AVATAR

Legend Of The Dragon Hearts

Sequel to The Young Lady Of Legends. Rebels seek to restore Ozai to power, and need a certain Priestess named Emma. She has no idea the rebels are hunting her, but will Zuko - her soul-mate - let them do it? And will he be with his Emma at last? ZxOC

O~O~O~O

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Hello.

Did you really think I would just leave it at that unbelievable cliff-hanger back in The Young Lady Of Legends? Did you think I would leave you all desperately hanging by your fingernails from that crumbling ravine wall which towers over the bottomless pit at the edge of the earth? You know the one, we used to visit it at the end of God knows how many chapters? I love that place…

Anyway…

So, for those of you who I've met before, you need no introduction but, just in case you've forgotten what's been going on, here's a quick refresher.

For those of you who just randomly clicked into this story, unless you've got no desire whatsoever to read the nail-biting page-turner (clicker?) that is "The Young Lady Of Legends", then don't read after the next question mark, because I'm about to recap that entire sixty-two chapter fan-fic in the space of a few short paragraphs!

Ready?

O~O~O~O

A hundred years ago, Fire Lord Sozin started a world war, that pitted the Fire Nation against the other three nations – the EarthKingdom, the Water Tribe and the Air Nomads. He used the power of a comet to destroy the Air Nomads, and so began a century-long war…

Only the powerful Avatar, capable of bending all four elements, could stop the Fire Nation. But, before the war began, the young Airbender known as Aang disappeared, freezing himselfinto a block of ice, and awakened a hundred years later by two Water Tribe siblings, Katara and Sokka…

BOOK ONE:

Water – The Lunar Sea

Emma was a seemingly ordinary girl from a world where the story of the powerful Avatar was told only in cartoon shows and a movie she'd just bought, much to the anger of her parents. Emma was a shy and emotional young lady, with low self-confidence that affected her abilities to find a job. This aggravated her parents, and she found herself in a rut. Whilst crying about the state of her stressful, jobless life, Emma was unaware that the Goddesses of a mystical and sacred realm were watching her, and that the very prince she called her favourite character was, in fact, real! Zuko had just failed to capture the Avatar and, in a moment of remembering a legend his Mother had once told him, said Emma's name, along with the title of Priestess! At the same time, she said his name, calling him Prince Zuko and, in that instant, was transported to the world of the Avatar, literally falling into the young Prince's life!

Zuko agreed to let Emma stay on his ship, although the two of them argued like there was no tomorrow, much to the amusement of Zuko's wise Uncle Iroh. Iroh was travelling with Zuko, who had been burned and banished by his Father, the warlord fighting against the rest of the world! Emma began learning martial arts from Uncle Iroh and, during an unplanned stop-over on KyoshiIsland where she trained with a warrior named Suki, discovered that she was a Bender gifted with the nature of Water! Emma also happened upon Yang-Chong, who hatched from a golden egg that she won in a singing contest. The stubbornly proud and loyal phoenix was almost always by Emma's side, and became her familiar.

It was unclear at first whom Emma really was, but a number of Fire Nation people had their suspicions that she might be a priestess from legends told in the Fire Nation.

Although Emma and Zuko argued, there was an undeniable bond and attraction between the two, evident when Zuko did all he could to protect her from the cruel Fire Nation Admiral, Zhao. When Zhao sent pirates to assassinate Zuko, Emma and Iroh travelled onboard Zhao's ship towards the North Pole, during which time Emma made a new friend (a fiery and confident but very short Firebender named Karai) and Zhao planned to destroy the Moon Spirit to render the enemy Waterbenders powerless. He was stopped, of course, by the young Avatar and his friends, and his life was taken from him, as the Northern Princess Yue gave her own life to become the new Moon Spirit. At the same time, Emma seemingly betrayed Zuko, and decided to join the Avatar Aang in order to help him restore peace to the world. Emma and Yang-Chong joined the spirited Aang and his friends – the righteous Waterbender named Katara and her older brother, Suki's boyfriend Sokka – in their quest. Also accompanying them were Aang's pets – a flying lemur named Momo, and a gigantic flying bison named Appa! Appa was officially the Gaang's mode of transportation, much to Emma's dismay…

The group headed for the EarthKingdom…

BOOK TWO:

Earth – The Metal Rock

Whilst en route to find Aang an Earthbending teacher, the "Gaang" got to know their new travelling companion, although there were still a number of things she kept a secret from them. Namely, the fact that she was still in love with the now fugitive Fire Nation Prince! Well, she was still confused about it, and so was he. It didn't help that his sister, Princess Azula, had been sent to take Zuko's place in capturing the Avatar, and proved a cruel and formidable opponent. She had her sights set on the EarthKingdom capital- Ba Sing Se.

