A/N: My entry in the Avatar Mini Bang on LiveJournal.
Enjoy and review!
The crown in Zuko's topknot was heavier than expected. He didn't mind.
The loud chatter coming from the dining hall he was in was deafening, as everyone that had been invited to his coronation feast were talking amongst each other. Zuko leaned back in his regal chair, the iFire Lord's/i chair.
He still couldn't wrap his mind around it.
He glanced around at his guests, his little renegade family made up of the Avatar and his friends. Zuko shook his head slightly. They were his friends now too.
The side doors burst open and kitchen servants swept into the room, their hands piled high with plates of steaming food that would make up the coronation feast.
"FOOD!" Sokka stood up from his chair and attempted to start a slow clap, but Suki grabbed his elbow and jerked him down into his seat. She elbowed him in the ribs for good measure. Sokka glared at her. "What's with you? I'm hungry—"
Two servants stumbled into the room, a huge dish between them that was piled down with…some sort of fish. They heaved the plate onto the table in front of Zuko and the guests immediately by him (The Avatar, Uncle Iroh, Mai, and Katara).
"Fire Lord Zuko," one of the servants that had brought out the dish began, "this is the rare Sea Horse, caught off the coast of Ember Island. It is a delicacy that has been served at the coronations of Fire Lord's for the past four hundred and thirty seven years. It is my honor sir, to present it to you today." The servant bowed before taking a quick step back. The other servant that had helped bring in the Sea Horse hurried forward with a carving knife. Quickly and efficiently he began to cut slabs of meat from the Sea Horse's belly and dish them out among Zuko and his guests. When that was done he bowed to Zuko and took a step back to join the other servant.
"What exactly…is that thing?" Sokka asked. He was next to Katara, and he peered around his sister to get a better look at the Sea Horse. It looked like it sounded. With the head of the horse and the body of a fish, it was an extremely rare creature that was supposed to be consumed by the new leader of the Fire Nation and his esteemed guests.
Its meat, though cooked to perfection, looked slimy and unappetizing. Sokka looked down at his plate with disgust, and if Sokka looked grossed out by a certain food then it probably wasn't worth eating.
Everyone turned their head to face the Fire Lord, for they weren't going to take a bite until he did.
Except Zuko was trying half heartedly to hide his chuckles with his hand.
"What's so funny Zuko?" Aang called out. He was quite cheerful, and that was probably because his plate was empty of Sea Horse, being a vegetarian and all.
The Fire Lord sat up straight and shook his head. "It's nothing, really. Just something that happened to Azula and me when we were kids."
"Do tell!"
"That sounds like a cool story."
"Azula and good stories? Nah. Not possible."
"Shut up Sokka!"
"What? I'm just sayin'—"
Toph snorted in a very unladylike manner and asked a servant for a glass of wine.
Zuko cleared his throat, causing everyone to quiet down and turn their attention back to him. He gave them all a small smile. "Okay, so, it's kind of a funny story…"
Ten year old Zuko couldn't stop gazing at the new crown that adorned his father's head.
It looked like it was light as a feather. Zuko bet it was.
The dining hall was quiet, almost eerily so. His father sat at the head of the table, where the crowned Fire Lord was supposed to sit, with his children off to his left. The chair to his right was empty. That was the Fire Lady's chair.
Zuko managed to pull his gaze away from the crown to glance around at the rest of Ozai's guests. Most of them were noblemen and women and high ranking military officers. Zuko wondered if any of these people were actually ifriends/i with Ozai. Probably not. He looked over at his sister.
Eight year old Azula looked the picture of boredom, with her arms crossed over her chest and her mouth squeezed into a tight line. Her golden eyes, however, flicked around the room with increasing interest, as if she was taking note of everyone that her father had deemed worthy enough to attend his coronation feast. There wasn't going to be a ball, Ozai had said. He claimed he didn't have time for such frivolities. Instead, they would only have a feast.
The doors burst open and servants filed in with plates of food. Zuko sat up a little straighter, but tried not to show his excitement. Bowls and plates piled high with the richest of Fire Nation foods were set down before them with order and efficiency. Zuko allowed himself a smile and even Azula uncrossed her arms.
And then some kind of…creature was set before them.
It was hideous to look at. It had the head of a horse but the body of a fish, and it even had two small equine-looking legs sticking out of its front.
"What…what's that?" Zuko whispered, desperately fighting the natural urge to lean forward and poke it. It just looked so squishy. He tucked his hands underneath his lap for good measure.
"I…I think it's supposed to be a delicacy," Azula whispered, attempting to answer his question. It was the first time she had spoken to him all day.
Her notion was confirmed when a servant stepped forward and began to explain that it really was a rare delicacy and reserved only for the Fire Lord on coronation day. Ozai laced his fingers and leaned forward, a smile on his face. Except it wasn't so much of a smile as it was a sneer.
When portions of the creature (they'd learned it was a Sea Horse, but 'creature' sounded more precise) were placed on their plates Azula looked down at hers with disgust. She started to push her plate away.
Ozai cleared his throat. That was all it took for both children to freeze and look up at their father apprehensively.
The Fire Lord sectioned off a bite of the creature and popped it into his mouth, a signal for everyone else to follow in his lead, which everyone did. Except for Zuko and Azula.
The meat just looked so volatile!
"Are they really suggesting that it's honorable to put that into my mouth?" Azula said under her breath. "They're joking. There's no way I'm eating—"
Another clearing of the throat.
Both children picked up their chopsticks reluctantly.
Azula sent her brother a smirk. "Alright Zuzu, you take your bite first."
"What? No!" He looked at his plate and cringed.
"Do it, before Father comes over and makes us do it."
