CHAPTER 22

KATARAS POV

"Katara it's been five months! Let's just go check it out" Leila begged, her green eyes pleading as she cut the carrots on the wooden counter. Katara's two girlfriends, May and Leila, had spent the best part of an hour trying to convince her to come to a festival with them. News of the end of the war had finally gotten to them after five long months of living in fear. Katara hadn't left the farm a single time, opting to stay within the acres of Zuko's land. May and Leila came over almost every day, often times even staying the night with her. They had kept Katara sane and away from the edge during a time in her life where everything was hard. Her husband was dead. She feared that Ozai and Azula might still be on the loose. And she had a newborn baby to care for.

But now they knew that the war had been won and Ozai was dead. Tonight was supposed to be Chao's celebratory festival.

"I don't know…Salai's never been off the farm before and…" Katara trailed off scratching her neck as she tried to search for more excuses.

"Katara he's about to be six months old. He should be exposed to more people outside of me, Leila, Haru, and the baker's sons!" May argued as she set the water to a boil.

"Fine!" Katara huffed throwing her hands up in defeat. She turned back to the living room grabbing her babbling baby from the tummy time mat on the floor. She wrapped him expertly with a long fabric creating a sling wrap for him to be harnessed to her front. She tightened it until she felt Salai rest securely against her chest. Katara went out the front door feeling the late summer sun beating down on her despite the early morning. She reached the chicken coup grabbing the basket hanging on the wooden post. She squatted down, Salai now in her lap, as she gathered the lain eggs into the basket. After a while she returned to the cottage with a basket of eggs in tow.

"I got you this really cute dress for tonight" May gushed as Katara placed the basket on the kitchen table.

"Please don't tell me it's over the top" Katara rolled her eyes.

"It's not I swear" May skipped to the bedroom before bringing out a long bag. She slid the dress out revealing it's simple but elegant design. It was a muted pink color with green embroidered vines trimmed at the bottom of the hem and sleeves. The fabric was light and airy for summer.

Katara found herself in the dress some ten hours later as she got herself ready for the festival. Her friends would be there to pick her up soon so she rushed about dressing Salai in the baby Jeogori and trousers she made out of green fabric. After strapping him to her she went to the mirror to evaluate herself. Her hair was crowned in a thin braid with the rest of it cascading down her back in chocolate waves. Her eyes looked bright for the first time in months, finally optimistic about her future. If the war was over that meant it was safe to travel, and she could visit her family in the South Pole. Her eyes tore away from the mirror when she heard a knock at the front door. She opened it revealing May, Leila, and Haru all dressed nicely in their festival clothing.

"I got a bigger wagon for you ladies!" Haru exclaimed as they all piled into the cushioned space.

"This one's much more comfortable" Leila laughed as they took off into the night towards the town's square.

ZUKOS POV

Zuko felt a thrill enter his heart as Druk flipped backwards mid air, causing the blood to rush to his head. He continued to flip twice before soaring down over the great Fire Nation palace. As he flew closer he spotted his King's guard gathering in the gardens awaiting his return. He landed Druk in the clearing of the pristine grounds right in front of the twelve Kyoshi warriors that made up his King's guard. He hopped off of his dragon as Suki came forward to face him.

After usurping the throne Zuko had needed protection from assassination attempts by former supporters of his father. Suki had volunteered herself and a few of her most trusted warriors. They had developed a closeness throughout those months of tight security, and with their consent he had appointed the extraordinary women as his official King's guard, and Suki his Hand. The Fire Lord's Hand was the most important position aside from Fire Lady that any other official could hold. That title not only made her the captain of his King's guard but his most trusted advisor.

"I would really appreciate if you could refrain from doing those dangerous tricks in the sky Fire Lord Zuko…for your safety" she smirked as she stood before him dressed in a red version of her traditional Kyoshi armor and her face paint pristine as usual. Her pale grey eyes bore into him as she admonished him playfully.

"It can't be helped Suki" he smirked back removing his dragon's helm. His sweat soaked hair tumbled over his eyes before he swatted it away.

"And I'd especially appreciate if you refrained from taking spontaneous week long vacations when nobody knows where you are" she followed. She wasn't smiling anymore. Zuko began walking past her towards the palace past the rest of the warriors who were knelt before him. He heard her following him inside.

"Uncle loves taking over when I leave" Zuko threw out "helps him curb the boredom."

"Zuko be serious" she admonished as they crossed into the palace's greenhouse. He stopped walking finally and turned to her in annoyance.

"I am being serious. And I seriously need a drink" he said before turning around and continuing to walk.

"The more time you spend away from here the more your council continues to make subtle changes without your jurisdiction" Suki hissed. He stopped again.

"What changes?"

"For starters while you were away they put together a Fire Lady courtship event. They've already sent notification to all the nations and have narrowed down the list of women."

"On what grounds?" he shouted.

"On the grounds that the crown needs to be secured! Those men have no loyalty to you, they are loyal to their country, and they have been asking you to remarry for months. It's either this or they turn on you" Suki reasoned. Zuko's fists tightened at his sides in anger and anxiety. He knew as Fire Lord he could not remain a widow much longer. But his stomach rolled at the thought of marrying anyone else. Suki took in the look of apprehension on his face.

"Zuko…have you ever thought about…trying to be happy again? With someone else?" she asked softly. Zuko shut his eyes tightly and his heart pounded against his chest.

"You deserve happiness Zuko. I know this is much too soon, and you haven't properly grieved. But give love another chance. She would want you to be happy."

Zuko took a deep breath, opening his eyes finally.

