Chapter Text
The palace was bustling from top to bottom. There was no servant who wasn't attentive or whispering among themselves. The most loyal to the new regime had even lit incense to pray that everything would go well. Others, meanwhile, were placing their bets, like the Dragon of the West, who approached the guard on duty offering him two gold coins if it turned out to be a boy.
Half an hour later, Sokka opened the door with a radiant smile on his face, announcing "it's a boy," and Iroh collected the two gold coins from the guard, who sighed disappointedly as he paid.
The second heir to the Dragon Throne was born in the middle of spring, and no one cared how quickly the news spread that he had blue eyes instead of golden ones.
"Congratulations to the royal family," his uncle greeted with a bow as soon as he arrived at her bedside, handing his eldest daughter to Sokka, with the alpha asking the girl how her nap had been.
Zuko couldn't help but smile at the older alpha, who approached timidly to look at the baby wrapped in blankets of their nation's colors. A soft smile curved on his lips as he hummed contentedly before asking what they were going to name him. Izumi's voice, imitating the sound of kisses with a "muah," resonated loudly in the room when Sokka kissed her on the cheek—something that happened every time someone kissed in front of her because her husband had taught her as a game. Now his uncle couldn't help but look at them amused, turning back to Zuko when the younger alpha shushed Izumi to bring her closer to the bed.
Observing the baby's face in his arms for a moment, he regretted for a moment that his eyes were closed, because when he first saw them, after Zuzune had placed him in his arms, they seemed absolutely beautiful to him.
"We would like to name him Iroh…" he began timidly. "Is that alright with you?" he asked.
The silence that followed that question made him worry greatly for a moment. Then, horror shot through his chest as crystal-clear tears ran down the old alpha's face, with Zuko quickly asking him please not to cry, admitting that he didn't want to cause him anguish or sadness, with his uncle quickly shaking his head.
"For me… it would be an honor… dear nephew," his uncle said in a hoarse, contained voice, smiling with his face slightly wrinkled by age, anguish, and worry, as Sokka handed him a handkerchief to wipe his face.
"So now you'll be Iroh the First, old man," Sokka patted his uncle's back.
Babbling a worried "baba," everyone looked at Izumi, whose golden eyes were fixed on the face of the old Dragon of the West—worried, curious, and surprisingly extremely attentive as she made a gesture with her hand, opening and closing her small fingers as if wanting to say "come here" to comfort him. Warmth filled Zuko's chest as he watched Sokka hand her to his uncle, smiling warmly at the baby's gesture, hearing his uncle laugh and tell Izumi that nothing was wrong, that he had just become very happy and that she shouldn't worry about him.
The immediate certainty that they were raising a good girl settled firmly within him.
Giving birth in the palace was different from giving birth in the South Pole. Zuzune communicates with him in a language that is common to Zuko. There are no spiritual rituals or incense filling the air. The tea is constant, and flowers along with other gifts keep arriving in the room, being taken out by Sokka, Pipin, and Mimi. Here, Zuko stays in bed for two days, tired, with the baby sleeping beside him in his crib. He only gets up to bathe, go out onto the balcony to pet Druk, who clambers onto the roof anxiously, or to take Iroh in his arms, calming him when he starts to cry, although Sokka quickly arrives trying to convince him to go back to rest and that he will take care of everything.
Zuko rolls his eyes every time, saying he's not sick, that he can take care of his son, although he ends up giving in when the three of them pile onto the bed or Sokka offers to take a bath.
His decision that this would be the last child they would have was consolidating strongly, and he couldn't help but feel relieved when Zuzune told him she would prepare contraceptives adapted to his medical history. He's tired of the changes in his body, of using wraps again to get his abdominal skin back to normal, and of holding back a wince when he has to walk during the days following the birth. At least his recovery during his first pregnancy was adequate. At first he thought the hardest part would be regaining his figure, but it turned out that allowing himself to have sex again was the most difficult. Zuzune had warned him that he had to wait at least a month. Sokka refused to do anything more than masturbate him for two months, and the first time they went back to it felt strange, as if his body was trying to remember how it worked, although thank Agni it didn't last too long.
He supposed they would have to return to the same routine.
"Be careful with your brother," he told Izumi when the baby in her pajamas approached her younger son.
