Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Zuko stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror.

He looked normal, perfectly respectable for a Parent-Teacher conference in his polo shirt and khakis, dark framed glasses perched on his nose. Clean cut, clean shaven, sparsely spritzed with cologne. His hair was a bit floppier than usual, but if he continued to fuss with it he’d throw himself into a mood worse than the one he’d already settled on. A thread of anxiety was knotting up somewhere south of his heart and north of his stomach, pulling both organs tight. He knew these things were his responsibility, he was happy to do it, but he failed to avoid the anxiousness that burrowed behind his ribs and made his breathing go off kilter. This was nothing compared to what he’d inherit when his uncle no longer sat on the throne. He felt a little like throwing up.

A sharp peal of childlike laughter burst through his thoughts and brought him to reality. Zuko turned on his heel and went downstairs, towards his daughter and her bubbly laughter, and towards Kiyi’s impassioned proclamations of… something? It sounded like she was naming Izumi princess of Madeuplandia. He stepped in with hopes they wouldn’t notice him. Izumi was jumping from one side of their white couch to the other, giggling exuberantly all the while. Kiyi held up a brightly colored pool noodle and bopped Izumi on the head, which made her flop back on the couch cushions.

“With that, I bequeath thee Queen Izumi, lady of the Frogs.”

“I am the Frog Queen!” Izumi squealed and stuck her legs straight up in the air. “Ribbit!”

Zuko laughed, which brought the attention of both girls to him. “That's not at all what coronations look like, just so you know.”

Izumi’s brow furrowed and she tossed her dark ponytail over her shoulder, “Frogs know nothing of your expectations!” Another pool noodle appeared in her hands, and she tossed it to Izumi.

“To war!” Came Izumi’s impassioned cry just before she launched herself in her fathers direction. Both her and Kiyi began a relentless assault against him by whacking him with the foam sticks.

“Okay! Okay! I relent!” Zuko called out after he’d been taken to the floor. “I bow to your customs, my Frog Queen.”

Izumi gave him another good wallop across the back. “I forgive you.” When he stood, she hit him again. For good measure.

“Ow! I guess the Frog Queen won’t be known for her benevolence.” Zuko sucked his teeth and rubbed his back dramatically.

“What’s bene-violence?” Izumi asked, propping her pool noodle against her shoulder.

Zuko looked to Kiyi, inviting her to give a definition and show off her high school vocabulary. All he got was a shrug.

“Bene-violence would be more accurate for you. Benevolence is when someone is good and kind.” Zuko explained.

“Nah.” Izumi waved her little hand dismissively. “I want to be feared.”

Zuko squinted at her, trying to figure out just how worried he should be. After all, she’d actually be crowned someday. He figured he had enough time to work on that. “Okay. Well. I’m going to head to your school, are you ready to hang out with Kiyi?”

“Yes!” She cheered enthusiastically. It had been a fantastic idea moving into the neighborhood directly behind his mother’s. He knew he wanted to be close by, but having a babysitter within walking distance was great for his sanity. Not that he’d intended for Kiyi to be a babysitter to begin with - but she’d flat out told him that if he ever hired someone when she was available to hang out with her first and only niece, that she’d disembowel him.

That had been almost three years ago, when he and Mai had finally ended their disastrous marriage and she’d left for the Fire Nation. Zuko had moved out of the house Mai had put her imprint on, and taken Izumi to Gaoling. Kiyi had just turned fifteen, and now she was rounding eighteen and remained steadfast in her desire to babysit Izumi. Now they were practically inseparable, and despite their mutual thirst for chaos, Kiyi was usually an excellent influence.

“Here,” Zuko fished his wallet out of his pocket and handed Kiyi an assortment of bills. “For feeding the child, and nothing else.”

“What if we want to go to the museum?” Kiyi asked, looking at the colorful bills in her hand.

“Are you going to go to the museum?” Zuko quirked his eyebrow, knowing full-well what the answer was.

“No.” She pursed her lips, using it to push the hoop of her septum ring back and forth in her nose idly.

“Then it doesn’t matter. I’ll be back in two-ish hours, maybe. Call me if anything goes terribly wrong.” Zuko pressed a kiss to Izumi’s cheek, then immediately pulled back and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand. “Why are you sticky?”

The giggle she gave wasn’t much of an answer, but he managed to ignore the ominous energy of his child for the moment.

“Okay, firefly, I’m off to meet your teacher.”

“Ms. Aqillutaq!” Izumi jumped. Her first teacher, Mrs. Phang, had left two weeks after the school started because she’d given birth and would be on maternity leave for the rest of the school year. Zuko hadn’t met Izumi’s new teacher yet, but in the month since Mrs. Phang had left, Ms. Aqillutaq had thoroughly endeared herself to his daughter.

“Yes. Ms. Aqillutaq.” Zuko ruffled Izumi’s feather soft hair. “Be good for Kiyi, please?”

Izumi hummed and looked at the pool noodle still propped on her shoulder. “I’ll consider it.”

The silence of his car’s interior was enough to drain him of the energy he’d felt moments prior. Instead, doom settled in his stomach. It wasn’t realistic or healthy, but it was a feeling he’d gotten used to in the worst way. He took a few slow, deep breaths before driving the familiar route to his daughter’s elementary school. Fifteen minutes were spent distracting himself with the dulcet tones of his favorite artists before Zuko pulled into the Bei Fong Elementary School parking lot. The space was teeming with the cars of parents having their own conferences. He could see a few people coming and going from his spot. A few more deep breaths, then the click of his seatbelt disengaging, and he strode inside of the school with what he hoped was a cool and collected demeanor.

It would be fine, he was sure. According to Izumi, Ms. Aqillutaq was the ‘wonderfullest, most beautifullest, smartest kindergarten teacher in the whole school”. High praise from his little hellion.

The inside of the school was as busy as the parking lot had suggested. Many parents were using this as a time to network, meeting the other parents and non-teaching faculty before and after their conferences. Tables of hors d'oeuvres lined a wall that had been decorated with streamers in the gold and bright green of their school colors. A cartoon image of the Bei Fong Badgermole mascot, BaoBao (which was a significantly cuter rendering than any real badgermole he’d seen), hung on a tapestry. Colorful handmade signs sported directions to each teacher. Ms. Aqillutaq’s was done in blue marker with little silver glitter puffy paint moons and stars in the blank spaces. The script was neat and curling, and he wondered if she decorated it herself.

