A/N: True to myself, I finished this in the very last moment :) So, merry very-very belated Christmas therentyoupay/TheEyesoftheTiger! :)
Summary: During a visit to the South Pole, Zuko gets a taste of the Water Tribe folklore, and adds a piece of his own to it. Warning: fluffball.
Prompts: 21-year-old!Zuko and 19-year-old!Katara; post-war; firelight; Aurora Australis, or the Southern Lights; "propensity to forgive"
Word Count: 9763
Rating: T, for occasional innuendos
Disclaimer: [Insert funny text here that tells you that I do not own Avatar - the Last Airbender]
Zuko found the South Pole quite enchanting.
No, not the South as it had been nearly five years ago when he had first visited it; that had been nothing but an arctic wasteland, with a few shabby tents and a weak wall of snow. Now it was a small, thriving city. The few small tribes in the area had joined under Hakoda, many, who had been captured during the war - and their descendants as well – had returned, along with a fine amount of immigrants from the North. Where there only had been a handful of women and children only a few years ago, there was now a population slowly pushing to two thousand.
It was especially beautiful now, during the times of the holiday – they were celebrating the Winter Solstice. His people in the Fire Nation didn't care that much about this time of the year; they were the children of the Sun, so they had always treasured and celebrated the day of the Summer Solstice, overlooking its counterpart. But the people here were the children of the Moon, so it was only natural that they celebrated the time when the Moon was high on the sky for nearly a month.
It was Katara's idea to spend the holiday here; she had insisted that he needed some time far from the stress and pressure of the Fire Nation politics. He hadn't fought with her; he really did need some rest, and anyway, these days he was ready to do almost anything Katara asked him to do.
A goofy smile appeared on his face. Katara, his sweet, strong Katara.
His wife.
It was still so new, so fresh to him, no matter that they had been married for nearly half a year already. He loved the feeling of the word on his lips – wife. No-one could take Katara away from him now. They had been bound for eternity.
Speaking of Katara, it was time for him to find her. Even though he was supposed to be on vacation here, he couldn't escape the downsides of being the Fire Lord, either – some of the noblemen from the delegation of the North had found him earlier, wanting to have a short talk with him about the trade routes. He reluctantly agreed, and the short talk turned out to be nearly an hour long. By the time the impromptu political meeting was over every nerve in his body was on fire to find his wife, whom he hadn't seen since that morning – or at least what he thought had been morning. After breakfast she had left him in their temporary home, saying that she had to find her Gran talk something over with her, promising him to see him later.
Exiting the great snow building where his meeting had been held was quite a shock, even if a pleasant one: while he found the council room of the South quite dull, at least compared to his own throne room, the streets of the city was full of life. Every house and lamppost was adorned with candles in colored cases, hinting light in the hues of blue, red yellow, orange and green over the white snow. Seemingly everybody spent their time outside, talking, laughing, dancing and drinking, or just simply enjoying themselves. A group of young men even invited him to join them for a cup or two of arctic wine as he passed them, but he politely declined. He knew from his engagement party a little bit more than a year ago how strong that drink was.
Here he wasn't the Fire Lord. Here he was the chief's son-in-law, somebody the people of the South considered family. Somehow they had forgotten every past grudge they had against him the moment he had first come here after the war, asking Hakoda's permission to court his daughter. He even wore the sign of this hospitality on his wrist.
Earlier that day, as he was walking from the main square to the house he and Katara stayed in with a basket full fresh fish – since he had nothing better to do, and was not used to having much free time, he had offered to help out a little -, somebody called after him.
"Zuko! Zuko!" High voices shouted excitedly. It was another thing he liked about the South: the lack of the suffocating titles. He was just Zuko; no-one pressured him to be anything he wasn't.
He turned around and saw three girls, none of them older than ten, racing towards him. He recognized their faces, but couldn't tell their names. He stopped to wait for them, a silly smile appearing on his face – he had never thought that one day he would find children endearing, but there he was, his heart warm, smiling at their eagerness.
Soon they reached him, but didn't speak for a while – at first they were too busy to catch their breaths, then all of them burst into giggles, two of them trying to push the third to the front.
He raised his eyebrow at them.
"Well, it's been lovely to have met you, but if you don't have anything to tell…" He teased them, feigning to leave them. They immediately started protesting in loud voices, asking him to stay, then finally pushing the third girl forward. She promptly went silent, turning her gaze downwards, poking the snow with her feet. The two others stood half a step behind her, trying to stifle their giggles. When the girl chosen by her friends as advocate finally lifted her head to look at him she was blushing.
Katara had told him earlier that girls around him behaved like that because they had a crush on him – he hadn't believed her. After all, he was no crush material. But then again, he somehow had managed to have Katara fall for him, hadn't he?
The little girl opened her mouth, then just as quickly closed it. She looked back at her friends who nodded, and so she tried again. Oh yes, it was really an amusing scene to watch. Zuko put down the basket and crossed his arms, waiting for the finale.
"We made it for you!" She said finally, holding out something she pulled out from her pocket to Zuko. She held it as far from her body as it was possibly, like it was one of Hakoda's hand-sized seaweed bombs that was about to explode. She even closed her eyes. Her companions didn't dare to take a breath.
Zuko took the little object from her, and brought it closer to his eyes to inspect it. It was a little string of small polished bones and wooden beads, just long enough to be tied around his wrist. On each bead a character was written – either painted with black ink, or burned into the wood -, all of them chosen to call in good luck: health, family, money, luck, among others. He even saw one bead for the Moon and one for the Sun. True, the work wasn't flawless, as the characters were a little bit sloppy - he could have easily read 'family' as 'bird', for example -, but it was the thought that counted.
