A/N:
Okay say I have several chapters I need to get out for this story that have been written before I return to the Short Stories! Sorry for the long ass wait!
Chapter 20:
Ursa sighed as she and Iroh spoke with each other about what they were going to do with Zuko. He had decidedly left the palace for an indefinite amount of time, claiming that he wanted them to oversee his duties while he cooled down. As much as they agreed that they needed to cool it down due to everything that happened recently, they worried about what he was up to. Iroh learned from Kya after she retrieved the last of her things that Zuko had gone after her mother and was about to attack her when Zhiar stopped him. It was likely that Zuko would try to attack her again. Especially since Katara let them know that Ozai was missing with Atsou taking his place. While the children hadn't caught on that their father was not the man prancing around in his likeness, Iroh and Ursa were sure Zuko would be able to tell them apart.
Sighing as he was making his way through the halls with his former sister-in-law, Iroh spotted Kya carrying out another box of things with her. She stopped to speak with them and Iroh saw Ursa fold her arms as she glanced away from his niece.
"Is Zuko back?" Kya asked them in a meek tone.
Iroh shook his head, "Zuko's still gone. Where to? We haven't a clue."
Kya sighed as she cast her gaze down, "If you see him, can you tell him that I'm sorry…that I did to him what my mother had done to him. I didn't mean for-"
"You and Zuko would have never worked out, Kya. You were lonely because Uhara was dead and he's lonely because he's been obsessed with your mother most of his life." Ursa explained as she shifted her eyes to her ex's daughter. "Only good thing that's come of this is that Zuko hates your mother and will likely move on with his life."
Kya nodded as she turned to leave for the Totomi estate. There, she saw Uhara was going over Fire Nation script with their son while Lady Shu stood close by with a warm smile on her face. The siren noticed the woman spotted her and walked towards her as she was headed for her chambers.
"Kya, how was it? Any news of where your brother might be?" Lady Shu asked.
Kya sighed and shook her head, "My uncle and his mother are clueless."
Furrowing her brows with worry, "You don't think he'd come after us, do you?" Lady Shu looked over to her grandson and great-grandson.
Kya promised the woman that she would protect them from her brother. However, she doubted he was focused on them. His attention was on her mother.
"While I understood the reason for you and your brother having the relationship you both had, your mother was right to do as she did." Lady Shu sighed. "She was looking out for you. For you both, if you ask me."
Kya nodded.
"Well, I'll let you continue settling back in."
…..
"If you're going to impersonate my husband, at least be useful." Katara spat as she was busy looking through documents related to the quarterly reports of the nation.
Atsou sighed as he lounged on his back in his sister-in-law's office, "Being a wife and mother has made you so boring, mean one. You were so much more fun when you weren't held down by my brother and his off-spring."
Rolling her eyes, "I quite enjoy being held down by my role to your brother and his off-spring."
"You say that but not once in several days have you asked me where your husband is." Atsou pointed out.
Katara shrugged, "I'm not concerned with that. Soon enough Ozai will find his way out of whatever predicament you have him in and I will see that he is just fine."
"You seem so sure."
"I am."
"How so?"
Katara lifted her eyes to Atsou and realized that his ability to know everything was not as keen as he had tried to make it seem before. She figured as much but at this moment it was confirmed. Atsou didn't know that Ozai and all her children were wearing bracelets/necklaces with a crystal of her own creation that allowed her to keep tabs on them. It was how she suspected Atsou wasn't Ozai right before confirming it. It was why she wasn't worried about where her husband was. She already knew and was not at all concerned about his well-being at the moment. It was best that Atsou never knew this detail as this allowed her to have the upper hand on him in some form or way.
Deciding to settle for a lie, "Ozai is immortal. The biggest advantage he has over me is that no matter what is thrown at him, there is very little that and few that can kill him. So far, everyone that has the ability to kill him either doesn't want to or is nowhere near him. I'm sure he's in the presence of many that could slow him down but no one that can end his life."
Atsou sat up and looked over at the waterbender, "Don't you miss him?"
Snorting a laugh, "I enjoy whatever time I get to myself with how clingy he has been with me since we remarried."
Grinning, "Is that so?"
"Absolutely." Katara sighed. "I adore him but he's very clingy. I can't exactly blame him. This has been the longest period in our lives that we've been able to consistently remain with one another. He's afraid to lose me again."
"And are you not afraid of losing him?" Atsou asked.
"Permanently, yes. I can't go on living a life with him completely gone from it. But for a time, I'm okay with it. As long as I know he's still out there, I'm quite used to not always having him around." Katara expressed.
Atsou tilted his head at her, "My, how cold you turned out to be. You know, your younger self was much warmer."
"My younger self was an idiot and got most of her warmth stomped out by everyone that was supposed to have her back. I'm just a manifestation of everything I've endured. I've learned, I've adapted, I've become. That's just the way of life. Can't expect me to remain that sweet little fool when you know first hand what I've endured since then."
Atsou figured she was absolutely right.
