The Curse
"The gods visit the sins of the fathers upon the children." –Euripides
Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar.
He was terrified. It was as if a dragon within his chest was clawing and biting. Anything to break free so he could show the fear. Instead, he held it inside. Even when her golden eyes narrowed at his placid face. "You don't want it," She hurled at him in bitter accusation.
She had said two simple words with a secretive smile. No, he wanted to tell her now, he did want it. Yet he…he was afraid to have this child. It would be their second born. Their first was everything he could possibly want. He loved her and their child. It was just…
How could she possibly know or hope to understand his thoughts on this matter?
He knew the truth about his family. She did not. All the facts screamed at him, telling him that this child was cursed no matter what he did. It would not be the child's fault, no, it was his forefathers.
…Sozin…
There was a truth that most had forgotten. Sozin was his great-grandfather, the Fire Lord who had started the century long war that he, Fire Lord Zuko, had ended. Perhaps that would spare his unborn child…
That did not help to quench his fear, but it did give him a tiny flame of hope. It thrummed like his quick heartbeat within his fear-filled chest. Sozin had not been the first born. Most did not know that. Before Sozin, there had been another beloved crown prince. That son had died in his early years from a death giving fever that stole him from his parents. Sozin had been born as a replacement. The only other child and heir apparent. That was why his father had maintained a distance from his second born.
Sozin had started the war for no other reason than greed and power.
Zuko looked at Mai's accusing eyes that tried to disguise her hurt. "You wouldn't understand," He murmured, reaching a hand to caress her pale cheek. She slapped it away.
"Do you hate our son too then?" She hissed furious. Zuko looked away from her desolate eyes. Of course he did not.
Sozin had a wife when he was young, before the war had even started. Back in the days when he was still friends with Avatar Roku. His beloved wife had died in childbirth. Their son had gone with her. Sozin had married again; to a woman he did not love for the mere reason to have an heir. That son had been born the year Fire Lord Sozin had massacred the Air Nomads.
"I don't hate our son!" Zuko stated defiantly. He loved her. He loved his son! They were his life! Mai looked at him in disbelief.
"Then why don't you want this one?" She demanded with a frigid gaze.
Azulon, the second born, had become Fire Lord years after the war had started. He was an old man by the time he had become the Fire Lord. His firstborn, Iroh, was his heir and that son survived. His second born…Ozai…was Zuko's father.
Uncle Iroh had had only one son, Lu Ten, who had died young in the war. Iroh and Lu Ten, both first borns, had been good. They did not crave for power. Jealousy did not taunt their souls. They were not sadistic or cruel as Azulon and Sozin had been. Perhaps, once, Sozin had been a good man. But he was responsible for the death of thousands. Blood was stained on his very soul!
Ozai…his father…
Then there had been Azula…
Zuko looked back up at Mai. Would she hate him? He did not know. His gut twisted into knots at the thought. "Every second born in my family has been cursed," He explained in a heavy tone. Her eyes widened at his words. His eyes could not leave her own.
Every second born…every single one since Sozin had been cursed to be power hungry. He was afraid, more than he had ever been that his child would be the same. That was what he told the woman he loved most in the world.
Mai tilted her head, the anger fled from her eyes. "I don't believe that," She assured him with a knowing expression. "You helped to end the war and bring our nation into a time of peace. Our child will not be that way." She put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Zuko swept her into his arms and held her while burying his face into her neck.
Gods…he hoped she was right…
He wanted her to be right. He had to believe that she was right…
Who wants to believe that their innocent child will come into the world doomed? He had done everything he could have…yet this legacy…He, himself, had been born with the conflicting sense of what is right and wrong within. It had always battled within him. Had Iroh had the same problem? Lu Ten? What about his own son? Sozin had cursed them all…somehow the gods…
Was his child cursed before he or she had even drawn their first breath?
Zuko felt the tear leak out of his eye. He breathed the sweet scent of Mai's hair.
Gods…no…
He prayed that night. Zuko prayed every night from then one. He prayed the hardest the night their second born entered the world.
Now…now he would watch. Waiting. Anticipating.
He was still afraid.
The dragon within breathed flames. Yet the flickering flame of hope kept it at bay.
He prayed.
The curse would not be in his child. Not his child…
He still watched though.
Always.
A/N: Alright, I want to say I added in a little on the history, just with the Crown Prince before Sozin and Azulon's dead wife and child. Other then that, all the other family members did exist. This idea just hit me one day and I have finally wrote it down. I was kind of inspired by my other work that deals with the Royal Family. That was how this idea came into play. Thanks for reading and please review.