Kiyi just stared wide-eyed at her sister for a minute as she let the news sink in, and as it did a smile slowly spread across her face.

"What? Azula that's great! Isn't it?" She asked, taking note that Azula didn't seem excited in the least.

The older woman shrugged unenthusiastically as she sat back down on the bed

"I don't know, I mean I think it is but Sokka's the one I'm worried about." She confessed and Kiyi actually snorted with laughter.

"Sorry, but are you serious? Azula I know you've only been here a few hours but I've still seen him with your daughter, he loves her. Do you really think he wouldn't want another kid?" She asked and again Azula shrugged.

"It's just… we've never seriously talked about it." She admitted, sure she and Sokka had each made a comment once or twice about maybe someday if things work out they'd get married and have another kid. But never any conversation about it lasted longer than a minute or two; it was never more than a joke or a vague idea of planning. But now it's serious, now it's happening.

"Azula, he's not going to leave. I know that" Kiyi assured with a hand to her sister's shoulder. Azula looked at her little sister gratefully.

"How can you be sure?" She asked and Kiyi smiled

"Well one because I know him, he's stopped by a few times over the years and I know he wouldn't abandon anyone he loves. But second because I see you, and you are not who you were the day we met. I don't know how responsible he is for that, but I can tell that you love him and he loves you" she seemed so sure that Sokka wouldn't leave, and Azula was sure too, but she was still afraid. "So are you gonna tell him or…" Kiyi trailed off

"Yeah I'm telling him," Azula answered, a smile finally emerging on her face. "As for mom and dad I think maybe I'll just tell Mika and let her spill the beans" she continued with a laugh but she was serious, she had no idea how to tell her parents about this or how they would react so she figured she may as well just let Mika tell people.

But Kiyi looked at her in something close to confusion, as if something other than this entire conversation had caught her off guard.

"Um, you know dad understands if you still call him by his name. I mean it's great if you want to call him dad, but we all understand if you don't. It took Zuko a while." She explained but Azula just smiled,

"So far it's taken me seventeen years, I think that's long enough." She said and Kiyi smiled.

Azula found Sokka outside looking up at the sky and decided she would lie down next to him.

"Looking at the stars?" She asked when he turned his head to look at her.

"Can't do much of it in the city" he responded, turning his focus back to the inky black sky above them. "You feeling any better?" He asked; she seemed better today, having only thrown up once this morning, but he was still concerned.

"I'm good" she answered and it was quiet for another minute or two before she spoke up again. "Sokka, I haven't been entirely honest with you. I didn't catch the stomach bug from Mika." She confessed and Sokka immediately sat up, looking more worried than ever.

"Are you ok?" He asked, not understanding why she would lie to him if something were wrong, especially after everything they went through with Mika.

"I'm fine" She assured him as she also sat up and she was about to continue when they heard the door behind them and both turned around to see Mika standing there.

She looked scared, but that was understandable as Sokka hadn't been able to find her and tell her he was going outside and she hadn't seen her mother since she chased after Kiyi at dinner, she probably thought they had left her.

"We'll continue this later" Sokka whispered as Mika hurried over to them and sat herself in her mother's lap, murmuring about how she was scared when she couldn't find either of her parents.

"No we'll continue this now" Azula defied with a burst of courage and then, knowing she had to follow that and say what needed to be said, she spit out the words for the second time tonight.

"I'm pregnant," she admitted and both Sokka and Mika looked at her in complete and utter shock.

"What's that word mean?" Mika questioned, being the first to break the silence. Apparently she wasn't as shocked as she was confused.

When her question snapped Sokka back to reality a smile spread across his face, "it means mommy's going to have a baby!" He exclaimed, unable to contain his own increasing excitement.

As soon as her question was answered Mika's face lit up, possibly even brighter than Sokka's, and she stood up in her mother's lap and gripped onto her shoulder's as she started bouncing up and down excitedly.

"Really!?" She asked in excitement, Azula leaned back laughing.

"Yes, now why don't you go tell Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Zuko?" She suggested

"Ok!" Mika exclaimed before bolting off faster than a flash of lightning.

"I didn't hear you mention Kiyi" Sokka pointed out

"Well I had to get advice on telling you from somebody" Azula answered with a laugh and Sokka laughed to, but it died as his reality set in.

"I can't believe this," he said with smile

"I'm hoping that's a good thing" Azula commented

"It is" Sokka assured her before he reached over and cupped her face with his hands and kissed her. They pulled away and Sokka smirked "so we're not married and we've only been together six months, what are the chances Zuko's going to kill me?" He asked and Azula chuckled,

"Just to be safe, sleep with one eye open while we're here." She joked and this time Sokka chuckled.

"Got it," he answered before kissing her again.

Azula didn't really know how she expected Sokka to take the news of the baby. Sure she had thought he would be excited initially and turns out she was right, but a part of her was still afraid of waking up the next morning to find him gone. She understands why Hariko left, but that doesn't take away the fear that once the moment passed and morning came, Sokka would abandon her, Mika, and the baby. But he didn't, not that it stopped Azula from thinking he might wait until they were back in the city. She knew it was a pointless fear, she did truly believe that Sokka was going to stay, but she just couldn't help but feel a small amount of the fear. So when they returned to the city Azula was prepared for the worst, but the worst never came except for in the form of embarrassment.

