#assorted married persons in the room chime in at various points here

[lovesodeepandwideandwell]

Extremely funny scenes of Austenian irony at Jane Austen reading group

[royalblue-star]

helpless- zuko

Pairing: Zuko x Raeder

Summary: This pic was based off of Helpless from the musical Hamilton! Zuko and the reader have been secretly engaged for a long time. And the secret starts to come out once the Gaang notices that reader is wearing an engagement ring.

(gif not mine)

"So (Y?N)," teased Sokka. "Who's the lucky man?"

His gaze was set on my ring finger, and I had forgotten to remove the ruby ring that Zuko gave me.

See, Zuko and I had been secretly dating for years now. My father and I had worked closely with the Fire Lord when the two of us met. We had only been dating for a year before his banishment, and even then we managed to keep our relationship strong. I would send him letters using one of my father's hawks, and he would reply as fast as he could. When he returned, our relationship became a little rocky. But when he found himself and asked me to escape with him, it began to blossom again. He knew of my hatred towards the war and of how poorly I was treated among other court members. This way, we wouldn't have to be apart any longer. He gave me a ring as a promise of the proposal once the war was over. But neither of us had actually told the rest of the Gaang about our relationship.

"Oh, I-'

"Is it some guy who works for the Fire nation?"

"No! He doesn't work for them!" I blushed, trying my best to not look at Zuko.

"How did you two meet? Oh! That must be an interesting story!" The water tribe boy exclaimed, gaining the attention of everyone else in the Gaang.

"What are you going on about Sokka?" questioned an exasperated Katara.

"Somethin' about (Y/N) being engaged," Toph said nonchalantly.

I sent the earthbender a glare she couldn't see. This was not how I intended to tell the group about Zuko and I. Honestly, I hadn't intended to tell them at all.

"Well, I could use a story." Aang chimed in, his eyes wide and full of an innocent curiosity.

"That's a good idea!" joked Zuko. "Why don't you tell us how you two met (Y/N)."

'Traitor.' I thought, glaring at the fire nation boy. He knew what he was doing. He was egging them on because it was me who was being questioned, not him. Oh, if it was him, he'd be singing a different tune.

"Well, we met a few years ago. The Fire Lord's advisors thought that it would be a great idea to hold an evening gathering, or party, for all the members of the court..."

~

"We are going to break so many hearts tonight!" exclaimed my sister, Angelica.

"You are, that's for sure." I grinned at her, looping my arm through hers.

"Shut up! Have you not seen yourself! You look gorgeous!"

The two of us made quite an entrance, entering the party. It seemed as if all the eyes in the room had turned toward us. I glanced over at my sister as we descended the steps. She looked as if she was glowing under the candlelit room. Her gown as a simmering gold that caught the light perfectly every time she moved. I chose to contrast her with a simple dark red gown. Hers had long gold sleeves, while mine had a thin pair of straps. Her dress was light, and mine was dark, a perfect way to reflect our personalities at a party. One sister living in the spotlight, while the other shies away in the corner.  

The room was beautiful. There were sets of golden tables and chairs around the outskirts of the room for people to sit and talk at. The center was completely cleared, and couples were dancing gracefully together. There were assorted tapestries hung around on the walls. Most of them barred the symbol of the fire nation while others had various designs on them.

"Come on, let's find somewhere to sit." I urged my sister, trying to stop her bounding off into the party. As soon as we found a table, however, she was off of my arm and racing towards the dance floor, grabbing some poor gentlemen along the way. I laughed as he quickly accepted his fate as my sister's current dance partner.

She seemed to light up the room, quite literally with that dress of hers. This was Angelica's scene, not mine. She was always the more adventurous one of the two of us. I admired her for that.

For most of the night, I sat back and watched Angelica entrance most of the room with her dazzling smile. Occasionally, I would talk to someone too, but it was mainly painful small talk about my father and his work.

"You are such a bore." my sister teased, plopping down into the chair next to me. "There must be someone here that is remotely interesting to talk to."

"No, there hasn't been-" My breath hitched. Across the room, someone new caught my eye. The crowd parted to reveal a tall, handsome young man. His golden eyes shined as they roamed the crowd. He held his head high, and he seemed to radiate a sort of calmness.

'What! (Y/N) what is it?" Angelica shook my arm furiously.

"This one's mine." I was at a loss for any other words, so instead, I just pointed at him.

I was so busy shamelessly staring at the mystery guy that I failed to notice my sweet sisters smirk. She suddenly stood up and, without a word, made her way over to the man.

My stomach twisted into knots. "Angelica! What are you doing?" I hissed, but it was too late. She was already across the room.

The two of them talked briefly, but it felt like forever. My heart started to sink, they looked as if they were getting along quite well. "It's okay, there are other guys here anyway," I mumbled to myself as I tore my gaze away from my sister and the mystery guy.

I couldn't help myself, I had to sneak another glance they're direction. And I was shocked to see the two arm-in-arm headed towards me. I stumbled slightly as I stood up to greet them.

