Written for Zutara week 2013. Prompt: Voices
"Come on, Honora. Daddy says he has a surprise for us!" Katara exclaimed. Mother and daughter raced down the hallway side by side, laughing. They burst through the door to the Firelord's office. "I win!"
"No way Mom! I won!" Honora protested.
Firelord Zuko looked up from his paperwork and smiled. "What are you two doing here?" he asked, as he walked around his desk to pick up his young daughter.
"You said our surprise is ready today!" Honora answered gleefully.
"I did, did I? Well, let's go find it!" He set his daughter down and took her hand. Katara took her other hand, and the three wandered happily through the palace, Honora pulling them this way and that. Finally she gave up and looked up at her father.
"Where is it?" she asked.
"This way." Zuko led them to a room that had been off-limits recently due to "renovations." They stopped outside the closed door. "Close your eyes, both of you." He guided them through the door and stopped again. "Alright. You can look now."
Katara opened her eyes and gasped. The room was completely blue, and there was a very large swimming pool in the center. Honora bounced up and down in excitement.
Zuko picked up two parcels from a nearby table and handed one each to his wife and daughter. "I had the tailor make swimsuits for us," he said. Katara opened hers and found a dark blue two-piece suit, much more elegant than the plain white wraps she used to swim in. Honora's swimsuit was a pink and blue one piece. "There are rooms right over there where you can change." He pointed to their left.
After they finished changing, they counted down and all jumped into the pool at the same time. They spent nearly an hour just swimming around. Honora had only been swimming a few times in her young life, but she learned quickly and was swimming like a fish in no time at all.
"Who want's to play a game?" Katara asked.
"Me! Me!" Honora replied enthusiastically.
Zuko swam over. "What game?" he inquired.
"Marco polo!" Katara announced.
Zuko leaned over to whisper in his daughter's ear. "Your mother cheats at this game. She uses her water-bending." The two glanced at Katara, then shared a knowing smile.
"Alright. What are you two plotting over there?"
"Mom's it first!" Honora exclaimed.
Katara stuck her tongue out, then ducked underwater, raised her hands, and counted to ten on her fingers. She surged back above water, eyes squeezed shut, and called, "Marco!"
Zuko and Honora were quick to reply. "Polo!" their voices rang out. For several minutes, Katara followed their voices, trying to tag one of them. Then, the water started to pull Zuko towards her. She lunged and tagged him. Zuko went under and counted to ten, then started his turn. He chased his wife and daughter's voices all around the pool, and eventually tagged Honora's foot as she tried to swim away a little too late.
They played a few more rounds, then Zuko climbed out of the pool. "I've got to get back to work," he said. "Honora, it's almost time for your fire-bending lesson, isn't it? Hurry up, Grandpa Iroh will be expecting to see you soon."
Honora hurriedly changed back into her clothes, then dashed away for her lesson.
Katara had by now gotten out of the pool and stood next to Zuko. "I hope you have another present for her. Her birthday's not till tomorrow, you know," she said.
"The daughter of the Firelord is turning six tomorrow. Of course she'll be getting presents!"
"Six already. She'll be all grown up before we know it."
"And she'll be the first blue-eyed Firelord."
"Naturally she'd have her beautiful mother's looks," Katara boasted, teasingly.
"No arguments there," Zuko agreed. He whisked his wife into his arms and kissed her. "Come help me with all my paperwork?"
Katara scrunched up her nose. "That's a offer I could quite happily refuse, but I won't leave you to endure that torture alone."
They changed out of their swimsuits, and walked hand-in-hand to Zuko's office.