AN: It's not a bad chapter. I think it's better than the last one at least. Maybe you liked the previous one more...idk, but it's not bad.
Reactions are going to be next chapter. Idk when the update will be, but it will hopefully be within these two weeks. Let's see how it all works out.
Hope you like it! And thank you for you reviews and favorites! It really means a lot :)
The world leaders had decided that the Fire Nation should be the host of the celebrations for the 20th Anniversary of the End of the 100-Year War. All leaders were supposed to have been present, but unfortunately King Kuei fell ill with some unknown illness, thus being unable to attend, and Chief Arnook's wife had just begun labor. So, in the 20th Anniversary of the End of the 100-Year War, only the representatives of the Southern Water Tribe and Fire Nation were present. And the Air Nomads if the Avatar counted as an Air Nomad and not as an independent entity.
There would be celebrations inside the Capital City, Caldera, as well as a private dinner with the world leaders, their families, and other influential people hosted in the Fire Nation palace. No expense would be spared in the preparation for the celebrations, which served as a source for the Fire Lord and his sister's latest squabbles.
"Zuzu, the economy is getting better, but people still need help from us before we go spending our budget on a useless celebration." Azula said during the breakfast.
It had started as a normal breakfast, with some side remarks and overall tension within the table. But then it progressed into a heated argument between the Fire Lord and the Princess concerning the celebrations. It made no sense to be arguing about that the same day of the celebrations, after all arrangements had been made, but they still did. Nobody knew why the princess was putting so much emphasis onto the commemoration, but she knew why she was acting this way. On this day, the secret of Lee Ten's parentage would become public knowledge, and so many things could change. People could start treating Lee Ten differently or begin to treat her as even more of a pest.
For the past three weeks, Azula had had tolerable moments with almost all members of the table and had even began to have conversations with Ty Lee. The conversations were tense, not at all as how they used to be, but they still made Azula very happy. It was the hope that one day, they might rekindle and begin to see each other as they once did. Their relationship at the moment was not great, but perhaps that could change as the time passed. But then again, Lee Ten's parentage would become public knowledge soon, so maybe such hope was just an ideal.
It didn't make it better that she remembered how that night had progressed. How she had been vulnerable around Sokka, how she had acted so carefree at the bar, and how they had very heartfelt conversations before tearing each other's clothes off. The only other person who had ever seen Azula in such a vulnerable state had been Ty Lee, and not even she had seen the singing Azula. That Azula was not supposed to be seen by anyone—she used an alias just for that.
She didn't know whether to be mad at Sokka for leaving her to fend with the pregnancy alone. The rational part of her brain told her that she shouldn't be, because she had made him promise that he would forget about that night. But the other side of her brain screamed—the emotional side—saying that he still should've stuck up with her as she was banished from her home. He should've just forgotten about her favor and use that good will everyone on the so-called Team Avatar were supposed to have.
It also opened the dilemma of who she should be with. Azula had always loved Ty Lee, even when they were children the acrobat had been a constant in the princess's life. But she cheated on her, Ty Lee would never trust her again. Their relationship would be almost impossible to mend to perfection. But she still wanted to be with the acrobat. Maybe it was the teenage Azula trying to be with her lover, but there would always be a part of Azula's heart that would belong to Ty Lee.
Then there was Sokka, who she had a child with. Sokka, who claimed to love her. Sokka, who claimed to have searched for her for years before ultimately giving up. He told her that he wanted to have a family with her, and in all honesty, Azula did want a family. Her family did not want her; Ursa detested her daughter and Kiyi liked her, but not much. Zuko had thrown her into an asylum and never visited her, only seeing her because he needed her help. That was not love, Azula knew very well. Even though they acted cordially now, Azula would always be hurt by his behavior during and after the war. No, if she had a family, it would have to be one that she creates. And Sokka was offering her that.
Family or love? Would she give up the person her heart had ached for to have what her heart always longed for?
