A/N: So, remember how I said I wanted to have a couple of chapters done when I started posting. Yeah, that was a pipe dream. Maybe I'll get ahead later on. Right now I'm not. I really wanted to go ahead and get the first chapter up to sort of see what people think.

I have included the comics in this story's canon, but it's not necessary to have read them. There just might be some references you don't get (What do you mean Zuko almost went to war two years ago?).

This story is now rated M. There will be mentions of sexual abuse throughout, and they will be unmarked unless it's something particularly extensive. I will put a warning at the beginning of the chapter for anything else I think might be questionable.

It had not taken Zuko long at all to decide that he did not like the Earth King. Even after the two had narrowly avoided war, Kuei was difficult. From the start, he was eager to prove his competence after years of having the wool pulled over his eyes by his own agents, but he has never ruled before and it shows. He expects everyone else to have the interests of the Earth Kingdom at heart. He expects to be told when he is making a bad deal. He does not understand the concept of compromise. His years of being pampered in Ba Sing Se while his country lost a war are reflected in the way he handles conflict. He is ten years older than Zuko, but dealing with him feels like babysitting.

"Fire Lord Zuko." He inclines his head slightly as Zuko enters the room.

The conference hall at the State House in Republic City is larger than Zuko thinks it needs to be. The council will only consist of five members, and once the councilmen are determined, they will not need a meeting room the size of the throne room back in Capital City. He supposes the architect was drawing inspiration by the grandiosity of the old regimes in the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom, but it hardly seems necessary, in his opinion. The councilmen will not be kings. That is the entire point.

"Earth King Kuei," Zuko replies. He manages to keep his voice level, but he is already becoming annoyed. It is going to be a very long day. "What's so important that you called me here on such short notice?" He had been on the third day of his first vacation since assuming the throne, on Ember Island with Mai.

The Earth King straightens his glasses and meets Zuko halfway across the hall. "I have a bit of a request."

Zuko raises his eyebrows. "A request?"

"Well," Kuei bows his head in thought, and Zuko catches himself thinking what he so often thinks when he deals with the man. He is just an academic. He was never meant to be King. He hates himself for it, because, depending on who you ask, Zuko was not meant to rule his nation either. "It's more of a demand, really."

"Is that so?"

"Yes," Kuei replies. "As you know, the anniversary of the end of the war is coming up. Can you believe it's been three years already?"

"Yes," Zuko replies shortly. These three years rival the years he spent at sea as the longest of his life.

"Well, I was thinking the other day," he continues, his voice cordial. Even when he makes demands he sounds like he is asking for permission. "And we've really made so many concessions to you, especially considering we were the victors, and I thought I'd take this opportunity to ask for something in return." Zuko suppresses the urge to roll his eyes and wishes he was dealing with one of the Water Tribes instead. "We'd like to ask that certain war criminals be extradited to the Earth Kingdom to stand trial for war crimes against our people."

Now, Zuko is just confused. "All of our former generals are already serving time for their actions during the war in Fire Nation prisons," he replies. "Surely you don't want to retry them—"

Kuei holds up a finger to stop him. "Not all of your criminals," he replies. "I am talking about three specific people. Princess Azula and her two lieutenants. I don't believe they have been subject to any form of punishment in your nation, have they? Do correct me if I'm wrong."

Zuko can feel his hands balling into fists. Restraint, he tells himself. Restraint. The Earth King cannot possibly expect him to agree to this. "My sister is living under guard in an asylum," he answers, his teeth clenched. "And her lieutenants have reformed. They were instrumental in her downfall. One of them joined your Kyoshi Warriors after the war, and the other…"

"Is your girlfriend," Kuei finishes. "I must say I have always marveled at your ability to forgive. Didn't she spend months hunting you down?"

He crosses his arms. "You can't honestly expect me to agree to this. Mai and Ty Lee have done time in the Fire Nation's highest security prison, and they've proven their character time and time again since their release."

Kuei sighs dramatically and turns to the window. "I might be persuaded to leave your friends alone."

Zuko's mouth drops open in disbelief. "You want me to buy their freedom?"

