I would like to thank WildCitrusSunflower for being the beta for this story and fixing all of those mistakes I tend to make . Also I do not own Avatar the last Airbender .
When Katara overheard the Major Domo's message, a plan grew in her mind and she grabbed Zuko's arm and whispered urgently, "Come with me!"
The Fire Lord looked at her confused, unsure what his wife was planning. Now was not the time to leave! He had to do something to calm down the masses.
"Trust me!"
Deciding to take a risk he followed her.
At the ring of midnight, just as tradition demanded, the Fire Lord re-entered the ballroom through the large double doors that were normally hidden by his throne. This day was the only time of the year these doors were opened and only the nation's sovereign would be allowed to use them to enter.
Today though, he was not alone. Just as he was dressed in a dark yet vibrant red, his wife stood to his left clothed in a dark blue dress.
While he wore the traditional pants and a wide tunic, Katara was covered by a simple tight fitting silk dress that opened on both sides to allow her greater movement, greatly resembling a cheongsam. As the only jewellery he had attached several gold rings to his arms, his crown holding together his hair in the traditional top knot; she on the other hand wore her engagement necklace and kept her hair up with her mother's.
As was customary the two bowed to each other deeply before beginning their presentation by creating two walls, one of fire and one of water that crashed against each other. While the mist the last manoeuvre had created settled the two began circling each other with dance like movements. One large step to the right was always followed by a smaller one to the left, while the two moved their element in a fluent motion from the left to the right and back again, the figure clearly taken from traditional Water Bending katas.
Once they had completed one circle they, perfectly synchronised, took a step forward while stretching their arms out behind them, creating wings with their elements. As if pulled back by an invisible string they jumped backwards again, landing on their left leg. In mid-air the warriors stretched their hands as well as their right legs to the front as if to push someone away and humped their backs, seemingly collapsing into themselves as their wings formed into two almost identical dragons.
The dragons began circling each other, trying to bite their opponents neck, following the finely tuned bending of the masters below them who had returned to a more relaxed stance on both feet and seemed to be pulling the dragons like kites.
Finally the dragons disappeared in one great shower of light and ice and the dance partners rushed towards each other again. As a red leg struck down in an elegant arch a blue arm was raised in an unbelievably quick block. While red tried to catch it's balance blue's hand struck forward only to be gripped tightly.
Shifting his weight the Fire Lord threw Katara over his back, where she landed gracefully. Only an incredibly fast turn allowed him to block the woman's strike and for a few seconds the two simply stared at each other before pulling apart once more.
This time it was the woman that had lost her balance and suddenly she was surrounded by flames, that she quickly pushed back by creating a humongous ball of ice that the man had no chance of escaping.
Once again in perfect synchronisation both enclosed warriors began to free themselves. Zuko's flames seemed to burst forth from every pore of his body, while Katara melted the ice surrounding her with a simple wave of her hands.
Swimming towards each other they met in the middle, where their right hands touched. A twirl of flames was created that seemed to grow larger and larger until it had reached the outside of the icy prison. Both water and fire seemed to arise from the ground creating a swirling tornado that finally exploded outwards as both dancers pushed their hands to the sides.
As they stood opposite of each other the bud of an icy Fire Lily rose from between them, beginning to bloom one it stood above their heads. Seemingly from inside the flower a phoenix made of flames rose, spreading it's wings and looking skywards.
Not even in the depths of the icy tundra had Katara ever heard such absolute silence.
"Lady Katara, please excuse my interrupting, again," by now she knew her husband's quiet voice well enough to recognise him and excuse her secretaries. She had wanted to speak to him anyways.
Since the ball almost two days ago, she had been restless. Had the decision to dance together been a mistake? When she had suggested it as a means to calm the foreign dignitaries her husband had seemed hesitant, but as she had insisted that they would feel honoured, that the People of Earth more than anyone needed such shows of respect to agree to anything, he had given in.
They had had far too short an amount of time to plan their dance, no time to practice the movements, no time to coordinate, but somehow it had worked. Somehow, perhaps thanks to their sparring, they had been able to pull it off with, even if she did say so herself, stunning precision. Ursa, who had spent her time watching the performance from the side lines as it had been seen less problematic to have her seated slightly away from the royal pair, had congratulated her on a breath-taking performance. However even she had been unwilling to guess what the consequences would be.
