disclaimer: Mike and Bryan own the ATLA universe; Mariko belongs to me (: enjoy!
Redemption
She was going to kill him!
"Mariko, what're you doing!?" Aang grabbed her wrist as she made to rush after him.
She scowled at him over her shoulder, "That many airships can only mean Azula's here, and he can't handle her on his own." She jerked her wrist free to sprint into the fray at top speed.
Azula peered into the fog beneath the cliffside for any sign of her brother, perking up as electricity intensified around her; she swerved to the left to narrowly avoid a bolt of lightning from the cliffside where the airships had demolished most of the balcony, tawny eyes narrowing and zeroing in on the black-haired firebender.
Mariko glowered emotionlessly at her, amber eyes pissed, grunting and sending a wide blast of flames screaming in her direction.
Deflecting them with ease, the princess sent several bouts of azure flames in return, making more dust fly into the air.
Hopping around the fireballs, she took to the air on her fire-rockets and flew past her to land on her small bridge expertly; straightening from the crouch she'd dropped on, she turned to face her properly.
Amber and tawny clashed coldly.
"Turning traitor seems to have given you a backbone!" Azula harnessed electricity and sent a vicious bolt screaming at the traitorous girl.
Mariko quickly redirected it, sending the lightning bolt jetting to hit the second airship's back router, sending a wider bolt in its place at her, forcing her to hop back; she flew after her, fists swinging and sending blasts of orange flames at the princess. "You're not the only girl to have mastered lightning!"
She deflected several of her fists, slapping the last two away with little effort and sending her own left fist sailing at her, blue flames coating her enclosed hand.
She kicked her fist upward with a foot, forcing the flames to shoot into the sky, using her free leg to knock her legs from under her, leaping over her to retreat; the searing heat of an oncoming fire blast came at her back. Swerving in time, she kicked off from the azure flames with a blast of orange flames equal to hers, causing an explosion to coat the air in dust as the blast sent her flying towards the cliffside.
A grunt sounded as a rough hand grabbed her arm in time, and her dazed head was cleared instantly when she looked at her savior to meet his gold eyes; she straightened, noting he'd landed ontop of the third airship, both of them glaring at his sister on the opposing airship.
"Stay here." Zuko ordered quietly, bolting forward and sending furious bouts of flames at his sister, being deflected and blocked, on the defense and then on the offense again and again, continuing until she aimed an azure-flame-encased fist at his face, his own orange-flame-encased fist swinging at her.
"Zuko!" She exclaimed when an explosion bounced into the air from the collision, both siblings free-falling below the airships; she grunted and dropped down after them, adjusting so she was facing down, fire-rockets kicking into gear on reflex as she threw her arms around the prince, both of them landing with a combined 'oof!' inside the bison's saddle.
Zuko whipped his head around to see his sister still falling and a touch of sadness glinted in his eyes. "She's not gonna make it…"
Twin jets of blue flames spouted as the princess dug her hairpiece into the lower cliff face, a malignant and triumphant smirk on her pretty lips as she watched the bison continue to put more distance between the ruined temple and itself.
"Of course she did." Mariko groused, looking at him and punching his shoulder hard, jerking him back to reality in a pinch. "You! You lunkheaded prat, do you have any idea how you scared the crap outta me when you fell off that damn airship!?" She shouted, amber eyes shining with a light consisting of worry, frustration, and relief all jumbled into one.
"Me! You're the one who flew out after me to fight her with lightning when you coulda been safer inside the tunnel with the others! Did you even think that that damn stunt wouldn't give me a heart attack!?" Zuko fired back just as hotly, irritated that she was getting after him even though a part of him was wholly supporting his worry for her.
"You sunnuva…" The anger dissipated as his last sentence struck a chord inside her conscious; realization slowly came onto her pretty face as it soaked in. "Wait, did you just… were you worried about me?" Mariko asked softly, amber eyes widened a little as they stared at him.
Zuko felt his cheeks burn scarlet and he fought the awkward-turtle-duck wall threatening to drag him behind it; he coughed and cut his gaze away, gold eyes tight in denial. "N-no, of course I wasn't! You're strong enough to take her on…" He saw the blush coloring her cheeks dark pink and noted a few ears were dropping eaves out of the corner of his eye; he jerked his attention in that direction. "What're you looking at? Piss off!" He snapped briskly, making the nosier teenagers scramble away from their end of the saddle.
"Zuko…" She saw him glance sharply in her direction and the heat returned to her cheeks; she cleared her throat and looked away shyly, a small smile forming despite the avoidance of eye contact. "Thank you."
He coughed awkwardly and looked to the clouds on his right, finding them suddenly interesting. "D-don't mention it."
