(Theme Fifty) Wedding Part I
(As Prompted By) BabydollEyelashes
Zuko is mildly annoyed. His family keeps secrets. Lots of them. So he understands that Azula has plenty, and he likely does not want to come face to face with most of his sister's skeletons in the closet. But hiding an engagement? Now that is annoying.
He finds out when he finds the receipt for an engagement ring, and then when he digs slightly further, the fact that Azula has been in contact with Fire Sages, and a variety of other small purchases that he would not have noticed if he were not looking for Azula spending his money without asking.
She is engaged. And he knows who she is engaged to.
And how would Ty Lee not be telling everyone at this point?
He is baffled, frustrated, and conniving. All because he sees the ring on Ty Lee's hand at a banquet for the construction of a monument park dedicated to the cultures of all four nations in the Fire Nation, in place of a factory district.
"So, Ty Lee, is that an engagement ring?" Zuko asks, leaning towards her. She squints at him for a moment before her glittering eyes flash wide with panic.
"It's my grandmother's!" Ty Lee exclaims, clearly caught in a lie. Zuko contemplates prying further, or exposing her openly, but he decides he has a better plan.
And so, he slips out during a speech by Aang and grabs Mai by the arm.
"Mai," Zuko says and she knows that face. She does not like that face. "I want to throw a surprise wedding for my sister and Ty Lee."
"Azula hates surprises." Mai hopes she has been saved. A surprise wedding is not what anybody needs.
"She'll like this one. I need you, because no one knows either of them like you," Zuko says sweetly and Mai almost admires his kindness. But, in all honesty, it somewhat sickens her.
"Surprise birthday parties, baby showers, bachelorette parties, are all appropriate. Surprise weddings for other people are... not. I have to ask why you're doing this," Mai says flatly, turning up a palm and narrowing her eyes slightly. Zuko realizes she will need a push if he is going to get her in on this.
"Because they're engaged," Zuko says sharply and Mai suddenly understands.
"It's revenge because they still haven't told you that they're engaged after a year, isn't it?" she sighs, shifting her weight from foot to foot.
"Uh..." Pause. "Wait? How did you know?"
Mai decides not to answer that question and simply says, "If it is, I am so on board."
"Okay, it's that then. It needs to be really nice and has to do with their relationship and it has to be really classy," Zuko says, trying to envision the wedding. "I bet I can get Aang and Katara in on it. This is exactly their kind of things."
"You never struck me as the sentimental type," Mai says, already regretting this idea.
"Well, I'm not. But tonight is perfect for it," Zuko replies and Mai's amber eyes flash.
"Wait? Tonight. Tonight tonight?"
"Yes. I'm going to go get Katara." Zuko is gone before Mai can interrupt.
Sweet Agni. Mai rolls her eyes.
Azula is sitting and acting as disinterested in the speeches as possible when Mai grabs her by the back of the neck. Her hands light up bright blue before she sees it is her friend and her heart rate slows.
"You terrified me! I nearly destroyed this entire building," Azula snarls as Mai starts pulling on her. She is yanked into the hall that Zuko was moments ago telling Mai his plan in.
"Zuko is throwing a surprise wedding for you tonight. Play along," Mai says sharply. "And don't tell him I told you."
Azula looks uncomfortable, and not in the way Mai imagined she would.
"Mai, this may be problematic, and not just because I have no desire to be surprise wed by my overbearing brother in a Four Nations park," Azula says slowly as Mai realizes this may be worse than she imagined. And she imagined it as pretty bad. "Ty Lee and I are already married."
"Well, that makes things more interesting," Mai sighs.
To Be Continued . . .
