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Zuko’s Girls
By
Dragon Jadefire
Chapter 1: Broken Family
Me: This is an idea that I love because I love my Maiko girls too much. The story will explain itself as I go on with it. I hope you enjoy!
Maiko kiddies
Chiyo- 14
Mieko- 8
Nikko- 8
“Get out,” he growled.
“Not until you get off your butt and get some fresh air! I swear; staying in here isn’t good for your health!”
“GET. OUT!” Zuko yelled, getting to his feet and pointing to the door. The candles in the room flared with his temper. Katara stood up and held her ground, staring into the fiery golden eyes of the Fire Lord.
“No,” she said evenly.
“You do as I say!” he snarled.
“I’m not your wife and I’m not here as an ambassador! I’m here as your friend!” Katara shouted.
“Daddy?” the door opened to reveal a little girl, no more than eight; she wore a red dress that was typical of the Fire Nation, her hair was done up in a small little topknot with a flame shaped ornament. Two locks of her black bangs framed her face. Her name was Mieko. “Daddy,” Mieko didn’t wait for a reply as she ran over to her father and hugged his legs. Zuko stood stiffly, not even bothering to show any emotion whatsoever to resemble anything remotely close to comforting his distraught daughter. “Daddy, I miss Mommy,” Mieko buried her face in his robes, and Katara could hear the child’s muffle sobs. Zuko patted his daughter’s back before pushing her away.
“Go play,” Zuko said coolly. “Ambassador Katara and I are having an important discussion,” Zuko gave his daughter a little shove, and Mieko left the room, closing the door behind her. Katara watched the entire seen with cool calculating eyes.
“That was cold of you Zuko,” Katara growled.
“She has to learn to get over it,” Zuko said.
“She’s eight-years-old! I expect you to treat Chiyo like that! She’s fourteen! At least Chiyo understands a bit, of what’s going on! Mieko doesn’t!” Katara yelled.
“Are you telling me how to raise my children? If I recall Katara, you don’t have any of your own!”
“Taking care of my brother, Aang and Toph were close enough to taking care of children!”
“What’s with you and dragging up ancient history?” Zuko slammed his opened hands on top of his cherry wood desk.
“Oh, lemme think! How about for examples!” Katara shouted back.
“Listen, I don’t want to talk about this! It’s better this way! Now, get out! I have very important work to do!”
“Like not being a father?” Katara crossed her arms over her chest, her oceanic blue eyes narrowing dangerously.
“You are walking on very thin ice Katara!”
“Well,” she huffed. “I’m a waterbender, I can always thicken the ice!” she snapped.
“Get out of my study!”
“With pleasure, Your Majesty!” Katara gave a mock sweeping bow before leaving the room.
Katara walked up to Mieko and sat down next to the girl. Cautiously, Katara began to rub the little girl’s back, when suddenly; Mieko flung herself at Katara, sobbing harder than ever.
Katara wrapped her arms around the little girl and held her tightly; she began to sway to and fro, humming softly trying to come the girl down. Finally, Mieko’s tears stopped and she looked up at Katara. “I miss my mommy,” Mieko whispered.
“I know you do,” Katara whispered softly. “I miss my own mommy.”
“What happened to your mommy?” Mieko rubbed her pale golden eyes, which were red from her crying.
“She died,” Katara looked away, touching the necklace that she wore on her throat. “A long time ago,” Katara whispered.
“How?” Mieko asked, softly, snuggling close to Katara. Katara wrapped her arms around Mieko.
“I was twelve-years-old, when some very bad people came to my village and killed a lot of people, including my mother,” Katara said.
“Who were the bad people?” Mieko asked.
“Soldiers of an evil king,” Katara smiled, she knew Mieko and Nikko were too young to understand the war, albeit that it was now over. Mieko didn’t press for any more information.
“Katara,” Chiyo whispered causing the waterbender to look up at Zuko’s eldest daughter. “Nikko’s crying and she won’t stop,” Chiyo mumbled. Katara got up; Mieko clung to Katara’s skirts.
“Lead the way,” Katara said. Chiyo nodded and beckoned Katara to follow her to Nikko’s room.
