Chapter Two
All the water vessels in the room exploded.
Katara stared at her father as if he'd just told her that he had given her hand in marriage to the Fire Lord. Behind him, Iroh stood, wiping the tea from his robes with a handkerchief.
"It's nothing more than a political alliance, Katara," Hakoda said haltingly, palms out towards his dangerously enraged daughter. "I know you and the Fire Lord don't see eye to eye, but your interactions with him will be limited at best. The Fire Lord is losing ground in his own kingdom from what Iroh has told me and he needs to be able to solidify his power."
"That's his problem not mine," Katara snapped.
Iroh came out from behind Hakoda, the broken pieces of his tea cup still in his hand. He looked appropriately sorry for what he was doing but not enough to take back his request. At that moment, he looked how Katara imagined he would if he were faced with a room full of naysayers—strong, unmovable, and confident. But his faith in his plan wasn't going to convince her to play along with this game, because that was all it was: a great game in which she was merely a pawn on Zuko's political chessboard. She'd given her life to the service of her people but this was taking it too far. She needed to keep something for herself and the last thing she wanted to do was give up her chance to have a family of her own.
Her thoughts must have been plastered all over her face because her father put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a squeeze and Iroh gave her a sympathetic look.
"Please try to listen to what I have to say with an open mind. I know it'll be hard to do, especially considering the circumstances, but I think that if you put your emotions aside, you'll see why this has to be done," Iroh reasoned.
"Just say what you have to say," Katara said sharply.
Iroh took a breath.
"After the death of his wife, my nephew lost the support of her family," he explained earnestly. "He has many supporters, but they were his base. It's not that they support his sister outright, but they are no longer so sure of Zuko's rule and they're vocal about it. It didn't help that he reduced the income going to their landholdings. Zuko has become a wiser ruler but to be honest, he hasn't changed much from the boy you knew. He is brash and unapologetic, and he expects his subjects to do what he says without question."
"Why do I have to pay with my freedom just because he's jamming unpopular policies down their throats? Teach him, Iroh," Katara argued, waving her hands at him. "You're a better leader than he could ever be. Teach him how to deal with his own damn people. "
"Don't you think I've tried?" There was an uncharacteristic strain in Iroh's voice. "I've tried talking to him, convincing him, arguing with him but he refuses to listen. After all these years of having me at his side, Zuko has learned how to ignore me and there's no one else he trusts enough to listen to like he does to me."
"Is he blind? Is he deaf? Can't he see and hear what's happening to his own kingdom?" Katara raged and the water that had spilled from the various vases and glasses trembled. "The Fire Lord's palace can't be that far removed from the rest of the nation and from what I understand, Zuko has made quite a reputation for himself for making surprise visits to different parts of his lands."
"They're not quite as big a surprise as he'd like them to be," Iroh countered. "He sees and he hears, but he believes things will get better before they get worse because he making changes that the Fire Nation sorely needs. The war cleared out our treasury as well as our able-bodied workers and it's taking longer than expected for us to bounce back. He is trying to distribute wealth evenly in the Fire Nation and you can imagine what kind of uproar that's causing, but it's necessary because the poorer of our citizens are beginning to make noises.
"With the upper classes pulling at him and the lower classes pushing, Zuko does not have much room to maneuver. The situation is very unstable as a result and he needs a show of strength to maintain peace in his kingdom. He needs you and the Water Tribe to give him the time and the opportunity to make things right."
Katara blinked at him. She moved to the couch and sat down hard, rubbing her face with her hands. Hakoda went to stand by the fire while Iroh stood in the center of the room, his hands clasped in front of him, the picture of calm.
"No one outside the Fire Nation knows about this, I take it," she said, overwhelmed with the information. "Are you in that much trouble?"
"Enough to ask you to make this sacrifice. An unstable Fire Nation is an unstable world," Iroh replied. "Think of our position, Katara. The Earth Kingdom is in worse condition and even though the Water Tribes are more organized than they ever were, you're still decades behind the Fire Nation. We need each other. Closer ties will mean more exchanges with the Fire Nation for your soldiers, artisans, and whomever you'd like to send over.
"If Zuko had the support of the Water Tribes, the trade negotiations that are happening now will go smoothly. The merchants and farmers of the Fire Nation will have more confidence in a leader who has a direct connection and if the Earth Kingdom decides to be difficult, the combined strength of the Fire Nation and the Water Tribes will make them think twice about making any sudden moves."
"Can't you just sign a friendship agreement or something, Dad?" Katara pleaded.
"I wish I could," Hakoda said.
"We need something more concrete," Iroh said. "An agreement can be broken but a marriage...that's something Azula can't find and burn. On top of everything else, she's not doing anything to protect her brother's reputation and I wouldn't be surprised if she was feeding the dissenters ideas and lies. If Azula became Fire Lady..."
Katara closed her eyes and rubbed the bridge of her nose. All of Iroh's arguments aside, that was the most potent one. She knew exactly what could happen if Azula become ruler of the Fire Nation and the thought made shivers go up and down her spine. The world couldn't take another war, another conquerer. She couldn't let that happen.
"I thought having the fate of the world rest on my shoulders once was enough for a lifetime, but two times...what did I do to deserve this?" she murmured.
"Sokka can go with you," Hakoda offered. "You don't have to go alone. You can have anything you want..."
"Except a way out of this," she said. "I'll go on my own, Dad. Sokka would tear that place apart in a week or get thrown in the dungeon for trying. Besides, I couldn't force him to live in the Fire Nation against his will."
