Avatar fic: A Realistic Proposition

[scwlc_fic]

Title: A Realistic Proposition

Author: SCWLC

Disclaimer: I own nothing here. Wish I did.

Rating: PG-13

Summary: Hakoda gets a reality check. Thirteenth in the Proposal series.

Author's Notes: I don't know offhand whether Kanna's Hakoda's mother or mother-in-law, but she's the in-law here. I like to imagine a man raised by Kanna would be a little more open to female empowerment. Yes the stone on the waterbending arena sparkles. No, it is not a vampire-owned building. Take your Twilight jokes somewhere else, please. There are some notes at the end of the fic too, which may give away some clues to the plot, so I put them at the end.


It had taken Hakoda a while to think of how to provide a role for Ujarak. The warrior could no longer hunt or fight and he certainly could not sit around in the invalid igloo for the rest of his life. The man was educated enough, however, to make a decent part of any ambassadorial team. So, he consulted with the man, and it was agreed that he would take part in the new embassy project that had been proposed by King Kuei of Ba Sing Se. Each of the major powers among the four nations would send representatives to each of those major powers. He had begun by suggesting simply representatives of each nation, but the Southern and Northern Tribes were too far apart and had such different needs that they both needed different representation. Then it had been mentioned that Ba Sing Se and Omashu each had their own kings and power structures, and needed to be represented separately as well as having separate embassies from the other parties.

So now, as there was little Hakoda could do to give Ujarak a place in the Tribe, he had arranged for the man to move to the Fire Nation as their ambassador. It was probable that it would be awkward if he and Katara were to meet, but the likelihood of a woman being involved in such negotiations was practically nil. Nonetheless, he was coming with the envoy, using it as an excuse to see his daughter.

A darkly amused chuckle escaped the woman standing next to him. "Is something funny Kanna?" he asked his mother-in-law.

"Just considering the reactions you may have to the Fire Nation's ways," the old woman said. He shot her a sidelong look. The letters she'd gotten from Katara over the months had not been significantly longer than the ones she'd written to him. He supposed they must have been full of womanly talk about handsome men or embroidery, or whatever it was Katara was interested in. Certainly she would not have been sending her grandmother letters like the ones she had sent to him. In fact, he had been surprised at first by how . . . manlike they were. These were letters full of important political information, useful tidbits about Earth Kingdom politics and how to handle their representatives or movements within the Fire Nation's own political structure. He'd had to come to the conclusion she had male help with those letters. No woman could possibly put aside her desire to talk about frivolous things like clothing in favour of politics. What would a woman know of politics anyhow?

He shifted uncomfortably. Ling of the Air Nomads certainly had an excellent grasp of politics, and had bested his warriors again and again, able to defeat even the greatest of their warriors with ease without resorting to her airbending. The only one who had forced her to use her bending had been Sokka. He owed an apology to his son and to his daughter-in-law. He had dismissed his son's prowess with a blade, and had been publicly shamed when his own daughter-in-law had defeated him handily with nothing more than fans.

Not to mention the representatives of the Northern Air Temple had quite brusquely told him that, yes, Sokka had been the one to perfect the design of the flying machines that was stolen by the Fire Nation. He couldn't help but wonder if he had so vastly misunderstood both of his children. Looking back, Katara had certainly seemed far more hurt when she was with Ujarak than could be blamed on mere upset at her childishness being revealed.

He would have to speak with her when they arrived. At least she would be pleased by his surprise visit. He said as much to Kanna, who snorted, and said, "You just keep thinking that. You'll think whatever you want, anyway."

They were greeted at the docks by an honour guard, and a tight-lipped Katara. "Ambassador," she said to Ujarak, inclining her head regally. She looked beautiful; the cut of her clothes entirely of the Fire Nation, but the colours the traditional blues of the Tribes. "Gran-gran!" she exclaimed, hugging her grandmother. Before she could say anything else, Hakoda stepped forward. Katara seemed to pale a moment, before pulling herself together and saying, "Dad. This is a surprise."

"No hug for me?" he asked her, holding out his arms. She stepped into them, and for a moment, Hakoda could close his eyes and just hold his little girl close.

Then she stepped away, and the warmth evaporated. She was as cold as the polar sea. "I welcome you to the Royal Plaza and the capital," she said. "I have arranged for transport for Ambassador Ujarak to his residence in the Royal Caldera. She thawed slightly as she turned to Kanna. "The rooms that were yours in the Palace have been set aside again," she told her grandmother. "Izan!" she called out to one of the attendants, "Would you run a message up to the palace to prepare a room for my father?"

