Contains: Language, umm… I think that's about it… oh, a little sexual innuendo
Ch 28: Parallels
"Are you certain? This is a grave accusation you make," she coldly answered. Mai sat stiffly on her stool while her attendants carefully groomed her hair and nails preparing their Phoenix Queen for her busy day organizing the Fire Lord and Lady's wedding in two weeks time. This new information however brought up a whole new set of problems.
The guard bowed lower and replied he was. She merely sighed and waved away the attendants. Bowing deeply they backed away from their lady. As was her habit, she pulled out a stiletto and began twirling it in her fingers. This was a lot to take in. She had been lied to after all this time by a woman who had once been her enemy and now through a twist of fate her acquaintance, possibly even her friend. However, more importantly, Zuko was still alive. Part of Mai's heart skipped a beat at the idea that her childhood sweetheart wasn't dead and that perhaps she might see him one last time. The other part retched at the thought of him. And Katara. And the kids. His kids. And hers that in a perfect world should have been theirs.
She mentally growled and sighed at the thoughts of jealousy and anger she felt for those two. The older she got, the stronger her desires for a family of her got. Ozai was her husband in name only. He hardly graced her bed, and thank the spirits for that, and from his battle with the Avatar he was dysfunctional in that department. Then there was Ruon-Jian, her lover since shortly after Chan had taken the throne five years ago. She cared deeply for him and while the desire to have children was there, they both knew it could be punished by death if they did. A barren life was what Mai resigned herself to thankful at least that Ruon-Jian remained unmarried easing some of the burdens of this life of royalty.
"What shall I do, milady?" the guard inquired, breaking Mai from her thoughts.
Mai thought carefully on this and decided to be patient. "Follow her. I want to know everything. If she leaves the palace, I will be the first to know. Understood?"
"Yes, my lady," he bowed again and left the room.
Ruon-Jian moved from his hiding spot within the entry way of the secret tunnels etched inside the palace walls when everyone had left and watched Mai as she paced. He had heard everything and knew Mai still had feelings for that sweetheart from long ago though through the years she denied it saying it was a childhood crush and nothing more. He knew better though. Zuko had taken her heart and crushed it. He slowly approached her and wrapped his arms around her slim waist. Placing a feather light kiss at her temple, "You miss him."
It wasn't quite a question or a statement but her breathy sigh was all the answer he needed. He unwrapped himself from her, "You know, he left you. He left his nation. He is a traitor and a liar and a-"
She instantly cut him off with a slap on the cheek and pointed viciously at him. "Don't!"
Ruon-Jian was a fairly easy going guy but right now he was pissed. "Don't what, Mai? Tell you the truth."
"You don't know him." She turned her back and started to walk away. Ruon-Jian grabbed her sleeve and pulled her back.
"Neither do you. You had a little fling when you were just a teenager for like three months, then he just leaves and doesn't even say goodbye, just a note on your pillow. How poetic! He's been gone how long now? Like fifteen years and you never once hear from him? And suddenly his "wife" shows up with some kids she claims are his and then some random guard finds them tangled up in bed together? How do we know that this woman isn't just playing everyone? How do we know that Zuko is really dead? Did anyone actually check their claims? It just seems really strange is all I'm saying."
"And what would you know? You don't know anything. You're just the Fire Lord's lackey. The son of some high rank official who plays at the beach pretending he's still 19 then when he needs some more money to show off to all those little whores out there comes crawling back to the palace hoping that he can earn some gold by fucking the Phoenix Queen."
"Fuck you, Mai!" he burst, a shock of flame erupting from his fists landing several feet from where she stood. It was the first time in their ten years together Mai had ever seen him bend in anger and it scared her. "Fuck you," he whispered, gaining his composure once again, "You know that's not true. I love you. Ever since that day on the beach when I first saw you, I've loved you. You think I liked watching you with him? He made you miserable and you were too blind or stupid or whatever to see it. He never once tried to contact you in all his time away. So what you saved him from his psycho sister? Did he ever once ask what you wanted? If you wanted to come join him?"
