Avatar The Last Airbender Fan Fiction ❯ Duty Versus Love ❯ Here We Go Again ( Chapter 21 )

LES: One month later. If I've got this figured out right… Anil is four months old, Michiko is one month old, and Lady Nera plus the other women who are as-of-yet unnamed are about six months pregnant. Also, thanks to all the people who reviewed and let me know that Avatar Kyoshi did, in fact, have a daughter and that her name was Koko. (The girl who coined the nickname `Aangy' in “The Kyoshi Warriors” was named after her.) I did not know this at the time. It seems to be something that was aired specially on Cartoon Network, and I don't have Cartoon Network, so I was unaware of this fact. Thanks, anyway! I'll go ahead and stick with my own name.

 

Chapter XXI: Here We Go Again

 

In the month following Michiko's birth, the extended family took up residence in Omashu; and the sleepless nights began all over again.

Anil had gotten to the point where he only woke up once or twice during the night, and his parents had adapted to that schedule. But Michiko cried all night long. And, unfortunately, Michiko's cries often woke Anil up, and he was not happy about it!

But, instead of driving the family apart, they drew closer together. They bonded together during the long sleepless nights spent trying to calm their children.

Suki was very lucky, in a way, to have Katara around. Katara was able to give Suki lots of advice, just as Aang was there to give advice to Sokka.

Of course, their children's development continued apace. Anil was showing signs of Airbending much more often now, and the word quickly spread.

Once the news spread, it quickly became apparent that Anil was the most universally loved child in the whole world. Over the course of the month, all the people of the world had joined in celebration of the first Airbender to be born in over a hundred years.

The celebration in Omashu lasted the longest, and the people there were more excited than any other city on the planet. Every time Anil displayed some Airbending power in public, it was met with applause.

Almost as well-known was Michiko. She wasn't related to the Avatar by blood, but she was still the Avatar's niece. Just being a member of the Avatar's family made her famous too.

Sokka soaked in the attention more than anyone, constantly hamming up that his brother-in-law was the Avatar himself!

But the greatest thing that happened while the Avatar's family was in Omashu was a visit from Firelord Zuko.

Katara was feeding Anile when someone knocked on the door, so she called for her husband. “Aang? Could you get that?” She asked.

“Sure.” Aang responded, heading for the door. He briefly wondered how people would react if they found out the Avatar answered his own door in a Kingdom where all nobility had servants to answer the door for them. He all ready witnessed several nobles in shock when they came to visit him in his home, especially in Ba Sing Se.

Aang opened the door, and immediately broke into a grin. “Zuko! It's so good to see you!” Indeed, it was the young Firelord standing on Aang's doorstep. The two men embraced. “What are you doing here? I thought you'd be in the Fire Nation.”

“Do I really need an excuse to visit an old friend?” Zuko asked. “The Spring Equinox meeting at Ba Sing Se is still two weeks off, so Mai is taking care of things so that I could visit your family. Then we can travel to Ba Sing Se together. Besides, I haven't had a chance to meet your son yet. Where is he?”

“Katara's feeding him. So I'm gonna have to tell you to wait. Friend or not, if you saw my wife like that, I'd have to teach you a lesson.” Aang said, somewhat playfully, and somewhat seriously.

“So… Katara's doing that herself? Naturally?”

“Yes. What's the problem?”

“Oh, no problem at all. It's just that most noble women would hire a wet nurse.”

“No way! Katara would water-whip me if I suggested hiring a wet nurse!” Aang said. “Katara says that feeding a baby naturally strengthens the bond between mother and child, and she wouldn't give that up for the world.”

“I bet she'll be singing a different tune when he starts teething.” Zuko commented.

“Aang, who is it?” Katara asked, stepping into the foyer. She paused mid-stride. “Zuko? It's so good to see you!”

“It's good to see you too.” Zuko responded politely, smirking to himself. Is this really the same woman who once threatened to kill me? “I'm sorry that I haven't been able to come visit sooner, but I wanted to see Anil for myself.” His eyes fell on the bundle in Katara's arms. “So this is Anil?”

“Yes.” Katara said fondly. She adjusted her hold on Anil so that Zuko could see him.

“He's beautiful.” Zuko said. Aang stepped forward and took Anil out of Katara's arms, kissing the baby on the forehead. Anil squealed in pleasure at his father's attention. Looking between Aang and Anil, Zuko could see the strong resemblance between them. “He does look a lot like you, Aang.”

“You got that right.” Katara said. “He's got Aang's eyes, Aang's hair, Aang's Airbending, and Aang's temperament. Thank the Spirits for the last one.”

Aang kissed Katara. “Your temperament's not that bad.”

Zuko snorted. “You've never been on the receiving end of her death threats.”

Aang laughed. “Most of the time.” He amended. “And, actually, Zuko… I have been on the receiving end of her death threats.”

“What? When?” Katara asked, shocked.

