The 16 years old Zuko breaking in Fire Nation’s fortress to free captured Avatar, then into Northern Water Tribe’s stronghold (totally alone on unfamiliar, enemy territory and still somehow finding a way to their most sacred place where Aang currently was), then into well-guarded hideout of Dai Li , the elite secret police of Earth Kingdom (and freeing Appa in process) and then alongside Sokka into another heavy guarded Fire Nation’s place, aka The Boiling Rock prison (again, freeing prisoners) and soon after that with Katara into Fire Navy communication tower - all within like? A year at best? - will never stop amusing me.

A tiny bit of rant in Maiko’s defense

Note: this is just my personal reading of the canon and everyone’s entitled to have their own interpretation! I just wanted to get it off my chest.

It is often argued that Mai is an obstacle in Zuko’s redemption arc. She encourages passivity and maintaining the status quo. And I totally agree! She’s the girl that was literally taught to “sit still and be quiet” her whole life! She doesn’t talk about Zuko’s problems not because she’s invalidating his feelings but because she sees no reason to dwell on things neither of them has any control over. Keeping things to herself is her coping mechanism.

Her joke about not wanting to hear his life story falls flat - true. She tells him to stop worrying immediately after - that’s not the response he needed right now. But her heart was in the right place. She already knows his story. She wants Zuko to be safe and happy. And she thinks that maintaining the status quo would keep him safe. THAT’S why she discourages him from attending the war meeting. She knows that publicly burning children is wrong - but she can’t see any other way out than to simply play by the Firelord's rules. She’s given up to the circumstances, she’s depressed. This is not the right course of action, obviously, and it clashes with Zuko’s need to stand up against his father.

Zuko desperately tries to fit back in the Fire Nation. He lets himself be distracted with cute little dates and grab whatever little moments of happiness he can in the hostile environment. They both do. 

Mai’s entire life strategy is to just... wait out or ignore the bad stuff. You can’t do anything about it, just give up. And YES - for most of the season they DO have a passivity problem that keeps feeding itself.

So yes, Zuko NEEDED to leave Mai behind to do what’s right. But instead of insisting that Mai was holding him back, can we acknowledge that Zuko pushes Mai forward?!

Because the Boiling Rock happens. And Mai, for the first time in her life, stands up for what’s important to her. She OVERCOMES her passivity problem - thanks to Zuko! Yes, at the moment she does it for love rather than political agenda - but that’s still amazing character growth! “I love Zuko more than I fear you” - it’s one of the strongest lines in Atla! This basically sums the whole show up: love is stronger than fear.

We tend to focus so much on what ZUKO needs in his character arc, that we forget that Zuko may be precisely what OTHER character’s arc needs.

Zuko gives Mai agency. Even if she never before questioned Fire Nation’s ideals, she is challenged to do so now. And she trusts Zuko. She first fell for the boy who recklessly stood up for others, and she finally gained the courage to do so herself. (Hey - she pretty much accepted she may actually DIE at Azula’s hands for this! That’s selfless sacrifice.) She cares about him more than anything and she can grow into a better person by his side.

They’re both 16-year-old kids that still have a lot to learn - mainly in the communication skills department. I agree with all the arguments that they can unintentionally hurt each other a lot - as evident in the Beach episode. Zuko has trouble speaking up about his inner turmoil due to trauma, he was taught to never question the Fire Nation and tries to fit in a role that’s expected of him - but we can’t blame it entirely on Mai. She may not be the most emotionally open person ever, but the important thing is that they KEEP TRYING. They care about each other and are putting work into the relationship. It’s clear that after that their communication got at least a bit better (and don’t even get me started how emotive, open and comfortable Mai is around Zuko... that includes showing negative emotions, too. And that’s what Zuko wanted for her, btw.) so we have no reason to believe they won’t work through their issues after the finale. Also - I disagree with claims that Mai is controlling or abusive - “don’t ever break up with me again” is a just lighthearted jab at his less than classy breakup note - it can even be argued that him confronting her openly would spare them some of the problems, who knows how Mai would react? Perhaps she would have joind him or at least helped him with an escape? So it’s actually an argument for Zuko to NOT run away from his problems and confront her directly - you know, like you’re supposed to do in a relationship, instead of just assuming what’s best for the other person. Also - his goofy grin at that remark is proof enough that he didn’t read it as a real threat at all. (And his dreamlike expression when he so much as mentions her name, or literal heart-eyes he makes upon seeing her before his coronation clearly indicates he’s just as head over heels for her as she is for him.) (And no, he didn’t have time or power to free her from jail right after the Agni Kai, it doesn’t mean he’d forgotten about her. I agree that writers could have handled it better but there’s only so much you can fit in the episode timeframe.)

To sum up: they aren’t the perfect couple. YET. But NO COUPLE is, at least not at first. Love needs a lot of work. Both of them still need to grow and they’re gonna make mistakes. People hurt each other sometimes, it’s inevitable. And sometimes you have to put your own well-being first and walk away. But as long as the other person is willing to work with you - as we see both of them do - you can build something beautiful and lasting together. That’s why Maiko is my favorite ship in Atla. (Sukka is just too perfect, so I don’t think about them a lot. XD)