Adult-FanFiction.org : Cartoons

The plum that blossoms in autumn	By : MaiLee Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > Het - Male/Female Views: 16840 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
The morning Princess Azula planned on leaving Ba Sing Se was scheduled down to every minute. With the help of her own army, the Dai Lee, Princess of the Fire Nation made sure everything was perfect, and their troop would leave the city successfully to deliver the war trophies to the Fire Lord himself.

Everyone was in a cheerful mood, except for one young man. He stood at the palace entrance, looking at the soldiers and servants running around. The emerald colored robes seemed odd on the Fire Nation royalty, the ugly red burn against his pale skin and jet black hair looked wrong. The frown on his face reflected the inner thoughts and worries.

The Avatar was lost, as well as his dream of being accepted by his Father. Azula beat him at everything, she knew him better than he thought, and although they won, that victory came at a high price for him. He lost the Avatar, Uncle and Father. What point was then in coming back to the Fire Nation?

- Hey, - Zuko turned his head to see Mai in her red robe, worn over the dark red turtleneck and pants, coming out of the palace. Her pale face was calm, apart from the slight smile that touched the corner of her mouth.

- Oh, hi, Mai! – Zuko turned to her, his hand jerked forward, but he masked it as a faint gesture towards her clothes. – You’re wearing red.

- Yeah. Guess its pointless blending in with the crowd now. We’re going home, - she shuddered. – Although I hope my family stays in Omashu… or New Ozai.

Zuko looked down, unsure of what to say. The night before was magical: they walked, held hands, kissed and looked at each other. But the day made everything uglier: the words, and his scar. She barely saw it before in daylight, what if she found it repulsive?

- You really want to stay? – the tall girl broke their silence, looking up at Zuko. Her gaze slid to his left cheek, looking at the burn.

- Yeah, - he noticed that she was looking at his face and tried to cover the wounded skin, pretending he had something in his eye.

Mai felt her stomach flip. But this time was different: she didn’t think of Azula’s theories, the evenings and nights spent with the Fire Lord, or the Fire Nation’s victories and defeats. There was only Zuko, the boy she liked since her childhood.

She came up to him and took his face into the palms of her hands, whispering:

- I don’t care about the scar, Zuko. I really don’t.

She leaned in and placed a soft kiss on the burned skin of his face. The Prince shuddered as he felt the slight touch of her lips, like the wings of a butterfly fluttering near his face. It tickled what he thought was dead tissue. He smiled, closing his eyes and leaning into the touch of her warm hands. Mai smiled back and turned around, walking towards the crowd of soldiers.

When he opened his eyes, she had already walked away from him. Her steps were long and steady, and he didn’t call her back. Anyway, their farewells have already been said.

- I see, you said your goodbyes, - Azula came out of the shadow of the huge palace doors. She gave her brother a cocky smirk, sighing loudly. – I guess nothing will change your mind, so we’ll be leaving. I’ll present our traitor Uncle to Father myself, if he survives the trip.

And she started walking away from the building.

- What do you mean? He might not survive? – Zuko followed Azula, frowning at the thought of Uncle dying.

- He’s old, and our cages are not luxury transport, you know, - she turned back to look at Zuko’s worried face. – But after all, what does it matter? The Avatar is defeated, and we’re going home. Father shouldn’t be that disappointed, as long as we arrive.

At the last words Azula looked down, clenching her jaw. But Zuko didn’t notice that, looking up to the sky. The wind caressed his face and hair, gently stroking them with warm breaths of fresh air. He thought again of the fluttering butterflies, Mai’s light kiss and her soft whisper.

- Well, goodbye, Zuko, - and Azula glanced quickly at her brother before turning around.

- Wait! – she stopped and slowly turned back, a smile curling her lips. – I’ll go back with you.

- So we’re all going back home. That’s perfect.

Both siblings walked away from the palace doors, as the big red Fire Nation flag slightly fluttered in the wind, showing the corner of the green cloth under.