The man bowed. "Yes my Lady."

Next there was a flurry of orders, and Hakoda found himself alone in a carriage with Ujarak and his mother-in-law, while Katara vaulted easily onto an ostrich horse and led the way surrounded by similarly mounted troops. They set off, Hakoda staring out the window at the close-set houses and the cheering people.

They disembarked at a house close to the palace grounds, and Hakoda noted it was one of two houses on that street decorated in Water Tribe colours. "This is the Southern Tribe's embassy," Katara explained as they made their way up the walk, Ujarak rolling up in a chair designed by that Northern Temple man, Teo. "The other one is for the Northern Tribe, and the two green ones are for Omashu and Ba Sing Se, respectively. The yellow homes are for the various Air Nomad representatives." Katara smiled a little. "The street has been renamed Embassy Row by the people, and the city's governor is considering simply making it official."

Ujarak sneered. "The great Fire Lord doesn't care enough to involve himself in the lives of his people?" Hakoda frowned at the man. This was not a good beginning. Ujarak was charming and witty, and he had seemed to have an excellent understanding of people's motivations. That was one of the primary reasons why he had been given this role. The deliberate offensiveness was unlike him.

"Of course he is," Katara replied, her eyes sparking with temper. Hakoda was again drawn into reflection wondering when it was the last time he'd seen such life in her. "However, the Fire Lord administers the whole of the country, and must delegate his responsibilities. Each of the major cities in our nation has a governor to tend to the needs of the city's population, as each of the islands has one to tend to the needs of the island. For Zuko to interfere at the governor's level is either interference that is unwarranted, or an indication something is wrong." She shot the man a look that, if Hakoda hadn't known better, he would have thought it was pure loathing. "It is no different than a chief of a tribe deciding not to interfere in the running of a warrior's home."

She turned away from Ujarak, sharply, and said, "I would remain here as you assist the ambassador in settling into his new accommodations, but I am required to return to the palace."

"Oh," Hakoda said, a little disappointed. "Does the Fire Lord not wish you to spend time with your family?"

"No. I have a meeting with representatives of the Earth Kingdom and the Air Nomads living near Omashu. There have been some difficulties with land ownership and they have requested a neutral third party to act as a mediator," Katara said.

Hakoda was going to ask why it was they needed her there for that, when Kanna said, "Well, don't let us hold you up. Just don't let those Earth Kingdom people walk all over you. You're Water Tribe, so be like an iceberg."

Katara grinned at her grandmother and said her goodbyes before Hakoda could get his mind wrapped around the notion that his daughter was the neutral mediator. "How can they let a woman, especially one like Katara act as a mediator?" he asked the world at large.

Ujarak snorted. "Because they're effeminate out here, allowing their women to run around pretending to be as good as the men. I'm willing to bet the kitchens and homes here are falling apart because the women are unwilling to do their part."

Kanna rolled her eyes at the warrior and turned to Hakoda. "She travelled with the Avatar for a year. She saw most corners of the Earth Kingdom, has dealt with both kings and pirates, she's from the Water Tribes and is the Fire Lady. If anyone can understand all the sides of an issue, it would be Katara. The fact that the Avatar trusts her so closely means that they trust her to do what the Avatar would want done in that situation." She fixed her son-in-law with a glare. "What does her being a woman have to do with all that?"

As his elder, the mother of his wife and with her bravery at crossing the whole globe on her way to the Southern Tribe, Hakoda had found that there was no way he could treat Kanna as he would other women. It had always disconcerted him. Kya, his wife, had taken her cue from her mother, and while Hakoda had loved his wife deeply, her lack of concern for her place had always bothered him. However, both women had ultimately been happy in their roles as wives to Water Tribe warriors.

For a moment, Hakoda considered how they might have been much less happy if either woman had had an ambition other than marriage and motherhood. He shook the thought off. Women were only truly happy in such a position. It was why Katara had been so unhappy before. She had not accepted that she would only be happy if she could settle into being a wife and mother. Something in the back of his mind whispered, Would she really be happy? But he stifled it. She and Ujarak had been ill-suited. That was all.

Much later, he and Kanna had settled into their rooms in the palace. Hakoda was slightly put off by the fact that Kanna was being housed in the family wing, close to his daughter, while he was in a single room (a very well-appointed room with a luxurious bed and all the fixtures and additions anyone could want) in the guest portion of the palace. He firmly put it down to the staff being unprepared for him.

