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Borealis: A Zutara Story	By : jaded_priceless Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > AU/AR - Alternate Universe/Alternate Reality Views: 33555 -:- 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
- 15
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- 17
Zuko retied Katara’s hands more loosely in front of her and asked if Ty Lee would accompany her to the royal spa. Ty Lee looked at Mai then Azula. Azula shrugged and Mai offered no expression so she agreed to follow Zuko.
Katara thought Zuko parading her in front of the crew was the most humiliating thing she would ever experience until she was left in the capable hands of the attendants and Ty Lee. After being chi blocked so they could begin their treatments. Katara was scrubbed, scraped, trimmed, plucked, kneaded, oiled, coiffed and coiled to be more to her prince’s liking.
The manicure, pedicure and massages would have been more bearable if not for comments such as “Wow, I haven’t seen legs this hairy since General Iroh left the palace”, “Prince Zuko sure is a brave man to explore this forest,” or “We should be rubbing the callouses on her feet together instead of punishing these poor pumice” and “She has nice skin; if only it weren’t such an abysmal color.”
There was only so much water that could be splashed in their faces without becoming obvious she’d regained her bending.
“What do you mean? Katara has pretty skin. It’s the same color as a lot of the baby animals at the zoo in Ba Sing Se and it’s so soft. I bet she doesn’t turn red as a lobster when she goes to the beach like Mai does,” courtesy of a well meaning Ty Lee.
The comment of “It is soft! I always thought barbarian skin would be scaly,” from the seven year old daughter of the head spa maid wasn’t much better.
One of the maids pinched another when she mentioned that with amount of hair they removed Katara might as well be an animal. The unseemly comment inferred Prince Zuko’s taste might be as exotic as a long dead ancestor whose name was slowly being purged from the annals of history. At least they had nothing disparaging to say about her hair other than “such magnificent tresses were waste on a savage’s head”.
Ty Lee suggested that the little girl, Princess Azula’s favorite groomer, be allowed to brush her hair much to the chagrin of her mother. After reassuring her that Katara hadn’t hurt Tom-Tom and the boy still asks for “Kata” and another chi blocking she relented only to have little Ching Mei become the highlight of the experience. The child repeatedly declared Katara’s hair was “softer, prettier, shinier and a gazillion times bestest than Princess Azula’s and they didn’t have to use the stuff they get from the stable for animals as conditioner.”
Zuko smiled when he saw her and caressed her cheek with his thumb, “Are you feeling better?”
She flinched and visibly recoiled; pulling water from the tubs forgetting Ty Lee was behind her. The whips splashed unto the floor and she feel forward against Zuko.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Zuko said quickly grabbing the ropes and binding her wrists tightly. “Apologize to the attendants. They aren’t trained fighters and you scared them.”
“Why should I? You didn’t apologize to anyone when you barged into my village and roughed up my grandmother and bullied a bunch of women and children. They weren’t trained fighters and you terrified them with your bending,” Katara replied defiantly. The feeling hadn’t returned to her arms but she still made the effort to struggle.
“Apologize peasant!” Zuko demanded twisting her arms behind her back, tying them and forcing her to her knees, “Apologize!”
“Stop, you’re hurting me.” She wailed as he jerked her arms back while forcing her into a bow.
“Apologize and I’ll stop hurting you.” He replied forcing her head forward.
“No you won’t. You’re a bully and coward. You spout all this crap about honor but you’re nothing but a monster that kidnaps children, rapes women, and abuses animals!” She yelled throwing her body sideways managing to graze his crotch with her elbow.
“You bitch,” Zuko screamed instinctively shoving her away before she could get in a better blow.
Katara fell forward hitting her face on a stool. All the women gasped. They had long grown accustomed to such fits of temper from Ozai and Azula, but had never seen that side of Prince Zuko.
“Apologize Katara and I’ll take you to see a physician,” Zuko said quietly. He silently berated himself. He hadn’t meant to push her that hard. He didn’t want to hurt her, he only wanted to make sure that she couldn’t hurt him.
She wiped her bloody lip on her shoulder and saw the women’s horrified expressions; the little girl was crying, “I’m sorry innocent people are afraid and suffering because the Fire Nation royal family is no better than a group of hog monkeys rampaging in places they don’t belong in.”
“Don’t bother taking me to the doctor. I can take care of it myself once you untie me,” she finished curtly.
Zuko stepped forward to help her up. The attendants slunk away from him cowering. Ching Mei was crying. Once she’d gotten used to his presence at the palace she’d tugged on his pants leg and asked him if he wanted a bandage for his owie, now she was hiding behind her mother’s leg frightened.
He glanced up at her mother, Ching Pei, and the other women. They were all bowing in a manner that screamed submission rather than respect. It was just like the ones given to his father and sister. He addressed each of them by name and thanked them for assisting his concubine. They replied raising their heads high enough to look at his chest, instead of the standard height of his chin.
Zuko reached to help Katara up and she uttered a terse “don’t touch me”. He ignored her and gently lifted her to her feet by the shoulders.
As they were exiting he heard a childish voice ask, “I thought concubines were women a noble thought was special?”
“They are child,” Ching Pei sighed. That was the standard explanation given to children to preserve their innocence.
“If he thinks she’s special then why did Prince Zuko hurt her on purpose? He made her fall down and she was bleeding.”
“I don’t know child. That’s one thing I’ve never understood either,” Ching Pei replied. She had been one of the few lucky ones who had grown up in the palace happy and unmolested. She hoped her daughter too remained ignorant of men with such intentions.
- 15
- 16
- 17
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Borealis: A Zutara Story