A/N: This story was written for the Pro-bender Challenge.
Prompts: Easy: (dialogue) "Just because you say so, doesn't make it so!" Medium: (character) Mai Hard: (restriction) No letters beginning with the letter "p".
Total Word Count: 2034 (Not including Author's Notes)
Task: Someone else discovers your character's fear.
Well, here it goes, my fourth try at writing this story. It's based off of something Azula said to Zuko in "The Search". She mentions he was scared, or had fear and that's what held him back from exploring. I decided that this is going to be my basic theory story for this and it works perfectly with this round's challenge, so here we go! (Also, I don't think this "fear" has ever been mentioned before, and even if it was, this is what the fear also could have been.) This is young Zuko, Mai, and Azula, by the way. Hopefully it didn't come out as too weird. Here it goes!
If there was one thing he hated, it was the entire idea of exploring the building he lived in. It wasn't just a hate, it was a deep, dark, dreaded fear. Zuko would get the chills at night just thinking about it, for when his mother wasn't around, Azula would torture him, telling him he was missing out when she went around searching for things. She would snoop around after that without him.
Zuko was normally not scared, but often times, when Azula mentioned exploration, he felt a chill going down his spine. Not because of Azula, but because of what he might find if he looked around too much. As he stood at the top of the stairs, waiting for his mother to tell him to come in, he looked around his surrounding area. Azula could be anywhere right now and he was here, getting comfort from his mother. Sure, maybe being the oldest meant he had to have courage, but for a 10 year old, he found it nearly impossible not to be scared of something. His father was disapproving of fear, and he made it quite clear to Zuko, who always came to his mother for comfort when he was yelled at. This was exactly what he was doing now.
Azula, earlier, had gotten them both into one of their daily arguments and so she had tortured him, as always. He had become scared and run off, and his father had met up with him in the hallway. He had made as many rude comments as he could to Zuko to try and get him to be tougher but instead, Zuko had resigned to the familiar old ways of his mother. She wasn't answering the door, though, and he really wanted to get into there. The door was so familiar to him, wooden and carved, the door to his mother's sitting room where she so often was. But she wasn't answering, and he stood there, feeling as if something was creeping up on him. Minute after minute went by, and then he just gave up. There was no use of standing there like a fool. He had to just move on, take a deep breath and move on, and it would all be over soon. He was only a ten year old with a small imagination but a large way of seeing things, so he often blamed it on that.
A voice, so soft he could hardly hear it, spoke out to him at that moment, causing him to jump five feet in the air.
"What are you doing?" asked the voice. Zuko turned to see Mai, the governor's daughter, staring at him.
She was about as tall as he was with thick dark black hair, thicker than Azula's, and she was always wearing the same bored expression. Even when she tried to sound concerned she looked angry or just bored with her life. He didn't always enjoy being around her when Azula was around because she would tease the both of them, along with Ty Lee.
"I was just…just trying to get a good look at this door." was his fast, hurried reply as soon as he caught his breath.
"Right. You were just standing here, enjoying the door while your sister looks around in areas you could be in as well, and you didn't just jump five feet in the air when I talked to you. What, do you think girls are stupid or something?" she asked, looking the same as ever but with a tone that made him cringe.
"N-no, I just- look, I was trying to get my mother. I don't like exploring with Azula because I just…" he said.
"You just what?" asked Mai, slyly.
"Can you just leave?!" he said, feeling anger burn inside of him. This was frustrating, he was getting nowhere and his only defense wasn't in the area he wanted to find it.
"No, not until you show me a backroom that you nor I have ever seen before." she said, smartly.
He sighed, turned away from the door, and began to move towards the end of the hall, figuring he had better find a hidden room quick or all was lost. At least, his secrecy was lost. Mai wasn't lost and no one else was, but he was. They walked down the hall, Mai following his footsteps. When they reached a small corridor that only he and Azula could go down, he took a deep breath and dived in, scared of what was going to be at the end of the small tunnel. Mai followed, crouching as he was, and when they hit the end, a wide open space met their eyes. He looked into hers, and for a moment, nothing was scary anymore, not the fact that they were stuck here, not the fact that they were in a space no one had noticed for years by the looks of the dust. Not the fact that his heart was racing at an unimaginable beat and that his eyes were dilated with terror.
The dark dread returned as Zuko headed down a small staircase, and landed on the floor as a stair collapsed. He cried out as he hit the ground, and Mai fell on top of him, for neither had seen the hole in the stairs. The ground was cold and made of stone, and the little bit of bare skin that he was exposing was cold against it. Mai got off of him and sat down next to him, staring at him. Zuko felt the dread creeping up on him again, felt it nearly engulfing him. He was terrified of what was going to happen to him.
"So now what do we do? Has anyone ever been down here?" she asked, looking at him quizzically.
