"Pema, dear, what's wrong?"

"It's…it's the press! They keep saying these horrible things about Tenzin and me! That I only want to marry him because of his status! Mom, I…I don't know…what to do…I can't take much more of it, and—"

"Calm down, sweetie. You know, I think I understand what you're going through."

"Dad wasn't famous."

"Well, I was in love with someone before your father, Pema."

"Really now?" It was hard for Pema to believe. Her young parents were so in love, it was hard to believe that her mom's affections had once been projected onto another man.

"Yes, it happened when I was a teenager. I was still living in Ba Sing Se at the time. You see, there was this kindly old man who ran a tea shop, along with his nephew. Now, the boy was quite the opposite of his uncle. Serious, stoic, and always brooding. But he…he piqued my interest. And not just because of his good looks."

"He sounds boring."

"Maybe to you, but he was so different from all the others. For one, he seemed like more of a man than a boy. Anyways, he took me on my date. It was…awkward, to say the least, he told me he worked in a travelling circus as the juggler. But we kissed. And it was amazing."

"So, what happened? Why didn't you go further?"

"Well, I saw him, a few weeks later, with another girl in tow. He said that she was the circus' knife thrower. I didn't think much of it. By the way the girl was treating him, I was under the impression that the two were not on good terms."

"And you thought this because…?"

"Because she placed a slimy fish on top of his head, as a target for the sharp icicle that she threw his way. And she offered me a turn, too."

"Oh."

"But then, I saw him, months later, with the same girl, being carried in his palanquin to the palace."

"Why? Were they criminals or something?"

"No. He was Firelord Zuko, and she was lady Mai."

Pema blinked pointedly, several times.

"What?!"

"Yes. Turns out that bad-juggling, awkward, tea-shop waiter Lee was actually the Firelord."

"Lee?"

"That's what he told me his name was. Now that I looked back on it, the truth was pretty obvious. Some ditz I must have been not to figure it out, huh? I took him to that fountain, the one with the lights, do you remember?"

"The one in the middle ring that you took me to when I was younger?"

"Yes, the very same one. Well, I took him there, and the lanterns weren't lit. So he told me to close my eyes. When I opened them, the lanterns were lit."

"Mom! It was obviously firebending, how could you not know that?"

"Hey, hey. I'm sure it must be pretty obvious now, but this was Ba Sing Se, remember? The time of brainwashing and such. 'There is no war in Ba Sing Se,' and all that. I'd have sooner called him and his uncle airbenders than suspect them firebenders. It was just too…unfathomable."

"So when you found out that he was fire nation, were you angry?"

"Oh spirits no, Pema! I fully understood why he had to lie. I would have done the same. But less convincingly. I'm not that good a liar."

"So did you still chase after him?"

"Of course not, honey! I may have been airheaded back then, but not idiotic enough to go after what was impossible to have. If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, it's yours to keep, forever. If it doesn't, it was never meant to be."

"That's stupid! You shouldn't have given up!"

"Zuko, or, Lee, rather, had never actually had feelings for me. A kiss does not a love make."

"So are you saying that Tenzin and I…"

"No! Tenzin loves you! Why do you think he chose you over Lin Beifong? Over all the other girls that asked for his hand in marriage?"

"Because…I don't know."

"Because he loves you. You loved him, but you saw him with Lin, so you let it go. He left Lin, and came to you. Now you keep him. And her."

Jin rubbed her daughter's protruding belly. A daughter, Katara had said. And an airbender.

"Yes," Pema mused, looking down at her swollen middle. "She is mine to keep."