A/N:
Back with more Drowning Lessons!
Chapter 22:
Seven Months Later…
News seemed to travel pretty fast in Bei Seng Sei now with the Dai Lee being taken down. And all the news had anything to talk about was the Fire Nation. Katara was so annoyed with it. She couldn't stand it. But she tolerated it. And it wasn't like there was anything said that she didn't already know would happen in the back of her head. Basically, Ozai had regained power but Zuko managed to escape with the aid of his loyal followers. They both were fighting to be the one true Fire Lord. Their followers clashed and they literally divided the country in half.
The Avatar and his friends stayed out of the conflict as it was a political matter that had not yet disturbed the balance of the world just yet. Even more, Mai was sided with Ozai and spoke out against Zuko, discrediting him every step of the way which weakened the support of the people. Everyone now knew that the Fire Lord used and deceived her and the former ambassador. Making them all believe he was a whoremonger that couldn't even care for the child he sired and therefore was unfit to care for his people. It seemed to be working in their favor as everyday more and more news came about Zuko's eminent debacle.
Walking to the school house where she let Kai attend since moving here, Katara smiled as she saw her son wave goodbye to his friends before running up to her.
"Mama! Guess what?!" Kai said as he took his mother's hand.
Smiling at him, "What?"
"I can write my name now! And with no help!" He said.
Cheering him on, "That's wonderful! I knew you were a genius!" She laughed happily.
Kai skipped around, "Yeah! I've gotta be so I can teach my brother or sister how to write their name too!"
Katara held his hand all the way till they got home and both of them smelt that dinner was almost done.
"It's almost ready!" Shinji called from the kitchen.
Katara was so thankful for Shinji. He literally looked after them and took good care of them too.
When they arrived here, Katara figured they'd stay in the lower ring until she could afford the middle ring but Shinji had tapped into his wealth as a noble in the Fire Nation before leaving. He really did have it all thought out and planned out. She was really happy about that.
Kai ran upstairs to his room to practice his writing some more so it can be perfect. While he did, Katara went into the kitchen and saw Shinji was slicing the meat for the dish. She came to give him a hand in the kitchen. Usually, he'd try to make conversation with her but he just focused on the slicing. And somehow she knew something was up.
"What is it?" She asked as she went to grab some spices from the cabinet.
Still slicing, "Ozai won."
Katara dropped the spices all on the floor.
"Zuko's alive and thankfully not recaptured by his father. His whereabouts are unknown but it seemed he knew his father was going to win and left before he could finish him off." Shinji explained.
Relaxing, Katara held her stomach and was about to crouch down to pick up the spice but Shinji stopped what he was doing to get it for her. When they were both on their feet, Shinji looked at her with a seriously worried look on his face.
"I will try to protect you as best as I can but if Ozai finds you're here, it's very little I can do. He will likely kill me first before he makes his move to you." Shinji warns her. "If I go missing or you call my name and I don't respond, run."
Katara nodded her head as she felt somber. She hated that Shinji just knew by helping her get away that he would die doing so and yet, he still helped her anyway. It really bothered her. Because she knew why he was doing this. He made it very clear he liked her and confessed that to her plenty. Even knowing she couldn't bring herself to return his affection.
Sweeping his hand across her cheek and smiling at her, "I hope this will not be the case but I'm not a fool to believe that this peace will last long for you or I. I want it to but Ozai is persistent and I feel in my gut if not tomorrow then some day."
Fortunately, a little over a month passed and that day hadn't come yet. Everything had remained peaceful and Katara prayed every night that it would stay that way. She held to hope that Ozai and his followers would not be able to find her.
Everything was fine until she began to feel labor pains while Kai was in school. She called for Shinji and didn't hear a response. She continued to call as she tried to work her way downstairs to find Shinji. When she finally got down stairs, she smelt something burning and figured Shinji had left the stove on.
As she entered the kitchen, Katara's eyes widened as she saw Shinji's body on the floor in a pool of blood and his head was missing. Gasping as she placed her hand over her mouth, the waterbender looked up to see a group of men in black enter the other end of the kitchen before making way for who she had already guessed was Ozai.
And it was him.
Entering in his formal robes, topknot with the crown resting in it. He looked different from the last time she saw him. Looked like the royal he was instead of the prisoner he had became. She held her stomach and cringed knowing this was the worst possible time to be going into labor. He smirked at her when he realized what was happening to her.
"I guess I came just in time." Ozai grinned and he snapped his fingers. "Bring the physician in and take her upstairs." He ordered.