The three of them were on the wide bed in the room while Sokka changed clothes nearby, rummaging through the closet complaining about how they must have some strange spirit that insisted on stealing one of his socks.
"I insist, we need to do a spiritual cleansing. When Druk was little, I could understand him stealing my things—"
"Druk didn't steal your things," Zuko answered with Iroh against his legs, looking at the ceiling with his elongated blue eyes.
Sokka looked at him as if he were foolish.
"He never stole your socks," Zuko corrected.
"Right," the alpha replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes. "He just stole my rings, earrings, necklaces. Oh! And my underwear! Let's not forget that time when all the representatives saw my underwear on the palace roof," he recalled, taking off his undershirt.
Snorting in amusement at remembering that moment, he focused on his children. Both Iroh and Izumi shared his sharp eyes, although it was obvious that the smaller baby had slightly darker skin, but compared to Sokka he was curiously not as tanned. Would he darken as he grew? Zuko didn't know.
"Mama?" called Izumi, sitting next to him.
His eldest daughter looked at his younger son the way one looks at a strange animal. It wasn't the first time she had seen him, but Zuko understood that because she was so small she didn't really understand the relationship between them.
"He's your brother. Your little brother," he explained, taking her under her arms to better settle her beside him.
Immediately Izumi leaned against his body like someone who fully trusts another. That made his throat tighten with emotion.
"I'm a wolf… I'm looking for a princess…" Sokka announced in a dramatic voice, and the effect was instant.
Izumi tried to hide, smiling exuberantly, and Zuko had to hold her while scolding the alpha with a "Sokka!" trying to keep both of his children on the bed so neither ended up on the floor. Any high spirits didn't last long, as the alpha approached with an "I'm going to eat you!" making his eldest daughter cackle like a lunatic, filling the room with that baby laugh that is absolutely charming, with Zuko reminding him to let her breathe. As soon as Sokka released her, the girl crawled into his arms seeking refuge, though she smiled mischievously and slyly at her father.
"Aha! You're hiding! Then I'll have to eat your mom!"
"No!" exclaimed Izumi, trying to hit him, but quickly protected herself with her arms.
The whole game fell apart when the shouts from both father and daughter made Iroh stir, groaning in annoyance at not being able to sleep, so Sokka grabbed Izumi with a whispered "let's run!" making her laugh as they ran around the room while Zuko glared daggers at him. After a few seconds with Iroh still crying, they decided to change strategies, swapping the children, with Sokka taking his younger son to walk him around the room, and Izumi curling up next to Zuko under the blankets.
"Are you sleepy, Izumi?" he asked, stroking her hair. It was already a little longer, long enough to be a small mane at chin level.
Sokka tended to braid her hair in a Water Tribe style. He had tried to teach Zuko, but his braiding always ended up too tight; he didn't have that fluidity that the alpha could achieve, so he usually took care of cleaner hairstyles typical of his own nation.
"Quack quack."
"Quack quack?"
"Quack quack."
"Are you a turtle duck now?" he asked, rubbing circles on her back.
Breathing softly with her cheek resting on his chest, he watched Sokka go out to the balcony with Iroh, who was beginning to calm down. Once Izumi fell asleep, they would have to move her to her room and leave her in her crib. Having both children in the same place during the night was a problem they decided they didn't want to face unless absolutely necessary, because if Iroh woke up crying, Izumi would also wake up and be in a bad mood all night. Of course, they had learned the hard way. In the first few days after Iroh's birth, their instinct to have the new member meant wanting everyone close, trying to mediate between both children until Zuko became so stressed that he cried, saying he thought he was doing everything wrong.
Sokka immediately managed the problem. Izumi would sleep in her room, Iroh would sleep with them for the first few months and then move to another room. Since then, no one had panicked (thank Agni).
As the room fell into deep silence, he saw the alpha enter with a tired but satisfied smile because Iroh had finally fallen back asleep, a gesture Zuko replicated looking at Izumi asleep against his chest. Gently, Sokka put Iroh down with that controlled movement they had learned through practice and stress. The baby stirred, and Zuko instinctively held his breath, watching through the white crib bars as the baby's chubby arms went still.
They both sighed in relief.
