Chapter 14: Propositions, proposals, and pronouncements
Azula started her day out helping the women of the tribe fashion tools from animal bones. She was set to the task of grinding the edge of a hollow long-bone so that it formed an angle. She raised two blisters on her hand by the time she was finished.
The women sitting with her paused in their quiet gossip to praise her efforts. "It's yours," one of the older women pronounced. She was Makata, who had three sons she was fiercely proud of; one of those sons had died in the war.
Azula looked at the bone in her hand and tried to imagine what it would be used for. "What is it?"
"It's a flesher."
That was a horrifying name. This wasn't the metal-tipped whip weapon that a Fire Nation prince had made famous three hundred years ago. Makata guessed Azula's perplexity. "You strip flesh off of fresh hides with it."
That made much more sense. Azula turned the new tool over in her hands. She had crafted it for her own use by simple means to do a simple task, yet it invoked a perplexing surge of pride in her. "Thank you," she said and meant it. Makata patted her shoulder kindly and sent her away to eat lunch.
After a lunch of frozen whale blubber, she was shown how to craft fishing hooks from bone and twine. Fishing line was attached to the sturdy bone end of the hook by a special knot, and the other end of line was looped into a flat piece of bone. With her new fishing hook and line, she was sent out to ice fish with the children of the tribe.
The children were apparently educated on traditional subjects in the morning and occupied with a tribal task in the afternoon. It was a good system; the kids seemed to consider the coming chore a treat. Little Ana was especially excited when she saw Azula. She took Azula's hand as they walked along the icy bay and surprised Azula by chattering about her lessons that morning. Apparently the little girl had been shy before because Azula couldn't get a word in edgewise.
Mimi, the young woman who had the task of chaperoning them all, used an auger to drill three spaced holes in the ice that were only around twenty centimeters in width. The auger must have been imported. It was a metal drill, ingenious and simple with two rotating handles that allowed the girl to quickly drill through a meter of ice. Azula took over for the last three holes and was surprised at the force it required. She hadn't realized Mimi was so strong.
"That's a lot easier than using a spear, but whoever used it last didn't resharpen it. We have two of those but sometimes we fight over who gets to use them," Mimi told her with a shy smile as she scooped the shaved ice from the last hole to display the dark waters of the ocean.
As they settled down at their ice fishing holes, two children at each—in Azula's case, Ana shared her fishing hole—Mimi made sure all the children were ready. Apparently this was a common activity because Azula was the only person uncertain about what she was doing.
Mimi made it a lesson as she talked about the seasonality of the fish, what kinds they could catch, and where they could be caught. Azula gathered that sometime in the spring squid would swarm along the bay and all of the villagers would go out at night with lanterns and jigs to fish up a bunch. The children talked about it like it was a festival. Some of the older kids were also excited about taking a trip inland in autumn to fish for char on frozen lakes.
Ana looked up at Azula hopefully and asked, "Can I go?"
She was helpless in that moment because she knew they'd probably be in the Fire Nation. So Azula took the coward's way out: "We'll ask your mother."
Ice fishing proved to be an exercise in futility for Azula. In theory it was simple: drop the hook into the hole in the ice, jiggle the hook, and wait for a nibble. Draw up to catch the fish in the hook, and pull it out of the water quickly. What was simple in theory was almost impossible, even with Ana's 'help'.
Azula failed through the long afternoon. When she finally pulled out a fish, it was one of the smallest catches. Mimi praised her anyway and spent a few minutes helping Azula identify it as cod. This was a tiny cod by Azula's estimation. The cod fillets they served from the palace kitchen were twice the size of this entire fish.
Despite Katara's apparent busyness, she rescued Azula from the chore in the late afternoon. The children called goodbyes—Ana wanted a kiss and hug from Mommy and Azuwa, imagine that—and Mimi took Azula's new fishing hook and line and promised to deliver it and Ana safely to Hakoda's care. Mimi also offered a shy smile that probably had everything to do with Azula's ineptitude.
"Catch anything?" Katara asked as they walked away from the bay.
Azula rolled her eyes. "A fisherman, I am not. Your three-year-old caught twice as many fish as I did. Yet another chore I can add to my list of failures. It's hard to be a commoner."
Katara bumped their hips gently, but she smiled. She understood Azula's self-deprecation. "Well, she has a head start on you."
"She's three. How much of a head start could she possibly have?"
Katara smirked and took Azula's hand and squeezed gently through her mitten. As they walked through the village, the residents greeted both of them with familiarity. It was a close-knit community, much removed from the association of servants, nobles, and royal family that Azula knew. It wasn't better or worse; it was just different.
They walked by a large section of ice that had been cleared of tents and leveled. There were vertical posts driven into the ice at the perimeter. Perhaps this was what Katara had been up to that afternoon. There was a pile of wooden slats nearby, and several men and women measured and chopped the wood. Hakoda looked up from the group and offered a wave and a smile. "Watch out for polar bear dogs!"
Katara rolled her eyes, but she smiled. "We'll be back tomorrow morning, Dad."
"Be safe. You're watching out for an infant too."
That didn't warrant a response in Azula's opinion, but Katara made a rude noise in reply. She and Katara continued on to where a small sled awaited them at the gap in the inland wall of ice. Katara slipped into the harness attached to it and began to drag it.
"I can do that," Azula protested.
Katara's glare was sharp. "You're still sore."
"And you're exhausted."
"Not gonna happen." By Katara's stern tone, that was truth. She softened her pronouncement with a smile and held out her hand for Azula to take it again. Hand in hand, they began their walk across the ice.
They didn't talk much, but during their long walk, Katara pointed to a small flock of long-winged birds that flew overhead. "Albatross. They roost in the mountains in the summer and bring fish back for their young. They'll be migrating to the Earth Kingdom in a few months for winter."
"Do you eat them?"
"We eat everything," Katara said with a little laugh. "Sometimes a few hunters make the trip to collect some of their eggs. It's a hard trip, and it can be a dangerous climb to their nests, but the eggs are a delicacy. We can't take many either. They only lay one egg per season. They mate for life."
"When I first came here, I didn't see what resources could sustain your people. This is actually a very rich land."
Katara smiled but made no comment. Azula wondered if she'd missed something important in that statement.
After a few hours of easy walking, Katara pointed out the two mountain peaks that had come up in the distance. "Ice and Frost."
"How creative."
"Hey. It's not like they had much else to draw on creatively." Katara dropped the sled harness in a signal that they had finished their journey.
Azula turned in a circle, surveying the land. Katara made a good point; all she saw was ice and frost and sky. The ground was a flat horizontal line against the clear blue sky towards the north and east, and to the west were a few soft rises of rippling snow. The mountains were the only significant interruption in the southern horizon. The only break in the snow cover was their tracks.
"Did we come south?"
"Yes."
"Your father took me east, didn't he?"
Katara waved her hand in a so-so gesture. "Northeast on the fast ice."
Getting information from Katara today was like pulling teeth. Apparently Azula would have to ask a question for every sentence of information Katara volunteered. "So we're over earth now?"
Katara looked inward with an expression of concentration Azula associated with healing. "Under packed snow. I'd still consider the earth ice; it'll never thaw."
"You can feel permafrost with your bending?" Katara still managed to awe her sometimes.
"One of the perks of being a waterbender." She pointed at the ground. "Sit."
Azula obeyed. She didn't feel the cold of the ice through her parka. "Is the village over earth too?"
"Yes. We used to be a lot closer to the bay, but Pakku and Noakka moved it back during the war. We have more room to grow now."
Azula settled her chin in her mittens. "But the ice over the bay…?"
"It's like the fast ice Dad took you out on. It rarely melts even in the summer. We get a lot more to the northwest in the winter—which is when we actually hunt seals, by the way. The only time I've seen the bay ice crack was when your brother charged his ship up through it."
"Zuzu can be childishly dramatic."
Katara's only reply was a smile.
Azula glanced around, uncertain about how exactly they could have a comfortable night on snow, exposed to freezing winds. "Now that we're in the middle of nowhere, what will we do?"
"I'm going to build you a house, Princess." Katara produced a ridiculously flamboyant bow.
