Summary: When Katara has insecurities about becoming Fire Lady, to ease her fear, Zuko gives her a piece of the Fire nation history that will never make it to the history books.
Rating: T
A/N: And here comes the second day :) I hope you'll like it :) (Tomorrow's entry is in progress, and I doubt that it'll be finished by tomorrow :S)
Word count: 2826
Disclaimer: [Insert funny text here that tells you that I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender]
Fire Ladies Past – Or Everybody Has A Skeleton in Their Closet
For an outsider, the royal palace of the Fire Nation might have looked like a maze – but in reality, it had a quite simple structure. All one had to do was to follow the main hallway, what led to everywhere, stretching from the northernmost part of the palace to the corner located the furthest down south. It needed to be this long, because it was a really important hallway: it held all the portraits of all the past Fire Lords and Ladies – monarchs on the western, their consorts on the eastern wall. On every portrait there were inscriptions, which told about the late rules' greatness, intelligence, power, humanity, beauty.
Katara had grown to hate this hallway.
It's not that she had initially hated it – in fact, the first time she stayed at the palace just after Zuko's Agni Kai with Azula, she was amazed by all those beautiful, floor to ceiling portraits, and eagerly read the writings on their sides. But then months passed, Zuko started courting her, and before she knew it they were engaged, and she was brought to live in the palace. It was done by completely practical reasons: there were a whole lot of things she needed to learn to become Fire Lady – folklore, customs, etiquette, history, just to name a few -, things she could only learn in the Fire Nation.
Her tutors were strict, and demanded a lot from her, especially about her predecessors. Which Fire Lady was which Fire Lord's wife, what did she achieve, which Fire lord did she give birth to, etcetera, etcetera. And they weren't ashamed to make her feel like she could never grow up to them – most of the stuck up nobles, the social class from where most of her tutors hailed, still couldn't accept that the Fire Lord wished to marry an outlander. So, no wonder that in the matter of a few weeks Katara started to feel like the portraits in the hallway mocked her.
When there was no tutor waiting for her, and she couldn't be with Zuko – which happened more often than she liked, due to his duties as Fire Lord – she would stand on that corridor, studying the pictures. It was pure masochism, but she couldn't help it. It felt – well, not right, but something like it – to look up at the beautiful, porcelain-skinned, dark-haired ladies who lived long before her, and silently ask them about her fears. Will she be enough? Will she be a good companion for Zuko? A good Lady for the people of the Fire Nation? But the portraits remained silent, resting their regal, disdainful gazes on her.
That was how Zuko found her that day. They were supposed to have lunch together – they couldn't spend much time in each others company; they weren't even allowed to share a bedroom before the wedding, much to their dismay – but Katara finished her morning lesson early, and while walking along the hallway in the direction of the gardens, where she meant to spend a little time, next to the pond, she lost track of time looking at the paintings, loosing herself in the past. After some pacing, wandering to portrait to portrait, she just sat down in the middle of the corridor, facing the women's side – thank La there was no-one around to see her. After waiting in the small informal dining room where they were supposed to meet in vain for quite some time, Zuko started to get worried, and set off to find her. He first checked if her lesson ended, then looked after her at the turleduck pond, only then, as he was walking towards her chambers, found her in the middle of the corridor.
Of course, he shouldn't have been surprised. He knew that Katara had doubts – not about them, but about being Fire Lady. He also knew that she will do well – he had known her long enough to know that. He just had to make her see it, too.
"Hi" he said, making her aware of his presence. Katara jumped a little, then turned her head to his direction; when she took him in, a small smile appeared on her face.
"Hi" she answered. Zuko made his way next to her, sat down beside her and placed a chaste kiss on her lips.
"You know, lunch has been read for almost half an hour." He teased her gently. "Aren't you hungry?" Katara just shrugged.
"Not really."
"Well, then, I think I can wait for a little longer, too. What are we doing until you get hungry?" Katara only smiled.
"Would you mind sitting here with me just a little longer?"
"No, not at all." He sighed. "You are having second thought, aren't you?"
"Yes. I mean no, not about us, it's just… argh!" She hid her face in her palms, then after a moment, she looked up and continued. "Just look at them" She gestured at the portraits in front of them. "They are all so damn perfect. The jewels of this country. Beautiful, gentle, clever, compassionate… I feel like I could never live up to them, not in a thousand years." She turned her gaze to the floor. "And nobody says it out loud, but I can feel from every council member, every nobleman in the palace, that they also feel so."
Silence followed her words. Zuko understood her point – and she was right about the nobles, too, sadly, which made him want to banish all of them -, but then, he knew some things she didn't. And he also knew how to make her feel better.
"Come with me." He said suddenly, as he got up from the floor and held out his hand for her.
"Where?" She asked a little surprised as she took it. Zuko helped her to stand up, then, taking her with him, he started to walk to the opposite direction from where he came.
