A/N: This is set post-series in the time between The Promise and The Search, except that I've lengthened the gap so that it's more like, 5 years post-series. So we've gone through all that drama with the Harmony Restoration Movement but Zuko hasn't gone to find his mother yet.
"The moon is beautiful tonight, don't you think?"
Zuko snorts, concentrating on pouring tea for them both. "It's a bit rounder and brighter than usual, that's all. Otherwise, it looks the same as always."
"That's not very romantic," Aang reprimands gently. He picks up his cup and fans one hand back and forth over it before drinking, wafting the delicate fragrance of osmanthus toward his nose. Zuko bites the inside of his lip to keep from laughing at his air of pretentious elegance.
They're sitting on the rim of the caldera, the highest point overlooking the city, facing east where the moon rises. The fact that it's Zuko's go-to spot for date nights is irrelevant, utterly so. "There's nothing romantic about the holiday, anyways."
Zuko slides one hand along the wooden handle of the snack box Aang supplied, its glossy black grain smooth and cool. He imagines the shop girl in town who probably sold it to a starry-eyed Aang, too enamored of a novel tradition involving mooncakes, skygazing, and all manner of good things to realize that they're missing the one thing that matters the most.
"Zuko?"
Aang's holding out a slice of mooncake to him, concern wrinkled into his forehead. "You got all quiet there. Are you okay?"
Zuko takes the mooncake but doesn't eat it. "Mid-Autumn Festival is meant to be celebrated with family. The roundness of the moon is like the perfect harmony of a family reunited."
He can hear Aang thinking, his cheeks puffed out thoughtfully around a mouthful of lotus seed paste. It's not a difficult conclusion to draw. Zuko's remaining family members are scattered to the winds: Azula in an institution, her mind in fragments. Their father, locked away for good. Their mother, whereabouts a mystery, unknowing or uncaring of what's become of her children. Uncle Iroh, far away in Ba Sing Se, content to leave behind the homeland that had caused him nothing but regret. Zuko alone remains.
"Let me tell you about the legend behind Mid-Autumn Festival," he says, hoping to head off any pitying consolations.
"Long ago, the Jade Emperor, King of Heaven, had ten sons. One day, they transformed themselves into ten suns, wreaking havoc on the earth, burning crops, drying up rivers, and causing an unbearable drought that no one could survive.
"The Jade Emperor asked Hou Yi, a great archer of Heaven, to help him put his sons in line. With his mighty bow, he shot down nine suns, sparing the tenth to shine upon the earth. Thus, the world was saved from the scourge of the ten suns.
"However, the Jade Emperor was angry that Hou Yi had killed his sons, so he exiled him and his wife Chang'e from Heaven, forcing them to live as mortals. Hou Yi was regarded as a hero among humans, and they made him their king. Spurred by grief and resentment at his banishment, he became a tyrannical ruler who was only interested in regaining immortality.
"He traveled to the garden of the Queen Mother of the West and begged her to grant him the elixir of immortality. She gave it to him with instructions that half the elixir would be sufficient to restore eternal life. So Hou Yi went home with the elixir, intending to share half of it with his wife so they could live together forever.
"But Chang'e was afraid to let him become immortal and rule over the people as an immortal tyrant, so she took the elixir and drank it all so that Hou Yi couldn't have any. Since half the elixir would make one immortal, twice that was enough to make her immortal and weightless. She flew towards the sky, where she landed on the moon and was trapped there, doomed to an eternity of solitude."
He pauses to sip at his tea. That is in fact the end of the story, but Aang doesn't look convinced, furrowing his brow in confusion. "That doesn't make sense, though. There's already a woman on the moon, Princess Yue, after Zhao killed the moon spirit, and she never mentioned Chang'e. They can't both be on the moon."
Zuko resists the urge to roll his eyes, though he suspects that Aang's being facetious for the sake of it. "It's a legend, Aang. It didn't actually happen."
"I was joking. It's kind of sad, though, for Chang'e. She just wanted to do what was best for the world and ended up forever alone for it."
"She made the greatest sacrifice when she took the elixir away from her husband," Zuko says somberly. "If I were to one day become like Hou Yi… would you do the same?"
