The Dew of Summer, Chapter One
Title: The Dew of Summer
Author: yukinoomoni
Rating: T+
Characters: Mai and Zuko, assorted ensemble and an OC.
Pairing: Mai/Zuko, some hints of Toph/The Duke, Aang/Katara and Suki/Sokka
Warnings: Takes place after my first bigbang fic, At the Edge of Dusk, but you don't have to read it to enjoy this one. It occurs roughly two years post-series and does contain heavy spoilers for the entire series.
Additional Notes: As many of you are aware, I've been really ill for almost a year now. As such, I was doubtful I would ever get this done in time for posting. And to be honest, I'm...not done yet. However, everything is set up in a way that I will be posting a chapter a day on weekdays. It should take me about two to three weeks to get all of the chapters up, and as I do, all chapters will be posted here. Following the completion of the story, I will then be posting it on AO3 within the banked-flamed community there. So keep your eyes peeled on that post!
The Dew of Summer
Chapter One
"Argh."
Mai raised her eyebrows idly, her eyes going to the figure that had flung itself rather sloppily into the high-canopied bed. She knew that once Zuko made a noise like that, he was quite done with anything to do with his place as Firelord. And usually, she was fine with that unofficial declaration.
But this was the first time that she had seen him all day. He had been holed up in meeting after meeting after meeting all throughout the day, and she had been answering correspondences and helping with the management of a few odds and ends that Zuko couldn't do. It was only now that she had been able to sit down and take a look at their personal messages of the day. It was silly, but after a day like this, she liked to share the mail with him.
She held up the half-dozen rolls. "Mail call."
Zuko opened one eye and looked at her. She was sitting at the desk, her chair turned to face the bed, looking a little tired but still happy to see him. She had grown in the two years at his side, looking contented and at ease with what she was doing. He had been worried, deep down, that she wouldn't have wanted to be a politician, especially after the way her family had snubbed her at their wedding. But she surprised him; it was almost as if the offence made her determined to prove that she could do it. He smiled faintly at the thought.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Zuko shook his head, sitting up slowly. He reached up and pulled the Firelord hairpiece from his head, loosing his hair. He shook it out and then pushed it from his face - it was well past his shoulders now. "Mail? From who?"
Mai smiled, a flush of pleasure touching her cheeks. He leaned forward and propped his chin on his hands, his elbows on his knees, and just looked at her. It was moments like this that he was always reminded of how much he loved her - just small and simple moments like the blush on her cheeks.
She read each of the scrolls' labels. "One's from Aang - again. One's from Suki, addressed to me, but I don't mind sharing." Her eyes flashed impishly for a moment, and she saw the curiosity flicker in his eyes, something that amused her. He always assumed that Suki's letters were about him (and, admittedly, he was usually right). "Two are from the Earth Kingdom - Haru, and Toph (Written for her by the Duke, of all people). The last one ..." Her brows furrowed together. "It's only addressed to both of us. There's no other name."
Zuko blinked slowly, his eyes clouding in puzzlement. "That's weird. And they let it through?"
Mai frowned. Royal mail, no matter what, was always examined before being delivered - especially with the recent hate mail that the two had received in the two years past. "I ... actually wonder if they know it's here. It was here alone on the desk when I came home."
Zuko leapt to his feet, grabbing it from her. "Don't touch it!" he cried, throwing it across the room so hard that it smacked against the wall and left a faint dent.
Mai watched with barely-contained amusement. "Zuko, I've been touching it for about a half-hour. If it was poisoned, you would know it by now."
He grabbed her hands in reply, scattering the other scrolls from her grip as he examined them closely. She opened her mouth to say something scathing, then shut it when she saw how intense his eyes looked. He really did have a point, after all. When he was satisfied that her hands were unscathed, he rubbed his fingers over them slowly, looking right into her eyes. "Don't do that anymore, okay?" he pleaded. "Any letters you see, don't touch. We have people hired to do that, okay?"
Mai quirked an eyebrow at that, about to say something dry about how willing he was to sacrifice others for her. But then, she swallowed that, too. He took it seriously, and knew that the letter-searchers took their job seriously, too. In the two years, none of them had died. And she also knew, just by meeting his gaze, that Zuko still worried that she would die any day now.
"Okay," she said softly. "I hear you."
He nodded, looking relieved. His eyes, however, slowly looked over to where the letter landed, and Mai followed his gaze. "Still," he murmured. "If it isn't one of those letters, I doubt it would hurt to open it, right?"