'I am going to give you a proper history lesson." He stated simply. Katara wanted to object – she had more than enough history lessons in the last few weeks, thank you very much – but Zuko stopped her before she could have said a word. "Believe me, you are going to like it."
They walked past at least fifteen portraits, when Zuko stopped in front of one of the oldest ones. He pointed at the woman in the picture and turned to Katara.
"Can you tell me who she is?" he asked.
Katara looked up at the painting, and snorted a little. It was easy.
"She is Fire Lady Da-Xia, wife of Fire Lord Qiang, the very first Fire Lord, founder of the Fire Nation. She is also called the Great Mother, since every Fire Lords hails from her."
"Well, not exactly." Zuko made an oddly disapproving, yet amused face. "You are right about that she was Qiang's wife, but she sure as hell wasn't the Great Mother she is called."
"What do you mean?"
"She was infertile." Upon seeing Katara's bewildered expression, he elaborated. "I know that the scrolls said that she had one son, but in reality, he wasn't hers. No matter how much she wanted to get pregnant, she just couldn't. So, when it turned out that one of the Fire Lord's mistresses was expecting, they announced that the Lady finally fell pregnant. But since the life in the palace was so stressed," sarcasm was dripping from his voice "she decided to spend her pregnancy in Ember Island – back then, it wasn't that tourist attraction what it is today. Of course, the mistress with the Fire Lord's child went with her. When the mistress gave birth, it was placed in the care of the Fire Lady, and she came back to the palace, and announced the birth of the heir. No-one suspected a thing. No-one dared, either."
"Oh La…" Katara said. "That's so…" She stopped, searching for the right words.
"Scandalous?" Zuko helped her out and Katara nodded. "It would have been, if anyone had learned it outside the palace – or, more precisely, outside of the royal family. But it didn't happen. It never happens. These kinds of things stay inside the family – that's how I know about them, while the professor of the Royal Academy doesn't. Now, let's get going." He passed three or four portraits, Katara in his heels, then stopped again, gesturing at the next painting. "And who is she?"
The picture represented a very serene, gentle-looking woman in her forties, in traditional red and very intricate Fire Nation robes. Katara recognized her in a blink of an eye, too.
"Fire Lady Ying." Zuko nodded, and Katara went on. "She lived about a hundred years after Da-Xia, but she didn't really do anything remarkable, at least I don't know about anything."
"Oh, she did some great things." Zuko reassured her. "She founded the Fire Nation's first university, signed a peace treaty with several western Earth Kingdom provinces, and she was the first one to allow women to join the army."
"But… but I thought it was her husband who did that!" Katara exclaimed.
"And so the history books say." He shrugged. "But really, Fire Lord Jian was no more than a puppet in his wife's capable hands. I bet he didn't make one independent decision while he was in office." To his surprise, Katara chuckled.
"So he was pretty much a henpecked husband."
"Yes, I think we can safely say that." He nodded, grinning, then stepped to the next portrait. Katara didn't even wait for the question.
"That's Fire Lady Li Hua, known as the most beautiful Fire Lady of all." She gazed up at the woman on the wall. She was very beautiful indeed, with her lithe figure, porcelain-colored cheeks, red lips and long, ebony hair.
"Now, even though I'd like to argue with that statement, I can't, because, officially, you are not Fire Lady yet, so you can't steal that title from her – yet." This earned him a playful elbow to the ribs, and a slight blush on Katara's cheeks. "But do you have any idea what did she do to stay like this?" He shuddered at the thought. "My mother used to tell me stories about her when I was little – and believe me, they weren't bedtime stories."
"Why, what did she do?" Katara asked, intrigued.
"Well, the vast majority of the things she did to preserve her beauty were simply masochistic. She took ice-cold baths in the mornings, she hardly ate – she would go on without a meal for days to fit into a dress -, she would put some very disgusting creams on her face to prevent wrinkles – and when I say disgusting, I mean stuff with her own urine and animal defecation in it. And she was crazy about her hair. It was impossibly long, and she had it combed every morning, and the servant who did it for her had to present her the hairs which had fallen out afterwards. And once she decided that too many of her hair fell out, got angry with the servant, and ordered her hands to be cut off."
Now it was Katara's turn to shudder.
"You are just making it up to mess up with me."
"No, I am not. You can ask mother or uncle if you don't believe me." He said, as he put his arm around her shoulder, and guided her to the next portrait down the hall. "Now, may I introduce you to Fire Lady Lin Yao?" he pointed at the picture of a very young, very naïve looking girl.
"I know her." Said Katara, thinking about the girl's sad demise. "She was the mother of Fire Lord Yan Long, but died a few days after his birth in puerperal fever."
