all of my enemies started out friends;
❛ moth to a flame ❜
❝ you have been lying to me since the way I met you ❞
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Leyha was just a six year old girl settling into her new family home when her family was killed.
She just got back from getting water from a nearby river and the first thing she saw when she got close to the small wooden house was her older sister laying on the floor with her throat slit open.
She gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. Tears appeared in her eyes as she stared at her sister's lifeless body in shock. The barely trained airbender didn't get a chance to call for help because a deep voice behind her spoke up.
"What do we have here?"
Leyha furrowed her eyebrows and turned around to look at the man who spoke. He had a smirk on his face and was dressed in red and silver armor, looking down at her with a dangerous glint in his eye. The girl's brown and innocent doe eyes looked behind him, fear bubbling inside of her at the sight of the multiple soldiers looking down at her as if she was prey.
"Stand down." The smirking man said, making Indra quickly realize he was the leader. He soon stepped closer to her and kneeled down in front of her.
"No need to be scared, Little One." he promised, "We heard of the attack in the forest and wanted to see if we could still save anyone. We're here to help."
"But my parents ── "
"Would want you to be safe." He promised, "So I think it would be best if you followed me to my Palace. You will be safe and protected there."
Leyha ── being as naive and innocent as most children ── could merely nod and take his hand, with no knowledge she was following the enemy right into his golden cage and being just another pawn in his game for power.
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EIGHT YEARS LATER
"I win." Leyha exclaimed, giggling as jogged towards the wooden target to pull out her arrow with a proud grin on her face.
"It is not my fault you spend hours training archery while my father draggs Azula and I away for extra training." Zuko scowled, faking annoyance and trying to suppress how Leyha's excitement made him want to grin right back at her.
He was not lying though, she was so much better at that than him. As the heir to the throne, he had to train firebending, study and train with weapons. Indra could focus on whatever she wanted.
"Well, I still think I deserve a prize." The teenage girl sang as she skipped towards the prince with a small smirk on her face. Her long brunette hair tied up in a braid swung left to right as she did.
"And what would you like the prize to be?" He shot back, amusement dancing in his gold eyes.
"I happen to be in need of a date for this evening's ball your father is throwing." Leyha stated, twirling the arrow with it's tip tinted red in her hand as if it was a toy, "And Mai may have mentioned the amount of girls you shot down when they asked you, so I may as well just shoot my shot now and get it over with."
The two of them had a very open and flirty relationship despite them being best friends due to years of training both firebending and fighting as partners.
They have always tippy-toed around their feelings. They both knew what the other was feeling but never wanted to cross that thin line between a romantic and platonic relationship relationship.
"It would be an honor." Zuko answered smoothly, although there was a visible blush flooding up his neck and to his cheeks at her usual boldness.
Just as the words escaped his lips, the training room doors opened and a guard walked inside, giving the pair a once over before his eyes settled on the young prince.
"Sorry for the disturbance my Prince." He apologised coldly, "Your father requested your presence in his chambers."
An annoyed sigh escaped Zuko's lips but he nodded nonetheless, "Thanks."
Just as he went to follow the guard outside and to his father's chambers, he heard Leyha call after him and he could practically hear the grin in her voice.
"Pick me up at eight. And don't be late!"
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Azula had always been ── to put it lightly ── a bit of a spoiled brat.
She was three years younger than her older brothers Zuko and Tenzin. Still, she acted like she was the oldest. She always threw a temper tantrum whenever anyone ── especially Zuko ── would try and tell her what to do. Everyone always either tried to please her however they would or just stayed out of the way.
That was why Leyha never argued when Azula demanded they get ready for the Palace Balls in Azula's big room, which was right next to her own.
"What do you think about this one?" Azula asked with a childish smile on her face as she paraded around her walk in closet, already dressed up in her one of a kind red gown. She was holding up a golden mask with silver feathers sticking out on the side.
"It looks amazing with that dress." Leyha told her genuinely, giving her a soft smile before pulling out a light red lipstick out of Azula's vanity so she could apply it.
It's not that Leyha did not like the Fire Nation Princess ── it was quite the opposite really.
Azula was like an older sister to her despite the fact that she was younger. While Leyha usually only opened up to people she knew for a while, Azula was a lot bolder and outgoing than her which made them just work. Azula was like her protector in that palace.
"Ty Lee mentioned that Zuzu invited you to the ball. Honestly I did not think he had it in him." Azula gushed, her words making Indra look at her through the mirror.
Clearing her throat, the older girl smiled sheepishly, "Actually, I asked him."
"Wow." Azula exclaimed with a big surprised grin, "Way to go, Ley. I knew you would be the one who was going to wear the pants in the relationship. I just thought that after all the convincing Ty Lee did earlier ── "
"Azula." Leyha interrupted her, her words followed by a huffed out laugh of disbelief, "I told you to stop meddling with Zuko and I's──" her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to think of the word she could use, "stuff."
"Surprisingly, I don't think either of you need our help anymore." Azula tilted her head and pursed her lips, shrugging one of her shoulders, "For now."
Leyha rolled her eyes but still let out a chuckle and got up to her feet. Just then, she noticed she forgot her mask in her room.
"I have to go grab my mask from my room." She told Azula, already on her way to the door, "I will meet you in the ballroom."
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Leyha was walking along the halls of the Palace, making her way to the ballroom where Zuko was supposed to be waiting for her with her dark red mask in hand.
