rasp. No crying baby brothers, asking where daddy is. Rasp. No unfeeling mothers all too eager to plan her wedding. If Mai could renounce her relation to all of them, she would.
No. That wasn't quite true. Mai thought of how Tom-Tom held his pudgy little arms up to be held, how he had been so brave when captured by his own father, and how he tugged on her hair when he asked for a treat. Yes. She couldn't quite hate Tom-Tom.
Someone knocked sharply on the door. Only one other person could receive permission to enter the Firelord's private chambers, and Mai smiled slightly as she realized Zuko was knocking on his own bedroom door. She got up from the bed, leaving her knives on the covers, and opened the intricately carved wooden door.
Zuko looked tired. But then, he always did. However, Mai noticed, he didn't look quite as upset as she had expected. Considering he had just banished her father.
"How did it go?" she asked, standing aside to let him in.
"It's done," sighed Zuko. He shut the door, looked at her warily, unsure of how she would receive him. Even though they had worked this out together, he was still nervous that she would be angry. After all, even his own megalomaniacal father had gotten a lighter sentence. His nervousness was both endearing and achingly sad.
Mai wasn't good with words, so she stepped closer, one arm wrapping around Zuko's neck and pulling him down to meet her lips. She closed her eyes, pressing herself into him, hoping that what she was feeling would be conveyed. Zuko relaxed into her kiss, parting his lips and raising one hand to cup her cheek.
Mai pulled away first. "It's over," she said. "You did what you had to do." Zuko rubbed his thumb against her cheek and nodded, but didn't move.
"Before the audience, I sent the order that your mother and Tom-Tom will keep your house in the capital," he said.
"I'm glad," Mai said. She was surprised to find that this feeling was genuine.
"And preparations for our wedding will begin tomorrow. Probably." Zuko smiled. "It will be nice to have something to celebrate."
"Yes, the people love a royal wedding," said Mai shrewdly. "Even if it is to a disinherited former noblewoman whose reputation—" she poked Zuko in the chest. "Has been besmirched." He blushed, but pulled her closer.
"Has someone stolen your virtue?" he grinned. "Are you completely ruined?"
"Yes, I have lost my honor!" said Mai dramatically. "My virtue, my titles, all gone!"
Zuko laughed, suddenly more lighthearted than Mai had seen him in weeks. "Well then, maybe we shouldn't marry."
"Yes, we really should—" Zuko cut her off, moving his hand from her face to her hair as he kissed her, harder than before. He kissed down her jaw to her ear, his teeth grazing her earlobe. "Tell me again you don't want to marry me," he whispered.
A servant rapped on the door. "Go away!" yelled Zuko, not moving.
"Who is it?" asked Mai.
"Um…it's Kanako, my Lord. My Lady," stammered the unfortunate servant through the door. "It's the maps of the Fire Nation the Firelord asked for. He said—you said—to bring them as soon as possible!"
"What is this about?" asked Mai. Zuko straightened, looking frustrated.
"Can we discuss this later?"
"No."
Zuko rolled his eyes, although he really shouldn't have expected anything else from Mai.
"Come in, Kanako!" he said, somewhat bitterly. She entered timidly, holding a stack of scrolls. As if nervous that she would be set ablaze at any moment, she dumped the scrolls on Zuko's desk, then bowed deeply.
"I am. So sorry. My Lord. I—"
Zuko looked awkward. "No, I'm sorry Kanako. I shouldn't have yelled. You did well to bring these to me so soon."
Kanako made a jerking bow to Mai, her hands clasped in front of her, before scampering out the door.
"So, why do you need detailed maps of the Fire Nation?" Mai said, unfurling one of the hand-painted charts.
"So persistent," Zuko sighed. "We should probably sit down." Mai glanced over and frowned. Her boyfriend—no, fiancé—had a characteristically guilty expression, tinged with a bit of his usual defensiveness. She sighed, and sat at one of the chairs behind Zuko's desk.
"So…remember Azula?" Zuko started lamely. Mai merely raised an eyebrow. It had been less than a week since she had fought Azula in the catacombs beneath the Fire Nation palace. But Zuko had never been particularly good at speaking directly. "Anyway, Azula came to visit me last night," Zuko said. Cutting off Mai's groan, he quickly continued "And she didn't want to fight. Actually, you know how last week she said she only wanted to make me the best Firelord I can?"
"She said she wanted you to be a brutal Firelord," Mai said sharply. "Not a good one."
"Right, right," said Zuko distractedly. "And kidnapping Tom-Tom and Kiyi and all the other children was obviously insane, but I think she may actually be trying to help me now. She gave me this." He pulled out the crumpled piece of parchment and handed it to Mai.
"This is a list of Ozai's bastard children. My half-siblings." Mai skimmed the list nonchalantly, but her heart was sinking. Her own father had attempted to overthrow Zuko by reinstating Ozai…or had he known about any of these other heirs? Although illegitimate, it was not unprecedented for a bastard son or daughter to become Firelord.
"Azula wants me to kill them," Zuko said. Mai looked up, horrified. He couldn't possibly be suggesting…
"Obviously, I'm not going to do that!" he said hurriedly, sitting down next to her. "But at the same time…I can't just ignore them."
"Why not?" asked Mai flatly. "Your siblings—assuming this list isn't some elaborate scheme Azula's conjured—have been fine on their own until now."
"But we don't know that!" said Zuko, looking pained. He swallowed. "Mai, Ozai…didn't treat my mother well. He abused her, and she was his wife!" He gestured to the list. "All these children are probably the offspring of some poor palace maid who Ozai used and then discarded. Their mothers may have had nothing! And I can't just sit here in luxury, in my empty palace, when some of my own blood may be starving. I ordered the maps brought in so I can locate all the small towns from the list. I'm going to find my siblings."
Mai didn't know how to react. This was just such classic Zuko. Of course he wanted to go on a rescue mission to save his siblings. Of course he wanted to re-create a family for himself. But his soft heart was going to get him killed.
"Zuko," she said gently. "I get that you want to protect them. But what if the best way to do that is to just let them be?"
"What?" he raised his voice.
"Hear me out," Mai continued. "If anyone knows about your siblings, they could be used as pawns to overthrow you, right? And the very act of you visiting them could alert the New Ozai Society or other organizations like it to your siblings' existence! The best thing to do is pretend you never saw this list."
"You're assuming that the New Ozai Society doesn't already know about them," Zuko pointed out. "If any of Ozai's children are working to overthrow me already, I need to know." He stood up from the chair, agitated.
"I'm not an idiot Mai. I know the danger they pose. So I'll check on them, make sure they're safe, make sure they and their mothers are provided for." He set his jaw. "And make sure none of them are going to stand against me."
