Chapter 39

A lot of you commented on the change in Song, and I think that CelticSun14 put it best. She's seen this all happen before, and she knows EXACTLY what's at stake here. Power, money, and especially love. She told Lu Ten that she wouldn't mind his concubine as long as she was first. But Yue's pregnancy threw everything out of order. And the Yue hate continues!

Chapter 39: Happy Birthday, Katara Part I

Katara

The morning dawn peeked through the curtains of Katara's room in the Concubine's Palace. She didn't want to sleep in the Zuko's Grandmother's old room. She felt that it wasn't her place, she hadn't married Zuko yet.

And if Yue becomes Fire Lady…I'm quite sure that I never will.

She groaned into her pillow and rolled over. She didn't sleep much last night. But honestly, given what happened last night there was no way she should have expected to. There was too much chaos, both in the palace, and inside of her mind. When she got back to her room last night and stared at the pale waxing moon in the night sky, she had wished, that she was back in the south pole, with no concerns of her own, still a child, still unaware of the large part that she would come to play in world politics.

But wishes…wishes were for children. And now, today, on her 16th birthday, she was a child no longer.

Not wanting to continue feigning sleep, but feeling more tired than she'd ever felt, Katara stood, and walked over to the mirror that stood by her vanity. She appraised herself with the same critical eye that one might look upon a painting for sale. What she saw made her frown. She didn't look any different, even on the most important day of her life. In her eyes, she resembled the child she had been, not the woman she should be. Her face was still round with baby fat, her hair still in the same child-like braid running down her spine, as it had been for more than a decade.

Only now, she looked even more like a child, as her hair, which was unkempt and wild in sleep, stuck up in crazed positions that framed her innocent looking face. It didn't help her look mature in the slightest. Her body, much to her chagrin was still juvenile in its appearance, lacking all the curves that Water Tribe women were famed to possess.

So yes, Katara the woman, looked like Katara the child still. A child that, because of yesterday, had much more on her plate than the average woman did.

It was enough pressure to make her think, what would she be doing if she hadn't entered the Hana Matsuri?

Right now, at dawn, she would have been on her way to the temple to meditate alongside the High Priestess, to prepare her chi for the journey she was to take. Then she would have spent the day doing things all children did, playing outside. The rest of the children of the village would join her, and all of those under 20 years of age would be free from responsibilities and chores.

Even the younger priestesses would be free from meditation, and she would run and play along the mounds of snow until her nose was red and cold, having fun the entire time. She would spend it basking in her last chance to be a child. When she would get hungry, she would go to the market, and see what Elder Karok had to sell. He would charge her a high price, she would announce her birthday loudly and proudly followed by the cheers of everyone, and he would respond by giving her whatever snack she wanted for free.

At sunset, everyone would gather for a feast. Her father would make a speech, her mother would cry, and Sokka would tease her for being the favorite. It would be a joke, and she would laugh with him. It had been this way, every year on her birthday, it happened without fail...except for this year.

But this year would have been different anyway. Finally, she would undergo the journey for becoming a woman. As the moon rose, she would return to the temple as everyone followed, where she would kneel in a large white basin wearing only a white cotton shift. The priestesses would have doused her in sea water, first scalding hot, her skin would turn red, to burn away the childhood of her past, and then ice cold, freezing her and shocking her senses as she would awaken into the world of adult-hood. Her hands would be covered in a grey clay, signifying her bond to her future husband, and her feet would glisten in red paint, for she was soon to walk the path of motherhood.

Every woman in the tribe had gone through this, Yue included, though she wasn't painted, for at the time...she was still a priestess. Everyone assumed she wasn't going to become a wife, or a mother.

How wrong the priestesses were. How wrong they all were.

Now Yue was to achieve everything. Wife, mother, perhaps even the title of Fire Lady. It could happen, but Yue had defied not only her rules as a priestess, but the laws of the Spirits themselves. Were Tui and La looking down on their former priestess with joy, that she'd found a way to such a potentially fortunate life? Or did they and hate her for abandoning her spiritual duty and mocking the tribe's rules which had existed for nearly 400 years.

She couldn't speak to the spirits themselves to learn how they saw this betrayal.

Politically.

Sprits help her. Yue would try and tear her down, but despite knowing this, Katara had to help her. She knew all too well the dangerous looks that the Fire Lady gave her, and no one was safe in this palace. Not even the Fire Lord himself.

Whether Yue wanted her help or not.

Song

"The Fire Lady is getting dressed, Princess Song. Please wait here." One of the nameless servants said to her.