On their travels, the Gaang befriended Toph, a blind but very strong young Earth Bender, whom agreed to teach Aang Earthbending as a means of escaping her strict daily life. There were many shaky moments but, eventually, the friendship of the five of them solidified like stone. Emma, however, discovered that she could Earthbend as well as Waterbend, leading her friends to suspect that she might be the Avatar of her own world. Emma remained adamant that she wasn't, although her real troubles truly began when she was separated from her friends in a great desert.

Meanwhile, Zuko was struggling to start a new life for himself and Uncle Iroh, although meeting up again with a now-pregnant Karai did help. The Gaang had also lost Appa in the desert, and were forced to travel to Ba Sing Se on foot. They were briefly reunited with Suki, Azula began special Priestess training with her Father's friend Zhu, Zuko met Katara's "ex-boyfriend" Jet and became his friend until Jet discovered that Iroh was a Firebender (and, by extension, that meant that Zuko was, too) and Aang had an emo moment that ended in multiple Sand Sailers being destroyed.

During a horrific moment in her life, Emma was forced to ask the spirits and Goddesses for help. She was able to escape by coming into her full Priestess powers early, although she was told that there would be a price to pay. She accepted it, and everyone eventually found their way to Ba Sing Se where, in a spectacular battle, Princess Azula seized the great EarthKingdom capital for the Fire Nation. The Avatar was mortally wounded, Zuko had betrayed his Uncle and joined his sister, and Emma was once again separated from her friends, and taken back to the Fire Nation…

BOOK THREE:

Fire – The Spiritual Flame

As Aang and his friends began their journey in the Fire Nation, Emma was struggling with life in the Fire Nation palace, not as a prisoner…but as a princess. The Fire Lord seemed to have a hidden motive for the young Priestess/Avatar, but she was too busy worrying about the fact that Zuko seemed to have rekindled an old flame with childhood sweetheart Mai!

Heart-broken, but determined not to let the Fire Nation royal family get her down, Emma staged a dramatic jail-break to help Karai and their new friends break free from the Fire Nation prison, and then Emma delivered Karai's twin babies, Aima-Jee and Jet-Lee!

Fire Lord Ozai wasn't as furious as he should have been, and told Emma to go to Ember Island and challenge one of his children to a duel or else he would kill Karai's babies. This all turned out to be part of a much bigger plot, as Emma's "reward" for winning was an engagement to the Fire Lord, to become his Phoenix Queen when he burnt the Earth Kingdom to the ground on the day of the comet! He burned the Fire Nation emblem into her arm, and gave her little to no choice in the matter…

When Zuko found out, he was furious and, due to an argument with Mai that led to a break-up, Zuko apologized to Emma and begged for her forgiveness for hurting her. The two of them began planning to leave the Fire Nation on the day of a solar eclipse. The night before, Ozai attempted to claim Emma as his own, luckily this was interrupted, and Emma fled to the island where Karai and their friends were staying.

On the day of the eclipse, the Gaang invaded, only to find out that Azula had already warned her Father of this plan. They were, happily, reunited with Emma. Later on, Zuko approached them during their stay at the WesternAirTemple, and asked to join them. At first they refused but, when he later saved them from a silent assassin, they agreed to let him stay and teach Aang Firebending, although they were a little confused by his and Emma's friendship.

During this stay at the WesternAirTemple, a few things happened. Aang, Emma and Zuko went to a Sun Warriors Temple, where they learned advanced and ancient Firebending from the last surviving Dragons, and Emma and Zuko received two legendary Dragon Rings that bit them. Sokka found out that Suki was being kept in a Fire Nation prison called Boiling Rock, so he and Zuko went there to save her, were joined by Emma and also rescued Sokka and Katara's Father, Hakoda, and three randoms. Zuko and Emma discovered that they had a special power. Azula turned against her two best friends, Mai and Ty-Lee, and threatened to kill them but didn't. Zuko proposed to Emma, whom accepted, and they discovered that this was called an Eternal Vow. Then, Azula found them, so they were forced to flee.

