i decided to make a full-pledge story out of this series of one-shot and since there's an ongoing Sexy Maiko Week 2011 over at DA and i thought i'd join in and incorporate some ideas from the prompts of SMW2011... i don't know if i can really do this everyday, but i'll try...
For this certain one-shot, i used Flirting...
It was yet another party that the Fire Lord Zuko and his fiancé, Mai, had to attend outside of Fire Nation. Although Mai enjoyed the little vacation they can enjoy travelling outside of the Fire Nation - and the Palace - attending these kind of gatherings were really not her forte. Mai had long ago understood the sartorial demands of being the fiancé of the Fire Lord and while they were adorned with the fancy yet subtle Earth Kingdom clothes, since wearing the color of the host's nation would make it more respectful, she wished she had rather worn her own Fire Nation clothes; green and yellow were just too nauseating. Zuko had insisted on not wearing his crown but the Earth King himself said that it's perfectly okay and that the Earth Kingdom had already accepted him as a hero as opposed to being an enemy. True enough, the Earth Kingdom people were very welcoming when they entered the ball and were offering a lot of wide smiles and were swimming with gratitude for helping stop the war.
Before they knew it, Zuko was immersed with conversations about how he was when he was banished, how was travelling in Earth Kingdom, what was his favorite food when he was travelling, his most memorable experience, how he trained the Avatar, and how he defied his father and the fire nation - one he really didn't want to talk about. Mai noticed that most of his audience have changed from curious noblemen to interested females. How typical. Things never change despite where they were.
Mai decided to just stand in the sidelines, carefully watching Zuko, observing other people, looking for anything strange that could mean harm to him. Perhaps, it was in her nature to be observant, but regardless of how the Earth King and the other people say that peace has finally been achieved after the Avatar defeated the former Fire Lord and Zuko assumed the throne, she knew peace was only temporary and sooner or later, somebody will make a move. Today would have been a perfect opportunity, when everybody felt relaxed, comfortable and their guards were down. But not her.
Other men looked at her but judging by the way they divert their eyes when she looked at them, she knew they're intimidated, afraid even. She didn't care. Despite her clothes, people knew she was Fire Nation. The very person who helped bring down Ba Sing Se. Of course they didn't know it was her, only few people in the room knew she was part of it. One of which was being engorged in the most deliberate expression of seduction while he nervously rubbed the back of his neck and furtively casting a glance towards Mai's direction. Mai raised an eyebrow at him, along with the glass of drink that she's been slowly downing, as if to congratulate him, before smirking at him.
Mai heard somebody laugh and saw Sokka probably finishing one of his famous jokes at another group of girls on the other side of the room. Suki, who was standing next to him, noticed Mai and regarded her with an embarrassed smile. She returned a sly smile and silently thanked the spirits that she didn't have to deal with somebody like him.
On another part of the room were Toph, Aang and Katara, where they gathered their own set of audience. Toph and Aang were battling over who can make the best impression of whatever they can make using the small portion of rock formation on the room without causing it to fall down on all the guests. Katara look on with much trepidation and excitement and Mai couldn't help but let out a small smile at how carefree they were.
"It's lovely to see you again, Lady Mai."
Mai's musing was interrupted by an unwelcome but soft voice to her right. Gracefully, she turned to her right and bowed to acknowledge the presence of the Earth King.
"Oh! No need to do that Lady Mai. We're friends." King Kuei smiled. Judging by the way he leaned to his right and how his voice were a bit slurred, Mai could tell he have had a little too many to drink tonight.
"And what are you doing here alone? Lovely ladies, such as you, shouldn't be alone on this jubilant night. Here, have some of my drink." Kuei handed Mai his drink but Mai politely refused by showing him she's got her own drink. He gave Mai another smile and she couldn't help but felt a slight shudder at the way he's been leaning towards her.
"Don't you think you've had enough of that for the night?" Mai pointed to the glass that the King was holding, while carefully dodging another attempt of the King to grab her shoulders. Mai managed to hold onto his arms to keep him upright before he started stumbling to the ground for losing his balance. "You should sit down, King Kuei."
