Chapter 11:
Zuko Agni had his sleeping daughter in his arms with her bag slung over his shoulder. He was standing on his ex-girlfriend's porch to drop his daughter off after a weekend of fun. He rang the doorbell and looked down at her sleeping face. This is all for you Maya, he thought to himself as he placed a soft kiss on her forehead. Mai opened the door. He was shocked to see her in anything other than a skin tight outfit. She was wearing a long, flowy red Maxi dress that had a sweet heart neck line. Even after all these years of fighting Mai was still breathtaking. Her black hair was pulled into a high bun with a few stray strands hanging over her forehead and those eyes were always the thing that got Zuko. She had beautiful, tawny gold eyes that made Zuko feel electrified when he looked at them. Right now Zuko felt anything but electrified looking at his past lover. He felt the extreme need to repent for everything. He could tell she was tired even behind all the makeup she wore these days. Zuko was tired too and had been for far too long.
"You can take her upstairs to her room." Mai said coldly as she let him into her home. Zuko carried Maya upstairs and placed her in her pink canopy bed. He tucked her in and turned out the lights. Then went downstairs to see Mai who was reading a book on the couch.
"Um so what are you reading?" Zuko awkwardly asked. He wasn't used to having normal conversations with Mai. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time they had even had a conversation to begin with.
"Oh just a book about how to kill my dead beat ex who should be leaving my house right now." He swore Mai's glare could kill Superman if she tried hard enough. Normally Zuko would have hit her where it hurts right after that statement, but he decided to take a deep breath and compose himself. Even if being a dead beat severely pissed him off it wasn't worth a fight.
Zuko sat on the opposite end of the couch as Mai. Seeing the physical distance between them was worse than actually thinking about all the emptiness which their relationship now consisted of.
"I told my driver to come back in an hour. Come on Mai, when is the last time we attempted to have a decent conversation together? Maya knows we don't like each other. What do you think it does to her, knowing the two most important people in her world aren't even friends?"
Mai slammed her book shut and slammed it on the coffee table in front her. She finally took the time to really look at Zuko, really look him in eyes for the first time in a long time. In her eyes he saw the brokenness, the pain, and the betrayal all at once. This was definitely going to hurt her, way more than it could ever hurt him.
"Now you want to think about Maya! Now you want to act like you care! How do you think Maya feels seeing you parading around half naked women, piss drunk? Oh, you didn't think about that did you Zuko! It's too late to be daddy now. You weren't even there for her birth, too busy getting drunk I suppose. That's MY daughter and you can't tell me what's best for her." Mai clinched her fists in her lap. She obviously angry already and the conversation just started. "I can't even stand being in the same room with you and now you want to come into my home to talk. Fuck off Zuko."
Mai got up and walked away into the kitchen. Zuko followed her.
"I know you're upset with me Mai but you won't talk to me like that. I'm trying to be civil with you so why don't you go back over there and sit down. Stop acting like a child Mai! Let's be adults for once!" Zuko commanded in a gruff voice. Damn, well that came off as condescending. His old ways just couldn't help but bleed right back in.
"Oh you think I'm just a little upset with you! No Zuko I hate you! Do you have any idea how painful it is to even look at you? You hurt me to the core Zuko, so you can see why I'm not interested in being the least bit civil." Mai turned her back on Zuko and that to hi felt absolutely awful. Was she really so done with him there was no fixing it, no room to try?
"Mai, I'm sorry for everything but let me explain. Everything isn't my fault. Please let's just talk about this." Zuko placed his hands on her shoulders, she stiffened under his touch. He could tell Mai was crying without even looking at her. She was sniffling hard. This sent Zuko back to seven years ago when he told her that lie about never loving her. The wound was still festering after all these years.
"There's nothing to talk about. I will never forgive you. You don't want me obviously because for the last 7 years you've done nothing but treat me like shit and sleep with other women. You barely even want Maya considering you told me to abort her and I'm still over here in love with you like an idiot. You have no idea how it feels to still love a man who broke your heart! You are poison to me! You have broken me and I'm never going to be the same again."
Tears were streaming down Mai's face. After seven years all of her pain could finally be released. As much as it hurt Zuko to hear it she needed this. Zuko wrapped his arms around her from behind, hoping it would help.
"Get off me! I hate you! I fucking hate you! Get out of my house!" Mai slapped Zuko away and wiped the tears from her now red face.
"Mai-"
"GET THE HELL OUT!" Mai ordered pointing her hand to the door.
Zuko exited the house. It was raining and his driver wouldn't be here for another 30 minutes. The rain fell down heavy over him. He deserved this. He deserved all of it.
"I failed just like I always do." Zuko said to himself letting the rain fall over him.
