Cranefish Town
105 AG
Katara
Katara looked up as Aang walked in, his staff at his side, orange robes rustling. Toph followed closely behind, wearing a stylized green and gold tunic over a deep brown top and pants, looking more formal than usual. Her black bangs had been pulled back, emphasizing her pale gray eyes and determined expression. "You didn't miss much, Katara," she grumbled.
Katara grinned. "You mean you two didn't enjoy sitting around for an hour listening to Dakar blab on about how great he is?"
Aang slung his staff into the corner, softening its landing with a puff of wind. "It wasn't that bad," he said diplomatically. "Dakar is just very confident in his capabilities…"
"It was too that bad," Toph told Katara. She plopped down on the low couch opposite the waterbender, propping her bare feet up. "It was literally an hour and a half of him telling us why we suck and our plans suck and our ideas suck, and why he is great and his ideas are great and his plans are great. I can't believe I survived without braining him with a boulder."
Aang sighed, sitting down by Katara. "It wasn't the most fruitful meeting we've ever held," he admitted, running a hand over his smooth head. "I wish I could get him to see some sense."
"And you're the Avatar," Katara said, smiling inwardly at the exasperation on his face. "If he won't listen to you…"
"I'm Toph Beifong!" Toph said loudly. "I'm the greatest earthbender in the world! I invented metalbending! I single-handedly ended the Li Fun Siege! I defeated Yikoshio! I deserve some respect, particularly from a dinky earthbender like Dakar who can barely lift a rock off the ground!"
"If anyone deserves respect, it's Aang," Katara said, putting an arm around his shoulders. "He's the Avatar, he mastered all four elements in less than a year, he defeated Ozai and ended the Hundred Year War, he helped begin the Harmony Restoration Movement, he defeated Cheilong and his men, he's a hundred and eighteen years old -"
"Katara!" Aang protested. "I'm not a hundred and eighteen years old! The hundred in the iceberg didn't count, okay? Bumi would be a hundred and eighteen years old. I'm just eighteen!"
She laughed. "Oh, come on. Bumi was in fine shape for being so old. Why couldn't you be?"
"You want me to look like that?" Aang asked, and Toph grinned. "I don't see the difference, Twinkletoes," she said.
"Oh good, you're back," a voice said from the other room. An elderly woman poked her head into the front room, smiling at Aang and Toph. "Dinner will be soon, if you are interested."
"I'm starving," Toph said, holding her stomach. "I don't know about you guys, but dinner sounds great to me, Tameti."
Aang and Katara gave similar responses, and Tameti nodded. "I'll make enough for all of us then. No guests this time?"
Aang grinned and shook his head. "Nope. Thanks!"
She disappeared again, and Katara smiled at the thought of dinner. The three of them were renting rooms in the old woman's house. It was a win-win situation: they got nice rooms, good food, and a nice landlady, and she got people to talk to and bragging rights to her neighbors. Toph hadn't originally planned to stay there too, but she came for a visit and liked it so much she moved from sleeping in her metalbending academy to the house.
Aang sighed and leaned back, then sat up. "Oh!" he said. "I almost forgot. Toph and I stopped by the hawk tower and we got a message via hawk from Zuko." He pulled out a scroll with fancy gold-embossed paper and held it up. "It's addressed to all three of us, so I figured I'd wait until I got back to open it."
"It certainly looks official," Katara observed as Aang carefully broke the seal and unrolled it. She read over his shoulder. Katara had always been a faster reader than Aang, and she read the news first. "No way!" she shrieked. "Zuko's getting married!"
Toph sat up. "Really?" she asked interestedly. "To Mai?"
"Yeah," Aang said, grinning hugely. "He wants me to marry the two of them, too."
Toph scrunched up her face. "Wouldn't that get awkward, being married to both of them?" she wondered.
"Toph," Katara groaned, and Toph laughed, pulling her wide gold headband off and letting her bangs fall down over her face. "Well, Sokka wasn't here to say it," she said.
Katara shook her head, smiling hugely. Zuko was getting married! She knew how much he and Mai loved each other, and their marriage was sure to be a happy one.
Now if only… she thought, glancing sidelong at Aang, then looking quickly away.
"When is it?" Toph asked.
"Four months," Aang read. "That's not much time for pulling off a massive royal wedding, but if anyone can do it, it's Zuko. He's always been able to do things no one else could."
"Ty Lee will be so happy," Katara said, thinking about Mai's best friend. "She's found her calling as a Kyoshi Warrior, and she always wanted Mai to 'find her true path' too. No doubt Ty Lee will think Mai's aura has never been brighter."
"I don't believe in auras," Toph deadpanned in a spot-on imitation of the stoic Mai, and they all laughed.
"We should go up a week or so early," Katara mused. "We can help with wedding preparations and get ready ourselves. Speaking of which, I'm going to need something to wear. Do you think we should wear Fire Nation clothes, or…?"
"Nah," Toph said. "I won't be. I'm not Fire Nation and there's no point in pretending I am. This time, anyway. I'm wearing green with pride."
"This time I don't have to hide my arrows, either," Aang joked.
"We'll have to go shopping for dresses," Katara told Toph. "Of course, maybe we should wait until we get to the Fire Nation, so we can find dresses that match Mai's. Or -"
"Don't you have a dress?" Aang asked. "That dark blue one with the green and white embroidery?"
Katara sighed. "It's not wedding quality, Aang. Especially not for a royal wedding. I had a nice fur-trimmed dress, but it got ruined in the Cheilong attack."
Aang shrugged. "Whatever you think," he said. "Boy, I'm excited. It's been almost a year since we've seen Zuko, too. Happy times ahead!"
