Chapter 7: Breathin' Easier

(30 Minutes Before the Wedding)

Back in the palace, the Fire Princess was currently approaching the room where future Fire Lady Mai was getting ready. The entire palace was buzzing with rumors of the chaotic events of this morning, and Azula knew that she would need to see how her friend was holding up. And if the yelling coming from Mai's room was any indication, she guessed she wasn't holding up all right.

Azula opened the door to find a lipstick-smeared, runny-eyed Mai getting yelled at by her makeup artists.

"You need to calm down!" scolded one of the ladies.

Mai cried into her hands, smudging her mascara. "When your fiancée gets cold feet the day of your wedding, then you can tell me to calm down," she yelled.

Azula was having none of this. Today would be monumental - not just in Zuko and Mai's lives, but also in the history of the Fire Nation. She would not have a sobbing bride and a run-away groom on her hands. Absolutely not.

"Out," she ordered. "You three—" she pointed at the women with makeup kits in their hands, "—Out now."

The three women grumbled to themselves before leaving the room. Azula quickly sat down beside Mai.

"Everything's going wrong," Mai sobbed, "They spelled my name wrong. Zuko's missing. Toph and Suki made the wedding venue roofless because the ceiling was going to collapse, and now it looks stupid because what even is a roofless venue? There are eel swans and turtle-ducks just walking around because, of course, Zuko had to pick the worst-behaved animals in the history of the Fire Nation. Not to mention the fact that Iroh – our officiator – hasn't shown up yet."

She rubbed her tears with the back of her hand. "The stupid Fire Sage was right."

Azula was trying not to scoff. "By Agni," she muttered, grabbing her friend by her shoulders. "Pull – yourself – together," she said, shaking her with each word. "You are the future Fire Lady! So why are you sniveling like some housewife? It's not over until the fat lady sings, okay? So instead of crying, you and I are going to think about each of our issues rationally. What's the first issue?"

"Zuko's missing."

"Okay, and the Avatar and his Watertribe buffoons are searching for him," Azula said. "And if those Watertribe siblings could find the Avatar in one day after we had been looking for him for a hundred years, then I'm sure they can manage to find a drunk man in one city. What's next?"

"Iroh's not here," said Mai.

Azula sighed. "If you think that Uncle Fatso would miss Zuko's wedding, you couldn't be more wrong. Even if he's halfway across the world now, he will find some way to show up on time. And even if he can't, I'm sure one of the Fire Sages can officiate you. Next?"

"The turtle-ducks and eel-swans. I can't just have them walking around freely. What would people think?"

Azula raised a brow. "Who cares what people think? You're going to be the Fire Lady – what you say quite literally becomes law. And besides, Ty Lee reported them to be gentle and timid when not spending extended periods in water," she said. "Honestly, having the beasts freely wander the gardens would probably look more calming than if they were confined to the ponds. So, that issue is resolved as well. Next?"

"The wedding venue. It's roofless. Suki called it an outdoor venue, but I don't even know what that means." She buried her face into her hands. "I'm going to be the laughingstock of Caldera City.

Azula furrowed her brow. "Mai. You do realize that you will be the most influential woman in the world by tomorrow morning, right? Depending on how you play this, you won't be the laughing stock, you'll be a trendsetter. Who knows, maybe in a few years, all the wedding venues will be outdoors."

Mai snorted. "I highly doubt that."

"Okay, well, if you have that attitude, then it's not going to happen. You just need to own it – like you're making a statement. If you act like you love your wedding venue, everyone else will too." Azula ran a glance over Mai's ruined makeup. "Now the only thing that's actually a problem is your face. Your makeup looks terrible."

Azula picked up a wet wipe and began clearing off all the substance from her face. As she cleaned Mai's face, she used her free hand to pat her shoulder.

"Look. Don't freak out. I get that your wedding day is really important, but all you can do is hope that everything will work out in the end," said Azula. "And for you at least, you've always seemed to be pretty lucky in that regard. After all, you got out of the war unscathed; just a few nights in a luxury prison cell."

Mai nodded, still sniffling, as Azula picked up the powder brush and started applying it to her now-fresh face. There were a few moments of silence that passed between them before Azula spoke up again.

"…Can I give you some marriage advice while pass the time?" Azula asked after a few moments.

"Sure."

