Katara rolled over in the bed. The sheets were still warm where Zuko had lain. She basked in the toastiness and breathed in the familiar scent of smoke and sandalwood that her husband always left behind him.
Zuko must have gotten out of bed hours ago; like the true fire bender he was, he rose at the crack of dawn. But, on the other hand, Katara had to be dragged, kicking, and screaming out of bed by her maid every morning, or else she would sleep in until noon. She couldn't be expected to function properly until she'd gone to the palace baths and practiced her water bending.
Song, Katara's lady's maid, opened one of the sliding screen doors that led out into the garden to let in moor sunlight. Katara's eyes blinked open, then quickly drooped closed.

"Good morning, Madame," Song said. "I've already laid out your bathing costume for you."

Katara yawned. "Very well. Thank you, Song."
The cool waters of the bathing pool cleared the fog from Katara's head, and the swift, graceful movements of her water bending forms shook away the lethargy from her limbs. Finally, Katara returned to her chambers refreshed and ready to start the day.
She was bending water from her hair while Jin, another of the lady's maids, laced her corset when there was a knock at the door.
"Are you decent, My Lady?"
Katara replied, "One moment please." She quickly threw on a silk dressing gown while Jin bustled off to see who was there.

On-Ji, a maid-of-honor who served as Katara's private secretary, entered the room. She was a pretty young woman from an ancient, wealthy, and influential family. Caldera society scratched their heads about why she hadn't gotten married years ago since she didn't lack suitors.
Oh well, the right man is always worth waiting for. Katara, who'd married Zuko at eighteen, was grateful that she found Mr. Right sooner rather than later.
"Are you feeling well?" Katara asked On-Ji. The poor girl looked pale and uneasy.
On-Ji put a hand over her mouth to suppress a dry heave. "I'll be alright, Your Ladyship," she said. "I'm just a little hung over from the ball last night."
Katara chuckled. "My my, what would Avatar Aang think?"
On-Ji lowered her eyes and clutched the wooden prayer beads around her neck. She was an Air Acolyte, a follower of Avatar Aang and the ways of the ancient Air Nomads. One of their teachings was to abstain from alcohol.
Katara went over to the fire pit in the center of the room and stoked the embers. Tui and La, where was Zuko when you needed him? Once she got a flame going, she placed a water kettle over it.

"Speaking of the Avatar," she said. "Has he arrived in Caldera yet?"
Aang was supposed to be the guest of honor at the opening of a new Air Nomad wing at the Caldera Museum of Art today. As the last surviving Air Nomad, who better to cut the ribbons? But Aang's comings and goings were notoriously unpredictable.
On-Ji blushed. "His bison was spotted in the sky last night."
Katara smiled. Dear Appa. Won't Iroh be thrilled to know he's back in town?
When the kettle boiled, Katara prepared two cups of tea. "Lord Zuko's uncle, the late General Iroh, swore by green tea for hangovers." General Iroh, the namesake of Katara's youngest child, was dead these past nine years. A cup of tea, of some variety or another, had been his answer for everything. "With ginger." Katara granted a piece of ginger root over the two cups of tea.
On-Ji accepted the cup offered to him. "Thank you, My Lady," she said.
"Take the rest of the morning off." Katara took a sip of her tea. "Get some more sleep. It'll also help to have a nice dip in the palace bathing pool."
"I will. Thank you." On-Ji covered her mouth again as another wave of nausea hit.
Katara shook her head and sighed in sympathy. The poor thing. How she must have enjoyed herself last night.

