Hello to you all! Did I mention I love my reviewers? Big hugs for you guys! Anyway, after the rather short chapter last time, here is a longer one. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar
So it was here. The day so many had been anticipating with anxiety, worry and hope. The Fire Nation party had arrived in Ba Sing Se and put up in the Earth King's Palace. Everyone was waiting, anticipating until the ceremony was scheduled to being.
Prince Zuko stood at the window of his room, looking out over the city walls. It was the first time he was alone today and he smiled fondly as he tried to remember exactly where the first tea shop that his uncle and he worked in had been. How he had hated the city then...
People had been fussing over him the whole day, from the moment he woke up. Dressing him, doing his hair, even some make-up (he had tried to refuse), running through the ceremony one more time… The rehearsal yesterday had been canceled because his bride felt ill and everyone was nervous, trying to make sure that everything went perfect.
Zuko sighed and stepped back from the window. It was too late for regrets; he was here, he would go through with it. He looked at himself in the mirror. The clothing had been specially designed for this occasion, as the wedding ceremony was a blend of two countries customs.
The whole outfit was white and loose so that the pants swished with every step he walked. Only the vest he wore over it was red, into the back the Fire Nation insignia was stitched. His hair was set in the traditional topknot, held up with the hairpiece of the crown prince. It was a surprisingly simple outfit for the time it had taken to put on.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door and when he answered his Uncle Iroh stepped into the room. He was looking uncharacteristically serious.
"The ceremony will begin soon. It's time for you to take your place." He paused as Zuko slipped into his shoes. They were white as well, the color of purity. "Now is your last chance to back out, Zuko. Are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this?"
"No," Zuko said, as he straightened and looked at his uncle, "I'm not sure. But I will go through with it. It's for my nation."
Iroh sighed, "Sometimes, my nephew, I wish you would think less of your nation and more of yourself." But he led the way out of the room.
Toph sat in a little room before the great hall and waited to be led into the room. She could hear hundreds of people moving about inside, trying to find a seat, and thought she was going to be sick. She wanted to move around, to pace the room, but she didn't dare, fearing to mess up her dress. This caused her a wry smile, it was so unlike her.
She hadn't gone to the rehearsal yesterday, feigning illness. It hadn't been very subtle, but Toph had been afraid that if she met him, the arrogant, superior aristocrat she was going to marry, she wouldn't be able to go through with the wedding. And no matter what, she had to go through with it. She had to get her earthbending back.
At last someone entered the room. Not only one person, but lots and lots of people, most of them children.
"Toph," and one was her mother. Toph set her face. "It's time."
She rose for her seat and felt two small hands grasping her own.
"We will lead you," a high, sweet voice said. The led her to what appeared to be the door. All around her tiny feet scurried but she didn't know what they were doing. It was frustrating, not being able to see. She hated her parents more than ever when she thought about it.
"Walk slowly," her mother said and Toph resisted the urge to roll her eyes. As if she could do anything else, hindered by the dress and her blindness.
"Good luck," Lady Bei Fong sounded chocked as she scurried out of the room, presumably to take her seat. In the hall the music began.
Zuko stood at the front of the giant hall, waiting. He let his eyes roam over them, the hundreds and hundreds of people. The front rows were, of course, filled with nobles from both Nations but the rows further back contained ordinary citizens, some of which had come all the way from the Fire Nation. It surprised and touched him. Maybe this wedding would bring what it was supposed to.
He was standing at the top of steps, overlooking everything. In the middle of the hall there was a wide corridor, lined with children of both nations, getting older as they approached him. They were dressed in white, with red or green vest much like his own. At the back there was an enormous door that would soon open to reveal the girl.
Above him, on a platform to which the stairs led, sat his Uncle and the Earth King in highly decorated chairs. A young man, dressed in pale blue was also there. He would be conducting the ceremony. As far as Zuko knew, he was from the Water Tribes, specially brought in, coached and empowered so it would not seem as if one Nation had power over the other.
Then it was time. Music, from musicians unseen, swelled to fill the room and the children started to sing. This had probably been rehearsed many, many times before they had even arrived in the city, so that the final rehearsal yesterday didn't even matter.
The giant doors opened and the procession entered the room. First came children, strewing pink and white flower petals on the floor. They walked slowly, rhythmically. And behind them came his bride.
She seemed tiny, swamped in the dress she was wearing. It too was white, like everything at this wedding seemed to be, but on the front was the coat of arms of her family, on the back the insignia of her nation and a delicate pattern of leaves were stitched in pale green thread connected everything. Her black hair cascaded down her back, caught in a silver net that was set with moonstones and diamonds and a short veil that covered her face.
Two ropes of pearls graced her neck, silvery black in color. One was wound tightly around her neck, the second dropped almost to her waist.
She look liked a child, a doll and she was being led, her hands grasped by two children, about five years of age, and with a jolt Zuko realized she was blind. For a moment he thought of Toph and suspicion started to rise in him.
But Toph would never agree to an arranged marriage, never agree to marry him and most of all would never walk so slowly and hesitatingly. She strode, loud and brash and confident. This girl felt her way forward, carefully searching for every step.
She'll never be able to get up the stairs, Zuko thought as he watched the procession, strangely removed, and she did stumble at first but the children caught and steadied her. The music rose, the singing reached its peak as she took her place beside him, facing each other. And then everything was quite.
The young man stepped forward, seeming nervous.
"We have gathered here today," he began, his voice reaching all corners of the hall. It was a nice voice, loud and strong, "to witness the unity between these two young, beautiful people. This unity is a symbol for us all, symbol of hope and trust and strengthening bonds, not only between these people but between our nations as well."
He paused for a moment. The silence in the hall was stifling.
"This wedding is unique in the history of both our nations. There has never been something like it before…"
A child, one that hadn't been here before, dressed in pure white came forward, carrying a large flower. She bowed her head and held the flower out to Zuko, it was large, showy and yellow and Zuko took it into his hands. Turning back to face the girl he let the flower burst into flames, ashes raining down between them.
"Ashes," the Water Tribe man said, "to symbolize the destruction of something old, the clearing of a new way."
As instructed Zuko and the girl now knelt down, facing the two heads of the Nations.
"Do you, Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation, take this woman to be your wife?" The young man asked asked.
Zuko heard a sharp intake of breath next to him but he stared straight ahead, past the young man and at his uncle, "I do."
"And do you, Lady Toph Bei Fong, take this man to be your husband?"
The room was silent, waiting for the answer that didn't come right away. Zuko glanced at her and saw her straighter her shoulders.
"I do," her voice rang through the hall, cutting through the silence. The tension seemed to ease.
The ritual continued. She turned to face Zuko, picking up some of the ash from the floor. Zuko held out his hand so that she could mark his wrist with a circle, symbol of continuity, of endlessness.
"And from the ashes something new will rise," the man in blue continued, "By the power bestowed in me by the Earth King and the Fire Lord I pronounce you husband and wife. You may rise and kiss the bride."
Zuko rose and helped her to her feet. He reached forward and lifted the veil. There was a sharp intake of breath as he stared at her face. It was Toph, the Toph he knew. He searched her face, the features that were usually hidden under the long black bangs. Why did she do this? It was wrong, all wrong but the people were staring, waiting for the continuation of the ceremony where everything had gone right.
So Zuko leaned forward and touched her lips lightly with his, "What did they do to you?"
At first I thought I could do the whole wedding in one chapter but apparently that isn't so. Well, please review! And I have no idea how Zuko knows what's stiched into the back of toph's dress. ;)