Disclaimer: I own only a computer (obviously) a bar of chocolate and my mind- nope! I lost that a while back!
fine...I'll make it simple... don'townavatarthelastairbender!
"What?" Sokka practically shouted after Katara told him what happened.
"I just told you, and Princess Yue is talking to her father now, so he may be able to do something." Katara replied, a bit pallid and shaken, but otherwise composed.
"Katara," Sokka said sternly, bending down with his arms placed firmly on her shoulders, eyes level with hers, "This is serious. They already made an attempt at your life. I don't want you to follow in Mom's stead; to lead an unnaturally short life…" he trailed off, seeing tears swell up in her eyes. He flung her arms around her neck and sobbed.
"Sokka, that's the nicest thing you've said to me." She choked out. Sokka blushed, seeing Princess Yue walk into the room. Acting aloof, he pretended not to see her and rubbed Katara's back awkwardly.
"I'm sorry I'm acting all weird, I just….don't want to die alone." Katara said lamely.
"Huh?" Sokka asked dumbly, staring at her in confusedly.
"I want to have my first lo- oh! Never mind! It's all gushy stuff!" Katara huffed as Sokka scoffed at her. Blushing, she fidgeted in her seat among the rest of the council members of the Northern Water Tribe. A loud bang of the drums announced that the meeting had started, and Katara and Sokka sat at attentive.
"May I introduce Sokka uth Mere, a representative of the Southern Water Tribe, and his sister Katara uth Mere, who is the reason of this meeting. At this time last night, my daughter and Lady Mere were on their way to see the royal animals when they overheard a conversation between Lord Saku, Tamal, and the deceased Fire Lord Ozai." At these words, a murmur flew threw the conclave. A couple people stood up to object, but was cut-off by the Water Lord. "Of course, the Fire Lord's body was never recovered from the ruins of the Fire palace, so there is a possibility of him still being alive and well." He paused to look at them seriously, and then went on. "If Lady Mere will please come up to press charges."
Katara gulped, but walked calmly to the podium. Taking a reassuring breath, Katara said, her voice loud and clear, "As my Lord said, Princess Yue and I were on our way to see the Royal animals when we were passing by Lord Saku's quarters. What caught my attention was 'Get Katara of the water tribe to fall in love with your pansy-ass son, here and we've got a deal.' The voice spoke with an unfamiliar accent and was undoubtedly a male." She paused, looking out at them, daring them to defy her. "Then, as I was glued on spot, I heard Lord Saku say, 'What's in it for you?" Katara took a deep breath. "The unknown man, now identified as Fire Lord Ozai, answered, "The pleasure of seeing the water wench fall from grace." Katara closed her eyes, remembering vividly the moment her world changed once more.
Tamal asked what I had done to him. He answered, 'My last Natas was killed on a mission to rid of her, because with her gone, a protective barrier of the avatar's will be penetrated, weakening his defenses.' As you all know, I presume, I was attacked the day before last, by a creature later identified as the Natas." She finished. Katara opened her eyes and saw the court in a hellish nightmare. Everyone was arguing with each other, a few demanded an Eau Lutte. Katara sighed and rubbed her temples.
"SILENCE!" The Water Lord roared, startling everyone out of their brawls. "If you do not take Katara uth Mere seriously, then perhaps you will trust my daughter, your future queen." He said pointedly. "Yue heard it with her own ears, so I imply if you do not trust your future leader, then who can you trust?" He paused. Then, turning to Katara, said directly to her, "I understand that the Southern Water Tribe has no leader, am I correct? As debt to you and your brother, I am in favor of you becoming Princess Katara uth Mere of the Southern Water Kingdom. Do you accept?" Katara nodded hastily, seeing his egging stare. "Then I pronounce you the ruler of the Southern Water Kingdom." With that he strode out, leaving an astonished audience.
"I can't believe your going to be a princess!" Sokka exclaimed. He was lying on her bed while she had Yue's chambermaids dress her up for her crowning. "You do understand all of the responsibility you'll have to into this? You'll have to make treaties, rebuild cities, form armies, form alliances." He trailed off, a dreamy look in his eyes.
"You know Sokka; you'll be the prince in my stead if I die without child. And in the meantime, I'll leave you in charge of the army stuff. You will be my head advisor." She said, wincing slightly as the hot curling iron came a wee bit too close to her head. Sokka jerked up from his laying position and stared at Katara incredulously.
