A/N:
Third chapter of the day people! Yay! Love y'all and enjoy!
Chapter 28:
Pulling her parka over her head, Katara got a little excited as they had finally reached the South Pole. She was fully prepared for them to leave on the smaller steam ship that would take them to the docks. The waterbender even got her two little ones ready. Making sure Kai had his hair tied out of his face and Soji was bundled up for the cold weather. She placed Soji in a harness that many women in the Water Tribes used to carry their babies around all day. When all three of them were ready, Katara had the waiting above deck, hoping Ozai would come on already. She was growing impatient.
Ozai eventually came above deck and Katara had to say, blue didn't look bad on him. He had his hair tied in a high ponytail with two locks of hair out on the sides of his face. She saw him adjusting the fur collar of his parka as he approached, clearly not comfortable in the attire. When she reached him, Katara offered a small smile at him to which he averted his eyes, embarrassed that he had to wear something of this color.
"You look good." She told him as Kai held to her hand and Soji was secured to her back.
Seeing his breath in the cold air, Ozai looked at all the massive glaciers around them. He had been here once before when he kidnapped the waterbender but he never really took in his scenery. Honestly, it was nothing compared to the Fire Nation but he'd be lying if he didn't think this place had its own uniqueness.
"You think your grandmother will really have a heart attack when she sees me?" Ozai asked her.
Katara shook her head, "As long as we don't tell her who you are right away, I think she'll be fine."
"Then let's not tell her at all." Ozai scoffed.
Narrowing her eyes at him, "Okay, let's establish some ground rules, shall we? No arguing. No banter. No to anything that makes us look like we are at war. Okay? My grandmother is no doubt going to worry about me with everything that happened and she doesn't need to know I'm in a loveless marriage that I'm contemplating killing us both to get out of. So, let's play nice or I will seriously open the ice beneath your feet and let you drown at the bottom of the ocean. Try me, Ozai and I swear to the heavens almighty, I will kill you and I will be very very very delighted over your death." She whispered so that Kai wouldn't hear her.
Ozai could see Katara meant every word and therefore didn't reply. This was her turf and she had the upper hand in this environment. It would be foolish to tempt her into giving into her murderous desire for him. Besides, he could play nice, he was the only one of them that could in this relationship. It was Katara that didn't play nice.
"Fine, Katara. Let's play nice." He eyed her as her cold stark gaze was on him.
Boarding the steam ship, Kai told his grandfather about how he liked to fish and play in the snow. Seemed like Ozai was engaged with the boy and listened to him the entire time. As much as Katara had her issues with Ozai, at least he was good with Kai. It was unexpected and not something she thought was possible but he turned out to be a far better father figure to Kai than Kai's own father.
Eventually they reached the docks and as soon as they made their way off the ship, Katara saw people staring at her in shock. She loved the coziness of her tribe but she did hate how everyone was so familiar with her that they easily put two and two together about the man walking at her side as she carried her infant son on her back and held Kai's hand. She hoped none of them knew it was Ozai that she had brought with her. She remembered Suki stating some knew but no one spoke about it since Sokka forbade anyone speaking about his sister's current situation. Maybe they'd all think it was mere rumor. Maybe she could establish that while she was here.
"Katara! Is that really you?!" A woman said as she came towards her from the crowd, her husband following behind her.
"Nyla, Kholji, it's good to see you both." Katara smiled as she greeted them.
Nyla offered the young woman a hug and pulled back to see the little one tied to her back, "You've got another cute little one! Oh my, have you finally married?"
Katara nodded and looked over her shoulder to Ozai who was holding Kai's hand after she pulled away to greet the woman, "This is my husband…-"
"Kamishi Totaro." Ozai introduced himself.
Nyla and her husband looked at the large man that came up to Katara's side. They were a bit taken aback by his height and appearance. Clearly he was of Fire Nation descent. It came as a bit of a surprise that Katara would marry a Fire Nation man after all she had gone through before and after the war ended. However, they understood to an extent. Plus, he looked far older than her. They were really curious about the story of how these two got together.
Kholji held his hand out to shake the man's hand and saw Kamishi stare at his hand in confusion.
"It's a handshake." Kholji informed the man in a lighthearted tone. "It's how we greet people down here."
Ozai glanced down at Katara as she grabbed his wrist and pulled it to Kholji, who then went on to shake his hand.
"See? Not so bad, was it?"
That was hands down the filthiest thing I've ever done. Ozai mentally scorned. How dare this peasant touch him and shake his hand like that. No fucking respect. He should have this bastard killed.
Katara could see Ozai wasn't liking the handshake and quickly changed the topic in order to lighten things up before Ozai made everyone tense.
"We're heading to see my grandmother. Would you all like to come with? We can all catch up."
Nyla was delighted by this and took Katara's arm in hers as they went on their way. The two men were left behind and felt a bit awkward. But Ozai took Kai and followed behind the women without saying another word to the man while people stared at him. Kholji scratched his head a little. Strange man.
….
"Oh Tui and La! Katara!" Kanna ran out of the house and rushed to her granddaughter to hug her tight. "My love!"
Katara felt tears form in her eyes as her grandmother hugged her tight. She hadn't seen the woman in almost 2 years. She knew her grandmother had gone through so much during that time. Believing she was dead and then finding out she had been kidnapped among whatever else Sokka allowed their grandmother to know. Her grandmother had seen so much loss in the years of the war and for her to feel like she was continuing to lose after the war finally ended, Katara could only imagine what pain she felt.
Pulling away to cup her granddaughter's face, Kanna had tears in her eyes as she looked Katara over and saw she had looked very different from before.
"Sokka told me you were alive and I almost didn't want to believe him." Kanna cried as she shook her head. "I didn't want any false hope but now, I see you with my own eyes and I feel like the spirits are playing me for a fool."
Holding her grandmother's hands that cupped her face, Katara smiled sadly and shook her head. "I'm here, gramgram. I'm here."
