Sins Before The Wedding

AN: So after two weeks of lying around begging for muse, it finally decides to hit me. And what it hit me with is this three-part mini-fic about my favourite pairing in Avatar. I can't promise that it's going to be any better than my usual mess, and I'm pretty sure there is going to be a fair bout of OOC-ness. But I'm kinda attached to some of the ideas born in this fic so… I'm just going to roll with it and see how good it turns out. Reviews will be adored, really. I need to know if it's worth continuing with this…

And a premature thanks to Lita The Storyteller for being my "RJ Buddha". Hope the way I portrayed him didn't give you a Brain Aneurism because of its lameness or something.

Oh and please excuse the lack of chapter names. My muse can only stretch so far.

Rating: T+ for some wee implications of stuff kids shouldn't read about.

Pairings: Sokka/Suki, Mai/Zuko, Katara/Aang. Hints of Aang/Toph and (naturally) Katara/Zuko.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. If I did, Zuko would have got a clue at Ember Island and left Mai to Ruon-Jian.

Part I

Under normal circumstances, Zuko would have been shocked at the news. He was, after all, the Firelord: he was expected to behave in a civil and proper way. And while he obviously had to produce an heir, it was also expected of him to only conceive a child within wedlock. So it was almost inevitable that his Council would give him dark looks when the news that Mai was pregnant got out. Mai: his noblewoman girlfriend and nothing else.

The situation had to be kept as quiet as possible, for if it got out there was no telling what chaos could issue. The simple truth was that there were still those who wished to take the throne away from Zuko, and a pregnant girlfriend… Well, the possibilities were horrifying even to think of. And, of course, the wedding had to be planned in double-quick time, cancelling out Zuko's previous desire to wait until he was no longer a teenager before he got married.

With all the chaos and stress and disapproving lectures it would have been natural for Zuko to be upset under normal circumstances. But it was even worse than normal. Because Mai, his girlfriend, was very definitely pregnant. And he had never slept with her.

-x-x-x-

"Shut up, all of you: I want to make a toast!"

The hubbub of laughter and speaking died away at the yell from the blind Earthbender. When it was finally quiet she cleared her throat and raised her glass of punch again.

"To Snoozles and his long-suffering wife," she began, and Suki grinned widely. "I gotta admit that when the two of you got married I wasn't sure that you'd last a month. But, here we are at your One Year Anniversary and Suki is still sane. It's a miracle, yes, and I wish you both the best of luck until next year."

The rest of the guests at the small party cheered in agreement to this, and Sokka gave his wife a peck on the cheek. Suki looked around the room and felt warmth flood into her at the sight of her little family. They had all journeyed to Kyoshi Island for her anniversary and now they all sat or lounged in the small room along with the rest of the Kyoshi Warriors. In fact, the only person who was really missing was Mai, and that was because she was just far too tired to make it, according to Zuko.

Suki turned to Sokka and she raised her eyebrows questioningly. He looked surprised.

"Now? I thought you said you wanted to wait until my dad got here tomorrow."

"I did… But we can't be sure everybody else will still be here by the time he arrives. And I really don't want to tell our family via a letter."

Her eyes were pleading and Sokka gave in at once. He picked up a bowl and began tapping on its side to get attention. Every eye in the room turned to him and he slung an arm around his wife, positively beaming already.

"Okay. So we have something to tell you…" He grinned down at the Kyoshi Warrior on his arm.

"I'm pregnant!" Suki giggled delightedly.

There was an outbreak of squealing from all the girls present, and three rushed forward at once to hug her, beaming as widely as she was. Even Toph looked excited as Katara squealed and clapped her hands.

"I'm so happy for you!" the Waterbender sighed as she got her turn to hug her sister-in-law. "Congratulations!" This time she hugged her brother. Then, as she let go, the smile faded from her face and she shot Zuko a dirty look. "At least some people know the correct order to do things in," she said loudly.

