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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 32
Zuko relocked the door then carried Katara to the bathroom and turned on the bathtub spigots. How could he have forgotten Azula inherited her personality from their father? Only Ozai sought crueler amusements.
When he was a child Ozai would sometimes deliberately inflame his mother’s temper just to smile and kiss her when she blew up at him. Zuko inherited her hotheaded tendencies but unlike his mother his had not been calmed by parenthood. His father had been the one to teach Azula to take joy in his torment.
Now Katara, who knew nothing of his fucked up family dynamics, was the one to suffer because his father wanted to play a game with him. He moved her closer to the water then went back to the bedroom to find suitable clothing. He paused looking at the bare mattress.
I’ll make sure that you have her for as long as she holds your interest
Zuko had learned to inspect his father’s words for hidden meanings at an early age. He let the tears run unchecked down his face as the impact of that simple statement slowly washed over him.
Katara would be his so long as she held his interest.
So long as she held his interest.
There could be no end to what he was doing to her if he wanted to keep her under his protection. Just as fast as his sheets had disappeared on the ship, his bedding was already missing. His steps were wooden as he walked back into the restroom. Katara had not woken up. He lifted her into the tub and the water immediately began glowing.
She woke up screaming and flailing as be began reheating the water. He held her, pressing his face against the back of her neck as the raging water threatened to cut off his air supply all the while whispering, “You are mine Katara. He’s not going to take you. You won’t be separated from the Avatar and your brother. You get to stay with us.”
Zuko continued holding her repeating that she wouldn’t be separated from them long after the water stopped glowing and Katara stopped struggling against him.
Katara’s initial panic slowly subsided and she realized what Zuko was saying to her. She wouldn’t be separated from Sokka and Aang. She would have to put up with Zuko for a bit longer but she wouldn’t be separated from her loved ones.
Or him.
So long as she was with him there were opportunities to kill him. He was dying the moment she and her family were reunited. Katara wound the sheet more tightly around her body and sat up so she was no longer leaning against her assailant. Her upset assailant.
Zuko had begun blubbering the moment she pulled away from him. “I’m sorry. I had to. If I didn’t he would have kept you. He would have taken you away from me and given you to them. They would have hurt you. They would have hurt you worse than I did. He would have laughed as he watched them do it then when you could barely move he would have made you run from bolts of lightning. He would have kept you here away from your brother and the Avatar and laughed every time he saw you were hurting. I’m sorry Katara. I had to. I had to. You don’t know what they would have done to you. I had to. I had to Katara.”
Katara nodded slightly and moved further away from him. She and Ching Mei weren’t the only ones who’d been assaulted during the short time she was at the palace. While Zuko was talking to Mai several of the noblewomen had told her she should not have been allowed in the main ballroom. She should have been locked in the room two hallways over with the other party favors. She’d heard laughter and screaming coming from that direction when Zuko snuck her to the dungeons.
As soon as he was gone she cooled the water he’d just warmed almost to the point of freezing and shaped some of it into icebergs. She had already begun to shiver when she slipped below the surface. It was hard to hold her breath with her teeth chattering but she remained submerged watching the ice float above her; from that vantage point it was easier to pretend she was at home and none of this had ever happened.

Katara found the clothes Zuko had left for her in the grooming area between the bath and bedrooms. There was barely a word spoken between them as Zuko bathed then dressed. He ordered that food be brought to curb their hunger as it was still several hours before lunch. They picked over it in silence while trying not to look at each other.
Katara was staring out of the window trying to catch the timing of the patrolling guards and plot an escape route her when Zuko walked over to her. She looked up out of habit. She pressed her legs together and wrapped her arms around herself subconsciously. She didn’t like the way he was staring at her.
Zuko phrased his words carefully, he didn’t want to upset her but he didn’t want her to be quiet and subdued either, “We’ll be leaving the palace this afternoon. You’ve done well so far, but my father is a liar. He could still change his mind and keep you here. He…”
Zuko closed his eyes and took a deep breath, how could he explain his father to Katara when he didn’t fully understand him. He exhaled a plume of smoke then continued, “This morning was a test for both us. Lunch will most likely be as well. Be like you were yesterday and all the times we fought. He likes to be amused.”
As an afterthought he added, “Uncle told me it boosts Father’s ego and makes him feel stronger if he sees a strong person in a position where he has power over them. The worst thing you can do is beg for mercy or be frightened. ”
Katara sat up straight and leaned forward. Zuko had gotten a faraway look on his face and the last words spoken had been so soft she wasn’t afraid she’d heard them until he smiled sadly at her. “Be strong and be brave. Don’t make my mistake.”

