꧁ chapter thirty-one ꧂
epilogue

✧₊⁎⁎⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁎⁎⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁎⁎⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁎⁎⁺˳✧༚˚✧₊⁎⁎⁺˳✧༚

"TODAY, WE PAY tribute to the late Princess Yue," Meiluna announced, "May she continue to watch over us all"

Meiluna smiled as she watched the entirety of the Northern Water Tribe who had gathered before her while she stood proudly on stage. They had all burst in to applause when Meiluna's father had decided to take over.

She slowly made her way down the steps only to be met with the presence of her closest friends.

"Congratulations!"

Sokka shoved a bouquet of flowers into her arms while Katara and Suki immediately wrapped their arms around Meiluna.

She laughed as she hugged the girls back, completely ignoring the flowers being squished between them.

"Thank you," Meiluna spoke appreciatively with a blush as she let go, "But it's nothing, really"

"Are you kidding?" Sokka exclaimed as he shook her shoulders back and forth, "Ambassador Meiluna of the Water Tribe sounds so fancy!"

Katara and Aang laughed as Meiluna's head knocked into Sokka's chest multiple times.

"Do you know when you'll come back to the Fire Nation?" Zuko asked her hopefully.

Leading up to Meiluna's official recognition as the ambassador of the Water Tribe, she chose to put herself to be responsible for managing international relations as well as assisting with the negotiation of treaties put in place to compensate the nations who had suffered from the war.

Meiluna was met with a bit of resistance, as expected, from those who believed she was too young to be involved, or those who believed she was incapable of being in charge of such important matters because of her gender.

She knew this would be the case, as women in positions of power had always been an issue for their tribe.

Eventually, Meiluna had worked hard enough, asserting herself as the backbone of peace and harmony within the Northern Water Tribe, and across the other nations. It would've been a crime to not appoint her as the official ambassador and representative.

This new job had led her to be constantly travelling between the four nations, hardly having any time to herself to relax.

Meiluna didn't exactly mind too much. She knew that what she was doing was her destiny. She worked hard in doing her job and ensured that the Avatar's efforts in restoring balance were not put to waste.

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

The last time Meiluna had visited the Fire Nation was probably one or two months ago.

The Fire Lord had been pushed by his advisors to hold a large scale event to encourage important figures from across the world to develop connections with the Fire Nation. It was slightly difficult getting a few guests who had held a particularly harsh grudge against them to come, but in the end they managed.

Meiluna slowly approached Zuko's office door, knocking lightly in case he was involved in important work. She heard a muffled voice telling her to come in, prompting her to push open the door.

Zuko sat at his desk with stacks upon stacks of papers, his elbows leaned against the table while his head rested in his hands. Meiluna noticed that he was already fully dressed for the evening in his expensive robes with his hair held up by his golden head piece. She couldn't stop herself from taking a second to admire his appearance.

"What are you staring at?" Zuko broke her out of her daze as a tiny smile played at his lips.

"You look so pretty!" Meiluna gushed, bringing her hands up to her face to hide her rosy cheeks.

"H-Huh?" Zuko stuttered as his smile immediately dropped replaced with an expression of shock, "You can't call the Fire Lord pretty!"

Meiluna laughed at his awkward outburst, while he simply looked away, feeling embarrassed.

Meiluna walked over to stand in front of Zuko and brought her hand up to his face to turn it to face her once again. In her other hand she held up a small golden hair piece, slightly less extravagant than Zuko's.

"Will you do this for me?" She asked with pleading eyes.

Zuko nodded with a smile as he grabbed the hair piece and the pin whilst placing a light kiss on the tip of her nose before moving to stand behind her.

He expertly gathered Meiluna's hair, easily holding it together with the hair piece as if it were nothing.

Zuko placed his hands on her shoulders, turning her around to face him,

"You look pretty too"

━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━

Meiluna smiled as she watched Zuko walk towards her before taking a seat beside her. He had two drinks in his hand, holding one out for her. Meiluna gratefully accepted it as she clinked it with Zuko's, both of them sharing a sweet smile as they whispered a soft cheers to one another.

"What were you doing over there?" Meiluna asked curiously.

She nodded her head in the direction of the large platform where an assembly of a well known music group in the Fire Nation stood, each member wielding their own instruments to create the soft lull of music to fill the atmosphere.

"I wanted to request a song," Zuko smiled before taking a short sip from his drink,

"It reminds me of you"

Meiluna smiled as she leaned her head against his shoulder, looking up at him happily,
"So, it must be a good song then?"

Zuko watched her with a loving gaze, slowly leaning down to place a soft kiss to her cheek before turning back to face the band,

"It's my favourite"

✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅⋆⋄✧

"Soon, I hope" Meiluna smiled at Zuko, answering his question, when she heard someone call out her name.

Meiluna turned to see her father waving her over to where he stood, surrounded by other important officials of the Water Tribe. She politely excused herself to join her father, greeting each of the other men with a handshake and a smile. Zuko's eyes trailed after her, not bothering to care about how blatant he was being.

Katara and Suki both shared a look as they giggled at Zuko's expression, strongly resembling one of a lost puppy. He was in awe at how easily she could conduct herself, she was a natural at conversing with others and maintaining composure, Zuko was almost jealous. He wished that he could also handle his Fire Lord duties with the same care and precision Meiluna did, instead he felt he was mainly fumbling around and making decisions that he hoped would turn out for the best.

"I'll be a good friend and tell you Zuko," Sokka said as he brought his hand down firmly on to Zuko's shoulder, "The staring is kinda creepy"

Zuko shrugged his hand off sending him an annoyed glance. Sokka raised his hands in surrender, taking a small step back whilst maintaining his playful grin.

Katara started speaking once again, telling everyone about something stupid Sokka did on their way to the North Pole as Toph continued to poke fun at the boy. Zuko let a small laugh escape as he watched Sokka desperately try to defend himself while Suki's teasing comments only made him blush more.

Yet, Zuko's mind couldn't stop itself from wandering elsewhere.

He loved to spend time with his friends, there was no doubt about it. But he couldn't help but think about the one girl who wasn't present. Zuko was brought back to reality by Katara waving a hand in front of his face. He looked up in confusion while Katara raised an eyebrow.

"What's got you so distracted?" She asked suspiciously.

"Just," Zuko looked off to the side, "Thinking"

Katara nodded uncertainly as she noticed his gaze shift behind her. She turned and noticed that he was watching Meiluna laughing with her father. She turned back to see Zuko's softened expression.

"Thinking about Luna?" Katara asked teasingly as she crossed her arms.

Zuko didn't bother to look at Katara as he spoke confidently,

"I'm going to marry her someday"

☆☆☆