Travels through the Alphabet with Mai
Part 19: Sulk
What Mai really wanted was solitude, a lonely little bit of beach where she could sit and sulk. But Ty Lee stuck to her side like some adorable lost kitten and Azula strode ahead, military like, throwing glances over her shoulder to make certain the girls followed. The princess insisted upon finding some perfect spot and insisted even harder that the three of them sit around in the dark like normal friends might do; listening to the gentle rhythm of the waves, the calls of night creatures, the rise and fall of voices drifting down from Chan's party.
Mai was stuck with them and had to do her sulking under their scrutiny. It was not the same. And that irritated Mai even more. When Azula left after a few minutes, off to drag Zuko back from his brooding, melancholic journey down the sand, Mai stretched her upper body out, put her hands behind her head, and stared up at the blue black sky peppered with yellow dots of light. The rock was uncomfortable but she did not care. If anything, it seemed fitting, her discomfort. Releasing a gust of air, Mai went over the scene at Chan's place.
Sometimes Zuko infuriated her. Sometimes she wanted to throw every knife she owned at him, throw to hurt, maim and draw buckets of blood. He provoked reactions in her like no one else ever had. She smiled, even laughed. She fumed and worried. Her face was malleable in Zuko's presence. It shifted and changed contours. It revealed and illuminated her true self. Mai realized the value of that.
She was over it now, for the most part. Her own anger had died down, like neglected embers in a fire. And when Zuko approached with Azula, giving her that strange sidelong glance, her heart thawed even more. Mai looked back and managed a broken sort of 'hey'.
The prince ruined the moment. With his arms crossed he sneered at Mai, asking about her 'new boyfriend'. Mai's anger flared again and she turned away from Zuko, struggling to compose her face, rearrange everything that he had disturbed.
As so often Zuko did, too late he realized his misstep and tried to make things better. His voice soft and conciliatory now, he joined Mai on the rock and attempted to slide an arm about her shoulders, asking whether or not she was cold. She wanted his arm there, loved its gentle pressure, loved the fire that oozed from his skin. But she batted it away like she would an annoying pest.
And when Ty Lee spoke up, proclaiming her own coldness, Zuko left to make a fire. Mai allowed herself to submerge again, sinking into the comforting sulk. She would come back up when she was ready.