Hey there,

Welcome! This is post five and I know I originally said I had prepared five chapters for this mini-arc. But after an unexpected last-minute brush with inspiration (and a few all-nighters in a row), I have completed a sixth new chapter. So this arc will go for another day yet. So we're putting an extra Yay in this Saturday! I hope these daily posts have been nice to look forward to these last 5 days. I plan to take this story much further beyond this long birthday weekend too. I was just having way too much fun with them all on Toph's island.

Special thanks to my friend, Rose-Aki for your spectacular reviews. You always comment on most of the things I'm super nervous about when these go up and I can't thank you enough for your kindness, interest and positivity. THANK YOU so much! Hope this is reaching you well!

Standard Disclaimers apply - I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender, Nickelodeon, MTV or any of the other trademarked things mentioned. I am merely borrowing all of these things for my own twists and plots. Most will be returned unharmed.

Dedicated to my friend also hoping to someday completely knit a full-sized blanket. I STILL hope we can both do that, and one day boast of our success. This chapter is all for you! Hope it makes you smile!

Enjoy!

"They Forgot"

Chapter 16 - Facials and Freak-outs

(Zuko's Perspective)

After all of the ups and downs of today, a soak in some naturally heated pools. That smelt like rotten eggs, with my Uncle, new brother-in-law and all of my male friends wasn't going to make me feel better. I don't pretend to know everything... but this I knew for CERTAIN! Yet regardless of how much I did NOT need this, I still found myself walking into the hot springs anyway... and it did turn out better than I originally thought it would.

I was overwhelmed, angry, and too worried about Mai. I didn't have time for this crap! But I ended up tagging along behind them anyways because the girls had talked Mai into going with them. The whole 'being too worried about Mai' excuse kinda falls apart when all the girls on this stinking island reel your fiancée in and make it about her. Why are girls always so much more intimidating in a pack? And why do they always manage to gang up so effectively, even when they don't like or trust each other very much? HOW? I ask you?

There were too many guys I knew in there, but even more that were total strangers. Because they were either here as students for Toph's school or they had come with their girlfriend Kiyoshi warriors, worked at the inn, or had just married my sister. Everyone was wearing swim clothes thankfully. I've followed Uncle into these places before where there wasn't a dress code, and they NEEDED one, BADLY!

Needless to say, I stuck to Sokka, Aang, Kavin and Uncle anyway. Who all noticed the moment Mai wasn't with me, I was different. I had been fine, till the moment we went our separate ways, I was immediately affected and more uptight than before. I was even making the newlywed look good by taking the separation way worse than he was. Even I knew that couldn't be good.

But once we were all in the pools, the steam was so thick I couldn't see very far in front of me. Which wasn't helping my danger senses calm down. How does Toph do this all the time without seeing? After the scary events of this morning. Uncle had assured me, "I bet Mai is getting very spoiled and pampered by the girls right about now. Katara, Ty-Lee, Suki and Toph have discussed it for ages. They've been waiting for a chance like this."

Kavin helped this along by pointing out how great this was for my sister too. Saying, "My colleagues and I all believe that your sister could greatly benefit from social gatherings like tonight. With people she knows and is comfortable around that aren't professionals or fellow patients."

Not looking at any of them, I told them (but more Uncle), "I know. That doesn't make it any easier to be away from her right now. I guess I'm just worried after all I saw today... what I had to put her through." The room was so steamy and foggy, I doubt I could have seen them even I had looked their way.

Kavin explained, "I promised my wife that I wouldn't be 'Doctor Kavin' the whole time we were here. But it is my profession, and I am genuinely curious. What part of that trip today is bothering you the most? Is there any one or few things that seem to be bugging you the most? Maybe getting them off of your chest here can better prepare you for the next time you are with Miss Mai again."

I have no idea why, but before I even realized it. I was telling my new brother-in-law exactly what was bothering me most...

I confessed that "I'd always heard about these crazy things happening before. Where Mai saved her father, mother, or brother... if not both parents, the whole family, another politician or a person of power visiting her house. I'd never seen it for myself till today. I saw her get hit, I saw her go down and I was surrounded in warriors more worried about keeping me and Aang safe."

