Extended Stay

Chapter 3: The Atonement

A/N: Hey people! First, I'd like to tell you guys that I had fun reading your guesses. I must say, your ideas are better than mine. Although no one got the exact answer, one reader's answer was rather close to something sorta like what I actually had in mind. After reading your reviews, I sort of felt ashamed of my idea, but what the hell, I'mma still go with it since I've already thought of how to tie things together later on. I've come up with a new idea, though: send me suggestions! Go! Send as many as you can. I want to know what you want to happen. I'll be picking out the ones I like and I'mma sort of merge them with the ideas I've thought of beforehand. Another thing is that I've noticed that the reviews you've been giving me are all rather positive. I want you guys to know that I appreciate constructive criticism (as long as it's delivered politely). Again, I thank you guys for all your support. Really, I won't get tired of saying that. It's only been two chapters and my stats are looking great. I hope things stay that way. You guys are my gems and as I write this story, I'm hoping it turns out as something that can brighten people's moods. Also, if you guys have any questions (regardless of what they're about… they could be about starfish or potatoes or… life advice, I don't know), always remember that I'm just a PM away. So… anyway, here's chapter three. I was inspired by Oasis' Stop Crying Your Heart Out, Tokio Hotel's Monsoon, and Weezer's Perfect Situation. (Hahaha, this song reminds me too much of Zuko… in every way.) I hope this chapter doesn't seem too dark and serious. Also, it may seem really shallow, but just remember that everything is not always as what it seems. Well, now here you go!

Warning/s: Language

Extended Stay

Chapter 3: The Atonement

For some time, he was speechless, although he had no idea why. For some unknown reason, he was hesitant to say what it was. Of course he had something to say. It was a crazy tale, sure, but he'd thought it through a million times already.

"Well, tell me, King fireflakes," she demanded in a bizarre yet beautiful way. "What sorta Armageddon had the capability of pushing you to knock on my door on a perfectly random rainy night after not even bothering to send me even just a one-lined letter in six whole Agni-damned years?" Oddly, the words didn't come with matching facial expressions or hand gestures. She just stood in front of him as she bluntly spoke.

"I'm sorry," he blurted out as he looked at the moon. "Things have been heavy these past few years. I know it sounds like a really ridiculous excuse, but you do understand the situation I'm in, right? I mean, once everyone left, I had to face things alone. Well, not exactly. Of course, Uncle was there. He's always been there. And there was Mai."

"Was?" the earthbender clarified, confused.

"Not anymore," he confirmed. "And to make the long story short, that's why I'm here."

"Whoa… Wh-whoa there, don't tell me you've come to Gaoling to ask me for help in finding you some new potential firelady girlfriend substitutes. I've got too many problems myself."

"No, it's not like that."

"Well, what is it?"

"I just…" the firelord began. "I just need some time away… from everything back at home. I might be sounding really selfish, right? Yes, I guess so, most probably, but I figured that if I didn't leave, I'd burn out. I'm the firelord and my duty is not only to my nation, but also to the whole world. It's the price I have to pay for my forefathers' wrongdoings, for my wrongdoings, but I'm also just human and-"

"Sure, no problem," she butted in. "Our home accepts overwhelmed royal runaways twenty-four-seven. Call it your when-being-firelord-gets-all-bitchy-I'mma-just-head-over-there rest house. Way to be user friendly, Your Majesty."

"Look, I'm really sorry for not telling you. Its more complicated than you think," Zuko defended himself while trying to keep his voice's volume to a minimum. "I'll have you know that I'd have loved to stay with Aang to avoid all this fuss you're giving me now, or I could've sailed over to the Southern Water Tribe. Heck, I bet even the Kyoshi warriors would have actually been happy to see me."

"Hey, who said that I-?"

"Trust me, if any of them weren't busy with their own post-war hitches, I wouldn't have gone through all that just to come all the way here. But then, the thing is, you're the only one I have!"

Silence filled the air for what wasn't the first time that evening. He wished he hadn't put it that way. He let his ever unstable emotions get ahead of his conscience and his mind again.

"So… that's it, huh?" she spoke. "I'm just your last resort. Okay, I get it. You know what? I think it's best if we both got some sleep. I don't want to keep you up. I mean, I'm just your final option after all. Might as well show you my deep gratitude for even coming to this shitty town. By the way, that whole fiancé thing, I'll break it off to my parents first thing tomorrow. Sweet dreams."

She left the room as quickly as she entered. No, she didn't slam the door not did she stomp her feet, but Zuko could feel her disappointment emanating all throughout the room. The moon filled the whole place with unnatural stillness- the same stillness that could've been associated with decaying corpses at the bottom of the ocean, or with monarchs being left past midnight by friends whom they've hurt. Either way, that stillness brought immense pain to whoever witnessed it. He threw himself on the bed, back first. He tried to sleep, but he couldn't. The moon felt like a dagger piercing his heart. It mirrored his faults and transgressions meticulously. He felt lost once again, trapped inside an inexplicable state, some sort of limbo, and all he could do was stare at the moon, unconsciously searching for hidden images in vain. This lasted for hours. He refused to take his eyes off of it and failed to even notice its progress down the sky. Finally, as it set and as the sun started to rise, he decided to leave the room, maybe get lost along the corridors, or find something magical like, say, a mysterious golden egg. He didn't know exactly, but he needed to something else to look at. As he opened his door, though, an unexpected sight greeted him.

"No."

"Yes."

"But... why? I thought you hated me?"

"I was never angry with you. I was sad, because I was afraid you'd lost your way."

"Stop paraphrasing my uncle."

"Shut up. You're in no position to say that. Suffering from short-term memory loss, I see. Well, let me remind you, you've hurt me. A whole damn lot."

