This is a one-shot that starts off before Zuko was banished (the summer before) and then jumps to some time in the future when him and Iroh make it to Ba-Sing-Se. Flames (as always) are accepted. Just if you do please have enough guts to leave your name. I'll disclaimer at the end.

Prince Zuko made his way down the streets of the fire nation with his uncle. His 14th birthday was tomorrow, and his uncle had insisted that he occupancy him on his trip to pick up his cousin from the stations. His uncle was in town for the week, and then he had to return to his battle at Ba-Sing-Se. His cousin was coming back as well, but a little later as he had some 'loose strings' to tie up with someone. The streets were beautiful in the beginning of the summer; such detail was used in the crafting. He had not wanted to come at all. He wanted to stay and train, but his uncle had forced him to come. He looked around. Filthy pheasants he thought in his mind as he watched people interact with one another. Some stood behind carts and sold things, screaming out things like "10 for one copper piece" and "Picked fresh this morning". He rolled his eyes. People are so annoying, now he saw why his father lived in the palace and was superior to these pathetic excuses for humans. He saw children, running around playing games with marbles and tagging one another, just like he used to. He noticed a group of girls that couldn't have been older than 13 dancing. This dancing was nothing like the dancing he was used to. It had free arm movements and lots of butt shaking. One of them seemed to be the leader. She had features that made her look like a goddess, especially with all the pieces of shiny metallic pepper that was in her hair. Someone must have dumped some on them. He couldn't help but fell like he recognized her. Something about the shade of her hair, a rich brown with multiple streaks of blonde in it made him think he had seen her before. Or maybe it was her eyes, large and brown with hints of green in it. He continued to look at her as he walked. Her hair was pulled back in a half-up half-down look, and the hair that was up was braided. She had on a deep red fire nation robe with gold trim and black leggings.

Iroh turned to look at Zuko. He saw the boy looking at one of the girls dancing. He recognized her immediately. She was definitely a Xang, her eyes confirmed it. Her father was a highly respected Admiral, and often appeared in the war meetings with good strategies. He had a son, who was a fire bending prodigy, and then a set of boy girl twins. He knew that his daughter had a rebellious streak in her, one that must be there seeing that she was here. She was 13 and was soon to be 14 in a month. "Ah, I see you've caught interest in the Xang girl." he said to his nephew. Zuko turned to look at him with surprise.

"That is the Xang girl? How? He brother and father look like the behind of a komodo rhino, yet she is far from that." Zuko stated. Iroh smiled.

"She looks like her mother."

Xoxo

This is my birthday party? This is the most boring thing I have ever been to in my life. Zuko thought as he danced with another girl, making a mental note that this was the 13th girl of the evening. They were all the same, eager to please him so that they could have the pleasure of courting the fire lord's son. He wanted someone who likes him for him, not his status. Though it was nice to know that he could have his pick of any beautiful, mindless girl he wanted, if he wanted one. He wanted a girl with a mind of her own. One who wanted to learn? One who wanted him for more than his statues, but respected it. The song ended and it was time to choose the next girl. Admiral Xang came up to him with his uncle. "Nephew, I was talking to the admiral here and he has a daughter your age. Why don't you ask her to dance?" His uncle pushed the girl forward at him. She had on a traditional red and gold dress that the woman in the fire nation wore. Her hair was in the same style as earlier.

"Would you like to dance?" he asked her? She nodded; he noticed how careful she was to keep her face blank. Her eyes however, showed how she really felt, which was annoyed. He wondered why she would be annoyed; she was just asked to dance by the prince of her nation. He started to dance with her, he watched as the look in her eyes changed, to a tense fear. She was tense, he could tell because her back muscles were stiff against his touch, unlike the other girls who had encouraged him to move his hand lower. He saw what she kept glancing at, he father. She was obviously afraid of him. He decided to try and make conversation with her, maybe then she'll loosen up a bit. He like her a little all ready, for not being like the other girls. She had showed no interest, and that made him want her. "I saw you dancing in the street this morning." he told her in a matter of fact way. They were near a candle and its flames increased by about 5 times it's size. "And I see that you're a fire bender." he stated.

"Don't tell my dad, or he'll hurt Me." he spun her out

"About you being a bender?"

"No, about the dancing. It's my escape. He'll just hurt me more if he finds out." he spun her back into his arms

"Okay, I won't. But what is you're name?"

"My name is Zoysia." She said her gazed shifted to her feet.

"Well tell me Zoysia why are you acting shy around me but you are completely fine to move your body the way you do on the streets to random people?"

"Because it draws in suitors, and if I can draw enough in then maybe my dad will like me. Or one will take me away from him. I don't care, anything to make him stop." he spun her out again

"What does he do?" Zuko was puzzled, he saw no bruises or anything on her, "Does he…"

"No, he doesn't do that. I'm able to hide most of what he does." She snapped her head up from her feet. "I said too much, forget I told you anything." He spun her back

"You can't order me around."

"Please?"

"Those who ask for mercy rarely get it."

