Showered with Love I
A baby shower, Katara explained to her sister-in-law, was a tradition in which female friends and family would lavish a mother-to-be with presents to help celebrate the birth of a child. It wasn't unlike a wedding shower, in which the couple would receive an abundance of gifts that would be quickly exchanged, returned, re-gifted or shoved into some dusty corner of the palace storage, hopefully to be forgotten. (Currently, that corner was occupied by Zuko's twenty-seven Sungi horns.)
"But I'm the princess," Azula reminded her unnecessarily. "What could I possibly need that I can't get for my baby myself?"
Katara smiled knowingly. "You'll see."
Their joint shower was arranged by Ursa and Gran-Gran, who for some mysterious reason got along like fruit pies and lemurs. Apparently, they'd bonded over all the complaining they did about the younger generation not listening to their elders…more specifically, their respective daughter and granddaughter.
"Unlike my Zuzu, who has always heeded and respected me," Ursa confided to the older woman. "He's such a good boy."
"And Sokka's always been more levelheaded about this baby-rearing business, too." Gran-Gran puckered her face sourly. "Why didn't they get married instead?"
Invitations went out, and a month and a half later, the royal tea room was transformed into a beautiful women-only gala. Ladies flocked to the event like butterfly-squirrels to panda lilies, bearing gifts for the royal mothers-to-be.
Outside, the guests streamed in, approaching the palace in gaily-colored streams of silk and taffeta, buoyed by giggles and fits of oohing and ahhing over trifles.
"This is so exciting!" Ty Lee exclaimed as she ascended the steps carrying two large, brightly beribboned boxes wrapped in pink (of course) paper. "I mean, I heard Azula was pregnant but…"
"It's just a baby," Mai said tiredly. Her own gifts were in small, plain boxes she held on the flat of her palm. They were probably a gift certificates. "All they do is drool and poop and eat."
"But they're so adorable!" Ty Lee squealed. "With all those tiny toes and fingers…"
"…That'll gouge out your eyes the first chance they get." Mai scowled…which didn't constitute much of a change in her expression, but there it was. "C'mon, Ty Lee, this is Azula's baby we're talking about. Don't tell me you've already forgotten about the whole locking-us-up-for-doing-the-right-thing episode. She's probably teaching her hellspawn to avenge her honor or something in the womb."
The acrobat pouted. "But we committed treason—"
"Friends don't lock up friends for treason."
"Well…at least she didn't execute us."
"I would have thanked her if she did. Then I wouldn't have to come to this…thing."
The last time either of the girls had been in the palace was for the royal wedding. A lot of things had changed, but most remarkable was the strange lavender and yellow color scheme that had divided the main building down the middle. A distinct white line demarcated the boundaries, and the two girls followed it to the grand ballroom.
Strangely, the two colors managed to strike harmony and balance here, giving the place just the right amount of light and serenity with equal proportions of each color dotting the room in fine details like tiny bouquets of silk flowers, ribbons, place cards, tart frosting, linens, and fine china. Such elaborate settings could only have been accomplished by experienced hostesses, of which Ursa and Gran-Gran were in spades.
What an affair! Decked in tea gowns and flashy, girly attire, the women of the world circulated and gave each other air kisses and ginger hugs before flitting on to the next group to talk about hair and makeup and shoes…or weaponry, as was often occasioned. Ty Lee and Mai moved among them, garnering nods and smiles and queer looks. It had been much the same at the wedding, but most of the attention back then had been on the happy couple and their immediate family. No one was that interested in Azula's former peons. (And no one was especially interested in Zuko's former flame, displaced by an obviously more suitable woman. Even Mai agreed with that sentiment!)
(Really! She did!)
"Do you think we should go say hello?" Ty Lee asked, nervously glancing at their former friend.
Mai shrugged. Deep down in the abyss of her hardened heart, apprehension gnawed on her gut—she preferred to think of it as emotional indigestion.
They continued to orbit around the room with Azula at the centre of the ellipse. Slowly, they drew inward like a comet caught in the gravity of a black hole, until inevitably, they were forced to step up onto the dais and greet their hosts.
Azula looked up from a plate of cake. Her face paled and a split second later, went as red as a cherry.
They hadn't known what the reaction would be...but they certainly hadn't expected this.
"Mai. Ty Lee." She forced a smile on her face that crinkled her brow unattractively. "Hello. Uh…" She looked around, fidgeting. "Ta-da. I'm pregnant." The joke died an impotent death.
(Not unlike Jet! Zing! Toph punched herself in the head, wishing the voices would stop.)
"Congratulations, Azula," the acrobat chirruped as she held out her enormous boxes for the attendants to collect. "How's the father holding up?"
Up to that point, Katara had been smiling on, but at that question, her eyes widened and she waved the girls off that line of questioning with big, frantic gestures.
But Azula didn't break out in tears. Her smile just got brighter, her eyes glowing with soft pride. "Oh, well, you know what it's like for new fathers. He's worrying about all kinds of things…diet and exercise and…well, you know. Pregnant lady things." She tugged on a wisp of hair framing her face, a sure sign, Katara knew now, that she was lying. "He…uh…reads to the baby and…sings to him at night. And he…uh…" She made small, encouraging gestures. "You know. Does daddyish things."
Ty Lee beamed in approval. Mai's face was a study in nonreaction. "That's so nice to hear. I mean, I was really worried that you'd be a single mom for your baby…not that you couldn't be a great single mom, but it'd be so hard without someone to share the experience with. Someone to spot you and tell you you're doing okay. Someone who you can trust absolutely will give their lives for the baby's, who'll take him away from you when you need a break. Someone who will never choose between you and the baby, who'll love you both equally, who'll see you as the mother of his child and as their life partner. Someone you can rely on to—"
Azula burst out crying.
Ty Lee shrank back, aghast. "What did I say?"
"C'mon, Ty Lee," Mai muttered, rolling her eyes and dragging the acrobat away by the frilly pink collar. "I see tofu puffs."
"What am I going to do?" Azlua bawled. "The baby's not going to have a father!" Katara gently helped her sister-in-law scrub her eyes after her friends shuffled away. "I'm going to be a single mother. All alone with no one to spot me or help change diapers or…or…or love me…."
"You're not all alone," Katara insisted gently. "And we all...love you." A sour taste flooded her mouth, but the harsh tang made everything seem that much sweeter. She smiled. "You know we love you."
"I'm not just saying this for me," the princess said, her voice low and rasping. "The baby needs a father. Two parents. A fine balance, yin and yang and all that. I mean, look at how Zuko and I turned out with just Dad at the helm!"
"You both turned out fine."
A stare flatter than Meng's chest met Katara's eye.
"I mean, you both turned out fine in the end." The Waterbender cleared her throat uncomfortably. "You won't make the mistakes your father made because you care. And you'll have all of us to help you."
"How do you know? How can you possibly be sure?" Azula's eyes filled. "I mean, what if..." She swallowed thickly and averted her gaze, unable to push the words past her lips.
"Tell me, Azula. What are you worried about?"
The princess looked up slowly. "What if the baby turns out to be like me?"