Closer

Some Azula/Zuko.

PG-13ish. Also includes some insults of Mai-I personally think she is selfish/emotionless enough to do what she does in this story. You have been warned, so no pointless flaming! Thank you kindly.

Oh, and I apologize if this isn't your cup of tea...

I hope you like this! Please read and review! It will make me so happy. :)

It was a dreary early morning, and Zuko was staring at the window with such venom and dislike that he probably could have melted it with some Firebending if he had really put his mind to it. Of course, he didn't put his mind to it because he was just Zuko—he always had his mind on other things, other stupid, untalented things.

Azula watched him for a moment, monitoring the way he stood so stiffly and listening to the huffy, indignant pattern of his breathing. It was obvious that this was not the normal moodiness he was known for. This was something different. After considering it briefly, Azula strolled over to him, her hands clasped behind her back, and she stood right beside him, her shoulder knocking into his lightly enough to have been an accident if she had wanted it to be.

Zuko immediately turned his hateful gaze toward her.

"What do you want?" he asked darkly.

"Someone's in a bad mood," Azula observed insolently, knowingly. She inclined her head. "Is Mai not putting out anymore?"

It was almost as though she had lit a fuse, his reaction was so immediate. "Don't talk to me about her!" he shouted, crossing his arms tightly over his chest, everything about him tensing up like a coiling spring.

Vaguely interested, Azula turned her gaze out the window to mirror him, as though his reaction was expected. It was, kind of. He was always over-reacting to everything. She wondered what Mai had done to make him so angry with her, and so she observed Zuko carefully through her peripheral vision before lying easily, "She told me what happened. I wanted to see how you were doing."

Zuko clenched his jaw, looking down at the carpet in his agitation. Why should he question her? Mai and Azula were friends. "We're through," he muttered. "I don't want to see her or talk to her or anything."

"Don't you think you're being a little dramatic?" she asked, nonchalantly examining her cuticles as though the matter was of no importance.

"Yeah?" Zuko retorted, turning to glare again at her. "Well, what would you do if you caught your girlfriend kissing some random nobleman?"

Azula smirked, almost exasperated. It just was too easy to pry from him. It was hardly even fun anymore, since he was so predictable. He was practically an open book, written in all capital letters and a bolded, blatant font.

Of course, Azula had suspected—well, known—that Mai and Zuko were completely incompatible. Honestly, with Zuko always exploding within his own emotions and Mai just plain not having any… What kind of a match was that? How could they have expected to last?

But why hadn't Mai told her? That was just obnoxious. Azula always had a say in the affairs of those around her. Always. And Mai hadn't even told her she had cheated. Mai would have known that Azula wouldn't have cared! She should have told her. What kind of a friend was that? What kind of friend did not tell Azula everything that she needed to know?

"Well," Azula said slowly, and with a very convincing hesitancy as she casually twirled one of her long strands of hair between two fingers. "If it were me, I'd be thinking about how I would get back at her."

"Get back at her?" Zuko repeated, and he genuinely sounded like he hadn't yet considered it. Azula rolled her eyes at him. While he was so busy being all sensitive, he was missing out on the more important, pertinent things in life. Like putting people in their places.

"Of course," said Azula. "I thought she cared about you. Do people who care about each other screw around behind each other's backs? No. You can't just let her get away with that. Imagine," she gesticulated outward with both hands. "She's been stringing you along for God only knows how long while she messes around with other noblemen. And you're letting her walk all over you. By doing nothing about it, you're allowing her to make a fool of you. Even you're smart enough to know that. Are you going to take that, Zu-zu?"

"Well, what am I supposed to do?" he demanded loudly, setting his jaw into an angry line. "Go beat her up? I already yelled at her, and she had me kicked out of her house."

Azula squashed the urge to directly ridicule him, as it didn't yet feel appropriate. "No, dum-dum," she scoffed. "The punishment should always fit the crime. You need to make out with someone else. Preferably someone she hates. In front of her!"

Zuko scowled. "Whatever. I'm not doing that."

"But you're the prince," she said sardonically, leisurely sliding her hand up his back just to rest on his shoulder nearest to her. "I'm sure they'd all have you."

He blushed faintly. "This conversation is over."

"Are you worried I'm wrong?" She laughed, leaning slightly closer, as though she was sharing some kind of secret with him. "That's true. I'm overestimating your position. Nobody actually wants you; they just want your status."

