Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender. If I did, why would I be writing a fanfiction about it?

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Two maids tended to my hands and feet, scrubbing off the grime and filing my nails until they were well shaped and no longer rugged. I giggled as one of the maids proceeded to scrub the bottom of my feet, splashing water around and laughing as I did so.

"Please, my lady, hold still! We still have to wash your hair and dress you, and the dinner is in 2 hours!" One of the maids said, her panic apparent as she moved on to brush my silky black hair, heating the water in the basin as she did so.

I was six at the time, but even a six year old knew when something important was coming up. It was in the air around, and I could feel my parents panic as they too rushed to get ready. What was this big occasion, you may ask? Well, it was non other than to have dinner with Prince Ozai's family. My father was an old friend of Ozai's back when they still went to school with each other, and although they had not seen each other in quite some time, our family was invited to have dinner, for old times sake. I stopped splashing around, and sat still as the maid began washing my hair, steam filling the air and the sweet scent of shampoo lingering in the midst.

Finally, I was ushered back into my room, where the maids proceeded to take off my clothes and put on new ones with great speed and dexterity. My hair was pinned up into a tight bun that pulled and hurt my scalp, but I bit back any complaints, knowing how important this was to my parents.

I stared in the mirror and looked at my reflection. A girl in a long, silky red dress and bright green eyes stared back at me. The two colors didn't exactly match, but the overall outcome was pretty nonetheless. The black hair outlined my eyes nicely, and the darkness made my eyes pop out in a strangely beautiful way. I smiled to myself in the mirror, and my eyes shown, hints of gold appearing on the surface. Mother called, and I quickly ran out of the room, sprinting down the stairs, the fabric of my dress rubbing against my legs in a pleasant way. As I finally arrived to my destination after several twists and turns, I heard a gasp.

"Oh Akira, darling, you look absolutely beautiful!" Mother gushed, and I blushed with joy.

"She does look quite lovely," Father said, pinching my cheeks.

"Daddy stop!" I said, stomping my foot but nevertheless enjoying the attention that was given to me.

Father laughed, before gesturing to the servants, signaling that it was time for us to leave. We climbed into the carriage, me seated in the middle and Father and Mother on either side of me. The carriage began to move, and I became curious and excited at the prospect of meeting new people.

"Akira, before we arrive, there are a few things that I want you to promise to me," Mother said sternly, and I tensed up, knowing that this was important by the seriousness in her voice.

"What is it Mother?"

"When you arrive, make sure to treat every single member of that family with respect, even if they might not do the same for you. You're too young to understand this now, but this world we live in is based on power: the more powerful you are, the more authority you have, and frankly, the family we're about to meet is very, very high up there. And it would be very, very bad if were to anger them."

Although I didn't understand everything after "you're too young to understand," I nodded my head as if I did. "Okay, Mother, I will."

"Oh and Prince Ozai and Princess Ursa have two children, make sure to be nice and pleasant, and don't fight. I believe their son, Zuki-or was is Zoko-I'm absolutely certain it started with a Z- or perhaps it was Koto, but that doesn't sound right either-"
I coughed, and Mother awakened from her little self-conversation.

"Oh right, well whatever his name is, doesn't really matter I suppose, is about the same age as you. And their daughter is two years younger than you. Wouldn't it be so pleasant if you and their son fell in love? Then our family would no longer have to worry about your father's position, and we would live in the palace, and I would-"

I coughed once again, and Mother awakened from a reverie.

"Oh-oh right-well moving on." Mother laughed as she coughed nervously. "Don't forget your manners, greet our hosts kindly, don't start eating before any of them, oh and please mind your dreadful table manners, it would be awful if there was a repeat of what happened last time we ate with guests..."

Mother droned on, and I blocked her out before I died of boredom. I love Mother and everything, but my love did not expand far enough as to sacrifice myself to hear her never-ending lectures.

"...And make sure to say thank you before we leave, and don't repeat anything Father and I say at home, and- Akira look! Oh my, isn't it just wonderful?"

I stared outside, and my eyes opened wide as I stared at the palace in front of me. It was enormous, and I didn't know how to express myself other than to point and gasp at the beautiful building in front me.

"How many people even live there?" I asked in amazement to no one in particular.