"I'll do one thing for you if you forget that I said anything to you about my dad."

"Anything?" his eyebrows went up.

"Anything." she repeated. The song ended. He grabbed her hand and pulled her outside, into the garden. "What are we doing out here, your highness?" she asked him.

"I won't say a word to anyone about your dad, if you give me a kiss." he said with a satisfied tone.

"Okay." she said. She stood up on her tiptoes and locked his lips with hers. Before she could pull back, he placed a hand behind her head and deepened the kiss. She was startled, he could tell, but she went with it. He slid his tongue into her mouth. She didn't fight back, but she didn't exactly just let him have her. He pulled back, in need for air and put his forehead on hers, satisfied with what he had done. "And now that I have paid my due, you need to back off." she said and gave him a strong, yet gentle push backwards. She turned and walked off, leaving him startled.

Xoxo

Okay, I admit it she's got me hooked. Zuko thought to himself as he walked down to the Xang estate. He wanted to tell her the good news himself, that he had asked her father for permission to court her and his answer was yes. He knocked on the door to the estate and a servant answered. The servant was surprised, but she bowed to him and ushered him inside. "I would like to speak with Zoysia." he stated. The servant nodded and led him up the stairs and into a hallway. She walked about halfway down before she knocked on a door.

"Miss Zoysia, you have a visitor."

"Can it wait?" her voice came from the other side of the door

"No Miss, I do not think it can."

"Fine, tell them they can enter." The servant opened the door and bowed to him, leavening his presence. He stepped into the room, he saw Zoysia with her head bent over a scroll look up at him, "Oh, what do you want?" she asked him with a look of annoyance in her eyes again. There was another person in the room, who looked up at this comment and immediately elbowed her.

"Are you an idiot? That's the prince? Don't they teach you anything at your school?" the boy asked her she shook her head.

"If they did, would be sitting here trying to teach me?"

"I was being sarcastic."

"What's your point?"

"My point is that you probably can't even define sarcasm."

"What's your point?"

"That you're stupid." the boy looked at her with a smug look, until she punched him in the nose,

"Not so stupid that I can't give you a bloody nose."

"Girls aren't supposed to do that." the boy huffed and stormed out of the room, muttering something about how stupid girls were.

"Who was that?" Zuko asked Zoysia.

"My brother "

"I thought your brother was in Ba-Sing-Se right now."
"That one is, that was my twin brother."

"Oh."

"Why are you here?" she asked, her face and voice were neutral, but he could see the annoyance in her eyes.

"I came to tell you that I asked for your courtship from your father and he said yes."

"You did?" the look went from annoyance, to curiosity "Why?"

"Because you said he would stop hurting you if you had enough suitors." he stated simply. The look in her eyes changed again, to surprise

"And you care why?"

"I don't know why I do, I just do." he snapped to her. She took a step up to him, closing the gap that had come between them.

"You don't have to get snappy about It." she looked up at him. She was 6 inches shorter than him and had to turn her head back quite far to look him in the eye. He looked into her eyes. She never showed any emotion with her face or voice, at least with what he had seen of her. She always showed emotion with her eyes instead.

"You know, you really should show emotion in you face and not just your eyes. You'd be really pretty if you'd just allow your emotions how through into your face." she looked him straight in the eye.

"I taught myself not to do that a long time ago."

"What were you and your brother doing?"

"School work."

"Why?"

"Because, I am a very bad student. He was trying to help me so I can pass my tests."

"I could help you."

"Your older than me, you would be in a different class, and anyway why would you want to teach stupid old me? Wouldn't that be a waste of your time?"

"No, I already learned all of that stuff. I can easily teach you."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Zoysia eyes were suspicious

"Because I like you." he looked down at her.

"Why?" she asked him again. This time, her face showed confusion. He smirked

"Because, you're pretty and a very good dancer. Plus I am quite sure you have a brain in your head that thinks things other than 'how can I get the fire prince to like me so I can produce the heir and rise in society'." he told her She just looked at him, stunned obviously. He cocked his head to one side. "What?"

"You think I'm a good dancer?"

"Yes. It's a lot more fun to watch then the dancing that we do." she smiled. "Where did you learn to do that anyway?" he asked her she gave a small smile.

"It's fighting techniques actually. I just rearrange them so that it moves with the beat." he leaned down a little so their faces were only inches away. She looked at him with big brown eyes, and green sparkles shining in them.

"Would you like me to help you study now?" he asked her.

"I'd like that." she said, her face going blank and unreadable again. She took a step back from him. He turned around to the table in her room and picked up a scroll. He read it over. It was simple. The basic's of the geography of the fire nation. Mountains, volcanoes, natural hot springs. It also had the climate. Hot, all year round. He looked up at her.

"Is this your lesson for tomorrow?" she nodded. He gaze went to her feet. He began to go over the lesson with her.

When they were done he remembered something. The necklace he had made to show that she was courting him. He reached into his pocket. "Hey Zoysia, I made this for you." he pulled out of his pocket a piece of tan rope, with beads woven into it. In the center, the bead had he symbol of the royal family on it. He reached back and tied it around her neck. It matched her tanned skin perfectly. "Do you like it?"

