A/N: Now on to the Second Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar… if I did, Zuko and Katara would be together living happily ever after… (Starts wishing for the impossible)

Chapter Two

Katara grimaced as she was cornered by all the women staff in the palace. They all brought her into the steaming hot kitchens. They sat her down on one of the many kitchen stools and all smiled at her. The elderly lady that had spoken up for her in the council room came up and smacked her.

"What took you so long?" she asked Katara. Katara looked at her confused. The woman sighed and rolled her eyes as she watched the girl try to figure out what she meant.

"What took you so long to come back to him? After everything you two had gone through to free us, you just slipped out of our lives. Young lady, you can do that to him, but when you win the hearts of the servants, you are ours for life," the old woman said. Every woman in the room nodded in agreement. She smiled as Katara became more uncomfortable with her surroundings. "I have to tell you something very important."

All of the women in the kitchen formed a barricade around Katara and the woman. The woman smiled and looked down at Katara.

"The supposed Fire Lady has a lover," she whispered. "It is against Fire Nation law for a wife to cheat on a husband. The husband can take a mistress of course, but the wife cannot. If she was caught, then the marriage would be annulled permanently. It was never actually a marriage; it was more of a betrothal. The law states that if the Fire Lord declares to the council that he has a new love, they must accept her. They have accepted you, and you two have an official unofficial marriage."

"What?" Katara asked. The old woman sighed in exasperation.

"The betrothal was broken the moment that the Fire Lord declared you his future Fire Lady. Now, all that is left is to move the hussy that is the betrothed out of the Fire Lady's quarters," the woman spelled out for her. Katara rolled her eyes and nodded.

"Let me handle it," she said and departed from the kitchen.

She and Zuko met up in his garden. He smiled when he saw her and showed her all of the different plants that he had been tending over the last three years. She had been amazed at how well he tended to them.

"For a firebender, I thought that you would have destroyed them. wow. I can't believe that you managed to do all of this," she said. He smiled and brought her against his chest. Her back was pressed right up to his chest. He put his face in her hair and breathed in her scent. He smiled and sat down on the grass. He brought her on his lap and began explaining his side of the story.

"My mother loved plants," he began. She smiled as she eased her head against his shoulder. "She would always make me come into this very garden and help her tend her flowers. Half of these plants were hers… she taught me everything she knew about plants. The gardeners allowed her to take care of the plants because they knew that she was better than they were. She said that plant tending ran in the family. She said that it was usually a tradition passed down from father to son, but she was the only child in her family. Her father taught her everything that she needed to know before he was sent off to war."

"You never knew your mother's family?" she asked him. He grinned at her. It wasn't one of his quirky grins either. It was a sad one. She reached up to his cheek and he smiled tenderly.

"My mom was always telling me stories about her life in the country. She was raised on a farm and knew how to do work. Her family was noble, but they didn't do much at court. Her mother made sure that she traveled to other nations during the winter season. They went to many places in the Earth Kingdom and went to family resorts. My mom told me that she was once in an Airbender temple. She said that it was the most beautiful thing that she had ever seen," he said. He sighed and looked down at Katara. He smiled and pulled at some of her hair. "But, now, I have to disagree with her. I've seen every one of them and nothing compares to you." Katara blushed and smiled at him. He tightened his hold. "Tell me about your family." Katara laughed, but told him.

"My parents were a love match," she began. She looked up at him and he was just nodding. "They were childhood friends. They grew to love each other…" she paused long enough to take a deep breath. "When my mom died, my father slipped into his own world. He would never come out of it. He would just walk around in a daze. It wasn't until one of the men said that they were going to try to attack the Fire Nation did he start acting normal. He became consumed and obsessed with taking them down, but at least he was acting normal… that kept me going until I realized that he was going to leave. He and I got into a fight because I told him straight up that he was avoiding his responsibilities. He told me not to worry about it and go back to my own world. We didn't talk for a very long time after that."

