AN at the bottom. Make sure to read.
Disclaimer: I do not own ATLA
"So now that we had the problem of citizen taxes out of the way, what else did you wish to speak with me about?" Zuko asked inquisitively as he sat in his throne. Had they told him about the meeting he would have brought Kunai but for some reason they had only official sages and a view choice guards and servants in the room. Truthfully, the matter of taxes took much longer than it needed to with a lot of stalling and re-working the same things over and over again. The men all exchanged nervous looks before the head sage, Nori, stepped forth.
"All of these political preceding have lead up to more-should I say-social matters. " He waved to two servants standing by the doors, signaling them to open them. Immediately 3 girls of about 18, all dressed in flouncy, overly ornate red silk dresses prances in. Zuko scowled from behind the flames as he knew what they were doing. He had hoped they wouldn't sink this low but that hope was gone.
"These are three graduates of the royal fire academy. They are all firebenders and very promising noble woman." The sage said confidently.
"I am Akane Lung. It is an honor to be in your presence Oh great Firelord." the first girl gushed. She was short and towheaded and wore her hair in awkward buns on the side of her head. Her eyes weren't impressive, a grayish green.
"I am Kameko. I am daughter of the Jeongs. It is my honor."
She speaks in Haikus? Well that's pretentious. thought Zuko coldly. He could tell, even through her thick robes she was thin. His first thought was that she was anorexic but the sages picked girls who could produce heirs. Her hair was hazel and pulled into girlish pony tails with long bangs. She was unsettling confident with a certain vague coldness to her. She cut her eyes at the next girl.
"Firelord Zuko it is the greatest honor! I am Minori Yang." the last girl said extravagantly with a deep bow. She had striking red hair that she had obviously attempted to pull back into a bun but her tight pin curls stuck up on her head. She had round features, big amber eyes and her cheeks were covered in red freckles. Zuko examined the girls. Their speeches were annoyingly rehearsed, the smiled painted on their faces were dull and vapid and their clothes were pompous, expensive and ugly. Zuko angrily pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek and sat back.
"You see Firelord Zuko, you are approaching your 20th birthday and it is tradition for the firelord to be married by that point. It is important the longevity of the firenation to have strong, firebending heirs." the sage said.
"Is this a joke?" Zuko raged.
"Every single one of you knows good and well I am attached to Kunai! Yet you continue to disrespect me by bringing these woman in here!" he barked as his anger began to bubble over. The sage kept his bravado.
"It is not unknown that Kunai can't produce children."
"That is not your business!" Zuko screamed in her defense. If Kunai heard of this she would go berserk. The sage continued
"She also is not pure blooded and isn't she a bit young?" the sage said. Zuni gritted his teeth.
"You three girls are dismissed." he said locking eyes with the offending sage. Kukane and Minori bowed and headed for the door but Kameko stared through Zuko. A bloodcurdling smile surfaced upon her lips.
"Goodbye Firelord. I pray you reconsider. The pleasure is mine." she purred. She turned slowly and strode out of the room, the doors closing behind her.
"I hope you understand that was not a wise decision. These girls are fertile, obedient and only firebenders." the sage said sternly.
"How dare you speak to me this way! Knowing I have a girlfriend you bring me these random trained dogs and expect me to breed with them like a rabbit!" he roared. The fire rose and exploded around him as his anger reached its peak.
"We are not saying that you cannot continue to be in a relationship with peasant. Simply marry one of these woman and cheat with Kunai. The public will respect a pure blooded firebender more than her." the sage said, his confidence faltering. Zuko stood.
"You dare insult Kunai like that! Know your place." Zuko growled.
"I am not prepared to go against my morals and be attached to one of your pawns simply for the public's happiness. Do you not know who you're talking to! I'm the godamn firelord and you address me as such." His voice was low and oozed with rage. The fires shot around him, almost hitting the ceiling.
