Chapter I - A Mistake

The sun had finally set. The lanterns around the Ember Island's town had just been lit. Zuko and Iris decided to sneak in the theatre as normal citizens without the Fire Lord's guard. They were the Fire Lord and the Defender, what could go wrong? Besides, without wearing the Fire Lord's and the Fire Lady's formal clothes, they wouldn't attract much attention and get crowded.

"Ready, cupcake?" Zuko asked as he turned and looked at his beautiful wife. He couldn't help but smile widely. He was practically married to a goddess.

"Ready," Iris said giving him a smile.

"I was thinking, maybe we could go have some lunch afterwards," Zuko said tying his hands around her waist and bringing her closer.

"I'd love that," Iris said, as she planted a quick kiss on his lips and she pulled back. "Let's go,"

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The audience was almost full. But they managed to get a box for themselves so they could have some privacy. Iris and Zuko sat on the benches and waited for a few minutes for the rest of the people to settle on their seats and finally for the performance to start.

When the long red curtains were pushed aside, the lights darkened and the play started. Everyone stopped whatever they were doing and turned their attentions back on stage.

It started with Zuko's actor, a fake tomb and the scenery of the Western Air Temple in the background.

Actor Zuko was dramatically crying, fallen to his knees in front of the fake tomb and Actress Iris was staring at him from a balcony of the temple.

"We would be married by now... I thought we'd spent an eternity together... but you're gone!" Actor Zuko said dramatically.

Actress Iris sighed and she said "Are you kidding me?! I'm right here!" she exclaimed pointing her thumps at herself.

But he seemed to ignore her "... and you're never coming back again! I don't know if I'll be able to continue living without you!"

"Is this guy deaf?!" Actress Iris said irritatingly pointing at Zuko.

"I just want to say... I'll never forget you. I'll always love you," Actor Zuko said.

Actress Iris face-palmed her forehead in irritation and the crowd started laughing.

Zuko and Iris growled in irritation.

"I really hate those people," Iris said.

"Why do they have to make fun of everything?!" Zuko asked annoyed. "This was probably the worst day of my entire life,"

"Mine too," Iris agreed turning her gaze bitterly back on the floor. "It was so hard watching you being like this. And the fact that I couldn't tell you-"

"Wait, so you really were there?" Zuko asked surprised and he looked at her.

She looked back at him "I was..." she chuckled bitterly "...it was surprising to watch how many people attended my funeral,"

Zuko cupped her face as he pressed their foreheads together. "That's not happening ever again," he said soothingly.

Iris rested her head on his shoulder and they turned back on the play. After showing Iris's meetings with the Mother of Faces and Guru Pathik, they finally reached the scene when she and Sokka started fulfilling missions for the Red Shadow Demons.

Sokka had done a pretty good job as a script writer of the play. They showed how they were both tasked to kill one of the Fire Nation's Generals without anybody noticing. They showed all these damn, cruel things they were both forced to do. Iris remembered how difficult it was for Sokka to kill for the first time.

She had insisted too many times to do it. Iris had already worked as an Assassin. She'd killed many times before that and it didn't bother her. She'd gotten used to it. But for Sokka, it was pretty difficult.

They reached a part of that adventure that'd been acted on stage, in which Sokka had to kill in front of a Red Shadow Demon agent, to prove his loyalty. Iris had, of course, noticed, back then, his hesitation. His guilt of what he had to do. So she had killed that Red Shadow Demon agent, before he even had the chance to react at Sokka's hesitation.

"Why did you do this?" Actor Sokka asked leaving the hostage and he turned at her.

Actress Iris bit her lip "I'm not gonna let you fall on the same path I did,"

"We need to do what they say and not put the plan at risk. We can't keep thinking about our feelings for what we-" Actor Sokka tried to say but Actress Iris cut him.

"That's what I'm afraid of, Sokka. Our feelings... I'm afraid of our feelings for each other,"

Actor Sokka wrapped her elbows bringing her closer "There's nothing to be afraid of. You know I mean nothing to you,"

"It's of what I know that makes me afraid,"

Zuko gave Iris a confused look. Although she knew he was staring at her, his mind filled with questions, she just kept her gaze locked on stage. She remembered that moment better than any other. And that was the very moment in her life in which she felt truly confused.

Before Zuko had the chance to ask anything one soldier that had insisted to escort them there, entered the box and he said "My Lord, there's a man requesting your presence,"

Zuko took his gaze away from her and back at his soldier as he nodded "I'm coming," Zuko gave another look at Iris seeing that she paid no attention at him and he thought to himself to ask her about that later.

Zuko woke up and he walked away leaving Iris alone. It didn't take a second later when Sokka walked in the same box and he sat beside her. A small moment of silence fell between them. Iris wiped a tear before it was able to fall from her eyes when she saw the following scene on stage.

"You shouldn't be afraid of what your heart desires," Actor Sokka said.

"Sokka, don't do this. This is wrong," Actress Iris said.

"But it feels right. It feels right, Iris, from the very first moment I met you, it always felt right this way," Actor Sokka said.

"I wasn't supposed to fall for you, I-" Actress Iris tried to say but she didn't get to finish as Actor Sokka kissed her.

Iris buried her face in her hands and she looked away wiping the tears away. She had, of course, noticed Sokka being there.

"What we did... it was a mistake," Iris said.

"Everything we did was a mistake, back in the day," Sokka said sadly.

"Can't you just let this behind? Why do you do this, Sokka? What do you want?!" Iris asked frustrated as she looked at him scoffing.

"I want to see her," Sokka snapped "Iris... our daughter, where is she?"

"Somewhere no one will ever find her," Iris said.

Sokka wrapped her hands and brought her closer. He wasn't just sad, he was angry. "She's my daughter too, Iris!"

"See? That's the mistake we did,"

"She's not a mistake. For goodness sake, Iris, she's a child-!"

"And the new Defender," Iris said and at that, Sokka's angry face softened, and turned to a confused one.

"What?" He asked, not being able to believe this and he let go of the tight grasp he had around her hands.

"Her soul is in the spirit world, waiting for the next Avatar. I'm afraid Aang and I will have to die first, for her to awake," Iris said as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Sokka buried his face in his hands. He couldn't believe this. He just couldn't. It felt like they'd both betrayed their friend, Zuko. Not just Zuko, they'd betrayed the whole world. The Fire Nation would expect the Fire Lord's and the Defender's firstborn to be the next Defender. But that was never to happen.

Before Iris could do anything, Sokka pulled her in a tight hug. His hands tightened around her waist and she cursed under her breath for the fact that she enjoyed his touch. The fact that she had missed it.

"We're going to get through this, I promise you," He said soothingly.

"How?" Iris asked as she rested her head on his chest and she tried to feel all of it. All of what she had missed.

Sokka drew in a shaky breath "I don't know," When he noticed Zuko walking towards them from the hallway, he tore her away from him. They both didn't want to give suspicions about it.

Sokka walked out of the box catching her purple eyes in his ocean blue ones. Maybe that was the last time he'd see her like this...

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............please don't kill me about it *nervous smile*

It had to happen. There was too much happiness... I couldn't bear it. When Aunt Wu said that Iris would have a firstborn daughter and a husband that loved her more than anything, she didn't mean Zuko and Izumi, she meant Sokka and K- I'm not gonna spoil her name.

That's why the adventure continues.

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:)