All she had said was that today's meeting would be decisive. Or as she had said, "Politics are like a game of shoji. They generally start with several relatively common moves, used to bring all the players in position, to both show your own and realise your enemy's strength. What follows are the few moves that decide between success and failure, moves that determine whether your enemy is good enough to warrant a full out battle or if a quick solution can be found. From what I have been able to gather, that's where we are now. Everything that comes after is unimportant in comparison.
Like well-behaved merchants they will give a beautiful performance of considering and reconsidering and badgering and questioning, but in the end both buyer and seller will already know the price. The rest will simply be done for the bystanders."
Well, now she would find out just what her actions would bring.
"Lady Katara?"
Realising that she had left her husband standing in her doorway without even acknowledging his presence, Katara flushed dark red and ushered him inside. "Please take a seat your Highness."
Surprised to see dark lines under the normally stoic eyes she could not help but get worried. Had the negotiations failed?
"Thank you, my Lady. I fear that my next meeting begins in but a moment so we will have to rush this talk, but the necessity for it was too great to delay matters any longer."
"Yes, of course, how may I be of service?"
"First it is my wish to apologize for my inexcusable actions against your person before."
"Your actions?" Katara asked, surprise clear in her voice.
"To grab a Lady in such a manner is unforgivable and I would like to assure you that it shall not happen again."
"Oh, that. Well, it was at least partially my fault. I feel I owe an apology as well, my Lord. I should not have assumed what I did. Perhaps it would be possible to simply forget that disagreement?"
Only too happy to agree Zuko nodded, "That would be the preferable solution."
They both realised the lie and somewhere deep down they knew the other had too. They would never forget what had been said, but even more so what hadn't.
"I also would like to thank you, your Highness."
Wetting his lips slightly, Zuko tried to find the right way to put his next words. What to say, what not to? "I do not know how my Lady knew the bending forms used or where the ideas for the dance came from, but the presentation was definitely a success."
"I am glad to hear that." Her eyes glassed over a bit as she remembered the long, cold winter nights spend in front of the fire with her family. "My Grandmother told me of how there used to be bending competitions where the most beautiful performance won. A lot of that knowledge has sadly been lost and the Northern Tribe has nothing comparable, but I used to imagine the celebrations as a child."
"I am sorry to hear that the celebrations were ended."
"I was the only waterbender in the tribe. Everyone else was killed or captured before I was old enough to say my name, so the celebrations had to end and all the knowledge was lost as well."
"I truly am sorry, but I am also grateful to your Grandmother for inspiring the presentation, my Lady. Thanks to my Lady's quick thinking the Representatives of Earth have not only been quieted successfully, but they have become far more cooperative. Only last week I feared that an agreement would be impossible to reach, but as matters stand now, the treaty will likely be signed in only four weeks' time. All that is left to discuss are details."
"Four weeks?" The war would be over? Completely, utterly, truly over?
It would be done. She felt like floating while drowning in the depths of sand in the remotest corners of the desert; like bathing in the suns warmth in the middle of the arctic winter.
"How?"
"To be honest the representatives always knew that they had little choice but to sign the treaty, however they feared that by signing they would lose their influence and accordingly make their signature useless. Now though they feel that things have changed. How did Secretary Hufa put it? Earth will not move without someone pushing it. However to simply press against it does little. Earth will not be moved by those, who do not know how to, who do not respect it.
So far many citizens felt as if the peace treaties were simply an attempt to take over the Earth Kingdom as well as the Water Tribes quietly and without the large amounts of bloodshed. They feared that their country would become a lower rank partner. This fear was dispersed by your actions. If the Fire Nation felt justified honouring the Water Tribes in such a manner, then the Earth Kingdom would not be considered less. It seems you understand them far better than I could ever hope to."
"I lived in the Earth Kingdom for a very long time. One of my best friends is a bender from a powerful family." There was nothing, nothing but weariness, emptiness. She wanted to sleep and never get up again.
Realizing that his wife was not in the mood to speak any further Zuko excused himself and sent a servant to fetch his mother. Perhaps her company would do the young waterbender some good. He had meant to ask if they would spar together again in the morning, but he could do so later.
When Zuko entered his office after leaving his wife, a man stood in the corner of the room, halfway hidden in shadows.
