The Wedding

Zuko was beyond nervous. What if he messed up his vows? What if Azula pranked him at the altar? Why was she a bridesmaid?

Sokka came to get him. "It's time to get to it!"

"Um, I need to …"

"Come on let's go bro!"

Sokka took Zuko and pushed him out the door.

Ty Lee walked opposite Sokka and Azula was opposite Aang. The Princess hated this stupid dress. Katara watched from above and did enjoy the view.

"Shouldn't they have found her a more chaste dress?" Ursa commented, her daughter's breasts almost hanging out.

"It had been for Mai's cousin, but she got fat," Katara told her.

"Of course." Azula would ordinarily never agree to wear such a thing.

Kiyi had been the flower girl and she was adorable as she scattered her roses about.

Mai's father walked her down the aisle. She still wasn't sure if he had been apart of the plot to kill Zuko four years earlier, but she decided to stay in contact with him, if for no other reason than to keep an eye on him.

"You look gorgeous," he told her before she got to the front. She handed her bouquet to Ty Lee. Zuko pinned back her veil and the Head Sage started to marry them.

"We are gathered here to day to witness the holy matrimony of Fire Lord Zuko and Princess Mai."

Azula had a pot cookie for breakfast. She was trying not to giggle at Zuko. He looked so nervous. He was born a dweeb.

The couple exchanged their vows.

Zuko promised to always love and cherish her. Mai said she'd be there to clean up his messes.

Azula did laugh at that; sorry Zuzu, she tried.

They kissed in front of a cheering crowd before they walked down the aisle. Princess Mai was now Fire Lady Mai.

The dragons sent a plume of fire into the air for celebration. Everyone got ready for the cocktail hour that preceded the feast.

"I'm gonna get drunk!" Sokka had a cocktail in each hand.

"Don't forget you have to give a speech," Suki cautioned.

"Hah!" Azula said. "This I have to hear!"

"I'm giving a speech too!" Ty Lee said.

Katara found her wife. "You almost made it through the ceremony without laughing."

"I blame Mai for that!"

"I'm the bride. I'm blameless all day and night!"

"Does that mean I should blame Zuko instead?"

"Sure."

"When you gonna put a ring on it?" Toph asked Sokka.

"I um …"

"It's been five years, more than that actually."

"I know but um …"

"He's still sowing his wild oats," Azula retorted.

"He better not be!" Suki threatened.

"Thanks a lot, sis!"

"I told you not to call me that."

"So who's getting married next? Will it be Snoozles and Fan girl or Twinkle Toes and the Acrobat?"

"Maybe it will be you and Haru?" Ty Lee teased.

"WHAT?" She never heard anything so ridiculous in her life.

"Toph and Haru sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g!" Azula and Ty Lee sang in unison.

"You suck!" she ran away.

"Actually I don't," Azula laughed.

Ty Lee shook her head.

The cocktail hour lasted two hours. Qiu noticed Mai's father talking to some of the men on their watch list. She reported it to her c.o., but he didn't think anything of it, as it was his daughter's wedding. Qiu thought about saying nothing, but she decided to tell the Princess.

Once Azula heard the names, she knew it could easily be trouble. "Was it a short conversation?"

"No, they had their pipes out and must have been there at least 40 minutes."

Azula had some friends from the Dai Li in attendance. She asked them to keep their eyes open for signs of trouble.

She also told the royal doctor to have all his antidotes ready.

Azula kept drinking to keep up appearances. She didn't want anyone to know that she was plotting. She used her heatbending to avoid actually being drunk. She was a little buzzed, but nothing she couldn't fight with. If there were an ambush tonight, it would get ugly, for the assassins.

Once the cocktail hour was over, people started making their way to the feast. It didn't start for another thirty minutes, giving people time to find the bathroom beforehand, but people wanted to get inside. It was hot out there.

Azula asked Mai if she had her knives on her.

"Always!" There was a weapon's belt on her thigh. "What's going on?"

"Unsure yet, but I have a bad feeling that something's going to go down tonight."

"Of course it is. Make sure Ty Lee is ready."

