Author's Note: This was written for Aromantic Writing Month 2021 Week 2. The prompt is Freedom & Music. It is not explicitly mentioned if characters are aro in this story. The main focus is on friendships and platonic relationships being valued equally. You can decide which however you want to interpret each character's romantic and sexual orientations.
It also does not explicitly state if any characters are in relationships (except Aang and Katara) so you can read into it however you want. I played around with Mai/ Zuko, Mai/ Zuko/ Ty Lee, Suki/ Sokka, Mai/ Zuko/ Ty Lee/ Suki/ Sokka, or them all just being platonic friends but none of it stuck. There is emphasis that these relationships are not strictly romantic but you can interpret any of them as qprs or romantic relationships.
Also I'd like to say I know nothing about music or dance so sorry if those bits of the story don't make sense or if their dances are really ugly.
The last two chapters of this fic are inspired by "the beginning of a new and brighter birth" by aloneintherain on Ao3. You do not have to read that fic to understand that one but the final chapter of this fic is very similar to the last scene of that fic. It was unintentional but I would just like to give the idea credit where credit it due.
It all began at Katara and Aang's wedding.
It was a nice wedding, it really was, and Zuko was happy for his friends but did they really have to invite so many people? Aang and Katara had a lot of friends all over the world but half these people Zuko had never even met. He was pretty sure they were all political officials. He supposed he couldn't really complain, the Avatar's marriage was a pretty big event for all four nations, but it was stifling to have so many people in one space, however open.
He supposed the one advantage was that no one could see if he was dancing or not.
The ceremony was lovely and Zuko meant that genuinely. Aang and Katara had danced afterward in a beautiful mix of Water Tribe and Air Nomad styles and now the floor was open to the guests. There was a live band of… Zuko wanted to say they were Air Acolytes but they may have been one of King Kuei's bands from Ba Sing Se. Or maybe it was both. It was probably both considering they were playing a plethora of tunes from different nations and regions. Everyone seemed pretty pleased by the music selection and had taken to the dance floor with their partners.
Zuko was hiding in the corner with Mai and Ty Lee.
Zuko knew as the Fire Lord he would be expected to dance at some point. Not by Aang and Katara, they'd never do that to him, but there were so many strangers here and there was probably some important person here who would start whispers that the Fire Lord had insulted the Avatar by not dancing at his wedding and they needed to start war preparations again. Zuko didn't know anything about weddings but he was pretty sure that was a thing. Probably. Maybe. And for peace's sake, he'd dance. Probably. Maybe.
It was just that he didn't want to? It wasn't even entirely because he didn't know how to. He didn't really have any problems with dancing. He'd dabbled in some of the cultural restoration efforts that involved dancing directly. It just didn't seem appealing in the slightest. Earth Kingdom officials and royalty were swaying their partners, Water Tribesmen were spinning each other around, and Air Acolytes were leaning against each other, all in tune to the gentle melody. It was nice but he and Mai just weren't like that.
"Come on," Ty Lee complained for the umpteenth time, tugging on their hands. "You have to come dance!"
"We don't have to do anything," Mai responded, leaning even further into Zuko as if to prove a point. Zuko didn't complain.
Ty Lee frowned, her grip on both of them slackening a bit. "What's wrong with dancing? I mean, I know the Fire Nation never really allowed dancing much but we used to do it all the time at home. And in the circus! It's fun."
"This looks like the farthest thing from fun," Zuko commented and gestured vaguely at the mass of men and women before them. "It's all so… slow. And romantic."
"And boring," Mai added helpfully.
"And boring," Zuko agreed.
Ty Lee pouted for a moment before a look of excitement flashed across her face. "Wait here. I've got an idea."
She was gone before Zuko could protest. Zuko reached out with his newly freed hand and called after her but she'd already vanished into the crowd of people. He frowned a bit and slumped against the pillar he and Mai were hiding by. He didn't really want to dance but that didn't mean he didn't want to be around Ty Lee. She was a constant presence in his life these days and it felt odd to not have her around, even with Mai there.
"Should we go after her?" Mai asked, plucking an hors d'oeuvres off a passing server's tray to pop into her mouth. She immediately made a face. "Ew. Vegetables. They're not even cooked."
"Air Nomads are vegetarian," Zuko reminded her softly, though he probably didn't need to. His brow furrowed a bit as he glanced back at the crowd, worried. Should they look for Ty Lee? She'd told them to wait here so maybe she would be back. How long was too long? She wasn't in danger or anything but-
Zuko didn't have the chance to finish his thought. Ty Lee barreled past them with the speed of a cat mongoose and the power of an elephant gorilla. She snatched up both of their hands, catching them both off guard, and dragged them both across the venue toward the dance floor.
