Zuko let out a drawn-out sigh. All he wanted right now was to stay in his bed and be left to wallow in his misery all day, but here he was, on his way to a dining hall on the palace grounds because his sister had 'kindly requested' he be present at breakfast. Because of course she had—Agni forbid he might want to be left alone, in whatever peace he had.

His robes danced in the warm breeze as he followed a servant up the stairs to a lavish building. His gaze was cast on the marble stairs while he tried in vain to stop his thoughts from wandering off to the dreadful nightmare he'd seen last night. But no matter what he did, no matter how hard he tried, he simply couldn't get the image of his uncle encased up to his neck in glowing crystals, turning his head away in disappointment, and of the Water Tribe girl standing in the catacombs they'd been imprisoned in, face devoid of emotion, blood gushing out of her face, hand, and even eyes, telling him he was the one that had done this to her, not the Dai Li.

The servant Zuko had been following reached the top of the stairs and the Dai Li agent standing guard at the entry of the hall opened the elegant double doors for the Fire Prince, who kept glowering down at the ground, while the servant stayed outside. Zuko decided to busy his mind with what he'd be having for breakfast instead of the horror he'd just woken up from. He hadn't eaten anything since leaving the Jasmine Dragon yesterday afternoon, and after fighting with the Avatar, not to mention all the things proceeding that with Uncle and the waterbender, he was absolutely famished.

"Well, well…" he heard his sister's snarky remark as he set foot in the building. "Look who's decided to grace us with his presence… We were beginning to think you'd ditched us, Zuzu."

Before Zuko could look up or even begin to wonder who these 'we' and 'us' were, a high-pitched squeal of his name reached his ears, and in the split second he was lifting his head to check out who was calling for him, a flurry of pink leaped in the air, landed right in front of him, then two strong arms wrapped around his neck and pulled him down for a bone-crushing hug.

"Hey… Ty Lee…" he choked out through the suffocating arms wrapped around his throat. He patted his long-time friend on the back awkwardly as his way of hugging back and also as a silent plea for her to slacken her hold and let him breathe again.

Ty Lee drew back from their embrace with a huge grin splitting her face. Zuko doubted she was even aware she'd just strangled the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation—a treacherous crime normally punished by public execution.

"Oh, it's so great to see you again!" she chirped, squeezing his shoulders affectionately. "Wow, you've gotten so tall! How're you? How've you been? Did you travel to a lot of places? What was the weirdest food you tried? Ooh, you were at the Northern Water Tribe during the invasion, right? Did you see the Avatar turn into a giant monster and wipe out our entire fleet? And are the poles really as cold as they say? They say they have houses of ice there! That's crazy! I mean, doesn't the ice melt in the summer? Ugh, do you remember the summers back home? It gets, like, so hot. But I like the weather here. It's cool and the humidity is nice too. At least you don't start sweating the moment you come out of the shower here, amirite?"

A fed-up sigh sounded from behind her.

"Will you hush up, Ty? Let him breathe a little."

Zuko looked over his friend's shoulder to see another childhood friend, looking gloomy as she often had, seated beside his sister at a long, luxurious wooden table. The long locks of her jet-black hair she'd let flow down her shoulders framed her striking, somber features, and her porcelain skin glowed in the soft rays of the dawning sun. And while Ty Lee hadn't changed much over the years, the childish roundness of Mai's face had given way to a sharp jawline and even sharper slope to her nose.

Ty Lee turned around and put her fists on her hips. "What? Can I not be excited to see one of my best friends for the first time in three years?"

Mai rolled her eyes and went back to eating her breakfast. "Whatever."

Ty Lee looped her arm around Zuko's and began walking them to the table.

"Don't mind her, Zuko," she said, her voice having dropped to a conspiratorial whisper only he could hear, "she's missed you too." Her grin turned mischievous and she wiggled her brows. "She's missed you a lot."

Zuko looked at the girl in question again, who was staring down at her plate and calmly chewing on her food. She didn't seem one bit enthusiastic to have seen him. By the looks of it, she seemed more like they'd been hanging out every day and this was just another morning than seeing him for the first time in more than three years. But he didn't give much thought to it—he already had a lot on his mind, and stuffing his mouth with those delicious smelling dumplings he peeped on the table was his main priority at the moment.

