Letters from the Sister Tribe
Sounds of wild waves crashing against metal walls awoke her. The storm had continued to rage surrounding their ship. A few weeks had passed since they had left the South Pole. During this time, Katara quickly became accustomed to life on the ship.
Katara had woken up from a nap and had no sense of the time. The room they gave her has fit for royalty. There was a bed with the softest silk and desk facing the metal door. Drapes were lining the walls. As per tradition, everything was in shades of red. It didn't resemble the ships she'd been aboard travelling to the North Pole for ambassadorial duties. She had to remind herself of people outside this room thought about her, a princess used to lavishness.
Katara could hear a distant raucous coming from the floor above her. Katara thought that it should have been near supper time.
She stood up from her bed and approached the table. The desk held various scrolls and messages from her brother and his wife from the north. Yue had sent her a short message warning her about the terms of her marriage and her expectations and duties as a wife of royalty. Yue had been excessively afraid for her. Katara thought that she worried too much but quickly retracted this notion. Maybe her sister-in-law had many misgivings because she knew more on the matter than Katara. Yue had grown up expecting an arranged married and the advice she had given her was simple, act and poise like a princess.
Sokka's note relayed and pleaded her to stay out of trouble. He emphasised trouble involving fire nation citizens. Katara had rolled her eyes reading the note. Her brother was a hypocrite, Katara though recounting his adventures when they were children. She reckoned that she would know her limits unlike him.
A knock on the door interrupted her from her thoughts.
"Enter." Katara said.
"Dinner is ready, my lady." The soldier said.
"Thank you." She said quietly.
She stood up from behind the desk and followed the crew man to the dining hall.
As she walked trailing behind the man, she thought of her life onboard the royal vessel. She had been allowed to practice water bending for which she was grateful. The crew did not mind her training during the evening though she got into trouble the first time because the crew thought they were being attacked. Some soldiers had insisted on overseeing her training. Katara watched some of the soldiers sparring on the deck sometimes during the mornings.
Katara entered the hall. By this time, she had lost sight of the soldier. The first time Katara had dined in the dinner hall, it had reminded her of her time in the army training site in the South Pole. A distinction, however, was it was certainly less boisterous in the barge. The fire nation crew were kind enough but were serious.
Metal tables were scattered around the room and men sitting at random. The cook was at the end, behind a table serving food and men were lining up in front of him.
They had stopped over in a town yesterday on their way to the capital. The crew had been eager to go to the market and buy fire nation delicacies. Most of the men had grown tired of the cold water fish. While most of the crew went to the shops, Katara chose to remain on the ship with some of the crew.
She took the time to ask questions about life in the fire nation. She was interested in the new developments of in the land. After all, the fire nation is considered the most advanced country in the world, well ahead of the Earth Kingdom. Katara had a certain thirst for knowledge and had an avid curiosity. The crew had enthusiastically obliged after their initial shock at her curiosity. They had told her about the royal family, fire nation islands and old folk lore.
"There was the story of Salamanders who occupied to western islands." The soldier offered. Katara had later learned his name, Akai, and listened to stories of the great creatures.
"Mighty creatures, they are…"
Katara has brought back from her thoughts with Captain Zhen beckoning her to the cook's table. She walked towards the back of the mess hall where most of the men were lining up.
"You must try some of these noodles." Captain Zhen insisted. He had thrust a bowl to her.
"Of course," Katara responded politely.
She tried the food and began to choke. She forced herself to swallow to food. The soldiers around her were looking at her with concern.
"Is it not to your liking?" The cook questioned.
"Is it usually this spicy?" She said sheepishly.
Captain Zhen chuckled. The cook who looked alarmed hurriedly ordered one of the boys to fetch water.
In the mess hall, there was a large map of the world and each of the four nations. Katara had studied the maps of her nations and had noted some simple inaccuracies. She didn't enlighten the captain on her findings because she thought he would've already known them. She inspected the map their destination. The fire nation was much larger than the North and South Pole combined. There were a vast number of islands, provinces and cities.