Wincing as she was in serious pain not just from the labor pains but from seeing Shinji's lifeless body on the ground and knowing her peaceful time was over. Two of his guards came and grabbed her as a handful of servants followed with the physician up the stairs. Seemed this was calculated. He must have known where they were the whole time and waited for her to be vulnerable before making a move.
…..
Ozai paced downstairs as he listened to the waterbender screaming above him and throwing objects from what it sounded like. He even heard his men call for backup as it sounded like she needed to be restrained. He found it amusing that she was still able to put up a fight. Luckily, he was patient and waited for her to go into labor before he came for her. She would likely be gone if she weren't having the baby now.
And then, about an hour later there was a loud scream he heard that made her voice go hoarse before being followed by a baby's cry. That was quick. Perhaps, all her struggling sped things up. He had prepared to be here a lot longer but fortunately, it was over.
It was starting to quiet down when the physicians came down stairs to tell him the gender of the baby.
"It would seem you have yet another son, your majesty. Congratulations." The physician said.
Job well down, waterbender. Ozai grinned. If this child turned out to be a firebender then he had his heir. Hopefully, one that wouldn't disappoint. He decided he wanted to meet this son of his before he took the child and its mother back with him to the Fire Nation.
As he entered the room, he saw that the waterbender was pale and unconscious in bed while a servant had to rock the baby, trying to keep him warm. The servant looked to him and bowed.
"Your majesty, she won't wake and we need her to nurse the baby or he won't survive." The servant told him.
Ozai carefully took his son from the servant and looked down at the child, who's eyes were still shut. He walked over to Katara and sat by her bedside.
"Wake up, Katara." He said as he held their son with one hand and shook her with the other. "You need to feed him before you rest."
She didn't stir and this bothered Ozai as he soon yelled for the Physician. When the physician returned to look over Katara, he determined that she had lost too much blood and if she continued to do so, would not make it. Ozai angrily demanded that the Physician do his job and save her or he was going to execute him on the spot. He then ordered his servants to find a wet nurse for his son.
When a wet nurse was found, Ozai handed his infant son to the servants and looked back over Katara as the physician was busily trying to recover her.
"Your majesty, the boy is out of school, should we snag him." A guard came up to him.
Ozai refused to look away from Katara, "Get him and take him to the airship. Once she's awake we'll leave."
"Yes, your majesty." The guard bowed before taking off to carry out his orders.
Within a few hours, Katara finally woke but she looked deathly ill. He watched her eyes look at him as if to register who he was and when it settled in, those blue eyes of herself widened as she then saw the infant in his arms. He smirked and went back to her side and handed their son to her, to which she practically snatched the baby from him. He chuckled and ran his finger along her face and grinned as she glared at him while holding their son protectively.
"How did you find me?" Katara asked as she eyed him.
Simply taking in her appearance, "I knew Shinji would be with you and followed where his money had been sent."
Holding the baby close to her chest, "And Kai? Where is he?"
"The airship, waiting for us." He told her. "I won't hurt him. He's a good kid."
And as if nothing he said had seemed to comfort her, she began to tremble as tears began to shed. "Why did you have to kill Shinji like that? He was only following what I told him."
Ozai could see she was really bothered by having seen the man decapitated on the kitchen floor. He sighed and stood up, gazing down at her as his expression became stone cold.
"I told you you'd be the death of him, did I not? Not only did he try to have you to himself. He betrayed me to save you. Twice!" Ozai pointed out to her as he turned his back to her. "Now, I don't want to discuss this or anything that's going to kill my mood. Because I'm in a very good one. You gave me a son, a potential heir which is a lot in itself. When we are home in the Fire Nation, we'll have him looked over to see if he's a firebender."
Katara looked at him and shook her head as she held her baby. "Ozai, please, I'm begging you. I don't want to go back there. I don't." She cried. "I can't g-"
"Nonsense." He brushed off her pleading. "I already have everything prepared for you there. It's been done. You don't have a choice. Now stop stressing yourself out over things you can't change."
And with that, she watched him leave the room, ordering his guards to gather her things and help her to the airship.
…
It wasn't a long journey back to the Fire Nation. Especially not in the airship. What took literally a month and a few days by land mount only took a few hours in the airship. It was midnight when they arrived. Ozai figured since Katara was still awake, he would show her to her chambers where she and the children would stay for a little while.
Of course, she didn't seem happy either way and literally climbed into bed with their infant son. His grandson climbed in bed with them like it was completely normal. Ozai figured from the glare he was getting from Katara that it was best to start over tomorrow.
But tomorrow came and she was still glaring at him. Even more than before because he took Kai from her this morning to introduce him to his new instructors and then had their infant being nursed by a wet nurse. Plus, she was waking up in the Fire Nation which she specifically stated she didn't want to be.
