The wedding
She took my arm
I don't know how it happened
We took the floor and she said
"Oh, don't you dare look back
Just keep your eyes on me"
I said, "You're holding back"
She said, "Shut up and dance with me!"
This woman is my destiny
She said, "Ooh-ooh-hoo
Shut up and dance with me"
“D’you think she saw me?”
Zuko was awake since sunrise, but decided it would be best to wait for Sokka to wake up.
“Nah, I don’t even think she was looking at me…”
Sokka knew it was his sister’s wedding, but he couldn’t not be a bit upset with her because she just ruined the whole dialogue he had imagined in his head for hours: yes, he was also awake since sunrise (he got used to it), and spent this time figuring out the perfect thing to say to not sound awkward the morning after.
“… Anyways… Mornin’ Sunshine!” he said with a grin while adjusting his hair.
Zuko’s brain stopped working for a moment, then he realised he was staring for too long: “I… I- I should probably leave… Can you… Please don’t look?”
“Well, it’s not that bad of a view…” Sokka tried to joke, regretting it immediatly.
“… I’m… Still the Fire Lord, you’re going to do as I say…” Zuko continued, trying not to sound too authoritative, but still a bit embarassed.
“Your wish is my command…” Sokka pulled the covers over his head while Zuko grabbed his robes.
“Great speech, though!” Sokka commented from under the covers. Zuko was heading to the door of his chambers.
“Yeah, yours too!” and he left hoping that nobody would see him. He thought he had never had such luck in his entire life, when, turned the corner to his quarters…
“Did Aang change his mind about the bachelor party?”
“MAI!” he screamed, trying to cover himself even more.
“The servants were desperate because they couldn’t find you… I told them I would take care of it and here you are. Where were you? Did Aang organize a sleepover? More his style…”
Zuko was beginning to answer, trying to come up with a convincing lie, when Mai looked at him more carefully, noticing a bruise on his neck.
“Oh, I see… Well, about time…”
Zuko went instantly red and his hand went to cover the bruise.
“It’s on the other side… Idiot” she said smiling.
“Well, we didn’t planned it, it just… Kinda happened?”
“Congratulations, but… Do me a favor: try to get through the day without messing something up, okay?”
“I’ll try my best” he said smiling back to her.
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“Where is Sokka? I told him he had ten minutes, it’s already been twenty!”
Katara was pacing around the room with Ty Lee chasing her to fix the last details of the dress.
“Well, usually he’s an early bird: the occasions he runs late are when he had company during the night…” commented Suki with a knowing look.
“I’m here, I’m here, sorry I’m la-”
Sokka bursted through the door and freezed at the sight of his sister in the cerimonial dress.
“Tui and La, Kat, you’re beautiful!” he said trying not to cry.
“Same reaction as dad…” commented the bride, trying not to cry herself…
“Mom would be so happy!” he said sniffing.
“Stop it! You’ll make me cry!”
The siblings hugged each other trying not to damage the dress.
“I’m sorry to interrupt this beautiful moment, but you need to do her hair… It’s getting late!” said Suki.
“Oh, right, sorry! Come, sit”
Katara sat on the chair while Suki and Ty Lee were doing her make up and Sokka started to braid her hair.
“This feels like old times…” started Sokka.
“Yeah… You would’ve never admitted it, but I know you liked doing my hair when we were little” Katara responded, making the other girls go “Aww”.
“You remember how it started right?” he turned to the girls: “She forced me to do it because Gran-Gran used to hurt her all the time: she had problems to her hands and it was hard for her to keep them still, so this little troublemaker came to her big brother and begged me to do it instead…”
“Troublemaker? Me? I must remember things differently…”
“I used to bicker all the time with my siblings, even at their weddings!” Ty Lee commented.
“Let’s hope it’ll be auspicious for this one!” stated Suki.
“… Do you remember how Aang asked me to teach him to do it? I immediatly figured out it was just to have little moments alone with you… By the way, how was it sleeping alone after all this time?”
“Honestly, I was so tired from all the preparations, I slept like a baby! What about you?”
