Union On The Dance Floor

Meeoko

Summary : The War is over. Newly crowned Fire Lord Zuko hosts a great banquet for his allies and friends. But will a batch of Dragon's Breath Rum lead to more than just peace. Short Zutara one-off.

Disclaimer : I do not own Avatar : Last Airbender. If I did, then Zuko and Katara would be married and making babies by now, Toph would be the pint-sized world ruler and Momo would have to wear a little pink bow and tutu. XD

This is just a short little fic that I couldn't get out of my head. Hopefully, it'll keep the creativity coming whilst I work on 'I'll Follow You Home'.

"To the new Fire Lord," Iroh boomed happily, raising his glass high into the air "Fire Lord Zuko!"

A round of cheers rose from the hall, echoing across the stone walls of the palace banquet room. A series of glasses were raised into the air as Zuko stepped down from the podium that seated his new throne, where he had been newly crowned that very morning.

His face was just as serious as it always was, but he seemed to have an unseen confidence to each of his movements. Zuko was dressed in Fire Lord royal attire.
He did not wear his crown, as his hair was still too short to fit it securely, but he had every possible grandeur and mannerism of a newly crowned Fire Lord.

He held up his hands to silence the crowd, the hint of a smile gracing his face.

"Thank you all for coming. Each and every one of you has played an important part in ending this war and I value your courage and bravery above all else. It has been little over a week since the defeat of my father. But before we begin rebuilding this world, it is time to celebrate and to remember those that have dedicated their lives to this very moment. The War is over. Ozai is dead. Now we can begin to form a new world, based on peace and trust. A new world where we are united as one. It is together that we are strongest."

A murmur of agreement rushed through the crowd. Reaching his place at the head table, Zuko picked up his own glass. Seated around him were his friends, his allies, his family. Katara, Toph, Sokka, Suki, Aang and his uncle, Iroh.

Zuko raised his glass in their direction and smiled as softly as he could manage.

"This is not a celebration for myself, nor the downfall of Ozai. Tonight we celebrate those who are most important to us. To anyone we have ever lost, loved or met through this war. It has brought us together and at its end, so shall we remain united."

Zuko looked out to the crowd. Earth Kingdom, Water Tribe and Fire Nation were all gathered in the same room. Those who had played such a large part in the invasion force that had taken down his father on the day of the comet. Blues, greens and reds were all mixed together in a great bobbing sea of smiles and raised glasses.

"To friendship, to family, to peace, and to the Avatar!" He boomed, holding his glass ever higher.

"The Avatar!" everyone replied in unison, slugging down their drinks. Immediately, a burst of music filled the halls and everyone began to chatter happily as they all tucked into the great feast as a single great mass of people.

"That was a very touching speech, my nephew." Uncle Iroh patted Zuko heartily on the shoulder as he sat down next to him around the table. The impact sent some of Zuko's drink spilling over the edge of the cup and onto the polished wooden table.

"Yeah, Sparky. I didn't know you had it in you." Toph smiled, plucking a grape from her plate and tossing it into her mouth lazily.

"That was really unnecessary though." Aang blushed, rubbing the back of his bald head. "I couldn't have done any of this if it weren't for all of you. I shouldn't be taking all the credit."

Katara smiled at him from across the table, taking a chunk of cheese from her plate and nibbling on it.

"Aang, don't be so modest. Zuko was right. After everything you've had to do, all the sacrifices that you've made, you deserve some credit."

Katara took a sip from her cup. Zuko saw her swirl the liquid around in her mouth briefly. As soon as she swallowed, she coughed loudly. She opened her mouth as if it were burning.

"Iroh?" she asked "What is this? It tastes really...fiery."

Zuko tried not to snigger at the look on his uncle's face.
He knew perfectly well that his uncle had exchanged the drinks menu with something entirely of his own making when he hadn't been looking. But he would let the old man have his fun for now. Zuko could see that Iroh tried not to chuckle as he replied.

"This drink is commonly know as Dragon's Breath, Lady Katara. It is a particular beverage that takes almost fifty years to reach its peak and it is very expensive. This batch was taken from Ozai's own personal collection."

