disclaimer: Mike and Bryan own the ATLA universe; Mariko belongs to me (: enjoy!

Fall to Pieces [Awkward Turtle-Ducks]

Finding her way back to the apartment wasn't too hard, just as it wasn't hard to find the tea shop the day prior. So she sighed as she gathered her wits infront of their apartment door, gripping the strap for her scabbard absently out of habit.

A knock. "Uncle, it's me." No answer.

Frowning slightly, she knocked again and tried the same greeting, only to be met with silence. The firebender tried the handle and found that it was unlocked; she made a face, counting from three to one before opening the door and poking her head in to see the living room/ kitchen was empty of life.

She scowled at the lack of occupancy, stepping into the apartment and closing the door quietly behind her entrance, keeping a hand on the hilt of her sword out of reflex, fighting the swell of paranoid thoughts that swirled in her head like thick fog, blinking as she passed the teapot, noting the folded paper tagged to the lid.

"'Mariko, if you're reading this, it's our day off. Went out to run errands, Zuko is at home. PS: be good. Love, Uncle.'" Crafty old sod; she ignored the slight blush threatening to stain her cheekbones at the four little words that made her think of that confounded kiss the night Jet had been arrested.

'Zuko is at home'… She exhaled quietly and shrugged her katana off her shoulder, propping it against the small dining table, feeling her palms become clammy as she made the trek across the room to check on the prince, her feet bringing her to the first bedroom door near the desk and chair.

Get ahold of yourself, damn it. This is Zuko you're getting worked up for: Zuko your best friend, the turtle-duck with two left feet around girls.

Mariko inhaled deeply and gingerly fingered the handle of the door, sliding it open as quiet as possible, noting through the thin crack the door left that the room was dark, and as she slid it open more, she now saw a lump underneath the blankets of the futon on the floor near the back wall.

She inwardly relaxed at seeing he was there after all; closing the door back to the slim crack, she smiled impishly despite the churning feelings in the pit of her gut regarding him and that kiss, exhaling softly.

The door was thrown open with a loud 'clack' as the sliding door slightly bounced from the impact as she said at the top of her voice, "RISE AND SHINE, PRINCELING!"

Her gesture got just the right reaction: a startled yelp came from the lump under the blankets and said lump almost jumped a foot in the air, falling unceremoniously onto the futon with the pillow and blankets, both objects dropping to make him look like a real goof.

"W-what in the… MARIKO!" The prince bellowed, all the while not noticing she had busted out laughing until he yanked the blankets and pillow off his head, a vein pulsing dangerously on his right brow as he now saw she had fallen to the floor laughing her ass off. "Damn it, what the hell was that for!?" He yelled, glaring heatedly at her as she slowly regained her bearings.

Mariko giggled and when she saw his flush-faced and the goofy way his hair looked, she wheezed on another laugh, clutching her ribs. "G-good morning to you too, Zu!" She chortled.

Zuko growled and leveled her one of his deadliest glares, waiting until she sat up in a more lucid manner and got out of bed, glaring still at the complacent girl. "Are you done?" He bit out.

"For now." She grinned and wiped the stray tears of mirth from her eyes, chuckling. "Come on, Zu, that was hilarious, and I haven't had a good laugh in ages! Lighten up." She jibed gently, standing as well and placing a hand on her hip, the amusement still present in her eyes.

"Like hell… Where's Uncle? I thought he was here." He snuffed, looking past her at the rest of the tiny apartment's living room.

"He left a note." She handed him the note she'd picked from the teapot, letting him snatch it and read what his uncle had said.

Zuko grumbled an oath at his uncle's matchmaking craft, refolding the paper and pinching the bridge of his nose, exhaling steadily. "He's trying to kill me…"

"Mm dunno, he'd prolly be nice enough to let me do the honors if you ever got me pissed." Mariko pondered, tapping her chin with a finger innocently.

The vein started pulsing once more, "Pretty sure the papercuts you tended to the other night are all healed up, so I don't need your nursing habits again." He informed, seeing her blink once.

She pouted and rolled her eyes. "So you don't wanna hang out, or do anything?" She asked, giving him the puppy-dog eyes.

Zuko snorted at her attempt to be cute, sighing. "I'm sure your friends are missing you, so it'd be pointless to stick around if there's no need…" Even though having you around would be nice, the nagging voice in the back of his head added pointedly.

"Well what if I said I wanted to stick around for the day?" Mariko countered, a stubborn light replacing the amusement, and he could swear she was blushing too.

He scoffed this time, rubbing his neck, "You want to hang around the Lower Ring with me." Sure his stint job gave him a paycheck, but to spend it on her? Hm.