~/~
Katara was busy in the kitchen cooking. Sunday was the day for family dinner. Her dad, Sokka, Suki, and Gran Gran all got together for a meal and to catch up. Today was Katara's turn to cook. She made a whole roasted chicken with fingerling potatoes and fresh kale. As she placed the food on the table Sokka and Suki had arrived with Gran Gran right behind them.
"Hello Katara!" Gran Gran said giving her a big hug and kissing her on the cheek.
"Hi Gran Gran. You guys sit down. Dad's in the dining room already." Katara went back into the kitchen and stirred the kale a little more
"Katara, can I talk to you?"
"Yea sure Sokka. What's up?" Katara was surprised. Sokka actually sounded serious for a change.
"Suki and I have a little situation." Sokka winked at her then nudged her shoulder with his elbow.
"One, don't ever wink at me again. Two, what are you talking about?" Katara inquired pulling plates from the cabinet above the stove.
"Katara, we have a LITTLE. SITUATION." Sokka emphasized.
Katara still wasn't getting it. She looked at him extremely confused.
"Well Katara one day Suki and I were…" Sokka did a gesture with his hands. He made a circle with his index and pointer then with his other hand took his middle finger and stuck it through the hole. Katara quickly covered her eyes like a kid who caught their parents have sex.
"Gross. You couldn't have just told me she was pregnant without traumatizing me! So does that mean you're moving the wedding up?"
As excited as she was about the new edition to the family the thought of her brother doing THAT was absolutely disgusting. Katara was going to be an aunt. Her brother was going to be a father? She couldn't imagine him being a serious parent. He would probably be the parent up eating candy in pajamas with his own kids at 1 am. Sokka could barely parent a fish effectively let alone a human being.
"Keep it down. We have to tell Dad and Gran Gran first but we don't know how to."
"So you want me to mastermind your plan? Just tell him he's going to be a grandfather tonight. Easy."
"We kind of wanted to do something special like a party or something and being that you know several rich guys now I'm sure you can help."
"You want me to pimp my boss?"
"No I want you to pimp your new boyfriend."
"BOYFRIEND. Who told you I have a boyfriend?"
"Toph."
"Oh, Toph was so going to die. Help me set the table Future Father."
~/~
After dinner Katara was up in her room with a call from Aang.
"Hey Beautiful. How was your day?" Aang asked
"Fine. Found I'm going to be an aunt soon."
"Congrats Katara. So I had a meeting today."
"Meeting? For?"
"Well it's very hard to continue making these gliders by hand without a proper manufactory line. A company put in an offer to purchase my product and distribute it for me. I'm having a meeting with the president of the company tomorrow."
"That's great Aang! So who is the lucky guy who's endorsing your product?"
"Zuko Agni. I haven't heard the nicest things about him personally but his company has an amazing track record in the business world."
Katara suddenly started to cough very loudly. What were the odds? Zuko wasn't the only guy with a company in town. Why did Aang have to do business with her boss, who he couldn't know is her boss? Well at least this deal would help Aang and possibly make him more money. Still, the thought of them both in the same room would be a hilarious sight. Zuko would probably chew Aang up and spit him out.
"Are you okay?"
"Um, yea. Just dust. Ha."
"Good so I was thinking we could go white water rafting this weekend. What do you think?"
"Um, yea but it has to be next Sunday. I have to work on Fridays and Saturdays."
"Geez your boss must really live a messy life for you to be working so much."
"Oh you have NO idea. But I'll see you Sunday for sure."
"Good. I'll tell you all about the meeting tomorrow. Have a good night." Aang quickly hung up.
Katara's mind drifted off to Zuko's advice Zuko had given her. He seemed really passionate about what he was saying. One part stuck out in her mind: There's no fantasy involved, its raw and open intimacy the whole way through. Stop picking the Nice Guys and pick someone who can handle all the scars and baggage you may come with. She couldn't help but think Zuko was indirectly talking about himself. It was surely true that Zuko needed someone to handle all his scars too but he couldn't have been saying that SHE was the one to do that. No. Katara you're crazy. You have a date with Aang soon. A guy who has your total and undivided attention. Plus, she's never been white water rafting before.
There was a knock on the door to her room. It was Suki.
"Hey, Kat. What are you doing up here by yourself?"
"I just had a phone call."
"Well you should definitely come outside. There's a blue Lamborghini outside with your name on it."
Katara burst out in laughter, "No seriously what do you want?"
"Come on." Suki yanked her up. "Some mystery man really bought you a car Katara."
Holy shit! There was a cobalt blue Lamborghini in her front yard, but that didn't mean it was necessarily for her. Katara walked up to the shiny blue beauty and saw a note with her name on it. It read:
Katara,
"Sometimes people are beautiful.
Not in looks.
Not in what they say.
Just in what they are."
Katara's mouth dropped wide open. Who would have ever blessed her with such an expensive item?
Author's Note: Sorry this chapter was kind of boring. Would you guys like to see the Zuko/ Aang meeting? What do you think about this chapter? As always thanks for reading :)!