"I really think you'll have a good time

"I really think you'll have a good time. It's planned by a princess, for heaven's sakes! I mean, I wish Azula was doing this for me." Ty Lee's sickening pink talons scratch my scalp as she forces in a big pin. She won't let me even glance into the mirror until she's finished (she even covered all the mirrors in here with a big bolt of cloth) so I reach up and gingerly touch my hair…

"Oh, Ty Lee, please tell me I didn't just feel a curl?"

"What—hey! No fair, you have to wait until I'm all done…" I ignore her completely and send my other hand up—it hits a bouncy ringlet.

"Ty Lee, I swear, if I look like some sort of curly-haired house pet—I have knives in my sleeves right now, you know!"

"And I know how to block your chi," Ty Lee responds brightly. What were you thinking, Mai? How could you agree to let Ty Lee come within a 10-foot radius of your head, let alone with scissors and hot tongs?

"Ty Lee!" someone barks from the doorway, and I know it to be Azula without even turning my head. I hear a muffled chuckle from her, probably at my expense—bad sign.

"I'm almost finished, Azula, let me just--"

"You're finished now, Ty Lee. Mai, the carriage is out front." Azula says it as more of an order than a statement. I can't see her behind me, but I could almost feel the widening of Ty Lee's eyes at the mention of carriage. I sigh and start to walk over to whisk away the irritating mirror cover, but Azula's hand catches my shoulder. "Really, I don't like to keep the carriage-bearers waiting." And suddenly I'm rushed through halls and past rooms and out on the front lawn, without even getting to see the damage Ty Lee did to my poor head.

I expected the carriage to be a small, dinky little thin, but no—Azula went full out and made sure it was the most impressive craft parked on the alleyway. I reach out to touch the shimmery cloth curtains that cloak it and suck my breath in—it's very fine. Well, Azula, you certainly want Zuko back home in the worst way, don't you? Ty Lee has been annoyingly optimistic about this; all she's been doing for the last week was squealing in excitement about a "romantic evening planned by a princess." I know this "date" for what it is, though; it's just a ploy, something to make Zuko yearn for the rich extravagance of home, and maybe even the women who live there…

I'm blushing. Why am I blushing? I don't blush. All of this perfumy flowery Ty Lee-stuff must be making me dizzy…I barely have a chance to sit down in the carriage before its poor carriers lift it (and me) up and start a brisk walk.

The curtains in here are thick so I can't look out. There's some sort of smell mingling in with rancid perfume Ty drenched me in…smells like the sort of scent they put in bedrooms. Clever, Azula, I think darkly, make a secluded carriage with a lady in it smell like a bedchamber. You do want Zuko home. I wonder why I'm complying with this little plot… My cheeks grow warm again as the carriage lurches to a stop in front of the Earth Kingdom place I guess Zuko is staying at. Better get that red off of your cheeks fast, I think, but it's too late—I feel a rumble and Zuko climbs into the carriage and we're off again to who-knows where.

He makes a grand show of sniffing the inside of this dark place, and I think I see his own cheeks flush. He very gingerly sits down, careful not to touch any part of me. Silence. Then… "You're hair…"

"I hope Ty Lee knows she's dead when I get home. Is it really that bad?" I moan. My hand flies up again to my head—oh, lord, is that a flower I feel?

Zuko gives a half-smile. I was going to say it looked nice, but it kind of does have Ty Lee written all over it." Bad. Very bad. I reach up and find a hairpin and twist it out. A long, heavy curl falls down my shoulder and a silk flower falls out. I inspect it—at least it's not pink.

"Well, what could I do?" I sigh with an air of resignment. He smiles again.

The little cart lurches to a stop once more and someone outside whips the door of it open with an air of grand authority. Oh, lord, what is this? Azula said it was just going to be a little dinner thing… Zuko rests against a large golden pillar as the cart rumbles off, a pillar which was probably just erected for this little event. A strand of rice-paper lamps is twined around it, which at the top meets with a gauzy canopy. Underneath is a shiny table laden with food and candles and gems and—and I look to my left and see our own tiny band.

