Chapter 4:
WARNING
This chapter has teenage marriage, pregnancy, and implies miscarriage.
Each nation in my world of ATLA have their own distinct cultures. One aspect of which is marrying age. The Water Tribe's goals are to start early and have as many babies as possible because of the low survival rate at the South and North Pole, so at least 16. Fire Nation is about 17-20, Earth Kingdom is about 17-20, and the Air Nomads are 25-30). I have explanations as to why I think this, so PM me if you actually want to know why.
Katara
"How could you do this to me?" She'd asked her mother during the evening, crying in her room. She'd torn the imported beads out of her hair, feeling tears come to her eyes. She let them fall onto her dress, staining the thick fabric. Katara turned, unable to look at her mother. "How could you and Dad just go along with this? How can you allow the Fire Nation to just push us around like this? Bowing and scraping to another country—where's your pride in the Water Tribe?" She heard her mother sigh behind her. "Katara, your father and I wouldn't do this if it wasn't important. As I said, we need this. Your people need this."
Katara felt her mother's hand on her shoulder, a hand of comfort, of reassurance. Katara turned, staring into her mother's bright blue eyes, a mirror of her own. Her mother shook her head, not understanding.
"Why?" Katara huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Everything seems fine to me."
Her mother shook her head. She looked uncomfortable suddenly, solemn, so unlike her mother that her expression startled Katara. "It's not fine. Your father and I have hidden the stresses of governing from you and your brother, allowing you to live as children should." She stopped suddenly.
"Come. I will explain." Kya said quietly, leading Katara over to her sleeping pallet, covered with furs to warm her once the fires had gone out for the night.
Katara's chest tightened, and her hands clenched, feeling guilty at bringing up a topic that was obviously painful for her mother. "Mom, you don't have to—,"
Her mother looked sad but continued as if Katara hadn't spoken. "The truth is…we live in a harsh world, Katara. Only we of the Water Tribe have the strength and resolve to make the poles our home and embrace the cold and frozen tundra."
No one knew exactly how her people had found their way to the South Poles thousands of years ago, but they'd always been a small group, fighting to survive and make life habitable in the land no one else wanted to claim. While the Air Nomads cut themselves off socially, the Water Tribe was physically cut off from the rest of the world, relying on the other nations for some basic products in exchange for custom Water Tribe ice wine, pearls, exotic meats, and crystal jewelry. But they could provide for themselves, hunting and fishing, succeeding where so many others would fail.
Her mother shook her head gravely, and Katara deflated. As she spoke, Kya's voice grew stronger. "It is our greatest pride, and our greatest weakness. We are a small and durable people, roughly three thousand strong, but even we aren't infallible. We constantly stand on the precipice of failure…and securing what we need isn't always the easiest. Often, more families go to sleep hungry than your Father and I'd would like to see."
"What about what we get from other places?"
Kya sighed, shaking her head. "We don't get those for free, Katara. It is Earth Kingdom stone that builds our homes and hearths. It is Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation grain that feeds our families during the winter when the seas are too rough to travel. It is Fire Nation palm oil that lights our houses. We can't afford to insult them."
"They wouldn't throw us away because I rejected their princes?" Katara asked her mother, kind of in shock. She didn't know things were so desperate. She didn't know that her parents felt so responsible for the lives of their people.
Katara's mother thought for a moment. "It's hard to say. The last Hana Matsuri 100 years ago was for the son of an Earth Kingdom prince. Fire Lord Azulon would never dare to have one, but Iroh, his son, is kind. I've known him for years…he was quite nice to me when I visited the Fire Nation as a teenager, years ago."
She looked like she was going to say something else, but Katara cut her off with a sharp gasp. "You went to the Fire Nation?" Katara was shocked. She'd never known this.
"Yes, for Fire Lord Iroh's wedding."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Kya shrugged. "I didn't think it was important, or that you'd ever need to know." She sighed and reached for a small comb on the cloth next to Katara's pillow. She motioned for her daughter to turn and began steadily combing through her daughter's hair, taking out the beads and laying them to the side.
