Written for Zutara Week 2019

1. Gifts

"Close the blanket up Katara you're letting all the warm air out."

Katara rolled her eyes at her brother as she pulled the elk-deer skinned blanket closer around the both of them. It would do little in making them feel warmer but if Sokka thought it would she supposed it was worth the effort. It took her a few tries to pull the blanket completely closed because her fingers were numb and stiff with cold. Even huddled before the small fire in the hearth and buried beneath several layers of blankets Katara still shivered and her teeth chatted. The frigid cold of the outside invaded their home like an unwanted guest who came to visit and didn't know when to leave. A frigidness that she'd been living with for so long that she'd forgotten what it was like not to have a constant chill in her bones.

Her house was never warm enough because there wasn't enough wood in the hearth to create a fire big enough to warm the entire house, and there wasn't enough wood in her town to warm her house or any of the houses in the town. There wasn't enough food for the town either. Katara watched as her Gran gran scraped the bottom of the kettle making sure that there wasn't an ounce of stewed sea prunes wasted. Katara had checked the barrel of sea prunes earlier that day and it had been dangerously low so low in fact that she was sure that the last of the sea prunes is what her Gran gran was now trying to even out into four bowls for their dinner.

"These lean days are lasting far longer then I ever thought they would." Her Gran gran said to her father.

"I didn't think it would last this long either, but we don't have the power to contend with the North's blockade and we don't have an ally to help us fight them. I tried to get help from the Earth Kingdom, but you know it's their policy not to involve themselves in other people's wars. There's the Fire Nation, but there a long shot and a last hope."

"Why would they ever help us?" Gran gran asked.

"They could use the money and their reputation could use a reboot," Her father confessed.

"A last hope is better than no hope at all. If we can't get any supplies brought in soon I'm afraid the entire town will-." She stopped talking when she saw that Katara and her brother were watching her from the other side of the room.

"What will happen to our town?" Sokka asked.

"Nothing darling. It will be O.K. we'll be just fine."

That was a lie and Katara knew it. All over the town people were weak, hungry, and sick. They neither had the food or the medicines to make them well. She was only starting her training as a healer and did what she could to keep every villager healthy, but she couldn't help everyone and people died. Sometimes they died in her arms. She shivered beneath the myriad of blankets as the phantom pain of feeling a townie dying as she held them in her arms passed through her like a ghost.

After the last of the stew had been doled out her Gran gran crossed the room and set the bowls down on the small kitchen table they brought into the living room. They had taken to eating in the living room around the hearth since there wasn't enough wood for the wood burning stove in the kitchen.

"Make sure you eat it all."

"Give my portion to Sokka and Katara." Her father said. "I'm not hungry."

Another lie. Katara knew her father was hungry but once again was going without to ensure that she and Sokka had enough to eat.

"If you're sure."

"I am."

Katara hated that her father had to do that. She hated the way they had to count everything. She hated the way they had to stretch, cut back, or go without. School had been canceled indefinitely because there wasn't enough wood or food. Shops were closed. There were no more festivals in the town square. The only time people did gather in town was to stand in the breadline or bury one of their dead loved ones. If she could she would do anything to end the suffering of her people. Anything.

Six years later

Katara looked down at the bowl of stewed sea prunes that her Gran gran had perfectly prepared for her, and though it was one of her favorite meals she couldn't bring herself to eat a single bite. The meal only served to remind her of everything that she would be leaving behind. When she looked up from her bowl of stew and saw her family looking at her as if they were trying to remember every single detail of her face she felt like crying, but she knew once she did she would never stop. She did not want her last meal at home to be a sad affair she wanted it to be happy, but it was too bad that no one told her heart that.

How did you say goodbye to a place where you resided for most of your sixteen years on earth? All she knew was the South Pole, and now she was being forced to give that up and move half way across the world to live in the Fire Nation to be married to a boy she hardly knew. Everyone she did know and love would be left behind in the South Pole. Their lives would go on in the same way it always had and despite everyone telling her they would keep in touch she knew that eventually they wouldn't. The letters would stop coming the visits would become fewer and further in between until eventually they all forgot about her.

Katara shook her head. No, she decided at that moment, no they would not forget her she wouldn't let them. No matter how far away from home she was, she was still Southern Water Tribe born and raised and nothing and no one could change that. She loved her family more than she loved herself and nothing could wipe the memory of them from her mind, and she wouldn't allow anything to wipe her from their memories either. She picked up her spoon and dipped it into the bowl of stew and took a slow sip. It was perfect that first spoonful of stew was always perfect. She smiled and looked around the kitchen studying it for one last time though she knew the layout with her eyes closed.

