A/N: Oh man, you guys. I've never been more sorry to miss an update in my life! My computer had a virus and I lost all three chapters for the triple update. My computer's been out of commission for a few months now. I can't even begin to tell you how disappointed I am in myself and my computer. I'm sorry to say that I won't be able to do the triple update immediately, but hopefully I'll get to that soon. I'm still dedicated to this story, and you'll be seeing more updates starting now.

Thanks again to everyone who reviewed while I was unable to update! Your love and reviews are deeply appreciated. :)

Shaping Destiny

By: RupertLover09

Summary: Destiny is a funny thing, you never know how things are going to work out… Things change and people change.

Chapter Fourteen: Plans

Zuko shoved yet another treaty to the side. It landed in the pile he had labeled "I Don't Care Right Now" in his head. The majority of papers that had come across his desk since he'd entered his study that morning had ended up in that pile. The firebender rubbed at his eyes with the heels of his hands. His eyes were tired and his topknot had been pulled a little too tight that morning.

Fire Lord Zuko -

Greetings, my Lord, from Hotaru, a small town in the northeastern area of your country. I am writing to inform you of a dam that needs repairing five miles outside of my town. I fear a flood if the dam is not-

The door to Zuko's study flew open and his head snapped up. He blinked up at a flushed Katara who, despite her scarlet cheeks, was smiling brilliantly. His heart stuttered in his chest.

"I was that someone else, wasn't I?"

Zuko frowned, confused. "What?"

"When you broke up with Mai-"

The Fire Lord winced. He still felt somewhat bad about that. Poor Mai hadn't even seen it coming…

"-you told her there was someone else."

He blinked up at Katara for a few seconds, trying to hold in the chuckle that was threatening to erupt from his mouth. The result was a very strained look on his face and a weird snort that sounded like a sneeze. And then he did laugh, a loud, hearty laugh that made Katara look like she was going to cry.

"Katara, you're just now figuring that out?"

"I just thought that-"

"You thought that I was talking about someone else at the time, didn't you?"

"So what if I did?" Katara retorted indignantly. "It's not like you told me or anything. I just thought there was some girl you'd met or something."

"I wasn't going to tell you I liked you, Katara! You were with Aang, I didn't think you'd actually like me back."

A sudden shout of laughter from Katara sent Zuko into a state of confusion. She plopped herself down on the corner of his desk and took one of his hands in both of hers. Zuko looked up at her. The sunlight streaming in through the window behind the waterbender was creating a halo of light around her head, bringing out the auburn undertones in her mahogany locks.

"Zuko, you are the most infuriating, impossible person I have ever met, and I've liked you for the longest time."

Zuko raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Because I was under the impression that you hated me for the longest time."

Katara smirked slightly, tilting her head to the side and studying his face. "Why do you think I was so offended and hurt after what happened under Ba Sing Se? It's not every day your worst enemy lets you get to know him then stomps all over your heart."

The firebender winced again. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately. Not only had he stomped all over Mai's heart, but apparently he had unknowingly stomped all over Katara's as well. Heart-stomping must have been his hidden talent or something. He seemed to be good at it. "I'm still really sorry about that," he muttered, breaking eye-contact with her and staring at their entwined hands.

"Don't be," she replied. "You redeemed yourself. Plus, it's hard staying mad at someone you like."

He looked up again, and she was smiling sweetly at him. He noticed there was a dimple in her right cheek but not her left and smiled back. "You did a pretty good job of it."

Katara had the graciousness to flush, but her smile remained on her face. "What can I say? I'm good at what I do."

Weak, early morning sunlight was filtering in through the red drapes that separated Katara's room from the balcony that adjoined it. The resulting effect was that the entire room was bathed in a faint crimson glow. The diluted rays scattered across the spacious room and hit various points, including the top of the waterbender's head that peeked out from under the covers. She was curled up in the middle of the monstrous bed, covers pulled up to her eyes. The luxurious mattress and blankets seemed to swallow her whole.

"…Kataraaaaa…"

She muttered something, one tanned hand appearing above the scarlet, ebony, and gold covers.

"Kaaaataaaaaraaaaa…"

Katara wrinkled her nose and turned away from the voice.

"Katara! Wake up!"

"Go away, Sokka!" she lobbed a pillow at her older brother, but missed because her eyes weren't open. "I'm sleeping!"

