Chapter 11

1/25/2018: As I begin this next wave of edits for chapters 11-21, I'm forced to ask myself…why did I write so much?

This is going to take forever.

Katara

"We're all in the same dress." Katara whispered to Suki as they walked quickly with Toph through the throng of girls all chattering excitedly, loading into the carriages. "We all look the same."

"That's kind of the point. It's simple. No unfair advantages." Suki whispered back "But at least we look good."

"Too bad they couldn't restrict the makeup. These girls look like theater masks."

"Yeah, Katara, don't worry about it, you look fine." Toph said from her other side. "So do you Suki."

"Thanks, Toph—," She shot the girl a look. "Really, Toph? Really? Do you have to do that?"

The younger girl let out a laugh that caused many of the other girls to look at them. Katara just shook her head at Toph and pushed the younger girl along in front of her, Suki behind.

As they passed, Katara could overhear many of the girls talk about how excited they were to join in on the Hana Matsuri, and Katara couldn't blame them. Many of them were from wealthy families, the daughters of governors or magistrates. To be selected as the wife of the future Fire Lord as even his concubine would mean great honor and prestige for their families but Katara shook her head at their vanity. Some of them wouldn't even mind being concubines.

She didn't know how it would feel to be a concubine. Katara believed that it was possible to love more than one person at once, but in the Water Tribe who you married was determined when a girl turned 12 and a boy turned 13. Katara knew that the idea of being a concubine was appealing to some girls, and truly wasn't that bad—you could have children, own land, start a business but…still.

There were benefits, but she'd also heard of horror stories from several girls on the ship of men that were too rough, or the wife and concubine not getting along. There were also problems with the inheritance of the estate. Which child was more worthy of being heir? The child of the wife or concubine? And the problem that Katara found the most upsetting was the fact that although a concubine could live with her husband and bare him children, he wasn't hers. She belonged to him, not the other way around. That wouldn't be Katara. She would become no man's concubine, to have in bed at his will, and not her own.

They whispered as she passed, and Katara knew that part of it was about her. In this sea of made up faces, Katara looked positively plain. Not that she cared, she wasn't here to impress anyone, but still, she would have liked to fit in with these girls no. They turned down their nose at her. She didn't look like any of them. They were a varying shade of skin tones, from pale to lightly tanned, but none of them reached the complexion as Katara, and in the same dress, these other girls all became indistinguishable. Truthfully, they each thought they were better than the girl next to them, and especially better than Katara.

The trio made their way to another face Katara recognized from many years ago.

"Song!" Katara exclaimed, giving the other girl a hug. Suki and Toph stopped just a few feet away at the sound of Katara's voice.

"Katara, it's good to see you." Song's voice was as quiet as usual, and Katara smiled. "How have you been?"

"Let me introduce you," Katara said, motioning Suki and Toph over. The two came over, Suki leading Toph through the throng of girls. "This is Suki, the leader of the Kyoshi warriors, and this is Toph BeiFong. You guys, this is Song, King Kuei's sister. We met when she acted as envoy of her people to the Water Tribe."

"Pleasure to meet you," Song said in a soft voice, offering the rest a pleasant smile.

"Toph!" One of the girls rushed over to the 12-year-old girl and hugged her. When she heard the girl's voice, Toph's light smile was immediately replaced by a cringe. The older girl wrapped Toph in a large hug that squeezed the younger.

"Nice to see you too, cus'." Toph coughed out from underneath Jin's arms.

"This is Diyi, the daughter of one of my brother's advisers." Song gestured to the other girl by her side. She was wearing thick make up with bright red lips and eyes covered in the blackest kohl and the bright purple above the lids. Her eyes were bright green, and she had light brown hair that was pinned up she was spectacular.

Katara held out her hand. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Katara."

The girl looked at Katara's outstretched hand as though it were infected. She sniffed as though smelling something unpleasant and shrugged, ignoring Katara's gesture of friendship. "Yes…you too." She said, lacking emotion.

Well okay, then. Katara thought, pulling back her hand.

"So, do you know what palanquin you're in?" Song asked. "They're grouping girls up in 3s or 4s, and then you go into meet the Fire Lord in that order."

"How did you find that out?" Suki asked. Diyi coughed and looked at Suki expectantly. Katara stared at Diyi questioningly. Suki apparently got the message and said, "P-Princess Song." Diyi smiled almost angelically after that. Katara narrowed her eyes at the older girl.

"Oh, stop it Diyi!" Jin smiled, poking the irritated year old in the arm. "We're all friends here! We don't need silly titles!"

Diyi folded her arms in frustration. Apparently, they'd had the conversation before. "Of course, we're all 'friends' competing for the same two princes. Therefore, status and order of precedence should still be enforced. Princesses have a better chance, of course. But for daughters of nobles, if we can't be selected by a prince as his wife, we should rather be his concubine. We—,"

"Not all of us." Suki spoke up. Diyi glared at her. "Prince Lu Ten won't even look at Katara, Toph or I. We're too young."

"Well I'm 17," Diyi spat out. "I can be selected by both princes."

