To Lose or to Gain: Iroh's Child (AtlA Fanfic)

Moments

The feeling was foreign, yet felt good.

If someone were to ask Zuko to describe the feeling, to say where exactly it came from let alone why he felt the way he did after visiting his grandfather to show how he'd progressed in his Firebending and select a gift for the baby his mother and father—former father, were expecting. The Tiger Monkey sat next to the stuffed dragon on his bed, waiting every night for him to return, yet he didn't feel bad for having the toy on his bed.

Azula would have made him feel bad, yet her lack of presence made him feel safer to be himself if that were even a thing as he didn't feel as if he knew who he was. "Maybe though, I am making progress with my Fire Bending, even if it's not the same as her, but I wonder how she'd feel about me getting to pick out the gift that grandfather is going to give the new baby."

"Furious," Akira laughed. "I mean, not that I'd want to be around when she found out if she ever found out, but that's obviously how she'd react."

"Definitely wouldn't want to ever meet her," Hideki muttered. "I'm glad I haven't met her."

His time spent with his friends and everything else felt super different from his life under Ozai's roof, but as time progressed he saw a change in his mother. He didn't say anything lest he stress his mother out, yet Iroh laughed. "That would be the pregnancy. It's a very complicated, but wonderful thing."

"Why?"

"Well, when you're with someone you love..." Iroh froze his face twisting.

"I don't think father and mother love each other, but I don't see why anybody would want that. Plus, Lu Ten never—whatever it is," Zuko's face scrunched up. "Do I really want to know?"

"Maybe when you're older, but if you ever do start taking an interest in someone, anyone—you'll be sure to tell me, right?"

"I guess."

"Ozai's relationship with your mother isn't how things normally are?"

"How do you know?"

"Because..." Iroh responded. "That's not how things were with me and Lu Ten's mother. I loved my wife very dearly, and..." He let out a laugh. "Despite the fact I can be quite exasperating at times, I know she loved me as well."

Zuko m ulled over what Iroh said, before replying with, "I still don't think I'd want to be with anybody like that."

"That's I think understandable at this point, but I guess what you need to know is women go through changes when they're pregnant, but those changes mean it's getting closer to when the baby is going to be born."

This was definitely happening, but his mother, despite seeming anxious about Ozai and Azula as much as Zuko was seemed quite happy about the new baby growing inside of her, which in Zuko's mind was equally odd—and was something which baffled Akira and Hideki when he brought it up and something he learned was normal, a part of life progressing and things balancing out.

He was with them when the news came.

Iroh was there with the servant sent to fetch him because Ursa was giving birth, the announcement that she was pregnant having been announced about a month before—according to Azulon, he did this to relieve Ursa's stress, another thing Zuko didn't understand any more than the painful screams which in his mind made him wonder why any female would want to go through the process of giving birth if it caused that much pain.

The way Azula smirked was unsettling, and Zuko looked at his uncle who glared at her, yet Ozai—his former father, was nowhere in sight as Azula continued smirking. He took a deep breath, glancing over at Azula. " Is the only reason she here because she enjoys hearing mother be in pain? "