Author's Notes: I KNOW, I KNOW, it's been too long. I'm so sorry! But my muse decided that I would not be writing anything fanfiction-related for a while. I'm so sorry, everyone. I really hope I haven't lost too many readers. I know how horrible it is when authors don't update for so long. But my muse is sort of back, and I just finished chapter 39, so... yeah. I really am so sorry. Please enjoy this chapter! And it is all due to margaritanightly that I got back into the game. I hope everyone had happy and safe holidays, and I wish everyone the best for the new year.

…

Mai, cold and graceful, glided into one of the lounging rooms in the Fire palace. There were several scattered throughout the palace, and nobles of all rank and importance, both male and female, came to these rooms to socialize. Servants carried trays of food and drink and served the nobles as they held conversations with their peers. She did not make it a point to regularly appear in these rooms, but her own apartments felt as though they were closing in on her. She needed a more open room and, perhaps, a conversation with someone.

Accepting a glass of chilled water from a passing servant, Mai looked around the room, and her eyes rested on one figure: Lady Katara. The young woman was seated in the corner, surrounded by plush pillows that supported her back and eased her after a difficult time of carrying the child within her. If she remembered correctly, the waterbender's baby was due to arrive soon, within a few weeks. No wonder she looked fairly exhausted, though she tried to hide it as she spoke to a few noblewomen. Mai recognized all of the ladies, the most notable of the four being Lady Liarae, the Treasurer's wife.

However, Mai did not approach the future Fire Lady. With their history, Mai did not feel it was appropriate. She had, after all, tried to kill Katara on many an occasion, and her heart was still sore from the loss of Zuko. Mai remained by herself, drinking water, speaking merely when a noblewoman of equal rank passed by. But she kept an eye on Katara, especially after Lady Liarae left. Perhaps she felt she should protect Zuko's heart while he was not present to do so.

Especially from such vultures as the women in the room. Carrion all, they would not hesitate to take the opportunity to belittle the foreign woman who had stolen all of their dreams with her exotic dark skin and blue eyes and her pregnant belly. Katara had stolen all of her dreams, too, Mai accepted that, but she did not hate her. How could she? Katara made Zuko smile as Mai had not seen him do since he was a child. Katara made him laugh. She challenged him, inspired him… she loved him.

None of these vultures could elicit such a reaction from Zuko. Therefore, they were not deserving of him. Katara was. And these painted women could not stand that another girl could so effortlessly do what they had tried to do for their entire lives: secure the Ladyship and subsequently bear the Fire Lord's heir.

Mai moved to a chair that had just been emptied by an elderly noblewoman, the wife of one of Zuko's politicians, and was soon distracted by a passing noble who wished to speak to her about setting a date for a possible sparring match. Mai quickly declined – she did not wish to touch her knives again unless in the direst of circumstances – and returned her attention to Katara. Mai froze.

The five women were not the same who had been near her a moment before. The five women surrounding her were the worst harlots in the gentry. Like Haruka, it was well-known fact that they had served as one-night concubines for several of the best-looking noblemen in an attempt to secure a good marriage for themselves. Mai, coldly graceful, rose to her feet, set her glass on the small table by her chair and approached Katara, weaving through the veritable crowd of women that separated her from the future Fire Lady, whose eyes were wide in horror and dangerously full of tears.

"I'm surprised he hasn't sent you back to the hovel you call a home, Lady Katara," one of the irritatingly shallow girls spewed hatefully. "Though I don't think you're really worthy of a title, let alone the post of Fire Lady… which, you little whore, you will never become. I don't know whose bastard it is that is in your belly, but I know it isn't the Fire Lord's, and when it is born, everyone will see you for the fraud you are. How dare you attempt to steal our Fire Lord for your stupid, selfish gains!"

Mai saw the first tears fall down Katara's face, and the girls had the audacity to laugh. Had Katara been any other woman, Mai probably would have not cared, but Katara was first and foremost, to her and to every single Fire Nation citizen, the future Fire Lady. She wore the crown of a Fire Princess on her head, which was a greater sign of her future position than any paltry betrothal ring or bracelet or necklace could be. These were not simple girls bullying another of their kind. This was not mere harassment. This was tantamount to treason, just as a belligerent word to the Fire Lord's face was treason.

No Fire Lord, especially Zuko, saw any difference between the betrothal period and marriage. In Zuko's eyes, Katara was already his wife, and a ceremony would merely publicly seal what had been truth in his mind for a long time.

