Title: Beyond Birth
A\N: Another missing chapter for of Fire. This one is based before Chapter 6 but after chapter 5 and the other short story To Love.
Zuko paced the closed doorway that lead to the birthing room anxiously. The sounds of moaning and nearly silent screaming coming from his wife on the other side making him stop and stare for a second or two then continue pacing. Azula sighed from her position in one of the near by chairs as she watched her brother pace, glad that she was allowed in the room when Ty Lee gave birth. She sighed again at the hole he was literally burning into the marble floor. "You're going to ruin the floor." She stated getting his attention for a second before he continued his steady pacing.
Rolling her eyes she turned back to the two children who set in the room putting a puzzle together. "I'm going to be a big brother today, Detia!" She heard her four year old nephew, Lu Ten, announced excitedly and couldn't suppress the slight smirk that came to her lips when her two year old daughter rolled her eyes and sighed in an annoyed manner.
'I heard you the first five hundred times.' The little girl thought not even bothering to look up at her cousin, though Azula heard every word.
Lu Ten chuckled as he watched his little cousin place pieces of the puzzle together quicker than him. "I know you're probably thinking something like I said that enough in past..." He paused, counting his fingers to figure out how long his mom had been with child.
'Eight months.' Detia scoffed mentally.
"Nine months." The little boy concluded, causing Detia to look up at the ceiling and sigh heavily. "What?" Detia only shook her head and picked up another puzzle piece. "Aren't you excited? You're going to have a little cousin to boss around."
Golden eyes looked through white bangs, one eyebrow lifted slightly. 'I already have you to boss around, why would I need more?'
'Minions are good to have.' Azula thought to her daughter.
Detia looked at her mother, a thoughtful expression on her face. 'True.' Detia agreed. 'But I'm worried.'
'About what?' Azula inquired.
"You're having one of those silent conversations with your mom again aren't you?" Lu Ten interrupted.
His cousin nodded once then turned back to her mother, completely ignoring him. 'The babies are early. There could be problems."
"Babies?" Azula repeated aloud. "I thought there was only one."
Before Detia could answer a loud deafening shrill echoed through the walls. Zuko and Lu Ten jumped at the sound and stared expectantly at the door, as the wailing continued. Lu Ten was beside his father the instant he heard the sound, smiling like an idiot. "I hope it's a boy." He said to his father.
"Why?" Zuko asked in a failed attempt to keep himself calm.
Lu Ten smiled. "That way we can outnumber Detia and I might be able to beat her at well anything."
'Fat chance.' Detia scoffed as she stood and walked over to her mother, who had also stood.
Though Azula would never ever in a million years admit it, she was excited to see her new niece or nephew just as much as Zuko was when Detia was born. Zuko laughed at his son's answer. "I'm sure that if you practice harder you'll be just as good as her."
'No way will that ever happen.' Azula and Detia chorused, smiling at each other but not saying anything verbally because this was a happy occasion.
"Yeah but with two of us, my chances are better."
"But that's cheating." Zuko admonished lightly.
"It is?" his son asked, as if he didn't really know.
"Yes. Though, you could double team her with a sister."
Lu Ten thought a minute. "That's true!" he said excitedly.
Both Azula and Detia rolled their eyes. 'Never going to happen,' Detia thought. 'Besides there are two. We each get one."
Azula chuckled. "I don't think that's how that works."
Another scream echoed through the door, this one belonging to Mai, Ty Lee's loud coaching following along with it. The Fire Lord's eyes lit up in sheer joy. "Could it be?" He asked rhetorically.
"What?" Lu Ten questioned just as another weaker wail made its way through the door.
"Twins!" The Fire Lord exclaimed, impulsively hugging his sister and kissing her cheek, but moved away fast enough so that she was still too shocked to register what had really happened. He picked up his son, throwing him into the air before hugging him. "Twins, little man! You have two siblings!"
Lu Ten giggled happily as his father twirled around once. 'Are you alright?' Detia asked her mother, who finally came out of her shock.
"I'm fine." Azula said forcefully as she brushed invisible dust from her clothing, an action that caused her daughter to smile.
