Chapter Text
The diplomatic trip to the North Pole was meant to be just that: a diplomatic trip. For Katara, it was a way to mend fences between the Southern Water Tribe and the Northern Water Tribe. The people in the north knew her, they welcomed her and accepted her. She was the best person to go and talk to them about how the two tribes would go about helping one another out and communicating with the swampbenders.
Azula was there because the trip was an opportunity for her: a way to prove that she could be trusted. It had been twelve years since the war ended but trust in Azula was not rock solid. In addition to mending fences between the tribes, the Fire Nation also wanted to send a representative who could speak on their behalf as well. Azula, who was trying to prove herself in the Fire Nation, had been elected by Zuko to go.
Both of them had been given rooms to stay in, tours of the city and were invited to various dinner parties. During their trip, both women's strengths and weaknesses came to light. Katara was more beloved in the Northern Water Tribe and far better at connecting with the culture than Azula. Azula, however, came from the high society that the Northern Tribe held and knew how to act and keep herself quieter than Katara did. For the most part, they seemed to balance one another out more than anything else.
That is, until the big dinner party in the middle of their stay. Azula and Katara started the night off well enough until they began to butt heads on more than one occasion. Again and again they were sharing snide comments and jabs along with drinking to keep themselves engaged in the conversations of the northerns at the dinner party. When morning came, the last place Katara expected to find herself was in Azula’s room on the floor. Naturally there was only one response Azula could give when she woke up to Katara asleep on her floor.
“Get out!!”
And that’s exactly what Katara did. She got out and fled the room before any of the servants or nobles could spot them. If the Northern Water Tribe was anything like the Fire Nation then gossip would spread like wildfire if someone saw her leaving Azula’s room. Thankfully, it looked like no one had seen her given that no one seemed to care when she and Azula continued to go to events.
After that encounter though both of them were distant, they didn’t talk to one another unless needed, didn’t smile at each other in the halls—although they didn’t do that before either—, didn’t ask one another for their opinions. It was like, unless someone specifically reminded them the other was in the room, they didn’t know.
The rest of the trip went on another month. Towards the end of the trip, Katara began to notice some things. Azula stopped eating with everyone else, she complained to servants at the spa about feeling bloated and she seemed almost moodier than normal. It was nothing that required a visit to the healer but it did get Katara’s attention for the final few days. However, once the trip ended and they began packing for home, Katara had forgotten all about it.
“It was probably just homesickness. She must miss the spice on the food.”
Yes. That was probably it.
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In the following month, Katara returned to the Fire Nation palace ready to face Azula again. It certainly wouldn’t be a fun use of time but she had no choice. If she wanted to talk to Zuko, chances were she was going to talk to Azula. When she arrived, she knew this. She just didn’t expect her first encounter with Azula to be so sudden.
“I need to talk to you.”
“Wait-what-“ Azula yanked Katara out of the hallway and into her bedroom. She was in her traditional robes but her hair was down, flowing to her hips. Katara’s first clue that something was wrong, “Is there a reason you dragged me in here?”
“Yes. I-I have news.” Azula declared, trying her best to keep her royal tone, “Do you remember in the North Pole how I had a bit of a stomach bug towards the end of our time there?”
“Yes.”
“So, turns out my stomach bug wasn't a bug. Or stomach, really.” Katara’s eyes narrowed.
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m pregnant.”
It was just two words. Two simple words. But it froze everything for Katara. She didn’t know how to respond to Azula’s declaration or even how to feel about it. Had she had more time to prepare though, she probably would have come up with a better reply than, “What does this have to do with me?”
“Congratulations. It’s part your baby as well.” Azula told her.
“That’s impossible. We’re both girls! It can’t be mine!”
