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Katara was pretty sure the ceiling had not been spinning when she laid down. In fact, she was positive. The fan? Yes. The ceiling? No. She scrunched one eye shut, then the other.
Huh. Maybe she should have gone a little easier on the polar wine.
“You… you should…” Zuko slurred from the floor next to her. He was close enough for her to feel the warmth radiating off of him, close enough to brush their pinkies together.
Close enough to touch.
She closed both eyes. No thinking about touching Zuko. The years since the war had been kind to both of them, and dammit … maybe there was truth in wine, but that truth needed to stay buried. Deep, deep down, probably forever.
“What should I?” she asked, curling on her side to face him.
“Water.”
She giggled. “I’m a waterbender. Did you forget?”
He reached out and toyed with the ends of her hair. “I meant drink water, silly. We need to drink water.”
Katara pouted. “But the wine’s not empty!”
Zuko laughed. “Yes it fucking is. C’mon. We need to get off the floor.”
She closed her eyes again. “Donwanna.”
“Tomorrow’s gonna suck .”
“It’s gonna suck re-re- fuck. I can’t remember the word.”
“Re-gard-less,” he supplied, emphasizing every syllable. Katara giggled again.
“We, oh mighty Fire Lord, are drunk .”
“Very.”
“I blame Toph.”
He shifted up onto his elbow with great effort. “I think this time, we can only blame ourselves.”
She reached over and cupped his scarred cheek. “You’re pretty funny.”
“You’re pretty… pretty.”
“Really? You think so?”
Zuko grinned. “I know so.”
Katara laid back and stared at the ceiling again, knowing her cheeks were flushed from both alcohol and praise. “You are the most handsome man I have ever met,” she whispered, hoping the night would swallow her truth.
“You’re drunk.”
“You’re gorgeous. I’m sleepy.” She yawned hugely, barely managing to cover her mouth. “Let’s just stay here.”
“On the floor?”
“Mmmmhmmmm.”
“You’ll get cold.”
“Not with you. You always keep me warm.”
Zuko felt his cheeks heat again when she snuggled against him, her soft curves awakening something even the alcohol couldn’t dull. He pressed a kiss to her hair.
“Goodnight, my love,” he murmured, even though she was already sound asleep.
---
The sun in this country was too fucking bright. Katara stifled a moan as she willed her eyes to open, even with the ice picks of glaring sunlight boring into her brain. Her body hurt in places she didn’t even remember she had - it had been a long time since she’d camped out on the ground, and she definitely wasn’t a teenager anymore. Her stomach churned, but she didn’t think she was going to be sick. At least not right now.
A low groan rumbled through her frame. “Katara?” Zuko murmured. “Are you going to bring me back to life again? I think I’m dying.”
She froze and cracked one eye open, surveying the scene. She was wrapped like a koalabear around the fucking Fire Lord on the floor of his private chambers.
“We have to move,” she moaned. “I can maybe heal us, but Zuko, we’re in so much trouble.”
He pulled her closer with a contented sigh. “Are we naked?”
“No!”
“Okay. I would want to remember that.”
She scrambled up to a seating position, holding her aching head like it was going to fall off. At this rate, it just might.
“What the fuck, Zuko?”
He grumbled but finally opened his eyes. “Water.”
She gestured to herself. “Bender.”
“No, smartass. We need water. To drink.”
“I think we’ll drown if I try to bend right now.”
“The servants will be in soon. Let’s go back to sleep.”
“That’s the problem. They’re going to see us and think that we’re sleeping together.”
Zuko reached out and pulled her back down, tucking her against his chest. “Naps now. Worry later.”
She succumbed, snuggling into his warmth once more. As she drifted off, she swore she heard him ask, “Would it be the worst thing?”
Sleeping with Zuko? No. No it would not, but that’s another thought that needed to stay hidden, far away.
---
A small army of servants converged on the chambers to help the Fire Lord begin his day. Daishi, his steward, stood first and knocked gently on the door to the antechamber.
“My Lord? It is past your usual time of awakening.”
Silence. Daishi knew that the young Fire Lord had been celebrating ten years of peace privately with his closest friends last night, before the massive celebrations planned across the world tonight. Privately, he thought it was good for the young man to have a little fun now and then, especially as his idea of fun wasn’t firing servants or conquering neighboring nations.
He knocked again. “Fire Lord Zuko? May I enter?”
There was a low groan suspiciously close to the door. Daishi froze, years of training holding his panic at bay. He turned to the guards. “Mina, Rai, get the healers. I fear our Lord may be hurt.”
