"If Azula finds us…" He lets that thought trail off. Mai's nails glisten on the edge of his throat; sharp points the color of blood clashing against his white skin. Her voice is whispery, paper-thin.
"Azula will find us sooner or later. You can't live in fear of her," she tells him gently. Her nails glance up to finger his ruined cheek. Something about her eyes…is that glisten tears? Or is it hatred? Fear? It can't be fear. Mai doesn't fear Azula, he thinks. He leans in closer to her and she can't help but feel laughter bubble up in her chest. Such a beautiful feeling, it is—the feeling of knowing the rules but smashing them to bits anyway. The brush of his eyelash grazes her face and she also can't help but feel like they would be caught. It would be fitting. Moments like this are always ruined, aren't they?
She flips her thoughts to Zuko and her eyes trace the outline of his hair, falling in craggy points across one golden eye, one ruined one. He tastes of far away. Oranges. Jasmine. The kiss was sort of like sweet poison, the kind that draws you in and promises death in the end but you drink anyway. Of course Mai knew that Azula would come. She just didn't suspect…well…now.
There was a crack. So tiny, so small that she almost didn't hear it. But somebody stepped on a twig—Azula, most likely. As much as she regrets it, she presses her blood-drop nails into the crevice of Zuko's throat and pushes him gently away from her. She is crying but she doesn't notice—Zuko does. Why is she…?
"Your sister is coming," she whispers in a voice like gauze. "Here—take this and slit my chest a little bit and knock me out." Her wrist flicks and out slides a tiny, perfectly shaped diamond of a dagger, so flat that it nearly disappears when Zuko turns it on its edge.
"Don't worry about hurting me. We'll both be hurt more if Azula finds out," she chokes, and parts the edges of her robe to reveal the top of her chest. Zuko is hesitant at first, but a glance up at her eyes again—she is serious. He scratches the surface of her skin, just enough to draw a bead of blood.
"Zuko, you'll have to do more than that—owh, don't actually kill me!" She whispers it with a smile, though, and peeks down. The gash looks convincing enough, she guesses. Her eyes flicker up to meet Zuko's. She wants to say so much. She wants to tell him that she loves him; she wants to tell him that she is never happy unless he's there with her… Another crack! rings through the forest, though, and she just gives him one last peck on the lips. "Now knock me out, Zuko, and run." She gulps down another bout of tears and keeps looking into those eyes, the beautiful one and the ruined one—no. Both are beautiful. She tries to keep his face etched in her mind so she'll remember it when she wakes up. "Knock me out, Zuko, and don't come back for me, or she'll kill you too."