The Warrior's Gambit (Zutara)

XXXI

Zuko had not slept at all, not since the night before the tournament. He was starting to see things; shadows skirting on the edges of the halls, fuzzies when he glanced up, ghosts lurking. He was starting to hear things too, or maybe it was just the reverberations of his own endless thoughts coming back for him.

As it was, he doubted anyone would blame him for taking a nap. He'd been handed a bad set of events in the last few days, more than any single person should reasonably have to deal with.

And perhaps he should go to bed. His father was now scrutinizing his every move. He'd fucked up in Ozai's eyes. Or, others around Zuko had royally made a mess. Ty Lee: Airbender. Kuzon/Aang: avatar. Sokka: traitor. Toph: traitor. Iroh: traitor. And despite none of these things being anything Zuko could control, there were whispers about how so many people he was close to were found to be such 'villainous' people. Therefore, he was sure his father was looking for the chance to seize Zuko and throw him in jail too.

Zuko was not sure Ozai bought the claim that Zuko had no idea about any of the things that had been going on in the palace. Well, okay, he'd known about Aang, but that was honestly where his knowledge ended! He'd guessed about Sokka and Toph, but that had also not been his issue, or so he'd thought.

Maybe if he did sleep, his father would be more inclined to believe him. That was some real political manipulation he was now considering. If he slept, it would show that he was a-okay and not anxious at all. He could say he wasn't going to lose a wink over it all because he was confident that Ozai would be able to find no issue with his son.

And perhaps that would have been a good ploy...had he any ability to sleep at all right now.

There had been a moment, a few nights ago, where he'd been inches from falling asleep. His head had hit the pillow, he'd been able to cast out the worry for Aang and Ty Lee, knowing he'd be no good to them half-asleep, able to think that his Uncle would not be angry for him trying to get even just a few moments of shut-eye...and then there had been a knock on his door.

He grumbled, mumbling something like 'It can wait', but the knocking was insistent. Frantic.

He'd shot up, grasping blindly for his robe, praying it wasn't Aang or Katara. The sound of the knocking was louder and more erratic, but out of all the things behind his door, Mai standing there with a pale face was most unexpected.

"Prince Zuko, I'm-" She broke off, trying to regain her usual stony facade, but something had her looking so upset. "I'm sorry to bother you this late."

"Oh, it's uh..." He was about to say 'no trouble', but despite the fact that he did care about Mai enough to be concerned, he would honestly rather be sleeping. "What's wrong?"

"I..." She was shaking and grasped for his hands. "I don't know how to tell you this...I'm sure you'll be upset, but it's not fair to you..." She was more unraveled than usual, though the fight between Azula and Ty Lee and such revelations on both sides must have rattled her enough to make her show emotion. Even though she delivered her words with a touch of monotony, it was far more feeling than he was used to.

"Mai, what is it?"

"It's Lady Bei Fong, my Prince," she said evenly, "I know you and she are..." She licked her lips. "You care for her."

"Of course I do," Zuko replied. Yes, it was in a sisterly way, in the sort of way he'd never really felt toward Azula, but of course, Mai was not privy to such information. "What's wrong?" Why wouldn't Katara be coming for him if something was truly wrong with Toph, he wondered in a panic.

Mai nodded evenly, as though digesting the confirmation with a hint of hurt, but this only made her frown deepen. "Prince-"

"You can call me Zuko. We've known each other long enough."