"Fruit tarts," she quietly answered, "with rose petals." A superficial answer for a superficial relationship.
Ruon-Jian gave her a questioning look then huffed a "whatever" pushing his bangs from his eyes. He straightened his spine and took on a proper subservient role to his superior. "If the Phoenix Queen is finished with my presence, I will gladly leave."
Mai stared at him with as much dignity as she could muster, then stepped up to him, arms folded across her chest, suddenly feeling so much smaller than him despite the fact he only stood several inches more than she did. "Don't."
"Don't what?" he asked staring above her head out the window.
"Don't leave. You're the only thing that keeps me sane," she quietly admitted, moving her folded arms to his waist. His gaze turned back to her, and tilting up her pale face to his tanned one, he kissed her. They were never good with words, but right now they didn't need to be.
"So what are you going to do?" Ruon-Jian asked.
Mai bit her cheek. She wasn't quite sure.
OoOoO
It was two and half marks past midnight and their third nightly tryst in a row, despite his protests of just the one night. He couldn't help it. It had been so long for both of them and they had to make up for the lost time and, well, frankly they needed the distraction of the sex from the stress of their normal days of plotting to return the world to the way it should be. Their fingers intertwined as their breaths returned to normal, Katara's hair curtaining them as she lay on top, until she sat up and twirled her hair up into a makeshift bun Zuko's fingers moving to rest on her thighs, rubbing the smooth flesh with the pads of his thumbs. With a wet pop he fell out of her body when she finally lifted up and headed to the bathroom. Turning to his side, he watched her bare bottom walk away from the bed. Such a nice view, he thought. One he could never have gotten back home since it was way too cold to walk around naked. He knew he had denounced his nation when he joined the Water Tribe, but he was seriously reconsidering it just for that view.
"I heard a rumor," he called out tightly, hesitant to have this conversation with her but knowing full well it was the main reason for his appearance. Zuko began rummaging through the pile of clothes on the floor for his under pants, finally breaking down and creating a small flame in his palm to give him a better view of the articles.
"Oh?" her voice echoing off the marble walls of bathroom.
"That the Fire Lord is to take a bride and that she already has the heirs to the Phoenix King's crown." He heard her movements in the room still for a moment then she finally appeared in the doorway, modestly covered with a silk robe.
She bit her lip in that way she did when she was unsure of what to say, began blubbering, "Zuko, I'm so sorry I meant to tell you and-"
In the time it took her to begin her apology, he was already across the floor and had her in his arms. His lips cut her off. Pulling away after a moment, he stroked her cheek, "It's okay. Well, no. It's not okay that you are marrying another man, but its okay you hadn't mentioned it. We've been kind of distracted."
"Apparently it's your father's idea of a 'great plan'," she tried to explain. Zuko loved that little giggle she let out as he continued running his hands over her skin, planting little kisses along her lower lip and jaw until she wiggled out from his arms and turned back to the bathroom, calling over her shoulder, "Care to join me in a bath?"
"Please," he answered, following her to the bath she had already begun drawing, "Toph gave me shit after that first night for not bathing before coming back. Of course your brother wasn't happy at the whole idea and well, it was just not a fun morning." Zuko stuck his hand in the tub and heated the water to a perfect temperature, returning to their initial conversation while settling into the expansive marble tub next to Katara, "My father obviously doesn't know you very well at all, does he? Telling you to get married to some ass. He's still an ass right? That's the rumors I've heard."
"He reeked of women's perfume and alcohol when he introduced himself," she laughed darkly, grabbing the wash cloth and bar of fire lily scented soap lathering up her husband's chest. "He even had some woman's lipstick on him. Then he practically tried to molest me."