"You can have them." Katara said sardonically. "I don't want to be married to Prince Zuko any time soon. He can be…"

"A bit of a jerk?" Suki finished. "He just dropped my fan in my lap—didn't smile or anything. He just acted offended that he even needed help."

Yes, Zuko could be abrasive at times, but he was kind to Katara when it counted. But she couldn't say that. They might think she was actually interested.

Jin giggled. "Prince Jerk?" she said loudly. Diyi shushed her, and then quietly she added, "He did seem a bit standoff-ish when he came to Omashu, but he wasn't being a jerk."

Katara looked away, at the direction of the palace. She wondered what he was doing now, despite herself. "He's not bad, when it counts."

"How well do you know him, Katara?" Toph asked, suggestively "What exactly went on at your meeting?"

Katara blushed. "Not what you're imagining, trust me." She looked around at everyone talking all excitedly and shook her head. "He just… didn't want the Hana Matsuri, and that's why he's a bit cold. I don't think he has anything against us, per se—,"

"I think you're just jealous and want the Prince all to yourself!" Diyi shot back just as quickly.

"No really, I-I…" Katara tried to explain, but Jin spoke up first.

She smiled sadly, "You know, Katara, if you just wanted to marry Zuko you could have said something, we wouldn't have held it against you."

"No really, you guys don't understand." Katara looked at Song, pleading for help.

Quietly, the 19-year-old said, "I believe that what Princess Katara means, is that we should all be looking forward to getting to know each individual Prince, and enjoy our time spent here. Right Katara?"

Katara nodded. "Right."

Diyi huffed again, clearly not believing, but Katara supposed that since the words care from Song, she'd accept them anyway.

"Ladies?" Katara recognized that voice. The stern and gruff tone of Gu Zhi grew closer as Katara turned and saw her personal maid coming towards them. Gu Zhi bowed when she neared them, then pulled a slip of parchment out of her sleeve and read off of it. "Princess Song, Lady Diyi, and Lady Jin will be in carriage number 1, right behind Princess Azula and Lady Tiang."

Diyi couldn't be more overjoyed. Her face was practically glowing with Gu Zhi's words. Sending a smirk to Katara, Diyi followed Song and Jin as they left.

Good riddance Katara thought.

Was Diyi so willing to marry someone she had never met? The idea didn't really make sense to Katara. At least she had known Hahn for years before he'd proposed.

Gu Zhi turned to the three of them after watching the other girls disappear into the crowd. Gu Zhi's eyes remained focused on the paper in front of her and she didn't even acknowledge that she knew Katara.

"Princess Katara, Lady Toph and Lady Suki will be following behind, in the third palanquin." Katara looked at Gu Zhi, pleading for some reassurance that this day wasn't going to be terrible, but Gu Zhi had already melted away, rejoining the crowd, and calling out other names on that list.

The three of them, Katara Suki and Toph didn't say anything as they walked to their palanquin. They stopped by the second one in the long line after the ornate red palanquin that could only belong to Lady Tiang. Katara looked at Princess Ursa's carriage and remembered sitting inside of, the beauty of its interior, but it felt separated from the rest, from the outside.

She could see the outlines of Princess Azula and Lady Tiang through the transparent cloth shielding them from the bright sun.

Toph got into the palanquin first, but Katara stopped Suki before she could get in. "Who's that girl?" Katara pointed to a girl that stood next to the palanquin of Princess Azula and Tiang. She wore all black, and her hair was pinned in two buns on the side of her head. She had no expression on her face, but she was getting into Azula's palanquin anyway. Katara tapped Suki on the shoulder.

Suki craned her neck around Katara to see what she was talking about. "I don't know." She said, "But I guess she's someone important if she's riding with them."

"What's taking you guys so long?" Katara heard Toph bellow from the inside.

It was a trek to the palace from the sea, and the 10 carriages carrying the 35 girls moved quickly through the capital city. Each palanquin went two by two and made their way through the city streets, Princess Ursa's carriage leading the pack. Halfway through the journey Katara looked outside the open window of the carriage she was in and breathed in as she passed the marketplace. All of the aromas of the Fire Nation foods and flowers filled the air. Her stomach rumbled, but she didn't know if it was from hunger or nervousness. Probably both.

"So what do you think the Fire Lord is going to be like?" She asked, eager to get her own fears about her fate out in the open.

"My mom said that he was really nice to her when she came here at my age."

Suki shrugged, disbelieving. "I don't know. They call him the Dragon of the West, because he's powerful. That's got to mean something, right?"

"That doesn't scare you?" Katara asked. "Even a little bit?"

"Not really," Toph said nonchalantly, "I'm not really nervous about this at all."

"What? Why?" Katara asked, disbelieving.

"Because I'm 12. I'm way too young to get married. I'm only here because my parents practically threw me out the door. I get to have fun while you two do all the hard work like competing."

"Your parents wanted you to join that badly?" Suki asked the girl. "Why?"

Toph frowned. "Do you know how much money and power they'd get if their daughter married one of the princes of the Fire Nation? Or even became their concubine? The amount of influence they'd have? They'd go crazy." She turned her head to the side. "Do you guys smell that?"

