A/N: I've had this idea for awhile, based off a fanart I found over on tumblr (that I recently reblogged) but am now doing it for be the peaf.
Disclaimer: I don't own.
The morning was clear and bright, perfect weather for sailing. Katara gnawed on her bottom lip as two excited girls raced past her and up the gangplank on to the waiting ship. She readjusted the three year old boy on her hip and turned to look the man standing before her in the eye. "You sure you can do this?"
"I'm sure I can take care of three kids for a few days, just relax Katara," Zuko said as he held out his arms for Tenzin. The boy burrowed into his mother's neck. "Besides, how hard can it be?"
Katara laughed. Really laughed. So much so that Zuko quickly grabbed Tenzin out of her arms as she fell to the ground clutching her sides. "Mommy happy?" Tenzin asked.
"I think Mommy needs a minute. Take your time Katara," Zuko teased, "it's not like I have a schedule or anything to worry about."
She sat up and whipped the tears from her eyes. "Schedules? Ha! You're not going to be on time for anything." She stood up and brushed herself off. "But seriously Zuko, take care of my kids."
"I'll treat them like my own."
"If they come back demanding to be called prince and princess then you're going to be in trouble." Zuko scowled and his bottom lip slightly jutted out. "Oh you know I'm teasing you."
Zuko huffed and stood up a little straighter causing Tenzin to wrap his arms tightly around Zuko's neck. "You'll take care of Mai?"
Katara nodded. "Of course. I can't believe how quickly she came down with the fire measles but Bumi and I will take care of her."
"You sure you don't want me to take Bumi too?" Zuko offered again.
Katara waved her hand at him. "Bumi wants to stay and help out and at this point I'm encouraging he do anything that doesn't involve antagonizing his little brother."
"He won't get sick too?"
"I'd be worried about Tenzin or even Kya. Bumi had a really bad case a few years ago while Kya had a very minor one. Go, try to have some fun and make sure my kids come back in one piece."
"Promise," he said as he readjusted Tenzin and marched on to the ship.
Honora and Kya were peering over the edge, Honora pointing to something in the water. "Girls move away from the edge," Zuko called out.
Honora nodded and moved back while Kya stood her ground. "I'm a waterbender, Uncle Hotman," Kya said in a perfect imitation of her mother. To prove her point she bent water on to the deck. Satisfied she turned around only to slip in the water and fall. Honora laughed, Kya glared, and Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose because this was going to be a long trip.
Katara carefully controlled the soup on the tray Bumi was carrying. She trusted him to be careful, however she also trusted him to be a child and that meant he would spill. He smiled up at her and she could almost feel how happy he was to be helping.
Katara waved to the guards before she knocked on the door of the Fire Lord's chambers. Receiving no answer Katara assumed Mai was probably resting. Even if she was resting Katara could still check up on her. "Auntie Mai might be sleeping so we have to extra careful to be quiet," Katara said. Bumi nodded as he adjusted his grip on the tray.
Katara opened the door, ushered Bumi in, and gently closed the door behind her. Then she turned to stare at the bed and was greeted by a very surprised and not at all sick looking Mai. She quickly tried to hide the tattered pamphlets strewn across the bed. All she succeeded in doing was spilling her bowl of cherries on the dark red comforter.
"Bumi can you stay here while I talk with Auntie Mai?" She asked as she knelt in front of him and took hold of the tray.
"And pretend like I don't hear anything like at home and if I don't say anything you'll let Uncle Sokka take me out for meat and boomerang practice?"
"That's right and if you keep this secret, especially from Uncle Zuko, it'll show you're old enough for your own boomerang and I can trust you not to throw it at your brother or sister," Katara added.
"But what if-" the nine year old began.
"No buts."
"Yes Mommy." She kissed the top of his head before standing and turning back to the prone Fire Lady. She calmly walked over and put the tray on the night stand.
"I see you're feeling better," Katara said.
Mai, who had many years worth of practice of keeping a straight face, drawled "isn't it amazing how quickly a person can get better?"
"Mmmhhhmm, I guess I'll have to let Zuko know you're-"
"Please don't," Mai quickly added. Katara lifted an eyebrow and gave her best 'you're going to tell me what you did wrong' look. Mai wasn't phased. "It will only make him come back and then the kids won't have a good time."
