Disclaimer: Neither Avatar the Last Airbender nor its characters belong to me.
"Katara-"
"Zuko, don't. What's going on? Was this out of the blue?" Katara asked feeling like she wanted to cry.
"Of course not. We've been on patrol for awhile now to prevent this from happening! Just like we did tonight!" Ty Lee tried to say happily but Suki stopped her with a shake of her head,
"Ty Lee, now is not that moment"
"What! No, I want to know! What the hell is going on here?!" Katara said feeling lost and trying not to let the tears fall.
She looked around the room to the normal group and saw Aang shifting nervously, and Toph pointing to Zuko. She saw Suki and Ty Lee looking like they were arguing each other with their eyes and she looked at Zuko who looked beyond guilty.
"There...there have been reports about followers of my father coming out of the dark" Zuko began.
Katara felt so confused, but decided against her better judgment to argue and just listen. She nodded for Zuko to continue.
"We learned the towns that have been ransacked are homes to old families put there by my father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. They seem to be angry for their villages to have just given in to my rule and so they are taking it out on their people. It's gotten worse-"
"Because of me" Katara cried wanting to sit down.
Katara felt the hot tears fall down her cheeks and she felt Zuko steer her towards a bench to sit down. She grasped her still growing belly and her mind raced. Was this all a mistake? Are you and I to blame for this? Should I divorce Zuko to protect the people? What if another assassin comes, she thought rapidly.
"They're main goal is to come after me" Zuko said kneeling in front of Katara.
"They know Zuko cares about you and the baby more than anything. Hurting you would destroy him and they know that" Aang added.
"Wait a minute, you knew?! You all knew and no one said anything?!" Katara practically shrieked.
"I told you she was going to be pissed" Aang said.
"No way! I'm just perfectly fine with this! My husband and my best friends hiding the fact that people want my child and I dead and-wait, that's what's been missing in the scrolls!" Katara exclaimed frustrated her mind of clay was putting things together slower than normal.
"We didn't tell you because you can't be stressed! Look us in the eyes and tell us this wouldn't have kept you up at night!" Zuko argued adding,
"You have a hard enough time sleeping as it is, this would have made things worse! I can't really help with your misery while you're pregnant, but I can handle all the other problems. I have been losing sleep worrying about you and worrying how I could tell you without you wanting to leave. Katara, you have to believe me when I tell you we are so close to finding where this is all originating. Once we find the hideout, I can stop all of this."
Katara saw the plea in Zuko's eyes and instantly remembered the moment he came to the Gaang in hope of joining them. Now, she could again see the pleading in his eyes. His golden eyes begged her not to go anywhere without him, they begged her to stay strong and to stay at his side, to be a family with him. She looked round the room to Aang, Ty Lee, and Suki who were nodding their heads in agreement with everything Zuko told her.
"Is that why everyone has been coming to the palace so much?" Katara asked.
"Well, yes and no. Yes, because Toph pointed out it would take all of us to do it right. No, because despite all that's happened, Zuko and I still have things to go over for Republic City and so Toph just tagged along with me, you live here so your brother would come naturally, and of course Suki would come with him..." Aang said letting his voice trail off and a silence fill the throne room.
"No more.." Katara whispered, surprised her voice was shaky.
"What?" Zuko asked with worry.
"No more hiding things. Especially when they concern us as a family. I'm not happy you hid this from me, but I am thankful to you guys for protecting me. But from now on, please, no more hiding things from each other" Katara said looking at Zuko.
He nodded in complete agreement and placed a hand on Katara's baby bump to feel their child, who kicked the tips of his fingers.
A week later, the Gaang sat around outside watching Sokka and Toph observe the mysterious weapon.
"This is extraordinary. The weapon is specifically made for arrows to go shooting out faster than the wind. This trigger activates it here" Sokka explained showing the device to his friends.
"But the really cool thing is this, look at the arrows" Toph said handing one to Katara.
Taking it in her hand, Katara studied the arrow Toph pulled from the royal chambers.