Mai smiled again. She knew that tone. "Right," she agreed.
"I mean, you feel fine, right?"
"Absolutely."
"And, you know, whoever it was took the trouble to make sure it was on our desk. It's probably important."
She raised a foot and nudged him on his backside. "Go get it, idiot."
He laughed and stumbled a bit, then let go of her hands and walked over to where the scroll lay. He scooped it up, eyeing it closely, before coming back and sitting back down on the bed. It looked pretty innocent, but that wasn't anything definitive - looks could be deceiving, he thought, looking up at his wife sitting demurely with her legs crossed, in front of him, looking the picture-perfect queen. But he knew better; he knew how many rules she broke, how many strings she pulled, and how many nerves she frayed. And he wouldn't have her any other way.
"Open it," she commanded, and he could hear the barely-contained curiosity in her voice. "But be careful."
He nodded, slowly breaking the plain seal and unrolling it carefully. Dark, strangely-made characters met his eye, the strokes of each one almost archaic-looking. With a jolt, he realised that there was no "almost" about it - the characters looked as if they were directly out of a calligraphy textbook.
Mai rose to her feet, seeing his perplexed expression. She sat down beside him and propped her chin on his shoulder, her eyes moving slowly over the scroll. "I feel like I'm reading something out of the Academy," she admitted. "Are we supposed to translate this?"
Zuko stared at the letter in dismay. "I can't read it, either. At least, not easily. I would need a dictionary."
"Who would send you something like this? Is this a joke?"
"Us," Zuko corrected lightly. "Both of our names were on it."
"In regular characters, too," Mai agreed with a deeper frown. "Are we being tested?"
Zuko groaned, his hands going limp in his lap. He flung himself backwards and shut his eyes, his hair obscuring his face. Mai smiled with amusement at this, reaching over and gently taking the scroll away. He sighed at that, and she tossed it back onto the desk. She lay back beside him, grabbing his hands and pulling herself inches close to him. He opened his eyes and met her gaze.
"So, next time, we should start with the normal letters," she suggested lightly, her eyebrows vanishing into her lightly-mussed bangs.
He grinned, then laughed softly, leaning in and kissing her lips. "Yeah, I agree."
"Look, let's forget about it tonight. No more mail. Let's just think about ourselves, okay? And then, when we have some spare time, we can get back to it. Sounds good?"
Zuko relaxed, pressing his cheek next to hers. "Mmhm."
"You're so dopey when you're sleepy," she whispered, nuzzling him back.
"You smell nice," was his answer.
"You smell salty," she replied cheerfully.
Zuko sighed long-sufferingly. "Must you spoil the mood?"
"I was spoiling it?" she wondered innocently, her hands trailing up his arms and to his shoulders.
He opened his eyes, looking at her with that wonderful lopsided gaze that she adored. His eyes shone, and he grinned. "Yeah, you were."
"Hm. Maybe I should make it up to you."
"Maybe..."
The rest of the night was far more relaxing than it had begun.
For a few weeks, the letter was forgotten. Be it the night of passion or the contents of the letters it came with (rebellion was rising in the Earth Kingdom, something both Haru and Toph were worried about), the mystery of the archaically written letter wasn't pressing enough to keep in mind.
It was only when Mai was writing a letter to Iroh that she suddenly remembered it.
"Zuko," she said, blinking, her brush hovering over her scroll. He didn't move from his place on the bed, but he made a noise that meant he was listening. "What about your uncle? Maybe he would know what that letter says."
"What letter?"
She scowled at him over her shoulder. "The letter written in old calligraphy, stupid."
"Ohh," he wrinkled his nose. "I forgot."
"So did I," she admitted sheepishly. "But now that we both remember, maybe we could ask him."
Zuko sat up, looking cheerful. "I have been looking for an excuse to visit Ba Sing Se," he agreed. "We could meet with Toph and maybe Haru at once, and then ask Uncle if he knows anything about the letter. Good idea."
She grinned. "I know."
She wrote Iroh their plans, and within a week they were on a ship and headed his way.
They managed to speak to Iroh only when the Jasmine Dragon closed for the day - and only if Zuko and Mai helped with clean-up. Mai didn't complain, but her eyes shone with contained laughter. Zuko was just annoyed. Later, Iroh brought them up to the all-familiar apartment, sitting them down and serving them delicious tea brewed just for them. It was then that they brought out the scroll and asked him what it meant.
