A/N:
I'm back with more!
Chapter 32:
"Your majesty, is there something wrong?" Rin asked.
Rubbing his temple as he took his eyes off of her, Ozai shook his head and saw his wife enter their chambers with a bunch of scrolls in her hands. He got up to help her to which she smiled and kissed him before beaming at her new friend. She let Rin know that they were going to go buy her some more climate appropriate clothes in the city to which Ozai chimed in and told her he already hired a seamstress for the both of them.
Ozai watched as the two tribeswomen became excited and hurried off to go bathe together before the seamstress showed up. Agni, he really wanted to go watch but he was afraid Katara would not be pleased to find he liked her little friend. She already interrogated him about whether he had ill intentions about Rin staying since the woman was allowed to stay in the chambers just down the hall from them. But he assured her he just didn't want her making friends with the help.
When the seamstress came to measure them, the two wore their hair unbounded and their undergarments. Katara kicked him out of the room so he wouldn't start staring at them. Smart move on her part as she probably wouldn't want to see he was aroused by 'them' and not just her.
"Your husband is a weird man." Rin whispered over to her friend.
Katara chuckled and nodded, "He definitely has his moments."
"I don't think he likes me, though."
"What makes you think that?"
"He's been staring at me hard and then getting up to walk away as if he can't stand me."
Katara furrowed her brows. "I'll have to talk to him."
…..
Katara was happy to finally have someone in the palace that was not only her friend but a fellow tribeswoman. Sure, Rin was from the Northern Tribe and things were a bit different from the Southern Tribe but they still had more in common than Katara had with anyone here. Rin helped her with Nanami and the boys. She stayed up all night with her, reading and telling stories of their childhood. Never had she had someone to speak to like this. Not even before all this.
Little did Katara know but Ozai had been watching the closeness between the two women and was fantasizing having them both. He thought it would be a great idea because who better to share your husband with than your friend. Plus, two tribeswomen didn't sound bad at all. The people already believed there was a scandalous nature to their relationship. It wouldn't be hard to make that a reality.
As time went on, Rin began noticing the Fire Lord's attention on her. At first, she wasn't fond of the man seeking her attention while his wife was fawning over him. Fire Lady Katara clearly felt warmly about her husband despite the word going around that he had only just started to have some respect for her. It was hard to imagine at first. The two looked like a happy loving couple but after Katara confessed to some of the marital problems she had been faced with due to her husband's ways. Rin wasn't a huge fan of the Fire Lord.
But...He started treating his wife and her to gifts, secretly giving her something extra as a means to woo her. Rin didn't typically get wooed this way but the Fire Lord had been persistent and she hadn't had a man's attention since her husband left her for someone else. It was hard to resist.
"What do you think?" Katara asked Rin, showing off the nipple rings Ozai bought her.
"They look great." Rin said as she leaned forward to get a better look.
Walking in on the women by 'accident', Ozai saw Rin up and close on Katara. "What's going on in here, ladies?"
The two women turned to see Ozai and laughed when he gave them a questioning look.
"I was letting Rin look at the nipple rings you got me." Katara said as she fixed her dress back up.
Ozai's eyes cut to Rin, who bashfully bowed, apologizing for the interaction.
"We're women, Ozai. We do these sorts of things."
"I'm sure." He said, eyes still fixed on Rin. "I'll let it slide for now."
Katara turned around to look through the other nice jeweler Ozai had recently bought for her and while her back was turned, Ozai made an advance on Rin. One that she did not stop or resist. Receiving a kiss on the lips, Rin kissed him back and pulled away just as Katara turned back around.
"Can I let Rin borrow these nipple rings?"
Ozai raised a surprised brow, "You have piercings?" He asked Rin.
Rin nodded bashfully.
"Then I see no reason not to let her borrow them." He told Katara.
Gleefully, Katara grabbed Rin's arm and pushed Ozai out of the bathroom so she could get Rin to try on the rings. While helping Rin on the different nipple rings Ozai bought her, Katara confessed something that made Rin feel sick with guilt.
"I know Ozai has said 'I love you' and honestly, I never thought I'd ever say it. But now, with everything finally going the way it should, I think I finally understand his feelings and share them."
Rin swallowed hard and tilted her head at the Fire Lady, "What about his concubines? Do you think that will always affect you?"
Katara pulled her hair behind her ear and sighed, "I know it's fine for him to have them, even encouraged but I don't think I'll ever be fine with sharing my husband."
Rin could understand that. She had been through that with her husband. But unlike the Fire Nation, the Northern Water Tribe didn't allow concubines to anyone. Including the Chieftain. Of course, this wasn't always a good thing. A husband could always leave his wife for someone else, which is what happened to her. However, Katara was in a fortunate situation to be able to keep her husband and he was able to experience other women without their marriage being forced to end. Only person that could end things was the two of them.
But this made her feel no less guilty. Katara was a few years younger than her and had been through so much because of her husband. Of course, she would feel entitled to him, he was her husband but maybe she should try seeing that being the one wife amongst numerous concubines was an honor. All the women he had and she was the one he chose to be his wife.
"I love him but I'm afraid to tell him." Katara sighed and shook her head. "He hurts me a lot and I don't want to go back to hating him. So, maybe I'll just keep this all to myself."
