Here is an update in celebration of the Summer Session being over. I do not own Avatar.
Zuko opened his eyes from his meditation and looked around. The sky was a faint pink in the pre-dawn. The trees and hills were grey in the twilight. The sun would rise momentarily, filling the sky with all the glory of the Fire God. Zuko had been meditating on Agni's orders all night, unsure how he was going to fulfill them. He knew he had to obey the Great Dragon if he ever wanted to regain his honor, but being obedient to a spirit was a difficult concept. Especially when he didn't know if it was a dream or a vision. Could he have made it all up?
He looked at the young, sleeping waterbender and frowned. It wasn't her fault he was in this predicament, but her existence certainly did not help him. Staring at her, he began to wonder about her. The things she liked, her fondest memories, her favorite color. It didn't matter, but he was still curious. He realized something as he watched her breathe, she was young. Her smooth, dark face was beautiful, but youthful. Her body did not tell the tale of a woman, but of a girl who had just reached her maidenhood. She was a child herself, how old was she? He stole her innocence, he was stealing her life.
He shook his head, her age did not matter. It changed nothing. Not what had been done and not want the Great Dragon had ordered to be done. This was not going to be pleasant. He was young himself when his life was forever changed. Now, he was still only sixteen and would be the Fire Lord before the end of the year if the Avatar was able to defeat his father before the comet arrived. The idea to join the Avatar and defeat his father was a strange and surreal notion. He almost felt guilty, as if that would truly make him a traitor, but he would obey the dragon. He knew his father was not honorable and had lost the favor of Agni before he even ascended the throne when he began to disrespect the spirits. Eventually, he stopped regarding them as real.
"Why must I always wake up to this blasted sun?" The girl moaned, throwing her arm over her eyes. Zuko bit back a chuckle. The girl was still unaware of her surroundings. Her voice brought back his ponderings to what he must do. This was going to be a difficult day. "Where am I?" Katara rubbed her eyes, looking around. Her gaze fell on him and she stared at him evenly, "Why did you bring me here?" Her voice was even and calculating.
"I have to restore my honor. Stand up." The Fire Prince said, standing up. He looked at the girl impatiently.
Understanding dawned on her face. She was possibly pregnant with the Fire Prince's child. That would cause his honor to be brought into question. After all, a Fire Lord could not have any bastard children. The only way she could think of him preventing this was to take care of the problem. "What? So you can kill me?"
His eyes widened and his jaw clenched, "Just get up."
"Please, let me go back to my brother and friends. I won't tell. I will keep it to myself, no one will ever know who the father of my child is. Please, don't kill the baby. I beg of you!" She began to cry, pleading helplessly for the life growing inside her, as well as for her own. She knew that she was no match for the angry Fire Prince without her element readily available. She could draw water from her surroundings, but it wouldn't be enough. She began to blabber and barter for her life. He continued to just stare at her, not thinking that she would beg like this.
"Oh, stop it girl. No one is going to die today." Zuko finally said, impatiently, "Now stand up before I make you."
She stood up slowly, not wanting to be manhandled by the young man. "How do you intend to restore your honor then?" She asked, her voice was sharp and annoyed. Why was she here if he did not intend on killing her?
"There is no honor in taking the life of an innocent girl, Katara."He said the words with obvious confliction, thinking of the day his face was burned. She nodded slowly and waited for him to answer her question.
"Anciently in my culture, only husbands and wives bore children. I believe it is a custom of the Water Tribes to be virgin on your wedding night, correct? I will marry you to restore both our honor." The young man said, shrugging, and began to walk away from the confused waterbender.
Something about the nonchalant manner in which he said those words infuriated Katara and she summoned all of the water from the ground and sky around her, throwing ice draggers toward him with a scream. He turned and side-stepped the attack in a swift motion, glaring at the girl menacingly for her actions. He forced himself to take a deep breath and visibly calmed, "I will not fight the woman who carries my child." He walked toward her and grabbed her by both wrists, "Do not make this more difficult than it must be, peasant." He pulled her behind him, ignoring her struggles and angry cries.
"Wait, wait! I will not marry you. In the Earth Kingdom, the woman must consent. I will not marry you." She dug her heels into the ground. He turned to glance at the girl, her slender wrists still gathered into his larger hands.
"I thought you were worried about your survival and that of the child. You and the child will die if you are not married. Your tribe will be sure of it, peasant. I know your history and customs." He stated very quietly. He did not know these things until the spirit of the great dragon surrounded him.
