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It’s a serene day in the corridors of the royal palace.
Today marks one of the many holidays instituted by the reigning firelord, providing most of the palace staff with the day off to do as they pleased. With the spring only just coming to its near end, many of the nation’s citizens welcome the smiling skies that the coming summer brings.
Some with friends, others with family but all with loved ones.
And that includes the royal family, where four of them currently sit in the private study of one particularly stressed firelord.
Mostly due to the loud demands being made by his second eldest.
“But Father, we don’t want bodyguards!” Lin pushes back stubbornly, slamming her fists down on the wooden table intimidatingly. Or as intimidating as an eleven-year old can be, that is.
The rest of her present family sit at the same table, a large addition to the centre of the firelord’s study since his family had grown in the past decade or so.
“Yeah, papa! Don’t want!” Suyin demands more cheerily, not holding the same dramatically grave tone that her older sister does. She sits beside Lin, but it would be more accurate to say she stands on her seat at the table. At only five years old, Suyin unfortunately isn’t able to reach the same height as Lin by sitting alone, so instead she mimics the other’s height by stomping about on the cushion of her chair instead.
Perhaps it would do some good for an adult to step in, and scold the young girl about not standing at the family table.
Except for the fact that the only adult in the room found the habit of his third daughter absolutely adorable. Especially because of how much Suyin tries to follow after Lin throughout the palace, ever since she could learn to walk on her own two feet.
No, no. Zuko corrects himself. Even when Suyin had only been able to crawl, she always followed after Lin like a tiny, adorable sea snail.
Such memories brought a smile to his face, one that he quickly tried to stamp down as he reminded himself of the issue at hand. Sitting across from his two daughters at the same table, Zuko maintains an air of composure while trying to keep a neutral expression towards his daughters’ demands.
“Lin, I’m not changing my mind on this.” He responds back calmly, the other girl loudly protesting back as a sharp contrast. He looks over to Suyin, whose tiny hands grip at the edge of the table loosely. “And Suyin, don’t agree with what your sister says just because she said so.” He scolds lightly, and the five-year old simply pouts at his words.
It is downright adorable, but he can’t let them know that now.
“But Zuzu said the same thing! And you always listen to her.” Lin insisted, grabbing at the edge of the table herself and trying to shake it as if it would support her argument. Suyin tries to do the same beside her, with much less strength in comparison. “Zuzu, tell him.”
His eldest has been sitting beside him quietly this whole time, face stuck in a book that is larger than her own head. All eyes watch as she stiffens up at Lin’s urging, unluckily finding herself being pulled into the messy fight between her stubborn father and her equally stubborn sister.
Izumi isn’t sure whether Lin gets that from their father, or their mother in fact. Probably both, the doubled stubbornness would make a lot more sense after all ...
The eldest child slowly places her book flat down on the table, clearing her throat as she fixes the glasses upon her nose. All eyes stare at her; her father with skepticism, Lin with expectation and Suyin with confusion.
“Well, um ...” She starts, fiddling with her fingers now that she isn’t able to fiddle with her book instead. “I just said that having bodyguards on us twenty-four seven would be really unrealistic, Father.” Izumi explains honestly, maintaining a better mask of neutrality than the older man in fact.
Zuko feels a bit called out at the other girl’s words, more so because of the title she calls him by. Father, it is something that his eldest had begun adopting more recently, and it only makes him miss the cheery call of Papa from the older girl even more.
Even Lin had begun copying her older sister’s mannerisms, calling her father rather than papa. And it definitely won’t be long until Suyin does the same.
He dreads the day when all his children make such a change in their language. Except, he had whined about such worries to Toph in the late of one particularly warm night, and the woman had shoved him out of bed for keeping her awake even longer.
Perhaps that is because the source of such warmth had been himself, after a passionate night out of many on their shared bed.
But it wasn’t fair, the kids still called her Mama after all.
“Unrealistic?” He says aloud, incredulous at his eldest’s words who is quick to avoid his gaze as if she were blind herself. “How is that unrealistic?” He asks again, scanning across the table to see Lin crossing her arms with a smug look of victory and Suyin smiling innocently as if she hadn’t taken part in the very coup.
If he were in a more immature mood, he would have said he hated how much his children resembled his wife more than himself.
Maybe then they would listen to reason.
