Chapter Text
Mai knew she could never love Zuko the same way she loved Azula.
As much as she tried to hide it, even from herself, it sat there plainly. The Crown Princess was, much to Mai’s dismay, everything Zuko was not.
The Princess might have started out with a touch too much evil in her. Troubled, to say the least. But eventually, Azula had grown into her duty just fine.
Last Mai heard, she was prowling somewhere in the Earth Kingdom, conquering cities in her father’s name. The poor peasants didn’t stand a chance against the blue flames her old friend wielded as easily as Mai could hit a moving target one-handed with her knives.
The summer heat in the Fire Nation was scorching.
Whoever thought it was a good idea to inhabit an inactive volcano was surely a lunatic. Sweat clung to Mai’s hairline, and she let out an annoyed sigh. If it was already this hot, she should head back inside the palace.
It was better to be bored than covered in sweat.
It was days like this that Mai found herself missing Azula most.
Somehow, the girl always made their days interesting. Whether she was showing off for Ty Lee or bullying poor Zuko, there never was a dull moment with the princess.
“Lady Mai,” came the soft voice of her handmaiden.
The girl bowed her head as if Mai were someone special.
It almost made her laugh.
Then she remembered she was someone special now.
“Li Mei, please prepare a bath. The heat has caused me quite a sweat,” Mai said with a sigh as she passed the servant.
“Right away, Lady Mai. Is that all?”
“For now.”
Mai continued down the long halls of the palace.
She remembered the first time she had stepped foot inside. She had gotten lost within minutes. A negligence on her father’s part, her mother had made sure to call it exactly that.
The statues of the former Fire Nation rulers had scared her once. Something about how large they were had not sat right with a pint sized Mai.
“They aren’t that scary…”
The voice of a young Azula echoed in her mind.
It almost brought out a smile.
“Here, I’ll tell you their names.”
Mai’s eyes moved over each statue as she passed.
“…Sozin. Azulon. And my father, Fire Lord Ozai…”
She repeated the names quietly.
Mai supposed they never really had been scary.
Not after Azula named them.
Mai wondered, briefly, when Azula’s statue would loom over her in these halls. A haughtiness only she could muster, carved into stone for everyone beneath her to endure.
Mai continued toward her private quarters.
She was sure she had stalled long enough in the halls for her bath to be almost ready.
—
Sinking into the warm bath, Mai let out a low moan. The warmth soothed every inch of her skin, her aching muscles calming almost instantly.
“Is the temperature too hot, Lady Mai?”
“No. It’s perfect. Thank you, Li Mei,” Mai replied without opening her eyes.
She held her breath and dipped under the water, letting her long hair soak through. When she reemerged, it clung to her back and shoulders, black and heavy from the bathwater.
“You are so beautiful, Lady Mai,” Li Mei complimented breathlessly. “I will never get used to Fire Nation beauty…”
That’s right.
Li Mei was born and raised in the Earth Kingdom, brought here to be a slave, then later trained to be a handmaiden for Fire Nation nobles.
Mai peeked one eye open to look at the girl.
Wide eyes. Tanned skin. A large nose. Li Mei didn’t fit the beauty standards in the capital. One look and anyone would know immediately that she wasn’t a native.
The girl was kind, though. The sort of kindness that was too good for this place. Mai supposed that alone was enough to make her beautiful in her own way.
“You’re beautiful too,” Mai said as she sank back into the water.
“M-me?” Her handmaiden seemed shocked at her words.
Mai sighed.
This was why she rarely gave compliments.
“Beauty comes in many forms. I’d like to get out now.”
Li Mei sprung into action, grabbing heated towels and slippers for Mai to put on as she got out.
-
“Lord Zuko has asked for your presence in the training grounds,” Li Mei told her softly as she combed through Mai’s hair.
“In this heat? Zuko must’ve lost his mind…” Mai mumbled, earning a laugh from her handmaiden.
“He’s going to be observed by the Fire Lord,” Li Mei said as she styled Mai’s hair just the way she liked.
Ah.
