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“You need to take better care of yourself, Azula.” The frown on Mai's face stood out to the Princess, but she didn’t respond. Instead, she continued to stare off at the door of her bedroom; it wasn't like she asked Mai to be here. In fact, she would much rather the noble's daughter wasn't there at all.
Mai let out a huff, “But of course, you aren't even listening to me anymore.”
At that, Azula's sharp gaze fell back onto the other girl in what could be considered a glare by many, but Mai knew it was the look she used when assessing someone. Which was just great. Who didn’t want to feel analyzed when they were trying to help their friend heal wounds she shouldn't have.
The silent stare-off lasted longer than expected before Azula looked away again. “I'm always listening to you.”
She scoffed, “If you were, then maybe you wouldn't push yourself so hard. What are you going to do if you get nerve damage, or internal bleeding? That won't be something you can hide and attempt to heal on your own.”
“I'm not incompetent or an idiot. I know my limits.” The princess was entirely too dismissive of her point, and Mai was genuinely getting fed up.
She should’ve known that any attempt to reason with the royal was pointless from the start. Azula made it extremely clear she didn’t want anyone to know about her secret sparring outside of the palace, and even after Mai found out, she still wasn't open to talking about it.
Part of Mai wondered if maybe Ty Lee would've had different results. Their mutual friend always seemed to have a way of getting the Fire Princess's attention and keeping it, which Mai was frankly jealous of. Not that Mai didn't also have her attention, but it's not like she was as persuasive as the acrobatic friend could be.
Though at times like this she didn’t want to be persuasive, she just wanted Azula to be less stubborn.
She dropped her hands to her sides and just stared at the discolored patches of skin she was previously applying a salve to.
This time the silence dragged on for over a minute before Azula glanced at her again, and she closed her eyes slowly as she took in what was Mai's attempt at holding back her irritation.
For a girl normally so expressionless, Azula could also tell at a glance when she was close to snapping.
“Did you know your limits before or after you broke a rib?” To emphasize her point, she directly stabbed at a purplish blue area on the princess and got a hiss of pain in return.
“It was a spar. Injuries are to be expected. And I do believe he left in a much worse condition, seeing as he could barely stand, and I was able to travel all the way back here.”
“And if you did get too injured, how would you have gotten back? It's not like anyone else knows that you were in a fighting ring. Would you have just stayed there and let the palace go on a wild search to find the missing princess? And what would you say when they found you in such an improper place? You just wanted to spar.”
The Princess's face twitched as she huffed, “I'm not arguing with you.”
This time Mai purposely moved back and directly into Azula's line of sight, almost daring her to avoid eye contact any longer.
That eye contact lasted several moments while Mai stayed tense as she waited for Azula to say anything else, but as minutes went by with nothing, her shoulders dropped, and she turned towards the door.
“I guess it's my own fault for assuming I could help you with anything. Of course, you have everything under control; you don't need me lecturing you.” Her tone was distinctly self-deprecating, and despite her back facing the princess, she could almost feel her negative reaction to it.
“Mai…” It was a familiar whisper, one that she heard whenever the princess wanted her to feel special. The conspiratorial tone that she used to enjoy hearing breathed lightly into her shoulder when no one was around. When Azula cared less about being the Fire Princess, and more about just being with her.
“Don’t go. I'm-”
Mai stayed facing the door. Waiting on an apology she knew wasn't coming. It always seemed like the one thing she was incapable of doing.
“This is just the price I need to pay to be stronger. There's no one I can easily challenge that could or would put up a fight against me. I understand that it worries you, but I need this.” She was almost pleading, as if begging Mai to understand her point.
She could hear the princess stand up behind her. Maybe if she sounded slower or like it hurt, maybe that would give Mai a feeling of vindication, but clearly after months of acting unbothered by her injuries, she truly didn't make a sound of pain.
“But Mai, I also need you.” She was directly behind her. So close the older girl could feel the small radiation of heat coming from the Princess. Azula always ran hot. “You know when you first found out, and I reacted… badly?”
Badly was one word for it. Azula was almost biting in how defensive she was and how sternly she told Mai to pretend she saw nothing.
“It was because I knew I would get hurt. The same way I knew you wouldn't leave me alone about it. Not-” She let out a sudden noise as she corrected, “Not in a bad way. I just knew you would be worried. It was like I could see all of these future moments. And I knew, I knew I wouldn't know how to deal with that concern. So I would rather not have it at all.”
There was a sudden pressure against the base of her neck, and Mai didn't move. She knew it was Azula leaning her head there, and she let out a shaky breath as she continued listening.
“I was right. I'm terrible at handling this, but I still- but you've still been here. And that matters to me. You always matter to me. Even when you think I'm ignoring you, I'm not. I could never do such a thing. Maybe to anyone else, but not you.”
Mai finally took that moment to turn around, and Azula scoffed before lightly covering her face. “You couldn't let me attempt to keep my dignity?”
Mai couldn't help but roll her eyes. “You lost your right to such a thing when you chose to basically confess instead of apologizing.”
“I have no idea what you're-”
“Stop talking. And sit back down so I can finish putting this stuff on your bruises. I'd rather not be stuck doing this all day. It smells terrible.”
Azula was still for another moment before her hand lowered from her face, and she slowly sat back down. She proceeded to stare at Mai as she carefully plucked a small amount of salve before focusing on one of the few bruises left uncovered.
She watched Mai work until she finished, then she set the jar down and did an overall scan to make sure she had them all.
“Thank you.” It was almost a whisper, but it was clear and even, completely unlike the previous times when she left the room in tense silence.
Mai let out a breath she wasn't aware she was holding and nodded before heading for the door. “Next time this happens, just tell me. I won't fuss anymore; I just want to be here.”
Finally, Mai left, leaving the Princess to hopefully rest before she ultimately pushed herself again.