Zuko woke somewhat after sunrise the next morning, and stretched carefully. His chest was still pretty sore, but not as bad as it had been. Today was going to be crazy, but at least he had a little time to breathe first. He got out of bed quietly, not really wanting to have anyone fussing over him just yet, and rummaged through the closet for a simple robe to throw on over his pants. The closet door squeaked, and Zuko froze reflexively, then relaxed when no one appeared.

Getting into the robe by himself proved more difficult than he had anticipated. His arms just did not want to cooperate.

Mai's amused voice came from behind him. "Do you need some help with that?"

Zuko started, and winced. "Mai! You're okay!" Zuko turned to face her. "No one could tell me what had happened to you, and I was scared Azula had..." She was leaning on the doorframe. She didn't look hurt, and there was a small smile playing around her mouth as she watched him.

"I'm fine, Zuko." Mai said, coming and taking the robe from him. She helped him get his arms into the sleeves. "The new warden let Ty Lee and me out. What happened to your chest?" She frowned slightly as she went to tie the robe closed.

"Azula got me with lightning. Why was Ty Lee in prison?"

"She chi-blocked Azula when she tried to kill me with lightning."

Zuko winced. "I'm glad Ty Lee did that. Lightning is no joke."

Mai gave a tiny lopsided smile again. "I suppose you'd know."

"Does this mean you don't hate me?" he asked hopefully. "And why did you save me when I was a traitor and "'that jerk who dumped me'?"

"I don't hate you, Zuko. I actually kind of like you." She blushed slightly and took Zuko's hand and squeezed it gently, moving closer to him. "I... I couldn't just stand there and watch you die. I was angry before because I didn't know why you ran off like that. Just because I find Earth Kingdom peasants boring doesn't mean I want them all dead."

"You, you aren't even mad at me?" said Zuko.

"Next time you do something madly dangerous and stupidly noble, tell me. I might want to come." She poked him in an unbandaged shoulder like he was a naughty owlcat kitten.

Zuko looked down at the offending finger with his eyebrow raised. Seriously?

"Sitting around looking pretty gets boring, you know. And I could have helped."

"You did help, remember?" said Zuko, reaching out and twining his fingers in her hair. Mai leaned into the touch a little.

Mai sighed. "And if I had been in the gondola with you, I couldn't have stopped them cutting the line, and all of us would be dead. Ask me next time, though, ok?"

"I will, I promise," said Zuko. Mai reached up and kissed him.

Katara knocked at the door. "Zuko, if you're awake, I should probably check that burn..."

They jumped away from each other, both blushing. "Er... why don't we talk more later?" Zuko said.

Mai nodded, smiling a bit ruefully, and left.

Zuko went out to greet Katara with a lighter heart. If he was going to turn the Fire Nation around, at least he wouldn't have to do it all alone.

Shortly before noon, Zuko stopped before the red curtains that led outside when he found Aang sitting meditating just in front of them. Aang opened his eyes. "I can't believe a year ago my purpose in life was hunting you down," said Zuko.

"And now we're friends," said Aang.

"Yeah" said Zuko. "We are friends." It still seemed unreal, sometimes, but there it was.

"I can't believe a year ago I was still frozen in a block of ice," said Aang, getting up. "The world's so different now."

"And it's going to be even more different," said Zuko, putting a hand on Aang's shoulder. "We'll rebuild it together."

Aang hugged Zuko, and Zuko hugged him back, the top of Aang's head just about reaching the top of Zuko's shoulder. How the heck had he ever been willing to capture this kid to please his father? He really had been a prize fool.

They turned, Zuko parted the curtains, and they went though. Aang hung back, and Zuko walked out alone onto the dais to face the crowd filling the main courtyard. His stomach sank, but he held his head high.

Zuko stopped, facing the crowd, who cheered loudly. Zuko could see that some of the war prisoners had been freed, because there was a lot of blue and green in the audience that had been utterly absent from his father's coronation. More than red, which was very weird and a little disturbing. Where were his own people?

Zuko held up a hand, and crowd quieted. "Please, the real hero..." he turned back and gestured to Aang, "...is the Avatar."

The crowd cheered.

"Today, this war is finally over."

More cheering.

"I promised my uncle I would restore the honor of the Fire Nation, and I will. The road ahead of us is challenging. A hundred years of fighting has left the world scarred and divided. Every single one of you you has lost something to this war. Too many of you have lost more than you would ever have chosen to pay, had you been given a choice. It is time for the Fire Nation to admit that our dreams of ruling the world have turned into a nightmare."

"When you are going in the wrong direction, the best thing to do is turn around. It is going to take real effort to heal what has been broken. But in the past year, I have seen more good in people of all nations than I once believed possible. The Fire Nation can change our path, and with the Avatar's help," Zuko looked over at Aang and smiled, "I am certain that all nations working together can heal our world, and begin a new era of love and peace."

One of the Fire Sages came forward, and Zuko knelt. The Great Sage held the Fire Crown high, then brought it down, saying "All hail Fire Lord Zuko," as he inserted it neatly into Zuko's hair. The crowd cheered again, and Zuko stood. He wondered what all the people who weren't here cheering the end of the war would make of it.

Notes: The conversation between Mai and Zuko is the conversation I wish they had in canon. I have next to no experience writing romance, so this subplot is a learning experience for me. It is a smallish subplot, and will not be taking over the story. The heart of this story is the struggle to deal with the aftermath of the war. I'd also like to thank avaya29 for pointing out an error regarding Zuko's robes and the timing of this scene. This has now been fixed. I tweaked Zuko's speech a bit from canon, as the canon version read to me as if Aang ghostwrote it. Of course, in canon, maybe he did...