As they neared the table, Ty Lee untangled herself from his arm and sat down across from Mai, and he walked over to the head of the table to sit opposite his sister, who'd been quietly watching the whole interaction and eating her meal, not a trace of emotion on her face. One of the many maids standing by the walls walked up to the young prince and lifted the golden lid off of his plate as he sat down, then went back to her spot beside the wall with practiced, silent steps.

Cozily settling down on his chair, Zuko went to pick up his chopsticks with his right hand, then realized his foolishness at the last second and switched hands.

"What's with the bandages, Zuzu?" his sister asked casually, focused on her food rather than him.

At her question, the other girls' attentions snapped to the bandages on his right hand—the hand he'd willingly burned the night before while helping the Water Tribe girl.

Ty Lee gasped. "Zuko! Are you okay?!"

Zuko hastily hid his hand under the table and uttered, "It's nothing. I'm fine," before going on to eat his food.

"Oh, so you bandage your hand for fun…" Mai said dryly.

Zuko sent her an annoyed look and took a bite out of his dumpling. "I just accidentally cut myself this morning. That's all."

Azula locked eyes with her brother. Although her face still lacked emotion, the knowing gleam in her eyes showed the true danger that stormed beneath her tranquil features.

"Cut yourself this morning, have you?" She tilted her head. "That's odd. I could've sworn I saw wounds on that very hand last night, after you came back from your little visit to that Water Tribe peasant."

Zuko froze, staring at his sister with wide eyes and the dumpling he'd been bringing to his mouth hanging in the air before his face. Then, as Azula broke into a smirk, his eyes shot to his plate and he cleared his throat. "You saw wrong."

Azula didn't take her scrutinizing eyes off of him as she set her chopsticks down on the table and interlaced her fingers before her, all the while Zuko was doing his best to look innocent—trying nonchalantly to eat his meal and staring at his plate and nowhere else.

"Funny how you should say that," she said, resting her chin atop her interlaced fingers. "The thing is, dearest brother, little birdies told me you asked for a bucket of water last night while you were visiting the peasant, and they said she was in a better condition after you left. Apparently, she even woke up for a while."

Zuko prayed to Agni the heat he felt spreading on his cheeks wasn't visible to his sister, even though he knew it wouldn't make much of a difference anyway—she'd always read him like an open book whether he showed his feelings or not.

He looked away. "I just wanted to wake her up and interrogate her myself, so I splashed her with some cold water. She must've woken up later."

"Mhmm…" Azula stared down at him with mocking eyes. "The human body works in such mysterious ways, doesn't it?"

Zuko opened his mouth, hoping he could somehow come up with a coherent lie on the spot, but his sister spoke before he did.

"But you needn't fret, brother," she said, breaking eye contact and picking up her chopsticks from the table, the danger behind her eyes having been dissipated. "Dad won't hear of this little incident. Me and my birdies will stay quiet. And you," she addressed the maids lining the walls over her shoulder, her voice suddenly as cold as ice, "none of you will speak of this to anyone. For your and your families' sake. Understood?" The maids gave her nervous curtsies and she turned back to her brother. "Oh, quit gaping, Zuzu. You're my brother—of course I'm looking out for you."

Only after a long second was Zuko able to pick up his jaw from the floor. He was overjoyed that she'd chosen to spare him from her—or worse, Father's—wrath, but at the same time confused as to why she would've done that. He'd never known her to be the merciful or caring type, and yet this was the second time she'd turned a blind eye to something treacherous he'd done in the span of less than half a day—the first being agreeing to end the waterbender's 'interrogation'.

Azula eyed her brother. "I see you need a minute to collect your thoughts. Ty Lee, why don't you fill little Zuzu here on what you've been up to all these years? I'm sure he's dying to hear all of it."

Ty Lee, who'd been glancing back and forth at the royal siblings anxiously, jumped at the opportunity to ease up the tense atmosphere that had gathered around the table. "Of course! Hmm… Where was I when Zuko left… Oh, right, I was still at the Royal Academy!"

And so she started jabbering on about how, once she'd graduated from the academy, she'd joined a circus and traveled the colonies in extreme—and mostly unnecessary—detail, waving her arms around in a grandiose fashion to dramatize her points.

While she babbled on in the background and the others finished their breakfast in silence, Zuko nodded and "Hmm"ed and gave one-worded replies at the times that felt the most appropriate. He was more focused on the fact that Azula had figured out that he'd helped the waterbender. She now had a strong case of blackmail to use against him, and the scars on his hand were all the evidence she'd need—though something told him Father wouldn't care for any evidence before declaring him a traitor and personally executing him.

