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Borealis: A Zutara Story	By : jaded_priceless Category: Avatar - The Last Airbender > AU/AR - Alternate Universe/Alternate Reality Views: 33965 -:- 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 276
The rain slowly dwindled to a light drizzle and the man who’d blocked Aang’s chi came to collect him. “It has been a full hour little Avatar. It was best to let you sit for a while after the last block.”
He said reluctant goodbyes to Sokka and Katara as the man lifted him and carried him to the hotel porch where Chu-hua sat. She motioned for the guards but Mung walked over and shifted the child from his shoulders to the ground. He lifted the chains and shackled Aang’s waist to the porch pillar. He sat next to Aang then pulled the little girl into his lap before waving the soldiers off, “Nice day. Spend it wisely.”
“Subverting my authority and interfering with my prisoner?” Chu-hua asked in mock politeness.
Mung ran his fingers over Lily’s stomach, tickling the toddler, “Recognizing potential causes for dissention in the ranks is the job of every officer. Merciful Agni is bestowing us with the gift of rain and I would not want any of our soldiers to feel slighted they missed their share of divine urination.”
Chu-hua burst into hearty peals of laughter, “And you wonder why that wonderful child you raised chose to introduce herself as Dung Flower instead of using her given name.”
She tapped him on the shoulder as she rose, “Since there seems to be an unexpected influx of water I am going upstairs to have two nice hot baths. This brat and the other ones are all yours.”
Aang sat beside Mung unsure of how to act or what to say until the little girl he was holding scooted into his lap and reached for his necklace. Unlike most children, who’d attempted to snatch it off or chew on it, her chubby little fingers held it reverently and she stilled as if knowing its importance. Aang wrapped his fingers around hers and felt the air from her exhalations circling his skin then slowly seeping inside it. It was a feeling of rightness that he’d somehow forgotten but niggled at the back of his mind. Those feelings and the memory he was so close to discovering went away with the touch of a larger rougher hand sliding between his and hers as Mung pulled the child away from him.
“Now, now, Lily, it’s not nice to go around touching strangers,” Mung quietly admonished. “Apologize.”
“I thorry,” the little girl replied before attempting to hide behind Mung’s bicep.
Aang watched the display curiously before asking, “Is she yours?”
Mung’s eyes narrowed, “Not by flesh but yes, this child is mine. You murdered the child I fathered. Her name was also Lily. She died at the North Pole at the tender age of eighteen.”
Aang lowered his head; he’d never killed anyone consciously and he’d been horrified by what La was doing, “I’m sorry. I was –“
Mung’s hand closed over his mouth and he slammed Aang’s head backwards onto the stone porch, “Sorry will not bring my child back so don’t you dare say it. If you were going to feign regret over taking her life then you should not have killed her. I swear to you Avatar upon Lily’s watery grave that if I ever find anyone you love, like, or even feel kinship towards that is not under our Fire Lord’s protection I will relish putting an end to them.”
Mung lifted Lily and attempted to console her. She was crying. He was surprised his actions had frightened her. He stopped making nonsense noises to call out to the group of soldiers playing Pai Sho, “Hey, you geezers, move that damn game down here and babysit the Avatar.”
His voice was cold and full of hatred as he spoke to Aang, “The only reason I have not killed you is because of this little girl. If I had not found her and knew that she needed a father, your life would be over Avatar. These two hands would have torn you limb from limb and I would have held your head in a bucket of piss so you could drown like my daughter did. The only reason I did not do so while we were in the Fire Nation is because my wife would be punished also.”
“Well that went better’n I thought,” Fan muttered as he and several others exchanged coins. Among the various and sundried bets there were ones that: that Chu-hua would know better than to leave the Avatar alone with Mung; that Mung would ignore his orders and make an attempt on the Avatar’s life; that Mung would forgo all consequences and end the Avatar’s life; that Chu-hua would leave the Avatar alone with Mung to give him closure now that he was no longer in shock and had time to properly grieve; and that his feelings for the little girl, Lily, who looked so much like his dead child were strong enough to curb him.
Once they’d picked up their game and resettled next to the shaken Avatar they each counted their money. It was the exact same amount they started with.

Katara had been so focused on Aang that she wasn’t aware Zuko was standing next to her until he placed his arms on her shoulders and quietly whispered “Don’t.”
“But,” Katara automatically began to protest then quieted once she looked up and saw Zuko’s face. She could tell all of the droplets sliding down his cheeks were not rain.
His arms tightened around her and he lowered his head “His only child died at the North Pole. One of the boats pushed out to sea collided with hers. Lily was eighteen. She was the first member of the 41^st division to find me. Meeting her reminded me that speaking up wasn’t wrong and the loss of their lives would have been a terrible blow to our nation. She was the first stranger to swear allegiance to me and show faith that it was still possible for me to become Fire Lord. ”
Katara wrapped her arms around him and whispered, “We all lost friends that day. All we can do is move forward and honor their memory.”