"If he so much as-," Zuko growled possessively at the very thought of another man touching his wife. But Katara cut him off, "Oh don't worry. I don't think we have to worry about that."
Seeing the puzzled expression, she mischievously wrinkled her nose beginning to soap up his hair, "Yeah, I pretty much threatened him with death if he so much as thinks about it. I think he got the point."
Katara never ceased to amaze him with her ability to take control of the situation.
His golden eyes followed her hands as they continued washing his body. When she was done, he grabbed the cloth from her hand and returned the favor, taking as much care in washing her body and hair as she had done. As nice as the sex was, sometimes it was these intimate moments that he missed the most. He laid the cloth on the edge of the tub once he was finished and pulled Katara into his lap resting his head on her shoulder closing his eyes, too distracted again to continue their much needed discussion until finally Katara spoke up. "Tell me more. What's happening right now? Out there. A lot is kept from me and I know it."
Taking a deep breath, Zuko ran his fingers over her arms trying to think of where to begin. "To start off with my father even issued a decree that all whoever the Phoenix Kingdom leader is in each village or whatnot it to be given the first rights of all of-age women."
"What does that mean?"
"It means my father is trying to breed out the rest of the world."
Katara gasped once what he said sunk into her head.
Zuko continued, "From what I've heard, as much as my father hates me, he sees our children as the perfect example of how our nation is stronger than the rest seeing as how we got two firebenders of half blood. He's using them as an example that if the Fire nation continues their reproductive dominance we can breed out the weaker nations."
"Sweet La. He's gone mad hasn't he?"
Zuko nodded gravely. "To say the least."
"What else?" she asked, finally rising from the bath along with Zuko. She bent the water from their bodies drying them off completely. Heading back to the bedroom to dress so Zuko could leave before getting caught.
"The rebellion in the Earth Kingdom. Have you heard about that at all?"
"Mai's mentioned something about an uprising or maybe two, but the Phoenix King's forces squashed it. The Phoenix Kingdom defeated the rebels and now Ozai is coming home to celebrate their victory," she mocked.
"The Fire Nation was always good at propaganda," Zuko laughs shaking his head in disbelief while tugging on one boot then the other. "It's more like the other way around. You can only hold down the people for so long before they get pissed and rise up. The Earth Kingdom people have had enough. The Fire Nation has had enough. You've been here in this pretty palace and haven't truly seen what it's like out there. It's far worse than any of us ever imagined."
Katara simply nodded, unsure of what else to say. This was a burden all those that fought so long ago with the Avatar had to bear. Hearing what the peasants, the merchants, those that weren't the royalty or the bourgeois, was much cause to alarm and gave Katara the motivation that their little "scam" was for the greater good.
OoOoO
Katara met the children for breakfast several hours after Zuko had made his escape from the palace walls. The meal was pleasant enough. The children in good spirits, especially Kyrsa, for some reason she had a smile plastered on her face and was practically bouncing in her chair.
"Something exciting, little mouse?" Katara inquired of her second daughter blowing on her tea.
Kyrsa just beamed, "I'm excited to go on our trip to market today. There should be something new to see today."
Katara had to catch herself. Sweet La, that girl knew too much.
Aani just wrinkled her nose and took a delicate bite of her dumpling, "You're weird. It's always the same things every time we go. What could possibly be new?"
Kyrsa caught her mother's eyes to not say anything further even though they both knew what she was talking about.
"Well I'm excited to see if those fish throwing guys will be there today," Kazue chimed in, his mouth full of fruit and a biscuit. Instantly the kids started talking about how "awesome" those guys were when they threw the fish about, making a show of their wares.
After breakfast, the family took off for the market without their guards as Katara insisted they did not need such protection her being a master waterbender and all. They meandered about the shops and stalls overpaying each time they bought something and the vendor would graciously accept the additional income. They stopped to watch Kazue's favorite fish throwers, then the bead and thread stand for Aani to buy some new ones for a new necklace she was working on, but it was when Katara led them away from their favorite snack stand and down a dark alley. A man waited for them and led them to a stairway at the back of one of the shops. Katara guided the children in front of her constantly looking over her shoulder that she was not being followed.
