Steady Strides

Kateeri wakes to the sound of voices outside the door. She scrambles up to warn Iroh of the incoming danger of being discovered but finds the bed empty.

She snarls.

She hates it when he leaves her alone in bed like that.

"That fucking early riser," she grumbles as she quickly clothes herself then realizes that one of the voices through the door is actually Iroh's.

Then collective laughter.

A chill rises within her when she recognizes her mother's distinctive chortling and Lord Zuko's low and breathy chuckle.

"Shit" she seethes. Kateeri literally tumbles out of the pelts, throws a lumpy coat over her bare breasts, patting the inner pocket to check for a specific boxy lump, then jumps into a pair of trousers that she prays are hers.

In the quickest moment of her life, Kateeri bludgeoned through the door that led into the lobby of the healing hut.

Before she could see or process anything, she is met with a resounding "There she is!"

Immediately, Lord Zuko hugs her tenderly and Kateeri starts stuttering at the sudden display of affection. "My granddaughter-in-law!" he gently but excitedly shouts.

Things click.

She surveys the room and the faces of her mother, her extended family and finally, the perpetrator beam back at her as she mutters, "No…no, no, no, no," her gaze finally falls unto the human manifestation of all of her nightmares. "IROH."

Her grandmother, Katara, is holding Iroh's hands and both she and Iroh smile at her. Iroh's smile is slightly more mischievous, however.

Kya chuckles behind Lord Zuko then makes "Uncle Zu-Zu" release her daughter.

"We should just have it here," Chief Sokka asserted while nodding his head and crossing his arms. "Of course, I'll officiate it."

Lord Zuko swerves around to glare at his friend, appearing absolutely mortified. "Sokka, I'm afraid you are terribly mistaken if you think my grandson and his fiancée would have you be the officiant. You are hardly related to them," he huffs.

Sokka returns the glare. "My dear and obviously senile friend, your upstart grandson is going to be marrying my great-nee-oh wait, is it grand-niece? Anyways! He will be marrying her on Water Tribe soil so-!"

"That hardly matters because this is an international wedding," Zuko fumes. "So-!"

"Either way," Katara steps in. "This is indicative of a greater question… Should we have a traditional Water Tribe wedding or a Fire nation one? I would love for them to be wed with Water Tribe garb but little Iroh is a Fire Nation prince."

"Grandmother," Iroh calls to Katara with a forced smile, recalling all the times she called him 'little itty-bitty Iroh' when his grandfather would bring him along to Republic City or down south. "I'm not 'little Iroh' anymore," he breathily and bashfully complains.

"Aw, he calls me 'Grandmother'." Katara starts slapping his cheeks affectionately.

Iroh just accepts his fate as he cheeks redden from the continual smacking and says, "She and I were thinking of having an initial ceremony here and to have another one back in the Fire Nation for official records."

"Oh, I'm okay with that," Sokka chirps.

But Kateeri states aggressively, "No, you decided."

"Then how do you wish to be wed, Kateeri-dear?" Katara asks, oblivious to her granddaughter's actual concerns.

"I-," Kateeri starts furrowing her eyebrows and biting her lip, which worries Iroh. Part of him suspects she might say that she does not want to get married after all (despite his brilliant and somewhat manipulative plan of getting her family members all on board to convince her).

She continues, "I didn't- I don't…"

His heart drops.

"Kateeri," Kya suddenly says and she places her hands on Kateeri's rising shoulders. "Honey, let's talk outside and leave the planning to the professionals."

Kateeri nods after a sigh and heads out into the cold while Kya follows but not without giving Iroh a nod of reassurance.

When Kya joins her daughter in the snow and as the sun beats down upon them, Kateeri buries her head into her mother's shoulder. Kya wraps her arms around her daughter and gently pats her head. For a lengthy moment, they just stay like that – in warm embrace. Until Kya asks, "So what's wrong?"

Kateeri takes a large and lengthy breath then whispers, "Mother, I'm barren. I won't make a suitable wife for him. I tried telling him this but-,"

Kya simply smirks.