"I just noticed something, Katara. All of our life, we led years of mediocrity, now we have traveled with the avatar, become a princess, a war lord, and yet we haven't distanced ourselves from each other." He smiled slightly, hearing war lord come from his own lips. "You know what? I think I could get used to this. Good job, perfect family, no matter how broken, good friends, the food….."He trailed off once more, drooling. Snapping out of his daze, he captured his sister's eyes in his own. "There is only one thing missing."
"Oh, and what's that?" Katara asked, all too knowingly.
"A wife, children. We got so caught up in fame and glory we forgot about our old, simple wishes. Don't you want to marry?" He asked.
"Now, don't go all gushy on me, Sokka Mere." Katara said teasingly, pouncing on the bed next to her brother, forgetting all about her crowning. "But yes, I want love more than anything, but…." She paused, looking at her brother earnestly. "I have you. And Gran Gran. Yet, I want more…. Oh! Forget it! I want a husband!" She pouted. Sokka laughed, and clipped Katara playfully in the shoulder. Mocking hurt, Katara let herself be led away by the chambermaids.
Sokka called after her, "I'll be here when you are done getting fancy!" He grinned foolishly when he heard his little sister giggle the yelp as a maid poked with a needle while hemming her Kimino.
Katara once again looked at herself in the mirror. It was after the crowning, at the ball. She now wore a kimino much like her old one, having taken to simpler designs. The differences between the dresses were the color. Her new gown was a deep metallic blue, the same color as her eyes. The neckline dropped low to tease her bust line which had grown considerably over the years. The silk fabric settled over her hips, falling gracefully to the ground.
Katara's hair was curled in large, loose ringlets, cascading softly down her back. Since her hair was so thick, the crown of her head's hair was pulled up loosely, just enough to hold it snuggly and not flatten the spirals. Across her brow was a crown fashioned of silver, the finest, and enlaced with deep, pure sapphires, shaped as tear drops. There inside had a layer of deep purple velvet, so Katara could where her crown in comfort for as long as she liked.
Part of the Crowning was pain. A test, so to speak, to see if she would go through any lengths, no matter what agony, for her people. The test was to get a tattoo. They had chosen a tear-drop around her body, to symbolize purity of the womb. Katara had passed and now sported a tattoo on her torso that changed colors like the sea itself, glistening from blue to green, from light purple to aqua, the colors were changing as time does.
"Lady Katara, may I have the pleasure of this dance?"A male voice asked, startling Katara out of her thoughts. She turned away from herreflection to seeHaru politely bowing. Katara giggled merrily and replied,
"Why yes, sir knight. But first may I ask why you have traveled afar, just to come to my Crowning." Haru took her hand and twirled her onto the dance floor before speaking.
"When I first met you, I thought many things, one among them is 'Damn, she's so stubborn. Then, I came to realize that you weren't stubborn at all, just determined to make the world as it was, before the rebellion." He paused, emerald eyes staring into sapphire eyes. "Now is your chance to change the ways of the world. Sure, you're just ruling the Southern Water Kingdom now, but what would happen if the Prince of the Earth Nation asked your hand in marriage? Then you could change more than half the world's ways to better customs." He stopped, letting her think a bit as the danced. After a while, he asked softly, "What say you?"
"Haru, what are you asking of me?" Katara asked, getting more confused than ever.
"I'm asking you this, Princess Katara uth Mere of the Southern Water Kingdom, will you take my hand in marriage?"
LONGEST CHAPTER YET! WOOOHOO!
ooohhh! Was that a surprise? Gimme a vote:
Zuko/Katara
Or
Haru/Katara
This was a bitch to write, because I had two hours of HW to type before this, and this took me... roughly 45 min. Now my neck is gonna be sore for a couple of days and it's all because of you! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! sniffles anyway, on my story, The Blue Rider, I have a wee little bit of writers block and am open for suggestions. btw, Eau Lutte is Water fight in french... I think i've seen Eau in someone's summary...just can't think of it...
Always and Forever!
Erica Van C- that's all I'm givin you of my last name, I wanna see waht you think the 2nd word of my last name is. THsi SHALL be interesting.