Katara, It has been exactly seven years since the war ended and I was crowed Fire Lord. It has also been exactly this long since we have seen each other. How have you been? I hope that your marriage with Aang has been...
Last year, an invitation had arrived in the mail. It was a wedding invitation from Katara and Aang. Zuko had plainly refused to attend; he had simply buried himself in work and forbid anybody to talk to him for the rest of the day. Eventually, Iroh had walked in and drummed some sense into the Fire Lord's brain. Zuko had, under certain circumstances, agreed to go to the wedding. And he tried, he really did. He made it about half way to Ba Sing Se before he gave up, turned around and sailed back home.
One year after and he were feeling incredibly guilty.
Suddenly, there was a loud series of raps on the door. Zuko clenched his fists and growled. Hadn't he specifically say that nobody was to bother him this hour? He calmed down and put on his usual stoic mask. "Come in!"
The door flew open with a strong gust of air. Zuko instantly took on a defensive stance, whipping out a stream of burning flame.
"Zuko!" A familiar voice called happily. The wind cleared and there stood a tall, bald man.
Zuko's fire dissipated. "Aang?"
"How are you doing?" The Avatar asked, walking up to clap him on the back. "I haven't seen you in years, what happened?"
"Work happened." Zuko answered bluntly. Aang had grown to be taller than him and that was saying something, as Zuko was a solid six foot two. He peered out the door and was amused to see his guards staring in both awe and shock. "Next time you visit me, try not to scare my guards half to death." He smiled. Zuko couldn't help it. As much as he did not approve of Aang's marriage to Katara, he was still his best friend.
Aang laughed, "Sure. Whatever you say Fire Lord."
Zuko rolled his eyes, "Are you staying for dinner? If so, I need to tell somebody to alert the cook."
Aang shook his head, "Oh no. I have to get back to Ba Sing Se tonight."
"Oh?" Zuko raised his brow, "What's the rush?"
Aang took a deep breath and beamed proudly, "Katara is going to have our baby!"
Zuko froze. Say what? "Pardon?"
"Katara's pregnant with our kid, can you believe it, Zuko?" Aang repeated with glee.
"Um, yeah." He blinked, thoroughly shocked. Aang. Katara. Baby? "C-Congratulations."
"Surprised, huh." Aang smiled, "I know what it's like. I was stunned too. I don't think I'll be ready for Fatherhood. You know. Being Avatar and all that."
"It'll come to you when it's time." Zuko responded automatically. The younger members of his court had gone through the same thing and had joyfully reported to Zuko. He had grown accustomed to it and always gave out the same answer. He watched as Aang moved to sit down on an extra chair and chattered away about how he wanted a boy and what he was going to name him…blah blah blah.
After taking a seat himself and listening to Aang finish his speech, Zuko finally asked, curiously. "So, you can all this way just to tell me that?"
Aang nodded, "Yup."
"Why couldn't you just send a message?"
"Oh, Katara really wanted the whole gang to be there when she goes through labor." Aang explained easily. "And since we were told the reason you didn't attend our wedding was because the invitation didn't reach you, we just wanted to make sure you got the news now."
Zuko nodded. Right, that was the excuse his Uncle had requested be told to the newly wed couple. "Thank you."
"No problem!" Aang's cheerful face turned serious. "You are coming, right?"
Zuko was silent for a while; he couldn't bring himself to turn down his best friend, especially since he was so…happy. "Don't worry. I'll make sure to come this time."
Aang grinned and leapt to his feet, stamping his staff down. "That's wonderful! Katara will be so glad." He turned towards the exit, "Well, I best be going. I'll see you at Ba Sing Se in three days!"
"Wait, three days?" But the young Avatar had already gone.
Zuko groaned. He propped his elbows on the tabletop and leaned his forehead on his entwined fists. "Dammit!" He hissed, glaring intently at the floor.
"Nephew…" Zuko didn't look up. "Nephew."
"What!" Zuko jerked his face up to glower at the beefy figure by the door. "What do you want, Uncle?"
"You have three days to get to Ba Sing Se." Iroh said calmly. "You best be packing, it's not much time."
Zuko returned to letting his head hang and press his forehead up against his clammy-feeling hands. "I don't think I can, Uncle." He mumbled sadly. "I lost."
Iroh looked at his nephew with an understanding gaze. He said nothing as he walked up to pat the Young Fire Lord's back.
Zuko closed his eyes and grit his teeth. Shoulders shaking and knuckles white, he finally allowed the years of pent up regret, sorrow and guilt consume him.
.:::::.
Zuko stood on the ship's dock and looked out at the fast approaching dock. He squinted, he could see tiny figured standing on the dock, the great walls stood tall, proud and hopefully useless.
"Sir! We will be docking in five minutes." A sailor said behind him.
Zuko nodded, "Okay."
After precisely five minutes, they docked and Zuko tried to keep his anxiety and nervousness down as he walked down the ramp and prepared for the worst. He had barely set foot on the dock before he was tackle-hugged by Sokka.
"Whoa!" Surprised, he took a step back and was given a sturdy punch to his arm by Toph. Zuko could hear the guards rustling and raised a hand in 'stop'.
They did.
"Zuko! How could you isolate yourself for seven years!" Sokka demanded, letting go.