"Hm…let me see…I was only a girl of 16 at the time. Our family had been invited to Iroh's wedding along with other royal and aristocratic families of the world. But your grandfather was too ill to travel so far. I went in his place—and your father went with me."
"Really? Dad too?"
Her mother nodded. "We'd been married for a year, but we were still only just getting to know each other. I'd only just found out we were pregnant—,"
Here she cut off sharply, biting her lip. Her mother blinked rapidly for a moment, her eyes shining wetly before clearing her throat, but her voice quivered slightly before finding strength.
"When I arrived in the Fire Nation, I'd never seen so many people in one place! There were people everywhere celebrating with music and dancing, confetti rained from the sky, firecrackers and noisemakers were sounding off everywhere you looked. Whether Prince Iroh was truly this beloved by his people or the everyone just wanted an excuse to celebrate, I wasn't sure. But it was seven days of a non-stop party.
"I could hear the celebrations from my room in the palace, but I never went." She shook her head, seemingly lost in memories. "Most days I was too ill with sickness to even leave my bed. Do not be sad for me, Katara. Despite my youth, I was never a fan of such things." Kya said, noting Katara's dismayed expression. "Your father wanted to keep me company, but this was his first time out of the Water tribe as well and I wanted him to enjoy it.
"Iroh kept me company in his stead. We both preferred intimate family celebrations to loud parties in the street. He and his bride were and still are very much in love, and they would go on to have a son a few years later— Lu Ten, who is now the current Crown Prince.
"Prince Ozai on the other hand…unsettled me quite a bit. He'd been courting a woman for months, apparently— the daughter of a merchant whose name was Ursa. She was also a guest at the wedding, but she'd resisted all of his advances. He was…aggressive in his pursuit, cornering her alone, away from her family. I'd noticed how uncomfortable she was, but…"
Her mother sighed. "Her family encouraged the match. When they married a few years later, she wrote me a letter, expressing her condolences for the loss of your grandfather, and her sadness at not seeing me at the wedding. From then on, we've kept in touch, though not as much as I'd like. She sent me images of her wedding dress, and of her son, Zuko, once he was born."
From her sleeve she produced an image and a small piece of paper.
The picture was of a single young woman, clad in red and gold kneeling in front of a large painting of curling and twisting golden dragons. The fabric of the ornate and golden gown seemed to swallow her long frame and Katara imagined a long train trailing behind her when she walked. There were pillars of fire all around her, and in her hands, she lovingly cradled a bouquet of red-colored flowers. She was young and pretty, no older than twenty, perhaps. The artist managed to capture a rosy cheeked bright smile, and on the surface, she looked every inch the image of the blushing bride. But her eyes…they were distant, the exuberance in her smile missing from her hauntingly golden eyes.
If I married one of them, would my face be filled with the melancholy I see here?
"She looks so unhappy."
Her mother sighed wistfully. "I believe they eventually grew to love each other, but the first years of her marriage were not easy for her. It changed, of course, as things always do with the birth of her son." Kya gestured to the paper with the ink on it. The written words on the parchment had begun to fade, whereas the image had been carefully taken care of by her mother.
To one of the kindest friends my position has afforded me to know,
Kya, please accept my deepest condolences for the loss of your father, and I wish you the best as you assume your position of Cheiftess. The burden of responsibility is never easy, as I'm only now finding out. I now must assist my mother-in-law and sister-in-law with running the palace. It is difficult as guards, servants, and visiting dignitaries are quite different in terms of needs and wants.
Your son Sokka is quite adorable, it seems like just yesterday he was born. How quickly the young prince has learned to sit up on his own! Last time you wrote that you were still experiencing sharp pains in your abdomen and as your friend I beg you to take care of your health. I wish we resided closer to each other, I would very much like to see you again, and perhaps provide a home remedy that my grandmother used to love.
I do not want to darken these pages with talks of my marriage and its failings, but Ozai has taken to visiting one of the hundreds of brothels here in the Capital. He barely looks at me now. What do you do to make Hakoda love you so unconditionally?
