Hey, everyone! It's been a long time since I've touched on Huan and Himiko, and yet I'm on a Korra kick lately. I also take all the Korra and ATLA things in my instagram feed as a sign. I've kept a few ideas for these two, and I hope very much to do maybe a couple of more.
Huan, second-eldest of the Beifong children living in Zaofu, had married his betrothed, Himiko, in a quiet and beautiful ceremony in the garden of his parents' home. As a gift to the newlyweds, Suyin Beifong and her husband, Baatar, offered the couple a trip to anywhere they desired for their honeymoon. Huan had expected his bride to suggest the Spirit World, but she had surprised him.
"I know you don't want to go," she began softly, "so can we compromise? How about the Northern Water Tribe?" She had, after all, been trying to get him into the Spirit World for some time. She knew his answer before she had even considered suggesting it.
He had agreed with the Northern Water Tribe. Upon their arrival, however, he almost wished he had not.
It was cold. Though they had packed warmly, both wound up purchasing several pieces of water tribe attire. His mother had secured their lodging before they even departed. Neither knew what to expect from an ice building, but the inside of their suite had proven warm. The past six days had been spent walking through the city, seeing the sights and taking in the beauty of the tribe.
Nights were spent curled up together under warm fur blankets. Himiko often fell asleep with her head on his chest.
Huan knew Himiko suggested the trip because she wanted to see the Tui and La, the spirits of the moon and ocean. She swore to him it would be the only spiritual side of their trip. Gaining access to the Spirit Oasis that was home to them, however, had not been so easy.
Due to the efforts of a Fire Nation general to destroy Tui, the chiefs of the Northern Water Tribe were against allowing outsiders into the oasis. Desna and Eska, the joint chiefs, had listened to their pleas the second day they had arrived in the Northern Water Tribe. Neither seemed swayed by the idea that Himiko chose their home country as their honeymoon because she longed to visit the oasis. Nor did the promise of her being a nonbender, and Huan being non-combative, seem to help. They had left the palace with little hope.
The previous day, a message had arrived from the palace. Desna and Eska had agreed to allow them a short time at the oasis, as long as they could accompany their guests. Himiko had excitedly agreed.
Huan had thought it would be less enjoyable than it had actually been. Not only did the lush oasis surprise him with its warmth, but the koi fish, forever circling each other, were inspiring, even to someone not as spiritual as Himiko. She had been the true joy of that trip, however. She had dropped to her knees and leaned over the small pool. The hood of her deep blue cloak fell back, allowing her black hair to flow freely. The tips had been returned to their black state for their wedding, but before departing, she had allowed him to dye them green again.
Her dark green eyes were alight with joy as she watched the koi fish. "Isn't it beautiful here?" she asked with a sigh.
"Yes," Huan replied, though he was not speaking just of their surroundings.
It had not been nearly as difficult as he thought to drag her away from Tui and La. She had given the fish one last glance over her shoulder as they departed the oasis but appeared content that she had been able to see them.
It was only during the night before their departure that Huan noticed Himiko had grown a little sullen. After their things had been packed, she had sat down by the window of their suite. The full moon rose over the tundra, bright and beautiful. "Thinking of Tui?" he asked her as he shrugged off his warm jacket. He folded it and sat it on their luggage.
"Yes," she said, "but also no." She turned away from the window, her hands folded in her lap. "I'm not sure I'm ready to go home." The response had been so blunt that Huan was, at first, unsure of how to reply.
He crossed the room to give himself some time to think of an answer. As he sat down by her, he took her hands into his. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Would you rather move here?"
Himiko giggled and shook her head. "I like it here, but Zaofu is our home. It isn't even Tui and La. I just..." she trailed off with a faint sigh. "I've enjoyed this. This is the only the second time in my life I've recalled leaving Zaofu, and this time has been much more enjoyable than the last." Considering the last time she had left the metal city had been during Kuvira's brief reign as Great Uniter, it was not under the best of circumstances. "Besides," she added, pink creeping up her cheeks, "I can't imagine you and I will have such time to ourselves when we return."
He squeezed her hands comfortingly, but he knew what she meant. His younger brothers, the twins Wing and Wei, would be teasing them and hounding them as they had since Himiko and Huan had officially started their relationship. "I can always lock my brothers in a closet," he reminded her. It was something he had done before, though only once to protect them, partially from themselves.
She let out a small laugh. "I think that will only work once."
"Fair enough."
The newly married couple lapsed into silence, still holding each other's hands. Himiko turned her gaze back to the window until Huan started to rub the backs of her hands with his thumbs. "We can always make the most of our last night here," he reminded her. She smiled and agreed.
It was later that night, Himiko fast asleep with her head on Huan's bare chest, that he realized what she meant. Their trip had been free of stress, free of family tagging along, and devoid of anyone butting into their business. The people of the water tribe had been warm and welcoming, if a little curious about their decision to honeymoon in such a cold place. They had also been respectful enough to keep their distance from the newlyweds.
He loved his family, and Himiko did, as well, but his mother doted on them both, perhaps a little more on Himiko than her own son. She had been the one to save the young girl from the streets of Ba Sing Se when her parents tried to abandon her. She, and his father, wanted to make sure the girl was happy and content at all times.
His brothers, the only siblings he had remaining in Zaofu, were close to Himiko and enjoyed teasing their older brother. His older brother had been arrested in Republic City, and would remain behind bars for some time in his role in aiding Kuvira. His only sister, Opal, had become an airbender, as many did after Harmonic Convergence, and was often away on airbending duties. With two of her five children gone, Suyin Beifong had become a little more protective of her remaining brood. Wei had started to refer to her as a mother platypus bear.
So privacy and solitude were probably out of the question.
Huan sighed softly, but it still caused Himiko to stir. He brushed his hand against her hair and smiled faintly to himself. Though they were going to face a few bumps in the road when they returned home, they at least had to face it together. After all, there had been a few points in the past few years where he wondered if they would even make it this far. The first had been the fear that she did not reciprocate his feelings. She had shown she did, in fact, when comforting him over one of his sculptures.
After that, the two of them agreed in keeping their relationship quiet. They had both feared his brothers' teasing, but Himiko had also worried about her status. He did not care, and his parents did not either, but it took some time to convince her otherwise.
Once they had gotten past those small patches, it had been the bigger things that were out of their control, such as the reemergence of airbending as a whole, the arrival of Avatar Korra, and, more importantly, his aunt Lin, into Zaofu, which was swiftly followed by a splinting of the Earth Kingdom as the former Earth Queen was assassinated by a group that also sought to destroy Korra.
His mother had aided the avatar and her sister, but even with the group defeated, the damage had been done. Kuvira had pulled out of Zaofu, wanting to unite the Earth Kingdom after his mother decided it was not her place. That resulted in the temporary falling of Zaofu, Huan and Himiko being separated, and him being arrested along with his parents and twin brothers.
They had gone through it all and still remained together. Huan wondered, as he glanced down at the sleeping Himiko again, if things had gone even slightly differently, would they still be sharing a room as husband and wife in the Northern Water Tribe? He felt that the answer would be yes, but perhaps not as quickly. Did it matter, though? If they could get past all that, they could certainly survive married life in Zaofu. What was losing their home to Wing and Wei poking fun at them? He smiled, pulled her close, and fell asleep holding his bride under the light of the full moon.