Katara knew Mai knew which buttons to push. "He'll worry all weekend."
"He left you here for a reason," Mai grumbled.
"I couldn't say no when he asked!"
Mai sat up. "Wait, he wanted you to stay?"
"Of course. He wanted to make sure you had the best care and-"
"I guess I paid off the wrong person."
"Huh?"
"Look I just wanted a little time to myself. I paid off and threaten the palace physician to say I had fire measles."
Katara nodded and sighed. "I understand."
"You do?"
"Of course. There are days I shove the kids at Aang and go down to the water and bend for hours. It's hard being Mommy and the Avatar's wife all the time."
Mai smiled, actually smiled, and patted the bed next to her. "Well how about you take a vacation with me? I've got a full staff ready to wait on us and-"
"A bunch of those brozen piece dreadfuls? Oh I've been waiting for the next installment of 'The Adventures of Ping, the Reluctant Earthbender!'"
"I never understood how he could be ignorant of his bending," Mai grumbled.
"Didn't it say he grew up in the North Pole? I've tried using earthbending moves for waterbending and it didn't turn out so well."
"I never thought of it that way."
"Mommy can I stop pretending not to listen now?" Bumi called from the doorway.
"I guess I still have to be Mommy," Katara said with a sigh.
"Not necessarily. Bumi come here," Mai called. The boy scampered over to his aunt. He always liked her because she'd promised to one day teach him to throw knives. "How would you like to spend the weekend learning how the palace runs?"
Bumi's face scrunched in thought. "Are there secret passages?"
"I think so."
"Does Honora know about them?"
"Uh, I don't think so."
Bumi grinned. "I'll do it!"
"Good," Mai said with a smile. "I'll make sure you have our own, uh, tour guide while your mom and I relax."
"Will the tour guide be a firebender?"
"Uh, sure if you want."
Bumi smiled widely. "Yes please! Then he can throw fire at all the weird monsters hiding in here and he can chase away the spider-flies. Not that I'm scared of spider-flies but Kya and Bumi are and if I tell them the story then maybe they will know about something that makes spider-flies go away. Oh! Maybe he can take me on an adventure like the one Dad told me he went on with Uncle Zuko," Bumi rambled.
"Is he always like this?" Mai asked while Bumi continued.
Katara nodded. "It's been like this since he learned how to talk. You tune it out after awhile."
Zuko was beginning to believe what Katara had said. After Kya's repeated 'are we there yet?' with Honora joining in Zuko was sure he was going to set the boat on fire. Then Tenzin sneezed and almost knocked Zuko overboard in the process (he assumed this was punishment for his ancestors killing all the Air Nomads). Kya then decided she could 'make the boat go faster' with her waterbending and almost capsized the boat.
"No more bending," he told the kids after that. Honora nodded, Kya pouted, and Tenzin sucked his thumb. "And you can see Ember Island now so we'll be there soon." Kya's pout intensified and Zuko silently felt sorry for Aang. Well, not too sorry. The Avatar was off dealing with disgruntled spirits instead of on vacation with his family.
The remainder of the journey was spent with a quiet six year old, a grump five year old, and a sleepy three year old. However, once the boat docked both girls shrieked and raced off. "At least Honora knows to go to the beach house," Zuko muttered as he picked Tenzin up. "Come on little guy, let's get you inside so you can take a nap."
"Too big for naps," Tenzin muttered.
"Of course you are." Zuko turned to one of the guards that greeted them at the dock. "Is there lunch waiting for the girls and a bed for this little guy?"
"Yes, my lord. Are Master Katara and Lady Mai coming later?" She asked.
Zuko shook his head. "Mai has fire measles and I asked Katara to take care of her. It's just me and these kids, Bumi wanted to help Katara." The guard nodded. "After naps and lunch I think we'll head down to the beach."
"The princess and her friend are going to nap?" The guard asked.
"Agni I hope so," Zuko muttered as he trudged up towards the house.
