"Good evening, Lady Minako. Is Mai available?" Prince Zuko pasted his most cordial smile on his face and bowed deeply, as though attempting to kiss the concrete slab lining the doorway of the exquisite household. The woman's eyes lit up almost as brightly as her smile. She curtsied and paid her due respects before ushering the boy into the manor eagerly. Zuko seemed to have that effect on women, particularly woman with daughters his age; he couldn't imagine why.
"Of course, Prince Zuko! Please, come right this way." Lady Minako led him throughout the lengthy corridor and past the fiery-red marble columns that lined the crimson and gold decorative walls. She paused for a moment, gesturing with a gracefully curved hand down the hall. "Mai is in the kitchen area, the second room on the left. Feel free to enter as you please. I'm sure she will be thrilled upon your arrival." Zuko was not fooled by her inviting, carefree tone. He began down the hallway, not bothering to glance behind his shoulder to witness Lady Minako pulling aside a servant in order to instruct him to stalk the Prince's every move. To be in a room alone with a young woman was nothing less than scandalous. Agni forbid they might touch, or even kiss!
Without taking the time to knock, he peered around the archway to observe a shockingly humorous sight. The kitchen, being adjacent to the servant's quarters, was significantly less glamorous than the ornamental style of the manor. It was made up of not marble, but grey stone that was dampened, cracked, and poorly maintained. At the far corner of the room was Mai, standing beside the wood-lit oven dressed in a casual cotton skirt and midriff that exposed the slightest bit of pale skin, making Zuko shiver. From the look of her abandoned outer blouse and the white powder that caked her figure, she was not expecting any company. Hunched over the russet oak counter, she whispered something that sounded suspiciously like a curse as she kneaded at a substance within a red-tinted glass bowl.
With a mischievous smile, he crept up behind the unsuspecting girl and swiftly clasped his chilly hands around her nigh-bare hips. A sharp gasp escaped her lips, the bowl clattering as she jolted and whipped around straight into his arms. "Zuko!" Her shock shifted into a momentary smile, before disdain crossed her expression. She scowled as he looked her up and down, for she could see the suppressed humor in his pursed lips. "Don't you dare say a word," she warned, pretending not to notice the sensual way his thumbs circled the flesh of her hips.
"Would it be too much to ask what you are trying to accomplish?" A blush crossed her cheeks as his hands began to brush away the white powder smearing her outfit. His touch lingered perhaps a little longer than it should have, his fingers skimming from her shoulders down to her breasts, then her stomach. His hands were withdrawn by the deep clearing of a throat that emerged from the servant now surveying them like a hawk from the kitchen entrance. At last, the chaperon had arrived.
"I'm… I'm making a pie." Mai's eyes shifted from the flour tainting her clothing to the bowl on the counter. "Raspberry meringue. Mother wants me to learn how." The word 'mother' was spoken with a familiar resentment that made Zuko shudder. He overcame his discomfort swiftly, leaving his expression as affectionate as ever.
"That sounds delicious." He peered around the girl's shoulder to observe the odd compilation in the bowl. It was a collection of mashed red berries coating a stiff hunk of clay-like material. "Are the raspberries meant to be mixed in with the dough like that?"
"I haven't the slightest idea!" Her eyebrows quirked in frustration. "One of the cooks showed me how, I wasn't listening. I only have the quantities for each of the ingredients. What to do with them? A mystery yet to be solved." She pushed away her distorted creation before gesturing to the copious ingredients lining the adjacent counter. It seemed someone had predicted her ultimately failure and repetition of the recipe. "I can't seem to figure it out!"
"Well let's see." Zuko picked up the discarded scroll that listed the ingredients and their respective amounts. "We're two intelligent people, we can figure this out. Alright, so it's composed of three separate parts. The bottom crust, the raspberry filling, and the meringue finish. Let's try to separate the ingredients by layer. I'm willing to bet the flour and the butter make up the bulk of the crust." He squinted at the recipe. "Egg whites? What are those for?"
"The meringue, I think." Mai shook her head hopelessly. "I couldn't separate the whites from the yolk! It all just sort of clumps together! What I want to know is what the 'pinch of salt' is for."
"Pinch of…? Maybe it's for the filling?"
"No, no, that doesn't make sense. Why mix salt and raspberries? It may be for the meringue."
"But meringue is sweet, not salty. I'm willing to bet the sugar is meant to be distributed between the meringue and the filling. Which leaves the salt for the crust."
"Maybe we should cook without it, Zuko. I mean, would the pie really miss just a 'pinch'?"
"Don't be so sure! Cooking bread without yeast yields a rather unseemly wafer. Maybe salt serves a vital purpose. Otherwise, it wouldn't be on the list."
