-::-

(chapter three)

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For Mai and Ozai, sex came first; intimacy came later.

Well, it would come later. Mai imagined that would eventually happen, whether she liked it or not. Maybe she hoped for it. She did not know; she only knew that she never liked sharing a room, much less a bed, but was waking up beside the Fire Lord.

Roughness vanished the moment Mai revealed the fact that she was pregnant.

Or, if she were a less cynical person, she would say when she revealed the fact that she did not want the baby because their relationship was, well, not a relationship.

At the moment, his hands traveled over her back and softly stroked her neck. It was an eerie feeling. They were not quite lovers, it was not quite gentle, it was not quite committed. Whatever they were, Mai did not even notice the goosebumps for her confusion.

She pulled away, expecting him to yank her back. He did not, which made her worry. Mai hated worrying. It involved thinking about the future and caring about something, two qualities she made sure to stamp out of herself.

"What would satisfy your need to know me?"

"I didn't think you would actually follow through with that."

"That was wise of you. I know my own character, but we are stuck together. I can't use you and throw you away like I have for my entire life." He considered his words for a moment. "I wouldn't entertain it if I didn't gain anything. You're mysterious and icy."

"Then I guess we start shallow and then go deep. No lies, no hesitation."

"No lies, no hesitation."

Ozai glanced at the sun. "But I have to go. This sort of thing should never be rushed and I am already running late."

Mai would never believe him if she was not feeling the strange ambiance of this morning. It honestly puzzled her, but he dressed and left before she had a chance to think about it or watch him further.

She was more confused by the fact that she wanted to feel something romantic.

-::-

Azula woke with Ty Lee on her floor and instantly lamented the fact that they were not tangled together and naked. She did not know why she would want that. Azula was above such things as wanting sex, even with someone as undeniably desirable as Ty Lee.

It seemed natural to her, even if she knew she was better than that.

Ty Lee opened her eyes. She had been awake for some time, waiting for Azula. Sneaking out was a bad choice and waking Azula a worse one.

"Good morning, princess," she said, brightly. Ty Lee ignored the feelings swelling inside of her. They were the same ones that kept her up the entire night, thinking about how much she was in love with her best friend, and how fucked up that was.

She doubted Azula would ever want her back. So how could Ty Lee fall for her? It seemed to be a surefire way to get damaged beyond repair.

"I will see you around," said Azula, jumping to her feet. She did not even bother changing out of her pajamas when she bolted from the room.

Ty Lee picked at her lower lip and wondered what on Earth she did wrong.

Azula was constantly angry at her of late. Why?

-::-

Zuko should have been waking up beside Mai, in his opinion. He imagined they would still be destined for each other when he came home with the Avatar. Or with Azula's dangerous lie. Whatever. He was thrilled when Mai kissed him that night, kissed him again, kissed him several times before informing him of the pregnancy.

"Why would you let me think we could…?" Zuko asked, openly crestfallen.

"Azula told me to," she replied, shrugging, crushing his heart with one sentence. "She was concerned you would do something stupid if I didn't give you a good reason to come home."

Zuko then knew that his father did not want him brought home, even to lock him up. If Azula showed up with Zuko in chains he would still be displeased because his father wanted her to kill him. Despite now fully realizing the extent of Ozai's hatred, he was excited to see father angry at Azula instead of him.

But then he looked up at Mai and could think of nothing but the girl stolen from him.

Maybe they had been apart for a long time and maybe he knew about her marriage. He just thought that she would be uninterested in his father and want to be with him instead. That was foolish and impossible but he believed in it as deeply as he believed he would catch the Avatar.

Then again, he was halfway right about that.

Maybe he was not as wrong as he thought about Mai.

He merely had to find the bravery to find her and talk to her. Zuko knew he could flirt if he tried. Mai might like him and be afraid to say anything.

That was likely.

How could she want to be with Ozai?

Zuko gained more and more assured as he got ready for the day.

-::-

In the mid-afternoon, Ty Lee wove flowers in Mai's hair, trying to forget about Azula. Mai did not care enough to resist, as ridiculous as she knew she would look. She wanted to be away from her troubles and return to how things were when she was young and truly cared about nothing at all.

"You look amazing," Ty Lee said, leaning back and examining her work.

Mai began to take out the flowers. "Whatever you say," was her dry response.

She stopped when she saw Zuko approaching. Completely shirtless from practicing firebending. Well, that was his story. He actually took his shirt off after training, when he saw Mai and Ty Lee. He looked at her with those flowers in her hair and the silken wrap around her that made the very slight bump noticeable. Even with that, she was very pretty.

Ty Lee jumped up and walked away, smiling to herself as she left them alone.

Mai never knew her friend wanted to watch this dangerous nightmare.

"Hey," Zuko said, taking Ty Lee's place on the stone bench. He saw the flowers in her hair and the clothes that hid any evidence of her pregnancy. That all encouraged him. "You look good."