"If you'll have me." She answered with a slight shrug, ignoring the blush that started to creep onto her cheeks at the double-entendre of the four tiny words.

Tiny words seemed to have a large impact even if they didn't mean to.

Zuko blinked owlishly once and he had to steer his mind as far from the romantic feel her words spoken with confidence brought out, dragging himself into a platonic sense. "O…okay. Sure. Just give me a sec," he accepted, slipping past her –making sure not to touch her—to make a beeline for the bathroom to wash up.

Mariko slid the door closed to his room and her back sank against it, a shaky sigh escaping when he closed the door to the bathroom. "Tui and La I'm an idiot." What was up with her? She usually pegged herself to be calm, collected, confident, clever… But when she was around him after so long of separation, and the sarcasm and playfulness was stripped away from under her feet…

Damn it, why am I being awkward with Zuko?

::::::::dOb::::::::

She was quiet and fidgety.

The fact that he knew she was a far cry from such a clammed-up turtle-duck on a regular basis plus it was her bright idea to drag him out of the apartment (only five or so hours ago, now) irritated him.

It was while they passed through another block –they'd covered at least several blocks by now, passing beyond the main street of the maze-like Lower Ring—that he finally broke the awkward silence between them with an awkward cough and a stuffing of his hands into the pockets of his pants. "You're being quiet for once."

"Huh? Oh, um, yeah… Sorry." She mumbled, kicking a stray pebble out of her path.

"Well that's a miracle; normally I can't get you to shut up…" At seeing her cheeks color, he prodded gently, taking a more careful approach. "Are you okay?" This wasn't like her, and it was starting to leave him just the slightest bit unnerved.

Mariko the confident and clever spitfire tomboy was now a shy turtle-duck.

"Y-yeah, I'm okay!" She cocked her head a smidge up at him, a defiant scowl forming. "Don't worry over me; I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself." She added stubbornly.

There you are.

"Pff, obviously so, otherwise you wouldn't be carrying such a dangerous object." He jibed, elbowing her side, indicating the black scabbard sheathing her katana.

Confidence returning at seeing he was trying to be light, she huffed and slugged his shoulder affectionately. "Damn right." She blushed when he caught her retreating hand, having caught sight of her concealed dagger tucked into her wrist guard.

"No wonder you seemed stronger when we met the other day. Carrying a knife set on hand…" He smirked playfully, releasing her hand after lifting the dagger from the confines of where she had it, examining the flat blade only four or five inches long, the black leather on the handle. "Should I be concerned that you've turned into such a badass?" He pondered.

She puffed her cheeks out when he picked the knife from her wrist guard, crossing her arms over her chest and snorting in an unladylike way that earned an amused twinkle to appear in his eyes. "Well I can't showcase my bending so damn flippantly, now can I? That's what daggers are for." She defended rationally, chin tilting up in confidence that had now returned full-force.

Zuko tossed it up and down in the air, catching it between the index and middle fingers of his right hand with ease. He caught the sharp look she sent his way and smirked again, coyly. "You're not the only one skilled with a blade." He reminded, handing the dagger back to its owner.

"Don't remind me…" Mariko groused, lips pursed, finishing tucking the blade back in place and crossing her arms, looking away.

"Sounds like someone's jealous." He hummed, rolling his eyes when she grumbled and stomped ahead of him down the street, following leisurely until he sidled to her right side again.

She snorted again, "Sounds like someone's gonna get his ass handed to him." Of course the 'no firebending' was obviously still in play…

"Sore loser," said the prince.

A reproachful punch to his left arm, "Bite me."

"Bratzilla."

"Lunkhead."

"Tomboy."

"Princeling."

At seeing the slightest hint that his ill-favored nickname was thrown into the air, she snorted, looking away to cover her mouth daintily and giggle.

Zuko blinked once at seeing he had gotten her to laugh, his face softening as he smiled a small smile at hearing a giggle from his friend, arms folding behind his head leisurely. "We okay?" He asked quietly, referring to her earlier awkwardness after basically busting into his apartment to kidnap him for a day out.

Mariko looked at him in mild confusion before her own face softened, cheeks coloring a smidge, and she nodded. "Yeah."

"You're insane."

"You're being a pussy."

He scowled up at her from his place rooted on the alley floor, having a distinct feeling of déjà vu; he could swear this was a scene out of their shared childhood… "If you fall, it's not my fault." Like you will, with those cat reflexes, he inwardly added with a snort.

