ZUTARA WEEK 2014, Day 2: JUBILANT
The First Solidarity Day
DISCLAIMER: Avatar: the Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra belong to Bryke, but Zutara Week belongs to all Zutarians. I write in the context where neither Kataang nor Maiko happened.
NOTE: Happy Bastille Day, everyone! Vive la France!
I really love how the prompt for today coincided with the French national day so I decided to make the most of it. This isn't a French AU or anything like that but I did include some not-at-all-subtle allusions to French culture in this short piece. I'm not French but I have been living in Paris for the past few years so something must have rubbed off on me.
The style is rather impersonal but I hope not boring. I wanted to try something new and from a different perspective. And it's also my take on a bit of post-war Avatar history, if you will.
As you will see, there will be some Zutara action but it will not be explicit. Nevertheless, I hope you still find it an enjoyable read.
For more than a century, the Water Tribes and the Fire Nation had no reason to celebrate anything together. But once the Avatar the Fire Lord cemented a lifelong alliance and friendship, there was no end to the festivities. And to put the process of reconciliation in motion, Aang decided that the Fire Nation would celebrate a "Solidarity Day" festival with each of the other three nations. These events soon became tradition and grew grander each year. But for the Avatar and his friends, the most memorable celebration would always be the very first Solidarity Day between the Water Tribes and the Fire Nation, for very personal reasons.
Although it was the first of its kind, the Water and Fire Solidarity Day festival was still an exceptionally sumptuous occasion. Katara organized the Water Tribe side of it and in spite of his hectic schedule; Zuko organized the Fire Nation side. Many chalked it up to the new Fire Lord's eagerness to show that peace had been achieved between the two groups but those close to him knew otherwise.
"He obviously just wanted to spend more time with Katara," Toph Bei Fong commented when asked about that first festival.
"After the war, we all became so busy with spreading the peace that we barely hung out together anymore and we all missed it. But we had responsibilities to fulfill so sacrifices had to be made," Avatar Aang explained.
"From what I remember," Chief Hakoda recounted in an interview, "Zuko and my daughter had grown very close during their time fighting against his father and the new Fire Lord was working up the nerve to propose to her."
"Unfortunately for both of them," Katara's father continued, "they both took organizing the whole event so seriously that they barely had time for any personal interaction."
Needless to say, Solidarity Day was a resounding success and all who attended agreed that it was a festival unlikely to be surpassed in the future. There were bending showcases and dance numbers from members of both nations as well as a unique coordination of both waterbending and firebending. Delicacies from both Water Tribes were served during the banquet alongside Fire Nation specialties. There were street performances and live theatre (even including the infamous Ember Island Players but following a very REVISED script recounting the Avatar's victory). There was music and there was dancing.
And this first Solidarity Day festival marked the debut appearance of the now familiar tri-colored banners of blue, white, and red, an amusing invention of Chief Sokka.
"Well, blue represents Water and red represents Fire, obviously," the proud chief decided to explain, "and the white in the middle represents the peace between our two nations. Pretty clever if I say so myself."
And indeed he was the only one who said so.
Katara and Zuko had rolled their eyes at this decorative innovation but they decided that there was no harm in it so the tri-colored banners soon became a Solidarity Day staple.
Sokka went further by hanging banners with the words "Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity" all over the place because he believed that these virtues effectively represented what they had achieved together.
The whole celebration culminated with an amazing fireworks display which left all who were present completely mesmerized. So distracted were the participants that no one (except Toph, of course) noticed the two organizers discreetly slip away from the festivities to enjoy some well-earned time together.
And when Zuko and Katara returned, hand in hand and with jubilant smiles on their faces, most people simply assumed it was because they were pleased about how the even had turned out.