The Lilac Horizon Between a Blue Sky and a Red Earth

A Guilty Adulterer

Sokka and Zuko stand at the foot of the stairs of the palace, staring at the double doors. His guards wait patiently for him to approach, but he feel like he can't. There were no words between the two on the walk home. Their hair is still wet. Sand still sticks to parts of their skin. They both smell of salt.
Now they stand side by side, unsure how to farewell after their tryst.
Sokka clears his throat. "You need to tell Katara what just happened."
"I know."
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah."
"I don't believe you."
"You shouldn't believe me. I shouldn't have done that. I can't believe I did that."
"You said Katara gave you permission."
"She did, but I betrayed my own morals."
Sokka rolls his eyes. "You cheated on Mai with Katara."
"Technically I didn't. She left before anything happened."
"That doesn't mean the intention wasn't there."
"I guess."
"She'll be able to handle it."
"I hope so. I don't know if I will."
"You will. I have to go talk to Suki about this, and get back to my daughter."
Zuko groans. "And I left Katara all alone with Kyza. What kind of fucking father am I?"
"Don't worry so much. We weren't gone too long. Just go inside and explain."
The Fire Lord exhales and nods, working up any courage he can find.
"One last thing. How's your ass?"
"If you ever ask me that again, I'll kick you."
"Got it," Sokka smirks. "See you later?"
"Yeah."
The warrior turns away from the palace. He starts toward home, leaving Zuko to himself. He approaches the doors and bows to his guards, then enters. He makes his way to the bedroom, dreading the coming conversation. Reluctant, he opens the doors to his bedroom and steps inside.
As soon as he does, Katara rushes him and hugs him.
"I have great news!" she tells him.
"I have to tell you something, too."
"Oh. What's that?"
"First, where's Kyza?"
"I just put her down for bed, why?"
He waves the question away, wondering how he should go about telling her. Zuko breathes in, trying to steady his heart rate. He grasps her arms but can't force himself to look at her.
"I fucked your brother."
"Oh, so that's where you've been."
He's anticipating a sharp slap to the face, but it never comes.
"So? How was it? Did it clarify anything?" she asks him.
"Yeah, I guess it did."
"Anything...good?"
"Yeah," he tells her, pulling her into a tight hug. "I might be bilateral, but that doesn't mean that I should have done anything outside of this marriage."
Katara smirks. "Bisexual."
"It was fine. It was nice, even. But I really am in love with you, Katara. What we have is more than sex."
"You're right," she tells him, a smile on her lips. "I'm glad you had this experience. I'm proud that you were able to let go of some of your old prejudices."
"Yeah, me too," he feels his shoulders straighten a little. "What's your news?"
"Well," Katara begins, fiddling with her husband's fingers. "I went to the physician today, and..."
"And?"
"I'm pregnant, Zuko."
"Agni, that is wonderful news," he murmurs to her, kissing her on the forehead. "That is absolutely wonderful."
"I'm about a month," she tells him, resting her cheek on his chest.
"And you didn't tell me until now?"
"I wanted to be sure. A missed period could be anything. But two missed periods, that's probably something. When I didn't get it this morning, I went to Doctor Kwan."
"That means we must have conceived immediately after we started trying."
"Of course. Water Tribe women have magic uteruses."
"You know I'm the one with the real talent. Descendant of Agni, duh."
She giggles. He steps away from her, meeting her eyes.
"I feel like I need a bath. Want to help?"
"Definitely. You smell like fish."
"Yeah. We went swimming," he leads her into the bathroom and runs the water in the tub at his usual scalding temperature. "By the way, Sokka saved my life."
"You're kidding. What happened?"
"I think I got caught in something called a 'rip current'."
"Oh, shit. Those things are terrifying."
"Yeah, so I discovered. He pulled me out right before I drowned."
He strips out of his clothes and settles into the bath water. As she is disrobing down to her wrappings, Katara looks slightly annoyed.
"Let me guess, you didn't have an escort?"
"I had Sokka."
"Fine, you didn't have an escort other than my idiot brother?"
"No."
"Why do you treat your near death experiences so casually?"
Zuko shrugs as Katara bends water through his hair and across his skin.
"I guess I've just had so many of them," he tells her. "I know, I have to take better care of myself. Especially now that I'm about to have three people to look after instead of the usual two."
He steals a glance at her through the steam, cracking a sentimental smile.
"You're already showing a little bit."
"I doubt it. I'm barely four weeks."
"I'm telling you, Katara, I see something there."
"Huh. Maybe you have a point. I couldn't be further than a month, right? Because Yue is about a month old now, and we started trying a couple days after she was born."
"What does it matter? We have time. Are we going to speculate on gender? We were wrong last time."
"I have my guess, but I'm not going to tell you."
"How do you already have a guess?"
"I don't know, I feel something," Katara reassures him slyly, as she dumps water over his eyes. "It's a surprise."