He followed the directions down through the halls decked out in the works of students, not seeing any yet made by Izumi. When they started popping up - a hand turkey here, a macaroni self portrait there - he knew he was getting close.

A couple was just exiting the room when Zuko neared the door decorated with the same starry motifs as the poster. They were talking quietly amongst themselves as they left, but gave Zuko a once over and a nod before going their own way. Zuko took a second to look over the door, the blue paper covering the plain wood, cutouts of stars and moons each sported the names of the students, and in white paint down the side of the door it read “Ms. Aqillutaq”.

He was a minute and a half early, but he stepped forward and knocked gently on the door and listened for the voice inside. When the door instead opened to reveal who he assumed was Izumi’s teacher, Zuko felt his heart stop in his chest. Izumi’s moniker of “most beautifullest” came back to the forefront of his mind. Large eyes in the clearest blue he’d ever seen blinked up at him, vibrant against the backdrop of thick, dark lashes and brown skin.

“Good evening!” Glossed lips split into a wide smile, “You must be Mr. Lee?”

Something in him wanted to correct her. Wanted to hear her call him Mr. Hino, or even better, Zuko. But Mr. Lee was who he was there in Gaoling. Mr. Lee kept him out of the public eye, kept his daughter out of it. Prevented the relentless paparazzi from getting their claws into the peace they lived with and ripping it to pieces.

Being Mr. Lee kept Izumi from going through what he went through.

“I am, yes. Ms. Aqillutaq?” He stuck his hand out and when she accepted it, he gave hers a firm shake. He tried not to let his thoughts linger on how soft her hand was. They were recently manicured, painted a powder blue that seemed on theme for her classroom.

After introductions, she stepped aside and motioned for him to enter. He took a look around upon entering, noting the reading nook filled with plush floor pillows and the row of easily accessible books. A weather chart hung beside the whiteboard, and a plethora of informational posters hung on the eggshell walls. She led him to her desk and motioned for him to sit in the chair across from her. He let his gaze slide quickly over the contents on her desk. Under more observation, they might be telling. But for now, all he could think was that she was neat, but in a sort of cluttered way. The table top was stacked high with papers, sticky notes stuck to its dappled gray surface, multicolored ink pens sat in little rows.

She pulled a folder from the stack, the front marked with Izumi’s name, and flipped it open. “Mr. Lee, you are Izumi Lee’s father, right? Sorry to have to ask. We have two Lee’s in the class and the other Mr. Lee missed his scheduled time.”

“I am Izumi’s father, yes.” He nodded.

“That makes sense. She looks just like you, you know.” She smiled at him for the second time, neither were caused by him but they struck him just the same.

Zuko’s lip quirked. “Really? I don’t get that a lot. but it’s nice to hear.”

For a moment her gaze slipped, her attention landing on the scar that crawled along the skin on the left side of his face. Just a moment, then she looked at him in the whole again.

“It tends to distract people from the overall picture.”

“I imagine that’s frustrating, to say the least.” She gave a disapproving shake of her head. “It’s clear, when you look. The same eyes, same nose.”

“Thank you,” This time it was Zuko who offered up a smile. He saw those things in her too, though the truth of it was that Izumi looked overwhelmingly like her mother.

She watched him quietly for a moment, a shared second of silence before she blinked and her focus shifted away from him - a loss he felt keenly - and onto the papers in Izumi’s folder. “Your daughter is an exceptionally bright girl, Mr. Lee. I’m sure you know this, but she’s incredibly funny, and she has an amazing sense of imagination. She does have a good grasp on language and writing so far, though she does not care for numbers.” She laid out a few stapled packets of Izumi’s work. Connect-the-dot character strokes, poorly-colored in pictures of fruits and vegetables, and a wide variety of other works. “Do you read to her at home, Mr. Lee?”

“I do.” He was still flipping through Izumi’s classwork. These were pieces that hadn’t come home with her - most anything that qualified as ‘art’ had, and already his fridge was a jumble of macaroni noodle art and puffy paint landscapes.

“I thought so. She came to us with ‘The Moon Princess’ memorized. It was very impressive, if a little surprising.”

“She used to make me read that during bathtime and at bed time. She said it was relevant for both things, and that I needed to respect that. I’m impressed Izumi managed to memorize it though, especially since she hasn’t asked me to read it since the movie came out.”

Ms. Aqillutaq laughed, “So true. Everyone cares less about the book now that the movie is out. I did play the movie for the kids, though. We had a huge sing-a-long during music, and naptime was the most peaceful we’ve ever gotten.”

“Oh, I remember. Izumi came home ecstatic because ‘Ms. Aqillutaq let us watch Moon Princess’, and then I had to watch it. Six times. I can still hear the music when I go to sleep at night.” Zuko sighed dramatically.

“It was Moon Princess day! Listen, it's not everyday that I get cartoons based on a legend I grew up with. And I don’t have kids of my own, so “ She shrugged. “I indulged myself, but with a good excuse. I did consider going to the theater to watch it myself, but I figured it might be a little awkward to be the only adult there.”

“No shame in that! I’ve gone to the theater alone a time before.”

“What did you go see?” Ms. Aqillutaq’s head tilted inquisitively.

“Love Amongst the Dragons.”

“Ah.”

“Ah?” His brow quirked. “That ‘ah’ sounded a little judgemental.”

“Only a little. We’re you also the only person in the theater at all?”

Zuko couldn’t help but laugh. It was a notoriously bad adaptation of the much beloved Fire Nation play. “Yes. I was. But what can I say? It’s a classic.”

“Can’t knock a classic.” She admitted with a shrug.

“Very true. But I’ll admit the 50’s version is better.”

“Is it? I haven’t seen it.”

Zuko looked surprised. “You haven’t! I think I’ll have to change that.”

“Will you?” Her lashes fluttered for a second, the smile that appeared then bordered on flirty.