Approaching the bed, Sokka took Izumi from his side with a murmured "time for bed," to which the girl babbled a few meaningless words, settling against the alpha's neck in a sight that made him feel warm and ridiculously happy, realizing in an instant that he had what could be called a family.
A happy family.
Had he ever imagined something like that? Zuko doesn't think so. He never would have thought or imagined he would have children; the idea of merely gestating a human being seemed horrifying to him; having two was crazy, and an alpha…
"Hey… shall we sleep?" proposed Sokka in a soft, honeyed tone.
Positioning himself over Zuko with a purr, burying his nose in his neck, he lay down on his body with his sea-scent filling the room, which immediately relaxed him as always—something that increased when he rubbed his back, the same gesture he had used to relax Izumi, feeling the marked muscles relax under his warm hands, extracting sighs as tension knots were relieved.
It was funny how much they suggested a night of unbridled passion. Sokka would whisper it to him during the day, things like "Oh, we're going to have fun," and Zuko would usually scold him because, being the shameless man he was, he would whisper it in his ear in front of others, but when night came, the first thing they did in bed was sleep.
Zuko couldn't help but snort in amusement with a feeling of butterflies fluttering in the center of his stomach. From the snores he feels against his neck, Sokka has fallen asleep again. He tries to look at him although it's incredibly difficult and uncomfortable from his angle, so he gives up and proceeds to comb the alpha's hair with his fingers, being careful with some important braids. Sometimes it still seems surprising to him that they ended up together because Sokka was a handsome alpha—tanned, with defined muscles, tall. He had that leader-like air that had improved since he was a scrawny, bony teenager. He was incredibly handsome! Especially with the slight beard he had grown recently, although Zuko would never say it out loud because he knew Sokka would go crazy and never stop gloating.
That didn't take away from the fact that Sokka was his best friend and that he himself (in his opinion) didn't seem like his type. Nevertheless, that's how it was. Sokka told him he was in love with him and now… they are married and have two children.
Life is crazy.
Reviewing the many things they have to do during the week, he noted down in a mental list the upcoming meetings with his ministers. They both had to go because Sokka wanted to catch up on news about his school, since he had requested temporary leave for paternity/maternity to support him during Iroh's first months and wanted to make sure everything was managed properly. He also had what Sokka called "a romantic night," although Zuko would never call it that because it made him very embarrassed and he couldn't stop blushing. In the alpha's opinion, taking care of two children, managing a nation, and a school had seriously affected the romantic moments they shared.
Zuko honestly didn't think it was important, but Sokka wasn't willing to let the matter drop.
"Zuko, we need to have a date, you know, by candlelight, some wine."
"We can have it here, at dinner."
With Sokka exclaiming that it's different and asking if he didn't remember the last one, to which he replied "No."
The alpha crossed his arms, extremely satisfied.
"Exactly," he closed the topic, and Zuko frowned at him, wrinkling his nose.
Being the eccentric person he was, Sokka had delivered an invitation to his Zuko as if he were twenty again, asking him on a date. He wasn't exaggerating; he had written it in his own handwriting and had put a ridiculous heart with their initials inside.
That wasn't the focus of his attention.
"At night? We said that bedtime was important," Zuko had asked him, walking from Izumi's room to his study, where Sokka was sitting reviewing some papers.
Sokka had complained about how he should answer him with a letter to keep the game going, and he had looked at him with a raised eyebrow, reminding him that they were a room apart.
"Then send it with Bao," he gestured to the assistant waiting in a corner of the room.
Bao didn't seem very excited to participate in the new craze occupying her boss's mind.
"And what if the children wake up at night?"
"Mimi can watch them."
"Izumi usually looks for us."
"Uncle, perhaps?"
Zuko didn't seem sure, but when Sokka got something into his head, it was impossible to remove it, so in the afternoon, during his meditation, his uncle told him that he would take care of Izumi during the night so that Sokka and he could go out peacefully.
"I can't believe he dragged you into this," he sighed, with his uncle smiling and affirming that he thought it was a lovely idea and that he already had plans for his night with Izumi.
He wondered if his uncle remembered that the baby was barely approaching two years old. There wouldn't be many plans at night beyond perhaps a tantrum because Zuko or Sokka weren't there to hug her when she woke up.