Katara decided if this is what Mai thought of as a vacation she wanted her next one to be like this too. After Bumi had been whisked away and a second bowl of cherries delivered for Katara, she kicked off her shoes and was currently halfway through 'Rouge Water.' She found a good stopping point and asked "are we going to do the same thing tomorrow?"
Mai shrugged. "That or maybe go to the spa. I usually don't but, well, it might be fun."
"Why Mai are you saying we might be friends?" Katara teased.
"Shut up and hurry up and finish that one so I can read it."
'Nap time' for Honor and Kya was mostly Zuko going and telling the to go to sleep while Tenzin slept. Lunch wasn't much better when Kya declared she wanted her Mommy's food while Tenzin sneezed Honora's food all over Zuko. Once the kids were all in their swimsuits they headed down to the beach, Zuko loaded down with as many toys as he could carry. Tenzin toddled after his sister who seemed much more excited about the large body of water in front of her rather than either her sibling or her friend.
"All right," Zuko said as he dropped half the toys. "We're going to stay here for four hours then back up to the house to wash off and dinner afterwards it will be bedtime."
"Uncle Hotman Dad let's us stay up so much later than that," Kya said as she kicked off her shoes.
"Daddy what if we want to stay longer?" Honora asked. She looked up at Zuko with such a hopeful expression that Zuko knew he would give into her if she asked again. He was also pretty sure she knew this too.
"If you're good and promise to go to bed we can stay later," Zuko said.
"Promise!" The girls chorused as they raced off to the water.
Zuko turned to Tenzin. "It's just you and me kid."
"Water," Tenzin said.
"Fine." Zuko stood and put the turtleduck floaties on Tenzin's arms. "Your sister may be a waterbender but your mom will kill me if you drown. Your dad might stop her but then he might take my bending away because I let something bad happen to you."
"No bending like Bumi?"
"Uh, yes. Well no, see, Bumi never," Zuko tried to explain to the kid and realized it was useless. "Let's go play in the water."
"Mommy I'm bored with the tour and I lost the guard and then I wandered back here and I'm bored," Bumi complained as he burst into the room. He quickly scrambled to the bed and climbed up to sit between Katara and Mai. "What are you reading?"
"Oh," Katara began, "just some grown up-"
"Let him read one," Mai said without looking up.
"Uh."
Mai put her pamphlet down and rolled her eyes as she reached for one of them that was a good adventure story. "Here, this ones the best." Bumi snatched it from her hands and happily laid down and began to read.
Zuko knew his good cheek was turning pink from the sun but he didn't care. He helped Tenzin fortify another wall in the sand pagoda as he listened to the girls laugh. "Tomorrow," he told the toddler, "all of us should build a huge one. Doesn't that sound fun?" Tenzin nodded as he patted his wall again. Zuko noted that Tenzin's cheeks were just as pink as his but another day in the sun wouldn't hurt.
"Daddy!" Honora called. He turned to see his daughter half skipping and half running towards him. Her shoulders were as pink as the crown of flowers in her hair. Kya followed, grinning. "Daddy look what Kya made you!" Both girls stopped right in front of him and, without missing a beat, Kya placed a flower crown on Zuko's head. "Kya found flowers and made these for us because you're Fire Lord and I'm a princess! She made necklaces for her and Tenzin." Kya was currently trying to place the flowers around her little brother's neck. "Do you like it Daddy?"
Zuko pulled Honora into a hug. "I love it," he told her. "Why don't we make one for Mommy before we leave tomorrow?"
"It can be a get well present!" Honora said. "Kya we're going to need more flowers!"
"Tomorrow, now it's time to go back home."
Both girls pouted. "Is there anyway we can have more time Uncle Zuko?" Kya asked.
"Please Daddy?"
Zuko sighed but stayed firm. "It's already been longer than I said. Tenzin and I had to finish our creation." Tenzin, upon hearing his name, promptly destroyed half the sand pagoda. "I guess we'll have to make a new one tomorrow." The kids smiled at him.
They trudged back up to the beach house, Zuko with Tenzin on his back, having convinced the girls to carry the toys. They made it through dinner successfully, the only complaint was Kya reminding him that Tenzin could only have vegetables because he was an airbender. After dinner he told the kids of how he freed Appa from Lake Laogai, minus his uncle's lecture. The kids actually went to bed (Zuko had doubts about Kya but she passed out the second her head hit the pillow) and Zuko settled in for the night, thinking how this wasn't too hard and maybe, just maybe, he could deal with two kids at home.
