Author's Note: You all thought I was dead, didn't you? It's okay. I thought so, too, a few times.

First off, I want to apologize for keeping you all waiting for almost a year for this update. Real Life Happened and it was intense.

Secondly, thank you! to everyone for your reviews, comments, PMs, and general patience/impatience. I had hoped to give you the last chapter all as one update but my own impatience (and OCD attraction to round numbers like 50) made me weasel into this decision. So, here is chapter 49 and there is a week left before school starts. Chapter 50 should be up within the week.


In a small anteroom off the main temple, Katara knelt before a Fire Sage with her eyes closed and her mind whirring. She could feel waves of scented smoke curling around her, carrying away spiritual impurities, calling out to the ancestors for blessings. The Fire Nation ancestors, really. The Water Tribe sank their dead in the sea.

Katara wasn't thinking about that, though. She was untroubled by the predominantly Fire Nation traditions being observed. Besides, she and Zuko had already undergone a Water Tribe ritual cleansing. The thoughts that kept her teeth tight were a bit more personal.

It was completely unjust that she should spend the hours before her wedding with that grubby little rock-head's voice rattling in her memory.

"Suck it up and do it, Sweetness. I agreed not to cause a scene the other night. Now, it's your turn to do the Good Work for me. Otherwise, I'll be forced to make up for it and you'll end up embarrassed anyway. At least this way you'll see it coming."

By 'the Good Work,' Toph meant unsettling the nobles. Improper behavior, bad table manners, 'keeping it interesting' – it was all Toph's way of dealing with what she had diagnosed as a surplus of formality in the Fire Nation court. Katara felt the whole thing was childish and embarrassing. Her compliance with Toph's demand could very possibly undermine international respect for the Southern Water Tribe. She had pointed this out, but Toph was about as open to reason as an avalanche.

Through one door, Katara could hear the muffled sounds of a crowd arriving and settling in the temple. Occasionally, she thought she could hear her brother's too-loud laughter. Katara stifled a sigh and tried to listen instead to the Fire Sage's steady chant. With a warm fingertip, he dabbed fragrant oil across her painted brow. She remained perfectly still, eyes shut as she accepted the blessing.

Then, the chanting stopped. At a shuffle of silk beside her, Katara peeked up to find Zuko settling to kneel beside her. A warm surf lapped in her chest and her fear hissed, at once soothed and heightened by his presence. He caught her subtle stare and flashed the faintest smile. Katara tried to mimic it, but apparently failed. The Sage began a new round of chanting.

Katara had not had the chance to discuss Toph's demand with Zuko. Hopefully, he would not be too ashamed to be married to a woman with poor self-control. Considering Fire Nation value for discipline, Katara was not much reassured. On the other hand, they were also a people of passion. Katara bit the inside of her lip and tried not to think about it too much.

She could feel Zuko stealing glances at her from the corner of his eye. Katara tried to still the tremor of her hands, the way her chin dipped as she swallowed. At last, the Fire Sage ended his chanting and gestured for them to rise and follow him through a short corridor to the worship hall. Katara hurried to follow but Zuko caught her hand.

She blinked up at him, surprised. Interruption of the succession of events was a breach of Protocol according to the brief tutoring Katara had received over the past days. The Fire Sage made some short, mortified sounds, but Zuko ignored him.

"Katara, if you don't want to go through with this, it's not too late to stop. You…" He swallowed and frowned at the floor off to one side. "If you think you will be unhappy with me, I don't-"

Her hand was brown and sweaty and still faintly trembling, but Katara still raised it to cup his cheek. "Zuko, I don't doubt that I'll be happy. I'm just worried that… that you won't be."

Zuko caught the back of her hand with his, tugging it so that he could press a slow, hot kiss to the thin skin of her inner wrist. Her lips parted and released a faint sound that almost sounded like a protest. Zuko smiled sheepishly. "I'm already happy."

Katara grinned, but the expression quickly faltered. "Zuko, Toph wants-"

"Ahem." The Fire Sage had overcome his proprietary shock and waited beside the doorway, hands folded before him in a guise of patience. "Highness, your people await."