"Concerning the matter addressed previously." The stranger, clothed in a long dark cloak that hid his form completely, addressed his sovereign with no hesitation or shows of respect. There was no time for such formalities as every minute the two of them spoke to each other was a threat to both country and Lord.
"What do you have to report?"
"Contact has been successful and the given coding seems sufficient for the needed information."
Nodding more to himself than the other the Fire Lord stepped behind his desk, slight wrinkles forming on his forehead.
"Good. I presume the assumptions have been confirmed?"
"Yes sir."
"I expect swift progress. Conformation of the targets position takes precedence over the Lady's involvement. You have two weeks, results are imperative."
"Yes sir."
Dear Uncle,
Soon the day of your death passes for the eighth time and yet it feels like only yesterday that you left this world. Still, I wish for nothing as much as your advice and measure my actions by your opinions.
Would you have approved?
Sometimes you feel so close and at others it seems as if you never lived at all. Mother and I have been getting closer again, though she still suffers from extreme anxiety. She does her best to hide it but at times I cannot help noticing the glances. For every two steps we take forward it feels as if one is taken back. I do not mind waiting though. Yesterday I saw her at the pond with Lady Katara and she actually laughed.
I can't remember the last time she laughed at all, much less so freely. Is it wrong of me to hope that she will become comfortable here? That she will stay?
Matters with the Lady are advancing as well. Our sparring matches have become a regular occurrence and we have had a few friendly conversations during official dinners. She seems less pent up and has done an admirable job with her new duties. There is something about her that simply makes people comfortable around her; makes people want to trust her, tell her things. I myself have felt the urge at times, though I am careful to keep from such foolish actions.
Her first meeting with the nobles went well according to both her and mother and her second assembly went far better than the first. Though petitioners are still rather rare, there are far more than I could have ever hoped for. I am sure that if I were to give an audience for the simple people no one would come at all. Sort of ironic that my people feel more comfortable with someone from the Water Tribes than their own Lord, is it not?
It has been decided that the signing of the treaty should be done at the new border as a sign of respect for said. It worries me to leave the Royal City. Times are too uncertain, too unstable. I had always believed that after the signing of the treaties, things would get better, but instead I feel just as much like a drowning man as I did three years ago when I rose to the throne.
Will it ever change? Will I ever be able to relax? To sleep in peace? I am simply so tired and though I realise that someone like me has no right to complain, I sometimes envy the servants.
They rise with the sun and go to bed before it goes dark during the summer. I watch them laugh with each other and desire nothing more than to join them, to have the chance to banter with my equals, but at the same moment I know that if I were to ever leave the shadows the desired sounds would disappear, just as the rats disappear at an alarming rate.
I spend last night on the floor waiting for poison and counter poison to battle out their wish for dominance over my heart rate. The attempts, the third in as many days though the only one to produce any sort of result, rob the last few hours of my precious sleep and when they do not the nobles certainly do.
I fear a revolt is close. I have tried to appease them, but many cannot help but feel sold out. My efforts for trade agreements and assistance in changing our economy from one set for warfare to one set for peace seem like nothing but a drop of water on a hot stone. So far their fear of me and my still rather tight grip on the military has kept them from doing anything too drastic, but some of the generals fear the loss of influence the end of the war will bring for them and have begun considering alternatives to my rule. Luckily your old friend Admiral Jee has been nothing but loyal to me so far, which I am quite sure is based on some form of request from your part.
It seems that even after death your hand is held over my head protectively. I wonder if it will be enough.
I suppose I should not bother you with my wandering mind any further.
Your loving nephew,
Zuko
Another feast for the flames, which they consumed hungrily.
"Your Highness?"
The guards had simply opened the doors and announced her presence to the empty sitting room, when they had seen Katara coming towards them.
So now here she stood in the early evening hours in an empty room that belong to her husband, which felt still quite strange. Was she supposed to wait here? Would it be improper to sit down without invitation? Was she expected to look for him?
She really didn't want to, her memories of the rooms sketchy at best. Finally deciding that it would be stupid to wait around here if he was just next door, she settled on knocking at the door she thought led to his study. When an answer came she jumped almost a foot into the air.
"Enter."
Brushing over her kimono one last time Katara pulled the heavy wooden door open and peeked into the study.
