AN: This began as an eighteenth birthday present to a dear friend of mine. She gave me only a few guidelines for what she wanted and I rolled with it. Enjoy!
Avatar: The Last Airbender and all related © Mike & Bryan, Nickelodeon and Viacom. I am making no profit from this work.
The sun was beginning to set over Ba Sing Se. The trees had begun to drop their leaves and children were running around playing in the cool autumn air. Mothers were setting dinner on the table and fathers were out getting the children in. Grandparents sat watching the streets and young, learning Earthbenders played rockball. Almost everything in the world was right again. It took a full century to return to peace, but the end of the war was welcomed by absolutely everyone.
Currently, in a tea shop in the top tier of the Impenetrable City, the young heroes who had helped bring about the end of that insufferable war were having a quiet celebration, a toast to themselves for their sacrifices and their hard work. This party was a small and rare chance these days; a simple evening to get away from their now incredibly public lives. They were superstars, celebrities; it wasn't that they were shocked by the sudden shove into the limelight, but the people who knew their names and knew what they had done stunned them. The teashop was closed off from the public today, including the rather large terrace that overlooked the lower rings of the city. It was just for the very special guests that stood inside, listening to the lingering notes of the sungi horn echoing across the tables.
Right now, there were two people considerably thankful for the lack of other people on the terrace. However, neither one was sure if they would have even noticed if they been joined outside. But for now, that didn't really matter, right now was just for the two of them.
Katara smiled and leaned back from Aang. He looked completely stunned, and yet absolutely enamored with her. She laughed at his dazed expression and he smiled.
"How long have we been out here?" He asked sheepishly. Katara shrugged.
"I lost track." She giggled and brushed her hair behind her ears, noticing that it felt rather loose. "Where's my hair band?" She glanced down at their feet, spotting it sitting on the hem of her dress next to the flower. She bent down and scooped the band up. "Here, hold this." She held the band and flower out to Aang and went about gathering her hair in her hands.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
Katara and Aang turned to look towards the teashop and both of them smiled.
"Sifu Hotman!" Aang grinned at Zuko.
"That's Firelord Hotman now," Katara laughed, pushing her hair back and taking the flower from Aang. Zuko smirked.
"Can I talk to Katara for a minute?" He asked, bowing to Aang. The Avatar looked back at Katara and she nodded.
"Sure! I'll go check out Sokka's painting." Aang pushed off of the railing and started towards the shop.
"Ha, good luck." Katara called after him. Aang laughed and walked inside. Zuko shook his head, watching the Avatar trot over to the table and stand next to Suki. The Firebender turned and looked back at Katara. She was leaning against the railing with her hands back behind herself. She was watching Zuko with a smile. "The ceremony was beautiful."
"The coronation?" he asked, leaning against the doorpost with his arms folded.
"And your birthday, you have to be the youngest Firelord yet." Katara laughed.
"And first unmarried." Zuko laughed. Katara smiled. They both fell silent as the laughter in the teashop spilled out into the street. Zuko looked back over his shoulder and saw Aang holding the panting upside down as if to get a new perspective on it.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" Katara asked, smiling over at Zuko. He jumped as if he had just remembered and walked closer to her.
"I just wanted to tell you… Well, I wanted to thank you." He said, stopping half way across the patio. Katara laughed.
"What do you have to thank me for?" Katara laughed. "Honestly, I mean it, you took lightning from your sister for me. You took so much grief from me and I know that I've hurt you."
"Katara, please. You let me join you after what I did and even though you didn't trust me for so, so long…" Zuko took a step towards her. "I betrayed you, and after all that I did to you and your family and your friends…" He was standing in front of her. "And I just wanted… I wanted to thank you. I wanted to thank you for letting me join you… And even though you still haven't forgiven me—"
Katara held her hand up and placed her fingers against his lips to stop him.
"Now you're just making things up." She laughed. "Zuko, I forgave you a long time ago." Zuko looked terribly confused.
"When?" He asked, taking hold of her wrist and lowering her hand so he could look her in the eye.
"It wasn't exactly sudden…" Katara shrugged, glancing to the side. "I just… Forgave you." She looked up at him and smiled when she saw the baffled expression on his face. "It started when I saw how you were with Aang. When you brought him back completely safe from the Sun Warriors. And when you and Sokka brought back Suki and Dad… I just came to trust you."
Zuko looked mystified.
