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 091
Mai saw Zuko and the Waterbender approaching through the bridge’s window. She claimed boredom as her excuse to leave. Careful as to not alert Azula to her true intentions she strode down the stairs towards her room. Once she reached the lower deck she sprinted the length of the ship and ran up the opposite stairs. She had to apologize to Zuko and make amends for rejecting him. She needed another chance to convince him to take her virginity so they could dispute Azula’s claim to his throne. Luckily, he was still on deck when she got there.
Mai’s eyes narrowed. She was standing at the rail, Zuko was standing behind her, and his arms were around her waist. Zuko’s head was lowered and it appeared that he was whispering something in her ear. One hand rested over her stomach. They had been in the infirmary for a week. She frowned, she had heard rumors about the fecundity of Water Tribe barbarians; surely the peasant wasn’t pregnant?
Mai called his name as she approached them, “Zuko.”
Zuko bristled when he heard his ex-girlfriend, “Go away, Mai.”
This was her fault. If she had never asked Mu to petition that Katara be used as her proxy Katara never would have become so upset she almost sank the ship or defied him so openly. He would never have had to prove he could control her. Katara would still be carrying his baby even if would have been a few weeks before either one of them knew about it; their child would still exist. He could feel Katara trembling in his arms and see the ocean starting to ripple.
“Zuko, please I just need to speak to you for a minute,” Mai insisted walking closer.
“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say, Mai. Go away,” Zuko implored not wanting her to further upset Katara. He held her tighter as the water became choppier.
“Zuko, I’m sorry,” Mai said quietly, placing her hand on Zuko’s arm.
He snatched it away and angrily asked, “What about Katara, don’t you think you also owe her an apology?”
Mai backed away; her voice was full of venom, “For what? Why would I owe your whore an apology? She’s the one that should apologize for taking what rightfully belongs to me?”
Zuko’s arm as he grabbed Mai’s wrist and twisted it. He kept his arm protectively around Katara and gently turned her to face Mai, “Katara is not a whore. She was a virgin when I gave her my first sowing. She didn’t take anything that was not freely given and I did not choose for her to have. She is a much better woman and far more deserving of my crown and my favor than you will ever be. Now apologize for disrespecting her.”
“Ow Zuko, you’re hurting me,” Mai yelped before demanding, “Let me go. I will not apologize to that Ow”
Katara’s eyes widened when the taller girl’s face came within her field of vision. Mai had tears in her eyes. Zuko had bent her wrist backwards and was forcing her to the deck. Her cuff was smoking.
“Apologize to Katara,” Zuko demanded.
Mai refused again despite of the pain he was causing her, “No,”
Flames raced down his arm igniting her sleeve as he screamed, “Do it you jealous gold digging bitch. Apologize! Apologize to the lady I’ve already asked to be Fire Lady and reign beside me.”
“This whore? Zuko, you didn’t!” Mai gasped in horror.
“Katara is not a whore!” he yelled as the flames grew in response to his anger.
“Ow, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Zuko, please you’re hurting me,” Mai yelped as she struggled to get away from him. “You’re hurting me.”
Zuko pulled the flames back but still didn’t let go of her wrist, “You’re sorry who and for what?”
“I’m sorry Katara for calling you a whore,” Mai whimpered.
“And?” Zuko yelled squeezing her wrist and grinding the ashes of her sleeve into her skin.
“I’m sorry for attempting to use the loss of your virginity for my own gain,” Mai whined.
Zuko let her go, “Mai, I will not be so merciful if I find out you’ve disrespected my Katara again.”
Cradling her right wrist in her left hand, Mai nodded and stood. She walked away with tears running down her face. Zuko had never stood up for her so forcefully. He’s pushed the boy at the party, but he didn’t burn him. Her fiancé had burned her to defend the honor of another woman.
Zuko placed his hands on Katara’s cheeks and raised her face to look at him. He wiped her tears away with his thumbs, “Are you alright? I’m sorry she did that and said that. Let me know if she bothers you again.”
Katara nodded weakly and closed her eyes. She could feel the waves coming closer. She was close to sinking the ship and drowning all of them. She inhaled and exhaled slowly; the waves began to flatten but her head continued to pound. Zuko had stopped her from doing it. He had stopped her from killing Sokka, Aang and Appa. If Mai would have said one more word the Ursa and its escorts would be at the bottom of the ocean. “Thank you.”
He kissed her forehead, immensely relieved she was speaking to him again. He pulled her into a tighter embrace, “I mean it Katara; I promise I won’t ever let anything or anyone hurt you again.”
Katara closed her eyes and leaned against his chest. She was too tired to struggle or argue. Amayu had taken her to the infirmary’s bathing room so she could heal herself while Bingwen spoke to Zuko. They were dismissed under the stipulation that she rest the remainder of the afternoon but Zuko had asked if she wanted to see Sokka and Aang. She couldn’t resist the opportunity to see her family even though her body was sending subtle hints that she probably should not be moving.
She could survive if she jumped into the ocean but standing on her recently healed toes was difficult; watching the sunlight glinting off the rippling waves was doing funny things to her eyes and head. There was only so much she could do for her own concussion without blacking out from the accelerated healing. She wasn’t in the mood to argue, otherwise she would have pointed out his promises meant very little considering his actions were her primary source of pain. “Shut up and take me to go lie down.”