Katara sniffed the air. "I just smell food. Ugh I'm so hungry, Gu Zhi wouldn't let me eat breakfast, she said I'd probably throw up or something." Katara rolled her eyes, clutching her empty stomach. "Actually…I'm so nervous I think I might."

"No—wait, I smell it too. It smells like fish, right Toph?" Suki said, leaning close to Toph's window, Suki's head resting near the windowsill. Toph blew Suki's hair out of her face. Suki chuckled. "Sorry, but I had to be sure."

"What are you guys talking about?" Katara slid over to the side of the carriage opposite from Toph.

Lifting up the curtain, Katara saw that they were passing a rundown building complex, the shingles were falling off of the roof, and the shutters of the building were falling hanging off. The walls were grimy, and mold ridden giving the originally beige walls a sickly green color. There were people outside the building, in a line against the wall. They were leaning on each other, some had crutches and were propping up an injured foot, and some were holding their stomach or emptying out its contents right there on the pavement. What made Katara the most upset was that healthy, normal people were just passing by, ignoring the cries of aches and pains that seemed to stem from that place, as though seeing people in that much pain was an everyday occurrence for them? It probably was.

"What's that place?" Katara asked.

"I don't know, but it smells terrible." Toph made a face of disgust, pinching her nose.

"I know what it smells like." Katara looked at Suki curiously. The 16-year-old's eyes seemed to see past Katara, and she spoke in a quiet voice. "Death."

"What?" both Katara and Toph asked together.

Suki looked at Katara. "Think about it Katara, doesn't it smell like Kyoshi did when my people were dying?" Suki looked out of the window at the moldy and decrepit building. "It reminds me of my parents' bedroom. It's the smell of hopelessness, despair and death."

"Isn't there a hospital or something where those people can be cured?"

"I think that's is the hospital." Suki shrugged, pointing at the moldy building now behind them

"Did you see those people?" Katara said, feeling morally outraged at the lack of care given to the people in that place. They call that a hospital? Why does a place like that even exist? Why doesn't the Fire Lord do something about it? How can the sick get better if they don't have a place to do so?"

"That's where the sick go to die." Toph said quietly.

Suki shrugged. "Maybe he doesn't know about it."

Katara nodded, and the girls were silent the rest of the way to the Palace.

Lu Ten

"Are you nervous, cousin?" Zuko asked offhandedly. Lu Ten looked up from the scroll he was reading. His cousin was staring at him with a mixture of disbelief and concealed excitement. In a few minutes they would be surrounded by a gaggling group of girls looking to impress them in one way or another. "I mean, how can you actually do work, knowing that in a few minutes you'll have to watch girls be paraded in front of you just hoping that you'll look their way."

"I can't tell if you're being genuine or sarcastic." Lu Ten shook his head slightly. He rolled up the scroll and chucked it onto a pile of similar texts at the foot of the bed. "I mean, they're just girls."

They were in Lu Ten's room in the palace. It was spacious, with wooden flooring and almost all the furniture pushed out of the way to make space for the large bed that took up half of the room. Zuko was next to a window with a balcony, located right next to his bed and offered a perfect view of the sunset in the summertime. A table with two chairs was positioned on the balcony overlooking the city below. Lu Ten was currently lounging on the soft burgundy coverlet, flipping through scrolls filled with images of beautiful women from around the Fire Nation.

Zuko rolled his eyes. "You're only saying that because you've bedded every single maid in this place."

Lu Ten smirked. "I know. Mother always asks me how come I haven't had any illegitimate children yet."

Zuko chuckled. "Can you imagine if there was a miniature you running around this place?"

Lu Ten laughed along with his cousin, but they were interrupted by a knock on the door. In walked his father, Fire Lord Iroh. Lu Ten stood up and bowed to his father and Zuko walked over to the pair and did the same. His father was a graying man, with salt and pepper hair even though he was young still. He wore ceremonial robes with gold trimming and thick fabric, and the 3-tiered diadem rested in the topknot on his head. But Lu Ten noticed something different about his father. They were gone 6 short weeks, but in that time span, his father had changed dramatically. The wrinkles around his face mouth were more pronounced, and there were bags under his bloodshot eyes.

"Zuko, Lu Ten…" Iroh spoke in a gruff voice, looking between the pair sternly.

"Hello Father." Lu Ten smiled at his father. Iroh couldn't keep up the stern look for long and broke out into a smile, wrapping his son in a hug.

"Lu Ten, my boy!" Iroh looked at Zuko. "And Zuko too! How was your journey?"

Lu Ten gestured for Iroh to sit on the bed, and Zuko brought over chairs from the table for his cousin and himself. Iroh sat down, groaning as he did so.

"Father, are you alright?" Lu Ten asked. "Is your back bothering you again?"

Iroh lifted his hand, waving away his son's comment, although he rubbed at his back afterwards, massaging it. "No, no, my son. I'm fine. I've just been on my feet all day. I'm very tired, you know."

"Have you been getting enough rest?"

"No," Iroh sighed. "I can't sleep. I mean, I know that I'm tired, and my body knows it's tired, but I just can't do it."

