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The door to the Fire Lady’s chambers finally opened, and Zuko all but jumped to his feet. “Well?”
The midwife dried her hands on a cloth. “Cleaned up and thoroughly checked. They’re both just fine. You can go back in now.” She smiled and patted his arm. “Congratulations, Your Majesty.”
“Thank you,” Zuko said, with all his heart.
Trembling, he entered. As his eyes adjusted, details bloomed out of the semidarkness. The open balcony door allowed fresh spring air in, stirring the sky-blue bedcurtains. Katara lay propped against a pile of pillows, sweaty, chocolate locks of hair tumbling around her face. And – his heart leapt into his throat – he glimpsed a tiny head in her arms.
Her eyes opened and she turned to him. A tired smile spread across her lips. “Zuko…”
He was at her side and kissing her in an instant. “Oh, Katara. I'm sorry I couldn't stay the whole time. But Midwife Yuna might’ve thrown me bodily out if I didn't go peacefully.”
She laughed softly. “It's all right. It's enough that you were here with me.”
“I wouldn't have let a herd of rabid komodo rhinos keep me away.” Zuko put his palm on the baby’s head. “How is she?”
“Hungry,” Katara said happily. She gently pressed her closer to her breast. “When she's done, you can hold her again.”
“I'd love nothing more. And the girls?”
“Ty Lee went to wake them.” She ran one finger through their daughter's wisps of black hair. “What time did she come out?”
“About half past the third hour.”
“Oof.” Katara shook her head. “No wonder I can barely keep my eyes open.”
“I thought you rose with the moon?” Zuko teased.
She playfully kicked him. “I rise and set with it, Mister Fire Lord. And the moon set two hours ago.”
The door opened, and Ty Lee ushered in two sleepy children. “Daddy?” Kya yawned.
“Where's Mama? And…?” Izumi’s bright golden eyes sparkled with excitement.
“Here, my loves.” He led the twins over. “Come meet her.”
Izumi and Kya climbed softly into Katara’s bed. The baby was still nursing, but Katara bent and rubbed noses with them both. Kya leaned in, grinning. “She's so cute,” she whispered.
“And tiny. Her – little fingers...” Izumi sniffled, and Zuko hugged her. “I don’t know why I’m crying, Daddy.”
“It's okay, Izzy. Look.” She smiled a bit, when she saw the tears on his cheeks too. “Sometimes we cry when we're happy.”
Izumi bent down and kissed the baby's head. “I'm happy,” she whispered.
“Me too.” Kya also kissed her. “I love you, little sister.”
“I love you…” Izumi wept openly into Zuko’s chest.
Katara joined her tears. “Oh, girls.” Zuko pulled her as close as he could.
“We’ve all been waiting for her,” he murmured.
Katara gazed up at him. Memories, he knew, were flooding both their minds. The brutal thirty-hour labor she’d endured for Izumi. The scar up her abdomen, from where the doctors had to cut Kya out. That terrible, blood-soaked night three years ago, the worst night of his life. He'd held her and cried with her until dawn, completely powerless to stop it, as their son left her body far too soon… This pregnancy (her last, on the midwife’s orders) had been no easier, her labor another eighteen sleepless hours.
In defiance of tradition, he’d been at Katara’s side for it all. And now, at last, their girl was here. The Southern Water Tribe’s next deputy, under its future Chief Kya. And the Fire Nation’s newest princess, second in line to its throne.
He kissed his wife again. “I love you so, so much, Katara.”
“And I love you, Zuko,” she sighed. She looked down, her face glowing, as the baby finished her meal.
“Let the girls hold her first.” The twins curled up side by side, and Katara carefully set their sister across their laps. His heart overflowed as she showed them how to support her head and neck. He thought they'd never let her go as they whispered to her.
“I'm Kya.”
“And I'm Izumi.” The baby yawned, and she gasped. “Look, her eyes!”
Two slivers of bright blue fluttered open, and now it was Kya’s turn to cry. “They’re like mine,” she sobbed.
Eventually, as the sky turned pale, Zuko took a turn. Opening his shirt, he held her against his chest. Though she was asleep now, her hand curled around his finger. Barely able to see through more tears, he looked up at Katara.
“I think she’ll be a Waterbender,” he said. “Her skin is cool, like Kya's was. And yours…” He gulped, unable to say anything more, and stroked her hair.
“What will you name her?” Kya asked.
Zuko and Katara shared a smile. Then, as agreed, she said, “What do you two think?”
Once they recovered from the shock, the twins tossed a few names around. But, unable to find one that felt right, they fell silent for a bit. The first rays of sunlight spread across the bed.
Izumi looked at them thoughtfully. “Ky? Remember when Mama told us about the lights in the sky? At the Poles?”
Kya nodded. Looking at her mother, Izumi asked, “What about Aurora?”
Katara beamed and dried her eyes with the blanket. “I think it's beautiful.”
Both Zuko’s girls turned to him, waiting to see his response. He smiled and told them, “It's perfect.”
“Aurora,” they said at the same time. They both giggled and snuggled into Katara. Then, fast as a candle being blown out, they were both asleep. Katara wrapped an arm around each of them and leaned back, also nodding off.
Zuko carried his newborn daughter onto the balcony, drinking in the rising sun's warmth. To his surprise, she stirred and faced the light too. Her cheeks glowed with the seashell pink and soft gold of dawn. Before they rejoined their family, he kissed her head one more time.
“Aurora,” he whispered. “I love you so, my little Aurora.”