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The harbor at what they both called “Hakoda’s village” so often that its actual name kept slipping from her mind, was brightly lit and decorated with flags and fanciful ice sculptures. The royal ship berthed in its usual place, Izumi was jumping up and down from the excitement, and Zuko was happy enough to start jumping, too. Druk was circling in the sky above them, bored with their human slowness. Mai shivered under her warm fur clothes: she was glad that their journey was at an end, but too exhausted to contemplate the festivities that were planned upon their arrival.
She much preferred air travel – it was uncomfortable, but it was fast. On this ship, as fast and luxurious as it was, she suffered for a week. Well, not so much “suffered”, as was mildly annoyed with everything and everyone. But it was The Twentieth Anniversary of the Avatar’s Return, and they had to arrive by ship. Sokka had great plans for the celebrations, and all of them tried to keep him in check. When Sokka suggested reenactment of their faithful meeting, Zuko had enough and threatened that he would not come at all. Arriving in the Royal Fire Nation ship was the compromise they agreed on.
Mai smiled to herself: of course, he would have come anyway. No way Zuko could have missed a meeting with his friends, especially on such an occasion, even if it required of him to act silly. Still, it was nice that levelheadedness and common sense of Suki prevailed over Sokka’s wildest flights of imagination. Katara would have helped to temper her brother’s creativity, if not for being distracted with the new baby. Mai thought about the newest child of Aang and Katara with a sense of wonder – a baby airbender!
Zuko stood by her side, rolling on his feet impatiently. Mai’s hand found itself in Zuko’s hand, their fingers intertwined. The thought of Katara and Aang bringing a baby airbender into the world made her almost teary.
“Are you ok?” Zuko turned to Mai, enveloping her in a hug. “Feeling cold?”
“Not at the moment.” She pulled him in a kiss. At first she only wanted to give him a little cheerful peck, but his lips lingered on hers and were so sweet and soft, and Mai felt so comfortable and warm in his embrace that they stayed kissing each other, through Izumi’s exasperated wails “Mom! Dad! We can go already!”, through vague noises of people running around them, and only Sokka’s crushing hug and booming laughter put a stop to it.
“I have to say, I am still miffed that we didn’t do reenactment, but I love your arrival this time so much better.”
“Yes, I think I’d rather re-enact this version the next time, too.” Zuko hugged him back.
Mai hugged Sokka in her turn. “How’s everyone and where are they?”
“They are all waiting for you inside. Let’s go, I have huge plans for tonight.”
“Are you sure about huge plans? I want to see you all, but I’d rather cut tonight short and have some sleep on a firm ground and have all huge plans wait for tomorrow.”
“Could be arranged, could be arranged. Your quarters are all ready.”
Izumi ran and jumped on Sokka with the piercing cry of a happy girl. Mai sighed. She promised to herself to never tell her daughter to be quiet unless strictly necessary, but there was a steep price to pay for that decision. Sokka laughed and threw Izumi high in the air, catching her in a hug.
“Get your own kids and throw them up,” Zuko grumbled.
“Nah, I am much better suited for the role of a crazy uncle. Right, princess?” Izumi nodded happily.
“Who could take my place?”
Mai was amused, “Tom-tom is working on it. He takes his uncle responsibilities very seriously. Not to mention Izumi’s aunts with some extra crazy on the side. But please continue. The more the better – one never knows when an uncle can come in handy.”
Zuko and Sokka both snickered at that, and they all finally left the boat and went to see friends waiting for them, and Mai felt happiness seeping through her tired and annoyed state of mind.
Three hours later, after much laughing, hugging, squeeing and screaming (from Izumi, Bumi and Kya) and cooing over baby Tenzin (from all of them), a happy reunion with Suki, and Katara, and Aang, and Sokka – Toph said she would meet them in Gaoling for the next part of the celebration – and a short but very intense dinner, Mai and Zuko stood in front of their royal igloo.
