Fall of the White Lotus [Zutara/Taang]

48 | Lord and Lady

Music: Undying Love, Two Steps From Hell

                        A historic event was about to take place in the Fire Nation, the magnitude of which had rarely been seen before - the wedding of the Fire Lord and the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe.

The people of the Fire Nation were eagerly looking forward to a royal wedding as unconventional as the Fire Lord himself. Not only had it been hundreds of years since a sovereign was set to marry instead of an heir to the throne, but against thousands of years of tradition, the Fire Lord's wedding would be taking place in winter instead of the longest day of summer. The wedding would also be a public event, which had never been done before, and on top of that, his bride wasn't some anonymous nobleman's daughter from the Fire Nation but one of his fellow Young War Heroes, the beloved waterbender, Princess Katara.

The buzz of excitement, which had started in Capital City on the day of their safe return from the North Pole, had since then spread across the entire Fire Nation.

A clever businessman had pulled out a copy of the infamous painting of Team Avatar, cut out Zuko and Katara, and combined their portrait with a picture of the star crossed lovers Oma and Shu. He sold thousands of copies all over the nation.

During the days leading up to the wedding, the people feasted their eyes on the arrival of other monarchs from around the world into the Fire Nation. For the first time in their lives, they saw the stately Chief and Chiefess of the Northern Water Tribe, the legendary King Bumi of the city-state of Omashu, and the bespectacled, aloof Earth King who was only about ten years older than their own Fire Lord.

On the eve of their wedding, Chief Hakoda and General Iroh hosted a dinner to welcome the most distinguished guests to their children's wedding, including both of their families. It was the first time since the beginning of the war the heads of state of the three nations were all in the same room together, sat to dinner in the palace's elaborate banquet hall.

"This is a historic moment," the Grandmaster of the Order of the White Lotus said to the Water Tribe representative in the Black Lotus Council, and Master Pakku nodded. "The spirits will be glad."

Following tradition, Katara eventually retreated with the women. Zuko's hope, however, to turn in on time was immediately quashed the moment the door closed behind them. Somehow, the men left behind were dead set on preventing him from doing just that. He wasn't allowed to go to bed until the small hours and, judging by Suki's secretive smirk as she and Toph had coaxed Katara along, he feared that she wouldn't fare any better. If his eyes hadn't betrayed him, he'd even seen Ty Lee flashing past the doorway as well before Suki decidedly pulled it closed behind her.

The short night he had left, he spent in a light slumber, missing Katara sleeping next to him and not really resting. He'd already been deprived of much of his sleep because the Lord Chamberlain had finally caught on to Katara sneaking into Zuko's room every night, and to no longer torment the poor man and undermine an age-old tradition, they'd spent the week leading up to the wedding day in their separate rooms, yearning for the other's presence in their arms.

Thank Agni for his mother's silent understanding of their situation. A few evenings, she'd invited them over to her quarters and then left them alone in the sitting-room, slumped against each other before the fire. Those times, they had been able to get just enough sleep to make it through until the wedding day.

He woke up to the sound of his mother's voice.

"Zuko, are you awake? Katara will arrive in less than three hours."

"Hmmm?" The young man in the ornate bed protested drowsily until the second part of her words sank in and he bolted upright. Suddenly, he remembered that Katara had spent the night on her father's flagship, surrounded by her family. This could mean only one thing.