A happy chapter here. I hope you enjoy it. Do leave a review. I reworked the summary and I think we have about ten-twelve more chapters to go. May I also take a moment to urge you to read my other work, Subterfuge. It's getting interesting and some good scenes are coming up.

As usual, read & review. Your reviews are my quarantine meds. :P

Chapter 28

Katara sat up on her bed, all of a sudden. She had the strangest feeling that someone had called her. She looked around, trying to understand why she had woken up, with the last traces of sleep dissipating fast. Her first thought was it was Zuko. But he was in Izumi's room and being the protective father that he was, he would never leave her in the middle of the night, not when his daughter needed him. Her next thought was it was probably one of her children, but a look around the room told her she was alone. She reached over to the lantern and increased the light. After Aang, she had lost the ability to sleep in dark rooms. The few days she had slept in Zuko's arms had been a different, though. Truth be told, she could not even remember if the lamps were on or not. All she remembered from those days was Zuko and his warm embrace.

Katara shook her head, forcing herself to focus on the present. She had, without a doubt, heard someone call her, but her room was empty. Out of the blue, a terrifying thought came to her. At Ember Island, Zuko had been certain that Aang had visited them one day. She had gotten angry with him then but now… she had to wonder if her former husband, her tormentor, the man she both loved and hated, had come to her. But after a moment, she dismissed the idea. Aang was in the spirit world and spirits did not visit people willy-nilly. Besides, whoever it was that had called her, had not scared her. Startled her, yes, but she was not afraid.

"Perhaps you just had a dream, Katara," she said as she bended water from the pitcher on the bedside table and directed the stream into her mouth. With her thirst quenched she was about to lay back down when she heard it again. A soft whisper, carrying in the wind and the feeling of someone being in the room. For one terrified moment, Katara wondered if it was another assassin and was about to call her element to herself, when she had the distinct feeling that whoever was in the chamber was amused at her reaction.

"Who's there?" Katara called, feeling a tad silly doing so.

Almost as though in response, a flower vase near the dresser crashed on the floor. Instantly alert, she called the water from the pitcher on the bedside to herself, arming herself. Her eyes scanned the chamber, but she saw nothing. Frowning, she walked over to the dresser and peeked behind it. But there was no one in the room. Katara turned one full circle, now completely confused. She stood there, scratching her head, wondering what was going on when, as distinct as the element she held in her hand, she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"Who's there?" Katara said, whirling on her heels, sending shards of ice that flew through the air and embedded on the wall. There was no one there. On some level, Katara realized that she should be terrified, but somehow, she knew whoever it was, did not mean her any harm. In fact, she had a shrewd suspicion who was paying her a visit.

"Mai?" She called out softly. "Is that you?"

The candle on the dresser flickered for a second and burned brighter. Startled, Katara took a step back and her bare foot fell on a puddle of water that had formed when the flower vase had crashed. Katara lifted her foot and was about to bend the water away when she noticed something odd. Instead of the amorphous shape that the puddle should have formed, one edge of the puddle was a straight line, culminating in a perfect crescent shape. Curious, she knelt next to it and ran a finger along the edge of the puddle, till she reached the crescent shape. There, she saw a miniscule hole that would be invisible to anyone who was not looking for it.

"Is this what you wanted me to see?" She asked.

The answer came in the form of the metal kohl stick that rolled down from the dresser. Katara bent the water away. She picked the kohl stick and inserted it into the hole, not knowing what she was expecting. Several moments passed before with a mechanical click, the floorboard in front of her snapped open.

"Huh? A secret compartment?" Katara smiled. Unable to contain her curiosity, she pulled at the floorboard. Her eyes widened as she saw the board come apart, with hinges holding the end of the panel in place. The floorboard revealed a compartment that was narrow and deep. She slid her hand in and her fingers closed around a thin, flat box. She pulled the box out and checked the compartment again, just to be sure she wasn't missing anything. Groing around, her fingers brushed against something small and metallic. She pulled it to find a small knife, inside a sheath. She pulled it out to realize it was a red tinted knife.

