Chapter Text
Mai was not a crying person. She knew Zuko was though, which is why she almost rolled her eyes when he started bawling the minute he walked through the door.
“She’s beautiful,” he said breathlessly, awestruck as she was by the newborn in her arms. “She has your eyes.”
Yet no matter how predictable or obvious his emotions were, some days (most days, really) she loved him all the more for it. “She has your nose. Look.”
She handed the silent Yuka over to him. The candlelit darkness illuminated Zuko’s face as he intensely compared their noses. “She does?”
“Yes, idiot!” Mai looked at Yuka’s perfect face with its perfect features. “Look, darling, that’s your dad.”
Yuka stared at Zuko, eyes wide with wonder and life. “Hey, she does have a very cute nose. Yuka, I’m your father! Your father. Goodness, Mai...I’m a father! We’re parents!”
“Zuko, you knew this nine months ago,” she said with a teasing smile.
“It’s just...so different now that she’s here. Really, really here.” Mai knew what he meant. She herself was still processing it. Zuko looked down at his daughter again, his mind still and frantic all at once. “You are the Crown Princess and you are our daughter. The world better watch out for you, Yuka. You’re going to rule the Fire Nation one day and become a better ruler than I ever will be.“
“Not to mention much better looking.”
Zuko let out a throaty laugh - a rarity, given the nature of his office. “Hey, you told Ty Lee the scar makes me look handsome!”
“And I meant it. You honestly do. But our daughter is just…” she looked down at the bundle of red cloth in her arms, at the child she and Zuko brought into the world. “Just something else,” she finished with a sigh.
“She is.” Zuko was still crying. He sniffled some more.
“Oh for Agni’s sake, don’t shower her with tears already! She's not even a day old!” Mai laughed as she grabbed a clean cloth from the bedside and handed it to Zuko.
His smile stretched wider. Is that possible? Spirits, I love this man. “Rather my tears than your knives.” Zuko stroked Yuka’s red cheeks. It was the gentlest action she’d ever seen him do. Years of being Firelord had taught Zuko how to be lenient, but moments like this reminded Mai that Zuko was still learning how to be soft. How far he’s come. How far we’ve all come. “Our friends are going to spoil her. Toph especially.”
“Sokka especially. Have you seen how many things that man has collected in the past three years? And I’ll never forget the time he tried to give Kiyi a damn shark-tooth saw for her birthday!”
Ever since Zuko released the Kyoshi Warriors from his service (Zuko claimed he was safe enough, nevermind the assassination attempts that still occured once or twice a year. In reality, he and Suki knew most of the Warriors dearly missed home and that they had already done more than their fair share in keeping him safe) Sokka and Suki roamed the world in their own personal airship. They had collected all sorts of items and rarities, from a fully-intact dragon skull to the 38th Earth King’s crown to Sokka’s lost space sword. Such was their notoriety that they were known all over the world as “The Sky Wolves”. Maybe I can ask the Wolves to bring me a book on how to raise a child the next time they visit.
“To be fair, that saw has come in handy. Agni, those two have more trinkets than they’ll know what to do with for their entire lives. But... maybe what Yuka needs to rule is a Badgermole skeleton throne. Which I know they have because Sokka was sitting on one the last time I visited the Island. Where did he even get that thing?” Zuko shook his head.
As if in acknowledgement, Yuka’s tiny mouth opened and closed.
Mai rolled her eyes at her husband’s rambling as he tenderly passed Yuka back to her. “Maybe we save the gifts for later. I want her all to ourselves right now.” And we will never fail you, Yuka. You represent the hopes and dreams of a new generation. One that will, spirits willing, never know the horrors of war.
“Me too.” Zuko kissed his daughter’s forehead, then his wife’s. “And I never want to let either of you go.”
As Zuko hummed to her and Yuka, Mai smiled and drifted back to sleep as the sun finally rose above the sleeping land.
---
The bells in the Capital City rang from dawn till dusk on the day of Princess Yuka’s birth. Within twenty-four hours, news of the first royal childbirth in almost two decades reached every corner of the Fire Nation. Within forty-eight, the rest of the world knew it as well.
As the Firelord, Fire Lady, and their household braced for the incoming flood of gifts and dignitaries who would come to pay tribute, the people of the Fire Nation rejoiced and flooded into the streets. How could they not? The first noble child - not to mention the first child from the Avatar’s circle of friends - born after the Hundred Year War signified the first real sign of peace, that the world was truly moving on from the horrors it had witnessed for a century. Fireworks, smoke, colors, and light filled the capital city all through the night and did not lessen until a drunken Komodo rhino race that caused a dozen injuries in the early morning prompted Firelord Zuko to increase police presence until the capital settled down.