"So what the fuck is this?" She spat as she folded her arms, on bedrest by the physician's order.
Sitting at the edge of her bed, "This part of the palace is private. It's own garden and courtyards. Twelve bedrooms. Your own servants. And I had the closet filled with clothes more suited for your new status."
"Excuse me?! New status?! What status?!"
"1st Consort."
"Oh...so, I am still a whore to you!" Katara yelled.
"Of course not. This title is only temporary as well as your stay in this part of the palace. In a few months you will move into my chambers once we are married."
"MARRIED?!"
Ozai sighed as his gaze hardened, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't act so shocked. You can't possibly think I wouldn't marry you. I'm not Zuko."
And she didn't understand how she could not be shocked by this. He was wanting to marry her. After everything. Everything. That included the stuff from before she and him reconciled. Back when they originally met. He wanted to marry her despite all that bad stuff and her previous relationship with his son? Why?
"Forgive me if I'm a little taken aback but I never thought you'd ever want to have me as a wife. Especially now that you have your throne back." Katara tilted her head at him. "You know I'm damaged goods, right? Of course you do. So why make me, of all the other women you could have, your wife?"
"My mother was a brothel whore from a meager village somewhere not even listed on a map and my father still married her." Ozai told her as he stared fiercely at her. "You may not want to be my wife but I'd be good to you like you've been to me. You will want for nothing. I promise."
Katara's gaze dropped. As much as she was flattered, she was not exactly happy about practically being forced into a marriage with him. He didn't even ask her. It was just something determined on his own. She knew she probably shouldn't have gotten involved with him while he was in prison. It was just like before only he wasn't torturing her. Somewhere in his head, he decided that she was his and she'd just have to accept that. And while she wanted to say something back, Katara was too tired to care at this point, this was as good as it was going to get and as sick as that made her, there was nothing she could do about it.
"Okay, Ozai." Was all she could say before he reached to kiss her hard against her cheek.
Running his hand into her hair as he smiled at her, "Good girl."
…
Getting a chance to be out of bed, Katara carried her son with her as she explored her private domain. She had to say, she didn't even know this part of the palace existed. It was large and unlike the other parts of the palace. Quiet and quaint. Traditional and comfortable. She had to say it made her feel more at ease than the other parts of the palace. The servants bowed whenever she passed by. The greenery was in plenty and she could easily forget where she was.
"My lady, would you like to have breakfast in the garden or the dining room?" A servant approached her and bowed.
Katara felt a little odd being bowed to. Were consorts supposed to be bowed to? Holding her son, the waterbender told the servant that she would like to eat in the garden. She then saw several servants with trays begin carrying them to the garden as the servant that approached her showed her the way.
Following them the elegant little patio out in the middle of the garden, Katara could say she actually liked what she saw. It was beautiful. And the servants had brought so much food. She sat down and looked at it all and then to the servants.
"I couldn't possibly eat this all by myself." She said.
The head of the servants spoke up and to tell her she wouldn't be eating it all by herself. Katara soon saw that she wasn't all and that a woman she was familiar began approaching the patio in the garden. With wide eyes, the waterbender looked to see Ursa dressed in a plain red kimono like her with hair down. She sat down opposite of her with grace as the servants all bowed and left them to eat alone.
"Lady Ursa, why are you- how?!" Katara didn't understand why Zuko's mother was still here.
Sniffling as she had been crying, "I had to help Zuko get away. Ozai wouldn't kill me but he would kill our son."
The waterbender sighed as she looked pitifully at the older woman.
"He tells me I can stay here with you and he won't dare even look at me as long as I don't cause trouble." Ursa says.
Starting to feel guilty, "So are you a consort too?" Katara asked.
Ursa nodding her head, saying that Ozai never liked to touch her and did so as little as possible. So he made her an unranked consort. Only just above the status of a concubine.
"But I'm told your first consort." Ursa looked at her sympathetically.
Katara looked down at the baby in her arms and Ursa suddenly realizes she has the little baby.
"I forgot. You weren't even showing when I last saw you." Ursa said as she smiled down at the baby. "He's beautiful."
Sighing, Katara nodded. Her son was beautiful but she had once again given birth to a child that looked nothing like her. A Fire Nation baby. She wouldn't be surprised if he were a firebender too. Not that she was complaining but in the grand scheme of things, she had hoped this would not be. It just made her sons pieces on a game board for political ambition.
Ursa stared at the somber look on the waterbender's face. "It would seem you catch his eye. Ozai always had lovers and concubines and servants he slept with but he was always careful not to impregnate them."
"Is that supposed to make me feel special?"
