Author's Disclaimer: I don't own a thing belonging to "Avatar: the last Airbender!" Nothing. Nada thing.
Author's Notes: We're about to get plot-pointy again, my lovelies :P Stay strong! Sorry if this is abit short. More is coming in the very next chapter, I promise :P Work is crazy this time of year.
Maraghoul: OOohhh yeah Mai is pissed :P Glad you liked that line! It literally jumped onto the keys :P I swear I'm making Michi OOC but more how a realistic mother would act :P The reveal of the hot and sweaty fun is coming :P
Harley Quinn Davidson: Well ask and ye shall receive :P Enjoy.
QueenTyzula: Well Queen T, this is another more transition-y chappie, but hopefully some of the truer writing is here :P I had fun on the Iroh part. Some of my personal discoveries about social interactions are jotted in his thoughts.
"Stoking the fire"
Chapter eighteen "Expecting tidings"
Mai parted her robe, but kept her hood up, hiding her features. The bent old woman lit two candles, but Mai wouldn't allow any more light. She couldn't afford to be recognized in this dim room in the far reaches of the palace.
"Let me see, child," the woman said. She cupped Mai's breasts and Mai started. The woman tsked her and ran her hands to her slim torso, and drew her fingers back, as if kneading the air around her. Mai waited, holding her breath.
"Yes, your chi is certainly agitated…." The woman murmured. She laid her palms over Mai's middle and smiled. "Congratulations, your chi has doubled."
Mai bit her lip. She didn't smile; she didn't thank the woman for the news. She merely pulled her robe closed and offered the woman a stack of gold coins for payment. The woman bowed and departed, leaving Mai to the dank room and her equally dank thoughts.
Pregnant. She was pregnant. With Azula's pup, not Zuko's. Mai wanted to laugh about the irony of everything. She and Azula had almost clawed each other to pieces through their joining; there was not one ounce of emotion between them. She was married to the Fire Lord and she was going to have his sister's pup. Agni help her, she'd really done it now.
Mai snuck out of the discarded chamber and made her way back to her family's apartment. Rummaging in the small kitchen they kept, she sorted vials and found the one she was looking for. Kajihana. She could make a tea of it right now and rid herself of her problem. Her eyes darted, searching for the kettle in the kitchen. Dizziness made her vision swim and Mai leaned against the counter. She closed her eyes and opened them slowly.
Mai's fingers shook as she read the characters over and over. She had seen Zuko and Ty Lee share a look across the courtyard that day and she growled in her head. Zuko had stayed away from his concubine, but if he was looking for a pat on the head, he wasn't going to get it from her.
And Ty Lee…..well, she wouldn't be the only one pregnant around here. Zuko was going to have to scramble to save face. That's if she wanted him to save face with her. Mai sighed and regarded the heavy jade ring on her left hand.
She hated him currently, but she also did love him. Zuko was that blend of infuriating and loveable; right now, he definitely fell into the former rather than the latter. But her heart still hurt whenever she thought of him. Well, she'd still have to tell him the news.
What Zuko chose to do with it would decide their future together.
Mai grumbled to herself and set the vial back in the cupboard. The cupboard door creaked as she closed it firmly, and backed out of the kitchen.
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
"You miss him, don't you?" Ying guessed. Ty Lee pulled at her robes, holding it from her still flat middle.
"Is it that obvious?" she asked. She DID miss spending time with the Fire Lord, but their time apart made Ty Lee definitely certain of something. She did love Azula, even if her actions had been somewhat self-involved since she became pregnant with "Zuko's heir." Ying took her elbow and they walked arm in arm through the palace corridors.
"I'd hazard he misses you too," Ying smiled. "You don't have to be in love to feel close to someone."
"I do want him to be happy," Ty Lee admitted. "If this business with Mai doesn't continue favorably, I might have to talk to her."
"Doesn't she hold an arsenal of knives?" Ying questioned. "Is that a wise decision, Ty?"
Ty Lee laughed shakily. "I still have my chi blocking. We're evenly matched."
"I don't know, Ty Lee. I still think you should let her cool her heels. When she wants to talk to Zuko, she will," Ying suggested. Ty Lee sighed.
"I wish I could just take away their worries. Even if I caused them….." Ty Lee felt ashamed about the deceit. She would do what Zuko wanted and if he wanted to tell her, she was behind the decision.
"Things will get better," Ying suggested.
Ty Lee lifted her head and caught sight of Zuko ahead. The Fire Lord was dressed in his casual red robes, indicating no council meetings that day. His eyes rose and met hers. They stopped and regarded each other. Ty Lee finally jutted her chin out and marched bravely up to him.
"Ty Lee," Zuko gave a half bow, stammering. Ty Lee crossed her arms and tapped her foot.
