Zuko stares at Mai, not sure what to think of what she's just told him.

There is a group calling itself the "New Ozai Society" and they want him dead and his father back on the throne.

Mai's father, who Zuko had been so generous as to give him a position in his new government, is their leader.

Really, he should have expected this. There had been that one assassination attempt on his life a while back, so a group dedicated to killing him really shouldn't have been out of the realm of possibility, and yet he never even considered something like this happening. The thought had never even crossed his mind, so sure that everyone would be fine with his rule. It seems like he was mistaken.

Mai stares at Zuko, trying to figure out what's going through his head. Hearing that there's a group out there that wants you dead is enough to stun anyone into silence, but she thought that he would have said something by now. It's been five minutes already. Shouldn't he be coming up with some kind of plan to deal with this? Feeling movement in her arms, she looks down to see that Tom-Tom has gone back to his previous task from earlier: eating her clothes. Wonderful.

She looks back at Zuko, only to find that the boy has now taken to pacing back and forth, not saying a word. Mai sighs, irritated. If only Azula were here and in her right state of mind. Surely the girl would have known what to do and planned accordingly by now. Speaking of which….

"Where's Azula?" Mai asks. The question stops Zuko's frantic pacing. She's shocked that he even heard her.

"You didn't see Appa and the others outside?" He asks

"No."

They must have left already, Zuko thinks.

"Then you missed them. They're taking Azula to Kyoshi Island. Suki's gone with them."

Mai feels disappointment upon hearing this. Had she known that they'd be taking Azula away, she would have come to see the girl off. If only her stupid father hadn't requested to see her. Although she supposes that was a blessing in disguise, because she wouldn't have found out about his plan otherwise. Besides, for all she knows her father could have plans for Azula as well. So it's better that she's currently not in the Fire Nation. That leaves her with another question.

"Why are they taking her to Kyoshi Island?"

"Suki suggested it. She said that being out of the Fire Nation for a while may just be what Azula needs to get better. Aang, Katara, and my mother convinced me that sending Azula back to the asylum wasn't a good idea and that it would just make her condition even worse. They also suggested that I go to the asylum and see for myself what Azula went through while she was there. Which I'm planning on doing tomorrow. I….have a lot to think about in regards to all of this."

Upon hearing the mention of Ursa, Mai looks at Zuko with a smile, happy that he and Azula were successful in their quest to find their mother.

"You found your mother, then? That's good. How did Azula react?" She asks, knowing about the girls' hallucinations about their mother. Mai hopes Azula didn't attack the older woman, although Zuko would probably have looked angry when she came to see him in his room.

"She wasn't there with me when I found her. None of them were."

"Why not? Did something happen?"

Zuko sighs, "You could say that."

He gestures for her to come sit on his bed with him, where he proceeds to tell her everything: about Azula constantly lashing out, him not understanding what her problem was and thinking that she was doing it on purpose, his friends trying to calm her down to no avail, Azula freaking out and attacking him, which led to him threateningly holding her over a cliff, trying to get her to stop. Which then led to Sokka showing up and punching Zuko in the face, grabbing Azula and taking her into his arms before she could fall. The two boys getting into an argument, which led to Sokka carrying Azula back to where Aang and Katara were at, and convincing them to head back to the capital without him.

At first, Mai doesn't say anything. She just stares at Zuko with a blank look on her face. He isn't quite sure what to make of that before he feels her hand swiftly hitting him upside the head, her other arm firmly around Tom-Tom to keep the boy from falling.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"For being an idiot! Ty Lee and I told you what was wrong with Azula after we went to visit her everyday. You yourself went to the asylum to take her with you guys to find your mother, and you somehow didn't realize that something was up with that place? And you just said that she was having outbursts, and saying things that made no sense, and you still couldn't put two and two together and realized that something was wrong with her? And you held her over a cliff? Are you out of your mind?!"