The huge wood burning stove sat in the corner warming the entire kitchen. It hadn't been used in years but for her last meal at home her father had made an stove was a pain in the butt to polish, but the perfect place to curl up next to with a good book. The floors were made out of sea stones that felt smooth as silk under bare feet and kept the heat within them. Her grandfather had made the kitchen table out of one of his old boats blue and silver threads from the wood of the tundra ash tree ran naturally through the wood. Above the table was the whale bone and elk-deer skin chandelier that her father had made.

There were the marks on the wall that measured her and her brother's height as they'd grown over the years. Her mother had started making the marks and when she died her Gran gran had taken over making them. She did not regret what she had to do. The alternative to not marrying Prince Zuko was to damn her town to death by sickness or starvation. The idea that she could save her town from the misery that had befallen them for the last few years gave her hope and it gave hope to everyone in her town. Hope washed away the helpless feeling that had taken up residence in her soul and gave way to a feeling of strength. Her people needed her and she would never turn her back on them or anyone else who needed her, but at the same time she felt like she was turning her back on her family and her culture. The Fire Nation was no longer the Southern Water Tribe's enemy, but Katara couldn't forget what years of war had done to her or her people.

Her grandfather, Natsilane, had died fighting in the 100 year war the same war that had taken the life of her mother and now she was to marry a Fire Lord of the very people that had started the war and caused her family so much pain. If her mother knew it would break her heart. If her grandfather knew he'd break Zuko's neck. As it was the Fire Nation were the only ones who could save her people from civil war. There was an irony there that she just couldn't appreciate.

"The one thing you must remember above all else Katara, her father began, is that the Fire Nation's customs are nothing like that of the Southern Water tribe's. The Fire Nation is a country steeped in traditions that are much more rigid than what you are used to, because of that rigidity they are not so good at embracing ways that aren't their own." Ever since she learned that she was to marry Prince Zuko and move to the Fire Nation her father had been lecturing her in great detail about the country.

Katara was listening to her Father but the words he was speaking didn't seem real. It was like she was living in a dream or a nightmare she wasn't sure which. All she could think of was by how this time tomorrow she would be married. There was a time in her life when she was upset that she didn't have a boyfriend, and it felt like she never would, but now she had a husband. No matter how hard she tried she just couldn't wrap her head around it.

"The royal court will expect you to become fully Fire Nation. To adopt all of their ways and forget your own, but you must never forget where you come from. You must never for get who you are. Always be proud to be of the Southern Water Tribe, always."

"Yes Dad."

"Our people have a deep seeded sense of community and spirituality. Her Gran gran said taking over where her father had left off. They were like a lecturing tag team. It's something that the Fire Nation knows nothing about, but it's something they could use a lot of. It's what you can bring to them. Never forget for a moment that your husband will need you as much as you'll need him."

"But what if Zuko and I hate each other?" Part of her did hate him whether she should or not. Maybe he hadn't attacked her village but his grandfather had and because of his grandfather her mother was dead. No amount of protecting her from the Northern Water Tribe could change that.

"I know this is scary snow angel, but I wouldn't have agreed with your father about the marriage if I thought for one moment you wouldn't be safe or if Prince Zuko wasn't a good match for you. I had the chance to talk with prince Zuko's uncle, General Iroh, and his nephew is a fine young man. Besides there's not a person alive who won't love you once they get to know you."

Katara wished that she had an ounce of her Gran gran's confidence, but the truth was she was terrified. There was so much hinging on her marriage to the future Fire Lord Zuko, but what if she couldn't learn to love him? What if he couldn't love her or they never learned to love one another? Was she really strong enough to live the rest of her life in a loveless marriage?

"Katara, you O.K.?" Her brother asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She lied. Sokka had been unusually quiet all through dinner. He hadn't given his opinion about her up and coming nuptials which was odd for him. Sokka had a strong opinion about everything. It was one of the things that drove Katara crazy about him, but now that she knew she wasn't going to hear his voice everyday it was suddenly the most precious sound in the world to her.

"I'll visit you a soon as I can. You know that don't you?"

Katara nodded.

"And if you look like you're even the tiniest bit unhappy I'll harpoon that fire breathing jerk in his ass."

Katara giggled. Leave it to her brother to always make her laugh.

After dinner Katara helped her Gran gran wash the dinner dishes even though she'd been excused from the chore.

"I want to wash the dishes. It's the last time I'll get to." She bent out soap and water onto the dishes and swirled it around vigorously. "Besides I don't have anything else to do. My luggage was packed months ago and there's no sense in writing another letter to Zuko when I'll see him tomorrow."