But unfortunately, Zuko finds himself more endeared than anything else, something that he tries to hide behind a clearing of his throat. “Girls, this is for your own good, and that’s final.” He emphasises with a huff, crossing his arms and echoing the image of an impenetrable wall.
“Papa!” Suyin cries out, wiggling about on her feet and at the table.
“Auntie Azula is right, you’re stupid!” Lin fights back with another shake to the table, and Zuko gasps at her words.
“Excuse me? When did your aunt say that?” He is quick to ask, aghast at the language being used by his second eldest. It was only a year ago where she used to insist on following him around throughout the entire palace but now, she did anything but that.
Zuko didn’t know who else to blame, other than his own sisters perhaps.
Of course he would always let his children see his family any chance they could, especially those that lived outside of the palace or the very nation in fact. His uncle would have caused a riot if he had done anything less ...
But he didn’t let them spend time together so they could insult him to his very children!
“Auntie Kiyi say too!” Suyin reveals excitedly too, oblivious to the look of utter disbelief on the man’s face.
“What?” He drags a hand over his face, doing his best to control the gape in his mouth. Slowly, he returns to his side to look back at his eldest, who is conveniently hiding her face behind the book once more. “Izumi, why didn’t you say anything about this?”
“Well, Father ...” Izumi starts slowly once again, clearly picking her words wisely towards her father’s dramatically depleting mood. “I would have thought Mother would have told you.” She fiddles with the page corner of her book, seeing her father’s tense shoulders slowly relax at the very mention of her mother. “She was the one who started insulting you, after all.”
And is that no lie. Everyone at this table knew that the man’s biggest critic was the very woman he had chosen to marry.
Including Zuko himself, who shakes his head with a hand still rubbing at his face.
“... I should have known.” He murmurs to himself aloud, trying to find some way to come back from the firelady’s own words.
Izumi sits in her seat, trying to remain oblivious to her father’s stress. Lin leans against the backrest of her own seat, a self satisfaction in the cross of her arms that is the very image of his wife. And Suyin tries to copy her sister, only failing because of her infectiously adorable imitation of the other.
Zuko takes in a deep breath, pulling his hand off his face as a reassuring smile comes to his face.
“Come on, girls. What’s wrong with having bodyguards?” He tries to suggest more nicely, but the act of politeness is quickly dismissed by his daughters.
“I don’t want ‘em.” Lin gruffly says with a huff, the heated breath blowing at the hairs falling upon her face.
“Yeah, no want!” Suyin insists once again, her chin barely reaching the surface of the table when sitting down on her seat rather than standing on it.
“It does feel a bit excessive.” Izumi comments quietly, quickly avoiding her father’s gaze when his eyes snap over to her in betrayal. After all, she is usually the one to side with him when the family is split over something.
“It’s not excessive.” He is quick to defend, before finally ending the argument the only way he knows how. “Lin. Suyin. Go get your books and continue your studies like Izumi here.” He directs maturely, recalling the earlier words of his second eldest when he sees Lin and Suyin gearing up to fight back once again. “Then, maybe I’ll listen to you two like I do for her.” He cajoles more softly.
His coaxing seems to work well enough, when the two youngest in the room slowly wind down from their combative stances with pressed expressions instead.
“Ugh, fine.” Lin gives in, hoping out of her chair and helping Suyin out of her own chair.
“Aww ...” Suyin lets out adorably, and Zuko bites upon the side of his cheek to try and keep himself from giving into their demands. Her tiny hand is in Lin’s as she toddles after her older sister quietly. With both of their feet bare, the two of them leave the study to presumably collect their books and continue their studies just as the oldest is doing right now.
Why is it so difficult to get his own children to listen to him?
The only reason why Lin and Suyin had finally given up is because of his mentioning of their older sister.
Zuko slowly returns his gaze back to his eldest, who is very intent on avoiding his gaze. Except, it is quite obvious to himself that Izumi is aware of his staring, especially by how she fiddles with the same page of the book that she has been on since the start of this whole debacle.
“I don’t always listen to you, right Izumi?” He asks beside her, and the girl only slightly shifts in her seat. “... What do you think about the bodyguards though?” He asks a bit more imploringly, knowing that his eldest is less likely to take advantage of his weakness as the other two who had left the room.
“Hm, did you ask Mother about this bodyguard idea?” Izumi hums out, finally meeting his eyes only for him to pull his own away from hers awkwardly.
