Summary: A series of Zutara one-shots. Requests for more specific one shots can be made in the comments :)
Disclaimer: ATLA is owned by Viacom and Nickelodeon. No profit will be made from this story.
Fire Lord Zuko raised his head as someone knocked frantically on his office door. His brow creased as he ignored the summons, knowing he had specifically asked not to be disturbed this afternoon. Sighing as the knocking continued, Zuko answered, "Enter."
Ty Lee nervously entered his office with a sheepish look on her face. "I apologize, Fire Lord. I know you had asked not to be disturbed but something occurred during the Fire Lady's weekly tea time that you need to be made aware of…" Ty Lee trailed off as she saw the look on the Fire Lord's face.
Pinching the space between his golden eyes, Zuko asked, "What did she do this time?"
Hurrying down the passageway, Zuko tried to control the emotions crossing his face. It would do no good to yell at her. He would calmly ask what had happened and what she intended to do about it to restore order amongst the wives of the nobles. This wasn't the first time an incident had occurred when he wasn't there to control his wife but this was by far the worst incident. He only hoped that Minister Ling wouldn't resign his position as a trusted advisor due to the affront on his wife today.
Pausing outside the doors of the Fire Lady's chamber, Zuko took a deep breath before knocking twice on the door. When he didn't hear a summons to enter, he knocked again. Still no answer.
So she was going to ignore his because she knew she was at fault and didn't want to deal with the consequences of her actions. That wasn't going to fly this time.
He slowly pushed open the ornate door.
His wife was laying on her side in the middle of the bed.
Zuko slowly approached the bed, trying not to make any noise. He paused as he reached the side of the bed to gaze down at his sleeping wife. He could see the tear stains on her face and his anger slowly dissipated.
He sat down and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Katara."
She stirred but didn't wake up, her hand coming to rest on the slightly protruding bump where their child was growing. Placing his hand over hers, he kicked off his boots and decided to crawl into bed with his wife. It had been a long day and he had no desire to wake her up to fight. She had a hard enough time sleeping as it was with it being the hottest months of the year and her being 6 months pregnant.
It didn't take long for the Fire Lord to drift off to sleep.
Only to be woken up 20 minutes later by his wife huffing and pushing him away.
"Zuko, move over," Katara murmured in her sleep, not quite fully awake.
He smirked and pulled her closer.
She opened one eye to look up at him. "Husband, you are roasting me alive. Move over."
"No," Zuko growled, moving slightly to place a kiss on her neck, "not until you tell me what happened during tea today."
Katara's other eye opened slightly, "Ty Lee told you?"
Zuko smirked, "Yes, but to her credit she did wait an hour before coming to inform me. I think she knew you needed time to cool off before dealing with me."
Turning over to face him, Katara murmured, "At least she waited an hour this time."
Zuko smiled slightly as he remembered Katara's misadventures from the past year. The court had just gotten used to Mai when suddenly they had a new Fire Lady to deal with, one who did not know the customs of the court and who wasn't a passive observer in front of the ladies.
Katara was everything Mai was not.
He was pulled from his musing by Katara rubbing her hand over her belly. With a small sigh, she told her story.
"To start, you should know that it really wasn't my fault."
Zuko looked down at her, "I don't think Lady Ming would agree with that statement."
Katara rolled her eyes, "Well Lady Ming is a cow."
"Katara," Zuko growled slightly. He didn't take kindly to her petty name calling.
Rolling over so she was facing away from him, she continued her story, "Well, the baby was bouncing around, kicking and I swear he was firebending in there because different parts of my insides would suddenly feel like they were on fire. So you can see why I wasn't in the most gracious mood during tea today but I started off trying to emulate Mai and be the perfect Fire Lady."
