It was a routine for them
Dislcaimer: Avatar: The last airbender is not mine…
It was a routine for them.
Everyday after class at the Royal Fire Academy for Girls, Fire Princess Azula, Lady Ty lee and Lady Mai would go to the palace. All three girls would be found in the gardens doing various things. An hour later, Azula would go of for firebending lessons, leaving Mai and Ty Lee to their own devices, which usually constitutes of Mai reading a scroll under a shade of a tree with Ty Lee near by doing a handstand and simultaneously trying to annoy & tease Mai.
Fire Prince Zuko, who was tutored within the palace as befits the future Firelord would then finish said lessons an hour later. Sitting on a ledge of a fountain in the courtyard, he would wait.
Mai, under the pretence of being annoyed with Ty Lee would storm away from the girl claiming the need to be "away".
She would enter the courtyard – their courtyard, unbeknownst to her Ty Lee would always follow and watch them silently; after all, she was their number 1 fan.
When most firebenders- including his father, considered using weapons beneath them, Zuko had a passion for knives and swords; a passion he shared with his late cousin Lu Ten.
Zuko would look up at the girl and smile his honest smile. Mai would give him the smallest of smiles and a nod in greeting. Then, they would proceed to spar, either with their knives and swords or hand-to-hand combat. They were evenly match and would often result in a stalemate.
They would smile and bow to each other. Then leave the courtyard on different doors. In her hidden perch, Ty Lee with shake her head, thinking that their "relationship" was as unorthodox as they came, but both were perfect for each other.
But today, everything was different.
As the three girls came from the Royal Fire Academy, Azula on her palanquin, Mai and Ty Lee walking beside it, they saw a girl of about 20 years, talking with the guards at the gate. She was obviously a peasant and not one of the nobility.
"I need to speak with fire prince ZuKo! Please, I just need to talk to him a bit"
"For the last time, peasant, NO!" yelled the guards at the gate. "You are blocking the way for the fire princess"
Ty Lee and Mai were looking at each other confusedly. Zuko would never have any opportunity to have known the girl. He barely ventured pass the walls of the palace, he had only been pass it to go to Ember island for a vacation but other than that, nothing. He hadn't even been to Mai's or Ty Lee's for their birthday parties or whatnot.
Azula ordered for the palanquin to stop and sneered at the girl. "What could you possibly want with my idiot of a brother? I was not aware that he associates with peasants". Azula raises an eyebrow and looks at her appraisingly "hmm, I think I must inform father"
"Could I just please talk to your brother" the girl pleaded, "it's important, he doesn't know me but I have to talk to him"
"Tell me then, I'll tell him for you"
"I Ca-can't, I have to talk to him"
Azula's eyes flashes with anger, "YOU WOULD TELL SOMETHING OF 'IMPORTANCE' TO THAT IDIOT?! OVER ME, THE PRODIGY OF THE FIRENATION!! How dare you" With that she sent a ball of flame at the woman's arm. "Carry on!"
Azula was still fuming an hour later.
All three girls were at Azula's sitting room instead of the gardens. Azula was too angry to even talk, which meant that the room was in complete silence. You just didn't want to annoy Azula when she was in one of her moods.
Azula stood up abruptly and went to her firebending lessons.
A huge sigh came from Ty Lee, "that was tiring wasn't it?!".
"Only you would think keeping silent tiresome, the silence was nice while it lasted" Mai said, relaxing more into her seat and gazing pointedly at Ty Lee.
"Please, you're life is silent and dreary as it is, and I'm the only one to fill it otherwise" Ty Lee replied in her usual bubbly voice, "Shouldn't we tell Zuko, someone's looking for him?"
Mai raised an eyebrow, and in her husky monotonous voice replied "you are probably the only one I know who could jump from one topic to a different one like that, besides, he probably doesn't even know the girl, Ty".
"Well, it's just that, what could she possibly want with Zuko?" Ty Lee's bubbly voice sounded so confused. "I just want to know, Come on!", and without further ado, Ty Lee unceremoniously grabbed Mai's arm and lead her to the library where Zuko and other crown princes before him studied.
A huge noise startled him from his reading. Looking up, he saw Ty Lee dragging Mai behind her, oblivious about the glares she was receiving from Zuko's tutors.
Zuko stood up from his table and bowed to the girls.
"Some girl was looking for you at the gates an hour ago" said Ty Lee as she approached Zuko. "We didn't know who she was, she said it was important for her to speak to you".
Zuko looked uncertainly at Ty Lee before transferring his gaze at Mai questioningly. Mai nodded. "Azula hit her with a fireball"
Zuko regarded his tutors abruptly, "Please excuse me, shall we continue this tomorrow?"
"With all due respect Prince Zuko, we have to finish this lesson" replied one of his older tutors. Zuko looked at the man, with an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face "I don't recall asking for permission. We will resume tomorrow. We could start an hour earlier or extend an hour later, if it pleases you". With that Zuko bowed to his tutors and left the library. Of course, the minute he stepped out of it, he broke out into a run.
Mai and Ty Lee exchanged amused glances at each other. It always amazed them to see Zuko in what they called "Fire Prince" mode. And they only ever saw it in Court. Gone, was the dorky, sensitive and naïve Zuko they knew, to be replaced by a young man who knew his place and duty in the world and knowing that he can rise to the occasion. He may not be the firebending prodigy his sister was, but he had the makings of a great leader. His tutors and the fire sages believe it of him, if not his father, who believed that being a tyrant was equivalent to being a leader.
