Chapter Text
It had been five years since Kya died.
He still carried that heaviness, logged around that deep dark hole inside of him, but as strong winds blew to announce the coming of winter, he could sense a shift, something slowly lightening inside of him.
It was time to move on.
Bato clung to Hakoda’s shoulder, loyal and waiting for the sign, but they both held back for the moment. There was something still, waiting to shift.
Hakoda worried about his children, of course he did. They carried that heaviness much harder on their young souls and it only seemed to grow heavier on Katara. She spent long evenings by her grandmother’s side, a strange obsession with sewing funeral shrouds and never removed her inherited necklace, even to bathe. She spent hours learning healing and defensive bending from the other waterbenders, and tried her hands at every trade within the tribe in short bursts.
Sokka at seventeen, was just beginning to ease from following his father around like a shadow, longing for his attention and advice. Now he slipped away, running to the chilly shores of the south pole, searching for independence and achievement. Sometimes, Hakoda would catch him looking towards the horizon with an unreadable yearning on his face. Hakoda couldn’t understand it and neither could Katara, who would snap at her older brother whenever she caught him wearing it.
His children sensed the shift, noses picking up the change as he walked by. Something was about to happen, something more intimate than the smell of ash from the brooding Fire Nation ships.
As it turned out, the Fire Nation would soon show itself to be at the heart of the new change, heading for the tribes of the South Pole.
“A union between our two lands.” General Zao offered.
Nobody dared let out a breath.
It was more than Hakoda dared hope for. Another war had been brewing, the Avatar sunk into history, unable to keep the balance and tensions between the nations were stiff and suspicious. If this upstart general was offering a peace treaty of some kind, Hakoda would take it. Their brothers in the north were too far away and too snobby, to be of much help if the Fire Nation decided to attack.
“A marriage” he continued and Hakoda’s heart sunk. “With one of our most treasured nobles living among you, you need not fear attack from us. And, with one of our most treasured nobles watching you, you would not join a rebel army would you? And of course, if you denied our request, we could only draw the conclusion that that is your only excuse.”
Bato growled beside him, hackles rising at the unsubtle threat.
"But I understand you have two children, of age, who would match suitably with one of our princes.”
When Hakoda replied, his voice was calm.
“You are mistaken. Neither of my children are of an age to marry- However. I am of age. I am unmatched and if this will create a union between our two nations and bring peace to our shores, I am more than willing to take on a partner.”
“Wonderful! I will carry the news to Firelord Azulon and he will send a wife or a husband or whoever at the earliest convenience. You will be married in the late winter.”
. . .
“Wonderful.” Hakoda muttered under his breath, as General Zao and the other soldiers marched away, back to their ships. Bato looked at him sideways.
“You don’t have to do this. No-one would blame you if you refused them entirely.”
“I know. But who am I to deny us the easiest path to peace? A normal world, for my children to grow up in? And besides, I was preparing myself for a romantic relationship again.”
And Bato looked at him, something unspoken in his eyes.
“Zuko? Why did grandfather and dad want to see you?
Zuko?
. . .
Zuko!”
And still he did not look at her, back turned to the doorway as he filled a suitcase open on his bed.
“I am to leave” he said quietly.
“Leave! Leave? Leave like mom did?”
“No, hothead. I’ll come back. I- I think. Or you can come and visit. I’m just going to go and do some work for the Fire Nation in a different kingdom.”
“What work?” Azula demanded. At thirteen, she was full of questions, questions, questions that never stopped, even if Zuko flinched when she snapped them at their father. Shy and quiet and unsure of himself, especially after the Agni Kai, a couple of years ago. Only Azula’s loud protesting had saved him from exile then.
“I’m getting married, ‘Zula.”
“What? You’re only a teenager, you can’t get married!”
“Mom was only a year older than me when she got married. I’ll be fine.”
“But I don’t want you too!”
Zuko went over to her, harried as he was. She was on the verge of a tantrum, a full-out drama-queen tantrum that always resulted in somebody or other getting hurt and generally Azula. He had to stop her. Tears welling in her eyes and fear distorting her face.
“I don’t- I don’t want to be alone here.”
Zuko’s heart sunk in him and he held his little sister in his arms.
“It won’t be forever, hothead. Lu Ten and Uncle Iroh will come home from Ba Sing Se soon and they’ll look after you. Probably even sooner if you actually sent them letters once in a while.”
He combed his fingers in her hair, voice soothing.
“And until then, hide, okay? Dad will be too busy gloating over this particular success to bother you for a while and Grandfather doesn’t care much either way. Just stay out of sight and out of mind until Lu Ten comes to visit. He’ll set everything right again.”
Azula sniffled. “Alright. I will.”
“Good.”
“When are you leaving?”
“Soon.”
“Not before Mai’s birthday, right? You’ll have at least a week to pack and Mai’s birthday is two weeks from now, so not for a while, right?”
And Zuko’s stomach clenched when he answered.
“The litter to escort me to the ship is getting organised now. It’ll be around this evening.”
And not even he could stop Azula’s wails as she collapsed into his chest.
“You don’t have to like them. I completely understand that. It’s going to be hard for you, seeing me with a new partner. I don’t expect you, at all, for any fraction of a second, to see them as a new parent. But you have to, and this is the key part, you must be nice. They’re going to be a stranger, in a strange land, that I imagine is very different than what they’re used to and they’re going to be living with strange people that they’re dependant on to look after them. So you must be nice. You have to be understanding. And if you can’t do that, than completely ignore them but whatever the case, if I hear even a whisper of mutiny, you’re going to regret it, you understand?”
