When Izumi wasn't by her father's side in the throne room, she was in the nursery, watching her son, Iroh, just existing. She could not get enough of seeing his tiny lungs breathing, his tiny heart beating, his tiny eyelids fluttering open or closed when he woke and fell asleep, and his tiny lips clasping around her nipple to eat. If she had her choice, she would have just stayed with her son all day and evening. Mai was right. When the baby was born, everything got better. Izumi stopped hating the world and even started talking to Hisoki again.

"He's not even mobile. Don't you get bored looking?" Hisoki asked his wife, stopping by their bedroom to get something.

"Never," Izumi replied laying beside her son watching him investigate his newly found toes with a smile upon her face.

"It's not like he'll run away when you're not looking," Hisoki said with a smile, coming over to join Izumi on the floor of their room where the baby lay..

"I don't worry he'll run away. I just like seeing his eyes and his brain consuming everything. Watch with me, see how he looks at those toes. See how he blinks—how he touches them so carefully as if they'll burn or freeze. He still doesn't realize they're attached to him. He thinks they're floating." Izumi said, biting her tongue pensively.

"How do you know what he thinks. It is not like he can say anything—," Hisoki asked skeptically.

"Just look at his eyes, you'll see," Izumi replied.

"Hey Iroh! How are you liking those toes?" Hisoki asked pinching one lightly and wiggling it. Iroh's eyes widened hilariously as he felt the sensation of being touched but didn't quite comprehend the connection between the sight and the feeling. Hisoki and Izumi both laughed at the boy's wonder.

"You're right. It is nice to look at him," Hisoki said dreamily.

Once Iroh recovered from his toe being squeezed, he pulled it towards his own mouth.

"Nope! Dirty!" Izumi said, freeing the toe before it could reach the baby's lips.

Iroh looked up his mother with curiosity more than anything, not at all understanding why he couldn't shove his own foot into his own face.

"Maybe he's hungry!" Hisoki suggested. Izumi rolled her eyes but remained smiling as she watched Hisoki interact with Iroh. "Is there a way to check even though he can't speak?"

"Yep, offer him a knuckle," Izumi replied.

"A knuckle?" Hisoki asked completely perplexed.

"Yes, a knuckle," Izumi said curling her finger and showing him a knuckle on her hand. "It looks like a nipple to him so if he takes it, he's hungry."

Hisoki trusted her and offered the baby a knuckle. Iroh reached for his hand and shoved the knuckle in his mouth.

"EW!" Hisoki rubbed the saliva on his robes.

Iroh, confused, started crying.

"You startled him!" Izumi scolded.

"I'm sorry, I'll make it better," Hisoki said finding his feet, picking Iroh up, and bouncing him slightly, and sure enough, Iroh stopped crying. "Aww, there we go, Iroh. Now, are you hungry? I'm sure Mama Zumi would be more than willing to assist you! I would help if I could, but-" Hisoki grabbed his own chest and shrugged. "Things don't always work out the way we want them to," he said touching Iroh's tiny nose.

Izumi laughed.

"Shall I leave you to it, or would you like me to stay?" Hisoki asked looking up at his wife.

"While I feed him?" Izumi asked furrowing her brows.

"Yes,"

"I don't mind it either way," Izumi shrugged. "But if you're busy you can go,"

"I like watching him and you together," Hisoki said handing off the baby, kissing Izumi's cheek and then the top of Iroh's head on her shoulder as she walked over to a large arm chair.

Izumi placed him on the chair while she untied the waistband of her long flowing robes and slid off one of the sleeves, exposing a swollen breast. Then she picked up Iroh again and took a seat, lifting him to her chest.

"Does it hurt when he sucks on your nipple like that?" Hisoki asked, pulling over the stool from the Princess's makeup table.

Izumi laughed. "Not really. It's kind of strangely pleasant and somewhat tingly actually. Master Akira says that will change once he starts growing teeth,"

"Eek. Why don't you use a wet nurse?"

"I'm not sure. I guess just because my mother didn't with me," Izumi replied, stroking her baby's little head just like her mother did with her. It was so calming.