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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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Chapter 298

Katara woke up in bed alone. There was fruit on the dresser and a note from Zuko – Don’t leave the room and don’t open the door for any reason. The door opened as Katara was finishing the fruit. Aunty was standing there in a Fire Nation uniform with more stars, bars, stripes, buckles and other types of adornment than Katara had ever seen.

The woman smiled at her and offered a tray of cookies and tea, “Hello child, I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced.”

Katara backed away and Aunty laughed, “Don’t worry, they aren’t poisoned and I don’t want to hurt you. I just want to learn more about Little Zuko’s chosen woman. You can’t be too bad considering the reactions I got when I asked who screams the loudest when you fuck.”

“What?” Katara shrieked.

Aunty set the tray down and burst into a fit of giggles, “Oh dear you are a fit one. A boy that hardheaded needs one capable of shouting over him. Now tell me, if you were Fire Lady, what would you do for my nation?”

“I’d sink it. It would be under the ocean so fast fish would rain down from the heavens,” Katara replied vehemently.

The woman’s lips twisted into a ferocious sneer but she laughed openly, “You’d sink it? Oh silly girl, if you sank it where would you call home? The Water Tribes will not allow you to return.”

Chu Hua entered the room wearing some type of formal robes that Katara had seen in one of the palace pictures over her uniform. Zuko was with her but he appeared confused. “What’s going on here? Why are you in my room? Oooh are those tea cakes?”

“Yes child they are. I wanted to share them with Katara and get to know her before I decided if there were other recipes I wanted to pass on. But since we were so rudely interrupted I suppose it will have to wait for another time,” Aunty rose and kissed both teenagers on their cheeks, “Katara do not forget me. Zuko, tell her the meaning of my name and why it was forbidden to use.”

Mahnaz stepped into the hall and shut the door to their room. She sighed and spoke to Chu-hua, “Tell that old bat I’ll be keeping an eye on what he calls his precious woman. I’m reclaiming my title but he can keep his damn office. And Chu-hua.”

“Yes, Aunt Mahnaz,” the admiral replied sweetly.

The woman snatched the robe off of Chu-hua with her left hand and grabbed her throat with her right. She slammed Chu-hua backwards over her knee and hissed, “If you ever use a child I love like that again, heir or not, I will kill you.”

“Yes Shishou,” Chu-hua whimpered addressing her aunt in a way that honored their master and apprentice relationship.

If their traditions had not changed from inheritance by battle to one of birthright Mahnaz would be the true leader of their clan. She was the strongest of the “living” Trungs and insane as any Fire Lord. If they were still under the old system where the women of a generation fought for leadership, Azula would know her true name, Iroh would be on the throne, Azulon would have felt the true wrath of the Starlit Fledgling and Ozai would have never dreamt of using his brother’s pain as a springboard to the throne.

Mahnaz lifted her knee, digging the spikes hidden inside the kneepads of her uniform deeper into her niece’s back before letting Chu Hua fall to the floor. She stepped over her while saying, “Be glad, little girl, that I still consider you one of my little ones; that love is the only reason you still draw breath. Try those tricks again and I’ll love you as I loved those planted inside my womb.”

“Yes Shishou, forgive me please,” Chu-hua muttered as she reached around to rub her back as she curled into a bow.

“Get up,” Mahnaz barked, “I have no use for that. Send me your princess. It is time she is educated.”

Chu-hua paled. As Zuko’s protector, Jian Ru did need to learn more about the arts of their clan and there was none better to teach her than Mahnaz, but as her teacher and favorite aunt, Mahnaz knew too much. Chu hua had gone too far in ordering her to go to New Ursa and protect her charge, now her daughter would be the one to pay the price.

Mahnaz’s hand reached forward and Chu-hua flinched. The touch on her forehead was gentle and Mahnaz’s voice was sincere, “You wound me, Chu-hua. You of all people should know that for all that is inside me I am not by nature cruel.”

The admiral apologized as her aunt helped her stand, “I am sorry Aunty; it’s just that living in this world it is easy to forget who is a friend.”

Mahnaz patted her hand, “Yes, which is why and left and also why I return. Loyalty is something the younger generations must also learn. Besides it’s been decades since I’ve had a chance to really tease Bong-Bong. Chu-chu, is she still as easily riled as she was when you were young?”

