#basically they're supposed to become the founders of the white lotus :')

[twogyuu]

When the Sun Kisses the Moon

Pairing: Wonwoo x fem!reader

Synopsis: Home was neither here or there, but with him.

Genre: Fluff, angst but in a bittersweet way, forbidden relationship kinda, atla!au, of flames and fate!couple, bit of Romeo & Juliet (but they are problem solvers and not dumb 😀) firebender!wonwoo, leuitenant general!wonwoo, bounty hunter!wonwoo, outcast!wonwoo, waterbender!reader, southern water tribe princess!reader, earthbender!jeonghan (he's old), jeonghan is oc's caretaker, Lady Rin is a kyoshi warrior

Warnings: Mentions of food, smoking, and weapons; oc has a specific image, banter b/t oc and jeonghan, earth kingdom marriage traditions/rituals based off of this post by @atlaculture

WC: ~2.5k

A/N: My attempt at being poetic 😀 I went from 0 to 100 with this drabble relative to the last one. Sorry 😅 Bonus points if you catch the hint of where this is going?

the original drabble || nameless

. . . .

The early hours of twilight were serene. The weather was just right, with a breeze to quell the lingering heat of the day. The moon shone just enough to guide the sleepy workers home. The first few stars blinked into the night as Jeonghan stood on the balcony of his room that offered a grand view of Kyoshi Island. Silently, his finger toyed with the stem of the white lotus he had plucked from the pond earlier. Blossom season had already passed on Kyoshi Island; hence, flowers were scarce. This was the least he could do for you to decorate you for your special day. 

He sucked harshly on his pipe, letting the smoke fill his lungs as he closed his eyes, letting himself drift into the memories of the past. It had been a while since he had lived in such luxury after assuming your care. 

He almost forgot, he was an elite soldier of the Earth Kingdom at some point. 

Oh how he used to long for spacious bedrooms, silk sheets, and geese-feather pillows all those nights he had to squeeze himself onto a bamboo mat and thread-bare blankets under a shield of towering trees. Though they felt familiar, it not longer felt right. He snorted, not believing the way he preferred gruel to fine dishes now. 

Times have changed, he guessed. 

The screen door behind him suddenly slid open – Jeonghan didn’t have to open his eyes to know who it was. He could tell it was you from the heavy and rigid footsteps. Wonwoo’s were swift and quiet. 

Jeonghan smiled to himself. It was unfortunate that you didn’t develop the swiftness of a waterbender. However, he couldn’t help, but feel a small piece of joy, knowing his earthbender roots sank deep into your development. 

“Y/N,” Jeonghan spun around to greet you. Immediately, his gaze softened at you in your wedding garment: a simple fitted, long-sleeve white robe with deep green detailing along the hem and the waist. Light makeup dusted your features, your hair donned into a simple, neat bun. “You clean up nice, kid.”

You snorted, slumping over in your posture and made your way to stand beside him. You made a point to bump his shoulder. Jeonghan only chuckled, reaching up to tuck the lotus in your hair. 

“What’s that?” you reached up to feel the soft petals. 

“A white lotus,” Jeonghan explained, “It represents mental purity – not exactly what I have in mind as romantic for a wedding, but alas, it seems like the last flower growing on this floating piece of dirt they call an island.”

You nodded, amused. “Didn’t take you to be a flower guy.”

“There is much you don’t know about me, kid,” he made a point to secure it extra well, earning a small wince from you at the pressure. “Never underestimate an old man.”

“Noted,” you shifted to stand next to him when he finished. 

The two of you stayed like this a while longer, standing side-by-side and admiring the way the village below lit up, one building at a time. A simple view, but calming nonetheless.

“What’s on your mind?” Jeonghan asked, breaking the silence. You were normally talkative – he had raised you long enough to know that something was wrong when you grew quiet. 

You only shifted from one foot to another, face contorting as you tried to find the right words to voice your concerns. 

Jeonghan took one last puff of his pipe before turning to you and casting it aside. 

“You’ll die sooner if you keep smoking that thing,” you said abruptly.

Jeonghan chuckled, crossing his arms. “So kind of you to worry about my health when my head is about to be on your father’s table for handing you to the enemy.”

At this, you shrank back, any last words of banter suddenly evaporating from your tongue. 

“A-are you sure about this?” you stammered. You peered up at him, nervously. 

“About what?” Jeonghan asked. “Finally getting you hitched so I can get you out of my hair?”

“Jeonghan,” you said sternly, taking a step towards him. He glanced at you from the side and offered you a warm smile to help ease your worries. 

