"We stayed out all night again?" Mai asked dismally. Her voice was muffled through the tangled fabric, but Zuko heard her well.
Opening a single eye, he shifted his gaze to the horizon behind them. Sure enough, the sky had the coloring of sunrise. Black fading into dark purple fading into orange.
He groaned and closed his eyes again.
He pulled the picnic blanket around both of them tightly, trying to warm their naked skin from the morning chill in the air.
"Guess so," he whispered.
Beside him, he could feel Mai shifting, her warm skin brushing up against his as she looked around hastily for her clothes. Only to find that she was laying on top of them. With a sigh, she dug them out and brushed off the rocky dust that had collected on them.
"Don't know how I'm gonna explain this," she said to herself.
"Who do you need to explain anything to?" Zuko asked her again. His voice was husky and his words were slurring together.
Mai pulled the fabric to her chest and lay back down again. How she had found the comfort to sleep on such a hard surface was beyond her. But, she supposed, she was tired after last night's activities.
"Well…no one…but still," she said.
Zuko wrapped his arm around her, pulling her back to him. He smiled, enjoying the moment with her. Beside him, Mai smiled back, though neither saw it.
"We could stay past morning," Mai suggested. Her tone was light, as though she were on the verge of sleep once more. But when Zuko looked at her, her eyes were sharp as ever.
"Stay past morning and just come back the next day together. Much less obvious that way."
She paused.
"It's not like anyone's going to miss us that much. Besides, this place is boring anyway." She closed her eyes again, listening to Zuko's steady breathing. Not caring what his response was.
"Okay." The word was slurred.
"Glad you made the right choice," Mai returned eventually. She rolled over to him, wrapping her arms around his bare chest. She pressed her naked breasts up against his warm body, and kissed him lightly.
"It'll be much more fun that way."
Zuko smiled, actually smiled. Despite all that had been on his mind lately, despite the small pain in his arms from sleeping on the rocks, he was happy.
He grabbed her face just as she was pulling away, and kissed her deeply. Not caring about the quickly passing time.
The sun rose ever higher, painting the entire landscape in fiery shades of orange and gold. The very air seemed alive with the color. Upon opening their eyes, they were met with a blinding metallic vision, making them both groan.
"I've always hated the mornings," Mai said.
She gave a gloomy sigh before a wry smile crept across her face, and she crawled back under the blanket with Zuko.