Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: the Last Bender or its characters
Pointers: 'italics' means that the character is thinking
Summary: He hadn't seen her since the day he was banished, but he could still remember the way the wind had drifted her away. Zuko x OC
Book 3: Fire
Boiling Rock
Jiyuu sighed heavily, feeling rather tired. She felt her sickness happening less at night and moreso into the morning, which wasn't doing a good job of her disguising the fact she was with child. Katara had saw the airbender, slouching about in the library with a worried yet sickly look on her face. "You still haven't told him, have you?" Katara asked as Jiyuu shook her head.
"I'm not ready yet." Jiyuu bit down on her thumb, feeling a bit insecure. She could see a slight bump protruding from her stomach and she was sure that Zuko would eventually notice her gaining weight. Not that, how could she explain her sickness now? She couldn't make up something, it wouldn't make sense. And if he finds out on his own, he would just be upset that she hid the truth from him and things would probably end bad.
"I see." Katara replied and soon sighed, placing her hand on the girl's shoulders. "Take your time."
Jiyuu nodded her head, "That's what I plan to do."
"Take your time for what?" A voice asked in which both girls looked up to see it was Teo, making the wheels of his move chair head towards their direction. "What's going on?" He asked them as Jiyuu and Katara glanced at each other and then back at him.
"Its a girl thing." The airbender managed to say, knowing that Katara and Toph already knowing was enough but telling someone else would just make things worse.
"Oh," He said and then laughed a bit nervously, "Didn't mean to intrude. I was just looking for you guys because Zuko's making tea and I wanted you guys to be around the campfire."
Both girls gave him a nod and a smile, "We'll be there. Don't worry." Katara answered for them as Teo, albeit awkwardly, left the library leaving both girls to themselves.
"I can't tell him before I tell Zuko, he'd be pissed if I did." Rubbing her temples in a circular motions, she could feel herself becoming entirely stressed. There was so many things wrong right now, having a child in the middle of a war? Being sixteen and unmarried? Her boyfriend an exiled prince with a crazy family? Not only did have crazy in his family, but she had crazy person in her family as well.
Katara could see the girl's frustrations and she decided she wasn't going to to push her. It was a stressful, she could sympathize and Jiyuu was going to take responsibility for the child which was what made the waterbender proud. Jiyuu would make a great mother, she was sure of it, but Zuko... A father? That was quite difficult to see in a time like this. "Come on, let's go drink some tea."
Jiyuu nodded and got up from the chair, walking alongside Katara as she placed her hand on her stomach. "Its funny to know that there is another life inside you." She said with a soft voice, a smile slowly creeping on her face. Rubbing her stomach in a circular motion she started to laugh, "I wonder what kind of little personality they'll have and if they'll look like me or like Zuko." The idea of a miniature Zuko had amused her, Katara managed to laugh with her.
"Let's just hope they don't have both of your anger problems." Katara commented, the airbender cutting the girl a glare but it wasn't meant to be taken seriously but as a playful joke.
"Tch, you're telling me! I don't want them to have them either." Jiyuu replied both girls imaging a very angry, stubborn child.
Once they had made it near the campfire, both girls had sat down and then took a cup of tea that Zuko was passing around. "No one can make tea like Uncle. But hopefully I learned a thing or two. Would you like to hear Uncle's favorite tea joke?" He asked them, Jiyuu quite surprise with his calm and friendly behavior with everyone. Maybe, just maybe, he finally felt like he could fit in.
"Sure." Katara replied.
"I like jokes!" Aang said excitedly.
Toph even managed to seem interested, "Bring it."
Zuko stood up with the tray, "Okay." He then knelt between The Duke and Haru, "Well, I can't remember how it starts but the punchline," Both boys took a cup of the hot tea, "is "Leaf me alone, I'm bushed." Jiyuu sighed as everyone else gave a deadpanned look. "Well, it's funnier when Uncle tells it."
"That's because Uncle doesn't just say the punchline, Zuko. He tell the whole joke." Everyone snickered as Aang took a cup, Zuko smiles. "But I can't really poke fun since I don't remember it myself."
"It's nice to get a chance to relax a little." Toph commenced as Zuko walked inbetween Toph and Teo, handing them their cups of tea. "It hardly ever happens." She finished, drinking her cup along with Teo.
