It was something they chose to ignore, something they didn't even try to worry about. Zuko's priority was capturing the Avatar, Mai's priority was keeping him sane and occasionally keeping soldiers in line. Any burgeoning hormones or sexual tension between them would have to wait.
"It's going to creep up on you sooner or later," Iroh always. "You are teenagers, after all."
One particular night, it finally did catch up to them. Or in Zuko's case, slammed into him head-on. Mai came to his room looking for company on Music Night as she often did, and much to his chagrin she could see it as soon as she walked in the door.
"Need some help with that?" she teased. Zuko blushed, turning away and refusing to face her.
"I can handle it just fine by myself, just like I always do," he snapped.
"Look, Zuko," Mai sighed. "I hate to admit this but...your uncle was right." She sat down on the bed, arms crossed tightly over her chest and her head down as she tried in vain to conceal her blush. "You know as well as I do this isn't gonna go away on its own."
Zuko sat down beside her, relaxing a little but still refusing to look at her.
"I know," he said. "Mai, it's not like I've never thought about it, but it's just weird. I mean, we've known each other since we were little kids!"
"We're not kids anymore, Zuko."
"Tell me about it."
Mai smiled a little, uncrossing her arms.
"It's just one night, and we don't even have to go all the way," she said. "Nothing'll happen if we just touch each other, right?"
Zuko finally lifted his gaze to meet hers. The desire in her eyes mirrored hers, and he smiled.
"Just let me lock the door."
And so they began their awkward, inexperienced exploration of each other. It was different, yet not much different from their usual method of dealing with their urges. As they fell asleep against each other, the question of whether it would happen again remained unanswered and likely would for a long time.