Mai is not the kind of young woman who loses control over her emotions, they are usually kept in strict order, hidden behind a porcelain mask, but now that has changed. Her hands shake with such intensity she is forced to grip the arm rest in a futile attempt to steady them. The world spins about her, a blur of multiple colors she cannot place. The young woman feels dizzy, and only her scolding thoughts manage to make the room stop whirring about.
Never has she been so overcome by emotions. Anger, sadness, anxiety… they all swirl into one coursing hurt that racks both her head and chest. The pain is sharp and jagged, like a dagger piercing her body multiple times. Her hate for her emotions increases, and the struggle for her to keep her facade up incread drastically. Weddings were meant to be joyous occasions, but happiness was not one of the many emotions struggling to break hold of her control.
She looks up to water bender, and the urge to pierce her neck with a stiletto is overbearing. She refrains from doing so, fortunately for the bride to be. Mai's pale eyes drift downward, and her eyes sting with unshed tears. No, her head screams, crying is pathetic and unbecoming, but her eyes do not listen. They water upon their own accord, the crystal drops dripping down her face, only to be irately wiped away by her sleeve.
She tries another tactic. Lying to herself. You don't care about him, she says in her head, but a louder voice disagrees. Those days after the war were not the best days of your life. The voice inside her head mocks her, and her plan crumbles to pieces. She feels unexplainably giddy at the thought of the events that took place, but it's not enough to change what's happening. Mai looks up at him, and hopes by some miracle of Agni he isn't married off to that young woman who could never care for him the way she did.
The miracle of Agni comes in the shape of a fat, balding old man with a strange obsession with tea. The man who performs the ceremony looks both shocked and angry, ‘how dare this man, no matter how important, interrupt this wedding’, his facial features scream. Iron’s voice is hoarse and scratchy from age, but it echoes throughout the crowded church. Mai remembers being a little girl, and playing Pai Sho with the retired General. Flashes of images replay in her head, and she momentarily forgets to listen to General Iroh's words.
He speaks with obvious charisma, continuing on about how marriage should be of love, not politics. The audience listens keenly to every word he speaks, and Mai sees out of the corner of her eye, the Avatar is nearly burst with joy. Flustered, those who deemed the wedding appropriate instantly retaliate about how this would help both nations, and arranged marriages are common. But not right, Iroh replies, silencing those few protesters. Everyone blinks cautiously now, all wondering, what now?
What now, Mai cannot help but wonder, and a giddy feeling of hope blooms in the place of her once swirling emotions
AUTHOR'SNOTE:
I finished my first multichap. story!-throws confetti- WHOO! Thank you RadiantBeam who helped me with the ending, and thank you to all my loyal reviewers. Without you, I'd probably stop writing. Thanks for being so patient too, I forgot about finishing this story until Radiant reminded me. Hehe. I might do an extra chapter with Iroh, I dunno.