Chapter 22: Dance, Dance (Part 3)

"Hey, Zuzu," Azula called, stepping into her brother's house.

"Azula?!" he said, sitting up quickly, caught completely off-guard. "You ever hear of knocking?"

She quirked an eyebrow. "You ever hear of wearing pants?"

"I'm allowed to be pantsless in my own house! It's not like I was expecting any company…"

"Fair enough," she sighed, walking over to the sofa.

He shifted over to make room for her. "Rough night?"

"What gave it away?"

"Well, you're back hours early – "

"It was a rhetorical question."

"Oh," he grumbled. "So what's bothering you then?" He lowered his voice. "Boy trouble?"

"You could say that…"

"Well whoever he is, he's an idiot."

Azula chuckled. "Well that's certainly true."

He smiled. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No," she replied, shaking her head. "There's actually something else that's been on my mind…"

"Is it the dragon thing? Because if it is, Mai felt really bad – "

"No, it's not that," she cut him off. "Although, if I were someone who believed in omens, I'd say that was a pretty bad one."

"No kidding."

"It does have to do with Mai though."

His brow furrowed.

"She wouldn't have broken my gift if she hadn't been distracted. I mean, have you ever seen her miss? Clearly something is troubling her, but every time I try to talk to her about it, she brushes me off. So I'm asking you." She looked at her brother straight in the eye. "What is going on with Mai?"

"I…" He took a deep breath before shaking his head dismissively. "I can't… I can't tell you that."

"Yes you can," she demanded. "And while you're at it, why don't you tell me why you two never hang out alone? She's your first girlfriend, right? Why don't you spend time together? Why isn't she here?!"

"We're just… not a clingy couple."

"I know you're lying."

His lips thinned into a line as the color drained from his face. He looked as if he were about to pass out.

"Zuzu, just… talk to me – "

"Okay, okay!" he blurted, suddenly bursting into tears.

Azula froze, not prepared for this outburst. She'd never been one to handle strong emotions well. She braced herself, afraid of what he could possibly tell her that would evoke such a reaction.

"The truth is…" he trembled. "Mai and I… aren't really a couple."

"What?!" she breathed.

"Sh-She's been covering for me."

"Covering for you? I-I don't – "

"Because I'm gay, okay?!"

Her breath caught in her throat. Suddenly so much made sense. She had had her suspicions before, a long time ago, but she had cast them aside when he started dating Mai. She should have realized the timing of their relationship had lined up with Ursa's visit a little too fortuitously.

"Are you happy now?!"

"Zuzu," she said calmly, draping her arms around him and hugging him tightly.

He continued to sob.

"Thank you for confiding in me."

"You c-can't tell anyone – "

"I won't, I won't. I promise." She started rubbing his back to try to pacify him. "What you said just now, that… that must have taken a lot of courage. And just so you know, it doesn't change my perception of you at all. You're my brother, and I'm proud of you."

"Thank you," he managed.

"My opinion of you couldn't possibly get any lower anyway," she teased.

"Don't make me laugh right now," he snickered through the tears.

She laughed softly, placatingly stroking his hair. "I think I get it now. You… You were afraid of what Ursa would think."

"She just came back into our lives," he quivered. "I-I didn't want to give her any reason to leave again."

"Zuko," she said sternly, pulling back to look him in the eye. "If Ursa left because of who you love, then she is not a mother worth having. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah," he whispered, nodding slowly.

"You have me, you have Mai, and you know Uncle would accept you – "

"Uncle knows."

"See? There you go. And he loves you all the same." She paused. "And you know our friends would too. N-Not that you should feel pressured to come out – you should do that when you're ready. But you know we all accept Ty Lee, despite everything else that has nothing to do with her being gay…"

He chuckled softly.

She smiled. "Mai is a good friend."

"Yeah. She is."

"But…" Azula exhaled sharply. "I don't think keeping this secret is good for her. She's… unraveling." Suddenly her mind flashed back to when Jet said he and Mai had almost kissed on Ember Island. What if Mai actually did have feelings for Jet this whole time? And what if she wanted to act on those feelings but couldn't out of loyalty to Zuko? "Wh-What if she actually wants to date someone for real – "

"Mai knows she can back out of this at any time. I'm… I'm just not ready to come out to everyone yet."