“If you—“

There was a knock at the classroom door and Ms. Aqillutaq’s attention snapped away from him. “I think we went over our time by a little. Here,” She packed up the folder marked with his daughter’s name and slid it across the desk. “There’s a little card inside with my information on it so you can get in touch with me about anything. I’m starting a weekly newsletter for parents soon with the emails provided to me, and will touch base at least once a month.” She was a little rushed, spurred further by another knock at the door. Whatever moment they’d had had been squashed by the arrival of someone else for their meeting.

“Thank you. And, listen, if you need anything - for class or… not - don’t hesitate to reach out to me. You have my number.”

She softened again, “I might just take you up on that.”

Chapter Text

He couldn’t be quite sure if he’d been awoken by the feeling of being watched, or if something else had alerted him. But nonetheless, when his eyes snapped open he was met with the wide golden gaze of his daughter. He jumped a little - only a little - in her silent presence, then rubbed his eye with the heel of his hand.

“Good morning, Izumi.” He said, voice extremely rusty for its early morning use.

“Good morning, daddy. Your phone was ringing.” She said matter of factly.

Zuko blinked at her. How long had she been up? She was dressed - not well, the pink and orange ombré popcorn shirt she wore didn’t match at all with the Winter Solstice patterned leggings, and her hair was still unbrushed from her doubtlessly restless sleep. But she’d changed from the matching pajama set she’d worn to bed, and he could hear her favorite cartoon playing too loudly in the playroom down the hall. “Someone called?” He wasn’t really asking her, moreso himself. “What time is it?”

“Seven-thirty in the pm.” Izumi bounced on her toes. “I answered it. It was my teacher. Ms. Aqillutaq. You remember her?”

“Pm?” That wasn’t right, even if Zuko didn’t feel as exhausted as he did at that moment, he wouldn’t have slept in quite that late. But he’d teach Izumi the difference between a.m and p.m at a later date. “I remember her. I’ll call her back later. Are you sure you want to be up now already?”

“Do you think she’s pretty?”

“Yeah. She’s very pretty, Zoomie.”

His daughter smiled, and maybe he noticed something devilish in her eyes as she did. “Do you want to talk to her? She’s waiting.”

Suddenly his phone was in front of his face, the call time rising steadily on the screen. Five minutes and fifty two seconds. He was fully awake now. Zuko took the phone from his daughter’s outstretched hand and raised it to his ear. “Hello?”

“Good morning, Mr. Lee,” there was an attractive breathy quality to her voice just then.

“Ms. Aqillutaq! Good morning!” Zuko cleared his throat, trying to knock the sleep from his voice. “How are you?”

“I’m good! How are you? Sorry to call so early. I figured if you didn’t answer, I’d just leave a voicemail. I didn’t think Izumi would wake you up - or that when she said she’d go get you, that you were asleep.”

“No - oof - Izumi please next time walk around, not over,” His daughter had very little care for that, flopping down on his other side to listen intently to their conversation. “It’s alright. I wouldn’t normally be asleep right now. How can I help you?”

“Right! Sorry! So, as you know, the kindergarten class has a field trip at the end of the week. But one of our chaperones just dropped out, and our backup isn't able to back up this trip. It’s during business hours, so if you can’t I’ll understand. But—“

“I’ll do it.” He interrupted (and then kicked himself for interrupting, because really, how rude).

“Oh! Great! Amazing! Awesome. Thank you so much, really. I’ll send the forms home with Izumi tomorrow. Have a good rest of your day, Mr. Lee.”

“You too.”

“Goodbye Ms. Aqillutaq!” Izumi yelled into the receiver, and subsequently directly into his ear. The teacher’s eardrums were saved by having hung up just before Izumi yelled.

“She says goodbye. But, please don’t yell into peoples ears, okay? It doesn’t feel good.”

Izumi dropped her head onto the pillow next to his and spoke in dramatically hushed tones. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to hurt your brain.”

“Thank you for apologizing, I accept.” He sighed, there was no way he was going to be able to go back to sleep now, but Izumi was getting awfully cozy, and her eyes were blinking in this long, slow way that predicted she’d be asleep soon, so he considered just staying there anyways. She was growing so fast that it ached.

“Do you want me to make breakfast?” He asked quietly when he noticed her dark lashes had settled against her cheeks, just in case she’d already fallen asleep.

“I cooked breakfast already.”

He sat up abruptly at this. “You did what?”

“I cooked cereal.”

“You cooked cereal?” His heart was still beating fast, but maybe sanity was still within reach. “Did you use the stove?”

Izumi laughed like he’d just said the most foolish thing ever. “Who uses the stove to cook cereal?”

“Did you use the oven?”

“I just said I didn’t.” Right. Because Izumi only knew ‘don’t touch this’ and not the difference between the two. Okay.

“How did you cook it?”

“I got my bowl out of the washing machine and I put the cereal in the bowl and then I put the milk in. And then I ate it. With a spoon.” Izumi rolled her eyes. “Duh.”

“Right. Okay.” He laid back down. “Did you put the milk up?”

“I was ‘posed to, wasn’t I? I think I forgot to remember.”

“That’s okay.” Zuko laid back down next to her. “I can get more.”

They spent much of the rest of that Sunday being as lazy as the day permitted, which they rounded out with a facetime with Mai and a pizza delivery.

—

Friday morning, Zuko and Izumi dressed in their matching Bei Fong Elementary shirts, the neon yellow meant to differentiate Ms. Aqillutaq’s class from the other students. Zuko unloaded Izumi and walked her around to the back of the school where the activity buses were packing up. They were there a little early, so none of the students had been permitted into the vehicles yet, and it was easy to spot Izumi’s teacher in the thin crowds.

Izumi raced over to her class and went immediately to a few students he recognized as her friends. He was glad she’d made them quickly, and the ones he’d met seemed nice enough so far. He watched his daughter’s wild gesticulation while he made his way over to Ms. Aqillutaq.

She was holding a clipboard close to her chest and was watching her students from beneath the brim of her school-branded baseball cap. When her gaze landed on Zuko, she smiled.

“Mr. Lee! How are you?”

“Good! And, you really don’t have to call me Mr. Lee. It’s a little too formal for me. Makes me nervous. Zuko'll do just fine - if you’re okay with that.”

“Zuko.” She tested it and it was music to his ears. “I’d say you can call me Katara, but if you do it in front of them, they’ll do it,” Katara – her name suited her, he thought – gestured to the sea of students. “And that’d be a whole thing.”

