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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 37
Katara wondered around both vaults while Zuko summoned the head scribe about preserving the important documents and parchments. She selected a whale tooth comb from Fire Lady Nini’s vault and a bracelet from Fire Lady Kesuk’s. It didn’t take long for a team of elderly scribes to arrive. All of them bowed at her feet thanking her profusely for opening the vaults and giving them the chance of a lifetime to study their contents. They reminded of her Professor Zei, seeking knowledge for knowledge’s sake.
Zuko followed behind them muttering, “I thought Uncle was the only old person who moved that fast.”
Zuko led her back in the vaults and selected a few more of pieces of Fire Lady Nini’s jewelry and combs then guided her into Princess Kesuk’s chamber. Zuko placed the items he’d taken from Nini’s chamber and put them in the jewelry box he’d taken from Kesuk’s.
He left the jewelry that was in it as well as he gave her a lesson in Fire Nation history, “Fire Lord Kozulon is considered the father of modern Firebending. The Fire Nation’s prosperity during his son Soizin’s time was the direct result of his reign. Kozulon advanced the rights of women and the poor, devised our criminal justice system, and traded Fire Nation goods for fertile dirt and dung from the Earth Kingdom to enrich the soil of the more volcanic islands.”
“His mother Nini served as his Fire Lady and his wife Kesuk was granted the title of Princess,” a bit of the pride left Zuko’s voice as he explained, “Nini had been raped by Kozulon’s father during a diplomatic visit to the North Pole. No one believed her claim since the Fire Lord had a beautiful wife and she was a servant who had been chosen for her plain appearance. The allegation which was immediately deemed false and she received the strictest punishment given to a woman for being loose before being cast out.”
“Nini lived alone in the wilderness until she gave birth. She brought Kozulon to the Fire Nation and presented him to Fire Lord Irohulon as his child. He denied her claim of paternity for two years and assassins were sent after them. During that time the Fire Lady miscarried four times and was declared barren. Nini returned on Kozulon’s second birthday; this time Irohulon was accepted both of them. Nini was made a royal concubine and Kozulon was named official heir.
“Six years later his wife, Fire Lady Mei, gave birth to a healthy son and Kozulon was stripped of his title as heir and relegated to a stable boy. When Kozulon was twelve one of his half-sisters overheard his father agreeing with their stepmother to have him assassinated so he disappeared. Nini remained behind as a concubine for another year before she too vanished. Kozulon and Nini returned years later on the day of his younger brother’s coronation. He took his rightful place on the throne in a decisive coup with help from Nini.”
The pride returned to Zuko’s voice as he stated, “Kozulon killed everyone who could claim the throne and all of the noble families who had not supported him. Most the current noble families came into power as a result of his rebellion. They were commoners who were granted titles due to their exceptional bravery and loyalty to him. There are few of the original nobles who sided with him against his brother, Sozai. Lord Asami and Mai’s family are two of them. Her paternal great-great-great-something or another was able to delay the coronation until Kozulon arrived.”
Zuko’s voice softened again as he explained, “‘Ko’ means child in Fire nation. I don’t know what ‘Zu’ means in Water Tribe but ‘Lon’ is the modernized version of ‘Long’ which means dragon. A dragon’s loyalty is the thing of legends. Kozulon was completely devoted to his mother. One of his first acts as Fire Lord was to avenge her honor.
“As soon as the country was stable he sent word that he was traveling to his mother’s homeland to punish those who wronged her along with an open invitation to join him. Fire Lady Nini was a healer. During their exile she’d traveled the countryside helping anyone who needed it. The people loved her. It is rumored that at least one person from every family on every island was with them when they arrived at the North Pole.”
“Kozulon sailed to the main gate in a warship demanding to be let in or his army of Firebenders would destroy them. He sent a large flame swirling into the sky soon there were flames on all of the boats circling the polar city. He had 100 Firebenders at the most and the majority of them were untrained farmers. He had placed torches and mirrors on all of the boats to give the appearance of having brought enough Firebenders to fulfill his threat.
“He was let into the gates and saw the city was decorated elaborately. He learned it was because the chief’s youngest daughter was getting married. When Nini was banished the chief’s wife had been pregnant. She gave him several daughters throughout the years but no sons and none of his concubines ever got pregnant. The Water Tribe chief had finally agreed on the terms for his youngest daughter’s betrothal to grant the chiefdom to another powerful family. The day Kozulon arrived was the day of their engagement party.
