"Both within the family and without, our sisters hold up our mirrors: our images of who we are and of who we can dare to be." -Elizabeth Fishel

For once, Kiya didn't dream. She didn't smell the acrid scent of smoke, she didn't hear strange voices, and she didn't taste some familiar memory on the back of her tongue. There was just silence in a white room, a sanctuary for her to find solace in as her body healed. When she awoke, it was with the blissful quiet of someone who had known twelve hours of serenity. Her mind felt fuzzy, and she was sore in more places than she could count, but she had lived, and for once, she hadn't dreamt.

Because she no longer needed to. She knew exactly what had happened to her family, and she knew who she really was. Fire Nation. She expected there to be some sort of significant change, one that came from finally knowing who she had been, and who she would always be. Instead, she felt the same as she had the previous day, only she hurt more, inside and out.

It was still hard to believe what had happened. So many questions boiled to the surface, dancing on the edge of some fine knife. Why had her parents left the Fire Nation? Why had they tried to pretend they were from the Earth Kingdom? And why didn't the soldiers who killed her parents kill her? It made absolutely no sense. Perhaps the Fire Nation didn't care about forgotten children, and the ghosts that they became. Perhaps the orphans that they made were just a well-kept secret, another hidden diatribe that the world was never allowed to know.

Slowly, wincing the entire way, she turned over. To her surprise, Zuko was lying just inches away from her, asleep. She blearily tried to recall the previous night's events, but found that she couldn't. He looked terrible; there were two small cuts on his neck, crusted over with scabs, and a long gash on his cheek that had been tended to by his Uncle. Still, he slept peacefully, and she watched him, playing idly with his hair until he finally stirred.

He blinked several times, frowning, as if he was unsure where he was, and why Kiya was staring at him. Finally, he stretched, groaning as his muscles ached in protest. "Remind me to never fight with you again."

Kiya's lips quirked in a smile. "You'll just forget."

"Probably." His smile faded, as his eyes dipped down to her throat. He reached out with one hand, hesitantly stroking her bruised skin. He whispered, "I'm sorry about your neck."

"And my ribs and my head?" She grinned to let him know she was kidding, as she reached out to touch his neck. "I'm sorry about yours, too. Luckily, neither of us did any real damage."

He made a face. "I'm not sure about that. I think you kneed my liver up into my lungs."

She didn't laugh. She only smiled, afraid that if she laughed she would immediately start crying right afterwards. There was a storm brewing inside of her, and their banter was the only thing keeping her anchored while the thunder raged. To preserve what little emotional framework she had left, she promptly changed the subject. "Um… what happened last night?"

The smile slipped off of Zuko's face, and he rolled over, staring at the ceiling. From where she lay, she only had a view of the left side of his face, and found that she liked it quite a lot, despite the fact that it was the side where his scar dominated most of his skin. There wasn't something ugly about it, as others seemed to think. She found it fascinating, and alluring. The fact that he was flawed so obviously made him all the more beautiful to Kiya. The scar proved to her that he had been beset by ordeals she'd never know, and he had lived, made stronger by his trials. There was nothing quite like it.

"You… went into the Blank State, after everything that happened. I had to pull you out of it."

"You… what?" She blinked twice, hearing his words but not quite comprehending them.

"I just kept you warm, that's all," Zuko grumbled at the ceiling.

"You're not supposed to pull a Viper out of the Blank State! Do you know how dangerous that can be? More often than not, they turn violent!" She couldn't believe he had done something so dumb. Did he have a death wish?

Zuko looked mildly surprised, as he turned back to face her. "You didn't. Besides, I couldn't just sit here and let you do that to yourself. You have to feel, you know. If we didn't have emotions, even the painful ones, we'd just be ghosts."

How did she explain that she already felt like a ghost, cursed to wander with no home and no family to speak of? She didn't say anything along those lines, though. Instead, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek, the side with the scar. His words had touched her, more than she would ever let him know. To think he actually cared enough to put himself in danger for her… it was almost unfathomable. "Thank you. You don't know how much it means to me."

His eyes were pleased, but shocked. He touched the place she had kissed, eyes shining with wonder. As if it was too much to grasp that she actually liked him. And as much as she knew it was a bad idea to like him, she had grown to in the time that she had known them, despite their lies, and despite their trying to kill each other. Nobody's perfect, she thought, dropping her gaze back down to the blankets at their feet, kicked away by restless sleep.

"There's something else, isn't there?" He sounded doubtful.