Suki and Ty Lee shared a look and listened very carefully.
“I actually… Slept very well” Sokka said smugly… And he was telling the truth.
The girls didn’t have time to process his answer when Hakoda entered in the room.
“Hi Sokka, have you finished yet? We need to get going…”
“Almost there, dad… Tadà!” he said with jazz hands towards his sister’s hairstyle, a mix between the traditional Water Tribe and the modern Fire Nation one.
“I’m ready!” she said getting up and reaching for her dad.
“Wait, you need the relaxing massage!” Ty Lee screamed and followed the two out of the room.
Now Sokka and Suki were alone.
“So… Is there something you wanna tell me?” asked Suki maliciously.
“Nope, nothing… Everything’s alright… ” Sokka babbled a little.
“You remember we were together, right? I know when you’re lying…”
“Well, I didn’t want it to go this way, it’s my sister’s wedding and all, but…” Sokka tried to hide a guilty grin: “Did you know that firebenders can’t be around flames during sex because they might burn down the room?”
Suki leaned on the chair: “I need to sit down… Are you serious? Is this for real? After all this time pining after him… It was mutual? What the fuck, Sokka?”
“I know!” He jumped around the room: “I still can’t believe it actually happened…”
“So, does this mean you’re together now?”
Sokka freezed, wide-eyed.
“Uhm… Well… I- uhm…”
“Really? How can someone so clever be so stupid… The fuck, Sokka!”
“Look, I woke up, he was still sleeping, I had prepared a whole dialogue in my head, Katara bursted in the room shouting and he woke up and suddenly it was super weird and awkward and he wanted to leave and didn’t want me to see anything, and I mean, after what we did last night, really? But he’s still the Fire Lord and I hid under the covers anyway and he ran away and it was all so quick and I still haven’t fully processed what happened and-”
“Sokka! Sokka, calm down, breath with me”
They did so for a few moments.
“Alright, today it’s Katara and Aang’s big day. You’re going to behave and be the best man of honor in the world: you’re going to give your speech and as soon as people start getting drunk, you go talk to him, okay?”
“Okay… Thanks Suki! You’re the best!”
He gave her a big hug and then they were on their way to the garden for the cerimony.
֍֍֍֍֍
“Today’s the day! Oh, Spirits, what if something goes wrong? Something always goes wrong… And today’s too important!”
“Bullshit, Twinkle Toes! It’s going to be great!”
“I couldn’t sleep last night! I was so anxious I started pacing around the palace and at one point I even began talking with the guards: I basically told them about my whole life!”
“Whoa, I didn’t think you’d go this far…”
Zuko arrived in a hurry at the garden, where everybody was waiting for the bride, a couple guards following him.
“I’m here! What did I miss?” he said out of breath.
“Just Twinkle Toes going crazy over nothing, no biggie!” she turned to Aang: “See? Look at Zuko: he should be the anxious one, he has to give a whole speech! I bet you didn’t sleep last night, did you, Sparky?”
“Actually… I slept very well last night…” Zuko answered with a little embarassment.
Toph felt Zuko’s heartbeat skip a beat, but she didn’t get why: he had cought his breath. Afterall, maybe he was a bit stressed and didn’t want to admit it. Classic Zuko.
After a moment, Sokka arrived: “Hey, guys, everybody ready? Aang how are you feeling?”
“A bit nervous, but okay…”
“Nonsense, it’s gonna be great, stop worrying. Toph, everything okay?”
“Everything okay.”
“Zuko? You ok?”
“Yeah, ‘m fine”
Toph found the interaction a little suspicious: Sokka rarely called Zuko by his proper name: he always used adorkable nicknames, but her train of thoughts was interrupted by the bride’s arrival.
Aang’s jaw fell off as he saw her. She was more than beautiful, and she was looking at him with a soft smile while walking towards him, with her father by her side.
She went over Aang’s side.
“You’re gorgeous!” he whispered to her.
“You too, love!”
They shared a smile.
