Blueeyeddevi06 thank you for being my beta and being so encouraging about this story!

This story has quite a few OCs since I made up the names of the councilmen and councilwomen. I will post a list of names so that you can tell my OCs apart.

Tsuneo - Councilman

Haruo - Councilman

Nami - Councilwoman

Sunao - Councilman

Ikuo - Councilman

I have a majority of men on the Council. I believe Zuko would work to add women to his council and not keep an all-male council tradition that his father had. As I go along, I will update my OCs with information about them. I hope this helps.

"You always supported my father! I still can't figure out how I'm supposed to trust you." Zuko announced that he was skeptical of his councilman. He was heading his council right now, and he wasn't taking Councilman Tsuneo's pledge of support well.

"You won't kill my family or me for disagreeing with you," was his immediate response.

"What?"

"Your father would have, of course, so I always agreed with him. He was an absolute monster. Look what he did to you, and you're his own son." He shuddered. "I have a family I love. I had no qualms appeasing him to keep them safe." He looked Zuko in the eye. "If I disagree with you, I can tell you. I'm not afraid of you."

Zuko felt secure with his statement until the very end. His council didn't fear him. Everything he'd ever known said that was an insult. He scowled. "Great. You don't fear me. That's… interesting." He tried to look menacing. He didn't know if it worked.

Zuko had spent a year working on peace and trying to reform his council as best he could. There were families even the Fire Lord couldn't remove from the council without cause. He did make sure to add women, something his father would have despised. Councilmen Tsuneo was a leftover from his father, one who he hadn't grown to trust but one who hadn't actively gone against him. Now it seemed he was discovering his true motivation.

Tsuneo chuckled. "You misunderstood me. Well, sort of. I don't fear you. I respect you."

That caused Zuko to flush with pride. Tsuneo had been a master Firebender since well before Zuko was born. He had been to war and was well respected. Zuko coughed to clear the lump in his throat. He still needed to show strength. "You said you had a plan to show that we want peace?"

"Yes. And…" he chuckled. "It will also show to our nation that we have strength. We get power and peace all at once."

Councilman Haruo looked shocked, "And how is that possible."

Tsuneo leveled a look at everyone gathered. "As much as I want Zuko to marry my own sweet daughter, it's evident he's not interested."

There were chuckles of amusement around the room. Everyone knew the truth. His daughter was already in love with someone else. Someone her father disapproved of. While he had been trying to set her up to be Fire Lady, she was sneaking around with her bodyguard. Her father had been furious initially. But, true to what he said, he loved his family. For now, he was just ignoring his daughter's transgressions, as he put them.

Zuko knew he'd help her bodyguard get a better position. He wanted her to be able to marry for love. They had spent time together, and she impressed him in her sincerity. She had spirit, and he learned the value of that through his time spent with Katara. Now, he was beginning to believe her father might give in and not disown her. That encouraged him.

Tsuneo cleared his throat and continued. "I think you should marry someone powerful from another nation."

That caused a massive stir in the council meeting. "That would pollute the bloodlines! We can't have his heir being a bender from another element!"

"We can say that his heir has to be the firstborn firebender and not just his firstborn. It would be the only concession I think we'd have to ask him to make."

Zuko slammed his fist down. "I haven't agreed to anything yet!"

The whole room grew quiet as they thought of the proposal.

Councilman Sunao commented, "I assume there was more to your plan than that. It's not like you to come up with a half-baked plan." There were chuckles at that.

Tsuneo nodded, "I have a particular bender in mind. Master Katara."

Zuko froze. He tried not to chuckle at that image he just conjured up, froze. Of course, her terminology would wear off on him. He stated the obvious. "She's dating Aang."

"For now." He replied. "My wife…" he sighed. "I never brought this up before in a meeting with your father. My wife is very good at reading people. This is the first time I won't have to take credit for her observations."

"And what's that?" Zuko pressed.

Once he saw the questioning looks, he continued. "She noticed that Katara grounds Aang, steadying him. She also encourages him and is always there for him too."

Zuko held back a sigh. He really was hating this conversation. He didn't want to hear how Katara was so good to another man. Even if he were one of his best friends, he'd become a better man, but not that good of one. Not one that anyone could ever deserve her. "And?" He asked.

"And, she gets nothing in return. She's not the type to only care about being the Avatar's girlfriend. My wife was horrified how he never supports her."