Kanna pulled her back into her arms.
When the men finally showed up, Ozai paused as Kai ran from his hands to an elderly woman that was hugging his wife. The women pulled apart and turned their attention to the young boy. He decided to keep his distance until Katara finished greeting her grandmother. As he stood there idly, the tribesman that had been trailing behind him finally caught up.
"My, you walk pretty fast, Kamishi." Kholji chuckled. "I imagine you were quite the formidable soldier out on the battlefield. Glad I never ran into you before."
Ozai glanced at the man and folded his arms as he refocused his gaze on Katara. "I was not a soldier."
"Oh really?" Kholji seemed surprised by this. "Well, thank goodness you weren't. If you were a part of the war effort, surely the Fire Nation would be impossible to beat."
"I said I wasn't a soldier. I never said I wasn't a part of the war effort." Ozai saw Katara turn around and wave him down to come over, taking his cue to leave.
Kholji raised a brow at the man and tried to see how Katara ended up with a man like him.
Having let Nyla hold Soji and show him off to her grandmother, Katara waved for Ozai to come over. She was a bit nervous about introducing him to her grandmother. Sure, they weren't going to tell her who he really was but she felt her grandmother would still be intimidated by him.
"He's so handsome, Katara." Kanna cooed at the infant boy as she held him. "He must take after his father."
As Ozai approached, Katara saw her grandmother look up from Soji and her gaze immediately passed her to her husband.
"This is Kamishi Totaro, my husband." Katara said as Ozai placed his arm around her waist.
Kanna stared at the huge man and furrowed her brows, "Katara, dear, where did you find this man? He's kind of….big."
"In the Fire Nation…" Katara replied awkwardly.
The elderly woman eyed him cautiously as she went for a handshake. "Kanna, Katara's grandmother."
"Kamishi Totaro, Katara's husband." Ozai replied as he eyed her hand as if to tell her to retract it.
Kanna shrugged her shoulders and turned her attention back to Soji, whom she held in her other arm.
The exchange was cold but Katara knew not to expect much. Nyla and her husband seemed to feel Kamishi was not very friendly but no one was suspicious of him. They figured it was a Fire Nation thing.
Kanna went on to invite everyone inside, wanting to get Kai and Soji out of the cold air. As they followed her in, Katara removed Ozai's arm from her waist and took his hand. She rubbed her thumb along the palm of his hand and glanced up at him briefly, hoping he'd get her signal for him to loosen up some.
Inside, Kanna showed Katara and her husband to where they would stay and then to wear the boys would stay. The house was Northern styled architecture and had many rooms compared to how they stayed in a single room igloo as children. However, it was still very different from what Ozai was used to.
"I'll take the boys to their room. You two get situated." Kanna said as she left them to their room.
Closing the door, Katara went to the bed and plopped down, exhaling loudly as that was more stressful than she thought it would be.
Ozai looked around the room that he expected to be far smaller and saw it was decorated with tribal artifacts that he wasn't very familiar with. Fur tapestry on the walls and animals hide over the windows. Aside from the carving portraits on the walls and the tribal spear hanging above the bed, the bedroom was pretty average. A bed, dresser for clothes, and nightstands. Ozai did see something that was peculiar to him on the nightstand. Picking up what looked like a glowing crystal rock, he raised his brow and tried studying it.
"I hope my grandmother's humble abode doesn't bother you too much." Katara said as she finally sat up and saw him observing the glow crystal.
Still studying it, "It's cozy. I don't mind."
"Really?"
Setting the crystal down, "You forget I was in prison for a time. Besides, my life wasn't always full of luxury." He told her.
Katara was a bit surprised by this and sort of wanted to know more. Truthfully, she didn't know much about Ozai and his past. Aside from the obvious things that everyone knew and the things she learned on her own in recent time, she really didn't know him very well. Ursa told her that Ozai didn't like talking about the past and maybe she would never truly know who he was but she was now very curious.
Coming to sit on the bed beside her, Ozai saw her pull her parka off and urge him to do the same. He wasn't too sure. The cold was not his cup of tea. As soon as she was down to her indoor clothes, Katara helped her husband out of his though he put up resistance. She laughed as he tried to stop her and climbed into his lap to get leverage, pulling at his parka.
"Katara, dear, how about you come help me and Nyla with-"
Kanna had entered the room where her granddaughter and husband were staying. She gasped at the sight of Katara on top of her husband, trying to undress him.
Being caught on top of Ozai, forcing his parka above his head while he laid on his back, Katara felt utterly embarrassed at the sight of her grandmother and Nyla staring wide-eyed at her. This was so not what it looked like.
…..
"If you two want to have some time alone, just put a cloth on the door." Kanna told her granddaughter.
Blushing as she cut up the vegetables, Katara couldn't help how embarrassed she was after her grandmother saw them. She was only trying to force Ozai to take off his parka but even that idiot, went along with it and made her further embarrassed. She couldn't believe he told her grandmother that she was always frisky. Fucking moron!
Nyla chuckled as she saw Katara's bashful expression, "It is all fine. You have a very good looking husband and I've heard plenty about Fire Nation men, I'm sure you find it hard to keep your hands off."
Oh, Nyla, had no idea how wrong she was. Katara was having a hard time even wanting to be intimate with her husband. Especially with his consort being pregnant by him. Tui and La, she didn't even want to think about that right now because she'd probably go upstairs and strangle him.
"So, Kamishi, what's he doing for a living?" Kanna asked.
Katara put the chopped vegetables into a pot filled with water, "Kamishi is a well off noble. He just oversees things for the Fire Nation and we live a pretty lavish lifestyle."
"Ah, wonderful to hear that. You deserve all the fine things this world has to offer you, Katara." Kanna said. "I only hope he is treating you well."
Biting her bottom lip, "He does."
"He seems a little hostile. Is that a Fire Nation way of being shy?" Nyla asked.
