Chapter 9 — Which Flesh Cannot Endure
By evening they had a field kitchen up and running and temporary shelter. Shu Jing had provisioned them with fabric canopies and tents used for festivals so that the students could have somewhere dry to stay and keep the rain of what possessions they managed to salvage. Toph had leveled the ground and ensured stability for the underground structure, but nothing could ever restore the mansion. Piandao seemed in good humor despite it, saying he'd had it built when he was younger and found it rather gaudy at his age, and he looked forward to reconstruction with a new blueprint. The weather was holding out for the time being. The Dai Li had been carted off to a ship to await transport, and Jet was lurking at the harbor keeping watch over them, forever distrustful regardless of the efforts of the students of both schools to assist him. He would soon be sailing with the new Kyoshi Warriors, who would be able to meet their sister sect, as well as the new White Lotus recruits and Aang.
Zuko limped around somewhat uselessly. His joints and muscles were still sore from the bloodbending, and his hands needed to be firebending-free for a while to heal correctly. It was frustrating that everyone else was busy and he had nothing to do but watch Katara at her healing work. Seeing his state, the army was going to stay there and escort them back home.
People from the town had arrived to bring them cooked meals and help sort through the remains of the mansion to see if any materials could be reused to fund a new structure. They had completely recovered from their previous outrage and were apologetic, bashful that they'd fallen for enemy propaganda so easily. No one mentioned the letter. Sokka had said, in hindsight, there was nothing all that insidious about it except what Xiao Dan had implied above and beyond the print. The matter of Katara's bloodbending was likewise explained away since the pair of them were attacked by a bloodbender. Rather than truly having repented, Zuko was certain it was the presence of the army that reminded them what it meant to assault a Firelord over flimsy gossip, but he was willing to pardon everything in order to wash his hands of the incident.
Smiling and walking side by side like brothers, Haoran and Caishen returned late that morning and greeted Piandao and Sokka. The former had participated in the battle, but the latter hadn't been seen since he'd vanished after their fight. "I'm sorry," said Caishen. "I wanted to be here and help everyone, but my situation was complicated." They sat down in the grass, having nowhere else to sit. "My family were working with the Dai Li, as they secretly hated Zuko as Firelord, despite Piandao's mistaken impression, and were pressuring me to join. My family served as their guides here and supported them. When I refused to follow orders, however, the Dai Li, behind their backs, threatened me with the promise to kill them. Haoran noticed I was acting strange, but I refused to speak about it to anyone. That's why he was so angry with me."
Haoran explained, "When he left, he went to my family for refuge. They gave him shelter, and the Dai Li had no more leverage over him, thus keeping his family safe. That fruit is grown by my family, and the ring was made by his hand. He was trying to tell us he was safe and out of harm's way."
For Zuko, that would mean the need to have Caishen's family arrested for their participation, or perhaps the military had already seen to it. The young man's refusal to work for the Dai Li even under those circumstances was remarkable. If it were him, he would have been more effective than even Nuwa to kill him, and Zuko felt he owed Caishen a debt he had no means to repay, but the reward he would receive for his courage and loyalty would be his family imprisoned. Regardless, he seemed happy enough to be there, finally free of the stress, and the White Lotus would remain to support him through the future. "Master Piandao, you've chosen fine students."
"Caishen," addressed Piandao, "You did an excellent job. You were in a compromised position, and, per White Lotus teachings, the best move was to remove yourself from the situation and pass along a symbol only close friends would recognize the meaning in." He explained, "The ring was cast iron, symbolizing enduring strength, and inside was pressed by hand in eight faces forming an octagon, an inverted lotus for its eight petals, letting us know he was still loyal to us."
Even as their sparring match turned to a brawl, Haoran had refrained from using firebending against his friend, no matter how angry he was with him; Haoran explained that he wore a wooden hairpin to remind himself of the things he could damage with reckless flames.
Sokka had tears in his eyes, then tried to set his face stoically and wipe them away without being seen. "I told you they were good kids."
"We're the same age as you," Caishen muttered through a begrudging smile.
Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors, meanwhile, had returned with their own party. Yue, Wen, and Hua were in tow, all uninjured and well. The princess walked close to Suki and, upon seeing Zuko, hesitated before giving a bow of apology. "I'm sorry. There was a moment I had doubted you, Firelord. That was my mistake."
"Not at all," he assured her. "I'm sorry for that situation. It must have been difficult for you, but you're safe now."
Katara returned, interested to see them, and Wen looked flustered and tugged at her own collar in irritation. Encouraged by a whisper from Yue, she went forward and bowed to Katara, but couldn't stop herself from tearing up. "I'm so, so sorry," she said, wiping her eyes between statements. "I didn't mean to call you that. I wasn't involved in this. Please believe me."
"It's fine, I know you weren't," replied Katara, who couldn't help but smile. "Don't worry."
Wen shook her head, tears running down her cheeks, and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "I'm sorry for saying that."
Yue placed a hand on her shoulder and embraced her as she cried. Hua told them, "She's more sensitive than she lets on. She truly wasn't involved. I've heard her say 'water-witch' since she was a bitter, mouthy little kid." As Wen scowled at her, Hua pinched her cheek, which was tear-wet and blushing-pink. Yue consoled Wen, who didn't want anyone else to see her face, and they went with Suki to a private tent.
Seeing them well, Zuko could finally relax. Letting his own body heal would be his next priority.
#
She had watched Zuko whirling in panic on the stage trying to defend himself while the tempo of the crowd drew higher with every clumsy statement; the same Zuko who Katara had assured her was a good man acted with the same violence as Hahn at his worst, and Yue's hand failed its reach and her voice dropped too soft to be heard. She remembered the pain too vividly.
Hua's voice called her name, but she couldn't find her amid the crowd. Before she had a chance to do anything, the Dai Li pulled her away, like a helpless infant being caught in a tidal swell, and they smuggled her back to the inn as turmoil broke out and rage erupted across the town. Her heart beat more painfully than it had at the cliff, or at Hahn's bedside, as Zuko had been right, and she had seen more of her attacker that night than she realized consciously. The same man who had slit a knife across her arms now assured he would keep her safe, and she prepared herself mentally to die.
After an hour of terror, she cried in relief when her friends joined her. "Suki asked us to find you," said Hua. "She tried to reach you, but the Dai Li chased her off."
Not a single person had abandoned her.
By the time she returned to the mansion, walking side by side with Suki, the building had vanished. The beautiful gardens were ripped up and the lush grass destroyed, but the dojo and bamboo grove remained, both of which she had always associated with Suki, strong and enduring evergreen. They had established a temporary camp further from where the mansion had been, where the grass remained solid. Suki, in the privacy of the tent, hugged her. "I'm so glad you're okay."
Yue smiled. "You did your best. The Firelord as well—he was attacked while I was at the inn. I'm sorry for ever doubting him. Now I'm torn. I want to brag about him to my father, but I still don't want to tell him about this event."
"What will you do, then?" They sat on the grass together. Her Kyoshi outfit was gone, but she had an armband of that same pine fabric. Her makeup was smudged from battle. She was dressed in maroon and black, but the matter of nationality didn't bother her—the Dai Li, after all, were from the Earth Kingdom.
Yue raised her hand and ran it through Suki's hair, brushing out a piece of dried grass. "I don't know. I don't want to return home at all, not for a while, at least, but I don't know where to go."
Suki smiled. "I'll see if we can find you somewhere, then. For now, though, cheer up. You're the first one I'm telling, but we're going to have something special in a few days here." She glanced up, then said, "Wait here a moment," and went off to find someone.
When Sokka entered, this time Yue did not flinch. He, Suki, Wen, and Hua gathered around her. He said, "So, I've heard you need somewhere to disappear to for a while, and one of you wants to learn waterbending. As it happens, I have just the place. A certain master waterbender from the North happens to be in love with my grandmother, and he'll be in the South Pole soon and wanting to get into her good graces." Yue had been wrong. Hahn's eyes were cold and sharp, but Sokka's were open and warm, just like Suki's. They didn't resemble each other at all.