As Atsou laid back on the sofa and let her work, he missed the little grin she had on her face and caught off guard when a black flame opened up in front of him, his twin brother stepping out holding Ami by her throat. He was shirtless and dripping wet, looking anything but happy about any of this.
"Took you long enough." Katara scoffed as she stood up from her desk and made her way over to Ozai.
Tossing his bitch of an ex on the ground, Ozai scowled at his brother, who was sitting up from the sofa. "Sorry. It took a lot longer to convince Ami to help me. Fortunately, she had a lot to say about Atsou's plans. You need to let the sirens know to lock down the city."
Katara furrowed her brows at this, "Lock down the city? Ozai, what are you-"
"Just do it!" Ozai shouted at her.
Katara nodded and hurried out of the office to do as her husband told her.
Ozai walked over to Atsou and grabbed him by his yukata, yanking him to his feet. "You evil bastard! Ami told me all about those abominations you created! What for?! What is your goal?!"
Atsou smirked, "Only the strongest will survive, Ozai. The same goes for the two of us. Only the strong will prevail."
Ozai was about to punch him when Atsou broke free and quickly opened a black flame portal to escape.
"Your majesty, what is the meaning of this?! Why is there a water dome over the city?!" A minister asked the Phoenix King.
In the throne room where all his children aside from Kya and Zuko were present, along with ministers and officials, Ozai could see they were all worried. They should be. These were about to be dark days ahead of them and he didn't even have a plan to stop it right at the moment. He just knew that his primary goal was to protect his family, the citizens of his nation, and hopefully face the evil things his brother planned to unleash on them. He was lost in thought as they were all begging to be told what was happening. It wasn't until his wife reached over to him and placed her hand on his that he snapped out of it. He looked to her and could see she was wordlessly telling him she was by his side, no matter what it was that he had to tell them all.
Nodding to her, Ozai addressed the entirety of the room. "As you all know, I have an identical twin brother that has been pulling the strings behind certain global events over the years. He means to destroy me, that has always been made clear, but I am not his end goal. No, he means to create a world where only the strong prevail and in his pursuits, he recruited the aid of Princess Ami. Years ago, I was made aware of her scientific discoveries. One, being her attempt to manifest immortality in someone who is not born with supernatural blood. She created three serums. One of these serums created absolute abominations."
Ozai described what this serum did to its host and no one was able to believe what he was saying as it was unfathomable that it could be true. He let them know that Atsou with the help of Ami created thousands of these abominations that he would be unleashing soon enough. Panic erupted amongst them but Ozai assured them that he would take actions to protect the people of the Phoenix Empire, needing them all to make haste with getting the word out to the public.
As the room was dismissed, Ozai saw his children looking at him with worry and sighed at them.
"I'm sending you all to the Fire Nation." Ozai told them. "All but Azula and Zhiar."
Katara stood up and glared at him, "What makes you think the Fire Nation will be any safer? Our children are safest with us, Ozai."
Sighing as he pinched his brows, "Very well but none of you are allowed to leave the palace aside from Azula and Zhiar."
They all nodded.
"As far as you and I, one of us must always remain in the palace." Ozai looked to his wife.
Katara nodded.
"Contact the others in the Fire Nation as well as Hama in the South Pole. We need to make sure that our allies remain safe." Ozai told her.
"I'll warn Republic City." Zhiar told his father.
Azula folded her arms, "We warn them and then what? We have a dome of water protecting the city, what are the other nations going to do? What are the other cities in the country going to do?"
Ozai stroked his beard, "I'll have the earthbenders of each city made to erect walls to protect themselves. Small villages will be evacuated into the larger cities in order to protect the places too small to survive on their own. This could be done for all of the Earth Kingdom and Phoenix Empire as well as Republic City. As for the Fire Nation, I'll discuss things with Zuko."
"Zuko has been missing for the last few days, Ozai." Katara told him how his brother and ex-wife hadn't seen him since the last time they all saw him.
Sighing at this, "Then I guess I'll deal with it myself. In the meantime, Ryu, you're the oldest after the twins. You make sure your younger siblings remain in the inner sanctum of the palace."
Ryu nodded.
"You all know what you need to do, get to it." Katara said as she looked at all their children and saw them off. As soon as they were gone, Katara looked to her husband as he rubbed his brow before standing up. "How long do we have before everything happens?"
Ozai shook his head.
"Ozai," Katara looked at him pleadingly. "How lon-"
"It's already started."
…..
Finding Kya in the courtyard with their son, Uhara called to her and saw she looked up with a bright smile on her face until she saw her father standing next to him. A look of concern took over her features as she looked to the older man and sent their son off with the servants. As she rose to her feet and came over, she looked from her father to Uhara.
"What's going on?" She asked him.
Uhara sighed, "Atsou has executed his plans for his primary goal. Your father came to warn us."
Confused, Kya looked to her father. "What has he done?"
Ozai informed them of the threat that was coming and gave them the option to bring the clan with them to Omashu as they had gotten all the rest of the family to agree to move there. Kya was surprised to learn that her father's first wife and her Uncle Iroh agreed to this. Uhara expressed that he would talk it over with Kya before they made their decision and Ozai let them know he'd be back in an hour as he had to secure the capital and inform the ministers.