Aang spoke up a little further away, "You guys should have seen her. She really was amazing in there today! Remind me to never make her mad, I don't want to ever have to go up against what I saw today. She was all cool and confident too. Till we got back to Appa anyway. Then she let some of her pain and tiredness show, but not in front of her family. It was like she knew they'd pounce on the slightest show of weakness and I have to say, she's probably not wrong either."

I confirmed for Aang, "She knew what she was doing. She even had dress the part today, be the perfected image they always expect of her. After watching her relax a little more each day we're here. That almost broke me in half today! I'd like to tell them what they could do with their wishes and ideals..." My fists both burst into flames even though I was standing in the heated and humid water. They quickly fizzled out, but that burst of anger hung around.

Sokka agreed, "Yeah they're really awful, it's like where did Mai even come from in that family? And Tom-Tom too for that matter, even though I think he's 98 percent Mai's influence and rasing...and I'm lowballing that figure."

Uncle reminded me, "The Kiyoshi ladies were doing their job in the face of a threat. I'm sure the those girls were just as sick about Mai getting hurt on their watch as you are. That's probably part of why they chose tonight to surround her and try to make her feel better. Also Ty-Lee was probably pushing for this to happen when Azula could be part of it. I think your sister has really loved being included today."

"She has." Kavin confirmed, "I doubt she even misses me right now. But I'm so glad for her, I can't be blue."

I could hear Uncle coming closer, as he tried again. The water gave him away, "I'm sure she's fine, Zuko. Try to relax and forget everything for a little bit."

That was when I looked at my Uncle and friends who had come closer and ALL of them freaked me out. All of their faces were covered in thick dark colored mud. When I started to freak out, all of them tried to calm me down, not knowing why I was losing it. I asked them, "WHAT-THE-HECK-IS-THAT-CRAP-ON-YOUR-FACES?!"

Aang explained, "Oh, the girls made up enough mud masks for everyone. Both boys and girls! You don't have to do it, lots of the guys didn't. But it does make your skin super nice for a few days. And I don't know if this is ALL girls or just Katara… but she always notices." Then he elbowed me and winked.

Sokka confirmed, "Suki too, if you know what I'm saying. And I know you do!"

I told the avatar, "I'm afraid to hear how you both know so much about such a girly thing." I grew up outnumbered by girls too, and you don't see me spouting facts like that.

Sokka insisted, "Hey! A little skincare never killed anyone. Aang and I may or may not have found ourselves in these masks a few times when the girls were doing them as we traveled. Where's bad?"

Uncle even said, "I may or may not have found myself in similar spa experiences whenever the girls were visiting my campsites with the White Lotus as well. Always such an enjoyable experience."

I had to ask, "Where the hell was I when this was going on?" Before I changed my mind and said, "Don't tell me. I don't want to know. Just let me sit over here and not look like I met with the wrong end of the swamp tribes again."

The next thing I know, I'm being held down and forced into the same face smear as my Uncle and friends. My flaming hands, feet, and breath didn't scare anyone in that corner of the room. And no one else could hopefully see me getting owned and smeared in the same weird-smelling crud. What they didn't warn me about either, was that stuff hardened too. Like I had to really scrub at it to get all of the brown off afterward. They also didn't warn that when it hardens you can sound weird till you break outta the junk again. I didn't want to admit it, but it did make my face feel noticeably different. I was a little excited to see if Mai would notice it too. But I could NOT let them know that. So regardless of all of this, I told my group, "We never speak of this again… Ever."

Aang conditioned me, "That's fair, as long as you promise to at least thank Katara when you see her."

"That would be talking about it." I complained.

But Sokka said, "She was the one who arranged a lot of today. So many of the small details were all her work. Even if Toph was a genius with those races. Come on, even you have to admit, that deserves some praise."

So I said I would before turning in, but I didn't see either girl when we finally left the spring. Most of the girls were already asleep. So I promised I wouldn't forget to thank them tomorrow. So I could FINALLY go to bed myself!

When I entered our room, it was only lit by the dying fire in the fireplace and Mai was sound asleep. So asleep she didn't even notice a sound I made, as I rekindled the fire and added wood. This was rare to the point of unusual, Mai was always such a light sleeper. I got ready and crawled in with her before finally falling asleep myself.

