Chapter Text
Mai placed the gold brush back on her vanity after the required one hundred brushes each day. Her mother instilled the priority of glossy hair since a young age. Anything to make her daughter prettier. It wasn’t that Mai was ugly, but her sharp features and lanky body could not be considered beautiful. She applied the darker red gloss to her thin lips in an attempt to plumpen them.
She didn’t even need makeup today. Makeup should be for important parties with her family, official business as the Fire Lord's girlfriend, and dates with Zuko. She shouldn’t have to get dolled up to see Zuko with his… friends. They were spending the month at the Palave and each day she denied to spend the day with them. Nights were when she slunk through shadows to the palace into Zuko's arms.
It was strange for her to refer to them as Zuko’s friends. Just two months ago they were appointed as her enemies by Azula. Yet now Azula was in the hospital, Ty Lee was a Kyoshi Warrior and she… Mai was Mai. Trying to grasp who she was before Zuko's banishment began and now was harder than she imagined. She thought she could move on and just-
No.
It was the past. She has to move on. She was so fortunate. Zuko still wanted her. He would want her as long as she focused on their future. Before the war ended, before Zuko was Firelord, it was easier to play the facade. Now, with everything changing, she wanted to scream the truth. Yet she would lose Zuko, and that would be horrible. She lost him twice before, both with disastrous effects. It was her duty to forget the past.
“Mai?” A light knock at the door broke her out of the trance. She turned back in her velvet seat to see her mother in the entrance with Tomiko. Of course she didn’t wait for a response. Her mother, Michi, plastered a small smile onto her dainty features. That smile meant she needed something. She hasn’t seen it for some years. After Zuko's banishment and everything that transpired, it was easier for her parents to leave her alone. They had Tomiko now, the precious boy they always wanted.
“Can you watch Tom-Tom for me? I’m shopping with Akira Sekemoto and I shouldn’t cancel.”
Mai forced her mouth to stay in the straight line. Her mother was desperate to go if she asked Mai to watch Tomiko. She kept them separate, two children fourteen years apart, never to interact. Her parents thought the less she saw him, the less she would love him. They were fools as always. Her heart expanded in the nine months Tomiko grew in the womb.
She turned away from her mirror and clutched her hands together. She perfected the art of staying solemn with Tomiko around. If she kept her hands busy, she could keep herself from reaching out. It was an instinct the first year. There was a magnetic pull to him. She knew Tomiko felt it, no matter how young he was.
Even now, Tomiko waved his chubby hands in her direction. His narrow eyes, as gold as the necklace Zuko gifted her, seemed to light up when he saw her. That could have been wishful thinking on her part. Her heart fluttered as his thin mouth formed a smile and a gurgle escaped his lips.
“Well, I’m going to the palace. Zuko invited me and the Avatar and friends are eager to meet me.” She secretly relished holding it over her mother. Since the events that followed Zuko's banishment, her mother had loosened the once ironclad grip she had on Mai. It was easier to sway her now. Perhaps it was her guilt that allowed Mai to spend nights at the palace.
Her mother flinched at the mention of the Avatar. Her parents stood staunchly behind the old Fire Lord. His defeat by a child was shameful. The idea that Mai was friends with his defeater clearly bothered her. Mai wasn’t exactly friends with him, but she didn’t need to be privy to that.
“I can take Tomiko, he would love to see his dear friend the Avatar again.” Mai bit her lip to avoid smirking. It was still a sore spot that Tomiko escaped her attention in Omashu. While her parents still believed the Avatar and friends kidnapped him, she believed Zuko's tale of the lemur. Tomiko loved any furry animal. In the baby books they had, he’d eagerly point to any animal with a smile.
Her mother sighed, a sign she was breaking resolve. “I do need to buy some new dresses…” She trailed off and glanced down at Tomiko. His chubby fingers grabbed at her dark red dress. It didn’t escape Mai that her mother allowed him to play with her clothes. She just knew when she was Tomikos age her mother had already been distant. She was a girl and Tomiko was the precious boy.
“Will you be careful with him?” She questioned Mai.
A rush of anger filled her. How dare she? Did she not find Mai competent? Never mind the fact she took down a city only a few months ago or was incredible with knives, Mai loved Tomiko. Wasn’t that enough for her?
She stood from her vanity seat and grabbed Tomiko from her mother’s arms. Take that Michi Wanatabe. She placed one hand on his back and another on his bottom to hold him close to her chest. He nuzzled against her own neck and her heart fluttered when he laid his head against her chest. Her mother’s eyes tightened at the affection he showed for Mai.
Science does not lie. Mai learned that at the Royal Fire Academy. Just three years ago, before everything turned out very bad, they had a lesson on parenting. Humans are animals just like turtle ducks or ostrich horses. Like animals, there are some primitive parts to them. One being the fact that babies recognize their mothers, no matter how much time has passed. They know their voice and their scent.
Even when a baby is taken right from the bed into another woman’s arms, even when that woman says she’s the baby’s mother, the baby knows. Tomiko knows. He spent nine months inside her. At night, it was her voice that would sing softly to him. It was her hands that would rub her growing belly in her bedroom. She was the one who pushed for all those hours and bled and led doctors to believe she would not make it. None of it was Mai’s mother.
She squeezed him tighter and inhaled the baby scent she never thought she’d love. Mai was not maternal, but then again, no girl her age truly was. Yet something in her held so much n
love for her baby. She never got to hold him. Her parents believed the more distant they kept her, the less she would love him. They were wrong once again. Mai would always love Tomiko. Even if she was forced to be his sister, she would love him as her son.
She slowly inched towards the door when her mother grabbed her wrist. This was a gesture Mai was used to. When she was young, it was a silent warning to be quiet. She knew from a young age that a silent girl was the best girl. She behaved so well it seemed that someone else took notice three years ago.
Her mother whispered, as if spies were outside, “He hasn’t shown signs yet… try not to do anything that will provoke that as a reaction.”
Mai gulped. Oh, that. The only proof they had so far was that Tomiko rose with the sun. He even came into the world at dawn, bright red and screaming. The man who helped create him was a strong firebender. Mai had firsthand experience with his fire, a mark on her lower hip, from when he grabbed her and she squirmed, that would never disappear.
She knew that there was nothing wrong with firebenders. Zuko was one, and he was courageous and loving. He would never clamp his big hands over her mouth and push her against the bed. He would never tear through her and ignore her muffled cries.
“He’s not that, Mother. He’s my son.” With those words, Mai stormed out of her house with Tomiko before the volcano that was her mother exploded.
She crossed the pavement that led to the palace(it was convenient to grow up with her ex-best friend and crush across the way) and with a deep breath, knocked on the palace gates.