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The Siege of Katara	By : CordeliaLeCroix Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > Threesomes/Moresomes Views: 56169 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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Book 4: Air
"What is all the commotion?" Ty Lee asked. She sat up straighter as Ursa climbed into their caravan.
"I don't know, but it will mask our escape if those insane sisters don't check on us. They're in their caravan talking about what it will be like in other nations." Ursa nervously fumbled with Mai's chains and managed to unlock her ankles and wrists, then moved to Ty Lee's.
"Where are we?" Mai asked. They hadn't been allowed out since they had arrived, but she could hear the water. The dogman had been animated, but secretive about his new venture.
"We're at the Docks," Ursa said. "He's trying to get passage to the East, but some people showed up. Apparently important people who don't want him to leave."
"Whatever," Mai muttered and stuck her head out from the caravan to look around. A tug on her arm pulled her back.
"Don't get us caught before we even get out of these chains," Ty Lee said and her normally perky eyebrows knitted together.
"I'm not. There's a lot of yelling, but there's no one watching us." Mai stretched her back, relaxing her muscles beneath her latest tattoo. It was still bloody and slick from ointment. Together the three of them crept past the sister's caravan. Ursa slid the curtain to the third caravan open as if she were going in to do her job.
"It's okay," Ursa called and the girls hurried in after her. Masato moaned against his gag, his sister laying weakly at his feet.
Ursa set to his chains, but Mai placed a hand over hers to still them. "Masato, we're escaping. Do you understand? Let's get out of here before we plan revenge."
His wide brown eyes glared at her.
"You need your strength to carry her," Mai said and motioned again to Kwan, still motionless. He dropped his gaze to his sister. He nodded his head without looking up and Ursa finished her task.
They weren't the only fighters in the area. Caravans dotted the landscape and handlers seemed to be on task everywhere. The docks should have been bustling with people, and it was, but they were immobile. They stood staring in the direction of the yelling.
"Hey, let's go," Ty Lee urged, but something caught Mai's attention. There was an entourage. A royal entourage.
"Get them over there," Mai pointed to last of the caravans towards land. "I'll be right there."
"Hey!" Ty Lee tried to yell without yelling. "Where are you going?"
"Come on," Mai heard Ursa's calm and coaxing voice. "We can't force her to come."
Ignoring Ty Lee's irritated huffs Mai slipped into the still crowd. Slinging a discarded robe around her shoulders she made her way to the front.
The dogman stood pointing to the massive Fire Passenger Ship sitting at the end of a pier. "We're getting on that ship, your majesty, whether you like it or not." The sarcasm ate through his words.
Mai could only see the back of the person he was talking to, an instantly recognizable Fire Nation crown perched in a top knot on top of a wavy mass of shining dark hair that hid the upper portion of a royal gown, but it wasn't Azula.
There was silence. "We are looking for the first wife of the Fire Lord. Her name is Mai, " a familiar voice said calmly. "I hope that's not your final argument."
It couldn't be, thought Mai. The dogman's expression was fat contempt, his face redder than his tunic. Mai examined the other entourage members. The royal wasn't surrounded by Fire Nation soldiers like she should have been. Instead she only had two noble women flanking her. One short and dressed in white, the other tall and sparkled in green. Why would there only be three of them?
The dogman gestured around him and laughed. "No matter who you say you are, your majesty, you can see you have no power here. Who sits on the Fire Lord's throne hardly matters anymore."
The voice sighed. The noble women barely moved, but Mai registered the defensive readiness that took them and she knew who they were.
In shock Mai watched Katara's hand raise and the dogman gasped, his spine suddenly ridged.
"I'd hoped it wouldn't come to this, even though you and your ring need to be shut down." she said, her voice still calm. "However, we will rip through every last trailer until we find her."
"You can't do this," the dogman squeaked through parched lips. "She's a traitor. I bought her from the Princess."
"Azula is currently being treated for insanity," Toph said seriously.
"But if her brand of cruelty is what you need to be convinced we can oblige," Suki finished.
A handler, who obviously had no clue what kind of hold Katara had on the dogman, laughed out loud. "If Fire Lord Zuko cared so much about his wife why wouldn't he send someone more important?"
"He did," Katara said quietly. "He sent me." A ribbon of water curled around her feet.
The handler laughed again. "The second wife of the Fire Lord is hardly anything. What are a pregnant woman and two handmaids going to do against a whole caravan of Agni-Mizong? Of professional fighters?"
Suki laughed this time. "The professional fighters are chained or cowed. Who exactly is left to fight?"
"We handle the Nation's hardest fighters. I think we can handle three girls in dresses."
