The Royal Return (3)

Knowing full well that it wasn't just a meet 'n' fuck kind of situation {A/N: Remember those games?}, the girls quickly grew engrossed. Even if they had slept together and shared a man did not mean that they 'talked.' They acted. They trained. They worked. All these acts left little to talk about. Cases like Poppy and Michi where they grew 'best' friends were rare even among his harem since they wanted to know more about him.

But this gave them a chance to actually inquire about one another and while Ty Lee pinned down Michi to learn more gossip while making sure to lather her friend's mother in praises as Mai herself sat with an awkwardly smiling Yue who looked up to the unsocial mistress of blades, and Nik sat next to Ursa who had a slightly exasperated smile. She looked lovely like usual and although she still wore her usual clothes, after seeing Poppy and Michi taking time to look beautiful for Nik, Ursa herself felt a little compelled to do the same.

Not because of peer pressure but because of the fact that Nik worked hard to improve every day and work even harder to satisfy them every night. The least she could do is make herself more... desirable. Even if she knew this was just a selfish intent.

"How am I going to break this news to Zuko, Nik?" Ursa smiled wryly before exhaling heavily again and taking the mug of wine offered to her by him.

"You don't," Nik shrugged, "Just do what Michi does. Let him figure it out himself and if he questions you, guilt trip his ass to the spirit world!"

Like a few in Nik's harem who still did not believe in the Spirit World, Ursa shook her head and smiled slightly. She'd herself noticed that she was smiling more and more these days. Sometimes without any reason. And when near Nik, she felt comfort she hadn't felt since after her marriage.

"I can't do that now," she rebuked softly while slowly sipping the wine filling her mug as she exhaled, "And... I was hoping to discuss something else, too. Nik... it sounds a little unreasonable but I don't have anyone else but Azula and Zuko—"

Before she could even feel a little more conflicted since it would be a big ask from her perspective, Nik leaned toward her until their shoulders touched and hummed, "Let's see. I will probably ask for something really expensive to let you and your kids move in~" He had correctly assumed what Ursa wanted.

She did live in Old Ba Sing Se but that wasn't her home. It was a place to stay at best. After many years, even if the slightest glimmer of it, Ursa did see a possibility of settling down even if it meant that her daughter would have 'certain' similar privileges.

Not the least bit surprised that he would have demands, since he wasn't a personification of charity, Ursa nodded, "Do state them..."

"First, I know just how much you love Azula and Zuko... so you will be the one to discuss his eventual migration here. I think... he would probably be out for my guts the first few months so I would rather keep my distance from him."

Ursa nodded concisely.

"Second, you have to start doing something you like aside from me, of course."

"Eh?" Ursa blinked in surprise as Nik looked at her with a passionate gaze and smiled gently, "Again, I will only love it more that you stay at home, waiting for me. What kind of a fool of a man would I be if I did not want that? But... while I never had to say this to others since they are pretty motivated to better themselves... Ursa, I hope you can try to find something you like and thrive on it for years to come. For me, I believe that knowing more about the world and... getting to know more women is a worthy enough passion. You should see if such a passion is still within yourself or not."

Of many things, more sexual than not, Ursa did not expect such a demand. She was certainly a little confused why Nik would want something that would... gain more of her time and attention.

"I can't say much about it... but I always did want your family to move in... eventually."

Alright, the meaning behind these words was pretty clear as his scorching gaze made her feel a tiny bit bashful. Again, a sensation she hadn't felt for years as her gaze grew slightly more tender and she hummed, "If we're talking about passion... before I was married, I loved acting in theaters."

Nik stared at her for a second before he sighed, "Damn, I wish I could see it. What kind of plays were you in?"

"Just the one... a heartbreaking romance," Ursa replied while enjoying another sip of wine and she shook her head, "Too bad... I don't think I can ever act again."

"Thank god you weren't such a downer after you drenched Azula's bed that night," Ja Sum smirked, unlike Ursa, taking heavy gulps from his mug before draining the content within while Ursa's lips and eyes widened in sheer shock how... he could even speak something like that with such a casual expression. And then she realized... it must REALLY be casual for him, no?

"Hey, that was uncalled for!" Ursa instantly glared as she would glare at her children after finding them doing something stupid yet it only had a counter-effect as Nik leaned forward, the husk of his breath making her ear tickle as Ursa was getting aware of how others kept glancing in their directions with various responses from smug smirks to slight envy.

"Yeah? And what are you going to do about it?"