Kuei shrugs. "I came here for three prisoners. Three prisoners who staged a coup in my nation's capital city and have not been punished. You don't expect me to give in without some form of concession."

"Fine," Zuko sighs. "What do you want?"

Kuei taps his index finger on his chin for several moments before speaking again, but Zuko suspects it is all for show, because the Earth King's advisors, if they are any good, will have run him through every possible way this meeting could have gone. "The designs to your airships. The ones your father planned to use to burn my nation. I'll take that for the Princess' lieutenants. I'm afraid I won't deal for her."

"My sister is seventeen years old," Zuko argues. "She's sick. She was sick during the war. What do you plan to do? Execute her?"

"She seemed perfectly healthy when she turned my own Dai Li agents against me and captured the world's most heavily fortified city within a day." His voice is infuriatingly casual, like he is discussing the recent weather in Ba Sing Se.

"The way I heard it," Zuko growls. "Your Dai Li agents were never with you in the first place."

Kuei ignores him. "My people are angry. They feel we have already made too many concessions by turning over parts of our land for this… United Republic, and we've received nothing in return. We are the victors, and yet we are coming out of this war with less than we had when we started. What do you think it looks like to the Earth Kingdom when the three people most instrumental in our downfall continue to live comfortably in the Fire Nation?"

"Is that what this is about?" Zuko is yelling now, beyond his own ability for self-restraint.
"Looking strong for your people? Guess what, Kuei? My people don't like me very much either. A lot of them would prefer my father or my sister over me. But you can't just make demands and expect that to bring you honor. You have to earn it for yourself by ruling your people the best you know how, and hoping it's good enough." Kuei has been a pampered Prince is entire life. Of course he would know nothing of humility.

"You have my assurances that she will be treated with the respect we would afford to anyone who had committed a crime in the Earth Kingdom," he continues, his voice still annoyingly level. "She will not be touched unless she is tried and found guilty."

"You've got to be kidding." Zuko rolls his eyes. "She will never have a fair trial in the Earth Kingdom. She'll be found guilty the moment she steps into the room. Anything after that will just be funeral decoration."

The Earth King turns away from the window and back toward Zuko. "The Princess. I will not take no for an answer."

"Well, you're going to have to," Zuko answers, already halfway to the door. "Because I'm not sending my sister to you to die." He pauses, his hand on the doorknob. "I'll send the plans for our airships with a messenger. Consider it collateral for all three girls."

"This isn't over," Kuei calls to him. "Your Princess willanswer for the crimes she has committed against my people. No one can escape justice for the kind of damage she caused in Ba Sing Se and Omashu. No one gets away with subjecting an entire nation to that kind of terror. Not even the Fire Lord's sister."

Zuko does not sleep that night. Instead, he paces. Mai pleads with him to come to bed several times before giving up and perching herself at the foot of the bed and watching him retrace his steps across the floor of their suite.

"Zuko, what's wrong?"

"The Earth King," Zuko mutters. This is at least the fifth time she has asked, and he is not sure what makes this time any different. Maybe because he is tired. Maybe because he knows she will offer sound advice if he can only swallow his pride and ask for it. "He just… he makes me so…" His hand curl into fists, and he presses them to his forehead and groans.

"Did he do something specific or was he just being himself?" she asks. Normally, the question would have made Zuko laugh, but he merely sighs and shakes his head.

Small, warm hands cover his own, and his fists are being dragged away from his face. When he opens his eyes, Mai is off the bed, standing directly in front of him, her mouth turned into a deep frown. "You can tell me," she whispers. "You should tell me. What did he do?"

"He… asked for something," Zuko answers through clenched teeth, like it is paining him. "Something I can't give him. And I was angry at him at first for even asking, but now I'm thinking… maybe he had a right to."

"Well, can't you just give it to him then?" Mai asks. "Maybe you should if you feel that guilty about it. You're the Fire Lord. You have to admit, there isn't much beyond your reach."

"I can't," he answers shortly.

"Zuko," she sighs patiently. "I can't help you unless you give me specifics. What does he want?"

Zuko groans and tries to cover his face with his hands again, but Mai still has them firmly in her grasp. "He wants…" He takes a deep breath. "He wants me to turn Azula over to stand trial for war crimes."

