I don't own the Avatar: the Last Airbender or any of its characters.


                                                        Parents
                                               (Patter of Tiny Feet 2)



The waiting hall was completely silent if we didn’t count the footsteps of a worried Fire Lord. Zuko walked around in circles outside of the room where his wife, his brother-in-law’s wife and the healers were.

In every minute he peeked at the door or its handle, anxiously waiting for something to happen. When after almost the millionth of times nothing happened, he let out a groan while curling his fingers into a fist.

“Cool down Sparky…” The voice of the now seventeen-year-old Blind Bandit sounded from the side. She was sitting next to the avatar, who seemed almost as worried as the previously mentioned man. “Katara can handle a single child… she had always been like a mother to us. Now she is really going to be one.” She said with a slight shrug when he looked in her direction. “Nothing bad can happen with all those healers and all anyway…”

As the worried man only murmured then started walking again, Sokka - who was also there - stood up standing beside the Fire Lord, putting a hand on his shoulder. “Really, after she survived you, she will be all right with your child… he’s gonna be half water tribe after all, Zuzu!”

“Don’t. Call. Me. That!” He snapped after shaking off his hand, but the water tribe warrior only grinned at him. “I’m close to the edge already!”

“No…” Toph started with a usual smirk of hers. “You were close to the edge an hour ago, now I’d rather say you’ve jumped off the cliff…”

“Thanks.” He only grunted with crossing his arms, but she went on.

“And now you’re falling…”

“All right Toph, we got that…” Zuko said to try to stop her.

“Or rather reached the bottom of a deep…”

“OK! Shut up!” He yelled with waving his arms creating slight smoke around him, when she finally stopped with a satisfied grin. He let out an exasperated sigh before rubbing his temple with a hand. “I thought calling you here would calm me down, but you know…” He just shook his head instead of saying out anything, when Aang slowly stood up too.

“Don’t mind them Zuko, they’re only trying to let out their tension too…”

The Fire Lord looked through his fingers. “By making me feel miserable?”

“Pretty much.” Sokka said with an encouraging hit to his arm, but this time finally Zuko managed to make a slight smile.

But that only lasted as long as they heard a yell from the room, and all the three turned towards the door again. They were watching the door with wide eyes, unmoving while Toph slowly stood up, stretching her arms then walked to them too.

“Zuko, if my sister dies I’ll kill you myself, just letting you know…” Sokka murmured from the corner of his mouth while the said man only felt worse.

“What if something goes wrong? It’s taking so long…” He said in only a whisper, but the avatar popped in with also a nervous voice.

“G-guys, nothing will go wrong. She has always been the strongest of us all…”

Toph made a pout with crossed arms then cleared her throat. “Look, it’s normal, you know that, so please just sit back to your places and…”

“I must know what’s going on!” Zuko said looking up and down at the door. “Why don’t they let men in? I have something to do with that kid after all too! If only I…” He went on, when his eyes stopped at the blind girl beside them. When Sokka caught sight of who he was looking at, he started grinning with the Fire Lord at the same time.

The blind bender only raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Toph, you’re a girl!” Sokka said which made her snort.

“Don’t say! Really?” She said with sarcasm, when even the avatar’s face lit up.

“Yes! Toph, you can go inside!” He said with an excited voice, but she only frowned at them.

“And why would I do that?” She asked. “I’m not needed inside.”

“You can tell us what’s happening!” The Fire Lord said quickly, before Sokka could have, but he popped in after him.

“Please Toph! Please!”

The girl made a blink at them, then after a moment of thought she made a smirk pointing at Zuko. “All right… but you’ll name a city after me in exchange!”

“Ok.” He answered quickly.

“Really?” She grinned even more.

“No.” Zuko made his own smirk when hers disappeared. “But I won’t tell anyone that your favourite dress Katara sent you was in fact pink.”

Her eyes rounded before she yelled. “I didn’t know that! It was silk! It only felt nice!”

