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Borealis: A Zutara Story	By : jaded_priceless Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > AU/AR - Alternate Universe/Alternate Reality Views: 33965 -:- Recommendations : 2 -:- Currently Reading : 4
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, Avatar: The Legend of Korra, any historical figures or events, or easily recognizable persons, places or things. I make no profit from this work of fanfiction

Chapter List
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Chapter 155
Katara brushed her teeth and rinsed her mouth carefully. She hadn’t eaten yet, all that came up was stomach acid. She stepped into the shower and began washing away Zuko’s touch.
Zuko cursed loudly then pulled on his breeches. He scowled at the door then went into the restroom, “Katara, I’m sorry. My father wants her to draw us now that we’ve finished. If she doesn’t…”
Katara spoke from behind the shower curtain, “So I’m supposed to go out there and smile and pretend to be happy? I was just raped Zuko. ”
Zuko flinched at the ugly truth behind the accusation. He reached for her then awkwardly withdrew his hand, “No, Katara…”
Zuko turned on the sink and splashed water over his face. He sighed, “If she doesn’t she’ll be the one punished. She’s only doing what she’s been told. She’s a gifted artist. My mother is the one who encouraged her talent. The picture of my mother I keep beneath my floorboards and the one I keep in my boot, she drew it. She drew most of the pictures of home I took with me when I was banished. My father would burn her hands so she’d never be able to draw again. Yuliang doesn’t deserve that.”
“No one does,” Zuko added quietly.
Katara returned to the spray of the water and renewed her efforts at scrubbing, “So it’s not enough you’ve paraded my humiliation in front of the crew, Azula has had it framed and now your father wants it captured for historical purposes? I’m not stupid Zuko. I’ve seen those propaganda flyers. Everything that she is drawing will be printed and dropped over the Earth Kingdom. Copies will be placed in water proof boxes with floatation devices and dumped in the currents so they’ll float to the Water Tribes.”
“ My Gran-Gran will die of shame once she sees what type of girl she raised,” Katara sniffled.
Zuko picked up a towel and stepped in the shower with her, wrapping it around her as she pulled her into his embrace, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know my father would show up with an artist.”
Katara knocked his hands away, “Don’t touch me. Why bother with the words when you’re only going to do it again? You don’t mean them. Everything is just some part of a grand scheme to get the throne to you.”
Katara bent the water off and pushed past Zuko out of the bathroom, “I hate you. I hate I ever felt sorry for you. You’re just like them. No you’re worse. Your father and Azula know they are lying. You actually believe the sky-bison shit you spout.”
Katara crawled beneath the covers and threw the towel on the floor, “I don’t care what happens to that idiot. Anyone who helps your efforts to destroy my credibility deserves to have their hands burned off. I’m doing this for Sokka and Aang so you’ll keep helping them.”

Zuko steamed himself dry and opened the door. Yuliang’s nose crinkled when she stepped into the room. She could smell vomit and something she couldn’t recognize. The Waterbender was staring angrily at her but Prince Zuko looked sad and exhausted.
Katara held the covers over her breast awkwardly so her fingers looked more like a claw as Zuko climbed into bed. She acknowledged his presence with a single word, “Bastard.”
“I know,” Zuko replied quietly as he settled next to her.
Silent tears ran down Katara’s face as Zuko curled up behind her and draped his forearm over her waist.
Yuliang pondered the strange atmosphere as she drew. The Waterbender was crying. She smelled throw up. Prince Zuko’s hand was resting over her stomach. He’d gotten angry when she upset her. The artist gasped harshly snapping her head up to get a better look at them. The prince’s hand was on his lover’s stomach. She was crying, the room smelled like vomit. Prince Zuko was pressed against her back and her head rested on his bicep. His hand was on her stomach.
His hand was on her stomach! Yuliang drew her own conclusion as she quickly sketched the bed and the two of their bodies before turning the page and blending their faces until she had several cute smaller ones. Yuliang took another look at her sketches and the happy expectant couple then circled the ones she thought would be the most accurate. They would have a baby. She could not wait until she told Sei the Prince and the Waterbender would be parents.
Her eyes caught the movement on the bed and she turned towards it. Prince Zuko’s hand had left her belly and he was now holding hers. She drew their interlaced fingers and noticed Katara’s distorted hand. She resolved to fix it later. Now she had a new image to draw. The Waterbender had rolled over and buried her face against Prince Zuko’s muscular chest. His hand was now rubbing her back. Yuliang blushed, one of the prince’s hands was cupping her derriere.

