Falling for the Enemy (Sun and Moon Book 1)

Chapter 14 - Aftermath

Zuko stared at the water-flame, shock coursing through his veins like fire. It could not be. It could not. Then he blinked, shaking his head, and when he looked again the floor was whole, perfect.

The scent of smoky sea air was gone, along with the mist. Curiously, the old priest was gone, as well, as if he'd never been there.

All that remained were Zuko and Kara, standing close together, shoulders touching. She, still in her too-tight wedding dress. He, still draped in the huge tent-like wedding robe. And their wrists- her right, his left- bound together by a thin trail of drifting ash.

Zuko jerked away from her, stumbling across the floor to collapse against the wall. This could not be- it could not have happened. He and Kara- Katara- could not have been married. Not here. Not now.

Not by the spirits!

It was not possible. The fire prince scrubbed his face with his hands, raking his fingers through his hair. A flash of blue caught his eye, and he peered more closely at his left wrist. There was some sort of mark on it, but he couldn't make it out...

Without thinking, he snapped his fingers, creating a small, flickering flame in his right palm. He held it over his left wrist, and froze in shock.

He had thought that the vision and the marriage and the fiery ceremony had been it. He had thought that nothing else could shock him, not after all he'd just seen.

He'd been wrong.

For there, marked upon his left wrist like ink, like a brand, was a ribbon of glistening water, and twining about the water-rope was a ribbon of fire. Instinctively Zuko knew that the two sustained each other- they could not survive without each other.

Yet they were locked into battle, forever darting around each other in a continous circle. Like the Yin and Yang. Like Life and Death. Like the Moon and Sun.

One alone could not survive, but they were too powerful to survive each other. They co-existed peacefully only as long as they did not touch. Once they did, everything was thrown offkilter.

Was this what the spirit had meant by her vision? That he and Katara were destined to circle around each other for eternity, locked into a never-ending struggle of some sort? That they- that they needed each other?

But for what? Why?

What could the spirit have meant?

Zuko didn't know. All he knew was that, for better or worse, he and Katara, well, Kara, had been married. They were bound before the spirits now, by the spirits.

He didn't know what that meant for his quest to redeem his honor and capture the Avatar. But the fire prince knew with all the certainty in his body that he had to protect Kat- Kara. It was his duty now, because she was his wife.

Whether he wanted her or not.

He looked across the room at her, wondering if she knew. If she'd realized what had happened. To his surprise, she was standing, stock still, in the middle of the room, her right wrist held level with her deep blue eyes.

Seeming to feel his gaze, she lifted her eyes from her wrist and met his searching look. Then, without warning, her blank expression dissolved into one of, not shock or fear, but anger. Hot, hard, all encompasing anger- anger so swift and fiery that it remided Zuko of himself. Then the erstwhile waterbender dropped her hand and, without a backward glance, ran from the shrine of the Spirit of Marriage.

____________

So I just wanna say that this is not what I had in mind when I plotted this part... but it seems to flow, and fit, so... tell me what you think! Is it too sappy? Too much? Too little?

Opinions are the backbone of society, and I NEED YOURS! :D

Comment and vote!

-Eon