This is a lot more light-hearted than the last one. Enjoy!
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“I can't do this,” Aang groaned, collapsing onto the couch. “I can't. No way.”
“Of course you can, Aang,” Katara said in a reasonable tone. “You've already done so much. There's just a few finishing touches left.”
“Finishing touches? What about the garlands? And the flowers? And the wild goose?”
“Aang, just calm down, please.We just need to –”
“AND THE STUPID PRIEST! I tried to teach him his lines, but nooo, he still wants another whole private lesson because he's afraid he'll mess up the stupid timing . . .”
“Why don't you just conduct the service yourself?”
“Then it'd be even worse! Katara, I couldn't, I'm not confirmed, I can't, and besides, I'm the best man. Oh no, oh no . . .”
Katara rolled her eyes to the ceiling. Aang's stress meter was reaching its peak; she was half-expecting him to fly into the Avatar State at any second. But it wasn't because of Fire Lord Ozai, or Azula, any of the political stresses heaped on him by his office.
No, Sokka and Suki were getting married.
Katara still giggled when she pictured the scene. Sokka had burst into their house on Kyoshi Island, his cheeks flushed, looking almost feverishly happy. He had pulled everyone into a spine-breaking hug and proclaimed to the heavens that Suki had said “yes,” that they were engaged, and that they were to have full-blown, Aang-organized, traditional airbender wedding in nary a month.
Aang had fainted on the spot. But nobody, nobody, least of all him, had had the heart to refuse.
“Aang, listen.” Katara said. “You take care of the priest, and Toph and I will put up the garlands and get the goose, okay? Everything's going to be fine.”
Slowly Aang nodded, forcing himself to breathe calmly.
“Okay,” he said, his voice oddly clipped. “The goose needs to be light-colored. Preferably white. Snow white. And don't overdo the garlands. Nice and modest. But cheery-looking. Bright yellow.”
“I'll try and manage that,” said Katara with a grin.
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The day of the wedding arrived – much sooner than Aang would have liked.
Kyoshi Island was swathed in decorations and happiness – and sweltering summer heat. Suki struggled futilely to keep sweat marks off of her wedding gown.
“You look gorgeous, sweetie!” Toph proclaimed uproariously as she pinned the final pin with all the flourish of an overzealous acupuncturist.
And she actually did. The gown was a light green, the native color of Kyoshi, and her hair was braided with blue flowers. Toph stepped back and scrutinized her, clucked her tongue, and added the final touch: a sapphire necklace.
“Goes with your eyes and all,” she said.
Suki laughed, partially at Toph's antics, and partially because the butterflies in her stomach were just that tickly.
Katara smiled happily. She too was wearing green, but in a darker shade. “I'm so happy for you,” she said.
“Thanks, Katara.”
“You're going to do great, you know.”
“I know.” Suki fidgeted nervously.
“Sokka's not that judgmental,” Toph reassured her with a small smirk.
“I know,” Suki said again.
The butterflies intensified. Almost time.
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Meanwhile, Sokka was waiting in another room with the groomsmen: Bato, Haru, and a few other Water Tribe men. Sokka, in all honesty, looked distinctly odd. Dark, forest-green robes draped his wiry form. The color suited him, but the robes had long sleeves, and the sight of Sokka in long sleeves was quite unsettling to many people.
Sokka, like Suki, had a rather odd feeling in his stomach. Bato grinned at him.
“Butterflies?”
“Not manly, Bato.”
“Spider-flies?”
“Ewww, gross.”
“Saber-toothed moose lions?”
“Good enough,” Sokka moaned.
“Where in the world is Aang?” he blurted out. “We can't start the wedding without the best man!”
“Maybe they had some trouble with the goose?” said Haru, stroking his moustache thoughtfully.
“Will someoneplease explain why you need a goose?!” Bato cried for the fifth time that day. But no one seemed to hear him.
“Sokka! SOKKA!”
Aang burst into the room, eyes wide with panic. Sokka reached out a hand to steady him.
“Whoa there. What's the matter?”
“The priest, Sokka, he says – he says he can't come!”