On the other hand, Toph had written to them inviting them to her school. That was something new actually, even a little suspicious, because most of the time Toph used to invite them with a goal in mind, especially regarding Sokka, since between the two of them they practically ran the metal market.
But now… it was time to sleep.
---
"Everything will be fine," Iroh repeated for the fifth time when Zuko told him the long list of worries while handing Izumi over. "Don't worry, Zuko, we'll both be here, sleeping," he smiled.
Thirty minutes later they were in a rented shop in Caldera City looking at Bumi, Pakku, Piandao, and Jeong Jeong sitting around the table with a teapot in the middle.
"Give her to me!" demanded Pakku when the polite refusals yielded no results.
"No."
"I'm also her grandfather!"
"Not by blood."
"Those are details," Pakku clarified, reaching his arms out to Izumi to encourage her to come to him.
It's obvious to everyone else that she doesn't want to because he holds his beloved granddaughter against his chest, with Izumi letting out a "baba?" that makes Pakku glow with delight, saying that's right, that he's her baba, with Iroh telling him that she's not talking to the waterbending master but to him.
"What if she's talking to me?" asked Bumi, suddenly excited.
"You're not her baba!" both Pakku and Iroh exclaimed, with the Earth King saying that blood isn't that important and asking Izumi if she wanted to be his granddaughter.
The baby looks around, asking a "Daddy?" in such a fragile tone that everyone freezes in silence.
The unison thought that passes through their minds is an "oh no," and Jeong Jeong has enough personality to say "I'm not getting involved in this" at the same time that Piandao warns that she's going to cry.
"We're not going to cry, are we, Izumi?" Pakku tries in a kind but nervous tone.
Bumi doesn't help by saying that if she wants to cry, she should cry, admitting that sometimes he also wants to cry and by letting it all out, he feels much better. Everyone, including Jeong Jeong, tells him to be quiet. By then, Izumi has realized that Sokka isn't around, so she turns to her other attachment figure with an even more watery "Mama?" and panic seizes them all to such an extent that they start making the most ridiculous faces to get Izumi's attention. She begins to complain until they manage to distract her when Jeong Jeong creates a flame and Pakku places a sphere of water over it to generate a beautiful moving light display.
The response is instant: Izumi's anguished face transforms into an expression of absolute wonder, hypnotized by the elemental manipulation, with everyone sighing in unison.
"Yes, Izumi, admire the beauty of waterbending," announces Pakku, giving an extremely satisfied smile as if the idea had been his.
Everyone except Bumi frowned at him, although their joy didn't last long, as Iroh informed him that she would be a firebender, to which the waterbending master responded that he didn't know that yet and that on the paternal side, there were great waterbenders in his family, undoubtedly mentioning Katara with pride.
"She won't be a waterbender," replied Iroh.
"She has golden eyes," Piandao reminded him, pointing to their granddaughter's face.
Everyone ignored Jeong Jeong's depressive comment about how it would be good if there were fewer firebenders.
"She could be an exception," insisted Pakku.
"What if she's an earthbender?" proposed Bumi.
Everyone looked at him, thinking carefully about why they still admitted him into the group.
---
The candles in the middle of the table rose and fell little by little, illuminating the entire table along with the turtle duck pond. Sokka had organized everything with great care. From the dishes present, he must have spoken with the chef to prepare all the dishes that Zuko loved, making him smile shyly when the alpha pulled out his chair with an elegant bow.
"I can't believe you dragged me into this."
"You love being dragged into this. Admit it," Sokka replied without hesitation, with Zuko letting out a mysterious "maybe," smiling and seeing the alpha smile back at him delightedly.
Ridiculously, they talk about the weather. Zuko looks at the sky and says there will probably be lightning tomorrow, and Sokka remembers how crazy it seemed to him the first time he saw Azula shooting lightning from her arms, quickly falling into a thoughtful and excited monologue about the potential of that, although Zuko reminds him that only the royal family knows how to produce and redirect it because of how dangerous it can become, to which the alpha makes a simile with bloodbending, asking him if he happened to know that Katara could do that thing while shuddering in fear, with Zuko admitting that he did know.
The alpha looks at him for a moment, surprised, then murmurs that he knew he shouldn't be surprised.
