this is when i was supposed to introduce my OC (since it would fit perfectly for the next three prompts) but decided to just do that after the prompts are all done...
...and i'm taking a break with the heavy stuff i'm doing and will just focus on Maiko this time...
here's for the prompt Secrets...
The occasional footsteps of the palace guards on duty, the sound of the fire dancing in the long hallways and the eerie noise that the leaves made when the winds brush up upon them were what filled the dead silence of the night in the Fire Nation Palace. Most of the servants were expected to be sleeping in their own quarters, with some still finishing their chores for the night before heading out to their own bed for a good night sleep. The Fire Lord had already finished his round of paperwork for the day and had been seen earlier that evening going to his future wife's chambers to rest for the night.
After Lady Mai had agreed to live with the Fire Lord in the palace, people in the palace have often whispered about them spending the nights together. It was no secret that although Lady Mai had insisted to have her own room, Fire Lord Zuko would always summon her to his chambers at night and there she would stay until sunrise. The summons stopped only after she started going to his chambers on her own accord. Everybody knew they loved each other, that they were soon to be married and who would even think about questioning their decisions.
The mother of the soon-to-be Fire Lord's wife once visited her and after the servants heard her muffled shouting through the closed doors of Lady Mai's chambers, they saw her came out looking frustrated and hurriedly walking out of the palace to their house across the street. They never saw her visit the palace after that day.
Lady Mai was the epitome of calm and when she walked through the many hallways of the palace, the servants who were whispering rumors and stories about her would only stop talking because they just couldn't tell what she was thinking. They heard from the palace guards that she was a skilled warrior and that she once fought against the Avatar and his friends before the war was over. They knew from the old servants that served the previous Fire Lord and his family that she was friends with the Fire Lord's daughter, the current Fire Lord's sister. Somehow they knew that she's not one to be trifled with although she hadn't done anything to them that would earn their fear.
Soon enough the talks and whispers died down. There was nothing else they couldn't add to their stories that would make it more interesting. Not until Lady Mai decided to sleep in her own chambers for good. Nobody questioned why the couple had decided to abandon the Fire Lord's chambers but many assumed that they would soon inhabit the luxurious, enormous chambers again once they were officially married. Still, some speculations were running around the palace; speculations that the Lady had become uncertain of marrying the Fire Lord.
A man clad in all black silently traversed the heavily lit hallway of the palace leading to the palace walls. Before turning a corner, he heard the heavy footsteps of one of the palace guards and he halted on his steps to hide. Seeing as the hallway was too bright for his liking and knowing that as soon as the guard turns at the corner, he will be discovered, he immediately ran toward the nearest door and skillfully opened and closed it after getting in the room without making any noise. After hearing that he had successfully avoided he guard and he had already passed the room he's currently in, he looked around the room to see any other way of getting out without going back to the hallway.
Once his eyes were accustomed to the darkness of the room, he recognized that he went to one of the guest rooms in the west wing of the palace. He smiled to himself and mentally scolded himself for not thinking about it earlier that going through one of the guest rooms in this part of the palace would have been the fastest way to get to where he wanted.
Without a second thought, he rushed to the other side of the room and worked his way to one of the windows. He carefully slid one of the windows open and congratulated himself for finding the perfect spot to leap through to get to the palace walls. Judging from the distance he's currently at and the angle of where the palace walls was from where he's standing, he can easily jump from the window and safely land on the ground and after a few more steps, he can get to the wall and climb it.
As soon as his feet touched the top of the wall, he saw a shadow jump from the nearby tree and heard a silent thump of a set of feet landed behind him. He froze on the spot, afraid to turn around to see who caught him.
"You know, it's really not polite to leave a lady in the middle of the night while she's sleeping." A calm, steady voice came from behind him that brought shivers to his vein not like any evening wind could do to him. He turned around and sure enough, he saw her in her sleeping clothes and although her face tried to reveal nothing, he could feel it in her stares that she was not amused.
"Mai!" he whispered. "What are you doing here? And, ugh, you're still on your sleeping clothes!"
Mai could only roll her eyes at him and swat Zuko's arms as he tried to cover her body.
"Well, unlike somebody who had the time to change their clothes before running in the palace like a thief in the night, I only had enough time to get my robes on before I can catch up with him." Mai explained and reached for the ties on her robes and pulled on it to tighten it to ensure that it'll stay in place this time. "What were you thinking? No letter for me this time?"
"I'm not leaving you!" Zuko exclaimed. He realized that his voice had become louder and he had to slap his forehead in annoyance. This was not supposed to happen. He was only supposed to go out of the palace for a few minutes, get what he was supposed to get, and get back to Mai's chambers before she even notice he was gone. But obviously, he didn't think this through very well. "I was just going out for a while. I was going back before you even notice I was gone."
