Disclaimer: I own nothing
Katara and Aang watched in mild amusement as An and Kai sat in their laps and stared at each other, both not sure who the other was or what to do. The two adults had finally introduced their children after a week of allowing An, and the world, get used to the child living and traveling with the Avatar.
Kai looked up at Katara, his little face scrunched and his eyebrows furrowed with confusion, which was the same look Zuko gave to her when he was thoroughly confused. She smiled at him and tilted her head towards An. Kai's eyebrows furrowed further before he turned back to Aang and An, who was looking at her father the same way Kai looked at his mother.
When An looked at Kai again, the Crown Prince gave her one more scrutinizing look before deciding that the smaller airbender wasn't so bad and smiled, offering her the block that he was tightly holding in his hand. An gave Kai a wide smile, showing off her two teeth, and accepted the offered block, making the fire prince laugh with delight.
"I think we just witnessed Kai's first peace offer," Katara said as she watched Kai and An crawl towards the pile of toys right next to them.
"One of many to come, no doubt," Aang said as he stood and offered his hand to Katara, helping her off the floor.
Katara nodded in agreement as she smoothed out her dress skirt. "No doubt about that seems the fire nation will always have problems," she said as she sat at her desk.
Aang took a seat across from her. "Not always. We may have problems now, but Kai and An's generation will grow up with diversity, like it was when I was growing up. Once their generation takes over it's going to be a completely different world."
"We just have to weed out the crazies first," Katara said as she looked down at the letter she was writing to Yue, her stomach churning with nausea.
"Exactly," Aang said as he watched as Katara's face scrunched and she placed a hand on her stomach. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah," she said as she rubbed her stomach, "I'm just nauseous."
Aang gave her a smile, "The new baby is kicking up a fuss already?"
Katara nodded, "I don't remember feeling this way with Kai."
"Every pregnancy is different," Aang said. "Have you told Zuko?"
Katara's heart dropped at the mention of Zuko. "No," she said softly. "And I don't think I'm going to."
"What do you mean you don't think you're going to? Eventually it's going to a little hard to hide it." The waterbender was silent as she looked down at her hands, as Aang stared at her trying to figure out what was making his best friend look so sad, before it hit him. "You don't plan on having this baby?"
Katara sighed. "I don't know, honestly," she said. "Now is just not the time to have one. I mean, it wasn't even the right time to have Kai. Not with a war on the horizon."
At the mention of his name the Crown Prince turned to his mother, his golden eyes alight with curiosity. Katara smiled, he looked so much like Zuko that it melted her heart. Would the new baby look like Zuko too? Or would it have her Water Tribe features? She suddenly longed to know. But she vaguely heard the arguing going on from Zuko's war room and her mind was again in turmoil.
"Sometimes you have to accept the situation you are in," Aang said defensively. "You can't simply get rid of a life just because it's coming an inconvenient time. You didn't do that to Kai."
"That was different," Katara said as she stood and turned to look out the balcony doors behind her desk, wrapping her arms around herself.
"How is that so different?" Aang asked as he walked over to. "Just because the war was farther off than it is now?"
Katara was silent again as she looked out the window. Aang was right; she had Kai even with the knowledge of the impending war, why shouldn't she have this one too? She looked at Kai, she would defend him with her life, but would she be able to do that while pregnant? Would it be fair to Zuko to add another stress on to his already stressful life? Her mind was swirling with questions, making the nausea worse. "I'm going to ask Yue for some insight."
"Why talk to her when you have me?" Aang said a little offended.
"Because I need someone else's opinion besides yours!" Katara said before taking a deep breath and looking at her best friend. "I'm sorry Aang," she said with a sigh grabbing his hand. "You know I hold your opinion above everyone else's every Zuko's sometimes. I love you and I love that you give me the best advice, but this matter; I need someone else's advice too, someone who isn't my best friend and who isn't my husband, someone who sees the situation from an outside point of view."
