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Zuko made a break for their chambers the moment the ministers’ chairs scraped back, head held high and mouth set into a calm line that he hoped at least somewhat hid his eagerness. He’d found that if he walked fast enough, and with enough determination in his stride, people tended to assume he had somewhere important to be.
He did have somewhere important to be, because Toph was visiting, which meant Sokka was entertaining her while Zuko was cooped up with busy work. After an entire day of stuffy ministers and draining meetings, he wanted absolutely nothing more than to go find them.
Not that he was neglecting his duty, not that the work wasn’t important, just… he’d much rather spend time with his husband and one of his closest friends than spend it discussing fishing regulations with Minister Khuc.
Zuko paused with his hand on the knob, catching the tail end of an urgent whisper on the other side of the door. The sound cut off abruptly when the knob rattled.
Sokka was standing in the doorway to their chambers when Zuko entered. He was, specifically, blocking his entrance. Zuko narrowed his eyes at him, and the way he was breathing slightly hard, like he’d leapt to cut him off.
Outwardly, Zuko sighed.
(Internally, he felt a little rush of fondness, because... yeah, these were his idiots).
“What did you do?” Zuko asked, maybe only a little jealous that he hadn’t been in on it. Sokka cringed.
“First of all,” Sokka said. “It’s really important to me that you understand that this is Toph’s fault.”
Toph shouted indignantly from the other room. Zuko ignored her. He raked his eyes over Sokka instead, but… he didn’t look injured. Was Toph injured?
Sokka looked distinctly sheepish as Zuko pushed past him. He half expected the room to be a disaster, with the way Sokka was trying to hide it from view, but Toph was only sitting innocently on the sofa, scowling in their general direction. She looked fine, too, her feet propped up on the table in front of her, arms crossed casually.
There was a basket sitting on the table, and Druk, who considered everything he could fit inside his own personal bed, was coiled tightly over the top of it. Zuko heaved a sigh at the realization that Sokka had only gone shopping, probably, and Toph had talked him into—or failed to talk him out of—another stupid purchase.
Zuko came closer, and stared over the edge of the basket. The basket, that was not a basket after all. Druk blinked one lazy eye at him, let out a tiny rumble of contentment, and—
—and a tiny fist curled around the tip of his tail.
“Sokka,” Zuko said, turning away from the cradle. “Who’s baby is this?”
For one wild moment, he glanced at Toph. She leaned over the table and punched him in the thigh.
“It’s obviously not mine!” she shouted at him, heedless of the sleeping baby. Druk let out a tiny, disgruntled peep at the sudden noise, but the baby didn’t even stir.
“See, that’s kind of the problem,” Sokka said. “We don’t know.”
A servant had knocked tentatively on the door, not long after Zuko returned to their chambers and offered to take the child away. Zuko and Sokka had exchanged a look, and then promptly dismissed her. Zuko didn’t really care if tending to a stray child wasn’t the Fire Lord’s concern in their eyes. It just… didn’t sit right with him, to pass her off and dust their hands of the whole matter.
Whoever she belonged to had managed to make it all the way to the inner palace gates without being seen by the guards—how, exactly, they’d managed that was still a mystery. He ought to be worried about that lapse in their security, and he would be, later, but he had more pressing mysteries to attend to right now.
She had dark hazel eyes, so her parents were probably either Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation—hard to tell, exactly, in a baby this young, without anything else to go on. She could be someone’s illegitimate child, but Zuko doubted she belonged to any of the nobles of the court. They’d have done a much better job of hiding her—illegitimate children were generally provided for and sent to boarding school, not left at the palace gates for the court to gossip about.
Zuko wasn’t even fully convinced that she was meant to be found by someone from the inner palace. She’d been left just outside, in the shade of one of the star plum trees framing the inner palace gates, with nothing but a brief apology note tucked into the cradle beside her. The only reason Sokka and Toph had found her at all was because of Toph’s seismic sense—without that, she probably would have been picked up by one of the guards and never made it past the inner palace walls at all.
There was really no tactful way to ask the Kyoshi Warriors if she belonged to any of them. Zuko doubted it—he didn’t recall signing off on any extended leaves—but maybe a partner… well, it could explain the eyes.
Toph had volunteered to go talk to them over an hour ago. Zuko had a strong suspicion that she had ulterior motives, namely in making increasingly blunt innuendos at Suki and the rest of the warriors until one of them did something about it. Zuko glanced out the window at the last glow of sunset slipping beneath the horizon. He sighed.
“I don’t think Toph’s coming back tonight,” Zuko said.
Sokka snorted. “Yeah,” he said. “But on the bright side, we can probably rule out the warriors.”