Iroh sighed, lowering the scroll and looking at his nephew with sombre eyes. "I know what this means," he said softly.
Zuko and Mai exchanged worried glances.
"It means that I have failed you as a guardian!" Iroh suddenly snapped out. "You can't even read simple calligraphy? This script is barely a hundred years old! Common Fire Nation characters are older than that!"
The two stared. "Wait," Mai broke in. "You're lecturing us?"
"What kind of rulers are you, not even brushing up on the dialects of your people?" Iroh sighed, looking woebegone and dismayed. "That should have been our first lesson - not how to address someone older than you but whom you outrank..."
"So, wait," Zuko scratched at his head, messing up his hair that had been pulled back in a loose tail for this trip. "Wait. So the characters aren't old, and you didn't send it to us to test us?"
"Yes, and no. But expect me to do so from now on!" Iroh scolded. "This is important script, Nephew. Very important." His eyes gleamed, and Zuko swallowed.
"How important?" he wondered, afraid to ask. He didn't think he could handle much more, really - the meeting with Toph and Haru, while somewhat optimistic, had left a faint sour taste in his mouth.
Iroh's eyes went to Mai. "How much does she know about your travels?"
Mai blinked slowly, something that Zuko knew meant that she was either annoyed or confused. "Everything," he admitted.
"Everything? Including things you were told not to tell?"
Zuko opened his mouth, then closed it. Things I was told not to tell? He thought for a moment, confused - who had said that?
"The Sun Warriors?" Mai said, sounding bored. With a jolt, Zuko realised that she was right; they had told him to keep his mouth shut ... and then later he told everyone on his team. And then later, Mai. He blushed, his cheeks burning.
Iroh raised his eyebrows, his eyes glinting again, and Zuko seriously hoped it was with humour. "Well," his uncle said, exhaling with is words, "as long as you only told people you trusted."
"How did you find out?" Zuko blurted out.
"As soon as you left, they wrote to me," was the easy reply. "I kept contact. I was the last one to go there -before you - after all. I wanted to keep that contact open, just in case." He held up the scroll. "It's how I recognise the script."
"So," Mai pressed, leaning in close. "What does it say?"
"How can you learn anything if you solve nothing for yourselves?" Iroh answered her. "And I haven't even mentioned how you never even told me about this, Nephew."
Zuko went even redder, but Mai was unfazed. "Okay," she said. Zuko marvelled at how calm she sounded. "Give us a primer or a dictionary, and we can get right on it. But if you say it's important, and we've already wasted three weeks, shouldn't the time we may have left be spent more wisely?"
Zuko stared at her, impressed. Iroh seemed to share this. "You know, Nephew," he said slowly, a smile coming to his lips, "you have to be careful with your wife. She's very, very sharp."
Mai grinned, her cheeks going pink, and Zuko smiled. "Yeah, I know."
"In a nutshell, Nephew - Niece," he added with a smile, and Mai once again flushed with pleasure at this, "you're being summoned."
"To ... the Sun Warriors?" Zuko asked.
Iroh nodded slowly. "It would seem so, yes. Have you had contact with them over the past two years?"
When both shook their heads, he sighed. "I really need to sit you down and teach you again."
"Why are we being summoned?" Mai asked, getting Iroh back on track.
"Well," Iroh opened the scroll and eyed it slowly before continuing. "It seems they have a mission for you, something about ensuring the peace between your peoples for future generations. They feel that there is no reason to hide, now that the Fire Nation is no longer aggressive." He looked up. "Outside of that, it says nothing else."
Zuko tapped his chin thoughtfully. "No reason to hide ... could that mean they want to teach me more firebending moves?"
"Why would I be invited, then?" Mai answered reasonably.
"To watch?"
She stared at him blandly, and he smiled sheepishly.
"The only way to know for sure is to see them," Iroh broke in.
"But that's easier said than done," Mai protested. "Both Zuko and I have duties, and we can't take weeks off at a time. It could put the Nation at risk."
"But to ignore such an extension of peace ... do you really think that that is an option?" Iroh's expression was grave. "The Sun Warriors have hidden themselves for decades. If they are willing to open up to you after so long ... it is not something you can refuse without there being consequences."
Zuko and Mai shared a look of wariness. "Well," Zuko said slowly. "Then I guess we don't have a choice."
"I guess not," Mai agreed. "We have to pull a lot of strings to get this to work..."
Iroh smiled faintly. "I think you have a greater chance than you think."
"What do you mean?"
"I have a suggestion..."