The cerimony started. The orchestra played the softest music ever while the minister shook a branch of camellia on all the guests. Everybody was there: all the members of the White Lotus, from Piandao to Jeong Jeong, from Bumi to Pakku and Gran Gran - who had never been in the Fire Nation until that moment and found it to be better than she had always taught -; there was also Teo and his father, Haru, the Freedom fighters, Toph’s former Earth Rumble’s rivals and some of her first students with their families. After the spouses shared the sake cup, everybody was ready to listen to their vows.
“Katara, since we first met, you have always believed in me. Even when I failed, you have always been at my side, comforting me, encouraging me… You helped me to see the bright side in everything and during that first year as the avatar, I really needed that! Now I know I couldn’t be who I am without you. You aren’t just the great waterbender I know: you are also brave, caring and strong… You are the best partner I could have ever wished for, in every way, and I hope I’ll be worthy of you all the days of my life!”
Katara dried a little tear from her cheek, worried that the make up could get ruined and trying not to pay attention to the sounds of sniffing and crying from the audience, especially from her family, which continue also during her vow.
“Aang… Before I met you, my dream was to become a great waterbender and I have to thank you if I managed to become what I always dreamed to be. But you helped me to realize that I could do a lot more than simply learn how to waterbend: I could heal, I could bloodbend, I could inspire uprisings, I could save lives, and last but not least… I could have fun! You made me discover many things about myself that I didn’t imagine and I can’t wait to learn a thousand more because Aang, baby… You’re my forever boy!”
She managed to see only his eyes widening for the surprise because she leaned to kiss him, making the audience bursting into a great applause, while the minister rapidly stated that now they were man and wife.
“Way to go, sugar queen!” commented Toph, wiping out the tears which would have cost her reputation as the tough one.
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They had almost finished the meal. Zuko was nervous: he tried to go over his speech, but he was constantly distracted by Sokka’s presence which reminded him flashbacks from the previous night.
“… And now, my fellow guests, it is time to the best man’s speech…” said the minister.
His uncle gave him an encouraging look while everybody clapped at him. Zuko smiled nervously: he grapped a cup of sake and cleared his voice.
“First of all, thank you all for being here on this very special occasion. The last time the palace hosted a wedding as important as this one goes back to a hundred years ago, when my great-granfather was the best man to my other great-grandfather, Avatar Roku. And, as the most of you will know, that friendship did not end well…”
Iroh heard some whispers: why was his nephew starting a wedding speech talking about the beginning of the hundred years war? It can only improve from here, he thought to himself. His glance came back on his nephew’s direction and, while everyone was mostly confused, Sokka was the only one smiling. Did he know something the others didn’t?
“… But fortunately, things have changed. And are still changing. Many people give credit to the here-present Fire Lord, but truth is, I did very little compared to what a group of naïve, outrageous, yet brave and kind teenagers were able to accomplish all by themselves, which I’m proud to call my friends… And two of them just married today: Avatar Aang, who was the very first person, outside the Fire Nation, to show compassion to an angry and scared exiled prince, and Waterbending Master Katara, who, ironically, was the last one to really trust me, but since then, she never doubted my loyalty and I’m grateful for it. That’s why I realised I couldn’t refuse to be the best man - I had to be persuaded first, but it was the right thing to do -. I thought my destiny was to capture the avatar, but maybe it was destined to be this way. And, truth to be said, destiny is a funny thing. You never know how things are going to work out. But, as a wise man once said, if you keep an open mind and an open heart, you will find your own destiny someday. And, may I add, if you’re lucky enough, you’ll find the right someone to share your destiny with. Someone who is always ready to be at your side no matter what, to guide you, to comfort you, to make you laugh even when you’re at your lowest…” he glanced for a second at Sokka, who was looking at him with a fond smile: “And I’m sure you two are the luckiest people in the world.”
He suddenly realised that everyone was crying. Was it a good sign? He thought it was… In that moment Aang got up from his place and tenderly embraced him.