Azula put her warm hands on Ty Lee's arm.

"What are you doing?" Ty Lee questioned.

"Helping you metabolize your booze, so you aren't drunk."

"But I got drunk on purpose."

"I know, but you need to be ready to fight tonight."

"You don't mean?"

"I think someone's going to try for a red wedding."

"Well crap!"

They needed to watch for arrows, waiters with knives, poisoned food or drink and a possible ambush at the doors.

But first, the feast started. They all got to their table. Mai's parents were on her left and Ursa and Noren were on Zuko's right.

The Dai Li watched all of the food that came out of the kitchen. Nothing looked like it had been tampered with.

When Azula saw the signal, she started to eat her food. It was a nine-course meal. The first course was an amuse bouche and the last one would be dessert.

"This is only one bite," Sokka complained.

"That's what an amuse bouche is," Suki told him.

"I'm not amused!"

This would be quite a culinary experience. Some of the best chefs in the nation came together to make this special menu.

"That was good, whatever it was," Toph said.

"I think they made up these dishes just for the wedding," Haru told her.

"Oh cool!"

Ling came with the acolytes to the wedding. He never thought he'd be at a wedding in the Fire Nation palace of all places.

"This food is awesome!" They had done a special vegetarian menu for the guests from the Southern Air Temple.

The girls were fussing over who got to dance with him first. Ling could totally get used to this. Hopefully, his family could come to the end of the war party. Ba Sing Se was about the same distance to their home as the palace, but it would be less daunting for them to go to a party in the Earth Kingdom than it would be to go to one in the heart of the Fire Nation. His mother probably had a heart attack, when he sent her a letter telling her he was coming to the Fire Lord's wedding as a guest.

After the one bite treat, came gumbo (tomato carrot soup for the vegetarians), oyster prawn ceviche (a spicy fruit salad for the vegetarians), salad, and then the main course which was either smoked cow pig, grilled unagi, or a tofu paella depending on how you rsvp'd. The last four courses included a digestif, a cheese plate (with a wine pairing), miniature steam buns (either meat or red bean) and then dessert, which was fire flake ice cream.

The room was packed and everyone was enjoying his or her meal, eating, drinking and chatting with those to the left and to the right. The wine kept coming to the tables, keeping people drunk and happy. Aang didn't partake and Ling alternated between booze and water. He did not want his first public outing to make him appear to be a lush.

Azula would periodically heatbend her wife to help her with the alcohol.

"Thanks for the assist," she whispered.

"Always."

Ursa's tolerance was higher than most, and she could use her heatbending to avoid getting too drunk. Noren was trashed. Kiyi said, "Daddy looks funny!" Everyone at the table laughed.

During the digestif, it was time for the speeches. Ty Lee went first.

"Mai is a thinker. You can tell because she rarely smiles." The crowd started to laugh. "While she is contemplating what is around her, Zuko is often getting his foot caught in his mouth. Mai seems disinterested, but she is really figuring out how to undo whatever Zuko just did."

Zuko frowned. Mai rubbed his hand.

"I think my best example of this was when Zuko and Mai were at the market. It was their two-year anniversary, and he took her to celebrate by getting her favorite pastries as a snack on the way to their date. As they were getting the pastries, the shopkeeper, a female, looked pregnant. So Zuko broke the cardinal rule and asked her when her baby was due. As it turned out, she had just gained a few kilos, and they all went towards her stomach."

"OOOH!" the crowd laughed.

"She immediately got angry; apparently people said this to her all the time and she finally snapped, and she tried to strike Zuko with her wok. Mai instinctively threw her stilettos at the woman's arm, pinning her to the back wall, and Zuko ran off with the steam buns, Mai protecting his blindside as they got away.

Zuko and Mai, I wish you two a lifetime of happiness. Mai, I hope you packed your stilettos for your honeymoon!"

The crowd was laughing boisterously.

"Only Sparky would do that," Toph lamented.

Sokka went next. "I have my own Maiko story that I hope will delight you all."

"He did not just say Maiko," Katara muttered.