"Ah! But this is just my third cup, Lady Mai. Not like Bosco, there. He had eight cups before he fell asleep. Me, I'm still okay." Kuei waved his hand to the general direction to where his pet bear was sprawled unconscious, causing a small amount of his drink to spill on the ground. Mai forced herself not to scoff at the situation. After all, it was not that long ago when she was assigned to take care of the bear and now she's baby-sitting its owner.
Mai placed the glass she was holding on a table and moved Kuei to the nearest chair, careful to avoid the unnecessary looks from other people in the room and cause uproar. Kuei's bodyguards started to rush towards his direction but Mai nodded to them to signal that everything's already taken care of.
"You know, sometimes I wished things would have been different between us. I mean, when I first met you, I thought you were Kiyoshi Warrior, a really cool Earth Kingdom warrior." Kuei continued to talk, oblivious to what's really happening. For him, they were merely talking a leisure walk to the other end of the room, for although it was a few walks to the nearest chair, for him it was like walking around the room - the second round. "I always thought you were different. Even Bosco thought so. He liked you."
Mai had to roll his eyes at how obvious the Earth King was making a fool of himself in front of her and around a lot of people, albeit not really paying attention to them. Are all royalties this silly?
"Do you think we could have been together if you weren't from Fire Nation and I'm not the Earth King?" Mai fought the urge to let go of the Earth King and instead let him slump on the chair as soon as they reached it. However, before letting go of Mai, he managed to breathe in a scent of her hair.
"You smell really good, Lady Mai." Kuei unconsciously whispered before letting go and this time Mai didn't stop herself from frowning at the drunken king.
"Rest this off, King Kuei." Mai said, devoid of any apparent concern. She stood up to look around for the guard earlier to advise him to look after the Earth King. The said king was smiling like a little kid at Mai with his arms lying helpless over the arms of the chair.
"You can call me Kuei, Lady Mai. I don't mind." This time, Kuei was close to being incoherent. His eyes were almost closing and the way his body rests on the chair was a clear sign that whatever drinks he took earlier was now taking its toll on him. Although his smile were permanently plastered on his face, his whole body was betraying him.
"Are you trying to flirt with my fiancé, King Kuei?" A voice from behind Mai asked and a not a second later, a warm arm crawled its way around her shoulders.
"He's drunk, Zuko. He probably doesn't even know half of what he's saying." Mai said, crossing her arms, before leaning to Zuko's hold on her.
"Fire Lord Zuko! Do you know how lucky you are to have Lady Mai as your girlfriend?" Zuko raised an eyebrow and just before he could even answer, Kuei started talking again. "She's smart, pretty, and strong and she smells really nice." Zuko tilted his head to cast a questioning look at Mai, Mai merely shrugged. "I would be the happiest man alive if I have a girlfriend like her!" With that last declaration, Kuei's head lolled to his side and he finally fell asleep.
Zuko nodded to the other guards to tell them they're clear to take their King to his chambers. Mai tried to turn around and face the other way but Zuko's hold on her stopped her. "Care to tell me what happened?"
Mai reached out to Zuko's hands on her shoulder and pried his fingers open. "He had a little too much to drink, got drunk and I helped him to the chair." After successfully getting herself free from his grasp, she turned around and walked back to her original spot where she left her drink. When she couldn't find it, she decided to just get a glass of water instead while Zuko followed her closely behind.
"What are you doing there?" Mai asked, looking over her shoulder. "Afraid to be seen near me?"
Zuko rushed to her side and looked at her, trying to read if she was angry or not. "I thought you'd be angry at me again for being a jealous boyfriend."
Mai sighed. Of course, that's what he'd think. Some habits just don't die hard.
"Zuko..." She paused. She wanted to tell him that it's stupid, that he didn't need to be jealous. But they've had this conversation far too many times that he should have already memorized what she's about to say. Instead she just smiled at him and this confused Zuko even more. "I'm thirsty."
For a few minutes, they were able to sit down in silence amidst the craziness around them. Zuko would laugh once in a while, a completely normal reaction to what Sokka, now coupled with Toph, have been doing, or talking about, on the other side of the room. Mai had told him that it's okay to join them, but Zuko said that he have had enough of them for the night. Mai continued her vigilant observation and when she spotted a familiar brown-haired girl amongst the crowd, she nudged Zuko and with just a look on her eyes, she was able to direct his attention to the girl. Zuko looked dumbfounded; not knowing what she wanted him to do but Mai just gave out another one of her frustrated sighs.