Aang, Katara, Zuko, Emma, Sokka, Suki, Haru and Toph were camping out, when Emma and Katara got into their first ever argument, causing Emma to start having horrific dreams about the day Katara's Mother, Kya, died. Meanwhile, Katara and Zuko went to hunt down Kya's killer, but Katara didn't kill him. Emma And Katara reconciled. Later, Katara's own Priestess powers allowed her to see the spirit of her Mother.

The Gaang went to EmberIsland, and stayed at the beach house belonging to Zuko's family, as it was the last place anyone would think of to look for them. Zuko's attraction to Emma was intensifying, as was her devotion to him. On the last night of them staying at the island, Emma and Zuko almost gave themselves to each other, but decided against it at the last second. The next morning, Emma and Aang were both gone.

The others searched high and low for them, but to no avail. Not even a bounty hunter named Jun, and her sharp-nosed Shirshu could help them. Toph, Sokka, Haru and Suki decided to take on the Fire Nation air fleets that would attack the EarthKingdom on the day of the powerful comet. Zuko and Katara would take care of Azula. Iroh told his nephew that, when Ozai fell, the Fire Nation would need a strong leader to guide them.

Aang, meanwhile, faced the dilemma of how to win the war without killing the Fire Lord, but a giant Lion-Turtle gave him the answer. He was able to remove the Fire Lord's Firebending. Meanwhile, Emma felt that she needed to go and help Zuko and Katara. Emma used much of her lfie-force to heal a fatally wounded Zuko, as Katara battled hard to subdue Azula. Just then, Azula began using her honed Priestess powers to try and kill them all. Emma and Katara began chanting a counter-spell, as Emma's spirit worked to get through to the troubled Princess.

It worked- but at a cost. Emma had used up all of her life-energy to restore Azula's sanity. She was able to say goodbye to Zuko one last time, before her body shattered into a million points of light and disappeared into the pink light.

Zuko was later crowned as the new Fire Lord, and the world rejoiced at this newfound peace. However, his heart remained heavy and hollow after losing his soul-mate so suddenly.

But, as Aang mentioned to Katara, a True Vow being made means heaven and earth will be shifted to make it so.

Emma and Zuko WILL be together.

The battle is far from finished. It has…only just begun…

O~O~O~O

O~O~O~O

O~O~O~O

CHAPTER ONE

A Day In The Life Of Zuko

O~O~O~O

Zuko's P.O.V:

My heart was filled with pride, and there was a warm glow that hadn't been there for a very long time. I was wearing a set of imperial robes, coloured deep red and gold, and with a fierce dragon on the back embroidered in gold and scarlet. My hair was pulled into a top-know. On my head was a heavy golden crown, and on the fourth finger of my left hand, a white dragon ring with sparkling sapphire blue eyes seemed to weight twice as heavily. But, in a good way – like I could bear all of the burdens in the world, no problem.

I walked out of the room, turned left and walked down the steps. The roar from the plaza below was deafening, but not so much that I couldn't hear the pounding of my own heart. I reached another platform, and turned to my right, to face another staircase.

Below that was another platform, with more stairs leading down to the plaza, and a second set of stair leading up and away from me.

A figure stood motionless at the top of those stairs. She too wore imperial robes, but hers were dark red with long pink sleeves and a gold obi. A smaller gold crown sat atop her dark brown hair, and a pink veil hid her eyes. At her throat was a yin-yang pendant attached to a red ribbon, just above a white scar. A black dragon ring with glowing ruby red eyes was wound around the fourth finger of her left hand.

I couldn't see her face through the veil, but I didn't have to. I knew, with every sense in my body, that this was the woman I loved. The woman I wanted to be with.

No length of time would be long enough to spend with her…could we start with forever?

We walked down the steps towards each other, and it was all I could do to not take the stairs three at a time, or just jump straight down onto the platform.

We reached the centre platform, where my Uncle Iroh waited for us. He smiled warmly, his golden eyes twinkling in a way that told me he was happy this day had finally come. I knew exactly how he felt – I was happy, too.

In my Uncle's hands was a golden cup – The Golden Cup Of Unity, in fact. I looked at it, and then glanced out at the crowd.