In evening they had tea, sitting in the grass overlooking the river, listening to the waterfall's roar in the background. It was too beautiful for her to have been afraid of, and her friends sat beside her, taking a break from the clean-up effort. Katara had been working nonstop since that morning until her brother had scolded her to take a break before she made herself sick. Zuko was seated next to her, examining a bracelet on his wrist; the beads were all pure white but for one, which was glossy flawless black. After a while he addressed her, "Princess Yue, I've heard you are going to the South Pole after this." He extended his palm, holding out one white sphere. "These beads are made from a buffalo-yak's horns which Sokka and I hunted together there, and the village residents all worked together to carve to make this bracelet. They have protective properties. I want you to take one. They'll recognize their own handiwork, and you'll be welcomed and protected there."
"This came from your bracelet?"
"It was broken earlier, but Sokka mended it for me. I had him leave one out, which was replaced by obsidian that Aang found and Toph carved. So, take this. I want it to be a token of our friendship and of our promise to each other for lasting peace between our nations."
She took it from his hand, where his skin was speckled pink, and examined it. The detail was exquisite. The bracelet on his wrist reminded her of Tui, the Moon Spirit, by its color. Her own hair was the color of those scales. It seemed a way the spirits were saying to her that Zuko was a friend. "Thank you. I'll make sure to keep it safe. When I can face him again, I'll be sure to tell my father and everyone else that you never failed in your dedication, and you did everything possible to help me. I'm sorry that I don't have anything to give you."
"You've already given me something." He gestured to his scar, paled and gentle after the application of the oasis water.
#
[Two days later]
Aang returned by glider with Momo flying at his side. She didn't know where he had gone or when, as her hands were occupied with the injured, but he landed in front of her. "Katara, I found this in the town. You had dropped it there on the night of the riot, right?" He extended the jade and mother-of-pearl hair ornament. "Thank you for helping everyone. You had to fight, and then afterward everyone else could relax but you still had work to do. I felt kind of bad about it."
She pulled her hair into a half-bun and secured it with the ornament. "Thank you. I hadn't thought I would ever see it again."
"Momo helped. He has a good sense of smell." She smoothed a hand over the lemur's head affectionately. "I'll be leaving to Ba Sing Se with Jet and Toph soon. If you need my help, write me. I'll send a letter to you and Zuko letting you know how it goes, but Jet thinks the Earth King will respect whatever I tell him, and we won't have problems."
"It will be amazing to see the city free from the terror of the Dai Li."
The wall came down and the boundary around the academy grounds was lifted. The grass held a rigid border between black-char and green, leaving a visual imprint of what had occurred there which would take a season to fade. As Katara looked to the main building, she found the setting empty and the mansion gone. Each time it felt like looking to the sky expecting to see the sun, but finding its place vacant.
The army had to make field camp nearby, sitting atop the burned grass with their feet in ash. The captain looked irascible that the townspeople had threatened the Firelord to such an extent, but Zuko asked him to let the matter be dropped, and no more hostility was shown them. Rather, they were getting ready for a party. They wanted to hold the ceremony while Aang could still attend.
Toph, wanting to pour her relief into a creative pursuit, had taken the initiative of replacing the mansion a little faster and had turned the raw material of the ground itself into a small stone castle. It was undersized, perhaps, but she'd put in enough detail that the architecture was admirable. Its walls and sweeping gabled roof shone in black obsidian, and she'd even included several internal rooms, doorways, and windows. It was paired with chairs enough for their group lined up on the lawn and several long tables for the refreshments.
Katara had finally finished the medical treatments and relaxed seated next to Zuko, completely exhausted. "The stone chair hurts my butt," she complained. "I'm glad we have anything on hand, but Toph's décor taste leaves something to be desired."
The castle she'd built was in Earth Kingdom fashion and looked out of place for the Fire Nation. "I wonder if the townspeople will riot about that next."
"I think they've had enough of rioting."
