Maikka Week + Yue

Matchmaking - Yue

Sokka leaned out of the highest window in the Fire Nation Royal Palace and gazed up at the Moon.

It was almost sacrilegious, admiring Yue from within the heart of the land of her killers, but the Palace was the tallest structure that Sokka had access to, and so it was his closest place on Earth to the Moon Spirit. Besides, Zuko ran the Fire Nation now, and he claimed to have beat up (twice!) the Admiral who was most responsible for the loss of Yue, so that had to be some kind of comic karmic cosmic justice. And the palace was Zuko's home now, and was always open to the Zuko's friends, so that made it kind of like Sokka's home away from home.

So Yue probably wouldn't be upset.

Sokka couldn't help but feel a little anxious, though, and resorted to his favorite guaranteed outlet for nervous energy- toying with his boomerang. He probably should have paid a little more attention to it, though, because as he fiddled and looked up at the soft light of the heavens, his fingers tangled, and Boomerang tumbled out of his grip and fell into the shadows below.

Ooops.

Sokka peered downward, but couldn't see anything. Neither did he hear it hit anything. Maybe it landed on a balcony a few floors down and bounced inside? But how could he tell which room...

When the door to his hideaway burst open behind him, Sokka was leaning out the window with his legs hooked on the frame at the knees. The surprise nearly dislodged him and sent him falling into the night, but he twisted and grabbed the edge with a scream. A cold, strong hand clamped around his right wrist, and Sokka looked up to see the sinister blank face of Royal Consort Mai.

With her other hand, she held up Boomerang. "Get back in here and explain to me why I was nearly killed by this."

"Boomerang! You found it."

"I caught it. After it nearly lodged itself in my head."

Sokka winced. Maybe letting himself fall would be the least painful escape.

Mai began pulling him up, and Sokka reluctantly climbed back through the window. Before Mai could attack, the Water Tribe boy held up his hands and began spea- well, rambling. "I'm so sorry I didn't mean to drop it but my fingers were feeling lazy and I was looking up at the Moon and not watching them properly and Boomerang didn't want to fall but gravity is always on my case and if I knew you were down there I would have thrown myself out the window to catch Boomerang and make sure you were okay although if I did that then it's entirely possible I might have hit you instead of Boomerang and that probably would have been worse ALTHOUGH I DON'T WEIGH AS MUCH AS I LOO-"

Mai grabbed him and slammed a hand over his mouth. "Do. Not. Do. That."

Sokka nodded.

Mai let go, took a step back, and let Boomerang fall to the floor. "Here. Hold on to it. Now, why are you up here? No one uses this floor anymore."

Sokka shrugged. "I wanted to look at the Moon."

Mai didn't reply immediately. "I was waiting for a punch line, or whatever passes for one with you."

"Nope. Just me and the Moon."

She just raised her eyebrows at that, then abruptly frowned and turned away from Sokka. "Never mind, I just remembered. General Iroh told us about the North Pole."

"Oh."

Mai began easing towards the door, still refusing to face him. "I'll just get out of here, then. Your boomerang's on the floor."

"Wait."

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry about Boomerang. Thanks for bringing it to me."

"Sure."

"You remind me of her, actually."

Mai whipped around at that. "What?!"

"Yeah." Sokka leaned back against the window, and gave a little smile. "No one could ever be Yue, or take her place, but you remind me of her, because you're nothing like her."

"...that... doesn't actually make any sense."

"Well, I can't imagine how anyone can be more opposite! Her hair was white and her skin was dark, but your hair is black and your skin is the whitest I've ever seen! And her voice was high and like singing, but yours is low and like growling! And Yue didn't fight at all, but you! You wear the biggest arsenal I've ever seen under your clothes, and I'm always afraid you're just going to snap and kill everyone."

Mai smirked. "I consider it, sometimes."

Sokka threw his hands up in the air. "See! And Yue... was kind of sad." Sokka went still. "She tried to be the Princess her people needed, and when we were together, she could pretend she was happy, but I eventually learned how to tell. She was sad, that she had to marry him. Sad that her people could only wait for disaster. Sad... for me." Sokka didn't speak for a moment, and Mai actually began fidgeting. "You... you're happy, I think. You have everything you've ever wanted. But you don't like to show it. I don't know why."

Abruptly, Sokka looked up again, his eyes bright with the moonlight. "And your clothes! Yue wore blue and white, but you wear red- the total opposite of blue- and black. It's like you're Yue's evil reflection from the Mirror World!"

Mai was silent for a long moment. "I... actually like that. 'Evil reflection from the mirror world.' It sounds... interesting. So, do you think about her whenever you look at me?"

"Nope." Sokka glanced back out the window, then at Mai. The room around them was dark, except for the Moonlight. "Just when I see you on a clear night like this."

Mai started to say something, stopped, turned to go, stopped, then spun to look the Water Tribe boy in the eyes. "Sokka."

"Yeah?"

"Your boomerang is still on the floor."

"Right. Thanks."

"No problem." Mai glided out of the room, trailed by the Moonglow.

Sokka eased back to look out the window again. He gazed up at the moon, but there was something a little different about the light. It took him a moment to understand. "No! She's Zuko's girlfriend, and I'm set, too. How weird would that be? And your Evil Reflection! Frankly, it's tasteless of you to even suggest such a thing, just going by that. But it is a funny thought."

END