Mai frowns. "You're right. You can't give her to him. Why would you even want to? I thought you were trying to make up with Azula."

"I am," Zuko explains. "I don't want to give her to him. I would never even consider it. But you have to admit, he has a point. All my father's generals and advisors are in prison. She lead the capture of Ba Sing Se. The only thing stopping her from being punished is the fact that she's my sister."

"And that she was only fourteen when she did those things," Mai adds. "And that she was completely unstable. Honestly, Zuko, Kuei is being unreasonable. Prison would make her worse, not better."

"She's not getting much better anyway," Zuko grumbles. He looks up at his girlfriend, meets her eye. "Do you remember when we were kids and she used to throw rocks at the turtleducks in the garden?" Mai nods, her brow creasing in confusion. "Do you think she was losing her mind even then?"

Mai sighs. "I think it's been a losing battle ever since your father found out she was a firebending prodigy," she answers. "And I think it got worse when your mother left, and I think it got even worse than that after you were banished."

Zuko raises her brow. "You think my being gone made it worse?"

"I know it did," Mai replies, bitterness just detectable in her voice. "She was alone with him."

"What are you saying, Mai?"

"Just that she went through a lot in those three years," she shrugs, but something in her tone tells him that what she is saying is significant. "Just like you did. You're not the only one whose life changed because of your banishment. You both came out of it different people. Now," she looks at him, her demeanor businesslike all of a sudden, "Can't you negotiate a way out of this? We must have something he wants. His kingdom is so… backwards outside of Ba Sing Se."

"I did," Zuko replies. "He originally asked for you and Ty Lee as well."

She crosses her arms. "He has a lot of nerve."

"He's trying to look strong for his people," Zuko replies.

"You have some experience with that."

"I never would have done it like this," Zuko argues. "I never would have taken it out on a child."

"Azula is older than you were when you became the Fire Lord, Zuko," Mai points out. "And need I remind you that you nearly went to war two years ago?"

"He started it!" It is only once the words are out of his mouth that he realizes how childish they sound.

Mai smiles and shakes her head. "Don't worry," she murmurs. "He won't get her. We'll figure something out. Let's just go to sleep. We can talk about it more in the morning."

And so he allows himself to be dragged to the bed. He lies still as the blanket is pulled over him, and once the light is out, he waits to feel the mattress dip as Mai climbs in beside him. They are not supposed to share a bed, his uncle reminds him sometimes. They are not married. Word will get out. There are already rumors. It is alright for peasants to take lovers, even sometimes for married peasants to take lovers, but he is the Fire Lord, and his people hold him to a higher standard. Zuko does not much care. If there is going to be a scandal—and there will be, or people will run out of things to talk about—he would rather it be about something that is making him happier than he has ever been. He has heard enough talk about his own betrayal, his father's imprisonment, his sister's insanity, his mother's reappearance. To overhear conversations about himself and Mai as he is carried through the city in his palanquin would be a welcome change.

"We'll figure it out," Mai assures him, her voice already faint with sleep. He reaches out and pulls her to his side, burying his face in her hair.

"You're pretty smart, you know?" he whispers, almost grimacing, because it sounds so much like something Sokka would say. Perhaps, between setting up the government in Republic City and dealings between the Fire Nation and Southern Water Tribe, they have been spending too much time together.

"You're not stupid either," she replies, her voice muffled by his shoulder.

The rest of their stay in Republic City is uneventful. He complains about having to cut their vacation short and wonders if he can manage to clear another week so they can continue their stay on Ember Island when they arrive back in the Fire Nation. Mai smiles serenely and rolls her eyes.

"You know very well you'll do no such thing," she informs him. "You'll bury yourself in your office with a list of all our assets and try to figure out what else you can offer Kuei. I won't see you for a week."

The Avatar arrives in the city the next day with delegations from the three nations.

"I know you were supposed to be on vacation," Aang explains, placing a sympathetic hand on Zuko's shoulder. He is fifteen now, and almost as tall as Zuko and Sokka. If feels strange, every time he sees Aang and Mai stand next to each other, that Aang towers over her. "But I figured since you were here, we could take advantage of it. That way, you won't have to travel again for a while."

