Disclaimer: I DO NOT own Avatar: the last airbender. If I did, I could promise you there would have been an incredible amount of Zutara in the series!

Chapter One

Fire Lord Zuko

"Do you hear yourself? Putting a child in charge of the entire Fire Nation Navy Fleet?"

"He's NOT a child! Zen is a respectable young man, and has been a member of the army for several summers!"

"Several? You mean two or three, Yurtza. That boy isn't a day over eighteen, and we all know it."

The balding noble known as Yurtza huffed irritably, folding his arms and leaned back in his seat. "What does it matter? Zen could be one hundred and four, or eighteen. Regardless of his age, the boy is an excellent leader! You're a fool if you cannot accept it."

A larger noble that had been arguing with Yurtza gritted his teeth at his words, absolutely infuriated with the man across from him. "You flea-ridden-" Just as he was to slam his hands onto the surface of the table, he was hushed with an abrupt, and rather impatient voice from the head of the oval table.

"That's enough!"

A pair of golden orbs narrowed into slits, the glare the Fire Lord was embedding into his nobles' skulls could melt bone if he tried. "If this is why you summoned me, then this meeting is over." Neither of the men protested, both nobles' mouths dropping in shock with eyes wide enough to count each and every vein in the white of their eyes as they watching Zuko rise from his seat and exit the room.

For the past two hours, Fire Lord Zuko sat in his place at the head of the table and listened to senile old men argue, bicker, and complain about this and that, all that didn't require his presence and could have been settled on their own time. Course, starting a debate during political meetings always formed sides; other men agreeing or disagreeing to what one man suggested, and the other disapproved of. A majority of the time, those sort of meetings came to an end quickly, for the young Fire Lord had little patience for the irrelevant conversations.

Zuko sighed heavily when he turned the corner into his personal chambers, the hall towards his study completely silent and empty, just as he preferred. Each morning, he awoke with the rise of the sun, just as most fire benders, but no matter how early he got to work on papers, documents, and treaties, he never saw the cherry wood surface of his desk that lied beneath the mountain of paperwork.

His golden orbs were locked on the floor when he shut the door to his study behind him, but a bored and aggravated sigh averted his gaze from the wooden ground to the bland woman leaning against the wall across from him. "Mai," his voice contained little emotion, other than annoyance that she was in his personal study without his permission. The woman didn't move, and sighed once again, starring out the window at two noblewomen walking beneath them. Her lack of response wasn't uncommon, so Zuko walked around his desk and seated himself in the chair to get some work done. The only sound in the room was Zuko snatching a parchment from the top of the pile and setting it in front of him, the occasional flutter of the paper being shifted as he read closer towards the bottom of the page. Even though he was accustomed to the lack of conversation while in Mai's presence, the silence was unbearable.

"Are you going to ask me how the meeting went?" There was silence, which the Fire Lord took none too lightly and tossing the parchment from his hands to the side. Mai's coal black orbs averted from the window to her boyfriend, watching him impatiently cast his work aside and leaned forward onto his desk. "No," she said dully, facing him with a blank expression. Her response didn't please him, but it was something he really needed to get used to. Mai never cared about his day, none the less asked about it. The one time she joined him to one of his meetings didn't go smoothly; the noblewoman sat in her seat and drummed her black-painted nails against the table with boredom. Once Zuko asked her to stop, she scoffed at him, complaining that this was the most nauseating two hours she had ever endured. After that, she never offered, or even permitted to accompany him while he was handling business.

"Why did I even bother to ask." His voice was low, and a bit on the inaudible side, just to avoid picking an argument with the woman, but to allow him to vent a little from the frustration boiling below his skin. Unfortunately, his attempt for his girlfriend to miss what he commented didn't succeed, Mai's brow arching though, the plain, and emotionless expression still remained plastered on her square-like face. "Do you have something to say, Zuko?" She had intended to ruffle his feathers enough for him to turn around, which she did, the Fire Lord turning to face her in his seat with his lips pinned low to form a frown.

"Nothing. Since you don't want to speak to me, I have work that needs to be done."That was snippy! Mai too, frowned at the lack of attention and walked past him and out the door, the wood shutting softly, despite her peeved attitude. "Mmph," he sighed, exhausted with trying to please the noblewoman every day, only to have his efforts shot to shit. His fingers traced the outline of his scar delicately, trying to calm himself down enough to return his focus back to his work. Admitting that his relationship with Mai wasn't going anywhere wasn't exactly what he had the time, nor the patience to face at the moment, especially with a pile of paperwork so high that he couldn't see over the top of it when he was sitting down. With a soft sigh, Zuko lifted the parchment he had tossed to his side earlier and rolled it up, sliding the hole over a gold bar that hung over the right side of his desk. A small flame flickered on the tip of his finger, the orange fire licking the edges of the paper before slowly engulfing the parchment with embers. Might as well make some use of the garbage.

For the next hour, the scarred young man sat in his study and went through nearly twenty different parchments, reading through them carefully and either replying to them, setting them aside to be attached to a messenger-hawk, or burned, like he had the first of the stack. But, after so long of treaties being either denied, or approved, a blue piece of paper found it's way into his fingers, Zuko's golden eyes scanning the silver ribbon that kept the parchment sealed to find the Southern Water Tribe Emblem stamped on a corner. A smug smile crept over his pale features, opening it carefully, though in a hurried fashion. The ribbon was settled gently in his lap while he read the cursive letters, his smile broadening with every line.

Fire Lord Zuko,

I know you may be busy, but Katara's birthday is coming up soon, and we (Sukki, Sokka, Toph, Hakoda, and the entire water nation) would love for you to join us! Besides, Hakoda would like to speak with you of more political affairs, if you really need an excuse to come down. A few weeks wouldn't hurt, right?

You friend,

Avatar Aang

After a moment, Zuko reread the invitation and leaned back in his chair, completely relieved, and even excited of the reminder. This only meant one thing; A vacation.

A/N: Well, this is my first fanfic ever, none the less first Zutara story, so I hope you enjoy! I know it's incredibly short, but this is just the first chapter, but I wanted to get this story posted before I lost any of my ideas. This is going to be a very long, and fun fanfic, so I hope I keep my readers interested long enough through all three parts.

Warning: This story is rated M for violence, sexual references, language, and some lovely steamy chapters! Though it will be a later in Part one, it will be included.