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Borealis: A Zutara Story	By : jaded_priceless Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > AU/AR - Alternate Universe/Alternate Reality Views: 34026 -:- 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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- 232
Chapter 228
Warning: Mention of minor 1 rape
Katara’s head turned toward him when he called to her and Yue issued one final warning before disappearing into the moonbeams. She looked to the sky one final time and walked alongside Zuko back to the hotel. She had seen one of the soldiers from Colonel’s Wen’s division was pushing a woman away he pulled her screaming daughter towards him. The girl was small. Katara knew she was years younger than Toph. She was about to intervene when Yue appeared and called her name.
It did not surprise Katara when Zuko placed his arm protectively over her shoulder as the woman fighting for her child forced the man attempting to take her over to them. Her screams of “Prince Zuko! Please help my baby” had drawn the attention of several soldiers.
Zuko’s stomach dropped. This was a child, a true child, not a young teenager who’d reached the age of betrothal among his people. He had already placed himself and Katara at risk by building the Ursa House and elevating these women to the status of their Fire Nation counterparts. Rape, no matter what age or gender, was not a crime in the Fire Nation; commoners were executed for attacking noblewomen but only because they committed a crime against their betters. Even after all of the strides Kozulon made to improve the condition of women rape was still listed alongside theft and vandalism. The true crime was not in the forcible sexual contact against the woman but because the forcible contact came from a man of lower ranking status. He was unable to provide her husband, father or brother the connections and/or socio-economic gain one would expect if she had lain with a member of their social circle or higher; such an act also exposed her to his common taint and reduced the value at which she could be traded for.
Zuko did the only thing he could do in that situation.
“I will help your daughter,” he addressed the mother before turning to the soldier and saying, “You, be sure to take the girl to the Ursa House when you finish.”
The callousness of the Prince stunned the woman. He had established a safe house for them and made arrangements for all who needed it to be taken there. She had hoped he’d stop the rape of her daughter and that brief moment let go of her to bow.
The soldier tossed her screaming child over his shoulder like a rag doll and happily called out, “Yes your majesty” as he quickly disappeared into the alley leading to the barracks.
“Nooo,” the woman yelled rushing towards them. Two of the soldiers blocked her path. She ran to Katara, “Do something! My daughter is too young. She is too small for a grown man. It will kill her. Help her. Do something! Please do something!”
Katara took a step back. Yue had warned her not to interfere; that no matter what she saw or heard she was not to interfere. She didn’t have to be told the reason behind the warning. She could protect the refugees or she could protect Sokka. “I’m sorry. I’ll tell Dr. Amayu to have a bed waiting. She’ll receive the best possible medical treatment.”
“You bitch!” she screamed lunging for Katara. “Rieka’s a child. She’s a child! She’s not ready! You’re letting that monster kill my baby! We trusted you! We trusted you and your letting them rape our children!”
Bong Cha picked up the items had Katara had dropped in her haste to get back to the hotel. Zuko swore and followed her.
The older woman sighed, counted to ten then trudged up the stairs. They were standing in the doorway to their room arguing. “Pardon the intrusion but you dropped this. I didn’t want to remain in front of hungry people holding food. I’ll send word to Dr. Amayu.”
“Don’t bother,” Zuko said harshly. “She’s coming here.”
“Very well, my Prince. I’ll take my leave. If Amayu is coming here I’ll request that another tend to the girl before her mother sees her.”
Bong Cha turned to Katara, “Her virginity will be intact but her jaws will be broken. Her mouth and throat will be severely bruised. It is likely her tonsils will need to be removed. She won’t be able to speak or eat for a few days.”
“How?” Katara muttered at the confidence in the woman’s words.
“I have known him for several years. His isn’t a bad man he just…the Takamine Campaigns…” Bong Cha trailed off after naming a series of gruesome battles that took place twenty years ago. Bong Cha tapped her temple lightly, “He was on the front lines. It did something to him. His mind. It changed.”
Zuko shuddered when he heard the man had participated in the Takamine Campaigns. That group of veterans received special support and consideration. A commoner who had survived them raped the wife of his landlord. He was given jail time instead of the death penalty even though she was a noble. The reports were sealed to those lower than the rank of captain; an edict which included the royal family. They had been opened when Lu Ten achieved that ranking. Zuko remembered sneaking into the war room with Azula while he read them. Their father was discussing them with Lu Ten, Uncle Iroh and their grandfather. All four men were pale and appeared to be sick.
Bong Cha’s voice grew quiet, “He thinks it is a mercy to choose them that young; in time they will forget. They won’t close their eyes and see the faces of their attackers. There won’t be a physical reminder of what was done to them. Their permanent teeth have yet to come in; any that he knocks out will grow back in. He’ll spend the rest of the night crying and burning hashish in his palm. He’s not a Firebender.”