"Above anything else in a marriage – wealth, intimacy, whatever – the most important thing you need to have is proper communication." The princess tilted Mai's chin up to dab powder more effectively. "Whenever I was in the process of... turning over a new leaf, Ty Lee helped me a lot. The entire time, I resented her for it. I felt like she was doing it out of pity or fear. It wasn't until I finally talked to her about it, did I realized she was doing it because she loved me."

"She always loved you, Azula," Mai said gently.

Azula nodded. "That's exactly why I felt guilty. Because even though I hurt her a lot and made her fear me, I loved her too. Even if it was in my fourteen-year-old self's own sick way. And I apologized a lot in the early days. I was a wounded child, and in return, I wounded others. And Ty Lee took the brunt of it." Azula exhaled sharply. "In all honesty, I don't know how she was able to forgive me. But I do know that I'll spend the rest of my life making sure that I never let anything or anyone hurt her, including myself."

Mai placed a hand over the one Azula wasn't using to do her makeup with. "I know you won't. You're not the same person you were all those years ago. You were a literal child back then, Azula. And given what you went through with your dad… well, no child should have to experience that. Especially not from the hand of their own father. Cut yourself some slack."

"That doesn't excuse what I did. That doesn't excuse how I hurt other people." Azula sighed, and Mai knew that her mind was stuck in the past. On all the mistakes she made, and all the things she could've done differently. "The point is," Azula said abruptly, "if I never had that conversation with Ty Lee, if I hadn't been honest with her, we wouldn't be friends much less married. We've had long talks since that day – about all the things I'm so terribly sorry for, and all the things she's forgiven me for – and now we're in a good place."

"I'm happy for you."

"And I'm happy for you and my brother," said Azula. She picked up the rouge from the table and began dusting it across Mai's cheeks. "You know, I always thought that I'd be jealous whenever Zuko married you and made you the Fire Lady – making you more powerful than me. But now that I think about it, I know that I could never handle a position of power. I spent less than twenty-four hours as regent of the Fire Nation, and I lost my mind. I know now that I'm much happier with my quiet life with Ty Lee than I would ever be as Fire Lord. But I also know that you're well-equipped to handle that challenge."

Mai smiled a watery smile. "Thank you, Azula. I know we don't really talk about this kind of stuff a lot, but I'm glad we're friends. We've been through a lot together."

"If by a lot, you mean you backstabbing me and me trying to kill you in return, then yes – yes, we have."

Mai sighed dramatically. "You had to ruin the moment, did you?"

Azula snickered and continued fixing Mai's makeup. The latter was just clinging on to every fleeting hope that Zuko would show up on time.

. . .

Zuko had been through a lot in his life – more than the average person.

He fought in a potentially fatal Agni Kai with his own father at age 13. He was exiled for three years in search of something believed to be forever lost. He once floated in the middle of the Northern Watertribe sea for several days before making it dry land. He lived as a refugee, confronted his father and nearly got struck by lightning, confronted his sister and actually got struck by lightning, and entered what could've been the end of the world at age sixteen.

But he had never been quite as terrified as he was now.

Okay, yeah, he was exaggerating. But he was still panicked, nevertheless.

It was, what, like half an hour before his wedding and he was sprinting, pantless mind you, through the palace corridors? Not to mention the only thing that Zuko could think of at that moment was a distressed Mai, wondering where he was.

Katara, Aang, and Sokka were much further behind him, struggling to keep up.

Zuko was running towards the room where Mai was supposed to be getting ready, and he was quickly intercepted by a group of Mai's ladies.

"You can't see her until the ceremony!" scolded one of the ladies in a shrilly voice. "It's tradition!"

At this point, Zuko was so tired of hearing the word tradition. Whether it be from annoying Fire Sages, cooky relatives, or shrill-voiced ladies-in-waiting, it was getting annoying. So, pushing past the ladies, he entered Mai's room anyway.

To his surprise, he found her – not distressed – but already dressed and decorated with lavish jewelry. Her hair was placed into an intricate updo that made her hair look like a crown on her head. Her eyes were closed as a hand gently dabbed powder onto her eyes. Her makeup looked different from that of traditional Fire Nation brides.

Sharper, more modern.

The hand that was applying Mai's eye makeup belonged to Azula, who was sitting next to her.

Azula spotted Zuko first, and she smirked upon seeing him. "See, Mai, I told you those Watertribe peasants would find him," she said, sounding smug.

Mai opened her eyes almost immediately, and she sighed a deep breath of relief.

