HOWDY TEAM! WELCOME, TOTHE FIRST CHAPTER OF 2021! Sorry, there was not a chapter last week, I wanted to spend a week resting and enjoying a small break! But we are back now and I can't wait to share this chapter with y'all. I wanted to say something about Zutara (or lack of it) that has been in this story so far. All I'm gonna say is that everything has a reason. I hope yall enjoy this chapter. Don't forget to Review, Follow, and Favorite!

"Hey, Mai."

"Yeah, what's up Ty?"

"Have you noticed that Zula is looking...different?"

Mai looked up from her book. She and Ty Lee had agreed to watch the Avatar and Azula's sparring match this morning. She looked at her friend suspiciously and then smirked. "I don't see anything wrong with her. Why do you ask?"

Ty Lee frowned. I can't be the only person that noticed this, right? she internally questioned as she watched her best friends fight. She had noticed over the past couple of days that her friend had been changing, but couldn't exactly put her finger on what exactly was so different about her. "Well, I guess maybe I'm just going crazy."

Mai frowned. She knew that this was going to eat away at Ty Lee, so she decided that she needed to push her as much as it took in order to get the truth out of her friend. "No, Ty. What's up? Seriously, do you think she's hurt?"

"No, no, no!" she answered quickly as she waved her arms defensively. "I just think that she looks a bit…sluggish."

Sluggish? Why sluggish? To say that Mai was confused was an understatement. The words "sluggish" and "Azula" simply don't belong in the same sentence. They, for all intents and purposes, were complete opposites. "Why do you say that?" she asked aloud.

"Well..." The acrobat paused to collect her thoughts a little. "Look at her kicks and punches. They seem just the tiniest bit...slow. You wouldn't be able to notice such a thing unless you were looking close enough," she explained as she continued to watch their friends fight.

This began to catch Mai off-guard. She placed her book on the side of the bench that they were sitting on and decided to focus more on the match at hand.

Azula had just done a backflip which led into a flame kick launched at Aang's shoulder, but he was able to block it with his forearm. He then sent a fire-enhanced punch to Azula's gut, which she was able to effectively dodge.

Mai could immediately tell what Ty Lee was talking about. It was only slight, but her movements were just a millisecond slower then usual. That's odd, she thought to herself. She placed her hand on her chin and sat deep in thought. The only way that that would ever happen is if she gained weight and it was distributed to all parts of her body. "Now that you mention it, she does seem ever so slightly slower," Mai said slowly. She glanced at Ty Lee, who was smiling. "I'm guessing you have a theory as to why this is happening, don't you?"

"She's pregnant!"

Those words hung in the air for a few seconds as they were being processed by the assassin. Mai stared blankly at the floor as she was trying to figure out the sheer amount of truth that those words could possibly hold. Alright, let's think this through rationally. She's been sleeping with Aang. They are in a relationship. Aang likes to cook. She sits at a desk all day and only gets exercise when she is training Aang. Large amounts of food paired with inactivity could lead to weight gain.

She looked at her friend as she moved in her fight and tried to focus on places she knew fat settled. Hmm...well, she's definitely gotten bigger boobs. They are knocking her ever so slightly off balance and it's showing. I did notice that she was constantly readjusting her skirt the other day when we were doing work. Maybe she has gained some weight. She smiled at her realization and turned to face Ty Lee, who was still, at this point, convinced that she was going to become "Aunty Lee".

"I don't think that she's pregnant at all, Ty," Mai responded, chuckling slightly as her friend pouted. "I think that there is a far more reasonable explanation for what is happening."

"Oh?" The acrobat turned to her friend and looked at her. "And what do you think is going on here?" she asked whilst eyeing her friend suspiciously.

"Simple: she's getting fat."

Ty Lee instantly started laughing at the seemingly ridiculous claim that had come out of Mai's mouth. She was laughing so hard that she didn't notice Aang and Azula pausing their match for a second to give Mai the "Is she okay?" look. Mai nodded her head and put a thumbs up for them. They accepted and went back to their match.