Mai could no longer bear the sight of Katara, pregnant and looking more dismal than anyone Mai had ever seen, with such horrible women taunting her. For a minute she had to ponder if this was the same girl who used to lash out unforgiving waterwhips against her enemies, and she wondered if being so pregnant could make even the fiercest bender feel so defenseless.

Mai stepped through the final wave of people and stood between Katara and the five merciless women.

"Lady Mai," all five murmured respectfully, bobbing slight curtsies, but there was no remorse, no sense of why she had come.

"How unfortunate that you show more respect to a mere noblewoman than you do the lady that will soon be your Fire Lady, your monarch," Mai's voice was low but incisive. "You are despicable, each and every one of you. You disparage and belittle our future Fire Lady, the woman who carries the child who will rule the Fire Nation. If you treasonous wretches find your heads still attached to your necks once this reaches the ears of the Fire Lord, consider yourselves blessed by Agni himself to have such a merciful monarch. Remove yourselves from her presence or I will introduce each of you to the point of my knife." Her threat was as cold as the steel of the dagger she held in her hand, concealed by the long sleeves of her gown.

The women looked almost confused, as though not comprehending Mai's words. Her cold face became even icier, and they seemed to understand. They left promptly, heads low and shoulders slumped. The tension in Mai's body eased, and she discreetly slipped her knife back into its sheath on her forearm.

She would have not hesitated, had the women not made the decision to leave.

"My lady," Mai addressed Katara, infusing as much warmth as she could muster into her voice. "Are you alright?"

Katara wiped her eyes and nose with a white handkerchief and took a deep breath, nodding. "Yes, now I am," she looked up at Mai, with a grateful yet shocked look on her face. Mai was the last person in the world Katara would have expected to defend her. "Thank you very much, Mai. I appreciate what you did for me, and… I owe you."

Mai offered a small smile and shook her head. "No, it was nothing. Though…" she hesitated. "May I sit next you?"

"Oh, please," Katara responded, a smile on her face, though her nose and eyes were still red from her tears.

"Thank you," Mai bobbed a slight curtsy, almost by instinct, and lowered herself next to Katara. "I apologize for their cruelty. It was unfounded."

"I know," Katara said, smiling slightly. "But it's still difficult to hear. I've been crying at everything lately. My everything hurts, and I'm exhausted, and hearing horrible things thrown in my direction doesn't help matters."

"Are you due soon?" Mai asked politely.

"Two weeks," Katara replied, and then she let out a sigh. Mai looked at her, worried, but Katara shook her head. "Kicking. He hasn't stopped for days, it seems, and I wish he could come early. He seems excited enough."

Mai smiled politely, but, inside, she was marveling that there was life growing inside this woman, life that was equal parts of Zuko and Katara. The life welling up inside of Katara was trying to get out some way, and the only way it could manifest, other than the baby being born, was making her skin and hair glow. She was beautiful.

"And I feel like a walrus-whale," Katara confided in Mai with a slight smile, as if sensing Mai's thoughts.

Mai shook her head. "You are breathtaking," she quietly said, her tone completely serious. It was not a flattering compliment; it was truth and fact.

Katara's eyes welled up again, and she tried to hold it back. "I'm so sorry," she apologized, dabbing at her eyes. "That was very nice of you to say, and I'm overreacting."

Mai lifted her hand and set it gently on the girl's knee. "There is no reason to be sorry," she said, and, with a smile from both women, a small foundation for a friendship, or something other than civility, had been laid.

…

Katara slowly awakened, uncharacteristically comfortable as she was sprawled across her bed. She yawned as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. The day was cold, but under the covers, she was warm. She looked outside, and then she remembered. It was her due date today!

With all of the grace of a pregnant woman, she pushed herself to her feet and waddled to her closet, dressing herself in a flash, as though saving time by throwing on her clothes would bring her baby into the world quicker. Taking a minute to brush out her hair and plait it, she left her bedroom, feeling she had taken too much time anyway.

Little did she know she had a long day ahead.

The moment she showed her face in her sitting room, where her family had gathered to be with her, Zuko was on his feet. Years of honing his quick reflexes were to his advantage, and he was at her side in the space it took her to blink. She smiled at him, her heart speeding up as she saw the flustered half-excited, half-terrified look in his eyes. She chuckled slightly as everyone began to bombard her with questions.

"Are you okay?"

"How are you feeling?"

"What do you want for breakfast?"

