Chapter 24

Toph did her best to ignore the circus atmosphere on the day of the wedding. It was every bit as overblown and formal as she'd expected. The only thing she'd managed to have any say in at all was her wedding dress.

With Su-lin's help, she'd found the maker of the gan leaf printed silk and commissioned a traditional wedding dress using the same silk fabric as the sarong. The new dress was much more elaborate and formal, but she was glad that the print would be the same, blending fire and earth colors and saluting the gan trees that had become so much a part of their early courtship. She hoped Zuko would notice.

Unfortunately, the lightweight silk comprised only a small proportion of the heavy gown, which also incorporated traditional fire and earth brocades and layers of stiff fabrics. The headdress alone weighed almost five pounds. Each time she turned her head, she could hear the tinkles of tiny bells sewn in for luck.

The palanquin ride to the Fire Temple was both welcome to Toph as a chance to rest and an annoyance as she was almost completely blind the entire trip. Fortunately, she was accompanied by both Suki and Katara as well as her mother. She couldn't help but delight that they were almost as heavily burdened with clothing as she was.

Crowds lined the streets on either side of the road, tossing flowers and good luck charms into their path as they traveled. At least thirty guards walked on either side, all festively dressed, of course. Zuko had also assured her that the crowds themselves were infiltrated with a large number of security guards and Fire Nation soldiers. He was taking no chances, but at the same time wanted to be sure to allow the people a chance to see their new princess.

The three months of heavy public relations work had paid off, though, and not a ripple of dissent was heard in the streets. Zuko had begun making regular visits to the colony neighborhoods as well as other hotbeds of discontent and was meeting directly with the disgruntled rather than allowing problems to grow.

At first no one was very supportive of these risky missions, Iroh and Aang joining the Fire Court in their disapproval. Toph saw that she could either join them in discouraging his activities or support him, scary though it was. She decided that she had to be on his team and support his choice to go into areas deemed less safe than she'd like, but she trusted him and she finally began to trust Chun and the rest of the strike team.

During all the trips he'd made, only twice had the security team intervened, and only one of those times was Zuko in anything even remotely approaching danger. Once he was home, Toph had railed at him while simultaneously kissing him in relief at his safe return.

"We have to do what's right," Zuko had responded to her as he held her close. "I won't turn from the people who need to meet with me just because a few don't want to cooperate."

On hearing of these events, public opinion had rallied around Zuko. Toph kidded him that his Crown Prince poster sales had gone up dramatically. Truthfully, all kinds of royal family memorabilia sales were on the rise. Collector's items for the wedding were at an even higher premium with Toph dolls and reproduction engagement announcements going for top dollar.

"I am so glad this is not my real wedding," Toph had found herself saying over and over during the weeks before the ceremony. "If I hadn't already married you, this nonsense would have pushed me right back out the door again."

"In that case, I am intensely glad we found Mr. Fong on Tuzai," Zuko responded. "Because I would never have been able to go through these past months without you."

Now, riding in formal procession to the temple, Toph was primarily just ready for it to all be over. The palanquin was carried up the huge flight of steps into the courtyard, then lowered so the ladies could step out. As Toph stepped out onto the stone court, she got an immediate picture of the vast numbers of people that stood in the streets below. The noise of the cheering crowd was deafening.

For a moment, she had to fight the urge to just crawl back into the palanquin and tell the carriers to just take her home. She was not cut out for this kind of adulation and attention. Then she pulled herself up short. Zuko was waiting for her.

Inside the temple, the crowds were quieter but no less numerous. As she followed her maids down the bridal path, she could hear murmurs and whispers on either side. Some were complimentary, some critical, but everyone seemed to have an opinion of her.

At long last, she stood with Zuko before the roaring flame of the temple fire. Aang, in his official role as Avatar, stood before them to conduct the ceremony. For that she was intensely grateful.

She stood with Zuko, hand in hand, ready to begin when Aang leaned forward to whisper, "I'm going to ask you to repeat the vows you've already made to one another."

Toph was glad that Aang officially, though quietly, recognized that this was a repeat wedding, not the original. Gladly she made the required responses before all the world, knowing that the first time she'd said them, it had been for the only person who mattered, her husband.