“I knew you would be the best best man” he whispered while Katara started an applause. Zuko returned the hug, without caring too much about the ones who probably still thought that a man of power shouldn’t show his emotions in front of commoners.
“All right, all right… Now everyone, give it up for the man of honour: Sokka, your turn!” screamed Toph, clearly a little tipsy, making everybody stare at a very embarassed – but flattered – ambassador.
“Well, now I’m embarassed to talk after the Fire Lord’s performance… Whatever, I’ll try and do my best!”
After a brief glance to the best man, he stood up with a cup of sake, cheered by everyone who knew him.
“Before starting, let me clarify one thing… When I knew I had to write this speech, I asked Katara if I could make fun of her and she said, and I quote”
He imitated his sister.
“Yeah, you can make fun of me. But just don’t say that I’m a bitch and that you don’t like me! To which I said: “Whoa, the barre is so much lower than I ever imagined… That’s it? Also, I would never say that, not even as a joke, that my sister is a bitch and I don’t like her, that is not true… My sister’s a bitch and I love her so freakin’ much! She stood up to me and just by pure anger she freed from an iceberg this beautiful bold man sitting next to her! She had met Aang for a couple of hours and she had already decided that we should have gone to the North Pole to master waterbending and save the world… And she was only 14 years old! Can you imagine what it’s like having a sister like this? It’s like living with inferiority complex, that’s how… But, but: you know what? She was, and still is, such an amazing sister that always saw me like as her clever big brother who’s there to give advice and go shopping with…”
The people kept going on between laughs and soft smiles, while Katara sent kisses in his direction.
“And now, let’s talk about Avatar Aang: master airbender, bringer of peace who defeated the Loser Lord Ozai…”
Zuko and his uncle smiled.
“… Who still managed to be the stupidest kid I ever met.”
Aang bursted into a laugh, nodding to what his friend said.
“Honestly, sometimes I still wonder if he is the same kid who saved the wold eight years ago; if you spent every day of a whole year with him, you’d wonder it too! Anyway, he fell in love with my sister the moment he saw her for the first time: so did Katara, even though she would have never admitted it, because, you know her: “First, save the world, then we can think about a relationship”. What can I say? It runs in the family, right dads? By the way, I understood immediatly that something was going on between these two, and I thought to myself: “Well, this can only end in one of two ways: a tragedy or a wedding”. Fortunately, it was the latter. Most of the stupid stuff he did, he did for her, like that one time he had to master the avatar state. He had to open all his chakras, or something like that, and to do so, he had to abandon all earthly attachments… He was willing to give up mastering the avatar state to save the world just because he couldn’t let go of Katara and if this isn’t true love, I don’t know what is. As I already said to you something like a thousand times, you two are made for each other. And I know I always make fun of you for being all lovey-dovey, but, honestly, it’s just because I kinda envy you. Both of you found someone who is willing to put up with everything: every flaw, every imperfection, every stupid thing you may do – which are a lot in your case –. So, while waiting for me to become unc’a Sokka, a toast to the newly-weds!”
Everybody raised their cups, while Sokka went directly to Aang and Katara to hug both of them, before he screamed: “Alright Chong, let us hear what you got!”
“Here you go, Sokka!”
The nomad started to play with his guitar, followed by his companions, a more danceable version of the Omashu’s lovers song.
Aang got up and offered his hand to Katara.
“Still worried that everybody is looking at us?”
“Not in the slightliest!
It was Katara that led him at the centre of the garden to start their frantic dance, which cause everybody to feel the urge to dance with the spouses. In a few minutes, everybody was dancing… Well, almost everybody.
“I’m too old to dance, but you… You are still quite young: you should get jiggy!”
“Uncle, you know I never loved dancing!”
Uncle Iroh had reached his nephew who was now sitting alone watching his friends dance like there was no tomorrow.
“You know, you could try to invite someone… Maybe, when he’ll catch his breath!”
Iroh pointed with a nod to Sokka, who had stopped dancing with Toph complaining about her headache caused by too many vibrations in the ground. Zuko looked first Sokka, then his uncle.