As she had become accustomed to, her husband was dressed in his heavy royal robes and seemed to be buried in paper work. As was polite, he immediately rose when he saw her and bowed lightly.
"My Lady, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"
Returning his bow Katara entered the room fully. "I am sorry for barging in without any invitation."
Really, the one time she could have used protocol, it, of course, had turned out to be useless. In all those scrolls she had been given she had found nothing about how a Fire Lady should arrange a meeting with her husband. It seemed that such matters were so basic that they needed no explanation.
As if!
Deciding that it would probably take days if she asked one of her secretaries to arrange the meeting, she had simply gotten up and walked the short distance from the private quarters to the royal chambers. So what if it was improper?
She was only a peasant from the end of the world after all and this was her husband, for Tui and La's sake!
"It is no trouble, my Lady. Please, may I offer a seat? Would my Lady care for some refreshments?"
Well he didn't seem to mind. Good.
"Thank you, my Lord, but I am quite alright. I came because I wished to discuss some matters with you, if you can spare the time?"
Nodding benevolently the Fire Lord motioned for her to continue.
"During my first audience a man came to me concerning bandits in their area. He requested assistance against them. I sent several people into the area and they have confirmed that three villages show signs of attacks. I would like to send troops down there to subdue the threat."
"Which area are we speaking of?" In his head Zuko could not help praying that it was one of the areas directly under the Crown's protection.
"The area is called Bokujou and the village itself Midori." Of course his luck just had to rear its ugly head again. It wouldn't do for things to be simple just this once, now would it?
"I am sorry, my Lady, but the area of Bokujou is a county and as such under the control of Count Tantan. For me to interfere in his personal matters for no reason other than the report of a few bandits is, I am afraid, impossible. It would unsettle most of the nobles and could have unforeseeable consequences. "
Katara had to fight back a laugh. Tantan, really?
"I am sorry, but I don't understand. Why would your assistance against bandits lead to a national crisis? Wouldn't the count be grateful to the Crown for helping him against a threat?"
"That would be the ideal case, yes. However most likely this won't be the case. The crown could of course inform the Count that we have come to know of this most unfortunate situation and would like to assist. However more than likely the Count will simply promise to handle matters himself, claiming that he was unaware of the trouble."
"But why wouldn't he help his people against bandits? If they are robbed they can't pay the taxes, which go partly to him. So he would lose quite a bit of money, wouldn't he?"
"Not necessarily. After all, who is to say that the bandits truly did steal anything?"
Getting slightly angry, but trying to keep control of herself after the last fiasco, Katara did her best to keep her voice steady. "I have the reports on my desk; there is no doubt in my mind that there are bandits."
Trying to calm his wife Zuko replied gently, "Neither is there in mine, my Lady, I apologise for my unlucky formulation. Even the Count more than likely knows of the bandits. After all he is probably the one to send the so called bandits in the first place."
"What? Why would he rob his own people?" She had thought that the matter was quite straight forward, but suddenly nothing made sense anymore.
"Because he wants money. I have been signing several reforms, which hinder the counts from raising the taxes over a total of thirty percent of all of the peasant's income.
Every year the counts, barons, dukes, and governors assemble statistics which inform the Crown of the goods produced in their area. According to this information, which is generally heavily…corrected, taxes are demanded. In most cases the Count is permitted to keep eight percent of the taxes from his region to himself for governing and military purposes as well as his own up keeping.
The rest goes to the Crown. Under my father, taxes were up at fifty percent of the income, leaving the peasants close to starvation. Back then the counts were allowed to keep ten to fifteen percent and still demanded higher income.
The Count Tantan probably figures that if he is unable to gain the desired money through official channels he will do otherwise; going so far as demanding the village's taxes despite knowing that the so called bandits would have left little for the people to live off of.
After all, why else have the villagers come all the way here instead of simply speaking to their lord?"
"But that's terrible! This Count has to be stopped!" How did this lead to not doing anything, Katara couldn't help but wonder. Why should they leave matters like this?
"I agree, but if I start to interfere on such a low, administrative level the other counts will begin worrying if I might decide to interfere in their lands as well, which will destabilize the country.
I may not have mentioned it before, but my position is not quite as sturdy as it might seem and an open rebellion would help no one."
Katara simply nodded. She had known after all that the situation was rather difficult at the moment. She had not realised though that it was this bad.