Feeling absolutely helpless, an emotion she was revolted by after years of hard work and labor yet also an emotion she had begun to crave since it would only lead to her melting into his arms, Ursa pursed her lips, not knowing what to say as Nik went ahead and pecked her earlobe while she could only bury her head... or at least try to bury her head into her torso.

As if having had his fill, for the time being, Nik mused, "So? What was the play actually about?"

"Love Amongst the Dragons," Ursa smiled as she somewhat leaned towards Nik and let her head rest over his shoulder while closing her eyes, "It's a myth about a powerful dragon spirit— Dragon Emperor, cursed to adopt a mortal body named Noren by the evil Dark Water Spirit. In his mortality, Noren suffers things he never imagined as a powerful spirit and there, he found love with a mortal woman. Noren eventually defeats the Dark Water Spirit and reverts to his powerful form. Yet, he loved the woman, who had given her heart to him. The mortal woman herself was the Dragon Empress all along. Their memories were corrupted by the Dark Water Spirit and only after its defeat did they realize that they could not stay apart from one another even if they had forgotten each other."

Ursa's lips quivered, "Nik... I still remember the day vividly when I got appointed to the role of the Dragon Empress... oh, my heart was so full then... I had my Ikem next to me... sigh, Nik, before you, there was Ikem..." Opening her eyes and looking up to Nik with her gaze somewhat watery and threatening to tear up, she mustered, "I don't ever want to return to Ozai's side, Nik. He..."

She grew silent yet her gaze only revealed her desire to unload everything. Maybe she wanted to start fresh, but the fear of unloading too much and somewhat scaring him off burdened her, too. While Nik had been accommodating, they have, after all, shared a single night of passion that maybe he could easily gloss over...

"I don't think it would get worse than trying to kill off just about everyone when it comes to him," Nik smirked, his hand gently patted and rubbed her back to comfort her as she grew more on him, her entire weight shifting onto him as he stood his grounds remarkably unmovingly and shifted the same hand on her back further to coil around her waist as Ursa whispered gently.

And what do you know?

Ozai's actions DID manage to top over genocide, too!

Damn, Phoenix King wasn't a family man... but again, Damn!

As if having a terrible weight that burdened her for years disappear from her heart and her shoulders, Ursa couldn't help but set the mug aside and sob her heart out while hugging Nik and burying her face into his broad chest. While comforting Ursa by just keeping her close to him since that's all she really needed with no words holding enough value to ever comfort her for the years she'd faced, Nik waved at others and let them get back to the 'festivities.'

And Azula silently wondered if Ursa did tell THAT to Nik or not since Azula had fished out a lot of information from her mother over the years for her own curiosity.

But once Ursa was done clearing her heart out, her smile grew noticeably more carefree despite the tearstains marring her beautiful face as she claimed that she would like to get back into her passion for Theater but instead of 'acting' the roles led by others... she now wished not to fill someone else's shoe but create something wonderful. If she can raise her children to their current honorable conditions... then she can raise a story, too, right? And given the diverse 'cast' around Nik, Ursa was sure she would not only have a lot of 'material' to write on but also have several sets of perspectives on her work and improve.

And Nik was quite happy to hear it, generally. Again, he would love a 'housewife' but he'd serviced a lot of housewives in his previous life and knew that their greatest complaint was actually their regret of never adopting anything exciting for themselves and thus, they turned to carnal activities.

Sure, a monogamous couple can live happily with traditional roles but Nik was aware that things cannot be so simple since most of these wives and concubines were part of some noble's harem who had been feeling left out.

So, Nik always did his best to stay on top of these complaints.

Finding ways to appreciate each girl and finding it convenient that most of them can always train together and also helping them set some form of activity for themselves. It needed to be something they can be passionate about.

Either way, this 'mixer' was quite a great success until Suki and June got into some disagreement and with enough alcohol in them, the girls took it upon themselves to sort out the situation tavern-style as this 'catfight' involved less of pulling on each other's clothes and more fists and kicks with tables flying around as a mischievous Toph continued to make more things for the duo to throw at each other...

One of which struck Katara in the nose. Subsequently, Katara's water whip smacked Mai's toned ass accidentally, Mai's blunt knives were then totally aimed at Azula but before the Blue Flames could consume the hard 'earned' manor whole, Nik put his foot on the fight.

No 'meat' for them in the coming month!

And Ursa, who had been finding ways to effectively punish her daughter to keep her in check realized that THIS got to Azula... giving Ursa some ideas.

***

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