A/N: Written for Zutara Month - Day 7
Pride
A door slammed and water sloshed. They had been quarrelling. Again. The maids could clearly hear the loud voices echoing through the halls as they prepared the royal bed chamber. The quarrelling had steadily increased the past months. Some, including the Fire Lord who had often been heard mumbling to himself of his "royal pain in the ass" and her "stupid royal hormones", suspected it due to the Fire Lady's recently known pregnancy. Whatever be the reason, her patience with the Fire Lord had been slowly dwindling away causing the tension in the palace to heighten at a dangerous level.
"Katara! Stop being so difficult and just listen!"
"I won't willingly submit to your demands Zuko! How dare you openly accept such a big offer ON MY BEHALF?! And one regarding the baby! MY CHILD! You're mistaken if you think I'll abide."
"It's my child too! And that's not wha –"
"I refuse to act as one of your council puppets who willingly agree to your every command and I most certainly will not sit by and do nothing while you make decisions for me!"
"Will you please stop cutting me off and listen to what I have to say!" He paused. "Agni, you infuriate me!"
"Excuse… me…?" There was silence followed by the sound of a palm swiftly meeting another skin surface. Most likely that of the Fire Lord's face. "Stop being an insensitive prick!"
The Fire Lady was obviously livid.
Lady Katara came striding in, eyes red and fuming, as the maids tidied the Royal chambers, avoiding eye contact. Before she could slam the door, the Fire Lord came following after her, swiftly taking her by the wrists and forcing her his way, holding both of her fisted hands up to him.
"Let go of me!" she yelled at him.
At the sound of the holler, one of the maids clumsily dropped a duster which clanked loudly on the floor.
The Fire Lord quickly glanced in the direction of the sound without turning his head from his raging wife. "Leave us," he said promptly, looking back at Katara.
"Get your hands off me, Zuko. NOW."
"That's no way to speak to your Fire Lord."
"Actually, I'll speak to MY Fire Lord however I please," she asserted, putting extra emphasis on 'my'. "You made me your equal when you took my hand in marriage, Zuko and I won't be treated as anything other than such!" She glared at him, "Now, Release me. This. Instant." She hissed.
"No." He challenged. "Not until you apologize and agree to listen to what I have to say."
"Not a chance."
"Oh?" raising an eyebrow.
"Zuko, you may well be the Fire Lord but I assure you, that does not entail you the right to control me."
"If you'd listen, you'd know that I'm not trying to! Look, despite me being the Fire Lord, I can hardly change the customs followed by the Fire Sages. If they request that the heir, yours and mine, be sent off on some enlightening journey before taking the throne, I can't simply decline." He sighed. "Honestly, it's a trivial matter. I had to do it. Lu Ten, Ozai, and Fire Lord Azulon had to do it." He lessened his grip and relaxed a bit, expecting her to calm down.
Instead, however, she narrowed her eyes and ripped her hands from his grip. "You… insolent fool." She hissed. "Have you not been listening to me at all?! The problem lies not in what my child has to do but what you did!"
"I did noth– !" He began to protest.
"You can't just make decisions for me! You're not my superior. We're supposed to rule together. Trivial as any case may be, I still expect you to run them by me, ESPECIALLY when they regard myself or my family!"
She infuriated him. He wanted to protest. He wanted to win this argument as what would have happened had it been anyone else. He wanted her to see her flaw in challenging the Fire Lord in front of his council members, giving them a reason to question his authority. A small part of him had known he was in the wrong but she too had taken it too far. It took every fiber of his being not to bellow back at her.
He breathed in deeply and ran his fingers through his hair. "Look… I wasn't trying to make you subservient or feel inferior, let alone control you. I simply wanted to avoid bickering with the Fire Sages over a matter that won't concern us for several years…"
On the other side of the door, Iroh stood by, along with the maids and listened, smiling to himself. Katara certainly pushed his nephew. She had been the only one courageous enough to shove past his boundaries and challenge him on a daily basis. Surprisingly enough, Zuko yielded to her. Iroh had noticed the first time it occurred that it had taken a lot for his young nephew, but he did so anyway. Being raised as a prince, Zuko was never accustomed to accepting anything less than what he wanted and this carried on throughout his adulthood. But somehow, the lovely waterbender had managed to penetrate through his barrier and had stubbornly dragged out a less overbearing side of him.
Iroh figured it was out of respect and hidden adoration. His nephew had respected her enough to grant her requests even when he disagreed and adored her too much to flatly disrespect her. He therefore learned to swallow his colossal pride and yield to her. But only to her. This, Iroh took note of. His dear nephew would never reveal such a side to anyone else, he was sure of it.
Such resignation, however, was not limited to the first party. Lady Katara too, had learned through much difficulty in the course of their relationship to surrender. She had been as equally stubborn and proud as Zuko but not enough to harbor his gaiety from him for a prolonged time. She loved him too much in his high spirits to see him in any other place for too long. She enjoyed his merriment more so than she did her own, so she learned to surrender her pride.
Though both had been too proud to allow anyone to claim victory that they believed to be so rightfully theirs, one gladly relinquished their ammunition in the face of the other, and vice versa.
This, Iroh had known for a fact and therefore walked away when he heard the quiet murmur of Zuko. The maids, however, had not and continued to "tidy up" near the bed chamber, not anticipating the shuffling of feet, the sudden giggling of the Fire Lady, and the chuckling of the Fire Lord; all of which seemed to lead up to the intimate sounds that soon followed afterwards.