FicWad

Movement Beneath the Water
by ingrid

~*~

Once Zuko and Mai have reached a draw in their battle on the shores of Lake Ognimin, there's little left to do except stare one another down and hope the other can be convinced to give up -- if not through force, then through words. If that turns out to be the case, Mai thinks ...

Zuko is so going to lose this fight.

He makes the first attempt. "My sister is using you," Zuko exclaims, with that stilted vehemence of his, a tone Mai used to find oddly compelling when she was a young girl.

It spoke of passion, conviction and genteel stupidity, which amused her then because boys were supposed to be passionate and dumb, at least the best ones were. Not to mention that she was shallow enough to think that anything coming out of a good-looking young prince's mouth was wise and wonderful and oh-so-golden, always.

But that was then, and thankfully, Mai's not ten anymore. "You think?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he spits back, still holding onto his offensive posture, sword held high. A bad offensive posture that is, leaving his left flank completely exposed to the weapons waiting in the lining of Mai's robes.

She's tempted to nick him with her small knife, just for a chuckle, but she doesn't. It's too ... mundane ... a maneuver. "What do you suggest I do about that?"

She asks this in all seriousness not because she doesn't already know what she will and will not do in regard to her position with Azula, but because his potential answer interests her. If it's the right one, she might even consider it.

If it's one of the many wrong ones ... well, she does have her knife.

Zuko hesitates.

Ah, she thinks, he knows he's being tested. At least he's learned that much out here in the cold wilds of banishment. Mai doesn't let down her defensive guard, but she smiles thinly at him, encouraging. "Shall I go home to my family? Find a nice husband to take me in until the war is over? Hide under a rock until Azula stops looking for me?"

To her delight, Zuko relaxes. To her great astonishment, he sheathes his sword. "You'll join me instead," he answers, gravely and it's the right answer. "To stand against the true traitors of our nation."

"Fine," she replies gleefully. What an entertaining turn this is. "Except you can keep the 'true traitors' part. You're all a bunch of idiots to me." Wryly and she bows. "Your highness."

"Maybe we are," he agrees, turning to board the rickety "borrowed" boat he has left floating on the lake.

Mai follows him, walking at his side instead of three steps behind, a breach of etiquette he doesn't correct, at least not like Azula would, with a burning glance.

This might actually be interesting, she thinks, once they are aboard, as the wind and the waves pull them toward another Earth Nation shore.

~*~

Azula likes the dramatic, this much Mai knows. It catches people off-guard, which gives her the advantage in battle and in politics. Mai is lucky in the sense that drama doesn't impress her much; odd timing doesn't shake her. She's immovable in that way, which is probably why Azula chose her in the first place.

She wonders why Zuko chose her. It was smart to deprive Azula of her, smarter still not to test Mai's skills in direct combat, but he might have beaten her -- maybe. Or he could have walked away, except that he's a foolish boy with foolish ideals, only lately, those have been tempered with a more pragmatic sense of reality, something Mai can appreciate.

Mai can also appreciate how well he's filled out from his awkwardly lean years, how hard living has shaped not only his attitude, but his body as well.

She never said she grew out of her shallowness.

The new hair isn't so bad either. Dark and soft and falling over his forehead; his symbolic ponytail discarded with a rough hewn cut. This more than anything tells Mai he means business, that he's cut himself off from the ruling side of his family, but hair can grow back and symbols can be resurrected with a simple pull of a ribbon.

It wouldn't take much to bring Zuko back into the royal fold he claims to despise and Mai's jaded enough not to trust in the permanence of anything.

Not in life, in loyalty, in family ... nothing.

So when the box arrives from Azula one bright morning a few weeks later, addressed to her, Mai is ready.

"You should throw it overboard," Iroh advises, because he's old and smart enough not to open gift boxes from his mortal enemies. It's one of the reasons he's lived so long.

Except that Mai knows if she doesn't open it, Azula will keep sending them, as her spies are everywhere. She pulls it open with a careless tug of the ribbon and while nothing goes off, the sight of her family's crest embroidered into a black piece of silk makes her stomach twitch.

She nudges the cloth aside and sees perfect little fingers. More silk is moved aside and beneath it lies a toddler's hand, neatly sliced off from the body at the wrist.

A toddler that might have been about the same age as her baby brother.

Zuko's eyes turn huge, while Iroh's grow dark with rage. Mai quietly closes the box. "She needs to be killed," she says evenly. "I'm sorry I didn't realize this before."

"It took us all a while to see that," Iroh says, his cheek twitching. There's a child in his past he's remembering, from the looks of it. "This world is a worse place with Azula still in it."

Walking to the ship's starboard side, Mai lets the box drop into the rippling waves, watching as it's pulled under the murky lake water. "This world will never be a good place," she says. "But certain improvements can be made."

Zuko nods in agreement. He stands by her side for a long time after that and they share the silence surrounding them. The lake stills as the wind dies and when the sun sets completely, Zuko flicks a finger toward the ship's lanterns to light them.

