Unexpected

by LizBee

Mai had been dreaming of warm places, spicy food and bright sunlight. Consciousness, when it presented itself at last, was cold and very much unwelcome. She opened her eyes, groaned, and huddled deeper into her furs.

Zuko appeared at her side, looking sleepless, worried and just a bit smug. He had a furry bundle in his arms.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I don't know," said Mai. "Did I just have a baby?"

"A couple of hours ago, yeah." The furry bundle made a chirruping, hiccuping sort of noise.

"In an igloo?"

"That bit was sort of unavoidable."

Mai thought back over the preceding day.

"Was Katara shouting at me?"

"You sort of threw a knife at her grandmother."

"She was telling me to breathe. I know how to breathe. I've been doing it for twenty years." Mai thought about it some more. "Did I miss?"

"It ... depends what you were aiming for?"

"Oh."

"You hit the wall."

"That's probably for the best."

Mai drifted into a doze for a little while. Eventually she roused herself again and said, "Can I see it?"

She sat up, and Zuko and put the bundle in her arms.

It was tiny, much smaller than her brother had been, and mostly purple, with a cap of fine black hair on its head.

"Katara says he's healthy," said Zuko, "just small."

"So small."

Mai traced the baby's lips with her finger. Instinctively, he started to suck.

"Kanna says that's good," Zuko added. "He'll put on weight quickly." He hesitated. "Only there are no wet nurses here. They don't use them in the Southern Water Tribe."

"Figures," said Mai. She pulled the furs aside to count tiny little fingers and toes.

"My uncle's going to be so happy.

"My mother's going to kill me."

"Why?" The Avatar appeared in the entrance, his natural exuberance thankfully muted by the awareness of the baby. He peered over Zukos shoulder. "He looks like this statue of an old monk in the Northern Air Temple." Becoming aware of Zuko's scowl, he added quickly, "I mean, he was a very wise monk. And, you know, cute. In a - monkish sort of way. Why's your mom going to kill you, Mai?"

"First grandchild? Birth of a new Fire Nation prince? She's been planning this since I was eight. The food I can eat, the clothes I can't wear, the most auspicious hours for labour to begin."

"She didn't even want Mai to come to the wedding," Zuko added. "Said it was dangerous to go an on airship at all, let alone into the cold."

"I swore I'd be fine," Mai said. "And I was. Right up until I went into labour a month early and gave birth in an igloo." Despite herself, her mouth twitched. "And she's on the other side of the world, and can't tell me how I'm doing it wrong."

"Oh yeah," said Aang, "that reminds me, Katara's Gran-Gran says she doesn't mind about the knife. Says at least you're not a firebender. Sorry, Zuko. I'd maybe steer clear of Katara and Master Pakku for a while, though. Can I hold him?"

Reluctantly, Mai turned her son over to the Avatar, who looked less like the holy bridge between two worlds and more like a gangly seventeen year old who had just volunteered for something he didn't quite understand.

"You need to support his head," said Sokka, entering.

"It's okay," said Zuko, "come right in. Not like we're having some family time."

"Your wife went into labour at my wedding. I'm totally owed baby time." Sokka took the baby from Aang, handling it with surprising competence. "Who's a good little prince, eh?"

The baby began to wail. Zuko snatched him out of Sokka's hands and returned him to Mai, who was just beginning to wonder where her knives got to. If Toph turned up, she promised herself, all bets would be off.

Thankfully, the interlopers were preparing to leave. Sokka paused on the threshold.

"So," he said, "if a Fire Nation baby is born in foreign territory, doesn't that mean it doesn't count as a proper Fire Nation citizen? For, like, inheritances and so forth? Wow," Sokka shook his head. "That's going to be awkward. Unless you conquer the Southern Water Tribe or something. He paused. "Don't conquer the Southern Water Tribe."

He left. Mai and Zuko looked at each other.

"I'm the Fire Lord," he said. "I can make new rules."

Mai said nothing.

"I can! I mean, I can try - I mean," Zuko sank down on the bad, looking horrified. "Mai," he said, "our son is less than a day old, and already we're screwing his life up. We're the worst parents ever."

"Yeah," said Mai, "and you haven't even set his face on fire yet." She shifted, trying to move without disturbing the baby. "While you're thinking about all the ways we can ruin his life," she said, "maybe you can think about asking Katara to teach you how to change a diaper."

Zuko swallowed.

end