Azula took this as her cue to leave, patting Mai's shoulder as she left. "Perfect time to put my advice into effect," she whispered to her.

Before she left, she turned to look at Zuko. "I'm sure the palace servants are all gossiping about the events of last night and this morning," she stated, rolling her eyes at him. "But, being the good and responsible sister that I am, I'll see to it that the rumors are replaced by a different and more flattering retelling."

"Thank you, Azula."

Azula nodded before turning on her heel to leave.

Then it was just the two of them in the room, and Mai looked like she was trying very hard not to cry. Feeling his heart crack, he took a seat next to her on the bench.

"You're not supposed to see me until the ceremony," she said, like reciting a fact.

"I don't care, Mai. I just needed to make sure you knew that I wasn't ditching you or getting cold feet or anything like that."

"I know," Mai said, sighing. "But still, Zuko. Getting black-out drunk the night before our wedding?"

"Agni, Mai… I'm so sorry," said Zuko, wincing. "The drinks Sokka got had cactus juice in them, but he didn't know, and I'm sorry—"

"I'm not mad at you," Mai interrupted abruptly. "I'm a little irritated, sure, but I'm not mad."

Zuko was surprised. "You're not mad?" She shook her head. "Then why do you look upset?"

Mai sighed. "Nerves, I suppose."

"You're nervous about marrying me?"

"Oh, no, Zuko. Of course not," she assured, placing a hand over his as affirmation. "But I'm not just marrying you. I'm also marrying the Fire Nation. It's just… everything that could go wrong today has gone wrong, and I'm not even Fire Lady yet. I don't know if I can handle it." She placed her chin into her hands.

Zuko raised a brow. "What makes you think you can't handle it?"

Mai cringed. "I kind of had a meltdown earlier," she admitted, "It was super embarrassing, and Azula had to calm me down." She sighed deeply. "I guess that just kind of threw me off since it doesn't happen a lot. I mean, if I can't handle something as silly as a wedding ceremony, what's going to happen when I need to deal with civil unrest or war?"

"Nobody expects you to know how to deal with that kind of stuff right away, Mai," said Zuko. "When I was first figuring out how to rule the Fire Nation and deal with the Earth Kingdom colonies, you were the one who helped me keep a level head. When your brother was taken hostage, you were the one remaining calm and figuring out the best course of action. Just because you freaked out once, doesn't negate all the other times you've dealt with things appropriately."

Mai nodded absent-mindedly.

Zuko noted this. "Something else is bothering you. I can tell."

Mai sucked in a breath through her teeth. Her insecurity regarding Katara had been something that had embarrassed her for a long time. Mai knew that Zuko saw Katara as nothing but a sister and that he had eyes for only her, but she sometimes felt like the waterbender outshone her. She helped save the world while Mai was sitting in the finest jail cell in the Fire Nation. She managed to be beautiful and strong and feminine while Mai sometimes felt she traded her beauty and femininity in exchange for her strength.

"Sometimes…" she started slowly. "Sometimes I feel inadequate when compared to Katara."

Zuko looked surprised. "Katara? What does she have to do with this?"

Mai bit her lip. "Everyone talks about how she's so pretty and strong and amazing, and I sometimes feel like I pale in comparison to her. I've heard people say that…"

"…Say what?" said Zuko, looking concerned.

"Say that she'd be a better match for you than me," Mai blurted. She almost immediately felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. No matter how much she tried to suppress her jealousy and insecurity, it had been weighing down on her for a long time. For the first time in a while, she felt light.

Zuko looked shocked. "Mai," he said, cupping her face. "Nobody is better matched for me than you. Okay? You think you pale in comparison to Katara? Agni himself pales in comparison to you. It's always been you, and nobody but you. I'll love you for eternity and for whatever comes after that."

Mai's lips tugged upwards. She reached for his hand and took it into hers. "I'm so lucky to have you," she whispered, her throat feeling constricted.

He took their interlocked hands and placed his lips against her fingers. "I, and the Fire Nation too for that matter, are lucky to have you as our Lady."

Mai cracked a smile, allowing herself to relish this moment for a few seconds. Then, she forced herself to think practically. If the wedding was in less than half an hour, Zuko needed to get ready now.

"I love you so much," she said, "but you need to go bathe and change into something other than your undershorts. Like now."

Zuko chuckled his dumb, dorky laugh before getting off the bench. "See you in a bit," he said, and then he was off to get dressed.