"It was at the second End of the War Party in Ba Sing Se when…"

Suddenly an arrow came towards Sokka. Thinking quickly, Ling deflected it, making it hit the wall behind him.

Mai had a knife in her hand. She turned around just to see the waiter coming for Zuko's neck and got him in the shoulder. The man was forced to drop his knife. Ty Lee quickly chi blocked him before he could try to get away. He collapsed on the ground.

Azula was crouched, ready to fight at a moment's notice.

The room quickly got filled with assailants and the most of the guests were too drunk to do anything, even try to get away. Apparently, someone had bribed the catering company into pouring heavy that night. They had been working on getting people tanked since the cocktail hour.

The attacking men had all kinds of weapons, jiis, swords and hammers attacked to chains and about half of them were also firebenders. There were about 30 of them in all, but they were in two different groups, emerging from the western and the northern doors.

Most of the guards were MIA. Several of them had been knocked out, allowing for the attack in the first place.

Qiu, however, was waiting for her chance to strike, hiding in the corner behind the offending brigade. Like Xiao Long had instructed, she would wait until the last moment.

Azula quickly channeled her dragon.

The wedding is under attack.

Xiao Long had been meandering around outside. Do you think I can fit through the doors?

If you come in at an angle.

I'm on it!

Azula didn't have time to wait for the rescue. She quickly jumped to the front, challenging the intruders to a fight.

"Oh you'll get it Princess!"

A hammer came flying at her from across the room. She ran towards it, grabbing the chain and sending it back the other way with a harsh pull, and it managed to strike the owner in the chest, making him crash into the wall and lose consciousness. The Princess sent a giant blast of fire on the heels of the hammer attack and the fight was on.

Ling was excited to get some real fighting action. He had trained most of his life but never had a chance to actually fight, other than his previous bout with the Princess. He conjured up a windstorm and sent it at the mercenaries, gashing them with his razor like wind.

The audience was stunned. Most of them did not know there was another airbender. Who was this man and where had he come from?

Mai was throwing knives. Ty Lee was at a disadvantage since she attacked from up close and the fighters had weapons that could strike her long before she could get close enough to chi block them. Instead of approaching the mob, she stayed back to defend the royal family.

With both mobs distracted by Azula's unexpected ability to challenge them, Qiu was able to attack the second group from behind, taking out two men with her firebending before she had been spotted.

Once the men did notice her however, she was in trouble. It was 13 on 1 and she was up against a wall.

She sent a wall of fire, knowing it wasn't enough, but hoping that she could buy time until the rest of the guards showed up. They should have been here already, but Qiu couldn't wait for them to appear. She had to confront the threat now.

When the wall failed, Qiu expected to die or at least to get seriously injured. Instead, a gust of wind sent her assailants flying at her. She ducked, causing them to crash into the wall behind her instead of hitting her.

Aang had confronted the mob. Toph joined him, using her metalbending to shackle them as they tried to recover from a vicious air attack. Aang had learned the move from Ling and although he had been hesitant to use it against someone, he figured an attempted red wedding was a good enough reason.

Azula remembered why she hated dresses when she tried to fight in this tight yellow one. When a dagger gashed Azula's arm, Ursa snapped. She jumped over the table, an amazing feat in her dress, and started sending fireballs at the man holding the bloody blade, burning him out of anger as he tried to protect his face.

"That is one pissed off mama," Ty Lee commented as Azula regrouped and focused on the remaining threats.

Zuko had wanted to fight, but Iroh urged him to stand down. He was the head target and Azula was bred for this. He hated the idea of using his sister as his shield, but he was right. Azula had no qualms about being outmatched. Just when it couldn't get any more obvious that this attack had been a bad idea, Azula's dragon flew through the west doors and started headbutting any foe still standing. They were no match for a dragon in such confined quarters. Their long ranged weapons proved useless against her.

"Where were those guards?" Zuko demanded to know.

"I was right here," Qiu said, her armor a bit dented from the fight but other than that unscathed. "I don't know where the other ones went. I saw one missing from his post, so I rang the alarm but the rope was cut. It didn't do anything. I came right here, but I was the only one who showed."

