Wrote this like two years ago. Apologies for the lameness :) Thank the boyfriend of the time for this idea…
From Maitara to Zutara. Please R&R. And enjoy!
Daffodils
Mai had been having a glum day, so when she got back to her house to find a bunch of flowers on her doorstep with a note, she was sure she had a new worst day ever.
She bent down and picked them up and took them inside, noting that they were bright yellow, sickeningly sweet scented, daffodils.
She opened the note, read it, rolled her eyes and sighed.
The one thing Mai hates most in the world are daffodils, and if there was one person who knew it better, it was Zuko.
One day when Mai was only six, it had been Valentine's Day and she had been madly in love with Zuko. But when she had found a single daffodil waiting outside her door with a note that read, Mai, Happy Valentine's Day! Love Zuko, she had been so upset that she threw the daffodil into the fireplace just as Zuko had walked into the living room to greet her. He had seen her do it and had quickly left in a state close to tears.
Mai had stayed angry at him for a few days before she realized just how much she had hurt him by doing it, but when she went to apologize to him, he turned her down and ran off shouting, "Girls are crazy!"
It had broken Mai's heart to know that she had wrecked what she was sure would have been her only chance to be with Zuko. When they had gotten together when he had come back to the Fire Nation she had promised herself that she wouldn't ruin it this time. But Zuko had been gone for months and he had joined the Avatar, and now that the war was over and he was Fire Lord, he had returned to the Fire Nation. The thing was, when she had gone to see him he didn't seem that happy to see her. It was as if he didn't remember getting together with her and he still hadn't forgotten about the Valentine's Day incident.
But when she had been wandering around the gardens she had seen Zuko and that waterbender girl walking around, hand in hand and making eyes at each other.
It was then that she understood; Zuko had moved on. He didn't love her anymore and he was now in love with that…that…that water peasant!
It brought a tear to Mai's eyes just to think about it.
She read the note again.
Mai, I just wanted to let you know that although I'm not in love with you anymore, I still care for you. Zuko.
This piece of paper just confirmed what she already knew; he wasn't in love with her anymore. But what he said in the note made her feel better about it. He still cared about her.
She looked at the bunch of daffodils again and frowned.
Zuko knew that she hated daffodils, so why on earth would he give her a whole bunch of them? Especially after what happened last time he'd given her a daffodil. It was completely beyond her what he had been thinking, but she didn't care anymore. He might not love her, but he still cared. And that was all that mattered to her.
Drop a review please. More to come ^_^.