At the foot of the stairs leading out into the plaza, twelve people stood waiting, six on either side. I recognized ten of them – on my side there were two EarthKingdom men, two Water Tribe men, and an Air Nomad. On the other side were one Water Tribe girl, two EarthKingdom girls and two Fire Nation girls. I didn't recognize the tall girl with long dark hair and a tattoo on her back, nor did I know whom the good-looking brown-haired boy with blue eyes was. The girls wore robes similar to my beloved, though theirs had plain red sleeves and no gold obi, and no crowns or veils. The girl I didn't recognize had gold leading up from her sleeves, though. The boys had robes similar to mine, but without the dragons on the back, and no crowns. The boy I didn't recognize had black on the lining of his robes, however. This made him my best man, I supposed, and the tattooed girl was my beloved's maid of honour…

All of them were smiling. I looked out into the crowd, and saw more smiles, from benders and non-benders, Priestesses, family and friends. Overhead, the sky was a beautiful red and pink sunset, and gold leaves fell to the ground from some unknown place…

I turned to face the lady I loved again, and smiled as we entwined our hands around the golden cup. The dragon rings on our hands seemed to come to life then, and snaked up around the cup, peering into the clear liquid in there.

In protection and in chaos…

In freedom and in restriction…

In strength and in weakness…

In love and in hatred…

In patience and in cruelty…

In life and in death…

My beloved and I leaned over to look into the cup and, as we did, the liquid ran blood red and, when I caught sight of my reflection, I was not myself anymore. My scar had disappeared, and I had become the face of the man I no longer wished to call my Father.

"You cannot escape it!" A voice hissed from within the goblet…the voice of a demon. "He is a part of you, and soon you will be just like him!" She vowed. "Neither of you understand!"

I glanced back up at my beloved, who looked at me questioningly from beneath her veil. Then, her eyes widened in fear, and she backed away from me. The cup clattered to the ground, spilling its red liquid everywhere.

I looked at my Uncle, who said simply: "She does not know you." Then, he collapsed to the ground.

"Uncle!" I cried, and then looked back at my beloved. "Please, you have to remember me!" I grabbed her hands.

Out of the crowd, the Priestesses marched, one-by-one their blood red robes turned black as pitch.

"You do not understand, but we do!" They said in unison, their voices perfectly matched. "We can make him understand!"

I heard my beloved's scream just then, but was helpless to do anything, as she was torn from my grasp, and the choker was wrenched from around her neck. As it clattered to the ground, my insides were scorched with flames, as my beloved was thrown through the fires of the Underworld, into the waiting, terrible embrace of my Father, who had the golden wings of the Phoenix King…

O~O~O~O

I woke up suddenly, breathing heavily and sweating in the early morning sunlight that was streaming in through the window.

I put a hand to my forehead, and closed my eyes briefly but, when I did, all I could see was her face again, streaked with tears and trembling at the sight of me, because she didn't remember me.

I shook my head, and opened my eyes again.

"It was just a dream." I told myself firmly. "It wasn't real. None of it was…"

That was something that upset me. Not all of it, just that the first part wasn't real. I'd been having similar dreams ever since that day…the day when my beloved had been taken from me.

The day I lost Emma.

Even now, six months later, I was still feeling the effects of everything that had happened. Sometimes, it had all seemed like just a dream – starting out on my journey, hunting for the Avatar, meeting Emma, defying my Father and helping the Avatar save the world…then, becoming Fire Lord.

It all seemed so…unreal. It was unexplainable…

There had been a lot of bad times, but good times, too.

Bad times had included hunting down the Avatar and getting thoroughly beaten by him and his friends; feeling like a failure in the eyes of my family; Emma deciding to go a separate way in life from me…

Good times had made those bad times all worthwhile, though, like drinking tea and laughing with all of my friends; practicing bending and training to be strong; all those moments just spent talking with Emma…

I sighed. I could still picture her so clearly – short of stature, with lightly tanned skin and hazel eyes. Three earrings in each ear. Scars on her throat and stomach. Her dark brown hair had once been very long, until she'd cut it in an act of defiance against my Father. She usually had Yang-Chong, her phoenix, with her.

Come to think of it, he'd been absent in this dream, but quite often he was there, sometimes with Emma, and sometimes with two women whom looked quite like Emma. One was my Mother, and one I guessed was Emma's Mother, Gaye…her Father, William, had been there too…could the girl with the tattoo be her sister?

I'd been having these same dreams for six months now, all of them started out similar, but then ended pretty much the same – with me losing Emma all over again.

Often, I yelled in my dream, asking whoever was doing this to stop, and sometimes the demonic voice would reply, saying that the dreams would not stop until I understood.