How well he read her! She couldn't put it off any longer, now that he had brought it up. Finally, she had to ask. Blinking furiously, trying to stave away the emotions that were crawling up her throat, Kiya whispered, "Tell me something."

"Anything."

"I-" She hesitated, her voice catching in her throat. Her hands were shaking; she wondered if he felt it.Ask it, damn you. Ask it, you coward. Speak those words, even as your heart already knows the answer. Speak and let him judge you. "I killed him, didn't I?"

There was a pause to the morning, where everything seemed to stop for one infinitesimal moment. Even the crew above, busy working on the ship seemed to fall silent, their murmuring too cheerful for the grave mood that had suddenly draped itself over the room.

Zuko nodded.

All at once, Kiya burst into tears. All that had been pent up over the years-the loss of the parents she'd barely known, the lies she'd been told all her life, the best friend she'd had to lose twice, and killing the figure whom she had once worshipped-all of it seemed to cave in on her, crashing over her head like a tidal wave. She cried hard, her entire body shaking violently, like a dainty, dew-sparkled leaf caught in a tumultuous tempest. Without a word, Zuko gathered her up in his arms and held her close, stroking her hair and rubbing her back as she cried for all the family she'd never known and for all of the victims she'd made like herself, killing on a premise of lies. She cried until she could barely breathe, until her throat was raw and her eyes were dry. Even then, she continued to choke out painful, heaving sobs, her fists clenched against Zuko's chest.

Finally, when the sun was high in the sky, the tidal wave in her seemed to fall, ebbing away into ripples, and she fell silent. She breathed heavily, her breaths warming the bare skin of his chest that was slick with her tears. Her body relaxed in his arms, so much that for a long while, he thought that she had fallen back to sleep.

He hugged her to him, feeling comforted by the close proximity of their bodies. She was warm, and she smelled like sleep and soot. He was suddenly overcome by the desire to kiss her, and he remembered the night when she had tried to trick him, using her body. If she tried it again, he knew it would work. It wasn't just that she looked like Irada… there was something else about her, something in her eyes that captivated him more than he wanted to admit it.

Slowly, she pulled away from him, slipping out of her arms. She turned away for a moment so she could wipe her face, her hair hanging down like a curtain so that he had to wait patiently to see her when she turned back towards him. When she finally did, his breath hitched.

She really was so beautiful. Everything about her enthralled him, from the deep dusky red of her hair, to the fluid way she breathed while she slept. She was gorgeous to him, even with red-rimmed eyes, and a nose pink from crying, and with hair still mussed from sleep. Zuko laid back against the sleeping pad, staring at her with new eyes. Maybe… just maybe he had grown feelings for her, in the months that they'd known each other. It seemed impossible and ridiculous, since she had tried to kill him more than once, and they were constantly butting heads, but his life had never been normal, not in the least. The thought of them together made his head spin. It was like an impossible idea blossoming on the horizon of his mind.

She combed her fingers through her tangled hair, narrowing her bloodshot eyes at him. "What?"

He shook his head, sure that if he even tried to sum up what he was feeling in words, he'd fail. "Nothing."

She didn't press him. With a small sigh, she laid back down beside him, curling up in the shadow of his warmth. She made a purring sound, like a stray bearded cat that Zuko had encountered once when he was a child. Almost hesitantly, he wrapped his arms around her, holding her to him. She didn't pull away, so he took it as a sign that he was not the only one feeling weird, unexplainable emotions.

"So what now?"

"Hm?" She sounded like she was falling back to sleep.

Gently, he nudged her. "What are you going to do now?"

A pause. She shifted, so she could look him in the eyes when she spoke. That was another thing that he wasn't used to. So many people were afraid to look him directly in the eyes, because he was royalty or because they were scared he might do something violent. She had never been that way. It was both refreshing and disconcerting at the same time.

"Honestly? I have no idea. I mean, what does a person do after… all that? Things aren't exactly going to be the same from now on." She blew out a breath, frowning. "I was thinking that I might go back to the Vipers' den. Maybe try and restore order."

"Do you think that's smart? What if they're mad at you?"

She snorted. "They won't be. Trust me. If I've learned anything recently about the Vipers, it's that they're only loyal to those who deliver on their promises." Kiya shrugged. "Mostly, I just want to explain to them what has happened, and possibly try and find someone who feels the way that I do. Someone who still believes in honor." She blinked, her green eyes curious. "What about you? What will you do?"

"Me? I'll do what I always do. I'll obsess over the Avatar."