Zuko still watched Katara, waiting, but the other Fire Sages around the room were closing in. The waterbender darted a glance around the immaculate folds of red and shut her mouth into a tight smile. It would have to wait.

They entered the cavernous temple in near silence. The only sound from the crowd of nobles kneeling across the marble expanse was the barely-audible rush of breath entering and leaving each body. Katara's head tilted back slightly as she took in the soaring arches that supported a ceiling made entirely of glass panels. The sun, sinking now toward the west, hit the gold-veined white marble of the floor and set everything in the temple alight.

As they made their way down the aisle to the dais, Zuko stared at her from the corner of his eye the entire time. He didn't bother to gaze out across the enormous gathering of his people and hers, nor to face the High Sage of the Fire Nation as they came to stand before the old man. Katara was sure, too, that he did not notice that the red walls were impossible to see for all the flowers. Long braids of Blast Lilies, Ember Orchids, and Fizzling Tulips draped from the impossibly high ceiling to the floor and filled the room with the fresh scent of flora.

They knelt before the Head Sage, facing one another. Their knees were very nearly touching. Zuko's blue marital robes fell from his shoulders in careful creases and, in the warm light of the temple, the silk glistened like the sea. Katara watched him watch her. The fear or something in her chest was roaring. The High Sage was saying something about eternity and the bonding of two spirits, but all Katara could really hear was a rush like the tide coming in, drowning out all other sound.

At the High Sage's behest, they joined hands. Zuko's fingers were hot and dry as sun-baked stones and Katara was sure her own must feel as clammy as those stones' undersides, set in dirt and darkness.

And then, suddenly, Zuko was leaning in to meet Katara in the kiss that would seal their union before the world. The waterbender hesitated for just an instant. Then, she dove.

At first, the kiss was chaste. It was a kiss loaded with history and tradition. Fire Lords had married Fire Ladies with the same kiss for thousands of years and this fresh knowledge hammered at the back of Katara's mind, a quick guilty beat. Still, she went on with the plan. She traced the seam of his lips with her tongue.

Zuko's mouth opened for her instantly. He met her there, a slide of tastes and the slick insides of his lips, the tough edge of his tooth. Katara's tongue touched the sensitive side of his and he made a sound deep in his throat, a tiny sound that only she would hear. Tiny, it was a thunder over the rush of the tide in Katara's chest. His hands were bright as lightning. Zuko pulled her hands to his chest, clutched them over his heart. He stroked the glossy ribs of her braids. Katara forgot all about the room full of shocked nobles watching as she and Zuko kissed one another senseless.

Somewhere nearby, a throat cleared. The sound was a little squeaky with suppressed horror, but the voice obviously belonged to Sokka. Katara startled out of the embrace and, breathing a bit more heavily than was appropriate, stared into Zuko's simmering eyes. They returned to the distance of holding hands.

As the High Sage completed the ceremony and reverently placed the Fire Lady's ornament in Katara's topknot, she tried not to think about the heat gathering in her cheeks. Her eyes flicked again and again to the gathered nobles but only Sokka, sitting between Suki and Hakoda at the front, seemed to be in a state of horror.

Then Zuko rose beside her and held her hands as she took her feet as well. When Katara walked beside him from the room, she held her head high and spared the cheering crowd no glance. Rather, she stole peeks of Zuko from the corner of her eye. He looked straight ahead and she could not read the expression on that scarred side of his face.

When they emerged from the temple, they found Lin awaiting them in the corridor, flanked by a line of her subordinates. The servants wore their usual humble attire, but all had tiny white flowers tucked into their bound-back hair. Even Lin had a blossom stuck above one ear. The Head Servant knelt into a full kowtow as Katara and Zuko approached and all of her underlings followed her example.

"Most Honorable Lord and Lady," she said to the floor, "it would be this humble staff's greatest honor to serve as escort to the ballroom for the royal reception."