::::::::dOb::::::::
A rustling next to her awoke the firebender.
She opened her eyes stiffly to see the brunette girl slipping back into their tent. "Suki, you okay?" She asked quietly, sitting up from lying in her sleeping bag, seeing the girl slightly freeze at being found out.
She smiled sheepishly at her, waving it off, "Uh, yeah! Everything's perfectly fine, Mariko." Of course by the thin line forming on her lips, she knew that was a total backfire.
She rubbed her eyes, "Right. Did you see Zuko, by any chance? He seemed miffed after his spat with Katara at dinner." She asked, sleepiness slowly disappearing to leave the clever-minded admiral's daughter that she was.
"I did, actually; he went to go ask Sokka about something a few minutes ago." Suki answered if only to keep from getting the third degree, seeing her quirk a brow.
Mariko exhaled, shuffling out of her makeshift bed, "I'll go check on him, then; thanks, Suki." She smiled appreciatively at her tent-mate, slipping out into the night to see just where he had gotten to.
The breeze rising from the rolling waves below their encampment tugged at her mane of hair she'd left down, reminding her stingingly of her sleeveless tunic and shorter-sleeved shirt underneath; she rubbed her arms out of habit, looking at the lone figure standing between two tall rock pillars looking at the sea.
"You still awake?" She called softly, seeing him turn in her direction as she came closer, stopping at his side and facing the dark waters, a slight smile playing at her lips.
He puffed out pensively, nodding, following her example. "Yeah. I thought you were already asleep. You looked tired from earlier." He returned quietly.
She shrugged, rubbing her arms as more of a habit than subtle indication that she needed external warmth. "So what did you ask Sokka about?" She asked, just wanting to get the straight truth from him and then go back to a warm bed.
He mentally cursed her tent-mate for their earlier run-in, staring at the milky moon half-surrounded by dark clouds and let a sigh be dragged out into the air. "The Southern Raiders are the reason she hates me. And even though I shouldn't care what she thinks of me, it irritates me that I'm still considered the bad guy when in retrospect the Southern Raiders are the ones responsible for the loss of her mother. Not me." He explained, slightly miffed about the whole ordeal and hating that he had been given the proverbial short end of the stick.
"Ah." She murmured, letting it soak in, processing. "Another fieldtrip." She surmised quietly, slightly catching him off guard for a second, her words a statement more than a question.
He quieted and then nodded, seeing her rub her arms again. "I know it looks like I'm trying too hard to get her approval, but it really is irritating to see that I'm not the only one she's got it out for." He knew both girls hadn't really spoken to each other since they were both indicted into the gang, and from the way that she had stuck to the earthbender's side moreso than the waterbender, seemed to avoid each other as best as possible given the closeness.
She opened her mouth to rebut before letting his words sink in and she instead huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "I said I would handle it; Kat's just being a stubborn idiot about accepting you into the group. She's already used to me, but you're a different case. Irony, really." She hated that she was being so damn dense but to say she actually hated her friend? No, she couldn't do that, not after practically groveling on her belly to be accepted as one of their own again.
"Mari, I have to do this, for all of us. You know how it is." They'd been best friends since the age of five so she didn't have any room to deny that she did indeed know him to be a people-pleaser (which she often blamed on his being raised in the palace).
She puffed out her cheeks in defeat, a habit she'd done on occasion when they were little, scowling at the clouds thinning in the night sky. "That still bugs me… lunkhead." She groused.
A smile tugged at his lips, widening a smidge as he recalled their argument upon leaving the ruined temple earlier in the day. "So can I trust you to behave while I'm gone?" Again? He added in the back of his head, gold eyes drifting to his slightly-stoic and complete tomboy girlfriend.
"Given I know that Katara won't pull anything because one, I'd zap her ass off within seconds and two, because she's still miffed, yes." She complied with a small bite to her tone.
"Play nice." Zuko chided with a barely-covered chuckle under his breath, edging closer to pinch her right cheek, only to receive a growl and shooing of his fingers, a gentle smirk forming. "You're more attractive when you're jealous." He noted as more of a spoken thought, perking her ears.
Mariko snorted, another sign she'd kicked her birthright title right out the window, glaring defiantly at his amused gold stare. "You're such an arrogant lunkhead," she bit out, twisting on her heel to leave him to his thoughts and effectively storm back to her tent before his fingers tugged on her waist sash, pulling her close. "I am not jealous." She seethed, amber eyes bearing the flustered emotions welling inside and hidden beneath the sheer tenacity she exuded.
