I own nothing except my oc's. No one but me can claim them. Ha Ha. I know you're jealous. ;)
The Truth
"Hey Haley," Jackie says seeing us approach and the others stop talking and turn to us.
"Awkward," I think but say, "Hi. So, what where you guys talking about?"
"Just deciding on what we're going to do after your guy's wedding," Phil replies.
"Oh, really, what are your plans?" I ask.
"Well, Sokka and Katara say I can go back to the South Pole with them," Aang begins.
"I'm thinking of heading back to the base with my dad," Ning says.
"I'll probably stay here," Jackie says with a huge smile.
"Let me guess, Cheng?" I ask remembering the guy I met briefly at the air temple.
"Maybe," Jackie says with another smile.
"Well, I'm gonna stay here too," Toph says sitting down after bending up a chair of stone.
"I'm thinking of staying here too although I'm not really sure," Phil says glancing at Ning.
"So any new plans with you guys, besides running a nation?" Aang asks looking from me to Zuko.
"Um," I start stealing a glance at Zuko.
"Well, spit it out," Toph says after I stay uneasily quiet for a little while.
"I'm pregnant," I say with a small shy smile.
"Really, when did you find out?" Jackie asks with a huge smile and eyes to match.
"A few weeks ago," I say scratching my head.
"And you waited this long to tell us?" Phil says.
"Yeah well, I didn't want it to interfere with our plans," I begin. "I wasn't sure how you guys would take it."
"Well, we sure wouldn't have let you in on the invasion plan," Jackie says.
"Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I can't fight," I say getting a little angry.
"We know that," Phil sighs.
"You just have to be more careful," Ning says in a calm tone.
"I know," I respond with a slightly annoyed sigh.
"Just promise us you won't do anything dangerous," Aang says.
"Alright, I promise," I say holding up a hand.
"So how's your wedding plans going?" Katara asks changing the subject.
"Okay, I picked out stuff for my dress," I start.
"And I sent out invitations to the leaders of the other countries proving we're serious about making peace with the world," Zuko adds.
"Sounds like it's going well," Sokka says with exaggerated enthusiasm.
"Yeah but it's going to be a bit different than any other wedding in history," Zuko mumbles, but everyone still heard.
"Why? Because you're marrying an Airbender?" Toph asks.
"Not just that; I'm inviting everyone in the Fire Nation," I say with a huge smile.
"Well, that's going to be a huge wedding, is there enough room for everyone?" Sokka asks looking around.
"I highly doubt that everyone can come, being that the wedding will be in about a week," I say brushing my hair out of my face as the wind begins to pick up.
"One week! How is that enough time to plan a wedding; it took my cousin a year to plan hers," Ning exclaims.
"Yeah, we know," I sigh.
"Oh yeah, we need to pick out dresses for you four tomorrow," I say thinking about them being bridesmaids.
"Yeah, shopping," Jackie says with a very girlish squeal.
"I have to meet with the wedding planners tomorrow, you guys can come with if you want to," I say trying not to sound as if I was pleading although I am in my mind.
"Sure, and after that we can go shopping," Jackie squeals again.
"Great, so while you girls are doing girly things, what are us men supposed to do?" Phil asks with a smile.
"I don't know; whatever you want to do. Loc and Zuko might hang out tomorrow, maybe you can join them," I propose and everyone turns to Zuko.
"Sure," he replies calmly with a shrug as the wind begins to howl at our back even more.
"I think we should head inside now," Ning suggests. We all agree and head inside the palace.
"We're going to go find Iroh," I say to the gaang.
"Okay then, see you guys later," Toph says and they begin to head down the hall.
"So where's Uncle?" Zuko asks turning to me.
"How am I supposed to know? He's your uncle," I reply forcefully.
"It's not like I keep tabs on him," Zuko says a bit frustrated and begins heading down the hallway opposite the one gaang went down. I sigh heatedly and catch up to him.
"Well, is there any meetings go on right now?" I ask trying to think of something.
"Haley, if there were any meetings, don't you think I'd be there?" Zuko asks annoyed.
"At least I'm trying to think of something," I mumble bitterly. "What does he usually do in his free time here?"
"I don't know. Drink tea?" Zuko guesses as we pass by the door to the pond.
Seeing Iroh feeding the ducks, I stop. After realizing I'm not at his side anymore Zuko stops and turns around.
"What?" he asks.
"I found Iroh," I say smiling. Zuko walks forward to me and looks through the door I'm stopped by.
"Maybe we don't have to tell him; he already knows," Zuko says stepping back.
"So, what now you're embarrassed of me being pregnant?" I ask knowing what I was saying wasn't true, but this halt hurt a bit.
