"There are four men in here!" yelled the Imperial Guard, sounding panicked. Mai swore beneath her white veil. What in the name of all the sacred…She pushed the Guard aside and looked inside the carriage herself. A quick scan of the prisoners' attire and headbands told her everything.
"They're New Ozai Society!" she yelled to Suki. Suki's eyes narrowed, and she immediately grabbed a conscious one by the arm and dragged him out of the carriage.
"What happened here?" demanded the Kyoshi Warrior. The man's eyes were wide with fear, and large purple bruise was swelling on the side of his head. His knees were blistered a painful white and red.
"I-she attacked us out of nowhere!" he babbled. "Zamira—her blue fire—oh sages the rest are dead!"
At the sound of "blue fire" Mai and Suki both grew tense. Was it possible that the figure they had seen diving off the top of the carriage had been Azula? And if so, what was she playing at, sending them a bunch of New Ozai rebels? Was this her twisted attempt at being helpful?
A gong sounded, and Mai turned, her veil fluttering around her elaborately styled hair. She was supposed to have entered the ceremonial courtyard a few minutes ago. Zuko was waiting for her, and with his injuries every moment he spent standing was painful.
But if there were further attacks planned on the wedding, she had to know. Now. She lifted her white and red gown and kicked the rebel in the knee. He screamed.
"Tell me who you work for!" Mai demanded. To her left, Suki looked shocked, but resolved her face into a steely expression. She, too, leaned over the injured man. "Tell us! Will there be any more attacks today?" she spat.
"I work for Lord Tomono," sobbed the former insurgent. "We were planning to kill the Firelord's fiancée and then ride her carriage into the ceremony."
"Is anyone still at Lord Tomono's estate?" asked Mai sharply.
"I—they were when I left, but—"
"Guards!" bellowed Suki. "Assemble a strike force. We raid Lord Tomono's house, now." She turned to the Guard who had stopped the carriage. "Take these prisoners somewhere secure."
"I should come—" said Mai futilely.
"No," said Suki gently. She turned to Mai and smiled. "Enjoy your wedding. I'm sorry I'll miss it."
Mai felt a little pang that one of her only friendly acquaintances would be absent. "I'm sorry, too," she said honestly.
Suki took off at a jog to rendezvous with the Imperial Guard strike force. "And Mai!" she yelled as she ran. "You look beautiful!"
Under the cover of her veil, Mai smiled.
Zuko focused on his breathing exercises and pretended he couldn't feel the savage burn on his side. Now that the skin was starting to heal, new tissue replacing the dead, it felt like he was under a constant flame. He had forgotten how terrible his facial scar had been. But then perhaps his anger and shame had burnt away some of the pain…
He stood at the top of the dais in the ceremonial courtyard, waiting for Mai. In the front row of guests sat Aang, Katara, Sokka, as well as Iroh and Kazuto. Zuko smiled at them, and Aang wiggled his eyebrows back, displaying an impressive range of motion. Zuko's mother and new family had decided not to come, which he understood. When they had last made the trip a month ago, Ursa's daughter Kiyi had been kidnapped by Azula in his sister's perverted attempt to make Zuko a more decisive leader. And after a decade in hiding, Ursa hardly wanted to publicly take her seat with the Imperial Family. Speaking of family not seated in front, Akira sat a few rows back from the rest of Zuko's friends, and looked vaguely impatient. Mai was very late.
Then the courtyard doors burst open. But instead of riding the carriage a few meters and then descending, Mai walked in alone. She was dressed in an elegant white robe with knots of dark red along edges and encircling her waist. The sleeves were full, covered in red embroidery near the hands and gradually fading to a pure white by the shoulders. Zuko bet she had at least a dozen knives hidden in those sleeves. Her hair was piled high in the traditional fashion, with grey ornaments pinning up her braids. But as Mai came closer, it became clear that the pins weren't in the shape of flowers, as Zuko had seen at every other wedding, but were instead delicately carved jade dragons.
She was the most perfect thing Zuko had ever seen.
As the drummers beat a solemn rhythm, Mai climbed the steps, without father or mother to accompany her. Zuko, too, was alone on the dais, but that was all right. Together they could shake off the past and create something new.
"Sorry I'm late," whispered Mai when she reached him. Zuko merely smiled at her stupidly, forgetting the fire on his ribs.
"Take off my veil!" hissed Mai. Oh. Right. Zuko stepped closer and lifted the transparent fabric, revealing Mai's face. She looked up at him a little nervously, and Zuko smirked to see that she had stubbornly kept her heavy black eyeliner. Classic Mai.
"Why are you crying?" murmured Mai as they turned to face the Fire Sage together, her eyes wide and confused.
"Am I?" sniffed Zuko. Well, he supposed he was.
"Yeah. Is it your burn?" Mai asked worriedly as they approached the ceremonial table, set with a series of nine cups. Zuko grabbed her hand, and turned her to face him again.
"I'm crying because I'm happy," he said quietly. Mai turned pink.
"Citizens of the Fire Nation! Friends! We are here today to celebrate the union of Firelord Zuko and Lady Mai!" the Fire Sage shouted. "After today, just as blazing fire cannot be divided, neither can they be separated." The Sage lifted her hands to the sky, and hundreds of white lanterns lit above them.
Mai and Zuko lifted the first of nine cups of rice wine together.
"In the first three cups, we drink to remove our vices. Hatred!" Mai sipped the cup three times before handing it to Zuko. As he drank, he thought about what Iroh had said about hating Ozai. Maybe now, at his wedding, was a good time to let that go. He breathed slowly, thinking of all that Ozai had done to him. But when he saw Mai's shining face, all that pain seemed insignificant. He wanted to be cut free of Ozai, for good. The last bitter drops of alcohol slid down Zuko's throat, and he slammed the empty cup on the table. It was finished.
"Ignorance!" Mai drank again, and then Zuko. If they wanted to survive this court together, they would have to be smart; they would have to trust each other. Zuko had cut Mai out of his Firelord duties before, and it had made him weaker. He couldn't do it again. The second cup was empty.
"Passion!" Mai smirked a little, but drank, staring Zuko in the face the whole time. He blushed. He was pretty sure this vice referred to excesses of temper and anger, not romantic attraction. He sipped the wine seriously while Mai still made faces across the table.
"In the next set, we drink to heaven, earth, and mankind!" said the Sage grandly. "For all people under the stars are bound together." If former Firelords had actually listened to these vows, thought Zuko. There might not have been a war.
"And finally," announced the Sage. "We drink to what we wish for the new couple. Love! Wisdom! And happiness!"
Mai's eyes were glittering as she drank. Zuko wondered if what she would call 'sentimentality' had gotten to her, too. But given how messed up each of their families were, it was nothing less than incredible that they could start afresh, something Zuko had wanted to do as long as he could remember…
"As the bride and groom unite these flames, so too are Firelord Zuko and Lady Mai united!" Zuko summoned a small tongue of fire, and Mai picked up a torch. They walked together to a stack of wood in a large brazier overlooking the full courtyard, Mai sheltering her flame against the wind with her hand.
"Ready?" said Zuko, holding his fire close to the kindling.
"For you, I always am," said Mai. She stepped closer to him, and without looking away from him, tossed her fire into the brazier. Her grey eyes flickered in the dancing light. Zuko threw a fistful of flame into the bronze tray, joining their fire. As the bonfire roared high, the people cheered, and the Firelord kissed his wife.