Azula laughed more at the gesture than the words. "This Princess can honestly say that's a first for her. What favor are you attempting to curry?"
Katara popped her playfully on the shoulder but didn't reply. She bent down to shuffle around in the bag on the sled and drew out an axe-like blade with a palm grip. Azula had seen another woman use one and took a guess. "Ulu?"
"Mmhm. Dork."
The process was interesting. Katara used her knife to cut large blocks of hard snow out of the frozen ground beneath them. She stacked them in a spiral around the pit she'd dug out of the snow, and it ascended stably. The last block was clear ice that would allow some light inside the igloo.
"Why not use waterbending to build one?" Azula wondered as Katara placed the last block.
"It would be cheating."
Azula couldn't begin to process that. How was using a birthright cheating? But Katara had certain ideas, and she would only get frustrated if Azula pushed. It was an interesting process that Azula itched to try out herself. For now, Azula sensed her help was not wanted.
Katara dug and cut out a path in the snow to widen the low entrance of the igloo. She'd chosen a direction that blocked the wind that blew down the tundra. It was an ingenious little dwelling, made in several hours.
After working inside the igloo, Katara poked her head out and motioned for Azula to join her.
Azula got on her hands and knees and crawled into the igloo. She removed her parka jacket and carefully stretched out on the pelt next to Katara. She'd expected it to be colder than the outside, but it was immediately apparent she was wrong. She was comfortable in her wool tunic and parka pants in the chill. They looked up towards the transparent block of ice that allowed light into the little dwelling. With the faint light, the white snow was a haunting blue. There was a certain hushed quiet within the igloo, as if the ice absorbed their sounds.
"I like this house," Azula pronounced. "It's very economic."
Katara smiled, but she was abnormally subdued. Azula accepted her silence and closed her eyes, enjoying the quiet and her lover's presence.
Eventually, Katara sat up and rummaged through her bag. She pulled out the hardy Fire Nation teapot and used waterbending to fill it from her beaded water skin. She also pulled out a small pot of frozen stew and heated them both with sweeps of her hand, filling the little igloo with the scent of food.
"Cheater," Azula accused.
Katara made a rude noise. They giggled at each other childishly.
It was a luxury to sit on a polar bear dog pelt in an ice hut and share a simple meal with Katara.
Azula crunched on a piece of cartilage and fished out something that looked like an eyeball. She scooped up some seaweed with it and took the bite. It tasted like fat and iron. There was a bit of flavorful fatty meat that she spent a minute chewing, and she guessed it was stomach. There was as much meat as offal in this stew. The flavorful taste was enough to offset the oddness of its consistencies. Katara had been feeding her fish and the foodstuffs that had come from the Fire Nation shipment instead of the red meat that her people enjoyed. If this was closer to what they ate on a daily basis, it was a good introduction.
Aware that Katara was watching her reaction, she asked, "What is this made from?"
"One of the hermits came into town with a seal to trade for some whale. This is made from the seal. Usually we eat fresh seal raw, but I thought this would be easier for you."
Azula was completely diverted. "There are hermits in the South Pole?"
Katara nodded, tracing a finger over the hand Azula braced herself with. "There are a few people who like to live by themselves. They'll come into the village every few months to trade what they've hunted for supplies, but they keep to themselves for the most part. Dad and I try to go out and check on them at least once a year."
How humbling to think that one person could exist in this harsh environment alone.
When Azula drank the last bit of broth in the pot, Katara handed her a small cup of something that was definitely not a Fire Nation food. It was brown and thick and looked incredibly unappetizing. Azula surreptitiously sniffed it. It smelled like pickled beets on first sniff; the second sniff reminded her of the fluid her physician used to preserve specimens for his oddities collection.
Katara watched her expressionlessly. Azula took a hesitant bite. She bit down on the solid chunk of whatever it was, and her sinuses cleared from the sharpness of vinegar. The glands in her cheeks responded with a sharp spasm she usually only experienced when she ate something tart. Azula wasn't sure she could take another explosion of vinegar from a bite and swallowed her entire mouthful in a painful, burning gulp.
She blew her nose and blinked back tears.
Katara rocked back and howled with laughter. "The look on your face!"
"It's delicious," Azula said with a fake smile. She held out the bowl, resolving to feed Katara the spiciest sauce she could find back in Capital City. "Much too good for me to eat it all. Here, darling."
It took Katara a few minutes to contain her laughter. She wiped tears from her eyes and said, "Thank you for trying it."
"What is it?" Azula washed her mouth out with tea and watched as Katara scooped out bites with relish. She couldn't quite believe Katara was eating what she'd just sampled.
"Pickled sea prune. An acquired taste." Katara shivered pleasantly with the last bite. She leaned over to kiss Azula, who placed her hand over Katara's mouth. She handed Katara her tea cup. "This before you put your mouth anywhere near mine."
That earned a laugh. Katara stowed their used dishes in the bag. She stripped out of her clothes, and Azula mirrored her, anticipating their love making. Katara flipped up a second long pelt and drew it over her shoulders as she pulled Azula's hips into her lap. Oh… Azula loved this position.
Even in the cool of the igloo, Azula was on fire. She didn't have to suppress her cries in any sense, not in the muting ice or the frozen tundra. Katara didn't either. It was so heady to hear her groan and gasp and call Azula's name. Azula shivered in her orgasm and rolled to trap Katara beneath her. She rubbed their bodies together and was content to kiss Katara until Katara was gasping in need beneath her.
"Inside," Katara commanded.
Luxury and power and heat and wetness...Katara was everything to her. They moved together for a long time, trading kisses and nuzzles and murmuring soft words to each other. Tonight Katara seemed content to let her set the pace, and Azula enjoyed so softly coaxing her lover's pleasure. There was no rush, not even to finish.
"You're so warm," Katara finally whispered. She clutched Azula's shoulders and gasped as she came.
The quiet of the igloo seemed all the more peaceful as Azula lay in Katara's arms afterward. Katara cradled her close and pressed soft kisses to her temple. Azula sighed and relaxed completely. There were no demands out here at all, only peace and cold and love. She closed her eyes.
Azula stood on the hot beach. She heard the low hiss and shifting movement of a large beast behind her. She knew what it was. She turned slowly, lifted her gaze, and looked into its sharp golden eyes.
The force of its breath shook her shoulders. She fell back into the sand and lifted her hands, exhaling harshly to coax enough fire to press it back.
"Azula."
She opened her eyes and focused on the white snow wall next to her face. Condensation dripped down the inside of it. Katara's hand was on her shoulder. Her hair fell across Azula's face in a sweep of pleasant scent. "What were you dreaming about?"
Azula sat up and shivered in the coolness of the igloo. She couldn't remember, but she felt like she did after dreaming she could still firebend. What used to be screaming disappointment was now quiet enjoyment that she'd experienced it, even if only in a dream. Perhaps it was sad that she equated dreaming of firebending with dreaming of flying.
"Something warm," she said.
Katara's look was gentle but penetrating, even in the low light of the igloo. Azula was so certain of what she was about to ask that she was surprised when Katara said, "Get dressed."
They dressed and crawled out of the igloo. Katara drew Azula onto the snow not far away. The sun had finally set. In its place was something that Azula had read about and never imagined she would see for herself.
The aurora was a single expanding line of misty green undulating across the sky like a massive dragon. It was organic and beautiful and a perfect foil to the cold sterility of this environment.
It took her breath away. Katara watched her closely, and her lips stretched in a slow smile.
"What do you think causes it?" Azula asked her. Surely there was a legend from this so alien culture. Katara looked up at the aurora too, and she smiled as she took Azula's hand. It was a triumph to Azula that Katara wasn't wary as she answered.
"My people think it's the old whale spirits singing to all animals and people who are forced to live on land. Their voices are too loud and powerful to sing out in the air. They'd crack up the ice and level mountains. But they can do it like that." Katara nodded up to the sky. "It's a song to show us they still exist and they still care about mortals."
It was a good legend. Azula looked up and saw what Katara had described. It made the aurora even more beautiful. "A gift," she said quietly in affirmation. "Whales sing then?"
Katara nodded with an almost shy smile. "It's how they keep track of each other across the ocean. Sound travels faster in water."
