They are in the comments. There are a lot of them. Because I wrote a fuckton for this.
suzukiblu was my giftee.
dark_puck and
spyridona are my buddies.
neldluva,
crystaldrake, and
banditjoeykuba are also my people.
chameleon_pete and
takatohedgehog got random things written for them for various reasons.
Ozai tried to kill her father. Politely, circumspectly, but Kouji had learned enough of Fire Nation politics to know a murder attempt when he heard one. But- He'd met the Phoenix King. Once. Once was enough, more than enough. Even burnt out, Ozai seemed the type to take it to Agni Kai as was his right. Her father must have been a very powerful daimyo for him to do what he did.
(Some part of him wished being separated from his father would have hurt half so much as the telltales suggested it did to her.)
Ozai tried to kill her father, and Azula left him to rot in the Earth Kingdom. Slag, and the woman spoke almost calmly about everything.
Zuko was a good Firelord. He'd fixed everything Azula had broken, even if she was the one who'd sided with the Avatar and he'd sided with his father. Well, that just proved again that the Avatar had been wrong.
"Oh- I'm s-sorry..." He said quietly, clenching his fists to keep from shaking the earth.
Her fan snapped closed, and her expression was- It hurt in the best ways, the ways that made him proud to be Fire Nation, because her anger was frightening in its restraint. "It's done with. Firelord Zuko changed things."
Kouji nodded, unable to look away from the way her eyes burned.
She paused for a moment, closed her eyes, opened them again. Her body shifted, loosened, and the anger drained away from her until it was gone like it had never been. The fan fell into her lap. She smiled at him. "Have you attended any of the performances lately?"
He blinked at the sudden subject-change. "P-performances?"
"Theater. There's been several troupes coming through town. And-" She leaned closer, as if sharing a secret. "I've heard Flame's Edge will be playing in the capital soon. They were always Ozai's favored troupe."
Theater? He'd never really looked into the theater in the city. It existed. And they did plays. They did do plays, right? He glanced around the little garden, wondering if someone else might come along soon. "I -- uh --"
Her smile widened. "There's a performance of 'Love Amongst the Dragons' in three nights. I'm getting too old to attend performances with my Father, and none of the other ladies want to go see it."
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"Oh, I'd love to take you. It's no fun to go to these kinds of things alone."
He smiled, captivated by those bright grey eyes of hers. "I... That would be enjoyable, I think. To go with you, I mean."
That was quite possibly the stupidest thing he'd ever said in his life, slagslagslag!
"I'm glad." The woman practically beamed at him, her eyes shining.
"Wh-when would you like to go?"
"It doesn't start until an hour after sundown at the old theater in South District... When would the Firelord let you go?" She asked, and there wasn't a hint of innuendo in her voice.
He wondered if it was possible to fall in love in ten minutes of conversation. "...I think I'd need to a-ask him. But I think he would let me go by then."
"That's good." She picked up her fan again. "Have you been there before? We could meet there, if you have, or we could meet at one of the monuments and take a palanquin."
It occurred to him that he didn't have the slightest idea where the old theater in the South District was. He was a little fuzzy on where the South District was at all in the Capital. Besides south. "I... d-don't get out of the palace much."
She tapped her closed fan against her arm, expression thoughtful. "We could meet in the west courtyard around sunset? That should give us enough time to get there."
"That sounds fine." He smiled shyly and felt something in his chest flutter when she smiled back.
End
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*dipsmooches*
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