Robes of Glory

Chapter 19: And It Was Good

"He's ALIVE!" Sokka cried in surprise. Joy and relief swept through him. So surprised was Sokka that he threw his arms around the shorter young man with his arms flung wide and bear hugged him, spinning in circles crying out the simple proclomation that Aang was indeed very much alive. After a few moments of coaxing Sokka to calm down, they sat around the table.

"How.. What happened?" Sokka said breathlessly. Moments of the Fire Nation Funeral procession ran through his mind, reminders of his greif to hear the loss of a dear friend and the saviour of the world. Toph told Sokka of the morning she'd found him strewn out in the leaves, and how she brought him back to her home. They recounted the events of Zuko coming to the palace in Ba Sing Se to work out the details of Aang's protection while he healed from the wounds.

Sokka was silent for a few moments.

"So what about Katara? Aang is fine, but my sister is still out there somewhere!" He said, frustration lacing his voice. Sokka was happy Aang was alive. In fact, he was overjoyed and couldn't wait to spread word to his sister... The only problem was her absence. His chest tightened with worry, knowing she could easily have been killed, or died by now of a dozen and one different causes.

A hard knock sounded at the rock wall that served as the door.

"Your First-Lady is here Duchess Bai-Phong." Toph rose and stomped her foot, the wall crumbling to allow Mayu entrance before slamming it behind her. The First Lady looked a bit nervous at being summoned, but flashed Aang a smile, whom returned it with interest as the woman found a pillow to kneel on and face her guests.

"You summoned me, My Duchess?"

"No need for formalities here, Mayu. I have a friend of mine here who has been missing his sister for the past..." She turned her ear in Sokka's direction.

"The last few months." He finished.

"We need to know about the girl that you were harboring. We think she might be Katara, one of the Five Warriors of the Fire War." Toph said seriously. Mayu seemed to pale a bit at the thought but cleared her throat.

"You need to tell us everything you know about her. Don't miss anything."

"O-okay." Mayu stammered. "Well, Rinho came to us injured and unkept. She wasn't going to stay with us at first, but eventually accepted our offer as long as she helped us keep up with the house and get a job to help pay for the food on the table. Rin was.." she paused, " a bit manic. She would hallucinate sometimes during the day, over some of the strangest things. Her first spell was triggered by the children that play along our village main road."

Toph frowned.

"You mean, you brought a crazy-woman into my Court?"

Mayu scowled at Toph but continued.

"Since that first spell, she's gotten better. We still don't know what she was thinking about when she went into her madness bouts, but it had alot to do with a young man she truly loved. Rin stayed with us for a few months before I answered your summon, Duchess."

"What did she look like?"

"Well, when she came to us she had tanned skin, although it was very pale from malnutrition. She had short dark hair, blue eyes, and was average height for a woman. Just about a foot taller than My Lady. Oh! And she wore blue clothing, which I washed and stored away for her per her request. I don't understand why she wanted to keep the mangled thing, it was stained with dirt, blood and all sorts of other things."

Mayu fell silent after her description of the Twelfth Lady to Toph. All three of the room's occupants looked thoughtful.

"It was her." Sokka finally said. "It couldn't be anyone else."

Just admitting that the woman he assumed was Katara made him sick. Her clothes stained in blood? How had she gotten hurt? And where had she been to render herself into such a state as suffering madness? He squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose to fight down the tears that were beginning to build. At least he knew she was brought into a safe house, and well cared for.

"Where exactly is she now?" He asked shakily.

"We sent Twelth Lady Rinho to the Fire Lord's palace to contest for her place as Empress of the Fire Nation, Sokka." Toph answered. Sokka's head snapped up as he blinked, flabbergasted.

"Hang on... Are you saying that she is.. Possibly going to be chosen to marry Zuko?"

Toph opened her mouth to answer when a loud explosion rocked the palace. Everyone jumped to their feet as the rock door slid away and guards flooded in.