Well, there was nothing Zuko could do about it now. As long as he didn't step out of line or anger Azula, he shouldn't have anything to worry about—or so he told himself. He might as well enjoy his expertly prepared meal. He may not have been awfully proud of how he'd gotten his status as the crown prince back, but he had to admit he'd missed these top-notch meals that came with being royalty, especially after nearly starving to death on multiple occasions in the last few months.

However, even though he'd muted out Ty Lee's ramblings early into her monologue, there was something else that kept drawing his attention away from his food, or rather someone else.

Having grown up as a prince and a soldier—a formidable one at that—he was trained to notice when he was being spied upon, hence he quickly caught the shy glances Mai was stealing from him. The first few glances he didn't understand, but as she kept doing it over and over again, he realized the reasoning behind her curious ganders—it was his scar. This was the first time she'd seen it. He'd been banished before anyone from home—with the exception of his physicians and uncle—could get a glimpse of the horror Father had wrought on his face, and he couldn't blame anyone for wanting to look at it. At least she didn't grimace or pity him, which was more than what he could say for most other people.

Besides, what other reason could there possibly be for her to check him out?

"And then, we crossed the Great Divide," Ty Lee continued, her food only half-eaten, "but there really wasn't much to see except for some big, ugly, crawling monsters, so I'm just gonna skip that part. After there, we went to this village, and it was in this forest that had all these huge trees with red leaves, and they were gorgeous. I wish you were all there too. Though I heard some lunatic blew up a dam there a little after we left and destroyed part of the forest. Why anyone would ruin such a thing of wonder is beyond me. Anywho, we stayed at that village for—"

"These are all very fascinating stories, Ty Lee," Azula cut in, dabbing at her mouth with her napkin, "but as much as I'd love to sit here and listen to all of your wonderful adventures, I'm afraid Zuzu and I have to get going. We're expected at a war meeting."

Ty Lee's face fell and she murmured a quiet "Okay," while Zuko, who was midchew on a bite of dumplings, looked at his sister questioningly.

"We are?"

"Yes, Dum-Dum. You're the crown prince—your place is by my side while I secure our occupation of this great city. And stop speaking with your mouth full. Have you no manners?"

Zuko rolled his eyes, then tossed another dumpling into his mouth before getting up. The moment he pushed his chair back, all the maids curtsied, then they curtsied once more when their princess got to her feet.

"We'll see you two at dinner," Azula said to her friends, then turned to her brother. "Come, Zuzu, time to go."

-o-

After they left the dining hall for the war room, time flew by as they and the Head of the Dai Li discussed strategies for the enforcement of their occupation of the Earth Kingdom capital, along with the rest of its unoccupied lands, in meetings that lasted for hours on end. And before Zuko knew it, he'd had dinner with the girls, where he'd, once again, played the glancing game with Mai, while Ty Lee had continued telling stories from her time with the circus.

While the endless meetings had bored him out of his mind, at least they had kept him busy enough that he hadn't really gotten a chance to think of anything but moving troops around and deciding on the right time frame for them to secure their rule here and go back to the Fire Nation before they'd be 'invaded' in three months. But now, as he sat alone in his room, watching the moon rise over the magnificent scenery of the Upper Ring, he couldn't help but let the thoughts he'd been pushing aside all day to come forth—the thoughts of how, or if, Father was going to welcome him home, of how his uncle was faring in prison and just how much he hated Zuko now, and, of course, the Water Tribe girl.

Reaching into the layers of his robes, he took out the necklace he'd been carrying with him throughout the day. He hadn't wanted to leave it behind when he'd set off this morning in case a servant had stumbled upon it while tidying his room, and also because he actually kind of liked carrying it around. It was comforting, really, to know that at least one part of the waterbender was safe.

His eyes locked onto the pendant and his thumb grazed the intricate grooves carved into it, the rock cool and soothing beneath his touch. Despite his better judgment, he wondered how she was doing. Azula had said she'd woken up for a while during the night, so that was a good sign, right? But what if the healing he'd done hadn't helped with the pain and she'd woken up because of her agony?

What's more, there was also this 'warm welcome' his sister had ordered to be given to her. What if this 'welcome' was to be warm literally? There was a fireplace in that room she'd been tortured in. It was entirely possible for them to get her warm with that fire. Oh Agni… Had they hurt her more than they were going to originally? Had he done the wrong thing by trying to help her?