The door to the room opened, causing everyone to stop and look at the person who exited. "Zuko," Ty Lee called as she closed the door behind her, the grim expression on her face enough to instantly kill his good mood. "Mai wants you." He moved forward, his son still in his arms. "Only you."
Zuko nodded, setting his son on the ground and moving to the door. He placed his hand on the doorknob, exhaling heavily to prepare himself before entering, and closing the door behind himself. Ty Lee ran to Azula, throwing her arms around the taller woman's waist. "What happened?" Azula asked lightly, very conscious of the confused worried look on her nephew's face.
Ty Lee sighed and looked down at her daughter, remembering how abnormally easy it was to have her, and smiled softly. "It was twins," She started and Azula only nodded. "Girls. The first one…was so tiny. Well, they were both tiny. But the first one was only about two pounds; she could fit into my palms. And she was so pale and thin." The acrobat tightened her grip on her lover. "I figured everything would be okay because she was so loud and the doctor agreed. She needs to be watched carefully for about a week or two. But then the second one came; she was larger than her sister, about three pounds. I guess about normal considering they were premature. She was flushed all over. I…I thought that you know…since she was bigger she'd be okay too." She buried her face in Azula's tunic, gripping tight to the back on her clothes.
"But," Azula prompted, proud that her daughter had the foresight to take her cousin far enough out of range that he wouldn't hear their conversation.
"But the doctor said her heart is weak. He gave her till the end of the week." Ty Lee sobbed. The princess paused as she analyzed what she had been told. "Luckily Katara is on her way. Maybe she'll be able to help."
Azula scoffed. "If our water bender, who has years and years of experience, can't help; what makes you think that water peasant can?"
'Not helping.' Detia warned silently.
It only took one look into her wife's face to realize what she had said was the wrong thing to say out loud. "I'm sure that's just my biased speaking. Who knows maybe she can help." She quickly amended.
Ty Lee nodded and buried her head back where it was before. 'Nice save.' The little monster congratulated.
'Thanks for the warning.' Azula countered. "I'm sure everything will be okay."
"What!" Zuko's raised voice echoed out into the halls and probably through the whole palace as he stormed out of the room, past his family without a word.
"Daddy." Lu Ten called, following after his father.
With her cousin gone Detia moved to her parent's sides where Ty Lee promptly picked her up and hugging her tight. Detia laid her head on her mommy's shoulder and lightly patted her shoulder, the only manner that she could think of to comfort her. 'It'll be okay.' The little girl assured.
~x~
"Detia!" Lu Ten called, running up to the white haired girl who was sitting on a window sill in one of the play rooms looking out at the window at the stormy weather. She turned to look at him when her name was called. "Why are you always staring out the window when it thunders and lightning?" he asked impulsively, obviously not the real reason he was there.
Her curious expression turned flat and she pulled a piece of paper and a small brush that set off to her side to her and wrote in flowing clear script, 'What do you want?'
It took him five minutes to read what she had written, still not the best of readers. To him reading was boring and he would forgo it to play any hour of the day. "Oh! I had a plan to see my sister but I need your help."
With a lifted eyebrow the little girl wrote, 'Didn't Aunt Mai tell us to stay out of their room?'
Lu Ten shrugged after reading what she had wrote, "Well yeah, but come on Detia! It's been four whole days!" He exclaimed, exasperated. "You know you want to see her as much as me."
'Them.' Detia corrected but he didn't bother reading it, only waving the note off, making Detia roll her eyes.
"Whatever. Look, I need your help. You always find ways to sneak around the palace and I know you know a back way to her room that's not guarded. I'm her big brother and Dad said that as her big brother I have to protect her. How can I do that if I've never even seen her?" Detia was stunned silent at his well thought out argument. "So, what do you say? Will you help me?"
Detia smirked an awfully Azula smirk and jumped off the window sill, motioning for him to follow. "You're the greatest, I'll always remember this." He promised as she walked to the wall and looked around before pushed it.
Lu Ten smiled mischievously, almost matching his cousin's, as they entered the hidden passageway.