The ocean was calm, waves rolled over along its blue surface, foam forming small clouds. It was summer and during the day, the sun shone brightly: it seemed they were floating through the sky, rocking in its wind currents. Even though it was the hottest season, the weather got windy at night, so the soldiers on duty wore their wool coats after the sunset. Others retreated to their cozy cabins to play a game or two of pai-sho, some enjoyed the extra nap time. The servants waited, afraid of falling asleep, in case the Princess or the Prince would demand something.

But that night two figures stood at the edge of the deck, looking over the grey waters. The boy’s hair was loose and the wind slapped them into his face with each strong blow. His eyes seemed fixed on some point in the distant horizon. The other person was a tall girl in a black wool coat that was a bit too large for her slender figure. She looked at the boy with her eyes wide open.

Every night the guards, who walked the perimeter of the deck, got to witness the same scene. Prince Zuko stood looking at the water, his thoughts drifting far away, and Miss Mai. Each night she tried to make him look away from the water, but failed. Every night she left the deck alone, while the Prince stood until the skies grew pale with the turquoise blue. Mai stayed awake too, but in the warmth of her bed.

Out of habit, she thought about Ozai. At the very beginning of their new relationship she hoped Zuko would wipe out her memories of the Fire Lord, but he was restless and couldn’t stop thinking of his Father, the possibility of not being accepted by his Father, the fact that Azula has done so much more than he ever had, and would be valued more by his Father. Father, Father, Father... Fire Lord.

“We all obey our Fire Lord and expect his approval. But he’s obsessed with it! So what do I do? Now that I’ve grown, Ozai might want more than kisses and petting. But how do you stop the Fire Lord?” She tossed and turned in her bed, thoughts buzzing in her head like bees over honey. She understood that the only coherent response is just telling the truth that she’s back with Zuko.

“The truth? Why not tell your boyfriend you almost slept with his Father.” Mai buried her face in the pillows, moaning loudly. How could she have hoped for Zuko to save her, if he wasn’t sure in his own safety?

“This looks like a pathetic teenage sob story, I must not fall to such a low level. Oh, get a grip of yourself, Mai. Can’t Azula do anything?” Mai’s head snapped up. Weapons, everyone had their weapons and in case Azula’s didn’t work, she could always use hers. After all, if Ozai wasn’t a good father, he was a man, and one that fortunately kept his promises.

As their ship neared the Fire Nation, Zuko’s mood got worse. He would often pass by his Uncle’s chamber, unable to make himself come inside and look into his eyes. His constant frown drove Mai into a quiet desperation, Azula observed with a small smile how sad her brother would get, while Ty Lee constantly tried cheering everybody up. But Prince Zuko remained concentrated on his inner thoughts.

The evening before the end of their journey, Mai persuaded Zuko to stay inside and eat dinner with her. He seemed more upbeat than usual and Mai felt much better: she smiled and made funny comments on going on a field trip with Azula. Zuko laughed and looked at her.

He didn’t want to talk about his trip, so he remained silent most of their meal. But seeing him look at her and smile was enough for Mai to be laughing loud inside. Something was beating inside her chest faster than her heart and larger than her lungs, pounding hard into her ribcage.

She couldn’t believe that once she wanted to forget Zuko and everything connected with him. The time, when it seemed Ozai was a fair replacement, and there would be nothing in this world to make her smile. But she felt so warm and safe now that Zuko was by her side.

Few days ago she snuck some red wine from the cargo boxes, so she could get drunk, if Zuko stopped responding to the outer world, and particularly to her. But getting drunk with company was a better option, after all she could take some more of it tomorrow. Zuko was very funny, weighing whether they can actually do that, but after a sip of the ruby red drink, he changed his mind.