Kateeri deadpans. "He told you already?"

"Yeah…He only told me and your Gran-Gran. He figured it was a touchy subject but assumed you trusted us enough to warn us that you might use this as an excuse. You were planning on telling me sometime?"

"Yes! But it's not an excuse! It's a reason-,"

"It was because of your grandmother, wasn't it?" Kya suddenly says soberly.

Kateeri pauses and nods. "Every healer I've been to says it's all psychological. That my body is perfectly healthy other than the fact that I barely ever get my menses. The specialist I went to see at Ba Sing Se mentioned that there was probably a spiritual block too."

Kya takes a deep breath in and out, surveying her daughter with pensive eyes. Then she softly asserts, "Kateeri, don't let her ruin your happiness any more than she has."

"I don't think I'll make him happy."

"I think you know you will."

"But I'm not nobility."

"Oh, my goodness," Kya scoffs. "As if. Your mother is the only daughter of Avatar Aang and the Katara of the Water Tribe and your father was the heir to the Chang family. In fact, you might be the only suitable bride for Iroh Junior."

Kateeri blushes.

"Honey," Kya emphatically states while grasping her daughter's arms. "He loves you and I know you try to hide it but you are head over heels for this kid. Can't fool your mother, you know."

"But-."

"Kateeri, he loves you with a loyalty I have not seen in men in ages. Normally I would tell you to brush him off because you know, men, but goodness, this boy is special. Besides," she put her hands on her hips, "I already accepted him as my future son-in-law."

The young waterbender sighs. She decides to take it all in stride.

"Could you call him out here? I want to talk to him alone."

Kya nods and walks back into the healing hut to call said future son-in-law out. Kateeri overhears muted shouts thrown between Chief Sokka and Lord Zuko over who gets to pay for the ceremony until Iroh steps out into the chilling brisk air and closes the door behind him. He shivers and wraps the fur cloak Chief Sokka had lent him tighter against his shoulders.

Kateeri crosses her arms over her chest and bestows upon him a glare that made the air around Iroh feel even colder. He shivers again.

"What did you say to them before I woke up?" she simmers.

Iroh chuckles, then somewhat defensively comments, "I just walked out and your grandmother had brought breakfast so I just asked if she could bring the whole family to the hut to discuss some logistical matters because I wanted to marry you as soon as possible." He ends his defense with a slightly smug smile.

"Oh, spirits," she scoffs.

"But it all turned out, didn't it?"

She ignores him, "Are you feeling better?"

"Hmm?"

"Your wounds…are they still sore?"

"Oh," Iroh mutters, slightly confused. "Yeah, they're still a bit sore but I should be fine for-,"

"Good," Kateeri cuts him off and descends into a horse stance.

This scares Iroh.

"Kateeri?"

"I'll feel less guilty about beating you up if you are feeling better." The snow around them rises and flows into smooth and threatening water at her command.

Iroh the Second just purses his lips and accepts his fate.

A minute later, Kateeri returns to the hut with a large smile on her face.

Hours later, a final decision was still yet to be made.

Kateeri and Iroh had taken over most of the arguing from their older relatives and spent the entire morning discussing the logistics of their eventual union. These "discussions" bleed into their afternoon and into the evening when the two of them were on their way to join Chief Sokka and the others for dinner at his home… "in the suburbs."

As their carriage rushes through the snow-covered roads, Kateeri insists on waiting until their return to the Fire Nation so that an official ceremony – appropriate for the Fire Nation heir apparent – could be performed.

"Who knows how many officials and nobles you'll tick off by not inviting them to your practical elopement," Kateeri seethes.

"Since when did you start caring about what officials and nobility think?" Iroh rejoins, partially pouting. He further insists on a civil union in the Southern Water Tribe. "We can have an official ceremony back at home but don't you want your family to witness it?"

Kateeri sighs, "Iroh, you know that I barely know them. Not that I don't want them there. It's just…"

"It's going to take almost a month to sail back home," he quickly comments, "I honestly don't want to spend another month of you not being my wife." His gaze is insistent, overflowing and brimming with golden affection.