"These three girls are the best option for the firenation. I suggest you choose one before your 20th birthday in 3 months if you know what is best for the firenation and yourself." the sage shot back. Zuko glared at him, his fists sparking widely and smoke pouring from his nostrils.
"Was that a threat?" Zuko snarled. The sage just smirked.
"Think of it as a proposition." he said in a sinister growl.
"This meeting is over. You are all dismissed except for you." Zuko said angrily. He waited until all of the others were gone.
"You are stripped of your title and if I ever see you in this palace again you will be banished. Guards!" The guards pinned he sages arms behind his back, locking his wrists in tight earth cuffs (thank Agni for earthbending guards). Zuko huffed out a plume of smoke as the drug the former sage out of the royal meeting room. He stormed out of the room hoping some TLC from a certain Kunai would calm his nerves.
"He didn't like any of us Kameko!" Minors squealed as they walked down the hallway.
"Well I'm sure your hair, with those crazy curls and such, did not help at all." Kameko replied with an unsettling sweetness in her voice. Minori frowned and tried to flatten her hair down, only agitating it more and make more pin curls pop up.
"She's got a point. If one of us gets in the palace, we all get the perks but one of us has to actual appeal to him." Akane stated.
"We must meet Kunai. Discover her weaknesses. Mimic what he likes. He does care for her. That will be a big problem. But our plan will work." Kameko assured them.
"What do you mean weaknesses? We aren't going to hurt her are we?" Minori inquired.
"Well we don't plan on killing her. We just have to break her so she wants nothing to do with the firenation. Either that or make the firelord fall out of love with her." Akane said.
"Um... Hello." The three girls turned to see Kunai though they had never seen her before, they did not know her identity.
"Hello. We're fire academy graduates and the firelords harem of possible wives. You are?" Akane said. She looked Kunai up and down. Her clothes were too fine for her to be a servant, yet far too lacking in red and adornment for her to be a noble. Kunai grimaced and placed her hands on her hips.
"The firelords girlfriend." she hissed. Kameko stepped forward.
"We're far more equipped. He needs a firelady, not just some peasant. Just walk away now. If you dont want to get hurt. But we will win him." Kameko purred. Kunai squinted at her.
"And what makes you think he'll choose on of you over the woman he's been with for 3 months now?" she quipped confidently.
"Because he needs someone who is of pure blood and can produce a decent heir. Men can be easily swayed." Akane chimed in. Kunai bit her lip.
"I'm sure you've been dismissed from the palace. It's in your best interest you leave... Now!" Kunai demanded. She watched as the three girls flounced away. Kunai ran her fingers through her hair. She headed to Zuko's chambers. They had a lot to talks about. Akane giggled as Kunai walked away.
"That was Kunai? That was the girl we are trying to get rid of? Oh this is going to be easy! The sages will run her out of the palace in not time!" she giggled happily.
"You don't know enough." Scolded Kameko.
"She is his-"
"Kameko! For the love of all that is good stop with the Haikus! You're giving me a headache!" Minori chimed in, melodramatically clutching her head. Kameko scowled but began to speak normally.
"She's his political consort and a trainer for the high ranking soldiers. She's got rank so I don't think it will be that easy to get her out. From all I know of the girl she is a powerful bender and she's got spunk. I'm almost sure she is truly in love with him. It's going to be a huge challenge." Kameko said thoughtfully.
"We're going to have to choose one of us to try to win him over. If we all go after him he'll run right?" Minori said. Kameko smiled at her.
"My thought exactly. And that girl is you." Minori's eyes flew open.
"M-me! Why me?" she squeaked.
"Because you have the most in common with her. You stand out in a crowd with that hair of yours and those freckles and you've got a face made of circles and childishly large eyes. I don't know where you get those traits though. There not at all firenation." said with a condescending sing-song. Minori bit back a snappy remark.
"Anyway… I think it's going to take more than just looking a bit like her."
