Bright Sun of Agni

Rain and Apple Blossoms

Katara learned of Lord Ukano's death when Lady Mai and her mother, Lady Michi, paid a visit after breakfast to request permission to wear formal mourning. There was no love lost between Katara and Lord Ukano, though he was technically her foster father, and perversely, she had him to thank for her success in life. With his demise, the last serious threat to Zuko's reign had been quashed, and Katara, Zuko, and their family were finally safe. Nevertheless, Katara didn't have it in her heart to celebrate his death, and his grieving daughter and widow's demands were hardly unreasonable.

"Absolutely not!" Azula rose from the mat she was kneeling on and nearly disturbed the tea things spread out neatly on the low table. "Such a suggestion is dangerously close to treason."
Lady Mai knelt at Azula's feet, her voluminous bustle making her look like a snail. "But Princess," she said, her usual stony mask slipping. "We weren't even able to retrieve his body..."
"Throwing him in a ditch or out with the garbage would have been too good for him."
Lady Michi began to sob and Izumi offered her a handkerchief.
Azula gave the widow one of her haughty, barking laughs. "Don't cry, Lady Michi. You're still a handsome woman. You'll find someone else to warm your bed now that your husband's gone, though widow's weeds will do you few favors."