"Don't you betray me again," She said, looking down at her feet. Zuko frowned and moved as though he wanted to hug her but thought better of it. Katara didn't notice as she looked up at him again. "Cos you won't just have me to answer to this time." She smiled and Zuko let out something like a nervous chuckle. Katara stepped out from in front of him and started towards the teashop again. He turned to follow her when she suddenly stopped.
"I heard you went and saw Ozai in prison…" She said cautiously, like an animal testing the water with its paw.
Zuko nodded slowly. "Yeah… I asked him where my mother is."
"Did he answer?" What small relief she had managed to obtain from his answer was instantly destroyed when he said his mother. She knew this was a testy subject, it had been with her so it was likely to be the same with him.
"Not really… He said she's in the Earth Kingdom somewhere." Zuko looked down at his hands. "For all we know, she—"
"No, Zuko, all we know is that she's in the Earth Kingdom." Katara shook her head. "It'll take some time to locate her, but we're going to find her. I promise." Zuko nodded solemnly.
"It'll have to wait…" Zuko rubbed the bridge of his nose. "We need to get the Fire Nation in order and help fix everything that we've done."
"Zuko, while I'm proud that you have your priorities straight, that will take years." Katara stepped over and took hold of his hands to help make her point. "We have friends in the Earth Kingdom, we'll tell them to keep a look out for her so you don't have to worry about finding her. And as soon as she's found you can go and bring her to the Palace." Katara leaned forward so she was in his gaze, despite that he was looking at the floor. She looked up into his eyes and when he finally returned her stare, she smiled.
"Can I ask you something?" Zuko watched Katara for her response. When she nodded, he continued. "How do you always know the right things to say?" Katara laughed and shrugged.
"I think it's just that we've both changed so much since when we first met, that I know the things you need to hear to keep you going." She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. "Besides, as much as I hate to say it, I guess I kinda like you now." She dropped his hands and started back towards the teashop once more. She slid her hand along the door post and was about to turn in when Zuko called to her once more.
"Yes?" She looked back at him.
"If we find my mother… I mean, when we find her… I want you to come with me… to get her."
Katara smiled. "I would like that."
"I came as soon as I got the message, we were already at the docks so it took me some time to get back here. I'm so sorry." Katara dropped her bag at the door and ran over to Zuko. He was sitting in a chair with his back to her, arms draped over the sides as he stared outside. The room was completely dark, the curtains drawn to keep the moonlight out. The only light in the room was a candle on the opposite side of the room from Zuko. Despite that his back was flat against the seatback, he was hunched over. Katara came up behind him and wrapped her arms over his shoulders and rested her chin against him.
"You're not the one who should be sorry." Zuko's voice was hoarse and a little strained. It was obvious he had been shouting not long ago.
"It wasn't anyone's fault, Zuko. Things like this happen." Katara didn't fully let go as she moved around to face him. She crouched low so she was looking up at him, a hand on each one of his forearms. He was staring over her head. His face was tearstained. "Losing family is hard."
"That man was not my family." Zuko croaked.
"Ahh, so we've stumbled upon the problem." Katara shifted so she was sitting on her feet. She took Zuko's hands and held them in front of her. "No matter how much you don't like it, Ozai was your father. That doesn't mean he was your dad, but it does mean he was your family. You've been telling yourself to just neglect him, but that's hard. No matter what you do, he's still been a huge part of your life."
"Then why am I so angry at him for dying?" Zuko was trying to keep from crying again.
"Because you didn't have anything to do with it. I know that sounds dark, but I know deep down you wanted to be the one to bring him down." She pushed herself up onto her knees so she was even with Zuko. His gaze was past her, but she was still directly in front of him. "I want you to know that I'm proud of you for not sentencing him to death after what Aang did and I'm even more proud of you for being upset that he's dead, even if he was in prison at the time." She leaned forward and wrapped her arms up around his neck. "You don't need to be angry at yourself though."
He was silent for a moment before she felt him place his hands on her back, holding her in return.
"So… I'm an orphan now."
"You are not." Katara leaned back and looked down at Zuko's clothing. She dropped her hands down and smoothed out his shirt. "Every single day we get closer to finding Lady Ursa." Zuko said nothing. "So far we've found out that she lived in Ba Sing Se for a year or so before moving south. She traveled for some time as a refugee. As far as we know, she got past the Desert. Everyone has an eye and an ear on anything having to do with her." She sat back on her feet again. "She's used the name Li Hua, so we at least have a lead there."
Zuko nodded. "You let me know the instant she's found."
"You'll be the first to know." Katara pushed herself to her feet and pulled Zuko up to his. "But right now, it's really, really late and you've hard a hard day. Off to bed with you. I'll make up one of the guest rooms for me."
