Zuko never expected to her again, but Jin wants to visit him one more time.

If I Could Have You Back

"Someone is here to see you, Firelord Zuko," one of the guards said to him. Zuko nodded and the great doors opposite him opened, revealing a short teenage girl from the Earth Kingdom. She bent down and bowed before him.

"Guards," Zuko said, gesturing towards the door so they would leave the two alone. The brunette looked up at him innocently.

"Zuko," she said in a small, sweet voice.

"Hi, Jin," he replied, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable. "How'd you, uh, know?"

"Everyone knows," she shrugged, standing up and watching him strangely as he sat upon the throne. "Everyone in Ba Sing Se has known you were actually prince of the Fire Nation—well, Firelord now, I guess. Because of the takeover in our city."

"Yes," Zuko nodded.

"When I found out, I… I felt like… I don't know. All of my emotions got so mixed up. I knew you as this sweet, humble refugee who worked in his uncle's tea shop, and then one day… well, you weren't Lee anymore. You were from the Fire Nation, and you and your sister conquered Ba Sing Se."

"Why did you come here?" he inquired, looking her up and down. She was still the pretty girl with the childlike beauty. He felt his stomach turn, thinking about what he'd done, and how it must've hurt her. Jin thought of that night, when he lit those lights in by the fountain… with his firebending. The night had been so perfect, however short it was, and small, in her memory.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I just wanted to see something."

"See what?"

"You look so different," she thought aloud. "Your hair must've gotten longer… I don't like it up."

"Oh," Zuko muttered, looking up at his hair unsurely.

"I guess I just wanted to know something, really," she said, looking nervous. "Obviously you're good now. But are you Lee? I mean, are you the guy Lee seemed to be?"

"I'm not sure what you mean," Zuko said slowly, though it was a lie.

"Maybe you're no juggler," she laughed, walking closer to the throne. "But are you really the sweet guy I remember so well from the tea shop? Now that you're good?"

"I don't know," he breathed shortly. "I guess."

"After that night, you didn't really say anything to me," she pointed out. "You took off and I just… was it real?"

"Of course it was," Zuko rejoined quickly.

"I know, but was it really you?" she asked hopefully.

"Maybe," he said, recalling the night himself. It started off a bit awkwardly, with the dinner, but in the end, he felt so comfortable, with her standing beside him as they looked at the amazing spectacle of the lanterns and fountain. And then she'd kissed him, and he'd kissed back. Then he thought of Mai, and of what she'd think of it.

Jin walked around to get to where Zuko was, on the throne, and she smiled at him. "Well, that's the guy I came here to see…" she said slowly, creeping closer and closer to him. He started to back up in his throne, but he couldn't, and there was a part of him that said it was okay. More than okay, really.

He watched her fingers glide gracefully on his face, tracing the outline of his scar. Suddenly he felt his hair being let down from the back of his head, and it fell down into his eyes. He looked at her cautiously.

"Jin," was all he said. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck. He felt her cool breath hit his neck, and he closed his eyes, feeling the soothing calmness of their moment. Then her lips touched his, and it brought him back to that wonderful memory, of their first and only kiss. He opened his eyes and saw her looking at him expectantly. Zuko almost involuntarily returned the kiss, with a stronger one, full of built-up passion that he hadn't had since that night, that one night. Zuko got up from his throne and put his arms around her slender waist.

"Zuko," she pulled her face from his, panting. "I'm sorry about this."

"Sorry?" he echoed lamely.

"Yes; it was wrong," she looked ashamed. "I just wanted to see you… to have one last moment."

"Last?"

"I know about you and that black-haired girl," she admitted. "I found out only a week ago, when I came here."

"You've been here a week?"

"It takes a while to get an audience with the Firelord, you know," she laughed lightly. "But anyway, I should probably just go." She broke free of the embrace, starting to back up.

"I… you're right," Zuko found himself replying. "I'm with Mai."

"Mai," Jin pursed her lips. "Is she sweet?"

"Um, yeah."

"I'm happy for you, then," she said, fighting back tears. "I have to go now…" She turned around and started walking around the throne to go back the way she'd came up, but he grabbed her wrist tightly, and their eyes locked. Simultaneously, they leaned in for another kiss, but Zuko pulled away.

"No," he sighed. She looked at him one last time before leaving for good. Zuko thought about all that had just happened. After all the hurt he'd put Mai through, now he had given her even more.

He sat in his throne and relived the night of his first date with Jin again in his memory, from start to finish. He thought about how he'd returned to his uncle's apartment, slamming the door and grumbling.

"It was nice," he repeated to himself aloud. Then Mai came through the big doors and walked up to Zuko.

"Who was she?" she asked, coming by his throne and cradling his chin in her hands. Zuko took her hands away from his face and held them.

"Nobody," he answered, putting his hair back up. She noticed, but didn't say a word.