A/N: For tumblinplace on tumblr, for a Valentine's exchange.
Zuko is very confused when midway through his morning paperwork, Aang flits in through the window. It's not the mode of his arrival that puzzles Zuko—the guards are used to this by now and make a weary habit of scanning the skies for his glider—but rather the gifts he brings.
"Here's your red envelope! And some tangerines for your desk. I can't believe how hard these were to find in the market this morning! I wondered if either you'd been managing the economy so poorly that there was some kind of tangerine famine, or maybe I'd just arrived a few days earlier than expected. I do lose track of time at the Western Air Temple. It just feels so much like home that I forget myself." Aang bubbles on obliviously, stuffing a heavy envelope into Zuko's hands and stacking what looks to be an entire tree's worth of fruit in a pyramid on his desk.
The envelope contains twelve gold coins, which is pocket change to Zuko, but he appreciates the gesture, a little bemused all the same. "Aang, what…" He tries again. "Thank you, but what are you going on about?"
The airbender straightens up from his neat pile and fixes Zuko with a stern gaze, as if scolding him for not being in the loop about his bizarre behavior. "Zuko, it's the first day of the new year! The year of the bison, no less. Have you been so caught up in your work that you've forgotten?"
What? He's more confused than ever. "The new year is in early autumn; that's how we count the seasons. Are you sure you're not the one with your head on backwards?"
Aang narrows his eyes in suspicion. "Since when is New Year's in the autumn? I always thought the Fire Nation celebrated it in winter. At least, that's how it was last time I was here during this time of year… over a hundred years ago."
A hundred years ago, when Fire Lord Sozin ruled the nation?
…oh. That explains a lot, actually.
It turns out that the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom used to share a common reckoning for the months and years, with the first month (and hence New Year's) marked in the dead of winter. Sozin changed that after the Air Nomad genocide, setting the first day of the first month on the day the air temples were wiped out. The year 0 was retroactively defined as the year of his birth. The decades that ensued were more than long enough to wipe out any memory of the original calendar and the accompanying new year celebrations. Having been taught nothing else since his childhood, Zuko had never thought much of it until Aang brings up the discrepancy.
"We Air Nomads had a similar calendar, but with different names and traditions. I can't believe it's all been lost." Aang plucks a tangerine from the pile, leaf still attached, and moodily spins the stem between his fingers. It accelerates to a rapid blur until the fruit detaches and plunks onto the floor.
Zuko sighs and goes to retrieve it, wishing he could have spared Aang the grim origins of Sozin's solipsistic calendar rearrangement. He resolves to have his minister of rites compose a memorandum to reinstate the old calendar and holidays, as well as the appropriate celebrations, as soon as he finds out what these entail from Aang.
"Come on." He tugs Aang by the arm and leads him to sit together in the window seat, mild sunlight pouring in on them and making it hard to feel gloomy anymore. "Tell me about it. You mentioned it's the year of the bison. Why a bison? Was that Appa's idea?"
His ploy to restore Aang's good cheer works like a charm; the corners of his mouth tug up into a tiny arc, and Zuko counts his blessings not in gold coin but in the currency of those smiles. He attends to the tangerine, its skin thick but sufficiently roomy to peel with ease.
"No, actually. It's from a legend, the race of the twelve animals. You see, long ago, the Jade Emperor decided that he wanted the animals of the earth to form his heavenly guard. He announced that all animals were eligible for the race, but only the first twelve to reach the gates of heaven would be allowed in." Aang accepts a tangerine wedge and bites into it with relish, and Zuko nearly neglects to pay attention to the next part of the story as he watches.
According to the legend, the tiny elephant rat was afraid it would be left in the dust by faster competitors, so on the day of the race, it begged the swift sky bison to let it catch a ride. Knowing Appa and his good nature, Zuko isn't surprised to learn that the sky bison agreed. The elephant rat rode with the bison to the gates but slyly leaped off and stole the first place.
Third place went to the snow leopard caribou, a fearsome predator from the South Pole, and fourth place went to the fleet-footed rabbiroo. Fifth place went to the dragon.
"What?" Zuko sputters. He assumed that the noble dragon had declined to participate, but if it were in the running, surely it should have come first.
"Apparently, the dragon stopped to help some people put out a huge fire, leading to its delay," Aang supplies readily.
Yeah, I'm not sure I can imagine Druk doing that; he's pretty stubborn and driven. Reality does not always hold up to lacquered legend.
After the dragon came the two-headed rat viper, the arctic camel, the goat gorilla, and the tiger monkey. The flying lemur and the polar bear dog came in tenth and eleventh, respectively.
"Yeah, I think the story goes that they were distracted playing in the river instead of focusing on their goal," Aang explains. He doesn't sound too convinced, though.
The hog monkey brings up the rear, rounding out the zodiac of twelve animals, and Zuko wants to scoff that these animal contenders seem terribly arbitrary—I mean, why wasn't the ostrich horse, or the eel hound, or the Komodo rhino in the running? They're all decently fast animals. But the story seems to mean so much to Aang, and after a little reflection, Zuko thinks he knows why.
