Avatar: The Last Airbender
Book 4 ~ Air
Chapter 1
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"Come on Aang, it's a great idea and you know it! And plus, maybe you'll finally find a girlfriend!" Sokka encouraged, oblivious to Katara and Aang's relationship.
Aang stood there, awkwardly. He wished he could tell Sokka. But every time he tried, the words didn't come out right, or he would end up changing the subject. For some reason he couldn't tell the truth about the growing relationship between him and Katara.
"UhhhhI'm not ready for a girlfriend...."Aang mumbled a lie,"Girls are icky." He added childishly. Aang almost laughed at the thought of still believing in cooties. He bit his lip to contain himself.
Sokka rolled his eyes,"Whatever, but you're coming right?" He asked, folding his arms and bending forward so his face was mere inches apart from Aang's. Aang blinked, too afraid to answer negatively.
"Erm.. Sure! But, what about Zuko?" Aang asked. A part of him knew Zuko would immediately shut down the idea of sneaking into a party, but he also knew Sokka wouldn't give up until he complies.
"Well of course Zuko's coming! With him being the Fire Lord, he needs to break away from all of that work and pressure every once and a while. And besides, when was the last time the three of us went out and did something incredibly stupid and time-wasting?" Sokka asked, backing up his idea.
Aang shook his head,"Try, two weeks ago..? Remember? When we told that ghost story to Suki's party and then scared them right before they fell aslee-"
"Yeah but that was, like, two weeks ago! Teenagers are suppose to be stupid and not think twice about anything they do." Sokka continued, making his way out of the guest chambers. Aang followed with a sigh, which showed Sokka he'd at least follow through with his plan. They were soon greeted by servants offering luxurious unnecessities. Aang politely waved them off, and the two hurried to the Fire Lord's chamber.
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Zuko stared out the window, watching the sun dip its way into nothingness. The sky above it seemed to melt away as the tip of the sun disappeared. Zuko sighed as he felt the fire within himself decipitate. He lifted himself away from the window sill and took a seat in front of the couch, below Mai. She ran her fingers through her hair, and dragged away her hair pins with it. Her hair sprawled out onto her shoulders, and framed nicely around her face.
"You need rest." Mai complained sincerely, running her fingers through her hair. Zuko breathed a small chuckle and shook his head. Being Fire Lord, there was no such thing as rest.
"What's funny?" She asked in her I-could-really-care-less-about-what-you-are-going-to-say voice. Zuko smiled.
"You said rest." He stated, and leaned his head back in-between her legs, lying peacefully in her lap. She pulled back and set both feet on either sides of his shoulders.
"Maybe that's because you haven't had a good night sleep in months. Those bags under your eyes are never going to go away if you keep this up." Mai explained, leaning her head up so she was facing the ceiling. The position they were in made Zuko feel abnormally warm. He shook it off.
"I'm not tired, Mai. Really, once I finish this thing with the Earth King, we'll have all the free time we want." Zuko said. 'Thing' was a huge understatement. He was signing a permanent peace treaty, not just with the Earth Nation, but with every nation. The reason it was so huge with the Earth Kingdom was because most of the damage was there. Ba Sing Se, not to mention one of the largest cities in the world, was nearly torn apart. Zuko silently groaned at the thought of how much money it would cost to repair that city alone, and ran his fingers through his hair. He bit his lip to contain another groan as Mai ran her toes down his spine.
"If you weren't tired you wouldn't be dozing off every minute and have circles under your eyes that almost touch your chin." Mai argued. Zuko ignored her. If he was to fight with anyone, it wouldn't be Mai. He knew, even if she acted as if she didn't care, that the only reason they were still having this conversation was because she loved him. He smiled at the thought of Mai loving someone, loving him. He turned around, and held his hand up in surrender.
"Alright, alright. You win. I'll sleep." Zuko said with a smile, and kissed her forehead before lying down on the large bed behind them. Of course she wins, she always wins. Zuko laughed to himself. Even if she was wrong, even if what she was saying made no sense at all, she would win. And Zuko was completely fine with that.
As soon as Zuko's back collided against the soft sheets, he was fast asleep. Mai yawned,"I might as well take a nap too..." She trailed off, noticing he was asleep. She smiled and tucked in next to him comfortably. Mai turned onto her back, and stared at the ceiling. She remembered the first time she had worked up the courage to sleep in the same bed with him. How every time she would glance at him he would be blushing fiercely. Mai had almost dozed away, until a loud knock came at the door. Her eyebrows narrowed, and she straddled out of Zuko's bed.
"What?!" She half-yelled, swinging the door open. Her mouth parted slightly when she noticed it was the Avatar and Zuko's water tribe friend.
