Of Daggers and Brothers
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, or any of the characters there within; they are all property of Nickelodeon.
Mai's eyes slanted in agitation and a frown pressed into one corner of her mouth as the weight of her brother was pushed into her reluctant arms; her mother's words were tumbling out of her mouth faster than the beats of a hummerbee's wings. It took the governor's daughter a moment to comprehend what exactly her mother was going on about.
"…already late and I have told you countless times this week that we need you to keep an eye on your brother for the evening. Your father and I have been invited to a celebration in the West Quarter of the city, do you not remember?" Mai's mother looked over to her daughter in the reflection of the mirror even as she deftly did up the pins in her hair. The Governor brushed quickly past his daughter to collect his finest sash, returning just as quickly to tie it about his waist before the mirror. Tom-Tom slipped a little in Mai's grasp as he reached down at something on the floor. Her mother stooped to retrieve a fallen toy and returned it to Tom-Tom's reaching hands.
Mai's frown deepened.
"But what about the maid that usually watches him?"
"I gave her the day off, darling." Her mother said distractedly.
"And the other maid?" Mai continued in a deadpan tone.
"She's ill." Her mother replied, now leaning forward to paint her lips. "Mind his head."
Mai brought her attention to her brother who had turned himself partway in his sister's arms and was lying back at an impossible angle as if to examine the highly vaulted ceiling and the wall that joined it on the far side of the extravagant master bedroom. The raven-haired girl firmly righted the baby so that he was upright and facing front again. Tom-Tom sputtered at the action, quite unused to such rigid treatment.
"I don't recall volunteering for this." Mai said, slighted.
"You were not." The Governor of Omashu responded sternly from the girl's left, unappreciative of Mai's aloofness to the situation. Her eyes turned respectively in his direction, but the ever-present frown did not dissipate. "It is a responsibility and obligation as the older sibling to watch over him. Believe it or not, we are a family and must share certain duties to function properly. Besides, you two could use a little time to bond."
He finished with a tone that left no room for argument. Mai's brow had creased to add to the unpleasant frown on her lips. She did not need a lecture.
Mai's mother had stood, finally ready. She did a turn for her husband, sending her skirts to lift lightly in the spin. He nodded approvingly and opened his arms to present himself to his wife. She nodded also. Mai looked on impersonally. They were really going to leave her to baby-sit her little brother. "We should only be gone for a few hours, dear. Take care of your brother." She strode over to her daughter in a whisper of many finely-woven skirts and pressed a kiss to her baby's head, who gurgled; then to Mai's temple, who grimaced. The governor came forward also, rubbing Tom-Tom on the head, succinctly messing up the tuft of hair there and kissing Mai's other cheek, which had not been marred by the imprint of his wives' lip paint. Mai squinted at the action, still unable to force down a feeling of betrayal as well as a rising nausea from all the show of affection. She turned listlessly to watch her parents go. Her baby brother reached after the both of them and waved the toy his mother had given him and then accidentally dropped it. He made a suffocating sound then burst into tears with a loud wail. The noise grated on Mai's ears.
This was going to be a long night.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Resignation swept over Mai as her parents turned out of sight and she stooped to retrieve the fallen toy; a sodden ostrich-horse. Tom-Tom fell silent as he took the toy and placed the head of the ostrich-horse in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully at it then gazing up with wide eyes at his sister, who stared back mildly. His eyes traveled over her, following the long raven tresses that spilled from her head. Losing interest in the stuffed animal, he dropped the toy and reached up with a happy trill and yanked at one pony-tail. Mai inhaled sharply through her teeth at the sudden pain.
"Stop that." Mai said in hushed irritation, prying Tom-Tom's fingers from the silken strands. She grimly eyed his fist, which now held several jagged black strands. He laughed and pumped his arms happily, his sister could make such a funny sour face. Mai placed him on the ground before her, reaching back for her hair to fix the bun he had pulled loose. She ignored him as he wove between the loose garments that adorned her legs. He tugged at one pant leg from below her and she pitilessly shook her limb free, taking a few steps forward to put some distance between herself and the little nuisance.
Once her hair was back in place, she returned her attention to her brother who giggled gleefully to himself—he had found a new toy. Mai's eyes widened slightly at the sight of glinting metal; Tom-Tom had put one end of a stiletto into his mouth for a curious taste. Surprised, Mai strode forward and snatched the now sticky weapon from the baby; ignoring his distraught cries as she checked the strap on her calf. Indeed, one of her daggers was missing there.
