Zuko always knew that the day would come, when his little girl would want to know if she was a real princess.
A sequel to my story Hold Back the River, which isn't necessary to read to enjoy this piece, but it's a fun little fic and you should, because nyah.
History
"DADDY?"
Zuko pushed himself back from his desk and his work with glee and a heavy sigh of relief. It was Tuesday, which meant that the next day was Pay Day for the restaurant's staff, which, in turn, meant that Zuko was condemned to spend the entire day with his head buried in ledgers and paperwork while Katara walked the girls to school and back and kept the restaurant humming. Zuko hated Payroll Day, was always eager for any kind of distraction, which was why Katara typically made sure no one so much as spoke to him, lest he seize on the chance to make an escape.
There was only one exception to that don't bother my husband, he needs to focus, rule, or, to be more precise, four exceptions, and those were their daughters, Kya, Ursa, Yue, and Kumiko (which was the name of Zuko's aunt, a decision that had reduced Uncle to tears when he found out). And, as it so happened, one of those exceptions was standing in the door to his office, looking absolutely adorable in her school uniform.
Zuko smiled, angling his chair away from his desk and holding his arms wide. "Not so fast, sweetheart. What do we do first?"
It was Kya, his eldest, the spitting image of her mother (except for the golden eyes), and she didn't hesitate, racing across the office, hurling herself into his arms, and giving him a big fat kiss on the cheek. He chuckled, ruffling her hair and squeezing her tight, because she was nine now, which meant that he didn't have much more time before she decided that he was lame and uncool and that she was too big to be doing such little girl things as curling up in her father's lap.
But not yet, he reflected, as Kya got herself comfortable and adopted a very serious expression. I've still got a few years to be awesome.
"So," he said, smiling from ear-to-ear, because that's who he was now, a doting father who smiled all the time and went days without thinking about the scar on his face, "what can I do for you today, Kya?"
Kya looked him right in the eye and went right to the point. "Daddy, am I a princess?"
Uh oh. Keeping a straight face, he nodded and kissed the top of her head. "Of course you are, sweetheart! You and your sisters are all Daddy's little princesses."
Kya rolled her eyes, looking so much like Katara in that moment that Zuko about fell out of his chair in hysterics. "Well, of course I know that, Daddy, but that's not what I'm talking about."
Feigning ignorance (and wondering if that was Katara's snicker he heard, just outside the door), he nodded, adopting a grave expression. "Of course not, my dear. What are you talking about?"
"Well…" Kya took a big breath, as only a nine-year-old could, and immediately launched into her story. "You see, Daddy, today, in History class, Ebisuno-san," a name she said with a grimace, because Kya didn't really like History, and definitely didn't like the old woman who taught it, "was teaching us about the Hundred Years' War, and how the Fire Nation became a republic, and why we don't have a Fire Lord anymore, because the last Fire Lord was a big ole' meanie and nobody liked him and when the Avatar defeated him, his son, who had been banished for defiance, decided that there shouldn't be a Fire Lord anymore, and he let the people decide, and they agreed, and are you following me, Daddy?"
Zuko nodded, struggling to keep the smile from his face, because his daughter was being serious and, thus, he needed to be serious, too. "Of course I am, sweetheart. Please, go on."
"Okay. So, Ebisuno-san, she tells us that this prince was named Zuko, which I thought was weird, because that's your name, Daddy, but it might have just been a…uh…coincidence, that's the word, right?"
"Right."
"Right, so, Ebisuno-san says that the prince was named Zuko, and then Noriko, she asks what happened to the prince, and Ebisuno-san gives me a strange look and tells us that the prince went off to live a private life, and that we should respect the prince's privacy, but then Ayumi, she asked what the prince looked like, and Ebisuno-san shows us an old portrait, and Noriko, she was stunned, she leans over and whispers, That looks like your Dad, Kya! And she was right! The person in the picture had your scar and everything! Well, I mean, he looked younger, but he looked just like you! So when Mommy came to walk Ursa and I home but not Yue and Kumiko, they're still too young, but Mommy made me hold Yue's hand because she was holding Kumiko, which is silly, I asked her if we were all princesses, and Mommy laughed and said that I would have to ask you, and I wanted Ursa to come in, but she just wanted to go play with her stupid dolls and said she didn't care so I had to come in here by myself and ask you and well Daddy am I a real princess?"
Zuko didn't answer his daughter immediately, because it was a difficult question to answer. He had always known this day would come, the day when he and Katara would have to tell their children about their past, about the War and the battles and the throne Zuko had cast aside, the crown he had given up, and why the girls got presents from so many important people on their birthdays and why the Avatar himself was their uncle, and now that it had arrived for Kya, Zuko wasn't entirely sure what to say. Should he explain that, yes, she would have been a princess, but she wasn't because Zuko wasn't a prince anymore, never would be? Would she even understand that, or, even if she understood, would she care?
Which was about when Zuko decided that nine-years-old was a bit too young to understand the complexities of History and royal titles, and gave an honest answer.
"Yes, sweetheart, you are, indeed, a princess, and not just because your Daddy was a prince."
Kya's eyes went wide. "No?"
"No! Because, see, your Grandpa Hakoda is a chief, remember? Which is like being a king, so that means your Mommy is also a princess, and that makes you a princess two times over."
Kya gasped, looking like she had just gotten the best birthday present in the history of birthdays. "Really?!"
Zuko smiled and nodded. "Really."
Naturally, when, a week later, a letter came from the school, saying that Kya had gotten in a fight with a girl who didn't believe that she was, in fact, a princess, Katara made Zuko deal with it.
For today's AN, we take a little break from being serious and shit and take a look inside my writing process.
Basically, this fun, adorable little piece owes its existence to my wife. My wife is a big fan of Hold Back the River, because she just thinks it's fun and cute, because it is. Anyways, after I wrote and posted it, she started spinning out this whole post-story headcanon, in which Katara and Zuko end up having four daughters, and my wife even picked out the names. From there, she spun this cute little story about the day the eldest goes to History class and finds out that she's a real princess, and comes home and demands some answers from her father. Zuko, being Zuko, tells her that she is, in fact, a real princess, and this goes to little Kya's head and Zuko ends up having to head over to the school because Kya got in a fight with her archnemesis, and Katara is all, This is your fault, you go fix it, you big goof.
Long story short, my wife came up with this story, I just wrote it down, because, yes, all my best story ideas come from my wife. I love you, babe!
Moral of the story, it always pays to become involved with someone smarter than you.
And that, I think, is enough bragging about my wife. For now. In tomorrow's episode, Zuko and Katara run for it. Stay tuned!
