Zuko turned around, dreading what he might see.

To his immense relief, only Mai stood before him. Trying to talk his way out of this situation with Azula and Ty Lee there could have gone poorly.

That relief didn't last long though, as he realized that he would now have to dump Mai in person, to her face.

"Well?"

After a few more seconds of Zuko trying in vain to think of something to say, Mai became impatient and grabbed the letter.

"Dear Mai," she read, "it is with sadness that I have to end our relationship. It's not me, it's you."

She looked up, with tears in her eyes, not wanting to read any more. "I could understand it if you said this to my face Zuko. I wouldn't like it, but I could understand. But writing a letter and leaving it in the middle of the night is the cowards' way out!" By now, Mai was shouting, and Zuko counted himself lucky that there was no one about to hear them.

She almost threw another knife, but managed to restrain herself. "Do you have anything else to add to this?"

Zuko wanted to lie to her, confirm what the letter was saying and seal the deal, but he looked into her eyes and found that he could not.

"I'm defecting from the Fire Nation."

Mai's eyes grew wide at this, but she quickly composed herself. "Great. You're a traitor as well as a jerk."

Zuko felt wounded at that, despite the fact that this had been his entire goal.

"When I go, you are going to be under a lot of suspicion. I was trying to protect you."

"And who said I wanted protecting?"

"Trust me, my father is not someone you want to cross."

"So you're trying to say that this immensely hurtful letter is for my own good?"

"Basically."

"Why are you defecting then?"

Mai's sudden change of subject caught Zuko off guard.

"You were in Ba Sing Se. You saw what the Fire Nation army did there. Father is planning to do it again, and I can't let that happen."

Mai's face suddenly settled into a look of grim determination. "Fine. Then I'm coming with you."

"What? Didn't you hear what I just said about it being incredibly dangerous to cross my father?"

"Look, Zuko. You said it yourself, I was in Ba Sing Se too. I saw what happened, and I know I put on a facade of not caring but that horrified me. I'm all for stopping that from happening again."

"What about your family?"

"Off in the Colonies. Nothing I do will be traced back to them."

Mai handed him back the letter.

"Plus, Azula is worse company than you. Now, do me a favour and burn this, while I grab more knives."

Zuko was glad to oblige, and he watched with some satisfaction as the letter crumbled to ashes in his hand.

Mai emerged a few seconds, fiddling with her sleeves, which now clanked when she moved. Clearly, Mai was bringing every weapon she owned.

"What's the plan?"

"The Avatar is alive, and I know where he is. The problem is, so does Father, and he's just ordered an attack with overwhelming force against him. We need to get to him first and warn him. Then, I'm going to try to join him and teach him firebending."

"And how exactly are we going to do that? No ship will outrun a messenger hawk, and your father is probably dispatching them right now."

"Then we don't go by ship."

Half an hour later

The two of them stood at the entrance of a base of the newest of the Fire Nation's armed forces.

As they approached, a sentry flagged them down.

"Halt!" Nobody may enter here without permission..."

He looked at Zuko's face and only now seemed to recognise him. The authority in his behaviour suddenly turned to fear.

"Prince Zuko, I didn't see you there! I'm so sorry! Please, come through!"

"Good. We wouldn't want my father to hear of you refusing a royal visit now, would we?"

"...no, Prince."

Zuko and Mai entered the compound, and were greeted by rows and rows of war-balloons. Each war balloon was relatively small, made up of a small wooden hull with a metal furnace in the centre and slung underneath a red cylindrical balloon. They were powered by a propellor that was also powered by the furnace.

This was Caldera base, the first headquarters of the recently established Fire Air Force. Zuko had known about it from spying on council meetings, but had written it off as useless information until tonight, when he needed a quick getaway.

An officer hurried up to them, and bowed deeply. "Prince Zuko, Lady Mai, it is an honour for you to visit."

Zuko steeled himself and then said, in the most authoritative yet annoying voice he could muster, "The Lady and I desire a go in one of your airships."

The Officer blinked. "... really? These are weapons of war, not toys, Prince."

Zuko was about to launch into a tirade about how he was the Prince and they had to do whatever he told them, but Mai beat him to it.

"Oh, you refuse? Need I remind you that the Prince is, well, the Prince? Failure to do as he says could have dire repercussions once we tell Firelord Ozai."

The Officer's consternation about a couple of spoilt brats turning up and demanding a joyride in one of his new aircraft was overridden by loyalty to the Firelord. "Fine, but I'm assigning someone to keep an eye on you."

He gave orders, and the nearest balloon was wheeled out of the formation. Mechanics checked it for leaks, before someone lit the furnace. The balloon began to rise off the ground slightly, and Zuko, Mai, and a Fire Air Force crewman stepped in.

He could be dealt with later.

The balloon rose into the air, and Zuko and Mai prepared themselves for the journey ahead.