Chapter 27
Final Moments
Azula sat sulking. The days had passed quickly but she felt she hadn't accomplished very much. Ty Lee and Mai were nice to her, Katara was trying, and Suki was hesitantly accepting her company. Toph would be in the same room with her but usually ignored her presence unless she was laughing at Azula's failed attempts at niceness. Being nice was much harder than it looked.
Azula had tried to help with the wedding decorations and had ended up messing them up more and been kicked out of the garden. She'd gone to be fitted for her dress, and had made the mistake of siding with Purya about the color and was met with the rage of Katara's grandmother. She'd tried to strike up a conversation with the boy in the wheelchair and accidentally pushed him down a hill.
The wedding rehearsals had been just as much of a disaster. She hadn't been expect to attend so she had to be worked in. She'd been moved from one spot to the other and had grown so frustrated she ended up yelling at the old man who was positioning everyone and he had looked so terrified of her that the guards had come out with sedatives.
Why was she such a failure at being good? She had never failed at anything in her life. She was always the best. This was supposed to be easy. She should have a whole legion of friends by now and they should be writing sonnets about her unbelievable kindness. She sat pouting in the garden and twisting a strand of hair around her finger. She was trying to come up with a new plan of attack. Tonight was the party for Katara and the party for her brother. She had gone with Mai and Ty Lee to look at gifts for her soon to be sister-in-law. Only she had no idea what to get the younger girl. She searched for the longest time and finally settled on something she hoped would go over well.
She dropped her head in her hands. This was so frustrating.
"Hey. Hey. You okay?" Azula looked up at the soft prodding on her shoulder. There was a little boy standing next to her.
"Where'd you come from?" She drew back. Children weren't her strong point.
The little boy pointed to off over his shoulder, and then turned back to her.
"We paint now?" He asked, holding out a handful of papers, paint, and brushes.
"How did you get in here? Don't you belong to someone?" Azula asked.
"Nope." He said before he settled himself beside Azula and laid out a piece of paper in front of him and in front of her.
"Paint." He insisted, holding out a brush to her.
"Alright, alright. Who do you think you are anyway? Ordering me around. Do you know who I am?" She snatched the brush out of his hand. "What are we painting?"
"Dunno." He shrugged, dipping his brush in some red paint and then beginning to scribble over his page.
"Well I hope you're not trying to draw anything because that's a horrible start." Azula informed him.
He looked up at her blankly and then pointed to her empty page. "Paint now."
"Fine, I'm painting. I was just saying, you might want to start over if you expect that to look any good." Azula said.
"You're trying to give a two-year-old pointers on painting, Azula?" She nearly jumped out of her skin at her brother's voice.
"Zuko! How do you people just keep popping up? I used to be so alert." Azula snapped.
"I didn't mean to startle you. I was just trying to see where Soshi ran off to." Zuko shrugged.
"Soshi?" Azula asked.
"Him." Zuko pointed at the kid who was grinning up at her.
"Oh…Where'd he come from?" Azula asked.
"The orphanage." Zuko said.
"What?" Azula snatched her hand as far away from the kids as possible.
"Azula." Zuko sighed.
"What? We're being nice to nameless peasants now?" She asked.
"He's not a peasant. He's a little boy." Zuko said.
"So he's a little boy peasant." Azula shrugged.
"Are you going to be nice or not?" Zuko asked.
"I'm trying, it's just not working out so hot right now." Azula sighed.
"Well, an important thing to learn is to accept others, no matter their birth. So you play with Soshi and see if you can learn a few things from him." Zuko said.
"What am I going to learn from a kid?" Azula sneered.
"I don't know. I learned a lot. He's too young to care about position and power yet. He just wants to have fun and enjoy life. I think if more people had that attitude the world would be a better place." Zuko shrugged.
"Ugh, you're goodness makes me sick Zuzu. I don't have to talk like that too when I become the master of good, do I?" Azula frowned.
Zuko rolled his eyes. "You can talk however you want. Now paint."
