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Loving Zuko is like the sun.
Warm, and bright, all serene and still like the first sunrise of the spring after a Southern Water Tribe winter as they crowd around and huddle together in front of the fire in Gran-Gran's tiny, but cozy, home. It sounds like Suki yelling at the twins to stop hitting each other, his son being teased by older "cousins" they aren't actually related to in any way for his crush on a visiting Earth Kingdom girl, and Sokka and Zuko rough-housing with each other until their respective partners scold them because they're supposed to be helping with the holiday traditions, not having silly swordfights like they're teenagers again.
It glows – they glow, their love for each other, their family, their respective nations, and the new world they created together, etched in every breath they breathe and every step they take.
This love manifests in Zuko trying his hardest not to disturb his wife as she sleeps next to him peacefully, the child-like youthfulness of her face now replaced with laugh lines and forehead creases from all the smiles and time they’ve shared together. There are small smiles, ones shared across the grand table in the “War Room” that is no longer just for military strategizing, but for event planning, debriefs about the school lunches and education policy, including “Mikiruk said you forgot to leave a note in her snack box this morning so she’s expecting two bedtime stories and tea time tonight because she is not happy with you” - even though she can’t read yet so she only knows that he forgot cause her pre-school teacher didn’t read it to her, and occasionally, stolen moments when he picks her up on the table, spreads her legs, and drops to his knees to spells out his feelings with his tongue, and wide toothy grins- exchanged in between exasperated eye rolls of “maybe we should’ve stopped at two.”
When Katara inevitably sighs, blinks her eyes open, and drawls in that signature teasing inflection “Is there ever a day where you won’t rise with the sun?," because try as he might, him and his wife have always been attuned with each other, a skill nurtured from years of fighting against (and later, with) each other, trying to get under one another's skin as the “stubborn, smart-ass” Chief’s Daughter and the well-to-do, “pretentious, pompous jerk” nephew of the renowned Dragon of the West, and honed by adding the titles of “mommy” and “daddy” to their already impressive resumes as they juggle lucrative careers, parenting three kids, and running a country, he just laughs, whispers “yeah, when I’m dead” and places a chaste kiss on her nose, because he knows like the back of his own hand that “I’m going back to sleep when you leave,” is her way of saying “I love you.”
***
Loving Katara is like the moon.
All encompassing, there are moments when her love is domineering, so demanding that it consumes him. Like a wave crashing against the shore, he finds himself carried by it – drifting away, lost at sea, yet never worried or concerned about drowning, because she’ll never let him.
And, then, there are others – when she retreats, like the ocean cresting from the beach during a low tide, her love coming to fruition in keeping his heart beating, alive, back when they were still too afraid to address what was happening between them, scared of what it meant for each other, the world, their people, and yet, even with the unknown, that feeling was strong, tethering them to each other like the moon and the sun - there is no them, we, and us, without the other.
They were just children then, Zuko himself only a few months shy of 17. Seventeen, it's the same age as their oldest, Lu Ten - when he looks at him now, he can’t even imagine his baby boy fighting to the death to fix a problem he didn’t create.
It takes shape in helping him grow, even if it means dousing his flames, memories of the near-screaming match that ensued well into Katara’s 1st pregnancy, when his own doubts and fears became too much for him to handle, spilling out in disinterest and detachment, fresh in his mind.
He wasn’t ready (and to this day, he still doesn't think he ever will be, but it's Katara that showed he never has to be, as long as he tries).
What kind of man was he that he could make a baby without a second thought but had all these worries and concerns about raising one? Self-pity that left him neglecting the love of his life?
Although, in his defense, he wasn’t exactly trying to get her pregnant - Katara called him “Fire Lord” in that tone that went straight to his balls everytime, the way it has since she was calling him "Prince Zuko," only back then, it was out of annoyance until he finally shut her up, and he hadn’t seen her in weeks, so honestly, it really was her fault and when he was trying, it took months to conceive again.
“You want me to talk!? I’m scared, okay? At least there were old manuscripts I could study on how to lead a country, there’s no fucking rulebook on how to be a good father!”
“ One, you're not leading this country by yourself! I've been right beside every step of the way, yet, for some reason, you still block me out and act like I'm not even here. And two, do you think I have one on how to be a good mother? Mine’s dead! I can't ask her about anything! But I can’t back out of this. I can’t choose if I’m gonna do it or not, like you. The time for that passed 4 months ago. He’s coming whether you like it or not so figure your shit out.”
“Katara-“
“Or don’t. But I can't stay here right now and pretend that this is...okay."