"No, no, it's not that," Zuko says. "It's just I never thought about what or how I'd tell him," Zuko sighs.
"Well, you're not alone. You know that, right?" I ask taking his hand. He smiles and grasps my hand tighter. After pausing for a moment we begin walking toward Iroh.
"Good afternoon Uncle," Zuko says sitting beside Iroh and I sit on Iroh's other side.
"Good afternoon, Zuko, Haley," Iroh says with a smile. "It's been a strange afternoon, ten minutes ago, the wind was howling and now everything is so peaceful," Iroh smiles as he tosses a few more bread crumbs into the pond and little turtleducks come by to nibble at them.
Zuko and I look at each other undetermined on when we should tell him.
"Uncle," Zuko starts and pauses looking forward.
"Zuko, you can talk to me about anything," Iroh says looking at Zuko seeing him not continue.
"Haley's pregnant," Zuko says quietly.
"Congratulations," Iroh says and turns to hug me.
"Thanks," I say hugging back. He lets go of me and gives Zuko a tight hug. Zuko hugs back after a slight pause.
"Uncle, I need to breathe," Zuko says being that Iroh is still holding him tightly.
"Sorry, I'm just so happy for you two," Iroh says sitting back with tears glistening in his eyes. We spend the next hour moving the conversation from the baby, to the wedding, and to the afterwards plans as we watch the day begin to turn to late afternoon.
"Well, Jackie, Toph, and Phil, are thinking that they'll stay here," I inform Iroh.
"That's great, we should set them up with a house," Iroh replies with a smile.
"Um, Zuko" says a voice coming from by the door.
"What?" Zuko asks looking up.
"You have to give your speech in half an hour; everyone is waiting for you in the room by the balcony," Aang replies.
"Of course," Iroh says and stands up. "I almost forgot; we can't be late," Iroh says turning to Zuko and me.
"I know Uncle," Zuko as we both get up.
"So Zuko, do you have your speech ready?" Iroh asks as we begin to ascend a new set of stairs by a window.
"Yes," Zuko says in a monotone.
"Good, good. How about you, Aang, Haley?" Iroh asks.
"Since when was I supposed to give a speech?" I ask confused and slightly getting anxious.
"Well, you don't have to, but you are going to stand up there with Zuko and Aang," Iroh says.
"How come no one ever tells me anything?" I say slightly annoyed.
"You know now," Aang points out as we begin walking down a hallway.
"Yeah, that does me a load of good," I mumble to myself. "So Aang do you have a speech prepared?" I ask trying to sound cheerier.
"Not really, I'm not sure if I'm going to add something after Zuko or not."
"If you do, I'm sure you'll do fine," I say trying to encourage him.
"Just remember that the Fire Nation citizens are people too, and don't freak out by the numbers waiting down below," Iroh says.
"I won't, I mean on such short notice, how many people can show up?" Aang asks as we stop just outside the entering of the balcony.
"You guys ready?" Katara asks walking out of a room and we all nod simultaneously.
"Okay, Zuko enters first and goes straight to the middle, then Haley you're to Zuko's right, and Aang follows and goes to his left. Iroh goes by Aang, and Jackie by Haley, Sokka to Iroh's left and Katara to Jackie's right, Phil you're by Sokka, and Toph you're by Jackie. And last but not least, Ning you're standing by Toph," a woman says coming out from the same room. "Everyone understand?" she asks and we all nod.
Two really creepy looking old ladies walk past us and go to separate sides of the balcony. "People of the Fire Nation, I introduce to you the new leader of the Fire Nation, Fire Lord Zuko and soon to be Fire Lady Haley," the old woman says as Zuko begins to head out to the middle. I turn to the others and Jackie gives a reassuring smile. Sighing inwardly I follow Zuko and stop to his right.
"Oh boy, that's a lot of people," I think, regretting the wedding invitations for a moment, as I scan across the hundreds in view and dots in the distance. I turn to Zuko to see him slightly smiling down at his nation.
"And now the legendary Avatar Aang, the Dragon of the West, Iroh," the ladies shout down to the people as Aang and Iroh make their way to their spots. "And the Avatar's companions, Jackie, Sokka, Katara, Phil, Toph, and Ning," the ladies say pausing between each name as the corresponding people walk to their destination.
The audience turns silent waiting for Zuko to begins speaking and explaining.
I look at Zuko from my peripheral vision and see his chest rise and fall releasing tension. "People of the Fire Nation, on the day of the eclipse, the Avatar, his companions, and me included took it upon us to defeat Fire Lord Ozai. While our combined army from all four nations worked together to fight the Fire Nation's army, all of us standing here before you defeated Fire Lord Ozai. Unfortunately his injuries caused him to lose too much blood and he passed away that night. We did what had to be done to save our nation and our world, which we are all a part of.