He looks beautiful in their unearthly glow, as much as Mai doesn't care to admit these things anymore. She remembers her old childish desires and the sharper, hungrier edge they've taken on in these past few months, even before she went to his side and she thinks that now might be the time to throw away all thoughts of hesitation because a boring life spent without taking chances was a life not worth living.

Not that she thinks she has much time left to live anyway nor is she even sure she wants to live anymore. Her already dark world has grown that much blacker.

....little brother mine ...

"My quarters are cold," she tells him impassively, with a meaningful sideways glance. In truth, she's cold all over even in the warmth of this cursed Earth Kingdom summer. She's shaking both inside and out, but she will never let anyone know that ever but here she is brazenly offering herself to him and ...

Zuko's been spending an infuriating amount of time thinking about things these days, but now, he shows no hesitation. "Then please share mine," he says, returning her hungry look with one of his own. There have been few comforts on this trip for him, Mai thinks, taking his arm and letting him lead her down to his cabin.

There will be fewer to come, she knows and closes her eyes as he backs her against the slammed shut door, kissing her face and throat, his strong hands roaming over her breasts.

He's forceful, but not clumsy and she's grateful for that at least, allowing herself to relax as he touches her, pinching and rolling her nipples through the fabric of her robe as he nips at her jaw, breathing hard. Her legs ache from trembling, her soaked cunt throbs and twitches, demanding she pull her thighs more tightly together in delicious contractions.

She wants to growl at him when he nudges her legs apart with his knee, but all her ire melts when he reaches down and hooks his fingers up and into her, the circling of his thumb on her clit making her moan aloud.

"More," she gasps, practically climbing the wall to get more of his hand into her. "Please ..."

It's a hard stumble to the tiny bed when he pulls her there, but once on her back it's so much easier to let go -- to let him rip off her robe and undergarments, to lie splayed out naked and unashamed, urging him on with her words and touches of her tongue to her lips.

He yanks off his own clothing and there is new muscle and white scars and Mai can't resist sitting up to kiss and bite at them, hard. She enjoys every twist of Zuko's face, every wince. Finally, when he's had enough and flips her onto her stomach to take her from behind, she doesn't stop him.

It hurts when he enters her, as wet as she is, but Mai welcomes the pain, urging him on to take her even harder, making her burn as lightning might. She arches her back to meet him, shoving herself back onto him, his fingers digging so brutally into her hips she knows she'll be marked for weeks to come.

This is life, she thinks, the sweat rolling down her forehead, its salt burning her eyes. I'm alive ... I'm not dead, not yet ... she chants inwardly as she rocks onto his cock and Zuko's movements become more erratic before he pulls out of her, a warm wash of liquid spilling down over her ass and between her thighs.

It's over just like that. Barely able to move, Mai slowly lowers her head to the mattress, breathing hard. Zuko rises and returns with a wet cloth, making her hiss when he wipes her down. "I'm sorry, but you're bleeding," he says. "Not a lot, but ..."

"I was a virgin."

"I'm honored," he says after a short, heavy silence. "Why did you give that to me? Are you sure that's what you wanted?"

"Even if it wasn't, it's too late now and yes, it's what I wanted," she replies coolly, turning over and sitting down. It's going to hurt down there for /days/. "So thank you."

With a sigh, Zuko shucks the cloth aside. "This is insane. If we were in court ..."

"I'd suffer a very slow and boring death," Mai cuts in sharply. "Is court truly the place you want to be? I'd rather choke than go there. The mere thought makes me suffocate. Do you really want to go back?"

Zuko doesn't answer, choosing instead to gently push her onto her back, kissing his way down her stomach, then dipping his tongue between her legs.

Squirming uncontrollably, Mai's senses flee, leaving only heat and an overwhelming sense of /moremoremoremore/. She arches wantonly against his mouth, her fingers tangled in his short hair, clenching her jaw against a scream.

She comes suddenly, then again and his expression is thoughtful when he raises his head, his mouth shining wetly in the dim lamplight. "When I go back, it'll be on my terms," he says, sliding up beside her. "Things are going to change."

Her mouth curls down disdainfully as she stares at the ceiling. "Like they've changed in the past hundred years?"

This makes him chuckle, even though she refuses to join in his laughter. Eventually, Zuko falls asleep beside her and Mai lies motionless beneath his bare arm, listening to the slap of the lake waters against the boat. Her brother's pain screams for revenge and she can kill him while he lies like this to position herself with Azula in such a way that it would be easy to kill her as well, or ...

She glances over at Zuko. He's lying on his side, so only the unmarked side of his face is visible and he looks young again, almost as young as he did when they fell into the fountain together, entwined and embarrassed. She could kill him, in some ways it wouldn't be that hard ...

No, not now, Mai decides. Not ever, perhaps. Life itself will let her know when the time is right for murder as well as sleep.

Right now, she'll sleep.

~*~

the end

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