"No, forgive me." Ursa bashfully looked down at her hands in her lap as she clenched them into her dress.
Shaking her head, "It's fine. I don't hate him. He wants to marry me and being 1st consort is only temporary. I just don't want to get married and not just to him but to anyone."
Ursa could understand that.
The women ate their breakfast and a few servants came to gather them to be prepared for the day. Katara was taken back to her rooms and dressed in an elaborate dress with her hair dressed up and ornaments placed in it. A powder to her face to make her brown skin lighter. Her lips painted thick red. Eyes lined with black to make them appear much more sophisticated. With a gold touch of eye shadow to her eyelids. Decorative nails were placed on her and the mark of consort was printed to her forehead.
When she left her rooms, Katara holding her baby in her arms, she saw Ursa leaving hers dressed in a similar fashion. Only her dress wasn't as elaborate nor was her makeup. She figured it had to do with status. Katara hated the hierarchy of things here.
As she was led by the servants to the front of the domain where the lobby was, Katara could see that there were a few men standing there in wait of them. When she and Ursa arrived, Katara recognized one of the men to be Zhao. She wore a dull expression as the man looked her dead in the eyes with amusement.
"Consort Katara, you look lovely." He approached her with nothing but delight on his face.
Katara's expression didn't let up as the man stood dead in front of her and looked down at her son bundled in her arms. He grinned wider as he saw the baby with his eyes wide open.
"Gold eyes. Wonderful. His chances of being a firebender are immense. You should be proud." Zhao told her.
The waterbender looked to the space over his shoulder instead of looking him in the eyes, "What brings you to this wing of the palace?"
Zhao chuckled and backed off of her, "His majesty, asks that we escort you and Consort Ursa to the temple. He wants the Fire Sages to take a look at the boy right away."
Katara looked down at her infant son and sighed. And if you're not? What happens then?
As the two women were escorted to the palanquins to be carried to the temple, Ursa glanced over to her right and saw the young woman wearing a morbid look on her face. She looked sad and just barely in contempt about her new life. Things were very different with Ozai back in power. Things returned to their traditional values and with her being the prized possession of the Fire Lord, her life was about to be a whole lot different than before. Especially once Ozai made her his wife.
When they arrived, the first thing Katara noticed was that Ozai and a group of men were already present. Seemed he had an entourage of guards and servants following behind him at all times now. She didn't ever remember Zuko having that sort of thing but she figured he broke tradition plenty under his reign. Helped out of her carriage, Katara's eyes lifted from the ground to Ozai's as his were locked on her. She didn't know why but it made her uncomfortable with how he was looking at her in front of everyone.
"You look wonderful, my dear." Ozai said as he approached her and took her hand while she used one arm to hold their child.
"Thank you." Was her reply as her gaze fell again, getting the attention of the Fire Sages waiting on them.
Ever since Fire Lord Ozai informed them he planned to marry his son's mistress as she had been pregnant with a child of his seed, they had worried that the former ambassador was trying to climb her way to the top by sleeping with the male members of the royal household. However, at the moment, she looked like anything but the willing bride. Perhaps, she was forced into this as she had already bore two sons of royal blood.
One sage approached the couple in order to greet them. Bowing his head, "Your majesty, Fire Lord Ozai and Consort Katara, I will walk you both in so that we may begin the ceremony."
Katara furrowed her brows, "The ceremony?"
"Yes, a child born of the Fire Lord must first go through a ceremony for him to be given the title of a prince."
"But don't we need to find out if he is a firebender or not?" Katara raised a brow. This wasn't making much sense to her.
The sage chuckled, "I assure you that we needn't worry about that. Looking at the boy, he is no doubt a firebender. You have nothing to worry about."
As the sage turned around to show them in, Katara felt a little lightheaded, dizzy, and out of sorts. She didn't know why but she felt completely off. Why was everything happening so fast? Looking over her shoulder at Ursa for some sort of help here, Katara saw the woman looked just as distressed as she did. What was going on?
…..
Ozai tried not to notice the off putting way Katara was behaving but it was impossible. She literally looked like she was going to collapse over and maybe it was because her body was still very frail from having their son but it concerned him nonetheless. As he had to take their son from her arms to continue the ceremony while she was sat aside by a servant, Ozai's eyes didn't leave her. Something was going on with her and he didn't like it.
Once their son was given the title of Fire Prince and named Soji, Ozai took Katara back to her chambers as he wanted to speak with her. When there, he ordered the servants to fix her something to eat that was aligned with the diet the palace physician recommended. As they were gone, the Fire Lord sat beside his bride to be and studied her uneasy expression.
