Chapter 27 – Receiving the news

The air was cloudy and colder than it usually was in the Fire Nation when Zuko stood up there, on that balcony, being cheered on by the citizens of the capital. It felt surreal, to gaze into that large crowd, to look into the eyes of the people that had spit on him for the past seven years.

Seven years.

It had been seven years and now he was back at the place where he was born. But it didn't feel like home. No, his home was somewhere else. His home, he had abandoned.

The hole in his chest became greater with each clap that sounded from below.

Milah was vomiting.

Luckily, it wasn't over the railing of the ship. No, it was in her own bathroom in the middle of the night. She had found out about the life growing inside of her only three days ago and hadn't told anyone yet. The only ones who knew were Katara and Toph, seeing Toph had felt the heartbeat and put one and one together, especially since it had become common knowledge on this ship that she and Zuko had been intimate. Several times.

She cringed when flushing the toilet, thinking about the fact that her father knew about this too. Had only looked upon her with disappointment before he had changed the subject and had asked about her health instead. Milah had been glad about it, but it had been somewhat awkward between them from that moment on. She hadn't seen her father in seven years and to him, she was probably still his little girl. And to find out his little girl had been married to a man whose father was responsible for the death of his wife… had been bitter news.

But still, even after all that, she couldn't say she regretted her actions with the Prince. Not when her pregnancy was the only kind of happiness she now possessed.

Aang had awoken three days prior and had left and had caused Sokka, Katara and Toph to go after him. Milah had had a conversation about it with him, had pressed that he wasn't on his own in this. That he had people around him that loved him and would help in any way that they could. Herself included.

It hadn't helped, in the end. He had still left, feeling like the state of the war had been his fault, that it was his fault that Ba Sing Se had fallen, that the Fire Nation was now stronger than ever. And so he had gone off to save the world on his own.

Milah knew, of course, that it wasn't his fault that all that happened in Ba Sing Se, happened. It was her fault. If only she had tried harder to convince Zuko that the right path for him was with them, to maybe become Aang's firebending teacher, then maybe, just maybe, he would be here with her right now, celebrating their wonder of life together.

If only he hadn't turned against Aang and Katara in the catacombs, then maybe they could've won from Azula. Together. But Katara had told her what Azula had implied. That she had left Ba Sing Se, left him, to start a new life away from him. And Zuko, being the stupid idiot that he is, had believed his sister, who according to him always lies.

It was her fault that Ba Sing Se had fallen, but she hadn't told Aang that. She hadn't told anyone about her true feelings regarding the situation. Maybe if she had, then Aang would've stayed. Then she would still have her sister to guide her through the process she was about to enter.

She knew she would have to tell someone about her pregnancy, but she feared the reactions so much that she laid awake most nights, envisioning her father forcing her to take the mixture that would lead to a miscarriage. Deep down, she knew her father would never do that, but she didn't really know any of the other Water Tribe warriors that had joined the fleet so they could abandon the destroyed Fire Nation ship they had been staying on.

Don't be such a coward, she thought to herself. Today is the day, you'll tell them today. She took a deep breath, stood up, walked over to her bed in the cramped room she had for herself and let sleep overtake her.

Warm hands were moving down his naked body while a pair of soft lips were giving him bruising kisses on his neck, nipples grazing his chest every now and then. His cock was already hard and twitched when a small hand gripped him by the balls, rolling them around in slender fingers. His hands found their way up, wrapping them in the soft hair of the woman on top of him. His lips sought out hers while his eyes were still closed, having just been woken up, and breathed in the scent he expected to find, the scent he had missed so fucking much, the smell of jasmine tea and roses-

But it was mandarin and lemon.

He harshly pushed Mai away, making her stumble from the bed in her naked glory. He wouldn't lie, her body had filled out in the right places, but he could only be disgusted at this moment. He honestly thought it was Milah in his sleep-drunken state who had been kissing him. How could he not have known that Milah's skin was cold to the touch, that her hair was not straight, but wavy and thicker than Mai's?

''How dare you?'' he asked lowly, his member already completely soft and slack. He towered over her, not even bothering to cover himself up. She smirked, pushing her bare chest more in the air as if preserving the area of confidence around her.

''You seemed like you needed some action, Prince Zuko,'' she answered merely, not diverting her light brown eyes.

''You don't get to decide when I need some action, Mai.''

