I do not own Avatar in any way, shape, or form

Iroh's soft cries pulled Katara from her sleep, dreams of peace shattered and pushed aside for the needs of her child

Iroh's soft cries pulled Katara from her sleep, dreams of peace shattered and pushed aside for the needs of her child. The moon shone brightly in the clear night sky, faint silver rays of light illuminated the path to her son. It was good to know that one friend, Yue, could never be taken away by the fire that had ravaged everything. She and the Water Tribe would die before they allowed the moon spirit to be killed again. But she would lose the moon before she would lose her son. Her desires had been put in entirely new perspectives.

"Shhh, it's alright sweetheart." She cooed quietly, cradling her infant, mothering her baby the way she had mothered her brother and Aang and occasionally Toph. She had often thought after she had found Aang that her destiny had been to help the Avatar defeat the Fire Lord, but now, she was certain it was to be a mother.

"Mmmm, is something wrong?" Zuko's voice was soft and curious and sleepy as she settled into bed beside him, propping herself up against the pillows.

"No, we're fine." She assured, pulling the left side of her robe away, the chilly air sending shivers down her spine and goose bumps across her skin. She noticed how Zuko looked away when her breast was exposed and she brought their child to it, as though he hadn't seen her breasts once before, as though he had to look away to preserve her modesty.

"Good." He nodded, his golden gaze fixed on the icy ceiling.

"You don't need to look away Zuko, it's okay." She let out the breath she didn't know she was holding when he turned to face her. His eyes were soft and sweet and apologetic.

"I wasn't sure if it was what you wanted." He explained, considering and caring and the polar opposite of his element.

Iroh let out a loud cry when he finished eating, demanding attention and affection.

"Sometimes I can't believe I want three of these." She laughed, rocking her arms gently, watching her blue eyed little boy drift off to sleep.

"You want three?"

"I always had fun growing up with Sokka but sometimes I thought it would have been nice to have another sibling." It was the first time they had discussed intimate information, their first slow, awkward step towards something greater than friendship. "You never decided how many children you wanted?"

"I was only expected to produce an heir for the Fire Nation, a son or daughter to take the throne. I never planned on a number. Three's good though, I'm sure you'll…." He paused and scanned her face thoughtfully, liquid fire eyes seemingly searching her spirit. "You'll find someone to have…"

She leaned forward and kissed him, and was relieved when he kissed her back.

Warm sunlight shone in through the open windows, heating his face, awakening the sun within him. He woke to find Katara sprawled out beside him on her stomach, blankets down below the small of her back, smooth bronze skin gleaming in the morning light. He slipped out of bed carefully, to prevent from waking her, the icy floor cold beneath his bare feet. He warmed himself quickly, sending waves of heat through his body to stay off the cold of the snow. He could never sleep long past the rise of the sun, his element beckoned him.

"Good morning Iroh." He greeted his smiling, one year old, lifted the child, his child up and into his arms. A year had passed since the birth of his and Katara's son, the son who hadn't been the avatar but better because he was theirs and he gave them hope in a world where hope had almost been destroyed. Their child had brought them together, given them a purpose after losing sight of their original goal. They would have been lost without a plan to follow, succumbed to the despair and their own emotions without the pleasant distraction of their child. Without the baby, their futures would have been entirely different, he would have drifted through what was left of the Earth Kingdom, she would have returned home with her father and grandmother.

"Dada." Hearing the word itself felt like redemption, like his past decisions didn't matter because the spirits had decided he deserved to be loved by someone after the death of the only person in the world who had still loved him. It was only a coincidence that in both cases he was loved by someone named Iroh.

"Let's go see Appa before you wake your mother." He wanted to let Katara sleep; she did so much for them, for him. She had been a mother years beyond her time, a mother to everyone, and now she was a mother to a child of her own. Well deserved rest for a daughter of the moon and sea.

He watched his son toddle unsteadily in the snow, the picture perfect Water Tribe child. Blue eyes, and dark skin, and dark hair, a child he had never imagined having. In his mind his son had always had dark hair and pale skin and amber eyes, fire on the inside and out. He was looking forward to watching his son learn to waterbend, to use an element of healing and love and renewed life. After the night of the comet, he sometimes had a hard time believing fire could bring life rather than destroy it.

