Sometimes, life at the Fire Nation palace was stressful. The summer she and Zuko wed, she'd immediately sought to relieve some of that tension by scheduling mandatory summer vacations to Ember Island. It wasn't that hard to do, and she'd had the help of several of Zuko's staff members who thought their Fire Lord was working himself too hard. Practically the entire nation took three months off every year to vacation and recharge their batteries in various summer homes and long trips. There was no reason for Zuko to keep himself in the palace. Surprisingly, Zuko finally relented and came with her. It might have had something to do with his wife in a bikini, but a little persuasion was a good thing.

Everything changed when the kids were born.

It was cute with little Kurzu. Then the twins, Ira and Khan came along. Then elements were thrown around and rooms flooded and set on fire as Kya, then finally little Lei completed the set. In short, vacations weren't as relaxing as they once were.

Zuko offered to let Katara vacation on her own to the South to visit her family. She'd loved the quiet, had slept soundly. She'd gotten to have actual, grown up conversations that didn't always revolve around who was taking whom to what dance. She'd been able to visit with her nieces and nephews without hearing Zuko and Sokka get into that stupid one sword or two debate, and having the kids pick it up as well. It was relaxing. It was fun.

Therefore, when Zuko wanted to go on his own solo vacation, she couldn't deny him. Despite an eagerness that belied trouble. Despite that feeling in the pit of her stomach that said she might regret it. Despite his refusal to say where he was going or what he was doing. Despite noticing that he had packed his dao. Everything in her body told her that this wasn't a good idea. But she'd said yes, because he'd said yes to her vacation. And fair was fair.

Everything changed when Zuko came back with that egg.

"Katara, you can see inside it," he said, warming it.

"I don't want it to get cold," he said, stuffing it in his shirt.

"I don't trust it with anyone else," he said when he took it in council meetings.

When people asked what it was, he only smiled, and Katara would put her hands on her hips and glare holes in the back of his head, but he refused to acknowledge it. She'd banned the egg from the bed, so Zuko made it a nest in the drawer of the nightstand.

When it was ready to hatch, Zuko woke her up, then woke all of the children. They huddled in the playroom, Katara standing over them, exhausted. The kids held their breath as the shell began to crack, tiny flakes falling away. Katara didn't want to admit she was intrigued. She'd never seen a golden egg like that before. It was far different from the turtle duck eggs, and nothing like she'd seen at the zoo in Ba Sing Se, and despite wanting to be back in bed, snuggled under the covers, she found herself leaning closer over her husband's bare shoulders. The air around them became warmer, and she inhaled sharply as enough of the shell finally fell away that they could see a little red patch peeking through. The egg glowed faintly as Zuko warmed his hands, and more of the shell fell away until he was holding a tiny, wet, panting red dragon.

The children squealed excitedly and Zuko hushed them as the little thing lay breathing heavily. Even Kurzu, who claimed he was too old for all the "kid stuff" couldn't contain his excitement at this discovery. Its eyes open and closed a few times, and it made a tiny croaking noise. Katara just blinked dumbly because dragons weren't supposed to exist anymore. Ira was asking her father if she could touch it in a hushed, reverent tone. He shook his head, explaining that it was tired, that they should clean it and let it sleep.

Their little group broke up, and Zuko headed back to their suite to take care of the dragon, and Katara put the excitedly chattering children to bed. The guards in the hall looked questioningly at her, no doubt having heard a bit of the excitement, and having seen their Fire Lord with an undisguised look of joy hurrying down the hall. Katara only shook her head, still too confused, too numb to quite put into words what she was feeling.

"Where did you find it?" Katara asked when she returned to their room.

"How do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"

"Zuko—"

"What do they eat?"

"You don't…?"

Katara stared at her husband as he emerged from the bathroom, a fluffy red towel with a tiny red dragon bundled in his arms. When he looked at her, there was a softness and love in his eyes that reminded her of the way he always looked when he first held his children. The look of a proud father that said he would do anything for this little life. He'd once told her that he missed it when the children were babies. He missed holding them in his arms and rocking them to sleep. Katara sighed, deflating a little, moving to stand next to Zuko with his silly little half grin.

She put her hand on his arm. "I guess we'll have to research all of this in the morning." She sighed. "Where did you even find the egg? Zuko, no one's seen a dragon since Sozin's died."

"Aren't you glad you let me go on vacation?"

He planted a sweet, gentle kiss on her forehead, then sat on the bed with his new child. Katara wanted to be frustrated with him, to fuss at him for not even planning ahead when he'd so clearly intended to bring back a dragon. The sight of him there with that little bundle, though, all wrapped in red, and the way he was looking down at it, his hair hanging loosely over his shoulders, reminded her too much of other little bundles they'd held. She found that she couldn't be mad. Not tonight. Maybe in the morning.

