The Best Romances

Deserve Second Chances

Chapter 5

"The Queen"

Dedicated to D0omkitty, cuz she asked for this, and I'm a man of my word.

It has been a week since Mai's murder, and the entire Fire Nation population came to mourn the death of the Fire Lady. A grand total of ten million souls flooded the Fire Nation capital to attend the funeral. Three days before the week anniversary, Mai was put in an open casket. Within those three days, those ten million souls gave flowers by the casket, and paid their respects to the fallen Fire Lady. Sokka invited his father and Katara, and Aang came on the second day of the open casket with Katara and Hakoda. Zuko personally asked Aang to take him to the Sun Warrior village to take a piece of the Eternal Flame. The Sun Warriors were reluctant at first, but they heard of the reason and purpose of the flame, they gladly gave him a piece. With a piece of the flame, he ordered a new Fire Lady ring to be made. It was made out of a rare, red gold and was embossed with jets and rubies. When the ring was finished Zuko imbued the Eternal Flame into the ring. The flame gave the ring a glow, that represented his infinite love for his Mai. Zuko returned with Aang two days after they left, just in time to be part of the funeral procession to Mai's grave site. Before the procession started: Zuko, Sokka, Toph, Katara, Aang, and Ty Lee gave a speech about Mai. The speeches were given at the Fire Lord's Coronation Courtyard, as it was the biggest courtyard in the capital. It still wasn't big enough to fit all of the people who came, but thanks to Sokka's new invention everyone could hear the speeches. Next to the podium there would be a pipe, that would pick up the vibrations in the air and transmit them underground to other pipes throughout the courtyard. The speeches were to be given in the morning and the funeral procession in the late afternoon. Ty Lee was the first to give her speech. She walked up to the podium, receiving a mixed review from the crowd. With her sweeping gown flowing behind her, she began her speech.

"Good morning Fire Nation!" she said with ill enthusiasm and a wave. She cleared her throat and returned to a more respectful tone, that seemed unnatural for her.

"Today, I lost my best friend, Mai. She was really my only true friend. She never really told me that we were friends, but I knew deep down we were, like a universal connection. We were planning on meeting each other to catch up this week, but I doubt that will happen now." she was now holding back tears, as her mind went through past events of them together, she laughed at one particular memory.

"I was just thinking of when we were kids, and I just ran away from home to join the circus, and I invited her to see my first performance. She came with her family, and when I walked out for the first time, all I heard was her clapping and cheering my name. Of course, I was on the tight rope platform, fifty feet into the air. I was told not to look down as I would become sick, but I just had to wave and smile at Mai... and I became sick, and fell that fifty feet. Luckily, the safety net was up and caught me, or I surely would have died that night. The fall still hurt me, leaving bruises on my body. I didn't go back up again, but Mai and her family still watched the rest of the act." She was crying now, as the story became more and more emotional.

"After the show, Mai came to my dressing room, where I was getting wraps on my chest to cover the bruises. I asked her,

'How was the show? Did you like it?'

'I didn't care much for it, other than your part.'

'But I fell.'

'I know I saw. Good thing you fell on your own.'

'Why is that Mai?'

'I was going to cut the rope when you were walking on it anyway.'

'Oh, Mai you make the best jokes.'

'I wasn't joking.'

I don't know why, but I'll always remember that moment in my life." and Ty Lee walked off the stage, her hands to her eyes. Toph was the next one to give her speech.

"I'm blind, but that doesn't mean I can't see a good person or not. My first experience with Mai, was when she was chasing us, a tank-train through a forest. I had just joined the group the day before, and well, before I could actually really met her, I left the group, and found Iroh. After talking some more, he convinced me to join back up with the group, who were still fleeing the tank-train. We managed to lose them, after we fought Azula in an abandoned town." the crowd hissed and booed at the mention of Azula's name. Toph put her arms out to quell the crowd and she continued.

"My first real fight with her was at Ba Sing Se, she was the one throwing daggers at me. I never knew that she turned against Azula at the Boiling Rock till after the war. Without her help at the Boiling Rock, I'm sure Zuko wouldn't be here as your Fire Lord." the crowd grew deathly quiet at the information they were being told.