"Shut…," the dogman was struggling to get the words out, and he finally said, "Shut up." The handler looked at him curiously.
"You okay, boss?"
Katara's arm thrust down, the dogman's body hit the ground. Her fingers flicked upwards and the dogman bowed. The crowd hushed again.
"Katara," Mai meant to say it louder, but her voice came out breathless. She stepped forward and lowered the hood of the robe. As soon as the people around her recognized her they stepped away. Mai wondered if they were afraid of her or Katara.
She turned and let go of the dogman. "Mai…"
"No!" The dogman regained his confidence as he regained his self control. "What are you doing out of your chains!"
"I don't think I'll be wearing them any longer," Mai replied. "They didn't really go with my personality."
Mai let the robe fall to the ground, bearing her complete collection of tattoos.
"Khukuri," the crowd was whispering.
"Stop her!" the dogman yelled. Several people stepped further back, but the handlers stepped up with chains in their hands. She had a few seconds to see Suki running and Toph bracing her stance before she had to dodge the chains that were thrown at her.
She gritted her teeth and ducked, wishing she had her knives. There were so many targets, but the chains just made it easier to confuse them. Four of them were swallowed by the earth before they reached her, but the dogman was persistent.
He had wrapped a chain around his fist and he swung it skillfully, but he hadn't been in the pit for far too long. Mai let the chain wrap around her even though it crushed her ribs. She ignored the pain, then used it to tip him off balance. Before his body hit the ground the chain was taut around his neck, his eyes bulging.
"It's time you found a new hobby," Mai told him seriously, but he was already gone. When she realized it she let go of the chain and stared at him. How had this irrelevant, insignificant man kept her captive for so long?
Looking around she saw the rest of the handlers neatly dispatched. People were gawking or fleeing. Fighters, most likely, gaining their freedom. Someone touched her arm. "What are you still doing here?"
"You didn't think I'd leave you, did you?" Ty Lee smiled her cheery smile and for once Mai didn't mind. She pointed at one of the dispatched handlers. Mai stepped over his still form and drew her knives from his pockets.
Katara, genteel and obviously pregnant, carefully made her way forward. Mai felt like the beggar in the street next to the vision she presented. Her dark skin made it obvious she wasn't Fire Nation, but who would doubt her in that gown?
There was silence between them, and the rest stared, but for them enough had been said.
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They sat around a fire, mostly quiet and introspective. The atmosphere was tense and each of them was waiting for someone else to say something. Mai stared into the fire, but gasped as Katara finished mending her cracked ribs. She resisted the urge to let her power wash through Mai to check for more injuries.
"This tattoo on your back is still bleeding," Katara said.
"Leave it," Mai told her.
"Why?"
"Because I earned it," she said. Then, "There's a jar of stuff in that sack, if you want to put something on it."
Katara rummaged through the sack Mai had taken with them until she found a jar of grease. It smelled of mint and was pungent but not unpleasant. Sitting behind Mai she applied the grease to the fresh tattoo and examined the others. It was a beautiful mural, a dark web over her light skin, covering her bare shoulders and cascading down her back. It made her look gorgeous, and dangerous.
Mai turned and grabbed Katara's wrist before she realized she'd been tracing the patterns with her fingers.
"Sorry," she whispered. Everyone was trying hard not to watch the two of them and their effort made the moment awkward.
Mai examined her with a porcelain mask in place, but finally asked, "How was the wedding?"
Toph yawned loudly. "Well, goodnight guys," she said and the ground shot up to form a tent around her.
"A lot like yours," Katara replied. She wanted to look away, but forced herself to keep eye contact with this seemingly otherworldly being. It was Mai, but it wasn't. This Mai was hard. "A lot of public fanfare and more about perception than love."
Ty Lee quietly laid down and rolled over so her back was to them. Their nurse looked incredibly sad, but kept staring at the fire.
"Nation alliance?"
"Yes. My father and Pakku, one of the Northern Water Tribe leaders, were present. Sokka and my father plan to stay as ambassadors." Katara grew quiet for a moment and Mai went back to staring at the fire. "It was quite a show."
"You're pregnant. Why did you come?" Mai wasn't looking at her anymore, but she still held her wrist. Katara made an effort to relax her muscles and get comfortable.
"It was all Zuko wanted to do, but apparently when you're the Fire Lord and your nation is in the middle of a civil war it's hard to do the things you really want to do. He was adamant about coming to get you. We left without his knowledge to keep him where he needs to be. Things would really fall apart without him there."
"Azula?"
"Stilled. Aang took away her bending again. She's….in a hospital. Her mind is….gone."
