Prompt #10: Last
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Better Left Unknown
Much of the time, final moments come as a surprise. Often we don't know they're final until after they're over and days have gone by and circumstances have changed. Neither Mai nor Zuko knew that a few stolen minutes in a disused room of the palace would be their last time together for more than three years. Perhaps it was better that way.
"Here," Zuko said shyly and moved back the pale sheet that covered the sofa.
It hung precariously from the sofa's edges, ghostlike in the darkness of the curtained and shuttered parlor. Mai sat down on the edge of the seat and waited for Zuko to join her. When he did, careful to place himself close but not too close, the couple looked at each other expectantly. They were on the run from Azula. The princess had been in a particularly mocking and nasty mood all morning, telling Mai all about Zuko's blunder at the war meeting and the impending Agni Kai.
"Are you worried?" she asked tentatively.
"About the Agni Kai?" Zuko asked. "No; it's an old general. I should be able to defeat him."
He sounded confident at least. That was promising.
"Oh, that's good," Mai replied.
"Will you come?" Zuko asked.
Mai thought for a second and then shook her head. Watching firebending duels didn't interest her, despite the fact that Zuko was participating. Besides, the tiniest knot of fear sat like a lump of lead in her stomach. She, like most Fire Nation citizens, had heard tales of famous duels, many ending in death or disfigurement. She would not be a witness to that.
"Okay; maybe I'll see you after then."
"Probably," Mai agreed.
Silence, but comfortable silence, fell over the room. Zuko shifted a few inches closer to Mai. He was thirteen, awkward and shy and unsure of himself sometimes, but he knew that he liked this black haired girl. He liked when they touched, accidentally or purposely. It sent a sudden flash of intense heat straight to his stomach and lately to his groin. His face flushed with shame and desire and embarrassment at the thoughts he was having.
"M, Mai?" he asked with a nervous stutter.
"Mmm," she hummed in reply.
He wiped a hand off on his tunic, trying to be discreet and then reached for Mai's. She didn't resist. In fact, she curled small fingers around his and gave him one of her rare smiles. Zuko smiled in return and tightened his grip just a little bit. He wanted to reach over and press his lips to hers. He inched a bit closer still, close enough so that their thighs and shoulders touched. She was so pretty. Looking at her there made his breath hitch. He finally bent his head down but placed warm, slightly chapped lips against her soft cheek instead.
Mai's breath hitched too and her eyes widened slightly. When Zuko pulled away, she gave him another smile; two in the space of a few minutes. The prince's heart seemed ready to burst.
"I, maybe we should get back before Azula finds us," the prince suggested.
Mai shrugged.
"This room is our room. No one else ever goes here."
"Our room," Mai repeated.
Reluctantly, the pair got up, putting the sheet to rights before they left. As they turned down a hallway, Azula greeted them with a sneer.
"Where did you two go?" she asked suggestively.
"Nowhere," Zuko snarled in response. "It's none of your business."
He looked protectively over at Mai.
"Well, I need her now. Why don't you go have tea with Uncle Loser?"
Azula tugged on Mai's arm and dragged her down the wide corridor. Mai looked back once and smiled again. Zuko gave her a wave and then turned on his heel, moving down another hallway.
He was banished two days later.
Mai's bangs lifted in the heavy breeze and she breathed in the smell of the sea. She stood at the capitol city's entrance and exit; it's port. Besides a few dock workers, Mai was alone. Somehow, she had dared to sneak out of her house before her parents were even awake, and ran through the sleepy city nonstop until she reached the sheltered bay where ships came and went. Zuko was leaving in disgrace; no one was there to wish him well or say goodbye.
His small ship was almost out of sight already. He wouldn't know that she was there. He couldn't see her. But she waved anyway, a slow forlorn wave that said so much more than farewell. She mourned there on the dock and wished as hard as she could.
"Please, don't let this be the last time I see him."