"How were the prince's letters?" Her Gran gran asked.

"Concise. I guess he's not much for words written or otherwise." Katara was only fourteen years old when the marriage contract, known as the Steam Alliance, became official and the two had been writing to each other ever since.

"Well at least he's good looking."

"Good looks don't mean a thing if he has a horrible attitude."

"From everything your father says he's a nice young boy."

Katara placed the last of the washed dishes in the draining rack normally she would just bend the water from the dishes but this evening she couldn't be bothered to. Instead she leaned against the counter to engage in some reflective thinking, but the reflective thoughts just weren't coming. Being inside with all of these old memories crowded out any new thoughts that entered her brain.

"I think I'll go for a walk." she said.

"Be careful out there."

"I will Gran gran." She Kissed her on the cheek.

In her room she quickly dressed in the many layers needed to go outside. She pulled on her kamikluuk and shoved her feet in her fur lined tuttiluk and buttoned up her atigi and headed outside. It was already dark as jet outside but if she looked up she could see millions of stars shining brightly in the sky. The cold and crisp air made Katara feel alive and alert. The snow made the most wonderful crunching sound under her tuttiluk. It was times like these that she couldn't imagine anywhere else in the world being as beautiful as the South Pole. In the Fire Nation there wouldn't be the hauntingly beautiful still silence that was only heard in a country filled with snow. Nor would she be able to see the aurora borealis and all the wonder it brought. It was like having an art gallery in your own backyard.

She stopped walking when she came upon a circle of rocks with a bigger rock in the center. Her mother's grave. It was one of the things she would miss most of all. While it was true that she could speak to her mother wherever she was in the world she always felt the strongest connection to her mother whenever she visited her grave. The rocks were covered with snow but Katara bent the snow away.

"Hi aaga." She said into the darkness of the evening. Her breath fogged out in front of her like a spirit being released into the night. "I came to tell you I'm getting married. His name is Zuko, and he's from the Fire Nation, and one day he'll be Fire Lord which means I'll be a Fire Lady. I hope you're not mad at me. If there was any other way I wouldn't be marrying him, but so much has changed since you left the world."

Not left the world Katara thought bitterly; taken from the world. Stolen from her family. Despite the cold outside Katara's cheeks burned hot with anger. She could picture the monster who took her mother's life so clearly in her mind. Now that she was going to the Fire Nation there was a good chance that she might run into him and he'd better pray to the Spirits that she would be feeling merciful on that day. She turned her eyes back towards her mother's grave. Now was not the time to lose herself in thoughts of violence and vengeance.

"We're in a civil war with the Northern Water Tribe. I was supposed to marry Prince Hahn, but in order to do that I would have to give up my bending and I can't do that. You died because of my bending and giving it up would be worse than marrying a firebender, especially after all the work I did to become a master. I did it mostly for you aaga so you won't have died in vain. I'm going to avenge your death. I swear to you I'm going to find the man who took you from me aaga, and when I do I'm going to make sure he knows what it means to be a Southern waterbender."

Tears fell from Katara's eyes and froze on their way down her cheeks. "I'm sorry aaga. I know I should let go of this anger but I can't." She knelt down next to her mother's grave rubbed her gloved hands back and forth on her mother's headstone until it felt warm and then she rested her cheek against it."Dad was the one who arranged the marriage and I trust dad so I guess I'll have to trust that he's right about what kind of person Zuko is. He'd never let anything bad happened to me and he never wanted anything bad to happen to you. He still tears himself up inside about not being able to save you in time, and if I'm being honest I do too."

Logically Katara knew that she was just a child and that even if she had arrived to their home in time there was nothing she could have done to save her mother, but in her heart and in her soul there would always be a part of her that felt guilty. She supposed it was why now she always felt the need to help others. If she could prevent tragedies from happening even before they started that meant saving her life wasn't a mistake and that she was good for something other than causing the people she loved pain.

"I love you mom and no matter where I am in the world you'll always be in my heart." She closed her hand around her mother's necklace. At least she'd have that with her when she went to the Fire Nation. It was just a small memento but it was the only physical reminder that she had left of her mother. She bent the snow back over her mother's grave and turned around and started for home. As her timber frame house came into view Katara could see the all too familiar smoke rising from the chimney into the frigid South Pole air, and something in her felt settled she still didn't want to leave her home but, she was ready to move on to the next part of her life and let destiny lead her down whatever roads it was that she had to travel.

"Prince Zuko are you awake?"