"Whatever," Zuko snapped, the blush on his face turning less embarrassed and more frustrated.

Azula sneered, backing away for a moment. "I seem to have touched a nerve. No need to get all emotional, Zu-zu; I was just making a simple observation."

"At least I have a girlfriend!" he retorted. "Boys don't even want to be around you!"

"Had a girlfriend," she corrected, not allowing his comment to visibly faze her. Though it certainly was rude and annoying.

Zuko gave a humorless laugh, picking up on her masked irritation. "Did I touch a nerve too?" he mocked.

She set one hand on her hip, giving him a scathing look. "Oh, Zu-zu," she scoffed theatrically. "I just feel bad for you. Oh well. I suppose your stupid little comments are part of the reason Mai decided to cheat on you; I'll have to ask her. It could be that, or your temper… or perhaps your scar." She paused, tapping her chin in an exaggeratedly thoughtful way. "So many qualities to choose from!"

"Leave," he commanded angrily. "I didn't ask you to come in here anyway."

"So, was it Chaz?" Azula added, as though he hadn't spoken. "I bet that's who Mai was with today. It's Tuesday, right? Or perhaps it was Dan-Dan. I think that was one of their names, from what she was saying. I can't quite remember since there were so many of them…"

"Get out!" Zuko actually turned and looked at her, his expression a mask of loathing. She was really getting a job well done today. That one had really hurt; she could tell. It was wonderful.

"Anyway," Azula continued, with the air of one concluding something important. "I do hope they used protection. I've heard babies can be quite—"

Suddenly, she was against the wall, one of Zuko's hands squeezing on each of her shoulders.

"Knock it off!" Zuko exclaimed. He had shoved her against the wall. Azula stared at him, hiding any bit of surprise or anger at his actions in her insolent little smirk.

"What are you going to do?" she challenged, her voice low. "Fight me? We both know I'm better than you."

Zuko knew that. Obviously he knew that. He was breathing furiously; his emotions and weaknesses were just too much. He stared at her, seeming to consider the options, and his eyes glanced away for a split second. Immediately, Azula reached up and snatched his shirt, pushing off from the wall and smashing him into the opposing wall, right beside the window. Zuko reached up to smack her hands away and move, but she was quick and fumbled for them. Azula grasped his wrists tightly, forcing them to the wall, and she pushed her knee up between his legs, keeping him still.

"You'd better be careful, little boy," she said calmly, a carefully controlled danger in her tone, even though he was taller and older than she was. She squeezed his wrists tightly, her palms heating. "The next time you do something like that, you might get hurt." She paused, enjoying the look of pure, mutinous dislike he was sparing her. No matter how old they were, she would always be the boss, the stronger and better one, and that knowledge helped to lessen her aggravation at his surprising her with that shove. He had to get lucky sometime. Azula watched the quick rise and fall of his chest, barely a hand's reach from her, and she realized how close she was to him. She added, in a low, snide voice, "So. Mai and her new boyfriend. Were they this close to each other?"

"Just leave me alone," he said, his face flushing pink again.

"So it was closer, then," she pressed, taking a small step closer. Zuko said nothing, turning his face away, and it didn't look like his blush would be going away anytime soon.

"No?" she taunted, moving closer still, leaving about an inch between their bodies. "What about now?" She paused when he said nothing. "Were they this close?"

"Stop it," Zuko said stiffly, seeming awkward.

Azula smirked. "But Zu-zu," she crooned. "You haven't even answered my question, and you know that's rude. There are these things called manners-don't know if you've heard of them..." Her next step closed the small gap of space in between them, pushing him flat up against the wall. "So, what now, Zu-zu?" she whispered. "Was it closer than this?"

She saw the prominence of his throat bob up and down slightly as he swallowed uneasily, his loathing rage completely replaced with a kind of self-conscious uncertainty. She glanced to his hands, trapped by her contact. They were in tight fists. Azula gave a small laugh. He was trapped between her and the wall. He was completely powerless. She was close enough to his face that she felt his respiration picking up a little, and from the close distance, she could feel the soft, rapid exhalations warm against her mouth and cheek.

"You scared?" Azula taunted.

Defiant, Zuko jerked his head once, glaring at her. "No."

"Hm," she made a quiet sound of disbelief in the back of her throat, turning her gaze to his face. It was kind of a pleasant feeling, the warm air tickling against her skin, and she pressed her lips together to stifle a smile.