Aang nodded and kissed her hand. "Whatever Yue says and whatever your decision may be, just make sure you talk to Zuko," he said softly. "Before you make any rash decisions, talk to him. He has the right to know, he is your husband."
Katara gave another sigh as she looked down at her flat stomach. He was right; she would have to tell Zuko. But how?
.0.
Zuko quietly made his way down the residential wing. It was ten at night and his war meeting had just ended. He had missed lunch and dinner and he wasn't able to rock Kai to sleep. Katara was going to be pissed.
The Fire Lord immediately felt guilty at the thought of his wife and child. With the upcoming war, the meetings with his generals consumed most of his time. It even started to affect his council meetings and public meetings as well. Aang was sitting with him in his war meetings and Sokka had returned to the Southern Water Tribe, so all of the responsibility fell onto Katara's shoulders and her shoulder's alone. She now sat in his councils meetings and meet with the public to listen to their demands while still meeting with the organizations that she was patron of and taking care of their son.
He had pushed his entire life on the back burner and it was eating him alive.
Walking into the bedroom, Zuko was greeted with the sounds of the chirping crickets coming from the open balcony doors and an empty bed.
He felt momentary panic as he searched the bathroom and bedroom before walking out onto the balcony and saw Katara sitting in the private gardens by the turtle duck pond. She was sitting in a meditative stance, her naked body glowing in the moonlight.
Zuko was perplexed for a moment for Katara never meditated. But watching as her shoulders tensed and before relaxing he knew whatever was on her mind was resolved. 'I wonder what's on her mind?' He thought with furrowed eyebrows, watching as Katara stood and placed her robe back on.
Curious to know what was going through her mind, Zuko walked back in the room and sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for her. Not even five minutes late did she walk in, with a smile on her face. "What's up with you?" He asked as he stood and walked towards her.
Katara looked startled before her smile widened and her eyes lit with happiness. "I'll tell you after my bath," she said as she hugged him tightly, burying her face into his chest, inhaling his scent.
"Why can't you just tell me now?" Zuko said, pulling away and looking at her. He was tired and a little cranky; he just wanted to know what made his wife so excited so he could go to bed.
Katara smiled as she backed up toward the bathroom door, her hand in his, gently pulling him with her. "Why don't you come join me? I'll wash your hair."
Zuko looked at her for a moment. He desperately wanted to crawl into bed. But the fact that he really hasn't spent any time with his wife and that she wasn't angry at him made him reconsider going to bed. Plus she was going to wash his hair, which although the Fire Lord would never admit, was one of his favorite things. To top everything off, Katara was going to be naked and that was his first favorite thing.
But his body yearned for sleep. He had gotten so little of it these past few weeks that it was literally more appealing to him than having his hair washed.
He smiled; but his wife being naked beat all the others.
"Get in the tub," Zuko demanded teasingly and Katara grinned at him and dropped her robe, exposing her nude body.
'Yup,' Zuko thought as he followed Katara into the bathroom, 'this was the best choice.'
.0.
Katara watched from her spot in the tube as Zuko toweled dried himself off. Her eyes following the beads of water that rolled down his back. Spirits, she wanted him.
Zuko turned around and gave her a smirk, "Come to bed soon," he said as he bent down and gave her a languid kiss.
Katara laughed as she gave him another kiss, "I'll be out in a few, try not to fall asleep on me."
"I make no promises," Zuko said before winking at her and walked into their bedroom.
Katara smiled as she sunk down into the warm water, her mind replaying her conversation she had with Yue, still in semi shock that the goddess had actually come to her.
The young moon goddess had come to her while she was meditating, a smile on her radiant face and her blue eyes light with kindness.
Yue looked at her with kind blue eyes and a knowing smile. "I know what it is you want to ask me Katara and the answer is no, the spirits wouldn't be angry. They understand. It's a troubling time for the human world. They will forgive you if you choose to do this. But the question is, is would you forgive yourself?"
