Whew! Sorry for the wait, I hope it was worth it. This chapter gave me a bit of trouble, part of it being why it took me longer than usual (that and school's been such a bitch lately and all I want to do is come home and sleep after track...But hey! I should be taking APUSH chapters right now but I'm not so that's something, right?)
Anyway thank you guys so much for all the lovely reviews, it means more to me than I can express, and I would certainly love it if you guys left me some more :) (and to those who are concerned with this becoming a smutfic, it's definitely not). But also! Keeping this a pure drama is going to be hard if I want to continue it (which I do!) so i was thinking about adding a bit of action? Are you guys down for that?) :)
Anyways thank you so so much again, seriously! I hope you all enjoy!
When Katara felt her body lifting itself into consciousness, the first thing she became clearly aware of was the weight slung across her side and down her back. She shifted, the warm weight stirring a bit as she squirmed onto her side, turning to face a very handsome and very much asleep Fire Lord.
Katara was cradled very close to his body, and as she stared into the firebender's face, she could see why. His lips were parted slightly, with his good brow tugged downward. A look of pain, worry, fear; shot across his face.
As the girl recalled the previous night's events, she couldn't fathom why he wore the look he did in his sleeping state. But then, as she recalled the conversations shared previous to last nights...events...it became clear as day.
He was worried he was going to lose her. Even in his sleep, he was fearful the the Chieftain was going to take Katara away from Zuko. Her heart banged against her chest, the pained look clawing at her skin, jabbing into her veins. She closed her eyes, snuggling closer into the man.
Katara however, wasn't as worried as Zuko was. Upset? Yes. Horribly and undeniably irate? Also yes.
But fear that she'd be taken away from Zuko? She didn't know. Most of her emotion lied in the fear of betraying her father and her tribe, fear of the wrath and anger she'd be greeted with from them. Or greeted with again, she should say…
And nervous, very very nervous. Though she supposed that ought to be normal.
When she felt movement above her however, she was jolted from her thoughts, her eyes coming back to reality as they met with Zuko's sleepy golden ones. And while he wore a smile, his eyes gave him away. He was as fearful as he was in his slumber, that much was obvious.
"Good morning," he murmured, his voice still thick with sleep. His limbs were already strewn across her, so he merely tightened them, pulling her in so that she was pressed into Zuko's warm, humming chest.
She responded with a sigh, curling against his being. On those rare occasions where she did sleep in the same bed as Aang...it'd been awkward, to say the least. He was all bones, his stout frame smaller than hers. It felt weird, almost as if she'd been cuddling with her brother. The thought left a metallic taste in her mouth.
But with Zuko, he was warm and firm, but not firm in the way of his bones, but in the way of his entire being. She couldn't imagine waking up a better way.
Well, perhaps with a non-swollen, settled stomach. That might be better.
She knew some of the sickness fluttering within her body was due to the baby making itself residence within her. But the other part? That was for the conversation that she would take part in today, the one she'd been dreading since she'd arrived in the Fire Nation.
How was she supposed to convince her dad the boy that she was wrapped within was the one who she wanted to be with for the rest of her life? She didn't know, she didn't know...
But she did know that this conversation had to commence as soon as it could; she couldn't delay it any longer, no matter how much her wavering nerves protested.
He's your dad, he loves you, he'll understand.
He has to. Oh La, he has to.
With a bit of a groan, Katara tried to pull herself from Zuko's grip, but he grumbled in protest, pulling her back towards him.
"Five more minutes," he slurred, breath hot and thick against her bare skin. She sighed; five more minutes. What was five more minutes?
But she knew of course - from years of living and traveling with Sokka - that five soon turned to ten, then a half hour, then nearly the whole morning. And as tempting as it was to waste away the day in bed with Zuko, she needed to go; go see her father and make sure that they could spent future days wrapped around one another, deep within the silken covers of his bed.
"Zuko, I have to go, you know I do."
With a bit of effort, Katara managed to pry herself free from the firebender. His eyes were wide open now, staring at her with a combination of fear and worry. He sighed.
"Yeah, I know," he said, sitting up as he ran his hands through his shaggy mane. Katara herself was already out of the bed, gathering her clothes in a hurry, blood prickling at her cheeks when she realized just how naked she was. Which, of course, was completely.
A silly reaction, considering what they'd done the night before. But what could she say? She'd only been naked in front of the man once, and it was still a bit of a shock to her.
Once she'd gathered her garb and threw it over her shivering skin, she turned to Zuko, who was clothed in a silky red robe not much different from the sheets that covered his bed. He was still staring at her, an intense gaze that shot right through her chest.