It is a terribly smart habit of his eldest, to bring up her mother in any conversation to put her father in his place. It is one that she has adopted recently and it endears Zuko as much as it vexes him. The only reason why he hasn’t put a stop to it yet is because Toph would only encourage it more if she caught wind of him trying to.
“Well ...” He starts off, clearing his throat out dramatically as Izumi’s gaze grows judging at his lack of an answer. “Not yet.” He finally admits, feeling only a bit less ashamed when she hums out in an unconvinced tone.
“Hm. Of course, Father.”
She most definitely doesn’t believe he is planning to tell her mother of this, but he is! He really is, he just hasn’t had the chance to yet!
“Your look of judgement almost rivals your mother’s, Izumi.” Zuko responds back instead, straightening himself up in his “Where is your mother actually?” He inquires curiously, having expected the woman to enter the private study at some point with their two youngest kids.
“I think she’s taking care of Lily right now, Father.” Izumi informs, returning her attention back to her book.
There is it again, Father. He has a couple guesses as to where his daughter had picked up such language and unfortunately for his eldest, he isn’t mature enough to hold back his curiosity in confirming his thoughts.
“Izumi ... how often have you and your mother been spending time with your aunts?” He asks with an interest that he tries to keep mild.
“... Not that often.” Izumi responds back after a short pause. “Why?”
“No reason.” He quickly answers back and he can see his daughter leaning over with squinted eyes, suspicious at his sudden change in attitude. Before she can ask any further questions however, a loud cry comes from the entrance as loud stomps are made though the study and towards where they sit.
“Papa, papa!” His only son cries out, rushing over towards his father and barely able to stop himself from crashing into his chair.
“Koi, what’s going on?” He asks in slight concern, as the seven-year old grabs at the fabric of his pants. Zuko places his own hands over the boy’s in comfort, his paler skin a sharp contrast to the tanned fists of his son’s. He meets Koi’s eyes, a strong determination in his blue eyes before he reveals.
“Mama wanted me to tell you that you in big trouble.” He says ominously, and Zuko blinks at his son’s words.
“What.”
He barely manages to say anything else, before Koi lets go of his tight grip.
“Okay, bye bye Papa.” He dismisses with a wave of his hand, as if his words hadn’t just pushed Zuko into the deep end of confusion. The boy quickly runs off back to the entrance, his messy brown hair waving about by the top of his shoulders.
His only son is always in a rush despite having no reason to be and in this very moment, Zuko wishes he had been just a bit slower.
“Wait, Koi!” He calls out, but the boy is already out of the room before Zuko can even stop him. “What do you mean by that? What did your mother say?” His yells go ignored as Izumi lets out a long sigh, fixing the glasses upon her nose once more.
“Father, I believe it’d be better if you followed him rather than yell out to him.” She advises with a raised brow, and Zuko returns her look with a peeved one.
“... Izumi, hang out with your Aunt Azula less from now on.”
“Well, Mother would take much issue with that.”
“Ugh.”
After a lot of effort on Zuko’s part to drag Izumi out of her chair and away from her book, the two of them walk through the vast corridors of the palace, much emptier than usual with many servants absent. They still pass by some stationed guards, who all bow upon their passing presence quietly.
Fortunately, after some asking around, Zuko and Izumi finally manage to locate where the rest of their family are huddled about, specifically in the private chambers of the firelord and firelady.
When they enter, Zuko sees Suyin and Lin playing nearby, very much not studying like he had suggested earlier. Koi sits upon a cushion on the floor, staring intently at their youngest who is currently seated upon the very lap of the woman who is the mother of his children, the partner of his life and now, the unmoveable wall that stands between himself and their kids.
Toph sits on the stone flooring of their private chambers, legs crossed as she rocks Lily in her arms.
“Well, well.” Toph hums out as Lily babbles about with her mother.
Zuko tries to keep himself from cooing at the very sight of their youngest, the baby widely staring back at her brother with a fist in her mouth. At his approach, Lily’s eyes slowly look over to him, drool falling from her mouth.
A smile is quick to come to his face at the baby’s gaze, her grey eyes matching the paleness of her mother’s own gaze that holds a gleam of mischief.
“Good job on dragging your father here, Izumi.” Toph compliments as Izumi parts from his side, the eldest daughter bending down to give a peck to her mother’s cheek. What a traitor, his honour is absolutely dashed at the sight of such a betrayal.