"Not anymore, you're not! You're helping Suki with the weddings!"

Katara cracked an eye open, glowering at her brother. "Weddings?"

"Yes."

"As in plural?!"

"…Uh, yes?"

"Oh, for the love of La, Sokka! How many weddings do two people need?"

"Well, we reached an agreement last night after you left to wherever it was you went," Sokka explained, sitting down on the edge of the mattress and picking at something in his teeth. Katara pulled a face, disgusted. "We're gonna have two weddings, one in the South Pole that Dad's gonna officiate, and another on Kyoshi Island. We dunno who's gonna do that one yet…" He trailed off with a thoughtful expression on his face.

Katara groaned and flopped back onto her pillows, head hitting them with a small poof! "Why can't you guys just combine traditions like I already suggested? One wedding in a neutral place with no worries about offending people?"

"People will be offended no matter what," Sokka said with a shrug as though it was simple and she should be able to understand. "This way is almost as foolproof as it gets."

"Sokka, nothing involving you is foolproof."

Sokka scowled at her. "Look, will you just please get out of bed and come help Suki out? She's in wedding mode and it's kinda scary…"

Katara sighed. "Fine. I'll be there in soon. Just give me a few minutes to get ready."

"Yes!" Sokka punched the air victoriously and Katara smiled the tiniest bit. No matter how old he got, she had the feeling that Sokka would never completely grow up. "Thanks, baby sister!" He ruffled her hair in what he must have thought was an affectionate matter but actually left her with a bruised scalp, then dashed from the room, hollering Suki's name at the top of his lungs.

Katara allowed herself a few more indulgent minutes in bed and was rewarded with the sight of Zuko standing in her doorway, groggy and still half-asleep: he had obviously just gotten out of bed himself if the way his hair was sticking up in the back was any indication. "Your brother," he stated with a yawn, "is going to wake the entire Fire Nation with all that noise he's making. Somebody needs to teach him manners."

"Don't think Gran-gran and I didn't try," Katara said. "Sokka won't be taught anything he doesn't want to learn."

"What's all the ruckus about anyway?"

Katara noted that he wasn't entering her room and guessed that it must have been because she was still in her bed. Or maybe because of what had happened the last time he was in her room when he shouldn't have been and that maid had walked in. "He and Suki came to an agreement."

"Finally. It's about-"

"They're having two weddings."

The Fire Lord stopped rubbing at his good eye with the heel of his hand. "Isn't that a little unnecessary? I mean, I could see having one now and then one of those vow renewal ceremonies a few years down the road, but two weddings?"

Katara giggled. "Oh, come on Zuko. It's not like you have to do anything other than show up. I'm the one helping Suki with all the plans."

Zuko shrugged. "That may be true, but you secretly love it."

"Zuko! There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere!"

Katara winced at the pitch of Sokka's voice and Zuko jumped, suddenly looking more awake. She didn't know somebody could be so loud so early in the morning. "Spirits, Sokka, tone it down a bit, would you?" she bit out at the same time Zuko said, "Yeah, I was asleep. That's generally what people are doing at this time of morning." She watched as Sokka hauled Zuko away, feeling kind of bad for the firebender. A day with Sokka in the bizarre mood he was in and Zuko's short fuse probably wouldn't end very well for either boy. Katara had a feeling she would be patching one or both up by the end of the day.

Finally rolling out of bed, Katara washed her face and pulled on a clean but plain dress. After a few minutes of wandering around the extensive palace (she still wondered why so few people needed such a large place to live), she found that Suki had taken over the dining hall. Large amounts of paper, scrolls, bolts of fabric, and flower arrangements covered the long mahogany table and Katara blinked in surprise. It hadn't take very long for Suki to get all of this stuff put together.

"Morning, Suki."

"Good morning, sis!" Suki called back cheerfully.

Katara quirked an eyebrow. "Sis?"

"Well, we are going to be sisters soon," Suki said as she grinned widely and held a bolt of fabric up to the waterbender's face.

Laughing, Katara replied, "Yeah, I guess we are. So, what are we starting with today?"

"Everything!"

"Everything?" Katara had thought Suki would have been more organized since she was the leader of a group of warriors. Shouldn't she have a list or some idea of where to start? But when Katara suggested this, Suki just laughed it off.