Mai could only raise an eyebrow at his reply. Although she wouldn't take it against Zuko to want to escape the palace walls every once in a while, the fact that he had not told her about it and that he didn't even consider bringing her along with him had brought back very painful memories.
"Whatever." Mai said. "You're not leaving these walls without me."
Before Zuko could reply, Mai was already on the ground and walking away from the palace. Zuko quickly jumped off the wall to follow her.
"Can you at least put something on?" Zuko pleaded and attempted to stop Mai from moving forward by grabbing her shoulder and pulling her towards him. However, this just gave Mai a chance to be more defiant, as a sort of revenge for leaving her behind.
"I'll have you know, Zuko. I am completely covered." Mai continued walking, not taking any notice at how Zuko had been rubbing the bridge of his nose, a habit he had been doing when he's frustrated. Mai suddenly stopped at her tracks and turned around to face Zuko. "If you don't want me to come with you, you can just tell me."
"No. It's just that... I can't have anybody see you like that." Zuko explained and walked closer to Mai. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and turned her around before continuing to walk away from the palace. "But I guess we can just avoid having people see us."
Mai smiled at this. She and Zuko had been experts with being stealthy, having to practice it a lot when they were kids. When they were younger, Mai had once told Zuko of her adventures when she would go out at night when her parents were asleep just so she can practice throwing knives. Zuko had taken tips from her to help him get out of the palace to meet her, as he himself would also practice with the dagger that his uncle had given him. Mai had never told anybody about it, keeping it only to her memories.
After walking around the Fire Nation Capital for a while, having successfully dodging people who were still awake at that time of the night, Zuko had asked Mai to stay at a little hiding place for a while. He explained that he was just going to get something and he will return as soon as possible. It took him a few minutes to return and when he did, he was carrying a box covered in red silk piece of cloth. He removed the cover to reveal a handcrafted, ornate box and when he opened it to show what's inside, Mai's eyes glistened in the dark. Inside it was a dagger with a golden hilt. At the bottom of the hilt was a red gem that was shaped as the Fire Nation insignia and was encased in a clear sphere. The hilt also had an embossed symbol of a dragon coiling around it and was designed so the head of the dragon was opened to seem that the dagger came out of its mouth. Near the hilt of the dagger and on its sharper side, her name was engraved and she could tell that whoever made it had taken an enormous time of perfecting their calligraphy since each stroke was in precise detail.
"An early wedding present." Zuko broke the silent awe that he can clearly see in Mai's eye. Mai tore her gaze from the dagger and looked Zuko in the eyes, before returning to look intently on the dagger and raising a hand to carefully lift the dagger from the box. She raised the dagger to let the light play around it and admired its craftsmanship. The dagger was so light she was already vaguely aware of how much force she had to put on her throw or how much is needed to get the right thrust.
Before Zuko could ask what she thought of it, he felt her arms around his neck, pulling him for a warm kiss.
"You're forgiven." Mai said after breaking off the kiss. "But I'm still not sleeping in your chambers till we're married."
Zuko groaned in protest but Mai kissed him again.
"What difference does it make? We're still sleeping together in one bed." Zuko asked.
"Just so my mom can sleep a little at night. You know how she is." Mai returned the dagger to the box and after closing it, pulled Zuko's hands. "Come, I'll show you something."
They continued to avoid some people and Mai lead Zuko through different turns in the Fire Nation Capital. Just when Zuko thought that they were lost, Mai turned to one of the abandoned streets and began jumping to higher places. Zuko managed to catch up to Mai and when she finally stopped, they were on top of one of the highest rooftops in the Fire Nation. Mai tried to catch her breath and before sitting down on the roof, she looked back at Zuko and gave him an honest, warm smile.
This time, it was Zuko's turn to be in awe of the view before him. Mai's face was full of delight and the view of the moonlit city before them was like surrounding Mai in the most beautiful backdrop, seemingly highlighting her as the main subject of an art piece. The air washing over her face, had her hair flowing seamlessly around her face, revealing a flush red tint on her cheeks caused by the adrenalin rush she was feeling for running and jumping to get there.
"You are so beautiful." Zuko blurted out. Mai let out a small laugh and was quickly silenced by Zuko's mouth on hers. Her arms found their way to wound around his shoulders and Zuko's encircled her waist. Before Zuko could forget he was holding a box though, he hesitantly broke the kiss.
"How did you find this place?" Zuko asked, looking at the picturesque view of his nation.
Mai shrugged her shoulders and honestly stated, "Boredom."