"Zuko, buddy," he hears to his left. Sokka is striding over. It has been months since Zuko has seen him, but Sokka still looks exactly like he did at the end of the war. His wolf tail is a little longer and much better kept, but he still keeps a boomerang strapped to his back, and sometimes a sword. "You need a haircut," he comments. "You're starting to look like your sister."

Zuko has not cut his hair in years, and it has grown past his shoulders. The first year that he held the throne, he had been diligent about keeping it short. He hadn't wanted to look any more like his father than he already did in in the Fire Lord's traditional robes and with the Fire Crown atop his head, but then Azula had told him he looked like a little boy, and Mai had snickered and sort of agreed, and he had given in and found that, to his pleasant surprise, he does not look much like Ozai at all. "This hairstyle is very common in the Fire Nation."

"Yeah, for ladies, maybe," Sokka replies, his eyes wandering the room. "So, did you bring anyone else with you? Other than Mai, of course."

Zuko rolls his eyes. "Suki's not here." He watches his friend's face fall. "She guards Azula now."

Sokka chuckles. "Bet she loves that."

"My sister doesn't need to be guarded by the Imperial Firebenders anymore," Zuko explains. "And I thought she might benefit from some… less foreboding faces. I offered to give the assignment to someone else. I know what happened in the Boiling Rock." He shrugs. "She assured me it wouldn't be a problem."

"How did it go with Kuei?" Aang asks. "It seemed important."

"It wasn't," Zuko replies with clenched teeth.

"Yeah," Aang sighs, his eyes downcast. "It usually isn't with him."

"He tries," Sokka shrugs.

Zuko glances over. "Sokka, you don't even know him."

"We've met," he replies, folding his arms across his chest. "I mean, I'm not best friends with the guy like you two are—"

"We are not friends." Zuko is practically snarling.

"Whoa, I know," Sokka holds his hands up. "It was a joke."

"Zuko," Aang takes a step forward, his brow wrinkling in concern. "What happened?"

He scans the room. A group of Air Acolytes stand nearby. Katara is in a far corner conversing with one of Aang's Earth Kingdom representatives, a man with long brown hair that Zuko thinks he has seen before. "I'll tell you later," he mutters.

So that night, in Zuko's suite, when they all have steaming cups of tea in front of them, he is not surprised when Aang asks again. "Zuko… are you going to tell us what happened with Kuei?"

He groans and brings his face to his hand. He can feel Mai begin to rub slow circles into his back. Finally, he looks back up. Aang, Katara, and Sokka wear matching looks of concern. "He asked for Azula."

Silence.

"What do you mean, he asked for Azula?" Sokka asks slowly.

"That's exactly what I mean," Zuko answers. "He asked me to send her to the Earth Kingdom. He wants to try her as a war criminal."

"But… isn't she a war criminal?" Katara asks gently.

"I am not giving her to him!" Zuko exclaims as Mai's hand presses more forcefully into his back. A warning. He takes a deep breath. "He'll have her executed. I'm sure of it."

"I'm not saying you should," Katara explains. "It's just that, if it was Chief Arnook asking for Admiral Zhao, you wouldn't hesitate, right?"

"If anyone had any idea where Admiral Zhao was." Zuko nods. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I just think you need to realize why you're really upset," Katara answers. "It's not because the Earth King is asking you to send a criminal off to some kangaroo court." Her face darkens. "We all know Zhao would have deserved whatever they handed down to him."

"No," Zuko replies. "It's because she's young and because she's sick—"

"And because she's your sister?" Katara supplies, one eyebrow raised. She looks annoyingly smug. "Look, maybe Kuei's demand was a little off-color, and you have a good reason not to want to give him what he's asking for. I just think you need to realize that not everyone is going to see it that way. On the surface, his request sounds reasonable."

"I'll talk to him," Aang says, his expression etched in resolve. "I'm sure I can get him to back down. He's not an unreasonable man."

"No," Zuko agrees. "But he has no idea how politics work."

"He probably just doesn't realize what he's asking for," Aang replies. "I'll take care of it."