Now the invitation made sense.
Mai was his betrothed, and it could be seen as an insult if she weren’t there when the Fire Lord made his appearance.
“Please make sure I am dressed appropriately.”
“Yes, Lady Mai.”
—
Mai stood in the shade with her handmaiden.
Zuko’s face brightened as soon as he saw her. He ran over, shirt off, long hair tied back in a messy bun.
He was gorgeous.
Mai found herself wanting to run her fingers over his perfectly chiseled chest. At nineteen years old, Zuko had grown into one of the most handsome men Mai had ever had the pleasure of seeing.
And he was all hers.
“Mai… you look beautiful,” Zuko told her as he reached for her hand.
He pressed his lips to the back of it.
“You don’t look too bad yourself,” Mai said with a smirk.
Zuko’s ears turned bright red.
“I-it’s been a while since you last watched me train.”
“It has. I usually find something cooler to occupy my time during the day.”
Zuko let out a small laugh at her response.
“Yes, I know the heat must feel terrible to a nonbender. My mother complained about it often before…”
He stopped.
Mai assumed it was because he didn’t want to finish the sentence.
Before she left.
Mai offered him a small smile. Even if it was a bit forced. She knew Zuko liked it when she smiled, and she supposed smiling for him wasn’t too bad. He deserved some sort of kindness in his life.
“I can endure it,” she told him.
She gave his hand a slight squeeze for reassurance. Mai wasn’t sure exactly what that would do for Zuko, but she had seen her mother do it for her father when she was young. It always seemed to give him exactly what he needed. He would straighten his back and walk confidently as the head of their family.
“I suppose it would’ve been easier if you were born a boy,” her mother would say as Mai watched her get dressed for important events.
“Then you’d never have to learn what it’s like to settle.”
She said it while quickly dabbing white powder on her cheeks. Her mother never stopped to look at Mai as she spoke, only at her own reflection.
“But you weren’t born a boy.”
Then she finally glanced at her daughter.
“It’s a good thing you’re pretty. That makes everything easier.”
Then she started applying her bright red lipstick.
“Us women hold the true power, Mai. One day, when you’re older, you’ll know exactly what I mean…”
And she did.
Her mother had been a lot smarter than Mai once gave her credit for. Mai was sure that was where her own intelligence came from. Her father couldn’t take any credit whatsoever.
He was a buffoon.
Her mother’s body hadn’t even gone cold before it became clear to Mai that she had been the brains behind both their marriage and her father’s political career.
“I should get to my warm up,” Zuko said shyly. “My father is coming. I’ve worked hard for this…”
Mai knew he had.
He was already pulling away before she could wish him luck, the excitement plain on his face as he took his spot facing a dummy.
Mai hoped this went well.
Zuko always took everything so hard, and if Fire Lord Ozai wasn’t pleased with his progress, she wasn’t sure how Zuko would react.
Only a few more minutes passed before Ozai made his appearance.
Mai was sure he had his own silent entrance sound, because somehow everything changed the second he entered a space.
“Come, boy.”
He shrugged off his robes and was left shirtless, much like Zuko.
Zuko looked shocked.
“Don’t just stand there, boy!” Ozai screamed.
Zuko sprung into action.
Mai could tell he hadn’t expected to fight Ozai directly.
She watched as they sparred. The difference in power was clear, but Zuko held his own. Bright flames danced between them as he defended against Ozai’s attacks, almost frantic in the way he moved.
Ozai looked bored.
Displeased, to say the least.
Mai noticed he rarely looked at Zuko with much else. Maybe disgust. But that was it.
Suddenly, lightning sparked from Ozai’s fingertips and shot toward Zuko.
Zuko redirected it into the sky.
Mai had heard that Iroh was teaching Zuko how to redirect lightning. It was the only thing he could learn to do since he could not bend lightning himself.
“The only thing you’ve done that was worth anything,” Ozai told him.
Then he swept his flames low and knocked Zuko off balance.
Zuko hit the ground flat on his back.
The fight was clearly over.
