Zuko had been alone on the royal garden at the end of the afternoon, sitting by the turtle-duck's pond, when a guard approached him, bowing respectfully.

"My Lord, lady Mai wishes to speak to you"

Zuko told him to allow her in. She had greeted him graciously.

"How is your sister?" Zuko could hear just the slightest hint of concern in her mostly apathetic tone, and it made him smile. When they had been dating, Mai had always made it perfectly clear she didn't care about Azula, and that she had only stuck around with her for so long out of fear. And now here she was, worried about her.

"She's fine. I made her take a break and relax just to be sure."

"I didn't think Azula was capable of relaxing. Ever" she deadpanned, then looked a little guilty "Does it happen often? These... whatever that was?"

"No" he lied. That information was personal and not his to share. Plus, Azula wouldn't want to be seen as weak "Which is why I was worried. But she's okay now."

Mai nodded.

"So, uh... what's going on with you?"

"Besides discovering my father is a traitor? Not much. And what about you? The palace looks a bit chaotic. Is because of the insurgent firebenders or because you're screwing your sister?"

"It doesn't matter" he said, trying to change the subject."

"Ah, it's because the insurgent benders then. Don't worry, I understand you can't explain what you guys are planning."

"Yeah..."

They just stared at each other for a few moments. As usual, Mai's lack of expression made her look much more comfortable with the awkwardness of it all than Zuko could ever be. It was just so weird to be around her now. He didn't want to get back together, but he didn't want there to be any bad blood between them.

"I'm sorry for how things ended between us. I know it was my fault and you had the right to be mad, but I didn't mean to hurt you, it's just that I had no time for anything but being Fire Lord and taking care of Azula. I'm sorry I was aloof, and selfish, and a terrible boyfriend" he blurted out and immediately regretted it.

Mai gave him her 'You're way too dramatic' glare. He used to get those all the time when she was around.

"Your Fire Lady wouldn't like seeing you that apologetic about not being a good boyfriend to someone else, Zuko" she warned and he blushed "And I could understand you were stressed and busy during your first months as Fire Lord. My problem, was usual, was your sister. And apologizing now won't change anything. You wanted her and you chose her. I was just a distraction."

"It wasn't like that. I never meant to use you. I did love you, Mai."

"But you loved her more."

Zuko didn't answer, there was no need to. He wished he could say he was sorry for ignoring her to care for Azula, but the truth is that he wasn't. He had never meant to hurt her - or Jin - but Azula would always be the one he truly wanted to be with, and even falling for other girls didn't change that. He had chosen her long before he even became aware of his feelings for her.

"Sorry for wasting your time" he said, deciding to go back to his chambers to check on his sister.

"Zuko" he heard Mai call and turned around "Why her?"

He had gotten pretty used to answering that question, both to himself and others.

"She's my sister. She's the only one for me because she's the only other person who knows what it's like to go through everything we went through. And now that she's finally letting me help her, and we're finally as close as we always should have been, it just... it just doesn't make sense for either of us to be with anybody else. It wouldn't feel right."

It was only after he said it that he realized that, had Mai not been over their relationship, he would have gotten stabbed in his good eye. Truth be told, even despite that he had been incredibly lucky that her reaction was simply a somewhat offended look.

"I really don't understand royalty" she scoffed, walking away "Good luck explaining that one to your uncle."

Don't remind me.

Zuko shook his head negatively. He couldn't think like that. He wouldn't think like that. The one person besides him who needed to understand what he and Azula had was Azula herself, and she had accepted it long before he did. Everything else was came second to her. If his uncle or anyone else tried to oppose their relationship, then they would find a way to deal with it.

Together.