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“He’s going to make you fight them alone, isn’t he?”
Azula didn’t have to check the reflection in the mirror to know who had spoken, nor did she have to ask who “he” was. Anyone else that interrupted her nightly routine like this would have been sent to the dungeons, if they were lucky to escape a fireblast from her. But things had always been different with Mai.
“I can handle them.” Azula continued brushing her hair.
“You won’t have your bending.” Mai’s deadpan infuriated her; it was impossible to tell what she was thinking.
“I don’t need it,” Azula replied coldly. “Besides, I’m not an idiot. I’ll have the Dai Li agents with me.”
“You have two. The Avatar and the blind girl took out their entire contingent in Ba Sing Se, as well as the Earth King’s private army.”
“What do you care?” Azula finally snapped. She leapt to her feet and spun around to face her tormentor, ignoring the chair that fell to the floor behind her. “Shouldn’t you be bothering Zuko about this? He won’t be able to bend either.”
“Your father isn’t making Zuko fight the Avatar alone during the invasion. I’m not worried about him.”
“My father isn’t making me do anything. It’s an honor that he trusts me to guard him and distract the Avatar during the invasion.”
“Fine, whatever.” If Azula didn’t know better, she could have sworn she heard a hint of steel in the other girl’s voice. “I didn’t come here to argue. I just wanted to give you this. I know you know how to use it.”
Azula’s throat filled with sand as she stared at the throwing knife that Mai was holding out to her. She couldn’t help but remember the last time Mai had so kindly offered her the weapon.
”Show me how to use them,” Azula demanded. She was lounging on her bed in the suite that the Earth King had given the false Kyoshi warriors. There were three separate bedrooms, but one of them was unused.
“I don’t think so,” Mai smirked, casually tossing a knife up in the air and catching it by the handle. “You’re already dangerous enough.”
“No such thing.” Azula slid off the bed to her feet, her sharp gaze catching the way that Mai’s eyes lingered on her legs that had been briefly exposed as her robe hitched up with the movement. “Show me.”
With a dramatic sigh, Mai passed the knife over to Azula. The princess turned the weapon over in her hand, marveling at the unfamiliar weight. In all their time together, Azula had never picked up Mai’s knives.
Mai was a surprisingly good teacher, both stern and encouraging. She showed Azula the proper form, how to use her arms and eyes to gauge exactly where the knife would fly. Azula naturally had good aim, but her first few throws barely grazed the target that was hung up on the wall.
“Here.” Mai was behind her, her chest pressed against Azula’s back, cold hands on warm arms. Heat flared in Azula’s belly and she dropped the knife.
“You’re doing that on purpose,” Azula whined, her head lolling back as Mai nipped at the bare skin where her neck met her shoulder.
“It’s part of your training. There are many distractions in battle.” Azula turned and pressed Mai backwards until they both collapsed on the bed. She was rewarded by a rare smile as she deftly removed Mai’s uniform with practiced hands.
“You really should leave the jokes to Zuzu. You’re not very funny,” Azula spat, ignoring the knife. She didn’t know if it was the same one that Mai had trained her with, and she didn’t care.
“It’s not a joke.” Mai was frowning, and Azula took sick pleasure in drawing some kind of expression from her. “You’re an excellent fighter, but you won’t have your bending, and they will.”
“Why even bother? You stop caring about me the second you have Zuko back.” Even Azula was startled by the venom in her words.
Mai’s mouth tightened. “You know that’s not true. I’ll always care about you.”
“No you don’t!” Now that Azula had started, she was finding it impossible to slow the river of hateful words pouring out of her mouth. “You’ve only ever cared about him! I’m just a distraction for you when Zuko’s gone. Just a backup firebender to warm your bed. Maybe I should have Father banish him again after the eclipse.”
The next thing she knew, Azula’s back was shoved against the wall, and Mai’s mouth was on hers. Azula’s hands fell into place easily, as though it had been only hours and not weeks since they had been like this. She hooked one arm around the back of Mai’s neck, drawing the taller girl down to her. The sharp fingernails on her other hand dug into Mai’s hip. Azula viciously hoped it would bruise.
As quickly as it had begun, it was over. With that superhuman agility that Azula had long admired, Mai had extricated herself from Azula’s hold and stepped away from her. Her expression hadn’t changed, and she wasn’t even breathing heavily. The only sign that anything had happened was the smear of red lipstick across her mouth.
“Keep it,” Mai ordered. Azula looked down to find that, sometime in the past few seconds (had it only been a few seconds?), Mai had pressed the knife into her hand. “And be careful.”
After the invasion, Mai burst into Azula’s room again. She was shaking with rage as she kissed Azula, bearing them both down to the floor. Azula’s heart swelled as she tangled her fingers in Mai’s inky black tresses, convinced that Mai had finally chosen her over her pathetic, inferior brother. She did not yet know that Zuko was gone.