"Do you think I care how I look?" Mai asked, which almost killed the confidence he forced onto himself. He knew the girl would turn him down. He knew it. With a scar and a damaged air and her being married… Zuko felt immensely stupid.

"No." He smiled at her through his panic. She liked that smile; she looked away to avoid thinking about it. "I think you're gorgeous no matter what. But I've never seen what you look like right when you wake up."

Mai rolled her eyes. "You're terrible at this."

"At what?" he asked, the nerves suddenly showing. His sexy air of confidence was little more than a façade, which Mai already knew, but it did garner a shred of her pity.

"At trying to toy with emotions that don't exist. You're not naturally flirty and it's kind of ridiculous coming from you." Mai stopped and contemplated him. He did look extremely good, low self-esteem or not, and his flirting was not the worst in the universe. Probably. "I don't like guys who are cheesy. Not at all. I don't mind the ones who are a bit awkward, though."

He found that encouraging and the look of wanting to run away vanished from his face. He asked teasingly, "What kind do you like?"

"The ones who don't care either," said Mai, picking at her fingernails and feigning disinterest. "And ones who look good with their shirts off."

Zuko worked up the courage to say, "I'm half of those things," hoping he was right.

Mai said, coming close to a smirk, "I know."

He blushed. She hated that she liked that because she knew his interest in her was strange and based solely on lust with a bit of confusion thrown in.

"Can I walk you inside?" Zuko asked, which made Mai roll her eyes.

"Again, I said I don't like cheesy," she said, but he was undeterred.

He stood up and offered her his hand. She rejected it, but she did stand and follow him into the palace. After a very short and silent walk, Mai opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Zuko smashing into the wall.

Mai wholly anticipated seeing Azula incensed over something, but she saw Ozai instead.

"You need to understand something," said Ozai to his son as he released him from the wall and stood back. He sounded surprisingly calm for someone who just knocked the winds out of his teenage boy. "I didn't want you to come home. Azula convinced me of your loyalty when it comes to your Nation, but I need your loyalty as my son as well. I had very low hopes that you would learn anything about respect. You've proven me right."

Zuko wanted to run. He wanted to bow and apologize. Instead, he played innocent and asked, "I'm not allowed to talk to her?"

Ozai clarified, "Not like that."

Zuko made the foolish mistake of striking first. His father grabbed him by the shoulder and pinned him to the wall before he could land the punch.

He managed to burn his father's arm before a single, flameless punch left him on the ground out cold.

Ozai grabbed Mai by the waist and they left the room in a whirlwind. He turned her around to face him in a shady room.

"Let's start now with that 'getting to know you' idea. No lies, not hesitation," growled Ozai. Mai did not think this would be as simple and calm as this morning. "Are you attracted to him?"

"Yes. Physically, of course, like every girl other than Azula. Every girl. He's pretty, but I don't want him." Mai crossed her arms.

He demanded, displeased with that answer, "Why wouldn't you want him if he's so pretty?"

"Because he's madly into me but he doesn't know me at all. I don't know why he wants me that bad, to tell the truth, and I don't like it." Mai sighed. She wanted to lie, but could not. "He knows more about that water girl than he does about me."

Ozai roughly demanded, "What water girl?"

"I forgot; you don't know her. She's the Avatar's…" Mai stopped to think. "I guess probably his girlfriend. They seem girlfriend and boyfriend-ish. But girls in mourning are super easy to pick up. Maybe Zuko should go on a quest to capture her heart."

"Not when girls are in mourning over the boyfriend you yourself killed."

Mai slyly said, "The opposite of that. I like very few things, but I liked that altercation. It only would've been made better by a murder."

The silence that followed was not comfortable, but it was not uncomfortable either.

-::-

That night, Mai was rubbing mint lotion on her legs when her husband walked in.

She liked sharing a room as much as he liked sharing her with Zuko. Mai always preferred privacy, even before she was wed. That was why she appreciated having her own room in the palace. Maybe Ozai wanted to make her hate him.

His eyes lingered on her hands and slick skin.

Mai took in a deep breath and time slowed down. He seized her with a force that she hated loving and pulled her onto his lap. Yet, despite the surge of warmth in her core, she kept her expression blank. She did show the desire she felt when she grinded her hips against his.

The moment she noticed what she was doing, she slipped away. He would not let her pull away ever again and he dragged her back. He turned her head towards him and kissed her.

When he broke that kiss, Mai pressed her lips against his. It was hesitant, but deepened very quickly. He adjusted her legs until she was straddling him and she felt him grow hard against her.

"Maybe we shouldn't. I don't know if I like doing this while pregnant," Mai said.

"You don't know anything you like," he breathed back. "It doesn't matter. We only have so long, don't we?"

Mai did break free of him and stood. "I'm sorry."

"Come back," he said, gesturing for her to return.

She hesitated, but followed the order.