The morning after the tryst with Princess Yue, Zuko found himself staring up at the ceiling in his bed. He breathed in deeply, unsure if he was happy or upset about everything. He couldn't stop reliving the kiss, that gloriously amazing kiss. But her reaction afterwards left a searing hole in his heart.
Why had she run off from him?
Had he done something wrong?
Maybe he had hurt her?
Agni, he hoped that wasn't it; he couldn't live with himself if he had hurt her in any way. That would be a fate worse than death. Groaning lowly, he hoisted himself from his bed and rubbed the back of his neck. He walked to the window of his room and watched as the princess stepped off a ship that was coming on shore.
That's odd…
He thought she was still in her room, he had no idea she would have been leaving last night and returning this morning. He wondered where she went at such an early hour after last night. Maybe something bad happened. Her heart gripping painfully, he threw on a robe and bolted out the door to his room.
He ran up the many stairs that led outside and looked around frantically for any clues that would tell him why Yue had left last night. Maybe that was why she ran out so quickly; she was late for an impressing matter of sorts.
But as he stood on the palace steps, looking outward, he only saw the Chief with his hand on the shoulder of some young girl. Her back was turned to Zuko and he thought he recognized Yue's long chocolate tresses, but she was dressed in peasants' clothes and when Hakota turned to face another young woman, he realized that the girl the Chief was talking to was probably just a beggar's child who had a scam to get money.
The edges of Zuko's lips turned down in disgust. The peasants of any well respected country were the worse. Always thinking that the royals owed them something because they were stuck at the bottom of the food chain and they thought their superiors should take care of them. It was pathetic.
With a pat on her back, Chief Hakota dismissed the filthy girl and turned to greet his beautiful and magnificent daughter. Zuko watched in awe, not for the first time, at the girl's elegance and beauty. He thought about moving closer, so she would see him and he could somehow get a message to her about meeting later to talk about what happened last night, but thought better of it.
He didn't want to risk Hakota noticing him, and forbade him from seeing his daughter again.
But as, Zuko watched, he realized that even if he did want to risk it, he would never be able to get her attention anyway. She never once looked in his direction and he found it odd that even though she probably wasn't very happy with him, he still never expected her to completely ignore him.
And yet…that's completely what she did.
She walked to her father's side and he leaned down, whispering something in her ear. It seemed as though the Chief had gestured back to Zuko because at that moment, Yue looked back at him. He expected her to give that half smile she always gave him, her eyes to light up, her face to blush with embarrassment or even her lips to tighten with displeasure at seeing him after last night.
But there was nothing.
No smile.
No light.
No blush.
No tightening.
No…recognition…
None, whatsoever.
This was wrong.
This was so terribly wrong.
Something was not right here. But he wasn't sure what it was. Maybe Yue had blocked out last night in order to forget. Maybe she wasn't as interested in him as he had thought, hoped, she was. Maybe he was completely wrong in thinking that Yue was the one for him.
And yet…he didn't believe it for one second.
She was his, and he was hers. He knew that in his bones. He just had to prove that to her… But not right now. He was in his robe and he didn't want to give her father the wrong impression. He'd go back to his rooms, change into more formal clothing, and meet them all back in the great hall for breakfast.
Yes, a brilliant plan.
Yue watched the retreating back of the man who apparently, according to her father, was attempting to court her. He was attractive enough that was for sure. Well, all except that scar, it was definitely a little off putting in the worst kind of way. But he was rich, powerful, son of a Lord, and next in line.
The perfect combo for her.
"Yue, baby girl, pay attention to what I'm saying, please." She snapped her eyes back to her father and saw the little crow's feet that bunched around his eyes from too many years of smiling and being happy.
She smiled graciously, "Of course, Father. Please, continue."
And he did, "Katara has been covering for you, of course, so all should be well. You know the rules; you are not to go to her village for anything at all. She is to be left alone for all intents and purposes and until I call her back. You will not mention her name or anything that has to do with her whatsoever. She is off limits to any ideas of your cruelty." Yue put her hand to her chest in offense and opened her mouth to retort, but Hakota stopped her, "Daughter, you forget that I know you inside and out, therefore I know how you like to tease her and I know how your brain works. Leave. Her. Alone." He wiggled his finger in front of her nose with every word, emphasizing his point.
Mortified that he had called her out on her idea of fun, she gave him a clipped smile and a short bow, "As you wish, Father." Her voice was dry and petulant as she straightened herself out, "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get ready for breakfast; I have suitor to impress." With another small smile, she walked off, resisting the urge to stomp her foot like a child as she went.
She hated when she was being reprimanded.
Especially for that little…filthy peasant child!
She was nothing to them, and yet, her father praised her and protected her as though she were one of his own.