"Ty, you're making a scene!" Mai said through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry!" Ty Lee panted out between fits of great laughter. "But that's the dumbest idea I've ever heard."

"It's true! Look at the facts."

"Oh, and what facts are those?" the acrobat asked.

"Aang loves to cook for Azula. He thinks that it's his job to keep her well-fed and content. He also spends all day in the kitchen waiting for Azula to come back for lunch or dinner. Couple that with the high-calorie food that he is known to make, along with her seemingly sedentary lifestyle, and you have the perfect storm for weight gain."

Ty Lee looked at the ground and pressed her thumb and finger against her chin, seemingly deep in thought. After a few moments she looked at her friend and smirked. "I think you may very well be correct."

Mai smugly crossed her arms over her chest and smirked. "And you thought she was pregnant."

"Hey, to my defense, they are a couple who sleep together regularly."

"Do you REALLY think that Azula, Princess Azula, is going to let Aang have sex with her before marriage? I mean, come on!" Mai said while lightly chuckling at the idea of the two of them performing premarital sex. "Her father would actually kill her. Not like he probably isn't, due to the fact that we are smuggling a highly wanted criminal with us back to the Capitol."

"Yeah, I guess I didn't think about that. Plus, Aang doesn't come off as the person to even think about Azula like that, even though they are dating," Ty Lee confessed while giggling lightly. "Do you think he even knows what sex is?"

"Actually, that's a very good question," Mai pondered. "He grew up with men all his life, was sealed into an iceberg, then was fighting a war. I don't think he even had time to think about a relationship, let alone sex."

"We should give him 'The Talk'!" Ty Lee squealed as she looked at Mai for her reaction.

"You know, that actually wouldn't be a bad idea!" Mai replied with an evil smirk on her face.

"What isn't a bad idea?"

Mai and Ty Lee looked over at the sound of the voice and found that Azula had walked over to them and sat down.

"Oh, we were just talking about what we were going to do when we got back to the Capitol," Ty Lee explained, smiling at the Princess.

Azula, who immediately didn't buy the story, raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" She smirked and brought out her hand to make a fireball in it. "Lie like that and this will be shoved up your ass."

Not wanting to be maimed, Mai sighed and started talking. "Well, Ty and I were noticing that you were getting a bit...chubby as of lately..."

Azula, almost instantaneously, grew angry and was about to burn Mai when Ty Lee jumped in.

"It's not that bad!" Ty Lee cried, trying to rescue her friend from becoming a pile of ash. "Really...it's not that noticeable."

"If it wasn't that noticeable, then WHY ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT IT RIGHT NOW?!" Azula screamed as she glared at her friends. "And it's not even that bad! Aang seems to like it."

"So you HAVE had sex!" Ty Lee shouted.

This brought upon an eerie silence.

Azula turned around to face Ty Lee and looked like she had murder in her eyes. She slowly moved towards her smiling friend and slapped her access to the face. "NO!"

"Oh…well, I'm sorry, you and Aang have been rather...close recently," Ty Lee spoke carefully as she tried to defend herself.

"Yeah, because he's my FUCKING BOYFRIEND!" Azula yelled. She looked at her friends, who were now terrified of her, then looked down at herself. She just wanted to scream.

"Azula?"

Suddenly, all the anger and aggression that was in her body immediately left her. She turned her head and saw that her boyfriend, her knight in shining armor, was standing there. He looked at her with concern and worry written all over his face.

"What's wrong?" he asked as he wiped some of the sweat that was on his forehead. "Did something happen?"

She looked at her stud of a boyfriend and could feel herself getting lost in his physique. She could definitely tell that the intense training that he had been doing was starting to show.

For the past seven weeks, with the exception of leaving the boat to do other activities, Aang had been trying to train not only his cooking skills, but he had also been getting much stronger. He had been doing push-ups and sit-ups every day when he was alone in the room. Azula had also been rapidly teaching him how to become an effective Firebender.