Each of his tutors smiled and shook their heads. They were all fond of their prince. He had the backbone and the arrogance of one who was born to royalty, but he had always been fair. His heart was always in the right place, even though occasionally his mind was as confused as others his age and his mouth often yielded unmeasured words.
Mai and Ty Lee exited the library and followed Zuko, who was undoubtedly heading towards the gate.
There, just within the gates of the palace, they saw Zuko, prince of the firenation, wrapped in the arms of the peasant. Moments later, she let go, turned her back and left.
Zuko, with eyes that bespoke his sadness and confusion, watched her leave. He seemed frozen on the spot for a minute before looking up directly at Mai and Ty Lee who were looking at him curiously. He shifted his gaze from between both girls before fixing his gaze at Mai and walking by them silently.
Mai found herself entering the courtyard, and instead of the smile she was prepared for, Zuko merely glanced up at her from his seat and returned his attention to the knife he was twirling in his palm.
Mai looked at his profile questioningly and sat on the seat beside him, figuring that if he was ready to talk to her, he would.
After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Zuko decided to break it.
"A year ago, I was fourth in line to the throne, now I'm the crown prince", Zuko said, still playing with the knife and not really seeing the far wall in front of him, "A lot can change in a year. Lu Ten died exactly a year ago today, Mom vanished and Dad became Firelord a couple days later. Uncle has yet to return home… No one remembers"
Mai glanced at him questioningly. She knew him enough to know that he didn't expect her to say or do anything but she was wondering where this was heading to, but she thought that whatever his point was, he'd get through it. Zuko on the other hand, was oblivious to this.
"This was Lu Ten's knife, his favourite one", he chuckled and smiled sideways at her "you know, when you have a collection of knives, you have a favourite?"
Mai shook her head.
"No?", Zuko shifted a bit to remove another knife and turned in his seat to face her fully, "this one is my favourite. Uncle gave it to me, he got it from Ba Sing Se, Never give up without a Fight", he placed the knife back and held out Lu Ten's knife and showed it to Mai "This was Lu Ten's favourite, it was one of the few things he had of his mother. She died of childbirth and Uncle Iroh said she was a skilled fighter, and knives and swords were her expertise… I guess that's why he loved it so much"
Zuko shifted back to his original position, "I saw him try to fight a girl off of him, it was funny", with a look at Mai "of course, he didn't think so. He told me that the ladies of the court were unbearable. They only wanted to be close to the prince not him really. They all had aspirations to be firelady"
"hmm… I bet my mom would have gone for him if she was younger" Her bored tone carried to him, she too was looking at the far wall.
"I asked him if it that was a bad thing", Zuko shook his head at the memory, "he actually told me he wanted a love match, just like his parents and my parents, he wanted someone to see him, just Lu Ten, not just the Fire Prince"
"Understandable", Mai raised an eyebrow at the Fire prince's profile, "wouldn't you want someone to see you as Zuko, and not just see the crown that she would one day wear?"
Zuko as if not hearing what she said continued, "I asked him what love was, how it felt like", he smiled slightly, "and he told me in the way he knew I'd understand – he took his knife and presented me with the handle. He told me love was like that. He said and I quote, Love is like this Zuko, you hand her a knife, unprotected and vulnerable, and you trust her not to kill you with it"
Both shared a glance. Zuko grinned and Mai gave one of her slight smile, both knowing that they understood that explanation more than any other.
"He was crazy, after gauging that I actually understood it, he claimed he was going to tell a girl he loved her that way – hand her his knife. 'said it was easier than saying the actual words", Zuko looked down at the knife again, and continued fiddling with it, "I was forever the pessimist, I told him the girl would never understand it"
"you would have been right, I can't imagine my mom, Ty Lee or other ladies at the court to understand that", Mai sighed, "most ladies expect flowers, words and whatnot"
Zuko grinned and turned to face her again, "well you see, he got around that", Mai merely raised an eyebrow, "he said that before he'd hand her the knife, he'd narrate the night he had a talk with his cousin, that by handing her the knife he was telling her he loved her and asking her if she'd be his firelady one day, if she accepts it, and hopefully, not kill him, then she was saying she loved him back and that she would be his firelady"
Zuko smiled sadly and shifted in his seat again to face the wall of the courtyard, "I can't believe it actually worked"
Mai sat up straight in her seat and glanced at him, "that firenation peasant?.."
"Yeah… She's a firebender and they met in the army 6 months before he died", Zuko sighed, "She's finally deciding to try to move on with her life"
Both were silent again and were left to their own thoughts. Minutes came and went, until Zuko decided to break the silence again.
Zuko shifted in his seat to face Mai again, and with a long sigh he held out the knife to Mai, presenting her with the handle, and his gaze questioning "Mai?"
For a few moments, all Mai could do was stare at the knife he was holding out, before transferring her gaze to his eyes, vulnerable, unprotected and honest, burning into her own.
She breaks the gaze and accepts the handle.
She takes the knife and holds it reverently into her own palms before looking back into his eyes. She gives him one of her slight smiles, and he grin right back at her.
Standing up from their seat, they face each other and bow deeply before leaving their courtyard this time, using the same door.
From her hidden perch, Ty Lee jumps down to the ground and shakes her head, still confused. Were they engaged?! Their relationship was as unorthodox as they came, but both were perfect for each other.