Zuko grit his teeth but did not answer her. Suki and Sokka gave each other a worried look, but both of them decided to just stay out of it. They had all been shocked at the news of Mai's pregnancy three months earlier, but Katara had taken it almost as a personal insult. Nobody knew why, but they wisely decided to stay out of it until Katara's snide remarks turned into something more dangerous and they had to intervene to stop physical injury.

"Congratulations. Both of you."

Zuko's smile was genuine as he hugged Suki and slapped a grinning Sokka on the shoulder.

"How cool is this? We're both gonna be dads!" Sokka grinned, flinging an arm around Zuko happily.

"Yeah, well I wouldn't let my child hang around Zuko too long; he might lose all his morals," Katara snapped cattishly.

Zuko turned and glared at her, opening his mouth to finally retort. But before he could get even a sound out something hard smacked him in the back and he was thrown forward.

"Okay, that's it!" Toph yelled, her hands still raised from the Earthbending she had just done. "You two have been acting like three-year-olds the entire evening!"

"You two?" Zuko spluttered incredulously. "I never-!"

Toph cut him off by making a wave out of the soil beneath both him and Katara, rolling them both outside the door.

"And you two are going to stay outside until you've kissed and made up!" she said smartly, before slamming the door in their faces.

Zuko sighed and sat up, ruffling the dirt from his hair. A few meters next to him, Katara got to her feet, scowling and dusting off her dress. Her eyes met Zuko's, and they were hard shards of ice.

"Just spit it out," he snapped at her.

Her back turned stick-straight and she fixed him with a look very like the one she had given him two years ago when he'd first joined the gaang at the Western Air Temple.

"How could you!" she hissed. "I would have thought that you, who chased the Avatar all over the damn world for honour, would have enough of it not to defile a woman! You have no idea what you've done to her reputation! To her! And your reputation too! Can you not understand that there are people who want to snatch your throne away? We do not want another war! And besides that, did you ever think what it would do to your personal life? The lives of those closest to you?"

She was ranting and pacing in front of him, looking as mad as he'd ever seen her. He didn't really understand why she was so upset about it, but he knew better than to interrupt.

"What were you thinking, Zuko! Surely you've learnt how not to make mistakes by now!"

This was too much for Zuko, and he jumped to his feet, fuming.

"Look, I know I messed up, okay? I wasn't thinking clearly… You were at that party too; you know everybody got drunk that night!"

"Yeah, Zuko, I was there. And I know everybody got drunk. Spirits, even Aang was tipsy. But you don't see anybody else being pregnant because of it! What would have happened if it wasn't Mai or something? You were irresponsible and you once again just didn't think!" She was pacing again, throwing her hands around for emphasis as Zuko looked at the ground. "And the worst is, I warned you. I saw you sitting on that hill with Toph and I stumbled all the way up there to warn you to take it easy and think extra hard. And you promised me you would! And then afterwards you…"

She suddenly stopped stock-still, and her eyes widened. Zuko looked at her in confusion as she turned to face him, her face suddenly pale.

"You were on the hill with Toph," she said in a slightly dazed voice. "And two hours later you were the one to carry her up to bed. After that you and Sokka played that stupid game with the wineskins… You never would have left Toph drunk and alone outside. That means you'd have had six minutes to drunkenly find Mai and…" She looked him directly in the eyes. "Oh Agni: the child isn't yours…"

His hand was suddenly over her mouth, and his face looked desperate.

"Don't talk so loud!" he hissed at her, throwing a nervous glance over his shoulder. "You can tell nobody about this, do you understand?" His voice was commanding, and his eyes were burning fire.

She stepped away from him. "Why didn't you tell anybody?" she asked quietly. "All those people think that you…"

"I know." Zuko ran a hand down his face tiredly. "But it's better than the alternative." He looked at her seriously. "Do you have any idea what would happen to Mai if people find out she cheated on me? Drunk or not, her actions would have serious consequences. Even more so because she's not sure who the real father is. She'd be ridiculed and tried and her entire family could lose their nobility status because there's nobody to wed her… Katara, she could even be banished."

His eyes pleaded for her to understand, and her gaze turned sympathetic as she touched his arm lightly.