Inevitably, his thoughts return to his children. It's something that has been unlocked inside him and now occupies almost his entire day even when he has a lot of work to do. He doesn't know how Ozai could simply detach himself from everything. Perhaps he understands a little why his mother asked to forget them, but Zuko couldn't live with the potential scenario of not being aware that his children are out there in the world with an openly cruel man.
There are things he will never understand or validate about his parents, things he uses as a reference for what not to do.
Asking Sokka if the children are already asleep or if Mimi managed to get Iroh to sleep—the one with the most difficult sleep—he receives a shrug from the alpha, who tells him that a day for themselves isn't bad, that they also need to live their own lives, and although parenthood is great, if he has to change one more diaper, he'll offer himself as lunch to Druk.
Zuko can't help but laugh.
"Oh yes, when Izumi got sick to her stomach," he recalled.
Sokka looked at him horrified. They both probably remembered that time when the baby had such bad diarrhea that the poop had reached her chest and the crib mattress had to be thrown away. He wasn't a spendthrift; he knows very well that he has more than enough money, but that time he didn't argue in the slightest about how no one should wash that or reuse it.
Sighing, the alpha lets out an "and to think Katara has three," with Zuko taking a piece of buttered tiger cod, thinking about how they would have to travel for Kya's next birthday.
Recently, the news that Bumi was a confirmed omega had spread throughout the Avatar group. Katara didn't seem very worried, but Aang was, writing to him to ask for some advice on what things he should consider in the future, especially having a male omega—something rare compared to female omegas—admitting that in his culture that didn't really matter, but over the years he had seen that the world isn't very kind to their kind. Zuko had reassured him, affirming that really in the first few years it wasn't very evident nor important, however, once the child reaches six years and older, greater vigilance is needed with the environment and other people, since, although he finds it repugnant and has worked to eliminate it, there is a black market that traffics omega children, not to mention obviously the kind of disgusting people who have a fetish for them (and who also keep that market going).
"Toph hasn't told you what she needs us for?" he asked, drinking a little wine.
He couldn't help but raise his eyebrows in surprise at how delicious the wine tasted. Sokka obviously noticed, quickly refilling his glass while complaining about how everything was strange and mysterious.
"Mysterious Toph?" he asks, raising an eyebrow.
Sokka gesticulates with his arms, saying "Exactly! She's the most direct person that exists!" and he's right. Everything is simply alarming.
Returning to eating as enthusiastically as always, he stops abruptly, letting out an "Oh, I forgot," to smile mischievously at Zuko—that smile that promises all kinds of surprises that makes him narrow his eyes.
"Close your eyes," the alpha asks.
Zuko responds with a "Excuse me?" with Sokka complaining about how Zuko had to close his eyes, otherwise he wouldn't get the surprise he had prepared for him, defending himself when Zuko replied that if it was one of his new inventions, he preferred to see it before it exploded in his face.
Extending his hands as the alpha insists, he feels the distinctive weight of a small wooden figurine.
"You can open them now."
He has to take a few minutes to understand what he's looking at.
"These are…" he begins, looking at the small figures of two turtle ducks.
The immediate memory from years ago hits him hard. The wooden turtle duck with a blue cord feels among the folds of his clothes.
"They're Izumi and Iroh!" Sokka informs, pointing to the small duck with a small pink wooden ribbon on its head, while Iroh's eyes are painted blue.
They were his children—or rather, keychains of turtle ducks symbolizing his children.
"They're our children."
"Do you like it?"
"I love it!" he announces, looking at the purple-toned cord.
He supposes it's because it's the sum of red and blue.
Leaning to one side, Sokka leaves a kiss on his cheek, murmuring how happy it makes him to know that he liked his gift, with Zuko quickly turning around to kiss him properly.
The night turns out to be extremely productive when Zuko finds himself on his back on the mattress, moaning while scratching the alpha's back with each thrust that touches that set of nerves hidden deep in his body, making his toes curl and his back arch.
"Fuck, sweetheart, you're so tight," Sokka moans, crashing into him, gripping the bed frame as Zuko comes with semen spilling over his lap, pressing himself completely inside him as he finishes inside him with his knot locking.
By Agni, Zuko is now going to clear his schedule at least once a month so they can have a day of ridiculous "romantic dates," especially if they can make as much noise as they want like now.