A day goes by before Rin sees the Fire Lord again and this time, she was not with Katara. He tried going for another kiss but she moved away from him. One, she had a lot of heavy guilt on her heart and two, they were in the nursery with his three month old daughter. It wasn't right.
"Your wife will not be happy about this, your majesty." Rin told him as she had to press her hands to his chest to keep him off of her.
Continuing his advance, "Katara's never happy. This would be no different."
Rin looked somber at the man. Katara had just explained to her how she loved this man but he couldn't help but hurt her. She was not so sure that she wanted to be a part of that hurt.
"I really like your wife. I don't want to anger her."
Ozai tilted his head, "You tribeswoman are definitely harder to sway but give it time and thought."
As Ozai left Rin the nursery, Katara entered and raised a brow at Ozai before looking at her friend.
"He's not bullying you, is he?" She asked playfully.
Rin shook her head, "No, he was just checking on Nanami."
Katara smiled and went to pick her daughter up out of the crib.
"Well, I do hope you and Ozai can get along. He's not awful."
….
Zhao noticed the Fire Lord was interested in Rin right away. He first figured this out when he stopped by the chambers to discuss the investigation and saw the Fire Lady dancing with her new friend. The nobleman would agree the dance was erotic and both women were very easy on the eyes but the Fire Lord's view was different. Ozai spared him a glance before telling him if it was wise to pursue his wife's friend.
"Everything on Fire Nation soil belongs to you, sire." Zhao answered.
Smirking as he stroked his beard, "I want them both."
"Then you can."
"But my wife-"
"Your wife is a reasonable woman and it's obvious that she favors peace over anything else." Zhao expressed. "Talk it over with her."
Ozai eyed Zhao, "That's the only time I've heard something nice come out of your mouth about her. You got a thing for my wife now?"
Snorting, "Lady Katara is a beautiful young woman but I can't say I have a 'thing' for her. She's like decor to admire."
"Help me get her away from Rin long enough for me to make a move, I'll let you have her for a night." Ozai offered.
Zhao tried not to laugh but that was perhaps the funniest thing he had heard Ozai say in a while.
"I'm serious. I'm not exactly exclusive and I'm sure Katara can't stand it." Ozai shrugged as he looked back at the waterbenders dancing with their element. "Maybe she'll like getting even with me."
Now, Zhao was helping the Fire Lady late at night in the office sort out the healthcare bill she was trying to pass through the ministers and council. He didn't know if he really wanted to come onto her or not. Not like he was immune to her beauty or didn't occasionally want to bend her over the desk to shut her up whenever she spoke even a word to him but he did know it would piss his wife off. Mai wasn't exactly a huge fan of Katara and if he did what Ozai gave him permission to do, it would not end well if Mai found out.
However…
The Fire Lady did look exceptional this evening. Must have been Ozai that made her dress this way. It was casual but it was a lot more revealing than what she normally wore. Just standing behind her as she sat writing her plans down, he could see the top of her breasts from the low collar of her dress and her thighs in the dress were also appealing to him. All he could do was picture the woman bear before his eyes. The Fire Lord was a lucky man. Zhao would admit.
"Almost done." Katara stated as she rolled out another scroll. "I'm sorry to keep you here all night but Ozai said I need to be supervised until the person trying to kill me is discovered."
"All is fine." Zhao said while still checking her out.
Looking over her shoulder with a smile, "Thank you, Zhao. I know you don't like me much but I appreciate it."
He liked her enough to slam her head in the desk and pound that Water Tribe pussy of hers.
Turning back around, Katara suddenly felt a pair of hands on her shoulders and she stiffened at the initial contact. She was about to turn around to see if Zhao lost his mind until he assured her he wasn't going to kill her. Not that that was what she was worried about. Why was he touching her?
Zhao figured he'd make a subtle move on her or a suggestive gesture. She seemed tense about his initial contact but she calmed herself after relaxing into the shoulder massage. Obviously, no one paid her body much attention as she really seemed to enjoy the massage. He even heard a small moan escape her.
"Sorry." Katara said in embarrassment, covering her mouth with her hands.
Deciding to make his next move, Zhao spun her around in her chair and crouched in front of her. Before she knew what was happening, he pressed his lips to hers and felt her freeze. When he felt that she hadn't made a move to push him away, Zhao took it as a sign to continue his pursuit to fuck her on the desk. He went for another kiss and she punched the shit out of him, causing him to fall back.
"What the hell are you doing?!" She shouted at him.
Holding his jaw, "Obviously, it's not going to happen now." Zhao grumbled under his breath.
"Excuse me?! What's not going to happen?!" Katara stood up and glared down at him with her hands on her hips.
Zhao stood up too and stared angrily down at her, "Don't you find it odd that Ozai told you to wear this but didn't stay the entire day with you?"
Furrowing her brows, "What are you saying?" She was suddenly curious as to what he was talking about because what gave him the fucking courage to kiss her like that?
"Ozai figured since he's not exclusive with you that you'd want to get even." Zhao explained while still enchanted by her. Agni, he just wanted to fuck her while she scowled at him. He didn't understand before but he understood now why Ozai was so obsessed with her. His face hurt from her punch but he was turned on.
Katara folded her arms, "You're lying."
Still holding his jaw, "Do I look like I'd lie about this?"
