Zuko returned to his room very late that night, having spent the evening with Mai. But instead of falling onto his own bed and under his own covers, he made his way to your room, onto your bed and under your covers.

"Hey." He mumbled as he cuddled you closely.

"How'zit?" You asked sleepily.

"Not you. But she seemed happy." He had thought he had done a good job, but it was hard to tell with Mai. She wasn't as expressive as you, nor did she want to try anything different than what she expected. But it was still sex and still pleasant for him. His hand ran up the silky black robe that you had worn to bed and onto your necklace. "Can I really have you both?"

"Why not? Go to sleep, Zu." You were getting a little grumpy from the awakening, but you snuggled closer to the warm teenager.

But he couldn't sleep. The entire night, he tossed and turned, thankful that you were a deep sleeper. Eventually he decided to get up, although hesitant to leave what looked like a wonderful sight to wake up to in the morning. His goal was to go look at the Fire Nation prison. He was sure that his uncle would be there.

When you woke up that afternoon, you were once again alone. You wondered if Zuko coming over was just a dream, but when you rolled over, you noticed he had left some of his clothes on the ground.

At lease I ain't losin' ma marbles. You thought to yourself as you shrugged off your sleeping robe. But just as you began to look for new clothes, the door between your and Zuko's room slammed into the wall.

You yelped and tried to cover your body, before realizing who it was.

"I HATE THAT OLD MAN!" Zuko shouted as he collapsed onto your bed in a fit of anger. He turned his head to the side to look at you and breathed out fire. "You look good." He sniffled.

Walking over, you laid on the bed next to him and began stroking his hair.

"He was so angry, so disappointed that he wouldn't even look at me." His voice choked up at this.

"He really thought ya changed." You looked at him.

Zuko groaned in response.

"Aren't you supposed to make me feel better?"

"Nah, I can't make you feel better about that there stuff. That's ya own issues. But, I can be nice to ya." Gently, you ran your fingers through Zuko's hair, massaging his head. "You got some long hair here, Zuko."

"Call me Zu, again. I liked it."

"Ya got some long hair, Zu." You pulled at individual pieces.

"Don't like it?" Zuko grumbled as he wiped at his eyes.

"Actually, I really like it." You pulled it back into your hand. "Do ya wear it up ever?"

"I used to have very long hair. It was tied up with a ribbon and shaved all around it. Looking back, the princely style of hair was a little bit silly."

"I like it now." You scrunched up your nose.

"Then I will keep it like this. Thank you for laying with me. You... can get dressed now." He smiled at you. Zuko felt just a little better.