6. Soothe

(Kind of a sequel to Calor)

The nobles, every chance they had, nitpicked every single thing that went wrong in the Fire Lord and Lady's life, focusing in on, of course, the Waterbender Fire Lady. They criticized on how she didn't exclusively change her colors to red to integrate with the Royal Family (she even had the audacity to wear red with her blue robes), how she bought food and clothes from the lower class (as if the upper ring's silks and fine delicacies weren't suitable—or she's too low-born to appreciate them), how the Fire Lord let the audacious girl argue with him during the meetings (and when she had the honor to be at his right hand, too!), how she was not pregnant after the span of one year (was she infertile? My daughters, perhaps, could have a second chance...). Yes, they disapproved of Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, who held a higher rank than all of them put together.

But their disapproval lessened considerably when she gave birth to a healthy boy. Although the boy was born in the middle of winter, stories of how he sought out heat and warmth comforted them immensely. Why, the boy was certain to be a strong Firebender! The little Prince even had a Fire citizen's golden eyes and dark hair, resembling his father's bloodline more so than his mother's.

So Katara wasn't surprised to see disappointed and even baleful looks when Zuko announced in a meeting that their son was a Waterbender. She almost froze a particularly prejudiced windbag who had the nerve to groan out loud, albeit quietly, to the ceiling. Katara didn't expect the news to be received with joy—although some council members were more open to changes than others and were now sincerely congratulating them—she wanted to seethe. It was obvious that her son wouldn't have brightly-lit festivals, head-patting families and friends, cheers or simple words of encouragement, and stories of brave Waterbenders in both legends and real life. It didn't matter that her son also had Zuko's blood and was the rightful heir to the Fire Nation throne.

She listened quietly as Zuko discussed the benefits of electricity being made more available throughout the Fire Nation. The only question she had going through her mind was: how do I raise my son where almost everyone hates him?

The Fire Lady fell to her knees and opened her arms to receive an eager little pupil.

"Mom!" his eyes darted around the spacious training arena eagerly, focusing on the training dummies he liked to watch his father practice against. His father had already taught him a few basic moves, and he liked to whack the soft bags of rice fashioned into miniature versions of Father's wooden figures.

"Hello, sweetheart. How were your lessons today?"

He stuck out his tongue. "Boring."

"Boring!" She feigned a horrified gasp. "Surely one thing interested you!"

His teeth worried a bit of his upper lip as he placed a pensive hand on his chin as if preparing to stroke a long, sage-like beard. He was really giving it a great deal of thought, Katara silently chuckled in amusement. Finally, he peered up at his mother, finger pointed upwards. "I liked learning about the turtleducks and Komodo Rhinos!"

Oh, you! She kissed his forehead. "So you like your tutor's lessons about animals?"

"Aang's stories are better," he hedged, but with firm honesty as he continued on. "But I don't get why he sometimes goes off about trees and leaves and stuff."

"Well," she said gently. "He's teaching you the flora and fauna of the Fire Nation. Flora means the plants and the land, and fauna means the animals. I had to learn those too, but when I was much older than you. "

"You did?" He gazed up at her reverently. "Did you like it?"

"Some parts very much," she said with a small smile, remembering Zuko's version of teaching her geography. "You just have to get through it. Now—" she clapped her hands. "Let's see if you've been practicing!"

After a brief spar (Katara had to cautiously adjust her Waterbending level), she dragged out a dummy with chi-paths painstakingly drawn throughout the body. Yugoda had sent it as a gift, along with a few practice ones for the students, for when Katara was teaching some of the new generation of Southern Water Tribe Waterbenders, and it was still in rather good condition.

"Today, we're going to learn something a bit different." Katara began, sitting down and patting the puppet with one hand. "Do you remember what qi is?"

"It's energy, right?"

"Exactly," she began to bend a small stream of water out of a nearby pot. "Now, as Waterbenders, we're able to heal injuries, such as a scraped knee, by redirecting energy paths, or qi, throughout the body. Some Waterbenders have this ability, and some don't. But we're just going to see if you have the potential. Now..." she gestured for him to pay attention. "take some water and place it on the wounded part of the body. In this case, the chest—" she pointed to the darkened spot with one finger, the water still clinging to her hand like a strange, transparent glove. She then placed both open palms over the "injury," the water forming over both hands, and took a shallow breath.

Zuko! Her hands were tingling with the aftermath of the lightning, and she nearly cried out in pain. His ragged wound was pulsing as her hands shook for the briefest second. Zuko, Zuko, Zuko...