Azula had to kiss her after that soft expression. With her mouth still against Katara's, she asked, "Have you heard whales sing?"
"Once a few years ago," Katara said quietly. Her eyes turned back to the aurora. "I needed some quiet time so I went out to sea. I followed a pod of whales, and they kept breaching for me so I went underwater. They sang for me then. It was beautiful. I couldn't stay under long. I had to submerge to hear them, and that was hard to do for long."
What a marvelous way to use her bending. "What did they sing about?"
Katara bumped shoulders with Azula with a smile. "I don't know. Maybe they were happy to see me. Maybe they wondered what a strange looking whale was doing swimming with them." She lost her smile. "It was haunting…so mournful. But I think that was just because I couldn't understand them."
Eventually, the aurora fluttered itself out, and Azula was able to speak about more practical things. "I'm surprised you managed to get away. Your work is endless."
Katara shifted against her shoulder. "If I thought about all the things I need to get done, I'd never have a moment to myself. I made time tonight. The tribe will still be there when we get back tomorrow. You were right…I need to start trusting the others. Nema is a good waterbender, but if I don't let her start doing the hardest tasks, she won't get better."
No matter Katara's calm words, Azula knew it hadn't been that easy. "What was the building they were constructing?"
"A town hall." Katara was quiet for a long time. She swallowed audibly and said, "Hopefully we can christen it with a happy event."
"Your grandmother seems to think a birth is a good omen. It would be rather messy though, wouldn't it?"
Katara didn't offer a smile at Azula's joke. "I was thinking a marriage."
Azula's heart sped up as those words replayed in her mind. She looked over at Katara and watched her reach into her parka. She opened her mitten and looked into Azula's eyes as she said, "I was hoping a marriage."
In Katara's palm was a strip of dark silk. It had a carved circular centerpiece attached to the silk by a loop of polished silver. Within the emblem, a curl of flame had been carved. The polished material—bone?—had been dyed indigo, but the flame leaping from it was lightning blue.
Katara had made her a betrothal necklace.
Azula's throat closed with several warring emotions. Happiness won out. She couldn't speak past her emotions and pulled off her hood to offer her neck to Katara. Katara nuzzled her ear as she tied on the necklace.
"And you accuse me of being romantic," Azula managed to say.
"Yes?"
"That's a very silly question." Azula's voice trembled with happiness. "As if I would ever say no. But if you insist, I'll tell you my answer: yes."
Katara laughed and kissed her.
This was happiness and contentment and everything Azula could want. When they crawled back into the igloo to ward off the cold of the night, they pulled the heavy bear pelt over their heads and lay entangled, clad only in their necklaces. Azula was too happy to sleep, and Katara seemed to feel the same way. In this so still place, they were content to talk through the short night.
"What do you want most in the world?" Katara asked in the darkness.
That was easy: "You."
Katara rewarded her with a kiss against her skin. "I meant something you don't have." Something about her tone hinted this wasn't a casual question. Katara's voice was sober as she coaxed, "You can tell me anything, Azula."
She felt a shiver of unease at what that statement signified. But Katara had asked her what she wanted most, and firebending was not the answer to that question. "Glory."
"What do you mean? Like war?" Katara's voice and her relaxation indicated there was no judgment in the question.
"Not war itself…but all of the old stories of glory came from war—winning and losing alike. Sacrifice and dignity in the face of certain death. It's not that I want to go to war for the sake of war. I just wish…"
"What?"
Azula took a long breath and conceptualized the need that had driven her for much of her life. "I want to be someone who isn't just a birth and death date in history analogues. I want to make a lasting impression on the Fire Nation. I want to make someone in the future pause when they read about me and know me for an act, like Fire Lords Yuza and Zo and Li. I want to deserve my nation."
"You don't think you've done that?" Katara asked her. Her voice was soft in sadness, pity that for once didn't provoke anger in Azula.
She smiled into the darkness despite her regret, thinking of what history she had made for herself so far. "Well, I suppose I do have an entry: 'Princess Azula: conqueror of Ba Sing Se…loser of her conquered city months later to her own father. Defeated moments before her coronation.'"
She realized she shouldn't have said it just as Katara's body stiffened. "Katara," she said quietly. "You bear no burden in that."
"I wish it had been someone else."
"I don't," Azula replied firmly. "I know you're exceptional at everything you do. I was defeated by the best waterbender that has ever existed. How is there shame in that?"
Katara exhaled a warm breath against her shoulder. Her voice was shy as she asked, "Do you really think that?"
"Yes, darling."
After a few minutes of silence, Azula asked her own question: "What do you want?"
Katara laughed and echoed Azula. "You." After a moment, she presented the real answer. "I want a family."
Of course. Azula stroked her fingertips along Katara's side, both appreciative and saddened by the vast differences in their answers. She remembered Kanna's quiet words and asked, "Would you want to live here year-around?"
"What?" Katara lifted her head. "You can't do that—"
"Ideally, would you want to?"
Katara was silent for a moment. "No. This is my home, but I'm starting to think of the Fire Nation that way too. I've been thinking about opening a waterbending school in the capital, actually."
There was no hint of lie in those words. Azula took a long breath of relief. It was no sacrifice to say, "So we'll make a life in both places together."
Azula's words were rewarded with a wet kiss. Katara was crying. "You'd do that for me?"
"For us," Azula said gently. "I want you to be happy. And I want to be happy. I think the key to that is sharing our homes together. I'm sorry it's taken me this long to realize it."
Katara sniffled against her shoulder, but her tears were happiness, not sorrow. Azula held her close, glad that she could bring this happiness. When Katara calmed down, Azula asked, "What would you have thought during the war if you'd known we would be here now?"
Katara brushed her fingers across Azula's breasts, provoking a shiver. "I would never have believed it. Though looking back on it, I'm pretty sure I was attracted to you during the war." She started to laugh. "I just didn't realize it then since we were, you know, trying to kill each other and everything."
Azula laughed too, imagining any one of their fights during the war ending in a romantic declaration and a kiss. Or sex. She probably would have surrendered readily. She had her own dig though: "And defeated, I provided the perfect mothering outlet you needed."
"I'll mother you!" Katara blew a raspberry on her shoulder, causing Azula to jump and laugh. Katara continued more seriously. "You were so vulnerable. I wanted to take care of you… You needed it too; I don't care how much you pretended you didn't."
Azula, in turn, couldn't refute her words. She'd needed Katara's selfless care as much as she'd needed her love.
Katara continued. "Living with you on Ember Island… Watching you do katas, swim, and wander around on the beach half-naked… You have no idea how tempting you were. And you'd argue with me even when we were getting along. Aang never liked to argue with me. He got to the point where he would agree with everything I said just to avoid the argument. You, on the other hand, always had—have your own opinion and don't mind voicing it."
"Why were you ever with him?"
Katara huffed. "I know how he must seem to you, but he's a good man. After the war ended, he was such a good friend that I thought he would be a great boyfriend too. And what girl wouldn't want the head-over-heels Avatar as her boyfriend? I assumed that I just wasn't attracted to him because he was young. I thought it would get better. It didn't. And the sex…"
"Tell me."
Katara shifted up on her elbow, letting in chill from the igloo and a bit of light into their cocoon. "I've never told anyone about this. I don't know if I should tell you."
"I told you about Chan," Azula said, partly teasing.
"You kissed him. And then you burned his house down."
Azula smiled, then sobered. "I won't speak of it."
Katara sighed and lay back down. Azula pressed a kiss into her hair and then took a breath of its scent.
"It was just the natural progression, I thought. And we failed pretty miserably at it."
"Did he hurt you?"
"No, not really. It was just incredibly awkward. At first I thought something was wrong with me. Aang kept asking me to tell him how to be better, but I didn't know anything about sex. I didn't want to learn either, and it became a game of avoidance." Katara's lips curled into a smile against her skin. "But when I had sex with you the first time..."
That had been an experience. Azula still remembered their first time vividly.
Katara laughed. "That was fun. And you… 'I read about it'," Katara mimicked. "We had sex more that first day than I had with Aang ever."
"It wasn't perfect," Azula admitted. "But it felt perfect at the time."