"Thank you for coming Katara."
"Of course…" She walked him over to the bed. "But…" She trailed off as she pulled the covers back for him.
"But?" he asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Why didn't you call Mai for this?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips. "She's closer to you than I am this time of year." Zuko looked at Katara for a moment before shrugging.
"I guess I just knew you would understand."
Katara smiled and watched as Zuko crawled into bed. She moved over to him and made sure he was comfortable before asking if he needed anything. When he shook his head, she leaned down and kissed his cheek. "I'm proud of you," She said, looking him in the eye. "You're a very brave man."
"Goodnight Katara." Zuko smiled and watched her walk to the door before snuffing out the candle.
"Goodnight, Zuko."
"How are you doing?"
Zuko glanced up from the scrolls and his eyes suddenly ached. He flinched and squinted to keep the strain from hurting too much. "I was fine until you turned on the lamp." He mumbled, setting down the brush and using his now free hands to rub away the pain.
"Oh, sorry." Mai turned to the candle next to her and blew it out before walking closer to Zuko. She was carrying a tray with a couple ornate pastries and two glasses on it balanced against her hip. "I swear, you haven't had any time off since the war." She sighed.
"Not true," Zuko corrected as Mai set the tray on the table. "My seventeenth birthday."
"… Was almost a year ago." Mai raised her eyebrows and picked up one of the glasses.
"Exactly, that means I have my eighteenth coming up sometime, right?" Zuko took the other glass from the tray and downed the contents in one drink.
"That's what this is about. Happy Birthday." Mai smirked and held her cup up to him before seating herself on the edge of his desk. Zuko looked up at her with a rather flat expression. It was easily obvious he was hiding his surprise that his own birthday had snuck up on him.
"What time is it?" He forced back a yawn when he saw that Mai was wearing her sleeping robe. It had to be late.
"It's past midnight, so technically it's your birthday." Mai set the cup down and fished around in her pocket as Zuko rubbed his hands over his face and hair to try and wake himself up. "A messenger hawk woke me up by practically pounding into the window outside." She slipped the little scroll out of her pocket and handed it across to Zuko. "It's from the Water Tribe."
It wasn't hard to figure that out by looking at the scroll. The ends had Water Tribe symbols on them, but Zuko knew instantly who it was from when he saw the seal holding the scroll closed. Katara usually used wax seals, but it was easy to tell it was her because of the indentation on the wax matched her mother's necklace.
As he picked the seal off, Mai began cutting the pastries. He set the blue wax on the table and slipped his thumb under the paper. He pulled it open and a smile spread across his face.
Zuko leapt to his feet and darted around the table. He gathered Mai up in his arms and swung her around. She became rather overwhelmed by the sudden attack and became stiff. Zuko set her down and kissed her before darting out of the room, dropping the scroll behind him.
Mai stared at the door as he ran out and watched the scroll fall to the floor. She stepped over to it cautiously, as if Zuko was about to run back in and sweep her up once more. She picked the roll of paper up and unfurled it.
Zuko-
We found Ursa, I'll tell you everything in the morning. Happy Birthday.
- Katara
"You can do this, easy." Katara said, looking at Zuko. He was watching her with his peripheral, staring forward at the considerable sized Earth Kingdom inn. A sign out front read 'Li Hua's Inn and Hotsprings, no reservations'. The trees and grass around the building were lush, green and well cared for. There was a path leading off of the road to the porch lined with small, decorated stones. On the porch were a few mats for sitting on and a small pile of shoes by the door.
"I know I can… I'm just not sure if I want to…" Zuko frowned as they stared at the inn. "This was her dream." He sighed. "I always heard her talk about wanting to open an inn. I never fit into that plan."
Katara fought the urge to slap Zuko.
"Zuko, the woman inside that inn loves you enough to throw her life away to save you. My mother died to protect me, Ursa was so close to doing that for you." Zuko looked down at Katara as she spoke and sighed. He knew she was right. Although it seemed Katara was always right, it still surprised him that she knew him so well.
He took a deep breath and made to start forward but his feet refused to move. He felt Katara wrap her arm around his and pull him forward; he saw the garden pass by and heard his footsteps on the porch; he could smell sweet tea and the hot spice of whatever was being cooked inside resonated in his mouth; however, he didn't realize where he was until the door opened and he saw her.
