Chapter Six
Katara had fallen in love with the Fire Nation even before Zuko asked her to make it their home. She loved the people, the warmth, the landscapes.
(Sometimes she feels guilty that she has fallen in love with the place, the people that took her mother, that waged war for a Hundred Years, but then she remembers it was a handful of crazy royals that did that, and that empty, sad man, not Zuko, not his people).
She's surprised at how easily the Fire Nation accepts her, no matter how many times Zuko tells her she's done more than enough for his people to love her. Sure, there's a few grumpy council men, some upset (rejected) noble women, but for the most part, her transition to life in the palace is easy.
Zuko says he has no expectation for her becoming a traditional Fire Lady and lets her choose what she wants to do (it's one of her top ten things she loves about him), so she spends her days filling them with work she is passionate about. She visits hospitals and infirmaries with Ursa. She visits orphanages where she plays with kids and brings them food. She sits in on council meetings where she can voice her ideas, like setting up a formal adoption process that would help streamline matching kids with families, or creating a taskforce to research and eliminate factory pollution, or adding healing and fighting to education reforms.
She spends her meals and evenings with Zuko and falls more in love with him each day. She loves being his refuge at the end of a long day. She loves how he challenges her to be a better person, how he supports her becoming the best version of herself she can be.
He formally proposes to her a year after she's lived in the palace. He's nervous and stammering, as if her answer would be anything but yes, but he gets down on one knee in front of the turtleduck pond and presents her with a ring (that's how they do it in the Fire Nation and he wouldn't dare replace her mother's necklace). She says yes, of course, the answer was always yes, and kisses him, tears of joy slipping down both their faces.
They get married a year later (planning a ceremony for the Fire Lord is always time consuming but doing so while trying to combine two literal opposing elements into a fusion ceremony? They almost run off and elope five times), but it's all worth it when the day finally rolls around. Aang performs the ceremony with the Fire Sages, and Hakoda gives the blessing before the banquet. Everyone they love is there.
They spend a week honeymooning on Ember Island, in his family's house, the place where they both realize everything changed. It's a perfect week of relaxing, exploring the island, and exploring their love.
They set off on a tour of the Nation before heading back to the Capital. They follow a similar plan to when she had traveled on her own, learning and healing his, now their, country. Somehow, even two years later, people remember her everywhere they go. She laughs when people stiffen and bow formally to the Fire Lord, because to her he is just Zuko, her Zuko, the nervous, awkward boy who loves her. In every town she is greeted as an old friend and he like a foreign ruler, but by the time they leave they are both treated like family, with hugs and kisses on cheeks instead of bows.
A year after they return from their tour, Katara finds out she is pregnant. She waits two weeks to tell Zuko, waiting both to make sure the baby is ok and to figure out how to tell him. She ends up bursting it out over dinner one night because she just can't keep it to herself anymore. She can see the nervousness in his eyes but it's nothing compared to the excitement and awe he has as he picks her up and holds her, reverently kissing and rubbing her stomach.
(She swears she's never going to have another one of his kid's because he treats her like a damn porcelain doll for nine months, but when she sees the way he holds Izumi, she knows she would do it all again for him).
She teases him for naming their golden-eyed daughter "water", but later names their blue-eyed son Kaen. She tells him it's because their love was shaped under a blazing comet.
Katara's favorite days are when her family visit (because the gang stopped being friends a long time ago, she realized). Balancing being the Fire Lord and Fire Lady and parents is hard, but it's easier when her family is there to help. Iroh and Hakoda seem to have a competition for who can spoil her kids the most. She loves seeing her kids playing with their cousins (because Sokka finally got his head out of his ass and married Suki and their kids are adorable). She rolls her eyes but will never tell how much she loves seeing her husband swap bad jokes with her brother. And she loves watching as Toph and Aang fall in love.
There is always work to do in rebuilding the world, but Katara makes Zuko take a vacation one week a year to go to Ember Island. Some years their family join them, other years it's just the four of them. When Izumi and Kaen are old enough to decide they don't want to vacation with their parents anymore, Katara and Zuko go by themselves. Their days are spent relaxing on the beach, her lazily bending and him just enjoying the quiet. He doesn't judge her when the quiet oppression of the house leaves her sobbing on their third day. He simply holds her, and she loves him even more for it.
(She's certain he threatens everyone into coming the next year, even if it's just for a few days, because from that year out they aren't alone for more than a day, but he'll never admit it and so she doesn't bother asking).
During one of these visits, the kids finally ask for the full story of how their parents met. There's an awkward silence before Sokka begins a very exaggerated tale, and everyone else has to chime in periodically to correct him. Katara whispers encouragements into Zuko's ears when they talk about his time chasing them, falling into her old habit of proving he was nothing like Ozai. When she tries to downplay the significance of her starting a rebellion or her actions in Jang Hui, Zuko speaks up for her. The kids ask questions that lead to other side stories, and no one notices how late it is until the story is over. They all shuffle off to bed, but Izumi lingers, a curious look on her eyes as she appraises her parents. She finally sighs and tells them, "I just can't imagine a world where you guys were ever enemies." Katara simply hugged her daughter and wished her good night, before dragging her husband to bed.
Zuko was unusually quiet as they changed into their night clothes and hunkered under the covers. He drew her close to him and finally spoke.
"Do you ever think about it?"
"Hmmmmm?"
"About us. About our beginning."
She rolled over to face her husband, cupping his scarred cheek like she had done all those years ago, surrounded by green crystals. She reflects for a moment and realizes that no, she hadn't thought about those early days, of him chasing them around the world, in such a long time. The memories almost feel like a dream. She smiles and kisses him gently before answering.
"I'm reminded of our beginning every year when we come here. Because for me, our story began with those chats as we did chores together."
He smiles and kisses her. She knows that twenty years ago, he wouldn't have seen the truth in her words. But after all their time together, helping each other overcome their war trauma, growing together, and building a family together, he can finally believe her.
As she drifts off to sleep, she thinks she knows that this is why she trusted him in Ba Sing Se, that this is why they were meant to meet. They were always meant to fall in love, it just took them a while to figure it out.
But Katara wouldn't change a thing.
A/N: Well that's it folks! I hope you enjoyed it as much I enjoyed writing it and getting your feedback! Each and every one of your comments have put a smile on my face! If you enjoyed the fluffy, domestic, head over heels in love Zutara that is quickly becoming my brand, I've got a series of one shots with their steambabies I plan to start posting next week! And in the mean time I've got a fun protest meetcute story I'll probably post on Saturday.
Anyways, thanks again for all your feedback! As always, feel free to come say hi on tumblr gemgirl28