Calliopieces - You're So Beautiful When You Hate The World

#of course they are friends

Day 6 - Parents/Matchmaker

May 20th – Parents/Matchmaker

My final entry for Maiko Week ‘22, hosted by @idonthatemaiko

Cheers!

“Do you think they’ll like them?” The Fire Lord whispered across the table to his wife, the two watching on as their daughter and son bustled in the kitchen.

Mai made a show of inhaling deeply before gracing a faux-ponder on her angled face. “They haven’t burned anything yet and they’re nearly done. I’d say we’re in the clear.”

Across the way, six-year-old Anzen stood atop a footstool, watching on as his older sister guided tray after tray of cookies in and out of the oven. His black hair was pulled into a loose topknot, expertly done by Mai earlier that morning. Smears of flour ran here and there on his face and clothes. Baby fat still hung to the boy’s cheeks. Underneath, his face bore an uncanny resemblance to his father. Though his eyes were all his mother’s.

Izumi stuck her tongue out at the corner of her mouth in concentration. She took her role of baking very seriously.

“Look at her little pout, she looks just like you right now,” Mai smiled to Zuko.

“Right now she does. She’s a mini you the rest of the time.”

“Ugh, I’m really hoping she lets us off easy and doesn’t go through an angsty teen phase.”

Zuko smiled. “If you stayed with me through mine, I’m certain we can handle our daughter.” He paused to sip some tea. “Anzen will definitely give both of us a run for our money, though.”

Mai chuckled in agreement.

“They’ll both make excellent leaders someday. I think we’re doing something right,” Zuko mused.

Mai put her hand over his. Their daughter, ever inquisitive, had asked over dinner who cooks for the servants and keepers of the palace. Izumi was dismayed when her parents told her that the staff cooks their own meals either at home or here in the palace.

“But that’s a lot of work for them, isn’t it?”

“It definitely can be, Zumi.”

Her face twisted in concentration for the rest of the evening, all the way until bedtime. After a story or two, Izumi posed an excellent solution.

“Momma, you and Dad know how to cook right? From your times before me and Anzie?”

From her seat on the edge of her daughter’s bed, Mai tucked Izumi’s hair behind her ears.

“We do, sweetheart. Is that something you’re interested in learning?”

“It’s just, what if we all make a dinner for the servants? They work hard a lot. Maybe they deserve a break.”

“That’s a fine idea, Zumi.”

Mai and Zuko discussed their daughter’s proposition in bed that evening. A week later, the palace staff were invited to congregate in a larger dining hall at 6pm sharp.

The kids were in charge of cookies; an easy, high-volume dessert. In the morning, Mai helped Izumi and Anzen with the first few batches. After her children got the hang of it, she sat back with her husband. The two nursed tea and did preparation work for their part in the dinner. Vegetables were peeled, meat chopped, spices measured, and several large pots of rice stood ready to be heated.

With the last tray of cookies out of the oven, Izumi helped her brother down from his step stool. The two came bounding across the kitchen to their parents. Zuko caught his children in a platypus-bear hug, his long hair tickling their flour-coated cheeks.

“The cookies taste good, Dadda!” Anzen exclaimed.

Izumi pulled back. “They’re all cooling now! Do you think they’ll like their dinner?”

Zuko smiled and met his wife’s eyes briefly. Their chests swelled with pride.

“I know,” he ensured, “that they will love it.”

And they did. The gardeners and housekeepers, cooks and sous chefs, maintenance crew and guards, and all of the individuals who aided in the wellbeing of the palace.

The dinner was a tremendous success and a tradition began. The royal family never missed a year of the feast they cooked to say thank you to those who kept the palace afloat.

Perhaps,

Zuko mused,

they were doing something right as parents.

one thing I'm looking forward to seeing in the roku novel: more Fire Nation worldbuilding! more stuff about their lore, culture, social structures, etc. before the hundred year war

(and this is totally not just because they would make good fanfic material *wink wink*)

👩‍🍳future fic plans + humbly asking for maikozumi family prompts 🤲

my finals are at the end of the month, so I'd have more time to write about my favorite Fire Nation emo teens when June comes and nothing else gets in the way :D

first off, I'm planning to extend crowning glory into a Mai-centric oneshot series about Fire Nation girlhood, touching up on her thoughts about (1) childbirth and (2) filial piety over the years.

there's also a modern fake dating AU brewing in my head (and sitting on my 27-page Google doc of maiko fic ideas), but I'll still see where inspiration takes me.

lastly, I'd really like to write some good ol' Fire Nation Royal Family domestic fluff! plspls if you have any maikozumi headcanons and/or prompts you'd like to see in a fic, don't hesitate to send me an ask or reply to this post! 🙏

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