Disclaimer: I don't own ATLA... yada... yada...yada...
Chapter 40
At breakfast the next morning Aang decided to bring up the subject of the wedding, hoping he wasn't pushing Katara too fast.
" Hey, um... Katara... I was wondering if you've thought about when we should be wed." He said then shoveled some oatmeal quickly into his mouth, avoiding direct eye contact.
" You know, I really haven't thought much about it. I mean, it feels like we're already married." Katara replied smiling. " When do you think we should have the wedding? And where should we have it?" She asked.
Aang looked up from his bowl and smiled. " I'd like to get married today, if it were up to me, but I know alot of people that would be pretty angry if they weren't there." He said smiling brightly.
" I guess we'd better start doing some serious planning then, at the rate my belly's growing, I won't be able to fit into a wedding gown." Katara said giggling.
" Where do you think you should have the wedding guys? The Southern Air Temple or the Southern Water Tribe?" Suki inquired.
" Personally, I think they should get married here, on Kyoshi. This is their home now." Sokka replied before diving back in to his meal.
" Sokka... I think that's one of the best ideas you've ever had!" Katara squealed with glee. " What do you think Aang?" She asked.
" I think it's a great idea, and I know just the place!" Aang exclaimed with excitement.
" Where, Aang?" Katara asked eagerly.
" I'll show you later, it's perfect, I know you'll love it." Aang replied smiling.
" So, when?" Suki asked.
" How quickly do you think we can make all the arrangements and get the invitations out?" Aang asked.
" I could have everything ready in two weeks, leave everything to me and the Kyoshi Warriors." Suki said with proud determination.
" Wow, two weeks? Really?" Katara asked astounded.
" You bet. I'll start on the invitations tonight, and Aang, in the morning you'll need to show me the location you've picked out. I'm sure some earth bending will be necessary for seating and such." Suki said. " Katara, while we're doing that, I want you and Sokka to go into the village and have the seamstress start work on your gown right away. Oh, and while she's doing that Sokka, you go to the tailors shop to get measured for something suitable to wear." She added.
" Wow, Suki, you aren't kidding. I think you could really pull it off." Aang said amazed.
" I'll need a list of everyone you want at the wedding so I can send out the hawks with the invitations as soon as possible." Suki said, then left the table and darted out of the kitchen and returned with parchment and placed it in front of Katara. " Get started on the guest list." She told her.
" If it's okay with you guys, I'd like to keep it small with just a few friends and family." Katara said, looking around the table at everyones faces for approval.
" I think that would be perfect." Aang said smiling softly, and everyone nodded in agreement, even Tenzin who wasn't even sure what he was agreeing with. " The Village Elder could perform the service, and if you would Sokka, I'd like for you to be my best man." He added.
" Of course, I'd be honored, Aang. I got your back buddy." Sokka said grinning.
" Suki, you will be my matron of honor, won't you?" Katara asked eagerly.
" Absolutely! Oh, this is so exciting, I can't wait." Suki exclaimed. " Ok, Katara, Aang, get busy on that list so I can get started. Sokka, gather as many messenger hawks as you can tomorrow and get them ready." She added.
" I think we should wear Earth Kingdom colors, since this is our new home and all. Is that alright with you Aang? You can wear the Air Nomads colors if you'd rather." Katara stated.
" Earth Kingdom colors will be fine. I was Kyoshi once, and she was from the Earth Kingdom, remember?" Aang replied with a grin.
"Earth Kingdom colors it is, then." Katara said smiling.
" Glad you guys thought of that, now I'll know what color of decorations we'll need." Suki replied.
The next morning Aang and Suki headed for Aangs special clearing in the forest where he finished Katara's betrothal necklace, next to the stream with the beautiful waterfall cascading down.
" Oh, Aang, you were right. This is perfect!" Suki squealed with glee, as Ty Lee and the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors followed behind with the same amount of enthusiasm.
" Okay girls, I want as many flowers and ivy as you can find and mark their locations. We don't want to use them until the day of the wedding so they're fresh and vibrant. That means we'll have to get up before dawn to start decorating. Is everyone in?" Suki asked her friends, and the girls all agreed to Suki's request. " Aang, I'll need you to use your earth bending to form stone seating, and make them suitable for the wedding. We'll be decorating them too, of course. Oh, and an archway for the Village Elder to stand in front of would be perfect." She added.
" Got it." Aang said, and everyone started working on their assigned tasks.
Katara and Sokka headed for the village immediately after breakfast and went straight to the village seamstress, then Sokka took his leave to locate the village tailor.
" Okay, first we'll need to select the cloth and then take some measurements. Oh, my! I see... um... we may need some extra cloth for the little one there." The seamstress said eyeing Katara's swollen abdomen.
" Yeah." Katara said sheepishly.
" Follow me to the back, I have some fine linen, silk, and taffeta materials, but I'm not sure I have any Water Tribe colors, we'll have to see." The seamstress said, leading Katara toward the back of the shop.
" Oh, I won't be needing Water Tribe colors, we're going to wear Earth Kingdom colors." Katara said casually.
