2 - Quiet
Days before Mai would be forced to endure explosions, assassins, and polite conversation with her ex-boyfriend, she was forced to endure pink clothes, ceremony, and polite conversation with her ex-boyfriend.
The Great Fire Flower Show began at sunrise on the 47th day of Spring, almost six months after Lady Yuying's invitation, a day said to have spiritual resonance with human romance (whatever that meant). Mai, Auntie Mura, and all of the other Flower Masters presenting at the show gathered in the bayside Royal Plaza while the sun was still hidden by the rise of the Capital Volcano. On the way, they'd passed through the start of a Love Festival in Lower Harbor City, and Mai was almost grateful for the flower show and the need to protect Zuko, if just to avoid everyone she knew prodding her to attend the festival and find herself a new boy-toy.
On the other hand, even at a Love Festival, she'd be allowed to wear her usual dark robes and hidden blades. For the flower show, a more appropriate manner of apparel was encouraged.
"You know, Auntie, I don't mind the plants themselves-" Mai suppressed a shiver as a cool early morning breeze nibbled at her bare arms and slid through the slits on the sides of her skirt to tickle her legs. "-but if I knew I'd eventually have to dress like a flower, I probably wouldn't have become your apprentice. No offense."
Aunt Mura rolled her eyes but still offered a smile. "Mai, the color pink can't hurt you. To most other people, a pink dress is just a way to celebrate the season, not a flower costume. But I do thank you for enduring this discomfort. Now, shhh, the ceremony is starting."
That was why Auntie was one of Mai's favorite relatives. Sure, they completely disagree with each other's worldviews, but she didn't consider Mai's to actually be wrong. That was refreshing. And at least Auntie had gratitude for Mai's sacrifice.
At the end of the plaza, where the big tent had been set up to house the flower show, Lady Zuzka was emerging to face the crowd. A step behind her was the unmistakable figure of a Kyoshi Warrior, but Mai couldn't make out which one from this distance. (She wasn't cartwheeling, so it probably wasn't Ty Lee.) Following in a line were (slightly) more fashionable dressers, starting with Zuzka's daughter Lady Yuying and continuing with the various Special Guests. Mai recognized a number of important people from the Caldera, as well as less-important-but-still-fairly-important personalities from the various islands of the Fire Nation.
Mai also recognized Zuko, in the place of honor at the end of the line, but she tried not to recognize her recognition. In that, she failed rather spectacularly.
She also failed to recognize the teenage girl hanging on Zuko's arm and leaning into him.
Something Mai did succeed at, though, was not making an emotionally-stunted claim that she didn't care if Zuko was involved with someone else. She did care. And seeing it hurt. She just wished very much that she didn't, and recognizing her own feelings was part of the healing process. Or something.
She hugged herself and ran her hands over her bare arms, wishing she could wear her knives.
Lady Zuzka, despite being somewhere around five hundred and seven years old (Mai was guess-timating), stood tall and raised her arms as the sun dawned over the top of the Capital volcano. "The light returns! We give honor to Fire Lord Gunh, seed of the House of Fire."
Everyone in the crowd clapped twice and bowed, simultaneously. It was pretty impressive, if you liked that kind of thing.
The crowd rose again, and Lady Zuzka answered, "We give honor to Fire Lord Yu, son of Gunh and celebrated Spirit-Cleaver."
The crowd clapped twice and bowed again, and Mai mentally did the math of how long it would take to run through the entire known dynasty of the Royal Family.
Oh, only an hour.
Wee.
But she endured it, and at least no one was telling her to look interested in what was going on. The only notable part came at the end, when Zuzka announced that everyone here should give honor to Sozin's father, great reuniter of the islands and blah blah blah, and then skipped to, "We give honor to Zuko, Lord of Peace."
Everyone clapped and bowed again.
Wooo, that was a pretty hot political take, and in the Fire Nation those could run so hot they burst into flame. Suki was right- Zuzka was really trying to butter her great-nephew up.
But, sadly for Mai's ability to stay awake, no one took that as their cue to try to assassinate Zuko. Not that she actually wanted Zuko in danger, even if that girl was still holding onto his arm, but getting into a brawl with a professional killer was all kinds of fun.
Lady Zuzka clapped three times, ending the Litany of the Ancestors. "I hereby declare the Great Fire Flower Show, 115 Year of the Rooster, Ri Wu era, as open! Attend to your arrangements, and let us bask in the beauty and energy of the flower." The old lady led the Guests of Honor back into the tent, and then the gathered Flower Masters followed.
Mai actually had to hurry to keep up with Aunt Mura as they made their way to the section of the tent where their own arrangements would be displayed. "Eager much?"
Auntie slowed - just a little bit - and let out a laugh that sounded halfway to a sigh. "I'm just nervous, I suppose. I know nothing could have happened to the display while we were out here, but- I want everything to be perfect. Selling flowers is one thing, but this- I don't get much chance to just be a pure artist."
Mai ran through her mental catalogue of Comforting Human Gestures, picked one that seemed appropriate to the situation, and patted Auntie Mura on the shoulder. Just because Mai considered flower-arranging to be nothing more than a job that put food on the table didn't mean she couldn't understand her aunt's passion for it.
Mai was a very good niece that way.
She wondered who that girl with Zuko was.
And she wished she had her weapons.