"Every time with you feels perfect."
Azula couldn't be blamed for taking advantage of that statement. "Well, I am perfect."
Katara bit her shoulder.
"Ow, you savage!" She rubbed her shoulder as Katara rolled away in laughter. "I was about to say you were perfect too, but I may have to reassess that statement."
"Better not," Katara said indulgently.
"You are perfect."
"You're getting there."
Azula touched Katara's face and got her attention. "You are perfect, Katara. Every part of you, good or bad, is part of you. And that makes you perfect."
Katara's smile was obvious by her tone, but she poked Azula's chest with a stiff finger. "That makes absolutely no sense. But I'm going to remind you that you said that next time we argue."
"I said you were perfect, not right."
Katara gave a mock cry of anger, then fell on her with a kiss. Her mouth descended to Azula's throat, and she nuzzled the necklace that lay there. "You'll be my wife," Katara whispered with uncharacteristic possessiveness that sent a shiver down Azula's spine. "Mine."
It had been that way all along.
No one was surprised to see Azula wearing a betrothal necklace when they arrived back at the village the next morning. She was hugged by more people that morning than had hugged her during her entire life. In fact, everyone seemed to know exactly why they were building the town hall. When Sokka arrived with a handful of Kyoshi warriors on a small Kyoshi ship the day after Katara's proposal, she wondered if it was by chance or if Katara had anticipated this.
She watched from where she scraped seal hide with her new flesher as the shivering Kyoshi Warriors strode across the ice with carpentry tools and their own barrels of supplies. Sokka was the only male of the group, but he stood out more because of his blue parka than his gender.
As Sokka walked with the group of Kyoshi Warriors, he glanced across her face. Azula enjoyed watching his eyes flick back in an obvious double-take. As he stared at her in surprise, he began to grin. Sokka started a loping run across the ice, his arms outstretched. Azula watched him approach in horror that magnified with his cry, "Sista!"
She sidestepped him, sparking laughter from the teenage boy, Kuvak, who had been helping her with this task.
Sokka puffed his bearded cheeks out in annoyance. "Come on, I see that necklace. We're family. Give me some love."
Azula flicked her eyes from his face to his open arms. She heaved a sigh, rolled her eyes, and accepted his hug. When he grunted and lifted her off the ice, her voice was sharp in command. "Put me down."
"Okay, okay, sheesh." He let her go and promptly threw an arm over her shoulders. "You and me, we have to talk about this marriage thing. You good, Kuvak?"
The boy nodded, and Sokka steered her aside so that they walked outside of the ice wall that protected the village. Azula looped her flesher on her belt so she wouldn't lose it. "I can't wait."
Her acerbic tone didn't lessen Sokka's enthusiasm. "It's my responsibility to make sure you're informed, since you don't have a tribal family member."
"What do you need to tell me?"
He pulled her close for another half-hug. He was smiling beneath his partly-frozen beard. Perhaps the sea spray had caught it.
"It's all pretty simple. We like to get the ceremony out of the way fast to get to the party after. First, you have to have a vow. It should be something emotional about how much you love Katara and why. Make it good; you only have one chance to say it."
A public pronouncement of love. She wasn't entirely sure she could do that. A Fire Nation marriage required nothing but standing in place for hours. "And?"
"After you say your vows, you and Katara will drink out of a two-mouthed pitcher. I almost drowned Suki when we got married, so keep that in mind. For you, since you're marrying the waterbender."
Azula tried not to imagine how many mouths had already touched the item that she and Katara would apparently be drinking from. "It would be a rather miserable experience to drown on my wedding day." She paused and considered a question that had just occurred to her. "Is a same-sex marriage common here?"
"I don't know about common. It happens sometimes—once when I was a kid two men married—but no one really cares one way or another if that's what you're asking. Down here, we're allowed to marry for love so long as the two people can support each other and the tribe. The Northern Water Tribe is about arranged marriages...not that they'd protest anything Katara does."
The Fire Nation hadn't seen a difference between the legitimacy of opposite and same-sex marriages since the Age of Enlightenment almost a millennium ago. Maybe it was related to the great push for gender equality at that time. That had been a bloody affair. To prove their equality, noblewomen and their female servants had rebelled in a coup that had completely destroyed the capital. The coup had ended successfully when the royal princess challenged the Fire Lord, her younger brother, to Agni Kai and had won.
Since then, women were allowed to serve in the army and become officers. That right and service had automatically included the right to vote, own land, and choose a spouse. Succession of the throne thereafter came by age, not gender. With all those rights, marriage became choice, not arrangement...at least if one wasn't a noble daughter.
She'd taken for granted that not all nations were as progressive as her own.
"Are you going to marry her in the Fire Nation?"
"I suppose so," Azula said airily. "I've never been opposed, but the planning is going to be a massive headache. Though I'm sure my mother will do all the planning if I make enough terrible suggestions."
"Somehow I don't think that's going to fly with my sister." Sokka snickered and patted her back. They rounded the inland opening in the protective ice-wall, and a happy shout rang from the group of children playing there.
"Azuwa!"
Azula reached out to catch Ana, who was hurtling towards her as fast as a three-year-old could run. This little girl must be a headache to all the young adults charged with keeping track of the kids in the village during the day. She wished she had the same boundless energy to run everywhere without a care. Azula caught Ana's wide hood and flipped it over her face.
"Where did Ana go? I could swear I heard her…"
Ana giggled under her hood and reached up to flip it back and peer at Azula. Azula met her eyes, raising her eyebrows. She spoke dryly, "You are a chameleon mole, aren't you?"
"What's a chamemum mowe?" Ana did an admirable job of pronouncing the words.
"Don't break anything," Azula said, gathering a perplexed look. "Chameleon moles hide in the trees and change color to match what surrounds them. Camouflage."
"Camofwage," Ana repeated carefully.
"Just like polar bear dogs lie down in the snow and put a white paw over their black nose. They camouflage themselves and make it very difficult to see them. They do so to make sure curious little girls don't try to pet them."
Ana processed this. She took hold of her hood and dragged it over her face. Azula asked, "Where did you go?"
Ana giggled from inside her hood.
Sokka leaned back on his heels with his arms folded. His bearded face had taken on a pout. "Ana, you didn't even say 'hi' to your Uncle Sokka!"
She noticed him for the first time with a gasp of delight and raced to him for a hug and a kiss. Sokka picked Ana up, clearly intending to monopolize her. She grabbed his parka hood and yanked it down over his face. "Camofwage!" she shouted.
Sokka laughed and rescued himself. He distracted Ana from her new discovery when he gasped. "What's that in your ear?"
He pinched her ear gently and presented a bauble in his hand. Ana's big blue eyes went round, then her mouth curved in a shy smile as she accepted the tiny wooden carving. There was no doubt that it would be going into her little treasure chest in Katara's hut.
Azula understood how Katara had come to love this little girl so much. She especially understood when Ana held out her arms in request that Azula take her. Ana gave her a kiss on her cheek and a strong hug around her neck. It was very hard to ignore the emotional response she had to that embrace.
Occasionally, she felt herself waver on whether having a child was worth the horrors of conceiving and birthing that child. This was one of those times.
"Princess!"
Of course Ty Lee would be one of the Kyoshi Warriors here. Azula turned to the person who had spoken with that so familiar voice. "Hello, Ty Lee."
Ty Lee had cut her hair short sometime in the last few years. It stuck out from her head at odd angles, but the cut complemented her. She grinned, gave a big sniff against her runny nose, and shivered in the cold. Her eyes went to Azula's necklace. "Congratulations!"
It was a truthful statement. "Thank you."
"Who is this?" Ty Lee grinned at Ana.
"I'm Ana!" the little girl in her arms said for herself, ever independent. "Azuwa, can I go?"
Azula set the little girl down and watched her run back to rejoin her companions. She made sure the chaperone saw Ana before she turned back to Ty Lee. She was curious to know how Ty Lee had been faring in the Kyoshi Warrior organization. "How are you?"
Ty Lee brightened at the question. She produced an even larger grin and said, "Oh, I'm really—"
"Yo!" Suki stood on the floor that would be the raised bottom of the town hall and tapped her thigh with the flat of her axe. "Stop slacking off, slackers. If you want to get married sometime this century, Princess, you better grab a hammer and start helping. Sokka, quit flirting and get over here!"