"Please, tell her not to rush on my behalf." Song smiled at the woman, before the servant backed away.

Song sat in the Fire Lady's sitting room, being served tea by the Fire Lady's personal servants. She looked around, almost in awe. Separate from the bedroom that she used since the beginning of her reign, the sitting room was bright, airy and overlooking the Fire Nation Sea.

The windows were open, and the sun's rays poured in, casting the entire room in a rosy pink glow. Today she wore one of her favorite pieces of clothing, it was a bright green cheongsam, with embroidered pink chrysanthemums in the silk, weaving up and down her arms.

How strange it was. Everyone still treated her with respect, but Song didn't feel as though she deserved it. Yesterday, she was on top of the world. She had the most power of all in the entire palace, save the Fire Lady herself. More power than Princess Azula, a daughter of the palace, and her power rivaled that of Princess Ursa.

But today… who knows where she stands? Would Lu Ten choose the newcomer over her? Yue…was that her name?

She was…going to have his child. And Song…Song would never become a mother. If that woman…if Katara's cousin…became Fire Lady…Song would have no future. …forced to drink an infertility tonic, poison slipped into food…falling down stairs to get rid of a pregnancy…growing up, she'd seen enough of her father's own concubines ruined by other women in their attempt to gain power.

"Song?" The Fire Lady broke her out of her thoughts as she entered the room. Song stood so fast she jostled the teacup on the table, but she immediately sank down to her knees. Her future mother-in-law stared at her in near shock. "My child, what are you doing?"

Song bowed so low her forehead touched the cold, red, marble tiles. "I need your help, Fire Lady."

"M-My dear!" The Fire Lady gently helped her to her feet, and led her over to sit at one of the tables

"Please, Mother." The Fire Lady's eyes widened as Song addressed her so familiarly. "You have to help me. Help me become pregnant with Lu Ten's child. It doesn't matter if we are married or not. I need to become pregnant."

The Fire Lady patted their clasped hands. "My dear child, I don't think that's necessary."

Song felt a burning in her chest. Her eyes prickled with unshed tears. "But it is."

The older woman smiled a motherly smile at her. "If you feel threatened by this Water Tribe harlot—,"

Song shook her head, cutting off the Fire Lady. "But that's just it. She's not a harlot. Naïve, yes. But not stupid. Lu Ten doesn't fall for dumb women." Her voice quivered, as she clutched tighter at the Fire Lady, willing her to understand, willing her to see. "And Lu Ten obviously cares about her, otherwise he wouldn't have stood up for her."

"Lu Ten did it out of honor, my child." The Fire Lady still smiled at her in that patronizing way.

"You didn't see, but I-I saw. I saw the way he looked at her. She was obsessive, but he…he didn't care. He looked at her as though she was a drink of fresh water in the desert."

"It was shock, more than anything else." Her future mother-in-law said.

How could she be so positive? Song couldn't tell whether the Fire Lady actually believed that, or whether she was living in denial, wanting to ignore the signs that Lu Ten was no longer under her control. But Song couldn't wait until Yue came to power.

"I'm not so sure." She said, her voice shaking more and more with every sentence. "B-But that's why I need a child."

Then, the Fire Lady looked at her with determined fire in her eyes. "With any luck, you may have a child."

She disappeared, and when she came back, she handed Song a piece of parchment, stamped with the Royal Seal. As Song read, her eyes widened.

Katara

Katara waited with Gu Zhi outside of Yue's room. She would talk with her, try to make her understand.

"Miss Yue, you have a visitor—," Gu Zhi said, her voice even and professional.

"Is it Crown Prince Lu Ten?" Came Yue's muffled voice through the door. She sounded hopeful. She sounded as though she anticipated him and had been waiting for a very long time.

Katara sighed, her eyes closing. She didn't want to do this. But she had to, otherwise Yue would eventually get them both killed. "Answer her." She whispered to Gu Zhi.

"Well…no, it's actually—,"

"Whoever you're, go away!" Her voice was forceful, but there was a quiver in it. She was probably crying, now. "I want to see the Crown Prince. Unless it's him, leave me alone!"

Katara met Gu Zhi's eyes. Open the door anyway. The message conveyed, Gu Zhi slid the door open, and Katara walked in with the elderly servant close behind. Yue's back was to her as she sat at a low table on a thick and plush red cushion, obviously waiting for breakfast. Her knees were pulled up to her chest, and she rocked back and forth, trying to quiet her sobs.