Looking him over, Katara figures that perhaps he really wasn't lying. Zhao had a lot of balls to try coming onto his friend's wife. Maybe Ozai did give him the go to do so. Ozai, what the hell are you thinking?!
"Zhao, I'm flattered but I can't do this."
"Understood."
"Plus, you're married."
"Not like that's a problem for your husband."
Katara sighed and pinched her brows, "You kissed me, so I guess Ozai and I are even. I'm going to go let him know he can lay off with the evening shit out."
Zhao tried stopping the waterbender as she hurried off to speak with her husband. He didn't want her to walk in on Ozai fucking her friend. That part he couldn't be discovered just yet. However, as the two of them entered the chambers, Zhao called her name as soon as she grabbed her bedroom door knob but it was too late. He knew she heard it as well as he did.
Furrowing her brows as she turned to Zhao, "So, he told you to sleep with me because he's screwing someone else?"
Zhao nodded.
"Is she new?" Katara asked.
Zhao nodded again.
Sighing as she walked away from the door, "Come have a drink with me."
Raising a brow.
"I'm not sleeping with you. I'll just tell him it happened and see what he thinks. Just go along with it." Katara skulked off to the sitting room.
…..
Zhao noticed the following day that Ozai seemed irritated and hadn't said as much as a word to him all day. Clearly, while giving his permission, the Fire Lord didn't actually like the idea that his friend and wife hooked up. However, Zhao didn't care. Ozai did it to himself. While he might not have gotten more than a kiss, he did have every intention of continuing the pursuit, at least then Ozai would have an actual reason to be pissed off.
"Katara was gone the entire night. I said you could sleep with her, not keep her away an entire night!" Ozai finally snapped as he broke the quill in his hand.
Rolling his eyes, "She fell asleep soon after. I must have bored her."
Turning to glare at him, "Where did you two go?"
"Stayed in your office. I can't exactly sleep with your wife in the bed I share with my wife. It's distasteful."
Pushing himself from his desk as he glared at it, "You fucked my wife on this desk!"
"Yes." Zhao smirked.
The nobleman wanted to laugh when he suddenly found Katara's panties hanging out of his desk drawer. He watched his long time friend get up from his desk and storm out of his office. Zhao had to say that this was all too funny.
Katara and Rin were in the middle of bathing when Ozai barged right in causing the two women to be caught off guard. Rin goes below the bubbles to hide her naked body as the Fire Lady addresses her husband.
"What the hell, Ozai?! We're bathing!"
"You had sex with Zhao on my desk?!"
Katara rolled her eyes and turned her back, "No, I had sex with him on the floor next to your desk."
"You-"
"Liar." Katara shot a dirty look over her shoulder, "Zhao and I didn't have sex, Ozai. I just wanted to make you feel jealous for fucking some whore in my bed."
Furrowing his brows, "Then where did you go all night?"
"I slept in the nursery. Ask the servants, they put the covers over me." Katara turned herself away from him. "We're even now. So don't force your friend on me."
Ozai sighed as he rubbed his temple feeling guilty. Rin looked at him as Katara got out, seemingly feeling guilt as well.
"I'm sorry." He told her.
Covering herself in a towel, "And I'm tired of hearing that. When are you going to stop being sorry for hurting me and just stop hurting me?" She walked up to him and gazed up at him with somber eyes.
Before he could say anything, Katara shook her head and refused to hear anything else.
"I'm done, Ozai. I truly am. We can be friends in this marriage and respect one another but don't expect my loyalty any longer. You have your lovers and I want mine." Katara stated sternly.
Balling up his face, "I won't touch you if you sleep with another man, Katara." Ozai warned her.
"So be it." She said before walking around him and leaving the bathroom.
….
A month went by and Ozai didn't dare say a word to his wife as she had begun sleeping in the nursery with their daughter after declaring she would no longer stay faithful to him. It really pissed him off thinking that some other man had their hands all over her. He had Zhao follow her around all day only to find she hadn't involved herself with anyone else. But still, he was angry that she would even consider.
Sure, there were times a wife decided to be disloyal to her husband and it was often acceptable as long as it remained private and no one discovered the affair(s). However, Katara wasn't just his wife. He was in love with her. Only reason he was allowing this and turning somewhat of a blind eye to Katara wanting to be involved with someone else was because she did save his life more than once and this was his fault.
It didn't take long for her to realize her new friend was the new woman when she caught them in bed and Ozai made Rin his 1st consort, denoting Himiko to the status of a lowly concubine. It was publicly humiliating for both his wife and Himiko. He could hear Katara angrily throwing things around or crying herself to sleep. Knowing she was just fed up with him after everything she did for him, Ozai could sympathize as he wasn't fond of the thought of her being with anyone but him.
"What is this?" Katara raised a brow at a stack of scrolls dropped down on her desk in the study.
Ozai sighed and took a seat in front of her, "A list of noblemen I'd approve of you sleeping with."
Sighing as she slid the scrolls onto the floor, "You don't get to decide for me, Ozai."
"As your husband, I do get a say or you don't get to go behind my back." He bit out while clasping his hands together. "These men have all been vetted and have sworn to secrecy on pain of death. You will find no better candidates than the ones I've selected. Only the very best for you, dear."