Ty Lee sighed wistfully. "She reminds me of you sometimes, Princess."
The glare Azula leveled at her was severe, but Ty Lee only giggled.
Katara rescued Azula from Suki's tyranny that evening. Azula had successfully blackened two of her fingernails with a hammer, but they were her only accidents. When Katara turned them towards the bay and the Fire Nation steamer settled there, Azula guessed their purpose. "Breaking the news to my parents?"
Katara looked tired as she answered. "As if they don't already know. Iroh gossips more than all the elder women here combined."
The thought of him sitting weaving baskets with the group of three old women of the village made Azula smirk. It was just like Iroh.
She'd begun to get used to the white and blue of the environment. It only made the small colored decorations within the huts more brilliant. It was beautiful despite the unchanging sense of it. As the Fire Nation was gold and red, the Water Tribe was blue and white. Now Azula turned her eyes across the wide blue and white bay and smiled. "My mother is going to double the candidates she suggests."
"Candidates?"
"For fathering all the little grandbabies she wants me to birth." Azula remembered every vapid, pretty firebending nobleman Ursa had chosen with some ire.
Katara's expression took a peculiar shift. "She what?"
Why hadn't she anticipated Katara would be upset by that information? Azula quickly backtracked. "It's only an annoying way to let me know she wants us to start having children, otherwise known as nagging. My mother is particularly good at it."
Katara still frowned. "How long has she been doing this?"
"Long enough to be annoying. I've been ignoring her terrible suggestions out of self-preservation."
Katara stopped their progress with a hand on her arm. She met Azula's eyes with a penetrating look. "Do you want to have a baby?" Azula hesitated, and Katara's stare went wide in shock. "You do?!"
"I would be willing to consider it. It will take a lot of planning." She squeezed Katara's hand. "And that planning can wait for now."
Katara nodded slowly, still looking at Azula like she was seeing her for the first time. That look shifted into a cheeky smile. "How many kids do you want, huh, Princess 'I refuse to have a parasite in my body for nine months'? One, two, three, five?"
"Your counting skills are deplorable."
"Four then," Katara said impishly.
"My willingness just dropped to zero." Katara, of course, continued throwing out impossible numbers. Azula rolled her eyes and pulled Katara towards the ship to cut off her teasing. The few sailors on the deck looked miserably cold. They bowed, and Katara's face shifted in obvious discomfiture at their formality.
The halls of the ship were hot on Azula's skin. Katara swept off her hood and opened her parka jacket, and Azula mirrored her. They knocked on the estate cabin, and Iroh ushered them in. His eyes flickered over her betrothal necklace, but his face remained neutral when he saw the symbol carved into it.
"Finally," was Ursa's first word as they sat down. "That is why I came."
Azula was startled. Did everyone guess that Katara would ask her to marry her?
"It's only taken ten years," Iroh said with a teasing smile.
"When are you giving me another grandchild?" Ursa demanded.
"In probably another ten years, Ursa." Iroh's words provoked a gasp of outrage and a sharp warning: "Don't encourage her!"
"And you wonder why I wasn't in a hurry to get married," Azula pointed out to Katara.
"Oh hush, missy." Ursa filled Katara's teacup and pointedly didn't extend that favor to her own daughter. She pushed the plate of fresh fruit in front of Katara. "You'll need to start arrangements for a ceremony in Capital City as soon as we get back."
"Why don't you plan it all?" Ursa looked like she'd just been given a gift, and Katara shot her a glare. Azula quickly retracted her statement. "Nevermind. A momentary fit of insanity prompted that illogical statement. I'll just ask Kota to do it."
"Has she had her baby yet?" Katara asked, apparently appeased.
"She looked like she was about to drop it on the floor when we left. Did you know, she was one of the servants I banished on the eve of Sozin's Comet?" How odd—and light—it made her feel to be able to speak about her insanity without shame. Iroh watched her with blatant curiosity. Azula continued on with some pleasure. "Obviously I wasn't in my right mind, but I'm surprised it's taken me this long to realize it."
"Why did you banish her?" Ursa asked, her brow furrowed.
"I banished everyone," Azula clarified. She waved a hand, vaguely amused at her own stupidity. Then, with a smile, she reached into the fruit basket and selected a cherry. "In Kota's case, she served me a bowl of cherries. One cherry had a pit."
All three of them looked at her with a mixture of pity and shock. Azula rolled her eyes and ate the cherry. "I assure you, it all seemed quite logical at the time. As did my demand that Lo and Li fight an Agni Kai."
Iroh sputtered into his teacup.
"Good riddance," Ursa muttered.
"Those poor old women," Katara gasped, though she betrayed her real feelings with a grin that Iroh mirrored.
"Don't waste your pity. They aren't firebenders so they were banished along with everyone else. Too bad, that would have been hilarious. I'm a little shocked they're still alive, actually. They must be pushing a century." She sighed. "The palace was wonderfully quiet, at least until you visited me, Mom."
Ursa's expression went dark. Even though Azula had found peace with her insanity, it didn't appear her mother had. Azula quickly changed the subject. "In any case, I've given Kota a leave of absence until she's fit for serving again. My household has probably already fallen apart."
Katara reached over the table for a slice of melon. She curled her lips in a mocking sneer. "I think you have to be in it for that to happen."
"I resent that."
"I still can't believe you can't do your own hair."
As if that had anything to do with anything. "As you've pointed out, it's fine. It slides out of every hair tie I've ever put it in."
"Maybe you should just shave your head," Iroh suggested. "I enjoy not having to worry about hair."
"No!" Katara and Ursa both said sharply. As if Azula would ever entertain such a notion.
Their tea continued with similar inane conversation until Katara couldn't suppress a yawn. She worked long hours today after their late night the night before, and she needed to get to bed. Azula excused them, but Iroh held her back. Katara and Ursa sensed he wished to talk to her alone and walked outside.
"I'm proud of you, Azula," he said quietly. He met and held her gaze.
"I haven't done anything," she pointed out, amused at his ever-sage advice.
"You've accepted yourself." He squeezed her hand with a smile, and Azula had to take him more seriously. "You've found your way."
"Was I lost before?"
His smile in reply was gentle. "You've stopped chasing dragons."
She understood his meaning. In the last few years she'd accepted the past, and with it, all of her losses. All along, and he'd been right. Azula returned his squeeze gently. "Everything I want is attainable. You'll sit with Mom during the ceremony, as my father?"
He cleared his throat and went a little teary-eyed. "Yes. Now go before your mother freezes to death outside."
On the walk back into the village, Azula glanced over at Katara and asked a pointed question for the first time. "Do you want to get married in the Fire Nation?"
"Yes."
She sighed, consigning herself to that long, drawn-out affair. "I wish you would just tell me these things."
The town hall was finished after four days of hard work. It was an insulated rectangular wooden building on small stilts that looked foreign compared to the small round buildings of the tribe. Kanna, Ursa, and a few of Katara's cousins forbade Katara or Azula from entering the building. When Azula inquired, Katara explained they were getting the interior ready for the ceremony.
"Tomorrow?" Azula asked.
Katara nodded. "Midday." She hesitated. "You don't have to say a public vow if you don't want to, Azula. I know that sort of thing is really private for you."
She looked at her lover. "Are you saying a vow?"
Katara nodded and bid her a quick goodbye with a kiss. Well then, Azula would just have to suck it up. It couldn't be that much different than giving a speech.
The day passed quickly. Azula 'chaperoned' the young children of the village through the morning, which meant she sat for their lessons on the different types of ice. She would never have guessed how many descriptive words they had for it; each term was discrete and important for hunting, survival, and understanding the direction of the ice flow.
After a quick lunch of weathered char from last season, she was coerced to join Sokka and Hakoda for seal hunting. Apparently it was tradition, though Azula didn't understand why the three of them would sit around a seal hole silent and motionless on the day before her wedding.
They started the trip out with a spear throwing 'competition'. Obviously Azula was at a disadvantage, but her aim got better with every throw. Sokka was as good as Hakoda, though Hakoda wouldn't admit it. She realized this was just another lesson.