"Almost." Was Zuko's only reaction. Katara looked at him expectantly, wanting him to elaborate; she was over getting surprised. "According to the servants' gossiping – which usually happens to be rather accurate, and always lasts as long as history scrolls does – she was a real harpy. She was whiny, and short-tempered, and spoiled, and cruel, and overall unbearable – both for the servants and her own husband." His expression was unreadable as he told her this. "And so as soon as there was an opportunity to get rid of her without consequences, the Fire Lord did it. He must have poisoned her, because there were no signs to raise suspicions that she didn't die a natural death." He said with forced nonchalance.
"Well, then I think I'll stop teasing and annoying you." Katara tried to joke to ease her discomfort. "I don't want to share a fate with her."
"Oh, you better be." Zuko responded, then bent down, and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "I would never hurt you" He murmured into her hair.
This time he took her further down the hallway, skipping several generations, then stopped in front of the portrait of a tall, slim woman, who wore a rather cold expression. She didn't say it out loud, but she pretty much reminded her of Mai.
"Fire Lady Xue, wife of Fire Lord Meng, lived about three hundred years ago." Zuko started, pointing at the portrait. "She was-"
"Wait, let me guess." Katara said, with mocked thoughtfulness. "She had lovers, and her children were not actually the Fire Lord's?"
"Well, she did have lovers, but I doubt that they fathered her any children." Zuko answered with a wry, sly smile. "How could I put it nicely…" He thought about it for a moment, playing with Katara's nerves. "She, well, she preferred the company of other women."
Katara, despite herself, laughed out loud.
"You mean she was a lesbian?"
"Well, you could say that, too, but I think it's a rather crude expression for a future Fire Lady, my dear." He was really starting to enjoy their little history lesson, and he could also feel Katara's fears slowly dissolve. "Let's just say that Fire Lord Meng's harem was rather his wife's."
"You are right, and it's not crude to say at all – it's simply perverted." She laughed. "Now, would it violate the etiquette if I stuck my tongue at you?"
"Oh, it definitely would, but then I see nobody who would object." They laughed together as Katara did stick her tongue at him. "Now come on, there's still one person I want to include to our little lesson."
They walked past a few a few paintings, then stopped before a woman's who must had lived around four or five generations before Zuko. She was regal-looking and pretty, yes, just like the others, yet she didn't seem nearly as collected as they were.
"She is my personal favorite from all my ancestors. Fire Lady Wei." He looked up at her figure, recalling some of the very few doting memories he had from his childhood. "She was, well, she was crazy. Not Azula-crazy, but crazy nonetheless." He added quickly. "She had done some insane things. Like" He chuckled. "Like she kept komodo chickens in her bedchambers. She treated them like they were her children. She even employed nannies and servants for them."
"You got to be kidding me." Katara looked at him, chuckling.
"I am not. And believe me, it's just the peak of the iceberg. If you want I can tell you about her more, but could we finally head to the dining room now?"
"Sure, let's go." She wound her arm around his waist. "I don't want to turn the servants against me even before becoming Fire Lady by letting the food getting colt." She joked lightly.
"Wise decision, my lady." He smiled at her, then added more seriously. "Are you feeling better now?"
"Yes, definitely. Thank you." She placed her head on his shoulder. They walked in silence for a few moments, then Katara spoke. "What do you think, how will I be remembered?" She asked absently.
"How about 'the Fire Lady who drove her husband mad with all her worrying'?" Zuko asked with feigned seriousness. "Because that might happen if you spend any more time agonizing about if you will be capable ruler, because you will. I know you will, just be yourself. I trust you." He told her in a softer tone.
"I get it – no more pondering in the hallways, no more sleepless night, no more tormenting you." She counted the item on her fingers. "I promise." She sighed. "And thank you, again."
"You are very welcome, love." He said, then with a very sly, almost cruel smile, he added: "Oh, and Katara. If any of your tutors even just slightly imply that you won't meet the expectations, that you will be a failure, or even have a tiny little doubt in you – tell them to jump to the pond. And if they don't want to comply with it, tell them that this is my order."
Her laugh could be heard even at the other end of the hallway.
Little trivia that served as my inspiration: Sisi, Empress of Austria and Queen consort of Hungary was obsessed by her looks. She was the one who took ice-cold baths, eat hardly, and did gymnastic every morning. She, also, had ankle-length hair, and had the servant who combed her present the fallen out hairs. Only, she only threw a tantrum when there were too many hairs, and never ordered the servant's hands to be cut off. I also wanted to include Elizabeth Bathory's little habit of bathing in virgin girls' blood, but then I deemed it to be too much.
The idea of a ruler obsessed by chickens comes from an old Hungarian satire-parody of Snow White and the Seven Dwarf, titled Hófehér. In the film, Snow White's father, Lion-smelling Leo, the last by this name, has several chickens, his favorite named Columba. In the film Snow White is, in fact, the outcome of a magical-scientific experience, and she is hatched from an egg, laid by Columba, if I remember well. (Crazy, I know, but it's a brilliant movie. But I doubt that it has been dubbed, even subtitled :()