He rolled his eyes, relinquishing his grasp on her makeshift belt to let her stand tall before him. "There's no reason to be, princess. You'd hate me for doing that to you, and we both know it's impossible to stay angry with each other for so long." At seeing her cheeks brighten with pink, he smiled softly, "Why would I, anyway? The last thing I ever want to do is hurt you, Mari." He stated quietly.
She rubbed her arms, blushing another shade of pink when he pulled her close with his arm around her waist; exhaling in reluctant compliance, she placed her own hand on his chest, letting him hold her. "So you were worried about me, after all, this morning." She murmured, her cheek on his shoulder.
Zuko recalled his earlier awkward-turtle-duck shying from the factoid and huffed in mild amusement, his hand on her ribs squeezing. "Only because you were so reckless to follow me." He mused.
"Sure, so staging a makeshift Agni-Kai atop two airships is considered safe; yeah, okay… God, you're insane!" Mariko groaned the last three words and tilted her head so her face was in his upper shoulder, a muffled whine coming from her.
"You love me for it." He felt like he clammed up faster than a turtle-duck once the words left, spilling into the air, soaking them both in a moment of awkwardness.
She opened her eyes slightly once the scarlet blush on her cheeks dimmed, a fond smile forming even though she could've sworn his heart stopped for a split-second in the silence. "That I do."
His stiffened arm around her returned to normal as he felt a great measure of elation that she didn't reject him, his free hand lifting to curl his fingers in her hair. "Really?" If she didn't hold onto him she would've smacked the back of his head for being so insecure about it; he did love her… no, of course he did. She wouldn't have sacrificed so much to just hear him reject her feelings; he couldn't be like that with her… He wouldn't be like that. Not with Mariko.
"You're a moron sometimes." Mariko pulled back to shake her head with a slight chuckle, looking up at him as he was slightly confused, the chuckle shifting to a giggle. "Zuko, I trust you, okay? Even a few months ago when we were in Ba Sing Se, when you were as confused and unsure as I was, it didn't matter to me how far we were apart; I still worried about you, all of you. And even though we've both been through hell, I love you still. Suppose I always have." Even though she was blushing a dark pink, she was still exuding confidence through her words, and that eased him if not realizing that she loved him.
Zuko opened his mouth and then shut it, sighing and doing the instinctive thing by pulling her back to nearly crush her to his chest, hearing her squeak slightly. "You don't have the slightest idea of how much I really don't deserve this, that I don't deserve you. You traveled all over, almost got yourself killed a few weeks ago, just because you love me… Mariko." He almost growled, his fingers digging into her lower back and right hip.
"Like I deserve you? You've struggled and fought tooth and nail to get to where you got, you're the best friend I've ever had, and you're a lunkhead sometimes but you're still the sweet boy you were three years ago. Who you are, not your birthright or your looks, that's what I love." She hugged his shoulders tightly, smiling despite his annoyance with himself.
"You…" He quieted as the realization struck him that the struggle would continue if they kept being dense about whom was at fault and who was not, so he sighed steadily and let his hand on her back rub small circles with his thumb. "We're both being idiots, aren't we?" He half-chuckled out of spite.
She blushed slightly at the feeling, slightly arching her back, giggling softly despite the sensation and the irony of things. "Yeah, we are." She buried her face into his neck and exhaled, closing her eyes. "I do love you, Zuko." She murmured.
He shivered lightly at having her lips at his neck, smiling fondly. "I love you too, Mariko."
"… But I didn't forgive him; I'll never forgive him." Her blue eyes rounded on the prince and she smiled apologetically, "But I am ready to forgive you." She stepped forward to embrace him briefly, letting go, looking at the second firebender that had hung back, and noting the small smile forming on her lips. "Mariko, I'm sorry, for the stupid arguments and my being… well, mean." She rubbed her neck.
The older girl shook her head with a wry chuckle and embraced her friend tightly, pulling back to regard her with warmed amber eyes. "It's okay, we both acted like idiots. Besides, I deserved half of it, anyway, because of what happened in Ba Sing Se… But we're still friends, aren't we?" She smiled tentatively.
"Of course." She nodded, and both girls shared a quiet laugh, walking alongside her away from the jetty to where Sokka stood waiting with Appa.
::::::::dOb::::::::
"Wait, why're we going back to your parents' summer home?" She asked, looking at him from his seat next to Aang at the bison's neck, leaning slightly over the rim of the saddle.
"It's the safest place right now. Azula wouldn't think twice to look there, and besides, it's right under her nose." He answered calmly, missing the slight knowing look she sent his direction.
The rest of the ride was quiet until they came near a house atop the sloping hill on Ember Island, and at Zuko's insistence, they landed on the patch of beachfront yards infront of the abandoned home.
