Zuko
I was just finishing up my interview with the inmate when Jok came running into the room. My eyes widened. This scared me. He was supposed to be with Sam and he wore a look of panic. I quickly stood up and started rushing out the door.
"Jok! What are you doing here?! Where is Sam? Is she ok? For Agni's sake, talk to me!" I said, panicked when he didn't answer.
"Yes, Fire Lord, she is fine. She is in labor. Your baby is coming!" Jok said. My eyes widened again. I was so excited for this moment and I might miss it! I rushed to my rhino and we made haste back to the palace. Once there, I jumped off my rhino and handed the reins to the stable lad. I quickly thanked him and ran through the palace. I rushed through the halls until I came to our room. I burst through the door and saw Sam laying on the bed, sweaty, pale and clearly in pain. She had her legs propped up and a sheet draped over her lower half to maintain some modesty.
"Sam! Oh Agni! I'm not too late!"
"No, hunny. You're not. This is taking a lot longer than I had hoped." she sounded exhausted. Based on how long it took to travel to and from the prison, I guessed she had been in labor for about six hours. There was a chair sitting right by her head. Fen must have put it there in preparation of my arrival. This was not customary in the Fire Nation - having the husband present for the birth. Sam said it is a normal thing where she comes from and insisted I be here. Ultimately, I'm glad I was. I sat down and took her hand into mine.
"Squeeze if you need to, my love." I said and kissed her fingers. She nodded.
"It's been quiet for a while. No contractions. Fen said, as I get closer to delivery, the worse and more frequent they will become." she said. She looked at me and her eyes softened. The reached her hand up and stroked my face. "I'm so glad you're here. I was afraid you wouldn't make it."
"Wild ostrich-horses couldn't drag me away." I said. She laughed then her face went to a grimace as she started to groan and she squeezed my hand. Agni, this woman had one strong grip! I fought to keep my face straight and not show she was crushing my hand. I reached up with my other hand and smoothed her hair. "You're doing great, my Fire Lily." I said trying to comfort her as she squeezed my hand even harder, "Youch, Sam! Easy, that hurts!" She looked over at me, her brow furrowed and her eyes set to a glare.
"Oh really? Does that hurt? I'm so sorry you're in pain." she said sarcastically. Ok, I deserved that.
"I'm sorry, my love. That was insensitive of me. Squeeze away." I said, placing my hand back into hers. She rolled her head so she was looking straight up but she closed her eyes. She was breathing heavy and her muscles relaxed as the contraction apparently subsided. She tried to fully relax but I could tell she was ill at ease. I would be too.
"Zuko, how did the interview go?" Seriously? She was going to ask me this as she literally brought a child into the world?
"We can talk about that later, my love. Just rest."
"I need a distraction. Please, Zuko. Distract me." I looked at her skeptically but I understood her reasoning.
"He pleaded his case to me. He said that he was set up. I asked him what proof he has - that I can't pardon him based on his claims alone. I needed evidence." Sam nodded in agreement and I continued, "he said that his brother had it out for him and he knew that his brother would do anything to get him out of the picture - apparently they both loved the same woman. So his brother killed the neighbor and pinned it in our inmate." Sam snorted.
"'All's fair in love and war.' But that is hardly evidence. That's just conjecture." Sam reasoned.
"Yes, exactly. That is what I said. He said that's the only proof he has. He suggested I talk to his brother. I was going to but now I am going to task someone else to do it. I want to be here." Sam smiled and gave my hand a small squeeze in affection.
"Yes, I want you here too." I noticed her eyes were getting heavy.
"Sleep, my love. Rest." I said stroking her sweaty hair again.
"Lay with me? I sleep so much better with you in bed next to me." I deliberated for a moment and looked at Fen who nodded. I walked around the bed, changed into my sleeping clothes behind the partition, climbed in and slid over to her. She couldn't sleep in her normal position so I laid on my side and put my hand on her belly. I slid close to her and nuzzled my face into her neck. She leaned her head against mine and quickly fell asleep.
After a few minutes I felt her belly contract and she woke up suddenly out of a sound sleep moaning again in pain. I took her hand so she could squeeze. Fen was there at her feet checking her but for what I did not know. He quickly cleared up my uncertainty.