"I…I haven't but I'm sure others have. I don't know what to do now." Zuko said, not feeling angry at her but instead feeling a little bit more comforted because she was uncertain just like he was.
"Well, we need to do something, like find a way out of here."
"Yeah…okay…but…" he trailed off, staring into the darkness beyond. A shiver went up his spine as he though he heard an all-too familiar voice coming from that hole.
"What is the matter with you?" she asked, shaking her dark head as he stared at the darkness. "I thought boys were supposed to be fearless, not scared of anything."
He couldn't reply to her because he distinctly heard a moan from the end of the hall. Trying to get up, he fell back over her and sat up as quickly as he could. Mai was looking quite angry with him by this time, even though the only way he could tell that was by her furrowed eyebrows. Where were they and where was that voice coming from? It was all he could think or wonder for the five minutes of silence between both him and Mai. Zuko hated it down here, he realized this and with as much as he hated it, he couldn't stand to look around it and explore it any further. The voice he was hearing was louder now, it was coming closer, he was sure of it. He tried to back up against the wall but couldn't.
"Why are you trying to squish me? What is the matter with you?!" yelled Mai.
Zuko tried to tell her, but he couldn't, for her question was exactly what that voice was saying. It was everything he hated, and the voice sounded exactly like the voice that he heard constantly, day by day. Mai was groaning with frustration, seemingly more and more bored with what was going on, if that was actually something she could become. Then she stopped, and he turned to stare at her, averting his eyes from the darkness. She stared back at him, and at the corner of her mouth, a small smile was trying to escape.
"You're scared." she said.
"Just because you say so, doesn't make it so!" he yelled back, trying to deny anything she had stated.
"I can tell easier than the best Earthbender could. You look it." she said. "Are there voices in that dark?"
"N-no…" he tried to say, but couldn't.
"That's why you don't go exploring with your sister, isn't it?!" Mai almost yelled.
"Shh, no, that's not all of it."
"You hear a voice in that dark that you're scared of, aren't you?"
"Can you just not bring it up?" he retorted, a small flame bursting in his hands.
"Sure, I won't bring it up so you won't be able to talk about it and get your feelings out. I'm actually a very understanding human being, though most everyone wouldn't believe it." she said, sounding as uninterested as ever.
"Okay, I hear a voice that I don't like. Is that enough for you?" he said.
"Let's see… you hear a voice that you don't like and are scared of? Who's voice is it, then?" she said, and he cringed. "Wait… is it your father's?"
"Don't ask, okay?!" he yelled, staring at her.
"It is! But why? You're scared he's going to come out at you or something?"
"Fine, I'll tell you the whole thing. I'm scared of exploring because I'm scared of what's going to be there. Anyone or anything could be there, waiting behind a door that is meant to hit you when they come out, knock you off balance, and then they'll yell at you and kill you. Anyone could be there. My grandfather, my father, or even my great-grandfather's spirit. They don't like me, you know. I'm weak, I can't do anything, and I'm just not like Azula. If I was alone with them, or with Azula with one of them, I'd be dead. Or at least hurt. I don't know what they want to do with me, to me. I hear my father's voice now, telling me I'm horrible. My mother is the only comfort I have, and I don't know where she is. She's…gone." Zuko said, feeling tears coming to his eyes when he said this. "She told me something last night, when she left, but I don't know if I can keep what she wanted me to. I don't know what to do. I'm stuck here now, with my father and sister who torture me at all costs. My uncle's not back and I'm all alone. Now, anything they want to do with me, or to me, they can. No one is here to stop them."
They sat in silence after he finished saying this. Mai seemed slightly shocked, but if she was, she didn't show it at all. The darkness wasn't talking to him anymore, thankfully, but he still didn't really like it. The ground was still cold and hard, and he was still being given a creeping feeling.
"So… you're scared of your own family?" she asked.
"I guess you could say that…yeah."
"I didn't think anyone could be that way."
"Not many are."
"We need to get out of here." Mai said, looking him straight in the eye. He looked back into her dark ones, nodded, and stood up, feeling the dread melt away at his feet.
"Just don't tell anyone. I couldn't bear it if someone else knew." Zuko replied, knowing that Mai would go tell Azula as soon as he was out of her sight.
She only nodded and they headed towards the staircase, moving quickly. Once they were back in daylight, Azula spotted both of them from one end of the hall and ran towards them, Ty Lee following quickly. Both were laughing, Azula in that cackling way of hers and Ty Lee in a giggle.
"Where have you two love birds been?" Azula asked. "I've been looking for you all over, Mai. And Zuzu, don't you know that you are too young for a girlfriend?"
He stood glowering at her as they moved away. He shot a look towards Mai, who turned her head towards him and held one finger up against her mouth. Zuko knew she wasn't going to tell anyone, and his secret was safe with her.
A/N: Alright, well, got through that finally! It being a one-shot, I don't normally expect reviews but it would be nice to have a few. Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!