“No worries. Katara in private only.”

She looked him over and dropped her voice to just above a whisper, “Are you planning on getting me alone, Zuko?”

“Well I’m not planning anything, but I wouldn’t be opposed if we happened to find ourselves that way.”

Before she could respond, they were interrupted for the second time in as many meetings by the approach of a man. This one was tall and broad though otherwise similar to Katara in features. His hand came down on her shoulder, and she rolled her eyes dramatically.

“You’re chaperoning today?”

The other man wore purple, matching a different group of children currently gathering in the parking lot. One of the other kindergarten classes, Zuko supposed. “Yeah. Did I forget to mention that?” He turned his attention to Zuko like he expected an introduction, and Zuko saw his fingers flex against Katara’s shoulder as if hinting that further.

“Zuko — Mr. Lee, this is my brother, Sokka. Sokka, this is Mr. Lee, Izumi’s father.”

Sokka reached his hand out, squeezing Zuko’s hand firmly when he accepted the shake. “Nice to meet you.”

Zuko squeezed back, accepting Sokka’s role as a protective brother but not capable of bending to the show. “Yeah, same here. You’re chaperoning with them?” He gestured to the other activity bus in the lot, and the aubergine-clad crowd standing near it.

“Yeah,” Then, Sokka smiled and gestured to one of the students in purple. Zuko wasn’t totally sure, but he assumed it was at the child with the same brown hair and similar shade of skin to Sokka. “Me and my wife take turns with this stuff. Our other one’s in second grade. I went to the circus with her class last week, so my wife was going to come to this. But she’s pregnant, so I was on back up duty just in case she wasn’t feeling well.”

They spoke for only a moment longer, but when more students appeared, Zuko turned out towards the crowd. “Anything I can do to help you guys get this show on the road?”

“Sure! If you want to, you can help the guy over there put the boxes of lunches on the bus.” She pointed in the appropriate direction and Zuko set off, as soon as he was far enough that she thought he was out of ear shot, he heard a ‘whack’ and her brothers soft ‘ow!’. “The hell was that about?”

“What?” Sokka laughed, and Zuko turned his head just a little and slowed his pace in hopes of catching his response. “It’s a brother’s duty to scope out the guys putting the moves on his sister.”

—

The classes left in ten minute intervals so that when each group arrived at the Gao Ling Museum of Earth Kingdom History, their tours weren’t overlapping. When Katara’s class finally arrives, Zuko spends the first half following aimlessly from the back, keeping the children corralled and stopping sticky fingers from wandering too close to the artifacts. It helped that the tour guide was entertaining, keeping the children and the chaperones engaged and following along in good humor. Katara had been following along to the left of the group, her watchful eye ensuring no child managed to wiggle off into the wilds of the building.

But when the group started to line up to go through a room that was filled with simulated tunnels, Katara rounded out the group with a pre-count and wound up at the caboose alongside Zuko.

Once the door closed behind them and they were engulfed in the green glow meant to mimic the cave of the legend, the tour guide began to speak. The story of Oma and Shu was one most people were familiar with for its dramatic romance - it had inspired everything from poets playwrights to film and television, but this would be most of the children's first introductions to it. And most of them thought romance was ‘icky’. At the sound of a few of them ‘ew’ing the tale of star crossed lovers bound by warring villages that were unaccepting of their love, Zuko leaned in to Katara.

“Maybe the material is a little too mature for the audience?”

She laughed a little at this, trying to keep it under her breath though she wasn’t quite successful. Before she could turn to say whatever response she had, they were interrupted by the stern voice (and smiling face) of the tour guide.

“Ms. Aqillutaq, Chaperone Lee. Is there something you find funny about this tale of woe?”

The class turned from feeling oogies about the historical love story to saying in near unison: ‘Ooooo, Ms. Aqillutaq got in trouble!’ and Katara pursing her lips to hide the good humored reaction she had.

“I’m sorry, Tourguide Zhang. Please continue.”

The tour guide began again and Katara nudged him gently with her elbow. She pressed her finger to her lips in the universal signal for ‘shush’.

They were good for the duration of the trip through the winding faux tunnels. Then they made a trip through the hall of portraits, most of which were works by famous Earth Kingdom painters of various celebrities. Politicians long dead and actors of a bygone time in oils and inks and every other material filled the frames. The students were allowed to roam here, not required to move as a group to look at the paintings, and Zuko stood by watching them mill about and explain which painting they found pretty and which subjects jowls were the most jowl-y.

Then Izumi ran towards him, her sudden exuberance catching the attention of the nearby Katara.

“Daddy, come look.”

He followed, her hand in his while she led.

“Look, look! Doesn’t this one look like Uncle?”

An unsurprising thought, since the man in the painting was her Great Uncle Iroh. The little white placard said as much. Crown Prince Iroh, painted by artist Han Sung during Iroh’s time in Ba Sing Se. Before he was king, when he was young and hadn’t experienced the loss of his father, his son, and his much beloved wife.

“No he doesn’t.” Zuko teased, lifting Izumi up so she can see better. “Uncle has white hair, and his is all black.”

“Well.” Izumi turned to look at him and threaded one of her fists in his hair. “Your hair used to be all black too. And now its black and white.”

“Which is your fault, I’ll have you know. And look, I just got a new one, thank you.”

Nearby, Katara laughed again. The sound was already becoming familiar to him. He put Izumi back down and she went off to join her friends again, the portrait of Iroh forgotten.

“Are you laughing at me, Ms. Aqillutaq?”

“Oh, no. I’d never mock a silver fox.” She shook her head. “Very serious business, that.”

“You think I’m a fox?” He gave her a cheeky grin that made a blush blossom in her cheeks.

She looked him over once, then turned in her little taupe flats to face away from him and cast a glance over her sea of students. “I haven’t decided just what I think about you yet, Zuko Lee.”

Chapter Text

He waited about two weeks before he reached out to Izumi’s teacher again. This time with school far from his mind. Zuko had thought about the woman nearly every day since he’d last saw her. The thoughts were wedged in between school drop offs and the doldrums of his job. He worked from home, fulfilling mundane tasks for his uncle. His social media accounts might say he’s a data analyst, but Zuko finds most of his day spent reading and writing emails on the behalf of his computer illiterate uncle. This meant he had a lot of time to think about Katara. About how pretty her hair was. About how much he thought he’d enjoy getting to see her again.