"Fire Lady, you are almost ready. You need to dilate just a little bit more. Try not to push if you can." I was confused why he would say that, but I didn't question it. Fen was a good physician. She nodded in understanding and fought against the contraction. No wonder it hurt so much. I could feel her muscles…well…contracting under my hand and it felt like it would be painful. Soon they relaxed and she rested again. I laid with her and waited. After a few minutes, she drifted off again.
It was a couple of hours later when I thought things were moving along. Fen was seated at her feet and her contractions were almost on top of the other. I had gotten up from the bed and resumed my place next to her head. She painfully squeezed my hand but this time I kept my mouth shut. I felt so helpless. I wished there was something I could do. I saw Fen shift in his place out of the corner of my eye.
"Ok, Fire Lady, this is it. Push with everything you've got." Fen said. Sam leaned forward a bit and pushed hard. I put my hand on her back to try to support her. I didn't know what else to do. She fell back, panting. She looked at me and put a hand on my face.
"I can't. I can't anymore." she said, breathing heavily, clearly out of breath. "I'm too exhausted. Hunny, you take over for me?" I stared at her. At that moment I realized it was true that women do sometimes say strange things when they are delivering. I didn't blame her one bit considering the pain she was in.
"I would if I could, love. Come on, you're the strongest person I know. You've got this."
"Fire Lady, I think one more good push will do the trick. Go on." he said. Sam let go of my hand, leaned up and grabbed both of her knees. I kept my hand on her back trying to support her. She gave a good, hard push and fell back again, gasping. I thought she had given up again when I heard crying.
"Great work, Sam! It's a girl!" Fen declared. My head shot over to him. As hard as she kicked I thought for sure she would be a boy. I didn't care though. I was elated. He cleaned her up a bit and handed her to Sam. I leaned forward and looked at this beautiful little girl in my wife's arms. I reached my hand over and touched her. She was warm and squishy. I didn't expect that. Actually, I didn't know what I expected. I looked over and Sam was crying and I knew they were tears of joy. I had my own blurring my vision.
Sam was cooing and speaking sweetly to our baby girl, "Hi, little one. I'm your mommy. Welcome to the world, beautiful. Your daddy and I are so happy to finally meet you." The infant squirmed in her arms and slowly opened her eyes. I reached down and took her tiny hand in between my finger and thumb. She wrapped her little fingers around mine. In that instant, I had fallen madly in love with our tiny human.
"Hello, baby! I'm your daddy! The one who's been the voice of reason these past nine months," Sam playfully jabbed me in the ribs as I chuckled. "I'm so excited to finally meet you." Sam leaned towards me so I could take the child. I held her in my arms and looked at her eyes as she made eye contact with me. She was perfect. I started to cry again. I knew that I would always protect her with everything I had. I would love her with every ounce of my being. I was smitten. The doctor came over to me and took the child out of my arms. When he did that, I felt like he took part of my soul with her. He was cleaning her off more thoroughly. I couldn't peel my eyes away from her.
"What are you going to name her?" Fen asked. Sam and I looked at each other. We had discussed names but we really hadn't decided on any. Then it occurred to me. When Sam and I went on our first date, we walked to a fountain near the Jasmine Dragon and sat there for hours just talking and enjoying each other's company. I didn't know it then, but at that moment was when I fell in love with her. I looked over at Sam and smiled.
"How about…Izumi?" Sam's eyes twinkled at my suggestion.
"Oh, Zuko! That is perfect! I love it." She looked over at Fen, "Fire Princess Izumi."
"Crown Fire Princess Izumi," I corrected. She looked at me and smiled. Fen brought the baby back over to Sam.
"You need to try to nurse, Sam. She needs it." He helped her get the baby into position. Sam pulled her shirt down to expose her breast and worked to readjust for the baby to reach. Izumi picked it up quickly and, before I knew it, she was making a suckling sound and Sam was watching her. I slid my chair as close to the bed as possible. I reached my hand up to Sam's face and stroked her cheek with my finger. She looked over at me, leaned towards me and kissed me. I laid my head down on her shoulder and we both watched Izumi. The newest member of our little family.