Zuko winced slightly at the mention of his ex-wife's name but didn't say anything. So Katara continued, "I was doing a great job until Lady Ming walked in late. Since she was late, her regular spot at the table had been taken by Lady Li-Sang so Lady Ming decided that it was all my fault and started making disparaging comments to the ladies sitting around her about Lady Li-Sang and myself. Which I ignored for the longest time, Zuko. Ty Lee can attest to that but I when it got to be too much for me to ignore, I dismissed myself from the table to go to the bathroom and calm down. Well Lady Ming decided to follow me into the bathroom and I tried to ignore her, Zu, I truly did but then she said something that I couldn't ignore."
Katara turned back toward him with tears shimmering in her eyes, "Zu, she said that our baby was a half-breed and would never be accepted as the rightful heir to the Fire Throne."
Zuko sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. Ty Lee had told him the outcome of events but obviously left out the main reason why it had occurred.
"So," Katara continued, "while I stood there in shock that a Lady of the court would say something so ugly to Fire Lady's face, she decided to use the restroom like nothing had happened. And I…"
Zuko rubbed an encouraging hand over her back.
"Well, I froze her to the toilet and came back here."
This is what TyLee had told him. That there had been an altercation between the Fire Lady and Lady Ming and that Lady Ming had ended frozen to the toilet. Fire bender guards had been summoned to slowly thaw her from the toilet seat so she wouldn't rip anything vital as she tried to remove herself from the seat. It had been an arduous process and one that was humiliating for Lady Ming.
Zuko pulled Katara close and just held her with his head resting lightly on top of her brown curls.
They stayed like that for a long time before Katara asked, "Are you going to say anything?"
"Kat," he said, breathing in the exotic scent of her hair, "our child was made out of love and based on what you've said, will be a powerful bender. I know the transition from Mai to you has been difficult and the court is not pleased but you must know that the people of the Fire Nation adore you. They will without a doubt, accept our child as the rightful heir and anyone in the court that has an issue with that will be replaced, immediately."
Katara sniffled and wiped her tears on his tunic, "Do you mean that, Zu?"
"Mhmm," he hummed, "starting with the Mings."
Katara sat up quickly, well as quickly as her belly would allow, "Oh no, Zuko, you can't do that!"
"Katara, his wife said my child was going to be a half-breed. I do not take insults like that lightly."
She reached out to touch his arm, "Is it possible to just get rid of her and not him? I know how you value his views on the economy and he would be very hard to replace."
Breathing deeply, trying control his inner fire that demand the Mings be thrown out of the palace immediately. He knew she was right but he wasn't ready to let them off that quickly.
"You are very wise, Kat, I thank you for your insight."
"Wow, Fire Lord. Remember our deal? When we are in bed, you treat me like Katara, your friend for over 12 years, not the Fire Lady."
"Ah, yes. Sorry, love," Zuko smiled slightly, leaning down to kiss her lips.
Katara smirked back at him. When had she become so good at his signature smirk?
"Now, Fire Lord Zuko, move over."
With a deft push and a slight kick, she sent him tumbling over the side of the bed and onto the floor. Then she leaned down to smile at him.
"Why Fire Lord, you look good bowing before me."
"Why you little water peasant," and with a lunge, he leapt off the floor and was on top of her, showering her with small kisses and tickling her sides. Needless to say, it was a while before he resumed his work in the office but when he did, he began to write a note:
Dear Minister Ming,
Our wives had a confrontation today which stemmed from your wife referring to the future Fire Lord as a half-breed. Needless to say, she will not be invited back to court. The Fire Lady will issue a written apology for freezing your wife to a commode. During social functions that involve both the Lords and Ladies of Court, she may attend but if she says one word against the Fire Lady, you shall both be removed from court.
Sincerely,
Fire Lord Zuko
The howl that could be heard from the Ming house woke up all of their neighbors when the note was delivered an ecstatic Ty Lee reported back the Fire Lord the following morning.
Authors Note: Hello Zutara fans! This is my first dip into the Zutara fandom after being an avid reader of so very many stories. These are going to be somewhat random one-shots based on the background I've created and will share with you. If you have constructive criticism or something positive to say, please leave a comment. If you have something you would like to see in a one-shot, please leave the scenario in a comment.