Sokka's been holding back.

To even imagine his little sister sneaking out with the same guy who couldn't watch her back in the middle of a fight; oh, he's livid.

Sokka rants openly in front of Katara and whoever happens to be within a 10-foot radius. Suki is the only one who stays with the water siblings, the rest of them know it's a family matter. Katara doesn't just sit there and let it happen though. Argues back because Zuko and her have made more progress in the past week with her water bending than in the month the others had tried. She doesn't get it.

"Of course, you don't get it!" he had yelled. "You're supposed to be recovering and staying safely in here but oh no, Mr. I'm-A-Fire-Lord-So-I-Can-Do-Whatever-I-Want takes you out in the middle of the night to a dark and dangerous forest!"

"A beach, Sokka," Katara smarts. "Not a forest, a beach."

"Oh, even better. Just off the coast of Fire Nation territory, an easy target for our enemies to attack!"

"Nobody is going to attack the Fire Nation," Suki reprimanded him. She's careful not to take any sides, plays the role of a neutral party. "But I agree with Sokka, you're not fully healed yet."

"I just don't see how staying in this room all day is going to help!"

Sokka paced the room, hands in the air. "You can take walks in the garden. You can roam the palace all you want, but I don't want you anywhere near Zuko, not until you remember who he is."

"But I know who he is!" If they were children again, Sokka could imagine her stomping her foot in the snow. "It's like, you want me to hate him or something just because you do!" At this, guilt flashed across his face that only Katara could catch.

"Listen," he said, glancing at Suki. "I just don't feel comfortable having my only sister hang out with a guy who…" Suki had cut him a look. "A guy who should be more focused on his Fire Lord duties. That's all I'm going to say on this topic."

Katara was lucky that Sokka didn't rage at Zuko the way he would have wanted to. When the two of them entered the window after one of their nights out, the look on Sokka's face was murderous. Even Zuko's face fell when he saw Mai, arms across her chest, angry. It was her idea; he came to find out later. She had her suspicions and she wasn't even surprised Zuko would pull some stunt like this. That doesn't mean it hurt her any less.

"I'm going to see him," Katara responded, defiant. "You aren't in charge of me."

When did Katara get so bratty? Sokka wanted to rip his hair out, thought of all the ways he could keep her preoccupied, or even keep Zuko busy.

"What about Aang, huh?"

"What about him?" Sokka liked to guilt her with talks of Aang and how disappointed he'd be, which only irritated her further. Why would any of that matter to her? He's the Avatar, he has better things to do than worry about what she's doing. "Why do you keep bringing him up?"

Sokka looked like he was dying to spill something, but Suki had shaken her head and pulled him away from the room. Irritated, Katara watered the fire lily before it could whither up and die. She kept replaying Sokka's words in her head. Maybe she couldn't remember Zuko the way she used to, but it doesn't change the fact that he snuck her out to the ocean, a place she felt was the closest to home she'd ever been.

Mai reminds Zuko that she's his girlfriend. Or rather, feels like she has to convince him she still is.

"You can't even be bothered to go to your own meetings, Zuko," she chastises, the third night in a row. "And why won't you ever just talk to me?"

For Mai, the nights she stayed up waiting for her lover to return to bed only to find out he's been rendezvousing with the water tribe girl in the middle of the night came as a no-brainer. For her, she was used to keeping her mouth shut about things that should matter. She did it with Azula, and by habit, she did it with Zuko. But now that he was Fire Lord and she was going to be the Fire Lord's wife someday, the weight of their issues was a lot heavier on the tongue.

He wishes he could be anywhere but here, wishes Mai would just stop and be quiet for once. It's been three days of her constant nagging when all he wanted to do was go to bed. That's a horrible thought, he realizes, and he wants to take it back almost immediately. Mai's done so much for him than he could ever repay. This is the girl he should be in love with. But as he sits here, feeling trapped in his own room, he misses the calmness of the ocean and the smell of salt in Katara's hair and the last time they were on the beach. She knocked her shoulder into his, laughing about-

"Are you even listening? Please say something so it feels like I'm not talking to a wall."