Aang shuffles closer on his knees, one hand resting on Zuko's shoulder. "Not this again, Zuko…" he sighs. He reaches over to cup Zuko's face in one hand, marveling at how his hand's width so comfortably encompasses that taut expression. "That promise that I made to you is null. You know as well as I do that I could never lift a hand against you, and that I'll never have to. Even if you fall out of balance, I'll be here to help you, because you're my family," he affirms. "Why do you think I asked you to spend Mid-Autumn Festival with me?"
It's like music to his ears: you're my family.
Aang holds up another piece, a mischievous spirit alighting in his eyes, or perhaps it's just the moon's reflection. "Close your eyes and guess what flavor it is."
"For heaven's sake, Aang…" And yet, he is already closing his eyes, lips parted in anticipation, and Aang delicately places a morsel between them. The filling is thick and sweet, with a slightly crispy crunch to it. "Dates and… figs?"
"Yep!" It's almost embarrassing how pleased Aang sounds, but also very endearing.
Another piece, salty this time. "Duck eggs?"
"You know it."
Another one, leafy and smooth—green tea. Uncle would be thrilled. "Last one!"
Zuko opens his mouth expectantly, but nothing is forthcoming. He cracks an eye open, puzzled, only to see Aang comfortably sprawled back on his elbows next to the snack box, depositing the last bit in his own mouth with nonchalant cheer.
"Guess!" he urges, somewhat muffled.
"…how am I supposed to guess when you ate it?"
Aang swallows, a voracious effort, and quirks one corner of his mouth in an inviting smile. "I suppose you'll just have to find it another way, won't you?"
Ah.
The tip of his tongue darts out to snatch away a few crumbs, enticingly improper. Zuko has undertaken plenty of grave errors in his life, misunderstood too many signals and missed still more chances to alight on the right path, but not this time. This time, Aang watches as he draws closer, resting his weight on his hands to either side, leaning down in quiet, easy regard.
"I will."
Their first kiss echoes their love: patient, kind, not heady and breathtaking but the somnolent simmer of water over a low fire. At once deferential and desirous, Aang threads his fingers through Zuko's hair; with no tightly pinned crown in the way, they deepen the kiss, tongues tentative at first, then familiar as vines twined around a centuries-old tree, infallible. Zuko pushes forward carefully beyond those pale lips always stretched wide around laughter and optimism, sweetness and homecoming. Aang lets himself be eased down to lie flat, Zuko's one hand cradling his head against the ground, the other gently resting on the swell of his shoulder, tasting the unremitting warmth of his skin, wanting more but willing to wait, to savor.
Their momentum slows, descending from a natural crest as all things must, but with the promise of more to come. Aang disentangles his hands from Zuko's hair, strands kissing his fingers as they fall to the side, his touch intoxicating.
Presently, he remembers the pretext for this kiss, this kiss which needed no preamble but rather a steep plunge into passion. He pauses, his taste buds conferring and struggling to reach their conclusion.
"…chocolate?" he guesses. He's only had it a few times, not being a fan of the bitter concoction that's considered a delicacy throughout the Fire Nation.
"Sweetened, ground up and baked into mooncakes," Aang confirms. "Do you like it?"
Zuko considers. "Well… I liked it well enough, but I liked what came with it even better."
Autumn's chill begins to descend with the evening dew, but as he molds himself to Aang's side, with the heavens as their canopy and a half-eaten box of mooncakes to bear witness, he thinks he will never feel cold again. The moon shines down on them as they revel in newfound currents of passion, a lone woman casting her blessing on the world below, wafting scattered families on heavenly tides to become whole once more.
A/N: There are many, many retellings of the legend, versions in which Hou Yi was actually mortal and didn't become a tyrannical ruler, versions in which Chang'e was greedy and stole the elixir for herself, versions in which someone else tried to steal it and she drank it so that they couldn't steal it, the list goes on. I've no idea which version is most canon, so I just chose the one that fit the best with Zuko and Aang's story.
I've never had chocolate mooncakes, but apparently they're a thing. Usually I get the regular, most boring ones (lotus seed paste with salted duck egg), but this year I'm going to see if there are any good ones on sale at the grocery store after the holiday's over :)