Day Ten: The Cute and Innocent
Title: The Cute and Innocent
Rating: G
For: swan2swan
"Remind me again," Zuko sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. "How did we end up babysitting your little brother again?"
Mai flicked a piece of dust off her sleeve. "Well, I think it had something to do with a conversation between you and my uncle, remember?"
"Oh…yeah…"
-
Zuko had come to pick up Mai, and was waiting for her to finish getting ready.
"Fire Lord Zuko," A voice drawled from behind him. He spun around to see none other than Mai's uncle standing before him.
"Oh…uh…hi…"
The warden's eyes narrowed. "I bet you didn't expect to find me here, did you?"
Zuko privately wanted to answer that he didn't expect to ever see him again for the rest of his life-if he could help it, but wisely chose a different response. "Well, no, not really. I thought you would be busy at the Boiling Rock. I mean, you're in charge of the place, aren't you?"
"Yes…the very same prison you broke out of, if I recall correctly."
"Eh…heh…" Zuko smiled nervously as he looked around him, wondering what was taking Mai so long, as he tried to think of a suitable response. "Well…I…sort of had to…" he trailed off.
"And now you're back together with my niece, after you broke her heart. It looks like she's forgiven you in the end."
"…yeah…"
There was an awkward pause, as Zuko silently prayed Mai would hurry up.
"And where are you planning on taking her today?" The warden continued his interrogation.
"Uh…I think we were going to hang out in the palace…or something like that," Zuko answered evasively.
"Oh? 'Hang out in the palace'? How nice. Well, if all you're doing is hanging out in the palace, I'm sure you won't mind watching my nephew while you're at it?"
Zuko did a double take. "…come again?"
"Mai's parents are planning on going out today and they were counting on my niece to watch her little brother. How unfortunate it would be if their plans were suddenly to be ruined because they can't find a replacement."
"Well, I'm sure the servants can watch him…"
"Oh, but poor Tom-Tom would be frightened if it were anyone but his older sister. He doesn't like the servants too much."
Zuko wanted to say something, but decided against it. "Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?" He asked.
The warden's lips curled into a smile that thoroughly chilled the Fire Lord.
"No, I'm actually here to warn you to…control yourself around my niece." His face had come very close to Zuko's, and his expression wasn't pretty. "I don't want to see you with your hands all over her, do I make myself clear?"
Zuko gulped. "Y-Yes, sir."
"Good. Glad to see we understand each other. And look, here's my charming niece right now. We were just talking about you, Mai."
"Oh, really?" Mai looked from her boyfriend to her uncle and arched a brow. "What were you talking about?"
"Just male bonding," The warden grinned-a truly horrific sight, as Mai looked at the pair skeptically.
"Is that all?"
"Oh, and the Fire Lord has so generously consented to helping you watch your brother today, in his own palace no less, isn't that right, Fire Lord Zuko?"
Zuko merely nodded his head.
-
Zuko sighed. "Well, I guess it could've been worse. Male bonding my-" before he could finish his sentence, there was a crash, as the tower of blocks Tom-Tom and been steadily building toppled over. The toddler clapped his hands in delight.
"How could it have been worse?" Mai asked, as she snuggled closer next to Zuko, who put his arm around her.
"Well…" Zuko began, grinning slyly. "For one thing, we could've had your uncle in here, chaperoning us. And for another, we might not have had such a nice big room with such a big comfy couch…"
Mai smiled. "I think I see where you're going with this…" she replied, before they kissed.
At that precise moment, Tom-Tom had chosen to look up and watched as his sister and the strange looking boy who was almost always with her, started doing…something. He wasn't sure quite what it was called, but he'd seen his parents doing it often. They would actually go at it for hours, and he knew from past experiences that it could get quite boring.
As they continued, their kiss getting more passionate, the seventeen-month-old stood up and began walking towards the door which was very conveniently open. His eyes widened with fascination as he saw the large, expansive hallway with many, many doors, all of which were either firmly shut or slightly ajar. He began exploring with an explorer's enthusiasm, forgetting all about his sister, the weird boy who was always with her and his pile of blocks which he'd been in middle of playing with.
-
Mai frowned as she pulled away a few minutes later.
"What's wrong?" Zuko asked her.
"It's too quiet," she said, looking over to where her little brother was playing with his pile of blocks. Except…her little brother wasn't playing with his pile of blocks. In fact, her little brother wasn't in the room at all.
"Zuko," she said, her eyes widening slightly. "My brother's gone."