Her face turned into one of boredom. ''I figured you needed someone to help you get over that girl. I'm merely here to help out as a friend.''

Zuko shook his head, his hands shaking upon hearing the words coming out of her mouth. ''I don't need you, Azula or anyone else telling me that I need to get over some girl. I was never into her, so I don't understand where any of it comes from.''

''I don't believe you.''

''Then don't. See if I care.''

Mai raised a hand to his chest after she had stepped closer to him, tracing a line down, over the outline of his muscles and only stopped when he grabbed her wrist. His manhood didn't even react.

''Why are you really here, Mai?''

Her bored, confident stance faltered for a second, but it was enough for him to lower his guard as well. ''Azula send you here, didn't she?''

Mai puffed out a sort of chuckle, or whatever the fuck she did because she barely laughed or showed emotion, and turned around to grab the abandoned nightgown on the ground. ''Don't assume that Azula controls me. She inspires fear, yes, but I would never sell my body like that.''

''I didn't-''

''You did, and it's okay, but never do that again.''

Zuko still stood before her, stark naked, and was silent for a moment. ''I'm sorry.''

Mai walked over to his nightgown hanging by the door and threw it his way. He put it on.

''I'm here because I can see you're hurting. I've been seeing it for three weeks now and it is starting to hurt me, too. Despite everything, I still care for you, Zuko. And I want you to know that I'm here for you in whatever way you need me. In a friend way, a sex no strings attached kind of way, a girlfriend kind of way, you name it and I'll be it.''

He was astonished. Who would've thought that Mai would actually suggest such a thing? Sure, they had had a crush on each other back in the days – seeing Mai had always been more mature for her age – but he didn't realise the possibility that it could be more than that.

''Mai, I…'' he was at a loss of words.

She only looked at him with a hint of worry in her eyes. ''It's okay. Think it over and come talk to me when you're ready.''

He nodded, giving her a half smile. The first glimpse of a smile in weeks.

''Dad, I need to talk to you,'' Milah softly said to her father when they were eating breakfast. Bato was at her left, discussing some kind of assault technique on Fire Nation ships with Amim.

Her father looked up with his face stuffed full of food. The image was one she would treasure forever and was only sad that Sokka was not here to see it. Like father, like son. ''Are you okay?'' Food spit out of his mouth when he spoke.

''Ew, dad, disgusting,'' she scolded him, handing him a napkin. Amim chuckled from across the table, earning himself a mocking stinky eye from the Waterbender. ''And yes, I'm okay. I just need to talk to you. In private.''

Hakoda nodded and answered after swallowing his food, ''I'll just finish this and then we can sit over there.'' He pointed towards the front of the ship. She nodded.

Nerves were accumulating inside her tummy – or was it morning sickness again? –, making her let out a little burp followed by a little bile. Thankfully, she could swallow it down with a sour face, draining her orange juice before her breakfast would tumble out of her mouth again.

''So, what is it you wanted to talk about?'' her father asked her when they had seated themselves on the wooden floor.

This is it. Do it, now. Do it! her mind screamed at her. She started to fiddle with her hands, which he noticed and took hold of them both in his own, giving her an encouraging smile.

''I know we have been apart for many years, Milah, but I am still your father. You can tell me anything. There is little you can do that would make me angry. Back in the past, you were always the strongest of your siblings. You had to be, of course, seeing you are the eldest. And from what I've seen of you now, I know that you're still strong. Stronger even. So whatever it is that you want to tell me, know that you're strong and there is nothing in this world that will bring you down.''

Tears were rolling down her cheeks. She moved closer to her dad and he welcomed her with open arms, pulling her into him with his strong hold. He caressed her back lovingly, as a father would, and just sat there with her for a while.

''Your mother would have been proud to see how you've turned out to be,'' he whispered softly, making the flow of tears come out more heavily. A soft sob left her mouth.

Silence ensued and the both of them just sat there, staring over the great water body there were sailing on.

''I'm pregnant, dad,'' she whispered finally, making the hand still on her back for a second before picking up again. She could feel him sigh.

He let go of her only for him to grab her face with his calloused hands. ''How do you feel about that, Milah?'' he simply asked her. She blinked up at him.

''I'm happy,'' she answered honestly.

A small smile left his lips. ''Then I am too.''

She started crying again, making her father pull her into an embrace again. ''I meant what I said. There is little you can do that would make me angry,'' he said.

