Summer of 94 AG

A droplet of sweat fell down towards the damp grass. Her hands were flat on the ground, one knee bent beneath her and the other back behind her. Azula was next to her in a similar fashion. Ahead of them was an empty field where they had been holding their practices. An energetic Ty Lee was counting backwards from five not too far from them.

"Five… four… three… two…!" she paused dramatically.

They heard a groan from their other friend. "Come on, Ty Lee. You are being annoying."

"That's not very nice, Mei!" Ty Lee snared back at her, forgetting to finish the count.

"One!" both her and Azula announced for Ty Lee and took off in unison. After six steps she dived forward, did an aerial flip and landed with both feet planted firmly on the ground. When she looked next to her Azula was staring back at her with a smirk on her face. She had landed it perfectly, as well.

Ty Lee did a couple of cartwheels towards them. When she finished her last one she stood right in the middle of the two girls. "Wow! You two are getting pretty good!"

"Maybe we should make it more interesting and have them firebend while doing their little flips," Mei suggested in a sarcastic tone but Azula lit up at the idea.

"Yes! Once more, but we have to unleash a flash of fire while we are in midair!" Azula insisted with passion in her voice. "Unless you are too scared?" she crossed her arms and flashed another smirk at her. Uncertain, the young girl looked down at her feet. A call from the back entrance of the palace saved them from possibly burning down the field. "Ugh. It's mother. I guess Verita and I will see you guys later."

Ty Lee and Mei said their goodbyes while Azula and Verita marched back into the guest house that Verita was allowed to stay in. Azula's mother, Ursa, followed them in. It was located within the walls of the royal palace near the turtle duck pond. Verita was a special guest for the royal family, but Verita felt more like a prisoner than a guest. It would still be a couple years before Verita would be an appropriate age to marry Lu Ten, the prince and heir to the Fire Nation's throne. According to everyone, that was her destiny.

Ursa had taken Verita under her wing since she knew the difficulties of becoming a Fire Nation princess. Ozai had taken interest in Ursa due to her lineage. Having the granddaughter of Avatar Roku be part of the royal family was an asset. Verita was in a similar situation. She may not be related to any past avatar's, but her bloodline held unique spiritual and firebending powers.

Ursa stood near the entrance of the house with a warm, motherly smile on her face. She already had put on her red house jacket that layered over a thinner white gown. "Take down your hair, girls, and wash your hands and face before supper."

"Do you think we are that uncivilized, mother, that we would not wash up after being outside?" Azula crudely replied.

Verita would be in awe at how much Azula would get away with when it came to her mother. Ursa had no intention to reprimand Azula with her rude comment and instead went to her usual wooden chair near a large window in the living area. Even though this was supposed to be her living space, Ursa and Azula had made themselves comfortable. There were two bedrooms in the small house, one for Verita and the other for Azula when she felt like spending the night. Verita hoped tonight was not one of those nights.

After separating from Azula to go into her room she shut the door behind her and sighed. She noticed some warmed, wet cloths resting on her vanity that one of the housekeepers must have left for her. After practice she felt fatigued and shuffled her feet towards the bench of the vanity and sat down on the cold, hard wood. In the mirror she saw some dirt marks smeared on her cheeks and used the wet cloth to wipe her face revealing her freckles. She then started to unravel the braid that sat on her right shoulder. She finished by brushing her fingers through her messy bangs that could cover her eyes if they fell in the wrong place so she often pushed them off to the side. She had the typical pale complexion and dark brown hair of a Fire Nation native, but had brown colored eyes instead of gold like most of the royal family.

The rolling sound of her door sliding open made her turn her attention towards it. Ursa peeked her head in and smiled. "I have a present for you." She walked in with a new gown that looked to be her size draped over her arms.

Verita held a blank expression. "Thank you," she replied quietly and looked down at her lap.

Footsteps came up to her and she felt Ursa crouch down so she would be at face level with Verita. She felt pressured to make eye contact and looked at a now frowning Ursa. "Are you having a difficult time adjusting?" she asked soothingly.

