Desire

Avatar: the Last Airbender does not belong to me, nor do the characters of Zhao and Katara. I make no profit off this story, though I claim the rights to this piece of work.

It had been over a year. A year since the fall of the North Pole, the death of the Avatar, and the enslavement of what remained of her tribe. The Moon had been restored, but Yue's sacrifice had come too late, for the Avatar was already dead. Katara had been certain that the Fire Nation victory would mean an outright slaughter of the entire tribe, but she along with others had already been loaded onto the ships. It had been a nightmarish voyage – several of the survivors had actually found ways to kill themselves, rather than be slaves to the Fire Nation, which was an almost certain fate for them. She had been tempted to join them many times, for what future awaited her?

But some inner resolve did not allow her to give up so easily.

Katara was now a slave in the Palace, albeit an exotic one. Because Water Tribe people were hard to come by, they were very valued, especially the Waterbenders. Once her ability to heal had been recognized, she had been whisked away, passed through several pairs of hands before she ended up at the Palace, as the assistant to the royal physician. Granted, she was fed and clothed and kept warm, and treated decently now – as compared to when she had first been captured, and now compared to many other slaves, especially Earth Kingdom slaves – she still hated it here, under the rule of Fire Lord Zhao and Fire Lady Azula.

Zhao had risen in status almost immediately after the fall of the North Pole, and had married Princess Azula, effectively securing himself into the royal family. That coming year, Fire Lord Ozai - not old at all, and physically fit and healthy in all ways – passed away, cause of death not known. Though Katara understood what had happened as soon as Zhao ascended to the throne, and had wondered to herself how it the death of Ozai had been brought about. Zuko and Iroh were nowhere to be seen, and were presumed dead, though a reward still hung over their heads.

Many people suspected that Zhao or Azula or both were responsible for Ozai's death. But she had not said anything. She kept her head down, doing anything she could to escape Azula's notice, for the woman was a bitch, and cruel to her servants.

She had been there when Azula had given birth to the Prince, and she had been sorely tempted to kill them both when Azula was weak from childbirth. It had been a difficult birth for the Princess, who was still rather young – only sixteen, and slender and lithe, with a body entirely unsuitable for pregnancy much less the birthing process. Katara had been tempted to simply let the Fire Lady bleed to death, and that would have happened, if she had not been there. As it was, she had healed Azula – and received no gratitude, not that she expected any.

Azula had been compared to a demon when her belly started to swell. She was a very physical woman, priding herself on her skill, but she was unable to do many things as her belly swelled, and had actually risked a miscarriage several times when she attempted to push herself.

She beat servants for no reason, she screamed at the guards. It had gotten so that Zhao actually had prisoners brought up from the dungeons for Azula to torture by her own hand, and Katara had seen the remains of those – some survived, some did not. And Katara was supremely grateful that she was kept in the confines of the medical wing, tending to guards and servants who were injured and fell ill, rather than be a personal servant to the Fire Lady. It was not too bad here – she was warm, fed, safe, and had opportunity to learn healing techniques from the kind-hearted physician, though sometimes she felt useless because she was unable to help her tribe or the world.

Zhao liked to sleep with different women, as was his right as Fire Lord, and the Waterbender had managed to escape his notice for a while now, since she was usually kept in the infirmary to do her job.

But it inevitably happened. He spotted her as she was working, and she had immediately caught his interest. He liked Fire Nation women, occasionally sampling the delights of Earth Kingdom slaves as well, but the dark skin and blue eyes of Water Tribe females was very attractive to him.

And they were so rare now. Most Water Tribe females were to be found in the wealthiest of Fire Nation men's homes, for their value as exotic concubines or 'merchandise'. Water Tribe men had value too, and were put to work with their talents, such as irrigation, or drawing water from unseen wells in the ground. As much as Fire Nation hated to admit it, Waterbending was valuable, so people with Waterbending ability were captured, and closely monitored. There was no other Water Tribe people in the Palace household however, though there were two Water Tribe men kept on the Palace grounds.

So Katara was a rare beauty, a Waterbender and a healer, and Zhao wanted her in his bed – he would have her, no matter what. He was often unsatisfied with his conquests. Sure, he would have his release – but it was merely a temporary release. He discarded women as soon as he took them, not caring about the disgrace. He took anyone who caught his passing fancy – concubines, servants, the daughters or sisters of noblemen – even a few wives of other men.

The Waterbender was unaware of his lust. She probably thought herself safe and unnoticed. And when he had first seen her, her beauty was hidden under weeks of dirt, fatigue, her blue robes torn and ragged. Her cheeks were slightly hollowed from the meager diet that the prisoners had been placed on during the voyage to the Fire Nation to ensure that their strength would be limited. She had gotten into the Palace on her healing skills alone – she had healed a wound that a Fire Nation soldier had savagely beaten into one of the prisoners during the voyage and had been discovered. Such a talent was not to be wasted and while the other Water Tribe women were sold and given to various Fire Nation nobles and generals – on the strict condition that all of the Water Tribe prisoners were to be kept in the Capital for monitoring and recording purposes – she was brought to the Palace.

