W: Wrong

Zuko ran. He didn't know where he was heading to, or what he would do once his legs gave out, but he wanted to leave the palace behind him – he wanted to forget all about the high walls that closed about him in a suffocating embrace, the red carpets and drapes glaring at him whenever he passed the corridors, the bowing servants and fake advisors spitting words of respect and, most of all, he wanted to forget all about the throne room; that single chair, standing majestic and imposing in a room full of Fire Nation pride and, Agni, those flapping flames around his feet, mocking him – it was all too much.

In his chest, his heart skipped rapidly. The blood pounded in his ears in rhythm with the hot air that whooshed past him. His loose hair slapped his cheeks but he didn't stop until the twilight had faded and night had fallen and his legs could not carry him any longer. He sank down on his knees, in some alley he had never seen in his whole life, the palace nothing but a distant light far away. Around him, a few houses twinkled with lights, so he dragged his feet to a corner and rested his back against a stone-made wall. Slate black, the dark surrounded him and he couldn't help but think it was a welcome change. All those torches in his room had done nothing but shove hard light into his empty life. There, under the sky, he would let his mind be free of all other burdens and clear things out.

How did this happen? From one moment to another, he had gone from hating and pitying Ozai to cherishing his advice and actually letting him – a pathetic person behind bars – affect his life with the worst of ways.

"Why?" he whispered in the darkness, his voice hoarse and heavy with panting.

He did not know the answer and could not find it, no matter how much he had tormented himself with thoughts and lame excuses, and with nights he spent awake trying to figure the reason of his madness. He felt crushed under a burden he could no longer carry, and he could share it with no one around: Aang was still bound to his promise and Zuko could not blame him for that. Katara was far from understanding him and so was Sokka and Toph; and Suki, even though supportive, could not relate with him.

And Mai…

He sighed. "Mai."

Mai was willing to share the burden, was willing to understand it and help him carry it. Mai was always ready to support and hold him when he could no longer do it alone. And she would help but…but I never let her know of my burden.

She came up to him one last time, gave him one last chance to tell her everything. He didn't. And she froze in the middle of the room, a pale girl, emotionless as a porcelain doll, yet not as breakable. And in that moment, he felt the distance she put between them. Or was it the distance he put between them?

I love you – that was all he could say. She was standing there, cold and accusing, waiting for an explanation, and all he could do to make it up for her was confessing the only thing she knew.

I've lately realized you love your secrets more, she had said. You'll have an easier time keeping them when you're alone.

And then she turned away. The desperation had built up inside him so quickly that, for a moment, he thought he would burst.

Come back! – the words had left his mouth instinctively but even as he uttered them, he knew she wouldn't come back. Because he had messed everything up again. I order you to come back! – now, that was a surprise for both of them. But when desperation grips people, words and mind are no longer connected. And Zuko had been desperate.

And it had all gone wrong after that.

This is a birthday gift for lovely friend, Private Fire! Happy Birthday! :D

I know I haven't updated in a while, but inspiration is hard to come by lately. Please, don't be mad?

Review, too. :)