Aang was getting too good. She had woken up with flowers neatly braided into her hair for the past couple of days and Mai had no idea how he got away with it without waking her up! It was seriously going to make her crazy. No way someone was so good they could mess with her hair without waking her up, she was a notoriously light sleeper.
Rising up from their shared sleeping bag, Mai ran a hand through her hair. Just like she thought, there were flowers interlaced into it. Mai released a sigh, but not for the usual reasons; it was a sigh of contentment. When Aang had come a couple of months ago to pick her up for a date he found Mai at her mother's flower shop making an elaborate bouquet. Aang instantly began asking questions ranging from what her favorite flower was to what was the best way to grow firelilies. That was the only time in her entire life Mai had actually considered ending the life of the world's savior, but at the end of his questioning she settled for threatening her boyfriend and swearing him to secrecy. Spirits, if anyone found out about her fondness for flowers her entire reputation would be tarnished; not even Azula or Ty Lee knew about it! All this led to Mai's current situation with flowers in her hair.
Mai rose up to her feet and tightened the orange-black sash around her waist. She walked out of their tent and spotted her boyfriend lazily bending the air around him while he rested on Appa. A smile slowly creeped on to her face as she kept watching Aang bend; it was always such a precise show of power no matter how much he kept a leash on it. Mai would never admit it to him, but it was quite the charming sight, especially when his muscles flexed and con-
"Enjoying the show my lilac?"
Immediately Mai turned and looked around, trying to find something to look at so she could hide her blush and wouldn't have to see Aang's smug grin.
"Oh don't be like that, get clover it." Aang said, stopping his bending and rising to his feet. He slowly walked over to her. Mai on the other hand took a few seconds to pause and then his words sunk in. He just made a flower joke. Oh no…
"You did not just make a flower joke," Mai turned around and deadpanned.
Aang brought up a hand and rose two fingers. "Two actually," he reapplied while sporting a large lopsided grin.
Mai released a sigh and pointed to her hair. "You mind explaining how you got all of this into my hair so neatly without waking me up? Did you drug me?" She accused Aang with a narrowing of eyes.
"Do you feel drugged? I promise I didn't do anything. I'm an airbender and like Toph always says; I'm light as a heather. All of it comes very naturally to me" Aang supplied.
Mai hardened her gaze for a second, the third floral joke was not lost on her at all. She exhaled and let out another sigh in acceptance. Mai actually enjoyed waking up to the smell of flowers and they couldn't get any closer than her hair. She was just really annoyed by the fact Aang could sneak around and surprise her no matter what, but she couldn't get away with surprising him in the slightest. "Okay. Can you at least clean the flowers out of my hair so I can wash up? You can put new ones back in later, but you will have to take them out again before we get to the palace. Our friends learning would mean the destruction of the carefully crafted persona I have cultivated over the years."
Aang smiled and raised a hand over his chest. "Oh I would never Mai. That would be a betrayal of our love." Aang announced dramatically to her. Okay, was Aang seriously trying to get himself pinned to a tree for the entire day?
Mai snapped her fingers in Aang's face and gestured to her hair. "So are you going to undo your handy work or am I going to have to rip flowers out of my hair?" He answered by gesturing to Appa for her to sit down. Once Mai sat down, Aang moved behind her and began undoing his morning's work. She allowed herself to relax and lean into his touch; taking pleasure in Aang's soft but firm hand running through her hair. One by one the flowers fell from her hair into a pile on the floor near her feet. Mai spotted Momo running over and watched him as he picked at the flowers and nibbled on them. He kept spitting them out and made sure his complaints were heard. Every single flower received the same treatment one after the other. Momo sometimes seemed like the most intelligent creature in the world, far surpassing the intelligence of a few Fire Nation soldiers from back during the war, but moments like these reminded her that at least one of her and Aang's two animal companions still was an animal. Appa on the other hand never stopped acting like he was a human; for Agni's sake the bison would roar at them if her and Aang were having sex too loud!
Finally the stream of flowers ended and Mai ran a hand through her hair. She felt no remaining pieces left in it and gave a thankful smile. "I'm off to wash. I'll be back in a few." Mai turned and gave Aang a quick peck before heading off to the near creek in order to wash up. She could already imagine Aang picking another batch of flower to put in her hair
Walking back to camp, Mai could already see the pile of freshly picked flowers Aang had undoubtedly gotten for her. She let go of the control she held over her face and gave a large shining smile. Aang had garnered that power early on in their friendship and it only grew when they started dating. Mai exhaled and continued walking to camp, anticipation building inside of her. She rounded Appa and saw exactly what she expected. There Aang was with a flower crown, braiding the sky bison's fur into incredible patterns, flowers periodically dotting the braids.
He turned to her and gave his brightest smile. "Hi my lilac. Just testing out a few new methods with Appa. He doesn't mind if I mess up a bit, 'do ya buddy?" Appa gave an agreeing below in response to Aang's question. "Some of them are fleshed out now and I'm ready to try them on you. Do you mind at all?"
Mai shook her head with a smile that she saved for Aang. "Not really. Just so long as no one sees it."
Aang gave a pout. "Why can't anyone else see you with flowers in your hair? I think you look beautiful with them Mai."
She returned a groan. "Agni above, if Zuko caught me- I don't even want to picture what Ty Lee would do -he would never let me live it down and we'd have to put Azula on the throne after what I'd do to him. And even though she's come a long way after all these years, I'm pretty sure that's a headache you don't want." The pout remained on Aang's face. "I won't make any promises right now, but when we get married I might let you put all the flowers in my hair you want." A truly radiant smile manifested on Aang's face, mainly at the idea of getting to marry Mai and spend the rest of his life with her, but the idea of people seeing Mai with hair full of flowers was also appealing. Mai's already warming heart nearly bursted at the sweeping hug Aang gave her.
"Thanks Mai. Would you like me to braid your hair now?" Aang asked.
She sat down and responded. "Yes, that would be nice Aang." Mai turned around and looked up to Aang. "I love you." She all practically beamed.
"I love you too Mai." Aang equally beamed right back at her.
Mai closed her eyes and relaxed into Aang's touch as he began his work on her headdress of bouquets.