A week later, Zuko had still not talked with Katara. She was deftly avoiding him, and he was inclined to allow her space. Perhaps she would come around in time, he thought.
The Fire Lord made his way down to the harbor to await his guests. He'd decided to forgo the palanquin, instead riding atop a mongoose lizard with a number of guards. A carriage followed in their wake for the Water Tribe contingent.
It was a little less than an hour when the sails of the Water Tribe ship could be seen from outside the harbor, rising like billowing clouds. As the vessel approached, Zuko could hear joyous shouts from the deck. He shook his head fondly as he noted that it was not just the children shouting.
"Whaddup, Fire Nation!" Sokka bellowed from his perch atop the railing, waving enthusiastically to Zuko. The Fire Lord watched his brother-in-law as the man hopped down from the rail, scooping up his children so they could see better.
"Uncle Zuko!" A little girl cried, waving to him. Zuko smiled and raised a hand back to Sokka's son and daughter. They were twins, Nashoba and Nokomis, both about eight years old, and both water benders like Katara. Nokomis had her curly reddish-brown hair in a similar style to Katara's, loops and all, while Nashoba sported a wolf-tail like his father's.
Next to Sokka stood his wife, Suki, looking heavily pregnant. They were expecting their third child within the next month or so- another reason why Katara had been planning to make the journey to her homeland. She had wanted to be there to help out with the delivery. Zuko thought it likely that Suki and the children had come so that Katara could still be part of the process, now that it wasn't as safe for her to leave. Katara's father, Hakoda, stood on Sokka's other side, taking Nashoba from his father.
The ship made port, and the family quickly made their way down the gangplank to the dock, where Zuko clasped Sokka's forearm in a gesture of greeting.
"Good to see you," Zuko said with a tired grin, which Sokka happily returned.
"Right back atcha, bro," Sokka replied. His smile faded as he glanced around. "Where's Katara?"
Zuko grimaced. "I…I didn't tell her you were coming," he admitted, as he turned to greet Hakoda and Suki. Sokka's brow furrowed.
"Why not?"
"She hasn't wanted to see me," Zuko explained, turning back to the Water Tribe warrior, who was pulling his wife into his side protectively, leaving the aging Chieftain to wrangle his grandchildren. "I didn't want to tell you by messenger hawk, but Katara lost all her memories in the accident. She hit her head pretty hard, and the last thing she remembered before she woke up was the incident in the Crystal Caverns at Ba Sing Se." Sokka's eyes widened.
"That was almost fifteen years ago!" Zuko nodded grimly.
"I know. She woke up and froze me to the wall. She thought I'd taken her prisoner." Sokka smirked slightly at this.
"Classic Katara. So the last thing she remembers is you being an angry jerkbender then? No wonder she doesn't want to talk to you." He sobered as Suki spoke up.
"So she doesn't remember the end of the war, or you, or the children?" She asked. Zuko shook his head sadly.
"No," he replied. "She's attempted to stay away from me as much as possible, though she has made an effort to look into her projects and made some slight headway into getting to know the kids again. Jia and Lian reported that she seems quite overwhelmed. I'm not sure what to do for her though, she won't even speak to me."
A determined expression came over Suki's face, and she and Sokka exchanged a look.
"What are we doing standing around here then?" The female warrior asked. Zuko gave a small smile. Perhaps a family reunion was just what Katara needed.
A week had passed, and Katara felt no more settled than she had upon waking. Zuko had sought her out once or twice, but she had sent him away, not wanting to listen to anything he had to say. She couldn't reconcile what she knew of him as a teenager with the man she had seen since the accident, and it was enough to seriously mess with her head. So she avoided him, and when he came to her to talk, he was brusquely sent on his way.
She had also noticed that the number of guards around her and the children had doubled in the day or so after she'd awoken. There were no less than four guards near her person at any given time, and the children seemed to be monitored in a similar fashion. Katara assumed that Zuko had ordered this, but instead of making her feel safer, she just felt angry. When she'd tried to argue the point, siting the fact that she was a master bender and could take care of herself, the guards only told her she would have to take it up with the Fire Lord, which effectively ended the conversation. Katara was still not willing to face the man.
Instead, she spent her time trying to find out what she had normally been doing during the day. Iroh had spent some time getting her up to speed on the most pressing matters. She had been working on an initiative to assist families of mixed national race like her own since the war, since several of the Earth Kingdom's Fire Nation colonies housed those from both cultures. She had a lot of re-reading to do in order for the initiative to be successful, such as how many families were now mixed-nationality, where exactly all the Fire Nation colonies had been located, and the issues facing such families (such as extreme hatred towards those who had entered into mixed-nation relationships, either for being considered traitors to the Earth Kingdom or for being the enemy for Fire Nationers).
She found that, since the war, the Gaang had been instrumental in organizing Republic City, which had become a haven for mixed-nation families. However, there were certain families who either were not well-off enough to move to the city or refused to leave their original homes. And it was those families that Katara had intended to help, as many of them had been Fire Nation citizens.
As she read through her notes and reports which detailed issues finding work due to prejudice, brute violence, and especially, violence toward fire benders in these areas, Katara hardly knew how to feel. Some of the reports noted that the children especially in these situations fared terribly, being treated as severely as adult firebenders.
