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REUPLOADED. Setting and some detail added.
Shannon: Thanks for being my first review! And yes, there will be a bit of possessiveness from Zuko's side, but Aang will sort of direct the relationship more. (I hesitate to use the limiting term 'seme').
KC: Of course I'm going to continue writing. I'm having way too much fun with this already. XD
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"Why'd you abandon me, Aang?" Sokka mutters resentfully in his ear. "I can't handle that much…girl…at once. Although having Toph there helped."
That little comment earned him an elbow to the ribs.
Aang grins and rolls his eyes. "Helping Zuko look like he's going to a party and not a funeral."
Zuko frowns. "As the Firelord and Avatar, we really need to present ourselves better. We're so underdressed."
"No offense, Zuko, but this is kinda sad. The monk's got better fashion sense than you," Ty Lee pipes up.
The rare bit of snark earns her an equally rare smile from Mai. She even allows her friend to latch onto her arm as they walk ahead of the others.
This year, it's not just the Avatar who took a break from his whirlwind of duties to come here. Toph, Ty Lee and Suki, Sokka and Katara all somehow managed to synchronize their periodic visits for two glorious weeks. Their circle is complete, even fuller than before.
It is yet another Fire Lily Festival. Zuko swears he's been invited to six already, but he has only accepted the invitation to this one because of the presence of his friends and the convenient proximity to his palace. It should be an enjoyable event. There was a slight cultural revival after his father's downfall and Zuko is more than happy to play his part in it.
There is an enormous table set up in the middle of the grounds. For nobles only, of course. It is a huge oval of ornately carved oak, covered by a tablecloth of finest linen. Utterly gorgeous, and utterly excluding. After his short time traveling incognito, Zuko feels even worse about the chasm that divides rich and poor, privileged and destitute. But he shouldn't worry about that now. There is food and music and lights and flowers and friends.
Their group takes their time getting to their seats, and when they do they are not permitted to choose where they sit. However, the one upside to this is that Aang and Zuko absolutely must sit side-by-side for obvious political reasons. And so Zuko can have him all to himself for now. Sort of.
It's a sultry summer night, one of the hottest of the year, probably. The heat is only added to by the spectacular, elaborate lamps adorning the table and surrounding the festival tents. The area is packed already, with everyone from the lowliest peasants and crippled beggars to, well, the Firelord himself. Alcohol flows freely, mulled wines and frothy ales and stronger, harsher spirits that all who want to remember the night would do well to stay away from. There is no circus this year, but there are some truly talented sword-swallowers and a few other leftover carnies. Music pipes from the inviting entrances of colored tents, the varied international tunes mingling in a discordant kind of harmony.
And of course, there are lilies. They have been snipped by the hundreds from their grass beds. They peek through curtains of maidens' dark hair. They hang from the ceiling in ceramic pots. Their bright heads bob and sway from glass vases. They float like bloodstains on the water in urns. All the grounds are painted with their beautiful crimson. Truly a symbol of Fire Nation pride.
Zuko feels a little surge of affection for his country as he sits at his marked place. Aang is to his left, and his most high-ranking officials take up the next four places on either side of him. The other twenty or so seats are filled by his friends, who are officials in their own right, and various other important businessmen, nobles, and their families.
Somehow the little spinning-marble trick still enchants all present. Ten precious minutes are eaten up by their adoring titters as the marbles whirl faster and faster in Aang's slender, skillful hands. Zuko grows increasingly impatient, tapping his fingers on his leg, his brow deeply furrowed. It's amazing how juvenile he can be, after all he's been through. Yet he manages to be a capable and mature leader when it counts, judging by what Zuko has seen and heard.
"Whoo, sorry guys. My fingers hurt," Aang says, snapping his fist over the marbles. "What to do, what to do…" His eyes slide to Zuko and then all the way around the table before lighting suddenly.
He takes one between his index finger and thumb and floats it gently to the child of a noble who is scowling at him from across the table. His expression lightens only a shade as he snatches the glass ball from the air. The next marble goes to the only other child present. This one looks even gloomier than the other, and he just lets the marble fall to the table with a click.
The mother is stricken, scrambling to cover for her son's blunder towards the Avatar. "I offer my most sincere—"
Aang dismisses her concerns with an easy smile. "It's fine, madam."
She looks utterly awestruck at being addressed this way, and is probably about to lavish him with praise or maybe just drool.
Zuko stops her. His neck snaps around to fix Aang with a glare he really doesn't mean. He's gotten really good at those. After all, he has a reputation to maintain. Aang doesn't understand that when some rules of etiquette are breached, they can't be smoothed over so easily. This is the key difference between the two friends. Zuko is compassionate only when there is a deserving subject, and Aang…well, he had shown mercy to his greatest enemies.
"Aang…" He wants to say more, but his mouth goes too dry to speak as his friend's smile widens.
"Oh, Zuko, you wanted a marble, didn't you?"
"A marble? Do I look like a four year old to you oh wait don't answer that," he rambles, growing incoherent as Aang grabs his hand.
He deposits the smooth, cold sphere in Zuko's sweaty palm and folds his fingers over it, smile stretching alarmingly all the while.
"Sorry, the very first one should have gone to you."
"Seriously, Aang?" Gathering his composure in a split second, he shakes his head. But he doesn't release the marble.
"I really need to get my priorities straight."
That's it. Aang looks away, begins his bright pointless small talk again, and all attention drawn so effortlessly away from Zuko.
It's enough to send Zuko's mind whirling, fast as the marbles. This plus their exchange just fifteen minutes earlier…What does this mean? What is going on in that head? What is hidden behind that smile? He feels vaguely nauseous. Zuko reaches for a glass of mulled wine to settle his stomach. Then he thinks better of it and replaces it.
He wants to make sure that all the bizarre things that have already and will soon take place tonight are not alcohol-induced fantasies, but the observations of a lucid mind.