“That’s a very nice igloo.” It was a large plain igloo, not much different from all others, but Mai was happy enough to live there after the ship.
“Look – it has some red on it.”
“Where?”
Zuko pointed. “Here, look, a little bit by the entrance, a little flame and some squiggles.”
“How thoughtful.” Mai giggled despite her best intentions, as she imagined Sokka drawing it.
“It is rather nice to spend a couple of days as normal people, with as little pomp as possible.”
“Yes, just the two of us, with Izumi having her sleepover fun with Kya and Bumi.”
“That’s what I was thinking, too.”
The igloo looked very cozy inside. One could almost forget that it was a house built out of ice for all the rugs and furs and a little fireplace warming the interior. They stepped in. The candles burned brighter by Zuko’s command, and Mai felt ready to discard her heavy winter robes and burrow into the fur blankets on the bed.
“So...tea?” Zuko nodded towards the low table with a tea set and snacks prepared for them.
“Sure. I’ll go wash myself.” The true miracle of this igloo was the hot shower in the tiny bath area. Normally Mai preferred to soak in a hot bath, but right now, after the long days of travel, to stand with her eyes closed and let hot water fall over her and wash away dust and dirt and annoyance at many small things not worth to be annoyed at was magnificent. She left the bathroom refreshed and mellow, and was met with a welcome sight of her adorable husband pouring tea in their cups.
“Zuko, my love,” she moved fast, scooped him in a hug, and kissed him in a sudden attack of happiness.
“Hey, be careful there!” He held her tea cup and tea pot above their heads, answering her kiss.
“You are getting better at juggling every day; sometime in the future you might even realize your lifelong dream to become a circus juggler.”
“I am getting better at a lot of things.” Zuko smirked, and Mai’s heart fluttered a little. “Let’s have tea.”
They drank tea, sitting close and leaning into each other, shoulders bumping, knees touching. Years ago, the mere touch, whether accidental or not quite, was enough to send them both fiercely blushing. Now it was just a touch, still as delightful, but awkward no more.
Beside the tea there were some sweet berry preserves and – definitely a gift from Sokka, since nobody else could eat it – seal jerky. Tea was just enough though, they were still full after the dinner they were greeted with.
Mai’s mind lazily wandered from thought to thought. She smiled remembering Izumi immediately creating a little pile with Bumi, Kya and Druk and forgetting about the existence of her parents. It would be so good for her to be just another kid for several days, away from the palace life. Even if she was still a kid with a dragon, and the guards were still there, watching from distance over her. She thought about baby Tenzin, so cute and serious, and his amazed parents. She thought about Hakoda, with Malina and Bato, who were always happy to see her here. She thought about her friends with all their crazy plans, and laughter, and hugs she learned to enjoy. She thought about how Zuko lit up and shone when he was among this crazy group of friends. She thought about what those twenty years brought her. She thought of a flicker of hope, a feeling of impending change that lifted her from the bottomless despair that the news that the Avatar was indeed found brought her twenty years ago. She could have hardly imagined then the world they lived in now, but she wanted any change from what was before.
“Are you falling asleep?” Zuko kissed her in her temple. “I can carry you to bed.”
Mai returned from her reverie and shook her head. “No, not yet. Go, take a shower, and I’ll clean after our tea party.”
After she was done, she fell in a soft bed prepared for them. Silk bed sheets back home were nice, but diving in the soft fur here, in the cold South Pole, was a sensuous pleasure. Mai disrobed and made blankets around her a nice fuzzy cocoon. And that was how Zuko, fresh from the shower, found her.
“Hey, what do we have here?”
“Nothing,” Mai grumbled, too warm and snug to move. “I have ceased to exist for now.”
“And here I was planning to entertain you with some relaxing massage...” Zuko’s voice was teasing and flirtatious, and Mai was defenseless against it. She took the blanket off and turned over, offering her back to Zuko.