As soon as her father left, Kya looked to Uhara and shook her head.
"I think we need to stay here." She expressed.
Uhara sighed, "Your brother is not here to protect the Fire Nation, Kya. I think it will be safer for the clan and our son if we go to Omashu."
"And what of the people of the Fire Nation that isn't here?" Kya asked. "My brother is not here to help them but we are. I think we should stay and protect the people of the Fire Nation until he returns."
Seeing her point, Uhara nodded and when her father returned they gave their answer. Kya could see her father wanted to talk them out of staying but decided against it, telling them to alert her mother if anything happened as once the dome went up completely, no one but her would be able to move in and out of Omashu, not even a phoenix would be able to open a portal nor another siren to enter.
As soon as her father was gone, Kya and Uhara saw from the courtyard as high walls were lifted from the perimeter around the capital. Her father must have had earthbenders from Omashu come with him to erect the walls to protect the city. At least they knew he was serious.
"I'll go to the countryside and bring the rest of the clan from the province to come here." Uhara told her. "You inform my grandmother of the situation."
Kya nodded.
As Ozai returned to Omashu, he found his wife and eldest kids were still out to ensure the other major cities were safe. He had two of the water sirens show them to their chambers as he noticed Hama had shown up with a few other people. Mentally he groaned as he approached them to see it was Katara's other grandmother, her oldest brother, and then some unexpected guests. Seeing the red head Kyoshi, Ozai scowled as she tried avoiding eye contact with him.
"What the fuck is she doing here?!" Ozai growled.
Hama stepped in front of Suki and her family. "Now, now, Ozai, I brought her here because after that issue with Kya a few years ago, her and Jee were forced out of the village with their daughter. The village they were living in was evacuated to Kyoshi Island but they were turned away. I managed to see them and decided to take them in."
Ozai growled and was about to bark something cruel when his wife finally showed up, placing her hand on his arm.
"They can stay, Ozai." Katara told him.
Ozai looked to her, "Do you even know what that bitch of a woman did to our daughter?!"
Katara glanced at Suki, who looked terrified that she and her family would be put out before returning her look to her husband. "I'm well aware, Ozai. I know what she's done but Jee and Sumi are innocent. We can't put them out."
"Then we'll just put her out!" Ozai spat.
"No," Katara chuckled. "We'll put them up in a nice little villa on the North end of town. Okay?"
Ozai scoffed, "You are much too forgiving, fine, I'll allow it."
"Thank you, Katara." Jee said.
Katara smiled as she walked over to them and focused her eyes on Suki, "You were my friend once, Suki. I hate that you no longer feel that way."
Suki looked at Katara with some guilt.
As she ordered some servants to show the small family to their new home, Katara turned to see her husband along with her relatives eyeing her with raised brows.
"What?" She asked as she chuckled at all their matching expressions.
Sokka folded his arms, "You're really going to forgive that bitch?"
"Of course, Sokka. I'm older and wiser now. I don't think now is the time to be petty." Katara said with her head lifted in a very self-righteous manner.
Ozai rolled his eyes as did Hama.
"Full of shit." Ozai spat before turning to walk off.
Katara rolled her eyes at him and told the rest of them she'd show them to some chambers they could stay in. As she got her brother to his chambers, he asked her if she knew how Toph and the children were. She let him know that Toph didn't want to come with her but decided to protect her home village herself. Sokka accepted this answer and sighed before retreating in his chambers. Her grandmothers both looked at her and told her how hard things had been on Sokka with Toph and the kids being out of the picture. It made Katara wonder what she could do to make her brother feel a little better.
After showing her grandmothers to the chambers they wanted to share together, Katara went to meet up with her husband, finding Zhiar and Azula had returned. Seemingly everywhere they could think of was warned, Zhiar even went the extra mile to inform the Northern Water Tribe despite his parents not seeming to care about that place too much. Katara gave her water sirens the order to enchant the water dome which would prevent anyone but her from portalling in or out of the dome. Only through physical entry from the city fortified gates could anyone be granted entry.
As this was done, Zhiar stretched and told his parents he was going to nap, causing his father to mumble something about him under his breath.
"Alright, everything is secured within the city. I guess we just wait to see what happens next and deal with it accordingly." Katara sighed as she was a bit tired from using her siren queen command on the sirens.
Azula watched her father hug her step-mother and rolled her eyes at how affectionate they were with each other. She noticed Katara caught this and smirked at her.
"Azula," Katara started as she pulled away from Ozai. "Can you do me a favor?"
Azula raised a brow at her, "Do what?"
"Could you keep tabs on my brother for me? I'm told he's been acting weird and I figured you could help me figure out what's wrong with him."
Azula scoffed, "What does your stupid brother have to do with me?"
Katara shrugged, "Just thought you'd do me the favor."
Eyeing the waterbender, Azula couldn't seem to figure out what her angle was but didn't really care. "Fine." She waved her hand at her. "I'll do it but I want to spar you some time in the next few days. It's been a while."