That very question shook Katara to her core. Would she be able to forgive herself? At first she thought she would be able to, but the more she thought about it, the more she was wracked with guilt. How could she even think of that? That was not what she believed in.
"Everything that is going to happen will happen regardless if you have your new child or no, but the first step is accepting that you are pregnant, ignoring is not going to make this situation go away." Yue said before kissing her forehead "From there, then you can make a full conscious decision." The moon goddess gave Katara one more smile before returning to the moon. Leaving Katara to sit there and think over her situation.
It took the waterbender twenty minutes before she finally accepted that she was pregnant and that there was going to be a war whether they had another baby or not.
Katara stood out of the water and bent herself dry before walking over to the mirror. Excitement ran through her as she stared at her still flat stomach, with only just a hint of a bulge, where her child grew. Placing her hands on her stomach, she imagined it swelling again with a new life, feeling it move and kick and a smile briefly flashed across her face.
Giving her stomach a gentle pat, she looked into her eyes and nodded. She was going to have another baby. Now all she needed to do was tell Zuko.
Sighing, she placed her robe on and walked into the bedroom, finding Zuko sound asleep on the bed, his clothes lying in a heap on the floor in front of him.
Smiling gently she discarded her robe and climbed into bed, immediately feeling the warmth Zuko radiated under the covers.
He was lying on his stomach, his face turned away from her.
"Couldn't wait for me?" She teased as she laid her head on his back and wrapped her arms around him.
She felt his larger fingers lace through her own smaller ones. "You took too long," He said, sleepiness in his voice.
Katara smiled and relished in the peaceful moment. It felt like she hadn't been like this with her husband in a very long time, just the two of them, in tranquility.
Should she tell him now? Or let him go back to sleep and tell him in the morning. But she knew he would be gone before she even rose out of bed.
"I'm pregnant," she whispered. She felt Zuko stiffen and his fingers clutched a little tighter around her own.
"What?" Zuko asked, the sleepiness suddenly gone from his voice.
"I'm pregnant," Katara said quietly as Zuko turned over and sat up, a serious look on his face.
"How long?" His golden eyes studying her own, an unreadable emotion in them.
"A little over a month."
Zuko rested his elbows on his knees before scoffing and standing. "Pregnant? Already? Spirits, Kai isn't even one," Zuko said as he shook his head and put on a pair of pants.
"Well, we weren't exactly taking the necessary precautions," Katara said as she stared at him.
"And now the war is closer than ever," Zuko continued. "With you being pregnant how are you going to protect yourself? Or Kai? You won't be able to go to the South Pole, I refuse to have any of my children born outside the Fire Nation. That's even if we have it."
Katara snapped her head to him, an angry look on her face. "What do you mean if we even have it?"
"It means exactly what I meant for it to mean, Katara," Zuko said as he stood. "You are still early enough on –,"
Katara stood up in a flash, "Don't even finish that sentence Zuko. And how dare you even say that!"
"Oh please Katara, don't give me that, you probably had the same thoughts."
"Yeah, but I accepted the situation, Zuko. We can't stop life just because there is a war. There are thousands of people every day in the Fire Nation having children with the knowledge that there might be a war. Why are we any different?"
"Because this entire war is about us!" Zuko yelled. "We are the targets Katara. Having Kai was unexpected, but at that time the war was still a presumptive so it wasn't as big of a deal. But now the war's a reality, and having another is adding more risk factors."
"Whatever is meant to happen is going to happen regardless if we have this child or not, Zuko."
"But what if whatever happens, happens to our new child? Hmm? Or Kai?"
"I highly doubt a new born is going to alter a war in any way," Katara said as she rolled her eyes and tied her robe around her.
"But it's another risk that we don't need."
"So what are you saying Zuko?" Katara asked with crossed arms. "Are you saying you don't want to have this baby?"