She sighed. Firebenders had killed her mother, true, but that firebender had not been a child. He'd been a grown man, a soldier who killed without a second thought. She buried her face in her hands, feeling overwhelmed. She definitely had some unresolved feelings toward the Fire Nation, but that didn't mean she condoned violence toward innocents.
Setting aside her reports, she let her thoughts wander. She'd spent some time with the children in the past week also, in an attempt to get a feel for what was expected of her. She was used to tending children in her own village growing up, but it was so much more…everything when it was your own kids.
In the end, she tended to spend more of her time with Mato than the others. He was the only one whose needs and expectations didn't seem confusing or overwhelming. He was just a baby, after all- he only wanted food when it was time to eat, to be snuggled, and to know his mother cared for him. She could manage that, surely. There were no lessons for him in being royalty, in bending, in becoming a ruler of the Fire Nation. For little Mato, there was only toys, books, learning colors and how to count.
A sharp knock at the door broke Katara out of her thoughts.
"Come in," she called, and a guard poked his head in.
"Begging your pardon, your Ladyship," the man said with a slight bow, "but the Fire Lord requests your presence."
Katara frowned. She had not been summoned before; aside from the few times Zuko had attempted to speak with her and his interacting with the children, she had not seen the man. She was grateful for this, but that begged the question, why now?
"What does he want?" She asked, casting a suspicious glance at the man standing in the doorway. The guard bowed again.
"He did not say, my Lady. Only that he has a surprise for you."
Katara's eyes narrowed.
"Tell him I'm not interested," she replied, turning her attention back to the reports on her desk. The guard shifted uneasily.
"He said you would say that," the man said. "He also said to tell you that he will not be involved. Now, please, follow me." Katara huffed in annoyance, then rose to her feet, her curiosity overcoming her desire to stay away and hoping she had not just made a huge mistake. She kept a cautionary hand on her water pouch, which she'd kept on her hip at all times since she awoke, as they walked down the corridors of the Palace.
After several minutes, Katara found herself in a small garden. There were trees and flowers sprinkled here and there, a turtle-duck pond, and a table set with a tea service. At the table sat some people with somewhat familiar faces, though older than last she remembered.
"Sokka?" She cried, throwing herself forward to put her arms around her brother.
"Katara! Thank goodness you're ok!" In a moment, Katara was in her brother's arms, and she couldn't quite stop the tears that flowed down her cheeks as she clung to him. "When Zuko said you'd been in an accident, we were pretty worried," he admitted. Katara stiffened at the mention of her…husband. Her brother pulled back to study her face. "You really don't remember the war ending?" He asked softly.
Katara shook her head, sniffling slightly. "Nothing after Ba Sing Se and Aang getting shot down by Azula." She clung to Sokka again, reveling in the feeling of finally being safe. "Oh, Sokka, I'm so glad you're here!" She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see a smiling woman with reddish-brown hair giving her a reassuring look.
"We're here for you, Katara," she said, and the water bender turned to hug the female warrior, carefully, upon noticing her protruding stomach.
"Congratulations on the baby," Katara said, sniffling again. Sokka chuckled, as did Hakoda behind him.
"Well, actually…"
Katara's tears started up again as she launched herself at her father, cutting off whatever her brother had been about to say. It had been years since she remembered seeing her father…though she supposed perhaps Sokka was more like a father to her in some ways since her father had been gone during the war. She dimly noticed Sokka making an odd sound that was reminiscent of a wolf-seal, and looked around to see what was going on. From the direction of the pond, two small figures emerged from the brush, clothed in traditional Water-Tribe blue.
"Auntie Katara!" They cried, hurrying over and throwing their arms around Katara's legs. Katara looked to her brother for help, but he just smirked at her.
"Nashoba, Nokomis, let go of Auntie Katara this minute!" Suki exclaimed sternly. "Didn't we tell you she was hurt?" The children stepped back immediately, looking abashed.
"Sorry Auntie," they mumbled. Katara waved a hand dismissively.
"It's fine," she replied. "I'm all healed up now, see?" She pointed to her forehead where her bloody bruises had been, which had disappeared without a trace when she healed them with her waterbending.
"The twins," Sokka said in an undertone as Hakoda caught the children's attention and took them back to the pond. "Both waterbenders, too." Sokka shuddered. "I tell you what, Katara- if I thought it was bad when you played with your magic water when we were kids, it's nothing to when there's two of them and they're both so young! I can't tell you how many waves have hit me in the face in the last year and a half! Grand-Pakku has had his hands full trying to keep up with them. Not as young as he used to be." Katara glared at her brother.
"It's not magic water, Sokka. You should know that by now." Sokka waved a hand.
"Whatever," he said, brushing her off, turning back to his wife, who giggled as she saw Katara quietly bending a sphere of water out of her water pouch and floating it over her brother's head. He gave his wife a questioning look before his expression turned to one of outrage as he caught sight of the water. "Don't-!" But it was too late; Katara let go of her water globe, which crashed down on top of Sokka's head, soaking him. Suki and Katara doubled over in laughter as they watched Sokka spluttering angrily.
"You should see your face…!" Katara howled gleefully, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. Sokka glared at the women.