"Katara, you're worrying too much. Everything that needs to get done will get done. Now, what color do you like more: green or blue?" Suki held up two scraps of fabric that her friend found to be, quite frankly, somewhat disgusting. The green one was a weird olive-y, vomit-y green, while the blue was a kind of dusty gray-blue that would look better on a storm cloud. Katara blinked.

"Do I have to pick one of those?"

"Well…no. There's lots more! Everybody here has been so helpful," Suki gushed, showing Katara the array of colors. "They got everything to me so fast that I hardly had time to blink!"

Katara nodded and examined the colors, plucking a light sage green and a navy blue from the pack. "Water tribe wedding," she said, handing Suki the blue swatch. "Kyoshi wedding," she handed her the green swatch.

Suki's grin widened. "Perfect! You and the girls will look great in both!"

"Er…what?"

"Don't be silly, Katara. You didn't honestly think I wouldn't want you in the wedding, did you?"

Katara smiled. "Thanks, Suki."

"Of course, you'll need an escort. I think Sokka's taking care of that."

The smile melted away faster than ice on a boiling hot day. "What?"

Suki patted Katara sympathetically on the arm. "I'm sure it won't be that bad, Katara. In fact, I think he has Zuko in mind." Suki's smile turned knowing, but before Katara could say anything her friend had unrolled a scroll of dress designs and was asking her opinion.

"Now," Sokka said as he and Zuko strode down the hallways, "I have a favor to ask you. See, Suki wants a big, traditional Southern Water Tribe wedding and another big, traditional Kyoshian wedding, and I told her she could. Anyway, she wants Katara to be her maid of honor or whatever it's called. That means Katara needs an escort and in our tribe, that's traditionally the man of honor."

Zuko stopped walking and crossed his arms. "Can't you have Aang do it?"

"No," Sokka said sharply. "I refuse to let him anywhere near my baby sister. You know what he tried to do to her!"

"Only because he thought that's what she wanted, Sokka." The firebender couldn't believe he was actually defending Aang's actions. "I'm not sure I'm the right person for the job."

"Man, all you have to do is show up and stand there for a bit. And I think it'd be cooler if you did it anyway," Sokka replied looking as uncomfortable as Zuko felt. This was one of those weird Guy Moments that Zuko had never felt at home with. Reluctantly, the firebender gave in. In the back of his mind, though, he wondered what Sokka would say when he found out about his little sister's relationship with his new 'man of honor.'

Preview

Zuko watched in boredom as Sokka paced across the room. He shifted in his seat; his butt was starting to fall asleep.

"Sokka-"

"Nnng!" Sokka held up a silencing hand. Zuko shut his mouth and looked at Katara who had started organizing his desk, occasionally looking at her brother in an exasperated manner.

"Sokka, I-" Zuko tried again, but Sokka shot him a dark sort of glare.

After a few more minutes of pacing, Sokka halted, placed both palms on the desk and looked seriously at Katara and Zuko. "So you're trying to tell me that you're…" the warrior trailed off, looking sick.

"We're dating, Sokka," Katara told him, sounding like she had given up on getting a positive reaction out of her older brother.

Sokka let out a pained whine and slumped down into the plush chair on the other side of Zuko's desk. "Why?" he dragged the syllable out in an extremely unnecessary way.

"Is it really so hard to believe that your sister and I have feelings for each other?"

"Yes!"

A/N: Yeah, I know I said man of honor and not best man. I didn't want it to be exactly the same as our kind of weddings. Technically speaking, though, it's the same thing.

Anywho, it feels great to be back! I promise I won't be gone for so long this time (knock on wood…)! Please, please, please review! I would love it if you did (not to mention I just might update faster…)!

The Shaping Destiny Playlist

Theme Song: "Everything" by Lifehouse
01. "All You Wanted" by Michelle Branch
02. "The Diary of Jane" by Breaking Benjamin
03. "So Close" by Jon McLaughlin
04. "So I Thought" by Flyleaf
05. "Faint" by Linkin Park
06. "Just Friends" by Jonas Brothers
07. "Lovebug" by Jonas Brothers
08. "You Had Me from Hello" by Kenny Chesney
09. "A Little Bit Longer" by Jonas Brothers
10. "I'm Not Okay (I Promise)" by My Chemical Romance
11. "Everybody" by Keith Urban
12. "Better in Time" by Leona Lewis
13. "Love Remains the Same" by Gavin Rossdale
14. "I Will Follow You Into The Dark" by Death Cab For Cutie