1. Relief

Katara loved her children. She admired every small thing they did—a curl of their tiny fingers, a sleepy yawn out of a soft mouth, wide eyes staring in curiosity at this or that, small gurgles and murmurs that she had yet to all interpret, the sweet look they gave her, so innocent and trusting and precious.

She thought it evened out perfectly. A boy and a girl. The boy had Zuko in him so much that she laughed—a shock of black hair against porcelain skin, bright almond and golden eyes, the scrunch of stubborn eyebrows when he needed something, the cries from his strong lungs, a fierce scowl that could change into a smile if she tickled him on the stomach. The girl was very like her, Zuko claimed—wide and clear blue eyes striking against dark caramel skin, a head full of brown curls, a face that would light up with unspeakable joy when either parent looked at her, a small jut of the chin and an impatient frown when her parents didn't get to her fast enough, the pat of the small hand tenderly against a face.

Zuko was a wonderful, no matter how much he worried, father. Oh, yes, he worried about every little sneeze, whimper, cough, and tear. "Katara, should we check the healer—is it normal for this reddening on the bottom?" Zuko, it's just a little diaper rash; let me heal it. "Why is he crying so much? Is he colicky? Did something bite him? I knew we shouldn't have taken him outside!" Zuko, he's fine; he just needs a nap. "She's not getting anything in her mouth today; the food ends up on me instead of her! What should I do?" Let me show you a small trick—just pretend it's a small bird landing in her mouth. Make noises. "Am I holding them right?" Zuko, you're fine! They're fine! You're great!

He told them little stories in their cribs, even though they couldn't really understand them. He would rock them to sleep if they fussed when his wife was busy or very tired. He would talk to them and pretend that they were answering back. He'd tell his daughter that she would make a great Waterbender like her mother, and his son a great Firebender, too, like his father—but the world might surprise them and reverse their gifts from their appearances. He would immediately scold them in gentle way if the siblings ever so much showed a hint of disagreement with each other. He let them pull on his hair and try to nab his shiny crown. Katara even heard him softly singing a Fire Nation lullaby that she guessed he'd heard from his mother late one night.

But she was very, very exhausted. She'd ran a gauntlet of meetings, paperwork, feeding, changing, arguing with Councilman Tao, finishing writing a treaty, standing almost two hours for a ceremonial gown for the summer solstice celebration, entertaining a small group of noblewoman with a tea party, and trying to eat bits of food throughout the day and part of the night. The nursemaid had to go home because her mother was ill and bed-ridden. And the children still weren't sleeping.

"Please..." she begged, even though she was sure they understood her as much Momo did. "Go to sleep. Please..." She began to hum a lullaby, but it came out frantic-sounding and almost angry, so it didn't have the desired effect.

Katara felt weary, so she sat down in the carefully-carved rocking chair Gran Gran had sent over, trying to soothe two babies at once. They still keened and cried and fussed.

The door to the nursery opened.

"Katara, it's—" her husband looked out the window. "Very late."

"I know." she tried not to yell, as all three—mother and children—were upset enough as it is. "Where have you been, Zuko? I needed you!"

"I'm so sorry, Tara. I had to meet with the Council about something in Republic City—"

"Republic City?" Katara glared at him, despite that her eyes felt as if they had weight attacked to her eyelids. "This late? It better be an emergency!"

Zuko looked remorse, but also a bit offended. "It was. Aang was attacked."

"What?" That would have made her sit if she'd been standing. "Is he all right?"

"We got a telegram from Sokka. Aang and Toph arrested Yakone, that Bloodbending gang boss, and today was his trial—"

"Oh, him..." she shuddered, remembering the reports Aang and Toph had both sent to her. It was a good thing that Bloodbending was declared illegal...

"And when Sokka declared him guilty, he started Bloodbending everyone in the room. He knocked out the Council members and freed himself when he manipulated Toph into opening his shackles."

"But...shackles? How was he...?"

"His eyes, Sokka said."

Katara shuddered and pulled her children closer; they had stopped crying so loudly, but she didn't care at the moment. Oh spirits, what if they'd run across a Bloodbender like Yakone one day? She wouldn't let them! She hated Bloodbending...!

"He tried to escape, but Aang stopped him with Energybending. But before that, Yakone did a number on him. He broke several muscles and maybe a few bones."

"Oh spirits." Katara this time jumped up. "Where is he?"

"In the Republic City hospital. Yakone's in prison. They have Waterbending healers in the city now—"

"I have to go there—I—" Her outburst and sudden movement had startled the babies, and they wailed anew. She suddenly began to cry.

"Oh, Katara!" He took them both from her arms before she knew what he was doing and gently and slowly heated up his arms and hands.

"Zuko?"

"I...don't want to hurt them, but I've been practicing. Uncle once told me when he held me as a baby, I used to fall asleep after a while—and I guessed if might have been his Inner Flame, automatically heating up his body. I was thinking, what if I sped up the process—"

She rose and touched his face softly. "What made you think of this?"

He smiled at her sadly. "You always look so sleepy, Katara. You work so hard, every day. Let me do this for you, Tara. You look as if I could push you over with a feather now."

The children slowly succumbed to his warmth, and he was putting them in their small cribs when Katara sobbed again.

"Tara, Tara, I'm so sorry I wasn't here—"

"Oh, Zuko, I just had...just...a stressful day—" she sunk against his chest and let him hold her. "I wish I was a Firebender; they respond to you so well, and I'm just so...tired..."

"There, there. Let's go to bed." he opened the door that led to their room and helped her change into a comfortable, loose nightgown and take her hair down and finally lie down on the wonderfully soft, big bed with cool sheets and soft blankets.

Katara knew it would be a busy today tomorrow. She'd be flying to Republic City on the Royal Family's zeppelin to help out Aang and there'd been tons of work piled up for her when she got back unless she took it with her and it was the first time she traveled away from her children for so long—

She felt Zuko pull her closer and nuzzle her back. Sighing, she closed her eyes. She'd be okay. The day was finally over. And she knew the secret of getting the children to sleep from now on.

12/2/12: Minor edits. Carry on!