So, on the thirteenth day since he had last laid eyes on her, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and let out a resigned sigh before opening his contacts. Katara Aqillutaq sat in the very first slot, right at the top, just above every Bei Fong he had the number of. It was like a sign from the heavens.

The phone rang, and she picked it up on the fourth.

“Hello?” Katara sounded out of breath and the familiar sounds of nature could be heard in the distance.

“Hi, Katara?” There, he started informally. If he led with her first name and not her last, hopefully she’d recognize that he was calling for personal reasons. “It’s Zuko. Zuko Lee.” He doubted she knew any other Zuko’s. It was rare enough in the Fire Nation.

“Hey! Is Izumi alright? Do you have questions about her project?”

Damn. The name thing didn’t work. “No, thats going well,” Zuko glanced over at where Izumi was hunched over a pair of child-safe scissors that cut in a wavy pattern, snipping away at colorful construction paper. His mother sat beside her, helping her glue the strips down as neatly as possible on the border of her class art project. “I was calling to talk to you, actually.”

“Oh. Really?” She sounded more surprised than he’d hoped for. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.

Zuko stepped out onto his back porch. “Yeah. I was wondering if…” Thank Agni she couldn’t see him. The blush that shot across his face would have been too embarrassing to handle. “Well, if you’d like to go out with me sometime? This weekend, maybe.” There was a pause from the otherside of the line. Zuko’s uncertainty skyrocketed. “ We don’t have to, if you don't want to. Sorry if I misread you.”

“No, Zuko, wait! It’s not that, it’s just… Well. I’d like that very much, actually.”

He let out a sigh of relief. “Okay, great. Lunch, maybe. Saturday, if you’re free?”

“Can we get pho?”

“Absolutely,” Now Zuko was grinning like a fool. He caught his mother’s eye through the sliding glass door and saw her knowing smile flash briefly before her focus returned to Izumi.

“Then you’ve got a date.” She replied. “I’ll send you my address.”

His heartbeat quickened. A date.

—

When the Saturday of the date finally came around, Zuko felt like he was going to explode.

Izumi was already at her grandmother’s, excited for the day Ursa and Ikem had planned for her and Kiyi. Zuko was always grateful that his mother was able and willing to watch Izumi, and though it was rare that he needed to ask her, Ursa - like Kiyi - had essentially laid down the gauntlet and said that she should be the first person he ask if ever he needed overnight child care. Part of him regretted that he wouldn’t see his mother before he left to pick Katara up. He didn’t have anyone else to ask, except —

Zuko fished his phone out of his pocket and took what he hoped was a relaxed looking photo of himself in his full length mirror, and then sent it to Ty Lee. They didn’t talk often, but when they did it was like no time had passed between them. He’d just have to hope Ty Lee wouldn’t embarrass him by showing the text to his sister.

Zuko: Does this outfit look okay?

Ty Lee: OMG cutie! 😍 are you going on a date? with who? call me after. i want DETAILS.

Zuko: I’ll consider it if you answer my question.

Ty Lee: What color are their eyes?

Zuko: Blue. Very blue.

Ty Lee: Then you should wear blue :)

Zuko took Ty Lee’s advice and changed into a blue button up that he didn’t think he’d ever worn. The prospect of wearing a shirt that matched Katara’s eyes wasn’t one he would have considered, but he did like the idea. And the top was a very close shade. Though obviously it was no match in loveliness.

Woof, that was cheesy. Zuko texted Ty Lee a few more vague details about Katara, hopefully enough to satiate her curiosity. He really didn’t want to have her hounding him later for details about his date. He looked at himself again in the mirror. Just a quick once-over, because he knew it’d go nowhere good if he stood there scrutinizing himself. He didn’t wear blue often, so it threw him off a bit, but he trusted Ty Lee’s taste. His jeans and canvas shoes looked casual - hopefully not too casual. Just the right amount. Zuko hadn’t been on a real date since Mai. And had that even been dating? They’d attended events together, as dictated by the royal itinerary, and his outfits had been chosen for him by a crown-appointed stylist. Zuko was really out of his element, here. With a sigh, he dragged his hand across his jaw, smooth and freshly shaved, and went out to his car.

Katara lived eight minutes away. The benefits of a small town was that pretty much everything was less than thirty minutes away from you at any given time. Except for the mall. If you wanted a shopping center that wasn’t directly attached to the grocery store, you had to drive almost an hour into the nearest city. But that was fine with him. Gaoling was the perfect place to live if he didn’t want anyone to care about who he might have been in another life. Who he still was, if you looked behind the curtains.

Her house looked like many of the others in town - a white exterior topped with a green xieshan roof - but its gardens were better maintained than some of her neighbors. Zuko parked by the curb like the many other cars on the street had done, and took the stone guiding path through her front yard. He noted that all of the plants were native to the southern part of the Earth Kingdom, seemingly intentionally chosen to be a mix of ornamental and edible. Maybe in the future he could sit with her out here and she could tell him about the plants he didn’t recognize. Maybe one day he could show her his own garden, both the one here in Gaoling and the one he’d cultivated with Ursa in the Fire Nation before she’d left the palace.

An osmanthus grew by her front door, the fragrance pleasant while he waited after ringing the bell.

Katara opened the door wearing a full face of makeup and a large, fluffy robe. Her hair was wrapped around a long silk-wrapped tube. “Zuko! Hi! I’m a little behind, I’m sorry. Come in!” She stepped aside and he followed her into her home. It was comfortably decorated, cozy and warm - if a bit cluttered. “Have a seat, if you don’t mind. I’m going to go get dressed.”

“Yeah, of course.” He smiled at her and watched her disappear through a door towards the back.

