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king-bumis-armpit · 5 months

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Best Friends

Written for Maiko Week 2024 - Jealousy

Summary: For as long as he could remember, Mai has loved Zuko. This was ingrained in him, just as he learned that fire is very hot and not safe to touch. It has always been a plain truth and one that upsets him. Zuko also loves Mai, he assumes. But Tom-Tom knows that he loves Mai the most.

Alternatively: how Mai’s little brother perceives her relationship throughout the years.

Author’s Note: Big stretch of the prompt this time, lol. I love Tom-Tom so much and I have THOUGHTS about Mai’s relationship with him. It’s actually one of the things that I think the comics portrayed well. Also, this is a third person perspective, but I tried to write with Tom-Tom’s tone kind of. I hope it’s not too distracting.

Cross-posted to Tumblr and AO3 <3

WC: 2,234

For as long as he could remember, Mai has loved Zuko. This was ingrained in him, just as he learned that fire is very hot and not safe to touch. It has always been a plain truth and one that upsets him. Zuko also loves Mai, he assumes. But Tom-Tom knows that he loves Mai the most.

When Tom-Tom was really little, he vaguely remembers that he wasn't as close with his older sister. Both of his parents still lived together, and they would shower him with affection whenever they were around. When they weren't, he was usually left under the supervision of the household servants. However, they didn't watch him as closely and that suited him just fine. He was free to crawl around his house and see things most people didn't. He crawled under the dining room table and found some knicks from Mai fiddling with her knives at meals. He went into his mother’s closet and tried on her big pointy shoes. He snuck into his father's office and ate his secret stash of sizzle crisps. He knew he could have gotten in trouble, but what else was he supposed to do? It was boring in that big house with no one to play with.

Despite his exploring, he often wished for a friend. Everyone in the stories his mom read him at bedtime had a best friend. Mom definitely didn’t qualify. She seemed to think that playing was letting him hold his stuffed platypus bear while she talked with her friends. And dad was always busy working. Mai normally had school or was at the palace with the princess, but ultimately he decided she was the best option.

When she was at home, she would stack all of his blocks into tall towers and they would take turns knocking them over by throwing things at them. One time, he wanted to stack ALL of the blocks into the biggest tower possible. He wasn’t tall enough, but Mai helped and she even held him up so that he could reach the tip top and place the last block. Mai let him have the first throw, and when he failed to hit the tower she missed on purpose to give him another go. Tom-Tom knew that Mai let him win sometimes, but he wasn’t too proud to accept her help. On his next toss, he hit the base of the tower and came down in a deafening crash. He laughed and Mai smiled, which in and of itself was pretty rare. Then she helped him clean everything up before mom came home. Normally he left his messes for the servants, but he liked doing things with Mai. She was the most interesting person he knew.

At the end of that day, he asked her the all important question. He pointed to her and then himself: “Best fwends?”

Mai nodded. “Best friends.”

— —

When he came home from New Ozai– no, Mai told him to call it Omashu– it seemed like his sister was always busy! She went to the palace almost every day. Apparently she was “dating” the new Fire Lord, whatever that meant.

Before, when he would ask her to spend time with him, she always said that she didn’t have anything better to do. But apparently, Zuko was better than best friends.

Sometimes mom would make Mai take him on these dates. He had to admit they were kind of fun. Zuko would take them on picnics and Tom-Tom could chase glow moths while Mai and Zuko talked about boring adult stuff. And Zuko alway packed Mai’s favorite foods, which were also Tom-Tom’s favorite foods.

But Tom-Tom still preferred the days when Mai would take him out alone. Instead of talking with her stupid boyfriend, she would catch moths with him. Or– if it was still daylight– she would show him her blades. She wouldn’t let him use them, but she would set up targets for him to practice hitting with sticks. It was just like their block game!

Maybe Zuko was her new best friend– he was too afraid to ask– but she was still his.

— —

Mai was crying. Mai never, ever cried. Tom-Tom didn’t know what to do. Mom told him to leave his sister alone, but when he cried he didn’t want to be alone. She had broken up with Zuko yesterday. At first Tom-Tom had been thrilled, but now he felt like his happiness had burnt out. He needed to make sure that she was okay.

He opened the door to her bedroom as carefully as he could. It was tricky because he could only just reach the door handle, but he managed to make his way inside. Mai sat on her bed holding a picture of herself and Zuko.

When she noticed Tom-Tom, she set the picture aside and reached out for him. He ran into her arms. They sat like that for a few minutes while Mai slowly stopped crying. He used his pudgy palms to wipe the tears off her cheeks.

Mai attempted a smile. “How do you feel about ice cream?”

They spent the day in the market. It started with ice cream. And then they had to balance out the sweetness by getting fireflakes. But the fireflake stand was next to the toy store. And the toy store was next to the bookstore.

Tom-Tom babbled happily the whole time. He knew it was important to keep his sister distracted so she didn’t get sad. Mai didn’t say much, but she listened intently as always and she let him cajole her into one stop after another until it started to get late.

“We should probably head back home, kiddo,” Mai said. He could tell her eyes were getting glassy again.

And then something caught his attention, at the end of the street, a portrait painter was beginning to pack up for the day.

“One more!” Pleeeeeease!!” Mai followed his gaze.

“You want to get a picture?” she asked.

“A new picture! With us! No Zuko.”

He looked up at her hopefully, and Mai let out her first real smile of the day. “Okay, kiddo. Let’s go.”

She asked the painter if he could do one last portrait for the day. She gave him a handsome tip, and he happily obliged. That night, Mai and Tom-Tom hung the picture in her room together.

When Mai tucked him into bed, she gave him an extra forehead kiss and whispered, “Thank you for being my best friend.”