“I have always thought the Water Tribe ambassador was quite a fellow…”
“… Yeah, he’s a great friend...”
Iroh gave him a look: he wasn’t buying it.
“What? Nothing happened since last time we talked about him…”
His uncle raised an eyebow. At this point lying had no use.
“Alright… Will you stop if I say that we may... haveslepttogetherlastnight?” Zuko confessed, a bit embarrassed, trying not to make eye contact with his uncle.
Iroh almost choked on his sake and chuckled: “… Just like me when I was your age…”
“I… don’t need any more information, thanks. Anyway… It’s pointless, even if it becomes something serious, I am expected to have an heir one day…”
“Dear nephew,” he sat next to him “sometimes you forget you’re the Fire Lord. You make the rules.”
Zuko looked at his uncle confused.
“A lot of your ancestors adopted or nominated their successors because they couldn’t have children… Noble blood doesn’t make you automatically a good ruler: think about your father…”
They chuckled: “I think you’re right… Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going for a dance!”
Zuko got up and headed to Sokka, who was now drinking alone while watching Suki and Ty Lee trying to force Toph and Mai into some acrobatic number.
“They do know Mai still carries knives with her at all times? And that Toph can be vendictive, right?”
“They’re the Kyoshi warriors: they can handle a little but fierce eartbender and a gloomy knife-thrower!”
They both laughed and Sokka turned to face Zuko. Even if he couldn’t see him, he knew his uncle was looking hopeful at them. There was a moment of silence, both of them a little embarassed. Zuko looked at the ground, Sokka at his cup and then, at the same time…
“Look, about last night–”
֍֍֍֍֍
“… I understood immediatly that something was going on between these two, and I thought: “Well, this can only end in one of two ways: a tragedy or a wedding”. Fortunately, it was the latter… Wait, is something wrong? Is it not funny?”
Shit! Zuko realized he was caught staring at him with dreamy eyes and startled: “No, no, it was funny… I was… Just… Looking at… Your eyes… They’re like glowing and I thought… They’re… Well, they’re beautiful…”
Sokka’s eyes widened, quite sure he was having a heart attack.
“Anyway, I should go… It’s getting late…”
He was heading to the door, when he was grabbed at the wrist and turned to face Sokka once again. This time, he was the astonished one.
“Did you mean it? About my eyes…”
“Yes. No. I mean… Blue eyes are not so common in the Fire Nation…”
Sokka smiled shyly and leaned in, slowly, as if he wanted to give Zuko the chance to back off. But instead, Zuko leaned in too and they shared a chaste kiss… Unfortunately, that simple touch was fatal for both of them, because they immediatly pressed their lips together again, also searching for each other’s bodies until they fell on Sokka’s bed.
“Is it me or is it a little hot in here? Pun intended”
Zuko made a move with his hand and the torches in the room went off.
“Sorry, I don’t want to set your room on fire, because of… You know…”
“… Well, I’m flattered!”
֍֍֍֍֍
“You go first…” Sokka said embarassed.
“Well, thanks… I mean, last night was great and… I have to admit, I was wondering why it took us so long…”
“… Well, it’s not like I haven’t been trying to make you understand. I mean: waking up at sunrise, all the unnecessary puns and touches, your hotness, hot stuff… Should I continue?”
“Well, it’s not like you are that smart either: does taking off my shirt ring any bell?”
“So you were doing it on purpose!”
“Also, all the special treatment the other ambassadors don’t receive, like the chambers in the palace?”
They looked at each other, barely keeping a laugh.
“So… May I have this dance?”
Zuko offered his hand.
Sokka looked at him surprised and embarassed.
“I’ve never danced with a royal before…”
“… Well, I’ve never danced with a peasent…”
“Hey!”
“You lie with dogs…”
“… Well, show me what you got, hotshot!”
Unfortunately, Zuko was right, Iroh thought. It was clear he hadn’t danced in a while, but still, he and Sokka were so cute together, trying to follow the rhythm and have fun.
“They finally got their heads out of their asses, didn’t they?”