The former Princess Azula did not share in the revelry. She watched the last remnants of smoke dissipate from the afternoon sky from a mountain cave a few miles from the capital. A niece. I have a niece. Maybe if I conta-
“The Fire Lady finally squeezed out an heir, huh? Azula, this could be the opportunity we’ve been waiting for!”
Hanza, one of Azula’s loyal followers in her band of Kemurikage, approached the cave opening. The tall, brunette woman was waving a flyer that announced the royal birth. Crown Princess Yuka is born, healthy and strong! She will usher in a hundred years of peace! it stated.
Azula wanted to laugh. A hundred years. Just the sort of ridiculous ambition Zuzu and Mai would aim for. “I figured. The bells only ring for three other reasons: a wedding, a death, or a foreign attack. The noise from the capital could only indicate a birth, unfortunately.”
Her follower’s eyes looked at her questioningly. “Azula, didn’t you hear what I said? This could be the opportunity we’ve been waiting for!”
“What do you mean ‘opportunity’? What does Zuzu’s brat have to do with his rule?”
Hanza glanced at Azula incredulously. “If we kidnap her, we can make whatever demands of Zuko that we want! This could be the path to undoing his reign that we’ve been searching for for years!”
The former princess’s hands balled up into fists at her sides. “And have the entirety of the Fire Nation’s military on our backs within the hour? Are you daft? Our mission has been about subtlety, about sending messages that let him know our...dissatisfaction." Azula couldn’t believe she was hearing such an idiotic idea. Her mood soured even more, which she didn’t think was possible. "Don’t speak of this idea ever again.”
Her warning went ignored. “We’ve been ‘subtle’ for the past three years. What’s been accomplished? I say it’s time for something new. The world is changing and celebrating. We can’t let them forget about us.”
Something snapped in Azula. Something that had been festering for years. Had whispered to her go home. This life isn’t yours. None of it is. Azula reached out and grabbed the front of Hanza’s shirt, fury etched onto her face. “We are not kidnapping - or otherwise harming - that child.”
The taller woman shoved Azula back. “Well when the fuck did you grow soft? We used to be the thorn in the Firelord’s side, harassing his lackeys at every turn and never getting captured. Not once did you ever show any regret about working against your own family either. But we’ve lost our purpose now, under and because of you. I never questioned you before. But now? I know I have to because you won't take what's right in front of you.”
Only a split second passed before Hanza’s eyes widened and she realized the line that had been crossed. She reflexively moved her head to the side to dodge the bolt of blue and replied with a forward sweep of fire from her right leg.
It met air. Azula ducked and twisted to the right and swept her leg under Hanza’s left, bringing her down. Her back bore the brunt of the fall and Hanza thrust a wild fire fist out in Azula’s general direction. The flames went low and Azula went high. Jumping and gripping a hanging rock on the cave ceiling, Azula leapt to the other side of Hanza’s body.
By the time Hanza got to her feet, Azula buried a fist in her stomach. “All these years and this is how you fight? Shame. Even Zuzu could sweep the floor with you, Hanza.” Azula dodged Hanza’s sloppy left flame with disdain before ramming her into the cave wall with her shoulder.
Hanza let out a loud oomph and her stomach flexed slightly inward, a momentary signal of a firebender about to let loose fire breath. Quick as an eel-hound, Azula grabbed the sides of Hanza’s head with her hands and yanked it downwards to meet her rising right knee. “Had enough?”
“Fucking...coward...use bending,” gasped Hanza. Azula punched her with a clean, quick strike to the face.
“Kidnapping a child is what a coward does.” She punched Hanza again. This time she fell to her knees, head bowed in shame. “I didn’t even have to use bending, dear Hanza. Reflect on that the next time you think of challenging me.”
Her subordinate’s head snapped up in anger at the insult. “You may be the most powerful of us, but you should reflect on where you’re leading us.” She spat out blood to the side, refusing to meet her superior’s eyes.
“Funny, I don’t hear anyone else complaining.” It was a lie, Azula knew. She knew her Kemurikage companions had been whispering the same sentiments Hanza dared spit to her. She herself was plagued with the loss of guidance far longer than they had been. We’ve been drifting aimlessly for months...years. We have no purpose. I have no purpose. Azula was leading them with smoke and halfhearted belief - hardly the stuff of freedom fighters. The thoughts remained kept to herself, as they had always been.
“Once the rest of the girls return, you will remain under guard everyday until I say otherwise. You will not be allowed to go on missions. Or venture into town. And if you try to escape, I will cut off your head myself.”
Later that day, Azula wondered about the cost of mercy, and of ruthlessness.