"That's why we we'll take the next 3 weeks to find out everything about what she does that makes him keep her around and at his 20th birthday we'll have you charm him into a stupor. You're going to need a purple dress."
Zuko walked into his chambers and the first thing he saw was Kunai sitting cross legged on his bed, her hair hanging loosely in her face. Usually that would have been a huge turn on but the hellfire in her eyes changed the mood drastically.
"Kunai? What are you-"
"What's this I hear about a retinue of suitors or possible wives I should say?" Zuko's eyes widened. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.
"Oh you know. A short blonde, a cute red head and a sharp tongued brunette who speaks in Haikus." she said, a slight snarl blemishing her otherwise sweet voice.
"Kunai I can explain!" Zuko replied frantically. Kunai cocked an eyebrow.
"I'm listening."
"The sages say I need to choose a wife before I turn 20." Zuko said. Kunai bit her lip. She wanted to blurt out 'why not me' but she decided against it.
"They chose 3 fire academy graduates. These girls have been trainin their whole lives for this." he said. Kunai nodded.
"And what did you say to the sages?" she asked, masking the pain in her voice with a quiet demand.
"I told them I have you and I dismissed them and stripped the head sage of his title." he said. He looked pleadingly at her, hoping she would believe he didn't ask for them. Kunai nodded and stood up, silently walking towards the balcony. Zuko followed her and she leaned over the banister, looking out into the sun setting in the horizon.
"Kunai I-"
"Why did they bring them here?" Kunai interrupted him. Zuko sighed.
"Because you're not completely firenation and you're a year younger than the traditional marrying age and we... we wouldn't be able to... To produce heirs." he said the dread obvious in his voice. He had never really thought about it but there was nothing he wanted to do less than talk about marriage and children with Kunai. He loved her. He loved her with all his heart but wasnt prepared for marriage. The thought of not only being forever connected but tying innocent Kunai down in the world of firenation royalty was enough to drive him insane. He just knew that the stressful, demanding and highly image oriented royal lifestyle would prove too much for her and shed leave him. She was such a free spirit; he wouldn't blame her if she left. Not only that but he knew the whole issue of children was tough for her. Kunai gulped and placed a hand over her stomach.
"Heirs. I see." she said in a near whisper. It was a touchy subject, one she cared not to think about but now here it was again being thrown into her face. The inadequacy hurt more now that it affected her relationship with Zuko. She felt searing tears drip down her face as she gripped the forever empty chasm of her womb.
"Kunai…" Zuko said comfortingly as h reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. She jerked away with a wimpier.
"I can't compete with them Zuko." she whispered.
"Kunai... Love, what are you talking about?"
"That they are perfect Zuko! They are everything people want! They're prim and they're proper and their pale and plain and that's the kind of girl they want to see on your arm!" she exploded.
"I will never be that! I'll never be able to act like them or talk like them or... or give you children." her voice tapered to a whisper.
"Kunai I don't care! Ok I don't care about any of that! Those girls are soulless pawns! I don't want them! What I want is you! I want you and no one but you!" he declared. He gently cupped her cheek and wiped away her tears. Kunai's lip trembled.
"Zuko... are we ever going to get married?" she asked quietly. Zuko stiffened.
"I... Uh... I guess one day." he choked out, almost as if it were a question. Kunai scoffed and turned away from him.
"Kunai. We'll get married one day." He said feigning confidence.
"There's just so much going on right now and… It's not the right time. I love you. I'm in love you. Those girls are not a threat. You are beautiful and amazing. You know I love you right?" he said, wrapping his arms around her waist. Kunai thought of it for a second.
"Yeah. I know you love me. I love you too." She whispered. Zuko smiled and gently kissed her neck. Silently they watched the sunset together.
Sorry so much about the hiatus. I've got a beta now so she's gonna help me totally make the prequel awesome! It's going to be great. I also got caught up RPGing. Its so freaking fun. I am determined one of them will become a fic one day. It still has Kunai but with a few different little things.
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