“Your father is really busy right now,” Katara said, wiping Nikko’s tears away. “But, I was thinking how about you go find your granduncle, and we’ll all go on a picnic?” Katara smiled. Nikko looked at her feet.
“Will Daddy come, too?” Nikko asked. Of Zuko’s three girls, Nikko was the closest to her father.
“No,” Katara shook her head. “Your father is too busy to come,” Katara said. “Though I did ask him.”
“I don’t wanna go if Daddy isn’t coming!” Nikko shouted.
“Nikki! Please!” Mieko pleaded.
“No, Mimi,” Nikko shook her head.
“Chichi! Make her come!” Mieko turned to her older sister. “Please!”
Chiyo sighed and looked at Nikko. “My little sunrise, why are you so sad?” Chiyo spoke in a poetic style, like she always did when she was dealing with her distraught sisters, the poetry of her speech distracted the girls long enough to hear reason and forget the troubles.
“Mommy is dead and Daddy doesn’t like us anymore,” Nikko mumbled.
“So? Is that any reason to deny a sweet picnic under the sun, my little sunrise?” Chiyo whispered.
Nikko frowned before replying. “No, not really.”
“Then won’t you join us in out little outing my little sunrise?” Chiyo whispered, kissing her sister’s cheek.
“Okay,” Nikko wiped away her tears.
“Good,” Katara said, nodding to Chiyo. “You can help me find your Granduncle Iroh,” Katara said.
“Now, Zuko—” Iroh began but Zuko cut him off.
“Don’t you ‘now Zuko’ me! I’ve been running around the palace looking for my daughters for a better part of two hours!” Zuko’s eyes narrowed. Mieko and Nikko hid behind their granduncle’s bulk, peeking out cautiously, for they have never seen their father this upset. Chiyo’s eyes narrowed and she looked at her father, but she didn’t hide. Iroh gulped audibly and gave a worried glance to Katara. Katara was the only one that seemed to be unfazed by Zuko’s childish temper tantrum. “I didn’t know what happened to them! For all I knew an assassin could’ve come and slaughtered them all!” Zuko yelled, fire flaring from his fists, causing the twins to yelp, and tighten their grip on Iroh’s robes. “Or worse! Someone could’ve kidnapped them and—” Katara lost it and slapped the Fire Lord hard.
“Stop it Zuko!” she scolded him like he was her overgrown and ill-mannered child. “Stop it at once! You are being completely ridiculous! I told you before hand I was going to take the girls on a picnic! I even offered you to come and join us!” Katara rolled her eyes. “I can’t believe you are that dense to think that someone would murder your daughters or kidnapped them!”
Zuko was still in shock from being hit to respond to the waterbender’s comments. He looked at Katara with dangerous golden eyes before huffing and storming off. Katara shook her head before turning to the girls. She was about to open her mouth when Zuko came storming back to them. “And girls,” he snarled, his daughters looked at him. “You are to go to your rooms, now! You’ll have dinner there,” he then turned to his uncle. “You too Uncle,” he said a bit more calmly.
“I am not your child Zuko, therefore I do not have to listen to you,” Iroh said in a matter-of-fact tone. Zuko frowned, but shrugged off the comment, his eyes then fell to Katara.
“I wan to see you in my study,” he pointed his finger at her. “Now!”
“I was trying to get the gloomy melancholy out of the palace!” Katara huffed. “It’s too depressing! Mai’s been dead for three weeks! I understand that you and your daughters are still mourning, but they don’t have to dwell on in twenty-four hours a day! I though a picnic may help them heal!” Katara said
“Whoever said that Time heals all wounds should be shot!” Zuko snarled. “They will never ever get over the lost of their mother!”
“Because you haven’t! I have! Yes, I still mourn my mother’s death from time to time! But I don’t dwell upon it in the wee hours of the morning like you do! You’ve never gotten over the fact that your father gave you that scar have you, Zuko?”
“Shut up, Katara!” Zuko turned to her. “You don’t know my life! Stop pretending like you do!”
