Katara, of the Fire Nation

Chapter 33

As Katara recovers from birth, Zuko sits by her bedside with their son in his arms.

"I will never let any harm come to you," Zuko promises quietly as his son wraps his small hand around Zuko's finger.

"He has your eyes," Katara breathes, watching her husband with a smile.

Zuko's smile widens and a feeling of pure bliss washes over him as he sits with his wife and his son, he couldn't be happier.

Days pass and the new royal heir is unveiled to the fire nation.

There are mixed reactions to the child, the council is divided, with most concerned with the possibility that Kyon could be a water bender.

Katara tries to take it in her stride, she keeps her head high and her face neutral in front of the council, but behind closed doors, Katara is terrified.

"What if Kyon isn't a fire bender?" Katara worries as she paces in her room.

Zuko sits on the end of the bed, holding their son in his arms and cooing softly.

"We will cross that bridge if it comes to it," Zuko says, not too worried about his son's future abilities.

"No," Katara says, putting her foot down to Zuko's calmness to the situation, "No, Zuko we have to talk about this now. Kyon could easily be a waterbender, and your council has made it pretty clear that they would not accept a waterbender as their new Fire Lord."

Katara takes a deep breath and then lets it go.

"Zuko, this isn't something we can just ignore until it becomes a problem," she says, she sits down next to her husband and then runs her tongue over her teeth, "We need a plan."

"Plan?" Zuko echoes, "Why?"

"You know just as well as I what happened to the previous royal children who were not fire benders." Katara's face pales as she remembers the stories that she's read and the stories that Ursa told her.

"I won't let that happen," Zuko says darkly, his eyes snap to his wife and he feels his blood begin to boil.

Zuko takes a deep breath just as his wife did, and then he looks to his son, still nestled and sleeping in his arms.

"But I can tell this has you really worried," he says, Zuko looks back to Katara and says, "so let's talk about it. If Kyon turns out to be a waterbender, we will keep it secret, teach him not to bend in public."

"And what happens during royal ceremonies, when he has to bend?" Katara asks, her heart racing as she pokes holes through Zuko's plan.

"We will use sleight of hand," Zuko says, answering without missing a beat, "I'll teach him the moves and light the fires in his place."

"We won't be around forever," Katara worries, she stands to her feet and looks to her son with soft eyes, "And we cannot teach him to be ashamed of his abilities; to hide who he is. He'll be miserable."

"So what do you suggest?" Zuko asks.

Katara pauses to think for a moment, she then looks over her shoulder to the door that leads to the nursery, she purses her lips and then let's go of a deep sigh.

"I don't know," she answers, unable to voice her true answer, which includes faking her and the fire prince's death to escape to the southern water tribe.

At this point in time, Katara doesn't know if Zuko should know about her plans, she doesn't know whether to keep it in the dark in order to make her death seem more real.