Depressed, Departed
Castle of Flames:
Zuko was depressed, angry and all those unpleasant emotions rolled up into one. He stood in his room staring out fire shaped window with it's red tinted glass when he heard the whimper of a tiny child. His child. When the war had ended 2 years ago his father had been killed and he had returned to the Fire Nation, becoming the Fire Lord and knocking some sense into his corrupted sister, Azula. But one night, a little more than a year ago he had gone out and hadn't come back till late morning. He could only guess what had happened that night, for he had been only partially conscious and knew nothing. And then a child showed up by his door with a note saying it was his. He had done some research and realized the child could have easily been concieved the night of his outing. So now he sat in his little son's room racking his brain for something about the mother.
'She couldn't be of the Fire Nation,' he thought for the thousandth time. She couldn't be, for the child's eyes were blue and most in the Fire Nation had amber or brown eyes, the occasional greenish-grey popping up here or there but almost never blue. Then he went over the two nations that could have blue eyes commonly. Air and Water. There were only four of the Air Temple, and the only female being grey of eye and a mere 7 years old. 'Out of the question,' thought Zuko again for the thousandth time, for this thought went in circles in his head all the time. So the mother must be of the Water Tribes. And seeing as the Northern Water Tribes still had huge laws about marriage, she must be from the Southern Tribes. Now he would narrow it down to the few Southern Water Tribe girls he had ever met. He knew only of one, and knew it couldn't be her and yet it seemed possible.
Zuko pushed this thought away, as he always did, once he got that far and began to write in his journal or decree laws and such. Some of the time he would distract himself with his son. Roku, was the baby's name, named for the Avatar before Aang. Zuko agreed that it fit. He walked over to his sleeping son, and sighed when he saw the innoscent little face. The little boy was a bastard, but Zuko hated calling him that so he preferred the much longer use of "Born out of love, not wedlock." But that didn't make anything better, for Zuko didn't even know his son's mother, let alone love her. Zuko sighed and said to the sleeping child, "One day soon we will find your mother, and then...then we'll go from thier."
Then a voice from the door. "Fire Lord Zuko? Are you in there," came an all to familiar voice.
"Yes, Uncle. How did you guess," asked Zuko in a monotone, but slightly humorous way.
Retired General Iroh stepped into the room. "Fire Lord," he said with mock disdain, "I have scarcely left your side since you were 14. I believe 4 years is enough to be able to guess what my nephew will do sometimes. So tell me, Young Fire Lord, why do you seem so depressed when you enter this room?"
Zuko's temper flared. "I am not depressed,"he yelled at his uncle. Zuko's fists simultaneously burst into flames. Zuko threw the fire balls with amazing force at the steel, and succeeded in creating a very black scorch mark. Zuko turned back to his uncle, trying to control his irritation.
"Very well, Fire Lord,"said General Iroh. "So your angry then?"
"How can I not be angry," Zuko yelled. "The Fire Lord's 4 month old son is a bastard! I'm ashamed and he's not even old enough to know he was shamed since he was born," Zuko stopped and added, "whenever that was."
Iroh sighed, and said, "Fire Lord, you must be content for now. Your Nation is still quite fragile in it's healing state. The people are getting used to new laws, and many are still thinking they should let your sister rule, even though the doctors say she's mentally unstable."
Zuko sighed. He knew he had to put his nation first and that he was being selfish in wanting to travel the world looking for his son's mother. "All right, Uncle. I don't need a lecture. I know the Fire Nation needs me more now then my son these days. But one day I sware I will find her," he declared.
"Yes, Fire Lord Zuko you do that," mused Iroh, "Now come, your wanted in the negotiation room." The Uncle and nephew walked out of the room, but Zuko didn't leave without saying a word of peace to the sleeping child.
"Silence, and the sound of water."
IIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEESSSSSSSSEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYY
7 months later at the Southern Air Temple:
The wind was blowing hard and fast. But not naturally of course. A 14 year-old Aang taught two students how to control the wind. "Now it's like catching a large, slippery ball. Bend your legs, spread your arms and...," Aang was carried off by an updraft of wind, then he used his glider to manuever himself back onto the ground, "your carried off," finished Aang. "Why don't you give it a try, Yuki," suggested Aang, while pointing at his female student. She looked astonished at being called upon, for normally master Aang called upon her senpai, Chui, to try new things. Yuki was 7 and had soft gray hair and eyes, which were, at the moment, wide with astonishment.
"But Master Aang," she protested in her small voice, "shoudn't Chui try new things before myself. He is older." She tryed to look as though she were being kindly, letting him have first turn, but Aang wasn't fooled.
