The ABCs of Zutara: ADORABLE

Written by Katie Jo aka AVidZktjo

"Zuko, honey, come back here." A laugh escaped Ursa's mouth as she playfully chased after her son. "I'm going to get you," she teased while reaching her hands out to snatch him up. The one-year old prince giggled in her embrace, flailing his tiny arms in an attempt to escape. But his mother would have none of that. She held on tight and kissed his face while he struggled to get away. Ursa couldn't help but laugh at the adorable sight.

Her baby boy was everything she'd wanted and more. There was only one problem with him. He just wouldn't sit still. She tried bouncing him up and down in her arms but he wouldn't stop squirming. It was only then that she realized something had caught his eye. When she looked in the direction of his outstretched hands, she saw the reason for his struggle and laughed some more. Of course, why hadn't she thought of that? Zuko loved the water. Rising to her feet, Ursa brought her son over to the turtle duck pond and set him down next to the water's edge. "There you are, Zuko."

The toddler immediately put his hands in the shallow pool and started splashing about. The cool temperature didn't seem to faze him for his giggles grew louder even as the water soaked through his clothes. Before long, Ursa was getting wet along with him, but she didn't mind. All that mattered was the excitement and joy on her baby's face. Ursa laughed along with her son and even put her own hands in the water, sending more sprinkles in Zuko's direction. He seemed to love the water for he always wanted to sit by the pond. "You are a funny little thing, aren't you, Zuko?" His smile was reply enough and she laughed again.

For a prince of the Fire Nation, that boy sure loves the water, but we shall teach him soon enough that water is his enemy. The words of her husband suddenly sprung to her mind and her smile vanished. She had never liked this war and only wished for it to be stopped. And she hoped that her son would be the one to stop it. Looking down at his soaked head of cinder black hair, she knew she was putting all her hope in a mere child but she couldn't help herself. No matter what Ozai taught him, she was determined to always be one step ahead. Zuko would be kind and compassionate, forgiving and honest, not at all like his father.

The boy abruptly stopped splashing and turned his attention to his mother's sad face. His joy soon faded at seeing her sorrowful expression. While looking down at her son, Ursa saw her hope mirrored in those beautiful golden brown eyes. He was a darling child and the thought caused her kind smile to return. Her son was soon mimicking her grin with a toothless one of his own and she couldn't stop her lips from curling up higher. How could something so precious become something so evil? But Zuko would never be evil. He would never be his father. He would be something more. Something special. Like the water. He would be the change this world needed.

Before her thoughts could go any further, she felt cold moisture soaking into her robes. Her son was splashing water on her knees and she quickly resumed her playful teasing. Snatching him up in her arms again, she tickled his tummy and laughed as he giggled and squirmed. He would be different, she was sure of it, but still she could not stop the possessive tightening of her arms around her adorable little boy.

///A\\\

"No, Katara, no." Kya pulled her defiant daughter back into her arms for what felt like the hundredth time. "Honey, you'll hurt yourself," she tried to explain to her, but still the toddler would not stop squirming and reaching toward the campfire. "Hakoda, some help please. She wants to touch the fire."

"Then let her."

Kya stared back at her husband in disbelief.

"Sweetheart, she won't learn the dangers of it until she experiences it for herself. Just let her get burnt and she'll quickly realize her mistake," Hakoda easily explained while his attention remained on the task of sharpening his dagger.

Kya sighed. Her husband was no help when it came to the children. His mind was more focused on war strategies and the protection of their village, not that that wasn't a good use of his time. She was grateful to be sure, but she wished he didn't always have such a tactical answer to everything. Kya didn't want her daughter to get burnt, but at the same time, she knew Hakoda was right. She'd need to learn sooner or later.

So reluctantly Kya released her baby and watched in horror as she crawled towards the fire yet again. Hakoda even stopped what he was doing and watched as his daughter neared the flames. They were both waiting for the inevitable scream, but then Katara did something unexpected. Instead of reaching out for the fire, she stopped and plopped herself down about two feet away from it. Hakoda glanced over at his wife and shrugged his shoulders before looking back down at his dagger and continuing his work. Kya stared after her child in wonder. Her baby girl sat still before the glittering flames and her hand didn't even move once toward the fire. What an odd child she was.