In the morning, she could be only a little mad. Druk made his rambunctious debut during breakfast, much to the delight of the children and horror and awe of the staff. Zuko had no plans on making any official announcements, so when the servants entered the dining room with breakfast, they were terrified of the tiny lizard they saw racing around the table, red tail flying behind it. When the servants screamed, Druk screamed.

"Enough, Druk!" Katara yelled, like it was one of her children.

Druk yelled back.

"Here. Now."

Katara narrowed her eyes at the little thing, and it screamed again, but obediently made its way to her and curled up in her lap.

"I swear, you're just like you're father."

It was something she'd muttered about her children a thousand times when they were being disobedient. A few beats later, what she'd said sunk into her consciousness, and when she looked up, eleven pairs of gold and blue eyes were looking at her, all with wide smiles. And in her lap, Druk was looking at her, too. Overnight, overnight, the little beast had wormed its way into her heart. She couldn't very well say that they had to get rid of it. For spirit's sake, it was a dragon, a national treasure. If anyone had a dragon, it should be the Fire Lord. And Zuko did look so happy about this.

"What are you going to do if you find out it's a girl?" she asked. "You gave it a masculine name already."

Zuko only shrugged. "I dreamed it last night. I can change it, but I'm a little attached to Druk."

As breakfast was set out, and Druk smelled meat, he hopped up on the table and immediately pulled a piece of possum chicken from Katara's plate and started savaging it. When that was done, and he was looking for more, the dams broke loose on the children's excitement.

"I want to feed him next! I'm the first born firebending son, I should get to do it."

"You always say that, Kurzu!" Kya yelled, having mastered the Katara Finger Point.

"I get to do it! Khan said, snatching up the protesting dragon since he was closest to it. Druk yelled in protest and nipped at Khan's finger.

"See, it only likes firebenders," Ira, Khan's twin, said. She made a tiny flame, and Druk snapped at it, finally eating it. "That's because firebenders are the best."

"Mom, she's doing it again, make her stop!"

"Dad, can we all have dragons?"

"Waterbenders don't get cool pets, they get fish."

"We do not!"

"Mom, Lei's kicking me!"

"Enough! All of you." Zuko said, finally, raising his voice above the din. He called to Druk, and the dragon beat its wings, trying to fly, and did a sort of half fly, half walk over to him.

Druk did, in fact, turn out to be male. Four months after he hatched, he was the size of two large dogs, and word had spread through all the islands about Fire Lord Zuko's dragon. No one was sure what to make of it, particularly those who still considered Zuko the worst Fire Lord. How could they deem him unfit if a dragon, the only living one so far as they knew, thought he was worthy? Katara held out a little hope that this would prove to them that their marriage and their blue eyed firebending children, and their golden eyed waterbending children didn't spell the end of the Fire Nation, but a return to the greatness it had once known.

She and Zuko, and of course Druk, were enjoying a quiet summer afternoon in the gardens. The turtleducks did not like Druk one bit, though he was endlessly fascinated by them. Katara snuggled against Zuko as they watched the dragon jump in the pond with the quacking turtleducks, and they nipped at his wings, and Druk roared, nudging them around with his nose. It seemed to be a game to the bigger animal, one he was delighted to play for hours. His companions? Not so much.

"I'm surprised at how gentle he can be," Katara said. "He's great with the children, and particularly patient with Kya and her bows."

Zuko laughed softly, pleasantly, next to her.

"All the texts I've read say that dragons have a strong sense of family. He'll protect the children with his last breath."

They lapsed into a comfortable silence as Druk went completely still, then shot out of the water, muscular legs propelling him high into the air before he opened his massive wings with a snap, and a gust of air shot down at them. Katara shaded her eyes as Druk twisted in the sky, roaring, before landing on a balcony where Azula was. Zuko grunted in dissatisfaction, and Katara rolled her eyes.

Azula was playing one of their favorite games. She juggled a blue flame in her hands, and Druk snapped away, trying to catch it. She shot it high in the air, and the dragon took off after it. When that one was caught, she sent more, and Druk twisted and turned agilely, catching everything she sent toward him.

"She should have gone and found her own goddamn dragon if she wanted one so badly," Zuko said.

"Grow up, Zuko," Katara muttered, standing and going inside.

Some things never changed.

When he was a year old, he was big enough for Zuko to ride. Druk was probably as big as Appa, though it was hard to make a good comparison since his body was so differently shaped. Katara's heart was pounding in her chest and in her ears. Druk was big and strong, yes, but he was still so slim. Zuko assured her that he was all muscle, that he was sturdy enough, that Druk would keep him safe. Still, she couldn't quiet her fears.