Katara didn't really know but it made sense, so she nodded.
"Aww, well I hope he loosens up with us." Nyla smiled. "He's really a handsome man. I'm sure you'll need to keep your eye on him around other women here."
Just something else to worry about. Katara mentally begrudged. Tui and La help her if she finds Ozai messing with the women here. Oh, she was going to kill him if that happened.
The three women chatted as they prepared dinner. Kanna informed her granddaughter that Sokka and Suki would be over for dinner. She was so excited to be having her granddaughter home again.
As they set the table for dinner, Katara went back upstairs to check on Kai and Soji. When she did, she saw Ozai was holding Soji while Kai played him in a game of pai Sho. The waterbender watched for a little bit until the two noticed her and she gave a small smile before leaving them be.
Katara went to lay down before dinner. Being back home was a good feeling but it also made her depressed. She knew she wasn't here to stay and all she could remember how the last time she was here. Kai was snatched away from her in the middle of the night and Ozai's goons beat her unconscious when she tried to stop them. She went after them and ran into Ozai, who was planning to kill her. Only reason he even spared her life was because he was horny and found her attractive. Now she was back home after all that, married to the man that stole her and her son from their home.
Dinner finally started and Katara went downstairs with Ozai and the boys to see her brother and Suki were already there. Suki got up and hugged her while Kai went to hug his uncle. Kanna told everyone to have a seat. Sokka sat beside his wife with Nyla and Kholji sitting to his left. Across from them, Katara and Ozai sat with Kai sitting to the right of his mother. Kanna took the head of the table and smiled as she looked over everyone.
"This is the first time I've had so many people over for dinner before the Fire Nation began raids on our tribe." Kanna said bitter sweetly.
Sokka cleared his throat as Suki did some damage control.
"Ah, well thank goodness the war is over." Suki stated. "Now we can take steps in the right direction."
Kanna sighed as she nodded her head and had everyone passing around the dishes to fix on their plate. "I'm not sure how much longer things can stay this way. I heard your friend Zuko lost the throne to his father. Tui and La save us if that psychopath starts a war again."
Katara exchanged looks with Sokka and he scratched his neck.
"Oh my, I hope that's not true." Nyla stated.
Kholji rubbed his wife's shoulders, "Well...you know that's only a rumor."
Putting sea prunes on her plate, "Katara, Kamishi, you both live in the Fire Nation, are those rumors true?"
"Yes."
"No."
Everyone looked at the couple in confusion except for Sokka and Suki.
Ozai eyed his wife to shut up as he went on to answer.
"The rumors are true but-"
"But he's no threat." Katara finished, eyeing him to go to hell.
Kanna looked worriedly at her granddaughter, "Katara, is it safe for you to stay in the Fire Nation with that man back on the throne? After all, he did kidnap you."
Katara wasn't able to say anything right away but fortunately, Suki came to her rescue.
"I think it best we not talk about that." Suki said.
Nyla looked sympathetically at Katara, "You're right, Suki. We don't want to bring up anything that may be traumatic for her. There's no telling what was done to her."
"Oh my, forgive me, my dear." Kanna said as she looked at her granddaughter. "Your brother told me what that monster did to you. I'm sorry for bringing it up."
Ozai narrowed his eyes at Sokka as the young Chieftain glared back after stabbing the strange meat on his plate with his chopsticks.
"It's fine." Katara said uncomfortably as her voice was a bit shaky. "Let's talk about something else."
Looking down at the hand on her thigh, Katara tried to get herself together in order to keep up the front she was putting on for everyone.
Everyone moved onto a new topic, one that she was equally as uncomfortable to talk about. Apparently, both Suki and Nyla were expecting again. Seemed they were due just weeks apart and hoping for boys. Katara watched her gram gram cheer for them both to have healthy boys and then set her eyes on her.
"Tell me, Katara, should we expect you to have anymore soon?" Kanna asked. "You bring back such a cute little boy, not to mention, Kai has always been very handsome. Why not work on a beautiful baby girl?"
Katara saw her brother make a grossed out face. She really wished he wouldn't. Especially on a topic like this. He and Suki had been screwing since the war. She didn't understand why he had such a hard time accepting her sexuality. Not that she had much of a sex life despite being married. Though, she couldn't exactly say the same for her husband.
"Maybe one day." Katara told her grandmother.
"One day? Why not now? I'm not going to live forever, Katara." Kanna said as she looked to her granddaughter's husband. "Kamishi, do you not want more children?"
Ozai side eyed his wife, "I have no problem with having more. I've been telling her if we're going to have anymore that we should do so while she's still young."
Kanna nodded in agreement as Nyla chimed in.
"You should consider, Katara. The later you wait the more complicated it will become."
Sokka scoffed, "What if she just doesn't want any at all? Katara is just 20 years old. 2 children is enough."
"Well what do you want, Katara?" Suki said as she tried smiling at her sister-in-law.
Honestly, Katara didn't know what she wanted. If Ozai hadn't knocked up that damn consort, she'd be more willing to consider. She did want a daughter one day. One that would be a waterbender like her but..she wasn't sure. At least, not right now.
Shrugging, "I wouldn't mind having another. I just don't know if now is a good time."
"Why not?" Kanna tilted her head.
Katara rubbed her temple a little, because my husband knocked up some other woman for starters, "Well...I'm just not in the 'mood' for that right now."
"Mood?" Kholji raised his brow. "Are you talking-"
"You know some fermented oysters will help with that." Nyla said.
Sokka scratched his head as he was confused what the hell was really going on in his sister's already strange marriage.
"So you two aren't-"
"I think we should be careful what we say around Kai." Ozai pointed out.
Katara nodded as her son just sat there oblivious, eating his food.
….
Dinner ended and Katara said Goodnight to everyone. She went on to help her grandmother clean up while Ozai put the boys to bed. As they cleaned the table and dishes, Kanna eyed her granddaughter curiously before finally coming out with it.