"I thought I said that unless it was the Crown Prince—." Yue whirled, and then her eyes met Katara's own. So similar, and yet…the two of them were like two sides of the same coin. Katara's eyes were clear and determined, but Yue's eyes were red, and puffy. Her lips quivered, and she turned away. "Oh. What do you want?"

She walked further into the room. Katara snorted, and murmured sarcastically, "A good morning to you too." She walked over to the cushion opposite Yue. Without waiting for Yue to say something, she sat down. Katara looked on her cousin, shaking in in her seat with kind eyes. Perhaps she should start this off with a gentle touch. "Have you eaten yet?"

Yue sniffed and looked up at her in surprise. She shook her head no.

"Did you eat anything last night?" Again, she shook her head no. Katara's eyes narrowed, voice rigid. "Nothing at all? Who's been assigned to take care of you?"

"It is I, Princess Katara." A woman that Katara didn't recognize approached her from the corner of the room. Katara hadn't noticed her, and Yue stiffened as she approached. Yue almost shied away from her when the woman in servant's clothing got there.

"And you are?"

The woman bowed. "My name is Mena, Princess Katara."

Katara looked at her sternly. "Is there a reason why my cousin hasn't had food?

Mena blinked, unsure how to respond to Katara's anger. "I…um…"

"Where did you used to work before?" Katara asked.

"I…I worked for Princess Song. I was first assigned to her when she arrived in the Fire Nation." Mena's eyes shifted away from Katara's face. "Princess Song assigned me here…because of my great service."

"And you thought it appropriate to keep a pregnant woman hungry?" Katara stood.

"Mena. How dare you." Gu Zhi came out of nowhere. There was a slap, and suddenly, Mena buckled, hand pressing her cheek lightly. "How dare you do something so unbecoming of a Fire Nation Royal Servant?"

"I'm a good servant!" Mena said from her position on the floor. "How dare she think that she can come in here and steal Princess Song's rightful place! Princess Song will be the ruler of this Palace, not her! Not this Water Tribe whore!"

Katara rose and looked at the servant with a dark eye. "I would think," She said quietly. "That you would think twice about insulting the Water Tribe. You would remember who I am, and what I've done."

Her voice was calm, the tone of it somehow making her voice seem all the more threatening. She noted with some irony that Prince Ozai used the same tactic. Perhaps her future father-in-law taught her something after all. Some people…responded better to intimidation than others.

Mena actually looked ashamed, for a moment. "Yes, Princess. You're Fire Lord Iroh's savior…everyone knows of your…benevolence."

Yue stared at her, mouth agape. "Katara…?"

Gu Zhi turned to Katara. "What will you have me do with her? Take her to the Fire Lady?"

Katara sat back down. "Nothing. There is nothing wrong with loyalty." Yue's mouth formed a hard line, and Katara could see that she'd understood, finally. Turning her head to Gu Zhi, and mustering as much decorum as she could, she ordered softly. "Do nothing with her. But bring my cousin and I some breakfast now. Make Yue's as spice-less as possible. It isn't good for the pregnancy."

Gu Zhi nodded, and pulled Mena up to her feet, practically dragging her out of the room.

When they were alone, Katara sighed and looked at her cousin. "Mom and dad are coming in a few days. Are you going to say hello?"

Yue snorted. "Why should I? She probably hates me."

"She doesn't hate you." Katara didn't think that her mother could hate anyone. "She still cares about you."

"That's what you think." Yue rolled her eyes, rested her elbows on the table.

Katara's tapped Yue's shoulders. She looked up. The Water Tribe princess said pointedly, "It might behoove you to align yourself with us. Because as of right now, you're on your own."

Yue glared at her fiercely. "I'm not going back. You can't make me."

Katara shook her head. "You should be kinder to your only ally here. If Lu Ten doesn't accept you…you could still marry, still provide for your child."

Yue scoffed as though she couldn't imagine that happening. She looked away, and for a moment she looked like she was going to cry. She sniffed, the tears pooled in her eyes. "How many of them would be willing to raise a Fire Nation child?"

"A child is a child. And with the population as low as it is…" She started to say, but Yue cut her off.

"That won't happen. Besides, Lu Ten cares about me. He always has." She sounded confident, but her voice shook.

Katara's hand hit the table. She fixed Yue with a hard stare. The older woman recoiled. "How delusional are you? Lu ten will put the duty to his country and the loyalty to his family first. Regardless of how he feels for you."

"You think that because you're finally 16 now that you know everything about the world!" Yue shouted. " He said he loves me!"

Katara rolled her eyes. "Has he given any inkling to show you that he actually does love you? Did he come see you last night after his mother went to sleep?"