Entering the dark room, the children's eyes adjusted from the bright daylight outside to the low lighting within, finally focusing on three adults. The two, Aani vaguely remembered from many years ago, but Kyrsa and Kazu didn't know them at all. The third they recognized instantly.
"Daddy!" they all screamed at once, rushing towards him practically knocking him down to the ground. Zuko eagerly embraced them through happy tears and laughter. He finally pulled away and looked each child over. Aani had grown taller and looked so much like her mother when he had first met her, except Aani was fuller in her build. Zuko imagined a better diet that what her mother had during those meek times was the reason. Her blue-green eyes were striking, no wonder Kato was smitten with her. And Kyrsa, just a smaller version of her older sister, still at that pre-pubescent stage, awkwardly straddling child and teen. And Kazue, still short, and it looked like he had gained some weight since he had last seen him. Their dress and hair was in the fashion he remembered growing up with and that part of him that was still Fire Nation was proud, the other part that had evolved into Water Tribe was pained since this was not their home.
Sokka finally stepped up and asked if they didn't remember him. The puzzled expression on their faces was all the answer he needed and it broke his heart.
Katara linked her arm in her brother's, "Kids, this is my brother. Your uncle Sokka." Turning to Toph, "This is Toph, his wife, your aunt, and my friend. Aani you might not remember them. You were maybe two when they left the South Pole."
"Did you guys know Avatar Aang too?" Kazue asked incredulously.
A wave of sadness swept over the group of adults and Toph answered for all of them, "He was a dear friend to all of us and it's our job to finish what he started."
The kids simply nodded and returned to visiting with their father telling him all about the recent Fire Festival they had attended.
"And this one guy, he had the fire in the shape of a dragon and it flew around our heads," Kazue motioned through the air just as the performer had.
"Oh, yeah and then it burst and confetti went everywhere! They had the best fire flakes there. Have you ever had those, Dad? They are so good," Aani added.
Zuko laughed and hugged his growing kids again thrilled they were able to do the things he had never gotten the chance to do before. These children were able to be the kids that all of them had missed out on being and hearing their stories of festivals, school, trainings, new friends they had made, and all the other things that comprised their new childhoods made him a very proud and happy father. His only regret was that he had missed these events with them over the past year.
Through the commotion of the children's stories, Zuko overheard bits of the conversation between brother and sister.
"You have to do it Katara," Sokka demands.
Katara firmly shook her head, "I just can't Sokka. Okay? I swore I would never do it again and I can't believe you would be so insensitive to even ask me."
He held up a large tan hand to placate her, "I know, I know, I know. But you have to see that it's the best choice. It will work the best of all the things we've thought of. No one would even have to know."
"But I'd know. And I just can't do it," she stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest. So Sokka had told Katara their plans.
"Zuko!" a very frustrated Sokka turned to his brother-in-law, "Would you please talk some sense into your wife?"
"I am sitting right here you know!" she mumbled. Sokka just waved her away. For having been apart for so long, the two picked up right where they left off as if time and distance had never passed between them.
"The people love you Katara. I've been listening to what they say since we've arrived and you have won them over. I think it's because you are not one of the royalty. You're a commoner like they are and you treat them with a respect the others haven't. It will definitely help our plans."
"Is it the best way to do this though?" she asked, biting her bottom lip.
The look the men passed between them told her that it was.
"Fine. What do I have to do?"
Sokka jumped up and gave his little sister a huge hug, "You are the best sister ever!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. What's the plan? What do I have to do?" she repeated, shoving him away.
"It goes like this…"
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OoOoO
Why yes, I am dawdling on getting this story finished. Glad you asked.
A review is always welcome, otherwise thanks for reading and until next time…