By this point, Aang was able to go toe-to-toe with Azula when she was using most, but not all, of her all out power. Azula estimated that he could easily take out Zuko in an Agni Kai. All of this training had actually resulted in a slight shift of the color of Aang's flames, as they were now a light yellow hue.

Azula looked at her boyfriend and smiled. "Nothing is wrong, Aang. I'm just talking to the girls about girl stuff!" she quickly lied, praying that he would buy it. Much to her chagrin, he didn't.

He raised an eyebrow and chuckled lightly. "I'm glad that in our time together, I can now see through your lies. So, tell me Sparks, what were you talking about?"

"Fine," Azula said as she hung her head lightly and sighed. "Ty Lee thought that you had gotten me pregnant."

Aang's face contorted into confusion. Pregnant? I don't even know what that means. Is it like a relationship thing? Who knows. "Sparks, I don't even know that that means."

Now it was the girls' turn to facepalm. Azula immediately started to turn into a crimson mess while Ty Lee and Mai were laughing their asses off.

"What do you mean you don't know what the word pregnant means?" Azula yelled at the monk, who was simply standing there, looking dumb. "What did those monks teach you?"

"Jack shit, apparently," Mai mumbled under her breath.

"What do you mean?" he questioned while he sat on the deck. "They taught me everything I needed to know! What, are you saying they left some stuff out?"

"YES!" Ty Lee and Azula yelled at the same time, which earned a smirk from Mai.

"Aang, do you know where babies come from?" Mai innocently asked.

"Well..." Aang sat there pondering for a few seconds. You know, now that you think about it, where DO babies come from? Kuruk said something about repopulating the Airbenders, but I don't actually know how to do that.

"Aang?"

You know what, maybe there's, like, a store that you can get them from. You can request them to be brought to you so that you can raise them all till they are adults. Or, maybe the Avatar gives them to people.

"Aangy?"

Wait, no, the last one can't be right because the monks would have told me that if it were the case. Maybe the monks did hide some stuff from me. Maybe I can ask Kyoshi about it or Roku since he was a guy.

Aang immediately looked up and saw Ty Lee howling in laughter while Mai was shaking her head in disappointment.

"They really have rubbed off on eachother," she groaned as she looked at the Princess, who was still a blushing mess. "So, do you have a response to the question?"

"Wait, what was the question again?" he innocently asked, which made Mai twitch slightly.

"Where do babies come from, Aang?"

"Well...to tell you the truth, I...dunno..." He trailed off at the last part so that no one could hear him.

"What did you say Aang? I couldn't hear you," Ty Lee teased, as she knew exactly what he said and just wanted to make his life miserable.

"I don't know where babies come from," he said a little louder, but apparently not loud enough.

"Say that one more time for me," the acrobat said with a giant smirk on her face.

"I DON'T KNOW WHERE BABIES COME FROM, ARE YOU HAPPY?!" Aang shouted, which made Ty Lee fall back and clutch her sides due to laughing so much. Mai couldn't help but giggle a little. Azula simply looked at her boyfriend and sighed.

"Well, I guess it couldn't be helped," Azula mumbled as she leaned over to her boyfriend's ear and started to whisper stuff.

Aang's face quickly went from neutral to confusion to a crimson color as he was told the answer to the mystery that had been plaguing him for the last few minutes. Finally, after a solid ten minutes of Azula explaining to him what sex was, it finally clicked.

"So, you're telling me that we get to do that?!" Aang asked as he looked at his girlfriend, who immediately started blushing again.

"If we get married, and somehow survive this war, then yes. I'll let you have kids with me." She sighed and looked at the giant smile that was on Aang's face. Oh, Agni, he looks so happy to have kids with me. After a few seconds of studying the look on her boyfriend's face she also started smiling. You know, I wouldn't mind having one or two kids with him.

"Speaking of the war, aren't we getting close to the Capitol?" Ty Lee asked as she got out of her laughing stupor.

"Well, actually, that's a good point that you bring up," Mai stated as she got up from the bench.

