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Enough years have passed that the world is no longer in imminent danger, and Fire Nation has discovered a new threat: they are going to need an heir. Zuko is well into his twenties at this point, but has absolutely no intention of getting married.
He remembers the girls who tried to foist themselves on him when he was younger and unscarred, and they have started up again lately. Their confident and wandering hands sends him excusing himself to the bathroom during most royal events, steading himself against the sink with calming breaths so that his body doesn’t crumble into a Gay Panic Attack (its like a regular panic attack, but Gay). He knows the royal court would never accept him in the relationship he would want, and he really does not need another reason for the court to disapprove of him. But he also recognizes that producing an heir is one of the most important duties of his station, especially since there are no more royals available. If there is no heir, the nobles will start a civil war over their claim to the royal bloodline the moment Zuko is dead, and that is the last thing the nation needs. So, Zuko needs to figure out a solution, and soon. He could have just arranged a marriage of convenience with Mai, but she left for Kyoshi Island years ago, where same sex relationships are more accepted, even revered (its practically a requirement to join the Warriors). Zuko envies Mai, but he can’t just abandon his Nation.
Zuko spends every spare moment stressing over this issue until an official makes a stray comment about how the Fire Lord could always take on a concubine if things get desperate enough. He doesn’t support the tradition of royals having concubines, but it brings up a point he hadn’t considered. After a little research, he discovers that a child conceived out of wedlock by a royal still has a perfectly valid claim to the throne as long as the royal in question isn’t married. This could work. He’s not sure how yet, but it’s a start.
After a few months of preparation, Zuko announces to the court that a royal heir has been conceived through a willing surrogate of proper social standing. She agrees to release all custody of the child at their birth, and will remain in her village undisturbed until the birth, at which point the Fire Lord will arrive to collect his heir. Zuko produces paperwork proving her existence and the legitimacy of the unborn child’s claim to the royal bloodline, and the royal officials are so overjoyed that they don’t scrutinize the (fake) documents closely. As preparations begin for the birth of a future crown prince or princess, Zuko realizes that he will have to produce a child at the end of these remaining months. He hasn’t figured out that part yet.
Originally, he figured he could proposition a woman who was already pregnant and planning on adoption. But there were too many factors, and too much risk involved. So he settled for the fact that there was not much he would be able to do until the time when his “child” would be born. The Gaang is very confused by the whole series of events (they suspected his preference long ago) but Zuko maintains that he was simply doing his duty and that the surrogate was of no consequence and would not play a part in his future once the child is born, and eventually the group accepts this as an answer. They are too busy with their own growing families to fight the stubborn Fire Lord.
The months passed, and a loose plan is created. Zuko will travel to the supposed island where the “surrogate” is, and his guards will remain on the ship while he goes to collect the child. The guards only allow this as Zuko has proven that he could loose them with ease if he wanted and that he is perfectly capable of taking care of himself for twenty-four hours. There hasn’t been an assassination attempt in years anyway. So Zuko travels onto the island on his own, and just under twenty-four hours later he returns to the ship carrying a small bundle. Royal nursemaids are poised and ready to take the child, but Zuko clutches the bundle closer to his chest and says that there will be no need. All aboard the ship notice that there has been a sudden shift in the Fire Lord’s demeanor. Zuko had grown more confident and secure in the last several years, but this man with a child in his arms looked genuinely comfortable in his skin, a sight none of them had ever seen. He stood up straighter, sounded more secure as he gave the orders to return to Caldera, and walked the ship with the ease of man with less trauma induced anxiety. Zuko felt it too, had felt it the moment he held his daughter for the first time.
Within days after their return to the palace, scandalizing rumors spread. The Fire Lord’s parenting choices are far more hands-on than most self-respecting royal men would consider. Agni above, he was more hands-on than ANY noble had been in generations. He never left his child for more than moments, taking her with him everywhere he went, only letting her go to be nursed and to sleep. Speaking of which, he was co-sleeping with his child, a practice only done regular peasants. The palace staff regularly reminds the Fire Lord that there is an extravagant nursery prepared for the princess, but he waves them off. He would rather be near her when she awakes from sleep.
