Arranged Marriage

[bostonhowler]

It's a trope near and dear to our hearts. Arranged marriage.

Maybe it's for the family. Maybe it's for a friend. Maybe you know the person and have been expected to marry them for years. Maybe it's the wedding day and you have no clue who it is you'll be tied to for your natural life. Maybe you've been married a while, and you're just now starting your life, away from the expectations of others. Or maybe, the "others" are watching, waiting, making sure this marriage sticks.

Prompts for those who need them:



Reasons:

1. Station → You come from a royal, noble, or otherwise distinguished family who has chosen a suitable spouse for you.
2. Feud → You are being married to put an end to the bitter enmity between your two families.
3. Economics → Your economic state and/or your station will improve through the union, though one of you may be marrying down.
4. Empire → You and your spouse are merging your businesses and/or property to create something more influential or profitable.
6. Tribute → You have been offered as a gift or appeasement, alternately you're the spoils of war.
8. Bloodline → Carrying on your distinguished family name has fallen to you and the equally well-bred spouse of your family's selection.
7. Disapproval → Your marriage has been arranged to keep you away from the person with whom you truly wish to be.

Scenario:

1. First meeting → This is the very first time you're meeting your future spouse.
2. Courtship → To get to know each other and encourage affection, your family has approved of you going on dates.
3. Engagement party → Be it a huge, formal affair or a small, intimate get together, you're celebrating (or pretending).
4. Wedding day → The big day!
5. Reception → The big party!
6. Wedding night → Every meme needs a smut prompt, right?
7. Honeymoon → Where will you go with your new spouse and what will you do there?
8. Been at this a while → Just starting to get to know the other person

Comments

[dropwaterdroplet]

She takes a few steps forward, looking around. It certainly does need a lot of work, and he's right in his assumption that she hasn't had much experience with growing things. But she finds herself excited to try.

Turning back to him, she smiles. "Thank you, Zuko," she says softly.

[restoredhonor]

He relaxes just a little. "You don't have to thank me. I've given you a lot of work." He teases, smiling. He rubs the back of his neck. "I want you to have it. I want it to be brought back to life. This palace has seen too much destruction." His father had done that.

He takes her hands. "You're going to be the Fire Lady. It's only right that you make a place here."

[dropwaterdroplet]

Looking up at him, she smiles gently. "Thank you...I know it won't be easy. But I think I can manage it, with your help."

[restoredhonor]

He chuckles. "My help?" He asks, amused. "And when shall I find time to offer this help?" But he's being a shit and knows it. "Running the country is a full day's work, you know."

[dropwaterdroplet]

Katara snickers, being careful of his injuries even as she nudges him. "Such a jerk."

[restoredhonor]

Zuko chuckles. Cautiously, he takes her hand. "You know, they're going to expect us to dance at the feast." Nothing traditional, thank everything, but they'll be expected to dance anyway. Something together. Gently, he pulls her against him. "We could practice?" He suggests softly.

[dropwaterdroplet]

She's surprised when her heart skips a little, and it takes a moment to find her voice. "Y-Yeah...that sounds like a good idea," she replies, leaning into him carefully, mindful that he's still injured.

[restoredhonor]

He may still be injured, but she's done good work, and he's ready to push himself a little. Besides, a dance with her shouldn't be too hard. He's not looking to do anything too acrobatic.

Gently, he begins to move, wrapping an arm around her waist. He starts humming a tune he'd heard the royal band practicing. It's a slower song but it's nice.

[dropwaterdroplet]

She smiles as she follows his lead, pleasantly surprised when he starts humming. As they continue moving to his gentle song, she finds herself unable to resist resting her head on his shoulder.

[restoredhonor]

He's comfortable with her. Comfortable in a way his mother never was with Ozai. He wants her to be happy, and for that happiness to reflect onto the people. Or perhaps it should be the other way around? Should he make the people happy to have her be happy? He can't tell.

He keeps humming softly. While his singing voice isn't great, he can carry a tune. Her head on his shoulder is nice. He likes it.

[dropwaterdroplet]

She finds that she likes it too. And the most surprising thing is that she's only mildly surprised by that.

It's...comfortable. Being here with him, listening to him softly hum, dancing with him. It's strange, how not strange all of this is.

[restoredhonor]

He's just holding her and moving slowly around the garden. They're the only two people in the world and it's wonderful. He almost wants to kiss her. But he doesn't dare. They have too much between them yet. Too much of the past, the present and the future.

So, he just holds her and keeps moving, their bodies moving in synch.

The mood is suddenly broken when someone clears their throat. Zuko sighs, recognizing the cough of a close servant. He stops dancing and looks over his shoulder. "Looks like I have to go." He says, softly. He looks at Katara, not wanting to. If she asked him to stay, he would, but he knows that he should go.

[dropwaterdroplet]

The strange thing was, if he tried to kiss her, she probably would have let him.

Glancing up at the sound of the servant nearby, Katara frowns before looking at Zuko. "...Do you really need to?" she asks. It was late, after all, so how much more work could he do right now?