"Wow," Zuko said. Katara nodded. Then she looked up at him.

"Why did your mom choose your father?" she asked him curiously. Normally, he would freeze up and avoid the question as long as possible. But, with Katara, he was so relaxed that he said the first thing that came out of his mind.

"My mom came to the city when she was eighteen. It was a whole new style of life. She was overwhelmed. Her mother's sister was here all the time and was accustomed to court life. My mother laughed when she told me that all she had to do was mask her true personality. She said that the people in the Fire Lord's court back then were manipulative and they devoured goodness whenever it came into effect. She said that it was a different world. She never liked my grandfather. She told me that there was something about him that always threw her off…

"But back to the story that you wanted to hear about. My mother met my father at a party in the early spring. She had been in court since fall. She was at a party of one of the council members and his wife. My father was there. He was nineteen at the time. He took one look at her and, as she tells it, wanted to have her. She eluded him for as long as she could, but she fell in love with him too. Her mother died before she married my father. When her mother was on her deathbed, my mother went to visit her. Her mother told her that whatever happened, she had to follow her heart. She said that special blood ran through her veins and that if anyone could survive, it was my mother. She said that my mother would have two children, one she would sacrifice everything for… I didn't know how much until the night that she left… but, she was happy in the beginning. It wasn't until my father became corrupt that everything went south in the marriage. She couldn't prevent it. My father was becoming crazier by the day. He was becoming consumed with taking over the world. She saw that as he did everything he could to become the heir to the Fire Lord title. She coped and raised me and my sister to the best of her ability," Zuko scoffed. "See what that's done for us." Katara got up and held her hand out to him. Zuko looked at her questioningly. She smiled and he grabbed her hand.

"I have something to take care of," she said. He nodded sadly and she smiled at him. "Do they continue the festival tonight?"

"Yes, they do," he said to her. She smiled and looked out at the huge wall. She smiled as her silent idea rooted into his head. He nodded. "Be in my room by nine at the lastest." He kissed her hand gently and went back to work. She smiled and went to do her job.

Katara made her way down to the servant's quarters. All of the women smiled at her as she passed them. She smiled and nodded back. They all gave her silent support when she needed it. She came to the door of Mai's lover and heard groans being emitted from inside. She braced herself and opened the door. Mai was on top of the guy naked and apparently in the middle of something very important. Katara coughed. Mai veered around and saw Katara. She glared instantly. She reached for a knife that was on the bed and threw it at Katara. Katara made a motion and the knife became frozen. Mai hissed.

"What do you want?" she sneered. Katara smiled menacingly.

"Get out of the Fire Lady's rooms," she said. Mai laughed.

"The only one who can say that is the true Fire Lady, and she's long gone," she said. Katara went in to punch her but was held back. She turned to see who held her back. An older female version of Zuko stood before her. She was in royal robes and her crown was on her head. She held herself up straight with all the grace of a woman who was the Fire Lady. The woman smiled and motioned for Katara to back off. Katara nodded wordlessly as the woman went into the room.

"Get out," she told the servant. He nodded immediately and scurried past Katara. He ran down the hallway butt naked. The woman came and looked right down at Mai.

"You are no longer the betrothed to the Fire Lord," she said. Mai almost paled, but spoke in an emotionless voice.

"Do you expect me to believe that you are truly the Fire Lady?" she asked. The woman sighed and showed her the mark that is given to women when they become the Fire Lady. It is a mark of the fire on the back of their forearm. Many are not allowed to see the mark because no one questions the ways of the Fire Lord and Fire Lady. Mai paled at seeing the mark.

"Azula said that you were dead," Mai choked out. "Azula said that the Lady Ursa was dead." Ursa smiled coldly and looked at Mai. Mai reached for a sheet and dressed herself quickly. Mai came up to Ursa. Ursa took her and motioned Katara to follow them. Katara shook her head in confusion.

