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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 76
Katara was unconvinced by his words. He had told her so many lies she had no reason to believe him. She kicked him again, “Stop making excuses. We’re at sea. There is no way your father knows what you’re doing. Just tell anyone that asks that you’re living up to your reputation as a raping bastard.”
Zuko sighed heavily, “The bedsheets Azula framed aren’t only ones that have been stolen. Every time we leave the room someone takes the bedding to check it for evidence of sexual contact. I thought I would be able to just jack off on the sheets, but you still bleed when I take you and the scent in the room is different when it’s two people. Whoever is taking the sheets would know and notify my father. I don’t want to risk us being separated and you being handed to the crew or sent back to the Fire Nation.”
“I thought Azula was the one behind it. Now that I know she plans to expose the fact you were my first woman and use it to steal the throne I’m no longer sure it’s her. It benefits her to keep us together. After seeing the man who took you from my room in the brig and hearing someone in the room next to ours I’m not sure who is watching us or even if they are doing so under my father’s orders. It could be someone working for any number of nobles,” he explained lifting the bottle again.
“Many of them lost relatives at the North Pole. They see harming you as a means to avenge their loved ones death. Some of them are serial rapists like Asami and don’t need a reason. Others are egomaniacs like Bujing. They hate that I don’t bow down to them and see you as a way to hurt me. Most of the nobles are war profiteers. They know my father and Azula are proponents of aggressive conquest; as long as one of them is in power there will be plenty of blood money to line their pockets.
“They no longer have that certainty now that I’ve returned. I am an unknown factor whose motives elude them. I’ve always been close to Uncle Iroh. While he was still the feared Dragon of the West that was fine but he changed after the war took his only child from him. The retired General Iroh was softer and more moderate. Instead of expanding Fire Nation holdings he advocated maintaining the ones we’ve already acquired. I was banished by my father and Uncle Iroh has been my sole influence for the past three years. No one knows if I’ll follow his principle of maintenance which will limit the amount of income generated from new weapons, machinery, and Earth Kingdom colonial resources or if I’ll continue my father’s practice of expansion.
“I betrayed Uncle Iroh at Ba Sing Se so no knows if I can be trusted. Those who support him think it was part of plot to get back to the Fire Nation so he could regain his rightful place on the throne with me as his heir in place of my dead cousin. My father’s supporters think I have truly repented for my actions; that I am now the loyal and dutiful son he always wanted. Others think I am selfishly following my own agenda; seeking revenge on Father for banishing me and on Uncle for helping the Avatar by thwarting my attempts to catch him for so long.”
Zuko’s head slumped forward and he let the empty bottle fall between his knees, “No one believes I’m just a confused kid that made a bad decision because I wanted to come home.”
“Now that I’m here I don’t know what to do anymore. All I ever wanted to do was to help my people. Things were never supposed to turn out like this. You weren’t supposed to be captured or caught up in my nation’s politics or my family’s drama. You were supposed to invade and escape on the bison like you always do. I was supposed be brave enough to confront my fa-” Zuko stopped and banged his back hard against the wall behind him.
“At this rate I’ll self destruct or be executed before I get a chance to save my country.”
Katara scrutinized him warily analyzing all the things he’d said to her. She didn’t believe the crap about still trying to protect but her she had seen enough of the nobles, his sister and the Fire Lord to know it was possible he was telling the truth about what they would likely do to her. She had never believed that the crew was as innocuous as he and Sokka thought she did, but she didn’t believe every sailor with a penis was just dying to force it inside her.
However, there was one thing still didn’t make sense to her. He kept saying that he was not his father’s favorite child and alluding to a secret goal he was trying to accomplish that could get both of them killed and saying that he believed she would help him if she thought he could be trusted. She had seen Azula fight him and his uncle in the abandoned town and she admitted that she was trying to usurp the crown. That could provide the missing piece to her escape plan.
Katara planted her hands on her hips and stood over him, “Zuko, why did your father banish you?”
Zuko’s head jerked in her direction and snorted, “For stupidly acting like a prince and thinking of the wellbeing of my people then foolishly advocating on their behalf.”
Katara frowned, “That doesn’t make sense. Why would you be banished for that?”
Zuko opened the second bottle and gulped down a quarter of it before answering, “As most of the world knows the Fire Nation is a very militaristic and nationalistic society. We place a high priority on our benders but it is the duty of every citizen to complete two years of civil service beginning the summer after they complete their years of compulsory education to better our great nation. The only exceptions are servants of the royal family as their employment fulfills the national service requirement.
“The average age of graduation is between twelve and fourteen. The choices range from low paying drudgery such as domestic infrastructure: digging ditches, working on a national farm, maintaining roads and bridges; national beautification: planting flowers, sweeping the streets, and painting public buildings; human welfare: working at an orphanage, veteran’s hospital, or other state run facility. They can also choose education or arts and culture both of which are worse than picking infrastructure.”
“Only those who graduated with the highest honors are allowed to teach otherwise education means cleaning school buildings and maintaining the grounds. Most people choose the military as it provides the highest pay, world travel and the opportunity to achieve glory and rapid advancement. The military is the only part of our society where commoners and nobles interact so it enables one to make invaluable connections.
“Normally new recruits are placed in calmer parts of the colonies after they complete basic training. Our soldiers are gradually shifted to more volatile areas as time progresses to give them time to grow accustomed to battle. It can take years for a soldier to reach the front lines but that slow indoctrination to violence and the idea of killing is part of what makes our army so successful.
“When I was thirteen I convinced my uncle to allow me to accompany him to one of my father’s war meetings with his highest ranking officials on the condition I remained absolutely silent. Bujing, the bastard who you told you were thinking about my penis and how the thought of getting your hands on it filled you with glee is one of our military’s most highly respected generals and a master Firebender. All of the people present were Firebenders.”
“He proposed a plan that would place a division of non-bending new recruits directly on the front lines as a decoy so a more experienced division could flank the enemy soldiers. I was enraged that he could even think of sacrificing the lives of so many our citizens so carelessly so I jumped up and began yelling exactly what I was thinking.”
Katara winced, “If you attack a man on the streets you offend him. If you attack a man at someone’s else house you offend your host.”
“Exactly. Since it was my father’s war room he was the one I’d ultimately disrespected. My whole life changed that day,” Zuko murmured taking another long draught from the bottle.

Hi MimiFeye: Thank you for the constructive criticism. I completely understand I hate it when updates to stories I love aren’t regular. It’s the primary reason I waited until I had a lot written and knew where the story was going to begin to post. I simply haven’t had time to do the updates as frequently as I liked to. Scheduled work day: 6am to 3pm, normal work day 6am to 4:30pm, recent work day 6am to 7pm. I reread every chapter before I post it to make sure there aren’t any glaring mistakes or things to cause a gaping plot hole or contradict the things to come later. I’ve had to fix things made while in a Zombie-like state when I was trying to keep the updates rapid and regular (which caused other delays because I have to go back and undo what jaded_frankenstein did in my mental absence).
Thank you for your patience and I hope you and everyone else continues to bear with me.
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Borealis: A Zutara Story