Bah! Feeling more and more awful as I somehow find time to write these one-shots, yet still haven't written more for my stories. I'm really sorry, but I hope this was at least somewhat enjoyable. Note to self, no more Zuko in drag pictures. Oh, I own nothing, Avatar the last Airbender belongs to Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko whille Mulan belongs to Disney.
Zuko ran as fast as he could to the dressers, his gold eyes shaking in fear as he mentally pictured his mother's hardened gaze and her disapproving frown. Zuko's imagination became reality as he slid into the open room surrounded by other older women, his mother standing in the center.
"Mother, I..." Zuko trailed, bowing his head as his mother, Ursa, simply shook her head.
"There is no need to explain yourself, Zuko. You are already late, nothing will change that," Ursa stated, leading her panting son further into the dresser; where he was bath, scrubbed and lightly clothed. "Stop fussing, Zuko. What will the matchmaker think with your unsightly dirt caked nails? What future bride will appreciate that?" Ursa commented with a grunt as she struggled to keep Zuko submerged within the cooled water as another elder woman tried cleaning the dirt from his toes.
"The water couldn't have been cooler, mother," Zuko shivered, struggling in his mother's hold as other women joined, aiding with cleaning the boy.
"Now if you were here on time, the water would have been much warmer." Ursa chuckled as watered shampoo was dumped atop her son's head, making his long unruly hair fall flat against his forehead.
"Do we really have to have this many women help me with the matchmaker process?"Zuko questioned, spitting out some soap that managed to get in his mouth.
Ursa laughed, handing her son a small glass of water as she started watering off his mass of dark, soapy hair, "Don't let their looks fool you, Zuko. They know what they're doing. And don't worry, they're all taken, so they won't really go after you," Zuko's mother winked, putting a little emphasis on the really. "Let's just say that it's a good thing most of them are near their infertile years and you're soon beginning your manhood years." Zuko could feel his pale face start to flush as he was nudged to get out and dry off, suddenly conscious of the side glances he received. Ursa laughed at her son's embarrassment, unable to hold back any longer.
After donning a light robe, Zuko was ushered to a different building where he would be clothed and cut before sent off to be assessed.
"What on earth are you doing to my hair?" Zuko shouted as the elder hair cutter sighed.
"This boy, Ursa, so different than his father," the woman muttered, lowering her scissors and pressing the boy's hair flat with some sort of perfumed gel. "He didn't enjoy what I did, but at least he was silent," the woman commented, her voice turning suddenly steely, forcing Zuko into compliance, though still rather pouty.
"Well I thought Ozai looked rather handsome, Aunt Wu, and I'm sure Zuko will look just as handsome when you finish with him," Ursa smiled with a light bob of her head to the older steel haired woman.
"Of course your son will look handsome, he carries some pretty good genes," Aunt Wu nodded before pushing the silk donned Zuko out the door and into a line of other male suitors looking to meet with the matchmaker.
Zuko was nervous, really nervous. He knew he would be paired up with someone, the low male to female ratio demanded that, but Zuko was worried about the woman he may be paired with; what if she didn't like him, what if he didn't like her. Would she be old? Experienced? Young? Barely a child? Zuko felt sick at that very thought, but knew that couldn't happen, not after the female age was raised to eighteen and the men lowered to sixteen. Zuko was a bit more surprised that he himself wasn't already married off, already nearing the cusp of his seventeenth birthday. Surprisingly, it was his mother who held back the matchmaker meeting while his father pushed for the appointment to start once he hit fourteen, giving Zuko exactly two years until marriage.
"Hira'a Zuko," an old gravelly voice called out, breaking Zuko from his inner thoughts, forcing the teen to look up into crazed light green eyes, the right eye shining in almost pure white. "Well just don't stand there, son. Follow me," the matchmaker shouted, his mouth breaking out in a wide grin, showing off his uneven teeth. Zuko nodded slightly, lifting his feet in a quick jog to follow the hunched old man.
"I thank you for meeting with me," Zuko bowed low to the matchmaker, but was cut off in midsentence by a loud snort and snicker.
"So polite, young man, but it's not like I had much choice. I am the matchmaker after all," he laughed ushering Zuko to join him for tea and biscuits. "Now first, recite why our traditions changed to placing men as those who are married off."
"Of course, a hundred years ago an epidemic struck the world, causing most of the males to die off in war, sparing the females because it was viewed that women should stay at home, where they are safe. But because the emperor at the time was a cruel one, housing multiple unnecessary concubines and not even treating them as humans, they prayed to their mother goddess and cursed the land, giving the world a shortage of men, which also reasoned why they died off at war. Now there is an unbalance of men to woman and since women are more valuable, they do not have to be assessed and given off," Zuko finished strongly, his hands tightening around the silk of his pants as the matchmaker simply shrugged and poured two cups of tea.
"Very nice, boy, but no woman would find you interesting if you say it like that, boy. Everyone knows that story; you didn't need to go into that much detail." The matchmaker snickered at Zuko's agape expression, watching him bite his lip in order to control whatever was about to fly out of his mouth.
"But I did as I was told, Matchmaker. Shouldn't a husband do as so?" The older man snorted in response before offering Zuko a green rock like food, which Zuko politely declined.
"If you want a boring love life. Marriage is about balance, and sometimes one has to fight to find that balance. If you always did as your wife said, or she you, then where is the compromise that will lead to a stronger foundation. Fighting should be avoided, but you should also know when to strike," the matchmaker said cryptically before sinking his teeth into the rock candy, breaking the piece with a satisfactory crack. Zuko scratched his hair in confusion, forgetting about the gel used to hold his hair into the peculiar style. "And another thing boy, your hair. What a ridiculous style you chose, don't you know that style hasn't been used in nearly twenty years?" Zuko slammed his hand down, his cheeks tinting a light pink as the matchmaker rose to his feet, ushering the boy to do the same.
"Now let me get a good look at you. Hm, yes nice eyes, good hair, despite the old unflattering hairstyle. A nice jaw, strong yet boyish, I assume you hold standards when dealing with things yet you don't speak out much," the matchmaker commented, dropping Zuko's now dropped chin. "But too skinny, let's hope your future bride doesn't go for physical appearances. But strong legs, she should appreciate that," the matchmaker mused before taking a step back, his drooping beading clinking with each step. "Alright, now the pants."
"My what?" Zuko sputtered, stepping away from the crazy eyed matchmaker.
"You heard me, boy. Drop your pants."
Still internally debating about posting one-shots/drabbles here or just on my tumblr. What do you guys think? Do you care for my one-shots much? Anyways, I guess seeing Zuko in drag too much pushed me to do this. Not a full length story, but there are a few scenes I wanted to write out; like maybe two more. Let me know what you think. I'm really hoping you guessed the matchmaker. Also, sorry if they seemed out of character, never written for Avatar before, so let me know what needs to be worked on.