"Very funny," he grumbled, wiping the water from his eyes as he turned to his wife, who was trying to hide her giggles. "And you, traitor…" he growled playfully, attempting to scoop Suki up in a very wet hug. Despite her condition, Suki was still quite agile and was able to evade husband until Katara bent the water from her brother's clothes and hair. Sokka pouted.
"Aww, Kat, you're no fun," he said, but everything was interrupted when they heard shouts from inside.
"Uncle Sokka! Aunt Suki!" They looked up to see Lu Ten racing toward them, Mato close at his heels. Kyon and Izumi trailed behind at a more dignified pace, though looking excited as well. Lian, their caretaker, followed, along with a number of guards. Sokka scooped up Lu Ten happily.
"Hey, little fire warrior! Did you miss me?" Lu Ten nodded, giving his uncle a huge hug.
"Aunt Suki, did the twins come with you?" Izumi spoke up, Kyon nearly bouncing by her side. Suki gave them a smile and pointed them toward the pond.
"Grandpa is here, too," she said, grinning as the two older children didn't wait for her to finish before running off. Lu Ten was happy to stay with Sokka, instantly engaging him in a discussion about the ship they'd come in on, and Mato was hiding behind Katara, staring up at the newcomers with his wide blue eyes.
"Come on, Little Bear, don't you want to say hi?" Katara prodded the little boy, who stubbornly hid his face in her skirt.
"He may not remember us very well," Suki admitted. "It's been a while since we were able to visit. He wasn't even a year old yet when we were last here."
Katara smiled and picked up the baby, who continued to hide from the guests, burying his face in her hair. Suki stayed back at a respectful distance, pretending to not notice Mato staring at her curiously. Finally, Mato broke eye contact, looking around the garden.
"Where's…Daddy?" He asked in his halting baby-speak. The smile froze on Katara's face as she studied the baby.
"He probably had some more work to do," she offered finally, trying not to notice Suki's pitying glance.
"Lord Zuko said he would join you all for dinner in the main dining area this evening," Lian reported, overhearing the conversation. Katara sighed internally. She wasn't sure she was ready to face him. But they had guests, and it would likely be rude for him to remain cloistered in his study all the while, she thought. She would just have to deal with it.
Zuko stood in the shadow of the walkway, watching his family as they greeted each other in the garden. He wanted to be part of the proceedings, and yet, he knew Katara's unease and distrust of him only heightened with proximity.
She doesn't want me here anyway, he reminded himself. Things will be better for her if I stay away. Maybe she'll come around if I let her be.
You've been doing that ever since she woke up, another voice in his head argued back. And look where that's gotten you!
But isn't it better to not make her more upset with me? He wondered in frustration. Not coming to any concrete conclusions, he watched as Hakoda helped Nashoba show the other children the tiger-frog they'd caught. Kyon, predictably, was excitedly attempting to take the small reptile from his cousin as the water-tribe boy passed it over, chattering enthusiastically.
His gaze wandered over Izumi and Nokomis, who were using their bending to try to form shapes in the dirt. Their shapes were a bit sloppy- they were awfully young and far from mastering their elements, after all- but they enjoyed working together. Izumi was obviously the mastermind behind their creations.
Lu Ten was still gesturing wildly as he asked Sokka about all the different aspects of different ships he'd seen, and Mato was still hiding from Suki as his mother chatted with the former Kyoshi Warrior. Zuko felt a pang as he studied Katara, who seemed happy and carefree with her family.
Better not risk it right now, Zuko thought to himself. She finally seems like her old self. Besides, there's likely to be a scene if I insert myself now. Better wait until we can talk in private.
Sighing heavily, the Fire Lord took one last look at the happy scene before he quietly slipped away.
Katara and Suki had left all the children, minus Mato, to the care of Sokka, Hakoda, and Lian as they retired to a pleasant sitting room within the palace, wanting to get Suki out of the sun. Mato was playing happily on the floor next to them as they made themselves comfortable.
"Suki, can I ask you something?" Katara asked suddenly.
Suki smiled. "I think you just did, but sure. What's on your mind?"
Katara smiled wryly as she sighed. "What isn't on my mind? I don't even know what's going on up there," she admitted. There was a pause while Katara attempted to decide what she wanted explained. "I guess…what do you know about Zuko? I mean…he's Ozai's son, right? But…now I'm suddenly married to him, and I don't know what to do! I mean, the last thing I remember was him turning against us at Ba Sing Se!" Suki raised an eyebrow at her sister-in-law.
"Have you tried talking to him?" Katara had a feeling the other woman already knew the answer to that question.
"No," the water bender mumbled, scowling. "Even if I did, I'm not sufficiently convinced that he'd tell me the truth, anyway." Suki sighed.
"Kat, you have to understand, there's a lot about Zuko that I don't really even know. He's generally a pretty private person, so much of his past isn't just out there for everyone to hear. Iroh is probably the only person, apart from you, who knows that man inside and out." Katara scowled at this, knowing she was unlikely to get answers from Iroh as he was intent on her talking to Zuko herself. Suki swirled her cup thoughtfully for a moment. "The basics I know of his return after the incident at Ba Sing Se are that he realized on his own that his father was wrong and met up with you all at the Western Air Temple. It took him ages to earn everyone's trust, especially yours. In the end, he taught Aang fire bending, and you and he took out Azula on the day of Sozin's Comet. You and he got together several years later during one of our bi-annual meet-ups for the Gaang."