The two women parted and Mahnaz made her preparations to leave one of the many small towns in her new home. She removed her War Secretary’s uniform and changed into the plain clothes worn by her former neighbors then headed to the kitchen. She baked when she was upset. It was a nervous habit she’d picked up from her father and part of the reason War Minister Qin was so desperate to get her back. Neither Bong Cha nor Tsubaki cooked and he’d become addicted to the things that came from her oven. She’d once baked onions, okra and tomatoes in a pie crust as a joke and he greedily devoured every bit of it. After that he began asking for one of her terrific vegetable pies every day.

Mahnaz surveyed the kitchen and decided to make both savory and sweet pies. There were vegetables in need of use and hungry people who would need food. Fan had set up shop in the restaurant. She knew he’d take care of the soldiers so she decided to take care of the townspeople. She had made her crusts and was chopping vegetables when she heard a familiar whining voice coming down the stairs.

“Please Katara. I’m hungry, besides it’s not just me. There are other people who need to eat,” Zuko pled.

“I am not cooking for your soldiers or you. I’m sure Fan has made some grass soup or something. Go eat it,” the Waterbender huffed.

“Katara, wait,” Zuko said catching her by her wrist.

His voice changed, “Please cook something, something to feed a large number of people. They…this place…it won’t be destroyed, Katara. Someone realized there are gardens here. The land is arable, has water and is close to New Ursa. They stopped the slaughter. They will need people to work the fields. A hawk was sent to Governor Bong Cha proposing annexation last night. We received her reply this morning.

“The woman who brought our bedding has been appointed Lieutenant Governor and will be stationed here. Bong Cha recognized her weeks ago. She’s the fourth daughter of a noble family who ran away from home years ago to escape betrothal. I went to school with her younger brother. He was the only boy in our school who followed proper etiquette and challenged me to a duel when he wanted to fight. Everyone else took Father’s challenge as carte blanche to ambush me and hope they kicked my ass. Her child’s father is a commoner. She wasn’t revealing his name to protect him. Please Katara make something to feed these people.”

Katara parted her lips to reply then paused. She frowned and stared at Zuko wanting him to confirm what she suspected. He said nothing so she forced a confession out of him, “When we were in New Ursa, Bong Cha still needed approval from a member of the throne line to make things official so how can she have claimed these lands for her city?”

“I signed the documents, Katara,” Zuko admitted.

“What? Why? Zuko, how could you?” Katara groaned.

“New Ursa is overcrowded. Even with the food rations if the crops they planted don’t yield plentifully they could starve. These plants already have vegetables and there is water here. The people here would have died,” he argued.

“You condemned these people to slavery!” she yelled.

“I saved their lives!” he yelled back.

“What kind of life will it be submitting to your people?” Katara screamed as she tugged on her collar, scratching her neck as she exposed Zuko’s ever present mark, “Will they all be as lucky as I am and get a twisted bastard as an owner? Will they be stuck with someone who loves them enough to rape them after they beat them? At least we won’t have to worry about the next generation there won’t be any if these women get treated as well as you’ve treated me!”

“There won’t be a next generation of slaves, Katara!” he yelled back. “Slavery is illegal in the Fire Nation! Everyone in this community has been charged and found guilty of murder. These are prisoners sentenced to a lifetime of work detail! All those born from this day forward will live freely as law abiding citizens of New Ursa so long as they don’t commit any crimes!”

“Criminals? You keep telling yourself that Zuko and I’ll keep telling myself I’m a royal concubine,” Katara retorted as she stormed into the kitchen.

Aunty handed her bowl dough while pointing to the sink where Katara could wash her hands, “Bread. Knead it.”

Katara took the bowl, cleaned her hands and glared at the woman but did as requested and she planted a fist in the flour and water mixture. To Aunty’s surprise Zuko followed the Waterbender into the kitchen and gathered all of the dirty dishes. It sounded as if he and the suds were going to war. The dough beneath Katara’s fist wasn’t faring much better. She pounded the poor lump as if the dough had personally offended her. Aunty swapped out the dough and gave Zuko more dishes. The sound of suds and kneading subsided after they’d worked out their anger.

