Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Fire Flakes ❯ Poor Plain Mai ( Chapter 6 )

Title: Poor Plain Mai

Author: Sephira jo

Rating: G

Warning: Focuses on Mai and Ty Lee and Azula.

Author's Notes: Mai meets Zuko and the story about why she wears her hair the way she does.

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar; I'm not making any money off of this.

 

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"There. And now," Her mother said with a short smile, "you have hair like a proper lady."

 

Mai, all of six, looked in the mirror and frowned, "It makes my face look thinner than it is, already, Mom."

 

"Don't complain so much, you'll see. It will work wonders."

 

"I think it looks stupid."

 

Her mother wouldn't hear it. Azula, member of the Royal family and a princess of the house of Azulon had invited her and Ty Lee to the palace for however long they would like to stay. Azula and Ty Lee were the only two girls at the Royal Academy who didn't refer to her as 'Poor Plain Mai.'

 

Mai suspected other children didn't spend nearly so much time analyzing their looks, but she knew what she was. Thin and angular with features that were sharp and pointed like a dagger Mai had the sneaking suspicion she'd grow up without her Mother's soft beauty, Azula's fine features or Ty Lee's soft and silken build. She would always be 'Poor Plain Mai'.

 

Her mother escorted her to the Palace grounds and Mai poked at the twin buns with a certain amount of distaste. She wasn't paying attention to where she was going, simply walking a few steps behind her mother. And therefore, she didn't the other kid who ran into her until it was too late.

 

Trying to pull herself up from the bundle of limbs she found herself face to face with a boy her own age. The snappy 'get off me, you twit' died on her tongue when her Mother started, sounding horrified, "Prince Zuko, oh no, I'm so sorry! Mai, apologize!"

 

Mai was stunned speechless; this was Azula's older brother? Now that she was doing nothing but staring at him, he seemed kind of cute... Mai blushed. Another woman her mother's age ran up, "Oh, it's okay, really."

 

This second woman picked Zuko up off of her - he had been staring too, kind of a glaring stare - and brushed him off. She then turned her soft gaze to Mai, "You must be Mai, Azula has said so much about you, are you okay?"

 

"What about me, Mom?" The boy asked and Azula's mother laughed and patted him on the head.

 

"I know you're fine," she turned her attention back to Mai who somehow couldn't stop blushing, even though it occurred to her that it was a stupid reaction. "Are you okay?"

 

Mai nodded dumbly and Azula's mother smiled and seemed to whisper something in Zuko's ear. The boy nodded looked at her and said, "I'm sorry, oh and your hair looks nice up like that."

 

Mai blushed even more and dove for the skirts of her Mom's robes as the two walked off after Azula's mom directed them to where the Princess was waiting.

 

Mai's mother chuckled, "Why Mai, I think he likes you."

 

Mai just blushed.