He knew about these beads - Katara had told him about them earlier, and had even given him one a year before; they were given at the Poles around this time to friends and family, and they were supposed to bring you luck throughout the coming year.
"Wow, it's… it's beautiful, thank you,' he stuttered, really touched. Four years after the war, and he still couldn't get used to acts of kindness like this. Somehow, in his mind, the girl's behavior was completely out of place. He could accept somebody doing something like this for Katara, but for him?
The girls only smiled wide smiles, one of them showing a gap between her teeth, where one fallen out, but the new hadn't grown out yet. This, despite himself, made him think about that in a few years there would most likely be a child - or more children -, looking up at him just as sheepishly like these girls were doing now; a child he would call his own.
The thought was amazing and frightening at the same time.
He awkwardly tied the string around his wrist, then bent to pick up his basket again, but from the corner of his eye he saw that the girls were still standing here, one of them picking at the snow with her feet, obviously waiting for something. For a moment he didn't know what he was supposed to do, but then realized: they were waiting for a hug, maybe a kiss on the cheek. He gently smiled, and basket forgotten, turned to the girl who had spoken in behalf of the others, circling his arms around her small frame and giving her a quick squeeze. The girl giggled and threw her own arms around his neck, even pressing her cold lips to his uncharred cheek.
It was strange to him; people in the Fire Nation were quite apprehensive when it came to touching. In the capitol it would have been completely unacceptable for a stranger to hug you. Even a handshake was considered too much sometimes, and when it came to the family, things weren't that much different. He could remember his mother cuddling him when he was little, but then his mother had always been a gentle, loving person with a streak of rebelling against this formality. But with his father he had always had to be formal, bowing in front of him, touching the floor with his forehead when he wanted to express his respect for him; he could never even think of ever touching him the way like these girls were touching him now, and it was true for most of the noble families of the Fire Nation.
He had also seen Katara with her father, hugging and kissing him whenever she felt like it, without being afraid that he wouldn't accept this, and Zuko decided that he liked it. He liked this kind of freedom of touch, this freedom to show appreciation, the closeness and the intimacy. He had already decided that when he would have children, he would raise them this way, according to their Southern roots. No children of him will ever bow and touch their forehead to the floor in front of him.
He smiled at the thought of this earlier encounter as he continued looking for Katara. People greeted him on his way, and he even spoke a few words with some of them, mostly about the festival and other pleasant, neutral, everyday topics, but nobody seemed to know where to find the daughter of their chief.
In the end, he did manage to find her in one of the smaller community buildings, not far from the city centre. Usually this building were used by the women of the tribe for doing small tasks, for example mending clothes or fishing nets, together, talking and singing while working, helping each other. Now a big fire was burning in the middle of the room, and all around it children sat, their jaws dropped in awe, listening to Katara's Gran Gran telling a story.
"…And then all the spirits invited came to the ball, dressed in their finest clothes, in all the colors that exist in the world, and started dancing high up in the air, swirling and turning…"
Katara sat amongst the children, not far from the door. A little girl was snuggled to her side, attached to her arm. If Zuko was not mistaken, she was some distant cousin of Katara's. Katara had her gazed fixed on Gran, but when she heard the door flap move, she turned to him and offered him a brilliant smile, then patted the unoccupied space on the floor on her other side, inviting him to sat with them. He went and settled beside her; Katara immediately leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder. He took her hand – the one which wasn't in the little girl's hold – and started drawing small circles into her palm.
Gran also noticed him, and, like always, she looked at him with that secretive smile of hers, which somehow always made him uneasy; it was like she knew something concerning him, something he himself didn't know about. She went on with the story.
"But then Keelut," the name sounded unfamiliar to him, but several children around the fire cringed upon hearing it and gasped in horror. The little girl clutching Katara's arm cuddled closer to her, while Zuko found a boy, no older than four, snuggling up to him, trying to hide his face in his parka. He didn't know much about the deities of the Water Tribes, but judging by the reaction of the children, this Keelut must have been pretty terrifying. "The evil dog of the underworld crawled out of his lair, turned his ugly, bare head towards the skies, and saw the magnificent dancers above him. This angered him to no ends, since the other spirits didn't invite him to the ball. He let out a terrible roar in his anger, and leapt, up to the sky, to catch the robes of the spirits dancing there." The children gasped, no doubt imagining the great beast attacking the celebrating spirits. As soon as their shocked voices died down, Kanna continued. "But the spirits were faster, and quickly fled from the ball in the skies, leaving Keelut behind.
"The spirits were afraid of Keelut, but they didn't want to give up their ball. They didn't know what to do, so, in the end, they turned to Tui for help. The spirit of the Moon felt sorry for them, and offered them help: as long as they danced under her light, she would hid them from Keelut's wrath. The spirits accepted her gift, but they know that it would be very tiring for Tui to cast her hiding spell on them every night, so they found a new place to hold their ball: above the North Pole during one half of the year, and here, above the South Pole during the other half, since here, over our lands, Tui rules the skies for months. And so they are dancing here even today, hidden from Keelut, during our winter months, when Tui – or, more precisely, Yue today - is high and bright on the sky, and we see their colorful robes swirl and swirl as they are dancing above us. Only, we call their dance the Southern Lights."
Kanna finished her story, and the children around them erupted in cheers. Even Katara's little cousin let go of Katara's hand to clap. But their cheers hadn't even died down, the children were already asking for another story, Zuko guessed that they had been doing this for some time now, always demanding just one more story.
