Chapter 2

"Argh!" Zuko slammed his fist down on the table as the last official closed the door behind him. "How am I supposed to get anything done when no one wants to take any responsibility!?"

Neither Mai nor Katara looked surprised by this outburst. The meeting had accomplished almost nothing, with squabbling between ministers and a complete lack of anyone willing to do anything he told them to. "Release these prisoners." But Prince Zuko, sir, we have not received official word yet… "I am in charge here, my word is official!" We should wait until we have more word from the front. "We've received seven messenger hawks saying the Avatar defeated my father. What more word do you need?" On and on, around and around they talked, never reaching consensus.

The one item that had been agreed upon was to call back the people that Azula had banished - everyone except the Dai Li. There seemed to be enough agreement that Azula was out of her mind, and therefore her judgments were not sound. Even as a traitor, Zuko still had enough clout as a member of the royal family to walk back her insane decrees. But anything more than that would have to wait.

It wasn't that the officials disliked him, at least he didn't get that impression. Many of them appeared to be sympathetic to his views and even perhaps privately thought the Fire Nation would be better off without Ozai, and particularly Azula. But there was a limit to how far anyone that high up in the government would go to defy Ozai, no matter what they thought about him in the privacy of their own homes. The Fire Lord had a divine right to rule, given to his family by the Avatar generations ago. No one opposed that right lightly. He himself would never have opposed his father had it not been for Aang, no matter how wrong he thought him.

Certainly some of the officials bought into his father's vision for the nation, and would not be happy with the direction Zuko planned to go. Those officials would need to be watched diligently. But by whom? He was already having trouble issuing even the most basic commands.

It had also probably been a mistake to bring Mai and Azula into the meeting before Aang showed up and gave his Avatar blessing to Zuko as Fire Lord. A member of the water tribe and a traitor to the crown were not the best choices to endear him to the ministers. Oh well. He still thought it was best that they stay together. The palace was not a safe place to be at the best of times, and a known traitor claiming the throne did not qualify as the best of times.

He wished Aang would show up and settle things for good.

But there must be something he could do in the meantime.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, Zuko." Katara had come over to stand beside him, putting her arm on his shoulder. "You can't change the Fire Nation overnight. A hundred years of brutality is a lot to overcome-"

"Oh, please," Mai yawned. "He didn't ask you to feel sorry for him. If he wants to be Fire Lord, he's going to have to do that with action, not condolences. Blaming the culture of the Fire Nation is pointless - and besides, the issue here wasn't one of brutality. It was politics. If Fire Lord Ozai is still alive, refusing to recognize Zuko as Fire Lord is the most peaceful solution for the country."

"And what about the rest of the world?" Katara snapped back. "I wonder what the Earth Kingdom is thinking today about the peaceful nature of the Fire Nation? And don't you want Zuko to be Fire Lord?"

Mai waved her hand dismissively. "Don't put words in my mouth. Zuko would be a great Fire Lord, but that's beside the point. Why should the ministers stick out their necks, risk a bloody civil war, before they know for sure? No matter how frustrating it is for Zuko, he knows they made the only choice they could make - the choice that was best for them and for the Fire Nation."

"What about what's best for the world!" Katara was getting more and more agitated, but Mai's expression and tone never wavered from bored and mildly annoyed.

"Zuko isn't trying to be supreme ruler of the world, he's trying to be Fire Lord. His first concern should be his people."

"Maybe you missed this while you were in prison," Katara hissed, "But supreme ruler of the world is exactly what Ozai intends to be."

"Alright, stop!" Zuko held up his palms at both of them. "That's enough! Katara, Mai is right. We really couldn't expect any different from this meeting. Aang will probably be here in a day or two, and everything will be sorted out. A couple of days' delay won't ruin anything." Katara pursed her lips and sat down in the chair next to his, looking away from him. "And Mai, stop goading her. We're on the same side. I want what is best for the Fire Nation, but I also believe what is best for us is to do what is best for the rest of the world, too."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "If she can't take this, she won't last long around here."

Zuko wasn't sure whether to laugh or yell at her. This was what he loved about Mai, her quick wit and sharp words. It was endearing, and yet infinitely frustrating at the same time. He settled for shaking his head. "Which is all the more reason to not push her too far."

Mai sighed and shrugged. "Whatever. When can we visit Azula?"

