Disclaimer: Avatar: The Last Airbender belongs to Bryke and Nickelodeon, not me.
Zuko wrote the letter slowly. His new title filled the top of the clean sheet of parchment. His Excellency, the most royal Fire Lord. Zuko, son of Ozai…
He scowled. Am I even allowed to use my father's name? he thought. He pushed the thought away and continued the letter.
"Are you accepting or declining?"
He glanced up as Iroh walked onto the balcony. Zuko glanced back at the page and sighed. "Accepting," he said glumly.
"You don't sound very happy about it," Iroh said. He leaned over his shoulder and scanned the letter.
Zuko slumped back in his chair. "Why should I be happy?" he said. "I'm marrying somebody I don't even know."
Iroh picked up the letter. "Perhaps I was hasty in recommending you accept this offer," he admitted. "I broke off an arranged marriage myself."
"Really?" Zuko said. "Who was it?"
Iroh scratched the back of his head. "Your mother, actually," he said. "But she was so young, and of course there was Anhura." He smiled fondly. "Marrying my Anhura was the best thing that ever happened to me."
"Yes, well, I thought Mai was going to be the best thing that ever happened to me," Zuko said bitterly.
Iroh rubbed his shoulders. "You're still young, my nephew," he said. "Heartbreak happens. You will mend. And perhaps this lovely young Earth Kingdom maiden will be just what you need."
"Is she pretty?" Zuko said skeptically.
"Who knows?" Iroh shrugged.
Zuko dipped his brush in the ink and set it to the page again. "I guess it doesn't matter," he said.
"Perhaps you should reconsider," Iroh began.
"Reconsider what?" Zuko said. "The person who needs to reconsider is Mai. But she's taken off. I don't know where she is. And even if I did track her down, I don't think there's any way I could convince her to marry me."
"Why don't you propose to a girl you know?" Iroh said. "That Water Tribe girl-"
"-has been attached at the Avatar's hip since the war ended," Zuko finished dryly.
"What about Mai's friend, the acrobat?"
"Ty Lee?" Zuko scoffed. "I'd sooner marry a grasserfly."
Iroh tapped his chin. "The little earthbender," he said. "I was always fond of her, you know."
Zuko paused. "Toph?" he said incredulously. "No, I can't marry her. She's a baby."
"It has been several years since you've seen her," Iroh said. "Time could have been quite kind to her."
Zuko sprinkled sand over the wet ink to dry it. "She's a sweet kid, but she's just a little bruiser," he said absently as he poured the used sand back into the jar. "I can't marry her." He folded up his parchment and affixed the royal seal that only the Fire Lord was allowed to use. "I might as well just marry this Earth Kingdom girl."
"Arranged marriages can work out," Iroh said. "Over time, affection can grow. And that affection can grow into love."
"Yes, well, I hope so," Zuko said. He stared dismally at the folded and sealed letter of acceptance. "We'll just have to see."
"Where…on earth…am I?" she mumbled.
Her head pounded. She rubbed her temples. "You're on board ship, my lady," a timid girl's voice said.
"On board a what?" Toph demanded. She bolted upright and slammed her head into a low-lying brace. "Oh, ow. Ow!"
"Are you all right, my lady?" the girl asked.
"Curse that monkey-feathering son of a platypus bear…" she mumbled. "I'm fine. I'm fine. Just explain why on earth I'm on a ship." Toph leaned towards the edge of the bed and fell back. "And why I can't get my legs to move properly."
"Your parents…" the servant hesitated.
"Just spit it out," Toph snapped
"You're on your way to the Fire Nation, my lady," the servant blurted out. "To marry the Fire Lord. He's asked for your hand in marriage."
Toph laughed. "You're kidding me, right?" she said.
The ship lurched underneath her. Toph tumbled to the floor. "My lady!" the servant said.
"Stop calling me that!" Toph said. She stumbled to her feet, swaying precariously. The servant followed her, her shoes clattering on the floor. Toph lunged for the wall and fumbled for the door. The long skirt of her robe tangled around her legs; she cursed loudly and pulled it away.
"There's got to be stairs to get above deck," she mumbled. "I think that- ow! Oh, holy hellfire!" She ran straight into the ladder and bounced back. Toph shook her head, sending her long hair flying around her face, and climbed up dizzily.
Cool sea air blasted her face. She spat the salt out of her mouth and lurched onto the deck. "Toph! What are you doing out here?" she heard her father demand over the roar of the sea.
"I'm so sorry, your lordship," the maid gasped. "She got away from me."
"She shouldn't be awake yet," Lord Bei Fong said. He grasped his daughter by the shoulders. "Is she conscious?"
"Yes, Daddy, I'm conscious," Toph said, wrenching away from his hands. The wind whipped the knee-length skirt of her nightdress, plastering it against her legs. "Should I be otherwise?"
"Well, you see, darling…" Lord Bei Fong stammered.
Toph pushed her skirt down. "Let me guess," she said. "It has something to do with the stupid earth king forcing me to marry the fire lord, right?"
"It's for you-"
"It's for your own good, Toph, yeah, I know," she finished. "Did you seriously drug me and shanghai me for my own good? Because I really doubt that's the best plan you could have come up with."
"You refused to listen to reason," her father said. "The fire lord accepted the proposal, Toph. You have to marry him."
"I don't believe this," Toph said, dragging her fingers through her long tangled hair. "It's my childhood all over again. And do you remember what I did during my childhood, Daddy?"
"You ran away."