“If it bothers him so much, why does he do it?” Katara asked crossing her arms angrily.
“He cannot stop.” Bong Cha replied just as angrily. “He was a child just as you are when he was given to that monster. You are living your hell, his has ended. Do you think if by some miracle you escape this experience has not changed you? Do not delude yourself. You will not be the same person you were once it is over; neither you nor Prince Zuko will ever be the same people.”
Bong Cha’s tone frightened her. For some reason it reminded her of Chu-Hua. She took a step back closer to Zuko. His eyes had narrowed and his brow furrowed as he moved into position to protect her. The Red Orchid noticed the action and sighed, if ever a child had been cursed by his birth parents it was Zuko. She shook her head sadly and began to explain, “Takamine is the name of the man who led the campaign. He was an illegitimate son of Fire Lord Azulon and hoped to gain his father’s acknowledgment. He, not General Iroh, is Fire Lord Azulon’s true first born. It ate at him that Azulon fathered children with other concubines and recognized them while he, his mother, and siblings received nothing.
His mother, Shizuka, was not even a true concubine or mistress but it was she that Azulon most frequently desired. Takamine didn’t realize that his mother or the children she bore would always remain hidden and their existence vehemently denied. Shizuka’s mother was a concubine who had angered Fire Lord Soizin so he exiled her and the child she carried. He would visit his them each summer but one year he requested they be brought to him.
Azulon desired Shizuka the moment he saw her. He knew not of her parentage and did not believe her claim to be his sibling. The palace was full of people celebrating the anniversary of the comet so no one grew concerned over her disappearance. She was found by accident. Soizin went in search of his son and recognized the girl screaming for help beneath him. He blamed himself for never introducing Azulon to that particular sibling. It was agreed upon that for both of their sakes what had happened would never be mentioned.”
Bong Cha looked at Zuko, “There is reason Admiral Chu-hua is concerned for your feelings for the Waterbender. It is in your blood to become obsessed with a woman. Your father was lucky - Ursa was suitable and returned his feelings. Azulon loved Ilah but his half-sister Shizuka consumed him. He was the crown prince and she was the only thing he desired that had ever been denied to him. He became addicted to her because she was forbidden.”
Katara covered her mouth in horror. Bong Cha had said siblings. Zuko took a step closer to her coming to the same realization.
Bong Cha nodded confirming what they were thinking, “Takamine and his two sisters are the product of incest. He was a brilliant tactician but he was insane. He was as handsome as all the men of the royal line and had a charisma that drew people to him. He used that to his advantage. His military career skyrocketed. He achieved the rank of General in less time than it took Iroh but he remained a bastard who didn’t exist outside the middle pages of the registers documenting the members of his mother’s clan.”
“He considered himself a god as he was the both the nephew and son of the Fire Lord and could claim the Comet Rider Soizin as his grandsire on both sides. The blood of Agni ran unchecked inside him. He played with the lives of those in his command and in the lands he conquered.” Bong Cha closed her eyes and balled her fist, “Takamine is the real reason our military system was revamped so new recruits are protected.”
Bong Cha swallowed thickly and took a deep breath to center herself before she resumed speaking, “Prince Zuko you know what the military manuals recommend to relieve stress after battle. Takamine believed that every soldier deserved his reward after a battle so he would force his men to rape the prisoners, villagers and each other. If they refused he and no less than three of their comrades would rape them.
“It’s common knowledge in every battle there are some who fight harder than others and those deserving punishment for shirking their duties. He had no way of knowing whose heart was truly committed so he placed razors inside some of the women’s vaginas and the anuses of some of the boys before presenting them to his men. It was his way of allowing Agni to judge those who were truly devoted to the Fire Nation. If they selected one of whose body had been trapped it meant Agni did not deem them worthy; they deserved to have their penises shredded. Instinct is to stop and pull away under those circumstances. Those that Takamine saw doing so would get a stimulant rubbed on their genitals so it remained erect while he and his officers raped them to ensure they received the full measure of Agni’s punishment. They learned it was better to go flaccid and continue to thrust to lessen the damage.
“Shinji had just completed his compulsory education and Takamine was his first commanding officer. He was thirteen when he was placed in the hands of that monster. The Takamine Campaigns lasted for six years. Shinji survived but it scarred him. He has stopped going home out of fear of what he will do to his own children. What he is doing to that girl is nothing he hasn’t done to his oldest son and daughter; he re-enlisted to protect the younger ones from himself. Those are the only things I can tell you that are fit for such young innocent ears. We are forbidden to speak of the true horrors he lived through by a royal decree.”
