Epilogue

Summer 102AG

It had been over a year since Ursa was reunited with her children. Zuko was finally getting married. This was the first royal family wedding at the palace in twenty years.

It was the middle of July. There had been a prediction that the fire lilies would come early this year, and they did. The year before they hadn't come up until the end of August. The flowers were quite finicky, making it hard to plan for their arrival, but the wedding was set for just the right time.

Mai's father was ready to give his daughter away. After two years, Mai would finally be Fire Lady. Her mother was in the front. Tom Tom was the ring bearer.

"This is so beautiful!" Ursa teared.

Azula was glad she could get drunk at this wedding. Thor was eating solid food. The nurse told her to breastfeed him longer but at the beginning of the month, he started reaching for her steak. She decided to only breast feed him sometimes and she was going to give him solid food for the rest of the day and to start tomorrow.

Azula had a flask in her purse. She started to sip.

Iroh stared at her. "You better share."

She forked it over, the cost of doing business.

Kuei had Thor for the ceremony. They were sitting with the Earth Kingdom delegation. Azula was sitting with her mother, sister and stepfather. Kuei thought she should be with her (other) family since it was Zuko's big day.

The Fire Lord's palms were all sweaty.

"Chill!" Sokka told him. The warrior was his best man. "You are all nervous and why. You know Mai's all into your body."

"Shut up fool!"

Finally, Mai's father led her down the aisle.

The Head Sage proceeded to marry them.

They didn't recite their vows. Mai didn't think it was anyone else's business what she had to say to her husband about their marriage.

Zuko kissed the bride and the crowd cheered.

There was a recess until the banquet started. Cocktails would be coming out in an hour or so.

Everyone was giving his or her wishes to the bride and groom.

Azula was finding her husband who had metalbended Thor a jail.

"What did he do?"

"Oh nothing. We were playing cops and robbers."

"I'm robber!"

Azula laughed as she kissed his head. Kuei had a certain whimsicalness to him that she was glad her son inherited. "Want to mingle with the other guests?"

"I'd rather hand him to Ursa and sneak you upstairs."

"You're very naughty."

"Coming from you that's quite a compliment." He kissed her nose.

The nurse came and was fussing about Thor being in jail.

He escaped with Azula's help, and then Thor said. "I'm the koala lamb!"

"You're on the lam," Azula laughed. Her baby was the best.

He got to take his nap, and the cocktails came out.

Azula and Kuei toasted before drinking one.

"These are weak," Azula complained.

"I know."

They went to the bartender and Azula promised him 100 coins if he doubled the strength on the drinks."

"But Ursa wanted people to behave themselves."

Kuei offered two hundred, and it was a deal.

Needless to say, people were tipsy by the time they were to sit for the banquet.

Ty Lee was feeling good. "Oh Mai, you're so pretty!" she slurred.

"How drunk are you?"

"Not too drunk to give my speech!"

"Oh boy!"

Azula had a smug look on her face.

"I thought I told them to go easy on the pouring," Ursa said.

You did, Azula thought to herself.

Thor was reaching for the bread. He pulled himself onto the table to crawl to it.

"He's a hungry one." Kuei broke up the roll into small pieces for his son.

Thor happily popped them in his mouth.

"We didn't even start the meal yet," Ursa complained.

"He's a baby. He doesn't understand ceremonies!"

Ursa thought she should be teaching him.

"Let him be innocent and un-traumatized by etiquette until he's five."

"Three?"

"Five. I want him to be normal and enjoy playing in mud and hanging out with common children."

"The nurse cried when you said that," Kuei teased.

"She must swear I'm guilty of child abuse for letting him play in the dirt."

"I wasn't allowed near dirt as a child."

"Is that why your own bending confuses you?"

Toph had been giving him lessons. She was baffled by his lack of training.

"They said that bending was for the working class, that the nobility didn't do it."

"I bet Toph loved that."

The metalbender just twisted Fong's fork into a slinky.

"HEY!"

She feigned innocence.

Her father glared at her but said nothing. He sat with the rest of the Council at the King's table, but the King with Azula at the Fire Lord's table tonight.

They rant the bell to start the meal.

The first dish was grilled oyster prawns with a spicy lemon sauce.

Thor tried to eat his. Azula helped him.

"Can he eat spicy food?" Ursa asked.

"He doesn't care." Azula had inadvertently given him some spicy food the other day, and he ate it easily.

The nurse came to scold her. "Spicy food is bad for the baby."

"Poppycock. I ate spicy food coming out of the womb."

"It's true," Ursa said. "I tried to wean her with hot sauce, and she didn't even care."

The nurse shook her head.

"Does she do that often?" Mai questioned.

"All day, every day." Azula found it amusing now. She had mentioned to the doctor one time that she was nervous about being a new mother and they said, "we'll help" and have been hovering over her ever since.

"I'd go crazy."

"I just enjoy getting on her nerves." Azula waved to the waiter and got more wine. The nurse also thought she shouldn't drink in front of the baby.

