A/N: Thank you to each and everyone of my readers. A very special mention to those who followed/favorited (so not a word!) the story. A humongous thanks to those folks who took the time to write a review or PM me. You guys rock!

My beta is back from her vacation and you can blame her if you see mistakes in the punctuation etc. Just kidding! She helped me tie the story up with a nice little bow. Thank you, sis.

As always the characters do not belong to me.

Later that evening, he heard a commotion outside. He was fully prepared to ignore it when he heard Katara's voice. Zuko was out of his room and in the courtyard before he consciously registered the thought.

The courtyard had an interesting tableau. Katara was flanked by Toph on one side and a Kyoshi warrior on the other. Zuko thought that the Kyoshi warrior may have been her sister-in-law. Katara was shaking in rage and facing the wheat stalk guy. The guy was still smirking and something about that smirk set Zuko's teeth on edge. The guy must have been either incredibly brave or incredible stupid. Zuko was betting on the latter.

"Care to explain yourself, Jet?" Katara's voice was frosty. Zuko knew he never wanted that tone to be directed at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Sugar," Jet still had the stalk of wheat and smirked around it.

"Oh you don't, do you? Then please, allow me to explain. You were responsible for this nonsensical document that you sold to many of the nobles here." Before Jet could speak, Katara held up a finger. "Before you say anything, Jet, you should know that we have confirmation of this from several of your customers."

Zuko looked around and saw quite a large crowd forming around them, all of them very interested in the drama unfolding in front of them.

Katara folded her arms, "What I'm trying to figure out is your reason for doing this."

Something must have clicked in Jet's head because Zuko saw the smirk disappear. "I wanted you to select me as your groom. A lot of these nobles are from the fire nation. No one should be subjected to horror of being married to a Firebender."

The crowd gasped as one. Zuko was instantly furious and his fists were engulfed in flames. Before he could say a word, however, he heard Katara's voice ring out.

"How dare you? How dare you stand there and insult our guests? You have disgraced yourself with your behavior. This event was supposed to be a place where every invited guest had an equal opportunity to represent themselves. You did something that not only took that chance away from a lot of them, but also did that with the worst possible motivation."

Jet tried to open his mouth again and Katara held up a hand. Her manner was that of a princess talking to a peasant.

"Who gave you the right to decide who I should or should not marry? You will leave the island before morning. A boat shall be arranged for you." Saying this Katara started to turn around.

With more speed than Zuko would have given him credit for, Jet leapt forward to grab her arm.

Several things happened at the same time. Zuko was in the battle stance in a flash with fire in his fists again, the Kyoshi warrior had her fan out and was in a battle stance and her brother, Sokka, had his boomerang out.

Toph, however, had reacted quicker than everyone and had already encased Jet in a rock prison up to his chest. Katara put a hand on Toph shoulder and with a grunt she released Jet.

Jet was still holding Katara's arm. "I suggest you let go," the ice was back in her voice.

"You have to…" Jet began. Whatever he was about to say was lost, because with a flick of Katara's hand Jet was encased in ice up to his neck and a band of ice across his mouth kept it closed.

"I don't HAVE to do anything. I was being generous in offering you a boat to get to your destination, now you'll be gone from this island before morning without our assistance. Do not test me on this, Jet, or you'll find out exactly what a master waterbender is capable of." Saying this, Katara spun on her heel and marched away.

The crowd parted to allow her passage. Zuko saw the Kyoshi warrior lean toward Katara and with another wave of her hand, a sputtering and gasping Jet was released from his icy prison. He was immediately surrounded by quite a few Kyoshi warriors.

Satisfied that the situation was well under control, Zuko turned to go to his room when he saw the Avatar gliding down.

"What did I miss?"

The next morning left the Fire Lord with a sense of Déjà vu. He was working in his room when he saw Toph standing in his doorway.

"Are we due for another talk?" He asked her.

Toph looked him with an expression of unholy glee. Zuko was suddenly very apprehensive of what she would tell him.