"Are you sure you don't want more fruit?"

"Do you have any back pain?"

But it quickly became irritating.

"Are your contractions starting yet?"

"Do you need anything?"

"Do you need a pillow?"

"Should I get Bao?"

"Are you sure you're not feeling any twinges?"

"I'm fine!" Katara screeched, not seeing Zuko at her side, rubbing his right ear with a pained look on his face. "Seriously, guys," her voice softened, "I'm fine. Thank you. I'm just going to eat my breakfast. Everything's great. I don't think anything will happen for several hours."

Zuko, with a trace of pain still on his face, poured her a glass of cold water without a word.

...

Around midday, Hakoda hovered at his daughter's side as she was keeping her mind off of things by sewing more clothes for her child. He couldn't believe the day was finally here; he'd actually become a grandfather. His little girl would become a mother.

"Dad," Katara finally said, pausing her sewing. "Please find something to do; you're driving me crazy just standing there!" She obviously was trying to curb her tone because she knew that her entire family and all of her friends were just worried about her and were just as excited as she was, but it was really getting to be annoying.

"Sorry, Katara," Hakoda apologized, and he went over to the nearest bookshelf and found a volume and sat down across from her.

…

Ursa surveyed Katara as she was quickly looking over some information on Fire Nation current affairs; over the past several weeks, Ursa had taken to tutoring Katara in all forms of etiquette and formal manners, as well as Fire Nation history, politics, and literature, in preparation for Katara's ascension to the office of Fire Lady.

From the very start, Katara had been intent that she would be different from all previous Fire Ladies. Most of them had had miniscule roles in the ruling of the Fire Nation, if any role at all. Katara wanted to change that, and Zuko had been wildly enthusiastic, loving the idea that Katara would be just as involved in the mire of world politics as he was. Ursa smiled as Katara was still bent over the papers; really, the two young ones couldn't possibly be more suited for each other.

"So," Katara asked as she looked up, having absorbed the information on the day's Senate meeting. "What exactly do the advisers to the Fire Lord do?"

"Well," Ursa leaned back in her chair. "Most have areas of expertise – finances, business relations, public relations, or other such things – and the Fire Lord will give them assignments based on their expertise, such as to find information on a certain project and explore its possible effects on the general public and report back to him. Head Advisor Daiki, on the other hand, has a much more general role. The Head Advisor has historically had a hand in every part of government and will work with the Fire Lord on making decisions. However, Head Advisor Daiki's role has become smaller since Zuko has made himself much more involved in the day to day activities of the Fire Nation."

However, Ursa noticed that Katara wasn't truly focused. She was trying, after all, and had asked Ursa for an extra lesson to distract herself from the fact it was three hours past noon and still, her baby had not made its way into the world, but distraction was hard to come by on such a day. Ursa knew it well; Azula had been nearly two weeks late.

"Let us find an afternoon snack, shall we?" Ursa invited, offering her hand to her soon-to-be daughter-in-law. "Then we can return."

Katara smiled gratefully and accepted Ursa's hand and stood up. The two women left to find the others who, with Sokka's appetite, were probably already eating an afternoon meal.

…

Katara took a sip of her water as she picked up a little scone from the platter in front of her as Sokka devoured three. She sighed, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. Sokka noticed the motion.

"Oh Tui, is it time?" he asked in a panic. "Should I get Bao? Are you okay? Does it hurt? How close are the contractions? WHERE'S ZUKO?" he shrieked before toppling off his chair.

In light of her brother's panic, Katara couldn't seem to find anything to say.

"Are you okay?" Sokka demanded to know as he pushed himself back up to his feet and rushed to her side.

The door opened, and Zuko walked in from having to answer a few questions from several annoying nobles who just didn't understand the words, "Shut up and go away," and his face clearly showed his confusion. But at the look on Sokka's face, he quickly became worried and rushed to Katara's other side.

"What's happened?" he asked, a hand on Katara's shoulder. "Are you okay? Is the baby coming?"

"No," she clearly enunciated, resisting the urge to grit her teeth. "I'm fine, Zuko. Sokka's just overreacting."

Sokka looked like he didn't trust her, but he sat down. Zuko kissed her hair and sat in the seat next to her, helping himself to a few of the scones.

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Towards the end of the day, Katara retired to her room, uncomfortable with her pregnant belly and with everyone staring at it, waiting for something to happen. Part of her was resigned to the fact that the baby wouldn't come within the next several hours. However, she did have to raise her voice, threaten, and in all ways scold her friends and family until they left her alone. Well, perhaps it wasn't necessary, she mused later on, but Zuko seemed to think it was amusing.