She rolled her eyes and extended her hand out, starting to find his stick-in-the-mud sense of fun just the slightest bit annoying. "Do you trust me?" She asked bluntly, amber holding gold.

Zuko hesitated at hearing her ask such a thing, recalling the last few times they'd run into each other, always choosing them over him, always choosing duty over friends… He wanted to say no, but his mouth was saying otherwise. "Yes." He took her hand.

Mariko helped him hoist his body over the ledge, releasing his hand as he scrambled onto the rooftop and letting him regain his bearings; she straightened to stare out at the scene before her, smiling a little. "Zuko, look." She urged.

He shook his head and stood to his feet next to her, following her gaze and his own widened a little as he laid eyes on the vast expanse of buildings before him.

Rows upon rows of forest green tiled rooftops (much like the one she had snuck them onto) stretched so far as to the Outer Wall, the distant mountain range of the Serpent's Pass a brown eyesore on the horizon; he finally let his eyes rest on the twilight giving way to dusk, the deepest of violets layering to the darkest blues, lighter blues layering to the lavenders, lavenders layering to the most pastel of pink that touched the horizon line.

Beautiful.

Mariko closed her eyes when a stray spring breeze stole past them, playing with loose strands of her messy ponytail, smiling fondly at the taste of freedom the wind carried with it.

Zuko felt envious of her for managing to feel so free, but at the same time envy evaporated to be replaced with fondness for his companion.

She opened her eyes partly, lowering her head from having tilted it up momentarily, looking up at him with innocent amber eyes, blushing a little when recognizing he had been staring at her; she dropped her gaze shyly, coughing slightly and looking away, the blush darkening. "Sorry that I, um, dragged you out here… I just… It's been a long time, y'know, since we got to talk and act stupid, again, y'know…" She rambled, distinctly feeling her cheeks blaze as if her inner fire had risen to settle in her now-burning cheeks.

"Mari." He said patiently, perking her ears and she looked up at him from under her brow. "It has been a long time since we got to hang out. But I'm glad you dragged me out on the town; today was actually fun." He brushed some pesky locks behind her left ear gingerly, seeing her blink again, innocence returning. "Come on, it's getting late." He urged, mentally kicking himself for wanting to usher her back to his apartment like a coward.

She slightly deflated, even as the girly part of her that was often dormant had high hopes regarding a kiss from him, but the rational part of her accepted it without complaint. "'Kay."

After climbing down from their vantage spot, the two teenagers returned to his apartment complex in companionable silence, neither wanting to break it or cause some sort of havoc that would make a good day end bitterly.

So he surprised her when he tugged on her elbow to stop her short of several feet away from the door of the complex's first floor, earning a confused look from his old friend.

"Zuko, what're you…" She didn't get to finish her question due to his lips covering hers in a chaste kiss.

He smiled when she pressed her lips to his to reciprocate warmly, his hands drifting to her waist and holding her in place, feeling her smile against his lips in acceptance towards where his hands were.

Zuko pulled back to distinctly hear her make a noise in the back of her throat akin to a sound of remorse, gold holding amber; he pressed his forehead to hers, seeing her blush again, smiling fondly at the blush. "I had fun today." He mused.

Mariko absently fiddled with the ruffled hair at the back of his neck, her arms squeezing a little, her cheeks slightly warm even though she felt proud and happy at the same time regarding his comment. "I'm glad. I missed it, too, y'know, acting stupid and talking… like before." At seeing the fond light falter a smidge when she touched on those old scars, she embraced him tightly, burying her cheek into his shoulder.

Zuko closed his eyes and dug his fingers into her back; she didn't mean to remind him… He didn't know how he knew, but he knew she wouldn't hurt him intentionally. That was good enough for now. "I missed it too."

Both old friends said their goodbyes with a reluctant withdrawal from the embrace that lasted long enough for one to think they were closer than their current standing put them at, the prince turning to retreat to his small apartment and the admiral's daughter turning to make her way back to the Upper Ring.

But they did get closer today, didn't they?

A/N: okay, you lot KNEW this was coming. lol sorry if the chap seems short, i didn't intend for it to be like that. d: but hey! relationship progress~ i'm very satisfied with this chapter, dunno about you.. especially so because it's strictly MariZu. and yes, it takes place during the 'Tales of Ba Sing Se' ep.

*also: 1k views? AWESOME~
** also: "Fall to Pieces" - Avril Lavigne (MariZu's theme no. 01)

preview of next chap:
'Dread did a funny thing to your senses. It could either numb them to the point where you don't see your enemy coming... Or it could heighten them so high, you'd be sensitive for weeks. Today... it was the latter.'