Rolling her eyes, Katara moved to pick up a few scrolls and read over them. Many of the men Ozai selected were men far older than him and she felt that was intentional. Glancing up at her husband that was literally trying to keep his anger reeled in, the waterbender sighed and tilted her head.
"I'm not interested in anyone right now, Ozai. I'll ask for your 'best' candidates when I'm finally over getting my heart crushed over and over again." Katara leaned back in her chair and stared numbly at him. "You really did me in with that last stunt of yours, Ozai. You broke my heart."
"Broke your heart?! You don't even love me!" Ozai finally lost it, standing to his feet.
Katara narrowed her eyes at him, "You sure about that? Explain why you're alive or why you're able to speak and walk or hold your chopsticks, let alone hold that whore who pretended to be my friend! You were as good as dead! But I saved you! I did! Not even your precious whores and subjects wanted to save you! But I did! Just me!" She shot to her feet, shouting angrily. "And for what?! So you can hurt me some more! Go to hell, Ozai! If I want to fuck someone, I'll fuck myself because it's obvious that I keep doing that anyway! Just fucking myself over and over again!"
Ozai stood there silent as he watched the woman get up and leave the study.
The next few days had been dreadful for the Fire Lord as he basically got the confession he wanted but not in the way he wanted it. This whole time his wife was actually in love with him which made sense with everything she had been willing to do despite what he had been putting her through. He called Zhao off of her and decided to let her do whatever in private. Ozai didn't want to know. If she was seeing someone, fine. But he didn't want to know who or if it was even going on.
"Your majesty." Rin bowed to Katara as she was on her way to see Ozai.
Katara jumped the woman immediately and beat her ass in front of the entire hall full of courtiers. She sliced the woman's hair off and blackened her eye, busting her lip, and breaking her nose. Zhao had managed to witness the altercation and pulled the waterbender off of the newly instated 1st consort.
"You whore!" Katara screamed as she tried breaking free from Zhao's grip. "Sleep with my husband again and I'll kill you, you dirty bitch!"
Forced to cover her mouth as her language got out of hand, Zhao ordered the guards to take Rin to the physician while he carried the Fire Lady to the private sanctum.
There, Zhao put the Fire Lady on her feet and watched her try to leave only to be brought back to him.
"Any time you're brought here, you can only leave if Ozai orders it or you leave with him." Zhao told her as she glared at him.
Katara took her crown out of her topknot and threw it down. "I want a divorce! Tell your stupid friend to divorce me!"
"We both know that's not happening." Zhao sighed as he folded his arms. "Your best bet is just doing to him what he does to you. Not that it'll make things better but there is satisfaction in knowing that you're pissing him off, should be of some comfort."
"I'm not that kind of person!" She cried.
"I know and that's why there will always be other women." Zhao said before turning his back to her.
"Wait! Is he going to leave me here for long?"
Zhao shrugged, "Maybe, if he thinks it'll keep you from taking up a lover."
Katara stared miserably after Zhao and buried her face in her hands as she fell on her knees. "Why are you doing this to me, Ozai?!"
….
Hearing about Katara attacking Rin made it all the more clear to him that Katara had been very upset about his recent actions. He, of course, decided to let her stay in the private domain as she had clearly become unruly and had many of his subjects looking at him as if this was his fault. Katara's job was to make him look good. Not make him look like a piece of shit. Ozai decided to pay her a visit to discuss her latest incident.
Entering the domain, Ozai noticed Katara wasn't in the courtyard as she typically would be during the day. He decided to check the chambers she typically stayed in and couldn't find her. However, as he looked in her bathroom, he found her submerged under water in the tub.
"KATARA!"
Pulling the waterbender out of the water, Ozai saw her eyes widened at him and she forced her way out of his arms.
"What the hell are you doing?!" He yelled at her as she got to her feet.
Grabbing the towel nearby on the bathroom lounge chair, "I was trying to relax."
"That didn't look like trying to relax." Ozai narrowed his eyes.
Katara went to her bathroom sink and wrapped her wet hair up on top of her head as her husband stared daggers into the back of her head.
"I needed to simulate the feeling of drowning. Not that I was trying to drown but the feeling of almost drowning helps me cope sometimes." Katara explained as she grabbed a jar with facial cream and put a little on her skin.
Not sure if he should trust that answer, Ozai walked over to her and studied her. She didn't look like a person that had just been stopped from killing themselves. Maybe she was just trying to 'cope'.
"We need to talk."
"If this is about me punching your newest whore, save it. I won't do it again." Katara massaged the cream into her face. "You can do as you like. I'll just stay here and out of the way."
"That's not what I was going to say." Ozai sighed as he pinched the bridge of his nose while leaning against the sink counter. "I was going to tell you that I think sending you and the kids to a villa in the country for a few months might be a good change of scenery."
Turning to face him, "So you're getting rid of me?"
"No, I'm just trying to-"
"I don't think that's a good idea, Ozai." Katara said in a stoic tone. "Something happens to you and you're a goner."
"Are you going to guilt me all our lives?" Ozai asked her.
"I will if you are going to continue to mistreat me but don't worry about it, Ozai. We can try to be friends. We should keep up appearances for the court and the children."
While she might be extending an olive branch to him, he didn't doubt for a moment that she wanted to stab him in the gut and cut his balls off. But he didn't know what was worse, getting neutered by his wife or her cucking him. Both seemed like forms of castration.
