Blueeyeddevil06, thank you for being my beta!
Toph flopped on the couch early on the morning of the wedding. Katara and her bridesmaids were in a beautiful room set aside in the palace for them to prepare. Toph said, "Sweetness, I hope you know that me willingly putting on a dress is my wedding gift to you. I don't even plan on wearing one at my own wedding if I get married."
Katara smiled at her, "Trust me, I know, and I appreciate it a lot."
"Well, at least I get to wear my Earth Kingdom colors. It was a good idea of Zuko's to point out that the different countries are coming together."
Chie nodded, "And I love your dress, Katara. I love the fact that you're wearing an ice blue dress for the wedding and a red dress for the reception. The symbolism is perfect."
Katara twirled in her dress, "The dressmaker really outdid herself. It's incredible."
"You look like the queen you are," Suki commented. "It's strange to realize my future sister-in-law will be the Fire Lady. My kids will grow up visiting the Fire Nation palace." She noticed everyone was looking at her funny, and she burst out laughing. "No, I'm not pregnant! I'm just talking about the future."
"So," Toph said, "How is married life, Chie?"
"Wonderful! He's just as sweet to me as he was when we were dating. He takes my protection so seriously too. It's cute."
Katara chuckled and added, "Word is there was a murder in progress reported during your honeymoon."
Chie blushed deep red. "Well, he's really good. I didn't realize I was screaming so loudly."
Toph burst out laughing, "It sounded like you were being killed? How does that even work?"
"Well, we did break something too… they heard screaming and a crash."
Suki glared at her. "Now I'm jealous." She then burst into laughter.
Katara chuckled, "With any luck, Daiki is giving the guys pointers right now. They're all getting ready together too."
Toph shook her head, "No way are they having as much fun as we are. Keep in mind I'm saying that, and I'm wearing a dress!"
Daiki was currently surveying all the exits in the room. He'd been trained as a bodyguard since he was young, and now he wanted to use that training to escape. Aang didn't have a clue what an appropriate question was, and he had him cornered. He finally said, "I'm not answering how to get a woman to orgasm. I get that I'm married and that you're used to asking for training, but that's too far."
Aang sighed, "But I heard you got the police called!"
Zuko burst out laughing, "You better stop, Aang. I think he's ready to jump out that window to your left."
"No," Daiki said. "That one is too obvious. I planned on leaping out the one across the room after pretending to go for the one to his left," he readily admitted.
Sokka said, smirking, "Come here, Aang. Now that you're not dating my sister, I can tell you."
Aang shook his head, "Last time I asked, you used weird analogies like waspbees and butterflybirds. It didn't make any sense."
"You were dating my sister!"
Zuko rubbed his eyes in frustration. "Can we stop talking about him dating the woman I'm about to marry?! Especially when it refers to that."
Daiki was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe. "All of a sudden, I'm glad I didn't jump."
"I'm about to push you out the window myself." Zuko countered.
"Nah, you won't. You want me to keep Katara safe, and you know she's impetuous. I'm safe."
"Fine. But let's talk about a different topic now."
Without missing a beat, Aang asked, "Where are you taking Katara for your honeymoon? Are you going to have the police called like Daiki did?"
Sokka burst out laughing, and Zuko groaned out.
Zuko stood in his office and waited. For what he wasn't sure, but Nozomu insisted it was vital, so he listened. By now, he implicitly trusted him and waited for what was going to happen.
The door opened, and Katara stepped into the room in her ice-blue gown with her engagement necklace around her neck. She smiled at him and said, "I asked Nozomu to set this up. I wanted some time with you before the wedding."
He was overcome with seeing her in her wedding dress. He didn't even try to hide the fact that he was tearing up. He then pulled her close, trying not to wrinkle her dress, and kissed her. "I'm loving this surprise." He looked at her, studying her face. "You're just so perfect."
"You're very handsome too, Fire Lord. I really wanted to have time with just the two of us today. It's going to be a busy day."
"It's incredible how many people came for our wedding."
She caressed his scarred cheek. "What did you expect? The Fire Lord is marrying a Waterbender. I saw a bunch of Waterbenders out there mingling with Firebenders and showing off to each other. It seems they feel like it's not just our wedding but an alliance between the two bending styles."
He chuckled, "And we take another step towards sustainable world peace."
"It's overwhelming that our love can have such an impact on the world."
"Moving on, as wonderful as that is, I want to focus on us right now. You're stunning, but I always think you're beautiful." He placed a sweet kiss on her lips. "I'm getting that in before the wedding. One last kiss to my betrothed, the next one will be to my wife."
She blushed prettily, "I'm so excited for our future. I never dreamed I'd love like this."
"Neither did I. I'm so grateful for every moment that led to this. I know you are too. It's why you caress my scar more and more now."
She nodded, "True. I know it was such a horrible moment for you but without it… Without it, we wouldn't be together."
"I'd go through it all again willingly to get to this day and the future we have together."
"Well, aren't you a charmer?" She caressed his scarred cheek. "Let's do this thing and get married. I'm looking forward to starting the rest of our lives together."
Zuko stood in a large, beautifully decorated room with what felt like the whole world watching. He heard the music change and looked down the aisle, and the bridesmaids and groomsmen made their way down towards him.
He took a deep breath and forced a smile. He was nervous, and his hands were sweating. There were a lot of eyes on him right now.
The music changed again, and everyone stood and turned to wait to see Katara. The doors opened, and it didn't matter that he'd already seen her in her dress. She took his breath away, and he quickly wiped a tear from his eyes. She was breathtaking and walking towards him with a smile on her face about to become his wife. His nerves were completely gone and in their place was now an overwhelming sense of excitement.
It felt like the wedding went by in a flash. They pledged themselves to each other, and he was kissing her, his wife, for the first time. He was overwhelmed by his love and devotion to her.
He watched her blush then she got down on her knees, and the Fire Lady crown was placed on her head. She vowed to act in the best interest of the Fire Nation and to love its people. She did so, knowing that she was already fulfilling that commitment.
The reception was a joyous occasion. She shocked Zuko with her Fire Nation dress. It took his breath away. He loved seeing her in his color. She was to be at his side, helping to lead their people.
Nozomu had outdone himself. The ballroom had its normal fire surrounding it, but now it had massive beautiful ice sculptures too. Waterbenders maintained them since it was hot in the room. Zuko chuckled when he noticed people retreating to the ice sculptures when it got too hot, even for those from the Fire Nation.
An hour into the party, Aang nodded at Katara and Zuko. The dance floor was cleared, and Zuko smiled as Katara stood next to Aang in the center of the floor.
They drew everyone's attention, and Aang and Katara both smiled and waterbent in tandem. Everyone clapped.
Aang began to earthbend, and Katara bloodbent Toph to earthbend along with him. Everyone gasped and looked at Aang in shock. He was smiling at Katara. Then they firebent and Katara bent with Chie. Everyone was clapping now.
Then to almost everyone's surprise, Katara bloodbent with Aang and was airbending. That got everyone hollering out in approval.
The Fire Nation citizens looked a bit smug that their Fire Lady was able to achieve all that. They were enormously proud of her. They didn't mind letting everyone know that fact.
Zuko stepped forward and kissed her passionately. He then said, "Can I have some music to dance with my amazing wife?"
The band struck up, and he danced with her, beaming at her with pride.
During their dancing, he heard Katara giggle, and she drew his attention to Toph and Aang kissing in the corner by an ice sculpture. Kartara said, "So she did make her move at my wedding. I'm glad."
Zuko and Katara danced all night. She was thrilled to dance with him in the open and not have to hide how happy she was to be in his arms. Until death does them part.
The End.