Katara stared at the warrior as she tried to sort out this information. "How did he convince everyone to trust him?"
Suki smiled sadly. "He helped Sokka save me and your dad from a Fire Nation prison, for starters. For anything else, you will have to talk to Zuko about specifics. It's not really my place to say." Katara frowned. "If it makes you feel better, I'd be will to listen if you want to tell me later after you talk to him, and I can tell you if what he's saying matches up with what I know. But Zuko won't lie to you, I'm fairly certain. He's not like that."
The blue-eyed woman looked down at Mato, who was trying to climb up in her lap, looking sleepy.
"Lay down, Little Bear," she murmured soothingly, rubbing the toddler's back as he curled up. Seeing the young prince settled, she turned back to Suki.
"What about Aang?" She asked. "Did we ever go out? I…I thought…" she trialed off, blushing slightly.
Suki smiled. "Yes," she replied. "You and Aang got together after the war ended. You dated off and on for a few years, but he was helping with various stabilizing projects all over the world, and you went home to help rebuild the South Pole. You didn't see each other often, and after a while, you both mutually called it off."
Katara deflated slightly. "Oh. Right."
She knew Aang had had a crush on her, and she had liked his attention. She had thought maybe they would eventually get together long-term, but it obviously wasn't meant to be. She didn't know what Aang was like now, but she remembered him being a carefree, wandering spirit who took things as they came. There had been times where he'd put off training so they could explore or go on vacations. She, herself, had been happy to kick back and relax a bit and not think about the upcoming confrontations.
She thought over what she knew of Zuko then. He was driven, focused on his goal to the exclusion of all else, even when he knew the chances of him succeeding were slim to none. She knew of many negative words she could use to describe the fire bender, but lazy was definitely not one of them. He was a hard worker, she had to give him that.
"You said Zuko taught Aang fire bending?" Katara asked. Suki nodded curiously as Katara smirked. "Aang probably drove him crazy!" She observed, which sent her sister-in-law into a fit of giggles.
"You have no idea!" She laughed. "There was one time when we were staying on Ember Island, right before the war ended. Zuko was trying to teach, but Aang was supremely unfocused, and Zuko was livid when Sokka suggested a beach party instead of training." Suki looked at the water bender ruefully. "Turns out the rest of us decided that Aang should wait to confront the Fire Lord until after the Comet, but no one told Zuko. He decided that he needed to teach Aang a lesson in discipline, came after him in full flame as we were playing on the beach. Everyone thought he'd gone nuts!" Katara frowned.
"How did you know he hadn't…you know? Turned on us?" She asked cautiously. Suki shook her head.
"I don't think we did. But luckily Aang was on form enough to do his 'airbending slice'," Suki held up her fingers in air quotes while Katara grinned at the use of one of her brother's favorite phrases, "and we thought to ask Zuko what his problem was before relegating him back to traitor status. Evidently, his father was planning on using the Comet's power to burn the entire Earth Kingdom to the ground, but he hadn't told us that, either. Really, it was a simple case of not communicating effectively."
Katara rubbed a sleeping Mato's back gently as she processed this. Suki laid a hand on her sister-in-law's arm.
"Katara," she said seriously, "You need to talk to Zuko." Katara scowled. "At least hear him out," Suki pleaded. "He definitely cares about you, and you need to work through this."
Katara nodded. Whether she liked it or not, she was married. To Zuko. The Fire Lord. She wasn't sure how the Fire Nation looked at divorce, but she knew that, back home, unless there was a serious case of spousal abuse, it was highly looked down upon. So much so, that it really wasn't even an option. If Zuko's former preoccupation with regaining his honor was typical, the Fire Nation probably had similar views.
She also figured that her children, being the royal heirs of the Fire Nation, would stay with their father if she were to leave, making it so she would probably never see them again. As much as having that many children was overwhelming now that she couldn't remember them, she didn't want to leave them without her, in much the same situation as she had been as a child when her mother had died. It just wouldn't be right. At last, she nodded reluctantly.
"Ok," she replied. "I'll try."
Dinner with the extended family was a rather awkward affair, Zuko decided. Sokka was digging into his dinner with gusto, as usual; the children were happily talking about their studies amongst themselves. Hakoda was listening to their conversation with a secret grin. Zuko, for his part, was doing his best to pretend everything was normal while his heart beat erratically. Katara, he had noticed, was watching him constantly throughout the meal, though she, too, was pretending nothing was amiss.
Zuko was sure their charade had fooled no one, with the possible exceptions of Sokka and the children, since Suki was bouncing her gaze between the two of them like she was watching an Agni Kai. The tension was so thick it was almost palpable.
"Hey Kat, come spar with me after dinner," Zuko said suddenly as he finished his meal, causing all the adults to stare at him. Sokka even stopped stuffing his face for a moment to study his brother-in-law, looking as though Zuko had lost his mind. Zuko watched only Katara as a myriad of expressions flitted over the water bender's face. He could make out annoyance, fear, confusion, reluctance, and finally, after glancing around at the rest of the room, resignation. She nodded shortly without speaking, placing her napkin on the table and standing to follow him out of the room. Zuko saw Suki motion to Sokka out of the corner of his eye, who finally cottoned on and tailed them from the room.