"Why don't we discuss that over breakfast? I'm starving," Aang said as he stretched out his muscles and jumped up to his feet.

"Before that happens, you need a shower, mister," Azula lightly teased.

Aang blushed a little. "Alright, I'll take one when we get back to the room," Aang promised as they walked to the door that led to their rooms on the ship. Once they arrived at Aang and Azula's room, Aang grabbed a change of clothes and walked into the bathroom to freshen up.

Mai and Ty Lee walked over to the table while Azula started making cups of coffee for everyone. She brought the cups to her friends and sat down.

"Alright, now that Aang can't hear us, what are you ACTUALLY going to do when we arrive?" Mai asked as she sipped her coffee.

Azula sighed and put her cup down. She knew that she had pushed this conversation off for as long as possible. They would be arriving in a little less than a week. She knew that even getting Aang off of the boat without heavy planning would end up with all of them getting detained; or worse, killed.

"I… I don't know, honestly," she responded weakly. "I have been trying not to think about that for the longest time and now..." She sighed and continued looking at her coffee. "...I just don't want him to get caught."

"Yeah," Ty Lee stated sympathetically. "While this morning was fun, it did remind us that you and Aang have definitely grown close and fond of each other. I never would have thought that in a million years that you would be willing to have kids with someone. Now, we're in the one place in the world that wants his head on a spike."

"Well, we can avoid that from happening if we plan accordingly," Mai said confidently. "I don't want to lose him just as much as you don't. That's why we need to come up with a plan." She knew that it would get Azula out of her momentary funk and be able to strategize. "Azula, we can do this. It's only the Fire Nation."

"Yeah, that's the thing," Azula said. "It's my father. Which, you know, always has a way of making stuff a hundred times worse."

"Alright, so all we need to do is get him in. Then, he can stay in your room or something, right?" Ty Lee asked as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Yeah. In layman's terms, that's all he would need to do. But, we also need to figure out a way to stop this war," Azula said while holding her mug to her lips. "We need to gather intel on what the Fire Nation is planning without them knowing that we aren't with them.

"So, you're on my side, now?"

All three girls looked up to see Aang standing in the kitchen, pulling out two large pans and placing them on the stove. He looked at them and smiled sweetly at them. "I'm glad that you are on my side, when did this change occur?"

"Well, when it comes to my loyalties, I'm loyal to you more than father," Azula admitted. "You've given me so much love and happiness that I simply can't leave. I've gotten so used to being happy that I simply can't let you go, Aang, no matter how many diamonds or servants the Fire Nation could give me. I am truly happy and complete by your side. If that means betraying my father - who wasn't much of a father to me in the first place - then so be it. Aang, I made a promise to you that I would never leave your side. Wherever you go, I'll follow. I'll follow you until the end of time if I have to."

Everyone in the room was dead silent as they heard Azula's confession to Aang. He was still cooking breakfast for the four of them. He was making sunny side up eggs and sausages. He looked up from cooking to hear her confession and smiled widely at the confession. "Aww, Azula, that's really sweet. I really appreciate your loyalty." He smiled at his girlfriend, who smiled back.

"I have to agree with Aang on this one, Azula. I didn't think you had it in you to defy the Fire Nation like that," Ty Lee said as she nodded her head to Aang, who placed a plate of breakfast in front of her.

"Yes. I never go back on my promises," Azula affirmed. "I promised him that I would always be there with him." She smiled at the large plate of food that Aang placed in front of her.

After everyone got their food, they all started discussing how to get Aang into the capital without him being found out. They talked for a long time about the topic and came up with a plan that they were pretty sure would work.

"Alright, Aang, since you haven't shaved your head in a while, you are going to keep growing out your hair. Then, you will just have to wear stuff to cover up all your arrows. Under no circumstances are you to use any other element besides Firebending. That will DEFINITELY blow your cover. Do you understand?" Azula stated while looking at her boyfriend, who was staring back with a certain seriousness in his eyes.