He pulled out a sheet of paper for himself and took a brush offered to him by Soshi. The courtyard was silent as the three worked on making their own version of a masterpiece out of a blank piece of paper.
- -
Katara was in the final fitting for her wedding dress. Both Gran-gran and Purya were giving each other hard looks as Purya and the water tribe dressmaker tugged on different parts of the dress to straighten it, pulled any loose threads free, and make sure every jewel was in place. Katara was practicing taking controlled breaths in the tight dress and admiring her outfit in the mirror.
She smiled looking over her shoulder at Yumi and Freya who were giggling and spinning in their pretty flower girl dresses. Purya had been outraged at the idea of having to dress peasants but Katara wouldn't hear a word of it. She was fond of the little girls and she wanted them to be in her wedding. Even Soshi had a part. He would be their ring bearer along with Momo.
Despite being in a strange place following a lot of somebody else's cultures Katara had found her own small ways to make her wedding feel like a comfortable family event. She was glad she had added to the number of faces in the crowd that were smiling for her and not because they were ordered to.
"Oh, Katara put your veil on. You're going to be so beautiful tomorrow. I'm so excited." Suki smiled at her.
Ignoring the sounds of Purya's outrage, the water tribe seamstress's disapproval, and her grandmother's calls to get back on the stool Katara danced off to twirl around with Suki, Toph, and Ty Lee in their pretty dresses. Mai looked on without enthusiasm, wondering if she could somehow get out of this glee session like Azula. Azula's attempt at honesty had landed her in a world of trouble when she'd been fitted for her own dress. Gran-gran had gotten so frustrated with her she'd kicked the princess out of the room since they had her measurements. Mai yawned, bored, she couldn't wait for this wedding to be over and for life to take on some semblance of normalcy again.
Gran-gran just sighed and decided to let Purya deal with Katara for the moment. She had far too much to do to be chasing after her granddaughter right now. She checked with the royal tailor to be sure all the men's robes were done. She was thankful the White Lotus members were so organized so she didn't have to worry about the boys so much. After getting the assurance that all the men had robes and they were fitted, she then checked that off her list of concerns.
Next on her list was flowers, they had imported many flowers from the north and south pole that had arrived recently and were still in the process of being mixed with the fire nation flowers they had decided to use. She walked the long distance to where the flowers were being stored and cared for. She nodded approvingly at the mix of center pieces, boutonnieres, corsages, bouquets for the bridesmaids, and the largest bouquet of them all for Katara, the mix of red and blue flowers was a beautiful scene. There were a couple of small baskets prepared for the girls dropping flowers as well, Gran-gran sifted through the mix to be sure they held equal mixes of red and blue with a bit of white sprinkled in for accent. Once satisfied, she checked that off her list too. Tomorrow was going to be perfect.
Gran-gran planned to spend the rest of the day overseeing the decorations and checking in on the cooks to be sure all was going well in the kitchens. Nothing was going to ruin this wedding.
- -
It was getting to be pretty late when Katara finally put Yumi and Freya to bed in one of the extra palace bedrooms. She wasn't going to send them back to the orphanage when they'd have to be up again tomorrow anyway for hair and light make up before the wedding. The rest of the children from the orphanage would be brought up tomorrow to see the wedding as well.
Smoothing the girls' hair back from their faces, Katara stood and proceeded into the hallway. She hadn't made it very far with a hand covered her mouth and a blind fold was pulled over her eyes.
Katara's first reaction was to struggle until she heard Suki's voice saying, "Party time!"
Based on the height she was lifted to she assumed she had been thrown over Toph's shoulder.
"Let's go!" Ty Lee's voice chimed in next.
- -
"Oh ZUKO! TIME TO STOP WORKING!" Sokka shouted, throwing open the doors to Zuko's study. "All work and no play makes for a very crabby firebender. Let's go big bro'."
"Go where? And don't ever call me that again or I will have to kill you." Zuko frowned, as Sokka grabbed his arm and dragged him out of the room.
"TO P-A-R-T-why? Because it's your last night of freedom before you marry my sister." Sokka pumped his free fist in the air. "And what do you mean don't call you that again? I've got great rhyming skills and tomorrow you will be my brother-in-law."