"Works for me." Katara beamed as Azula rolled her eyes and skulked off. Turning around, the Phoenix Queen saw her husband eyeing her with a not so pleased look as if he knew what she was doing. "What?"
"You do know I read your thoughts from time to time, right?" Ozai told her.
Giggling, "So you know what I'm up to?"
Tilting his head at her, "It won't work. Azula's got too many issues to settle back down and your brother is equally scarred."
Katara walked back up to him and grabbed onto his robes to look him over a little. "My brother and Azula have a lot in common. I think they'll get along fine."
Ozai sucked his teeth and looked away from her, "I think there are far more important things to deal with than you hooking my daughter up with your brother."
"Ah, I guess you're right." Katara sighed as she pulled away from him. "Then we'll have to dedicate all our focus to what's happening. No time for ourselves or each other. Hell, we won't even have time to rest."
Raising his brow at her, "What are you saying?"
Katara smirked at him, "You tell me, Ozai." She said before walking off.
….
It was late into the night, when they were woken from their sleep by the night shift guards. Katara was a bit embarrassed as she was caught naked lying against her husband as they hadn't bothered to pull the sheets over them after having relations earlier. Tossing on their night garb, the Phoenix King and Queen were brought to the top city walls. The soldiers that patrolled the city walls pointed out beyond the city dome, out into the distance, and Katara's hand shot up to her mouth as she gasped with wide eyes. Ozai furrowed his brows.
"Your majesty, several have tried to break the dome but are unsuccessful." The general of the soldier explained, "It means we are well protected for now but I doubt that'll be the case if we allow a horde to attack the dome."
Looking up at her husband, "Ozai, can anything kill these monsters?" Katara asked him.
"Fire and beheading. That's about it." Ozai expressed. "I can thin out the horde before they reach the dome."
Katara shook her head, "I'm not letting you go out there and face those creatures yourself. Immortal as you are, I won't risk it."
"I'll shapeshift." Ozai explained. "Besides, Zhiar and Azula are phoenixes. They can make themselves useful."
Folding her arms, "Neither of them knows how to shapeshift, Ozai. Other than you and Atsou, only Kya knows how to take the phoenix form."
"Then I'll teach them." Ozai scoffed.
"Oz-"
"Hush!" He bit out at her. "I never asked for your input. This is something that has to be done. Otherwise, the whole city will be in danger."
Katara glared at him before having no choice but to assist him in exiting the dome.
Morning came and Katara was having breakfast with all of the family except for Ozai. He had been out all last night fighting off the first wave of abominations. It wasn't until damn near dawn that he decided to erect a wall of fire to do the job for him. When she brought him back into the dome, Katara noticed he was too tired to shapeshift back to his human form and saw him go to their fire pit to rest in the pit. It was not something she had seen him do before but she felt bad for him that he couldn't even return to his human form to rest in bed.
Sighing to herself as she felt this was going to be a tiresome period in their lives, Katara didn't realize her family was all looking to her to talk to them. They had all heard the monsters were right outside the safe zone of the city and that Ozai had to deal with it himself.
"Mom," Zhiar spoke up to get her attention.
Startled from her daze, Katara looked up to her eldest son and noticed everyone looking her way. "Yes?"
"We heard about the monsters last night. What's it like out there?" He asked with concern.
Looking from him to everyone else, Katara sighed and cast her gaze down. "I've never seen anything like it in my life. They look every bit as dead as Ozai described them to be but they're strong. So far the dome is enough to stop them but we don't know how well it'll hold up. Ozai was out all night killing as many as possible with fire, the only way to kill them outside of destroying their heads. But it was taxing and I worry about the other cities."
Iroh sighed as he looked to his sister-in-law, "Any plan on how we can help them?"
Katara nodded. "We'll need to make sure every city has a few firebenders to kill the creatures. That and one siren per city should be enough to protect them."
Kanna exchanged looks with Hama, "There's only so many sirens you have at your command, Katara. That's not enough to protect all the cities."
"I know that but some of the cities have the advantage of being on elevated land. Those cities will be fine but the ones with far less geographical advantages will have a siren."
"And what of firebenders?" Sokka asked. "You need the ones you have here in the city, don't you? As much as you want to help others, you can't leave yourself vulnerable."
Katara knew that much. That's why she would look to the Fire Nation for support.
Ursa sighed, "I doubt that would bode well with Zuko. He's not exactly fond of anyone in the family, least of all, you and his father."
"I will convince him." Katara expressed. "I know where he is and once I speak to him, I'm sure he will see this isn't about his personal feelings."
Ursa and Iroh didn't seem too sure of that but they'd let her try.
After breakfast, Katara returned to her chambers and found Ozai was still in his firebird form resting in the firepit. She sighed and sat beside the pit, looking over her husband's form.
"I'm going to leave the city for a few hours, Ozai. Zhiar and Azula are at the city walls watching for another attack. So you can rest easy until they come looking for your assistance, okay?"
The resting fire bird nodded it's head slightly before returning to its resting form.
