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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
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Chapter 197
Chu-hua followed the soldiers to the camp on the outskirts of town. It was larger and far more organized than she expected. There were four large tents in the center of camp with smaller tents in concentric rings surrounding them. Soldiers were stationed every 100 feet in a diamond formation providing maximal coverage with minimal soldiers.
“Impressive use of resources,” Chu-hua commented as she passed by.
“Thank you for the kind words. It means a lot coming from an admiral with your reputation,” the major escorting her replied. “Please turn right at the next corridor. Our commander is waiting in the second tent on the left.”
Chu-hua pulled back the flap and gasped, “Mung? What are you doing here? I thought you’d be escorted to the spirit world by the Painted Lady before you ever left Jang Hui!”
“So did I but, the Fire Lord still hasn’t located General Iroh or the Earthbender. It’s only a matter of time before he gets around to firing everyone who came in contact with them. I figure transferring to a new outpost far away gives me a little more breathing time,” The general replied clasping his meaty hands on her shoulder arms in greeting. He smiled and motioned for Chu-hua to follow him, “Although I do believe I may have stumbled into a bit of life insurance on the way over here.”
The admiral followed him farther into the structure. He had prisoners. All of but one were kneeling on the floor with their hands chained to their ankles. All of them were wearing blue. Mung had captured the Water Tribesmen.
“Nice aren’t they?” Mung said proudly. He noticed Chu-Hua’s gaze had drifted to the lone Water Tribe prisoner not kneeling with the others. His blue pants were around his ankles his arms and legs were tied to the table he was bent over.
“Nice if you exclude the scene in the corner,” Chu-hua retorted.
“He was the prettiest. I’m saving him for Zhao’s son. The little ashpot warned me not to let my little girl go anywhere with his father so I figured I owed him a little gift for attempting to warn me. We were on our way over and they ran right into us. Caught a few earthworms too; one of them was nibbling on a scroll. Luckily we got to it before he could swallow it. The decoded message contained coordinates south of here, today’s date, and a time. Apparently the earthworms had little maggots,” Mung said gesturing to the smaller tents full of women and children around them.
“We were attacked earlier,” Chu-hua mentioned as she admired the segregation of prisoners. It was done by age group and she could see family resemblances in each group to lessen the chance of one running and leaving relatives behind.
Mung turned his head away from Chu-hua and spit on the ground, “That bastard Wen has been playing all sides of fence for the right price. The rebels knew of the snakeheads movements and have been disrupting them as often as possible. The snakeheads were losing money so they made arrangements to get the rebels’ families out of Ba Sing Se, unmolested and with all of their possession if they promised to stop interfering. The rebels knew they would be back for their cargo. There’s a high demand for fresh whores and all of these virgins would fetch top prices otherwise those greedy bastards never would have agreed to attack you.”
Mung smirked, “Well at least they would have.”
Chu-hua sighed knowing there probably wasn’t a single virgin left, “There’s always money to be made in flesh peddling. Drop off new whores and relocate the old ones; even with some mileage you can sell them a better price because they are new faces to the area.”
“All too true, all too true,” Mung agreed stopping in front of a tent that held young girls and getting a wistful look on his face. “Beautiful aren’t they?”
Chu-hua frowned; these children appeared to be no more than five or six. She didn’t think Mung’s tastes ran in that direction. “I suppose so, if you like puppies.”
Mung waved his hand and to Chu-Hua’s surprise a chubby little girl ran towards them. She placed her thumb in her mouth and settled against his shoulder when Mung lifted her, “This is my friend Admiral Chu-Hua. Tell her your name.”
The girl removed her thumb and Chu-hua saw her upper front teeth were missing. The little girl spoke shyly, “My name is Lily.”
Chu-hua placed her hand on her friend’s shoulder. One of her deepest regrets was that his daughter had not been one of the soldiers she’d pulled from the water during their failed siege. She had seen her standing on the bow of her ship barking orders to evacuate as it went down but lost sight of her when a second wave hit. Her battleship was closing in on sinking one when the Avatar pushed them back out of the harbor. The little girl he was holding had the same name and similar bone structure as his late daughter. She had watched Lily grow up. This little girl looked very much like her at that age.
“I know my precious Lily is forever lost but I can’t help but feel this little one is a gift from the Painted Lady. I saw her you know, she is the one who told me to leave Jang Hui. All my life I have been a non-believer but on the Day of Black Sun she came to me. She told me to go to the Earth Kingdom a second chance awaited me. It wasn’t until I heard that Fire Lord Ozai had started rounding up those who’d come in contact with the Avatar and firing them personally that I realized the spirits had warned me.
“My grandmother is from the Earth Kingdom. She was a temple virgin who had dedicated her life to the service of earth spirit. She said Hou-T’u spoke to her the day before my grandfather’s battalion invaded. He defiled her but she followed him as Hou-T’u directed and saved his life a year later. Two years later she, my mother and grandfather were on their way to the Fire Nation. There was an earthquake as she stepped on the gangplank. She said it was the last time Hou-T’u ever spoke directly to her.