Zuko didn't answer the question right away. Mostly because it was pointless to dignify his uncle with an answer. Of course he was awake he was always awake before the sun rose. Today watching the sun rise would feel different from all the other times he watched it rise because it was the last time he would do so as a single man."Yes, uncle I'm up." Zuko Called out through his closed bedroom door despite the fact that he was still in bed staring up at his canopy.

"Good! Hurry up and get dressed. There is much to prepare for today."

If only he could put this day on hold and savor every single last moment of being unmarried. He still wasn't sure how he felt about marriage especially ones that were arranged. His own parents had an arranged marriage that ended in disaster who was to say the same wouldn't happen to him? Though no matter how bad things in his marriage might get he would never banish his wife the way his father had done to his mother. He and his new wife would have to have children and he could never do anything so cruel to them as sending their mother away leaving them to wonder for the rest of their lives if she was dead or alive. Not knowing was the cruelest fate of all.

He rolled out of his bed and brushed his hair from his eyes and stood in front of the window. He didn't have a stitch of clothing on but that didn't matter because no one could see him. The sun came up slowly in a brilliant array of fiery oranges and golden yellows supplanting the darkness and illuminating the city that spread out before him. It was like watching an artist painting the world anew. In those few moments when the sun was rising into the sky yesterday's sins were forgotten and everything felt possible. The sun breathed life into everyone winding them up like clockwork toys and sending them off to jobs and chores that made the world run. Zuko stretched pushing through his toes and lifting his arms high into the air and extending his fingertips as he reveled in the sumptuous feeling of the sun's warmth on his bare skin. This moment, as brief as it was, belonged to just him. He wasn't a prince or a future Fire Lord. He didn't have meetings or duties or appearances to make. In the moments that the sun was rising he answered to no one and he was no one but Zuko. He was only Zuko.

"Prince Zuko, if you please, I've come to draw your bath and get you ready for today's ceremonies." A disembodied voice called from outside his door.

Zuko sighed an slipped on his robe. "Come in."

A group of servants came in armed to the teeth with grooming supplies. He supposed that he needed that much help to beautify him for his first face to face meeting with his new bride but, he thought bitterly, there weren't enough supplies in the world to rid him of his scar. It was like a beacon on his face. It screamed look at me. Look at the mark of the banished prince. Somewhere in the South Pole Katara was probably undergoing a beauty ritual of her own. She didn't need it if the portrait he'd been sent of her was true to life. Not only was she beautiful but her skin was flawless. She was probably cursing the awful fate that lead her to be married to him.

For the next several hours Zuko was groomed into princely perfection. His hair was washed cut and combed. His skin exfoliated and then he was given a seaweed and mud body wrap. There was a pedicure and a manicure. Even his eyebrow was plucked. He didn't see why anyone would make such a fuss over one eyebrow but he didn't object. He was fitted into his bespoke dress robes. Outside the finishing touches were being made on his ship. He would sail to Hira'a where he would meet Katara and there they would be married. For the next two weeks they would honeymoon in Hira'a before setting sail back to the Fire Nation for their public marriage ceremony and dual coronation. A husband and a Fire Lord at age eighteen how he would be able to pull either off was beyond him.

Zuko wondered why it was that his uncle couldn't have negotiated that he go to live in the South Pole rather than Katara coming to live in the Fire Nation, he'd never particularly cared for the cold, but leaving his and his country's past behind him was more than enough motivation to make him consider living in the land of permafrost, especially if that meant not having the impossible task of repairing his country's shameful reputation. Only it was foolish and wishful thinking to believe he could out run his past. He made his way to the throne room where he was to meet his uncle. When he got there the first thing he saw was his sister sitting on what was to shortly be his throne casually inspecting her impeccably clean nails.

"Well, well, well, look at you Zuzu all dressed up in your big boy clothes. You can dress up an iguana-python all you want to but at the end of the day it's still an iguana-python." She drawled. "If you really wanted to impress your fiancee you'd get a bag for your head and save her the trouble of having to look at your hideously marred face. It'll be a wonder if she'll be able to keep her dinner down."

"Why don't you jump in an active volcano."

"Age before beauty." His sister quipped.

"Go away Azula!"

"Make me." She retorted.

"What are you doing here anyway? I'm expecting uncle not you."

"I just wanted to bestow my blessing on the happy groom."

"Why do you have to do this now?"

"Why do you think? Azula asked as she slowly crossed her legs. "We wouldn't even need this pathetic marriage if uncle and the Fire Sages weren't such sycophants. She rolled her eyes. "Paying out all that restitution to the rest of the world is pathetic. What does uncle hope to gain by it? The war was years and years ago, but the rest of the world still sees the Fire Nation as monsters just because they fail to realize that fire is the most powerful element."