So that narrowed it down to… only a few dozen other servants and guards, all of the embassy staff, his ministers and any guests they might have had… nevermind if she’d been left by someone from outside the palace, bold enough to sneak inside the outer walls to drop the baby at the inner palace gates.
The low table had been stacked with scrolls and books before, a backlog of all the work they’d been neglecting during Toph’s visit. Sokka had scooped it all up and piled it precariously on the edge of Zuko’s writing desk, in a towering stack that Zuko thought was a bit optimistic, considering that Toph was still visiting, and so they were basically guaranteed at least one or two more minor earthquakes before she departed.
Sokka was sitting at the low table with the baby in his lap. She was just big enough to reach the tray settled in front of them, chubby fingers curling around the edge. Sokka carefully pried her hands off of it before she could pull the whole thing into their laps. He ripped off a little piece of ash banana and handed that to her instead.
The baby hummed happily as she gummed the piece of fruit. She craned her head and watched, owlishly, as Sokka picked a picken dumpling off his own plate—safely out of reach of any tiny hands—and popped it into his mouth. He hummed too, and the baby copied him, making grabby-hands for another piece of fruit.
A warm fondness welled in Zuko’s chest at the sight of them, as Sokka smiled indulgently and handed her little bits off his plate. He surprised himself with how close the feeling was to wanting.
(Zuko didn’t have much experience with children. He’d been avoiding considering the logistics of an heir. He and Sokka certainly hadn’t discussed it, but… maybe they should have—)
Druk was slinking around beneath the table, poking his head up every so often to check how well Sokka was guarding his plate. The baby giggled as he brushed against her legs on his way past, pausing for only as long as it took for him to realize she didn’t have any meat for him. Druk perked up as Sokka turned his attention toward the baby in his lap, and Zuko quickly scooped him up before he could make a grab for the unguarded eel mackerel on Sokka’s rice.
Druk chirruped indignantly as Zuko set him down next to his own food bowl. He scratched him consolingly under his chin.
“You’re good at this,” Zuko said.
“Eating ash bananas? She’s a natural,” Sokka said, shooting him a teasing grin.
Zuko huffed a laugh. “I meant you,” he said. “I didn’t know you were so good with kids.”
He shrugged as he handed her another piece of ash banana. She smashed it between her fingers instead of eating it, and then smeared it on the edge of the table. She grabbed for another piece.
“I got a lot of practice with the younger kids in our village after the men left,” Sokka said. “Thankless work, training the next generation of warriors…”
“I never knew you used to babysit,” Zuko said.
“Warrior training,” Sokka insisted, obligingly handing the baby another chunk of fruit, which she happily ate that time.
Zuko chuckled at that. He leaned over Sokka’s plate to pick up one of the bits of rice cake he’d been piling up against the edge of his bowl. He dipped it into chili oil and popped it in his mouth. Sokka was watching him, very intently, completely oblivious to the baby dropping fruit on his pant leg. Zuko smirked, eyebrow raised, and sucked the spice off his thumb. Then he leaned down, slightly, and Sokka leaned in like a wave crashing on the shore.
“Ow, shit, you’re hot,” Sokka said, drawing back from the kiss.
“Thank you,” Zuko said.
“I meant that you’re spicy,” Sokka grumbled, leaning away when Zuko tried to kiss him again. “Wash your mouth out, first.”
Zuko laughed, and pressed a kiss to his temple, instead. Sokka scrubbed his hand over the spot.
“I think she’s wearing more ash banana than she’s eating, at this point,” Zuko said.
Sokka glanced down and chuckled. “All right,” he said, scooping her up, “Let’s clean you up.”
“Here, let me,” Zuko said, reaching out to take her. He could manage that, at least. “Finish your dinner.”
Sokka came and found him in the bathroom a half an hour later, completely soaked up to the elbows, and promptly burst out laughing. Zuko glared at him, but only half-heartedly. It was a little hard to be angry, considering how absolutely adorable she was splashing around in the warm water, with Zuko’s hand resting on her back to steady her. She turned and grinned at Sokka, all gums. The expression that flickered across his face was so adorably soft that Zuko felt fondness clench in his own chest.
Sokka plucked a towel from the rack and stooped to bundle her up. Her hands went for his braids first—Sokka ducked out of reach, and Zuko chuckled and leaned in to tuck them loosely behind his ear for him. She just grinned, pressing both chubby hands against Sokka’s cheeks.
“You know, this is actually not the first time I’ve accidentally acquired a baby,” Sokka said. “Although it is the first time I don’t know who to return her to.”