"My Lady, the castle is being attacked!"

"As if I couldn't figure that out myself you idiot!" Toph shouted, snatching up her dress. "How are they even assaulting the inner Palace is the question!"

All four of the room's occumpants rushed out of the King's private tea room.

"My Lady, you and your guests will be escorted to the underground refuge where the King is awaiting you and Warrior Sokka." The guard informed her as he continued down the hall. He motioned them to follow him as he turned a sharp corners and traveled a labyrinth of different hllways before comming to a huge stone wall, where two guards stood watch by the torches mounted on the wall. On the guarded wall was an elaborate seal carved over the square frame engraved with gold.

"Open the gate." The leader commanded. Both men standing watch nodded and turned to the wall. It took all three of them to lift the massive stone wall out of it's resting place to allow them access to what lie beneath it.

"My Lady, this way."

Toph nodded and motioned for Aang and Sokka to follow. Just as they went for the stairs behind the gate, another explosion rocked the palace.

"Wait wait. Mayu, where are my other girls?" Toph demanded.

Mayu turned pale.

"I-I don't know My Lady!" She stuttered, almost turning to go back. The guard immeadiately halted Mayu and pushed her and Toph towards the stairs.

"Duchess Toph, we haven't the time. Right now, Omashu's palace is suffering a bit of a coupe de ta. Some of our soldiers have turned against us and are beginning to set fire to the upper levels in attempt to kill you and the King. Please, now is not the time to worry about anyone but yourselves."

Toph suddenly bolted forward and grabbed whatever article of clothing she could snatch up.

"Now you listen to me, boy." She hissed, her white eyes sparking with life. "I want every one of those girls accounted for, or you'll be paying it with your hide, Sir...?"

The earth soldier blinked and seemed to shrink despite the size difference.

"Hiten. I'm sorry, my lady, I assure you I-I'll get them myself."

Toph snorted and finally decended the first stairs with the new guard awaiting them.

Sokka shook his head. Now this! It seemed as though fate was holding him from finding Katara any sooner, and with an unexpected war bubbling up it would take a bit of time before he would even have clearance to leave the palace. Not to mention she was in a race against viscious competitors to become Lord Zuko's wife! He ran a hand through his tousled wolf-tail in exhasperation as tension continued to build. Sokka wouldn't rest until he knew Katara was safe. Until he could see for himself and hold her in his arms and know she was alive and well.

xXx

And Katara sneezed yet again. She mentally cursed her luck to catch any kind of germ in her current state of sickly health. Every movement burned with fierce agony, her body was on fire with fever, and her wound very nearly made her scream in agony when one of the doctors touched it. The unfortunate thing was that she was never truly alone when she bathed, so she had yet to heal some of the infection with her cleansing waterbending techniques. It seemed that she'd either scored some points with a higher up power that had her so 'priviledged' to constant medical attention, but after the first day, Katara wanted to rip her hair out and scream in frustration. Of course that could always be accounted for as cabin fever.

She chuckled in her newly re-adjusted room's very comfortable bed and choked on her laughter as a wave of nausea washed through her. Zuko had also taken the liberty of making her private quarters into a temporary sick room. Maids came in and cleaned obsessively so no other causes for sickness could be found in the room, physicians checked on her every ten minutes, and servants panicked when she coughed. Katara very nearly felt like royalty.

She sighed and tried to wriggle down into the down red cotton sheets adorning her queen size bed. Moogoose feather-filled pillows supported her weight like golden clouds, and the sheer golden curtain that hung across the window of the room drowned out some of the brighter light, dimming the room enough for her to be able to sleep comfortably. Her washroom was a porcelain tub that had a small faucet hooked into the water heating system of the palace, and was hidden behind a garden of bamboo plants that had been moved into the small corner of her room. All in all, it was indeed a room fit for an Emperess.

Yet Katara felt completely... well... Useless. And she hated it.