"Do what, make yourself fall asleep?"

"Exactly."

"Uncle Iroh," Zuko chimed in, "Have you been changing your routine at all? Maybe you're working yourself too hard."

"My routine hasn't changed since I became Fire Lord three years ago." Iroh sighed. "Nothing but meetings and more meetings, with people unwilling to change their minds, or see things from another person's perspective."

"Then have you changed anything else?" Lu Ten asked.

"I don't think so..." Iroh said at first, "But now that I think about it, my tea has been tasting quite strangely as of late. I suspect your mother's been putting things in it."

"Mother? Why?"

Iroh coughed deeply and cleared his throat. "She's been searching for ways to get rid of this cough. I still haven't gotten over that cold that I had this past winter. I think she has the maids bring her all kinds of herbs from the kitchen and then tries out the things she finds interesting in my tea. I mean, take this morning for example. She ruined a perfectly good pot of jasmine tea by putting peppermint in it."

Lu Ten "But peppermint is good for the throat, Father."

Iroh shook his head at his son, "Then give me peppermint tea!" He complained, looking mildly outraged. "Don't just walk up to me and drop the leaves in when I'm not looking."

"And you think that's what's making you sick?" Zuko asked his uncle.

"I can't tell if whatever she's putting in the tea is helping me or hurting me, but it tastes awful." Iroh shuddered as he remembered the taste of the tea he had with that morning's breakfast and let out another loud cough.

"So then why don't you tell her that?" Lu Ten pointed out.

Iroh looked at his son very carefully. "Are we not talking about the same woman here? You know your mother, once she gets an idea in her head it's almost impossible to make her see otherwise."

Zuko nodded, agreeing with his uncle. Lu Ten nodded as well. His mother, Fire Lady Yun Xi was as kind as she was beautiful, but she was as stubborn as a mulerat. She was unwilling to budge on almost any topic and wouldn't rest until the other side of the argument saw that she was right. Her stubbornness had caused several arguments between herself and Lu Ten's grandmother, the previous Fire Lady. When his Father became Fire Lord and his mother became Fire Lady, she became immediately head of the palace.

His grandmother lost all the power that she once had, and his mother gained it. This meant that she oversaw all of the servants in the palace, as well as being responsible for the various concubines too. She also was responsible for settling disputes between both the servants and the concubines throughout the palace. His grandmother liked the order of things as they were, but his mother wanted to make some changes and his grandmother refused.

But his mother, ever the understanding type, waited until his grandmother's death before changing the structure of the entire inner palace.

"Speaking of your mother," Iroh continued, looking between them both. "You two know that she has some very difficult questions planned for your future wives."

"We know, we know." Lu Ten shook his head. "Mother told us as soon as we got here."

"Yes... your mother is a strange woman..." Iroh's smile brightened. "But tell me about the girls you've met so far."

"Not much to tell, honestly." Zuko shrugged. "They're just one pretty face blending into the next. And they giggle so much."

"Exactly," Lu Ten agreed. "When it gets to the part of the Hana Matsuri where Zuko and I get to have an input, I'm not selecting any girl that giggles. I swear if one more girl giggles in my ear—,"

Iroh let out a laugh at his son's frustration but it turned into a hacking cough. He bent over, using the sleeve of his robe to muffle the sound of his voice but it didn't do much good. When the coughing finally stopped, Iroh looked weary and tired, like coughing that much took a lot out of him.

"Maybe you should lie down, Uncle." Zuko suggested.

"No…no…I'm…fine" He said in between coughs. Opening his eyes, he smiled brightly at them again. Clearing his throat, he said. "How is Kya?"

Lu Ten smiled wistfully at thoughts of the Water Tribe. "She's fine dad. She asked about you and hoped you were well."

Iroh shook his head. "I remember when she came here as a young girl for your mother's and my wedding. She was only 2 months pregnant, and so scared. It was her first time leaving the South Pole, and she hid in the palace each night. It was a pity she lost the baby."

"Baby?" Zuko and Lu Ten exchanged looks, discomfort on her face.

Iroh nodded sadly, a far-off expression on his face. "There was so much blood…she cried so much…but when we offered to let her and her husband stay, she refused our help. They left the day they were supposed to, but Kya had to be carried to the ship. A stubborn lady, that one."

Zuko looked down, swallowing, clearly uncomfortable.

"A trait she definitely passed onto her daughter." Lu Ten said pointedly, hoping to change the subject. "Princess Katara is just as stubborn and isn't afraid of fire it seems. I thought she'd refuse the Hana Matsuri after the way she and Zuko argued."

"Argued?" Iroh looked up, searching his nephew's face.

Zuko frowned and shrugged. "We didn't really argue, Princess Katara has some strong opinions, that's all." At Iroh's disapproving glare he continued, cheeks reddening. "I may have put my foot in my mouth on more than one occasion."

"She ran out of the room Zuko." Lu Ten pointed out.

"And I went after her and apologized. Or rather, we apologized to each other. She wasn't happy about the Hana Matsuri either."

