(75 Minutes Before the Wedding)

King Kuei was having a very odd morning.

He woke up this morning in what Zuko described as the finest suite in the palace. If that was true, the King wondered how horrible the other suites must be. Because this morning, he woke up to the utterly unpleasant noise of animals fighting right outside his window.

He supposed Fire Lord Zuko intended for his suite to be "scenic" but it was nothing but chaotic.

After being rudely awoken, he looked outside the window out curiosity. He discovered a gaggle of eel-swans battling with each other in a pond. Loudly. In the other pond, he discovered a herd of turtle-ducks battling with each other. Again, loudly.

How annoying.

After spending about fifteen minutes observing the unruly animals, King Kuei began dressing. It was the morning of the wedding of the century, and the whole world would be tuning in. Not only was Zuko the hero of the Fire Nation, he was also immensely popular everywhere else. Kuei guessed good looks and a brooding demeanor was all you needed to be the world's most loved bachelor.

Lady Mai was also extremely popular after her well-received campaign to train non-benders all over the world in the art of self-defense. And very early into her relationship with Fire Lord Zuko, she advised him to consider the idea of "food stamps" – an idea which would ensure food for the most unfortunate while also sustaining the economy of the Nation.

So, it would make sense that their union would be one of the most widely viewed events in history. While only about a hundred people were allowed in the actual wedding venue, thousands from all around the world have flocked into Caldera City to catch a glimpse of the royal couple.

And those who weren't able to make it, would be tuning in via the radio – a recently-invented device that allowed for communication over large distances.

Still, despite all the popularity they were receiving, Kuei did not envy either Zuko and Mai. With all eyes on them, the pressure they must be experiencing must be tremendous. They couldn't afford even a single mistake.

And so, for about half an hour, King Kuei pondered the difficult relationship between popularity and pressure.

After his philosophical pondering was finished, the King supposed he should eat something. But, as he was preparing to order breakfast, there was suddenly a loud knock on his door.

Curious, he opened the door and found Princess Azula's wife staring back at him.

"Your Highness," Ty Lee said, bowing briefly, "Sorry to bother you, but Lady Mai has a special request for you."

The King frowned. He was wondering how to address the girl. He was about to address her by her name, but then he remembered something about her considering the term "circus freak" a compliment. He thought it was odd, but still, he'd respect her preference. "Do tell, circus freak."

Ty Lee's eyes widened in surprise and slight indignation. But she didn't comment on it as there wasn't enough time. The wedding was starting soon, and she had no time to waste.

"Well, seeing as you studied animal behaviors, Lady Mai was wondering if you could see what's upsetting the eel-swans and turtle-ducks," Ty Lee explained, gesturing to the ruckus outside. "You would be well-compensated for your effort, of course."

King Kuei thought over the offer. If he did in fact find a solution, he wouldn't have to listen to such utter ruckus for the remainder of his stay. But he had been looking forward to eating breakfast right about now. Hm. He supposed he would take the high road and improvise.

"Alright, circus freak," he said, lifting his chin up high and proud. "Take me to the creatures."

Ty Lee nodded, rolling her eyes. "Alright," she said.

She then took him by the hand and began leading him outside. On the way there, King Kuei began recalling what he learned about turtle-ducks and eel-swans at university. Granted, he didn't spend a lot of time studying their behaviors, but he was fairly assured that he knew enough about them to discover the root issue in a reasonable amount of time.

He didn't realize, though, that he would realize what was wrong almost immediately open seeing them.

"Oh." He was surprised. "Well, they're in water. That's your issue then."

"Right… And why exactly is the issue?" Ty asked.

King Kuei straightened his robes. "It seems the Fire Lord has ordered terrestrial eel-swans and turtle-ducks. You can tell by their markings," said the King. "And while these terrestrial species depend on the water for food and resources, they live mainly on land. Spending too much time in water will make them irritable and aggressive."

Ty Lee nodded her understanding. "So the only solution would be to—"

"Remove them from the ponds, and allow them to freely walk the palace grounds," the King finished. "Alright, then? Good talk, circus freak."

Ty Lee reached out her hand to grab his wrist. "Wait! But if we let the animals out of the ponds, won't they attack our guests?"

"Oh, silly circus freak," King Kuei chuckled. "Terrestrial turtle-ducks and eel-swans are very gentle and timid when not forced to abide in water." He raised a brow, expectingly. "So, we're done, then? Okay. Great chat!"

And with that, the King turned on his heel and began walking back to his suite, pondering over the events of this morning. Yes, it was a very odd morning indeed. He wondered if this was the case for anyone else…

. . .

Aang's head was spinning as Katara dragged him and Sokka through the very crowded streets of Caldera City in search of the Fire Lord. His headache wasn't helped by the fact Katara was still nagging and lecturing them.