In spite of what happened and what still may happen I have decided to negotiate peace with the rest of the world. My mind and more importantly my heart agrees with this notion. Our hearts tell us what the right thing to do is even when the mind hasn't yet decided. So I ask all of you to look within and decide for yourselves what the right thing is. Do you really want more suffering? Or do you want this world to be as it once was, where peace was not an issue of question, where war wasn't even in anyone's mind, and everyone could live their life as they pleased without fear? Our nation is grand, prosperous, and innovative, and I am in no way trying to change that. Our knowledge of history should tell us that the Fire Nation was at its peak in time of peace, not in time of war.
The use of violence for the past hundred years, as we all know, has led to even more violence and destruction. With all the damages made during the war, I am sending ships to the other nation's cities to help rebuild and make anew the peace I wish to return. Peace is a voluntary choice that can not survive with domination and mortification. Peace originates from the heart and mind, not from a cannon or dominating fire.
The time has come for the Fire Nation to put its trust in peace after it has raged war for years without any success. Recently I have set out invitations to the other nations to my wedding to ensure everyone that I am truly willing to end this war. At the end of this week is my wedding, with respect to soon to be Fire Lady Haley's wishes, all the people of the Fire Nation are invited. Everyone standing up here will attend and despite of recent events we hope that you will all come.
I appreciate that every one of you came here today to hear the truth and I hope I answered all questions," Zuko finishes and we all turn away from looking him from his powerful speech to see how the people reacted. After a second of silence, cheering begins and soon becomes so loud that I can not even hear myself breathe. I smile and turn to Zuko. He turns to me with a sheer look of happiness radiating from his eyes and takes my hand.
"We introduce to you Fire Lord Zuko," the women say just as they place a crown atop Zuko's head. We turn from Zuko to the people and I watch in awe as they all begin to bow. Putting his hands together Zuko bows back and the rest of us follow suite. Zuko stands back up straight and begins to leave. As he does so the people once again begin to clap and they continue as the rest of us leave.
"Zuko, that was a brilliant speech, and don't think I could have done better," Iroh says giving Zuko a pat on the back.
"Thanks Uncle," Zuko says and begins to head down the hall.
"Is he okay?" Aang asks looking from Iroh to me.
"I'm sure he's fine; he probably just wants some time to think. He's been through a lot the last few weeks," Iroh replies as I watch Zuko turn a corner.
"So Haley, what time is the meeting with the planners at tomorrow?" Jackie asks.
"After breakfast," I reply still looking down the hall. "See you guys later," I say and begin to head down the hall after Zuko.
"Bye Haley," Jackie says with a wave and I wave back.
I turn the corner trying to follow Zuko's path. "Now which way did he go?" I think as I come across a fork, one hallway leads to rooms and another leads to stairs. I try the stairs and follow the hallway after it. Coming to the middle of the castle, I see Zuko sitting against the tree in the garden. Debating whether or not I should just leave him alone, the better of me decides to see how he's doing.
"Hey Zuko," I say coming up from behind him. "Are you okay?" I ask sitting down beside him.
"I'm fine. I just needed some time to myself," Zuko says staring at the pond.
"Alright," I say getting up. I begin to head away, but Zuko stops me by grabbing my hand.
"But you can stay if you want," Zuko says looking up at me.
"Okay," I smile as I sit down again.
Zuko smiles back and leans against the tree. I curl up against him and Zuko puts one hand on my shoulder. I place my hand on his chest as he begins to thread his fingers through my hair. We spend a while just thinking and holding each other.
"This has been one crazy day," I say quietly after a while as I look up at the twinkling night sky.
"You can say that again," Zuko replies as he follows my view to the stars.
I nestle my head into Zuko's chest as my eyes begin to close.
"We should head to bed," Zuko says and I can feel his hands brushing my hair out of my face.
"Okay," I say quietly and open my eyes tiredly getting up. Zuko gets up and I take his arm leaning on him as we begin to head to the stairs. Zuko wraps an arm around me as we make our way to our room.
"I'm gonna go see if Loc is still up and ask if he wants to come with us tomorrow," Zuko says as I take off my shoes rubbing my sore feet.
"Alright," I yawn. Zuko walks over to the bed and kisses me.
"What was that for?" I ask being half awake.
"Just in case you're asleep by the time I get back," Zuko smiles as he turns back from the door.
"Okay," I say as he closes the door. "I love you," I say getting under the covers.
"I love you too," Zuko says before closing the door. I soon drift into sleep making Zuko's prediction correct.
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Thanks for reading. I know it took my awhile to update, but at least I did. It's been a long tiring week.
Review if you'd like.
I'll do my best to update sometime this week.