It happens two weeks after Zuko returns to the palace in the Fire Nation. He is jolted awake. He can make out a white and red face leaning over him as his eyes struggle to focus. Beside him, he hears Mai stir.

"Zuko," Suki is saying urgently. "You need to get up."

She curls her fists around the front of his robes and, with a grunt, pulls him into a sitting position.

"What time is it?" he hears Mai slur.

"It's just before four," Ty Lee's voice comes from the other side of the bed. "Come on, Mai. I know you're not a morning person, but this is really important."

"You know I don't wake up before the sun," Mai argues.

Even half asleep, he Zuko can hear the frustration in Ty Lee's voice. "I thought you were a creature of the night."

"Just because I paint my nails black doesn't mean—" The end of her sentence is eclipsed by a yawn.

"What's so important?" Zuko groans as Suki pulls his legs over the side of the bed and begins struggling to shove his feet into slippers. "Why are you covered in dirt?"

"Something happened at the asylum," Suki answers quickly, and Zuko is instantly awake. "There's been an attempt on Azula's… well, we're not sure if it was her life exactly. We haven't had a chance to question them."

"Is she okay?" Zuko asks, batting Suki's hands away from his feet so he can lace his slippers himself.

"She's shaken up," Suki replies shortly. Zuko knows exactly what that means. She is having an episode. She is not okay, but not necessarily any worse than expected.

"And you caught them?" Zuko clarifies as he stands up and reaches for his robe.

Suki nods solemnly. "We did. They didn't seem to be working with anyone else. You should be safe. It looks like Azula was the target."

"That's new," Zuko mutters under his breath. He is not exactly upset that his sister is not subject to the same assassination attempts that he has all but gotten used to, but it is different to be in the clear for once.

"Then can't this wait?" Mai murmurs, her voice still heavy with fatigue. "I'm going back to sleep."

He hears a thump behind him as his girlfriend collapses back onto the pillows. Usually, Zuko is amused by his her staunch inability to rouse herself before ten, but given the circumstances, he is merely annoyed. He crosses to Mai's side of the bed in three long strides and brushes a very disgruntled Ty Lee out of the way.

"We are not leaving you here. What if you're next? Come on," he mutters as he lifts Mai out of the bed and sets her on her feet. "We have to go on a trip." Like waking a six year old. He drapes her robe over her shoulders and begins to guide her to the door. "Are your eyes even open?" he asks when she stumbles.

"Barely," she murmurs, head drooping.

"The palanquins are waiting outside," Suki calls as she hurries to catch up. He realizes now that her lip is split and the beginning of a black eyes is forming under her makeup. "We'll meet you there."

Azula is tapping her fingers rhythmically against the pad of her thumb when Zuko enters her room. It is a habit she has picked up within the past year. Her reunion with Ursa has changed her in more ways than one. She seems less enraged now, and more nervous. The paranoia is still there, of course. The doctors have told him that the content of her hallucinations has changed. He thinks he knows what she is seeing now. He has never asked. She would never tell him. But her delusions speak for themselves.

Her face is hidden behind a curtain of her hair. It looks soft and clean, and, though it lacks the shine it once possessed, it is nice to see that she is still so well cared for. It is getting long though, he realizes. Perhaps he should ask if she wants it cut. "Didhe send them?" Azula asks without looking up. "You can tell me. I already know it was him."

"I don't know who sent them yet," Zuko answers. "I haven't been to question them. I wanted to make sure you were okay first."

He is surprised at how calm she seems. She is curled up against the wall in the corner of her bed, knees drawn to her chest, but her voice is level, composed, even if what she is saying makes no sense. The fresh scrapes on her knuckles and the bruises forming up and down her legs give her away, though. He'd given the order as soon as they'd arrived back at the palace the year before: now that Azula is no longer completely lethal, she is not to be restrained. It always seemed to make things worse anyway. Unfortunately, that means that the orderlies have to go into her room and hold her down when she gets worked up and poses a danger to herself. He expects that, somewhere in the building, there are staffers with bruises to match.