Mai wasn't really sure why she had asked to see Azula. It wasn't out of revenge, but it also wasn't out of a sense of guilt or pity. She didn't regret betraying Azula to save Zuko's life, but Azula was also her friend, of sorts, and had been for most of her life.

Katara hadn't been happy at all when she suggested it, and Zuko had looked a bit dubious, but he had agreed and now here they were outside of her cell. Mai could hear her screaming from well outside the hall. She had never heard Azula out of control like that, and wondered what had happened to her to cause her to lose her mind like this. A cold, calculating Azula, who was fully in control of both herself and the situation, was frightening enough. But the raving… it was enough to chill her bones.

Zuko had insisted that he and Katara come into the cell with her. She might have objected if she had been fully armed, but since she had yet to be reunited with her blades, she appreciated the support. The guard opened the door and they walked inside the cell.

As soon as Azula set eyes on them, she let out a deafening scream, shooting a stream of fire from her mouth so powerful that Mai and Katara had to quickly dive out of the way. Zuko, expecting this, had stood his ground, dissipating the fire with his own.

Azula didn't seem to even notice him. Her attention was completely focused on Mai. "YOU! How dare you show your face in front of me! TRAITOR!"

Mai was scared. She could admit that to herself. But to show that to anyone else, that was unacceptable. She threw up her facade and dialed up the boredom and sarcasm in her voice.

"What can I say? Doing right all the time eventually becomes dreadfully dull."

"Don't try to PRETEND you did this randomly. You knew what you were doing. You chose HIM over ME!"

"Maybe Zuko treats me better than you did."

Azula laughed maniacally. "You FOOL! He left you to be captured by me, left you to rot in prison! See how much your sacrifice was worth? He cares more about the Avatar and his band than he does about you. He showed what he thinks of you - leftovers, easily forgotten."

Mai nearly let her mask slip, like she had at the beach. Azula was closer than she thought to hitting a nerve. She glanced as surreptitiously as she could at Zuko. He was clenching his fists and was working his jaw, his good eye narrowed dangerously. But he wasn't saying anything. Either he was determined not to interfere… or he had nothing to say in his own defense. And the Zuko she knew did not have the self-control to stay quiet if he could defend himself.

Mai knew she needed to say something, that she couldn't give Azula the satisfaction of winning the point. But what could she say? It wasn't Zuko who had released her from arrest, it was the Lieutenant who had done it to save his own skin. Zuko obviously hadn't expected her to show up at the palace. He had seemed pleased, but that didn't mean he had been pining over her for weeks like she had him.

The truth was that Azula was right. She came in second place. She was worth sacrificing for the cause. And if she was worth sacrificing for this cause, what else would he put in front of her? A Fire Lord had to be ruthless, even to his own family. And she was not even family.

"You see?" Azula crowed, "You know it's true! He didn't even say goodbye to you when he left. He wrote a pathetic LETTER instead. HA! Some boyfriend. He treats you the same way you treated me. TRAITORS, BOTH OF YOU!" Azula spit fire with that last outburst, and this time Zuko dodged, too. He was looking over at Mai nervously, waiting to see what she said.

But there was nothing for her to say. Azula wasn't saying anything she hadn't thought to herself ten times a day while under arrest. She did manage to keep her face under control, though, never letting the controlled mask slip. With all the dignity she could muster, she turned her back on Azula and walked towards the cell door. A scream and the sudden heat in the air told her that Azula was again spitting fire, but she resisted the urge to duck out of the way. Zuko would take care of that, she was confident of that much at least. He may be willing to sacrifice her when it was convenient to him, but he would also protect her when he could.

She walked down the hall, not waiting for Zuko and Katara to catch up, not even looking back.

"Mai, wait!" She heard Zuko running up behind her. "You know that's not-"

She spun around and glared at him. "Not what? Not true? Please, Zuko," she scoffed. "Don't make this worse by lying to me."

"But what else could I have done?" His voice was pleading.

"Nothing. You did exactly what I expected you to do."

"Then why are you mad at me?"

She shook her head. "Just because you made the logical choice doesn't mean it didn't hurt."

He reached for her hand, but she immediately pulled it out of reach.

"Stop it, Zuko. I need to be alone."

She turned back around and walked out, leaving him standing alone in the hallway.