Setting is post series.
Warm
Firebenders were moody people, Mai observed. Rainy days. Cloudy days. Cold days. The very weather affected their emotions. Anything less than sunshine could cause them to sulk on any given day. It was a good thing the Fire Nation had so many sunny days. But it was an old joke among the non-bending nobles that there must have been a thunderstorm the day Fire Lord Sozin had declared war. Mai had always thought it an exaggeration in her youth, until she started attending meetings as the future Firelady. It was a wonder anything got done.
It was also why the council room always seemed unbearably hot. There were always more candles and torches on gloomy days around the palace to compensate. Whether it was done by the benders themselves to keep up their spirits or by the non-bending servants to stave off foul moods, warmth and light were never in short supply in the palace. It seemed a little thing, but Mai had seen many a time the simple effect turning a darkened corridor into a brightened room could have on Zuko. His whole being would glow a little and his breath would calm and she'd see the Firelord captured in a brief moment of peace.
It was in such a moment Mai asked if they could hold the next council meeting outside. She'd had to time it though so he wouldn't protest in the name of tradition and say the idea was silly. Silly to Mai was a bunch of firebending nobles wanting to be out on a sunny day when the council chambers kept them locked in shadows, despite the light. Surely a change in tradition once in a while was good for the health of everyone.
The Firelord agreed with her proposal, lost in the moment of absorbing fire. But Mai would be mistaken if she thought it was only outward influences that could sway his emotions. For as a firebender, he was just as susceptible to his lover's inner fire as well. On such cold and rainy days, candles and the blazing hearth were nice, but the only thing Zuko ever truly needed on such a day was the warmth of Mai's smile. Didn't this non-bender know by now the power she has to control his emotions beyond that of any weather? A question and answer that came in the form of a kiss.
Notes: Just a bit a fluff in the midst of other writings, brought on by ponderings of a council meeting for a Seondeok fic and the general change of seasons here in the northern hemisphere.