After Dark

Inspired by 'Dear Darkness' by P.J. Harvey

"Dear Darkness, won't you cover, cover me again? Dear Darkness, dear, I've been your friend for many years. Won't you do this for me, Dearest Darkness, and cover me from the sun?"

Prologue

She felt almost guilty loving the night as much as she did. She belonged to the Fire Nation, a country of people who created and manipulated flames and worshiped Agni, the god of the sun. Darkness wasn't a big hit there. But she wasn't a typical Fire Nation girl. The older she got, the more Mai understood that fact.

The night hid so much and allowed Mai freedoms that the glaring light of day often denied her. She could smile at thoughts of Zuko as she walked beside her mother in the fading evening light. She could frown angrily when her father said something completely insensitive like, "Haven't you gotten over that traitor yet?" or "Why can't you be like my friends' daughters?" as he dragged an unwilling Mai off to another dinner party where eligible boys would be in abundance. When she lay in her bed, a veil of blackness surrounding everything, she could allow scalding tears to flow as thoughts of Zuko alone in the wide world, hurt and abandoned feeling with no way home invaded her mind. Even if her mother came into her room unbidden, the darkness gave Mai just enough time to compose herself and reposition the mask of blasé boredom that she wore like a tight fitting second skin. She could giggle softly at something without having to cover her mouth to disguise the noise. No one would hear her. Everyone was asleep in the dark house, unaware and unknowing. Mai loved the night. She loved the darkness. Right now, it was her only true friend.

Part 1

Mai crossed her arms and tucked her hands inside her voluminous red sleeves. Sighing loudly she watched from a corner of the shop as her mother sorted through bolts of fabric.

"I like these two," she told the shopkeeper. "I'm using the material for baby clothes. I have an excellent seamstress who makes all the latest fashions."

"You don't say," the middle-aged man replied with a phony smile as he lifted the heavy bolts and placed them on the wide table for cutting. "How much would you like of each?"

"Hmm, Mai, what do you think?"

"Don't know, don't care," she shrugged and turned away from her mother, looking out the slightly smudged window instead.

That brought a genuine smile to the man's face. He waited for a reply.

"Goodness, Mai. You could show an interest in something. Hmmm, I'll take three yards of each."

She placed her hands proudly across her burgeoning belly and watched as the man cut the cloth. He packaged it neatly and handed it to Mai's mother.

"Three crown pieces," he demanded rather bluntly.

The woman fished in her small silk bag for the money and deposited it on the counter. The shopkeeper scooped it up and placed it in a sturdy metal box that he kept on a nearby shelf.

"Come along, Mai. We've got a lot more shops to visit."

"I can't tell you how excited I am," she said flatly and glanced over at the man.

He winked at her. Mai gave him a glare and the man's face became suddenly very businesslike. A servant waited outside and Mai's mother dumped the packages into her waiting arms. Following a few steps behind, Mai looked around, trying to find something of more interest than cloth and baby toys and clothing for pregnant women.

"Masami, how are you?" one of her mother's acquaintances asked as she walked by with her own servant in tow. "You look wonderful."

Mai's mother stopped to talk. She pushed aside her outer tunic and placed her hands on her belly once again, making sure that the woman, Keiko was her name, couldn't help but see she was almost ready to give birth.

"I'm well, very excited about the birth. We're hoping it's a boy."

Mai stiffened beside her mother and set her jaw rigidly.

"Agni forbid you should have another girl," she muttered under her breath.

"Did you say something, Mai?" Keiko asked.

"No," the girl replied a bit sullenly.

"Have you found a young man for her yet?" she asked Masami. "Her thirteenth birthday was what, three months ago?"

"Yes, I mean yes about the birthday. We're still looking for the perfect man for Mai. You can't be too choosy, you know."

Keiko dropped her voice to a whisper. "I know she was disappointed when 'you know who' got 'sent away'. But she should be over that by now. That was a year ago."

"Oh, no; he was nothing to her."

"Really? That's not what I heard. Anyway, I suppose with that put upon expression she always wears, it's no wonder she can't find a boy." Turning to Mai she said, "Men like it when their women smile and act happy, dear. Perhaps if you tried smiling a little more often the boys wouldn't be so turned off."