Zuko stumbled a bit but found his footing quickly and made a noise of surprise. "Ty Lee!"
"Was this your master plan?" Mai said, her voice dripping with sarcasm, when they came to a stop and Ty Lee freed them of her grip. "To grab us when we weren't paying attention?"
"No, silly," Ty Lee giggled. "This was my plan."
Nothing happened for a moment, prompting Mai and Zuko to look around in confusion. They were just kind of standing in the middle of the crowd, people dancing around them. Slowly, the song came to an end and Zuko opened his mouth to ask Ty Lee what was happening but was distracted by the most strange noise.
It was a tsungi horn, he knew that much after having played for years, but he'd never heard it make a noise like the one the band was drawing out of it. It was… hard. Not soft like most music was. And the horn's toots were coming out sharp and abruptly, accompanied by the melody of some kind of flute. Combined with drums, some stringed devices, and some other instruments Zuko didn't recognize, they made the strangest tune Zuko had ever heard.
"What is this?" Zuko asked, looking at Ty Lee. "And what are you doing with you hands?"
"I'm dancing!" Ty Lee said with a beaming smile. She put her hands up in the air and twirled herself around as if to prove a point. "I thought you might like this music more."
"I don't know if this is music," Zuko responded with uncertainty as Ty Lee began wiggling her shoulders, "and I'm not sure if what you're doing is dancing."
"Isn't music usually slower?" Mai said as she watched the people around them become inactive. Some were moving like Ty Lee, seemingly happy with the change, but most of them seemed as confused as Zuko. "Don't you usually, I don't know, hold your partner and shuffle around?"
"No, silly," Ty Lee replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You don't have to dance with a partner! That's just the fancy stuff. Most people just dance with their friends."
"With their friends?"
"For fun!"
"For… fun?"
"I'll show you," Ty Lee said cheerfully and took both their hands. She pulled on them, more gently this time, and kept moving her body. Zuko and Mai exchanged a glance, unsure what to do, but shrugged and decided to indulge their friend. Ty Lee was moving fluidly but it didn't have any structure to it like most dances Zuko knew of. She was just… rolling in tune with the music. It was a few minutes that Zuko realized the rhythm had traveled down her arms to their joined hands and he was mimicking her movements. Ty Lee looked thrilled. "That's the spirit!"
"This is… not horrible," Mai said as she allowed her free arm to join in the other half of her body. Without Ty Lee's influence, her movements were a bit more awkward but it didn't look totally ridiculous. Ty Lee looked equally excited by her efforts and began shaking her arms around with a bit more energy than she had before.
"I thought you'd like this more," Ty Lee said, her voice a bit quieter. Zuko's heart softened a bit when he noticed the nervousness fading off her face. He usually brushed off her exuberance but she really wanted them to have a good time. Affection for his friend welled up inside of him. "I don't really like slow music myself. I don't want to slow dance with some random guy. I'd much rather dance with you two."
"What's different about this music?" Zuko asked, trying to warm up his body a bit so he looked less like a flailing pig chicken. "How come everyone's dancing differently now?"
"Fast music is more freeing," Ty Lee said without a tone of doubt and lifted up both her arms so Zuko and Mai could spin her around. She leaned back dramatically, trusting them not to let her fall. "There aren't any steps and you don't have to worry about stepping on anyone's feet and you don't have to worry about who you're with. You can just let the music take over and let your body move."
Zuko smiled a bit as Ty Lee bounced back up from her dip. He'd never seen three people dance like this with their hands joined but Ty Lee was somehow rocking it despite his and Mai's hesitation. He'd gladly accept some discomfort for her.
"Looks fun!" a familiar voice said, breaking the awkward jig the three of them shared, and Sokka was suddenly on Zuko's back. "Can we join?"
"Get off," Zuko complained good naturedly and shrugged Sokka off him, the other man careful not to accidentally choke the Fire Lord while unhooking his arms from their place around his neck and shoulders. Sokka grinned at him bashfully and Zuko noticed Suki not far behind him. "You two know how to dance?"
"Sure!" Sokka replied. "The Fire Lord's advisor and guard go to a lot of fancy events, don't we? We know all kinds of dances!"
"I don't think what you do counts as dancing," Suki commented, looking amused. Sokka stuck her tongue out at her and began dancing with a look in his eye telling the world he was ready to prove her wrong.