Lunch was primarily a family affair with only Ozai, Zuko, Azula, Li, Lo, Ty Lee, Katara, and Ozai’s mistress in attendance. When Li or was it Lo asked where was Lady Mai, the Fire Lord had simply explained he found her presence lackluster and detrimental to his dining experience.
Ozai shrugged, “Zuko’s face is enough to inspire indigestion; hers would ruin my meal. Although perhaps I should have invited her; Katara is certainly vivacious enough for two people. I thoroughly enjoyed watching her performance this morning. I was proud to see my son has reached an age where he is able to surmount such an impressive will”
Katara lifted her wineglass and took a small swallow to boost her courage then pointedly stated, “Well yes, Zuko did do quite the number on me, but if you remember correctly I did not scream.”
Azula’s neck snapped upwards and she looked from her father to the Waterbender. Zuko’s had dropped thinking after that statement there would be no way to save her.
Fire Lord Ozai gasped then his face split into a grin, “You my dear, are welcome to dine at my table anytime. I did not think it was possible to enjoy the company of barbarian peasantry but you are most entertaining. My Ursa would agree it is one of life’s great tragedies that one so spirited was born a Water Tribe peasant.”
He looked across the table at the empty chair and fully prepared place setting where Fire Lady normally sat then sighed, “Ursa my love, the grandbabies.”
Katara was afraid to ask what Ozai meant by those last two statements as he truly sounded dismayed by it.

After the meal ended Ozai announcing he and his children needed to mark this auspicious day in the official records. He placed his hand on Katara’s shoulder and asked that Lady Sakura explain to her what it meant to have the attentions of a royal. Katara followed the older woman to a small sitting room in the family wing of the palace. Unlike the other women she’d encountered at court, Lady Sakura had not been unkind to her so Katara felt somewhat comfortable in her presence.
She listened as the noblewoman explained that the Fire Lord chosen her because of her resemblance to his late wife. Lady Ursa had been gone for six years. She proudly declared she was only the second woman to have his attentions and it had been three years since her predecessor was dismissed. Although her words said otherwise, Katara could tell that the honor she felt as been chosen by the Fire Lord was not enough to make her happy.
Curious, Katara asked “If being chosen is such an honor why do you seem so sad?”
Lady Sakura took her hand gently in hers, “It may not seem like it and I know this is not what you want but you are in an enviable position. Prince Zuko has shown great respect and esteem towards you. The title of concubine offers privileges and protections. The Fire Lord has shown me no such regard. Unlike you, I am not a formal royal concubine, only a mistress. As a mistress, I am simply a way for the Fire Lord to slake his physical urges for his late wife. I have no status or protection. I’m merely a bed warmer, a convenient place for him to sheathe his dragon.”
There were tears in her eyes when she admitted, “It is always Lady Ursa’s name that crosses his lips when he climaxes, never mine. I have been taught to move and sound like her. This is not my hair color nor hairstyle or even my natural body weight. I must maintain a strict diet and exercise regimen so the contours of my body feel like hers. I have been taught to bite my lips so moans are as high pitched as hers.”
They fell when she confided, “I will never be able to have children because of a promise he made to Lady Ursa. On their wedding day she asked to be the only woman to carry his children. There was a woman three years before me. She foolishly announced she was pregnant with his child. He tied her naked to a bed at the entrance of the red light district as punishment. He sent palace physicians to tend to her daily just to prolong her misery. It took weeks for her belly to lose its swell and it took months for her to die.
“I too was with child but I told no one but him. He picked the herbs and brewed the tea himself to make me lose it. He sat at my bedside and cried as I miscarried. It wasn’t me or my child that he wept for. He wept for forgiveness from his beloved Ursa. A child is what I want most in this world but the Fire Lord will never allow it just as you will not be able to have children so long as you remain with Prince Zuko.”
Lady Sakura looked at Katara then amended her declaration, “Milord likes you. If you are patient and continue to amuse him he may grant you a chance to become a mother but I will never have that privilege.”
Katara wasn’t sure how she felt about the idea of having Zuko’s children. She still planned to kill him and escape but a part of her was unsure she would have anywhere to go if she did. Her father was a kind and forgiving man, but her people had definite ideas about virginity and women’s roles. Women who had been raped in raids were often married afterwards, but it was usually to a man with whom they already shared affections.
Katara touched her wrists thinking of the bracelet she normally wore. Taruk, Bato’s nephew, had carved it for before leaving with her father and his uncle. He was a year older than Sokka and allowed to war with the other men. It was a gift to show he was serious about the plans they had made as children. He fully intended to return home safely and court her. Gran-Gran had warned her it was bad luck to part with it but she had at home fearing she would lose it.
The other women in her tribe who’d gone on to lead happily lives after being raped had been blessed by the Water Sages and cleansed immediately after it happened. Her Waterbending did not offer the same physical and spiritual purification and they had only been violated once. No matter what she did, her body would forever be tainted. It was doubtful Taruk or any of the men would want a wife who’d been repeatedly used by the Fire Nation prince.
She wondered if one day her eyes would hold the same sadness and longing for a family as Lady Sakura’s.

Author’s Note: Thank you for reading.
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Borealis: A Zutara Story