Unbeknownst to her, the blackened spot disappeared, and the qi paths glowed a silver-blue that reflected against the metal shields and spears in the arena. Her son clapped eagerly, then stopped when he saw a haunted look in the blue eyes, something he'd never seen before. "Mom? Mom?"

She was gasping, too much, as if she did not have enough air, as if she had run across a fire-laced arena, as if she had not ran fast enough...something tightened around her throat, clawing and choking her, gagging her—tears and sweat were pouring down her face as hands were shaking her by the shoulders. Someone was wailing, screaming, crying, calling for help, please, anybody!

...Zuko? Is that him? Is he all right? Please let him be all right!

There was lightning snapping around her, but she had to heal Zuko, she had to save him, but her chest was burning and leaping, but no, he was hurt, not her! If she couldn't heal, then he would die...no, please...

She bent further forward, as if knocked in the gut, gasping for the pain. Crackling filled her ears.

Her hands were on his chest, his stone-cold dead chest, cold, too cold—

No. No. The feeling underneath her hands was not flesh. It was not Zuko.

Her breaths lessened and steadied into a rhythm. She forced herself to look at her water-covered hands, no longer glowing, then at her son, who looked visibly terrified and panic-stricken as she heard the hurried footfalls of the guards rushing towards them.

"And that's healing." Her breath was still caught in her throat. Zuko's alive. He's in a meeting now, and I'm teaching his—our son—how to Waterbend. It's all right. "I have tried to explain how to do it, but what I feel is...well, instinct. What helps some people is imagining the wound being healed." She fixed the dummy again, making sure the chest wound wasn't too difficult to heal for him. Her hands still trembled, and when she blinked, tears still ran down her cheeks, drying from salt. Her voice was unusually calm, but she felt as if she were balancing on top of a soaring Appa on the very tips of her toes. "Like the wound closing up. It takes concentration and patience. Try focusing your energy into the wound, as if giving the person a bit of your strength."

He nodded solemnly and mimicked her motions, eyes still wide and afraid. The water was shivering, but it clung to his hands well enough. His eyes closed as the water shuddered more violently over the "wound."

"Gentle." Katara cautioned him, watching both the water and the dummy with careful eyes. Just before the water went limp and her son groaned in frustration, she caught a small flicker in one of the qi paths, almost like a glint of sunlight, just as Jee's foot stepped inside.

"I'm all right." Katara told him, voice now betraying a shake. "I'm all right."

"How was the Waterbending lesson, Tara? Did everything go okay?"

Katara sighed as she folded herself into her husband's waiting arms, her hand carefully touching his star-shaped wound. He looked at her curiously in the dark, golden eyes asking a question, as she silently traced the lightning's fury marked on his pale skin. It still stung in predictions of rainy or stormy weather, but there was no pain. Katara had healed him well, making sure to give him regular healing sessions after the attack.

"Did something happen?"

She closed her eyes and took his face into her cool palms. "I was teaching him healing with the puppet Yugoda gave me. I was demonstrating how to open the qi paths when something happened."

He sat up in alarm. "Are you guys okay? Did someone hurt you?"

She ran her hand through his hair. "No, Zuko. But...I was healing this chest wound on the dummy, and I...I was taken back to when you got this." A finger, with careful gentleness, traced the puckered edges. "I don't know what happened, exactly. But it was like I was transported, trapped in that moment, in pain, too."

He pulled her closer, kissing her, the faintest brush of lips against hers. "I know what you mean. It's happened to me."

"Where?"

He sighed, drawing her closer with one arm, the covers rustling softly. "On the ship. On the run. At the temple. At the house. At the palace. Almost everywhere."

"Zuko!" She murmured in dismay as a large hand manuvered itself to cradle the back of her head. "You should have told me. How could I have not noticed?"

"I got some help when I returned home. But they became less frequent when I joined your group," he told her, stroking her hair reassuringly. "They became restricted to nightmares, which I was good at hiding. I've had practice." He started to roll over, burying his face in his pillow, avoiding her horrified gasp and tender touch. "I've been talking to the head physician. Do you want to see him?"

"I don't know." She admitted. "I feel better now."

"It can happen again." Zuko warned her, pulling another blanket over their forms. Katara curled up into the warmth, nuzzling deeper into the red silk and pale chest, not saying a word. He leaned over to kiss her brow. "But want to know something, Katara?"

"What?" She yawned sleepily, eyes already closed against the dark.

"I will never leave you again. Promise."