“There’s a reason I took you out of the line of succession, boy,” Ozai said as he began walking away.
Zuko stayed down.
“You lack spark. Your bending lacks creativity. Vision.”
Ozai stopped just long enough to look down at him.
“Now your sister, that’s a visionary. That’s why she’s outside these walls carrying on my name in the Earth Kingdom, and you’re rotting here.”
Zuko’s hands curled against the ground.
“Azula was born lucky. You, on the other hand, were lucky to have been born.”
Ozai didn’t spare his son a second glance before he left.
Zuko lay defeated, his face turned away from Mai.
“Zuko, you did great, don’t let…” she began.
It was her place to comfort him, wasn’t it?
“Please escort Lady Mai back inside. She’s been out here long enough.”
Zuko didn’t look at her, but his voice carried.
Mai opened her mouth to protest, but Li Mei shook her head and led her back into the palace.
By the time they reached Mai’s quarters, the heat outside had settled under her skin in a way the bath no longer seemed capable of fixing.
“That was probably very embarrassing for him,” Li Mei said quietly.
“I don’t know why he gets like that,” Mai said. “Zuko knows how his father is. Besides, he did better than most firebenders could ever dream of.”
“But that’s the thing, Lady Mai.” Li Mei hesitated, fingers folding together in front of her. “He did fine, yes. Good, even. But he is like… an ordinary bender in a family of prodigies.”
Mai looked at her.
Li Mei lowered her gaze quickly.
“Compared to others, he is above average. But compared to his family…”
Mai looked down at her hands.
She supposed that was true.
Li Mei had never met Azula. The Crown Princess had already left for the Earth Kingdom by the time Li Mei came into Mai’s service.
Azula could do things Mai wouldn’t have thought possible if she hadn’t seen them with her own eyes.
As much as she hated to admit it, Ozai was right.
Zuko lacked creativity.
He could only do things after being shown. He practiced until his body knew, until his hands remembered, until effort carved skill into him the hard way.
But Azula? Well, Azula was a different case entirely.
In the years Azula had been gone, Mai had often wondered what about her had changed.
Whether she had learned to bend lightning instantly, because that had been her goal before she left. Or maybe she had become as agile as Ty Lee. That was always something Azula wanted to work on.
Either way, she was leagues ahead of Zuko.
At one point, that was something Azula loved to rub in his face. But as they got older, she seemed to pity Zuko.
At least, that was what it looked like.
Instead of just beating him, she would give him time to learn her movements so he could practice countering them before she moved on to something harder. Zuko learned better that way, and it kept him from losing his temper.
Something that always happened when Azula picked at him.
Mai had noticed rather quickly that it happened more often whenever Ty Lee started praising everything Azula did like some fangirl.
Mai sighed aloud.
What an annoying time.
Dinner with the royal family was usually a dull affair.
It was even worse tonight.
Mai knew why, although she’d be a fool to mention it. Zuko hardly looked up from his plate. Mai sat silently beside him, only speaking when spoken to.
“Your sister is returning soon.”
That sparked Mai’s attention.
“When?” Zuko asked.
It was the first time he had spoken all night.
“Soon,” the Fire Lord said.
That was apparently the final answer.
Soon.
Surely it wouldn’t be tomorrow. That was practically impossible.
Next week, then?
Mai lay awake in bed, her dark bangs fanning over her eyes as she wondered when exactly Azula would be returning home.
And why.
Sure, Mai had heard about Azula’s achievements. Everyone here had. But knowing Ozai, there was always more to do. As far as Mai knew, Azula hadn’t even attempted to capture Ba Sing Se yet, which would be the greatest feat the Fire Nation had managed since the eradication of the Air Nomads.
Perhaps Ozai wanted her home to prepare her for the throne.
No.
Mai chuckled to herself.
Azula was his perfect little soldier. He had her leading his wars, playing house didn’t seem to be in the cards just yet.
Mai knew Azula wasn’t returning simply because she missed home.
That night she drifted away to the hidden excitement of seeing her oldest friend again…