Understood what?

I was exhausted from all of this, but nobody had been able to offer me any guidance. My Uncle didn't know what was going on, and neither did anyone else I was close to. I wished, more than ever, that my Mother was here.

I could sure use her advice right now.

Thinking that this was a fine state for the Fire Lord to be in right now, I got up and, almost immediately, the servants were at my side, along with my advisor…

O~O~O~O

My advisor's name is Mai. She is one of two childhood best friends of my younger sister, Azula. I've known her all of my life, and we had even dated for a little while, back when my life was so messed up I didn't know what I wanted. Mai hadn't gotten along with Emma for a long time but, now, it seemed, she was just happy to be my advisor, and I was happy to let her. She was very calm and rational about things, although she hated pretty much everyone and everything. Still, she was a good person, nonetheless…

Mai had been born into one of the richest families in the Fire Nation, and seemed to know exactly how a member of high society needed to live their life. I suspect she gets that from her Mother. Anyway, one of the things she did best was to organize my extremely hectic life as the ruler of an entire nation and, for that, I was grateful.

"Okay," Mai said, walking beside me and holding a stiff piece of scroll, on which was written my day-plan. "Today, you have a fairly loose schedule – you're supposed to sit for the court-painter after breakfast…you keep putting that off, but you can't do that anymore!" She added sternly, shaking her head and making the low-hanging pigtails of her ox-horns hairstyle swing. "Then, you have lunch with the representatives from the Northern Water Tribe, followed by afternoon tea with Lo and Li, and then you're free until this evening."

"What's this evening?" I asked, completely forgetting (lack of sleep does that to you).

Mai tapped me lightly on the head with her scroll-board. "Azula and I are going to visit your Uncle in Ba Sing Se – our boat leaves tonight." She reminded me, and I remembered then – they'd been planning this trip for weeks.

"Oh, right, of course." I replied sheepishly, as we came to the heavy wooden doors that led into the large dining room of the Fire Nation palace.

Mai turned to face me. "Are you going to be alright while I'm away, or am I going to come back and find the palace in ruins?" She asked me, only half joking (another side to Mai that's slowly starting to emerge).

I nodded. "Of course – what could go wrong in a week?" I asked her.

The sound of running footsteps could be heard just then, and a frantic-looking palace attendant came scurrying up to me. "A thousand apologies, Milord!" He panted. "But there's a situation at the front gates! The shipment of foreign bee-hives arrived at the same time as the animal show from the Sun Yat-Sen Circus! The gopher-bears are eating all the honey, and the bees are swarming out into the city!"

I just stared at him.

Mai sighed. "I'll take care of this." She gave me an 'I told you so' look, and followed the attendant down the hall.

I watched them go, and shook my head in disbelief. Could I really run this country by myself?

The mention of the Sun Yat-Sen Circus stirred mixed feelings within me. On the one hand, they'd captured Emma and forced her to work for them many months ago. On the other hand, they were the friends of Ty-Lee, Azula and Mai's best friend. I wondered where the spirited acrobat was right now…she'd said something about training with our friend Suki, and their fellow Kyoshi Warriors, back onKyoshiIsland. Ty-Lee had never been there before, and had been excited about making the trip…

O~O~O~O

Thanks to the bears and the bees, I managed to Mai and the court-painter, and instead went to the library, where I found Zhu pouring over a collection of ancient scrolls.

She didn't notice me until I was right behind her, and then she jumped. "Oh, Zuko, I didn't hear you come in…" She said, by way of apology. "Don't you have a sitting with the court-painter this morning?"

I shook my head. "I want to do the sitting when I've at leats had a solid night's sleep…what about you, Zhu? You seem…" I searched for the right word. "Stressed." I took a look at the golden-haired woman, who had been a friend of my parents. There were dark circles under her amber eyes, and she was pale.

Zhu sighed. "I guess I am a little bit, Milord," She smiled faintly. "I've been having troubling dreams lately…ones that I can't quite seem to work out."

I nodded. "I know exactly what you mean." I told her.

Zhu regarded me carefully. "You must tell me about these dreams, Zuko." She said, glancing at the scroll in front of her, which depicted the sun and the moon. "I fear that, somehow, the winds of change are set to occur, but whether or not it is for better or worse…" She cast her eyes downwards. "I do not know."