"Friends, you say?"
"Yup. Keeping it purely platonic. You have your lovers and hopefully I'll find one too. So, let's just stop trying to make this marriage work in a way that we both know won't work." Katara offered him a disingenuous smile. "You want me to be okay with sharing you but I can't do that. I want you to be with me alone but you can't do that. So, let's forget about it. Friends?"
Ozai raised his brow at her extended hand, "I don't think I can agree to that, Katara."
Katara put her hand away, "That's fine. I'll be patient with you as I have always been."
Feeling guilty, Ozai moved to kiss her forehead but she moved away, waving her finger in his face as she chuckled and left the bathroom in her towel.
…..
Since Katara was a semi-Free woman, she decided to take Zhao up on his offer as she really just wanted to annoy Ozai and get off to something taboo. She was able to remain in the private domain and leave whenever she wanted. The waterbender approached her husband's best friend and let him know she wanted some company to which he read between the lines. It was quite obvious at this point that she no longer cared what Ozai thought and would concern herself with only herself.
Thrown up against the wall, Katara panted as her arms were restrained behind her back as Zhao plowed her relentlessly. She fucked him back, meeting his thrusts and begged him to go harder. Knowing that Ozai would be furious at the sight, the Fire Lady got all the more turned on and caused Zhao to moan despite him being a very repressed man. She didn't care. She wanted him to come undone so he could understand how much of a moron his friend was to choose anyone else over her.
Katara pushed Zhao into the desk chair and straddled him with her arms around his neck as she rode him long and hard. He threw his head back and hissed between his teeth as she gave him the best pussy of his life. Ozai was an idiot but the nobleman wasn't going to complain. His lost, Zhao thought as the waterbender had him nearly at his wits end. She climbed out of his lap and stroked him hard as she sucked him off. His hand gripped her hair as he throat fucked her, slipping down her throat with each thrust.
"Fuck!" Zhao growled as he held her head in place, riding out his climax in her mouth.
When he was done, Katara wiped her mouth and got up off her knees.
"How Ozai can even think of another woman is beyond me." Zhao said as he pulled his pants back up.
Straightening out her skirt, Katara tried fixing her hair until Zhao helped her out.
"Can you keep this a secret, Zhao?" She asked as he redid her topknot.
Glancing down at her face, Zhao nodded. "Ozai's a jealous idiot. I won't tell him."
"Idiot? I thought you were his friend." Katara tilted her head once her hair was fixed.
"Precisely why I can call him an idiot." Zhao snorted. "Just don't make it obvious. Your husband might be stupid at times but he picks up on the slightest shifts in behavior."
Katara nodded and Zhao leaned down to kiss her cheek before leaving.
When the nobleman left, Katara skulked off to the bathroom to bathe and get her head right. As much as she wanted to piss Ozai off and enjoyed finally getting even, she didn't feel good about cheating. She just wasn't that kind of person but she would admit to herself that if she was going to do this then she'd needed more than just casual sex with Zhao. She needed a companion but she knew that was impossible with someone like Zhao. Besides, she wasn't at all really into Zhao. He was as much to her use as she was to his.
Leaving the palace, the Fire Lady took a carriage into the market and made it drop her off in the market district. She was in disguise with her gold contacts and black wig, a commoner hanfu dress. Katara hopes that Shinji hadn't moved from his location. She really needed someone to talk to and since Ozai either fires or fucked her friends, she had to take the risk of going to see Shinji.
Finding the tavern, Katara did as she had the first time she showed up and waited. Fortunately, Shinji never took long to spot her and came over as soon as she sat down.
"I haven't seen you in months." Shinji said as he sat down beside the waterbender. "Lots of things I've been hearing recently. Come to discuss it?"
Nodding her head as she sighed, "Ozai is back to being the bastard I hate." She rested the side of her face in her hand. "After I saved his life and helped him recover. I even gave him the daughter he wanted but it means nothing."
Shinji patted her back and ordered them drinks. The two had about two shots of sake before Katara was able to continue and relay how her life had been going. She told him how nice things were when he was recovering and how she had actually fell in love with him, forgiving him for their past. But it was yet another power shift that only she was capable of being the kinder of the two. Once Ozai was well again, he fucked the tribeswoman she had befriended and tried offering Zhao to her.
Chuckling, "Ozai has absolutely lost it." Shinji shook his head in amazement.
"Not that he ever had it. Even Zhao says he's a moron for doing me the way he does." Katara said before suddenly realizing there might have been a motive. "Of course, he said that right after I had sex with him."
Shinji raised a brow at his water friend, "You slept with Zhao?"
Katara nodded in shame, "Ozai and I agreed we'd just be friends and he's pretty much said that I can take up a lover. I slept with Zhao, his best friend, to piss him off, so he can know how I feel. It didn't mean anything and honestly, I don't think I can do it again. Zhao reminds me too much of Ozai." She shivered.
"Try looking for a lover in the commoner class, they're nicer people." Shinji suggested.
"I don't know." Katara groaned. "Maybe I'll keep hooking up with Zhao until he grows disinterested."
"If that's what you want but seriously, come by more. Your marriage worries me." Shinji told her.
