A/N Thanks for the follows, favourites and reviews guys, keep them coming :D I may or may not go down the love triangle route. We'll see xx
Chapter 3
"Announcing Master Katara of the Southern Water Tribe"
Katara rolled her eyes as the doors before her opened into the ballroom. She hated all the pomp that came with official engagements at the Fire Nation palace.
She walked through the doors, into the grand ballroom. Two sets of gasps rang out around the room; the guests gasped at the often tomboy-ish waterbending master, who was wearing the dress made to the specifications of Fire Lord Zuko, which Katara thought was the blue of the sky as the sun began to go down, with hints of midnight blue and deep purple weaved in. Katara gasped because of the design of the ballroom; it seemed Zuko's designers had found a way to incorporate all the nations' colours into not just the wall hangings, but into the furniture and ornamental trees, and his chefs had provided traditional foods from each nation.
A full three seconds of silence followed Katara's entrance, until conversation resumed. Katara made her way over to her father, who had arrived with her brother and her waterbending master-slash-grandfather Pakku this afternoon.
She smiled widely at the three water tribe men; as much as she had grown to love the Fire Nation with it's ridiculous heat, spicy food, and easy on the eye leaders, she missed the frozen tundra of home with its weeks of constant sunlight, salty foods, and her family. Each man returned the smile, and Hakoda pulled his daughter into a tight hug;
"I have missed you, writing letters just isn't the same"
"I've missed you too Father," Hakoda released her from the hug, and Katara was enveloped by her grandfather, "And you too Pakku."
"Your Gran-gran and I have missed you too, and the other Northerners who migrated south with me miss you, although, that may be your slightly more relaxed teaching technique"
Katara laughed at this as Pakku released her. She turned to her brother, whom she had not seen for a whole year, which was a shock to the system after seeing him constantly when they had travelled the world, and at home before then.
"I guess I missed you too" she joked.
As Sokka frowned, she pulled him into a tight hug.
"How is Suki?"
Katara knew that her brother's relationship with the Kyoshi warrior was strained because of the distance between them; duty had forced them to return to their respective homes, and without Appa, Sokka could not simply go to see her. They had been communicating via Hawky, although the bird resented the South Pole, and often took weeks to return.
"She's good, she should be here tonight, I imagine she'll be here with the other warriors"
Katara saw the sadness in her brother's eyes; she did wonder why he had not simply moved to Kyoshi Island after the war; the end of the war saw the men of their tribe return home, and his position as protector was no longer needed in such a big way.
At that moment, the guard with the large staff for drawing attention tapped the ground sharply three times;
"Announcing Master Toph of the Earth Kingdom"
Katara had half expected Toph to break down the doors with earthbending, but as she was from a noble family, Toph knew what was expected of her. She had to behave tonight, if only for Zuko's sake.
Toph entered the room, wearing a dress very similar to Katara's, as Kumi had said, but in a shade of green similar to the tree that Katara had been sat under today when Zuko had approached her, with small gold flecks weaved in. A gasp once again went around the room; the rough and tumble earthbending master had been coerced into a dress, and she looked beautiful.
Toph went a light shade of pink, and hurriedly made her way over to the water tribe party;
"Have they stopped staring yet?" she whispered to Katara
Katara looked around the room; as she did, she remembered she was one of the world's most powerful benders, and anyone who had still been staring or talking of Toph quickly stopped. She smiled to herself;
"They've stopped now"
Toph breathed a sigh of relief.
"So how's Sparky treating you Sugar Queen? I heard from Snoozles, and Daddy Snoozles that you have your own section of the palace"
"It's barely a section of the palace, this place is huge, I get lost at least twice a day, but yes, he was gracious enough to give me an apartment to spare me having to find a home in the city when I made the move here permanent"
"Ugh, boring. How is he treating you...oww, Sokka! You'll stop me being able to see if you stand on my foot like that again."
Sokka feigned innocence, and Katara wondered what was going on. Hakoda and Pakku took their leave from the group, allowing the teens to catch up.
"What do you mean, how he's treating me?" Katara enquired
"Oh come on Sugar Queen, seriously, I'm the blind one here, and even I know you have the hots for Sparky"
Katara was lost for words.
"I felt the vibrations from you as soon as Aang left and you set eyes on the Fire Lord. It was so obvious, and it seems to get worse between you every time I visit the Fire Nation. Just admit you like him, and we'll all move on."
Katara went red and Sokka face palmed, clearly not wanting to know.
"I will admit no such thing. Talking of Aang though, has anyone heard from him, is he coming tonight?"
"Fine, change the subject, but we will prove it when Sparky comes in. Probably prove something else to...anyway, no, haven't heard from Twinkletoes since he left, it's pretty rude of him actually, but I guess people skills as well as romance weren't exactly on the Air Nomad curriculum"
The teens shared a giggle at the airbender's lack of relationship skills; the boy had been head of heels for Katara, but left for 'duty' as soon as something happened with them. Obviously, Katara didn't mind, and Toph knew that, but whenever he returned, she would explain to him how she felt.
"When is Sparky supposed to come in?" Sokka asked Katara
"Zuko will be last to come in, it's tradition that at formal engagements, he follows all the guests in."
