Blueeyeddevil06, thank you so much for being my beta and helping me with this story.
Daiki sat across the Pai Sho board from the Dragon of the West. No matter how many times he told Daiki to call him Uncle, he still struggled with it. He'd grown up reading about Iroh and idolized him. Now he was drinking tea and chatting with him.
"You're distracted again," Iroh chastised.
"Sorry, Sir. I'm still trying to reconcile the idea that I'm here talking to you. I grew up studying your military campaigns. It's… weird. For lack of a better word." Daiki blushed and made his move in the game.
Iroh chuckled and sipped his tea. "I'm just a man. You'll come to see that." He then made his move and said, "Your grandfather taught you well."
"Thank you." Daiki sighed and said, "May I ask you something?"
"Of course. I just don't have to answer." He then smiled and winked at him.
"Master Katara and Fire Lord Zuko, they're in love, and I'm her guard. I just don't understand what my role will be going forward."
Iroh leaned back and smiled. "I was waiting for you to ask me that. I actually told Zuko I'd talk to you about a job offer." He smirked then. "You're going to be the head of her guard if you accept the position I'm offering you. I'm helping my nephew out by taking some things off his plate, but mainly he's worried if your Fire Lord asks you, you'll feel obligated to say yes. You're the type who would."
Daiki was puzzled, "Why wouldn't I accept the position? You think something will make me decline the offer."
"It's between you and Chie to decide. Katara will be asking her to take a bigger role and do the traveling and visiting schools. Do the two of you want to be separated for a month at a time? Don't answer now. You need to talk to Chie about it." Iroh then made his move in Pai Sho.
Daiki watched and sighed, "You're winning again."
"I've years more practice at this."
"I have a question. If I'm the head of her guard, I will schedule everyone. Couldn't I take a week or two to go see Chie? We'd still be apart, but it wouldn't be such an extended time." He then studied the board while he waited for Iroh to answer.
"You'll do quite nicely. I'm happy to see you thinking out of the box. Yes, in theory, you can. Just know you'd have to have her guard in place and up to Zuko's standards first."
"I already have a list of people in my head I want to ask. The tricky part is that some of them are guarding council members, and Fire Lord Zuko may not want me upsetting them by hiring their guard away." He then looked at Iroh. "I will ask you for a list too. I'm sure you have some people in mind."
"You aren't planning on talking to Chie first?" Iroh looked confused.
"I absolutely am. Even if we decide that I'm going to turn down the position, I can help form her guard. I think I know her well enough to be able to tell what personality types would work for her. I know an incredible guard who'd clash with her. He expects the people he guards to run and hide when he tells them to. It will be important to pick the right personalities as well as skill."
Iroh nodded. "Zuko's right about you. He's lucky to have you for Katara. I hope you and Chie come to an agreement about you taking the position."
"Zuko said that?!"
"Ah, youth. When everyone is so unsure of themselves, I don't miss those days." Iroh then made a move and beat Daiki. "I win."
Daiki narrowed his eyes and assessed Iroh. "Why do I feel like Pai Sho isn't just a board game for you? I feel like you're arranging things in the palace too."
"You're perceptive. Sometimes the lessons are even more important than the destination."
"You're training me." He looked at Iroh in shock. "You knew how I could work out my job and Chie's. But that's not it. Every time we play Pai Sho, you let me figure things out for myself." He cocked his head when Iroh gave him a big grin. "That makes you happy."
"I'm an old man. One day I'll be gone, and they'll need someone to see things from the angle I look at them from. It's good to have other perspectives. I'm training you to fill my role."
"You see yourself in me?!" He was shocked.
"Yes, I do. I do want to say something about Katara. She's asked you just to call her by her name, do that. She needs to not only trust you but for you to be her friend. She makes concessions for her friends, and she'll be easier to guard. You're friends anyway already. Don't try to put distance between the two of you."
