Zuko exhaled deeply, feeling a sense of peace that had been agonizingly evasive to him the past few months. He had arrived in Ba Sing Se early three days before for his political council with Earth King Kuei and the Avatar. Zuko knew that he should be preparing for that better, especially because Aang was due to arrive only two days later and the council the day after that, but he couldn't bring himself to leave his table next to the balcony in The Jasmine Dragon.

The late afternoon sun was pouring into the tea shop, brushing the earthy colors with a coat of gold. Despite his efforts to help his uncle close up for the night, Iroh had, of course, seen that Zuko needed rest in more ways than one and had slapped away Zuko's attempts at cleaning up, insisting that he could pay it back with a game of pai sho. And so the Fire Lord had sat down to rest.

There was something about being there; responsibility seemed so far away. Zuko knew that was the wrong thing to be feeling, he was honored to be the ruler of his people. But leading an entire nation was more taxing than he had ever dreamed. He didn't always have his friends or his uncle right beside him to give him advice or comfort. Though he knew that they would come if he asked them, he would never ask them to drop everything to come see him. Riots were still breaking out in Yu Dao and the other former Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom. Zuko, Aang and the Earth King had each been working for months to try to work them out, and they believed that this council was going to be a step forward towards peace.

The sun sank lower still down its arch across the sky and Zuko failed to stop his thoughts about the other reason behind the bags under his eyes. Apart from being under massive amounts of strain and stress and being sleep deprived, Zuko had lost Mai.

She wasn't really gone. She was probably helping out at her aunt's flower shop or playing with Tom Tom or walking with Kei Lo. Zuko squeezed his eyes shut, slightly aware that he was foregoing his feeling of peace. It had been at the peak of his stress, Which, he thought before he could stop himself, she should have realized. Mai had approached him while he was reading the latest reports on the situation in Yu Dao, knocking quietly on the wide door frame to get his attention.

"Zuko." She said, quietly. He looked up and caught her eye. Her face held an uncommon amount of emotion and Zuko felt his heart grow oddly heavy.

"What's wrong?" He stood and crossed the room to take her hands. Anything she needed he could give it to her. There was no problem he couldn't fix for her. He really, really needed her right then, just to be next her would be enough. If she asked for anything in the world he would hand it to her on a silver platter.

Mai sighed and looked Zuko straight in the eyes. "I think we need to take a break."

Zuko stared back at her blankly, bemused. "A break? From what?"

Mai's copper eyes filled with a sadness that was so different from her usual exasperation when he was clueless about something that Zuko was startled. "A break from our relationship, Zuko." she said carefully.

"Why?" Zuko exclaimed indignantly. "What's wrong with our relationship?"

For the first time, Mai broke eye contact with him and looked over at the wall. "I just think we have a few things we need to work out on our own."

"What do we need to work out?!" Zuko cried, trying to meet her eyes again. "I thought we were fine Mai!"

"We are, Zuko, I just need some time to process...certain things."

Zuko looked over her almost frantically. He didn't know what to say next. What was there to process? He squeezed her hands. "I love you, Mai."

She sighed again. "I love you too, Zuko."

But apparently that wasn't enough. Two weeks later she broke things off entirely with him and he hadn't seen her since. He didn't have long to bask in his sorrow long, because Mai had left a gaping hole in his life and the Fire Nation was ready to fill it with work and stress and meetings and briefings and ceremonies and councils.

Now as he sat in Ba Sing Se two months later, he didn't have it in him to hate her or even be truly angry with her as he had been at first. All he felt was an opaque love, dull and unresponsive and there to stay. Iroh had been his champion ever since Zuko reluctantly told him everything in one of his letters. He'd recommended special, medicinal tea blends for stress, sent encouragement by messenger hawk almost daily without fail and insisted that Zuko come a few days early to the Earth Kingdom for some rest. It meant more to Zuko than he had the means to express.

The Dragon of the West sat down next to the Fire Lord, setting a cup of ginseng tea before them both. He looked out in the direction that Zuko was, past the balcony and over the city. He didn't say anything, he just sipped his tea and they basked in the tranquility of the moment. The burdened nephew and the uncle who had never truly left his side.

After several minutes of peaceful stillness, Zuko rose from the table and after pausing for a moment to put his hand on his uncle's shoulder, he returned to his room. The room he had chosen to stay in over the immaculate rooms in the Earth King's palace because it was part of the home of the most important person in his life. 

The next morning was bright and warm. It may have been close to the point of hot for the citizens of Ba Sing Se, but for Zuko, the dry, humidity-free heat was downright refreshing. He chose to wear simple Earth Kingdom clothes instead of his usual royal ensemble because he didn't have any responsibilities today and was free to help his uncle run The Jasmine Dragon.

"Good morning, Lord Zuko!" Iroh said brightly when Zuko emerged from his room. Suki and Ty Lee, who had come along as his bodyguards, were already at a table eating breakfast. Zuko gave them each a sleepy smile and joined Iroh behind the counter. One by one employees were coming in and starting to prepare for the day.

"Oh," Iroh spoke thoughtfully. "There is something I should probably tell you, my nephew."

"Wha-?" Zuko started to ask. Before he could get the word out, a stack of wooden trays came crashing down on top of a very petite girl as she tried to take them down off their shelf.

Zuko, Iroh and a crowd of other employees rushed over to the girl, who had ended up on the floor with a tray on her head. In all the chaos of the "Are you all right?" and "No harm done.", Zuko didn't get a chance to ask his uncle what he meant.