"You don't look happy." He said as he reached for the side of her face and got her to look up at him.
"Because I'm not. I never wanted to come back here or be Fire Lady. I just wanted to live away from all of this." Katara tried to force the cry in her throat down. "And just a few days ago, you killed Shinji and I really don't know how to deal with that. He was good to me, Ozai. He really did look out for me since the very first day. I just can't get that image of him out of my head."
Furrowing his brows as he looked down at her, "Shinji betrayed me."
"But that was my fault, Ozai. I asked him to. He was just being a good man. You didn't have to-"
"I did." He whispered to her as he gripped her chin. "You shouldn't have left me. I would have made you min as soon as I took the throne."
Katara's eyes watered as she could see there was no getting through to him as she shut her eyes. "Nothing I say will reach you. You make it impossible to refuse you and I'm not going to fight you anymore, Ozai. Just whatever you do, don't kill anyone else because of me. Please."
"Fine." Ozai told her as his gaze softened up and leaned down to kiss her lips but she turned her head.
Wiping her tears away, "I don't want to be touched right now."
Deciding to give her her space, Ozai reluctantly got up and walked away, clenching his fists. He hoped she wasn't going cold on him again. He really did hope she was just being moody at this moment because he couldn't deal with it if she was trying to push him away entirely. But he wouldn't stress it too much.
…...
Iroh sighed as he saw his nephew was furious. They had made their way to Bei Seng Sei where it was safest for Zuko to hide out. It was also their hope to find Katara and Kai here with Shinji but it was brought to their attention that the waterbender and child were abducted after local authorities found a man decapitated in the kitchen. They suspected it was Shinji.
After a few months, they learned from Fire Sages loyal to Zuko that Katara was in the Fire Nation being held under the title of 1st consort until wedding preparations were made. It was unclear if Katara was a willing participant but it was noticed that the waterbender refused to see Ozai since first arriving in the Fire Nation again and seemed uneasy during the crowning of her son. Zuko knew Katara had been seeing his father behind everyone's back but he knew she wasn't in support of the things his father had done. Her being abducted and Shinji's death made it clear, she didn't go willingly.
"All we can do now is try to gain support from our allies here and in time we can deal with your father." Iroh told Zuko as he put on some tea for them.
Zuko folded his arms and tried formulating how he was going to deal with his father moving forward. He tried to get Aang's help but as it stood, his father wasn't posing a threat to the balance of the world. This was strictly political and as the Avatar, he couldn't interfere. He could try reaching out to Sokka but there was likely very little he could do in regards to fighting another possible war. The South Pole was still recovering from the last war they fought. Seemed he had no choice but to appeal to the allies here in Bei Seng Sei.
…
Katara was spending most of her time with Kai and Soji in the private sanctum of the palace. Other than her sons, the servants, and Ursa, she didn't have to deal with anyone. Five month had passed since she had returned to the Fire Nation and Ozai had respectfully given her her space. They agreed not to see each other until the wedding ceremony which the sages had set for it to be a week before the end of summer. Honestly, she was very nervous about it as all the nobles from court who were already familiar with her as ambassador would be present. She didn't want to think of how they'd look at her. Some had really come to respect her and hold her in high regard but now, her name was slandered after she was said to have been Zuko's mistress. The only thing saving her from being called a whore was that she was about to become Fire Lady fairly soon.
And as the days leading up to the wedding ceremony approached, Katara noticed servants removing things from her rooms, likely taking them to the Fire Lord's chambers as they would be her new chambers soon. While she watched Kai play with his little brother, Katara saw Ursa approach her and stood to greet her.
"Only three days from now." Ursa said as she took a seat beside the young woman.
Sitting back down as she looked to Ursa, "Is there anything I should know about him? Something that might upset him that I should be wary of?" Katara asked.
"Don't ask him about his childhood or mention his father. Azulon hated Ozai and Ozai hated him in return." Ursa warned Katara. "Also, he's a very jealous man. If he thinks you're pulling away, he will assume you are seeing someone else and anyone close to you will be suspected. And as I'm sure you're already aware, he has very strange desires in the bedroom."
Katara didn't really mind them. She felt that was the one area she didn't struggle with him on. The jealousy would likely be challenging and his childhood, she could evade all conversation going down that route. It was fine by her.
"Anything else?"
"Sometimes he just likes to vent and all you can do is listen quietly and offer your comfort. As long as you do that, he won't turn on you. Just be careful if he starts sounding delusional. If he hits you, you should protect your face at all costs."
"Why?" Katara was confused. If he hit her, she was definitely hitting him back.
Ursa sighed, "Because everyone will see the evidence on your face and they will blame you for angering him."
