Every Precious Thing

by Thunder and Blue

"It's supposed to be easy," she says as the ashes fall into the sea. "The life you have after you save the world is supposed to be easy." It's not long before the Gaang admits that things might have been simpler when they were fighting a war. -A series of scenes in an undeservedly tragic life- (Post Series, non-Korra compliant)

5. Interlude

#1 - Silver

The servants whisper that widows are cursed women; Katara reasons that this means she should get an extra bun with dinner.

#2 - Rock

She loves him with everything she is, but Zuko's tsugi horn playing should be considered an instrument of war.

#3 - Three

There are still days when she struggles to leave her bed, but now she has Koza to whine and needle and bother and cry and drag her away from her sorrow.

#4 - Wedding

Sokka marries Suki and swears to her that there is nothing she could ask for that he will not give.

#5 - Covenant

Zuko marries Katara and explains to her how few things she could ask for that aren't already hers by right.

#6 - Heirs

It takes a week of questioning before anyone will tell her why Koza's nurses go to weeping every time she declares her intent to give him a bath.

#7 - Queen

The Water Tribes are ruled by tradition, the Fire Nation by honor; Katara looks at where she's been and wonders if she has either.

#8 - Phantom

On her worst days she listens to Koza laugh and hates the world for the little blue-eyed boy he isn't.

#9 - Honor

The servants call her "Lady Katara;" Zuko corrects them before she has a chance.

#10 - Yinyang

She rises with the moon, he rises with the sun, so for balance's sake they must sometimes spend the whole day in bed.

#11 - Mother

The Fire Nation doesn't have a formal ceremony; she stands with her toes in the ocean and introduces Koza to the moon and swears that henceforth he will be as her own.

#12 - Traitor

"It's possible that this might be at least as good as stewed sea prunes."

#13 - Sweet

Katara could be crowned Supreme Empress Overlord of the Known Universe and Beyond and Toph would still call her Sugar Queen and flick toe gunk at her head.

#14 - Mine

It never occurs to Koza to call her mom; her name is Katara and that means the same thing anyway.

#15 - Armor

The Fire Lord doesn't travel during the new moon.

#16 - Sovereign

With time, she learns to make every seat into a throne and every room into a cathedral.

#17 - Kindred

She never feels as close to her mother as she does on the nights when she dreams that she burned instead of them.

#18 - Buzz

No one warns her about the potency of fire whiskey; Zuko remembers their wedding night fondly and Katara remembers it not at all.

#19 - Forever

(He makes up for this with a hundred more fondly-remembered nights, several dozen mornings, a handful of middays, and one particularly instructive week.)

#20 - First

"Of course I'm glad you did well, but I really shouldn't have to explain to you why a pie eating contest is not becoming of a Fire Lady."

#21 - Raw

She tells him about the lost days (when they took me, when they broke me, when they used me, when I was gone) in shreds and whispers over the course of years, but she does not speak of it unless the moon is full.

#22 - Logic

Koza seems skeptical that there's really a baby hidden in Katara's swollen belly, but is polite enough not to tell anyone how stupid that sounds.

#23 - Feather

His lips move softly across her skin and she smiles even as she moans; Zuko does gentle ember just as well as he does raging flame.

#24 - Rule

The hearts of the Fire people are won with wise judgements, true words, and ferocity when it's called for.

#25 - Link

"We're a team," she whispers and hooks a pinky around his as the Fire Sages present them to their people.

#26 - Reflex

It happens when she's exhausted, when she's been drinking, when she's upset, that Zuko reaches for her in the middle of the night and her body recoils in terror.

#27 - Home

There's a day when they're touring a smaller Southern town and the crowd calls out her name and Katara's heart expands.

#28 - Priorities

"People who are incubating the royal line of succession don't have to attend budget meetings."

#29 - Dirty

Zuko says there's no honor in cheating and Katara agrees emphatically as she teaches Koza to aim kicks for the groin.

#30 - Eclipse

Eventually the good days overshadow the bad.

#31 - Cobalt

Drunk Zuko's favorite topic of conversation is the indescribable blueness of her eyes.

#32 - Legacy

They call Katara the Southern Serpent and her daughter the Little Asp.

#33 - Religion

He says her name as if it's a prayer; she says his name as if it's a talisman.

#34 - Bind

Aang doesn't talk about what he saw in her mind, but a season never goes by without a letter or a visit.

#35 - Alarm

Sometimes Zuko kisses her awake and sometimes he chooses a squealing child and tosses them onto her bed.

#36 - War

Koza chooses his bedtime stories from the assortment of scars that crisscross her arms.

#37- Porcelain

She is secretly relieved when the baby is born a girl; she doesn't trust herself to love another blue-eyed boy without falling to pieces.

#38 - Sunlight

There's something unbelievably sweet about the way Zuko's smile can fill up a room.

#39 - Apples

"Why do I even bother letting you two out of my sight?" she sighs and ignores Zuko's exact scowl pointed up at her from two small, bleeding faces.

#40 - Tarragon

When Koza asks how the baby got in there in the first place, Katara becomes suddenly absorbed in the delicate flavor profiles of her soup.

#41 - Diamond

Sometimes it hurts and sometimes it's messy, but this life is always exactly what she wants.

#42 - Phobia

"Don't die," she whispers as he kisses away her tears, "don't ever die."

#43 - Echo

Mai's spirit haunts her when she least expects it: in the color of her sitting room, a forgotten gown in her closet, or the dry wit of the son she left behind.

#44 - Aurora

The night she is born, Katara kisses every tiny fingertip on her daughter's hands and feels the heaviness drop away, if only for a moment.

#45 - Eagle

In the evenings, they stand together at the top of the tallest tower in the palace and watch over the Nation that is theirs to fix.

#46 - Roots

"My daddy is a dragon," the girl tells the shopkeeper as she takes her flavored ice, "and my mama knows the moon."

#47 - Hush

She sits on the floor just outside the nursery and listens to Zuko sing tentative lullabies.

#48 - Obedient

"Is that an order, my Lord?" she drawls and squeals with laughter as Zuko pounces.

#49 - Sentinel

He is her husband, her king, her protector, her heart; though he stumbles, Zuko does not let her down.

#50 - Infinity

"What if we call her Koana?"

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A/N: Surprise! Early update! I'm not sure that I'll do this for every cycle, but I did it for this one! I'd see other fics do this whole 50 sentences thing. Of course, after I had it halfway done I realized there are actually set word prompt lists, so I guess I kind of cheated...

I also posted a submission for Zutara smut week that could be considered an outtake from this story in the sense that Zuko and Katara are in love and I recycled all my kid names because I have a limited sense of imagination. It's on my profile if that's your pleasure. Huge thank you to all the encouraging reviews, you all are the BEST.

Happy Wednesday!