The nurse huffed as the Queen drank. "Little lush!"

The dinner was traditional Fire Nation fanfare, spicy meat, lots of tofu and rice and roasted vegetables.

"Are you going to have a dance off Zuzu?"

"Don't call me that! Also, no way."

"Oh you should challenge him," she told her husband.

"I wouldn't want to upstage the groom."

"Too late," Azula commented as she kissed him.

"Haha," Zuko said mockingly.

It was a five-course meal. Fire Nation meals used to be nine courses, but Zuko thought that was way too long, so they served five larger courses.

"Do you think we got more food here or at Azula's wedding?" Sokka questioned.

Suki shook her head. "They gave us plenty of food."

"They did, but at Azula's wedding I was really full!"

"You also drank yourself into a stupor."

"It's all good. Aang can sober me up!"

Suki shook her head.

It was time for the speeches.

Azula went first. "Today is a joyous occasion. My best friend is now my sister, and Zuko actually left his office."

The audience laughed.

"From what I can tell about weddings, if you insult the groom, the crowd laughs at you, but it's not a good idea to insult the bride."

People snickered.

"So, I will tell a story about how awesome Mai is and will simultaneously make fun of my brother.

It didn't take much to see that Mai and Zuko liked each other. To Ty Lee and me, this was obvious, and I loved to torment them about it.

One day, I asked Zuko and Mai to play a game with me. The game was to knock the apple off Mai's head with your bending. I put an apple on Mai's head and set it on fire. Zuko was so alarmed he ran towards her and shoved her into the pond, falling in with her, and they were soaked.

I'm sure you're wondering how this story makes Mai awesome. Well, here's the punch line.

Mai didn't snitch on me for my prank. She was much too clever for that. Instead, she waited until I had forgotten about it. Ty Lee and I were playing in the garden and she threw some stilettos at Ty Lee. She had planned for them to miss, but I was in such a panic, I tackled Ty Lee and we both fell in the pond."

The crowd started laughing.

"Not only did she pull a prank on me, but it was the same one I had played on her, making quite a mockery of me. Ordinarily this would have been the perfect prank, but I reacted by setting Mai's shirt on fire, and Zuko threw her in the pond to save her.

Needless to say, we have fun making each other miserable, and I'm glad to say Mai's now my sister. Zuko, don't throw her in the pond anymore."

Ty Lee went next. "Since Azula has explained how bizarre our friendships with each other are, I'll tell another story. Before Zuko got banished, he took Mai on a date. He showed up in his formal robes and brought her flowers. It was so textbook that it was adorable.

Azula and I followed them of course. Azula hellbent on sabatoging their date and I just wanted to watch.

He took her to the fondue restaurant downtown and Azula had a great idea for sabotage. She poured some white wine into their fondue.

Unfortunately, the waiter brought the fondue to another person's table. We expected Mai and Zuko to get drunk, but instead the Mayor of Yu Dao got wasted."

Ty Lee stunned the crowd with this revelation.

"Azula couldn't figure out how her plan went wrong until she saw the Mayor fall down when he tried to get his coat on.

We caused some other mischief that night such as changing the metronome on the stage for the show they went to so all of the music played too fast and spooking the ostrich horse that pulled their carriage, getting it to take off through the park, but somehow, we only made their date more amusing.

You two deserve a lifetime of happiness after putting up with us, so Azula and I got you a present.

Azula took out a cage that had a baby dragon in it. "Here you go big brother."

The crowd laughed and cheered. The Fire Lord had a dragon.

Sokka went last. "Alas, I don't have any epic stories, so instead I'll talk about Zuko and Mai and why they make the perfect match.

At first, they seem like an unlikely couple. Zuko is often getting angry. His face turns red. He yells. Thor inherited his angry face, so you'll see lots of it in the future."

The crowd chuckled.

"Mai often has a blank expression on her face. You can't tell what she's thinking and usually, she seems bored of you. I could just imagine Zuko throwing a hissy fit while Mai filing her nails, not even turning her head to see what's wrong. It just puzzled me to no end.

When Zuko asked me to be his best man, I realized I didn't actually know that much about him and Mai. I know him and I know Mai, and they are together, but their relationship largely eluded me, in a way many others didn't. To my chagrin, Katara and Aang are always kissing. I'm sure I could come up with too many words for their wedding day."

The crowd snickered. Katara turned beet red.

"Zuko and Mai, however, what did I say about them?

I pondered it for a while, but I never really came up with anything. Anyhow, it's two days before the wedding, and I realize I need a speech. So I go to ask someone what I should say, and I see Zuko about to eat this croissant. The next thing I know, a glass ball rolls down the hallway and Zuko chases after it, probably so he doesn't lose it and then Mai appears and steals his croissant.

She looked at me and goes, "it works every time."

I couldn't believe it. Anyway, Zuko comes back and instead of being angry, like I expect him to be, he just goes and reveals a second croissant that he had hidden in the cupboard.