Next
Author: yukinoomoni
Rating: T+
Characters: Mai and Zuko, assorted ensemble and an OC.
Pairing: Mai/Zuko, some hints of Toph/The Duke, Aang/Katara and Suki/Sokka
Warnings: Takes place after my first bigbang fic, At the Edge of Dusk, but you don't have to read it to enjoy this one. It occurs roughly two years post-series and does contain heavy spoilers for the entire series.
Additional Notes: As many of you are aware, I've been really ill for almost a year now. As such, I was doubtful I would ever get this done in time for posting. And to be honest, I'm...not done yet. However, everything is set up in a way that I will be posting a chapter a day on weekdays. It should take me about two to three weeks to get all of the chapters up, and as I do, all chapters will be posted here. Following the completion of the story, I will then be posting it on AO3 within the banked-flamed community there. So keep your eyes peeled on that post!
The Dew of Summer
Chapter One
"Argh."
Mai raised her eyebrows idly, her eyes going to the figure that had flung itself rather sloppily into the high-canopied bed. She knew that once Zuko made a noise like that, he was quite done with anything to do with his place as Firelord. And usually, she was fine with that unofficial declaration.
But this was the first time that she had seen him all day. He had been holed up in meeting after meeting after meeting all throughout the day, and she had been answering correspondences and helping with the management of a few odds and ends that Zuko couldn't do. It was only now that she had been able to sit down and take a look at their personal messages of the day. It was silly, but after a day like this, she liked to share the mail with him.
She held up the half-dozen rolls. "Mail call."
Zuko opened one eye and looked at her. She was sitting at the desk, her chair turned to face the bed, looking a little tired but still happy to see him. She had grown in the two years at his side, looking contented and at ease with what she was doing. He had been worried, deep down, that she wouldn't have wanted to be a politician, especially after the way her family had snubbed her at their wedding. But she surprised him; it was almost as if the offence made her determined to prove that she could do it. He smiled faintly at the thought.
"Why are you looking at me like that?"
Zuko shook his head, sitting up slowly. He reached up and pulled the Firelord hairpiece from his head, loosing his hair. He shook it out and then pushed it from his face - it was well past his shoulders now. "Mail? From who?"
Mai smiled, a flush of pleasure touching her cheeks. He leaned forward and propped his chin on his hands, his elbows on his knees, and just looked at her. It was moments like this that he was always reminded of how much he loved her - just small and simple moments like the blush on her cheeks.
She read each of the scrolls' labels. "One's from Aang - again. One's from Suki, addressed to me, but I don't mind sharing." Her eyes flashed impishly for a moment, and she saw the curiosity flicker in his eyes, something that amused her. He always assumed that Suki's letters were about him (and, admittedly, he was usually right). "Two are from the Earth Kingdom - Haru, and Toph (Written for her by the Duke, of all people). The last one ..." Her brows furrowed together. "It's only addressed to both of us. There's no other name."
Zuko blinked slowly, his eyes clouding in puzzlement. "That's weird. And they let it through?"
Mai frowned. Royal mail, no matter what, was always examined before being delivered - especially with the recent hate mail that the two had received in the two years past. "I ... actually wonder if they know it's here. It was here alone on the desk when I came home."
Zuko leapt to his feet, grabbing it from her. "Don't touch it!" he cried, throwing it across the room so hard that it smacked against the wall and left a faint dent.
Mai watched with barely-contained amusement. "Zuko, I've been touching it for about a half-hour. If it was poisoned, you would know it by now."
He grabbed her hands in reply, scattering the other scrolls from her grip as he examined them closely. She opened her mouth to say something scathing, then shut it when she saw how intense his eyes looked. He really did have a point, after all. When he was satisfied that her hands were unscathed, he rubbed his fingers over them slowly, looking right into her eyes. "Don't do that anymore, okay?" he pleaded. "Any letters you see, don't touch. We have people hired to do that, okay?"
Mai quirked an eyebrow at that, about to say something dry about how willing he was to sacrifice others for her. But then, she swallowed that, too. He took it seriously, and knew that the letter-searchers took their job seriously, too. In the two years, none of them had died. And she also knew, just by meeting his gaze, that Zuko still worried that she would die any day now.
"Okay," she said softly. "I hear you."
He nodded, looking relieved. His eyes, however, slowly looked over to where the letter landed, and Mai followed his gaze. "Still," he murmured. "If it isn't one of those letters, I doubt it would hurt to open it, right?"