Opening a portal to where Zuko was, Katara stepped through it and heard the immediate gasps of air acolytes as she rose out of the temple spring. She bended the water from off of her body as she stepped out of the water and looked around. It was mostly women and children in this area.
"Any of you know where I can find Fire Lord Zuko?" Katara asked.
The women all shook their heads.
Sighing as she pinched her brows, "Any of you seen Lee? A firebender?"
The women nodded.
Grinning, "Well where is he?"
"He's with Avatar Aang." A woman spoke up.
Clapping her hands together in glee of the progress she was already making, "Excellent, take me to them, please."
Aang was overseeing his sons and wives showing the refugees from the nearby villages up the mountain to safety from his room that overlooked the entirety of the region while Zuko paced around behind him. He had been letting Zuko stay with him for the last week due to the stress he had been under after falling out with his family. Aang understood Zuko was very hurt, not just by Kya leaving him for her former lover but also due to Katara getting in his way at trying to find happiness. Aang couldn't say who was right or wrong because he could see where they both were coming from. Zuko fell in love with his half-sister and the two were pretty happy without their family intervening. However, Katara felt it was an unnatural relationship due to their close relation of bloodline. He made it clear to Zuko that he wouldn't pick sides but he did feel for him as he had known Zuko was very lonely.
"Why don't you just choose from the acolyte women here? They all giggle whenever you're around." Aang pointed out.
Zuko shook his head, "I'm tired of just fooling around with women, Aang. I want what you have, what all our friends had and I almost had it, for once but…-" Finding a spot by his buddy and plopping down. "I guess I'm just doomed to be alone."
Sighing, Aang placed his hand on Zuko's shoulder and told him to go home so he can prepare his people for the coming calamity. But Zuko was sure his family had already taken the initiative to look out for the Fire Nation. Besides, he wasn't in the right headspace to go home. Kya and Uhara lived in the capital, not far from the palace. While he was sure she'd keep her distance as Kya wasn't one for conflict, he didn't think he would be able to help himself from going to see her. Sure, she had been his lover for about a year but all the other years of her life, she had been his sister. The only sibling he had ever been really close with. Probably the closest relative he had next to his Uncle Iroh and now that was ruined.
As the Fire Lord sulked, Aang rose to his feet upon seeing the last person he expected to see at a time like this. "Katara."
Zuko lifted his head from the palms of his hands to look up at the sounds of that name.
"Hey, Aang, I was here to see Zuko."
Aang rubbed his neck, "Katara, I don't think that's a good id-"
"What the fuck do you want, Kat?" Zuko stood up and furrowed his brows at the waterbender.
Katara sighed, "Look, Zuko, I know I'm not your favorite person right now but I need to borrow a few firebenders to protect the major cities in the Phoenix Empire and the other places around the world. Your father says the only way to kill these creatures is with fire or beheading."
Lifting his brow at her, "You came all this way to ask me for a favor, Kat? Really?"
"Yes, I did." Katara said as she knew where this was going.
Zuko growled and balled his fists at his side, "You're not getting any favors out of me, Kat!"
"Zuko, this isn't about us right now. This is about the lives of millions of people. We have a duty to protect them." Katara tried making it clear to her former friend. "Put aside your petty feelings and-"
"The only way this is going to work is if you agree to my terms, Kat. I don't give a damn about everyone else like you do. So if you want my help, you're going to have to oblige me."
Furrowing her brows as Aang raised his brows.
"Are you asking that Katara have an affair with you?" Aang was confused.
Zuko folded his arms, "She's the one that wants my help. If she wants it that bad then-"
"I'm sure your father has plenty of firebenders around the empire. I'll just consult him." Katara sighed in disappointment at Zuko. "Sorry to bother you, Zuko."
Aang watched as Katara was about to leave when Zuko grabbed her around her waist, yanking her up off the ground as he manifested his wings. The Avatar tried shouting at Zuko to bring her back but the Fire Lord took off in the direction of his nation. Sighing to himself, I think it's been for the best that the gang disbanded.
In the Fire Nation, Katara was tossed on the ground in the courtyard of the Fire Nation palace when Zuko landed. She winced and looked about for a fountain to escape to but Zuko blocked her off with a wall of fire. She sat up on the back of her hands and glared up at him.
"What is this, Zuko? Am I your captive now?" Katara questioned him with a scowl. "You know your father will not be happy about this."
"Like I give a fuck but no, you're not here as my captive. I just want to make arrangements for these firebenders you want." Zuko stated.
"I'm not having an affair with you to make that happen, Zuko."
"I'm not asking for that." Zuko said in a slightly softer and somber tone. "I just want you to treat me like you treat my father."
Katara raised a brow, "Didn't I just say I'm not having an af-"
"Nothing sexual. Just all the other stuff you do with him."
"Like what, Zuko?"
"Like taking care of him and showing him affection and stuff like that." Zuko averted his eyes from her.
Confused, Katara gathered to her feet. "Sounds like you want a girlfriend or wife, Zuko. Why don't you go find one rather than being hung up over me?"