Thankfully for Zuko, a palace guard called from the other side of the doors of his bedchambers, breaking his train of thought.

"Prince Zuko. Lady Mai is here, sir. She is asking for an audience with Your Highness."

Zuko's brows furrowed. Why would she want to speak with him?

Quickly putting the pendant away in one of the drawers of his desk, he got up from his chair and clasped his hands behind him, hoping his false confidence would conceal his ongoing inner turmoil about the Water Tribe girl.

"Let her in."

No sooner had the last word had come out of his mouth than the doors opened to reveal Mai, standing tall and proud in the doorway, like a true noble should. And behind her, he caught a glimpse of a maid carrying a silver tray, though his friend's lean frame obscured what stood atop it.

Without waiting for him to invite her in as the palace rules demanded, Mai stepped into the room with her head held high, not even bothering to curtsy, while the maid stayed out in the hallway. And Zuko was happy that she hadn't curtsied to him—enough people already did that, and it unsettled him after living in the streets for months. And it was nice to know he had friends that saw him for the real him and not just his newly-reacquired title.

Mai stopped a couple of steps in, a tinge of eagerness betraying her stoic expression. "Hi, Zuko."

Zuko briefly glanced at the maid behind her before turning his attention back to her. "Hey."

His curiosity must've shown on his face, because a small, knowing smile appeared on her lips and she stepped aside, revealing the objects on top of the tray the maid carried—a large ceramic bottle with exquisite illustrations of colorful flowers decorating its white exterior, and two tiny ceramic cups and more ceramic plates topped with beverages laying beside it.

"Just thought we could do something fun to celebrate your return," she explained.

Ah. Zuko looked around his scarcely furnished room for a good place to host his guest, then turned to the maid once he'd found it. "You may place the tray on the desk."

As quiet as a spirit, the maid came into the room, did as she was told, then backed away until she was out in the hallway again, her head bowed at all times. Once the guards outside shut doors behind her, the two teenagers, now left all alone in the room, stared at one another awkwardly, grey eyes meeting gold.

Realizing she was waiting for him to start the conversation, Zuko cleared his throat and held a hand out toward the desk. "Please, come in."

As Mai began walking to him, he asked, "How're you?"

"Fine," she replied, her features returning to their blank indifference. "You?"

"Same."

Zuko didn't speak as she came to a stop beside the table, unsure what else he could say to get the conversation going. Fortunately for him, she was the one that spoke this time.

"So," she reached for the bottle and poured herself a cup, "are you gonna tell me what really happened to your hand, or should I keep guessing? Don't worry, I won't tell Azula."

Zuko unconsciously brought his injured hand behind him, out of her line of sight. "It's just a cut like I said."

"Uh huh…" She moved on to the second cup. Once that one was filled to the brim as well, she set the bottle down. "You know, you should ask Azula to teach you a thing or two about lying. It's a real life-saver."

He chuckled as she handed him his drink, but then he winced involuntarily when the pungent smell of alcohol that wafted from the transparent liquid in his cup reached his nose.

Agni, how was it even possible for something to stink this bad?

"You've never drunk sorghum liquor before?" Mai asked, raising a brow.

Feeling a little self-conscious under her questioning gaze, Zuko shifted uneasily on his feet, looking away. "I've… never really drunk any alcohol before."

She blinked. "Let me get this straight—You were out on the sea for three years with a group of ex-convicts as your crew, and you never once drank anything?"

Zuko shrugged. "My uncle always kept their 'unwanted behaviors' away from me," he said, making air quotes with his uninjured hand. "He also called alcohol 'desperate man's poison' and always talked about how 'many a great man has fallen out of grace because it.'"

"Huh..." Mai said, clearly impressed. "He seems like a wise man when you put it that way. Definitely different from what Azula told me about him."

"Yeah…" A tiny smile crept onto Zuko's lips as the many memories he had of Uncle sipping his tea and pumping out one proverb after another played before his eyes. "He is…"

He couldn't help but reminisce about his old ship, about sailing the oceans as he chased for any trace of the Avatar, about his uncle sitting at a table with a cup of jasmine tea in one hand and a Pai Sho tile in the other, about how he would softly chuckle at something a crewmate had said, or perhaps nothing at all—just enjoying the contentment that came with appreciating the simpler things in life.

Oh, how valued a moment was when it became a memory...