Sokka, who was sitting by himself at side, had a very serious thinking face. He looked over to Zuko, who approached him, "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"
Both boys walked away, Jiyuu looking at them questioningly but turning back to the group. "Well, it is nice and we all deserve a break after all that we have been through. Still, its not like this will last very long anyway."
"Yeah." Toph sighed as she held the cup in her hands, "But its nice so far."
Jiyuu smiled, "Yeah, kind of wish we could stay like this forever, huh?"
"Yeah, I wouldn't mind hanging out with you guys forever." Aang said with a smile as well, "But the world needs me, so that's just a very impossible dream."
All of them nodded their heads, agreeing with what he said. "But when the war is over, let's all celebrate." Jiyuu added, raising a fist in the air. "Let's make sure that we have so much fun!"
"Hey, Ballerina!" Toph called Jiyuu in which the brunette looked at her confused, "Let's talk for a minute."
The female airbender nodded her head and stood up, walking over to a now standing Toph and the two walked off. "Is there something going on?" Aang asked Katara, who was watching Toph and Jiyuu walked off towards the forest area.
"I'm not sure but I'm going to find out." Katara said as she stood up and ran in the same direction, "Let me in on this!" The waterbender yelled after them leaving Aang, The Duke, and Haru around the fire. The boys looked at each other and continued on eating.
Toph looked back and smiled at Katara, "I knew Sugar Queen would wanna know," She said as Jiyuu folded her arms now growing impatient.
"Well, what is it Toph?" asked Jiyuu who seemed to be a bit anxious. She never had one-on-one conversations with Toph and Katara's presence did bring a little ease. In fact, she thought that it would've probably been good for them.
"You're having twins." Toph answered, both girls gasping. "Its funny because whenever I heard that heartbeat around, I kept confusing it with the others. Like, thinking it was Sokka or something and now I noticed that whenever I'm around you, there are two extra."
Jiyuu's eyes looked down at her stomach, her eyes wide and her hands shaking. "T-Twins?!" She stuttered as she looked over at Katara, who was also surprised. "Can my luck get even worse?! Twins?! I'm not even ready for one but I'm starting of with two?! Tell me that this is wrong, Toph. You have to reassure me."
"Sorry Ballerina, but I can sense five heart beats. You two, mine, and the two little ones." The Earthbender sighed as Jiyuu calmed down when she saw the girl's sad expression, "Maybe I shouldn't have told you."
The airbender forced herself to smile in a means to cheer Toph up, "Its okay. Its best I know anyway." She rubbed her stomach once more, "Its just... Things makes things a little hard for me, but all I can do is try. It only means I have to stop stalling. I'm going to tell him now." Jiyuu said as she turned around, both Katara and Toph watching the airbender leave with shock.
"You think she's gonna do it?" Toph asked as Katara shrugged her shoulders.
Jiyuu kept walking around until she saw Zuko, who seemed to be going off somewhere. "Zuko, hey!"
The boy stopped and turned to look at her as she walked toward him, she grabbed his hands and smiled... Hard. "Something wrong?" He asked as she sighed and looked down, feeling unsure.
"Well, I don't know how to say this..." Jiyuu mumbled as his eyes slowly narrowed, wondering what could be bothering her. "Uhm, Zuko, I'm pregnant."
It was like his face completely burned off. His eyes were wider than she had ever seen them, his jaw nearly touching the ground, and the atmosphere around them felt like it was on fire. Jiyuu looked away from him, feeling like he was going to snap right then and there. "H-How?! Are you sure?"
Her face completely fell before she took on an aggravated appearance, "I haven't had my monthly for two months, I've been sick, I've been gaining weight, and Toph heard their heartbeats!" She pushed him and since he was such in shock, he allowed himself to fall as she folded her arms and looked away.
"Their heartbeats?! There's two?! Jiyuu but this can't be happening! We're not ready to be parents!" Zuko said as he finally stood and threw his arms in the air, "How can we support them? We're also in the middle of a war!"
Her bottom lip quivered as she felt herself wanting to cry. What he was saying was all true, but a part of her was a little sad that he wasn't at least a little happy about it. "I don't know, Zuko. But we'll find a way, I know we can!"
It appears his freakout wasn't over, "When did you find out?" He asked as he vigorously rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"They day you and Aang went to see the Sun Warriors." She replied, rubbing her arm as she could feel the air growing hotter.
"Jiyuu, that was three days ago! Why didn't you tell me then?!" He asked, his voice growing harsher and harsher.
