The tale of Mai and Zahvon

Mai splashed some water onto her face from of the fine stone washbasin she was in front of. Leaning over the dark pool of water, she looked down at her reflection in the moonlight as it slowly immerged from the reseeding ripples.

Fixing her hair a bit, she stood back upright. Looked around at the dark, gorgeous natural spring, she sighed, it really was a stunning complex. The perfectly manicured pool was surrounded by lush trimmed vegetation and a generous covered pavilion on three sides. The private pool was luxury of the highest grade. Hot and cold running water, immaculate fittings and wooden furniture as well as being open to the night's sky, there was a reason she had enjoyed her nightly outings to this place of tranquillity to relax and think.

But even the most beautiful of settings loses some of its magic in the long run. And though Mai had been able to let the stress of the day's activity melt from her each evening, she had been unwilling to contemplate certain doubts that had begun to formulate in her mind. She had hoped that they would melt away with the rest of her thoughts… but in the long run this had only served to heighten the matter, until facing it was unavoidable.

Mai was by nature not one to shrink away from her thoughts, she had matured considerably from the youth that could not express her emotions. This was not to say that Mai had turned into Ty Lee, her daily demeanour was still calculating and reserved, simply no longer overly cold and uncaring. Mai chose when and how she expressed herself and to who. For those that knew her, this was enough, and for those who could not see beyond her calm expressions to the depths beyond, she had little interest or need in educating them.

Mai was a realist at heart. She knew that her thoughts and emotions had logical reasoning buried within their midst. And this had allowed her to order her mind to her satisfaction. There was, however, always a few left over, those whose reasoning stood in conflict with other thoughts, those whose logical base, though honest, were unsatisfactory.

These could be dealt with logically enough, in the short term. It proved difficult however if circumstances kept reinforcing these matters incessantly, which was the case now.

Mai looked around the natural pool to make sure that she hadn't left anything out of order. She had been here much longer to unwind tonight then her usual outings, unfortunately, to no greater success; her thoughts were still not in order.

Being a very warm evening, she only had her light bathrobe and towel with her, so there was no chance she had left anything behind.

Opening the simple lock of the sliding door, she prepared to enter the walkway that would lead to her room in the guest quarters of the government building complex.

Softly closing the sliding door, the young firenation lady turned to see the source of her minds discontent. A young man was sitting in the moonlight next to an ornamental pond in the small alcove of the covered walkways. He was only wearing some loose pants and a towel, he had obviously also wanted to use the bath.

"Mai?" he said softly in recognition.

Mai hesitated as he gathered his towel and walked towards her. She had just made it to the railing when he walked up.

"Zahvon" she greeted with an uncertain smile. She had not been expecting this meeting and was having trouble composing herself.

"I was wondering who else was using the private pools at night?" he continued with a disarming smile.

"You also go every night?" she asked.

"Sure" he said, "It's not every day a humble traveller and trader like me gets to spend a night in such surroundings, I'm going to make the most of it."

Mai smiled.

"It's a great place to unwind isn't it?" she said.

"Sure is… I might advertise the high lakes of the Earthkingdome often, but this place definitely has its charms."

Mai smiled again, she was always at ease around her continued companion for these last few months, and indeed now her close friend.

Mai looked out at the pool. The young man could sense her unease.

"Is everything alright?"

He put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

Mai couldn't decide weather to flinch or relax, two conflicting emotions springing up at once. Instead, she simply tensed up. Something Zahvon could feel.

"Well that didn't have the desired affect" he admitted, removing his hand.

"Is it something I did?" he asked a moment later.

"No…" Mai shot back quickly, though it trailed off, indicating something else entirely.

"No" she repeated more confidently, placing her hand on his hand, which was leaning against the railing, for a moment.

She looked into Zahvon's eyes with sincerity. He replied in kind with kind concern.

"Is it something with Firelord Zuko?" he asked.

"No" continued Mai as she looked back out into the garden. Again there was a lot of meaning in the two letters.

Zahvon looked out as well, leaning against the railing.

"I wish this was all over" Mai said wistfully.

Zahvon tensed up, the words triggered in his mind thoughts that had also been welling up, once this was over they would separate, they had been together for some time, it would be quite a change.

Mai sensed his unease in the still of the night and turned her head.

"I understand" he said, his voice slightly hurt.

Mai frowned, reading meaning into his words.

"I can't say I entirely feel the same way" he added eventually.

Zahvon looked into Mai's eyes, again there was a lot of hidden communication.

"I think it would be for the best" Mai said softly, again with heavy meaning.

"You're right… of course" Zahvon said eventually with a weak smile, reflecting on the moment.

Mai smiled, that's what she would miss most about the young man, his cheerful rationalism was a rare thing.

Zahvon's expression seemed to turn to more serious matters and he turned to the young fire lady.

"I think a decision has to be brought forward in fact, for everyone's well being."

Mai stood back upright, half turning towards him.

"What do you mean?" she questioned.

Zahvon calmly raised his hand to the side of her face.

Mai didn't resist, having no reason do doubt his actions. She simply turned to face him

"Forgive me my lady…" he said.

Mai was about to ask for what when he kissed her.

Mai was in no position to counter, and didn't even dream of doing so. She had secretly wanted the kiss as much as she had convinced herself that it was not the right thing to do.

Circumstances again had ambushed her and she was powerless but to enjoy the unexpected, but seemingly hoped for moment.

The two did not embrace, simply lingering with this single personal contact between the two.

Zahvon slowly broke the lingering kiss, looking deep into the Firenation eyes to share an intimate moment.

Without another word said, he moved to the side. Brushing past her standing form, he picked up her left hand in his right, drawing it back as he took a step onward.

Both of the young adults tilted their heads lightly with sad expressions, knowing what had just transpired.

"I will leave tomorrow." he said softly, glancing back a bit.

The touch of their fingers lingered as both hesitated to break the contact. After a long moment, Zahvon allowed his momentum to break the contact. He walked on to the bath entrance.

Mai turned back too look out at the small garden, hearing the door slide shut behind her. She took a deep breath of the cold evening air, letting it out slowly. Her expression was sad, but pleased. She still had a lot to think about, but it was definitely a step forward… and in which direction that was, she was sure she could decide for herself.

And there you go… with the new Atla continuation coming up it's pretty much a nail in the coffin for any shipps other then canon… which is not a bad thing in itself… I, however, liked the idea and the challenge of sneaking in something that would allow for more personal interaction between non cannon pairings that would not necessarily disrupt the cannon timeline.

I like a bit of turmoil, romance and phsycology, and descided the poor charecters of Avater would be my victems for a quick short story grouping.

It was a lot of fun to draw and to come up with the subsequent stories for these drawings. (drawings on Deviant art account of the same name) I deliberately left the endings ambiguous and not to heavy to allow everyone to think of the outcome they liked. As far as I am concerned af ter the first mutual kiss the original tension is broken in any case, what the charecters do from there, is up to your imagination.

It was fun to write, and I hope it was fun to read for you all.

As for the OC and Mai, I just added that to give balance, can't have poor Mai, missing out on all the fun/heartache! He he he. A description of the OC can also be found on the deviant art account

+ Fav and let me know what you think… if this sort of think is popular I might do more short stories in the future. ^^

Thanks, Biz.