Hello everyone! Welcome to chapter 48 of Sparks Ignite! This chapter is one of my favorites in a long time because it adds a little easter egg from the series. A very iconic Zutara moment! I hope you all enjoy! As always, I do not own avatar or its characters. Onto the story!
Fate and Destiny are a funny thing. They are so permanent, but yet can be changed by the smallest thing. It can cause the moon and the sun to collide. Or the most opposite Sparks to Ignite.
Chapter 48: The Pirates
Katara fled the room as quickly as she could. She wanted to scream, she wanted to freeze that woman to an ice wall, anything to stop them from looking at her like that. She just wanted this to be over. She had signed up to marry Zuko and become the Fire Lady, she did not sign up for gossiping with old hags.
She slammed the door to her room and paced back and forth, trying to get rid of some of her anger. Tears spilled from her eyes, not out of sorrow, but the tears were hot from anger. How could somebody speak to her like that? As if she were nothing.
She wiped her tears and shoved her shoulders back. She couldn't let somebody ruin everything she worked so hard to build. But maybe she already did.
A knock rang at the door and she wanted to scream at them to go away, like a bratty teenager locking herself in her room. But instead she huffed and opened the door.
Ursa stood on the other side, a motherly smile gracing her features. Katara ran into her arms and Ursa opened them without complaint.
"They'll hate me now right?" she asked the older woman. But Ursa shook her head, "Some of them, yes… But a fair few of them were impressed"
Katara pulled away to look at her strangely, confused with her response. Ursa continued, "Some of the women were not afraid of you or a water bender in the monarchy, but how you would handle the pressure… The transition will not be easy and there will be a lot of women like that who want to see you fail… But you stood right back up and didn't allow anyone in there to question your authority… They were impressed… some anyway"
She smiled back at the younger woman, easing some of the water bender's nerves. Katara let out a breath, "I have to go to the next task, don't I…" she asked her. Ursa slowly shook her head, causing Katara to groan outwardly.
Ursa chuckled slightly, "I know my dear… It will all be over soon"
They made their way to the throne room where the next task would take place. As soon as she walked in, she felt all eyes on her. Zuko sat at the throne, a big smug smile on his face. He was obviously impressed by her performance.
The advisors seemed to have varying emotions on their faces. A good portion were a mix of disgust and smugness, as if she personally stabbed them herself. But a fair few gazed at her with curiosity and interest. She assumed these must have been the husbands whose wives were impressed by her little display, and it was comforting to not have everyone against her.
But then her eyes rested on Mai and her father who kneeled before the throne, who looked at her with pure disgust and anger. She assumed this reaction from them and wasn't surprised. But they must not have liked how it seemed to sway a few of the advisors.
She bowed to the throne and kneeled opposite Mai and her father. Advisor Wen stood up and cleared his throat, "Master Katara, do you have your father here to speak for you?" he asked her.
Katara frowned and scoffed slightly under her breath, "I can speak for myself just fine thanks"
Wen huffed slightly but shook it off, "Then I suppose we shall begin"
"Each of you will be asked 3 questions… They can range from fire bending technique, to fire nation history, to fire nation facts… We believe each of these is important knowledge for the Fire Lady to have. If you get a question wrong, it does not mean you are out of the running, but it will count against you"
Katara and Mai exchanged a small glance but Katara tried to keep her head forward, not letting the other woman intimidate her.
"Katara you will receive the first question, please rise"
She stood up, and as she did Advisor Wen sat back down and Advisor Chen rose.
His voice rang aloud the throne room, "What were the reasons behind Sozin beginning the 100 year war?"
Katara clenched her fists, so this was the game they wanted to play. They were now trying to rile her up with questions that may cut her deep, in order to get a reaction. One outburst may mean she is strong, but too many would mean she was unhinged.