“Mama, good afternoon.” Izumi greets, as she lowers herself to the ground to sit beside her mother and brother. She raises a hand in greeting towards Lily, whispering to her softly as she wiggles her fingers at the baby. Lily pulls her eyes away from Zuko, raising her drool-covered fists towards her eldest sister in her own babbled greeting.
Lin quickly rushes over to Toph from where she had been playing with Suyin, who stumbles over after her older sister a bit slower.
“Mama, tell him! Tell him, tell him!” Lin insists, dropping beside Toph on the ground to pull at her mother’s clothes.
“Yeah, tell! Tell!” Suyin repeats loudly, following albeit a bit more clumsily.
Zuko gulps at the excitement of the girls, keeping himself calm as he slowly lowers himself down to the ground with everyone else in the room.
Their entire family now sit in the middle of their private chambers. Toph has her legs crossed, pulling Lily out of her lap to avoid the jostling of her second eldest. The woman hands the baby over to Izumi, who drops her book beside her to carry their youngest. Koi is beside her, leaning over to play with the baby quietly.
Ever since overcoming his aversion towards the newest addition to their family, Koi has been attached to Lily everyday and therefore, joined at the hip with his mother as well. Suyin excitedly crowds into Toph’s lap, now free from Lily’s claim as Lin continues to tug at her mother’s sleeve eagerly.
Zuko crosses his own legs, his own chest squeezing at the sight of his family as he tries to speak steadily towards his wife.
“... What did you have to tell me, Toph?” He asks as the woman wraps her arms around a very happy Suyin.
“Some little rocks told me about a little oopsie that their father made.” Toph starts off with, her seaform eyes pointed downward towards the ground between them. A grin grows upon her lips as both Suyin and Lin giggle at her words, the two girls quickly growing quiet in interest when Zuko coughs loudly at her wording.
“It wasn’t a mistake, I believe it’s a good suggestion.” He responds back confidently, but Toph’s hum quickly has him stumbling with such confidence. He hates how easily she could make him stutter over his decisions.
“Mmhmm, one that you didn’t think of running by me first?” She asks smoothly, hooking her chin over Suyin’s fluffy hair as Zuko pulls his own eyes to the side nervously.
“Well, I just wanted to get their thoughts first but ...” He mutters off, only for Suyin to chirp cheerily from below Toph’s chin.
“Papa did oopsie!”
Zuko jolts at his daughter’s words, as Lin pushes in with a definitive tone.
“Papa did an oopsie, Suyin.” The second eldest corrects and Koi jumps into the conversation from the side, always quick to tease his youngest sister closest in age to himself.
“Suyin’s a dumb-dumb.” He insults without much heat, and Suyin gasps from Toph’s lap.
“I’m not a dumb-dumb, you’re a dumb-dumb!” She bites back but before Zuko can step in to scold the both of them, Toph herself is the one that steps in instead.
Which isn’t normally the case, especially when Zuko is in her presence to do the scolding instead.
“Koi, Suyin. You’re both dumb-dumbs.” Toph scolds off-handedly, face neutral as the two kids deflate at her words. Pouts come out at such a scolding, but neither fight back against her like they would have in the past. Everyone knew not to fight against the words that came out of the woman’s lips, if they wanted to see the next day.
Zuko included.
Then, Toph’s blank face quickly turns impish as she loudly adds.
“But your father is the biggest dumb-dumb.”
Zuko sighs at his wife’s teasing, his chest only squeezing more at the woman’s smirk as their children cheer about to echo their mother’s words.
“Dumb-dumb! Dumb-dumb!”
“I’m not dumb for wanting my children to have bodyguards.” Zuko huffs back, crossing his arms and feeling very neglected by his own children right now.
“They’re safe enough as is. Azula is leading all security protocols, and Kiyi the royal guard. Do you not trust your own sisters?” Toph asks as Suyin begins to crawl out of her mother’s arms, towards where Izumi and Koi sit with Lily in between them. Lin joins them soon after, quickly losing interest in the conversation held between their parents as Zuko tries to persuade Toph to his side.
“Of course I do, there’s just nothing wrong with being more cautious in the future.” He explains himself to his wife, who doesn’t look any more convinced by his words since he had entered the chambers with Izumi.
Nearby the couple, their children all sit huddled together.
