Fire Nation servants rushed around the Earth Kingdom palace like ants from a disturbed anthill. They busied themselves with tending to the chambers the Firelord and Lady were staying at, but their service extended far beyond that. Fire Nation cooks were in the kitchen, supervising the meal and drinks and even making their own. They cleaned every inch of the bedrooms, bathrooms, and hallways, fluffed the pillows, prepared hot water with scented oils, and taste-tested the food that was left on the nearby tables.

When Mai and Zuko finally returned, seen wearing casual clothing, they were welcomed warmly by all the servants. Many bowed low to them, others merely dipping their heads as they continued on with their work.

Almost all of them were in agreement that working under Zuko was far better than working under Ozai or Azula.

The couple passed them by without so much as a glance in their direction. They were heading straight towards the bedroom, wanting nothing more than to crash into the sheets and forget the day had happened. Their conversation with Iroh had been the one good point, but Zuko felt a bitterness in his gut about how it had ended. Mai could sense that easily enough.

The rest of the day?

Don't even ask.

Large, heavy doors, painted and gilded, opened up, revealing the enormous bed inside. Before they had even slammed shut once more, Mai was flinging off her clothes, scattering them onto the floor without a care in the world. Stripping down to nothing but the silken shift, she flopped down onto the puffy coverlets, her hands gathering the fabric around her and cocooning herself.

"What a day," was the last thing she said that night.

Zuko hesitated, taking his time doing everything. Undoing the buttons and sashes and peeling his clothes off absent-mindedly, letting the clench in his gut clench even tighter. He clenched his jaw, tugging at his sleeves. Not able to hold still any longer, he began to pace back and forth, grinding his teeth together.

His eyes darted to Mai, who was fast asleep on the giant bed.

It wasn't a peaceful sleep, but more one of exhaustion. Still, she seemed contented enough. No nightmares were passing through her mind; he would have been able to tell, for when she had nightmares her face contorted into a grimace and her fingers kept crooking.

Stomping over, Zuko kicked the door open, startling the two servants who waited outside.

"Has the Earth King come to a decision yet?" he asked impatiently.

"No—no, Your Highness," came the rushed response. Zuko groaned, ran a hand through his unbound hair, then slammed the door shut once more, kicking it with his foot.

"Looks like a few more days in this place," he told the sleeping Mai. "Until the Earth King reaches a decision, we're not going anywhere."

The mere thought of that seemed to drain all the energy from him.

"Come to the Earth Kingdom, they said. You'll reach diplomacy faster, they said." Zuko muttered and grumbled to himself, finally stripping off the last of stiff clothing. Half naked, he crawled up into the bed, huddling under the covers.

Mai still slept on top.

Truth be told, if the two of them weren't so tired, their time this night would have been different. He'd always loved being alone with her, and lazy dreams of their last intercourse passed through his head.

Something crashed outside the door, and Zuko shot straight up in bed.

More crashing, more banging, more yelling.

Angry yelling.

Mai opened her eyes a sliver, wondering what exactly was going on.

Urgent knocking struck the heavy doors. Groaning, Zuko pulled his body from the bed and kicked the door open once more, not even caring that his impatience was plain.

A male servant, Fire Nation, bowed low to him. He was unafraid as he said: "Iroh of the Royal Family wishes to see you."

"What?" was the only thing Zuko could say.

What did his uncle want at this hour?

"Just let him in," Mai said dismally, then rolled back over in the covers.

"You'd had better let me in!" Iroh's voice was low and threatening, and the servant quickly made himself scarce as Iroh stormed into the room. Zuko took a few steps back, not knowing what had triggered this drastic change in moods.

"Uncle? What is—?"

Iroh cut him off. "I know it cannot be you. I know that. But I still cannot leave this untested." He clamped Zuko's shoulder in a vice-like grip, pulling his face down towards his. "Have you at all gone after your mask?"

Zuko's head swam.

"My mask? What mask?" He honestly didn't remember. Iroh let him go, able to read the truth in his eyes.

"The blue spirit mask! The one you threw away all those years ago!" Still, his voice was angry, urgent. As the realization dawned upon Zuko, what he was talking about, he felt his emotions seem to split. Had he been better rested, perhaps they'd been easier to sort out.