"Fire Lord Zuko, Chief Hakoda requests your presence in his rooms to discuss a matter of grave importance," Her grin was in complete contrast to the formality of her words.

Feeling uneasy, Zuko prepared for the meeting by donning his formal attire.

He was led to the private rooms of the Chief by Toph. Upon entering he realized that these rooms were quite a bit bigger than the regular quarters. He was met by Chief Hakoda, Sokka and the Kyoshi Warrior Suki. Toph led him to the rooms but did not stay for the meeting itself. She whispered 'good luck' to a puzzled Zuko before leaving the room.

"Fire Lord Zuko, welcome," Chief Hakoda greeted him.

"Thank you, Chief Hakoda," Zuko answered, matching the formality in the older man's greeting.

"I hope you have been treated well during your stay here?"

Zuko thought back to the various strange encounters and concluded that even though he had been exasperated at the time, in hindsight he found them funny.

"I have chief. Your hospitality has been impeccable. I have also found a great partner for swordsmanship in Lord Sokka."

"Indeed. Sokka has told me that you are quite skilled with the blades yourself and have trained under the same master."

Zuko had the strangest feeling that the Chief was uncomfortable with whatever he wanted to talk to him about and was stalling. Sokka clearly shared his views because he nudged his father with a 'Dad!' which seemed to make Chief Hakoda even more uneasy.

The Chief cleared his throat and took a deep breath, "Fire Lord Zuko, I called you here to inform you that you are my daughter's choice to be her husband."

Zuko forgot all about the fact that he was the ruler of a nation; that he had been dealing with politicians all his life; that he was a master firebender and that he was an expert swordsman. At this moment he was just a man who had been told something incredible. He felt like his head would explode and his heart would beat right out of his chest. He was sure that the air in the room had suddenly gone thin because he was having trouble drawing breath.

He suddenly became aware of Sokka pushing his head between his knees and telling him to "take deep breaths."

Zuko stayed like that for a few minutes, head held between his legs by the water tribe warrior, eyes shut tight and trying to get enough air into his lungs. Gradually he felt his head clearing and his heart rate calm down. He nodded and Sokka let him go. Sitting up gingerly, Zuko was sure he had never been more mortified in his life. Rubbing a hand over his face he realized that Chief Hakoda had left the room at some point and Aang stood in his place. Sokka, Suki and Aang were all looking at him with varying degrees of concern.

"Are you alright?" Aang asked him.

Zuko nodded again still not sure he could trust his voice.

"Well. I didn't realize that marrying my sister would be such a hardship, Fire Light."

"Sokka, don't you mean Fire Lord?" Suki corrected him gently.

"That's what I said," Sokka sounded impatient.

"I'm sure that that's not what Zuko meant to imply," Aang was trying to defend him.

"Didn't he? My dad tells him that out of all the suitors that came parading through here, my beautiful, talented, smart sister chose him. And what does he do? He has such a panic attack that dad thinks he's about to die."

"If your dad thought Zuko was about to die, why not call Katara? She's the healer after all." Aang sounded curious.

"That's a brilliant idea, Aang! And what would you have had us tell her? Sorry Katara, the thought of marrying you almost killed him, can you heal him?" Sarcasm dripped from Sokka's every word making Zuko wince.

"Oh!" Aang saw the logic in that argument. He then seemed to think of something, "What I don't understand is why he had such an extreme reaction?"

As one, all three turned to look at him.

Zuko cringed under their look then took a shuddering breath before opening his mouth.

"I do apologize. It was a bit of a shock."

Sokka snorted, "Yeah, we all saw that. A bit of a shock that nearly made you pass out. I'd say it was more than just a bit of a shock. The question is why?"

The Fire lord realized that everyone was waiting for his reaction.

"I just turned 19!"

That statement seemed to confuse Sokka enough to at least remove the scowl from his face.

"Oh yeah! I attended the party. It was an awesome day. Did I ever tell you how much I appreciated the egg custards your cooks made?" Aang piped in.