"Aha!" Kiya grinned. "So you admit to obsessing over him!"

"What? No, I didn't mean to say that! You… you tricked me!" Zuko glared, huffing out a breath. "I do notobsess over him. I just get… involved."

"Yeah, okay, Mr. Involved. Whatever you say." Kiya stretched, her toes curling as she inhaled sharply through her teeth. It was going to be another couple of days before she would be able to fight again. Holding a hand to her bruised ribs, she rolled away from Zuko and stood, running her other hand through her hair. She needed a comb.

"So that's it, then?" Zuko was sitting on the edge of the sleeping pad, staring at her back. "You're just going to go back to the Vipers?"

Kiya turned slowly, to face him. "And you're just going to go back to the Avatar. We're returning to our lives, like it should be."

"You can't really believe that!" He gazed at her incredulously. "What about everything that happened here?"

"That's why I have to go back, Zuko. Because of everything that happened here." Say you don't want me to go, and I'll stay. Say you want me here, with you, and I will stay. But he wouldn't. Kiya could already see by the look on his face that if she were going to stay, it would be because she decided to. He wouldn't ask.

He frowned, getting to his feet. "What about you, Kiya? You're Fire Nation now. What are you going to do about that?"

Kiya made a face. "If I'm going to retain any of my sanity, I need to take things one step at a time. I can't think about being Fire Nation right now, Zuko. I have to take care of things with the Vipers first." I need some time.

"You can't think about being Fire Nation right now? You're Fire Nation, whether you can think about it or not! You're going to have to face it sooner or later."

"And I will! But not now. Now I need-"

The ship suddenly groaned, metal screeching somewhere from outside. The floor beneath their feet trembled. The ship stopped short, sending Kiya flying into Zuko. He grabbed her, steadying the two of them against the wall as everything in their shared room went flying. They looked at each other, eyes mirroring their simultaneous thought: What the hell was that? Letting go of Kiya, Zuko pulled his shirt up from the floor, tugging it on over his head. He tossed his hair out of his eyes, before grabbing her hand and pulling her from the room.

The corridors were empty, which Zuko immediately took as a bad sign. The two of them quickly made their way up to the surface, where again, they saw no people. However, when they reached the bright light of day, they saw something else.

A Fire Nation ship, larger and more elaborate than Zuko's was in the water in front of them, blocking the way. A gangplank had been stretched across from the unknown ship to Zuko's, but again, there was no one in sight.

"Who is that?" Kiya asked, looking at the ship.

Zuko shook his head. "I don't know. It doesn't look like any of the ships I've seen before."

"That's because it's not." A voice said from behind them.

Zuko and Kiya both spun around to see a younger girl standing on the very edge of his ship. She was obviously Fire Nation, dressed in scarlet. Her dark hair was pulled up in a way that suggested she was royalty, and she had gold eyes that were lit with malice. She stood with her hands on her hips, a mocking smile playing across her lips.

Zuko blanched. "Azula."

Kiya started. This was his sister? Just staring at the girl too long gave Kiya goose bumps, which was something she was unaccustomed to. There was something off about the way the Fire Princess was smiling, with just a hint of madness behind her eyes. It made Kiya nervous.

The girl's lips curved like a sword, her smile just as sharp. "Hello to you too, dear brother. I hope I didn't wake you." Her eyes cut to Kiya, and her smile only widened. "And your charming companion."

"What are you doing here?" Zuko clenched his fists at his sides, his entire body shaking. "How did you even find me?"

"Can't a girl visit her brother?" Azula jumped down from the side of the ship, striding towards them with purposeful steps. Her boots seemed to echo in Kiya's ears, clanging against the metal of the ship. "The Fire Nation has been so boring without you. I've had absolutely no one to taunt!"

"Enough games!" Zuko said fiercely, glaring. "What are you doing here? Where's Uncle?"

"I have no idea where old Uncle Iroh is. Everyone else on the other hand, they've been…" Her wicked smile blossomed. "Neutralized. As for what I'm doing here…" She halted a few feet away from them, superiorly examining her long, sharp fingernails. "Father sent me. To find you, and ask you to come home."

Zuko stared, his mouth dropping open. "He wants me to come… home?"

"Yes. He's realized what a mistake it was to send you away, and he realizes now how important family,our family, is to him. He sent me to find you, and bring you home." Her gaze turned cold. "I didn't have to come all this way, you know."