"Come on Yuki," he said with amused laughter in his voice. "Why are you afraid? I chose you because you had the most spirit, of all the children in front of my eyes, you just need to show it more. Now go get your glider." Yuki flitted off to get her glider, as instructed. Aang sighed. Only two kids of ten villages had beheld a child with enough spirit to become an Airbender. Chui had been composured and swift as an arctic hawk, and Aang often saw him watching those creatures that resembled him. And Yuki, Yuki was different. She wanted to fly, but simply did not have the courage to do so. But Aang would give her that courage, and he wanted to see her fly.
"Aang!"
Aang turned around to see who was calling him. It was Katara. She was riding on the back of a giant blue Arctic Owl that Aang had given her for a present last year. Apparently the little chick Aang had given her was not so little anymore. The band of three saw alot less of each other nowadays but they liked to get together for birthdays and such. Katara was a Master Waterbender in the North Pole and Sokka was rebuilding the South Pole. Sokka had a flying creature as well, one of the last flying bison other than Appa, a female named Kipcha.
"Katara! What are you doing here?"
"I came to see you," she said as her bird landed. "Oh that's a good boy," she crooned to the oversized owl. "Just rest your wings mighty flier, Sukoyomaru." And the owl flew off. Aang ran up to Katara, yelling something about how he didn't know that the little chick would get so big. "It's good to see you as well." She gave the classic anime smile, and asked how he was.
"I'm fine. Yuki is getting her glider so we can see if she can catch the wind. She is really talented, but..." Aang trailed off, seeing the expression on Katara's face. He had no idea what was going on in her mind.(A/N:But the author of this fic does)But the look on her face made Aang feel like he did when he found out the monk he had been closest to had been killed by Firebenders. The hard icy feeling of loss that grips your heart and tears it apart. He was just wondering what she had lost.
She had lost part of herself. Physically and emotionally. Her child whom she'd carried for nine monthes was now the Prince of the Fire Nation. Zuko may not have remembered thier night together but she did. She had seen a drunken Zuko sprawled in Fire Nation streets. She knew how much this could hurt his reputation, so she had brought him to her room at an Inn named The Flaming Night Mare. She had wanted the best for Zuko because she knew after what his father had done Zuko would try his hardest to be as little like him as possible.
She had laid him on her bed and as she had been making sure he was comfortable she fell on top of the Fire Lord. This had brought him into a state of slight consiousness, and he rolled over, trapping her underneath. His actions were unexplainable even to him. He had undressed himself all while keeping a struggling Katara underneath. It was like being raped by a zombie. o.0
But once Zuko's clothes came off Katara's struggles became less and less true. She had began to admire his trim body and eventually she gave herself up to him. And they became closer and closer until they were one.(A/N:If I may be so blunt) Katara never knew sex could be so fun, and...enchanting. Her logic was gone and she had thoroughly enjoyed this new experience. But once Zuko had fallen asleep she had redressed and left her money on the Inn bed's headboard. She was no longer a virgin.
It wasn't long after she found out she was pregnant and for 5 monthes she had become a hermit. She had given birth to her child alone and in pain. A healthy baby boy whom she had named Roku, after the Avatar before Aang. But Katara had had no intention of being a hermit forever. So she made up her mind to give the child to his father where he would live a life undaunted by the trials of her own life.
And there she had left baby Roku, barely even half a month old, in Fire Nation territory at the foot of the Fire Nation castle. It caused her heartbreak, and a feeling of loss. But when she met up with her owl, whom she had neglected for almost a year, she named him and they formed a bond of child and mother(for Sukoyomaru, for being so big was still quite young), and she felt a little less heartbreak. But there was still a gaping hole.
So she went around telling her friends that she had been training for a year in secret in the North Pole, to...how did she put it? "Harnessing the moon's power and savoring it through the day," then a quick explaination, "so my Waterbending is always at it's fullest potential."
"Umm, Katara," Aang interrupted her thoughts, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she lied, accompanied with another classic anime smile which fools everybody, "Just glad to be here and I was thinking about all those crazy adventures we used to have with Zuko chasing after us."
"Oh,"said Aang, satisfied. Then Yuki came back dragging a glider with blue and silver markings. Personally made for her.
"Master Aang, I'm ready," she called.
"Ok," he called back, and then he turned to Katara, "Come on, let's watch Yuki try her hand at gliding."
"Okay,"said Katara. For the rest of the day she pretended to be intent on the gliding lesson. But in truth her mind was with son, and the Fire Lord.
TBC
A/N:Okay, first AtLA fic but I love the show and like to read it's fics so i wanted to write one. And don't be mad if the feelings of sex are different from the ones you feel(if your not a virgin), just blame my virginity!