“Will you go in alone, Lord Daishi?”
He nodded to the other guards. “I would like to assess the damage.”
With a deep inhale, he used his emergency key and slipped into the room. The first thing he noticed was the bottles. At least four sat empty, bearing the labels of the extremely potent polar wine that Chief Hakoda had sent ahead of his arrival.
Next was the pillows. All of the decorative pillows, throw blankets, even the occasional couch cushion had been pulled off to make what could only be described as a nest in the middle of the floor.
Daishi gasped at the third. Laying in the center of the nest were his Fire Lord and the daughter of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, former betrothed of the Avatar, master waterbender and soon-to-be ambassador to the throne. They were clothed, thank Agni, but were wrapped around each other so tightly he could barely tell where one started and the other stopped.
“Do you need our assistance?” Casia, one of the guards, asked from the hallway. He instinctively stepped between her and the tableau before him.
“No thank you. Stand down. Our Fire Lord is safe and secure.”
She nodded and closed the door. He sighed. “Forgive me, my Lord, but what am I going to do with you?”
He knelt and nudged the young man’s shoulder. He had a son of almost the same age, and knew that, if all that wine was involved, waking him was going to be a challenge.
“My Lord, you must get up.”
He groaned and nestled his nose in the Princess’s hair. “Too early.”
Daishi frowned. Did the Southern Water Tribe have royalty? Would she be an acceptable suitor? He knew now that everything he had learned about the other nations as a child was completely fabricated. He supposed he’d have to ask if he survived this. He nudged harder, only for Fire Lord Zuko, Bringer of Peace and Uniter of Lands, to bury his face entirely in the woman next to him.
Clearly he needed a different tactic. He swallowed hard and sent a quick prayer to Agni, and then gingerly shook the shoulder of the formidable waterbender.
Her eyes flew open, then she grasped her forehead with a groan. “Daishi?”
He blinked in surprise that she remembered his name. Then again, he had heard tales of her kindness for a decade. “Yes, My Lady.”
“What are you - “ she started, then sat bolt upright. “Oh fuck.”
“Do you need a healing tincture, Master Katara?”
“No. I mean yeah probably, but no. Who else knows I’m here?”
“None but me, though that will likely change when you leave this room.”
She waved her hand carelessly. “I know where the passages are. I just don’t want to…”
Daishi cocked his head. “To what, my Lady?”
She swallowed hard and looked away. “I can’t make it harder for him. I know what he deals with.”
Well, those were two interesting developments. No one outside of the royal family and their very closest guards knew where the passages to the royal chambers were. And this level of care, of concern… could it be?
“May I be bold?”
“Sure, why do you even ask?”
He stifled a smile. “It is protocol, my Lady.”
“Oh. Don’t worry about all that and please, call me Katara. We don’t stand on ceremony in the South.”
There was one question answered. He didn’t know if that would make his next statement better or worse.
“Don’t you think, La- that is, Katara, that perhaps many things would be easier if he had a partner by his side?”
She shrugged, tossing her long thick hair over her shoulder.
“Zuko knows the council wants him to marry.”
He gazed over her, assessing with a shrewd eye. He could understand the appeal, even if she was wildly different from the courtiers of the Fire Nation. Her eyes spoke entire languages he would never know, and her form, while young, was shapely and beautiful. Her feats during the War were things of legend, but that could work against her with the more conservative parts of the nobility.
But the spark, that spark in her soul, sang out all the way to the Spirit World. He smiled. She would make a magnificent Fire Lady.
If only she had the right nudge.
“And who do you think he should choose? Lady Mai?”
The waterbender scowled briefly, then recovered. “If she would make him happy, then I will celebrate whoever he chooses.”
Brava, Master. Daishi swallowed his smile as he extended a hand to help her stand.
“And if the lady is someone from another nation?”
She looked away again, trying and failing to hide her blush. “They’ll never stand for it.”
“Humor me, please.”
“I am too hungover for wordplay, especially when it’s not in my native language. Can you get to the point?”
He hummed and smiled again. “No point at all, my Lady.”
“I’m not a Lady. Not in your sense, at least.”
“Forgive me. Habits are hard to break. Now, if you are aiming for secrecy -”
“Privacy, Daishi. There’s nothing to keep secret.”
“I apologize for my presumption. Regardless, you need to take those passages you are not supposed to know about before I can no longer hold off the healers and servants who will prepare your friend for a very important day.”