"You're the one who said that we should have an active economy!" Zuko yelled. "What's more active than having thousands of people come to the city and spend money on local businesses."
Azula opened her arms. "There are dozens of ways to do that without putting us in debt! Agni Zuko, the economy is still shit and you want to throw an extravagant party. Please make it make sense."
"It will be good for publicity. We're celebrating the beginning of peace by bringing people from all over the world together into the city that twenty years ago was the epicenter of evil."
"Oh great, the bashing of ancestors has begun." The princess rolled her eyes. "You don't need the Water Tribe citizens to like you, they're not your subjects. The people who need to like you are the ones that are starving while you put us in debt."
"You told me that things were already better in the countryside." The Fire Lord defended himself.
"Fifteen years of bad economic decisions will not suddenly disappear with three weeks of logical decisions. And if you keep making stupid decisions like this one, I doubt that they'll get better anytime soon."
Zuko fumed. "Stop insulting me!"
"Stop making insulting you a necessity!"
The door of the dining room opened and in came a servant. She bowed to the Fire Lord and maintained her head low.
"Your Majesty, the guests have arrived."
Zuko nodded. "Thank you. You're excused."
Everyone was now looking at Zuko, who had not forgotten his argument with Azula. The princess was nervous, but her eyes showed none. She was still the same level-headed princess she had been in the past (with the exception of those few years).
"It seems that we have to cut our meal short. Let's go meet everyone, and then we can have some fun." Zuko said, standing up from his seat.
The group stood up and walked towards the outside of the palace, where the rest of the guests had arrived to. There were two women, two men (one tall and older while the other one seemed average looking) and two children. One was a tanned kid with somewhat spiky hair, while the other one was a little baby girl.
"Dad!" the boy screamed, running towards the Avatar. Aang picked the kid up and gave him a big hug.
Sokka's heart clenched at the sight. He always loved his nephew, and the kid always seemed to be a big fan of his uncle, but it still hurt to see Aang with his little son. He had a son, but that son was a teenager. All of those development stages, like when they begin to walk or when teeth fall out, Sokka missed it all. He had a son, but he never had a child.
"I missed you so much Bumi." Aang said as he hugged his kid. "How have you been?"
"Uncle Sokka!" the kid yelled running towards his uncle, completely ignoring the question his father asked him. The Water Tribesman picked up his nephew and lifted him high in the air.
"You're getting too big." Sokka said, feigning as if he could not deal with the weight. "We'll have to tell you mother to stop feeding you."
Bumi jumped and put his hands in the air. "NO! I'm going to grow to be even bigger than you!"
"Ok, but once you grow you have to promise that you'll use your strength to protect your mother and sister." Sokka told his nephew.
The boy nodded eagerly.
"Well, it seems like someone is happy to see his uncle." A voice said in front of Sokka. He lifted his gaze and saw Katara holding up little Kya, and his father standing not too far from her.
"Katara! How have you been?" Sokka greeted his sister with a hug, careful not to squish his niece.
"Busy with the little ones, but can't complain." His sister replied with a smile.
A booming voice spoke up. "Are you going to forget about your old man?"
Sokka smiled and approached his father, who was wearing elegant blue robes. "Of course not dad." He embraced his father, who returned the hug.
"Snoozles!" a female voice said from behind him. Before he could turn around, the woman punched him in the arm.
"Nice to see you too Toph." Sokka said with a smirk
"You said that on purpose, didn't you?"
Sokka shrugged his shoulders. "So, who's the date?"
To his surprise, the blind earthbender heavily blushed. "His name is Kanto."
Toph turned around before Sokka could ask her any more questions and smiled as her feet sensed the Fire Lord.
"Sparky!" Toph walked towards the Fire Lord and punched him in the arm. "Mrs. Sparky." Toph bowed down to Mai.
Zuko rubbed his arm as he looked at the earthbender with a frown. "Why do you have to hit so hard?"
