this one took a little time to publish... i was just distracted with a lot of things and just didn't have the time to get down to writing it...
...anyways, here's my entry for the prompt Dreams in SMW2011...
"It sure is nice to be back in Fire Nation again!" Ty Lee exclaimed as she bounced in the Palace gardens, with Mai walking lazily behind her. Mai frowned at the way Ty Lee light-footedly skipped at the grassy land before bending forward and began walking on her bare hands. After a few steps she bent backwards, which would have been forward if she was not on her hands, and went back to standing upright, therefore facing Mai again. "I have missed doing that. Kiyoshi's land is so hard to walk on hands. They just don't have grassy lands that are this soft."
Ty Lee continued to walk towards the spot where there were enough shades from the trees and started running when they were close enough. Mai could only stare at her as she cartwheeled near the place beneath a tree before stopping to stand.
"Here! Can place you please place that right here." Ty Lee requested to the servant following them. The servant was carrying two baskets of food and a large light red cloth that were to be used for their "little picnic".
The servant started laying the cloth on the ground, while Ty Lee helped her flatten it to place. She asked the servant to hand her the baskets, gently placed it to the corner and cheerfully thanked the servant for the help. The servant bowed to Ty Lee and turned around to face Mai to politely ask if there was anything else they need. Mai simply thanked her and let her get back to palace, but not after advising her to tell the Fire Lord where she is, if he ever looks for her.
As Mai sat down, Ty Lee began unpacking the contents of the baskets. In it was an assortment of foods; from meat buns, egg rolls, noodles, rice, fire flakes, and fire cakes and fruit tarts. By the time Ty Lee was done, more than half of the cloth was covered with the food. Mai couldn't even begin to imagine how they were going to be able to finish all that.
Ty Lee picked up one of the meat buns and handed it to Mai. Mai looked at it, as if not knowing what she was to do with it and Ty Lee merely smiled at her before munching on one of the meat buns herself.
"Hm-hmmm!" Ty Lee hummed in pleasure while she continuously bit off portions of the meat bun. "That meat bun won't get in your stomach just by holding it, Mai. Come on, eat it. It's really delicious." Ty Lee said after swallowing her last bite of the meat bun. "They don't make meat buns this tasty in Kiyoshi Island."
"I'm not hungry." Mai replied. She placed the meat bun back to its container and watched Ty Lee grab for the egg roll. "Since when did you have to eat this much?"
Ty Lee raised her pointing finger at Mai to signal to give her a minute to finish what she was eating, and continued on chewing the egg roll. Mai rolled her eyes and waited for her friend to finish.
"I told you. I just missed the food here. Kiyoshi Island doesn't make food like this there. Even if they do, it's just not the same." Ty Lee stated. She reached out for one of the fire cakes next but a hand stopped her from getting it.
"Are you even going to tell me what brought you here? I'm sure it's not just the food." Mai asked. Her grip on Ty Lee was not so tight but was enough to keep her from moving. Ty Lee pouted at her and withdrew her hand to sit back down and Mai let her.
"Aww, Mai. Can't I visit my friend anymore? I've missed you, you and Zuko, both. I haven't seen you in like ages." Ty Lee explained and raised her hand as if to wipe a tear on her eyes that Mai couldn't see.
Although she knew that can be a plausible reason for her friend to be suddenly dropping by the Fire Nation, she knew there was more to it than that. A certain letter she just received from her was enough as evidence.
"Right." Mai said. "And the letter you sent me, saying that it's been really busy in Kiyoshi Island because Suki has been training you non-stop was, I don't know, just a letter?" Though Mai's face was expressionless, Ty Lee couldn't help but feel embarrassed over being caught.
"I was given vacation time?" Ty Lee tried. When Mai didn't react, she sighed and looked at the tree behind them. She thought of the best way to explain it without sounding bad. After all, she just did it because she wanted to help.
"Zuko asked me to come." She said without looking back at Mai. Ty Lee imagined Mai's eyebrow raised and expected her to ask more questions about it but instead Mai was just silent. She turned to look at Mai and was surprised to see her reaching out for the tea canister and pouring herself a cup.
"Go on, continue." Mai said as she started sniffing the aroma of the tea before finally sipping a taste of it. The tea was not too hot but was warm enough to maintain the bittersweet delicious taste that would make General Iroh very happy. Mai kept her gaze on Ty Lee and that just made Ty Lee more uncomfortable.
