1. Chapter 1: First Sight

The tatami mat beneath his feet crunched softly which each step that Zuko, prince of the Fire Nation, took within his uncle's tea house. His uncle was none other than the Fire Lord's brother, Iroh. It had been years since Zuko had last seen his father's brother, but his free-spirited personality was unforgettable and perhaps more importantly, the near opposite of Fire Lord Ozai.

Iroh sat cross-legged on the floor, slowly sipping his tea. Zuko waited patiently, knowing not to disturb him during his tea ceremony. His uncle's eyes were nearly shut, so it was uncertain whether he had actually seen his nephew standing before him or if he was lost in the slow, solemn ceremony. After each sip of the sweet-smelling tea, the elderly man would turn his cup slowly in his hand, appreciating its craftsmanship. With one last slow, long, drought, he finished his tea and with a satisfied sigh.

"Such good manners, nephew!" Iroh exclaimed, looking up at Zuko at last. "You have grown much since I've last seen you. I can tell."

It was true. When he had last seen his uncle Zuko had been freshly scarred by his own father and banished to scour the earth for the Avatar, whom no-one had seen for over one hundred years. Zuko had searched for well over three years with one of his father's ships and a hand-me-down crew fit only for a disgraced son such as himself. Meanwhile as his ship sailed aimlessly across all oceans of the world, Fire Lord Ozai was busy conquering most of it without his son. With each passing day, the exiled prince began to feel more and more like a homeless vagrant. For all he knew or cared, the Avatar had died long ago and the next Avatar was probably already imprisoned by the Fire Nation somewhere, hiding right beneath their noses.

It was somewhere in the Earth Kingdom that Zuko decided upon a change of direction. And so he ended up once again in his birth place, the Fire Nation's capital, where his uncle ran a brothel in Yoshihana, the capital's red light district.

"Brothel" seemed too cruel of a term to Iroh, though. He ran a place of more class than that. He made sure that his women were treated well there; they were each given their own house to occupy, as well as an apprentice and a boy to run errands and deliver messages, seeing as law forbid the women from leaving the district. More importantly, however, Iroh gave his girls the freedom to choose whether or not to see a man. And even with this luxury, Iroh ran one of the most highly regarded "tea houses" in Yoshihana.

"It is good to see you again too, uncle," a smile traced over the prince's lips.

His uncle stood and embraced him "Come, there is much to discuss I take it. We will talk over some warm, jasmine tea. I know it's your favorite!"

"You mean your favorite," Zuko jabbed.

"Oh? So it is!" Iroh gave a great, hearty laugh.

Before long, the two were sitting in his uncle's own private quarters drinking jasmine tea. The two studied each other wordlessly until they drained their tea cups.

"It has been a long three years, uncle…" Zuko began.

"So it has. I take it you did not find what it is you set out to find?" Iroh inquired politely.

The prince shook his head. "As if I had not been humiliated enough, my father sent me on a wild turtleduck chase."

"But you did find something, did you not?"

_I have found that I no longer wish to be my father's son_, Zuko thought. But instead he said "I'm not really sure."

Iroh nodded in understanding. "Well, you are welcome to stay as long as you like, Prince Zuko. You'll find that my establishment has quite hospitable lodgings! You could even take a girl to warm your bed for you, if you like."

Zuko flushed. "That would not be necessary. A cold bed should suit me just fine, uncle."

Iroh laughed so hard that his belly shook. "There's the nephew that I used to know! But come, there is just one girl that I would like you to meet."

* * *

_Iroh could not have chosen a worse client_, Katara thought as she carefully brushed the silky black hair of her apprentice. _No matter how kind he says his nephew is_. For all she knew, Iroh was the only member of the royal family that Katara would ever find remotely pleasant, and even he will not give her freedom. _No matter how much he boasts of what choices we are allowed here, I still cannot leave the district. Or waterbend. _

"Yeeoow!" Katara's young apprentice yelped, flailing her hands above her, "that hurt!"

"You've got your hair all tangled up in knots again, Toph."

"This is why I don't like letting my hair down!" she pouted, but did not make any more of a fuss as Katara continued to make the blind girl more presentable.

For as bad as things seemed here, the two girls were lucky to be prisoners at a tea house rather than one of the Fire Nation's actual prisons. There they would have to do worse things than don masks of courtesy and drink tea with the people who enslaved them, for Katara has never chosen to "see" any of her suitors. Paradoxically, this made her one of the most famous concubines of Iroh's tea house, and in all of Yoshihana for that matter.

"You look so beautiful, Toph," Katara smiled lovingly, as a mother might. "When you try," she added.

The earthbender gave a crooked, ironic smile. "I'm sure I do."

Katara remembered the first day she met Toph. She had been working for Iroh for just over six months. The Earth Kingdom native was brought to the red light district with a dozen or so other young women more or less her age. Iroh was the only one willing to take the poor blind girl in; she was just moments away from being transferred to one of the capital city's labor camps, where men both young and old and even old women were made to do manual labor for the Fire Nation's war efforts. At that time Katara had already grown to like the old man; seeing him take Toph in like that inspired her to request to take the young blind girl under her wing.