She purses her lips. "You know, most princes spend years preparing for their weddings."

"Met other princes, have you?" He smiles wryly and she blushes angrily.

Then she gathers her sanity back to herself and sighs, "Look, Iroh, I'm concerned and you should be too. We can't just rush into this."

He blinks. "What do you mean?"

"We never had an actual relationship outside of our stupid sexcapades and me deceiving you into thinking that I committed treason."

Iroh does not respond.

She continues, "We need actual time to be a couple – get to know each other, talk to each other. The only time we've ever actually talked has been the past couple hours and we're just arguing about how we're going to get married."

"But we do know each other," he contends. "We've known each other for years – almost decades."

"Do you really think so?" she argues, sadly.

She peers out of the small window of their carriage and at length, mutters. "Do you know what my favorite color is? That I have to eat dim sum on rainy days? That I like to swing-dance?"

Iroh is silent for a time.

Pensive thoughts wash across his face and he leans over, resting his forearms on his knees. He gazes at the floor of the coach. The low rumble of travelling across the ice fills the air between the blue-painted walls of the carriage.

Then he looks up at gazes at the woman he loves with his warm and gentle golden eyes. He reaches out and takes her hand and mutters slowly, "Your favorite color is wine red. You like the beef dim sum that only Chef Li Bao makes, and I saw you swing dancing with one of my officers a couple years ago at a dance club." He gently ungloves her hand and kisses it – slowly, surely and repeatedly. "Kateeri, I wouldn't marry someone I didn't know."

She simply smiles, pockets of joy overfilling her spirit at the evidence of his careful and loving watch over her.

Then he laughs – almost forlornly, "But you're right. You're always right. I don't even know what your favorite tea is." He ends his comment, again, with slightly burdened mirth.

She chuckles back. "I like barley tea," Kateeri states, matter-of-factly.

"No wonder you never touched the Jasmine I always leave you," Iroh exclaims, faking hurt.

"It's because I saved them," Kateeri retorts, defensively.

Iroh perks. "Really? You saved them?"

Kateeri scowls. "Yes. Yes, I did." Then she brashly dramatizes, "As reminders of how unsuitable you were for me. I would have them on my shelf – all twelve cannisters – mind you – to state 'Hey, this man-child who claims to be in love with you can't even get your favorite tea right! Be sure not to fall for him.'"

Iroh knows she jests but asks nonetheless, "You think I'm a man-child?"

"Just because you're quiet – doesn't mean you're mature."

"You think I'm immature."

"I thought you were immature."

"But you fell in love with me nonetheless." He raises his brows suggestively.

"Eh, I think it's just because you're a good kisser. And I like your butt."

He chokes and begins coughing viciously as a blush as red as his coat filters his face. Trying to collect himself, he asks, "So why barley tea?"

Kateeri hums in thought for a moment then responds, "My grandmother said that barley tea was a poor man's drink and told me to order Jasmine or Chrysanthemum," she recalls as she takes Iroh's hands in hers. She laughs, "so I guess she ruined those for me." Then she ungloves one of his hands as gently as he did with hers. "But I think I like barley because it's rich, strong, and warm – not that tea isn't warm – it just felt, I don't know, satisfying. And it always reminded me of home."

She brushes her lips against his knuckles and returns her gaze to him. "So I guess I like my tea like I like my men," she jokes with a large and balmy smile.

He reaches over to kiss her – their ungloved hands intertwining as they do.

"Look at us," Kateeri laughs after he releases her, "Finally having a conversation that doesn't end with us in just our underpants."

He frowns. "Alright," Iroh huffs, finally returning to his seat. "Let's, at least, get engaged."

"Sounds good. We can celebrate with my family tonight and tomorrow."

"Then we return to the Fire Nation and get married in three months."

Kateeri frowns. "We need at least a year where we need to try to be together," then she mutters quickly and bashfully, "…without all the sex."

"But we only actually did it last night," Iroh retorts. She punches him. "Fine. Ow. Six months."