Something. There was something about the way she was speaking, the way she was standing. There was something off about her words, some intangible wrongness that Kiya couldn't place. A spark grew in the back of Kiya's mind, some sort of seed that needed to grow. What was it that she had heard about Azula? What was it that was making all of her nerves stand on edge? Think, damn you.Something about Azula. There! A memory, rooted in her mind. Something about…

"Do you hear what I say?"

"Just once. I think you said… 'Azula always lies'. Is that true?"

"Yeah."

Azula always lies.

She was lying. Kiya could see it, in the way she narrowed her eyes at Zuko's shocked and pleased demeanor. She had developed just the right story that would entice her brother back home, or at least, back to her ship. So she was lying, trying to get Zuko to go with her. But to what end? He had failed to capture the Avatar again… had she come to take him as a prisoner?

"Zuko…" Kiya murmured out of the corner of his mouth, tightening her grip on his hand.

He didn't seem to hear her. "You're right. Why did you come? You could have sent a messenger hawk."

"Would you have believed me?"

His silence spoke more than he could have.

Azula grinned. "Exactly."

Zuko made a face. "Well, who says I believe you now? Who says you're not lying right now?"

Kiya squeezed his hand again, hoping her words could somehow travel soundlessly. Yes. She is lying. It's not true. Again, he ignored her.

"Someone does," Azula said, tossing her head. Her bangs settled around her face once more, framing her features like a shadow. "You see, I had a feeling that you might not believe me. I had a feeling that you'd jump to the conclusion that I'm lying, because, let's face it, I usually am. So I thought I'd bring someone to convince you. She can tell you that I'm not lying." She turned to look over her shoulder at the gangway. "You may come out now!"

"Zuko," Kiya whispered urgently, leaning into him even as he pulled away to see who was coming. "She's lying. You said so yourself, you said-"

"What?" Zuko gasped, his face completely horror-stricken, as what blood was left there drained away from his cheeks. Slowly, Kiya turned to apprehend whatever terror Azula had brought to face them.

And found herself to face to face with a mirror. Only, it wasn't an actual mirror. It was a girl who was walking calmly across the gangway. She had red hair, half of which was pulled back into a knot at the back of her head. The other strands were loose and flowing over her shoulders, all the way down to her back. Her eyes were like emeralds, and just as cold and hard. Her mouth was set in a furious line, and she was dressed in Fire Nation clothes, in a dress that fell to just below her knees, and black pointed boots.

"Hello, Zuzu," The girl mocked, tossing her hair over her shoulder in a way that was so similar to Azula. "Long time, no see."

Zuko was rigid, unable to even speak.

"You…" Kiya managed to choke out, her entire body shaking. Realization spilled over head like an ice cold wave. It wasn't herself that she had seen, it was this stranger. "You're the girl from my nightmare. The fire-bender in the mirror."

The girl's green eyes locked on Kiya. "So." Her mouth formed the word perfectly, almost seductively, as she spoke with Kiya's voice. "You're the one. You're the girl that my boyfriend has become so enamored with. You're my twin. My other half. My missing piece. Right, Zuzu?"

Several words froze in Kiya's mind: Boyfriend. Twin. Never had her heart beat so loud or fast. Just when she thought it was all over, when she had thought she had rid her life of its prime evil… Another demon walked in. Pulling away from Zuko, she turned to look at him fully, feeling the trust she had placed in him shrinking. "What is going on here? Who is she? What is she talking about?"

The girl laughed, a shrieking mockery of actual amusement. "Yes, Zuzu, tell her! Tell her all about me, and the lies you spun out of thin air to make me think that you loved me!" Her last words turned angry and harsh, and Zuko physically flinched like they had hurt him.

He couldn't look at Kiya when he spoke. "Her name is Irada. She-we grew up together. She's the adopted daughter of a Fire Nation noble, and when we were younger, our parents arranged our marriage. That all sort of fell through, though, when I was exiled." Finally, he looked at her, and she felt her heart crack at the look in his eyes. "When I saw you that day, when you tried to kill me… I thought you were her. But when I realized you weren't, I figured that the two of you must be twins. I was never sure, I only suspected it." He swallowed hard, his gaze focused on the deck. "But yesterday, Gyong said that you were originally Fire Nation. The two of you must have been separated in that village, when the soldiers came for your parents. Gyong did say you were wrapped in a green blanket. They must've thought you were Earth Kingdom. Irada was taken back and adopted by the noble couple, and you were taken by Gyong."