Forcing a smile, Katara did appreciate that she had someone that worried enough about her to tell her to come back so they could see she was fine. Her own family just wanted her to leave and be out of sight. The very thought made her sad. She didn't have anyone to go to about her marriage problems. No one except Shinji.
….
Ozai was on his way to the private domain where his wife now stayed with their infant daughter and a set of servants. He wanted to reconcile with his wife and try figuring out a better way to keep them both happy. However, when he arrived and went for her bedroom door, the Fire Lord spotted a pair of male boots kicked off to the side. He raised his brow at this and then glared at the door when it dawned on him. Ozai barged in the room and caught sight of Katara curled up to Zhao under the covers. Something went off in his head as he snapped.
Startled awake by suddenly being jerked out of bed, Katara was tossed to the floor as she saw Ozai attack Zhao. She quickly tried to stop him and pull him off. However, she was shoved out of the way.
"You touched my wife!" Ozai growled as he held his fist over Zhao's face after pinning him to the floorboard.
Zhao, a usually stoic man, looked equally as pissed off as Ozai. "You were the one that said I could."
"You know I didn't mean it!" Ozai punched Zhao in the face and went on to brutalize him.
Katara waterbended a stream of water from the bathroom and knocked Ozai off of Zhao, freezing him to the wall. She quickly helped Zhao up and told him to leave. As the nobleman gathered his clothes and boots to leave, Katara faced her husband as he melted the ice.
"I didn't think you were serious!" Ozai said, both in anger and hurt. He never thought for a second that Katara would actually move on from him. She was never really done with him. She always gave him a chance to redeem himself and he would try until he did something else that pissed her off. But now, he was finding out she really meant to be done with their marriage.
Staring hurt back at him, "Well, I was."
"Do you know what you've done?!" He bit out, towering over her.
Ozai could see bite marks on her neck and the redness to her the top part of her breasts as she was still in her nightgown. It infuriated him knowing she let someone else have her. Sure, he somewhat agreed to her taking up a lover when he warned her that he would never touch her again afterwards, but he didn't think she would actually do it. How could she? Let alone, screw his frien- ah, I see.
Covering herself with her arms, "We're not together like that anymore, Ozai. I'm just your wife by name. That's all I can do."
"I don't want that!"
"Then you should have thought about that when you decided to take up a new consort in the middle of us finally being in a good place in our marriage." Katara tells him as she turns her back to him. "I said we could be friends but that's all."
Ozai eyed her and could see she was very serious. Clearly, there was nothing he could do to change her mind. She had her mind made up and had already moved on. As much as he hated it, he now understood how she felt this entire time with him and the harem women.
Running his hand up into his hair, "Fine. If this is what you want, fine."
Katara glanced over her shoulder and saw Ozai looked every bit as disheartened as he sounded. But she appreciated that he wasn't going to argue with her. She didn't have the energy right at the moment to be arguing with Ozai about the double standard.
"But don't go getting your feelings hurt." Ozai told her as walked past her. "I'm not wiping your tears."
"You never did."
Later that day, Katara apologized to Zhao for what happened earlier but he didn't seem very receptive. He decided she was more trouble than he wanted to deal with. Ozai, out of spite, told Mai and she clawed the side of his face on top of already having a black eye. It was a bit discouraging as Zhao told her he doubted Ozai would ever really let her move on.
Sighing as she held her daughter in her arms, "I hope you don't end up foolish like me." Katara rocked her in her arms.
"You're not foolish. You just got dealt a bad hand." Shinji told her.
As of late, Shinji snuck into the palace to see her as she wasn't able to visit him frequently. He didn't seem to care about Ozai discovering him though Katara feared the day would come. However, she enjoyed Shinji visiting her. Especially, since the servants were unaware of who he was and couldn't tell Ozai much outside the fact that a man came to visit her every so often.
Offering to hold the baby, "Have you and Ozai spoken?"
Shaking her head, "Not since he caught me with Zhao."
"I'm surprised neither of you are dead."
"Oh, trust me." Katara said "Ozai was going to kill us, I just had to remind him of our arrangement."
Shinji chuckled as he thought it was funny that after being fed up with her nearly two years of marriage that she would cuck her detemented husband. After all the women he had been with besides, the firebender didn't blame Katara for stepping out on her husband. The women were only the least of Ozai's assault on their marriage. He was cruel and unfair to her. Never really treated her with any respect. And only was ever good to her when he relied on her to look after him. She couldn't even expect that same treatment in return.
Handing her daughter off to the servants, Katara thanked Shinji for coming to see her as she had been very lonely since returning to the Fire Nation.
"Take care of yourself, Katara." Shinji told her as he hugged her.
Hugging him back, Katara really didn't want him to leave as she'd just end up all alone again. "I'll come see you next time, okay?" She looked up at him.
Shinji smiled down at the waterbender and kissed her forehead. "Then I'll see you soon."
Katara beamed at Shinji as he acrobatically made his way up on the rooftops and took off. She really wondered why firebenders were so agile.
…..
It was brought to Ozai's attention that while Zhao had backed off, a good decision on his part, Katara was seeing someone else from what her servants told him. A commoner, they said. Young but not as young as her and snuck in and out without being caught. The Fire Lord wasn't a fan of this person his wife was seeing. Especially not after going to visit her and seeing her look incredibly happy, even singing to herself. He had never heard Katara sing before. Not like that. Did she really like whoever this man was?