Sokka and Katara nodded.
The feet of the boy twitched and he looked longingly toward the tent door as Katara stared seriously at her father, completely focused.
“And this will bring peace for the tribe?”
“Yes, Katara.”
“So the ships won’t be allowed to attack us.”
“Yes.”
“Will they need a new sleeping bag? And Kamik?”
“Probably.”
“Can I sew them?”
“Yes, Katara, you can. But get Gran-gran to show you, okay?” The last thing they needed was to give this Fire Nation noble a sleeping bag falling apart at the seams.
“Can I go now?” Sokka asked uncomfortably. “We’re losing light.”
“Yes Sokka, you can go.”
The boy dashed off, definitely to try and find that rock he’d been talking about earlier. Katara stared at him, betrayal clearly etched into every line of her face, and fierce devotion to her father and tribe.
“Where are they going to sleep?”
It took three weeks for the ship to reach its destination and Zuko was miserable the entire way. Every single member of the crew seemed to hate him and the captain of the ship seemed to regard him with an air of barely-concealed contempt. He could hear them sniggering as he walked by, whispering about his upcoming marriage. So, he mostly stayed in his room. But he couldn’t avoid coming out for dinner, which he had to eat with the captain of the ship.
He still didn’t know much. He assumed he was engaged to someone in the water tribes, Lu Ten and Uncle Iroh were doing well establishing peace with the Earth kingdoms and the Air Nomads didn’t believe in arranged marriages at all, from what he’d studied. So, water tribes, it was. But north or south? Who was his partner? Everyday, a new fire hawk came from General Zhao, revealing just a little more information on the plans and treaties he was making.
“Your fiancé is Chief Hakoda” the captain informed him, over a meal of turtle- duck-meat soup. “From the Southern Water Tribe. We’ll arrive there in late winter and Zhao has imported several fire mages to make sure your ceremony is up to standard.”
“Have you met the Chief?” Zuko asked. He wanted to know what his new husband would be like.
“No.” The captain replied curtly, and that ended conversation for the evening.
Zuko thought about it. At this point, he just hoped that this Chief Hakoda would be nice enough to provide him with some warmer clothes. He hadn’t been told where he was going that desperate day he’d left the Fire Nation, and had settled to pack a little of everything. Everyday they traveled he shivered a little more, seriously underprepared.
Once, when he needed a walk outside for fear of going mentally insane he accidentally ran into a group of sailors who decided to tease him.
“I heard you’re marrying Chief Hakoda?”
“That’s very brave of you, your highness.”
“Yes, your nation thanks you for your sacrifice!”
Don’t listen. Don’t encourage them. Just smile and be polite.
“Oh, uh. Thank-you” he could hear his voice was stiff and strained but it couldn’t be helped.
“Do you know much about your fiancé? Probably not, right?”
Zuko smiled nervously, and tried to walk on, but was barricaded.
“He’s around forty years old. Big man. Could probably snap you like a twig without trying if he wanted to.”
“I’d make sure I’d do as he says, if I were you!”
“Oh, yeah, better not annoy him.”
“Ha-ha-ha, I’ll do my best.”
“He’s a warrior too. Been fighting almost all of his life.”
“Really”
“Mmhmm. He’s got two kids as well. I’d stay out of their way, they’re gonna hate your guts.”
“Well, they might- I hope they-“
“No no. You’re a contender for their rightful place as ruler now see? They’ll try and get rid of you by any means possible.”
He’d seen Ozai, the wrathful way he stared at Uncle Iron talking to their grandfather. He knew what people could be like.
“And you’ll be taking the rightful place of their mother. You know their mother died right?”
One of the sailors bent down, to hiss in Zuko’s ear.
“Five years ago. He’s been without a partner five years. A man like that well . . . he’ll have expectations.”
So now, Zuko lay awake in bed, worrying.
He hadn’t thought about the expectations.
“I’ll expect you both to introduce yourselves and say hello nicely. They’ll be coming in the late evening, we’ll get married officially the next morning in a Fire Nation ceremony. After that, we’ll have a quick Southern Water Tribe wedding and you’ll meet them then.”
Hakoda ran his hand along the igloo one last time, checking for any cracks or defects. There were none. He, Bato and Sokka had done a sound job. In preparation for the new arrival, they’d added a new, seperate bedroom to the rest of Hakoda’s family igloo, as well as the already existing rooms for his children and himself. They could live there until this man or woman or whoever and Hakoda became comfortable enough with each other to share. At which point Sokka could move into the vacant space. He’d be reaching near adulthood then and might be seeking a partner himself.
Katara and Kanna had filled the room with beautifully made bedding and a few decorations. Katara might loathe the idea of her father remarrying but she was determined to make this new guest feel welcome. Sokka kicked a nearby snow-pile half-heartedly.
“Don’t we know anything about them yet?”
“No. General Zhao doesn’t have a lot of information. Likely, I won’t know anything until they come.”
“And they’ll come soon.” Bato said grimly. “Hopefully the coming storm will have long since blown over since then.”
It did not.
The storm blew through the south pole, tearing the waves apart and bringing a stinging blizzard of snow in its wake. Dark clouds settled over the sky like unwelcome squatters,
This was Zuko’s introduction to the South Pole.