Leiko walked back onto the ship with a huge smile on her face…and a bundle in her arms. Prince Zuko walked onto the ship after her with a guilty look on his face. His uncle walked out to see them, and then looked at Leiko who was busy cooing to the bundle in her arms. "What's this?" he asked and walked over to Leiko. Leiko smiled and removed some of the blanket to reveal the baby. "A BABY?" Iroh turned a looked at Zuko who rubbed his forehead. "Zuko, you allowed this?"

"Yes Uncle. I let the baby on the ship." Zuko admitted.

"Her parents died in the flood. So Zuko and I adopted her." She squealed with delight. "Isn't it great, Iroh? Zuko and I finally have a baby!"

"But Leiko, how will you take care of her? Babies take a lot of work."

"Yes!" Zuko agreed, "And they cry, and they're loud, and they smell!" Zuko went on as he walked over to them.

"Oh, Zuko! That's no way to talk about our new daughter."

"Well, if she's here, she's here. What are you going to name her?" Iroh asked. Leiko looked up and thought for a minute.

"I know…Reina."

"That is a pretty name." Iroh replied.

"I'm going to show the rest of the crew the new baby." Leiko said and she walked off. Iroh approached Zuko again.

"Have you lost your mind?" he asked his nephew.

"She made me feel guilty, Uncle. I didn't know what to do. Plus the man said that he couldn't take the baby…so I gave in."

"Are you sure about this?"

"No. But Leiko is, and she's happy. That's all that matters to me. And she was right. We have been wanting a baby for some time now."

"But you would be happier if the baby was a firebender." And Zuko looked away.

"My father would have wanted it that way. I'm the first in the family line to break all the rules. I was banished, I disrespected my father, I married a traitor, I eloped to an earth kingdom island…and now I have a baby that isn't of my blood and let alone from the same nation. My father would be discontent if he found out."

"Maybe, but it is your life Zuko. You have to decide what you want. Not what your father wants." Iroh walked away, "All this time away from home has changed you." And he closed the ship door behind him as he left the deck.

Later, Leiko was sitting in the mess hall with Reina in her arms. She was alone, and she was feeding the baby some goat's milk with a water pouch. Zuko walked in, looking for something to eat, but when he saw Leiko in there with the baby he turned and went to tiptoe out. "Zuko…" Leiko called to him. He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her with a look of disappointment. "What is it?"

"Nothing." He said. Leiko gave him a look.

"Surely, there must be something." Zuko sighed,

"I just don't understand why you want to be a mother to that thing." He admitted.

"Zuko!" she was shocked by his words, "I can't believe you are talking about our daughter like that!"

"She's not our daughter!"

"She is your child now!"

"She is NOT my child, Leiko!" Zuko replied with a half yell right back at his wife, "That's an earth kingdom peasant's child! Not ours! She is not of our blood, our nation…she's not even a firebender!" Leiko went silent.

"Is that why you are so mad? She's not a firebender?" Zuko exasperated and rubbed his head.

"Nevermind."

"No, I think that is it. You can't have full honor back on the throne if your child is not a firebender. Or at least in your eyes." More silence.

"If my father knew he'd have me off the throne." Zuko replied. Leiko just stood up and walked over to Zuko with Reina in her arms and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"My love…I want you to not worry about these things while we're away from home. When the throne is yours you will be able to do all you want." Zuko placed his hand on Leiko cheek and held her head to his shoulder. He seemed ashamed of his words. Leiko could sense it in his eyes. "Zuko, I want you to accept this more than anything. I know she's not all we ever wanted, but she is better than nothing. Please tell me you can try and accept it."

"Yes." Zuko answered after a minute. Leiko smiled up at him.

"You're a father now. It's time to act like one." And a crewman rushed in through the doorway.

"Prince Zuko, we have spotted the Avatar landing in Kyoshi." The man said. Zuko looked back at the man and answered,

"Set course for Kyoshi." And the man nodded and walked out. Zuko looked back at Leiko, into her golden pools of emotion and frowned. "I just want to keep you happy. You've had such a horrible past. And I want to give you a happy future."

"As long as I am with my new family, I am happy."

"You just killed a man earlier today. I don't want you to have to go back to what you once were."

"I don't want to either."

"You're not an assassin, Leiko. You're my wife and I'll love you through thick and thin…but adopting a baby was something I wasn't quite ready for."

"I understand. And I thank you for letting me."

"As long as you are happy." And Leiko gazed down upon the sleeping baby girl in her arms.

"I am." She responded to her husband.

At night, Zuko was asleep with his arm draped over Leiko's waist. They were sleeping peacefully, until there was a cry from the room next to theirs. Leiko awoke and got up, walking out of the room quietly and drowsily into the one next to it. Zuko had refused to let the baby sleep in their room, and gave the baby Leiko's old room. Leiko walked into the room and up to the large basket that was sitting in the middle of the bed. Leiko sat down next to it and began to rock it back and forth. "Shh. Sleep my little one." She tried to comfort the baby. Sleep was something she too wanted at the moment. "Go back to sleep, Reina." But rocking the basket wasn't doing the job. Leiko stood up and picked up the baby from the basket. Reina stayed crying in her arms and she rocked the babe in her arms. "What is the matter with my child?" Leiko asked herself.

She couldn't lie to herself, she was still young and didn't know how to be a mother. She had the instincts in her, but knowing what a baby wanted and when it wanted it wasn't something she had acquired. She would simply have to figure it out herself. So she looked down at the baby and sighed, thinking about what the problem could possibly be. "Any way you can make her quiet?" Zuko appeared in the doorway, topless and in a pair of his night pants. "She's going to wake up the whole ship."

"I'm trying to figure out what she wants." Leiko said sleepily. She placed a finger on the baby's mouth, trying to convince her to be quiet, but instead of going silent the baby began to suck on it. Leiko smiled at the baby as she sucked on her index finger. "She's teething." She told Zuko. Zuko yawned and rubbed his bad eye.

"All that crying over a tooth?"

"I think it hurts her, from what I've heard." Leiko sat down on the bed and sighed as the baby continued to suck on her finger happily. Zuko walked over and took a seat next to her. She leaned her head on his shoulder and they both leaned against the hard wall behind them.

"How long could we be up for?" Zuko asked.

"I don't know. However long it takes for her to go to sleep."

And Leiko and Zuko stayed with Reina, for the rest of the night, trying to coax her to go to sleep. Zuko was loosing his mind. Whenever Leiko put the baby down she'd just start to cry again. He knew he had told Leiko that he would try and accept the fact that he had a responsibility now, but he couldn't help but to think that it wasn't worth it. The baby finally closed her eyes and fell into a peaceful slumber. Leiko removed her finger and smile. Both of the teenagers had huge bags under their eyes now, and Zuko was thoroughly irritated. But Leiko made it all worth it when she hugged him and kissed him softly. "I love you." She said.

"I love you too." He smiled. "Now can we please get some rest?"