Old School

"Smile, Grandpa!"

The flash of the camera almost blinded Fire Lord Zuko and he bit down on his tongue, quelling the urge to shout at his oldest grandchild. He certainly had not smiled.

"Aww, you look all grumpy; that won't make a very good portrait." Ten year old Toshi quelled his own urge, to pout.

"I have portrait painters for that," Zuko reminded the boy. "That's the traditional method and the one I prefer."

"But Grandpa, photographs are so cool. Why do you hate everything new?"

"Hate is a powerful word, Toshi," Fire Lady Mai gently scolded the boy as she glided into the sitting room. "Your grandfather resists all these new inventions. And he's not the only one." She snuck Zuko a wry grin. "You have studies to complete, Toshi, and you promised your sister that you would play with her. Leave your grandfather alone now. He's had enough."

"Fine; but Minako is boring and I hate studying."

Mai put strong hands on the boy's shoulders and guided him toward the doorway. "Take it up with your parents."

Toshi grumbled and moaned but did as he was told. Soon he was singing to himself as he ran down the corridor to his own room. Once inside he plopped down on his bed and resumed reading his book of Fire Nation history. But the boy's concentration quickly failed him. Toshi preferred to think of the present and the future, not the past.

"He's a good boy," Zuko declared. "And I love him completely, would do anything for him, but damn, his obsession with all these new inventions drives me crazy."

Mai smirked as she approached her husband of almost forty four years. She leaned her head on his shoulder and in turn he rested his head on hers. "These are exciting times, especially for the young. There's so much change, Zuko. And Toshi doesn't have the 'magic' of bending like his sister and his cousin."

"I know, I know; sometimes I just long for simpler times." He thought hard for a few minutes. "But I suppose when I was ten, nothing much seemed very simple."

His tenth year had been a difficult one for Zuko. That was the year his mother vanished. That was one of the years in which he suffered the most. Eventually, he and Ursa were reunited, but the time without her was time he could never get back.

"We can't fight change; we can only resist its charms." Mai laughed then, a throaty, deep sound that also made Zuko think of younger days.

He lifted his head and turned to face Mai, placing a gentle kiss on her cheek. "As long as you're with me, I can handle anything."

Mai chuckled again and kissed Zuko back, full on the lips. Their passion for each other had not waned over the years. If anything, like their love, it had grown stronger. It might take on different forms, but it was yet there within each of them, vital and clamoring, needing to be fed frequently.

Both Fire Lord and Fire Lady still cut fine figures. Mai was as slender as she'd been at fifteen, graceful and agile, though a bit slower. She still wore a few blades and practiced throwing every day. It was a part of her as much as bending was a part of Zuko. Grey streaked her ebony hair, her best known feature, and that bothered the sixty two year old more than the lines on the pale skin of her beautiful face. Certain things one could not change, however, and aging was one of them. Mai simply insisted on doing it with aplomb. And she was happy to be around. There was much life yet to live, grandchildren to watch grow up, children she loved fiercely, and a husband who was for her, life itself.

Zuko was imposing in his royal robes, straight and strong, a powerful bender, a master. The early years of his reign had been trying ones, and they took their toll on the young leader, but he had grown into his role and become a fair, honourable, but tough Fire Lord. He wore his hair in a top knot, though the dark brown had almost all vanished. His gold eyes were just as intense, and though, compared to his younger days, he kept his emotions in check, his handsome face still revealed more than he wanted it too. That was all right in front of Mai, however. She knew him inside and out, backwards and forwards anyway. They had no secrets from each other. With his wife, he was completely free. For that he was eternally grateful.

Slipping her hand in his, Mai pulled her husband toward the door. "How about a walk in the gardens? It's lovely out."

He nodded and they strolled at a leisurely pace through the palace and out into the grounds. The gardens were a sanctuary of sorts for the couple. Besides the expected growth, nothing much had changed there. Zuko and Mai had seen to that.

"This is one place that progress leaves alone," the Fire Lord noted appreciatively as he sniffed the fragrant air.

They made their way to a bench by the pond and watched as the turtleducks, descendents of the ones Zuko had loved as a child, swam about, quacking happily and looking expectantly at the pair, no doubt anticipating some bread.

"We should have stopped in the kitchen." Mai sighed and snuggled up against her husband.

The creatures climbed out of the pond and noisily circled about the couple, still hopeful that they came bearing gifts.

"Sorry," Zuko stated contritely. "We'll send the children out later. They'll feed you until you burst."

Seeming to understand, they waddled back into the water where they were far more graceful.

"Relaxed now?" Mai inquired. There was the barest hint of mirth in her voice.

"I'm relaxed," he replied. "I just had an idea too."

"Oh?"

"Well, Toshi likes to take those damned pictures and I'm tired of him using me as a subject."

"I've noticed." Mai gave her husband a friendly poke.

"Well, if he can lug the contraption around, I should commission him to take pictures of the palace, you know, different rooms, the gardens here, the courtyards and so on. It would be a record of sorts, I suppose, and a good project for the boy. What do you think?"

Mai smiled softly and took her husband's hand in hers once again. "I think that will make Toshi very happy."

"Yeah, I do too."

A/N: I had the idea of older Mai and Zuko being resistant to all the changes in the world, clinging to some of the traditional ways of doing things, while their grandchildren embraced them with the enthusiasm of youth. Their children will likely fall somewhere in the middle. I'm using the children from 'Two No More' and "Expansion' and came up with the grandchildren for this story. This short chapter is sort of a whet your appetite bit. We'll see where it goes from here ( I see lots of fluff, and then more fluff and some crotchety Zuko)

Should I continue, you'll meet older Ryu and Miyako and Kaminari and the remainder of the grandchildren. I realize that Zuko and Mai (and dammit, he DID marry Mai) probably did not have twins, but we still don't know that for sure, so my kids are still valid, so to speak.

This story takes place 24 years before 'Korra' so we're looking at around 1900 our time. So, I'm researching the 'tech' of the time...automobiles, electricity, telephones, motion pictures, typewriters etc.

Alabaster