"I can't take my eyes off you for two seconds…" Mai grumbled as Tom-Tom sniffled and reached up, the baby language equivalent of wanting to be picked up, or get a hold of her stiletto again. Mai callously folded her arms within her sleeves, studying the baby. It was because of this pest that she was ignored more often than not; he stole the affections of her parents. Not that she longed for the attention, but when she asked a question of her mother or an inquiry of her father that she would appreciate a straight answer. "What am I supposed to do with you for the evening?" she asked no one in particular. The babe's face was contorting into a wail. "You are going to cut into my training time." Tom-Tom cried and Mai raised her eyebrows at him ever so slightly. What does mother generally do in these situations? Mai had never really paid much attention on how to care for Tom-Tom. Had her parents expected her to study and gather these abilities over the years? Her brother had been little concern for her. Her interests…resided in other fields…
Mai shut her eyes; she could no longer focus on her thoughts from the constant wail of her little brother. She considered for an instant, to simply pin him to the floor with a barrage of arrows and take her leave to practice in the arena, but an image of her parent's furious faces flashed through her mind. She could not leave him.
Her shoulder's sagged as though some weight had been thrown there as she exhaled a sigh of surrender. With a roll of her eyes, Mai closed the distance between her and her brother and lifted him once again into her arms, taking care to put her hair over her back first. His crying ebbed and he instead put a thumb into his mouth, once again staring up at her with big grey eyes.
Mai thought on what to do, she preferred to be on the move if she could help it; standing still with ones back open to attack left Mai feeling most vulnerable. And besides, Mother had usually forced her on walks to entertain Tom-Tom. She glanced back once into her parent's room with a glare of contempt and exited, leaving a sad ostrich-horse toy on the floor in her wake.
Tom-Tom was proving to be a more manageable baby with the silent walk, though he was still a fidgeting in Mai's arms. At least he was no longer pulling hair, she had to contend herself with that, but now he kept trying to touch her face and she could not understand why. Shooting the baby ugly glares only seemed to amuse him.
Her private training facility did not allow children into its arena and so, armed with Tom-Tom, Mai would not be permitted to enter; although she was viciously tempted to dismiss the guards and allow him to crawl around the field while she practiced her "narrow-miss" tactics. Instead, when Mai came along the dim corridor of the projectile range, she made a hard right which led into the open night air. Tom-Tom had calmed at last in the crisp evening air as he gazed about himself in wonder.
A guard was standing post here and as Mai came abreast him, he flashed her a small smile. She narrowed her eyes at him. He nodded to her, his smile broadening into a grin.
"Out for a stroll, my lady? Will you be needing an escort?"
What business is it of yours? She thought venomously but withheld the thought.
"No."
Tom-Tom waved happily at the guard. The guard smiled at the babe then gave Mai a flirtatious wink.
"Are your parents out for a party?"
The raven-haired girl's black lacquered nails were unconsciously digging into Tom-Tom's shirt as she came to an abrupt halt; itching to retrieve a stiletto from the depths of her clothes. This guard was getting much too friendly.
"Your mother has fine taste in lip paints." He said merrily pointing to Mai's temple. The girl's eyes widened imperceptibly as she fought to keep color flooding to her cheeks. Of course, her mother had kissed her before leaving. She quickly regained her composure.
Mai glared at the guard and coldly addressed him.
"Indeed. I have neither the time nor patience for your incessant jabber. Were you not trained to speak to those of higher status than yourself without being spoken to first?" His face fell. She brushed past him without bothering to turn and address him. "My father will hear of your impudence."
She rounded the corner, taking an irritated moment to scrub the paint off of her brow. Tom-Tom shifted dangerously in the single arm that held him and Mai abruptly dropped to one knee to balance some of the baby's decent before she caught him up in her arms again. She was surprised to discover how her heart had raced in that moment. Maybe it was because how close the two of them had drifted to the edge of the metal plateau that hovered a good thirty feet above the concrete below. A gut instinct seized her for an instant to head back to the safety of her chambers, but then she would revert back to being tediously bored.
Going against the nagging intuition, Mai continued to walk at a steep ascent. They were mounting the building platforms that were positioned there to construct the omnipotent figure of the almighty Fire Lord Ozai. It had been a plan of her father in hopes that the grand ruler of the Fire Nation would look upon him in favor and approval. Mai thought it was a little ridiculous. The statue was nearly half the size of the city, seemed a waste of resources, and who precisely would come up to see it? Omashu was just an outpost; the real place to waste these types of resources was in the great Earth kingdom city of Ba Sing Se.
