The theory of Maiko bothers me a lot less than its execution in the series, honestly. I'd had my own ideas about them for a while, despite primarily shipping Zuko/Katara, and I went into season 3 with as open a mind as I could possibly muster, but every one of their love scenes has hit my sense of quality dialogue and meaningful romance like a lump of lead. I just can't muster up much energy to try to like the "canon" version of the pairing anymore. I want to, but it's just...urgh.

If the fic is good, I'll give it a go. It's got to be better than what I just watched. Oh, Mike and Bryan, why? ;_;