~x~
The instant Oppa landed in the royal gardens of the Fire Nation Katara and Aang jumped off, the others coming via Fire Navel Ship, protecting themselves from the harsh weather with water bending – though that didn't stop them from running to get out of the rain. Once inside the walls of the dry palace they were met by Zuko and Mai. "We got the message." Katara replied, getting right down to business.
Mai nodded, the dark bags under her puffy red eyes making her look older and more tired than she actually was, betraying the fact that she was human and hadn't slept for more than a couple of hours each night since her daughters were born. "She's this way."
Wasting no time on formalities the four walked briskly to the twin's room. Katara entered the room first, Aang following his wife in. "We'll give you room to work." Zuko said as he placed a reassuring arm around his wife, kissing her forehead. "It'll be okay. Katara will help." He reassured.
Not even ten minutes later Katara and Aang walked back out of the room to confront the two parents. "Wow, Katara that was fast." Zuko admitted surprised.
Katara shook her head and looked up at Zuko, the sorrow in her blue eyes bringing a tear to his eye. "I'm sorry." Katara said lightly. "She was already gone. I can't bring people back to life."
"You brought Aang back to life!" Zuko accused, throwing his hand to his side and sending a burst of fire that made both the Avatar and the Water bender flinch.
"That was different. I had water from the spirit oasis, Zuko. That's the only reason I could bring him back." Katara argued.
"Then go get more!" The Fire Lord Yelled.
"Zuko." Mai's deadpan voice said lightly, telling her husband enough was enough.
He sighed. "We're really sorry Zuko." Aang said honestly. "We did everything we could think of but I can't bring people back to life either."
~x~
"Detia are we going the right way?" Lu Ten asked quietly, holding his cousin's hand as she led him through dark hidden passages.
She only rolled her eyes and continued her steady trek through the maze of hidden passageways and room, making sure to get her cousin as lost as possible so he wouldn't be able to find his way through 'her' palace. "Detia." he whined, making her teeth grind in annoyance.
To shut him up she pulled him in front of her and shoved him as hard as she could, which was pretty hard, into the wall. With a loud 'umph' the prince of the Fire Nation crashed through the wall and landed on the floor to his sister's rooms. "That was mean!" he cried.
Detia smirked in satisfaction before placing a finger over her lips to tell him to be quiet. He placed both hands over his mouth when the near silent sound of whimpering reached his ears. With his hands still over his mouth he stood and followed his little cousin as she went to one of the cribs, pulling a small stool with her. "What are you doing?" Lu Ten whispered as low as he could.
She gestured to the stool, for him to get up on it. A confused expression came across his young face, complete with one near pitch black eyebrow lifted but he did as he was told and stood on the stool, Detia following beside him. One look into the crib answered all of his questions. There in the crib was the smallest person he had ever seen, wrapped in a pink blanket. He smiled and leaned into the crib, lightly touching the baby's short black hair, a tone much darker than his, one that rival his mothers'. At the unfamiliar touch the baby's little golden eyes opened and stared at her brother in curiosity but didn't cry. "Hi." He said lightly, with a huge smile on his face then turned back to Detia. "I want to hold her but I can't reach."
Detia sighed like he was an idiot and fiddled with the contraption on the crib letting the side down with practiced ease. "You are so cool." He said.
'I know.' She answered, aware that he couldn't hear her.
Without any hesitation he set down on the side of the crib and carefully picked up his baby sister, making sure he went over everything his father had told him when Detia was a baby as he held her. Making extra sure to keep the baby's head secure and lifted and to have a firm grip so not to drop her but not hard enough to hurt her. Detia watched him for a minute as he petted his sister's head. She could hear the little baby's thoughts and they were content and happy and simple, basic instincts ruled over her. In his four year old arms she looked normal to Detia and he seemed to know what he was doing.
But the room was awfully cold and there wasn't another mind she could hear. She looked around the rather large room, searching for the other crib. About a foot away the other crib set silent and cold and colored in deep blacks and blues. Though the crib was dark and creepy it didn't stop Detia from wondering over there. There were no extra stools but that never stopped her from getting out of and into her crib when she had one and she wasn't about to let it stop her now. So she did what she used to do, climb into the crib, finding it much easier now that she was bigger.