“I’m just trying to help! If I recall that’s why you asked me to come here! Is to help you and the girls out!” Katara said.
“You want to help? Well,” Zuko glowered at Katara. “Get the hell out of here! We don’t need you!”
“No,” Katara looked at him. “You do need me! And I’m not leaving! Especially not after how you treated Mieko this afternoon! I’m not leaving the girls in the hands of a man that can’t even be a father!” it was Zuko’s turn to slap Katara. The waterbender stared at her teenage crush with a mix of indignation and outrage.
“Don’t you dare question my parenting skills, Katara! I have more parenting skills that Mai! She never cared about our daughters! Not once! She was too concern about the high life! The parties and the gossip than about the girls! I had to juggle my marriage, raising my daughters and running my nation! Believe me! I spent a lot of sleepless nights because my wife was too tiredto get out bed to tend to a crying child! Those girls are my life and if you dare think of taking them away from me,” he was now in her face; his anger turned his voice into a soft deadly calmness. “I will have you tried and beheaded for treason. Screw the Water Tribes and their declaration of war if I do that!”
“Think about what I said Zuko,” Katara said in a similar manner. “I’m just trying to help. Not steal your daughters’ affections from you,” Katara looked at him before leaving.
In the middle of the night, Katara was shaken into wakefulness. She blinked her sleepy blue eyes, and stared down at the twins. They were holding each others hands, looking up at her with big frighten eyes. “What’s wrong?” Katara asked.
“We had a bad dream,” they mumbled together.
“Daddy won’t wake up,” Mieko muttered.
“So we came to you,” Nikko brightened a bit.
“Can we stay with you?” Mieko asked.
“I don’t think your father would like it,” Katara swung her legs out of the covers before standing up. “Lets see if I can’t wake your father,” she smiled at the girls. “C’mon,” she waved them. Mieko and Nikko lit a small flame in their palms to guide Katara to the Fire Lord’s royal bedchambers.
In all honesty, he had never felt that way about Katara before. He had always just looked at her as a good friend. Sure, when he first married Mai he felt that way, but after a while those lusty feelings he had towards his late wife vanished into thin air. He never thought he’d get them back, and most certainly not towards this infuriating and beautiful laughing creature before him.
“Aah, but I forgive you,” Katara said and grabbed his head and planted a kiss on top of his messy black hair. He had a look of pure shock on his face, and his face went even redder than it already was with the giggles of his two daughters.
“Why are you here?” he whispered, hoping that his voice wouldn’t squeak.
“What was that?” Katara asked.
“Why are you here?” he squeaked, sending the females in the room into a fit of giggles.
“Spirits, Zuko! I thought your voice already broke?” Katara snickered. Mieko and Nikko giggling along with Katara, blissfully unaware of what Katara was jabbing at with their father.
“Go away!” he snarled, his voice normal and very angry and embarrassed. “All of you twittering birdbrains! Go away!”
“Now, now, Zuzu,” Katara pushed Zuko back and straddled his hips. She winked at the twins, which only sent them into a fit of high-pitched giggles behind their hands. “I only came here to request your services.”
“Oooh!” Mieko and Nikko cooed, picking up on the mood if not the meaning. Zuko gulped loudly, and blushed.
“Well, I don’t think its good for my daughters to um…witness…such services,” Zuko muttered. Katara smirked.
“Your right,” she swung herself off the Fire Lord. “I shouldn’t be here,” she slid off the other side of the bed and stood up. “Your daughters had a nightmare and they want their daddy to comfort them,” she winked at the girls. “Good night, Zuzu!” She wiggled her fingers and winked again at the girls before leaving. Zuko sighed and looked at his daughters.
“Well, come on in,” he held up the covers and scooted over. The twins squealed with delight and they jumped onto the bed and snuggled up close to their father’s broad chest. Zuko sighed as he felt his daughters against his skin. He loved that feeling, the feeling of them depending on him to keep them safe from their mental terrors during the night. He smiled and pulled them close before going asleep himself.
I want fanart for that scene! R’n’R!
If you don’t review, one more Zutarain soul turns into a Kataanger.
Dragon Jadefire