Ever After

Obligatory Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. It is the property of its respective owners.

Dedicated to Abby. This fic is a gift, and has been a long time in coming.

It had been a long, exhausting day of paperwork and royal meetings, and the Fire Lord had been kept up in his office until long past dark, and the candles and oil lanterns the servants had set up earlier when evening fell were either guttering or had burned themselves out entirely.

He opened the door his and Katara's shared bedchamber and noticed that his dear wife wasn't about. He figured that since she was a night person, she was likely performing the administrative duties that came with being the Fire Lady. Katara's most recent project was to find a way to aid orphans and widows that had been impacted by the war years ago. One of the things the young ruler loved most about her was that she always threw her whole heart into something she was truly passionate about, whether that was her perfecting her bending techniques or working tirelessly to aid those who were in need.

He saw his mother, Ursa, quietly working on a piece of embroidery as she sat next to the cradle that contained her new grandchild, Princess Kaena. He smiled softly at this, knowing that she was more than happy to babysit.

Ursa looked up as he approached to see that she was sleeping peacefully,"How is she? Warm enough?" he asked, voice low so as not to wake the child.

"I made sure to put an extra blanket on her to keep the chill away. Although she should be waking soon," she replied, rising to leave.

"You know Katara and I appreciate you looking after her. We don't know what we'd do without you," Zuko said to his mother sincerely, kissing her cheek.

Ursa chuckled kindly in response. "Oh, it's no trouble at all dear. She's such a precious little thing, always rewarding me with smiles. She reminds me of you when you were that little." At this her eyes softened and she reached up and briefly touched the unmarred side of her son's face.

The baby began to squeak and whimper softly, indicating that she was beginning to wake up.

Zuko took her hand from his face and kissed it, clasping it briefly in his own. "I'll take over from here."

Ursa nodded. "All right then. But remember, if you need anything at all, I'm just down the hall. I know being a new parent isn't easy," she said wryly.

"I'll keep that in mind," said the young Fire Lord as she left to retire to her own apartments.

Kaena was now fully awake and upon seeing her father, smiled brightly and kicked excitedly.

Golden eyes softening with love, Zuko reached down and carefully lifted her into his arms, "Hey there, little princess," he said tenderly, cradling her close and kissing her head. The child was beautiful. She had inherited her father's golden eyes and his black hair, which was as soft and fine as the fluff found on a baby turtle duck. Her skin was a shade darker than her father's, and she heavily favored her mother in the shape of her face; Zuko knew that someday, she'd have a smile just like Katara's. It was believed that the child had been conceived during their yearly week vacation to Ember Island to celebrate their anniversary, and while she hadn't been planned, after the royal couple had found out they were expecting, they were both overjoyed and excited, and planned for their daughter's arrival accordingly and welcomed her into their lives happily. When she was born just a couple of months prior a day shy of her father's birthday, Kaena had plenty of family on both sides to dote and fawn over her, and argue over who got to hold her. And of course, Iroh and Ursa often bickered over who got to babysit her.

Kaena cooed and tried to reach a tiny hand towards her father's face. Zuko felt his heart melt at this and gave her a few more soft kisses on her little head. She giggled and squirmed happily. This elicited a soft laugh as he bounced her lightly in his arms.

"Since you're awake, how would you like daddy to tell you a story?"

The small infant responded by giving him another adorable smile.

Zuko quirked his remaining eyebrow playfully. "I'll take that as a yes. I'm not very good at stories but I'll give a try. Well, once there was a young Spirit of Fire. He was a prince among his people, but he was rather misguided. Even though he was warm on the outside, his heart was cold and made of stone, since his father had no tolerance for weakness. He made a terrible mistake, and was cast out from his home. He was told that he would not be allowed to return until he completed what was thought to be an impossible task: to capture the last remaining Spirit of Air."

Even though Kaena couldn't understand her father's words, she still watched him with rapt attention, her gold coin eyes wide as if she were waiting in suspense for her father to go on with his tale.

"Well, the Spirit of Fire traveled the world for many years searching high and low, but the Spirit of Air was nowhere to be found, because none of them had been seen for over a hundred years. That is until one day, he was finally freed from his century long prison. The Fire Spirit began chasing him in desperation, however, that was when he crossed paths with another enemy of his, the Spirit of Water. Through his pursuit of the Spirit of Air, the Spirit of Fire had many run ins with her, and found that she was a force to be reckoned with, and although he did not want to admit it to himself, over time she proved that in every way, she was his equal."

When he paused, Kaena burbled endearingly up at him.

"And although he did not want to admit it to himself at first, the Spirit of Fire admired the Spirit of Water, and he thought that she was actually quite beautiful. There was a great and terrible battle, and the Spirit of Fire was cast adrift and left wounded and broken. He traveled for a time and he learned some hard lessons. He did some things along the way that he wasn't proud of, including committing a terrible betrayal against the Spirit of Water. It took him some time to realize the error of his ways but he managed to make amends to those whom he had most deeply wronged, and he joined forces with the Spirit of Air and the Spirits of Water and the Spirits of Earth. The Spirit of Air went to face his terrible tyrant of a father while the Spirit of Fire and the Spirit of Water joined forces to overthrow his evil sister. And while the battle was a fierce one, and they were ultimately victorious, the Spirit of Fire was badly injured by an attack from his sister and would have died, had the Spirit of Water not healed him and made him whole again. Afterwards, since the Spirit of Fire had returned to claim his rightful throne, he swore to his people that he would rule with justice, honor, and compassion, there was much rejoicing throughout the land. Although that's not how the story ends."

"And how does the story end?" came a slightly amused feminine voice. Startled, Zuko turned to see Katara leaning in the door frame to their ornate room, her arms folded and one delicate eyebrow raised archly. He wondered how long she'd been standing there without him noticing her presence. Knowing her, she'd likely been there the whole time. Zuko knew that she could be very stealthy when she wanted to be.

Zuko smiled at her. "Well, the Spirit of Fire found love with the Spirit of Water and when greater balance and stability had been achieved in the world, they both married and lived happily ever after."

Katara came up to her husband and gently took the squirming baby from his arms, and then stood up on her toes to kiss her husband deeply, using one hand to deftly undo his top knot. Breaking the kiss, she whispered, "I like that ending."

FIN

A/N: Argh, this was a long time coming. Glad I finally got it finished! Sooo tell me, what did you think? I personally think it's not too shabby, but of course, I love, love, LOVE reviews! So please, click that little blue button? I'll put on my begging face. Oh, and Kaena's name actually means "potential for greatness" or "the heat" in Hawaiian. I thought it was fitting name for her, since it wasn't mentioned in the fic, she'll be a firebender like her daddy someday. :D