A/N: Thanks for the Reviews/Questions/etc. It's really appreciated.
To clear up a few things: Yes, the previous chapter was sort-of rough. I wanted it that way. Sorry if it confused you (I've since gone and edited it to clear it up a bit). Also, I didn't intend it to be Modern-Day AU. So far, what I've written could be AU or within normal canon, and I don't mind if you read it either way.
Now that I've sorted that...Here's drabble number two.
He's Quiet, Too
Mai was half-dressed for the formal dinner, her first as the Fire Lady-to-be. Despite all her efforts, she couldn't get her hair into the formal topknot. She just had too much hair. She placed her head in her hands. This was bringing back too many memories of her childhood.
She remembered the first time she had come to the palace for dinner. Her father had been climbing the social ladder, and she had been six years old, about to start school. Her mother had spent an hour doing her hair. When they reached the door of the formal dining room, her mother had taken her aside and said, "Don't say anything to Price Ozai or Princess Ursa, just bow. They have a daughter near your age, but don't speak to her unless spoken to. And don't say anything silly."
By that time in her life, she had learned to just sit quietly. She didn't understand why it was so important to never talk, but she had stopped talking.
Azula, the daughter, had asked her questions, and Mai had mostly nodded her head. Azula seemed nice enough at the time, but most of Mai's attention had been directed at Azula's brother, Zuko. She hadn't been sure what to think of the boy. He had been quiet, like her, but more out of a shyness then anything else.
"Do you want to go outside, Mai?" Azula had asked when they had finished dessert.
Mai had nodded.
"Hey, ZuZu, come play with us?"
Zuko had looked at his mother and asked, "Do I have to?"
Ursa had nodded. "Help make our guest feel at home."
Mai had inwardly cringed at the words. She didn't want to feel at home, home was a place of boredom and quiet.
They had played hide and seek in the palace garden. Azula had cheated whenever she was seeking and got upset when she was found first. During one of the rounds, Mai had stumbled into Zuko's hiding spot.
Somehow, she had found words. "I'm sorry," she had half-mumbled.
"It's ok." He had looked up at her with his amber eyes. "I'm getting tired of playing hide-and-seek anyway." And he had invited her back inside to play.
When Azula found them, she had grabbed Mai by the hand. "Come play with me."
Mai, being who she was, got pulled along by Azula, leaving Zuko alone with a half-played game of go-fish.
She and Azula had then played go-fish for fifteen minutes when a servant came to fetch Mai to go home.
That's when Azula had hugged her and said that they were best friends. Zuko had simply waved.
Mai shook away the last of the memory. She did her hair in its normal style and pulled on her final layer of robes. Tonight, she was going to be herself, not the girl she had been when she first dined here.
Tonight she was free.