Thanks for all the reviews. I just heart this story. lol

Skipping ahead...Heishui is a year old, this chapter's a little sad, and surprise, Kat's pregnant again...

The Zutara Family

Summary: Following the struggles of Katara and Zuko as they have a family (nine kids) and Zuko decides with his taking the throne...

Rating: K+ or T

Major Characters: Katara (27), Zuko (29), and kids (oldest to youngest as they'll come): Heishui, Little Zuko (Lil' Z as kids call him), Zarina and Zerifina, Jailia, Kaelea, Annalea, Kiki, and Heziah.

Pairings: Katara/Zuko, Toph/Aang, and Sokka/Suki and family relationships

P.O.V.: Third Person Omniscient

"You Lied"

Katara held her stomach with one hand and the wall beside her with the other. It was about four in the morning, and Katara had been up since two. The first time, Heishui had woke up and she fed him, and after that, he was just being fussy and wouldn't go to sleep. She could already see the Zuko personality in him, and by the time she'd gotten him to sleep by singing, she'd only gotten twenty minutes of sleep before she raced into the bathroom to throw up--again.

She groaned when she heard Heishui crying and called out from the bathroom, "Zuko! Would you please go get him?" She sighed, then retched again. "Zuko!"

"Are you okay, Katara?" Toph's voice came from the other side of the door instead.

Katara was confused. "Where's Zuko?"

"Went with Azula in the study. Wouldn't say why, though," Toph said. "Whatcha need, Sugar Queen? Are you okay?" She asked again with hesitation.

"Heishui's awake again. I was going to have Zuko--" she stopped in mid-sentence and retched.

"Katara?" Toph sounded slighly alarmed. "Do you want me to go get him?"

Katara took a breath. "Please?"

"Okay, just hold on."

After Toph left, Katara laid on the floor, tired, sick, and plain exhausted. She laid a hand on her stomach and thought back. Then her eyes widened. She couldn't be pregnant again...Heishui had just turned one. But still...maybe.

Katara tossed it aside for another time when Toph came back with Zuko, who picked her up. "What's going on, Katara? You've been like this for two weeks now, are you okay?"

"No," Katara moaned as Zuko laid her in bed. "I feel awful. I've been up since two this morning."

"That's probably why," Toph said, sitting on the bed by Katara's feet. "What were you doing?"

"Trying to get Heishui to go back to sleep," Katara mumbled.

Zuko shook his head. "No...that's not it. She's been sick like this for two weeks. It's not him." He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Something else is wrong."

Katara bit her lip. There were two ways to go: she could tell Zuko what she thought, or wait and see if it was true and if she was right. "Zuko," she took his hand. "Baby, I think I may be pregnant again."

Toph made a sort of "ooooh...not cool" face and thought that she should leave...in which she did so, without either of the two noticing.

Zuko was kind of at a loss for words. "But--you're not entirely sure, right?"

Katara was shocked and sat up. "What does that mean? You don't want another one?"

"Well, I--" he huffed, "yes, I do, but Katara! Heishui just turned one...and I still haven't decided to take the Fire Lord posit---oops." He smacked his forehead in realization that he just spilled.

"What?" Katara stood up this time, ignoring everything. "Zuko, you told me that when Heishui was born and turned one that you'd take the throne!" She was shocked beyond words. "You told me specifically that you would do it!"

Zuko shifted. He was in a tight spot right now. "Well, urhm, I was talking with Azula just before Toph came..." He paused. "We were talking about me taking over and I told her that I'd get back to her on it."

Katara scoffed. "Shch. Like you did with me?" She crossed her arms. "I thought I knew you better than that, Zuko," she shook her head. "Why would you say one thing and not do it?"

"I dunno," Zuko was no feeling very much like a little boy who was getting scolded by his mother. "I don't wanna rule. Point taken and ended, okay?"

"No!" Katara put her hands on his shoulders. "It's not okay, Zuko, Honey! You told me that you were going to rule when Heishui turned one and wasn't a baby anymore. You said that."

Zuko sighed and shook his head. He then took Katara's hands in his. "Katara, I agree that I told you that, but I don't want to do it. If anything, I'd be more than willing to let Azula take it." He shrugged. "If I could."

Katara shook her head. "What's wrong with you? Baby, you're giving up more than just being a leader. You're giving up your future!"

Zuko shook his head next. "No I'm not. My whole future is right here with you and Heishui and if you're pregnant again, the new baby. Okay?"

"No, I told you that. It's not okay," Katara looked down. "How could you lie to me?"

Zuko felt his eyes widened and he dropped Katara's hands, making a time-out sign. "Woah, woah. Slow down and rewind here, Katara! I didn't lie to you!"

"Yes you did!" Katara shouted. "You told me you would be FIre Lord, then you went behind my back and decided against it anyway!"

"Katara, listen to yourself!" Zuko was shouting now. "You're acting out of control...you're not thinking rationally."

"RATIONALLY?" Katara hollered. "Excuse me! Who's the one not acting rational?" She shoved a finger at her husband's chest.

Dead silence filled the void between the two and Katara shrank back, quiet once again. "You lied." She shivered slightly. "I can't believe you lied to me."

Zuko felt the gulit well up inside him. "Katara, I never meant to hurt you...I wasn't thinking," he wrapped his arms around her and Katara willingly gave into the hug, crying. "Shhhhhh," Zuko rubbed her back and swayed gently with her. "I'm sorry." He kissed the top of her head. "I love you so much, Katara. Believe me when I say that, okay?"