Sensin, the more timely of physicians came in and patted her bedside, drawing her attention from the roof she had silently been pouring her misery out to.

"My Lady Rin, how dost thee fair this second?" He teased. Katara blinked one long second at him, then raised a brow.

"And this second?"

She made an even slower attempt to show him how very irritated she was. Sensin patted what he hoped was her thigh before laughing heartily, throwing his dark head of cropped black hair back. Shaking his head he came back with a grin.

"Come now, its only been one day and you want to get up?"

Katara grunted and made a failing attempt to roll onto her side. Pain welled up and shocked her system. She froze before making a muffled moan and rolling back onto her back. Sensin sighed at her theatrics.

"My Lady, is there anything at all that we can do to make you more comfortable?" He asked gently.

"I told you. I want to be alone when I wash." she growled. Sensin grimaced.

"And I informed you that one: we can't allow you to be by yourself in such a delicate condition, and two: Fire Lord Zuko would have my head charbroiled on a platter if I allowed such to happen when he strictly informed me not to." He paused. "However, it is almost time for your evening bath, so I will send someone in to help you get into the tub."

Katara sighed and let her head lol back. At first she'd expected to be left to her own devices to bathe herself. Now she cursed herself for not carefully considering every detail of her healing process. A young woman walked into the room and bowed low before continuing toward the tub in the corner to start the warmed water. When Katara finally realized she wouldn't ever be alone during her bathing, she requested warm water to cold water. Cold water helped speed the healing process, and tended to be a bit more comfortable than using the customary boiling hot water, and either way she couldn't get rid of the infection without at least a half an hour in the tub alone. Which she was being denied.

Katara could hear the water begin to run, and the young woman came out from the corner and went to her bedside.

"I will help you out of bed and undress, My Lady." She said gently. She took Katara's sheets and peeled them away from her body before helping her sit up to begin moving her off the bed when both were startled by a presence.

"That won't be necessary. I will help get her prepared for her bath time this evening, but I will need help moving her to her tub." Came the harsh but soothing voice of Fire Lord Zuko. Katara's head whipped up in surprise. Zuko was standing in her doorway, wearing what looked to be a customary sparring shirt. It had no sleeves, and was lined with gold, its v-neck having at least an inch of silky gold fabrick going down to his waist. The red of it went down, making a path between his legs before coming to a halt at his knees. His legs had on a pair of particularly comfortable looking pants, loose in the legs and coming to a stop just above his ankles. Zuko's hair had even been pinned in a loose bun on the back of his head. He moved toward her and motioned the young woman to help him move Katara's body towards the edge of the bed.

Katara fought back a shudder when his warm hands went under her back, brushing the thin clothe of her white cotton sleeping garments as he pulled her up into sitting position with the other servant. She mewled when the cold floor met her feet and whimpered when her wound finally felt the motions.

"Hush. You'll be fine soon enough, Rin." He soothed, his fingers running up her spine. Katara wanted to be completely stupefied in his actions but carefully concealed her shock with a rather obvious grimace of pain as she stood.

"You will need to undress her." he informed the servant whom Katara had under her left arm. The young woman nodded and all three made their way to the tub. Zuko shut the faucet off to the tub's warm water and left the corner so Katara and the Servant could struggle through getting the nightclothes off.

"Leave her undergarments on." Zuko demanded from the other side of the screen. The servant helped Katara slip the long sleeves of the cotton fabric up her raised arms and over her head before checking her breast bindings and leg bindings. Once both Katara and the servant were satisfied she was ready to step into the warm water, she nodded.

"My Lord, she is ready."

xXx

Zuko had watched Lady Rinho suffer for two days with her injuries now. Despite her claim that draining the wounds would be better for her, she didn't seem to be healing very well. Every time they moved her, she would grimace or whine like she had before. After her bath they would give her a tea his Uncle had suggested, which put her to sleep about half an hour after she drank it all. He'd noted that she also tended to bleed out while in the tub from the pink coloured rags the cleaners brought from her room after she was asleep.