“WHAT?!?!?!” Sokka's eyes stretched wider than Aang's – quite an accomplishment. “B-b-b-b-b-but –”
“Breathe, both of you,” said Bato. “Aang, why can't he be here?”
Aang blinked. “He says he got a last-minute illness . . .”
“What?!” Sokka exploded, and promptly burst into a stream of angry gibberish, sprinkled with some rather choice epithets for the priest. Aang blushed a deep scarlet, shuffling his feet in an “I-don't-know-this-guy” manner.
“%(*&LULuluawhlfieuh%987@#%@!”
“Sokka, calm down,” said Haru. “We need to –”
"($*%&kjghlLiwoiueR987%#######!”
“Sokka!”
Bato brought his foot down, hard. By chance it landed right on Haru's own. Haru yelped rather loudly, spinning madly across the room, colliding into Sokka, who toppled into Aang, who smashed into Bato – until pretty soon, all of the men were lying in a helter-skelter pile in the middle of the room.
Haru was the first to regain enough composure to sit up, moaning in pain, giggling, and trying to disentangle his limbs all at the same time.
“Well, that was fun,” he said flatly.
Aang's robes had (somehow) been turned inside-out with him still inside of them. He looked like a living orange blob of robes, and making some very atrocious noises.
“Great, Sokka,” Bato groaned, trying to help him. “This will go down in your family history – the day you killed the best man.”
“Sorry. I forgot his monkly physique wasn't up to it."
“Lame, Sokka,” Bato said. Haru, on the other hand, gasped. (Very dramatically). Everyone turned to look at him.
“That's it!” he was saying. “Monkly! Sokka, you're a genius!”
Sokka stared.
“Oh, come on,” said Haru. “Aang!"
With some effort, Aang managed to free his head from the orange blob. “What?”
“Well, you organized this whole thing, right?”
“Riiight.”
“And the wedding is an airbender ritual, right?”
“Riiight.”
“And you're an Air Nomad monk, right?”
“Haru –”
“So –”
“But I can't conduct the service!” Aang cried, throwing his arms up over his head. “I'm not confirmed, I'm not qualified –”
“You are too qualified,” said Sokka.
“I'll say,” said Haru.
“Who took down the Fire Lord?” Bato backed them up.
“But that's different.”
“Beating the Fire Lord is easier than conducting a wedding?” said Haru, utterly confused.
“It's not that.” Aang's voice dropped, becoming quiet and serious. It's just . . . back when I lived with the monks, being confirmed was a huge thing. You had to possess complete spiritual maturity.”
“Sure, like you don't.”
“Listen –”
“No, you listen, Aang.” Sokka's voice dropped to match his friend's. “You're mature. You've been through so much, done so much, there's no way you're not qualified. You can do this.”
Aang pulled at his fingernails. “Well, I guess . . .”
“Then it's settled.” Bato's voice dripped with finality. “Avatar Aang will conduct the service.”
Aang suddenly felt a very unpleasent sensation somewhere around his abdomen.
“It's time,” said Haru. “Let's go.”
Aang gulped. Sokka nodded encouragingly at his friend; then, noticing his pallor, bent over and gave him a quick backrub.
“You'll do fine,” he said.
Aang nodded. “Sure, Sokka. Yeah. Sure.”
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The shrine was beautiful. Built out of old stone, it had an aura of ancient splendor that commanded respect from everyone within. The residents of Kyoshi stood in a small crowd, chattering in low voices. The Kyoshi warriors stood to one side, along with Suki's mother and father. Hakoda stood alone, the perfect image of Water Tribe magnificence.
Sokka stood by the altar, clutching the smooth olive wood and feeling the chills run up and down his spine as Suki entered the shrine. His heart fluttered and all the heat rushed into his face; it was all he could do to keep still and keep his knees from buckling underneath him. He was, cheesy though it may sound, completely stricken by love.
Suki had a bit more grace about her, but anyone within a few yards of her could feel the excitement and joy radiating from her heart. Toph flashed her a wink as she took her place beside Sokka. Smiling, she reached her hand out and caressed Sokka's own.
