Borealis: A Zutara Story

Chapter 40

“We’re not married. I didn’t sign any marriage documents,” Katara protested.

“You also did not consent to be a concubine yet you are,” Mu replied matter-of-factly.

Mai’s eyes narrowed and she looked at her cousin, “Mu, what is the difference in the signet exchange and Fire Lord Azulon commissioning the ring for Aunt Su Ying?”

Mu was more than happy to answer, “It is the difference in being the lady of the house and the chamberlain. Su Ying could be used by any royal who wanted to bed her. In fact it was partly her fascination with General Iroh which led to Munashii replacing her. Lady Katara is bound solely to Zuko. He is the only man who will touch her and until the day he takes a wife, there are certain things that only she will do for him.”

“Although considering you are his fiancée, I’m sure there will be several things she will continue to do for him long after you are wed.  I’m sure you will be Fire Lady only in the historical documentation sense of the word,” He added just to upset his cousin. He was a newlywed facing a deployment of indeterminate time but he and his wife of five weeks and two days ended up sharing a single room with a lemur and six year old due to her selfishness.

“What is that supposed to mean, Mu?” Mai asked tensely.

“It means that she is actually human. She’s been captured and taken against her will but somehow she can still smile and think of others.  She was offered two of the royal vaults she refused them even though the Fire Lord and the Crown Prince freely gave them to her. I bet the trinket she asked for wasn’t even shiny or worth much monetary value. You think only of yourself and your own comfort. You never would have remembered to bring food for the other prisoners. You didn’t even think to share a mansion with friends and family members,” Mu said dryly.

“So I’m a gold-digging shrew and she’s a paragon of virtue?” Mai asked.

“You are a selfish gold-digging shrew,” Mu corrected.

He lifted his eyebrow at his cousin then turned to his friend. “Zuko, what did Katara ask for out of the vault.”

“A book,” Zuko said smiling warmly at the woman he was speaking of, “Katara asked for a book. It wasn’t gilded or anything of that nature.”

“So how did she get the crown?” Mai inquired accusingly.

“Because I gave it to her; I wanted her to have it. She deserves it,” Zuko said quietly tightening his grip on Katara.

She looked up at him and settled into the new position.  This ride seemed to be taking longer than the way up. They were crossing into a part of town she didn’t recognize, “Zuko, where are we going? I thought the port was the other way.”

“It is. We’re going to my father’s private harbor. It’s where the Ursa is normally docked. The procession is taking the scenic route to give the support personnel time to stock the ship and get settled in first,” He admitted.

“But my brother hasn’t eaten very much and he’s walking. How much further is it?” Katara asked looking over Zuko’s shoulder to look at Sokka.

“Halt! Who has the keys to the Avatar’s cage? We’re putting the Water Tribe boy in the cage with him,” Zuko called out. The procession slowly stopped but after several minutes of waiting no one came forward with a key.

Katara looked around then finally admitted, “I can open the cage.”

Zuko turned his rhino around and rode back to Sokka.  Katara bended the sweat off her brother’s body into a whip and used it to cut the lock. She flicked her wrist, pulling water from the surrounding grass then bent it into Sokka’s mouth.

“I’m sorry I didn’t realize we were going a different way earlier.  I would have said something sooner and you wouldn’t have had to walk this far,” Katara apologized before collecting more water for him. “Aang are you thirsty?”

“No thank you.  Katara, you know that I hate it when you kill plants to do that,” the Airbender whined.

Katara ignored him and bent more water for Sokka. When he told her he’d had enough. She asked Zuko if Korhi needed to be watered. He shook his head no and looked at the dead grass. “Katara, did you learn how to do that at the North Pole?”

She smiled, “I can’t tell you all of my secrets, Prince Zuko. It will make it harder to kill you.”

“I suppose it will,” Zuko said shifting her on Korhi so he could get off and weld the lock shut.

Sokka leaned back against the cage feigning relaxation, “You do realize that you don’t have to do that right? Aang is locked up tighter than most Fire Nation prisons and fortresses. I should know; we’ve broken into a couple. I’m not a bender so it’s not like I’m going to go all swoosh, yaa, fwomp and get out of here. Besides, there is only one person I know who can get away from this many Fire Nation troops singlehandedly and she’s not here. Appa’s injured and it’s not like we’re going anywhere without him.”

“Nice try, but tell that to someone you haven’t escaped from before.  The person that you’re referring to is your missing Earthbender isn’t it? I saw how she tore open my father’s palace doors. This cage will be child’s play to her. I’m sure if she were around, we wouldn’t know until you were missing,” Zuko said testing the lock.

He returned to his komodo rhino and pulled Katara back into his lap. This time he settled her bottom farther away from his groin. If they had not stopped to put her brother in the cage he was certain by now his awareness of her would have developed into a raging hard-on.

“Zuko, why are you riding, Katara like that?” Aang asked innocently. Several of the other people who knew what was going on laughed at how he phrased the question.

“It’s because I’m wearing a dress.  When I ride Appa I’m in the sky so no one can see if it flies up. But since I’m on the ground I have to ride like this,” Katara quipped. She didn’t want Aang to know what Zuko had been doing to her.

“Oh, that makes sense,” Aang said causing everyone around him to breathe a sigh of relief. No one wanted a repeat of his unconscious bending in the throne room.

Aang was still staring at Katara as Zuko guided Korhi back to the front of the group and the procession began to move once more. When they were staying with Hama a carnival had come to town. She was wearing a dress that day but when they took an eelhound ride she didn’t worry about sitting side saddle.