Zuko was in the middle of eating his meal when he heard a tapping at his door. He put down his chopsticks and set aside the papers he was stamping.

He cleared his throat. "Come in."

The door opened slowly. Mai glided inside. She greeted Zuko and he offered her a seat.

"So… has Ty Lee gone to visit my sister again?" Zuko inquired.

Mai sniffed as if she held back a chuckle. The smirk on her face was always heartwarming for Zuko.

"Yes, she is still very excited about it. Apparently things went very well. She didn't want to tell me everything. She says she won't reveal anything Azula told her in confidence without permission."

Zuko raised his eyebrows in surprise. He hadn't expected that his sister would react positively towards anyone so soon. He didn't even want to personally pay her a visit anytime soon.

"That's... good. Well I did ask you to come here for a reason."

Mai sat there and stared at him. "Yeah I know. I'm waiting."

Zuko went back to his seat and sat down.

"It's about my mother."

Mai's eyes widened. He had obviously gotten her attention.

"I've been trying to get as much information about her since my father was put in prison. He has refused to tell me anything many times but I have been able to get a little out of him every now and then."

Zuko had to turn around to fight back some emotion from overwhelming him. He then regained his composure and turned to Mai to continue.

"I think he doesn't really know for sure where she is. But I learned that she was banished from the Fire Nation and might have wondered somewhere into the Earth Kingdom to live a life as someone else."

Mai sat there, staring at Zuko with a frown.

"And you want to go find her don't you?"

"I want to find out what happened to her." Zuko replied.

"She would've probably shown herself if she found out the war is over. You know she might not… be around anymore." Mai said gravely.

Zuko didn't want to hear this. "I know. I just need to find out where she is."

Zuko had been having conflict with this for a while. Since the war ended he gained a little hope that his mother might suddenly show up. He knew what Mai said should be true; if she was still alive she would surely ask her loyal son to let her come back to her home. He waited for her to come home every day, but she never did. Sometimes he wished that his father would just admit he had her killed so that he wouldn't have to be disappointed every day.

"It's what Azula needs… it's what I need." He said quietly.

Zuko let his head hang down. Mai got up and went to hold him.

She held him close. He felt a lot warmer. Zuko wondered why he still felt so empty even though he has so much. He usually felt all right when Mai was with him. The sudden realization came that she was the closest family he had at that moment; the real ones were dead, crazy, or serving tea far away.

"If it's what you want, then do whatever you need to. I'm sure the nation can manage to stay together long enough for you to do something for yourself."

Mai held Zuko's head in both her hands. She was trying to look into his eyes but he kept his head down. He thought about what she had proposed but knew it was only wishful thinking.

"I don't think it can."