"Calm down, little ones, calm down!" Kanna chided them gently, her hands raised, smile on her face. The children immediately went silent. "I didn't even want to stop here; I have one story I want to share with you." She stole a sideway glance at Zuko and Katara, and winked at them, causing Zuko fidget in his seat. Then she cleared her throat and started speaking.
"A long, long time ago, long before the first Avatar was born or benders walked on the land, once we had visitors from the North. Amongst the men of our sister tribe, there was a young man; he was no extraordinary creature, just a simple warrior in the guard of the Northern chief. But he was a kind and honorable man, his heart and soul pure.
"At the time of the visit of the North, the Southern chief's daughter had just come of age, and actually, the Northern chief's real intention was to win her hand."
"Was she beautiful?" Spoke up a little girl, pulling her thumb from her mouth from the other side of the circle; as soon as she finished speaking, she stuck her thumb back into her mouth.
"Of course she was," Zuko, who already had a guess where this story was going, whispered into Katara's ear. She smiled into his shoulder.
"Very much so," Kanna answered her. "She was known of her beauty in all the four nations."
"And what about the warrior, was he handsome too?" Asked another girl, about ten years old, interrupting Gran again. Katara chuckled and squeezed Zuko's hand, but didn't say anything.
"Do you want me to finish this story, or do you want to keep talking, cutting me off in the middle of the sentence?" Kanna huffed with feigned irritation, but then added: "Of course he was, why wouldn't have he been?" She stated, like it was the most evident thing in the world, causing all the children around her giggle. "So now that we know that both of them were gifted by the spirits with attractive looks, we can go on.
"The young princess was amongst the group greeting the Northern men when they reached our shores after their long journey. And when the warrior – yes, the handsome one – disembarked, she was the first person he saw, and immediately fell in love with her." The little girls around them sighed, while the boys gave noncommittal noises. "That evening a feast was held to in the honor of the visitors, and the young warrior used it to find the princess, talk with her, and win her affection.
"In the end, it turned out that he didn't have to fight that hard for her: after they had spoken a few words, the flames of love started to burn in heart too. They knew from the very fist day that the spirits had created them for each other."
"If only it happened this way!" Zuko whispered into Katara's ear, accompanied with a sigh.
"Well, yes. But you were an idiot back then, so it's mostly your fault." She concluded, causing Zuko chuckle into her hair.
"Thank you for explaining it this simply."
"But am I not right?" She turned her head to look at him.
"When are you not?" He answered, and used the new angle to press a quick kiss to her lips.
Someone cleared their throat, helping Zuko remember that after all they were not alone, but surrounded with children. He looked up and found many of the girls giggle into their palms, while the smaller boys tried to express their opinion that kissing was disgusting in different ways.
"Now, I thought that you two would know how to behave while listening to an elder telling a story, but it turns out that you aren't any better than these little ones." Kanna pointed at the children, who laughed at them; it was a nice change for them to hear somebody being scolded for once instead of being scolded themselves.
"I am really sorry, Lady Kanna," Zuko said, putting his hands together and bowing to her direction. All of Iroh's etiquette lessons had their worth in the end. Katara only murmured a quick 'sorry Gran'.
"Apology accepted," Kanna said, straightening her back. "But if you disturb my story again, I'll send you out!" She threatened them, but her light tone gave her away. "Okay, so, where were we?" She turned to the children
"They fell in love," said the little girl who was sucking her thumb.
"Oh, yes…" Kanna sighed, then went on. "So they fell in love on that very first night, and after that, they met every night, always in secret, without being seen, because they knew that their love wouldn't be approved by her parents and the chief of his tribe."
This part of the story sounded eerily familiar to Zuko – it could have been easily about Katara and him during the early days of their courtship, when all they had were unseen touches and stolen kisses under the veil of the night, when no-one could see them.
"Meanwhile, during the daytime, the Northern chief courted the princess, but she always rejected him, because the only one she could think about was the young warrior. The Northern chief became suspicious, and told his fears that the princess had a secret to his father. At first, the Southern chief didn't want to believe him, but in the end he gave in, and promised the Northern chief that he would watch over his daughter during the night."
The children listened to Kanna in total silence, completely engrossed in the story. Zuko also kept silent, but slowly started to loose Kanna's train of thought. He had thought, when she had first started telling them this story, that it somehow corresponded with his and Katara's life. Well, the first part really did, but this…he wasn't that sure about it.
"And the Southern chief did so; he hid by his daughter's room, and when she left to meet the warrior, he followed her, and caught the young lovers when they met. He became very angry, and dragged the girl back to their home." Kanna continued, causing all the children gasp at the last part.
"The next morning the Southern chief called the whole tribe and their visitors together, and told them all of the princess' and the warrior's love, speaking of it with great anger. He forbade them to meet again, and, without caring about his daughter's wishes, he promised her hand to the Northern chief.
"The Northern delegate soon left, with the promise that the princess would arrive at their land not long after to marry the chief. As soon as the Northern ship disappeared on the horizon, both young lovers felt the pain of leaving the other in their souls; they had no joy left in the world anymore if they couldn't be with the one they loved."
This was the point where Zuko started to fear that the story would end with the lovers killing themselves – he had heard enough Fire Nation tales end that way. Thinking about it, he didn't know what he would have done if Hakoda hadn't let him marry Katara. Would he have lost all his reason and will to live? Would he have become bitter? Or would he have put aside what Hakoda had said, and eloped with Katara either way? Yes, he most likely would have done that; he could only hope that the lovers of this story would come to the same conclusion.