Katara inquired which area in the fire nation they were heading. The soldiers told her about Caldera, about the beautiful sunsets and the markets in the industrial harbour. The palace, according to the captain, was a great structure in the heart of royal Caldera, seen even from outside the outer ring of the crater. When Captain Zhen mentioned a crater, Katara became alarmed.
"Did you just say crater?" Katara suddenly asked. "Like a volcano?"
"Yes." Zhen affirmed. "The Capital City is on the dormant volcano."
She relaxed after the additional information, dormant. She wouldn't put it past fire benders to live on an active volcano despite the risks. Katara reasoned that if water benders lived on a frozen and icy rock so far off from the rest of the world then maybe fire benders would be driven to a similar thinking.
Katara had asked about a place called the boiling rock. According to the map, it was located north of the fire nation in a small island. The area's size and the size of inscription had drawn Katara to ask. What was in the small island barely seen in the map that had much importance to have its name written in huge letters? The answer had certainly surprised her, a prison in the middle of a boiling lake. The crew had refused to give her more information.
The tone she received from the crew had prompted Katara to avoid asking questions she thought would create trouble.
In Caldera, Zuko was pacing around his office. His uncle has somewhere in the palace. His sister was somewhere in the earth kingdom and he was ready to scream himself hoarse. Thankfully, the servants around the palace knew not to disturb him.
This woman was driving him insane and they haven't even met yet. Zuko hadn't received any proper induction regarding this damn marriage. He had, however, to bear and go through it. He recalled his uncle's words of caution. It is your duty to respect to your betrothed without any exceptions.
He wondered if it still counted if the betrothed wasn't Mai. It probably did.
The fire nation seemed to be faring quite better than him. A lot of the citizens were quite opposed to the union but were aware that they had no say regarding the spouse of their future ruler. The nobles who had more power and influence simply demanded that the engagement be discontinued. Probably hoping he'd make their daughters the next fire lady, Zuko thought. The palace had prepared a celebration for the coming of his betrothed. Most of Royal Caldera had been in state of holiday.
Crown Prince Zuko had been expecting the Princess of the Southern Water Tribe to arrive any day now. He unfortunately had to keep using formal titles as he didn't know anything about her. He had attempted to find information about the princess and her land. Unfortunately, there weren't many talks about the princess anywhere. The child hadn't travelled much to the foreign lands however was said to be frequently at the North Pole. All over the fire nation, the woman had been thought to be a covert princess and some didn't even know there was a princess. Personally, Zuko never even gave it a thought.
Zuko wondered why he referred to her as a child then a woman immediately after. Perhaps she was both? He didn't know.
Her family was obviously the royal family of the Southern Water tribes. He also knew that her brother was married to Princess Yue of the Northern water tribes, effectively sealing the relationship between the two poles. He had once heard that Princess Yue was an incarnation of the moon, due to a life debt.
Zuko digresses. His uncle would probably say something like, Priorities, Zuko!
As Zuko remained unsuccessful in finding more about the princess, he turned to information about her nation. In the southern water tribes, they may challenge a leader to fight for chiefdom. They had allowed both men and women to practice water bending opposed to their sister tribe. However, most of the water benders had been killed during the infamous raids. The southern water tribe had been attacked by fire nation soldiers a few years earlier bringing southern water benders to extinction. It probably wouldn't be wise to bring that up.
He didn't even know her age. Well, he was informed that she was younger than him. But by how much, he wondered. Amidst all this, he realises he doesn't even know her name! How, in the name of Agni, was he supposed to marry someone without even knowing her name?
Zuko firmly believed he would have to go through this engagement completely empty handed and it greatly frustrated him.
A knock on the door interrupted his train of thoughts.
"Your highness, I beg your forgiveness for the intrusion." The guard bowed in greeting. "The fire lord, sir."
