It had been a long time since he, Iroh, and Zuko had spent time together. He had to recount his experiences for Zuko again, earning exclamations of wonder and sighs of emotion.
Kahn asked Zuko curiously:
"By the way, how are things between you and Mai?"
"Nothing's changed."
Zuko knew what Kahn was getting at and scratched his head helplessly.
"Although she's with Azula, she really doesn't care about the struggle between our two sides."
"We meet in private occasionally, but nothing else gets involved. I've heard Azula knows about it too and has tacitly allowed Mai to do it."
His situation was tangled as well. He and Azula were siblings, his girlfriend was Azula's close friend, and Kahn and Azula went without saying.
The same went for his situation with his mother.
Ershu now lived in the Royal Palace, so meeting was impossible, but they could still write to ask how each other was doing, likewise without involving anything else.
Involving anything else would have been impossible anyway. He was certain that not a single letter between him and his mother escaped Azula's inspection.
In short, although he and Azula were now on opposing sides, it was merely a clash of ideals. There was no personal hatred between them. All in all, he sometimes found it rather strange.
"I see. That's good, then."
Kahn smiled and nodded, though he also felt somewhat disappointed, because Zuko's situation did not apply to him.
He had originally hoped to learn something from Zuko's experience, but that now seemed useless.
After a little idle conversation, Zuko finally could not help asking Kahn:
"Then what are you planning to do next?"
"To be honest, I really hope you'll stand with us."
He knew what Kahn was capable of.
He, Azula, and Kahn had grown