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Borealis: A Zutara Story	By : jaded_priceless Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > AU/AR - Alternate Universe/Alternate Reality Views: 33524 -:- 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 227
After leaving the butcher Katara and Zuko went to the community garden. Fan was there with several of the female soldiers. He was teaching them how to select vegetables and which ones would provide the most flavor with minimal usage. There were others tending the large pots he’d set up behind the restaurant. The old cook leapt with joy when they told him about the butcher’s offer of bones, organ meat and scraps.
“Come along students. Today you will learn more about feeding a family on a budget using unpopular meat cuts,” the old cook said laughing and winking at Katara as he shooed his eager pupils toward the butcher shop.
Katara picked a few vegetables that would go well with liver and a few others known to enrich blood before walking back towards the carpenter’s shop. He had not closed for the night and was carving what appeared to a yoke. He scowled but quickly made the chopsticks for cooking and eating, spoons, bowls, and lids they asked for.
“Can I buy those?” Zuko asked pointing to the wood shavings and sawdust.
“Why?” Min-Sik replied gruffly.
“The liver is partially smoked. We can use it to finish smoking it. The hotel has fireplaces, but I didn’t see any fuel. I don’t think the owner would appreciate us getting animal dung from the stables,” Zuko explained.
Min-Sik sold him several pieces of wood large enough to be painful splinters, sawdust, and a few bricks. “The bricks are formed from woodchips, grass, and mud. They don’t really burn well, but they hold heat and don’t smoke very much,” he explained omitting they also contained a small amount of coal. He knew if the Fire Nation found out there were coal deposits nearby the landscape would be destroyed to mine it.
They took those items and Katara drug him back to the butcher shop. They could hear laughter coming from the inside as they got closer. The shop was still closed for business but Fan was making a production of chopping the silverskin and tendons explaining, “It’s an underused and underappreciated digestible source of protein. Most people throw it away or use it for flavorings but we know better than to waste good food. If you mince it properly it and cook it long enough it can be easily eaten. It may not give the same textural satisfaction as a steak or chop, but it will keep a hungry belly full.”
Zuko’s loud knocks ended the lesson. He apologized for disturbing their home for a second time and the butcher grumbled, “We were disturbed when my wife let this one in. You two are no bother.”
This time Katara asked for bones whose meat had not been cut away from them and if she could purchase a pot for stewing.
“Do not begin until I return. I have dreamed of how to make sinew delicious,” Ada, the butcher’s wife demanded as she rolled from the room to obtain the item Katara requested.
She returned ten minutes later after crafting a stewpot, saucepan and skillet whose size and shape was perfect for the hotel fireplaces. “It took me a while to find them. We rarely use them. Give them to Kisa once you are done in case another guest needs one.”
She handed Katara a small jar, “Take this too. It’s a tomato based seasoning that improves the body’s ability to absorb iron.”

On their way back to the hotel they saw what appeared to be several families at the restaurant. Katara stopped and peeped in through the windows. Children were laughing and eating while watchful mothers reminded them to use their manners. A few of the men had smaller children in their laps and were happily feeding them.
“Those men aren’t like the ones at court or the ones assigned to the Ursa,” Zuko said quietly when he saw her confusion. “They would never hurt a woman for sport.”
“Is that statement supposed to excuse their behavior? They raped those women Zuko. They used the love they have for their families as a means to pry open their legs. Saying yes in those circumstances is not the same as truly giving consent. It makes it easier when you see your loved ones clean, healthy, and well-fed but it’s still wrong. In some ways its worse than being tied down and forced; at least that way you don’t think of yourself as a whore,” Katara huffed before turning away and resuming her journey.
Zuko let his head fall against the window, startling those on the other side of it. He waved in apology and turned to walk after Katara. He stopped when he saw a soldier in an alleyway with Jin’s cousin. Ming appeared nervous and was shaking her head. He was torn between intervening and chasing Katara. The man’s shoulders slumped and he nodded before walking Zuko’s direction.
He bowed when he got close enough to recognize the prince of his nation, “Good evening Prince Zuko. My name is Natsumon. I am from Ryu Kiba Island. My family has farmed there for several centuries and owned our property for three generations. My brother and I also worked in the factory that exploded two years ago. My older brother was killed after taking a shift for me. I rejoined the military to help support our family so his wife and my younger brother wouldn’t have to resort to a dangerous factory job to take care of my nieces and nephew.
“I am an unmarried man and not of rank to need a betrothed. My childhood sweetheart is happily married to another childhood friend and they have a son together. I know it is impertinent and I am a soldier of no importance from a family of no importance but I would like to remain here. I am not assigned to the 58^th but am willing to take a demotion to be transferred. The oldest daughter of this restaurant is a kind and beautiful woman. I know she has a son. He’s a good boy and she’s a good mother. With your permission and hers I would like to court her.”
“Huh?” Zuko uttered dumb-founded.
“I would like to court Ming,” Natsumon repeated with determination. “She and her family are under your protection so I thought it prudent to obtain your permission. I will be a true husband to her and a true father to her child. I will not treat her like those men using a child’s hunger to lay with their mothers and fill the void of being away from their family. I would like to take her as a true bride. I promise to revere her in the manner Agni treasures my home island but only if she allows me. Please allow me to stay here and use the gentleness I learned from watching my father and mother to woo her. Even if she refuses my affections I would like to stay and look out for her.”
The man’s voice dropped a few decibels and he asked, “Prince Zuko, may I confide in you?”
Zuko nodded hastily while looking down the street at Katara.
Natsumon took a step closer, “Miss Ming said that her son is the child of a deceased Earth Kingdom soldier. I was in Ba Sing Se when Governor Xu ordered that the wife and children of Captain Gau be raped in front of him and executed. Governor Xu is thorough and unforgiving. The order did not include names, ages, or genders of children. It has no expiration date or specifications of legitimacy. The boy looks like him. I am sure that as time progresses I will not be the only one to notice the resemblance. I do not want to see Ming in the same position as her son’s sister and be forced to seek protection in that manner. I promise upon my honor as a man of the Fire Nation to do right by her and her son even if she does not consent to marriage. I am a single man who has found himself the oldest son of my family. I am willing to adopt him under Soizin’s Laws of Inheritance so that he will benefit from what I earn in this kingdom.”
“Fine, I’ll see to it that you are allowed to stay here. I need to catch up to Katara,” Zuko said watching as she turned into an alley beside the hotel as though she were going back to the garden.
“Katara wait. I’m coming,” Zuko called out as he rushed towards her. He knew what lurked in the alleys of newly formed colonies.
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Borealis: A Zutara Story