In that moment a cry could be heard from the tent behind them and Kya rose to her feet. "I'm going to check on Sokka. Would you please watch her for me?" she said as she looked over at her husband.

"Don't worry, dear, she won't get hurt. She's just fascinated with the fire is all," he replied, his gaze still fixed on the dagger in his hands.

"All the same, please watch her, Hakoda. I don't want to come back out here and find that our child has been burnt to a crisp because she wanted to dance in the flames and you let her."

Hakoda chuckled. Sometimes his wife could be a bit paranoid when it came to their children, but that's why he loved her. Looking up into her eyes, he smiled and promised, "Don't worry. I'll watch her."

With a roll of her eyes, Kya entered the tent and tried to console her restless little boy.

Turning his attention back to the dagger, Hakoda scraped at the sides one last time before holding it up to his face and admiring his handiwork. "There. The perfect blade for a Water Tribe warrior." Katara suddenly clapped her hands and Hakoda looked her way. "You like the dagger?" But his daughter's eyes were still fixed on the flames. Another crackle could be heard as the wood shifted and sparks flew up into the sky. Katara clapped again and a giggle even escaped her mouth. "Oh, so you like the fire? You are one strange child, you know that?"

As if in response to his question, Katara giggled again and Hakoda found himself laughing along with her. After setting the dagger down beside him, he crawled over to where his daughter sat and joined her by the fire. He picked her up and tried to hold her in his arms but she refused to cooperate. She reached out towards the fire again and struggled to get down. "Katara." Hakoda tried to get her attention but the flames held her gaze. "Katara. Won't you look at your daddy?"

His baby girl didn't even seem to notice that he was there. All she wanted was the fire. "Fine. Fine." Hakoda put her down and she crawled a little closer to the flames before sitting down in front of them again. More sparks rose into the night sky and she clapped some more. "Maybe we accidentally swapped you with a Fire Nation baby."

Katara giggled. "Yup. That must be the case." Hakoda laughed at his own joke and Katara chuckled again in response. She was sure a strange little girl, but he loved her all the same whether she liked fire or water. He didn't care. All that mattered was her protection and safety, but Hakoda knew that eventually there would come a time when he wouldn't be able to shelter her from the pain of their world. He just hoped that she wouldn't get burned too badly.

I'm starting a new series – The ABCs of Zutara – and this is the first edition to it. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I couldn't help but go "awww" while I was writing it. And, believe it or not, the letter A was a hard one to come up with. I kept fiddling with the word "anger" but nothing was coming to mind. And the only other word that popped into my head was "adorable." But after thinking about it for a day, I finally came up with this utterly ADORABLE idea. =D So…whaddaya think?

I'm planning on posting a new "letter" every day of the week but most likely not on the weekends. I'm usually busier on the weekends than I am on the week days. Go figure.

Anyway, the reason I started this series is because I'm so jealous of all those FanFiction authors who post a new story or new chapter every day. Yeah, you know who you are. =D I'm so jealous of you! I'm such a perfectionist that I spend hours and hours pouring over what I've written. Do you know how many times I reread my own stuff or how many hours I spend editing? I like every line to be just perfectly flawless and I want everything to flow seamlessly. I'm crazy like that, but it makes for good writing.

So this is kind of an experiment for me. I want to post something new every day and this is how I'm going to do it. I'll be writing a short one-shot on each letter of the alphabet, including X, so by the end of the month or so I should have 26 short stories on Zutara. Yippee!

Oh, and please don't hesitate to make suggestions!!! Any word will do, except names and swear words. It can be a noun, a verb, an adjective, anything! Let your imagination run wild. And thanks in advance for the suggestions!!! =D

All that's left for you to do is READ the story, ENJOY it, and REVIEW it (pretty please =D). Thanks!!!

AVidZktjo