Under Pressure

by misswildfire

She watched him, leaning again the door frame that lead to his private office. So engrossed in his work, the young man before her didn't notice that she was standing there nor that she had been watching him for some time.

Title: Under Pressure
By: musicxxangel/ misswildfire
Rated: G
Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Pairing: Katara/Zuko
Word Count: 854
Disclaimer: I don't own TLA
Notes: written for sassafrasx on LJ's Zutara's Secret Santa
Story Summary: She watched him, leaning again the door frame that lead to his private office. So engrossed in his work, the young man before her didn't notice that she was standing there nor that she had been watching him for some time.

She watched him, leaning again the door frame that lead to his private office. So engrossed in his work, the young man before her didn't notice that she was standing there nor that she had been watching him for some time. Time seemed to pass slowly for the young water bender. She wondered if perhaps she should say something, anything, to try and convince him to rest. He had been working for hours before she came to watch him and it was late into the night. She worried her bottom lip as she continued to watch him. If he doesn't take a break soon, he'll run himself ragged, she thought. Watching him for several more moments, she made a decision.

"Zuko," she called out gently, yet loud enough that he would hear her. "It's late; you should stop and come to bed."

"I can't," he said, not even looking up, continuing to read the document before him. "The council needs all of these read and signed by tomorrow and I still need to go over the new medical initiatives, never mind the new trade proposals with the Earth Kingdom." The new Fire Lord sighed, rubbing his eyes wearily.

"And the council will understand that you need to sleep at some point or you will become completely ineffective," Katara chastised.

"I can't Katara, all of these needs to be done. The century long war and my father's exuberant spending on the military has left the country in ruins. He's left me an Empire of dirt and I need to do something. It's MY Empire of dirt and I don't want it to stay this way. I don't want my people to suffer any longer than they need to. They've suffered long enough," he muttered, his tone taking on a darker edge to it. She could see how much this was hurting him.

"Change takes time Zuko," moving around the large dark wooden desk that dominated the room, she slid behind him, slowly massaging the tension from his shoulders. "Undoing the damage from the last hundred years and the damage that your father caused cannot be done overnight, nor can it be done in a fortnight, a month or even a year. The country has been run almost completely into the ground. Your people are strong and proud Zuko, they will survive and they will flourish, but if you push yourself to the point where you collapse of exhaustion and make yourself sick, then what use to them are you? If you want to help them, you need to take care of yourself, if not for you then for them, for me." Pressing a kiss again the sensitive side of his neck, she could feel the tension slowly ebbing from his shoulders.

"I know, but the council is fighting me at every turn, they don't like how I'm doing things," he muttered.

"Zuko, you are the Fire Lord, you're word is final. While I understand that you want to respect the tradition of your people, and how things have always been done, maybe it's time to change. The men on your council do not want to change, but in order for the Fire Nation to survive, it needs to change. You need to be flow with the times, like a river, flowing and changing with every turn." She slipped around the chair and settled herself into her husband's lap. She could see that he was nearly defeated, but she wouldn't let him give up. His heart was in the right place, he truly wanted what was best for his people and she needed to do everything in her power to help him. Sighing deeply, she felt as he wrapped his strong arms around her and pulled her tightly against his body, seeking the comfort she offered.

"Perhaps you are right," he murmured into her shoulder.

"We will fix your country Zuko, and you're people will thrive. However, right now you need to sleep." With that, she slowly untangled herself from his embrace and stood up before him. Extending her hand in offer, she waited patiently as he warred with himself. Part of him wanted to stay where he was and work himself to death and the other part knew that she was right. She saw his eyes flicker and then slowly close. Exhaling slowly, he slowly reached out and took her hand.

"Time for bed then, and I'll get a fresh start in the morning." He smiled slowly as he looked at his wife. She smiled back before leaning up and kissing him slowly.

"We'll fix it," she promised, leading him to their bedroom for a much needed rest. They would fix the Fire Nation, implementing changes on every level of the nation from the economy, the laws, medical treatment, and spending, new treaties with the other nations that were beneficial to everyone. They created a new council, a much smaller one, one that saw Zuko's vision and worked with him instead of against him. They brought in Zuko's uncle to advise him and help steer his nephew to where they all wanted him to be.