Masami fumed but said nothing. Mai latched onto the word 'act'. Their whole lives were acts, these noblewomen, acts performed for the sake of duty and propriety and fitting in and moving up. She looked at Keiko and then flashed a horrible wolfshark smile that made the woman shudder.

"Not like that; not ever like that. Your aim isn't to terrify the young men, Mai. I'd best be going now. I've got lots more shopping to do. You must come over for tea soon, Masami, perhaps after the baby arrives."

She gave Mai's mother a sympathetic look and then moved briskly past Mai, shuddering again. Masami turned on her daughter as soon as Keiko was out of earshot.

"Do you have to humiliate me in front of my friends, Mai? Couldn't you have smiled normally, like a girl instead of like some beast?"

"She's not your friend," Mai replied. She pulled out a shuriken and began spinning it around with her fingers.

"Put that away," Masami ordered. "What is the appeal of those horrible things anyway?"

Mai didn't reply. She thought about friends instead. She didn't really have any now. Ty Lee, a girl she had gone to school with and Princess Azula's other recruit, was the closest thing to one in her life. Her relationship with the princess herself was difficult to describe. There was little warmth between them, little camaraderie. Azula treated both her and Ty Lee more like army personnel than people she cared about. Then again, Mai was pretty certain that Azula didn't care about anybody. Zuko, the banished prince and Azula's older brother, had been a friend. He showed Mai kindness. He was interested in her knife throwing. They could sit quietly together and not feel ill at ease. She comforted him when his mother vanished. They held hands secretly and Zuko had dared to kiss her on the cheek. Even a year later, she missed him, so much that her chest ached whenever he came to mind. No arrogant, stupid and self centered son of some noble couple could compete with that.

She trudged forward without really looking and almost bumped into her mother when the woman stopped suddenly. They were outside a tea shop; The Gold Dragon.

"I need to get off my feet for a few minutes. Let's get some tea and maybe some of those wonderful almond cookies."

"Fine," Mai agreed.

The servant stayed outside with the packages, sitting on a bench under a tree. The hostess led Mai and Masami through the elegant shop to a table for two in an out of the way alcove. The teenager looked around with a bored expression at the varied dragon motifs in red, black and gold that decorated the shop. The tea pots and cups and even the trays had dragons painted on them.

"We'd like jasmine tea and almond cookies," Masami told the waiter.

He brought it quickly and Mai poured the tea for her mother. Nibbling on a cookie, she let her mind wander while Masami chatted about diapers and rattles and bassinets and baby blankets. Mai had been an only child for thirteen years now and wasn't looking forward to a wailing infant disturbing her sleep and throwing up all over everything. At least her parents would be occupied with the little brat. Maybe they would forget about setting her up with some dumb boy for awhile.

Half an hour later they were walking along the clean and orderly stone streets. They entered a book store; at least there might be something interesting there. She prowled the shelves looking at plays and poetry along with humorous and slightly raunchy stories.

"I don't think your mother would approve," the storekeeper admonished Mai.

The girl blushed and put the book back on the shelf. She wanted to read more but as usual anything fun was forbidden.

"Mai, look at this adorable book of children's rhymes," Masami called.

"Great," she said after giving the book a cursory glance. "I'm sure my brother will love it."

Wandering out again, Mai watched as a pair of older girls, probably about sixteen, walked down an alleyway beside the shop. They were giggling loudly and talking about meeting some boys. Intrigued, Mai followed. The alley led to another street and what seemed like another world. It was a part of the capitol city Mai didn't know existed. Crowds of people, definitely not nobles, shopped, ate, fought, talked and loved, and all out in the open for everyone else to see. She spotted gaming houses and brothels and taverns. Perhaps the people were loud and crass but at least they were more interesting than her mother's acquaintances. Leaving reluctantly, Mai made up her mind to return.

A/N: That song made me think of Mai wandering the city at night, checking out the seedier side of life all without anyone's knowledge, with the dark protecting her. I couldn't get the idea out of my head and so here we are with another story.

Hope you find the idea as interesting as I do and thanks for giving the story a try.