Izumi waves around her glasses in front of Lily’s curious eyes, with the baby now on her belly and reaching out towards the eldest’s hand with a pudgy fist. Suyin raises her own hand towards the glasses as well, eager to play with Lily like Izumi is.
“Koi, how has Lily been?” Izumi asks her only brother, as she hands her glasses off to Suyin to wave it in front of Lily instead. Lin watches the interaction quietly, eyes honed in on Lily as if blinking would have the baby vanishing in an instant. Koi is doing the same, the sharpness in both of their eyes similar to their own parents.
“She’s good, Mama says she’s crying less now.” Koi says diligently, keeping up an air of responsibility ever since adopting the role of older brother to Lily.
Which means he has to set a good example to the girl, no matter how small she is.
“Lily is so cute! My little sister!” Suyin coos happily, tugging Izumi’s glasses from Lily’s fist that managed to catch it for just a moment. Koi huffs at his other younger sister’s words, all sense of rationale in being a good example lost in the competitive spirit he holds towards Suyin, as does the girl herself towards him.
“No, my little sister.” He stresses instead, which makes Suyin’s face furrow in displeasure.
“No, mine–” Suyin pushes back, as Lily babbles aloud between them.
“Koi, Suyin. Fighting is bad, don’t do it.” Lin scolds from the side, a mirror image of their mother only moments ago. She then pulls her eyes away from Lily, to look up to Izumi with wide eyes looking for approval. “Right, Zuzu?”
“Haha, yes.” Izumi laughs lightly, giving into the urge to provide the compliments her younger sister seeks so obviously. “You’re quite right, Suyin. Good job.” She gives a pat to Lin’s head, who grins happily at her older sister’s fond affirmations. Koi continues playing with Lily, having managed to snatch Izumi’s glasses from Suyin in a moment of distraction.
Specifically, the girl is distracted by something nearby, and she tugs at Izumi’s sleeve to catch her attention.
“Hey, Zuzu, what’s mama and papa doing?” Suyin asks innocently, pointing off to the side. Izumi follows the point of her sister’s finger, only to see their parents much closer together than before even with her blurry vision. At the same time where she had been talking with her younger siblings, their father had crawled ever so closer to their mother’s side, cuddling against her stomach not too differently to how Suyin had been earlier.
Except Suyin is a five-year old that could fit in their mother’s lap, unlike the behemoth that is their much older father.
“... Oh spirits.” Izumi sighs aloud, as Lin follows her line of sight to let out a disgusted sound.
“Ewww!” Lin’s reaction barely garners any reaction from their parents, as Izumi is quick to gather up her siblings to avoid another session of witnessing their parents’ overbearing attitudes towards each other.
“Alright everyone, let’s take Lily outside for a bit.” She calls around, and all her siblings perk up at her words.
Except for Lily, who simply blinks widely on her stomach.
“Oh! I wanna carry!” Koi is quick to insist, reaching out towards their youngest sibling despite the fact that he is still holding Izumi’s glasses in one hand.
“No, me!” Suyin pushes against the boy’s side, pulling his hands away from Lily as they devolve into fighting once more.
“No, I want!”
“No, me!”
“–Me and Lin will carry Lily.” Izumi cuts in, picking up her glasses from Koi’s hands and slipping them on despite the slight spit that touches her face. She sees the two open their mouths to start fighting back against her, but she is already picking Lily up as Lin follows her in getting up from the ground. “Because we aren’t fighting like the both of you.”
Lily babbles against her shoulder without much pushback, and Izumi is pretty sure that is agreement on her youngest sister’s part. Izumi does not doubt that this will be the smartest kid in the family, including her mother and father in such a judgement.
“But!” Suyin starts only for Izumi to give her a stern look, one echoing their father’s on a particularly stressful day.
“No buts, let’s go.” Her words are enough to get her to quiet down, but not towards Koi who teases her for being scolded behind them. With Lily in her arms, Izumi begins walking off to the doors with Lin following behind, hand holding the edge of her shirt. Suyin and Koi rush behind them, bickering between themselves as Izumi sighs aloud.
The eldest glances over to where their parents are still on the floor, their mother caressing the side of their father’s face where his scar lies while he curls up in her lap, much like Druk tries to when he insistently wants pets to his head.
Hm, maybe that’s where they’ll go. It would be good to check in on Druk on such a nice day like this.
And maybe see Auntie Azula, but Papa didn’t need to know that part.