"Yeah, Sparky. It's just not right." Toph added.
"Um…Sorry?" Zuko said, hesitantly. "But being Fire Lord is – "
"Yeah yeah yeah, we know." Toph interrupted with a grin and a roll of her pale-blue, forever unseeing eyes. "It's a lot of hard work and requires a lot of your time."
"Pretty much." Zuko nodded. He was mildly surprised at how different his friends looked. Sokka had grown to be almost as tall as he was with muscles, thick hair and a little stubble on his chin. He wore the traditional summer wear for the Southern tribe. He was no longer that lanky, awkward boy Zuko remembered him to be. Toph had grown too. She had her hair tied up into a long, thick and simple ponytail. She was about the same height as Sokka's shoulder with more feminine features. Her baby fat had long since disappeared. She wore the same clothes though, it only looked less baggy and more figure flattering.
"Enough chit chatting, let's head back to the house. Katara would be puh-issed if we take any longer." Sokka said, grabbing Zuko's wrist and pulling him off.
"Hey! I can walk by myself just fine." The Fire Lord protested with a scowl.
Toph walked beside him and laughed, "Just because your some smancy-fancy Fire Lord, doesn't mean we're gonna' treat you any different."
Zuko grinned, "I wasn't hoping for anything more."
As he was being led – or dragged – through town, he could feel the stares of the local population on his back. After inheriting the throne, Zuko had done his best to fund repairs and give any aid that was needed but the Fire Nation had done a tremendous amount of damage and even after seven years of hard work, the results were only starting to show. And not many people trusted the Fire Nation – this fact forced on a lot of pressure on his back since Zuko had to struggle to re-build and create new ties and trade agreements with the other nations. He had to be careful of his actions; one mistake and it could potentially ruin everything.
They finally stopped in front of a grand-looking house. Sokka and Toph ran ahead while Zuko hesitated a little before walking in, closing the door behind him. He swallowed to resorted to using his 'Fire Lord face'…in front of his best friends.
He felt disgusted at himself.
Zuko followed the voices into a bedroom of sort where he found the whole gang gathered. Katara was on the bed and in the middle of all the attention, her belly was swollen and she looked annoyed. Typical. The water bender never really liked so much attention trained on her. Aang sat by her side, an arm draped lovingly around her shoulders. Sokka and Suki were standing on the left side of the bed and Toph, on the right. He felt his heart lurch and his stomach twist in the most unpleasant way when he saw Katara and Aang.
Aang looked about the same as he had seen him, wearing the familiar orange, red and brown monk's outfit. Katara had let her hair grow and now it lay like a long, curly waterfall of chocolate behind her back. Her eyes were the same stunning sapphire-blue, her features seemed more mature thought chubby with pregnancy.
"Zuko's here!" Toph announced, catching everybody's attention.
He felt awkward standing by the doorway, dressed in full Fire Nation regalia. For the millionth time since he became Fire Lord, Zuko desperately wished to be adorning his comfortable Earth Nation costume.
"Zuko! You actually came, after seven years!" Katara sounded both surprised and happy. She grinned, "What took you so long?"
"Lots of work." He replied with an earnest smile. Zuko glanced at Toph; hopefully his lying was good enough. Luckily the blind girl didn't react and seemed perfectly content.
"How are you doing?" Katara asked, eagerly. "What's new in the Fire Nation?"
"I'm fine." Zuko answered moving to stand at the foot of the bed. "Not much, people just seem generally more happy."
"Aw, come on," Sokka snorted, "Seven years and that's all you can say?"
Zuko felt his temper flare a bit; Sokka had never failed to get on his nerves. "Politics isn't a very pleasant topic." He countered, calmly. "Besides, this re-union is about Katara, not me." He turned his attention to the water bender. "What's it like?" He asked, curiously, "To be bearing a child, I mean."
Suki giggled, "See? I'm not the only one curious."
Katara rolled her eyes, "It's like watching a watermelon grow in your stomach, that's what. It's probably going to hurt a lot too." She closed her eyes, an annoyed look on her face. "Those midwives better be good."
"They'll be fine," Suki said, "Why else do you think their called 'midwives'? They're supposed to be good."
"Yeah, but they…"
"Aw, we know, sis." Sokka interrupted with a shake of his head. He raised his fingers up in quotations, " ' they will never be as good as a genuine Water tribe healer'."
Everybody laughed and Zuko smiled.
Maybe…maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.
There came a sudden patter of footsteps. Toph looked up at the door and everybody followed her gaze.
A young maid stood in the doorway, looked exasperated. "It's Aunt Wu!" She cried, "She's passed out!"
Zuko frowned, "Aunt Wu?"
"Fortune teller person." Sokka explained hurriedly. Than, as if reading his mind, added, "Yes, she was invited to predict the life of the baby. You know, Aang, monk, spiritual stuff?"
Zuko nodded and stepped aside when Suki, Toph, Aang and Sokka hurried after the maid. He was about to go too but he turned to look at Katara.
The water bender seemed just as exasperated as the maid, except she had a feeling of fury and frustration around her. "Don't worry." Zuko said, catching her attention. "I'm staying."
Katara smiled softly, "Thank you. It can get pretty lonely you know?"
"Yeah, I know."
There it is! My very first Avatar fic, I hope you liked it.