Chapter 26: Waiting
Mai drank neem oil the next morning.
It tasted just as horrible as it smelled, but luckily it was watered down so much.
Zuko had settled himself down on the couch after breakfast had been eaten, and that's where the two stayed until noon, when the palace servants had come and gotten him, telling Zuko that his father was waiting for him at the war meeting.
With a smile, Zuko left for the palace, Mai trailing behind him.
xoxo
Ty Lee kept Mai company while she waiting for the war meeting to end.
"How long do those things usually take?" Ty Lee asked her.
"I don't know," Mai said. "Normally they can take a few hours. At least, I think that's what Azula said. I'm not sure."
"Well, what do you want to do until then?" Ty Lee asked her.
Mai shrugged. "I don't know. But I'd rather not drink tea and make small talk the entire time."
"Oh, darn," Ty Lee joked. "Is there anything else that you don't want to do?"
"My aunt asked me to stay and help collect our things for the day of the invasion. I kept telling her that no one's gonna break in and take anything, but she kept insisting that I round up everything and take it with us," Mai said.
"I hadn't even thought about that," Ty Lee said, tapping her chin.
"That's because you don't need to think about it," Mai told her. "Do you honestly think anyone's gonna stick around to vandalize things when they realized they've been duped?"
"Probably not," Ty Lee said, "but anything could happen. What if they get mad and decide to trash the place? I wouldn't put it past them."
"I would," Mai said. "I bet that when they realize they've been had, they'll turn tail and run back to the Earth Kingdom," she said with a smile and a chuckle.
"Maybe," Ty Lee said with a laugh. "So, what all are you gonna take with you?"
"I don't know," Mai said. "Probably nothing, but my aunt keeps bugging me about it. Maybe I'll take a vial of nail polish. Or a cup of tea or something. I'm not gonna bother rounding up all my jewelry and locking it away in a box and shoving it under my bed like she's doing."
"No?" Ty Lee asked.
"She's just being paranoid. But, hey, I'm not gonna try to talk her out of it," Mai said.
"You'd just be wasting your breath," Ty Lee agreed. "Speaking of wasting your breath, wanna talk about my dream last night?"
Mai sighed and rolled her eyes. "Sure. Let me hear it," Mai said.
"Well, I was standing on top of the ocean, not sinking in or anything, but just standing on top of the water. And then a turtle seal came along and he started talking to me. He had this really deep, soothing voice, and he said, 'What are you doing out here, land critter?' And I said, 'I'm not sure. I just ended up here.'"
"Fascinating," Mai said bored-ly.
"Hey, I wasn't finished," Ty Lee said, spinning around and walking backwards to face Mai. "After he and I were finished talking, he told me to climb onto his back. And I did. And you know what happened after that?"
"Watch out!"
"No that's not what happened," Ty Lee said right before she backed up into a servant. "Oh my gosh!" Ty Lee said, helping her to pick up her bundle of laundry. "I'm so so so so so sorry! These weren't clean were they?"
"Oh, no, of course not, miss," said the woman, hurriedly picking up the laundry and tossing them into her basket. "Please, I beg your pardon," she said, scampering off towards the exit.
"I told you to watch out," Mai told Ty Lee.
"Yeah. Didn't really get that," she said with a chuckle and a sheepish grin. "So anyway," Ty Lee said, grabbing Mai's hand and pulling her along with her, "after I climb onto the seal turtle's back, he dived down into the ocean and I could breathe underwater. He started swimming around in circles, and as he did he creating a whirlpool, and the water kept spinning until it opened a portal into the spirit world."
Mai grabbed Ty Lee shoulder before she could walk straight into a pillar. "Oh," Ty Lee said with a laugh. She stepped around it, Mai following her, and continued to talk.
Mai sighed when Ty Lee backed up into the wall. "Be careful, Ty Lee," she said, yanking her away from the wall. "You damage any of the royal portraits, you'll probably be roasting over a bonfire by nighttime."
"I wouldn't want that," Ty Lee said. "Did I damage any of them?"
"No. Doesn't look like it," Mai said, looking it over. No paint was smeared, nothing was broken, nothing was torn. "Looks like your ass is safe for now."
"Oh, thank goodness! I don't know what I would do without it!" Ty Lee joked. Even Mai chuckled at that. "Who is that anyway?" she asked, looking up at the portrait she'd bumped into.
"I'm not entirely sure," Mai said. "I think it was a Firelord back from the medieval period."
"Who, though?" Ty Lee asked.
"I don't know. That's what I told you," Mai said.
"Hmmm," Ty Lee hummed, tapping her chin as she thought. "Medieval Firelords…now what do I remember about them…?"
"I remember that one of them was Firelord Aarunya, one of the few Firelords to have been a woman," Mai said. "And that's pretty much the only reason I remember her."
"I remember learning about Firelord Zolin," Ty Lee said, "and that's only because everyone kept calling him an usurper."
"They also said he had a hunched back and killed his wife," Mai said. "I doubt you'll find his portrait hanging up here. They probably burned it a long, long time ago."
"Yeah, probably," Ty Lee agreed. "Okay, how about that one," she said, pointing to the next portrait over. "Do you recognize them?"
"No. Do you?"