"What?" Zuko exclaimed, as he looked around to where the toddler had been only a few minutes before. "But…but…he was just here!"
"And now he's not."
"But how?!"
Mai pointed to the door that had been left open. "He must've gone through there."
"Then that means he can be anywhere in the palace!" Unbidden, an image of Mai's uncle came to mind, in which he had to explain to the man exactly how he'd lost his nephew. It wasn't pretty. "Okay, I'm going to get the servants right on it," Zuko said, already headed towards the door.
"I'll check the hallway; he can't have gotten that far."
The two of them split up. Zuko alerted the guards to be on the lookout for the toddler. If they found him, they were to do their best not to frighten him, and bring him straight to the playroom. Mai, in the meantime, went to search the corridors
Said object of everyone's attention had gone through one of the doors that was slightly open, and was now busily rummaging through the contents of someone's drawers, pulling out clothing, scrolls, and other such things that he deemed unimportant and promptly threw to the side. His goal seemed to lie in finding out how bottomless a drawer could really be.
"Well now, what do we have here?" A voice called, and the toddler looked up. His face broke into a toothy grin, almost as though he were pulling off the sweet and innocent act, as the person bent down and picked him up. "Going through my things? Hmm…we might have to teach you some manners…or some people how to take better care of their things."
-
"This is bad," Zuko exclaimed, as half an hour later, when the servants had nothing to report. Mai stood calmly beside him.
"How am I going to explain this to your parents? To your uncle?! I mean, I just lost your little brother! And-aren't you even worried?"
Mai shrugged her shoulders. "This isn't the first time he managed to get himself lost, and he turned up just fine."
"But-"
"Everything will be fine."
"Zuko," a voice called from nearby, approaching him.
The Fire Lord recognized the voice immediately. "Not now, Azula, I'm busy!"
Said princess arched a delicately carved brow. "Is that so? Well, if you don't mind, I believe this belongs to you?"
Zuko looked up to see his sister holding out Tom-Tom to him. His eyes went wide. "But-how-"
"You should really take better care of your things, Zuzu," Azula glanced at her nails. "And next time I catch him emptying out my drawers, I won't bother trying to find his owner."
With that, the princess turned around and left.
Zuko glanced down at the toddler in his arms. He smiled brilliantly up at him.
"Little devil."
Rating: G
For: swan2swan
"Remind me again," Zuko sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. "How did we end up babysitting your little brother again?"
Mai flicked a piece of dust off her sleeve. "Well, I think it had something to do with a conversation between you and my uncle, remember?"
"Oh…yeah…"
-
Zuko had come to pick up Mai, and was waiting for her to finish getting ready.
"Fire Lord Zuko," A voice drawled from behind him. He spun around to see none other than Mai's uncle standing before him.
"Oh…uh…hi…"
The warden's eyes narrowed. "I bet you didn't expect to find me here, did you?"
Zuko privately wanted to answer that he didn't expect to ever see him again for the rest of his life-if he could help it, but wisely chose a different response. "Well, no, not really. I thought you would be busy at the Boiling Rock. I mean, you're in charge of the place, aren't you?"
"Yes…the very same prison you broke out of, if I recall correctly."
"Eh…heh…" Zuko smiled nervously as he looked around him, wondering what was taking Mai so long, as he tried to think of a suitable response. "Well…I…sort of had to…" he trailed off.
"And now you're back together with my niece, after you broke her heart. It looks like she's forgiven you in the end."
"…yeah…"
There was an awkward pause, as Zuko silently prayed Mai would hurry up.
"And where are you planning on taking her today?" The warden continued his interrogation.
"Uh…I think we were going to hang out in the palace…or something like that," Zuko answered evasively.
"Oh? 'Hang out in the palace'? How nice. Well, if all you're doing is hanging out in the palace, I'm sure you won't mind watching my nephew while you're at it?"
Zuko did a double take. "…come again?"
"Mai's parents are planning on going out today and they were counting on my niece to watch her little brother. How unfortunate it would be if their plans were suddenly to be ruined because they can't find a replacement."
"Well, I'm sure the servants can watch him…"
"Oh, but poor Tom-Tom would be frightened if it were anyone but his older sister. He doesn't like the servants too much."
Zuko wanted to say something, but decided against it. "Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?" He asked.
The warden's lips curled into a smile that thoroughly chilled the Fire Lord.
"No, I'm actually here to warn you to…control yourself around my niece." His face had come very close to Zuko's, and his expression wasn't pretty. "I don't want to see you with your hands all over her, do I make myself clear?"