“When you were in labor with Anil.” Aang said. “You said you were going to kill me and then hunt down my reincarnations and kill them too.”

“Oh…” Katara said. “Sorry about that.”

“It doesn't matter. I love you.”

“So… Anil…” Zuko began, drawing attention back to himself. “It's official? He's an Airbender?”

“Definitely.” Aang said. He gently tickled Anil's nose until the baby sneezed. Once again, the breeze picked up in the room.

“Wow.” Zuko commented. “Air Nomad children could show signs of Bending this early? Fire Nation children aren't allowed to handle fire until they are six or seven.”

“Waterbending can begin this early too.” Katara said. “Dad always told me about the first time I showed signs of Waterbending powers. I was about Anil's age, and my… my mom was giving me a bath. I splashed the water and caused a wave that soaked the whole hut. Sokka spent the whole day crying about how he didn't want a `magic sister'.”

Aang and Zuko laughed. They were all familiar with Sokka's feelings towards Bending. He had never been very comfortable around Benders. First it was his sister, comparing her to a water-witch almost daily; and then he had been just as put off by Aang's `freakiness'. And that was before he found out Aang was the Avatar!

Suddenly, Katara started laughing uncontrollably, and the two men glanced at her. “What is it?” Aang asked.

“Oh, nothing.” Katara said, still laughing. “I was just imagining how Sokka would react if his daughter turned out to be a Bender.”

Aang joined in with his wife's laughter. “Oh Spirits, he would have a heart attack!”

“Maybe not if she was a Waterbender.” Zuko commented. “After all, no matter how ignorant he is about Bending, he grew up with a Waterbender. But remember that Suki's of the Earth Kingdom. The child could very well turn out to be an Earthbender. It was my impression that he wasn't very comfortable around Toph's Earthbending the most.”

Aang nodded in agreement. Sokka had always been openly uncomfortable with Toph's Earthbending. He yelled at her more about her `earth quaking' then he did at either Aang or Katara for their Bending practices.

“So, Waterbending starts early. When does Earthbending start?” Zuko asked, glancing at Aang.

“Why are you looking at me?” Aang asked.

“Well, you are an Earthbender.” Zuko pointed out.

“Only because I'm the Avatar.” Aang said. “I was raised as an Airbender and didn't start learning Earthbending until I was twelve.” Aang paused. “Toph once told me that she could use her Earthbending vision for as long as she could remember.”

“You are the Avatar!” Zuko repeated. “Can't you just access the memories of your Earthbending predecessors?”

“I suppose I could.” Aang conceded. “Give me a second.” Aang closed his eyes and a few seconds later, his tattoos flashed briefly. When he opened his eyes, however, he was back to normal. “Avatar Kyoshi said that the first signs of Earthbending usually happens during one of the child's temper tantrum. Usually when the child stomps their foot.” Aang demonstrated, stomping his foot and causing a spike of Earth to jut out of the floor. With another motion, he smoothed the floor again.

Katara moved closer to Aang and whispered in his ear. “You know, I find it incredible sexy when you Earthbend.”

Zuko couldn't hear what Katara said, but he could guess judging by the way Aang's face flushed a deep red. Actually, it was pretty entertaining.

“Hey, if you two have `plans' don't let me stop you.” Zuko said playfully.

Aang blushed. “Oh, it's nothing like that! Um… would you like to join us for dinner?”

“Of course.” Zuko responded.

~~~~~~~~~~

Dinner that night was lively, and not just because Anil gave a particularly violent sneeze which managed to blow Katara's soup all over everyone, which pleased the infant judging by the way he giggled as the others attempted to remove soup from their hair and cloths.

Aang, however, was ecstatic even as he used Waterbending to get the soup out of his clothes. Apparently, most Air Nomad children couldn't use their Bending to move much of anything besides air until they started their actual training. The fact that Anil had been able to blow soup everywhere pleased him greatly.

“He has all the makings of a great Airbender, maybe even a prodigy!” Aang said happily.

Zuko groaned loudly, and everyone stared at him. “Sorry.” He apologized. “It's just that I have bad memories of Bending prodigies.” Everyone remembered that Zuko's psycho sister was a Firebending prodigy. “I'm not saying all prodigies are bad or…”

“Completely psycho.” Sokka provided.

“Yeah.” Zuko agreed. “I didn't mean any disrespect. If he really is a prodigy, it will be a good thing. It is essential that as many of your children Master Airbending as possible. Being a prodigy will help.”

“It's all right, Zuko. I understand your concerns.” Aang said. “I grew up being told that I was an Airbending prodigy, so I know that knowledge can sometimes go to someone's head. I'll do my best to teach Anil humility.”

Zuko laughed. “Don't worry about it, Aang, you'd have to actually try to make a child as twisted as my sister.”

“You got that right!” Sokka agreed, trying to get soup out of his hair. “Aang? A little help please?”

Aang smiled and helped the rest of the group.