22 Years after the end of 100 Year War
Zuko was on the landing pad that was at the back of the palace grounds. It was late, after midnight, but he had lit a fire behind him to allow him to see his work. He was prepping one of the newly designed air balloons that were used in the fire nation now. It was smaller and quicker than the ones that were used in the war, and just what he needed to get to Air Temple Island. It still needed to be prepped and readied for the journey.
He jumped onto the deck of the ship, steading himself with his hand on the metal railing as he did so. He opened the door of the furnace, shooting fire into it to increase the heat in attempt to make the balloon fill faster. He sighed angrily thinking that it was taking too long. He hopped down from the air balloon and walked back, looking up at it as it filled. He silently willed it to go faster.
It was as he watched the balloon that he heard a familiar growl from the air behind him. He looked up with a smile, thinking that this was a much better idea. He saw Appa swoop down and land next to ware he was standing.
"You got here just in time!" Zuko told him Aang was who sitting on Appa's head,
"Did we now?" Aang said, getting onto the saddle. Ozlon his had arms dangling over the edge of the saddle, waving to him happily.
Zuko watched as Sokka stood up on the saddle, then helped someone who looked like an Air Acolyte stand. Both him and Aang helped her down on to the ground before she turned around to face him.
"Suki." He sighed, looking at her face that was only half illuminated by the fire.
Suki ran forward and launched herself at Zuko, laughing as she reached her hands out for his neck. Her orange and yellow robes flapped around her as she few at him, her hair flying behind her head.
His eyes were wide as he saw her in her disheveled state flying towards him. He could not tell if she was going to hug him or try to kill him. Neither would surprise him at this point in time.
She arms made contact with his neck, wrapping them around him, pulling him close as she crashed into him. He grabbed her around the waist, spinning them both as he did so. He didn't want the harsh contact that their two bodies made to hurt her.
She looked into his eyes, the pleasure that those amethyst eyes gave her pulling on every fiber of her being. He sat her down on the ground, his hands still at her waist. He was looking at her with shock in his eyes, his lips parted in an ever so soft smile. He did not notice how dry her skin was, or how frizzy her hair looked, or even that there were bags under her eyes; the only thing that he saw was her.
"Say something." She whispered to him with a large smile; wanting him to mark this occasion with something, anything.
He just shook his head, looking at her with his eyes wide. He didn't want to speak, he didn't want to wake up like he usually did in this scenario.
"Zuko." She breathed his name, it coming from her smiling lips.
"I love you." The words flew from his mouth, the rest of them following unable to stop, "I'm sorry about everything and I love you and I missed you and I was even wrong about what I told you an-"
He was cut off by Suki's lips being pressed to his in one perfect kiss. She felt the warmth that she always felt with him swirl over her, filling voids that had been nagging at her soul for five weeks.
Zuko just felt like a human again.
She pulled away from him, a smile on her face. She looked up at him with her face flushed over. "I have something to tell you."
He nodded in agreement, "Me too. It turns out tha-"
Her hand went to his mouth, shushing him with a smile. "I know." She said to him in her soothing voice.
"How do you know?" He asked into her hand.
A soft warm smile spread over her face, her eyes locked onto his. A soft giggle came from her stomach, filling the space between them.
He looked at her with confusion, his eye brows gathering as his face was turned down to her. As he looked into her eyes, seeing her joy, it clicked.
Zuko's jaw dropped, his eyes widening as her silent message took. He tried to say something but an inaudible sound is all that came from his mouth. She laughed harder, reaching up and holding his face with a smile. There were tears of joy in her eyes and on her cheeks now.
"You're going to be a father." She stood on her toes and spoke into his lips with a smile. His hands went to her face, holding her tear streaked cheeks. She said nothing as he looked into her eyes, a smile covering his face as it all finally came to him. Suki watched as tears gathered in the bottom of his eyes. She leaned up and kissed him again, laughing into the kiss as their tear covered cheeks pressed onto one another's.