Zuko nodded, “You would have liked her. She had a way of being brutally honest without cruelty. My injury had mostly healed but I was still hiding behind bandages when we met. She told me that ‘it would be hard to find anything, especially someone who wanted to stay hidden, if I chose not to use half of my vision’. The next time we met I had removed it.”
“Lily was aware she’d never win any beauty contest so when she said, ‘Now that you’ve joined the ranks of the ugly, we need to start working on your personality. I promise you don’t want any girl that just wants you for your crown even less than I want a guy that only wants me for this amazing rack’. I believed her when she called me ugly but coming from her I didn’t get offended. She stated it like a fact and pretty much told me to deal with it.”
Katara’s hands moved up his body and she placed her palms on his cheeks to pull his face down to hers. “Zuko, you’re not ugly. If she’s the one who made you believe that then I’m not sure I would have liked her.”
Zuko pre-empted her speech by smiling, “Imagine Mung as a young woman.”
He waited for Katara’s mind to conjure a visual then kissed her nose when it scrunched in revulsion, “What you just imagined is most likely accurate.”
He smile grew broader and warmer with fondness, “Lily looked exactly like Mung. There were no traces of her mother above her neck. At the time I had no clue why but there were quite a few guys from the 41^st including Mu that were captivated by her. You see how much he looks like Mai. He’s one of the few men I can say are pretty but he liked her. Really liked her to the point the two of them almost had sex.
"When she said I was ugly it was like she was letting me into a secret club. She let me know that it was okay to be comfortable with who I was and what I looked like. Ugly is ugly and I definitely don’t prefer it but ugly is something that it’s okay to live with since there was somebody out there who would like it.”
Katara chuckled lightly, “Ok, that definitely sounds better than she just told you that you were ugly, even though you’re not.”
“Katara, I am ugly,” Zuko stated bluntly before smirking at her, “You just like it.”
Katara’s eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly. Zuko took the opportunity to lean forward place his lips against her open ones and slide his tongue in between them. He pulled away abruptly then gave her lips another quick peck, “We smell bad, like sex and rhino. Let’s go bathe.”
Katara had been expecting him to say something else; caught off guard she nodded and glanced over to where Sokka had joined Aang and the group of Pai Sho players. She placed her hand in his and spoke quietly, “Yeah.”
She was grateful when Zuko led her down a side street so they could enter through the back of the hotel.

Aang’s head hurt. He leaned forward fighting dizziness and pain hoping the cool rain would soothe it. He would have loved to have called for Katara to fix it but it would have been dangerous if the Fire Nation learned she was healer. He placed his elbows on his knees and placed his head in his hands then looked up slowly. Katara was still standing where they had been sitting; someone most likely Zuko was hugging her. The figure shifted and he saw the red blob on his face as it leaned down towards hers. Two children running by chasing each other with mudballs obscured his vision so couldn’t tell if they kissed but Zuko’s face lingered unnaturally close to hers.
Someone slammed a Pai Sho tile down to his left and he flinched, closing his eyes as the sound rumbled through his head. He opened his eyes to see Zuko’s face lean down once more. This time his lips did touch Katara’s; the contact was brief and Aang felt relieved when Zuko stepped away from her. That feeling was short lived as he extended his hand towards her and they began walking hand in hand. Aang blinked slowly focusing on their hands then looking up at their faces as they got closer. Zuko was smiling but Katara had that look on her face she normally got they were asking what’s for dinner and groundnuts were all she’d been able to forage.
The children ran across the street again and by the time they passed Zuko and Katara had disappeared between the buildings. Aang’s heart was pounding as he tried to make sense of what he just saw. “Sokka, were they?”
Another Pai Sho tile slammed against the board. This time Aang shifted his body to see who was being so noisy. He saw two figures out of the corner of his eye and turned to see Zuko still holding Katara’s hand leading her up the stairs.
“Sokka,” he was unsure of what to say so he pointed, “Katara…is she? Did they?”
His friend slammed down another Pai Sho tile. A warm elderly hand settled on Aang’s shoulder. “Don’t think about it too much, Child. They took Zuko’s rhino out earlier and probably want to bathe. It would have been easier to go through the back entrance since it isn’t as crowded as this one.”
Aang closed his eyes and leaned his head forward beneath the rain again. He heard children’s laughter coming from the back of the hotel and tried not to imagine the small space where their mothers were likely sitting. Katara was pretending to be Zuko’s concubine; it would make sense if they touched lips to make people believe it. He inhaled slowly taking in the scent of mud and rain. The scent changed as one of the soldiers stepped over him to go inside. Aang’s nose twitched. That scent was familiar. It was one that danced along the edge of his memory as one he should know. He supposed it would make sense considering Katara had smelled similar moments ago but still there was something off…
Another soldier walked by, this one smelled of tobacco and the other smell he couldn’t name. He knew that scent, knew it from before and knew that even though it was impossible for Katara to smell like the ocean this close to the desert, that the familiar but unknown scent lingering on the soldiers was all wrong on her.
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Borealis: A Zutara Story