His beloved cousin Lu Ten might've been the one that had died in this so-called Impenetrable City, but he was no longer the only family Zuko had lost on these foreign lands.

Exhaling a shaky breath, he leaned back on the edge of the desk beside his friend, gazing down at the cup he held in his lap. He got lost in the dark abyss that was his mind, melancholic clouds gathering before his glassy eyes, the stench of the alcohol reduced to all but a weak inkling at the back of his head.

"My uncle… He was there for me even when I had no one else to turn to, and I..." he trailed off into silence, the rest of his speech dying on the tip of his tongue, too afraid to admit what he'd done to his uncle in return.

Because he was looking down at his drink, he didn't see Mai's expression morph into that of a worried one. He didn't see her looking to the side, contemplating what she was about to do, and a faint blush blossom on her cheeks. He just heard a soft thud as she placed her cup on the table and the swishing of her dress, before the black silk of her shoes entered his field of view, and a pair of lips gently brushed his.

Whatever Zuko had been thinking a moment ago perished that instant.

Their kiss didn't last longer than a second, but it was enough to paralyze him to his spot and wipe his mind blank. His mouth opened and closed silently, unable to produce speech, as she drew back. His lungs felt drained of air.

Mai's lips quirked upward. "Agni, Zuko, was that the first time a girl has ever touched y—"

"You kissed me!" he blurted out once his brain regained its functions.

"How perceptive of you."

Zuko gaped at her, then at the floor, and then back at her.

Was he dreaming? He had to be. Why else would she have done that?

Maybe he'd fallen asleep after coming back from dinner, and this was just another erotic dream of his. Most often than not, his mind would choose to torment him with much grittier things, usually with the darkest of his memories, but he would occasionally have these sorts of dreams as well. Yet whenever he did, it'd be with imaginary girls—not actual, living, breathing people. And while Mai was very beautiful, especially now more than ever, he'd never seen her as more than his sister's friend that threw knives and sulked a lot, or a friend of his own at best.

While these thoughts raced back and forth in his mind, Zuko lost control of what expression his face donned. But if the limited emotion Mai showed neutralizing in the blink of an eye was any indication, he'd say it wasn't the reaction she was hoping for.

"If you didn't like it, you could've just said so," she scowled, looking away and crossing her arms. "You didn't have to frown."

"No, no, I wasn't frowning!" He tried to reach out to her, but she stepped out of his grasp. Sighing, he placed his drink next to hers on the table and turned to her, his head hanging. "Mai, look. I'm sorry. I was… I just wasn't expecting it. And I guess I never thought you'd like me that way."

She huffed, shaking her head. "You really don't know a thing about women, do you?"

Zuko kept his gaze on the brown silk of his slippers, afraid of what her stone-cold face would hold. His cheeks burned as he gave a shrug of his shoulders.

A warm hand cupped his jaw, tilting his face up towards hers. "Well, consider this your first lesson."

She leaned in and pressed her lips to his once more, a bit more confident in herself this time. And after a brief pause, Zuko returned her kiss, leaning in himself, his hands gently settling themselves on the small of her waist, being careful to not let his bandages rub against her dress.

This wasn't at all how he'd imagined his night would go, but he was happy for the distraction from his otherwise depressing thoughts. And even though he'd never seen Mai as more than just a friend, the more he thought about it, the more appealing she became. She was smart, talented, pretty, and most importantly, she actually cared about him. Now that Uncle hated him, she was one of the only two people left on this planet that did that, the other being Ty Lee.

If she liked him, he knew she'd liked him for who he was, not for the power or the riches his title as the crown prince brought along.

If she liked him, he could like her back too.

A/N

After the horrible events of the previous chapters (especially the last one), this chapter sure was a breath of fresh air lol. I'm aware it was sorta Maiko-centric, but don't worry—The future chapters will have a lot more going on, so this is basically the only time where Maiko will be the main focus (and their relationship won't last very long anyway).

Before I go, lemme tell you a funny story—As some of you know, I deleted some chapters of this story about a month ago. But while I was deleting them, what my dumbass didn't realize was that I'd also be deleting the comments on those chapters. So what did I do? I went and deleted them, and deleted 40 comments along with them on AO3. Yes, you read that right. FORTY COMMENTS. FORTY. *cries inside*

All jokes aside, thank you for sticking with me. I know I'm not updating very often, but I promise I'm writing as fast as I can, and the next chapter will be uploaded shortly.

Thank you again for reading, and I'll see you all soon!