Ty Lee shifted and almost regretting wearing her Kiyoshi Warrior outfit. It's just not the same seating on the ground when one was wearing a "skirt"; her months of training of proper noble etiquette had taught her that.
"He said you've been having bad dreams lately. That it's keeping you awake at night." Ty Lee moved forward to look straight into Mai's eyes and without the face paint; Mai could see the genuine worry etched on her face. "And that you refused to tell him about it."
It was Mai's turn to look away from Ty Lee. It was true that she's been having problems sleeping lately. She could blame the nightmares but she kept telling herself that would have been silly. She later found out that drinking tea was helpful in keeping her calm and that also helped with getting the sleep she needed but that didn't keep the dreams from coming back. At some point she was actually awakened by the dreams that got Zuko starting to worry. He had asked incessantly about it but she kept telling him that it's nothing. She just couldn't let him know what she's been dreaming about.
"Dreams have a way of letting us know things, Mai." Ty Lee said, though delivered matter-of-factly, her voice conveyed deeper concern.
"When we were in prison, while I was separated from you and I was amongst the other Kiyoshi Warriors, I kept dreaming of the platypus bear we had back when I was in the circus. She and I, we're watching her babies slowly getting out of their shells. At first I thought I was just missing the circus, but I later I realized that those dreams meant that it's about fresh beginnings. A new start, not just for me, but for the whole world."
Ty Lee swiftly moved closer to Mai and placed a caring hand on her shoulder. "Maybe if you tell me what your dreams are, I can help you understand them."
Mai kept her eyes away from her and for a few minutes, they was nothing but the clear skies and the cool wind sweeping away the fallen leaves from the trees surrounding them. Mai's hands moved to wrap around the cup she's holding, as if trying to steal the heat coming from the tea she's drinking. She turned to look at the liquid incased in the cup and kept her calm while explaining what her dreams were about.
"I kept coming back to the Boiling Rock." She began telling Ty Lee. "Only this time, I was too late to stop the guards from cutting the line and there was nothing I could do but watch the gondola plummet down the boiling lake below me and witness how it swallowed Zuko slowly while Azula was laughing like a maniac beside me telling me that he deserved it."
Ty Lee's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her hand in shock. She suddenly threw herself at Mai, narrowly missing the cup of tea she was holding, and wrapped her in a tight hug. "Oh Mai! That's a horrible dream!"
"Yes, a dream." Mai tapped Ty Lee's shoulder with her free hand, careful not to spill the tea on both of them. "It didn't happen and I will make sure that it'll never happen." She firmly stated before Ty Lee loosed her embrace.
"Oh Mai. Now I understand why you'd be afraid to sleep and why you wake up in the middle of the night". Ty Lee said, this time wiping a visible tear in the corner of her eyes. "Was it because I asked you about Azula before?"
"No!" Mai quickly replied, though she knew that couldn't be further from the truth. However, she couldn t bear to put the blame on Ty Lee. "It's not your fault or anybody's fault. I was just tired and my mind has been making these twisted visions of things that didn't and should never happen."
"Are you afraid you wouldn't be able to protect Zuko if something were to happen to him?" Mai was surprised at how Ty Lee could even think that, but she may be right.
Ever since she visited Azula, she had been thinking of ways to protect Zuko. But she knew that she cannot be always there for him to prevent anything from happening. Maybe the dreams were the manifestation of her fears. Maybe Ty Lee was correct, that she was afraid she couldn't help save Zuko and her dreams really do mean something.
Ty Lee's hand found its way to Mai's free hand and she gave it a mild squeeze. This caused Mai to look at her and she was comforted by the warm smile that's adorning her friend's face. She doesn't know how she does it, but somehow, she felt calmer.
"You are the most skilled warrior I know, Mai. I mean, you've even beaten the most skilled firebenders in the Boiling Rock prison. You even stood up to Azula and that means a whole lot, Mai. You have no reason to be afraid."
Despite her apprehensions, she nodded to agree with Ty Lee. If anything Azula said were true, considering she may still be just delusional, they were bound to face retaliations from those loyal to the former Fire Lord. Retaliations that could lead to rebellions, rebellions that could lead to battles, and battles that could lead to another war. But she should have the upper edge on this and she should be able to help in preventing this. She just needed to stay focused and to remain focused; she needed to get a good rest and nice sleep.