Zuko was so taken aback by the sudden change in topic that he just shook his head mutely.

"Please do let him know," Aang continued, "I might ask him for the recipe next time. It was the best custard I've had in a long time."

"Aang!" Suki's voice cut in, "not the time."

"Oops. Sorry."

Zuko and Sokka exchanged a look of exasperation at the young, easily excitable Avatar and grinned. Just like that the tension in the room dissolved.

Zuko took a minute to close his eyes and drew upon years of training, "I mention my age because I didn't think I would get married quite this young." He saw Sokka open his mouth and forestalled the question. "The marriageable age in the Fire Nation is 18."

"You knew when you accepted the invitation that you would be one of the candidates that could be chosen as her husband, so why are you so surprised?" Sokka now wanted to know.

For Agni's sake, I didn't run away screaming or anything. And I didn't accept the invitation for this freak show, uncle did.

In the absolute silence that followed, Zuko realized that he had spoken aloud. If the Fire Lord was embarrassed before, he was absolutely mortified now. Sokka's face turned to stone, Suki went absolutely rigid and Aang looked grave and disapproving.

"Fire Lord Zuko, I think it would be best if we forget this conversation. I supported my sister's decision initially but I no longer think that you are the correct candidate to become her husband." Sokka's tone told him clearly that he was no longer speaking as his sparring partner but as the Southern Water Tribe's Chief-in-waiting.

Saying this Sokka gave him a stiff bow effectively terminating the conversation.

Zuko sat in his room and let the morning's events wash over him. He wondered what had made Lady Katara choose him. In spite of what Toph said, he knew what he looked like. He'd heard enough whispers about his scar to know that girls found it horrifying. He couldn't imagine a scenario where someone as beautiful as Lady Katara would want to spend the rest of her life with him.

He'd figured that he would marry a noblewoman from the Fire Nation in the next few years. Maybe they would come to tolerate each other eventually.

There are enough …

The rest of his thoughts were interrupted by someone clearing their throat loudly.

"Did you come to tell me that they want me off the island?"

Toph scoffed, "You are not a lowly lordling. I'm more curious as to what exactly happened in that room. The other three are being tight-lipped about what happened but I know Katara's going to be told that she cannot marry you as you are being deemed unsuitable. I cannot think of anyone more suitable for her, so my question remains, what did you do?"

"I managed to insult them pretty badly."

"I figured it must have been something like that. What did you say?"

"Why do you want to know? They've made up their minds that I'm not suitable for Katara."

If Toph noticed his slip she didn't say anything.

"I care because I'm Katara's friend. I want to see if there's a way to fix this. Unless, of course, you don't want this mess fixed."

"I didn't say that!" Zuko exclaimed.

Toph seemed to look at somewhere over his shoulder for a little bit. He realized that while she knew where a certain person was, she couldn't figure out where the person's face was. She must have found whatever she was looking for because she nodded.

"Okay, Your Lordliness, tell me everything."

Rolling his eyes, he couldn't resist teasing the girl, "In the beginning, there was fire lord Sozin who…"

"Well. Ha ha," her tone was sarcastic but a corner of her mouth was twitching with suppressed laughter. "I'm glad you can joke but I do need to know what happened so I help you."

Zuko told her everything and in retelling the story saw exactly how inappropriate his behavior had been. Toph listened quietly though the entire thing. Once he finished, however, she asked him.

"What did you mean that your uncle accepted the invitation? You are here, not your uncle."

"As Fire Lord, you can imagine the amount of correspondence I get. Uncle told me that he had accepted an invite to a very important summit held by the Southern Water Tribe at Kyoshi Island. When I arrived here and saw all the nobles and lords, I had no reason to doubt his word. I did not realize the true purpose of this summit till Chief Hakoda spoke after that dinner."

He wasn't very surprised when Toph burst out laughing. Had the situations been reversed, he would have been laughing too.