— —

When Mai and Zuko got back together, Tom-Tom tried to learn to appreciate Zuko more. He liked how Mai always smiled when he was around. And he liked hanging out with Kiyi while Mai and Zuko had their dates. And Zuko always sent fruit tarts to their house. As the years passed, they got closer. Nonetheless, Tom-Tom was still surprised when he received an invitation to go to the palace after school one day.

He was 10 years old now, and he was very pleased with how things were going. He finally had his own group of friends. He didn’t need Mai to sit with him to fall asleep (unless he had a nightmare which was very rare, thank you very much). And his studies were going well.

So, he didn’t like the prospect of a royal summons shaking things up. To make matters worse, the invitation arrived during his lunch period and all of his friends saw him receive a letter with the royal seal. How embarrassing!

Now he was sitting in his final class pondering what to do. Ignoring a royal summons had to be illegal, right? Would he end up in prison like his dad? No, Zuko probably wouldn’t lock him up or anything, since Mai would be angry. On the other hand, mom would be super upset if he had an opportunity to “network” and he passed it up. Tom-Tom sighed. It didn’t help that Zuko’s portrait was staring him down from the front of the room. At long last, the teacher dismissed them, and Tom-Tom decided that he had to see what Zuko needed. After all, it would make Mai happy.

He had been to the palace loads of times, but never without his mom or his sister. It was strangely daunting. He handed his invitation to the guards at the gate and he was made to stand in line with a lot of older people in very official looking robes. He tugged awkwardly at the sleeve of his uniform.

“Hiya Tom!” Thank Agni, Kiyi appeared to rescue him.

“Hey Kiyi, do you know why your brother needed to see me?”

Kiyi smiled brightly. “I’ll leave that for him to tell you. C’mon, he definitely didn’t want you to stand in this line.”

An old man with a very long beard glared down at them. Tom-Tom shifted nervously under the scrutiny. “Umm… It’s okay. I don’t mind waiting.”

Kiyi laughed, “Trust me. It would be good for Zuko to talk to you as soon as possible.”

She grabbed his hand and dragged him away. Kiyi was very headstrong, and she always pushed him past his comfort zone. Sometimes Tom-Tom found this liberating, a nice counter balance to all his mom’s rules, and sometimes he found it extremely unnerving. This was the second case. They marched straight past nobles and ministers and Fire Sages until they reached the front of the line. The attendant at the door to the throne room bowed to Kiyi and let them in as soon as the current petitioner left.

Zuko was sitting at a low table beneath the dais. His hand was a fist and he was chewing his thumbnail nervously. He normally kept the wall of fire unlit, except in ceremonial situations, but today the flames were sputtering in and out. It was very distressing to see the ruler of his nation in such a vulnerable position, but Kiyi laughed out loud.

“Stop worrying, Zuzu! Tom-Tom is here to help.”

“He’s here?” Zuko stood up and the flames behind him died. “Come in. Come in. Take a seat.” As Tom-Tom approached the table, Zuko shoved a stack of very official documents on the floor and called for a servant to bring tea. Thankfully, Kiyi stayed and sat with them.

She cleared her throat, prompting Zuko to speak. “Hi, uh, Zuko here.” Kiyi snorted, but he continued. “I’ve been thinking a lot about my relationship with your sister.”

At this point, Tom-Tom was internally having a panic attack. What was happening? Why was Zuko freaking out? Was Zuko going to use him to break up with Mai? He had heard that Zuko broke up with her over a letter the last time. Even at ten years old, he knew that was a huge mistake. Maybe Zuko thought breaking up by proxy was more honorable. But what should Tom-Tom do? He would probably have to fight him for Mai’s honor or something. Spirits, this was going to be a disaster.

Tom-Tom tried to imitate Mai and filled his voice with as much steel as he could. “Go on.”

Zuko visibly tensed up at his tone. “I– I know that you’re the most important person in her life, and so I need your help. I… I want to propose.”

Tom-Tom first felt relief, and then a new panic. Mai already split her time half and half between the palace and the flower shop. Now she was going to leave him behind completely. His whirlwind of emotions must have been visible on his face because Zuko quickly continued: “I know this is going to be a big change for you. But Mai and I talked about this a little bit in the past.” His face flushed. “And we agreed that you and your mother are welcome to move in with us. Your aunt too, but Mai figured she would want to stay near the flower shop. You can have your pick of any of the bedrooms.”

Tom-Tom took a breath and composed himself. “Of course! Mai’s going to be so happy.”

Zuko brightened up, and the fires behind him blazed, seemingly without his notice. “You really think so?”

Tom-Tom smiled back. “I do.”

Zuko sighed in relief. “That’s good. Mai always says that you’re her best friend, so I trust your opinion more than anyone else.” Tom-Tom finally started to feel calm again. Mai obviously loved Zuko, but she loved him too. She had made a place for him in her future plans. And she considered him to be her best friend.

“So what do you need me for?” Tom-Tom asked.

“I had some ideas, but I was hoping you could help me come up with a plan to ask her.”

The tea arrived and Zuko dismissed the rest of his visitors for the day. Kiyi had someone send a message to his home to let his mom know that they were having an impromptu playdate. The three of them began masterminding Mai’s perfect date.

— —

It was almost dark out by the time Tom-Tom arrived home. Mai greeted him at the door. “I was getting worried about you, kiddo. It’s late.”

“Sorry, Kiyi and I got a bit carried away.”

Mai smiled. “That’s okay. I’m glad you two are friends.”

Tom-Tom felt a wave of happiness wash over him. “Yeah, but you’re my best friend.”

She pulled him into a hug, “Always.”

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