The Pirate Empress

13

Aang
Katara
Tenzin
Pema
Toph
"That's the list so far," he said, regarding the slip of paper in my hand. "People who won't be in the wedding, anyway."

"Well, that's gonna get a lot bigger."

"Absolutely."

I smiled. "I still can't believe we're getting married."

"It's been a month and a half."

"And? You know you're still in a giggly state of mind too, mister."

He shook his head, blushing lightly, as he turned to the ship's steering wheel. "Where's Izumi?"

"Republic City," I replied.

"You don't say?" He asked, leaning over the rail. "Oh, here she is now."

"Sorry I'm late," Izumi said a moment later. "We wanted to say goodbye to Bumi."

Their daughter, Thi Na, stirred in her mother's arms.

"You want me to take her downstairs?" I asked.

Izumi nodded, kissed her child's head, and handed the sleepy two-year-old to me. I set her on my waist and walked below decks, into the little cabin that Zari kept a crib in for his first cousin once removed, but we just say "niece."

As I lay her in bed, she opened her eyes. "Auntie Su?"

"Hey, baby girl," I said. "It's nap time. Gotta go to sleepies."

"Sweepies?"

"Yeah. Night-night, Thi." I kneeled next to her crib and smiled.

"Where's Mamma and Daddy?"

"Mamma's upstairs, and Daddy's gonna stay in the city. We're gonna go to the castle!"

"Castle!" She giggled, and I nodded.

"But first, sleepies, or the castle won't come as fast. Would you like me to sing a song?"

"Okay," Thi Na said, laying her head down and holding the doll that Katara had sewed her when she was first born.

"The moon is bright, the wind is quiet,
The tree leaves hang over the window.
My little baby, go to sleep quickly,
Sleep, dreaming sweet dreams

The moon is bright, the wind is quiet,
The cradle moves softly.
My little one, close your eyes,
Sleep, sleep, dreaming sweet dreams."

I smiled at the sleeping girl, then stood and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw someone leaning in the doorway.

"I used to sing that to Zari," Azula said.

"I didn't know you sang."

"I don't often, but I remembered when I used to hear my mother sing to Zuko and I used to pretend she was singing to me. I wanted Zari to feel the real thing, not just pretend."

"Oh." I looked down at the baby. She's lucky to have a mom who loves her so much, I thought. Zari, too.

I mean, our mother loved Lin and I, but she wasn't the best at showing it. And Azula's mom won't be winning the Mother of the Year Award anytime soon. Maybe the Not as Much of a Jerk as You Could Have Been Award, but ... probably not.

"Anyways, Zari said he wanted me to tell you to get your butt upstairs. I'll watch the kid."

"Okay, see you, Azula." She nodded to me on my way out.

On the deck, I saw nobody. "Zari, love?" I called out. "Where are you?"

I heard laughter above me and screamed. That idiot pirate boy was in the rigging again! Except he wasn't - he was flying through the air, at least four meters, before grabbing another rope and swinging across to grab another on his way to the ladder.

"Zari!" I shrieked. "You're going to kill yourself!"

"I'm fine," he says as he lands solidly on two feet next to me.

"What if the wind blew while you were midair and your target rope went away, huh?"

"Su, there are barrels filled with sand at the ends just so that doesn't happen."

"Backup plans don't always work!"

"Yeah, they do."

"Nope," I said, popping the 'p'.

"Name one."

"Um, do I really have to?"

"Yes, my mother taught me it's impossible to win an argument without evidence and I think that's the truth."

The only one that could pop into my mind, due to his fingers fiddling with the necklace he wore, was his parents. That wasn't exactly nice, though. "Whatever."

"I see you have one."

I crossed my arms. "Nope."

"Come on, tell me."

"I don't want to," I said.

"Pleeease?"

"Your stupid fiddling with the necklace. You wouldn't be able to fiddle with the necklace because it wouldn't be on your neck if all backup plans worked. There."

His face scrunched up, then relaxed. "Fair."

"I told you I didn't want to say it," I said, pouting.

He hugged me. "Anyways, come on. The sunset's about to end."

I nodded, and we sat in the crow's nest together, watching the reds and oranges fade into blackness. It's like life, I thought. It looks all pretty up until the last moment, when it ends, and you leave people in the darkness. I wrapped my arm around Zari and leaned into his shoulder.

And they don't seem to be able to get out.