"Her baby?"
"It was," Katara had to stop a moment and looked at her growing stomach where her free hand had gone to protect it from her next words. "It was dead inside her. She didn't miscarry, so we think it was the last thing Hama did before she died." Her own baby was safe and healthy, but there had been a momentary scare after rescuing Azula.
"Hama is dead?"
"She died some time before we got there. Azula was pretending the dead woman was her mother, which is one of the reasons she's in the hospital."
The nurse choked on a sob, then rose and walked away.
"Is she okay?" Katara asked. "If she's hurt I can…"
"She's not hurt. Not physically, anyway." Mai looked at her again, her eyes finally showing some emotion. "She's Zuko and Azula's mother."
Katara felt her jaw drop and she looked in the direction the sobbing nurse had gone. "I didn't know," she whispered. "I wouldn't have said anything if I had known. Zuko said she disappeared."
Masato wrapped his sister in a blanket and they got comfortable so she could fall asleep. Suki pulled her own bedding out and stretched out on it.
"How is Zuko doing as Fire Lord?"
"He's actually pretty amazing," Katara tried to keep the awe out of her voice. "He's already forged alliances, quelled the civil upset closest to the capital, and was in the process of picking new Fire Sages and reorganizing the classes children are taught in the academies. Aang is helping him, of course, but he's a surprisingly forceful leader."
Mai moved into a more comfortable position, facing Katara with the heat at her back. "So if he's amazing and things are working out, why did you come?"
"What do you mean? Why wouldn't I come?"
"Did it really never occur to you to leave me to my lot? To keep him all for yourself?"
Katara stared at her in horror. "No. No, of course not. The only reason it took us this long was because we had no idea what Azula had done with you. We searched the prison and the boiling rock, but of course you weren't there. Azula is seriously crazy, and we couldn't get anything that made sense out of her. She kept saying you were in her agony, or the Agni-Mizong, and we didn't know what that was. It was Suki who finally found someone who could tell us what happened to you, and then we had to track you down. Do you know how hard it is to find an underground fighting ring when everyone is scared to death to say anything? And…"
Mai leaned forward and boldly pushed her hand into Katara's thick hair, effectively cutting off her story, and kissed her. Katara tried to relax, and even tried to kiss her back even though her own mind was whirring with questions and doubt. When the kiss ended, Mai laid down on her bedroll. Katara started to get up, but Mai grabbed her wrist again.
There was pain in Mai's eyes. A personal pain she wasn't ready to share yet. Neither of them were ready to share.
"Stay," she whispered. Even though everyone there had witnessed this first awkward step of their new relationship since their time in Ba-hai, Katara laid down next to her sister wife and slept.
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Zuko stared at the people around him, discussing ways to stop the continuous fighting within the nation. He tried to focus on how lucky he was to have them here, helping him.
"You would think just knowing the Fire Lord…er, I mean Ozai, is no longer in power would be enough," Aang shook his head.
"It's just not that easy. There are too many people seeking revenge, and too many who grew up believing we had a right to this war," Zuko said for the millionth time. He wished his uncle were here. He wished he could ignore everything until he could find Katara and Mai. He had responsibilities, and they terrified him, but it was too hard to be scared when his new wife had disappeared on him again, and he had no idea where she or Mai were. All he had was a week old note from Katara that said she and Suki and Toph were looking for Mai.
"We're going to have to win people over. This isn't new to us," Sokka said seriously. "We've spent over a year just going from place to place helping people. Now we'll have to do it on a larger scale, and this time the Avatar can go public."
"I like that idea," Aang said nodding. "Word will spread. It will take time, but eventually we'll reach everyone."
"So the Avatar and the Fire Lord are going to tour the country together, bringing peace to the masses?" On ji smiled wide.
Zuko watched Aang's sad expression turn into excitement.
"No," Sokka shook his head. "Zuko has to stay here. He will be our center point of contact so orders can be given to the soldiers he still has command over. Someone has to keep order and make all the changes that need to be made."
"I'll stay," Zuko's new father-in-law said. He hadn't been thrilled about his daughter becoming the new Fire Lord's second wife, but he had supported them anyway while looking for any sign that this wasn't what Katara had wanted. Her sudden disappearance hadn't done much to reassure him and the only way to keep him in check was to remind him that Katara left to rescue his first wife. That and their common peace mission.
"Me too," Tyro said. After leading the first of the earth benders onto Fire Nation soil he was happy to unite with some of the water benders and the new Fire Lord to bring peace. Unfortunately many of the earth armies and water benders weren't so happy about it, and there was more fighting than ever.
