Author's Note: Author's Note: The only warning I have for this one is for slight suggestive themes. (It might need a fluff warning too, though.) Zuko learns more of Water Tribe tradtions and customs, and gets a little surprise at the end.

Socks

One lesson Zuko learned early on in their marriage: when visiting the Water Tribe, always sleep with a pair of socks on. As Katara taught him well, it didn't matter that his blood ran hotter thanks to his inner fire, it still got really, really cold at the poles.

He also learned that wasn't all bad, because the socks added an element of intregue to their moonlit encounters.

Their honeymoon was a time of many firsts besides that, however – Katara showed Zuko the Northern Lights, which he told her people of his nation had called both "Icy Fires" and "Spirit Flames" in the scrolls that survived from before the Hundred Year War.

"Leave it to your people to see fire in the sky lights," Katara chuckled, kissing him again. "I like that, though. They do look like fire, except they come in all the colors..."

"But fire comes in all the colors, too - " Zuko said, and went on to tell her about his meeting with Ran and Shaw, and how the dragons had enlightened both him and Aang by showing them beautiful, rainbow colored flames. "It was amazing," he said, eyes sparkling in memory of that light. "It reminded me what so many firebenders have forgotten – that fire isn't just death, it is also life."

The first weeks of their life together were as warm as those remembered flames, and Zuko was almost sad to return home to the Fire Nation – he had enjoyed sleeping under the warm furs with Katara, keeping the cold at bay by curling up close to his new wife.

He soon found himself missing both that nest-like feeling (the sheets were so much thinner in the palace, and even after a short time under the Water Tribe furs, felt far too light) and the feeling of Katara's socked feet intertwining with his own.

However, he was surprised one evening a few months later when he came home from a meeting with the council to see Katara and his mother sitting together, each making something out of cloth. He smiled to see them working together, talking happily – it warmed his heart to know they got along.

His heart almost stopped when he saw what they were making, though -

Teeny, tiny pairs of socks.

"Mom, Katara? What're you making these... for?"

"It's a Water Tribe tradition," Ursa declared, sharing a glance with Katara, who only blushed and looked aside.

"A tradition?" He asked, confused. "What do you mean? Why - "

"Socks are the first thing you make for a new baby," Katara announced, cheeks still rosy. "Usually with help from your own mother, and from furs brought in by your husband – but..." She held up the pair she had made, carefully putting them in Zuko's hand. "M-Mom's not here, furs are a too warm anyway, so Ursa helped me find something we could use - "

Zuko, of course had frozen as soon as the word "baby" was out of Katara's mouth, but the feeling of the soft cloth in his hand finally brought out his smile. "...We're having a baby?"

He grinned as Katara nodded, and didn't notice his mother quietly slip away in his excitement. Of course, he'd end up panicking later, but for that moment nothing could be more perfect than Katara's smile and the way the little socks felt in his hand.