Summoning her to his office, the first thing Ozai noticed was Katara was smiling and wearing her hair completely down with just a topknot with her crown in it. He furrowed her brows as she had some kind of glow to her and it pissed him off knowing someone else had her all giddy.
"You wanted to see me?" She asked in a pleasant tone.
Sucking his teeth as he sat back, "When am I going to meet this commoner lover of yours that keeps sneaking in and out of my palace?"
Katara giggled and shook her head, "Never I hope."
"Never?" His brow raised. "This bastard is screwing my wife and I don't get to meet him."
Rolling her eyes playfully, "It's not even like that, Ozai. I'm just friends with him."
"But you like him." He's stoney express did nothing to ruin her glee
"Sure but I need more of a companion than anything. Someone that isn't solely interested in sleeping with me."
"Ah, yes, I forget you women require a whole lot out of a man. Poor guy." Ozai says in sarcasm and jealousy. "You at least flash him a little for his good merit in listening to your sob stories of how awful your mean and unfair husband is."
Sighing as she could see Ozai was going to be petty, "is there something else you needed to see me for?" She asked politely.
Ozai pulled a letter out of his desk and tossed it to her, "Your brother and sister-in-law want to visit. I already agreed to let them come but you need to keep your little 'boyfriend' at bay when they are here. Don't need the whole world knowing my wife is cucking me."
Rolling her eyes at how he seemed to think he hadn't been cucking her their entire marriage, "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind."
As Katara left, Ozai angrily threw everything off his desk and pulled his hair from its topknot, throwing his crown across the room. How can you just whore yourself out to someone else?!
Needing someone to talk to later that evening, Ozai had Zhao drink with him as he had number of things to ask in regards to his brief trysts with Katara.
"So she came to you?" Ozai asked.
Zhao eyed his cup, "This isn't poison, is it?"
"I'll drink it for you if you don't believe me." Ozai expressed.
Finally drinking from the cup, Zhao bottomed it before placing it down on the low table in front of them and pouring himself another cup of sake. Once he had three cups, the nobleman sighed and explained what took place.
"To be very honest, she wasn't trying to sleep with me or at least that's what I read from our few encounters. She just wanted to piss you off." Zhao told his friend as he looked him in the eyes. "But I'll also say, I can tell you two haven't slept with each other in months."
Ozai tried not thinking about what that last part meant. Katara was very sensual and loving in bed. But she was also a freak when she had gone a while without him. He assumed Zhao got to experience his wife in her best form, which did enrage him to a degree.
"If it makes you feel better, her eyes were closed most of the time and she called me by your name a few times." Zhao mentioned. "But I can't say she's thinking about you now with this new guy."
Furrowing his brows, "What makes you say that?"
"Women don't look the way she does if she's thinking about someone she's not infatuated with." Zhao pointed out.
…
It became quite known to many that the Fire Lord and Lady were not together anymore. They were each living in separate quarters, dining at different tables, and sleeping in different beds, perhaps with different people. No one outright said it or tried thinking too hard about it but it did seem as if the Fire Lady had found someone to entertain her while her husband had a concubine in his bed every night. She looked like a woman in love and happy. There was only once that anyone ever saw her that way and it was during the Fire Lord's recovery when they're marriage seemed to finally be at peace. However, things didn't stay that way and it would seem someone else had been responsible for her bright eyes and graceful smile.
The Fire Lady was making her way to the treasury department to meet with the minister of coin. A few nobles eyed her suspiciously as she walked by, whispering amongst themselves. Reaching the treasury, Katara was approached by the minister and handed a few scrolls.
"These are all the detailed reports of that healthcare plan you devised. Just sign off on the next steps you want to take and have them sent to my page boy." Nobleman Horikashi spoke quickly as he wanted her to leave as soon as possible.
Katara glimpsed over one of the scrolls, "I was hoping we could discuss this together. I need your input on-"
"Forgive me, your majesty. But I really don't want to be accused of being involved with you, so could you please leave?" Horikashi said nervously.
Seeing the man looked frightened by her mere presence, Katara sighed and thanked him for the reports as she walked away. She felt for the man. Her horribly fucked up marriage could accidentally get a man like him in trouble. Last few months, she and Horikashi were on good terms as far as working together on her healthcare bill. He wasn't all that bad. But now, he had to be careful around her. She couldn't fault him for that.
Katara left the treasury department and headed to the archives. A lot of the reason she wanted to read this over with Horikashi was because she had a hard time understanding certain terminology. The library's archives were the only other place she could go to make sure she was reading the reports with a complete understanding.
The Fire Lady found a nice spot to settle in and read over the reports along with keeping the dictionary open in case she spotted a word she didn't quite understand.
"What have you got there?" Ozai asked as he spotted his wife reading over quite a few scrolls.
Not bothering to look up, "The healthcare plan's report. So far it's been doing well but there's a few setbacks that I need to oversee."
Ozai stood over her as she continued working and looked her over. She seemed very focused and diligent despite her new love-affair supposedly blossoming. Of course, she said they were only friends but he didn't like it either way. He wondered if he could get her to stray for even a moment.
Placing his hands on her shoulders, Ozai gave them a firm squeeze and leaned closer. "Anything I can help with?"
