A/N: In my last submission I received an anonymous review about how I said Mai's name was pronounced. Honestly, it's pronounced both ways—and can be pronounced "meh" too—but after doing some extra research (which I almost always do before writing anything) I found out her name pronounced as "my" was more correct—and favored—than "may." Though everyone is allowed to have their own opinion considering there is no real right or wrong way considering you can't as Mai herself (considering she if fictional).

Thanks to the previous submission's reviewers Alabaster86, Kimjuni2, and anon reviewer Tea for Two!

Notes:

+ Zuko lives with his father and Azula

+ Azula is not totally psychopathically cruel, but she doesn't care for Zuko

+ The Gaang attends high school along with Zuko, Mai, Azula, Ty Lee, Suki, Haru, and Jin

Seniors: Zuko, Suki, and Sokka

Juniors: Mai, Haru, and Jin

Sophomores: Azula, Ty Lee, and Katara

Freshmen: Aang and Toph

+ There is a mention of one-sided Jinko

+ No bending

+ There IS drug usage

+ Slight language

I do not condone the actions displayed in this submission. Drugs are NOT the answer.

Modern

Zuko begrudgingly stuffed the textbooks he didn't need into his locker, slung his backpack over his shoulder, slammed the door shut, and walked down the hall, hands in his hoodie's pockets and staring at the ground. Laughter broke through the air and Zuko found himself looking up at the familiarity of it. Jin stood with her new boyfriend, Haru, and the rest of her friends, Sokka, Suki, Katara, Aang, and Toph. They were all always so happy and it never failed to piss him off.

I'm sorry, Zuko. I can't pretend anymore; I just never loved you.

Her words rang throughout his brain and he quickened his pace out of the school. As he rushed out everything seemed to be tilted on its side, making him dizzy. Stumbling slightly, he made his way into an alley and leaned up against the wall before slowly sliding down to the ground. Glancing at his hands, he noticed they were shaking violently. Zuko fumbled with something in his pocket and finally produced a pill bottle.

His hands continued to shake as he popped the lid and quickly swallowed two of the pink pills. Zuko clenched his teeth together, hands gripping his head roughly, as he waited for them to kick in.

About five minutes later his shaking finally stopped and Zuko could feel himself calming down. Fifteen minutes later he found himself fully under the drug's spell. All former tension was erased and Zuko felt almost genuinely happy. Grinning slightly to himself, Zuko stood up feeling… powerful.

A laugh bubbled out of his throat as he saw what appeared to be fire floating in his hand. Zuko experimentally tossed it back and forth; his grin growing wider as he noticed it wasn't burning him. He clenched his fist shut, killing the flame, and jogged his way out of the alley.

Even though it was slightly dark outside, Zuko could see almost as well as if it were midday. He seemingly danced around the street before making his way home. A small black car was parked in his driveway and he knew Azula had her friends over for the weekend. Dad was off somewhere being the president of some big company so Zuko and Azula typically had the house to themselves.

As he walked in the front door, he called out obnoxiously, "Honeys, I'm home!" Azula and Mai were seated on the couch and Ty Lee was seated at their feet on the floor. His sister rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"I hate when my brother gets high… He becomes more annoying than usual."

Ty Lee giggled behind one hand. "I think he's funny like this; his aura is the complete opposite of his normal blackish gray one." Mai didn't say anything, just stared at her nails.

I hate when he does this. I also hate that I'm the only one who cares why he does this. Azula could care less about Zuko and Ty Lee thinks it's so goddamn funny.

"I bid thee farewell!" Zuko did a salute and a bow before he ran off into the kitchen.

Azula continued filing her nails like she was doing before her brother interrupted. "Just ignore him girls. He'll be back to his moody depressed self in the morning, only with a headache."

They could hear Zuko messing around in the kitchen, a loud thud followed by an "oops!" and then his feet pounding up the stairs. Ty Lee turned back to her job of painting Azula's toes. "It's going to be hard to do that. He always gets so loud and obnoxious like this." She noticed Mai kind of keeping to herself and being more quiet than usual. "What wrong Mai?"

Mai sighed and then stood up and made her way to the staircase. "I'm going to go talk some sense into him." As she walked away she could hear Azula "ooh!"-ing and Ty Lee singing "Zuko and Mai, sittin' in a tree!" Honestly, they were both in high school, but sometimes Mai could swear neither of them ever left third grade.

Mai made her way to the door where she could hear some music playing and knocked. The door was immediately flung open and Zuko sudden stood in front of her with a large smile. Remember, this isn't normal Zuko behavior… She had to remind herself, but she could still feel herself becoming a pile of goo at his smile.

"Hello Mai! Come in!" Without giving her a choice, Zuko grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his room. She was set on the bed carefully and he dropped himself haphazardly in a swivel chair. "So, what's up?" Zuko asked as he spun around one way and then the other as the chair got either too high or low.