"Come on. We're playing a game of Pai Sho, and if your wife doesn't like it, she can talk to me," Ty Lee declared. Ying smiled as Zuko stumbled after, being dragged by one arm by the acrobat.
"I doubt she'll like us playing a game. Even if Ying is there," Zuko amended, glancing at the Kyoshi Warrior. Ying smiled widely.
"If she can't handle a game, she's stupid. And besides, maybe it may jar her to just talk to you already," Ty Lee ground out. They made their way back to Zuko's chambers and sat in a corner of his sitting room. A very expensive- looking Pai Sho board was set there and all three knelt at opposite sides of the round table.
"Flip for first turn?" Ty Lee asked. Zuko held his hand out.
"Rock, paper, scissors," he suggested. Both thrust their fists out three times then revealed a symbol. Ty Lee snickered and plucked at Zuko's wrist playfully.
"I go first. Set 'em up, Zu," she grinned. Zuko smiled warily. He was slowly beginning to feel more like himself.
Ying rested her chin on one gloved hand as she watched the game begin. After first match, she took Zuko, who had won. Ty Lee sat beside Zuko and smiled cheerily at him. He raised an eyebrow at her and made first move against Ying.
Ying grunted and moved her tiles in response to Zuko's subtle attack. She sighed. "You've been playing a lot longer than me."
"Since I was small," Zuko grinned. "Uncle would make me."
Ty Lee ran her fingers down Zuko's back, fingers skimming over the fabric of his robes. "See, you're smiling for a change."
Zuko gave her a rueful smile. "You'd be down too if you wife wanted nothing to do with you."
Ty Lee understood what he meant, but it sounded close to hinting she WOULD have a wife, same as him. It made her mind flash to Azula, of course. Her eyes lowered sadly.
"Will you tell her if she comes around?"
"I want to," Zuko said firmly. "If you're okay with it…."
"We should have told Mai from the start. She wouldn't have left," Ty Lee insisted. Zuko smiled warmly at his erstwhile concubine.
"Always so honest. That's what so great about you, Ty," he said. Ty Lee blushed.
"Well, Mai still loves you. That's a hard emotion to turn off. We'll get her talking to you again," Ty Lee said. Zuko waved a hand.
"I'll keep trying. Just give her room. I don't want her attacking you. You're pregnant." Zuko's eyes flashed to her middle. Ty Lee laid a hand over her stomach.
"She won't," she said, but she wasn't so sure. Ying raised an eyebrow at her.
"Well, thanks for cheering me up. I know I've been avoiding you. I just don't feel like I'm ever doing the right thing anymore," Zuko confessed. Ying looked away as Ty Lee touched his cheek softly.
"You always try to do the right thing. It's more than anyone tries to do," she said. She counted Zuko's small smile a victory.
When Ty Lee and Ying left the Fire Lord's apartments, she figured the servants knew she had been there and would deliver the news to Mai. Well, that may get the ball rolling so to speak.
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
"You're looking paler, my lady. Are you alright?" Suki asked. Mai sighed. She leaned into the back of the sofa in her family's sitting room, resting her chin on one palm.
"I wish I could say yes. But certain events have….come to pass," she said idly. Suki raised an eyebrow.
"If you need anything, I'm here. Zuko is too," Suki suggested. Mai's face went flat at the mention of her husband.
"If you like him so much, you hang out with him," she said sarcastically. Suki flushed but she was half inclined to take the Fire Lady up on that offer.
"You should talk to him sometime. He misses you," she said as gently as could be managed. Mai flushed and crossed her arms. She sank into the back of the sofa. One of her favorite servants knelt beside the sofa and leaned in close to whisper to her.
Mai glowered. Apparently, the servant had seen Zuko leaving Ty Lee's chambers the other night. Stay away from Ty Lee, her ass.
"He's sure shown it," she muttered. But she remembered the gentle way Zuko tried to politely speak with her since she got back. He'd knocked up his concubine; she knew he'd spent the night at Ty Lee's apartments. He couldn't keep away from her apparently. "Hmph."
Suki made a half bow and turned to leave. "I should patrol."
"Okay," Mai waved a languid hand. As the Kyoshi Warrior left, Mai tilted her head back and followed the lines in the ceiling. 'What should I do?' she thought. Knowing she was pregnant by Azula was enough to give her fits. The princess had been a fantastic fuck, but to carry her child? Well, it wasn't like she could be impregnated by Zuko.
But he had been able to get Ty Lee pregnant… there was a missing piece to this puzzle that wasn't connecting somewhere. There was something more here, and Zuko and Ty Lee knew what it was. Mai knew she'd uncover the truth. She set a hand to her middle, riding out the waves of her nausea. Her mind went over Zuko's face, memorizing every detail of his smile, scar and flashing golden eyes.