"Mai, your knife," she muttered.

She covered the floorboard and carried her find to the bed, cradling them like they were treasured artifacts. She put the knife aside and examined the box. It was a thin, flat wooden box decorated with intricate carvings. A gold and silver thread outlined the box, with tiny diamonds studded in the design. She flicked open the latch and opened the box, to find a several sheets of parchment inside them. Frowning, she picked them up. All of them was written with the same neat script. As she skimmed through the contents, she realized they were select pages from a diary kept by none other than the former Fire Lady, Mai.

Dressed in white, Zuko kneeled down in front of Mai's grave. Next to him, Izumi did the same. Iroh lit an incense stick and took his place next to the girl.

"Hi Mai," Zuko said softly as he placed a bouquet of flowers on the ground. "Happy birthday."

"Happy birthday, mamma!" Izumi said in a quivering voice as she placed a candle on them. Zuko stole a quick glance at his daughter and was relieved to see that she was smiling, even as she had tears in her eyes. Zuko patted her head lightly, earning him a smile from her.

Iroh repeated the wish and as one, the three of them joined their hands in the Fire Nation salute, closed their eyes and bowed. They stayed there for the longest time, leaving only when it began to drizzle. Coming back to the palace, they made their way to the dining room. On this day, Zuko always instructed the kitchens to make Mai's favorite dishes. Upon realizing that they were the only ones in the dining room, Izumi frowned. "Dad, they are not joining?"

Zuko and Iroh shared a surprised look. Iroh turned to look at her, "You want them to come?"

Izumi shrugged, "They are our new family, right?"

"Yes," Iroh said, "But we figured you would want to stay with only us."

Izumi gave a small smile and said, "I like having Bumi around. He makes me laugh."

Iroh nodded, "I'll have a servant call them and your auntie for lunch."

"Auntie won't come," Izumi answered, "She doesn't like people looking at her."

As Iroh went to send a servant to call the others, Zuko kneeled in front of her and said, "Izumi, Princess, this is your day. You don't have to accommodate for anyone today. If you want it to be just us, I will be okay with it. You don't have to adjust for me or anyone else today."

Izumi shook her head, "No dad. I'm not adjusting. I know this is my day. It's just a dinner and we can have it together. I like having a full dinner table. Kya is cute."

"So are you," Zuko said, pulling her into his embrace. "You are my beautiful little princess."

"Dad," she said in her typical long drawn, overly patient way when she was embarrassed by his display of affection, yet enjoying it at the same time, "You're being mushy again."

Zuko chuckled and pulled back, bopping her head lightly with his knuckles. "Tough luck, girl. You have a mushy dad."

Izumi gave an exaggerated eyeroll but had a big grin on her face. Shortly afterward, Kya was the first one inside the dining room. The kid bounded up to Zuko and clambered on his lap, chattering something about toy soldiers sitting on the grass and laying eggs. Zuko and Iroh shared a confused look but then Iroh gave a shrug. Izumi, however, much to his surprise, began talking to her about the toy soldiers in earnest. The two girls were having a serious conversation, not a word of which was making any sense to him. Bumi and Sokka were the next ones. Bumi gave a two fingered salute to Zuko and shot a grin at Iroh before sitting next to Izumi.

"Hey, I hear it's your mom's birthday?"

Izumi nodded, "Yes."

Zuko paid close attention to the conversation between the two. Bumi held out a small package to her and said, "This is for you. I mean, your mom's birthday… I can't give her a gift, but I can give you something, right?"

"Thank you," Izumi said, smiling. He was not surprised to hear a catch in his daughter's voice.

"Open it," Bumi said.

Izumi opened it to find a metal statuette of Mai, making her gasp. "Oh my, this is beautiful! Thanks, Bumi!"

The boy grinned and said, "Auntie Toph made me a statue of dad for me the other day. That's how I thought, I should ask her to make one for my new sister. Mum suggested I should give it to you today."