It had been interesting learning about the gender roles of the Southern Water Tribe. There was a trend, but the roles weren't strict. Women hunted and fished, and men would weave and prepare kills and tan leather as well. There were so many things to do—fascinating things—and they all served a purpose to help the tribe.
This was a good life. It felt like vacation but she ended up as busy here as she was in the Fire Nation.
There were certain tasks she liked better. This was an activity she enjoyed. Azula took three long strides and pushed the spear over her shoulder. It sailed in an arc, turned down, and slammed into the packed snowman that served as their target.
"How are you so good at everything? It's so unfair," Sokka said with a good-natured groan. "I think we're ready. What do you think, Dad?"
"Let's go then," Hakoda said. He was still stiff with her, but he wasn't hostile anymore. To Azula's surprise—and her growing distrust—they left the spears within the village walls. Sokka carried a leather sack over his shoulder, and that was their only burden aside from the cudgels the two men carried on their belts.
As she suspected, 'seal hunting' was another cover. They walked a few kilometers outside of town, stopped, and sat down in the snow. Sokka and Hakoda shared a leather bladder of liquor. Sokka handed it to Azula when they had each taken a gulp. She took a sniff and turned away with a shudder.
"Don't tell me, sea prune?"
"Most versatile fruit of the South Pole."
"The only fruit of the South Pole." She handed the bladder back, distracted by the fat snowflakes that were fluttering down from the sky. This was only the second time it had snowed since she'd arrived. "I don't drink."
"Like hell you don't." Hakoda put the bladder back in her hand firmly. Sokka scoffed. "You're too chicken to take a gulp of sea prune spirits?"
She rolled her eyes. "I have no fear of alcohol. I hate the way it tastes."
"It's not supposed to taste good," Sokka pointed out superciliously. "It's supposed to make you drunk."
"I doubt a hangover is a good way to enhance my wedding."
"It's tradition," Hakoda said.
"You do realize alcohol increases blood flow to the extremities, increasing the chances of hypothermia?"
The two men kept staring at her; their glares were feigned but pointed. She'd never live this down.
Azula tipped the skin back and took a mouthful. She swallowed what felt like liquid fire and coughed afterwards. Hakoda and Sokka began to laugh uproariously. Azula rubbed her neck, which ached. A column of heat rose from her stomach to her face. She felt like she could breathe fire and certainly belch it without issue. Her sinuses tingled and tears rose to her eyes.
"That is disgusting."
"One more!" Sokka encouraged.
Azula took a second swig. She didn't cough this time, and the swig didn't hurt. It tasted even worse the second time. "I'm finished. You two are free to become inebriated, but don't expect me to drag you home."
Hakoda elbowed his son with one eyebrow raised. "Did she really just say 'inebriated'?"
"That's just the way she talks, Dad."
Azula rolled her eyes.
They laughed and each took a long swig. She would have been disgusted by sharing saliva with them, but that alcohol was so strong it could probably disinfect a komodo rhino mouth. Hakoda pointed over Azula's shoulder suddenly. "A polar bear dog!"
She turned sharply, and the ice beneath her feet and across the horizon seemed to shift under her. She landed hard on her hip and turned a glower to the two men who were rolling in the snow laughing at her.
"I will tell Katara that you've mistreated me."
"You'll have too much fun to do it!" After his ominous pronouncement, Sokka handed her the skin, and she took another gulp, shuddering. Wait, why had she just done that?
At some point, they had the bright idea to wrestle. Azula was inordinately pleased when she got Sokka in an elbow lock. Then Hakoda grabbed her by the hood, and the two men swung her between them. When they released her, she skidded down a slope of snow and ice and was laughing by the time she'd spun to a stop.
Hakoda and Sokka seized her arms, this time to lift her.
"We're ready?" Hakoda asked.
"We're ready," Sokka replied.
"We're ready," Azula pronounced gravely. Then she thought to ask, "For what?"
They gave her another gulp out of the liquor skin instead of answering and seized her arms. The three of them began walking… Well, she wasn't sure where they went or how long it took, but when they got there, Sokka tossed the bag he carried on his shoulder onto the ice, reached inside, and handed her a particularly aromatic fish.
"Watch me first, okay?"
Azula stared at the fish in her hand. "I'm not eating this."
"Make sure she doesn't eat it," Sokka told Hakoda.
"Don't tempt me," Hakoda replied.
He took off towards a group of chattering otter penguins. Where had they come from? Sokka crouched low at their perimeter with the fish in hand. He shooed away a small animal and allowed a large fat one to grab the fish in his hand. Sokka seized it and muscled it onto its belly. He took three quick strides to where the ice dipped into an incline and put his knees on the otter penguin's back. His shout didn't seem to bother the flock of animals as he sledded down the incline.
"You want me to do that?" Azula asked Hakoda.
Hakoda grinned as he grabbed her arm and dragged her forward, and in the confusing sequence of events that followed, she was skidding down the incline after Sokka on the back of a fat otter penguin. She shrieked as her balance shifted and she rolled across the hard snow. By the time she rested still on her back, she was roaring with laughter. Her throat didn't hurt but her voice went hoarse.
"I'm doing that again," she told Hakoda, who had followed her on his own animal. He slapped her back with a wide grin. "That's the spirit!"
They continued penguin sledding until the flock decided their supply of fish wasn't worth the effort and beat a retreat into the ocean.
She was aware of everything that happened as it did, but when she got back to Katara's hut later that day, Azula was startled to realize she didn't exactly remember how she'd gotten back. She ducked into the low entrance and fell sideways into the hut.
Katara looked up in alarm that shifted into shock. "I can't believe it. They actually got you drunk."
"I'm not drunk," Azula retorted. She considered lying where she was, despite the butt end of a spear digging into her ribs. "I am inebriated. I have to say, if I was forced to subsist on sea plums—prunes, whatever, I would take the spirits over the pickle. Pickled. Have you been penguin sledding? I thought it was cruel at first, but they really will do anything for fish. That was quite fun. Quite."
Katara's lips quirked like she was holding in laughter. She helped Azula sit up and moved her in front of the warm coal pit. She handed Azula a big skin of water and stripped her out of her parka jacket. "Drink."
Azula took a gulp as Katara sat behind her. She noticed they were alone in the hut. "Where's Ana?"
Katara tugged at her hair in what Azula realized was an attempt to braid it. "All of the little girls are with the Kyoshi Warriors for tonight."
"They start their propaganda early." She took a second gulp of water and burped. Katara's hands stilled in her hair.
"Did you just belch?"
"Of course not. Princesses do not belch. I hiccoughed."
Katara pressed her forehead to Azula's shoulder and rocked with laughter for much longer than was strictly necessary.
"You shouldn't laugh at me. We're getting married tomorrow."
Katara sighed. "I get the feeling you won't remember it in the morning anyway. Keep drinking or you'll be useless tomorrow and we won't be getting married."
That was unacceptable. Azula took another gulp, and Katara resumed her activity. She relaxed as Katara's fingers combed through her hair. Her eyes closed as she concentrated on Katara's touch and the warmth of the smoldering coals in front of her. The heat was a discrete force in this room. Its energy was a comfortable truth in her belly. The coals pulsed bright orange in time with her long breaths.
Katara began a second braid. "Anyway, their little camp isn't propaganda. It's education. All the girls here love it. Sokka leads a group for the boys too."
"It was fun dressing up as them during the war." She laughed and waved a hand as she remembered it. "My goodness, Ba Sing Se just opened its doors to three girls in face paint. All that time Iroh and Ozai tried to get inside and playing dress up was all it took." She abruptly pictured both men dressed up as Kyoshi Warriors and began to laugh harder.
"How did you take over the Dai Li?"
Azula was diverted. She made a rude noise and waved her hand. "It was easy. Just pretend to stupidly admit our real identities, meet the man in charge, and…" She giggled at the delicious memory of Long Feng's simmering anger as he settled into a bow. "Long Feng was such a pathetic fool. All I had to do was tell him he'd bow to me, and he did."
"How?"
