Disclaimer: I don't own, don't send the Dai Le, I swear I don't own it...
Underlying Truth
by ramasterharper
A/N: This was written months ago before the famous/infamous 'kiss' was shown. We know Azula took a different tack with Zuko and Mai. So it is being posted now before the season premire so it offically doesn't go against cannon for the next few days. Enjoy the oneshot.
Azula contemplated the current situation. Ba Sing Se flew the Fire Nation's banner; the Dai Le were loyal to her and only her; the Avatar was missing, but running out of places to hide; her Uncle was in chains; and Zuko was back on the right side, her side, and more importantly, under her control. Few things pleased her more than forcing Zuko to do what she wanted, and with promises of restored honor, he was even somewhat thankful for it now, making it all the sweeter to her.
However, he still showed regret over his actions, no matter how many times she 'comforted' him. Azula knew that Zuko's 'noble' streak, while an occasional source of great amusement, had caused problems in the past. She knew that it was worth spending some effort to save a useful game piece and Zuko could prove to be most useful. His display of firebending skill in the underground cavern had impressed her to the point that she actually wondered if she would have won without him there. He would never be as powerful as her, but then again, no one ever would. To make matters more troubling, Zuko's instability threatened another one of her favorite pawns. A trained and highly loyal assassin was too useful to simply lose because of that stupid, weak emotion which was more hormones than anything else.
Azula could see multiple ways that could screw things up. Zuko could have second thoughts and his loyalty could shift again. If he thought he could trust Mai, he may just ask her to come with him. Azula wasn't sure what Mai would choose, but knew that the two combined would pose a significant threat to her. On the other hand, Mai may try to make Zuko remember his more 'noble' traits in an attempt to bring back the boy she at least once had a crush on. That could push Zuko over the line, back to the other side, leading to the same result.
That stupid, useless emotion, and Azula knew it was useless because she had never needed it, was to blame. The same thing had driven her mother to protect Zuko, caused the Dragon of the West to throw away the Fire Nation's chance at Ba Sing Se, and resulted in bad poetry and possibly worse songs.
The whole thing made the Princess of the Fire Nation want to vomit. This situation would have to be taken care of, immediately. It had to be crushed, stomped on, and destroyed until there was no chance for any feelings to rise between the two ever again. Loyalty to her must be ensured.
A slow, cruel smile crept over her face as she developed a plan that was simplicity itself. She would tell the truth.
Zuko stood atop one of the many walls protecting the palace, leaning on a battlement and watching the sun rise over the city. His eyes focused on the distant Inner Wall of Ba Sing Se as his mind tried to sort out all that had happened in the past few days.
"Good morning, brother. Did you sleep well?"
Zuko's body tensed. He did not want company at the moment, but knew she wouldn't just leave. "No," was his heavy reply.
"I don't blame you. These Earth Kingdom beds are hardly worthy of the name. I'll have a proper Fire Nation bed sent to you as soon as the garrison arrives." Zuko was about to comment that nothing was wrong with the bed, he had slept on far worse recently, but was cut off. "I'm curious, what did you think of my friends last night? It's been years since you've seen them, so I'm curious what you thought about them."
Zuko wasn't sure where this was going. "They seem fine," he answered uncertainly.
"Just fine, Zuko? Ty Lee would be disappointed with that response. Surely you must have noticed something about one of them. You are a boy after all and they are two young women now." Zuko didn't have to even look at the smirk on her face to know he was being baited, but he saw no way out. So he went the safest way he could think of.
"Ty Lee is still loud." He hesitated a bit. "And wears too much pink."
Azula gave what, for once, sounded like an honest laugh. "Of course, she's Ty Lee." She waited for him to continue for a moment. "Is that all? You don't think she is pretty or has grown more mature?"
Zuko was growing more uncomfortable by the question. "She's attractive," he allowed. "And I'm sure she's become a formidable fighter with her speed and acrobatics." He felt far more comfortable discussing her fighting ability.
"Is that all?" Azula pressed. Receiving no reply, she continued with a more teasing tone. "Nothing about Mai?"