The bamboo-wood dojo was serving as their communal sleeping quarters, crowded though it was, and her stone creation had taken two days to accomplish. Toph was reclining in her own chair, built a little taller and more grandiose than everyone else's and complete with a footstool, with her legs up and a plate of dumplings in her lap. Piandao, who had just professed to wanting something more demure as his next building, frowned at her handiwork unable to stop her, while Jeong Jeong suggested that it could at least be painted.
The tables were laden in food and cold drinks, kept icy with the help of Katara, who had also created elaborate ice centerpieces of crystal rose bouquets. They might not last long in the heat, but they would do for the ceremony. The students had taken a break from guarding the ship, relieved by the army, to watch, and were intermixed in the seats talking to each other excitedly. Appa laid nearby while Momo darted from shoulder to shoulder visiting everyone and taking nibbles from their plates.
Suki, having nothing to wear for her own wedding, had borrowed the silk ruqun that Yue had worn on the announcement stage. Sokka had borrowed a formal outfit in the village, though it was in Fire colors. "They look like the actors from Love Amongst the Dragons," Zuko commented before the last of the talking quieted. Katara was still of mind that Suki was far too pretty for her brother.
Standing at a dark stone patio before the castle, Suki and Sokka traded their vows and sake. At the low table was a vase with two shoots of bamboo in water and paper cranes donated by the village. Sokka took a wooden hair ornament he'd spent the last months carving and placed it into her hair. Three cherry blossom engravings were inlaid with pink opal accented with aquamarine around the border. It was olive wood, sanded perfectly smooth and glossy, and matched the engagement necklace as a set.
Upon cue, Aang and Jeong Jeong went to either side and began their show. Pseudo-fireworks lit the sky, the former's fire swirling into elaborate patterns with assistance from his own airbending, and the latter's a dazzling variety of colors finishing in the purity of white. Hua, who still kept the signal flare from Piandao, knelt at the side of the area with it positioned vertically in the grass. Haoran, beside her, firebent the end of the wick to light, which burned through the length. Finally the tail end lit, and the last intact firework of Piandao's storehouse rocketed through the sky and burst in an explosion of golden palm-fronds overhead, which faded to red stars as each vivid ember burned through and descended as slowly as feathers drifting from the sky.
#
Jeong Jeong had seen fit to commandeer their ship for his own ends, delaying their return to the capital, and also ordered the escort army to wait for their return and not follow after, which Zuko added his own approval for, not knowing what his new teacher was up to. He sat with Katara warily as the man barked orders to steer the ship to an island thought unoccupied, a pile of old ruins, and then threatened the crew to stay on the ship and not set one foot onto shore or he'd bury them there for good. Zuko flinched even though the threat wasn't directed toward him, and swallowed as Jeong Jeong turned back to them. He looked to Katara, glaring his usual with the streak of scar down his face crossing his eyelid, an intimidating countenance for anyone.
She huffed. "There is no way I'll let you drag Zuko off without me."
"The girl can come if she can keep a secret."
It was hot in the dead of summer as they set off on a long hike. Heat warped the air and rocks were almost hot enough to burn at a touch. He was sweating in the short sleeves and tunic, and Katara certainly wasn't used to the worst of their climate. Deep into the island, surrounded by green mountains, they came to a ruined city in golden-tan stone and a stepped pyramid at its center crowned with a pavilion. He wanted to ask why they were visiting a dead city, but didn't think he would get an answer either way.
They paused for a break at the outskirts and drank at a stream of crystalline water flowing from the mountain in a pure cascade. Katara went as far as to wash her face off, and the borders of her hair remained slicked in dark waves. Jeong Jeong spent a long time gazing at the city. Iroh had been the one to teach him during the six years on the ship, with his gentle but enigmatic guidance sounding more like parables than instruction and his emphasis on the fundamentals. He wondered how the instruction style of his new teacher would be. His impression was that the man was foul-tempered, reticent, and gruff, but the pyrotechnics work he'd done for the wedding flowed in soft colors and thoughtful forms rounded into gentle swells, leading Zuko to wonder what he hid under the jaded mask born from a career following the terrible orders of his father.
"What is this place?" Katara asked. Upon a nearby rock a lizard sat bathing in the sunlight and fluted its neck out inflated red. "This wasn't on any map."
