Maiko Month
Prompt#20: Time
Timeless in Paradise
There was never enough of it. Time outran him, always ahead. Zuko supposed it was the same for most people trying to cram as much living into a day as possible.
"I can't get all this done today, no matter how important Kenji says it is." Frustrated, Zuko dropped his head down onto the pile of scrolls and wished they would vanish. Paperwork was mundane and tedious.
"Here, give me some," Mai offered, holding out her hand.
From across the desk, Zuko tossed her about half the pile. "Feel free, please."
"I'll read; you trust me enough to listen to my verdict right? Bad document, good document; one gets no signature, the other does."
"I thought that would be obvious by now; yes, I trust you with the documents and with my life." Feeling slightly better, Zuko began his own reading.
The afternoon was interminable, each second that passed seeming one thousand times that long. He was grateful when Mai determined dinner would be awaiting them.
"Tomorrow," she warned. "You're not doing any more paperwork tonight."
Often he argued and lost. Sometimes he crept out of bed before the sun rose, reluctant to leave Mai's embrace, and got an early start on work. But tonight he did not argue and he planned to sleep the night through. Work could wait. His wife, actually living, was more important.
After dinner, legs entwined on the sofa, both sleepy and relaxed, time seemed to slow. It often did in these moments together. It was as though they created a bubble or a vacuum; nothing could penetrate that barrier. And inside it they were safe and warm, gave love and took love, and they were at peace. Time left them alone, retreated to the remainder of the world and exerted its power there. They defeated it, not forever, and when they roused, it grabbed hold of them again. But briefly, Mai and Zuko were their own world, and time did not exist there.
~~~~0000~~~~
Stepping Stones
The Fire Lord and Fire Lady sat side by side at the head table and watched their first born child with her new husband. The twenty five year old had eyes for no one but him and the boisterous wedding celebrations seemed to exist outside the young couple.
"Remind you of anyone?" Zuko nudged his wife.
Mai nodded and reached for his hand. They had exchanged words of love and commitment, joined two separate fires and made them one, thirty years earlier. Sometimes that day seemed like part of another life, so long ago, and sometimes it was fresher than yesterday in their memories.
They still made an elegant pair and were still very much in love. Mai and Zuko were a steadfast force in the midst of change. Time gave and time took away. Iroh was gone now, had been for nearly fifteen years. His love and wisdom lived on, though his absence was felt by all his family and friends, felt so very keenly. Miyako had been a little girl when he died but still grieved him with an intensity that had surprised Mai and Zuko and Miyako herself.
She'd insisted on having an extra seat at the table for her great uncle and insisted too that somehow he had witnessed the wedding and the blossoming of her love. Mai and Zuko liked to think so too. The world was full of mysteries, after all. The older they got, the less they understood and the easier they lived with that ignorance.
Time and fortune bestowed many wondrous gifts on Mai and Zuko. They did not lessen the pain of Iroh's loss or the recent loss of Hakoda. But each birth, each wedding, each celebration of any kind provided stepping stones for their lives, buoys that helped them through more difficult events.
"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Zuko's eyes misted over. "And such a strong woman. She's so like you." He flipped her hand over, cradling it in his, stroking her palm. "We did well. After all that worry and all that agonizing, look at her."
Mai could not be more proud. She could not feel more love than she did at that moment in time, her husband beside her, her partner in life's journey, her daughter wed to a man she adored, a man they too loved in their way.
"I see," she stated softly.
And then she did; Mai saw time stretch out in front of her, a river that ebbed and flowed. She saw her first grandchild, other weddings, funerals, life and death going on forever, such a large thing, such a monumental thing, counted down by simple days of work and rest and shared meals, reading and music, laughter and anger and tears.
Under her breath she added, "And I'm ready."