The next day dawn bright and clear, another perfect day for the beach. Except that Tenzin woke up sneezing and covered in red blotches. "Oh you got Mai's fire measles," he cooed as the boy fussed. "Let's get you back to your mom so she can take care of you."
The girls groaned and complained when they were told they had to leave early. "Can't we stay by ourselves, Daddy?" Honora whined.
"Not till you're older," Zuko said as he bundled up Tenzin.
"When will that be?" She asked.
"Uh," Zuko actually wasn't sure. He didn't expect her to ask when she could stay here alone. His actual response was never but he couldn't tell her that. Then again he had a slightly skewed idea of when it was all right to send a kid out on their own. Thirteen was much too young (Agni that was in six years for her and he was not going to have that) but maybe sixteen. He remembered what he and Mai had been doing at sixteen and slightly rethought that. Well they'd cross the bridge when they came to it. "Let's say sixteen now but your mother will have the final word."
"But that's so far away!"
"I know but we can talk about it later, go get your things so we can leave." She stomped away, reminding Zuko she had his temper sometimes.
Zuko dealt with two annoyed and one sick child all the way back to the palace. Kya still tried to waterbend on the boat and this time Honora tried to counter some of Kya's splashes with fire blasts. By the time they reached the palace they were all a little wet but luckily nothing was singed. As they stood into the palace Zuko told the servants to prepare the room that they had used when Honora was a baby for Tenzin and to put an extra bed in Honora's room so the girls could have a sleepover.
"Where's Katara?" He asked.
"In your rooms with Lady Mai," he was told.
"Excellent, I'm going to see her," Zuko said as he adjusted his grip on Tenzin.
Zuko expected to find Katara nursing his wife back to health. Instead, when he opened the door, he found both Katara and Mai lounging on the bed, with Bumi in between them. "Hi Uncle Hotman!" Bumi called. "I'm going to join the army when I grow up and have adventures like in these stories!"
"Bumi, we're going to talk about this when we get home," Katara said as she looked at her eldest son rather than Zuko.
"That's nice. Mai I see you're feeling better," Zuko said. "Which is great because Tenzin does have fire measles."
Katara jumped off the bed and rushed over to take Tenzin from Zuko. "Is my baby sick?" She cooed.
"Mama," Tenzin said as he snuggled closer to her.
"The room next door should be prepared for him." Katara nodded and left, feeling the boy's forehead as she walked.
Bumi looked between his aunt and uncle and asked "is Honora back?"
"She and your sister are in the gardens the last I saw," Zuko told him.
"Ok I'm going to go tell them about all the adventures I'm going to have." When Bumi closed the door behind him Zuko sat down next to Mai on the bed.
"Feeling better?" He asked.
"Oh yes, miraculous recovery," she drawled.
He looked down at his lap. "You could have told me you didn't want to come."
She shrugged. "You were so excited to go and I just...wanted some time alone."
"Oh."
She nudged him with her foot. "Hey," she took his hand, "I know we promised not to do this whole not talking to each other about what we want but you really wanted to go and I just wanted to relax."
He looked at their joined hands and ran his thumb over the back of her hand. "You know I would understand, right?"
"Well now I do. No more lies," she promised.
He nodded. "So were you planning on staying in bed the rest of the day?"
"Maybe, depended on what I wanted to do."
He smirked. "How about we both spend the rest of the day here?"
She kicked him gently. "And this is how I know you're not really mad."
He smiled. "Well maybe it's time that Honora had a sibling, if that's alright with you," he added quickly.
"What brought this on?"
"Seeing Honora and Kya playing. So, what do you say?" He wiggled his eyebrow.
"I say we can start trying but you're going to have to massage my feet and back whenever I want it."
"Done," he said as he leaned in to kiss her.
Once he pulled back she said "you really like the beach, don't you?"
"Always have," he said before kissing her again.
I will keep her name Honora even though I now know she does have a name but, when I asked Bryan Konietzko about it last weekend at Comic Con he wouldn't say the name.
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