Zuko wrung his sleeves out, dripping soap and bath water and maybe a little bit of banana mash, still. Sokka laughed at him again, and Zuko just huffed and shucked his outer layer altogether. Whatever. It wasn’t like they’d be expecting any more company tonight—certainly not Toph, and the rest of the palace staff had been dismissed earlier in the afternoon.
The baby yelled, and clapped her hands against Sokka’s cheeks again, unhappy with being ignored.
“Yes?” Sokka asked. She blinked at him, and then babbled a few nonsense syllables, while he nodded along sagely, taking it all in.
“Mmm, I see, I see. I’m sure the Fire Lord will take it under advisement,” he said. He rested one hand on Zuko’s back and steered him back into the bedchamber, absently, but his attention was very focused on the baby in his arms, and her nonsense babbling. “Wow, you could really give Minister Khuc a run for his money—”
Zuko laughed, and elbowed him. Sokka just grinned, and the baby laughed too, delightedly, like she was in on the joke.
Druk watched their approach warily, now curled up on top of Sokka’s pillow, like he was worried they were going to kick him out of his spot. Sokka leaned over and deposited the baby in the middle of their bed, bundle of towels and all. She immediately started crawling over to Druk, who just dug his claws into the fabric with a quiet shhkt.
Zuko had ordered the staff to bring the the essentials to their bedchambers—fresh clothes, and blankets, and age-appropriate snacks, toys and books and… actually, looking at the pile now, it seemed they’d gone a little overboard, considering that the baby was only staying with them for the night, until they could find where she belonged.
He tossed one of the little outfits to Sokka, who’d gone to rescue Druk. He caught it easily and carried her back to the other end of the bed to wrestle her into it.
“So what happens now?” Sokka asked, one hand outstretched to keep the baby from tipping over the side. She crawled back toward him and into Sokka’s lap.
“Now… we try to find her parents,” Zuko said. “We can offer financial support, if—that’s why.”
He had to assume that was why they’d left her here. One of the servants, maybe, who knew the outer palace grounds well. If her parents had had no one else to go to, and they couldn’t afford to raise her… Well, the thought alone made him angry. It should never have come to that.
“And if we can’t find them?” Sokka asked. “Or, if they don’t want to be found?”
“Then… I guess we find someone else,” he said. “Someone who can take care of her. Who—wants her.”
The baby yawned sleepily. Sokka tipped his head down and raised an eyebrow at her.
“Bed time?” Zuko asked, smoothing a hand over the damp peach fuzz on her head.
As soon as she was settled into her cradle, Druk wandered over to reclaim his spot, curled up on top of her feet.
“Might as well,” Sokka said. “We can look more tomorrow, for her parents. Or… we’ll figure something out.”
Zuko was the first to wake, although both of them were slower to rise than normal. Sokka was curled around him, fast asleep, and it took a few seconds of careful shifting to slide free from his arms so he could inch over to the side of the bed. Zuko brushed a wayward strand of hair from Sokka’s face, let his fingertips linger against the prickly skin of his jaw.
He vaguely remembered waking in the middle of the night to Sokka kissing his shoulder, the bed dipping, and then the quiet cries in the adjoining room turning over to a quiet voice, and then to nothing. Sokka was always the night owl, sleeping at odd hours, but Zuko rose with the sun.
And the least he could do, then, was get them all breakfast.
With the late start to his day, there were more servants and staff in the hallways than usual, although most of them politely chose not to acknowledge their Fire Lord still dressed in his sleep robe, shuffling down the hallways. Firebenders rose early, and Zuko had slept in, so he wasn’t surprised to hear lively voices from the kitchen as he approached.
He paused at the doorway anyway, caught off guard when he heard, of all people, Toph’s name mixed in with the daily gossip.
He was immediately very thankful that he had paused.
“It’s good of him, is all I’m saying,” the cook said. “If my husband showed up with a child, I wouldn’t care if he was the Fire Lord. I’d kill him—” Zuko hesitated, his hand on the door. And then he went abruptly red, as the words registered. He stepped back from the doorway so quickly that the conversation went briefly quiet, before resuming at more of a mumble.
Which was fine by Zuko. He didn’t want to hear anything more. There was a servant passing by at the end of the hallway, and Zuko flagged him down, ordering tea and breakfast to their rooms and something for the baby, no rush.
Sokka was awake when he returned, lying on his back on the sofa, an open scroll balanced on his stomach. He glanced up eagerly when Zuko walked in, and deflated immediately when breakfast didn’t walk in also.
Zuko paused in the doorway, with his back pressed against the door, fingertips flat against the crack in the wood. He hesitated.
“Sokka,” Zuko said, “How many people saw you and Toph entering the palace with a baby?”
Sokka glanced at him and shrugged.
“Uh, a couple people,” Sokka said. “Why?”
