#parent zuko

They reunite years after the war in Ba Sing Se and many things have changed. Worst of all Zuko went from "kinda cool and cute, mysterious emo boy" to "tall, handsome and competent".

Jet gets smacked over the head with his old crush like a hammer. In his usual stalkery fashion he insist that he must keep a close eye on the Fire Lord, to make sure he is actually as good as he says he is.

And then. Turns out that Zuko has a kid now and it doesn't really mean much to Jet other than "possibly makes him less likely to want to irresponsibly hook up, but I can still try".

That is until he sees Zuko with Izumi and how Zuko takes care of her and really tries so hard to be a good parent. Watching Zuko gently scoop her up and patiently answering a thousand toddler questions is just too damn cute. With horror, Jet goes from lusting after the Fire Lord (which is already really, really bad) to having mushy warm feelings that he wants nothing to do with.

Not to mention that Jet and Izumi get along great. Jet keeps sneaking her sweets and is teaching her how to climb up trees. Toddlers are surprisingly good at that with their little tightgripping hands. (Zuko almost has a coniption when he sees this).

When Jet wakes up from a dream about being a disgustingly domestic little family with cuddles and step-dad-Jet, he throws his pillow at the wall.

like, his kid comes up to him and she’s like “dad what do I do” and he panics cause there has only ever been one person in his young life that gave him good advice, so he’s like ‘ok channel your inner Uncle’ and just spouts out the most incomprehensible thing.

Zuko would be an anxious parent for sure. He has no idea what to do with a baby! No one taught him how and he can't exactly lead by example. He really, really doesn't want to screw this up.

The few things he remembers about his mom are not anywhere near sufficient. Iroh's proverbial wisdoms are not exactly super useful for a baby either. Anything his father taught him can be thrown straight in the trash.

He frequently panics about the whole thing, since we all know that he possesses approximately zero chill.

Jet takes a much more laidback approach. He's used to kids, although they're not usually this tiny. She has a very cute button nose though, and that makes up for a little bit of the screaming. She also calms right down when he puts her in a sling tightly swaddled to his body. It's very convenient actually, cause then he can have his arms free.

Zuko: Jet, I can't find Izumi!? Jet, lazily sitting in a treetop: I got her 😇 Zuko: Stop lying to calm me down! It only makes it worse! Jet: What are you on about, she's right here *points over his shoulder where Izumi peeks out* Zuko: Are you insane! Get down here right now! 😱😱😵 Jet, to Izumi: We'll just stay up here for a bit, your dad is in one of his moods right now.

Zuko is going to be a dad and he is terrified.

He needs someone to talk to desperately and Uncle isn't it. His uncle took good care of him, but to be honest he also let some really bad things happen. Zuko isn't sure he wants to base all of his future parental strategies on whatever proverbs uncle can spew.

So he arranged for a meeting with Hakoda. That's really the only dad he knows did a decent job. At least Katara and Sokka seem pretty happy with him and they both turned out okay.

Hakoda gets a formal invite from the Firelord and thinks it's about official business until the moment he's suddenly stuck in a room with a pacing Firelord, rambling on about childcare and parenthood while pulling at his hair.

Zuko is not listening to him and keeps coming up with more and more outrageous scenarios that could possibly happen to his kid and asking about how he should deal if his unborn baby grows up to become a mask-wearing vigilante.

Hakoda can't really see why that would be first on the list of his concerns and decides to keep handing the poor man cups of sake until Zuko is a blubbering drunk mess. If someone had asked him a few years ago whether he would be comforting the Firelord as he cried on his shoulder he would have laughed.

He stills laughs a bit, because although heartbreaking that Zuko can only ask someone outside his own country for advice on childrearing, it is also really funny how he does it. He pats his back and tells him reassuring nothings. No point in giving the actual advice until he calms down.

Not that Hakoda himself was much better when Kya got pregnant with Sokka, but back then it was Bato's job to get him drunk. He then proceeded to wake Hakoda from his massive hangover by pretending to cry like a baby and tell him that was how it was going to be from now on and better get ready. Joke was on him, with the amount of time Bato was handed one Hakoda's crying babies himself. But Hakoda decides to skip that part for Zuko's first parenting class. It will come soon enough by itself.

He hands a much calmer, sloppy drunk Firelord back to the guards and decides to try again tomorrow.

Rating: T Words: 3,645 Summary: Jet and Zuko run into each other years after the war and although their initial meeting is just as violent as how they left off, they are both older now. Not wiser necessarily, but good enough to at least have a little talk. And maybe discuss more than just current events...

Oh and then there's the fact that Zuko is a dad now. Izumi just adds to the chaos.

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This fic is going to be a combination of 2 ideas I've had; In Vino Veritas and DILF Zuko