They joked around, perhaps being too noisy, but it was worth the angry wall bumping and knocking from their neighbors. Neither of them has ever drunk anything with more kick than fruit juice, so after the first bottle, things became even wilder. Zuko told about Azula in her childhood, and both concluded that she was a bitch most probably since the day she was born. Mai laughed and talked about her little brother, who once peed onto one high-ranked army official. When the subject ran dry, they lay down on the floor, looking into the ceiling, blabbering random stuff.

- I missed you, - Zuko whispered after a minute of silence.

She rolled onto her stomach and looked at him. The boy turned his face, and Mai looked into his golden eyes. And at that moment they weren’t drunk, their eyes saw more than any words could express.

- I missed you too, - she breathed out and crawled closer to him, leaning down for a kiss.

He answered eagerly, cupping her head in his warm hands. Their lips rubbed against each other softly, the tongues seemed to battle a duel without winners and losers. Mai could feel her insides burning, but Zuko kept the kiss agonizingly slow, which reminded her of….

She sat up quickly, looking down at him. He propped himself up on one elbow, his eyes of bright gold pierced her through, and she had to look down.

“This is a dream, or I’m just hallucinating on the wine.”

- Mai, what’s wrong? – He sat and held her in his arms. She was shaking. – Are you feeling sick?

- No, no, - she took a deep breath and looked up at him. She almost expected to see Ozai sitting near her, but it was a young man with a scar on his face. He looked deeply concerned, his eyes so warm and caring. She has never seen the Fire Lord look at her that way. It was Zuko, the one she fell in love with long ago on the playground, the boy that she dreamed to kiss under that stupid plum, the guy that left her to become his Father’s….

- Maybe you had too much wine? You should rest.

- When you left, - she stopped him, - it was tough.

She touched his burnt cheek and patted it. Some things couldn’t have been undone. They had to live with the weight, even if it hurt every second of their life. But she guessed some things could have been pushed to the outer parts of the memory, washed away.

- I’m sorry, - he caught her hand in his and pressed it to his lips.

She leaned down and kissed him, holding on to his neck, wishing that he could wash Ozai’s taste from her lips, hoping Zuko could kiss away his Father’s touch from her skin and she prayed that he would claim her his, be the one.

She kissed him passionately, but Zuko broke it off, and just sat there, holding her in the embrace. She looked at him, trying to figure out what has happened. But he stared back at her, a small smile on his lips. He stroked her cheek, pushing the few loose strands of hair out of her eyes.

- Mai, - he whispered her name softly, as if afraid of scarring her away. – We’ve both had too much wine. Let’s call it a night.

And he stood up to walk out of the room, when she called him back:

- Don’t leave.

He turned around and smiled at her:

- People will think wrong, if they see me come out of your room in the morning. I don’t think your parents would approve of that. You are a good daughter, I don’t want people to think otherwise.

She nodded and forced a smile on her face. He smiled back, blushing slightly:

- Good night, Mai.

And the Prince of the Fire Nation closed the door behind himself. Mai sat there, listening to the waves crashing into the ship’s sides. She forgot that if you wash something off, the water comes back either beating you with the rain, like a whip, pushing you to fall with the tide, or drowning you in the deepest sea.

She was – as Zuko had accurately pointed out – a good daughter. She did what her parents wanted her to and she obeyed her Fire Lord.

The girl took out a blade from her sleeve and pushed open the new bottle of wine. For a second she considered pouring a glassful, but then just gulped hungrily from the vessel.

She was a good daughter. But her parents approved of many things. Yet, she was a good daughter, a great Fire Nation soldier. She looked at the tapestry with the Fire Nation tulip, and feeling the bitter tears choke her, threw the glass at the cloth. She gulped more wine, as the cup exploded, showering in small shards all over the floor. The soft lazy chuckle of the Fire Lord sounded in her ears with the ringing of the shattered glass.

__________________________________
Please read and review! Thank You!
- 5
- 6
- 7
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The plum that blossoms in autumn