It was now that Katara could not help but remember her father's advice.
"There is an old saying in the Water Tribes: keep your friends close, your enemies closer. Perhaps it would be possible to on the one hand give all the nobles a bit of a feeling of safety while still assisting the simple people?"
Shrugging a bit helplessly the Fire Lord opened his hands, as if to show that he had nothing to offer.
"My father used to visit the igloos of the families that had feuds between each other, talking to every one of them personally. It would give them a feeling of closeness and they would often be more willing to listen to him afterwards. We will be traveling to the new border anyways, so maybe a few inspections might not be a bad idea?"
"Whenever the Fire Lord inspects anything there are two ways to interpret it. More commonly it is considered a sign of mistrust, but in some cases also as a sign of honouring. Most likely visiting some counties without the others would simply lead to even more insecurities."
"So we won't just visit some, but all of them and as an official reason instead of an inspection it's to introduce me to my country and give me a chance to get to know it a bit better."
"But that would make actually changing anything almost impossible, besides there are over one hundred counties as well as almost a dozen duchies. It would take weeks if not month's to visit and open court is in session as well. To leave the Capital for such an extended period of time would be highly unusual to say the least."
"Not if the court moves with us."
"Move the court?" Until this point Zuko had been rather dismissing of Katara's suggestion but now he could not help wondering.
"Well the court strictly speaking is nothing but the place where the nobility meets the Fire Lord and other nobles, isn't it?"
"Well, yes."
"So if the Fire Lord moves throughout the country with quite a few of the courtiers while granting audiences wouldn't that be a moving court?"
"I suppose."
"And isn't it the Fire Lord's right to decide who is allowed to sit with him and how closely?"
"Yes, of course."
"So by directly inviting some of the more troublesome nobles to travel with us, we could give them the feeling of honour they might have been missing while keeping them close to avoid them causing troubles. At the same time we would get an actual idea of the current situations and would perhaps be able to interfere in the most desperate ones. Since a large assembly would be present during these revelations no one would be able to claim innocence."
Nodding slowly Zuko considered the matter. He actually rarely saw any families outside of the few most powerful ones who had a permanent residence close to the palace. The others had only come for his crowning and some for his wedding. Neither celebration had given much room for conversation though. It might be advantageous to get to know this large group of lower nobility more closely.
There was still a risk though that his visit could be considered some sort of threat or attempt to gain further control. Besides, how many of the nobles would actually have the means to put up a small army of nobles? And wouldn't the ruling class quickly hush up any unfortunate incidents?
Katara's response to the questions was practical enough. "We wouldn't have to stay in every county overnight. If the county is small enough we could just stay for a lunch, which I am certain everyone could offer, have a few discussions and move on to the next one where we could stay the night. Besides a lot of the nobles were going to come to the signing anyways, so they would have had to stay in inns on the way there as well."
"And concerning the nobles trying to hush things up? I don't think they would be very successful. You already have your yearly report, right my Lord?"
"Yes, they are always sent in right after the first harvest, which takes place in the middle of the summer."
"So you have a notation of how high the silos are supposed to be. If they realise that we could check them, they might throw out the amounts they shouldn't have, but then the people would at least get the food back. We could still figure out just how much money is generally available by the state of the buildings and some of the villagers might actually talk to someone."
"My Lady should also consider the effect such a travel would have on you. It would be expected that the royal couple spends large amounts of time together and would likely be given shared accommodations. Such a journey can be quite exhausting as well…"
Waving her hand in a dismissive manner Katara smiled. "I will be just fine. I have spent the last few years traveling and slept under the open sky more often than not."
"Of course, my Lady. I will consider the matter, my Lady."
Feeling a dismissal when she heard it, Katara left. She knew that her suggestion was a bit risky and would probably need additional consideration.
Hi,
seems I was incredibly predictable this time around :). I have to admit that I try notto be too predictable, but oh well :). As you can see the documentsending works again and now all the chapters have been beta read, so say thanks to WildCitrusSunflower for being so amazingly fast with all those chapters :).
As always thanks to all of you for your reviews, I absolutely adore them!
Greetings Yorushike
Hufa is Chinese and means: to keep the law
牧場 (ぼくじょう/Bokujou)pasture
緑 (みどり/midori)green
淡々( たんたん/tantan) gleeful