"So you're going to pretend it's your child?"

He nodded. "Things are still bad, but I'm the Firelord so she won't get into so much trouble." He sighed. "I'm disappointed and mad at her for what happened but… I still love her too much to let anything happen to her. And the child… It did nothing wrong. It deserves to have a stable home…"

Katara wrapped her arms around him as she heard the catch in his voice. She could only imagine how difficult it was for him. He was enduring ridicule and threats because of a child that he knew was not his.

"Do your mom and uncle know?"

He shook his head. "They suspect, but they don't have concrete proof." He looked her in the eyes again, molten gold to soft blue. "Please don't tell anybody. Not even Aang."

She nodded, promising with her eyes. Some of the tension left his body and face and they both sat down on the grass together, watching the stars.

"I'm sorry I was so mean to you," she whispered after a while.

He gave her a half-smile. "It's okay. If I was the father, I'd have deserved it."

"No," she disagreed. "not all of it; I went a bit overboard. I was just so shocked and angry… I don't know why but I felt as though you'd betrayed me again. I was always so sure that you would be the last one to have a child out of marriage and then the news came…" She was silent for a while. "And I guess I was a bit jealous, too."

"I was so sure you'd start a family before I did," he agreed. "You'd be the perfect mother."

A smile twitched at her lips at the compliment. "I want to start a family as soon as it's right but…" She suddenly looked as if she'd said too much, and bit her lip.

"Hey, come on. I told you my deepest, darkest secret. So out with it." He elbowed her for added effect.

A sigh escaped her lips. "Aang is just… so young. Not only in years but in soul too. Yes, most say it's his duty to repopulate the Air Nomads but… He won't be doing anything like that for quite a few years, I don't think."

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. And it was honest sympathy: denying Katara one of the things she was naturally good at was almost a sin.

"It's okay." A teasing smile crossed her face. "In the meantime I'll just take out my motherly instincts on my niece or nephew and your child. Sokka is too clingy for me to worm my way in, but you'd better beware: next thing you know, I've taken over your role," she teased him.

"You're welcome to take over my role. Really." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

The smile vanished from Katara's face and eyes and she looked at him closely. Zuko swallowed hard and avoided her gaze.

"Zuko?" Her voice was barely a whisper.

"I'm going to be a father. Me. I know years don't make you more experienced but I'd hoped that by the time I had a child I'd have you guys and your experience to help me…"

"You're scared," she said in surprise.

"I'm not a father, Katara." His voice was harsh. "I don't have those instincts or that knowledge. I just… I'm not… I don't want to be like Ozai. I don't want to ruin that child's life or-"

"Stop it!" She shook his shoulder and he looked at her with a look so vulnerable it nearly broke her heart. "You are not Ozai. Do you hear me? You have a good heart and you will be a great father to that kid." He didn't look the least bit convinced. "And you won't have to do it alone. You have your mom and your uncle and Mai… And me."

Gold met blue and Zuko's face lost some of its pain as strength seemed to radiate from the Waterbender into him. A ghost of a smile twitched at his lips, and she smiled warmly back at him, squeezing his shoulder. She felt like she had to say something more, something that would erase all the fear from his eyes, but before she could open her mouth the door to the room opened again and a shard of light fell at her feet.

"Are you two friends again?" Toph asked them, leaning against the doorway with a smirk on her face. "Twinkles says he has something awesome to say, too."

The two made their way back into the warmth and light and noise, and they were greeted with happy smiles from all their friends. Aang spotted Katara and suddenly seemed to freeze. She shot him a questioning look but all he managed in return was a nervous smile. Then he took a deep breath and waved for silence. It took a while for everybody to realize that he wanted quiet and by the time everybody had stopped talking Aang was sweating quite a bit.

"Katara…" He swallowed loudly and nervously shifted under the gaze of everybody in the room. "Uhh… I…" He took another deep breath and then walked right up to her, staring her firmly in the eyes. "I love you," he said frankly. "And I want to be with you forever. Would you… Would you do me the honour of being my wife?"