'Well, dear husband, you're going to have to accept what's happened. Since you wanted me to accept taking Ty Lee for your own,' Mai thought with contempt. Her mood soured as her thoughts darkened.
Zuko would get his talk sooner than he expected. It gave her a sliver of satisfaction to know he wasn't going to enjoy it in the slightest.
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
8
Iroh frowned. The guards he passed in the main corridor had snapped to attention fast enough, but they had been whispering about something. Sidling closer without being seen, he heard snatches that were gravely disconcerting. Iroh had heard 'time', 'attack' and 'ready.'
Stringing the words together was disconcerting enough. Iroh had a gut feeling some of the palace guards were barely making the motions to satisfy the royals and guessing the reason why was alarming to say the least. He and Zuko had a lot to discuss if they were going to safeguard his reign.
Iroh smiled widely, waving to the guards, setting them at ease. His demeanor gave off he hadn't heard anything and playing the jovial fool often put people off that you were in the dark about everything. He strode along, brows pulling low as he went over strategies in his head.
Zuko emerged from his apartments, rather late for the day, and Iroh raised an eyebrow. Zuko for his part, looked startled, even though he was the Fire Lord. He shouldn't be embarrassed about what he did.
"Uncle," he said sheepishly. Iroh's eyes were sharp though his smile was kind.
"Walk with me, Zuko," he suggested. The two men took off, and Zuko had to quicken his pace to keep up. For being a round man, Iroh set a hard pace.
"Slow down, Uncle! What's the hurry?" Zuko asked, trying to jest. Iroh flashed him a look that commanded obedience. His robes flurried with his movements.
"I'm trying to help you, nephew. Come…." They zig-zagged through the corridors, past the royal family apartments, past Iroh's chambers, to a far flung sitting room. Iroh opened the double doors and ushered Zuko in. "Check the corners," he ordered. Zuko gulped. He looked high into the corners and ceiling edges, looking for openings to hidden passages.
Iroh clapped the door locks, and shuttered the window. He opened the doors of wardrobe in the corner of the sitting room and ran his hands over the panel of wood at the rear. No hidden catches or entrances. He closed the wardrobe doors.
Zuko lifted the rug in the center of the room. Only smooth stone was beneath and he set the rug half in place with his boot. "Want to tell me why the secrecy, Uncle?"
Iroh sat down cross-legged in the center of the room. He sighed as she shifted his weight on one hip. "The palace guards are plotting something. I would say it's just a hunch, but I overheard quite a few holding a private conversation."
Zuko gaped at Iroh, looking troublingly surprised. "They wouldn't dare try and overthrow me! By whose authority would they have to try and remove me?"
"Azula's, I'd guess," Iroh raised an unamused eyebrow at his nephew. Zuko tugged his robes around him as he settled cross-legged on the rug. He ran his fingers through his bangs, gasping in frustration.
"That would make her coup so easy. Gain the palace guards, and find easy entrance. We can't dismiss and replace all the royal guards; the Kyoshi Warriors aren't enough to man the entire palace!" Zuko complained.
"We are lucky to have such great friends. No, we can't tip our hand and replace all the guards we suspect. I may suggest we leave them to their plotting," Iroh suggested. Zuko flashed worried eyes to him.
"But, Uncle, that is a terrible idea! They'll try and overthrow me, and what about my family…..Ty Lee…. The baby…. Who will keep them safe? They could strike at any moment!" he complained.
"Yes, in our position as royals, one must always look over their shoulder," Iroh said gently. "Zuko, it is a worry, and it will never truly go away. Trust me on that. You will learn how to balance this fear."
Zuko held his head in both hands and groaned out loud. "How can I put this on Mother? On Kiyi and Ty Lee? On Mai…." His words faltered at the mention of his wife. "Uncle, how can I act like I don't suspect what they're plotting?!"
Iroh rode out the flash of anger. Zuko's temperament had improved over the past few years, but for an instant he was reminded of the impatient youth he had taken under his wing. Frustration and fear made his words angry. He would help him through as he always had.
"You must. You must because you have to, Zuko. You're going to be a father. You know there are more responsibilities that will be expected of you. This is one of those. You must bear the bad as well as the good," Iroh said sagely.
Zuko twiddled his fingers, looking grossly guilty all of a sudden. He swallowed hard and it galled him to no end that Iroh was kept in the dark about the truth of Ty Lee's baby's paternity. Maybe one day…. "I have to….I have to, to keep them safe," he said softly.
Iroh nodded. "Take heart, Zuko. I don't advise to procrastinate; far from it. Aside from not tipping our hand, we're going to place safeguards for you. When coups were attempted in the past, the rebels either would storm the royal apartments or the throne room. I suggest if we know it will happen, that you be in the throne room. There's a private chamber behind the throne you can abide in if you need to wait out actions."