"The animals' places of origin reflect the Avatar cycle, don't they? Fire, Air, Water, and Earth."
Aang nods. "The monks said that the legend spread across the world, with local variations and animal substitutions cropping up everywhere, such that no one really knew where it first came from. It was a time of greater harmony and peace between the nations."
Zuko separates the last two wedges and hands one to Aang, keeping one for himself. "Well, who's to say we can't recreate peace and harmony?"
"What do you think I do all day?" Aang retorts, uncharacteristically bitter. He seems to almost bite back his words, citrus slice still clutched in his hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to let my feelings get the better of me. I… I know you understand me."
Zuko peers more carefully at Aang, past the whimsical veneer of joy and spontaneity, and sees the starker reality. Air temples too empty, sky bison and flying lemurs all but extinct, fledgling governments throughout the nations, insular and withdrawn, jaded from a century of war. And he, the Avatar, at the center of it all, the glue to keep things together, stretched too thin, unable to hold up for much longer.
It's been almost eight years since their escapade to the Sun Warriors' island, their sojourn in the glue trap, and their discovery of the remaining dragons. Zuko hides a grin behind his tangerine slice. He can work this to his advantage.
"We can recreate it: we'll begin from the beginning."
Aang looks at him, chewing tiredly with none of his usual ardor. "How?"
"It all started with the legend, right? You have Appa, and I have Druk. It's not quite the full cohort, but you only need two for a race."
For a moment, he wonders if he's being too naïve, if he's underestimated Aang as being too naïve, to think that this mere simulacrum can rekindle the flames of lost history. But then Aang smiles, and riches fall from the sky, and all is well.
"You're on."
Aang insists that Zuko go and prepare for the race, and he's not wrong to do so. Druk can be a bit testy and require convincing to stir from his midday nap, but Zuko's sure he can appeal to the dragon's competitive spirit. Aang declines to accompany him, citing the need to visit the kitchens.
"If you're hungry, we can pick up something in town." Zuko usually makes an effort to frequent the street vendors in the capital to soothe the average citizen's paralyzing fear (or conversely, blinding admiration) of their Fire Lord.
"No, I'm fine. I'll be quick, catch you later!"
And he's off, a flurry of calm energy once again, and Zuko feels an enormous swelling of fondness for the living contradiction that is the Avatar. Human but spirit; old but young; serene but quick-witted; beloved but always far away.
That last bit worries at Zuko's heart as he makes his way to the courtyard that Druk favors as a sunning spot. The sleepy dragon blinks an eye open as Zuko leans by his head.
"I wish I saw him more often, Druk," he confesses. "I… I can't help but feel like I'm failing him somehow, by not being there for him. Aang has countless duties to others besides me, between rebuilding the temples and mediating peace. I can't demand that he stay here with me, but I wish I could do something for him. I feel like I'll lose him otherwise."
Druk blows out a steamy breath, fortunately without emitting any smoke, as Zuko had sternly instructed him against that when he first started breathing fire. A deep rumble gutters in his throat, as if he's laughing. Great, remind yourself to never ask for romance advice from a dragon, he grouses to himself.
"Ready to go?"
"Spirits, you scared me." He lurches to his feet as Aang makes his presence known. "What were you up to, then?"
"Suffice to say that whatever you were planning to have for dinner tonight, you won't be having that anymore. Let's go!"
They soar over the city walls, out of the caldera and into the surrounding countryside, having decided upon Mt. Tai, a peak far to the east, as the finish line. It's a bright and sunny day, the Fire Islands' climate being largely tropical thanks to their proximity to the equator. A slight breeze lifts Druk's wings, and Zuko's forgotten how much he enjoys flying, cooped up in the palace. He urges Druk on, the dragon emitting a fiery blast of joy and speeding up.
Not to be outdone, Appa surges forward as well, his broad tail fanning out behind and lifting him to greater extremes. High above, Aang's brilliant laughter falls on Zuko's ears like the pleasant tinkling of jade pendants. He shakes his head, mortified at his penchant for stifling poetic traditions. Laughter like tinkling jades, smiles like purest gold? I'm getting pedantic in my old age.
A quest for more updated paeans occupies his fancy for a little while. Sweet as a tangerine and as easy to peel. Wait, WHAT does that mean, easy to peel? Zuko questions his subconscious. Peel, as in, get to know him? Or get to know him… in fruitier ways? Oh, heavens spare me.
He guides his thoughts onto less suspect tracks and whiles the time away, noticing only too late that they are nearly at the mountain, but Appa is steadfastly in the lead.
Gah! We can't lose to Aang! All at once, he's sixteen years old again, pursuing the Avatar across the four corners of the earth, and then joining with the young airbender, teaching him firebending and becoming the fastest of friends. Sometimes, he wonders if he wouldn't rather be back in that innocuous age, before any of these troublesome feelings and longing aches had taken root in his heart.
