Mai ♦ 001

[fireshuriken]

Who: fireshuriken and somarium
Where: Lake Meridian & Somni
Style: Either is fine!
Status: Open~

[A dark haired female leaned against one of the trees around Lake Meridian, her arms crossed, a very sour look on her face.]

Well. Can't say I was expecting this.

[Last she remembered, she was locked up in prison with Ty Lee. Then she wakes up by a strange lake and back

Comments

[forged_anew]

Zuko often trained near the lake. After all, one needed to keep up skills like that, even if he hadn't really needed them here in a while. Besides. There wasn't much to do, really.

He'd been here since morning, and now as he finally headed back toward his apartment, shirt tied around his waist since he'd gotten hot earlier. As he walked, Zuko noticed someone up ahead, and for a few moments, he thought maybe he'd somehow overexerted himself, that he was tired or it was a trick or mirage... something. Something else. Because it was too much to hope for to really think it was Mai's silhouette a short distance away.

He sped up anyway, trying to get closer.

It was her. Or he was completely insane. It didn't matter. Either way, he had to try, and Zuko called out suddenly, in a voice hedged with excitement and suspicion and shock all at once.

"Mai?"

[fireshuriken]

Mai heard someone coming, pausing, ready to pull out her knives if necessary. She wasn't sure what was going on still, so she didn't know if Azula would be tracking her, since somehow, she had escaped? She didn't know how it happened, but she wasn't in jail anymore, and Azula would not be happy. At all.

Then she heard the voice call out to her. She recognized it instantly: Zuko. Hearing him caused her to hesitate, her eyes narrowing as a small frown returned to her face. It was several moment before she turned to him, crossing her arms as she did so.

"Zuko." She was still mad at him about what he had done. Yes, she had saved him, but that didn't mean she wasn't still mad. He hurt her. He left her. Maybe it was for the right reasons, but what he did to her wasn't right.

[forged_anew]

It really was her. Doubt melted away as soon as she spoke his name and Zuko rushed forward, and he didn't care if it seemed sudden or awkward or even if she got mad. He was in front of Mai in a moment, arms wrapping tightly around her and pulling her slim form against his chest.

"I missed you," Zuko murmured against her hair, voice low and perhaps a little raspier than usual with emotion.

[fireshuriken]

For a split second, Mai was just happy to be back in his arms. But then she remembered what he had done, why she was mad, and she pushed him away. A scowl appeared on her face as she took a few steps back, distancing herself from him.

Truth was, she had missed him too. So much. She was so hurt when he left her. So lonely. And her he was, ready to scoop her back into his arms. But she wasn't ready. Not just yet.

"I'm still mad at you, Zuko." Her voice was harsh, a hint of hurt within it, as she turned her gaze from him.

[forged_anew]

He stepped back when he was pushed, a look of hurt surprise flashing across his face, a look akin to that of a kicked puppy.

"What? Why?" he demanded, not at all thinking he deserved that harsh tone. Of course, he also didn't realize that, to Mai, their reconciliation hadn't happened yet.

[fireshuriken]

She saw that face. She hates that face, because it always makes her feel bad. But she knew better than to let it get to her. No, she had to be tough.

"Geez, I wonder. Does leaving me ring a bell?" If that doesn't make him realize where she's from then nothing will.

[forged_anew]

...oh.

Oh. His eyes widened and Zuko stared for a moment as if he didn't know it was possible for people to come here from different points in time. Maybe it was just that it hadn't seemed that important before, with just Ty Lee.

But it made a world of difference with Mai.

Zuko sighed, balked, opened his mouth to say something and shut it again, shaking his head.

"Mai, I'm sorry... I know. I know it's not enough but... Everything is so confused here." He tried to get his words straight, but everything was twisted and he was rambling. He'd always been rather awful at explaining.

"I came back-- or, or for you, I will come back, and everything will be okay. Everything is okay now. And you're here!" And, grasping at straws now-- "Ty Lee is here too; she'll tell you!"

[fireshuriken]

Zuko's reaction wasn't exactly what Mai expected. She watched him curiously, an eyebrow raised. What in the world was he going on about? She was pinged by him saying that Ty Lee was here, though. It was a relief to know the other girl was safe.

"What are you going on about, Zuko?" She gave him an unsure look, because really, he wasn't making much sense to her right now.

[forged_anew]

He sighed, exasperated.

"It's... a different world. This, I mean." He tried to reach out to her again, pleading. "And people don't come here from our world exactly from the same time. For me, the war is over and I'm--" He paused, unsure and perhaps a little embarrassed. "Well, I'm... Firelord."

[fireshuriken]

"So you're saying this is another world and you're from the future." Mai muttered, not sure about believing. It sounded more like nonsense to her right now. Zuko becoming Firelord seemed impossible, with how things were going, unless...

The Avatar really did defeat his father.

But that seemed impossible, too. Has Zuko lost his mind? Or was this really some other world where they were brought from different times?

[forged_anew]

Okay, so it sounded really crazy, even to him. He couldn't help that!

Zuko shifted awkwardly, looking away. "Um... yeah. That's pretty much what I'm saying, yeah." He met her eyes again, looking newly determined, and reached out to try to take Mai's hand in his.

"I know it's crazy, Mai, but please believe me. I can't explain it. I just wound up here, same as you-- but you're not alone." Like he had been. Ty Lee was a small comfort but Mai... having Mai here was finally the only good thing that had happened to him, selfish as it was. "Don't push me away."