"It's good to see you away from your desk for once." Mai cooed, lounging against the tree and resting her head on Zuko's shoulder.
"Don't even mention it," Zuko replied, rolling his eyes, "I just don't know what to do with this country…"
"Hey," Mai looked up at the new Fire Lord, a scowl on her face, "Don't say that. You're the only person legitimately sane enough to run this country."
"Me? Sane? That's funny." Zuko remarked with a frown. "I must've been crazy to want to do this."
His lover said nothing, but pulled away from him and gave Zuko one of her trademark glares.
"Alright, alright, I'll stop whining."
"Good." Mai said, relaxing back into Zuko's arms.
Just as she began to close her eyes, Mai felt a slight warming tingle. Then it rapidly grew into a bonfire against her skin. Another scant moment passed before it felt like the inside of a furnace and finally Mai's eyes snapped open.
She was just in time to see the fireball hurtling at them. Mai was rooted to the spot, her hands and arms still folded on Zuko's chest, her head still being supported by his, her brain only just now working out what was happening to them. And her mind, in that split-second understood immediately that it was too late for her. She had no firebending ability, no chance of dodging, no abnormal resistance to the boiling touch of flames. Mai knew, that in that instant, she was going to be incinerated.
It was precisely then that Zuko leapt to his feet and raised his arms. He had been a little more alert. A little more aware of his surroundings and noticed the sudden attack just a second before Mai. And he was gifted with the ability of being a master firebender. With a deft motion of his hands, he parted the fireball into two, splitting the flames away from himself and Mai. The heat splashed onto them, but they were otherwise unharmed.
The young Fire Lord didn't spare a moment to punch a stream of fire into the distance and strike a far-off figure that Mai was only just noticing.
Guards swarmed to the assassin's position and Zuko finally turned to his lover, sweat racing down the side of his face. "Are you alright, Mai?"
"I'm fine." She muttered, still partially in shock.
"Good." Zuko said, not a hint of cheer in his voice as the assassin was brought to him.
It was a man dressed like any other Fire Nation soldier. His hair neatly buzz-cut, his face full and healthy, but his eyes strained, the pupils almost nonexistent as he glared at Zuko. Were it not for the two guards holding him, Zuko was sure the assassin would have tried to make a second attempt.
"Who sent you?" Zuko asked, his voice surprisingly level.
"The loyal citizens of the Fire Nation." The man responded almost immediately.
The new Fire Lord resisted the urge to strike the defenseless man. "Do you understand the position you're in?"
"Perfectly." The assassin bowed his head as far as he could, inhaled deeply and then let out a burst of flames through his nostrils. Fire poured out and bathed the assassin's chest in flames. It took only moments for his clothes, skin and muscles to melt away before the fire finally reached his heart.
The men fell limp in the two stunned guards' hands and Zuko stared, equally dumbfounded. Of course he had prepared himself for the assassin to attempt again with flames from his breath, a technique he had witnessed his uncle do so often, but what the assassin did just then…
"W-w-why?" Zuko stuttered out.
"It's so that you don't extract any information from him."
Zuko whipped around and saw Mai come to his side, her face grim.
"He couldn't risk being taken alive and having his secrets tortured out of him. So he chose the most effective route of shutting up once and for all."
"B-b-but…"
"My uncle who used to be a prison warden had this sort of problem all the time.."
"He just killed himself!" Zuko shouted suddenly at Mai, enraged at how calm she seemed to be.
"And he tried to kill you and me."
Zuko stared at her, but the rage was gone, a new emotion had suddenly taken its place.
"And I don't think this'll be the last time, Zuko."
The Fire Lord said nothing, wordlessly he drew Mai into his arms and held onto her as tightly as he could.