Sighing heavily he said, "I need to make a formal apology to Chief Hakoda and Sokka. I am the ruler of the Fire Nation such behavior has further reaching consequences than if I were just a nobleman."

"That's why I am here, Fire Lord. I know that you didn't mean to insult anyone. I don't think Sokka has spoken to Chief Hakoda yet. Suki and Aang managed to hold him off. Let me go talk to them and I'll have someone come get you in a few."

"I'm the Fire Lord; I should be the one speaking to Sokka."

"You've done a bang up job of it so far. Let me pave the way and you take the time to think about what you want to say. Use that Fire Lord training to calm yourself but go in as Zuko not Fire Lord Zuko."

It took both longer than he expected and shorter than he had hoped for. Zuko was not entirely sure he was ready to face Sokka again when a Kyoshi warrior came to tell him that they were waiting for him. He made the short walk to the chief's tent with trepidation. He still wasn't sure what Toph meant by 'be Zuko'. The scene inside the room, however, went a long way in calming his nerves. Toph and Aang were grinning openly and Sokka looked amused.

"So you got conned into coming here, did you?" Sokka began, "I knew I liked General Iroh for a reason."

Zuko sighed, "I never know what he's going to pull on me. He even sent me a missive and told me to enjoy my vacation."

The other occupants laughed at his pained expression.

Zuko allowed himself a small smile before sobering up, "I do owe you an apology. I shouldn't have used the words I did to describe this event."

Before Sokka could open his mouth, Toph cut in, "Why shouldn't you? It has been a veritable circus with some of the oddest people I have been around. There is King Kuei and his bear; the swamp guy who showed up without an invitation to just check 'what the commotion was about'; Hahn, the resident idiot and Jet the fire-nation-hating aspiring businessman."

"Did he ever thaw out?" Aang asked.

"Yeah, maybe. Don't know, don't care." Toph shrugged.

"Did who thaw out?" Zuko asked.

"Hahn. After the incident with Jet last night, he approached Katara and started berating her for treating a man that way. He was in the process of telling her what would happen when they were married when Katara turned him into a Hahn-sicle." Sokka told him.

"A Hahn…" Zuko burst out laughing. The image of the pompous guy frozen like a children's treat was too much.

His laughter caused the other to chuckle as well and things were looking up for the Fire Lord again.

When everyone had gotten their mirth under control, Zuko still had unfinished business.

"Sokka, I really do apologize for my choice of words. They were spoken by a boy in the throes of a massive panic attack. I inadvertently insulted you and for that I'm deeply sorry. I know I am not just a man but also the ruler of the Fire Nation but at that time I was really was just a man who had been given some life altering news."

"Your apology is accepted. It's actually good to see that you are also a man and not just the Fire Lord. After Toph told us your side of the story, I can see why you said what you did. I doubt I would have been much better in your shoes. How you didn't run away after that first day will be a mystery to me."

Zuko thought it wise to not tell his host that he wanted to do exactly that and shrugged, "Because I'm also the Fire Lord."

"Hmmm," Sokka agreed wordlessly, "I'm still waiting for an answer to the original offer though."

"At this time, no one else has been told about her choice, am I right?" At Sokka's nod, he continued. "Then, is it possible for me to speak to Lady Katara before I give you an answer? As my wife, she'll not just be lady Katara but Fire Lady Katara. I would like to make sure she understands what she'll be signing up for. If she decides that she does not want to undertake that life, she can choose another candidate without a problem"

He chose to ignore the pang that went through him at the thought of Katara marrying someone else.

Sokka looked at Suki and at her nod turned back to Zuko, "I have no problems with that. You will meet with her here. Please wait here while one of us gets Katara. We'll leave the two of you alone to discuss what you feel is necessary."

As the group filed out, Aang lingered back to wish him good luck with a wink and a nudge.