"How what? Oh, how did I convince him? There are people like Long Feng who are designed to bow…to follow and serve. 'Milord, what are your orders'." She sketched a bow. "Some of them, like Long Feng, pretend they're more. And then there are people like you and me who are destined to lead. They know it and we know it. Long Feng just needed a reminder. I was that reminder. So he got on his knee and bowed."
Katara's hands stilled in her hair and resumed after a moment.
Her mind bounced around with vague thoughts of Ba Sing Se. She'd envisioned using it as a model for implementing a literacy program, one she'd hoped to use in the Fire Nation. And then she'd lost Ba Sing Se. Oh well. At least they were working on literacy in the place that mattered.
That reminded her, "You should meet with Laza when we go back…so we can have books printed for the children here. You must have good stories to use. Like penguin sledding. That was really fun. Much better than turtle ducks."
"Turtle ducks?"
"Ba Sing Se." Azula waved her hand, drawing the connection.
"Your mind is unfathomable." Katara sighed for some reason. "Would they really print a storybook about the Southern Water Tribe?"
"Oh, yes. I never thought to suggest it. Laza would never ask. She's terrified of you."
"What? Why?"
Azula laughed as she thought of coy Laza. "Do you know, she pretended to be sultry and coy when we first met. When I asked her if she was propos…prosop…trying to seduce me, she said she wouldn't dare, that you'd strip her of her blood and leave her dust." She was abruptly curious. "Can you bend the fluids inside a person?"
Katara's hands fell to her shoulders and tightened. "It's evil, Azula."
"You can but you don't," Azula answered for herself. A new thought occurred to her. "Could you have done that to me during the war?"
"Azula!" Katara gasped. Her hands tightened and pulled at Azula's hair.
"Ow." Why was Katara ashamed?
Katara's grip quickly loosened. "I'm sorry. I don't know if I could. The only times I did were during the full moon."
Azula didn't believe for a minute that Katara couldn't. "You really are amazing."
"Bloodbending is just as evil as you think energybending is."
Evil perhaps, but it still pleased her to think that Katara could do it if she needed to. "How interesting. Fire has lightning, water has blood, and earth has metal." She ticked them off on her fingers.
Toph Bei Fong enjoyed demonstrating the latter ability on her rare visits to the Fire Nation for private meetings with Zuko. Zuko tried to keep those closed door sessions about his utopian city hush-hush, but Toph Bei Fong didn't know the meaning of the word discretion, and her mentions of Republic City hadn't gone unnoticed. Azula had no doubt that Zuko wanted to be there for the city's establishment and growth, but his responsibilities as Fire Lord precluded any significant travel.
Katara returned them to their earlier conversation. "Do you really think they would print a storybook about a Southern Water Tribe girl?"
"Oh, yes. The nobles're curious about this culture. The commoners would find you so exotic. You are exotic." She leaned back to place her head against Katara's shoulder. Her shift resulted in a kiss. "Everyone wants to know more about you."
Katara's smile was soft. Her eyes seemed darker in the low light of the hut, and her gaze swept over Azula's face tenderly. "Everyone just sucks up to you."
"Well obviously. But they respect you now, Katara." Azula was distracted in sudden memory and started to laugh. "Ha! When I took my rice terrace trip, the oh so honorable Lord and Lady hosting me made it quite clear they would be happy for a combined visit from us."
Katara raised an eyebrow in question.
"Apparently they own an enormous bed." She held her arms out wide to demonstrate. "Which they have left open in invitation."
"What?"
Azula laughed. "I can't say I've ever been prosop…that word is very hard to say today for some reason. I haven't had a sexual offer by a married couple. I was shocked; I almost laughed in their faces. That would be a bit rude, wouldn't it?"
"They asked you to have sex with them?"
She nuzzled Katara's neck; she didn't heed the anger in Katara's voice. "I certainly didn't accept. But they made it quite clear they would love to meet you…and 'meet' us together."
"I used to wish you'd get at least a little jealous. But you think if someone wants me that's a compliment to you, don't you?"
"It's a compliment to you. You're desirable. Everyone should know that, and they should all acknowledge it. If they don't, they're dumb...and blind too. It doesn't mean you'll sleep with them." She was silent for a beat. "I do get jealous. I'm jealous of every moment you spend apart from me. I want us to be together always...everyday, every moment."
"We'd kill each other," Katara predicted.
"No," Azula protested. "We'd fight. And then I'd apologize. And we'd still be together."
Katara kissed her gently even as her expression shifted to something Azula had trouble interpreting. She put pressure on Azula's shoulders until she sat up again. Katara continued to work on Azula's hair in their comforting silence. She realized she hadn't told Katara she loved her that day.
"I love you."
Katara kissed her neck and continued her gentle ministrations.
Azula's eyes were heavy and she was so relaxed she was surprised she hadn't fallen asleep. Yet she wanted, needed Katara to know. "I love you so much. I know I never say it enough."
Katara patted her shoulder. "You don't have to say it. I know."
"I love you more than anything. Your voice, your eyes, your mouth…"
"I can't believe it." Katara sounded incredulous as she cut off Azula's list. "You're a lovey drunk."
"I'm not drunk," Azula protested. "But I do love you."
Fire Nation marriages were structured around processions: procession of the groom's cohorts, the bride's cohorts, the groom's family, the bride's family, the Fire Sage, the groom, the bride. Et cetera ad nauseam.
The Water Tribe had no processions at all. Azula and Katara stood together at the entrance of the newly built town hall wearing the same clothes they'd been wearing all week. Their only ornamentations were the braids in their hair and their necklaces. Together they greeted each guest before they entered the building. Family and friends alike were allowed to embrace or kiss either one of them.
Everyone was welcome, and everyone who was able came to the ceremony because they loved Katara. People trickled in bit by bit. There was never a line to enter the new hall, but there was never a time in which they had to wait long for another guest to arrive. Almost every guest brought food, and some even brought musical instruments.
Azula watched Katara as much as she watched the people who they greeted. The elaborate beaded braids in her hair were beautiful, and her pretty smile never slipped. Every time Katara looked at her, her smile softened. Azula took pleasure in Katara's obvious happiness and realized she shared it.
At last, Kanna ushered the two of them inside. Katara held Azula's hand and pulled her to the center of the room where a small low table was set for them. Everyone was seated around the edges of the large room. Ursa and Iroh sat near the side of the wall beside Katara. When Azula faced her consort, she easily saw her parents over Katara's shoulder. They held hands and offered smiles. Sokka, Hakoda, and Ana sat on the opposite side of the room where Katara would see them. Azula glanced over at them and was surprised by Hakoda's wide smile. He wagged his eyebrows at her.
Bizarre.
Azula was startled, but Katara sputtered into laughter.
Kanna sat down across the table, and Azula's mind went to more important things. The hubbub of conversation stilled when Kanna raised a hand.
"Today we celebrate the marriage between Katara, daughter of Hakoda and Kya and my granddaughter, to Azula, daughter of Iroh and Ursa and great-granddaughter to Avatar Roku."
A murmur of surprise went up from the guests. Azula herself was surprised. Ursa or Iroh must have supplied that information before the ceremony for that particular introduction. It would make sense to avoid using Azulon and Ilah; they both had won decisive victories against the Water Tribe in their lifetimes.
Kanna smiled as she asked, "What are your vows?"
The Southern Water Tribe really did get to the meat of the ceremony quickly.
Katara faced Azula and took her hand. Whatever apprehension Azula had about such a private exchange in front of so many other people melted away when she looked into Katara's eyes. Katara was smiling at her tenderly, and Azula realized she was smiling too. This was for them as much as it was for the guests.
Katara spoke first: "You told me once that even if a man flies as high as a dragon, he'll never reach the sun, but it's still worth trying to measure each step to the immeasurable. We've been taking those steps with each other little by little through the years. Every step we take makes me believe we've reached the sun…until you take my hand and lead me a little closer. I can't describe how happy it makes me that we'll keep taking those steps together for the rest of our lives."
Azula blinked twice to clear her eyes. She swallowed past the lump in her throat. All of her public speaking experience meant nothing in this moment. She squeezed Katara's hand in her own and held her eyes. She focused on Katara and spared no thought to the other people in the building with them.