To Katara's immense shock and surprise he pulled out a Water Tribe betrothal necklace. Its pendant was carved out of the customary blue stone and etched onto the face of it was an Air Nomad symbol backed by that of the Water Tribe. Katara could feel the lump in her throat rising.

"Aang…" She looked at him and he grinned, holding the necklace higher. A shaky laugh escaped her throat. "Yes," she whispered giddily. "I'd… yes!"

Aang scooped her up and kissed her, and the entire room broke out into loud applause. Zuko clapped along even though his hands suddenly and inexplicably felt like lead.

"Well. So much for Aang not 'doing anything like that for quite a few years'," he muttered to himself.

There was a snort right next to him and he looked down to find Toph gripping her cup of lemonade rather hard. She was staring at the ground with her jaw clenched and, unless he was very much mistaken, she was shaking slightly. Zuko shot a quick look at the newly engaged couple surrounded by squealing people and then looked back at the Earthbender.

"Want to go outside and throw numerous rocks at me?" he asked her quietly.

"Yes." Her teeth were grit. "Yes I do."

He took her drink from her hand and led the way out to the silent and dark night.

-x-x-x-

Zuko had become very good at keeping a neutral expression over the years, yet even so he found it difficult to mask his surprise. He hadn't seen the man bowing nervously at his feet for years, and he couldn't for the life of him figure out what he wanted a private meeting for.

Unless it was about me attacking him, Zuko thought with a slight wince. All he needed now was more bad publicity.

"Rise, Ruon-Jian," he said calmly, and the man climbed nervously to his feet.

For a few moments he just stood there, playing absently with his- in Zuko's opinion- ridiculously long hair, before he finally seemed to get the nerve to start.

"I'm sorry to take up your time, Firelord Zuko. I know you've gotta be busy… and stuff… but uhm…" He was now clutching his hands together tightly, and was looking everywhere but at Zuko. "I… we've met before," he started again weakly.

"Yes, I remember. I'm… sorry I pushed you into that vase." He wasn't really, but he had to say something to try and fix the situation quickly.

"Oh, no problem. Turns out it was a fake anyway." Ruon-Jian assured him, bowing his head as an afterthought. "If I had any idea who you were… I uh… Well I wouldn't have flirted with your girlfriend… Or called you a…" He seemed to run out of steam again.

Zuko frowned. "If it's not about the… incident… at Ember Island, then why are you here?"

Ruon-Jian flinched, as if that question was the one he'd hoped Zuko wouldn't ask. He took another deep breath then stood up straight, suddenly facing whatever he was so nervous about head-on, like noblemen should.

"I have family here in the Capitol," he said in a stronger voice. "We have this really great house that overlooks the… Er… Yeah well I came to visit them several months ago, and I'm back now. When I arrived here I heard… some news…" He faltered again and Zuko's eyebrow rose. "Th… The news about… Lady Mai's pregnancy…" Zuko leant forward without realizing, his body suddenly feeling cold. "I… I… thought… I…"

When it was clear the man could not go on, Zuko spoke up. "You heard about Lady Mai being pregnant and requested a private meeting with me. Why?" His voice sounded slightly dangerous.

"The child is not yours." It all came out in a rush, and Ruon-Jian almost trembled as the words left his mouth. Even with all his swagger Zuko could see that the confession scared him. "I thought…" He was suddenly bowing again, looking like the action was casing him great pain. "I thought you should know…"

"How… How do you know this?" Zuko asked in a strangled voice.

"Because he's the father."

Both sets of eyes flashed to the door at once. Mai stood in the frame, back straight and face grim.

-x-x-x-

The silence was so tense and thick it could have been burnt away with a single fireball. Zuko was tempted to try and melt it away, but he doubted leaping up and flinging fire everywhere would better the situation at all. He was seated in his private study with Mai on his left and Ruon-Jian on his right. Neither of them were looking at each other, and the nobleman looked like he'd been deflated.

"So." Their eyes turned to him. "Now that we know who the baby's father is"-Mai stuck her chin out proudly under the implied blame-"I have called a private meeting to decide what to do."