“I’ve lived a long and dangerous life, Y/N,” Jeonghan explained. “There’s not much that scares me anymore – not even death, itself.”

You gulped, feeling tears pricking your eyes. 

Today was supposed to be a happy occasion, but here you were on the verge of tears – and for what? An old man who teased you on the regular and smacked your wrists and ankles when you messed up a stance. 

“Then, what does scare you?” you asked hesitantly. 

“There’s a reason why I agreed to all of this, you know?” Jeonghan started. You were so . . . puzzled at how someone could look so serene in a situation like this. “You may not have been my child by blood, but in some ways, I feel more like your father than your father himself.

“He doesn’t know you hate anchovies. He doesn’t know that you can fix most things, but not sew. He doesn’t know you can’t sleep at night unless there’s a lantern on because you’re still scared of the dark,” Jeonghan paused, returning his gaze to the village. “You are my child and there’s nothing more a parent fears than losing them.”

You felt the first tear spill from your inner corner, trailing down the side of your nose. 

“But,” Jeonghan sighed, reaching over to swipe the tear from your cheek, “Even if he is stubborn, emotionally constipated at times, and most certainly your birth father’s last choice as a suitor . . . I trust Wonwoo. He will protect you, be it bandits on the road or his own people even.” Though he was smiling, melancholy laced his features, settling into the wrinkles on his forehead. To lighten the mood, he joked, “And I guess, he seems to like you enough and he makes you happy, so who am I to take that away from you – and vice versa.”

You managed to choke a small chortle amidst the sniveling. You shook your head, your heart filling with somber feelings that drowned you ability to even be upset and worried for him.

“Oh my, Y/N,” Jeonghan cooed. The pads of his thumbs swiped away at more tears. He then squeezed your cheeks together, your lips puffing like that of a fish. “Don’t cry so much – you’re gonna ruin your makeup! Can’t look ugly for Wonwoo or he’ll run away and I’ll be stuck with you forever!”

“You talk too much, old man,” you grumbled as you launched yourself into his chest. Jeonghan’s arms were quick to wrap tight around your shoulders, rubbing soothing circles into your back. 

He was glad the two of you were positioned like this where you were facing opposite directions – you wouldn’t see him cry.

You didn't have to voice it for Jeonghan to know it.

“I love you too, kid,” he muttered into your crown.

. . . .

What if the sun kissed the moon?

An eclipse merely meant the two heavenly bodies were aligned in parallel: one blocking the other from view every few decades. It was similar to the one or two seconds in which two strangers in the streets of Ba Sing Se passed one another. The irony in which two seemingly similar events were viewed in such contrast. One event was of essence, determining the fate of humanity; the other was blissful ignorance. 

Yet, this was the way of society – the way of the universe: the moon and the sun were fated to be strangers who merely passed each other every few seconds in the infinite cycle of time. 

They weren’t meant to be close to one another; but they also weren’t meant to be too far from one another. 

So, what if the sun kissed the moon?

A kiss meant . . . a collision. 

Chaos. 

Catastrophe. 

Disorder. 

Yet, they yearned for it more than anything. 

He who harvested his energy from the sun and she who felt the most powerful when the moon was full and bright. Yet, it was she who made his flame burn brightest and he who commanded her tides into hurricanes. They were worlds apart, but like the lovers of Omashu, they chose to reside in the fragile in-between, dancing an equally delicate dance and playing a game of push and pull to see who would leave first. 

But neither of them did. 

Your wedding was kept simple: a bowl of rice, the jade hairpin from the Festival of the Badger Mole, and Jeonghan’s prized dagger. Lady Rin and Jeonghan bore witness to your marriage. 

Cheeks stuffed with his half of rice, Wonwoo passed it to you to be finished. You couldn’t help, but giggle at him a little – it wasn���t every day the fierce warrior looked like a chipmunk. As if he read your mind, he was quick to turn away from you and hide the growing sheepish smile. The tips of his ears were tinted pink, your smile transforming into a grin. You wondered if he was going to get the hiccups with how fast he was chewing. 

Gingerly, you accepted the red bowl with both hands and held it to your lips. Though he was too shy to meet your eyes, you gave him one last look, sucking in a slow breath to engrave this memory of him in your mind. His face was clean of dirt and ashes that often smudged his cheeks, making him look seemingly more youthful than previous. You even noted how his hair had grown a little, the tips skimming his sharp brows. To match your outfit, he wore a beige tunic with deep green detailing – four buttons were aligned along his collarbone, strips of fabric were tightened around his wrist and forearms. 

Neither of you were earthbenders, yet in their kingdom and draped in their traditional clothing, you both felt more like yourselves than you ever did in your own respective nations. 