"Anyone related to the Firelord, I suppose. I'm not even quite entirely sure myself. But anyhow, there's no time to gasp at the outside when we have a chance to go look in the inside. After all, why settle to admire a fire cake when you can eat it, right Akira?" Mother laughed daintily, and I rolled my eyes in response.

We got off the carriage, and the guards escorted us to the front of the gates. They opened the gates, and the sound of metal abrading against the concrete floor could be heard. We walked into the palace, and I gasped and how big the place was. The walls were a fiery red, and the ceiling was so high I had to crane my neck all the way backwards just to see it.

"Prince Ozai, your guests have arrived," the guards kneeled and I stared at the family that had appeared in front of me.

Prince Ozai and Father stared at each other, before finally embracing and patting each other on the backs.

"Long time no see, Ozai, although I suppose I should call you prince from now on," Father said, his eyes twinkling in the process.

"Nonsense Itsuki. It's not like you've ever done that when we were children. I'm glad to see an old friend again. And this must be your lovely wife! It's an honor to finally meet you."

Mother bowed, "It's a great honor to meet you as well, Prince Ozai. And you as well, Princess Ursa."

After everyone had exchanged formalities, they finally got to me.

"Let me introduce you to my daughter, Akira. She's about Zuko's age." Father smiled at me as he said this.

I curtsied. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

As I slowly came up from my curtsy, I heard a snicker to my left. "Look Zuzu, her eyes are green. Who's ever heard of someone from the fire nation with green eyes?"

I blushed deeply, and my eyes didn't dare look up at the source of the voice. But I didn't need to look up to know that the voice belonged to their daughter Azula.

"Azula, honey, what a horrible thing to say!" Princess Ursa said. "Akira dear, don't listen to my daughter, I don't know what has gotten into her. Your eyes are beautiful," Princess Ursa kindly said before sending a warning look to her daughter.

Azula simply shrugged.

"Thank you," I said, silently wishing everyone in the room would stop looking at me.

"Well," Mother said, clasping her hands together dramatically, "I suppose we should go eat now."

Everyone agreed, and we all walked into a gigantic room known as the dining room. Although my family was rich, I still couldn't get over the fact of how much richer the royal family seemed-no, was-compared to ours. The tables and chairs were lined with gold, and a warm fire was blazing in the corner of the room. It truly was a magnificent sight to behold.

After everyone had gotten settled in their seats, I grudgingly accepted that I had to be seated in between Zuko and Azula. Although on that day I barely noticed the boy seated to my right, I would later on become well acquainted with him, for better or worse, I still do not know.

Dinner passed by fairly quickly, and I was extremely proud of myself for remembering all of my table manners. Dinner was rather quiet throughout, but Prince Ozai broke the silence.

"Itsuki, you must have wondered why I have called you here after all these years. Well, I suppose you could say it was for-a longing of the past-but you and I both know that I am not a sentimental person." He laughed, but his visage showed no traces of humor. "I have invited you here in hopes that you will accept an offer of mine."

"An offer?" Father said, his interest peaked.

"Yes, an offer that requires for you to give up much, but the fruits that bear will be plentiful. My offer for you is to quit your current job, and instead serve me as my loyal right hand man."

There was a gasp from Mother, and I could see the smile that slowly began forming on her face. I didn't even need to look at my father before knowing what his next words were going to be.

"To serve anyone from the royal family, especially you, Ozai, will truly be an honor."

Although I knew this job affected my father greatly, what I didn't know was how much it would affect me. The next day, to the great excitement of both my parents, we moved into the palace.

"Our lives are truly going to change, Akira. We're moving into the palace, bless the spirits for this good fortune."

I, for one, was not excited to go and live in the palace. Why live in someone else's home when we had our own home? What was so great living in a palace anyways? And why would I want to leave my friends to go to a place where I didn't even know anyone? Why my parents wanted to live in a palace was beyond me.

We spent the next couple of days settling in, and although we got to live in quarters that were bigger than our own house, the large space occupied by only the three of us never felt like home in those five years I had to live there. For a while, I never saw Zuko or Azula again, because although we occupied the same palace, there was a giant rose bush that always separated our family from the royal family. And it took me years later to also realize that this wall represented something even deeper: that although we shared the same palace, and although we breathed the same air, we would never, ever be equal to the royal family.

