I'm sort of writing this out of boredom. But Azula is my favorite character, and I've been wanting to write a story about Zuko and Azula as very young kids. This is the first of a few random mini-stories I have planned.
Ursa grimaced as the pain of breast-feeding came back to her. It had been over a year since Zuko did it, and though she felt sadness over the loss of that bonding experience, she realized how freeing it was. But here she was again, nursing her infant child, Azula. The infant bit down when she was full, causing Ursa to yelp in pain, and carefully pulling Azula away.
"Whatsa' matter mommy?" Zuko asked, startled by his mother's cry.
"No it's nothing.. Azula just bit me," Ursa replied.
Zuko stood up, and shook his finger at Azula. "No, bad baby! No biting mommy!"
Ursa couldn't help chuckle at her son scolding the newborn. She was actually just over about two months old, but Ursa couldn't help refer to her as a newborn; she was so tiny.
"Where's daddy?" Zuko asked innocently.
Ursa smiled, and rubbed her son's head. "I already told you, he's surveying nearby Earth Kingdom towns.." Ursa frowned for a second; Ozai had left a couple days after Azula was born, only staying long enough to name his daughter, and give his wife and son a fleeting goodbye. Ursa was on bed-rest at the time, so she could not say goodbye at the port. Ozai did not seem all too torn up about it.
"When's Uncle and Cousin getting here?"
"They should be here very soon," Ursa combed back Zuko's hair with her fingers, and gently pushed him to keep playing. Her head was pounding from the night before; Azula was crying all night. It seemed she constantly either was hungry, needed to be changed, or just needed attention. Each one created a cycle. She looked down at Azula; she was asleep. Ursa's eyes drooped as she watched Zuko play, and before long, she fell into a light sleep.
She was a woken by a sharp prod in the cheek. She opened her eyes to find Lu Ten staring at her.
"Good morning, Aunt Ursa!" Lu Ten said cheerfully.
Ursa's eyes opened wide. "It's morning?!"
"No, it's late afternoon. I just didn't know what else to say," Lu Ten chuckled.
"Oh.." Ursa rubbed her eyes, "When did you get here?"
"About ten minutes ago," Lu Ten bent down to Zuko and helped him stack the blocks he was playing this. "My dad is unloading our stuff."
As if on cue, Iroh came in, arms full with luggage, and dumped everything on the floor. "I'll just leave everything here!" Iroh turned around and smiled at Lu Ten and Ursa. "My goodness! This can't be Little Zuko, can it?"
"It's Zuko!" Zuko said loudly.
"Are you sure? You're too big to be him!" Iroh chuckled. Iroh crossed the room, and scooped up Zuko.
"I'm big Zuko, now!" Zuko said, pointing to himself.
"You sure are!" Iroh put Zuko down, and turned to Ursa. "I'm sorry Ursa! Did you lose weight?"
"Yeah, about five pounds," Ursa shifted the sleeping Azula in her arms.
"So, this is the new little one?" Iroh, held out his hands to take her, Ursa happily obliged. What's his name?"
"Her name is Azula," Iroh looked up at Ursa, "It was Ozai's idea."
"She looks like you," Iroh bounced the baby in his arms.
"I don't think you should do that.. She hates being woken.." But it was too late, Azula's eyes and mouth scrunched as she prepared to let out a screeching cry. When she did so, Zuko started crying too.
Lu Ten stuck a block in front of Zuko's face, a poor attempt to calm him down. "What's wrong?!"
"Zuko doesn't like it when Azula's upset, and Azula probably needs to be changed," Ursa sighed. She could handle breast-feeding, she could handle the late nights, but for some reason, changing bothered Ursa. She remembered the first time she had to do it with Zuko, she nearly threw up, and not to mention all of the squirming he did.
"I'll change her Aunt Ursa!" Lu Ten said, jumping up.
Ursa raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure Lu Ten? It's not easy."
"I can do it!" Lu Ten slapped his chest, and carefully took Azula from his father. Ursa told him where everything was, and told him what to do. He left, carrying Azula, but no more than a minute later, he came back, without Azula.
"I can't do it.." He was blushing. Iroh chuckled and went into the room where Lu Ten left Azula.
Lu Ten plopped down on the floor next to Zuko, holding out his hands. Lu Ten produced a small flame.
"Oh, Lu Ten, please be careful!" Ursa told him nervously.
"Don't worry, Aunt Ursa, I have great control. Dad told me so," Lu Ten watched as Zuko stared into the flame, his eyes wide. Zuko reached towards it, Ursa leaned forward uneasily, but Lu Ten extinguished it before Zuko could touch it.
"Zuko could probably protect himself from that flame," Iroh said, coming back with Azula. "Considering his father, he's probably already shown signs of Firebending, right?"
"Actually, no.. He hasn't shown any abilities at Firebending yet," Ursa said bitterly. She remembered how disappointed Ozai sounded when he realized that Zuko might not be a Firebender. He accused Ursa of cheating on him. That no offspring of his could ever be a non-bender. "But I'm sure he'll be a very powerful bender one day.."
"How was your pregnancy with Azula?" Iroh asked. Normally someone might have been taken aback by being asked a question like that, especially by a man, but Ursa knew what he was getting at.
"Very intense. And hot," Ursa said quietly. Iroh's eyes flickered towards her, shifting his hold on Azula. "By the second half of it, I had terrible fevers, and my whole abdomen was burning hot. I actually thought I was going to die.. I never had anything like that happen with Zuko."
"What did Ozai say?," Iroh held up Azula, letting her feet touch his legs.
"He seemed rather proud. Despite the fact that I was deathly ill, all he seemed to care about was the fact that we may have a Firebending prodigy. He joked that this child is probably his own," Ursa brushed her hair out of her face absentmindedly.
Azula let out a bubbly giggle. Zuko jumped up. "I'm a baby! Hold me!"
"Zuko, you're not a baby. You're too big to be held like that," Ursa told him. Zuko frowned, a frown not unlike Ozai's, and dropped to the floor, crossing his arms.
"Now, Ursa.. He's not going to little forever, he needs to take advantage of his youth when he can. I know I wish I did," Iroh laughed heartily. He patted his lap, "You can come up, Zuko."
A smile spread across the small boy's face, and he carefully crawled into his uncle's lap.
"Make the baby move over!" Zuko shouted, pushing against Azula's cheek.
"Zuko, if you're going to be there, you have share it with your sister," Ursa said, trying to be gentle, but strict at the same time.
"I know it's rough having a younger sibling, Zuko," Iroh told him gently, "I went through the same thing with your father."
"When do they go away?" Zuko asked, a pouting look on his face. Iroh chuckled.
"Never. They'll always be around," Iroh smiled as he said this.
Zuko looked at Azula, who seemed to be in the process of trying to fit her foot into her mouth. He stared at her for a moment, and then pointed and laughed. Azula stopped what she was doing, and stared, transfixed, at his finger. She grabbed it and sucked on it.
"That's gross Azula! Let go!" Zuko tried to pull away, but when he did, Azula bit down. He let a blood-curdling scream, causing Azula to do the same.
Ursa sighed, rubbing her temples. "I hope these kids get along in the future.."
I wasn't trying to make Ursa seem like an impatient mother, but she is a fairly new one, so she's bound have her share of problems. Hopefully, Ursa will return in S3, she's a very interesting character. I'm not sure if I'll continue this, or just leave it as a one-shot. I'll listen to what you guys think. X)