Chapter Text
After leaving the tea shop, they wandered through the city again. Now that the morning rush was past, the streets were quiet and still, and they had the shops mostly to themselves.
Mai wasn't usually a fan of shopping; it was tedious work, and she was often disappointed with the quality of the products. Consequently, she frequently sent her servants to pick up anything she needed. When Zuko was at her side to commiserate with, however, she found the task not only bearable but enjoyable. Rather than acting annoyed at her complaints and sarcastic commentary, the corner of his lip would twitch as if he was barely holding back laughter. He showed her items he knew she would hate with the express purpose of provoking a reaction from her.
The shopkeepers hated them - though they would be mortified if they knew who they were glowering at - but Mai didn't care. She hadn't had so much fun in months.
Finally, close to noon, Zuko brought her to the Fire Sage Temple. She had walked past it many times, but never been inside. The temple architecture was almost as elaborate as the palace. Two huge spires rose from inside the gates, appearing to climb the sides of the caldera.
Zuko acted as though it was a matter of course for him to visit the temple, walking through the gates as if he owned them, but she knew it had not always been so easy. The sages had crowned him Fire Lord fairly quickly after the war, but he had been their only option. Faced with a choice between a Fire Lord they weren't so pleased with and no Fire Lord, they had made the only decision they could.
But that didn't mean they had made things easy for Zuko.
Most had refused to support the Avatar and viewed the new direction Zuko was taking the Fire Nation to be dangerous. They opposed every plan he proposed for months, throwing political support behind Ozai supporters and members of the old cabinet. And they had refused to allow him into the Fire Sage Capital Temple for weeks. Zuko eventually had to send his army to the gates of the temple before they gave him access. Those had been difficult times, those early days of his reign. Things were better now - the sages greeted them both warmly as they walked in - but as the assassination attempt of the previous night proved, there was still a long way to go.
"Why are we here?" she asked. "I thought you were taking today off?" If he was going to take time away from their day to curry favor with the sages…
"I thought we could have lunch here," he said.
"Here?" She looked around the courtyard at the dozens of sages scurrying about their business and casting curious glances their way and questioned Zuko's sanity. Aside from the palace, this was about the least private place he could have picked.
"Not in the courtyard, no."
He walked over to an ornate circle in the center of the courtyard. He knelt down and sent a stream of fire into the center of the circle. There was a creaking as it twisted open to reveal a staircase leading under the temple. He held out his hand and led her down the stairs. He carried a flame in his other hand, which lighted their way.
"What is this place?" she asked.
Her voice rumbled off the walls in a dull echo. It was warm down here, much warmer than the tunnels underneath Ba Sing Se. Those had been cold and slightly clammy, though to be fair, most places in the Earth Kingdom had been colder that she would have preferred.
"The Dragonbone Catacombs." He waved his hand and dozens of torches sprang to life.
Something about that name sounded familiar. Something he'd told her about last year…
She snapped her finger. "Is this the place where you found some important document from one of the previous Fire Lords?"
"Right," he said. "Fire Lord Sozin's final testament. It's what led me to realize that I am descended from Avatar Roku."
She remembered now. It had been one of the defining moments in his decision to join the Avatar. Not that she'd realized it at the time. He had kept his thoughts very close back then, though she did remember him telling her he'd been to Fire Lord Sozin's tomb.
"Wait." She stopped walking. "You brought me on a date to a tomb?"
"It's not just a tomb! It's a library of important historical documents, and there are beautiful murals depicting Fire Nation history, and-"
"Relax, Zuko." She cut him off with a smile. "At least it won't be boring." She walked past him to examine one of the many dragon skulls that lined the hallway. "What's the deal with these?"
She could hear him breathe a sigh of relief as he joined her.
"These were the first dragons hunted for sport. Nobles and generals would bring the skulls to my great-grandfather as proof of their firebending prowess. Before long he had so many he didn't know what to do with them. My great-grandmother suggested lining the hallway of the catacombs to show that the Fire Lords had power over the dragons even in their death."
She lifted a brow and pretended to examine him critically. "And what sort of power do you hold over dragons?" Her voice sounded breathy even to her own ears, though she attributed it to the acoustics of the catacombs.
"Enough." His eyes glittered in the torchlight. "And one day I will prove it."
"Prove it how?" she laughed. "Dragons are extinct."
But his expression hardened into the fiercely determined, never-say-die attitude that defined Zuko, the same spirit that allowed him to believe that he would find the Avatar when he had been missing for a hundred years.
"One day," he said seriously, "I will prove that my power over dragons is greater than that of my ancestors who slaughtered them. One day I will ride into the capital on a willing dragon."
"But dragons are extinct…" she repeated. She appreciated his determination, but surely there was no overcoming this.
"So they say," he said, and his eyes took on a faraway look. It brought goosebumps to her skin.
"Zuko…" He was amazing. Surely there had never been a Fire Lord like him.
But the look was gone, the moment passed. He shook his head and took her hand. "Come on. I didn't actually bring you down here to look at dragon skulls."
The end of the hallway widened into a small antechamber which led to the entrances to the tombs of Fire Lord Sozin and Fire Lord Azulon. Here she saw a blanket spread on the ground with a picnic basket next to it.
"I brought you here," he said, as they sat on the blanket, "so we could share a meal on the burial site of my ancestors."
"And why would you do that?"
His face broke out in the most adorable grin. "To make them roll over in their graves."