Zuko sighed. "Why don't we just take the bite at the same time?"
"Because you're the eldest son Zuzu. You should be honored that I'm even suggesting—"
"No—"
Azula's lips pulled up in a snarl and she leaned towards her brother, chopsticks in hand, with every intention of shoving her bite of the creature into Zuko's mouth. He dodged and moved his hand to bat away her chopsticks. Furious, he opened his mouth to snarl out a very rude insult when—
—he unintentionally sent a spark out of his mouth.
The creature ignited.
"Idiot!" Azula hissed. "Put it out!"
Zuko was frozen to his seat.
He had breathed fire!
For a moment he actually felt giddy. Even Azula hadn't been able to figure out the method to breathing fire yet and he had done it without even meaning to!
He had breathed fire.
The flames spread across the creature and began picking at the table cloth.
Ozai would annihilate him.
"—stupid, brainless, daft—PUT IT OUT!"
Zuko snatched up a goblet and threw its contents onto the ignited Sea Horse. The fire flared up, the flames starting to lick at the ceiling.
"YOU POURED WINE ON A FIRE."
"I didn't mean to!" Zuko snapped in defense, but he was starting to feel frantic and Azula wasn't helping matters.
And just as suddenly as the fire had started it stopped. The flames simply winked out of existence, leaving nothing but foul smoke in their wake.
"Which one of you has done this?"
The question was asked quietly, but Zuko could hear the threat in Ozai's voice. He turned in his chair to see Ozai standing behind his and Azula's chairs, looking down at them with great disapproval.
"Answer me immediately."
Zuko took a deep breath in an attempt to force himself to stop shaking. He didn't want to look pathetic in front of his father. He steeled himself for a moment, already dreading the wrath of Ozai's punishment. He opened his mouth to confess—
"Sorry, Father."
Zuko's mouth fell all the way open before he quickly snapped it shut.
Ozai looked just as surprised. He focused on his daughter. "Azula, you did this?"
The princess crossed her arms over her chest and shrugged. She turned her head slightly in Zuko's direction and the two siblings locked eyes for a brief instant. Zuko could've sworn for a second that Azula's mouth quirked a bit, as if she were trying very hard not to smile.
"I apologize, Father. I guess I just couldn't help it," she sneered.
Ozai frowned. "That lack of self control is unacceptable, Azula. Perhaps you aren't training as hard as you say you are. You are supposed to be a prodigy."
The girl's face fell for the briefest of moments before she glared defiantly up at her father. "I will try harder in the future," she bit out.
Ozai nodded once before turning and walking away. He did not bother to acknowledge Zuko. Both children scowled at his retreating back.
Azula turned towards Zuko, a smirk on her lips. "You owe me one Zuzu."
Zuko cleared his throat, alerting everyone that the story was over.
They all stared at him as if he was crazy.
He shrunk back a bit. Maybe the story wasn't all that funny? To him it was one of the few lighter moments he'd had after his mother had left…
"You know, it is pretty funny that you two couldn't put out a fire. Did you not think to use, you know, firebending to do it?," Toph said drily before taking a sip from her goblet.
This brought on a few sniggers.
"Yeah well," Zuko said nonchalantly with a shrug. "I was sort of—"
"YOU THREW A CUP OF WINE ONTO A FIRE!" Sokka shouted with glee. This caused most everyone to burst out laughing.
Zuko let out a breath of relief before chuckling along.
"Wow. That was actually nice of Azula to take the blame for you like that!" Aang said with his normal enthusiasm.
"I know right? Who would have thought that at one point Crazy had a soul," Toph quipped, causing Sokka to snort and Aang to frown in disapproval.
"Everyone has a soul Toph—"
"Everyone prepare yourselves, here comes a lecture on spirituality courtesy of our resident monk."
"Hey!"
An argument about souls and monks ensued, complete with denials and sarcasm. Zuko noticed Iroh leaning forward with interest and even Mai popped in with a dry comment every now and then.
But Zuko couldn't really concentrate. He was thinking about his sister.
He had always thought of her as a complication and not as a person who was simply complicated. She was his sister, yes, but she had also tried to kill him.
She had also lied to Ozai for him. He wondered why this particular childish memory stuck out to him so clearly. He could never erase it.
Just like he could never erase the images of her chained to the ground, screaming and sobbing.
The physicians had told him that she was mad, and that you cannot cure madness with simple herbs and remedies. But Zuko wondered now if maybe she wasn't mad, but simply complicated.
He looked up from his plate of Sea Horse. Most everyone was still engaged in their argument, except for Katara, who was watching him with a concerned frown on her face.
She tilted her head to the side, assessing him, as if she was trying to peer into his mind and figure out what was bothering him. Finally she turned away.
Katara cleared her throat. Everyone continued to argue.
"HEY!" she shouted, slamming her fist against the table. This made everyone freeze and look at her.
"Oh, here we go," Toph said with a roll of her eyes.
"I just noticed that Zuko hasn't taken his bite of Sea Horse yet, and it's Fire Nation tradition for the Fire Lord to take the first bite of Sea Horse. But I was thinking that since we've all come so far together and since we're all like family, that maybe we could all take the first bite at the same time?" She turned and looked at Zuko questioningly, biting her lip.
He tried not to let his floored reaction cross his face.
"Yeah," he choked out. "That'd be fine."
Sokka opened his mouth to complain but snapped it shut when Katara shot him the deadliest glare imaginable.
Everyone quietly took a piece of Sea Horse off of their plates (except for Aang who took a grape instead) and popped it into their mouths in unison.
Zuko chewed and swallowed. Then he really started laughing.
The Sea Horse was delicious.