This was inspired by the time when we had to read a story out loud to the class for english lesson. One of the student read with no stops and pauses and his voice was so quiet. Zuko was inspired by him. My friend said he can put the kids to sleep and I'm like 'Hey, that's a good idea for a story' and who's my winning couple with children? Zutara, of course. This is set in the modern day. It has a suckish ending but I couldn't come up with anything else. Enjoy though.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Bedtime Stories.

The room was dimly lit by the night light. Two beds were put next to each other with a gap in between for a bedside table and one chair. That chair was meant for the mother of the children, it was where she sat to read the children bedtime stories. Tonight mother was coming home late, after the children's curfew, so they were left under the care of their aunt while father is driving back.

"Aunt Azula, could you tell us a bedtime story?" the youngest daughter, Kya, asked.

"Sure, I have a good one"

The two girls, Ursa, the eldest and Kya, the youngest, sat on their bed, tentative.

When Azula started her story, Ursa and Kya were excited but as the story went on; apparently Azula did not know that the story was unsuitable for young children. She kept talking and talking that she didn't realize the faces the two girls made and they had pretend to fall asleep.

"…and the two brother and sister fought to their death for the throne, the sister was stronger but the brother was determined…" Azula looked up to see that her two nieces had fallen asleep. She smiled and left the room.

Ursa and Kya looked over at the opened the door to see if she had gone. They sighed then looked at one another.

"I didn't like that story" Kya whispered.

"I didn't either" Ursa hugged her pillow.

Zuko parked his car in the garage, tired and sleepy. He knew Azula were taking care of his daughters while he was gone. He opened the door to find the soft sounds of a television. He went into the living room to see Azula stretched across his sofa, flipping channels with a bored look. When she noticed him, she stood up and turned off the television.

"You look terrible" she stated.

"Tell me something I don't know" he grumbled.

"Your precious daughters are asleep and believe me it was not hard to put them to sleep"

Zuko's eyes suddenly shot open, "You put them to sleep without a bedtime story?"

"Of course with a bedtime story and I barely finished but oh well, I'll be off now" Azula gave her brother a short hug before leaving.

"Bye," Zuko went up to his room to shower and change into a more comfortable clothing.

He looked at the clock which stated 11 pm. He decided to check on his daughters. While he walks down the hallway to his daughters' room, he heard soft giggling and the sound of two girls chatting. He opened the already open door wider to see his daughters playing in their room.

"I thought you both were asleep"

"No"

"Aunt Azula said you were"

"We pretended, her story was scary," Ursa stated.

"Yeah, it had people killing each other" Kya went wide eyed.

Zuko sighed he went to sit on the chair, "You can go to sleep now… for real"

"But daddy, we want a story" Ursa pleaded.

Zuko froze, "I…uh…I don't know any"

"It's ok, you can read from a book" Kya pointed to a shelf filled with books about princesses and princes and happy ever afters.

Zuko stared at the book shelf. Kya rolled her big blue eyes, and went over the book shelf to pick a book.

Zuko looks at his youngest daughter who reminded him a lot of his wife. Everything about her, from her lightly tanned skin, her bright blue eyes, her curly brown hair, to her calm but fierce personality, reminded him of his wife, Katara; she was a lover of everything. Ursa on the other hand was a mini girl version of himself. With her black hair, fair but pale skin and golden eyes, she fights hard for what she wants and she fights to impress.

Zuko remembers why their names were so, it was their mother, his and Katara. They both had died when him and Katara were very young and it felt right to name their beloved daughters after their mother.

Kya climbed back up into bed and gave the book to Zuko. He read the title out loud.

"'Rapunzel'" Zuko looked at both his daughters. They were lying down on a bed waiting for him to read.

Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived a man and his wife. They had a pretty little house and all that they needed, but one thing made them unhappy.

"If only we had a child of our own to love and look after," they sighed.

Zuko glanced over at Ursa and Kya. They were still looking at him, waiting obediently for his to continue. Zuko continued with an emotionless voice. He read as if there were no full stops. All the conversation in the story was carried out with the same tone he used to read the narration. He continued reading without looking up from the book.

… and Rapunzel never set eyes on another living person. Then, one day, a young prince riding through the forest heard Rapunzel's sweet singing.

"I have never heard such a lovely voice" he said to himself.

Zuko kept reading not noticing that Ursa and Kya were in the brink of falling asleep.

…the prince wandered through many lands, until one day in a lonely desert, he heard the lovely voice he had never forgotten.

"Rapunzel" he cried, throwing hhis arms around her. Rapunzel's tears of joy fell on the Prince's eyes and healed them from the blindness. Once more he saw her beautiful face.

The prince took Rapunzel's hand and led her to his kingdom, where they were married with great rejoicing. And there, safe at last from the wicked witch, Rapunzel and her Prince lved happily ever after.

"The end" Zuko finally looked up and saw his two daughters asleep.

"Well, good news is, you've put them to sleep" a voice came from behind him.

He turned around to find his beloved wife, Katara standing by the door in her working clothes. She walked over to Kya's bed and fixed her blanket. Then she turned to Zuko.

"Bad news, it was out of boredom"

"Hey, I'm not good at this, that's why I've never read them bedtime stories"

"True, next time just play something on your piano to put them to sleep, okay?"

"Hey, they asked me to read them a story"

"Well, now that they know their daddy is not much of a storyteller, they'd think twice"

"Like you said, at least it puts them to sleep"

Zuko smirked and Katara just gave him a genuine smile. She went up to him then kissed him. She pulled his hand into their bedroom, reminiscing their own story.

-Holly