"But both of them had strong spirits," Kanna went on. "Soon after they had been torn apart, they realized that they couldn't live without each other, that they just couldn't let others rule their lives, telling them what to do." She cast a meaningful glance to Katara and Zuko's direction. "Now, pay attention, because the most important part is coming.
"So, they decided to find each other again, against the wishes of her father and his chief. On the very morning when her wedding dress was laid out to her and his ship reached the shores of the Northern Water Tribe, they both ran away, hoping to reach the other Pole, hoping to meet the other there.
"They didn't know that the other had also started this journey, and they most likely would have lost the other in this enormous world, did not the Spirits have mercy on them. They were impressed by the power of their love for each other, and decided to help them. They sent them dreams, leading them, showing them the right way, and they tried to keep harm out of their way, but even the great spirits couldn't keep them completely safe: bandits, greedy lords and ill-meaning spirits endangered their freedom and lives. So the spirits decided to give them another gift, to help them defend themselves: they showed them the way the Moon moved the oceans, and taught them how mimic her movements. The spirits taught the young lovers how to bend water."
There was a collective gasp erupting from the children; even Zuko found himself amazed. He didn't know if it had really happened this way, or was it just a story made up to entertain the youngsters, but either way, it was a fascinating story.
"Their journey was long and hard, with many challenges in their ways, but with the help of the spirits and their love for each other, they overcame all of them. And, in the end, they did find each other again, in the great wilderness of the Earth Kingdom jungle. Their reunion was sweet and long awaited for. They embraced under the shade of the trees, and on that very night, they vowed in front of the spirits that they would never live without each other again. They remained there for the rest of their lives, undisturbed in their love. Because darlings, they were not only the first waterbenders, but the founders of our sister tribe which today you might know as the people of the swamp." Gran concluded the story, and, for a moment, the children were stunned to silence.
Then hell broke out.
"And what happened after that?"
"Did they ever go home?"
"Did they have a lot of babies?"
"Were they really the first waterbenders?"
Gran just chuckled, raising her hands to silence the children; it took a few moments, but they ceased talking.
"Now, please tell me, what is this story teaching us?" She asked them, moving her gaze around the circle, her eyes resting on Katara and Zuko a moment longer than necessary.
Silence met her words. The children fidgeted uneasily, none of them knowing the answer – or, at least, none of them wanting to speak up. One little boy opened his mouth as if he wanted to speak, but he closed it just as quickly.
"It teaches us that true lover conquers every obstacle," Zuko heard a clear, strong voice to his right side; it was Katara who spoke. "The lovers could have given up, could have let go of each other, but instead they fought, welcomed every hardship thrown in their way, and overcame them. And, in the end, the other was their award." Her voice was calm, serene, and she squeezed Zuko's hand while she spoke, as if saying 'they were just like us'. And she was right, Zuko realized; so, after all, this story was really about them.
Kanna smiled fondly at her granddaughter.
"Exactly, my darling," she said, then turned to the children. "This is something you must remember, always. Life is hard, there's no denying here, but if you fight for what's precious for you, everything will worth it in the end, and even life won't seem that hard." She finished, moving her all-knowing gaze around the circle again. Then she massaged her own hands, crackling the knuckles, and started to get up. "That's for today, my dears; this old head doesn't have anymore tales to tell you."
The children started speaking again, louder and louder, trying to make their voice heard over the racket, begging for only one more story. Kanna tried to calm them down, but her voice lost in the hubbub.
In the end, what silenced them was the bonfire in the middle of the room flaring up for a moment, the flames almost touching the ceiling. A little boy got so scared that, while trying to flinch away from the fire, he fell back, his legs sticking up to the air quite comically.
"I'll tell you a story, if it's okay with you," said Zuko when he was finally sure that his voice would be heard. It was a spur of a moment decision; it's not that he was a great story teller, no, he was quite the opposite. But while Kanna spoke an old Fire Nation folk tale came into his mind, one he had heard when he had been a small child himself – had it been Ursa who told him it? He couldn't remember -, one that, after a small editing, could serve as a great counterpart to Kanna's story. And, after all, these children wanted only one more story.
Kanna smiled at him encouragingly.
"Well, then go on, we don't have the whole day," she urged him teasingly. He took a deep breath, stealing a glance at all the eager faces around him. When he hesitated a moment too long, Katara leaned in and pressed her lips to his cheek.
"Okay, so…" he started, trying to figure out how to start. "A long-long time ago – but not that long ago as Lady Kanna's story – there was this king."
"What was he the king of?" The thumb-sucking little girl interrupted him.
"Well… well, it's doesn't really matter, you see," he shuttered. "He could have been the king of Ba Sing Se, or he could have been the Fire Lord, or…"
"Or the chief of the Southern Water Tribe?" The little girl cut in again.
"Exactly!" Zuko said, rubbing the back of his neck. Next to him Katara was gently shaking with suppressed laughter. Apparently, unlike Kanna, he wasn't determined enough in storytelling to prevent the children always interrupting him. "Okay, so he was a king – the king of Doesn't Matter, okay? He was a good ruler, I mean he could have been a good ruler, but he had a great problem."
Despite his obvious lack of skill in storytelling, the children seemed to hanging on his every word, leaning towards him. He could also feel Kanna's oh-so-annoyingly wise gaze on him.
"What was his problem?" Asked somebody from his left.
"Well, you see, he just couldn't find any pleasure in living anymore. He couldn't see the beauty of the world around him. He-" Despite being in the middle of his sentence, he was, again, interrupted.