When they searched the palace, they found passed out guards stuffed into closets. They were unsure of what happened to them

"I was at my post and then I was out."

They all had similar stories.

The doctor rubbed one guard's face with a rag and said, "There's an chemical on his face. Someone must have knocked him out with it."

"How did they get through the mask?" Zuko questioned.

"They could have vaporized it, so it knocked them out anyway."

"But wouldn't that have gotten to the people inside?" Mai questioned.

"What if they tampered with the masks?" Azula questioned. "Most guards don't put them on until their shifts start. If the assailants knew where the locker room was, they could have put the chemicals in the mask before the new shift showed up."

"Meaning they would all pass out near the same time, giving a perfect chance to strike," Mai added.

"But Qiu didn't pass out?" Zuko pointed out

"I take my uniform home," she told them. "I don't change in the locker room for obvious reasons."

"Where's the head guard?" Iroh questioned.

They found him tied up and gagged. He immediately blamed Mai's father. "He said he had a new business opportunity to discuss with me. I followed him and the next thing I know, I woke up in here."

The man had been buttering him up for weeks. It's why he didn't think anything of Qiu's report to him.

Mai's father and his other associates got arrested that night. He didn't say a word. He was just going to wait for his lawyer.

"Why would he attack when his daughter just became Fire Lady?" Aang questioned.

"Because he was going to take out the entire line of Sozin and try to become the next Fire Lord," Azula told him. "He was unhappy with the post Zuko had given him after the war and started planning to get rid of him right away. He had to halt his plans when I came home because I had convinced some of his then allies to support Zuko's new government.

He spent the last four years trying to get both the money for the mercenaries and enough support to make his family the next royal family. He thought that having Mai be the widow daughter would get the public on his side."

"How did you learn all of this so quickly?" Mai questioned.

"I never really trusted him when I came back to the palace. There were too many former associates of his implicated in plans to kill Zuko. I knew he would know if I was watching him, so I purposefully told the intelligence team not to watch him.

Instead, I told them to watch his friends and over the past month, a lot of money changed hands through various intermediaries. To try and cover up the trail, they ran all of the money for the assassination through Republic City, but I got a heads up about it.

One of the bankers thought it suspicious that money kept coming from the Fire Nation to Republic City and right back. I knew an attack was coming, but I didn't know when. It wasn't until my conversation with Qiu this afternoon that I realized it was likely tonight.

I didn't want to halt the festivities or create a panic, so I had the Dai Li make sure the food wasn't poisoned and made sure to stay sober in case I needed to fight. I knew Aang wasn't drinking, Ling wouldn't be too drunk and even if Toph were plastered, she'd still be ready to kick some butt, so I had to hope it was enough.

In hindsight, I should have told Xiao Long to just come in and level them."

Katara folded her arms. "And why didn't you tell me any of this?"

"Because you're a horrible liar," Azula said. "If you even suspected something was up, Mai's father would have known I had him. I wouldn't have let anything happen to you."

"Oh I know that," Katara snapped. "But we're a team. I have to look out for you too, and I can't do that if I don't know assassins are going to storm the wedding."

Azula kissed her nose. "I promise to make it up to you."

"Oh you will, and you're not using sex."

Zuko groaned.

"Even if I just do you?"

"Too much fun for you. It satisfies your egomania."

Damn! "Well I'll come up with something else. Anyway, we should go back to the wedding. There's a cake to eat and all other kinds of stuff to do."

The guests sobered up while the investigation had halted the wedding. When the royal family returned, Azula announced, "there had been an attempt to wipe out the royal family. All of the nobles involved have been arrested. Party on!"

Mai knew not to trust her father. It still pissed her off that he tried to kill Zuko today. "I guess there will be no father/daughter dance."

"I'd be delighted to dance with you," Iroh offered.

"I gladly accept."

Zuko and Mai danced together first.

"So glad you packed your knives."

"I could kill your sister for keeping so many secrets."

"If she didn't though, would she still be Azula?"

"Since when are you insightful?"

"I didn't think you could firebend like that," Azula said to her mother as they watched Zuko try to dance.

"I didn't either. He just made me so mad when he hurt you."

