Invitation

He stared at the piece of parchment as the minutes passed by. He knew he should've been doing other things, he had a stack of papers on his desk that needed reviewing, signing or something else, but he just couldn't draw his attention away from this letter. Ever since he had recieved it, it remained in the forefront of his mind.

He traced his thumb along the seafoam border trimmed with creme and white beads, his fingers delicately trailed the edge of the blue colored paper. He stared at the gold, his eyes roving over the words he had seen a thousand times before in the past few days. Four days to be exact. Four days since he had gotten Katara's wedding invitation.

She had told Zuko about it well in advance, of course. In her letters she had droned on and on about the planning and the flowers. He already knew what the center pieces would look like! But those were all just plans, ideas that may never come into existence, but this crafted piece of parchment was proof. Tangible, physical proof that Katara was getting married.

When she had told him about her engagement, he immediately wrote her letter back saying how happy he was for her, but that night he had tossed and turned all night with the single idea that Katara was engaged. Now, since he had gotten the actual wedding invitation sleep had become a foreign thing altogether.

Four long days and restless nights had not helped him in the slightest in figuring out how he felt about all this. He told her he was happy for her. He so desperately wished it were true.

Zuko slumped in his desk, hands over his face, wondering how this one piece of parchment could cause so much inner confusion. Am I really that horrible of a person that I can't be happy for my best friend? He cringed at the thought. Katara, who was kind even when he was undeserving, who pieced him back together when the weight of a struggling nation was too much, was now getting married and he had to try to be happy for her.

"What is wrong with me?" he said as he ran his hand through his shaggy hair.

He came to the conclusion that he was happy for Katara, but the happiness was tainted. As much as he wanted to he couldn't feel that pure, unblemished joy that should come when your best friend is getting married. His happiness was laced with fear that he was slowly losing Katara, hurt that he may no longer be a priority to her, anger at himself for being so selfish and a twinge of jealousy that she might find happiness with someone else.

He shook his head as if it will also shake away the lingering thoughts. He would just have to get over his conflicting emotions. He would go to her wedding and he would be happy for her. Because if our roles were reversed, she wouldn't even need to think about it.


Katara looked in the mirror for a long time, unable to believe that the woman standing before her would be getting married in just a few moments. She would be starting a new chapter of her life and today was just the first page.

"Katara, are you alright?" asked Kanna from the door.

"I'm fine, Gran-gran," she replied, still looking into the mirror.

Kanna walked over to stand behind her grandaughter. She placed her wrinkled hands on Katara's shoulders and both their gazes met in the mirror. "You look absolutely beautiful, Katara. I can't believe my grandaughter's getting married," she said, tears threatening to seep into her voice. "Your mother would be so proud of you, Katara. Of everything you've done and the woman you've become."

"Don't make me cry, Gran-gran," Katara said with a smile, tears welling up in her voice too. "Suki spent forever putting this make-up on me."

Kanna wiped away the brimming tears and laughed. "Look at me, you haven't even walked down the aisle yet and I'm already tearing up."

Katara turned around and embraced her grandmother, her role model. "I love you, Gran-gran."

"I love you too, Katara," Kanna replied, hugging her grandaughter back. When the two woman pulled away, Kanna held on to Katara's arms and looked her in the eye. "Are you sure this is what you want?"

Katara had asked herself this question countless times before. She would sift through her emotions and ambitions to try to find the answer and still she would end up unsure. What if marriage wasn't the right choice? What if she still wasn't ready? What if Karuk wasn't right for her? Sometimes she felt horrible for thinking these things, but was it wrong to worry about the future?

All these thoughts and questions had plagued her through all the planning and ordering of flowers and dresses and everything up until last week. One night she had to get away from her overly-crowded house and wedding talk just for a second. She went to the northern side of town so no one would bother her. She liked going there because it had the main bridge where if you took the time to climb up to, you were rewarded with the most amazing view of the city one could ever dream of. There she ran into Karuk. Through all the chaos that was wedding planning she ironically hadn't seen him much over the past few weeks. She had smiled and he had smiled back. They stood there together, staring down at the city, a comfortable silence that spoke a thousand words between them. And thats when she knew.

"I'm sure"


Zuko had seen Katara look beautiful in formal attire, in anything really, countless times before. But something about how she looked right now, as she walked toward the alter, made her stunning. Her skin glowed against the pale blue of her gown. Her shining crystal eyes, brimmed with excitement, yet still possessed a subtle sort of tranquility. But what made her beautiful, what made her truly breathtaking at that moment was her smile.