"I'll do that but in the meantime, I want you to do it."
Sighing as she folded her arms, "Nothing sexual and you give me those firebenders, I'll do it."
Smirking, "Glad we could reach an agreement." Zuko said with confidence.
"Can I go home now?"
Zuko disbursed the flames and watched Katara head to the pond before returning home from it.
…
Sokka laughed as his eldest nephew shared his flask full of liquor with him while they were watching Ryu and Mailan practice waterbending with one of the water sirens. It was funny how much older his nephew was and how they could finally talk about anything now. As much as the young man looked like his father, he was hundred times more goofy, and Sokka knew he got it from his mother's side because Ozai was anything but funny. As the two of them chatted about the many silly things Zhiar had done and seen over the years, Sokka noticed that Azula was present and she looked like she didn't age past her twenties like his sister. He scoffed as he found it odd that Only the women in his family and all of Zuko's family had immortality. Why couldn't he be immortal?
Seeing the tribesman that her step-mother told her to spy on, Azula paused in her strides and stared back at him.
Nudging his nephew, "She looking at us?"
Zhiar shrugged and drank what was left of the content of his flask, "Probably."
"Well tell her to stop." Sokka felt uncomfortable.
Zhiar nodded and stood up from the stone bench, "Hey, Zula, my Uncle Sokka said you're hot!"
Sokka looked at his nephew like he was crazy as Azula's face turned red before she hurried off. Laughing at this, Zhiar didn't care that his uncle slapped him upside the head and swore before storming off.
"What are you doing, young nephew?" Iroh came upon Zhiar laughing drunkenly in the courtyard not far from where Ryu and Mailan were training.
Trying to get himself together, "Oh nothing, just helping out my mom's plan."
"Her plan?" Iroh raised a brow and Zhiar told him how she was trying to hook her brother up with Azula. "I imagine that will be a tricky task seeing as they were once enemies."
Zhiar scoffed, "Didn't stop my parents from bumping uglies."
Stroking his beard, "I guess you're right." Iroh contemplated. "Perhaps, I could also assist."
"You want to help?" Zhiar raised a brow.
Iroh nodded with a smile, "Life has become quite boring following the conclusion of the war and my brother never really invites me to aid him in any of the drama he lands himself in. I figured this would be perfect for a meddlesome old man like me."
Zhiar cracked up at his uncle on his father's side, "Alright, old man. Let's get my Uncle Sokka and Azula laid!"
Ursa was taking a stroll on the second floor overlooking the courtyard with Hama and Kanna. The three women paused upon hearing this and grimaced at the thought of such a thing taking place. They all agreed amongst themselves to get in the way of whatever it was that Zhiar and Iroh were up to. If they were going to be trapped in this city with most of their family living in the palace like this, they were not going to be miserable dealing with the drama that would be ignited if this plan was successful. First order of business, go find Ozai and let him know what his wife was planning.
"Yes, I know already." Ozai groaned as he was sitting in his study reading a book. He really wasn't liking how these women barged past his guards to get in here. From how Kanna and Hama were in their more youthful appearances, he figured they seduced the poor men.
Hama patted out the black flame that was flaring out of his hair as he was still in the middle of shapeshifting back to his human form. "And you're going to do nothing about it?" she asked.
Shrugging, "Not my business."
"Azula is your daughter, Ozai, or have you forgotten that along with me being your first wife and Zuko being your son?!" Ursa said as she was so irritated with his impassiveness towards the children he had with her.
Turning the page with his black ash claw, "Zuko's fifty and Azula is forty-eight, Ursa. What do you want me to do? Treat them like they're Ryu and Mailan's ages?"
"You do with Zhiar and Kya!" Ursa pointed out.
Rolling his eyes, "Kya lives on her own in the Fire Nation with her child and future husband. And before that, I never really treated Kya like a child. That's why she's probably the best out of all the children I have. As for Zhiar…well that little shit is his mother's problem. Besides, the two of them are a year from thirty. They do what they want. Everyone else is under eighteen. Of course, I'm going to care a little more about them."
Ursa was about to bark something at him when Kanna stopped her and looked at her granddaughter's demon of a husband, narrowing her eyes on him as she shooed Hama away. The woman went up to him and stuck her finger through the torn hole of his jaw, jabbing her fingernail into her gums. He hissed and tore away from her as she scowled down at him in his sitting position.
"My grandson isn't going to be fooling around with that daughter of yours, Ozai. Now, you put your wife in her place and tell her that matchmaking is not her forte or I will make sure your face is even more ghoulish than it already is."
Ozai sucked his teeth at her before lifting his book back to his face, "I promise you that Katara is far more frightening than you, you old bitch."
Kanna turned to Ursa and broke the woman's finger nail off before going back up to Ozai. She dug the nail into the permanent wound of his face and scarred it some more, causing him to cry out in pain at the dragon claws' venom. "Where do you think my granddaughter gets it from, you old pooch?! Now, get your Fire swine ass up and go tell her to stop playing matchmaker or Tui and La help me, I'm going to bloodbend Ursa into ripping your dick off! And we both know it won't grow back with dragon venom!"
