2/??
He stared down at his feet as they scuffled along the dirt road of lower Ba Sing Se. He felt tired and unfulfilled. Lately Azula had been sending him out on small unimportant jobs; such as patrolling sections of the city with either the Dai Li or one of her friends.
Today he was teamed with Mai, a woman who would usually sit around and complain about how boring everything was. He couldn't stand someone that didn't have an idea of what they wanted, why couldn't she just appreciate that life was good for her? "Hypocrite" whispered an inner voice.
He glanced over his shoulder to gaze at the stoic woman. Her dark image seemed to absorb the surrounding light making her look more like a shadow against a bright wall. Her expression was schooled from his attempted to read her thoughts as she gazed dully down the road towards the city limits.
She turned her attention towards him suddenly causing Zuko to look forward quickly, he had been caught. Mai was now walking next to him as he had slowed down in his inspection of the cool woman. She didn't say anything in response to him looking, just turned her attention back towards their path, never once did her gaze lower.
Zuko almost stopped himself with his sudden realization that he was wrong about her. Her gaze unfaltering, Mai walked straight and tall, head facing forward towards the future. He realized that although she acted as though she was only drifting, she walked as though she knew exactly where she was going.
A snake of jealousy twisted in his gut, he clenched his hands and stared at the ground once more.
His inner voice had been right to call him a hypocrite, here he stood working for Azula to regain his honor and yet wasn't sure if it was where he really wanted to be. Mai on the other hand seemed to walk forward with a sense of calm and understanding about herself and her future.
"Mai… What do you want from the future?" he asked surprised at himself as the words came out.
She glanced over at him and then rolled her eyes in response "Do we have to have some long discussion about our hopes and dreams right now?" she asked sighing. Zuko felt his face grow a bit red.
"I was just trying to be nice, you look bored, as usual" he bit back trying to mask his embarrassment. Mai stopped walking to looked at him; Zuko found himself looking to the side to avoid her gaze. When he did meet eyes with her she carried a small twinkle in them that he had never seen before.
She looked up at the sky thoughtfully for a moment and then continued to walk again. He stepped into place with her and found himself surrounded by a more suffocating silence.
"To fulfill myself" she responded calmly after a few moments.
Zuko gawked at her in surprise. She met his stare gracing him with a small uncommon smile that reached her amber eyes. Then turned her attention back on their path "now keep walking" she ordered masking her face again.
Zuko stood rooted for a moment watching her figure move forward. He found himself enticed by her growing complexity, for she wasn't as simple as he had thought she was.
A/N I decided to start writing a series of one shots for these two. Feel free to offer suggestions of a scene you would like to see between them and I will see what I can do. :)