Zuko was quiet for a long moment. Mai, he had noticed, had changed significantly. Somehow he had expected her to be the little girl he once knew. She was tall and thin, but her movements gave her an elegant, rather than lanky, appearance. Her features had sharpened, and her facial expressions were cold, no longer the blushing, shy girl. Pale golden eyes alternatively showed boredom and intelligence. Fittingly, Mai reminded him of a blade, cold, sharp, and deadly, but with a certain beauty and elegance not usually found in more typical forms of art. There was no way he would tell Azula anything like that.
"She grew taller."
Azula gave a disappointed sigh. "Is that all? Oh well, it can't be helped, I suppose. I guess we should be thankful that Mai gave up on you long ago."
Zuko's arms gave out under him and his chest hit the battlement he had been leaning on hard. "What?!"
Azula looked over and faked shock. "You mean you didn't know?"
"Know what?"
Azula laughed, making a flustered Zuko feel more and more stupid. "You honestly didn't know she liked you?"
Zuko stared back out at the city, his face full of confusion. "No. When? How? Why?!" he sputtered.
He didn't notice Azula's victorious smirk. "When we were little. Who really knows why? I suppose…"
Zuko tuned her out, his mind filtering information as quickly as possible, remembering.
The little, pale, dark-haired girl always by Azula's side. The girl who rarely talked to him, even on the few occasions he was alone with her. The girl who played pranks on him with Azula. The girl who covered her mouth to laugh when Azula tricked him somehow. He always thought she was just another of Azula's minions, but when he looked at it in a different light….
Mai never played pranks on him on her own, always with Azula's leadership. As he recalled one particular incident involving a fountain, she was a victim as often as him. She never went out of her way to harm or insult him; a few times she even gave him encouragement when Azula was not there, and then would run away blushing. She probably laughed at him when Azula played a trick because he looked so ridiculous, but covered her mouth to try to hide it or stop herself. Mai probably had not talked to him much because she had been so nervous. In fact, as he thought about it, he hadn't even known what color her eyes were until yesterday because she had never before looked him in the eye long enough for him to tell.
"…of course that was why Mother and Uncle kept on forcing you to dance with her at parties. Mother was always rather fond of her…"
Zuko was finding it hard to breathe. Even his Mother had seen her feelings for him. How many people had actually bothered to care about him? Ever? How could he have been so blind?
"…but that's all in the past. She's moved on. Probably did years ago. So it doesn't really matter, does it?"
And he had pushed her away, ignored her, even insulted her behind her back and occasionally to her. He had hurt her, like he had all the other people who had bothered to care about him.
"I should be going inside, there are things that need my attention. Goodbye Zuzu, we will talk again soon." Azula was nearly inside when she heard a frustrated scream. Her grin grew.
Mai was in the courtyard practicing on a set of wooden targets that were a fair distance away. They all had nicks showing where daggers and stilettos had struck earlier; all were close to the bull's-eye. She threw one that hit dead center on the farthest target with a satisfying thunk. Preparing to rapidly fire off a second, she stopped when the sound of clapping drew her attention.
"Good morning, your highness," Mai recited with an accompanying bow.
"Oh don't let me stop you, I don't want to interfere," Azula said with as much friendliness in her voice as she ever got. Mai bowed again and continued her routine.
"Actually I wanted to ask your opinion on a matter." Thunk. "What do you think about Zuko?" Thunk. This time the dagger embedded itself two finger-widths off the bull's-eye.
Mai stopped again. "What about him?" She betrayed no emotion on her face or in her voice.
"Just what you thought about him: his skills, how he has matured, that type of thing."
"He's matured," was her neutral reply, but her face, for a second, almost seemed to blush.
"Oh? Mentally or physically?" Azula pressed.
Mai knew where this was leading, and tried to steer away. "I haven't spoken to him much since he joined us, but he's been on the run for a long time. He must have matured mentally to survive."
"I suppose you are right."
Mai looked away from her and stared down at her targets. "He's grown taller, more muscular, his face has matured. He's grown to be very handsome and attractive." She looked back at Azula. "At least most girls would think so."
Azula raised an eyebrow. "Even with that hideous scar on his face?"
Mai looked away again. She thought it gave him character, made him more desirable, and most importantly, more interesting; but she wasn't about to tell Azula that. Fortunately, Azula took her silence for an answer.