"Oh.. it's you.. Well, whatever you want with Zuko you can't have, because he's finally sleeping." Mai explained in a harsh whisper.
Sokka groaned, and Aang quietly sighed in relief. Mai just scowled at the two of them.
"Well when he wakes up, tell him to send the servant guard helper people to come get us, because-"
"Ok I will bye!" Mai interrupted, slamming the door in both their faces. Mai groaned as she turned to see Zuko rubbing his eye.
"Who was that?" He asked groggily. She shook her head, and curled in next to him.
"Nobody, just some servants. Go back to sleep." Mai insisted sweetly, and tucked him back in. He smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist, trapping her into a sloppy kiss. Her lips collided gently with his at first, than she arubtly pulled away.
"No, sleep. Please, sleep for me." Mai encouraged while tracing the shape of his lips,"We can do that later." She said with a small smirk. Zuko smiled and shut his eyes obediently.
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Katara stared out over the icy seas. Ever so often she would make a small wining, hopeful sound, trying to gain her father's attention. She drew breath to sigh again, but stopped, when she finally caught Hakoda's eyes. She groaned and slumped her head into her folded arms. Hakoda shook his head.
"What is it Katara? At first you sounded happy to be coming back home." Hakoda said, taking a seat next to her on the edge of the boat. She quickly lifted her head up.
"Well I am it's just... It's just I miss my other family. I'm so used to everybody being around me, and.. it's, I don't know.. sudden?" Katara figured that was the right word. It was sudden. One day she's out with her friends sitting around a camp fire, and the next she's in the middle of the ocean heading towards the South Pole all alone.
"Ah," Hakoda murmured,"I know you miss them, but you will be going back soon, Katara. And do you know how happy your grandmother will be when she sees you again? She has no idea you're even coming!" He exclaimed. She sighed,"I know. But I still miss them..." Who she missed most was Aang. She knew this would happen. Even though the war is over, he's still incredibly busy. She'd be lucky to see him even if she weren't half way around the world.
"I miss Aang." Katara immediately regretted the words. She hadn't explained to her father about 'them' yet. Hakoda nodded, completely oblivious. He figured it was because of how close the two had become.
"Sir, we're going to pull in right here if that's alright with you." One of the tribe's older captains stated. Hakoda patted Katara's head and went back to steer the ship into the dock. Katara could already smell the scent of leopard seal jerky. Home. She could also see some of the children from the village playing tag. Katara noted how older they were looking, despite it had barely only been two years. A few moments later, and Hakoda was behind her again, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Katara, before we start unpacking our things... I have to introduce you to somebody." Hakoda explained, the tone of his voice quieting. Katara struggled to hear him.
"Who is it?" She asked. He led her by the hand off ship, and they were soon greeted by old friends, and a new face. "Dad, who's..." Katara trailed off, waiting for an exclamation.
The woman before her gasped in pleasure,"This must be Katara! You're so much cuter than I imagined you were!" She exclaimed.
Katara blinked,"Errmm... Thanks..?" She wasn't sure if that was suppose to be a compliment. "So, who are..."
"Oh, excuse me for not introducing myself," She stopped to laugh hastily,"My name is Ishiko. Hakoda, dear, did you not tell this beautiful little girl about us?" Ishiko asked in a giggly voice.
"Oh, it must have slipped my mind." Hakoda stuttered nervously.
"Dad..?" Katara shot him a confused look. Not that she was confused about who she was, but why she was even here. Why would her father even want anybody except her mother?
"I wanted you to meet her because, well, we fell in love with each other, and we are talking about marriage..." Hakoda trailed, reading Katara's every move. Katara just shook her head, and trudged to her grandmother's tent.
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Toph sprawled out into a giant hay stack, and sunk in as far as she could. Earlier, she had gotten a letter from her parents. Suki had told her that the letter was asking if Toph wanted to attend to private school. Toph's answer was no. Just no. There was no point even going, she couldn't read, she couldn't write, she couldn't even see for goodness sake. She groaned and buried her face into Momo's side. He chirped and blinked at her, then flew next to Appa when she was finished. She turned onto her side, so she was facing the furry beast.
"Appa, why are my parents such idiotic morons? Why can't they be like you? All you guys do is eat and sleep and fly us places. Parents yell at everything you do and make you go to horrid places like school. " She shuddered at the word.
"Why can't Zuko change the law for me? Why can't the law be ' you can choose to stay with your parents as soon as you're born'." Toph asked them annoyed, throwing her hands into the air for emphasis. She sighed and buried her face into the hay stack, letting the needles prick deep into her skin. She didn't care.
"Toph?"
She jolted from the hay to feel who the intruder was, and slumped back down when she realized it was just Sokka.