"A relic," the man replied. "This is nowhere but a place children's stories are set."
They passed stone-paved streets thousands of years old and buildings in a sloped, ancient style, angular and bold. Trees had begun to overtake the city, much like they had in Taku but to a more advanced state of decay, and vines and roots wrapped down and crept along the stone facades. The ground was laced with lizards and the occasional snake. He looked into a well and found it still had fresh water. His new teacher said, "Follow my footsteps exactly if you don't want to die," and chose his footing carefully. Their pace was a crawl.
At the base of the great pyramid he stopped and put his hood down. "We wish to speak with the masters!" he shouted, though to whom Zuko hadn't a clue. No one was supposed to be living there. They waited ten minutes.
Finally a chubby man appeared, his face painted with red and wearing a costume Zuko had only seen illustrated in storybooks, and greeted Jeong Jeong. "So, you're back. Who have you brought?"
"A stubborn little girl and the new Firelord. He's the nephew of Iroh." At that name the man's face lit. "Will you admit us?"
Trepidation. A long, complex kata set, performed in tandem with his new teacher, who seemed to already know it. The stranger asked, "Are you ready to perform it?"
"Boy," Jeong Jeong addressed him. "If you fail this test, you will die. This is your last chance to turn back."
He flexed his hands, which were almost entirely recovered, retaining only speckles of pink like scattered petals. Zuko stood strong. "I want to learn. Please teach me."
And he did. Every color of that incredible sun, every color he had ever seen in flower or dye or ink or sunset wrapped into one inferno, swirling like a water current. My uncle never utilizes anger to bend. His face is always serene. Jeong Jeong's suppression of the enemy fire at the naval battle, a hundred firebenders quelled by one motion, a battle won without raising a single flame of his own—it came from this, from here; what Iroh lied to the world in order to protect, readily painting himself as a villain to keep the two remaining dragons safe from harm, to have one fewer black mark upon our family name. He always said there was more to firebending than anyone realized. If he hadn't been injured, if I hadn't been banished so prematurely, he might have brought me here himself. He surely wanted to.
It was more beautiful than he could describe. All too soon, it was over, and he was back in Katara's arms as the drums beat. "I understand."
#
[Two weeks later]
"We made it in time for the play, didn't we?" he pleaded with Kiyi, who huffed and crossed her arms with her gaze averted in mock anger.
Her outfit was a coral-pink dress and her hair grew longer by the day, the same dark umber as their mother's. She had a necklace of seashells that was too bulky for her small frame and chimed when she moved. "You didn't even visit us at the training camp. It was so pretty and I wanted you to see the river and the flowers."
"I was busy with Firelord business. You had Yuze with you, didn't you? Why don't you play together with him?"
"He's not old enough to play games with," she said, and pouted like that should have been obvious.
"He will be soon." However, she wouldn't forgive him that easily, and ran off clutching the wooden mask. He sighed and sat back in the chair. "I don't understand children."
His mother giggled. "She's saying she missed you."
Their group relaxed in the dining room overlooking the garden with a teaset on the koa wood table. The army had waited for their visit to the masters to conclude and escorted them home without a hitch, though Captain Touwa distrusted Jeong Jeong and hadn't wanted to let Zuko out of his sight so soon after the recent events. Kiyi would be playing her first part in an official play, and she and her costume mask were inseparable. She had been sleeping with it next to her pillow and prevented anyone else from touching it. Her role would be one of the little dragons who dance in the background during certain scenes, a role with no lines as an easy introduction to theater. Like all of the actors of that guild, her face would remain covered so that no one would learn her identity; they had begun the practice to protect Ursa from Ozai, but continued as it awarded the troupe fame and mysterious appeal, and, now, it would be important to protect his family. The masks gave them freedom, something fragile and precious, as easily fractured as a porcelain mask. Zuko remained worried for them despite the precaution.
A splash and a piercing scream came from the garden. Ursa stood up, checked the window, and hurried off downstairs. Yuze had been seated at the edge of the fountain, but fallen in when a turtleduck's sudden quack scared him, and Kiyi was helping him up, though he cried from his soaked clothing. He remembered playing there with Azula when they were children and hoped the two would have a happier ending than they received.