Ozai didn't think twice as he got up and hurried off to find his wife.
Hama smirked at Kanna as did Ursa.
"That gave me a chill, old friend." Hama grinned.
Ursa nodded, "Gave me more than a chill."
Kanna placed her hands on her hips, "I guess we three best go work those feelings out in our chambers."
The other two women giggled as they sprinted off.
…
"Where the hell have you been?!" Ozai said as he found his wife returning to the city through the portal.
Katara bended the water off of her and sighed, "I was all over the place, Ozai. Found Zuko, got him to agree to loan us firebenders, took the recruited firebenders to the different fortified cities and gave them instructions, not to mention, I made public announcements at each city so everyone knew how to deal with the threats. Some of the cities north of here have already seen the creatures but they're walls are sturdy enough to protect everyone."
Seeing his wife looked exhausted, Ozai walked over to her and scooped her up, carrying her to their bedroom. There he sat her on the bed and helped her undress from her robes as she took down her hair. When she was more comfortable, the waterbender laid down on her side and closed her eyes as he ran his hand along her side.
"As much as I want you to relax and get some rest, I think I should let you know that your grandmothers and my ex-wife bullied me into making it known that hooking Azula up with your brother needs to stop." Ozai told her.
Yawning as she nuzzled herself up against her pillow, "When did my big, strong, scary husband become such a pushover? Last I checked, you're the Phoenix King, not them."
"I highly doubt you want me to exercise my authority over them. It does oftentimes require physically imposing my will on the stubborn ones." Ozai pointed out.
Groaning as she shooed him away, "Fine, I'll talk to them after my nap."
Barging into her grandmothers' shared chambers after waking from her nap, Katara and Ozai were greeted with a terrible sight of all three women naked under the covers with each other sharing a pipe. The Phoenix Queen forced her husband to turn his back to the sight as she marched up to the bed.
"What the hell is going on here?!" Katara demanded to know.
Hama giggled as she smoked the pipe they were all sharing, "What? You expect us to just remain sexless old ladies? Oh grow up, darling."
"I think her problem is not the sex part, it's us." Kanna pointed out as the pipe was handed to her.
Shrugging her shoulders, "I don't think it's any of her business." Ursa giggled as she pressed up against Hama to nuzzle up against the woman's breasts.
Katara placed her hands on her hips and raised a brow, "You're right. It's none of my business but what is my business, is you three hags ganging up on my husband. He is the La damn Phoenix King! You will respect him!"
The three women laughed.
"Respect him?!" Kanna laughed. "You are much too humorous, Katara."
Ursa scoffed, "He's clipped his balls for you, Katara, he's not half the man he was when you first met him."
"Don't you peg that bitch of a man some nights?" Hama brought up to the amusement of the other women.
Fed up, Katara went over to Ozai and patted his arm to get him to lean down towards her. She cupped his ear and whispered something to him before they both turned to face the women.
"Look, we've been nice enough to let you all stay here for your protection. This disrespect you three are showing is unacceptable but do not worry, we will help you learn the proper way to address us." Katara smirked.
Next thing they knew, Katara bloodbended Ursa to lay flat on the bed in order to keep her from hurting Ozai while he went after her grandmothers. The palace residents passing by this wing of the palace heard a lot of commotion coming from the chambers where the Phoenix Queen's grandmothers stay. It died down thirty minutes later and Katara had to say, she felt like her point was made pretty clear. Her grandmothers clearly forgot that she could control other sirens with commands that couldn't be broken. She ordered them to always revere Ozai as sovereign and obey him as they would her. As for Ursa, Katara held her down as Ozai placed a charm on her to never raise her hand in violence at him as well as revere him as her sovereign.
As they left the chambers, Katara sighed as she knew it was getting late and Zuko was expecting her to pamper him for the evening. However, she didn't feel like she needed to explain how it was that she got Zuko to agree to giving her a couple hundred firebenders. Plus, it wasn't like she was going to be having sex with him. Just giving the other comforts of a healthy relationship he had been missing out on until she could find him a good match.
"Where are you going?" Ozai lifted a brow as he saw his wife was going in the opposite direction of their chambers.
Katara sighed, "I have to make sure all the other cities are prepared for tonight. I'll be back before midnight and we can take care of any hordes that show up."
Ozai nodded as his wife took off.
Arriving in the Fire Nation, Katara found Zuko lathering shaving cream on his face about to shave as he was not very fond of facial hair on his face. Honestly, Katara felt he looked best without it. She waltzed into his bathroom and ignored him staring at her in the mirror as she picked up his razor.
"You showed up." Zuko hated that he sounded as surprised as he was.
Katara nodded, "Yes, because contrary to recent events, I do like to keep my word. That and I feel guilty." She said as she dipped the razor into the warm water of his sink before looking over his face to see where to start.
Narrowing his eyes at her, "So this is pity?" Zuko asked in a harsh tone.
"No," Katara sighed as she started to shave his face. "I just miss my best friend, is all."