Despite my sadness, I have found solace in my role as a mother, my little Zuko is two years old and walking now, and half of my day is spent chasing him around the palace grounds—he gets into everything. It is strange to feel so loved by one so pure. You once told me to always look for the silver lining in every dark cloud, and never despair, even when I'm surrounded by darkness. My son, my boy, he is my silver lining. With him I feel respected, I'm loved.
I know that Sokka loves you just the same.
Your friend always,
Ursa
"She seems lovely," Katara said absently, still gazing at Ursa's sad eyes.
"I always thought so." Kya said in reply, nudging her daughter's hip in reply. "I think she would love you.
"I mean I'm quite loveable." Katara laughed along with her mother before sobering up as a thought occurred to her. "But Prince Zuko isn't Prince Ozai's only child, is he?" She paused, and scanned her mother's face, shifting uncomfortably on the sleeping pallet. "I've heard…in the Fire Nation they allow men to take concubines, and there are brothels on every street. It seems selfish. What about their wives, what about their families?"
Kya nodded absently, shrugging. "Their customs are different from ours, Katara. A man can take a concubine if he can afford to house, feed, and clothe her. If he can't afford to, she can leave. But she must leave behind any offspring produced, or money she's earned."
"I'm sure the royal family can afford to have plenty." She sniffed, disgusted by the practice. Her mother didn't seem as bothered, and she didn't know why.
"Yes, they can afford to. Fire Lord Azulon had 4 concubines, and Fire Lord Sozin before him had 17 concubines, if I recall, all of whom died in mysterious, gruesome ways, or so I'm told." Katara opened her mouth to point out how suspicious all of that was, but her mother continued, and she didn't want to interrupt. "Fire Lord Iroh has no concubines. It was obvious to me even then, that his wife would be the only woman for him, for all of his days."
"And Prince Ozai?"
"He has a single concubine, and a daughter of that concubine, Princess Azula." Katara's mouth turned down.
Seeing her daughter's expression, Kya gently admonished her. "Remember, they are will be our guests, and just because their culture is different, they are no better or worse than we are. When they arrive, I expect you to treat them with all the respect they deserve, am I understood?"
"Yes." She said glumly, "If he approves of concubines…Fire Lord Iroh might not be looking for a wife for his son? We don't even like concubines, so he won't need me!" She finished the sentence with a sort of plastic kind of optimism.
"Oh, he'll definitely be looking for a wife for his son. He may even allow his son to take a concubine as well." Her mother said matter-of-factly. "And you should prepare for that."
The younger girl frowned' "Mom…"
"I won't tell you that you shouldn't like Hahn. He's a nice boy, if a little bit…driven." Her mother placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head. "I was a young girl once, and I understand the bloom of first love, of crushes, and infatuation. But give this a chance. I don't want you to put all your hopes on Hahn. Open yourself to possibilities."
Katara smiled slightly. "You sound like Pakku."
Her mother's eyes twinkled in the firelight. "I'd like to think I'm less grumpy than Pakku."
Katara snorted lightly. "Definitely."
Kya's hands gently ran over her daughter's scalp, enjoying the sound of the fire crackling in the center hearth, and the sound of their own breathing.
"Mom?"
"Hm?"
Katara swallowed. "Do I have to marry one of the princes?"
"The royal family is just coming to meet you, my darling." Her mother said, "If you don't like each other, that's one thing. But doing this, being polite to the princes and their families will allow us to maintain a beneficial trade alliance."
Her mother finished combing out her hair, and as the tangles were calmly smoothed out, so too was her anger. But it was replaced by more apprehension. She blinked rapidly and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She had the face of a child, and the body to match
"And who says that you won't love one of the princes?" Kya was wrapping the girl's hair into a large bun at the base of her neck. "There are several rounds to the Hana Matsuri. The first is the initial meeting. They'll meet you and decide if they like you enough. After that, you'll go to the Fire Nation and learn the duties of a Princess of the Fire Nation."
She thought for a moment. Maybe they wouldn't be awful…"Let's just say…hypothetically speaking of course…If I like them—one of them—will I have to leave with them that day if I say yes?"
