"I think you should talk to Mai," Suki whispered to Sokka. "Try to convince her to visit Zuko. I'm sure he'd want to see her."

"Yeah, I was thinking the exact same thing," Sokka agreed.

"Okay," Suki gave her boyfriend a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll go gather the girls since I'm guessing this should be more of a private conversation rather than a group discussion."

"Thanks Suki," Sokka smiled at her lovingly. "You're the best."

"Oh girls," Suki called to her fellow Kyoshi warriors. "We have lots of catching up to do! Let's go to our tent, and you can tell me all about what happened these past months we've been apart."

"Yeah! Let's go," everyone, except Lia, said, catching on to Suki's intention.

"What?" Lia asked confusedly. "I want to know if Mai's going to– Ow! Lin! What was that for?" Lia rubbed her side where her sister had elbowed her.

"That was for being insensitive and stupid," Lin scolded before pulling her sister along. "Suki wants us to go with her. Now let's go."

"Uh, I think I should go too and…brush Appa's hair!" Aang said as he looked around for an excuse to leave. "Katara? Toph? Do you guys want to help me?"

"You're such a bad liar twinkle toes," Toph shrugged but began following Aang.

Mai rolled her eyes as more than half their group left. She knew they were leaving intentionally to give her some privacy. She didn't know why she needed it though. Katara was about to follow Aang as well before Sokka pulled her to stop.

"You need to stay," Sokka told her.

"Why?" Katara looked from her brother to Mai. "She doesn't need anything from me."

"I may seem like it sometimes," Sokka said. "But I'm not that dumb when it comes to reading people. Trust me, you need to stay."

"What are you going on about, weirdo?" Mai raised her eyebrow at the male waterbender.

"First of all, my name is Sokka. Second, I'm here to fix your heartache," he said with a toothy grin.

"Eew," Mai backed away. "I'm not looking for that kind of a good time."

"No!" Sokka yelled, blushing with embarrassment at Mai's insinuation. "I meant that I think it's my duty to convince you to get back together with Zuko, or to at least visit him now that the war's over."

"Alright then," Mai gave in. "I'm actually intrigued by how you plan to do that seeing that my closest friends here were unsuccessful."

"She's right," Ty Lee said. "It was hard enough to get her to admit that she was sad. It was impossible to get her to agree to see him."

"Well, you guys weren't with him for the past 2 months," Sokka pointed out. "I have hard evidence that I believe will change your mind, Mai."

"Go on then, I'm listening," Mai waved her hand to signal him to begin.

"I still don't see why you need me here," Katara folded her arms over her chest.

"Then go if you want," Mai snapped at her. "Go with your friends to brush that beast's fur. Or you can go tend Zuko's wounds for all I care."

"Woah, ladies," Sokka came in between them. "Retract the claws."

"Sokka, I don't have to stay here and be insulted," Katara turned to leave.

"Okay Katara," he pulled her and whispered quickly. "Don't you see that she's threatened by you? She seems to think that you and Zuko are an item."

"What?" Katara pulled her arm back and looked at her brother as if he were crazy. "Where did you get that?"

"What are you guys talking about?" Ty Lee interrupted. "I thought you had some convincing evidence about Zuko."

"Oh yeah, okay I'll get to that," Sokka said apologetically before turning to his sister and sternly instructing her, "You stay here."

"Anyway!" he turned brightly to Mai and the two fire nation teens. "I guess before I lay everything on you, I should hear your side first. Why don't you want to go to Zuko?"

"Not that it's any of your business really," Mai started before Ty Lee shot her a warning look. "But fine, I don't want to see him because we're not together anymore anyway. I have no obligation to him since he was the one who left and ended things, quite badly I might add. I'm not ready to take the high road and say that I want to see him or pretend that I'm not hurting anymore. Just because he's over it, doesn't mean I am."

"Aha! That's where you're wrong!" Sokka said triumphantly. "I know for a fact that Zuko is not over you."

Mai's eyes widened as Ty Lee jumped and said, "I told you so!" Yan Zu smiled quietly, knowing that this was exactly what his friend needed to know.

"Oh Sokka!" Ty Lee exclaimed. "You have to tell us everything!"

"Well if you guys remember," Sokka began. "Zuko and I went to the Boiling Rock to free my dad and Suki."

"Of course we do," Mai said dryly. "You're the reason we got imprisoned."

"Mai, let the man tell his story," Ty Lee shushed her.

"Thank you Ty Lee," Sokka nodded. "You'll be thanking me soon too, Mai. Anyway, on our way there, I asked Zuko how he was able to leave his nation and everything he had behind so easily. He said that it was the right thing to do. When I asked him if he left anyone he cared about behind, the only person he mentioned was you, Mai. He didn't talk about his dad or his sister. I guess he didn't mention his uncle because Iroh had escaped by then. You were the only one anchoring him, but he knew that he had to leave. The reason he didn't tell you he was leaving was because he knew you'd want to come with him, and he didn't want you to get dragged into it. He didn't want you to be accused of being a traitor like him. He left you the way he did because he honestly cared about you."

"See Mai?" Ty Lee looked at Mai who had not changed her expression since the beginning of Sokka's story. "We were right when we said that he left you like that because he didn't want to put you in any danger."