Hakoda's face tightened at her accusatory tone. "I don't like this anymore than you do, Katara and you wouldn't have to stay there for more than half a year. You can come back here for the remaining half."
"Or in four month cycles," Iroh put in. "You will be Fire Lady in name only. You'll be free to live your own life. I can promise you that."
"As free as I am now? Thanks so much," Katara said. "Can I at least have a few days to think this over or do you want an answer now? So much for the romance of my first marriage proposal. I didn't think Zuko could ruin that but he's a lot more cunning than I thought."
Katara started to go but Iroh put a hand on her arm. She glared down at him but he met it with a kind smile that almost made her feel guilty for her anger. Almost.
In his other hand, he held out a small metal box covered with Fire Nation carvings and on the clasp that kept it closed was the Fire Lord's personal seal. Iroh opened it and when Katara saw what was inside, she gasped and took a step away from him. Nestled in the red velvet lining was a necklace much like the one she wore around her neck. A delicate design was carved on the gold disk that caught the light from the fire but she couldn't make it out.
"I believe it is the custom of the Northern Water Tribe to offer a necklace as an engagement symbol," Iroh said gently. "Zuko wanted you to have this."
Reluctantly, Katara took the offered box but closed it without looking at the necklace again. She bowed to Iroh and her father and got out of there as quickly as she could.
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Long into the night, Katara sat by her bedroom windows, hugging her knees to her chest. She stared at the metal box sitting near the tips of her toes and she swore that it was staring right back at her. She'd tried to get some sleep but her thoughts were like a whirlwind in her head. She knew she had no choice in this matter, that she would have to do what Iroh and her father asked of her. She just wished she didn't trust Iroh's word so much, but for him to ask her to do this meant that Zuko was in a lot more trouble than Iroh even let on.
She wondered what he thought of all this.
Closing her eyes, Katara rested her forehead on her bent knees. She tried to imagine life as the Fire Lady, married to a man who she loathed and who probably felt the same way. Arranged marriages were a fact of life for the Water Tribe and she'd been grateful to her father thus far to have let her be for so long. She'd wanted to marry for love and her position gave her the freedom to try to do that. Now, she wished he'd married her off to some warrior or fisherman years before, then they wouldn't be in this mess. No...she wouldn't be in this mess.
Married.
To Zuko.
There was a quiet knock at her door and she murmured a weak invitation, expecting Iroh but was surprised to see her brother. Sokka looked like he'd just returned from his workshop and hadn't even bothered to clean up before he came to see her. It was late, but his blue eyes were ablaze and he looked ready to tear something apart.
"Tell me it's not true," he said, his voice shaking with rage. "Tell me you're not going to do it."
"Do I really have a choice?" she asked tiredly.
Sokka grabbed the box at her feet and sat down hard on the long couch. He looked into her face, his eyebrows knitted together.
"You do, Katara. You always have a choice," he said. "Zuko really dug a hole for himself but what else is new? A couple years ago, there were all those rumors of a coup but he's still the damn Fire Lord so who's to say he won't see through this one?"
"Iroh."
"Iroh's getting paranoid in his old age. He's probably afraid Zuko's shadow is trying to get a bigger piece of his throne cushion or whatever it is he sits on."
"What about Dad?"
That stopped Sokka in his tracks.
"Dad agreed to this?" he asked uncertainly.
"Who else did you hear it from?"
"Iroh sent me a message explaining everything and that I should come back here to talk to you. It kinda got buried under some stuff and I didn't find it until just now."
Katara sighed. Iroh was many things but above all else, he was a fair man. He and her father had cornered her and effectively convinced her about what must be done next, but by asking Sokka to come see her, he was also telling her that she needed to be able to look at this from all sides. It told her that he cared enough about her to give her a way out if she really needed it and her she put a hand over her heart, warmed by his thoughtfulness.
"You don't have to do this," Sokka said. "Dad's just thinking with his leader brain right now and Iroh's a smooth talker. You have to do what's right for you, Katara. You can't keep throwing yourself in front of the fire, literally, every time something goes wrong."
"Who else will though?" Katara argued. "Imagine a world where Azula is Fire Lady? They're still the most powerful nation in the world, Sokka, even if they're in trouble. We can't risk putting more power in her hands."
"So that's what you're stuck on? Azula?"
"No, but she's the most important reason I have for agreeing to this...this...alliance. If Zuko loses control of the Fire Nation, everything we've worked so hard for will be lost."
"There are a lot of 'ifs' flying around," Sokka pointed out. "He's been able to keep it together for the past twelve years without any provinces seceding or Azula shooting him in the back of the head with a lightning bolt. Give the guy a little credit; he might actually know what he's doing."
"I don't think you understand what's happening here. Zuko sent Iroh. Iroh didn't come because he panicked and slapped together a plan."
Katara reached for the box in her brother's hand and opened it. The siblings stared at the necklace inside and Katara saw that the design was a blending of the Fire Nation's emblem with that of the Water Tribe. It was intricate and beautiful, and it hurt her to see it.
"He wants me to have this," she said. "He asked Iroh to come here to speak to me. The Fire Nation needs me."
"If Aang were here..."
"But he's not. If he comes back before I...before the wedding, I might be able to get out of this, but we can't wait. I'm leaving with Iroh the day after tomorrow."
"You don't have to do this," Sokka said again, but there was no spirit in his voice.
Katara removed her mother's necklace and gave it to Sokka. She then lifted the other necklace from the box and tied the red ribbon around her neck with trembling fingers. The gold disk was cold against her skin.
"Yes, I do," she said quietly.