The ice cold air burned his lungs with each inhale, numbed every inch of his exposed skin. He lit a flame in his hands, bright orange and yellow, a pleasant little fire that warmed his heart and warmed his body.

"Fire." His son's water-like eyes were alive with elation and wonder, and a bronze, chubby hand touched the fire before he could extinguish it. Panic flooded him like high tide on the beach, and he waited for the cry of pain, the cry that would send an ache of sympathy and guilt through his heart, but instead Iroh giggled. His son held a small bit of the flame in his dark palm, no more than the flicker of a candle, a tiny amount of fire for his supposed little waterbender.

He scooped his child up, pressed a proud kiss to his baby-soft forehead, and rushed off to show Katara.

"Iroh's little friend Anchee is the avatar." She told Zuko one evening, her body trembling with excitement and hope and delayed shock. Aang had been reborn in the form of a sweet two year old Water Tribe girl, the world had another chance.

"Are you sure?" Zuko shook snow out of his ebony hair; it fell to the floor in soft, white flakes.

"She sneezed."

"I sneeze, I'm not the avatar."

"She sneezed like Aang used to sneeze." She waited for the realization to sink in, for the knowledge that the world wasn't lost to settle in his stomach the way a rock settled at the bottom of the ocean. Her life suddenly had hope again, not hope for herself, but hope for the others who had died and perished in the seemingly endless fire. She was happy with her own life, but there were many who weren't, and she had made a promise to Aang only two years ago that she was going to help restore that happiness to the innocent.

"I'll teach Anchee and Iroh firebending together when they're old enough." He said to her, as though she didn't already know that he would do anything to repair what his father had broken and burned and scorched.

"And I'll teach her waterbending."

"Not now." Zuko's hand on the swell of her stomach made her smile.

"No." She agreed. "Not now."

Pure, unbridled happiness flitted through her body when Zuko moved to press his ear to the spot where his hand had been moments before.

Their daughter was born when the sun was at its highest in the sky, the white world illuminated. There was no hope lurking in the corner of his mind as he let Katara grip his hand, her nails piercing the skin of his palm, the sting so sharp he had to bite his lip to keep from telling her to let go. There wasn't a chance this baby would be the avatar, that hope was non-existent now, there was only anticipation towards seeing the face of his second child. The second child he had never thought he'd have, the second child Katara was kind enough to give him. He and Mai had discussed children once, she had said they were "annoying little urchins".

He had another Water Tribe child, with the same dark hair and dark skin but with one difference. His daughter's eyes were gold, pools of liquid fire, mirror images of his own. Another beautiful baby he'd helped create, another reason to thank the spirits for his escape from the fire that had killed so many.

"Hello my little Kaya." Katara murmured when she cradled their daughter close to her heart. The heart that he was lucky enough to have a place in, maybe not for love yet, but something above friendship, and that something was more then he'd had in a long time. "Thank you Zuko, thank you so much for giving me our children." He couldn't understand why she was thanking him, she had given him a family after he had lost all of his.

"You did all the work." Was all he could say, his mind unable to form words, clouded by the happiness that enveloped his body like the heat of the fire within him. He had always been told that his fire was an extension of his spirit, and if that was true, then Katara and Iroh and Kaya were his fire now.

"I don't want to interrupt, but there's someone out here who is dying to meet his new brother or sister." Haru called from behind the closed door.

"Let him in." The door opened and Iroh ran to him as fast as his chubby two year old legs could carry him.

"Can I see baby?" Iroh whispered shyly, hiding his face in the fabric of Zuko's pants.

"This is Kaya Iroh, your little sister."

The world wasn't any less dangerous, but it was a bit easier to bear.

I would like to say thank you to all the people who reviewed the first chapter, you all inspired me to want to continue this. And I know this chapter was reminiscent of the first, but it has a point, and there is more of a plot in the next part, I promise.

I would love to know what you thought.