He could not help but comment at the dinner table, in gentle rebuke, "Katara, I was somewhat surprised that you have not gained sufficient control over the household as to have rooms ready for unexpected guests."

She frowned, confused. "Is there something wrong with your quarters?"

"I was simply wondering why it was that your grandmother is in the family wing, and I have been placed in the guest wing," Hakoda said. She continued to look confused.

The Fire Lord spoke up. "Oh, I spoke to the head of staff on the matter as soon as Katara's message arrived at the palace." He sent a sharp smile in Hakoda's direction. "I thought I would place you near Sokka and Suki's suite, since they will be coming with the representatives of Kyoshi Island for the discussions of security between nations."

Hakoda felt a chill, as he realised the Fire Lord was deliberately trying to keep him from his daughter. "You feel you need to interfere in your wife's duties?"

"My wife's duties?" Zuko asked, pleasantly. "Those are the major-domo's duties. The duties of our head of housekeeping and the head of staff. Katara is far too busy with more important matters to worry herself with traditional women's work."

His daughter rolled her eyes, and then suddenly, a gag of ice was slapped onto the Fire Lord's face. "Zuko. Stop that. You know perfectly well that I oversee those details because you wouldn't know household details and chores from a hole in the ground. Military standards do not apply." She turned to her father. "I'll talk to the staff and get you moved to the family wing."

This was terrifying for the Water Tribe man. He knew that if his own wife had been so insolent to him in front of others, calling him incapable in that way, he would have been furious. Certainly the steam rising off the Fire Lord from the rapidly melting ice did not look promising. "Katara-"

"Don't. I can take care of myself."

The rest of the dinner didn't put Hakoda at any ease, and he greatly wished for Ujarak's presence, if only to have an ally in this strange world where his daughter could so disrespect her husband, his son-in-law's mother openly discussing politics with his daughter at a level that left him confused, the Lady Ursa's daughter cheerfully discussed the complexities of the warrior's art with the Fire Lord and his mother-in-law just cackled with glee over his state of discombobulation.

Over the next several days, he saw his daughter fairly little, as she was forever in meetings with various officials, completely unsupervised, or doing paperwork relating to national or international affairs. He had expressed his concern to one of the ministers, who had sharply rebuked him, saying, "I would agree that a member of the Water Tribe might not be well fit for Fire Nation politics, but her experiences in the Earth Kingdom prepared her well. And no one else can deal with the madness of King Bumi since General Iroh returned to his tea shop."

"But to have a woman unsupervised-"

The man shot him a disgusted look. "Are you questioning your daughter's faithfulness to the Fire Lord, or are you thinking those men would try to attack a Master Bender married to a man with Lord Zuko's temper and skills?"

It seemed he was the only person concerned that a woman might be overcome by her emotion and make a poor governing choice. After finding a way into one of the public council sessions, and seeing her with iron control of every man and woman in that room, staring down the insolent with a look that left him uneasy, making difficult choices with sensitivity and sense, he didn't know what to think.

He had been raised that women were physically weaker. They were bound and constrained by their emotions. Those emotions were the strength of women, providing the compassion to match the male trait of stern logic.

But the Fire Lord was often more passionate than his daughter, openly emotional about many choices, and it was Katara who acted as the cool voice of logic between them. He provided a driving force; she tempered that strength, helping him reach decisions that were not merely honourable, but wise. Just as he felt he could never recognise his daughter in this cool, logical stranger on the dais, she exploded into a raging torrent of temper, and it was the Fire Lord's turn to restrain the flood of fury with his own sharp words causing her anger to seemingly evaporate.

The woman he saw was no one who would be with Ujarak. No matter how honourable a warrior and great a hunter the man was, if this was his daughter's true face, then she was telling the truth when she spoke of wishing nothing to do with him.

He was only further confused the next morning.

Hakoda made his way to the bending arena Kanna had told him was built specifically for Katara. It was easy to find, a large building, decorated in the style of the Tribes, the building itself made of sparkling white stone counterfeiting as best it could the look of the Northern Tribe's white city. There in the centre of the open space, his daughter was engaged in what looked like a battle for her life. Hakoda froze, trying to find an opening to rescue her. As he watched, the Fire Lord moved forward with a flurry of punches and kicks, each one sending a burst of fire towards Hakoda's sweet little girl. She dodged, wove and got out of the way with admirable skill, but she couldn't keep that up forever.

"Aren't you going to fight back?" the Fire Lord taunted.