[restoredhonor]

He knows that he should sleep, but obviously something is going on. "I won't be long." He says, softly. "But if they're asking for me this late something is going on."

He turns to the servant. "I'll be right there." He says, giving them a bit of privacy for the moment. The servant backs away, giving them space. "Join me for breakfast?" He whispers.

[dropwaterdroplet]

Her frown deepens, both concern for him and whatever the situation might be. "...yes, of course," she agrees. "You sure you don't need any help right now, though?"

[restoredhonor]

He smiles. She's already acting like the Fire Lady. "No. If something comes up that I need help, I'll come find you." He says, stroking the backs of his fingers along her cheek. "Get some rest. I won't be long."

[dropwaterdroplet]

She feels oddly warm as he strokes her cheek, her heart skipping a little. "All right," she concedes after a long moment. "But come get me if you need me for anything, okay? Even if it's just to help soothe your eye a bit."

[restoredhonor]

He smiles a little. "Of course. Go get some sleep. I'll handle this then sleep myself." He promises. He goes to turn away, then turns back and drops a kiss on her cheek.

Finally, he turns and leaves her, going to see what the servant needed from him. He spends an hour taking care of the minor emergency, and then goes to his room to collapse.

Early the next morning, he's leaning against a column, waiting for Katara to go to breakfast.

[dropwaterdroplet]

She takes in a breath when he kisses her cheek, watching as he heads off before she can say anything. In a bit of a daze, she isn't sure how she manages to get back to her room. But she does, and as she drifts off to sleep that small gesture is all she can think about.

After being woken by a servant in the morning, Katara washes up and gets ready for the day. Seeing Zuko waiting for her, she feels her face warm a bit as she smiles.

"Good morning," she says, trying her best to sound normal despite how her heart suddenly skips again.

[restoredhonor]

She's beautiful in the morning light, her damp hair glistening in the sunlight. He wants to say so many things, whisper things to her, about how it will be alright, how their marriage doesn't have to be only political.

But he doesn't. Instead, he just smiles a goofily ridiculous smile. "Hi." He says, a little surprised that he sounds normal.

He offers her his arm. "Ready for breakfast?" He asks. There's been some laid out for them in the Fire Lady's former quarters. Quarters that Katara is going to take over, eventually, he hopes. Then... he'll finally stop dithering and take his father's former quarters. He just wants to gut them first and remove all traces of Ozai.

[dropwaterdroplet]

With a brighter smile, she nods and loops her arm with his, holding on as they make their way down the hall.

"How did you sleep last night?" She'd been worried that whatever had called him away had kept him up for most of the night.

[restoredhonor]

He smiles, when she takes his arm. It's nice to have a partner who is willing to step up beside him.

"Not badly." He admits. "The minor emergency didn't take long. I don't have enough intelligence to make a decision about it yet." He leads her down hallways that sparkle with a new cleaning. Finally, he comes to a doorway that has a flame on it. "These rooms were my mother's." He puts his hand on the door. "I hope," He says not looking at her, "you can bring life back into them. You can change anything you want, but I was thinking of adding a water feature in here for you."

He opens the door, revealing the light, airy rooms of the Fire Lady. They do lead out toward the garden. Birds call to one another just outside the room, and there's the soft quacking of the turtle ducks in the distance.

[dropwaterdroplet]

Katara is about to ask about what the emergency was, until they reach the door that he reveals had been his mother's. Looking up at him, she then looks into the room as she steps inside, glancing around.

While the rooms themselves are open and pleasant, she can't help feeling something...stifling about them. Maybe it was the weight of who they were meant for - the wife of the Fire Lord - or maybe it was knowing that Zuko's mother had once resided here. But it somehow left a bit of pressure that she wasn't sure she could ignore.

Still, she had promised to that she would be there to help him, that this is what they were doing...that they were in this together. And she isn't going to back down now.

So she turns back to him with a smile. "Thank you," she says when she manages to find her voice. I'm sure we'll be able to figure something out." Turning back to the room, she looks around thoughtfully. "Maybe a little pool somewhere? Or a waterfall, leading to the garden, that might be nice."

[restoredhonor]

He leans against the doorjamb, remembering good times in these rooms. His mother had protected him in here, as much as she was able to do. He plans on his children never having to hide from him. (Besides, not only would Katara, rightfully, hand him his ass, so would Sokka, Mai, and a few others.)

He smiles a little. "I don't see why we can't do both?" He says. "I'm sure the engineers would love a chance to help you plan anything you desire." He knows for a fact they would. People around the palace are coming to know that Katara will be their Fire Lady. And, they're excited about it, for the first time in a long time.

He steps up next to Katara, his hand slipping into hers. "I want you to do anything you want in here. Turn it into anything you want." He says, softly. "This, like the garden, is now yours."

[dropwaterdroplet]

"That'd be really nice," she says, thinking more on it. Having a few more sources of water would definitely make her feel a bit more comfortable.

Even if the thought of changing the room was still a bit daunting, somehow.

Glancing up as he takes her hand, she smiles. "Thank you, Zuko," she replies, hesitating for just a moment before reaching up to cup his cheek.