The two had grown to be fast friends, especially when they found out that they were both benders. Even though the laws of the Fire Nation forbid the concubines to practice bending, all those who were benders in the district practiced it in secret. Katara believed that Iroh knew about it the whole time, but chose to turn a blind eye.

"That should do it," said Katara as she tucked a pale white lily under Toph's ear. Now it was time to slip on her own dress. It was an elegant, pure white kimono with a pattern of blue cranes. They appeared to swoop in and out all around her body as she carefully clothed herself. She wore her hair half up and half down, organizing it into a top knot in the back of her head while braiding her two front bangs on either side of her face, creating an elegant frame. She tied it all together with shiny white ribbon, and finally finished it off with a deep azure blue lily tucked beneath her ear.

Katara studied her own reflection in the looking glass. She wore her mother's betrothal necklace underneath the smokescreen of perfume and silk. Her clients and maybe even Iroh could never tell, but she always remembered who she really was: Katara, daughter of Kya, of the Southern Water tribe.

Just then, her errand boy knocked softly on the thin door made of wood and paper that separated her private chamber from the rest of thetiny room she called a "home". He called himself Kuzon, but Katara knew what his real name was. He was a thin and gangly boy, only a year or so younger than Katara but he still seemed like a child to her.

"You can come in," Katara said, turning away from the mirror that she no longer wanted to look at. The boy sheepishly opened the door, as if still somehow expecting her to be dressing. As his tentative eyes met hers, he paused, visibly taken by her beauty as Katara knew he always was whenever she had dressed for a visitor.

"I got the groceries that you wanted, and some more flowers, too. I notice that you and Toph were nearly out," he announced, failing to hold back a blush.

"Thanks so much, A- Kuzon," she corrected. There was no way of knowing who was listening through those thin walls during the daytime. "Will you escort Toph and I to the tea house this afternoon?"

"Of course. I want to get a glimpse of the prince myself. I wonder what he looks like, anyway."

There was a fair amount of propaganda for Fire Lord Ozai and his family all over the capital, but never any pictures of the exiled Prince Zuko. Katara had been warned by Iroh that he had a horribly disfiguring scar and that she shouldn't be alarmed or even pretend to notice it. He had only said that it was a "sensitive subject" for Zuko, but Katara had guessed that his father had given it to him.

* * *

Zuko sat at his own private table in Iroh's tea shop while beautifully dressed women from all over the world played soft music. There was a woman from the Earth Kingdom gently fiddling an erhu. Her skin was as pale as ivory, her eyes as green as forest leaves and as dark as night. A dark-skinned woman from one Water tribe or the other accompanied her on a set of chimes. He watched them through the empty space in front of him where Katara, the most beautiful girl in Yoshihana would sit and have tea and small delicacies with him. His scar seemed to itch as he grew more and more aware of its presence.

_Oh well, she is paid to not care about a man's face_, he thought grimly. He did not know why, but the thought of meeting with this girl made him feel a kind of nervousness he had not felt for a long time. Of course, he had had Mai. But his entire life before exile now seemed as faint as a distant story heard long ago and scarcely remembered. Luckily his presence in the capital was a well-kept secret; if Mai caught wind that Zuko was in Yoshihana she would likely kill him for it, as well as whatever woman he might have been seeing. But, it was more likely that she was on some campaign with his sister, Azula, the shining star of Ozai's eye.

Whenever he thought of her, his thoughts grew sour. He was quickly lifted out of his dark cloud of misery by the soft chime of a gong. Zuko stood up as a young man entered his field of vision.

"May I present Katara, the frost lily of the Southern Water Tribe," he announced as she elegantly stepped forward. _Iroh was right_, he thought. Before him surely stood the most beautiful woman in the entire world.

* * *

Author's note: Thank you so much for reading the first chapter of my Zutara series! This is the first fanfic I have written in a long time. I have planned this story from start to finish, so I do expect to finish one this time!

A few things about this story in particular

It is based off of research I have done on the courtesan culture of the Edo period in Japan, specifically those who were a part of the Yoshiwara district. "Yoshihana" is both an homage to the real life red-light district of Edo Japan and has its own meaning. "Yoshi" means "good" or "good luck" and "hana" means flower.

I *passionately* ship Zutara. Even those this is an AU and a fan shipping, I want to relate it to the actual A:TLA universe as much as possible. Yes, Sokka will be appearing soon!

As always, your thoughts and opinions are very much appreciated! And I very much welcome criticism and any grammatical corrections you have to offer.


	2. Chapter 2: The Date

She was a flower wrapped in soft petals of blue and white. Katara approached the tea house, each step slow and precise, almost rhythmic, as a dancer's. With each step the sapphire blue cranes on her gown seemed to fly through the snow white fabric. As she approached the canopied area the exiled prince came into view.

_He's only boy_, she thought. A boy only a year or two older than she was, in fact. She didn't know what to expect, but for some reason she had not expected the sullen teenager seated on the mat before her. His raven black hair was cropped short, and he wore a simple brown and red garb. He could have passed for an ordinary peasant or the son of small-time merchant, if not for the distinctive scar over his eye. The scar was ugly, she thought, but not hideous. It covered a good portion of the left half of his face, forcing his eye partially shut.

