You groan as Ty Lee jumps around happily, clapping her hands together in excitement, the noise giving you a headache. You don't understand how she has so much energy all the time, or why she's getting excited about something as boring as this.
You've been invited to some rich guy's party ─ you being you, Ty Lee, Azula, Zuko and Mai. You really don't want to go; you've attended many public events with your family due to them being influential nobles in the Fire Nation, and they were all awful. You have a feeling this one will be no different.
"Why do we have to go?" Zuko demands as he crosses his arms, clearly just as annoyed as you are.
"Because father said so. You do want to please our dear father, don't you, Zuzu?" Azula replies, mocking Zuko's tendency to try and appease their father.
The prince turns away from his sister, but doesn't argue further. Mai, however, just has to complain, as usual.
"This sounds like a complete and utter bore," she speaks in her usual deadpan, and as much as you hate to admit it, she's right about this one.
"I agree with Gloomy over here." You place your hands behind your head, leaning back against your chair. "Sounds like a waste of time."
Mai glares at you for calling her Gloomy again, despite the many times she's told you not to. 'Told you' meaning she threatened you with her knives. You shiver at the memory. Those things are sharp.
Azula's expression isn't any less intimidating. She shoots a fireball at the legs of your chair, causing it to collapse and you fall to the floor, grunting as you roughly hit the ground.
"I don't care what you think about this party. You are all going and that is final." Azula gives you an evil look, causing you to nod rapidly. If looks could kill, Azula would have mangled your corpse.
"Good. Now go and get changed, you look awful. We leave in an hour."
. . .
You cross your arms as you watch the party go by, the shitty music playing far too loud and making you want to piss Azula off so she would kill you. Yes, it's that bad.
Mai sits next to you, looking like she's having an even worse time than you are. She scowls at everyone and everything, and you think she's about to pull her knives out and attack everyone here, and honestly you can't blame her. In fact, you're ready to set this whole place on fire.
"I hate it here," you groan, glaring at a girl who tries to approach you.
"I hate my life," Mai says in her monotone voice, expression blank as usual.
"Don't we all." You scan the room, looking for something ─ anything ─ that could get you out of this cursed place.
"I think it's great!" Ty Lee pops up in front of you both, a large smile on her face. "Why don't you guys actually try and enjoy it? Y'know... talk to people!"
"No," Mai replies simply.
"Kill me," you say, the Azula plan sounding better by the second.
"Y'know, you two have a lot of negative energy." Ty Lee frowns, which is very unusual for her.
"So we've been told," you and Mai reply at the same time, used to comments like that.
"Well, if you two are going to be downers, then I'm going to have fun!" Ty Lee exclaims happily, skipping over to a group of boys, who are more than happy to accommodate her in their conversation. You shake your head and stand up, causing Mai to look at you.
"I'm going to get a drink," you lie, walking away. You glance around, and once you're sure no one is looking, you slip out a nearby door. The blast of cool air that hits your face as you step outside is a welcome change from the stuffy heat of the overcrowded party room.
You walk further away from the building until the music is nothing more than a faint noise in the distance. You sit on the short grass, crossing your legs as you close your eyes, allowing yourself to relax for the first time all day. You release a calming breath and try to clear your head.
You really hate parties.
. . .
Mai sighs for the umpteenth time, her eyes wandering over to one of the room's many exits. She knows you aren't actually getting a drink; it's just an excuse to leave, although she wishes you'd just said that instead of lying. Oh well.
Her gaze flickers to the other side of the room, catching the tips of a burgundy robe retreating into the great outdoors. Mai sets down the cup she'd been holding and wipes her lips with her napkin before proceeding to excuse herself. She exits the hall and heads in the direction she'd seen the robe go down.
Mai finds herself in a garden, immediately spotting you sitting underneath the shade of a tree, meditating peacefully. She approaches you, the dry grass crunching under her feet as she walks. You open one of your eyes upon hearing the sound, seeing Mai staring down at you with her usual neutral expression.
"Hey," you greet casually.
"You look like an old man," Mai responds.
You shrug. "I've been called worse."
"Oh really?" Mai crosses her arms, shifting her weight to her hip, raising an eyebrow at you.
"Yes." You close your eyes again, taking a moment to breathe in. "I seem to recall you calling me 'the offspring of a komodo-rhino's turd' when we were younger."
Mai almost laughs at that, and you reopen your eyes to look at her, a small smile on your face. You stand up, offering her a hand. She looks at it, slightly confused.
"I'm not giving you any money," she says bluntly.
Your mouth falls open in shock. "What? No! I'm asking you to walk with me."
Mai regards you closely for a moment, then she shrugs and accepts your extended hand. "Okay."
The two of you walk even further away from the obnoxious party, hand-in-hand, a companionable silence hanging over you. After a few minutes, Mai finally speaks.
"Your hand is cold," she complains. Of course.
You roll your eyes. "If you're going to complain, then let go."
"No." Instead, she just grips your hand tighter as she continues to walk alongside you.
You glance at the girl in slight befuddlement. Despite having known her for years, Mai is a puzzle you are still yet to solve. Her words say one thing, but her actions say another. It makes absolutely no sense to you. You know all girls are complicated in some way, but Mai really takes it to a whole other level.
But still, you decide it would probably be best not to comment on it. You walk in silence for a little while longer before you come to a stop, Mai halting next to you. You're standing atop a cliff that overlooks one of the Fire Nation's many towns, and you're just about able to make out figures and shapes in the dim lighting of the moon.
"Why did you bring me here?" Mai asks, looking at you expectantly.
You don't face her, instead admiring the night sky full of stars brighter than any flame a Firebender could conjure. "Honestly, I just wanted to walk and look at the stars with you," you admit.
Mai scoffs. "What a dumb reason. They aren't that impressive."
You sigh, turning to look at Mai who's now watching the sky herself. "Must you complain about everything?"
"I don't complain about you." She spins around to focus on you again, the light breeze ruffling your hair and the moon's reflection shining in your eyes.
"You were literally complaining about my hands, like, five minutes ago," you say, causing Mai to roll her eyes.
Suddenly, she reaches out to grab the front of your robes, pulling you down until your face is only inches from hers. You can feel her breath fanning across your skin and see every single detail on her beautiful face. Your eyes are blown wide with surprise, and there's a light blush dusting both of your cheeks.
"Just kiss me already, idiot," she sighs, closing the remaining gap between you. Her lips are surprisingly soft and supple against yours, and Mai's hand comes up to rest on the back of your head, tangling in the hairs at the nape of your neck. Your hands instinctively circle her waist, pulling her ever closer.
When you're eventually forced to pull away, your faces remain close together, your forehead resting against hers. You're both breathing hard, small smiles on your faces.
"Well, if this is what I get from your complaining, then maybe it's not so bad after all." You grin at her and Mai shakes her head with yet another sigh.
"You're impossible," she says.
"Well, so are you," you reply, eyebrows knitting together as a sight pout forms on your lips.
Mai glares at you, tugging on your collar. "Just kiss me again."
You don't need to be told twice.
Okay, so here it is; the one-shot book I've been going on about forever.
Did I pull this out my ass because I feel bad about not updating? Yes. Is it the best thing I've ever written? Definitely not? Do I care? Nope.
Anyway, I'll be updating this book semi-regularly as I work on updates for my main book. If you have any requests lmk, but I can't promise when or if I'll get them done.
So yeah, thanks for reading and sorry about the long wait for updates!