Zuko wished all of his days could be as pleasant as the moment he was sharing with Azula. Just the two of them in the garden, close to the pond, eating good food, and not being consumed by their work for once. The sun in his sister's dark hair, in her golden eyes, in her snow-white skin, making her practically glow by his side and look even more beautiful than she usually did.

Despite the annoyed expression on her pretty face.

"You really should try to relax" Zuko said to her , rubbing her shoulders "That was entire point of us taking a break from our duty for today"

"I am relaxed" she argued, practically snarling at him then angrily munching on a fruit and throwing some bread to the turtle-ducks that instantly wabbled to it "I just think this is pointless. I don't need a break and neither do you. Ruling a nation is hard work, but we can handle the stress"

"Stress is bad for the baby" he warned, throwing some food to the animals himself.

She gave him a furious glare "That's low"

"Is the truth. You were super stressed out because of the whole deal with Yisha and Ayira and then you felt really sick"

"I was stressed out yesterday. And what happened today was just morning sickness. I know you were scared but it's normal" she rolled her eyes.

"How can that possibly be normal?" he asked. He knew a real pregnancy wasn't the like romanticized version of it so many people talked about, and he had taken care of his sister as she felt sick in morning... but what had happened earlier that day seemed more like the times Azula had been seriously ill. Their baby was still a blessing and he was loving being there for his sister, but he had not expected that there could be a truly horrifying side to something so beautiful.

"It just is, okay? Even the healers you forced me to see said everything is more than fine"

"I'm not gonna risk it either way"

"God, if you're freaking out that much over something like this, then I can't even imagine how you'll react when it's time for the baby to come. You'll probably pass out" she mocked.

It was his turn to be annoyed "I will handle it fine. And if our kid is a brat, I'll know how to handle them too" he got a cherry and offered it to her "I have been doing that since you were born" Azula allowed him to feed her the cherry, biting down as if she wanted to bite his hand, but with a playful look on her mischievios eyes. He kissed her forehead and wrapped one arm around her "I'm gonna take good care of you, Lala"

"I know" she said, snuggling up to him "And you'll be a great dad"

"You two are so cute!" Kiyi's voice startled them a little.

"Thanks" Zuko said, a little awkwardly.

"I was scared at first. Thought she really was mad at you."

"You're not supposed to listen to other people's conversations" Azula reprimanded, and their little sister instantly seemed worried she had angered her "But I do the same thing all the time, so I can't judge. I think you're becoming more and more like every day" The little girl smiled, eyes lighting up, and threw her arms around Azula, hugging her tight. Azula sighed, then hugged back "I see you really do think that is a good thing."

"I know it is" the way she said it made it very clear there was no changing her mind about that "Do you guys want to be alone?"

"Yes" they said at the same time, but Zuko was a bit more apologetic.

"Okay. Enjoy yourselves" before leaving, Kiyi gave Zuko a hug, picked up a red flower, playfully hit the tip of Azula's nose with the petals and then put it in her hair "But I'm gonna play with the baby all the time once they're born"

Zuko laughed "You'll be the world's best aunt"

Kiyi smiled, already looking proud of herself, then left.

Alone with Azula again, Zuko kissed her sweetly "Good girl."

She blushed "Shut up. I was just nice because she only leaves me alone when I give her what she wants"

"Brat"

"Dum-dum" Azula threw one last small piece of bread to the turtle-ducks, and then just rested her head on his shoulder "I'll admit. This isn't so bad"

Zuko just smiled and took her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. He'd make sure they'd have many, many more days like this one.