"Oh, Zuzu," she sighs. "You always were more sentimental than practical. That's probably why he likes me best." She sighs bitterly, and even from across the room, he can see her deflate. "Not anymore though." Finally, she turns her head to look at him, and he is shocked to see the moisture on her cheeks. He can count on both hands the number of times he remembers seeing his sister cry. More than half of those have been within the past three years, during her episodes, and he is not sure if those count, because she does not seem aware of what is happening. "That's why he sent them. To kill me." She shrugs as if they are discussing what she ate for lunch that afternoon. "He's been talking about it for a while."

"He's been talking about having you killed?" Zuko repeats.

"I believe that's what I just said." He catches the irritation in her voice, but he ignores it. He crosses the small room in two long strides and seats himself on the opposite end of the mattress. His sister looks up at him.

She raises an eyebrow. "Feeling brave?"

He reaches across the bed and places a hand on her shoulder, watches her regard it with the utmost distaste before meeting his eyes again. "Feeling like your brother."

Azula merely glares at him. "You're disgraceful. No wonder her wanted me to be the Fire Lord instead."

"And yet…" Zuko touches a finger to his hairpiece.

Azula rolls her eyes. "Where are my guards? At least they're more pleasant company. Even if one of them does look perpetually nervous and the other one never stops talking."

He raises his eyebrows. "They left right behind me," he answers. "They're probably with your assailants now."

"And the Fire Lady?"

"Mai and I are not married," Zuko reminds her as the corners of him mouth fold into a frown.

"Technicalities," Azula replies with a wave of her hand. We all know it's going to happen eventually, brother. Why deny the obvious?"

Zuko sighs. "I left her on the bench in the hall. She's probably fallen back asleep by now."

"Yes, she was never an early riser," Azula agrees. "Sometimes when we were hunting you, I pretended to forget she was still asleep and made Ty Lee disassemble the tent with her inside." He can see the ghost of a smirk play across her lips, but it is gone as suddenly as it appeared. "Still, I can't help but find myself a little offended by her cavalier attitude. There was an attempt on my life. We're supposed to be friends, after all, or so she keeps telling me."

"Well, we don't know that they were actually trying to kill you—"

"Of course, they were, Zuko. Why else would he send them?"

"—and we talked to Suki and Ty Lee. She knows you're fine." His eyes flit to her hands.

"I wasn't fine when they last saw me," Azula scoffs. She holds up a fist so that Zuko is staring directly at one of her bloodied knuckles. "I got this from Ty Lee's headdress."

"Would you like me to send a doctor in to look at those?" he asks, reaching her fist. The cuts seem deep now that he has had a good look at them. Not the usual scrapes she gets from the walls.

She shakes her head and pulls her hand away. "They'll be fine. They're already scarred anyway."

"Is there anything else you need?" he asks like he does every time he visits.

"Hmm." Azula taps her index finger on her chin. "Now that you mention it, I've decided I would like to be taken to the courtyard for my daily exercise in my palanquin. I'm getting quite tired of walking everywhere like some peasant."

He allows himself to chuckle. "I'll see what I can do," he answers, as he does every completely unreasonable request she makes. "What about your hair? It's getting long again. Should I arrange for the royal hairdresser to pay a visit?"

"Actually, I've decided to grow it out," she replies airily.

"Grow it out?" he repeats. "Why?"

"Well," she shrugs. "It's about the only part of my life I can control anymore. I'll grow it until it touches the floor if I choose to."

"Uhhh, okay," he answers slowly. "If that's what you want." He pushes himself off the mattress and begins to pull the sheets out from under her. "Come on. Get in."

"I'm not a child, Zuko," she admonishes, but she lies down and allows him to pull the blankets over her body anyway.

"No," he answers. "But you're my little sister."

"Disgusting."

"I'll be back in the morning to let you know what we find out," he calls over his shoulder as he makes his way back to the door. "Just… try to get some sleep, okay?"

"I never sleep," he hears her mutter as he pulls the door closed behind him.

A/N: I'm going to try to do regular updates on this one. I don't know what the schedule will be yet. I'll let you guys know.

Especially for longer stories like this one (I'm planning on forty chapters), reviews are really appreciated. They motivate me to write. The more detailed you can be, the better. Positive or negative, I definitely try to incorporate what I'm being told into my writing. Reviews that are specific are super helpful.