....

Mai comes in, her moves graceful as always, the baggy clothes she was wearing hiding many projectile weapons. Zuko looked like a kid who saw his crush coming out of the TV.

Her eyes though didn't meet her childhood crush, but instead, Mai sent a glare at me.

Ohh~ seems like she finally noticed something. Well, by now it shouldn't matter.

Also, girl, stop looking at me like that, or it will send your easily-agitated boyfriend the wrong message.

The darkroom, with barely any light, made Mai appear quite sinister, like a ghost out of a horror movie. Her pale skin didn't help either.

"Zuko…" her gaze turned towards her long-awaited.

Okay, maybe I was exaggerating her feelings since she seemed as emotionally inept as always. But she should be feeling happy, right?

"Mai," Zuko muttered, awkwardly. "I… I…"

Oh! Is he gonna confess! This is unexpected, how will Mai respond? God, I love the drama in the atmosphere as Zuko and Mai gazed into each other's eyes.

A thousand words were said between them before they even spoke.

"...Mai, long time no see," the Fire Prince ended his greeting lamely.

I for sure thought he would confess. You know, when the emotions could have gotten the best of him after not seeing each other for so long.

Mai took notice of my gaze and stared at me, frowning. "Can you stop that?"

That was when I noticed the huge smile on my face that clearly showed how amused I was by the situation. "Sorry about that. Please continue getting lost in each other's eyes."

Somehow me saying the obvious seemed to ruin the mood as Mai sighed and sat down at the bar table. Her scorching gaze seemed to want to bear a hole in my head. But I tried not to show any discomfort and kept my friendly smile.

Maybe I should create some more drama and hint at Mai being in another relationship?

I would have the front row seat to that chaotic fun. After all, even if she denied it, there would always be that sense of doubt on the back of Zuko's mind.

*Clang*

Suddenly the sound of a cup hitting the hardwood bar table rang out. It came from Iroh, and the old man grabbed my attention. "You have quite the twisted sense of amusement."

Oh, it seems like he saw through my intentions. "Hey, c'mon now, I wasn't going to do anything, old man."

Iroh narrowed his eyes and so did Mai, but there was no proof of misconduct here.

Zuko on the other hand was like a headless chicken, acting like he understood what was going on.

Sometimes being the stupidest guy in the room can be quite a blessing. I was at that place too, everyone during their life was the stupidest person in the room at least once. The key was recognizing that and moving on.

Also, it isn't like Mai and Zuko's relationship will last. Like most relationships at this age. People will change and move on. I mean drama only strengthens the relationship, right?

"Azula calls that expression 'trying to convince himself that he is going to do the right thing'. Hopefully, you aren't thinking of doing something morally questionable." Mai had her eyes sharpen and she ended up peering at me intently.

Azula could read me better than most so she sometimes knew when I was bullshitting something or someone. "No, of course not. You're my friend and I would never do something hurtful to you just for some entertainment. That would be a sickening look on life."

If Azula was here, she would see through it and know what I was thinking about. But Mai was different, she couldn't see through my mask.

Judge someone not by their words, but by their actions. Most times your biggest enemies don't come baring knives, but smiles.

People say things they don't mean at least a thousand times a day. Words are but hot air breathed out. They have no value in determining someone's character or intentions.

Mai wasn't at Azula's level yet and seemed to trust my words. We were 'friends' after all.

In reality, I was friends with Azula, and that didn't necessarily translate to Ty Lee and Mai. Of course, I won't ever say that out loud. But it was the reality of the situation.

"Anyway, the real reason we contacted you is more important than some squabble," I decided to get to the crux of the situation. "Prince Zuko, I request you drop out of the succession of the Fire Nation throne."

Mai was the first to frown, not having heard of this before. She had come here to smoothen things out for an Azula and Zuko collaboration.

But Azula and I had made plans in secret, there will be no co-rulership, only an Azula-centered rule.

Zuko could either follow along or be… eliminated. I didn't want to kill Zuko though, as it was too troublesome. If I kill him, then I will have to kill Mai and Iroh too, killing the old man would also make me an enemy of the White Lotus. All of which were powerful and influential people in the four nations, essentially making me an enemy of the whole world in one fellow swoop.

Even killing him secretly was a problem, as there were probably some pesky spirits observing me even right now. They probably are just waiting for me to make a mistake or do something they can use.

Mai kept quiet, even though the deal I mentioned wasn't the one we had previously agreed on.

"What?!" Zuko yelled angrily, banging his fists on the table and making the furniture almost catch fire. "You think I will just turn over and accept such boisterous terms!"

No, but you can be coerced into it. This will probably take a while, and there was a chance that it wouldn't work. But Zuko had to skedaddle out of the succession line, or Azula would burn him alive. And while I didn't wanna fight the troublesome White Lotus, she won't mind. I will even be by her side and help her identify the White Lotus members.

But honestly, I didn't want Zuko to die either. Or else, Azula will just turn into another sibling-killer that forcefully took over. There would be a lot of internal disputes if that happened. Since probably quite a lot of high-ranking people already hate Azula. She had learned a very rough ruling method from her father, and it was far from being perfect, or even that good. While it was better to be feared than loved. Someone you love you'll betray easier than someone you fear.

People can betray you for greed, even if they love you. But if they fear you it's a whole different situation. History has proven that notion many times.

Still, the balance was somewhere in between. Like a semi-strict parent, don't be too strict, but don't be too outgoing either. Kids don't know shit, so teach them what's right and wrong. If you let them do whatever they want then they'll become annoying brats. That was essentially the same with a leader and his people too. Give the illusion of freedom, but not the real thing.

