Okay, I know I said the prompts would be a MC story, but this was far more original. The other was sounding too much like a cliff notes version of Each Other.

Change

She was late. Two weeks and three days late, in fact. And she had only been late four other times in her 48 years, not including the stress during the war that caused her cycles to be off. Added to that the tenderness of her breasts and the mild nausea and the slight swell to her belly and the flashes of heat she was certain of her symptoms. A coil of apprehension and excitement swirled through her. She had loved being pregnant, feeling the life within her grow and the joy of the birth with its scream of welcome to the world and what with their four other children grown, the eldest soon to be a mother herself and the youngest so close to completing her schooling, a baby would be a wonderful addition to their family.

Zuko didn't quite agree with her assessment. "Aren't we a bit old to be having another baby?" he inquired as gently as possible. His golden eyes crinkled at their edges hardly glimpsed up from the stack of documents under his review, trying to sooth the excitement of his waterbending wife. Katara waved his opinions away. What did he know? He was a man and he could only witness the awesome changes that pregnancy brought. She found her children and informed them of the new addition. The girls were excited already babbling about what they should make for the new sibling, her lone son, the second born, was apprehensive and mirrored his father's sentiments to which he too was dismissed by the women for his ignorance as a male.

Katara happily made her request for the palace doctor's to come to her rooms for an exam and obeying their Fire Lady, they ran the necessary tests. Katara's heart sank at the news.

When she did not arrive for dinner, Zuko found her buried under the covers of their bed. All his prompts to get her out failed.

"Well?" he demanded, his patience running thin.

"I'm not pregnant," her response was muffled by the silks and downs of the covers. Ripping them away, Zuko found his dear wife curled inwards, eyes red-rimmed. He sat next to her and puzzled over her behavior. "I'm not pregnant and I'll never get pregnant again!" she lamented, tears streaking her face.

His eyes widened at the word, his mouth suddenly dry. This had a feeling this was women's talk and as man he shouldn't really know about this. "So, uh… what does that mean? That's good, right?"

Katara glared up at him her expression more dangerous that any water attack she could unleash. How can he possibly think this was a good thing? This wasn't a good thing! This was horrible!

Zuko tilted his head and rubbed her back, questioning her further. "It's the Change," she bawled.

"The Change?"

"Yes. The Change. Menopause!

"Katara," he began, trying to catch her eyes, "it's not that big of a deal, you know? All women go through it. Or so I'm told."

"It is a big deal, Zuko. It means I'm a dried up old crone. My hair's going to get greyer, I'll get more wrinkles, fatter, uglier and you're not going to want me anymore! You're going to leave me and start seeing one of those hot little things that run around here like mice. A young Fire Nation girl who's at her prime of life and will make you feel like a 2o year old all over again and you won't have any need for me!" she wailed into her pillow.

Zuko laughed despite himself. He moved a stray strand from her cheek, "You know I wouldn't do that. I fought too hard to get you to be Fire Lady and I wouldn't just throw that away." That murderous blue gaze turned to him again but Zuko kept on, "Think of the good. You don't have to take those horrible herbs anymore and we can just enjoy ourselves without having to worry about accidents."

Katara gave a disgruntled noise, naturally he would think of that. That's how their last child 16 years ago had happened, she had gotten lax and they had gotten a "surprise".

"And no more monthly… um… discomfort." Yeah, okay he had a point there. Moon cycles were horrible.

"And Kyrsa's child is due any time now which means we'll be grandparents soon I'm sure."

The tears were back, "Wah! She's still a little girl. She can't have children."

"Katara, she's 26 and that's a perfectly reasonable age to have children. Just because we were younger doesn't mean anything. And it means you get the pleasures of a baby around but at the end of the day none of the challenges. No changings, no sleepless nights. When the kid starts bawling, just pass him back to his parents. All the fun, none of the ugly. Who could ask for anything better?"

She sniffled, running her hand over her wet nose. Yeah, that was a good thing. Despite previous royalty having nannies and wet nurses, Zuko and Katara raised their children on their own with all the exhaustion and stress that any regular non-royal family would have.

"So just because you're going through The Change, doesn't mean that life is over. I still love you and admire you and I don't care that you're an old crone now because that just means I'm an old geezer."

She laughed despite herself, sitting up, "Yeah. You are old."

"See? Besides my hair's greyer and has been for a while. I have far more wrinkles than you. And why in Agni's name would I want some young thing to remind me that I've changed into an old man when I have you that reminds me every day of when I was young." The softness in his eyes was so easy to melt into. Wrapping her arms around her husband's waist she valued how little he had truly changed. He was always so practical and honest. That's what she loved about him and she thanked him.

He kissed the top of her forehead, "Now come on, old lady, everyone is waiting for us in the dining room."

OooOooO

Haha! Menopause. It sucks (or so I'm told, I still have a few dozen more years before it's an issue). Am I weird for probably being the only person to come up with this idea for the Change prompt?