"That's right, Daddy, I ran away," Toph said. She clutched the railing of the ship to keep her balance. "Do you want me to run away again? Because I will."
"Not this time, Toph," Lao said grimly. "I'm not certain you understand the gravity of this situation."
"Then enlighten me," she challenged.
Lao took a deep breath. "This is no parental request that you can choose to ignore," he said. "This is an order from the king. If you disobey him, there are dire consequences."
"Like what?" she said, but already the bravado was slipping from her voice.
"Disregarding the king's royal summons is treason," Lao said. "You could be punished by banishment. Even death, if he so chose." He tilted her chin towards him so that she faced him. "Toph, the last thing I want is for my daughter to be unhappy. You might disagree with me, but I truly have your best interests at heart. I would rather see you married than dead."
She pulled away. "I'd rather be dead than married," she retorted.
Lao sighed heavily. "You do realize that my marriage to your mother was arranged by my father," he said.
"Yeah, look how well that turned out," Toph said. "You're married to a woman afraid of your shadow, and she gave you a blind daughter instead of a healthy son."
"Toph!"
She straightened, surprised by the sharpness of his tone. "I have never regretted choosing to marry your mother, and I have never regretted your birth," he said. "I was…I was shocked, that's all. I didn't know what to do with a child, much less one so tiny and fragile. You nearly died when you were born, you know. And your mother with you."
She kept quiet. Her mother had told her the story of her birth several times, but she had never heard her father mention it. "I did my best to protect a weak child. If you had been ordinary, my efforts would have been sufficient. But you have never been ordinary." He touched her cheek. "You're an extraordinary young lady now."
"Please, not another 'young lady' talk,' she mumbled.
"But you are," he said. "Clever and exquisitely lovely. Any man should be proud to call you his bride."
She pushed his hand away from her cheek. "I don't want to be the bride of a man who didn't chase me down himself," she said.
"Toph, you haven't any choice," he said. He kissed the top of her head. "The earth king chose to offer your hand in marriage to the fire lord, and the fire lord accepted. It's out of our control now." Lord Bei Fong patted her on the shoulder. "We should arrive at the Fire Nation next week, and then it's two days' ride to the palace. Go and rest."
"Like I'll have anything else to do while I'm stuck on this stupid boat," Toph mumbled under her breath, but she obeyed her father and went below deck.
Zuko started awake at the knock at his door. "Come in," he mumbled. He sat up and rubbed his eyes.
The door tapped open. "Are you still awake?"
"Sort of," he said. "I fell asleep at my desk."
"Again?" she laughed softly. "It's after midnight. You should have been in bed hours ago."
"I'm not a little boy anymore," he said.
"You'll always be a little boy to me," she said She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed the top of his head.
"That's because you're my mother," he smiled.
Ursa stepped back and cupped his chin in her hands. "I suppose," she said. She stroked his dark hair, unbound and messy, away from his face. "Now, what's this I hear about my son getting married? Did Mai come back?"
He scowled. "No," he said. He pulled away from her and leaned his elbow on his desk. "She didn't answer any of my letters, either."
"Maybe she just needs time," Ursa suggested.
"We've been together for almost five years," he said. "Shouldn't that be enough time to know whether or not we should get married?"
She sighed. "I can't answer that," she said.
Zuko rested his chin on his hand, staring glumly out the window into the darkness. "I have to get married, Mom," he said. "The parliament will challenge my right to the throne if I don't obey the law."
"I know," she said quietly. "Iroh told me of your decision to marry the girl King Kuei offered to you."
"It sounds terrible," he said. "Taking a girl who was offered to me. Sounds like she's somebody's prize cow or something."
"In noble families, that's how daughters serve their purpose," Ursa said. "The parents raise their daughters to be pretty, well-mannered ladies who can bear healthy children." She busied herself with the objects on his desk, straightening the papers and tidying the bottles of ink.
"But your parents didn't make you marry Dad, did they?" Zuko said.
"Not my parents," she said. "Your father…your father was very persuasive. It wasn't until after the wedding that I realized he married me simply for my bloodline."
Zuko studied her. She still looked like the mother he remembered from his childhood- only thinner, and paler. Strands of white softened her dark hair. "Uncle said you were arranged to marry him," he said.
"That's right," Ursa said. She picked up a pen, touched the nib, and put it back. "I was a great deal younger than him, and he felt sorry for me. He chose to break the arrangement. My parents were relieved…but his were horrified."
"Do you ever wonder what it would be like if you had married him?" he asked.
"I did, on occasion," she said. "I doubt we would have been compatible, or that we would have fallen in love, but I do know that he would have been very kind to me." She stroked her finger along the curve of her son's jawline. "Take that into consideration, dear. You're going to marry a girl who will feel lost and afraid in a strange place, with a strange man. The best thing you can do is to be kind to her. Treat her like she is something wonderful."
"I can try," he said.
"You're a good man," Ursa said, smiling. "You will be a wonderful husband to any girl." She kissed him on the forehead. "Now go to bed."
"Yes, Mom," he grinned.
Author's Notes:
OMFG, URSA!
I've neve written anything Ursa related. It's about time.
I wrote the first two pieces last night, but this morning, I started wondering if I wanted to include Ursa. I decided I did...I hope it was a good choice. I think she's going to be a key player as the story progresses. I'll also explain how she got home, and what's up with the rest of the royal family.
Also, I love writing Avatar swears. "Monkey-feathering son of a platypus bear!" I'm going to start saying that in real life...
I hope you enjoyed this chapter! More is coming soon! I've plotted this one out, and I think it's going to be really good.