Fire lord Iroh, the perpetrator of all this mess came to visit him. Uncle had seemed to just have come out from a meeting as he was still adorned in traditional robes. He took a seat in front of Zuko, waiting.
Seemingly, all of Zuko's built-up resentment had exploded.
"Why do I have to marry some woman–girl even, from some far off land? I don't know anything about her. Why do you insist on putting me in drastic and complicated positions, old man?" Zuko shouted. He threw a dirty look at his uncle. Guilt quickly washed over him.
But Iroh didn't even flinch. "Would you like some tea, Zuko?" Iroh said calmly.
"I apologise my lord." Zuko bows his head.
Iroh took a sip from his cup and said, "So much like most people your age, you are foolhardy in heart. Patience is a virtue, my son." Then, Iroh left without another word.
It was so like his Uncle Iroh to recite some ancient proverb then leave him to figure it out for himself.
He got into a familiar stance and shot a fireball out the window. Thankfully, it had quickly vanished in the air for it would've ruined some of the palace's lovely gardens. Don't care, he thought angrily.
But he did, which would explain all his sufferings.
Just a few weeks after his first letter, Katara had received another letter from her brother. He had informed her that Yue was pregnant. She was going to be an aunt. The last part of his letter had struck her off.
Next time I'll see you, you're about to get married.
"I hope I don't see you any time soon then." She whispered into nothingness. She had tried to get her mind of the pending marriage, the engagement, or anything that had to do with her duties when she arrived in the fire nation.
So she focused on the good news. Katara was excessively cheery than usual and the crew had noticed. The captain had asked and she had told him. Zhen then offered her congratulations and proposed a toast.
The Captain raised his glass and said, "May the gods bless the child." The crew followed suit. One of them stood up and raised his glass again.
"To the betrothal of Princess Katara and Prince Zuko!", there were many who agreed to this. Katara had learned that the Royal Family was a great interest for the fire nation. The soldiers had a sizable amount of knowledge about them saying that it was a large part of their lessons when they were children. She wondered if they were good royals. Sure, she thought, they could be well loved by their subjects but that doesn't necessarily mean they can lead soundly.
Katara didn't know them at all so she really was unable to judge. Stories were her only reliant for her knowledge of the fire nation. They had a new fire lord, Iroh, since the last one had sent a raid to the South Pole which killed her mother. Fire Lord Iroh was widowed and had his son pass away in battle. He was heirless. The only heir was his brother's children who were the original heir in the first place. The eldest was the crown prince whom she was to marry. He had a sister, who she really didn't know about.
Katara wondered how old this prince was. The thought made her worry. Sure, she didn't discriminate but she'd be more comfortable if this prince was around her age. Katara knew that it was her choice to marry him but her insufficient amount of information about him had sparked second thoughts. What if he was a jerk? Was he kind? How much work did he have to do as a royal? Men in the South Pole may have been busy but they have a foremost duty to their wives and their family. Will he be too busy for her? Will Katara have to spend the rest of her days in some palace looking to find ways to keep herself from going insane? She didn't even know what her duties would be as his wife. Will she suffer too much in this marriage?
She didn't know and it drove her mad. Notice how many times she had mentioned that she really and honestly didn't know.
"Your Highness?" Zhen asked.
"Yes?" She asked distracted.
"I asked if you wished to return to your chambers." He looked at her with concern.
"Sure." Katara replied. She was feeling tired.
She retired to her room and had moved to her bed as soon as she arrived. But sleep wouldn't overcome her. The captain had announced earlier that they could arrive at Caldera as early as sunrise. She was so near to the end of her denial regarding the fire nation. Katara had to marry the prince of this land and that was that.
A/N: I'm keeping angry and awkward Zuko for this piece. Guys, can I ask for reviews? Please and thank you. Oh yeah, can we pretend that Zuko can't be Fire Lord unless he's married? I know I'm changing tradition stuff but this is a complete AU anyways because as you can notice, no Aang the Avatar.