…

Katara rested her head on Zuko's shoulder, reading the documents in his hands as he did so as well. He dropped a kiss on her hair with a small smile as she shifted uncomfortably, pressing a hand against her stomach. She sighed, disappointed.

"I'm so tired of being pregnant, Zuko," she said, stretching out on her side, making space between them. "I just…" she struggled for the words. "I just want our baby to be here. I want to see him or her, I want to hold our child… I mean, it scares the life out of me, but I'm… I'm excited," she finally verbalized.

Zuko set his papers on the small bedside table and gently rubbed her belly. "I know, Katara," he said quietly, meeting her gaze for a long time. "Me, too," he told her with a small smile. "For the longest time, I was so worried, so scared that I'd turn out to be just like my father, worried that something would go wrong, but once I got past those fears…" he curled up against her. "I realize that I'm so excited to be a father."

Katara beamed at him, her eyes shining in the low light with tears of joy that threatened to burst from her. She cuddled up tighter to him and let out a long, contented sigh.

He sighed as she slowly drifted off into sleep, her breathing deep. He watched her sleep for several hours, as if expecting her to suddenly wake up and say she was in labor. But she didn't, and, eventually, he drifted off into sleep as well.

It had been a week. An entire week. Seven whole days, and nothing.

Over the following week, they had tried everything. She had walked up miles and miles of steep hills and choked down all of the spiciest concoctions she could stomach. They tried every method Bao could suggest to them, and, still, nothing.

Katara groaned as she pushed herself up out of bed, as she had been lazy and had refused to move herself out of bed for four hours, and she woke when Zuko did: with the sun. She was huge. If she had lain down in the ocean, she was convinced that there would still be enough of her baby bump to make a small tropical island. Her clothes were enormous, to match her swollen state, and she felt that she brought a new definition to "Lion Turtle."

She slowly dressed, thankful that the baby had finally settled down after a restless night for her, and yawned as she pulled her hair up and slid the Princess coronet on. She hadn't been able to get much sleep after her due date. She spent most of the nocturnal hours just waiting for something to happen, hoping that any one of the little movements the baby made would mean that it was ready to come into the world.

When she was fully dressed, Katara walked (rather, she waddled) out of the door and down the hallway. She barely heard one of her guards fall into step behind her; she was so used to their presence. She made her way to the infirmary.

Inside the meticulously clean room, there were a few wounded soldiers. There had been a small riot at one of the neighboring islands, and the injured had been brought to the Royal Infirmary. Various orderlies bustled through the room, going about their business, cleaning and bandaging wounds, remaking beds that soldiers and other ill or wounded patients had occupied, and restocking the herb supplies. Bao was seated at his desk, surrounded by open books, obviously looking for something.

"Bao, might I speak with you?" she asked, keeping a firm hold on her conflicting emotions. Yes, she was frustrated and angry and so ready to not be pregnant anymore, but it wasn't Bao's fault. Granted, he had been the one to give her the due date, but babies had minds of their own. It wasn't his fault. She just had to remember that.

Bao glanced up from his reading and smiled. "Of course, Lady Katara," he closed the book he was reading and stood up. "How can I assist you?"

"Is there anything else I can do to induce labor? It's been an entire week, and I'm worried something…" Katara stumbled over her words, looking for the right way to phrase her fears. "I'm worried something isn't… right."

Bao looked thoughtful and nodded. "Please, lie down," he gestured to a nearby bed. Katara laid down, and he rested his hands on her stomach, using his chi and Firebending ability to read what was inside of her. "No, nothing is wrong. Both you and the baby seem to be in perfect health. I suppose the little one," he shrugged, "Merely wishes to stay inside for a while longer. This is quite common. As for other methods of inducing child pains, I'm sorry, there are no other ways other than the ones I have already suggested."

Katara sighed and nodded, sitting up. "Alright," she stood up and half-heartedly smiled. "Thank you, Bao."

"Of course, Lady Katara," Bao said, inclining his head respectfully. "Some babies come early, some come late, and some come right on time. I do not think it will be too much longer."

With a strained smile, Katara nodded. "I know. And I really hope you're right," she commented, her smile a little more genuine than before.