"Mail," announced a servant, and she brought in a large package with a letter secured to the top and set it at the table. Katara looked at the package while Zuko took the letter.
Zuko opened it and read. "It's from King Kuei, as an apology for the Dai Li's exploits. All it says is that a merchant from the desert had given it to Kuei's predecessor, but nothing ever resulted from it, and he thought it might yield to a firebender." He turned the letter over but nothing else was written as explanation. "Ugh, why is he such an airhead? He didn't write what it's supposed to yield. A man in charge of half the global landmass doesn't have the right to be so absent-minded."
Katara had the item unwrapped. A large, ornate golden egg sat cradled in packaging material. She slipped it out and held it on her lap, turning it over with a puzzled expression. "Well, maybe we'll figure it out in time." She held it up and shook it gently, then passed it to him.
Zuko flipped it over, rapped on it, and traced a finger along the surface trying to find a seam or hint of what it was, but was left without answer. "So he sent me some piece of druk he had lying around his treasury?"
Katara asked, "What is 'druk,' some Fire Nation colloquialism?"
"No, like junk, useless trash."
"Dreck?"
"That's what I said." He frowned and set it back on the table irritably.
She suppressed a laugh. "Well, for a piece of 'druk,' it is rather pretty." She seemed to notice something, then picked through the packaging, pulling out a slip of writing paper. "There was another letter."
He took it. "It's from Azula." His heart pounded as he read it. "Unbelievable. The first time she bothers to address me, and it's just instructions on how to educate Yuze. She wants me to teach him lightning bending. I don't think she realizes what age he is. For that matter, I can't even generate lightning, all I can do is redirect it." He flung the page onto the table half-unread and sulked. "We haven't even established if he's a bender at all."
The egg-shaped item was about the size of a housecat and, while gold-like, he was sure it wasn't actually plated in gold as there was a subtle marbling laced through the material, veining in opal. Kuei had implied it was supposed to yield something, but all he thought it useful for was perhaps hurling at Azula's head. For its size it was surprisingly heavy.
In the evening he read the letter again as Katara prepared for bed. His sister had written instructions on how to create lightning, put in wording that Iroh had not phrased it in. His uncle put things in vague terms and related them to philosophic principles, but Azula, precise and logical, had penned a long, detailed walkthrough of how to accomplish it. She had wanted it taught to Yuze and held nothing back—the explanation was thoughtfully presented, spoken in a language Zuko could at last understand. With urgency he read it over, his mind racing with established connections. In the morning he presented it to Iroh for his evaluation.
He spent a long time in reading it and looked impressed. "There is no trick included which would kill you. She was sincere."
"Uncle, I think I might be able to get it. Maybe not now, but after learning more from Jeong Jeong, I want to try it again."
"The last attempt almost killed you." Frustrated, sixteen, banished, and angry, he'd failed every step of the instructions and, feeling like his back was to a wall, though that wall was self-imposed in the end, he'd stood on the metal deck in a thunderstorm screaming at the sky, rain pounding his face.
"Not now, but in a few months, I'm going to try again." He flexed his fingers, glad that he had done no permanent damage except cosmetic. "Apparently, my sister is confident enough in me to entrust me with teaching this to Yuze. I think I can get it this time." He'd come a long way since then, after all.
A summer festival was held a few days later, occurring annually as a celebration of the dragons, though it was ironic that it had continued while his ancestors had slaughtered the species. The first event was the play. Kiyi, in the dragon mask, danced on stage waving a long dragon tail behind her. Metallic scales had been woven into the fabric, giving it a sheen of copper. The color wasn't quite like the red dragon, but his half-sister had fun with the role and didn't know that, not too far from Caldera City, the real article circled the skies.
The festival would last three days and coincided with a number of harvests. He and Katara were seated in a booth at an upscale restaurant he'd reserved the second floor of. Ursa sat with her husband at their own table while Iroh had the two children, as Yuze would only eat conditionally to seeing his grandfather eat a given food. While it was blazing hot outside, the restaurant was shaded and well ventilated, and the area was kept cool by a breeze. The second floor had a large open window which viewed the town piazza.