While he waited, he looked through the items she had on display. There were a lot of photos, some containing Sokka, the brother he’d met at the field trip. Others contained more people he assumed were members of her family. He lingered at one of her at Sokka’s wedding. She stood next to her brother and his bride wearing a well-tailored slip dress in a sage green color. Judging from the other photo from the event, she’d been a bridesmaid. Agni, but she was even more beautiful outside of her school-appropriate attire. The formalwear accentuated her curves and the smooth shade of her skin. Of course, he also thought she’d been lovely just now, swaddled in the oversized bathrobe.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. The caller ID read Mai, so he braced himself with a sigh and answered. It wasn’t a conversation he wanted to have - certainly not at that moment - and it left him with a sour taste in his mouth. Thankfully he was able to cut it short when Katara came back out into the living room. His suspicion that she looked beautiful in anything was true. Her sundress stopped mid-thigh, the fabric gauzy, the goldish-yellow fabric making her complexion glow sunnily. Her hair fell in soft curls almost to
her hips. The cropped cardigan with the little tie on the front matched his shirt.

“Are you ready?” She asked, knocking him out of his stupor of admiration.

“Yes, Yeah. You look beautiful, by the way.” He knew he was blushing, he knew that she could see it but he did his best to ignore that fact.

“Thank you. So do you — er, well, you look nice. The blue is nice. I dunno if you like being called beautiful.”

“I won’t complain about it.” He gestured to her door, “Shall we?”

“We shall!”

—

The pho restaurant was inside of an understated brick building with a too-small parking lot and poorly maintained shrubbery. So, of course, it was the best one in town.

They’re seated immediately in a booth with cracked vinyl upholstery and a little plastic vase holding an almost-wilted flower. Katara ordered water but she changed her mind when he ordered a soda. The waitress was seemingly familiar with both of them. How had they never crossed paths here before? ‘20 Pho 7’ was one of his favorite eateries, and based on how well she knew the menu, it was one of hers too. Maybe it was because recently he rarely came. Izumi was going through a phase where she didn’t like food that was wet. Thinking about Izumi made him remember the phone call he’d had with Mai earlier, and that soured his thoughts.

Katara must have seen it on his face, because she nudged the toe of his shoe with her own. “You look a little distracted all of the sudden.”

“I’m sorry, I did zone out for a second there. That phone call I got earlier was just a little frustrating and something I thought of made me remember it. But don’t worry, I promise not to get distracted like that again.” He meant it. Zuko’d do anything to not screw this up.

“Do you wanna talk about it?” She offered.

He grimaced. “It’s ex-stuff. Not a fun first date topic.”

“I get it. I have a lot of messy ex-stuff too. Well, it was messy. It seems to have unmessed itself lately.” She smiled at him, genuine and soft. “I don’t mind. If you want to talk about it. It’s a part of your life. Personally I think the not-pretty parts are good to get a glimpse at early on.”

Zuko offered a half grin. “Okay. Well, my ex wife, Izumi’s mother, called me while you were getting dressed.” For some reason that he wouldn’t dwell on, the familiarity of her getting dressed while he was in the other room sent a sudden zing down his spine. “She was supposed to come down during the winter solstice.” That was still months away. The weather hadn’t even begun to turn yet. “Typically, we split the holidays. I’ll bring Izumi up during one holiday, and she’ll come down during the next. She’s decided that she can’t come this time. But she wants me to come up. Which isn’t a lot to ask, and I don’t mind going to the Fire Nation so that Izumi can see her mother. But it’s one of those things that reminds me of why we split in the first time. This isn’t the first time she’s bailed, though luckily she gave me enough time to book a flight this time. I don’t think she’s a bad mom, don’t get me wrong, I just hate that she and Izumi are losing time together.” He sighed. Zuko didn’t want to go into all of the details of his divorce with Mai, but for some reason it was just pouring out. “When Mai and I moved here, Izumi was still just a baby. We went to the city, because that’s the life Mai was accustomed to and I didn’t want her to be a fish out of water. But she hadn't wanted to come, not really.”

They’d left the Fire Nation because when the paparazzi found out Mai was pregnant, they’d become relentless. He’d wanted to do whatever it took to keep Izumi away from that for as long as he could. Mai had understood, but she hadn’t wanted it for herself. The older Izumi got, the more restless she’d become. “She wasn’t happy, but she never really was. When we were younger, it was fine. But once my focus shifted primarily to our child, it was a stressor between us. When we finally got divorced, she went back to the Fire Nation and I moved here. Izumi stayed with me. She spends summers with her mom, usually.” On Ember Island, safe from prying camera lenses, but he doesn't include that.

“Such a shame. I can’t imagine losing out on time with Izumi. She’s a real special kid.”

“That she is,” He sipped his soda through the soggy paper straw. “What about you? Since we’re sharing.”

“I met my husband my junior year of college. We weren’t married yet then, though, obviously… But it was kind of a whirlwind. He was a nice guy, charismatic and funny. Next thing I know we’re in Ba Sing Se at a twenty-four hour wedding chapel getting married by a guy in a funny wig.” She distractedly slid her straw in and out of her drink, the dark cola twinkling with the movement. “Then he wanted to drop out and travel the world and I was so caught up in it that I switched to online classes and did my best to keep up with my coursework despite not having wifi most of the time. I don’t regret it. I got to see the world, and it was amazing. But I got tired of it. I wanted to settle down and get my masters and find a place to work and live. He wanted to live like a nomad and I didn’t. It wasn’t compatible any more and eventually the dissention was just… too much. So, like you, I found myself here in Gaoling. I got my masters in Ba Sing Se and taught there for a short while before I got offered the class here. He hated that I’d left at first. He’d thought I was his forever girl. We were only together a few years though. How long were you with your ex-wife?”

“Mai and I were together for thirteen years. But we were only married for a few of them.”

Her eyebrows raised. “Oh! Wow. That's longer than I’d thought you'd say. Highschool Sweethearts?”

“Something like that. We grew up together. Her dad,” He cleared his throat to stop himself from saying that her father was a high ranking government official technically in the employ of the crown, “and my dad worked together. I think our families always thought we’d get together. To be honest I’m not sure if we got together for any reason other than those expectations.” He shrugged. “Did you really get married at a 24/7 chapel?”

“I really did. I wore a white sundress and a flower crown. The pictures went viral online. I felt like a little hipster influencer.” They both laughed. “Enough spouse talk. Where did you go to college?”

“Caldera University. I studied business. I minored in communications. I don’t know why.”

“What did you want to study?”

“Art.” He admitted. There’d been no hesitance in telling her, though she’d been the first person he’d ever said it outloud to. Aside from his father (and that had been a massive mistake).

