Home
"Go rest, Druk. I'll see you in the morning." Zuko petted the snout of his not-so-baby-anymore dragon. They'd had a long trip from Ba Sing Se. Business as usual- of course stopping by Uncle's teashop in between breaks. Still, as good as it had been to spend time with Iroh, he was glad to be home.
He quickly walked the halls of the palace, nodding to any servants who were still up. The Fire Lord came upon his eldest daughter's room. He didn't want to wake her up, it had to be nearing two in the morning. But he just wanted to see her face after so long.
Zuko slowly opened the door and peeked his head in. Nozomi was fast asleep on her side, her black hair spilling over her pillow in a disarray of curls. He smiled at her softly before closing the door again- he didn't dare go in, Nozomi was such a light sleeper he'd surely wake her. And being a firebender, she didn't sleep in much.
He went to the next door down, Iroh II and Kya shared this bedroom. They were heavy sleepers, so Zuko went in. He fixed their tangled sheets and kissed their foreheads before leaving again.
The next bedroom belonged to little Ryu, who was only four. Zuko peeked in and saw him clutching a stuffed animal, fast asleep.
Zuko felt better after seeing them all well. He didn't like being away for so long.
He stepped into the last room. Unlike his children, he planned to wake his wife up. Katara would always want to welcome him home, even if he had to wake her up to do so. (He'd been chastised before when he didn't wake her.)
He set his bag on the ground in the dark room, calling a flame to his palm. He walked over to the Katara-sized lump under the covers. She had the tendency of being a heavy sleeper, and she probably had just fallen asleep with how late she stayed up. Zuko sat on the edge of the bed, tucking her wild hair behind her ear. "My love, I'm home."
After a few more caresses, Katara slowly blinked her eyes open. "Zuko?"
"Yes, it's me. I just got home."
Katara hummed, winding her arms around his waist, "Welcome home."
I was looking up some Japanese names to think of alternative steam baby names. Nozomi means hope, and we all know how much Katara loves her hope. (Ryu means dragon, which is just a cool name)