"I will not be the wife to a spoiled Fire Nation noble! Your nation practices multiple wives, concubinage, and mistresses. I will not sit by while my husband sleeps with other women. I will only marry someone who loves and cherishes me." She said stubbornly. She had not really thought about how her tribe would react. He was right, her tribe had an ancient law that a woman caught with child without a husband was turned out and shunned. In the coldness of the poles, the law always resulted in death. It was an ancient law though; surely they would not still practice it.
The Fire Prince stiffened, before again forcing himself to calm. "There is no honor in the practices you speak of. As the future Fire Lord, I will restore honor to my nation. I will lead by example. I will only have and keep one wife. I will not sleep with anyone but her."
"They will never allow a watertribe girl to be married to the Fire Lord." She snapped, thinking she had thrown the final blow that would end the argument. She continued to struggle against his strong grip. He was beginning to hurt her and she knew she would have bruises the shape of his hands.
He smiled at that, "As Fire Lord, I can have any woman I want. If they question it, I will call it a political arrangement. What does it matter to you?" He started walking again, pulling her along easily with him.
She struggled against his grip in one last effort to release herself, but he was still too strong. "This comes back to it, I will not marry someone who does not love me and who I do not love."
"You think I want a marriage without love, respect, honor? I am not happy about this either, peasant, but it is the only way to restore my honor and yours. I intend to love you some day and I hope you will learn to love me as well. At the moment love is not important. You need me more than I need you, so just be still." He began to shout, but he ended quietly. He did not want to force her or scare her, but he needed to get his way.
"I will not marry the man who is hunting the Avatar. I am trying to help the Avatar restore balance." She said stubbornly, no longer fighting him. She was defeated.
"I will join the Avatar. My father, grandfather, great grandfather have disgraced my nation. I will help the Avatar restore balance to the world and restore the honor of the Fire Nation." He stated firmly. She hung her head, letting him lead her forward.
"You really care about your honor, don't you?" She muttered, trying to coax his grip to loosen so she would not have extensive bruises.
"Honor is the only thing a man has at the end of the day, or so says my uncle. Because I care about my honor, I will treat you well as my wife. Now come, the shaman is waiting." He loosened his grip on her wrists, taking her by the hand instead. His grip on her hand was much looser, almost trusting. His hands were warm, but not uncomfortably so. His entire demeanor, although angry, seemed to have a warmth about it. He seemed very conflicted, but he was not confused. Zuko was a paradox in himself.
Katara walked beside him, internally cursing for allowing herself to have fallen into this quandary. "You know, if you hadn't touched me, we would have never gotten into this mess. It isn't very honorable taking the maidenhood of an innocent virgin." She said after a few moments, knowing that this would not help the situation, but trying to prove to him that he was to blame.
Strangely, he did not react the way she had anticipated, he only sighed, "Yes, I know. That's why I am trying to make it right." He lightly squeezed her hand, as if he was trying to be enduring or reassuring. She was having none of that, she still wanted to make him pay for the part he had to play her pregnancy.
"There would be nothing to make up for if you hadn't followed me and trapped me in a whirlwind of perversion. I was a naïve little girl, you've stolen that from me." She stated stubbornly, trying to pull her hand from his. He tightened his grip on her hand, but not so much that it would hurt.
"I was not following you, I happened upon you. Besides, I was not the one dancing in the middle of the river, nude as a newborn baby, as sensual as a harlot. You are lucky it was me who found you." Zuko said, evenly. His voice was grim and low as they entered the small earth kingdom town. He pulled her to a stop before a merchant's stall and asked to see the hair pieces, motioning to Katara as if to explain. The merchant smiled and bustled inside the small hut to retrieve the requested items.
"No, anyone else would have left me alone." Katara answered, unsure of her answer. She wasn't sure of her own words.
"No, if it had been anyone else, your fate would be much, much worse now." Zuko said grimly. Something in his tone told her not to continue down this train of thought. Some people might have turned and let her be. Other's would have out and out raped her. Still others might have captured her as a slave or concubine. He was right, what he was doing was kind in comparison.
Just then the shop keeper returned with a cloth she laid on the table before her. She unfolded her burden quite reverently and slowly, revealing the most beautiful combs and hair pieces. Along with the hair pieces, there were several other pieces of jewelry. Zuko inspected them while Katara stood next to him enthralled by their unique designs. She did not even notice when he selected a golden hair piece which looked like it was crafted to mimic the vast mountains of the Earth Kingdom. At the same time, if one's imagination was enough, the mountains could be flames. The merchant wrapped the piece and exchanged it for the money. Zuko smiled at her kindly and reclaimed Katara's hand.
"Come this way, peasant." He grumbled, when he had to pull her into a new roadway.