"I screwed up, okay?! I know that now! And as far as the cliff thing goes, I decided to take a page out of Azula's book to try and calm her down and listen to me! She always used fear to get people to do what she wanted, I remember seeing her do it on her ship when we were heading back here after we took over Ba Sing Se. So I thought that I would try that, but it didn't work because it's Azula and of course she wouldn't be afraid of me, and then Sokka came and, well, you know the rest. That's why Suki suggested that they go to Kyoshi Island, so that Azula can get out of the Fire Nation for a while, and be away from us, her family, as well as…from me. We need some time away from each other. I need some time away from her so I can sort out how I view her and think about her, and how our relationship has been for years. I can't help her if I don't do this first."

Zuko admitting that he fucked up so soon shocks Mai. She knows that the boy is capable of self reflection, it's just that it takes him so long to get there. And she certainly never thought that he would get to this point with Azula of all people. She wonders if the conversation he had earlier with Aang, Katara, and his mother has something to do with it. For a moment she considers that Iroh may have said something to the boy, before she quickly dismisses the thought from her mind. That old man would be the last person alive who would try to get Zuko to see Azula in a positive light. From what she remembers, the two of them never had a good relationship.

"And about what we were talking about before, do you think that you could take me to this hideout? I'd like to see it for myself. And if we're lucky, your father and his henchmen may still be there, which means we can capture them."

"I highly doubt that my father is dumb enough to still be there after I opposed him, since I'm sure that he knew I was going to tell you about all of this, but sure."

When they arrive, the hideout is indeed empty. If Mai hadn't told him what had transpired here, Zuko would have never known that there were people here once upon a time. He feels a curse word at the tip of his tongue, but holds it back since Tom-Tom is still with them. He doesn't want Mai to hit him if her baby brother's first word is "fuck", all because he said the word in front of him.

"I told you that they wouldn't be here."

Zuko glares at the girl. She didn't have to rub it in.

"Don't give me that look. And besides, we might be able to find something, if we stop standing around doing nothing."

Zuko nods and gets to work. He finds some weapons here and there, a Fire Nation banner, and a poster with an insignia on it. He goes to where Mai is at and taps her shoulder, getting the girl's attention.

"Look at what I found. It's an insignia. This must be their symbol for the organization. If I tell the public to be on the lookout for anyone with this insignia on their clothing, we can find them in no time at all."

Mai thinks about telling him that catching her father won't be as easy as Zuko seems to think it will be, but decides against it. She doesn't feel like getting into an argument with him right now.

"You go and do that. I'm sure that will solve this problem and that nothing will go wrong." she says, beginning to make her way out of the hideout. Zuko quickly catches up with her, glaring.

"That was sarcasm, wasn't it?"

They part ways at the palace, Mai stating that she needs to take Tom-Tom home. The boy has had a full day, after all. Zuko asks if she would like a carriage to take her home, but she denies his offer, saying that she would much rather walk back to her house, but thanks him for his kind offer. Zuko nods and watches the girl walk away, waving at Tom-Tom who is excitedly waving back at him. He feels an urge to run up to the girl and kiss her, and say that he is sorry for being an idiot and that he will try and make things work this time, but holds himself back. Mai had been adamant about wanting her space, and besides, if he can't even fix his broken relationship with his sister, then how can he fix his relationship with Mai?

Zuko shakes his head, trying to get his romantic life out of his mind. He has more important things to worry about right now, such as finding this society that wants to kill him, as well as figuring out how he can take the first steps to mending his relationship with Azula, and sorting through his toxic feelings and finally be able to heal. That's all he wants at this point. These past events have made him start to realize that he can't heal without fixing things with Azula. Turning around and walking into the palace, he sets his sights on finding the one person who he can talk to about this.

His - no, their mother.

It should be of no surprise to him that he finds Ursa at the turtle duck pond, throwing small pieces of bread into the water. This is her favorite place in the palace, after all. He clears his throat to get her attention, and she turns around, smiling when her gaze falls upon him.

"Mom, do you mind if we talk?"

Ursa nods and pats the space next to her, a silent invitation to join her. Zuko dutifully falls into place and takes the load of bread from her, breaking off small pieces and throwing it to the turtle ducks. Zuko sighs, feeling a small amount of peace.

He missed this, feeding the turtle ducks with mother. And as much as he wishes that the two of them can just sit here and do this forever, it's not the reason why he's come here. So he turns his head in her direction and begins to speak. Zuko doesn't know how this conversation will end, but he does know one thing.

This conversation will be long and emotional. For both of them.