RSVPs
One by one, the messenger hawks came soaring back bearing their equally heavy burdens on their legs. It was not surprising to the Fire Lord and his Waterbending fiancée that most of the replies were "yes" – after all, the invitations were from the monarch of the most powerful nation on the planet. How does one say "no" to him?
"Look, we got more!" Katara hastened into Zuko's office, a bundle of tiny scrolls in hand. Zuko looked up from his work and groaned inwardly.
"That's nice, love… why don't you bring them to the royal scribe and he can mark them down in the ledger book for the wedding?"
"Oh, but where would the fun in that be?" Katara smiled and plopped herself down in front of her beloved, dumping the scrolls on top of the document he had been reading. "This way, we get to know who's coming. And they might have written messages for us!" Zuko sighed and started unrolling the little slips of paper.
"Who's the 'Canyon Guide'?" Zuko cocked an eyebrow.
"Oh, he helped us cross the Great Divide," Katara said. "What did he say?"
"Dear Katara and Fire Lord Zuko:
Hello from Omashu! Since we last saw each other, I've been living here as a canyon crawler rancher in King Bumi's service. It seems he likes large, angry, hungry creatures. I'd love to come to your wedding, though you can put me down for two instead of one – Bumi's been on a health kick lately and has been removing the skin off chicken wings again. Actually, he's been removing the top three centimeters off any piece of food and calling that 'skin'. I've been starving for nearly two months now.
Sincerely, The Canyon Guide."
Zuko rolled his eyes and took up another missive, this one from the Superior at the Abbey. Katara read over his shoulder:
"Humblest and most sincere greetings from the women of the abbey. We were delighted to hear of your impending union and all of the sisters send their blessings. We would be happy and honoured to attend. However, we must apologize for our inability to provide you a gift of any kind. Your last visit depleted a great deal of our perfume revenue, as we had to:
1) replace the main gates,
2) repair the damage to the
outer buildings and roofs,
3) have a new well drilled due to
destruction and contamination,
4) replace all our perfume pots, and
5) make up for the lost revenue in perfumes used to distract the
Xirxiu monster.
All 30 of the sisters, including myself, are looking forward to your wedding day.
Yours Devoutly, Superior."
Katara blinked. "Oh. That's right. I guess we kinda just trashed the place and left, huh?"
"I was lucky to get out of there at all," Zuko snorted. "Stupid Uncle Iroh pretended he was paralyzed while those crazy women threw me into the river. With my armour on." He made a face. "Remind me again why we're inviting them?"
"Because the Pirates need dates," Katara replied blithely, and pointed. "Look, this one's from Fire Sage Shyu."
"To His Royal Majesty, Fire Lord Zuko, and his lovely betrothed, Katara of the Water Tribe:
Greetings on this momentous occasion. I would be delighted to join you on your wedding day, however, as you seem to have forgotten that I was sent to the coal mine gulag in the west, it may be difficult to arrive on time. Please forgive the short note, as I am being ordered to work faster.
Shyu."
"Oh dear." Katara said. "Honey, did you forget to release the political prisoners in the western gulag?"
Zuko blinked and slapped the heel of his hand against his forehead. "Damn. I knew I forgot something."