"… try putting yourself in Mai's shoes," she exclaimed, waving her arms. "She probably thinks Zuko got cold feet! Do you realize how ridiculous that is! Imagine that! Zuko getting cold feet with her. We all see how crazy he is about her, right?"

Sokka a hand on his forehead. "Ugh, sis, you need to be a little quieter. My head spinning."

Aang nodded his agreement. "Yea, same." He frowned. Something wasn't adding up. Aang was amazing at placed handling his alcohol. But today, he felt more hangover than he has ever felt in his life – and they hadn't even drunk that much last night. "This is so weird. We barely even drank last night. And I'm pretty good with my alcohol, but I feel horrible right now. And I don't remember Zuko being such a lightweight either."

Sokka nodded absent-mindedly, suddenly avoiding eye contact.

Katara picked up on this immediately. "Sokka," she said, very seriously, "Do you know something? Is there something you're not telling us?"

Sokka bit his bottom lip before sighing. "Okay. I think I might've accidentally bought fire-whiskey laced with cactus juice," said Sokka. "But I swear, I didn't realize that it had cactus juice in it until this morning when I read the fine-print on the bottle. If I had known that there was cactus juice in it, I would never have bought it. I swear."

Aang slapped a hand to his forehead. "Sokka," he groaned.

Katara's jaw dropped and she stopped in her track. "Are you serious? Sokka, I don't think Zuko's ever had cactus juice before. Remember how you were the first time?" Her eyes widened with concern. "What if he's got still intoxicated by the time we find him?"

Sokka looked concerned, but forced everyone back on track. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. First we just to find him." He tapped a finger to his temple, trying to think. "Let's think about this. If someone saw the Fire Lord stumbling through the streets, they'd probably offer him a place to stay. That way, they could gain favor with the ruler of the Fire Nation. Right?"

Aang nodded. "That actually makes a lot of sense."

"But it isn't an effective plan," said Katara, "How realistic is it to knock on every single house in Caldera City and ask if they know where the Fire Lord is?"

"We're gonna have to improvise, sis," Sokka said, shrugging.

Katara huffed. "Come on, then. What're you waiting for? We better start asking around." She began marching towards a nearby house, knocking on the door. As they waiting for the door to be answered, she looked back at her brother and husband. "Let's just hope that we find him. And soon."

. . .

"Yikes. Ooh, yea, that doesn't feel stable at all," said Toph. She was on her hands and feet on the floor of the wedding venue, using her seismic sense to feel for the stability of the ceiling. "The ceiling's not going to hold."

Standing next to her, Suki looked worried. "So… should we just tear down the roof, and make this a… uh, outdoor venue?"

"What the fuck is an outdoor venue? That literally defeats the whole point of a venue."

Suki groaned. "It's something I made up on the spot, okay?" She chewed on her fingernail. "It could be something fun and trendy. Who knows, maybe outdoor venues will be the next big thing?"

Toph didn't like the idea of it. But there wasn't really another option. She was sure Mai would rather have a roof-less venue than having the ceiling collapse on everyone. They were going to have to improvise.

So, she began carefully tearing down the roof while Suki began finding flowers to decorate the pillars that would be left behind.

. . .

Iroh was currently sprinting faster than he had ever sprinted in his life. He just arrived in the Fire Nation, and he was running like his life depended on it to make it to the Royal Wedding on time. When his nephew asked him to officiate his and Mai's wedding, he had felt honored. And his feelings about it hasn't changed; He still felt honored.

But he also felt incredibly winded as he tried to catch a carriage.

He was about an hour's walk away from Caldera City, and he doubted he could walk that distance in his old age. And unfortunately for him, the streets were incredibly crowded. And many people were trying to catch carriages to be in Caldera City for the Royal Wedding.

He finally managed to flag down a carriage driver. "Sir! Please, would you take me to Caldera City?"

"I'm sorry, man, but I'm already booked," said the carriage driver.

"But the Fire Lord's my nephew!" Iroh protested. "I'm officiating their wedding!"

The carriage driver rolled his eyes. "Right. And I'm Princess Azula."

Before Iroh could protest, the carriage driver rode off with a laugh. Iroh sighed. It would look like he was going to have to walk to Caldera City. Great.

He just hoped that his nephew and Mai were keeping everything under control over at the palace.

. . .

Sokka, Aang, and Katara had spent the past half hour knocking on the door to every house they saw, asking the residents of the house if they're seen the Fire Lord. The response they received wasn't encouraging. Most either said no, and closed the door, but some had the gall to openly laugh.

With each negative response, the trio felt their hope slipping a little more.

And now, as they approached the last string of homes in Caldera City, their hope was all but vanished.

"This is it," Katara murmured wearily.

"If Zuko's not here…" Aang trailed off.

"—then there's not going to be a wedding," Sokka finished glumly.

As they approached the first home they saw, suddenly, the doors to the house swung open and an elderly couple began running towards them.

"That's the Avatar!" exclaimed the man.