Ruon-Jian shifted but did not say anything, and Mai was as quiet as always. Zuko let his breath out through his teeth; it looked like he was going to be doing all the talking. He was used to being the calm voice of reason in awkward situations but no peace meeting had ever made his insides feel like they were being disintegrated by acid. He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath.

"I think the best thing to do here is to let everybody voice what they think is the best line of action," Zuko continued, using the technique they usually employed at meetings. He was quite proud that his voice sounded calm. "Ruon-Jian, would you like to start?" The other man looked at him blankly with his hair flopping over one eye and Zuko bit back a groan of frustration. "Fine, I'll go first." He took another deep breath. "I'd be more than happy to keep this our secret. I'll continue to say the child is mine. I will marry Mai and look after them both. We can talk at a later stage to discuss if the child should ever be told about his true sire."

Ruon-Jian was silent for a moment, then he looked at Zuko for the first time. "I appreciate that, really. And I'm… honoured, I guess, that you'd cover my mistake when we… Well don't really like each other so much." He leaned back a little in his chair, trying to seem utterly at ease. "But it is my mistake… And my blessing, if Lady Mai will let me have it." Mai looked up in surprise, and their eyes met. "The first time I met you, I thought you were pretty," Ruon-Jian went on, now speaking directly to her. "But as I got to know you over the years I realized you were beautiful, inside and out. I know we were both drunk at that party and that what we did was… very dishonourable and wrong. But I am Ruon-Jian, and I do not back down from my responsibilities. I will marry you, Lady Mai, and I will raise my child to be the best nobleman or noblewoman this nation has ever seen."

Something was happening to Zuko's stomach. It felt like it was filled with cold lead and fireflies all at once. His heart was aching as it beat, and he had no idea why. He turned to Mai with dread in every inch of him, and as soon as he saw her face he felt everything drop away.

"Zuko." She was looking straight at him, and there was something wrong with her eyes. "You know I love you. I've loved you since we were kids and that will never really go away." He knew there was a 'but' coming, and he wanted to scream. "But none of us can deny that we've… we've grown apart and…" He could swear there were actual tears in her eyes.

"Mai…"

She took a deep breath and turned to Ruon-Jian. "May we speak alone, please?"

The man nodded and left rather quickly, seemingly relieved that he hadn't gotten into any serious trouble. Mai turned back to Zuko and her eyes connected with his as the door to the study closed firmly. What followed was possibly the worst conversation of Zuko's life.

-x-x-x-

Iroh and Ursa were in front of the welcoming committee as Appa landed in the Fire Nation Palace courtyard. Aang was the first to climb off, smiling despite the seriousness of their visit.

"General Iroh, it is a pleasure to see you again." Aang bowed to the old general.

"Welcome, Avatar Aang." Iroh bowed back. "Thank you for coming so quickly. I do regret having to call all of you over, but the situation in Ba Sing Se has reached a critical level, and we need all the help we can get."

"Don't worry, Pops," Toph said airily as she jumped to the ground. "Team Avatar will sort out those riots in double-quick time."

Ursa and Iroh both smiled, and the greeting continued. Katara watched Sokka help Suki off the bison, and then her eyes scanned the courtyard. It only took her three seconds to find him, standing still and formal a few paces away. She jumped off Appa, her new necklace swaying with her movement, and walked right past Iroh and Ursa. Everybody stared at her in surprise but before Aang could call after her she reached Zuko. For a second she stared at him, remembering the added bit about Mai at the end of Iroh's last letter.

Then, without warning or a single sound, she wrapped her arms around Zuko and hugged him as hard as she could. For a moment Zuko remained stoic, then his arms rose hesitantly, slowly, and he hugged Katara back, resting his head on her shoulder.

AN: Please tell me if Mai was too OOC- I have the most dreadful feeling she is, but I really don't know how to change it. So yes, I'm pleading for suggestions on how to make her IC again.

I'll post the next chapter as soon as I get ten reviews. That way I know some people actually enjoy it.