(12 Hours Before the Wedding)
"We did it. We're done," sighed Zuko as he collapsed back onto the grass outside his wedding venue, "We're finally done."
Collective sighs of relief echoed in synch.
Zuko, along with his fiance, sister, sister-in-law, and the rest of his friends were gathered in the court directly outside the wedding venue. The sun was starting to set, turning the sky into a bleeding orange color, and each and every one of them was numb and sore from the day's activities.
After the initial panic of finding Kiyi and Tom-Tom fallen through the roof subsided, Ursa and Michi had collected Kiyi and Tom-Tom respectively, and took them to the Royal Infirmary. The messenger hawk had taken off shortly after with an indignant squawk. Fire Sage Nya, after muttering some more about the unluckiness of tomorrow's date, had also wandered back to the in-palace temple. This, effectively, had left Team Avatar, Mai, and Ty Lee alone to sort out the mess that had accumulated.
Luckily, Sokka had been the first one to rationalize things.
"Okay," he had said after Zuko had declared the situation a 'nightmare', "Let's think about this rationally. We have three main issues to tackle before tomorrow's wedding: the misspelled pamphlets and banners, the ruined wedding venue, and the animal control issue."
Zuko had groaned at the reminder.
"But, it's not the end of the world," Sokka had continued, ignoring the looks that everyone else was giving him, "According to Ty Lee, Azula already sent a letter to the printing company asking them to reprint the banners and pamphlets by tomorrow, so that issue is taken care of, right?" General murmurs of assent had answered him. "Okay, that leaves the wedding venue and the animal control problem."
"We could always get your servants to figure out this mess," Toph had mumbled under her breath. When everyone turned an incredulous stare at her, she had shrugged defensively. "Hey, I'm just sayin'. You're the Fire Lord, Sparky. You could just have your palace servants clear up the wedding venue and take care of the insane animals you decided to get."
Zuko had shaken his head. "No," he had said, "I'm not passing this mess on to someone else. It's already getting late, and my staff has enough to worry about in terms of catering and cleaning."
Toph had sighed. "I thought you'd go for the noble route," she had said. "If that's the case, I can try and fix the holes in the ceiling with earthbending. But I can't promise it's gonna look pretty. When I patch up the hole in the ceiling, the patches will probably look pretty noticeable."
"Not to mention that the furniture inside the venue is all messed up because of the crash," Mai had added, her eyes glancing over the splintered chairs.
"Well," Ty Lee had said, "Azula and I can paint over the patched-up areas after Toph is done earthbending, and we can go grab some old chairs and benches from the Royal Storage room. I mean, it's not ideal, but we can make it work."
"That still leaves the whole eel-swans and turtle-ducks thing," Suki had mentioned, cupping her chin thoughtfully. "I was thinking we could put the eel-swans in the front gardens and the turtle-ducks in the back gardens. That way, they can't fight each other, but the guests can still see them tomorrow."
Sokka had frowned. "But how are we going to transport them?" He had raised an arm, showing the cuts and bites he received from attempting to wrangle the eel-swans. "I'm not sure how Zuko managed to score the most aggressive eel-swans and turtle-ducks in the Fire Nation—"
"Hey!"
"— but it's already been established that they don't like being touched. And have surprisingly sharp teeth."
A moment had passed wherein they tried finding a way to transport the gaggle of creatures without getting hurt. When nobody piped up with their suggestion, Katara had emitted a loud sigh.
"I guess we'll just have to put on some thick gloves and clothes and wrangle them the best we can," she had said wearily, "Suki and I will deal with the turtle-ducks, Aang and Sokka will manage the eel-swans."
"Katara and I'll heal whatever cuts anyone has afterward," Aang had said, not to the reassurance of anyone.
"I'll fix the ceiling," Toph had added. "And I can also clear away all the rubble from the crash."
"Azula and I'll paint over the ceiling after Toph's done," Ty Lee had said.
"And Zuko and I will dispose of the broken furniture and replace them with the ones from the Royal Storage room," Mai had added.
Sokka had nodded, pleased that a plan had been put into place. "Okay, now that we've got a plan — let's get started," he had said, "Katara, Aang, and Suki — you're with me. Toph, Mai, and Zuko — you're fixing this wedding venue. Ty Lee, you go get Azula and a few buckets of paint. When we're done, we'll meet back here. Sound good?"
Everyone had voiced their assent.
Katara, from over her shoulder, eyed Zuko with reproach. "You. Owe. Us," she had growling before following Sokka, Aang, and Suki to the Gardens, "Bigtime."
After Zuko had promised to make it up to everyone, the group began attending to their respective tasks. Ty Lee went to fetch Azula, and both returned about ten minutes later (the latter bearing a look of shock at the demolished wedding venue) with several buckets of paint and ladders.
With Zuko's verbal directions guiding her, Toph had managed to patch together the ceiling and make it look somewhat decent. As soon as she was done, Azula and Ty Lee utilized the ladders and they painted over the rough area in which Toph had patched up the hole. Unfortunately, due to gravity, the paint had a tendency to splat down onto the floor or onto the heads of an unexpecting Zuko, Mai, or Toph — but this was the only option they had.
In the meanwhile, Toph, Zuko, and Mai were working to clear the rubble from the wedding venue and remove the splintered furniture. They finally managed to clear the rubble as soon as Azula and Ty Lee managed to paint over the ceiling. Around this time, a still heavily padded Sokka, Suki, Aang, and Katara had completed their task of moving the turtle-ducks and eel-swans with (mostly) negligible injury.