"I love this!" Izumi said.

Zuko leaned over and gave Bumi a one-armed hug, touched by the thoughtfulness of the boy. "Thanks, Bumi."

At that moment, the tug behind his navel told him she was here. Katara was here. The realization that had dawned on him last night had both relieved and scared him a little too. He had fallen in love with her, yes, he understood that. What he didn't understand was how had this happened? For seven years after Mai, he had not even looked at a woman. He had been offered, of course. Many, many women had practically thrown themselves at him, mostly because of the power he wielded. But he had never even felt the temptation.

But somehow, this woman seemed to have woken something in him. And truth be told, he was scared. Correction, he was terrified. Not because of what he was feeling, but more because he was scared that he was misreading his own feelings. The previous man in her life had hurt Katara something terrible. He could not imagine what it would do to her if he confessed his feelings, only to realize that it was just sexual attraction and not love. He could not do that to her. He needed to be absolutely sure of what he was feeling before he could say anything to her.

Carefully schooling his features, he looked up to find Katara talking to Iroh. She was showing him a piece of parchment, whispering something to him. Having read through it, his Uncle nodded and gave a big smile to her. Katara folded the parchment and walked around the table to come and sit next to Izumi. Unfortunately, that meant, she sat next to him. Zuko swallowed and turned to look at Sokka, striking up a conversation with him. But he had half an ear on the conversation taking place next to him.

"Hey Izumi, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Sure."

"First, I want to send Mai the best of my wishes on her birthday. I didn't know her very well, but what I do know is, if she could see you today, she would be so, so proud of you."

The conversation around the table stopped, with everyone unabashedly staring at the two. Izumi and Katara, however, only had eyes on each other.

"You think so?" Izumi asked.

"Of course. You are mature beyond your years. A brave warrior and a wonderful child. Mai was a fierce warrior herself. She would be thrilled to see her daughter like this."

"Thank you."

Katara smiled, "Also, I found something interesting in my chamber yesterday. I think you would like to have it."

Izumi frowned, "What?"

Katara held out the parchment she had shown Iroh and a sheathed knife which he recognized immediately. Before he could stop himself, he said, "That knife belonged to Mai."

Izumi gasped, her eyes missing over as she glanced from Zuko, to the knife, to Katara and back to the knife. "T-tha-thank you."

"Open the parchment," Katara said softly.

Izumi dropped the knife on her lap and opened the parchment, her hands trembling. Seeing the contents though, the girl burst into tears. To Zuko's surprise, Izumi flung herself into Katara's arms, holding her and saying 'thank you' over and over again. Curious, Zuko picked the parchment from the table and glanced at it, immediately recognizing Mai's neat script. He had known that his late wife used to write a diary, but he had no idea where Katara might have gotten a page from that.

I can't believe I am a mother. How did that happen? This tiny person, she is mine? How? She is so beautiful though. She looks like me, but she also looks like Zuko. How? How did we make something so beautiful and so delicate? She is barely three days old and I feel like I can't love her enough.

Zuko looked at Katara, who was now holding all the three kids in her arms and wondered why he was even doubting his feelings. This warmth that was spreading through him, it could not be anything but love.

"Hey, Fatherlord," Bumi said suddenly, cutting his ruminations. "It's a new family hug. You're a part of it too. Come here."

Like mother. Like son. Zuko chuckled and moved in, wrapping his long arms around the four of them. His family was now truly complete. He was vaguely aware of the whoops of approval and tiny applause by the rest of the occupants when Toph piped up suddenly, "What happened? Why are you scared so much?"

Startled, each person turned to see Toph staring at a servant standing at the doorway, looking like death. "What happened?"

"M-M-Milord… Milord…"

"What? What's going on?"

Outside, a storm was building up, the wind starting to screech, and the afternoon began to get dark. The servant swallowed, and said, "Milord, the… Princess Azula is missing."