the thing you wanted all along

Part 12

His uncle couldn't think of anyone, but suggested a ball in a month for his nephew to pick someone of all noble girls of age in the fire nation. Prince Zuko thanked his uncle and then left me with him.

"and he's cold again" I rolled my eyes as the fire lord laughed. Now I knew why the prince was so nice to me, he wanted me to agree to be his wife so that he wouldn't have to look so far.

"my nephew can be a bit dense at times, but he really is a kind person. You will be lucky to marry him"

"with all due respect, your majesty, I do not wish to marry him. I told him that I fit all three conditions and he assumed I was the best choice for a wife" I sighed and continued.

"I thank you from the bottom of my heart for the ball, it will give me an excuse to not marry him" I bowed before turning away from him.

"wait" I stopped and turned. The fire lord left his throne.

"why do you not want to marry my nephew? Eventually you will have to marry someone, is my nephew not good enough for you?" I sighed. What is it with this royal family and misunderstanding everything?

"it is not that. Do you want the next fire lord after prince Zuko to be a mix between the fire nation and another nation? They will probably be raised with the mother's traditions, and not with yours. They might want to rule according to how they're raised when the time comes" the fire lord smiled kindly.

"but you spent enough time here to know our traditions, you should be able to raise a child in both ours and your traditions, should you have a fire nation husband" I looked at him. Did he want me to marry his nephew? Then why did he suggest the ball?

"may I ask you something?" He nodded.

"do you want me to marry prince Zuko?" He smiled.

"I want him to have a life filled with love, he deserves it. I can tell that you can give him that love if you end up falling for him. you are a loving, loyal and kind girl. I'm sure that when you love, you love wholeheartedly. Someone like that will make a great wife for my nephew. Consider it, he might choose you eventually" the fire lord smiled and went back to his throne. I bowed to him and left the throne room.