“Help me take this into the dining room. We’ll be leaving soon and I want to ensure those I care for have a good lunch,” Aunty said during the lull.

They did as asked but started arguing again as soon as Aunty was gone. They stopped once she ushered in a group of battered adults and wide eyed shocked children. Zuko and Katara listened from the kitchen as she spoke to them like they were her guests.

“I have lived among you for almost a decade and consider you all to be my friends. I have delivered many of your children and love them as if they were my own,” Aunty said as she began passing out pies she’d fried earlier to all of the ones too young to have known or understood what their parents and neighbors had done.

She’d picked the polk berries herself, mixed them with hand crushed appleseeds and a few other poisonous sweet things that would go undetected. By the time the first child passed out it was too late to save the others. The screams of their parents attracted the Fire Nation soldiers stationed outside to guard them. The ones who’d been stationed in the area recognized the local dialect for dead.

Mahnaz extended a large plume of fire over the room silencing the distraught parents, “Those children you killed last week were also ones that I helped bring into the world and loved as if they were my own. I lived among them as I lived among you. Their fathers and a few of their mothers were my people. I am not a colonist as you suspected. I am pure Fire Nation. Named Mahnaz by my mother, Ayuma, daughter of Ayumu, daughter of Ayame, daughter of Ayune, protector of those blessed by the sun; tilted Highest Admiral, General Superior Fire Nation Armed Forces, Minister of Supreme Death by the one who guided my mother’s hand Fire Lord Azulon, son of Fire Lord Soizin, son of Fire Lord Kozulon, son of Fire Lord Irohulon,” Mahnaz’s smile twisted, “mate to Ayune, father of Ayame and my own ancestor.”

The smile turned deadly as she continued, “Requested as First Undersecretary to the War Minister by Qin and freely acknowledged by my current Fire Lord as one whose rank now reflects my own will, ‘Phoenix of the White Fire, Emissary of the Dragon of the West’. For those of you who do not understand what that means perhaps you will recognize one the names your people have given to me, ‘Consort of Death, The Demon Whose Steps Leave Ashes In Their Wake, Dragon of the East’,”.

As she said that Aunty extended her fingertips causing fire to engulf the small bodies, “Your children do not deserve the suffering you’ve brought to them and you do not deserve to remain parents after killing the innocent babes of others. Eat heartily and to your enjoyment. This will be the last meal I cook for you. Do not worry, only the pies that I’ve given to your sweet ones were poisoned. Enjoy your miserable lives without them.”

As Aunty passed by Zuko and Katara on her way upstairs to gather her bag, Katara whispered, “You killed them. You killed all of those children.”

“I did,” she admitted before asking Katara a question she knew the Waterbender could not answer, “Am I merciful for putting an end to their suffering or is your prince merciful for letting them live? Tell me little Waterbender, which of us is do you think cruel? It cannot both unless you’re the cruelest of us all – a judgmental hypocrite. Which of us will you condemn? Or will you condemn yourself?”

The words of the war secretary haunted Katara. Was it a cruelty or a kindness to have killed the children? She had seen, had permitted children to be hurt in New Ursa. Those children would never been the same again, but they had their lives; so long as they lived there were chances for things to get better. The children in that nameless town would never again know pain. They died happily next to their parents after having filled their bellies with sweets. Which was worse? Condemning them to a life of misery or granting them a sweet peaceful death?

They made camp several hours to the north. Mu allowed them to go further without rest so long as they moved slowly and did not push the animals. They were already behind schedule and as an uncle he was eager to put this wretched town and its dead children behind him. Katara huddled close to Zuko during the journey and after they made camp. She been so lost in her thoughts after leaving the last town she hadn’t said a word to him. Once the bedding was laid out she nestled against him. He thought it was to ward off the cold night air but she’d partially exposed her left arm to wrap it over his right shoulder. Her right had found its way beneath his left armpit and would be soon be numb if she didn’t move it.

He used his left arm to pull her closer when she draped her left leg over his thigh. His right hand squeezed her calf before sliding it up her thigh and letting it rest on her bottom. Fingers caressed his back then his bicep as arm over his shoulder made its way back under the covers. He spoke when those same fingers began caressing his cheek, “What do you want to say to me Katara?”