Katara frowned. “He is my friend. But before you are tempted to spread stories about a supposed love affair, I want you to know something very, very few others do.”
“Yes?” His gossip-loving soul couldn’t resist.
“The human body is made up of 85% water. I’m a master bender. Keep both of those things in mind.”
He gulped and bowed low, almost as low as he would to the Fire Lord.
“Yes, Master Katara.”
She smirked and summoned water from the open window. Daishi flinched, but she simply pooled it around her hands, resting one on each side of the Fire Lord’s head.
“I don’t wanna, ‘Tara…” he slurred.
“I know, love. I’m going to help it feel better.”
Love? Dashi’s eyebrows shot up. Her hands glowed blue as she closed her eyes, focusing on whatever she was doing. Healing? He had heard, of course, that she had healed him from the wounds the Mad Princess inflicted, but this? This was magical.
“I am never drinking again,” the Fire Lord groaned, his eyes barely open in the glaring sunlight.
She laughed, a bright, golden sound. “You said that after Sokka and Suki’s wedding, and after the opening of Toph and Azula’s school, and after Aang reopened the Southern Air Temple. When we’re all together, we tend to party hard.”
“By royal decree, I say no more parties.”
She lunged forward and clapped a hand over his mouth, her eyes full of mirth. “Hush, Highness. We’re not alone.”
He shot up to his feet, almost sending Master Katara flying. She stood also and rested her head on his shoulder.
“Relax, Zuko. If it was anyone other than Daishi, I’d be long gone.”
“Good man,” he yawned. “Cancel my meetings for the rest of my life.”
“If only I could, my Lord.”
Master Katara reached up and tucked a stray piece of hair behind the Fire Lord’s scarred ear. “I have to go.”
He wrapped his hand around her wrist, leaning into the touch. “Will I see you later?”
She nodded. “I’ll be there for you, cheering you on.”
The moment stretched, the two of them gazing at each other, not wanting to be the first one to break. Daishi closed his eyes, feeling like an intruder on the intimate scene.
“Can we talk? Soon?” Fire Lord Zuko asked, his voice soft and hopeful. “I… I wanted to last night, but -”
She brushed her lips over his cheek, just below his scar. “We will. Soon.” With that, she squeezed his hand, spared Daishi a shallow bow, and slipped off. Fire Lord Zuko, Bringer of Peace and Uniter of Lands, stood with his fingers tracing the spot where her lips had been, looking like nothing as much as a bewildered turtleduck.
“My Lord?” Daishi said. The younger man startled and blushed.
“Right,” he replied, straightening his posture and transforming back into the leader he was. “Send in the team. We have work to do.”
---
“How ya feeling, Sugar Queen?” Toph asked, plopping on a chair in the elaborate sitting room where Suki and Katara were sharing an elegant tray of snacks.
“I healed myself up just fine this morning. How are you faring?”
“It was a little touch and go there first thing, but I’m too tough for a hangover.”
“Sokka was puking his heels up half the night. You would think he’d eventually learn his lesson.”
“I dunno,” Toph grinned. “Sugar Queen and Sparky were keeping up with him pretty damn well. How’s he feeling, hmmm?”
Katara flushed. “How am I supposed to know?”
“You were the last one in his room last night. When did you even make it to bed?”
“Suki! Shhhhh! I swear the walls of this place have ears.”
“What? It’s not like it’s some big secret that you and Zuko are friends.”
Katara fidgeted with her chopsticks, suddenly very interested in the gardens outside the window. Toph cackled.
“Oh ho ho! This oughta be good. Spill, Sweetness.”
“Nothing happened! We just… fell asleep.”
“Together.”
“Well, yeah. We were super drunk. We didn’t even make it to bed. We passed out in the pillow fort you and Aang made in the antechamber. ”
“And?” Suki prompted, her eyebrows almost up to the hairline.
“And nothing!”
“I think it’s ‘and something.’ Don’t you, Sukes?”
“Definitely.”
“You two need to stop reading romance scrolls. Sometimes friends just sleep in the same place!”
“And?” Toph smirked this time.
Katara hunched her shoulders and, with a quick gesture, iced over the lock on the door. “It’s not… something, but it feels kind of like something. I don’t know.”
Suki reached out and squeezed her hand.
“Last night is pretty blurry. I think he said I was pretty? That part I can’t really remember. This morning, though…”
“Yeah?”
“When I woke up the first time, we were wrapped around each other, which was nice but I figured it was just the drunk cuddle, you know? Suki, you and I do that sometimes.”