A light breeze wafted around Mai and, closing her eyes, she allowed it wash over her for a full moment. Unfortunately, one rogue gust sent her raven ponytails back to fall over her front and Tom-Tom was all too eager to tug at them. Weary of the babe's mischief, Mai placed her charge on the boards before her, taking a brief moment to stretch her sore arms. Sure, she practiced a lot of dagger throwing, but not even all of her weapons combined added up to the weight of Tom-Tom. It might be close in mass, but she certainly did not carry all of her knives, daggers, and arrows in her arms all at once. The stiletto's were light but durable, just as she desired them to be fashioned. Metals galvanized to perfection to perfect her art. They flew true.
An insane laughter followed by snorts then more laughter, barked into Mai's thoughts. Her light amber eyes shot up to the apex of the construction area to where the mad Earth Kingdom's king was being held captive. She frowned as she looked up to the outline of a coffin in the night air, shaking her head lightly.
Crazy old man, what does he possibly have to laugh about? Mai thought incredulously. How did a man like him ever manage to secure a position of power? And the villagers say he is a skilled earthbender, but he surrendered the instant the troops entered the city. Their heads must be full of dirt. Just how has the Earth Kingdom survived these long years?
Her eyes opened a little wider as a lilting melody reached her ears. Unsure if she was just hearing things, she strained to hear the singing over the moans of the wind.
Oh, Omashu to you we give our loyalty true,
As awesome and great as a city is large,
Withstand conflict to all; tower into the blue.
Skillfully built of two lovers—watch your charge!
The King seemed to shriek the last words to the surrounding night then collapsed into a great fit of laughter again. Mai's expression, though hardened to most anything, was now sprawled into a disbelieving grimace. What in the great name of Agni Kai was all that—
Mai spun as her gaze fell at last to the boarded planks with her brother nowhere in sight. He was not anywhere near her. In a mad flurry of movement, Mai expanded her sights to the entire platform. She spotted him at last walking hazardously close to the edge of the wooden boards that overlooked the city; the drop beyond was a good eight stories. Mai's breath caught in her throat as she lunged forward into a sprint, her hand diving into her robes to retrieve a stiletto. In the time it took lightning to flash; Mai had searched her brother for a safe spot to anchor him to the platform, fixed her eyes on it and hurled the weapon at the exact location. The stiletto flew true and hit its intended mark, Tom-Tom's left shoe, just a little behind the ankle to be precise. The tip pierced the shoe and buried into the platform just as her brother stepped over the ledge.
Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion.
Mai's thundering heart leapt into her throat as Tom-Tom disappeared over the side; she was only a few paces from him when her ears were assaulted with a ripping sound. The baby's shoe had torn on the sharp edges of the dagger. Tom-Tom was going to continue to fall.
The thought had registered itself immediately as Mai's hand plummeted once again into the depths of her clothes. She needed one, precise weapon to accomplish what she was about to do. Finding it, she ripped the tri-pointed blade from its hiding place on her hip as she continued to hurdle herself forward. Two steps, one—she leapt, throwing her legs straight out before her; she thrust the tri-point with all of her might directly into the wood. It was engulfed halfway up the blade. Her stomach was doing somersaults as she launched low over the edge of the platform.
Mai's eyes shot downward to where she had predicted her brother to be, and there he was freefalling with the most joyous of expressions on his face. She reached out her right hand to him as he fell, just barely able to snatch the front of his shirt in her long, black lacquered nails. Her arms stretched as gravity enacted on the arm that held fast to the dagger above and the arm that clutched her brother below. Tom-Tom's shirt stretched dangerously, but held as his decent was slowed. Their pitch shifted in direction as Mai's left hand clutched to the dagger above, their only lifeline, and they both swung back to the construction platforms and out of the reaching arms of death. There was enough velocity to land safely on the platform just below them and Mai took the chance. She swung her legs toward it and released her grip on the tri-point, at the same time she pulled her brother into her embrace and tucked him securely to her chest.
For another terrible, stomach wrenching moment, brother and sister freefell again before colliding with the boards below. Mai was rolled twice upon impact and she dug her shoulder into the boards before she could revolve into a third spin from the rough and tumble, still holding tightly to her little brother. Finally the pair skidded to a halt, upsetting a cloud of dust and dirt in their wake. Neither moved for a moment; Mai was just trying to concentrate on how to breathe again. Tom-Tom suddenly cried happily and wriggled against his sister, breaking free to sit on the filthy boards before her. She did not even realize her eyes had been closed as she opened them to gaze at her brother aghast. Did he find that death-defying stunt enjoyable?
Mai was so taken aback that he was not crying from the crash, that he was laughing and clapping his hands; a dry smile appeared on her features. She had to admit, that was the most exciting moment she had had in a long time.