Hanging onto the rim of the top of the crib Detia looked down at the still form of the other half of the pair. A white cover was placed over the baby's entire body, leaving nothing revealed. With little effort the white haired child leaned in and pulled the cover away from her cousin. Once that was done she moved back to her original position and examined the baby. She was bigger than her sister, which Detia knew because her mommy had said so. Aside from that she looked identical to her twin. But the baby wasn't breathing. She could hear the voices of her aunt and uncle talking to the avatar and his woman. The water bender kept saying she was sorry and the Avatar would agree. Detia couldn't figure out why they were apologizing but really didn't care. It was the Avatar after all.
As she hung there, staring at the lifeless form of her youngest cousin a feeling came to her, a memory of sorts and she took the baby into her arms and dropped to the floor. Carefully she placed the limp body on the ground, judging – though she wasn't sure how she knew – that the baby hadn't been dead for more than five minutes. She didn't know why exactly or what that meant to her but the feeling told her it was good. So she did what her instincts told her to do and unwrapped the baby from the blanket she was in and put the body to her chest, walking to the doors to the balcony. "Hey Detia, where ya goin'?"
Detia turned to her older cousin and pointed outside, making sure to hide his other little sister as she did so. "Okay. Be careful, the weather's pretty bad." Lu Ten offered as he watched his baby sister. "Oh, wait!" he said as if he had had an epiphany. "It's covered, never mind."
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. 'Idiot,' She thought as she continued on her way to outside.
~x~
"Is everything okay?" Ty Lee asked worriedly as she approached the two couples and noticed the despair and guilt that surrounded them. Mai only shook her head in the negative, gripping tight to her husband. "Did something happen to the baby?" Ty Lee questioned, hoping against hope that that wasn't what had happened.
Mai nodded once, her eyes downcast so no one would see her cry. "She didn't make it." Katara answered lightly.
That one phrase nearly caused the acrobat's knees to buckle. She would have fallen to the ground if Azula, who had walked up with her, hadn't caught her. "What are you doing around here?" Zuko asked, the sadness in his voice negating the rudeness of the question.
"The weather's clearing up." Azula answered, pulling her wife close to her body as she cried freely. "We thought Detia might want to go outside. You know how much she loves this kind of weather."
Zuko nodded. "She's around here?" Aang asked, the last thing he wanted to do was go against Azula's wishes concerning her daughter.
He had no doubt that she would kill him if he got near her little girl, not that he wanted to considering what happened the last time he tried when she was almost a year old. "She's in the twin's room." Ty Lee replied, finding her bearings. "Along with Lu Ten."
"What!" Mai nearly yelled, storming to the doors of her daughters' room and throwing them open. From one of the cribs she saw her son tense. "Young man." She said calmly in a tone that pretty much promised he was in trouble.
He turned to look at her bashfully, his baby sister still in his arms, "Yes, ma'am"
"I believe I told you," She said as she walked with a deadly purpose over to her four year old son, gently taking her daughter from him. "That I did not want you in here."
Lu Ten nodded pathetically. "You did." He agreed. "But I just wanted to see my sister. It's almost been a whole week and I don't even know her name." He argued in a pleading tone.
The ex assassin sighed, no way she could stay angry at her little boy for long. "I understand." she showed the baby to her son. "This is Ursa, you're baby sister. Now get out of her crib, you're too old for that."
He did as he was told obediently and with haste. Somehow he had managed to get out of the path of his mother's wrath and he wasn't about to do something to get him put back in it. Zuko smiled slightly, pulling the crib wall back up into place. "How did you get this down?" the Fire Lord inquired as Mai placed her now sleeping daughter back into her crib.
"Uh, Mai, Zuko..." Katara started, getting their attention. "Where's the other one?"
"What?" Mai and Zuko chorused.
"She isn't there?" Zuko asked rushing over to the crib just to verify what Katara had said.
"No." Katara answered.
A stern expression crossed Mai's face as she turned to her son. "I didn't do it." he denied quickly. "I didn't even know I had another sister."
"Where's Detia?" Ty Lee asked, interrupting what Mai was about to say, though it was the same question.
The little boy pointed to the covered balcony. "She went that way."
"Detia." Azula called.
'I'm out here.' The little girl replied with a soft laugh.