Stifling a yawn, Mariko helped the girls unload their sleeping bags and her own bag plus katana, distributing the sleeping bags without much thought. Once everyone had their belongings, Aang steered Appa to a nearby stable that connected to the house so he could rest.
"It's been a long time since you've lived here." Mariko noted quietly as she trudged alongside her boyfriend into the foyer of the house, smiling slightly when the others went to find a place to sleep, vainly wishing to join them even though she felt the need to be with him.
Zuko looked at the expansive front room and glanced at the doorway that led to the kitchen in the back, a nostalgic light entering his eyes. "Yeah, it has." He looked at her to see she looked sleepy, smiling a little and nudging her. "Come on, it's been a while since you were given the grand tour." He suggested, seeing her blink back sleep.
Smiling fondly at the idea, she nodded and let him lead the way as he trodded to the stairwell leading to the second floor, following dutifully. She had only come one time, back when she was eight, on a playdate during the summer, with her mother and his, Lady Ursa. They were kept downstairs and out on the stone courtyard in the back of the house to play and such, but once or twice they would sneak upstairs to explore and just for the sheer fun of it.
He passed by the front door that was closed once they were on the second floor, knowing that used to be the powder room, seeing the second door coming up and continuing –it had been Azula's room, anyway—to the third door, stopping there. He jiggled the handle and scowled slightly to see that it was locked, blinking when she held out one of her daggers for him to use; taking it, he pried open the lock and, at hearing the satisfactory 'click', he opened the door successfully, handing her the dagger back.
She waved at the air with a small cough as dust billowed out softly, blinking when he ushered her inside, and blushing slightly when laying eyes on his more-than-accommodating four-poster bed with splashes of gold and reds making the bed match perfectly with the dark crimson on the walls and tawny molding.
Playing in here when they were eight years old was different now that they were both older and knew just what… transpired, inside the sanctity of the bedroom.
Her cheeks were red and she jumped involuntarily when he placed a hand on her back, stumbling away to put some sort of distance between them, ears burning as she looked at him and was met with a confused look. "S-sorry." She coughed awkwardly and looked away, regaining her bearings as best as humanly possible while being inside his old room with the prince.
Zuko blinked once before recognizing that she was actually nervous now that they were alone, and in his bedroom to top it off… But even though he should be blushing just as darkly about it, a strange sense of confidence came over him instead. At seeing she shuffled ahead to trace a hand on the crimson comforter, he smiled a little. "Pretty sure it's been a while since anyone jumped on the bed." He noted aloud, seeing her blink and then look at him from having been admiring the bedspread.
Mariko took note of the small smile on his lips and smiled as well, shrugging her bag and sword off as she regarded his words as an invite to act like a kid again; he always did know how to get them both to act childishly. "I think you're right." She sighed, looking at him and allowing a small impish grin to form on her lips before she backed it up and then hopped to land in the middle of the bed with a laugh. She stretched her arms out and groaned, squeaking when he flopped down next to her, and couldn't help but giggle at how childishly they were behaving. She gently pushed him onto his back, smirking when he pouted up at her, sitting on her knees next to him and sighing. "You're such a dork." She chided playfully.
"Oh yeah, like you're so ladylike." He scoffed, poking her belly with a finger and getting his hand swatted away, grinning coyly at her puffed out cheeks and pouting lips, laughing quietly. He smiled again when she blushed humbly, lifting his hand to stroke her left cheek, seeing her blush deepen even though she clasped a hand on his and kept it on her face.
Mariko smiled warmly before lowering his hand, resettling onto the bed to lie with him and proceed to curl up against his side, resting her cheek on his shoulder.
Zuko raised one brow in mild surprise that she didn't feel the need to do anything more, but he chocked that up to her being sleepy; he lay there and let her get comfortable until he noticed she had dozed off. He smiled softly and reached to brush hair from her forehead, freezing slightly when she stirred a little.
"Don't leave, okay?" She murmured, her eyes still closed, her arm holding onto his right arm and squeezing a little in her drowsiness.
He smiled dryly at her request, his left arm sliding to fold on her back and hold her as she snuggled closer, closing his eyes as well, and before he knew it, he was in another world.
A/N: i know things have been ending on a sappy note, but hey, i did promise the story would feature MariZu at a later time, and starting from ch. 15 to this chap, suppose i've delivered well on that part, now haven't i? anyway, regarding the Zutara ship, it didn't set sail in this story. i must apologize to any Zutara fans reading this d: on another note, sorry for the prolonged update. been busy with life.. y'know? nyway, later!
*also: "Redemption" - GACKT