Chapter 17
"Ursa's pregnant."
Azulon looked up from the letter that he was writing and placed his brush down on his desk. A hint of a smile formed on his lips as he appraised his son.
"That's wonderful news. Congratulations, Prince Ozai," Azulon said.
"Thank you, Father," Ozai replied.
Ozai was still unsure about becoming a Father. He was sure that Ursa would do most of the work; he wanted children to continue his lineage and to prove that he was the superior son when he and Ursa had several children. He wasn't interested in the day to day of raising the children. With his and Ursa's bloodline, he was sure that his children would be superior to Lu Ten, would be stronger firebenders and nothing would stop them. He hoped that his Father would realize their superiority one day and would agree with him that he should be the future Fire Lord, not Iroh.
"I was beginning to think that it was never going to happen. For a daughter of such a fertile couple, I was starting to think she was infertile. You certainly weren't the problem," Azulon mused, meeting Ozai's eyes, a cruel smirk on his lips.
Ozai stiffened slightly. "Does that mean something, Father?"
"You tell me, Prince Ozai."
He knew about Meiko. Ozai was sure of it. He hadn't seen that look on his Father's face since he had been a teenager getting in trouble with Lee. It was the look that his Father knew something that he wasn't supposed to know about, something that Ozai had been keeping from him. His rather always knew.
"I don't know what you're getting at," Ozai lied.
"Enough of the lies," Azulon thundered, slamming his fist on the desk. "Your arrogance is astounding, Prince Ozai. You forget that I am the Fire Lord and I know everything that happens in this palace. You think that I don't know about Meiko and her bastard child? Your bastard child? You think that you were so clever sneaking her out of the city? You think that I didn't know about her? You think that I didn't allow Chin and his family to leave for the colonies? You have always been so arrogant with your lies. I know everything that happens in this palace, Ozai and you had better not forget it. Your brother has never caused this much trouble. I had hoped that your marriage would settle you, but it seems that you are still a disappointment."
Ozai's blood boiled as he stood there, listening to his Father's outburst. How long had he been holding onto this? He had known all along, had known when he had offered Jinzuk to become an advisor once Ursa was pregnant. He had known every night at dinner and he hadn't opened his mouth. He had been so sure that he had kept this from everyone, and yet…his Father had known all along.
"I'm so sick of you comparing me to Iroh," Ozai boomed. "You have never seen me for me, you have always put me down and I'm tired of it. You call me a disappointment and yet you have never acknowledged how weak Iroh is. When his wife died he disappeared from his post in the military, abandoned his son and then when he finally surfaced again two months later, he threw himself into his work again and still ignored Lu Ten. He is weak Father."
"Do not speak of your brother that way, you don't know what it's like to lose your wife and I hope that you never do. Your brother never got another woman pregnant; your brother has never brought shame to this family."
"Shame? I brought shame to our family? I handled this problem and I sent her away. Nobody will ever know about that child, I want nothing to do with it and I have nothing to do with Meiko now. She's gone and out of my life and I don't think that there's anything to be ashamed of. Iroh—"
"Enough!" Azulon shouted. "This conversation isn't about your brother, Prince Ozai. This is about you and what you did. You got Meiko pregnant. You are lucky that you are not the Crown Prince and you aren't bringing the line of succession into jeopardy. Do you know what that baby could do to our family? It could ruin us, Ozai."
Ozai narrowed his eyes at his Father. He couldn't believe that he was talking about this. He had come in to tell his Father that Ursa was pregnant and it had turned into this lecture. It made him so angry that his Father couldn't just be happy for him that he was having a child, instead, it turned into a fight. This didn't happen with Iroh, it was just further proof to him that his father would never accept him and would never see him as anything but the disappointment that he apparently was.
"I came here to tell you that Ursa is pregnant and this is supposed to be a joyous time for us. Instead, you turned it around into a lecture like you always do. I'm not going to listen to this anymore," Ozai stated, turning and walking away, ignoring his Father's command to stop and come back.
Ursa had been lying in bed, resting, when she heard the door slam and her eyes fluttered open. She saw Ozai walk into the room, looking furious. She had grown used to her husband's mood swings, but she hadn't expected him to be angry today, she knew that he had been going to speak with his father about her pregnancy.