"Okay," she nodded, wiping her brother's tears away, keeping a gentle hand on his scarred cheek. That's when a dark realization hit her. "Did… Ozai…"

Slowly, he nodded. "He knew."

"Zuko…" Her eyes welled with tears, but she fought back the urge to cry as not to ruin her makeup. "How?"

He sighed. "He grew suspicious as I got older and never showed any interest in girls. He'd watch me at political functions, the way I interacted with boys my age versus girls." He lowered his voice. "And then when I was thirteen, he went through my browser history…"

"Oh no." Her face twisted. "That must have been traumatic. For both of you really."

"Yeah, well… at least he solved one of his problems."

She cocked her head.

"He made sure no one would ever love me."

"Zuko, that's not true!" she urged, grabbing a hold of his shoulders. "And you'd better not believe that – "

"It doesn't matter." He let out a self-pitying laugh. "The guy I like will never reciprocate my feelings anyway."

"What makes you say that?"

"He's straight."

"Oh."

"Yeah. It's a lost cause." He dried his eyes on his sleeve. "But you know what isn't a lost cause? Tonight. The dance. You should go back."

"I'm not going to leave you alone after all this – "

"The best way you can help me right now is go back to the dance and have fun."

"Fine," she acquiesced, "but…" She smirked. "You're coming with me."

"What? No way. I-I'm a mess."

"It will take you one minute to wash your face, five minutes to throw on a suit, and thirty seconds to brush your hair."

"B-But what about my eyes? They're all puffy…"

"I have an under-the-eye concealer that will patch that right up," she said, digging through her purse. "We should be the same skin tone…"

"Oh, what, so now that you know I'm gay, you're offering me makeup?" he joked.

"Boys can wear makeup too, dum-dum. Straight, gay, or anything in between."

"I know, I know." He smiled. "Hey… thanks for… you know, supporting me tonight. I feel so much better now. Like I can finally breathe again." He tackled her on the couch with a big bear hug.

"Anytime, Zuzu," she laughed, hugging him back. "But no more hugging. Not until you've put on some pants."

"Fair enough," he chuckled, getting up from the sofa.

"Does this mean you're going to come to the dance with me?!" she grinned.

"Give me ten minutes to get ready."

Her grin grew wider. Finally the night was shaping up.

Although… there was something her brother said she couldn't get out of her head. Who was Zuko's crush? Was it someone she knew? Was it Jet? Was it… Sokka?! That would never do. There's no way she and her brother could have a crush on the same guy. But… Zuko and Sokka did have an epic bromance. She definitely couldn't compete with that. And she didn't want to. She spent too much of her life competing, trying to be the best in everything. Now that she had a good relationship with her brother, something she never thought she'd have, there was no way she'd ruin it by competing with him for a boy.

However, it was still a pretty big "if". Seriously, what were the odds? It almost seemed ridiculous. And even if Zuko did like Sokka, Sokka was straight. Azula laughed to herself. No… when she got back to the dance, she was going to be bold and take what she wanted. She was going to ask Sokka to dance no matter what. She would physically fight Suki if she had to. But hopefully it wouldn't come to that.

"Why would you ask me that?"

Jet couldn't quite read her expression. "I don't know, I-I get you two not wanting to go to the dance, but I at least thought you'd spend the night together…"

Mai sighed. "Zuko and I are just two very independent people who enjoy our alone time."

"I don't buy it."

"What are you suggesting?" she questioned, annoyed. "T-That we're… not that into each other or something?"

He shrugged. "I was just going to say that you're not happy in your relationship."

"I'm…" She paused, averting her eyes. "…not happy."

He gave her a look of concern.

"But it has nothing to do with Zuko. He's been…" A look of fondness washed over her. "…wonderful."

"Then what is it?" he asked softly.

She shook her head, growing quiet before taking a deep breath. "Remember when we were on Ember Island and I… I told you I thought I might be gay?"

"Yeah…" His heart was pounding.

"Well, turns out…" She laughed nervously. "…I am." She nodded. "I like girls."

"Well, Mai, t-that's huge!" he congratulated. "Thank you for telling me. It's great you figured it out. That couldn't have been easy."