Zuko scoffed as he rolled his eyes and looked away from her as she shaved his face, "That's the problem. You only ever saw me as a friend and you were always more to me."
"If I only ever saw you as my friend then how'd we have Ryu, hmm?" Katara asked in a lighthearted fashion as she continued removing his facial hair.
Glancing down at her as she ran the razor along his lower jaw, "Then why during those times you weren't with my father, you seemed to be interested in every man but me?"
"Because I knew me and your father would eventually get back together. I didn't want to hurt you the same way I had before." Katara explained to him. "You'd hate me a lot more now if I turned to you for comfort, only to leave you again for your father."
Zuko sucked his teeth. He didn't understand what it was between his father and Katara that kept bringing them back together over and over throughout the years. Maybe it was true love all this time but he didn't understand why she couldn't have that with him. Zuko had been by her side through a lot of the terrible phases she and his father had been through. He had saved her and protected her more times than his father ever had and yet, she always chose his father. Always.
After cleaning the shaving cream from his face, Katara looked over his face as he stared down at her with an unreadable expression.
"So, what next?" She asked.
Zuko wanted badly to smash his lips to hers but he knew she'd just slap him and return home. He bit back the urge and backed away from her, telling Katara that he'd like it if she'd cook for him. Sure, he had servants but he knew Katara cooked for his father regularly. He wanted the same done for him. The night ended with Katara tucking Zuko in and kissing his forehead. She poked his nose as he questioned if she was treating him like she did his father or her children.
"Aside from sleeping with him, I treat him just like I do the children." Katara told him. "Now, I'll be busy tomorrow but I can be back later tomorrow night."
"I have much on my plate the next few days, so night works best anyways." Zuko told her as he looked at her, still, with his unreadable expression.
"See you tomorrow night, Zuko."
….
Yawning in the council meeting, Katara nodded her head as the officials asked how she felt about overseeing the safety and continuous protection of the other cities of the Phoenix Empire. She didn't realize they were expecting a more responsive answer from her. Not that it mattered if you asked her, the head nod would do as they knew she went above and beyond. However, her husband was not at all satisfied with her behavior as of late. She had been incredibly tired all the time, moody, never in the mood, barely listened to anything anyone was saying, and struggled to get out of bed.
When the meeting was dismissed, Ozai waited for everyone to leave the throne room before he got up and dragged his wife with him to their shared office. There, he pushed her up against his desk and tore open her robes. She tried shoving him off of her as he was acting weird but soon she felt his hand go over her stomach and rest there. Her blue eyes looked up at his gold ones.
"You think I'm pregnant?" Katara lifted a brow.
Ozai removed his hand after confirming she wasn't, "I needed to be sure you weren't hiding it from me."
Folding her arms, "And what would you do if I were?"
"We agreed that the triplets would be the last. Not only because more kids would be inconvenient but because your body would fail you." Ozai reminded her.
Scoffing as she rolled her eyes, "More children would not be ideal but I would never abort one if I were. Besides, I'm a siren. My body will recover just fine."
Ozai narrowed his eyes at her, "Katara, you're not a phoenix, you die, that will be it." He pointed out.
"Whatever. I'm not pregnant, so why even have this conversation?"
"So you're not pregnant but you've been acting weird. What's going on with you?"
"I'm tired." Katara answered simply as she slumped her shoulders. "Very very tired."
Ozai glare didn't let up, "And why is that?"
Katara shrugged.
Ozai sucked his teeth and shook his head. He knew when Katara was hiding something and he had the half mind to look at her memories to get to the bottom of it. However, the two of them agreed to only do such a thing when they both agreed to it. Not that he was hiding anything from her. He was probably the most honest of the two of them.
Later that night, Ozai was getting ready with Zhiar and Azula to head outside the protective water dome to clear out the creatures that were already at the perimeter when they saw Katara climb out of the courtyard fountain. Zhiar raised a brow as Azula didn't seem very interested but Ozai was scowling at her.
"Where the hell were you?!" Ozai shouted in annoyance.
Katara bended the water off of her and answered calmly. "Just checking on the other cities."
"Every night at the same time?" Ozai raised a brow as he folded his arms.
Katara shrugged.
Disappointed in her response, Ozai walked up to her and shoved his finger in her face. "After we deal with this horde, I think it's best we have some space between us."
"Excuse me? What?"
"You heard me, woman! You're doing something you have no business doing and I know that because you refuse to be honest with me! So until you can tell me what it is you're really doing when you leave here, don't expect me back at our chambers!" Ozai hissed as he turned to his two children.
Azula rolled her eyes as Zhiar stared at his mother questioningly. She ignored their reaction and the four quietly made their way to the city walls. There, Zhiar and Azula were tasked with covering the grounds directly in front of the barrier as they were not yet skilled enough to shapeshift like their father. Ozai would try to take out the bulk. As they left the safety of the dome, Katara stood at the top of the walls with the soldiers that protected the city and gazed somberly at her husband.
…
A/N: Second chapter of the day coming right up! Sorry for the wait!