"Technically, you mass of hormones. One. Year," she insists.

"Seven months."

"At least ten!"

"Eight."

"…" Her icy glare returns.

"Ok, nine months."

Kateeri beams. "I would've been fine with eight."

At dinner, they announce their plans for their engagement to last until the spring of the next year with Lord Zuko and Chief Sokka as co-officiates at an official ceremony at the Fire Nation Palace.

"Which means tonight is your engagement party, right?" Sokka questions eagerly, already holding up two bottles of his finest rice wine.

Suki slaps him over the head and battles a bottle away to eventually give to the couple. "Why don't you save this one for the ceremony?" she recommends with a smile. "We'll just break into this one tonight."

"Aw."

"Sokka, I know you were just dying for an excuse to chug both of these sometime within the week but at least give one to them."

As Chief Sokka descends into explaining the quality of the wine, how it was imported from Omashu, how much he spent on them, and his eventual imploring of Kateeri and Iroh that they treasure it with their lives, the engagement party between Kateeri and Iroh the Second finally began.

Chief Sokka quickly rushes everyone into his parlor, turns up his gramophone and begins introducing everyone to everyone. Soon, the home bursts in the bustling of conversation, with family members and a few White Lotus members practically suffocating the young Fire Lord prince and his fiancée with questions and suggestions.

A few hours later, Tenzin – who had joined them for dinner - approaches his sister, who sits at the end of the large room, not-so-subtly drinking a tall glass of her uncle's liquor.

"Why didn't tell me you had a daughter?" Tenzin asks.

"Why do you think?" Kya rejoins, taking a swig.

The Air bender frowns and sits besides his sister with a labored sigh.

"You don't think I'm that judgmental, do you?"

"I used to. And who knows how dad would've reacted to me bringing home a teenage daughter," Kya muses then wryly eyes her younger brother. "But now that you're getting married to a girl sixteen years younger than you – I have no qualms about showing off my new Fire Princess of a daughter."

Tenzin glowers through his intensely red complexion.

"I'm not exactly proud of myself either. But what Pema and I have is good."

With a cynical slip, Kya scoffs, "Even though you had to break Lin in half?"

Her younger brother pauses, sits down besides her, and sighs. He extends his hand out for her flask, which she hands to him.

"Like I said," he mutters then takes a swig (while hoping that their mother doesn't catch him). "I'm not proud and I'll never be proud of how I behaved towards Lin. But what I don't understand is why are you here, sulking, instead of enjoying this moment with your daughter."

Kya gestures for the return of her flask and Tenzin obliges. "Maybe I'm sad."

"Because you never got to do this with Kateeri's father?"

"Oh, Spirits, no. Not that. Maybe? I mean. There are just a lot of things I regret concerning Kateeri. I never got to raise her as well as I could have," Kya mutters, "Or …at least should have."

Tenzin deliberates for a period then states regally, "I don't think anyone ever achieves in becoming a perfect parent."

Kya huffs out an affirmative then clinks glasses with her typically uptight brother (while scheming to get him roaring drunk within the hour).

At one point during the hub-bub, Katara asks Kateeri to follow her to an empty guest room – where she sees a pelt-lined box sitting upon a futon.

"Open it," Katara says while gesturing to the box.

Struck with uncertainty, Kateeri slowly approaches and slips the cover off the box and gasps at the sight of what lies inside.

Katara steps besides her as Kateeri draws a splendidly blue garment from the tissue-paper.

"This is my wedding robe," the elderly waterbender sang in her soft, leathery voice, "I saved it hoping that Kya could use it but she never got the chance to retrieve it while she was with your father. Still, I am so glad that you can,"

Kateeri sniffs. "Thank you, Gran-Gran, it's beautiful."

"And it makes me so happy thinking about how my future great-grandchild is going to have the blood of all four nations running through their veins."

The granddaughter chuckles, sadly and slightly bitterly. Kateeri looks forlornly onto the garment, gliding her fingers over the beads and tassels. "It might be a while before you get to see you're a great grandchild."