"After the war, I heard Zuko and her got married. I didn't care that I wasn't invited, but when I became the 'Peace Enforcer' for the Fire Nation, I soon became very close to Mai and Zuko. She would always tell me how happy she was with Zuko, and she would tell me stories of how he was such a sweet heart to her. How he would get her flowers every weekend, and how he told her how much her loved her. Sure I took all of this in, but on the day Mai was found dead...Zuko became so...distraught, that I thought he wasn't himself. He just there holding Mai's body in his hands, crying. At that moment all of those sappy, love stories she told me, finally hit home. Zuko really loved Mai with all of his heart, and I'm sad to see her go." Toph walked off the stage, and went to stand next to Ty Lee. Katara was next, and she walked onto the stage, the crowd clapping at her beauty.

"As many of you know, I'm Katara. When I first heard about Mai's death, I was deeply stricken down. Mai was like a sister me. Sure, we were considered enemies at first, but over time, we became to know each other quite well. We told each other everything. How Zuko helped the Avatar and me. Outside of the group, Mai was the only one who knew that Zuko helped me. I told her that my mother was killed during a Fire Nation raid when I was still a young kid. When Zuko heard of this, he offered to help me receive closure, by finding the man who killed her. With his help, we learned that he was the captain of the Southern Raiders, who where stationed at Whale Tail Island. When we found his ship, we boarded it, I, using my water bending to clear the deck, and Zuko, using his knowledge of the infrastructure of the ship. The new captain of the Southern Raiders told us that he retired four years ago, and was living with his mother. We found the man, and I confronted him, ready to kill the man." the crowd gasped at the last sentence.

"But at the last moment, I stopped. Killing the man would make me no better than him. Afterwards, Zuko told me that I did the right thing, that I had to forgive him, and not take me revenge on him. The next day of telling Mai this, I found out that she was engaged to Zuko. Later, she told me that my story, convinced her that she was really in love with Zuko. I don't know what part of the story made her think that, but I'm glad she choose Zuko, he's a great man." She wiped a tear off her cheek, and stood by Toph and Ty Lee. Sokka came up to the podium, the crowd cheering louder for the man.

"I'm here to talk about Mai. How great she was. I can truly say that I understood her the most. We were both non-benders, in a bending world. We were warriors, trained to kill and survive. When I came to the Palace, the day before her death, she had prepared a huge feast, just in Toph's and my honor. She knew that the way to a man's heart was through his stomach." the crowd laughing at the small joke.

"That same night, she showed me my room. From the last time I saw her, she had really grown. Taller, more elegant, more beautiful as a woman, but most importantly...she was happy. On the walk to my room, she told me that she was for the first time truly happy. No, doubt it was because of Zuko. She saw all the evils from the war, vanish because of Zuko's policy making. She has so proud of how her husband was working so tirelessly to change the world. To make it a better place for her child." the crowd gasped, and Sokka filled the courtyard with his powerful voice.

"That's right, that night she told me that she was pregnant...

'Have you told Zuko yet?'

'No, I want to surprise him.'

'When will you tell him?'

'Tomorrow, after breakfast.'

'Well, get me before you tell him, I want to see his face.'

'Oh, I will. Oh, and Sokka?'

'Yes, Mai?'

'Please, don't tell Zuko, not until the day of my funeral.'

'I understand, but you shouldn't say things like that.'." Sokka turned to Zuko who was about to crumble to his knees in front of the crowd.

"Zuko, I'm so sorry you had to find out this way. But a promise is a promise. She told me that she was in her third week of pregnancy." Sokka walked off the stage and stood by his sister, making way for Aang. The crowd cheered and whistled and clapped for the Avatar, so much so that the courtyard shook.

"Please." Aang said and putting his hands in the air to silence the crowd.

"I don't have much to say, at least not after what Sokka said. Sorry, Zuko." Aang turned to see Zuko crying but he was still standing tall as ever.

"Mai, was a great woman. Strong, confident, resourceful, cunning, and many other things. I didn't know her as well I should have. My only regret is that I didn't get to know her as well as everyone else here on this stage. I have no heart felt or embarrassing story to tell. No secret to expose or surprise pregnancy." and Aang glanced at Sokka.

