CHAPTER TWO
Aang's laugh was too high. Although she was seated twenty feet away from the couple at the nearest banquet table, Toph suspected her nerves couldn't hold up much longer. Poor Katara. She had seemed less buoyant than normal when Toph had helped wrap her in the wedding robes that afternoon. Not that Toph said anything. Sugar Queen's emotional turmoil wasn't her problem.
Suki prodded Toph. "He keeps glaring at her!" she whispered, raising an eyebrow to indicate the surly Fire Lord waiting in the line of well-wishers that snaked by their table.
"Who?" Toph had a good idea of who Suki was referring to, but didn't indulge her.
Suki leaned in conspiratorially. "Zuko!"
"Don't ruin my dinner," Sokka joked. "Spirits, I live for wedding feasts. Good thing there are plenty of matches to be made in the tribe this season. My tastebuds are ready to marry this tiger seal stew!"
"As if anything could ruin your dinner." Toph rolled her eyes as a high pitched giggle drifted over from the groom. Twinkle Toes's abrasive laugh, on the other hand, was about to ruin hers.
The wait dragged on for hours, but finally Zuko stood before Katara again. She and Aang greeted him enthusiastically. He hollowly returned the pleasantries. His heart ached to see Katara's tan hands brushing Aang's shoulder as they spoke. I can't let you go, his traitorous heart cried. "I wish you all the best," his dutiful mouth said.
He bowed to the couple. Eyes on his boots, he proffered an ornate red and gold gilded box. Katara's eyes widened. Those beautiful, blue eyes. Zuko smiled grimly, proud he could please her even when the responsibility of her pleasure now rested on Aang's skinny shoulders.
The Avatar's eyes, too, grew big at the sight of the shiny gift, and his arms darted out to grab it just as Katara's trembling hands had reached for it. "Ooh, thank you, Zuko!" he exclaimed, delighted like a child presented with a new naming day toy.
Katara's hands remained outstretched for a moment, fingertips shaking, millimeters away from Zuko's hands which had been clutching the gift only seconds earlier.
He doesn't deserve you. "May Aang bring you happiness," Zuko nodded formally, withdrawing his hands.
Katara's breath hitched. Her hands hung helplessly before she folded them into the pockets of her parka and returned the nod. "Thank you, Fire Lord." She intended to put distance between them with her formality because she would crack under the heat if she didn't. One of her hotheaded outbursts would've made Zuko feel more comfortable than this icy silence. This wasn't the Katara he loved.
As Aang struggled to undo the box's clasp, Katara's eyes stayed fixated on Zuko's. The gold flickered, a flame ready to spread, barely kept under control. Zuko broke contact, ripping his gaze away to stare at the open box. How does it feel colder inside the lodge than outside on the tundra? he wondered.
"Whoa!" Aang's gasp invaded Zuko's mind. "This is amazing!"
Katara's frosty eyes jerked away from the man before her. She watched Aang pull out a crystal flask that sparkled like the snowdrifts outside.
"Pretty!" Aang said. "What is it?"
"Water from the Bhanti Village springs," Zuko answered, more for Katara's benefit than Aang's. "Fire Nation healers use it to aid them in curing sickness or patching wounds. You used up the last of your spirit water ages ago. This is not as potent as that water, but it's still powerful." He planned on stopping here, but couldn't close his mouth. The rest stuttered out. "I wanted to help you because of all the times you've helped me." Curses! "And my kingdom. And the Four Nations, really. It should aid you if you encounter any danger on your next diplomatic mission with the Avatar."
The crystal flask impressed Aang more than the water inside. "Flameo!" he exclaimed, turning it over in his hands to catch the lanterns' light.
Zuko inclined his head towards the Avatar, but he steadily focused on Katara. Her mouth shuddered. She wet her lips with her tongue. For once, she didn't have a retort.
Toph frowned into her glass. The Water Tribe's heady brew must be clouding her mind. Otherwise she would have sworn she felt Katara's heartbeat shift.
Hands still hidden in the pockets of her parka, Katara absentmindedly rotated her thin ivory band. Simply touching it brought her clarity. She hadn't taken the ring off since the evening she received it many months ago. She kept her attention on the ring, and her eyes on Zuko's chest. She couldn't meet his eyes right now, but she could feel the heat emanating off Zuko's red robes. The color of fire. The color of love.
Between spoonfuls of prunes, Sokka mumbled, "That's pretty fine workmanship. Did you make that flask yourself?"
Zuko stiffened. "I carved it myself, yes."
"You're a natural," Sokka begrudgingly admitted. "It's almost good enough to be mistaken as Water Tribe handiwork! You've seen Aang's attempts to carve?" He crammed another prune into his mouth, gesturing towards the betrothal necklace tied around Katara's neck. "He should stick to air bending!"
"Hey!" Aang protested, and a small gust of air swept through Sokka's bowl, splattering prune juice onto his pants.
"Not all of us can see it, Twinkle Toes," Toph called from her perch, curiosity lacing her voice. "Bring it over here!"
"Thanks, Zuko!" Aang leapt up from his seat and bounded over to Toph, box in hand so that she could feel Zuko's gift for herself.
Zuko did not budge. He glared at the misshapen circle strung on an orange leather string that marred Katara's caramel neck. Was that blob scratched into the ivory supposed to be an air bison? The Avatar was skilled in many fields, Zuko hated to admit, but his carving was abysmal.
He stood before Katara who shook as she met his stare.
"It's perfect," she whispered, and Zuko sensed this was the most honest thing she had said to him this evening.
What Katara meant to say was, You're perfect. But she was surrounded by a village of revelers, fur pelts gifted to her groom, and a bundle of regret gnawing at her stomach. She swallowed for this was no time for a meltdown. "Lord Zuko."
Had she ever spoken his name with so much love, so much hope? He held his breath. He did not see Toph dip her head towards the thrones, even as her fingers explored the crystal that Aang held before her. There was only room for two in this lodge, and Zuko ignored everyone else but the water bender looking at him.
"Zuko." Her voice cracked. She touched the clumsily carved pendant laced around her neck. It suddenly felt more like a collar than a comfort. Zuko's eyes flashed, burning her up as he watched her fingers. Her brow furrowed as she adopted a more formal tone.
A regal tone befitting a Fire Lady, Zuko thought.
"We thank you for your generosity," Katara said. "You are always welcome in the South Pole."
"I can't—" He choked. I can't visit you after this. You are more fire than water with your flashing eyes and your wild temper. You do not belong in the South Pole anymore. You are more at home with me. "I can't… leave without congratulating you on your union one more time." He held out his hand, capturing hers and weaving his fingers into hers. The same fingers that once wove themselves through her wavy hair, the fingers that combed out the tangles and rubbed circles on her shoulders and climbed slowly up her…
As he raised their joined palms and pressed his lips to her hand, his eyes were arrested by the ivory glinting on her finger.
His ring. She still wore it. He doubted that any of the uncivilized Water Tribe members surrounding her understood its significance in the Fire Nation. But he did. And so did she.
Zuko froze as though the water bender had encased his feet in ice. She couldn't have both of them, but here she sat with a piece of each man's heart displayed on her body.
The memories flooded his mind, washing away the bride in front of him.