Katara

3 weeks later

For the past three weeks Zuko, the council, Aang, Toph, Sukki, and Sokka had been in meetings. Spies, informants, and messenger hawks came in daily with sightings and rumors of Azula but nothing credible. And with my due date barely a week away Zuko was getting anxious. He assigned guards to follow me, much to my irritation. But I didn't fight him on it; he was just worried about me. The physician also had an assistant nurse following me making sure I was resting properly and not doing too much. He kept threatening bed rest if I didn't slow down.

Every morning I got up with Zuko at dawn got the kitchens prepared to serve breakfast and then sat in on the morning meetings with Zuko, the council, and our friends. Tip offs and rumors were debated back and forth but after a while everyone would agree that the information wasn't real or helpful. Then I would let the kitchens know to serve lunch and then depending on the day I would locate Maze and go over the household accounts or go down to the city and visit the people, I especially liked to visit the hospital. I felt needed there. I used my waterbending to heal as many as I could but eventually the nurse that followed me would threaten to tell the physician that I was bending, so I would stop and let her order a palanquin to take me back to the palace.

When I got back to the palace I would usually find a way to ditch my nurse and then go and sit in the kitchens while they prepared the formal dinner. Then when everything was ready I would go into the throne room and escort everyone from the meeting to the dining room. After dinner I would usually visit with Toph, Sukki, Aang, and sometimes Sokka if he wasn't with Zuko and the council in Zuko's office. And then finally Zuko would come in around 3 in the morning and I would sleep soundly until dawn. The routine was getting tiresome and the constant kicking and general discomfort was making me irritable and very very fed up with everything.

So the next morning I did something about it.

Zuko

After another night of only 3 hours sleep I rose and went to breakfast and then straight into another council meeting. The stream of false or unhelpful information was more frustrating than anything else and I was constantly worried that something would happen to Katara. As the council started discussing the latest news that some Earth Kingdom spies brought in Katara walked into the room and stood at the end of that table that she would normally sit in.

"Zuko, I think that maybe everyone would enjoy a break for today. We have all been working hard for three weeks now and we're no closer to finding Azula than we were the day she escaped." She said

"Katara, we have things to discuss, we can't just take a break. Do you think Azula is taking a break? Do you think that we are somehow safe just because we don't know where she is? Katara we cannot take a break, we must find her, and if I have to go and chase her myself…"

"ENOUGH!" She yelled. "That is enough Zuko; you have been worrying and debating, and discussing this for three weeks! You will and the rest of the council will leave this room and spend time with your wife and your friends who you have not seen since our wedding! The council will go home and visit their families and you, you will take a break!" She finished shouting and then a look of panic and bewilderment took over her face.

"Katara?" Said Sokka. She put one hand on the chair in support and another on her bulging stomach.

"Katara… what's wrong?" I said rushing to her side.

"My water just broke. I'm going into labor." She said in an astonished whisper.

"Meeting canceled! Someone get the physician now! Guards!" Zuko began shouting.

"Sokka, get a message to Gran and your Dad, there on the way right? Find out how close they are and let them know." Said Sukki as she rushed off to help get Katara to the room she had picked to give birth in.

"I'm going to be an Uncle!" Said Sokka as he rushed off to find a messenger hawk.

Authors note!

Soooo sooo soooooooo sorry for the long wait! I had the chapter written and then my computer crashed and it erased the chapter! So it took me a while to stop being sad and get around to re-writing the chapter! So here it is! Hope you enjoy! Promise to update soon!