"But why was he this way?" This time it was the girl clinging to Katara, leaning over her lap to get a better view of Zuko.
"Well, I think – if I remember well -, it was because he'd lost his brother. Or was it his wife?" He questioned himself.
"Gran Gran," a little boy on her side tugged at Kanna's sleeve. "Why is he telling a story when he can't even remember it?" He 'whispered' loud enough for everybody to hear, making several members of his audience – Katara amongst them – chuckle.
He cleared his throat.
"Alright, so he was completely miserable because he had lost his brother," he put extra emphasis on the last word, trying to get at least a part of his dignity back and making it clear that it was his story, and so they should listen to him (all his 'civilized' arguments with his councilmen were paying off at last). "They always had been really close, growing up together, having no secrets, so his death had really touched him – broken him, really. After his funeral he had become bitter, miserable; he was always angry and unsatisfied. If somebody dared to disturb him, he would snap at him, often sending him to prison. He hardly ate and slept, and didn't care a bit about his country. He would just sit in his room, looking out of the window, thinking. He had only one goal left: he wanted to bring his brother back, no matter what the price was." While Kanna was calm, almost stoic when she was recalling a story, Zuko gestured wildly. When talking about what the king was going to do, he swung his arm so vehemently that he almost knocked the boy sitting next to him over. There he paused for a short moment and looked sheepishly at the shocked boy – after all, the arm of the Fire Lord had almost collided with his face only moments ago -, took a blink-long break, then continued from where stopped, but cutting his gestures back a little bit.
"Months and years went by, and his kingdom slowly started to wither. It was mostly led by his advisors, who only thought about themselves; they introduced new taxes, new laws, just to fill their own treasuries, and gave back nothing to the people. All around the country people were starving, yet the king did nothing. He didn't even realize it. For him, only one thing remained in sight: reaching the spirit world and bringing his brother back.
"His people started to loose all hope. They were angry, but weak and hungry; they didn't dare to risk a rebellion. So, in the end, they decided to send a delegation to the king's palace, to speak with him, to make him see what he was doing to his people."
He took a moment-long break, enjoying all the eager faces turning to him, hanging on his every word. And anyway, the best part was coming and he was really getting into this story telling business.
"When the delegation arrived at the palace, the king refused to see them right away. He only sent out his servants, telling them to wait for him. He was busy; he didn't have time for them. Every day, the head of the delegation would ask when the king would see them, and the servant would answer: 'tomorrow, my lord, tomorrow'. But, of course, the next day the same thing happened.
"A fortnight went by, and nothing had changed. The king didn't even spare a moment for the people who had come to see him. But then one fine morning, as he passed by the room where the members of the delegation were enjoying their breakfast, he peeked inside, without being seen. There, inside this room, he saw somebody who seemed to warm his ice-cold heart up."
He took another small break, just to create a little suspense.
"Who did he see?" Asked the thumb-sucking little girl. She was so lost in the story that she even forgot to put her thumb back into her mouth. Katara giggled beside Zuko.
"It seems like you have a new admirer, Zuzu," she whispered into his ear teasingly, pressing a kiss to his cheek. He wanted to come up with a witty comeback, but that had never been his forte. So, he simply went on with the story.
"It was a young girl, daughter of the head of the delegation. She was a frail little thing, with thin waist, pale skin, big eyes and thick, dark hair down to her hips. The king found her the loveliest creature in the world, but also the saddest. As she ate, she cast her eyes down, not speaking a word, hardly eating anything, only picking at her food.
"The king wanted to forget her. He retreated to his chambers again, searching for the way to bring his brother back, still refusing to see his people. But as the days went by, the picture of the sad girl found its was back to his mind again and again. He thought about how her eyes were shimmering with sadness and how the corners of her full lips turned downwards. He remembered the elegant slope of her neck and her long, slender fingers. No matter how much he wanted to forget her, he simply couldn't.
"Then one day, as the king looked out of the window of his bedchamber he saw the young girl in the gardens below, amongst the colorful flowers, sitting on a low bench, all alone. Looking at her, the king decided to go down to her and talk with her."
Zuko stopped for a moment again; he was nearing to the most important part of the story, but he didn't know exactly how to present it.
"So, he went down to the gardens, approached the girl, and, without asking, he sat down next to her. First, the king didn't know what to say to this girl, and she didn't speak either, only stared ahead, seemingly not even realizing that the king sat next to her. Then, after a minute or two, the king got tired of waiting, and spoke to the girl. 'Who are you, and why are you so sad?' he asked, not softly at all. In fact, rather rudely. And she, well, she… Ah…" He broke of, suddenly loosing his train of thought. He lifted his free hand up to massage the back of his neck. Now, how to continue?
"And what happened after that? What did she say?" A little boy on Kanna's left side spoke up, apparently thinking that Zuko's break was a moment longer than necessary. Kanna gently slapped him on the back of his head, just to remind him not to talk when he is not supposed to.
"She said that she was sad because her family was slowly dying," Katara came to his rescue, smiling softly. He looked at her questioningly – did she know the story, too? She seemed to understand his unspoken question, because she simply shrugged and said: "Well, it's only logical."
Zuko smiled back at her – their little exchange didn't go unnoticed, of course; some girls giggled, while a few of the boys made gagging sounds. Zuko paid no attention to them and went on with the story with a new go.
