Dark Puck - Roulette 10a

Haru was in a better mood than anyone in the palace might have suspected.  It had been a month since Zuko had reappeared from wherever he'd vanished to, and everyone knew that afterwards, the Dragon of the West had ordered the Iron Scorpion, as several had begun calling the earthbender, off the Dai Li hunt.

Ty Lee snuck up behind him (futile though she knew the gesture was, it was still fun to try) in the garden and slid her hands over his eyes. "Guess who."

"Even if I hadn't felt you coming, Ty Lee," the tall earthbender replied, "I can tell your voice easy."

"I know," she said, brightly.

He turned around and kissed her.  "Happy birthday, love," he said when he pulled back.

"Thanks," she said, grinning.

Slipping his hands around her shoulders, Haru asked, "Anything special you want to do tonight?"

"Mm…" She considered for a long moment, then a small, somewhat sly smile spread across her face. "Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you."

"Really?  What?" he asked, looking down at her.

"Well, I'm sixteen now…" She paused a moment, then knelt. "Will you marry me?"

Haru's jaw dropped open, and he stared at her in shock.

She shifted her weight a little, the look on his face making her rather nervous.

And then he started to laugh.  Before she could get too mad, he managed to get out, "Not— laughing at— you—"  He reached into his overshirt while trying to calm down, removing a gold armband.  Inset in it was the emblem of the Fire Nation, picked out in rose quartz.

Her eyes widened a little. "You were planning to — " Then she started laughing, pulling out her own armband, the one she'd had made for him — an Earth Kingdom emblem, made of beryls, set in silver.

Haru pulled her back to him and kissed her deeply, a kiss she returned.

Several minutes later, Haru asked, "So, that's a yes on both parts, then?"

"I guess so."

"Just checking," and he kissed her again.

After several more long minutes of this, Ty Lee asked, "So, who do we want to tell first?"

Haru coughed.  "Um.  Maybe Sparky?"

She shook her head. "He's busy tonight, emergency meeting. Those floods, remember?"

"Ah, right.  How about the General, then?"

"Okay!"

Haru did stop before they went to seek Iroh, gently fastening the bracer he'd had made for his now-fiancée around her wrist.  She grinned up at him, and fastened the one she'd had made for him on his arm.  After stealing another kiss, they made their way to Iroh's office together.

"Good evening," the old man said, smiling up at them. "You two seem very happy."

"Well, we have something to tell you, General," replied Haru.

"Oh?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.

"We got engaged!" Ty Lee bubbled.

The earthbender nodded, looping an arm around her shoulders and not-incidentally displaying the armband she'd made for him in the process.

"That's wonderful! Congratulations!"

"Thank you, sir," said Haru, smiling.

Ty Lee was grinning like an idiot. "Thank you."

"Any word on the citizenship yet, general?" the earthbender asked then.  "I think the urgency just doubled."  He smiled at his fiancée.

"It's being fast-tracked, but there's only so much red tape he can eliminate," Iroh said.

"Understood," said Haru cheerfully.

"With any luck, everything will be official by midwinter."

"Excellent.  That will give us time to discuss the dates and everything."  He considered.  "Also to tell our parents."

"Hopefully dad won't flip out again," Ty Lee said, biting her lip.

"Well, since I'm marrying you now rather than being caught in bed with you…," Haru pointed out.  But he, too, sounded uncertain.

"Zuzu will clear it up again," she finally said. "He managed to hold him back before…"

"We'll be fine, love," Haru said softly.

"'Course we will."

He kissed her softly, made his bows to the General, and led Ty Lee out.

"Now who do we tell?" she asked, eager to share her news.

"Song?" Haru suggested after a moment.

"Okay!" Ty Lee grabbed his hand and dragged him to find Zuko's girlfriend.

The young doctor was just coming off her shift in the infirmary when they found her.

"Song!" Ty Lee cried and promptly threw her arms around her friend. "Guesswhatguesswhatguesswhat?"

"What?" asked the older girl, laughing.

"We got engaged!"

"That's great!" cried Song, hugging Ty Lee tightly.  "Congratulations!"

The younger girl laughed delightedly and hugged back. "We just got engaged like a half hour ago, first I proposed and then Haru had been planning to also, and then we were going to go tell Zuzu but those floods and so we couldn't get to him so we went to the General and now to you and—"

"Slow down, love," Haru said.  "Breathe a bit."

"Right. Right, breathing is good."

Song giggled, then looked thoughtful.  "I wonder if I could talk Zuko into a double-wedding… that'd be fun, don't you think?"

"Doesn't he have to officially propose first?" Ty Lee pointed out. She knew about the unofficial proposal — she was one of the few who did, given that it had never actually been announced.

"I live in hope," Song replied, sighing.

Ty Lee hugged her. "He will soon, I'm sure."

"Unless he keeps forgetting.  Like he did with Kouji."

"Get someone to remind him, then," the younger girl suggested.

Song flushed.  "Like who?"