"Yes." she said simply and gave him a smile.

Over 3 years later

Zuko and Iroh entered Ba-Sing-Se. The city was magnificent. It had giant buildings everywhere, great designs, and they parted from the other people that they had come with. Zuko hadn't liked them. They were very odd. They only ate vegetables. He found this disturbing, how could someone not love the taste of a fried chicken? Or of some heterogeneous pig ribs? He sat his uncle down at a spot and left to find work. He eventually found a job, in a place called Earth Jam. It was the entertainment for the night here in Ba-Sing-Se and consisted of fighting, singers, and dancers. He was hired as a crowd peace keeper. His job was to keep the crowd under control and from killing each other over opinions, carry people who got hurt to the medical ward, clean up after wards, and remove people from the premises who did not listen to his warnings after 3 times. He was given the north western wing. The job paid well, most of the men who did this were very large and muscular men in their late 20's early 30's. He had gotten the job in his late teens. It was funny; they thought he was in his early twenties. Idiots. He thought as he and some others swept the bleachers which would fill up an hour after sunset. A group of musicians was rehearsing on the stage in the center of the giant auditorium. He listened to the music some as he swept. It sounded odd, but he liked it. They stopped and left the stage. "Hey Lee, its time to let em' in. Come on and get on the stage for the intro ceremony." Zircon called to him, he hurried down the steps to put his broom away and join Zircon on the stage. The gates were opened and thousands poured in. He looked at himself, in his bright yellow vest used for identifying his status as a crowd peace keeper. The man in charge, a large powerful earth bender rose himself up onto the stage. Everyone stopped talking and the crowd peace keepers left to their posts in he crowd. "Tonight our entertainment will start off with the believers performing the song that they wrote for out stadium. Then we have the jam fight. You all know the rules, knock the opponent out of the ring and you win!" he bellowed and the crowd cheered. The musicians stepped back up onto the stage. The one girl in the group seemed familiar. She had short, brown and blonde hair with dark eyes. He could see hints of green in her eyes. She had on a refuge green skirt with same color green leggings and top. Her stomach was flat and tanned. She wore a neutral colored chocker around her neck. The boy she was with stood up. He had a good view from here; his seat was rather close to the stage.

"Ya'll ready to JAM" he yelled and got his response from the crowd. Heb began to sing in a rough voice.

"Come on and slam. Don't you want to jam? Come on and slam and don't you want to Jam." the girl stepped up and began to sing with him.

"Everybody get up its time slam now, we got a real jam goin' down welcome to the earth jam. Here's your chance do you dance at the earth jam alright. Wave your hands in the air if you feel fine, we're gonna take it into overtime welcome to the earth jam. Here's your chance do your dance at the earth jam. Alright. Wave your hands in the air if you feel fine. We're gonna take it into overtime welcome to the earth jam, here's your chance to do your dance at the earth jam. Alright."

"Yo, yo come one everybody say nanananana, come on come on everybody say, a, A, a, oh. Come on come on everybody say nanananana, come on come on everybody say, a, A, a, oh." the boy rejoined in.

"Everybody get up its time slam now, we got a real jam goin' down welcome to the earth jam. Here's your chance do you dance at the earth jam alright. Wave your hands in the air if you feel fine, we're gonna take it into overtime welcome to the earth jam. Here's your chance do your dance at the earth jam. Alright. Wave your hands in the air if you feel fine. We're gonna take it into overtime welcome to the earth jam, here's your chance to do your dance at the earth jam. Alright." the song ended and the two stopped. The crowd went wild, screaming out encores and such. Zuko found himself clapping along with them. The people started playing again, this time creating a rhythm. The girl sprung into a dance routine that was making some of the people around him stare. She moved with the music, not missing a beat. The dance had many acrobatic moves to it as well as moves he had seen before. He had seen Zoysia do these moves when she would street dance. She sprung into a six hand spring end with a flip then six handsprings back and landed perfectly on the edge of the stage as the song ended. Both arms up in the air she bowed to the people from her perch, and then she fell. Zircon motioned for him to get the girl to the medical ward to be treated. Zircon met him at the girl. The boy on stage jumped down to meet them. "I don't know what happened. She has done this routine hundreds of times on this stage. I don't know why she fell this time." he told the two. Zuko looked down and saw a rock. He picked it up.

"It wasn't an accident. Some knocked her over with this rock." Zuko said tossing it into the air and catching it. "It's heavy, heavy enough to knock someone out."

"Lee, I'll cover your section. Take the girl down to the medical ward." Zircon instructed. Zuko nodded and picked her up. The boy walked off to rejoin his band that was clearing the stage of their equipment. He carried her back through the doors to the earth jam center's private medical ward. And placed her on the bed. He was about to turn and leave, when something caught his eye. Her necklace, it had beads woven into it, and the center bead, had the royal symbol on it. He froze in his steps.

His assumption had been right.

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