“On her deathbed she revealed the promise Hou-T’u made to her. If she continued to believe and followed him faithfully her family would forever be tied to him. It was a bond Agni could not sever. We are Fire Nation but all of her descendants were conceived and born in the Earth Kingdom, even me and my Lily. There’s more to that than a convenient duty roster.”
“Chu-hua you are the only person I can tell this too who is remotely possible of understanding it. I’ve been back and forth fighting on this continent more times than I can count and each time I set foot on it I felt something. This time it was…” He paused and inhaled deeply, “Chu-hua it felt I was a lost child returning to my mother.”
“The next day we ran into the Water Tribesmen, chasing them led us to the group that led us to this one. In the heat and confusion of battle I heard this little one crying. I couldn’t get it out of my head. I thought it was my imagination until I saw her huddled in her mother’s arms. There was madness all around but she stopped crying and reached for me. I do not know what this means or even if it means anything but what if my grandmother’s sacrifice and running into the Avatar was all to bring me here? To give me a second chance at being a father?” he asked stroking the child’s forehead. “What if my entire purpose in life was to raise two beautiful Lilies?”
“My Lily was cut down before she fully blossomed into womanhood but I can watch and protect this one so that never happens. Her mother is comely and our bodies are compatible so perhaps she’ll give me a proper garden with trees to go with my flowers. I’ve always wanted a son but my wife refuses to return to the Earth Kingdom. Twenty years of marriage; no matter how many fertility herbs and how many times and ways I’ve laid her she’s only once been pregnant once but this woman gave me a daughter before our first coupling. The mother of this Lily didn’t scream or fight when I led her into my tent. She only shed quiet tears the entire time she was beneath me. That was only a few short hours ago but in my heart I know she carries a child for me. This one in my arms and the one is her belly are only the first of many children she will give me.”
Mung looked at his friend with a mixture of sadness and contemplation on his face, “Am I a fool Chu-Hua?”
“To go so many years without religion but when I do acknowledge the spirits it is due to the Painted Lady and my grandmother’s pagan Hou-T’u as much if not more than our benevolent Agni? Am I a fool to think that this child I am holding has filled a void in my heart I thought would always remain empty? I know she is not my Lily; she never will be nor can she replace her but am I a fool to feel she is a blessing all the same?”
Chu-hua reached out to touch the child’s cheek, “No Mung, you’re not a fool. My father often said that Grandfather Roku would tell him there are things in this world that cannot be logically explained. The rational mind is no use when we encounter those things, we must rely on our hearts and how we feel. I cannot call you a fool. If what you say is true your grandmother was a powerful sage; you carry her blood within you. To this day there are places I go and a certain chill comes over me and I know I am walking in grandfather’s footsteps. I have felt it at home, on this continent and when I was at the North Pole. I no longer doubt myself or need to consult a history book to know it is because my feet are where my grandfather’s once stood.”
“You are a definitely not a fool, you are father without a child. The spirits have felt your pain and have given you another chance with a second child. You are both blessed, you and this little girl. We both know the life she would have lived had you not found her. Her mother may not know it, but in time she too will realize you are also a blessing to her and the other children she will give you,” Chu-hua removed her hand from the child’s cheek and patted her friend’s chest over his heart. “You are loyal and dutiful. You are a good man Mung; a woman could much worse than you. I’m sure this outpost will prosper under your command.”
Chu-hua smiled warmly at child who had fallen asleep on her friend’s shoulder, “It’s late I must get back. There was a victory today; not all of the men are accustomed to letting the bloodlust overtake them. I must be there to identify those who are regretting the celebration and make sure they don’t do anything foolish.”
Mung nodded, “The first rape is always the worse. It becomes easier every time but the first time the guilt is overwhelming.”

Kain: thank you for your review. It still amazes me that this story evokes such emotional responses. I am so very honored and humbled.
Katara is under extreme mental and emotional strain but I am not willing to call what she is feeling Stockholm Syndrome just yet. I am also not willing to say she is 100% mentally healthy either. I really don’t know a psychological term to describe her state so I’ll settle on “survival mode.” She doesn’t agree with the Fire Nation soldiers or sympathize with their cause but she is at the point where she realizes playing along will make things easier for herself, Sokka and Aang. She also knows she is becoming unbalanced.
You are correct that she is resourceful but she also knows she is outnumbered. Aang isn’t able to enter the Avatar State. The threat of him going into it is a bluff she and Sokka are using to keep the three of them together. She doesn’t want to tell Aang because she’s ashamed and also because she’s afraid of what it will do to him. He feels tremendously guilty he wasn’t there to save his people and knows he would be devastated to learn what was done to her.

Raa.Maa.Daa.Saa.Hung: Thank you so very much for your kind words and continued support. I am so glad you enjoyed the new chapters. Yes, Zhao 1 is gay. We’ll get more into that later but he likes men. I am being really cruel to Jin. She’s young and in love a combination that makes even the best of us very stupid. Song will make an appearance later and so will Taruk. I am absolutely thrilled that you mentioned him. I wasn’t sure how Katara’s “boyfriend” would be received so I am overjoyed that you want to see more of him.
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Borealis: A Zutara Story