"Was that fun?" Mai panted lightly. Tom-Tom appeared overjoyed by the whole experience. She sighed and dipped her head a moment to catch her breath. The baby gurgled and playfully tugged at one of her ponytails again, oh not too hard, just enough to be a tease. Mai looked up at him again and he gazed back innocently, a charming smile on his lips. His expression seemed to speak volumes.
I'm so glad to have you for a sister.
Tom-Tom chirruped at her, reaching his arms up. Mai rolled her eyes, unable to banish the small smile that played at her own lips.
"Come on you bundle of trouble." Mai vaulted onto her haunches and gathered Tom-Tom into her arms. Her shoulder throbbed and her arms ached, but she ignored it. Her eyes slid up to the platforms above and beyond them where the mad King Bumi was held imprisoned. It was as though he had warned her of her brother's folly in the lyrics of his song. But…why? Why trouble to help his enemies—the very same that had conquered his city and sequestered him from on high? Was he…demonstrating compassion to her? Mercy?
Mai lightly shook her head, banishing the troubling thoughts as she gazed back at Tom-Tom's smiling face once more.
"Let's head home."
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The Governor and his wife returned to their palace late that night, laughing softly and reminiscing about the evening. After removing their coats, their thoughts went to their daughter who they had left in charge for the night and their little son. The two made their way quietly to Tom-Tom's baby room. They entered quietly and crept to the crib, but they found no baby within its confines. The governor's wife gave a soft, sharp gasp. Where was Tom-Tom? She tossed her husband an anxious look and strode back into the corridor at twice the pace they had returned in to search Mai's quarters. Her door was open a crack and soft light spilled into the corridor beyond. Mai's mother knocked faintly on the elegant double doors and when no answer came she tentatively entered. The Governor followed closely behind.
She inhaled gently at the adorable sight that greeted her eyes; Mai was laid out on her back on the sofa, one hand hanging off its edge, asleep. Tom-Tom was cradled to Mai's side, sucking his thumb as he slept.
"How adorable, Xiane!" Mai's mother whispered delightedly to her husband. "They fell asleep together."
The Governor nodded, quite surprised himself to see Mai and Tom-Tom had gotten along so well.
Mai's mother moved forward to where the sleeping pair lay.
"Tom-Tom must have knocked Mai out." The Governor laughed in hushed tones. His wife hummed in amused agreement.
The babe opened his eyes groggily as his mother gently lifted him into her arms, he gurgled happily to see his mommy again. He hugged her briefly before turning in her grasp and reaching for his sister. Surprised, his mother leaned forward to give him leverage and he kissed Mai's cheek. Her eyes fluttered lightly in her slumber, but she did not wake. The Governor's wife chuckled softly to herself and pulled Tom-Tom to her once more, a look of confusion crossing her features.
A rope had been tied about Tom-Tom's middle and the other end of the rope was wrapped three times around Mai's hand that rested over her stomach. She smiled and shook her head.
"Mai, you can be such a silly girl."
Mai made no response to defend her dignity which was under attack, as the Governor stepped forward.
"Knowing Tom-Tom, the rope was probably a good idea." He rumbled, nodding in understanding as he stroked his beard.
"Oh, the both of you are silly, Tom-Tom is just an adventurous little boy, aren't you my darling?" The Governor's wife lightly kissed the sleeping babe's head, cradling him to her chest. "Just like his sister, always looking for something exciting to…"
Her words fell to the wayside as her eyes caught sight of a particularly nasty tear in one of Tom-Tom's shoes.
"Now how did that happen?"
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Author's Note: That one was so much fun to write! I had the idea for so long that Mai would be on a walk and the Mad King Bumi would be singing something or other to her. Add in Tom-Tom to babysit and that's my story! Sad thing is, I've had the bulk of it done for over a month now, but it just didn't pass my revisions. Thankfully I got to a point where it was acceptable and I'm quite pleased with it. I was spurred to write this one because no one has done anything in depth between this sibling relationship. I figure Mai does care for her brother (though she was sort of cold toward him in the episode), she just doesn't like to show it. I still believe Mai understood she was under pressure with Azula and she thought herself capable of taking Tom-Tom back by force. That's my theory and I'm sticking to it!
Ha, I think I may have been able to do better on my little Omashu anthem there, but I haven't written poetry in years...I also could not decide on a name for the Governor's wife, but I named the Govenor Xiane (Shane) for some odd reason. (Honestly can't explain it.)
I hope you all enjoyed it and will please review!
Blackfire 18