MM Prompt 19: Protection

Warning: Implied character death

Chapter 1

He'd seen how their skin withered and crinkled like paper, seen how the night of her hair faded into white. He can't remember the exact moment their bones began to creak like their house by the sea, or when her hands lost the ability to throw the blade; life had crept up on them.

She'd never wanted his protection –that was made very clear when they were young. And even now, she still refused him.

"No, Zuko," she had consoled him after the physician advised them that it would be best, at this point, to make her comfortable. Angrily, he had dismissed the man and sent for the healer from the Southern Water Tribe. But she grasped the sleeve of his robe and shook her head. "It's time," she told him.

And so he dropped his hands and hung his head in defeat.

He sits by their bedside, watching as her chest rises and falls, her eyes closed in sleep. He does his best to imprint the outline of her body under the sheets into his mind. The red silk holds almost his entire life beneath, his happiness, his love, all wrapped in crimson sheets. And he cannot think of a reason why anyone wouldn't want to protect this.

But even if she had allowed him, no healers, no sword or shield could protect her from the hands of the clock. Zuko has never felt more helpless. He feels himself already beginning to mourn, unable to save himself from the emptiness creeping under the covers of their bed.

Mai breathes out a sigh.

And Zuko's chest aches as he closes his eyes, hanging on to the ghost of her voice.

He climbs in beside her, curling up next to her as he's done so many times before. The sheets are cold and he pulls her into his arms, keeping her warm. He inhales the scent of her hair –something that's never changed –like the blossoms of their apple tree. His hands travel to her wrists, the beating of her pulse his favorite melody and he lets it carry him away.

This weight in his arms is what makes him complete, anchoring him in place; he's not ready to drift with the tides and lose himself among unending sea –he never will be.

She shifts in his arms, ever so carefully turning towards him. Even after sixty years, he's never gotten used to the way her eyes flutter open, the dreamy haze disappearing as they focus on his. His breath catches in his throat every time.

"Zuko," his name is soft on her lips.

"Mai," he says, tracing the dimples of her cheeks with a knuckle. If there's one thing that time has given and not taken from him, it's the evidence that he's made her smile, framing their happiness over the years.

Her own hands reach up and wipe the tears collecting at his eyes and he holds her cold hand to his face.

"Wake up next to me every day," he whispers, and the words echo off his lips.

Mai graces him with a small smile, but it's sad and tired and it's not warm like it used to be. "If only I could," she tells him.

He pulls her close, pressing a kiss to her nose, to her forehead, and then a final one to her lips. She aches at the phantom of his touch.

And they fall asleep in one another's embrace.

A/N: I've decided to make this two-part series separate from Lost Moments because the two planned parts of The Silk of Our Sheets build off of one another and LM is solely comprised of independent one-shots.

However, Protection does draw heavy parallels to Chapter 17, prompt Promise from Lost Moments.

Thanks for reading.