He blew out a breath, "I see what you're saying. Okay. I'll call her Katara. I'm from a small rural town. It's been an adjustment to suddenly be in the palace, be friends with her, and play Pai Sho with the Dragon of the West. It's an… adjustment, to say the least."
Iroh stood and groaned. "My old bones ache. Nothing has happened that you didn't earn. You should spar with Zuko. I think it'd be beneficial."
Daiki nodded. "Sure, why not." He chuckled nervously. "Why not add sparing with the Fire Lord to the list of weird things I'm doing now."
"Ha! Look at it this way. It will give you time to discuss Katara's guard with him. Also, don't forget I'm training you up. You need to be his friend to advise him."
Daiki groaned and dropped his head. "It's an even longer list of weird now." He then shook his head good-naturedly. "It's all a good weird, though."
Katara sat at Zuko's right in the council meeting. She tried to act like the whole experience wasn't as weird as hell for her.
Councilman Haruo was currently outlining the report he'd received on progress with road conditions after a major rainfall. "The lower town is fine, but the river has crept closer to the main road over the years. I'm concerned that the next big rainfall we have will flood the road and make it hard for trade. It's the main southern route."
Katara almost groaned. They didn't see it, and she was going to have to point it out herself. She hoped she wasn't expected to stay quiet during the meeting and just observe. She wasn't married to Zuko yet.
She nervously cleared her throat and said, "Um. May I say something?" She didn't look at Zuko. She wanted to see the reaction of the council to her question. They didn't seem upset by her speaking up.
Zuko said, "What is it, Master Katara?"
She blushed and said, "I'm a Waterbender. I can fix the problem. I've seen the river you're talking about, and I can straighten out the bend that it makes toward the road."
Tsuneo smiled and sat back in his chair, "And that is why it's good to have a powerful Waterbender."
Haruo agreed. "I'm glad that you have a solution, Master Katara. I'll admit I didn't even think about it. I estimated the cost to commerce if we didn't fix it, and it would have been a substantial amount of money. How many weeks will it take?"
Katara almost burst out laughing. "An hour maybe."
The whole room grew very quiet. Zuko looked at her proudly and said, "She's incredibly powerful. You were all right about that. She'll make the Fire Nation even greater than it was before."
"You plan to marry her?" Tsuneo asked in a hopeful tone.
Katara looked around and said, "He mentioned we have your support. Yes, we are planning to marry. This stays quiet for now. I just want you all to know I'm dedicated to this nation and its success. I'll have the river taken care of by the end of the day. Frankly, it will help the citizens accept me. I won't be scared off by people's disapproval, but it would be nice to minimize it."
Councilwoman Nami burst out laughing, "How much was the estimate to reroute the river, Councilman Haruo?"
He shook his head, "Right?! It was going to be a month undertaking and hugely expensive. Thank you, Master Katara. This will mean we can spend that money to improve other roads."
That evening when Katara climbed in bed with Zuko, he was laughing. "What?" She asked him.
"You fixed the river and cleaned the water from the pollution that had accumulated in it." He kissed her lips. "I keep getting reports from a thrilled Nozomu that the citizens are talking about how amazing you are. They're letting their kids play in the water now. Fire Nation kids! How funny is that?"
"They don't normally?"
"No. Fire and water don't normally mix. You're making my people look at things differently. After all, they think you're great for me."
"They do?"
He laid her on her back and crawled over her. "My people aren't stupid. I get that they are very nationalistic, but you're amazing. We have the last Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. Not only that, but everyone's saying there isn't a more powerful Waterbender than you anywhere in the world."
He then kissed her neck. He looked at her as she moaned, and he whispered in her ear, "And I have all that power at my mercy right now." He kissed down her body and gently nipped her tit. "It felt so good to have you tell the council that we'll marry." He grabbed her breast and groaned.
She arched her back and moaned as he pulled off her clothes. "I told you. I'm not giving this up."
He smiled as he spread her legs. "I'd despair if you did." He then made love to her.