"Well, they look familiar…" Ty Lee said, scanning the picture carefully. "He's got a stick on incense in one hand, and a snake in the other. I think I remember something about a Firelord with a snake…"
"Firelord Mayehua!" Mai said. "I remember him now. He was one of the few Firelords who died in battle. They say he sacrificed himself for the good of his nation, eventually leading to his troops victory over the Nessa Islands."
"Oh yeah!" Ty Lee said. "No wonder I couldn't remember him."
"Why is that?" Mai asked.
"Because I can't remember any of these people. Well, except for Zolin. And that's only because I had to take the quiz twice," she said. "Come, let's try another Firelord," Ty Lee said, dragging Mai along by the arm. "Who's that one?"
"Firelord…" Mai sighed. "Firelord I-Don't-Know."
"Who names their child I-Don't-Know?" Ty Lee asked.
Mai chuckled. "Someone with a twisted sense of humor, that's who."
"Okay, but seriously, though. Who is he?" Ty Lee asked, pointing at him. "He's got a beard, he's bending fire, he's got a lotus flower at his feet… Any of this ring a bell?" she asked Mai.
Mai shook her head no.
"Well, do you have any guesses, at least?" Ty Lee asked.
Mai shook her head no. "Do you?" Mai asked her.
Ty Lee shook her head no. "Okay, what about her?" she asked Mai, moving down the hallway.
"Firelord…Firelord Sola?" Mai guessed.
"Sola?" Ty Lee repeated. "Huh. I would have guessed Firelord Zhangsun." She turned to Mai and shrugged her arms. "I guess we'll never know?"
"We might one day. After all, they should have their names written on here somewhere…"
"I can't find them anywhere," Ty Lee said, scanning the painting again. Nothing that even remotely resembled writing. With a sigh and a smile, she turned back to Mai and continued to drag her along the hallway. "Well, anyway, back to my dream…"
"I don't want to hear about your dream," Mai said.
"But Mai," Ty Lee pouted, "it gets so interesting. After the turtle seal opens a portal to the spirit world, we dive into it and this giant praying mantis tries to eat us! And when it doesn't, it starts reciting poetry, lamenting over it's lost meal, before deciding to rip off one of it's own legs and eats that instead."
"Because autocannibalism always makes for pleasant dreams, Mai snarked.
"It may not have been pleasant, but it was interesting," Ty Lee shot back. "You know, interest? Something you say your life doesn't have enough of?"
"Because, whenever I'm bored, I think, 'You know what would really liven up a party? Autocannibalism!'" Mai said.
"Don't knock it 'til you try it!" Ty Lee said. They both laughed.
They stopped laughing when they heard something echoing throughout the hallway.
"What was that?" Ty Lee asked.
"I think the meeting may be adjourned," Mai said, rushing over to go see.
She stopped just short of entering the hallway to the throne room. She felt so small staring up at it. Even that small red curtain over the entrance looked too intimidating. She took a deep breath, and stepped closer.
"Mai?" Ty Lee said, stopping right behind her. "Are you sure you want to get too close? I mean…that the throne room!" she whispered.
"I'm not going to go in…I'm just gonna…wait right here," Mai said, stopping at one of the pillars. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Just being this close to the throne room was making her nervous. She looked back at Ty Lee and gave her what she hoped was a convincing smile. "You can wait here with me. You know…for Azula."
"I don't know…" Ty Lee said, looking down the hallway towards the entrance. "It's…scary…being so close."
Mai nodded. "Yeah, it really is," she whispered.
"I'm gonna go," Ty Lee said nervously, already backing away. "I…I don't like this place." With that, she turned and skittered away.
Mai waited and waited and waited, forcing herself to breathe normally.
When the first few generals exited the throne room, no one paid her any mind. She started to relax when people kept passing her by. No one even bothered to give her a sidelong glance.
Finally, Zuko came out of the throne room, looking down at the floor as he walked. She pushed herself off of the pillar, walking along with him.
"So, how did it go?" she asked him.
"When I got to the meeting, everyone welcomed me. My father had saved me a seat. He wanted to next to him." He paused, looking up at the portrait of Firelord Ozai, larger than life right in front of them. "I was literally at his right hand."
"Zuko, that's wonderful!" Mai said. "You must be happy!"
Zuko gazed up at the portrait of his father, unable to see it the same way. He'd never be able to look at his father the same way again. "During the meeting," he said, "I was the perfect prince. The son my father wanted." He tore his eyes away from the picture, looking down at his feet and closing his eyes. "But I wasn't me."
Mai put a hand on his arm.
"So you're disappointed?" she asked him.
"No…yes…maybe…I don't know," Zuko said, shaking his head. "All I know is that…" he paused, and took a deep breath. Mai waited for him to continue. Her brows knitted the longer he waited to speak.
"All you know is what?" Mai asked him.
"All I know is that war meetings are awful," he said, and walked away from the portrait.
Mai decided to follow him, looping his arm around his. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked him.
"No," he said. "I'm…not in the mood to talk."
"Why not?" Mai asked. "Haven't you been waiting your whole life to finally be invited to a war meeting?"
"Yes. But it's…not what I was expecting. I wasn't expecting to come out of it feeling so empty inside. Or feeling so conflicted," Zuko said. He stopped walking, and looked her in the eye. "I don't feel like myself anymore." He paused, and looked out at the sky. "Of all the mistakes I've made…" he whispered.
"Zuko?" Mai asked.
He gave her one last look, kissed her, and then began walking away.
Little did Mai know that that was the last time she would see him before the war ended.