Being a Priestess, I guessed that Zhu was in-tune with certain things that were happening. Her element was the sun, which was the source of life. She was also a distant relative of mine, a fact which not many people knew – her grandfather was my great-grandfather Sozin, which I supposed made her kind of like my aunt or something. Aunty Zhu. "You're starting to sound like my Uncle." I informed her. I quoted: "Change is like a strong cup of tea – bitter, but beneficial."

Zhu smiled fully then, even laughing a little. "He is very influential, that cousin of mine." She said quietly. "I am sure he too would be interested to hear about these dreams that you are having…are they about a certain young lady, perhaps?" She asked me, looking straight at me then.

I gulped, and nodded. "I…I can't stop thinking about her." I admitted.

Zhu nodded understandingly. "You must tell me about these dreams. And, write to Iroh – give the letter to your sister to take with her this evening." She added.

I didn't need to ask how Zhu knew my sister was going to see our Uncle. Zhu and Azula are very close. I nodded. "I will write him a letter." I said, even though I had no idea how I was going to write the thing.

I wished I could go and see him, but…being Fire Lord had its downfalls…

O~O~O~O

That afternoon, when it was time for lunch, Mai tracked me down and gave me an earful (complete with ear-cuffing) for skipping out on the painting again. She accompanied me to my room, where she oversaw the attendants putting on my robes. I was to be meeting with the representatives from the Northern Water Tribe that afternoon – the chief Arnook and a representative from the army.

The thought of the Water Tribe reminded me of my friends from the Southern Water Tribe. Katara and Sokka were siblings, a younger sister and an older brother, much like Azula and I. They got along better than Azula and I ever had but, somehow, Azula and I were starting to get along again.

That was probably because of Emma's sacrifice.

In an attempt to stop myself from becoming depressed, I thought about the Water Tribe siblings. Sokka had become a good friend of mine, he knew what it was like to be an older brother, he was a good leader, and he had a good sense of humour. Katara was a strong-willed Waterbender. She had hated me and my people because her Mother had been killed in a raid, but eventually she'd forgiven me, and I'd become friends with the protective and caring girl. She and Sokka had returned to their South Pole home, to spend some time with their Gran-Gran, whom had just remarried an old flame, a Waetrbending Master named Pakku. Then, I think they were going to split up for awhile and travel to different places. Sokka was going to Kyoshi to see Suki, his girlfriend, and Katara was going to spend some time with Aang, her boyfriend. They'd all promised to visit as soon as they could, though…

I had to force myself not to get sad, reminiscing on the old days. I thought about what Toph Bei Fong would do if she saw me getting 'misty-eyed'…not that she could see. She'd probably Earthbend me into the ground, and then lecture me about being a man. Toph and another of our Earthbending friends, Haru, had gone back to the Bei Fong's mansion…Toph was going to introduce Haru to her parents! Considering what I'd been told about Toph's strict upbringing, I'd wished him luck…

I wondered how I would react, when Azula eventually brought home a boyfriend. Then again, she'd probably Firebend me into the next millennium if I didn't accept him!

My sister had changed an awful lot in the past six months. She'd been through a lot, what with Dad's incarceration and the entire war coming to an end. She had been regularly seeing a counsellor who preferred to think of herself as my sister's 'friend'.

Azula's comment had been that she had no friends, only servants.

But, that was a lie and we both knew it. Thanks to Emma's healing, Azula no longer saw the need to manipulate and scare people into doing what she wanted them to do. She was learning how to be a better person, and how to treat people better.

She was still Azula, however and, for her, that meant that she was still stubborn, powerful and used to getting her own way. She still possessed her brilliant mind and flawless ability to lie perfectly, but without that 'border-lines-on-insane' edge she'd had before our Father's downfall.

Katara and I had been with her when Emma had given up her life energy to save us. Katara had been the one to tell everyone what had happened and, with her help, they'd accepted Azula's change far more quickly than anticipated.

Azula seemed to feel guilty about being the cause of Emma's…no longer being here (I refused to think of her as the 'D' word), and I think she was trying to make up for that. Her issues of abandonment meant that it was me she was most afraid of losing (as her new 'friend' had said), since I'd been the closest to Emma.

Azula still didn't understand this, however: I was never going to leave her, since we were all each other had left.

Mother had always said this day would come…

O~O~O~O

Azula looked at me across the table and I could just tell, from the strained look in her amber eyes, that she wanted to say something to the Northern Water Tribe army representative, but she was being a good girl and holding her tongue. I understood. I'd actually had to bite mine, in order to keep from yelling at him.