The mischievous glint in his uncle's eye was unmistakable.
A round of laughter burst from everyone at the table. Even Zuko couldn't keep a smile from prying at his lips.

"The only decent thing that he's ever given us." Zuko joked, gulping down his drink, knocking it back like water.

"Why's it called 'Dragon's Breath'? asked Suki, who was leaning into Sokka tenderly.

She was answered almost immediately when Zuko let out a loud burp, followed by a small jet of flame from between his teeth. Everyone giggled.

Covering his mouth and blushing, Zuko tried to regain his royal composure.

"That's why." he said.

The night wore on.
After the feast was finished, the table were cleared away to the edges of the grand hall and the music began.

People of all ages, shapes, sizes and races graced the dance floor with their individual dancig styles. Zuko wondered if it was because they were happy or because the Dragon's Breath had given them a confidence boost.

He was beginning to feel a little fuzzy himself.

Must be working...

Zuko tried not to cringe when he saw his uncle wobbling around on the dance floor, jabbing and pointing at the air, waving his behind around like a drugged platapottimus. He noticed, truly horrified that a plump, elderly Earth Kingdom woman was actually joining Iroh in the strange display of pointing, waving, bobbing and wiggling.

Zuko smacked a hand to his forehead.

"I never want to get old."

Suddenly, Zuko felt a gentle tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw that it was Toph.
Her smile was a little crooked and she hiccuped. She had obviously had too much to drink.

Maybe giving alcohol to a 12 year old wasn't one of Uncle's best plans. Zuko thought to himself.

"What's up, Toph?" he asked her, swaying a little himself.

"What? You mean I even have to ask?" Toph smirked. "The Great Fire Lord Zuko still owes me payback for burning my feet."

Zuko frowned slightly. He didn't like where this was going.

"Yes, Toph. I know and I'm still really sorry about that."

Toph just waved a hand dismissively.

"No problem. I've thought of a way you can repay me."

"Yeah..." Zuko answered, cautious of the Earth Bender's cunning smirk.

"I want you to go and dance with Katara." Toph said sarcastically, as if it had been obvious the entire time.

Zuko's good eyebrow flew up into his hairline.

"You can't be serious." he said, dryly. But the Earth Bender just beamed defiantly.

"Yep. 'Fraid so. Come on, Sparky. Lighten up! This is your coronation and the end of the war! And if you don't hurry up and make a move, you and Katara will both be old and wrinkly!"

Zuko choked on his sip of Dragon's Breath.

"What? I'm not old!" he spluttered, thinking of his Uncle's horrific dancing "And why do you want me to dance with her? It's not like she hasn't had hundreds of other offers!"

It was true.
All throughout night, Zuko had seen Katara dance with several different men, Earth Kingdom, Fire Nation and Water Tribe alike!
She seemed to be getting rather a lot of attention.

"Oh come on, Sparky! I honestly think sometimes that it's you guys that are the blind ones!" Toph mused, taking up a leg of badgerhawk from Zuko's plate and stuffing it into her mouth greedily.

Zuko was especially careful to keep any more of the Dragon's Breath out of her reach.

"What? Toph, what are you talking about?"

Toph rolled her empty eyes and swallowed a bite of the badgerhawk meat.

"You really are a dork, you know, Zuko. I can tell that you like her. You have done for ages. If it makes you feel any better, she likes you too. Whenever you're around each other by yourselves, your hearts thump around in your chests like a bunch of rabbaroo's! So just go and ask her to dance already! What have you got to lose? You're the Fire Lord now, for cryin' out loud!"

Toph elbowed him cheekily, with a sly grin on her face.

"And chick's dig royalty."

Despite himself, Zuko couldn't help but laugh.

He could feel the Dragon's Breath beginning to get to him. Every separate image seemed to be blurring into one and he couldn't help but find everything funny.

Zuko hated drinking usually. But this was a special occasion and needed to be celebrated the right way.
Taking another swig of Dragon's Breath, Zuko let the flaming burp pass before replying to Toph.