He should be worried about angering me. Katara thought to herself. She was already on edge as it was. If Ozai decided to divert to his old habits, she was going to kill him.
"The best advice I can give you is to stay in his good grace."
…
Lying her head down on her pillow, Katara found that sleep eluded her and did not wish to comfort her from her thoughts. The wedding was in just a few days and she had no idea what to do with herself. She couldn't run now. It was far too late for that. Kai had begun to grow even closer with his grandfather and enjoying the attention he got from all the servants. Life was kinder to him here and there was no denying it. And maybe if she stopped worrying so much and loathing it so much, maybe it could be kinder to her too.
In the morning, Katara was not able to get a lick of sleep and found she looked every bit as miserable as she felt. The servants were bathing her as they now did with her new status and were washing her hair when the women all frantically jumped as they were interrupted by the sudden appearance of the Fire Lord. The waterbender slowly lifted her gaze from the pool to her soon to be husband as he dismissed all her servants. She saw him staring at her with an unreadable look in his eyes.
"Your majesty." She greeted him.
"You're not a servant. Don't address me like one." Ozai told her as he stepped towards the pool she was soaking in.
Shifting her gaze away from him as she moved towards the steps leading out of the pool, Katara surfaced from the tub without a care for her nudity. He had seen her plenty and they were soon to be husband and wife. What was there to care about?
"Then how would you prefer I address you?" Katara asked as she took her towel and first dried her face before wrapping it around herself.
Ozai stepped towards her and eyed her as she stared at her reflection, "Address me as you would someone you love."
"But I don't love you." She told him flatly.
Leaning down to her ear, "But you will. I'll make it where you won't let a day go by without telling me that you love me." He whispered.
Katara sighed as she dropped her gaze and then turned around to him, "You want me to love you, Ozai?" Her eyes went up to his and saw that look in his eye that he seemed to always have when he looked at her in prison. Like he adored her.
"I love you." It seemed so obvious by now. "Why would I not want you to love me back?"
If he weren't being so vulnerable in front of her right now, she might say something insensitive but she couldn't bring herself to say anything harsh to him. She almost wanted to feed into this little hope of his that one day she would grow to love him and maybe she would, some day but she felt that would be cruel too. So all she could do was agree with him, that she would want the person she loved to love her back, if she had loved someone.
Caressing her face, "I've missed you, waterbender." He purred as his forehead was to hers.
Letting her towel drop, Katara told him she missed him too and she did. She missed his touch and the way he put her at ease just by being in his arms. She missed how tender and warm his affection could be when he was gentle with her. How she could forget every bad thing he had ever done to her. She wanted to forget it all. Pretend that they only met after he returned to prison. That she only ever laid with him of her own volition. That he had never been unkind to her. If he was going to be her husband, she wanted to only see the good in him, so she could feel good about being in this place once again.
Ozai kissed her forehead and cupped her face, "I'll wait to have you again on our wedding night."
"Ozai." She called his name just as he was about to pull his hand away.
"Yes?"
"Can you promise me something?"
"What is it?"
Katara reached for his hand and pulled it back to her face, "Don't hit me. Even if you feel the impulse or I say something bad, please, don't ever hit me. Punish me if you need to but don't hit me and don't hurt the boys. Anything they do wrong, I'll take full responsibility."
Furrowing his brows as he saw her trembling, Ozai felt a bit upset by this. Was she really worried that he would hurt her? He couldn't exactly blame her when she likely knew all about his previous marriage and how he treated his oldest two children. But he honestly couldn't imagine hurting her. Even with that awful attitude of hers, he couldn't bring himself to imagine hurting her again. He'd punish her some other way but he wouldn't hurt her. And the children, they were good boys, she didn't need to fear for them.
"I promise."
"You do?" Katara felt relieved a little as she looked back up at him, sniffling.
"Yes."
"Thank you."
….
On the day of the wedding, Katara had to follow the traditions from the moment she woke up to the moment she was dressed in her wedding gown. Ursa even helped out as she had been through this before. As her hands and feet were decorated in henna art, Ursa styled her hair in a way that would compliment her features. Having a lock of hair down on each side of the front of her head while the rest was bundled up in the back and dressed in ornaments, Katara watched as the servant placed a veil down from the top of her head to the front of her face. They made sure not to smudge her eye makeup or lipstick.
Escorted by an entourage of female servants dressed in soft pinks while two fire sages led the way from her chambers to the throne room where the ceremony would take place, Katara tried not coughing too much by the many burning incense. She brought her sleeve up to her face to prevent the fumes from suffocating her but it did little to ease her. Fortunately, Ursa was by her side, helping her walk in these awful shoes.