"It's not the most powerful element." Zuko countered. "That kind of thinking is what lead us to having to pay restitution in the first place, and if dad hadn't of started up the neo-Azulon moment he'd still be Fire Lord and I wouldn't have to be."

"I should be Fire Lord!" His sister shouted turning her normally beautiful features into a snarled mask. "Uncle had no right passing the throne on to you."

Zuko took a breath he suddenly didn't regret becoming Fire Lord if the alternative was Azula ruling the Fire Nation. She would be no better than her father would have been.

"Just because you sit on the throne doesn't make you Fire Lord, but you're welcome to play at it all you want to." He said with false cheerfulness.

His sister jumped from the throne and leapt towards him just as his uncle entered the room.

"Azula!" He called sharply stopping her on the spot. "Leave now!"

She scowled deeply at the both of them a moment before leaving the room without another word.

"Azula is never going to give me a moment's peace as long as I'm Fire Lord."

"Do not worry about her for now." His uncle stepped back to take a look at him. "I must say you are looking quite dapper, Prince Zuko."

"You don't have to lie to me uncle."

"When have I ever lied to you?"

That was true his uncle never lied to him. He always told him the truth whether he wanted to hear it or not. But just because his uncle wasn't lying to him didn't mean that he couldn't be bias. He knew that when Katara looked at him all she would see was his scar.

"I meant what I said. You do look very dapper, but there is something missing."

"What?"

"My wedding gift to you." His uncle said and pulled something from his pocket that was wrapped up in an old piece of cloth. "This is a royal artifact. It's supposed to be worn by the crown prince." He handed the bundle over to Zuko.

Carefully he unwrapped the cloth to reveal a golden hairpin in the shape of the Fire Nation's flame insignia. "Why are you giving this to me now?"

"Because, his uncle said placing one hand on his shoulder, now that you are to be a husband and the Fire Lord you need to better understand the battle that rages within you. Sozin was your father's grandfather, but your mother's grandfather was Avatar Roku and that is why evil and good are always at war inside you, Zuko. It is your nature, your legacy. But there is a bright side. What happened generations ago can be resolved now by you. Because of your legacy, you alone can cleanse the sins of our family and the fire nation. Born in you, along with all this strife, is the power to help restore balance to the world."

Zuko stared down at the hairpin as if it might bite him. What a bomb to have dropped upon him on his wedding day. He wrapped the hairpin back up. "Thank you uncle, I think."

His uncle laughed. "Come now. It's time to set sail. I was informed by messenger hawk moments ago that Katara's ship has just set sail for Hira'a. You don't want to keep your fiancee waiting."

Yes I do. Zuko thought but he knew it was pointless to voice that opinion.

Zuko concentrated on his ship, a wedding gift from the fire sages, as he made his way out of the front gates of the Fire Nation Palace. Looking at the ship and not the thousand upon thousands of subjects that had turned up to bid him farewell help to ease the feeling of nausea that was slowly creeping its way up his throat and threatening to embarrass him with a public display of projectile vomiting. The three story ship was the newest and fastest in the Fire Navy fleet, although it was more of an ocean liner than a war ship. An over the top luxury to show off for the future Fire Lady. The waiting crowd outside cheered and called out for him. They waved Fire Nation banners while some waved Southern Water Tribe Banners. Others in the crowd jeered and booed. They were not happy about a Water Tribe princess sitting on the Fire Nation throne.

Zuko didn't pay attention to either side he was too busy trying to not be sick. With every step he took his stomach twisted up inside of him. It felt like the longest walk of his life making his way to his ship. His dress robes had fit him perfectly before but now they felt too small. His collar was all but choking him. He swallowed his mouth was suddenly dryer than a desert. He tried clearing his throat a couple of times but it did little to relieve his dry mouth. The closer he got to his ship the more he felt like he might become completely undone and separate into his two basic parts the Fire Lord and the descendant of the Avatar. This was it. This was the point of no return. Today he would leave the Fire Nation a single man and come back married and then be crowned Fire Lord.

Katara took one last look at her room. The only bedroom she had known for the past sixteen years of her life. She traced her fingers over the snowflake that her father had painstakingly carved into the headboard of her four poster bed. The lilac bedspread had been sewn by her Gran gran, but the blue and white bunting blanket that sat at the end of her bed had been made by her mother. She lie back on the bed and clutched the bunting blanket to her chest.

"I thought I might find you here." Katara looked up and saw her brother standing in the doorway. "Is it time to go?"