In fact, Jiyuu felt like she deserved the lashing. If she had told him earlier, she wouldn't be worrying about this now. "Well, I wasn't sure how to tell you. Remember yesterday I asked you when you'll ever want to have kids? I was going to tell you but the way you answered... I-I wasn't sure."
The firebender soon calmed down, the raging fire burning within him grew slimmer and slimmer upon her answer. "I just don't know what to do."
"You don't have to do anything, Zuko." She said with a reassuring smile, "We'll handle this, together. All you have to do is love them, right now. It just means I can't fight alongside Aang, you will. Let our children have a world to love and grow up in."
She took his hand and placed it on her stomach, a small smile on her face. All he did was look at her and down at at her where his hand rested. Slowly, she could tell that his anger was slowly dissipating as his hand moved slightly, rubbing her slightly protruding stomach. "I need to take a walk."
His hand slid out of her grasp as he turned to leave, she stood there fighting herself from crying. What was she thinking anyway?He wasn't going to turn around. Maybe it was best if she raised them on her own, she didn't want to force Zuko to be a parent if he couldn't handle it. Even when he was being so selfish, she was still looking out for him. "I'm sorry." She whispered as she closed her eyes.
The next day, Jiyuu walked down the halls of the air temple. Zuko hadn't come back at all and so she assumed that he needed more space. But the more space he gave her, the less confident she felt that he would want to be apart of the twins lives. When she reached outside, she had seen Aang who was rubbing his eyes and making his way over towards Katara. It appeared she had a letter in her hands from what she could tell and so she sped up a little to join them. "What does it say?" Toph asked Katara.
"Need meat. Gone fishing." Katara read the parchment before turning it as her head tilting slightly as she tried to read the handwriting. "Back in a few days. Sokka and Zuko. One more thing," Aang had already walked back to sleeping back, yawning and stretching. "Aang, practice your firebending while I'm gone. Do twenty sets of fire fists and ten hot squats every time you hear a badger frog croak. Zuko." Jiyuu frowned, wondering why Zuko hadn't left a message for her. He just up and left with Sokka without telling her a thing? Her worries grew more and more.
A badger frog, which came out of nowhere, then croaked which caused the Avatar's eyes to open with irritation as he stood. "Nobody else has homework!" He then began ten hot squats with his hands behind his head. "One hot squat. Two hot squat. Three hot squat. Four hot squat. Five hot squat..."
While Aang continued on, Katara had seen the sad look on the airbender's face. "Jiyuu, are you okay?"
The girl shook her head, not bothering on lying. "I told Zuko last night." She slightly mumbled.
Katara and Toph smiled, "Well, what did he say?"
"He flipped out." She answered as their smiles then turned upside down. "He... He isn't ready."
Toph folded her arms, "Ready or not, he has to own up to his responsibilities. He got you in this position in the first place and so he has to take care of the little ones! If I have make him see that then I'll do it!" She grinned maliciously, obviously conjuring up ideas how she'll beat the boy senseless.
Jiyuu, even though upset, managed to let out a small laugh. "Its okay, Toph. He needs time to think about it and I'll give him that."
"But what if he never comes around?" Katara asked, worried about her friend.
The hazel-eyed girl smiled anyway, "Then I'll raise them on my own."
"Jiyuu, I can't let you do that. You'll need help, I'll help you." The waterbender insisted, but Jiyuu took hold of her hands and shook her head. "But..."
"I'm also responsible for this situation, Katara. You're young, you're free, and you need to live your life. My babies are not mistakes, I'll love them and take care of them. You need to continue helping the world alongside Aang." Jiyuu replied, the blue-eyed girl looked conflicted.
Aang then walked over, not hearing none of the conversation and finished his hot squats. "What's going on guys?" He asked as all three of them turned to him. "Is everything okay?" He managed to ask as Jiyuu continued to smile.
"I'm pregnant!" She announced to him as the boy's grey eyed widened. Shock, happiness, and even a glimpse of worried has drove past his eyes.
"Really?!" He asked out of shock, "That's great, right? I mean there might be a little airbender in there!" He pointed at her stomach as all three of them smiled at his reaction. "Please let me be its teacher! I always wanted to be someone's sifu!"
Jiyuu chuckled, "Well, its not an it. Its them. I'm having twins." She replied as the boy's mouth dropped.
"B-But how?! How do you know that?" The boy asked enthusiastically.
Toph let out a rather unlady-like snort, "That's cause I sensed two heartbeats. Besides, you can't control what you have Aang. Its just a random chance." She shrugged as she then dug her pinky in her ear.
