Note 1) "Fiery smex" comes from Jessieheart at LJ – credit goes to her for adding this to the great ATLA fandom lexicon!
Note 2) I stole Jun's interlude from Jakia. (Sorry Jak.) Go read Jakia's KISS THIS! – Hi-freaking-larious (and poignant, and fun, and fluffy… so much Zutara goodness!)
Invitations
Scores of messenger hawks were sent to the farthest corners of the world bearing invitations to the Fire Lord's wedding. Each salutation was born on red and gold wings to their respective recipients, and RSVPs were dutifully returned with the bird to the faraway Fire Nation palace. How the hawks knew exactly who was to receive these messages, no one could say, except that it was believed the birds had an uncanny sense about their duty. It was the reason the avian emissaries had been chosen for the task.
Of course, like a certain flying bison and a certain flying lemur, the hawks were a lot smarter than they let on. They had feelings, and the arduous journey they had to make across the seas, over the land, and back left them a little bitter and underappreciated. But when they went home to roost, they would exchange stories in their own squawking tongue, about the human feeders they had visited with the Fire Lord's message.
These are some of their stories.
Earth Kingdom: Haru's Village
Tyro burst into the house, a crimson bird perched precariously on his massive shoulder.
"Haru, wife, we've received a letter from Katara. She's getting married!"
Haru blinked. "Married? To who?"
"Fire Lord Zuko."
The boy's face paled and he quietly left the table while Tyro and his wife eagerly wrote a reply on a bit of parchment. The hawk, carrying the return message and now bored with the old people, alighted and soared out the door after him, finding a more stable perch on a fence post next to the brooding Earthbender, his pretty features bronzed in the setting sun.
"Getting married," Haru sighed. "I thought she might come back one day to see me. I thought she liked me," he reached out to stroke the bird's glossy feathers, but the hawk snapped at his slender digits. He retracted his hand and scowled. "But she's got a prince now. A Fire Lord."
He let out another melancholy sigh, letting the wind stir his bangs. "I could have loved her. Made her happy. Now that the war is over, we could be together."
A little ball of anger welled up inside him. He stomped his foot huffily, sending a little quake through the earth. The hawk screeched in protest.
"What could that Zuko have that I don't?" Haru said. "I've never even met the guy, but I already know my hair's way better than his!"
"Haru! The rag and bone man is here! Come have a look at the ribbons he brought!" His mother called.
"Ooh, ribbons!" And the Earthbender hurried back into the house.
The hawk, utterly disgusted, took wing into the hazy gold air, heading home.
Somewhere: A hole in the ground
How the Fire Lord's messenger hawk found Master Jeong Jeong in his hidey-hole deep within the mountain was beyond even the Firebender's understanding.
"What do you want?" He barked at the bird. The messenger bird stood unfazed, blinking in the candlelit dimness of the cave. "Stop staring at me!" Jeong Jeong screamed. The hawk screeched in reply.
The Firebending master roughly seized the invitation, getting a nasty scratch from the bird in the process, and muttered to himself as he read the missive over.
"This could be a trick to expose me…" he muttered. "How do I know this isn't Ozai pretending to be Katara?"
"Lighten up. The war's over," Chay said over his shoulder. He enthusiastically pointed at the parchment, tipping into the old man. "Hey look! It says free food!"
Jeong Jeong glared up at his companion and let out a long, grumbling sigh. Better to be in the heart of the Fire Nation than holed up with this brain-addled cretin any longer.
Kyoshi Island
"A royal wedding!" The Kyoshian warrior women squealed and danced in glee within the dojo. "I can't believe they invited the entire village!"
"They'd better, after all the damage they caused," Suki grumbled. Her second-in-command, a tall, slender, sylph of a girl, kneeled by the warrior, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"Suki, what's wrong?"
"No letters. No visits. Not a damned word from him in all this time. He could have been dead and I'd never have known!" She hissed. "And he still has my spare armour!"
The second-in-command bit her cheek. "This… this is about that Yue girl we heard rumours about, isn't it?"
"I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THAT NAME!" She blasted, and the girl rocked back, recoiling from the seething leader. She hastily wrote a reply for the impatient hawk and slipped it into the oiled leather casing tied to the bird's leg. Yes, they'd be there. All of them.
Earth Kingdom: Somewhere in the woods
Jun extended her arm and let the hawk settle, its talons digging into her flesh. She removed the tiny scroll and read it to herself, smirking.
"So Angry Boy's getting hitched? And to a Waterbender, no less." She smiled and let out a throaty laugh. "I so called it."
Southern Water Tribe: Sokka and Katara's home
"What is it, my love?"
"Katara's getting married to that Fire boy," Gran Gran said. "And stop calling me 'love.'"
Pakku pouted, crossing his arms. "I'm not giving up, you know."
"The answer," Gran Gran growled, "is still no."
"Then why are you still holding onto my betrothal necklace?"
"Because it keeps my neck warm!" Gran Gran stomped out of the hut to tell her son, Hakoda, the news about his daughter.
Earth Kingdom: A Western port town
He thought the hawk was diving in for one of his hard-earned fish, but when it opened its wings and bobbed to a stop, landing gracefully on the lip of his boat, he decided not to smack it away.
"A message for me?" He read the scroll over. "What on earth…? Why would I be invited to the Fire Lord's wedding?"
His gnarled wife stalked up and snatched the message out of his hands, scrutinizing it with her wrinkled face. "Hmph. It sounds like they're trying to make it look like they have more friends than they actually do. Give face, or some stupid something like that."
"Damn idiot weddings," the fisherman grumbled. "They'll invite anyone and everyone just so they can get a few more gifts."
The wife snorted. After a moment, she glanced over at the man. The look on her husband's lined face told her what she wanted to know. "So… we're going, aren't we?"
"Do we have a choice?" The fisherman sighed, and sent the hawk away with their reply.
Coming soon... the return of hippies!