Kya frowned. She had never thought of that. Usually Hana Matsuris were carried out in nearby villages…it was no trouble to commute between the villages. This Hana Matsuri involved the world. "To be honest...I'm not sure."
Zuko
"Relax, Zuko." Lu Ten offered with a lazy grin, reclining further onto on the divan. "This might all be for the best."
"How can you say that? I never asked for any of this to happen!"
The 17-year-old Prince paced around Lu Ten's cabin in anger rage lighting up his face, much to the amusement of his cousin and sister. Zuko needed to ask Lu Ten for advice but Azula? She…she was here mainly to annoy him. Zuko didn't know why she was even here. She wasn't taking part in the Hana Matsuri, but she was a part of the royal household. Besides, if anyone had tried to prevent her from going, Tiang would have been apoplectic. Where Ozai went, his mistress went.
They were 2 and a half weeks into their journey to the Southern Water Tribe and within two days would be reaching their shores.
For Zuko, it was all too soon, everything was approaching so fast. When they'd launched from the capital it all seemed so distant. Something that he could put off, something that he didn't have to think about. And so, he didn't. But today, standing on the deck of the Fire Nation royal vessel, entering the Water Tribe's Territory, seeing the ice flows steadily approach, the massive glaciers mounting in size as they grew closer and closer…Zuko could barely breathe.
Zuko paused his pacing, reached over to the table by the side of the couch that Lu Ten was sitting on and took a long drink from the goblet of fire whiskey. He coughed—he wasn't much of a drinker—and Lu Ten tried to cover up a laugh at his expense but failed, that stupid grin still on his face.
"Please Zuzu, stop whining. It ruins your dignity." Azula snorted as she lounged on one of the many cushions in Lu Ten's room. "What little you have left of it anyway."
Zuko whirled on her. "Shut up Azula." He glared. "And why are you even in here? And don't call me Zuzu."
"Why wouldn't I be here?" Azula flashed him an innocent smile of dark red lips over bright teeth. "You're my big brother, it's only right for me to support you."
"Azula, hush." Lu Ten said to her in a commanding tone. She frowned, turning away, taking a large sip of the wine. Zuko watched her drink it with ease. She didn't cough. He grimaced and turned away, resuming pacing. Lu Ten gave an audible sigh before trying again. "Zuko, you might actually meet a girl you like."
Zuko looked at his cousin incredulously. "I get why you have to be married, I mean, being the heir to the throne and all, but I…I don't want to marry some girl I've never met." Azula snorted. Zuko ignored her and waved his hands in the air. "What am I supposed to say? Hi, I'm Zuko. Sorry you have to be dragged from your home?"
Lu Ten chuckled lightly, standing up. He put his hand on Zuko's shoulder. The young prince sighed, and looked up at his cousin, a mixture of hopelessness and confusion in his golden eyes. Lu Ten shook his head. "We're not kidnapping them, Zuko. Each girl gets a choice. They can refuse."
Zuko scoffed, turning, walking away from his cousin. Pacing at not quite the same speed as before, but his agitation was obvious. "Mom said 25 girls at least. There has to be at least 25. It's tradition. So, you know what that means? We're going to be traveling around for months, taking girls away from their families to come to the Fire Nation only to send them home in a few weeks."
Lu Ten let out an exasperated groan. "Zuko…"
"We're promising them a life that can never come true."
"Oh please, Zuko. Don't be so melodramatic." He could practically hear the girl roll her eyes. "It's their greatest honor to be chosen to join this family. There are dozens of girls in the Fire Nation that would want to marry Lu Ten."
But she wasn't done.
"You, on the other hand…" She sneered, a malicious smirk stretching slowly across her face. "Well. The only one willing up to put up with you is Mai, I'm not even sure why she bothers."
Zuko glared at her but said nothing, his face becoming more flushed by the second. How he hated her. She wasted no opportunity to goad him, to shame him and make his life more miserable each time she opened her vile little mouth. Azula resented him, resented him because he was a boy, because he was older, a legitimate prince.
And he resented her too—for just existing.