He was such a pathetic creature, lamenting the loss of a girlfriend who wasn't worth it, getting all worked up over silly comments—he should know better, but he didn't. He was so pitiful and weak, and she could see it in his eyes, all the vulnerability and emotion. It was just silly. But Azula liked that she could see that there. Those things were a reminder that she was Azula the Great, and he was Zuko... the Average. Zuko the Average, who wore his heart on his sleeve and his emotions in his eyes. Zuko the Average, who had such a temper and so much depth in him. There was something attractive about the fact that she had him, had him stuck in this position under her control when he was so uncontrollable and rebellious.

Azula looked up and down his face, extremely close. Zuko looked back at her, his gaze full of so many different things—stubbornness and betrayal and anxiety being the primary things at the moment. And then there was this strange softness in his eyes, and perhaps that was his new hurt, his wound from the drama of the day; but it was fascinating, really, to see how different it was, how exposed he seemed, and she couldn't look away from him.

"Answer me, Zuko," she breathed, barely audible. "Were they this close?"

Zuko swallowed again, a small pause expanding between them.

"They were closer," he said hoarsely.

"Are you challenging me?" she whispered, nearly intrigued. The electric heat between them put a spell over her and a spell over Zuko. Zuko didn't play games, he didn't challenge the same way she did. What was he doing? Was this an effect of their proximity?

Azula inclined her head slightly as she leaned just barely closer to him. Her lips were less than a fraction away from his, and she felt the tiniest of smiles cross her face. She could feel touches of a strange, almost electric energy where she was so near. Perhaps this was a new aspect of lightning bending that she had never realized. Perhaps it was an unusual, unfamiliar anticipation. There was something exciting and new and different about the way it felt.

He didn't say anything, but the right side of his mouth faintly quirked up into a half-smile. Challenging. Azula squeezed his wrists, pressing them further to the wall, but he wasn't trying to move away.

"Do it," she commanded quietly. "I dare you."

Azula saw his Adam's apple bob up and down again, a testament to his unease. She saw him draw his bottom lip beneath his upper teeth and then release it again. His eyes flickered away and back, and he hesitated.

"You," Azula said emphatically, "are a coward."

A momentary, tense silence crept between them.

Azula suddenly forced her lips to his, just as Zuko took the challenge and pushed forth with his own mouth, the collision rough and hard and foreign. There was no space between them, as Azula had already crushed her body against his. They kissed for a long moment, and then Zuko turned his head from her, either needing to breathe or realizing his actions. She listened to him pant and carefully controlled her own breathing so he would not know how winded she felt in only the response to such a small, trivial, heated action.

Azula glanced at his hands, still captive to hers against the wall. His fists had completely loosened, his hands loosely dangling above her grasp. And he was very pink in the face—she thought she could feel the heat of his blush radiating from him, since they were still quite near each other.

She smirked at him. "You look like a ripe tomato plant," she remarked, as though nothing at all had happened.

If possible, he blushed darker.

"Let me go," he insisted, wriggling his arms.

"Why should I do that?" Azula asked innocently. "You pushed me. That wasn't very polite."

Zuko scowled. "Now."

She sneered at him, holding firmly to his wrists disobediently for several minutes before letting them go of her own accord. "Though now I think I understand why Mai cheated on you," she said lightly, as though mentioning the weather, as though this was an ongoing conversation. "If that's the best you can do."

"That's not the best I can do!" Zuko said hotly. "I'm not trying my best on you."

He scoffed, looking exceptionally embarrassed as he used his newly free hands to push away from her. Azula compliantly backed away, giving him a minimal space that he could slip free from between her and the wall.

"Of course it's not," Azula said agreeably, smoothing out the non-existent wrinkles in her clothes.

Zuko glowered at her, his hands balling into fists again as he turned away and stormed toward the door. She watched him leave with a slightly amused expression on her face and listened to the reverberations as the door slammed loudly behind him. He was pathetic. Weak. Hopeless. He was probably going to go find Mai right now and try to work it out. He had too little self-esteem to not do that. Such a shame. Such a pity.

But even though he was the most untalented of the useless, the worst of the weak… she could feel his pressure and heat still on her lips.

She had to admit that the sensation wasn't entirely unpleasant.

PLEASE REVIEW! It will make my next few weeks of grad work much more bearable. :) Also, I'll love you forever.