Iroh turned at his right and found Toph smiling with messy hair.
“I believe so… And where did you learn such language, young lady?”
֍֍֍֍֍
Sokka noticed that Suki was looking at him and whispered something to Mai and Ty Lee. Probably it was something funny, judging from the smile on their faces.
“I should have known that having an ex for a friend meant not having secrets anymore”
Zuko laughed: “Trust me, I get it... And if it matters, I think at this point everybody figured us out…”
“… Or they’re just making fun of how we’re dancing…”
“True. Still, they can’t say it out loud: I’m the Fire Lord!” Zuko said with a smirk.
“Well, I guess dating you has its perks…”
Sokka made Zuko spin.
“Whoa, dating?” said Zuko a bit fuzzy, not sure if it was from the spin or for what Sokka just said.
“Well, if I had special treatments as your favorite ambassador, I can only imagine what could happen as something more…”
“You’re so cute, nobody has ever told you to shut up!”
“You think I’m cute?” Sokka smirked.
“Shut up.”
“Well, if it matters, I think you’re cute too”
Zuko tried to hide his face, knowing for sure he was blushing.
“Tui and La, I made the Fire Lord blush!”
“Stop it!”
“Make me…”
“It’s Katara and Aang’s wedding, we’re not stealing the scene…” he leaned to whisper in his ear: “Besides, we have all night for that…”
Sokka got weak at the knees and his eyes widened, then smirked: “Is that a promise, your Hotness?”
Zuko looked at him in the eyes and smirked: “Maybe”
֍֍֍֍֍
Katara and Aang had stopped a moment to drink at the table when she noticed that Sokka was back on the ‘dance floor’… And he wasn’t alone.
“Aang… I think we’ll have another wedding in a few years!”
Aang was almost shocked at the sight of Sokka and Zuko dancing together.
“I knew it!”
Katara giggled.
“I knew it was Sokka!”
֍֍֍֍֍
“Zuko has a crush, Zuko has a crush, Zuko has a crush…” Aang was flying around Zuko in the middle of his office.
“I missed the days when you feared me.”
“Oh, come now, you love me!”
“If this is some way to trick me into saying things about him, I’m not falling for it.”
“You really don’t trust me?”
“You remember the last time in Omashu, right?”
“Okay, you got a point…” He landed sitting on the desk. “Can you still tell me something about him? Keep it vague or whatever, but I need to know something!”
“Fine… What do you want to know?”
“Is he Fire Nation?”
“No, but he lives here”
“Oooh, a foreigner, interesting… Great way to show the Fire Nation has changed!”
“Thanks, but this is all I’m telling you about it”
“Okay… Is he handsome?”
“He’s beautiful… He’s tall, well-built, and he’s got these eyes… Oh, his eyes…” Zuko sighed with heart eyes.
“Is he… Funny?”
“He always makes stupid jokes, nobody ever laughs but I think he’s so funny… One time I even exhaled fire… Never happened before, I didn’t even think it was possible…”
Aang started to connect the dots.
“Sounds like a great guy… I wish I could know him better!”
“That’s not going to happen…”
“Alright… Well, in any case, I want to be the first person to know when you get together”
“You’ll die waiting”
“I don’t think so…”
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“… I want to be mad at him for not telling me first, but I’m just so happy for them! Do you think Sokka will be upset that we have known for all this time Zuko liked him back and we didn’t tell him?”
“Maybe at first, but he’ll forget about it soon enough to change his mind and get in that thick skull of his that we can be trusted even after what happened in Omashu…”
“That’s right, Kat! This will show them we’re trustworthy!”
On the other side of the table, Iroh and Toph were able to hear them over the music.
“Oh, no, not again with Omashu…” Toph commented as she took a sip from her cup.
Iroh made a questioning look.
“I don’t understand, that word has a strange effect on people… Even on Bumi! Whatever happened there anyway?”
“Trust me, you don’t wanna know…”
Iroh shrugged. He will find out sooner or later. For now, he would be content with just looking at his nephew dancing happily with his new love.