"So, she said that she was unhappy because her family was starving, and she was afraid that she would loose them. The king really felt for her, so he offered her to take in her whole family. He said that they could live in his palace and they would never have to worry about anything again. 'But what will happen to the people of my village? Would you let them die?' she said. The king furrowed his brows. 'Why would you care about them?' he asked, but the girl didn't answer, only got up and left him there without another word.
"From that day, the king always looked for the opportunity to spend time with the girl. Slowly, he developed a new goal: he wanted to see her smile, laugh even. Every day he would seek her out in the gardens, offering her magnificent gifts – exotic foods, jewels, rare books, anything you can imagine. But the girl wanted none of them. 'And what will happen to my village? What will happen to your country? Would you let them die?' She would always ask when the king came to her.
"One day the king had enough. She ordered the girl to his rooms and cornered her there. 'What do you want from me?' He asked her, his voice rising, his anger and frustration bringing the worst out of him forward. "Name it – and it shall be yours. Just be mine.' He said finally, almost begging. The girl only looked at him, unafraid, and the spoke defiantly. 'I have told you so many times, every day since you've been courting me, but you have never seemed to hear it.' She turned her gaze down and added quietly, almost sadly. 'You seem to hear nothing but what you yourself say." And with that she left the room without another word, the king staring after her hopelessly.
"The next day, the delegation left the palace. After their confrontation, the girl convinced her father that it was pointless to wait for the king, since he would do nothing to help them anyway; they could do more good at home.
"After they left, the king fell into great depression. Nothing moved him when he couldn't be the girl whom he had come to love. Not even the longing to see his brother again could match the longing to see the girl again. All day he would just wander around his palace, visiting all the places where he had met the girl. Then, after a fortnight, he realized: his brooding didn't make any good anyone; he just had to do something, something other than thinking about that girl and trying to bring his brother back. And, he realized, that was exactly what the girl wanted him to do."
"What was that?" spoke one of the girls near Kanna. "What did the girl want?"
Zuko smiled at her. "Wait a minute; I am getting there.
"So he left his rooms and sat on his throne again, calling his advisors together. In mere months, he repaired all the damage he had done in the pervious months by his negligence. In a year's time, his country was prospering again."
A collective gasps escaped from his audience. Alright, so he had warmed up a little bit – storytelling, he concluded, was much like delivering a speech to his council. You just had to get a little practice and know where you were heading.
"Is this the end?" A girl asked him from somewhere to his right, somewhat disappointed. "If it is, then it's not a good one." She huffed, crossing her arms; some chuckled at her behavior.
"No, it's not the end. There's still a little bit of the story left to tell," Zuko said, smiling slightly. He wouldn't have thought when he started this story that he would end up enjoying it this much. "A year later, during the fruitful harvest season, the king visited the village of the girl for whom his heart was burning."
"I told you this king was a firebender after all," a boy told his friend sitting next to him loud enough for everybody to hear. "Since his heart was burning and all that stuff."
Zuko managed to bit back his chuckle, but he felt Katara beside him shake with silent laughter.
"Okay, so he went to the girl he was in love with," he continued, "He stood before her, and told her that he had figured out what she had meant, what she had wanted, and that he did it, just for her, just to make her happy. Then he told her that he knew that he didn't deserve anybody's love, because of his deeds, because of that he had forgotten his real task, but he loved her and wanted to be with her. He wanted her, the girl who had made him see his sins; he wanted to be with her. He wanted her to be his queen."
By then, most of the girls were looking at him with wide, dreamy eyes, while some of the boys were steadily loosing interest. But he hardly saw them – he had eyes only for Katara.
"He went down to his knees in front of her, begging her to go with him, promising her everything: that he would never forget his nation and his people again, that he would be a good king, that he would he love her till the end of times. Then, to his utter surprise, the girl sank to the ground too, and pulled him softly against herself, soothing him, telling him how proud she was of him, and that yes, she would follow him back to his palace and become his wife. And, well… this is the end of the story."
He felt that the ending was a little bit awkward, but he honestly couldn't care less. After all, he had the woman of his dreams sitting next him, looking up into his eyes lovingly, their hands intertwined – the world could have ended, he wouldn't have noticed it.
"And they lived happily ever after?" it was the thumb-sucking girl again, though by this point she had completely forgotten to put her thumb back into her mouth.
Zuko was about to answer her that really, it didn't work that way, because even though the king wanted to marry the girl, he first had to defeat his advisors who were dead set on not letting in happen, and that there were still ones who were not happy with the king and wanted to end him, and that there always were and always will be problems, problems to face and come over, and anyway, there was no such thing as 'happily ever after', since everybody dies one day, but Katara was quicker.
"Why of course," she told the little girl, "Aren't all good stories end that way?"
"Now, that this story is over," Kanna clapped her hands together, drawing everybody's attention to herself, "I would like to ask you what is this story teaching us?"
Unlike when Kanna asked this question at the end of the other story, now several children started talking at the same time, almost every one of them wanting to speak his or her mind. Kanna clapped again, several times, trying to make them stop talking. Zuko used the moment of chaos to steal a sweet, chaste kiss from Katara.
It took Kanna a full minute to calm the children down. When they quieted, she asked them the same question again, only this time asking them to raise their hands if they had something to say. At least a dozen of hands flew to the air at the exact same moment. Kanna moved her gaze around them, looking surprisingly smug, then pointed at a boy who was missing his front teeth, allowing him to speak.
"Well, I think it teaches us that we should never, ever forget what we had to do. Because, I mean, that king forgot that he had to care about his people, and everybody ended up starving, unhappy and hating him. And that's not nice." He concluded. Kanna nodded approvingly, then nodded to the direction of a very enthusiastic-looking girl, who was almost falling over in her endeavor to make Kanna notice her.