"I don't know," she returned. Hakoda silently pleaded with her not to make the warrior angry. He was her husband. It gave him rights to her and he couldn't protect her from a warrior and bender of that calibre. He prepared himself to try as she said, "You're getting so slow I don't see why I shouldn't just dance with you all day."

"Slow!" said the man with incredulity. He started sprinting forward, his hand at his side, coming upward, and rapidly growing sheet of flame coming from that hand.

Katara suddenly moved her hands and water swept out of the canal surrounding the arena floor, swirling in and under her feet, and catapulting her over the Fire Lord's head. She came down behind him, spun into a kick which caught the man in the back sending him stumbling to his knees. Her hands moving quickly, she sent the water at him in a thick sheet which hardened into ice as it moved.

An explosive fireball shattered the wall, and Katara hastily pulled back the mass of water, twisting it behind her opponent and slamming him from behind. The Fire Lord was swept into the canal at the side, just barely getting out in an impressive display of gymnastic skill before the whole froze solid with him in it.

The two closed on each other, his hands surrounded by a nimbus of flames, her with liquid water coating her body like a strange sort of armour. They clashed, hand to hand, element to element in the centre of the arena, steam flying up between them, Katara constantly pulling it back in to keep from losing her element, Zuko constantly having to restart the flames on his hands as she kept putting them out.

Then the Fire Lord got in a lucky strike, of sorts. Katara's shirt was burned. It was one of those virtually indecent Fire Nation affairs that was so close to the body and allowed a man to see far too much for a father's peace of mind. The front of it slipped, fell open and the slightly singed bindings beneath were revealed. It was a distraction that proved too much for the Fire Lord, who paused, taking in the unexpected view, and found himself suddenly up to his neck in ice. "I win!" Katara said, and bounded to the side of the arena.

Now it would come, Hakoda thought. How she could be so foolish as to actively beat her husband at a contest of warrior's skills was beyond him. It was one thing for Suki to fight and beat Sokka, she was one of those Kyoshi warrior women. Katara had been raised properly. To respect her husband and his skills. He would have every right to demand some sort of recompense for her publicly shaming him that way.

"Distracting me like that doesn't count!" The man said instead.

"Psht. It counts," Katara said dismissively. "What? Are you saying that all I had to do when you were chasing the Avatar four years ago was take my top off and you would have folded? I wish I'd known. Putting up with Sokka whining might have been worth it."

"Getting the chance to have that appealing a view might have spurred me on," he replied. He'd been slowly melting his way out of the ice as they spoke. Suddenly it was cracking and falling away, and he pulled her against him. "I know it's a great motivation for me now," he purred.

"Okay! That's enough! Some of us still want to pretend that the only thing the two of you do at night is play pai sho." Hakoda whipped around to see that Sokka and Suki had snuck up on him unawares. "Also, Dad doesn't look too happy."

"Dad!" Katara backed away, her husband reluctantly letting her go now that they had an audience. Hakoda was again struck by how different she acted with Zuko as with Ujarak. She'd never wanted to be touched by the man in any way, seemly or unseemly, and here, the only reason she seemed to be pulling away was absolute necessity.

But now that the fight was over, he was confused. He had just seen her face down a great bender and, if Sokka's word was to be trusted, a great warrior with real weapons, not just his element. So why had she let Ujarak into her igloo that night if she didn't want him?

He hadn't realised he'd voiced his confusion until he found himself slammed against the wall by a furious Fire Lord. "How dare you," the man hissed. "How dare you act like it's her fault." Hakoda could feel the body temperature of the man rising fast. "You didn't notice the scars on her wrists that she had to heal that morning from the rope burns. You didn't notice how hurt she was. But worst," snarled the Fire Lord. "You couldn't even trust the word of your own daughter!"

"Zuko! Stop!" Katara pulled her husband away. Sokka hadn't so much as moved an inch to help his own father. She turned to him, saying, "Why didn't you do anything?"

"Why should I?" her brother said. "I totally agree with Zuko. The only reason I didn't do it before was that I knew I couldn't get you safely away if I did." He shrugged and leaned against the wall. "Ujarak's a jerk, and a rapist and I'm really not sorry I shoved him into the way of the walruses." The grin on his son's face was chilling. "That one bull really liked him."

"What?" Hakoda couldn't believe it. He'd always thought it was an accident, but his son was saying he'd deliberately crippled the warrior.