…

Jian was a young soldier in the Fire Nation Army. Only a tender nineteen years old, he had been employed for two years and had seen the end of the war mere months ago. He couldn't say he was too sad for the transition of power from Ozai to Zuko. Jian had, after all, only joined the army because he had no other employment; his elder brother had become a butcher, like their father.

Jian didn't like war, and he didn't like fighting. He had seen too many people die because he had killed them. He was done with the fighting. However, he found he liked his current employment much better.

The Fire Lord had sent regiments of soldiers to the different islands of the Fire Nation and ordered them to rebuild. Currently, Jian's regiment was fifty miles north of the capital city, and they were helping the citizens of the villages to replant their crops, to retool their factories so that they could produce consumer goods, rather than goods for war, and to rebuild their homes that had been destroyed during the war and the scattered insurgencies that had followed. Jian's younger brother's regiment was in the Fire Nation territories in the Earth Kingdom, helping to rebuild there, too.

Today, however, Jian was finally done with his work for the day and had been dismissed with his comrades. Most were headed off to the teahouses or the brothels. Not Jian, however. He wasn't too fond of tea, though he lived in a tea-loving society, and he had no intention of being unfaithful to Xin, his girlfriend, who was a cook in the Fire Palace.

In fact, he decided, he was going to write to her, when he arrived back at the barracks. The thought of relating his adventures to her, of communicating with her, brought him such happiness that he began to whistle something that faintly resembled a tune.

His whistling came to a stop when he saw three men duck into an alleyway. Well, they didn't so much 'duck' into the alleyway as they did walk, and there was nothing out of place about that. People could walk into alleys if they wanted to. Except there was something about them, about their air or demeanor, that was off. And he didn't know what it was. Jian slowed down as he passed by the alley, trying to be discreet, and saw there were five others further into the shadows waiting for the three.

Again, there was nothing wrong with that. A lot of people met in public places to talk or gamble. People frequently gambled in alleys, and those that did so often gambled for things that weren't betted at a respectable teahouse. There was nothing wrong with it, but he didn't like it.

Jian turned around, thinking it best to report to his commander. He might end up being wrong, but he had a hunch that something was going on. He'd rather be safe than sorry. His letter to his girlfriend would have to wait a few hours.

…

Zuko heard Katara sigh slightly as he began to sift through the papers on his desk to make sure he hadn't forgotten any pertinent documents for his meeting with all of the governing officials from a majority of the Fire Nation's towns and cities. He hated that he had to go at all, but it was worse that their child would be born soon. What if she had the child while he was away, and he couldn't return? What if something bad happened while she was in labor? What if their child didn't survive? He wouldn't be there to see his child. What if something happened to her? Would this be the last time he ever saw her?

The very thought seized his heart in an icy grip, and his stomach turned. No, he forced himself to decide. That would not happen. Nothing would happen to her. She and the baby would be fine, if the baby decided to make its grand appearance while its father was away. But he would do everything within his considerable power to be there. He was the Fire Lord. Mere town leaders would wait for him.

And they would have many more, Zuko knew, the thought lifting his spirits slightly. So, even if he missed this one, there would be several more. But in the future. Very, very much in the future.

"I'm sorry I have to leave," Zuko apologized, as he came to sit beside her on the bed. "It's already been a week… the baby was supposed to be here already," he playfully glared at her prominent bump, but his tender hand on her stomach belied his ire. "But it's only a day," he brightened up a bit. He smiled at her. "What could possibly happen in just one day when we've been waiting a week, right?"

"I know, and I'm sorry you have to go, too," Katara replied. "But," she continued brightly, forcing herself to be cheerful for his sake; he had to leave in the morning, after all. "But we do have tonight to be together," she said with a smile, drawing him closer with a hand on the back of his neck. She kissed him gently but started to giggle when he tickled her sides. "Zuko!" she exclaimed reprovingly as she fell back on the bed, trying in vain to push him away.

After a moment of squirming and shrieking, he did finally stop, and he looked down at her with a grin. "Just showing you who's still boss," he explained cheekily.

"Oh, yeah, right," she said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes at him.

The mood morphed itself the instant Katara began to pull the hem of Zuko's shirt upwards. Clothes were discarded with loving haste, but the lovemaking was tender with a subtle sense of urgency, as though, subconsciously, the two young adults knew their child would be entering the world very very soon.

...

Author's Notes: Again, my apologies. Please review and let me know what you think and if you're all still there. Any support, encouragement, and comment would be appreciated, along with constructive criticism! :D You're all fantastic.