"You don't like your husband, do you?" Kanna said as she scrubbed the plate clean in the sink.
Katara was sweeping the floor, "What makes you think that?"
"He's a good looking man and I got a better look at him when you tried to pull his parka off earlier. Quite the fit man for his age. I'm sure he's as vigorous as any young man, plus, I'm sure he's well experienced. Yet, you don't want to sleep with him. Why?" Kanna stopped what she's doing to look at Katara.
Still sweeping, "I just don't feel like sleeping with him right now."
"Katara, you're too young to be feeling that way. I'm a 90 year old woman and I still have desires to-"
"Gramgram!"
Chuckling, "What? I'm just saying. You have a good looking husband that's in shape. Even if you're not trying for a baby, you should enjoy him while you're young and while he's still able to satisfy you."
Katara stopped sweeping and stared at her grandmother.
"You should listen to me, Katara. If you don't please him, someone else might. I'm sure women have their eyes on him all the time. Did you see how Nyla was eyeing him? I'm surprised Kholji didn't notice." Kanna chuckled.
When Katara kissed her grandmother Goodnight on the cheek and headed back upstairs to her room, she saw Ozai was struggling to get his clothes off for bed.
"Sorry about my grandmother being nosy. I didn't think she'd pry into our private matters." Katara said as she offered to help him get out of the top layer of his clothes.
Pulling it over his head, Ozai looked down at his wife, who was just staring at him somberly.
"What?" He asks her.
Shaking her head as she went to her side of the bed, Katara told him it was nothing and undressed before climbing into bed. They laid with their backs turned to each other but neither got any sleep.
….
Ozai was not about to bathe with a bunch of men, especially not outside in the freezing cold. He thought Katara was kidding; obviously she wasn't. Apparently, some of the homes allowed them to bathe in their homes and others didn't. Katara's grandmother's home didn't. So, they were forced to wash up in an outdoor communal bath. Katara had gone with her friend Nyla to wash with the women, bringing Soji with her, while Kholji had taken him and Kai to bathe with the men. Kai seemed familiar with this and removed his clothes, carrying his towel over his shoulder instead of around his waist.
Chuckling as he saw how stiff the Fire Nation man was, Kholji slapped his hand on his back. "I know it's a bit primitive to what you're used to in the Fire Nation but it'll take us time getting back to being completely civilized like all the other nations."
However, this didn't make him feel any more comfortable than before. Ozai did not want to be naked with a bunch of equally naked men. If he had gone with Katara, he wouldn't have minded but this, this was not okay.
"Come on, I'm sure you'll be able to keep warm with you being a firebender and all."
The cold was the least of his problem as he watched men walking around freely with nothing on. Ozai kept his eyes at a certain height to avoid seeing anymore male genitalia. It was the first time he had seen so many dicks that weren't his own and he felt squirmish to be completely honest.
"What? Afraid you won't be able to compare?" Kholji jest as he nudged Ozai with his elbow.
Ozai raised a brow, "you're not going to coax me into this."
"I mean, I can only assume that's the issue." Kholji smirked. "With your wife not really interested in having marital relations, I think that's what anyone can assume."
Are you fucking kidding me? Ozai wore a deadpan expression but he wanted to murder this guy seven times over.
"Katara has her problems. It has nothing to do with-"
Kholji chuckled, "Sure, pal. I know being up there in age, it's hard to please young women but fortunately, you've got a good woman there. I'm sure if she's in need, she'll just do it herself instead of going elsewhere."
Five minutes later, Ozai was finally naked but he kept his towel around his waist. Kholji had to say from the man's upper body alone, he was in excellent shape. Clearly, he worked out quite a bit.
"Ah, so you're ready to get in finally?"
"Let's get this over with." Ozai skulked.
As the ladies were leaving the communal baths in their parka, they heard a bunch of commotion going on from the men's area and raised brows. Katara prayed Ozai wasn't behind why the men were all going wild in there. However, as Kholji exited with a few other tribesmen looking completely uncomfortable, she mentally begrudged whatever she was about to hear.
Kholji was met by his wife that looked concerned but his eyes went to Katara and she sighed.
"Katara, I need to ask you something." He seemed very serious.
"Yes?"
"Is it just uncomfortable for you?"
"Huh?" Katara tilted her head.
"Kholji, what are you talking about?" Nyla asked.
Katara watched Kholji tell his wife something and saw the woman's cheeks turn red as she bashfully looked at Katara.
"What's going on?" Katara asked worriedly.
Ozai exited the communal baths with Kai, he sported Katara carrying Soji in the harness over her back and immediately went over to her.
Kholji stepped out of the man's way as a few other men eyed him strangely, making Katara even more confused as Ozai came to her side and told her he wanted to go back to her grandmother's place. She looked to Kholji to tell her and Nyla told her not to worry, that it was nothing that big of a deal. However, her husband begged to differ.
As the couple left with their sons, Kholji heard the men talk around him about what they witnessed in the bathhouse and shook his head.
"Poor woman, she's probably intimidated by him." Kholji said.
Nyla looked up at him, "Was he that big?"
"I've never seen anything like it. That man is some kind of horse."
The others agreed with him.
….
At her grandmother's home, Ozai told Katara what happened and she burst out laughing. She had thought the worst and it really wasn't a big deal, though she figured the other men would disagree. Honestly, she couldn't believe how men cared about something so trivial. Seemed that despite Ozai freaking out the other men with how large he was, he turned out to be far more uncomfortable than they were. He was not used to being exposed in front of other men that way, plus, he told her it was extremely cold and everyone was staring at him. He accused half of them of being homosexuals for looking a little too hard for his taste but Katara assured him they were probably just freaked out.
"How about we bathe in the evenings, if that makes you more comfortable. No one washes at that time and I'll just bring you to the women's side."
Ozai agreed to this. He was not ever going through what he had gone through today ever again.