She offered him a tiny smile as she reached for the door, but before she could pull it open, his arms were wrapped around her. She sighed.
"I can come with you, you know…"
"You know you can't."
"I know."
She turned to him. He was fighting to keep a smile on his face, but again his eyes were full of blazing, shivering fire. She couldn't hold them within herself for too long, in fear of getting burnt. It was so hard to stomach his worry, his pain. But it was going to be okay. She knew it was.
Right?
"It'll be fine, Zuko. I promise."
He didn't respond, instead choosing to leave a light kiss on her cheek. She held him there for a minute, unsure if to say anything else, or to just leave.
With a heavy breathe, she released herself from the man's grasp and left the room.
Hakoda was irate, that much he knew. But who was he angry with? Not his daughter, he didn't think. Perhaps the Avatar, for it'd been him who'd come to fetch him from the South Pole. Alone. He'd agreed to go along since he thought it to be a necessity, considering the news he bared….but he was still angry about it; annoyed at the least.
And then there was the damned Fire Lord. The man who'd chased his kids all the way around the world, only to do so again as he trailed them into the Earth Kingdom. Or, at least that's what his children had told him. And he trusted his children, he really did.
But could he really hate the Fire Lord? Was it even possible, let alone fair? Again, from what his kids had told him, if the man hadn't gone to teach firebending to the Avatar, they'd still be knee deep in a losing war. But more than that, Hakoda had first hand experience of the honor that the Fire Lord possessed. It was him, after all, who'd led Sokka to free him from the wretched Fire Nation prison. He assumed that once the war had ended, he'd have been freed; but what if he wasn't? In a way, he owed his life to the Fire Lord. As much as he hated to admit it.
Hated to admit it now, he should say. If none of this had happened with his daughter, then he'd probably only feel gratitude towards the Lord for it'd been him who'd decided to make peace between the nations one he was crowned.
It was confusing, to say the least. How could a man with so much honor could display such an act of disrespect upon Katara, his friend? Well, his friend who he loved. But that didn't matter much to the Chieftain. No, what he cared most about was if Katara loved the man back. On one hand, the case seemed likely, but on the other, is was still hard to fathom.
Maybe he was still full of post war prejudice. But really, who could blame him?
As he was sitting on the edge of his guest bed, still brooding over such thoughts, a fist rapped on the door. He was about to ask who it was, but the door burst open before the words could leave his lips.
He scowled at first, but once he saw the blue clothes and long chestnut hair, his face immediately lightened.
"Katara."
Hakoda hopped off the bed to join his daughter at the table she placed herself at. When he caught sight of her face, however, his strained grin turned.
But really, what was he expecting?
"Dad," she nodded curtly, refusing to meet her eyes. Hakoda sighed, running a hand through his chopped locks. He didn't like it when his daughter was mad at him, and it seemed to be happening all too often recently. Well, there was now and the time on the stolen Fire Nation vessel all those months ago, but still. It didn't sit right with him.
But while his sadness was still directed towards Katara, his anger was still prevalent. Not towards Katara, not really anyway. Annoyed, perhaps, at her show the day before, and disobeying Tribal customs, but this all seemed like minor issues in the grand scheme of things.
The main issue being her now bulging stomach, and the owner of the grand palace they were currently residing in.
"Why don't you want me to marry Zuko?"
"Why do you want to?"
That was the bottom line, really. Sure, the Fire Lord was an honorable man, but considering his very recent and long past acts of dishonor, the lines were so blurred now. And Hakoda just couldn't see how such a man possessed the power to make his daughter a happy wife.
Katara sighed, fumbling with her loose locks that fell from her head and over her shoulders. Her face was strained in thought. Eventually however, her eyes met his.
"Because I'm the mother of his child. Our child."
Hakoda opened his lips to say that her happiness was more important than marrying out of wedlock- that everyone somehow, some way would understand - but he never got the chance.
"And I love him, Dad. I really do."
He blinked. He'd assumed that this would be the case, but it still came as somewhat as a shock to him.
"And he loves you?"
"Yes, he does."
Hakoda bit his lip, looking down into the dark wooden table they were seated at. The truth was right there in front of him, uttered from his daughter's own two lips; but still, he was doubtful.
He rubbed his chin, looking back at his daughter whose eyes were plated with some sort of emotion he couldn't quite decipher.
"I just," he started, shaking his head slightly, "I get that he joined your...group, and that he helped the Avatar and all that, but do his previous actions mean nothing to you? You and Sokka both told me of the times you guy fought, how he relentlessly chased you around the entire world! I just don't understand how you can go from enemies to lovers so quickly. I just need to know that your heart is in the right place, and that his is too."