Almost as soon as Zuko left, a messenger entered the room.

He bowed low before standing up and addressing her. "Lady Mai, I have been sent to inform you that General Iroh has arrived to the palace."

Mai took another sigh of relief. "Oh, thank Agni." She nodded at the messenger to dismiss him. "Thank you, sir. You may go."

And, suddenly, for the first time in the past few hours, Mai felt like she could finally breathe.

. . .

Iroh was breathless as he arrived at the palace of Caldera City.

After about an hour of walking, sprinting, and hitchhiking, he was exhausted. All because nobody would believe him when he said that he was, in fact, General Iroh. One carriage driver, in particular, had the gall to laugh.

"Good joke, buddy," he had said before riding off.

So Iroh had sighed, pushed his way through crowds of people, and entered through the back entrance. Upon arriving, Iroh was quickly ushered into a dressing room by the palace servants who were quickly handing him the robes he needed to change into.

As he was getting dressed, he heard some rather… interesting rumors.

The servant's whispers of a missing Fire Lord and a teary-eyed future Fire Lady wafted through the air.

"Excuse me?" he finally said to the woman finding him proper footwear. "What is all this I hear about the Fire Lord?

The servant blushed. "Ah. Well, there are several reports saying that he was missing this morning," she said.

Iroh nearly fell out of his chair. "Huh – what?"

"Yes. Some people may think that it was irresponsible of him to go searching for Lady Mai's favorite fruit tarts the night before his wedding, but I think it was so romantic!" the servant said, gushing. "Lady Mai was so touched; she was moved to tears when he returned with her fruit tarts in tow! I'm so happy for them. Lady Mai is wise and fierce and, oh, Fire Lord Zuko is so compassionate. I even heard that last night, on his way back to Caldera City, he ran into a homeless peasant who was cold in his flimsy clothing. Lord Zuko was kind enough to give him his coat and his pants, leaving him in only a shirt and a pair of undershorts! I'm proud to have him as our Fire Lord!"

Iroh frowned. That didn't seem very characteristic of either Mai or Zuko… "I see," he murmured. "And where did you hear this from?"

"About fifteen minutes ago, Princess Azula and the Avatar's friends were discussing it in the main corridor."

Iroh immediately put two-and-two together, and he was trying very hard not to smile. As soon as he heard Azula's name, he knew that the servant's story was nothing but a coverup rumor planted by a certain princess.

. . .

Fifteen minutes prior…

Azula had gathered up the Avatar, his wife, his brother-in-law, the blind girl, the Kyoshi Warrior, and Ty Lee. She had given them specific instructions as to what to say in the main corridor – where she knew that many servants in the palace would overhear. So, as they rehearsed back in the room, Ty Lee started the conversation.

"Has Zuko returned?" Ty Lee asked naturally but loud enough for servants to overhear.

"Yes, I was wondering that as well," Azula continued, in a believable voice, "It isn't like my brother to be anything other than punctual and responsible."

Sokka went next. "Indeed, Your Highness," he said in a forced voice that made Azula cringe. "Your brother, Fire Lord Zuko, is the textbook definition of responsible! To answer your question, Ty Lee, I think he returned to the palace recently."

"Wasn't it sweet for him to go all the way across the Fire Nation to find Lady Mai her favorite fruit tarts?" Katara asked robotically.

"Ah, yes!" said Aang, who – for reasons unknown to Azula – adopted a foreign accent, "How sweet!"

"I even heard that Lady Mai was moved to tears!" Suki recited theatrically.

"She was so emotionally moved that she ordered her ladies-in-waiting to leave her dressing room in order for her to compose herself!" exclaimed Toph in the most monotonous voice Azula had ever heard. And she grew up with Mai.

Azula stifled a sigh. Sometimes, she really didn't know how these imbeciles saved the world. They couldn't lie or act to save their hides, but somehow could take down a fleet of warships, herself, and the most powerful man alive? Somethings Azula would never understand.

Thankfully, the palace servants weren't all too bright and loved spreading gossip more than actually verifying if it was true.

From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of two giggling servants scurrying away (no doubt to go spread Azula's bogus rumor), and she could breathe easier knowing that nobody outside of this inner group of people would know of the events of this morning. All was well in the world, and she expected the rest of the wedding to go without a hitch.

Her brother really did owe her.

To Be Continued.