"That's how I show affection." Toph shrugged
"Yeah, but it doesn't have to be so hard…" Zuko murmured
The Water Tribe family had finally finished their reunion and was now standing alongside the rest of the people. They greeted Iroh and Ursa with a smile, each person giving a hug to the respective member of the Royal Family.
"Wow Kiyi, I knew you were grown up, but I didn't expect you to have a boyfriend now." Katara teased
Kiyi's eyes widened as she understood who the waterbender was talking about. "Oh, no. He's not-"
"And he's big, if you know what I mean." Toph added, nudging Kiyi by her side.
Everyone who had been present in the palace for the past three weeks reacted to the words. The Fire Lord and his wife widened their eyes, while Ursa, Ty Lee and Suki covered their mouths. Iroh opened his mouth to laugh, but maintained his self-control, keeping his laughter inside. The Avatar looked between Toph, Kiyi, Lee Ten and Katara with an amused face, thinking of ways to ease the conversation.
"T-that w-was not n-necessary information." Kiyi stuttered with her words, deeply perturbed by the mental image Toph had put in her head.
"Of course, you already knew that. My bad." Toph laughed
The guests who knew who the boy was cringed at the words of the Earth Kingdom nobility.
"I hate this." Suki said, trying to hide herself behind her hand.
A regal voice spoke up from behind the boy. "I must agree. This was truly a scarring exercise Bei Fong."
"Azula!" The waterbender yelled, hiding her daughter from her rival. "What are you doing here?"
"Greeting the guest as ordered by the Fire Lord." Azula said as she rolled her eyes. "I know you detest me, but let's put our differences aside for the time being. If not for us, then for our children."
Katara raised an eyebrow at the wording of the princess. "Our children?"
The princess nodded. "Yes. You for your two children and me for my son."
"Your son?!"
"Yes, my son. The boy the vermin so beautifully described." Azula said, stepping forward and putting a hand on the tall teenager. "This is my son, Lee Ten. He's not Kiyi's boyfriend, and he will not be anyone's boyfriend for a long time."
"But," Katara struggled to internalize the information. According to Azula, the tall fair skinned boy with brown hair and a blue eye was her son. A boy who was clearly mixed race was apparently the son of one of the most racist and imperialist women alive. "he's half Water Tribe."
"Thank you for pointing out the obvious."
"And you're Azula!"
"I'm failing to see how these two statements are supposed to correlate with each other." The princess sighed.
Katara looked around to see if anyone else was as perturbed with the fact as she was. From the corner of her eye, she could see Toph with a grin, and her dad with a neutral face. Zuko and Sokka were both looking between the princess and her, seemingly ready to intervene if things went south. The rest of the people were looking at Katara to do something, but none of them seemed to be in understanding of some sort of dark joke.
The waterbender glared at the princess.
"I'm keeping an eye out for you. I still think you're the same old psychopathic sadist-"
"Eeeaaaugh" the princess loudly yawned. "Such strong words in front of children. Please spare me your lecture, I'm not interested in it. Now Zuzu, can we get going? I'm tired of arguing with the waterbender."
The hours passed quickly as each person went to their respective groups. The rest of the Kyoshi warriors arrived a little bit later, and when they did, Suki went with them. Aang went with Katara to spend time with his children, something he hadn't done since quite a long time. Meanwhile Hakoda went with his son Sokka to talk about the Water Tribe. Lee Ten went alone to practice with his boomerang and brand-new spear.
And so Azula was left alone, fuming about the financial situation of her country and nervous about the outcome the fateful announcement might have. It needed to be said, Lee Ten deserved to have his father present in his life. She, Sokka, and Lee Ten had already discussed the plan to tell everyone the parentage during the big meal, and they had all agreed to it. And it was not that she was having second thoughts, it was just that Azula was nervous about what the reactions would be.
There was no doubt Suki would want to kill her, and then Katara might also want to join in. The Avatar would be forever neutral, and at least that meant that he wouldn't hurt her. Zuko would probably be disappointed in Sokka, not in her though, he didn't expect her to do any better, but he did expect Sokka to know better than to sleep with the crazy princess. The blind rat would probably laugh.
