[Hello! :D Just a quick note! I've been sitting on pieces of this for a while now. I almost dropped it during Summer Kataang Week but then a bunch of you also wrote Pregnancy Kataangst so I figured I'd take a little bit more time with it. Still not fully satisfied with it - when are we ever - but I've been staring at it too long so up it goes. Ha ha.]

xXXx

Before he was Firelord, Zuko was a Prince.

People often assumed this was little more than a life of luxury, of indulgence and laziness. They had no idea what it meant to be raised to be a leader. A royal family was not like other families. It was the type of family for whom plotting and intrigue were commonplace. For Zuko this had been true even within the palace walls, especially after his mother was gone.

He sat with his arms folded, scowling. Only a matter of years ago, a meeting like this would have made sense to him, might even have excited him for its secretiveness. Now he was just uncomfortable and it troubled him that he couldn't pinpoint the moment at which this change had occurred. He sat in a conference room in the Fire Nation Palace - since the end of the war his life had become a never ending corridor of conference rooms - the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe Representatives sat across the table from him.

The Water Tribe Representative was called Iluq. Newly selected from the Northern Water Tribe, he was young and ambitious but also quick-witted and intelligent. Zuko liked him. The Earth Kingdom Representative - a man named Shin - was another story. The Earth King typically sent him for issues of great importance, since he was known for his shrewdness and obstinacy. He was also old and grew annoyed easily, a trait Zuko often exploited.

Aang was not present. Zuko shifted uneasily, eyeing the seat next to him that his younger friend would otherwise occupy.

"Are you listening to me, Lord Zuko?" Shin asked.

He met the man's stare and frowned, "I'm listening. I don't particularly care for what I'm hearing."

"The Avatar is sixteen." As if he wasn't sure whether he was getting his point across, Shin added, "That means he is of age now."

"I know what it means," Zuko snapped, despite himself.

The older man nodded, "We should contact him about this as soon as possible."

Zuko shook his head tersely, "He has more than enough to worry about without us pressuring him about this, too. Frankly, WE have more than enough to worry about."

"I must respectfully disagree. The question of balance is something that should concern all of us. It would behoove the Fire Nation most especially to project an image of active interest in these matters."

Zuko had to bite back an angry retort to this rebuke. He glared across the table, "My people know our role in history. We don't need to 'project' anything. Our interest in these matters is genuine."

"So you say." Shin steepled his hands on the table in front of him, "His obligation in this could be very minimal if that were his preference. We could provide a group of volunteer women who-"

"Stop," Zuko interrupted, "Don't say another word. He'd be so insulted. You're forgetting that the Avatar was raised by monks. The idea of fathering children on multiple women is not likely to appeal to him on a number of levels. Besides, he's totally devoted to Katara."

"The Water Tribe girl?" the old man clarified. Iluq smirked a little, feigning sudden interest in the paperwork in front of him, "If that's the case, why haven't they announced their intentions?"

Zuko shrugged, "A formal announcement wouldn't even occur to him him. It's not his way. And he's still a teenager, in any case. Would you have been ready to father an entire nation at his age?"

The man frowned and for the first time since this topic had been broached, he seemed genuinely uncomfortable, "Some members of my Council wished to raise this issue even sooner but I found it...unseemly."

"How charitable of you," Zuko replied dryly. He sat back in his chair, "Hasn't he given enough in this war? He's still trying to build a life for himself without his people. We should let him have that, at least."

Iluq nodded, "I agree with Lord Zuko. We've asked so much of the Avatar over the last few years. We should table this for now."

"To what end?" Shin shot back, irritated at being outnumbered.

"Until he gets married?" Iluq replied with a shrug, "If what Lord Zuko suggests is true we may not have to wait much longer."

Zuko folded his arms across his chest, "And I'd appreciate it if we could keep our number of clandestine meetings to a minimum," he added, "He's not stupid."

"Fine," Shin grunted.