The avatar shifted his weight from one leg to the other with a slight smile. “I liked that one too…”

Toph instantly shushed him, but when a slight pink colour appeared on her cheeks she stepped to the door. “All right… but I don’t want to hear anything about that… incident in the future, you got that?”

“Just find out how she is!” Zuko said on a low voice, when her hand reached the doorknob. “Oh, and tell her that I love her!” He said quickly when the blind girl turned back with a smirk.

“Oh, come on, she’s in this situation because of your love. Do you think she’d want to hear that right now?” She asked matter-of-factly, but as he only gaped at her, she turned and went inside. “Yeah, that’s what I thought too…”

Toph only took a step into the room, after closing the door, and she opened her mouth but before she could ask anything Katara yelled again, making her stop.

“All right Katara, you’re almost done…” Suki said encouragingly, but winced when the waterbender’s hand grasped hers.

The blind girl only blinked and was about to find her voice, when another yell sounded. This time she didn’t care… she turned on her heel and stormed out of the room as soon as she could; slamming the door behind her when she reached outside. The others outside all turned towards her, but before they could have asked anything, she spoke with a rather scared face, which was really unlike her. “I’ll Never have kids.”

Only Aang dared to take a step with reaching out towards her. “Toph, don’t worry, I’m sure it’s not as bad as you th…”

Before he could have touched her, she shot her hand forward, and making him end up on his back as the earth suddenly moved under him. “If you had any idea what it’s really like, you wouldn’t try to touch me now!”

Sokka smiled at the sight of the duo, knowing well that they usually argued a lot, even though they were closer now than simple friends like before. When he let out a cheerful yell though, she made him trip too.

Only Zuko stood now, looking at the door behind her again, when suddenly a new sound mixed into those inside. A little - though strong - and almost complaining cry of someone new…

Sokka and Aang looked up with big eyes from the ground at the door. Even Toph turned in her place to face the door, and a knowing smile appeared on her face when she felt Zuko’s vibrations. There was something she knew, but promised to her friend that she wouldn’t tell the others…

The Fire Lord felt that his knees started shaking. The voice of his child… With every second the tension inside him perished. He was born… or she?

When after a seemingly long moment the door opened, Suki leaned out of the doorway with a smile. “The first one is a boy.”

Zuko’s face lit up. “A boy! It’s wond…” In the middle of the word he froze. His expression turned from happy to stunned and his mouth stayed open for a while, while the Kyoshian warrior smiled up at him. Then as Sokka and Aang looked from one to another, he slowly – very slowly breathed two words. “The... first?”

Toph let out a light giggle when Suki made a nod. “Apparently you’re having twins.” She said then slowly turned and returned to the room while Zuko’s expressions changed again.

He looked ahead of himself as his lips curled into a soft smile, he usually only showed to his wife. “Twins…” He whispered slowly when Sokka put an arm around his shoulder.

“Nice, mate…” The other said. “You know in the water tribes they say if someone has twins… khm…” He made a half smirk and lowered his voice, so that only he could hear him. “Then he probably has a happy wife too, if you know what I mean…” When Zuko only looked at him with an almost questioning look now that he said this, the water tribe boy only smirked. “Oh, come on, I know quite a lot from Suki! You hadn’t really thought I’d let Katara stay with you if she had any complaints?”

From the state of utter happiness Zuko’s mood quickly turned to complete embarrassment as his usually pale face slowly turned to tomato red…

In the meantime the avatar only turned to the still chuckling earthbender now that they sat back to a sofa. “Toph… since when have you known that?”

“From the first time we met them after…” She said smirking up at him. “You should have seen her face when I told her!” She giggled again. “She almost fell out of the chair!”

“And…” He gave her a slightly disapproving look. “Why didn’t you tell us too?”

Toph only shrugged, putting her arms behind her head. “And leave out this moment?” She grinned when pointing at the other two. “Never.”