"Ozai?" She asked, pushing up and sitting in bed. "What happened?
"My damned Father is what happened," Ozai snarled. "He can never just be happy for me, he always has to turn it into a lecture and turn it into something that I've done wrong. It's always Iroh this and Iroh that with him and I'm so sick and tired of it. I'm so tired of him calling me a disappointment."
Ursa frowned and looked at her husband. "What do you mean? Why was he lecturing you? Why did he call you a disappointment?"
Ozai faltered and looked at her. "Nothing that you need to worry about," he said firmly, walking over to her and kissing her head. "Nothing you need to worry about," he repeated.
"But what happened when you went in there? Did you tell him about the baby?" She asked.
"He was preoccupied with comparing me to my brother for me to tell him about the baby," Ozai said.
"Oh," Ursa said, frowning.
It was difficult to understand her husband's relationship with his Father and it always left her feeling uneasy. She felt lucky that her parents were so amazing and that her dad had never treated her differently than her siblings even though he was just her step-dad. And here was Ozai being treated terribly by his own father.
"I'm sorry, Ozai," Ursa said, leaning over to rest her head against his shoulder.
"It's not your fault," Ozai said, shaking his head. "I'm just tired of him and Iroh."
"We're going to be our own family one day, me, you, and this baby. And it won't matter what your Father says."
She could sense his mood switching, but she could also sense that he was hiding something from her. It was an inkling that she had had for a while with him but she wasn't sure if she wanted to push him, especially with his anger just a few moments ago. They were in a good place and Ursa was finding herself falling for Ozai in a way that she had never expected. When she married him it had been to protect Ikem and her family and now…now things had changed. Now her feelings had changed. It hadn't been a sudden realization that she had fallen for Ozai, but it had happened gradually without her really realizing that it was happening. With her pregnancy, her feelings for Ozai had grown deeper. They were about to become parents, together, and it had somehow solidified their relationship.
Ozai was silent as he just looked down at her. She wasn't sure what to do to make her husband feel better. It seemed like nothing worked when he was like this, but she was slowly seeing his mood change.
"You're right," Ozai said. "You always know what to say."
"Are you sure you're okay?" Ursa asked.
"Don't worry about it," Ozai said, stiffening slightly. "How are you feeling?"
"The same as earlier," Ursa said, frowning, knowing that Ozai was changing the subject.
"Have you talked with the Healers?"
"They said that it's normal," Ursa said. "And so did my Mother. She said she felt really tired and sick in the beginning with all of her pregnancies."
"Good," Ozai said, nodding his head. He straightened up and looked down at Ursa again.
"Are you feeling better?" Ursa asked.
"Fine," He said. "Don't worry your pretty little head about anything. What do you want to do for your birthday?"
"My birthday?" Ursa asked. She had forgotten that it was next week. She had been feeling so awful that she hadn't even thought about it.
"Yes, your birthday," Ozai chuckled, looking down at her.
"I don't know," She said. "Something quiet. Maybe just have dinner with our families. That would be fine."
"Are you sure?"
Ursa nodded her head. "Positive."
"Leave it to me, I'll plan something, alright? You get some rest and I'll see you for dinner."
"See you later," Ursa agreed and Ozai kissed her and walked away to his room.
Slumping back down on the bed, she rested her hand on her stomach and watched him go. What was he hiding from her? It was so clear that he had been hiding something and he didn't want her to know what it was. Her thoughts went to Michi and what she had said, but Ursa didn't want to believe that it was something to do with Meiko. With her gone, things had been better than they had been before she left and she didn't want to ruin it.
Authors Note: I want to apologize for being so MIA the past few weeks. At the end of September, I was pulled from my position as an instructional aide to teaching second grade. This is my first full time teaching job and I have been absolutely exhausted, especially teaching in person and virtually all at the same time. However, the teacher I'm in for is supposed to come back in early December and with Covid cases rising where I live, I foresee a lockdown situation happening at some point in the near future, so hopefully, I will have more time to write again. That said, I am absolutely not giving up on this story, and I'm looking forward to continuing this fic and I'm really excited about where it's going. I hope that you enjoyed, I'm sorry that this chapter was on the shorter side but I really wanted to get this up today. I hope that you are all having a great weekend and staying safe!