Here, he stumbled upon you (quite literally). 

Here, he became the companion you didn’t know you were missing.

Here, without realizing, you built a safe haven. 

He may not have known you your whole life, but he was there when you collapsed from overtraining trying to create a water whip. He was there to cheer and hug (though it was unintentional at the time) you when you first drew water from the leaves. 

But better yet, it was the little things with him that made you love him the most. 

Doing laundry was surprisingly entertaining – he was still getting the hang of the washing process, slipping more than once into the river. His hand in yours in walks in the market brought comfort and reassurance. He complained you about your bland cooking, but for some reason still ate it happily - it gave you all the more purpose to keep doing so. 

A warmth bloomed in your chest, not out of unease, but rather certainty. Perhaps it was not the fate society predestined for the both of you, but it felt right. 

This wasn’t a blind and impulsive decision as most would’ve thought. You both pondered on it, fought over it even, over several days and nights. Tossed and turned on the inn mats, gave one another the silent treatment when the pressure became too much, only to relent a day or two later, apologizing for your actions and quickly falling back into old habits. 

Alas all of it to arrive at only one conclusion: love was more than enough.

You never imagined it to feel quite like this – something stronger than gravity, something you needed more than food and water itself. Now that you knew it, without it felt like you were floating away; without it you felt hollow. 

Amidst all the decisions in your life, choosing Wonwoo was the only one you were sure of. You could only hope he felt the same having agreed to marry you. 

“Hurry up,” you heard Jeonghan hiss.

You scowled at him playfully, but he continued to usher you to finish your half. Opening your mouth you emptied the rice from the bowl, chewing it slowly. It was now Wonwoo’s turn to snicker at your demeanor, but he always took it a step further than yourself. 

“Cute,” you heard him whisper under his breath. He reached over to pinch your cheeks. 

Heat bloomed across your face. You shrank back from him, bringing a hand up to cool your skin to no avail. You resorted to the next solution of looking away from your lover, but only to be met with Jeonghan’s shit-eating grin. 

“Look at this,” he nudged Lady Rin annoyingly. “Young love!”

The proposal ritual was quickly followed by the exchange of gifts. They weren’t new or expensive per se, but they were cherished possessions. 

You tucked the dagger in Wonwoo’s waist belt and he spun you around to place the jade pin next to the white lotus  in your hair. He glanced at Jeonghan, figuring this was the elder man’s doing. You were never really into flowers. 

“I don’t believe in fate,” Wonwoo commented as he pushed the pin into your bun, “But this must mean something, right?”

“What do you mean?” you asked. 

“It’s Kyoshi tradition for the groom to give the bride a hairpin,” Wonwoo explained. “Kind of like . . . rings in the Fire Nation or necklaces in the Northern Water Tribe.”

“Are you saying you were proposing to me then? At the festival?” you snickered, turning around to face him. Your hands settled on his waist, mindlessly toying with his belt. 

Wonwoo reached for your hands, encasing them in his own. The rough pads of his thumb grazed across your knuckles. 

“You didn’t refuse,” he teased back. 

Taking him by surprise, you let go of Wonwoo’s hands and reached for his collar, gripping the stiff fabric into your fists. He winced, breath hitching at how close your faces were. If he just tilted forward a little more –

“I was a fool not to,” you joked quietly. 

He knew you didn’t mean it. 

“You can’t take it back now,” he noted, voice equally soft. 

Wonwoo wasn’t sure who moved first, you or him. With how the gesture felt like a reflex, perhaps it was him. He could care less about Jeonghan teasing him later this evening about being too eager – fleeting moments of embarrassment were quickly pushed aside. The truth was, Wonwoo was eager – eager to seal this union, eager to officially call you his, and eager to show the world what couldn’t be. 

Kissing you always felt like the first time: a spark that tingled his lips, followed by a familiar warmth that embraced his chest and the sense of ease ensued. He didn’t dare tell you, but it was probably his new favorite feeling: the rush of adrenaline and the gentle float down from cloud nine, greeted by the fact that you weren’t just a dream. 

A collision of worlds and phenomenon of what was forbidden come true: Jeon Wonwoo and you were an anomaly the world was never prepared to face.

But perhaps amidst the segregation, war-torn nations, and unrest regarding the avatar's disappearance, perhaps you both were what the world needed.

They just didn't know it yet.

And neither did you. 

#wonwoo x reader #wonwoo fluff #wonwoo angst #wonwoo scenarios #seventeen x reader #seventeen fluff #seventeen scenarios #seventeen angst #if you got this far and read the tags . . . #basically they're supposed to become the founders of the white lotus :')