Ever After Three
~~~~~~~
"Grab her!" Zuko said as Rei, his lovely daughter, ran across the room.
Ayame ran after her. "Lin! Reika! Cut it out. Uncle Zuko's working," she said, grabbing Rei in her arms. "Daddy's busy."
"Daddy's always busy," the four year old whined. "He never gets to play with me anymore."
"And that's why we call Lin over," Ayame said. "Now go play anywhere but this room."
"Lin's too old for me," she said.
"Thanks," Lin rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'll be leaving now."
"Wait, Lin!" Ayame called, but the ten year old girl had already stormed out. "Toph's either going to not care or trap me under the earth's crust for the rest of my life."
"Why don't you call Kya over?" Zuko suggested. "She's also a bit older, but she's sweeter, right?"
"Don't say that in front of her, and good idea. How about I invite all the girls?" Zuko could almost see a light bulb flashing over her head as her face brightened. "And Su, and all the moms too. Let's just have one big party. And let's invite all the dads. I'm starting to miss Sokka."
"You saw him yesterday."
"That's enough time for me to miss him," Mei rolled her eyes.
"Fine. Invite the boys, too. I'm sure Tenzin and Bumi would like to take a break from their father."
"Poor Tenzin," Mei said with a shake of her head. "Aang's so hard on him only because he's an airbender."
"If Reika was the only firebender left in existence, I would be hard on her to preserve it, right?" Zuko said. "Anyway, I'm busy, like you said."
Mei waved him away. "I'm out, I'm out." She set Reika on the ground. "Let's go, Rei. Your daddy's crazy."
"Hey!" Zuko exclaimed, but Reika only giggled, hurrying to keep up with her mother. Ayame shot Zuko a sly smile, disappearing behind the door. Rei followed.
Reika wasn't a waterbender, even though Ayame and Zuko had debated on it. But no, she was not one because her mother was not a waterbender; she was gifted the power to control water, and other liquids. She was born a firebender. Reika had shown signs of firebending at an early age, heating up her soup or punching at her mother when she was throwing one of her tantrums. They first found out when she'd caught Zuko's sleeve on fire and fell back and giggled and giggled like it was the funniest thing in the world. Ayame had washed the flame away then, more excited than angry.
"She's bending! Did you see that!"
"Yup."
And then she was twelve years old.
"Mom!" She yelled, running into the room, tripping over her feet. "Mom!"
"What's wrong?" Mei got up frantically.
"Where's Dad?"
Ayame sat back down, sighing. "He's not home."
"Why?" Reika whined, shoulders slumping.
"What do you need?" Mei asked, opening her arms wide. Reika crawled into her mom's lap childishly.
"He helps me pick out my clothes," she said in a low voice.
Ayame burst out laughing, brushing a wisp of dark hair behind her ear. "Oh, really? And why might you need him to help you now?"
"Mmm. . . Because I'm going somewhere with my friends."