"Then why are you here? You waited out all night."

"Says who?"

"Appa."

The earthbender, who was sitting on the floor, slightly moved her foot. The next thing Zuko knew, three small rocks were headed his stomach's way.

"Ow. Hey, that's what it looks like!"

"You really think I'd stay up all night just to surprise you like a badass ninja? Please, you're not that important. It's called timing. Anyway, Ozai Junior, I'm here to make a negation.

The firelord was curious as to what the she was going to say next. He was sure that simple was the last thing it would be, but he had no choice. All actions have corresponding consequences, he thought. Though not all might seem just. With others, she'd turned into an angel. With him, she almost hadn't changed at all.

"Yeah?"

"I'll help you with Mai if you agree to go through the whole troublesome betrothal process with me."

Zuko refused to answer. He didn't want to speak at all. He'd been reminded of the cause of all this, the reason why he'd almost broken down if it weren't for Toph. It was all because Mai had left him. The saddest part of it was that it wasn't a fracture he could mend- no third party was involved (not exactly), no jealousy, no pride, no greed, no tiring of each other. It was just something that was always supposed to happen, and eventually, it did. How could a love so true and of so long have ended up in shattered pieces? It was something he still couldn't figure out, but he thought he already had. He was lost in many ways. He was broken and needed to be fixed.

"I'm not getting back with Mai. She's let me go," he ended up saying slowly and shamefully. "I've let her go… although I'm not so sure if that was something I really should've done. Yeah, it was, obviously. What am I thinking? But doing what's right isn't always much of a joyride, is it?"

The firebender sat beside her. The only time they'd done that in the past was during a break when they watched a play about themselves on Ember Island many years ago. He put his head on her shoulder as a gesture that screamed "I'm-staring-at-the-air-in-front-of-me-can-you-please-tell-me-again-why-we-exist?"

"Well, a short snippet won't do it for me. You gotta tell me everything, from the start."

"I'll try my best."

"Floor's yours hothead."

The firelord took a deep breath. "Where do you want me to begin exactly?" he asked as he looked at her, but Toph did not reply.

"Fine. Mai and I always wanted to be together… until the end, and since I'm firelord, she'd have to be firelady if we did get married. She was willing to make so many sacrifices for me. She'd already sacrificed so much, but she was ready to give everything up and go through hell and back. That's how much she loved me. The royal councilors subject her to the most preposterous processes that took most of her time and effort. They had her go to finishing school and kept her in the palace even till early in the morning for private training on royal etiquette and many other things that could have only been for show. They nearly drained the life out of her, but she never complained. She'd just smile whenever I asked her if anything was wrong. She never even told me about what they'd been putting her through. But then one day, she came up to me with tears in her eyes and told me that she'd already had enough. I had no idea what she was talking about. She said that she could've gone on with everything, but then what drew the line was the fact that the palace had been constantly putting her family down. After the war, her father lost his position in the government. It was the newly established government's way of compromising with me. All my father's associates were supposed to be thrown in jail or executed, but they new about me and Mai, so that was the least that they could do. Seeing a disgraceful man's daughter traipsing around with the firelord made their blood boil, but as long as Mai was with me, she always felt safe and assured, or so I thought. Pretty soon word spread across Capital City and people made them feel like outcasts in their own home, but of course, I was oblivious to all this. I was always too busy with work, whether in the fire nation or abroad. I'd traveled the world again; I even got to visit Aang and everyone else a few times because of that, but now that I look back at things, I've realized that I shut my eyes and ears on her. When she came up to me because of this, I froze. I found out that her father even attempted to hang himself just to put and end to their family's shame. Mai realized that the only way to appease the people who were after them was to stay away from me, and so she did. A few days after her first confession, she came up to me again. This time, I knew it was going to be the last time we'd see each other. She told me that she wasn't cut out for a life this and that by marrying her, controversies with regards to the Fire Nation would arise and it would only be another burden on my shoulders if the world had another reason not to give our country the trust it has slowly been regaining. Even as she ended things she still made it a point to show me how much I still mattered. She embraced me tighter than ever before. As she said goodbye she told me not to hold on or keep waiting because there was also someone waiting for her outside. Her words broke my heart, but then I had no right to stand in her way. It was only afterwards that I found out about the things she'd gone through. I finally confronted my chief minister and he spilled it out. I felt an unexplainable guilt that made it clearer to me now more than ever that I never deserved her. She was always too good for me. She'd save me a million times and a million times I betrayed her.

Pain took hold of me. I brought it with me wherever I went and it was evident in everything that I did. Eventually, Uncle noticed, so he confronted me. I poured my heart out to him like a child, but I was still confused, so I decided to run away and on that night as I was about to, he caught me, but instead of reprimanding me, he just assured me that he'd take care of things and strangely, he knew that it was you I was going to run to. 'Go, she'll understand,' was what he said, but we both knew who 'she' was. Actually, I hadn't really made up my mind whether or not to see you. I knew you had a life of your own and it would be rude of me to just barge in like this after years of not even asking how you were or if you were still alive, but his affirmation was more than enough for me. So… here I am now, sitting here beside you at dawn… and you're probably asleep."

The earthbender's eyes were shut tight and her head rested on his shoulders. "Well, whad'ya know, she waited out for me after all." The firebender smiled and put his head on hers. As the sun rose higher, the two fell fast asleep. What he didn't know though, was that the blind bandit listened to everything he'd said, until the very last word.

0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0_0

Wow, this took me hours. Finished at exactly 12:46 AM. Spent the whole day procrastinating. I'm such a lazy ass. Oh well, keep 'em REVIEWS coming. Please and thanks!