"I suppose some would. Even with that scar, he has the blood of Fire Nation royalty in his veins. That alone would make him better than most men."
Mai rarely took that into consideration when she thought of Zuko's finer points, but again she was unwilling to tell Azula that. Believing the not-quite-so-subtle self-compliment was the end of the questioning, she returned to her practice.
"That water peasant seemed to think so." Thunk! This time the dagger was four finger-widths off.
"What?" Mai forced out of her throat, barely above a whisper.
"Oh, I locked Zuko up with that water bending girl earlier, before he joined us," Azula replied as if it was no concern. "You know the one."
Mai did know her. The girl was everything Mai thought she herself was not. She was pretty, not too tall, with the right curves in the right places, while Mai was tall, too thin, and lanky. Her skin was dark with a healthy glow, while Mai was pale to the point people wondered if she was sickly. Her voice was high, but not annoyingly so, like a girl's should be, as Mai thought, with just the right amount of care and friendliness infused into it, unlike Mai's grating and low voice. She was even a bender, and a skilled one to make it worse.
"They seemed to make a connection."
"Zuko would not fall for a water tribe girl!" Mai said forcefully. Azula wasn't sure if that was directed at her or not.
"Of course, you are right, Mai. He would never lower himself that far," Azula agreed, with a hint of smugness.
Mai took advantage of the break in the conversation to throw another dagger. Azula noted that it hit right on target but imbedded itself deeper into the wood than the others.
"Actually, I was talking to him earlier. He said he found Ty Lee attractive." Thunk. This one hit four finger-widths in the opposite direction. "I guess it's a good thing you stopped having that stupid crush on him." She waited a moment. "You did stop having feelings for him, didn't you, Mai?"
Mai took a moment to school her features and then looked Azula in the eye. "Of course, Azula. Long ago." She returned her attention to the targets.
"That is good to hear. After all, he told me you were too tall, pale, and thin." Thunk. Five finger-widths off the mark. "Typical boy, concerned only with outward beauty. Don't worry Mai, I'm sure someone will one day care for your personality," Azula comforted. Mai didn't reply. "But it doesn't matter since neither of you like each other." Thunk. Nowhere near any target. "Goodbye Mai, I have duties to attend to."
Azula had just gone out of sight when she started hearing sobs. Her grin grew.
Azula and Zuko were walking down one of the many grand hallways in the Earth King's Palace, discussing various things about the city's defense. When they turned one corner, Azula spotted Mai and Ty Lee. A quick look at Zuko showed that he had seen them too and wanted to avoid them more than anything. Azula started heading right toward them. When they met, Azula took Ty Lee aside, leaving Zuko and Mai excluded from the conversation. For a long moment they just stared at each other, neither one portraying any emotion. Then they both looked away. Mai looked down at her feet, water gathering at the corner of her eyes. Zuko looked at one of the murals on the hallway wall, shame written all across his features. Azula, quite satisfied with her day's work, ended her conversation with Ty Lee, motioned Zuko to follow her and continued down the hallway.
She wore a pleased grin; after all, she had won again, by using the pair's own words, only slightly altered.
Or so Azula thought. As Zuko passed Mai, neither one looking at the other, he whispered "I'm sorry," so softly that even Mai was uncertain he had really said it and Zuko wasn't sure she had heard it. Neither one was quite sure what he meant by it.
Mai turned her head to watch him go, the shock on her face soon replaced by longing to chase after him and just talk about it. She wiped her expression clean when Ty Lee, already walking down the hallway, called back to Mai.
As the royals turned another corner, Zuko looked out of the corner of his eye, so that not even Azula could figure out where he was looking. He watched Mai's retreating back, berating himself for being so foolish for so long, and wondering if it was too late.
Azula had been wise in that these emotions would cause problems for her if not taken care of; but to think she could destroy them had been one of the most foolish thoughts she had ever had.
Because all the old stories that Azula thought were stupid, naïve, and cliché were true; you can't destroy true love.
A/N: Well that's it. I know many of you are grumbling about what you think is a sappy ending, and I know the idea behind it is proabably considered foolish, but I believe it. I and many others need to believe it. If you agree or disagree review and say what you think, just keep it civil please and I promise, I'll make the next story funnier.