Swatting his hands away, "Not really. I think I have this covered."
"You sure?" He asked, eager to have her tell him to stay and help. "I do have quite the experience in overseeing things."
Shaking her head, "I'm very sure. I just need some peace and quiet so I can focus."
A bit disappointed that she really didn't want him around, Ozai could only scratch his head and ask himself how he was supposed to get her attention. Surely, she couldn't be completely done with him. She said she fell in love with him as her actions in saving and healing him were out of love. If that was the case, maybe there was hope that she would gleefully take him back.
"I'll have the servants bring you a snack. Just don't stay up all night." He told her.
Katara thanked him, "Night, Ozai."
Leaving, Ozai skulked off to the harem. He needed some comforting.
When Katara finished up for the night and returned to her chambers, she noticed Ozai was hanging out on her patio. She sighed and shook her head as she went to approach him.
"Any reason you're here this late at night?" Katara asked as she held her arms in her sleeves.
Drinking a cup of sake, "I thought I told you not to stay up all night." Ozai eyed her while drinking.
Tilting her head, "I'm a waterbender, Ozai. I like to stay up around the time of a full moon."
"Well, you're Fire Nation now. You should assimilate already." He told her.
"Marrying you is all the assimilation I want to do." Katara expressed to him as she took a seat in front of him. "My people might not have a lot after the wars but I'm proud of where I came from. I hope you'll understand that I never want to look at myself as Fire Nation."
Ozai poured her a cup and pushed it to her, "Then your lover, I take it he's not Fire Nation."
Taking the cup in her hands and sipping from it as she chuckled, "He's Fire Nation. Just a commoner like me. I say he and I have a lot more in common than I have with most."
"I hear he's younger."
"He is. Thirty-one to be exact." Katara grinned as she saw Ozai didn't like this.
"Is he better looking than me?" Ozai asked in a sort of venomous tone.
Katara nodded.
"Liar!"
"Calm down, Ozai." Katara burst out laughing as she tanned him to sit back down after his outburst. "You know no one will ever be more attractive than you."
Sensing her sarcasm, Ozai scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Then why are you cucking me?"
"Because you do it to me." Katara replied with a grin.
Snorting as he poured himself some more sake, "I just happen to like women...a lot. But you are my wife. There is a difference when it comes to you."
"How is it different for me, Ozai?" The waterbender tilted her head as she furrowed her brows. "You're not even the slightest bit as kind to me as I am to you. You disrespect and humiliate me publicly. Nothing I do is enough to keep your eyes on me. And you punish me whenever I give into my despair. You make me hate myself for ever making contact with you after you were back in prison. You're an ungrateful, mean, wicked man and I'd rather die than submit myself to you." Katara said as she drank the last of her sake and got up. "I've saved your life more than once and the least you could have done is be kind to me. But you're not capable, you'll never be."
Ozai sat there with nothing to say as his wife kissed his cheek and wished him a goodnight.
"Get some sleep, Ozai." She told him as she walked away.
…..
Excited that her brother and Suki were visiting, Katara didn't care that Ozai forced her to stay in his chambers through the visit. She knew he wanted to keep her affair as secret as possible despite the court already whispering. But it wasn't really much of an affair. She and Shinji were just friends as she had already explained to Ozai a thousand times that she needed a friend more than she needed someone to bend her over. This only caused the idiot to ask if she wanted him to bend her over.
Walking with her arm in his, Katara noticed that her husband had been staring at her the entire time and was running his hand along hers. She didn't understand why Ozai only ever was interested in her when she was done with him and never when she gave him her all. He just liked being desired and sought after without having to do right by a woman he claims to love. Well, she didn't believe he loved her. He was just possessive and didn't want to give her up. If anything, she was the one of the two of them that had been in love. She proved multiple times that she cared about him, would do whatever to protect him and would not leave him high and dry on his worse luck. Ozai had to see that when someone loved someone, they didn't hurt them countless times and brush it off with a bandage of the false three words he loved to repeat to her.
"Katara!" Suki ran to hug Katara as she and her husband entered the palace.
Hugging her back, "Suki, I'm so happy to see you."
"I heard you had another baby and just had to come see the little one, is it a girl?" Suki asked excitedly.
Katara nodded, "Nanomi. Ozai named her."
Suki glances over at her brother-in-law and return her gaze back to Katara, "This one look like him?"
Chuckling as she shook her head, "No, I finally have a waterbender that looks like me. Couldn't be happier."
Ozai watched as his wife, once again, looked every bit as gleeful as she did after seeing the mystery man she was seeing behind his back. He really did hate this. That he only ever made her scowl or cry. There were only a few times she smiled at him and shortly after each time, he'd go and ruin it. Katara was right. He never did return her kindness in full or even increments. He was cruel and wicked town woman that only deserved the best.
Sighing as he averted his eyes from her, Ozai figures maybe it was best he just accepted that Katara was only his wife in name. Maybe whoever this other person was, if they could make her smile like that, he'd just have to deal with it. It wasn't like he didn't have an entire harem of women to take care of him.
Sokka noticed his sister and her husband were not standing too close, nor did his sister seem to notice her husband eyeing her. He knew something was up. Something was always up.
….
A/N:
Katara got some payback. Ozai deserves it and she's absolutely fed up with his shit.