Zuko ran a hand through his hair, "I don't know what I'm saying," he said and put a shirt on. "I'm going to meditate, a war is coming, I need to sort out what I am going to do."
"Oh of course," Katara said sarcastically as she followed Zuko out of the bedroom, "just push this to the back burner, just like you do with everything else that concerns your family."
Zuko whipped around and stared at her, suddenly feeling a hurt inside his chest as he looked at Katara, her blue eyes shining with unshed tears and her face contorted into unsaid anger. "What's that supposed to mean?" He asked.
"It means exactly what I meant for it to mean," she said before slamming the bedroom door shut.
Unexplained anger filled him making him huff and walk out of their sitting room, slamming the door shut. Kai's cries instantly followed making Zuko pause for a moment, wanting to tend to his son, but then he heard Katara greet there son tearfully and his heart hurt even more. Was he really pushing his family to the side? Was he really considering not wanting this baby? Even after they had lost one in the beginning? Sighing, he began walking down the hallway, his mind suddenly filled with everything but war.
.0.
Zuko felt the afternoon sun on his back as he opened his eyes, his mind still unclear with the situations going on in his life. One thing that was perfectly clear was that he needed to apologize to Katara. Not only had he finally realized that he had been pushing her and Kai aside, but it was terrible of him to walk away when they were having a conversation like that. In fact, a conversation like that shouldn't have even happened.
Sitting up from his spot of the ground, Zuko was momentarily shocked to realize that he had fallen asleep while meditating. But it really wasn't a surprise to him, he had barely gotten more than four hours of sleep that week.
With a sigh, the Fire Lord stood and strode out of the meditation room. Nodding his head to the guards standing post, he saw one of Katara's ladies maids ahead of him, Kai in her arms.
"Chae" Zuko called and he saw her shoulders tense as Kai whip his head around make a sound of delight when he saw Zuko.
"Fire Lord," Chae said as she bowed when he got closer.
Zuko looked down at his son and felt his heart melt when the little fire prince held his arms out for his father to pick him up. He smiled and took his son from Kyung's arms, hugging Kai tightly to him. He had missed his son.
"Where is the Fire Lady?"
"She got out of the council meeting thirty minutes ago, she should be in her office," Chae said and Zuko nodded.
"Thanks," he said before walking away, wincing slightly as Kai grabbed onto his long hair.
"Fire Lord!" Chae said meekly. "I was instructed to put the Crown Prince down for a nap."
Zuko waved his hand. "Don't worry about it, he can nap with me."
Chae looked like she was about to protest before Zuko rose his eyebrows at her making her shrink back. "Yes, Fire Lord," she said and bowed.
"Good day Miss. Chae," Zuko said before walking away agreeing to whatever his son was babbling.
Walking down the long hallway towards Katara's office, Zuko momentarily stopped when Aang and An caught his eye.
They were sitting in the private garden and Aang was tickling An as the baby laughed in his arms. Aang laughed and halted his tickle assaults, placing a kiss on the little girl's nose as she wrapped her arms around her father's neck. They had only become a family in a little over a week and An already had Aang wrapped around her tiny finger.
Zuko's heart melted at the sight. What if his and Katara's new baby was a girl? Would he be wrapped around his baby girl's finger just like Aang was? He wanted to know.
"Are you ready to be an older brother, Kai?" He asked his son as he continued walking towards Katara's office.
Kai bumped Zuko's chin making the Fire Lord laugh. "I'll take that as a yes," he said as he gently opened Katara's office door.
Walking in Zuko expected to see his wife at her desk, but it was empty.
"Katara?" He called quietly, placing Kai in the play pen. "Katara?"
He walked into the small library room off to the right and found his wife asleep on the couch in the window alcove. Walking over to her, he gently sat down and rubbed his knuckles across her check. "Katara," he whispered and his wife scrunched her face before slowly opening her eyes.