Sokka's dance was… different from Ty Lee's. He moved his whole body, shoulders to hips, in a rippling motion like a wave was going through him. It looked odd. Zuko wondered if it was a Water Tribe thing but judging by the Water Tribe spectators' stares, it was not.
"You look stupid," Toph said, pushing past a group of young Earth Kingdom governors who were dancing nearby. By Agni, they were dancing so much better than Sokka. "My feet could see it all the way across the room."
"We're outside," Sokka responded but didn't let her snipes kill his spirit. In fact, it seemed to only encourage him and his arms joined in. "Come on, guys! Don't leave me hanging."
Ty Lee took up his offer in a heartbeat, letting go of Mai and Zuko's hands, and began dancing in a similar fashion, though she looked far better doing it. Zuko shared a look with Mai and Suki before joining. Mai and Zuko were a bit slow and awkward but Suki didn't say anything and matched their energy without hesitation.
The music picked up a bit and even Toph joined in, though her movements looked a bit too much like earthbending forms for Zuko to feel safe calling it dancing. The others certainly noticed because Sokka and Ty Lee exchanged a glance and began mimicking water and firebending moves. They were far from accurate, much flashier and they lacked power, but Zuko had to admit the fluidity and spunk they performed them with made them look like real dance moves.
"I now understand why Katara used to be so obsessed with doing this stuff," Sokka said as he wiggled his arms like a current before swooshing them to one side. Zuko was pretty sure that wasn't a real waterbending move but Sokka looked too happy for him to care.
Ty Lee gave a few punches before shifting her feet into the footing of a firebender and arching her hands up and spinning around. "I wish I was a firebender. It would be so fun to dance while firebending! Ooh, I wish I had fire like Zuko! Imagine how pretty it would be to dance with rainbow fire swirling around you!"
Zuko opened his mouth to explain that wasn't how it works but was interrupted by Toph.
"Aang and Katara are coming over," Toph announced after a bit as the dancers around them parted a bit for the bride and groom.
"Damn right we are," Aang said good naturedly. He and Katara had changed out of their wedding attire and into something simpler and loose-fitting. "You guys are dancing without us?"
"Maybe!" Ty Lee responded cheekily. "I was just saying how cool it would be to dance with rainbow fire like Zuko's!"
"Oh that would be cool!" Aang said, eyes lighting up. "Zuko, you should do it!"
"First of all, it's not rainbow fire. It's just multicolored."
"Rainbow," Sokka said through a cough.
"-And second, I don't know how to dance, let alone with firebending."
"What do you mean you don't know how to dance? We learned the Dancing Dragon together!" Aang exploded without even a pause. He gasped loudly. "We should do the Dancing Dragon together! Katara, can I do the Dancing Dragon with Zuko?"
"You don't need my permission," she said with a smile and a step back. "Knock yourself out."
"Not literally," Suki piped up, feeling the need to clarify which was probably a good idea in front of someone as knuckleheaded as Aang.
Zuko swallowed nervously and glanced at his friends. Mai shot him a smirk while Ty Lee gushed out her excitement. Sokka just gave him a thumbs up and the next thing Zuko knew, he was standing beside Aang.
They started on one foot, arms spread apart and palms facing the sky. Zuko could feel the sun's warm rays spark something deep inside him. He took a deep breath and took a step away from Aang.
Both of them shifted into a lunge, pivoting quickly in a circle. With their breathes, ribbons of colorful fire came to life, twisting around their arms with each step. Zuko flet them licking his bare arms as his sleeves rode up with the steps but the fire didn't burn.
Then came a sharp punch and a wide sweep of the arms. The fire followed the motion and rolled off him like a wave. The heat was oddly comforting on his tight shoulders.
A final thrust of the hand and the two met at the end of the circle, arching sideways to let their fists touch. Colorful fire burst from the contact, briefly engulfing them both before dying down with a few well controlled breaths from either side.
Zuko hadn't even noticed the spectators until the clapping began.
He jerked upright in a motion unbecoming of a Fire Lord and scratched the back of his head awkwardly. When had all these people gathered around? Had he really gotten that caught up in the dance? It was so easy to lose himself in his firebending.
People from all nations were applauding, even Fire Nation natives. They were a bit slower but the twist of distaste was merely an echo on their faces. They seemed proud. It was oddly validating, though Zuko didn't want it to be. Maybe this was a good thing.
Aang was suddenly hugging him. "That was awesome! We need to do that more."
Zuko couldn't help but smile. "We do. We really do."