The flower show's first attendees began arriving as soon as the last of the dark was chased from the sky, and that soon became a steady stream of people claiming to actually be fascinated by flower arrangements. The really fancy people from the Caldera were probably lying, the people of more modest means from Lower Harbor City were probably actually enjoying themselves because the displays were quite impressive, and the grubby laborers from Upper Harbor City were probably split between liking flowers and just wanting to make some kind of social statement with their presence.
Mai kept to her Aunt's section of the show - or, as the sign proclaimed it, 'Mura & Apprentice Present: The Rich Energies of the Blooms of Love with Subtle Scent of Empowering Tea' - a space that was really just a square created by shelves and platforms but had been transformed by the arrangements of blossoms and fronds and seeds and petals into a little universe of color and feeling. Mai herself had designed and created a small display on the left side, just to showcase her own professional skill, but most of her role her was to help Aunt Mura with the construction and presentation of the rest. She bowed to the visitors and explained the arrangements and didn't roll her eyes at stupid questions and bad jokes.
She noticed quite a few young men and women wearing Passion Buds pinned to their clothes. They must have gotten the things at the Love Festival. A few boys even eyed Mai herself while holding spare buds, but thankfully Fire Nation society had seen fit to develop a discreet hand gesture that meant, "I'm working right now, so while I might theoretically be flattered by whatever you want to say to me, if you actually attempt to say it I will probably set you on fire and/or drain you of blood with my weapon of choice."
Handy, that.
But of course Mai didn't dare make such a gesture when Lady Zuzka, Lady Yuying, and Zuko came to view the display. Zuko had daisies sewn or glued to his robes.
And that girl was still clutching his arm, pressing tightly to her chest.
Mai looked behind Zuko, to where Suki was playing bodyguard, and glared at her. There better be an assassination attempt, and it better be deadly enough to require Mai's intervention. Suki gave a shrug even more subtle than Mai's hand gestures.
Mai and Aunt Mura bowed to the group as one, and she stepped back deferentially as Auntie began, "Welcome to my display. I am-"
"HAAAAAACHPLOOOOOOOO!"
Everyone looked over to the Kyoshi Warrior standing behind Lady Zuzka- a girl named Chijin, Mai recognized.
"My apologies." Chijin smoothly wiped her nose with her armored gauntlet and bobbed her head. "Allergies."
Mai suppressed a wince as Aunt Mura picked up with the spiel again. She was still wondering if allergies could be fatal when she noticed that Zuko had stepped away from the others to stand in front of Mai.
"Hi," he whispered.
Mai's Fire Lord was requesting a quiet conversation, it seemed. She bowed her head and whispered back, "Fire Lord."
His good eye tightened a bit at her formality. "I didn't realize you're still working for your aunt." He kept his attention moving across the floral display, obviously trying to keep this conversation deniable.
Mai raised her eyebrows and turned as if her attention was on the flowers, too, but she kept Zuko and The Girl On His Arm firmly in the corner of her vision. "I'm surprised Ty Lee and Suki haven't included it in their spy reports."
Still on Zuko's arm, The Girl blinked with confusion. "Zuko, I'm confused. Do you know the flower girl?"
Zuko huffed out a breath that Mai could feel the heat of. "Pangfua, this is Mai. Mai, this is my cousin, Pangfua. Second cousin, I think it goes? She's Aunt Zuzka's grand-daughter, and Aunt Zuzka is my grandfather Azulon's sister-"
"I understand the dynamics, thank you," Mai whispered. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Pangfua. I look forward to your Debut."
"The pleasure is mine. Thank you for your participation in the show." She had the dark hair of the royal family, not as dark as Mai's but a better compliment to the colorful clothes that seemed to the uniform of the day. Her golden eyes were big and youthful, and she batted her eyelashes as she rested her head on Zuko's shoulder. "Can you believe I only got to meet Zuko yesterday? And we're family! But he's been so kind to me. I feel like I love him already. So, how do you know my cousin?"
Zuko's face had gone as red as a royal flag by this point, and he was sporting an expression like he'd just gotten confirmation that the Avatar hadn't died under Ba Sing Se after all.
Mai, fortunately, had far too much self-respect to get hissy about the situation. She kept her voice low as she replied, "I used to serve the Royal Family during the war." And then, because she liked playing with knives, she added, "Apparently I served it for a year after the war, as well, but I had thought the arrangement more informal than that."
It took Zuko a second to catch the implication. His voice rose to something like a squeak as he said, "Mai-"
Mai caught Ladies Zuzka and Yuying turning at the outburst (and poor Chijin giving another moist-sounding sneeze) and motioned to the nearest cluster of plants. "These are called Dragon's Tears, my Lord, for the way they catch the light and glisten with a golden quality. Aside from their beauty, they have a rather wide range of meanings in the language of the flowers, including..."
As Mai rattled through her Dead Plant Trivia, she was aware of Zuko's gaze pressing at her, but her little performance was keeping him quiet. He wouldn't dare embarrass her in front of the people running this whole thing. He was a considerate person, in that way. And, she could admit, maybe he still loved her.
Too bad that wasn't enough for either of them.
Mai transitioned things smoothly back to Aunt Mura, and then the visit was over. Lady Zuzka led the group away to the next stall, Zuko trailing at the end and giving her a lingering look full of questions.
Too bad she didn't have any answers. At least, none she wanted to get into here.
Pangfua looked back, too, and wore a smile full of so much delight that even Ty Lee would have advised toning it down a little.
What a dimwit.
The rest of the day was much more boring, and by the time the show closed for the night, Mai felt like she'd fought off an entire army.
TO BE CONTINUED