"Somehow I think this is more about you finding any excuse to party and brother-in-law or not, just call me Zuko." Zuko said folding his arms.
"When I get married you as my Fire Lord brother-in-law have absolutely no excuse to not throw me the awesomest party in the history of parties." Sokka gushed at the idea of his own party.
"Isn't that Aang's job?"
"Nope, you have more resources at your disposal for my grand scale shebang though maybe you should work together and make is twice as awesome…but now that you mention it. Have you seen Aang anywhere?"
"No, I'm not exactly his favorite friend right now, Sokka."
"He just needs time. I think it's hit him pretty hard that Katara's kind of getting comfortable with all of this. I'm sure he's off meditating somewhere, which is a shame because he's going to miss an awesome party."
"I think I wish I was missing an awesome party."
- -
Katara was dropped onto a soft chair and then her blindfold was removed.
"Welcome, to your last single night party. To kick this event off, we've got SAKI!" Suki and Ty Lee cheered as they produced a stash of alcohol. "If you're old enough to get married, you're old enough to drink."
"What about me?" Toph asked.
"We won't tell if you don't." Ty Lee giggled.
"Sweetness." Toph grinned as she held out a cup.
"Now for the first event pick a buddy, then over there is a stash of fabric, make up, and various hair accessories. Your goal is to have one of the two create a wedding dress on the second person who will then have to make it through our bridal obstacle course without destroying their dress. The winner gets to give Katara her wedding present first." Suki commanded. "So grab and buddy and go, go, go!"
Azula glowed at the idea of competition.
"Mai, you with me, now…um, please." She ordered, grabbing Mai's arm and dragging her over to the pile of fabric.
"Okay then Toph, you're mine." Ty Lee bounced excitedly as she latched onto Toph's arm and jerked to over to the pile and began battling with Azula for the best fabrics.
'Oh no.' Katara thought as Suki turned a wicked grin on her.
"Looks like you're my model, Katara. Let's do it." She cried, jumping in on the cloth battle.
- -
Zuko stared at the vast room before him wondering where on earth Sokka found all these people. He had managed to fill an entire ballroom up with men, loud music, and alcohol.
"Sokka, where did you find all these people?" Zuko asked him.
"I don't know, some are people from the first party, some are random people we met during our travels who have shown up for the wedding, and some probably just heard about it and showed up. Doesn't matter, so long as they're here to PAR-TAY!" Sokka threw his hands up in the air dancing his way into the room like a crazy person.
Zuko sighed following him in with much less enthusiasm.
"Commence the drinking games! The man of the hour has arrived!" Sokka shouted.
"I don't really think your sister will appreciate me showing up to the wedding with a hangover." Zuko pointed out.
"No worries, the wedding is practically at night, you'll have plenty of time to recover. But if you really don't want to get hammered, just laugh at how dumb the rest of us get when we're drunk out of our minds."
Zuko considered this for a moment. Getting drunk himself probably wasn't a good idea, but watching Sokka make even more of a fool out of himself than usual might be worth staying for.
Shrugging he said, "Party on then."
A cheer went up from the gathered men who were just ready to drink themselves under the table. It was only then that women entered the room with serving trays loaded with drinks.
"Sokka?" Zuko said, turning a suspicious look on him.
"What? They're not from a brothel. I went around to the local pubs and asked for bartenders. You're safe, Katara won't be killing you or me in the morning." Sokka grinned. Zuko just shook his head. That was a perfectly logical thing to do but how many of these men would remember that when they were drunk. Then again, if these were local bartenders, Zuko found himself a good seat, he couldn't wait to see the first drunken idiot get smacked down by one of these women.
- -
The girls giggled at the crazy outfit Azula had designed for Mai. For the night they had decided to put aside their differences and try to bond. Katara actually liked that idea considering Azula would be her sister-in-law after tomorrow. She had laughed out loud when Azula titled her creation 'Bride Protector of Goodness.' Mai was wrapped from head to toe in white cloth with hair pieces stuck in it to hold it together. Her makeup was a bit of a mess and when she tried to move in the dress the hair clips began to pop out and the dress began falling apart.