The thought stopped her dead in her tracks. No… that couldn't be possible could it? She shook her head, clearing her mind, of course it wasn't. She was her father's only child. She was a princess, her mother a gem; there was no way her father would have mingled with the likes of Katara's mother…
Happy with her logic, she smiled and continued toward the palace. Like she said, she had a suitor to impress…
Chief Hakota watched as his daughter sauntered away from him.
He didn't like to think of what her brain was coming up with as she moved.
Sometimes, most times, he wished Yue was more like Katara.
He wondered how he could mix this…mess…
Though none, save Kya, knew, Katara was his own daughter as well.
Yue and Katara were twins.
Hakota's wife had been barren and he had been so dismayed, so torn up inside when he found out she could not produce children. He wanted to rage and yell at her, to curse her, but he knew that that was not right. He could never blame her for anything she was perfection.
But that didn't ease the ache in his heart over not being able to have children.
The night he found out, he found her crying in a corner of their room. He came to her side, wanting desperately to comfort her somehow. Needed to fix this for her. But as he approached her shaking frame, she turned around and lashed out him with her arm, screaming and crying, "This is your fault!" she had screeched at him, "You are the reason I cannot children, and by the names of Tui and La, I will not have anything else to do with you!" he had held his hand out to her, needing to do something, but she had backed away from him like he was the plague, "I hate you!" she spat at his feet.
That was all he could handle. Before doing something that they would be regret, he had turned and left their room, left the palace, left the immediate village. He had just left it all behind.
He wasn't a terrible man, husband or chief. He knew that, so why did it feel like he had screwed everything up? Maybe, his wife was right and he was the reason they couldn't have children. Maybe he was the one who was unable to have them and she was more than fertile.
If that was the truth, his wife would be leaving him very quickly…
He had sighed and hung his head, that thought was enough to kill him; he didn't want to think of his wife leaving him for another man who give her what she wanted most in life. His feet had led him to another village on their small island. A village he hadn't really known existed…
The people here had looked as though they had never seen a decent meal in their lives. Their clothes were torn, tattered and battered. Dirty cloth hung from their frames in loose threads that barely shielded them from the harsh winters that befell upon their tundra nation.
As he had walked through the shambles of the village, his heart sank as he realized that what he had once prided himself on, on being a good chief, was wrong. As wrong as he had been about thinking he was a good husband. His life was falling apart all around him…
He had shook his head, irritated with himself. How could he be so selfish?
Here were these people, good people, he was sure, that was slowly dying from lack of food, water, shelter and a cleanly environment and he was complaining, cursing his life because of a few minor problems that had found their way to him.
Coming to the decision that he would do everything he could to make this village a more habitual place, he had started to leave when a flash of blue and brown caught his attention. His head flicking to that direction immediately, his eyes landed on a woman so beautiful, the air from his lungs fled.
Her eyes were a piercing blue and her hair was the color of dark chocolate that melted in his mouth. She was a small woman who looked delicate and yet there was something about her that screamed she could and would take care of her own when the time would arise.
Without thinking about it, he had walked after, following hotly on her trail, "Miss! Excuse me, Miss!" he reached out and grabbed her elbow.
She turned around quickly, as though to hit him, but when she noticed that he was non-threatening, she lowered her arm and looked at him, "Pardon me, my apologies. Might I help you?"
He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say one word, she had pulled away from harshly, "Oh, please, forgive me, Chief Hakota." She had snarled through her teeth, "I hadn't recognized you, for this would be the only time I've ever seen in this village."
She had turned and walked away from him, but he couldn't let her go without talking to her, "Your anger is engaging. Please, share with me what is the matter?"
She had faced him and in that moment he knew she had been taken with him the way he was with her. From that moment on, they had met in secrecy, always to be with each other. To love one another. But never in the public eye. For he was a Chief, and she a peasant.
It wouldn't be acceptable and although he knew it hurt her, she never said a word about it.
Until she became pregnant with his seed.
Twins.
Two little girls.
Perfect and beautiful.
She had called to him through a messenger man and he came to her side immediately. She only wanted to keep one child. The other could stay with him and the child would be passed as his wife's child. It was a win-win situation.
Well…for the most part anyway.
From then on, she had wanted nothing more to do with him and that broke his heart, but he completely understood her reasoning, though he didn't want to. He wanted to keep her for himself, but that wasn't right. Especially if couldn't even have her in his life in public.
Sighing, Hakota brought himself from his reverie and started toward his palace. Yue needed to prep for breakfast and Zuko.
And … Katara needed to get back to her family where she felt more at home.
The lives of these two girls would never mix or mingle. They would forever be separated…and it was all his fault.