Katara found Zuko inside a shrine in the garden. He was putting incense in front of a green jade funerary urn and a portrait of General Iroh. The artist had depicted the late Dragon of the West with a serene, benevolent expression. They also captured the jovial twinkle in his eyes and the mischievous way the corners of his mouth curled when he smiled to perfection.
Zuko chanted a prayer and lit the incense with one of his own flames. A cloud of jasmine-scented smoke wafted in Katara's direction.
Katara took Zuko's hand. "He'd be so proud of you," she said. She kissed Zuko's cheek.
General Iroh had been more of a parent to Zuko than Zuko's own father. He'd taught Zuko his first fire bending form, gave him his first sword, and was always there to provide fatherly advice whether or not Zuko knew he needed it. But unfortunately, all Lord Ozai ever gave Zuko was the burn scars covering part of his face. Yet, even with his scars or because of them, no man could be more beautiful to Katara. 
Zuko pressed his lips to Katara's fingers. His silky mustache brushed against her knuckles. "He'd be proud of us," he said.
Katara giggled. "He would." She wouldn't be arrogant to say that she'd been the one by his side throughout all Zuko had accomplished during his fifteen years on the throne, bringing peace to the Four Nations and healing the wounds left by a century of war. "Come, breakfast is waiting."
They discovered Izumi curled up with a scroll in the lap of a carved stone dragon who stood guard over the outdoor dining area. She must have been up for a while. Like her father, Izumi usually awoke at dawn. Today was one of her mornings to serve as a shrine maiden at the Temple of Agni like female fire benders from the royal family had been doing for centuries.
The girl's back was hunched, and her legs were folded up so that her knees almost reached her ears. Katara raised an eyebrow. Her daughter's reading nook didn't look very comfortable.
Izumi swooped down from her perch like a crane, the long, white sleeves of her robe flapping as if they were wings. "Morning Mama," she said. "Morning Papa."
Zuko looked at the scroll that had fallen on the ground. "What are you reading?" he said.
"Avatar Roku's Ta Min Poems," Izumi replied. Then, she grabbed the scroll off the ground and rolled it back up.
"Ah, a good one."
Katara had to agree. The Ta Min Poems, which recounted Avatar Roku's courtship of his eventual wife, the famous court beauty, Ta Min, was one of the few works of Fire Nation literature that Katara could stand. In general, Fire Nation literature was bloated and pretencious.
Izumi tucked the scroll under her arm. "I've been meaning to read it ever since Mistress Ling did a lesson on Avatar Roku."
Mistress Ling was the tutor who Katara had hired when she took Izumi out of the Royal Fire Academy for Girls so she could begin her training as heir to the throne.
Katara quickly spotted the black smudges on Izumi's white sleeves with a mother's uncanny ability to notice dirt and stains.
"Izumi," Katara said. She grabbed her daughter's arm. The prayers to be chanted during the sun greeting ceremony were written in slightly smudged characters. "What are these?"
Izumi blushed. "Notes, in case I forgot."
"Oh, Izumi, your special robes. I hope the fire sages didn't see."

Or, more importantly, their wives. Fire sages' wives were proverbial for spreading gossip. If they had noticed Princess Izumi with ink stains all over her arms during the sun greeting ceremony, it would soon spread throughout Caldera. And they would say that Lady Katara didn't know how to raise her children properly, as if they didn't have teams of nannies looking after their miserable brats.
Zuko gave Izumi a stern look. "Next time, study your prayers instead of love poetry."
Izumi's blush deepened. She pointed to a maid bringing out a tray. "Here's Lily with your tea, Papa," she said. Lily placed the tray on the dining table and bowed. Izumi picked up the teapot. "Remember what the doctor said, two cups of ginseng tea in the morning and two at night."
"Don't change the subject, young lady."
Katara handed Zuko the cup that Izumi had filled. "Just drink your tea and try not to give yourself a heart attack."
She might tease Zuko about how that temper of his will kill him someday with his weak heart, but this was no laughing matter.
Zuko appeared to the rest of the world as a strong and vibrant young Fire Lord, but only his family knew of his weak heart. His condition resulted from a wound he'd received during an Agni Kai with Admiral Zhao, a duel he fought to protect Katara. He survived, thanks to Katara using her bending to heal his injuries, but his heart had been permanently damaged. Katara had spent the past decade and a half studying how water bending can be used for healing to keep Zuko alive. It was the least she could do for the man who'd saved her life and given her everything she could ever want.
As a girl, Katara had dismissed healing as a waste of her time. Better to use her bending for something more practical like combat or defense. Little had she known that so-called healing bending could be deadlier than combat bending.
The sight of Fire Lord Ozai contorting in agony as Katara bent the blood away from his heart still haunted her dreams. It haunted her as much as she'd enjoyed every moment of it. No one could tell that Ozai hadn't died from an ordinary heart attack.
Katara had killed her father-in-law to protect Zuko and the unborn child growing inside her. The child was now the strong, beautiful young lady with ink-stained sleeves eating shrimp congee across from her. A young lady who would one day inherit a stable and prosperous Fire Nation after Zuko's long and successful reign.