The pair made their way down several hallways, leaving their guests behind as they strode towards their quarters trailed by several guards.
"I thought we were sparring," she spoke up, a distrustful edge to her voice. "Isn't the bending arena that way?" He saw her pointing back the way they'd come and raised an eyebrow at her.
"Would you have me try bending practice in these?" He asked, gesturing to his heavy formal robes. Katara blushed bright red, scowling in her embarrassment. "Give me a moment," he said, opening the door to a room a couple doors down from her own. "Feel free to change, too, if you wish," he added, before disappearing into the room.
Once he was alone, he quickly shed his formal robes, donning instead a simple pair of trousers and a loose tunic. He returned to the corridor to find Katara still standing there in her Water Tribe robe, along with Sokka, who was looking bored.
"You're not going to change?" He asked, looking at her, confused. She shot him a look.
"What else would I change into?" She asked. "I doubt most of my clothes are casual enough for a workout."
"You usually just…no, you know what, never mind. This is fine," he said, turning away before she could see his blush. Normally she would just strip down to her bindings for bending practice, but she didn't remember him anymore, he reminded himself. He didn't want to come off as a creeper or something, which is definitely what it would sound like if he told her he wanted her to take off more clothes.
Leading her swiftly back down the halls to the bending arena, Zuko took off his tunic and set about warming up on his own. He threw a couple of fire blasts, making his movements sharp and precise. Sokka found a seat somewhere out of the way, but the fire bender knew Katara would feel better with her brother there. Katara watched her husband for a moment, and he noticed her taking in the splattered scar across his chest, then bent some water into a floating sphere between her hands. The ribbon of liquid moved fluidly around her, looking graceful as she moved with the water.
"Do you want to have an actual match, or just…like we've just done? Just bending on our own?" Zuko asked finally, cutting through her concentration as he turned toward her.
He barely had time to register the devilish glint in her eye before she attempted to sweep him off his feet with a water whip. He danced out of the way, sending a flaming kick back at her. She froze him in place with a wave of ice under his feet, which he quickly melted, sending fire punches back her direction. She ducked and weaved, wrapping him in a ball of water, which froze. After a moment, there was a small explosion as he broke free, rushing toward her with a fire whip. She brought up a water shield, but the force of his attack knocked her back.
Quickly leaping to her feet, she formed her water octopus, striking at him with several different limbs. He evaporated them, hurtling toward her as he sent a wave of fire at her. Her eyes widened as she noted the move he used was traditionally water bending, yet it was fire that rolled toward her, hot and flickering. She quickly brought up a wall of water to deflect it, not noticing that he was leaping toward her until his foot made contact with her chest, knocking her down, and his fire-covered fist was just inches from her face.
"Do you yield?" He asked calmly. Katara glared at him, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of winning the bout, but realizing that she was utterly spent. She nodded sharply, and he immediately removed his flames from so close to her person. He held out a hand to her, hoping to help his wife to her feet, but she jumped to her feet on her own, ignoring his hand. He withdrew, feeling upset, but tried his best not to show it.
"How…how did you do that…wave thing? Isn't that a water bending move?" Her voice sounded suddenly from behind him, and he turned to face her, surprised that she had initiated a conversation.
"Yes," he said with a nod, hoping he could keep it going with out it blowing up in his face. "Uncle studied water bending moves to make up some of his own. The one to redirect lightning is one of them." Katara stared at him curiously.
"Are there others?"
Zuko smiled, elated that this seemed to be going so well.
"We pooled our knowledge a while back and came up with some. For instance-" Zuko took a deep breath, then exhaled a fire blast. "- we found that you could freeze things with your breath, just like the Dragon Breath move. Give it a try."
Katara looked at him dubiously.
"How does that even work? I don't create the water, I pull it from what's around me. Not like you; you create fire from thin air." Zuko shook his head.
"Fire comes from the breath, actually," he corrected. "We never knew why it worked, only that it did," he continued. "Maybe it's something relating to your chi or something. But I'm not an expert. You'd have to ask Uncle."
"I probably need to have some water handy in order for it to work," Katara mused aloud to herself. "So…" she breathed on a flower, and it instantly became stiff and covered in frost. Zuko smiled as he watched her face light up in a grin at her success.
Looking around, she caught sight of a metal chain hanging from a doorknob. She breathed on the chain, but nothing happened. Zuko smiled fondly again as he watched her frustration mounting as she tried again, with no more success than the first time.
"You told me once that there's water in the air here in the Fire Nation," he explained, waving a hand vaguely. "If you can sense it, you can use the humidity to pull water from thin air and direct it where you want it to go."
Katara closed her eyes and concentrated, obviously trying to sense the humidity. She screwed up her face further, scowling in frustration. Finally, she opened her eyes with a sigh.
"I…I don't detect anything," she admitted grumpily, staring at the ground. Zuko grinned.
"Don't worry," he said bracingly, "You'll get it. You figured it out once, after all."
