Title: dreamstuff
Pairing: Maiko.
Rating: Kplus.
Summary: Mai has a dream. And sometimes, chasing after what you want is worth the effort.
A/N: My very first Maiko! Congradulate me :D This is a bit drabble-ish and may be hard to understand, as well as an unlikely view point on Mai parents and probably Mai herself as well. In other words, it pretty much wrote itself XD
.dreamstuff.
"I never meant to start chase after you like this."
"And yet here we are."
"I didn't intend to—"
"Hey, be quiet. I want to rememember this."
Mai has a dream.
Mai never spoke a word until she was seven years old.
(—i don't have anything to talk about)
Her parents were glad.
They never had to teach her to shut up and look pretty.
(i don't wanna shut up
i wanna have something to say)
Mai never played with dolls, or any other frivolous children's toy.
(—i don't pretend they love me)
Her parents were glad.
They didn't have anyone to pick up after.
(i don't wanna make a mess
i wanna make a friend)
Mai never 'bended a day in her life.
(i don't wanna get burned)
Her parents were disappointed.
They didn't have anyone to carry on the Fire Nation legacy.
(i don't wanna carry a legacy
i wanna carry him)
Mai had a dream.
(sharp swords and smoldering scars and golden eyes and blue masks and burning apples on her head—)
Her parents didn't know.
They didn't want to.
They would've stopped it before she'd gotten hurt like she did.
(i don't wanna be okay
i just want him back)
Mai never spoke a word, until she was seven years old.
"Zuko," she said, tripping over the syllables, and her mother slapped her with a trembling hand.
"Don't chase after something that can't be caught," she mumbled, averting her eyes, and walked away.
Mai never played with dolls, or any other frivolous children's toy.
Her parents walked in to find her sitting on her bed, aiming an impressive collection of sharp, sleek blades at the far wall.
They stared at her. "And when did you decide to stop playing with the wonderful things we've given you, young lady?" her father spoke at last, referring to the dress kimonos and hair brushes, stacked neatly, as always, on her rows of shelves.
"I don't play with useless things like clothes and hair anymore, Father," Mai said coldly, for the first time sounding as uninterested and dark as they had ever heard her. "I play with knives."
Mai never 'bended a day in her life.
"I won't," she refused, tone screaming boredom even as her heart pounded.
Her parents tried in vain. "Mai, darling, please—this may be your last chance to practice with a true firebender, to try and coax the gift out of you!"
"No." Shocked at her blatant disrespect, the two nobles that Mai called Mother and Father took a step backwards.
"Child," Mother threatened, "You will go and listen to your father, or I will—"
"No," Mai repeated, "I won't." She turned away to hide the anguish in her eyes.
"Haven't you heard, Mother?" she swallowed, and remembered a battle of terrible misunderstandings and banished princes. "Play with fire, and you'll get burned."
Mai has a dream.
"You just couldn't make him happy enough, Mai," Azula taunted cruelly, as she hugged her knees to her chest and clutched her pillow through pain clouded eyes. "I suppose it's not your fault, though. Nothing you do ever turns out right."
Mai turned away, and bit her lip. "Go away, Azula," she muttered, struggling to be strong.
She took the bait. "Well, if you want to be left alone, basking in your failure and heartbreak, then—"
"I said go away!" Mai shouted, slipping a knife out of her sleeve and throwing it in a perfect miss.
Azula's smile disappeared. "Watch where you throw those things," she replied, teasing her with what was unsaid between them: 'You are at me disposal. I could tear you apart in two seconds flat.' "Someone could get hurt."
"No," Mai whispered, tears prickling the back of her eyes for the first time in a while. "Someone already has."
It's just going to be a little while before she finally—
(—catches it.)
Maybe she's chasing after something that can't be caught, after all, who knows?
Right now, she can't really bring herself to care.
She stands in front of him, her Dream, her Zuko, as bare and naked as she's ever been. No reason—or willpower—to start all over. No time to hide the hurt and betrayal written across her face. No knives to throw.
No dreams to chase.
Except, Mai realizes, him.
"You've—" she begins.
"Done the right thing," Zuko interrupts, tone pained yet firm. "I joined the Avatar because I'd finally realized what that meant." His voice becomes soft, as his words become hard. "Get out of my way, or I'll have to make you."
"No, Zuko," she corrects, meeting his surprised gaze. "That's not what I was about to say."
They both hold their breaths.
Mai drops her knives, drops her pretenses and false facades, and she steps towards Zuko until their lips nearly brush, but not quite.
Standing their, breathing in his scent, she is made whole for the first time in weeks.
"You," Mai whispers, reaching up to give him a soft, chaste kiss, "have been caught."
Mai has a dream.
The only thing left to do is start living it.