Mai smiled again. She knew that tone. "Right," she agreed.
"I mean, you feel fine, right?"
"Absolutely."
"And, you know, whoever it was took the trouble to make sure it was on our desk. It's probably important."
She raised a foot and nudged him on his backside. "Go get it, idiot."
He laughed and stumbled a bit, then let go of her hands and walked over to where the scroll lay. He scooped it up, eyeing it closely, before coming back and sitting back down on the bed. It looked pretty innocent, but that wasn't anything definitive - looks could be deceiving, he thought, looking up at his wife sitting demurely with her legs crossed, in front of him, looking the picture-perfect queen. But he knew better; he knew how many rules she broke, how many strings she pulled, and how many nerves she frayed. And he wouldn't have her any other way.
"Open it," she commanded, and he could hear the barely-contained curiosity in her voice. "But be careful."
He nodded, slowly breaking the plain seal and unrolling it carefully. Dark, strangely-made characters met his eye, the strokes of each one almost archaic-looking. With a jolt, he realised that there was no "almost" about it - the characters looked as if they were directly out of a calligraphy textbook.
Mai rose to her feet, seeing his perplexed expression. She sat down beside him and propped her chin on his shoulder, her eyes moving slowly over the scroll. "I feel like I'm reading something out of the Academy," she admitted. "Are we supposed to translate this?"
Zuko stared at the letter in dismay. "I can't read it, either. At least, not easily. I would need a dictionary."
"Who would send you something like this? Is this a joke?"
"Us," Zuko corrected lightly. "Both of our names were on it."
"In regular characters, too," Mai agreed with a deeper frown. "Are we being tested?"
Zuko groaned, his hands going limp in his lap. He flung himself backwards and shut his eyes, his hair obscuring his face. Mai smiled with amusement at this, reaching over and gently taking the scroll away. He sighed at that, and she tossed it back onto the desk. She lay back beside him, grabbing his hands and pulling herself inches close to him. He opened his eyes and met her gaze.
"So, next time, we should start with the normal letters," she suggested lightly, her eyebrows vanishing into her lightly-mussed bangs.
He grinned, then laughed softly, leaning in and kissing her lips. "Yeah, I agree."
"Look, let's forget about it tonight. No more mail. Let's just think about ourselves, okay? And then, when we have some spare time, we can get back to it. Sounds good?"
Zuko relaxed, pressing his cheek next to hers. "Mmhm."
"You're so dopey when you're sleepy," she whispered, nuzzling him back.
"You smell nice," was his answer.
"You smell salty," she replied cheerfully.
Zuko sighed long-sufferingly. "Must you spoil the mood?"
"I was spoiling it?" she wondered innocently, her hands trailing up his arms and to his shoulders.
He opened his eyes, looking at her with that wonderful lopsided gaze that she adored. His eyes shone, and he grinned. "Yeah, you were."
"Hm. Maybe I should make it up to you."
"Maybe..."
The rest of the night was far more relaxing than it had begun.
For a few weeks, the letter was forgotten. Be it the night of passion or the contents of the letters it came with (rebellion was rising in the Earth Kingdom, something both Haru and Toph were worried about), the mystery of the archaically written letter wasn't pressing enough to keep in mind.
It was only when Mai was writing a letter to Iroh that she suddenly remembered it.
"Zuko," she said, blinking, her brush hovering over her scroll. He didn't move from his place on the bed, but he made a noise that meant he was listening. "What about your uncle? Maybe he would know what that letter says."
"What letter?"
She scowled at him over her shoulder. "The letter written in old calligraphy, stupid."
"Ohh," he wrinkled his nose. "I forgot."
"So did I," she admitted sheepishly. "But now that we both remember, maybe we could ask him."
Zuko sat up, looking cheerful. "I have been looking for an excuse to visit Ba Sing Se," he agreed. "We could meet with Toph and maybe Haru at once, and then ask Uncle if he knows anything about the letter. Good idea."
She grinned. "I know."
She wrote Iroh their plans, and within a week they were on a ship and headed his way.
They managed to speak to Iroh only when the Jasmine Dragon closed for the day - and only if Zuko and Mai helped with clean-up. Mai didn't complain, but her eyes shone with contained laughter. Zuko was just annoyed. Later, Iroh brought them up to the all-familiar apartment, sitting them down and serving them delicious tea brewed just for them. It was then that they brought out the scroll and asked him what it meant.
