VII. Bubbles
Kya laughed at the floating bubble. It was such an uninhibited, joyous laugh that even in his foul mood, Zuko had to smile. He looked up from the scroll he was reading to where Katara sat with their daughter. He wasn't getting much work done with them there, but they were keeping him from blowing up his desk which was always a plus.
He watched as Katara formed another bubble and floated it just out of reach of their one-year-old's grasping fingers. Arching an eyebrow, Zuko thought how much like Sokka his daughter looked at that moment; blue hair bow askew, tunic somehow off kilter, and a little bit of dirt on her face. No matter how many nannies were chasing her around or how many times Katara retied that bow, their little girl managed to set everything off by a little bit, just enough to make you wonder what she'd been up to.
Try as he might, Zuko couldn't remember if it had been that much trouble to keep Maiko straightened out. It must be the Water Tribe side of Kya that was setting everything off.
Not that she was any less his daughter.
Standing resolutely, his work forgotten, he went to where they were and sat across from Katara. Holding his hand high above Kya's head, he bended a ball of fire in the palm of his hand. Water bubble forgotten (and popped), Kya raised her arms up to the fire, its flame reflected in her golden eyes.
Zuko smiled smugly at Katara. "Looks like she's a Firebender."
Without blinking, Katara reformed more bubbles, making them dance in front of Kya's eyes. It really wasn't that hard to get the attention of a one-year-old. Giggling with glee, Kya reached out and popped the bubbles she could reach.
It wasn't hard for Zuko to make a little line of bubbles out of fire, making them dance in the air. Katara swirled her bubbles around his, careful not to touch, but somehow making them all dance together. Even Zuko was mesmerized as his fires' reflection caught the swirling liquid of Katara's bubbles, their images distorted. They both smiled when Kya clapped.
"Show off," he muttered at his wife.
"Bub!" Kya gurgled.
They both froze.
"Bub!"
"Mom?" Katara tried, with a smile.
"Pop?" Zuko asserted. "She said 'Pop'!"
"She did not!"
"Bub!"
They exchanged a look.
"Bubble?" Katara said with a sigh.
"Bub-bull!"
"Her first word is 'bubble'?" Zuko said with a roll of his eyes. "Don't tell the scribe. We can skip this one."
~fin~