"The moral of the story is that love can change us in a good way," she sputtered. "I mean, he was a really, really bad king, not caring about his people, then this girl came around, and suddenly he wanted to do everything just to win her over. So he suddenly became good, because he had to be good for the girl to love him, and he started caring about his people and forgetting this silly obsession of his to bring his brother back and all. And then the girl loved him, too, so everything ended well." She said, with a silly smile on her face. She was also brave enough to turn her head to Zuko's direction for a moment; as soon as her gaze fell on him, an adorable blush colored her cheeks. Katara chuckled beside Zuko again.
"Very good, my dears," Kanna said smiling, slowly getting up, "But I think it's time we parted. We've had enough stories for a night, and anyway, this old mind of mine is simply unable to bring up any more of them tonight. And it's also getting late, so shoo, run home, before your parents start to worry about you!"
This caused quite an opposition ('But Gran!', 'How can you tell that it's getting late, when the sky has been dark for a days?', 'Just one more story, please, pretty please!'), but the children started to slowly get up as well, milling out of the building.
Zuko thought that they were going to stay in the building with Kanna for a little while, talk with her, maybe escort the old woman home, but to his utter surprise Katara grabbed his hand and started to pull him up from the floor, leading him out of the building. She quickly said good-bye to her grandmother over her shoulder, and – this didn't escape Zuko's notice – shared a secretive smile with her. Kanna raised her hand encouragingly and Katara's smiled turned sheepish.
This pretty much seemed like the two Water Tribe women knew something he did not, and it pretty much unnerved him. Experience told him that secrets like this usually didn't end well.
Katara lead him through the still busy main square of the city, occasionally stopping at a small alcove or side of a house hid by shadows, just to share a few kisses, like they were teenagers again, hiding from curious eyes, sharing something that was only half-accepted, half-admitted. They didn't stop in the city, even though Zuko had half a mind going back to the house where they were staying, especially to their bedroom, to snuggle up under the heavy furs that served as their bed, pressing, merging their bodies together, but Katara kept going straight towards the small hills surrounding it, going up their sides, breaking the surface of the untouched snow on them, always pulling Zuko with herself.
When they reached the top of the hill, he saw it: way above their heads, in its parade of colors, the Southern Lights was shining brilliantly. Zuko let out a low whistle; it hadn't been the first time he saw the Lights, but it still amazed him.
"It seems like the spirits are having the party of the year tonight," he told Katara softly, as he settled down beside her in the snow.
"Do you think Yue is there amongst them?"
Zuko didn't known Yue personally, but he had heard enough stories of her from Katara and Sokka.
"Sure," he answered putting an arm around her shoulders; "she's right there, can you see?" he pointed at a blur of almost-white-blue on the sky. "I am sure she's dancing with the handsomest spirit, just to make Sokka jealous."
The joke was weak and pointless, but Katara chuckled nonetheless, leaning her head on his shoulder. They sat like that for minutes, not saying a word, just enjoying each other's company. Zuko kept rubbing Katara's arm, while she played with the tie of his parka absent-mindedly.
"You were amazing today, you know that, right?" she said at last, turning her gaze on him.
"Really?" He asked, not really knowing what she meant.
"Uh-m," she turned back to the tie, twirling it around her finger. "No matter what you say, you're good with kids. The ones back in the community house completely adored you, and," she chuckled, pulling back his sleeve a little bit to reveal the beaded bracelet on his wrist, "I can see that they aren't the only ones. When did you get this?"
"This afternoon; but don't ask me who gave it to me. Three girls. I can point them out, but I can't remember their names even is you water whip me."
She let out an adorable laugh.
"Oh, Zuko!" She sighed, and Zuko could practically feel the smile in her voice. She reached out for his wrist, bringing it closer to her eyes. Zuko saw what she wanted to do and lit a small fire in his other hand, providing her some light. Katara inspected every single bead, trying to decipher what was written on them.
"Strength… Luck… Sun… Moon… And what's this? Bird?" She giggled.
"No, I think that is supposed to be 'family', it's just a little bit sloppy," he reassured her.
"Okay, so family, that's even better," she smiled. "And fertility. Oh La…" She laughed. Zuko didn't know what was so funny about that.
"Yes, and there are also things like safe journey here, which is good, because all that ice in the water around here unnerves me a little."
"You weren't afraid of it when you first came here years ago." She pointed out.
"When I came here first years ago I wasn't afraid of a lot of things I should have," he retorted. "And anyway, using your words, back then I was an idiot.
"That's true. But tell me more about the girls who gave you this," she pulled at the bracelet, having finished reading the characters on it.
"They were nice enough," he shrugged, putting out his fire. "You know, child-like; short, giggling, with long hair and high voices. And they asked for a hug."
Katara laughed whole-heartedly at this, throwing her head back, almost falling backwards.
"And what did you do?" She asked when she regained her composure.
"I hugged them," he said nonchalantly.
Katara pulled herself onto his lap, and encircled his neck with her arms, leaning close; Zuko's hands found their place on her waist on their own.
"You're getting soft," she said, kissing his forehead, temple, smooth cheek, nose, and finally, his scar. Zuko softly moaned in appreciation, pulling Katara closer to him.
"Well, someone is making sure I am getting soft. And sometimes hard, for that matter," he couldn't help but add this little innuendo. Before Katara could have answered something witty, he pressed his lips to hers, kissing her thoroughly.