"Well," I say and glance at Zuko. He's fixated on a little gray monkey dancing in front of the band. For the love of… "Zuko," I hiss. He comes over. "What?"

"You don't seriously want to say here, do you?" I don't give him much time to think about it, I just reach out to grab—no, not his hand, that would seem too…date ish—the edge of his shirt sleeve. "Let's go." We start to slink away; one of the band members gives me a confused look but I just slip him a glimpse of the knives I keep in my sleeve. He goes right back to playing.

We walk for a bit in silence. I casually twist out the rest of the hairpins and toss them to the side of the cobblestone road. Every so often I feel Zuko's eyes on me, and here goes that blushing again, you. Stop it.

"Oh, I uh…brought you this," Zuko says nonchalantly and hands me a little, slim package wrapped with red paper. "I mean, I know what Azula's up to with the whole date, but…I guess I thought you should get something for dealing with her for so long," he explains. I slip the little thing in my pocket to open later. "I didn't have much of a choice," I tell him, but not unkindly. A thought suddenly creeps into my mind. "You are coming back home…aren't you? I mean, look at all this! Azula certainly wants you back!" I pinch a drape of crimson cloth from the long, fluid skirt I was forced into and hold it up. Zuko shrugs and lets all of his breath out into one long, low sigh. "I know, that's the problem. It's just…whenever Azula wants something, it's usually to benefit her own self, isn't it?" He pauses for a bit, struggling with his words. "For some reason, I get the feeling that--"

"Zuko!" We both whip our heads around to see who interrupted Zuko's little theory. Hmm…brown hair, cheerful face, pretty… "This isn't one of your girlfriends, is it?" I hiss through my teeth. He doesn't answer, the sod—"Zuko!" she says again. "Don't you remember me? It's Jin! We had a…a date…" Ah, she sees me all dressed up. Jealous? Oh, I hope she is… Just for effect I move a bit closer to Zuko…just a little bit…

"Jin, of course I remember you," Zuko says in a mechanic, tight voice. She grins with the same amount of enthusiasm and points at my face. "Who's she?"

"Oh. Um,"—he glances at me for a second, then at my wrists—"this is Mai, from the, uh, circus. She's the knife thrower."

Circus? What does he mean, circus…

"Oh! So she's from the traveling circus, too?" Jin looks a million times relieved, the silly bi—"Mai, why don't you give a demonstration?" Zuko says it as more of a desperate order than a question. I can see his eyes pleading.

"Fine," I say tightly and scan the ground, the unattended merchant stalls that line the walkways, for something…ah. "Here, put this on your head." I toss to Zuko a very slimy chunk of some sort of disgusting seafood. Of course, I could have picked up an orange or something like that from the little stands, but that wouldn't be much fun, now, would it?
Zuko peers at the ugly dead thing. Jin looks disgusted but strangely fascinated at the same time.

"It's our special act from the traveling circus," I supply quickly. Zuko's eyes now look at me with daggers in them as he gingerly places the thing on top of his head. I stroll over to Jin, a sly smile on my face. I pull back my sleeve to reveal an array of shiny stilettos. "Now, these are very dangerous. That's what makes this trick so…intriguing." Without warning I shoot a weapon at the slimy critter—perfect. It sails clear through the creature's eye and lands in the fountain that sits behind Zuko.

"Wow! That's amazing!" Jin smiles. Zuko looks relieved—oh, I'm not done yet, boyo, I think wickedly. I turn back to Jin. "Would you like to try?" I ask her. "It's perfectly safe."

"But you just said it's—"

"Never mind what I said, it was only for effect. We used to pull people out of the audience all the time to try it, didn't we, Zuko?"

Zuko does not look relieved any more. I hand a long, sharp stiletto to Jin. "Now, you hold it like this, and then just throw it," I instruct her. Her tongue creeps out of her mouth and she raises her hand high above her head and suddenly it's whizzing through the air. There's a great splash! as Zuko yelps and falls back into the fountain. Jin, horrified, runs away,

Good.