It was odd how someone with such a blank past could merrit trust in him so quickly, as though he'd known this woman for years. Now that he'd though about it, he began to realize that she reminded him of little Katara from his years of travel with the Avatar in his quest to regain his honor and throne.

He and the servant teamed up, putting her arms around their necks. When she got both her feet over the edges of the tub and began to sink in the water, the servant let her arm go. Rin panicked and gasped as she quickly wrapped her arm around his free shoulder to get more leverage in order to avoid falling into the tub. He nodded his consent for the girl to leave as he lowered Rin into the water.

Once she had settled her shoulders on one of the curved edges, he turned away and went to collect a small towel from the stool where a bottle of scented soaps sat.

"My physicians tell me your as much trouble for them as you are for the other contestants." He stated calmly, pouring a small amount of clear fragranced soap on the rag. A small snort of distaste came from behind him as Rin huffed. Zuko turned and dipped the rag in the warm water beside one of her sun-kissed shoulders.

"I was never trouble with the other campaigners." She snipped. "They sowed what they reaped."

Zuko couldn't help the smirk that blossomed on his face as he lathered the soap and reached under one arm to help her stand so he could wash off her back.

"Lets not forget, though, that most of the other candidates wouldn't indulge the other with a fight to the death."

Rin grunted as she finally made it to her feet in the water. Her hair was dampened at the ends. It'd grown to the tops of her shoulder blades since he'd brought her to the palace, he noticed. She was silent as he began to run the sudsy rag over her shoulders and down her back, washing just firmly enough to clean her skin of all the oils and irritations that had accumulated in the past few hours of bedrest. He soothed the soap down her back, washed above the tops of her leg-wraps and the back of her neck.

"Are you always so generous with the candidates?" Came her gentle whisper after ten minutes had passed. His eyes flicked away from one the shoulders he'd been working on to her tired eyes.

"I'm only generous with those that have been generous with me." He answered before rinsing the rag. He soaked it and brought it to the back of her neck before squeezing the water out of it to wash the suds off her back.

"And how have I been generous to you?" she sighed as another wave of warm water spilled off her body.

"You've made life more entertaining. Worth bearing as a busy Fire Lord."

Rin seemed to stiffen a bit but relaxed as he continued with his ministrations.

"How many times in a lifetime is the most powerful man in his nation spoken to as one would a child? Then pick a fight with one vying for the position of his wife?"

Zuko had moved closer with every sentence, and had moved close enough to breath in her wonderful scent. He brushed away any stubborn suds before reaching around her waist and taking her hand with his other to put the rag in her hand.

"Finish washing yourself, and I will send in a servant when you are done." He breathed into her ear. He turned to move away, only to be caught by a watery hand.

"W-wait." She stammered. "Please. Let me finish bathing myself this one time with no interruptions unless I myself call on the servant."

Zuko carefully kept his face expressionless, but mentally frowned on the idea.

"Please."

She was now holding his arm with both hands, expression pleading. Zuko sighed.

"Very well. She will be at your beckon call."

As Zuko left the room, his belly tight with tension and desire, he shook his head. Little Rin could also persuade him to do the unimaginable as Katara had. Uncle would have a heartattack in his fit of joy should he find out, and Azula would suffer one if she realized he was showing his favorite candidate affections in spite of the seven day time limit he'd given her. Somehow Zuko could feel in his heart it would work out for the good. She was good.

xXx

A/N: he he he he he he... I know, the fluff sucked, didn't it? Hopefully it was enough to sate the craving for Zutara! Well now I had to eventually start a war... that just means it should take a few more chapters to really wrap it up! Meaning more Zutara time! WHOOT!

BTW, sorry about the long wait for the new chappie he he! I just started a new job and am still adjusting to the new schedule. Hopefully this turned out well despite my new found tensions!

Much love,

GS