the thing you wanted all along

Part 1

I was born in the southern water tribe. We didn't have much here, but we managed. I have a supportive family, grandmother, father, and brother. My mother died when I was 8, after that we moved away. The tribe was gone, there was nothing to stay for. We got to the fire nation on the way to the northern water tribe and remained there. my father and brother went back to the southern water tribe to rebuild it after my grandmother found someone in the northern water tribe and stayed there, I found a job in the royal palace, taking care of princess Azula. She is very cruel, and will do anything to satisfy her twisted sense of humor. She has two friends, Mai and Ty-Lee. Both of them are quite kind compared to their boss, much less cruel than Azula, but they both fear her, and therefore laugh every time she does. I found a friend in a fellow servant, Suki. She was trained to protect her village, and when it was attacked by fire nation soldiers, she was taken with them. At first, she was a normal servant like me, but then the fire lords changed. The new fire lord needed protection from the angry people in his capital, people who thought the former fire lord was better. Suki was then promoted to personal guard of the fire lord, I saw her less, but I was happy for her. fire lord Iroh has always been kind to the servants, and always made sure to treat us like actual people, and not like cockroaches, which is how Azula and the former fire lord treated us. We were all happy when Iroh took the throne, Azula was not happy at all, and she made it a habit to remind us all by hurting the servants. I was lucky her friends liked me, they never let Azula hurt me, but Suki suffered by her hand whenever the princess and her uncle were in the same room and he wasn't looking. Aside from Azula, fire lord Iroh also had a nephew, both were kids of the former fire lord, Iroh's brother. The nephew, prince Zuko, was to be the next fire lord, after Iroh either dies or decides to give him the throne, which he promised he will when Zuko takes a wife. Something he's supposed to do after he turns 21, in a few months. But first was Azula's 19th birthday gala. It was two months before Zuko's 21st birthday. The servants worked non-stop during the week before the gala. Azula herself changed the theme of the gala a dozen times a day, and eventually settled on masquerade. She liked the idea of no one knowing who others are. My brother came for a visit for three months to take part in both galas, He was very respectful as the son of the chief of the new southern water tribe. He stayed in a room on the other side of the castle, but I didn't mind. In fact, it was nice to not have my older brother snooping around my every move. He did, however, fall for my friend.