(A/N): Well, I'm back. I know my goal of trying to upload every week pretty much went out the window, but hey, college was a lot more work than I expected. Anyways, my semester ended a week ago and so I wanted to post something which led me to this short Maiko story. It isn't too long, but I hope you enjoy it.

The sun began to rise over the Fire Nation and so with it did its esteemed ruler. As a firebender, Zuko was used to rising from his slumber at this time, the feeling of the sun's rays causing his body to heat up and his blood to boil involuntarily until he could not help but open his eyes.

It was something he was used to, but what was new for him were the circumstances surrounding his waking up and his general lifestyle. Before, waking up meant for him another day of training relentlessly to impress his father, or being humiliated by his younger sister both emotionally and physically, or running across the world as a banished prince in search of someone who had not been seen in a hundred years. Basically, before, waking up meant for him many different things, none of them good.

But now, now was different. Now he could not wait to wake up and take on the day. Not out of adventure or action, but out of comfort and love. So, when the sun began to rise and his eyes slowly began to open, a smile formed on his face as he thought about his current situation.

Zuko was lying in the center of his king-sized bed in the imperial quarters of the Fire Nation Palace. But unlike how he felt for much of his life, he was not alone. To his right slept the girl that had always stood by him, the girl he had fallen in love with Agni knows how many years ago, the girl who through thin and thick had helped make him who he was today, his beloved, his best friend, his fire lily, his bittersweet fruit tart, his wife, Mai. She was sleeping snugly with her head resting on Zuko's shoulder and with his right arm wrapped around her body. He continued to stare at her, recalling all their memories together, and his smile widened as he felt her further nestle herself into his form.

He then turned his attention to the other most important person in his life; the other person who he treasured and held so dearly. The person who gave him purpose and reminded him that he was far more of a man than his father had ever been, his little turtleduck, his daughter, Izumi. He could not help but chuckle a bit when he saw how she was in a similar position to Mai, her little head using his left shoulder as a warm and comfortable pillow.

'Like mother like daughter,' Zuko thought to himself.

He then heard Mai begin to groan and immediately turned back to his right to see his wife begin to slowly open her eyes. He took his right hand and began to stroke her hair as a way to ease her into waking up. She turned her head so that her chin was now resting on his shoulder, her half-lidded eyes staring deep into his own half-lidded ones. A smile began to purse on her lips as they shared this moment, with neither one of them saying anything; Zuko felt drawn to the softish, brown eyes of Mai, those eyes that he had lost himself in countless times.

After a few minutes he leaned down and planted a kiss on her forehead while letting his lips slip, "Good morning Mai"

"Zukooo," she whispered back to him. Nothing else needed to be said; her expression was more than enough to show just how content she was.

Just then, Zuko felt his little Izumi begin to stir. He turned back to his left and saw her wide-awake with her eyes concentrated on him. Her eyes, her gold and fiery eyes, it was a clear and defining physical feature that she inherited from him. She was his daughter, and he knew he would do everything to help her become who she was meant to be: A wise and loving Firelord.

'Life father like daughter,' Zuko thought to himself.

"Dada!" Izumi suddenly exclaimed as she saw Zuko turn his attention to her. A sense of elation immediately filled Zuko; he looked to Mai and saw that she had the same reaction as him. He could not possibly measure the amount joy that filled his heart every time he heard Izumi call him that; it was something he would never get tired of.

Zuko then looked up and stared at the ceiling. He took a deep breath in to savor this moment. His uncle had once told him that it is not money or material goods but rather the immaterial and intangible that make a man truly wealthy; he did not understand what exactly his uncle was trying to say at the time and always wrote it off as his typical philosophical nonsense.

But now, it all made sense to him. He was so grateful for this family - his wife and his daughter - and everything in between that Agni had blessed him with. Zuko felt like the luckiest man in the world, and these early-morning experiences would be ones he cherished for the entirety of his life.

(A/N): So there it is. Keep in mind, this is not part of the 'Zuko's Journey with his girls'. This is something on its own, but do I have some ideas in mind for the next installments in the series. My goal, which I think is realistic, is to write two to three more fics during the break until the Spring semester starts. Also, looking back I see how the last fic I wrote was kinda mediocre and even a tad cringy. I liked the idea but I guess the execution was just off. Regardless, as always feel free to leave any feedback and do not hold back at all. Cheers!