Katara's face breaks along with her aged heart. "Oh, darling, I'm so sorry," she places her arms around her granddaughter. "But you cannot let this define you. You don't need children to make you happy."

"I know," Kateeri meekly weeps. She forces a smile. "It still makes me sad."

"Oh, my darling, my sweet sweet girl," Katara holds Kateeri closer so that her warmth can envelop her through the furs.

"I know that Lord Zuko and Princess Izumi love me and that they'll love me being his wife but…" A large, hefty, burden-ridden sigh slips through her teeth. "But I still feel so inadequate."

"I'm thinking this is a family trait," Katara muses with a little bit of mirth and takes her face in her hands. "You are more than adequate, Kateeri. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. You are strong, loving, beautiful, clever and kind. In these few moments, all of your strength and beauty has been made so clear to all of us, especially to me. You are bringing the families of two Avatars together. And you have the entire Fire Nation royal family under your thumb. That is no easy feat."

Laughter bursts from between them.

"The last time I saw Zuko that excited was when Izumi first started walking. Years ago. Goodness. He was always such a daughter's fool."

Kateeri continues to laugh.

"I swear that whole family cannot decide whether to be incredibly angst-y or incredibly stoic."

Kateeri begins crying again, but now from laughing so heartily. Katara chuckles along with her and when their mirth slowly calms, she touches her forehead onto Kateeri's and smiles the world to her granddaughter.

"You love each other – everyone can see it by just watching how you look at each other. You have him, you have us, you have Zuko and Izumi. You have a family, Kateeri. And there are only two things you need to know about the family you have,"

Kateeri nods, seriously, waiting.

"Always be true to yourself, and," now Katara grins mischievously, "And if you two are going to screw that loudly…"

Kateeri's mouth drops.

"…Don't do it in my healing hut," Katara asserts with fake solemnity but then devolves into bemused laughter.

The young water bender buries her blushing cheeks into the robes and silently screams, conjuring ways to kill herself and Iroh in the quickest possible way.

The night eventually spirals into calm, with the room sparking with occasional laughter and reminiscence among the members of the two families as all the other guests left.

"Right, your present!" Kateeri flails around and fishes into her pockets until she finds a small package wrapped in brown paper. "I've kept it on my person ever since I left the Capital," she announces as she presents it to him with a smile.

Lord Zuko gingerly unwraps the package and sees an ornament nestled in its folds. Then he gets a good look at it, jolts, and the package goes up in flames.

"Whatcha do that for?!" Chief Sokka cries as he tries to get a good look at what it was.

Kateeri flatly comments, "Good thing it's flame-retardant,"

Zuko immediately closes his other hand over it as he stares at her in horror. Then he quickly stuffs the charred pieces of paper and the ornament into the folds of his robe.

"No! What is it!? I need to know!" Sokka shouts, grabbing his friend by his collar and starting to reach in inappropriate places on the Fire Lord's body.

"Sokka, please refrain from touching me," Zuko insists as he turns a resplendent red.

Katara chuckles from her seat.

"What is it?" Iroh leans over and asks his fiancée. "I've never seen grandfather act like this."

Kateeri just smiles, "It's hardly a mystery but I guess it's still a secret."

When Lord Zuko returns to his room in the Southern Water Tribe Palace, he sighs and then pulls out his daughter's gift, peering at it as it sits in his hands. He sighs.

It is a pendant that looks suspiciously like a Water Tribe betrothal necklace with a flame and wave entwining carved into the wood. Upon more meticulous investigation, he realizes that it is a clasp to go over an existing necklace.

He sighs.

He got the message.

He didn't realize how observant his daughter or his potential granddaughter-in-law were.

Later the next day, when he helps Kateeri clamber onto Druk to return to the Fire Nation, she asks if he would make use of the present any time soon.

The Fire Lord coughs awkwardly then composes himself and states, "I think one wedding of this kind is enough for a while."

A/N: OMG...it's been two years. Geez. Sorry - life just gets in the way, infinitely.