Title: Eye of the Beholder
Genre: Slight romance/angst
Characters: Zuko, Mai
Spoilers: None
A/N: I have a couple of stories from the ATLA series, that I haven't exactly completed. I want to complete them, but I've been feeling very ...blocked when I try to finish them. If anyone wants to suggest possible plot bunny let me know. I may want to drabble it out for ya. ;)
Ok. that's it. Enjoy and as always, Please review! I loves comments! THANK YOU!
EDIT: Apparently, this story has been done already, which is probably written better by Gohan?Videl (if anyone could send me a link to that story, that'd be great). I was not aware that someone had already wrote this idea already. I just write in my notebooks and then post/upload to my LJ or (more recently) here. (At least with Avatar stuff. I seem to be addicted to reading Naruto fanfics as of late). I am sorry if I offended anyone. I honestly didn't know.
And to Gohan?Videl, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scam your idea.
She stood there, a bit gobsmacked, in the semi-darkness.
His hand reached out to her in the candlelight.
He smiled as he beckoned her over. The table was set for a private dinner for two. It was very romantic. She approached him slowly a bit apprehensive, but lost all hesitation when his fingertips touched hers. She felt her heart melt and she slid towards him. She sighed in his arms. He hugged her back gentle. Then he led her to their quiet dinner where they reminicised about the good times back when things weren't like the way they were now. They had talked, joked, drank and laughed and shared private smiles. All too soon, their meal was over.
He asked her to take a walk with him. She agreed happily and when they ended up in his bed, it felt like the most natural thing in the world.
The animalistic quality their coitus had seemed to take recently was not there when he gently laid her on the bed. This time...This time, he took his time. This time, it meant more to him then just duty or obligation. It was like he was trying to say something to her without words.
She felt him manipulate her willing body with his expert hands and tongue. Didn't he realize that he barely needed to touch her and she was already moaning and writhing underneath him. He was paying homage to her body, making sure she was thoroughly satisifed before he plunged himself into her folds. His eyes squeezed shut as he pumped into her.
iloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyouiloveyou
She hummbed in her head as she rode the delicious friction between them.
She just needed him. Only him. And when she felt his rhythm become erractic and he couldn't hold back anymore, she felt like she was kissing the sky as well. She clung onto him for dear life.
Afterwards, in the tangle of limbs and bedsheets she sighed contentedly and looked over at him. She was about to tell him what she was thinking the entire time they were making love. But something made her pause.
Something is wrong. Something is really really wrong.
He looked back at her. There was something in his eyes.
What was that look? It kinda looks like... regret?
OH. MY. GOD. She thought horrified. Ohmigod. He never kissed me. Not once. How did I not notice? Her heart stopped. It all clicked. The private dinner, the remincisng, the refusal of intimacy, the sex. Every single touch was an apology for breaking her heart. He was saying goodbye.
He reached out to her. She back away from his touch, pulling the covers around her tightly. Her eyes wide and enraged. She couldn't believe that she was here. That she could let things go so horribly, horribly wrong.
"Mai..."
She scrambled out of bed. Tears blurring her vision. She need to get out of there. She needed to get the FUCK away from him. She began a frantic search for clothes.
"Don't Zuko. Just Don't." She was so close but she refused to let him see her cry. She would not allow it. She was so angry.
"I didn't mean... I never wanted... I'm sorry." He sat there staring at her.
"Don't tell me you're sorry. You don't mean it." She shook her head bitterly. She should have known. She was getting angrier the longer she stayed there.
"...." He had got up to help her look for her things. He moved towards her.
"Don't you dare touch me." She said seething. Heartbreak bubbling just below the surface. She had to get out of there. She needed to leave. She finally found her other shoe.
He paused and stood stock still, waiting for her to respond. "I'm sorry Mai."
"DON'T TELL ME YOU'RE SORRY JUST TO ABSOLVE YOUR OWN GUILT! YOU DON'T GET THAT FROM ME! YOU DON'T DESERVE IT!!" Mai nearly screamed as she hurriedly finished dressing.
"I don't deserve it." He agreed quietly. "But I don't think I can do this anymore. We can't go on like this. You deserve better."
"Oh, I deserve better, do I? You just wanna dump me so you'll have a clean conscious when you go after that whoring bitch Ka..."
He grabbed her wrist painfully and shook it violently. "Don't you dare say anything about her." He growled, his eyes flashing menacingly. He was protecting her even now.
She was livid not because he was defending her honour, but more because she felt that twinge in her heart that made her doubt he was ever like this for her. She slapped him hard across the face. She was not going to cry.
Whatever evil he was thinking about Mai was knocked out of his head with that slap. He stepped away from her. Grimacing from the sting on his right cheek. He took a calming breath and started again. "Mai...I..."
"Fuck you, Zuko." Her eyelashes and cheeks were completely dry. She walked away from him. Her back was straight and stiff as she walked out of the room slamming the door behind her.
She ran all the way home. When she fell upon her own bed, she collasped like a heap onto it. Her face was still dry. She turned onto her side. She made her mind go blank. She turned back over to stare at the ceiling. She had been lying there for a long time before she heard her mother calling her. When she got up she realized that her face was damp. The tears she had fought so hard to keep down had finally found their release.