“It’s true. You go after body heat like a polar foxcat.”
“I realized that I needed to get out of there or the rumor mill was going to kick into high gear, so I started trying to leave without waking him up.”
“Were you naked?” Toph asked.
Katara blushed. “No, but he asked the same thing. And then… then he said he would want to remember if we were.”
“And?”
“And then nothing. We went back to sleep. But…”
“Sweetness quit with the drama. Just say you’re fucking.”
“Toph! Tui and La you’re a menace. We aren’t fucking. We just kind of got caught by Daishi.”
“Zuko’s steward?”
Katara nodded. “He asked me a bunch of weird questions about Zuko needing a partner which, obviously his work load would be way easier if he married, but I was too hungover to figure out what the fuck he was talking about anyway. Then I healed Zuko and…”
“Spit it out!!”
“I kind of maybe sort of called him ‘love’ in front of Daishi and admitted that I know where the royal passages are and kissed his cheek and then ran away?”
“That, my friend, is not nothing,” Suki said, eyes wide.
“It’s also more of the same, you know? We have been doing this whole dance for ages. Everytime I think I know where we stand, something shifts and I’m reeling again.”
“Have you ever tried talking to him about it?”
She flushed again. “He, uh. He wants to talk to me. Soon, he said.”
“Get it, Sugar Queen!”
“I don’t know if there is anything to get, Toph. I’m just confused.”
Suki squeezed her hand again. “I bet that, before the celebrations are through, you’ll figure it all out.”
---
“Nephew! I was surprised when I received your summons,” Iroh boomed as he slipped into Zuko’s office.
“Thank you for coming. I know you are incredibly busy with preparations for the ball tonight, but I… I maybe need your help.”
“I am never too busy for you, my son. What troubles you?”
Zuko pushed a small box across the desk. Curious, Iroh opened the finely-made lid. He gasped.
“Is this -”
“Yeah. I, uh. I have been working on it for… a while now, honestly.”
Iroh carefully lifted the intricate metal crown from the box, tiny onyx and opals depicting each phase of the moon.
“The craftsmanship is superb, Zuko. How did you do this?”
He rubbed the back of his neck and blushed. “I read a bunch of scrolls. Messed up a ton. Toph helped a little with the stones but I needed to do it myself, you know? I need to show her.”
“I didn’t even know you were courting Master Katara. It is an excellent match.”
He blushed again. “I’m kind of not. Courting her, that is.”
“Zuko!”
“Yet! That’s what I need your help with. I want to make my intentions known.”
“I don’t think you need my help wooing the Lady. It is clear you are both incredibly dear to each other.”
“It’s not that part, or at least not much. Has there ever been a Fire Lady who wasn’t from the Fire Nation?”
Iroh frowned and gently placed the crown back in its box. “Not in my memory. Maybe back in Szeto’s time. The nations were far less separated then. But historically, the role of Fire Lady has largely been ceremonial in nature. Do you think she would be happy taking such a title?”
Zuko reached over and ran his knuckles over the delicate stones, deep in thought. “It was the nail in the coffin of her relationship with Aang, you know. Being the ‘Avatar’s Girl.’ I’d never resign her to something so ornamental.”
“Then perhaps another way will present itself.”
Zuko’s head shot up with a wide, brilliant grin. He scooted around the desk and pulled his uncle into a bone-cracking hug. “You’re a genius. Thank you.”
Iroh chuckled. “I don’t know what I did, but you’re always welcome, my son.”
He swung open the door and shouted, “Daishi! Cancel my meetings and send for Chief Hakoda. We have something more important to do.”
Iroh pulled him into another hug, tears glistening in his eyes. “I am so proud of you.”
“Don’t get too worked up. She still has to say yes.”
---
Katara studied her reflection in the mirror. There had been enough peace summits and trade forums and celebrations over the last ten years that she knew how to dress, to navigate all the pomp and ceremony. But this time, nerves fizzed under her skin, setting off a riot of butterflies in her stomach. She sipped at a pretty glass of sweet, bubbly wine, careful not to repeat the indulgence of the night before. Something told her she was going to need her wits tonight.
Her thoughts turned to Zuko, of his warmth and smile and how he felt in her arms. Katara shook her head to clear the daydreams, and turned back to checking her appearance.