"It's made of...earth" Katara stated.
"Why, when you can just shoot them so fast with that?" Suki asked pointing the the device.
"Remember when we were younger in Ba Sing Se? And the Dai Li attacked us with those weird earth glove things? This works just about the same way, only much, much faster. You shoot them from this thingy and control their direction with earth bending. I sort of wish I thought of it" Sokka said completely fascinated.
"But the arrows that came at me weren't precise at all" Katara said rubbing her stomach trying to hide the discomfort from the moving baby.
"That's what makes this thing even better" Toph said too excited for Katara's comfort,
"Even if you're not an earth bender, you can still just use it to shoot"
"Lucky they can't hold many arrows. Or Suki and I would've gotten shot" Ty Lee said.
Zuko studied the instrument and shook his head, not believing how things were changing.
When Katara reached seven months pregnant, it was just her, Zuko and Toph, who had been convinced to stay at the palace for awhile. Aang only supported the idea because he knew Toph wouldn't be alone while he traveled. Suki and Ty Lee were scheduled to come back, but training a few new recurits ended up slowing them down.
Katara was in the parlor reading letters from her family while Toph snored on the lounge chair across the room. Katara smiled when she remembered how exhausted she felt at three months pregnant.
Just then, a servant walked into the room followed by a guard.
"My lady, this is the captain from the prison where...he was being held" the servant bowed emphasizing the word 'he'.
Katara's nerves shot up sky high in realization who the servant was referring to. Composing herself, she looked at the guard and asked,
"What's happened?"
The guard who received an encouraging nod from the servant, stepped forward to hand Katara a rolled up scroll wrapped in a black ribbon.
"This is for the Fire Lord" the guard said bowing deeply.
"Then why hand it to me?" Katara asked out of pure curiosity.
"We felt this news would be easier coming from you, my lady" the guard answered before bowing again and walking out of the room.
Katara waited until the doors closed and read the scroll. Her eyes drifted over the words aimlessly as the golden leaves on the tree outside rustled in the on coming autumn weather. Her breath caught as she read the final word sin the scroll and stood up. Making sure she didn't wake Toph, Katara lifted her blue skirts and went looking for Zuko.
Zuko felt like he needed to be alone with his thoughts for the day. He finished up the meetings he had and signed what needed his signature, and had the urge to go find Katara. He stopped himself when he remembered Katara was signing things as well. Not wanting to break her concentration, Zuko decided to take a walk around the palace. He came upon the same pond where he and his mother once fed the turtle ducks and took a seat on the grass. He wondered if his son or daughter would want to sit here with him one day. The closer they got to Katara's due date, the more he worried what sort of father he would be.
He worried of his temper, which he had spent the last five years trying to control. He worried if he would be able to support Katara or if she would stay happy with him after having the baby. It sounded silly, but it was things he worried about.
"Zuko" Katara's voice softly called.
Standing up, he saw his glowing wife in her flowing blue gown. He smiled when he watched her walk towards him, adoring the way her body had changed to accommodate their child. Her hips were fuller than before, her belly grew with every passing month, and her chest seemed to have grown an entire size bigger.
"Zuko, the guard from the holding cell came to me today" Katara began.
"For?"
Zuko waited patiently as Katara unrolled the scroll and said,
"They don't entirely know how, but, this morning...they found Ozai dead in his cell"
Taken back by the news, Zuko took the scroll from his pregnant wife and read the statements. It said the guards checked on Ozai last night and all had been well. He had done the typical sarcastic insult and had been fine as he fell asleep. However, as they checked on him this morning, they noticed he wasn't breathing. They carefully checked on him, however, they could not revive him. The statements read it was as if he died of old age, but he wasn't that old.
Katara was taken by surprise when she watched Zuko hold the scroll out away from him and burn it.
"What was that for?" she asked confused.
"I'd be lying if I said I was upset about his death. I have bigger things to worry about than that bastard dying"
"Zuko..."