Zuko gulped. "Y-Yes, sir."
"Good. Glad to see we understand each other. And look, here's my charming niece right now. We were just talking about you, Mai."
"Oh, really?" Mai looked from her boyfriend to her uncle and arched a brow. "What were you talking about?"
"Just male bonding," The warden grinned-a truly horrific sight, as Mai looked at the pair skeptically.
"Is that all?"
"Oh, and the Fire Lord has so generously consented to helping you watch your brother today, in his own palace no less, isn't that right, Fire Lord Zuko?"
Zuko merely nodded his head.
-
Zuko sighed. "Well, I guess it could've been worse. Male bonding my-" before he could finish his sentence, there was a crash, as the tower of blocks Tom-Tom and been steadily building toppled over. The toddler clapped his hands in delight.
"How could it have been worse?" Mai asked, as she snuggled closer next to Zuko, who put his arm around her.
"Well…" Zuko began, grinning slyly. "For one thing, we could've had your uncle in here, chaperoning us. And for another, we might not have had such a nice big room with such a big comfy couch…"
Mai smiled. "I think I see where you're going with this…" she replied, before they kissed.
At that precise moment, Tom-Tom had chosen to look up and watched as his sister and the strange looking boy who was almost always with her, started doing…something. He wasn't sure quite what it was called, but he'd seen his parents doing it often. They would actually go at it for hours, and he knew from past experiences that it could get quite boring.
As they continued, their kiss getting more passionate, the seventeen-month-old stood up and began walking towards the door which was very conveniently open. His eyes widened with fascination as he saw the large, expansive hallway with many, many doors, all of which were either firmly shut or slightly ajar. He began exploring with an explorer's enthusiasm, forgetting all about his sister, the weird boy who was always with her and his pile of blocks which he'd been in middle of playing with.
-
Mai frowned as she pulled away a few minutes later.
"What's wrong?" Zuko asked her.
"It's too quiet," she said, looking over to where her little brother was playing with his pile of blocks. Except…her little brother wasn't playing with his pile of blocks. In fact, her little brother wasn't in the room at all.
"Zuko," she said, her eyes widening slightly. "My brother's gone."
"What?" Zuko exclaimed, as he looked around to where the toddler had been only a few minutes before. "But…but…he was just here!"
"And now he's not."
"But how?!"
Mai pointed to the door that had been left open. "He must've gone through there."
"Then that means he can be anywhere in the palace!" Unbidden, an image of Mai's uncle came to mind, in which he had to explain to the man exactly how he'd lost his nephew. It wasn't pretty. "Okay, I'm going to get the servants right on it," Zuko said, already headed towards the door.
"I'll check the hallway; he can't have gotten that far."
The two of them split up. Zuko alerted the guards to be on the lookout for the toddler. If they found him, they were to do their best not to frighten him, and bring him straight to the playroom. Mai, in the meantime, went to search the corridors
Said object of everyone's attention had gone through one of the doors that was slightly open, and was now busily rummaging through the contents of someone's drawers, pulling out clothing, scrolls, and other such things that he deemed unimportant and promptly threw to the side. His goal seemed to lie in finding out how bottomless a drawer could really be.
"Well now, what do we have here?" A voice called, and the toddler looked up. His face broke into a toothy grin, almost as though he were pulling off the sweet and innocent act, as the person bent down and picked him up. "Going through my things? Hmm…we might have to teach you some manners…or some people how to take better care of their things."
-
"This is bad," Zuko exclaimed, as half an hour later, when the servants had nothing to report. Mai stood calmly beside him.
"How am I going to explain this to your parents? To your uncle?! I mean, I just lost your little brother! And-aren't you even worried?"
Mai shrugged her shoulders. "This isn't the first time he managed to get himself lost, and he turned up just fine."
"But-"
"Everything will be fine."
"Zuko," a voice called from nearby, approaching him.
The Fire Lord recognized the voice immediately. "Not now, Azula, I'm busy!"
Said princess arched a delicately carved brow. "Is that so? Well, if you don't mind, I believe this belongs to you?"
Zuko looked up to see his sister holding out Tom-Tom to him. His eyes went wide. "But-how-"
"You should really take better care of your things, Zuzu," Azula glanced at her nails. "And next time I catch him emptying out my drawers, I won't bother trying to find his owner."
With that, the princess turned around and left.
Zuko glanced down at the toddler in his arms. He smiled brilliantly up at him.
"Little devil."