Flowers to Offer

Asphodel
Litt
February 26, 07

Asphodel yellow: Courtship Abandoned

--

Mai understands, finally, what Azula had been smiling about at the banquet. It had not been a genuinely happy smile--Mai is certain there had nothing in the general vicinity of the grand hall that could have amused her friend--but it was too much to hope that it had ever been a particularly warm one, even to begin with. Especially, the now pensive girl affirms, no, despite how it made her eyes sparkle and her voice all the more soft: long ago, Mai had learned that these were, in the words of her younger friend Ty Lee, "bad bad omens"; what made her dismiss them earlier eludes her. If there was anything that irritated her more than badly roasted turkey duck, her father's hints at wanting a male heir, or the stiff-backed models she was to emulate as a Lady, it was having something dangled abover her head. Azula's smile said, between pearl teeth and vicious lips, that she knew something Mai did not--should have known--will know--won't like. Without her brother to pester or bear the brunt of her attacks, the princess' wrath washed out onto everyone else, anyone standing, anyone kneeling, but not Mai.

When she'd walked into her room later that afternoon, the heat stifling enough to bring sweat to her brow, her robes heavy enough to prompt her to consider changing, without the servants, before the other court members were even expected to resume the parade, she'd smelled something springy, seen something delicate on her bed.

There, a surprise.

The memory of Azula's smile and the Fire Lord's cold gaze flashed by in her mind's eye and everything began to make sense.

Tucked between silk sheets, the flower told her enough: "courtship abandoned" with bright petals and a fresh, vibrant stem. Typical courtly gesture, that, saying everything through the corpse of a plant. After a moment of hesitation, she'd placed it between two leather bound scrolls in the hopes that it would become dry and, eventually, useful.

Possibly, in the gray future she isn't so sure about any more, the shriveled blossom will signal the start of healing on her part, the beginning of independence. Or. It will remind her that this unfair event too will pass; without the promise, without her betrothed fit to accept her, all the flower could offer her was the stale facts: she had no reason to be accepted in the palace and therefore no reason to stay within what was left of the family circle. She had no reason to feel safe, save the princess--which was saying volumes all its own.

Azula tells her it's time, links arms, and pulls, saying this is all for the best.

Mai should sigh, fear for her future even. Abandon courtship. You're alone now; you're free. Tucked between silk sheets.

Clutching a yellow asphodel, resolving never to let Azula goad her into anything, Mai takes part in the ceremony of banishment, her only duty now being to watch Zuko leave for the docks.

--

AN: There was a list of flowers and their meanings that was posted near Valentine's day. I copied it. I'm using them as prompts because they're cool like that. The series—Flowers to Offer—may not focus on just one fandom; it will focus on romance (or lack of thereof). This one also answers the question of Mai's immunity to Azula's threats, or maybe just her resolve. Her character has been kept somewhat downplayed so far and in my book that means she'll be important later on. In my version, the "break up" is justified and not entirely their fault; Zuko spares her a public display/closure with a subtle gift he knows she'll get--I figure she's the type of girl who would, anyway.

I'm only posting this because it's semi-done and I felt the need to be somewhat daring. I have to research the flower before I go off pimping Maiko & Mailu all over the place. Based on popular assumption that Mai was betrothed to Zuko at one point in time—or, at the very least, childhood games of pretend must be abandoned in the face of war (long distance relationships don't start off well, do they?)

ETA: Written way before the end of the second season finale. Should this be a series?