Author's Note: Hey, guys. Sorry for the wait. And sorry for the fluff towards the end of this chapter. I've been waiting so long to get to write fluff that I've gotta add it in where I can... - Fira
Forty-six
Maya was freezing, and it was becoming progressively harder to move in the knee-deep snow. She looked over at Zuko, and felt bad. At least she didn't have to carry another person on her back. He was still trudging along with Aang. Somehow, they had managed to slip out of the city unnoticed, but Maya was beginning to doubt this particular plan of action, since now she was afraid that they were all going to freeze to death.
At the moment, they were actually up above the city, whose walls, it seemed, were carved out of a giant continent of ice. Maya was so cold that she could not even think properly, and so she gave in to the constant plodding of her feet through snow. Suddenly, there was a sharp crack, and the ground beneath her feet shifted. Apparently one of them had stepped in a bad spot and now the ice was breaking apart.
Quickly, they both struggled through the snow, trying to outrun the massive hole that was forming in the ice, threatening to swallow them up. For a few terrifying seconds, Maya didn't think they would make it. And then, with a last shudder, the ice stopped breaking, and they stumbled forward and fell, sprawling in the snow, glad to be alive.
"Zuko?" Maya called, face-up on the ice.
"I'm okay," he said. "You?"
"I'm fine," she replied. "Aang?"
"Why should I care?"
She sighed. "Just go check him, will you? Then come back and help me up."
"Fine."
A few moments passed while Zuko checked on Aang, and then she saw him come over to her. He held out his hand. She took it, and was grateful. Once she was back on her feet, they both turned to look at what had happened, and gasped. Before them lay a vast crater where the ice had cracked and split open.
After a long moment of shocked silence, Maya said quietly, "That was a bit too close for me."
"Yeah," Zuko said. "Glad we made it."
Maya turned to survey the landscape. Not too far away, she spotted a dark shape in the snow. She realized, with relief, that it was a cave. "Look," she said, pointing.
Zuko looked. "Shelter…" he exhaled, also obviously relieved. "Come on."
They made their way to the cave as quickly as they could, which, admittedly, was not very quick at all. They were still knee-deep in snow and the blizzard was whipping wind and ice into their faces. Finally, the reached their destination.
A few minutes later, Zuko had a little fire going. He dragged Aang along the floor with him and dropped him unceremoniously as he sat down. Maya winced when Aang's head hit the ground. "You're not very nice to him," she commented quietly.
"Gee, I wonder why," Zuko replied. He looked at Aang, who was still out of it, tattoos glowing. "I finally have you," Zuko said, and he stood up again and looked outside. "But I can't get you home because of this blizzard. There's always something… Not that you would understand. You're like my sister. Everything always came easy to her. She's a firebending prodigy. Everyone adores her. My father says she was born lucky. He says I was lucky to be born."
Zuko paused. Maya wondered if he even realized he was speaking out loud.
"I don't need luck, though," he continued softly. "I don't want it. I've always had to struggle and fight, and that's made me strong. That's made me who I am." He turned away from the blizzard, eyes closed, as if pained.
"Zuko," Maya said gently. She did not know how to comfort him, so she said, "Come sit beside the fire. It's too cold for you to be so close to the entrance."
He stood there for a moment longer, head bowed, eyes closed, with a frown across his face, and then he turned and came to her, sitting down beside her. "You shouldn't be with me, Maya. You don't want to be with someone like me."
"Nonsense," she responded immediately. "Enough talk. We have to save our energy."
And so they sat, watching the fire, backs turned to the storm. At some point, Maya reached slowly to take Zuko's hand. She was still iffy on that sort of thing, as Zuko was not a very outwardly affectionate person. He didn't do anything for a moment, and then he turned towards her and took both of her hands in his, and brought them to his lips, and blew on them.
A small spurt of flame came from his mouth, and a flash of Maya's father came into her mind. She gave a yelp and yanked her hands away, only to look at them and see that he had not burned her. Her hands were not even red.
"Maya," he said. "Do you think that after everything we've said to each other about our pasts that I would ever intentionally burn you? I'm not that much of an asshole. Don't you trust me?"
She looked down, ashamed and embarrassed. He was right, of course. "Sorry. It was instinctual."
"I know. Give me your hands, Maya. I'll warm them up."
She blushed. "Couldn't you just do the breath of fire again?"
"That's what I was doing," he said, sounding confused.
She looked up, and then down again, embarrassed now for a different reason. "No, I mean… like before."
He was utterly silent for longer than necessary, so she looked up at him. He was grinning at her.
"Ah. I see." Slowly, he scooted closer to her. He released a breath of air onto her face. It was warm. He put a hand behind her head and pulled her close to him. She could feel the heat wafting from his body. Somehow, it was attractive, and she blushed more. And then his lips were against hers, and she heard him inhale slowly through his nose. And then he released the breath, and she felt warmth spreading through her body.
The warmth made her drowsy, and she relaxed against him. At some point – Maya wasn't sure when – Zuko's breath of fire became a kiss. She felt his fingers in her hair. She thought, for a moment, to return the gesture, until she remembered that Zuko didn't have much hair. She snorted laughter against the kiss, and he pulled away, looking slightly annoyed.
"Sorry," she said, quickly swallowing back more laughter. "Just thinking something random."
And that was when Aang decided to wake up.