the thing you wanted all along

Part 6

The gala was magnificent. It was held in the castle ball room and entertained many people, all of them looking stunning. I have spent the two hours before it started getting Azula, Mai and Ty-Lee into their dresses, tying their hairs up and putting the accessories on them. Azula chose a deep red dress with a flowing skirt and a tight bodice with golden trims. She wore a golden flame tiara to signal to other people that she was the princess. Ty-Lee chose a pink overall with flowing pants and a tight bodice. She wore a golden belt around her waist for both comfort and beauty. Mai chose a black dress, which wasn't very surprising, with a tight bodice and skirt. She had a rip in one side, which made the dress skirt slightly more flowing than it would have been without it. She chose black gloves as her accessories and a set of necklace and earrings of pure gold. The prince himself wore a black suit with a red vest and tie, and stood between Mai and the fire lord, who wore traditional fire nation robes, what he was forced to wear being the fire lord.

"presenting, princess Azula. Prince Zuko, with his fiancé, lady Mai, and fire lord Iroh" the man in charge of declaring arrivals called loudly as the royal family, Ty-Lee and Mai, made their way to the balcony before descending down the stairs. I wore the party uniform, a plain red dress with a light pink apron and a golden belt to tie the apron to my waist. Ty-Lee ran to me first after skipping down the stairs.

"hi Katara" I smiled and presented the tray in my hands to her. she smiled and took a few appetizers.

"it's dangerous to skip down the stairs, you could have fallen. Please be more careful next time" Ty-Lee smiled and nodded her head in agreement, her mouth full of food and her hands reaching for more.

"she will never stop skipping, it's her best feature" Mai said with a smile, her arm in the prince's. Ty-Lee turned to them as they approached, Azula was accompanied by her uncle to the throne. Ty-Lee and Mai hurried to follow them, leaving me and the prince alone again.

"should you not go, your highness?" the prince looked at the throne, then back at me.

"I still have some time, I just wanted to make sure you will be at my room tomorrow to organize my closet" I smiled.

"of course, if Azula does not have something else for me to do" the prince smiled at me and then went to the throne as well.

"I hereby name you, princess Azula of the fire nation, officially the next in line to the throne after your brother, prince Zuko of the fire nation" the fire lord called as he put a pink and gold sash on Azula's shoulders. The crowd cheered and Ty-Lee and Mai walked towards me. Ty-Lee took more food, emptying my tray completely, then skipped away happily.

"what did you talk about with Zuko?"

"He wanted me to go to his room tomorrow and clean his closet. Apparently, he wants me to be your servant instead of Azula's after you marry him" Mai sighed sadly.

"is everything okay, Mai?"

"not really?" Mai sighed again.

"I got engaged to him against my will. my parents suggested this step to the former fire lord when Zuko and I were still kids. I was crushing on him then, but it went away a few years ago. He seems so happy to be engaged to me, and I don't want to hurt him, but I don't love him" Mai looked at the direction Ty-Lee went to. I gasped.

"you love Ty-Lee, don't you?"

"I do. But I can't tell her until Zuko and I break up, which will never happen because he needs to be married before his 21st birthday, which is in two months" Mai sighed a third time. I put my free hand on her shoulder.

"what if you find him a new girl? Will you be able to break up with him if he falls for someone?" Mai looked at me, her eyes sparkled.

"He should. Fire lord Iroh values love much more than duty. If he finds out that his nephew loves someone who isn't me, he will annul the engagement between us" Mai smiled and thanked me before disappearing into the crowd.

"boy, am I glad I'm not a part of this family" I said to myself quietly and went to the kitchen to get a new tray.