As easy as it had been to fall asleep, I wish I could say it had been restful too. But I had nightmares all night. Where today was happening over and over, Only the outcome in these nightmares wasn't nearly as good or happy. In some of them Mai lost a parent, both parents or Tom-Tom. But in all of them, I lost her, and nothing I did or tried could save her. I lost count of how many times I had to rip myself from the horror I was seeing.

The last time I drifted off, had been by far the worst. I had even woke up with tears in my eyes and my chest hurt like something heavy was sitting on it. But this time I hadn't ripped myself from the vision… Mai had, she was sitting up beside me and she was wiping at my eyes with her sleeve. Telling me, "Zuko it's alright, you must have been having a nightmare... it's not true, okay. You're alright."

After having to watch her die over and over. I hugged her to me and didn't want to let go. She told me softly, "We're safe, we're on the new island again… everything's okay."

"I know," I was finally able to say. "It was terrible." I left out the part where it had been happening all night, while she hopefully slept well.

Mai asked, "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"The only thing that helped my peace of mind, besides waking up. Was seeing you sound asleep over there." I tried to explain. She'd been so peaceful and beautiful, I couldn't wake her up.

But Mai had caught the hidden fact in my words, "So this has been happening all night?"

"Yeah," I had to admit. "Only since I tried to sleep."

She sat back to look me in the eye and that was when I noticed her hair was all braids going in different directions. She tossed her longest braid over her shoulder. Before telling me, "I guess I get that, but next time, wake me up. Okay?"

"No." I said stubbornly, and she tried to still make me promise. But I was already too distracted. "Who did your hair?"

"Promise!" She was still trying to insist.

I was letting her know, "I like it."

"What?" She finally asked.

"You're hair, it's different. I Like it." I repeated. "It makes you look regal. Like most girls are always trying to look but don't really nail. You're nailing it right now."

"Quit trying to distract me." She complained.

"Then you quit distracting me." I shot right back.

"How am I doing that?" She asked wisely, having no clue what this sassiness was doing to me. "When I'm not even trying?" She finished.

"Have you looked in a mirror recently?" I asked her.

"I was asleep, so no." She said in that short flat tone that makes me smile.

"You're gorgeous," I had to tell her. It absolutely kills me when she gets so stunned by me using that word.

"You think?" She asked pulling at the longest thickest braid, bringing it back around to tug on self-consciously.

"Yes!" I said, touching her face. "You're so beautiful, but doesn't it hurt to keep it all twisted like that and sleep on it?" I had to ask, I imagine it wasn't comfortable. That and I was a little obsessed with it whenever it's down. I'd been thinking about it all night since she'd had to put it back into it's usual style earlier today.

"It doesn't bother me." She shrugged. "But it did make me look a little different. Is it a good difference?"

"Definitely." I nodded. "I can't stop staring and we just woke up."

"Well, the sun isn't even up yet." she pointed out. "I think it's a little early to start our day yet."

"Oh yeah, you're right." I realized. "I'll let you sleep, I don't think I can anymore," I said kissing her and climbing out of bed. She needed rest and I just couldn't stay there anymore. I made myself break off the kiss super short because I didn't want to wake her up too much.

She still asked all worried, "Why?"

I lied and said, "I'm just too restless." I didn't let her know the last one had been the worst of them all. Because she hadn't died protecting her family. She'd died protecting me in that one. And I was still too rattled to even lie down anymore, I had to get up and think of something else.

So I busied myself with relighting the fire in the fireplace like I had before all of this had started. I put a few pieces of fresh firewood in and lit it. When I stood up and turned around, Mai had relocated to the couch behind me and pat the seat beside her.

"You're not gonna try to sleep anymore?" I asked, surprised.

She said, "As if I could after seeing you like this."

I sat beside her, let her wrap her blankets and arms around me. She even climbed into my lap and just held onto me for a little bit, not saying anything. It was a comfortable silence, and I had to admit this was better than sitting alone.

I noticed the bandage was gone from her neck, but she still had a tiny mark there. My hand came up to brush her braid back, and she caught me staring. She asked, "Think it'll scar?"

I told her, "No, it looks like it's almost gone now."

"Is it very ugly?" She asked in such a teeny tiny voice.

