AN: I promised you babies, so here's an extensive chapter about some kids I made up as I went. Next chapter will be...hm...growing up? I'll find a way to slip in some dadko eventually...

When I was pregnant with the first royal child, everyone was elated. All of the women at court tried to give me advice on my pregnancy: what to eat, how to relax, which doctor was best. This was all fine and good, but none of them mentioned the absolute horrors my body was about to go through.

Morning sickness was something I had been alerted to, but that was about the extent of it. They didn't tell me about the mood swings, the incessant food cravings, the back pains. My feet swelled incredibly at the end and overall I felt like a disgusting mess. Pregnancy was certainly not the miracle everyone made it out to be.

But when I held that product of 9 months of torture in my arms, I realized it wasn't the pregnancy at all, but the end result that was worth it. Of course everyone was disappointed it was a girl, but she was only the first of what everyone assumed to be a hoard of children.

She was beautiful and I loved her more than I loved anyone-even Zuko. Which made him writhe with jealousy, desperate to see me after hours of excruciating labor. I only had eyes for her though, she who would be named Izumi a few days later.

At the fresh age of 18 I promised myself that I'd never go through that again, but there I was a year and a half later. Driven by the urge to bear a son and stop having babies, Lu Ten and I were both a little disappointed to add another girl to the family.

That didn't mean I loved her any less, don't mistake me. I love all my children just as their father does. I don't think Lu Ten predicted he would enjoy fatherhood, but he's the closest to a natural as you can get. He has some strange sense with them, whereas I continually have to ask what in the name of the Spirits my child is doing. I can only guess what kind of father Zuko would be.

Baby girl number three makes a middle child out of Hotaru four or so years later. Frustration finally seeps out of my husband like a sap, clinging to everything that it touches.

"Why do we keep having girls?" He fumes, pacing around the room while I feed our newest addition, Kiku. I don't answer him because I do not know.

"Agni is angry with this union between...two polar opposites. Fire and water." His limp was becoming debilitating and he stopped finally, leaning heavily on his cane. He stares at me, not quite a glare, and I wonder if he's silently blaming me.

"If your god was truly dissatisfied, do you think we would have three healthy children?" Many years of practice has made my reply mild, but I can feel a protective anger simmering under the surface.

This gives something for him to chew on and he sits quietly at the foot of the bed, running his thumb over the smooth wood of the cane. I've often seen him this way, so deep in thought that he escapes the world around him.

Little Kiku starts in with the beginnings of fussiness but I am an experienced mother at this point. Nevertheless he is drawn to his youngest child, reaching hesitantly for her when he sees I have everything under control. I offer her to him anyway, just a little pudge wrapped in red and gold with a shock of dark hair.

Lu Ten holds her and croons his baby talk to her, and I reflect that she is the only child to have skin almost as dark as mine. Both Izumi and Hotaru have lighter skin but it's not the waxy pale of the Fire Nation either. Both of the older girls have brown hair, though it looks like Kiku will have her father's black hair so far.

"It's been years since I made you a promise. Do you remember it?" He asks quietly as he rocks his sleepy daughter. How could I forget it? I've only been trying, hoping, waiting for the day that our coupling will result in a son.

"Yes, I remember," I say, but I can't look at him. The shame of it should not prick me, I didn't ask for this marriage. I only asked for true love and I ended up with politics.

"It's clear we won't come to the point that I desired. You...you're free of our deal." I know now that he isn't looking at me either. We're just two sad people in a lonely relationship. I want to comfort him, ease the worries from the man I've grown accustomed to seeing as my partner. We're not friends per se, but we are closer than we were young.

At the same time, I am excited. Zuko and I can finally begin the family we've always wanted, albeit a secret one. Maybe just one more child, because three is already a lot to pop out of yourself.

I take Kiku from her father and when he leaves, I'm quick (but extremely guilty) to pass her off to a wet nurse. My children are important, yes, but Zuko and I have been waiting for nearly five years for this contract to break. I must walk with all the dignity of the Fire Lady and cannot rush about, but that's fine. I know exactly where to find him.