"Sozin believed that the Fire Nation was strongest nation in the world. The Earth Kingdom was in decline because of Chin the Conqueror and Sozin found an opportunity to, in his words, share his prosperity with the rest of the world. However, in reality, he was power hungry. He wanted to rule as much of the world as he possibility could so he could gain power. He wanted exactly what Ozai attempted to do at the end of the 100 years war. Both of these attempts threw the entire world off balance, and resulted in many unnecessary deaths throughout all of the nations"
When she finished the advisors were silent for a moment, before Advisor Wen went to speak, "Actually"
"She is correct" Zuko spoke over him, not letting him try to correct her, "While it was Sozin's intention to create prosperity throughout the world, he did it through murder and destruction. Next question…"
The advisors didn't stand up to the Fire Lord, knowing better then to do so. Another advisor stood and gestured to Mai, who rose from the ground.
"Who is responsible for the fire bending technique as we know it today?"
Mai answered it easily and without question in her voice, "The Sun Warriors were the first to refine their technique but the first teachers were the dragons. They used the way dragons manipulated fire to create the bending style"
The advisor nodded and she kneeled back next to her father. Another advisor stood and gestured to Katara who stood again. Her palms were sweating and she wanted desperately to wipe them on her dress, but instead she kept them folded behind her back.
"What allowed the Fire Nation to become a leader in the world's modernization?"
Katara cleared her throat, knowing the answer she wanted to give would spark quite a bit of controversy. In her heart, she knew that the Fire Nation was not the cause of everything good in this world, even if that's what they wanted to believe.
"Due to the nation's exports in coal and other metals, the nation was able to produce a strong industrial sector during an industrial revolution that predated any other nation. This created extensive technological developments and a powerful military. To predate to my previous question, it is what allowed Fire Lord Sozin to create an attack on the air nation and begin the 100 year's war"
Even if the advisors wouldn't be happy, she knew that she had to slip in a final dig. The advisor nodded at her answer, but they couldn't say she was wrong, even if they wanted to. But she was entirely right, even if the information didn't go into the Fire Nation's favor.
She exchanged a glance with Zuko who had a smug smile on his face as Mai was called up for her next question. All Katara cared about was impressing Zuko, the rest of them she could care less. Well she had to care a little bit, since her fate was in their hands.
"Who killed the last known dragon in existence and is the last known of the group called Dragon of the West?"
"Prince Iroh, son of Fire Lord Azulon" Mai spoke.
Katara smiled to herself, wanting desperately to point out that she was wrong, and when she glanced at Zuko, she could tell he wanted to do the same. But a competition for Fire Lady was not worth exposing a secret that the Sun Warriors and Iroh himself worked centuries to keep. She remembered Zuko telling her how he planned to allow the Sun Warriors to live freely, but nothing could be done until a firm law was set into place.
When Katara stood for her last question, she was practically shaking. The first two questions had been particularly easy, not really testing her knowledge of the state, but of her loyalty to Zuko's predecessors, which, sorry to disappoint, she didn't have any. Being Fire Lady wouldn't change that.
"What year did the Fire Nation begin to patrol the Eastern Sea and why did they begin?"
Her mind went blank, she flipped through dozens of pictures and pages that she ingrained in her brain but couldn't find a date for patrolling the Eastern Sea. She felt her clock ticking as the advisors waited for an answer.
Her eyes flickered to Zuko, knowing he couldn't help her, but looking to him out of fear. But suddenly he mouthed 6 words that were like the book slamming open to the page.
I'll save you from the pirates.
"In 296 BG, the fire nation began to patrol the eastern sea in order to stop pirates from raiding and pillaging the land"
The advisor had a small frown on his face but nodded and sat back down. Katara returned to her seat and didn't even pay attention to Mai's last question. She had gotten through the first task, slightly unscathed. She glanced at Zuko who offered her a wink and a smile.
Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all.
Ta-Daaa! What do you guys think? How did Katara do? This chapter was a lot of fun to write because I got to research a bit about the Fire Nation. I hope you all enjoyed that little bonus at the end! Stay tuned for the next challenge! Until next time!