"You want me to marry a Waterbender?" Zuko had his hands placed in his lap so they couldn't see them shaking. To everyone in the room, he remained impassive. Damn, did he want to marry her. She entranced him, and he was now angry at Aang. Now that he thought about it, Tsuneo was right. He really didn't support her.

"What I want doesn't matter. I recommend you marry for power. She fought to end the war with you. It would show you want peace to the other nations. To us, the Fire Nation, it would show strength. She's incredibly powerful and a Bloodbender. On top of that, it would look good if she chose you over the Avatar." Tsuneo rushed on to not be interrupted. "I get he's your friend, but I'm recommending this for our nation and to normalize world peace."

"Katara would have to want this," Zuko replied flatly. He was so thrown off by councilman Tsuneo wanting him to marry Katara that he didn't think those words through before he said them. Once they registered, he realized how telling they were. He implied that he was already in agreement with marrying her. He was. But he didn't want to have told them. Especially since he believed she'd marry Aang.

"She comes in three weeks for the summit. We can prepare for her quietly. We can't have people finding out our plan." Sunao said.

Zuko managed to hold himself passive as he watched his council nod.

"You all agree with this?" He kept his voice stoic, and he was proud of himself that he was holding onto his emotions.

There were nods all around, and Nami said, "He's right. It would look good if you married Katara. All the nations will respect her in her fight for peace. The fact that she's a Bloodbender will help convince your people. Not only is it rare, it's-"

"Brutal." Tsuneo supplied. "We know she's a healer, but it's a strength she has."

Zuko rubbed his temples with his fingers and sighed, "So your plan is to break up her relationship with the Avatar and get her to marry me. Me, a man who hunted her for a while. Did I mention I tied her to a tree?"

Everyone chuckled at that. Haruo said, "And then you took a bolt of lightning for her. You also ensured the end of the 100-year war."

Ikuo spoke up for the first time. "And you watch her."

"What?!" Zuko let out in a strangled shout. He lost control of his emotions for a moment, and he knew he had to rein it in.

"You're at least attracted to her. It wouldn't be a hardship to marry her."

It most certainly wouldn't be. He wasn't just attracted to her. He loved her, but he wasn't going to tell them that. Then it dawned on him. He needed to stop fighting this. They wanted to help him marry the woman of his dreams. He could just let them help him.

"Okay. I see your point. It would be good politically, worldwide, and nationally to marry her. I want to be kept up to date on every plan. I will not backstab Aang. He's my friend and ally. We need him for world peace too."

Tsuneo smiled. "Perfect. In that case, I plan to have Fire Nation-style clothes made for her. We can say they are a thank you for her part in the summit."

"And you'd make them blue?" Zuko asked.

"Nope. Red. Not Fire Nation red. Blood red. They'd be her unique bending color. It would point out that she's different but special. It would also make her appear not quite so different from us."

Zuko tried not to think of her body in Fire Nation clothes. She looked amazing in them when they spent time in the Fire Nation when they were on the run.

"She's not comfortable with being a Bloodbender."

"And yet that's what she uses to heal so many people." Tsuneo smiled. "My wife says she should be encouraged in all her talents. Even the Bloodbending, which she seems to be afraid of. If I may suggest that it should be your part of the plan. Bloodbending can kill, but it can also heal. Help her see that it's not a terrifying ability."

Zuko nodded. It was the first time he started feeling good about the plan. Tsuneo was right. She needed to accept everything about herself, and Aang pushed her to hate something unique about who she was. She deserved better. Even if it was a friend helping her accept all of herself, he could do that for the woman he loved.

"I will want a full update at the next council meeting. I don't want any surprises. Is there anything else we need to cover?" He watched everyone shake their heads. "Then this meeting is over. I'll be in my study."

He stood and walked out of the room. He knew he'd have councilors lining up to talk to him soon. He wondered how many would complain over the new plan. No one spoke against it yet. He knew that such a crazy proposal couldn't hold. Not everyone had voiced their opinion during the meeting.

By the time he went to bed that night, he was reeling. He did have a steady stream of councilmen and women in his office. But they all came to encourage the match. He managed not to roll his eyes when most of them expressed how it would look if she chose him over the Avatar.

He rubbed his eyes and sighed. If only Aang knew what he was planning. He didn't know if he should hate himself for going along with this.