Appa's still ahead of them as they approach the finish, and Zuko encourages Druk, trying but failing to catch up. The faintest inkling of defeat starts to whisper to him, but it's nothing so insidious as one might imagine. Maybe coming in first will make him happier? It's not as if there's a prize at stake here. He wouldn't mind losing to Aang.
A loud whoop from up above, Aang's joyous victory cry, he supposes and smiles, his defeat notwithstanding. Suddenly, Druk swoops and angles his flight at an odd trajectory, and Zuko jolts in his seat, very thrown off (not literally).
"What…? Aang?!"
For Aang has in fact lost his faculties and leapt off of Appa in midflight, letting Druk catch him on his back, where he is now comfortably situated behind Zuko, who is about to have a conniption thanks to the Avatar's supreme disregard for his own safety.
"Aang, are you crazy?" he yelps as the airbender wraps his arms tightly around his waist, as close as their bodies will allow.
"Mm, nope," Aang reports staidly. He's not even out of breath, as Zuko is sure he would be after falling several hundred feet to land on a moving target. "If I were crazy, I wouldn't fall in love with you. I don't fall in love with losers."
"You're crazy," Zuko concludes. Then the rest of Aang's words catch up to him. "Wait, what?"
"This way, we both win," Aang whispers by his ear, just barely audible over the wind. "You won't lose the race, and you won't lose me."
Trust Aang to realize what Zuko had been too afraid to say aloud, and to make it plain between them while they're over a thousand feet in the air, nothing separating Zuko's stomach from a very long drop.
I love you. You won't lose me. Together, there's nothing we can't do.
He folds one hand over Aang's, belted at his waist, and curls the other behind him to cradle Aang's cheek. The enamored airbender nuzzles into his touch, and Zuko thinks that maybe, just maybe, they've reached Heaven after all.
The dream that was not a dream
Republic City shines bright from the balcony, a gala of lanterns and starlight under the clear evening sky. He and Aang have made it a semi-regular date to spend most major holidays in the city at some nondescript hostel where the owners pretend not to know who they are. They can just be two ordinary lovers enjoying the New Year together, seeing the sights, listening to the life of the city, tasting the flavor of their creation.
Behind him in their rooms, a sumptuous dinner spread awaits them, traditional dishes with some of their own original spins: rock cod braised in sweet and hot sauce for Zuko, glutinous fried rice cake with a hint of cardamom for Aang. Dumplings for both of them, black sesame tangyuan, and a smattering of salted peanuts, sunflower seeds, prawn chips, pomelo slices, and other snacks to tickle the tongue. A mellow pomegranate cordial to pair with their meal, as Aang doesn't like the harsher rice wines that the distilleries here favor.
From the balcony, he wonders if the fragrance of dinner will waft down to Aang, who is busy handing out tanghulu to children dashing by on the street, giddy from the brisk air and the promise of dumplings for dinner. He dips the skewered crabapples in boiling caramel and rolls each skewer between his fingers, the sugar magically condensing into a frizzy halo like candy floss. The children's energy is infectious, and Zuko smiles to see them so delighted by his love's antics.
He exhales deeply, and his breath is thick mist before him, lanterns dotting the street and staining the vapor warm golden. It feels right to close his eyes against the cold and experience the evening through his other senses alone, to feel the beating heart of the city united in the New Year.
"Enjoying yourself?"
Somehow, he is not surprised when a pair of hands creeps over his eyes, a familiar figure against his body and a beloved warmth affecting his heart as always when Aang is near. For of course it is he; no one but the wily airbender would dare to accost Zuko even when his guard is down.
"I am, now that you're here."
It is the year of the bison once more, twelve years since the New Year celebrations resumed their proper tradition, and twelve years since Zuko opened his heart and found Aang's waiting.
A/N: During the series, Zuko is 16 and Aang is 112. In this fic, they are turning 24 and 120, so they are 96 years apart. Because the Chinese zodiac operates in a 12-year cycle, any year in which your age is a multiple of 12 is the same animal as your birth animal, so Aang and Zuko were both born in the year of the bison :) I just thought that would be a fun fact to include.
Obviously, I updated the zodiac to fit the Avatar universe and tried to make them sort of correspond to its fun hybrid animals. Here's a list, with the Chinese name, real life animal, Avatar animal, and nation of origin. I couldn't find a rooster-like animal of Air origin, so I just used the flying lemur xD
鼠 rat: elephant rat / Fire
牛 ox: sky bison / Air
虎 tiger: snow leopard caribou / Water
兔 rabbit: rabbiroo / Earth
龍 dragon: dragon / Fire
蛇 snake: two-headed rat viper / Air
馬 horse: arctic camel / Water
羊 sheep: goat gorilla / Earth
猴 monkey: tiger monkey / Fire
雞 rooster: flying lemur/ Air
狗 dog: polar bear dog / Water
豬 pig: hog monkey / Earth