"Azula, I said shut up." Lu Ten snapped harshly to the 16-year-old, face dark in anger. Azula's eyes widened a fraction. Zuko inhaled a sharp breath. Lu Ten rarely got angry, the Crown Prince's come-as-it-may attitude was rarely broken by things like family drama. He rolled his eyes, but they lost their sudden anger, the lackadaisical attitude making a slow return. "I don't see you with a boy on your arm either. Besides, I don't think your father would even let you near a man, much less marry one."
Azula stood, enraged. She was a head shorter than the both of them, but with the scorching look in her eyes…if Lu Ten hadn't been around, he'd have been intimidated. "Lu Ten, you can't say that to me. You…you can't talk to me like that!" Her fists would have been on fire had her fingers not been almost numb with cold. "Just who do you think you're?"
Lu Ten crossed his arms over his chest. "The Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. And you're?"
Azula spat at him, "The daughter of-,"
"A concubine, Azula." He said to her calmly. Azula's face, hardened in anger, melted into despair. "You're the daughter of a concubine. Illegitimate. A bastard."
"Father legitimized me…Grandfather Azulon approved it…he—," Azula stammered, losing her hot air.
"It doesn't change who your mother is." Lu Ten said, rising. Azula took a step backwards, but Lu Ten kept advancing. "Don't tell me you aren't ashamed of it."
Azula said nothing, but tears stung her eyes and blurred her vision. She crossed her arms around her, as though attempting to protect herself from the wounding words of her cousin.
Lu Ten nodded, but his voice was mocking, cold, cruel. He intended for his words to wound Azula, to hurt her. Zuko couldn't say he was sorry to see it happen. Azula deserved it for making his mother cry.
"Grandfather may have legitimized you, and my father may tolerate you and your whore of a mother but let me make one thing perfectly clear."
Lu Ten towered over her, his eyes boring into her own. Intimidating and cruel, his face inched ever so closer to hers. Azula trembled, gasping for breath, fear obvious in her eyes.
"On this ship? I have the ultimate authority. Not your father. And since I have authority, I've made an executive decision." Lu Ten's lips pulled back in a smirk. Princess Azula, your mother won't disembark at the Water Tribe."
"W-What?" She asked. Zuko stood behind his cousin anxiously.
He eased off. "The Water Tribe detests concubines. We can't have her embarrassing us." Lu Ten folded his arms behind his back, as he gazed down at his young cousin nonchalantly. "With luck, they won't even know she exists."
"Your father was a fool to let you be in charge of this mission!" The tears streamed down her face as she lashed out.
Zuko said nothing, noting that no good could come from interjecting himself in the battle between them. They were as drunk as he was, and alcohol and firebenders never mixed well together.
"But whose father is Fire Lord, Azula?" he asked her, coming ever closer to her face, when his golden eyes met her fiery ones, he whispered, "Mine."
Azula let out a screech of anger and raised her hand to slap Lu Ten, but his hand caught her wrist in midair. Off balance, Lu Ten easily shoved Azula onto the floor, and she landed on her rear with an unceremonious thud.
Zuko winced as he saw her hair fall out of place. Azula was perfect, all of the time, and she was cruel, all of the time, but she was his sister and he wanted to help, somehow. He reached out a hand. "Azula let me help-,"
"Don't touch me Zuko!" Azula hissed at him, swiping him away. "This is as much your fault as it is his!"
"Go back to your chambers, Azula. There is no place for you here." The Crown Prince sneered at the princess.
Azula stood up and pushed past them both, shoving Zuko to the side, silent tears streaming down her face. She slammed the door shut and the picture of Princess Ursa's favorite flower fell onto the floor, cracking the picture frame. As Lu Ten bent over to pick up the pieces, Zuko would think about exactly what had just happened.
He would remember it as the first time he ever saw Azula cry.
Zuko gave Lu Ten a reserved stare. "Concubine's daughter or not, she's still my sister."
"Nah, she deserved it." Lu Ten said indifferently, shrugging his shoulders as if making a 16-year-old girl burst into tears was some sort of hobby of his. "She's gotten way too arrogant lately. It's time someone cut her down to size."