"I am not a peasant, you know. I am the daughter of the chief of my clan." She tried to make it sound noble, but as she said it, her words sounded foolish. This earned a grim chuckle from Zuko, it was a very dark sound.
"Figures that I would end up marrying a princess, a political marriage after all. Come on, your highness, our wedding is about to start." His voice was even, emotionless. He pulled her into a building that seemed to resemble the inner rooms of a temple. The Earth Kingdom had no temples except in Ba Sing Se and Omashu because they were forbidden by the Fire Nation. Now, because both of the great cities had fallen, Katara doubted that the Earth Kingdom practiced their religion at all. This room contradicted her assumptions.
Entering the room, Zuko pushed her toward two women who looked as if they were in their thirties. He went with two men and entered a room. She watched him walk, wondering why he seemed so calm. The two women pulled her gently into a different room. They gave her a goblet of a dark liquid to drink as they pulled her hair from its traditional Water Tribe style. She sipped it, but did not like the bitter taste. She tried to put it down, but one of the women scolded her saying that it was important for a new bride to drink of the herbs of good fortune given to man by the gods themselves. She wanted to tell them that she wanted no good fortune, but decided against it.
She gasped and tried to fight them off as they began to remove her clothing. The older of the two women slapped her hand and stated firmly, "You must be bathed and dressed in the wedding garments or the spirits will never look with favor on your marriage."
"No, I can bathe myself." She replied, trying to keep her clothing on her shoulders.
"It is tradition. Now, allow us to remove yours clothes." She did, feeling defeated again and suddenly very weary. She knew she would not be able to escape. He would find her. Besides, even if she could, who was to say that he would not decide to attack the Avatar? She also knew that, although she did not want to admit it, he was truthful when he said that she and her child would most likely die if she were to return to the South Pole.
They stripped her of her clothing and her underwrappings, throwing them into the fire. She gasped and protested, trying to save her things from the flame. The younger of the two women chastised her, telling her that her kind fiancé had ordered them to burn her clothes and that he had brought her clothes for after the ceremony. They explained to her that it was custom, tradition, that a maiden's clothes to be burned, symbolizing that her ties with her family were no more. They would no longer support her and she would no longer live in their home. Then, she would be bathed in the herbs and oils appointed by the great spirits. After which, she would be clothed in the wedding garments of the local temple. They would be wed in the ceremony, followed by the groom stripping his bride of the wedding clothes and placing the robes he had bought her upon her shoulders. She was told that this part of the ceremony was to be done in private and if the groom wanted to consummate the marriage at that time, it was acceptable. The couple would be left alone for the remainder of the day.
They told her that normally the following day, the couple would return the wedding garments along with a sum of money or other offering to the gods. They would then celebrate their union with their families and friends. The bride's family would help her move all of her things into the groom's home. The older woman tsked and said, "But your groom says the second part will not be observed and the garments will be returned immediately because he must return to the mines tomorrow. I just hope the gods will smile upon this hasty union. Marrying so quickly, even in forbidden love, is never a good thing."
Katara had a feeling that Zuko had woven a tale of Romance rather than admit the truth. She allowed them to scrub her down and pat her dry. She hissed softly as they pulled her hair into a traditional Earth Kingdom bun. Then they brought out the robes. Katara blushed as she saw the pale green, transparent robes of the Earth Kingdom brides. It was no wonder that the wedding ceremony itself was a private affair.
They dressed her in the robes, tying the slash tightly around her waist, "You are much smaller than most brides." Was their only comment. It was true, she was much smaller than the body type that the dress was meant for. Her breasts, although a good size and full for her age, barely filled the top of the robe. She was inches shorter and much thinner. Once the dress was on her, she was led to where Zuko was waiting.
He was also dressed in pale green robes, but they were solid. He was sitting on his heels before the small altar with his arms outstretched in a rather uncomfortable manner. He looked at Katara with a steady, but kind gaze as if he was bidding her to join him. In impulse, rather than knowledge, she kneeled before him and rocked back until she sat on her heels, her arms falling gently on top of his. Zuko took in a sharp breath as she did, seeing the transparency of the gown she wore. Gaining composure, Zuko took hold of her right arm and twisted gently so that his arm laid on top of hers, smirking at the quizzical look she gave.
The Earth shaman bound their arms together with a long strip of white cloth, pulling Katara from her sitting position to her knees. Zuko, he pushed back further, so that Katara seemed to be hovering over him. The position was painful for both of them. The shaman was chanting, but neither spoke. He placed a veil which covered both the bride and the groom as he continued to sing the prayers to the great spirits.