Most of his meetings these days are about non-urgent matters, and he brings Izumi with him to all of them. He talks to the child constantly, reads anything and everything to her, takes her for walks on the grounds to explore nature. The palace rumors slowly disappear, as the sight of the two royals together becomes familiar. The child learns to walk in the long corridors of the palace, and develops impeccable manners shortly after she begins to speak. (Zuko had hoped that her first word would be “Dada”, but he laughs when she says “Uko” instead, mimicking the name she hears her father called more often)
Izumi shows her first sparks not long after she turns two, and Zuko lets out a sigh of relief he didn’t know he was holding. His love for her would not have lessened if she was a non-bender, but he did not want to deal with the fight he would need to have with the Fire Sages to throw out tradition and allow a non-bender to ascend to the throne. Izumi is presented at the temple of Agni as a viable heir to the royal throne, and the nation rejoices as Zuko quietly walks his daughter back to their royal suites; they have had a busy morning and Izumi is due for a nap (and so is Zuko).
The princess doesn’t begin proper fire bending training until she is nearly five, the same age where Zuko decides to reclaim his room. While he certain sleeps better knowing his daughter is safe at his side, he knows that she needs to become more independent. Her room is right next to his anyway; she could never be very far away. Many fire bending masters vie for the position of teacher for the young princess, but Zuko continues to surprise the court by insisting that he will teach Izumi himself. He remembers how roughly his own teachers pushed him, insisting that he work harder and longer to live up to his station. There is no war, no reason for Izumi to work harder than she is comfortable. He starts her with gentle breathing exercises, and slowly moves into basic forms. She advances quickly, showing natural talent that nearly rivals Azula. Unlike Azula, Izumi prefers to use her bending to start campfires and melt chocolate. They go camping fairly often, because fire bending is only one skill and Zuko wants to make sure his daughter learns the value of getting her hands dirty. They also venture into towns in disguise (well, he’s in disguise) so she can learn how the rest of the world lives. She learns the value of food and money, and how to talk to people who aren’t paid to like her. She treasures these outings with her father, and as she gets older she appreciates the importance of the trips and how they will help her rule with a humble hand one day.
Zuko allows royal tutors to take charge of Izumi’s formal academic education. He can teach her what she needs to know about royal court expectations, but she still needs to learn how to read and write. Plus, the math he does these days has more to do with complicated taxes, and less to do with counting how many mangoes are left when three are taken away. He takes special pride in the fact that she is the first generation of royal children to learn the true history of the Fire Nation, not one littered with lies and propaganda. His only insistence is that she is taught with other noble children her age, not hidden away to be taught alone. She makes friends with an ease he wishes he had at her age, and he is always willing to drop whatever official report he is supposed to be reading to listen to the stories of her adventures with her playmates. He braids her hair every morning before lessons, and brushes it out every night hanging on her every word as she tells him what she has learned. She is not only intelligent, but also smart, and is kind to others and herself. Zuko is immensely proud of her, and he tells her often. But not as often as he tells her how much he loves her.
Despite her new schedule, Izumi still joins him for most meetings during the day. Zuko explains this as part of her education as crown princess, but he just likes having her there and she enjoys herself too. Once in a while, Zuko will get bored and make an excuse to leave the meeting, telling Izumi that she can be in charge. The officials don’t really know how to fight him on this, and they definitely do not have the balls to fight Izumi. Agni knows there is no power like a five year old with the natural confidence of an unshakable mountain who has just been told that she can be in charge. She can see through the true intentions of shifty officials and points out obvious flaws in logic. Sometimes Zuko won’t leave just because he is bored, but because he knows that the officials are less likely to argue with Izumi and maybe some actual progress will be made.
It is around that time that Izumi begins asking questions about his scar. It has finally occurred to her that he wasn’t born with it, and while she isn’t completely sure it was caused by fire, it does look like some of the smaller burns she has sustained during training over the years. Zuko grudgingly tells her a half lie, he hates lying to her and makes it a point to do it as infrequently as possible, but he does not want her to associate his scar with something that is An Option For Fathers. Instead, he tells her that he got it Trying To Do The Right Thing and she is satisfied with the answer. Many years later, she learns the truth in one of her history lessons, and bursts into his chambers crying. When she says what she has learned, Zuko is scared that she is angry that he lied to her. Instead she throws her small body around him and sobs because “why would he do that to you daddy”. Zuko holds his daughter as they both let tears flow. The only reactions he has ever had to his scar were awkward pity and whispers behind his back. But Izumi reminds him that what his father did was Wrong and Horrible, and it is more than ok to be upset about that, even at his age. (He makes a mental note to make sure she is not told where his father is kept until she is older and more mature. She may only be ten, but she has clearly developed bloodlust for One Man and no one would be able to stop her.)
