(Or; The Odyssey / Epic The Musical AU with Katara as Odysseus and Zuko as Penelope)
Caldera's Court was quiet as Katara sneaked into the Fire Nation Palace's venerable halls.
It seemed her time masquerading as the Painted Lady had prepared her for this delicate task. A hand draping the hood of her cloak over her face, she wandered the once familiar hallways like a spirit, unbeknownst even to the staff.
Before long, Katara had stalked into the Throne Room through a side door. How curious. The lights were more dimmed here than she remembered, and the doors were unusually closed.
Fear itched at the back of her neck. What had been going on in her own home while she was away?
Katara settled in a shadowy corner, eagerly eavesdropping to many noble ladies hissing behind their fans. Fire Lord... marriage... impatient...
Wait. What was that about a challenge?
Katara didn't have the time to ponder that question as the Throne Room's doors burst open.
Her heart threatened to stop. Katara watched, her blue eyes growing wide, as Zuko entered. His hair was longer, his features older, but his gait and his assurance were the same as he climbed up the dais by two empty thrones.
Katara drew in a deep breath. She longed to yell to him, to shout that she was here, that she was all right... but she knew she couldn't. Not yet.
Instead, as Zuko held up the bow he had bought for the Painted Lady years ago, Katara listened.
"Whoever can string my dear wife's old bow and shoot through twelve axes cleanly will be the new Queen, sit down at my throne, and rule with me as her King!"
Zuko dropped his head, his hands clenching around the wooden bow, and he closed his eyes. Katara had seen that very same expression many times on his dear Uncle Iroh's face. Pained lines creased into Zuko's face when he continued,
"Let the arrows fly once you know that your aim is true." Zuko's golden eyes snapped open. "'Cause I'd rather die than grow old without the best of you!"
Cold anger grew in the room--Katara could feel it seeping from the noblewomen's tight muscles into cracks in the floor. They all watched as Zuko leaped from the dais. His jaw set and his shoulders straight, Zuko strolled, again, towards the door.
"Though I never thought that that these would be the lengths we go for love, I would not have it any other way."
He slowed, though, a few feet away from Katara.
Her heart skipped a beat. He looked resplendent, as usual, as the gold of his crown caught the light filtering in from the opened doors. For a second, Katara thought he'd seen her... but that didn't seem the case when he bowed his head once more.
Zuko sighed. "And though I never thought that it would end like this, just know I'll be here..." He took in a shaky breath. "Waiting... waiting..."
As Zuko began to walk out the door, a chorus rose from the noblewomen, low and threatening.
Katara shifted in the shadows, moving towards the Throne Room's entrance without a care. She had to tell him, she had to tell Zuko...!
Tears blurred Katara's vision as she watching Zuko walking out the opened doors. No, no, no!
Just as Katara reached out--to do what, she didn't know; to reassure him, or tell him she was alive, if not so well?--the doors closed on her husband with a defeated sigh.
And thus, Caldera's Court was quiet once more.
