Yeah, I know. It's about time huh?
Sorry it took this long, but this was all I got finished before I got caught up in....other things. (Sounds mysterious, but truthfully I just lost my focus.).
This chapter is still everything I intended for it to be though, so I hope u won't be disappointed.
"P-Pregnant!?"
The fire Lord stood there stunned, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. The look on his face was almost comical in it's surprise, and Mai might have even laughed if such a thing came easy to her, and if she still wasn't just a tiny bit annoyed.
"Yes, Zuko. That is what I said."
Zuko blinked several times at this before stuttering out a mostly incoherent response.
"But..you…I…how?"
"How do you think?" She asked impatiently, affectively covering up the pang of disappointment she felt toward his reaction.
Zuko seemed to pause for a moment as if finally collecting himself, and all the tension seemed to drain out of him; his shoulders slumped again, his arms went mostly limp at his side, and his expression changed from stunned disbelief to wonder.
"You're sure?"
His voice was soft, attentive, and Mai found it impossible to be annoyed with him a that moment. At least he sounded rational again.
"I am." she answered calmly. "The healer says I'm nearly two months along."
Zuko stared at his wife for a few more moments, almost in a daze.
She was going to have a baby- No, not just a baby, Their baby.
Zuko felt a sudden warmth within his chest, his heart skipped hopefully, even as his mind still tried to fully understand what all of this meant.
They had always been a couple him and Mai, but now…now they would be a family. Mai wouldn't just be his wife any more, but also the mother of his child.
And he would be a…father.
As this bit of information finally sunk in, it was impossible to stop the grin that spread across his face, and recalling his previous misunderstanding he laughed at his own foolishness as he caught Mai in a sudden hug.
"Mai, that's great!" he laughed a bit as he said this, taking a step back to grin at her in that excited and somewhat foolish way that revealed his obvious joy and pride.
Mai raised one eyebrow slightly, looking mildly surprised.
"It is?"
"Of course, I-" he stopped, seeming to finally notice the expression on Mai's face.
He frowned slightly, uncertain.
"Are you.. not happy about this?"
Mai closed her eyes briefly, shaking her head.
"It's not that, Zuko." she replied, determined to set him straight before he jumped to any other conclusions. "I just have…concerns."
When Zuko's eyebrows raised in alarm, she was quick to continue.
"And before you ask, no, there's nothing wrong with the baby or myself."
Zuko calmed instantly, still giving her his full attention as he nodded for her to continue.
"To be completely honest, I wasn't sure how you'd feel about this," She replied, watching as several emotions flickered across his face, obviously remembering her hesitation before.
"We always said we would wait." she continued. "Despite the councils urgings about producing an heir, we knew we weren't ready. Things were still unstable in the fire nation, and we barely had time for ourselves…..taking care o f a child would have only led to more strain on our relationship and on your position as Fire Lord. We both agreed to that soon after being married."
"It's not like that now." He pointed out.
"I know." She conceded. "But we never discussed it further than that. It wasn't mentioned again except by the council, and you were quick to dismiss them. I couldn't help but think that you would see this as an inconvenience to you."
Mai felt suddenly very foolish and guilty when she saw her husbands saddened and troubled expression, but when she adverted her gaze, Zuko sighed and took her hand in his.
"Mai."
She looked up into his eyes as he spoke.
"A second ago I thought I was going to lose you," he paused, a sudden smile on his face, "and now I know that I'm going to be a.. a father."
Mai couldn't help but squeeze his hand when she heard the contented awe filled tone in his voice as he said the word 'father'. Not since he had begun refering to his Uncle as such did he ever say the word with such warmth.
"It may not be something I planned for," He continued softly, seriously, "But I couldn't imagine ever wanting anything more than to start a family with you."
For several moments Mai didn't know how to react- usually whenever Zuko said something heartfelt or sensitive toward her, she'd roll her eyes, telling him what a dork he was, or on some occasions tell him that he talks too much and then following the statement with a kiss. Now though, Mai could only think about how lucky she was, feeling relief, happiness, and the irrational sting of tears behind her eyes.
'Stupid hormones' she thought, still frozen in place even as Zuko brought his free hand to her face, gazing at her in concern and confusion.
"Mai?"
It wasn't until his thumb brushed across her now moist cheek, that she realized that she was indeed crying. She felt foolish- she was not one to shed tears lightly, and yet she did so now for no rational reason at all.
Zuko's expression was troubled.
"What's wrong?" he asked, eyes widening suddenly. "Is it the baby? Are you hurting? Should we-"
Mai quickly placed a finger to his lips, silencing him, although partially grateful that he had managed to ground her.
"First off, I'm fine." she replied, satisfied that her voice didn't falter. "Secondly, you don't need to freak out every time you even think somethings wrong, and thirdly," she paused, taking her finger away from his mouth to poke him in the chest, looking at him sternly. "If you tell anyone about me crying I swear you won't live to see the birth."
Zuko smiled some, remembering a similar occurrence between the two, recalling her words 'don't ever break up with me again.'
"I wont." he promise, then chuckled. "Who'd believe me anyway?"
"Good point." she replied, satisfied.
"So," Zuko began softly, serious. "How do you feel about ..um..this" he gestured vaguely toward her stomach.
Mai instinctively felt her hand come to rest on her belly as she looked away from him, her gaze traveling out toward the garden.
"I've never thought of myself as the mothering type." she replied. "To tell you the truth, I was satisfied with it just being the two of us- having a child was inevitable, but not something I had ever really longed for."
Mai closed her eyes, a small, contented -if not somewhat ironic- smile on her face.
"But I guess you were right, Zuko; fate has a way of leading us down paths we never thought we'd take, only to have us end up exactly where we wanted to be."
"More my Uncle's words than mine," Zuko admitted sheepishly.
Mai looked up into his eyes, her gaze determined and sure, her smile still present.
"I want this Zuko." she replied steadily. "I've never been more certain."
Zuko let out a breathe, smiling down at her fondly.
"I love you." he stated softly, bringing his hand back up to gently caress her cheek.
"I'm glad you feel that way." She replied, a somewhat sarcastic smile on her face. "I'm rather fond of you too."
Zuko chuckled softly at this before closing the gap between them, capturing his wife in a tender kiss, marveling at his good fortune- and for the first time in a long time, accepting it without question, but with gratitude.
Okay...bad news time:
Sadly, I don't think I'll be able to continue with this-- since staying in-character is becoming challenging and my mind has been drifting away from 'the avatar' fandom for some time now.
I've totally lost my grasp on this story and I apologize for that- I had originally hoped to actually go through the whole pregnancy thing but....(sigh)....I just don't see it happening.
Please don't be angry with me! But if I tried to write more it would be a struggle, and then the story would just be crappy and forced and blah...and I can't do that.
Please forgive me, and um.....leave a review.....preferably a not angry one.