"I understand, Azula. I won't try to blow my cover in the Capitol at all." He smiled at her and she smiled back.

"Alright. Well, now that that's out of the way, I think it's a good time to maybe just relax a little, wouldn't you say?" Ty Lee inserted as she brought out a board game for them all to play.

They played the game for many hours until the sun had gone down. Aang had insisted they stay over for dinner, which he made. He cooked a wonderful roasted barbeque chicken with string beans and fried rice. He smiled as he saw all of his friends enjoying his cooking. After dinner was over, Mai and Ty Lee said their goodnights and left the couple alone.

After a while, Aang got up to meditate on the balcony, which left Azula totally to her thoughts. She looked at her boyfriend, who was hovering above the ground, and smiled a little.

Yeah, I guess I could have a couple kids with him. He's kind, loving, strong, fearless, a total goof...but, he's my goof. He's gonna have to have kids anyway since he's the last Airbender and needs to repopulate. I guess I could have a few little Airbenders running around. I hope I have a couple gray-eyed Firebenders.

Azula had gotten so lost in her thoughts about the future that she didn't realize a pair of arms wrapped around her. She instantly went on guard and looked to see who it was. She instantly relaxed and smiled when she saw who it was. "Hey," she said warmly.

"Hey," Aang responded, smiling at her and pulling her to bed. "Do you want to try the-"

"NO!" Azula yelled instantaneously.

"Okay, I was only joking," Aang replied. "I know you probably wouldn't want to."

"Thanks. Let's wait until the war ends. I promise I'll make it worth it," she whispered into his ear, but not before nibbling on his ear.

Aang sat there in shock at what was happening. He slowly gained a smile. "Alright, dear, I'll hold you to it."

The two sat next to each other on the bed and prepared themselves for a good night's sleep. Aang took off his shirt and got under the covers, but not before blowing out all the candles in the room. He smiled at Azula, who smiled back.

"Good night, Azula," he whispered softly, kissing her lightly.

"Good night, Aang," she whispered back, returning the kiss.

Zuko woke up early one morning and felt his joints crack. Ever since Katara had healed him three weeks ago, he had begun to regain his strength. He was trying to work on getting much faster and stronger before the time for them to meet up with Sokka and the crew. He would practice basic Firebending exercises until he was able to spar with Katara.

Katara, on the other hand, was getting ready for her day. She was at the nearby lake taking her time getting washed up. She was pleased with the fact that she was able to heal Zuko totally. She had been offering so that he could get back up to his normal strength, but he was always declining.

"Why can't he just see that I'm trying to help him?" she mumbled to herself as she bathed. For the life of her, she couldn't figure out why he was acting so moody. Granted, he did get beaten to a bloody pulp by Aang, but that was a couple months ago. Shouldn't he have gotten over it?

"I just don't get it. I'm cooking for him, washing his clothes, keeping him company - what am I doing wrong?" she asked out loud.

Unbeknownst to her, Zuko was listening to her as she was bathing. He hadn't realized that it was Katara and wasn't paying attention. Shit, is that Katara? He looked at the figure at the water and gasped.

In front of him was a figure, around 5'6", with a light chocolate complexion, shimmering in the water. She had nice slender shoulders which tapered down to wider hips and a firm looking bottom. She had long, brown hair that flowed to her hips. Damn, when did she get hot? Zuko thought as he froze in his pursuit to the lake.

Sensing that someone was behind her, Katara turned around and let out a scream. Is that Zuko? And he's SHIRTLESS?! "Zuko? W-what are you doing here?" she stammered as she tried to cover herself as best as she could.

"I...uh...hey...Zuko here?" Zuko attempted a slight smile.

"GET OUT!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, which made him sprint in the opposite direction.

Once he was far away from Katara, he sighed and lay down on the ground. "How the fuck was I supposed to know that she would be at the lake taking a bath?" he groaned. After a bit, he got up from his spot on the ground.

"Well, my life just got a whole lot worse," he mumbled drearily to himself as he walked towards his tent to attempt to salvage the rest of his day.