Katara came in to the room not quite knowing what to expect. After the incident with Jet, Hahn had tried to accost her and tell her how her behavior was not befitting the bride of a northern water tribe man. She had lost the tenuous hold on her temper and frozen him in a block of ice. Again it was Suki's reminder that he was not a bender and thus could not free himself that had persuaded her to unfreeze him. The warrior's even temper really was a blessing.

She had made her choice then and there. While there were a number of nobles who were quite adequate and would have made a suitable husband for her, no one had captured her attention like the handsome Fire Lord. She knew that he would have been informed of it this morning and had been dreading the answer. Her stomach had tied itself into knots waiting for his response. She would alternately fret that he would reject her and then agonize about his acceptance.

What she hadn't been expecting was the missive that the Fire Lord wanted to speak to her before he decided. She had gaped at Suki when her sister-in-law gave her the news. Suki was reticent when Katara had asked her what it was that the monarch wanted to speak to her about, answering only with a cryptic, 'he'll tell you.' So it was that Katara walked into the familiar rooms with not a small amount of trepidation.

Zuko was standing at the window looking outside, seemingly lost in thought. Katara had but a moment to admire the picture he created. With the flame crown in his top knot, his royal robes and his straight posture, the fire lord was every inch the monarch. She thought she was being quiet but he turned around almost immediately.

"Good morning, Fire Lord."

"Good morning to you too, Lady Katara."

He seemed to wait for her to say something else, but she wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to say. Her face must have reflected her confusion because he nodded and then spoke.

"Lady Katara, let me begin by saying that I am honored that you chose me to be your husband. Any man would be lucky if you decided to spend the rest of your life with him. Before we go any further, may I ask what made you choose me?"

Katara looked at him, gaping. "Why shouldn't I have chosen you? What's wrong with you?"

"You mean beside the obvious?"

Katara saw Zuko's hand wander up to scar but not actually touch it.

"It is a part of you, not who you are. It doesn't define you anymore than my skin color defines me."

She saw his shoulders ease as if she'd taken a weight off of them and realized that he thought that the scar made him unattractive.

You couldn't have been more wrong.

"You asked me once how I got this, it was a bending accident. I was training with my father when he tripped on a loose tile. My father never forgave himself for it and I think that the guilt of scarring his only son ate away at him till he passed away a few years ago."

Katara didn't know what to say. Zuko seemed to be lost in memories of a time long gone. They stayed in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again.

"Lady Katara, the reason I wanted to speak to you is to make sure you make this decision with all the facts. In choosing me you would also be choosing the mantle of Fire Lady. I want you to know a few pertinent details so that you can go into this with full understanding of what the title entails."

Katara wondered what it was the Fire Lord was trying to warn her about. When he paused and looked at her, she nodded at him wordlessly urging him to continue.

"The very first thing you would lose is privacy. Every single action, every word of yours will be up for scrutiny. The time you would have to yourself will be minimal as there will be numerous projects that will fall within the purview of the Fire Lady. During the first year you will be attending all council meeting with me to familiarize yourself with running the Fire Nation since you will be acting as regent in my absence after the first year is over."

Katara listened to him with increasing incredulity, "Are you trying to scare me into not marrying you?"

The Fire Lord looked dumbfounded, "What? No, that's not my intention at all. I'm merely making you aware of certain realities of life as a Fire Lady. I would not be having this conversation if you were a fire nation lady."

"Excuse me? Are you telling me that I'm not suited to you because I'm not from the fire nation?"

"That's not what I meant at all. I just meant that there are some ladies of the court that are brought up with the training to be a fire lady since most fire lords choose their brides from the nobility."

Katara swallowed the jealousy that spurted up inside her and asked him calmly, "Is there someone particular that you would rather have for your Fire Lady?"

She was pleased to see him look absolutely stunned. She didn't need to be Toph to know that his next sentence was absolutely true.

"What?" he repeated, looking affronted "Absolutely not. I would not have been sent here for this if there was already someone chosen for that."

"Sent here?"

His eyes widened as if he had just realized what he had let slip.

