3 Years

Chapter 3-Reunited 'Friends'

"Mai, I'm glad you're here. We waited up for you." Zuko continued with the same soft look he was giving her just a moment ago.

"Right." She broke her shock and walked into the palace by Zuko's side. Suddenly she felt safe.

"So..." Zuko started trying to spark a conversation. "How's your brother?"

"Oh he's doing well. He was slightly hurt when my father first got arrested, but he's much better now."

"That's good."

After the brief conversation, they both went silent. Zuko was aching to ask the burning question he's had for the past year. So he let go of thoughts of things that could go wrong and fired away.

"Are you mad at me?" He blurted after about 30 seconds of silence.

"What?" Mai jolted her head up and they both stopped walking, making eye contact with him for the first time in a year.

"Are you mad at me?"

"No, why would I be mad at you?"

"I don't know, I just thought you'd be mad at me because..." He trailed off not wanting to bring up a bad memory for the both of them. "Anyways, you're going to have to sit next to me in the meeting hall, since you were the last one here, and it's the only seat left. I hope that's not a problem for you?" He said changing the topic.

"It's not a problem."

"Okay good."

The silence was back, while neither of them liked it all that much, it was a dark type of comfort for them.

"Okay Zuko," Mai spit out. "I know you're not going to address this, so I will. What is up with us?" They stopped walking again. "I mean, come on, we used to just click, but now? Now we can barely even keep a conversation going."

He knew this conversation needed to happen one way or another, so he took her aside to talk, making eye contact once more. "I know, I don't like it either. But I don't know how to fix it."

"I hate it."

"Mai, you hate everything."

"Yeah but this time it's different, this time I'm willing to try and fix it." She blurted, not realizing what she had said. They both stood very still in silence again, just looking into each other's eyes just like they used to, which they found comfort in doing. "What I mean is, Zuko, I care about you, whether we're together or not. You are important to me, so I don't want whatever relationship we have going to the dumps." She then turned her back away and walked off to the meeting hall alone, leaving Zuko behind acting as if nothing had happened. So Zuko began walking in an attempt to catch up with her. But she just sped up slightly.

"Hi." Mai waved to the group as she entered the room.

"Mai!" Ty Lee yelled and jumped out of her chair. "We almost thought you weren't coming." She said as she gave her a hug.

"Hate to remind you that I'm still not a fan of the hugging."

"Anyways, that's your seat over there." She finished talking to her as she went to sit back down.

Mai then walked over and took the seat next to Zuko's.

"Finally we can start." King Kuei commented under his breath.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen," Zuko started "thank you for joining us. Today we are signing the Harmony Restoration Movement Treaty, declaring that harmony has been restored amongst the nations post-war. The Avatar will now be reading it off."