Iroh raised a bushy skeptical eyebrow. "If she didn't want to join the Hana Matsuri, then why is she here?"

Zuko grimaced uncomfortably. What was he hiding? Something obviously, but it might not be his place to tell. Maybe, perhaps, he'd have to get the answer from Katara.

Fortunately, Zuko was saved from answering by the arrival of his mother.

"Zuko? Iroh? Lu Ten?" Ursa said from the doorway. She entered the room, still wearing her ceremonial robes, her long hair flowing down her back and a gold and silver Fire pin was woven into her hair. "Yun Xi asked me to find you," Ursa said, ignoring her son. She locked eyes with Iroh, telling him something that Lu Ten couldn't understand. He looked back and forth between his father and his aunt but had no hope in deciphering the message that she told him. "The ceremony has begun."

Ursa

She followed Iroh down the hallway, Zuko and Lu Ten at her heels. They were reaching the Audience Chamber, a large hall used to entertain guests as well as host parties, hold meetings and court when time permitted. Her mind was filled with what was going to happen when they entered the room. Iroh led them into a large hallway where the ceiling was 20 feet high where two eunuchs stood ready to open the doors to the Audience Chamber.

Yun Xi, Ozai, Tiang and Azula were all waiting for the three of them. Ursa looked at her husband. As if sensing her gaze, Ozai looked up, and for a moment, she was transported to a happier time, where Ozai would whisper sweet nothings into her ear as they watched the sunset. She couldn't deny that he was handsome, with broad shoulders and a strong jaw. His eyes were very expressive when he let you see his emotions and although they were rarely physical with each other now, Ozai still caused butterflies to appear in her stomach whenever he touched her in some way. It seemed as if he was going to speak to her, to say something, but then Tiang pulled on his sleeve and the moment was gone as soon as it appeared. Ursa frowned.

She stopped and looked outside a large window, open, allowing the summer breeze to blow gently through the hall. She could see all 50 of the girls in lines, waiting to be brought in line by line. Ursa looked for a girl with darker skin, and a blue necklace. Ursa spotted her in the first line, along with the charming sister of the Earth King and the girl from Kyoshi Island. Ursa smiled, she was the only one in blue eyes in a sea of brown and gold. Her uniqueness would be an asset, Ursa thought.

Smiling, she rejoined everyone else, and was on the receiving end of a glare from Tiang. Ursa ignored the petty woman and focused instead on Iroh reuniting with his wife. Even though they had only been apart for an hour at most, they still greeted each other the way they always did.

Rubies hung from her ears and the Fire Lady's crown was placed high on her head, glinting in the morning sunlight. Yun Xi wore a long red overcoat with golden trimmings with a black skirt that had a golden hem. Yun Xi approached Iroh and set about making sure that his robes were in place and his hair was neat, smoothing out wrinkles and fixing any pieces of hair that escaped his topknot. She did the same thing even when Iroh was just a prince. Iroh cleared his throat and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Yun Xi pulled on his collar and started to smooth it out, whispering in a low tone. "You're still coughing."

Iroh took her hands in his own, kissed them and whispered, "I'm fine, my love, I promise."

Yun Xi sent him a look that said I don't believe you and Ursa couldn't help but admire how their relationship was still strong even though they had been married for 25 years. She looked at her husband and his concubine. Tiang was rubbing Ozai's arm as they talked quietly together. With so much affection in the room, Ursa was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable. Zuko and Lu Ten cringed in embarrassment next to her.

Azula's footsteps echoed down the hallway as she approached. When she got there, Ursa took a moment to acknowledge how pretty the girl had gotten. She looked like a miniature version of her mother, with make up making her look much older than she was. Ursa thought that Azula was very beautiful, naturally so, and she didn't need to emulate her mother in an attempt to get attention from her parents. Ursa was sure that Ozai loved his daughter, but she knew that Tiang hated her because she wasn't legitimate. Azula stood off to the side, not really joining the family. Ursa walked closer to the 16-year-old girl.

"Hello Azula." Ursa said quietly, when she reached the teenager.

Azula folded her arms and leaned against the wall, a slight frown on her face.

Ursa could understand. Azula couldn't call her mother, because Ursa wasn't her real mother. But Ursa probably cared more about Azula than her real mother did. She needed attention that had nothing to do with training, or fire bending, and Ursa volunteered to give her that attention.

"So, I was wondering…" She started off.

"Why are you talking to me?" Azula snapped, sending her a glare.

Ursa decided to tread with caution. "I was just wondering if you were all right…"

Azula sneered. "Even if I wasn't, asking me about it isn't going to change anything."

"Azula..."

"Honestly, Ursa." The girl spat, "What do you think you're going to get out of talking to me? Some attention from my father?"

"N-No, that's not it at all Azula."

"Whatever." She started to walk away but turned to face her. "Mother makes sure he never goes back to you, you know that, right? Every time he thinks about spending the night with you, she doesn't let him, you know that, right?"

Ursa saw at Iroh signaled for the doors to be open and for everyone to start going in, but she still wanted to talk to Azula, so as they walked, she tried to get her to open up more. "It's got to be hard right?" Ursa continued. "Watching your brothers get engaged and fall in love."