Verita sighed. "I miss my family. If only I could write to them or…"

The frown deepened on Ursa's face. "I am so sorry, dear. You know those are against the rules."

"Well, the rules are stupid!" Verita had a quick flash of anger and felt tears well in her eyes. She was calmed by one of Ursa's hands stroking her hair.

"I know how you feel. I agree, the rules of marrying a prince are rather… unfair. It has been many years since I spoke to my own family," she stood up from her crouching position and Verita kept eye contact with her and listened to her closely. "We have a great responsibility being the wives of the men in the royal family. Right now you are still young, and you still have to learn many rules we have that you are not used to. There are high expectations from you as the future wife of Prince Lu Ten, heir to the fire nation's throne." At first Verita felt Ursa was tugging at her heart strings, but then it turned into a speech about her great duty to the Fire Nation. Verita was about to show disappointment until Ursa unfolded her new gown and displayed it for her. "Beautiful, isn't it?"

Verita looked it up and down and gave a little smile. The gown was red with white floral details throughout with a black belt tied around the waist and when she went to touch it the fabric was a cool, soft silk. She was lonely for her mother's love, and she was grateful that Ursa was there to fill that void. "May I put it on before supper? I want you to see me in it."

Ursa smiled back. "Of course."

...

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...

Even though Azula announced she was going to spend the night at the guest house, Verita was fortunate enough to learn that Azula was tired and retreated to her room early for once. Azula was a handful to put up with, and Ty Lee and Mei seemed to know how to handle her while Verita was still doing and saying things around Azula that made the other two girls sweat. It did not matter. Azula might be a princess, but Verita was going to be a princess as well.

Verita sat while hugging her knees on the cushioned windowsill. The window was open to allow the wind to come in, making her long hair go wild when there was a sudden gust. Bored, she lifted a hand and created a small, white ball of flame that floated in the air. The wind made it contort and expand, but she held it together. In her family the firebenders were known to have the ghost flame. Watching the white ball of fire dance made her feel closer to home.

The air smelled cleaner here, at least. There was no trash littered on the streets and there was a bath house that was accessible at all times of the day so no one had an excuse to smell dirty. Still, she missed her home town. Verita disliked socializing with the people at the palace and thought most of them were snobby, but when she found herself alone she did not care for how her thoughts took over.

Her reminiscence was cut off by a man's singing. Near the turtle duck pond a young man sat on his knees and took in the view of his surroundings. The sunset reflected in the pond making it glow a bright orange. Curious, Verita put out her sad excuse for entertainment and decided to find her slippers and head out of the guest house to say hello to him. As she walked closer the more it seemed the air stood still, and there was a chill despite it being a warm evening.

The man turned his head towards her when she neared him and he stopped singing the song. His raven hair was tied up in a common Fire Nation styled bun which was crowned with a red and gold hairpiece that was pinned in. He donned his red and gold military outfit, and he held one of his arms awkwardly around his torso as if he were trying to hide something.

"I have never seen you here before…" Verita spoke down to him. She felt like she was intruding all of a sudden. "… I apologize for interrupting your song. I understand if you want to be left alone."

When she was about to take a step back he replied to her. "Wait. You are the reason I came back here," he said with a heavy breath.

"Hm?" she questioned. "You know who I am?"

He smiled, but his golden eyes were deep with sadness. Verita was beginning to become very worried for him. The air around him felt heavy and she felt uneasy. "You are the perfect person to help me."

"Why me?" she asked.

He did not answer her question. "My father… He means everything to me. You need to tell him that I came home."

"Why don't you just tell him yourself? I do not even know who your father is!" she became increasingly annoyed with the young man.

"Verita!" a shrilled voice called from the entrance of the guest house. When Verita lifted her head to look she saw Azula standing there in her night gown with her hands on her hip and had a pout on her face. "Who in the world are you talking to?" she tilted her head.

"This man…" Verita lifted a pointer finger and froze.

Her eyes widened.

The man was gone.