Tying his hair up into its high ponytail, "I guess you're going to be the talk of the town for the rest of our stay." Katara giggled.
"Your name will be mentioned too. Your friend's husband told them all you won't sleep with me and they all think it has to do with my size."
"Then how do they explain Soji?" She laughed harder. "Honestly, I don't see the fuss. You and Zuko are-"
"I don't want to hear that!" He groaned loudly to cut her off.
Katara couldn't stop laughing "Just saying, I've never been with a tribesman, or anyone outside of you two, so I don't know what to expect. Are you considered large?"
From what he saw and their reactions, he was definitely large. However, he didn't care to compare himself to other men that way. He rather leave it to women to make that observation for him.
Finishing his hair, Katara walked around him and tilted her head. "Well, I'm going to meet with Suki and Nyla. You can stay here, go explore, or help my grandmother, whatever. Just don't cause any trouble, okay?"
Ozai rolled his eyes, "You're lucky I don't leave your ass on this block of ice until the trip is up."
"You know, that might be a good idea. I'd love to have the bed to myself."
…
Pouring some arctic whiskey in each of their mugs, Suki smiled as she took her seat with Katara and Nyla. She was pretty happy that her sister-in-law was actually able to come down for a visit. She knew Kanna had wanted to see Katara the moment she knew she was alive. Raising a brow at Katara as she wanted to address something with her, the former Kyoshi warrior sipped some of the whiskey and settled her mug down in front of her.
"So...I hear your husband has a big dick. Is it true, Katara?" Suki smirked.
Nyla giggled and playfully slapped Suki's hand. "From what my husband told me, he said Kamishi had to be a horse or something."
Katara drank down the entire mug of whiskey and reached the bottle to pour more into her mug, "From what I hear, he does. Not like I can compare him to a tribesman. I've never seen one of theirs."
"Ooohh!" The women said in unison.
"Besides, I don't care. He and I are going through a dry spell." She said before downing the whiskey again only to fill her mug once more.
Nyla gave a sympathetic expression towards her fellow tribeswoman while Suki was not at all surprised by this.
"I can make some fermented oysters for you." Nyla offered. "I can make them spicy to really get you both in the mood."
Suki chuckled as she shook her head, "I don't think 'that' is the problem. Want to talk about it, Katara?"
Katara looked somberly at her mug as she cupped it in her hands, "Promise neither of you will tell anyone. Including your husbands."
The two women nodded and Katara sighed.
"There's another woman and she's pregnant." Katara confessed.
Both Suki and Nyla were shocked.
Biting back her bitterness, Katara drank some more of her whiskey and set the mug down hard. "He says he only wants me to have his children because I'm the one he loves and that he won't let her keep it. I didn't even know how to respond to him when he said that. Like, how is that supposed to make me feel better? Another woman has to give up her unborn child because he couldn't keep his massive dick or whatever to himself. I don't even hate the woman. Not her fault. He stepped out. I say she keeps it and he lives with it because I'm not having any more children with him. I barely even want to be in the same bed as him."
The women were taken aback completely.
"That's just awful, Katara." Nyla cupped her hands over her mouth and shook her head. "How could he do that to you?"
Sniffling as she felt emotional about it, "It's not like I'm not used to this shit." Katara rubbed her hand over her teary eyes. "I should have seen it coming. He kept telling me I couldn't be the only woman in his life if I wasn't willing to serve him in bed." Her gaze fell as she felt ashamed. "Maybe I shouldn't have been so prideful and so uptight. But I wanted to set boundaries until I knew I could be the wife he wanted. I just didn't think...I didn't think I'd be dealing with this."
Suki got up and walked around the table to hug Katara tight. Her sister-in-law went on to cry in her arms as Nyla joined in and tried to comfort her.
…
It wasn't like he had never done chores before. Actually, Ozai had done pretty much everything himself before his father married him to Ursa. Unlike most princes and highborns, he had lived in a domain that was isolated from the rest of the palace and had no palace staff. His father put him there at the age of six and he was responsible for his own care. Occasionally, there were tutors and instructors that would come for his education. But he had no other guests other than his teachers and his one friend at the time, never even met his father until he was twenty-four and he was arranged to marry his one friend, Ursa. So for the first-half of his life, he was no different than common folks, only he had a title. Not that it meant much back then.
"You're quite handy, Kamishi. Never thought a Fire Nation noble like yourself would be so useful in house work." Kanna commented as she watched him hang up a portrait on the wall for her.
Ozai shrugged as he hammered the nail into the wall while holding three other nails between his teeth.
When the portrait was hung, the two moved onto the next thing that needed fixing or cleaning. Kanna had Katara's husband dusting the topsheles that she couldn't reach, repairing nooks and crannies that caused a draft of cold air to come in. He even helped her fold clothes and linen. Sure, he didn't say much as he worked but he was quite helpful. She also had him help her in the kitchen to fix lunch for the two of them since her grandchildren were out.
As they set at the table, Kanna smiled as she was happy to see he didn't mind eating their tribal food. She knew it took some of her grandchildren's friends that were not of the tribes to adjust to the difference in cuisines but Kamishi didn't seem to have a problem with it.
"Tell me, Kamishi, how's things for my granddaughter in the Fire Nation?" Kanna asked him.
Taking a bite out of the slug looking thing on his plate, "She hates it there." He told her honestly. "But she stays because she knows our sons will be better off there."
Kanna nodded as that sounded like Katara, "Ah, my granddaughter will put up with things she disagrees or hates for the sake of others. That's to be expected. But I'm happy to hear you acknowledge Kai as your son."
"He's a good kid." Ozai stated. "He deserves a father that won't just abandon him."
Nodding her head as she drank some of her hot drink, "That you are right about."
There was only a brief pause before the old woman found something else to discuss.
"So how'd you two meet?"
"At a festival." He replied as he and Katara already discussed the lie they would tell her grandmother.