Zuko settled by her side, his sleeping robes tickling her skin, and started working on her muscles. Juggling was definitely not the only thing he got better in the past twenty years. His competent hands stroked, rubbed, and kneaded her body in all the right places, from toes to neck, and Mai moaned quietly in appreciation of Zuko’s work. His soft chuckles were a sign that he took her moans as the compliment it was.
“How do you feel now?”
“Blissful.” But not quite sleepy. Mai turned to face her husband and stretched lazily, full of joy and tenderness. Definitely not sleepy yet. She glanced at Zuko through her eyelashes and murmured, “You haven’t worked on all my parts.”
“I haven’t yet. Unacceptable, I agree.” His hand was now tenderly dancing on her skin, his eyes staring in hers. Then he leaned and started gently and methodically mapping her body with his kisses. When his tongue got to her breast and swirled around the nipple, Mai’s breath hitched, she arched and uttered something between a curse and a moan. It was good, so very good, just not what she – what they - needed right now.
“I am too tired to play right now, please get naked and fuck me.”
A raised eyebrow and a smirk later, Zuko complied. He discarded his robe in record-breaking time (they were unlikely to ever hold such a competition, but in the case they were, Mai was sure Zuko would win. All those times that they had to dress and undress fast for various annoying reasons…), and joined her in the bed driving all the thoughts out of her head. She ran her hands along his body, so intensely familiar, and yet so amazing. Mai took in the smell, the feel of his skin under her hands, the taut muscles under the skin… Could she be possibly addicted to her husband?
She brushed her lips against his face, tracing sharp lines and angles, rough skin of the old burn, bristles on the unshaven chin before settling on soft lips and losing herself in the kiss. Zuko’s hands cupped her face, as he took great care in kissing her properly and with abandon, then they traveled down and settled on Mai’s breasts. Mai uttered a totally undignified squeak of pleasure and received a proud chortle from Zuko.
He grazed her nipples with his thumbs, getting Mai’s moans. Mai ran her hands up and down his back, settling on the buttocks and squeezing. Her body, tired, relaxed and aroused at the same time arched to help Zuko enter her, They started moving with the slow easy rhythm so familiar and comfortable after years of loving each other. Mai leaned closer and closer still, their arms circling each other, their lips caressing each other, the rhythm of their bodies increasing more and more until reaching the peak. It wasn’t an explosive, out of body experience she had when they put their minds to it; it felt more like walking to a mountain top and standing there in quiet delight, warmed up by a morning sun, drinking in the beauty surrounding her. Zuko grinned and hid his face in the crook of her neck.
“Happy twentieth anniversary of the Avatar’s return.” he whispered after regaining his breath.
She laughed. “We are going to celebrate a lot of anniversaries in the coming months.”
“Our meeting in Ba Sing Se...” Zuko moved on the side to hold her in his arms and play with her hair.
“Our first kiss...”
“The first time we saw each other naked...”
“That time you left me...”
“That time you saved my life despite it...”
“That time you ended the war..”
“That time you left me...”
“That time we found our way back to each other.”
“Maybe we should just lock the door and keep celebrating tomorrow, and after tomorrow.”
“Maybe. But our friends have a lot of plans.”
“They will understand, I'm sure.”
“And I am sure that we are in a house literally made of water, and it is not wise to mess up plans of the most powerful waterbender and the Avatar.”
“It’s mostly Sokka’s plans. But you have a very good point. We’ll only celebrate alone from time to time.”
Mai rolled her eyes. “Like we always do.”
Zuko frowned in mock seriousness. “Slightly more.”
She combed fingers through his hair. “How come I am never too tired to kiss you?” and, proving it, she touched her lips to his cheek.
“One of the biggest mysteries of life that I prefer not to question but to enjoy.” He kissed her back and whispered delightful silliness in her ear.
Mai rubbed her nose with his and pulled the blankets over two of them. “I kind of love you.”
“I kind of love you, too. Good night, Mai.” He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her hand.
“Good night, Zuko.” She mumbled falling asleep.