“That’s what I thought as well. However, after returning to the Fire Nation I was still feeling unwell and went to the healer here. They confirmed my pregnancy and told me I should reach out to the Northern Tribe. Turns out that since spirit presence is much higher there, the spirits have a tendency to gift children to couples of the same gender.” Katara could tell Azula was trying to get through this explanation with as much royal dignity as possible but her cheeks were still turning red, “That…night that we were arguing and you woke up…”
“What?! No! It can’t—“
“It’s impossible for it to be anyone else, Katara.” Azula’s voice lost its command. Now she just seemed tired, “I’m pregnant and it’s because the spirits mistook us for a couple.”
Katara ran a hand through her hair, “Well-aren’t there…things you can do?”
“Naturally.” Azula nodded, “However, the healer in our medical wing had a student who blabbed to the whole palace and Caldera that I’m pregnant. I can’t do anything now. Princesses aren’t allowed to. Besides, the healer was against it anyway. She’s worried that, because the baby is a gift from the spirits, getting rid of it could be seen as an offending action.” Katara winced. She hadn’t thought of that.
“So what’s the plan?” Katara asked.
“The plan is to have this baby.” Azula said, “Once I do that I’ll figure out my next move.”
“What do you mean figure out your next move? You’ll have to take care of the baby.”
“You’d be surprised. Many half royal babies were given to servants and then tragically announced as not having survived the birth.” Azula told her.
“Wha-No! No, you are not giving the baby away!” Katara cried. She may have only learned of the child’s existence a few moments ago but, given that the baby was half hers, she felt like she had some say in the baby’s outcome, “If you don’t want them, fine, but give them to me. I’ll say I found the baby in the streets or something. Raise them in the South Pole.”
Azula pressed her lips together, “I’ll have to think on this. I guess you’ll want to stay for the next few months.” Katara nodded, “I’ll have a servant prepare a room for you. We can talk more about the baby later.”
“Our baby.” Katara corrected.
For a moment, Azula froze. A hand went to her belly as if she had to remind herself she was indeed pregnant, “Yes. Our baby.”
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Two weeks into her stay at the palace, Katara was grateful that they didn’t have to hide the pregnancy from anyone. The servants brought Azula anything she required, with the older ones—those who were mothers—carefully reminding Azula what she couldn’t drink or eat with a baby. Most of the time it wasn’t a huge issue. Items like alcohol and unwashed fruits and vegetables never crossed Azula’s mind because she didn’t drink and the food was already washed before it arrived to her. However, items like raw fish, sugary foods and spicy foods being off the menu upset her.
“I live in the Fire Nation. What else am I supposed to eat!?” She cried, tossing a pillow at Katara.
“The chef prepared some cow-hippo. You can have that.” Katara told her, “And mochi.”
Azula just glared at Katara, “You took spicy food away from me.”
“Excuse me? What do you mean I took—“ One of the servants in the room, an older woman named Keiko, grabbed Katara’s arm.
“Never disagree with your partner when she’s pregnant.”
“But—“
“Never.”
“Keiko is right, waterbender.” Azula huffed, walking away to her bed.
“Trust me. You’ll live longer.” Keiko chuckled.
Neither of them noticed her calling the two of them partners.
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Everyone else took the news better than Katara had expected. She assumed at least one person would be a little upset at the two of them or would ask her why she was involved. True, a lot of people had questions and they all wanted to know how exactly things would work once the baby came—-both in terms of Katara’s role and politically—but otherwise they didn’t seem to have any kind of negative response. There were a few snide comments from members of Zuko’s council but Zuko shut that down instantly.
“The next person who says a word about my sister or my future niece or nephew will be tried for treason!” He snapped after he heard someone whisper about Azula’s hallucinations getting passed on to the baby.
Azula, holding notes from the meeting, rolled her eyes at her brother, “I can handle myself, Zuzu. No need to cut down on staff members that you need.” But Zuko knew better. He could be the small bit of gratitude in his sister’s eyes and nodded.
“Whatever you say, Lala. How’s the baby?”
“Doing well. The healer says I’m about a fourth of the way there.”
“Wow.” Zuko mouthed.
“Yes. Apparently the little one is the size of a strawberry.”
“Strawberry?”