"Gross." Ozlon rolled his eyes, watching from the edge of Appa's saddle.
"No, this is beautiful." Aang said to him with a soft smile on his face, his head resting on his folded arms next to the boy.
Sokka sat on the saddle next to Aang, his back to Suki and Zuko with his one arm running along the edge of the saddle, the other holding a smooth rock that Toph had shaped into a small heart for him. He said nothing, but just smiled softly to himself.
Zuko looked at the bottles of oil that sat on the white shelf in the bathroom with his chin in his hand. He could never remember which one was the one that she preferred. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, thinking that this is something that he should know.
"Third one from the right." Suki's voice said from behind him.
He looked back to her, looking her over slowly. "I can never remember." His voice awkwardly croaked.
She smiled at him as she walked over to him, taking the third bottle into her hands. "I don't expect you too." She reached out with her free hand and touched his arm with her finger tips, standing next to him. He drank her up with his eyes, looking her over throughly. He had had moments like these so many times before. Just them, alone like this; a soft touch, a tender kiss, her lingering scent in his nostrils. He longed for this moment and he feared it. He feared waking up. "You keep looking at me like you're looking at a ghost." Her blue-grey eyes meet his amber ones.
"I..." He watched her lips; the full soft lips that had haunted his dreams and nightmares. "I've been here before, with you like this. Each time I woke up."
She reached out and held his cheek, her fingers tips running over his strong jaw line. "This is not a dream, Zuko."
He closed his eyes and moved his face into her hand, his lips grazing her skin lightly. Suki smiled and pulled her hand away from him, going to the bathtub in the center of the bathroom that he had already filled with hot water for her. He turned around towards her and watched her intently as she put some of the oil into the water before sitting it down by the tub.
She looked back to him, undoing her soft green robe that she had changed into as soon as she got to her room. He watched her with longing eyes as she smiled a little bit. "Join me?" She asked, motioning to the tub as she slipped the rob off her shoulders and onto the white tile floor.
He looked at her naked body, comfort and pleasure taking over him. It felt to him as if his entire body sighed with happiness. He nodded at her, starting to take his clothing off.
She ran her fingers over the top of the water, her fingers dipping into the warm water. She stepped into the water carefully, sitting down in the center of the tub. She moaned lightly as the oiled water covered her tired and worn skin. She cupped her hands to gather water, putting the water on her arms and neck.
Once he was disrobed he climbed into the tub with her, slipping in behind her with his back to the tub. She smiled to herself as she slid back, placing herself in between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder with a soft sign.
"Still think this is a dream?" She asked him as she settled down into his arms
He nodded pressing his cheek to hers. "Yeah." He laughed a little bit.
She put both of her hands over his, squeezing his hands lightly. "Well its a good one." She said with a smile.
His lips went to her shoulder as a hand moved down to her lower stomach, his strong calloused hands covering the area. "The best." He closed his eyes and spoke into her skin in a whisper.
"We're going to be parents." She laughed softly, squeezing his hand that was on her stomach. She spoke as if she did not believe it, as if she was still getting used to the idea herself.
He opened his eyes and looked down on her bare chest, watching her breathe. As he felt her stomach under his hand his heart was heavy with worry and fear. He feared that the fate of the child growing under his hand would be the same as the one that Mai had carried so long ago.
He had told Suki about the visit from his ex earlier when they were still on the landing pad. He wanted no more secrets between them. She felt his apparent plain and worry in this moment, her head turning to him ever so gently.
"Its not going to happen, Zuko." She spoke to him in a soothing voice. She reached back and held his cheek with one hand. "We will have this baby." She said, just as much to herself as to him.
He smiled softly, kissing the side of her wet neck. "We will." He laughed to himself a little bit as his neck was on her skin.
"What is it?" She asked with a smile.
He sighed a little bit, taking in the taste of her skin, the smell of her hair. "Its nothing. I was just hoping that it will be a girl."