"When does all this start?" he asked. Suki sighed before taking the lead and walking him through the corridors towards his room. They stopped just before the Fire Lord's quarters.

"You should get some rest. The first event starts tomorrow morning…tea time at court."

Zuko cringed, not at all prepared for what lay ahead of him. He was suddenly regretting his spontaneous vacation.

He pondered that he should regret his frequent elopements more often, but the truth was he wasn't a good leader. Or at least he couldn't see past his grief in order to be a present Fire Lord. He was nowhere near as bad as his father, he was actually pretty good at keeping the peace, but with a developing drinking problem he often neglected his duties. He liked to spend long nights out riding with Druk, sometimes returning three or four days later. He would drink himself into boozy stupors on a weekly basis, unable to control himself in his pain. Him refusing to re-marry for this long was just the straw that was breaking his advisor's backs. Suki was right, it was only a matter of time before they turned on him.

"Sure…" he answered reluctantly before retreating to his chambers for a drink and bidding Suki goodnight.

KATARAS POV

The festival was more than Katara could have ever imagined. Chao had pulled out all the stops to celebrate the decades long war finally coming to a close. There were hundreds of street food stands lining the cobble stoned roads selling savory and sweet treats, venders doing face paint or making toys for children, there were even benders doing performances or reenacting plays scattered about. Although Salai was strapped to her chest Katara still held him close to her bosom, overwhelmed by the sheer number of people in the crowd.

"When we said expose him to more people I didn't mean this many people" Katara frowned at May and Leila as they cruised the street.

"Oh lighten up hover mom, this will be exciting for him. Look at all this visual stimulation!" May protested before grabbing a glow stick from a stand and waving it in front of her son's face. Salai's golden eyes tracked the stick from left to right with rapt attention.

"Hey lady you gotta pay for that!" the owner of the stand cried. May scrambled in her purse to produce a copper coin.

They spent most of the evening walking around and sampling various street foods. She had even let Salai have a small taste of the cream from one of her pastries, watching his eyes light up in curiosity and exhilaration.

About two hours into the festivities they found themselves watching one of the plays about star crossed lovers. Katara was itching for a drink, the fire flakes she'd had during the performance igniting her pour tongue.

"I'll be right back" she announced to the group before getting up to leave. She wondered around for a bit before finding an iced tea stand. She ordered a milk chai, one of her favorite drinks. She watched as the vender chipped at the humongous ice block with a pick, and place the shards in her cup of tea.

"Thank you" she said with a smile before reaching in her coin purse.

"Allow me" a deep voice offered from behind. She turned around to find a young man around her age, his skin the color of caramelized sugar. He reached into his pocket, producing three copper coins and handing it to the vender. He gave her a smirk around the shortened stalk of wheat he was chewing on.

"Thanks…" Katara said hesitantly.

"Jet" he offered "and your name?"

She appraised him curiously.

"Katara"

"Pretty name. Can I get you anything else Katara?" he asked, pronouncing every syllable in her name.

"Uh…no I'm good, thank you for the drink" she answered taking her tea and walking back towards the performers. He walked beside her, following her.

"Where's the dad?" he asked, looking at Salai. The question made her uncomfortable but she answered anyway.
"He died in the war."

His brows creased in empathy.

"I'm sorry to hear that…I lost quite a few people to that god awful war too" he said scratching his shock of dark brown hair.

"Yeah…"

"It's a good thing the Fire Nation has a new King, I hear this guy is much better than Ozai"

Katara's ears quirked up at the mention of the Fire Lord, she wondered if General Iroh had taken over in his brothers place.

"Who sits on the throne now?" she asked, careful not to sound too invested.

"Do you live under a rock or something?" he snickered. She laughed the jest off awkwardly.

"Kind of…I haven't really been out of the house since my son was born"

"Well it's all anyone around here has been talking about for the past few weeks. Every high born is trying to throw their daughters at him since he's hosting a courtship for the new Fire Lady. Apparently this guy is Ozai's son."

Katara's heart palpitated.

"What's his name?" she whispered, her skin breaking out into a cold sweat.

"Fire Lord Zuko." Jet took in the expression on the water benders face.

"It's no use in trying out for the courtship tourney, they've already narrowed it down to ten girls" Jet added.

Katara snapped out of it, shaking her head.

"I-I'm sure having a child would equal automatic disqualification" she chided scratching the back of her neck "Anyway, it was nice meeting you I should get back to my friends." She sped away forgetting her tea on a stand. She couldn't stop the tears from flowing down her heated cheeks as she clutched Salai close to her desperately searching for her friends.

"Katara! Wait! Did I say something?" Jet called. She ignored him and luckily he did not follow her this time. It took her about five minutes to find May, Leila, and Haru at a game stand trying to aim a small sack of beans into different sized buckets for a prize. Leila spotted her first.

"There you are! What's wrong?" her friend asked as she took in her frantic state.

"Zuko's alive" she said breathlessly.

"WHAT" the three of them said in unison.

"He's alive and he's the Fire Lord…" she felt her panic rise into hyperventilation.

"That's great news! We'll take you to the Fire Nation at once. We can leave tomorrow" Haru said.

"No we can't" Katara said shortly.

"Katara…?" May said slowly in concern "Why wouldn't you? This is a miracle…"

"He's-he's getting re-married" Katara felt like the wind was knocked from her lungs with that admission alone.

"Oh Tara honey" Leila exclaimed bringing the crying water bender into her arms. Salai cooed, enjoying being smooshed between the two of them.
"I just want to go home" she cried into Leila's shoulder. And this time she didn't mean the farm.

END CHAPTER 22