The teen rolled her eyes. "As if. Those two?" She pointed at Lu Ten and Zuko, laughing together. She glared at the pair, and the look only intensified as Lu Ten laughed loudly at something Zuko said. "The only reason those two would get married is for their status as Princes of the Fire Nation. Love is a joke." The teenager stormed away, leaving Ursa standing there.

Love was a joke? Didn't Azula know that there were people that loved her?

Ursa followed her into the large banquet hall, where Iroh was already sitting on the raised dais, Yun Xi next to him. Lu Ten and Zuko sat together on the platform just below his. Ursa was about to go to her traditional seat next to Ozai under Lu Ten, but found that Tiang had already taken her place, and next to her was Azula. She frowned. The only other option was that of the lowest place, closest to the floor. Feeling embarrassed and ashamed, Ursa caught Tiang's smirk as she walked past her and sat on the lowest platform. She could feel her cheeks burning.

"Ursa?" Yun Xi called her name from high above her.

She stood up and turned to face the Fire Lady. She looked so different way up there, so formal. She looked so different than the woman she knew. They'd known each other for a very long time. When Ursa first came into the palace at age 20 to marry Ozai, Yun Xi had already been there for 2 years and had just given birth to a baby boy. Yun Xi helped her get adjusted to the palace life, learn all of its rules and was right by her side when she gave birth to Prince Zuko, holding her hand and encouraging her. What's more…Yun Xi comforted her the first time that Ozai went to spend the night with Tiang. She loved the woman as a sister.

"What are you doing down there? Come." Yun Xi patted the area beside her.

Walking up the stairs, she couldn't help but cut a glance at Tiang just to see the woman's expression. As she predicted, Tiang was full of jealous envy, her buggy eyes turned to slits as her mouth puckered in silent fury.

When Ursa had taken her seat, Iroh raised his hand as a signal for all of the potential brides to be let in the doorway. The great doors opened at the end of the hall and they came in by 10, led by Gu Zhi. Ursa smiled at the elderly woman. She had been Zuko's nanny as a child, and Ursa trusted her very much. Ursa could feel Yun Xi squeezing her hand as the girls came closer. This row was made up of all girls from the Earth Kingdom, which meant that Katara wasn't in this row. But from where she saw her, Katara should have been the first one in. They stopped several feet from the dais and kneeled before the throne.

Each girl, Ursa noted, was different despite the similarity of the dress they wore. There were heavy girls, extremely thin girls, girls with long hair down to their waist, and girls with short hair cropped by their ears, but it was the girl in the center that drew the most attention with her understated beauty. She was the only one with light makeup, just a dusting of pink on her eyes and lips. Her hair was also in a plain braid down her back save for a giant cherry blossom woven at the end. Ursa thought she looked very delicate.

She glanced over to see her son's reaction. Lu Ten was also openly staring at Song, his mouth parted. Zuko snapped his finger in front of Lu Ten's face to get a reaction, but otherwise, Zuko looked bored. He didn't seem to be interested in any of the girls. Disappointing.

"You understand why you have been brought here?" Yun Xi asked. As the Fire Lady, it was her role to interview all candidates for the Inner Court.

"Yes." The girls all chorused in unison.

Yun Xi nodded to Gu Zhi and the woman presented each girl with a piece of parchment and an inkbrush along with an inkwell. The girls stared at it, unsure of what to do.

"This," Yun Xi started to speak again, but her tone was different. She was no longer Ursa's friend, she was the Fire Lady, and the Mother of the Nation. "This will be the first of many tests if you wish to enter this palace. Any girl that doesn't wish to be here may leave, without any consequences."

The first round came and went without many of the girls passing. The only girls that passed were Jin, the granddaughter of King Bumi and Song, the Princess of Ba Sing Se. Yun Xi only asked them one question, yet so many of the girls were rejected. The girls that passed were given a red sash to be tied on their wrist. Ursa also noticed that when Song exited the room, Lu Ten's eyes followed her as she went.

The doors opened again, and the next group of girls came in. Katara was in this group, next to her were the BeiFong girl and the Kyoshi warrior. All three of them looked absolutely petrified as they walked, and she half thought that Katara was going to turn tail and run. Gu Zhi announced each girl one by one before they took their seats. All of the other girls in the group were a mixture of Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom governor's daughters, so Ursa wasn't too concerned with them. All of girls looked nervous except for one.

Mai? Ursa thought. What's Mai doing here? In this group?

She looked at Princess Azula's smile as her childhood playmate got closer. Zuko too, realizing that Mai was there, tore his gaze away from Katara and smiled at the frowning girl. Although she was frowning, Mai walked with composed elegance and grace. The line stopped. Gu Zhi sat at a simple desk near the line of girls, with a brush, parchment and a vial of ink. Yun Xi explained what was going to happen, but before she asked the question Ursa cleared her throat.

"You have something to say Princess Ursa?" The Fire Lady turned to look at her.

Ursa spoke louder this time, "Yes. I would like to make it known that I have chosen Princess Katara of the Southern Water Tribe as my personal bid for the Hana Matsuri."