The walk back to the room seemed much longer for the two of them even though he took the most direct route. Zuko paused before opening the door afraid of what awaited them. He wouldn’t put it past Azula to order the stewards not to clean it. “Katara I…we can go to a different room if you want to. I’ll have the stewards move our belongings”
Katara considered her answer. He was willing to take her to a new room, a different room where he had never hurt her but she knew the location wouldn’t matter. He would still hurt her. He would hurt her as long as she was captured. She had been on the ship long enough that she was starting to get her bearings. She knew the fastest way to get from this room to Appa. It would be easier to stay in this room where it wouldn’t take much longer to learn the best way to get to her brother and Aang than learning new orientation points if she went to another. Remaining in this room, this evil place where so much had been done to her would be better. She managed to sound far braver than she actually felt when she told him to “Open the door.”
Zuko took a deep breath before putting the key into the lock and twisting the knob to open. He stopped, “Are you sure you want to go in there?”
She nodded.
Zuko pushed the door open; the inside of the room was perfect. The table was intact and perfectly polished. The rug beneath it was clean. The only sign of violence was the faint scent of incense that remained in the room. It was burned after every death to allow peaceful passage into the spirit world and chase evil spirits from the home. That particular scent was called Kali’s Breathe - it was only used when someone died in the room. It was made from purple flowers that only grew where the remains of dragons had been found. It was believed to have a strong spiritual connection to the goddess of death and destruction.
Zuko stepped around Katara and kneeled at the table offering a flame in both hands. It was customary for the closest living relative to maintain a separate flame to guide the recently departed into the spirit world. Their thoughts and well wishes along with the blessings made by the sages who lit the funeral pyre would comfort them along their journey and prevent them from becoming a troubled ghost who returned to seek vengeance upon them.
Katara looked at him. All of the people taken by Hama were not alive when they were recovered. Since they were the ones who put an end to Hama’s kidnappings they’d been asked by several families to attend the funerals so their loved ones could rest knowing their murderer had been brought to justice. That scent only burned where the bodies were found; lighter ones led the way to the temple. Each member of every family had sat in the same position Zuko was currently sitting. Those unable to bend held torches wrapped in white sutras inscribed with the word “love” to convey their feelings to their departed kin.
Katara reached out, called water in through the portal and held it above the flames in his hands. The tadpole she lost had been committed to the ocean. She had asked Amayu to be sure but as she suspected the water from the ship drained into the ocean. She had said the proper prayers and made the correct offerings to ensure her tadpole was counted among the souls in La’s army.
But her tadpole did not originate with her…
Gran-Gran had told her that love was not the only emotion that created children. Sometimes negative emotions such as sadness, pain, fear, pity, and anger were present during a physical joining. If those feels were strong enough they would separate from their original possessor intending to inhabit and corrupt the innocent person. In response they alo shed portion of their spirit to counter the attack. The piece that broke off battled the negativity but was sometimes overwhelmed during battle. Rather than allowing the whole soul to be tainted by evil it that tiny portion sacrificed itself by trapping the invader in a new life.
Katara flung the water back outside and lay down. Children formed in that manner could be redeemed through love and acceptance but were susceptible to the evil inside them if not properly cared for. Zuko’s soul had corrupted hers to the point a tadpole had been created to absorb the evil he placed inside her. She would not risk eternal damnation of her tadpole’s soul if it had been cursed with fire. She closed her eyes but sleep did not come until two painkillers and sedatives later.
Her heart still lurched even when she referred to the child she lost as a tadpole instead of a baby.
Zuko waited until the drugs were working to bind Katara’s hands to the headboard and remove the lower half of her clothes. She woke up kicking so he rolled her onto her stomach and loosely bound her ankles before pushing them up beside her knees.
“Don’t fight Katara, please don’t fight. I have to do this or my father will take you. I don’t want to do this. I don’t want to hurt you. Stop fighting, be still so I don’t hurt you,” Zuko tearfully begged as he oiled her exposed genitals and his penis remembering what Bingwen had said about being gentle.
He stole from her as slowly and tenderly as he possibly could. This time he remembered to pull out before releasing. He finished himself in his hand, liberally splashing her lower back and buttocks with his semen. He wiped her with a warm towel then untied her ankles. He rebound her wrist to his with a silk sash then pulled her to his chest and kissed away her tears. “Katara, did I hurt you this time? I tried to be gentle. Please tell me if I hurt you so I’ll know to be more careful next time.”
She didn’t answer him.
Zuko pled somewhat distraught. “Did I hurt you? Do I need to take you to Bingwen? I tried to be careful, did I hurt you? Do you need to go back to the infirmary?”
At that she shook her head no and asked to go to the restroom. Zuko untied her and carried her across the room. He waited outside the door before carrying her back to bed. He fell asleep wondering why she was crying if he hadn’t hurt her that time. He was slower and gentler the next night and even remembered what Bingwen said about rubbing her clitoris.
For some reason that only seemed to make her cry harder.
Grandsparkman: Thank you! I thought I had posted that chapter. I just didn’t think I’d put it here.
Arraye: Please don’t feel as though you are nagging (and your English is fine). Zuko has reason to believe it is possible to make Katara his queen. He plans to become Fire Lord and the Fire Lord does as he pleases. Soizin’s mother and grandmother are also Waterbenders so there is historical precedent.
You are right, using the phrase “I love you” to fix every problem one has with a woman is a very male way of thinking. Bingwen and Zuko are men. In spite of the rights given to women, the Fire Nation is a patriarchal society. I’m sorry if my statement at the end of chapter 89 was confusing their relationship will not be normal. I’m glad you liked Katara’s POV. She has quite a bit on her mind.While AFF and its agents attempt to remove all illegal works from the site as quickly and thoroughly as possible, there is always the possibility that some submissions may be overlooked or dismissed in error. The AFF system includes a rigorous and complex abuse control system in order to prevent improper use of the AFF service, and we hope that its deployment indicates a good-faith effort to eliminate any illegal material on the site in a fair and unbiased manner. This abuse control system is run in accordance with the strict guidelines specified above.
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