"Here, I wet it before we left, hold this to your nose." Ursa handed her a handkerchief.
Accepting it with gratitude, Katara thanked the woman as she held it to her nose.
Once the bride's entourage reached the throne room, the waterbender felt a sudden anxiousness to get things over with. She was tired and hungry. Besides, she wasn't sure she was going to like having all eyes on her. Even if it was her wedding day, she didn't want to be the subject of attention.
Squeezing Ursa's hand, "I'm scared."
"Trust me, I understand but it's going to be a whole lot more scary if we don't get this over with." Ursa patted her hand.
Katara swallowed hard. Okay, let's get this over with.
….
There wasn't much else for the priest to say after they gave their vows. His oath to always put her before any desire of his and to do as any good husband would. And her oath to follow and obey him. Not the words she wanted to use but these were the vows that every woman in her position before her gave. As Ozai was given the right to remove her veil in front of everyone, Katara's blue eyes gradually lifted to his and she saw the corners of his mouth curl slightly, like he wanted to smile but was holding back. She swore she hated how cute she thought that was. A man like him having to bite back his joy of looking at her all because he had to look tough. She wouldn't fault him as she knew as soon as they were alone, he'd hold back no longer.
Cracking a small smile of her own to let him know she wasn't miserable on this day, Katara's eyes widened with everyone else's as the Fire Lord grabbed both sides of her face and pulled her into a passionate kiss. She had to nip him a little as she felt he was about to put his tongue in her mouth causing their guests to all break into chatter at his public display of affection for her.
At the reception, Katara sat beside her husband and grinned slightly to herself as she felt his hand holding to hers in her lap. He hadn't removed his hands from her since the ceremony was over and it would be a lie if she said it didn't make her happy to feel so wanted. This wedding thing might not have been her idea or what she wanted but she was glad it wasn't awful.
Seeing a noble couple approach, Ozai removed his attention from his wife, whom he hadn't let go of, to acknowledge them.
"Your majesties." The nobles both bowed to the newly wedded couple.
"This Lord Cho and his wife." Ozai introduced his new wife to the nobles. "
The two greeted her warmly.
"So much has changed in so little time but it is good to have the rightful Fire Lord back on the throne." Lord Cho stated.
"And with a handsome new set of heirs." The noblewoman said as she looked to the new Fire Lady. "I caught a glimpse of your boys the other day when the servants were taking them around the palace. Just the cutest little guys."
Katara smiled a little as she nodded.
"A wonderful thing it is to have two boys. I'm sure you will give his majesty more in the future." The woman chuckled.
Actually, Katara wasn't planning on having more children. She wasn't really ready for the two that she had and she couldn't imagine having more at this time. However, it didn't seem like Ozai felt the same and told the two that they were told by a gyspy woman that they would have seven to eight children more between them. The three seemed all excited about this and continued on as Katara tried to appear unbothered by this, slipping her hand away from her husband's.
Once the couple was gone, Ozai turned his attention to his wife and saw she seemed to retreat into her thoughts.
"You don't want more children?" He asked her as he took her hand again.
Watching over the nobles having their fun of the reception, "There is already Kai and Soji."
"For now." Ozai said as he took up his wine glass.
Katara bit back the urge to say what she was thinking. "How about I focus on being a good wife before I start having any more children?"
"A good wife, you say?" Ozai raised his brow as he looked her over.
"Do you want more children or a good wife, Ozai?" Katara gave him a look with her eyes that practically told him how to answer the question and from the look he was giving her in return, his answer was clear.
Standing up while still holding onto her hand, "I think we should retire for the evening."
"Isn't it too early? The sun only just set." Katara seemed confused.
"These people can continue enjoying the evening here." Ozai smirked as he pulled her up to him and leaned close to her face. "I'd prefer we continued things in our chambers."
Katara looked away from him bashfully as a few people were staring at them. It would be the talk of the palace tomorrow morning that the Fire Lord left the reception early to take his new wife to bed. She would have thought he'd be more reserved in displaying his affections as she always assumed was the case with those in powerful positions but he held back nothing and she had to say, it made her truly want to soften up to him.
"Then I guess our guests will have to excuse us." She said meekly as she couldn't hide the red tent of her face.
Ozai signaled his entourage to escort them out of the reception hall to the inner sanctum and as soon as they reached the inner sanctum, Katara was picked up bridal style as the servants were all ordered to stay away till morning. Rushing them to their chambers, Ozai put the girl down on her feet as they stood outside their chambers. Katara's eyes widened as she watched the guards open the doors to let them in. She hadn't seen this wing of the palace ever before. Ozai noticed this and asked her why Zuko wouldn't have brought her here once.