Zuko frowned. "But the throne room is a dead end. The corridor is long enough, but I'll be trapped back there. Uncle, how will this help?"
"Because we're going to set traps through the corridor outside the throne room," Iroh's eyes flashed with determination. Zuko's eyes widened.
"What did you have in mind?" he asked.
Iroh chuckled. "The corridor leading to the throne room is almost a league long and eight men abreast. It will be an apt trap. We'll set up trip wires to detonations. Azula's coup will be taken down through fire."
Zuko nodded. "Can we select engineers who will be secretive about this?"
"Yes," Iroh said. "They can begin the trip wires at night and we can order the guards to patrol other parts of the palace."
Zuko's eyes flashed. "If anything goes down, the Kyoshi Warriors will bring my family to that back chamber in the throne room. Ty Lee and Mai as well. I won't have them captured or hurt."
"I'll ensure they make it there," Iroh promised. He and his nephew regarded each other with a tired gaze.
"I know not everyone accepts my rule, but I thought with the announcement of Ty's pregnancy, everyone would be placated. Not everyone will be, ever," Zuko decided. He balanced his elbow on his upturned knee and sighed.
"Summer's nearly over, nephew. We must be ready," Iroh said gravely. He settled his hand on Zuko's head as if he were still a child. Zuko smiled ruefully up at him.
There was a knock at the sitting room door and Iroh climbed to his feet with a groan,
"Who is it?" he commanded. A servant's muffled voice came from the other side.
"Pardon my intrusion, Lord Iroh, but is the Fire Lord present? Someone wishes to seek his audience alone," the woman called. Iroh frowned.
"Yes, he is here. Who wants to speak with him?" Iroh was about to command the servant to tell the recipient to request an official audience in the throne room but the response made him change his mind.
"Lady Mai."
Zuko started and scrambled to his feet. He smoothed out his long robes rapidly. "Let her in."
Iroh opened the door and the servant bowed lowly to him.
"My lady is without; pardon me, my lord," she said. Mai sidled up behind the servant and released her with a touch on her sleeve. The servant departed down the hall.
Iroh bowed to Mai, smiling widely. "He's all yours, my lady. You are looking radiant as ever."
Mai smiled a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Thank you, Iroh."
Iroh departed and shut the door firmly behind him. What went on was for his nephew's eyes and ears alone.
Zuko clasped his hands in front of his waist, looking like a forlorn school boy. "Mai… you came."
Mai's heart lurched. She could recall the days that didn't seem too long ago where she would gladly go into his arms. Not now. Especially not after what she needed to talk about.
"Only to let you in on some news I found out," Mai retorted. She fidgeted with the sash on her robe.
Zuko strode closer. He tried to take her hand. She jerked her hand from his. "No, Zuko, don't touch me. I doubt you'll want to anyways," she laughed bitterly.
Zuko's lips pursed together, his eyes wide and sad. Something very wrong was going to happen and the hairs on the back of his neck rose in dreaded anticipation. "What is it, Mai? What's wrong? I can help, no matter what it is…."
Mai flashed hating eyes to him and stabbed a finger at his chest. Zuko winced. "You really want to know? You really want to know what's going on?"
"I asked," Zuko gently urged her. Mai laughed sharply.
"FINE. I'm pregnant."
8
8
8
8
8
8
Aang sat up straight as if jolted by lightning. He and Katara were staying at Yu Dao and he had taken time out to meditate on the shore. He opened his eyes and exhaled, staring at the horizon where sky met ocean. He was involuntarily faced toward the Fire Nation islands and that was where the string of static had come from.
"I hope you're okay, Zuko…." Aang muttered to himself. He heard footsteps and the Air Nomad craned his head over his shoulder. Katara pulled her shawl over her shoulders and smiled down at him.
"Finished, Aang?"
"Yes…" Aang held his arm out and Katara cuddled beside him. His grey eyes were troubled. "Would you be up for a trip back to the Fire Nation?"
"Sure," Katara said. "Did Zuko write us?"
"No….but I have a feeling he needs us," Aang said.
End for now
End notes: Music asides: "Urgent" by Foreigner (why, cause everything is so uuuurgent!) , "Twilight zone" by Golden Earring, "If you leave" from the movie "Pretty in Pink", "One in a million" by Bosson for Zuko's thoughts to Mai, and "Breathe Easy" b'y Blue for the whole mess of a situation. This situation called for 'we're in a mess' songs! :P
Oh, and the sitting room is the one from chapter one! Teehee. Like it, smash that button, do that review thing! :P
Most sincerely, pen
12/04/2016