“You’re an artist? I’d love to see your work some time.”

“I haven’t made anything in years. I’ll see if I can find something for you.” He was blushing again. Had he always blushed this much? “Where did you go to school? You said you did your masters at BSSU?”

“And undergrad.” Ba Sing Se University was one of the top schools in the Earth Kingdom. It was impressive enough to do her undergrad there, but both her undergrad and her masters was even more so. “I knew from the get go that I wanted to teach. Back home, during high school, I worked at an afterschool care program. It was nice. Helping people who needed to be helped.”

He smiled at this. “What made you come to the Earth Kingdom?”

“Sokka, mostly. I knew he was going to come here. His wife, Suki, is from Kyoshi. She went to the women’s college there, but she’d planned on going to Ba Sing Se for her masters, so my brother came here for all of his college. He did undergrad there, then got his masters at Bei Fong University. BFU has a really good engineering program.” Katara waved her hand. “There are a lot of bits, I won’t get into everything. But thats how I wound up coming here permanently. I don’t know if Sokka will stay forever. But I like it here.”

“Do you miss home?”

“All of the time. You?”

“All of the time.” He parroted.

—

They’d lingered on their date, walking down to a nearby boba shop. They sat outside, the Gaoling mountain range making a pretty picture behind them. He could have talked to her for several more hours, but eventually the ice in their cups had melted down completely. So finally they picked their way back down the sidewalk to Zuko’s sleek black car.

He opened the car door for her when they got back to her house and Katara slipped out careful not to let her dress slip too far up her thighs. “Such a gentleman.” She teased.

“I took classes on chivalry when I was a kid.” He told her.

“Really?” Katara’s eyes widened a little at the idea.

“No,” Zuko lied.

At her front door, they paused side by side. He’d already been inside once, but it felt different post date.

“I guess you need to get back to Izumi?”

He cleared his throat. “Actually, Izumi is spending the night with my mom.”

“Oh,” Katara bit her plump bottom lip, “Then… do you want to come inside?”

Zuko barely managed not to swallow his own tongue. “I’d love to.”

Chapter Text

Izumi was currently burning a path into his backyard. She’d been running circles for five minutes, her booted feet crunching on the winter-dried lawn.

“Izumi,” Zuko called. “Stop running in circles before you make yourself sick!”

“I won’t get sick!” She yelled back, but when she pulled herself to a halt she wobbled briefly before falling flat on her back. “Ah! Daddy!” Izumi stuck her arms and legs straight up in the air like an oversized possum. “Come get me! I can’t see! I’m blind!”

Zuko shoved his phone into his pocket and walked out to where Izumi was making grabby hands. When he got to her he pulled her into his arms and sucked his teeth. “You got dirt on your jacket, Zumi. Ms. Aqillutaq will be here any minute and you’re all dirty and woozy now.”

Katara and Zuko had gone on a total of five dates since the first the month before. Since they’d slipped into ‘official’ territory, Zuko had asked her to dinner at his house. His mother and stepfather would be over with Kiyi in about an hour, though it was unlikely that they wouldn’t show up much earlier just to spite him.

“Is Ms. Aqillutaq going to be your new mommy?”

Zuko’s ear went hot and he suppressed a shudder. “Uh, no, she will not be my new mommy. She’s my girlfriend. She is coming to meet my mommy, though.”

“Oh,” Izumi adjusted herself in her father’s arms. “I think I meant, is she going to be my new mommy?”

His brow furrowed, “No, of course not, Izumi, Mai is your mother. Katara -Ms. Aqillutaq- and I are friends, and I like her a lot, but if we ever got married, Mai would still be your mother. She’d be to you like Ikem is to me.”

“I call him grandpa.”

“Yes, well, that is true–“ He might have spent more time explaining then, but it would have to go on pause for now. A knock at the door told him someone had just arrived, and the constant pressing of his doorbell clued him in that it was Kiyi and his parents. “Grandma’s here. Let’s go get them. Maybe Kiyi can help tou find something clean to wear.”

“Can I wear a bowtie?”

“Do you have a bowtie?”

“No. But can I wear one?”

“Sure,” He nodded, then opened the door to let everyone inside. “You guys know you don’t have to knock. You have keys.”

“Yes but you’re dating now. So we knock.”

“You don’t have to worry about that.” Zuko insisted, letting Kiyi take Izumi when she started explaining how she got mud on her outfit.

Ursa tutted at him. “I don’t want to know anything about it. But if you need Izumi to stay at my place so you can have some alone time, you just let me know.” She patted him on his arm and scooted past him.

“Yeah, you get ‘em, tiger.” Ikem repeated her motion.

“Thanks, guys, but I think I’ll probably never ask you to do that ever again actually. You just killed my desire forever. But I appreciate it.”

Ursa teased him some more as they walked to his kitchen. The tupperware in her hands was filled with what looked like a corn salad that Zuko knew was delicious based on other times she’d served it. The one in Ikem’s was a pork dish that smelled immaculate. Zuko had been in charge of the rice and being prepared to make whatever Izumi insisted she wanted instead of the provided dishes. One day, Zuko knew Izumi wouldn’t ask him to make her moo-sow nuggets for dinner. Until that day, Zuko would accommodate her. Because he knew when she no longer wanted nuggets instead of what he ate, she’d probably also not ask him to paint her toes any more, or help her with her ponytails. He wasn’t ready for that.

“I don’t know what you’re so shy for. It’s a natural part of life. Ikem and I just want you to be happy.”

Zuko scrunched his nose. “Thanks, mom. I appreciate it. Don’t meddle though, please. Not with those parts of my life.” He gave her a stern look, rare though it was.

When there was a ring at the doorbell, and knowing exactly who it was caused a knot to settle in his stomach. He’d seen her plenty since they’d first started dating, but for some reason she made him so nervous every time. Maybe it was because she was so pretty. No, he wasn’t fourteen, that was stupid.

Zuko opened the door and there she stood, wearing a pretty blue turtle neck and fitted jeans. Her thick hair was pulled into a bun and he longed to free it from its confines to see it free and flowing around her shoulders.