Katara was on Kyoshi Island to stay with her brother and sister-in-law for less than 48 hours before Zuko went after her, the scathing scolding from his most trusted advisor (re. his and Azula's nanny from when he was a baby) that he better fix this and make it right before Fire Nation citizens revolt against him, but not to worry because she'll say the Fire Lord has taken a leave of absence, appreciated but not needed as he was already preparing the list of things to do while he was gone when the tiny, old woman walks in, a slipper tucked behind her back. He later admitted it would've been even less than that, but he wanted to give her a chance to cool down for his sake, so he could actually apologize to her without having to dodge waterwhips first.
After they reconciled – “We’re gonna have a son? A baby boy?” “Yes, and he’s gonna need his daddy. He’ll need you,” it occurred to him then that of course, he could talk to his wife, the mother of his child, about his fear and apprehension because how he could he ever doubt that she loves him and think this is a fluke when she’s spent the past 8 months growing the little life they made together with the last trimester in full bloom during a Fire Nation summer (something Katara never lets him forget), so he’s only mildly annoyed when she drops the temperature in the bathtub several degrees when he verbalizes all of this because he knows that “I married an idiot because how are you just now figuring that out? I’m literally pregnant with your baby, Zuko. Do you think I let you do this to me for fun? For my health? When your son is kicking a hole into my bladder so we’re both gonna be in diapers?” meant “I love you,” too, and really, he’s just grateful she allowed him to reheat it because the damper the cold water was starting to put on his painfully-aware-that-my-wife-is-naked-and-wet-and-i-desire-to-apologize-inbetween-her-legs-boner was going to add insult to injury.
***
Sokka was not pleased that he was kicked out of his own home for a few hours so his sister and brother-in-law could have make-up sex, even though Zuko claims he left willingly.
"Yes, because I'd rather not listen to you do whatever it is you do to my BABY SISTER that makes her sound like that."
***
Loving each other is a matter of give and take.
It requires understanding.
The love they have for each other knows that sometimes, there are days when Zuko is more "trying to keep the world from plunging into another 100-Year-War," Fire Lord than he is friend, husband, or father.
There are others, when Katara is more "world-renowned surgeon who's blood-bending made open heart surgery and physical therapy more successful," more Painted Lady, than lover, wife, and mommy.
And then, there are moments when there are neither of those titles, when time stands still, even though they really don’t have much of it to start, and they’re allowed to exist as just Katara and Zuko, two souls entwined with hearts that beat as one.
It’s during those moments that, more often than not, responsibilities and roles are shed, with worries pushed to the side, even if it’s only for a little while, as Zuko trails kisses on Katara’s back, their regalia discarded somewhere that’s not important at the moment in their eagerness to get each other undressed. “How long do we have?” He whispers, lips ghosting across the goosebumps on her flesh.
“10-15 minutes?” She gasps as he grips her butt with his hand, the other sinking two digits into her core. “Maybe.”
“So, 20.” He presses against her clit, a pleased hum escaping him when she clenches around his fingers. "Let's say 30 to be on the safe side." Zuko places a kiss on her earlobe. "I want to take my time to make you cum. Enjoy you."
“Zu-ohhhhh.” Her attempt to chastise him because he never finishes on time, so she’s always wondering what exactly counts as a quickie because after all, he is a firebender, so his stamina can be relentless, turning into a moan.
Katara pulls her bottom lip in-between her teeth as Zuko removes his fingers and replaces them with his cock, soaking it with her arousal, before slowly but surely, stretching her until she feels full.
He blows out a puff of steam and it suddenly occurs to him that neither of them are in their 20s anymore. “Fuck. Damn it, Katara.” He sighs. “You okay?”
She snorts. “Are you? Seems to be struggling a bit there, Fire Lord.”
“Oh, really, my love?” He smirks, leaning down so his chest is pressed against her back. He begins to move, tongue tracing the spot in between her shoulder blades. Noticing the catch of her breath, he laughs. She can practically hear the smug arrogance in his voice when he asks, “Think I can get two out of you by then?”
“Make it three and you got a deal.”
***
It surprises no one, except maybe their elder children, who are more-so disturbed that their father, who said himself that he’s getting too old for this and has aged “10 years just from chasing Mikiruk around,” the 3-year-old who was named due to her premature size and weight at birth, giving his wife a run for her own money in who can be his biggest challenge and “pain in my fucking ass,” and their mother, who they remember hearing her panicked screams as the youngest of the brood made her arrival 6 weeks early while was she taking a bath, are still in their old age doing that, when Katara reveals that their household will no longer be dominated by boys because “something tells me we’re getting another little girl.”
And perhaps, it is in their children that their love manifests the most.