AN: Based on a Tumblr post by margaretmead
It had been a week since Mai and Zuko had married one another. The couple had been putting the ceremony off time and time again given that the Fire Nation was still in poor shape from the War. While the Fire Nation had been saved from the ruin the other three nations had faced, it had still been scarred. The courtyard where they had been married had only recently been fully repaired from the Agni Kai with Azula. As for the rest of the kingdom; areas that had been subjected to war were still in desolate shape. Afterall, there were more pressing matters to be attended to apart from repairing buildings. The prisons had to be emptied and those who had lost family members needed to be verbally informed as to their kin's fate. While Zuko had been loyal trustees and advisors who had gladly volunteered to take the task upon themselves, the young Fire Lord felt it was his duty to do so himself. Doing so, however, had taken a heavy toll on Zuko.
Sensing this, Mai had done everything in her power to cheer him up; walks on the beach, quiet dinners alone, ordering dozens of tarts and pastries on a whim, but nothing seemed to work. She had been hoping the marriage would have lightened Zuko's spirits and for a while, he seemed happy. He smiled, smiled for what felt like the first time since his coronation, he laughed, he danced, he talked. While he had talked to her plenty before the marriage, the days leading up to it had been nothing more than absent-minded small talk, inconsequential quips about the weather, unconscious orders for the servants to complete. But their wedding night had been different. Zuko had actually talked to her. They discussed plans for the future, places they would see, friends they would visit, ways to make their kingdom better.
Unfortunately, as the week drew to a close he reverted back to his despondent self. Not even his Uncle could make him laugh, not that it was from a lack of trying. Iroh had been the light of the after party. He danced with every woman he laid his arms around and flirted shamelessly. He told jokes, regaled the stories from his and Zuko's exile, and even acted out his favorite moments. None of this had lifted Zuko's spirits.
Mai was not particularly enjoying this side of Zuko. It was one thing for her to be gloomy; that was her personality, an integral part of who she was. Zuko, on the other hand, was vibrant and passionate, hot-headed and outgoing. It was unlike him to be reserved and keep to himself. She alone was gloomy enough for the both of them and it was time she permanently brought Zuko out of his rut.
One day while the Fire Lord was busy with his advisors, Mai decided to go out to town. Not looking for anything in particular, she stumbled upon a store that hosted a menagerie of animals. Captivated by the uniqueness of the collection, she entered the store. The sunken door collided with a small bell as she entered, sending the animals near the front into a fit as it chimed noisily.
Looking around, Mai took note of the variety of animals on display. There were anteater sloths, badger frogs, cat owls, chicken pigs, elephant rats, winged boars, koala otters, meadow voles, sparrowkeets, toucan puffins, turtle ducks, winged lemurs, and messenger hawks, just to name a few. The palace ponds were teeming with turtle ducks and they had plenty of messenger hawks ready to be made of use. The rest of the animals simply made Mai's nose scrunch in disinterest.
As she meandered through the crooked aisles, her robe marking her path as it trailed across the floor through the dust, she came across a crate that appeared empty. It was wedged into the far corner of the bottom shelf. Wondering if one of the animals was loose, Mai stooped down and peered into the crate, Mai's eyes narrowed as she strained against the darkness to better look inside. Suddenly, two golden eyes were gazing back at her from inside the crate. Smiling slightly, she slid the cage out from under the shelf and looked inside. Staring curiously at her was a small kitten with ebony fur and golden eyes.
Unlocking the cage, Mai scooped out the kitten and held it under its front legs to better look at it. It lightly flailed its legs, seeking purchase in the empty air, as she gazed fondly at it. The corners of her lips twitching into a small smile, she placed the kitten back in its cage and made her way back to the front of the store to see the cashier.
By the time Mai arrived back at the palace, the meeting betwixt Zuko and his advisors had ended. Smiling, Mai made her way over to her husband, flagging him down before he could disappear.
Upon seeing his wife, the Fire Lord stopped and made his way over to her. "Is something wrong?" he asks, placing his hands on either of her shoulders.
Shaking her head, Mai replies, "No, nothing is wrong." Unfolding the bundle before her, she holds something up for Zuko to see. "Zuko," Mai begins as the kitten meows indignantly, "I'd like you to meet Your Honor."
Blinking in confusion, Zuko repeats, "My honor?"
"No, Your Honor. It's its name. I bought him today when I went into town. I thought you could use some cheering up so I bought us a pet." Mai explains, handing Zuko the kitten and allowing him to bond.
Zuko affectionately rubbed the kitten between its ears as he inquires, "That was sweet of you Mai, but is there any chance we could change the name?"
Laughing lightly, Mai takes the kitten back from him. "No, it's too late. He already responds to it. Don't you, Your Honor?" Mai coos, rubbing the kitten's belly. At the sound of his name, his ears twitched and he let out a soft meow. Mai gave Zuko a pointed look as if to say 'I told you so,' before walking back down the hallway, ready to introduce her new cat to the rest of the palace.
Zuko frowned as he stared at the cat. The little interloper hadn't even been at the palace for a week but had already caused him enough embarrassment to last a lifetime. Every time Mai told someone what the kitten's name was, he could hear their laughter from across the palace. He knew that despite what Mai had said about trying to make him feel better she was secretly, or rather not-so-secretly, enjoying every second of misery the creature caused him.
