Zuko and Mai walked around the gardens outside of Zuko's quarters in the early evening. It was the peaceful time between the end of meetings and dinner. The sun was still high in the sky, but it was a little cooler than the middle of the day. The smell of summer was beginning to permeate the air, making the air crisp to the taste. Zuko walked with his arms held behind his back, subtly leaning down over Mai. Mai walked beside him with her arms folded in front of her, but her right hand occasionally flew out as she talked.

"You can't be serious! This is important."

Zuko laughed, his smile illuminated by the little sparks floating around the space between them. "I don't think I need to worry about plant health in the Fire Nation."

"If your plants are healthy, your nation is healthy," Mai insisted.

"That's just because you now own fifty plants," Zuko poked.

Mai pushed him, making him stumble a little. "It's only 27."

"If you say so."

Zuko led the both of them to a bench under a Konara tree next to the turtle duck pond. He pulled out a small loaf of bread and pulled off little bits to toss to the littlest ones. Mai sat beside him, the sides of their shoulders just barely touching.

"Hey Zuko?"

Zuko put down his loaf and eyed her with suspicion. "Yes?"

Mai pulled out the scroll Jiro gave her and handed it to Zuko. "Have you heard about Avatar Asa and Firelord Itoku? They lived about 300 years ago."

Zuko took the scroll carefully, scanning through it, his lips mumbling the words under his breath. "Yeah, of course I have. Why?"

Mai pointed to the end of the scroll. "This is an account of their life told from Avatar Asa's point of view. She apparently had a vision of the future. She saw the 100 year war, but she also prophesized what would happen later. Read this."

Zuko wet his bottom lip, pausing. "Phoenix'." His eyes skittered to hers. "And this means…"

Mai shook her head. "I don't know what it means. I sent Aang a letter to see if he knew, but that was just yesterday. Jiro told me to keep it to myself, but I knew I needed to tell you in case it's about… your father."

"Then Ozai is supposed to take back the throne? I don't understand." Zuko's shoulders fell. He rolled up the scroll with some force. "He is in confinement and he has no firebending. The prophecy must be wrong."

"Or she doesn't mean the 'Phoenix King' or whatever ridiculous name that asshole came up with." Mai rubbed Zuko's shoulders comfortingly, her thumb gently stroking the curve of his shoulder. "I think we need to be careful. We don't know what this means, and maybe everything will be okay, but we just don't know. You've done a lot for this country. And everyone, including your council, have faith in you and your vision for the country."

"That we know of," Zuko growled.

"That we know of," Mai repeated. "Researching Avatar Asa's life has actually led me to some insights about an heir. Can I show you?" Mai took Zuko's hand, squeezing it in a question. He squeezed back with an easy smile. Mai pulled out another scroll, this scroll much dirtier and the edges were fraying." During her time period, it was possible to put a surrogate heir on the throne, as in the Firelord or Lady could choose anyone to be an heir, even outside of the country, until a blood relative could be found or produced.

Zuko looked over the document carefully, his lips moving silently along with the words on the page. he breathed deeply and gave her a pointed look. "There is no rush to find an heir" Zuko protested, pouting.

"Zuko, you have to do something about an heir." Mai asked stubbornly, crossing her arms. "You can't just do nothing forever."

"I know; I know." Zuko raked his hands through his hair. "I know it's bad, but I don't know; it just seems like the last thing I should be worrying about right now. With the colonies, new school systems, dismantling propaganda, the peace summit, and my father's supporters I barely have time to even think about what would happen to the nation if I died and we had no heir." Zuko fell back onto the grass, his shoulders slumped in defeat. His hair sagged forward, casting a shadow across the left side of his face. "Agni doesn't last long enough in a day to get all of this done."

Mai hummed in agreement, but her mind already thinking ahead ten steps. She grabbed some ink from her discarded bag and she sprawled its contents on her lap. Mai could sense Zuko's curious gaze now as she unfurled the scroll and dipped a brush on the wet ink stone. Heir needed, she wrote, her handwriting quick and just barely legible. "I have to write this out. There has to be a way that you can have an heir without having to have one right away." She wrote the characters for baby and council next to each other. "You could possibly have one, but it wouldn't exactly solve the problem of protecting the Fire Nation if you become incapacitated within the first ten years of your reign," Mai described bluntly.

Zuko laughed gruffly. He sat up with a grunt, shuffling closer to her, his side brushing hers as he peered down at the document. "A baby on the throne while the crazy council leads the country? Not an option."

"Not an option right now," Mai amended. She crossed out the words and went on to write relative and adoption, as well as democracy and Kiyi.

Zuko shook his head, taking the brush out of Mai's hand to cross out Kiyi's name. "She's not a royal; not officially at least. Only those who can firebend and are from Sozin's blood line can hold the throne. Also I think Mom would kill me if I put either of her daughters on the throne."

Mai let out a choked laugh. "That she would." Mai added those stipulations to her growing list. "Technically, but we can bend the rules." She drew a line down the middle of the paper and the on the other side she started listing names. Lu Ten, Ozai, and Iroh all joined each other on the list. "Any other living relatives who would want to get in on the action?" Mai asked sarcastically, sending a sideways smirk towards him.

Zuko shook his head. "I think all of them have died of…suspicious reasons."

"How about generals? Can any of the high ranking officials or Fire Sages that could take the throne if something happens?"