"So who isn't here yet, not counting Twinkletoes"
"Zuko and me compiled the list of people to invite; so far, it appears us three, my father, Pakku and some Earth Kingdom dignitaries are the only ones outside of the Fire Nation council and nobles. We're still expecting Haru and his father, Teo and the Mechanist, Pipsqueak and The Duke, The Boulder, The Hippo, Smellerbee and Longshot, King Bumi, King Kuei and Basco, Master Piandao, Master Jeong Jeong, Suki, Ty-Lee and the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors, Chief Arnook from the Northern Water Tribe and Bato, Azula and her personal physician..."
"What!?" came from Sokka and Toph
"She's making great progress. Where was I? June..."
"Again, what!?"
"Zuko owed her thanks for finding his Uncle and the White Lotus. Mai..."
"His mopey ex-girlfriend?" Toph asked
"She's a Fire Nation noble. Whether she turns up is her choice, but she had to be invited. Then dignitaries and nobles from each nation, and the Fire Sages. Then that just leaves Aang, and Uncle Iroh"
"Wow, Zuko really knows how to throw a party"
In his room, Zuko was sat in his formal robes and crown, feeling bored, knowing that he had to wait for all his guests to arrive before he could go to his own party. He wondered why his staff had got him dressed so early. He thought briefly of Katara wearing the dress he had commissioned before he fell back on the bed and closed his eyes.
An hour (or was it two) later Zuko awoke to a knocking at the door.
"Enter"
His head of staff, Jeo, opened the door.
"We are ready for you Fire Lord"
"Finally," Zuko rose and began to follow the older man through the palace,"Who was invited and did not come?"
"We waited as long as we could your Highness, but the Avatar has not come"
Zuko was concerned; despite the fact neither he nor Katara to his knowledge had heard from the young airbender in the last year, they had sent a tracking hawk with the invitation, and they had hoped he would come to this event, after all, he was a major catalyst in the end of the war. Since no-one had heard from the boy, anything could have happened to him; Zuko wished he would just get in touch.
Regardless, Zuko had to put on a smile for the crowd that had gathered to join him at the formal event, simultaneously to events taking place in the villages and towns all over the world.
He stopped outside of the door to the grand ballroom, and waited while the guard inside was told, so he could be announced. He thought about how much he despised the process that he and all those of high social standing had to go through at these ridiculous parties. He thought that if had had his way, it would have just been him, Katara, Sokka, maybe their dad, Toph, Suki, Ty-lee, maybe Azula and her physician, and Aang celebrating the end of the war together.
He heard the sharp taps of the announcing guard, and the doors before him opened. He stepped forward into the ballroom, and stopped, almost deafened by the round of applause that rang around the large room.
"Announcing Fire Lord Zuko"
Katara instantly turned away from her conversation, an action that did not go unnoticed by Toph, and looked towards the door.
The doors opened, Zuko walked in wearing his official robes, and Katara began to clap. As if covering her, the rest of the crowd began to clap as well.
After a full minute, the applause died down, and the music started up again, now with more people taking to the floor to dance.
"Hey Sugar Queen, you can't lie to me" whispered Toph
Katara would have responded to defend herself, but someone came up behind her and tapped her shoulder. She turned and came face to face with the Fire Lord. Toph laughed out loud and wandered off into the twirling crowd.
"I believe you promised a dance, Master Katara, may I be so bold as to request this dance?"
"You may, Your Highness" Katara smiled as Zuko offered his hand, and led her into the centre of the floor.
There may have been up to one hundred other people in the room at that time, but each of the young bending masters felt that they were the only ones, with the Fire Lord leading the waterbending master in a quick waltz, though neither would admit this to themselves, let alone each other.
Over the next hour, Zuko shared dances with Toph, who was happier to sit down, Suki, Ty-Lee and even his own sister, but he kept returning to Katara, and each time he offered his hand to her, they would garner quite a crowd, who would clear a space for them. He even placed a small kiss upon her cheek. The gossip that was circulating the room about the close friends did not go unheard by Hakoda and Iroh, who were sharing a spot by the wall.
"So Chief, shall we have a wager?"
"A month of free tea from the Jasmine Dragon that they are engaged within the year?"
"Good Chief, I will take a year's supply of the South Poles finest ice tea leaves if they are engaged within 6 months"
"You're on"
Sokka was dancing slowly with Suki on the outer circle of the crowd, enjoying some time with her.
"Do you realise this is the most time we have spent with each other in the last year?" Suki said matter-of-factly
Sokka gave a sad smile, "I know. I just don't know what to do about it"
"Sokka, the man with the plan, doesn't have a plan?"
"I have one, but I'm sure it would cause more harm than good"
"What is it?"
"I could come live with you on Kyoshi," Suki's face lit up, "But the South Pole is still rebuilding."
"What difference is there between you and Katara leaving? Katara made the move here permanent, she's happier for it, and the South Pole didn't fall apart"
Sokka had no words to defend himself;
"I'll talk to my Father while we spend some time here before he returns home"
Suki kissed her boyfriend on the lips, and rested her head on his shoulder, as they continued to dance.
Toph sat across the room, blindly looking at her feet, and sighed. Katara and Zuko, Sokka and Suki, they were all so happy. Hakoda and Iroh were gleeful and excited, Toph wished she knew why. Everyone else, including Azula, was content, most of them looking at the Fire Lord and his dance partner, or dancing themselves. With the exception of Mai, who was her usual sombre self, everyone was in a great mood. Everything was perfect, until...