Zuko looked at the doors close, letting his raised hand fall to his side and then turned to May.

"So, why are you really here, May?" He asked, raising his eyebrows expectantly.

"You might not believe me." She started while approaching him slowly. "But I actually want to make peace with you." Her voice still sounded as if it had been smoked, but it had matured, she had matured, and despite the bitter way they'd broken up, Zuko still held some affection for her inside his heart.

"Why now, of all times?" He demanded, still on his guard.

"… various reasons." She said and shrugged. "I heard you've changed a bit." She admitted when he obviously wasn't satisfied with her former answer.

"Changed?" Had he?

"Yes. I heard you're more at peace with yourself, most times, and stronger with your position as Firelord." She smiled seductively. "I like that." She put a hand on his arm and looked into his eyes.

"Look, May." Zuko intervened her attentions. "I'm happy you came to make peace, I really am, but I have properly moved on from you now. I think you should know that." And he had. It had been hard at the beginning, but he had come to realise that, even in their past, she had never stood beside him at the very crucial moments of his life. Of course, he'd never let her, but she didn't even guess his actions, never really understood him. It had taken some time for him to see it, but when he had, his heart had suddenly been much lighter.

"I see." She said and dropped her hand. "And there's no moving you?"

"I'm afraid not." He told her. She turned away from him slightly, appearing to brood over something.

"Then is there any chance we can become just normal friends?" She finally asked.

"Well… of course." Zuko answered, though he felt slightly hesitant. "It's always good to find reliable friends."

"That's good." She smiled slightly. "Then let's keep it that way."

…

Asahi's tears slowly subsided as she calmed down in Pyro's presence. She still had her arms around him, but she'd lessened the force of her grip.

Are you alright now? Pyro asked, when he noticed the change in her behavior.

"More or less." Asahi snorted slightly thinking about the graceful way that May had carried herself.

Do you want to talk about it?

"No, not really. Sorry." She added after looking into his eyes shortly.

That's fine. But sometimes, pain passes faster if you talk about it. He advised her wisely. She was surprised to hear him say such things.

"Sadly, this kind of pain doesn't." She sighed and dropped on a stone beside the cave entrance. Looking around, she took in the beautiful scenery around her; Zuko had searched for the perfect place for Pyro to live, after the Dragon had grown too big to stay in the palace, and with some effort, he'd found it. The cavern was situated in a peaceful and idyllic part of the nearby forest, and a perfect distance from the palace. Pyro was close enough to join them every day, but far enough not to scare anyone away.

The birds were singing around her, she could make out the gentle plashing of the small forest stream and the sun was painting abstract patches of light onto the earth. All in all, this was like paradise.

Her heart calmed down and she felt ready to return to the palace with dignity, so she said goodbye to Pyro and left slowly. She was more relaxed now and decided to stop by Iroh's place to have some tea and dinner with him.

"Asahi!" The old man's face lit up when he opened the door to let her in. "What a delightful surprise." He gestured her to come in and she followed his invitation. "What brings you here?"

"I was looking for some pleasant company at dinnertime." She told him with a warm smile. Completely impartial from her feelings for Zuko she felt a great affection for the old Firebender Master.

"Oh? Are you not dining with Zuko tonight?" He asked, slightly surprised. For appearances' sake she had kept dining with Zuko most evenings, though she was careful to always do so in someone else's company. She had no desire to sit at a table with only him and give him another opportunity to ask her weird questions.

"Zuko has company tonight." She answered shortly, her thoughts straying back to the way his face had looked when he had first discovered May. She sneered.

"Company?" Iroh asked, looking at her curiously.

"Well, you see, today, May came in for a surprise visit. I thought I should give old lovers some space." She helped Iroh set up the table on the outside veranda that overlooked his herb gardens. Though he was a General and the Firelord's uncle, Iroh preferred to do most things on his own, which was another reason why she liked him so much.

"May? What did she want?" He murmured.

Asahi wasn't sure whether he had actually asked her or if he was just talking to himself, but she answered anyway.

"I don't know. As I said, I left them alone." Her voice had a bitter ring to it and Iroh looked at her intensely. "What?" She asked, taken aback by his stare.

"Are you alright with that?" He asked, looking worried.

"What? Why wouldn't I be?" She asked him, a little rough. She bit her tongue as she noticed her tone.

"Hm…" Iroh simply answered to that, but didn't press the topic any further. "So, what kind of tea do you wish to drink tonight?"

…

Zuko shared dinner with May, reminiscing old times and catching up with what had happened in each of their lives lately. Though May was being unusually pleasant, he kept wondering where Asahi might have gone off to. He had asked Suki to go look for her, but she had just shot him a "Are-you-serious?!" expression, shaken her head and left. She hadn't returned so far.

"My parents are over the moon with my brother's development, but I can't help but see him as the baby he's always been." May sighed and Zuko returned his attention to her. He was having dinner with his beautiful, and surprisingly nice ex-girlfriend, so why did his thoughts stray to his cold and distant – well, whatever Asahi was supposed to be to him.

"Children grow much faster than we think." He commented. "And they're surprisingly sharp. At the beginning of our journey to the Sun Temple, our group had the opportunity to teach some children a bit of our bending basics. I must say, they all fared quite well."

May chuckled slightly and he shot her an irritated look.

"What?" He asked, not sure what she was laughing at.

"You? Teaching children? It's a rather curious thought." She answered and took another sip of her wine.

"Hm…?" He made, thinking of the look he and Asahi had shared back then; her eyes had been kind and encouraging, not mocking. He wondered if May would ever understand him and his thoughts the way Asahi had during their travels.