Reaching over, Zuko added three names to the list

"You could adopt someone…" Mai began, scanning the list, the handle of the brush tapping against her chin.

Zuko scrunched his nose up. "Too risky right now. No one deserves to be added to this shit show. And if we chose someone who wanted to become Firelord, I think we would have more to worry about."

Mai crossed out Ozai's name and added a list of requirements to the side about who to contact about their eventual decision and what needed to be done to make everything official. She tapped the brush against the corner of her mouth, humming. "Okay, so say you make your uncle Firelord. If you are out of the picture, what would happen to the country after your uncle assumed the throne?"

"Iroh would have an heir and the country could move on and flourish?" Zuko said, not sounding sure at all. Mai gave him a flat look, making him visibly deflate.

"He's too old for that, and he's said he doesn't want any more children. He has his hands full with you and Teddy," Mai said despairingly. "He could act as stand-in Fire Lord, but I don't think that is a good solution for the long run. Also, you know he would never accept the position."

Zuko groaned, slumping once again. "I know," he whined. "What about Lu Ten?"

"He said no," Mai laughed, her dry laugh contagious. "Do we need to have this conversation with him again?"

"But maybe I could convince him?" Zuko proposed with a grimace.

Mai let out an amused sigh, looking at her list again. "Well that leaves Ozai…unless you want a random politician leading the country."

"That wouldn't be awful," Zuko supposed. "I don't think the peace would last very long."

"Bingo," Mai said with a click of her tongue.

"What about her," Zuko said after a pause. He caught Mai's eyes and held them sternly. "What if she could do it?"

"Who is-" Mai began, but then she realized who he was talking about. "No. Not an option."

"It's the only option right now."

"She would kill the entire country and let the entire world be engulfed by flames," Mai growled. "I don't trust her."

"I don't trust her either, but I think she is the only option," Zuko pleaded. "Maybe she'll be different. Aang promised he would try to help."

"No one can change that much," Mai said darkly.

"I did; we did."

"It's not the same." Mai shook her head, pushing the bangs out of her eyes. "There is a reason why Azula is not Firelord right now, and you know that."

Zuko raked his hands through his hair again, looking like he was thirty years older than he was. "We can add a stipulation that every decision that she makes has to go through several layers of representatives from all across the Fire Nation, but hopefully it would never have to come to that. She would only be an heir until one of my descendants grew of age, maybe around 13 at the earliest, but preferably at 18. That could work couldn't it?"

Mai frowned at him, not wanting to respond. "If you die tomorrow and your sister has to lead your country, think about what could happen."

Zuko took both of her hands in his. "I know; I know. It's not the best option, but it's not the worst. Did you see her before she left?"

Mai shook her head with the barest of movements.

"She's not like what she was at the Agni Kai. That day…the last time I saw her, she was snarky and still talked to herself, but she had no fire. Aang promised he would try to help her regain her fire, and properly; talking about some spirit stuff; but I have to hope that she will change like I did," Zuko explained. "I want to believe she can."

"She never was like you when we were kids. You have always been kind," Mai emphasized. "She has always tried to hurt others."

Zuko rubbed his thumb against Mai's, making her shiver. "She was kind when we were really little. The moment she could produce fire, she changed. You know that was Ozai's doing. Maybe she can still come back."

"Your council will think you are crazy," Mai said with a wry laugh; "putting a missing person down as your heir."

"But no one can assassinate an heir that is missing," Zuko added. "Not in a million Avatar Cycles would that be possible."

Mai squeezed his hand, letting him know she at least would try to trust him on this issue. "But if you want her to be your heir until you have your own..." The unspoken conversation hung in the air between them. "Then I will trust you."

The tension dispelled as Zuko leaned in and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you, you're amazing, Maisy." Little sparks blinked at her, bouncing off her skin, leaving small little sparks bubbling beneath her skin.

Mai rolled her eyes. "You get so sappy at night." Mai yawned and stretched, glancing outside. "Ugh, it's getting late. I need to go home."

Zuko let out a huff but the smile on his face did not diminish.

Mai leaned down and pulled him in for a kiss. "Goodnight," she whispered, her breath caressing his face. "Get some sleep."

"You too," he murmured against her lips, his eyes fluttering open; his gold eyes smokey with some hidden emotion Mai couldn't pin down. "See you tomorrow for breakfast?"

"We'll see," Mai said with a teasing grin.

She followed him back to his bedchambers, lingering a little longer than she probably should have. Whispers of the future and the past flitted around in the space between them, going unspoken. The last goodbye, however, was a promise that they would figure things out in time.

She slipped out the door and walked down the hallways of the palace, deep in thought. She made a list in her head of what she needed for the next morning for the meetings tomorrow, amending it to add a list of things to pack an extra lunch for Zuko tomorrow so they could spend some time together. She was just adding a point to remember to feed Catfish in the morning when she noticed the lack of cricket-beetle song. Then there was a yell, coming from the corridor she had just left.

Hello Readers! Long time no see! It has been a crazy time at school for me and there have just been a lot of changes in my life. I'm sorry for the cliffhanger lol, but don't worry, the next chapter will come soon. I have a couple chapters planned and written now in advance so I'm going to try and update on this story more often, but for right now, there won't be a schedule. I hope you are enjoying the story so far. Please feel free to leave a favorite, follow, or a comment if you wish. Until I write again, TTFN!