Chief Arnook was tall, kind and proud, and had a dark hair with a moustache in the shape of a crescent moon, complete with hair-loopies that kept making me think of Katara. He was wearing what Azula said were the traditional robes of the Northern Water Tribe – I hadn't been paying much attention last time I was up there, but Azula knew her fashions without actually having gone to these places.

Arnook was accompanied by Hahn, whom was the youngest leader of the Northern Water Tribe soldiers ever. How did we know this? Easy – Hahn told us, whilst running a hand through his shiny dark hair, in a way that reminded me instantly of the two teenagers from EmberIsland(the ones whose house we wrecked). I could tell that Azula made the connection too, because she cringed, and edged away from Hahn a little. He took no notice of her, and continued telling me his whole entire life-story. This included beginning his warrior training before he could even walk, and even his engagement to the beautiful Princess Yue whom, sadly, passed away during the Fire Nation's siege of the North Pole, which he absolutely did not blame me for, and he hoped that ushering in this new era of peace would benefit not only the Fire Nation, but the North Pole as well.

Well, the siege of the North Pole and Yue's death were our fault, but probably more Admiral Zhao's than anybody else's. After all, he'd been the one who'd killed the former Moon Spirit, forcing Yue to give up her life and restore the moon to its rightful place. Zhao's own downfall had been caused by his avarice and his arrogance.

Hahn took arrogant to a whole new level.

Also, he seemed to be completely ignoring my sister, which I could tell did not impress her. From what I'd heard, women were treated very differently in the Northern Water Tribe, worse than anywhere else in the world. They weren't even allowed to become soldiers!

That was why the Fire Nation army had won countless battles during the war, because our women were more easily able to blend into different societies and nobody was expecting that, but I couldn't remind Azula of that right now.

So, I just sat there and nodded a lot, and hoped that my sister would keep her temper.

Somehow, both of us were able to keep our tempers, even when, at the very end of the meal, Hahn finally addressed my sister.

"Princess Azula?" He turned to her with a big, quite arrogant, smile.

"Yes?" She asked. Her own smile was strained. I could see her fist clenching and unclenching in her lap. I put my hand over her hand, briefly. Her golden eyes flashed towards me for a second, before focusing on Hahn's blue ones.

"Your beauty and status are almost on par with Princess Yue's," Hahn said. "I think we should…get to know each other."

Azula froze. I could see the cogs turning in her head, as she came up with a number of retaliations that would probably get us both in trouble.

So, to save things, I said, loudly: "Ah, Chief Arnook, Hahn – now that lunch is over, would you like for me to show you the gallery of portraits of our former Fire Lords?"

"Of course, Fire Lord Zuko." Chief Arnook smiled.

"What about your sister?" Hahn wanted to know.

I smiled. "The Princess Azula has a flower-arranging class that she must attend right now. I'm sure you understand."

Both Arnook and Hahn nodded knowingly but, if looks could kill, I would have fallen dead under Azula's lethal gaze!

"I'm going to get you for that, Zuzu." She hissed, unheard by the Water Tribe representatives.

"All's fair in love and war, Lulu." I replied, even though we weren't at war anymore.

Thank the spirits. Despite everything, it was interesting getting to know people from other nations.

I just hoped everyone else in the Fire Nation saw it that way, too.

O~O~O~O

That evening, as the sky turned a golden orange, I walked with Azula and Mai down to the docks, where their ship was getting ready to set sail.

"Now," Mai was saying, in her usual monotone but sounding firm nonetheless. "You have six meetings lined up for next week, and two of them are on Tuesday – don't forget that! Then, you have a wine and honey-tasting session with the generals and their girlfriends on Wednesday, so don't get drunk…what else? Saturday night's Prison-Wall Erosion Awareness Meeting has been moved to Friday morning instead, to make room for your circus excursion on Saturday evening. Oh, and Thursday morning I've rescheduled your sitting with the court-painter, and if you don't do it I am going to stick a stiletto in your…"

"Mai, Mai," I interrupted her, taking her by the shoulders and shaking her gently. "Calm down, okay? I'll be fine, I've got your list, remember?" She'd given me the three foot long list, and it was back up at the palace.

Mai looked at me, and then sighed. "Okay, fine, but don't blame me when things go wrong, okay, Zuko?"