Izumi grows up to be a well-adjusted child and eventually young adult. She has unshakable self-esteem and wisdom beyond her years. Her upbringing has allowed her to feel comfortable with the world she will inherit, but it hasn’t gone to her head. The palace staff dotes on her, and she has aunts and uncles who love her, and one particular great-uncle who teaches her the important art of brewing tea. As much as she loves the palace kitchen staff, she understands now why her father insists on making his own tea. She adores her father, and if she ever felt the need to rebel (she rarely did) she would find very little to rebel against. Her father supports her unconditionally and has an easy relationship with her that he could have only dreamed of with his own father.
It is because of this easy relationship that she requests a formal hearing with him when she is closer to the age he was when she was born. With a steady voice she tells him that She Is Ready. She has already produced several heirs of her own, and she and her husband have agreed that their baby making days are done. Ever since she was crowned Princess Regent at eighteen, she has been doing nearly all the duties of a full Fire Lord (she was doing them before then too, but only then was it official) and there was no reason why she shouldn’t take her place on the throne now. She told him that he would always be honored as the most influential Fire Lord, one given abundant blessings from Agni himself, but he had earned a real break ages ago that he would never take unless she made him. Zuko tells her that he will have to consider her offer, and that she is dismissed. She doesn’t fight him, already assuming that he would need to check the legality of the offer. She wouldn’t have needed to fight him anyway; he had done the research years ago, and had just been waiting for her to pick her moment.
The proclamation is made the next day, in one month’s time Fire Lord Zuko would abdicate from his position, and allow the Crown Princess to claim her birthright and rise to the throne. It is the first bloodless transfer of power the Fire Nation has seen in countless generations. He stays for a few days after the coronation to take part in the celebration and ease the transition, but leaves the palace quietly in the night to begin his long awaited vacation. Izumi still catches him as he packs his air balloon, knowing her father well enough to know he wouldn’t want to make a big deal out of his departure. He promises to call as often as possible, write when he can’t call, and visit often. She may be Fire Lord now but he still worries. She rolls her eyes but holds her father in a close embrace.
Izumi had first asked where she came from when she was six. Zuko told her that he had prayed to Agni for a child more beautiful than the sun, and that Agni saw fit to answer. She loved this story until she was old enough to realize that she had to have had a mother, and asks once again. Zuko tells her that there was a woman that Agni used to bring Izumi into this world, but that she had been nothing more than a vessel for the lord of fire. Izumi is content for a time, but eventually asks about her mother further (she has since discovered exactly where babies come from). Zuko says that he doesn’t know who she was, that he met her exactly twice, the day Izumi was conceived and the day she was born. He tells Izumi that he had never wanted to marry, but needed to produce an heir. Even though she was only created out of duty, Zuko assures Izumi that he knew he would love her long before she was born and that he intended to love her even when he joined the spirits. She is finally satisfied, and does not ask again.
The night before her coronation, Zuko asks his daughter to meet him in secret, in a spot on the palace grounds they used to frequent when they wanted to hide away from the royal world. It is there that Zuko tells her the truth. He tells her how he could not bring himself to go against his true self, even to perform an essential duty. He recounts the twenty-four hours on the island where he claimed she would be born, how he wandered the countryside in disguise until he discovered an orphanage. He snuck into the building and inspected the sleeping children, until he heard a knock at the front door and the matron went to investigate. A baby had been dropped at the doorstep, and Zuko had listened from his hiding place as the matron complained to her husband that they barely had enough money to feed one more mouth, and there was no guarantee the baby would thrive anyway, she was just so tiny. Zuko had waited until the sleeping baby had been put down to rest, and went to make his own investigation. What he found was the most beautiful child he had ever seen, tiny and perfect in every way. He lifted her into his arms and felt a sudden rush of calm run over him. There was no question that the spirits had meant for their paths to cross, and Zuko did not think twice about climbing back out the window and walking back across through the countryside to the waiting ship.
Izumi is moved by this story, but immediately understands the underlying significance: she has no legitimate claim to the throne. She is supposed to be crowned tomorrow and it will be the conclusion to a lie that could bring untold consequences if it was revealed. She will not tell anyone, not even her husband or her children, but she can’t help but shake with fright the next day until the very moment the golden flame is fastened to her topknot. At that moment, she feels her usual calm again, and puts the truth out of her mind to focus on the future.
She can’t help but shed a few tears as she waves goodbye to her father in his air-balloon, looking up at the man who gave her life and sacrificed much at his own expense to give it to her. She will never be able to repay him, but she can try, turning back to the palace to plan for the next day of meetings.