"Oh, that seems fun. How'd it go?" Kanna was very much interested to hear this.
According to the fictional story, the two met at a festival that lasted over the span of a few days and the first night he spotted her alone. Katara wasn't very interested and turned down his advances but Ozai was persistent as he knew what he wanted. By the last night, she agreed only after he offered a candy apple. Apparently, a man could win a woman over with food. They courted for four months until he asked her to marry him when he discovered she was pregnant with Soji. They married shortly after, moving her into his estate and becoming a family.
"Aww! That's adorable!" Kanna beamed.
"She only married me out of convenience." Ozai stated. "The marriage is strictly one sided which is why we aren't exactly the happy couple."
Kanna became a bit saddened by this. "She doesn't have feelings for you?"
"Not at all but I feel she'll come around one day." He said confidently.
"I do hope she does. Katara is lucky to have someone like you. Even if your marriage is of convenience, you seem to be in love with her."
Ozai nodded.
Smiling hopefully, Kanna took his hand in hers. "I'll try talking to her for you. Maybe I can convince her to soften up to you."
Smirking inwardly, Ozai gave her another head nod.
"I've already told her to stop holding out in the bedroom. Silly girl thinks she'll be able to just go her entire life without wanting." Kanna shook her head and sighed. "I'll have to make her some fermented oysters. She'll be all over you in a heartbeat."
As much as he didn't want to discuss this with the old woman, Ozai wasn't exactly against what she was saying. Good to know someone wanted to talk some sense into Katara and get her to stop being so damn stubborn.
…..
When Katara returned home with Kai and Soji, she saw Ozai carrying firewood into the house from the back door, taking it to the kitchen. She told Kai to go upstairs and change out of his parka as she went to see what was going on. Entering the kitchen, she saw her grandmother patting Ozai on the arm as she smiled at him. He went on to light a few logs on fire in the fireplace and started stacking the other logs in the box. Her grandmother took one log and added to the oven as she was in the middle of cooking.
After he finished stacking the logs, Ozai turned around and saw his wife staring in curiosity.
"You're finally back." He remarked.
Kanna turned around and smiled as she went to hug her granddaughter.
Returning the hug, Katara kept her eyes on Ozai as if to figure out what he was doing with her grandmother.
"You've got such a helpful and handy husband. He's literally been helping me all day. I've really enjoyed his company too. Reminds me of when I had your father around to help me."
Katara furrowed her brows as she didn't like her grandmother comparing her father to the man that murdered him.
Seeing the unhappy look on her granddaughter's face, Kanna chuckled as she shook her head at the young woman, "How about you give Soji to me and eat up? You look a little hangry."
As her grandmother took the baby from her and went to her room with him, Katara continued eyeing Ozai funny. He smirked and told he had already eaten, patting her head as he went upstairs. Something about Ozai and her grandmother getting friendly rubbed her the wrong way. Maybe it was the fact that if her grandmother knew who he really was, that she may kill him herself, coming face to face with her son's murderer.
"Oh, oysters and sea prunes." Katara said to herself in delight as she opened the pot.
A little while later the waterbender ended up coming to their room in a frenzy. Ozai was on his way to falling asleep and all he saw was the woman come in tearing off her clothes. He tried ignoring her and rolling over on his side, facing away from her so she wouldn't say he was perving on her. Which made no sense to him. They were married. Of course, he was going to look. Anyway, he eventually felt her get into bed on her side and then wiggle herself up to him.
"What?" He asked in a tired voice.
Pressing her lips to his back as she threw her arm over his middle and rubbed her hand up his bare chest, "Are you going to sleep right now?"
"What's it look like?"
"You sure?"
"Yes."
Katara moved her hand down his chest to the waistband of his night pants, "You really sure about that?" She asked him as her hand grabbed his member and stroked it a few times.
Okay, he was up.
Kanna had managed to get Soji to sleep when she heard a knock on the door. She laid the infant boy down on her bed and got up to answer the door.
"Sokka," She smiled at her sight of her grandson. "What brings you here at this time of night?"
Sokka looked around as his grandmother let him in, "I wanted to talk to Katara. Suki told me something and I wanted to talk to her. Where is she?"
"She's-"
"YES! YES! FUCK ME JUST LIKE THAT, YOU STUPID FUCK!"
Both their eyes widened.
"OH MY FUCK! I'M GOING TO CUM!"
Sokka put his hand over his face as his grandmother laughed and told him she gave Katara fermented oysters for dinner.
"I just wanted to help them with their marriage." Kanna laughed.
After his sister shouted a few more absurdities, Sokka gave it a little while before he went upstairs to see if his sister could come out to speak. However, as he knocked on her door, no one answered. He figured the two fucked themselves to sleep. But when he cracked open the door to peek inside, he saw they were not at all asleep. Ozai had forced Katara's head down in a pillow to muffle her as he thrust himself into her from behind. Sokka watched in horror as the man's balls slap against his sister.
"Harder, you son of a bitch! I'm cumming again!" Katara cried into the pillow.
Shutting the door, Sokka walked back downstairs and walked past his grandmother with a blank look on his face. "I'll talk to her in the morning."
"Okay, be safe home, my love." Kanna waved him goodbye as she giggled.
…...
It was morning and they had already been up most of the night but the waterbender was far from satisfied. She bit his lip, clawed his back, yanked his hair, and called him names as she demanded him to give her what she wanted. If he was good for anything, then this was it. If he wanted to be a whore, she'd use him like one. Not like he cared. He wanted to fuck her anyway. A win win her brother would say.
Grinding her hips hard in his lap as he gripped her ass with his hands, Katara forced her tongue into his mouth and clenched locks of his hair in her fist. The couple vigorously sought out pleasure from the other. Demanding the other to give them release. The waterbender went onto cup his face with her nails raking into his skin as she tried forcing him down on his back. However, Ozai rolled her over onto hers, gathering one of her thighs to push up to her chest so he could reach deeper inside. Katara cried out and arched her back as she was on the verge of yet another orgasm.