"It was fun wasn't it?"

Ursa frowned before she laughed. "Yeah that was awesome."

The rest of the guards were back on duty once the doctor cleared them. The head guard however, was under investigation. Azula was troubled that he ignored a major warning sign at the wedding and that he had "absentmindedly" told Mai's father about the guard's locker room and shift schedule. If he wasn't in on it, his competency was clearly questionable.

He may be looking at forced retirement.

Aang was introducing Ling to the rest of Team Avatar.

"Those airbending moves were sick nasty awesome!" Sokka told him.

"Snoozles, you're lucky that arrow missed you."

"It wasn't luck. I deflected it," Ling said."

"You can airbend that quickly?"

Ling airbended Toph into a gentle gust of air.

"Dang! Twister boy."

"Well hopefully, this will be the last attack on the palace," Katara said before she kissed her wife. They were dancing happily.

"I think we sent the message loud and clear." Azula would be seizing the assets of every noble involved with the attack. It would serve as a deterrent to anyone who thought they could get away with such a thing and it would make the Crown a fair bit of money.

The rest of the party went as planned from the cake to the fireworks.

Zuko and Mai thanked everyone for coming, and especially those who helped quell the insurrection.

He carried her in his arms and they were off.

"Don't drop her Zuzu!"

"Shut up Azula!"

"OW!" Mai yelled at him as he accidentally carried her into the wall.

"Sorry!"

Azula snickered.

"You're terrible," Ursa told her.

"Just doing my job."

"Which is?"

"Annoying my big brother."

"Speaking of annoying brothers," Katara went off to go mess with Sokka. She made a cup of ice cubes and dropped them down his shirt.

"OH MY SPIRITS COLD!" he yelled as he danced all over the floor.

Suki laughed at him.

"You didn't see that coming," Sokka complained.

"I saw it, but …"

"Betrayal!"

Sokka vowed to get his revenge.

He quickly forgot about his vow, however, when Suki came back with more cake.

Zuko and Mai had to wait for the guards to check their room for assassins or sabotage before properly enjoying their wedding night.

"I'm glad I didn't die tonight," Zuko said before he kissed his wife.

"Yeah, me too."

The Fire Lady had bought a special outfit to change into before they consummated their marriage.

Zuko burped fire when he saw her come out in a white, lacy, he didn't know what it was called, but it looked hot.

"Does that mean you like what you see?" She had a smirk on her face as she straddled him.

He nodded. His heated hands made their way up to her breasts before she pushed them away.

"I'm in charge."

"Yes my Lady."

She put her hands on her shoulder and slid down, so her body was right on top of his. She wouldn't admit it, but she asked Ty Lee to teach her a few tricks for her wedding night. She really wanted to rock his world.

"Dim the lights. I want you to be able to see me as we do this."

Her voice was sultry and Zuko was trying not to lose it just looking at her. He was really glad he was alive right now.

Mai's father wasn't taken to Boiling Rock. With his brother in law still the warden, Zuko decided to send him elsewhere. He should have known that Azula was too smart, that she would get in the way.

Their plan would have been perfect without her. Kill Sokka while he's making a speech. While everyone's distracted, stick a knife in Zuko's neck. Azula had a reputation for being drunk at weddings. The way she had been drinking, he was sure that she'd slip up, that the mercenaries would be able to take her down. Iroh, the pathetic bastard, didn't even put up a fight. He was content with letting Azula do the fighting. They could have taken him. He hasn't done any real training in five years.

Mai's father gave everything to Ozai and Azulon before him. He deserved more than he got from that jerkoff Zuko and it's not like Mai's being Fire Lady would have gotten him anything. Maybe she comes by to visit Tom Tom, but she offered him nothing over the five years she's had the Fire Lord under her thumb. That ungrateful bitch!

His wife had only been a pawn. She didn't know that the seating chart had been arranged the way it was to keep them out of harm's way during the ambush, to put Zuko in a place where he could be easily stabbed in the neck, to leave Azula front and center to the danger.

He wondered if she'd get arrested too or if Mai would help her out. Who cares?