The Hundred Year War had come to an end. Katara knew that it had; she'd been there to help stop it after all. Aang defeated Ozai in battle, and now Zuko sat upon the throne as the Fire Lord. While he worked to foster good relations with his fellow nations, Katara stood at his right hand, ready to face the innumerable challenges with him. As the official goodwill representative from the Southern Water Tribe, and unofficial adviser to the Fire Lord, she was tasked with attending peaceful summits on the farthest corners of the globe. Over the past year and a half, they had been to some of the hottest points on earth, and to places so cold that even Katara couldn't take it.
That was why this weekend should have been a breath of fresh air for the both of them. They were just meeting with a group of Earth Kingdom nobles in a village north of Omashu. The weather was cool for spring, but not out of the ordinary. Katara could wear her regular clothes and didn't need to bring rations with her if she went out for a walk just in case…
The problem was less with the town and more with its people. They were all perfectly kind and accommodating, except when it came to their rather strict customs. Katara had barely said hello to their host before she was ushered out the door by a horrorstruck servant. Apparently, she had stepped inside right foot first, and since it was neither past noon nor a Wednesday, that was incredibly rude.
After that, it was eating lunch before breakfast and going out to catch three fireflies and hang them over the bed. The latter was pretty fun, once Katara stopped asking questions and started running with the kids. And it promoted happy dreams, or so the townspeople believed.
She took a walk through the gardens following the ceremonial release of last night's fireflies. It was almost dinnertime, but Katara was still full from lunch-breakfast. Zuko joined her, wishing to take in the natural beauty of the Earth Kingdom's greenery, or so he said. Katara was pretty sure he was more interested in avoiding the town leader's fifty year old sister, who kept making allusions to her unmarried status while eyeing Zuko hungrily.
"I can't wait to go home," he said. Somewhere behind them, a mannish sounding female voice was calling his name. Telling him not to hide from her like a naughty boy.
"Don't let them hear you say that," Katara said. "It's not very polite."
"That's why I waited until no one else was around."
He followed her around a row of shrubberies, his ardent admirer's voice fading in the distance.
"If it helps, I am also about ready to get out of here."
"Really? You seemed like you were having a good time."
"Well, the villagers are friendly, and catching fireflies was fun, but I'm getting tired of the twenty minute prayer rituals before dinner."
The food here was absolutely delicious, some of the best Katara had ever had, but there was nothing worse than having a full plate in front of her, the haunting aroma of freshly cooked meat and vegetables wafting through the air, and being unable to so much as touch it until their host completed a lengthy prayer of thanks for their bounty.
"You think we could make an excuse to leave early?"
"I don't think Iroh would let us, unless we distract him with tea."
They both laughed at the thought of sneaking away on tip tops while Iroh happily sipped his tea, none the wiser to their treachery. As if that was even possible. More likely, they'd get caught at the door and spend the rest of the evening listening to Iroh cheerfully remind them that ignoring their duties was children's behavior, not that of a Fire Lord or a master bender turned diplomat.
They strolled along through a maze of hedges, past a bed of flowers that turned up to the sky. The vibrant colors caught Katara's eye, but they were nothing compared to the bushes springing up out of the ground, bearing small, purple flowers that seemed to beckon her on.
"Look at these! They're so beautiful."
"They're nice," Zuko said.
He waited while Katara admired the flowers. The dinner bell rang at the bottom of the hill, but it fell on deaf ears. Katara would happily stay right here in this garden with Zuko until the sun went down. Or at least until twenty minutes had passed and they could actually eat when they wanted to.
A shade of red filled the side of her vision as Zuko stepped forward. He plucked a smaller bunch of flowers from the bush. With a shy smile, he presented them to her.
"So you can have them when we leave. I don't think these grow anywhere in Fire Nation."
Katara took the flowers and held them close to her chest.
"That's sweet of you, Zuko," she said, "but are you sure it's okay to just take these?"
"The garden is open to the public, and people pick flowers all the time. I'm sure nobody will mind."
The dinner bell rang again, more insistently. It seemed they wouldn't be able to get out of the 'ceremony of thanks' after all. They made small talk as they retraced their steps out of the garden. Descending the hillside, a group of children had lagged behind and were kicking a ball around. One of them was their host's son.
"Hello, Fire Lord, Master Katara," he said, inclining his head in respect. He stopped short of whatever he was going to say next as he caught sight of the flowers in Katara's hand. "Hey, where did you get those?"
Katara hesitated. She traded glances with Zuko, to see that he was no less taken aback by the non-sequitur.
"Er- Zuko gave them to me. Is that all right?"
The boy's eyes bugged out. He drew in a breath, and Katara feared he might call for someone to come and reprimand them for their slight.
"FATHER! THE FIRE LORD HAS GIVEN MASTER KATARA LILACS!"
The back door to the large house swung open, as did every door and window of the surrounding houses. Countless faces poked out of them, eyes firmly planted on Zuko and Katara. A horrified screech came from Zuko's admirer, who dissolved into hysterical tears and ran out of the yard. Before either of them could speak or demand to know what was wrong, their host rushed at them.
"Did he really? Did he-" He gasped and grabbed Katara's hands, staring at the gently battered flowers like they were a sacred religious relic. "Oh my goodness. By the gods, I never expected this to happen."
"Excuse me, sir." Zuko said. "If we've done something to offend you, please know that we're very sorry and will do whatever we can to make it up to you."
"Offend me?" Their host laughed. "Your majesty, you must be joking. How could I be anything but overjoyed on such an occasion? Imagine, the Fire Lord himself getting married in my home."
He picked his son up and swung him around in glee. The townspeople amassed to express their happiness and congratulations to the new couple. All the while, Zuko and Katara could do little more than stare wordlessly at each other.
"Did he just say married?" Katara asked.
Zuko looked relieved. "Oh good, you heard it, too. I thought I hallucinated that."
A warm hand rested on Katara's shoulder. The other was on Zuko's, as Iroh appeared between them.
"The customs of this village continue to surprise, Nephew," he said. "It seems that to give a woman lilacs here is to express undying love for her, and it is used as part of the wedding ceremony."
"But Zuko didn't mean it like that," Katara said. "He just picked them for me because I liked them."
"It'll be hard to convince them of that," he said. "I've just heard they are already planning a grand feast to celebrate."
"So now they think we're married." Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "Just when I thought I wasn't going to mess this up."
"Now, Nephew, you shouldn't speak that way in the presence of your wife." The old man chuckled at his joke, even as Zuko looked like he was about to shoot fire out of his nose.
"It's only a marriage as far as these people are concerned, right?" Katara said. "I mean, once we go home, it doesn't count. We could just pretend this never happened."
"You could," said Iroh thoughtfully, "but if I may say, if you decided to give it a try, nobody would object. Least of all me."
Iroh wandered away to shake hands with their host and talk to him about what they should serve at the grand wedding banquet tomorrow night. Suddenly everyone was coming up with ideas for fabulous wedding dishes and throwing them out over each other. One could've easily forgotten that the unlikely guests of honor were even there at all.
"He didn't mean that," Zuko mumbled.
"Of course not," said Katara.
She looked away, down at the flowers still clutched in her hand. She placed them carefully in her pocket, with enough space to prevent them from flattening. For all that it had brought about, she was glad she had them.
And if she was honest with herself, she was glad it was Zuko who gave them to her.