Enter Zuko.
Blind.
And now, currently speechless.
The Fire Lord was sitting very quietly on his bed as he eldest fed him cut peaches. Rumor had it that the child specifically went out to fetch the fruit with her maid. But the atmosphere was very... awkward.
Little Xiaolian had come to terms of liking her father by the minute. She had tried to converse about the new hair sticks mommy had made from some fancy rock. And said hair sticks were now being bejeweled with an emerald and ruby. And Xiaolian was very chatty about the new weird tentacle pets mommy's bald, tattooed friend had sent from the Earth kingdom. And for almost two hours the child spoke nothing but pets, hair pins, drawing, flower picking, food eating... etc.
And for all of the two hours eating peaches. Fire Lord Zuko's response to his daughter was... well, he honestly didn't know what to say. It was a sudden shock to think he still had a kid after almost two years of marriage. He felt guilty.
He became his father, and though he was blind, he could see himself in the two year old.
Xiaolian's small chatter wasn't annoying in itself. He was just annoyed by the fact he couldn't think of anything to respond with. His daughter was upset and he couldn't blame her. She showed such strong emotions through the fork and peach now being stabbed at his mouth.
"Mommy told me," Xiaolian finally spoke after twenty minutes of heavy silence. "You don't talk much." It was a plain, and obvious fact that Zuko wasn't necessarily proud of.
"I should go." Zuko figured the past eight pieces of the peach that were shoved in his direction were the last of what he'd get. The bed sheets moved with his daughter as she slid off the side of the mattress. Her shoes tapped against the wooden floor boards towards the door.
"Xiaolian!" Zuko cringed at the pitch of his voice. "Please, don't go..." Well, that was a start.
There was shuffling and movement of fabric somewhere to his le—
"Whoa!" Zuko landed on his right side; a rather large pillow was chucked to the side of his head. Great. His eldest just used Earth bending to abuse him!
"What has Toph been teaching you?" Zuko scolded as he tried to sit up and straighten himself. Ah, too bad. That wasn't going to happen. Next thing the Fire Lord knew his daughter had now launched herself on top of him. She had tried to hug her father, but her hands reached only to the sides of his chest. Her cute —but futile attempts for a hug— moved Zuko.
Xiaolian had started to cry now. "Uh," Zuko stumbled on what to say exactly. He wasn't used to seeing nor hearing Xiaolian cry. Heavens, he never saw her cry before! Slowly the blind man embraced his daughter and placed his cheek on the top of her head. The girl moved her hands up to her father's neck and squeezed for all she was worth. She made her father a little bit purple from the choking hold.
"Why are you crying, Xiaolian?"
"Because you hurt me and mommy!" Xiaolian more than yelled into her dad's chest. "You never play with us! You never hug me! You never kiss mommy! You're a bad daddy!" She had began with crocodile tears and finally Xiaolian broke down into sobs. So far, her voice hadn't cracked one bit as she chewed Zuko out.
But she was right. And it hurt immensely.
His own daughter was breaking down his walls so easily. Just like Toph. The male couldn't help but tear up at this. His daughter was intelligent enough to lash out with her uncontrolled emotions about her pain. Unlike adults in the palace, children were more forgivable and easily handled. Adults couldn't so much as utter a word of discomfort from their hearts without swallowing their pride or without misunderstandings taking place. Xiaolian's innocence was charming. Little did she know just how much her words affected the leader of a great nation.
"Daddy's a coward. Forgive me." Zuko held his daughter closer, and tighter... he didn't want her warmth, her presence to escape. "It's not nice to be a bad daddy." Hmm, she was honest indeed. Zuko smiled at this.
"Forgive me, Xiaolian." Forgive me... Toph.