The gown she had chosen was simple but elegant, if not a little more revealing than she normally would pick. Inspired by the midnight sun of her home, it was a pale, pearlescent silver, with shimmering panels of lilac, cobalt, aqua, and pink swirled throughout the full, sweeping skirt. The thin straps left her shoulders, back, and some of her chest exposed, highlighting her mother’s necklace at her throat. She felt beautiful, powerful.
She might also throw up.
Someone knocked three times on her door.
“Come in,” she called without turning from the mirror. She smiled. “Hi, Dad.”
“Baby, you look like a vision.”
“Thanks. You clean up nicely yourself.” It was inevitably true. Though he often chose to stick to the furs and leathers of the Southern Water Tribe, he had bowed to the hotter climate and chose a Fire Nation style suit in a deep, midnight blue, adorned with tiny silver accents. Another nod to the skies of their home.
Katara looked out the window and frowned. “You’re early. Is something wrong?”
Hakoda grinned. “Not at all. In fact, everything is great.”
“I don’t understand?”
“I’ve been sent on an errand. By the Fire Lord.”
Her pulse kicked up like a rabbikeet. “Zuko… sent you to find me?”
If possible, his smile grew even wider. “Finish getting ready, sweetheart. We can’t keep the poor man waiting for too long.”
She sighed, feeling like an exasperated teenager all over again, and twisted her hair up into a loose bun, keeping her hair loopies and a few tendrils loose around her face. “Let me get my shoes and we can go on your mystery errand.”
Hakoda sobered slightly, resting his hand on her arm. Katara turned to face him. “What is it?”
“You love him, right? Zuko?”
She blushed and sputtered. “I don’t know what that has to do with anything.”
“Please, just humor me.”
She looked up and nodded. “How did you know?”
He smiled gently. “You look at him like Sokka looks at Suki. Like I looked at your mother. Our family wears our hearts on our sleeves, if you know where to look.”
Her heartbeat was racing so fast, beating so loud, she was sure Toph could hear it across the palace. “Are you saying Zuko knows where to look?”
He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “That’s between you and the Fire Lord, Katara.”
“You’re not helping my nerves, Dad.”
He laughed and offered his arm like a gentleman. With a grin, she took it. They strolled in comfortable silence down quiet hallways towards Queen Ursa’s old garden.
“I guess you’ll be staying here a lot more now, since you’re the ambassador,” Hakoda mused.
“I mean, I have been acting as the ambassador for three years now. I just won’t have to travel as much with the official title.”
“Will you miss traveling?”
Katara shook her head. “It wore on me, towards the end. I like making a difference, but it’s easier when my home base isn’t quite so remote.”
Hakoda stopped at the open doors leading to the garden and turned to face her. “I believe in you. You have already changed the world, and will continue to, no matter what you choose.”
“Dad?”
He nudged her with a teary smile. “Go on, sweetheart. He’s waiting.”
---
“Fire Lord Zuko, Bringer of Peace and Uniter of Lands, you are going to catch the bridge on fire if you don’t stop pacing.”
“What if she doesn’t come, Daishi?”
He suppressed a sigh as his Fire Lord messed up his topknot for the 87th time in the last hour. “She will.”
“How do you know?”
Daishi briefly forgot every bit of his training and rolled his eyes. “May I be bold, my Lord?”
“You just actually rolled your eyes at me. I think it’s a little late to ask.”
He swallowed a laugh. “Master Katara loves you, sire. It’s obvious to everyone who works in the palace, everyone who worked on her peace delegations before you named her ambassador, all of the Caldera Guards. every one of your friends from the war, including the Avatar, and anyone who saw you sleeping together this morning . You have nothing to worry about.”
“Why hasn’t she said anything, then?”
“Why haven’t you?”
If it had been any man other than the ruler of his nation, Daishi would have said he pouted. Of course, Fire Lords don’t pout. Even 27 year old Fire Lords who needed the occasional kick in the pants.
The doors opened, revealing Lady Katara, daughter of the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe, Master Waterbender, and soon-to-be betrothed of Fire Lord Zuko.
They hoped.
Daishi bowed low. “I will take my leave, my Lord. I imagine you don’t want an audience.”
“Thank you.”
He strode across the garden, stopping with a smile. “You look beautiful, Lady Katara. Please enjoy your evening.”
She smiled prettily and bowed. “Same to you, Daishi.”
---
Katara walked through the doors.
Zuko completely stopped breathing. She was stunning . The dress, her hair, the necklace… he didn’t know where to look. Every inch was more magnificent than the last.