Before she could open her mouth to say something to him, he cut her off. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm sorry for pushing you and Kai to the side, I'm sorry for never being here, I'm sorry about everything. And yes, I do think we should have this baby. You're right; the world doesn't stop just because there is a war coming."
He looked down as he grabbed Katara's hand. "I'm just scared, if anything were to happen to you or Kai, I just, I wouldn't be able to handle it. You two are my life. And the thought of losing you two because I couldn't keep you safe, is just, it's one of my biggest fears. I love you and I want to have another child with you. Hell, I want as many as you can give me."
Katara laughed as she squeezed Zuko's hand. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," she said as she sat up. "I understand Zuko; I know you're afraid, just like I am, but we can't stop our lives because we're afraid. That's like asking the wind to stop blowing."
"I know," Zuko said as he leaned his forehead on hers.
"Don't worry, we'll make it work."
Zuko smiled, "Do you think it's going to be a girl this time?"
"I hope so," Katara said with a smile of her own. Her heart felt lighter now that their fight had ended and her pregnancy was no longer a dark cloud.
"Let's go for a walk in the garden with Kai," Zuko said as he stood, pulling Katara up with him.
"We can't, we both have meetings," she said with a laugh.
"I called for a recess, so I don't have any meetings today or for the next few days," Zuko said as he picked up Kai, hugging the little boy to him.
"Oh well good for you, unfortunately for me, I have meetings."
"Blow them off."
"Zuko!"
"You're the Fire Lady; you don't have to attend a meeting if you don't want to. Besides, we haven't spent alone time as a family in a while, don't you want to spend the afternoon with your boys?"
Zuko angled himself so both him and Kai were looking at her, both with the same look on their faces making Katara's heart fill with love. "Fine," she said with a smile. "But you get to explain to your council why I'm not going to be there."
Zuko shrugged, "Fair enough," he said and gave Katara a kiss.
"I'll go get Kai's pram."
"Don't bother," Zuko said as he smoothed his son's hair back. It was just long enough to be put in what he and Katara dubbed as a warriors-top knot. "I want to hold him."
Katara smiled. "I'm going to go change into something less regal. I'll meet you in the public gardens."
Zuko returned her smile and gave her another kiss, "Hurry." He watched as she kissed Kai on the forehead before exiting her office. "Let's go see what Uncle Aang and cousin An are doing."
They met Aang in An in the gardens, the little boys eyes brightening when he saw his uncle and cousin. "Where's Katara?" Aang asked as he grabbed Kai's outstretched hand as Zuko sat down next to him.
"Changing, we are going to go for a walk; did you want to join us when she arrives?"
"Sure!" Aang said enthusiastically, doing an airbending trick to entertain their children.
"We're having another baby," Zuko said and Aang's face lit up.
"Congratulations! Although, I knew before you did but that's only because the spirits told me. Actually, I was the one who told Katara too."
Zuko smiled. "Figures."
Aang laugh and shrugged. "Like I told Katara, the spirits are dead; they have nothing else to do than to snoop around the livings lives."
"It's annoying and a little disconcerting," Zuko said as he watched Kai play with his cousin.
"They don't watch you while you're sleeping like some creeps," Aang said. "They just check in every once in a while, like a parent."
"How comforting to know," Zuko said sarcastically before smiling at An, who had crawled into her father's lap and cuddle into his chest, her green eyes blinking sleepily.
His heart warmed, he really hoped their new one was a girl.
The two men sat in comfortable silence, listening to the courtiers around them, sometimes nodding to the ones who stopped and said hello or complimented them on Kai and An.
Twenty minutes went by and still Katara hadn't made it down yet. "I wonder what could be taking her so long?" Zuko said as he looked at the palace.
"You know Katara, it takes her forever to get ready," Aang said.
"Yeah, but she was just going to change it shouldn't take that long."
"Maybe someone stopped her or something needed her attention."