They landed in the back of Air Temple Island and when they got there Aang and Katara were out at the barn along with Bumi and Kya, and Azula didn't have time to grab Mika.

"Guess what, guess what, guess what!" Mika exclaimed excitedly as she hopped down from the saddle, leaving both Sokka and Azula to exchange worried glances when they figured out what she was going to tell their friends.

Obviously they had planned to tell both Aang and Katara about the baby, and they planned to do it today, but they planned to handle it carefully rather than letting the four-year-old blabbermouth spill the beans like they had with Azula's family. But it was too late and before either of them could stop her she was jumping up and down in front of Aang, her mouth going about a million miles a minute.

"What? What?" Aang asked, a playful smile on his face.

"Mommy has a baby in her tummy!" The little girl exclaimed excitedly.

Aang's eyes widened and he slowly looked over at Sokka and Azula who were still up on Appa. Katara's head snapped up and glared at them with equally wide eyes. Sokka and Azula both wanted to just disappear but instead they were forced to stare back at Sokka's family and each gave a nod to confirm what Mika said as truth.

"Wow, that's great!" Aang said once he finally got over the initial shock.

Katara was a little slower at showing enthusiasm. Sure she and Azula had grown to be friends and she does approve of her and Sokka's relationship, and this didn't exactly catch her off guard, but all the same it still sent a world of shock through her. But eventually the reality sank in that, despite all the craziness that had led to it, her brother was going to be a father and she couldn't help but smile.

"Congratulations" she said.

"Mommy what are we doing here?" Mika asked, after a few days of being home Azula had told her that the two of them were going out; and now they were standing in front of Republic City prison.

"We're here to visit someone" Azula responded

"Who?" Mika asked, following her mother inside.

Jong thought they were kidding when they said he had a visitor, but sure enough someone other than a guard approached his cell. It was actually two people, his old friend, and her little girl.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, avoiding eye contact with his niece.

"Mika, this is Jong. Your dad's brother" she introduced, ignoring Jong's question.

Mika just stared at the man, her mother never told her much about him but she didn't expect to meet him in prison.

"Hey kid" he said, looking at her peeking out from behind her mother's legs.

"Hi" she said quietly and he smirked.

"You have your dad's eyes," he said and Mika looked up at Azula who nodded, "I remember when we were kids, he'd look up at me with those big brown eyes like a little baby saber-tooth moose lion." Jong reminisced, "I bet you're pretty good at doing that to your mother" he continued and this time Azula smirked.

"Pretty safe bet" she remarked.

"What did you do?" Mika finally asked, to her you had to rob a bank to end up in prison and her Uncle Jong just didn't seem like the type.

Azula looked down at her daughter in surprise and slight embarrassment whereas Jong just looked at his cell floor.

"Mika-" Azula began but Jong cut her off

"No it's ok," he said before he crossed over to the bars of his cell and crouched down to be eye level with Mika.

"I made a mistake Mika. I tried to hurt somebody, but your mother stopped me." He confessed, looking up at Azula almost gratefully.

"But if you didn't do anything-" Mika started to question but her uncle interrupted her.

"I tried Mika, and sometimes that's all it takes." He told her but it was too easy to see that she still didn't understand. "I belong in here Mika, I did some very bad things," he continued to explain before smiling at his young niece. "I'm sorry for everything I did and I'm sorry that you have to meet me in here" he said and that was when Mika did something completely unexpected.

She finally let go of her mother's hand and approached the cell door, and then she reached through the bars and began to smooth her uncle's matted hair. Azula was surprised by the gesture but Jong was completely caught off guard. He hadn't expected to get anything out of Mika, maybe a small giggle if he could think of something funny. But the way she looked at him, her eyes full of forgiveness, he couldn't understand it. So he responded the only way he could think of and closed his eyes to savor the little girl's gentle touch.

"Mika, time's almost up" Azula's voice broke the silence and caused Mika to retract her hand and Jong to open his eyes.

"Ok" she muttered before walking off, not bothering to pull her mother along.

"She's a good kid" Jong said, "poor judge of character, but good kid" he concluded but Azula only huffed, unamused.

"Funny thing about kids Jong, they don't care about your past. All they care about is who you are when they meet you, and if they think you're a good person in that moment… they'd trust you with their life." She said and with that she followed where Mika had gone down the hallway and left.

"Come on, you can't be that sure" Sokka argued, Azula was now five months pregnant and the two of them were sitting on the couch their new apartment, which they had just recently moved into. They were trying to think of names for the baby and so far Azula had shot down every female name Sokka threw out, insisting that the baby was going to be a boy.

"Sokka I'm telling you, there is no way this kid is a girl." She argued but Sokka rolled his eyes.

"Ok, assuming I believe you, tell me what has you so sure" Sokka challenged, not that he didn't want a boy, he would be happy either way. But Azula was being so insistent that their child was going to be a boy that he couldn't help but challenge her just for the fun of it.

