A/N: Hard year does not begin to cover it. Let's just move on to the story shall we?

.:Chapter Nine:.

Sugary Sweet and a Little Bit Rotten

The café was perched atop a sloping hill, the kind that randomly appears amidst the straight asphalt roads and then is gone against just as quickly. Zuko had fond memories of racing Mai up the street as children, betting whoever got there first would buy the pastries. It was fun.

Now however Zuko trudged up the street alone, hood pulled up to obscure his face, and entered the small shop on his own. It was the same it had always been, mismatched tables and chairs all jammed in at different angles into every available space. On crowded says you sometimes had to literally climb over another person to get to an empty seat.

It smelled of sandalwood and old books, a crooked bookshelf packed with various donated volumes tucked away in one corner. The counter was all wood, and the cash register was old fashioned, the display case a little dirty with age.

Zuko loved it. He always had.

Mai was waiting for him at their usual spot by the window. Ever since they were young, they had sat in the same exact spot. In fact, it was at that table that they had met one another. Of course their first meeting had included two other chairs, and they hadn't spoken much, but they still recalled it fondly.

Their mothers had been friends, and had for whatever reason dragged them both along to one of their tea dates, as they called them. Zuko remembered sitting awkwardly in the antique oak chair, fidgeting and picking at his cake, trying to ignore the dark eyes boring into him from across the table. Mai had sat in the plush red armchair across from him and just stared at him the whole time.

At the end of the meeting, when their mothers had been saying goodbye, she had leaned across the table and taken the last bite of his cake. Then held out a lollipop to him.

It had been a long time since then, but just like the café, nothing had really changed. Zuko slid into the antique oak chair, the exact same one he had sat in as a child, and Mai was already lounging in the armchair, sending a message on her phone.

"Yo." she said, her tone bland. "You're late."

"Azula wasn't home when I woke up, so I stayed till she got back." he said, taking the menu from the middle of the table.

Mai snorted.

To be fair, Mai was Zuko and Azula's friend, but she had an extreme tendency to favor Zuko. Back when they were children, Azula had tried to come between them, just like she did with all of Zuko's friends. The only difference was that this time, the friend stuck by him. It had been a rather unpleasant year, when Azula had been trying to wrench them apart.

In the end however, Mai had somehow convinced her that she could be both of their friends at the same time. Over the years however she had proven that when it came to disputes between the siblings, she was more likely to take Zuko's side. And he was grateful for that. She was the only one he usually had.

"I'm getting the dessert crepe and a mocha." Mai said, putting her phone in her bag. "You?"

Zuko glanced at the menu again. He had memorized it years ago, but sometimes there were surprise specials he hadn't been expecting.

"Coconut cake." he murmured. "And a chai."

"Iced?"

"Yeah."

Mai took the menu and went to the counter, ordering for the two of them. She returned to the table a moment later with their desserts, putting them both in the middle of the table.

Just like always, they spent the first few minutes in silence until their beverages arrived, digging into the sweets. They always shared, they always had, though they each got to call dibs on specific parts of what they had ordered. (So Zuko got the corner of the coconut cake and Mai got the part of the crepe that had a strawberry on it.)

Eventually, Mai spoke up.

"So, tell me about this artist guy." she said, taking another bite of the cake.

Zuko shrugged.

"What's to tell?" he said. "He's an artist, student like me, but I guess he's got the money to pay my fees anyway."

"You make it sound like you're a prostitute."

"Sometimes I feel like one."

Mai didn't comment on that at first, but then said;

"You know, I think this is the first time you haven't said something about how they've made you pose or dress." she raised an eyebrow. "Is this guy just kinda 'been there done that' or what?"

Zuko shrugged. It was true, usually he came to Mai with his frustrations about the indecent clothing or provocative poses. When it came to Aang though… Well he didn't actually have much to say.

"He…doesn't have me pose much." he mumbled. "Just…has me sit there. Do homework, write, whatever. Just so long as I don't move too much."

Mai pushed a piece of the strawberry at him and he poked it with his fork. She waited until he had eaten it with the crepe to speak again.

"So you basically get paid to sit around for a couple hours?"

"I guess." Zuko shrugged. "It's a…little unnerving sometimes. He just stares at me for a long time sometimes and it's…weird."

Someone came and took their empty plates and Mai sat back, taking a sip of her mocha. They sat in silence again for a while, each thinking their own thoughts. Zuko was mostly sorting through things to tell Mai about, categorizing everything that had happened recently.

Mai was analyzing Zuko. He hadn't insulted the artist, and he hadn't shut down at the mention of him. He hadn't done anything he usually did. Sure the conversation hadn't been very long, but Zuko was much more expressive than people gave him credit. He knew how to show emotion where it counted, if you just knew how to read him.

Right now however, she didn't know quite what to think. It seemed Zuko was undecided as to how to feel about this particular individual, and, thus, she was too. It was just that simple. Until Zuko decided whether or not he liked this person, she would be just as lost about how to feel towards him.

Zuko cleared his throat.

"So…how's school?" he mumbled. "You've been gone a while. Trip okay?"

"Yeah the trip was okay." Mai said, brushing her pigtail behind her shoulder. "Ty Lee dragged me around and we went shopping a lot. It was fun. And school's just plain old irritating, but it was nice to see everyone again."

"Azula didn't bug you too much did she?"

"No… She…Does better, when Ty Lee is around." Mai murmured. "I mean she's still a bitch but…not as much of a bitch. It's like Ty Lee stabilizes her."

Zuko sighed and rubbed his face with a hand.

"I wish she'd agree to go to a doctor…" he said.

"Zuko we KNOW something's wrong with her mentally."

"Yeah but a doctor has the authority to DO something about it." he said. "And if she just agrees to go then father won't be able to act like I'm…"

He trailed off and Mai sighed. She laid a hand over Zuko's letting him entwine their fingers and squeeze.

They had both known for a long time that there was something very wrong with Azula, and Ozai didn't help. Mai couldn't for the life of her understand why Zuko still even gave two shits about her or anything she did. Azula treated him like trash most of the time, and she never seemed to care about a single thing he did or how much he got hurt.

But Zuko was her big brother. He COULDN'T stop caring, even if he wanted to. That was the saddest part.

"She's doing better." Mai said softly. "Since Ty Lee and I got back. Mostly Ty Lee. She's been spending a lot of time with her alone, I think they missed one another."

Zuko sighed and nodded, slumping back in his seat. That at least was good to know.

"How's your uncle?"

"He's doing well." Zuko replied. "As ever. He's…been trying to talk to me about stuff lately though and I keep avoiding him."

"The same stuff he tried to talk to you about after…" she gestured to his scar.

Zuko sighed again.

"Yeah."

"So he still wants custody over you."

"Yeah."

"Even though he knows your dad will fight tooth and nail against it JUST to hurt you two."

"Yeah."

"Have we said your uncle is tough as nails?"

"I think he could melt Hannibal Lector's heart."

The pair shared a smile. Rare coming from both of them.

Zuko paid, even thought Mai harped on him about it. They were both well funded kids, it didn't really matter who paid the tab, but Zuko wanted to cover it anyway. He was a gentleman to a fault sometimes.

They left together, Mai linking her arm with Zuko's as they walked towards the bus stop. Zuko would leave Mai there so she could head home, and he would walk another three blocks to catch his own appropriate bus. They stopped under the station sign, pulling apart. Mai gave him a calculating look.

"You know you can call me for anything, right Zuko?" she said.

"Of course I do Mai." he assured her.

She stared at him a long moment, then sighed.

"That doesn't mean you will."

Zuko forced a smile and waved to her meekly, then turned and started down the hill to his own bus.