"What about it? Are you saying you saw it resurface?" Humor was in his voice; disbelief was working its way through his mind. Looking down at his uncle tiredly, he asked, "Are you sure you weren't just seeing things?"

"Zuko, I know what I saw. It was the mask! The exact mask!"

Mai groaned and sat up, unable to rest with all the noise happening around her. She slid her black locks out of her eyes, and watched as the two men debated on the mask. Mai knew about the blue spirit; she had been the one to give it to Zuko. An old present when they were both so young.

Back then, when Zuko had seen the mask for the first time, he was delighted.

"I had it custom made!" Mai had said shyly.

"Really? By whom?"

"Oh," she had shrugged, "by an old friend somewhere near the coastline. He isn't looking so well nowadays, but he was more than happy to fill in."

And now, presently, Mai spoke up.

"Threw it into a lake, did you?"

Zuko spun to look at her, giving an 'I'm sorry,' shrug and nervous grin. Then turned back to his uncle. Mai simply watched.

"Okay. Let's just say for the sake of argument that it is my mask running around. What do you want me to do about it?" Zuko asked.

"I hate to say it—" Iroh placed a hand on his shoulder, "—but your mask, your responsibility."

Zuko rolled his eyes and sighed.

"It's late, Uncle. Good night." Zuko spun and walked back to bed, not giving backwards glance.

One slip-up let to another, just like a landslide. First Isuke had been spotted by an old man with a tea shop, and now by some rich woman who just wouldn't shut up. Not only wouldn't shut up, but felt the need to yell her stupid presumptions out to the entire street.

Isuke had dressed in all black once more, her blue spirit mask on, walking along the maze of the alleyways of the Upper Rings' city, struggling to find a break in this impossible maze. She knew where the palace was; it was the center of everything, and everything here seemed to gravitate towards it. That's where she should strike. But the problem was figuring out how.

Using her waterbending, she scaled the high buildings easily enough. Better to get a good look.

And that's when that damned woman started screaming.

"Thief! Thief!"

Terror flooded her veins, flowing into her heart. Immediately, she felt her fight-or-flight response kick in, the desire to run overpowering her senses. Forcing herself to remain calm, she slipped back into the shadows, giving her most elaborate waterbending yet, and rid herself from sight. But the woman had seen her, and thanks to her erratic screaming, some others had seen her too.

She only hoped they would think it a hallucination.

Her bending had been too fancy to be taken seriously. Or so she hoped.

Still, the woman's screams echoed through the night. "Thief! Thief!" More and more attention was being attracted to the scene, people gathering around in scores, all curious as to what was going on.

"A thief?" The whisper ran through the crowd.

Gritting her teeth, Isuke's eyes darted this way and that. When she knew no one was looking at her, she removed the mask, shoving it up under her shirt and tucking away the evidence. Only a small bump of the mask was left, all the edges covered by the thickness of her clothes. She could easily play it off that she was just a few months pregnant.

Everyone believed that.

"A demon!" the scream was now. Dai Li agents had shown up, racing onto the scene to keep everyone calm. At the mere sight of the, rage consumed Isuke. She wanted nothing more than to spike sharp icicles through them, killing them on the spot. But she swallowed her fantasy; hot tears stung in her eyes as she did.

"A demon, a demon with a blue face and dark looking. Oh! He had fangs!"

Isuke walked into the crowd, the rich overcoat hanging on her body once more. She blended right in with the crowd, so no one noticed her. She kept sneaking glances around the crowd, trying to see what was what.

She bit down on her tongue hard every tie a Dai Li agent came into sight.

Isuke may have been spotted, but the gig was not up yet. As the commotion died down, and the agents went off their separate ways, Isuke began to follow them. Coyly at first, as a wealthy citizen who just happened to be strolling along the shops, intrigued by the trinkets while she followed them.

Then, pulling out the mask once more, she dove into the rivers, following as silently as a fish.

They had their end coming for them.

Okay, I know this story is going really slow right now, but trust me it's gonna get better. Please hang in there!