Disclaimer: This is a disclaimer. I use it to disclaim things. The baby is MINE. That's basically it.

Hot Knife | Prologue

The sun was setting over Shu Jing. A newlywed couple stood arm in arm, gazing up at the wooden sign that was posted above the entrance of the stables they'd seen in the tourism pamphlet.

Lee's Carriage Rides

Romantic rides through Shu Jing's beautiful countryside overlooking the waterfalls

Just 5 Silver Pieces Per Ride

Beneath the larger sign hung a smaller, battered one that read:

Closed
Business Hours: Midday – Fourth Hour Past

"I told you we should have been here earlier." The woman punched her companion in the arm; it was met with a yelp of pain.

"How was I supposed to know? The damned pamphlet didn't say when the stables close," he protested, rubbing at the sore spot. "That's going to bruise."

She rolled her eyes. "Don't be a baby, Gan."

The man wrapped his other arm around his wife's waist, pulling her close and cringing at the sullen pout on her face. "I'm sorry if I ruined the evening for you, Fai. I don't want you to be unhappy during our honeymoon." He met her pout with one of his one; his lower lip wobbled as it protruded sadly.

A retching noise suddenly started up in the backdrop.

Fai's expression softened. "I'll let you make it up to me with a nice dinner. I hear they cook up a mean smoked sea slug at the place down the street," she suggested.

Her husband grinned gratefully. "It's our honeymoon. We'll feast on smoked sea slug and roast duck tonight. And anything else your palate desires," he promised, with a quick peck to her lips.

She looked up at him in surprise. "I thought we were honeymooning on a budget."

Gan scratched his head sheepishly. His fingers inadvertently tipped the two-pronged headpiece out of alignment; it sat crookedly on his head "Ah, well, this was going to be a surprise, but…I've been promoted, Fai. You're looking at the new warden of the Boiling Rock."

Fai squealed and flung her arms around her husband's neck in delight. "Gan, that's wonderful!"

He beamed proudly. "Soon I'll be able to get you everything you've ever wanted," he declared.

"I'm happy just being married to you," she said happily, and then reeled her husband in for a kiss.

The retching noise was back.

Fai suddenly pulled away. "Do you hear that?"

"Huh," Gan said dumbly. "Nope, not a thing. Come back here, we're not finished yet." He reached for her again as the sounds of uncontrollable puking continued in the distance.

But his wife's attention had been captured by something else. "I heard something just now," she said, searching around them for the mysterious noise.

Gan sighed and reluctantly accepted that their public display of affection had come to a stop. He trailed after his wife. "Yeah, I heard something. Maybe there's a stomach bug going around the village."

"No, it's not that…" She stepped closer to the closed stables. "It sounds like crying."

He blinked. "What? I don't hear any—hey, wait! This place is closed, remember?" he called out after her, but the words were too little, too late. Fai had already walked around to the back of the structure, which left him with no choice but to follow. He heard her gasp, and arrived at the back of the stables just in time to see his wife lift a sheet of worn canvas from one of the many broken feeding troughs that littered the small yard behind the stables. "What is it, Fai?"

She dropped the canvas aside and reached into feeding trough for whatever was apparently inside it. It was then that Gan finally heard the thin wailing. He approached cautiously. "Is that…?"

Fai turned around with a bundle of what appeared to be withering cabbage leaves held together with twine. Gan stared.

"Look, Gan." She held up the bundle, turning it slightly so that he could see the tiny face that peered out from between the cabbage leaves.

He frowned. "Who would leave a baby in a stable?"

"People who don't deserve to have children of their own," she said angrily.

"No kidding." He gingerly poked the baby's cheek. This was met with a cranky burble from the offended party, as well as a slap on the hand from his wife. "You're a violent woman, Fai. So, what are we supposed to do with it?"

She was silent for a moment of contemplation. "What do you say to having a guest over for dinner, tonight?" she suggested.

Gan looked back at her, perplexed. Then realization sank in. "But it has parents. Shouldn't we be looking for them?"

"Clearly she has been abandoned. We can't just leave her here to die." Fai's gaze, as she looked down at the infant, was full of pity and a motherly compassion that Gan had never noticed in her until that moment.

He sighed and draped his arm over her shoulders. "How do you know it's a girl?"

She smiled up at him. "Trust me, she's a girl," she answered.

"I definitely wasn't expecting to come out of this honeymoon with a baby," he said. "Let alone a daughter."

Fai's dark eyes sparked impishly. "Got a problem with girls, dearest?"

He startled. "No, of course not. I-I've always wanted kids! Yes. Nothing would make me happier than a boatload of children," he said quickly.

She stood on tiptoe to plant a peck on his cheek. "Good answer."

The newlyweds made their way back to the main street with the baby nestled safely in Fai's arms. A half hour later, when they were seated at the restaurant waiting to for their meal to be prepared, something occurred to Fai. "What will we name her?" she wondered aloud, as she rocked the baby in her arms. They had replaced the cabbage leaf wrapping with a thick towel provided by the restaurant staff.

Gan shrugged and took a swill of his milk tea. "We'll figure it out. But really, Fai, this can't be legal."

"We'll just have to act as if she's our own," she decided.

He glanced at the infant, noting her thin, rust-colored curls, tawny face, and grey eyes. "The family resemblance is uncanny," he remarked drily. "No one will ever suspect a thing."

She grimaced at him. "We'll say the genetics skipped a generation," she said. "But she still needs a name, that's for certain."

Gan took another drink from his glass, before setting it down with a light clunk. Then, it came to him. A stroke of creative genius! "I got it—Chai! We found her in Shu Jing, and they practically bathe in the stuff, here." He looked at his wife expectantly. "Ow!"

Fai pinched his nose. "Don't be ridiculous," she snapped. "We're not naming our daughter after a beverage."

His face contorted from pained to kicked-puppy-dog in seconds. Dry heaving could be heard somewhere in the vicinity of the kitchen. "Why not? It's unique! You don't see anyone else in the Fire Nation named Chai," he said defensively.

"That's because it's a beverage."

"But—"

"Not going to happen."

/

A/N: The warden of Boiling Rock is just a big old softy, ain't he? So, I gave him a name and a wife. And a baby wrapped in cabbage leaves. I am a generous author.