"No," I answered in a similar tone. "I'm the last person who'll ever call a scar ugly. Especially on one of the only people who were there for me when I got my worst scar and you never looked at me any differently because of it."

"Your Scar is legendary, everyone knows the story of how you got it... if I'm going to be your Fire Lady I have to be as pristine as possible. I think my high neckline can hide it when I get home-" I stopped her by kissing the teeny mark still left from this morning's attack. I kissed her a few more times before I leaned my face against her neck.

"You're beautiful, every single part of you, in every way," I whispered these words to the side of her neck. Letting my breath warm her skin with my words. Wishing I could somehow make these words she never forgot. "Don't you ever let anyone convince you of something else. Especially not your family, okay? You will always be perfect to me, when you are yourself and you are comfortable. okay?"

She took a breath and kissed me quickly before agreeing. "okay." She let me pull her closer to me, and just hold on a little tighter for a minute. When Mai spoke again she asked, "Do you wanna talk about it? You know... your nightmare?"

I said for sure, "Nope."

"I get that." She nodded to herself. "But I also know that you'll talk about things whenever you're ready. I'm the one who doesn't do that enough."

"You usually talk to me though." I tried to make her feel better.

"This morning isn't about me, it's about you." She reminded. "You helped me yesterday with my problem-"

"A problem I created." I (Zuko) had to add.

Mai corrected, "A dilemma that my parents manifested, needed ending. You helped me do that, anyway that you could, now let me help you."

"How?" I had to know.

"By getting your mind on more pleasant things, and not your night terrors," Mai said, like it was going to be the easiest thing.

"More pleasant things? Like what?" I asked.

"I'm sure we can think of something more pleasant than whatever you just saw." She teased as I kept leaning closer and she kept backing up.

"Happiness isn't something we have a lot of experience with," I said as we continued this flirty game of teasing each other. "How will we ever think of something that good, right now?"

"Hmm," she said thoughtfully and hinted. "I have a few ideas I could go with. But even if none of them work, there's always the fail-safe."

"What's the fail-safe? Exactly?" I asked, even though I could guess.

That's when she finally stopped playing and kissed me. After the dreams, I had just been having... It was the only thing that made the pain and tightness in my chest finally loosen and go away. When we stopped and I leaned my forehead against hers. She put both hands on my face and said, "Whoa."

"What?" I laughed out the word.

"How does your face feel so nice?" She asked before correcting herself. "Or extra nice?"

But I had noticed, "I could ask you the same thing."

"Katara made up some mud masks, we wore them while we were all soaking last night," Mai explained. "Don't tell me, she got all of you men to do that too?"

I copied Sokka's sentiment, "A little skincare never hurt anyone."

She covered her mouth when she laughed out loud, before sharing. "I wish I could have seen that."

"Well, now that I know what to expect, maybe we can do that together on a sleepover night." I offered up for consideration.

"Oh, we're definitely doing that." She said, still smiling. But then she got back on track saying. "But this morning is all about making you smile and forget. Not me."

"You can laugh too, that definitely helps me lighten up." I let her know.

"No, I can do better than this." She promised before saying. "I have a couple of ideas. But I think only one can really work."

I wanted to know, "Well, what were the runners-up?"

"Well, I seem to remember you mentioning you're top three favorite sleepover moments with me." Mai reminded. "Since then I have been compiling my own tally. But I keep changing my numbering so that list will need a little more time."

"I know that will be worth the wait." I appreciated and couldn't wait to find out what moments cracked her top three, or if she's taking her time, maybe even top five or ten. I can always hope, right?

"Then my other idea was sharing some of the funnier things that happened at the girl's hot spring last night. But I really do think those things should stay between us girls." She said, clearly teasing me some more, and I didn't hate it.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to break any girl code or anything." I played along. "Which idea did win then?"

"The night before last, you asked me about what I would have wanted if our wedding had been entirely up to us." She reminded me, and I have to admit. I sat up a little straighter, I was listening so carefully. "Ever since then, I have been trying to think of what I would have chosen if that were the case. And I think I know if you're interested to hear."

"Of course, I'm very interested." I left no doubt. "I would love to know what you would like to do."

