oOo

"The world is coming to an end," Sokka announced dramatically as he kicked the door shut behind him.

Suki stared up at him from her half-reclining position on the divan; she'd still been rubbing sleep from her eyes when he came in but was certainly wide awake now. "Again? I thought Sozin's Comet wasn't coming for another 100 years!" She jumped to her feet, alarmed.

Sokka rushed to her side, shaking his head and waving his hands reassuringly. "No, no, not that kind of end of the world. The kind where everything you think you know turns out be the exact opposite of what you thought it was you knew."

Suki puzzled through that one for a moment, finally noticing the rumpled state of her husband's hair and clothes. She stepped towards him for a closer look. "Sokka! Is that a cut on your lip? What happened?" Then, incredulously: "Were you fighting?!"

"Yup, as a matter of fact I was," Sokka replied, touching the lip in question and wincing. "It all has to do with the not-knowing-what-you-think-you-know stuff I was talking about."

Suki sighed. "Does this have anything to do with the fact that Mai and Zuko are no longer betrothed, and Katara and Aang broke up about the same time the betrothal was cancelled?"

Sokka's jaw dropped. "How did you know about that?"

She shrugged. "The servants gossip, you know that. Especially if you're someone like me, who's actually willing to pitch in and help, no matter how scandalous that might seem." She frowned. "So why were you fighting? And who?" Her eyes widened. "Sokka, were you fighting with Zuko?"

"Well, it's all Katara's fault," he muttered, scuffing one foot on the immaculate tile floor. "If she'd just told us in the first place, I never would have just assumed he was pushing himself on her."

That garnered a raised eyebrow. "Pushing himself on her? Zuko? On Katara?" The eyebrow rose even higher. "On anyone?"

Sokka scratched the back of his head the way he did when he was uneasy. "Yeah, well, maybe I was wrong…"

"Maybe? The second eyebrow joined the first as Suki stared at him. "Sokka, you're my husband and I love you but sometimes you can be pretty thick. Even when Zuko was chasing us it was always a matter of family honor to him, not because he was evil and twisted like his sister!"

Sokka's jaw dropped even further. "Since when did you become such a big fan of Zuko?!"

She shrugged. "Since he helped us defeat his father and brought the beginnings of peace to the entire world."

"Oh, yeah, that." He ducked his head and looked down at his feet, which were still dripping wet. And cold. Not that he minded, in this heat, but the least his sister could have done was dried him out before sending him away.

"Yeah, that," Suki repeated sarcastically. "I hope you apologized."

"Do you think Katara would have let me leave the room if I hadn't?" Sokka returned. "I guess I'd better change before dinner."

"Well, at least we're still welcome in the palace," Suki sighed. "I have to wash up and change, too, so I'll come with you."

Sokka grinned and snaked an arm around her waist. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

She punched him lightly in the arm and grinned. "Of course not. I just wish you'd think before charging into things sometimes."

"Aww, then I wouldn't be the man you fell in love with," he said, nuzzling her ear. She giggled as they headed for their bedchamber, arms entwined around each other's waists, Sokka's hand resting gently on her rounded belly.

oOo

Katara took extra care with her appearance that evening. She fussed over her hair and clothes, actually asking the advice of the woman who was supposed to help her dress and was never allowed to do so. Zulina almost fainted from the shock, but quickly regained her equilibrium and helped her mistress find something suitable for a semi-formal evening dinner with family. And the Fire Lord.

Katara regarded herself in the mirror of her dressing room. She looked perfect, except for the slightly puckered area between her eyebrows. She tried to smooth it out, to adopt a happier expression, only to see the anxiety frown return. "It's just dinner," she told herself. "The hard part is over." She tried once again to plaster a genuine smile on her face, only to once again fail miserably while Zulina busied herself with putting away the rejected gowns. Katara absently started to help her, only to be told sharply that she'd just spent hours getting herself ready, and why did she want to ruin it by wrinkling her clothing now?

So she meekly returned to her bed chamber, to sit and fidget with the bracelets Zulina had helped her pick out, waiting for the gong to sound. It seemed to take forever. When it finally did ring through the courtyard, she shot from her bed and nervously raced for the door, forcing herself to stop and take a calming breath before leaving the room. Keeping her pace to a decorous stroll, she reached the dinner chamber at almost the same time as Zuko.

"Wow," was all he managed to say. Katara blushed and fidgeted once more with the bracelets while he continued to stare at her. "You look great," he finally managed to stammer out.

"She certainly does," came his uncle's approving voice from behind him, seconds before a hand was clapped on his shoulder. "And so does the table." It was laden with food, all Uncle's favorites, along with some of Ursa's and Katara's and, for old time's sake, a small bowl of roasted ground nuts for Sokka.

