Disclaimer: Don't own.
A/N: Turtleduck comes from Kimberly T. Thanks for the idea! Everyone is still really awesome! Thanks!
Lee knew what the white oval shaped object in front of him was. Grandma always pointed them out to him and his siblings in springtime. He knew there should be more than one and it didn't look like the egg was in a nest (what he didn't know was that it had been but Momo, who was now gone along with Uncle Aang, had moved it earlier that day). Lee thought for a moment and came up with a plan. He was going to take care of the egg. This seemed like a great plan to the five year old.
Carefully Lee picked up the egg and brought it slowly to his room. He placed the egg on his bed while he thought about how to build a nest for it. Grandma had said that the mama turtleduck would dig a hole in the ground and line it with sticks and plants to help keep the eggs warm. She would also sit on them. Lee didn't have any sticks or leaves in his room and he was sure someone would clean them up if he just left them here. He did have clothes and a fireplace and always had a fire in it. He got some clothes out of his drawers and placed them by the fireplace and placed the egg in the center.
Lee felt very proud of himself for coming up with this solution until he realized that he had the same problem as with the sticks. No matter how many clothes he left on the floor or how many times Mom told him to clean them up himself somehow his floor was always free of clothes after he came back to his room. Who could he get to make sure his egg stayed where it was? There was always someone outside his door at all times (he really wasn't sure why this person was there, but he never thought to ask) maybe he could make sure the pile wasn't disturbed.
Quickly he ran to his door and looked outside. "Uh, hi," he began.
"Prince Lee," the guard said as he bowed.
"Could you make sure that the pile of clothes on my floor stays there?"
After a slight pause the guard answered, "of course, your highness."
"Thank you," he added. Closing the door he thought about what to do next. The egg was warm but what happened next? He knew that the baby turtleduck came from the egg but he wasn't sure what the turtleduck would want to eat. Or when it would come out. Best to go ask someone about them.
The first person he thought of was Grandma but she was in Ba Sing Se visiting Grandpa Iroh. Mom and Dad always knew what he was doing and he wanted to keep the egg a secret. They probably wouldn't let him keep it. Asking his siblings for help seemed like the best option.
After searching in every place he could think of (his eldest brother's room and the training area (Lee did find Kwa mai warming up there though)) Lee tried the last place he usually found his brother: Dad's office. Bursting through the door he did find his brother. Irzan and Dad were looking over the same document and they booth looked up at him when he came bursting in. Lee quickly properly bowed to his dad before saying "hi."
"Is there something you wanted Lee?" Zuko asked his youngest child.
"Uh, I wanted to ask Irzan something."
"Which is?" Zuko knew Lee was hiding something.
"Do turtleducks eat meat?"
Irzan looked at his baby brother and wondered what in Agni's name made him want to know the answer to that. "No. Why do you even want to know?"
"Just wondering."
"Why did you have to ask me?"
"You're the oldest." Lee's statement sounded almost like a question. It was, after all, the best response he could come up with.
Zuko sighed. He wasn't going to get any information out of Lee right now. "Why don't you go to the kitchens and tell them I said you could have a sweet." Lee knew when he was being dismissed and, never one to pass up food, scampered off to the kitchen to get his reward.
Later, while eating his mango sweet cake, Lee began his search for his other brother. He found Marukku in the garden with the dragon fountain, kissing Lady Mai's daughter.
"Go away Lee!" was all he got out of Marukku. His sisters might know more.
Kyra told him to look for a book while she was busy painting a new screen for her room. Mom had joined Kwa mai since he left and he thought she might know of a book about turtleducks.
"Why do you want a book about them, sweetheart?"
"I just do. I'm not sure where to find one though," he admitted.
"I'll get you one later today, how does that sound?"
"Thanks Mom!" Lee exclaimed before running away.
"Do you know why your brother wants a book about turtleducks?" Katara asked her daughter.
"No but I know who Marukku has a crush on. He made me promise not to tell though." Katara was beginning to miss the days of her children telling her everything (though those had really never existed).
After dinner Katara came to tuck Lee in and give him the most basic book she could find about turtleducks. "This is for you," she turned and saw the pile of clothes on the floor. "Sweetheart can you pick those up in the morning?"
"Yes Mom. Goodnight." Katara kissed him goodnight on the check before blowing out the candle by his bed and then dousing the torch on the wall from the pitcher in his room.
For the next three days Lee spent every possible minute he could in his room. He read as much as he could from the book but some of the words were too big for him to understand. Luckily there were also pictures. From what he could piece together turtleducks ate this weird grass thing that was in the pond outside, reeds, and bread. He thought that would be easy to get. On the third day of waiting and being told to clean his room Lee saw the egg move. He knelt beside it, watching something poking at the shell. After awhile something broke the egg and Lee could see a beak. His turtleduck was hatching!
Lee watched as the hole got bigger and suddenly there was a head and then a body and there it was. The baby turtleduck looked at Lee and shook its body ruffling feathers.
"I'm going to name you Kame!" The turtleduck quaked in response. Lee knew that he should probably put Kame in water so he plugged and filled the sink in his bathroom.
"No Kame!" Lee screamed as the turtleduck waddled toward the fire. "That's not a good place for you." Carefully Lee picked up Kame receiving only a little nip at his fingers before putting the turtleduck in the water. "Stay here, I'll go get you some food."
Kyra, who was reading by the turtleduck pond, watched her youngest brother gather slimy pondweeds and reeds. She also noticed the bread in his pocket. She just shock her head, she would never really understand any of her brothers.
Lee managed to feed Kame and keep her (though Lee thought Kame was a boy) secret for about a day and a half. He noticed she had taken to following him around and quaking rather loudly when he tried to get her to stay behind when he left his room. He gave up and started bring her with him, she easily fit in his pocket right now and as long and she didn't make that much noise he was ok (though he did find a few nasty surprises in his pockets later).
It was when he had to go greet Grandma and Grandpa Iroh that his secret was out. "Come on, be quiet like a good boy," Lee urged as he stuffed a squirming Kame into his pocket. She kept making noise but finally stopped when he stuffed some bread in his pocket as well.
"I missed you!" Lee shouted as Iroh picked him up.
"I've missed you too," Iroh said hugging his youngest grandson close. Then held back a shout himself as something bit him. Hard. Making sure he still had a grip on Lee Iroh pulled his hand up and with it came the turtleduck. "And who is this?"
"He's mine. His name is Kame," Kame, who had been gently taken off Iroh's finger by Ursa, proceed to quack at the sound of her name.
"Lee where did you get a turtleduck? Did you take him from his mother?" Katara questioned.
"No, I found his egg under a bush. He follows me around now," he turned his head so he could look at his parents trying to look as hopeful as possible. "Can I keep him?"
Zuko and Katara looked at each other. They couldn't really say no. He had managed to hatch the thing and keep it alive after that. Worse came to worst the turtleduck would just go join the others.
"All right," Katara relented.
"But you're going to take care of him. You're like his dad now." Zuko added.
Lee leaned out of Iroh's arms only just managing to get on to the ground rather than fall, and ran over and hugged his parents. "Thank you!" Then he went and took Kame out of Ursa's hand. "Come on Kame, let's get you some more bread." Lee put the turtleduck down on the ground and went off to the kitchen, new pet following.
Kwa mai turned to her parents and asked, "If Lee is Kame's dad, does that mean you're his grandparents."
Katara laughed as Zuko muttered, "I'm too young to be a grandfather."
A/N2: I promise the next one will have more direct Zutara.