The day I turned seven, Father presented me with the worst birthday present ever. The conversation sort of went along the lines of this:

"Akira, dear, we have great news! Since you turned seven, we thought that its time for you to start attending the Royal Fire Academy for Girls. It was Ozai's decision, of course, but I thought it was such a good idea I had to tell you on your birthday."

Father looked at me expectantly, but I was speechless.

"Of course, you'll be starting later than all the other girls there, since they started at five, but I'm sure you'll catch on quickly! Isn't it such a blessing, after all, only the nobles daughters can attend a school like that!" This came from my mother, and she looked pink from excitement.

I stood there, still speechless.

"Well I guess its settled then, since there's no objections. You're starting tomorrow!"

My parents left, and I continued to stand there, stunned.

"Spirits!" I said, slowly sinking down and sitting on the fountain, "What have I gotten myself into?"

The classes, I noticed, weren't all that bad. History, art, and music classes were boring but interesting at the same time. However, it was only my later classes that I hated the most: cooking, etiquette, and firebending.

Yes, that's right, my parents signed me up for a firebending class knowing perfectly well that I did not know how to firebend. Sometimes I wondered if my parents' heads were screwed on the correct way. The only good part about all of this was that I was in the beginner's class, meaning that most of my classmates also did not know how to firebend. I ended up learning a bunch of martial art forms I didn't know if I would ever use, but it was fun nevertheless.

However, the real problem was the cooking and etiquette classes. The classes weren't separated by age, so I was stuck in the same group as Azula and her group of crony friends.

"Look Mai, Ty Lee, that's the girl I told you about-the one who's family doesn't have enough money so they had no choice but to come and live in our house. But I suppose it's for a good cause. After all, good things happen to those who give to the less fortunate."

I glared as the trio came over to my desk. How Azula could be so mean at such a young age was beyond me.

"Look Azula, just stop bothering me."

"It's Princess Azula. Don't think that because you live in our palace and go to this school that you're all of a sudden equal to us."

I didn't reply. Mother always told me it was best to ignore bullies. That way, they would get bored and stop bothering you.

"Look at her eyes, why are they so green," Ty Lee whispered as I tried desperately to shut their voices out.

"I think they're sort of pretty," Mai said.

"Yeah, if you think two giant peas are pretty!" Azula said, laughing, as the other two joined in.

They sauntered off, and although I was glad they were gone, I knew that they would continue to come back. I tried to inconspicuously wipe off the tears that slowly began to roll down my cheeks as the teacher began her lecture on table manners.

School continued on everyday a monotonous ritual. I had my first three classes, ate lunch, and during cooking and etiquette classes, Azula and her friends continued to taunt me. Because of this, no one dared to approach me. After all, if Azula labeled someone as "undesirable," then they just were. No questions asked. However, my life took a drastic turn to the better one afternoon.

It was the same as any other day, and as usual, I paid no attention to the firebending instructor, having already deemed this as an incredibly useless and time wasting, energy wasting, and overall stupid class. I went through all the sets we were required to go through, and what made my spirits go down more was that everyone in the class, who were all two years my junior, could already firebend. Just a spark here and there, but better than someone like me, two years their senior and utterly pathetic.

"Firebending will not come easy. To firebend, you must feel the fire-you must feel the emotion that fuels the fire. Without emotion and passion, you can't expect to firebend. The flames will not appear on their own, you must give them a reason to appear."

Emotion my butt. Yeah, I was feeling emotional, a lot of emotions in fact. Such as disappointment, embarrassment, hopelessness, and most importantly, anger. Anger at Azula and her friends, and anger at my parents for sending me to a school I didn't even want to go to, and what's more, a class on firebending.

I focused all my concentration on my emotions, and imagined Azula's face as I readied my stance. I imagined her face contorting in fear as I sent a punch.

And then I felt it. The spark the teacher was talking about.

And I sawit, too.

A grin appeared on my face as I stared at the tip of my fists, and the tiny smoke cloud that appeared from it. Hey, it was no fire, but that meant I had hope. A tiny sliver of hope, but hope nonetheless.

I grinned. All the hardships in my life seemed to dissipative. I could firebend, and that was something no one could ever take away from me. It was only until now, nine years later, that I realized how wrong I was.

Hey readers! Hope you enjoyed this chapter:)