Instead of making her feel better, this obviously wasn't the right thing to say, since she glared at him again, putting her nose in the air.
"Thank you for the match, Your Majesty," she said sarcastically. "It was most instructive." Turning on her heel, she began marching away towards the entrance. Zuko's eyes widened. He hadn't meant to offend her.
"Kat, wait!" He called after her, darting forward to lay a hand on her shoulder. She shrugged him off, looking incensed. "I'm sorry," he muttered, staring down at his hands. "I didn't mean to upset you." Her eyes widened at his apology. She evidently didn't think he would be the type to admit he was wrong. Zuko knew she'd assumed incorrectly, of course. He was almost always willing to admit he'd been wrong, especially when it concerned his family.
"It's 'Katara' to you," she said sternly, pointing a finger at him. "Only my brother calls me that." He grimaced.
"Right. Sorry, I forgot." He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. She was eyeing him curiously.
"I obviously told you that before," she deduced. "So why…?" She gestured with a wave of her hand.
"You just…it grew on you," he explained. "You corrected me at first, but after a while you didn't even notice anymore. By the time we had the wedding, it wasn't even an issue." Evidently, he'd once again said something she didn't like, because he could see her eyes cloud over as he finished speaking. Perhaps it was the idea of the wedding, he thought. She didn't seem to be angry this time though. Whatever, he'd take what he could get.
"Kat…Katara," he corrected himself as she met his eyes sharply, "I think we need to talk. Properly." He took a hesitant step toward her, his golden eyes boring into her blue ones. "I will do my best to answer any questions you have as honestly as possible. But…I want you back, Ka-Katara," he said earnestly. Her expression remained stony as she regarded him. "I don't want you to be afraid of me, or to hate me. I care about you, and about our family, and…I want you to love me again."
She gasped slightly, stepping backward away from him as her eyes narrowed. He could see her shaking with anxiety and anger. Over her shoulder, he could make out the form of Sokka approaching, a look of concern etched across the Water Tribesman's features.
"I don't trust you," she spat bluntly. "As far as I remember, we're not even friends! You can't expect me to magically be lovers with you when the last thing I know to be real is you turning your back on me! So don't you dare stand there and say you care about me!"
And with that, Katara stormed away into the palace without a backward glance.
"Well, that went well," Zuko heard Sokka comment sarcastically from behind his left shoulder. The Fire Lord sighed heavily, wishing he could bury his head in his hands, but instead turned to face his brother-in-law.
"Sokka, what should I do?" He asked in a rare show of vulnerability, meeting the other man's eyes, which were so like Katara's that it sent a painful pang through his heart. "She totally hates me! And from the little she remembers of me, I completely deserve that." Sokka shrugged in a nonchalant manner, though, Zuko could read enough about his brother-in-law's expression to know he was not as casual as he made himself out to be.
Katara was right, Zuko thought. He had turned his back on her when she needed him, back in those caverns. She had every right to be angry, hurt, and afraid. She had been amenable to sparring with him, but then he'd had to go and ruin it by asking for something else, something that she evidently wasn't ready to give. A heavy hand on his shoulder startled him out of his thoughts.
"That's rough, buddy," Sokka said with a grin, though it didn't reach his eyes. Zuko could only half-heartedly raise an eyebrow, to which the warrior sobered at once. "Look," he offered, patting the Fire Lord on the shoulder, "Do you want me or Suki to talk to her? I'm sure she'll eventually come around."
Zuko pondered this. Maybe it would be easier to let Sokka or Suki smooth the way for him. However, they would have to be careful how they approached her. Katara could be explosive when she was angry, and if she felt Zuko had put Sokka up to talking to her, it would likely make things worse. "Not yet," he said finally. "I really don't want to screw this up, so we have to consider our next move carefully." Sokka quirked his head to the side curiously before catching on, his face lighting up.
"Strategy, huh? Good thinking, bro," he said, clapping Zuko on the back. The Fire Lord gave a small smirk, then turned to gather his tunic before heading inside.
"I'll get back to you in the morning," the fire bender called over his shoulder. "By then, I should have an idea of what to do."
Upon returning to her room, Katara was still fuming, pacing the room in fury. How dare he! How dare he claim to love and care about her! That fire bender had chased her, Sokka and Aang all over the world, he'd stolen her mother's necklace, he'd ambushed them, bended flames at them, destroyed her village and the one on Kyoshi Island, tracked them down with a bounty hunter who rode a giant mole with a paralyzing tongue, turned on her, Katara, and betrayed her…and that was only the things she could remember him doing.
How could she love a man whose nation had killed her mother? Not only his nation, but his own father had likely ordered the raid! How could she be sure that the new Fire Lord was different?
Would you have married him if he wasn't? A treacherous voice in her head asked slyly. She shook her head, as though hoping the motion would dislodge the thought. Because the truth was, she knew she was highly unlikely to have willingly put herself at the mercy of someone who was truly a villain. At some point, at least, she had to have seen that he was definitely not his father, nor the same kind of man who had ordered thousands of deaths in the name of Fire Nation supremacy.