Azula motioned for the door to the balcony, Mai and Ty Lee taking the lead. Ty Lee opened the door but it was Mai who rushed out first. What she saw there nearly brought tears to her eyes. "Detia." Mai said softly as she approached her niece. The two year old looked up at her aunt from the chair she was sitting in, her eyebrow lifting at the uncharacteristic emotion showing on her aunt's usually stoic face. "Is…Is that?"
Detia looked down at the small baby in her arms, running her thumb over the short pitch black hair. When she turned back to her aunt she smiled, offering the baby to her. Hesitantly Mai took the baby, chocking back a sob when her youngest twin looked at her and cooed softly. "Z…zuko." Mai called. "Detia…how did you?"
The little girl shrugged as she jumped off the seat, landing soundlessly. 'It just seemed like the right thing to do.' She answered honestly with a slight smile as she walked back inside to her Mother.
"What did she say?" Mai asked, turning to Ty Lee who was standing behind her best friend, too shocked at the implications at what her two-year old had done to answer right away. "Ty Lee."
"Oh, right!" Ty Lee laughed nervously. "She said that it just seemed like the right thing to do."
"Mai." Zuko said, finally coming to his consort's side, Ty Lee moving out of his way. "You called"
"Look." Mai whispered through broken sobs. "She's alive.'
"By the spirits," He replied, hugging his wife.
He examined his daughter, eyes filling with tears. "What's this?" The Fire Lord questioned as he pointed out two burn marks one on the upper left side of his daughter's chest and the other on the lower right side.
Mai shook her head. "Does it matter? She's okay."
Zuko nodded but said, "We should let Katara check her out to make sure."
"What did you do?" Azula asked when Detia approached her.
Detia smiled as she reached her mother, lifting her hands in the air in a gesture that she wanted to be picked up. 'I'm tired.' The little girl almost whined, trying to stop herself because she knew how much her mother hated it.
Azula did as her daughter asked and picked her up just as Mai, Zuko and Ty Lee came back inside. Detia ignored them, even the Avatar, opting to lay her head on her mother's shoulder and curl up into a comfortable position. Before Azula could question her family on what had happened, Mai walked up to Katara, who was standing by Aang and watching Lu Ten as he watched Ursa sleep. Carefully Mai handed the baby to a confused Katara and said, "Make sure she's okay."
Detia closed her eyes, smiling when she felt her mommy come over to them. Though she didn't know how she did it, the little monster blocked out the voices of everyone, to the loud gasp the water bender made to the soft cooing of her cousins. She knew that the baby she had held would be fine so there was no reason for her to stay awake. Especially if they planned to badger her with questions she didn't know the answers to. So she drifted to sleep, knowing everything would be okay.
TBC
A\N: The condition that the twins had is known as TTTS – Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome. TTTS is now believed to affect as many as 1 in 1000 pregnancies.
The Facts:
The recipient twin (often larger - Ezra) becomes effectively overloaded with the extra blood supply. Her heart has to work harder to pump the enriched blood around, which can result in heart failure. The recipient also produces far too much amniotic fluid - termed "polyhydramnios", which causes the mother to appear far further on in the pregnancy than she actually is. This excess fluid is not only extremely uncomfortable for the mother, but can often bring about an early delivery due to cervical pressure and ruptured membranes, and by directly stretching and stimulating the uterine muscles to contract. The recipient twin may also develop hydrops or edema (retained fluid) within his or her body, which in turn can lead to respiratory, digestive, heart, or brain defects.
The donor twin (often smaller - Ursa) becomes anaemic due to not having enough blood supply, and usually has a small amniotic sac (the bag of fluid in which the baby lives). This lack of amniotic fluid is termed "oligohydramnios". The sac is often very close to the developing baby's body, and the baby appears to be almost shrinkwrapped and "stuck" up against the wall of the uterus. When donor babies survive birth, however, they are often the baby that is stronger as their hearts have not had to work so intensely during pregnancy.
If left untreated, TTTS has a mortality rate of over 80% and can be the root cause of severe handicaps for the few survivors.
For more information go to: http:/ www. twin2twin. org/ (Minus the spaces)