Zuko likewise made all his responses, but for him, the ceremony was more than just a public repeat. He couldn't help but remember all the official ceremonies that had been conducted in this temple in the past. He remembered his father's official coronation as Fire Lord, and his uncle's. He remembered Lu Ten's funeral and his grandfather's. He remembered the funerals of Ozai and Azula.

Now this place that had held more bad memories than good was witnessing the most important event of his life. He felt as though the family's honor was being uplifted by the events occurring in that place. At last, he was bringing something good to the Fire Temple. Toph was bringing balance to everything—to his family, to his nation, to himself.

He spoke his words of commitment to her on an even deeper level as he pledged himself to the balance she brought for his people. She'd already stopped one volcano brewing in his country, perhaps she could stop the volcano of dissent that threatened to tear his nation apart. She liked to tease him about the rise in poster sales, but the truth was the people wanted a part of her even more and a part of them as a couple more than even that.

As Aang offered his closing blessing over the two of them, it seemed to Zuko that he could feel it physically and spiritually as a real, tangible thing. He and Toph had exchanged many kisses during their courtship, but for Zuko this kiss was very special.

It marked a new place not only for them, but for everything he cared about. Toph held every important element of his life in trust—as his wife, as the mother of his children to come, and as the future Fire Lady of his people. He felt his throat close up a bit as the emotional truth of it all hit home. Somehow he made it through, but with a little squeeze of his hand Toph let him know she was aware and was there for him.

Once the ceremony was over, he managed to pull her aside into a small quiet room to wait for the palanquin that would carry them to the reception. She thought for a moment that he meant to kiss her, but instead, he dropped to his knees and put his arms around her, burying his cheek in her dress and holding her close.

"What is it, baby?" she whispered. She longed to pull his hair free of the formal topknot he wore, but contented herself with stroking his face with her hand.

"I love you," he replied earnestly. "That's all. I just love you."

He continued to hold her for a few moments more. Then he looked up at her and said, "I can't wait to have all this stuff off you. I'm afraid I'll mess up that elaborate hairdo."

She laughed and pulled him to his feet, giving him a careful kiss. "Anything worth having is worth waiting for," she added playfully.

"How much longer are you willing to wait?" he asked suggestively.

Just as she was about to give him a steamy reply of her own, a soft knock at the door announced the arrival of the palanquin. Zuko opened the door, very much the proper prince with a very proper princess on his arm.

The ride to the reception was basically a repeat of the ride to the wedding with the very pleasant exception of having Zuko at her side. They waved to the crowds until their arms ached. It was difficult to talk due to the noise of the cheers on either side. At last they managed to wind their way through lines of well wishers to find a seat at the high banquet table that awaited them.

"Some spread, Zuko," Sokka called down the table. Zuko was glad to see that he and Suki had bucked formality and brought the children to the banquet. Little Zutara seemed to be having a blast feeding bits of food to her little brother Toma who sat laughing on Suki's lap. Zuko could see the beginnings of a warrior's wolf tail already shaved into the dark hair of his head.

"We do our best," he replied over the noise of the crowd. Looking down the table, he could see Iroh with Bumi on his lap. Bumi pulled at his beard just so he could crow with laughter at the face Iroh would make every time. Forget decorum where babies were concerned. Zuko couldn't wait to present him with a grandson of his own.

Then Zuko realized what he'd thought. Iroh was his father in all ways but biologically. Any child of his would be Iroh's grandchild. And that child would be loved and cherished and hopelessly spoiled.

Suddenly, all the fullness of his life hit him. He had Toph at his side, his wife. He had his family, his entire extended family, on either side of him. He had hope for the future, real hope for the first time.

Toph looked over at him in surprise as he burst into laughter, then kissed her soundly to the echo of cheers and applause up and down the tables. Before she had the chance to ask, Aang's voice called out over the crowd.

"I would like to make a toast," Aang began as he rose, glass in hand. "To the future," he said, looking down at the happy couple.

Zuko and Toph looked at each other and each took their glasses in hand. "To the future."

"What's a future, Daddy?" they heard Zutara's little voice pipe up.

Sokka's deep voice answered, "The future is right now, girlie girl."

All present believed they couldn't agree more.