Unflinching, Katara approached the short table where the man was seated and with unfailing poise and delicacy, seated herself. To move from standing to sitting in a kimono was an art in itself, just another one of what Katara thought to be tedious mannerisms that she was taught when she first became a courtesan. It was one that her trainee, Toph, would almost certainly never learn because of her lack of vision, but with any luck she would not have to. As she took her seat, her long sleeves and skirts seemed to swirl around her, the cranes descending in a dance, and as always they landed perfectly just-so.

The eyes of the young Fire Prince feasted on the sight of Katara sitting before him. The deftness of her every move left him speechless. Her grace was like that of a young doe in her prime, and Zuko sat in stunned silence, like a man who has just seen a goddess appear before him.

It occurred to him that she had taken her seat and was awaiting a greeting, but his mind would not form any words for his lips to speak. Before he could say anything, though, she bowed her head.

"My prince," she recited, "I am so lucky to finally meet you. Your uncle has told me so much about you." She mentally spoke through her teeth, while in reality holding a watertight smile.

Meanwhile Zuko was still drinking in the mere sight of her. When she spoke, her voice was rich and musical to his ears. He soon realized that it was he was expected to answer her back somehow.

"Ah- yes. My uncle has said much about you as well," he struggled, "you are even more beautiful than he told me."

Katara held her smile while wanting to roll her eyes at him. It was the same line that she had heard dozens of times.

Instead she bowed graciously. "Your uncle is kind to say so," she continued, "he also told me some fascinating things about you. Please, tell me what it was like to sail around the world."

Internally she smirked. She knew that exile was probably a sore subject for the Prince, but he could not accuse her of provoking him if he got upset or angry with her. As far as she was concerned, it was an innocent enough question.

Zuko's mind began to surge. It was a futile, humiliating venture, he wanted to admit. But he knew he couldn't. He was grasping for straws, trying to think of anything at all to say.

"My travels were not very interesting," he heard himself speak, "but I didn't get to spend very much time with the Water Tribes. Please, tell me about your people. What are they like?"

The question caught Katara off guard and left her out of breath. _Why would he ask me that?_ For the first time in over a year she forgot herself and her hand instinctively reached for her mother's betrothal necklace, as she often did when she needed strength.

"We were strong, proud tribe…" She hadn't realized what she was saying. She had to forget that life for so long. Feeling exposed, Katara gasped and quickly hid her necklace beneath her garment again, but he had seen it all. Fear consumed her, and she could do nothing but stare at the boy before her and wait for his response.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that. I mean, I'm not going to hurt you…" he trailed off. _Damn it, I look like a fool_. He sighed. "Look, if anyone would understand, it's my uncle."

Katara was flustered. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Put the mask back on, she urged herself. His question had disturbed her, unlike anything that had ever been said to her before. She tried to resume her duties as a courtesan and deny his personal question politely. But she could not.

"I- I think I would very much like to return to my quarters," she said, standing suddenly and with much less grace than mere minutes before. Toph and Kuzon where by her side within moments; Katara took the hand of her young blind assistant and began to stride off.

Zuko was left to sit by himself in astonished silence.

* * *

Later at dusk, the Fire Prince was sitting with his Uncle enjoying a modest dinner of udon noodles and a warm relaxing evening tea. All of the rest of that day he had spent lying in his quarters and kicking himself for being such a fool. His uncle had only managed to persuade him with the smell of hot food. He quickly realized that he had not eaten lunch that day since his "date" had walked out on him.

"You must have really rubbed her the wrong way!" Iroh's belly shook as he gave a deep and hearty laugh. "Katara is my best behaved girl. I have never heard of her just walking out on someone like that."

Zuko's scowl deepened. "I guess I forgot how to talk to women," he said curtly.

"Ah well. I had only wanted you to meet her. It has been about time that Katara have tea with someone a little closer to her own age, and not just crusty old men like me!"

"Well, maybe she has had her fill of suitors," he commented as he blew a few puffs of air onto his noodles to cool them off.

"Maybe so. She usually at least finishes the meal that the man has so generously paid for, only to send him her rejection letter later that evening," Iroh explained.

"So that's how it works."

* * *

After his meal with Iroh and several losing games of Pi-Sho, Zuko returned to his private quarters. When he got there, a young man was standing near his front door. Zuko recognized him as the messenger boy who had accompanied Katara to their meeting.

Zuko gave a wan smile, already guessing at what he had to say. "It's okay, you can go home now. It's getting late."

The boy did not seem to hear him as he reached into his bag. He brought out a small paper note and handed it to Zuko.

The Lady Katara will see you this evening, the note read, along with her house address.

* * *

Author's Notes: Wewt! The second chapter is finally here! I hope you guys enjoy it, even though it is fairly brief. I am a very abbreviated writer (would make a better journalist than a story teller) but writing is only one of my hobbies. I've also started working full time which contributed to how long it took me to write this chapter. I have known what I wanted to say for a while, just not how to say it. I stayed up late one night to write most of it and then spent some time refining it.

As always reviews/critiques/grammar corrections are very welcome


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