"Dad?"
He looked up, realizing that he was staring into the wooden texture once again.
"I never told you about the time I found Mom's killer, did I?
He blinked, every muscle in his body boiling over, then freezing into icy stiffness. She...she found the man who took Kya from me? From them? No...
He shot out of his seat and began to pace around the room. shaking his head slightly. Out of the corner of his widened eyes, he saw Katara wince.
"Wh-what are you talking about? You found him? That low life son of a fucking bitch...you found him?! What? When?"
She sighed, bringing her knees to her chest as she curled her arms around them.
"After Sokka came back with you and we separated, we...we went together. Me. Zuko. He said he knew who did it, so we went….and we found him."
Hakoda froze. The damned Fire Lord; he'd found the man, the vile, low life man?
"And...and I know how terrible it might sound to you because I know you still think of me as your precious kindhearted daughter, but I wanted to kill him, I really did. I wanted him gone. But...I couldn't do it. He was empty, Dad, there was nothing there. It wasn't worth getting my hands dirty."
He froze. She continued.
"He took me, Dad, he took me because I still blamed him for everything that happened. He was the spoiled Fire Prince and I blamed him for the all the war and death and….for Mom. I blamed him for Mom. But he took me, he helped me, he gave me closure. And I haven't forgiven that monster, but I forgave Zuko. Aang said all I needed was forgiveness, to forgive the killer, but that's not what I needed. I needed closure, and Zuko gave that to me. He didn't question it like Aang and Sokka did. He just…."
Hakoda found himself with his arms wrapped tightly around his shaking daughter, his own tears threatening at his eyelids. For years, perhaps her whole life since it'd happened, Katara had blamed herself for the death of Kya. Hakoda couldn't understand why; if anyone was at fault it was him, but he didn't think that way. He knew it was the Fire Nation's fault, and them alone. The death of her mother tormented Katara for years, but now, now she had closure. And Zuko was the one who gave that to her.
A pang of jealousy jabbed at the Chieftain, at the fact that it wasn't him who helped her daughter like Zuko did, but he brushed it off.
And now, for the first time, an understanding of the situation began to blossom within Hakoda. This man had done more for Katara than he knew, things Hakoda or the Avatar himself could never have done for her.
"That's not it, though."
Hakoda pulled away, eying his daughter in a curious matter. The tears were drying around the folds of her eyes, and she offered him a weak smile.
"Do you remember what I asked you after you had your...chat with Zuko."
He blinked. "You asked if I hit him," he stated blankly, wondering as to why this mattered all of the sudden; she'd known she'd hurt him, why was she asking about it again?
"Yes, but where did you hit him?"
He hesitated at first, but soon enough the memory of her fury, her shaking limbs, came back to him. "In the chest," he muttered sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck as he pulled farther away from Katara.
She swerved her eyes away from him, choosing instead to glare into the palms of her hands that were resting on her lap.
"I told you about the Agni Kai, remember? Between Zuko and Azula?"
He nodded, his chest swelling with pride at the thought. It was still a scary thought, the one of his daughter facing a crazed and deadly Fire Nation princess; but Katara had defeated the girl, helping Zuko retain his birthright.
"But an Agni Kai, Dad, is supposed to be between two firebenders, and two firebenders alone. But….Azula wasn't in her right mind and she, she cheated and she went after me-"
Hakoda froze, staring wide eyed at his daughter. The event was over and his daughter was fine, of course, but this was still new information to him. He'd just assumed they'd fought side by side, her and Zuko. But to know now, that Katara was never meant to be involved in the fight….
It made Hakoda's chest tight and weary when he continuously found out there was so little that he knew about their own children; so much that they'd been leaving out in the retelling of their adventures.
But Katara wasn't done with her tale.
"She...she was going to shoot me with lightning, Dad, she was going to kill me..."
Hakoda choked on his lungs.
"...But Zuko saved me, he jumped in front of the lightning and saved me. If it wasn't for him..."
No, Hakoda didn't want to think about what would've happened if the once Fire Prince hadn't gone through with such an undeniable act of bravery and honor. He couldn't, he just couldn't.
He owed his daughter's life to the Fire Lord, and in return, he owed his own life to him.
Again, he pulled Katara close to his thumping chest, shaking just a bit. To now know everything this man had done for him, for her, for their family - he finally understood. It was relief, he thought, that his daughter would find such a man with unquestionable honor. It made him proud, now, it really did.
"I think," he started, pulling back to smile into his daughters wavering eyes. "I think that I finally understand."