"Right there, you slut!" She pulled on his hair harder.
Ozai glared at her as she called him another name, "Watch your mouth!" He growled.
"Shut up and do what you're good for, whore." Katara retorted.
Fed up with the name calling, Ozai pulled out to her disappointment and sat up to jerk himself off, shooting his cum in her face. Katara squealed and grabbed a pillow to throw at him as she squirmed away from him. However, he stopped her, pinning her on her stomach as he applied her weight on her.
"Get your heavy ass off of me, Ozai!" She hissed trying to force him off of her.
Grabbing her jaw from underneath her, "You've got a smart ass mouth. Don't be disrespectful, bitch. I'll make a scene in front of your grandmother."
"Do it and I'll drown you!"
"Not before I take the old bitch with me." Ozai replied before running his tongue along the shell of her ear.
When he finally got off of her, Katara used his tunic to wipe his semen off her face to which he grabbed her parka to wipe his dick clean. This caused the waterbender to wipe between her legs with his parka. Ozai, then, responded by holding her down on the bed and pissing on her and in her face. She screamed and tried to hit him as he laughed at her, aiming for her mouth. Getting every drop out, the Fire Lord grabbed the clean linen to wrap around his waist as he quickly slipped out the room before she could retaliate, laughing as he got away. Spitting into the sheets, Katara sat there completely disgusted and in disbelief that he peed on her.
I'm going to kill you, you sick son of a bitch!
Katara eventually came downstairs wrapped in linen to see her grandmother trying to see if any of the spare clothes she had stowed away could fit Ozai. He smirked at her when she showed up glaring at him, covering herself in white linens like him.
Chuckling as she saw her granddaughter was also in linens, "I see those fermented oysters really worked a charm."
"Agreed." Ozai commented.
Slapping his arm when her grandmother turned her back to look through her chest of clothes. The two took jabs at each other until the elderly woman turned back around with something she knew would fit Ozai.
"Here, Kamishi, this was my husband's. He was about your size. Pretty big guy." Kanna smiled as she handed him the clothes.
Ozai thanked her and smirked when he saw Katara furious that her grandmother was being so kind to him.
"Katara bend some water for your husband so he can wash up. Don't want him going to the communal baths clad in mere linens." Kanna told her granddaughter.
Seething, Katara bit out an affirmative answer to her grandmother as she brushed shoulders with Ozai to go get a bucket.
After throwing several buckets of ice cold water on her husband and being reprimanded by her grandmother, Katara washed herself out of a bucket before putting on her spare clothes. Once she was dressed, the waterbender gathered her sheets, covers, pillows and their soiled clothes to wash. She had to take them to the back of her grandmother's house, outside. It was sort of embarrassing, the only reason most people washed their bed sheets outside was because 'relations' took place on those sheets and things got messy.
People walking by snickered to themselves and gave her looks. Katara ignored them for the most part since it wasn't truly a big deal. She was married and so were the snickering couples. They acted like they never had to scrub their sheets outdoors. But the waterbender only grew more embarrassed as a group of tribesmen walked by and laughed. They asked her if she wet the sheets often because of her half-horse husband.
By the time Nyla and Suki came by to visit, Katara's face was beet red. They were both surprised she had the bed sheets hanging on the clothesline outside while scrubbing the fur covers in a bucket. They knew what it meant as much as everyone else did.
"Katara, what's this? I thought you weren't wanting to sleep with Oz-Kamishi." Suki said as she came to sit on a spare wooden stool beside her sister-in-law.
Scrubbing the fur on the washboard angrily, "My grandmother made fermented oysters and sea prunes. I didn't know they were fermented." Katara said.
Nyla nodded, "I told you they would work." taking a seat on the other side of Katara.
"So... I'm guessing you haven't had sex in a while." Suki noted.
"That's not it. That bastard peed on me." Katara hissed viciously as she scrubbed harder.
Neither of the other women knew how to respond other than look at her in shock.
"I'm going to kill him!"
…..
Sokka was about to head to his grandmother's place to speak with his sister about what his wife told him. He couldn't believe that Ozai would do something like that to his sister, well he could but after he watched Katara stand up for the bastard, he thought the man would be a little more appreciative of her. She not only forced them to spare his life but she looked after him in prison, showing signs that she cared about him in some shape or form. How dare that bastard go behind his sister's back like that.
On his way to see his grandmother, Sokka saw Ozai with Kai, holding his hand as the little boy carried a bucket of fish they must have just caught together. He paused and headed straight towards them. He saw that Ozai noticed him and patted Kai on his back to go on to take the fish to his grandmother's. The little boy nodded and hurried on his way. As soon as Sokka approached his damned brother-in-law, his fist flew at the man. However, Ozai was quick and caught his wrist and bent it back to stop him.
A crowd of spectators gathered to see what was going on. Sokka noticed them and realized he couldn't let Ozai make a fool of him in front of his own people. So, the chieftain threw his other fist but that too was caught in the man's grasp. But Sokka was resourceful and used his head to head butt Ozai. When Ozai let him go, pulling back to cover his busted nose, Sokka swung his fist again and landed a punch. He then went on to swing again and knocked them both into the snow. It was a tussle and everyone around were cheering, rooting for their Chieftain to kick the Fire Nation man's ass. However, Ozai socked him one good time in the face and knocked Sokka onto his back before climbing on top of him.
Everyone gasped as fire engulfed the man's fist as he was about to punch their chieftain one last time but they watched him hesitate as he panted above the chieftain.
"I swore to your sister I wouldn't kill you or any of her other little friends. But try me again and I'll go back on my word." Ozai threatened.
Staring up at the bruised man pinning him down through his busted eye, "My sister gave a fuck about you and you went behind her back! How could you do that?! After she pleaded for your life and defended your crimes against her! You go knock up another woman?!"