Katara always smiled, he had noticed it from the moment he'd joined he Gaang, before that even (although back then most of the smiles weren't directed toward him). He'd also been able to see that most of her smiles were for the benefit of others, a sort of duty she had taken on, to always seem happy. Always reassure everyone else that everything was alright, whether it was or not. It was something he'd always admired, yet pitied about her. There were moments when the smiles were real of course, when she was with her friends or when she was bending by the pond on a lazy summer day. But then there were moments when it was beyond that. Moments where one couldn't believe a person could hold so much happiness, so much light in them. This was one of those moments.

Zuko watched the ceremony unfold before him. The Elders recited the traditional blessings and prayers for the new couple. The vows exchanged included little jokes and subtle glances that only the bride and the groom could understand. They poured the wine from their seperate glasses into one goblet and drank from it, smiles steadfast as the liquid grazed their lips. Finally, the kiss came and everyone stood up to cheer and clap for the happy couple and Zuko joined them in hopes that the laughter would drown out the sound of his racing heart.


Zuko sat and watched the merriment around him as drank from his wine glass. He was the only one at the table now. The rest of his friends were dancing and had been for the past hour or so. They had repetedly asked him to join, but he was not in the dancing mood.

The reception was beautiful, a dream of blue and white. It was held in the town square, which Katara had informed him was where most of their big celebrations were held. Tables were scattered around the large tented area that was the dancefloor and strings of shells and beads hung from post to post. The lanterns illuminated the starkissed night and the cool summer air was fresh and smelled faintly of the sea.

He saw Katara walking towards him, her hair and dress billowing in the slight breeze that floated by, her smile still beaming. He noticed that she had let her hair down.

"You look like you're having fun," she said sarcastically, now sitting in the chair beside him.

"I am having fun," he defended.

"You're sitting here by yourself, drinking wine," she retorted.

"Maybe thats fun for me."

She rolled her eyes. "Come on, let's dance," she said, extending an arm out to him.

"I don't really feel like dancing," he said and immediately felt bad when her smile dimmed.

Katara had noticed that Zuko had been acting distant towards her ever since he arrived last week. When she met him at the docks, he had been quiet, offering a congratulations and not much more. She had shared comfortable silences with Zuko before, but that walk was different, like something was bothering him. Admittedly after that, she had been pulled in a thousand different directions to attend to last minute wedding details and hadn't really gotten a chance to talk to any of her friends. But even during meal times, Zuko seemed distracted, failing to add in an eye roll at Toph's antics or a witty remark to something Sokka had said. She asked him about it a few days ago, but he just brushed it off as work stress and she was pulled off somewhere else before she could push the issue.

"You can't say no to the bride on her wedding day," she pushed. "Please," she added when he still refused to get up.

He turned back to her and saw her eyes had a sort of pleading look in them in addition to the regular playfulness. I'm being selfish. It won't kill me to dance a little.

"Fine," he sighed.

She squealed delightedly as she stood up and he couldn't help but smile at how happy he'd made her by agreeing to such a simple thing. She led him, well, dragged him, into the crowd.

The music had mellowed from the traditional upbeat drumming solos of the water tribes to a softer type played on an instrument the resembled his own nation's sungi horn. He rested one hand on the small of Katara's back and took hold of her hand with the other. The music was soft and soothing as they swayed to the melody.

"So, you're married now," he commented.

She laughed, "Yeah, I guess I am."

"Do you think you'll like it? Married life?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Katara thought for a moment. She thought of how her life with Karuk would be. They would have wonderful times together, but were bound to face the hardships that came with life. But thats what she wants, a life filled with pain and pleasure, sorrow and delight, happiness and misery and everything else that life has to offer. And she wants to share that with someone else. When her hairs become silver and her bones become frail, she wants to look back on all the incredible memories with her husband by her side.

"Yes," she replied confidently.

"How are you so sure though?"

"Because I love him," she responded simply.

Zuko nodded and the pair let the music fill the lull in conversation as they continued to dance. As the song ended, Zuko pulled Katara close and told her what he'd been wanting to say all along. "I'm-I'm really happy for you, Katara."


A/N: This chapter should've been posted a while ago and I don't really have an excuse except for general disinterest. But I'm trying to get back into the pairing and find my muse again and I definitely will finish the story, because I hate it when authors just abandon their readers. I promise I will try to update faster