Well, that explained it. Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Sokka,” he said more slowly. “What do you think those people assumed, when they saw you and Toph show up, together, with a baby?”
Sokka tilted his head, comically confused for all of three seconds before it clicked.
“What?” he shouted, much too loud for the early hour. The baby whined in her cradle, but didn’t quite wake. Sokka winced apologetically, anyway, and then carried on in a rushed whisper. “They don’t think—me and Toph?”
“Well,” Zuko said. “Considering that the baby’s… her parents are most likely from the Fire Nation or the Earth Kingdom… I think it’s more likely they’ve assumed that she… Toph and I…”
Sokka made a strangled sound and buried his face in his hands. After a moment his shoulders began shaking. Zuko moved closer, startled, concerned, and laid a hand on his back. Sokka was—oh, not upset, he was—
“It’s not funny,” Zuko said, exasperated. “It’s insulting! We’re married! I would never do that to you.”
“With Toph,” Sokka said, voice edging just a bit too close to hysterical for comfort. He was—still laughing, but Zuko leaned in and wrapped his arm around Sokka’s back, anyway. Sokka leaned into his side, a little more heavily than necessary, so maybe he was more concerned than he let on.
“I’ll set them straight,” Zuko promised.
“No, it’s… what do I care if they think that?” Sokka said. “We know it’s not true! I’m more worried about what they’ll think about you, when we find someone to take her.”
“I...” Zuko hadn’t thought of that. If everyone was assuming that the baby was his, that she had been dropped off with him for a reason, it might be a stain on his reputation, sure, to send her away, but…
If sending her away meant finding a family who would care for her, then that was more important. His predecessors had certainly suffered worse marks to their names than that. What did it matter what people thought of Zuko, so long as Sokka wasn’t being dragged into the mess, and so long as the baby was happy?
“I don’t care,” Zuko said. “I don’t know. We’ll figure that out when we come to it.”
A second day of searching was no more fruitful than the first. Toph had volunteered to ask around the palace staff, once she’d… thoroughly interrogated the Kyoshi Warriors. None of them knew who the baby belonged to, she was certain. She’d know better than Zuko or Sokka would, if someone was lying to her, so they were back at square one.
It was looking more and more likely that whoever had left her here had come from outside the palace walls, which meant… well, which meant that her parents could be anywhere, and likely didn’t want to be found.
Which meant that they needed to start considering the alternative, not returning her home, but finding her a new one.
The baby had sat on the floor, crawling after Druk as he darted around her, occasionally toddling for a few unsteady steps before falling down again. Druk was surprisingly gentle with her, considering how many needle-like scratches he left on Sokka and Zuko from climbing all over them.
The baby had started to get fussy by mid-afternoon, even with Druk to entertain her. Sokka had picked her up and bounced around the room with her, humming softly, trying to get her to settle. Finally he’d given in and passed her off to Zuko.
She’d been blinking sleepily at him within minutes, curled in the firebender-warm circle of his arms.
Zuko stared at her sleeping face for a moment, standing quiet and still in the center of the room. It felt vulnerable, in their own little pocket of the world, and Zuko was helpless to the urge to hold her a little tighter. When he glanced up, Sokka was watching them both—it was hard to tell what he was thinking exactly, but it was impossible to feel self-conscious, pinned by the fondness in his gaze.
Sokka crossed the room silently and slid one hand around Zuko’s waist. He pressed a light kiss to the side of his head, just above the scar. Zuko leaned into him. He cleared his throat.
“Well,” Zuko said quietly, “we can’t just keep calling her the baby forever.”
Sokka paused for a long moment, watching her sleeping face, too.
“Yeah,” Sokka said at length. “I mean… she needs a name. Eventually.”
“And it would be… helpful, too, for her to have one already when we do find someone to take her,” Zuko said.
“Right,” Sokka said. “When—when we find someone.”
“Right,” Zuko said.
“So…”
“So,” Zuko repeated.
He brushed his fingers feather-light over the soft peach fuzz on the crown of her head. She looked so peaceful, fast asleep with her cheek squished against the front of Zuko’s robe. Sokka laid a hand on his forearm, steadying. He tucked her blanket up around her gently, careful not to wake her.
Sokka hummed in the quiet.
“How about… Izumi,” Sokka said.
Zuko glanced up and met his gaze.
“Yeah,” he breathed, softly, almost afraid the moment might shatter. Sokka was looking right at him, surely seeing right through him, expression all gentle and fond. Zuko flushed. He couldn’t help it, with Sokka looking at him like that.
“I think… that’s a good name,” Zuko said, leaning into Sokka’s side. “Her parents will like that.”
“Yeah,” Sokka agreed, lips quirking. “I think her parents will.”