"You really are too good at this sort of stuff, you know. But does she...does she really react like that around me?"

Toph nodded and crossed her arms, throwing away the badgerhawk leg bone away behind her casually. Zuko felt sorry for the people who would have to clean up the hall in the morning.

"She sure does. Earth Bender's honour. So why don't you just hurry up and do something about it before it's too late? Come on, the worst she can say is no, right?"

But this didn't exactly fill Zuko from head to foot with confidence.

"I don't know. I'm not...I'm not a very good dancer." he spluttered, trying to find any sort of excuse not to.

Unfortunately, Zuko knew that the young Earth Bender wasn't about to let that happen.

"Sparky, you can either do this of your own free will or I can tell the whole room about that time I caught you making muscles at your reflexion."

Zuko wondered how Toph would even be able to tell that he had been doing that, but he didn't question it.

I guess she's got me with that one...

He immediately rose from his chair, refilling his cup with Dragon's Breath for extra courage. He looked back at Toph before he descended from the podium.

"You really are an evil little monkey, you know."

But Toph simply beamed back at him, raising a glass in his direction. Zuko hoped that it was filled with fruit juice.

"Hey, I do what I'm best at. What can I say?"

Zuko couldn't help but smile as he stepped down onto the great marble floor, filled with the swaying of dancing bodies and the sounds of laughter.

Picking his way through the swell of moving limbs and felxing hips, Zuko tried to steer as clear as possible from his uncle's disturbing display of male bravado and the lady he was dancing with.

Eventually, Zuko spotted Katara at the edge of the dance floor, sipping a drink and wiping a hand over her forehead. She looked flushed and red from dancing, but Zuko thought that she looked just as beautiful as she always did.

Before approaching her, Zuko tipped his head back and swallowed the entire cup of Dragon's Breath in one go, knocking it back like water.

Well, here goes nothing...

After taking a deep breath, Zuko walked up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Katara turned around, swaying lightly on her feet. Her initial smile turned into a blush that she tried to cover quickly by fanning at her face.

"Hey Zuko. Great party. This heat is really...well, hot. I'm getting myself a bit worked up. Must be this drink your Uncle got. I'm beginning to take quite a liking to it."

Zuko shuffled on his feet a little nervously.
He wasn't sure if Katara was babbling because she was nervous or because of the effects of the Dragon's Breath.

"I'm glad that everyone is enjoying themselves. But I think that Toph is enjoying herself more than anyone here."

He pointed up to the head table, where Toph had clambered onto the tablecloth among the remainders of the feast and promptly curled up into a sleepy ball.

Katara laughed.

"I don't think that giving a 12 year old alcohol was your Uncle's best idea, Zuko."

"That's exactly what I was thinking a few minutes ago." Zuko replied, laughing gently at the form of snoring Toph placed on the table, just like another slab of meat.

"How is Aang managing?" he asked her. He hadn't seen the avatar around for a while now.

"Oh he's fine. Aang decided not to drink anything. He's off on the dance floor with your Uncle."

Following Katara's pointed finger into the mass of people, Zuko managed to pick out the two figures. He almost recoiled in horror as he saw his uncle and the avatar shaking around like buffoon's. His uncle had obviously been trying to show Aang some of his more 'traditional' dance moves.

Katara tried to stifle a laugh, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Your uncle is really...uhm, outgoing." she giggled. Zuko couldn't help but smile.

"Tell me about it! Imagine three years alone on a ship with only him and a Sunghi Horn!"

This only increased Katara's laughter. She doubled over, clutching at her sides. Pretty soon, her infectious giggles got to Zuko and they both leant against each other for support as they laughed long and hard.

Perhaps I should stop drinking...

Righting themselves, Katara flicked a tear of laughter away from her eye. Her other hand rested on Zuko's shoulder.
When she removed it, Zuko used all of the courage that the Dragon's Breath had given him and grasped her hand in his own.

She looked up at him, a little surprised. Zuko tried to look as encouraging and confident as possible and smiled down at her.

