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“You know what would make this all go away? If you would just tell me what the hell is going on with you!” Zuko finally snapped, slamming his hand down onto the balustrade, and gripping it with all his might in a bid to hold his temper at bay.
In the silence that emanated through their private quarters, a soft sniffle was heard from his partner before he watched her fold into herself, trying to find solace by hugging herself, as her thoughts and fears raced through her mind.
Releasing a sigh, he freed himself from his own frustration as he stepped closer towards her, hoping to offer comfort from whatever inner turmoil she was currently dealing with.
Slowly, he wrapped himself around her and gently pulled her against his chest. Inhaling the signature scent of his beloved, before he rested his cheek on her head as he softly spoke.
“Katara, you’re killing me here…” his raspy voice sounded.
“One second, you’re hot, then you’re cold, and when I try to touch you, you push me away, then not five minutes later, you’re practically begging me to rip your clothes off. You’re exhausted all the time and your moods can hardly be deemed stable at the best of times. I can clearly see that there’s something going on, but I can’t figure it out for the life of me.
I’m trying to be patient, to wait for you to come to me when you’re ready, but it’s been two weeks now, and I don’t know if I can take this anymore.
I want to help you, but I don’t know how.
Could you please just tell me what’s going on?” the Fire Lord begged.
Unable to hold back her tears any longer, she turned around in his arms and wept into his chest as he rocked and shushed her. Waiting for her to talk when she was ready.
After what felt like an era, she managed to abate her tears long enough to suck in a shuddering breath as she burrowed herself into him. Hoping to find the courage for what she needed to tell him.
For Spirits sake woman, stop being a coward and just tell him!
Zuko, you know how I said that it would take a while for something to stick? Well guess what? Something has stuck…
Zuko, we’re going to be parents!
Zuko, I’m late…
Zuko, I’m pregnant…
Feeling a shift in her demeanor, he stilled his movements as he stared off over her shoulder, wondering what on earth could rattle Katara so much that it would drive her to being so distraught. As the seconds passed, he felt her murmur against his chest after a sniffle, snapping him out from his reverie, though not quite catching the words as they were lost in the fabric of his robes.
“I’m sorry, what? I missed that.” He asked as he gently tried to coax her from out of his attire.
“What did you say?”
Fearing that she wouldn’t have the confidence to repeat herself. She tried to pull away from him when he managed to hold onto her, keeping her at arm’s length as his eyes searched hers for answers.
Stooping down lower to level with her, he reassured her with that innocent and hopeful look on his face.
“Kat, it’s me. You know that you can tell me anything.”
Mustering every last little bit of will power she had, she swallowed the lump in her throat and repeated herself.
“I said, I’m late.” Katara responded faintly, steeling herself for his reaction.
“What do you mean? What are you late for?” He asked, genuinely confused by the words that she spoke.
“No, Zuko.” She said as her eyes searched his, while she reached out to trace her thumb across his left cheek.
“I’m late.”
“O-okay?” He queried her, as he cocked his head to the side, still not understanding what his Fire Lady was saying.
With the weight lifted off her shoulders, and having relinquished her fear for his reaction, Katara suddenly found it hilarious that her incredibly smart yet dorky husband, who was building a city, helping reform the Fire Nation and work his way through the political mind field of his court, still wasn’t getting the message and thought to be more straightforward with her approach.
By moving his right hand around from her waist, she settled it on the front of her abdomen as she looked him directly in his eyes and chose much simpler words to explain what she was trying to tell him.
“Zuko, I’m pregnant.” She said, biting back a laugh at the stunned look on his face, once the words sank in.
******
Now fortunately for Zuko, who’s cognitive function usually fired at a more calculated and rapid pace but in this instance was clearly failing him, was receiving this news in the privacy of his bedchamber with his wife, otherwise he would have been subjected to wide spread gossip within his own household staff on the following things that happened to him, when he was told that she was expecting.
From the moment that Katara uttered the last three words, time seemed to speed up and slow down simultaneously in an impossible time flux.
The words played over and over again in his mind until they started becoming wavey and echoey, and repetitive all at once. Overwhelming him and consuming him, so that the only thing he could utter in response was a resounding “Oh” before he could hear his own heartbeat through his eyes, feel as if he was freezing and on fire all at once, and that the world began to swim around him.
The tipping point for this exchange was when he lost all feeling in his legs while his body felt incredibly heavy, and he managed to pass one final dumbstruck look at his wife before hearing a muffled “Zuko!” as he blacked out.
As the ringing subsided from his ears and he came back to his senses, he could make out all of three things;
- He was definitely laying down.
- Someone was holding his head as they gently carded their fingers through his hair.
- He remembered that he almost lost his temper at Katara because he was at his wits end trying to figure out what exactly was eating at his wife for her to be so out of character for the last two weeks.
With a smile, he dreamily looked up into the cerulean blue eyes of his wife and let out an awkward “Ha ha. For a second there, I thought you said you were pregnant.” As he closed his eyes, relishing in the feeling of using her legs as a pillow.
Before his words caught up with him, his eyes shot wide open and he bolted up in panic, to kneel in front of her, half crazed at the million and one thoughts flying through his head.
******
As tedious as it was to convince her husband that despite his fears, he would make an incredible father, Katara had to find an approach to their “trying for a baby” which didn’t feel as if it was methodical, scientific or burdening, and finally landed on the “let’s just have some fun and see if anything sticks, it usually takes a while anyway” approach to starting a family.
Three years, four months and sixteen days after they had married, she finally got him to come around and agree on their familial expansion which was two months ago, only for it to come to a grinding halt quicker than she would have liked to admit, but none the happier for it.
Katara, now found herself in the unique position of having to help her partner ground himself before he could work himself up into passing out again over their shared news. So, she gently maneuvered herself into a better position to avoid a dead leg, and held out her hand to soothe him.
“Breathe with me, sweetheart.
That’s it.
In and out.
Nice and slow.”
She coached him as she held his hand on her chest, while she placed the other on his, mirroring the motions of her breathing. As his breathing came back to normal and his heartrate dropped, she lowered his hand into her lap and patiently waited for him to string together his thoughts about the bombshell that she just dropped on him.
After what felt like an eternity, he spluttered another “pregnant?” in question as he searched her eyes for some form of truth, while his was laden with a maelstrom of emotion.
“Yes.” She said, as she reached for his hand once again, placing it on her stomach.
“Pregnant.”