"So what is the plan for the girl? All three of your children seem quite taken by her." She heard Iroh's voice coming from the Firelord's office and couldn't help but let her curiosity get the better of her. She walked closer to the doors of the room that was half opened.
"Leyha is a peculiar child." Ozai sighed, "But she trusts me now. More so, she trusts my children. We killed all the family she has which also means no one will be coming to get her. The only problem we have is that she can never fully master airbending if she has no teacher. Without that, she is just a regular airbender."
"She is also the only way we will know if the Avatar ever comes back."
Many different emotions flashed through Leyha as she listened to the Firelord's plan. First it was confusion, then anger and then betrayal.
So that was the only reason he ever took her in? To use her for his own gain?
Did Azula know about that? Did Tenzin? Her breath hitched. Did Zuko?
Ozai sighed. "You're right. She is far too valuable. But what happens if Zuko lets something slip? About her family or the book?"
Leyha did not have the time to think about Zuko's betrayal. She just knew she had to get away from that palace because she did not want to become a pawn in Firelord Ozai's plan for world domination.
She bolted far away from the office as quietly as possible and just as she thought she could reach her room in time, she bumped into the person she knew she was gonna get a direct answer from ── Zuko.
He was never very good at lying to her. Or that was what she liked to tell herself.
"Did you know?" Leyha instantly asked him, getting straight to the point.
"Know what?" Zuko asked in genuine confusion that made Indra slightly reluctant to accuse him of this but it was more likely than not that his father told him about the plan from the very beginning.
The conversation between his father and uncle implied that he knew but she would not believe it until she heard it from him.
"About the real reason your father brought me in." She spat out, having to hold herself back from raising her voice and alarming anyone, "How many of the things you said were even true? Spirits, was the only reason you chose to befriend me in the first place just to gain my trust?"
Realisation dawned on the prince and his eyes filled with instant guilt. Leyha couldn't tell if it was genuine or not, "Lee, I never meant to── "
"What?" Leyha snapped, "Hurt me? Use me? You're no different than your father, are you? You don't care who suffers as long as you get what you want."
"I never wanted to hurt you but if you'd just let me explain── "
Leyha's scoff cut him off, "Zuko, you have been lying to me since the way I met you."
"Telling you half the truth is not the same as lying." Zuko said defensively, his eyes softening at the clear anger on her face. He reached forward to put his hand on her shoulders, only to have her flinch away and take a step backwards. She saw Zuko's face fall and he stepped back too, running a hand through his hair and promising, "Just meet me back in my room and we'll talk about this. I just need to talk to Tenzin..."
Leyha looked over his shoulder to see Iroh and Ozai exiting the office at the end of the hall. She swallowed and nodded, not wanting to draw any suspsicion to herself. But, as soon as all three men were out of sight, she practically ran to Ozai's office.
It was unlocked and unsupervised because only the members of the royal family were supposed to have access to that part of the palace. To Ozai's knowledge, Leyha was their closest ally and someone they all trusted.
Leyha did not care how genuine Zuko might have been. She didn't even care if he was lying again. She knew that the Fire Nation killed her entire family so she wasn't just gonna sit there and have a civil conversation anymore.
The closed the door behind her and started looking through the drawers on Ozai's desk. After a couple of minutes, her eyes finally fell on the familiar notebook. It was something her grandmother gave to her father and something he gave her and her sister. She remembered when her sister would read to her from it but she thought she left it at her family home all those years ago.
She grabbed it and then practically sprinted to her room.
There, she found a bag and put the book inside. She put in an extra change of clothes because she did not have the time to take off the thousand layers of clothing from her. She would have to survive running in a dress. Leyha put her red mask on her face just in case someone saw her and swung her bag of red arrows over her shoulder. She tied her bag around her waist and grabbed her bow, before opening her bedroom window and going out onto the small balcony.
Leyha just caught sight of Zuko walking into her room, when she jumped onto the roof and ran as fast as she could, ignoring the sound of Zuko's voice calling her name.
When she jumped from the roof, she got to the part of the palace which was usually empty but didn't expect to see two guards there. Her eyes widened slightly and the froze, giving Zuko just enough time to catch up to her.
"Leyha, stop." She heard him plead from behind, but she ignored him and used two of her bows to shoot the two guards. She pulled out another bow and aimed it straight towards Zuko.
"You don't want to do this." He told her softly, taking a step forward and making her take a step back. His eyes were soft and pleading. He did not think he could handle losing her.
"I don't." She admitted, "But I will if I have to. So, if you really care about me and if everything that ever happened between us wasn't a lie; you're going to let me go."
"I can't do that, Lee." Zuko stated, sad and apologetic.
Leyha's eyebrows furrowed and realization dawned on her when the Firelord marched into the hallway with six guards behind him.
He actually told his father.
"If you get any closer I'm going to shoot him." She exclaimed, giving Ozai a challenging look, "And I'm not gonna miss."
Ozai raised his arm so the guards would stand down and took a step forward himself. Leyha didn't think twice before shooting the arrow that was meant for Zuko, straight at his father's stomach.
Just as she expected, everyone turned to him in alarm ── besides Zuko.
The Fire Nation Prince didn't pay any attention to his wounded father. He couldn't do anything but watch as the girl he loved give him one last look before she marched out of his Palace and out of his life.