Everyone was gathered in the courtyard in front of the palace. All of the children, Azula, Ursa, Minister Hau, Zuko's right hand, and Head of Household Staff and Mistress of Secrets, Mistress Yina. There were council members, and attendants, petitioners and servants, visiting dignitaries and citizens of all classes. Men, women, children, young, old. Everyone had come out to see this momentous occasion. The Fire Sages were trying to bless Druk, attempting to ask Agni for blessings for returning dragons to the Fire Nation and to guard their Fire Lord on this inaugural flight.

Druk was having none of it, growling at them, and shooting bursts of steam from his nostrils. The crowd gasped, afraid that he was unruly, but Zuko only laughed as the Fire Sages backed up, their incense holders spewing out pungent smoke, and Druk huffed at them some more.

"He doesn't like the way your incense smells," Zuko said, placing a calming hand on the dragon's head. He stroked the animal lovingly, and Druk wound himself into a circle around Zuko's feet, glaring at the sages.

Obediently, the sages backed away, bowing at their lord and his pet as Zuko knelt and spoke a few words to his dragon. Shakily, Katara stepped forward, and Druk uncurled, nudging her affectionately, then practically pushing her into Zuko's arms. Zuko hugged her, whispered that it's perfectly safe, that Druk would rather die than drop them, that nothing would harm them on their journey, that they wouldn't stay up there long unless she wanted to, that it was just like riding Appa.

"Wait, what?" She tried to jerk away from her insane husband, but he held on to her.

"There's no one else I could imagine sharing this journey with," he said, looking into her eyes.

He kissed her forehead, and Druk nudged his nose against them both before lowering so they could climb on. Zuko hopped on effortlessly, comfortably, looking for all the world like that was where he belonged. Katara's breath caught as she looked at him up there, his hand extended down to her. Such an odd, powerful feeling came over her, and in this one man, in this one moment, she saw everything that he was, and everything that he would be. She saw him as the arrogant thirteen year old who thought he knew so much more about the way the world should be than seasoned generals, as the terrified child forced to fight his father, the angry scarred sixteen year old who was the bane of her existence, and the young man who sought redemption and forgiveness for all that he and his nation had done. She saw him through the years, the first one to see her for the powerful bender she was and challenging her, the one to truly give himself freely to her. All these images flashed before her, him as he was during that final battle, pale and drained of life, lightning having ripped through his body and destroyed it.

Her breath caught again and tears stung her eyes.

She saw him on his coronation day, determined and straight backed, she saw him with his sister, gentle and patient and understanding, and on their wedding day, full of love and desire for her, and at Kurzu's birth, overwhelmed with emotion and promises to do things differently. She saw him standing up to those who would tear the world apart again, and she saw him, singlehandedly, keeping order and keeping peace.

"Katara?"

His voice pulled her out of these visions, and Zuko and Druk were both staring at her, and she knew how profound this moment was. Druk nuzzled her, and she held on to his face, and he lowered himself even more, probably feeling just how much she was shaking. She climbed on his back, positioning herself in front of Zuko, and he snaked his arms around her waist, kissing her shoulder. When she looked out over the crowed, everyone looked on with hushed awe.

Hau was the first to bow. Not the traditional bow of palm over fist, but a deeper, more reverent bow on his knees, his hands in front of him. Yina was the second, and that was all it took, and everyone was bowing before them, even the Fire Sages, even Ursa, even their children, tough she suspected they didn't understand the significance. Even Azula, grudgingly, bowed. When everyone raised their heads, Zuko urged Druk into a bow, and the three of them bowed in return.

"Never forget this day," Zuko said.

A slight tug on the reins, and Druk stretched his back and let out a mighty roar, louder than she'd ever heard him make before, and a brilliant jet of red flame shot from his mouth straight toward the noon sun, and with a mighty beat of his wings, they were in the sky, climbing higher and higher and higher.

"Open your eyes, Katara."

And when she did, the castle was far below her. Druk turned sharply, and this was so very different from riding Appa. There was much less animal between her and the sky and they flew through a cloud, startling birds as they went into a steep dive. She knew she was shaking, even as she absolutely enjoyed the feeling of the wind and the clouds and the sun, but behind her, Zuko was steady, like he was born for this. Druk let out another roar as he swooped low over the crowd below him.

Never forget this day, Zuko had told them. She didn't think any of them would.

A/N: So, a bit of happiness amidst all the angst I've been posting. I think Zuko returning with a dragon would be a momentous occasion for the Fire Nation. I think his first order of business, though, would be to write Sokka and brag about it, then fly down to the South, unannounced to show off some more. But I like to imagine that having a dragon would "legitimize" Zuko's reign just a little more. If dragons are symbols of strength and power, and everything that the Fire Nation is about, then Zuko's fairly legit, right? Not to say that this will make all the naysayers shut up, because believe me, they won't. They'd find another thing to complain about, for sure. It might make them think twice, though. Not really sure how dragons would play into this world just yet.