"It's an honor, Fire Lord." I kept my words crafted and respectful as I greeted my soon to be father by marriage. It was clear that he wasn't the warm and fuzzy loving father type, not that I'd really expected him to be. Ozai had to rule a country, after all. And from what I'd gathered, he was waging war on the other nations.
That was unsettling. If it was true, I was marrying the enemy. It felt wrong, to think of Zuko as the enemy. He had nothing to do with the war, other than supporting his nation. But if his father was truly trying for world domination, I couldn't be here. I needed to study the elements and stop their evil plans.
Shaking off the thoughts of saving the world, I took my seat next to Zuko. There was a strong feeling of tension in the room, and unfortunately, I wasn't able to bend emotions. (On a sidenote, how cool would that be?) Quietly, I listened to the conversation, which was mainly Azula talking about some new firebending ticks she'd learned and the occasional comment from Iroh. In the politest way possible, I was interrogated, everyone trying to learn who I was, about my family.
It was scarily easy for me to lie. Words flew out of my mouth, creating a backstory of a father who'd left my mother and a life of having to neglect my bending due to my familes wishes. It shouldn't have been so simple, I should've been more scared- lying wasn't something people should do, why was I so comfortable with doing it?
It took me until long after the breakfast to realize why it had been so easy. I wasn't lying, I was surviving- there was no doubt in my mind from what everything I'd heard and seen that the Fire Kingdom wasn't very airbender friendly. Letting myself slip up could mean letting myself get executed. Every instinct in my body was saying 'lie your way out of this', I could practically hear the past Avatars feeding words through me. My death would mean the imminent collapse of the cycle- who knew if Aang was still alive? There was no other airbender. I'd be leaving the world with 3 Avatars, 3 chances to survive. I couldn't do that.
It was Zuko who'd startled me into this revelation. Hours had passed since breakfast and we were lying on the bed together (each on our own sides of the bed), hands clasped together and fingers intertwined. The silence was weirdly comfortable, considering that I'd only just met him so long ago. Our eyes watched the ceiling, thoughts racing through our heads. The only sound was our quiet sighs, the sound of children weighed down with burdens they were all too young to have to carry.
Zuko was the one that broke the silence, his head turning to look at me. "What are you thinking about?" He asked, and I let out another soft sigh.
"Lying.Doing bad things." I admitted. My secrets remained closlely guarded, but if Zuko was going to be my husband, there had to be some things I could tell him.
The words that left his mouth were worthy of his Uncle Iroh. "Bad things are not always bad. Good intentions lighten even the darkest actions."
Content with these words, I sighed again, this time the tired sigh of a 13 year old girl who just didn't know anymore. Slowly, I turned my whole body towards him, resting on my left side as our words filled the room. For hours, we talked, forgetting the fact that there was a world and a war outside and just being happy. No, I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life with the Prince.
Here's to hoping he wasn't planning on killing the Avatar. That just might complicate the wedding ceremony a bit.
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A/N: I feel so bad for taking forever. I don't even know what happened. The next chapter is already 50% done though.
