Sometimes A Happy Ending Is Just A New Beginning

A Zutara FanFic

This story is dedicated to my teenage son and his friends, who were busy doing the happy dance and laughing at my insistence that Zuko and Katara were going to be together, even in light of the events of Sozin's Comet. Nyah, nyah, it ain't over till it's over.

This story is set two years after Sozin's Comet, and one year after finding Zuko's mother (no, I won't say where she was or what happened to her, bar a few dark hints. Mostly cause I have no ideas in that direction.).

Please note: There will be character deaths in this story, some you'll see coming and one (I think) you won't. You've been warned.

Part 1: Duress and Courtship

"Zuko?"

The Fire Lord turned at the sound of that unexpected voice, his face breaking into a smile as he crossed the room. "Mother!" he exclaimed, taking her hands in his and kissing her on the cheek. "I thought you were resting!" Ursa was still weakened by her ordeals, but was slowly regaining strength. His disappearance six months ago certainly hadn't helped; nor had the painful admission that he'd been forced to kill his insane sister.

"I'm feeling so much better now, Zuko, you have to stop worrying so much," his mother chided him gently as she returned the kiss, tiptoeing up to reach his cheek. He remembered her as so much taller; it still startled him to realize how much he'd grown, and how petite she really was.

Zuko peered down at her, an absent frown gracing his features. "Are you sure?" He knew he was being over-protective, but he and his mother had been apart for so many years, and all because of the vile manipulations of his father.

She nodded, squeezing his hands affectionately before removing her fingers from his and walking to the window. She gazed out, saying nothing for a long moment as Zuko joined her. "I missed this view," she said softly, her voice and eyes wistful. "I never thought I'd see it again." She looked back at her son, and her voice caught on her next words. "Or you."

Zuko leaned down and kissed the crown of her head. Ursa seated herself on the wide window ledge. "Did you miss it, this view, when you were exiled?"

Her son nodded, hesitating only a moment before joining her. He could tell she hadn't just come to reminisce, and his gut clenched. This is the moment, he thought, panic-stricken. This is when she asks me about Azula.

Neither his mother nor his instincts disappointed him. "I want to know, Zuko," she said softly, her gaze returning to the view. "I'm strong enough now, physically, emotionally-and I have to know. What happened to my daughter?"

It had been hard enough explaining that her beloved Zuli was insane, even harder that she was dead. But to tell his mother the circumstances surrounding the latter event was going to be the hardest thing he'd ever done. Unconsciously he straightened his back. But tell her he would; he was the Fire Lord, and he had never shirked from his responsibilities.

As he began to speak, his attention focused solely on his mother, the private door to his chambers opened, although neither of the room's occupants noticed as Mai slipped into the room. She was about to announce her presence, but Zuko's first words stopped her in her tracks, held her motionless behind the rich curtains that hung over the door. "It was after she escaped and kidnapped Katara, you know that. I had to go after her; the Avatar was away, her brother and father were back at the South Pole, and besides, Azula was my responsibility."

His mother nodded. "I know. Now tell me the rest."

Mai continued to listen, half-ashamed at eavesdropping, but unable to tear herself away. Zuko had never spoken of those times, the weeks he had been missing, not even after he and Katara had been found and rescued from his sister's insane clutches. She herself had witnessed Azula's death, but he still wouldn't tell her anything about his time as a captive, and as his betrothed, she was torn between allowing him his privacy and demanding to know everything. She'd hoped that, given enough time, he would open up to her, but apparently it was to his mother he was to bestow that honor. She couldn't be jealous of her future mother-in-law, not really, but she couldn't leave, either. Perhaps now she would know what demons haunted his sleep, why he and Katara seemed to be avoiding each other, and most of all, why she occasionally caught him shooting guilty looks at the back of Aang's head when he thought himself unobserved. She stepped quietly back, deeper into the shadows, and settled herself. This is for his own good, she told herself. How will I make him a good wife if I don't know how to settle his mind?

"Azula didn't take Katara at random; she hated her, blamed her for her own downfall," Zuko was saying. Information everyone knew, including his mother, but she merely bowed her head in acknowledgment of his words, patiently waiting for her son to get to the part he was apparently having so much difficulty relaying. "And she made damn sure I knew it was her, and even the general direction I had to go to find her..."

His eyes turned inward, and his mother reached out and gently took his hand in hers, studying his face as he did so. Two years had passed since her daughter had gone insane and her husband had been deposed and stricken of his Fire Bending abilities; one year had passed since she herself had been rescued and returned home, and only six months had passed since her daughter had died. Zuko had been willing to tell her everything about his life, even the parts that he was ashamed of. He would tell her this, as well, even though it obviously pained him. But it wasn't just his sister's death; his mother could tell there was more to it than that.

And now, she would know what it was.