When they finally pulled apart, Katara rested her forehead against his, their noses almost touching, gazes intertwined. They sat like that for minutes, none of them saying anything.
"You are going to be a great father, Zuko," she breathed at last.
Zuko cringed at her words a little – nothing could erase the shadow of Ozai from his soul -, but kept his composure.
"Maybe, one day," he closed the small distance between their mouths and gave her a chaste kiss; the moment was too perfect, he didn't want to ruin it by arguing with her over the matter. "As long as you are there by my side, slapping me when I do something wrong."
Katara smiled sweetly, if not a little nervously at him, and he felt her playing with his hair, now pulled into a short ponytail behind his neck, twirling the strands around her fingers. It was a nice, soothing feeling.
"Well…" Katara started, somewhat uneasily. "I don't want to freak you out, or get your hopes up, but that day might be a lot closer than you think." Her smile, what remained on her face all along, turned a kind of secretive, like she was telling him a huge secret, a secret just the two of them were supposed to know.
"Wait a minute. What are you…" He started, but his mind started to put the things together already. Katara wanting to talk to her Gran that morning. Kanna's knowing smile she had given them. Katara praising him about how he had behaved around children. Katara asking him about the girls who had given him the bracelet. Katara telling him that that day might be closer than… "Are we… I mean, are you… are you pregnant?" He stuttered out at last.
"Well, I think I am," she said, still smiling, still seeming nervous a little. "Gran thinks too, but it's not sure yet. It's too early to say for sure."
To say that Zuko was stunned would be an understatement. He let himself fall back, his back hitting the snow with a soft thud, pulling Katara with himself.
"Wow… it's just… wow…" That was all he could say.
He shouldn't have been that surprised after all: they had been married for half a year already; it was bound to happen sooner or later. And he couldn't say that it was a bad thing, either. Sooner or later he did have to produce a heir or two – spirits, how business-like and cruel it sounded now, that it was possible that Katara was carrying his child – to carry on his line, and according to his council, sooner was better than later. And he did mean what he had just told Katara: as long as he had her with him, he could make it work. Yes, he could raise his child. And anyway, hadn't he just thought earlier that day that how nice – what nice, wonderful – it would be when in a few years Katara and he had a child? Maybe a dark-skinned little girl with big, blue eyes…
He tightened his grip on her, pulling her flush against his body, burying his face in her curls, inhaling her scent.
"I think it's a good thing, after all," he said at last. He could only hope that he didn't offend Katara by saying this – after all, pregnant women can be rather moody, at least he had heard so -, but his fear evaporated as soon as he felt Katara chuckle in his arms.
"That's all you can say?" she asked, rolling off of him, lying next to him, propping her chin on his chest.
"I could say a million more things, but right now, that's all I can voice," he answered, trying to solve the puzzle his mind had become in the last few minutes.
"But… are you happy?" Her voice wavered for the first time. He could only imagine what was going on in her head in that moment. She was not only uncertain about her own body, but about his thoughts as well.
He fixed his gaze on the parade of colors above them for a moment, speaking to them.
"I am. At least I think so. I… I still have to get used to the idea, I think."
Katara laughed again.
"What an odd pair we are, I must say: both of us so uncertain about things we should be certain about."
This was so true and absurd that it made Zuko laugh as well.
They spent a few more minutes there, just laying the snow, not saying a word. Slowly, Zuko's hand found its way to Katara's belly, touching it through her parka. Was there really a baby inside? Katara said it wasn't sure yet, that it was still too early to tell, but… He could have sworn that he felt it now. Not the baby itself, as it moved inside Katara's womb, but something different, some power, something that was almost warmth coming from his beloved. So there really was a baby inside, he was sure. The idea was just so scary and amazing and… and he couldn't even put it into words.
When their moment of serenity was over, Zuko got up, gently helping Katara to her feet as well.
"I think we should go back to the town; it's really cold out here, and I wouldn't want you to catch a cold. Especially since… well, especially now." He didn't say it out loud. It was still too new to be said out loud.
Katara didn't argue with him; she could have told him that after all, she was the one who had grown up here, and that he had bigger chances of getting a cold than she had, but she kept silent. She wouldn't bicker with him; not no. She only nodded, and let him put his hand on the small of her back, as if to steady her.
As they were walking down the hill, but before the Southern Lights would have disappeared behind its peak, Zuko stopped for a moment and looked back once more at the wild array of colors painting the sky, the spirits dancing in the night and sent them a silent prayer.
Please, let everything be alright. Please, don't let me turn into my father. Please, protect my family.
Then, taking Katara's hand in his, he led her back to the city.
A/N: Gosh, it's finally finished :D It's just took me like… forever :) A little bit of explanation: in the beginning I wrote about several Water Tribe villages because I can't imagine that Katara's village is all that's left in the South – mostly because in the first episode, it has only about a dozen inhabitants, but when Sokka finally meets up with his father, there are, I don't know, at least fifty warriors (they have several ships, at least). Thinking rationally, if Katara's was the only village in the South, there couldn't have been more than a dozen warriors in the Water Tribe 'army'. So my theory is that there are actually more smaller villages in that area, all sending some men to the war :P
Keelut: In Inuit mythology, Keelut is an evil chthonic spirit who resembles a hairless dog. (Source: Wikipedia)
I know that in the show it's said the Waterbenders learned bending from the Moon, but I hope that my version is okay for a fanfic's length :) And who says that they can't have more than one versions of it? :p I mean, for example the Greeks have two version of the birth of Aphrodite.
Lastly, I hope I didn't butcher the that much and you have liked it :) Thank you for reading!
Orlissa