"No, that's not it," Zuko said as an uneasy feeling set in. "Come on; let's go make sure she's okay."
The two men picked up their children and walked into the palace, Zuko's heart hammering like a drum.
As they walked up the residential wing stairs, Zuko's heart stopped all together. The guards that normally lined the walls were lying on the ground unconscious.
"They're alive!" Aang said as he knelt down and felt a guards pulse. "But he was hit with this." He held up a smooth looking dart.
"They all were," Zuko said as he pulled one out of another guard's neck. "Guards!" Aang yelled as Zuko ran towards his bedroom, the doors wide open.
"Katara?" Zuko yelled as he looked around the sitting room before storming into their bedroom, adjusting Kai in his arms. "Katara?"
The bedroom was in total disarray. Katara's vanity table was knocked over along with their armoires. Clothes were strewn all over the place and the bed was destroyed. Splotches of water were littered all over the place as well as scorch marks from fire.
He heard Aang take in a breath of shock as guards stormed into the place. A glint caught his eye, bending down, Zuko moved the article of clothing and his breath fully left him.
Katara's crown was lying on the ground covered in blood.
.0.
Katara felt herself being dragged across a cold stone ground. Her head was throbbing and she felt the distinct stickiness of dried blood on her forehead. A painful gash was cut across her ribs, blood still seeping out of it. The humid air made her hair cling uncomfortably to her back.
Katara opened her eyes and looked at the shadowy figure in front of her. "For years I heard about the 'wonders' of Master Katara," she heard a familiar feminine voice say. "Her kind heart, her lovely smile, her giving nature, how brave she was during the war and to top everything off she became the Fire Lady, showing the world that forgiveness was on the horizon. Then she bore a firebending son becoming a renowned hero in the Fire Nation because not only was she kind, and smart, and sweet, but she also proved that she could provide a strong heir to the throne."
The woman came closer to her, her silhouette moving in the shadows. "And for the past year I watched and waited, I sat by like a tiger in the shadows, waiting for the perfect time to strike. I made you believe that I cared for you. I listened to you when you and Zuko had those petty fights, or when you complained about the courtiers and how mean they were to you, pretending that I was your friend. When in reality I was just biding my time, gathering an army, preparing for a war that will be bigger than the Hundred Years War."
The woman roughly grabbed Katara's chin, her fingernails digging into her flesh. "And now my wait is finally over. I have everyone right where I want them, most of all you."
"Who are you?" Katara said, her voice groggy from pain.
"You know me very well, Katara," the woman said as she moved out of the shadows and into the light.
Katara felt her entire body still and her eyes widened in shock.
"Ch-Chae?"
BEFORE ANYONE ATTACKS ME, THIS CHAPTER IS NEITHER A PRO-LIFE OR PRO-CHOICE CHAPTER. Seriously, it's not. I just put myself in their situation and wrote it as I felt the characters would feel. So before any of you send hate in my inbox or whatever, I'm just telling you now, this is not, and I repeat, not, a pro-life/pro-choice chapter. So don't even bother sending me hate.
Now that that's out!
Dun, dun, dunnnnn! Haha, I bet none of ya'll ever thought of Chae. Huh, huh?
I'm sorry it took me so long, I got a new job (yes, another new one, but this one is much better than the other two) and Once Upon a Time consumed my life so I kind of pushed this to the side, again.
Oh! And KJun was nice enough to point out to me that it is absolutely not safe to put an 8 month old in a bassinet. I don't have any children so I didn't know. So if you do have a baby, just remember after four months it is not safe to put your little on in a bassinet.
Anywayyyyyyyy,
Thank you all for reviewing and liking, etc. Especially to all the people who PM'd me and stuff asking me when I'm going to update again. Sorry it took so long. But keep up with the reviews, as I said time and time again, I absolutely love hearing what you guys have to say about my story.
So until next time!
Much love,
Me