Yue thought for a moment. "Well no…"

Katara continued firing off questions at rapid fire. "Did he come visit you this morning? Did he stand up for you when his mother called you a seductress? No, I did that."

"He did stand up for me!"

Being gentle wouldn't work for Yue. No, Katara would have to be direct. That was the only way she would see what she'd gotten herself into. Katara shook her head. "No, he stood up for me. He did it because Zuko asked him to. He never addressed you directly."

"Did Zuko ever do that for you?" She countered.

"Actually, he did." Her throat was dry. "He's done it many times."

'Then why didn't he do it yesterday?"

"He didn't do it because he saw that I didn't need him to." Katara explained. "I don't need him all of the time, and I can take care of myself, Yue. Besides, you're Lu Ten's problem. Not Zuko's problem and you really shouldn't be mine. You turned your back on your Tribe. I shouldn't even associate with you."

"If I'm Lu Ten's problem, then why are you willing to stand up for me?" Yue sounded almost hurt.

"I'm not doing it for you."

"You seem to be doing just fine." Yue sounded bitter and hurt.

Katara shook her head, resting her arms on the table as she leaned forward. She felt weary after all this time.

"Not at first. And not without help. You still don't understand about how things work here, succession of the throne included." She reached over and took Yue's hands in hers. Yue looked almost shocked at the contact but forced her eyes back to Katara. "Hate me all you want, but you've been a selfish, spoiled brat who thinks that she's entitled to the Fire Nation throne just because she got pregnant."

"Aren't I?" The ex-priestess wanted to know.

The Princess shook her head. "That may have worked back home. But as far as everyone is concerned, you're the intruder, and Song is Lu Ten's wife."

"Since I'm so dangerous, what are you going to do to me?" She asked. Her voice was a bit apprehensive.

Katara offered her cousin a soft smile. "You need to wake up and face what's really going on here. Be silent. Be respectful. Observe. You don't know the Fire Nation's laws and customs, so you'll think I'm silencing you, but I'm not. I'm teaching you how to survive."

"Survive?"

Katara tried to explain the complex politics as simply as possible. "The Fire Lady believes that you're a threat to Lu Ten's crown, and in some ways, you are. You betrayed the Water Tribe. Who's to say that you won't betray the Fire Nation? Or Lu Ten?"

"I wouldn't!"

"How can she know that for sure? She probably doesn't even think the child is his." Katara released Yue's hands.

"B-But you told her." Yue protested.

Katara sighed heavily. "Yue I'm no safer than you're. I've been involved in…well…never mind... That's a story for another time." Continuing, she said. "She already doesn't trust Zuko and I. Because we're a threat too."

"How so?"

"Zuko's proven himself to be…a different leader, when compared to Lu Ten." Katara looked around to see if anyone was left. "He has complete faith in me, and we're strong together, we work well. That alone makes us a threat. Similarly, Lu Ten and Song are strong together. He, the beloved heir to the throne, and she, the sister of the Earth King who is as gentle as she is beautiful. She doesn't know you."

"What will she do to me?" Yue asked, her eyes wide, and filled with fear.

"Fire Lady Yun Xi is quick to anger and doesn't forgive easily. Just…behave."

Yue huffed indignantly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Behave? I'm not a child."

"When it comes to this, you're a child. Watch the way Song acts. Watch what I do. Follow us both. Don't give her any reason to hate you more than she does already."

Yue asked hesitantly. "W-What if I mess up?" Katara glanced at her belly, and then looked away. "My child? She'd kill my baby?"

Katara shook her head. "No, no, I don't think she's that cruel. She's a mother…she wouldn't be that cruel." Though from the sound of Katara's voice, it appeared she didn't believe it herself. Cruelty wasn't an issue here in the Fire Nation palace. Getting caught was the issue. "She would have Song adopt your child as her own, maybe even hide you away and make it look like Song was pregnant instead."

This time, Yue reached across and grabbed her hands. "And if the child can waterbend? Has dark skin? Or has blue eyes?" Yue pressed on, a hand reaching for her stomach, as though she wanted nothing more than to protect her child at all costs. "Katara, what if the child looks like me?"

Katara didn't answer.

Song

Song stared at the Fire Lady, mouth open. She pointed to the final clause of the document. "But you've overlooked one thing." The older woman raised an eyebrow. "Katara will never let this happen. Not to her cousin."

The Fire Lady looked at her critically. "Do you think that when it finally comes down to it, Katara will be more loyal to you or her cousin?"

Song had no answer for that. She understood what family meant to Katara. "But…she wouldn't intentionally harm me. Katara isn't like that."