This thought was, if anything, just as unnerving as the idea of him actually caring about her. Her eyes lit upon her bucket of bending water in one corner of her room and she called it into her outstretched hands, attempting to put her anxiety out of her mind. Her water shifted through shape after shape as she slowed her breathing, coming to sit in lotus position on the rug. She had no way of knowing how long she sat there before there was a knock at the door.
"Yes?" She asked, barely succeeding in keeping her water from crashing to the floor as the door opened a crack and a guard stuck his head inside.
"Begging your pardon, Your Ladyship, but the Fire Lord wishes to speak to you." Katara scowled, but Zuko made his way through the door before she could refuse, closing it behind him. He raised his hands slowly in surrender as he noted the water that swirled between her hands and her menacing glare.
"I'm not here to fight or argue," he said calmly. "I'm also not here to apologize for wanting you back." Katara drew herself up to her full height, intending to let the man really have it, but he wasn't finished yet. "But if you would do me the honor of reading this letter, I would appreciate it." He set a scroll of parchment on the table in Katara's receiving area, then bowed to her and took his leave without another word.
Katara stared at the scroll blankly. Part of her wanted to destroy it immediately, but another part of her was immensely curious as to what he could possibly want to tell her. After warring with herself for a few moments, she scooped up the parchment and unrolled it.
Katara,
If you are reading this, I assume your curiosity overcame your dislike for me, which is probably a good sign. I swear that everything I tell you here is true. You may verify it with your brother or Suki if you wish. There is too much history between us to cover every detail. However, I would like to give you a brief overview of our shared past so as to help you understand how our present situation came to be so. I hope you will keep an open mind and heart as I relate this, as parts of it are not something I like reliving even now, and that you understand this in the manner it was meant.
As a young boy of thirteen, I made a very big mistake. Someone in a very high position felt I had disrespected them in a war council meeting, which led to my receiving the scar on my face and my subsequent banishment. For three long years, I traveled the world with my Uncle in search of the Avatar. Apprehending him would be my one chance to return home to the Fire Nation, my one chance to regain the honor I thought I had lost, my one chance for me to gain my father's love and acceptance. He had always seen me as weak and talentless compared to Azula, who was a fire bending prodigy, and I was determined to prove myself. After the siege of the North Pole, however, Uncle and I were branded as traitors and lived as refugees for a time before making our way to the Earth Kingdom capital.
That day in Ba Sing Se was truly not my finest hour. Azula came to me asking for my help. I wanted so badly to go home, wanted so badly for my family to be whole once again, that I fell prey to Azula's lies and manipulations. I sided with her for that battle. You can't imagine how much I regret now how much I hurt you, and how much that battle hurt Aang. But it wasn't just you I betrayed; Uncle was caught and sent to prison because of my actions.
I returned to the Fire Nation with Azula and did all the things that were expected of the Fire Nation's prince- I went to council meetings; I made public appearances for the soldiers; I got back together with my old girlfriend. But yet, I was angry at myself because I knew what I had done was wrong. I lashed out at everyone. Finally, upon finding out that during the comet my father intended to burn the Earth Kingdom to the ground, I realized I'd made another huge mistake. During the eclipse, I confronted my father and told him I was leaving- I was going to help the Avatar stop him and the ridiculous war he was waging. Uncle escaped on that same day.
On the day of the eclipse, you and Aang and Sokka and the others attempted to invade the palace and end my father. Unfortunately, Azula out-maneuvered you and your team; the teens who were fighting escaped on Appa while the adults were captured and taken to Fire Nation prisons. I followed you, hoping to see if there was some way I could help Aang and the rest of you. You probably would have laughed if you'd seen me camping in a tent in the forest, trying as hard as I could to find a non-threatening, not-awkward way to show up to your campsite in the Air Temple and offer my assistance. I think I remember the best I came up with was, "Hi, Zuko here." *Insert facepalm* Katara grinned at that despite herself. It also didn't help that Toph surprised me that night and I burned the bottoms of her feet by accident in my anxiety and fear.
It took some time for everyone to get used to having me around, but you in particular seemed to really dislike and distrust me, even after I helped Sokka rescue your dad from the Boiling Rock, the most high-security prison in the Fire Nation. In the end, we went on a, "life-changing field trip," as Toph calls them, to find the scumbag who killed your mother. You faced the man and chose to walk away without harming him, while in the process realizing that you had been projecting your anger about the loss of your mother onto me, as I was the enemy, once upon a time.
After that, we became friends. Between the two of us, we kept the group in line and on task as I taught the Avatar what I knew about firebending. During the final takeover while Aang was fighting my father and the others were taking out the Air Ship Fleet, the two of us headed here, to the palace, where we took on Azula and won. However, I was severely injured in the fight; if it hadn't been for you and your healing abilities, I certainly would have died.
After my coronation as Fire Lord, we all went our separate ways. You and Sokka went home to help rebuild the South, Toph built a metal-bending school in the Earth Kingdom, Aang was flitting here and there, helping people wherever he was needed. We agreed to meet up here every six months though, so that we could keep in touch. It was some years after that that you and I began to see each other as more than friends…and the rest, as they say, is history.
This is a faithful narrative of my dealings with you immediately after the Battle of the Crystal Caverns. As for my feelings for you, I will not apologize for having them, as they are true and honest. However, I do sincerely apologize for making you uncomfortable. I imagine it must be confusing and painful to find yourself suddenly married to someone you remember as an enemy, and I only wish I had thought that through better before saying those things to you. You are under a lot of pressure right now, and please know that I did not intend to add to it.