In a resigned tone, he said "I was told by my uncle that this was an important meeting. I had no idea of the nature of this meeting till your father spoke at dinner on the first night."

Katara was sympathetic, "That was unfair on General Iroh's part. This is not something you want to be surprised with." When she saw the Fire Lord gawking at her, she asked, "What?"

"It's just that you are the first person to not laugh outright at this incident."

"Sokka will find humor in almost all situations and Toph is just as bad."

Katara smiled at him hoping to comfort him and the resulting smile on his transformed his face from handsome to stunning. She promptly lost her chain of thought. She realized in that second that she would be distraught if this man decided not to marry her. If that happened, she knew that it would take her a very long time to get over Fire Lord Zuko. This thought brought her back to what he had been talking about.

"Fire Lord, I may not be a fire nation lady brought up to be the fire lady but I am a princess. Believe me when I tell you that I understand very well the importance and consequences of my actions and words. As far as privacy is concerned, I doubt anything can be worse than growing up with Sokka as an over protective brother and having Toph as your best friend."`

She grinned up at him and was surprised to see him looking a little stunned. Katara remembered that he had worn a similar expression the last time she had laughed.

I may have a chance here after all. On its heels came another thought. If he likes me too, why didn't he accept the proposal right away? Unless…

With some trepidation, Katara voiced her suspicions, "Will your people accept a water tribe princess as their Fire Lady?"

"That is not an issue at all. International marriages are very common now and are in fact encouraged."

May Tui and La forgive me for resorting to this but I'm going to follow Toph's advice.

Katara put on her most dazzling smile and was pleased to see the Fire Lord's eyes go hazy.

"Is there anything else I should be aware of?"

"There's…."

She took a step toward him, "Yes?"

With glee she watched him shut his eyes and pinch the bridge of his nose.

"There's the matter of your bride price. As my wife, you will be given ownership of some lands and a sum of money. They are yours to use as you please. They will remain yours even if we dissolve the union."

Katara's happy bubble burst. "Why would we dissolve the union?"

"We can dissolve the union if you are not happy with your life in the fire nation or if we're completely incompatible with each other or…"

"Or what?"

"Or therearenoheirs."

"What?"

"Or there are no heirs. Fire nation law requires a royal heir, male or female, to be produced within the first two years of marriage." The Fire Lord stared away from her while he stating this with a matter of fact voice. The blush that covered his face, however, belied his embarrassment.

"Oh!"

He still did not look at her but rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

"Why do you think I have put off marriage? I don't know if I'm ready to be a parent."

"You are the ruler of an entire nation and you're scared of becoming a parent?"

He just shrugged.

Katara gathered her courage about her and took a chance.

"Zuko"

His head whipped around but Katara had a hard time deciphering the look in his eyes.

Swallowing, she spoke again, "Look, I really like you. I mean I'm sure you figured that out when I chose you to be my husband. I might be wrong but I get the feeling that you might like me back. I am willing to give this a chance, whatever this thing is between us. We don't have to get married right away if you don't want to. We can get to know each other better. I'm sure we will be compatible, and even if we are not at least we'll have tried. Don't you think…?"

Katara's rambling was cut off by the warmest pair of lips she'd ever felt. Then she stopped thinking altogether and just let the feelings wash over her. All too quickly for her taste, his lips left hers. On a whimper of protest, she opened dazed eyes and saw his amber gaze before she heard his quiet request.

"Say it again."

"Hmmm?"

"My name. Say my name again."

"Zuko." She whispered trying to put everything she felt but could not yet name into that one word.

She must have done something right because he pulled her flush against himself and his lips were back on hers. This time she kissed him right back.

The wedding of the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe and the Fire Lord was held a few months later. The pomp and splendor was such that people talked about it for years afterwards.

The fire nation heiress, Crown Princess Izumi, was born 15 months after the wedding, followed by a prince a couple of years later and another princess 5 years after that.

As for the couple themselves, they went on to lead long, happy and prosperous lives.