"You know old Angook's story about the turtle seal that tried to mate with him?" Hakoda could recall the tale. It was funny in a sort of disgusting way. He nodded, feeling a little sick. "I just thought I should make sure he knew how Katara felt. It took a lot of walrus musk, but . . ." Sokka shrugged again. "The paralysis was an unexpected bonus."

The Fire Lord turned to him. "You didn't mention that part. It's sick and worthy of my sister. I really didn't think you had it in you."

Katara and Suki just looked green. "Ew," said Suki.

Hakoda shook his head. "I still don't understand. You injured so many young men with so little cause-"

"So little cause!" Katara snapped, suddenly turning on him. "You really weren't paying attention, were you? Do you have any idea what they thought, what they tried?"

He felt like he was missing something. "You travelled alone for a year-"

"With my brother and a twelve-year-old monk! Then a thirteen-year-old girl joined us! Later there was Suki and Zuko. So which of them makes me into a whore, Dad? The girls? The Avatar who wasn't even a teenager yet? Or Zuko, who was only chasing the avatar out of an obsession with honour?" A dam had broken, and Hakoda couldn't talk because a very uncomfortable gag of ice was over his mouth.

"Or did you think Sokka did such a poor job of chaperoning that I was spreading my legs for anything male at every stop we made?" She was beyond furious, and Hakoda, recalling the brief times he'd seen her during that year couldn't imagine how anything untoward had happened given the conditions the children had been living in. "But I got back to the tribe, and they all thought I was going to spread my legs for them just because they were warriors of the tribe! I wasn't blushing because I was flattered by the attention," she snarled at him, quoting his own words. "I was angry because they all thought I was a whore." Katara leaned very close and said, chillingly, "I put them in the healing igloos because they all tried to have me up against an iceberg."

She twisted a hand, and the biting cold around his mouth dropped away. So many things were making a horrible kind of sense. Hakoda said, "I'm sorry. Just explain to me. Why didn't you do that to Ujarak?"

A noise of fury that sounded like a cross between the scream of a messenger bird and some otherworldly being in torment came from his daughter. Sokka glared at his father. "Do you remember, maybe anything else significant about that night?"

Hakoda frowned. "Nothing. It was the night of the eclipse . . ." he trailed off. Standing in the capital city of the Fire Nation, he suddenly recalled another eclipse. Firebenders all without their bending for the duration of the sun's absence from the sky.

And a waterbender's power came from the moon.

He felt sick.

He had doubted his daughter's word, had let his own biases about her as a bender cause him to believe another. Dimly he was aware of his legs giving out. A thousand thoughts and justifications were all clashing in his head as the truth was laid bare before him. He had trusted a man who would rape a woman. He had listened to others, had let his beliefs cloud his judgment. A hundred moments flew through his mind of his daughter, begging him for help, for mercy, for support for some kernel of understanding, and he'd turned from her in favour of the man who had taken her virtue from her.

He could see her, kneeling beside him, saying something that he couldn't hear over the rushing in his ears. Beyond her was the son he had treated as unworthy, just because he had done as his father had asked and protected his sister as best he could.

Everything seemed to pause before a sense of clarity rushed over him. Hakoda suddenly brought himself to his feet, taking off, feeling the young adults follow him, calling after him as he rushed down the street at a ground-eating pace. They turned onto Embassy Row, and Hakoda was bursting into the Southern Tribe residence with a shout. "Ujarak!"

He could hear the Fire Lord saying to Katara, "Exactly why is it I don't know about this?"

"Because I didn't want a big production?"

Hakoda ignored the byplay as the former warrior wheeled into the room. "What do you have to say for yourself? I can't believe I was so blind as to fall for it, but why? Why would you . . . why would you rape my daughter?"

"Rape?" The man had the gall to laugh. "Please. I knew when she'd be weakest, why, she even left a lamp burning near the door for me. Women just want a strong hand. They just don't always know they're supposed to know their place. It shames a warrior if his wife is too busy with men's work so that he has to do it. We both agreed on that."

The world turned red as Hakoda could feel his words twisted back on him like that. For a brief moment he felt the man's flesh under his fingers as he threw himself forward to kill him with his bare hands. Then he was flung away, falling to the floor, to see his daughter standing between him and the monster he'd allowed to hurt her. "Katara? Why?" he asked.

"Really good question," Sokka and the Fire Lord chorused. They looked at each other, clearly discomfited by their simultaneity, then shrugged it off.

"No killing. I don't want anyone killing anyone for me." Katara was pale, but determined. "It's not that I don't want something else done, but I don't want anyone to die needlessly."