The better part of two hours later, Katara was considering dousing herself with wine again just to have an excuse to leave. She knelt on the dais beside Zuko while his guests – their guests, she reminded herself – danced and ate in their honor. Occasionally, nobles approached to offer congratulations and well wishes to the royal newlyweds. The party had been highly instructional for the first hour or so – Katara had learned more Fire Nation aristocrats' names and faces than she had in the entire week she had spent in the Capital – but the stiff conduct of the event had quickly begun to wear on her.

"…and, Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Katara, it is the sincerest hope of House Toshiro that you both live long and happy lives!" The four old men – brothers whose names Katara could not even begin to keep straight – bowed and backed away from the dais with their faces still lowered. They all wore the same moustache, waxed to keen points at either end.

As they were withdrawing, Zuko peered at her from the corner of his eye. "Are you alright?"

"What? Yes." Realizing that the words had come out just above a snarl, Katara drew a deep breath and prepared to apologize. She was still unsure whether he was mad at her for that public display in the temple, but sensed there was something Zuko was not saying. All Katara truly wanted was to get to their quarters and clear the air. She opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated at the sight of him.

It was so strange to see him in blue. The color was as familiar as that of her own skin, yet it seemed wholly new in the way that it clutched at Zuko's pale throat. His hands, where they emerged from his wide sleeves and rested against his thighs, were as bright and scarred as the moon. Blue set off his yellow eyes, made them shine, blaze brighter than his golden ornament.

He turned his head to cast her a look that was at once puzzled and mildly annoyed. "What?"

Katara bit back her thoughts and, feeling her face redden beneath the paint, stared straight ahead at the masses of finely dressed nobles and dignitaries. "This… This is all just very different from the way my people celebrate a marriage."

Zuko peered out across the crowd as well, then looked back at her. "Your people don't have a party with food and dancing?"

"Well, yes. I mean… It's not so…" She shrugged, face caught in a tiny frown and eyes locked straight ahead on the people calmly dancing and eating dainty finger-foods and drinking Spice Wine from glistening glasses. "My people sit in a big circle in the communal tent and eat all the worst kinds of fried food and drink honey-fish mead. And the way we dance isn't so… rigid."

"Yeah, Sokka was showing me some of the intricacies of Southern Water Tribe dance the other night. It definitely isn't rigid."

Katara smiled and glanced back to find him watching her with an oddly pleased expression on his face. "Sokka's example really shouldn't be taken as an acceptable representation of Southern Water Tribe skill."

"No kidding." Zuko held her gaze and one corner of his mouth tugged faintly upward. There was a tiny smudge of red paint on his bottom lip from their kiss. It made Katara grit her teeth. She wanted to look away, she wanted to lick it off. She wanted to leave evidence of the trail her mouth would forge across his moon-bright skin.

But Zuko looked troubled. He opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off.

"My Lord! My Lady!"

Katara's happy feelings vanished and she whipped her head around to face the noble who had approached the dais, though she already knew who that smooth voice belonged to. His tunic was the height of Fire Nation fashion, subtly embroidered with darker thread in shapes that almost looked like waves and moons.

"Lord Laotsu," Zuko supplied. Katara acknowledged the nobleman with a tiny nod.

Laotsu bowed before his sovereigns, folding his hands into his sleeves in the way that was proper. "On behalf of what remains of the Gaka Family, I must congratulate Fire Lord Zuko and Fire Lady Katara on such a lovely wedding. I have never seen two young people in love come together so spectacularly, so passionately! It has done much to revitalize my seasoned heart!"

Unsure of how to respond to this, Katara glanced at Zuko from the corner of her eye. He sat with the severe posture of a monarch, yet his mouth was curved in what might have been a faint smile. "Seasoned, Laotsu? Only a fool would think the sentimentality of the Gaka Family could fade with time."

Katara was not sure whether this was an insult or not, but the nobleman's pleased expression only grew. "My Lord does flatter his subjects! I wonder if His Majesty might humor his humble vassal further," he said, tipping his head to one side in query, "I have only just heard a rumor that has inspired a question in my mind that burns to-"

"Ask your question, Lord Laotsu," Katara said. The words had popped out of her mouth without much thought, but she could not muster up any embarrassment. The evening had gone on too long already. She did not have the energy for Laotsu's games.