As he tapped the parchment of the latest law he was designing, he suddenly felt a small weight drop into his lap. Looking down, he saw the kitten was no longer taking a nap in its designated bed but had crawled into his lap, curled up, and subsequently resumed sleeping on his thighs.
"Get off me," Zuko orders, tapping the kitten in the head with his writing utensil. The cat began purring in response, kneading his robe.
In response, Zuko gently wraps his hands around the paws and shouts, "Hey, this robe was imported all the way from the Earth Kingdom! Stop that!" At that, the kitten looks up at him, its large eyes innocently meeting Zuko's.
His frown faltering, Zuko looks away, forcing his eyes to close. After another moment, he reopens his eyes and stares down at the kitten, a smile blossoming on his lips against his will. Releasing the paws, Zuko allows the kitten to continue kneading before finally settling back down and resuming its nap. As he readdressed the law, Zuko absent-mindedly began stroking the cat's back. Despite its name, the kitten was incredibly soft and sweet and, after all, it couldn't help having been named something so terrible. It wasn't his fault.
Suddenly the door was flung open. His hand and brush skidding across the parchment, Zuko looks up in alarm only to find Mai standing in the doorway, the flat of her palm still pressed against the door from when she had flung it open.
Moving away from the door to Zuko's side, Mai says, "Zuko, I can't find Your Honor anywhere! Have you seen him?"
In an instant, all of the nice things about the cat Zuko had been thinking vanished. In one swift movement, he dropped his brush and thrust the kitten into Mai's arms. As he did so, the cat turned back to look at him, its large, opulent orbs staring questioningly back at him.
This time Zuko refused to be remorseful. Looking away, he simply crumpled up the now ruined proposal and tossed it over his shoulder as both Mai and Your Honor left the room.
His eyes closed and his hands clasped behind his back, the Fire Lord glided across the courtyard, enjoying the rare period of relaxation he was currently indulging in. He had no meetings, conferences, nor public appearances to make within the next hour. Since his wedding day, it was the first real moment of free time he had had since becoming Fire Lord. Even though it pleased him immensely to finally reunite the Fire Nation with the rest of the world and instigate an era of peace, it was still occasionally displeasing to never truly be able to have time for himself or time to spend solely with Mai.
Opening his eyes, Zuko found himself standing near the turtle-duck pond. His gaze roaming over the area, he was pleased to have spotted Mai. He was due for some alone time with her. Seeing that no one else was around, he eagerly made his way over to his wife. Lifting a hand in greeting, Zuko opens his mouth to speak when Mai whirled around.
Having spotted Zuko, Mai waved him over, imploring of him, "Zuko, you have to get Your Honor down from that tree!"
Hanging his head slightly, Zuko closed the distance between himself and Mai. So much for spending a quiet moment alone. Following the path her finger made for him, Zuko saw she was right. The kitten was perched in one of the branches, his paws nervously curled around the tree as it held on for dear life.
"You have to get Your Honor down." Mai reiterated, finding a small amount of humor in the situation the pair found themselves in.
Looking away from the kitten, Zuko turns to Mai and asks, "How did he even get up there?"
"Your Honor is terrorizing the turtle duck hatchlings so the mother bit him. I'm sure you remember how her bite hurts so Your Honor jumped up into the tree." Mai explains as she tries not to laugh.
"Hilarious," Zuko mumbles under his breath. Looking up into the tree again, he sees no other choice. His intertwines his fingers around a branch before pulling himself up into the tree. After a minute of climbing, he was on the same branch as the kitten. Holding out his hand, Zuko calls to him, "Come here, Your Honor." The kitten just looked at him, his eyes wide with fear, as he meows in terror. Scooting closer to him along the branch, Zuko continues coaxing the cat over to him. "I'm not going to hurt you. I want to get you down so unless you want to be stuck in this tree forever, come here." When the kitten still refused to move, Zuko impatiently huffed before sliding along until he was virtually on top of the kitten. Sliding a hand under the kitten's belly, Zuko unhinged him from the tree and held him against his chest. At that same moment, the tree branch let out a low groan before dismembering itself from the tree. Zuko only had time to more tightly clutch the kitten to his chest to shield it before he hit the ground with a thud.
"Zuko!" Mai cries, rushing over to him. Kneeling down beside her husband she asks, "Are you and Your Honor okay?"
"We're okay." Zuko moans, unwrapping his arms from around the kitten which meows at them before licking Zuko's chin appreciatively.
Mai coos at the sight. "Aw, Zuko, Your Honor really loves you."
Having fully regained his breath, Zuko sits up, cuddling both Mai and the kitten closer to him. Looking down at the affectionate kitten, Zuko remarks, "He does, doesn't he?" He smiles for the first time in weeks.
Mai's gaze alters from the kitten to Zuko, her expression softening at the sight of Zuko's smile. She swallowed her cry of happiness before leaning her head against Zuko's shoulder, satisfied at having made the Fire Lord himself smile for the first time in a long, long while.
The End!