"It's just me..." He whispered. She nodded,"I know."
Sokka scratched his head,"What are you going to tell your parents?"
Toph thought about that for a minute. "No. Just straight out no." She threw an arm over her face. He smiled.
"Well, tomorrow, do you want to go get something to eat? Just the two of us?" He asked hopefully.
She removed her arm to reveal a confused look.
"Um.. Ok..?" It ended as if she had asked a question.
"Not like a date.. That would be weird.. But you know, like the good old days? And after maybe we can go play one of those shell games." Sokka sputtered, and laughed at the memory of those crazy scams they got into.
"Whatever." Toph agreed, and lifted herself from the hay stack. She stretched her hands above her head, and groaned a yawn.
"What times is it?" She asked.
Sokka rubbed the back of his neck,"Around.. eight, I think.."
She shook her head,"Man, I'm gettin' old."
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And again, there was a knock at the door. Mai hurled herself from the bed, now furious. How many times does she have to yell 'QUIET ZUKO IS TRYING TO SLEEP YOU'LL WAKE HIM!!!' She flew the door open, and crossed her arms angrily at the short petrified servant.
"I'm sorry to bother you, m-miss, but this news is important for the Fire Lord." He explained nervously.
"Can't you just tell him late-"
"What is it?" Zuko interrupted, gently moving her out of the way. She scowled at him.
"The counsel has scheduled a meeting for tomorrow, at 9 A.M. sir." The servant stated, and bowed politely before escaping.
Mai groaned,"Why is it so early?" She complained, shoving him back in the direction of the bed.
"I don't know, it must be important.. I wonder-"
"Don't wonder, just sleep. Now that you have to get up so early." Mai cut him off, and tucked him back in bed.
He sighed,"I know you're upset that things are like this right now.. But we're trying to heal a world that's been at war for a hundred years. It's not going to be easy."
"I know." Mai surrendered with a sigh. "We never get to spend that much time with each other anymore." She sighed.
"Yes we do." He comforted in a worried whisper. "Like right now we're together."
"Yeah, at night time when they have to let you go." She complained. "I miss when you were a prince who didn't have to do anything and all we ever did was cuddle and eat fruit tarts." Mai blushed, embarrassed of how stupid and childish that just sounded.
He chuckled and shook his head. "We can still cuddle and eat fruit tarts." Zuko defended with a smirk.
"Not as much as we used to." She shot back, smiling now.
"We can cuddle as much as you want to." Zuko said, closing the small space between them. Mai giggled and wrapped her legs around his. He smirked and rolled them over, so he was hovering on top of her. He gently but passionately pressed his lips against hers. Their tongues danced playfully in each other's mouth. They wanted to stay like this forever, but eventually had to break away for air. Zuko waited impatiently for her to catch her breath, he wanted to kiss her again. Though, he didn't want things to get too heated. They both needed a good nights rest. He began sucking on her lower lip, his hands soaring freely around her thighs. Soft moans escaped both of their lips as they began to feel the warmth taking over. He released her then, and rolled them back onto their sides.
Zuko smiled at her, and twirled a strand of her hair. "I love you." He murmured. Mai felt tingles of sensation shoot up her arms. "I love you." She whispered.
They were quiet for a moment, until Zuko couldn't hold it in any longer.
"Marry me." He whispered softly. Mai's eyes sprung open, and she stared at him. She loved him, she knew she did. But marriage? Was she ready? He was the only mans he would ever want to be with, and they were both now of marrying age. She swallowed.
"I don't know I mean, what if something happens or.. I don't know, I love you but-"
"If you love me, then nothing else matters." Zuko interrupted a small voice. Mai felt a small smile take shape onto her lips, and she nodded.
"Ok." She said in a small voice. Zuko smiled widely and wrapped his arms around her, as far as they would go.
"I'm so glad you said yes." Zuko shouted in an excited whisper. The sound was muffled by her hair.
"Me too." Mai whispered, and kissed his cheek.
Zuko excitedly sprung from bed, and went to his desk. She groaned,"Don't tell me you're going to start working already."
He shook his head,"No, I'm writing a letter for Iroh, telling him we are getting married." Zuko's head was spinning, this was all happening so quickly. He loved her more than anything, and that was all that mattered.
"Tomorrow, we'll tell everyone." He exclaimed. Mai blinked.
"Tomorrow?" She asked, dazed. "Tomorrow my parents are throwing that stupid party for all of the noble officials, or something like that." Mai waved away the topic.
"That will be perfect, tell them then!" He smiled at her, his eyes wide and hopeful. She couldn't turn him down when he was staring at her like that.
"Alright." Mai gave in, and his smile grew even wider.
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