"C-Can I touch your stomach?" Aang asked nervously as Jiyuu nodded her head, smiling. He then placed his hand on her small, pregnant belly and then moved it in certain parts that he felt what he thought was movement. "They're moving!" He said in awe as Jiyuu smiled at his reaction. 'If only Zuko was as excited as Aang is...'
"I wonder why its going to take the guys days to fish." Toph then spoke up, "I bet they're going to bring back one, puny fish."
Katara shrugged, "We still have food so even if they don't bring any back, we'll be fine." She said as Aang then placed his ear to Jiyuu's stomach.
"Listen here babies, you're going to be some very strong benders. I mean look at your mom and dad! And then you're going to have me as a sifu and we're going to have tons of fun. So take your time and grow strong, all right?" The female airbender couldn't help but cry, a few tears falling down her face. "Jiyuu, what's wrong?" Aang asked after he felt something wet dropping on top of his bald head.
"I'm really happy is all." Jiyuu managed to say as she rubbed the corner of her eyes, "I'm just so glad that they'll be surrounded by love."
Toph, Katara, and Aang smiled warmly as Haru, The Duke, and Teo came over towards them. "Hey, what's happening?"
Aang looked at Jiyuu, his facing read 'can I tell them?'. She gave him a nod as he turned to look at them with a smile, "Jiyuu is pregnant!"
All three of the Earth Kingdom boy's had shocked expressions, "Congratulations!" Teo managed to speak out of three, "This is great news."
"Yeah!" Haru then said, coming out of his shock. "Do you know what you might name it?"
"Can I name it?" The Duke then asked as Aang frowned.
"Hey, I should get to name them. I'm the Avatar after all." He pointed his thumb at himself, his chest poked out to assume a manly stance.
Both the The Duke and Aang argued over the idea as Jiyuu managed to giggle before answering Haru's question. "Actually, I haven't thought about names. I kind of want to wait until they are born to give them a name. I want to look at them and give them the name that comes to mind and if I can't name them I'm sure one of you guys will come up with the perfect name. Hopefully, Zuko approves of it." She laughed nervously at the end part as The Duke and Aang then cringed.
They could hear exactly what Zuko might say. 'How dare you come up with a name like that for royalty of the Fire Nation?!' Aang let out a nervous laugh, "Right..."
"They? So its two?" Haru put up two fingers, blinking twice as he said it. She gave a nod as Teo smiled.
"Which reminds me, where is Zuko? And Sokka for that matter?" He said as he looked around, wondering where the two are.
Katara decided to answer, "They both went fishing. They said they would be back in a couple of days."
The badger from earlier had leaped near by, it croaked as it did not too long ago. Aang growled as he then began to his homework. "I hate this"! He yelled.
"Well, that's training for ya." Toph commented before closing her eyes, "When are we going to eat anyway? I'm starving."
"I'll fix something up." Katara said as Jiyuu walked with her.
"I'll help!" She volunteered, walking with Katara towards where they kept the food stored.
It had been at least three days since Sokka and Zuko had left and the more they were gone, the more depressed Jiyuu had became. Her hormones became out of control. Everyone was worried about her, but they were too scared to confront her. One minute she would be nice and the next, well, she would completely snap. Katara had tried to enforce them to leave her alone, to say that she should be the only one to deal with her because the presence of too many people will just aggravate her. That was until she and Katara butted heads because the waterbender should've taken her own advice.
Nighttime was about to fall and dinner wasn't even prepared yet. "How is she?" Aang asked as Katara leaned against the temple wall, her arms folded and her eyes closed. She had been trying her best to keep her calm, but she wasn't sure if this was just Jiyuu's pregnancy or the fact Sokka and Zuko hadn't came back yet.
"I don't know. I haven't seen her yet." Katara answered as Aang lowered his head, worried. "She'll be fine. She's just going through some phases due to the pregnancy, everything will be okay."
Aang sighed, "So this is what all women go through when their pregnant? That's pretty scary." He replied as he rubbed the back of his head, "I feel bad for Zuko, he'll have to deal with that the whole time."
Katara's eyes lowered as Zuko's name was mentioned. They would probably find out how Zuko would cope with this situation once they came back, she had hoped he wouldn't abandon Jiyuu or give her any indication that he was not going to be apart of the twins lives. "Right." She said as Aang looked at her questioningly, wondering what caused her to answer in such a worried way.
