Katara's POV
"Momma?" Kiara asked.
"Yes angel?"
"Will you and Daddy tell me the story of when you fell in love? I promise to go to sleep after."
I looked down at my beautiful five year old daughter who was the spitting image of her father, except for the long, wavy locks I have. Then I looked up into the golden eyes of my husband who smiled and nodded his approval. Kiara jumped for joy before racing down the hallway to get in bed and crawled under the covers. She sat right in the middle of the bed leaving me and Zuko plenty of room to lie on either side of her. We both stretched out on our sides, relieved to be off our feet for the day.
I thought back over the past seven years as I looked around the room, decorated in different shades of purple to signify the union of fire and water. "Do you want to hear it from the beginning to when you were born because that could take multiple days or would you rather us summarize until we fell in love?"
"Summarize, summarize," she declared, bouncing up and down.
"Okay, okay," I laughed. "Settle down."
"Well," Zuko started. "Our story begins when I was thirteen. My uncle permitted me to attend one of the war meetings on the condition that I didn't speak. I spoke out against a plan that would cost many men their lives. I was challenged to an Agni Kai. What I didn't know was that I would fight Fire Lord Ozai, my father. When I found out I refused to fight back; he burned and banished me. I'd lost my honor. My father told me that it would be restored if, and only if, I brought that Avatar back, dead or alive."
"That's how I met Daddy for the first time. I was living in the South Pole. Your Uncle Sokka and I found Uncle Aang and Appa in an iceberg. He was the Avatar. Your father came to my village but Aang had already left. He came back to save our village and agreed to leave peacefully if Zuko would leave us alone."
"I, of course, agreed; I didn't want any innocent blood shed. So I left, ready to return home when I had my first fight with the Avatar. Bottom line, he escaped leaving my ship damaged with the help of your mom and Uncle."
"You escaped and traveled north to the Northern Tribe, Dad chased you. You ended up in the Earth Kingdom after Zhao led the Siege of the North. You guys found Auntie Toph and she ran away from home to teach Uncle Aang Earthbending. Daddy, you and Grandpa Iroh opened a tea shop in Ba Sing Se. Princess Azula imprisoned both of you then you," she looked over at Zuko, "betrayed Mommy and went back home. You realized you were wrong and confronted Fire Lord Ozai then left to join the Avatar. Oh, and everyone thought Uncle Aang was dead before the Day of Black Sun," Kiara summarized the rest of the year for us. "Can we get to the good part now?"
"You have you father's patience. Okay, so I didn't trust our newest member after what he'd done. He tried his best to make it better but there was no way, which is where our story really begins."
"Your mother gave me two conditions to choose from before she would forgive me. Either re-conquer Ba Sing Se in the name of the Earth King or bring her mother back. Since neither was possible by myself, if at all, I did the next best thing. I asked your Uncle what happened to your Grandma. I realized who had led the attack on the village. I offered to help your mom find the man responsible."
"In the end I didn't have it in me to kill him, so we left him to wallow in guilt. We made our way back towards Ember Island but Appa was so tired we had to land and get there in the morning. There was a large clearing with tall grass and trees all around so we were perfectly safe."
"That's when I'd had enough. Your mom was being so, blah and taciturn that I let my temper get the best of me, which hadn't happened in a while."
"I need to know. What do you really think of me? One moment you hate me and the next you're indifferent. So clear it up for me," Zuko demanded. His hazel eyes burned with anger fostered by confusion. As I gazed up into his eyes I dared to ask him my own question.
"Do you hate me?" I held my gaze steady with his, readying myself for his fiery outburst. It had always been easier for him to be angry rather than show anything else, even after he joined us. A force of habit I suppose.
"Yes." Zuko's voice was surprisingly gentle. He stepped forward and wrapped one arm around my waist and the other tangled itself in my hair while placing a gentle kiss on my lips. When he pulled away to look into my ocean blue eyes I just stared back into his brilliant gold ones.
"I hate you too," I whispered. He laughed and kissed me again.
Hand in hand we walked back over to our bedrolls and I moved mine right next to his. He rolled on his side and put his arm around my waist and pulled me into his chest. With his other hand Zuko dimmed the fire to embers. I didn't need the fire when I had a firebender to keep me warm. A few minutes after the fire was out I noticed little bugs flying around.
"Zuko?" I whispered.
"Hm?" he grunted sleepily.
"What are those bugs?"
"Fireflies. They say that if you kiss someone you 'hate' in the presence of them you will have a good relationship with the person you kissed. But only if they 'hate' you back," he grinned and rolled me onto my back so he was over me.
"Good thing I 'hate' you then," I replied and that was all the permission he needed. This kiss was gentle and sweet but held so much love that I felt whole. Then we fell asleep among the fireflies.
"When we got to Ember Island we decided to wait until after Sozin's Comet to tell everyone that we were dating, except for your Auntie Toph. She'd figure it out anyways. When I brought everyone to the family home your mom officially admitted to forgiving me."
"Then you guys went and found Grandpa and you asked mom to help you fight Princess Azula. You got hit by lightning and mom returned the favor by saving you," Kiara cut it, again. "What next?"
"Well, impatient one," I laughed. "Fire Lord Zuko, here, ended the war."
"After my coronation we decided it was time to officially announce our relationship. A few weeks later I proposed and here we are six years later," Zuko said, concluding our epic tale. "Time for you to go to sleep."
"Aww," Kiara whined.
"You promised baby girl." I smiled and kissed her head.
"Okay. Good night."
"Good night," Zuko kissed her. "We love you."
"I love you too. Thank you for the story."
"You're welcome angel," I said as I shut the door.
Zuko and I made our way down the hall to our bedchambers, hand in hand.
"You know, when he can stay awake past eight o'clock, I hope Pakku doesn't demand that story every other day," Zuko laughed, referring to our four year old son.
"I was thinking about that. What if we had a story book made of all of our adventures and give it to her for her sixth birthday. It's going you take a while for a year's worth of adventures to be written and illustrated," I suggested. "Maybe then we won't be badger-moled for the story so often."
"That sounds like a wonderful idea." Zuko grinned.
*10 months later*
(3rd person POV)
The Dragon of the West opened the door to Princess Kiara's room to find her in the middle of the bed with her new birthday present lying open on her lap. The illustration depicted her parents lying in a field of tall grass with fireflies all around. Those said parents were in the room as well. Zuko slept soundly on Kiara's right while an eight month pregnant Katara was on her daughter's left. She woke and smile sleepily at Iroh before falling back into a deep sleep. They were the essence of peace and happiness.