"Avatar! Avatar!" she called out, running straight towards Aang. "You," she panted, clearly out of breath. She pointed a wrinkled finger at Aang. "You're the Avatar, correct?"

Aang nodded. "That's me."

The woman looked relieved. "Oh, good, good. Your friend, the Fire Lord – we didn't know it was him at the the time – but he's in our house. Isn't it his wedding today?"

Katara's eyes widened in surprise. "Zuko's here?"

The woman nodded, making a beckoning motion with her hand. "Yes, yes. Please follow me."

The three followed the couple back to her house, and Katara placed a hand over her chest in relief. "Oh, thank goodness."

Sokka, though, didn't look as relieved. "Erm, Sir," he called out, "Is he still…" he trailed off, making a circling motion with two fingers at the side of his temple, "…ya know."

The man's eyes widened with understanding. "Oh," he said, looking uncomfortable. "Uh, yes."

Katara sighed. "I hoped I wouldn't have to do this…"

"Do what?" Aang questioned.

Katara bit her lip. "I know how to get alcohol out of someone's system."

"Oh, that's great!" Aang said, feeling relieved. "How do you do that?"

A dark look crossed her face. "It's better that you don't know the specifics."

The couple opened the door for the three and they stepped into the house before following them to the guest room. The guest room opened, and sure enough, they saw Zuko snoring on the bed. It was clear that he was still intoxicated.

Aang scratched the back of his head, confused. "Um, I'm not trying to be rude or anything but how did this happen?"

"Well, we just thought he was troubled young man who needed a place to stay," said the elderly man. "We would've liked someone to help our son if he was ever in that situation, so we decided to let him stay in the guest bed. This morning, we realized he was the Fire Lord and weren't sure what to do next."

Katara smiled. "Thank you, for your hospitality," she said, "I'll make sure this doesn't go unrewarded." She cleared her throat slightly. "Now, if everyone could step outside the room for a few moments?"

After exchanging a few confused glances, everyone else stepped out of the room and closed the door, leaving Katara alone with Zuko. Not even ten seconds later, they all heard the motions of Katara waterbending quickly followed by a loud gasp of pain from Zuko's part.

The elderly couple exchanged worried glances. "Is everything alright in there?" he asked, knocking on the door.

The door swung open a second later, revealing a suddenly sober Zuko sitting up straight in the bed and a guilty-looking Katara standing next to him. There was also a puddle of what looked like cactus juice on the floor next to the bed.

"What was that for?" Zuko snapped at her. "That hurt."

Katara placed her hands on her hips. "You should be thanking me that I was able to pull the cactus juice from your system. If it weren't for me, you would've slept through your own damn wedding!"

At the mention of the name wedding, Zuko's eyes widened. "The wedding!" he exclaimed, quickly jumping out of bed. "Shit. What time is it? When's the wedding?" He paused as he looked around the room. "And where the hell am I?!"

"These kind people decided to give you shelter after seeing you stumbling through the steets," Aang said, gesturing the couple.

"And I think it's about forty-five minutes before the wedding," Sokka continued, glancing over at the clock.

Zuko's jaw dropped. "FOURTY-FIVE MINUTES?" He shouted. "Then what are you doing just standing there? I'm getting married! I need to get ready, and—" he cut off, his eyes widening with realization. "—Mai." He turned to Katara. "Does she know? Is she okay? Does she think I got cold feet or something?"

"I don't know," Katara said, looking a little bit defensive. "I was too busy looking for you to ask how she was feeling."

Zuko slapped a hand to his forehead. "This is a disaster," he groaned, and then he was pushing his way through the doorway.

Before anyone could figure out what he was doing, Zuko was running out of the house, into the streets of Caldera City, and towards the palace. He needed to go find Mai and make sure she wasn't freaking out. His heart was practically sinking at the thought of her upset, thinking that he got cold feet and ran away.

He vaguely heard his friends running after him.

"Zuko!" Aang called out.

"Where are you going?" Sokka shouted after him.

"To the palace!" snapped Zuko, feeling a little irritated. Where else would he be going?

"Then you're going the wrong way, genius!" Katara yelled.

Oh. Zuko stopped in his tracks. He never claimed to be the best navigator. He spun on his heel, and saw his friends, all looking exasperated, pointing in the opposite direction. Zuko felt especially stupid when he realized that at some point over the course of the previous night, he must've misplaced his pants - leaving him only in his undergarments.

Thankfully, the streets were so crowded, nobody seemed to notice that the Lord of the Fire Nation – who was supposed to be getting married today – was pantless, in the middle of the streets, forty-five minutes before his wedding. Zuko supposed he ought to feel embarrassed.

But there was no time to feel embarrassed, he just needed to get back to the palace as quickly as he could. So, turning the other direction, Zuko began sprinting as fast as he could – his friends struggling to match his pace.

To Be Continued