Ursa was the next to appear, greeting Iroh warmly. "Why didn't you send a message you were coming?" she scolded gently as she took his arm and led him to the low cushion next to hers. "We would have prepared better, stocked up on teas!"

"Oh, there's plenty of 'tease' in this family," was his rebuttal, eliciting a groan from his nephew, still standing near the door, Katara at his side. She was too nervous to sit, and Zuko wasn't supposed to sit until all his guests had arrived, per custom.

While Iroh and Ursa chatted, Zuko stole a look at Katara. She did look great, dressed in a formal gown that wasn't too heavy for her in the heat, her arms and shoulders bare, gold bracelets dangling on both wrists. She was wearing reds and oranges tonight, rather than her usual blues, and he frowned at that; was she sending some kind of subtle message with her clothing? Or was it just that she knew how well the Fire Nation colors set off her eyes and skin, complementing her exotic beauty? Or was he just being an idiot and reading meaning into something that had no meaning?

Katara was still fidgeting nervously with the bracelets; when she caught his eye, she visibly forced her hands down to her sides and gave him an attempt at a smile.

"It'll be all right, Katara," Zuko whispered to her reassuringly. "It's just dinner, and since they already know about the break-ups, it should be fine."

"And if Sokka mouths off, Suki will be sure to put him in his place...Oh, Suki!" Katara's eyes widened in consternation. "With everything that's happened, I forgot to tell you, Suki's pre–"

Before she could finish the sentence, the door opened behind them, and Suki and Sokka strolled in. Zuko's mouth dropped open in surprise at the obvious bulge in Suki's middle. "You're pregnant!" he said, delighted, dropping a kiss on her cheek and offering a warm hug.

She hugged him back, laughing. "Yep! And we're staying to have the baby here, if you don't mind!"

Zuko laughed. "Well, not here in the dining room, I hope, but you know you're welcome to stay as long as you want." He looked pointedly at Sokka. "Both of you. I mean all of you." He gestured toward the table. "Please, have a seat." He offered her his arm, leaving Sokka to escort his sister, ignoring the grumbling he heard about "uppity Fire Lords" and "she's MY wife". The last thing he heard was a semi-audible "Oof!" as Katara elbowed her brother in the midriff before leaving him at his cushion and taking her own. At Zuko's right side.

If there was any doubt in anyone's mind as to the change in her and Zuko's status, that cleared it up immediately. Iroh grinned, Suki winked at Katara, Ursa nodded approval, and Sokka...was too busy eating to notice. As a sudden silence descended, he looked up from his bowl of rice. "What?" he asked. "This is a dinner, isn't it?"

"I thought we might clear up a few things first," Zuko replied, reaching over to take Katara's hand in his. "You all know Mai broke the betrothal, and that Aang broke up with Katara. I just want everyone to be clear on one thing: I love Katara, and she loves me." She smiled up at him and squeezed his hand, encouraging him to continue. Grateful he was taking the burden of explanation onto himself. "We both know Mai and Aang are hurt, and we never wanted that to happen."

"So how did it happen, then?" Sokka demanded. "Katara, you said you'd tell us. So tell!"

"It was all because someone listened in on a private conversation," Zuko began. Giving as little detail as he thought he could get away with, he explained the situation, helped out by Katara whenever she thought he was being a little too terse, her nervousness easing with every passing moment. "So that's it," he concluded, looking around, but mostly trying to see how Sokka was taking it.

Feeling everyone's attention on him, Sokka slowly leaned forward and planted his elbows on the table. Addressing Katara, he said: "You're in love with Zuko?" She nodded. "And Aang knows what's going on?" She nodded again. After a deliberately drawn out moment, Sokka shrugged. "OK." He started eating again.

Zuko let out silent sigh of relief. If Sokka had chosen to be difficult, Katara would have been upset and things would have been very uncomfortable for them all.

General conversation broke out as everyone joined Sokka and started eating, although Katara did more talking than eating as she, Suki and Ursa excitedly talked about the coming birth. Zuko did his best to shut that conversation out, although it was difficult since Katara was practically leaning across the table in front of him so she could talk to his mother, who sat at his left. Sokka and Iroh were catching up as well, and after a few minutes Katara leaned over and poked Zuko in the ribs.

"We're about to get into more detail about childbirth than any man wants to hear," she warned. Maybe you'd better go sit next to Uncle."

"Maybe I'd better," he agreed, hastily jumping to his feet. He hesitated a moment, then swooped back down to deliver a quick kiss, glancing at Sokka as he did so.

Sokka felt Zuko's eye on him and looked up with a grin. "Don't worry about me," he said around a mouthful of food and holding up his pointer finger. "One fight with you per visit, that's my limit." He returned his full attention to his food, pointedly ignoring the ground nuts that had been placed in front of him.