"I dunno," Ty Lee said.  The doctor sighed, a sound echoed by the acrobat. "How's he doing, by the way?" the younger girl asked then.

"Physically, he's completely recovered," Song answered.  "Mentally… well, he worries about Kouji a lot."

Ty Lee nodded. "Yeah…"

"On the other hand, Kouji's sibs are here now.  Ichiro's trying to get into the palace guard, since Iroh expressly forbade him to go with the party sent to arrest the parents."  Song sounded uncertain; Ty Lee knew that her friend hadn't entirely agreed with Iroh's decision.

Haru sighed.  "Ichiro won't get in the guard.  He's certainly good enough for it, but…"

"Yeah," Ty Lee agreed.  "Too risky.  If one sibling was compromised…"

"I guess we'll see what happens," Song murmured, then hugged Ty Lee again.

"Yeah." Ty Lee hugged back. "Seriously, get someone to remind Zuzu about proposing officially. Or he will keep forgetting for weeks and weeks…"

"I could do it," Haru volunteered.

"Okay!"

"Nicely, Angelface," said Song quickly.

"Am I ever not nice to Lord Sparky?" Haru asked, the very picture of innocence.

Song lifted one eyebrow.  "Yes."

"Only sometimes," Ty Lee said, leaping to her fiancé's defence.

Haru kissed the top of her head before grinning at the doctor.  "I'll play nice, mommy."

Ty Lee rolled her eyes. "Of course he will."

*          *          *

Zuko was asleep at his desk.

This was not an unusual occurrence — he often worked late in the evenings, and simply passed out there. Unfortunately, this meant pain in the mornings, but he felt it was worth it. Pain didn't bother him.

Well, not much. It mostly got very irritating, having to fight through it constantly.

"You need to stop doing that."  Kouji's voice cut through his sleep.

"Stop doing what?" he asked, groggy.

"Sleeping at your desk.  It's bad for you."

Zuko stretched, and muttered something about not doing it on purpose, and Kouji simply stared at him.

"You're giving me that look again," the Firelord commented.

"Yes," was the calm reply.

"Why are you giving me that look again?"

"Because," Kouji said, "you only fall asleep at your desk accidentally because you refuse to go to bed at a normal hour."

"What you and Mom and Song call 'normal' is too early," the Firelord replied defensively.

"Not according to the rest of the world, Zuko."

"Yes, well, according to me."

"How in the world do you plan on having an heir if you work all the time?" Kouji demanded, though his face turned red at even the vaguest allusion to Adult Activities.

"I'll figure it out," Zuko shot back. "Once Song and—" He paused. "…I need to officially propose to her."

"…you haven't yet?"

"Well, I mean, I sort of asked her a while ago, I just never…y'know…"

"Zuko, it's been almost two months since you turned eighteen!" the boy exclaimed.

"I know that, I just…keep forgetting." Now he looked kind of sheepish.

Kouji stared at him again.

"I'll do it soon."

"Of course you will."  The earthbender sounded as though he expected this to happen at some point the following century.

"I will! I just need to—" He broke off. "…I've never taken you to the Vault, have I."

Kouji looked confused.  "The Vault?"

"Yes, the Vault." Zuko glanced at a timepiece, then at the mountain of paperwork on his desk, then sighed. "Come on, let's go."

Bewildered, the preteen followed.

The Firelord led him down through the palace, to a large metal door, which he opened. Inside was a vast collection of treasures of various sorts — gold, jewels, works of art, texts…

"Welcome to the Vault," he said. "Feel free to look around and pick something out, if any of it appeals to you." That being said, he went deeper in, seemingly looking for something specific.

Still confused, Kouji began rooting around, drawn to the variety of shiny things in there.  After several minutes, he found a slim necklace with a pendant made of stone he didn't recognise and decided this would be what he took.  Yui was sure to love it.

"Hah! Found it!" Zuko cried from the other side of the room.

"What did you find?" Kouji asked, making his way there.

"This." The teenager held up a beautiful box, of mahogany, with a mother-of-pearl panel on the lid, delicately carved to depict a willow tree.

Kouji's eyes went wide.  "Wow…"

Zuko then opened the box, to reveal a set of magnificent pearl jewellery — four rings, six bracelets, two necklaces, and a headdress. "These were my grandmother's. I'm going to loan them to Song for her lifetime — they were left to me, but because of some stupid restriction in her will, they can't be owned by anyone not of her bloodline."

"They're beautiful," the boy breathed.

"D'you think they're appropriate? I mean, for the engagement? Or should I pick something else?"

Kouji glanced up at Zuko and decided not to point out that he was probably not the best judge of what was appropriate for one's fiancée.  "Yeah, I think so."

Zuko almost smiled. "Perfect." He shut the box. "I'll give them to her this afternoon."

"If you forget, I'll kick you," Kouji promised him.

"I'll keep that in mind," the Firelord said wryly.

located: the upstairs couch

feeling: good (I knew that I would)