"Not yet. But there's someone who wanted to say goodbye."

Her brother stepped aside to reveal the person standing behind him.

"Bato!" Katara cried and jumped off her bed and hugged him.

"You didn't think you were going to leave without saying goodbye to me did you?"

"Of course not, but I don't leave until tomorrow."

"Well then I'll say goodbye then as well."

"It's not goodbye it's farewell. "You'll be allowed to visit me."

"And I will first chance I get."

"Promise?"

"Wild polar bear dogs couldn't keep me away."

"Will you bring me five flavor soup?"

Bato looked at her brother. "She'll only miss my soup not me."

"Of course I'll miss you. You're family." She hugged him again. Katara could never forget how Bato had been there for her father and her and her brother when their mother died. When their father's job kept them away from home Bato had stepped in as a surrogate father.

"You're going to do the Southern Water Tribe proud by being the greatest Fire Lady the world has ever seen. You've grown into an incredibly smart, brave, and compassionate young lady, and that's exactly what the Fire Nation and the world needs right now. Your mother would be so proud of you."

Katara felt the tears coming and knew it was futile to fight them so she just let them fall.

"Once you've stopped tear bending come into the living room we've got something for you." Sokka said.

Katara dried her eyes and follow her brother and Bato into the living room.

"Tada!" Sokka said and pointed to a wooden hope chest.

"It's beautiful." She cried as she walked up to the chest. She ran her hand over the surface that felt smooth as silk. On the inside was a beautiful patchwork quilt in various shades of blue. Two pillows with fancy lace pillowcases. A linen sheet set also in blue. A white silk peignoir set with matching slippers. A kimono and a sarong that she could use as a beach cover up.

"It's your trousseau." Her Gran gran said.

"Thank you so much." She hugged everyone in the room.

"We just wanted to make sure you wouldn't forget us." Her father said.

"I'll never forget you. The South Pole is my home and always will be. No matter where I am in the world I'll always be Southern Water Tribe." She looked into her father's eyes. "Always."

Katara was sick of being on the sea. She longed to feel the solid ground beneath her feet again. The ship's captain informed her that they were now only one hour away from Hira'a, but it felt more like one week. She was sick of waiting to meet Zuko. Tired of having to take her father's word about what kind of man the prince was she wanted to know for herself. The truth mattered to her and the thought that she might be married to someone who kept secrets from her was worrying. The closer the ship got to Hira'a the more she thought about all the bad qualities that Prince Zuko might possess that her father didn't know about. It made her stomach roil. The only thing that brought her peace of mind was the fact that the Fire Nation had already sent out a fleet of ships to intercept the Northern Water Tribe ships. They were the only military force in the world that was a match for the North's forces. Once upon a time no one could stand up to the Fire Nation's Navy, but the war and the metal and steam revolution had changed the entire world.

The metal and steam revolution had changed the Southern Water Tribe it had given them their independence and an economic boom, but that financial freedom had come at a price. The North felt the South owed them part of their new found economic wealth even though they hadn't supported the Southern Tribe when they left the North all of those many years ago. Occasionally throwing scraps in their laps didn't count. Where were they when the South was continuously raided by the Fire Nation? Perhaps if they'd once offered their support instead of trying to remain impartial her mother might still be alive.

Katara sighed. There was no sense in dredging up those memories they were water underneath a very painful bridge that she already crossed. There was nothing to do but burn the bridge and salt the earth. Nothing stayed the same forever. No one stayed the same forever. Once again events in her life that were bigger than her would forever change her and whether that was for better or for worse remained to be seen.

Out on the deck she stared at the water and noticed how it had changed from the deep dark icy blue of the Hanyewi ocean and gave way to the soft bluish green of the Mo Ce Sea. She took in a deep breath of the salty sea air and felt her spirits lift. It was nothing like she was used to, but it was beautiful. A pod of dolphin-rays swam by the ship off to depths unknown. Above her seagull-turtles cried out. Everything was so vibrant, colorful, and fresh. When she looked to the shore she could see sandy beaches that stretched out for miles and miles.

"We're coming into port!" The captain cried out.

Katara's heart began to beat in double time. She had finally made it to Hira'a. While the ship was docking Katara went back to her cabin to check herself in the mirror one last time before she was to meet her husband. She squeezed her necklace. "Well aaga wish me luck." She said and went back on deck.

As she was helped off of the ship and on to the dock she was met by two elderly women who appeared to be twins.

"Hello. We are Li and Lo and we will be your guides and advisers while you stay in Hira'a. Please come with us."

Katara turned back to watch Fire Nation servants unloading her things from the ship.