"My Lord," I say, introducing myself into his presence with an inclination of my head. My station is above his so there is nothing needed in addition. I see his body react instantly, coming alive like a flower opening in the dawn light. He stops his bending practice in the courtyard and is to me in seconds.

"My Lady," he breathes, bowing low. He takes my hand and kisses it, not that it's required, but we can hardly help ourselves. "To what pleasure do I owe this visit?"

"I have some important matters of state to discuss with you." I hope our eyes don't give too much away, but it's practically common knowledge among the staff of what we are.

"By all means, let us retire to the palace." His curiosity cracks and burns inside of his chest, I can see it almost as if I was looking at a real fire.

The palace is so large, there are so many unused rooms we could use for our conference. The one we choose is dark, musty, and a bit smelly, but that's not the point.

"We can start a family," I blurt out, because at nearly twenty four he still makes me act like I'm sixteen. I can't hold in this excitement, and he crows with delight, hugging me tight and spinning me around.

"I can't believe it. I feel like my life can finally begin," he grins, pressing his forehead to mine before several hasty kisses. His smile is contagious and before long we're drunk on laughter that bubbled up from nowhere, kisses the only punctuation in the sound.

"Now, this doesn't mean we can abandon discretion." I wag my finger in front of him playfully.

"You mean we can't begin our little family right here?" He asks, his voice pitched low as he tugged at my sash suggestively.

"No!" I gasp, smacking away his hand with a grin.

It isn't long before I am with child again, hardly a year separating Kiku and my final child when he is born. Yes, my last and only child fathered by the man I am in love with is a bouncing little boy. Nobody knows that the child isn't Lu Ten's except for the three of us, but outwardly he celebrates the birth as if it were his own child.

In honor of his grandfather, who retired from his position as Fire Lord shortly before Hotaru was born, my little boy is named Iroh. My father-in-law actually teared up, telling us how honored he was that we named our only son after him. Sweet Iroh, the man who has been like a father to me in my later years. It is in his presence that I feel the most guilt for being so in love with the wrong man.

I am accustomed to taking tea with him at least once every two weeks just to get away from the stress of life. On one of these days, when little Iroh is toddling around at the age of two, the original Iroh surprises me.

"I am sorry for all of this," he begins, motioning vaguely with his hand. I'm not sure what he means until he continues. "You should not have had to marry for politics. No one should."

"How else would the war have ended?" I ask lightly. I am always reminded of how crucial this marriage was to end the war that could've gone on for a hundred years.

"Treaties could be made, trade would stabilize the trust between nations. It would have taken more time, yes, and more men would have likely died." Here he stared pensively into his tea cup and I wonder what he's thinking. "I was at an impasse. Should I sacrifice the happiness of two youngsters for the lives of men who already have families of their own?" Iroh shook his head slowly. "I am sorry it had to happen this way."

"Are you sorry to have four wonderful grandchildren?" I ask with a small smile. I know for a fact that he loves every one of those kids to death. Here he looks me straight in the eye, not accusatory, but honestly. Piercingly.

"Katara," he smiles, and that's all he says. He doesn't have to say anything else, because I know what he means with that secretive smile of his. I thought him blind to his nephew's interests, but it would seem that I am continually blind to others. Instead Iroh looks at the child named for him, his nephew's child.

I can only drink my tea in silence. What else is there to say? I wonder if Iroh has known from the start or if it is a more recent revelation. Surely Lu Ten wouldn't have told him, the shame it implies is too great for even him to admit.

"I am glad that you, at least, have found love here."

I cannot detect any trace of ill will from him and it relieves me. To have this man despise me would be to cut off my own hand. Little Iroh comes in from the garden, covered in head to toe in mud and turtleduck feathers and laughing gleefully.

"He definitely takes after his father!" The elder Iroh laughs. I've heard too many stories about Zuko mucking around with the turtleducks as a child. It only seems fitting that his offspring should follow suit. I excuse myself to tend to my filthy little child instead of calling the nursemaid.

