Zuko smiled as he watched his daughter sit on the windowsil of her room, giggling as she drew on her window with her fingers, watching the rain pouring down over the Fire Nation. He walked over and sat on the sil beside her, moving some of her hair out of her eyes.
"Are you having fun, Izumi?" he asked, kissing his daughter's head.
"Yeah, Daddy," Izumi said with a smile. "The rain's pretty. And it smells good outside after it's over." She climbed up in her father's lap, snuggling back against him. She bit her lip a little, a trait Zuko knew she inherited from her mother. "Daddy?"
"Hm?" Zuko asked, reaching over and grabbing his daughter's hairbrush before he started moving it through her hair as had become their own little custom every night.
"Why's it rain? What's rain made of?" Izumi asked, looking up at her father.
Zuko thought for a few minutes, brushing Izumi's hair softly as he did. "Well...your mommy always said that it was from the Spirit World. She said it was the tears that your family would shed as they watched you grow up without them," he said. "Like your Grandmother Ursa."
Izumi nodded, playing with her fingers lightly. "Is it Mommy crying cause she's sad, Daddy?" she asked, looking down slightly. "Is Mommy sad she can't hug me anymore? Or read me bedtime stories?"
Zuko felt his heart break. He set the brush down and hugged Izumi tightly, kissing her head softly. "Yes, sweetheart. The rain is Mommy crying because she loves you and she wishes that she could be here to see you grow up and become Queen one day," he whispered.
"Can I go see Mommy?" Izumi asked. She looked up at Zuko, tears in her blue eyes that were so like her mother's.
"We can see Mommy when it stops raining. But right now, we can go see Mommy's picture," Zuko said, lifting Izumi up as he stood up and walked out of his daughter's room. Walking through the halls of the Fire Nation's Palace, Zuko told Izumi stories of her mother. From the time on Kyoshi Island to when she had become his Captain of the Guard after the Hundred Years War. He told her everything, knowing she had the right to know about her mother.
"Mommy sounds like a hero," Izumi giggled, looking up at her father.
"She was," Zuko said, kissing Izumi's head as he stopped at a wall with a large picture. "And with every day you get older, Izumi, you look more and more like Suki. She'd be proud of you as you got older."
Izumi smiled brightly, reaching up and putting her hand on Suki's picture. "Don't cry anymore, Mommy. Daddy's gonna take care of me. I know you're watching me grow up. You don't have to be sad anymore."
Zuko smiled softly, giving Izumi a gentle squeeze. "She's right, Suki. You don't have to be sad anymore. I'm not going to let anything happen to her," he whispered.
"Love you, Mommy," Izumi said with a smile, snuggling back against her father. She looked over at the window and smiled. "It stopped raining, Daddy!"
"See? Mommy's not sad anymore. Because she knows you're going to be a strong girl when you get older," Zuko said, walking to the window. "I got an idea. You want to go outside?"
"Yes please," Izumi giggled, smiling up at her father. As they walked through the palace again, Izumi hummed and sang to herself, sometimes hearing Zuko with her. "THat was Mommy's song, Daddy. The one she used to sing me."
"I remember," Zuko said, smiling softly. He walked outside, seeing puddles on the ground and people opening their doors for the first time in a week. "You said you like how it smells after it rains, right? Well, let's sit out in the stable for a few minutes and smell the rain. We can brush Mommy's horse, ok?"
Izumi smiled. "Oks, Daddy," she said, hugging her father's neck. She took a deep breath and smiled. "It smells like Mommy. I wish this would stay. That way I know Mommy's near all the time."
"She is, Izumi," Zuko said. "Right here." He pointed to his daughter's heart, making her giggle as he did. "She's right there all the time. And she's always with you in Spirit."
Izumi smiled softly and nodded. "I know, Daddy. Still doesn't stop me from wishing hard. Wishes can come true, you know." She poked Zuko's nose and giggled, rubbing her eyes.
"I know wishes can come true," Zuko said with a smile. "You and Suki were two of my biggest wishes ever to come true. And I wouldn't trade that for anything."