"See?" Ujarak said from behind her, "Women are just too weak to do what needs to be done."

The Fire Lord turned to the man, the air around him wavering with the heat his body was producing. The look in his eyes was enough to make Ujarak quail. "If you're saying your death is necessary, I'd be happy to oblige."

"What he said," Sokka added.

It was Suki who came up with the solution. She stepped up beside the two men, saying in a deceptively sweet voice, "So. Ujarak. Would you say that it would be shameful for a man to do cooking, mending, cleaning and other household chores?"

"Of course," he snapped. "That is women's work. The spirits made women weaker than men to ensure that they would stay home and look after the comforts of the warriors." He glared at them all, "Everyone knows that."

Hakoda shook his head slowly. "You forget. We are also taught that a woman's physical weakness is to make up for greater spiritual strength. This is why the sages of our people are women, Ujarak. Because what they lack in physical strength they make up for in wisdom." He turned to his daughter. "I had let myself forget. Can you forgive me?"

"Oh, Dad!" Katara flung herself at her father, crying. Hakoda closed his eyes murmuring to her over and over that he was sorry, and he would understand if she never trusted him again.

A snort of disgust escaped the former warrior. "Sages. As if the spirit world has anything to do with a real warrior's life."

"You wouldn't say that if you'd been stuck there for a day listening to a stupid baboon talk about life being like a bowl of jook," said Sokka.

"Or seen Avatar Roku destroy his own temple," Katara added.

The Fire Lord put in, "Or a giant blue koi of ocean water destroy an armada."

"I say we set Aang on him," proposed Sokka.

"No," said Suki. "There's a temple on Kyoshi. While every woman on our island is raised to be a warrior, we've accepted that not everyone is cut out for that. Women who wish to be something other than a warrior live there, communally, taking care of the needs of the warriors of Kyoshi." She smiled. "They can also receive training to become scholars or craftsmen, but the support of the warriors is how they pay their way." She smirked. "Let Ujarak have a room there. I am positive our warriors would be delighted," her eyes lit up and the stress she placed on the word spoke volumes, "to help him understand his new place as . . . oh . . . cook's assistant."

"No!" Ujarak panicked. "You can't leave me at the mercy of those she-demons! They're not even real women!"

"I like it," Sokka said.

"Just because you aren't a real man is no reason to force anyone else down such a shameful path!" shouted Ujarak. "No man continues to have his manhood if he submits to a woman's world!" He was almost in hysterics at the thought of a lifetime of cooking and cleaning. It was the work of a moment for Sokka to almost skip down the street to where the Kyoshi delegation was staying, and for the green-clad, white faced warriors to grimly cart the man, still screaming about the loss of his manhood and she-demons, back to their residence.

Katara grinned dreamily. "Can you make him wash Sokka's socks?"

"Spirits, yes," Zuko added fervently. "Katara made me wash them that time at the Western Temple. That was hard labour."

"What's wrong with my socks?" Sokka demanded.

Hakoda shook his head at his son. "Sokka, the fact that you have to ask . . ." he trailed off. Then he looked at Katara. "I'm sorry."

She smiled back, a little tremulously. "It's okay-"

"No it's not!"

"What?"

"Katara!"

Hakoda smiled at the other three. "They're right. Don't force yourself to forgive me. What I did was unforgiveable."

Sokka suddenly leapt at his father, pulling him into a hug. "I missed you, Dad," he muttered. Then he just as suddenly pulled away with a happy smirk on his face. "Now you get your punishment."

"Oh?" the Fire Lord looked rather inordinately pleased at the notion.

"Sokka," Katara and Suki said in warning.

He waved a dismissive hand at them all. "I just meant he has to let Gran-gran tell him 'I told you so'."

This was true.

"Maybe I can go with Ujarak to live on Kyoshi," Hakoda said weakly. Kanna was going to hold it over his head for eternity. She'd probably be waiting for him in the spirit world to keep it up once they'd both passed on. And that cane of hers? It hurt when she hit him with it.

The kids grinned. "Not a chance," they chorused.

Post-fic note: It was requested that things which might give away the plot be moved to an after-note, so I have done so here. I owe Mercedes Lackey and her book, Brightly Burning, Chapter Eighteen, a debt for the idea of Ujarak's final punishment. The bit about women and physical vs spiritual strength is probably borrowed from Mary Herbert's Dark Horse series, but I wouldn't swear to it, because I can't recall offhand so it's rather hard to look it up. But I did steal that from someone else too.

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