"I guess, you're right." Mai stated simply. She brought the cup back to her lips and drank a now mildly cold tea. She forced back a frown and placed the cup back on the ground. She reached for a fruit tart and after the first bite, she felt thankful that the servant thought of adding it to the basket since it was able to relieve the bitter taste of the tea that she just drank.
"Of course, I'm right!" Ty Lee exclaimed. "You just refused to listen to me sometimes."
Mai smiled at Ty Lee and she returned it with one of her more expressive of smiles. She went back to grabbing one of the fire cakes and Mai looked at her in amusement as she ate it with full gusto.
"You may want to think of staying away from Sokka for a while. You're starting to eat like him." Mai mentioned before biting off another piece of fruit tart.
"Make a wish before you blow the candles out, Zuko", Ursa called out to his son, who was just about to put out the lights on the cake for his 10th birthday. He paused for a while, carefully thinking of what his wish will be as he placed a finger to his chin and closed his eyes to concentrate.
"Just blow the candles already." Azula yelled at him from the chair beside their mother. Ursa shushed her before looking back at Zuko, making her miss the frown her daughter made, and she urged him to carefully think his wish through.
Zuko ignored Azula and looked at the girl on the other side of the table. She smiled at him and when he noticed, he smiled back. He heard Azula groan at the exchange between them and he noticed the girl blushed as the result of this. He narrowed his eyes at Azula as a way to stop her from embarrassing her, only to realize that he doesn t have that effect on her.
"Shut up, Azula!" Zuko exclaimed.
Ursa turned to look at Azula to scold her but before she could even say a word, Azula was already defending herself. "I didn t say anything, dum-dum."
"The candles are dying out!" Ty Lee suddenly cried out. After realizing what she just said, based on the looks everybody had given her, she scooted near Mai and hid behind her. This gave Zuko another chance to look at Mai and finally Zuko knew what he wanted to wish for.
Mai was awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of Zuko mumbling something in his sleep. She felt him tossing around in bed and his face was scrunched when he suddenly sat up forcing him out of his sleep.
Mai sat up and gently placed a comforting hand on his back, rubbing it to calm him down. He was panting so hard, his heartbeat was racing and he was sweating like he had a long run before turning back to bed. He covered his face with hands and ran it across his face, wiping some of the sweat off him in the process. Mai looked at him, patiently waiting for him to start talking while she continued to run her hands in a soothing motion on his back.
"Mom..." was all Zuko said and Mai already understood what the dream was all about. His breathing started to slow down and Mai took this time to stand up and walk to the table in her chambers to get a glass of water.
She had a little space in her chambers where she often spends her day when she didn't feel like going to the garden or when she felt too lazy to practice her weapons. This is also where she and Zuko spends their evening, continuing their talks about things that happened during their day when talking about it over dinner was not enough for all the stories they had to share with each other. They always had tea there and Zuko had always insisted that he prepare the tea for her and because of that, they had water there for their tea.
Mai walked back to the bed and handed Zuko the water. As soon as the glass hit his lips, the water was gone in a flash. Mai had been prepared for this and she brought the water container with her to the bed to refill the glass. However, instead of waiting for Mai to refill the glass, Zuko grabbed the container from Mai.
"Do not spill anything on my bed." Mai reminded him and she could only sigh as Zuko drank the water, causing some of the water to pour on the bed.
Mai sat next to Zuko and placed an arm around his shoulder to let him know that she's there for him. Zuko leaned on her and turned to hug her tightly. Mai could feel how he felt so helpless knowing that it's been months since the search for Princess Ursa had started and until now they are no closer to finding her.
Zuko had once admitted to himself that maybe she was already gone but surprisingly, Mai was optimistic in saying that she's probably just out in the most secluded places that none of the search parties had been yet. After all, it hadn't been easy finding Zuko and his uncle before though it was a tactical princess who was looking for them. She had offered to join the search party but Zuko declined saying if they were unable to find her, then he should be the one to look for her. Both of them then decided that they would go look for her together on the next summer.
"We'll find her Zuko." Mai said, running her hands on Zuko's hair.
Zuko pulled away from his embrace on Mai, just far enough so he could lean forward to place a kiss to her lips. Just as the kiss grew deeper, Mai felt him gently lay her back on bed and she allowed him.
That night, both of them had a nice dream and Mai had forgotten about the spilled water on her bed.