"So we are twins," Irada interrupted, looking away. "My parents told me the same story… only they said that I was wrapped in a torn Fire Nation flag. The soldiers who rescued me thought I'd been stolen."

"Rescued you?" Kiya burst out. "Those soldiers killed my… our parents! Our real parents!"

Irada stared at her. "What do you mean?"

Azula rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. What sort of nonsense is that? Irada, you don't actually believe this peasant girl, do you? She's an assassin who was sent to kill my brother, and instead, developed feelings for him." She shook her head. "How pathetic."

Whirling, Kiya faced Zuko. "You can't go back with her. She's lying. Your father doesn't really want you to come home, she's only saying that so she can take you prisoner."

Zuko looked doubtful, his eyes on Irada.

Azula sighed with exasperation. "Yes, fine, we were going to take you prisoner. You've caught me." Her face hardened into a pitiless mask. "I'm surprised you even believed me in the first place, Zuzu. How easy you are to deceive! Why would Father want you to come home? He doesn't need you. You're only a failure and an exile. The only child he needs is me. The only child he even wants is ME!" She laughed loudly.

Kiya looked at him pleadingly. "Zuko, don't listen to her. You're not a failure. You don't need your Father's approval to mean something!" Kiya grabbed his hand, holding it tightly. "You don't need his love to prove that you're worth something more than they've led you to believe."

He didn't say anything. He only shook his head.

"Oh, shut up!" Azula snapped. "Irada, if this girl is truly your sister, she's really annoying. And look! She did steal your boyfriend! Aren't you the least bit angry about that?"

Irada nodded, her face twisting. "As a matter of fact, I am. First you steal my face, and then you steal my boyfriend. You're a pitiful excuse for an assassin, and I'm embarrassed to even think that we share blood!"

"So there's just one thing to do then, isn't there?" Azula asked.

Irada slid into a stance, her hands out in front of her, one of them balled into a fist. "Ready when you are."

"They're not seriously going to attack us, are they?" Kiya whispered, even as Zuko slipped easily into a stance of his own. Just standing next to him, she could feel the warmth emanating from his body. His temper was bordering on explosive, and if there was a fight, it was going to get messy.

Irada's hands both burst into flames, as the same moment that Zuko's did. "Yeah, I think they are," He replied, as Kiya pulled her daggers out of their sheaths.

Azula snickered. "Oh, this is cute. Looks like you got all of the worthwhile genes, Irada!" Her arms went up, blue light suddenly glowing in her hands. Cupping them, her hands began crackling with electricity, her fingernails lit with flickering blue flames. All of the hairs on Kiya's arms stood straight up, as the air grew thick with an electric current.

Kiya's eyes widened. "You didn't tell me Azula could bend lightning." And that my stupid sister is a fire-bender!

Zuko glanced at her uneasily. "Uh… surprise?"

"If we live through this," Kiya grumbled, "I'm going to kill you."

Really, though, that won't be a problem. Because we are so dead. Who knew that Zuko and I would be here together, at the end of a ridiculous journey, about to be murdered by our own sisters?

Yeah. Me neither.

The end! Sorry to leave you hanging, but rest assured, there will be a sequel.

Disclaimer - I listen to music when I write, and as a result of that, I take a lot of inspiration from songs. The title of the story itself, as well as the chapter titles, were taken from songs, and I'd like to give credit to those songs now:

-The titles the story and of chapters 1, 2, 4, & 10 come from the Blue Oyster Cult song, "Burning For You".
-The title of chapter 3 [Tangled In My Imperfections] comes from the Celldweller song, "Fadeaway".
-The title of chapter 5 [The Flame of Error] comes from the Coheed & Cambria song, "In The Flame of Error".
-The title of chapter 6 [Where The Lines Overlap] comes from the Paramore song of the same name.
-The title of chapter 7 [Search and Destroy] comes from the 30 Seconds To Mars song of the same name.
-The title of chapter 8 [Slowly Taking Me Apart] comes from the Nine Inch Nails song, "Something I Can Never Have".
-The title of chapter 9 [I Caught Fire] comes from a The Used song of the same name.

I am neither affiliated with any of these bands' labels, or the members themselves. I just like their music, and I'm not trying to plagiarize or anything. They just inspire me; that's all.

Now that's out of the way...
Thank you so much to all of my readers; those who put this on alert, and those who favorited it, and especially to those who took the time to review! You're awesome and I love you :) Hopefully you'll enjoy the next one when it rolls around. Check my profile for news on the sequel, and my other work(s)!