Zuko was listening to the council members complain, yet again, about how the taxes were affecting them. Zuko had made new taxes that doubled on the rich and slackened for the peasants. When he tried to remind them that their wealth had accumulated for centuries, they chose to ignore him and rant. He put a hand to his forehead and rubbed it because of his headache. He was about ready to roar until someone did that for him.

"QUIET!" a familiar female voice boomed from the back. Zuko stood up and saw someone he hadn't seen in a very long time walk down to him with the woman he loved on one side and the woman who had made his life a living hell on the other. Katara was being guided by a hand gently on her shoulder while Mai was being tugged along by a stern hand. Ursa motioned for Katara to go to Zuko. She came up to him and smiled.

"What's going on?" he whispered. She smiled and leaned in to tell him.

"I was going to confront Mai and your mother beat me to the punch," she whispered back. "She came in to the room regally and told the servant to get out. She looked at Mai and Mai paled. She made us follow her here… I'm sorry." Zuko took her hand and smiled.

"Don't worry about it," he whispered against her ear. "They were complaining against the new taxes. I'll tell you about it later." She smiled and they got back to the problem at hand.

Ursa had gone to the head of the table and sat down. She nodded and smiled as Mai was forced to stay in the room. She motioned for all of the council members to sit and she looked behind her to Katara and Zuko. She nodded for them to sit down. So, Zuko sat and brought Katara into his lap. He sighed and put his head on her shoulder and closed his eyes. The tension in his body loosened and he breathed a sigh of relief. She smiled and looked out at the council. They were all looking at Mai in contempt.

"How could you cheat on the Fire Lord?" they asked her. She frowned, but spoke in her toneless voice.

"He and I have an open relationship," she said. "We haven't had sex in over ten months. I have needs. He's so consumed with his work and memories that he doesn't even notice me anymore." She looked at the picture that Katara and Zuko made. It was as if they were in their own little world, and no one was allowed in. He was relaxed for the first time, ever, Mai realized. He never showed his emotions in public, but here he was relaxing with his arms around the waterbender. She sat as if to protect him from the world, and Mai was pretty sure that she had heard a sigh of relief. Then, he tugged Katara's braid. She turned and he smiled at her so tenderly that Mai wept inwardly. He had never done any of that with her, but he was showing that girl emotion.

She had seen them in Zuko's private garden. He allowed no one there, so it was a surprise that he let Katara come in with him. She had heard them talking about their families, and about everything under the sun. Mai had been jealous, but had gone to her lover for comfort.

"It is not my fault that he has always been in love with that peasant waterbender," she said. She saw out of the corner of her eye Zuko tense up. Katara immediately put a hand to his head and whispered something. He nodded and put his head back on her shoulder. Katara looked over at Mai with something akin to sympathy. She and the rest of the room waited for Mai to finish her statement. "I'm done with court life anyways. I want to travel the world again, so I'm giving him this back." She put the ring that he had given her on the table and started walking out the door.

"My stuff is already packed. I know where the door is," she said. She smiled sadly at them. "The duties of Fire Lady weren't meant for me anyways."

She left the palace. She wouldn't come back for almost five years…

A couple of nights later, Katara and Zuko were married quietly in the garden. His mother cried and hugged Katara tightly. Zuko kept her hand in his through everything. If he had to talk to some official, he would pull her along and have her listen. If she had to hear a complaint from one of the female workers, she would drag him along. They didn't separate until they got to their chambers. She walked into the bed and curled up. He came in and molded himself to fit snugly next to her. She smiled as she felt his warmth surround her.

"We should go see my father," she said. He nodded, but she could tell that his eyes were drooping. "We should go see Sokka, Suki and the baby. We should go see Uncle Iroh and Aang and Toph. We should go see…"

He cut her off by kissing her. He smiled when he lifted his head and found her blushing. He pulled her under him and smiled in anticipation.

"We will get to everything… just not tonight. Tonight we have bigger matters to attend to," he said. He started kissing her all over again.

A/N: Comments and reviews are welcome. It will conclude next chapter. =)

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