"We were enemies before we were anything else. The last day of the war, the day of Sozin's Comet, I turned lightning against you to kill you. Every day I think about what would have happened if I had succeeded. I would be Fire Lord, the greatest firebender in history, and I would have brought the Fire Nation infinite glory. I would have fulfilled every desire I ever knew. Every day I think of what I could have gained…and I'm so thankful that I failed. One day as your wife is worth more than anything else I've ever wanted, and I will never feel any other way."
Katara yanked her into a hard embrace, and Azula managed to gather herself by the time Katara pulled back to kiss her. Azula almost got lost in that kiss, but laughter rang out when Katara didn't let her go. Kanna cleared her throat, and Sokka said, "Psst! You're not finished!"
They laughed as they separated and wiped their eyes. "He's just hungry," Katara announced with an embarrassed smile, prompting more laughter.
Kanna waited until she had their attention. She smiled as she handed them each a blue-dyed cup full of water, and she carefully placed a double-spouted painted jar on the table in front of them. The jar was worn with age but painstakingly cared for. Symbols of water rippled over its blue-painted surface, and the two handles gushed from the jar like waterfalls. Azula wondered how many hopeful hands had held those handles.
"Each spouse brings love and energy and spirit into a marriage." Kanna nodded.
Katara squeezed Azula's hand, and Azula returned the grip. They carefully poured the water in their cups into the wide opening in the top of the marriage jar.
"These essences mix until they are indistinguishable from each other. They cannot be separated ever again. Drink to seal your joining and become married."
Katara placed her hand on one handle, and Azula took the other. They smiled at each other as they lifted the jar together, placed their mouths on each spout, and drank a mouthful.
Immediately, the attendees shouted and clapped in delight.
And just like that, they were married. It shouldn't have made a difference, not those few minutes they'd just spent in ceremony, but Azula felt it. By Katara's long, happy look, she felt it too.
Kanna took the cups and jar with dignity and whisked them away. Sokka had mentioned that the water would be gifted to them to commemorate their marriage ceremony. Ten years ago, Azula would have laughed her head off at the thought of such a silly gesture. Now she was grateful for it. She never wanted to forget the feeling of this day.
There was little transition between quiet ceremony and rowdy celebration. Many types of food were distributed, including several seaweed dishes and a few sea prune concoctions that Azula avoided. Iroh and Ursa must have donated some of their food stores because there was also rice and fruit and vegetables and wine.
Captain Lee had donated the rest of his bottles of his brother's nonalcoholic drink. He flashed his golden tooth as he passed around cups for the children. Azula took great pleasure watching the children of the village try their first sip of fizzy fruit juice. For her part, Ana took a quick sip, too busy watching Iroh tell a story to pay attention. Her eyes went huge, her face screwed up, and she smacked her lips. Now she turned her attention to her cup; she took a bigger sip. This was accompanied by dawning realization, then a giggle and a big smile that reflected Azula's own humor.
"Is it good?"
Ana nodded vigorously.
"What is it?" Katara asked.
Ana pulled her cup back possessively. "It's mine!"
Katara was appalled, and Azula held down her laughter. Ana really liked the drink. She was appropriately contrite when Katara scolded her, so she didn't lose the privilege of drinking it. There was only enough for all the children to have one cup so it was just as well.
Azula was sampling an interesting seaweed dish when Sokka sat down next to her and offered, "Sea prune spirits?"
Azula shuddered in the face of his grin. "It's better than the pickled kind, but only because it makes your tongue go numb."
Katara snickered against her shoulder, likely remembering Azula's resulting behavior. Azula mostly remembered her aching headache this morning. She didn't think she ever would drink again, all things considered. It was fun at the time, but she'd betrayed a bit of herself with her inhibitions lowered. At least she'd done it with people she trusted.
"You're very talkative when you're drunk," Katara wheedled. "And really giggly."
"Yes, yes," Azula muttered. She twined their fingers together and smiled despite herself.
"I know, right?" Sokka shook his head. "Dad and I couldn't get her to shut up on the way back. The whole time it was, 'Katara does this' or 'Katara likes that' or 'I love Katara because…' Sheesh, she thinks you're perfect."
Azula's face went hot. She didn't remember that at all. No wonder Hakoda had looked so smug during the ceremony. Katara laughed at the sight of her face, and Sokka snickered. "Aw, did I embarrass my new little sister?"
She shot him a glare. He wagged a finger. "Nope, you're not scary anymore. I've seen you penguin sled. And you're family."
"Goodie."
Iroh settled down next to Azula and handed her a pipa. He held one himself. He also handed her a small container of opiate extract. "Congratulations to both of you," he said with a gentle smile.
"Thank you." She took the bitter mouthful of the opiate extract without complaint. This was another activity she sensed was important to the tribe. They loved singing, whether good or bad, during their chores or in ceremony. Azula needed to get used to the same thing.
"Oh, you're going to sing." Katara pulled Ana into her lap and shifted away to give Azula room to tune her pipa.
"Shall we sing 'The Lonely Dragon'?" Iroh suggested.
Despite the song's name, it was a funny little ditty about a dragon that couldn't keep a master. It was a cumulative song: each verse added a new line about another rider on the dragon's journey. In the end the dragon decided to take a nonbender master cook and lived his days happily stoking his new master's kitchen fires. It was a good song for this group of people; by the third verse they understood the structure of the song and sang along with Iroh and Azula until they reached the next rider.
She and Iroh must have made an interesting duo: the princess with the rough voice and her father, a man who missed as many notes as he hit. Despite that, the villagers laughed as they listened or sang along, and the children were dancing happily in the center of the hut through the song.
After that, Iroh coaxed her to sing a traditional marriage song in the old Fire Nation language. It had a spicy tune that Azula enjoyed, and whatever the nationalism the words communicated couldn't cause any anger among people who didn't understand the language.
At this volume, that was about all Azula's voice could handle. She was applauded, and Iroh continued strumming his instrument as the guests settled into conversation.
Later in the afternoon, Hakoda sat down next to Azula. He offered a smile and went so far as to take Azula's hand. "Hurt her, and you'll regret it," he said, but he wasn't in the least bit intimidating when he started to grin. "I'll make the trip to the Fire Nation and tell everyone there your every dark secret."
"It's not kind to threaten your new daughter-in-law the day that she's married." Azula sighed haughtily. "And no one would believe you, I assure you."
He laughed and shook his head and settled his instrument in his lap. It was a key-violin, shaped like a longer, thicker version of a traditional violin. The bow was short, and instead of the traditional fingering of violins, this instrument had keys that would strike and hold the strings.
Everyone quieted as Hakoda drew the bow across the strings. The traditional Water Tribe instrument produced rich tones, and Hakoda was very good with it. After a short, haunting melody, he began to sing in the old Water Tribe language. The words paralleled the changing ice and the unchanging sea to the ever-changing tribe and the unchanging power of the tribe's community.
Azula didn't realize she'd begun to cry until Ana gently touched her face. She offered a smile to soften the worry in the little girl's face. Where had those tears come from? Katara pressed closer to her and drew Azula's head against her shoulder. She accepted the embrace and allowed herself to relax in the company of so many other people. These people were family. They were to be trusted.
Many happy hours later, the final guest trickled out of the town hall—Sokka picked up Ana, who'd fallen asleep in Azula's lap, and declared she would be sleeping with her aunt and uncle that night—and Azula and Katara were alone for the first time since that morning.
She took a moment to look around the town hall. There was a long rug that ran down the room. Two fire pits sat on either side of the rectangular interior. Several columns supported the ceiling in two rows. The polished wooden floor was cool but not too much so. The guests had all cleaned up a little at a time as they left, and the big room didn't look much dirtier than it had that morning. "This is a well-constructed building."
"Dad's wanted to get it up for years. It's nicer than I'd hoped. Thanks to you and the Kyoshi girls." Katara wrapped her arm around Azula's waist and sighed happily. "Two weeks ago, I was in such a dark mood. And now I'm so happy."
Azula nodded, marveling her own change in mindset from her constant low-grade worry Katara would leave her to current certainty that that would never happen. "I'm happy too."
Why should she need more than this in her life?
-TBC-