Footsteps were soon heard and they saw Jiyuu walking, her hand swaying at her sides and her eyes looking down at the ground. Aang tensed up, wondering if she was going through one of her moodswings and hid behind Katara. The waterbender waved at Jiyuu, who smiled and walked towards the, "Hey Katara..." She then saw a bit of Aang's head from Katara's shoulder, "Aang? Why are you hiding?"
"O-OH!" He stuttered, "Just playing a little hide and seeks with you. That's all." He nervously responded and then stood beside Katara, "Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah, I'm really sorry I put you guys through such a mess. I'm just a little upset and worried is all." She sighed as she rubbed her arm, her eyes lowered.
Both Aang and Katara gave her a reassuring smile, "Its okay. We understand."
"So, no word from Zuko or Sokka? I'm really, really worried." Jiyuu asked as both of the others shook their heads.
"No word from them. I'm sure they'll be back within the next two days, don't stress yourself." The Avatar soothed, giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. She smiled at him and nodded her head as if agreeing that she wouldn't allow herself to become too stressed.
The waterbender than patted both of their backs, "Let's get going. I have to go fix up dinner." All three of them had left and they had went to the main area of the temple, but soon they saw what looked to be like a dark shadow looming over before they realized it was an airship. The zeppelin had docked right near the temple's structures, in which all three of them as well as Toph who was in the area stood in front of it. Soon Zuko and Sokka had walked out. "What are you two doing in this thing? What happened to the war balloon?" Katara asked.
"It kind of got destroyed." Zuko answered, his eyes now on Jiyuu who didn't bother to look at his direction.
"Sounds like a crazy fishing trip." Aang replied.
Toph rolled her eyes, "Did you at least get some good meat?" She asked since that was her main priority so far.
Sokka then replies, "I did." He closed his eyes, "The best meat of all." He opens them and continues, "The meat of friendship and fatherhood."
Both the Kyoshi Warrior Leader, Suki, and the Southern Water tribe warrior, Hakokda, disembarked the zeppelin. A tall, Fire Nation man then shortly appeared behind them. "I'm new. What's up everybody?" He said after he waved.
Katara, meanwhile, was tearing up at the sight of father. "Dad." She said as she ran towards him as he greeted her as well as they embraced. When she let go, she had asked the question on everyone's mind. "How are you here? What's going on?" She then looked at Sokka, "Where you go?"
"We... kind of went to a Fire Nation prison." Sokka answered in which Zuko nodded in agreement. Soon his sister pulled him towards her so they could both share a family hug.
"But seriously, you didn't find any meat?" Toph asked, annoyed.
Sokka laughed in a nervous manner, "T-That's not what's important, Toph."
Both Jiyuu and Zuko smiled at the sight, but once they looked at each other, her smile disappeared. The Prince walked over toward her, grabbing both her hands. "I know that I was tough on you and I've probably made you feel horrible. Its just the thought of being a father isn't what I figured would cross my mind anytime soon."
"A father?" Sokka questioned before his eyes went wide, "JIYUU'S PREGNANT?!" Both Jiyuu and Zuko looked at him, irritated. "Sorry, sorry. Continue, I mean I was the last to know obviously but its okay. Its not like I'm important. I thought Jiyuu was my friend, but I guess it was onesided. Whatever."
Jiyuu couldn't help but smile at Sokka's reaction before dismissing it and turning to Zuko, "What I was more worried about was being a horrible father like mine was. I don't want to mess up their futures by being a horrible Father. I know that I am different from him, that I'm not him. But I was worried about that, but now I know that being a parent is something you learn on the way and I'm not in this by myself. I have you, their mother. And I know with you, you'll help me be a great parent just like you've made me become a better person."
The hazel eyes of the airbender had became glassy and she began to sniffle before she broke out into tears, but what surprised everyone was... Well, "WAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" She squealed, her head tilted back as she reminded everyone of a child. The initial reaction had shocked everyone, even Zuko, as she flailed her arms about.
"J-Jiyuu?!" Zuko called her as she shook her head, "What's wrong?"
"I'M JUST SO HAPPY!" She yelled the tears kept rolling everyone slowly began to laugh, the out of character behavior entertaining.
Jiyuu: The Japanese name meaning "Freedom"
Feng: Chinese name meaning "Wind"
I hope that was a good chapter! I'm debating if I'm going to go with the Ember Island Players episode.