"I left shortly after his coronation and when I came back, it was strictly business with him." Katara answered as she took a look around, marveling at how grandiose this wing of the palace was.
The ceilings were higher than she thought were possible with drapes of red and gold translucent curtains hanging down from them. The walls were a deep red and had gold skirt boards. Floor cushions, vases of plants, sculpted decor, wall mounts of animal heads, and more things she had never really seen before furnished the chambers of the Fire Lord. She accidentally bumped into him as she wasn't paying him much attention but fortunately, he noticed she was busy looking around and caught her before she could hurt herself.
"We're sleeping here?" She asked him.
Smirking down at the blue eyed woman, "Why would we sleep here? This is only the lobby."
"Lobby?" Katara raised her brow.
"Follow me, waterbender."
And she did. And boy, was Katara not expecting these chambers to get anymore extravagant but it did. His bedroom was massive with a huge bed to match it. Ozai watched the waterbender walk right up to it with no hesitation and kick off her slippers to climb in it, all while lifting her heavy wedding gown. She was crawling on her knees to the middle of the bed when he came up to the side of it and started taking off his robes.
Plopping down on her back, Katara moaned as she wiggled into the sheets. "Why do you need a bed this big and this comfy!" She closed her eyes and let herself sink into the soft bed.
"It's a perk to being the ruler of over 750 million people." Ozai responded as he watched her intensely.
Sitting back up, Katara noticed the way he was looking at her and knew she would not get to sleep in the soft bed quite yet. She crawled over to where he stood watching her and knelt on the bed in front of him as she looked up at him. Her hand reached for his and placed it on the sash on her wedding dress. She was told early this morning that the sash would easily undo the dress and that her husband would have to be the one to pull it open, like unwrapping a gift.
As his hand grasped the sash in his hand, Ozai looked over the waterbender he had kidnapped over a year ago and he was glad he didn't kill her all the times the urge came. She was a piece of work but she was worth it.
"It's been nearly a year since I've last had you. So, you'll need to forgive me if I get carried away." He warns her.
Katara waits for him to pull on her sash. Honestly, she was looking forward to whatever desire overcame him tonight. She would be good to him as long as he was good to her.
Pulling the sash, Ozai saw the bare mocha skin of the waterbender. Starting from the plumpness of her thighs to the flatness of her belly. His eyes inched a little more to her breasts. Those perfect breasts of hers. Perfect size for her petite frame and those nipples that were a few shades darker than the rest of her skin. Agni, he wanted them in his mouth and he wouldn't be surprised if he started drooling. Only thing he noticed that was not to his liking was that she wasn't wearing her nipple piercings. His hand went to cup one of her breasts and flick her nipple with his thumb as his eyes were locked back on hers.
"Why did you remove them?" He asked her.
Glancing down at her breast that he was toying with, "The servants said it was barbaric and removed them."
"While I'm inclined to agree, I do like them nonetheless. Tomorrow, I'll have a jeweler come make you new ones." Ozai told her as his hand moved away from her breast down to her belly where he pushed her down on her back.
Katara stared up at him as he started undoing the drawstring of his trousers.
"Spread your legs." He told her, letting his pants pull to the floor.
It was damn near midnight and Katara had lost her voice from all the screaming she had been doing. Her sex was sore and Ozai was still not finished. He was dragging this out and she couldn't take it anymore. How was a man well into his forties able to last so long? Biting into the waterbenders neck as her voice had gone hoarse, Ozai continued plowing her little pussy. He was on the verge of cumming but wanted to continue feeling how wet she became from him fucking her.
Katara could tell he was just at his limit and tried to stop him from cumming inside her, "No more babies, Ozai." She told him.
"Fuck! Don't say it like that!" He hissed as he came anyway, pulling out too late.
Panting as he rested his forehead to the space beside her head, Ozai swore under his breath as Katara finally removed her nails from his back.
"I don't think this is going to work." He told her as he rolled off of her. "You're going to end up pregnant again."
Sitting up to look at him, "Can't I take some sort of contraceptive?"
"No." He told her.
"Why not?" Katara moved to lay her head on his chest.
"You're the Fire Lady now. You can't take that sort of thing. Half your responsibility to me and the country is having children." Ozai explained to her. "If I asked the physicians, word will get out and everyone will wonder why the Fire Lady doesn't want to do her job."
As much as she hated hearing that, there wasn't much that could be done about it. Maybe that psychic was right. She was going to have an entire litter. Oh my fuck!
…
A/N:
Wonder how Katara is going to deal with being married now and will Ozai stay sane?