" Oh, well then, I have plenty of those." The seamstress replied smiling, and the two women began sifting through the bolts of material in the storage room.
Sokka wandered into the village checking out the many shops, not exactly enthusiastic about going to the tailor, avoiding the task by admiring the fine weaponry at the village blacksmiths shop.
" I could use a new sword." He said outloud to himself, but none of the finely crafted swords could ever compare to his long, lost space sword. He still mourned it's loss, but crafted a fine replacement at Master Piandao's place. Finally, he forced himself to locate the village tailor and be fitted for ' suitable ' clothing, as Suki put it, for the wedding. He selected a light green silk cloth with a forest green sash to fit at his waist with the help of the tailor, and forest green material for slippers, then was measured for the suit which took way more time than he thought was necessary.
" I hope this will be suitable enough for a wedding." Sokka said annoyed to the tailor.
" Oh, Master Sokka, you will be the best dressed man at the wedding. Apart from the groom, of course. May I ask, who is the groom?" The tailor asked as he measured Sokka's inseam one more time.
" Avatar Aang." Sokka replied bored.
" OH MY! Avatar Aang! You must send him to my shop to fit him for his suit. It would be my honor and at no cost to him or you, of course." The tailor said ecstatic.
" Yeah, sure. Are you done yet?" Sokka asked.
" Just finished. When will you need the suit to be ready?" The tailor asked.
" Two weeks from now." Sokka replied.
" Oh my, then I must get busy. Please, don't forget to send Avatar Aang in for his fitting." The tailor said with a huge grin.
" Yeah, yeah... I'll send him." Sokka replied dryly.
" Thank you, sir. I'll have everything ready in two weeks!" The tailor shouted as Sokka left the shop and headed off to gather as many messenger hawks as possible to send out the invitations.
Katara chose a silk bodice of pale green and forest green lace with inlaid emeralds. The lower part of the dress would be made of loosely fitting taffeta the color of the bodice and a silk train joined in the back of the bodice would flow behind her. She could barely contain her excitement as the seamstress sketched how the finished product would look. Matching forest green silk slippers would complete the ensemble. Sokka entered the shop to meet his sister just as they finished and the two headed back to the cottage. The messenger hawks would be delivered that afternoon. Sokka hoped he'd gotten enough, he barely got a glimpse of the guest list, but had a general idea of how many they would need.
After the initial preparations at the clearing by the stream were finished, everyone parted ways and Aang and Suki headed to the cottage so she could continue working on the wedding invitations. Aang had constructed a beautifully ornate archway for the Village Elder to stand before and stone seating that had been polished to almost mirror like quality.
" This is going to be the most beautiful wedding, Aang." Suki said, reflecting back to her own wedding.
" Yeah, it's turning out pretty nice. I couldn't have done it without you Suki, thanks." Aang replied smiling.
" I am always at your service, Avatar Aang." Suki said haughtily as she bowed, then both of them burst out laughing.
" I guess we'll need to go to the village to be fitted for our garments too." Aang said once the laughter subsided.
" I need to work on the invitations right away, so I can go tomorrow once they're all sent. You still have time to go into the village to the tailor today, maybe after lunch if you like." Suki said.
" Yeah, I guess so." Aang replied.
When the two of them reached the cottage they found that Sokka and Katara had already returned from the village and Katara was already starting lunch.
" So, how'd it go?" Aang asked Katara and Sokka.
" It went great! I'm going to have the most beautiful wedding gown ever!" Katara exclaimed, hugging Aang.
" How about you Sokka?" Suki asked.
" It's done, thank goodness. Oh yeah, Aang, the village tailor can't wait to get his hands on you for a fitting, I promised to send you." Sokka said sardonically, smirking.
" I plan on heading there after lunch, actually." Aang replied.
" Oh, he's gonna love that." Sokka said laughing. " Oh, and he said our suits are on the house." He added.
" Really? I wouldn't feel right about it." Aang said.
" Come on, it's your wedding, why don't you just play the Avatar card for once." Sokka said.
" I don't know." Aang said.
" Whatever." Sokka said flippantly, then grabbed a piece of meat from the stove and bit into it.
" Hey! Lunch isn't ready yet!" Katara scolded him.
" But I'm starving. All that measuring and stuff worked up an appetite." Sokka whined.
" Sokka... nevermind." Katara said rolling her eyes.
" Did you get the messenger hawks Sokka?" Suki asked.
" Yeah, they should be here this afternoon. I got as many as they had available, I hope they're enough." Sokka replied.
" Good. I'll work on the invitations immediately after lunch. Maybe I can even get them sent out since the guest list is relatively short." Suki said. " Oh, Katara, wait til you see the spot that Aang picked for the wedding! It's absolutely perfect!" She added smiling brightly.
" Really? I wanna see it!" Katara exclaimed.
" I'll take you there tomorrow. I need to get fitted for my suit today." Aang said, then kissed her softly on the lips.
" Okay." Katara replied disappointed.
" Go get the children from miss Kumiko, Sokka, lunch is almost ready." Suki said, helping Katara finish up.
" Okay, be right back." Sokka said, then head off to pick up the children.