"Please be careful with that." She called as they unloaded her hope chest.

"Yes, princess Katara."

She turned around and followed Li and Lo to a bungalow. The interior of the bungalow was gauche. Every space on the wall was covered by pictures of sea shells or twee sea creatures. Knickknacks covered every inch of available space. The curtains, couch, and arm chairs matched the wallpaper.

"Before you are to meet Prince Zuko you must change into the proper attire." Lo said or it could have been Li Katara wasn't really sure because they were dressed alike.

Katara stood with her arms akimbo. "What's wrong with what I have on?" She demanded.

"It is too Water Tribe. You are in the Fire Nation now and must dress accordingly."She was going to have to get name tags for the twins or else she'd never be able to tell them apart. If the outfit that they had picked out for her looked anything like the interior of the beach house she was going to refuse to wear it.

"An outfit has been laid out for you upstairs in your room. Please go and put it on before we send out for Prince Zuko."

It was only because she was so anxious to meet Zuko that Katara went up to her room to change. Her bedroom was just as gauche as the rest of the house, but she figured that once she met Zuko she could stay in the same house as him so long as they didn't have to share a room after all they weren't married yet.

Her mother's necklace didn't go with the outfit so she took it off, but the moment she changed out of these clothes she was going to put it back on. She opened up her hope chest and placed the necklace on top of the other items. She looked at herself again in the mirror it was strange to see her neckline without her aaga's necklace there but she reminded herself it was only temporary. On top of her dresser there were several bottles of perfume. She picked up the bottles and smelled each of them and finally decided on a light floral scent. She'd never smelled whatever type of flowers that the perfume was made from but she loved the scent anyway.

"Don't you look beautiful." The twins said when Katara came back down the stairs.

"Thank you."

"Prince Zuko won't be able to keep his eyes off of you." Possibly Lo said.

"That's for sure. Zuko is a very lucky young man."

Since it wasn't just looks that mattered, Katara thought, the real luck for Zuko was that she had a nice enough personality to backup her looks.

"Prince Zuko will be here shortly, please have a seat until then."

Katara sat down on an overstuffed loveseat with the pattern of seashells and waited.

The moment that Zuko laid eyes upon Katara he felt both relieved and distressed to find out that the portrait of her had been true to life. No that wasn't exactly true the portrait didn't do her justice she was much more beautiful in person. He had practiced his greeting to her a million and one times but the moment he laid eyes upon her his words left him.

"Ah, Hello there. I'm umh Prince Zuko, but I guess you already knew that." He cringed inwardly. Great he was off to a smooth start. "So how was your trip over? You uh didn't run into any trouble did you?" She must think he was a bumbling idiot. He thought he was a bumbling idiot.

"No it was fine. I'm happy to finally be on land again." She replied. "Hira'a is beautiful it's nice that we'll get to spend a little time here before we have to go back to the Fire Nation."

"Er, yeah it is. Would you like to maybe go to the beach?"

"I would love that."

"Good." Zuko said and relaxed a little. "Let's go." Thankfully Li and Lo did not accompany them to the beach. Zuko wasn't even sure why they came along in the first place since they were Azula's advisers and not his. He merely tolerated their presences.

"We have a private beach here so we don't have to worry about tourist, but the beach at Ember Island is much nicer." Zuko explained.

"I've only been to the beach once before so it won't be very hard to impress me."

"The happiest times of my life were spent at the beach on Ember island so maybe that's why I prefer it to here."

"All my happiest time have been in the snow and ice. You haven't lived until you've gone penguin sledding."

"Penguin sledding?"

"It's practically a national pass time in the South Pole."

"I'll take your word for it."

"No, you have to do more than that." Katara said. "One day you'll actually have to go penguin sledding with me."

He couldn't believe how easy it was talking to Katara, or at least it wasn't as hard as he thought it was going to be. Of course they were only making small talk they hadn't really discussed anything real, but hopefully this was a sign of how things were going to be between them. Given the history between their two nations things could have certainly gone much worse.

"It must be hard being so far away from home."

Katara nodded. "At least I'll get to see my family again for the wedding."

She'd said the W word. The one ton hippo-elephant in the room. At that moment he realized that there was a huge difference between walking and talking on the beach and actually becoming husband and wife. Their actual marriage was only a few hours away and their wedding only weeks away. It was a strange sensation to feel as if the walls were closing in around you when you were outside.

"Zuko, are you O.K.?" Katara asked. "You look a little pale."

"No. No I'm fine."

"Are you sure? We can turn back if you want to. I'm a little tired myself."

"O.K." Zuko said. He wondered if Katara was really tired or just being nice for his sake.