"I know we won't get any choice and I don't expect anything at all to come of this discussion." Mai made clear before she went any further. "The only requirements I really have for that day actually are that you're waiting for me at the other end of that aisle and when we walk out. Nothing can ever come between us again, okay? This is just to answer the question you asked me the other night."

"I understand," I hope I assured, as Mai looked like she was finally comfortable enough to begin.

Of all the ways I had thought about this starting. I wasn't expecting this idea to start out this way. Mai asked, "I know that you know all of the Kiyoshi warriors even better than I do. But do you remember one of the older girls, who's retired now, named Camilla?"

"You mean Cami?" I asked, "Yeah, sure. She was one of the girls Suki would refer to all the time. When I first started letting them handle my protection detail." She was one of the greats, and all of the girls still rave about her. But I had to know, "Why are you bringing her up?"

"Because she was the first Kiyoshi warrior I befriended at the Boiling Rock," Mai revealed.

"She was?" I couldn't believe it. "How come you never mentioned that before?"

"It never came up." Mai shrugged one shoulder. "I related to her strongly though. She had fought with her boyfriend and walked away from breaking up with him. Only to be apprehended as a prisoner of war a half block from their spat. The last thing she saw as she was loaded on the airship, headed for the Boiling Rock, was his face. She was still so mad at him and I was almost in that same situation with you."

"Whenever I would get a letter from you," she continued. "Or whenever she would get a letter from her boyfriend. We'd meet up and vent to each other. Because even though I'm close to Ty-Lee she didn't always understand my anger with you, Ty-Lee doesn't love anyone like that... Cami did. She understood exactly what I was going through, she made me feel not so crazy. We even had to share our cell multiple times, and we got pretty close. When the war ended and we were all released, I made up with you. She made up with her guy too. When we broke up again later, she was again in that same fight with her guy. Only when they made up the second time. She retired as a warrior, married him and they have a little girl now too."

"That's right, that all happened," I remembered, nearly all of my Kiyoshi warriors asking off to attend that wedding. I had to make do with White Lotus sentries all that weekend. And there had been a riot in one of our other cities. It was a weekend from hell, but at least it sounds like the weekend wasn't like that for Cami.

Mai said, "I attended their wedding while we were still broken up. Even as heartbroken and sad as i was sitting in that crowd. I really liked the way their ceremony went and if our's was up to me… maybe I wouldn't mind if our ceremony was something like theirs."

"What was theirs like?" I asked, completely invested in this story now.

She explained, "Her husband was born in another Earth Kingdom besides Kiyoshi island. It's a teeny tiny little place older than time and he was raised by some monks in a temple of that village. He was an orphan and in that village, the monks raise children who don't have families. The people in this village and the monks all believed that when two people are married. They're not just promising to stay together for the rest of their lives. They believe that the couple actually exchanges hearts during their wedding ceremony."

I asked, "Wait, they exchange actual hearts?"

Mai explained further. "They believe that when two people promise to love each other through marriage that more than words are being passed between the pair. They believe if a pair is truly together. Then I would have to accept your heart, and you would have to accept mine..."

I wanted to agree, that sounded cool, but then she leaned back and put her hand over my heart. Saying, "So this…" I could feel my heart beat faster against her fingers. As if it already obeyed her command more than mine.

"This would be mine… and this…" She took my hand and put it over her own heart. Before saying, "This would be yours." Not only did her heart beat race too, but our hearts were beating in sync.

I'm not stunned into silence often, but right there. It took me a little bit to say, "Wow."

Mai let her hand drop as she went on, mine followed hers daftly. She went on, "And in rare cases, some couples discover that they've already made the exchange long before then. Rarest cases of all, were even believed to have been born with each other's hearts… so they were predestined... which is cool. I have no idea what I would have done if I were given any choice Zuko. But I would like to see what they said about us if they were given the chance."

I had to admit, "I would too, that's so cool." Before totally predicting, "I bet we would have totally already switched too."

"Me too," Mai boasted, and she wasn't a person who showed off much. The fact that this was something she was that proud of… That really made me feel happy and hopeful.

"Whenever any couples already exchanged before their ceremony the elders of that tribe can pinpoint the date exactly and they're never wrong... supposedly... again, it would be interesting. Just to hear what they saw for us. There are so many possibilities."