A hush fell over the room when Aang entered, although several fangirl squees could be heard in the back. Aang blushed, collected himself, and raised his hands.
“People of Kyoshi Island,” he said. “We are here to celebrate something very special – the marriage of these two people. Both are warriors who did brave deeds in the war. I hope their marriage will be long and loyal, and filled with happiness.”
He was surprised at how deep his voice sounded, and how effortlessly the words came to him. It was as if he were back at the Southen Air Temple, hearing his dear mentor Gyatso speak. Only this time, it was his tongue that was forming the words.
Sokka and Suki both repeated their vows solemnly, but their eyes danced, and they clasped hands so fiercely Sokka had trouble breathing.
Quickly Aang took a goblet from the altar and placed it in Sokka and Suki's entertwined hands. It was filled to the brim with a dark, fruity-looking liquid; an airbender drink, pure and rich. Sokka raised it to his mouth, took a tentative sip, and sputtered. He raised his eyebrows at Aang, who grinned. Then Sokka handed it to Suki, who pressed it to her lips, drinking deeply, gracefully. They had drunk from the same cup, sharing the liquid, just as they would share everything in their possession, from now on, forever.
“Then in the presence of the spirits I bind these two in marriage,” Aang said. “Let us hope that they may share: the love of water, the loyalty of earth, the passion of fire, the peace of air. May they have many children, and may one never turn his back on the other. May the spirits guide their way, keep them from evil . . . and in the next life . . . unite them once again.”
He stumbled over the last words, but not because he was nervous or forgetful. He stumbled because he knew that the airbenders were watching, and that they were proud, and that they had forgiven him for all his mistakes – and the knowledge made the tears bead in his eyes. As Suki sprang forward and captured Sokka's lips in a kiss, as the crowd cheered, they spilled over in full.
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The reception afterward was a huge success. Katara had decorated the yard perfectly: bright yellow streamers; cheery, but nice and modest. Suki threw the bouquet at least five times but nobody could ever manage to catch it, so finally it was decided that each of the little Kyoshi girls were to have one flower apiece.
Everyone ate fruit and pudding and airbender pies. There was no meat, much to Sokka's dismay, but for Suki's sake he didn't complain. Haru showed everyone how to polka, Toph hit it off quite well with The Duke, and Aang was kept extremely busy entertaining his fangirls.
Bato finally got his question answered when Sokka brought out a huge, snow-white goose and presented it to Suki's father.
“It's a pledge,” Aang explained, grinning. “Geese mate for life, so the gift of the goose shows that Sokka will stay with Suki forever.”
“You could have said that before,” Bato grumbled, but good-naturedly.
At the last minute, while everyone was leaving, Sokka turned up with some assorted fireworks and set them off. Everyone ooh'd and aah'd.
“Where'd you get those, Sokka?” said Suki
“From Zuko,” said Sokka. “He heard we were getting married and said he wanted to spruce things up a little bit.”
“How nice,” said Suki.
And before anyone could say “badger-mole,” they were kissing again.
Katara promptly burst into tears. Hakoda's eyes shone with pride. Everyone else cheered for the young couple, their love, and the end of the war that had brought them together. They would never, ever forget this glorious day.
It was past midnight when Aang stumbled inside and collapsed onto his bed. His dark-circled eyes were shining with happiness – and exhaustion.
“Never again,” he moaned. “No more weddings.”
Katara raised her eyebrows. “Oh, really?”
“Yes.” Aang's tone was final.
“Well, if that's what you like.”
Neither of them spoke for a while. The only sounds were the tick-tick of the clock and the dull breath of the wind outside.
“Aang, you were incredible!” Katara burst out suddenly. “Organizing everything, dealing with all those people, wedding Sokka and Suki – it was amazing.”
Aang felt the blood rushing to his face. “It . . . it was nothing.”
“Oh, Aang.” Without warning Katara threw his arms around him and began kissing him – starting with butterfly kisses at the top of his head, working down his forehead, onto his nose, closer and closer to his lips.
Aang breathed in the scent of her hair with a little shuder of bliss. Maybe, just maybe, one of these days, he'd be up to another wedding. . . .
Maybe it just needs rephrasing.
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