"Okay, great. Me and Aang will start visiting cities and helping out where we can. On Appa it will be no problem to come back when ever we need to," Sokka said smiling.
"And if things calm down here, we can invite people from other nations and travel all over," Aang said helpfully.
Zuko stood and looked out over the massive and familiar balcony.
"Don't worry," Sokka said and put a hand on his shoulder. Sokka was surprisingly the only who really seemed to understand. "Katara will be fine, and Suki and Toph are with her. Those three could take over the world."
Zuko looked at him and let a rare smile spread across his face and he nodded in agreement, but he couldn't shake the fear of almost losing their child. Katara drained herself to keep their baby from miscarrying and nothing could tear him away from her. She'd used lots of health and water bending related words and started taking a large interest in the Nation's affairs until he was finally reassured that the problem was over.
Then there had been the political wedding, which had soaked her in melancholy just like it had Mai. And just like Mai she had been a fervent lover, yearning for him to master her, but he had been gentle with her beautiful swelling body. Then she disappeared. Again.
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"Where are we going?" Suki wondered out loud.
"You're asking me? I'm blind," Toph answered.
"I thought after we rescued Mai we would head back to the Capital City, but we're headed in the opposite direction."
"Well, things are kind of weird aren't they? With Katara and Mai? Maybe they need some time."
"But wouldn't someone have said something?"
Toph shrugged. "We could always head back."
"Not a chance," Suki laughed. "Zuko would have us beheaded."
"Yeah, probably." Toph paused. "Hey, Suki?"
"What?"
"Are you going to stay here with Sokka?"
Suki was silent for a while. "It's a possibility. There are a couple girls who are good enough to take over the Kyoshi Warriors."
"Do you miss Kyoshi Island?"
"More and more every day."
"Is he worth it?"
Again there was silence. "Yeah. I think he is."
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"What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to see how you are," Haru explained. He had appeared out of nowhere after they broke camp. Katara hadn't even noticed he'd been with the entourage. While the others were packing up she stopped by the hot spring.
"You followed us all this way?" Katara asked. "Surely you knew I would be fine"
"I just wanted to see you."
"How ironic."
"They were Fire Nation."
"They are my family."
"Katara, it doesn't have to be this way. I could help you."
"What way? What is it you think I need rescuing from?" Turning her back to him she called the warm water to her, letting if flow around her body. It flashed blue, and she used it to check on the baby. He was doing well and getting bigger every day. She still had a little time left.
"We could go back to the Earth Kingdom. No one would have to know."
"No one would have to know what?"
"That the baby isn't mine," he said getting angry.
Katara laughed and Haru's face turned red. "This baby is Zuko's. He'll be the first Fire Nation Prince to bend water."
"Is everything okay here?" Toph asked. She and the others were ready to start walking.
"Everything is fine," Katara said.
"You should go back to the palace, Haru." Suki handed him a backpack.
"I'm not going back," he said sternly.
"Yes, you are," Mai said as if the matter were settled. "Your attention to Katara is inappropriate. Continuing on with us is out of the question."
"Don't you think Katara should have a say in this?"
"Go back to the palace, Haru," Katara said. He was more of a liability than a help. Who knew what else he would do out of a sense of justice? Or worse, revenge.
"Do you even know where you're going?" Haru asked. "We've all been following you to nowhere for two days. What are you running from?"
"I'm not running."
"Yes you are. You're running from being a part of this abomination. You know it's wrong and you just haven't found a way out yet. I'm offering you a way out."
"I don't need a way out," Katara denied. "I just need some time to adjust."
"You can't make me go," he insisted.
Mai became a quick blur and Haru was effectively pinned to the tree behind him with five of Mai's stars. "I'd love to leave you pinned to this tree, but I'm going to need my stars back. You can either go, or I can do something more permanent with my aim."
Katara rolled a ball of water between her hands and tapped two fingers to Haru's forehead. The ball glowed and he dropped into sleep. "He'll wake in a couple hours."
She reached for her own pack, but Ursa picked it up instead. She had tried to take care of them all by doing what she could. Katara's heart went out to her. She was exiled by her husband, her daughter is insane, and her son is married to two women, one of them a pregnant water bender.
Sighing she looked over the others. "You don't have to go with me."
"We're going with you," Suki assured her.
"But we wouldn't mind knowing where we are going," Toph said.
"There's a fishing village near here," she began.
"The one we spent so much time cleaning the river?" Toph asked.
"Yes. I wanted to see it. I know that there's fighting in most of the cities, but it would be nice if the difference we made hasn't been destroyed."
"What if it has?" Suki asked.
"Then we'll help," she answered.
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The Siege of Katara