Chapter Text
Wu stepped out on his balcony and took a deep breath, inhaling the night air. It was the balcony overlooking a small animal enclosure, and it smelled like it. He coughed, cleared his throat, and sighed, leaning against the rail.
The palace had been pretty sparse when he first returned. Rooms that should have been filled with ten thousand year old artifacts were completely empty. He had plans to fix it up and set it up as a prime tourist location. Maybe there would be nightly parties in the ballroom, and he could premier his first single in front of the adoring crowd.
He sighed again and flipped around, back against the rail. He leaned back, until his feet were off the ground. If only he had the time to transform this rotting husk of a palace into the tourist trap/gambling parlor/dance hall/animal shelter of his dreams! Was he going to get a chance after the constitutional assembly and after his official abdication to really whip this place into shape?
After a while he started to hum to himself, and there was a rumbling down on the ground level. He caught himself from falling backwards off the balcony and spun around.
"Who’s my favorite badgermole?" he sang, louder. "Oh~ I’m only joking, every one of you is my favorite."
He really needed a vacation! It took him three hours to get ready in the morning, and three more to wind down, and other than his 12 hour beauty sleep and his two hour lunch he barely had a minute that wasn’t spent working on some new problem that popped up.
He ran back inside, and a pair of confused badgermoles burrowed back underground.
“Guards! Guards!” he yelled.
Ten confused and heavily armed guards burst into the room. “Your highness! What’s the matter?”
“You guys, I just had the best idea!” He was bouncing up and down in excitement. “But I want to spitball it and you have to level with me.” He gestured to a pair of green sofas. “Take a load off your feet and hear me out.”
The glanced at each other and a couple of the guards shrugged. They sheathed their weapons and the earthbenders relaxed their stances.
“Sit, sit!” he started leading them individually to the couches.
—
Mako,
It’s been an eternity since you sent your last letter! I’m going to have this entire government transition wrapped up before you remember to sit down and let me know how you’re doing! I’m glad the whole cop thing is working out for you, really, but that doesn’t mean you can neglect your best buddy.
Ok, ok, enough of that. I’ve had the best idea! I’m going to ask you something important, and if I don’t get any reply in a month, well, you don’t even want to know what I’m capable of!
Things have been kind of rough for everyone, haven’t they? That’s why you should take a break and grab your lovely grandmother and your family (even Bolin! I’ve 100% forgiven him for the whole Kuvira “incident”) and take them on a restive trip to their beautiful home country! Seriously, don’t they miss it? And I know for a fact that you won’t be giving yourself enough of a break. Work, work, work, blah blah blah.
Bring whoever you want! Any lovely new dame in your life? Haul her along and I’ll give you two the best room in the palace.
~Wu out~
—
Mako’s mouth twitched into a smile as he read Wu’s letter. The scent from the paper was overpowering, even holding it as far from his face as he could and still read it. He actually recognized the cologne, and he could picture Wu spritzing it in the envelope before he sealed it.
“What’s that horrible stench?” The Chief asked. “Some kind of love note? Keep that off the job, kid.”
“It’s Prince Wu,” he said, dropping the note on his desk with the rest of his mail.
“Hey, I didn’t ask for details.”
“Chief!” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I just—no. No. He wants my family to stay at the palace so he has an excuse to slack off while we’re there.”
“You taking him up on it?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Might as well. This is as much of a lull as we’re going to get.”
Mako frowned. “I might actually take some time off, then.” Sincethis was going to be his last chance for a while. Bolin was off traveling around the world with Opal, and Grandma Yin might want to see her home again. He picked the letter up again.
—
Wu,
I do read your letters, even if I don’t have time to send anything back. Bolin got married last month, and last I heard he's in Omashu.
I have permission to take some time off. I actually wouldn’t mind visiting the Earth Kingdom again.
Mako
—
Wu rolled his eyes when he got to the end of the note. Mako had no idea how to make a letter interesting, but at least it was good news. He tossed aside the rest of his boring mail and hopped out of his desk chair.
He picked up a framed photograph. It was him, one arm slung over Mako's shoulders, and his other on Grandma Yin's back. Tu stood behind him, grinning. He really missed his old pals. He teared up and set the photograph back down.
Once he'd gathered up “the guys,” his loyal team of guards, they took a trip down to the travel agency to start arranging Mako's visit. He passed an impressive looking massage parlor on the way, and got he and his pals a full treatment to celebrate—well, whatever they wanted to celebrate. The agency was closed up by the time he actually got there, but he didn't have full confirmation of the visit yet, so maybe it was better to hold off. Everything worked out!
–
When he tried to settle down to sleep that night, his whole body felt warm and relaxed from the massage. His skin tingled. He should have nodded right off.
Instead, he lay there spread across his mattress, staring at the ceiling long enough for his eyes to adjust. He started to make out parts of the elaborate mural his great-great-granduncle had put in. During the looting that followed his great aunt's assassination, someone had gotten up there and scrawled a crude epitaph. How had he never noticed that before?
He rolled over, pulling his blankets over his head. He remembered the broad line of Mako's shoulders as he stood between Wu and that unruly mob on his coronation day.
He sat up. That whole terrible day was etched in his memory, but that was what he flashed back to?
He tried to remember how many times Mako had saved his life, back in Republic City. Sixteen times? He remembered being yanked away at the last second from stepping on a piece of rotting fruit. He thought maybe those had been hornets and not bees crawling inside it, but he was going to count that.
He just missed him. All of them, sure, but Mako was the guy who kept his backside intact for three years. That had to explain why he couldn't get him out of his head, lately.
Or, he was suffocating under the weight of the enormous crush he had on him.
Wu groaned and scrubbed his face with his hands. No, that wasn't right. He loved the big stoic fussbudget with all his heart, but he wasn't head over heels in love with him.
But, thinking about it, he was pretty sure that being in love was one of those things that there was no point denying, at least to yourself. It was like being thirsty. If someone offered you a drink you didn't like, you'd just turn it down without a second thought. You wouldn't keep telling yourself “I'm not thirsty” and denying your dry throat and your damp sandpaper tongue just to keep yourself from sipping some foul bargain brand seltzer water.
He closed his eyes.
--
Mako was standing over him, as they said goodbye. Wu was in a rotten mood, his job offer turned down too decisively, but he was trying to pick himself up so they left each other on a high note.
Mako put his hand on Wu's shoulder. “I'm proud of you,” he said. He had said some other things, too, but that one stood out.
Wu knocked his hand away and hugged him. “Take care of yourself.” He told him to find a nice dame to drag him away from the stiffs every now and then.
Mako hugged him back. Wu's face was briefly pressed against his chest, and then he was pushed away again.
--
His eyes flew open. Yeah, you didn't remember a hug in graphic detail because you were a little sad saying goodbye to your friendly platonic pal. He could recreate the smell of it at a perfumer's.
–-
Mako,
Just let me know when and who and everything will be ready. In fact, you can skip sending it to me and just send info right on to a lovely lady with the tourist bureau. I'll stick her card in the envelope.
She's shorter than me, but I bet she has to duck going through standard doors with the way she's done up her hair. And she's got assets beyond just her well developed skill setting up group travel plans, believe me. She said she's married, but I didn't see any jewelry.
Oh, hey, if you're bringing a girlfriend, though, duplicate that letter to big-hair and send me the copy. And add on all the juicy details!
~Prince Wu~
–-
There were only a couple people in the world whose friendship he valued more than he valued a quick roll in the sheets. He had to think responsibly, like he was supposed to.
He hoped he lucked out and Mako had a stupid haircut.