a short ficlet for an anon who asked for "accidently married in a local ritual." :)


"The plum blossom symbolises hope and perseverance," the Priestess explained, her wrinkled arms putting the garland around Zuko's neck. Zuko tried not to look quite so alarmed. "A harbinger for spring. Perfect for a graceful, strong leader such as yourself." Now he ventured a small and familiar smile, affected and even embarrassed.

Katara giggled, touching the garland resting on her own chest - she had picked out her own wreath of night jasmines, though for reasons she kept to herself. The locals had a different name for them when she asked, coral jasmines. That made sense considering the abundance of shore reefs that encircled this tiny island off the eastern Earth Kingdom coastline. Since her very first meeting with swamp benders during the war, Katara was always curious to find more plantbenders. Rather unlike the Foggy Swamp tribe, this particular tribe seemed to have a culture that revelled in the beauty of plant life – enough to keep a vibrant ecosystem of flora alive, far beyond what the season, soil and saline air should have allowed. Katara suspected there was some exceptional mix of healing and plant bending going on that was keeping this ecosystem going; she'd have to ask around more.

Though their tribal lifestyles were reliant on the marine environment just as her own tribe was on the polar ice, every aspect of their culture was new and exciting – including their elaborate welcoming rituals. She was so glad Aang had pestered them to stop by here.

Aang sidled up to sit next to her in the sand, looking with unbridled affection toward Zuko and then catching her eye with a smirk. Katara followed his gaze. "They suit you!" she called, earning a glare from Zuko and a chorus of laughter from the few children skittering around the sand. Katara's eyes were drawn to Aang's wreath – round, fatty yellow petals diffusing to white as they spread outwards. "Champa," he said, eyes twinkling. "These used to grow on the Southern Air Temple, too. We used them for funerals, so I wasn't sure if it would be offensive, but Hana over there told me happily that here, they symbolise marriage." He cocked his head. "That's definitely nicer, though I guess I don't really know why that's relevant."

Soon, they were drawn together by the Priestess and her attendants, who pushed the three of them to sit in a loose circle. Katara looked between Zuko and Aang with amusement, and then a dawning puzzlement as the Priestess instructed them to take off the wreaths they had just put on and stack their hands.

She took a long breath of salty air. Then, gathering each garland on her arm, she deftly swiped every flower clean off their stems. One attendant held the confetti of loose flowers suspended in the air with waterbending while another presented a sinewy vine to the Priestess. With stunning precision, the Priestess wound the flowers around the vine, her fingers moving fast to alternate between each. She had created, Katara realised belatedly, a gorgeous garland of three flowers. Creamy white petals of different shapes and sizes danced between each other, each dashed with a pleasing hint of colour: the blush of Zuko's plum blossom – a lot like the blush on his face right now – the sunshine yellow of Aang's champa, and the droopy jasmines with their central dot of the ripest orange.

"Now," began the Priestess. "Nothing makes the flowers bloom like a healthy union. When Avatar Aang and his cherished friends came to our little island this morning, I was delighted to welcome them. When our fellow water-daughter, Katara, spoke to me of their adventures and their unions, I was amazed. And when the Fire Lord Zuko bowed his greeting to me, presenting the seeds of his native fire lilies, I was touched."

Katara beamed. It was nice when they all travelled together and this wasn't the first time a local had brought it up. Something about seeing people so obviously of three different nations travelling together so casually seemed to strike the hearts of residents in the remotest places they visited. It was easy for her to forget, given how entwined her own heart was with the wider world – between her homeland, the United Republic, and Zuko's palace. Watching her shining eyes, Katara wondered what the world had been like when the Priestess last ventured out.

The Priestess continued, "So it is with the greatest pleasure I bestow upon them the greatest gift our tribe offers – the union of three spirits as one." And with that, she hovered her arms above them and began winding the vine around their stacked hands with wide, looping gestures that remind Katara of the waves moving in and out on the horizon behind her.

Katara's hand, trapped between the others, sprung up a sudden sweat. Wasn't this oddly like—? Zuko must have noticed the same thing, because he was redder than a fire lily, eyes widening as he took in the Priestess' words–

But a chorus of claps and shouts drowned Katara's thoughts just as quickly. The Priestess raised their joint hands triumphantly into the air, and Katara, caught in the vibrancy of the moment, went with it. The Priestess released her remarkably powerful hold on the vines, and the flowers burst away from the vine and cascaded around them in a blur. Aang had joined in on the whooping, just as the children surrounded them, braiding a plum blossom into Katara's hair here, a cluster of champas tucked behind Zuko's hairpiece there. Two kids were resourcefully measuring up Aang's head for the beginnings of a jasmine chain.

She took their hands, took in their identical grins, and her heart swelled.

"Now," the Priestess said, reserving a sly wink for her. "Let's eat and then we'll get your marriage scroll printed."

Katara and Zuko gawked. Aang, it didn't escape her notice, firmly avoided their eyes.