“Hi,” She smiled, dazzling him the same way it always did. “I brought this.” Katara lifted the container in her hands. When he accepted it from her, she stepped around him into the house. She’d never been inside before - for that matter, she’d never seen the outside either. He had always picked her up, or
met her somewhere. Katara took a moment to take in the entryway and his living room. It was neat for the most part. But it was still full of evidence of his life there with Izumi. Framed photos of his family - carefully chosen to frame him as a Normal Fellow, but he knew if she investigated, she would see photos of him and his uncle amongst them.

“Your home’s really beautiful.” She complimented with a smile that made him momentarily forget what they were talking about.

“Thank you. So are you,” When he realized what he’d said, there was no graceful way to renege. Not that he wanted to take it back per se, but he wished he’d complimented her in some way that might be perceived as ‘cool’ or ‘slick’. He’d never had to do that before. The coronet he’d worn had taken care of that part, being suave had been unnecessary.

Katara blushed and Zuko decided he didn’t need to worry about being suave with her. She hadn’t minded thus far. When she went up on her tiptoes to brush a kiss across his lips he forgot all about his worries anyways. “Where is everyone?”

“Oh, in here,” He led her back through to
the dining room. “Just a warning, my mother is very excited to meet you.”

“Oh good,” Katara wiped her palms on her clothes, “I’m excited to meet her too. Do you think she’ll like me?”

Zuko grinned genuinely down at her. “She’ll love you. How could she not?”

And she did. Ursa was quick to wrap Katara into a warm hug, complimenting her clothes and the shiny thickness of her hair.

“So, where are you from?” His mother asked while they all set to work setting out the made dishes.

“I grew up in Wolf Cove, in the Southern Water Tribe.” Katara accepted the glass of wine poured for her and sipped it carefully. “My dad is the chief there.”

“Really? I always thought the water tribes were beautiful. What’s your dad chief of?”

Zuko wanted to know too, since she hadn’t mentioned it before. He assumed police or fire or something.

“Oh, sorry. The Southern Water Tribe.”

His eyes widened, and his mother’s glance snagged his attention. “Your father is Hakoda?”

Katara looked genuinely surprised, “You’ve heard of him?”

“Yeah, well,” He had to pause. He knew her father because he’d met him at state events in the past, but he didn’t know how to tell her that. Suddenly he wished he’d been honest, she may have related to it more than he’d thought, might have understood him. After all, she also didn’t live in the land where her family held immense power. Her brother didn’t either - had the limelight taken a similar toll on them? Though, he almost winced, thinking of his scar, probably not quite the same. “I work for the government, so it’s helpful to know who’s leading the nations.”

She nodded, as if that made all the sense in the world. His mother looked disappointed, but at least Katara didn’t seem to notice. He hated that he was lying. He knew he didn’t need to. But it wasn’t technically a lie, right? She wouldn’t judge him, he knew that. And yet… He held back the sigh he wanted to let loose. He liked that she didn’t know. He liked that to her, he was just Zuko Lee, single dad, divorcee, boyfriend. Just a guy she liked, the father of her student. He liked that he wasn’t a prince in her eyes, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to lose that.

“Ms. Aqillutaq!” Izumi came flying through the archway of the dining room towards Katara. “I’ve missed you!” She wrapped tiny arms around Katara’s hips and hugged her tight enough to throw her a little off balance.

“Hi, Izumi!” She hugged her back. “I’ve missed you too!”

Zuko didn’t miss the brightness in his mothers eyes at the minor exchange. He couldn’t deny that he also loved how much she loved his daughter. It made the feeling that had wedged itself beneath his ribs that she was “the one” burn a little hotter.

When Izumi disentangled herself from Katara she turned on her father. “When can I eat? I’m emancipated.”

“Emaciated,” Kiyi supplied helpfully, earning a curious look from Katara. “I’ve been reading her my school books. It helps me study.”

“Kiyi thinks she can turn Izumi into a prodigy if she focuses hard enough.”

“She is a prodigy.” Kiyi insisted. “We just have to figure out in what.”

Dinner was a mild affair - literally. Everyone toned down their cooking to better suit what they had assumed would be Katara’s less-spice inclined taste buds. But everything was delicious and the conversation was light and happy, and on the part of his mother, perhaps overly personal. But Katara didn’t seem to mind that his mother seemed so keen on getting in her business.

“Zuko tells me you have quite the garden,” Katara said to Ursa as they began clearing away the dishes.

“Oh yes! My pride and joy. Besides my children, of course.” She gave Zuko a placating smile. Then she gasped like she’d had a revelation. “We should take a field trip to my garden. I’d love an excuse to show off my greenhouse to someone who would appreciate it.” She glared at Ikem who shrugged and gave her a bashful smile.

“I think your flowers are pretty.”

“Not good enough.” Then she grinned at Katara again. “Shall we? We’re a very short walk away.”

“Sounds like fun to me.”

Outside the air had cooled even more as the sun dipped lower on the horizon. Izumi raced up the sidewalk with Kiyi hot on her trail and Ursa and Ikem strolled behind them. Zuko and Katara walked with just as much leisure a few steps back.

“Incredible to see that Izumi still has so much energy after eating her weight in potstickers. And such spicy ones, too.”

“Were they spicy?” Zuko threw a teasing glance her way, which she returned in kind. Their fingers brushed where their hands dangled between them before intertwining.

“It was delicious, thank you. I like your family.”

“They like you. Not that I’m surprised. I just have to get your brother on my side.”

“He’ll come around, I promise.” She pulled on his hand a little. “What about your sister? When do I get to meet her?”

“She doesn’t leave the Fire Nation much if she can help it. Maybe one day we can take a trip up and you can meet the rest of my family.”

She nodded. “I’d like that. We’ll have to do the same to see most of my family.”

Planning a future with her was nice, he decided. He’d have to do more of that. “I’d like to see your home. Do you miss it?”

“Every day. I’d like to move back there, eventually I think. Even if its just for part of the year. But I like Gaoling, I like the life I’ve built. For now, at least, I’ll stay here. Who knows what’ll happen in the future.”

“We’ve got a while at least, right?”

“Right.” Then she pulled him to a halt and tugged him down for a quick, but thorough, kiss.

“Hurry up, daddy. I want to eat the honeysuckles!” Izumi called back.

He didn’t have the heart to tell her that they weren’t in season.