"Alright, but that doesn't prove it all to me," Mai said doubtfully. "He told you that before you got to the Boiling Rock. I saw him again there, and he was able to leave me just as quickly the second time around. He even locked me in a cell for goodness' sake. I saved your lives and let you escape and nothing."

"Mai, we couldn't go back to get you," Sokka explained. "You know that if we tried, we wouldn't have escaped a second time. We knew that we couldn't let your sacrifice be for nothing. We had to move on and prepare for the battle. You understand that, right?"

Mai just shrugged although she knew that the boy made sense. When she saved them, she knew that they had to escape and not turn back.

"If it's any consolation," Sokka continued. "On the way back, I could tell that Zuko was worried and sad about leaving you. If anything, he was more determined to win the war, just so that he could set things right. He didn't know if you'd still be around when that time came, but he wasn't going to lessen his chances by losing. He knew that winning the war would set you free, and it looks like it did."

As if reading Mai's mind, Sokka added, "He couldn't go and set you free himself, what with being injured and all. Plus, the war just finished a few hours ago. He has to address his people before anything else. Lucky for you, you were set free so quickly."

"My uncle's the warden," she informed him. "I don't know. While I'm glad that I was on his mind at least sometime during his time with you, I'm still not sure of his feelings. He told you all of that two months ago. That's plenty of time for his feelings to change." As she said that last part, Mai stole a quick glance at Katara, which did not go unnoticed.

"Mai," Katara began cautiously. "Do you think Zuko has feelings for me?"

"I don't know," Mai lied. "Or you could have feelings for him. You tell me."

"I can't believe you'd think that," Katara said accusingly. "For his girlfriend, it's like you don't know him that well."

"Well, maybe I didn't," Mai concluded. "I didn't think that he wanted to join the avatar. I knew he was conflicted and angry, but he never elaborated. He never let me in the way he seems to have let you guys in."

"Maybe he just wasn't sure of anything until the last minute," Katara guessed. "I don't know what was going on with him during the time between Ba Sing Se and him joining us. All I know is that he turned over to our side, and we're happy that he did."

"I'm sure you were," Mai scoffed.

"Okay, you have to stop implying that Zuko and I have something going on," Katara warned her. "For the most part, I didn't trust him. I ignored him when I could and was mean to him when he spoke to me. I even threatened to kill him if he hurt Aang. He only won my trust when he helped me find the guy who killed my mother. That's when I finally saw that he was sincere about his change of heart. He was really sorry about what he had done before. He was on our side. From there, I considered him to be a real ally and friend but nothing more."

"Yeah, Mai," Sokka agreed. "You should've seen the look on their faces when this play we watched about the avatar's adventure made it seem like Zuko and Katara were a couple. They looked so turned off. It was hilarious."

"Anyway," Katara went on, ignoring Sokka's laughter. "Zuko only asked me to help him fight Azula because he needed someone with him. It wasn't personal; it was strategic. If you still don't believe us, after all the things we've been telling you, I'm going to tell you a secret that I hope will prove to you that I don't have feelings for Zuko."

Mai looked at the female waterbender questioningly. Katara looked at Sokka warily and drew in a deep breath. "I like Aang."

"What?" her brother yelled. "Where did this come from?"

"Never mind, Sokka," Katara brushed him off before focusing on Mai. "I just have to say the truth so that you'll believe me. I appreciate what you did for Sokka and my dad. Because of that, I don't see you as an enemy. I hope that you won't see me as one either."

"I hope you believe me too," Sokka approached Mai. "I have no reason to lie to you. Zuko's a really good guy. He helped us so much these past months; I feel that we should return the favor and try to restore some of his happiness."

"Listen to them, Mai," Ty Lee urged her. "You know all the crap Zuko has gone through his whole life. Almost everyone he thought cared about him turned their backs on him or left him alone. Don't be one of them. He may have left you, but now you know that he never forgot about you."

"Two months," Yan Zu spoke for the first time. "You said that's a lot of time for feelings to change. Why? Have yours?"

Mai did not respond immediately. She thought about how selfish, stupid and untrusting she was for having doubted Zuko. Although she didn't always know where he stood regarding his beliefs on the war, she knew where he stood when it came to their relationship. He showed her parts of himself which he didn't show anyone else. He did what he could to show that he cared about her deeply – even if that meant leaving her. She should never have doubted that his feelings for her changed. She had built those walls of doubts about Zuko as defenses. She didn't want to be hurt by relying on hope in case there was none. Now she knew it was time to take those walls down.

Finally, she answered Yan Zu's question, "No."

He put his hands on her shoulders and said, "Then stop being so stubborn!"

She teared up slightly and nodded her agreement. She then turned to the siblings and said sincerely, "Thank you so much for what you've told me. Thank you for making me realize how stupid I've been and for bringing him back to me."

"Don't mention it," Katara said.

"Or," Sokka said, suddenly getting an idea. "Mention it to him, so we get special treatment in the palace."

"Sokka!" Katara hit her brother on the head. "Don't mind him. Just go to Zuko. I'm sure he'd love to see you."

With a final round of thanks, Mai turned on her heel and rushed to the palace.