A/N: I don't own any of the characters from Avatar the last Airbender.
People say that one moment can change your life. Those people misunderstood. For all it could take was a phrase. One phrase, one word. Everything changes.
"Zuko? Are you… Are you Okay?" Katara looks up pleadingly at the Fire Lord.
"I'm sorry… did you say-"
"I'm pregnant Zuko." She says as if it's nothing. But it's not nothing it's a baby. His baby.
"Are you sure?" Zuko knew this was a possibility. There were always risks when it came to sex. He just didn't think it would actually happen. But, one word. that's all it took for his world to crash down on him.
"Yes…"
The day his child was born, he couldn't even attend the birth. He was told by way of messenger bird. It was a girl and she was beautiful. He couldn't see her, but any child of Katara was bound to be gorgeous.
Three years of stolen moments in the palace walls or southern huts screaming each others names as they reached completion. Three years of getting to know Katara and her son. Three years of mending her broken heart while Aang left her alone. Three years secrets, only to have another one born. If he was truthful, he should have known something would happen to ruin this little paradise they created eventually. it's just his familial luck but it still hurts. Agni! No one tells you how much it hurts.
People say the moment your child is brought into the world, it's the most magical day of your life. What they don't tell you, is that its also the day your heart breaks over and over again, You think of all the evil the world has and how you cant possibly protect them from it all. And, while the situation was unfair, Katara-. Wonderful, beautiful, love of his life, Katara, gives him a gift. His gift is the name. She allows him to name their child. And with all the dangers that cornered his mind, one name came to mind. One that would honor both his love and his newborn child. Kya.
The memory of his daughter plagues his mind. The memory of the child he can never call his own, but is his nonetheless. The child he couldn't meet until she was 9 months old. He's missed her first steps, first words. But when he holds her for the first time, all the sadness, all the anguish disappears, because for the first time he gets to see her face. And she looks just like her mother. But he can see himself in the sharpness of her jaw, the shape of her nose, the fire in her eyes, and the warmth of her skin. He knows she's going to be a waterbender, Katara confirmed it within the first few months. But he wonders if there's even a trace of a firebender in her. He can always hope after all.
Two years go by and he and Katara build up their little paradise once again. The love they share only grows. And Katara makes sure to see him as much as possible. And for a time all is normal once again. When she and the children visit, they are a family. A complicated one, but a family nonetheless. But nothing good can last Forever. But, something is different this time. He can see it in the tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Are you sure?"
Katara stifles out a weak "yes?"
Something is definitely wrong. "What is it love?"
"I can't keep her!" The tears fall faster now. "She's a firebender Zuko! She- she's-" She collapses to the floor on her knees. Body shaking, breath staggering, heart breaking.
Zuko quickly wraps his arms around her lithe frame. The tears fall harder and her breaths are shallower now. "Shhh. It's okay. We'll figure it out. I promise." He hears a muffled laugh against his chest.
"How? How is this okay? I can't keep her Zuko. What can I-"
"I'll do it." Before he can stop himself the words are out and he can't stop himself before more follow. "I'll keep her. I'll raise her, she'll be my heir. Agni Katara." He cries out his pain. "I already lost one child. I can't do it again!"
Silence. Silence is all that follows. Silence and the sounds of tears and muffled apologies spoken from lips he's kissed a million times before.
The day his second child is born, he's there for it all. He's there for the birth. He's there when she cries. And he's there when she opens her gold eyes that compliments her pale skin.
The tears in his eyes are shed with pride. "She's beautiful Katara." Zuko look up from his newborn daughter to see his lover crying with a sad smile on her face.
"She's lucky…" She starts trying to hold back the tears in her eyes. "She's lucky she gets to know you as the father you should have been with Kya. I-"
"Stop. Katara… This isn't goodbye. I know how unfair this is. But I would never keep your child from you." Slowly he walks to his lovers side and cradles their child in his arms before giving her to Katara. "Nothing has to change."
Zuko can see her sadness start to fade with a small glimmer of hope. "If I could go back." She starts holding the newborn close to her chest "I'd do things differently…" Her glimmer turns into a small smile. "Things really don't have to change? Between us?"
Zuko laughs before kissing Katara's temple. "You couldn't get rid of me if you tried."
There are many things that people say. But one thing they don't tell you in the history books, is the true nature of the relationship between the Fire Lord and the Avatar's wife. However, deep in the archives, the true story is told. And it was written by Their second child. And her name is Izumi.
A/N: This part one of a Four part series of one shots explaining four different ways Izumi could be Katara's. So if you're looking for a continuation of this specific One-shot. Sorry to disappoint, but I don't know enough about LOK to do a sequel. But, Who knows... Maybe a prequel will happen at some point?