"You knew she was going to take it?" I asked him.

"Yeah. Her doctor told her to stop eating so many buttery foods, and she tries, but she can't help herself."

"So he just ordered two croissants and waited for her to steal the first one. If that's not love, I don't know what is. They're perfect together."

Azula was cracking up. "Oh he had the best story of all."

Mai looked a bit embarrassed that her savory secret got out.

Now that the laughs were had, they moved on to the couple's first dance. Mai made Zuko take lessons before the wedding.

"I took lessons as a child," he told her.

"And you sucked at it then," she reminded him.

She was grateful that he wasn't stepping on her feet or her dress right now.

Ursa was so happy. "I can't wait until they have a baby."

Azula hadn't said anything yet, but she and Kuei were going to try to make another baby in the fall so they could have a summer baby. There was a superstition when it came to mixed blood children that the season of their birth would influence their bending. Azula thought if she had a summer baby, it would be a firebender.

Thor was sleepy. His mother put him to bed and on her way back, Kuei took her hand. "How about we sneak into your room?"

"You naughty boy."

He carried her away. "Oh yeah."

Their clothes came off before they reached the bed. Azula wanted to be in charge but Kuei metalbended cuffs to her, putting her hands over her head.

"No fair!"

"You taught me how not to play fair." He grinned as he kissed her lips.

At the party, the father daughter dance was next and then the floor was open to everyone.

People started to hit the floor.

Aang looked around but he didn't see Kuei or Azula. "Where did they go?"

"Probably doing their dance moves upstairs," Sokka quipped.

"You hush," Katara chided.

"We brought the karaoke stuff from Azula's wedding. I'm calling Mai out!"

Katara shook her head. "She'll kill you."

"Nah. We're totally tight!"

"How drunk are you?"

"Very!" Whoever is pouring the drinks right now is awesome.

When Ursa confronted the bartender, he said he was pouring lightly, but she tasted one and disagreed. "Fine, Kuei paid me to make them stronger."

"What?"

She went to confront her son in law, but he was absent. "Where is he?"

"Oh that was the perfect warm up," Azula told her husband.

"To think, we've been married almost two years."

"I know." She kissed him. "And what a two years it's been."

Chin knocked on the door. "Your mother found out about the booze!"

"Damn it. We should have paid the bartender to keep quiet."

"We'll be fine. Once Ursa has more to drink, she'll relax."

"That's so Earth Kingdom of you."

"Good thing I'm the king then."

Stupid!

He kissed her nose.

They got dressed and went downstairs. Azula just got to the bartender when her mother appeared, "what were you thinking, making the drinks stronger?"

"I was thinking if people drink weak drinks all night, they would just have to pee the whole time. Less liquid is better."

"We don't want them acting like lushes!"

"Why not? Rich people are naturally lushes."

Ursa shook her head.

Kuei found his wife, and said, "Let's dance."

Azula handed her a drink. "Seriously Mom, just drink more, and you will be happier."

"Azula!"

The queen smirked as her husband led her away.

Two years ago, she never would have guessed that she would get a happy ending. The Princess getting her King seemed too fairytale for her, but her she was dancing the night away with him, and all of their family and friends. Her son was only a baby, but she couldn't wait until his wedding. She wanted him to have a happy ending too.

Sokka waited for his chance and then commandeered the speaking trumpet. "DJ Sokka is BACK!"

Zuko's eyes got big. "Oh NO!"

"OH YES!" His wife retorted.

"I hope you're all ready for some musical awesomeness."

"WOOT!"

"Tonight we have yours truly, The Earth Queen, the White Lotus, and a duet from our newlywed couple."

"NO we do not!" Zuko insisted.

"You so lost this Zuzu," Azula told him.

"Stop calling me that!"

Despite Zuko's protests, a night of drunken hilarity awaited all of them.

People started to dance. For the most part, the guests moved less salaciously than they had at Kuei's wedding, but they were still having a great time.

There was no encore of Bootylicious. Instead the girls danced to a new song, Baby One More Time.

The Seven Sisters wore (shortened) schoolgirl outfits.

Ursa was traumatized.

Fire Lady Mai did not have to watch them practice this time. Instead Suki got the honor.

There were plenty of whistles and cheers as the girls danced, and when they got off the stage, they seemed to have a fan club forming around them.

To try and snap his mother out of her shock, Zuko had them cut the cake.

The happy couple fed each other, and Ursa had the guards watch Toph so she didn't cake any one in the face. Unfortunately for her, Azula caked Kuei in the face. The nursing staff was appalled. "How could you teach your son violence?"

Thor shoved his own face in some cake, and everyone else (except for Ursa of course) thought it was hilarious.

After that fiasco came the singing.

"I'm not singing," Zuko told his wife.

"But I already picked our song."

Zuko could not get out of singing "The Closer I Get to You," with Mai. Again, he threatened to fire all of his guards.

THE END