I agreed with her, "There are, I wonder when they'd see it happening for us."

"Me too," Mai smiled.

"Well, damn!" I had to swear. "Now that I know that was what you would have wanted. I want to find a way to make that happen."

"You can't, and I know it." Mai said, trying to take the pressure off of me. "It would be sacrilegious for the Fire Lord to be married anywhere besides the Fire Nation's Capital. Very publicly and everyone has to be invited, I understand that. It's also very important that we maintain the traditions and rituals of our nation. This was just an idea of what we could have done if we had a little more freedom. Or if that tea peddler really had married me when we were punk teenagers like you were saying." She said playfully before totally not playing fair and kissing me.

When we did break apart I somehow remembered to say, "I still sometimes wish we had done that. Lee the Tea shop worker could have totally made that wedding happen."

"He was even a citizen of an earth kingdom," Mai joined in setting the scene.

"But I struggle deserving you, even as a Fire Lord… Lee would have had no chance." I had to remind her.

She shook her head at me, "As long as it's you, I wouldn't have cared."

I told her, "Well, it's gonna be me. You said Yes, and I'm not gonna let you forget it."

"Right, 'cause I'm so forgetful and scatterbrained like that." She said sardonically.

"You know what I mean," I said almost kissing her.

She did just say, "I think I do." Before I started to kiss her again. I kept trying to not get her too worked up, just in case she wanted to sleep some more. But she was driving me crazy. I couldn't tell you how long we were making out on the couch together. But a knock at the door snapped us both out of it.

A knock that turned out to be Aang. Who was letting me know that he had Avatar business to attend to. He didn't need my help or anything, he was just letting me know what was up before disappearing. He guessed he'd be back in a day.

Then I barely shut the door again before the rest of Team Avatar was standing there to let me know that they were going with Aang whether he wanted them to or not. They just wanted me to know, where they were going. Told me to stay put and rest while we could.

As soon as I closed the door there was another =KNOCK KNOCK!= This time it was Uncle, Ty-Lee, Azula and Kavin with a bunch of casually dressed Kiyoshi warriors. Since Azula needed clothes and Kavin needed something I forgot. Ty-Lee was taking them with her when she went "island hopping" today to meet boys. Her ship was pulling out before dawn. I asked Uncle "Why was he standing there?"

He said, "While they're "island hopping" for clothes, goods, and guys, I'm gonna be hitting up the farmer's markets for odd ingredients. Then I'm gonna make my chef friends cook with them, and see what they come up with... Don't wait up."

So by the time I FINALLY got to reclaim my seat next to Mai again, the sun STILL wasn't up, but we had the whole ISLAND to ourselves. The whole thing... just Mai and me... well, mostly. The Inn still had workers and I'm sure Toph's students could still be around. But other than that, everyone else was going.

Mai asked me darkly, "Do you think they rehearsed that at all? Because that felt way too convenient just now, don't you think?"

I had to agree, "Yeah, way too close and tight together. I think our friends more than anything wanted to give us a little time alone together today. What do you think about that?"

Mai leaned her head on my shoulder and said, "Our friends are amazing."

"They are the best." I agreed, before asking her. "If the day is all up to us, what's the first thing you want to do today."

She said, "It's too early yet."

"No, you're right, I'm sorry. Let's get you back to bed." I told her and planned on carrying her. But she was determined to walk, and crawl in on her own. When she was laying down and under the covers again. She pulled on my sleeve asking me to, "Please lay with me, even if you can't fall asleep, just be with me. For a little bit."

How could I possibly turn that down. I crawled in too, just knowing I couldn't sleep a wink. But when I laid down, even though Mai had said she was tired and wanted to sleep. We ended up making out for a while. Before she fell asleep, I couldn't believe it. But almost as soon as her breathing evened out. I finally fell asleep too. Only this time, I actually got to rest... and I really believe it was because she somehow kept the nightmares away. I don't pretend to know how, but if anyone could protect me like that. It would be Mai, I have no doubt.

That's all for this chapter

But don't worry, I have at least one more in this arc to post tomorrow. Thank you for reading this far. Anyone who is reading this right now. Please review if you can, I would love to hear from you. I hope you're having a great day, Much Love!

~DarcyBeDippy85