Ty Lee would be sad. Yes, they needed to tell everyone this, but it was still the night she cheated on her beloved. It would just bring bad memories back. It would be like saying 'Hey, remember that guy you had a crush on during the war? Well I cheated on you with him. Anyways, hope we can mend our relationship!'. Azula knew that it would hurt her chances of ever getting together with Ty Lee, but if the acrobat could not embrace every part of Lee Ten, then Azula could not be with her. No matter how much her heart ached for the touch of her first love. The person for whom Lee Ten is named after.
There was a knock on the door which brought Azula back from her thoughts. Her head turned to the entrance to her room, where Ursa was standing.
"What do you want?" Azula asked her mother, returning to her reading regarding the newest development in the treatment for wet lung.
Ursa approached the princess and sat on her bed. The firebender lifted her gaze towards the woman but did not speak.
"I know I haven't been the best mother to you, but I still know you better than a lot of people. There is something bothering you. What is it?" Ursa said after a moment of silence.
Azula kept on reading the article. "Why would you care?"
"Because you're my daughter Azula."
Azula closed the magazine where the article was at and put it down. She met her mother's eyes, challenging the older woman to look away. "Oh, now I am your daughter. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I thought that a mother should always love her child. No matter the circumstance, a mother is supposed to always protect her child and love that child unconditionally. But you neglected me all my childhood, then willingly forgot about me when you abandoned your children, and then kicked me out of my own home because of a mistake, leaving me literally homeless. No, you don't care. You just want me to maintain a good image so that people can trust Zuko's judgement. Guess what, Zuko's judgement is shit and this whole day is proof of it."
"Azula, I'm sorry for everything I did. I can see how I hurt you, and I swear that it wasn't my intention."
"But you still did it." Azula replied. "It doesn't matter if you meant it or not, you still hurt me. And now you want my forgiveness? I don't think I can forgive you. Your actions have spoken more than your apologies ever will. Apologies are just words, and you're extremely good at using them without meaning."
"Azula…" Ursa began to cry and went to grab her daughter's hand, only for the firebender to swipe it away.
The princess returned to her reading. "Save your tears for when someone dies. Now please get out my room. I'm reading something important."
Sensing that her daughter's distress, Ursa left the room and closed the door. Once in solitude, Azula put down her reading and sighed, putting her right hand on top of her heart. It hurt. She always wanted her mother's attention, her mother's love, and now that it was offered, she turned it away. But it was the reasonable thing to do. If she had opened up to Ursa, she would've ended hurt and betrayed. It was better to save her the embarrassment.
A couple of hours passed before another knock interrupted the princess' activities. Azula noticed that the sun was beginning to set, which meant that it was time for the meal.
"I'm going." Azula said loudly, applying her red lipstick and perfecting her neat hair. When she was younger, she would've banished the servants for not doing her hair. But now, after fifteen years of living as a commoner, the princess could not get used to anyone else handling her hair.
Outside of her room stood Lee Ten, who was dressed in fine Fire Nation clothing. Azula had to admit that the combination of her genes and Sokka's had resulted in a very good outcome. Yes, she was the result of generation of perfect breeding, but Sokka was not. However, this did not matter when they were all in Lee Ten. Her son was very handsome, and although there was clearly Water Tribe running through his veins, he still held a Fire Nation aura. And that was what mattered the most.
"Let's go." Azula said, making her way to the dining room with Lee Ten in tow. The princess felt her heart beat harder and faster than before; every step was ten pound of pressure put on her heart. She literally felt as if she were drowning on the air.
"Mom," Lee Ten grabbed her hand, making the princess stop in her tracks. "everything is going to be fine. I love you."
Azula smiled and hugged her son, who seemed to have hit a growth spurt in the past couple of weeks.
"Are you ready?" The princess asked once she released her son from the hug.
The bastard teen nodded with his head, a smile on his face. "Yeah, everything is going to be great after this because I'll finally have a dad!"