He broke up the engagement and forced Kesuk into a position where her only option to escape his mother’s fate was to marry him. Once they were wed he shamed her in front of her people worse than her father shamed his mother. Kozulon displayed the bedding from their wedding night to show she wasn’t a virgin. He stripped her and took her on the deck of his ship when they gathered in the harbor to say goodbye to her. He was so overjoyed to have his revenge he spit the flames of Agni while doing so. Nine months later she gave birth to Soizin.”
Katara closed her eyes. She knew what the penalty for crying rape was in the North as well as that for a pregnancy outside of marriage. A woman was only raped if a male witness could substantiate her claim. She was beaten and fined for attempting to tarnish the reputation of an upstanding man and force him into marriage if no one saw it happen.
If a woman became pregnant outside the allowable circumstances her nose was split open to look like a woman’s genitals and she was banished. Most women did not survive such harsh punishments. It was even rarer for a pregnancy to run its full term and a healthy child be birthed. She was torn from her musings when Zuko proudly declared, “I was named after him.”
She stared incredulously as the arrogant prince confided that he was born prematurely and they thought he wouldn’t survive. He was named Zuko in hopes that he would have Kozulon’s strength, endurance, and ability to overcome adversity. But the first two syllables of his name were inverted from Kozu to Zuko so he would have none of his ancestor’s Water Tribe backwardness.
Katara couldn’t help but marvel how Zuko selfishness and warped world view mirrored Kozulon’s and was still affecting the Water Tribes. Yue’s political marriage to Hahn was only the latest attempt to heal the rift formed by Kesuk’s alleged deceit.
With Nini’s help Kozulon tried to make the chief understand what had happened to his mother. Each night his mother had bent their way through the walls and held Kesuk down while he raped her. There were no signs of forced entry and no one heard her screaming. It looked like they were having an affair and cuckolding her betrothed. Kozulon believed forcing Kesuk in front of her father and her people would show them she had given nothing to him willingly just as Nini had given nothing to his father.
He had overestimated their respect for women. There was no such thing as rape inside marriage in the Northern Water Tribe. All his action did was reinforce the idea that Kesuk was an immoral woman and they were lucky to be rid of her.

Katara could not help but to think history was repeating itself. Zuko was raping her to make it look like she’d betrayed Aang. She hoped that her future was brighter than Kesuk’s even though right now, Zuko had trapped her and she had nowhere to run. She prayed that when news of her situation got out, her father and tribe wouldn’t reject her as the Northern Tribe had done Kesuk. She doubted the Fire Nation’s current hospitality would work out for her in the long run.
The history lesson ended and Zuko told her to try on some of Princess Kesuk’s clothes and shoes since they were close in size. Katara chose three dresses and four pairs of shoes. Zuko selected eight more dresses including one for her to wear during their portrait. He was smiling when gave her the princess’s diadem.
Afterward he carried their items to the kitchen to request that a snack be sent to his room ignoring Katara’s arguments that she didn’t need the gifts especially not the crown. She would have thought he had not heard her had he not made sure to get enough food for Aang and Sokka. An hour later Katara was still protesting the extravagance when Zuko led her to the spa to get her hair fixed and summoned one of the ladies who served his mother to help her get dressed.
Katara began crying when Zuko placed the small crown on her head. Like a bad omen, Kesuk’s shoes and robes fit her too well. Even the heeled boots with absurdly pointed toes felt like they had been crafted for her feet and had been her favorite shoes for years. “This is too much, Zuko. I can’t accept it. I can’t wear the crown of your country. I’m not your country’s princess.”
The attendant wiped her tears before she or Zuko could get to them.
He sighed heavily, “Katara you were not born my country’s princess, but you are my royal concubine. You have status directly beneath the Fire Nation royal family. For all intents and purposes you will serve in the same capacity as my wife until I take an official bride.”
“Wear the crown, after all that I’ve done to you it is well deserved,” he explained quietly while thinking “and all that I must continue to do to you.”
His father had just told him that several of the nobles had been incensed when they learned that Katara had just opened Nini and Kesuk’s vaults and had been given their contents. Ozai made of point of reminding him that Katara belonged to Zuko so long as she held his interest. He did not have to be reminded there were several people waiting for the moment she lost it or of what needed to be done to prove she still held it.
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Borealis: A Zutara Story