"Relax, Mai," Azula said finally, smirking at me. She was standing on the docks, dressed in full Fire Nation Princess Garb. "Zuzu's a big boy now, he can take care of himself – I'm sure he won't need to know flower-arranging in order to run a country." She added.

"Unless it keeps the foreign bees at bay, dear sister." I replied swiftly, and she frowned.

"Come on, Mai, let's go." She grabbed Mai's hand and dragged her towards the gangplank.

"Wait!" I called, and reached into the pocket of my robes, pulling it a scroll folded and sealed. I handed it to Azula.

"What's this?" She asked me, taking it.

"A letter for Uncle. Please give it to him." I replied, and she nodded. I knew that she would give the letter straight to Uncle when she saw him.

I watched as my sister and her friend walked up the gangplank, and onto the ship, which set sail almost immediately after.

Many people had come to see the Princess and the Royal Advisor off on their trip to theEarthKingdom.

I watched as, on deck, Azula leaned over and whispered something to Mai, who shook her head. Azula put her hands on her hips and gave Mai a Look.

Mai sighed. She walked up to the railing of the ship, and called out: "Zuko, Azula wishes to remind you to change your underwear every day!"

I know I blushed just then, as the people on the dock weren't sure whether or not to laugh.

Azula gave me a grin that said 'I win' and I thought: You may've won the battle, sister, but I'll win the war…

O~O~O~O

As I walked back up to the palace later that evening, I found myself thinking that running a country was harder work than I'd ever imagined it would be, and I wondered how my Father had ever done it alone?

Even the Avatar had had a woman standing behind him, guiding him forwards. Although, if you called Katara 'the Avatar's woman', she'd probably hit you. I wondered if Aang and Katara were missing each other right now, and then chided myself for even having to wonder. Of course they did.

Aang had decided to go back to theNorthernAirTemplewith Teo, before beginning a journey to the other three Air Temples. He'd said that the Air Temples held many secrets…and, he'd kind of given me a meaningful look when he'd said that, but I wasn't really sure why.

As I walked, I looked at the Dragon Ring on my hand. Around my neck, on a chain, I wore the Dragon Ring that belonged to Emma. They felt like they should be kept together, but it also felt empty, somehow.

As I was looking at the white one, his blue eyes blinked and then flashed quickly, and his mouth opened quickly in a silent roar.

I looked around me sharply, but couldn't see anyone.

What had that been? I looked back at Dragon Ring, who now lay dormant and un-blinking. I was sure I'd seen his eyes flash, and then he'd moved, but I wasn't sure. It had seemed like a warning, though…

I was walking past the old villas where we'd lived before Dad became Fire Lord. There was a statue here, where Azula, Mai, Ty-Lee and I used to go there on the last full moon of the seventh month, and tell scary stories. Last time, Emma had been with us, and had been scared out of her wit by thoughts of evil statues and cursed dolls. I still didn't believe in any of that sort of thing, even when I thought I saw a girl running through the dark trees.

My mind was playing tricks on me. One thought of Emma, and I was hallucinating already.

What kind of a Fire Lord was I, anyway?

O~O~O~O

Nobody's P.O.V:

The young woman ran through the trees, hoping that the Fire Lord had not seen her. She reached the meeting point and, instantly, a young man dropped out of the trees, walking soundlessly towards her.

"The Fire Princess has left for theEarthKingdomcapital." The girl wore long dark red robes, and a gold head-piece. Her dark brown hair was tied back in two coiled braids that stuck out behind her head, and her eyes were a strange mix between red and gold. "Her brother's Advisor has left also."

"Excellent news, Meng," the young man had brown green eyes, and shoulder-length dark brown hair tied up in ponytail. "Now, there is just one last thing to take care of."

"Yes, Di Ren." Meng nodded. "However, this is a job for Hsuing and Shakol to deal with. Ba Sing Se is their jurisdiction. I have already sent out a messenger hawk."

"Yes," Di Ren nodded. He smiled thoughtfully. "Ba Sing Se…or, would it be rather known as Na Sing Se?" He chuckled at this, and Meng joined in, before they both faded away into the night…

O~O~O~O

O~O~O~O

O~O~O~O

A.N:

Did everybody enjoy the first chapter? Updates may be a little slow…in five weeks, I'm going back to Bali! I haven't been there in about six or seven years, so this'll be good! I'll try to update, though!