"Katara, you very well know the man was a monster! He burned my face when I was just a little kid! He played favorites with my sister and I'm pretty sure he didn't treat my mother all that great! He used her to get to the throne! You can't stand there and expect me to feel sorry for a man I felt nothing for! I'm sorry if you think that makes me a monster but I have you to worry about, I have the baby to worry about, I have Republic City on my mind, and I still have my nation to think about. Ozai's death doesn't faze me. In fact, it's one less thing that's on my mind! At least now that he's dead, I don't have to worry that he'd somehow find his way out of prison to try and kill you! I love you and I will not let anything bad happen to you!"
Turning around, Zuko threw a few punches letting strong flames fly from his fists. Katara, to her own surprise, didn't flinch or cower, but just watched as he finished yelling. She watched him as Zuko fell to his knees and run his hands through his tied back hair. Katara knelt beside him and grabbed one of his hands.
"So...how long have you been needing to rant like that?" she asked with a soft smile.
Zuko smiled and shook his head. How this woman was able to put up with him was beyond him.
"For awhile actually..."
"Feel better?"
"Surprisingly, yes."
"I think we should go see your uncle. If only for a few days. He's been a better father to you and it might do you some good. Especially before the baby gets here"
About to agree with her, Toph appeared with a sleepy yawn,
"Guys, Suki and Ty Lee are here. They're asking for a meeting between you two right away"
Looking at each other, Zuko stood up, hauled Katara off the ground and went to the throne room where the Kyoshi warriors were waiting.
"Fire Lord, we came to tell you that the outer towns were useless on finding information. Even Mai didn't know what was going on. She seemed just as clueless as us" Ty Lee said bowing as Zuko helped Katara into her seat.
"The only thing she said was that the weapon we showed her had been seen in Ba Sing Se. Apparently, there was an assassination attempt on the Earth King. Mai also said that before the attempt on Ka-Fire Lady Katara's life, a man had been trying to buy knives from her. Mai got a bad feeling and turned them away" Suki added.
"Did you get a description?" Zuko asked.
"We did. However, Mai's parents didn't recognize him at all, so we know it wasn't Fire Nation" Ty Lee said.
The councilmen who had been listening, began muttering amongst themselves. Katara waved the girls closer to her as she let the men talk. The women discussed their sort of plan of attack and when Toph even agreed they turned their attention back to the council, it was like chaos in front of their eyes.
"I don't care if we need to send a thousand troops, I want this stopped!" Katara heard Zuko announce.
His statement was followed by agreeing voices of his council and pounding fists on the table.
"They are such men!" Ty Lee said shaking her head.
"Why don't we handle this?" Suki said.
Katara stood up and held her head up high as she waited patiently. A few councilmen fell silent looking at the Fire Lady, but the others, including Zuko, were too wrapped up in their small arguments.
"ENOUGH!" Katara yelled instantly silencing the room.
"Toph?" Katara called.
Stepping towards the table of councilmen, Toph walked around them. Pointing to only two of the eight men, she said,
"You and you. Stay. The others, you're too jittery right now. Go take a nap"
Looking at the Fire Lord, Zuko nodded for them to obey. When the men left Katara took her seat again saying,
"Brute force is a dangerous way to get us nowhere very quickly. I suggest we use a different tactic. Sending soldiers and warriors is giving the culprits too much time to hide themselves"
"Never send a man to do a woman's job" Toph smirked.
"What do you suggest we use my Lady?" one of the men asked.
"Oh, we don't need much. Send coupons to the spa throughout the city. Even to the outer villages. Then, all we need are two people in disguise, and comfortable wives"
"How is that going to help?" Zuko asked confused.
"You'd be surprised how much women love to gossip. Especially when it comes to things their husbands or sons have said." Katara began to explain.
"If you wait long enough, one of them is bound to know something useful." Suki added.
"But they most likely know what these two look like. So we can't send them like we used to" Ty Lee stated pointing to Katara and Toph.
"Then who's going?"
Katara pointed to Suki and Ty Lee who smiled and waved.
"Without their make-up on, no one will even recognize them" she said smiling.