"I need some air. I'll just be outside", Mai said before standing up to walk towards the balcony. Zuko could only look at her before he stood up himself and walked towards the particular girl Mai had pointed.
Mai walked casually to the balcony and she was glad that she wore layers of clothes when she felt the cold night wind went passed by her. She scanned the darkness of the balcony, from the small plants surrounding it, to the trees nearby, to the empty bench near the edge and to the vast land of Ba Sing Se that can be seen from where she's at. A few months ago, she thought the view was boring, but now, she felt certain awe to how the city seemed to be celebrating with them on their own way. Lights were all over the city, from different corners of city to the secluded houses in the lower ring. She didn't know she can see that far, but judging from the way the lights were less colorful at the part of the city, she guessed, it was the lower ring.
After concluding that it was safe, with a step, she walked towards the empty bench and sat down. She continued to admire that view before her and had to smile to herself at how much she had changed. She looked up and saw the half-moon lighting what little part of the balcony that the light from the room cannot reach. Despite the whole celebration going on, the little sound she can hear from the room and with the muted partying of the city below her, the silence around her was a welcome soundscape.
"Uncle invited her to the party." Zuko's voice pulled her out of her reverie. She heard his footsteps grow louder as he came closer to her. With every step she could already feel him seating next to her. "She said she understands what happened and that she's okay with it. She said... she forgives me."
Zuko seated himself next to her, close enough that their shoulders were colliding with each other. Mai glanced at him and smiled, to which he returned with his own warm smile. "A few months ago, would you believe that this is where we would meet again? Here in Ba Sing Se, the impenetrable city, of all places."
"Then, after almost three years of not seeing each other, you chose to ignore my presence." Mai answered, her voice was level, but her eyes chose to instead stare at the view before them instead of looking at him.
"I... I didn't know how you'd react..." Zuko stuttered. They haven't talked about it before, but meeting her for the first time after he was banished, and after he just betrayed his Uncle, had been the most awkward situation he'd been in. "And besides... I didn't exactly look..."
"Hmph!" Mai scoffed before he could even finish what he was about to say. "I couldn't care less." She's already told him this a thousand times, far too many times to even count.
"And you... you look at me like I'm just... there..." Zuko began expressing himself through making wavy movements of his arms, pointing to imaginary person and making funny facial expressions.
"What? Did you expect me to go all Ty Lee on you and run to embrace you and tell you 'Oh spirits, Prince Zuko, how I've missed you!'" Mai maintained her calm expression, still simply looking at Zuko through side glances.
Suddenly, Zuko was thoughtful and then out of the blue, he acted much like how General Iroh would have reacted when he just figured the secret to the most tasteful tea or how Sokka would have looked after having drunk a cupful of Cactus Juice. Zuko had a crazy, dorky smile on his face. "Heh! That would've been nice!"
Mai had to smile at this; she loved how Zuko shows her his truest expressions. "Well sorry to burst your bubble, Fire Lord Zuko, but I don't do flirting."
"Yeah." At the sudden realization of what Mai just said, his expression changed. His shoulders sagged and his eyes shifted to look at the other side, anywhere away from Mai.
Mai somehow felt guilty for ruining his moment and thought of the way she can make up for it. Unfortunately, what she said was true, she can't flirt. No matter how many times her mother had taught her of how to subtly show interest in other noblemen and how she's frequently surrounded by effective examples from Ty Lee, she just couldn't see herself doing any of it. Well, maybe except for Zuko. Somehow, he just brings out certain things from her that she didn't know she was even capable of.
"Hey..." Mai leaned on Zuko's shoulders. "I'm cold..."
Zuko looked at her and smiled. He liked it whenever Mai initiated physical contact. "Maybe we should just go inside."
Mai pulled from Zuko and just when Zuko was about to stand up, Mai grabbed his arms and put it around her. She cuddled closer to Zuko and brought her arms around his midsection, closing the distance between them. "Oh!" was the only thing that Zuko could bring himself to say as he realized what she was doing. She let out a contented hum as she settled her head on his chest.
"Are you sure you don't want to go inside?" Zuko teased and Mai moved even closer to him.
"Just shut up and keep me warm... I'm fine... right here..."