"Katara. Would you care to dance with me?"

She looked down at the floor, trying to hide another blush that coloured her already red cheeks an even fiercer shade of crimson against her dark skin.

For a moment, Zuko was terrified that she would say no.

But when she looked up at him, a gentle smile graced her face.

"I'd love to dance with you, Zuko."

Beaming, Zuko tightened his grip on her hand slightly and led her into the swimming mass of limbs and bodies, all swaying to the same melody. They reached the centre of the happy, mesmerized people.

Zuko smiled down at Katara. She smiled back at him. They were just about to move...

...when the song stopped.

Looking up, Zuko noticed that the musicians had changed to a slower, more melodic song. Many people were breaking off into couples and leaning into each other as they moved slowly to the music.

Zuko tried not to vomit as he saw his Uncle cheekily squeezing the backside of the plump Earth Kingdom woman as they also changed their rhythm.

Katara bit her lip awkwardly, rubbing her forearm. Zuko blushed. He hadn't counted on this happening. But Toph's words echoed in his ears.

Just hurry up and do something about it!

Mustering as much courage as he could, Zuko forced himself to smile.
Still holding onto Katara's hand, he pulled himself a little closer into her.

You can do this, Zuko. You can do this.

Although he expected her to resist or move away, Katara moved freely into him, placing her free hand on his shoulder, whilst the other remained clasped in his own. Zuko placed his own hand on the small of her back.

Gently, they began to sway to the soothing lull of the music.

Everything seemed to melt away. Zuko couldn't seem to concentrate on anything else but her face.
Her blue eyes twinkled with something he hadn't seen before and her lips parted as she looked up at him.

Zuko smiled. There was nothing but him and her now.

Her skin felt soft and light, although she gripped his hand tightly. She smelled faintly of the sea and wet grass and Zuko happily breathed it in, taking note of every little minor detail.

Who knew if he was ever going to get another chance like this?

Breaking their gaze, Katara drew herself closer into Zuko so that her head was resting on his chest. He swallowed, acutely aware of how close they were.

His inner fire was threatening to spill over with the joy that he felt. Every fibre of his body was tingling and he hugged Katara closer into himself, flexing his fingers that were entwined with her own.

The soothing sounds of a flute filled the air as the melody played on. All around him, Zuko could see the united mass of couples young and old alike clutching together, swaying to the music.

Zuko felt that he could remain this way forever, right here and now. Just another couple, lost in the rhythmic union of love.

Katara raised her head to look up into his eyes. Her eyes were shining, as if she was welling up with unshed tears. Zuko looked down at her, his gaze fixed to her own. He could stare into those eyes forever...

"I'm so happy." Katara whispered, smiling gently.

His heart leapt in his chest. Everything that he had hoped would happen was indeed happening at that very moment. But it was about a thousand times better than he had ever dreamed it would be.

"You look so beautiful right now." he whispered back, unable to hold back his own smile.

For a moment, everything seemed to fade away. Although Zuko's head felt fuzzy and he found it hard to think straight, his brain kick-started and burst into a thousand and one thoughts and senses when Katara leant into him, their faces almost touching.

Then, as carefully and tenderly as if she were healing a wounded patient, Katara touched her lips to his own.
At first it was gentle, barely a whisper of touch. But as Zuko pulled her closer, moving his hand from her waist to brush her cheek, her kiss became more immediate, more passionate.

Zuko's inner fire sizzled. Everything seemed to vanish. Time itself stopped and distorted. Every care, worry and thought disappeared. There was nothing.
Nothing but him, Katara and that kiss.

The music trailed off, escalating back up into a cheery dance number. But they didn't move. They remained where they were, their hands still clasped together, swaying gently to their own song.

They remained that way, locked in a tender embrace, with lips pressed together as if nothing else in the world mattered.

Stroking the wispy tendrils of Katara's long loose hair as he kissed her, Zuko couldn't help but feel as if everything was going to be okay. No matter what happened now, he knew that he would be able to deal with anything.

Maybe being Fire Lord isn't so bad after all...

The End