Zuko coughed, he looked at his sister. Ursa didn't miss the shared glance between Zuko and Azula.

"Enough, Zuko." Yun Xi said. Turning back to Ursa, "Ursa, you do understand that you can only select one girl for the Hana Matsuri personal bid?"

"Yes." She nodded, confident.

"Very well. Please stand Princess Katara." The Fire Lady continued. She addressed Gu Zhi, "Let it be known that Princess Katara has been made a personal bid and automatically moves up a level. Give Katara a red sash."

Gu Zhi did so, and then bowed to Yun Xi. Katara, sat there with no expression on her face. Even though the girl had agreed to this, Ursa didn't know if she was pleased with the decision or upset about it. Katara just kept her gaze trained on Zuko. Zuko whispered something to Lu Ten that she couldn't hear. Suddenly she was bombarded with guilt. Ursa looked down, unsure if she made the right decision. Obviously Zuko preferred Mai, and she didn't know if Katara was happy about it, but she had to do what was best for her son.

"Princess Katara, you have been given a red sash. If you pass this test, then you will be entered into the next round automatically and receive an orange sash."

"Your majesty," Azula said, speaking for the first time. Her eyes were trained on Katara, and she had the tiniest smirk on her lips. "She isn't the only one who has a personal bid."

What?! Ursa thought, Did Tiang? No, Azula pick someone?

Mai

Of course. It all made sense. Zuko chose Mai and asked Azula to move her up into the next round.

"Mai will be my personal bid." Azula said, barely containing a smile. Mai stood as well, a disinterested look on her face.

Yun Xi looked at the girls with a knowing smile on her face. She raised an eyebrow. "Lady Mai, you will also be given a red sash and the rules will apply to you as well. If you pass this test, you will be given an orange sash."

"Thank you" Mai said bowing delicately.

She and Katara both sat, and looking at her son, Ursa could see a large grin on his face as he looked back and forth between Mai and Katara. Ursa didn't have any problem with her son choosing the Fire Nation girl, but Mai had been around in the palace ever since she was a child. As one of Azula's friends she was the first one that Ursa considered for her son's bride, but she felt that Mai lacked the drive necessary to lead a nation. Of course, she knew all of the rules of the palace, but she lacked a personality to make the palace her own.

"Now," Yun Xi said, "This is your test. You have 5 minutes. What's the worth in money of a leader, to his or her people?"

The girls stared at the parchment in complete silence, it appears they had no idea what to write as an answer. Ursa smiled, remembering that she answered a similar question when she came into the palace. It didn't matter if you were smart, if you gave a clever enough answer, then it would be enough to get you into the first round of the Hana Matsuri. You needed to be clever to survive here.

The minutes passed in silence. But then Mai stood up to give in her sheet of paper with the answer. Following them was Suki and the BeiFong girl, and then one by one the rest of the girls followed suit. Katara was still thinking about the answer, and Ursa worried if she would run out of time, but at the last minute, Katara leaped up, clutching the piece of paper tightly in her hand and passed it to Gu Zhi. Gu Zhi read each answer silently as they were given to her, writing a line through the answer if it was wrong, or a dot next to it if the answer if it was right. Ursa couldn't see the dots from her position, but she hoped that Katara wasn't wrong.

Ursa didn't know why she had so much faith in Katara. Probably because the young girl reminded her so much of herself at that age. She was so free-spirited, so caring, and intelligent too. She was an exotic beauty, with sapphire beads in her hair, dark skin and an unusual rhythm found in only a select people of the Water Tribes. Looking at her now, Katara was kneeling on the cushion, not saying anything, not even looking up, though her hands were clenched tightly in her lap, wringing together worriedly.

Gu Zhi stood. "My Lord and Lady, all of the answers only one was correct, and that was Lady Mai's answer."

"What answer did you write, Mai?" Ursa asked.

Mai's eyes were downcast, and she still spoke in that monotone voice from her childhood. "I said that the leader of his people is priceless. You can't put a price on a great leader."

Azula frowned slightly, seemingly unsatisfied with her friend's answer. From Mai's tone, it appeared even she was disappointed in her own answer.

Yun Xi considered this, "Very sweet," she said. "Give her a sash."

The maid bowed, and drew an orange sash from her sleeve, handing it to Mai, the teenager bowed, and sat down.

"Then, Gu Zhi, what were the other answers?"

Gu Zhi flipped through the papers on the desk, sorting them into three piles. One pile had 5 pieces of parchment on it, there were 3 papers on the middle pile, and the last pile only had one paper.

"Several girls wrote that they are unable to answer the question because they are uneducated, and only concern themselves with the womanly arts, and have no mind for sums."

Ursa shook her head. "A woman must be intelligent as well as beautiful, Ladies." She couldn't help but think of Tiang, who was about as intelligent as a fruit fly.

"Lady Diyi and Lady Suki wrote actual numbers, especially lady Diyi, who put a lot of zeros behind the number 9. Lady Toph wrote…well actually I couldn't tell what it is." The elderly woman looked up.

"What do you mean?"