Ozai panted and let go of the younger man as he climbed to his feet, sweeping his loose strands of hair back. "Our marriage is none of your business." He bit out.
"Fuck you, Ozai! It damn well is my business when you're mistreating my sister!" Sokka shouted as he got to his feet and brushed the snow off his pants.
Everyone backed away in shock at this revelation. That man was really the Fire Lord?
"You've hurt her enough don't you think?! Why are you hell bent on making her suffer?! What did she do to deserve any of what you did to her?!" Sokka charged at Ozai.
Ozai grabbed Sokka immediately and put him in a chokehold, forcing him to his knees in the snow.
"Don't make me snap your neck in front of all these people." Ozai said all too calmly for a man being attacked.
The commotion of the fight soon reached Katara and her grandmother. They moved through the crowd, having Nyla and Suki lead the way. Kai had said Sokka looked upset when he approached his dad and the women all feared the worst. Kholji stayed with Kai at the house while they went to go check things out. As they got through the crowd, Katara saw Ozai restraining her brother, pressing him face down into the snow.
"Just leave my sister alone, you piece of shit!" Sokka growled. "Katara doesn't deserve the hell you've put her through! Just let her go!"
"Sokka!" Kanna shouted as she came forward from the crowd and Ozai got off of Sokka.
Getting off the ground, the chieftain looked over his shoulder at Ozai as he limped to his grandmother.
"Sokka, what's going on?" Kanna asked him.
Sokka glared at Ozai as he watched his sister run over to him, "That bastard got some other woman pregnant!"
Kanna furrowed her brows and looked to where her granddaughter was trying to get an understanding of the situation from her husband.
"I'm fine." Ozai told Katara as she tried to look over his injuries from fighting off her brother.
Seeing his face was covered in blood, Katara couldn't help but be concerned. However, Ozai shoved her aside as her grandmother came towards them snatching a club from a tribesman and swinging at him. The waterbender tried stopping her grandmother but the elderly woman swung at his legs, knocking him to his knees before busting him upside the head with the club.
"Gram Gram! No! Stop!" Katara grabbed the club and took it from her grandmother as the woman tried to finish him off as he was lying in the snow, covered in his own blood.
Kanna looked at her granddaughter with a grave look on her face, "This man, he's that tyrant that kidnapped you, isn'the?"
"Things are different, Gram Gram. He's-"
"Katara, look at me! Why are you defending him?! Why?! If you think things will get better, it won't! You'll only suffer more and you're suffering now! I can see it in your eyes!" Kanna wept as she took hold of her granddaughter's arms and shook her. "Why are you condemning yourself to this man?! Why do you not believe you deserve better?!"
Katara stared at her grandmother with an unreadable expression, "We'll leave, okay?"
"No, Katara, don't leave with him!" Kanna shook her.
Tearing up as she shook her head, "I'll get the boys and we'll just leave, okay? We won't cause anymore trouble."
"Kat-"
"You kill him and the Fire Nation will finish what they started here! And I can't stay here because he's not going to allow it! All I can do is leave! Doesn't matter what I want or what I deserve!" Katara told her grandmother. "Please, gram gram, we'll just leave."
Kanna looked from her granddaughter to the man sitting up in the snow and scowled viciously at him. She kicked snow at his face and spit on the ground in front of him.
"I pray you get back everything you've done to my granddaughter, ten fold! The gods will have a field day making you regret your transgressions!" Kanna's eyes shifted back to Katara. "First opportunity you get to leave his ass, please, take it."
Katara nodded as her grandmother turned her back to return to Sokka and where everyone was staring in disbelief. Feeling completely put on the spot, the waterbender forced herself to ignore them as she turned to kneel in front of Ozai to see if he was okay. With blood running down his face from the gash close to his temple, she saw his eyes were scornfully staring at her but she pretended they weren't for her.
…..
On the ship, Katara put the boys to sleep before returning to her cabin and was confronted with the sight of the ship's physician treating the injuries to her husband's face. She tore her gaze from him as soon as his gold eyes fell on her and went to the bedroom of their cabin to lay down. After she managed to get him out of the snow, he cursed at her and her family. Humiliating her in front of everyone after she had defended him. Her fellow tribespeople looked at her in pity and shook their heads as they left. Katara went to get the boys and her friends, Nyla and Kholji wouldn't even look at her. Her grandmother wept so much that Sokka said she needed to go. I didn't even get to say goodbye.
The waterbender felt so terrible that she couldn't even bring herself to lay down. How could she rest with so much on her mind? She had literally disappointed her grandmother and been embarrassed in front of all her people. Her chest heart and all she could bring herself to do was hyperventilate as she clenched the fabric of the silk sheets she was sitting on. Tears profusely ran down her cheeks as she swept, repeatedly apologizing to her grandmother and begging her not to hate her. There was so much guilt and sorrow she felt along with misery. Maybe it wouldn't hurt so bad if she knew she was defending someone that cared about her. If she was defending someone that didn't hurt her as much as he did.
"All this for nothing." Katara cried as she hung her head, still holding the sheets tight in her fists as her body shook. "I give up everything for that no good bastard! Why?! What did I do to deserve this?!"
Unbeknownst to her, Ozai was standing directly on the other side of the bed staring at her as she cursed him and their marriage. He had wanted to take his frustrations out on her and vent about her idiot brother. But after hearing her, he knew not to bother her. Tomorrow morning he'd just put her on the tea again. She was so much easier to deal with when she had it. Sure, she talked to herself and was a bit unusual but he'd take that over her terrible attitude.
Letting her continue her sobbing, Ozai put himself to bed and ignored the shocked look she gave him when she noticed he was there.
"Night." He said before turning his back to her.
…
A/N:
So Ozai is just a fucking cunt right now and I honestly hate him my damn self. Maybe something will make him snap to his senses. However, I think Katara is far from forgiving him any time soon. He just keeps fucking up.