"It's just a minor wardrobe malfunction." Azula called as she attempted to fix the dress. The more Azula tried to fix it, the more it came undone and the two eventually gave up laughing at the failed attempt. It was the first time Katara had seen Azula laughed or even show a semblance of true happiness and Katara felt good about playing a part in that. Even Mai, had chuckled a bit at how ridiculous she looked and Azula's desperate attempts to save her creation.
Ty Lee's creation was beautiful but Toph's determined march made the hair clips holding it together loosen and the fabric began to droop. Ty Lee was calling out walking instructions but towards the end of the course her poor dress completely fell apart.
Katara was last to waddle through their course the girls had laid out. Her dress was the only one that didn't fall apart because it was wrapped so tight. However, she was the only one who had to hop most of the course because her outfit didn't really allow her to walk.
"So who wins?" Azula asked when Katara finally collapsed into the sea of pillows that littered the floor for the girls to sit on.
"How could I possibly choose? You and Mai had such determination, Ty Lee's was beautiful, and Suki's didn't fall apart." Katara laughed.
"Well then why don't we let Suki give her gift first since she planned all this?" Ty Lee suggested.
The others shrugged as they grabbed their individual gifts and waited to see what everyone else got.
Suki grinned excitedly as she gave her bag to Katara. Katara couldn't help but be excited as well by the look on Suki's face. She tucked her hair back behind her ears and then unwrapped the package Suki had given her. Katara frowned confused for a minute as she looked at the cloth and then lifted it up. Her face instantly turned red.
"Suki!" She squealed, trying to hide the lingerie from the other girls.
"What? You need something for your wedding night. Isn't it sexy?" Suki beamed, picking up the sheer red fabric to show the other girls the lace peek-a-boo baby doll style nightgown she had found. The nightgown was made of see through chiffon except for the silk cups. There was black embroidery around the deep v cut cleavage and Suki informed her that the cups should create a nice push-up-effect. Katara was eyeing the piece skeptically and she was fairly certain that the fabric wouldn't cover much farther than her hips. When Katara pointed this out Suki held up a pair of red silk panties that tied up on the sides.
"Got you covered." She grinned. "I wouldn't let you go into this completely unprepared, now would I?"
Katara just continued to blush as she mumbled her thanks and placed the gift to her side.
"Anything less embarrassing next?" Katara asked. The other girls began to exchange looks and whisper except for Azula who looked amused by them all.
"Did you all get me underwear?" Katara gaped.
"Well you are getting married." Ty Lee shrugged.
"And you clearly have no idea what you're doing." Mai sighed.
"Mine's actually a robe…a very short robe." Toph said.
"You're all perverts, did you know that? And I say that in the nicest way possible." Azula laughed.
"Thank you." Katara muttered, blushing.
"Well then what did you get her?" Ty Lee asked.
"Well what does every girl love?" Azula asked as if they were all incompetent. They looked at her not sure what Azula would be thinking. She was pleased that all their gifts were embarrassing because that meant she was the ultimate gift giver in comparison.
"Shoes! Pft, and you guys think I'm the crazy one." Azula snickered, rolling her eyes and tossing a neatly wrapped pack at Katara.
Katara proceeded to open it and ignore whatever the others were talking about. She smiled gratefully at Azula for the golden sandals with 'Just Married' engraved in the soles.
"But you can't wear them until after the wedding or it doesn't make sense." Azula warned.
Laughing Katara nodded and thanked Azula for the present.
"Okay, Katara, we had other games planned for tonight but we're putting them on hold as we obviously need to talk." Suki started.
"And drink." Ty Lee chimed in.
'Oh no.' Katara inwardly groaned.
"Talk about what?" She asked innocently.
"You need some pointers about the facts of life…if you know what I mean." Suki said.
"I don't suppose we could just not and say we did?" Katara suggested hopefully.
"No, we can't." Mai said flatly.
