Chapter 1: Candle on the Water
All was quiet until…"Zuko! Where are you?" a small girl's voice echoed through the ship. "Amber! Slow down!" her uncle called after her. "But where is he, Uncle Iroh?" the girl known as Amber asked, stopping to let him come up to her. "I am sure he is in his room, meditating. Like you should be," he said, looking at her fondly. She was only 12 years old and showed so much innocence, yet she had been through so much. "Oh…but meditating is boring!" she retorted. "I know, why don't you ask Prince Zuko if you can join him?" Iroh suggested and she nodded. "Great idea! Thanks, Uncle!" she said enthusiastically, running down the hall again.
Amber knocked on Zuko's door, expecting him to answer, "Go away!" Instead, he opened the door. "What's up, Amber?" he asked when he saw his younger sister. "Were you meditating?" she said. "Yes…" "Can I join you?" she pleaded. "Well…" "Please?" she begged. "All right, all right! I would have said yes anyway," he said exasperatedly, letting her into his room. She sat next to him and closed her eyes. She pictured her brother when he was 14 and how much he had changed. "Zuko?" she asked. "What, Amber?" he asked, opening one eye. "How did you get your scar?" she said, pointing at it. He sighed. "I was hoping not to tell you." "You said it was a training accident. But who caused it?" "It's not a training accident. It wasn't even an accident. The person who burned me did it on purpose."
Amber's eyes were wide as she stared at her older brother. "Who?" "Remember when Uncle admitted me to a war meeting and I burst out against a general's plan?" She nodded, finally understanding. "An Agni Kai, right?" "Yeah. You know what happened. Father stepped up, but before you could see the actual battle, Uncle told Azula to take you outside," Zuko said. "You mean our father did that to you?" she said, shocked as she touched his scar. He grabbed her hand and pushed it away angrily. "Zuko…I'm so sorry, I didn't know…" she whispered. "Now you do." She hugged him tightly. "Amber, that was a long time ago. Now we have to look for the Avatar. That's all I'm concerned about right now," Zuko said coldly. "I don't even know you anymore, Zuko. Mom always said-" Amber began. "Well, Mom's not here! She's gone forever, Amber! Get over it!" he shouted and his sister's eyes filled with tears. "Wait…I'm sorry, I…I didn't mean that…" he immediately said.
Amber raced out of the room before he could continue and slammed the door to her room. She flopped onto the bed and began crying into the pillow. After a few hours, a knock came on the door. "If it's Zuko, go away!" she yelled, but she paused when she saw that it was Iroh. "Sorry, Uncle, Zuko and I sort of had an argument," she apologized. "Apology accepted, Amber. Should I go talk to Prince Zuko?" "No, Uncle, it's okay. I'll just give him the silent treatment so that he'll feel guilty and apologize," she said evilly and Iroh ruffled her black hair teasingly.
A few days later, Amber stood at the edge of the ship when Zuko came up behind her. "Amber?" She jumped. "What do you want?" she asked, pretending to hate him. "Look, I can't stand not talking to you, okay? I really shouldn't have yelled at you and I had no right. I'm sorry," he said and he meant it. She smiled. "Zuko, I forgave you a long time back, I just wanted to see if you would break the ice first or I had to do it myself," she replied, hugging her brother. He hugged her back. Suddenly, Amber remembered something. "Remember the song Mom used to sing to us when we were really little to help us sleep?" she asked and Zuko nodded. She began singing.
"I'll be your candle on the water
My love for you will always burn
I know you're lost and drifting
But the clouds are lifting
Don't give up
You have somewhere to turn
I'll be your candle on the water
Till every wave is warm and bright
My soul is there beside you
Let this candle guide you
Soon you'll see a golden stream of light
A cold and friendless tide has found you
Don't let the stormy darkness pull you down
I'll paint a ray of hope around you
Circling in the air
Lighted by a prayer
I'll be your candle on the water
This flame inside of me will grow
Keep holding on, you'll make it
Here's my hand, so take it
Look for me reaching out to show
As sure as rivers flow
I'll never let you go," she sang and Zuko raised his only eyebrow. "Did anyone tell you that you sing just like Mom?" he asked and she nodded. "Yeah, but I never believed them!" They both grinned and went back inside together.
About a month later, Amber watched from the ship as Zuko invaded the Southern Water Tribe because he thought that the Avatar was with them. Every time one of the people in the Tribe looked up at her, she mouthed the words, "I'm sorry." Then, she laughed as a bald kid who looked about her age beat Zuko by riding a penguin, but stopped giggling when her brother glared at her. 'He's the Avatar,' she realized, looking at the kid and feeling a strong aura around him. When Zuko's men brought the kid aboard, she leaned close to him and whispered, "I'm sorry about this."
Amber followed the guards and the Avatar down after dropping the kid's staff in her room. She walked next to him. "So…what's your name?" the Avatar asked her, trying to build a conversation. "I'm…uh…Amber," she said, taken aback by the sudden question. "I'm Aang." "Aang…that's a really great name," she complimented and out of the corner of her eye, she saw his cheeks turn red. "And your name's really beautiful," he said shyly and a blush appeared on her cheeks as well. "No talking to prisoners!" one of the guards told Amber. "Who has more authority, you or me?" she asked sternly. "…you?" "So I suppose I have the right to talk to prisoners if I want to, don't I?" she said and the guard fell silent. "Nice," Aang whispered and she smiled, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
Without warning, Aang back-flipped over the guards' heads and threw them back with an air current, knocking them out. "I'm really sorry, Amber, but I have to get out of here," he apologized to Amber and she sighed. "I can't blame you. Your staff's in my room. Follow me!" She led him to her room and opened the door. He grabbed his staff and raced out as Amber followed him sadly. He was about to fly off on his staff, which had changed into a glider, when Amber stopped him. "Will I ever see you again, Aang?" she asked. He smiled. "Sure you will, if Zuko keeps chasing me, that is," he joked and she laughed. She gave him a tiny wave as he flew off.
Just then, Zuko burst out onto the deck and shot a fireball at Aang. Aang fell to the deck and Amber tried to go to him, but a guard held her back. Aang and Zuko battled for a while when a loud groan was heard above them. Amber looked up and her eyes widened. A huge flying bison was heading their way. "Wow!" she exclaimed as Zuko rolled his eyes at his sister's enthusiasm. He threw another fireball at Aang, tossing the Avatar overboard. "Aang!" Amber heard a girl yell and looked up to see two of the Southern Water Tribe teenagers. They appeared to be siblings. Suddenly, Aang burst out of the water using a swirling tower of water. Amber noticed that his eyes and arrows were glowing.
"That's some Waterbending," she said to her brother and he rolled his eyes again. The girl leapt off the bison and used her Waterbending to freeze three guards. "Oh, brilliant, it's gonna take ages to thaw them out!" Amber complained. Suddenly, Aang used a wave of water to toss Zuko off the ship and then his eyes and arrows stopped glowing as he crumpled. Amber just stood, watching the entire scene. When the Water Tribe boy went to get Aang's staff, Zuko grabbed onto it, but the boy knocked him off. "That's for the Water Tribe!" he said triumphantly. Amber smiled and pulled her brother up just as Iroh came out. "Did I miss something?" he asked, seeing the frozen guards. "Uh…never mind," she said and turned to watch the bison fly away. She gave Aang a tiny smile just as he returned it.