Mai stands before him; demands the attention he knows he owes her. "I've been going to the meetings," he says, lamely.

"That's all you can say for yourself? That's literally your job."

"What else do you want me to say?" The first few times Mai's grilled him about going off with the water tribe girl, he apologized. Profusely. Bowed his head so low to the ground, he thinks the previous Fire Lords would be ashamed of him. They would have never shown their wives any respect, not even behind closed doors. "I've already apologized, I even go to the meetings on time. I help Uncle with his tea shop and run drills with our soldiers. What more do you want?"

The last question feels like a slap in the face. "Really, Zuko. When's the last time we've even gone on a date?"

"That's what you're worried about?" he says, incredulous. "You know we don't have time-"

"Don't have time? And yet here you are, Fire Lord Zuko, sneaking out with a girl who isn't even yours. In case you've forgotten, that's the Avatar's girl."

"I never," Zuko sputters, feels a little ashamed at how it must have looked. He remembers holding hands with her every time they snuck out of the palace, knows at some point, it had to mean more than just helping her watch her footing. "I never claimed her as my girl!"

"You sure act like she is."

"I'm trying to help her, as my friend," Zuko says. Emphasizes the word 'friend' but doesn't know if he's trying to convince Mai or himself.

"Well, I'm your girlfriend," she seethes, "And you treat me like even less of a friend. You don't talk to me. You treat me like… like… I don't even know what. Do you even love me anymore?" Her voice cracks.

For a while now, they spent a lot of their time wrapped up in blankets closer than their arms would ever be. Only at night, when the demands of generals and cries of war-torn children didn't require their immediate attention, and few words were exchanged between the two before sleep pulled him under first. So, he supposes their relationship hasn't exactly been much of one.

Instinctively, Zuko reaches out to grab her but she yanks her hands away and states, "No. You can't expect to hold me and have it all go away this time."

Sometimes, he forgets how long they've been together. And sometimes, when they're on the verge of breaking up, he doesn't know how to feel. But she always comes back. It's a curse and a blessing, Mai's love. She would do almost anything for him.

"I'm sorry."

She turns away, so he can't see the tears. It's rare to see her cry; she's usually so apathetic, scolded frequently by her parents as a child to never show her weakness. But she loves, gets angry, and excited, like any other person would. She's just careful about who to show it to, and right now, it feels like Zuko's been pushed away.

"I don't know how long I can keep doing this," she says. Something has to change. They were lucky, maybe, to have had a war going on so they didn't have to worry about how to be together.

"How can I fix it?" He doesn't like making her cry, doesn't like hurting people as often as it happens. "Please, let me make it up to you."

"I think," she says, slow, voice shaky. This isn't the first time she's said it, but it might be the first time he's listening. "We should spend more time together."

"Okay," he says, a little too fast. Anything to improve their relationship.

"And, I don't want you to see her anymore."

It feels like a punch in the gut. "What?"

Instead, Mai looks at him carefully, reads the set of his jaw before he speaks. She can't be serious. "Mai," he starts. "There's nothing going on."

"Then prove it. This should be easy for you. I don't want you to see her anymore, not until all of her memories come back."

If Zuko had any idea, he would have guessed it's because Mai knows Katara would never, in a billion years, willingly hang out with him just because she wanted to. Mai could be petty, but he didn't think she could be THAT petty.

"I can't make any promises. She lives here too, you know."

"Then I guess we'll just have to spend more time together away from here. A date. We'll go on dates," Mai says, hopes Zuko will follow through. If she's observed anything in the short amount of time she's been with Team Avatar, it's that Zuko's eyes tend to follow the water tribe girl. Even when he thinks nobody is looking. But she watches him from a distance, like she always has. She isn't ready for him to break her heart again, not for another girl. She knows him like the back of her hand, knows his tell-tales, even if he believes what he's saying is true.

"Okay," he says, quickly. Before she even finished her sentence. "I'll take you out on more dates. I know we haven't seen much of each other, but I'll make it up to you, I swear." And he smiles at her, but the corner of his bottom lip slightly trembles.

That's already one of his tells.