She arched her back brushing her breasts against his chest as she pushed her hand into his hair while getting closer. She buried her face in his neck, inhaling the pure scent of Firebender. Her voice trembled as she asked, “How do I know which things are right, which things are wrong and which I must accept?”

Zuko had come to understand many things about Katara, one of the most important was the she used touch when to express herself when her feelings went beyond words. It was something he wished he’d known in the caves under Ba Sing Se, back then her touch was gentle. Far more gentle than he expected after their fight at the North Pole. These touches weren’t right, the feel of her body against his was pleasant as always but something about this didn’t feel right. It felt like the night in New Ursa when he’d pulled her body above his and tasted while beneath her, like this was some type of test and their future depended on his answer. “I can’t answer that question Katara; the answer depends entirely on what feels right to you.”

“How can I trust my own judgment when something as basic as this doesn’t feel wrong anymore? When you were injured I wanted you to get better for selfish reasons. Even now I want to lose myself in this feeling and forget today, these past few days ever happened. How can I trust anything when I can’t even trust myself?” Katara whispered.

“You can trust yourself, Katara, and you can trust me, the problem is that you’re too afraid to stop doubting,” Zuko sighed in frustration.

Katara glanced up at him but he’d closed his eyes, she knew better than to think he was trying to go to sleep already, more like he was trying to ignore her. The hand on her bottom moved up to her lower back and the one behind her shoulder moved to her midback. He adjusted their bodies so they were closer but in a less distracting position. Katara felt a sense of peace as she realized he wasn’t trying to ignore her he was trying to ignore what he was feeling. Katara shifted once again; the hands that were on her back moved to her hip stopping her movement as Zuko’s breath deepened. She waited a few moments then curled her arms more tightly around him. “Thank you.”

“For what?” Zuko muttered gruffly.

“For showing me it’s possible to stop doubting,” she whispered while rolling her hips forward.

He grunted and moved both hands to her bottom pulling her center flush against his erection before kissing her forehead, “Sleep well, Katara.”

Katara listened as Zuko’s breaths grew slower and more even; his body was tense so she knew he wasn’t sleeping. She kissed a small bit of exposed skin then tilted her head to brush against his lips.

He placed his hand on her cheek and growled her name in warning, “Katara” as he rolled them over so his back was toward the doorway.

She brushed her lips against his hand and smiled lazily at him before closing her eyes, “Goodnight Zuko.”

Katara remained awake long after he’d fallen asleep. Not too long ago she would have never felt comfortable lying next to a fully erect Zuko or imagine that the tingle she felt lying next to him would make her feel anything other than guilt. This was wrong but there was also a rightness to it. Katara closed her eyes as tears began to prickle against her lids as she berated herself for what she’d done earlier.

That woman was right, she was a hypocrite.

She’d been appalled to learn Suki wasn’t a virgin; none of the Kyoshi warriors were and for a brief period of time had allowed that knowledge to color her perception of them.

It’s just sex, Katara, geez, lighten up. Sometimes you just need to blow off some stress. It’s not like it’s a declaration of undying love it’s just a way to escape shit you’d rather not deal with.

This whole situation with Zuko, New Ursa, Mahnaz and they way each handled the abuse of innocent children was something she’d rather not deal with. Her actions, or rather her inaction, was something she’d rather not deal with. Something she’d rather not face. The knowledge that she’d protected her brother did little to ease her mind when she remembered the haunted eyes in those small bruised faces in New Ursa or the wide eyes and frozen smiles locked onto fruit stained faces in the city yet to be named.

She forced her thoughts in a different direction trying to reconcile the person she was or the person she’d always believed herself to be with the person she was watching herself become. She didn’t like this new Katara. The person she had been might have felt the cold of her environment against her skin but her heart and spirit remained warm within. This new Katara felt heat all around her, the night air which should have been cool was warm compared to her homeland, Zuko’s breathe against shoulder was impossibly hot; so was the place between them. That placed called out for her to join with him and forget everything; despite the heat from the Firebending Prince’s proximity, Katara was cold. She could no longer feel the hooks sinking into her heart, it had gone numb and no longer felt their encroachment. She could feel part of her soul dying as if it were welcoming the frostbite.
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Borealis: A Zutara Story