"Alright, alright. I'll add the salt to the dough mixture. You start on the filling."
"Am I… supposed to crush the raspberries? Or leave them whole? What makes up that syrupy, sweet filling that's usually inside of pies?"
"I always thought it might have been jam with fruit preserves, but apparently I was sorely mistaken. Just follow your instincts."
"I'm afraid my instincts weren't equipped with pie-baking intuition, Mai."
And for the next few hours they quibbled, laughed, spilt baking ingredients, and failed at creating an edible pie in the most epic of proportions. After several ingredient mixtures and meringue techniques, they concocted an agreeable replica of the meringue pie that Mai had witnessed the servants prepare just days before. The meringue was lopsided, the filling was no more solid than mush, and the crust crumbled upon the lightest touch. Nevertheless, it was a pie, and an edible one at that.
"You know, we did pretty well for not having a proper recipe," Zuko decided, before running his index finger along the rim of the pie and jamming it into his mouth- a rather uncouth action for a prince.
"Yes, well, it's nothing I'd ever serve at my table." Her lip curled into a smile before mimicking Zuko's action. The texture left much to be desired, but the taste was ultimately satisfying. "Mother would have a heart attack if she saw it. It's simply not presentable."
"No?" Zuko's frown shifted into a sweet smile as he leaned forward and whispered just a few inches away from her lips, "I would eat every last bite, just knowing it was a product of your divine hands." He always said such things that made her heart pound in her chest and her palms glisten with sweat. Bringing their lips so close, so treacherously close, but never joining them. To kiss her without first marrying her or at least naming her as his Intended would be nothing short of dishonorable. The servant, whom they had forgotten was keeping a careful eye on them, chose this instance to tap his foot against the floor and clear his throat in his signature obnoxious manner.
Zuko sighed, his warm breath caressing her throat just as he pulled away. His eyes shone with a silent, familiar promise: Some day.
"Lady Mai?"
Mai glanced up from her novel and sat stiffly at the edge of her bed. Her heart pounded in her chest reflexively, for she was certain of the occasion upon which she was being addressed. "Come in."
A rather flustered maid entered her room, balancing a tray carefully on one hand while holding the door open with the other. "This arrived for you just a moment ago. It was sent by one of the palace servants."
"Thank you. Leave it on the dresser, if you would." Mai waited for the woman to depart before she let her curiosity get the better of her. She discarded the book in her hand and approached the platter upon which a silver tray shrouded with a high lid was placed. With a deep breath, she wrapped her fingers around the lid's handle and reverently set it aside. A rich, sweet aroma swept through her senses, and before her lay a pie with beautifully sculpted meringue peaks. Its beauty rivaled that of any desert she had ever witnessed, and she knew the flavor of the pie without so much as a taste.
Tap, tap, tap! A smile crossed her face, but was quickly replaced with a raised eyebrow as she turned toward her bedroom window to see Zuko waving through the glass. Mai took the tray in one hand and crossed the room to unlock the window with the other. "And I'm to presume this was your doing?" She set the pie on the ledge between them, allowing her index finger to caress the male teenager's cheek upon its descent.
His golden eyes sparkled as he replied, "Took me five tries to form that meringue the way you see it now."
"You'd best stop lurking outside of my window. It's terribly inappropriate." She loved the way his eyes fluttered shut as she caressed his cheek in a rare, affectionate, and forbidden gesture. The setting sun glistened through the rosebushes behind the young man, illuminating his figure in an admittedly romantic way as he reached up to grasp her hand in his.
"It would be half as inappropriate if we were engaged." Zuko's hopeful eyes bore into hers, and she couldn't suppress her heart from leaping. This feeling of being genuinely desired and cared for was overwhelming; it was nothing Mai had ever experienced before, for only Zuko had the passion and the power to melt away the cold mask she had adopted to conform to this lifestyle. And to think… if she wedded Zuko, she would never again have to wear that mask. If he stayed the same passionate, honest person that he was, Mai could continue to be the person she longed to be- the person he loved.
Mai dipped her index finger into the pie, scooping up a bit of each layer before licking it clean in a slow, tempting manner that made Zuko flush a deep crimson. It was by far the sweetest thing she had ever tasted. "I guess you have four days to find out, don't you?" she teased, as he tried to cover up his embarrassment with a chuckle.
"Alright, you got me there."
"Wait here. I'll go fetch some utensils. I'll be damned if the Prince of the Fire Nation is going to eat pie underneath my roof without a proper instrument."
"In all fairness, I'm not necessarily under your roof." He gestured pointedly toward his position outside of the window. And at Mai's expectant stare, he did the most inappropriate thing one could imagine- he climbed through the window and into the young lady's room.