"It wasn't," she muttered. "Don't tell anyone, okay? I… I'm not ready for everyone to know yet."

"You got it," he nodded quickly. "I-I won't tell a soul. But…" He shifted his eyes. "…what about Zuko?"

She looked down at her lap.

"I mean, you're going to have to break up with him, right? You must be worried about hurting him…"

"Yeah…" Exasperatedly, she ran her hand over her face. "No. No. Ugh, why is this so hard?" She exhaled sharply through her mouth. "Okay, the truth is, I-I'm not worried about hurting Zuko because… he already knows."

"What?" he asked, deeply confused.

"We've been faking our relationship."

"W-Why?"

"It was his idea actually," she explained. "He asked if I would be his pretend girlfriend right before Ursa visited. He thought that if Ursa saw him being successful and in a loving relationship, he'd impress her. He just wanted to make her proud, you know? And, well, since I wasn't quite ready to come out of the closet yet, I agreed."

"So I guess it worked out for both of you."

"Yeah. But I know we'll have to 'break up' sooner or later."

"Hey, if this arrangement is working for the both of you, there's no need to rush it."

"Thanks for understanding," she smiled.

He smiled back. "So… how exactly did you figure it out? That you like girls, I mean."

"Oh, I don't know. I guess it started when I met… Ty Lee." She blushed. "She was just so beautiful and so sure of who she was, I couldn't help but admire her. At first I thought that maybe I just wanted to be her, to feel beautiful and confident for once… that's why I asked her to give me a makeover." She laughed. "I know everyone thought it was Ty Lee's idea, but it was actually mine. And it was horrible. I mean, I-I enjoyed spending that time with her, but blech, pink is such an awful color. On me anyway."

Jet chuckled.

"At least it helped me realize that I didn't want to be Ty Lee, I wanted to be with her." She smirked. "Or on top of her…"

"Ayo!"

"Anyway, now you know the truth. Zuko's been keeping my secret all along, and now you'll get to share that burden too. Yay."

"It's not a burden at all. A-And for what it's worth, you are beautiful. Just the way you are. I've always thought so. I just wish you could see what I see…"

"Thanks, Jet," she smiled warmly. "You're a good friend."

"You too." A sly grin spread across his face. "Speaking of being a good friend…"

"Oh no, why do I get the feeling you're about to ask me for a really big favor?"

"Because I am."

Her face fell. "What?"

"Come to the dance with me."

"What?" she asked incredulously. "No, Jet, how would that even help you?"

"You'd be my collateral."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Katara is probably pissed at me for being the worst date ever and leaving her, and I get the sense Azula is mad at me too for making her walk back alone – "

"Yeah, you definitely screwed up there – "

"Yeah so if I return with you, they're bound to be less upset! Everyone wants you there. Come on, you have to come with me."

"Fiiiine," she sighed melodramatically.

"Yes!"

"But first…" She got up from her bed and walked over to her desk where she started rifling through one of the drawers. She pulled out some blue square pieces of paper. "…I'm going to teach you how to make quick and easy paper roses. You're going to make a dozen of them while I get ready, and you're going to hand deliver them to Katara."

"You are… so smart. Thank you!"

"You owe her."

"Yeah," he nodded. "I know."

She handed him a sheet of paper.

"Why blue?" he asked.

"Katara likes blue. Water Tribe and all that. And besides, blue roses are cool. Now let's get started. Copy exactly what I'm doing."

Jet carefully copied and memorized all of Mai's instructions. He certainly had his work cut out for him while Mai got dressed and made up, but these roses seemed easy enough to make. He was lucky to have a friend like Mai to save his ass. And now that he knew the truth about her, he finally felt confident moving past his crush for good.

"Hey, are you almost done? I'm just about ready to go," she said as she applied some eyeliner.

"Yeah, I think so," he said, counting the paper roses. He had in fact managed to make twelve. "Uhh, just one more to do."

"Okay, hurry up."

After having repeated the same steps twelve times, the thirteenth one came out absolutely perfect. "Okay." He smiled to himself as he placed the extra rose on Azula's pillow. "Ready."

Author's Note: Dance, Dance (Part 4) will be the final chapter to take place the day of the dance.