"(Y/N) (L/N)," I greeted holding out my hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"(L/N)?" He questioned while bringing my outstretched hand to his lips.

"My sister," Angelica explained quickly.

"I think I finally see a good reason to attend this party." His gaze didn't leave mine.

"As do I."

~

"Are we ever going to learn this guy's name?" exclaimed Sokka. He earned an elbow in the ribs from Katara and multiple shushings from the rest of the group.

"Well, just because you said that and interrupted me; No, you will not be getting his name." The group collectively groaned on cue.

"What the heck Sokka!" shouted Toph, throwing a rock at his head. The two inevitably started bickering.

I glanced over at Zuko quickly. He was busy laughing quietly to himself, and the sight of it made my heart warm. It had been so long since I had seen him smile genuinely. It had been long since we had been able to be formally alone together, and I missed him.

I cleared my throat loudly, and all chaos that had broken out stopped abruptly.

"Thank you. So, from there.."

~

"How about we escape this place and walk around the palace?" Mystery guy asked, offering me his arm.

"That sounds lovely." Taking his arm, he guided me through the crowd and out into the courtyard. It was beautiful, the perfect night. The moon shone above us, illuminating everything in the surrounding area. It was gorgeous.

The two of us talked for hours about anything and everything. It felt nice to talk to someone new. He didn't expect me to be a certain way, he was just interested in me. For years the only people I had talked to were my sister, my father, and some of the other generals. I didn't have any friends, but that was the life of the general's daughter. My sister and I embodied the two different paths that were laid out for us to take. One was to be married off to a general's son, or learn the ways of war and participate in council meetings. There wasn't any time for me to do anything but assist my father in meetings and breath occasionally.

I learned that Mystery Guy and I weren't so different in that respect. It gave us a common ground to fall on and a mutual understanding of one another. He told me of his past and his dreams of the future. His eyes lit up as he spoke about his passions. It felt as if I was the first person that he had truly opened up to.

"Let's stop here." He gestured to a small pond in the middle of the courtyard. It was cute, but the turtle ducks were even cuter.

For a moment, we sat in comfortable silence while the cool air surrounded us. It was at that moment that I regretted wearing a sleeveless gown.

"Are you cold?" He asked, noticing my small shivers.

"A little, but it's alright," I assured, trying to suppress another shiver. He scooted closer to me and closed the space between us by wrapping his around my bare shoulders.

He pulled me into him ever-so-slightly and asked, "Is this alright?"

Unable to trust my words, I just nodded. He was so warm that I couldn't resist leaning into him. And I mean, he didn't exactly stop me. If anything, his grip tightened. I felt at home next to him. Like I had finally found peace. The moment felt so perfect, I never wanted it to end.

"Do you think we could stay like this forever?"

"I think we can certainly try."

That was all I needed to hear. I moved my head to look up at him, and apparently, he had the same idea. Our eyes locked and I felt a new sensation wash over me. He had managed to break down every single wall that I had built up with a single look into my eyes.

He delicately brought his hand up to the side of my face. "May I?"

"Yes," I breathed out. And the next thing I know, his lips have crashed into mine. The kiss was gentle. My arms threaded themselves around his neck, pulling us just the slightest bit closer.

"Wow," I said once we broke apart.

"Wow indeed." He replied. "(Y/N) I-, I don't know how to say this, I'm not that good with words. I just wanted to say that there's something about you. Something extraordinary. And I want to be with you! I know we just met, but it feels right."

I pressed my lips gently onto his. "I would love that."

~

"..And we've been together ever since." I finished. A chorus of "aws" was heard around the campfire, but one person was laughing. It was Zuko laughing, of course. Only he would laugh at me telling this story.

"Dude shut up!" Sokka hissed at the prince. "She just told us her love story and you're laughing!"

"Sorry," Zuko managed to get out between laughs. "it's just, you make me sound so sappy. We both know that's not what I said."

"Shut up!" I gasped. "You're just embarrassed that you are extremely sappy deep down."

"You're still wrong, love."

"Okay, so I might've exaggerated a little bit of what you said, but you still got all emotional!"

"You're a dork."

"Shut up, idiot!"

Ah, how I missed our bickering. Zuko was beaming at me. He knew that he had won that fight.

"Wait a minute, he's the one that you're engaged too!" Questioned a puzzled Katara.

My eyes widened. We really did just give ourselves away.

"Surprise?" I offered meekly.

"WHAT!" Screamed Sokka. "How! How come you never told us!"

"Because," said Zuko walking up behind me. "We never told anyone. It's always been a secret."

From his position behind me, Zuko wrapped his arms around my waist. Instinctively, I leaned into him.

"So you guys have been engaged this whole time, never told anyone, and the only explanation you offer is that your relationship has always been a secret??"

Zuko and I made eye contact and the twinkle in his eyes instantly told me his next move. "Bedtime?"

"Bedtime," I confirmed. And with that, the two of us took off running towards his tent, leaving the Gaang to yell at us to come back.