Katara attempted to sink into the pillows then. This was not good.
- -
Zuko was sitting low in his chair attempting to disappear. While it had been amusing watching the younger generation act stupid when they drank it appeared the older generation felt the need to impart their years of wisdom on him, now that they're tongues were loosened. He wasn't sure what scared him more, the dark looks Hakoda was giving him at the prospect of tomorrow night or the locker room talk going on between the elderly members of the White Lotus. Zuko was one hundred percent certain he did not want to hear any of this. In fact, he was pretty sure he was going to be sick if he had to listen to too much more of this.
- -
"You want me to do WHAT with my mouth?" Katara screeched. "That is sick and wrong on so many different levels I don't know where to begin."
"Does that really work, I've never done that?" Ty Lee asked.
"Oh yeah, they love it." Suki shrugged.
"Oh Kami, please stop. I don't even want to begin to think of what you and my brother do." Katara begged.
"Why'd you have to say that Sugar Queen? Now we're both suffering the mental images." Toph complained.
"Why do you need to know Ty Lee? Are you planning to do it to that Earth Kingdom boy?" Azula asked.
"NO!" Ty Lee shrieked. "I was just curious."
"Sure you were." Toph snickered.
"Should you even be here for this conversation?" Mai asked Toph.
"You can't kick me out now, I've heard this much and it's not like I haven't heard this kind of stuff before." Toph shot back.
"I wish I hadn't heard it at all." Katara jumped in.
"Oh, and not that I'm part of this conversation in any way because I so don't even want to begin thinking about you and my brother, but if you want I do still have those chains you tied me up with if you want them." Azula offered, trying to be helpful.
Katara's eyes were the size of saucers. "WHY THE HECK WOULD I WANT THOSE?"
"I was offering for the sake of sharing, isn't that what nice people do, share?" Azula replied, rolling her eyes.
"There are tons of reasons." Suki began again.
"For the love of all that's good and right, don't tell me any more. I don't want to know. Aren't I too young for this? Toph and I should just leave the room now. Come on Toph." Katara cut her off, jumping up and preparing to run.
"Actually I'm enjoying your embarrassment far too much to leave. Sorry Sugar Queen." Toph shrugged.
"Traitor." Katara wailed as she was tugged back down by Suki and Ty Lee.
- -
Zuko had finally managed to make his escape. He'd offered to go get more drinks and had ducked out of the party and made a mad dash for the safety of the courtyard. There he breathed a sigh as he sank down in front of the pond. A lone baby turtleduck scuttled across the pond and Zuko thought back to how he used to sit here with his mother. He smiled imagining his own son standing here with Katara, feeding the turtleducks. He then wondered briefly what kind of child they would have. Would he be a firebender, a waterbender, or both? Was it even possibly to be both without being the avatar? It seemed there was still so much that he didn't know.
- -
Katara was waiting desperately for Suki to pass out. Ty Lee had a short time ago from all she'd drunk while participating in the chat. Azula seemed to be falling asleep by now as well. Suki was teetering close to the to the edge. Mai was poised as usual but rarely offered anything to the conversation anyway. Toph was still downing drinks without seeming too affected.
Katara gave Mai a pleading look for what seemed like the hundredth time and the old girl finally decided to take pity on her.
"So where was it you found Katara's gift?" Mai asked Suki, distracting her so that Katara could make her escape.
'Thank you.' Katara mouthed to Mai and then tossed a cup at Toph in warning, as the younger girl was about to alert Suki to her escape. Katara didn't wait to see if her look worked as she ran to the one place she could almost always find peace.
'Thank Kami that's over.' Katara sighed, relieved as she made her way through the courtyard.
- -
Zuko looked up at the sound of someone else entering the courtyard. 'Oh no, they found me.' Was his first thought. However, it only took him a moment to recognize Katara. 'What's she doing here?' He wondered, standing up.
"Katara?" He called.
"Zuko? What are you doing out here?" She laughed, coming over to him. Her first thought when she heard someone move was that Suki had caught up to her already but relief swept through her as she entered his arms. "I'm not complaining or anything but I assumed you'd be having a party as well."