Azula did not have the heart to tell him that it all depended on how people took it. He might gain a father, but he could also gain many enemies. The people in the room might want to kill him simply because of the meaning behind his birth.
Despite her insecurity, the princess smiled and patted her son in the back. "Let's get this over with."
The table was extremely big, but it was mostly empty. It was expected for delegates of the Earth Kingdom and the Northern Water Tribe to be present in the meal, but because they were not, there was a lot of empty space and extra food. Zuko sat at the top of the table, with the Fire Nation citizens sitting to his left and the Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom and the Avatar sitting to his right.
"Thank you all for coming today, when we celebrate the culmination of the war that brought unmeasurable suffering throughout the world. We are gathered here as friends and family, something that would not have been possible twenty years ago. It's a great day for unity, with people from all over the world sitting together in the table, ready to eat the feast of their lives. Truly, I couldn't think of a better way to spend this day."
Azula took this as the best moment to speak up. She grabbed her glass and hit it with her chopstick, making everyone turn to face her.
"What are you doing Azula?" Zuko asked, scared for what his sister had in plan.
The prodigious firebender smiled. "Why nothing sinister dear brother. I just want to speak up regarding the topic of unity."
"No, you are not ruining the night."
"You have so little faith in me Fire Lord." Azula feigned being hurt. "Please, let me talk on the topic. After I finish, I can keep quiet for the rest of the meal if you desire."
"Fine. Say whatever you want to say." Zuko groaned
Azula smiled. "Thank you Zuzu. Today we are here to commemorate unity, and what better way to do that than by dividing the table between families, between Fire Nationals and foreigners?"
"Azula!" Zuko yelled
"But that is not all true. You see, one member of our table can fit wherever he wants. Almost fifteen years ago, a little boy was born, with a Water Tribe father and a Fire Nation mother. As you all know that boy is my son, Lee Ten. At the moment, and until recently, I had no idea who Lee Ten's father was. But now his father has stepped up and assumed his responsibilities as a father, something that will hopefully not change at any point in the future."
"Azula don't do that right now!" Zuko yelled in outrage. "Your dramatics can wait until we are alone as a family."
"Oh, but Zuzu, don't you see, I needed the whole family together. And that would only happen if the Chief of the Southern Water Tribe and his family were present."
Hakoda pointed a finger towards him. "Me-what?"
Azula sighed. "This is the point where you speak up peasant."
"Oh right." Sokka said, straightening his back. "So, umm, you see, when a man and a woman love each other, well not necessarily love, it's supposed to be love, but sometimes it's not. And sometimes there's alcohol involved, and some old people use plants that help them-"
"Stop rambling." Azula said sternly
Sokka sighed. "Sorry. Ok, so fifteen years ago, me, Katara, and Aang were in Caldera doing…I don't remember what, but we were here. One of those days, we saw Azula being kicked off her home because she was disloyal to Ty Lee. The thing is, well, Katara you remember that you were unbelievably angry at what happened, and that I tried to calm you down saying that it wasn't a big deal?"
"How could I not? I lost my faith in you when you said that it wasn't a big deal." Katara said in a serious tone.
"Yeah…and it was a big deal, I was wrong to say that it wasn't. But I had a reason to say it, because I had just done the same thing."
"So you cheated on-" Katara began to say before her thoughts caught her off. If Sokka had cheated on Suki that night, and it was the same night Azula cheated on Ty Lee, then… could it be? No, Azula wouldn't do that with Sokka…but it had been someone from the Water Tribe. And it added up. Why Sokka looked so guilty when Azula was thrown out of her home, and why he insisted that it wasn't a big deal and that the Royal Family was overexaggerating its punishment. The waterbender turned her gaze to Azula's son and saw him for the first time. How could she not see it before? Besides his skin color and a few traits, he was identical to… "No, it can't be."
"Yes. Lee Ten is my son." Sokka announced, loud enough so that everyone in the room could listen and interpret the news.