Mai immediately crossed her arms and gave him a glare. "Why do you do this to yourself?"

He turned large questioning eyes on her. "Do what?"

She ground her teeth together and hissed out in irritation, "You know what I mean. Give it to me now." That got him to pause and Mai thought he was going to fight her on it.

"Okay!" Well that was easy. Unfortunately, Mai and Zuko had different thoughts on what he was supposed to be giving. He leapt out of the chair excitedly and was in front of her in the blink of an eye. Before Mai could question what he was doing, Zuko grabbed the sides of her face and smashed their lips together.

Mai's eyes widen slightly before she slowly closed them. Sure, it wasn't how she pictured her first kiss with Zuko as it was entirely sloppy, there was too much teeth, and—oh yeah! Zuko was completely high! Even though she really didn't want to, Mai put her hands on the boy's shoulders and pushed him away. Rubbing at her now swollen lips, she glared at the teen across from her.

"You—you know that's not what I meant!"

Zuko looked broken hearted as he stared at the floor and played with the hem of his shirt. "But I thought—"

"Zuko!" He snapped his head up. "Look, just give me the bottle, okay?"

He smirked at her suddenly, all signs of sadness gone. God, he changes emotions quicker than a PMSing teeny bop! "Only if you kiss me again."

Mai felt her cheeks heat up, but continued to glare; which had to look kind of weird together. "What?"

"I'll give you the bottle if you promise to kiss me again!" He said with such a tone as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

"O-Okay." The smile returned to Zuko's face and he stood up and began digging in his pockets. After a moment he produced the bottle and handed it to her in triumph. "Thank you." He continued to look at her expectantly. He was serious… "Um…" Gathering up her nerve, Mai strolled over to Zuko and promptly pecked him on the cheek. "There. Happy?"

Zuko glared at her with his arms crossed and a pout on his lips. "You promised me a kiss!"

"That was a kiss! You just didn't specify where or how… intense." Mai smirked realizing she now had full control.

His arms fell to his sides and his hand clenched into tight fists. "You're going to kiss me again. Properly."

Mai smiled. "No." The look on his face when she defied him was priceless and she had to suppress a very unMai-like giggle.

His bottom lip pushed out into a pout again. "Please?"

The teenaged girl sighed and motion him over. "Come here." And again his mood changed in flash; Zuko grinned as he sat next to her. Mai put her hands on his shoulders again, but instead of pulling him closer she pushed back onto the bed. "You need to sleep."

"What? Why?"

"You need to get that morphine out of your system. Now go to sleep. I'll still be here when you wake up."

Zuko promptly yawned. "Okay." Then he turned over onto his side and practically fell asleep right away. Now THAT was easier than expected.

Zuko woke up the next morning completely miserable. His head pounded relentlessly, his mouth felt dry, he was still wearing the clothes he wore yesterday, and looking at the clock it said it was already past noon. Sitting up, Zuko started digging in his pockets. After a few moments he began to look more vigorously including all around his room. Where is it?

As he looked he didn't noticed the footsteps that stopped in his doorway. "Looking for something Zuko?"

He looked up and saw the smug look on Mai's face and automatically knew she had his stuff. "Mai, give it to me. I need it."

She gave him a challenging look in return. "No."

"You don't understand—"

"I do understand Zuko!" Mai interrupted. "You're destroying your life! Do you even remember what happened last night, or all of yesterday for that matter?" Zuko looked down in shame. "No, you don't! This addiction is killing you and I can't stand by and let it happen!"

Something had hitched in Mai's voice that made him feel even guiltier. "Mai… I'm sorry." She didn't look up at him. "Mai…"

"No, I'm done with this. I'm done with you." She started to walk away.

"Please don't leave me!" Zuko was a little embarrassed by how weak he sounded, but he couldn't let one of the best things walk out of his life. "This… withdrawal is going to be hard… I-I need someone to hold me down to this earth or I'll just—I'll relapse."

Mai turned back around and genuinely smiled at him. "Thank you. That's all I ever wanted." With that she pulled him close and into a hug. When he pulled away, Zuko put a hand under her chin and lifted up her face… and kissed her.

Mai smiled against his lips. Now this is more like it. Her hands threaded through his hair and pulled them both closer together. Both of their tongues battled for dominance and after what felt like eternity—which was really only a couple of seconds—each pulled away breathing heavy.

"I think I found my new addiction." She glanced up at him curiously. "Your lips." With a small bark of laughter Mai punched him in the arm before rest against his chest. After a few moments of silence though Zuko had to go and break it by being his normal stupid-boy self.

"So… what did I do last night?"

*I do NOT encourage the use of drugs.

I am so happy with how this came out. Truly, this is like the best Maiko moment I have ever written and I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I liked writing it. Please leave some feedback and I'll "see" you again tomorrow with the next prompt. Thanks for reading!

Luna