Iroh sighed, lowering the scroll and looking at his nephew with sombre eyes. "I know what this means," he said softly.
Zuko and Mai exchanged worried glances.
"It means that I have failed you as a guardian!" Iroh suddenly snapped out. "You can't even read simple calligraphy? This script is barely a hundred years old! Common Fire Nation characters are older than that!"
The two stared. "Wait," Mai broke in. "You're lecturing us?"
"What kind of rulers are you, not even brushing up on the dialects of your people?" Iroh sighed, looking woebegone and dismayed. "That should have been our first lesson - not how to address someone older than you but whom you outrank..."
"So, wait," Zuko scratched at his head, messing up his hair that had been pulled back in a loose tail for this trip. "Wait. So the characters aren't old, and you didn't send it to us to test us?"
"Yes, and no. But expect me to do so from now on!" Iroh scolded. "This is important script, Nephew. Very important." His eyes gleamed, and Zuko swallowed.
"How important?" he wondered, afraid to ask. He didn't think he could handle much more, really - the meeting with Toph and Haru, while somewhat optimistic, had left a faint sour taste in his mouth.
Iroh's eyes went to Mai. "How much does she know about your travels?"
Mai blinked slowly, something that Zuko knew meant that she was either annoyed or confused. "Everything," he admitted.
"Everything? Including things you were told not to tell?"
Zuko opened his mouth, then closed it. Things I was told not to tell? He thought for a moment, confused - who had said that?
"The Sun Warriors?" Mai said, sounding bored. With a jolt, Zuko realised that she was right; they had told him to keep his mouth shut ... and then later he told everyone on his team. And then later, Mai. He blushed, his cheeks burning.
Iroh raised his eyebrows, his eyes glinting again, and Zuko seriously hoped it was with humour. "Well," his uncle said, exhaling with is words, "as long as you only told people you trusted."
"How did you find out?" Zuko blurted out.
"As soon as you left, they wrote to me," was the easy reply. "I kept contact. I was the last one to go there -before you - after all. I wanted to keep that contact open, just in case." He held up the scroll. "It's how I recognise the script."
"So," Mai pressed, leaning in close. "What does it say?"
"How can you learn anything if you solve nothing for yourselves?" Iroh answered her. "And I haven't even mentioned how you never even told me about this, Nephew."
Zuko went even redder, but Mai was unfazed. "Okay," she said. Zuko marvelled at how calm she sounded. "Give us a primer or a dictionary, and we can get right on it. But if you say it's important, and we've already wasted three weeks, shouldn't the time we may have left be spent more wisely?"
Zuko stared at her, impressed. Iroh seemed to share this. "You know, Nephew," he said slowly, a smile coming to his lips, "you have to be careful with your wife. She's very, very sharp."
Mai grinned, her cheeks going pink, and Zuko smiled. "Yeah, I know."
"In a nutshell, Nephew - Niece," he added with a smile, and Mai once again flushed with pleasure at this, "you're being summoned."
"To ... the Sun Warriors?" Zuko asked.
Iroh nodded slowly. "It would seem so, yes. Have you had contact with them over the past two years?"
When both shook their heads, he sighed. "I really need to sit you down and teach you again."
"Why are we being summoned?" Mai asked, getting Iroh back on track.
"Well," Iroh opened the scroll and eyed it slowly before continuing. "It seems they have a mission for you, something about ensuring the peace between your peoples for future generations. They feel that there is no reason to hide, now that the Fire Nation is no longer aggressive." He looked up. "Outside of that, it says nothing else."
Zuko tapped his chin thoughtfully. "No reason to hide ... could that mean they want to teach me more firebending moves?"
"Why would I be invited, then?" Mai answered reasonably.
"To watch?"
She stared at him blandly, and he smiled sheepishly.
"The only way to know for sure is to see them," Iroh broke in.
"But that's easier said than done," Mai protested. "Both Zuko and I have duties, and we can't take weeks off at a time. It could put the Nation at risk."
"But to ignore such an extension of peace ... do you really think that that is an option?" Iroh's expression was grave. "The Sun Warriors have hidden themselves for decades. If they are willing to open up to you after so long ... it is not something you can refuse without there being consequences."
Zuko and Mai shared a look of wariness. "Well," Zuko said slowly. "Then I guess we don't have a choice."
"I guess not," Mai agreed. "We have to pull a lot of strings to get this to work..."
Iroh smiled faintly. "I think you have a greater chance than you think."
"What do you mean?"
"I have a suggestion..."
Next