He heard of her talent and success in the infirmary but still did not pay much notice. The first time he had really seen her, was after Azula had given birth. Infact she had been the one who placed the squalling newborn boy in his arms – freshly bathed and wrapped in a red silk blanket of course, her eyes averted to the floor in deference of his position. She looked clean, healthy, and attractive, and her dark skin had contrasted nicely against the simple red silk robe she was attired in. At that time, he had barely taken notice of her, but over the last couple of months, he had been wondering about her.

Fire Lord Zhao had found dissatisfaction with other women, especially Azula. His wife was frosty and cruel, and that one time they had sex, on their wedding night, she had taken control of the situation and had made the experience rather uncomfortable for him. Now, he knew she was cuckolding him... if she was even having sex. He knew she took men into her room, but they always came out the worse for wear, and he did not ask her questions. They had separate apartments, and only came together in Court, as Lord and Lady.

She had left the care of their infant son to a wet nurse and servants, not wanting to be bothered by what she saw as the trivial responsibilities of motherhood. He felt sorry for the little child, a healthy boy, but he had no time to spend with his son, as he was busy with all of the responsibilities of being the Fire Lord. He did make an effort to check up on the baby once in a while, so he knew the kid was doing well. He actually cared more for the kid than he had ever cared for his wife, and certainly he cared a hell of a lot more for the baby than Azula did. After all, he knew without a doubt the child was his. With that proof in hand, he cared not what his wife did with other men, and she didn't care what he did with his own conquests.

He even suspected his wife was planning to get rid of him, but then, he was thinking of doing the same. Azula was dangerous, and he knew she would love nothing more than to be Fire Lord. While she could not technically take the title, she would most certainly have the power if he were out of the way, but he had many of his own supporters who would back him as long as he was alive and well. Intrigue at the Court was thick between the faction that supported him, and the faction that supported his wife, and it was something he needed to take care of in due time.

The Fire Lord muttered impatiently, rising from his seat, banishing the matters of Court and state from his mind. He needed a maiden in his bed, and he knew just who he wanted. He certainly hoped she would be far more satisfying than the last. The last had been a skilled courtesan of the first rank, who had an excellent reputation and talent. While she had done her job, he felt... unsatisfied the morning after.

He smirked as he called a servant forth to give him a message.

The day was drawing to a close, the setting sun casting long shadows through the windows in the main room of the infirmary. Soon, she would have her supper, take a shower, and go to sleep. She didn't like being slave to the Fire Nation, but she knew she was better off than some people. The physician who was her direct supervisor was a kind older man who treated her almost like a daughter sometimes, and she was learning new healing techniques, ones she wished she could share with her people and others who would benefit from her knowledge. At times, she fancied escaping, but this place was too well-guarded, and she would stick out like a sore thumb with her dark skin and cerulean eyes.

Katara finished organizing some herbs that the physician had just gathered from the gardens, tying some up to dry while mashing some others into paste and placing them in labeled containers and vials. One of her secret fantasies was to slip poisonous herbs into the Fire Lord or Lady's food or drink, but she rarely if ever saw either, and did not know who to bribe. But that was all it was – a fantasy, a dream born out of anger at the decimation of her tribe and her current situation.

When a guard entered the infirmary, she looked up, expecting another patient to treat. Lately, the physician had been allowing her to treat some patients on her own, and this guard did not look to have any serious injury or condition at all. If she was unable to handle it herself, the physician was in the next room.

"Do you need any help?" she asked in a quiet voice, her eyes averted to the ground as she had been trained to. She was required to kowtow only to the Fire Lord and Lady, but to nobles and guards, she had to bow her head, like any other servant had to.

"No. But I have a message from the Fire Lord."

"The doctor's in the other room…"

"For you." he said. She looked up, clearly surprised. He continued, "The Fire Lord requires that you be in his personal chambers, in half of an hour."

"Did he say why?"

"No." the guard replied flatly, before taking his leave. Katara's heart pounded. She knew of the Fire Lord's reputation. It seemed that he bedded a new woman every night, and woe to the woman who tried to fight him off. There were a few Earth women here as slaves as well, for outside work. She had helped the physician treat one of them – for Zhao had burned her for trying to resist his conquest of her.

It seemed that he had now marked her as his latest conquest, and she stood there, trembling slightly, trying not to drop the container she held. Finally, she set it down and walked with halting steps to the other room. Her supervisor looked up at her curiously.

"The Fire Lord…" she started haltingly.

"Does he require my services?"

"No. He… called for mine." she whispered, looking down. He paled, his hand stopping short of making a stroke on the paper that he was writing. After several moments, he slowly nodded.

"You… best be going. Stay calm. Do whatever he says. He never keeps any of his conquests and… I will treat you when he is done." he said, concern for her clear in his tone. It warmed her heart that a high-ranking Fire Nation physician might be so concerned for her, a lowly Water Tribe slave.

All she could do was bow her head.

End of Chapter 1