"It's just scribbles your majesty, there are no characters or anything that I could make a word or sense out of."

"The child can't write?" Tiang laughed, and the entire room looked at her. "How embarrassing! My dear girl, what would your parents say? Have you been fooling your tutors all along?"

Ursa rolled her eyes, Tiang would never change.

Toph stood, she lifted up her dress and Ursa wasn't surprised to see that she had bare feet. A determined look on her face, she said. "I can't write because I'm blind, you birdbrain!"

Tiang scoffed, turning to Ozai. "My prince did you hear how she talked to me? Punish her or something!"

Ozai seemed to be at a loss for words, he didn't say anything, thinking about it for a while, then patted Tiang on the knee, saying softly, "My love, you should have paid more attention when we went to the Bei Fong Estate."

"It's fine," Toph said sitting on the cushion like you would on a bed, her bare feet sticking out of her dress, she wiggled her toes in font of Tiang. The woman hissed in outrage. "I didn't want to be in this stupid thing anyway." She shrugged, and Ursa noticed her friend trying to get her to close her legs. "Relax Suki," She said. "I have on pants underneath this." She lifted her dress up so that everyone could see the brown loose pants she wore.

"Toph put your dress down." Katara whispered to the girl who still sat there nonchalantly.

"Sure thing, Sugar Queen."

There was an awkward silence in room for a moment, but then Gu Zhi cleared her throat and began speaking again. "And Princess Katara—,"

"I know what I wrote, and I believe that my answer was correct."

"What was your answer Princess Katara?" Ursa asked the girl who was sitting up and staring straight ahead. In a clear voice, the 15-year-old said,

"1 coin."

All heads turned to Katara, but the girl didn't recoil from the weight of everyone's stare. Lu Ten and Zuko were talking between themselves to figure out if Katara's answer was right or not. But even Ursa didn't know what Katara's answer meant. In the last group, both Jin and Song had the same answer that Mai had, that the Fire Lord or any ruler was priceless to the people. Azula had her head cocked to the side, a puzzled expression on her face, as though she didn't expect for Katara to say that.

"Explain yourself." Yun Xi ordered.

Katara stood. "In the Water Tribe, we don't have very much. Our people exist on what we they can find, hunt and preserve. But, when the traders come, one coin can mean the difference between starving and survival." She looked up, tilting her chin in an expression of determination. "To the wealthy, or to those that live in grand palaces, one coin may not be worth a lot, or be noticeable when lost, but to the people of the country, one coin, like a good leader is precious."

Zuko's mouth was open, gaping like a fish, opening, and closing as he tried to process what she was saying. Lu Ten was smiling, leaning forward in his seat and nodding as she was talking. Ursa felt a surge of pride and now she felt better about making Katara her personal bid in the Hana Matsuri, the girl was beautiful, intelligent, and real, someone that Zuko definitely needed in his life, if not as a wife then at least a friend.

The silence broke with Iroh's loud laughter. He clapped his hands in enjoyment and mirth, smiling at Katara as if she had told him the meaning of life. His laughter turned into heavy coughing as he slumped against his wife's side, gasping for air. When he had finally calmed down, he said,

"Help me up." Iroh said, trying to lift himself off of the ground, the brocade of the Fire Lord's robes was golden and heavy. Ursa and Yun Xi rose with him, each holding an arm as they propped him up. They descended the stairs together, Ursa one step behind the Fire Lady as the three approached Katara. Iroh clasped Katara's hand and gave it a squeeze, the girl seemed to be in shock at the Fire Lord's sudden appearance, smiling wider than he had all day. "Oh, that was the most delightful answer yet! I don't know how any other girl is going to compare. How old are you?"

Katara's voice was shaky when she answered. "F-Fifteen, my Lord."

"15?" Iroh turned, looking at his son and the teenage boy he was next to. "Too young for my son, but not for…Zuko!" Iroh turned to Ursa, the Fire Lord's diadem twinkling in the light. "Yun Xi, you must handle the rest of the girls. Ursa, I must speak with you immediately."

Yun Xi nodded, letting go of her husband and returning to her seat. Ursa followed Iroh towards the doors, and they exited together, with the male servant yelling out, 'The Fire Lord leaves!'

Once the Fire Lady sat down, she said, "Katara, Mai, you will be in the Eastern Sun section of the Palace together. Gu Zhi, give Ladies Toph, Suki and Diyi red sashes, and you three will be staying in the Small Dragon section. Follow Gu Zhi." The girls mentioned rose and bowed. They filed out in single file, Mai first, Katara the last, because she was looking at Zuko, her eyes never leaving his face until Suki came and pulled her away.

"Wait!" Tiang shouted, tight lipped and red in the face. She pointed to Toph. "Why her?"

The Fire Lady smirked. "I like her attitude." Turning back to the rest of the girls, still sitting, wondering what to do next, she simply said. "You can go. Please see Gu Zhi for payment for your trouble and a way home. Send in the rest."

1/25/18 Most of the chapter remains the same, but I fixed a few minor issues that I had with it. *2020 Update. I give complete credit to the coin scene as being from the drama "The Moon that Embraces the Sun"