In the Water Tribes, the father's gave their daughters away for marriage after the daughter accepted the betrothal necklace from her beau. After which, the families and the tribe watched as their union was blessed by the Moon Priestess or Ocean Servant. A week long party would ensue after. In the Fire Nation, the bride and groom would exchange vows or promises of love and fidelity symbolized by gifts. This made the practices of multiply wives, concubines, and mistresses seem out of place. If the Fire Nation couple had the money, they would throw a party to celebrate the union. If not, they would attend the party that the Fire Lord hosted for them with the other poor couples on the date of the Fire Lord's own anniversary. The Earth Kingdom practices of marriage were very unique and different from both Zuko and Katara's experience.
Soon, the veil was removed and the bride was untied from her groom. He was taken to the room in which he would be exchanging her robes in order to change, while she was taken to a small kitchen to prepare tea for him. She found the absolute servitude of a bride in the Earth Kingdom to be strange. It made her wonder what was to come in her new life as the bride of the future Fire Lord. Not having time to ponder these things, she was handed the tray of tea and pushed into the room where Zuko was sitting, meditating.
She passed him, placing the tray on the low table next to where he sat, and poured the tea. She set down the cup just in time for her arm to be caught by his hand. She looked down at the young man who sat at her feet, her expression even. He pulled her gently, forcing her to sit on his lap, "Well that was interesting, wasn't it, princess?" He smiled as he smelled her hair. She simply nodded, reaching for the tea. He lazily wrapped his arms around her lithe form, but refused the tea, "No, wife, not now. I have no intention of making love to you during the midmorning."
She turned her upper body and looked at him confused. He smiled sadly at her, "The tea is made of herbs to help both our bodies to become aroused. We have much to do today, so we will not be drinking it. Besides, I have no need for it. Your body is enchanting." He watched her blush, noting that she was being uncharacteristically quiet and docile. Then, with a gasp, she became very cold in his arms. He instantly warmed his body temperature up to compensate, but before he knew it, her temperature was soaring higher than his own. He had to quickly remove the heat, so to save his scorching wife.
"How often does this happen?" He hissed into her ear when she could breathe again.
"A few times a day." She answered in the same tone, trying to stand up. She felt weak and confused. She did not understand why she could not regulate her own temperature.
He grimaced as she moved against him, trying to stand. Then he realized that he had yet to release his crew and they needed to get back to the Avatar. He removed his arms from her waist and placed them on her shoulders, "Wait." He pulled her hair out of the traditional bun of the Earth Kingdom, laughing softly as she stiffened. He pulled his fingers through her soft tassels and gathered it into his hands, breathing in the scent and laying a soft kiss to the tips. He then let it go and gathered the sides into a traditional topknot, placing the hair piece he bought her into her hair.
She scarcely moved and barely breathed as he did these intimate things to her hair, "Okay, princess, you may stand. Your clothing is on the bench over there. I think I got what you would need."
She turned and looked at him dumbly, "I was told you were supposed to change me?" She did not really want him to change her. She didn't want him to touch her, but she thought he would. Surely he knew he was supposed to change her robes, he knew he was supposed to get her new ones.
"Like I said, I have no intention of making love to you this morning. So, unless you want me to, I would suggest you get dressed. I'll just be meditating." He settled back into his silent meditation.
Once she was dressed, she touched his shoulder lightly and he looked up at her. He nodded, before standing and taking her hand. She blushed when she realized that more or less, they matched. Both were wearing brown pants and tunic shirts. Her shirt was longer than his, reaching her knees. Where his was a dark crimson color with bands of gold and forest green, hers was white with elaborate flowers of crimson design. Both had green slashes at the waist. "I can get you different clothes if you want them. I thought this would suit you alright." She simply nodded, having no intention of asking for different clothes. "Come on, we must speak to my crew. Then, I have a feeling your friends and brother are worried about you."
She allowed him to lead her, now being very docile. She was married, the deed was done. Tears welled into her eyes. She was a disgrace and a traitor. Now, she was a married traitor. He led her gently, pulling her along behind him. He never let go of her hand.
She gasped in fear when she saw the Fire Nation ship in the docks, realizing he was going to force her to board. She panicked. She knew she had married the Fire Nation Prince, she knew he had said he needed to speak to his crew. In order to do so, she would be forced to board. What if he lied? What if he was going to keep her as prisoner and bait on the ship? Her fear rose and so did her temperature; before she knew it sweat was falling down her brow and she felt sick.
He gasped her upper arms, trying to make sense of what was going on but before he could say anything, he body sagged against him and her body instantly cooled. This constant temperature change was beginning to make him nervous, but he shook it off, picking up his wife gently and boarding the ship.