Katara only nodded and wrapped her arms around her husband's neck.

She would forgive, but would never forget...

Toph sighed. She'd been outside listening in on the yelling and she felt her heart sink. Her and Aang had suddenly went the same route. They weren't as close as they used to be, and it hurt Toph so much...especially since they had Akito and Taru.

She turned back and went into her room and found Aang sitting up in bed with Taru cradled against him. He was smiling, naturally, at the boy and for a split moment, Toph felt all warm and good inside.

"Aang...can I talk to you?" Toph seemed slightly nervous, which was really uncommon for her. "Please?"

"Ah, sure..." Aang was confused as to why Toph was acting this way, and as he put Taru back into his bed, he then turned to Toph. "What's wrong?"

Toph sat on her side of the bed and bit her lower lip. "Wh--What's happenening to us, Twinkle Toes?" She asked. "We seem like we're drifting apart."

Aang looked into Toph's glazed eyes and felt his heart sink. So that's why Toph had been acting so distant and lost all of a sudden. "Toph, what are you--what do you mean?"

"I just feel like we're not as close as we were," Toph wrung her hands. "Like we're drifting."

"Toph," Aang brushed away a strand of her hair and couldn't help but to smile. "Is that why you've been so down? Why you've been so distant?"

Toph nodded. "We've just been yelling at each other so much lately...and I just heard Katara and Zuko yelling--" Tears pooled her pale green eyes as she bit her lower lip. "I miss the closeness we had."

Aang felt guilt all over him and couldn't get rid of it. They really had been yelling and fighting a lot lately. But if it was the last thing on earth Aang wanted to do, was to split with Toph. He loved her far too much to ever do that in his lifetime. "Angel," he hugged her. "I'm sorry. I don't know why we do that. I love you too much to ever hate you."

Toph melted in the Avatar's hug and felt him stroke her long hair. Her shoulders shook with crying, and Aang was doing his best to make her feel better.

"C'mon, Toph," Aang smirked. "I'm married to the best Earthbender in the world. How can I trade that for anything else?" He smiled and kissed her. "I'm in love with the Bandit, the best Earthbender I ever met, and your inner Toph-self," he said with a smile. "I can't trade you for anything else even if I tried or had to."

Toph wrapped her arms around Aang and just stayed in the comfort of her husband's arms. There was no other place she'd rather be at that moment. "It hurts."

"What does?"

"Us fighting," Toph looked up. "I hate it. It hurts me so much. We used to be so close."

"We still are," Aang held Toph's head in his hands. "Honey, nothing's changed for us except for the twins. We're still the same." He dried her tears with his thumb. "Listen, I don't want to think on the bad things, Toph. I still love you, always will, and nothing can change that."

"I know, but--" Toph searched her mind for the right words. "I feel so lost."

"Why?" Aang asked. "What's wrong?"

Toph didn't want to bring up the subject that she'd brought up so many times before--especially when Tiani had been born. "Nothing."

Aang didn't like the sudden turn she'd taken. She'd went from melting and pouring her heart out to stubborn old twleve-year-old Toph Bei Fong. "Toph, Hon, why the sudden stubborness?"

"Becuase you're sick of hearing it."

It then clicked in Aang's mind. The kids. Toph hated every moment that she couldn't see her three beautiful children. Especially after they had tried for three months before they got pregnant with the twins. Aang couldn't describe them to her, It was hard to describe something like that to somebody who'd never seen the light of day before. She didn't know what colors were, so Aang could never tell her that Taru had his eyes and Akito had the mix of his and her eyes: sea-gray. That they both looked like him with Akito having Toph features. And that Tiani was growing more and more beautiful and looking more like her mommy every day. It hurt Aang so much to know that only he could see his children. So much that he often wished that somehow he could make Toph see.

"No," Aang shook his head. "No, I'm not, Toph." He paused. "It's the kids again, isn't it?"

Toph nodded.

"Honey, I'll never get tired of that conversation," Aang told her soothingly. "It can't and won'tgo away, I know that. It's hard for me, too. It's hard for me to try to describe them to you."

"So, what can you tell me?" Toph stared unblinkingly at him and Aang felt his heart melt and crush. "I need to know something, Twinkle Toes. They're our babies."

Aang thought. "Tiani...she's so beautiful. She..." he sighed. This was so hard. "She's gorgeous...looks like you in every way possible." That couldn't work. Toph didn't know what she looked like...did she? "She's just gorgeous, Toph. That's all I can say."

Toph nodded.

"Akito's..." Aang sighed. "He's--he looks like me--and a lot like you on the side. Without the arrows, mind you," he smiled and hoped that Toph could get a good visual. "And Taru--he's hard to say. I think he looks more like me." Aang paused and bit his lower lip. "No arrows again."

Toph smiled. "Thank you," she kissed Aang tenderly, it grew into something more, and once again, she felt connected with Aang...like she really wasn't so far away, after all.

She would always ask, but never forget...

Well, I hope you liked. I wanted more input on Taang since we really had been focusing on Zutara for a while.

In the next chapter, Katara will tell Zuko that she's positive for the second pregnancy and Suki and Sokka will have their first child. The end of the chapter will be Suki/Sokka (Idk: Sukka? lol) much like the Taang.

JayJay!