She was cleaning off tables, running a warm, wet washcloth over the surfaces and humming softly to herself. Her dark, sleek hair was pulled back, streaked with silver and white. She was tall and beautiful although it was easily obvious that the war had taken its toll on her. Small lines and creases hid at the corners of her eyes and some of the sparkle seemed to have faded from her smile. She was dressed in a green dress falling to the floor with a stained apron tied to her waist. Both the apron and dress were simple, baring few Earth Kingdom designs, but enough to hide her heritage. All of this and there was still no denying who she was.
She didn't look up as they entered.
"I'll be with you in just a moment." She said, wiping a few crumbs off of the table and onto the floor.
"No rush," Zuko said, holding out his arm to stop Katara. She looked at him but his eyes were trained on the innkeeper. It was her. "So," Zuko cleared his throat and tried to keep his voice steady. "How old is this inn?"
"I opened this place about seven years ago," She said, moving to the next table but still not looking up at them. "I always wanted to open an inn, I just wasn't able to until then."
"How come?" Zuko stepped closer to her. Despite that she was hunched over, her posture stiffened.
"My life changed, that's all." She continued on to the next table and Zuko came a little bit closer.
Katara felt as though she was watching a dance, two bodies moving towards and around each other They looked so similar and held themselves in the same way… But something was still different.
It seemed the Inn keeper felt the need to change the topic before continuing with their conversation.
"So are you here for a room?" She was on the final table, the only one left that hadn't been cleaned. Zuko shook his head despite that she wasn't looking.
"No, we're looking for someone." He said. "A woman… Named uh… Ursa."
There was the slightest stutter in her step, but still the woman moved towards the sink to clean off the rag. She kept her back to Zuko and Katara.
"A lot of people pass through here," She said, twisting the rag to wring out the water. "I don't usually keep record of their names."
"Oh…" Zuko stayed where he was, watching as she stood at the sink, cleaning out the rag. "Well, if you happen to have her as a guest… Tell her… Tell her that her son is looking for her."
The dull clop of the rag hitting the sink seemed to echo through the small inn. No one moved, no one even breathed, they just stood frozen in time. It was as if the air became like rock, suffocating them in silence as they all waited for a response. Zuko's jaw was so clenched he felt as if his teeth were about to shatter; his heart was pounding in his throat and the silence was driving him mad.
And that was when she turned around.
Ursa's face was drenched in tears. Her eyes were bloodshot and her cheeks were red and puffy. So much anguish was reflected on her face that both Zuko and Katara were overwhelmed. Katara clapped her hand over her mouth to keep from making any sound and Zuko just stood in tears staring at his mother.
"My love." Ursa whispered, lifting her hand to her mouth. "My poor darling."
In an instant, Zuko was pressed into his mother, arms wrapped around her. Her hand was on his neck and shoulders. She was smaller than he was, but still, she was his mother. Both were weeping and holding onto each other as if they would lose each other if they ever let go.
Katara felt like her heart was going to burst just watching these two. Their embrace seemed like it would never end, and that it certainly shouldn't have to ever be over.
When Ursa finally leaned back she had a hand on each one of Zuko's shoulders. He was still holding onto her waist as she looked him over. She lifted one hand and brushed his hair back from his face to look at his scar. He could see the pain in her eyes as she looked at it. When her gaze returned to his eyes he knew what she was asking.
"Ozai."
Ursa almost collapsed into her son, sobbing apologies and begging for his forgiveness for leaving him. This brought a new wave of tears for the company. It didn't take long, however, for Zuko to choke out what he had wanted to say before.
"He's… He passed away, a couple months back. And you have nothing to be sorry for."
Ursa took a deep breath and shook her head, although her tears were still falling. She brushed away the tears on her son's face before wiping at her own eyes. "Don't worry, I'm here now." Zuko smiled and Ursa cleared her throat. "Now then, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" She asked, looking over at Katara.
Katara managed to laugh through the tears that were rolling rather quickly down her cheeks. Zuko smiled when he looked back at her.
"This is Katara," He said, walking Ursa over to her. Katara bowed deeply. "She's from the Southern Water Tribe and is a master Waterbender."
"A Waterbender? Really?" Ursa gave her a low bow. "I'm sure you two will be extremely happy together."
Zuko turned bright red and Katara laughed.
"No," Zuko chuckled nervously. "It's not like that, we're just close friends."
"Ahh," Ursa glanced at her son. "Well, it's nice to meet you Katara."
"Nice to meet you too, Lady Ursa." Katara smiled, catching Zuko's sigh of relief in the corner of her eye. She suppressed another laugh.
Those were the outstanding events, in Zuko's mind at least, that led up to his sister's escape.
AN: Thanks for reading!