“Wow,” he murmured as she came to a stop at the foot of the decorative bridge over the turtleduck pond. “You look… just. Wow.”
“You don’t look bad yourself, Your Highness.”
He took two steps forward, stopping far too close for propriety.
“I have something I wanted to tell you,” Zuko said, taking her hand.
“Yes?” she breathed, eyes huge and hopeful.
“I don’t want you to be the ambassador.”
“What? You called me out here to tell me I’m fired?”
“No! That’s not -”
“What the fuck, Zuko?”
“I didn’t -”
She wrenched her hand away. “I can’t believe I got my hopes up.”
“Katara. Stop.”
She stilled, almost against her will. “You have 30 seconds before I dump this entire pond on your fancy robes.”
He took her hand again, tugging her closer. “I meant that I have a different title in mind for you.”
“.... I’m listening.”
With his free hand, he tilted her chin up to meet his eyes. “Would you consider the Lady of Two Lands?”
“Is that… Zuko. Are you asking me what I think you’re asking me?”
He nodded with a smile.
“But - we’re not - you never -” she stopped and took a deep breath. “You have lost your fucking mind. Is this some political move to appease the health ministers? Because I’m not laying off Minister Chao no matter -”
Zuko couldn’t help it. He burst into laughter.
“ What is so funny?”
“I love you. I should have said that first but Agni, Katara, that dress is scrambling my brains.”
Her eyes were bigger than saucers. “You do?”
“Since the comet.”
“You idiot, ” she laughed before launching herself into his arms. He staggered back, hands hot on the bare skin of her back. “I love you. So much, Zuko.”
They sank into a breathless kiss. He slid his hand down but stopped just at the hem at her waist.
“I can’t touch you like I want to because the tailors will actually stage a coup if I mess up this dress,” he whispered, stealing another kiss.
“I would let you.”
He groaned and rested his forehead against hers. “Not helping, Katara. Can we just skip the whole gala?”
She giggled. “Not unless you want to cause an international incident, Fire Lord.”
“Do not use my title unless you want me to carry you out of here, politics be damned.”
“I knew it! I knew you had an authority kink.” She squeaked as he yanked her flush against his chest, capturing her mouth in a filthy kiss. She immediately responded, his crown clattering to the ground as she buried her hand in his hair.
“We should stop,” he gasped.
“Don’t you fucking dare. ”
Daishi loudly cleared his throat, his eyes aimed at the sky. The pair broke apart with two almost identical glares. “My Lord, it is time to begin the festivities.”
“Dammit, Daishi! I could still have you banished, you know. We didn’t take that out of the official powers of the throne.”
He made a sound that would have been a laugh in a lesser man. “Noted, sire. I will give you and Lady Katara a moment to… compose yourselves.”
She burst into embarrassed laughter. “I told you to just call me Katara.”
His responding look was pitying. “I would suggest you get used to it, my Lady.”
Katara immediately sobered, squeezing Zuko’s hand in a vice grip as Daishi took his leave.
“What’s wrong?”
“I love you.”
“Okaaaay? I love you too. Pretty sure we both just said that, though I don’t mind hearing it more.”
“I just think we need to take a minute.”
“What do you mean?” he frowned.
“Let’s court, maybe, like we would if I was a normal suitor. Aang and I jumped into a serious commitment way too fast, and by the time I realized it wasn’t working, we were both in so deep that the breakup was a disaster.”
“I remember.”
She met his eyes. “It would be worse for us. You know it would.”
“The normal courtship process is convoluted and takes years. We’ve already violated about half of the rules just through our friendship.”
“A compromise, then. I still take the role of Ambassador, which will let me learn more about how the royal court works. We court publicly but not formally for six months. If we’re still this deliriously happy at the end of that time, I will gladly, happily, blissfully become your wife.”
Zuko grinned and stole a brief, heady kiss. “And if your compromise ends up with you in my bed?”
She smirked. “I think we can bend the rules now and then.”
“I love you, Katara. If time is what you need, then time is what we’ll take.”
“Thank you. I love you.”
He stepped away and smoothed his hair back into a topknot. Katara bent and retrieved his crown, rising to her toes to tuck it into his hair. Their lips were only a breath apart. Zuko groaned once more.
“It’s going to be a long six months.”
---
When the Fire Lord, Bringer of Peace and Uniter of Lands, announced his betrothal to Lady Katara, Master to the Avatar, Princess of the Southern Water Tribe, Hero of the 100 Year War, three and a half months later, absolutely no one, not one person in the four Nations, was surprised.