"Uncle!" Zuko said a little alarmed and then lowered his head in shame.
"It is not wise for a man to dwell on the past instead look towards the future." Iroh spoke wisely.
Zuko raised his head up and looked his uncle in the eye, Iroh smiled at his nephew.
Mai cleared her throat and said as she unlocked Iroh's cell door. Iroh ran out and hugged Zuko.
"We should get going."
Then they started jogging down the maze of hallways. To their surprise it was much easier to get out, or at least that's what they thought. When they were almost out of the cells half a dozen Dai-lee members appeared, Mai sighed and some stilettos appeared between her fingers. One of the Dai-lee members threw some rock-daggers Ty-lee, she easily dogged then and blocked 3 of the Dai-lee's chi. Zuko and Mai knocked out the 3 remaining Dai-lee members.
"Well done." Iroh complemented.
Mai nodded and said "We should get going before we get anymore surprises."
They quickly and quietly made their way out of the palace. They made their way to the lower ring of the city, they stopped at Iroh's old tea shop. They got in and closed the door behind them, Mai looked around wondering why they were there, Zuko seemed to have read her mind.
"My uncle and I used to work here when we first arrived at the city" Zuko said keeping a straight face.
"Ah." Was all Mai replied.
They started to look around , when Iroh rushed in though the back door and said "We need to leave! now!"
They didn't bother to ask why, in less than a second they were on an ostrich-horse riding out of the city unnoticed.(Iroh got the ostrich-horse at the tea shop)
Once they were out of the city they decided to make camp for the night, they were a fair distance from the city. Zuko went to look for some fire wood and left Mai and Iroh alone.
Mai was unpacking some stuff from the bag she had boughten along. Iroh look at her and asked"Why are you helping my nephew and me?"
Mai's head shot up and look at the wise old man "Because I don't think what Azula is doing is right."
"Is that really the only reason you helped us?"Iroh asked aware of her feelings for him.
Mai blushed and looked up at the moon.
Iroh looked at her again and asked "Your feelings for him haven't changed." he said, it was more a statement than a question. She looked at the old man in defeat and nodded, just then Zuko came back. "Azula's coming!" And without another word they packed up and left.
After a few minutes Mai asked "When exactly did you see Azula?"
"When I was gathering firewood, I thought I saw her so I thought better be safe than sorry."
They rode for about an hour then they stopped thinking they were safe. When they were finished setting up their campsite, they said their good nights and went to bed. Zuko and Iroh shared a tent and Mai had a tent to herself But what they didn't notice was a shadow lurking in thee dark.