shadowsong26 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shadowsong26) wrote2010-02-14 12:25 am
shadowsong26) wrote2010-02-14 12:25 am
Happy Valentine's Day!
I give you...
Title: Wedding Day
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General/Romance
Summary: Ozai and Ursa get married.
Ursa sat quietly while her mother finished arranging her hair, watching the stars fade over the courtyard. Isn't she done yet? she thought wearily. If I have to sit still through all this pulling and poking for another hour, I'll be late. And scream. She yelped a little when her mother pulled too hard.
"Shush!" she said, and pushed Ursa's head back to the angle she needed it at. "Hold still."
"You're pulling too hard," she shot back, but she kept her head still.
"If you want to look nice, you'll put up with it."
Ursa muttered something very un-princess-like under her breath, and her mother took a few seconds to swat at her shoulder.
"None of that, musume."*
She stuck her tongue out at the courtyard, but fell silent.
After a few minutes, her grandmother, watching and waiting with the crane uchikake* that had been in her family for generations, broke in. "Autumn is a good time for weddings. If you marry in autumn, your first child will be born in summer."
"And the sooner you have children, the better," her mother said.
"Indeed," her grandmother agreed. "There's only one third-generation heir, after all."
Ursa wrinkled her nose. It's when they talk like this about me, like I'm little more than a valuable womb in a pretty package, that I forget how much I actually want to marry Ozai.
A somewhat silly smile spread over her face, and her mother's pulling at her hair didn't bother her quite so much anymore. Not long now, and we won't have to sneak kisses in deserted hallways anymore.
Not that anyone would have particularly objected if they'd been caught--she and Prince Ozai had been engaged for years, after all, and it was practically tradition for such couples to get ahead of themselves with far more than kisses. But it was a little bit of a thrill to at least pretend the rules of love here were as prudish as they were across the ocean.
"And now I'm done," her mother finally said, jerking Ursa out of a lovely daydream about her fiance's talented hands. "Stand up, musume. Careful to keep your head straight."
Ursa did as she was told, and proceeded to let her grandmother pull the uchikake on and settle the tsunokakushi* over her elaborately styled hair. The two older women surveyed her with a highly critical eye, then pronounced her satisfactory.
Finally, Ursa thought, glancing out into the courtyard. False dawn was just breaking, giving her just barely enough time to get to her place.
The ceremony itself was rather a blur, with the many layers of clothing she was packed into feeling heavier and hotter by the second, but Ozai was there, holding her hand and sneaking her wicked little smiles.
If it weren't for all these stupid pretty layers in my way... She flushed under her makeup, almost caught Firelady Ilah's eye, flushed harder, and resisted the urge to giggle. Ozai, somehow guessing what was going through her head, squeezed her hand. She squeezed back, and then the ceremony was over.
He leaned in close as they stood up. "You are so beautiful," he whispered, and kissed her cheek. "I love you."
She smiled, and flushed, but before she had time to respond, they were surrounded and had to wait through several long hours of the formal reception before they were able to have another little private moment.
But she caught his eye, and he smiled.
He knew.
*musume = my daughter
*uchikake = an outer robe worn at weddings, like this one
*tsunokakushi = a wedding headdress.
Title: Wedding Day
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General/Romance
Summary: Ozai and Ursa get married.
Ursa sat quietly while her mother finished arranging her hair, watching the stars fade over the courtyard. Isn't she done yet? she thought wearily. If I have to sit still through all this pulling and poking for another hour, I'll be late. And scream. She yelped a little when her mother pulled too hard.
"Shush!" she said, and pushed Ursa's head back to the angle she needed it at. "Hold still."
"You're pulling too hard," she shot back, but she kept her head still.
"If you want to look nice, you'll put up with it."
Ursa muttered something very un-princess-like under her breath, and her mother took a few seconds to swat at her shoulder.
"None of that, musume."*
She stuck her tongue out at the courtyard, but fell silent.
After a few minutes, her grandmother, watching and waiting with the crane uchikake* that had been in her family for generations, broke in. "Autumn is a good time for weddings. If you marry in autumn, your first child will be born in summer."
"And the sooner you have children, the better," her mother said.
"Indeed," her grandmother agreed. "There's only one third-generation heir, after all."
Ursa wrinkled her nose. It's when they talk like this about me, like I'm little more than a valuable womb in a pretty package, that I forget how much I actually want to marry Ozai.
A somewhat silly smile spread over her face, and her mother's pulling at her hair didn't bother her quite so much anymore. Not long now, and we won't have to sneak kisses in deserted hallways anymore.
Not that anyone would have particularly objected if they'd been caught--she and Prince Ozai had been engaged for years, after all, and it was practically tradition for such couples to get ahead of themselves with far more than kisses. But it was a little bit of a thrill to at least pretend the rules of love here were as prudish as they were across the ocean.
"And now I'm done," her mother finally said, jerking Ursa out of a lovely daydream about her fiance's talented hands. "Stand up, musume. Careful to keep your head straight."
Ursa did as she was told, and proceeded to let her grandmother pull the uchikake on and settle the tsunokakushi* over her elaborately styled hair. The two older women surveyed her with a highly critical eye, then pronounced her satisfactory.
Finally, Ursa thought, glancing out into the courtyard. False dawn was just breaking, giving her just barely enough time to get to her place.
The ceremony itself was rather a blur, with the many layers of clothing she was packed into feeling heavier and hotter by the second, but Ozai was there, holding her hand and sneaking her wicked little smiles.
If it weren't for all these stupid pretty layers in my way... She flushed under her makeup, almost caught Firelady Ilah's eye, flushed harder, and resisted the urge to giggle. Ozai, somehow guessing what was going through her head, squeezed her hand. She squeezed back, and then the ceremony was over.
He leaned in close as they stood up. "You are so beautiful," he whispered, and kissed her cheek. "I love you."
She smiled, and flushed, but before she had time to respond, they were surrounded and had to wait through several long hours of the formal reception before they were able to have another little private moment.
But she caught his eye, and he smiled.
He knew.
*musume = my daughter
*uchikake = an outer robe worn at weddings, like this one
*tsunokakushi = a wedding headdress.