Zuko rolled onto his back pulling Katara on top of him. He stroked her back and hair as she cried herself to sleep. Yuliang was still sketching. He brought his hand up to tug on his scalp. When he was younger, he’d often play with the older girl. Many times he’d sit in his mother’s lap or next to her while Yuliang drew their portraits. She continued to send him pictures she’d drawn and perfected as she grew older during his banishment. Thanks to her he always knew the exact number of turtleducks at the palace, how many blooms were on the katsura tree and that his father would sometimes sit beneath it or stare at family portraits with a look of regret.
He wasn’t foolish enough to think it was for him, but the sentiment was nice anyway. He knew his father wanted to discredit Katara in the worse way. It was his idea. But that was before he knew how deeply he’d fall in love with her and be affected by her tears.
“Yuliang,” Zuko whispered and waved her over.
She knelt by the bed. “Yes Prince Zuko?”
“Look in the bottom drawer at the back. There is a brand new loincloth. Please take a look at what is in it.” Zuko instructed.
The artist obeyed. She found it contained a picture she had drawn of Prince Zuko sleeping with his head on his mother’s lap. In the corner was smaller picture Princess Ursa had drawn of the two of them fast asleep. Zuko was holding onto a book and she was holding onto a paintbrush.
“Prince Zuko, ou kept this,” she murmured softly noting it had been preserved in some type of clear waterproof cover.
Zuko nodded, “It was a source of encouragement that one day I would be allowed to return home. It was always on my person so it did not get blown up with my ship and the rest of my belongings. The pictures you sent to me were among them.”
Zuko looked in her eyes, “My mother always told me that Agni blessed each of us with gifts. Katara’s gift is compassion and a kind heart. She hates to see others hurting, even those who have been unkind to her. I know you heard what she told Mai, but when Mai insulted her background she insulted her dead mother.”
Yuliang nodded. She’d lost her father so she understood the desire to defend the memory of her parents.
“She is not a seductress, betrayer, gold digger, opportunist or a whore. She’s just a kind hearted person whose beliefs differ from ours. She is very protective of those she cares for and hates to see injustice of any kind. She is in this position because she is brave enough to fight for those beliefs and she was captured while doing so. Please remember that as you use the gift Agni has blessed you with. I am certain I know what type of pictures my father wants to you draw. I am the one who gave him the idea of using her to destroy the Avatar’s supporters. Do what you must to protect yourself, but please be kind to her,” Zuko implored.
Yuliang put the picture back where she got it from and leaned over to get a better look at the Waterbender. She was sleeping, but tears still fell from her eyes and her face was drawn, “She looks so sad.”
“She is. Her mother was killed by the Fire Nation. She, her brother and her best friend have been captured and I have taken her as my concubine. My mother would be disappointed to know I force her to share my bed. Hers would be devastated to know she is being used in such a manner,” Zuko said inhaling deeply and crossing his arms over her back protectively. “Yuliang, Katara is mine. I am not as cruel as my father or Azula, but I do protect what belongs to me.”
The artist nodded and backed away. She had just been threatened by Prince Zuko. No, she had just been warned by Prince Zuko. After Princess Ursa died she too had been under his protection. He was tall for his age, but slender. It didn’t stop him from walking up and pummeling any boy regardless of size or rank who attempted to molest her. He wanted them to fight back but no one would fight a prince so he’d remove his crown before attacking them. He only put it back on after leaving them beaten and bloody. He wanted them to know the identity of the boy they’d just fought fairly and lost to before declaring her under his protection and making them swear on their honor to protect her in his stead.
He’d never told where he got the black eyes and bruises only claiming he acquired them during training. Prince Zuko had earned their respect for sticking up for a servant. That respect turned to loyalty when her would be abusers learned he had done the same thing for their sisters.
“Prince Zuko, may I look at her again? I think the world should see her as she is now,” Yuliang asked quietly.
Prince Zuko gave his permission and the older girl studied them. This time she saw the bags beneath both of their eyes, their strained countenances, and tear tracks on both their faces, “I understand. Princess Ursa would be ashamed of me as an artist. I am seeing what I want to instead of what is truly there. I will do my best to protect myself and the truth you’ve just shown me.”
“Thank you Yuliang. Please be careful. Please, please be careful. My father is not one to cross,” Zuko said quietly.
Yuliang gathered her supplies, looking over her shoulder one last time and recognizing Prince Zuko’s expression. It was the one his father wore every time he looked at Princess Ursa. The little boy Princess Ursa had encouraged her to treat as a younger brother in spite of the difference in their statuses was in love.
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Borealis: A Zutara Story