''I guess I kind of knew that, but there's that fear… I know what you think of Zuko- I know what the world thinks of Zuko, but I can't bring myself to regret any of it, dad. Despite-'' she sobbed, ''despite it all, I still love him. I will always love him.''

''I know.''

Both of them were silent again, the only sounds around them being splashing water, seagulls flying over them, and working Water Tribe warriors behind them.

''I can't believe I'll be a grandfather,'' her father suddenly sighed, not being able to repress the grin that was taking over his face. ''Show me your stomach.''

She laughed. ''It'll be a few weeks until I'm showing. You won't see anything yet.''

''I don't care. Show me. I want to see my grandchild.''

Another hearty laugh left her lips, pushing up the blue turtleneck she had acquired somewhere on the ship. Her stomach was still flat, there really was nothing to see yet except that her belly had protruded for a minuscule amount, but her father acted as though she was ready to pop.

''I still can't believe it either. I'm just sad that he's not… here, to share this with me,'' she managed to get out without sobbing, wiping away the stray tears that left her eyes. She pulled down her shirt again, tucking it inside her dark blue pants.

They stood up again before her father pulled her in one more hug, earning them a few curious glances from everyone on deck. Which was basically the whole crew. And when he gave her one last wink, he turned around to probably discuss something with Bato.

''Hey,'' Amim greeted her from behind, startling her. ''You okay?''

Okay. Here goes number 2, her conscious reminded her.

''Amim, I need to tell you something, but before I do this, I need you to know that I am okay and happy.''

He looked worried but nodded, leaning against the railing of the ship. The blue warrior armour he wore was almost unsettling seeing his dark golden eyes and black hair were not common features among the people of the Water Tribes.

''I'm pregnant.''

He was silent for a moment, not giving her a reaction whatsoever. And then the emotions went over his face. Disbelief, worry, sadness, anger, happiness, love, she could see it all.

''You're pregnant?'' he asked.

She nodded.

''It's Zuko's, right?''

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. ''Duh, you think I've been sleeping around the Earth Kingdom or something?''

The man before her choked on a laugh before he pulled her into a big hug.

''Big congratulations, Milah. I'm really fucking happy for you, know that.''

Tears welled up again, but she nodded against his shoulder. ''Thanks, Amim.'' He just held her tighter.

When they let go of each other again, he had a mischievous glint in his eyes. ''You do understand that no one will let you do one single thing of heavy work anymore, right?''

She let out a groan, leaning against the railing as well. ''Shit, you're right. Hadn't thought about that.''

''Too bad, little Waterbender.''

Her heart stung upon hearing those two little words. Amim saw it and recognised his mistake.

''I'm sor-''

She held up her hand, cutting him off. ''Don't apologise. It's okay, really.'' He just nodded.

She let her gaze go around the ship before it settled on her father who was speaking with Bato with the biggest grin on his face she had ever seen. He saw her stare and gave her a thumbs up, which she returned. Bato followed Hakoda's line of sight and settled on the pregnant girl as well. Hakoda had just told him the news with wary pride in his eyes. Hakoda didn't know what kind of reactions to expect from his crew, but he imagined them to be tolerable of the situation, especially because they would all know who the father was of the baby. But Bato, being Hakoda's best friend, had an almost equal joyous reaction as him, making the worry in his stomach settle for a bit.

For the whole day, she had been receiving all kinds of congratulations from everyone around the ship. Naturally, everyone knew of her pregnancy within an hour, her father had seen to it that everyone would know about it as soon as possible.

That evening, when the sun had completely settled and the starry night was as visible as day, Milah pulled up her shirt again just so she could trace her stomach with her fingers.

''We'll be okay, little one,'' she whispered into the darkness. ''We'll be okay.''

I hope you're okay, Zuko thought to himself before he fell asleep, dreaming of jasmine tea and rose petals.

A/N: sorry that this is kind of a short chapter. I have written this in one go because, like many of you have already mentioned, I was also looking forward to the moment when she would tell her dad the news! I hope I did it right.

Special shoutout to reviews that have, literally, made my day. Whenever I had a free moment, I opened my email and sought out the kind words you have written for me. I was smiling like a fool the whole time and you guys have actually caused me to write tonight! So cheers to you for making me pick up my laptop and continue! I'm sad I can't thank you personally because you have left guest reviews, but I hope you'll read this! Lots of love, Lily.