"Ah! Yes!" Apparently not offended, Laotsu held up a finger, brows riding high as he drew breath. His eyes sparkled, twin windows to a vast library of secrets. Katara braced herself. "It is being said that on this very night Former Gen-"

But Lord Laotsu was cut off by a sudden shift in the music. From where she sat, Katara could see that Bato had taken over one of the Fire Nation flutists' positions and the other musicians were struggling to keep apace of the bright tune he played. The sound was like sunlight sparkling off the distant icecaps.

Sokka approached the dais, bowing but still looking smug. "So, it's customary in the Southern Water Tribe for newlyweds to have a dance," he said. "You know – just so everybody's clear on who's marrying who."

Katara looked to Zuko and found he was already standing. He was already offering her a hand. The troubled undertone remained beneath his faint smile, but Katara felt the rise of that tide in her chest again, waking after the hours of stillness. They began descending the steps to the open dance floor. As they passed Lord Laotsu, he peered after them but said nothing.

Once she and Zuko began dancing, Katara found the evening far more bearable. The nobles mainly stayed away, though there were new disruptions. Aang, for instance.

"Thanks, Zuko," the Avatar said, grinning and side-stepping dancing couples as he followed them. "I really think I learned a lot from that example. I had no idea that you could-"

Katara didn't hear the rest because Zuko spun them away from Aang. His dancing wasn't exactly expert, but he could move from Point A to Point B when he really wanted to. She wondered briefly why he wanted to put distance between them and the Avatar, but found she did not mind enough to ask.

Inevitably, Toph caught up to Katara as she was sipping chilled Spice Wine.

"Good effort up there, Sweetness. You really shocked the pants off the Earth Nobles. I guess the Fire Nation isn't as prissy as they seem." The earthbender held out a hand in a clenching gesture. "Next time, try more butt-grabbing."

Katara choked on her wine and, when she had finally finished coughing it up, checked to be sure Zuko was still engaged in a discussion with her father. She turned a fierce glare on Toph and pointed a finger in the blind girl's face. "No next-times! I did your stupid favor; we're square."

"You're a square," Toph said, idly knocking her hand aside. "Sheesh, am I the only person here who likes fun?"

"That's possible," said Zuko. Katara barely restrained herself from dropping her wine glass. He glanced between her and Toph. "What kind of fun?"

"Boring fun," Katara said too loudly. "Really just – really not-fun fun. Like, like… iceberg-watching. Or brushing Appa."

Zuko stared at her. Toph threw up her hands and sighed. As she turned to leave, she muttered, "The funnest thing about Katara is watching her squirm."

The waterbender scowled and was about to shoot some razor-sharp retort after her, but Zuko's low voice stopped her.

"So," he said, his breath damping the skin below her ear. "Sticking your tongue in my mouth in front of hundreds of people bores you, huh?"

Katara shuddered and turned to gaze up into those simmering eyes. "You knew?"

"Guessed," Zuko said. He smirked. His hand slipped around her waist and he pulled her close for another dance. "Answer the question, waterbender."

Katara found the wine glass plucked from her hand by a passing servant. She never took her eyes from the firebender before her. Her husband, she remembered, and slid her palms over the blue silk of his wedding robes. "I can think of less boring things I'd like to do in private."

Zuko dipped his mouth to her ear. "So can I. Let's get out of here."


When they had made it at last to Zuko's bedchamber – their bedchamber, she remembered – and the door had closed against Lin and the empty Chit-Tso teacup and all the rest of the palace, Katara jumped him. His mouth was sweet from whatever he had eaten at the reception and her hands, picking apart the ties of his robes, fumbled against his chest like stunned birds. She tried to hide their trembling by pressing her body against his, pressing him back against the door.