---


It didn’t take long after that when the second little voice came, and not much later the door finally opened with the leaving healers. They made a bow towards them and told them to go inside…

Zuko was the first who stepped in the room, where Katara laid with the babies in either of her arms. She was tired, but when she saw her husband her eyes shone up at him, when she spoke with a smile. “Hi daddy…”

He made a nervous smile when walking beside her then looked down at his family with a serene look in his eyes.

Suki smiled at them all, while going to Sokka. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder as they were watching them too.

Both of the babies had short, dark hair. The one on Katara’s left arm was pale, while the other had as dark skin as she had. Both of their eyes were closed when Zuko looked down at them. “Let me introduce to you…” She started with a smile when she looked at the pale baby. “Your son, Kazuki…”

Zuko looked up at her once, when she’d said out the name. The name Kazuki meant “child of peace”, and she had known a part of him preferred this name because it resembled his own… they were arguing about names before, but she said she would decide when she saw their child for the first time anyway…

“And… your daughter, Amaya.” Katara smiled as his smile changed just a bit. He straightened up as he felt he couldn’t have been more proud. Amaya was her choice, but he loved the name too. It meant “night rain”…

As if the little girl would have already recognized that they were talking about her, she slowly opened her eyes while both Sokka and Aang leaned to the side to see her next to Zuko. Out of her perfect tanned face two golden eyes looked up at them, while Aang and Sokka both let out an “Aww…”

The Fire Lord slowly but cautiously reached out to the little girl and slightly stroke her cheek with his finger. Amaya raised on of her little hands and held onto one of his fingers while he only dared to whisper to his wife. “She’s so tiny…”

When the little girl made a yawn, she closed her eyes and slowly let go of his hand, Zuko turned his head to look at the boy on her other arm.

Katara smiled once again. “Do you want to hold him?”

He looked at her first with being afraid. “D-do you think it is a good idea…? I-I mean what if…”

“You won’t drop him.” She said then told him how to hold the baby.

With Suki’s help Fire Lord Zuko slowly reached out, and held his first born son in his arms, stiffly first, but he slowly relaxed as the little boy didn’t give any sign of discomfort, while his head rested in his hand.

Again both of the guys looked at the infant in his father's hands, when Kazuki slowly let out a little sound. The three were watching him while holding their breath then the baby slowly opened his eyes too. A pair of crystal clear, blue eyes met his father's golden ones…

The moment of peace unfortunately broke, when the happy uncle almost yelled behind them. “Yes! Water Tribe!”

The smile from Zuko’s face faded when those little blue orbs slowly sparkled with starting tears. Oh no… In the next moment Kazuki cried out loudly in his fathers arms.

Suki hit her husband’s arm from the side. “Sokka!” And even Aang looked at him from the side.

“You just had to ruin it, didn’t you?” Zuko said to him before turning his attention back to his crying son. He slowly cradled the baby in his arms then spoke on a low, calming voice. “Don’t mind your uncle Sokka, he’s just loud because he’s happy to see you…”

The said man slowly straightened in his place. He was an uncle… he really was… His eyes slowly turned from the now silent baby and his father to his sister, who smiled down at the little girl in her hands… and he felt as his sight slightly turned fuzzy.

Suki peeked at him from the corner of her eyes. “Sokka…” He made a sniff when she looked at him, then slowly dried his eye with his hand. “Are you crying?”

The others slowly looked at him too, when he tried to make an indifferent face. “I just… Something got in my eye…” He said then lowered his head when some of the others lightly laughed.

For everyone’s surprise though, it was Toph who patted him on the shoulder once. But unlike any other times - maybe for the first time in her life – she let the moment slip, and didn’t say anything.

Katara and Zuko held their two children in their arms when their eyes slowly met in one loving glance. It was like a miracle… after all they went through together they knew this was the greatest and happiest moment in their lives; the moment they became parents…