Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warning:
Categories:
Fandom:
Relationships:
Characters:
Additional Tags:
Language:
English
Series:
Part 1 of our country is a lawless land
Stats:
Published:
2022-01-29
Completed:
2022-01-29
Words:
16,539
Chapters:
20/20
Comments:
2
Kudos:
46
Bookmarks:
12
Hits:
1,833

my time, my wine, my spirit, my trust

Summary:

When Katara was thirteen-years-old, she was sent to the Royal Fire Academy For Girls, courtesy of Fire Lord Iroh.

Though her ancestors would be disappointed in this sentiment, she liked the Fire Nation.

And what she loved the most were the individuals that made up the Royal Family.

Or, rather, the Royal Siblings.

Notes:

First off, this is Fire Nation centric (because I like the Fire Nation best and find them the most interesting); therefore, most of the characters are Fire Nation and we will hardly or not see Sokka, Aang, and Toph. There is also minimal Ty Lee.

Second, I didn’t really create a cohesive timeline because I didn’t find it that important. I know! World building is very important, but I didn’t personally want to give myself a headache trying to figure out everything. So the 100 year didn’t really happen. Sozin/Azulon were successful in taking the Southern Air Temple, but that was all. Aang was never frozen so he is older. Iroh is Fire Lord.

It is important to note that I wrote bits and pieces out of order and wrote around the established pieces. In some parts, characterization got away from me as the characters became their own.

Yes, this fic does delve into LGBTQ+ themes but I am in no way trying to make grand claims about what it’s like to be queer or say anything about same sex interactions. There are elements that are personal to me that I wrote in here. Like I previously stated, I did not write this fic in order and had to work around established parts, and if you want to read something that has a happy ending for the main same sex pairing, this isn’t the fic for you.

Titles are from "Death by a Thousand Cuts" by Taylor Swift.

Chapter 1: introduction

Chapter Text

When Katara was thirteen-years-old, she was sent to the Royal Fire Academy For Girls, courtesy of Fire Lord Iroh. Because the Fire Nation constantly raided and captured their waterbenders during Sozin’s and Azulon’s reign, Fire Lord Iroh decreed for reparations. Sending the Southern Water Tribe’s last waterbender to Caldera was considered “reparations”—Katara guesses—because what place was the Southern Water Tribe for a waterbender?

The Northern Water Tribe sure wouldn’t have been a place for her, and Katara knows that. She didn’t know by the time she had left her home, but she learned that she wouldn’t have been taught how to fight because she was a woman; and though being a healer sounded useful and enticing, she couldn’t understand why she (or anyone else) couldn’t have learned both.

At the Academy, Katara would be taught by Lady Hama, who was also from the Southern Water Tribe, but never returned because it would remind her too much of what was lost. And she worked Katara nearly to death. But that was the culture in the Fire Nation—working to perfection for hours on end day in and day out, which agonized Katara to no end, but the results were worth it.

She couldn’t imagine living life stuck on a frozen tundra without a master waterbender to learn from and spending all her days cooking, mending clothes, and whatever was deemed “woman’s” work. Though her ancestors would be disappointed in this sentiment, she liked the Fire Nation.

She liked that the landscapes and seasons were painted with a myriad of colors and the spirits that accompanied the creation myths; she understood the importance of honor and discipline in her bones and caught herself chasing after the promise of perfection that the Fire natives chased as well; she loved the opportunities that were laid out in front of her, and that girls and boys saw her as an equal contender.
And what she loved the most were the individuals that made up the Royal Family.

Or rather, the Royal Siblings.