Real freedom is anarchy, and no one wants that.

Turning towards Iroh, I tried to show a sincere look on my face. "Hey, you know how Azula is. If he gets in her way," I swiped towards my neck in a cutting motion. "She'll kill him."

"She can try!" Zuko was enraged, and it was clear he would fight Azula if she was here. If anything else, he was a man of his word. "I will fight her any day."

Mai looked on uncomfortably, knowing just how dangerous our dear blue-fired friend could be.

If Azula doesn't go insane, she can beat Zuko 9.5/10 times. Also if she decided to kill him, she won't do so herself and will have someone (probably me) assassinate him.

"Now, now, Prince Zuko, there's no need to be angry," I tried to ease the situation. Could you imagine the work I will have to do if the situation delves into a violent one? I am a true pacifist at heart… somewhat, not really, but it's the thought of peace that matters. "Azula doesn't want to fight with her brother either."

"I doubt that," Zuko snorted.

Yeah, you're right to doubt it, because if everything was left to her, then you would be toast by now.

"Think about it," Mai intervened, emotionlessly. "Do you even want to rule the Fire Nation? Or is it that you just don't want Azula to rule? So how about you discover what you want-"

"You just don't want me to rule, is that it?!" Zuko got angry, and got up,  about to storm off.

Oh wow~ teen drama. Thank god he went outside, or I would have to physically try and zone out that stuff.

Mai chased after an angry Zuko and both walked out. This left me alone with Iroh, the uncle everyone wishes to have. He was looking at me, and then the door, seemingly contemplating if he should go after his nephew. In the end, he just shrugged and stood here, taking another sip of his tea. "Good tea, you've got some talent."

That's a good compliment, coming from the best tea-maker alive. "Thanks, I tried to make it to your tastes."

He nodded, and a flame-like passion appeared in his eyes. "Have you ever thought about improving upon this talent? I could help you learn."

Learning tea-making from Iroh? That sounded amazing actually. It's not like I had anything better to do, and for me, tea also works as a stat booster potion.

***

Zuko stormed outside angrily, clenching his fist with wrath burning on his eyes. He had to physically try and not use firebending since they were still in the Earth Kingdom.

Anyone caught firebending here was likely to be executed.

"Zuko, stop," Mai's words made him halt for a second, but he continued walking.

'Even if no one believes in me or my abilities, I will prove them all wrong and become the Fire Lord. Getting back my honor and reclaiming my rightful place.'

Fwish!

Suddenly a sharp pain hit his cheek.

It was a throwing knife, and it sunk into the wall so deep that only the hilt was left to be visible. It seemed that the thrower had been angry and used all of their power.

Turning around, Zuko was met with Mai's scolding gaze. "Don't be stupid," she warned him. "While you might have had a chance if it was just Azula, there is no way you would be able to overcome someone like him."

"Oh, so your new lover has different goals in mind and you're trying to stop me," Zuko remarked, snorting at Mai's words.

She clenched her teeth, and a gaze of anger burned deeply within her pupils. "You're so stupid. Kuzon is a different breed of monster from Azula. She might imprison you for fun, and to torment. But he will immediately finish you off." Her body shook, as memories of some of the cold things he had done came to mind. "So don't fight them. If there is any feeling of love you have for me, listen to me just this one time. Fighting them will be your doom."

"..." Zuko didn't know what to say in response. He wanted to fight for his honor and rightful place. But seeing Mai so distressed made him have second thoughts.

"Don't fight them," Mai insisted once again, her heavy breathing calming down as her demeanor went back to normal. "This is the last warning I can give you. This is all I can do for you. If I were to do anything and even hint them of betrayal them, Azula might just imprison me… but Kuzon… he will go after my family, and little brother."

Also, they hadn't done anything that earned Mai's betrayal, and she knew that doing something rash now would only earn their wrath even more.

***
What neither of them noticed was Azula and Ty Lee on top of one of the roofs.

"You see, Zuzu can be quite understanding once he gets the gist of the situation," Azula chuckled amusingly.

Ty Lee on the other hand pouted. "But it's annoying how Kuzon predicted how this would go. Even though we didn't give any instructions to Mai and left her in the dark about the situation."

Azula only had a content look on her face, and unlike her friend, she wasn't worried about how good Kuzon was at orchestrating situations like this.

'His strength is my strength, and my strengths are his too. Having someone so competent by my side isn't so bad.'

She blushed a little at the thought of Kuzon, but such thoughts were kicked away as soon as they came. Though Ty Lee kept glancing at her friend suspiciously. "So, do you like Kuzon?"

Azula's body clenched in surprise. The princess would have done a spit take if she was drinking something.

But she smiled and soon got control of herself. "I guess you could say so."

After some talking, Zuko and Mai went back to the bar Iroh and Kuzon were at, but as they entered, they looked around surprised. It felt like a different building.

"Are we in the right place?" asked Zuko, as the darkroom from before had been well lit with many lamps.

The place was orderly and clean, even a couple of customers were drinking some tea.

Iroh and Kuzon were laughing good-heartedly as the former taught the latter about tea making. Unlike the tense atmosphere from before now, they seemed to have grown to become friends.

"This is undoubtedly the same place," Mai confirmed, frowning in confusion too. "How long were we out there?"

"Five minutes at most."

Even Azula who was observing the situation from outside was bewildered.

***