A/N: This story is my first foray into the world of Korra….it's before the time of the upcoming show obviously since Mai and Zuko are the characters involved, but uses some of the info we have re 'The Legend of Korra'...ie the show takes place 70 years after the end of Avatar and Korra is 16..so I did the complicated math. ;-)
Everything Changes, Everything Stays the Same
The world had become a dangerous place, again. Instead of a war, there was a movement. Mai wondered what the difference was; it still amounted to wanting to stamp a group of people out, it still amounted to violence, bloodshed and outright murder. In many ways the powerful surge that was making its way through the entire world, this sudden hatred and disdain for benders was more terrifying than the Fire Nation's March of Civilization had been.
There were clusters of raging anti benders throughout every nation, though the greatest amount seemed to be centered in the Earth Kingdom, with Republic City, hub of modernity, being its nucleus. They wore many faces; young, old, rich, poor, educated, ignorant, bright and not so much. Terrorism, random acts of brutality, was the means they used to get their point across. Why anyone listened to people who foamed at the mouth rather than make a coherent point with sense and logic, Mai could not understand.
She was seventy years old now and her husband, Zuko, still the Fire Lord, was seventy one. But they were hardly old in either mind or spirit and their love was as strong as it had ever been. Still, the thought of standing together and fighting once again, this time to eliminate a senseless hatred and to perhaps stop a second devastating war from happening, tired them both.
Aang's death changed everything.
"I understand why you want to go, but damn it, Zuko, do you have to?" Mai smoothed out a wrinkle in her husband's light weight tunic and pants. The Fire Lord robes of fifty years ago were no longer in style and had been relegated to the position of an antiquity, something to be dragged out only on rare occasions when Zuko wanted a link to the past, some sort of continuity; the weddings of each of their four children saw the robes as did the naming ceremonies of each of their twelve grandchildren and five great grandchildren. "Let Ryu speak. He's been itching to get more involved for years."
Zuko put his hands firmly on Mai's shoulders and looked her directly in the eyes. "I have to go, especially after what they did to Aang. They murdered him, killed him in cold blood. And all he did was talk peace and harmony, all he did was stand up and talk, Mai. I can't stay here at home, where it's still comfortable and safe. It may not be safe here for long. I worry about our grandchildren and great grandchildren. Most of them are firebenders, Mai. What will happen to them? And Ryu, he'll get his turn soon enough. I'll be stepping down within the year and he'll be Fire Lord. Let him relax while he still can."
"Still as honourable as ever, aren't you?" There was affection in Mai's voice and more than a hint of worry. "And still just as stubborn too."
"Hmmph, still as amazing as ever," Zuko answered with a wide smile. He reached a hand out for his diadem and inserted it expertly into his grey topknot. Years of practice had made the motion second nature.
"Katara's a mess, Zuko. It's been almost six months and she's barely functioning. After what she saw, I can hardly blame her. I feel terrible and I wish that I could ease her pain. I don't want that to be me, Zuko."
"I'm going to die one day; even Fire Lords succumb to death." He was smirking now, but Mai didn't find it funny.
"Quietly and peacefully in your sleep I can accept. A violent death I may not be able to. I'm going with you, Zuko."
She wrapped thin arms around his waist and pressed her grey head into his chest. It felt so good. It had felt good for so many years now and the thought of losing that made the Fire Lady's eyes sting with tears.
"I know that I can't stop you either; talk about stubborn." He hugged her back and kissed the top of her head softly.
"No, you can't. Let me throw a few things in a travel case. I'll be quick."
And she was. Over the fifty four years of Zuko's reign, they had gone on countless trips all over the world. Packing was one of the many things that Mai had refined.
Republic City was spectacular, a sight to behold. It had been built at the foot of one of the many mountain ranges that filled the central Earth Kingdom and alongside a massive lake, one of two in that general region. The city was a study in contrasts; the wonders of nature all around it competing with the wonders of modern technology that infused it.
Its architecture was an eclectic mix of all cultures and people who hailed from all corners of the world called the city home. It was heavily populated, noisy and as of the last few years, riddled with criminals and a particular element that wanted nothing more than to take full control of everything. It was also a fun place to be, full of vivacity and creativity. Anything and everything could be found in Republic City.