"To be completely honest with you, I'm hiding from my party. It was…scary to say the least." He shuddered dramatically to convey his point.
"I'm sure it was nothing compared to what I was subjected to." Katara disagreed.
"We could compare horror stories." Zuko grinned down at her.
Katara's face flushed red at the thought of telling Zuko what they'd been talking about at her party.
"Or we could not." She mumbled taking a seat on the bench nearest the pond.
"That bad?" Zuko snorted sitting next to her.
"Worse actually." She informed him.
"Azula didn't start fighting with anyone did she?"
"Nope, but that would have been preferable."
Zuko laughed at that. He was definitely curious now but Katara didn't seem likely to divulge any more information. Rather than press her for information, they lapsed into a comfortable silence. She leaned against him and he wrapped his arms around her. She leaned her ear against his chest and listened to the steady rhythm of his heart for a moment. She sighed; biting her lip, feeling conflicted once again.
She wanted to say something. She wanted to convey to him how she felt now. She wanted him to know that she was happy here and that she wanted to be with him but she didn't know what to say or how to say it. She struggled silently for a moment; trying to come up with the words, she needed to tell him how she felt.
"I don't…I don't hate this any more." She whispered, thinking back to their first conversation after they found out. She was silent waiting for his response. It scared her that he didn't say anything at first. His even breathing was all she could hear.
"I don't hate this either, Katara." He finally said. "In fact, I'm kind of looking forward to it and I hope you are too. I know I'm probably not the easiest person to love. I've made a lot of mistakes. I'm jealous, possessive, and not always sensitive to others needs. I'm rarely romantic and never sappy if I can help it. On top of that with how incredibly crazy and messed up my life has been I'm not even sure I really know what love is so I'll probably screw stuff up a lot but I do want to make this work. I want you to teach me to love you the way you deserve because if you still hated me after this it would probably destroy me. You are probably the most stubborn and infuriating person I've ever met but I only think that makes me love you more. I want to learn everything there is to know about you. I want to learn your every smile, what makes you laugh, what makes you cry, what . . ."
"I thought you said you were rarely romantic and never sappy." Katara grinned, cutting him off.
"You know, this was supposed to be one of those rare romantic moments. I've been sitting here working on it in my head for the last few minutes but it just kills you to let me get through a single romantic moment right." Zuko glowered at her.
"No, it doesn't. I actually thought it was really sweet but you were boarding on ridiculously sappy, so I was saving you from yourself. Do you secretly read romance novels?"
"What? Ridiculous! You're impossible, did you know that? I can't even tell you I think I love you without you picking a fight."
"You love me?" She whispered.
"I don't know." He grew quiet for a minute, thinking out his response. "I think I do. Like I said, I don't really know what love is. I'd like to love you. Whenever I'm away from you I can't get you off my mind, the thought of losing you terrifies me, and when I'm with you…I don't even know, it's just like suddenly, everything is alright. Does that make sense?"
She gave him a goofy smile.
"That makes perfect sense. It's the same way I feel about you." She blushed.
"Really?" He asked, his eyes searching hers desperately to be certain there were no signs of lies.
"Really." Her voice was barely audible now but it didn't matter. They were so close he had heard her. Their eyes traveled over each others faces and no words were allowed to disturb the moment. He was captivated by the way; her eyes sparkled in the vanishing moonlight. She was lost in the gold of his eyes. Their movements were unhurried as she leaned in close and he bowed his head down to hers. Their lips met, not for the first time, but it held the same magic. Their kiss was slow and gentle but carried the depth of their emotions. She cupped his cheek gently in one hand, caressing his jaw line and then stroking her fingertips up into his hair.
She pulled back briefly to gaze into his eyes once more.
"I think I love you too." She whispered, smiling at him, before kissing him again.
A/N: Alright guys, I know it's horrible timing but my family is going out of town and the day after we get back I move into my dorm so it may be a while before I get a chance to post or sit down and write again. I'm really sorry but I promise I will be back with the wedding and more as soon as I get the chance.