Yours,
Zuko
Katara read the letter through three times before setting it aside, her mind reeling. Against her will, her heart ached for the young boy who had been given a fool's errand and an angry scar as penance for his youthful mistake by a father who, by his very position as a parent, was supposed to love and care for his child. She tried to remind herself that this was Zuko, who was a terrible person, but she wasn't sure she could really convince herself of that. Really, he'd been only a child who craved love and attention, and as such, was he really entirely responsible for the things he'd done?
And in the end, hadn't he realized his mistakes and tried to make things right? He'd taught Aang fire bending, had rescued her father from prison, and had taken her to find closure with the man who had murdered her mother. If he'd been somehow playing her, he'd surely have shown his true colors long before now, fifteen years, a wedding, and four children later.
Katara rubbed at her forehead in agitation, attempting to soothe the throbbing headache that was beginning to take over her thought process. She still felt conflicted, but at least she had more of the story now. She simultaneously felt like running and like she needed sleep- stat. After several more minutes, she put out the lights and crawled into bed, but it was still some time before she was able to fall asleep.
Not many rooms away, another someone was also having difficulty sleeping. Fire Lord Zuko tossed and turned in his bed in the guest room where he'd taken to sleeping since the accident, wondering if his letter was well-received. She hadn't come storming into his room or frozen him to his bed yet, he noted, so at least she wasn't any more angry with him than she had been before.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Zuko rolled out of bed, feeling exhausted as he flicked his fingers to summon a small flame to his hand to light the way. Quietly, he tiptoed out of his room and slid open the door to the nursery, which was still being guarded by two soldiers outside the door and two more inside. He wandered silently through the room, checking on each of the children in turn. Izumi was snuggled into a soft blanket, the softest one in the entire palace, if he had to guess. Kyon and Lu Ten were sleeping soundly in their large bunk beds, and Baby Mato was sprawled out over his tiny bed, surrounded by curtains. Zuko smoothed one's hair here and tucked a child back under their covers there before listening for a moment to make sure nothing was amiss. Finding nothing of concern, he slipped back into the corridor to find his uncle making his way toward his own room, a pot of tea in hand.
"My nephew," the old man said, giving the Fire Lord a tired smile, "You are out and about quite late." Zuko only nodded tersely, leading Iroh to study the younger man. "I sense something is troubling you," he said sagely. "Why don't you come and have a cup of tea with me? It's lavender, it should help you sleep." Zuko, who was by this point too tired to argue, followed his uncle into his sitting room, taking a seat on the cushion across from Iroh.
"Now, what is going on?" Iroh asked, handing a small tea cup to Zuko, who took it gratefully.
"Katara is angry with me again," the golden-eyed young man admitted as he carefully took a sip from his cup. "She hasn't come to speak with me, and I have been letting her have the space she might need to come to terms with everything, but now I'm wondering if that wasn't such a good idea. She's been avoiding me."
Iroh nodded knowingly. "Katara is a strong-willed woman. And she is likely afraid of what she will find if she asks the questions she needs answers to- either because she may find herself in a bad position if you have indeed kidnapped her, or because the answers will challenge her assumptions about you, her, and basically everything she thinks she knows. That's a lot to deal with, on top of injuries and a family you can't remember."
Zuko nodded tiredly. "I wrote her a letter to explain the last thing she remembers, up until the end of the war." He twisted his now-empty teacup worriedly in his hands. "I only hope it will be enough."
Iroh looked at him shrewdly over the top of his own teacup. "You wouldn't happen to have a plan to go along with this letter, would you?" He asked slowly.
Zuko froze, then smirked slightly. "Nothing gets past you, Uncle." He shifted uneasily as the mirth melted from his face, running a hand through his shaggy hair. "I was hoping that I could ask her tomorrow to let us start over. Clean slate, pretend we're only meeting now for the first time. No expectations, no assumptions, and if she still hates me by the time her family goes back to the South in three months time, she would be…be free to go with them." His heart squeezed painfully at the thought, but he wasn't sure how else to show Katara he was sincere.
Iroh gazed back at him thoughtfully.
"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" He asked finally, eyes betraying his concern for the younger man. Zuko shrugged hopelessly.
"No," he admitted. "But really, I don't know what else to do. I want her to stay with me- really, I do. But…but I don't really know how to show her I'm serious about wanting the best for her other than being willing to give her what she wants, even if that hurts me."
The two of them sat in silence for a few moments as Iroh sipped his tea. Zuko just swirled his own cup in agitation. If he was being truthful, he hated this idea. If Katara chose to leave with her family, it was likely that he would hardly ever see her again, given the hard feelings between them and the distance between the Southern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation capital. And he didn't know if her attachment to the children had grown enough since she'd awoken for her to feel like coming back to visit, even if it was only for them and not for him.
"I certainly hope you know what you're doing, Nephew," Iroh's voice broke through his gloomy thoughts.
Author's Note: Nashoba means 'Wolf' in Choctaw; Nokomis means 'Daughter of the Moon' in Chippewa.