"Mama, I want to-ew," Hotaru intercepts me in the hallway, trying to hold a wriggling Iroh. I gave up hope that I wouldn't need to change my clothes as soon as we headed out. Iroh is infinitely messier than any of the girls were, which presents a whole new set of challenges. Hotaru wrinkles her nose at the sight of us, pursing her lips to hold in a laughter.

"What is it, Hotaru?" I ask, plainly trying to not laugh at the situation myself. I think we both must look ridiculous, covered in the mud from the pond.

"I want to, uh, practice my firebending with uncle Zuko." Not that Zuko was actually their uncle, but it was a lot easier to say and understand. "And I wanted to know if you would watch." She eyed our dirtiness doubtfully.

"Why don't you warm up and we'll be there in a few minutes," I suggest, because even at seven my second oldest is a decent bender. I like to see how she progresses, though they tell me it is at an average rate. It makes no difference to me, I am proud of her anyway.

She nods and dashes away as I resume my journey to make my youngest presentable. I swirl the water around Iroh and usually it would be a game of catch the water, but this time I use my bending to expedite things. Hotaru is the only bender among the bunch so far, but they're all still young. I not so secretly hope that at least one of them will be a waterbender so I can pass down what I know, but it looks like Kiku or Iroh are my only hope.

I carry Iroh at my hip and all is fine until he sees "uncle" Zuko when we enter the training arena. As the children have grown older, their father has less and less time to spend with them. It's no easy task, running a nation, so I don't hold it against him. Besides, Zuko was more than happy to step in and act as a surrogate father. With no family of his own it was an easy role to step into.

I set Iroh down and he goes as fast as his short legs can carry him to his secret father just as they close a kata. Zuko is delighted to see him, laughing and spinning him in the air before blowing a raspberry on Iroh's stomach.

Hotaru giggles and waves at me. I wave back and let myself slip into the fantasy that both of these children are his, that all my children are his. That we have a happy, beautiful, real marriage.

I sit on the first bench and content myself with meaningful eye contact with Zuko. It is much easier these days to contain ourselves in public, now that we spend so many private moments alone. He grins at me, so much like that same carefree boy I first knew. In his late twenties he is handsome, but he would be handsome even if we were in our eighties.

The demonstration doesn't begin until Iroh is safely in my lap, but there isn't much danger except being kicked. Most of the katas are simple with little fire, but Hotaru has all the seriousness and concentration that reminds me of Lu Ten. Iroh and I both clap when she finished, bowing to her sifu and promptly beaming from ear to ear.

I hear footsteps on the stone behind me, turning to see Izumi who must have jumped the wall from an adjacent garden. The eldest of my offspring, she had a bossyness that Zuko claims she gets from me. She greets Zuko with a student-teacher bow, not that she has shown any bending ability yet, but because he teaches her in hand to hand combat. You never know when something like that could come in handy.

"Hey, where's Kiku?" Hotaru asks her older sister. It's not until I hear Izumi say that she thought Kiku was with Hotaru, and Hotaru thinking likewise, that I start to panic. It can't be that bad, right? How far could a three year get? Both girls have the decency to look guilty at least.

"We'll find her," Zuko assures them while Izumi adjusts her glasses distractedly.

We look like a motley crew, scouring the palace and calling Kiku's name. Everyone we pass joins the search until we meet the last person I expect to see. Holding my missing daughter at arm's length is Azula, of all people.

"I assume this brat is yours?" The woman grimaces as Kiku laughs at her, simultaneously conjuring a spit bubble. Not the most attractive thing, I know, but she's a baby for goodness sake.

"Thank you," I say for the first (and probably last) time in my life to her. I pass Iroh off to Zuko and collect Kiku into my arms. "Where did you find her?"

"Around." It's such a vague answer that I'm immediately suspicious. "Don't look at me like that. She was about to fall into a pond so I stopped her." Azula rolled her eyes. No big deal that she had saved my child from potentially drowning.

But, she had still saved her. Maybe Azula had something akin to humanity in her after all.