"Can you say that for sure?" Song couldn't. Not now. But the Fire Lady spoke without giving her a chance to answer. "No matter. She isn't our problem. Once she and Zuko are married, they're going to be relocated to Ember Island."

"You'd send her away?" Song asked, eyes wide.

"Of course, I would. I'll call it a governorship or something." The Fire Lady scoffed. "The less threats around you the better."

"Are she and Zuko really such a threat? She's healed Fire Lord Iroh many times, and Lu Ten thinks of Zuko as a confidant."

For a second, the Fire Lady looked almost guilty. But then her expression hardened. "Why are you defending her? She will be the daughter-in-law of Ozai! The one who threatens to take your power away. You know what? Don't bring her up. She isn't your friend."

"Katara is my friend. I—," Under the Fire Lady's fierce gaze, she could say no more.

"She may claim to be your friend," Fire Lady Yun Xi said harshly. "But she's also decided to stick up for her cousin. She only has loyalty to Zuko, and her."

"I…I admit…I was hurt when she defended her cousin." Song said lowly, trying not to antagonize her future mother-in-law.

And it was true. She was hurt. She didn't know Katara as well as she once thought.

"Exactly," the Fire Lady murmured, her eyes turning kind once more. "She has chosen her side, and now you must choose yours. To rule the Palace, you must have a firm hand. Keep a close eye on this Water Tribe girl."

Song smiled. The Fire Lady smiled as well, because Song was changing to the woman that had to remove all threats to her position and power. "I've already done so. I've placed a servant with her and gave her orders to report to me everything she does. Whom she talks to, what she says, what she eats…all of it."

"Excellent." The Fire Lady looked on her proudly. "A person's cruelty knows no bounds, and you may never know when the next betrayal may hit."

"I do feel guilty though." Song's conscience still existed, despite the pressure she faced.

"Guilt? Why?" The Fire Lady looked confused.

"Well, she has not attacked me personally, and I don't want to make trouble where there is none." Song explained quietly.

The other woman looked at her as though she was missing something important. "She has started it. You do realize that, don't you? I thought you would have been used to it by now, growing up in Ba Sing Se Palace."

"I'm used to it. My brother and I are only half siblings." The Fire Lady's eyes widened. "We have different mothers. Kuei's mother, Queen Lai, died in childbirth. My mother was his second queen."

"Legally married though?" The Fire Lady pressed, searching for more information. "Your mother wasn't a concubine first?"

"M-My mother is the daughter of a professor at Ba Sing Se University." Song stammered, but then she thought, why should that make a difference? "My grandfather was appointed as my brother's tutor. My father saw my mother when she came to the palace with him one day."

"What was the age difference?" The Fire Lady asked, curious.

"Nearly 30 years. My mother still lives in the Palace, and Kuei regards her almost as highly as if she was his birth mother."

"How fortunate for her." The Fire Lady said simply, and Song couldn't help but feel a little bit insulted.

Was status and power all that mattered to the Fire Lady?

Song sighed. "The point is, your majesty, that I watched my mother be compared to Queen Lai all throughout her marriage to my father. They said my mother wasn't worthy enough to be married to the Earth King."

The Fire Lady nodded her head as she appeared lost in thought. "I remember Queen Lai. And I remember your mother, Queen Yu." She shrugged. "There was no difference between them."

"There was a difference. A difference that no one could really see. My mother had the weight of Queen Lai's reputation on her shoulders for my entire childhood. She was never free of it. Not even after Kuei became King. She's Queen Dowager now, but…she has no real power, no matter how much Kuei views her as his mother."

"Because her birth child is not on the throne." The Fire Lady said in understanding.

"That is correct. So, I must become pregnant. I must. Otherwise…" Song looked away.

"You will feel as though you have no place here. Especially if that harlot's child is on the throne." The Fire Lady continued to refer to Yue as a harlot, despite Song's reservations about the term.

Song nodded. The two sat in silence for a moment, before she asked. "Do you think he loves her?"

"Who?" The Fire Lady asked innocently, but she knew perfectly well who.

"Do you think that Lu Ten loves Yue?"

The Fire Lady began to laugh. She laughed for a long, long, time. Finally, she sobered. "Don't be silly. Lu Ten doesn't care about her." Her voice held no trace of wavering or uncertainty.

Did the Fire Lady know her son that well? Or was she just in denial?

Song didn't know the answer.

*********** A tiny little tidbit::: Did you know that in my original planning of this story, Song was supposed to be DEAD by now? And Yue was supposed to be framed for her murder? **********