A present for my dear Spleef! Best sister ever!
Kuei had no patience for the concubines paraded into his bedchambers
Katara watched the dethroned former ruler shiver with fear as they flew over the fallen kingdom. "I know this has been a hard for you," she said, trying to be comforting.
The king stared back at her with eyes far too young and innocent to be a Divine Ruler. "It's…not that. I've just never left my home before." He sighed and cleaned his spectacles. "In fact, before I met you, I had never left the palace before."
Katara shouldn't have been surprised. She had known the king was sheltered but still, hearing how isolated he had been broke her heart. "Before I met Aang, I never left my home. My brother and I would dream about what happened outside our tiny village, but I never thought I would ever see it."
The king laughed sadly. "We have much in common, Katara. Growing up, it was just me and my cub, Basco." He gave the sleeping bear a pat. "Just us with lots of bowing servants. We used to sit in the garden and dream of the outside world…" he trailed off sadly, lost in memory.
"Hey, at least you managed to get out," Sokka said, completely unhelpfully. Idiot brother.
"I guess I did. I must say though, this wasn't the way I wanted to see my kingdom. I've failed…haven't I?" he asked.
In spite of everything inside her telling her to stop, Katara hugged the young royal. "No, you didn't fail. You couldn't have helped what happened. When I lost my mother, I thought my life was over. But I made a new family now and I'm stronger. Yes, it's hard now but you will be all right. You're part of the family too," she said forcefully. So it was disrespectful, Katara was never one for authority.
The king stiffened under her embrace for a long moment. "What are you doing?" he asked softly.
Katara let go and stared. "It's a hug. Weren't you ever hugged?" she asked, before realizing that royalty was rarely hugged and embraced. Poor king was worse off than she could imagine.
"No…I wasn't…but don't stop. That felt good. May I have another…hug?" the king said, smiling shyly."Wow, I never realized how big the sky is. It's beautiful...like you."