For Lady Ming, wife of Agricultural Minster Ming – the only member of the council who has served in his position under three Fire Lords –, it is going to be the third royal wedding she would attend.
…Well, strictly speaking the fourth, considering that she is almost sure that she had already been conceived when Fire Lord Azulon married Fire Lady Illah – not that, of course, it is sure, or matter at the slightest.
So she has experiences and expectations, and can't wait to compare all three weddings.
Looking around in the temple where the ceremony is going to be held, taking everything into inventory, she is quite pleased. The decoration is nice – the flowers are white, which is strange at first, since it's color of mourning in her homeland, but then her niece sitting next her enlightens her that they are supposed to symbolize the pure white snow of the South Pole, and she understands. Of course, there are banners too, for both nations, and which is quite refreshing - the soft blue of the Southern Water Tribe somehow softens the darkness and strictness of the Fire Nation red. She hopes that these two people marrying today will create the same harmony in their lives their colors do.
So, it's nice; not overdone and superfluous like the decoration of Iroh's wedding was, or minimalist and dull like Ozai's. It's just perfect.
Lady Ming fidgets in her seat and sighs. It's almost midday. The ceremony is better to start soon. She can't wait to see the bride; it's rumored that she will be dressed in a completely traditional Water Tribe wedding dress – but then some ill-meaning people has been saying that she is going to marry naked, so Lady Ming doesn't really believe in neither information.
Anyway, she can't understand what the people's – especially the nobles' – problem with this Water Tribe girl is. She has met her on a few occasions, and she was really charming every time. She is, in Lady Ming's opinion, a sweet and kind girl, and quite smart and strong-willed, too. If she was asked, Lady Ming would tell anybody that she thinks that no-one could fill the shoes of the Fire Lady better. And what if she is not Fire Nation? Because that's the other thing that usually bothers the nobles. Frankly speaking, it's even better for the royal bloodline to have somebody refresh it – there have been way too many cousins marrying in the ruling family in the last decades, and its impact has started to show - let's just take a look at Princess Azula. There had to be a reason for her insanity. So, further the new Fire Lady comes from the better.
She peeks at her husband sitting next to her as she opens her fan. He's not that different from them, from those noblemen not happy with Fire Lord Zuko's marriage, even if he doesn't advertise it. He is not completely against Lady Katara, but is not quite happy about the union between her and the Fire Lord, either. But, as he is always saying, only a fool, wanting to loose his position on the council, speaks against the Fire Lord's wishes – so he keeps his opinion to himself.
Anyway, where is the Fire Lord? Lady Ming can't help but wonder. Traditionally, he is supposed to be here, inside the temple, where his subjects, his guests can see him. She can clearly remember the day of Iroh's wedding, the then crown prince not being able to stay still even for a moment; she can also remember the day of Ozai's marriage, the former Fire Lord standing there like a marble statue. But where is Fire Lord Zuko?
She hears the drums then, coming closer, getting louder – the parade has finally arrived. Everybody starts turning backwards, trying to see the bride the moment she enters the temple.
For a few moments, nothing happens; then a whisper starts from those who are sitting close to the doors – the Fire Lord is outside, standing in the scorching midday sun in front of the temple, rushing to meet the palanquin carrying his bride, helping her to get off. Some also speak of hastily whispered secrets and a stolen kiss, but you can never know – the whispered tale is nothing more than a gossip by the time it reaches the front rows.
It's scandalous, some says. Most of them are the ones who are not happy with the marriage anyways. The Fire Lord is lowering himself down to this… girl. They don't care that her father is the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe – that doesn't make her nobility, they say. She's just a commoner, a peasant. And the Fire Lord, by bending his knees in front of her, and taking the place of a servant when helping her getting off the palanquin, brings shame to his own nation.
A completely political marriage, where the girl is forced upon their ruler, without any emotional ties, they could accept. But a marriage where the parties are differ in rank in their eyes, yet there is affection between them – no, they can't bear that.
The others, thought, the ones who have supported the union anyway, are thrilled. They see it as the loveliest, most romantic gesture the Fire Nation has seen in the last century. When he was crowned, Fire Lord Zuko promised an era of love and peace – and he seems to be sticking to his word.
The whispers die in an instant as the Fire Lord enters the temple with his bride on his arm. Their backs straight, their steps regal, but they are so… Lady Ming can't even find the right words to describe them. Free. Careless. Happy.
She fixes her gaze on them, trying to drink in every little detail.
They are smiling slightly – not completely content and relaxed smiles, but rather like the ones teenagers wear on their first date. The Fire Lord is tall and broad-shouldered and handsome in spite of the scar on his face, wearing traditional Fire Nation robes. Lady Mind can hardly believe it that he is the same little boy she saw growing up, the same boy who was always fanning around Princess Ursa's skirt.
The girl, the young woman, he is leading to the altar seems so small, so fragile next to him. She is beautiful, yes, but Lady Ming can't help but note that her dress is a little bit overdone, a little bit too much. The dressmakers tried to merge both nations into that dress, but they didn't really succeed. Of course, she isn't saying that it isn't pretty – it's just that in her opinion, Princess Ursa was prettier on her wedding day.
They reach the altar and turn towards the guests – their subjects. By then, everybody is standing – propriety dictates that. Fire Lord Zuko and Lady Katara slightly bow to their direction; the guests return the gesture, bowing their heads much lower. Then the groom and the bride face each other, kneel down, and the ceremony starts.
Lady Ming watches, mesmerized – she has always liked these royal functions. The ceremony is not quite the one she is used to – there are some Water Tribe traditions added here and there, like that they thank the union not only Agni, but Tui and La, too. And then some parts of it are emitted – parts that are too stiff, too formal. Parts that are not at all about the young couple tying their lives together, but the overdone, too old, too stern ceremony, that has lost its meaning in the last century anyway. Lady Ming likes it better this way – it's much less complicated, much more intimate. It also signals what some fear: this union is not solely about politics.
It ends way too soon. Iroh's lasted nearly two hours a little bit more then three and a half decades ago; Ozai's was a slightly shorter a little bit over two decades ago, maybe one and an half our long, since he was less important than his brother. This one, the marriage of two people who put an end to the war, bringing peace and putting out the chaos, is hardly longer than an hour. But it's better this way, Lady Ming thinks – and anyway, her old bones can't bear sitting still this long anymore.
When the last prayer to the spirits is told, when they have drunk the tea they were supposed to, and they are free again of the ribbons that have been tied over their hands intertwined hands, the sage bows to them again, and the ceremony is over. Fire Lord Zuko and Lady Katara – oh, she is not yet Fire Lady, she has not yet been crowned – stand.
This is the part Lady Ming has waited the most.
What they do in these last few moments of the ceremony tells so much about the newly wedded couple. At the end of his wedding, Iroh kissed his new wife's hand. Ozai and Ursa bowed slightly to each other. She can't wait to see what happens now.
Everybody in the room holds their breath as the Fire Lord slowly embraces his new wife, leans in, and tenderly, almost chastely, kisses her.
A soft sigh escapes from Lady Ming.
Yes, it's a perfect ending for the ceremony, and a perfect beginning of their life together.