Lastly, the entire group had gone down to the Royal Storage room and collected as many chairs and benches (albeit mismatched) that they could find. Suki, who apparently had an eye for interior design, organized the furniture so that it looked stylish rather than mismatched. Katara and Aang, in the meanwhile, used their very handy waterbending to clean up the stains on the floor where the paint had splattered.
All in all, the venue ended up actually looking good. Not nearly as good as it had looked when Zuko and Mai first saw it (though Ty Lee insisted that the dated furniture gave it a "vintage" look), but it would have to do.
And finally, after hours of laboring, the group actually managed to pull it off.
"We're finally done," Zuko repeated, a smile pushing itself onto his face.
Mai slumped down beside him, tendrils of dark hair slipping out of her elaborate updo and framing her face as her gold eyes flitted around the rag-tag group.
Azula and Ty Lee were both allowing Katara to rinse the paint off their skin, Aang was healing the minor cuts that Sokka and Suki had acquired, and Toph was coated in a slightly thicker coat of filth than normal.
"We look horrible," Mai said, just a hint of amusement to her flat voice.
"I couldn't agree more," Azula said, sharply jerking her arm away from a slightly-scowling Katara.
Though Azula had turned over a new leaf long ago, she was by no means a saint; in fact, the only person Azula treated with 100% tenderness was Ty Lee — who had been with her every step of her recovery. And Katara, true to her nature, had a very difficult time forgiving the girl who killed her love.
Ty Lee smiled gratefully at Katara before plunking down next to Mai. "C'mon bride-to-be," she said, nudging Mai, "Let's get you cleaned up and ready for bed. Big, big day tomorrow!"
Mai wanted to frown at the treatment but instead found a smile tugging at her lips. "I'm not a child, Ty Lee," she murmured.
"No," said Azula, who was also smirking, "But you do need to get some rest before tomorrow's big day. As my future sister-in-law and Fire Lady, you better not embarrass me or our royal lineage by showing up to your wedding with eyebags."
"Same goes for you, Sparky," added Toph, jutting a finger in Zuko's general direction. "I know Sokka and Aang are planning something for your last night as a bachelor, but I don't wanna hear you snoozing at your own wedding tomorrow."
Zuko glanced at Sokka and Aang. "You're planning something for tonight?"
"What kind of friends would we be if we weren't?" asked Aang, smiling. "Though I must admit, I hadn't expected to spend the evening before your wedding chasing turtle-ducks."
Sokka grinned, a new source of energy suddenly coursing through him. "Your last night as a bachelor is going to be epic, Fire Lord Hotman."
"As long as whatever you're planning doesn't include visits to brothels, nude clubs, or places of that nature — I'm fine with it," said Mai tiredly, though her expression bore affection when she looked to Zuko. "I'm going to bed."
Suki, who had noticed the fondness in which Mai gazed at Zuko, smiled. "Aw, look at you two lovebirds," she cooed, "Seeing you two all lovey-dovey is almost worth the trouble ya'll put us through today."
"Almost," said Katara, snorting. "But actually, Zuko, go ahead and say goodnight to Mai because the next time you'll see her, it'll be in front of the altar."
Zuko's expression was blank for a moment as he considered the words before he turned to Mai, taking her hand into his and pressing his lips onto the back of it.
Her lips quirked into what could be possibly a simper, and she did not move her hand away.
"I don't hate you," he whispered, and the look in his eyes made her feel like she was the only girl in the world. In truth, he was well beyond the "i don't hate you" stage with Mai, but the phrase had become their thing, so it kinda stuck.
It was interesting as the rest of the group watched the normally stoic Mai's exterior crumble, exposing the softness she showed to a very select few. Azula and Toph found it cheezy. Sokka and Aang were more interested in the fact that Mai's face could twist into a smile. Ty Lee, Katara, and Suki, however, found it endearing.
"I don't hate you too," she murmured back before dipping down to kiss his damp forehead. "But Zuko, I swear to Agni, if you cheat on me tonight as part of your 'last night as a bachelor' thing — I will never forgive you."
Zuko chuckled. "Wouldn't dream of it," he said, "I'll see you tomorrow, my Fire Lady?"
"Of course, my Fire Lord."
"You two," interrupted Azula, mimicking the words Mai had told her a few days prior, "are making me nauseous. Remember, Mai?"
Mai cracked what, for her standards anyway, appeared to be a smile. "Help me up," she said, outstretching her arms so Ty Lee could pull her to a standing position, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm going to bed."
"Sokka, I think I'm gonna go hit the hay too," Suki said to her fiance, detangling herself from his embrace and standing up. "I'm exhausted."
"Same," Katara added, leaning over to peck Aang's cheek. "Goodnight, sweetie."
"Goodnight, love."
Once Azula, Mai, and Ty Lee as well as Katara and Suki left, Sokka turned to Toph. "You aren't going with them?" he asked.
She propped up a rock to rest her head. "Oh hell to the no," she said, grinning, "I'm staying with you guys for this 'epic' last night as a bachelor thing. What's your plan anyway?"
"Yeah, what have you planned for tonight?" asked Zuko, cocking a brow.
To this, Sokka grinned and shrugged an arm over Aang's shoulders in a dramatic manner.
"Two words, Fire Lord Hotman — alco and hol."
"Uh, Sokka, I'm pretty sure that's only one word."
"Shut up, Aang."
To be continued