Bong Cha took Katara’s rights hand in her own and squeezed it lightly, “Lady Katara, I know it seems like I am making excuses and you did not wish to hear all that but there are two sides to every behavior. The lives of those outside our borders are not the only ones the war has ruined. Shinji is the child of a childhood friend. I’ve known him all his life. He was such a kind boy and one of those rare nobles who offered a smile and help to anyone who needed regardless of status. He had such a bright future ahead of him.
Now he’s broken. He lives only for hashish and to blindly follow the words of his superiors. He was placed under Wen’s command for his own protection and to protect those around him. There were no battles in this area. He could patrol, serve his country, and earn a living while not having to fight or perform any of the rituals drilled into him during his time with Takamine. He is one of the lucky ones. He is able to function somewhat normally.”
“We did that to him,” Bong Cha pointed to herself, “I did that to him. I, my husband, Chu-Hua, General Iroh, every adult in our age group did that to him and so many of our children because we didn’t ask the right questions and turned a blind eye to what the war was doing to them. I can see it now happening to you.”
Zuko’s eyes widened and narrowed once again in anger.
“No need to look so fearsome my prince, I mean no disrespect or harm. You do not remember me do you?” she asked quietly reaching for his right hand and placing it between hers so that it rested beside Katara’s.
Unlike Chu-Hua’s crushing grasp, Bong-Cha’s was warm and motherly, Zuko shook his head, “No, I don’t, I’m sorry.”
She smiled sadly, “It is probably for the best that you do not. You too are a child that I watched grow. I was there the day you took your first breath. I was there the day you learned to walk, swim and bend. I was there the day you lost your mother. I was there the day you were burned. I was there the night you made Lady Katara your concubine. I was there the night that placed you both in the infirmary. I was there the day you shed blood to protect her.
"I am old. My time numbers more than your uncle’s with such advanced age comes insight and wisdom. I see you two now, children that we are shaping like bonsai to grow warped and crooked to fit the flawed standards of the society we adults have created. I see the two of you clinging to each other for support as we hack away at your roots, bend your backs and bow your heads. The two of you are not even aware that you have moved closer to each other are you?”
Zuko and Katara stiffened as they noticed their positions. He was standing directly behind her; his left arm was around her waist and his head was angled so that his cheek rested against her head. She was leaning against him. Her arms were no longer folded against her chest. Her left arm lay on top of Zuko’s and their fingers were interlaced. Their right hands held each other just as they had done before being enveloped by Bong Cha’s.
The engineer applied more pressure to their hands to hold them together when they began to pull apart, “No, you shouldn’t fight it. It’s a preservation mechanism. It may be unwanted, but you two need each other’s support if you are to survive this journey and his father. Cling to each other and grow stronger.”
Bong Cha realized what she was doing and saying and stepped away. She bowed, “Forgive me Prince Zuko and Lady Katara. I am old and forget my manners. I will leave you two to your dinner. Have a good evening. Do not worry about that child. She will be seen too. Shinji is not without means and influence. Enough of him remains that he will ensure that she and her mother are provided for until they day they die and that no other man will touch either of them.”
“That is another reason he re-enlisted. Once it became known that on the anniversaries of certain traumatic events the second in line to the House of Fujiwara had a need to hurt children but in his guilt provided handsomely for them…,” she took a deep breath and paused before angrily hissing, “Once people learned of the way he must quell his demons mothers began offering him their children. He did not wish to see know just how many of his countrymen were as monstrous as Takamine.”

Kain: Thank you for your constant support. I understand real life happens (I hope yours is going well!) and I am truly grateful for the feedback.
229 - Yes, there are those who are seeing the things Katara is doing for them. They still don’t trust her but her actions are making them question the negative things they heard. Yes, this is a rather jacked up world I’ve created J. Katara is being helpful, but it is partially because she blames herself for the loss at Ba Sing Se. She can’t undo what’s been done but she can help where she can.
230- I am glad you liked this chapter. Katara is still trying to teach him real world vs Fire Nation morals. He’s slowly getting the picture. No, not all of the Fire Nation people are monsters; Zuko is telling the truth. Most of the soldiers there are from the lower classes and weren’t raised with a sense of entitlement. Under normal circumstances they’d never commit such a heinous act. In addition to bringing the youngest, Chu-hua brought the worst of the Ursa’s crewmembers with her and all of them are high ranking; so they are either nobles who bought promotions or those who became indoctrinated to war as they worked their way up. The nobles were taught rape is okay and the higher ups have grown numb to it. The remaining soldiers are victims of mob mentality – if everyone is doing it then it must be okay. There are some who haven’t given any unwanted touches to a woman and others who didn’t use violence only food to coerce a woman. Ba Sing Se is coming up later --- be warned.
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Borealis: A Zutara Story