At first, Zuko seemed almost drunk in his slowness. His hands were a hot spill down the sleek curve at the small of her back. Then they cupped her bottom, pulled her harder against him and Katara could feel the hard lump of his erection through all their layers of silk. Katara hitched up a leg, bracing her knee against the door behind him, and moaned into his mouth.

With an answering groan, Zuko gripped both sides of the elegant ties of her dress and pulled until seams popped and ivory toggles went skittering across the floor.

Katara gave a little gasp but pressed her nose against his neck. "Seamstress Yun."

"Job security," Zuko said. His voice hitched on the last syllable because her mouth was pressed against the side of his throat and her teeth just grazed there. He tugged at the outer layer of the wedding dress until Katara shed it to reveal another layer, this one white and cut even closer to the skin. She pulled his robes down from his shoulders, baring his chest to her mouth.

Zuko tipped his head back against the door and said some word that was not quite a word. Katara pressed her wet mouth to his scars, to all the seams of his chest. Her tongue laved the muscles of his belly down to his navel.

Suddenly, Zuko's hands fell to grip her shoulders, to stop her. His word came again, resurfaced in Katara's mind. "Wait," he said again.

His eyes were hot, too hot. but Katara stared into them as she stood. "What's wrong?"

Zuko was still breathing hard. He seemed to be searching for words.

"Was it the kiss?" Katara asked. "I tried to warn you. Toph was threatening to do something drastic. I was pretty sure it wouldn't be all that embarrassing."

"It wasn't. It's not. Katara…" Zuko started digging in a hidden pocket in the sash still holding his pants in place. He pulled out a bent, stained roll of paper. It was just a little thing, yet he held it like a dangerous insect. "I received this today. The gardener found it near the south wall."

Katara took the paper, her fingers rasping against it as she opened it to read. It was only a tea advertisement, written in big, bold splashes of characters and clever stylized icons of tea cups and leaves.

Celebrate our Fire Lord's happy union with exotic imported herbal blends at Won Chi's Jade Cup!

"So?" Katara narrowed her eyes at Zuko.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Look at the bottom."

Katara looked more closely. What she had thought was just a lower border was tipped on one end with a trimmed flight and on the other with a slim arrow head. It smudged under her fingers and Katara realized it was drawn in coal instead of ink.

She looked up at Zuko. "You think it's a message from Chu Tan?"

The firebender nodded and crossed his arms over his bare chest. "I don't see how it couldn't be. He must have some news for us."

"That's not much of a system for delivering messages," she said.

"He's a kid."

Katara only held the advertisement in one hand and stared at her new husband. In the corner of her eye, the bed was vast and flickering by the light of candles. "You want to go meet with him."

"It won't take long," Zuko said, frowning toward his potted plants in thought. "And with all the celebrating, it should be easy to sneak down to Scorch Street and back."

"Yes. All those people celebrating our wedding will make a great cover, Zuko."

He looked at her then, seeming stunned. "Are you mad at me?"

"Me? Mad at you? Whatever gave you that idea?" Katara flung the advertisement to the floor and stalked toward his concealed wardrobe. Her skin all around her chest and back was cold where the outer layer of her torn dress had held in so much heat. "I mean – hah! – it's only our wedding night!"

She threw open the doors, stalked into the dim room of drawers and closets and snatched her black clothing from the back of a cupboard. When she turned to leave the wardrobe, Katara found Zuko standing in the doorway. His arms were tight over his chest, obscuring the star-shaped scar from sight.

"You knew when you agreed to this," he said. "You knew there would be times when I had to put my Nation first."

Katara stepped to pass him and paused there in the doorway. Their eyes met. She was searching for the words, the right way to put this injustice into words. "My people put their families first," she said at last. It was simple and stupid and just not enough.

Zuko looked away. "It might be news," he said.

Katara saw the rawness in him, then. She saw him missing his uncle. But even as she ached in sympathy for him, she ached in her own dejection. Katara let her shoulder brush his as she passed. Without a word, she changed in the bathroom with the door fully shut.


AN: So, I hope you'll all forgive me for this and stick around for the final finale. Thanks so much again for all of your support and encouragement!