"I'll never get used to those things." Mai said with faint disgust as a motorcycle veered past their carriage and sped off down the cobblestone streets.
"Neither will I, but little Kyuichi loves them." Zuko smiled as he thought of his five year old great grandson. There was a time in his life, so many years ago now, when he was so very certain that the love of a family was something reserved for other people. Now, he was wealthy beyond anything he had ever envisioned. "We old fogeys are the only ones who use carriages anymore."
"I think that they're very dignified and distinctive," Mai huffed with mock indignation.
"But they're no fun, according to the young people." Zuko looked out the carriage window at the amazing assortment of people who walked and drove on the streets of Republic City. "It's really quite a place, isn't it; something else I never thought that I would see."
Mai couldn't shake the uneasiness she had felt since they had entered the city proper. "Yes, but I don't really like it. I prefer Ba Sing Se or Capitol City. Something here is off now; you can see it in peoples' faces, in their eyes. Something is taking over."
"We'll be home soon, Mai. I promise. Come here." Zuko pulled Mai to him gently and she rested her head on his strong shoulder. "I'll be fine."
Throngs of people were gathered in the square where the speeches would be delivered. Zuko and Mai spotted King Kuei sitting on the stage alongside Katara. A far cry from the naïve young king he had been during his early years, Kuei was now extremely well informed about everything that took place in the Earth Kingdom. He was almost overly zealous, as if in an attempt to make up for all that time he had spent in happy, silly ignorance. Nothing could make it by him any longer.
Katara, even from a distance, seemed broken. Her shoulders were slumped and her head looked down rather than out at the people, mainly grey hair hanging like drapery on each side of her careworn face. Both Mai and Zuko sighed at the sight of their dear friend.
"Oh," Mai exclaimed. She took Zuko's hand in hers and held on tight. He squeezed her fingers in return and together they exited the carriage, a young man dressed in a green uniform pulling the door open for them.
Bodyguards immediately surrounded the royal couple but Mai, dropping Zuko's hand, reached for her knives anyway. Her reflexes were slower but she was still good, better than most. And she had someone precious to protect.
Once up on the stage, they took their seats beside Katara. The Avatar's widow met their eyes briefly and offered a weak smile. "Hello, Mai. Hello, Zuko. I'm glad that you came. Aang would be so pleased and grateful."
"We miss him too," Zuko said softly. "And I'm still angry. I can only imagine how you must feel."
"Sort of empty," Katara offered with that same weak smile. "How are you guys?"
"We're all right," Mai replied. She put a hand briefly on her friend's shoulder and then stared out at the crowd which was growing larger by the minute.
Many people held up signs decrying the supposed dominance of benders and the lauding of their 'special' abilities. Others chanted words of peace and tolerance. There were other signs memorializing Avatar Aang. It was an odd mix, but so far, everyone was behaving. Zuko thought back to that day, the day he received word of Aang's death at the hand of a militant member of the anti bender movement. He had been shattered by the news, shattered by the very idea that someone would murder Aang; he was a man who had never willingly harmed anyone, a man who stood for peace, a man who loved, never hated. Zuko simply could not understand.
When it was her husband's turn to speak, Mai stood up with him and remained by his side. Her pale gold eyes roamed over people's faces, watching expressions change as Zuko's words affected them. She stood stiffly, her body a bundle of high strung nerves as she waited for an attack to come. It never did, not in the square at least, and the relief she felt when it was all over was palpable and thick.
After saying their goodbyes to Katara and to Appa, Mai and Zuko stepped back up into the carriage that would take them to their hotel.
"I wish we could just leave now," Mai complained.
"Early tomorrow morning," Zuko reminded her. "And I can't wait to get out of here, either."
Inside the hotel's opulent lobby, the couple waited impatiently to be shown to their rooms. When the bomb exploded, shattering glass, sending bricks flying like missiles and warping metal into unrecognizable, twisted hunks, Zuko shoved Mai down onto the floor hard. He covered her slight frame with his and said a prayer to Agni, something he rarely managed.
They survived, but the devastation that Mai and Zuko saw all around them confirmed their thoughts of earlier; the world was indeed a dangerous place…again.
"I want to go, NOW." Mai's voice was tremulous and Zuko could hear the tears. "I want to go home where it's safe."
Zuko said nothing. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her damp cheeks.