Chapter 10 - She Answers

He wasn't in the room, of that he was quite certain. He was floating somewhere far, far away and every single other person in the room was a dot except her. She stood alone in the centre, resplendent in red, her skin seeming to sparkle in the light of the flames. Had he ever seen something so beautiful? Had anyone, for that matter? For a few blissful seconds, Katara was everything - not just his everything but everything full stop. He could no longer deny it to himself. He was uncertain about his choices as Fire Lord. He was uncertain about what to do with his sister. He was uncertain about how he would ever be able to make this up to Mai. In fact, in sharp contrast to the persona he presented, he was uncertain about nearly every little detail in his life except for her. He knew, with every fibre of his body, that he was irrevocably, painfully and wonderfully in love with the water bender who was about to decide his future.

The thought of Mai, however, had reminded him of the unpleasant confrontation he had unexpectedly walked into with her. The memory brought him back down to earth from his cloud with a bump. It had been less than an hour ago, while he was on his way to this very hall. Dressed in his ceremonial garb he had rounded a corner, concentrated in his own confused thoughts and unaware of the world around him. The still figure directly in front of him had made him look up though he already knew who it was.

"Mai…" he trailed off, unable to think of anything to atone for the situation they now found themselves in. For once, he was grateful for Mai's apparent emotionless nature - he was unsure how he could have handled it if she had broken down in tears. As it was, she watched him, so closely he thought she was dissecting his soul, albeit with complete disinterest in her task.

"So it is today?"

"Sorry?" Zuko didn't fully understand what she was referring to.

"She makes her decision today - the water tribe girl." From anyone else, such a comment might have rung with an element of bitterness. From Mai it was so emotionless that Zuko barely even registered the comment. He nodded, dumbly.

"I'm leaving the palace to return to my parents. I hope she makes the right decision."

What Mai felt was the right decision Zuko did not find out, immediately after announcing such a wish she left, her robes swinging around the corner after her. Perhaps confrontation was the wrong word. Confrontation seemed to imply something emotional but Mai simply did not seem to care. Unfortunately, Zuko knew her well enough to know that, if nothing else, he would have wounded her pride. He also knew that - with Mai - a broken heart would have been easier to heal. The guilt was crushing. He had loved Mai once, loved as much as he thought he could anyway…until he met Katara. He had never wanted to hurt her. Even when he first discovered the prophecy hadn't he spent nights awake thinking of a way to solve the prophecy without abandoning Mai. But he had abandoned her. He knew it. Mai knew it. The entire Fire Nation knew it. He could only hope that, given time, she might find a way to forgive him.

"Lady Katara."

The name brought Zuko out of his guilty thoughts. Looking towards the speaker, he realised it was the leader of the councillors - a kind old man who had somehow lived through Zuko's father's regime despite being well known for his preference of peace and justice. Zuko knew, however, that his soft voice and kindly manner were only a cover for a sharp mind. He was fair in his judgement but it was always final. Zuko suspected that his father only ever kept him around for his talent for sniffing out a single ounce of falsehood in a human.

"Lady Katara, your presence has been summoned before the councillors on this day in this, the Hall of Judgement, to voice your decision on the fate of our nation."

Katara seemed to droop slightly as the weight of such a question landed heavily on her shoulders. Zuko's guilt hit him again. He had forced these expectations of her.

"Lady Katara, your answer please."

Katara took a breath. The moment was now - no going back, no delay. She had to answer.

"Sir, I…" she froze. How could she hurt him? How could she do this after all he had done for her? He had restored her faith in the world, had helped save the world and now she would break his heart. It wasn't fair. Why did it have to happen to him? Why did she have to be the one to deliver such a reward? She loved him. Just not in the right way.

"Sir, I am Katara. I have never been Lady Katara or Mistress Katara or Princess Katara and I fear I will never be able to."

The room froze. Surely she could not be denying the hand of a Fire Lord. Katara sensed the rising level of animosity but resisted the temptation to flee the grand hall. She needed to say her piece.

"I know there is a belief that I could save your nation and our world and I so wish that that could be true. But if you are looking for a Lady or a Mistress or a Princess then it is my duty to tell you that I am not her."

Zuko couldn't breathe. It wasn't meant to happen this way. Yes. Yes, he had wanted to spare her this, he hadn't wanted to trap her but he had finally realised that he was in love with her and now she wanted to abandon him. She was prepared to abandon his country, even, just so she wouldn't have to be with him. He forced himself to breathe. In. Out. In. Out. He would not break down before his people. He risked a look at the woman who had just scorned him, who had broken him. What he saw made his careful breathing catch in his throat. Katara was looking into his eyes, though tears fell from hers.

"Lord Zuko" she whispered, not trusting herself to speak any louder lest she broke down her carefully constructed wall of control. "I cannot be any of those women."

One last breath.

"But I can be Katara. And if you believe that this water tribe peasant is the answer then…then it would be my honour to become your bride."

With a sharp exhale Katara dropped to the ground in a curtsey. It would not normally be in her nature to show such humility but she was fairly certain that that speech had used the last of her strength, leaving none to keep her standing. She felt the hot tears flood down her face. So it was done. In a matter of minutes she had broken Aang's heart and he didn't even know it yet. And the worst part, the most deplorable aspect of the whole situation, was that Aang's pain wasn't even on her mind. All she could think about was Zuko and their future. It was the shame and guilt of this that kept the steady flow of tears come pouring down her cheeks.

Without warning, a pair of feet were right before her face. A hand was gently clasping each arm and drawing her up, away from the floor, to stand. Blinking, she looked on the face of her new fiancé. His smile was euphoric, loving, gentle and passionate all at once and Katara couldn't understand it. Letting go of her arms he softly brushed the tears from her eyes. Satisfied that her crying was easing - though he knew it was a long way off stopping - he raised one of her hands in his. Holding her slim fingers between his, he raised the back of her hand to his lips and kissed it so delicately that thoughts of a butterfly intruded Katara's puzzled thoughts. His face came closer to hers and she tensed, believing he was about to kiss her. She was not ready for this. More importantly, was her first kiss with her future husband to be in front of a crowd of judgemental councillors? He passed her lips though, and only briefly brushed her ear before whispering in it.

"Once you saved my life. Today you saved my kingdom. Katara of the Southern Water Tribe - I am your servant."

Abruptly he drew away and raised her head with slight pressure from a finger beneath her chin. Without removing the hand that was clutching her waist protectively he turned her to face the crowd of men.

"My Lord Councillors, I give you Katara - my fiancée and the hope of our nation."

The cheers were deafening but Katara heard none of them. All that was in her mind was the feel of Zuko's lips against her skin.

A new life began for the two young benders that night and who could have imagined, in those moments of hope, what it would have in store for them.

(A.N. Not too sure whether I'm satisfied with Katara's speech. I wanted it to be something pretty sensational and powerful because, let's face it, would Katara ever take a situation like that meekly? I think not. But I hope it's tolerable for all of you. Promise the whole drama of that big old enemy is coming soon. After all, for anyone keeping track, I've only got like 46 weeks left out of the year granted by the prophecy! Gah! Thanks for reading guys! Hope you're still enjoying it.)