"Well for starters he's just like you, can't sit still." She remarked, though Sokka couldn't tell if she was only teasing or if she was serious.

"That doesn't prove anything, there are girls who are hyperactive." He defended, thinking it best to not explicitly comment on the jab made at his inability to remain still for, well, longer than half a second.

Azula, however, just rolled her eyes. "Then there's the fact that when I was pregnant with Mika she was always kicking my right in the ribs, this kid hasn't even come close." She continued but this time it was Sokka who rolled his eyes.

"You're only five months, it's probably not big enough to get its feet up there yet." He excused and Azula did her best not to laugh, Sokka was really grasping at straws here.

"Or it could be the fact that boys are said to stay lower than girls" she pointed out but Sokka just shook his head.

"I'm not saying it won't be a boy, I'm just saying that I don't understand how you can be so sure this early on." He said and that put Azula somewhere beyond frustration, sometimes Sokka could just be an idiot.

Thankfully Sokka caught onto the fact that him continuing to argue this was just annoying his girlfriend so he changed the subject.

"So hey" he started and Azula looked back over at him. "I was thinking, and I'm sure you'll want to wait until after the baby, but I uh… I got you something." He said, tossing his girlfriend a small box, despite the fact that he was sitting right next to her.

Azula caught the box with ease and opened it to see a necklace. It was a black choker with a red stone pendant and carved into the stone was a really sloppy version of the yin yang symbol.

"Um thanks?" Azula said in confusion, not that she didn't like the necklace but the way Sokka was looking at her, she could tell that there was something she wasn't getting, and what was that 'waiting until after the baby' thing about?

"You have no idea what it is do you?" Sokka asked flatly

"I know it's a necklace" she tried but obviously that wasn't right.

"It's a betrothal necklace," Sokka explained and Azula's mouth fell open.

He couldn't be serious, could he? Looking at the necklace now Azula thought it all too obvious that it was a betrothal necklace, it greatly resembled Katara's and was obviously hand carved; even more obviously by Sokka. In hindsight she really should've known what it was right off the bat, but the pure impossibility of it blinded her.

"If this is a joke" she began to warn

"Come on Azula do you really think I'm joking?" He asked and she knew he wasn't so she smiled and kissed him.

"So I take that as a yes?" Sokka asked hopefully when they broke apart, Azula simply smirked at him before kissing him again.

"Yes" she answered.

Four months later and Azula found herself in the second worst pain of her life, the only worse pain being when she gave birth to Mika. She didn't know why Mika was worse. Maybe because this time Katara was here to give her something to dull the pain, or maybe because she wasn't alone this time. This time not only did she have Katara to deliver the baby, delivering Mika herself had been terrifying, but she had Sokka. He held her hand almost the whole time, it would've been the whole time but he fainted twice and she had to let go because no way was she letting him drag her down with him. But his sister quickly revived him each time and it wasn't long before they heard a high-pitched cry.

"It's a boy!" Katara exclaimed as Azula collapsed back onto the bed with a proud smile on her face.

"Told you" she panted and Sokka only rolled his eyes before placing a kiss to her forehead.

"Is there anything that stops you from rubbing it in my face when you're right?" He asked but Azula only smirked.

"Nope" she answered. There wasn't time for her to say anymore because just then Katara came over with their son all wrapped up in a blanket and gently placed him in Azula's arms.

"So did you two ever decide on a name?" She asked

"Yeah, Takeo" Sokka answered proudly.

It was late that night and they were still in the infirmary of the island. Mika had come in not long after Takeo was born and was still yet to leave. She slept on the bed that night with her parents and her new brother in a nearby bassinet. It was Takeo who woke Azula, he wasn't exactly crying just fussing. But she knew that if she didn't get up and grab him he probably would cry and she'd have to get him anyway. So she rose from the bed and crossed over to the bassinet, it hurt a little to walk but she could manage, and picked up the little boy whose red face was growing even redder.

"What's your problem?" She asked him in a playful whisper, he seemed to calm down upon being lifted from the bassinet. "You just want to be held don't you?" She asked him before taking him with her as she sat on the bed.

Mika shifted a little in her sleep at the feeling over her mother reclaiming her spot next to her, but other than that Azula's movements went unnoticed. She sat there letting Takeo play with her fingers and he was absolutely mesmerized by this. She smiled contently at her little boy and then glanced over at Mika and Sokka, trying not to laugh at the fact that Sokka was close to rolling over the edge of the mattress. As she sat there she had one question that filled her thoughts, one question she was sure she would always ask herself for as long as she lives. One question she may not have the answer to, but she loves just the same.

How did I end up here?

Hey guys! I just want to thank everybody for reading and for the great reviews that were left! They really meant a lot to me and i'm so glad everyone liked the story! You guys really were what kept the story going and i would like to once again thank Guillo1988 for the idea of bringing some spirits into play! As i said before i really had no idea what i was getting myself into with this story (as it's not only my first Sokkla story but my first avatar fic) and i think it's become one of the stories i am most proud of. Thank you so much for the support!