"She won't forget this, you know." Zuko told him, "She'll get revenge on you some way, somehow."
At this, Lu Ten chuckled. "What's she's going to do? Spit some fire at me? Remember Zuko, she learned how to redirect lightning from someone."
"You taught her?" Zuko stared open mouthed at his cousin. "I always assumed she learned it on her own."
"Please, Zuko." Lu Ten snorted, reclining back on the couch. "Azula's not that much of a prodigy. I would have taught you first, but..."
"Yeah, I know."
An awkward silence settled between the two. Zuko didn't know what else to say, it had been years since his punishment…He didn't care. He tried not to care.
Luckily, Lu Ten decided to change the subject and give Zuko a way out. "Can we not talk about Azula?" Lu Ten said, sighing. "I've spent too much time and energy on that menace already."
"What do you want to talk about?"
"How about this so-called Water Tribe Princess one of us is supposed to marry? Well—I don't know if you can call her a princess—,"
Zuko shook his head. "Mom says that since she's the daughter of a ruling family, she's a princess. She counts the same as Azula, or the Earth King's sister."
Lu Ten laughed again, settling back in the divan. "Yeah but they, are legitimate. Azula on the other hand—"
"Her name—," Zuko starts, cutting him off. Lu Ten raised a curious eyebrow. Zuko grinned sheepishly but continued. "—Is Katara, so my mother tells me. She's 15 years old."
"She's still a child!" Lu Ten said, appalled. "You can have her cousin. I'm not that desperate to rob the cradle. I'd rather kiss someone more mature." Here, he waggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing Zuko's face to screw up in disgust.
The young prince reached for the goblet of Fire Whiskey nearest him. "Oh yes, very mature. Dancers, servants, the employees of the best brothels in town, all very mature, I'm sure." Lu Ten snickered at him, playfully shoving his shoulder.
"I've had no complaints so far, Cousin."
"Your um…duet…at the farewell banquet was an especially impressive performance." Zuko added, tilting the glass in Lu Ten's direction. "The dancer even let you take off her top. In front of everyone." He finished the last sentence with a pointed look at his cousin, who didn't even have the decency to look ashamed.
Lu Ten leaned forward animatedly, the golden liquid sloshing over the rim slightly. "Oh I know I give your father and Tiang flack for it, but come on, Zuko! You saw her, and her perfect breasts…a perfection never seen before in the Fire Nation, and they were so firm, so plump, ah, I was lost in her—,"
"Yes, yes, you're a true poet. As I was saying…" Zuko pretended not to hear that comment. "We wouldn't be going there if she wasn't eligible. I heard she's a waterbender," Zuko informed him. "Do you think she's any good?"
Lu Ten shook his head. "Probably not. She probably just knows how to heal injuries."
"Mother tells me her brother Sokka is pretty good with a sword."
"Then you'll have an excellent sparring partner." Lu Ten said, drinking another sip of whiskey. "But to be perfectly honest Zuko, I wouldn't expect much out of these savage people of the Water Tribe. This visit is only a formality, we don't have to like her."
Zuko pretended to ignore him. "Do you think she's pretty?"
"Who?"
"Princess Katara."
"Probably not," Lu Ten took a swig of the bottle. "I mean, would you be pretty after eating sea prunes all day?" Zuko looked appalled at the thought and shivered.
"But back to more important matters." Lu Ten said suggestively, "I heard Water Tribe girls are crazy in bed. I heard they're flexible too."
"Ugh!" Zuko punched Lu Ten in the arm. "That's disgusting! She's 15."
"Like you said, she's old enough to get married."
"You're sick." Zuko scoffed as Lu Ten reached for the bottle to refill both their cups.
Some of you may be angry about the way I portrayed Lu Ten. Remember, there isn't a war going on, so these kids (Katara included) haven't had to grow up before their time. They're immature. But about Lu Ten's personality, since he's dead, no one really knows how he is. I think if Azula is confident and calculating, and Zuko has his own issues with self-esteem, then Lu Ten should be somewhere in between.