"What I am here to declare is that today, everywhere in the world, will be called Mai Day. It will be held in honor of her sacrifices to help rebuild the world." the crowd cheered in happiness, as only the Avatar could declare such an event. Aang let the cheers die off, before he walked off. The crowd knew that Zuko was going to be last. Before he even started to walked up to the podium the crowd was chanting his name. Ten million strong, clapping, chanting, and cheering. On the way up to the podium, Zuko waved to the crowd, which only increased the flood of cheers. He kept turning his wedding ring, and he kept fingering the new Fire Lady ring in his pocket. When he finally got to the podium, the crowd's cheers were shaking the world, and brought Zuko to tears. Zuko raised one hand to cut off the crowd, and they did so almost instantly, as they loved their Fire Lord.

"Thank you." Zuko said, and again the crowd returned to shaking the world, and again Zuko raised one hand to silence the crowd.

"Thank you for coming. I know most of you must be tired from hearing some teenagers talk." the crowd laughed wholeheartedly at the comment.

"I had the fortunate honor of having my Mai as my wife. And then later my Fire Lady. After becoming Fire Lord, and making policies that were designed to help the world. Well, let's just say you can't please everyone all the time. We received many threats to our health, none of which came true of course. Mai was always stubborn, and often found a way to what she wanted. One death threat particularly scared Mai, and that was the one that came true. As far as I know, Mai was killed for her engagement ring. A family heirloom, that I would now be wearing, if I had it. That is my one regret. That ring is the only thing that can remind me of her. I, swear to you, I will find whoever is responsible for the death of my Mai, and kill them personally." the crowd went wild at the heart of Zuko, and at his wonderful speech.

"But there are still people to be thanked, and that is Mai's parents. Come on up here."

Mai's father and mother walked up onto the stage, and stood by Zuko.

"Governor, I made you a ring, to remember your daughter by."

Zuko reached into his pocket and pulled out the Eternal Flame Ring, and gave it to Mai's father. He bowed in deep respect to Zuko, who bowed in full length, and walked off the stage. Zuko turned again to address the crowd.

"Let the funeral procession begin." and Zuko walked down the stage, and into the crowd. The crowd parted waves, and was dead silent, the footsteps of Zuko echoing throughout the courtyard. Zuko lead the way to Mai's grave site, and with everyone in attendance, Mai was put into the ground and buried. Zuko threw a feast at the Palace, to which everyone was invited to. The Palace grounds, were jammed, but there was enough food for the three million who stayed. Zuko kept to his study, while everyone was mingling with the guests. After the feast, there was a dance, Sokka and Toph dressed in there best clothes. Sokka a sharp dresser, wore a tuxedo, and Toph wore an elegant black dress, with her space bracelet as a necklace. Katara and Aang did dance, but they mainly kept to the private garden, that was blocked from public use. Toph and Sokka retreated to their favorite balcony, and talked about Mai. While in his study, Zuko heard a knock at the door.

"Who is it?" Zuko demanded from the knock.

"Someone who wants to share a pot of tea with his nephew."

"Let my uncle in." Zuko ordered the guard stationed in the study.

"Yes sir." and the guard opened the door to let Iroh inside the study.

"Today is a sad day, Zuko." Iroh said, walking into the study.

"Uncle, trust me I already know."

"One thing bothers me." Iroh said handing Zuko a cup of freshly poured tea.

"What is that?" Zuko said sipping the tea.

"Are you really going to go out and kill whoever did this?"

"Yes." and Zuko glared at Iroh not to question him on that subject.

"What about the throne?" Iroh asked, "You just can't leave the throne empty."

"I was going to ask you to fill in, as you would be next in line."

"Technically, Azula would be."

"Azula is never getting the throne. Ever."

"I know, and I accept your offer. I'll gladly watch the throne, while you go hunt whoever is responsible for this."

"You aren't going to try and talk me out of it?"

"Of course not. I have a feeling that after this journey, you'll bring inner peace to yourself."

"Thank you, Iroh. Really, for everything."

"No problem, now why didn't you ask me to give a speech..."

Whew! Today was a sad day in avatar land. I think I did pretty well on the speeches. Of course since Ty Lee was there, that means... suki was there too. She'll be in the next chapter, as chapter 6 will be the same night.

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