I stroll over to the fountain. "Now we're even, aren't we?" I say and extend a hand to a shivering, soaked—but completely unharmed—Zuko. He bats it away and gets himself up.

"You—that could have killed me! What's wrong with you?" he sputters.

"It missed."

"By this much!" Zuko holds up his forefinger and thumb, a hair apart, to illustrate how much this much is. I shrug. "Now, what were you saying before that girl came along?" I ask, as if nothing happened.

"Mai! I don't believe you! You just handed this—this arrow thing to someone and told her to throw it at my head, and now you act as if nothing happened?"

"I knew it wouldn't hit you," I say darkly.

"How could you have known that? How—"

"Because I care about you and I have no intention of killing you anytime soon." He glances at me and I continue. "I guided it, stupid. Jin threw the stiletto with my help."

Zuko lets out a small oh. A few more beats of silence tick by. My hair is picked up by a sudden breeze that makes Zuko shiver. "Here, take this." I offer him my big, furry red robe. He nods and drapes it across his shoulders but still doesn't say anything. Then…

"What did you mean by 'now we're even?'" he asks me.

"You really don't remember, do you? That day, when we were little…when Azula put an apple on my head and lit it on fire and you dragged me into the fountain with you," I explain, but not unkindly. Another oh slips out.

"I never did get to apologize for that, did I?" he asks. I give him a crooked smile. "You didn't really need to—after all, you did save my hair from burning off. By the way, speaking of hair--"

"It's fine," he grins, and all of the sudden we're strolling and laughing about all of those wonderful childhood days…when Zuko's face suddenly turns serious. He looks at me and says, "I missed that side of you."

"What?" He's struggling for words again, but finally he gets it out. "You know, the side of you that isn't so…gloomy. The side of you that actually laughs."

"Oh. Well, I can laugh, and cry, and--"

And all at once his face is very close to mine and suddenly his lips are touching my lips and his hand is tangled up in my hair.

"What…was that for?" I ask, breathless, after he pulls away. He's at a loss for words and for some reason…I can't even think about it but I kiss him back in one big rush of random emotion. When we finally tear away all he says is, "I think for once we can thank Azula for something." I think he means to say more but I blurt in with, "I had a crush on you as a kid, you know."

Lovely, Mai, you idiot, you just ruined a moment. But Zuko doesn't seem to mind. He just takes my hand in his own dripping wet hand and says, "At least she sent you instead of Ty Lee. I mean, not that I have anything against her, but…"

I grin and squeeze his hand. We don't' say much else, just stroll along until we find ourselves home.

"Mai! How was it—you're wet."

"Very observant, Ty Lee," I comment dryly. Well, almost dryly—I still can't help but smile as laughter bubbles up in my chest as my mind skips back to when Zuko kissed me.

"Hey—are you smiling? And what happened to your hair, aww! I spent an hour on it!" Ty Lee moans.

I barely hear Azula's footsteps as she saunters in. "So?" she questions.

"So what?"

"Is he coming back home with us?"

I blink and suppress another big, cheery smile. "I think so," I tell Azula, and am surprised to hear a little bit of that smile creep into my voice. I glance over at Ty Lee, who's grinning a big floppy grin. After Azula walks away, she squeaks, "He kissed you, didn't he?"

I don't answer with my voice, but I guess I must have blushed because Ty Lee suddenly bursts out with "Eeeee! He did kiss you! Is that why you're all wet? Did Azula have a waterfall set up? You two are so cute together!" She rambles on about other things but I'm not listening. I suddenly remember the gift in my pocket and pull it out and sweep the cloth cover away. It's a long dark box and when I lift the lid, there's a—oh, my…

Ty Lee stops blabbering and stares down at the thing in my shaking hand. "He brought you a knife? Well that's romantic," she drones sarcastically. She obviously can't tell how…how expensive a knife like this is… Engravings spiral up from the base of the blade and one of them glimmers—it's…

"Why did he have an apple engraved on it?" Ty Lee asks stupidly. I just smile to myself—so, Zuko, so.

You did remember after all.