Chapter 4

The night passed quite quickly, to Zuko's surprise. With so much on his mind, he barely believed he could even shut his eyes. Mai had been sleeping next to him with nothing on but his shirt, and his uncle had just had a heart attack. But, surprisingly had enough energy to stay awake on Appa all the way back to Ba Sing Se. He turned his to look at Mai, who was fast asleep on Appa's back. Zuko stroked her face with his thumb to wake her up, and slowly her eyes fluttered open.

He smiled when she awoke,"We're here." Mai smiled and place his hand in her own.

"Me and Katara will just wait out here with Appa untill your done." Aang called from Appa's head. He stretched and got himself comfortable, knowing this would be a while, and Katara did the same. Zuko helped Mai off of Appa and they both walked into the back of the tea shop where Iroh lived. Zuko paused in the door way. Mai turned to him,"Do you want to talk to him alone." He thought about this, and nodded. She cuffed his chin in her hand and kissed him lightly, before he entered. Iroh was up against the bed post, half awake. When he saw Zuko, his eyes sprung open.

"Hello my nephew, I am so glad to see you. Did you fly all the way back here?" Iroh asked him.

"Yeah.. We got a letter.. Are you okay?" Zuko asked, taking a seat at the edge of his bed.

Iroh chuckled and nodded,"I've had worse."

Zuko smiled, he was happy his uncle was in such a positive mood about this whole thing,"I'm glad to hear you're okay." There was a long silence, until Iroh spoke up.

"Is Mai here with you?" He asked.

Zuko looked up,"Yeah, She's outside." He rubbed the back of his neck,"About Mai..." He started.

"Yes?" Iroh asked.

Zuko swallowed,"I was thinking.. I think I ... Want to ask her to marry me." He looked out of the corner of his eye to see Iroh's expression. He was smiling widely.

"I'm so happy to hear that, my nephew! I'm glad you found somebody you love so much that you would devote the rest of your life to them." Iroh said excitedly.

Zuko smiled to himself, those last few words buzzing in his head.

"Have you gotten a betrothal necklace?" Iroh asked, curious.

"No, but before we left the palace I was looking. A lot." Zuko shrugged.

"Just haven't found the right one yet I see.." Iroh smiled,"Well you have my blessing." He said with a hug.

"Don't tell Mai." Zuko spat out quickly,"I want it to be a surprise."

Iroh chuckled again,"I'm sure it will be." His face went serious,"But I hear you only came to check on me. And you did. So now go back to the Fire Nation and find a good necklace, alright?"

Zuko grinned,"Right." They hugged once more, and Zuko raised himself off his bed to leave. "You sure you're okay?" He asked before heading out the door.

"I'm fine, now hurry." He smiled and gestured his hand to leave. Zuko nodded and shut the door behind him. Mai was sitting on a bench beside the door. She looked up at him,"You're already done?" She asked. Zuko smiled hugely,"Yes. Now let's go." He said grabbing her hand and practically running back to Appa. Aang gave Zuko a weird look before taking the reins, "That was pretty quick. You sure you're done?" He asked suspiciously.

"Yes, now go." Zuko said, too happy to frown. Mai stared at him,"You okay?" She asked, concerned.

He smiled and nodded,"Perfect."

Appa lunged into the air on Aang's command, and the city grew more and more out of sight. Aang had traveled this way many times, and he knew that if he turned in the right direction, which he did, that he basically just had to keep flying straight. He told this to Appa and fell asleep. Katara lay watching Aang, and his peacefullness eventually led her to sleep.

Mai lay down and propped herself up on her elbow, facing Zuko. A slow smile spread across her face. Her skin lit up as the moon slowly started to rise, and her eyes reflected the fading colors of the sun. She had left her hair down, knowing it would get messed up flying anyway. Zuko felt his face redden at the sight of her. He set his hands on her shoulders and leaned in until their lips met. Mai's hands soothed up his back and wrapped around his neck, deepening their kiss. Her scent filled Zuko's head until he was dazed, and his heart took control. He kissed down her jawline until he was at her neck, where his lips traveled up and down hungrily. A soft groan built up in his throat and escaped as his lips parted again, and the sound made Mai's heart flutter. Zuko reached the back of her thigh to wrap her leg around his lower torso. Part of Mai was beginning to worry if she wasn't going to be able to stop, but another part that didn't want to dominated her actions. Their tongues met, and danced in eachothers mouths. They could hear eachothers rough breathing between kisses. Zuko's eyes peeked open, he wanted to see Mai's expression, but his vision was blurred. He could tell fire was building inside him. He turned away from her and breathed it out roughly, but all Mai could feel was the heat. He slammed his mouth back to hers, and his hands roamed up her shirt. Mai gasped at the impact of this, she wasn't expecting it so quickly. She normally would have stopped him, but for some reason she didn't. Mai wanted it. She gasped again, and then moaned softly. Why am I making so much noise? She was surprised she could think straight. Hearing Mai do this just made Zuko more eager to give in to the urge to take her clothes off. But that would embarrase her if the others woke up, he thought. He traced the corners of her mouth with his tongue, and it welcomed her taste. The deeper they got into their love for eachother, the more Mai started to get this strange urge she had never felt before. She wanted, for some reason, to lick him. Eventually, she couldn't fight this urge anymore, and Zuko felt a warm trace run up his face. His vision blurred more, and he felt dizzy. They continued exploring, and enjoying the feel and taste of one another until they fell asleep.

Hours passed, and Mai finaly opened her eyes, and the moon shone bright over head. It was a little too bright. She rubbed her eye and turned herself over to see Zuko. He was still asleep, his arm outstetched infront of him where it used to wrap around her. She bit her lip to hide her smile, and nuzzled herself into him again and pretended she was sleeping. She felt his body move, and he nibbled her ear,"I know you're faking." Zuko whispered playfully. She hid her face in his chest to hide her giggle, and he kissed the top of her head gently.

Katara heard movement, and lifted herself from her sleeping position. She softly nudged Aang,"Aang, I think we are almost there. Wake up." She whispered soothingly. He squinted against the moon light, and looked into the distance. He saw the mountain that hid the Fire Nation come closer and closer. He turned around to tell Zuko and Mai, who were already watching. "We're almost there." Aang said, as they prepared to drop off the last two people that made up the group.

Pretty short.. I know xD... Chapt. 5 will be up soon ;)