"I probably should take a nap so that I'm all rested up for our marriage ceremony."

"That's a good idea." He admitted.

They walked back to the bungalow without saying another word to each other. All in all there first meeting had not gone too badly. In fact it had gone better than he thought that it would.

"So I guess that I'll see later." He closed his eyes slowly. What a stupid thing to say of course he'd see her later.

"I guess so." She opened the door to the bungalow and was met by Li and Lo.

"Back so soon?" Lo asked.

"Yes. We thought we'd get in some sleep before the marriage ceremony." Zuko told them.

"Well come in and sit down and talk to us while Katara goes to change. Don't be a stranger." Li encouraged.

Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose. The last thing he wanted to do was hang out with these two old bats. The only reason they wanted to talk to him was so they could pump him for information on Katara. Well he wasn't going to tell them a damn thing, not only because there wasn't much to tell, but also because he wasn't going to serve as their eyes and ears to Azula.

"Come, come." Lo said and directed him to sit in an armchair with the pattern of seahorses on it. While Zuko tried to think of away to dismiss himself his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Katara's footsteps pounding down the stairs.

"Where is my hope chest? What did you do with it?" She asked.

"We got rid of it." Li said. "We told you that you won't need Water Tribe clothing or anything else from the Water Tribe in the Fire Nation."

"What about my necklace? My aaga's necklace was in there."

"I'm afraid it's gone along with your clothing."

"You got rid of my necklace! That was my aaga's necklace it was the only thing I had left of her. You had no right to take it from me no right at all!" She shouted.

"Katara I'm sorry." Zuko began.

"Shut up!" She snapped. "I don't want to hear anything you have to say to me. I should have known marrying someone from the Fire Nation would lead to unhappiness. It's not enough that you took my mother from me, now you had to take her necklace too." She spun on her heels and ran up the steps. A second later the door slammed.

Just when everything had been going so well.

"How could you do that?" Zuko shouted.

Li and Lo just felt like dragging the two old bats out into the ocean and drowning them both.

"What did you do with her hope chest?" Zuko asked. "I know you haven't gotten rid of it yet."

"Prince Zuko you need to put your foot down before you get married. Don't let her hang on to her water tribe ways." Li said.

"She's Fire Nation and the quicker she assimilates the easier it will be for everyone." Lo added.

"I am putting my foot down." Zuko said. "Get Katara's hope chest back or get used to spending the rest of your days in the boiling rock for stealing from the royal family."

"Yes Prince Zuko."

"At once Prince Zuko!"

"Don't ever let me catch you touching her things again. Katara is going to be my wife and your Fire Lady so you either get used to the idea or I'll find the both of you another country to live and you won't have to worry about who your Fire Lady is."

Slowly Katara opened her eyes as she sat up in bed and out of habit reached for her mother's necklace, but there was nothing there. The house was quiet and the lights in her bedroom had been turned off. She realized that she must have cried herself to sleep. Her aaga's necklace was gone forever. Fresh tears sprang to her eyes, but there was no one to turn to who could comfort her. At this moment she didn't know who she hated more Li, Lo, or Zuko. She was all set to marry him in a few hours, but how could she when she didn't even want to look at his face? Of all the things she imagined going wrong with her relationship with Zuko this was not one of them. As she bent some water out of her flask and used it to clean her puffy and tear stained face there was a knock at her bedroom door.

"Katara may I come in?"

It was Zuko. "No. Go away. I already told you I don't want to talk to you."

"Please?"

"No!"

"Just let me give you your wedding gift then I'll go away I promise."

"Fine!" she snapped. "But you've got exactly five minutes." She yanked open the door and then threw herself down on her bed.

"Here." He said and thrust an old cloth at her.

Reluctantly she took it from him and began to gingerly unravel the cloth.

"Sorry that I didn't have time to wrap it."

"Whatever it is I don't want it." She said coldly. "Nothing can make up for -she gasped when she finally unwrapped the gift from the cloth- my aaga's necklace!"Katara jumped up from her bed and hugged him. "How did you get it back?"

"It's a long story, but let's just say Li and Lo will never try anything like that again."

"Oh, Zuko thank you. Thank you."

"You're welcome." He said. "I got your hope chest back too. I didn't want our marriage to get off on the wrong foot before it even started.

She squeezed her mother's necklace in the palm of her hand and then hugged it close to her heart.

Zuko smiled at her. "So I take it you like your wedding gift?"

"Yes. It's the best gift you could have ever given me. She said and then kissed him full on the lips and watched as her husband to be blushed to the roots of his hair.