“They put the baby’s size into fruit measurements.” Apparently in another ten weeks, the baby would be the size of a pepper, “I assume to bore me so much I’ll forget how painful childbirth is.”
Thanks to the robes that the Royal Family used, there was no indication at all that Azula was pregnant. In fact, she looked pretty much the same as she always did. Although Azula knew better than to be lulled into a false sense of security. No doubt that, within another 10 or so weeks, it would be much harder to hide her pregnancy, “She suggested using the time to go shopping and buy stuff while I still feel good on my feet. Apparently, a lot goes into making a nursery.”
“That’s a great idea! You should go with Katara!”
“I doubt Katara wants to spend her afternoon walking all over town with me and buying baby items.” Azula said.
“For her own baby? She probably does.” Azula bit her tongue when Zuko spoke. She had to admit that she kept forgetting the baby was also Katara’s. Perhaps it would be a kindness to at least ask her if she wanted to go shopping with her. If she didn’t then she could go with the servants. They’d be just as good company and wouldn’t annoy her with daily questions about if she was getting enough to eat, if she was hydrated or if she felt okay like Katara did, “You should ask, Azula.”
“I’ll ask, but she’s going to say no.”
As it turned out, Azula was wrong. In fact, Katara was actually thrilled about getting the chance to shop for baby items. When Azula suggested it, Katara dragged her from the palace and straight into town. They went to a close but small store that specialized in items for infants such as clothing, food, bottles, toys, anything a baby could need. Once in the store, they split off and began to look over everything themselves. Azula, mostly just scanning the store for anyone staring at her, suddenly spotted a tiny stuffed stuffed dragon in the toy aisle. It was completely red with little black eyes and an old design. It looked like a stuffed animal that had fallen behind a counter and remained there for decades until someone found it during a spring cleaning.
Azula gently picked it up and let a hand fall to her stomach.
It was fast but the imagine of her baby, her son or daughter, playing and biting with this and then staring up at her with giant blue or golden eyes and giggling, made her smile.
“Do you like it?” Katara’s voice didn’t even startle her.
“I want them to have this.” Azula whispered.
“Then they will.” Katara promised, “They’ll have whatever they want.”
The chuckle escaped her before she could stop it, “They’ll be spoiled rotten.”
“Maybe, but they deserve it. Nothing we can do about it.” Katara rested her head down on Azula’s shoulder, a hand on her arm.
Azula, bristling at the touch, moved away from her, “Alright. What did you find?”
Katara recovered quickly from Azula’s movement and pulled forward the small basket she had been using to hold her items, “Oh! I got them these little shirts, some rattles, bottles, diapers, a bunch of other stuff, and,” Reaching into the overflowing basket, Katara grabbed a pair of socks and mittens, “Look at these! They’re so cute and tiny! Why do you guys even sell little mittens? You don’t get cold weather up here.”
“They’re for firebending babies. They can’t make fire yet but sometimes their hands can warm up and they could hurt themselves. The mittens keep them from touching their face and eyes.” Azula explained. She herself had had a pair when she was a baby.
“Ah, okay. Oh! I also got this.” Reaching into the basket again, Katara pulled out what looked like a sling for a newborn along with a tiny rattle that had a Fire Nation print stamped onto it. As if to emphasize its cuteness, Katara shook it a few times.
“Well, that’ll certainly be fun when we’re being woken up at the crack of dawn. The baby will love waving that in our faces.” Azula laughed.
“They will not! And, even if they do, we’ll love when they do it because it’ll be adorable.” Katara argued.
“I give it two weeks before you throw the rattle out the window.”
“Never!” The joking tone was still present in Katara’s voice as she placed a hand on her chest, “I would never throw my child’s toy away.”
“Okay. I bet one month of diaper duty.” Azula grinned.
“You’re on.”
It took one week for Katara to break the rattle and toss it from the window after the baby woke them up by screaming and throwing it in their faces six days in a row. Azula’s grin didn’t fade from her face all day and the baby didn’t even notice the rattle was done. Even years later, Katara still considered the rattle her biggest parenting failure.