Keeping to his promise, he had the server bring him a wide variety of liquor to try, and a dozen of the tiniest cups lined the table. Despite trying to have only the smallest amount to taste the flavor and see if it was suitable for Katara's grandmother, he was already growing drunk. The server brought the next set for him to try and he knew he would have to finish his business before making his way through that round.
Katara had a dish of halved passion fruit. They were palm-sized, egg-shaped, unusually lightweight fruits with a wrinkled shell speckled in violet, and the insides were mostly hollow but for the flesh, tart-sweet and mango-yellow surrounding large black seeds encased in translucent, velvety casing. They grew only near the equator, but in certain places in the Fire Nation they yielded year-round, and were regarded as something like the oyster of fruit. Of all their regional fruits they had become Katara's favorite, and he watched her plough through several. They were too sour for Kiyi's liking and she had no interest.
Katara wore Fire colors in a two-piece set with a skirt, suited for the heat, and had her hair partially in a bun with the jade ornament and the rest worn down. Compared to Kiyi and his mother, her hair was thicker and had more wave, even if the color was similar. Zuko pushed the liquor samples to the side and took out the package next to him on the seat. He felt self-conscious, but his family wouldn't overhear them as the sounds of the festival flowed in with music and laughter. He took a deep breath and prepared to speak.
Katara suddenly spoke up. Zuko cleared his throat and lowered the item back to his lap unseen. "You've been distant lately. Even before we went to Piandao's academy, you know, there had been some rumors."
"Rumors? What rumors?"
"People said that you were spending long periods of time watching beautiful women in town."
"What? There's no way—you know I wouldn't be interested in anyone but you."
"Well, what were you doing?" He hesitated. She said, "Remember, you promised not to lie anymore."
He exhaled and tried to think about what she could mean, then realized: "Market research."
"What?"
"Research. I didn't know what to get you, so I was looking at what other women seemed to like. Sorry, I wore a hood, so I thought no one would recognize me."
She set her spoon down and began to laugh. "You are not as sneaky as you think you are. Everyone knew." His face burned. She asked, "So, what is it that you got for me? What was so important?"
Frustrated that his speech hadn't gone to plan, he looked to the table's surface, then to her, and back down. He brought the item up. "I was going to ask you to marry me." It was a rose—a real one, coated in lacquer and then covered in a thin layer of silver. It had taken several attempts to get it right, as he'd wanted to do it himself and used firebending to melt the silver, which he kept failing at before Jeong Jeong took him to see the masters. At last he'd gotten it right. The silver and lacquer would preserve the rose forever, and the final appearance was more detailed and realistic than even the best craftsman could make without the flower as its base.
He passed it across the table and she took it up gingerly, as if not sure how durable it was, as it certainly looked easy to break a petal off, though in fact it was as sturdy as any jewelry or metalcraft. "I see. That's what you were up to. You were working on this?"
"Yes. I had a hard time deciding. After all, you already have your mother's necklace, so I can't do what Sokka did and make a necklace for our engagement."
She turned it over, examining the detail. "It's beautiful." Holding it, she met his eyes and smiled. "Yes. I want to marry you."
He stood up and bent over the table to kiss her. At that moment, Kiyi called out, "Pretty! What is that?" and dashed over to see the rose. Katara handed it to her, and everyone paused their own conversation to look. As they were distracted, Katara snuck off her bench and slipped around the table, then sat next to him to finish what had been interrupted.
An erhu played in the background, its chords sounding out a slower, more delicate version of the song from Love Amongst the Dragons, from the scene where the dragon-god and his lover made their confession.
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Song: David Kushner, Daylight
The rose thing is a real thing that can be done (but not with firebending) and if you asked Zuko, "What do women like," his brain would disconnect from wifi and, after a minute or two of uncomfortable silence, he would blurt out, "Flowers. ...Right? At least, I'm pretty sure they like flowers."
It's the firenoodle. The fanart tickles me.